The Soldier's Wife | Full Episode | Forensic Files

Real people, real crimes, real life drama. I I'm ready reporting. I think somebody's just been shot in my
neighborhood. And I can hear somebody screaming through the door. When Skyler and Danielle met,
it was something that you read in the fairy books. It was instantaneous. We heard a bang and then we heard a
noise in our neighbor's apartment. Skyler and Danielle [clears throat] loved each other.
They were gushy in love. If we're not Skyler then who is alive? >> [music] >> I think she really
believed that they really had this end of the movie fade to black type Jimmy love.
>> [music] >> There is like nothing that could keep them apart. Skyler joined the army.
I'm so excited. Danielle was junior in high school. You couldn't think of a perfect
cheerleader. bubbly Thank you. >> [music] >> outgoing Today pretty. La te da te da.
That was Danielle. Danielle had it in her mind that she was going to marry Skyler and
wherever he went she went. He graduated from [music] boot camp and they got married.
Danielle was lonely. She was away from her friends, everything she knew. She loved Skyler
but she just said he's gone all the time and he was. Skyler had been gone for 20
days out in the field training. When Skyler got home he was so excited to see Danielle.
Is she breathing at all? No. They loved to go shoot their guns. Shoot that can. Danielle said it gave her power.
Skyler bought her own rifle. She decorated it out. The husband has [music] said that she's
dead and he doesn't want me going in to see her. My son picked up a loaded gun. Oh my
god. He looked at it with a naked eye, did not see any ammunition in it. I'm a bad
person. Bad person. It went off. Shot Danielle in the back of the head. I love my wife so much. This was an
accident. I mean to say I didn't I didn't mean to hurt anybody. He is seeing this as [music] an accident, his
family sees it as an accident. We believe he murdered his wife. Did you intentionally kill your wife, Skyler?
No, I did not. I never meant to hurt you. I love you so much, Danielle. My wife.
>> [music] >> It's a matter of state of Washington versus Skyler Nemetz, who is present in
court. A year and a half after shooting his 19-year-old wife, Danielle, [music] 21-year-old Skyler Nemetz is on trial in
Tacoma, Washington, charged with murder in the first degree. He stood [music] about 5 ft away from
Danielle. He had his finger on the trigger and he pulled it. I feel like my heart was ripped out of
my chest and all the veins too with it the day that my wife died. But you caused it. I know. But that's the most
painful thing of all this is knowing that I caused it. Skyler Nemetz shot his wife. No one disputes that. The only
question is why? Did he pull the trigger in a jealous rage or was it just an accident? And will you reach the same
conclusion the jurors did? Skyler and Danielle were the picture [snorts] of a happy couple. No one who
knew them could have imagined the [music] tragic events that unfolded on October 16th, 2014.
Skyler's mother, Donnette Heller. None of it made sense to me. Donnette calls her middle child a gentle
and kind soul. Very loving, caring, [music] sensitive. Who was and still is very
much in love with Danielle. She was so bubbly and fantastic. She was She was great. Danielle was his
everything. There was no issues in their relationship. Except for the times they
were forced to be apart. In the fall [music] of 2014, Skyler, an infantry soldier, had been on
deployment in Eastern Washington for nearly 3 weeks of battlefield training. After living in a Stryker vehicle with
three guys, Skyler couldn't wait to get home to Danielle. Danielle had called me that morning and
she had bathed the dogs. She said she went and got candles. She was just so excited.
On the afternoon of October 16th, Danielle was waiting at the army base to drive Skyler home to their small
two-bedroom apartment. They ordered pizza to celebrate. I had a shot of Seagram's
and a glass of Fireball with Red Bull. Were you drunk? I don't think I was a drunk, but I was I would say I was
buzzed and tired. But also in a great mood. But less than 3 hours later, everything suddenly went
wrong. Why me? I love my wife so much. Why me? Hey Skyler, were you notified you're being audio and visually
recorded? That's fine. I'm not going to do anything. Okay. This is Skyler, minutes after he was taken into custody.
I've never been in trouble before. I've never hurt anybody. For the next 7 and 1/2 hours, I'm Detective Jordan. You
want to come talk to me? Come on. Yeah, I want to. Hi Skyler, we're recording right now,
okay? >> Everything he said And this is what happens to me. and everything he did was
recorded. >> What's it like in jail? by video cameras. The details of what led up to the
shooting are sketchy, but according to Skyler, when [music] he got home, Danielle's rifle was in their bedroom
closet. He had given her the AR-15 assault rifle for her birthday. And she who knew how to handle that rifle, load
the rifle, discharge it, clean it. It was something Skyler and Danielle loved to do.
