Secrets in the Ashes

Summary

Dateline NBC: "Secrets in the Ashes"

Episode Date: January 27, 2026
Host: Andrea Canning
Reporter/Contributors: Lester Holt, Mike Shepard, Narrator/Interviewer

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Episode Overview

This episode of "Dateline NBC" unravels the dark, layered true-crime saga of Patricia Lee Mills’ death in a 2003 Texas house fire, the controversial investigation that followed, and the disturbing aftermath spanning nearly two decades. The story uncovers two sinister murder plots linked by one woman—Allison Newman Salinas—whose alleged involvement in arson, murder, and repeated scams ripples from Texas to Illinois. With new recordings, witness interviews, and a shocking web of deception, the episode probes the limits of justice and the shadows left behind by unresolved trauma.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Fatal Fire and Its Victim

• Incident Details

  • In June 2003, 31-year-old Patricia Lee Mills died in a house fire in Goliad, Texas. Her 6-year-old son, John Michael Burdett, narrowly escaped after tossing his toy box out his window and climbing to safety ([04:50]).
  • Bystander Mildred Pugh found John almost naked and traumatized outside, while Patricia’s pleas from inside quickly went silent ([04:00–05:57]).
  • The only available exit was through the front room, which was engulfed; a rear door was locked from the outside with a padlock ([05:34]).
  • "That baby was watching his mama die." — James Turrentine ([06:02])

• Aftermath for the Family

  • John was taken in by his aunt, Sharon, providing a caring home amidst the trauma.

2. Early Suspicion and Flawed Investigation

• Initial Findings

  • Investigators ruled the cause as "inconclusive" ([12:46]).
  • Delbert Mills, Patricia’s husband, claimed the decorative kerosene lamps were not used—but family insisted they were a key part of daily life.
  • "Those lanterns were used, like, all the time…There was a lot." — John Michael Burdett ([13:05–13:26])

• Family’s Doubts and Delbert’s Behavior

  • Delbert quickly remarried, taking Allison Newman as his wife just six weeks later and spent Patricia’s life insurance payout ([20:06]).
  • Suspicion among Patricia’s family deepened, especially given Delbert’s abusive history and rapid transformation post-fire ([20:16], [23:06]).

3. Patterns of Abuse and a Deliberate Cover-up

• Allegations Against Delbert

  • Family members recall abuse, with Delbert once breaking Patricia’s nose ([22:41]).
  • “Delbert is a very narcissistic person. Very selfish, very abusive in every way possible.” — Jessica Lefferts ([23:06])

• A Chilling Threat

  • “Delbert spoke up and said the only way [Patricia] would be leaving is in a body bag.” — Jessica Lefferts ([23:24])

• Missed Opportunities in the Investigation

  • Despite family pressure, officials declined to reopen the case due to Delbert’s workplace alibi; no physical evidence was ever collected ([21:20], [28:55]).

4. The Case Reopens: New Voices, Old Secrets

• Allison’s Shifting Statements

  • Allison Newman (Salinas) told detectives Delbert admitted to setting up the fire using a cigarette and kerosene before leaving for work, but she later recanted, citing fear for her and her kids ([25:05], [26:09]).
  • “He told me that...he purposely set his cigarette, a lit cigarette, I guess, up against her by some wiring...took one of the kerosene lamps and poured it around the area.” — Allison (as reported by James Turrentine) ([25:05])

• Dogged Determination

  • Patricia’s sister, Sharon, never surrendered, building her own case as Delbert built his new life ([23:37], [27:16]).
  • With a change in local law enforcement, Constable Mike Thompson took over, pursuing leads through interviews due to the absence of physical evidence ([28:55], [29:12]).

• Damning Testimonies and Polygraph

  • Multiple witnesses recalled Delbert boasting about "getting rid" of his wife via fire; Allison, now divorced from Delbert, confirmed her original statement under Thompson’s questioning ([31:43]).

• Police Interrogation and Arrest

  • Delbert repeatedly shifted his story under interrogation, failing a polygraph, and eventually admitted to details only the arsonist would know ([33:14–35:10]).
  • “He pinpointed the origin of the point of fire…Only the killer would know that.” — Mike Shepard ([35:17])

• Conviction

  • Delbert was arrested in 2011 and eventually convicted, receiving a life sentence for Patricia’s murder ([35:37], [42:22]).

5. The "Other Woman" and a Trail of Scams

• Allison’s Reinvention and Suspicion
  • After Delbert’s conviction, Allison moved, remarried (as Allison Salinas), and became a public figure in Illinois—an entrepreneur, podcaster, and aspiring politician ([45:33]).
  • She fostered a web of alleged cons: fake fundraisers, questionable cancer claims, and unpaid business debts. Kate Elliott, with a background in criminology, and James Turrentine exposed her schemes ([47:44], [49:39], [52:02]).
  • “I found Facebook pages online where people complained about her by the hundreds.” — Andrea Canning ([45:01], [47:53])
  • Evidence of her manipulation included canceled events and unpaid workers ([53:21], [53:39]).

6. A Second Murder Plot

• Solicitation of Murder

  • While pretending to rekindle a romance with James Turrentine, Allison repeatedly solicited him (and urged him to find someone) to murder her second husband, Patrick Salinas ([57:21], [59:07]).
  • “She wanted me to kill her husband...she sent me a picture like, here he is. Go get him.” — James Turrentine ([57:21], [59:13])
  • James recorded damning phone calls, in which Allison meticulously plotted alibis and lamented her “widow process.” ([62:05], [64:39])
  • “It can’t go down as a homicide. It can’t go down as anything but an accident.” — Allison Salinas ([43:41], [66:43])

• Police Inaction and Social Media Pressure

  • Despite providing evidence to police, James and Kate felt ignored until they posted the recordings online, tagging the police. This forced action, leading to Allison’s swift arrest ([67:06], [68:13]).

7. The Aftershocks: Confrontation and Denial

• Community and Family Reaction

  • Patricia's and Allison’s families saw Allison's solicitation arrest as a kind of karma or poetic justice ([70:42], [82:27]).
  • “Karma’s a bitch. You get what you deserve.” — John Michael Burdett ([82:30])

• Allison’s Defense

  • From jail, Allison insisted she never intended harm, blaming James for manipulating her. She denied all accusations—of murder plotting, cons, and faking illness ([73:38–79:10]).

• Delbert’s New Claim

  • In a stunning final interview, Delbert Mills attempted to implicate his son John Michael—then only six—as the fire starter, citing a decades-old ambulance conversation. The Dateline team and John Michael dismissed this as impossible, infuriating, and deeply cruel ([83:38–86:44]).
  • “If you can blame a 6-year-old for killing his mother, when you’re the one that actually did it…that’s the most cold-hearted thing you can do.” — John Michael Burdett ([86:27])

• Justice and Finality

  • Allison pled guilty to solicitation of murder, accepting a 16-year prison term ([82:01]). She was never charged in Patricia Lee’s arson-murder due to lack of admissible evidence ([41:43], [87:01]).
  • “Is she diabolical? … I just use the word evil.” — John Michael Burdett ([82:37–82:43])

8. Reflections and Healing

• John Michael’s Resilience
  • After substance struggles, John Michael found stability as a husband and father—never forgetting his mother but choosing life and growth over darkness ([66:05], [87:23]).
  • “She was the first person to show me what love was…She might not be here physically, but she’s here in my mind. She’s here in my heart.” — John Michael Burdett ([87:45])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments with Timestamps

• "That baby was watching his mama die."
  — James Turrentine ([06:02])

• "Delbert is a very narcissistic person...physical, mental, sexual. Like any abusive way that he could be, he was."
  — Jessica Lefferts ([23:06])

• "Delbert spoke up and said the only way she’d be leaving is in a body bag."
  — Jessica Lefferts ([23:24])

• "He told me...before he left for work...he purposely set his cigarette...by some wiring...[and] poured [kerosene] around the area."
  — Allison (reported by James Turrentine) ([25:05])

• "Put my cigarette in the ashtray...when I slammed the door that lamp failed...I think that's what started the fire. It's still hard to admit that I may have started that fire."
  — Delbert Mills ([34:45])

• "Delbert wasn’t smart enough for that. Allison was."
  — Jessica Lefferts ([39:50])

• "If you can blame a 6-year-old for killing his mother, when you're the one that actually did it, that’s the most cold-hearted thing you can do."
  — John Michael Burdett ([86:27])

• "Karma’s a bitch. You get what you deserve."
  — John Michael Burdett ([82:30])

• "She was the first person to show me what love was...She might not be here physically, but she's here in my mind. She's here in my heart."
  — John Michael Burdett ([87:45])

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Important Timestamps

| Segment/Topic | Timestamps | |:--------------------------------------------|:-------------| | The fire and escape | 03:38–06:12 | | Family grief and suspicion | 07:27–13:42 | | Immediate remarriage & life insurance | 14:05–20:16 | | Reports of Delbert’s abuse/threats | 22:33–23:24 | | Allison’s first confession (recanted) | 24:46–26:09 | | Evidence-gathering & polygraph failures | 31:01–35:37 | | Delbert’s conviction | 36:12–42:31 | | Allison's scams and community alarm | 45:33–53:11 | | Murder-for-hire plot against Patrick | 57:21–66:43 | | James & Kate use social media as leverage | 67:06–68:38 | | Allison's arrest & family reflections | 68:58–75:43 | | Confrontations, denials, and blame-shifting | 82:01–87:14 | | John Michael’s closing reflections | 87:23–88:04 |

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Conclusion

"Secrets in the Ashes" is a harrowing tale of generational trauma, denied justice, and the chilling banality of evil. It exposes not just a single murder and botched investigation, but a pattern of manipulations, scams, and attempted murder—all linked by Allison Salinas. With voices ranging from traumatized survivors to relentless amateur sleuths, the episode is a stark reminder that some wounds never heal, justice sometimes limps, and evil can take many forms—while redemption remains always on the horizon for those, like John Michael, who choose it.

