Dateline NBC - Talking Dateline: Secrets in the Ashes

Episode Date: January 28, 2026

Lester Holt talks with Andrea Canning about her episode, “Secrets in the Ashes.” When 31-year-old Texas mother Patricia Leigh Mills is found dead in a house fire, her family suspects her husband, Delbert, of setting the blaze that killed her, suspicions that only grow when he remarries less than two months after the death of his wife. Years later, after Delbert is convicted of Patricia Leigh’s murder, attention turns to his now ex-wife, Allison Salinas, who had moved to a new state, gotten remarried, and then tried to enlist her high school boyfriend to kill her husband. Andrea tells Lester about her prison interviews with Allison and Delbert, and they play a podcast-exclusive clip of Delbert describing his biggest regret. Plus, they answer your questions from social media. Have a question for Talking Dateline? DM us a video to @DatelineNBC or leave a voicemail at [phone]. Your question may be featured in an upcoming episode.Listen to the full episode “Secrets in the Ashes” on Apple: https://apple.co/4k1nVwNListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0RhpCOtSZeY5jS2EPUHxkb?si=8de6f7cea7b64e06 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When I sat down with her in prison, you know, I told her, I said, Patrick, we just talked to him, and he says you're his ride or die. And she's like, oh, my baby. And I was like, oh, cringe. Okay, I'm not the only one. Hi, everyone, I'm Lester Hult, and we are talking dateline. Today I'm here with Andrew Canning to talk about her episode's Secrets in the Ashes. If you haven't seen it, you can watch the episode on Peacock or listen to it. the Dateline podcast feed and then come right back here to listen to our discussion.

So to recap after a suspicious home fire in Texas leaves a mother dead. Her husband, Delbert Mills is eventually convicted of her murder. Investigators are left wondering if Delbert's second wife, someone called Allison Salinas, was also involved, but she's never charged. Allison moves to Illinois and starts over, essentially. She opens a bakery, some other businesses, money-making schemes, if you will, but after she tries to get an ex-boyfriend to murder the new man in her life, she is arrested and ends up in prison. In this episode, we'll have a podcast exclusive

clip of Andrea's prison interview with Delbert Mills, what he says his biggest regret is, so stick around for that. And later, we're going to answer some of your questions on social media. For now, let's talk deadline. Hey, Andrea, this is quite a story. Thanks for being here to talk about it. Yeah, good to be here with you, Lester. Yeah, I think it's safe to say these are two very dangerous people. Whose story did you hear about first was it Delbert's conviction for the fire or Allison's murder-for-hire scheme? We actually got on the story because of Allison's murder-for-hire scheme in Illinois and then learned about this situation in Texas that happened years earlier where, you know, she ends up marrying this killer, this man who killed him. his wife, Patricia Lee. So it's the more current story that got Dateline's attention, but then we

realized there was a lot more to it. Different time, different location. But Allison is, you know, was at the center of both. Again, not charged with anything in Texas. So this story really starts at the crime scene, at the fire, this home burning in Goliad, Texas. It's hard to imagine a little six-year-old boy, but John Michael, the child in the house. essentially watches his home go up in flames, then hearing his mother died in the fire. Yeah, I mean, you know, as I said in the show, I have a six-year-old son. He's six and a half. And, you know, I was trying to put myself in his mind, you know, if something like that happened to him, you know, would he be equipped for that? Would he know what to do, you know, to get out of the house, of course, and also in the days that followed and how difficult that is for a young boy to deal with.

But, you know, John Michael, I mean, to be in essentially a death trap, there's the doors are blocked, there's padlocks, he's six, you know, to be able to get out of his window with his toy box, you know, throwing it at the window and getting out. I mean, that was like really amazing on his part. I can't even imagine you in that situation hearing that about your mom and also having just gone through a fire. Yeah, I mean, my thing is, like, at six, you don't even really know what death is. No. And being told somebody's dead, it's like, what does that mean? You just know your mom's never coming home. And you just know that she's gone. And you don't know why.

