Verdict day in Karen Read's second trial. A courtroom twist in South Carolina. And tariff scammers.

0:00Good morning. It's the start of another workday for the Dateline team here at 30 Rockefeller Center. Prosecutor saying she is a master manipulator. She is a evil woman. Our producers are catching up on breaking crime news around the country, swapping tips and story ideas. Gosh, could we have a verdict tomorrow? That seems unlikely. I know they're not deliberating on the weekend. We will see what happens tomorrow. Welcome to Dateline True Crime Weekly. I'm Andrea Canning. It's June 19th and here's what's on our docket. A massive courtroom twist at the retrial of a South Carolina businessman accused of staging his wife's murder to look like suicide.

0:41Everyone was stunned. It took a moment for people even to realize they could stand up. In Dateline Roundup, the latest in the trial of children's author Corey Richens. And in Connecticut, a plea deal for someone connected to the case of murdered mom of five, Jennifer Doulos. Authorities allege that he helped Fotis create an alibi for the time of Jennifer's disappearance. Plus, NBC News chief investigative consumer correspondent Vicky Nguyen on a whole new scam to watch out for involving tariffs.

1:16But before all that, we're heading back to Dedham, Massachusetts. Since 2022, Karen Reed has been fighting for her freedom, facing a potential sentence of life in prison on charges including second-degree murder. We were there in court as she finally learned her fate. 31 days of testimony and 49 witnesses. 38 witnesses for the prosecution, 11 for the defense. Yesterday afternoon, after more than three years, we finally got something we didn't get in the first trial. A verdict. Mr. Foreman, on docket number 2282CR117001, murder in the second degree, what say you, is the defendant at the bar guilty or not guilty?

2:00Not guilty. We'll tell you everything you need to know about the dramatic conclusion to this case. But first, before the verdict came down, I talked to Dateline producer Sue Simpson about how the lawyers on both sides made their final pitch to the jury and what was happening outside the courtroom as the jury went off to deliberate. Sue, let's start with closing arguments. Alan Jackson was first up for the defense. Let's take a quick listen. There was no collision. There was no collision. There was no collision. This was almost identical to how Alan Jackson began his opening statement. What was the argument that he laid out for the jury in his closing?

2:44Well, Andrea, as you know, I mean, this is his final sales pitch, right? And he started off smartly by thanking them for their attention and their patience and also for their courage. Courage is what this moment, this moment demands. Not just to listen, but to stare directly at injustice and say, not here, not now, not on our watch. that's what you're being asked to do. Stare down injustice. You folks are the last line of defense, the last line of defense between an innocent woman and a system that has tried to break her, that falsely accused her, that tried mightily, mightily to bury the truth.

3:35So Jackson said the case was corrupted from the start. You know, he pointed at the lead investigator, Michael Proctor, and he said his misconduct infected every single part of the case. Alan Jackson also wanted to talk about reasonable doubt and how it is, in his words, the bedrock on which the entire system of justice is built. So from the start, he's really laying out this idea that Karen Reed was entitled to the presumption of innocence, of course, and that the heavy burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt was on the state, not the defense. You think about one or more of the charges, you think, you know what, maybe that's true, it might be true, then you vote not guilty.

4:16If you think it's possibly true or probably true, your vote must be not guilty. If someone among you thinks it's likely true or even very likely to be true, your vote is not guilty. because none of those standards maybe, might be, possibly, probably, likely, very likely, none of those meets the extraordinary burden of beyond a reasonable doubt and to a moral certainty. A moral certainty means a level of confidence so strong, so incredibly unshakable, that you could go home, you would go home, look your loved ones in the eye and say, I am certain. The prosecutor, Sue, was up next, and he began by talking about John O 'Keefe.

5:04He spoke about how he spent his life helping people and what a good man he was. And you'll remember he was selflessly raising his niece and nephew. That's right. As we know, the niece and nephew were orphaned, and John stepped in as single uncle and became what they called their funcle, their fun uncle. Prosecutor Hank Brennan wanted to drive home the message that this was a good man who died. And on the morning of January 29th, 2022, John O 'Keefe, who had helped so many, was the one who needed help himself. And that one person who could help him that morning was this defendant right here, Karen Brees.