Transcript

[Lester Holt]

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[James Turrentine]

Can'T go down as a homicide. It can't go down as anything but an accident.

[Andrea Canning]

She wanted me to kill her husband. She sent me a picture like, here he is. Go get him.

[James Turrentine]

I have to go through the crying and the whole widow process.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You can hear her complaining that she'll have to be the grieving widow.

[Andrea Canning]

It would all just be an act. Gave me chills. It made me think this is something she's done before.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You started to dig deeper, you find some posts taking your suspicions to a whole new level.

[James Turrentine]

Oh yes.

[Jessica Lefferts]

I thought back to the affair. It made me question her part in my aunt's murder. There was a fire. She didn't make it out. What do you say to a six year old who just lost his mom?

[Mike Shepard]

We had zero evidence on Allison. Lots of suspicion, my own included.

[Andrea Canning]

Just when you think the story couldn't get any bigger, it just goes on and on.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

This could have been the perfect crime.

[Mike Shepard]

Could have been the perfect crime.

[Lester Holt]

Secret recordings and two sinister murder plots. Was one woman at the center?

[Andrea Canning]

I'm Lester Holt and this is Dateline.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Here's Andrea Canning with secrets in the ashes.

[James Turrentine]

I'm never going to be able to rest and be happy unless he's just somehow gone.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You're listening to something we rarely get to hear.

[James Turrentine]

Something's got to happen because that's my only way out.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

A murder plot being hatched.

[James Turrentine]

There would have to be asylums, so there's no sound and the shot would have to be disripe.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Like whatever is going to happen, it.

[James Turrentine]

Has to happen number one, when I'm at work or somewhere else where I can Verify that I'm there.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

A deadly plan and an unlikely mastermind behind it.

[James Turrentine]

I knew that she was a terrible person. I didn't know that she was that heartless.

[Andrea Canning]

I found Facebook pages online where people complained about her by the hundreds. Hundreds, Hundreds.

[Jessica Lefferts]

My initial thought really was karma.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It was an early June Morning in 2003. Mildred Pugh was heading to the grocery store in Goliad, Texas. You're driving with a friend and you see something.

[James Turrentine]

Yes, we see smoke. And the closer that we get to the smoke, then we realize that there's a house on fire.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

In front of the burning house, a child.

[James Turrentine]

I looked out and I saw a little boy. And all he had on was his underwear.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Mildred jumped out of the car and ran over to help, and the little.

[James Turrentine]

Boy said, my mommy's in that house. Can you get her out?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

That little boy was John Michael Burdett, just six years old. He'd awoken moments before to a terrible sound.

[John Michael Burdett]

Screaming. I'm being woke up to screaming.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It's your mom.

[John Michael Burdett]

This is my mom screaming. The house is on fire.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

His mother, 31 year old Patricia Lee Mills, was in the next bedroom.

[John Michael Burdett]

Just get out.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And were you screaming anything back to her?

[Andrea Canning]

I was.

[James Turrentine]

What?

[John Michael Burdett]

What do I do? I mean, I'm. I want to go run towards the front door, but couldn't because the whole wall was on fire.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The living room was engulfed in flames, blocking the front door. There was some quick thinking that was going to happen here.

[John Michael Burdett]

Yes, ma', am. I got away from it.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You ran and tried to take a different route out.

[John Michael Burdett]

I went through my bed. My bedroom window? Yeah, my bedroom window was the furthest away from the. The fire tossed my toy box out the window. My toy box went out and I went after it.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Once out, John Michael wanted to go right back in to save his mom. Mildred told him to stay put. She approached a window.

[James Turrentine]

I could hear this woman's voice.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What's she saying?

[James Turrentine]

I don't know. I don't know what she was saying, but I was trying to assure her that that little boy wasn't still in the house.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Oh, my gosh.

[James Turrentine]

And so I told her to hold on.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The front of the house was engulfed in flames. So Mildred ran around to the back. But the door was locked from the outside. There was what? A padlock.

[James Turrentine]

There was a padlock on the outside of the back door.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

By now, two men had stopped to help. Together, Mildred and the men were able to force the back door open. Oh, wow. So are you able to go into the house or is there Too much smoke.

[James Turrentine]

Opened the door and black smoke billowed out of the back door.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Inside, Patricia Lee had gone silent.

[James Turrentine]

I think the smoke got the best of her.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What is the little boy doing while this is happening?

[James Turrentine]

Standing there watching it burn because that baby was watching his mama die.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Do you remember that feeling of being helpless and standing there watching?

[John Michael Burdett]

I very much remember just feeling absolutely like I could do more, but I can't because I'm gonna hurt myself.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Firefighters arrived and put out the blaze. They found Patricia Lee in the front bedroom. She was gone. You got a call from your mom one morning with some really bad news.

[Jessica Lefferts]

I was home alone and my mom called.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Jessica Lefferts is John's cousin. She was 18 when she got the news about her aunt, Patricia Lee.

[Jessica Lefferts]

And I said, mama, what's wrong? And she said, there is a fire. And I said, okay. And she said, john made it out. And I said, what about Lee? She got real quiet, and I said, mama, what about Lee? And she said that she didn't make it out and that she was gone, but that John was okay.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Patricia Lee's husband, Delbert Mills, was at work when the fire started. He arrived at the scene to learn his wife was dead and his son was outside in an ambulance.

[John Michael Burdett]

My dad pulls up and jumps in the back of the ambulance and he looks me stone cold in my face, and your mom's dead.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

My son is six right now. You are six. I know exactly how a six year old behaves and processes everything. And I can't even imagine you in that situation hearing that about your mom and also having just gone through a fire.

[John Michael Burdett]

Yeah, I mean, my thing is, like, at 6, you don't even really know what death is.

[Mike Shepard]

No.

[John Michael Burdett]

And being told somebody's dead is like, what does that mean?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You just know your mom's never coming.

[John Michael Burdett]

Home, and you just know that she's gone. And you don't know why. You don't know how.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

So sorry. Later that day, Patricia Lee's family gathered to comfort one another.

[Jessica Lefferts]

As soon as I saw John, like, I grabbed him and I held on to him.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What do you say to him? This whole world is gone.

[Jessica Lefferts]

He just kept telling me, he said, the house caught on fire. And I said, I know, baby. He kept saying that he tried to get her out. He said, I couldn't get her. And I said, well, you're little. It's okay. Mama understands.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It was a lot and a lot more was about to come. What was your mom's reaction?

[Jessica Lefferts]

She dug her heels. She dug her heels and she kept Pushing.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You made it your mission to start warning people about her.

[James Turrentine]

Absolutely.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

She surprises you with a big ask.

[Andrea Canning]

She did.

[James Turrentine]

I mean, I don't want you to be coordinating it, but I. I need your help finding something.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Investigators were sifting through the charred timber trying to figure out what started the fire that took Patricia Lee's life. They quickly surmised the old wood frame house, just 530 square feet, had been a fire trap. Danny Madrigal was a detective with the Goliad Sheriff's office.

[Mike Shepard]

Everything in the house had burned down to a crisp. You know, walls, furniture, you name it, everything had. It was a very intense fire.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Inside, one door was blocked by a bed, another locked from the outside. The only available door was in the living room where the fire was at its most intense. Patricia Lee never made it out of her room. The official cause of death was smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning. This was a death trap for Patricia Lee.

[Mike Shepard]

It was. Yes, yes it was.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Everyone agreed it was a miracle that little John Michael had managed to escape through a window.

[John Michael Burdett]

I was a mama's boy.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

John Michael was an only child. His dad, Delbert drove a truck for a septic tank company while Patricia Lee stayed home with John. What kind of things would you do with your mom?

[John Michael Burdett]

We'd play outside, we'd go to the park, we'd just ride around together, just spend time together. We'd watch TV together, we would almost everything together.

[Jessica Lefferts]

She was a big sister that I didn't have. I don't know how I would have gotten through a lot of what I did without her.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What did she help you through?

[Jessica Lefferts]

Normal teenage stuff. We would talk boys, we would talk everyday life, school. Lee really was that person that would give the shoes off her feet, the clothes off her back. If she had a penny, the only penny to her name, she would give it to you like she really was a genuine person with a heart of gold.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Patricia Lee met Delbert in church. He was originally from Arkansas and said he'd been out east attending the West Point Military Academy. The two were married in 1996. A year and a half later came John Michael. How badly did she want to be a mom?

[Jessica Lefferts]

Very, very much so. So when she did get pregnant, she was so over the moon.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You call your mom like even at that young age, your best friend?

[John Michael Burdett]

Yes. She was always there when I needed her.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Now John Michael would never see his mother again. That evening, just hours after the fire, Delbert shared Patricia Lee's wishes for her son.

[Jessica Lefferts]

Delbert had came to my mom shortly after and told my mom that he and Lee had had a conversation that if anything happened to either one of them, that my mom would get John.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Your mom agreed to take John in?

[Jessica Lefferts]

She did.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

So you ended up getting taken in by your mom's sister, your aunt?

[John Michael Burdett]

Yes, ma'.

[James Turrentine]

Am.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Did you feel loved by your aunt and her, your family?

[John Michael Burdett]

Yes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

As John Michael and Patricia Lee's family struggled with their grief, fire marshals finished their investigation. They concluded the blaze had started in the living room where they found three kerosene lanterns in a pile near a coffee table. But the report described them as decorative only and not in use. The fire department does come to you.

[Jessica Lefferts]

With a conclusion that it was inconclusive, that they couldn't determine a cause of the fire.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

So the conclusion was no conclusion.

[Jessica Lefferts]

No conclusion.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Patricia Lee's family knew the report was wrong about one thing. Those kerosene lanterns in the house were not just decorative, they were in use. Delbert insisted on using the lanterns as lights to save money on electricity.

