Deadly Circumstances

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Speaker 2 God,

Speaker 4 I just knew that she was going.

Speaker 5 She was a bright young mom-to-be.

Speaker 6 She was beautiful, confident, strong.

Speaker 8 It was a smile that really got me.

Speaker 5 Moving on from a messy divorce, jumping into a new romance.

Speaker 5 No one could believe it when they found her.

Speaker 9 They're saying it was a homicide.

Speaker 5 Then, police found something else, revealing recordings.

Speaker 3 Everything changed like instantly.

Speaker 10 It's weird.

Speaker 11 Brittany's essentially speaking from the grave.

Speaker 12 You can see the emotions that she went through.

Speaker 5 Could she point police to her killer?

Speaker 4 I'm inshaAllah and scared to death. All at once, just in a flash, her life just changed.

Speaker 5 Here's Andrea Canning with deadly circumstances.

Speaker 14 Imagine all of your phone conversations being recorded for posterity.

Speaker 16 How would you feel?

Speaker 17 What secrets secrets would they tell?

Speaker 3 Why are you talking like you're trying to hide something?

Speaker 19 This story begins here at a suburban office outside Knoxville, Tennessee.

Speaker 10 Looks a lot like any office in America.

Speaker 14 But when workers here talked on their desk phones, every word was captured.

Speaker 3 She always looks like she's about to kill somebody.

Speaker 20 And oh, the stories they told.

Speaker 24 Unfiltered and intimate with details about office romances.

Speaker 10 Oh my God, he was so hot.

Speaker 15 And in one heartbreaking case, maybe even clues about a murder.

Speaker 28 This was a real Houdana.

Speaker 21 Norman Clark loves sports.

Speaker 24 His mother Estella says he was a top athlete and a good son too.

Speaker 7 He was a loving, hard worker,

Speaker 13 caring

Speaker 6 person.

Speaker 30 As a boy, Norman had dreams of playing in the NBA, then studied sports management in college.

Speaker 25 But by his mid-20s, he was working here, Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance.

Speaker 33 23-year-old Brittany Eldridge started there the very same day.

Speaker 8 She was beautiful, but it was a smile that really got me.

Speaker 32 That winning smile got to a lot of people.

Speaker 14 Brittany's big brother, Jeffrey, says she embraced life with a contagious enthusiasm.

Speaker 37 She liked to cheerlead and she liked to play soccer.

Speaker 38 She was a girly girl and a tomboy at the same time.

Speaker 37 and she was really big about living in the moment.

Speaker 26 At Vanderbilt Mortgage, Norman and Brittany were collectors calling people to make sure they kept up with their house payments.

Speaker 10 What was it about Brittany that you formed this instant connection with?

Speaker 8 She was very good at the job so I actually used her as a tool at first to teach me so she helped me out a lot and that's when we started you know talking more and more about different things other than work.

Speaker 10 And what do you think she liked about you?

Speaker 8 I think she liked that I listened, that I actually cared about what she had to say. So it was just strictly platonic, you know, strictly friends.

Speaker 8 But then it just developed more probably eight months later.

Speaker 22 It developed a lot more.

Speaker 23 They became lovers, and that's when things got complicated.

Speaker 19 Norman was single, but Brittany, it turns out, was married.

Speaker 41 Her husband was a man named Terry Eldridge, a truck driver who drove his rig at night.

Speaker 10 What did she tell you about her marriage?

Speaker 8 She was happy, but she wanted children and he did not.

Speaker 10 Were there any other issues or was that the only one?

Speaker 8 They didn't spend a lot of time together because of their work schedule. She worked during the day, he worked at night, so they didn't see each other a lot.

Speaker 34 A married woman having an affair with a co-worker, not exactly the script for a fairy tale romance.

Speaker 42 So for obvious reasons, Norman and Brittany kept their relationship on the down low.

Speaker 8 We never went out in public, you know, out to eat or anything like that, maybe at one time.

Speaker 25 But if colleagues could have heard their recorded interoffice phone calls, they would have discovered some suggestive, flirty banter.

Speaker 3 I could use your big, strong, manly muscle.

Speaker 3 You know, we all could.

Speaker 43 More than a year after their affair started, Norman and Brittany were still keeping things quiet.

Speaker 32 Then, in February 2011, their secret affair became not so secret.

Speaker 11 Brittany's husband found out, and not long after, she moved out and a divorce was in the works.

Speaker 10 Did things start to get a little too serious and real?

Speaker 8 Actually, I don't know because she didn't even come to me and tell me they were getting a divorce. She just told me that she was moving out and that he had found out that we had been having an affair.

