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00:22To be continued...
00:30And really trying very hard?
00:31Who wouldn't want to keep that going for as long as possible?
00:35And a hitman who plays it cool.
00:39Until he doesn't.
00:40The kid has never seen that much money in his life.
00:44And he doesn't know how to shut up about it.
01:02To be continued...
01:15Nancy and John Franklin, known as Frank, have a strong traditional marriage.
01:22They are very involved in their church.
01:24They sing in the church choir and host youth group Bible studies on a regular basis.
01:32Nancy describes herself as a domestic engineer.
01:35A slang term for her homemaker, popular in the 1980s and 1990s while she's raising her children.
01:43She takes care of the house and is very involved in the kids' schooling.
01:51Nancy is an active member of the PTA and regularly supervises school field trips.
01:58When she has time for herself, she enjoys scrapbooking.
02:01She even belongs to a scrapbooking club in the nearby city of Allen.
02:07Frank is also an involved father and enjoys coaching his kids' soccer teams.
02:15He works as a CPA and owns his own small firm, where he has had upwards of 500 clients.
02:23He's a diligent accountant with a good reputation.
02:40Frank loves to surprise Nancy with gifts.
02:43For her 40th birthday, he gives her two concert tickets to see her favorite artist, Barry Manilow.
02:53He even agrees to go with her, even though he's not a fan.
02:57In 2008, he takes his entire family, wife and three grown children, on a surprise trip to attend the Beijing
03:04Olympics.
03:06In May 2009, Frank takes on a wealthy new client.
03:12A defense contractor who had made millions in Iraq during the war
03:16hires Frank to help them repatriate $36 million from the Middle East.
03:23Frank's job is to bring the money into the country, a little bit at a time, in a tax-efficient
03:29way.
03:30Frank warns Nancy that the new gig will mean he has to travel much more for work.
03:36Being separated more often is challenging for them, but it's an incredible opportunity.
03:41The job goes so well that Frank is hired on as the company's chief financial officer.
03:48He has a huge amount of autonomy and use of the company's private jet,
03:53but it's a demanding position and it keeps him very busy.
03:58Frank was definitely not exaggerating about the extra travel required.
04:03He's gone a lot more now than he used to be.
04:16But Nancy finds ways to keep herself busy.
04:20That summer, she and their daughter go on an extended mission trip to Africa with a group from their church.
04:27Nancy finds this outreach work with orphaned children extremely fulfilling.
04:32But when she returns, Nancy notices a real shift in her marriage.
04:39She and Frank find it difficult to reconnect.
04:43Eventually, the Howards agree to try counseling to learn how to bridge the growing distance in their marriage.
04:52With Frank gone so often, Nancy has to deal with issues she's never faced before.
04:59One day in 2011, Nancy leaves the church to find that two of her tires have been slashed.
05:05It's an odd incident.
05:07Who would do that, especially at a church?
05:11Car troubles are usually something her husband would take care of.
05:16Nancy would be left stranded, if not for a friend at the church who offers a lift home.
05:21Nancy fills the time while Frank is away with her favorite hobbies.
05:27She keeps up with her scrapbooking club and regularly attends events at the church.
05:35On August 18, 2012, while Frank is on a business trip to California, Nancy spends the afternoon with friends.
05:43She then heads to the church for the baptism of one of the congregant's children.
05:49After the ceremony, Nancy leaves the church parking lot, headed home.
05:54It's just before 7.30 p.m.
05:58On the way home, she stops at a drive-thru to pick up a taco for dinner.
06:04Nancy pulls her car into the garage where she usually parks.
06:09When she gets out of the car, a man grabs her from behind.
06:15He puts an arm around her neck and points a gun at her head.
06:19The assailant yells at Nancy, demanding her purse.
06:22Nancy is shocked, but she manages to free herself and turn around to face her attacker.
06:28He's a white male, wearing a dark ball cap and dark glasses.
06:34Nancy doesn't recognize him.
06:37Nancy is so flustered, she accidentally hands the man her fast food bag.
06:42When he once again demands her purse, she shoves it at his chest and prays,
06:49Jesus, save me.
06:52The attacker then shoots Nancy in the face and flees with her purse.
07:00It's a shocking and brutal crime.
07:04As her attacker disappears, Nancy is left for dead, lying on the floor of her garage.
