Evil Was Waiting
40:54 Share

Dateline is sponsored by Capital One. Banking with Capital One helps you keep more money in your wallet with no fees or minimums on checking accounts and no overdraft fees. Just ask the Capital One bank guy. It's pretty much all he talks about, in a good way. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com slash bank. Capital One N.A. member FDIC.

Brought to you by the Capital One Venture X-Card. If you love to travel, the Capital One Venture X-Card is perfect for you. Earn unlimited double miles on your purchases and turn them into extraordinary travel. Enjoy premium benefits at a collection of luxury hotels when you book through Capital One Travel and get access to over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide. Capital One, what's in your wallet? Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com for details.

He wasn't my biological child, but my heart. You can't tell that to my heart. I love that boy. It's not fair that he was taken from his children or from his family.

Jesse fell for Vince, a man in uniform, holding the fort during his long deployments. My hat goes off to all military wives. It's not easy. It's not. She was a good mom. She loved the kids. Reunited at last, they celebrated. Then, on the drive home... There was a car there, stranded. Vince tells his wife that he's going to go check on him.

I heard two, three popping sounds. He was laying there with what appeared to be several gunshot wounds to the head. Her husband, a father of five, dead. No one could understand it. The type of person that he was, I don't think he ever had an enemy. Or did he? He said, "We are now in debt."

We knew that there was another person that needed to be looked at. A winding investigation leading deep into the dark. This sounds like a love triangle. I believe it was. Terrific. Brutal. I was like, why? Are you kidding me? I'm Lester Holt and this is Dateline. Here's Andrea Canning with Evil Was Waiting. Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Cornfields.

picket fences, and patriotism. Just to the south is Fort Campbell, home to more than 13,000 army soldiers and their families. After facing danger all over the world, soldiers return to a collective sigh of relief. After all, bad things aren't supposed to happen here.

But when one young sergeant returned from a tour in Afghanistan, he had no idea the enemy would be much closer to home. Multiple gunshots to his face and head. He had only been back from fighting in the war for such a short period of time. It was tragic. My heart sunk. I'm sorry.

Sergeant Vincent Goslin Jr., a 28-year-old father of five, had served in the Army for seven years as a quartermaster and mechanic. Did Vince ever express to you what it meant to him to serve his country? He absolutely loved it. Tim Hamilton is Vince's cousin. But as he explains it, they were much more than that.

And Tim recalls the mischief he and Vince got into growing up in a small Michigan town called Cadillac. We'd go play in the creeks, go fishing.

We actually built a raft out of old barrels that we threw in the water and tied sticks to it and never floated. Sounds like Huckleberry Finn. Yeah. But Vince's childhood story wasn't always so idyllic. Vince's mom left at eight months old, so he was raised with his dad. I think his dad was married six times, so that was a little tough on him.

Janet Madison considered herself Vince's surrogate mom. She says growing up, he spent a lot of time at her house. Her son was Vince's best friend. He was just like one of the other boys. He was always there. They did everything together. It seems like you two had quite a connection, you and Vince. What was that all about? I think a lot of it was I never judged him.

Vince was, you know, he was the purest tattoo kid. The droopy pants, the spiked hair, the, you know. And I just treated him just like me and you. And then one day, he came to her with some life-changing news. Was he scared finding out he was going to be a dad? He probably was scared, but he was afraid that I would be mad at him. And

I wasn't mad at him. Vince had two sons from two relationships by the time he was 18. But Janet says he only ever saw them as blessings. How was Vince as a dad? He was awesome. He changed that diaper. He'd clean up that puke. You know, he didn't care. His kids were his world.

Then, someone else entered his world: a hometown girl named Jessie Hull. "Vince loved Jessie unconditional. And you could see it. He was happy. He loved her." And Janet says he started to settle down, moved in with Jessie's family, and quickly bonded with her dad, a Vietnam vet. He was the one who suggested the military might be a good way for Vince to get on the straight and narrow. So Vince joined the Army in 2005. He was 21 years old.

With Vince's career heading in the right direction, he took another big step and popped the question. Jesse said yes.

