You Left Me For Dead
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The woman you hear in the background on the 911 call is Audrea Butler. She lives in this house with her two roommates, Lauren DeWise and Ashley Van Hamer. Audrea Butler wasn't home when the crime occurred, but she came home that morning.

found her two roommates shot. She ran over to a neighbor's house, notified the neighbor, and a neighbor called 911 on her behalf. She said her roommate Ashley is the one that stole it. Okay. And she is still alive? She said she is, yes. Okay, all right, I've got the paramedics on the way. I've got the police on the way, okay? Just let her know that help is on the way. Remain in the state mail, 30 years old.

Officer Jared Robinson from the Belgrade Police Department was the first officer to arrive. Yeah, I just don't know what I got. I'm just pulling up on the scene. What's going on? I came in and I saw that my back door had been broken in, so I went to the back and I could see footsteps in the snow.

Okay, so you don't know if there's somebody else in the house? I don't think so, but I don't know. Okay. She's unsure if there's still any shooter inside the house, so I'm going to wait for 206 to get here before we enter. Copy. 206, 219, you got an ETA? Copy. What do we know? Sergeant Dave Keene, also with Belgrade BD, arrives just moments later. Ma'am, I need you inside the building, okay? Okay.

Hi there, how you doing? Good, how are you? Good, good. The officers take me back to the scene to talk about that tense morning. Was it a beautiful day like this? It was almost identical to this. Almost exactly the same. Yes, very cold and roads were just like this. The driveway looks almost the same. Yes it does. Kind of eerie. One apparent dead, one still alive. She said I ran out as soon as I saw that. I have no idea if there's still anybody else in there or not. So that's what we got.

That was a very high-risk type of entry that they made into the residence. The body camera can describe it much better than my words could describe it. You can definitely feel the intensity of the situation. He's not sure what he's getting into. You ready? Yep. Belgrade Police! Police Department! Anybody inside, come out! I'm going this way. Okay. I got a stairwell.

Police! Knowing already from dispatch that there's at least one deceased person in the house and another one that was alive asking for help and that were shot incredibly intense. And you can see that on all the body cam footage. Where are you at?

Kitchen clear. When we first made entry into the front door, Sergeant Robinson cleared the main first floor because again, we had no idea if there was anybody still in the house and I stayed at the stairwell to make sure that there wasn't anybody there. It's about as dangerous as it gets. Garage clear. All right. When they're clearing the first floor, they can hear Ashley upstairs yelling for help. Up the stairs. We're coming. All right, police, show me your hands.

We got doors on the left and right. I went past the bedroom that Ashley was in because I had no idea whether or not Lauren was in need of help or beyond help. We have one female down. She appears to be deceased. Unfortunately, she had deceased. Lauren DeWise had just moved into the house less than two months before.

Jared. Yeah. What do we need? I start clearing the rest of the house and Sergeant Robinson enters into Ashley's room to start helping her. Hello. What are you doing? Shoot. I'm not going to shoot you. You need medical in here now. My name's Ashley. Ashley and her husky Malamute, Bronson, have lived with Audrea for about two years. The body camera footage of her interaction with police that day is raw and graphic.

I'm the police right here. I'm right here. Can you see me? Ashley was obviously fighting for her life and you can tell from his video that her vision was obviously impaired by the injury that she sustained. Ashley's not only unable to see, her injuries also leave her partially paralyzed. Are you the police? I'm the police, yes. Show me your face.

I'm right here, can you see me? No! The video is chilling. She's asking you, "Are you really a police officer?" Yeah. "Don't hurt me, don't shoot me." Right. I just felt for her, you know? Being in that position to where you're helpless, you know? So I felt for her. Just tried to reassure her that we were gonna get her the help we could.

You got the medical people coming in. I'm trying to figure out what happened to you. Where are you bleeding from? I'm not bleeding. Okay, well, how do you have blood all over you? Do I? Yes, ma'am. I don't know why I do. If I can have somebody maintain the crime scene at the front door and let nobody...

We don't have time to make sure that the house is completely secure. However, she needs help and she needs help now. It was apparent that she'd been in there a long time and I don't know how much longer she has. So at that point I made the decision to remove her, which I understand it's against their policies and protocols. Ashley, what we're going to do is we're going to pick you up and we're going to carry you down to the paramedics, okay? Oh God, oh God, what are you doing? I think I'm going to have to get up here. We're going to have to carry you, ma'am.

What are you doing, sir? We're going to pick you up and carry you. Carry me there? Where are you carrying me? We're coming down. Where are you carrying me to? Watch your step. This is as far as I can get the door. Where's the cot? It's straight out back. Keep going. We have no idea. She just keeps looking this way. I don't see any obvious... I'm not going to go.

You don't have a choice. We gotta get you up to the hospital. I'm not going. They want one of us to go with. That's fine. You want me to ride with? That's fine. Then one of you does something you don't normally do. You ride in the ambulance with her. Correct. Ashley. Ashley. Ashley. Well, at that point, we still didn't know where the assailant was, so...

Again, we want to ensure her safety. Okay, let's go. I don't want to go to the hospital. Oh, I think we need to go to the hospital. I'm refusing. You can't refuse. How old are you, Ashley? 32. 32. Can you tell me what happened and when?

I don't know what happened. She is transported to Bozeman Deaconess Hospital. We're going to take good care of you, okay? Alright, time is 9:41. Off recording as they're working on her in the ER.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Keene is setting up a crime scene as investigators search for clues. Tracks out in the back, the doors from the back have been broken open. There was a trail of footprints that led from the front of the residence through a side gate all the way to the back door. And Ashley, she's fighting for her life. She had been shot point blank in the back of the head, but we weren't even sure if she would survive. Belgrade is one of the fastest growing towns in the state of Montana.

Belgrade's a very tight-knit, blue-collar, working-class community. Generally, kind of a bedroom community. Our citizens, they live here and work in Bozeman. We are completely surrounded by mountains, and we have wilderness areas nearby. We get several million visitors, predominantly Yellowstone, and then for our skiing, which is some of the best. We have all of the blessings that we could ask for in the mountains.

