THE Christmas Day death of Lisa Jennings, who was found with a gunshot wound to the head, led to a major investigation full of twists and turns.
Lisa's husband, Brad, was convicted in connection to her death, but the conviction was overturned after his defense team uncovered a major piece of evidence.
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The horrific story will be detailed on tonight's episode of Dateline, airing at 9pm EST.
In the trailer for the episode, Lisa's children recalled the frantic Christmas morning in 2006 when she was found dead in their Missouri home.
Dallas, who was only 11 when his mother passed away, said the morning of her death was a "blur."
Amanda, a bit older at 16, recalled every detail of the day, from sitting in her truck waiting for the police, to seeing her dad, Brad, cry for the first time.
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Brad told police he found Lisa dead on their bedroom floor.
Police determined she passed from a gunshot wound to the head.
An autopsy showed residue from a gunshot in one of Lisa's hands, leading police to believe she died by suicide.
Soon, Lisa's sister went to the Dallas County Sheriff's Office to express that she believed she was murdered, leading to a spiral of mystery.
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A HORROR MORNING
The Springfield News-Leader reports Brad and Lisa had a "troubled" marriage.
Lisa's daughter Laci, who was also raised by Brad, said in court documents obtained by the News-Leader, that her mom stayed up until 1.30am, watching a holiday movie.
“And she had a few glasses of wine, so she was crying," she said.
"And he (Brad) had woken up and you know, asked her: ‘Why aren’t you in bed? And why are you crying?’”
Amanda said she woke up to her parents fighting.
“I fell asleep for maybe a minute or two when I was woke up by my sister yelling at my mom for fighting with my dad on Christmas," Amanda said.
"My mom seemed very upset and was crying.
"At this time, I believe my mom went into her room or wherever. I went downstairs to put my mom and dad’s presents in their stockings.”
Brad told police they fought over Lisa not coming to bed, so the children could put presents in her stocking.
The News-Leader reports he said they both had had several glasses of alcohol.
Laci left home after her parents were fighting, and Amanda said she woke up to her dad screaming and crying.
“My dad was on the phone — upset and hysterical," she said.
"He was shouting on the phone ‘Get here quick! Get here quick.'"
"I hear him in there. He is crying. Very, very upset. I come around the stairs there, and I just kind of pushed the door open like this.
"And I see her laying there. Everything goes blurry.
"As soon as I open the door like that — I noticed my dad is kneeling, right in front of her. She is laying along the wall there.
“As soon as I open the door, he jumps up … pushes me out of the room so I don’t see anything else, see anything more. He is hugging me right here in the hallway. He’s crying. I’m crying.”
Police were called at 2.06am.
Brad told police he had found Lisa and did not hear the gunshot because he was in his workshop.
After a search warrant, police found the gun under the legs of Lisa's body.
Police believed someone had moved the body, but Brad admitted he had cradled her when she was found.
Tests for gunshot residue were negative on both of Brad’s and Laci’s hands.
The gun was not tested for fingerprints.
The coroner ruled Lisa's death a suicide, noting her blood alcohol, at .152 percent was a “significant condition.”
A POSSIBLE MURDER
As mentioned, Lisa's sister believed she was murdered.
Officer Dan Nash studied the blood splatters and noted Lisa' s hand only had one drop, and he believed there would be more if she killed herself.
Nash noted there was microscopic blood on Brad's bathrobe, which he believed indicated Brad shot her.
Brad said it was from cradling her.
CONVICTION MADE, AND OVERTURNED
Brad was convicted of murder in August 2009 and was sentenced to 25 years in jail.
His sister hired a defense team to fight for his innocence, who determined there was not gun residue on the bathrobe.
Due to the evidence of the lack of gun residue on the bathrobe, a judge overruled Brad's conviction, the AP reported.
Prosecutors had alleged at his original trial, at which Brad did not testify, that he killed Lisa, changed out of the robe, and then washed his hands of the residue.
They also alleged the reason why Lisa had gun residue in her hand was that she was standing close to Brad.
Brad filed a civil rights lawsuit, alleging Nash was not a blood splatter expert.
In 2020, according to the News-Leader, a federal jury of six men and three women ruled in favor of Nash, noting he did not act in bad faith.
Nash had also testified he never received the bathroom report.
A judge denied Brad's appeal in the case against Nash in 2021.
The Attorney General’ decided not to retry Brad, and independent review was inconclusive in determining if the death was homicide or suicide.
A LIFE REMEMBERED
Lisa's family described her to Dateline as "fun" and "energetic."
Brad told Dateline she was friendly and "happy all the time," noting they both liked doing the same thing.
Amanda said she loved animals, especially dogs, Christmas music, and decorating.
Dallas recalled she loved video games and computers, and would spend a significant amount of time playing with him.
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"She just was fun," a family member said.