There was a connection between them two that they loved each other to death. You know, they would argue, and I think they actually just argued just so they could make up. Some people say that's the best part. It is. After the wedding, kids soon followed for the happy couple. Two girls and a boy. As a sergeant in the Army, Vince spent a lot of time overseas, so it was up to Jessie to handle the home front and take care of the kids on her own. Isn't that easy having a husband who's away?

It takes someone special to be able to endure that and get through that. Tim says somehow Jesse and Vince made it work. When we'd see him, Jesse, and them as a family, they looked like a great family.

By 2012, Vince and Jesse had been married for six years. Despite some bumps, Tim thought life was good for Vince and his family. But shortly after returning from Afghanistan, Vince's second tour there, Tim got an unsettling call from him. The sound of his voice, it was, if something happens, I want you to know what's going on. But he wouldn't tell me anything.

Coming up...

A wife's harrowing tale. Soon after, another driver makes an alarming discovery. It was a moonless February night in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, around 8 p.m.

when a frantic call came into 911. 911? Yes. I just stopped on the side of the road. My husband got out to see if some guy needed help.

Jessie Goslin told the operator that her husband, Sergeant Vincent Goslin, had been shot when he tried to help a motorist stranded on the side of the road. Jessie was hysterical. As she tried to calm down, Jessie told the operator, after being shot, Vince came back to their car but was unable to get in because a man was pulling him back.

Jesse says she drove away from the scene as her husband had instructed. Minutes later, another 911 call came in. This is the man who made the call.

Walter Ferguson said he was getting ready to visit his cousin when he heard the gunshots. Living around here, we hear a lot of gunshots. So I didn't think nothing of it. I got in my truck, started to come down the road. As soon as I crossed the hill, I saw the truck's lights came on and he just bolted off. So what did you do when you saw this truck? Well,

Well, I mean, I went and turned around, and as I came back around, I made sure my high beams were on. I ended up seeing his body. There, on the side of the road, Walter spotted a man lying face down in the dirt. So I stopped, and I tried yelling at him and talking to him to see if he was awake, alert, something. And I started looking for my phone. I didn't have it on me, so I had to end up zooming back to the house, call 911.

Christian County Detective Ed Stokes raced to the scene. We were just notified that there had been a shooting on Fidelio Road and one male possibly deceased. Tell us what you see when you arrive here at the scene. The first thing that I noticed was...

Sergeant Gosling's body laying here in the gravel with a large amount of blood around the body. Could you tell if he had been shot? We found what appeared to be gunshot wounds to the head and the shell casings laying near the body inside the crime scene backed up the thought that he was shot. You say he was shot in the head? Correct. And the face? Correct. Was this personal? It's personal to me because...

That person that shot him nine times wanted him dead. While Detective Stokes worked the crime scene about a quarter of a mile down the road, deputies were talking to Jessie. She was hysterical, crying, almost sometimes where you couldn't even understand what she was saying. There's Jessie on her knees, collapsed on the side of the road. This was a wife who had clearly been through a traumatic situation? She had just watched her husband get shot multiple times, yes.

Detectives took Jessie back to the station to get her statement. Her stomach, it seemed, couldn't take the horror she'd just witnessed. By now, Christian County Commonwealth's attorney Lynn Pryor had been notified.

What did you think when you heard that a soldier from Fort Campbell has been gunned down? He's barely been home from his tour of duty. It hurt. We take a great pride in having Fort Campbell as part of our community. The fact that our soldiers protect us every day, and we wanted to make sure that we got justice for him. Was Jesse able to describe the person personally?

who shot her husband? She initially described him as a black man, and I believe that's pretty basically all the description she was able to give. Jesse also described the killer's car. What kind of car? An old one, one of the big ones. What color was it? I don't know, like a reddish brownish color.

It wasn't much for police to go on. And to make it even more difficult, the eyewitness, Walter Ferguson, had seen something different. Describe the truck that you saw speeding off. As he passed me, I could see that it was like a white truck and I saw the 4x4 on it. But that was about as much as I could see on it. So the witness had seen a white truck and Jessie said she saw a reddish-brown car.