Speaker 14 Not long after moving out, Brittany delivered some unexpected news to her mother, Robin.

Speaker 33 She was pregnant.

Speaker 19 And the father was her coworker, Norman Clark.

Speaker 10 When Brittany told you that she was having a child with Norman, what did you think?

Speaker 4 Kind of shocked at first,

Speaker 4 surprised, didn't know how to feel.

Speaker 10 Did you think it was a mistake or were you just, it's a blessing to have a baby?

Speaker 4 It was a blessing to her. And so, I guess when the shock wears off, you're just happy for her and

Speaker 4 you're just there to do whatever you can to support her.

Speaker 14 Norman says the baby certainly wasn't planned, but he says Brittany was still his best friend and he took the whole thing in stride.

Speaker 8 I was happy for her because I knew she wanted to have a baby. But at the time, she was still married.

Speaker 10 So this is starting to get a little messy. Got a baby.
She's now divorcing her husband, who found out about you.

Speaker 8 Well, I wouldn't necessarily say it was messy. It was complicated.

Speaker 32 This wouldn't be Norman's first experience with parenthood.

Speaker 41 A year earlier, he had a baby girl with a Nashville woman he'd been seeing.

Speaker 17 Norman helped to support his daughter and says he was ready to do the same for Brittany.

Speaker 10 What's it like like for you being a father? Is that something that you cherish?

Speaker 8 It's the best thing in the world. I've become a better man, a better person, and I worked hard to become a better parent for her.

Speaker 10 How do you always wanted more kids? Yes.

Speaker 15 Brittany was excited about becoming a mother and thrilled to learn she was having a boy.

Speaker 10 She even picked out a name for the baby?

Speaker 8 She did.

Speaker 10 What was the name?

Speaker 6 Zeke.

Speaker 8 Ezekiel.

Speaker 4 She was just working and being happy about the baby and waiting for it to come and getting things ready for it.

Speaker 14 Brittany decided to keep keep working for as long as she could.

Speaker 17 December 13th, 2011 was just two weeks away from her due date.

Speaker 32 It's a day her friend and co-worker Andrea Ray will never forget.

Speaker 19 Brittany uncharacteristically was late for work.

Speaker 20 She should have been there at 8:30.

Speaker 9 I was one of the only people that knew anything about Norman. I went over there to Norman's desk and I said,

Speaker 9 can you get in touch with Brittany's mom?

Speaker 8 So I called her and asked her if she had heard from Brittany and she said she hadn't so she'd go check on her.

Speaker 10 Was your first thought that, oh my gosh, maybe Brittany has gone into labor?

Speaker 8 It was. That was, I think, everybody's first instinct was, oh, she went into labor and she's in the hospital having the baby.

Speaker 27 Robin went to Brittany's apartment to be sure her daughter was okay.

Speaker 22 But when she called Norman, it wasn't happy news about a new baby.

Speaker 8 It was a very frightening phone call. She was very upset and she was crying.
And I'll never forget how she sounded on the phone.

Speaker 24 Robin was frantic, and her world was about to be turned upside down.

Speaker 5 When we return,

Speaker 5 what?

Speaker 5 Ma'am, what? An awful discovery inside Brittany's apartment.

Speaker 4 I ran out of the apartment because I'm scared. If the 911 operator said, go back in there.

Speaker 3 I'm coming, ma'am. Okay, we are gone.

Speaker 3 Hold on, honey, hold on.

Speaker 4 All at once, just in a flash, her life just changed.

Speaker 18 Robin Owens will never forget the day she learned her pregnant daughter Brittany did not show up for work.

Speaker 4 That's unusual for her because she always showed up even if she didn't feel good.

Speaker 12 She would be there.

Speaker 4 So I just knew something was wrong.

Speaker 14 Her fear became a terrifying reality the moment she stepped into her daughter's unlocked apartment.

Speaker 4 The whole place is just a mess and I don't see her anywhere and I'm calling out for and I'm scared to death.

Speaker 17 Without taking another step, she called 911.

Speaker 4 My mom's got an emergency.

Speaker 50 What is it?

Speaker 3 Um, my daughter.

Speaker 3 Um, her work just called me, and I came over to her apartment and it looks like it's been trashed.

Speaker 4 I

Speaker 4 ran out of the apartment because I'm scared and the 911 operator, she said, you know, go back in there and see if you can find her.

Speaker 14 Inside the front door, seen here in this police video, Robin saw Brittany's new flat-screen TV lying on the floor. Oh my gosh, what?

Speaker 50 Ma'am, what?

Speaker 44 Next to the living room couch, the scattered contents of her purse.