You don't know how. I'm so sorry. Yeah, and there is obviously an investigation into this fire. It's origins. And ultimately, investigators kind of move on, say, you know, We recommend this case is closed. Is it clear why they moved on? You know, I did really press the investigator, and he essentially admits, you know, I was leaving the department. You know, I had a lot of other cases. I didn't have time. He basically admits it fell through the cracks, which is kind of sad.

You're dealing with potential murder, right, because they didn't know at that time yet because it hadn't been properly investigated. But I, you know, I certainly have to wonder if, you know, if this was a different family, if this family had a lot of money, if this happened in a mansion, you know, would it have been handled differently? I mean, this was a tiny little house. These people had no money. You heard it. They were using the father wouldn't let them use electricity, you know, to save money. They had to use these like kerosene lanterns. I mean, so I do wonder, you know, if you had more power, more money, would have. have been investigated differently from the start and would it have not fallen through the cracks. Yeah. And as so many of these stories we cover, Andrea, it's the family that ultimately keeps the case out there that continues to demand for justice. Yeah, this was no exception, Lester. Sharon, Patricia Lee's sister, the victim's sister, she just hounded the Goliad Sheriff's Department. She just was constantly over there, bugging them, telling them to keep. keep going. Have you looked at this person? She's doing, like, essentially, like, her own

interviews with people. I mean, you know, Sharon's the sister we all want. The sister who clearly loved her sister with everything she had and was not going to let this go. And it paid off because, you know, just rattling those cages, I mean, eventually it paid off because the new sheriff said, you know what, let's dive into this, thankfully. Can things begin to have? happened. Yeah, so the sheriff got this former investigator on board to come and take another look. It really, you know, crack things wide open. So, of course, Delbert is arrested and charged and ultimately convicted of Patricia Lee's murder. Okay, let's talk a little bit about Allison Salinas. Among other things, she was a wannabe senator. This was part of her kind of new life as she was moving on. What do we know about that? I think what we know about this is that, I don't think we can take her Senate run all that seriously. I mean, she did say she was running for U.S. Senate, but from what I understand, she didn't really show up to a lot of things or really do much. I think it sounded good in theory, but I don't know that her money was where her mouth was.

Yeah, and she tried other things in this new life. She was raising money, charitable dollars. She was organizing events. Things just didn't seem to be working out. And as I'm watching this part of the story, I'm thinking, okay, is she just a flake? I mean, there are people that are not good at business and not good with money. Or was she a fraudster? I think the people, there's a lot of people who would say fraudster.

I don't think I once heard the term flake or, you know, that she just doesn't follow through. I think the people that we spoke to and a lot of the complaints online all point directly to fraud. You know, Allison has had some charges in her past relating to fraud, but there's a lot of things that she has had no consequences for that people are accusing her of things and nothing, nothing ever happened. Okay, when we get back, we've got a podcast exclusive clip of Andrea asking Delbert Mills about his biggest regret. So this story takes yet another twist when Allison reaches out to her former high school boyfriend. who she hasn't talked to in about 30 years. Yeah, James was like really, you know, James was very surprised to hear from her. I mean, imagine if your high school girlfriend calls you up out of the blue and wants to just start talking

and then starts telling you all of her innermost secrets and, you know, the state of her marriage and her cancer and all the rest of it. And then she gets into killing her husband. So you can only imagine what would be going through your mind if someone from your past randomly contacted you. Yeah, and then, you know, James at one point, he goes to the authorities, but that goes nowhere. He gets frustrated and doesn't really put this down, but kind of takes off on his own direction. Yeah, I mean, it's so strange. He's contacting the police about something very serious, and it's on body cam, and the police officers, like, just don't call her back.