Investigators had a lot to sort out. A murdered soldier, a distraught wife, an unknown motive, and a giant secret about to be discovered. Coming up, Jessie reveals a bombshell about her husband. If this story checks out, that's pretty serious. If we can prove that, yes.

When Dateline continues.

This cold and flu season, Instacart is here to help deliver all of your sick day essentials. Whether you're in prevention mode and need vitamins, hand sanitizer, and that lemon tea your Nana swears by, or you're in healing mode and need medicine, soup, and a lot more tissues, simply download the Instacart app to get sick day supplies that reinvigorate or relieve delivered in as fast as 30 minutes. Plus, enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Excludes restaurant orders, service fees, and terms apply.

Create your oasis with Thuma, a modern design company crafting simple, elevated furniture from premium, eco-friendly materials. Thuma's core collection, the classic bed, nest dresser, and pillar bookshelf combines the technique of Japanese joinery with thoughtful design for timeless style and lasting quality. Assembly is quick and easy, taking just five-ish minutes with no tools required.

Explore the full collection at Thuma.co or visit their flagship location in New York City. For $100 off your first bed, head to Thuma.co. That's Thuma.co. ♪

Was this case a top priority? You have an American soldier gunned down and a shooter on the loose. Every detective we had was working this case. Did you worry about the safety of others? At first, it's always a thought through our mind. Is this a, you know, serial killer? Because we have no motive yet. So, yes, it was very important.

Back at the Christian County Sheriff's Department, 25-year-old Jessie Goslin continued to speak to detectives. She was emotionally and physically distraught. And she kept asking about her husband. Jessie still hadn't been told if he was dead or alive.

Finally, the detective came back and broke the news about Vince. He was pronounced dead at the scene. I'm really sorry for your loss. The tragic news of Vince's murder spread fast throughout the base and to family members. Janet, Vince's surrogate mother, got a call from Jessie's mom. And she said, Janet, there's been an accident. Vince has been shot.

And I was devastated. I was like, what? What do you mean he's been shot? Vince's cousin Tim immediately left his home in Virginia and traveled to Kentucky still in disbelief. How can he survive two times in Afghanistan and come home to be shot by some worthless thug that didn't even know him? You must have felt so horrible for Jesse and for the kids. Absolutely. I must have called her at least 50 times.

trying to figure out what's going on and be there for her and the kids. By now, Jessie had left the Christian County Sheriff's Department and headed home. She's picked up by a friend, taking him back to her house on Fort Campbell. The day after the murder, local police and agents from Fort Campbell were canvassing the Goslins' neighborhood. This is now a mix of Army investigators and local investigators. It is.

They knocked on the door of Kay and William Ray, the couple who lived next door to the Goslins. What they had to say was so compelling, they asked them to immediately come in for an interview. He said you had some information about something that Ms. Goslin had told you pertaining to some trouble her husband was in. Somehow or another got involved with a drug dealer, at least $20,000 a month, and got jumped and stole away from him. Well, being that happened, these guys were supposedly after him.

The Rays explained to the investigators Jesse had told them about the drug dealers weeks before the murder. Okay.

Later that day, Detective Stokes says Kay Ray convinced Jesse she should talk to military investigators. Tell them what she told local police. It turned out to be a fateful decision. Jesse gets in with the friend and they go to CID headquarters.

With Kay Rae sitting next to her for support, Jessie gave a detailed explanation about why she turned down that deserted road. She said as they were driving home, she was at the wheel and she started to feel sick. Vince suggested they pull over. And he said, there's a road turned down. I turned down the road. He told me to drive until there was a spot we could pull off. She said that's when they saw the vehicle with the hood up and Vince got out to help. Not long after, she heard gunshots.

I heard like two, maybe three, like popping sounds and my husband rounded the edge of the passenger side of the vehicle. He was trying to get in and the guy was behind him and he was pulling him back out. All my husband could see was his co-drive going out of here.