Murder is extremely rare in this town in Montana, but on that first Sunday morning of 2018, a call comes over the local police radio. Possible double homicide. Law enforcement and medical personnel rush to this house on Idaho Street, preparing for the worst. All right, thank you for your help. Yeah, you bet, Dewey. We cleared everything out, so we're just gonna back everybody out till the detectives get here.

With the crime scene secure, detectives are able to begin their investigation into what happened to Lauren and Ashley. From that first initial appearance, it didn't appear that it was a burglary. There were no open drawers. The place wasn't ransacked. There wasn't stuff strewn about. We got tracks out in the back. The door from the back's been broken open. And there was a sign of a break-in?

Yeah, the screen door on the back had been kicked in. It was very clear that obviously they had gotten in through the backyard. There's a gate but it's not open, but it's unlatched. They went through a gate, went around the back and gained entry through a sliding glass door in the back. You could see that there were tracks leading around the side of the house. Ms. Butler had indicated early on that those were not made by either her or any of the ladies in the household.

So those were of significant interest to law enforcement. - This truck's going around that way. - Yep. We'll document all that ink tape. Chief Dustin Lensing trudged with me through the snow to demonstrate the low-tech tactic police used to gather highly valuable evidence. You had vital evidence right there in the snow, but you're racing against the clock?

Yeah, unfortunately sometimes in Montana weather conditions can change rather rapidly. In this case we knew the snow was going to be melting so we documented everything initially with photography. I see some red paint in some of the crime scene photos. Is that some sort of high-tech forensic tool? I wouldn't call it high-tech by any means but we will spray paint these prints. Can you show me how you did it? Yeah, absolutely.

If we could use this one maybe? Okay. That detail is not going to stand out in your average everyday photograph with the white and the way the light reflects. But you give it a little dusting and you can see where it really makes that detail stand out. That's amazing. You can tell the ridges and the design of the bottom of the shoe. Yeah, it kind of just produces almost like this little 3D model, right?

There were two distinct patterns of boot prints and they started doing the analysis to try to figure out what types of shoes they were actually made from. Inside the house, investigators are examining the bedrooms where the two women were shot. My first inspection of the crime scene, I remember Lauren there and she was still, she was clutching her cell phone.

That's kind of a powerful image right there because you know she's scared and trying to call for help. Law enforcement ultimately determined that Lauren had been shot multiple times and that she had gunshot wounds to both the head and chest and that resulted in her death. Both Ashley and Lauren had been shot in the head. For Lauren it was fatal and Ashley miraculously survived.

As we later learned, she had been moving around in the room. And so as a result of that, there was blood everywhere.

Detectives find no fingerprint or DNA evidence, but they do find shell casings, nine of them in all. There were four shell casings in Lauren's bedroom and five shell casings in Ashley's bedroom. They were from a .22. There were two distinct brands of ammunition used, the Winchester X-22 and the Aguila brand .22 caliber.

So we had mixed ammunition in there. So are we looking at two weapons? Are we looking at somebody who loaded their gun with mixed ammunition? While investigators piece together clues at the scene, Audrea Butler is interviewed at police headquarters. I'm going to tell you right now, this is not my best moment. Don't worry about it. We're doing my best right now. We'll get through it. It's a very tough time right now. I understand that.

Audie Butler owns the house and to help cover some of the bills, got a roommate. That first roommate was Ashley VanHiemer.

She also recently started this friendship with Lauren DeWise, and Lauren was having some marital problems with her husband. Paul DeWise was Lauren's estranged husband at the time, and Paul and Lauren met when they were both teachers down in Florida. Paul was married to his wife Maria at the time that he and Lauren had first met.

And when that marriage kind of started falling apart, then that's when he and Lauren got together. When he was married to Maria, he had two children, Natalie and Joe. Lauren really cared about Joe and Natalie as if they were her own kids. The couple has their own child, Jennifer, and shortly after she's born, the DeWises sell everything. They get an RV and they set off to see the country.

They ultimately relocated to Bozeman, Montana, where Lauren was able to find employment with a local bank. And Paul did some construction-type work and things of that nature. Jessica Johns befriended Lauren when she settled in Bozeman. In photos posted on Facebook, Lauren appears to be loving her new life. This is actually a beautiful picture of Natalie and her brother Joe.

And then Jennifer, the little girl. They just always seemed happy. I got the straight part and it's kicking in the basket part. I just remember her being so bubbly and so full of life. She was just somebody that was just always so positive no matter what.

Lauren kept up appearances, even though her marriage to Paul was falling apart. But then, Lauren turned to Audrea for help. She said, "I can't believe I've never told anybody this, but I think I need to leave Paul." And I said, "Well, you've always got to. You have people. You're not alone here. You can come stay with me anytime you need to."

So, Lauren moved in with Audie in November. At this point, you know you have to talk to Paul DeWise. Correct. So, you try to coordinate that as best you can. You call in as many people as you can.

In a matter of minutes, police track down Lauren's husband, Paul DeWise. They pull the car over as a homicide suspect, so they are doing a high-risk traffic stop. Let me see your hands. Keep your hands up. Everybody needs to keep their hands up. Ashley Van Hamer is in critical condition, fighting for her life in a hospital in Colorado.

She had been flown out of state. We didn't have the capacity to care for her. She had been shot point blank in the back of the head. You know, for a bit there it was touch and go. We weren't even sure if she would survive. All I did was like go back and forth in the bedroom, clenching my hands and just praying to God that she was okay. Ashley's mother says Ashley and her dog Bronson found their paradise on earth in Bozeman.

She loved it here. I mean, close to the mountains, take Bronson out running, snowboarding. She was happy. It was what she had dreamed of. While doctors in Colorado do all they can for Ashley, law enforcement in Montana is interested in talking to Lauren's estranged husband, Paul DeWyans. ♪♪

Less than 90 minutes into the investigation, Bozeman PD tracks down Paul DeWise as he and his three children are returning home from church. Let me see your hands. Both of them. Lower your window down. Slowly. We're going to give you some commands, okay? Turn the car off. I'm having you on the channel.