5:44And she made a decision. In her Lexus with the shattered taillight, debris failed all over the front yard, and John O 'Keefe lying helpless like a child on the front yard. She made a choice. She drove away. She was drunk. She hit him. Then she left him to die. What else did Hank Brennan focus on, Sue? Well, you know, like the defense, Hank Brannon went back over a lot of the evidence during his closing argument. He talked about how blood samples indicated Karen was two to three times over the legal limit. He also talked about the battery temperature of the cell phone, Andrea. And this was a whole new piece of the state's case as compared to the first trial.

6:30He really honed in on the data surrounding the temperature of the phone battery to try to show that John O 'Keefe was outside versus inside the house all night, as the defense had suggested. He also spoke about physical evidence at the scene, those taillight pieces. There's no doubt there's a collision because her taillight's all over the yard. It's all over the yard. And when he falls back and he hits the back of his head, his basal fracture, he's then lying there helpless. When Miss Reed leaves, she leaves behind tons of her taillight all over the yard. Brennan, Sue also had audio and videos that he played during the closing argument?

7:12That's right. He played those angry voicemails that Karen left John that night. And Hank Brennan played clips from Karen Reed's own media interviews, including the ones she did with Dateline. And some of the statements she made really were sort of seemed to be her admitting that maybe she had, for instance, a bit too much to drink. All right. So, Sue, what was the atmosphere like around the courthouse as deliberations got underway? You know, this has really gotten worldwide attention. It is big. And boy, I can tell you, Andrea, outside the courthouse these past couple of days, the crowd has been growing and growing and growing.

7:50And it's all a heaving sea of people in pink, you know, supporters of Karen Reed.

8:03We love you. You're so welcome. As jury deliberation stretched into a fourth day, Karen's supporters were still there in the streets, waiting. Then word came. The jury had a verdict. The prosecutor and defense teams filed back into the courtroom, and Karen stood before the judge. Mr. Foreman, on docket number 2282CR117001, murder in the second degree, What say you, is the defendant at the bar guilty or not guilty? Not guilty. So say you, Mr. Foreman? So say you? No, no. Do you agree? Yes. 002. What say you, is the defendant at the bar not guilty or guilty? Not guilty. 003. What say you, is the defendant at the bar leaving the scene after accident resulting in death?

8:51Defendant not guilty or guilty? Not guilty. So say you, Mr. Foreman? So say you all? Yes. Not guilty on the most serious charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence, and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death. A roar came from outside the courthouse. John O 'Keefe's mother broke down in tears. Karen was found guilty of operating a vehicle under the influence and immediately sentenced to one year of probation. Moments later, she spoke on the courthouse steps. is I could not be standing here without these amazing supporters who have supported me and my team financially, and more importantly, emotionally, for almost four years.

9:38With that, the case that has transfixed the nation for more than three years was at an end. The mystery of what happened to John O 'Keefe in a snowstorm back in January 2022 still lingers. It's a case we've been covering here at Dateline since the beginning. And tonight, on Thursday's edition of Dateline, you can watch our in-depth report, Center of the Storm. We'll bring you the whole story, including one of Karen Reed's first television interviews. I didn't know what the hell, what the hell happened. And I'll talk to a man at the center of the case, disgraced former trooper Michael Proctor. What do you want to say to anyone who believes that you framed Karen Reed?

10:16It did not happen. As well as his wife, Elizabeth. But he did say, there's some really embarrassing text messages that I have to read. And I said, OK, well, own it. We'll dive into the case files, the theories, the evidence. And you'll also hear from John O 'Keefe's family about their journey and what they wish people knew. She has put my family through hell to save herself. That's airing at a special time of 9, 8 central this Thursday on NBC. Coming up, seven years after a jury deadlocked in the trial of a South Carolina businessman accused of killing his wife, his retrial is stopped in its tracks.