She described a chaotic scene with a random motorist. But then investigators asked her about Vince's involvement with those drug dealers, suggesting perhaps it wasn't so random after all. Jessie told them what she knew. He had told me that he had bought a large quantity of meth and fibrins. He said, "We are now in debt."

If this story checks out, I mean, that's pretty serious. If we could prove that, yes.

While Jessie did her best to give the investigators leads, police working the case in the field got a new lead of their own, and it sent them in a very different direction. Coming up...

Did Vince's killer threaten Jesse, too? She was getting text messages from this man. That's what she indicated, yes. And that he would kill her and her children if she didn't comply with what he was telling her to do.

One day after the murder of Sergeant Vince Goslin, the investigation was unfolding fast. In the field, detectives were gathering evidence and talking to witnesses. And at Fort Campbell, the interview rooms were filling up. In one of those rooms, Jesse Goslin. Jesse had given law enforcement a possible motive for her husband's murder.

She said Vince owed money to drug dealers. A lot of money. Do you know when the drug dealers were? No, I don't. Prosecutor Pryor was getting regular phone updates about all the witness interviews. But to her, Jesse's was the most important. Jesse gave police a key new detail.

She said on the night of the murder, one of those drug dealers contacted her. Did you have to talk to the drug dealers directly? She was getting text messages from this man? That's what she indicated, yes. And that he would do harm or kill her and her family, her children, if she didn't comply with what he was telling her to do.

That's when Jessie admitted she didn't drive down Fidelio Road because she was feeling sick. I got a text that told me to turn on the road. What did the text say? Turn on this road or turn on the next road? What did it say exactly? It told me to turn on the road after the stoplight if you deny your whole family's death.

She said she felt she had no choice but to go through with what the man said, even though she suspected something bad was about to happen. As Jesse's interview on Fort Campbell headed into its second hour, sheriff's detectives across town were working on tracking down the truck seen leaving the murder scene, figuring if they could find the truck, they would find the killer.

Walter Ferguson, the witness who had described seeing a white-colored 4x4 truck speeding down the road, gave police more distinctive descriptions about the vehicle. It was very loud.

Detectives quickly found neighbors who told them they'd seen a truck just like that many times in the neighborhood. They searched DMV records and found the truck. It was registered to a former soldier who had lived on base at Fort Campbell, 24-year-old Jared Long.

Jared Long was very much a person of interest at that point. But he's not on base anymore. No. Where is he? We didn't know. So Detective Stokes says law enforcement immediately got busy trying to find him. We actually put an attempt to locate out all surrounding states and counties from here to Colorado, where he was from.

And in fact, he was stopped by a trooper in Colorado. He must have really hightailed it out of Kentucky to get to Colorado that fast. Quick. When he was pulled over, was he driving a raised white truck? He was in a light gray Dodge pickup truck that was lifted with large tires and loud exhaust, matching the description of our witness. So you're thinking you might have your man here. Yes. Yes.

He might have thought he had his man, but police decided the fact that Jared's truck matched the description of the eyewitness wasn't enough to arrest him. They stalled as long as they could, I think, and ultimately had to let him go. That's potential evidence driving away. Who knows what's in that truck, what's on his clothes? I mean, it could all be destroyed. That was all possible.

potential evidence that we wanted to get our hands on and had no ability to do so at that time. That's tough. Very tough. But detectives pressed on. And while trying to figure out who Jared Long was and why he would want Vince dead, they uncovered new information about their main witness, Jesse. Coming up.

Jesse's neighbors reveal that they too had seen Jared's truck outside Jesse's house. How often would you see that vehicle there over that period of time while Vincent was deployed? Maybe two or three times a week.

When Dateline continues.

So you never miss a play or lose your seat on the couch or have to go head to head for the last chicken wing. Shop Game Day Favorites on Instacart and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three grocery orders. Offer valid for a limited time. Other fees and terms apply.