Skyler grew up with guns, firing his first weapon when he was just a kid. The rules in my home when I had my
children, your guns stay in your safe and always unloaded. And Skyler says those were the rules in
his home as well. I was so big about gun safety. Always was so big about gun safety. I'm the
my friends cuz I'm so big about it. And then I'm the I'm the I'm the guy that it happens to. Sometime
before 6:00 p.m., Skyler says Danielle brought the rifle into the small second bedroom [music]
and asked him to put it away. Danielle's computer was also in that room. >> [music]
>> When she sat down to finish some work, her back was to Skyler. Last thing I told her, "I love you, [ __ ] I love
you, girl." Skyler, believing the rifle was unloaded, he says, picked it up and was
checking to make sure when the gun went off. Danielle How does this happen to people?
Who does this Who the [ __ ] does this happen to? How the [ __ ] What the [ __ ]
WHAT THE DANIELLE SKYLER INSISTS HE NEVER saw the single bullet that was in the chamber of the
rifle. That bullet went through the back of Danielle's head and into the computer
screen. Danielle died instantly. >> [snorts] >> Where is this day? My wife She was killing me.
Who was killing me? My wife My love He said, "Please, let me die. Please, let me die." Danette says her
son has been suicidal ever since. I am not positive that Skyler won't take his own life still.
But Danette refuses to give up on her son. For the past year and a half, the divorced mother of three has been in a
desperate battle for [music] her son's future. Hi. A struggle she has documented for 48
hours in these video diaries. I just know that I have to fight for what I have in front of me, and that's
my son. My mom has sacrificed everything she's had for me. Danette spent what she had and borrowed
even more to get Skyler released on bail and to assemble a top-notch legal team.
The reality is I have spent every cent I have on this case. Dianne has uprooted her life putting
everything she owns into storage. I'm Skyler's brother. Leaving her teenage son Aaron with friends in Utah and
moving to Tacoma to be with Skyler. She went from living in a multi-million dollar home to living in a
spare bedroom. Dianne and Skyler staying with friends while he's under house arrest. Skyler wears a ankle monitor
>> [music] >> and mother and son This is it. This is the top drawer. and have learned to live in very close
quarters. Skyler and I share a room. It's been tough on both of them. Just really lonely
and scared. And the uncertainty of what the future holds for Skyler is always [music] on Dianne's mind. I know I
probably try to put up a good front and have everything in control, but >> [snorts]
>> I don't. It's been really hard. I guess it's hard on not knowing what's going to
happen. What mother wouldn't reach to the ends of the earth to try to believe that it was an accident and try to
convince themselves that their son's not a murderer? But James Peltier says Dianne is wrong.
Do you believe Dianne is deluding herself? >> she's delusional is what I think she is.
>> [music] >> Let's jump on into it. Danielle was the happiest girl you could ever meet.
A little spark, just full of energy. She just leap up and give you hugs daily if
not multiple times a day. You just could not fall in love with this little girl just being around her for one day.
Before Danielle became Mrs. Skyler Nemetz, she was a beloved high school [music] student who adored everything
about life, her friends, her family, and her two favorite high school pastimes, makeup and cheerleading.
>> She just shined out there. She was beautiful to watch. Super energetic. Coach Sharon Nikolai immediately cast
5-ft 100-lb Danielle as the flyer, the lucky one who gets tossed around in the air, a role she was born to play.
And did she like being the center of attention? >> Loved it. Center of attention was where
she belonged for sure. It was attention Danielle wasn't really able to get at home. Her mom died of
cancer when she was just a toddler. And so Danielle and her three siblings live with their grandmother in McKinleyville,
California. Money was tight. >> [music] >> And then when Danielle was 14, her grandmother died, too.