07:15In Carrollton, Texas, Nancy and Frank Howard share a close marriage based on their strong Christian faith.
07:25Until Frank's new CFO responsibilities pull him away on frequent business trips.
07:33Adding strain to their once solid union.
07:39In August 2012, Nancy attends an event at their church on her own, while Frank is out of town on
07:47business.
07:50When she returns home, she's attacked in her garage by an unknown assailant.
07:57He's a white male, wearing a dark ball cap and dark glasses.
08:02Nancy doesn't recognize him.
08:04The attacker then shoots Nancy in the face and flees with her purse.
08:10It's a shocking and brutal crime.
08:13Nancy is left for dead on the floor of her garage.
08:18But a few minutes later, she miraculously regains consciousness.
08:24The bullet has gone through Nancy's left eye and sinus cavity, down her throat and into her lung, making it
08:32difficult for her to breathe.
08:33But she's alive and conscious and she's fighting.
08:41Nancy knows she needs to call for help, but her phone was in her purse and that's gone.
08:48Nancy manages to open her car door and tries to use the vehicle's emergency assistance system to summon help, but
08:58she can't get it to activate.
09:03When the first plan doesn't work, Nancy somehow manages to get herself into the house where she calls 911.
09:17She then makes her way to the front door, where she waits for emergency responders to arrive.
09:23It's a superhuman feat of strength.
09:25As far as Nancy's concerned, her prayers really were answered.
09:33When Detective Wall from the Denton Police Department arrives, he finds a messy crime scene.
09:44Carrollton is a safe area with very little violent crime.
09:48There have been burglaries, but no other gunpoint robberies the way Nancy described have been reported.
09:56It appears to be a crime of opportunity.
09:58An offender surprising Nancy and robbing her.
10:02But to throw in a gunshot to the face is a shocking amount of overkill.
10:09But when Nancy's purse is found in a dumpster nearby, it raises questions.
10:15Nancy's purse is found with her phone, her wallet, and all her cash and credit cards intact.
10:22The only thing that appears to have been touched is her driver's license.
10:27Oddly, it's been removed from her wallet and set aside.
10:32The fact that nothing from Nancy's purse has actually been stolen suggests that robbery may not have been the motive
10:39for the attack after all.
10:40But the fact that her ID has been accessed is telling.
10:52The next day, a fellow police officer from Nancy's church confirms Detective Wall's suspicions.
11:01The IT director at Frank and Nancy's church is a former police officer.
11:07When he hears about Nancy's shooting, he immediately checks the church's security cameras from around the time of the shooting.
11:14And he spots a car that appears to be following her.
11:17The footage shows a car following Nancy into the church parking lot when she arrives for the baptism.
11:24When she gets out of her car and goes into the church, the other car drives away.
11:31Approximately half an hour later, the car returns and parks in the same spot.
11:37The driver gets out and goes into the church to use the restroom.
11:45When the man comes back outside, he gets back into his car and waits.
11:50When Nancy comes out and drives away, the car follows her.
12:04For Detective Wall, the evidence is unmistakable.
12:07Nancy Howard was targeted.
12:10And what's more, from the footage, there appear to be two men in the car, rather than just one.
12:17At the hospital, Nancy fights for her life.
12:21Nancy suffers the complete loss of the use of her right arm and hand.
12:26Doctors need to rebuild her face due to the extensive damage caused by the bullet.
12:35Frank returns from California as soon as he learns of Nancy's shooting from their daughter.
12:42Frank is in shock.
12:43He has no idea who could possibly want to hurt Nancy.
12:48He tells Detective Wall that he and Nancy were in regular contact during his trip,
12:54with the last time being just before she left for the church.
12:59The detective asks if Frank is willing to hand over his cell phone.
13:03And he agrees.
13:10The detective is being detailed and thorough.
13:13In an attempted murder investigation, you never know where information will come from.
13:19So you want to turn over every rock.
13:21The fact that Frank was in regular contact with his wife,
13:25and in particular so close to the time of her shooting,
13:28means that Frank's phone might hold vital information that helps move the investigation forward.
13:34It doesn't mean they think there is anything suspicious about Frank himself.
13:40But what the police find in Frank's phone is nothing but suspicious.
13:46When Nancy Howard was fighting for her life on the floor of her garage,
13:51Frank was not in California as he claimed.