10:57We'll take you inside the courtroom.

11:13For our next story, we're headed to a South Carolina courthouse where a prominent jeweler was set to go before trial this week for allegedly murdering his wife. Before we continue, we should warn you there is some discussion of self-harm in this case. On the evening of May 20, 2015, Michael Colucci called 911 from outside a warehouse he was renting for his business. He said he found his wife, Sarah Lynn, hanging from a fence with a garden hose wrapped around her neck and begged them to hurry.

11:51Paramedics got to the scene within minutes, but it was already too late. Sarah Lynn was dead. Michael told investigators that she had been depressed and suspected it was a suicide. But a year later, he was arrested and charged with her murder. He pleaded not guilty and stood trial in 2018, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict. This week, Colucci was in the courtroom getting ready to stand trial again when a last-minute twist changed everything. Dateline producer Carol Gable is here to tell us more. Carol, welcome back to the show. Good to be here. So, Carol, before we get to that big twist, let's go over some of the basics of this case.

12:30Who was this couple? Well, there were two people who were thrilled to get that elusive second chance at love. They were each a single parent to a daughter. They met on a blind date. They, from all accounts, pretty much fell instantly in love and got married. The two of them ran this jewelry business together? Yes, I don't think Sarah really was there full time, but she certainly was in some ads you can still see on the internet for the jewelry store. She was tall, blonde, beautiful, very personable. And so she did work at the store from time to time. What were Michael and Sarah doing at the warehouse that night?

13:16Well, it was kind of the last stop on a big day of errands. They started out at a lawyer's office, and then they ended up at the very famous cemetery here in Charleston called Magnolia Cemetery, where Sarah's first husband, who died of a suicide, was buried. At the grave, Sarah got really upset. His death was very stressful, even after all these years. And then they began to drive home. And Sarah had this quirk that if she needed to go to the bathroom, she did not want to go in a public restroom. So she had Michael pull over, according to Michael, so she could go relieve herself behind this warehouse along very busy Highway 17.

14:10So she gets out of the car, according to Michael, to go do this. And while she's gone, he says he plays some music. You know, he may have fallen asleep. We don't know. Next thing, he looks up and Sarah is hanging from a garden hose that had been draped over a chain-link fence. Wow, so awful. What eventually made local investigators suspicious of Michael's story? Well, at first, they thought it might be a suicide. But Sarah's father, Ronnie, and her mother, Barbara, were absolutely insistent that Michael had something to do with it. So they basically just bombarded the local sheriff. And eventually, the sheriff called the state law enforcement division to come in and do their own investigation.

15:03And they send a person named David Owen to investigate this. And I say the name because it may sound familiar to Dateline viewers because he would become the lead investigator in the Alex Murdoch case years later. What motive did prosecutors say Michael might have had for killing his wife? In the first trial, it seemed that the prosecutors were painting a picture of this couple being very volatile. So in their scenario, they were having a fight and somehow it led to her death. Carol, back in 2018, the jury couldn't agree on a verdict at the first trial. Now, here we are, 2025, retrial, and the defense presents a motion filed last week.

15:54Tell us about that. Well, it centers on a conversation that David Owen had with Barbara Moore, Sarah's mother, in which Barbara said that in the days before her death, she had found Sarah drinking and crying uncontrollably. Her face was swollen. And she was saying that if it were not for the girls coming home, she would commit suicide. And that piece of information did not make its way to the defense, which in legal ease is a Brady violation. You are required to return over to the defense any piece of information that might be in favor of the defendant. And so what the defense said in this case is had that information been turned over earlier, that even the state's witnesses could have come to a different conclusion and would have testified differently, which would have meant a potential different outcome.