The kids then moved in with their stepfather. [music] She was type of girl that it's like you
knew she had a hard home life, but you would never know it at the same time. She just didn't dwell in it. Danielle
and best friend Michaela Yingling formed a special bond after both losing their mothers at about the same time. She was
always happy. Like I didn't know where she got it from. But deep down, she longed for what she
was missing, says Coach Nikolai. And she went looking for it [music] in boys. Every boyfriend was the one she
was going to marry. She always got very close with the families of the boyfriends that she had because they
always were the most stable part of her life. But it was just that need to be loved [music] and for that nurturing and
that attention. And relationships would end and the next one would start. In her junior year, Danielle found that
next one on Facebook. A recent graduate from a neighboring high school who was about to join the army, Skyler Nemetz.
>> I remember I fell in love with her just like that. I was head over heels like
immediately. When Skyler and Danielle met, I had never [music] seen the sparkle in
his eye that he had with being with Danielle and the love he had for her. Danielle shocked [music] everyone when
just a month after meeting Skyler, she moved in with him >> [music] >> at his mother, Janette's home. I felt
sorry for her, for her upbringing. I love spoiling her, you know, cuz she had never been
spoiled. But she was an absolute doll. And I love being able to help her. My mom saw Danielle as a daughter. I was
crazy about her. She called me mom. After knowing [music] each other for only 3 months, Skyler bought a diamond
ring and proposed to her on the [music] top of Neilan Mountain. That was a relationship that moved very
quickly. >> Yeah, sometimes I would sit there and I'd be like, "Oh my gosh, I'm 18 and I'm
getting married." But the thing is though, I loved her so much and she loved me so much and
we didn't want to wait. We wanted to get married. Aaron, what was your reaction? Um it
wasn't positive. I felt like I needed to be the person to shake her and say, "Slow down. There's no rush."
But she's the type of person she was just so strong-willed that there was never going to be any convincing her and
there just wasn't an adult in her life that could put a stop to it. Danielle dropped out of high school and
married Skyler at the courthouse the day he graduated boot camp >> [music] >> 5 months after their first date.
>> It was about 10 minutes long. [music] He wore his uniform and he was so happy.
When she was a Skyler, she was just so grateful. >> [music] >> And she'd always tell me how much she
loved being married. She loved being Skyler's wife. They settled into off-base housing
[music] in Lakewood, Washington, where he was stationed at Fort Lewis. What was it that drew her to him? I
think she just really wanted to get a fresh start and try to make a family of her own and
um to be happy. I think it was following a dream is what I think it was. Something bigger than right here, you
know. Former neighbor James Peltier became almost a father to Danielle. You know, we took him to the movies, out to
dinner. I mean, we went to church. We would go camping. Both James and McKayla were concerned
that Danielle was pinning her hopes on a guy she had known for less than 6 months. He took her away and they moved
away so quick. Like nobody really got to know him. A guy who seemed to have no interest in knowing them. He just like
ignored us. I met him on three occasions. Even the few times Danielle and Skyler dropped by for a visit.
>> Danielle was her bubbly self. Peltier says Skyler wanted no part of the conversation. I think I shook his hand
and back to the car he went and he left. He says he let it go until he learned something he couldn't ignore. Danielle
[music] told him Skyler had smashed her cell phone in a fit of anger and then immediately rushed out to buy
her a new iPhone. I sat her face to face and I said, "I just need to know if there's any big problem is all you have
to do is tell me you don't want to be with him anymore." And I said, "I can guarantee you the boy won't even come
through that door." And she's like, "No, I love him. I forgive him." Danielle enrolled in a local high school
to finish her senior year, got a new puppy, and a new job at a granite counter company. [music]
But Michaela, who FaceTimed and texted her every day, felt something was not right. Did she ever express fear of
Skylar? No, but sometimes, you know, she acted a little weird, like when I asked
her, like, "When Skylar coming home?" And she's like, "Oh, well, I have to clean this before he gets home." Like,
"I have to shampoo the carpets and make sure everything's just like in perfect order." Is that because she wanted to do
that, or she felt she had to do it for him? I don't think she wanted to do it. I think he was forcing her to do that
kind of stuff. [music] I just had a feeling like in my gut. When was the last time you talked to her? The
night she died. Skylar had just returned from a grueling 19-day training mission in Yakima. It
was around 5:00 p.m. We were FaceTiming, and she was sitting at her computer desk. Skylar was in the background on
the couch, and she like ran over to him and like jumped on his lap and was acting all happy that
he was home. And did he talk? Could you see whether he was in a good mood? He seemed like he was in a good mood. Do
you remember the last thing she said to you? She was just said that, "I love you so
much, and I can't wait to talk to you next." They hung up, and 12 minutes later,
Danielle Niemietz was dead. >> breathing at all? I'm really [snorts] excited. I hope you
enjoy. Thank you guys for watching my video and I will check you later. Don't forget to like
and subscribe. And yeah, have a good one. Bye. James Peltier will never forget the last
time he saw the girl he loved like a second daughter. She come through the door and just come running over to me
and jumped in the air and gave me a big old bear hug. What is the hardest part, James?