Well, if you don't want to cause any issues by Blockner, then just don't respond to her. What? Like, no, that's not... That's not a... how this should have been handled, in my opinion. The Pekin Police Department, they declined to speak with us. But I think every murder-for-hire plot should be at least looked at, at least investigated. That did not happen here until Kate and James forced their hand, you know, when they went public with this on social media, and then the police took it seriously. Yeah, they were very anxious to suddenly somebody talk to them and see what he is. Yeah, thankfully nothing happened to Patrick, you know, in that time period because you never know. Allison, you know, she asked James to help her find an assassin or, you know, a killer. What if she had gone to someone else? What if James wasn't getting the job done? So she went and found another person that James didn't know about. I mean, you have to take someone like that seriously because you don't know. And a man's life could be in danger.

These calls that he had with Allison where, as you said, she's discussing, you know, a murder for hire plot. And I think, you know, our viewers will look at that section and kind of wonder, okay, was she serious? I think you could argue it sounded certainly serious. I think it sounded very serious. Something's going to happen now because that's my only way on. Not about the fact that he's allergic to selfish, but even that's too if he. because it takes a while for it to react, so he would have time to get help. And if there's anything involved in all the guns thought, there would have to be a silences, so there's no sound.

And the shot would have to be just right. You know, we're getting pretty detailed in these calls, you know, so I don't know. Yeah, in these recordings, there's some memorable lines like you have, it's not like you have assassins on speed dial. Also hearing her laugh when she's talking about murdering her husband, that's not a bizarre. I know, I know. And then not just that, like, memorable moments in the interview as well where, you know, she's, I throw out some less significant things to her. Like, you know, the accusation was that you sold frozen baked goods that you got from a supplier and that you weren't making your own baked goods in the bakery. Made killer brownies?

Made killer cookies? I made killer cupcakes. That's an interesting choice of words. Well, interesting way to describe it. I mean, I don't mean it like that. I mean, they were just very good. No, no, it's just given why we're here. I mean, they were very delicious.

And, you know, and it's like, you can just see the smile emerge on my, like, slowly the smile is happening on my face. I don't think she got it. I think she eventually did. Like, I don't think she got it at first when I was smiling. And then it was like, well, you know, I'm like, she's like, wait, wait, and then you see her get it eventually. And then she's like, don't basically don't take it out of context. And I'm like, well, given why we're here, you know, interesting choice of words. That was kind of a train wreck moment in an interview, I feel like.

You've done murder for hire stories before. How did this one stack up? This one was the weirdest one yet, because it's very rare that a wife decide she wants to kill her husband, and then the first person, she calls from jail is her husband. And then immediately her husband stands by her. It was just like upside down world. Didn't make any sense. You know, like she wants you dead and you're okay with it. You're okay with her. And then when I sat down with her in prison, you know, I told her, I said, Patrick, we just talked to him and he says you're his ride or die. And she's like, oh, my baby. And I was like, oh, cringe. Okay, I'm not the only one. Yeah, that was that was a moment.

Yeah, I mean, come on. So did Allison know that James was a registered sex offender when she reached out to him? You know, that's a really good question. I don't know if we ever asked them, Allison or her husband, when they learned of that. I don't, so I don't know the answer to that. I just know that they were very aware and they brought it to our attention about James, but I'm not sure when they found out. Yeah, I would imagine a lot of people would kind of walk away from this situation.

Yeah. You know, as I look at where James found himself, there's a big twist. He really plays citizen detective, but he has his own dark past as a registered sex offender. Really, this is really a story about who you can trust or who you think you can trust. Yeah, I mean, and we needed to take that very seriously as well, you know, because even though, yes, Allison has pled guilty. to this, you know, they do have a good point, Allison and her husband, and saying, you know, pointing out James's flaws as well, you know, is he to be trusted or can he manipulate people? So, you know, we did take that very seriously. And we contacted James about that. And so it was not something we took lightly when putting this story together, you know, that whole discussion surrounding that. So Allison says that she was manipulated by James. So, you know, that's her side of the story. And the other thing she really wanted to get across as well was that she felt like she didn't have the proper representation from her public defender.