13:54He was in South Lake Tahoe with his mistress.
13:58On July 24th, 2009, while Nancy and their daughter are in Africa on the mission trip,
14:05Frank visits Lake Tahoe on business.
14:08At the casino, he meets a woman named Suzanne,
14:11who's in town attending her daughter's volleyball tournament.
14:14It's a chance encounter, but the two hit it off.
14:19Frank and Suzanne decide to meet in Reno the following weekend.
14:25Suzanne is in her early 50s and is separated from her husband.
14:30The two of them bond over their unhappy marriages.
14:34Frank tells her that his marriage isn't going well and that he's considering divorce.
14:39After that, they start seeing each other every month.
14:44Frank is even more generous with his new paramour than he is with his family.
14:52In January 2010, Frank buys a house in Santa Cruz, California for $900,000, paid for in cash
15:01through a holding company he sets up called SLH for Suzanne Lynn Howard.
15:08Suzanne moves into the house while Frank continues to live with Nancy in Texas.
15:15But Suzanne isn't happy being the other woman.
15:18She wants Frank to divorce his wife, the way he said he intended to.
15:26Frank lavishes Suzanne with gifts.
15:29He pays for trips for her and her daughters to the Bahamas, to the Super Bowl.
15:34He helps pay for her daughter's tuition.
15:37When Suzanne loses her health insurance after her divorce is finalized,
15:42he puts her on the payroll at his employer's company.
15:45And how does Frank afford all of this without tipping off Nancy?
15:50Good old-fashioned embezzlement.
15:55As CFO, Frank has access to his employer's vast wealth.
16:01Frank's new employer had made a fortune selling supplies to U.S. troops in the Middle East.
16:07Frank is given carte blanche to set up companies in the U.S. to move the overseas capital stateside.
16:14For tax efficiency, Frank sets up four management companies, each with its own bank account at the same bank, to
16:22handle the funds.
16:25But unbeknownst to his employer, Frank opened separate bank accounts for the four companies at a different bank.
16:32Accounts on which he is the only signatory.
16:37Frank starts moving money into these other accounts in order to fund his lavish lifestyle with his mistress.
16:43He also writes fake checks to himself, booking the costs as a reimbursement for office supplies.
16:53Frank realizes that he needs to tell Nancy the truth before the police do.
17:00Finding the evidence of the affair in his phone is so blatantly suspicious, the police just don't know what to
17:07think.
17:08Frank, why wasn't he just up front with them about the affair?
17:11What else could he be hiding?
17:15Out of an abundance of caution, police warn the hospital to restrict Frank's access to Nancy.
17:22Frank has to phone his wife in the ICU to tell her the most devastating news she's ever received,
17:30that he's been having an affair for three years.
17:35Detectives wonder if another shoe is going to drop.
17:38And six days after Nancy's attack, it does.
17:42An inmate in the Denton County Jail reaches out to police, looking to make a deal.
17:50He and his girlfriend were both arrested back in June on drug charges and have been held in custody ever
17:56since.
17:57He wants to get them released.
18:00And in exchange, he's willing to tell them everything he knows about John Howard.
18:11Frank and Nancy Howard seem to have the perfect marriage in Carrollton, Texas.
18:19Until Nancy is viciously targeted by a shooter in her garage.
18:26And the investigation accidentally brings Frank's three-year affair in California to light.
18:35Detectives wonder if another shoe is going to drop.
18:38And six days after Nancy's attack, it does.
18:43When an inmate who's in the county jail on drug charges contacts police, wanting to make a deal,
18:49he tells them he has damaging information to share.
18:54About someone named John.
18:59Billy Johnson has spent half his life in jail.
19:03Drugs are his vice of choice.
19:05But he's no stranger to weapon and assault charges either.
19:10He had recently been released from prison after serving five years for aggravated assault against his daughter.
19:19On February 15th, 2010, Billy is just hanging out, minding his own business.
19:28When he gets a call out of the blue from a man he doesn't know.
19:34The man says his name is John and that he's looking for someone to kill his wife.
19:39He's got Billy's name from a mutual contact and thought he might be a good fit for the job.
19:44I guess maybe for someone like Billy, that's flattering.
19:50Billy doesn't know whether to trust that this job is real or not.