They pull the car over as a homicide suspect. We don't know if he still has the weapon. We don't know any of that background. So it was treated as a high-risk stop. Hands up. Walk over here. Turn around. Look away from me. Walk backwards. Keep coming. Keep coming. Stop. Get on the ground. Get on the ground. Do not move. Do you understand me?

It was intense, but Paul did cooperate with them. And the kids went into the care of Child Protective Services until they could find out what happened. Take him to the back of my car. And then he was brought in for questioning. Paul DeWise is taken to an interrogation room like this one here at the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office. He will spend his entire Sunday answering questions about the shooting of his wife

and Ashley Van Heemert. It was one of the unfortunate things in this investigation is because they found Paul so quickly, we didn't have any kind of real profile on him. So we kind of went into it with the game plan of we were going to make adjustments on the fly. So the reason that I wanted to talk to you is there were some issues that happened over at Lauren's house this morning. Sure. Well, uh,

I told him she is dead and he was all over in his chair, rubbing his hands on his legs.

So that's why we're talking to you, because you guys are going through a divorce. Well, walk me through what you did yesterday. I made baby breakfast. He goes through from the moment he wakes up and has a very, very detailed explanation of what he did the entire day. During the day, Mr. DeWise had been texting Lauren. He wanted her to come back over and visit with the children. So I'm trying to get her to come over so we can check in.

She just gave me a hard time, you know? She didn't come home. So law enforcement was able to determine that Lauren's last text message was sent just before 11 o'clock p.m. that evening, where she had indicated to Mr. DeWise that she did not wish to attend church with him and the children that following day. So what about last evening, last night? He basically painted a picture of staying at home and watching TV and just spending time with his family.

during the entire night leading up to and during the night of the incident. Nothing exciting. I mean, I was just in my chair all day. One of the only times that he expressed leaving that night was to go get beer. I went and got a six-pack of beer around midnight at Town Pump. Which Town Pump? On Main Street.

One of the things that we were fairly quickly able to identify was which gas station he went to. A detective went and pulled that video very quickly, and we did find Paul on video going to that town pump and buying beer.

It did match up in terms of the timeline that he gave when he would have gone to the store. And you made no other trips except to go to town pump? Am I getting that right? So I'm going to ask you right now, I'm going to look you right in the face, I'm going to ask you, were you involved in this? Were you involved in this crime? Did you hurt Lauren? No.

Did you hurt Lauren at all? No. He adamantly denied being at Lauren's house that night. I'm going to be completely honest with you right now, I'm not completely comfortable with where we're at in this interview. I don't think you're in a good spot. Of course, yeah. I understand. And I know I'm the prime suspect. Authorities are talking to Paul's teenaged children, Joe and Natalie. And what they say surprises even veteran detectives.

Was your dad home with you guys the whole time on Saturday?

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When Paul DeWise is pulled over and arrested, his three children, Joe, Natalie, and Jennifer, are in the car. Okay, we've got a 15-year-old, a 17-year-old, and a 4-year-old. You doing okay? Okay. You want to sit in the car and stay warm? Mm-hmm.

While Paul is being questioned at the sheriff's office, his children talk to Child Protective Services. So, Ms. Jennifer, my name is Erin, and I talk to kids and people every day. I first spoke with Jennifer, who had just turned four, and she had a very brief interview. I then spoke with Joseph.

We asked about what had happened Saturday night. Saturday, we were supposed to go to church today. We stayed up way late. We shouldn't have stayed up that late because we have to get up early to go to church. Last night you stayed up way late? We were just hanging out watching movies. He indicated that they had stayed home and just kind of hung out. Was your dad home with you guys the whole time on Saturday?

We did go to the town pump, me and him, for him to get beer. Oh, okay. And then we came back home. Oh, okay. What time do you think that was about? Probably around 12. Both Natalie and Joe were pretty consistent that they had been home that evening. We were watching movies, we were watching a nature show, and we watched The Office, and we stayed up late. And my dad and my brother went out and got beer around like midnight.

They were all at home watching TV together all that night and then pretty much just mirrored what Dwize had said. Nothing stood out about any of their statements, you know, about the events of the night. You know, we look at everything, but there was no "aha" moment there.

When we were done with the forensic interviews, it was decided that we would let the kids know that Lauren was deceased. We had told Joe and Natalie and let Jennifer know that something bad had happened to Mommy and that Mommy was now in heaven. With Joe and Natalie's account of the night matching up with their father's, Paul DeWise is free to go, but not to go home.

They're not done searching your house. Okay. And they're apparently going to do a forensic search instead of just the consent search that we talked about on the vehicle. So you're not under arrest. Nothing's changed in that regard. But unfortunately, the car and the house are still tied up and probably will be for quite some time.

At the end of the interview, we didn't have enough evidence to hold him, so we released him. Because he was still considered a suspect at that time, CPS made the decision not to let the kids go back to his custody. So the kids went to a friend of the family's and stayed there. Detectives keep an eye on Paul. At the same time, they have to widen their net.

You've got three people that live in the home where the incident occurred. Who was the intended victim? Or were they all the intended victim? Or was it just a random act? So now you start digging into the personal lives of the people involved and you have to weed out each one of those potential avenues as a potential suspect.

Through the interview with Paul, he brings up a couple situations where he found Lauren cheating on him, despite the fact that they were separated. First one was at Old Chicago. Investigators are interested in talking to a man named Kevin Frolsted. That's because of an incident that happened here in the parking lot of this restaurant, where Paul says he caught Lauren kissing this other man.

I opened the door and I was like, "What are you doing?" And I was talking to the guy, I was like, "This is my wife." And the guy came around and started attacking me. So I fought him off. Did you recognize him or no one? No, but I found out he lives in Billings. Yeah, it's Kevin Vrolstad. Vrolstad? Something like that. Hey, Kevin, this is Detective Boxmeyer with the Sheriff's Office. Hey. Hey, you got a little bit to talk? I do.

Kevin was a coworker of Lauren's. Mr. Vrolsted and Lauren had become friendly with each other. They were at Old Chicago one night and there was some drinking involved. I had walked her out to her car and her husband jumped me. The police came and I told them what happened and they asked if I wanted to press charges and I said no. And that was really the end of it, as far as I knew.