[Jessica Lefferts]

Those lanterns were used, like, all the time. He didn't like to run the electric. In order to move from room to room, you'd have to have a lantern. Lee would have to make sure that dinner was cooked before sundown. Otherwise she would have to cook using a lantern. If you had to go to the bathroom, you had to grab a lantern. If there wasn't already one in there.

[John Michael Burdett]

There's probably 10, 14. I don't know how many. There was a lot. Some hung on the ceiling, some sat.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

On the table, which is unusual.

[John Michael Burdett]

Yeah, there's a lot of lanterns for such a small house, especially that we lived in.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The report had one more surprise for Patricia Lee's family. Its final recommendation. This case should be closed.

[Jessica Lefferts]

And they were going to leave it at that. They weren't going to. They weren't going to look into it anymore.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And was that case closed?

[Jessica Lefferts]

For them it was.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

But for Patricia Lee's family, the findings left them reeling, as would what happened next.

[Jessica Lefferts]

Delbert came to my mom and told her that he was marrying Allison.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

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[Mike Shepard]

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[Narrator/Interviewer]

After the fire that killed his mother, Patricia Lee, John Michael was adjusting to life with his Aunt Sharon and his cousins. Was he really processing what was happening? Being six years old, I think he.

[Jessica Lefferts]

Processed it as much as he could. My mom and I would talk to him about, you know, Mommy's in heaven and that she was always going to be watching over him. What do you say to a six year old who just lost his mom?

[John Michael Burdett]

That person is no longer around, no longer coming around, no longer there. You can't call on them when you need them. You can't talk to him. You can't reach out for them.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Yeah, the adjustment was painful and slow. It was a different story for his father. You get some bombshell news not too.

[Jessica Lefferts]

Long after the fire, Delbert came to.

[James Turrentine]

My mom.

[Jessica Lefferts]

And told her that he was marrying Allison.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It was just six weeks after the fire and Delbert was already engaged. There would soon be a new Mrs. Mills. Alison was Alison Newman, a divorced mom who shared custody of three young girls with her ex. Allison was always very outgoing. Keisha Ringland was a neighbor of Allison's who babysat for her daughters. She was very kind and compassionate. She was somebody that was so easy to talk to. Alison was no stranger to Patricia Lee's family. She had briefly dated Delbert's brother and had lived with Delbert and Patricia Lee before the fire. Alison came to stay with you?

[John Michael Burdett]

Yeah, she stayed with us probably two months, three months.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

There was no bed for her or bedroom?

[John Michael Burdett]

No, she had a mattress on the floor of my bedroom.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Alison had been living with a boyfriend while her ex took care of the girls. When that relationship went south, she needed a place to stay.

[Jessica Lefferts]

The boyfriend kicked her out sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then she ended up in Goliad with Leah Delbert.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And they gave her a place to stay, Correct? As friends, yes. But not just friends. According to what Patricia Lee told her.

[Jessica Lefferts]

Niece, she'd woke up in the middle of the night, walked into the living room, and caught Allison and Delbert in a very compromising position on the sofa, and she.

[James Turrentine]

Were they having sex? Yes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Right under her own roof.

[Jessica Lefferts]

I mean, there's no hiding.

[John Michael Burdett]

It.

[Jessica Lefferts]

It was in the living room.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Allison immediately moved.

[John Michael Burdett]

Literally woke up one day, and the mattress wasn't on the floor anymore. And the lady who was sleeping on the floor was just gone. I'm like, okay, well, got my room back.

[Mike Shepard]

Yeah.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Did anyone say anything about why she was gone, or.

[Andrea Canning]

No.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

That was in February. Four months later, Patricia Lee was dead. Now Delbert and Allison were married. I would guess that didn't sit well with you and your family.

[James Turrentine]

No.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What did that say to you about everything?

[Jessica Lefferts]

It just solidified what I kind of already knew. That he never really cared about my aunt. That he never really loved her. That he didn't love his son, he didn't love John.

[John Michael Burdett]

And I'm like, what the hell? I mean, excuse my language, but what the hell?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It's so quick.

[John Michael Burdett]

I was still trying to process the loss of my mom. Like, how can you process it that fast?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

In the coming months, John would see his father less and less, and then not at all. And Delbert wasn't done with making changes. He was soon spotted driving a new truck around town, courtesy of a $15,000 life insurance policy he'd taken out on Patricia Lee before she died.

[Jessica Lefferts]

And he took that and bought himself a truck.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

A new truck, a new wife. Delbert seemed to be living a new life altogether.

[Jessica Lefferts]

Made me question whether or not the fire was just a way to get rid of Lee so that he could be with Allison. Like, did he do this?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

That's a scary place to be to start thinking that. Because this fire is undetermined.

[James Turrentine]

Right?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Patricia Lee's family read the fire marshal's report and noted who had told the marshal those lanterns were decorative only Delbert.

[Jessica Lefferts]

Himself He swore to them that they were just decoration. He didn't know how. They were all in a pile that they were never, ever used.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The family knew that was a lie and suspected Delbert was trying to cover up something. Did you think maybe Delbert then had put all the lanterns together on purpose?

[Jessica Lefferts]

There was no other explanation for it.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Jessyca's mom, Sharon, took her suspicions about Delbert to the Goliad Sheriff's Department.

[Jessica Lefferts]

So she starts telling them how she felt, like this was deliberate. And you know, she's like, I really would like for y' all to look into this. They took her her statement.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

But neither the sheriff nor the fire marshal saw reason to reopen the investigation. Delbert had an ironclad alibi. He had been at work when the fire started a 20 minute drive away. There was no way he could have set the fire. The case remained closed. What was your mom's reaction when she's being told all of this?

[Jessica Lefferts]

She dug her heels. She dug her heels and she kept pushing. She wasn't going to let them stop her.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Your mom was just getting started.

[James Turrentine]

Yeah.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And she was going to hear from an unlikely source who seemed ready to help.

[James Turrentine]

And he blurted out that if I left him, that he would do the same thing to me that he did to. To Patricia.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The investigation into the fire that killed Patricia Lee was officially closed. But her family had questions and suspicions. They thought her husband, Delbert, was somehow to blame. What was your dad like?

[John Michael Burdett]

He wasn't sunshine and rainbows. He was mean.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What would he do to you?

[John Michael Burdett]

Hit, scream, yell. Just call you names and all kinds of other things.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And to your mom?

[John Michael Burdett]

I remember him breaking her nose. We were at one of their friend's house and they got into an argument.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And you saw it?

[James Turrentine]

Mm.

[John Michael Burdett]

I called the cops on him.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You called police?

[Andrea Canning]

Yes.

[John Michael Burdett]

I was like five.

[James Turrentine]

Wow.

[Jessica Lefferts]

Delbert is a very narcissistic person. Very selfish, very abusive in every way possible. So physical, mental, sexual. Like any abusive way that he could be, he was.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Jessica says Patricia Lee once threatened to leave Delbert, and he responded with a threat of his own.

[Jessica Lefferts]

Without even a single second, Delbert spoke up and said the only way she'd be leaving is in a body bag.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

With little help from the sheriff's office, Patricia Lee's sister, Sharon, began her own investigation into the fire.

[Jessica Lefferts]

She studied the pictures. She would talk to different people that had any kind of contact with Delbert, and she would just start writing everything down and she would build a case of her own.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Two frustrating years passed. Delbert is Free to go about his.

[Jessica Lefferts]

Life walking around like it was nothing. Walking around like he hadn't just lost a wife. Walking around like he hadn't almost lost a child. He was just going around living his everyday life, and he was living it with Alison.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Then In June of 2005, help came from a surprising source. Delbert's new wife, Allison reached out to Patricia, Lee's sister with a story, and Sharon encouraged her to go tell it to Detective Madrigal.

[Mike Shepard]

You're married to who?

[James Turrentine]

Delbert Mill.

[Mike Shepard]

And how long have y' all been married?

[James Turrentine]

Almost two years.

[Mike Shepard]

Almost two years now. Okay. I did interview Alison when she came in. She said that her and Delbert had had an argument, and she now has.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Something pretty explosive to say.

[Mike Shepard]

Yes.

[James Turrentine]

And he blurted out that if I left him, that he would do the same thing to me that he did to Patricia.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Alison told the detective that Delbert went on to explain how he set the fire to ignite after he left the house.

[James Turrentine]

He told me that before he left for work that morning, he purposely set his cigarette, a lit cigarette, I guess, up against her by some wiring. Daniel made sure that it was fault damage down, pulled down to where he knew it would cause a spark. Took one of the, I guess, kerosene lamps and took the top off of it and poured it around the area to where he said that he knew it would set fire after a while, and he left for work.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Allison's essentially giving you a confession here. I mean, it's secondhand from her, but she's saying that he confessed.

[James Turrentine]

Yes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

A couple weeks after that interview, the detective had a plan for what to do next.

[Mike Shepard]

I contacted her and felt that we needed to get her wired and try to have her have a conversation with Delbert and get him to say something incriminating.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Detective Madrigal says she refused to wear a wire. Apparently, whatever fight she'd been having with Delbert was over.

[Mike Shepard]

She told me, well, you know what? Maybe he really didn't say what I told you he said. So she recanted what she had told me.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Jessica heard from her mom that Allison backed off out of fear.

[Jessica Lefferts]

She pulled back, saying that she was scared that Delbert was going to come after her and her kids.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Detective Madrigal never questioned Delbert. I think people watching will say, you know, why didn't somebody bring Delbert in and just put him on that hot seat and just go at him like they do, you know, sometimes up to eight hours, you know, with suspects.

[Mike Shepard]

We could have done that, but you don't want to Ruin that one chance you got. If he denied everything, you know, what do you have? He said, she said situation. If I really felt that I could have cracked this case by talking to Delbert, I would have done so.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The red hot lead went nowhere and the investigation went cold again. The years piled up. But Patricia Lee's sister never stopped pleading with the sheriff's office to keep digging into Delbert a long time.