Speaker 51 Then, Robin heard the sound of running water coming from the bathroom.

Speaker 3 Ma'am, talk to me.

Speaker 4 So, I hadn't been everywhere except for the bedroom, and it was back in the back, and I didn't want to go in there.

Speaker 4 And

Speaker 4 I get to the doorway of the bedroom,

Speaker 4 and I just got a glimpse of her, and I just knew that she was going.

Speaker 3 She's in the floor, Dad.

Speaker 3 Are you sure?

Speaker 3 she's back in

Speaker 3 where? What room? In her bedroom.

Speaker 4 Okay.

Speaker 3 Ma'am. Okay, we are.

Speaker 3 Come on, Mrs. Mamps.
Hold on, honey. Hold on.

Speaker 4 I ran straight out of the apartment.

Speaker 4 And by this time, the ambulance and police and fire department and all the emergency crews are coming.

Speaker 25 Robin was in shock.

Speaker 14 The pain was more than she could bear. At the scene, a police cruiser's dash cam captured an officer trying to console her.

Speaker 14 Oh God, I just can't believe it. Why did it happen?

Speaker 10 Watch!

Speaker 10 It's the worst horror a mother could ever have to witness.

Speaker 4 It is, and you wouldn't think anything like that would happen in a million years. And

Speaker 4 all at once, just in a flash, her life just changed.

Speaker 26 Brittany Eldridge had been strangled and stabbed in the throat. Police found her on the floor next to her bed, her naked body partially covered by lingerie.

Speaker 14 She was just 25 years old.

Speaker 52 The unborn boy she had named Zeke was gone too.

Speaker 10 After the shock has worn off, you must be thinking, who did this?

Speaker 4 I'm thinking, how in the world could somebody murder a young lady that's eight and a half months pregnant? You know, how could somebody be so cruel? I'm thinking, why?

Speaker 4 That's a question that's never answered, is why?

Speaker 14 Were you the one who broke the news to Jeffrey?

Speaker 10 Yes.

Speaker 10 That must have been extremely difficult.

Speaker 4 It was very hard.

Speaker 17 Jeffrey, Brittany's older brother, was at the gym.

Speaker 37 When I got back to my locker and I got my phone, I had like 40 missed calls or something. She said,

Speaker 37 somebody killed your sister.

Speaker 10 Did you immediately ask who did this?

Speaker 37 I never thought about it.

Speaker 46 All Jeffrey could think about was that Brittany was gone, the kid's sister, who had always filled him with pride.

Speaker 15 She often talked about becoming a mom.

Speaker 30 Now, that dream would never be realized, and in its place would be a murder investigation.

Speaker 28 It was a very closed-off scene. They had, of course, crime scene tape around.

Speaker 46 When reporter Jamie Satterfield of the Knoxville News Sentinel heard about a body being found, she went straight to the scene.

Speaker 17 Are police talking to you?

Speaker 47 Are they telling you anything about what's inside?

Speaker 28 The major crimes folks came later, as did the crime scene folks.

Speaker 14 What investigators found was a ransacked apartment, suggesting a burglary that that was interrupted and had turned violent.

Speaker 17 In fact, there had been a series of burglaries in the area in recent days.

Speaker 14 For Jamie Satterfield, there were things to speculate about in those early moments, but nothing concrete to report.

Speaker 28 Other than just hunches and all that, we just didn't have anything to go on.

Speaker 10 Did you have an open mind as to the scenarios of what might have happened, who could have done this?

Speaker 4 I didn't focus in on any one person. I just wanted to know who did it and why.

Speaker 37 Yeah, I never had a specific person in mind that could have done it. I didn't have a clue.

Speaker 39 There weren't many clues, but there were so many questions.

Speaker 23 And in this case, there would be no easy answers.

Speaker 5 Coming up.

Speaker 3 The love of my baby. I understand.
My family's out there. I understand.
I'm sick of this.

Speaker 3 I can't even grieve.

Speaker 5 The father to be, from grief to disbelief.

Speaker 8 I understood that they wanted to ask me questions. I just didn't understand why I was sitting in the back of a police car and being treated like that.

Speaker 5 When dateline continues.

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Speaker 11 When Norman Clark heard about Brittany Eldridge's murder, he left work and rushed to the scene.

Speaker 10 What's going through your mind as you're racing to Britney's apartment?

Speaker 8 That it's not real. That

Speaker 8 this wasn't going on. This wasn't really happening.
When I got there,

Speaker 8 there were police officers there. So I pulled up to her apartment, parked right in front and jumped out of the car, and I was heading into the apartment.

Speaker 14 Here's Norman at that exact moment, captured on a police dash cam.