Hey everybody, I'm Al Roker from the Today Show. I am so excited to kickstart the new year with help from our all-new Start Today app. It has everything you need for your wellness journey all in one place. Fitness challenges for all levels, meal plans that are easy and delicious, and so much more. It's built to fit your lifestyle and our experts will guide you every step of the way. Come on, let's

Let's do this. To subscribe, download Start Today from the App Store on your Apple device now. Terms apply. Cancel anytime through Apple under profile settings.

A true crime story never really ends. Even when a case is closed, the journey for those left behind is just beginning. Since our Dateline story aired, Tracy has harnessed her outrage into a mission. I had no other option. I had to do something. Catch up with families, friends, and investigators on our bonus series, After the Verdict.

Ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances with strength and courage. It does just change your life, but speaking up for these issues helps me keep going. To listen to After the Verdict, subscribe to Dateline Premium on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or at datelinepremium.com. At Fort Campbell, Jessie Gosselin was talking to a military investigator, giving possible clues about her husband's killer.

Meanwhile, Detective Stokes and others from the Christian County Sheriff's Department thought they were on to something. They believed they'd located the truck from the crime scene and knew the name of the driver, Jared Long. Now, they needed to know why he would be involved in Vince's murder. Our unit's detectives, along with the CID agents from Fort Campbell, did a neighborhood canvas on post. And what they discovered was a bombshell.

Neighbors said they'd seen Jared's truck, not just in the area, but parked in Jesse's driveway. Kay Rae lived next door. I would see him driving the truck with her and the three kids. I would see her driving the truck with the three kids. And what she said next really got the investigators' attention. How often on a weekly basis would you see that vehicle there over that period of time while Vincent was deployed? Maybe two or three times a week.

As you looked deeper into this potential relationship between Jared and Jesse, how serious was it? From what we could gather, they lived together on base. And if Sergeant Gosling came home for any reason, then Jared Long would leave for a couple of days while he was here. It was stunning. Stokes was now convinced Jesse was not the devoted Army wife she seemed to be.

Instead, she was at the center of a deadly love triangle. Both men in love with Jesse. Correct. Jesse in love with one man? I believe so. To the detective, evidence that Jared and Jesse were a couple was piling up.

Like when police ran the plates of the car Jesse was driving the night of the murder. They came back to Jesse Goslin and Jared Long. They owned a car together. By now, police had had enough of Jesse's shifting stories and confronted her with what they knew. Jesse, we know there wasn't a black guy. Yeah, there was. We know that his truck was there. It was not, no. Everything that was said has been true. No. Yeah, very true. No. No.

He told her they knew all about her romantic relationship with Jared. Jessie admitted she and Jared hung out together, but continued to deny there was anything sexual between them. She said they were friends, and he stayed there on the couch, and that was it. Jessie did admit she and Vince were going through a tough time, but she claimed they were working things out. I've always reassured Vince that I'm not just going to walk away from you. I'm not that person. I'm not going to...

And besides, she said Vince knew all about Jared. But investigators didn't believe her. More than three hours into Jesse's interview, after repeatedly denying she and Jared had a romantic relationship,

Jesse finally changed her story. When investigators told prosecutor Lynn Pryor that Jesse had admitted to having a romantic relationship with Jared, she knew this was a big moment.

They were planning a life together. That could be a motive. Absolutely a motive, because who was in their way of being together for the rest of their life? Her husband. And Jessie had another possible motive. As a military wife, she would receive a big payout from her husband's life insurance policy, $450,000. She certainly could have benefited greatly from the death of her husband. Before

Before Jessie's eight-hour interview was over, she had admitted to seeing Jared the day before the murder. He wanted to meet me at the motel while he was in town. I said, "Fine." We had lunch and we talked and we didn't have sex.

But it wasn't the sex investigators were interested in. Jessie had one more story to tell. She claimed that Jared had talked to the drug dealers, and if he roughed up Vince, somehow that would satisfy them. Then she said Jared told her what her job would be. He told me, you need to meet me on this road. You need to pull down to the shoulder where you can pull off.

I must take her husband straight. But the prosecutor and detectives weren't buying it. Instead, without realizing it, Jessie had finally given them what they needed. Why is there now enough to arrest her? Because she's admitted her part in getting Vincent to the location where he was ultimately killed. In Kentucky, being an accomplice to murder is the same as actually committing the murder.