[Jessica Lefferts]

She almost gave up.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Why didn't she?

[Jessica Lefferts]

That was her sister, that was her baby. And she knew, she knew that he did was just cracking that door and having someone see what she was seeing.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

That someone was about to enter the investigation. And stories from the past would soon get everyone's attention. Delbert told me that he knew a way that he could get rid of my husband and make it look like.

[James Turrentine]

It was an accident.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Seven years after the fire that killed Patricia Lee, a new sheriff was elected in Goliad County, Texas. He had Constable Mike Thompson, a retired homicide detective, take a look at the case file. Thompson set up a meeting with Patricia Lee's sister Sharon, who pressed him to investigate Delbert. Is she really desperate at this point, you know, for help and feeling like, you know, you're kind of her maybe her final chance to get something done?

[John Michael Burdett]

I think she had been desperate for several years. She felt like nobody was listening.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And now here you are listening to her.

[John Michael Burdett]

I think that was one of her comments. I think he's actually taking notes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Thompson suspected arson, but had his work cut out to prove it. No physical evidence had been collected from the fire scene. And by 2010, there was no scene.

[John Michael Burdett]

When I got involved, this is basically what I had to work with. An empty lot, no house, no structures.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

With the lack of physical evidence, this is really coming down to who you're going to be able to get to talk.

[John Michael Burdett]

Yeah, it all came down to people, word of mouth.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The family handed over all the information they'd gathered and Jessica told Thompson about something strange Delbert had said to her the night of the fire.

[Jessica Lefferts]

He was telling me how he just didn't understand. And I said, you don't understand what? Like how the fire started? And he said, no, I just, I don't understand how John got out. I put Plexiglas so thick on those windows and I cocked it up so much a grown man couldn't have kick those windows out.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Did you say, why would you do that?

[Jessica Lefferts]

No, I didn't ask him why.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What?

[Jessica Lefferts]

I looked, I looked at him and I said, well, be grateful that he did get out.

[James Turrentine]

Yeah.

[Jessica Lefferts]

And he just Looked at me and he didn't say anything else.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You want to be hearing from a father. Thank God he got out, not how did he get out?

[John Michael Burdett]

That's what you'd think. That was not his reaction.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The constable also met with Alison's friend Keisha Ringland, who had a story about Delbert. It was the holidays of 2007.

[James Turrentine]

My husband and I had gotten into.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

A really, really, really bad fight. Keisha went over to Delbert and Alison's house for support, and she says, this is how Delbert offered to help. Delbert told me that he knew a way that he could get rid of my husband and make it look like.

[James Turrentine]

It was an accident. And he was like, I can kill him. I can set the apartment on fire.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And make it look like an accident. And I remember thinking to myself, who.

[James Turrentine]

Would say something like that?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What are you thinking about what Keisha is telling you? I mean, these are very damning statements.

[John Michael Burdett]

She's repeating what I've been hearing from other people about Delbert.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Thompson had been going through the file and found other witnesses who'd been interviewed years earlier.

[James Turrentine]

And would you state your name, date of birth? Sherrilyn demiel.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Sherry Dunnell was Alison's cousin by marriage. Years earlier, she told Detective Madrigal that she heard a drunk Delbert boasting about killing his wife.

[James Turrentine]

He was talking about putting boxes in front of the doors to block her way. Delbert said he had turned the gas on when he left to work that morning.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And of course, investigator Thompson listened to the interview with Delbert's wife, Allison.

[James Turrentine]

He would do the same thing to me that he did to Patricia.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Alison had recanted, but now she and Delbert were divorced. You bring her in?

[John Michael Burdett]

I brought her into my office. We talked.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Allison told Thompson her original statement was true. So this is a big deal, the statement that she's making?

[John Michael Burdett]

Yes. He actually told her, I'll do to you what I did to Patricia.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The constable brought his case to. To then DA Mike Shepard.

[Mike Shepard]

He has pieced together with little pieces of evidence a case that strongly suggests that Delbert Mills killed his wife. He had talked to all the peripheral witnesses who helped put the full picture together.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

So you. You're all in agreement? Let's bring in Delbert.

[Mike Shepard]

Yes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Does that happen?

[Mike Shepard]

It does happen. Do you spike your name? Delbert? Pay meals.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

A Texas Ranger named Todd Reed and a second investigator questioned Del as Thompson watched from another room.

[Mike Shepard]

Got my stuff ready for work and everything. Left the house probably roughly about 6:30.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Delbert said he left Patricia Lee And John? Sleeping safely with no sign of any fire. He got to work by 7. Sometime after 8:30 came the call. His house was on fire.

[Mike Shepard]

The time I got there, the fire trucks was there. There was an ambulance there.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He said he flagged down a first responder.

[Mike Shepard]

And she told me, she said, delbert, Patricia didn't make it. Yeah, it still chokes me up to talk about it. And I said, it can't be.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Delbert starts the interview by saying he still gets choked up just talking about it.

[John Michael Burdett]

Yeah.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Did you buy that?

[John Michael Burdett]

I don't think that was a real emotional reaction. I thought he was staging it toward.

[Mike Shepard]

Ethan, started the fire. I have no idea. That's what I want to know. You must have some kind of idea. From what I can gather and stuff, from what I've been told, it was an electric fire. Did you burn the house? Nope, I did not. As far as I knew, it was an electric fire, and that's what I was told. We know for a fact that you told several people that you burned that house down and killed your wife. No, I did not. Are they lying? Yes, they're lying.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And the story that he and Allison started their relationship before the fire, he tried to deny that, too.

[Mike Shepard]

I don't remember whether I kissed her or not. If I did, I never did get caught because Patricia didn't catch me kissing her. Did you hear what you just said? Of I said. I know what I just said. I said, if I did, I never got caught, never got called. So you're saying you did. No, I'm not saying I did. I'm not saying I didn't because I don't remember.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Delbert agreed to come back a week and a half later and take a polygraph.

[Mike Shepard]

Delbert took the polygraph. Delbert failed the polygraph. The failure of the polygraph is telling me, as district attorney, we probably got our guy. Yeah, but I can't show this to a jury. We've got to get a little more.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

After investigators told Delbert he failed the polygraph, they questioned him again. And now his story started to change. Maybe he did have an idea how the fire started.

[Mike Shepard]

Put my cigarette in the ashtray or on the ashtray, I don't know which, where was the ashtray sitting? On the coffee table. And when I went out the front door, when I slammed the front door, that lamp failed. And if that lamp would have failed, it would have hit the couch and hit the coffee table. And I think that's what started to find. It's still hard to. To admit that I may have started that fire.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Of particular interest to investigators where Delbert says the fire may have started the living room.

[Mike Shepard]

In his statement, he pinpoints the actual origin of the point of fire, which is one of the few things we had that was useful from our fire investigation. He would not have known that. That was not public record.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Only the killer would know.

[Mike Shepard]

Only the killer would know that.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Though Delbert had told multiple stories over the years about how he started the fire, investigators had a theory of their own.

[Mike Shepard]

What we surmised he did was put a candle in a pool of lantern oil and let it burn down, giving.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Him time to get to work. Before the fire started, investigators had heard enough. Eight years after Patricia Lee's death, Delbert was arrested for first degree murder. How good did it feel making that call to Sharon?

[John Michael Burdett]

It's pretty good. You don't get that kind of opportunity every day.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Yeah, you get emotional just thinking back at times.

[James Turrentine]

What gets you?

[John Michael Burdett]

Don't tell anybody. You'll ruin my reputation.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Delbert was in jail at last, but a question remained.

[John Michael Burdett]

There's no way he did it by himself. There's absolutely no way. You can always find thought. She's more involved than anybody really knows. Yeah, I don't see how she could not be. Once upon a time, in an icy.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Winter world, a wicked woman stole a child.

[John Michael Burdett]

Only the power of love can save him and defeat her.

[Mike Shepard]

The Snow Queen New to Morrison Mysteries.

[John Michael Burdett]

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mike Shepard]

On the night before Halloween in 1975, 15 year old Martha Moxley was murdered. But police failed to make an arrest.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Until in 2000, her one time neighbor.

[Mike Shepard]

Michael Skakel was arrested. He was also a cousin of the Kennedys.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The Kennedy connection is the reason that most people know about this case.

[Mike Shepard]

But the deeper I dug, the more I came to question everything I thought I knew. Dead certain the Martha Moxley Murder.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

All episodes are available now, wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mike Shepard]

Where was she?

[John Michael Burdett]

The disappearance of Carrie Farmer was quite.

[Mike Shepard]

Unlike any other because Carrie hadn't exactly vanished, but retreated beyond the shadows to release rage in torrents of text messages.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And it just went on and on and on.

[John Michael Burdett]

Beyond diabolical, beyond the macabre. To murder a story straight out of left field.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You're on edge as to what's going to happen next.

[Mike Shepard]

I'm Keith Morrison and this is Something About Carrie, an all new podcast from Dateline. Listen to all episodes now wherever you get your podcasts.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It was 2011, eight years after her aunt Patricia Lee's death, when Jessica got a call.

[Jessica Lefferts]

My mom called and she said, they got him. And I said, they got Delbert. And she was like, yeah, they just arrested him. Mike just called me. She just cried. We sat on the phone and I remember her saying, we got Emily. You can rest now.

[John Michael Burdett]

Hmm.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

This was a long time coming.

[Jessica Lefferts]

It was a long time.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

John Michael was a teenager when his father was arrested. If he did this, he had to know that.

[John Michael Burdett]

That I was gonna be in the house too.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

In the house as well.

[John Michael Burdett]

It's disturbing.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I mean, to kill your wife, but then, you know, to potentially kill your young son.

[John Michael Burdett]

I guess that's what happens when you wanna want to move on with your life with somebody else.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And investigators had questions about that somebody else.