Speaker 3 My baby.

Speaker 13 Okay, okay, okay, okay, perfect.

Speaker 10 What did you say to that police officer?

Speaker 8 I told him that that was my baby that was in there, needed to get in there. I was thinking that the baby could still be born.
That was what was going through my mind the whole time.

Speaker 25 Norman says officers blocked him from entering the apartment. And in a matter of minutes, they had him in the back of this police cruiser.

Speaker 22 I'm in trouble?

Speaker 3 No, sir. You're not in trouble.
No, sir.

Speaker 29 So tell me more, please.

Speaker 8 Just update me because I'm really confused right now.

Speaker 44 The police were asking questions, and so was Norman.

Speaker 8 So you're telling me this is Norman?

Speaker 33 Yes, sir. This is protocol, sir.

Speaker 8 But why for me?

Speaker 3 You're the boyfriend.

Speaker 8 And I sat there for a while. I'd say probably for an hour.
I was in the back of the car.

Speaker 10 Did you wonder why you were sitting in the back of the car for so long?

Speaker 8 I was. And I understood that they wanted to ask me questions.
I just didn't understand why I was sitting in the back of a police car and being treated like that.

Speaker 10 I was just going to ask you, how were you treated?

Speaker 8 To me, I felt like I was treated unfairly, especially voluntarily answering every question.

Speaker 8 I feel they just automatically did jump to a rush of judgment on who I was, you know, for showing up there.

Speaker 3 We have to talk to the people that know her because we have to figure out what's going on there.

Speaker 3 I understand. My family's out there.
I understand. I'm sitting in the back of the police car.
I can't even grieve or do anything because I'm so worried about it.

Speaker 3 I don't even know what's going on here.

Speaker 8 I'm devastated that this happened to my friend and my child.

Speaker 10 Do you start to think maybe I should get a lawyer? The fact that the tone they're taking with me?

Speaker 13 No, ma'am.

Speaker 10 Why not?

Speaker 8 There was no reason for me to have a lawyer. I was innocent and I was answering every question that they wanted to know.

Speaker 39 Detectives had more questions for Norman downtown at police headquarters.

Speaker 56 You have the right to consult with a lawyer and have a lawyer present with you while you're being questioned.

Speaker 17 He didn't ask for a lawyer there either.

Speaker 56 I just want to make sure that you're still willing to talk to me.

Speaker 25 Norman says he had nothing to hide and tried to be helpful.

Speaker 35 He told detectives he did have plans to see Brittany the night she was killed, but ended up going straight home after work and then spent the night with a friend.

Speaker 56 He gave police his phone, said they could search his car, and when they wanted DNA from him, I'd like to get a saliva sample from you.

Speaker 17 He let them take a sample immediately.

Speaker 14 That night, detectives drove Norman to his house to collect the clothes he wore the night before.

Speaker 24 Then it was back to headquarters for another round of questioning.

Speaker 32 It had been a very long day.

Speaker 22 Norman felt he'd cooperated every step of the way.

Speaker 24 But by now, he'd reached the end of his rope.

Speaker 57 I'll give you anything you want. I've given you everything.

Speaker 50 And we appreciate that. We appreciate cooperation.

Speaker 14 Detectives spent hours with Norman that day. But after that second interview, he was released.
Norman was relieved, but there would be tough days ahead.

Speaker 3 How sweet

Speaker 3 does

Speaker 3 it sound?

Speaker 31 Just one day later, he attended a candlelight memorial vigil for Brittany.

Speaker 10 How were you received at those vigils?

Speaker 8 Oh, with open arms from the whole family. You know, they knew that I had just lost two people that I loved also.

Speaker 23 Brittany's family buried her a few days later, still not knowing who was responsible or even who would want to harm her. Of course, there was someone police knew they needed to look at.

Speaker 14 The man Brittany had recently divorced, Terry Eldridge.

Speaker 31 Brittany was 17 years younger than Terry.

Speaker 14 She was only 22 when they got married.

Speaker 23 It wasn't long before their marriage was in trouble.

Speaker 37 Really, he started to fall apart because she was getting antsy and just really, you know, wanted to have a family and kind of settle down, you know, and he was just out driving a truck all the time.

Speaker 37 You know, she just kind of felt like this is not right for me anymore like it, you know, like it used to be.

Speaker 14 The final straw was when Terry found out Brittany was having an affair with her coworker, Norman Clark, and was pregnant with his baby.

Speaker 27 Given that basket of facts, the police investigating Brittany's murder knew it was time for a talk with her ex-husband.

Speaker 5 Coming up,

Speaker 5 investigators uncover secrets from Brittany's life.