Not hearing [snorts] her voice. Not seeing her. James and his wife, Sam, plan to attend
every day of the trial, hoping to find justice for Danielle. As soon as I knew he had shot and killed her,
there was no doubt in my mind that it had to have been on purpose. I mean, who takes a gun
and points it at somebody? Why are you pointing a gun at somebody? It's clear that he's an expert when it
comes to handling firearms. Too much of an expert to make such a mistake, says Deputy Prosecuting
Attorney Greg Greer. By the time he's in the army, he's building AR-15s. It's clear he's obsessed with guns. How could
it be accidental considering his expertise with firearms? The detectives doubted Skyler's story
from the beginning. >> See, I'm good with weapons. I've used weapons a lot, okay? But I don't This
time I just That's just it. I don't think you'd violate those safety rules to the back of your wife's head if
you really loved her. You might if you were pissed off. That direct hit, dead center to the back of
Danielle's head, seemed more like an execution than an [music] accident. Tell me what happened. The more Skyler
talked, the guiltier he looked in the eyes of his interrogators, in part because he kept changing his
story about how he held the gun before it went off. That's what it like this. I hit it on my thigh. And when I did that,
I don't know what happened. Like when I hit it against that, it went off. Then, he switched to this. It was on my
shoulder. It was on my shoulder. It was on her breast. It was up high. It was around here. I don't know why I thought
it was on my thigh, but that was just You didn't think it was on your thigh. You thought the story sounded better,
Skyler. I'm not a stupid guy. I'm in the interrogation room 45 minutes after Danielle dies. And
I'm trying to figure it all out for myself. My mind is just destroyed. I don't remember where the hell they were.
I don't remember I don't know where they were. But Greer says Skyler's actions speak louder than his words. The
strongest evidence, believe it or not, is what he does immediately after the fact.
Skyler didn't call 911. A neighbor did. And there wasn't a single drop of Danielle's blood on him. A clear sign
that he didn't try to save or even comfort her, says Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jared Ausser. He doesn't render
aid at all. He never checks on his wife. If it was an accident, he's going to drop the weapon immediately, run over,
grab her, assess her. He doesn't do that. She wasn't alive Skyler, sitting with his lawyer, told us in his only
interview not holding Danielle is something he regrets to this day. I wish I would have held her. Why didn't you? I
was scared. I was freaked out and I didn't know what to do. I seriously didn't. My brain was I was not all
there. Good morning. Please be seated. But at trial, Greer hopes to show that Skyler knew exactly what he was doing.
This is a case about control. Greer uses Skyler's own texts to paint him as an angry, controlling husband who wanted
Danielle to know he was in charge. Danielle, what the [ __ ] we have Amazon, you don't need the prime [ __ ] Come on.
Can you ask before you [ __ ] with my money? Thanks. You're an idiot. Who talks to their wife
like that at any stage of their marriage, much less the beginning stages of their marriage? Someone consumed by
jealousy, says Greer. In one text, Skyler accuses Danielle of going on a date with Jeremy Henry, an
old friend from high school. Danielle writes back, "You have either insecurities you need to work on or you
don't trust me when it comes to hanging out with Jeremy." I think that this truly was her friend from high school. I
think everything was just in the mind of Mr. Niemetz that he believed the worst and it got to him.
Greer says Skyler erupted in a [music] jealous rage the day he got home from training, believe it or not, over those
bottles. The most significant aspect of this case is going to be two bottles of alcohol.
And this is the state's star witness, Skyler's army buddy Anthony Foss. He was supposed to buy the two bottles of
alcohol for Skyler. I was going home early a few days before the rest of the guys.