I think Mr. Rolsted is a little concerned because he is in a romantic relationship with another lady at the time. You know, I got to ask you, and I want you to be 100% honest with me. Yep. Did you and Lauren ever do anything physically together? No, we did not. Did you guys ever kiss? No.

I don't know that he's entirely straightforward with law enforcement about the nature of his relationship with Lauren, but it's ultimately determined that this was a one-time situation where they met in the parking lot and had a kiss, and that was the end of that encounter. Investigators determined that Kevin had nothing to do with the shooting. Kevin actually had a fiancée over in Billings.

at the time and was furniture shopping with her the morning after the homicide was found. In his police interview, Paul also claimed Lauren had a relationship with a man named Brian Ruddick. So we had to see if maybe there was some sort of love triangle gone wrong or anything like that that could have led to Lauren's death.

I am calling about Lauren. It is my understanding that you guys were involved in some sort of a relationship. Is that correct? Yes. We started talking and

Brian admits that he and Lauren enjoyed each other's company, but he says their relationship was primarily an emotional one and not physical. Additionally, he had an alibi for the time of the murder.

Yeah, he was ice fishing with a buddy over on Ennis Lake. And I called the friend and confirmed that he was there. Brian is cleared of any involvement in the shooting, but investigators are not just focused on Lauren's relationships. They look into her wounded roommate Ashley's on-and-off boyfriend. I mean, here you have the boyfriend, who's the last person to see Ashley before she goes into the house.

When was the last time you actually had contact with her? Detectives are also interested in speaking with victim Ashley Van Hamer. Do you remember anything at all? The hours and days following the shooting are critical for Ashley and her survival. Tell me about the first time you saw Ashley in the hospital. It was a sight I wish I could get out of my head. Just tubes running everywhere. And the hardest thing, she was just motionless.

An active girl that's usually like, like can't get him, stop her from moving. She was just, just laying there. But Ashley continues to fight. Through her tireless efforts and with her supportive family by her side, Ashley begins to recover. Okay Bronson, come back! Bronsy! Come here, boy! And today, she's back in Bozeman with her beloved Bronson.

I love you. I love you. Yes. Yes. Now she sits with 20/20 to tell her story. So glad to meet you. How are you doing? I'm doing very well. Yes. How would you describe what you've been through? Howling back, but God is good and I'm still here. The Lord literally saved my life that night. Somehow the way that the bullet stayed

prevented her from bleeding out. Really just a miracle that the bullet lodged the way that it did. The doctors told my family if that bullet would have moved absolutely anywhere in the nine to ten hours I was on the ground, I would have bled to death. It literally stopped the bleeding. It literally plugged the hole perfectly in my carotid artery. That's why I did not die that night. A miracle? Yes, no doubt. No doubt a miracle, yes.

Ashley was shot four times and endured multiple surgeries, including removing part of her skull after she suffered a massive hemispheric stroke. The first thing she remembers is the moment she woke up. The first thing I actually remember is opening my eyes and I saw some of my family members in the room and I gave the I love you sign to them. And that's when they knew I could see.

Because until then, they didn't even know if I would be able to see or not. Can you show me that again? To my family, yeah. So you survived this terrible crime. Meanwhile, there's a major homicide investigation going on here in Montana. Detectives visit you. They're trying to get you to help them solve this crime. Yeah, they visited me in Colorado. Hi, Ashley. Hello. My name's Dustin. Hi, Dustin. We're going to have some questions, but mostly we just want to hear what you have to say.

Ashley tells Lensing that prior to the shooting on the evening of January 6th, she had gone out to a movie with her boyfriend, Ralph Dennis. We went and just had a good time. And yeah, I remember driving home and he didn't get out of the car. He just gave me his good night. And the last thing I remember is closing the door to my house and locking the door. Can you tell me, do you remember anything at all?

when I got shot? No, I do not remember being shot at all. Investigators want to talk with the last person Ashley remembers seeing the night of the shooting, Ralph Dennis. He's a pretty big guy, and he definitely would have the means to overpower these two women if that's what had happened. Okay. I'm going to record our conversation. Would you prefer the door open or closed? Doesn't matter to me. It opens fine.

Ralph Dennis is questioned by police the day after the shooting. He says he dropped Ashley off at 9:30 and he says their relationship was coming to an end. And how do you characterize your relationship with her right now? We...

been attempting to break up with each other for several weeks. Ralph was very cooperative. He didn't appear to be nervous, didn't appear to be anxious. You guys didn't have a fight or anything like that? Not at all. Nothing like that. So when was the last time you actually had contact with her? When I dropped her off. There's two parts with Ralph. There's one, there's this relationship that was broken up recently that we knew of. And then...

As we were trying to process the crime scene, there were prints in the blood that led us to believe possibly there was a dog there. So that became

possible clue. So Bronson's the dog. Bronson is her dog. Since we started dating, I kind of took Bronson in under my wing because she works a lot and Bronson just gets bored at the house. So Bronson stays at my place all the time now. The theory there was if the dog was in the house while Ashley was bleeding and left a paw print and now the dog is at Ralph's house, how did that happen? Right? That wouldn't have happened unless...

he'd have been there. What I'm curious about is just like, is it possible? Was the dog there? Did you come over? Did the dog leave? I mean, I'm just trying to make sense of that. Absolutely. I can tell you. So, um, without a shadow of a doubt, Bronson has been in my care since, uh, Thursday morning. We brought the dog in, we swabbed between its toes, trying to find any evidence of the blood from what the crime scene processing team thought was a bloody footprint.

That was definitely the first time we'd ever photographed and captured the prints of a dog as part of a homicide investigation for sure. There was no blood that was either seen or otherwise swapped from the dog prints or anything like that. Turns out that that was just a blood pattern on the dog bed that remarkably resembled a paw print, which turned out not to be. Turns out the dog was never there, but we had to rule that out as a possibility.

Bronson's pause proved to Belize that he didn't leave a footprint at the crime scene. And the same can be said for Ralph Dennis' feet. I think he had like size 13s or something. Pretty big. And definitely not what we had seen at the scene of the crime. He was very forthcoming. He provided his cell phone data. He had, in fact, dropped her off at the house and then returned home that night.