[Mike Shepard]

She struck me as just a squirrely witness. She'd flip flop. She had at one time exonerated Delbert before vigorously trying to get him convicted.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Over the years, Allison had offered up information to help the investigation, but Constable Thompson asked her to take a polygraph. Did she agree to take it?

[John Michael Burdett]

She agreed to take it.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

How did she do?

[John Michael Burdett]

She showed deception. She failed it.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

If the investigators were right that Delbert lit a candle in a pool of lantern oil to construct an alibi, it was a clever plan.

[Jessica Lefferts]

Delbert wasn't smart enough for that. Allison was. Delbert wasn't. Delbert just acted it out.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Delbert didn't have much education.

[James Turrentine]

No.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Though Delbert now denies ever claiming he went to West Point. Jessica says he lied about his education.

[Jessica Lefferts]

Not a lot of people get into West Point, but that was part of Delbert. He was a pathological liar.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

So was Delbert. Just the brawn while Alison was the brains. Even though there was no hard evidence linking Allison to the crime, that was Jessica's theory.

[Jessica Lefferts]

I felt like she was the one that came up with the idea to set this fire and for him to get to work so that he'd have an alibi.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Do you think Allison played a role in your mom's murder?

[John Michael Burdett]

Oh, definitely. I mean, they were having an affair together. I always thought she's more involved than anybody really knows. Yeah, I don't see how she could not be.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And there was something else in the case file that pointed to Allison. Something her cousin by marriage, Sherry had said back in 2005. 5. Sherry had some pretty damning statements to make about Allison that she says Delbert told her.

[John Michael Burdett]

Delbert told her that they had planned it.

[James Turrentine]

He said that.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He was glad the.

[James Turrentine]

Bitch was dead, that he's glad that, yeah, Allison had thought of a plan to kill her and that he went ahead and Done it, you know, her and him done it together.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

This is the first person, really, to bring Alison into this in a big.

[John Michael Burdett]

Way, into the actual planning and execution of the fire.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Yes, but Prosecutor Shepard knew that part of Sherry's story about Delbert couldn't be used in court. It would be hearsay and inadmissible.

[Mike Shepard]

I mean, as hard as Mike works on this case and as many people as he talked to, at the end of the day, we had zero competent evidence. Yeah, on Allison. Lots of suspicion, my own included, but no evidence.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Allison was never charged with anything relating to the fire. Delbert Mills went on trial in January of 2013, waiving his right to a jury in favor of a bench trial. After just the three days of testimony, the judge gave his verdict based on.

[Mike Shepard]

The evidence for judge finding guilty. The office was.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Guilty.

[Mike Shepard]

Guilty.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What was his reaction to that in the courtroom?

[Mike Shepard]

He just hung his head the whole trial. He kind of looked like a whip dog. And that did not change when the verdict came out.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Delbert was sentenced to life in prison. Sometimes it takes a while.

[John Michael Burdett]

I mean, it took 10 years, but it got it.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

So it got done. You gave just a heartbreaking victim impact statement in the courtroom. You faced your father.

[John Michael Burdett]

Had to. I mean, that was the only time I'd be able to ask him that question, you know, face to face.

[Mike Shepard]

Del river, why do you want to take away one?

[James Turrentine]

And I want dressing.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Katrina's elite didn't love me without her.

[Mike Shepard]

Heart in my soul. My mother.

[John Michael Burdett]

Why, why, why? You have to take the one person who loved me more than anything.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

That unanswered question hung in the courtroom and hung over the lives of everyone who knew John Michael and his mother. And in the years ahead, the questions would only multiply. There are going to be people who find what you're saying right now to see despicable. And Allison, she would chart a new life as entrepreneur, podcaster, and politician.

[James Turrentine]

Hi, everybody. I'm Allison Salinas, and welcome to Citizen Watch.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

But what was her next plan?

[James Turrentine]

Something's gonna happen, because that's my only way out.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Can you see, though, the similarities between the two cases? You're the common thread. Seven years after Delbert Mills was convicted of murder, and about 300 miles north of that Goliad County Courthouse, James Turrentine's phone pinged with a new message. He didn't recognize the number, but when he opened it, the name rang a bell.

[Andrea Canning]

It was something along the lines of, hey, this is Allison. I don't know if you remember me.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It was Allison Mills. Delbert's ex wife.

[Andrea Canning]

She was my first real girlfriend.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

James dated Allison when they were in high school. Now, nearly 30 years after their teenage breakup, she was reaching out. How random was that?

[Andrea Canning]

Very random. It was such a long time to go by.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What does she want? Just. Just to reconnect.

[Andrea Canning]

She wanted to spend a lot of time discussing our lives, where we'd been in the past 28 years, what had.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Been going on in your life. And what did she say had been going on in hers?

[Andrea Canning]

I'd been living my life. You know, I'd been through some things, but, I mean, she told me that she had been married a couple of times, and she told me that she had been married to a guy who had murdered his wife.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

That's a lot.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What kind of questions did you have when she told you that her husband had been convicted of murder?

[Andrea Canning]

I thought it best not to ask a lot of questions. It seemed more appropriate to me at the time to express sympathy, because that's a lot to deal with.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Did she tell you what had happened?

[Andrea Canning]

She said that he'd locked her in the house and set the house on fire. That was the extent of it.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

A few years after Delbert was convicted, Alison left Texas with her three daughters and started over in central Illinois. She had a new life and a new name. She was now Alison Salinas, remarried to a contractor named Patrick Salinas.

[Andrea Canning]

She told me she was an entrepreneur. She said she was selling things online. Kind of made it sound like life was great for her.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Alison had gone to college and was active in her new community in greater Peoria.

[James Turrentine]

I'm going to talk about a few things going on.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

She hosted a political podcast.

[James Turrentine]

Hi, everybody, I'm Allison Salinas, and welcome to Citizen Watch, where your voice matters.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And she told James she had political aspirations herself. She made a primary run for the US Senate, trying to get on the Republican ticket. Alison was running for U.S. senate? What did she tell you about that?

[Andrea Canning]

She said that she wanted to change things in the country, and it kind of surprised me.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The local news covered a series of rallies Allison organized to support police.

[James Turrentine]

We need to bring out the human side of these cops to show them they're just like us. They're no different than us.

[Andrea Canning]

I thought, that's bold to be out in the public spotlight like that. But I wished her the best of luck.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The campaign ended before she could get on the ballot. She dropped out, citing a cancer diagnosis.

[Andrea Canning]

She told me that she had been a cancer survivor. And then a few months, I guess, into our conversations, she mentioned that the cancer was back.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

James says Allison told him she couldn't afford her treatments. She asked him for money.

[Andrea Canning]

That just seemed rather suspicious. And when I didn't answer her texts right away, she responded with, wow, like I had done something wrong.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Like you weren't jumping to say, I'll give you the money.

[Andrea Canning]

Yes. Trying to make me feel guilty. And to me, that just seemed really manipulative. And I told her, I said, this feels like a scam to me. I'm not going to do it.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

So after this whole, like, asking for money for cancer, you decide to do a search?

[Andrea Canning]

Yes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And what did you find?

[Andrea Canning]

I found Facebook pages online where people complained about her by the hundreds.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Hundreds?

[Andrea Canning]

Hundreds. Just one after another after another.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

One of those people on Facebook was a woman named Kate Elliott. Kate first met Alison at a church in Peoria's East Bluff neighborhood. They were both volunteering to help plan a community fundraiser. Was she new to town at this point? Okay, so how did she even hear about it?

[James Turrentine]

There were flyers passed out through the neighborhood, and there is a Facebook page that also asked, you know, if you have any ideas for a fundraiser. You know, we're all meeting at a church.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Her idea was a concert. Yes.

[James Turrentine]

She wanted to call it the East Bluff Jamboree. She came in and said that she had connections and she was going to have Nellie, Brad Paisley, and Gwen Stefani come to our little 250 seat amphitheater.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Kate knew immediately that it sounded too good to be true.

[James Turrentine]

Alison started talking about, and Brad Paisley's gonna be from this time to this time. And Nellie from this time to this time.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

She started googling the artists and saw they were booked to be in other places the day of the fundraiser.

[James Turrentine]

I'm telling her these things, and she goes, oh, my God, I'm gonna message their PR people right now. And she gets on her phone and starts, you know, typing away. And I said, you're messaging their PR people right now? She was like, yeah. She's like, I can't believe this. And I said, let me see. And she needed to go to the bathroom, and she went to the restroom.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Did she come back?

[James Turrentine]

She did not.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Kate was convinced Alison was planning some kind of scam. And the ease with which Alison pitched her a list lineup told her this wasn't the first with a degree in criminology. Kate trusted her instincts and began investigating Alison's past. You made it your mission to start warning people about her?

[James Turrentine]

Absolutely. I made a Facebook post that had every scam I could find about her, and I left that public, which is.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

How she and James connected. But what they knew about Allison was just the beginning. You find some posts that are taking your suspicions to a whole new level.

[James Turrentine]

Oh, yes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I'm Julio Vaquero, anchor of Noticias Telemundo. You can watch Dateline, the hit true crime series on Telemundo. And now you can listen to Dateline as a podcast. Stories of love and betrayal, of secrets revealed of the men and women who stand between evil and justice. Every twist and turn can now be heard in Spanish, with new mysteries arriving every week. Just search Dateline en Espanol wherever you get your podcasts and start listening.

[Lester Holt]

Hello, DATELINE listeners, it's Josh Mankiewicz. We know how much you love to watch Dateline. And when you're hanging on every twist and turn, the last thing you want is to be interrupted. With an NBC News subscription. You can now watch full Dateline episodes on demand and stream the entire Dateline247 channel, all ad free. Free. And it doesn't stop there. When you subscribe, you'll also get the best of NBC News, including ad free articles, podcasts, and full NBC News programs. It's your DATELINE fix, plus exclusive NBC News content. Just download the NBC News app and subscribe now.