17:03So what did the judge decide with this motion? When he came out and read his decision, it was huge. This court is quashing this indictment without prejudice. So the judge dismissed the charges against Michael Colucci? He dismissed it as if it had never happened. What was the reaction like in the courtroom? I think everyone was stunned. I think it took a moment for people even to realize they could stand up. And the judge went further to say, you know, telling Mr. Colucci, you know, you don't have to wear that ankle bracelet anymore. the monitoring device, you're free to go. You're not even on bond anymore.

17:47That's incredible. And he started crying, Colucci? Oh, yeah. He cried for the rest of the time in the courtroom. And it was very poignant, too, because his daughter, who thought she was going to come for opening arguments, was headed up the stairs to the courtroom. And Michael Colucci was running down the aisle, and they sort of, met in the middle in one of those embraces. It's really unbelievable. So, Carol, this trial is not happening, but this isn't over. The prosecution still has a card to play. They do have a card to play. They could go to a grand jury with what they have, and a different grand jury could decide to indict him again.

18:34We don't know what they're going to decide. Carol, fascinating case. Thank you so much for bringing this to us. You're welcome. Up next, it's time for Dateline Roundup. We've got the latest in the Corey Richens case. She's the children's author accused of poisoning her husband. And the final defendant facing charges in the case of Connecticut mom Jennifer Doulos learns his fate. Plus, scammers are taking advantage of consumers' confusion around tariffs, how to spot the red flags.

19:16Welcome back. For this week's Roundup, we're joined by Dateline digital producer Veronica Mazzaca. Veronica, thanks for coming back. Thanks for having me. Okay, so up first, Veronica, we've got an update in a case that will likely be familiar to Dateline fans. Jennifer Doulos, the Connecticut mom of five, She went missing in May of 2019 after dropping her kids off at school. Her body has never been found, but she's been declared dead. Remind us just a little bit about the case. Yes. So her estranged husband, Fotis Doulos, was charged with her murder. He maintained his innocence and later died after attempting suicide.

19:55Investigators had surveillance video of him dumping garbage bags, they said, contained items connected to Jennifer's murder. and his girlfriend at the time, Michelle Traconis, was found guilty at trial last year of charges of conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy, tampering with evidence, and hindering prosecution. Okay, so what is new in the case now? So Fotis' friend, a lawyer named Kent Mawinney, had also been charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Authorities alleged that he helped Fotis create an alibi for the time of Jennifer's disappearance. What's new is that the state has reduced Mawinney's charge to interfering with an officer.

20:34They say police asked him if he had spoken to Fotis on the day of the murder, and Mawinney denied it. But forensic evidence later showed that Mawinney had spoken to Fotis when he was allegedly disposing of evidence. After the reduction, Mawinney took an Alford plea, and a judge sentenced him to 11 months, which he had already served, so he walked free. He spoke afterwards, Kent Mawinney, with his attorneys. Let's take a listen. Obviously, it's tragic. But, you know, I have as much responsibility for that tragedy as you do. When he was asked if he knew where Jennifer Doulos was, he said, quote, No, if I did, I would tell them.

21:13Hmm. Wow. Yeah, it's such a shame that they've never been able to find her body. Very sad. Up next, we are headed to Summit County, Utah. we've got an update on the case of Corey Richens. You might remember she is the mom who wrote a children's book about grief after her husband died in March three years ago. But then she was arrested for his murder and charged with nine felonies, including aggravated murder and multiple counts of forgery and fraud. Veronica, remind us of some more of the details of this case. Yeah, so prosecutors say that Richens allegedly poisoned her husband, Eric, by putting a lethal dose of fentanyl in his drink in 2022.

21:54According to prosecutors, Corey was in financial hot water over some real estate deals and had taken out life insurance policies on Eric, and she pleaded not guilty. In the past, Veronica, we played some exclusive recordings that Richens sent us from jail. We played them on the podcast. Here's a quick clip of one of them. I'm anxious to get to trial, and I'm ready to get this one heck of a fight. So what is the latest in the case? The trial was supposed to start this spring, but the judge allowed a delay so that the Utah Supreme Court could consider whether the trial should be moved to a different county.