And so we're able to eliminate him. Early on, your friend Ralph becomes a possible suspect. Did you ever think maybe he was involved? No, never. Never, never, never. Not in a million years.

With their list of potential leads drying up, it's back to the drawing board. Soon, detectives discover a curious text exchange between Lauren's stepchildren, Joe and Natalie DeWise, on the night of the murder. All of a sudden, just before 3:00 AM, there's this text between Joe and Natalie of, "I love you. I love you too." Who texts their sibling at 2 o'clock in the morning, "I love you"?

Like, that's really bizarre. Both Dustin and I feel like something's there that doesn't make sense. We decided that we were going to do some good old-fashioned detective interviews with them, despite their age. Natalie, how old are you again? Can I confirm? 17. Okay. You do have the right to remain silent. You do not have to answer any questions. Okay, keeping all that in mind, do you still want to kind of ask or answer a couple of questions for me? No? Let me know that I have a choice, though. No? Yeah.

Natalie had invoked her rights, so she actually wasn't interviewed. And then Joe was being interviewed. It's important that we're completely truthful with each other. We were really beginning to suspect at this point in time that they knew something. Help me help you. Belgrade Police! Police Department! Anybody inside, come out! We have one female down. Appears to be deceased.

- What are you doing? Shoot! - I'm not gonna shoot you. - Both Ashley and Lauren had been shot in the head. For Lauren, it was fatal. - Joe, you've gotta help me. - What do you see when you see that still picture? - A young man who had been carrying kind of the weight of the world on his shoulders. - Oh boy, it's a big deal.

The amount of man hours that went into searching, trying to find the murder weapon. And I'm angry. And my children are angry. My baby's angry. And it's hard for me to live with. The biggest freight train that you could see coming, I saw it coming and I couldn't stop it. That's when he started to shoot me. Horrific. How do you make sense of that? Satan. It still stays with you? He'll never leave.

Montana, from the Spanish word montaña. It means mountainous, and Bozeman, Montana is surrounded by the Rockies. They warn you about grizzlies and wolves out here. But in the Gallatin Valley, in the shadow of the mountains, another predator, the killer who shot Lauren DeWise and left Ashley Van Hamert for dead. Authorities may have released Lauren's husband, Paul, but if he thinks he talked his way out of trouble,

He's terribly mistaken. The former school teacher has graduated from person of interest to prime suspect with two driven detectives on his trail. It wasn't work. It was something other than that. It was a mission. They didn't say don't leave town, but the detectives are worried he might. We were starting to get worried. More and more information was leading us to Paul.

And is Paul going to disappear? Are we going to lose him to the wind? Hello? Hey, Paul. How are you? A detective tries to persuade Paul to come back for another interview, but the suspect is suspicious. Have you come up with any suspects besides me at this point, or am I still it? Well, we can talk about that when you come down. When police search here at Paul DeWeiss' home, they find some of those unusual Auggie LeBran .22 caliber bullets.

We did find matching or like ammo in his possession at his home that matched the shell casings at the scene. Very specifically, they found the Aguila ammunition. That's not something that's common. That's not something you can buy around here. Police are poised to make an arrest when Detective Lensing gets a call. It's Paul.

As I'm talking to him, we are literally following him in the car. He doesn't have any idea. Yeah, absolutely. He is arrested shortly after making that phone call. He was arrested on one count of attempted deliberate homicide and one count of deliberate homicide. Paul pleads not guilty.

Detectives are puzzling over boot prints at the crime scene and where those prints might lead. There were definitely two distinct sets of footprints, tracks in the snow that were going into the residence. Do you have a standard pair of shoes that you use when you go out? Well, I wear these sometimes. I've got a pair of boots I wear sometimes.

Detectives determined one set of prints at the crime scene was made by Merrill hiking boots like these, size 11. What size shoes do you wear? 11. 11. They say they find Paul wearing those Merrill boots in family photos on Facebook and in the convenience store video the night of the murder. And we never found them because they were thrown away or destroyed.

The footprints in the snow at the crime scene, "The Trail of a Killer," lead police here to the shoe aisle at the local Walmart. One of our detectives decided that he was just going to go to Walmart and just start pulling shoes off the shelves and looking at each and every boot that he could find. The question is, do you have a match?

We had a match. Sure enough, the detective says he finds an Interceptor Frontier tactical boot with a tread pattern consistent with prints found at the crime scene. The mystery now, who was in those shoes? Detectives turn to Paul's children.

We were really beginning to suspect at this point in time that they knew something. We decided that we were going to do some good old-fashioned detective interviews with them. You know, one-on-one, sit them down like anybody else, despite their age. You know Lauren as well as anybody. What do you think happened to her? Lateral. What's your speculation? What do you think happened? She was in her home sleeping and

Something unfortunate happened. Who do you think? Who do you think could do something like that? I have no idea. And it couldn't be my dad. He loves his family too much. And then there's a commotion outside the interrogation room. Police thought those boots were one size, but a crime scene tech, Mike Gersey, suddenly realizes that's wrong. The boots are much smaller. I'm watching your interview with Joe Jr. Mm-hmm.

And Gersey runs up to me and he's like, "These aren't size 10s or whatever. These are much smaller." Guys, I was off on the size. This isn't a size 10. This is a size 6 or 6 and a half. And I'm like, "Oh crap." And I get a message, pause, come out. That kind of changed everything. Because now I'm thinking, we got a size 6 probably in this interview room.

Detective Kopp returns with a pair of interceptor boots, and Joe can't seem to take his eyes off of them. So, have you ever seen boots like that before? So you have a pair of those. I did. Okay. They got messed up for me working, so they weren't doing their job anymore, so I threw them away. And we had found pictures later on cell phones that showed Joe in those boots.

What size of boot do you wear? It's the next regular. Okay. We are thinking that Joe DeWise was there. His shoe prints are at the scene of the crime. We decided to stop the interview because the interview was going to take a turn. Because now Joe is implicated somehow. And I don't believe that you're being completely truthful with me.