You know, she felt like she was sort of railroaded into taking this plea deal and that it just wasn't handled right. Her problem is now is that I believe she's not eligible for an appeal with the plea deal that she signed. But she's still trying to find, like, other avenues to get things resolved the way she wants. You also sat down with Delbert. And it's neat that you were going to sit down with two, the two key players in this. What was he like? Oh, Delbert. He got me mad.

He got me really mad. I saw that. I was going to ask you about that next. I mean, come on. You know, he's like, I've protected him all this time. And as long as he doesn't get in trouble. And I'm like, I don't think he's going to get in trouble. Delbert, you're the one sitting in prison.

and he's saying, well, you know, I'll stay in here as long as he's safe. And I'm like, no one's going to believe you. So you don't need to worry about it. Like your son's fine. And also this is a real jerk move as a father. And what you're referring to is when he comes out and says his son admitted that he set the fire. And if I ever call him, you came back and said, why, you know, you're blaming your son. He goes, I'm not blaming.

It's just that's what he said. Just that's what he said. Well, okay. So first of all, why wouldn't you tell authorities that in the beginning? Okay, his answer might be, well, I was protecting him. Okay, that's just whatever. I don't believe him. But then he goes on to tell all these witnesses that he killed his wife and, you know, how he did it. And then he's offering to kill someone else's husband. And, you know, so it's the whole thing to me was just absurd. The only thing is, and our end, editor, Rich Platt brought this up. This is a question that I should have asked Allison. I know she would have denied it, but I still should have brought it up. And maybe to the police as well as, you know, is it possible that Delbert really did go off to work, didn't set the fire, you know, before he left his little plan that they said he had with the oil and the candle. Is it possible? This is just a question. She's not been charged with a crime. Is it possible that Allison is the one

who just, when he went off to work, set the fire? You know, that's a question that should be posed. And her alibi was never checked out. You know, she said, well, I wouldn't have had time. I went to some other city. I wouldn't have had time to get to that city and back, you know, to have any involvement. Well, no one chased down her alibi. Law enforcement told us that in our interviews that her alibi was never followed up on.

Well, you have some extra sound from that interview. You asked him what his biggest regret is. So let's listen to that. What is your biggest regret in your life? My biggest regret in my life is not being there for my son like I should have been. That's my biggest regret. Not killing your wife, his mother. Well, I didn't kill his mother, so I can't say that.

If I'd have done it, yeah, that would have been one of my biggest, that would have been my biggest regret. But my biggest regret as of now is not being there for my son like I should have been. And when he finds out what you've said about him, about starting the fire possibly? If he wants to talk to me about it, all he's got to do is write me. And I'll be more unhappy to sit down and type him back or write him back. And explain to him the best I can. I don't think he's going to really like hearing that. Well, probably not.

And he, I was correct. John Michael was very, very upset with hearing that. the mic off and walks off the set. But, you know, as you've watched this story, your heart continues to go back to him, what he's been through, how it has really, you know, shaped other events in his life. It has. I mean, you know, he told me he struggled with drugs and depression and all these different things as a result of what happened to him. You know, and it's heartbreaking, right? He lost the, as he said, I lost the person who loved me the most, you know, his mom, his best friend. And she just loved him so much, and according to the family and wanted to be a mom so bad.

And, you know, Delbert took that away from him. And now Delbert's blaming him for the death of his mother, which is just despicable. Okay, after the break, we will be back to answer your questions from social media. Welcome back, Andrea. Lots of social media questions about this episode. Up first, a question about the fire that killed Patricia Lee. Here's Henry Simas on Facebook. Henry says, Why are the doors locked from the outside in the burning house? They never addressed that in the trial of Delbert. What about that, Andrea? I mean, no one knows for sure, but there definitely was a theory that Delbert possibly did that himself,