19:54So he quotes big money, $60,000.
19:57And this John character agrees.
20:08A few days later, Billy and his girlfriend, Stacy, meet John in a parking lot.
20:16John reiterates that he wants Billy to kill his wife and make it look like an accident.
20:24John hands Billy a manila envelope containing a photo of Nancy, a copy of John's driver's license for security, and
20:34$60,000 in cash.
20:42For Billy, it's like he just won the lottery.
20:45It's a huge score.
20:47You can't imagine his luck.
20:53He and Stacy buy a lot of meth, rent a motel room, and party all night.
21:00They also use their windfall to buy a new car, a new truck, not exactly the street.
21:08But a month later, Billy is arrested and charged with drug possession.
21:15All of the cash he has left is confiscated during the arrest.
21:20When Billy is released on bond a few days later, he calls John and tells him that he needs more
21:26money.
21:27So John meets him again and hands over another $35,000 in cash.
21:33Billy quickly realizes that he's stumbled onto the best gig of his life.
21:38It's like a weird ATM that he can keep going back to.
21:42An ATM that never runs out of cash.
21:45Because John needs Billy more than Billy needs John.
21:51The situation Frank found himself in.
21:55Falling out of love with a decades-long marriage and meeting someone new and exciting isn't new.
22:01But keeping a mistress on the West Coast hidden from his wife in Texas isn't something that he could keep
22:07up forever.
22:08And Suzanne really wanted him to divorce Nancy.
22:11But for some reason, divorce just wasn't for Frank.
22:16It might have been that he didn't want his friends and family to find out about his double life.
22:21He and Nancy had three kids and a prominent place at their church after all.
22:25Or that he didn't want the inevitable messiness that comes with divorce.
22:30Including the likely discovery of his ongoing embezzlement scheme.
22:34And then there was also the life insurance to think about.
22:38If Nancy died, Frank would get a payout, double, if it was an accident.
22:44But he couldn't tell any of that to Suzanne.
22:47So he promised her that he would get a divorce.
22:51And instead, he got a hitman.
22:54As the months go by, John and Billy continue to meet or talk regularly.
23:00To discuss possible ways to kill Nancy.
23:03John feeds Billy information about Nancy's hobbies, her routines, and where she'll be at any given time.
23:11He suggests a robbery gone wrong.
23:14Or even burning the house down.
23:16He's not particularly concerned about anyone else getting hurt in the fallout.
23:21Billy's full-time job becomes following Nancy around, trying to come up with a way to kill her and make
23:27it look like an accident.
23:29Nancy attends a regular scrapbooking club in Allen.
23:32So Billy follows her there.
23:34He knows the exact time and place that she'll be coming and going.
23:39Nancy's mother lives in San Marcos, nearly four hours away.
23:44When Nancy goes for a visit in June 2010, Billy goes too.
23:49Sometimes a good job requires you to travel.
23:54Billy also stocks up on various tools of the trade.
23:57So he'll be ready for any scenario.
24:00Weapons, duct tape, gloves, masks, tasers, jogging suits.
24:06But every time, Billy comes up short.
24:10At one point, Billy slashes the tires on Nancy's car while she's at church so that she'll be stranded.
24:18Instead, she manages to get a ride home with somebody else.
24:29This cycle of Billy promising to kill Nancy, John giving Billy more money, and Billy ultimately failing to deliver continues
24:38throughout 2010 and 2011.
24:42Whenever Billy would get arrested, he would call John to bail him out.
24:47If Billy's in jail, how can he kill Nancy?
24:50See, John pays Billy's attorney fees and his bail bondsman through the management companies he set up to funnel the
24:58money from his employer.
25:01Eventually, John tires of all the cash drops and money grams.
25:07John, the accountant, wants to switch to wire transfers for the payments.
25:12But there's a problem.
25:13Billy doesn't have a bank account.
25:15You can't receive a wire transfer if you don't have a bank account.
25:20Billy comes up with an innovative solution.
25:23He enlists the help of his various extended family members to accept the wire transfers for him.
25:29Billy offers a great deal.
25:31For every $10,000 transfer that a family member accepts, they get to keep $2,000 of it.
25:38A 20% profit margin.
25:42Just for accepting some questionable funds and looking the other way.
25:46John ultimately transfers money to Billy's entire family.