[Mike Shepard]

Hey, guys, Willie Geist here reminding you to check out the Sunday Sit down podcast. On this week's episode, I get together with Hollywood superstar Jason Momoa to discuss his professional journey from those early days of Baywatch, Hawaii to Aquaman and now his new movie, the Wrecking Crew. You can get my conversation with Jason for free wherever you download your podcasts.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

By the time Kate and James started comparing notes about Alice and Salinas in 2022, Kate had posted her story about the fundraiser on Facebook. In response, she heard from dozens of people with similar allegations about Alison.

[James Turrentine]

Over the years, there's been so much more that's come out and she's never stopped. Right.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Your allegation is she would organize a fundraiser, promise big names, sell tickets, then not deliver.

[James Turrentine]

Absolutely. I want to talk about this gala for the men and women in uniform.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Alison was to host a charity gala honoring first responders as part of her Senate campaign. She booked the event with venue director Patty Green. So this was the event space. This is the, was the event space what it was to look like with the red, white and blue. She wanted it very nice, over the top. I mean, it was all orchestrated perfectly because she had down to the menus what they were going to do, all those little touches. Exactly. Tickets sold for $125. Allison said proceeds would go to local first responders. But a few days before the event, Patty says she started getting calls from concerned guests. What were they asking? They were saying, is this event really happening? Because, you know, we're not getting any information from her. She's not returning our phone calls. And are you trying to reach out to her again?

[James Turrentine]

Oh, yes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

So then she just. She wouldn't answer my phone calls, she wouldn't answer my emails. So she's Ghosting you? Yeah, 100% ghosted at that point. And there's this big event that is supposed to happen. Absolutely. According to the contract, Alison owed the venue nearly $10,000.

[James Turrentine]

She asked me to be her public relations manager.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Brandi Dunn says she worked on Allison's Senate campaign for months. She and her husband Michael were also supposed to work the gala. Were either of you paid for your work?

[Andrea Canning]

Never.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Not a dime.

[Andrea Canning]

Not a dime. Not a single dime.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

How much money were you owed?

[James Turrentine]

$12,000.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The Dunns sued Alison, hoping to recover their losses. Alison's campaign released a statement contesting the amount. The suit is still pending.

[James Turrentine]

So my name is Alison and I'm a four time cancer survivor.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And remember how Alison asked James for money for her cancer treatments? Kate thinks it's all part of a con.

[James Turrentine]

My daughter Mary, she is completely in love with Post Malone and I just want to see if anybody can get this out to him and give him a shout out so he'll see it. She would love to see him.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You claim she used the cancer to get perks. So she got VIP treatment at Tiffany concert.

[James Turrentine]

She had VIP treatment? She definitely did.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You could see her with the singer.

[James Turrentine]

On stage, behind stage.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Alison has said publicly that she's beaten several types of cancer. You believe Alison was lying about her cancer?

[James Turrentine]

Alison can't even keep track of how many times Allison's had cancer. Every time something goes wrong, she has cancer. So she stopped the Senate campaign because she had cancer. She stopped the bakery because she had cancer.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The bakery as in the Busy Bees Bakery, A business Allison started after her failed Senate run with financial backing from family. The bakery, not the best reviews all the time.

[James Turrentine]

It was dead in the water before she opened.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

So you think she wasn't. They weren't even making 90% of things.

[James Turrentine]

No. And the ones that she did make, you can tell she made them. It looks like a three year old helped.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Busy Bees closed after a few months. Family members who invested in the bakery say Allison lied to them about the business and has yet to repay their money. And former employees Filed claims with the state Department of Labor saying they were never paid. Allison defended herself on the local news.

[James Turrentine]

I told them I would figure it.

[Jessica Lefferts]

Out and make sure their time was.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What it was and I would get back to them. No, I didn't give them a time.

[John Michael Burdett]

Because I don't know how long it's going to take.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Alison's criminal record shows one conviction for theft by deception in the state of Illinois, as well as convictions for theft and forgery in Texas. Kate was keeping track of other allegations against Allison and digging around in her past. You find some posts that are taking your suspicions to a whole new level.

[James Turrentine]

Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Both Kate and James saw news reports about the murder of Patricia Lee Mills down in Texas. You see people mentioning this murder on social media. Alison had already told you about it?

[Andrea Canning]

Yes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

So you're reading about it, and then she's told you her story. How are things adding up to you?

[Andrea Canning]

Things did not add up. And then I found the court documents where a lot of the testimony was discussed. And, yeah, it was clear she had lied to me.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What James saw contradicted what Allison had been telling him about her relationship with Delbert. She's telling you that she only got involved with him after his wife died?

[Andrea Canning]

Yes. She told me that she met Delbert Mills a month after the fire.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Kate's background in criminology drove her to build a timeline.

[James Turrentine]

I ended up going back and looking up the dates of her marriage, and with it being within 90 days of his wife dying, you know she had a hand in it.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And you believe that?

[James Turrentine]

Firmly.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It was quite a leap from con artist to potential killer. Investigators back in Texas could never prove it. But for Kate and James, what happened next made their suspicions hard to ignore. She surprises you with a big ask?

[Andrea Canning]

She did.

[James Turrentine]

I'm never going to be able to rest and be happy unless he's just somehow gone.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

James Turrentine believed Allison Salinas was a con artist. And he wondered if his high school ex was more involved in that murder down in in Texas than she let on. Did you confront her with that at all?

[Andrea Canning]

No.

[James Turrentine]

Why not?

[Andrea Canning]

Because I wanted to maintain the status quo with her to where she felt that she could trust me and tell me if she was planning any kind of new scams. What was going on with her?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

James says Allison texted and called him relentlessly for months. A lot of the discussion was about her husband, Patrick. What was she saying?

[Andrea Canning]

She said that he didn't pay any bills, that he didn't really work very much. She referred to him as stupid. As though that was his actual name.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You say she love bombed you?

[Andrea Canning]

Yes.

[James Turrentine]

How so?

[Andrea Canning]

That I was the gold standard. That I was the one. She painted a very romantic picture.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Allison also texted selfies to James. Regular selfies. Any suggestive pictures? Trying to win you over.

[Andrea Canning]

She did, in fact, send me nudes, if that's what you're asking.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And did you ever bite or.

[Andrea Canning]

No.

[James Turrentine]

Never.

[Andrea Canning]

No, but yet she believed that I was in love with her.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

She sounds like she's right out of a Lifetime movie.

[Andrea Canning]

She does.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And like a lot of Lifetime movies, things took a very dark turn. She surprises you with a big ask.

[Andrea Canning]

She did. She wanted me to kill her husband, Patrick.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The husband she'd been complaining about. How does this even come up?

[Andrea Canning]

It started with subtle remarks, things like, I wish he would just go away and never come back. And it progressed from there into full blown conversations about orchestrating this man's death.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

If she is being truthful, her husband's life could be on the line.

[Andrea Canning]

It is. She sent me a picture of him and said, there's your pic you need. As though that's what I need to know who he is, what he looks like, so that I can go up there and kill him.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What did you say to her when she asked you to do this?

[Andrea Canning]

I told her, I'm not going to kill him. And she, at that point, instead wanted me to find someone else and hire that person to kill him.

[James Turrentine]

This is Officer Williamson, Pekin police.

[Mike Shepard]

Just so you know, my body camera's on.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

James reached out to police in Pekin, Illinois, and spent more than 15 minutes telling an officer, officer, the story.

[Andrea Canning]

She's like, well, you know, you have some money. Why don't you, you know, hire me a hitman or something like that? It needed to look like an NPC.

[Mike Shepard]

And didn't be traced to her. Do you know if she has any, like, mental disabilities or, you know, anything of that nature? I'm trying to figure out the. The seriousness of this.

[Andrea Canning]

So, to be perfectly honest with you, so I'm not a medical professional, but I do have my own suspicions.

[Mike Shepard]

I'm gonna document, you know, everything that you're telling me, but, you know, my advice to you would be not contact her at all anymore. I would just block her number.

[Andrea Canning]

You know, here. Again, if I do that, I think she's gonna know something's up. I don't want to give her a reason to come down and, you know, cause problems for me in Texas or, you know, who knows, whatever else.

[Mike Shepard]

Yeah, well, if you don't want to Cause any issues by blocking her, then just don't respond to her.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I mean, blocking her calls, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's just over.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah. That's not an end.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

She can just find someone else.

[Andrea Canning]

Absolutely she can.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

If James was waiting for the Pekin police to take immediate action, he was in for a disappointment.

[Andrea Canning]

Months went by, and I never heard back from anyone. And it was at that point that I came to the understanding that I was on my own.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He did have Kate on his side. And together they wondered if Allison's own words might get investigators attention. So James developed a plan. Use an app on his cell phone to secretly record his conversations.

[James Turrentine]

With her head to work in about 30 minutes, I'll call you.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And feel. Once James hit record, it wasn't long before Allison was offering detailed scenarios about how to kill her husband Patrick.

[James Turrentine]

Yeah, it's all about the fact that he's allergic. Selfish, but even that's too iffy, huh? Because it takes a while for it to react. So he would have time to get help.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

So instead, she suggested luring Patrick to a remote location where a hitman would be waiting. I have to position him in a.

[James Turrentine]

Place where there's nobody at, but something happens, right.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And if there's anything involved, a gunshot.

[James Turrentine]

There would have to be a silencer, so there's no sound. And the shot would have to be just right.

[Andrea Canning]

Right.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Once again, Allison asked James to find a killer.

[James Turrentine]

I need your help finding someone, huh?

[Andrea Canning]

Well, that's not guaranteed.

[John Michael Burdett]

I mean, it's not like I have.

[Andrea Canning]

Assassins on speed dial.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You know what I mean?

[James Turrentine]

I know that.

[Andrea Canning]

She chuckled like, this is just such a laughable situation. There was nothing funny about it.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

On these recordings, she's very calm and collected and matter of fact, like she's like she's having a conversation about where you should go eat lunch.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah. It was very callous the way that she discussed these things.