So he asked if I can buy alcohol for him because they weren't 21. Turns out Foss
did not get the alcohol. Too busy, didn't do it. Danielle panics somewhat because she needs to get this. He really
wants this alcohol. So Danielle gets two other guys to go with her to buy the alcohol. One is her
old friend Jeremy Henry, but Skyler had no idea until [music] he went to thank Foss for the alcohol. And Foss gives a
look and says, "I didn't buy that and you know who did." Foss claims Skyler got visibly angry. He
was mad because she lied about how she got the booze. Because Mr. Foss didn't get it for her like he promised.
And while Skyler may have appeared in a good mood on that FaceTime call between Danielle and Michaela, prosecutors
believe he was hiding his anger, lying in wait like a well-trained soldier. He waited for her to get off the phone.
And shot her in the back of the head. This was an act of rage. You were mad for some reason and you shot
And then you went and you went and tried to hide everything. Skyler had told police he stashed the
gun back in the closet, emptied the bottles of alcohol, and threw them off the balcony.
The police believed he wanted to get rid of evidence linking him to a motive. You
throw the gun in the closet like it didn't have an didn't have no gun. Skyler knows it looks bad, so he's about
to do something defendants rarely do. I can live with I'm the reason Danielle died.
But I can't live with being called a murderer. Denette Heller still remembers waking up
in terror one autumn night in 2014. I had a horrible dream that Danielle shot Skyler in the head. It really shook
me up. A month later that horrible dream [music] became a terrible reality. Only
it wasn't Danielle who pulled the trigger. It was Denette's son. >> [music] >> And as the detective who broke the news
put it, it didn't look good for Skyler. He goes, "Your son's going away for prison the rest of his life."
Denette believes the detectives had their minds made up the minute Skyler walked into that interrogation room.
They found him guilty within hours without investigating. I don't know if you're trying to accuse me of killing I
I understand I killed my wife. I killed my wife, okay? I KILLED MY WIFE. I'M just trying to figure out why.
Danette knew she was in for a fight and went [music] looking for the best criminal defense lawyer she could find.
Okay. All right. She chose Michael Stewart. I've been a defense attorney for 20-plus
years. Toughest case I've had. Why? Cuz I've got a kid that I absolutely believe
I believe this is an accident. And the facts and the circumstances around it look bad. He knows the challenge will be
convincing 12 jurors that a highly skilled soldier with years of weapons training could make such a fatal
mistake. The state wants you to believe that a dead tired kid could never make a
mistake. It had to be intentional because nobody makes mistakes with guns. But Stewart is able to get the state's
own gun experts to admit on the stand that mistakes can be made. It's not always easy to tell when the AR-15 rifle
is loaded. If the order is not followed precisely, you can easily load a weapon thinking that you were
actually clearing it, correct? Yes. You put a gun to your shoulder and you pulled the trigger Next, Stewart takes
aim at the contention that Skyler shouldered [snorts] the gun when it went off. I don't know. Stewart says the
investigators pushed Skyler to admit that as Skyler was struggling to remember what happened. I thought it was
on my thigh. He told the police that he had it down low and then he said it was around here and around here.
>> I think it might have even been on my breast or my shoulder. I don't know. They're ratcheting you into a story that
makes it fit how they view a case. Defense forensics expert K. Weenie testifies that Skyler was not
shouldering the gun. What do you believe the height of that bullet was? 46 and 1/2 inches above the floor,
approximately. That would put the gun just below his chest. But, what about that direct hit to the
middle of Danielle's head? >> That is just sheer chance. And there's so many times I've thought like, why
couldn't it have been 2 inches to the right? On day 12 of the trial, Stuart has a heart-to-heart with his client
about the single most important decision he may ever make. I said, "Kid, we've shown so much in this case. I don't
think you need to take the stand." Despite the risk, Skyler felt he had no choice. I needed to. I wanted to because
for Danielle. On the night before, I watched Skyler preparing for one of the toughest days
of his life. How are you feeling tonight? I'm a little overwhelmed. I'm nervous. I'm really nervous. I just
I'm so nervous for Skyler. The defense calls Skyler Nemetz. Did you intend to hurt your wife?
>> I did not. I did not intend to hurt my wife. I never did. Stuart wants to show Skyler as a loving
husband, not the controlling person depicted in those texts. He [music] points to the scores of other texts from
Skyler, ones like, "I'm going to bed, hon. I love you. >> [music] >> Hey, babe. How was your day?"