25:50His son, his girlfriend Stacy, his cousin, his nephew, Stacy's son, his daughter, his daughter-in-law, his other son,
26:00Stacy's mother.
26:01It's a family business and everybody's getting rich.
26:05By 2011, with his family business fully established, Billy starts bringing various family members in on the operation.
26:17Stacy's oldest son, Dustin, accompanies Billy to one of the cash drops and he's hooked.
26:23$30,000 in cash just sitting there behind a dumpster.
26:27Such easy money and Dustin is excited to be part of it.
26:33But at just 18 years old, the kid has never seen that much money in his life and he doesn't
26:40know how to shut up about it.
26:44Dustin starts showing off cash to people he knows and tells them he's a hitman.
26:52Dustin's friend sees an opportunity to make some cash of his own and starts blackmailing John.
26:58John is paying huge sums of money to keep up his lifestyle with his mistress.
27:04Huge sums of money to his hitman who continuously fails to kill his wife.
27:10Now he's paying a blackmailer to keep quiet about the whole thing.
27:14By this point, he has to be wondering, is Billy even really trying very hard?
27:20And he'd be right to wonder, because Billy isn't.
27:24Billy never had any intention of killing Nancy Howard.
27:30But he's kept John on the hook for more than two years, over which time he's been paid three quarters
27:37of a million dollars.
27:40Who wouldn't want to keep that going for as long as possible?
27:43But by the summer of 2012, Frank has grown impatient.
27:50He needs Nancy dead. Now.
27:56Unfortunately, his whole house of cards is about to blow over.
28:01When Billy and Stacey are arrested on federal drug charges.
28:10Carrollton, Texas accountant, Frank Howard, has a loving wife, Nancy, and a loving mistress in California.
28:20When he chooses death over divorce, Frank hires a hitman named Billy Johnson to get rid of his wife and
28:28make it look like an accident.
28:30But Billy pockets the cash and keeps on pocketing it.
28:36Without pulling off the job.
28:39Billy never had any intention of killing Nancy Howard.
28:44But he's kept John on the hook for more than two years, over which time he's been paid three quarters
28:51of a million dollars.
28:53Who wouldn't want to keep that going for as long as possible?
28:57But when Billy and his girlfriend are caught up in a federal drug sweep, Billy finds his gravy train coming
29:04to its final stop.
29:06On June 2nd, 2012, Billy and Stacey are arrested by a joint local and federal task force and charged with
29:15possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
29:18These are serious charges, not something that John can bail them out of this time.
29:24With Billy out of the picture, Dustin calls John to offer his services as the replacement hitman.
29:31And John happily accepts.
29:36John shows Dustin his house, photos of Nancy, and gives Dustin Nancy's full schedule, the same way he did with
29:44Billy.
29:45Dustin gets $40,000.
29:49John tells Dustin about a specific hotel where Nancy will be staying.
29:54John wants Dustin to kill Nancy at the hotel.
29:58But specifically not with a gun, as that could cause too much attention.
30:04He suggests a knife or a baseball bat.
30:07Dustin wants to do it all at the house, where there's less chance of being seen.
30:14On July 13th, Dustin is driving around Frank and Nancy's neighbourhood in Carrollton with his friend, the blackmailer.
30:22He's there to pick up a cash drop from outside John's house.
30:26But he's high as a kite and can't remember where the house is.
30:34A police officer who has seen Dustin's car driving around the neighbourhood in circles for the last few hours
30:41pulls him over for a routine traffic stop.
30:46The officer can tell that Dustin is clearly under the influence of something.
30:52He claims he's picking up cash from his uncle.
30:54Then he claims it's an investor.
30:57Ultimately, Dustin tells the officer that he's a hitman and he's looking for Nancy.
31:07Dustin's ridiculous story isn't taken seriously.
31:11But he is placed under arrest for the traffic violation.
31:16Now, John has lost another hitman.
31:20Dustin is released a few days later.
31:22But after that, John stops returning his calls.
31:26John still needs the job done.
31:28But he needs someone reliable.
31:30The next family member who reaches out is Michael Speck.
31:36Speck is Billy's nephew.
31:38He recently moved to East Texas from California after reconnecting with his uncle at a family funeral.
31:45Billy had brought him into the family business back in May.