That grieving wife, hysterical by the side of the road, getting sick in front of police, was charged with her husband's murder. Let me see your hands! Now step out of the truck! As for Jared Long, because of Jesse's admission that she and Jared had a plan to harm Vince, police now had enough to arrest him too. They tracked him down again, this time near his home in Colorado. They did a felony stop, called him out, made him go prone on the ground and placed him in cuffs.

They had a warrant to search his truck this time? Colorado authorities were able to obtain a search warrant for Mr. Long's truck. They found a shell casing that ultimately was matched to the shell casings found at our murder scene.

And they swabbed the truck, which eventually led to evidence that indicated gunshot residue had been left in several places around his vehicle. Colorado police brought Jared in for questioning. Unlike Jesse, he didn't hesitate to talk about his romantic relationship with her. We hooked up a while back. It was sometime around September. And...

We started going out and the next thing I knew, we were living together. I knew she was married. I knew it was horrible.

He also admitted to being in Kentucky on the day of the murder, but he says he left before dark. What do you think he left? About 5.30. What he didn't know was Jesse had already pointed the finger at him. She has spoken with the detectives, and she has told them about the plan that you guys had. Excuse me? She puts her and Vince and you at the scene.

And the witness puts you and your truck at the scene. Would you need to help us out at this point, Jared, and explain to us what happened there? I believe at this point I need to say stop, and I believe I need a lawyer. Because this has gone well beyond what I'm capable of, so...

They now had two suspects in custody. And as for that drug dealer story? Detective Stokes says that was just a hoax Jesse cooked up to throw off police.

And she told this story to several people, including her neighbors, the Rays, who unwittingly corroborated her story. Did you ever find any evidence that Vince was involved in some type of drug deal gone bad? No. That men were out to get him and his family? No, we did not. We couldn't find anything that would take us there other than her story.

Janet, Vince's surrogate mom, was horrified when she learned that Jessie, the woman who had seemed so good for Vince, was now implicated in his murder. I was devastated. I was like, why is she arrested? Did you think she was capable of killing Vince? Never. Why? There's divorce. There's divorce.

Why wouldn't she just get a divorce? But even with Jesse's story and the evidence against Jared, the case was far from closed. An unexpected twist was about to put the whole investigation into a tailspin. Did you worry that one or both of them could get away with murder? Coming up.

Prosecutors face a major setback. I was livid. Is their case about to collapse? I was devastated all over again. ♪♪

Prosecutor Lynn Pryor already felt she had a solid case against Jared Long. And after his arrest, police found even more evidence in his truck. There was one spot of blood that belonged to Vincent Goslin on the backpack of Jared Long. This is bingo right here. This is more evidence than I've had in most of the murder cases I've prosecuted. How do you explain the victim's blood on your backpack when you're hundreds of miles away? You can't, unless you're the person that killed him.

But Pryor knew the case against Jessie wasn't as airtight. It was very much a circumstantial case because there was no physical evidence implicating her. Did you worry that that wouldn't be enough to get a conviction? Somewhat, yes. Jared Long was not willing to give us anything to help out with regard to implicating Jessie. But we knew that it was...

involvement that got Jared to where Vincent was killed. How were you going to prove that? With her own words. But then entered defense attorney Mark Bryant. He represented Jared Long, and he had a plan that could benefit Jesse, too.

His strategy was to get Jesse's interview with police thrown out. And how would he do that? Mrs. Gosselin had told the local police department that she didn't want to talk, that she wanted a lawyer. I wanted a tree and I wanted to know what my husband is.

And so under the law, you have to break up any questioning. And they did. And they sent her back home to Fort Campbell. But you might remember after that, her friend convinced Jesse to go speak to the military police on base.