[James Turrentine]

I don't know what it's going to cost.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Am I not?

[James Turrentine]

I don't know, but I'll do what I gotta do.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Allison seemed to be thinking of all the angles. She suggested they start to withdraw cash in small increments to pay a hitman. A strategy to avoid suspicion.

[James Turrentine]

First time you do like 60 or 80 or 100 even. Don't keep your mouth sand because then that looks suspicious. And over time, you've pulled out 40, 50 bucks here, $100 here. Eventually you have that $5,000 in cash.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Now she talks on these recordings that you have about how important it is that it not Trace back and she gets very detailed.

[Andrea Canning]

The first thing she wanted to discuss was how she would alibi out. She always had to have that plausible deniability every time. That was first and foremost on her.

[James Turrentine]

Mind, like, whatever is going to happen, it has to happen number one, when.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I'm at work.

[James Turrentine]

Or somewhere else where I can verify that I'm there.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

A work alibi was familiar to Allison. Her ex, Delbert, used it himself when Patricia Lee died in that fire. Allison also talked about the rules she would have to play if and when the plan succeeded.

[James Turrentine]

The only thing that's going to suck is I have to go through the whole mourning process and all the whole crying and the whole widow process.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You can hear her complaining that she'll have to be the grieving widow.

[Andrea Canning]

She said that she would have to act like she was upset and it would all just be an act.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What do you think when you hear all of these things that are being said on these calls?

[James Turrentine]

I knew that she was a terrible person. I didn't know that she was that heartless. When she said, I'm going to have to play the grieving widow for a while, and oh, boo hoo. And it was just so cold. I'm never going to be able to rest and be happy unless he's just somehow gone.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Allison had no idea James had recorded the calls. But she was about to find out, along with thousands of strangers who would hear every word. Not to mention a few people back in Texas who knew Allison all too well.

[Jessica Lefferts]

My initial thought, really was karma.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

In the years after his father's conviction for his mother's murder, John Michael struggled to find his way.

[John Michael Burdett]

There was substance abuse. I mean, that's. That's how I dealt with it. I was trying to run from my problems, and that's the way it happened.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He eventually got clean, got married, and had two daughters.

[John Michael Burdett]

I'm not the easiest to deal with, but my wife does a very, very good job at it. And I'm pretty sure every step of the way, my mom is there helping her.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

John Michael had lost track of Allison, the woman he always suspected had a hand in his mother's murder. He had no idea that two complete strangers had become obsessed with exposing Allison's plot to kill her husband.

[James Turrentine]

It can't go down as a homicide. It can't go down as anything but an accident.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

James and Kate's mission had reached a tipping point. They thought they'd recorded enough evidence to put Alison in prison for a long time. But since police hadn't taken an interest in the case. James put together highlights of the calls, and Kate posted them on Facebook.

[James Turrentine]

Something's gonna happen to him because that's my only way.

[Andrea Canning]

None of you know me.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

James also used an AI generated voiceover on the clip to suggest this might not be the first time Allison was involved in a murder plot.

[John Michael Burdett]

I can't help but notice some similarities between my situation and the murder of Patricia Mills in Victoria, Texas.

[James Turrentine]

Within a couple hours, we had 7,000 views, and then it just kept going.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Most importantly, presumably, the police are going to see this video.

[James Turrentine]

Yes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And hear about it.

[James Turrentine]

I tagged them in the post.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Oh, that'll do it.

[James Turrentine]

That'll do it.

[Andrea Canning]

36 hours after that video was uploaded, I got a phone call from Detective Palmer with Pekin pd.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

There you go.

[James Turrentine]

Hi, this is Detective Palmer with the Pekin Police Department. I have to let you know, just my phone calls are recorded. I'm not sure why it was never followed up on before, but I am very, very interested in all of what was going on in this situation.

[Andrea Canning]

She apologized to me for them not taking it seriously before. She said that she had been assigned to the case and that she was going to investigate.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Now you had their attention.

[James Turrentine]

I'm sorry that it took this long for us to, you know, jump on the information. It definitely fell through the cracks and shouldn't have, but I am gonna do my best to look into all of it.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

This time, the police moved at warp speed. In a matter of just days, the detective had done a deep dive into Alison Salinas. Listening to the recordings, interviewing James and Kate and reading up on the murder of Patricia Lee. On July 22, 2025, Allison came in for an interview.

[James Turrentine]

I just want to make sure that you understand the severity of how things could have played out. Oh, I do. I'm not oblivious to what could have happened, and I'm really glad it didn't. I don't want harm to come to anybody, and I really don't. Like, words were coming out of my mouth, and it was just words. When you say.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It's like just words coming out, though, you were thinking through all of the.

[James Turrentine]

Possible ways that, like, you could get caught. Like, you were thinking through all of those minute details. Like, that's the part that alarmed me. Well, and that would alarm anybody. But, yeah, I definitely didn't mean any of. Looks like you were talking with about the possibility of finding somebody to murder your husband. That's what it. At least that's what it looks like in the moment. In that moment. I get that. But understand, I don't want anybody to be hurt. Ever. There's still consequences for having, like, those conversations. So the seriousness behind how you were in the context at this point. You're under arrest. Speaking.

[Mike Shepard]

PD one female, solicitation of murder. She's compliant.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

How are you feeling? Because of what you did, she has now been arrested.

[Andrea Canning]

I felt a sense of relief. I thought, this will finally be over.

[James Turrentine]

I have sinus nerves.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Patricia Lee's sister, Sharon, died two years earlier. But others in her family found poetic justice in Allison's arrest.

[Jessica Lefferts]

My initial thought, really, when I saw what the charges were, was karma.

[James Turrentine]

Yeah.

[Jessica Lefferts]

It may have not been for her part in my aunt's murder, but at least there was something coming to her.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Finally. You had one question. After Allison's arrest in 2025. Mm.

[John Michael Burdett]

What's the statute of limitations on murder?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You're thinking about your mom.

[John Michael Burdett]

Always. Always will be.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Incredibly, the one person Alison chose to call after her arrest was her husband, Patrick. Yes, Patrick. The man she was accused of plotting to kill.

[James Turrentine]

I love you.

[Mike Shepard]

Love you, too.

[James Turrentine]

Bye.

[Mike Shepard]

Bye. Bye.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Patrick has stood by Allison. He agreed to sit down with us to defend his wife.

[Mike Shepard]

I don't believe what they say. I don't believe that she is a bad person. She's put me in front of everything, even our kids sometimes. So therefore, I have no reason to believe that this is where her true heart is.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

She's your ride or die.

[Mike Shepard]

Mm. We've been through so much that. And we're still here.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

There are going to be people saying, come on, Patrick, you know, wake up. How can you defend this woman? How can you defend your wife when it's right there, you know, in these calls, these things she's saying? What. What is your response to that?

[Mike Shepard]

You don't know her. They don't know her. Nobody knows her the way that I do.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

To him, Allison was a victim of James.

[Mike Shepard]

I don't have anything bad to say about Allison. And I haven't listened to none of those tapes. It's not necessary. I already know what's going on here.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You're never going to listen to it.

[Mike Shepard]

I'm not going to. It's not. There's no reason for it. He was selectively talking to her and trying to manipulate her and get in her head. He got in her head to the point to where she started talking about this stuff.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Patrick says Allison was manipulated. What would she say to us? There are some people who feel that if you're capable of asking James to kill Patrick, that you were capable of asking Delbert to kill Patricia Lee. For Alice and Salinas, it was a dramatic fall. Once an entrepreneur and Senate candidate, she was now charged with plotting to kill her husband, Patrick, from behind bars. She agreed to talk to us.

[James Turrentine]

I didn't want to hurt my husband. Not truly. I didn't want anything bad to happen to him.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He says that he is with you forever, despite it all. That you are his ride or die.

[James Turrentine]

A. That's my baby.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You do love your husband?

[James Turrentine]

Very much. He's my soulmate.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Allison says she was going through a rough time with Patrick when she first reached out to her old high school boyfriend, James.

[James Turrentine]

I didn't ask for anything except for him to be nice, for him to be loving. That's all I wanted is I as I wanted to be loved.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

James says that you initiated, you know, the possibility of being together. That it was you that you love bombed him. You sent him nude photographs of yourself, um, and that he wanted nothing to do with a romantic relationship.

[James Turrentine]

That's a lie. That's a bold faced lie. Wow. Okay.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Allison says she went to Texas, where they consummated their romance in a hotel room. James says that never happened.

[James Turrentine]

He was able to manipulate my feelings. He played on my emotions.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I mean, you said some pretty bad things in those calls about Patrick. I'm never gonna be able to rest and be happy unless he's just somehow gone. You talked about using a silencer. You know that he's allergic to shellfish maybe. It could look like he had an allergic reaction and died.

[James Turrentine]

Yeah, those were all things that James brought up. And he made me believe. But in my head, you gotta understand, my mental stability at that plays a big part. I've been on medication most of my life.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Alison, you do know what was said on those calls looks bad.

[James Turrentine]

Just because it looks bad doesn't mean that. That's the whole story. And people need to know what really happened. People need to know. The manipulation in Illinois.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The charge against Allison was about a theoretical murder. But as for the actual murder in Texas committed by her ex, Delbert Mills.

[James Turrentine]

That was a horrible, horrible situation. Delbert is probably the worst human being I've ever met.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The family says you started this affair before Patricia Lee died.

[James Turrentine]

See, that's not true. We didn't start seeing each other until shortly after and got married three months after that. Ended up being one of my worst mistakes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Did you have any involvement in the murder of Patricia Leigh?

[James Turrentine]

Absolutely not. Absolutely not. That was horrible what happened to her. And that little boy did not deserve to lose his mother.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Can you see, though, the similarities between the two cases, you're the common thread.