so Patricia Lee would not be able to get out of the house. But that is not confirmed. It's just a suspicion from the police, but, you know, maybe if a proper investigation had been done, we would know more about that. Yeah, here's one from Sandy Castle at Sandy underscore Kemp. Castle underscore R.B., who writes, as usual, all he had to do was a divorcer. How many times have we heard that in relation to a deadline story? It's not like he was offering her anything during their marriage. It would have been an easy divorce, Sandy says. I agree, Sandy. Absolutely. This would

have been a very easy divorce. But, you know, the family, they believe that Delbert wanted money. He was able to get a new truck. You know, then he was able to marry Allison. I mean, I think there's just a ton of unknown elements to this case. Okay, also thinking about Allison and her new husband's relationship. What's the status of that relationship? So at last, when we interviewed Patrick and Allison, they were fully still in love and going to ride the storm. He was going to be waiting for her when she gets out. Both of them seemed committed to the relationship, as you saw in the show.

Andrew, there were so many comments about your prison interviews. Let's start with your interview with Allison. This is from Tommy Foley who writes, it always amazes me how you keep a straight face interviewing some of these people. On a scale of one to Nicholas Rossi, how hard was it to keep it together during the Allison interview, Killer cupcakes? Well, I mean, you did see me crack a smile on that one, killer cookies, killer brownies. That's a first for me. But I would say most of that interview, I was more frustrated than anything else because I felt like Allison was not being truthful with me. And I thought this question was fascinating from Lauren Wright on Facebook. Lauren writes, Allison rolls her eyes every time she lies. Sitting across in these criminals in your prison interviews, did anything about Allison or Delbert's body language stand out to you? Hmm. That's like, sometimes I think the viewers probably can pick up on it better than us when we're sitting there in the hot seat. Allison would get very testy when I brought up certain things. Like if I brought up Kate, you know, who's kind of arguably her arch nemesis in Illinois, she would get, start to get very upset and then, you know, kind of push back on me. And I don't want to talk about that. She would try to shut me down.

Yeah. We had a lot of questions about your. interview with Delbert. Here's Jamie Olmsted on Facebook. Jamie writes, I came away from this episode with the urge to let Andrea Kenning know how impactful it was to see a member of the media drop the pretence of impartiality and be human. Standing up to it injustice is rare than it should be, and it gives me a surge of hope to see it. I thank you for letting your humanity override the status quo. That's an interesting observation and I think a great comment about the line you had to walk in this. Yeah, thank you, Jamie. Yeah, I mean, we do want to be impartial as much as we can, obviously, as journalists. But Delbert really got me mad. Yeah, because, you know,

I'd already had the chance to interview John Michael, his son. And I knew how much pain John Michael was in. It just made me really angry when he said, I'm here to set the record straight that my son told me he set the fire. And I just thought, wow, you're just a, oh, you're just a piece of you. know what at this point. But it was interesting, though, when I asked him about Allison, if she had, if he knew if she had anything to do with it, he said, I don't know. So what, like, which is it? You know, it was just, it was strange. Well, this gets better. Here's one from Shauna Manley on Facebook. Shawna writes, Andrea Canning is my hero. I have a new power respect for her while she was interviewing the father of Delbert. I was just thinking, you go, lady,

let him have it. Oh, that's so nice. Pretty sure John's mom, Patricia, would be proud of the way she represented the moms by calling out his disgusting accusation. Oh, that's really nice. We didn't air this in the show, but John Michael, they showed him, like, my side, and John Michael looked at the video and he said, I love her. And so, like, for me, that just made it all worth it.

And I thought, you know what, it was for John Michael. You know, my response, like, it wasn't about me or anything else. It was about him. Yeah, these are people's lives. And you did a really terrific. job telling this story. So, Andrea, thank you so much. And thanks to all our viewers and listeners for stopping by. Well, that's it for Talking Dateline this week. Remember, if you have any questions for us about stories or about Dateline, you can reach out to us 24-7 on social media at Dateline NBC. If you have a

question for talking, Dateline, leave it for us as a voicemail at 212-413-5252, or send us a video. on socials for a chance to be featured on a future episode. We'll see you Fridays on Dateline on NBC.