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We didn't actually know what happened in that house without eyes on the inside or someone admitting to what happened. We couldn't put all the pieces together until Joe finally started putting those pieces together for us. Joe DeWise, an alibi witness for his dad, is back in an interrogation room for the second day in a row.

The dynamic has not changed. His mom is there. And you've had a heart-to-heart with her before this. We did. When Joe's mom, Maria Frazier, arrived in Montana, Detective Jeremy Kopp greeted her with stunning news. Boot prints at the crime scene suggest Joe was there. That was a hard conversation. Please tell me you love me.

Where do you want to tell the truth? What do you see when you see that still picture? Heartbroken mom and a young man who had been carrying kind of the weight of the world on his shoulders. If I can't get you to be honest with me, I can't help you. Jeremy was very delicate with Joe. And I don't believe that you're being completely truthful with me.

We were pretty sure at that point that Joe was there at the scene. Joe, we've got to be honest with each other. I am being completely honest with you. How did your boots, those same prints end up at the crime scene? Joe, be truthful. I have a son that's similar age as Joe and I could see, you know, so much of my son in him. It made it more personal. Joe, you've got to help me.

Just tell me it wasn't you that went in and shot her. Did you go in and shoot her? Then who did? When does the dam finally break? Several dozen denials, deviations, and... But you can see, every time, it gets a little heavier, a little harder. How long have you been planning it? And this is it. I don't know if Eddie was planning it. You don't think he was planning it? You think he just did it...

Out of the blue? Why that night? It's just how it happened. It's just how it happened? He's torn, tortured by the loyalty to his father. There's a weight of Joe and everything that he's carrying. And then he started to slowly share that Paul had brought him with him.

Joe says his father, armed with a pistol, forced him to go with him to the house. He says he was afraid his father would kill him and his sisters. Stay here. Stay. Stay. Could you see the stairs? Could you see the stairs? Could you hear him? Could you hear him? Dad. Dad. What the hell is wrong with you? Dad.

It touches you. What that young man had to endure and now is carrying, no kid should ever be in that environment. And there's just a bunch of grown men and women in there and tears just streaming down faces because

We all know it's true, but none of us wanted it to be true. It became very obvious to me that Joe is not a willing participant. His father essentially marched him up to that residence at gunpoint, and Joe simply did not have a choice. Joe was not charged with any crime. In another interview a month later, he provides more horrifying details. They flip on the light, and this woman says, "Who are you?"

And then he yells, "Who the f*** are you?" And then shoots her. I just hear shots. Okay. Joe says his father then goes into Lauren's bedroom. I hear Lauren scream a very short, like, surprised, fearful scream. And then I hear three shots and it's like, "One, two, three." And then the last shot. Okay.

Once they were back in Bozeman, they went to the town pump and got the beer and then started disposing of evidence. We searched trash cans, we searched ditches, we tried to retrace whatever possible routes we thought that Paul might have gone. The amount of man hours that went into searching. Just when they're ready to give up hope, they catch a break.

The one that didn't get away. A Montana outdoors woman is out here fishing on this frozen pond and you'd never guess what crucial clue she reels in. A lake in Montana, great spot for skating and ice fishing. From recreation to a murder investigation.

-Cattail Lake is about to become a critical location in the crime that shook Bozeman, the shooting of Lauren DeWise and Ashley Van Hamer. -We still didn't have a murder weapon. -Our one person that was telling us anything, Joe, he didn't know where Paul got rid of the pistol. -We involved search and rescue. We searched trash cans. We searched ditches.

We were throwing everything we could, the amount of man hours that went into searching, trying to find the murder weapon. I mean, the state has to prove every element of the allegation beyond a reasonable doubt. Missing evidence is doubt, and not having a murder weapon is a significant piece of missing evidence.

It's important. I mean, it's not impossible to prosecute a case without a weapon. But if you can get the murder weapon and then you can add that piece to the puzzle and trace that weapon back, now you're pulling the case together the way it's supposed to go. Police are looking for a Ruger 22 caliber pistol. They believe Paul DeWise owns one, but when they search his home, they don't find it. So when we executed the search warrant on his house, we found an owner's manual

for a .22 caliber Mark II pistol, but we could not find the pistol anywhere in his collection of guns. - And then a gun turns up in the most Montana way you can imagine. Get yourself a bucket, some bait, drill a hole in the ice, and you can catch a mess of fish here in Montana. You might also reel in a clue like that missing murder weapon. It was found right here on this lake.

How you doing? Doing good. Beautiful day to fish. I love it out here. Look at this. Paradise. Absolutely. The day the shootings are discovered in Belgrade, Andrea Larson is ice fishing about six miles away on Cattail Lake with her husband and their dog, Aldo. So take me back to that day, January 7th, 2018.

You're out here fishing. - Yep. - Had you heard about the shooting? - No, I mean, my husband and I were just having a lazy Sunday morning. We got up and made a little bit of breakfast and then decided to come out here. - So where exactly did you find the gun? - So it was kind of in this general vicinity here in the middle of the skating track that they plow every year. - Kind of sitting in the snow. - Yeah, just upside down, mostly buried in the snow.

When it immediately became apparent that it was the butt of a pistol that I was looking at. The gun found within hours of the crime. If Andrea turns it in right away, this case gets solved in 24 hours. But that's not how murder mysteries work. This couple found the gun, did not think too much of it. They ended up picking it up and they brought it back to their house and forgot about it.

You know, people watching might ask, why did you take so long to turn it in? Well, at the time I was in the process of enlisting in the National Guard. So I had quite a bit on my plate and quite a bit on my mind. And at the time it wasn't any kind of a pressing issue. It was just a lost and found. We decided that we should probably put a press release out to the public to remind them that we're still working this case.

And we still have evidence we need to find and we can't find it. I was actually reading an article on my phone about the murder and there was a note in the article that mentioned that they hadn't found the boots or the murder weapon and the murder weapon was a Ruger Mark 2 22 long rifle pistol and

In an instant, my world shrank and I knew that was the exact model of pistol that I had found. Andrea calls the police and as quick as you can say, "Exhibit A," an officer is at her front door to collect it. Oh boy. It's a big deal.