Then, Stuart turns to the state's star witness, Anthony Foss. Remember, he said Skyler [music] was furious when he told
him that Danielle had turned to two other men to buy the alcohol. I was not angry at all. In fact, I never
had any sort of conversation with Anthony Foss. But why would he lie? I mean, why would Under Oath
>> Why does anybody lie? But I know that it never actually happened. Another army buddy, Richard Oakley, back
Skyler's story. He testifies he didn't even see Anthony Foss on base that day >> [music]
>> and that Skyler was excited to see Danielle. They both seemed pretty happy. They were both
smiling. Everything seemed good. You look at everything leading up to this day and there really isn't any of
this [music] tension. There never was a motive. This is an accident. But now it's the moment Greer has been
waiting for. His chance to grill Skyler. And he wanted to show him as a killer. He puts the gun that killed Danielle
back into Skyler's hands hoping to burn that image into jurors' minds. I wanted to expose him.
I wanted to show [music] them that he had things to hide. Mr. Foss told you he did not purchase
those two bottles. But his repeated challenges >> I do not recall him saying that. don't
seem to rattle Skyler. I did not talk to Anthony Foss that entire day, sir. He either dodged the question or claimed to
not remember. Your finger takes from safe to fire and you pull the trigger and she's 5 ft away from you and
that round hits her square in the middle of the back of the head. That is not how it happened, sir. You
don't recall telling the detectives that. Are you asking if I know that from my memory, sir?
Mr. Niemetz, do you recall telling the detectives that? Not from my memory, sir.
That's all I have, Your Honor. Skyler and his attorney hope [music] the impression that stays with the jurors is
Skyler's emotional testimony [music] about what he says really happened that terrible day.
I got off the couch and I went into the room to put this rifle away. The gun went off and um
Did you pull the trigger, Skyler? I don't recall pulling the trigger, but I know the trigger had to be pulled for
the weapon to go off. >> [panting] >> After the smoke cleared, I saw my wife. And [snorts] she wasn't moving.
I dropped the weapon and I [laughter] I went up to my wife on the left side. And I saw her face.
And my wife wasn't there anymore. >> [snorts] >> Did you know she was dead? I knew she was dead.
And I didn't know what to do. I never meant to hurt her. I never meant to hurt her.
Stewart fears that Skyler's tears may not be enough to win the full acquittal they had hoped for.
So, he makes [music] a stunning strategic move. >> [snorts] >> And this is hard for a defense attorney
to say. He actually tells the jury to find his client [music] guilty. Manslaughter in
the second degree. >> Of the lesser charge of manslaughter. It is manslaughter. It is.
I'll tell you what it's not. It's not premeditated first-degree murder. I believe his soul is pure, but his
hands aren't. He was negligent in the operation of that weapon. Thank you very much.
What will the jury decide? They will wrestle with the case for days. >> [music] >> My days are like roller coasters going
up and down and just um just hard. My heart hurts all the time. After a month-long trial
I love you. Skyler Nemetz's future is in the hands of the jury. Most jurors are asked to decide whether someone's guilty
or innocent. >> Mhm. That wasn't the case for you. No. Ralph Flick, a civil lawyer, is the
jury's foreman. This is not a whodunit case. Like we know who did it. He says he pulled the triggers. So, our question
was what was going on in his head, which was what made this case so challenging.
Jurors have to determine Skyler's [music] intent on that terrible day. If they believe he pulled that trigger to
kill his wife, that's murder, and he could face more than 30 years in prison. But if he pulled it by accident, [music]
even a reckless accident, that's manslaughter. I never meant to hurt you. I love you so much, Danielle.
As the jurors deliberate I'm hoping that it's going to be a swift verdict. Everyone else waits. The jury's been
deliberating now for 2 days [music] plus. Day There's nothing I can do. It's out of my
hands. after day. This is the sixth day. Who can take [music] this waiting? after
day. I'm nervous. I'm wondering what the jury is doing right now. [music] I think when
you play dangerous games, there are consequences. Four jurors agreed to explain the difficult decision they had
to make. Prosecutors said Skyler shot his young wife in a jealous rage, but at trial there was only one witness, the
army buddy Anthony Foss, who says Skyler Niemetz was angry that day. Without Anthony Foss, there's no evidence of any
kind of a fight that day. That nobody heard anything or saw anything. And Foss was contradicted by other witnesses,
including Skyler. >> [snorts] >> I do not remember seeing Anthony Foss that day. If it's at all questionable,
that whole part of the case falls apart. >> Jurors were troubled by Skyler's suspicious behavior after he shot
Danielle, not calling 911, and emptying bottles of alcohol. But more significant
was the 12 minutes leading up to the shooting, when prosecutors claimed [music] Skyler was seething with anger.