Jesse Gosselin spent eight hours with the police. After that very day, she said she wasn't going to talk without a lawyer. So it was just a different police agency. Bryant argued in front of a circuit judge. Since Jesse had already asked for a lawyer, the military police should never have questioned her. The judge agreed. He made a decision that...

that that confession that she made implicating our client should be set aside because the law enforcement agency for the military police should have followed the same rules that the earlier police department in Christian County had followed during that day. Jesse Goslin's statement was thrown out. The news hit Vince's family hard. Hearing the news that Vince was killed was horrible. But what the justice system did was unfair.

When they threw that out of court, I was devastated all over again. And we thought that she was going to walk away. We thought that they were going to get away with it. But Prosecutor Pryor wasn't going down without a fight. She filed a motion with the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Jesse and Jared, meanwhile, were out and about relatively free. How did you feel about both Jesse and Jared being out on house arrest with just ankle bracelets? I was livid.

I argued to the best of my ability to the judge about why someone that was charged with such a heinous murder would

should be out on an ankle monitor. And none of the arguments that I made were convincing to the judge. Then everyone waited and waited. Four long years went by before the appeals court finally reached a decision and sided with the prosecution. What's that moment like when you get word that it's been overturned and that the statement will be allowed?

I was very much relieved. Pryor considered her options and concluded that of the two, Jared deserved the harshest punishment. Jared Long was the one who pulled the trigger nine times. Jared Long was the one who took the life of Vincent Goslin. So we wanted to make sure he received the maximum punishment that he could for this crime.

To do that, the prosecutor needed not only Jesse's videotaped statement, she needed Jesse to tell a jury the whole story that she and Jared planned to murder Vince. We needed her testimony about the reasons why they planned to kill Vincent and the way that they planned it out. So the prosecutor made an offer. If Jesse pleaded guilty to complicity to murder and would testify against Jared,

she would recommend a sentence of 22 and a half years behind bars. She agreed to this plea deal? She did after long talks and very heated discussions. The prosecutor had a deal. That means the woman who had played the victim, betrayed her husband and lover, will be eligible for parole in 2031. Some people think the sentence is too light. I don't disagree with that, that the sentence was too light.

But after discussions with law enforcement, with family members, we determined that it was worth it to have her to be able to say in her own words,

what happened and why. A different prosecutor then took over the case against Jared Long, Commonwealth attorney Mark Blankenship. And as he looked over the case, he came to a different conclusion about who was most responsible. I felt that the mastermind of the crime was Jessie. She didn't pull the trigger, but without her, this doesn't happen. What bothered me was that the bar got set at 22 years later

for the mastermind of the crime. So Blankenship did what he thought he had to, to be fair, and offered Jared a deal, too. 30 years in prison for pleading guilty to first-degree murder. Jared agreed. Jared, at times, is sort of being portrayed as this kind of victim, a little bit of Jesse, that she was the mastermind. But

Vince was shot nine times in the head and the face. I mean, you cannot discount that. No. For anything. No, it bothers me. He should have gotten more than 30 years. Tim, Vince's cousin, was torn about Jared's punishment. Jessie. She should have got more time than he did. Because she manipulated him. Is that the Jessie you knew? This master manipulator? Obviously she must have been manipulating us because I would have never pegged her. I believe...

that she should do life. As for Janet, the woman who stepped in as Vince's mother, it's hard for her to describe the pain she feels. She watched her surrogate son go from a tough kid to a tough soldier. He became a good and honorable man, only to have it all needlessly taken away. He wasn't my biological child, but my heart. You can't tell that to my heart. I love that boy.

And it's not fair that he was taken from his children or from his family. He had so much potential. He had gone so far. That's all for now. I'm Lester Holt. Thanks for joining us. Rob and Sabrina Limon were just one of those magical couples. They never fought. Just happy, happy, happy. Sabrina and Rob settled in Silver Lakes.

Wholesome Anywhere Main Street, USA. But it turns out, behind some of these doors, there are secrets about religion, about friendship,

about sex and about murder. And I told him I bet my life she's not involved. I prayed she wasn't, but would I bet my life on it? No. Don't miss the true crime mystery that inspired Dateline's hit podcast, Deadly Mirage, Friday at 9, 8 central on NBC.