I can still remember when I got the phone call from a detective cop indicating that they had found that. It was a big day. We didn't recover any prints, but what we did do was run an ATF trace on the serial number. We ultimately found through that trace of the firearm that it was in fact Mr. DeWise who had purchased that firearm.

a firearms expert test fires the pistol and determines it's the gun that killed Lauren and wounded Ashley. That was certainly a big piece of evidence that further linked Mr. DeWise not only to the gun, but that it also linked the gun to the crime scene. It was kind of icing on that cake that that is the murder weapon. How does it feel to be a part of such a terrible crime? I'm glad I was able to add

to the evidence but it's not something I would have asked to. You didn't want to be involved in this? No, I mean it was a terrible tragedy. It's violence against women isn't something that we want to see happening anywhere but least of all in a town that I consider to be very safe.

And what if Andrea hadn't gone ice fishing that day? - It was very warm that day and the slush was very thick, so it wouldn't have taken very much snow to cover it back up again. It would have frozen to the ice and then melted off in spring and no one would have ever seen it. - When we come back, a friend of Lauren's recalls an online encounter with Paul DeWise just weeks before the killing. - The hair on the back of my neck stood up.

Nearly two years after the shooting, Paul DeWise goes on trial right here in this courtroom, 301 in Bozeman, Montana. He's charged with the deliberate homicide of his wife, Lauren, and the attempted deliberate homicide of a woman he didn't even know, Ashley Van Hamer. I don't think anyone had laid eyes on Ashley since the moment, since she had been injured. So her walking into that courtroom that first time was like, all right, we're here.

It was a higher profile case, I think primarily because there were so many people in the community that like Lauren. They're concerned about domestic violence and they want to see people held accountable. After being in that courtroom, I can tell you some of the things that were said in there were quite chilling. On her work computer, we even found photographs of some bruises that she had sustained during this whole situation.

Paul admits he once punched Lauren 10 times in the arm, but he denies repeatedly abusing her and he denies killing her. He threatened her constantly. He has held a gun to her. He has threatened to kill her. He has said, I know why men kill their wives. Her coworkers saw bruises and one of her supervisors actually saw a handprint on her. And at that point, she denied that it was from Paul. She said,

I can't believe I've never told anybody this, but I think I need to leave Paul. He beats me all the time. Other than Paul, can you think of anyone else that would have any reason to do anyone in your house harm? Not a soul. Prosecutors play evidence of Paul's behavior for the jury. Recordings preserved by Paul himself on his phone. And I'm angry. And my children are angry. My baby's angry. And it's hard for me to live with.

I would say the most difficult piece of evidence and the strongest pieces of evidence came from Paul's cell phone. His phone had so much information and it had audio recordings all kind of painted the broad picture of

how violent the relationship between Paul and his, and Lauren really were. Hours long audio clips of him just harassing Lauren night and day. Lauren, I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you. I

There were some pretty horrific recordings that he had made with Lauren. It was very, very dark.

All of this evidence was really sort of piling up with regards to who it was that had a motive and desire to cause harm to Lauren. Paul's attorneys argue there's no evidence of repeated physical abuse. He cooperated with police. And no experts or physical evidence, neither DNA, fingerprints, nor cell phone data, that tie him to the crime. The bubbly, happy personality was hiding a lot of pain, a lot of fear.

Lauren's friend Jessica Johns says she saw Paul's dark side when he posted on Facebook about his breakup with Lauren. Along with the post was some very strong language about how horrible Lauren was and that she was a cheater and a liar and many things that were very shocking. She says she tried to convince Paul to take down that post.

No matter what I would say about, "Hey, I understand your feelings," he would just spew more and more hate. Jessica says she reached out to Lauren on Facebook. She's like, "I'm okay. I'm at a friend's house. I've been in a very bad marriage for a long time." Less than two months later, Lauren was dead. The biggest freight train that you could see coming, I saw it coming and I couldn't stop it. It was heartbreaking.

Next, a courtroom surprise. A witness who claims the wrong man is on trial. One witness who knows for certain whether Paul DeWise shot Lauren and Ashley. And Paul DeWise caught on tape. The phone call prosecutors say exposed a secret plan to beat the rap. He needs to just step up and do what's right so that we can be reunited and take care of baby.

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Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same premium wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities, so do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm

I'm told it's super easy to do at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of $45 for three-month plan equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile.com. This is a call from and paid for by an inmate at Gelatin County Detention Center. About a month after his arrest, Paul DeWise calls his daughter Natalie from jail.

He made a phone call to Natalie trying to convince her to tell Joe to take the fall for the whole thing. - Joe said that I took him with me and I'm responsible for what happened. So that means to me that Joe must have done it. And it's really important that he admit it because if he admits it, then I get the outta here. You understand? - Yeah.

tells his 17-year-old daughter to convince her 15-year-old brother to confess to the homicide of his stepmother.

And it's all on the jail call. He's scared, I understand. But he doesn't understand that the jail's here. They're safe. They're nice. The food's good. And they don't have the rape problem. So he doesn't have to worry about that . OK, good. Now, DeWise's 19-year-old daughter also took the stand. At the trial, Natalie tells the jury about that phone call. That was a damaging piece of evidence. It painted Paul in an unlikable light, I think. It did hurt our case.

I didn't even know if we were going to call Natalie at trial. We had her subpoenaed, but we didn't know if we were actually going to call her because it was kind of a loose cannon in terms of what she was going to say.

For almost two years after the murder, Natalie had backed her dad's alibi that he was home with her and Joe when Lauren and Ashley were shot. But that all changed about a month before trial. Natalie, will you give me your full name, please? Natalie DeWise.

She ended up confessing to knowing that her dad had killed Lauren, that she had stayed at home with Jennifer, and that when he came home, he told her everything that he had done. He says he's done something bad. Just stay calm. You don't have anything to worry about. I need your cooperation with this. I took Joe to go kill Lauren.