31:52Speck had accompanied Billy on some of his surveillance missions.
31:56At one point, they had trailed Nancy to a hobby store.
32:00But decided there were too many people around to take action.
32:04Ditto to the fast food restaurant she went to next.
32:09John agrees to hire Speck to be the hitman.
32:12He's more mature in his mid-30s with a solid criminal history.
32:18He seems like someone who will reliably get the job done.
32:23Speck gets $24,000.
32:28But Billy hasn't given up.
32:31Billy reaches out to John from jail saying he still wants to do the job.
32:36But John isn't interested.
32:38He tells Billy he's all in on Speck.
32:45A week before Nancy's attack, Speck calls an old prison buddy from California named Michael Lawrence.
32:56Speck and Lawrence had done time together back in California, and they kept in touch.
33:02Speck asked Lawrence to come out to Texas and send $1,000 to Lawrence's girlfriend to cover travel expenses.
33:09Speck asked his friend to help him kill Nancy and offers half the $20,000 that John promised him to
33:16do the job.
33:18Speck had originally planned to hire Dustin to help him, but now that didn't seem like such a good idea.
33:26According to Speck, Lawrence volunteers to be the shooter instead of the getaway driver out of consideration for the fact
33:34that Speck has a newborn.
33:38On August 18th, Speck and Lawrence leave Speck's home in East Texas in a rental car and drive to Carrollton.
33:47According to Speck, when they arrive in Carrollton, they buy hitman wardrobe to get ready for the job.
33:55Hoodies, hats, and dark glasses.
33:58As they're getting dressed, they randomly spot Nancy, so they follow her to the church.
34:16After watching Nancy go into the church, they leave the parking lot to get a drink at a nearby restaurant.
34:23Speck knows from the information John has given him about Nancy's itinerary that the baptism is due to finish at
34:307 p.m., so they head back to the church and wait.
34:38When Nancy pulls out of the parking lot, they follow her.
34:50According to Speck, he pulls ahead of Nancy so that he can drop Lawrence off in the garage before Nancy
34:56comes home.
35:01When Nancy gets out of her car, her attacker grabs her from behind.
35:11He shoots her in the face and takes her purse to make it look like a robbery, just like he'd
35:17been instructed to.
35:19Speck and Lawrence then ditch the purse nearby before driving back to Speck's home in East Texas.
35:26After the shooting, Billy decides that it's high time he was out of jail.
35:33Billy contacts John, demanding that John bails him out.
35:37If not, he'll go to the authorities with everything he knows.
35:42This time, John doesn't bite.
35:45So Billy makes a call to the Denton Police Department looking to make a deal.
35:50Billy is able to provide personal details about Frank Howard, the man he knows as John, such as that he
35:58is an accountant and has a girlfriend in California.
36:02But he's not able to recall the first name of John's wife, the woman he apparently followed around for more
36:09than two years, trying to kill.
36:12Billy doesn't get his deal.
36:14But in trying to prove how much he knows, he does spill everything to the police, giving them the details
36:21they need to solve the case.
36:22By the end of August, authorities arrest everyone involved, including Dustin, Speck, Lawrence, and the mastermind behind it all, John
36:36Franklin Howard.
36:39But when the case goes to trial a few years later, there are so many people involved that it puts
36:48the convictions in jeopardy.
36:53After the attempted murder of Nancy Howard, authorities in Texas charge everyone and their brother, literally, for involvement in the
37:04plot, including Billy Johnson, his son, his nephew, his girlfriend's son, Dustin, his other nephew, Michael Speck, the blackmailer and
37:14his wife, and Speck's buddy, Michael Lawrence.
37:19Ultimately, the prosecutor doesn't pursue indictments against most of the group, including Billy Johnson, who pleads guilty to drug charges
37:28in federal court and is sentenced to 15 years in prison.
37:32After that, there's no point in the state pursuing charges against him as well.
37:38Frank's employer files a civil lawsuit against him for the embezzlement.
37:42In all, Frank siphoned off $6.7 million for his own use.
37:48Nearly $2 million of that was spent on Suzanne.
37:52And $1 million on the murder-for-hire plot.
37:56He even donated $200,000 of it to his church.
38:01Frank is indicted for attempted capital murder on March 22, 2013, and goes to trial a year later.