Jurors just [music] didn't see it. Where did this jealous rage that led to an execution come from? And what did they
think of Skyler himself? Was he credible? Seemed very coached, very rehearsed. >> rehearsed. Even the crying for me was a
little bit like theatrical, I guess you could call it. I thought he was so unreliable every
time he spoke that I don't really think that his testimony hurt him or helped him. It was really hard to believe him
anything he said. But what troubled jurors most was how Skyler, a firearms expert, could make
this kind of mistake. Brad Hardesty is a retired army soldier. Never point the weapon in the direction of anybody and
pull the trigger like that and believing that it's unloaded. To me, there was one
key fact in the whole case. Did Skyler know or did he believe that there was a bullet in the chamber? So jurors did
their own test, recreating what the state's gun expert had demonstrated in the courtroom. Was it possible that
Skyler thought the gun was unloaded? Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. So, a round could have been in the chamber.
And Skyler pulled back on the charging handle, nothing came out. He thinks it's empty, the bolt goes back forward,
and he pulls the trigger. Still, what about that perfect shot right to the center of Danielle's head? Now, you
might believe that it it's not or it's unlikely, but it still could have been. It's a reasonable conclusion that it
could have been a mistake. >> If they could have given me one good piece of evidence that proves that there
could have been intent, I might have taken that and said, "Well, it's good enough for me." But it wasn't there.
After seven long days, the jurors finally agree on a verdict. When the verdict form is handed to the
judge, there is nothing like it. That moment when you know what your fate is going to be,
wow. Find the defendant guilty of manslaughter in the first degree. >> [music] >> Guilty of manslaughter in the first
degree, the reckless taking of a life. It's a win of sorts for the defense, a terrible disappointment for
prosecutors. [music] Before Skyler is taken to jail, he and his mother are allowed a final goodbye.
Three weeks later, inmate Skyler Niemetz is back in court to learn his sentence. Danette is there,
so are Danielle's friends and family, including her younger sister. All eyes are on Skyler [music] as he addresses
Judge Jack Nevin. It's about Danielle, and it always will be. They were my actions and my actions
alone, and I take full responsibility for them. I was reckless and negligent, and for
that I will pay. And then, Skyler apologizes I'm sorry to everybody here for what he's done.
>> But most of all, I'm sorry to Danielle. I'm sorry that she was ripped out from
this world and the I'm sorry to her friends and family. And I accept any punishment that you
give me. With that, [music] Judge Nevin gives Skyler Neimitz the maximum sentence.
13 and 1/2 years in prison. Watching from the back of the courtroom are some of the jurors. I kind of feel like I owe
it to Danielle. Juror Ralph Flick says he will be haunted forever by this video of
Danielle shooting a rifle. There she is holding a weapon just like the one that >> [music]
>> killed her. She finishes shooting and she looks in the camera with this big bright smile on her face, her whole
future in front of her, and what was lost when she was killed was to me captured in that final frame of that
little clip. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music]

A young wife shot dead -- her soldier husband pulled the trigger. Was it an accident or was it murder? "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty investigates. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Skyler Nemetz accidentally shot his wife Danielle, leading to a manslaughter trial and emotional fallout for both families.

Key points

The Tragic Shooting of Danielle. Skyler Nemetz shot his wife Danielle in what he claims was an accident, but the circumstances raise questions about intent.
Skyler's Trial Begins. Skyler faces murder charges a year and a half after the shooting, with the prosecution arguing it was intentional.
Danielle's Vibrant Life. Danielle was a bubbly and energetic young woman, beloved by friends and family, who longed for love.
Danette's Fight for Skyler. Danette Heller battles for her son Skyler's future, believing in his innocence despite the evidence.
Skyler's Conflicting Stories. Skyler's changing accounts of the shooting raise doubts about his claim of it being an accident.
Skyler's Emotional Testimony. Skyler claims he never intended to hurt his wife, expressing deep remorse.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I love my wife so much. This was an accident.

Skyler's emotional statement about the shooting.

2:34WatchMay 26, 2026

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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