22:28Last week, they declined to hear the case, so at a hearing on Friday, Richens finally got a new trial date. It's now scheduled to begin on February 23rd and is expected to last five weeks. And Richens will be back in court on August 1st for a hearing on trial preparations. Okay, we'll keep you posted. Another high-profile trial, Lori Vallow-Daybell. Quick update with her. There has been a verdict in the latest trial in Arizona. She was accused of conspiring to kill her niece's former husband, Brandon Boudreau. So what did the jury decide? All right, the clerk will read and record the verdict. Leave the jury.

23:08Do find a defendant, Lori Daybell, guilty. And this is her second conviction for murder conspiracy in less than two months. In April, a jury found her guilty of conspiring to kill her husband, Charles Vallow, in 2019. She will be sentenced for both of her convictions at the same time, even though they were separate trials? Yes. So Lori will be sentenced for this conviction as well as the April conviction on July 25th, and both carry the possibility of a life sentence. All right, Veronica, thank you so much for all this great information. Thank you. We have all seen tariffs making headlines in recent months, and it can be confusing at times to know if the things we're buying are affected.

23:54And that's the perfect opportunity for scammers, according to my next guest, NBC News Chief Investigative Consumer Correspondent Vicky Nguyen. She's back to tell us what to watch out for and how to avoid becoming the victim of these new tariff scams. Hey, Vicky. Hey, Andrea. Yeah, so, OK, this is one I would not have thought of. I was very surprised. Scammers are nothing if not on trend, Andrea, right? So tariffs in the headlines, major buzzword. And so what these scammers have done is after you place an order for something that you want online, suddenly they'll follow up and say, hey, we've got your item, but there's a delay because of additional tariffs that need to be paid.

24:35So if you want to get your item and have it be released and sent to you, we're going to need you to send some more money. You may fall for that because you want this item. And so that's why the Better Business Bureau has put out an alert to say, beware of the retailers with whom you're shopping online. And if anyone tries to ask you for money after the fact, that's a major red flag. So you, Vicki, reached out to the Better Business Bureau. What did they tell you as far as what we all can do? They want to go back to shopping with reputable retailers and really watching out for something called a sponsored ad.

25:10You're going to see a lot of these popping up, especially on social media, and it'll say, oh, check out this new company, this product. It looks really great. Some of those are definitely legitimate new small businesses, but others are absolutely purchased and run by scammers. And so anytime you're going to spend money with a retailer you haven't heard of, I just want you to take the name of that business and put it into an internet search along with the word scam or along with the word review and just see what are other buyers saying. Have any complaints come up? Also, look carefully at the website itself.

25:46Are there misspellings? If anything looks suspicious on that site or the price is too good to be true, that's typically a red flag. And Vicki, so you found out that there's another kind of tariff scam. The scammers are promising tariff relief. What's that? This is wild. And it's the opposite. Instead of saying, hey, you need to pay us for tariffs that are due, the scammers are saying, hey, the government owes you money for tariffs. We're giving you some relief to offset the extra cost of these tariffs. No, run. Hear me loud and clear when I say the government is not paying you one single cent for tariffs.

26:25So just if anyone is contacting you, and usually this comes in the form of some message that you did not ask for in your email as a text on your phone, and they say, click here to get your tariff relief payment. And really what that link is taking you to is a phishing website. They're going to try to get your name, your payment information, bank account information, even your address to send you a check in the mail. The big picture here, if anyone is offering you any sort of tariff relief, run away. And Vicki, if you are one of the unfortunate ones who's fallen victim to one of these tariff scams, what can you do?

27:00Make sure if you already made a purchase that you call your credit card company or your bank right away, report it as fraud. If it's very serious and you've lost a lot of money, you can report it to your local police department as well as the FTC, the Federal Trade Commission, and the FBI. And that just helps them to keep track of trends and online crimes that are happening so they can put warnings out to the rest of us. Once in a while, they are able to help people recover their money. But, you know, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say. Vicki, this is such good information.