Paul's defense attorneys remind the jury that Natalie had changed her story, but she's not the only one of Paul's children to testify against him. Our theory at the trial was that Joe gave two very inconsistent statements and tried to attack his credibility. If Joe was at the house and admitted to being at the house, and there was some suspicion that

He pulled the trigger. He has a motive there, doesn't he? To change or modify a story. And that's certainly something I think that we seized upon. It just further showed the degree of control and manipulation that Mr. DeWise had over those two children, Natalie and Joe. It was very clear that he used the kids as pawns. The most important witness to me was Ashley Van Hemert.

She is a miracle. I think we should do it. Let's stand up. She had done at that point years of physical therapy. I'm standing now. Thank you, Jesus. And was able to walk up to the stand by herself and that was incredible. I was shot in the back of the head. I was shot in the right carotid artery.

What was it like to testify? It wasn't really anything at all. They just wanted to know what my life was like before I got hurt and what I was able to do and clearly what I was not able to do now. Ashley has no memory of it, but she now knows what police say Paul DeWise did that night. That's when he started to shoot me. Horrific. Yes. How do you make sense of that? Satan. Evil. Pure evil. Yes.

He didn't want somebody moving on with her life without him. And sadly, Lauren died. She did, yes. Very sadly, yes. She left behind a three-year-old daughter. It still stays with you. It'll never leave.

The final witness to be sworn in and sit in this chair is the one witness who knows for certain whether Paul DeWise shot Lauren and Ashley. He's the one witness who knows for certain whether Paul DeWise is guilty or not. That final witness, Paul DeWise.

You got the idea that he thought he was the smartest person in the room all the time. Paul decided to waive his Fifth Amendment right and he testified. I think it worked out poorly.

On the seventh day, the defense rested. The jury did not. After two hours of deliberation, the jury found Joseph Paul DeWise guilty. Paul was found guilty of count one, deliberate homicide, count two, attempted deliberate homicide. Two months later, at his sentencing hearing, Paul gets another chance to talk.

I could go on for hours about the injustices, but I won't. I'm not guilty of what I've been convicted of. Paul DeWise had his say, but he didn't get the last word. And you get a chance to speak to him directly. Ashley, what are the things that you would like to say to the court and the defendant? When she said it, she was looking right at him and he was looking right at her.

Ashley Van Hamer confronting the man who left her or dead. This you have to see. To the charge of deliberate homicide of Lauren DeWise guilty. Paul DeWise has been found guilty of murdering his wife Lauren and for the attempted murder of her roommate Ashley Van Hamer. Now at his sentencing, the courtroom falls silent as Ashley takes the stand.

Ashley wanted to testify at sentencing, which is her right as a victim. And she got up on the stand and talked about how her life had been changed due to being shot. I've had to learn to live with only the use of my right hand and arm.

So I've had to learn to dress all over again. I had to learn how to eat all over again and swallow. I can't do any of the stuff that I enjoyed doing before. She is a miracle. The degree of courage and compassion that she displayed in getting up to confront Mr. DeWise about what he did is remarkable. What was it like looking him in the eye? I just walked in and I saw the back of him and I just thought, well, that's the man that shot me.

And I don't know why God fully chose to save my life yet, Paul. I don't. But one thing I do know that I've gained from this is I understand people's hurt on a whole new level. You may have tried to have killed me, but you don't have the final say on when somebody's life is over. Despite all the harm she suffered, Ashley's message to Paul is one of forgiveness and redemption.

If God can forgive me in a limited amount of times, then how can I withhold forgiveness from you, Paul? This doesn't have to be the end of your story. You can still do good while you're in prison. You can still be kind to people. She even brings with her a gift. I brought a Bible, Paul, that I want to give to you. Holy smokes. You get someone that can not once but twice go to a witness stand, let alone enter the same room as someone who did this to you.

and say right to their face, "I forgive you." It changed everybody in that room. While Ashley may be forgiving, Judge Holly Brown has other ideas when it comes to Paul's sentence. For count one, deliberate homicide will be committed to the Montana State Prison for the period of 100 years.

He got 220 years no parole. So 100 years for the count for Lauren, 100 years for Ashley, and then 10 years per count for the weapons enhancements. It doesn't bring Lauren back, and it can't heal his children in the way that they deserve, you know, in such a...

short span of time, he ruined so many lives. - Both Natalie and Joe DeWise returned to Florida to live with their mother. Little Jennifer DeWise now lives with her maternal grandmother. - I kept thinking about her daughter. She never got the chance to really know how wonderful her mom was, and that was heartbreaking.

Silence is the worst thing that you can have with regards to domestic violence. Not talking about it, not bringing it out into the open, not pursuing it with law enforcement or your family members. A victim is most in danger, especially when they leave the relationship. That's the most dangerous time.

How often do you think of her? I think of her quite often, most often on the anniversary. On the anniversary of the shooting, Ashley posted a heartfelt letter addressed to Lauren. She shared it with me when I sat down with her. I'm sorry, Lauren. I'm sorry you're not here anymore, and I can't tell you why God didn't stop him. Believe me when I say I would trade places with you in a heartbeat. Please know you will never be forgotten. Do you think she can hear you?

Yeah, I do. Good boy! Today, Ashley is back to the things she loves, like being outdoors with her dog Bronson and spending time with her family.

How did it feel to be out there on the mountain? It's awesome. I'm learning to snowboard again. I mean, it's learning all over again, you know, a whole new way. Awesome! So much fun! I mean, I look pretty unorthodox going down the hill now, but I mean, I can still do it. Are you amazed, Caleb? Amazed, yes, but not surprised. Just with her grit, her tenacity, her...

unwillingness to give up. Linda you wear a bracelet that says... I do and it says you are stronger than you think you are and she is definitely one of the strongest people that I know. I'm more vibrant today than I've ever been in my whole life. Thanks to this horrible tragedy. You know what? Yeah. Yeah. I love you. I love you. Yes. Yes.

What amazing resilience. Ashley tells us that she hopes to raise awareness of domestic violence in honor of her roommate Lauren. Paul DeWise appealed his murder conviction, but it was denied. That's our program for tonight. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Deborah Roberts. And I'm David Muir. From all of us here at 2020 and ABC News, good night.

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