[James Turrentine]

See, I don't see it like that, though. I see it like I had problems with my husband and some other man stepped in and played knight in shining armor. But I never really wanted to hurt my husband.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

There are some people who feel that if you're capable of asking James to kill Patrick, that you were capable of asking Delbert to kill Patricia Lee.

[James Turrentine]

No, not at all. To me, that's an insane thought, because I don't want my husband dead. I never wanted him hurt. I never wanted anything to happen to him.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Alison claims the charges against her are tainted because of something very ugly she learned about James. You say that James is not to be trusted.

[James Turrentine]

Well, yeah, I know that now. Yeah.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You have specific reasons for saying that.

[James Turrentine]

James is. I found out he's a registered sex offender, and I found out he lied to me for two years.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Allison and Patrick brought up something very sensitive. That you, James, are a convicted sex offender and that you are not to be trusted.

[Andrea Canning]

Okay, so 20 years ago, I was charged with a sexual offense, and when I completed probation, the charge against me was dismissed. I am not a convicted villain.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

They claim that you essentially manipulated a young girl to get what you wanted. That you are capable of manipulating anybody, including Alison.

[Andrea Canning]

I choose to do the right thing because it's the right thing to do. Yes, There is something terrible that I did in my past. I've done right by society since then.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

This was a very serious thing that you did.

[Andrea Canning]

Yes, it was. You know, I made the decisions that brought me to the situation that I'm in today.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Why should people trust you now, believe you?

[Andrea Canning]

Because I believe in atonement. I believe in redemption. I believe it is possible to change.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

James says he was never the mastermind trying to convince Allyson to kill her husband. And the recordings of their conversations prove it. He says Alison, with her long history of alleged cons, is the real manipulator. You've been accused of taking money from firefighters, police, veterans, duping the people all around you for money.

[James Turrentine]

What do you want to know other than I didn't do it?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I mean, there are many, many, many accusations.

[James Turrentine]

Accusations.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

So you have never stolen a dollar from anyone?

[James Turrentine]

No. No.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And it's just. Then just everyone else is lying but you?

[James Turrentine]

It's not everyone's lying. There's more to the story than that.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

How's there more to the story?

[James Turrentine]

It's a lot of allegations, and nobody can seem to prove anything. It's just allegations.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Allison says she is a cancer survivor and denies Allegations she faked any illness.

[James Turrentine]

I've had cancer. I beat it. That's how there is to clear it up.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Allison says Kate is an Internet troll out to get her and James joined in her campaign of spreading lies.

[James Turrentine]

They keep replaying the same things to try to keep it in people's head, to make people hate me. When I opened my bakery, my first customer walked up to me and said, I'm in here because of the hate.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Kate also said that you sold frozen pastries at the bakery that you didn't even make yourself.

[James Turrentine]

First of all, I never once said that I baked everything fresh. 90% of what I did make was homemade. Made killer brownies, made killer cookies, made killer cupcakes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

That's an interesting choice of words. Well, interesting way to describe it.

[James Turrentine]

I mean, I don't mean it like that. I mean, they were just very good.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

No, no. It's just given why we're here.

[James Turrentine]

I mean, they were very delicious.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What do you say to anyone who feels like you're blaming everybody but yourself?

[James Turrentine]

I'm not blaming everybody but myself. I'm filling in the holes that nobody cared to listen to. I just want the truth out there. That's all I want.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Hundreds of miles south in a Texas prison, Alison's ex husband, Delbert is also proclaiming his innocence. And after two decades, he's ready to reveal the person he says is responsible for the fire that killed Patricia Lee. You have to know there are going to be people who find what you're saying right now despicable.

[Andrea Canning]

There's always more to the story.

[Mike Shepard]

To go behind the scenes of tonight's episode, listen to our talking Dateline series.

[Andrea Canning]

With Lester and Andrea of the available Wednesday.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Charged with solicitation of murder, Allison Salinas was facing a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison if convicted. But the state offered a deal. Plead guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence. After consulting with her public defender, she took it and is serving a 16 year prison term. You accepted a plea deal?

[James Turrentine]

Because I was told I had to, yes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What was said to you?

[James Turrentine]

I was told that if I even thought about having a jury trial, you're going to get 30 years. He scared me into a plea deal. He told me that was my only hope, so I agreed.

[Jessica Lefferts]

I feel like it should have been a lot more. I do feel like had she gone to trial, had there been a jury, she would have had a longer sentence.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

John Michael is glad Allison is behind bars.

[John Michael Burdett]

Karma's a bitch. You get what you deserve.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Is she diabolical? Is that how you would describe Her?

[John Michael Burdett]

No, that's. That's not. I just use the word evil.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Evil? You think she's evil?

[John Michael Burdett]

She. She is evil.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What did you think when you heard that she was indicted in Illinois?

[Mike Shepard]

Well, I'd like to tell you I was shocked, but I was not. I thought, well, that. That tracks. That tracks.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Delbert mills, the man D.A. shepard prosecuted for the murder of Patricia Lee, is serving a life sentence in a prison outside of Amarillo. Why did you decide to sit down and talk with us?

[Mike Shepard]

To get the true story out there.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What is the true story?

[Mike Shepard]

The true story is I really don't know what happened that day.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Did you kill your wife?

[Mike Shepard]

No, ma', am, I did not.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Did Allison have anything to do with the death of your wife?

[Mike Shepard]

Dad, I do not know. I was not there.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Despite those claims of ignorance, Delbert says he does know who is responsible for the fire and has kept it a secret for more than two decades.

[Mike Shepard]

From what I was told by a six year old boy, and I swore to him in the back of the ambulance that day, I'd never tell another living soul, but I'm gonna tell you.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

This is your son you're referring to.

[Mike Shepard]

This is my son. He said he set the couch on fireplace with a ladder at the end of it, which probably in turn set the curtains on fire, set the wall on fire that burnt the house down, that killed his mother.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

So now you're blaming your son?

[Mike Shepard]

No, I'm not blaming my son. I'm telling you what my son told me when he was six years old in the back of an ambulance.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Okay, well, it sounds like you're blaming your son. You have to know there are going to be people who find what you're saying right now despicable. Based on all the statements that you made to people about killing Patricia.

[Mike Shepard]

I know.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Now you're saying that you think it was your son.

[Mike Shepard]

No, I'm telling you what my son told me in the back of my neck.

[James Turrentine]

Okay.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Why believe you?

[Mike Shepard]

Why not believe me?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Why not? Because there's witnesses who have said that you told them terrible things about Patricia Lee and that you confessed to starting the fire.

[Mike Shepard]

I can understand that, too. I didn't. I didn't do it. I could. I could have been bragging about something I didn't do.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Could have been or didn't?

[Mike Shepard]

Probably did a couple of times.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Delbert has professed his innocence for years, but he never implicated his son until now.

[Mike Shepard]

I swore to him that I'd never tell nobody else. And he's my son. And I'll protect him to my last dying breath.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

If you're protecting him, why are you telling me?

[Mike Shepard]

So the truth can be known.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You know your son has been through hell.

[Mike Shepard]

I know he has.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And now you're saying this and you're acting like you're trying to be this good father, that you're protecting him and you're not. This is so.

[Mike Shepard]

I. So what? You're basically what you're telling me. I should have said this from the start. I should have told somebody.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Well, sure, if it's the truth. This feels so unfair to him to be doing this right now. I have to tell you, as a.

[Mike Shepard]

Parent, I know it feels unfair.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It feels really awful.

[Mike Shepard]

That's. Now I don't know whether it's true or not, or whether he was just scared, but that's what he told me. And that's the only thing I know.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I don't think you're going to win father of the year anytime soon.

[Mike Shepard]

I know that. I ain't trying to win father of the year. If he really wants to know what happened, son, the only thing I can tell you is you get hypnotized. Remember that day and see whether what you told me is true or not. Other than that, I don't know.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

This sounds like a bunch of bull crap.

[James Turrentine]

Alberto.

[Mike Shepard]

I know what it sounds like.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

We showed John Michael what his father said about him.

[Mike Shepard]

He set the couch on fireplace with a ladder at the end of it.

[John Michael Burdett]

I'm gonna stop right there. I feel like I'm done. Because he's blaming.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

After composing himself, John Michael returned.

[John Michael Burdett]

If you can blame a 6 year old for killing his mother, when you're the one that actually did it, that's that you don't have a heart. That's the most cold hearted thing you can do. It's so infuriating, it makes the blood boil.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

John Michael's anger extends to Allison too. He'd like to see her prosecuted for his mother's murder. But the current district attorney in Goliad says that won't happen unless credible new evidence emerges. Would you like to see the Goliad district attorney take another look?

[Jessica Lefferts]

I say no because it's been so long and we've, you know, we've gone all this time.

[James Turrentine]

Yeah.

[Jessica Lefferts]

And my aunt deserves to rest in peace.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It's been a struggle, but John Michael has found a measure of peace for himself. Your mom would be really proud of you.

[John Michael Burdett]

Yes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You turned your life around.

[John Michael Burdett]

I had to. It was either turn my life around or end up in the ground.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

These days, John Michael dedicates himself to his role as husband and father and holds tight the memory of his best friend, the mother he lost so many years ago.

[John Michael Burdett]

She was the first person to show me what love was. I mean, how can that not be your best friend? She might not be here physically, but she's, she's here in my mind. She's here in my heart.

[Lester Holt]

That's all for now. I'm Lester Holt. Thanks for joining us.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Friday night on an all new dateline.

[Mike Shepard]

She was asking, have you heard from Jay Lee?

[John Michael Burdett]

He kept going to voicemail.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I didn't know what could have happened to him. As a mom, you knew in your heart something was wrong.

[James Turrentine]

I knew, yes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The mystery of what happened to Jay would haunt an entire community and reveal a most unlikely suspect.

[James Turrentine]

You consider every aspect of where the.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Investigation can go before a final, nearly impossible twist.

[Andrea Canning]

An all new Dateline Friday night at 9, 8 Central, only on NBC.