38:10With all of the players involved, the case is so complicated that the prosecutor has to produce a flowchart for
38:18the jury so they can keep everyone straight.
38:22At the trial, everyone takes the stand, including Suzanne.
38:26And to the media, Nancy doesn't hold back.
38:29For years now, you've watched their story unfold here on Channel 8, a Carrollton family torn apart by a murder
38:36-for-hire plot.
38:37Nancy Howard survived the 2012 attack, only to face her now ex-husband and his lover in the courtroom.
38:44What was it like to face your husband's mistress in court when you saw her in court?
38:53Everything doesn't sound pretty, but everything from the bottom of my guts wanted to just throw up.
39:00On August 19, 2014, almost two years to the day after Nancy's shooting, Frank is convicted and sentenced to life
39:09in prison.
39:10After Frank's conviction, prosecutors turn their attention to the hitmen.
39:16In March 2015, Michael Speck is indicted for aggravated assault for his participation in the attack.
39:24He makes a deal with prosecutors to testify against Michael Lawrence and agrees to a 12-year sentence.
39:32Prosecutors take Lawrence to trial for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in August 2015.
39:40But they have their work cut out for them.
39:43Prosecutors say Howard's now ex-husband, Frank, hired various people to kill Nancy, but claim Lawrence is the man who
39:49pulled the trigger, something defense attorneys deny.
39:52They told the jury, this is a clear and simple case.
39:56Michael Lawrence did not shoot Nancy Howard.
39:58He was not even there.
40:00Keep your eye on the ball.
40:02They say there is no physical evidence linking Lawrence to the crime and say he was never identified in a
40:07photo lineup.
40:08Lawrence is convicted and sentenced to 60 years in prison.
40:13But an appeals court overturns the conviction and sends the case back for another trial.
40:20In the appeal, Lawrence's attorneys argue that at his 2015 trial, there were 34 witnesses called, 11,000 pages of
40:29documents introduced,
40:30three bankers' boxes of financial records presented, and 115 exhibits included, that all relate to the complicated murder-for-hire
40:39scheme going back three years.
40:41But almost none of them are actually about Michael Lawrence.
40:45Lawrence didn't get involved in the plot until a week before the shooting.
40:49He didn't even know any of the other people.
40:51And ironically, he's the only one who never got paid to kill Nancy.
40:56The appeals court agrees, and much of the evidence presented at the first trial is excluded.
41:03Nancy is philosophical about the turn of events.
41:07Now, everybody's entitled to justice, and I don't want them to get the wrong man.
41:14If they don't think, if they don't think it's the right man, I don't want them to get the wrong
41:19man, but I am ready for it to be over with.
41:23At the retrial, Lawrence's attorneys point to the fact that Nancy could not identify her shooter.
41:31Even though Michael Speck testifies that the man he took with him to kill Nancy Howard was Michael Lawrence,
41:37the defense leans heavily into the idea that it might have been Dustin instead.
41:41It's the defense attorney's job to defend their client to the best of their ability.
41:47One of their strategies may be to present alternative theories about the crime or point to possible alternate suspects.
41:56The strategy proves effective.
42:00In January 2019, Lawrence is acquitted.
42:05The jury finds that he was not the man who shot Nancy Howard.
42:08The state continues to pursue their case against Lawrence for conspiracy to commit capital murder.
42:16And in 2021, he pleads guilty and receives a 10-year sentence.
42:22We may never know who actually pulled the trigger in the attempted murder for hire of Nancy Howard.
42:28But whoever it was, they failed.
42:33Nancy's long road to recovery isn't always smooth, but her faith helps her find meaning in her ordeal.
42:40I still feel some very deep hurt, but if I wasn't able to forgive, bitterness would just take over.
42:50And my life would be controlled by that bitterness, by that anger, by that rage.
42:58She says God didn't spare her life to be angry, but to turn her pain into purpose,
43:03to tell her story of survival, to help other hurting women.
43:10In the end, Frank Howard dug himself into a hole.
43:13And then, for three long years, just kept on digging.
43:18There's always a better way to solve your problems.
43:21A hitman is never the answer.
43:24Even if you have one million dollars of someone else's money to spend.
44:04A hitman is never the answer.
44:06A hitman is never the answer.
44:13A hitman is never the answer.
44:15A hitman has never the answer.
44:15You
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