Speaker 10 Everything changed like instantly.

Speaker 5 And from someone else's.

Speaker 10 How many women were you seeing at the time?

Speaker 8 Maybe 15 to 20.

Speaker 14 After more than two decades covering murder investigations, reporter Jamie Satterfield knew this one was a no-brainer.

Speaker 14 The husband who discovered his wife was having another man's baby was someone detectives needed to investigate.

Speaker 10 Did you wonder immediately about Brittany's ex-husband?

Speaker 28 You know, the ex-husband is always

Speaker 28 your first suspect. Their divorce had not been very pleasant.
It was a little bit ugly.

Speaker 14 So detectives questioned Brittany's ex-husband, Terry Eldridge.

Speaker 10 Terry was looked at by the police. They did take a DNA sample.

Speaker 37 And it did cross my mind, what if Terry did do this? You know,

Speaker 37 you have to think about all the different possibilities. You know, could this person have done this? Would they have done it? What would there have been their reason to do it?

Speaker 25 But when the results of Terry's DNA test came back from the lab, it didn't match samples from the crime scene.

Speaker 14 Police also found out he was nowhere near Britney's apartment at the time of the murder.

Speaker 24 His alibi was airtight.

Speaker 28 He really ended up not being much of a player in the case once they ruled him out.

Speaker 41 Eldridge was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Speaker 14 Norman Clark had been questioned and released, too. If police had any leads, they were holding them close.

Speaker 28 I was curious why they were being so particularly tight-lipped about it. I think my primary concern was that this was just a case that was going to get shelved.

Speaker 18 That's exactly what Brittany's family feared most too, that she and the baby she was carrying would be forgotten.

Speaker 4 We are her voice. We have to

Speaker 4 keep her memory alive.

Speaker 34 A full year passed, then two, with no arrests.

Speaker 25 But investigators were still working the case, in part because they heard from someone with inside information, someone unexpected, the victim herself.

Speaker 3 Finder Bell, this is Brittany. Can I help you?

Speaker 41 Remember, Brittany's employer recorded every call she made on company phones.

Speaker 25 It was done for quality control, but now investigators could listen to her conversations.

Speaker 31 And those calls explained a lot about her relationship with Norman Clark.

Speaker 16 Brittany's conversations with friends made it clear the oddness with Norman began the day she told him she was pregnant.

Speaker 3 He was emailing me like normal, and then as soon as I told him,

Speaker 3 everything changed like instantly.

Speaker 3 What's he?

Speaker 3 Yeah, I mean, it's weird.

Speaker 16 Andrea Ray, a close work friend, says Brittany often gave her an earful about Norman.

Speaker 9 I think that she had hopes that he would respond and, you know, to her pregnancy in a positive way

Speaker 9 and that that would somehow bring them together.

Speaker 3 but that was not the response that she got I can't take the wishy-washy like bipolarism you know I don't know if on a daily basis he's like thinking about all this I mean how can you not for one thing

Speaker 3 he's a gosh that's why I'm not

Speaker 34 Brittany was still in love with Norman and pregnant with his child She seemed desperate to figure out her future as a mother and how Norman would fit into her life.

Speaker 23 Norman, to put it mildly, was not acting like he was ready for a commitment.

Speaker 3 How you doing? I'm great.

Speaker 10 Investigators had access to all of Norman's recorded work calls, too.

Speaker 32 They were very revealing.

Speaker 3 I wanted to ask you, you ever get with a...

Speaker 3 Oh, yeah, I banged that out last week. Didn't you really?

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 3 Yeah, yeah, that was only my second time seeing her. Congratulations, dude.
Oh, thank you, thank you. You're wild, man.
You're wild, dude.

Speaker 14 Norman, it turns out, was in other relationships at the same time he was with Brittany.

Speaker 25 When we sat down with him, Norman said he loves sex and women.

Speaker 22 Lots of women.

Speaker 10 How many women were you seeing at the time?

Speaker 8 Maybe 15 to 20.

Speaker 25 Norman, that's a lot of women.

Speaker 8 I was single, and I'm a very friendly person. They knew that I was not looking for a relationship.

Speaker 8 So friends with benefits.

Speaker 10 How do you even meet that many ladies?

Speaker 8 Through work, online dating sites.

Speaker 10 Were you sleeping around with multiple coworkers?

Speaker 8 Yes.

Speaker 10 Did that ever get messy?

Speaker 8 No, ma'am.

Speaker 10 Seems a little

Speaker 10 odd that all these women were okay with you sleeping with all these other women. I wouldn't be okay with that, but maybe I'm old-fashioned.

Speaker 8 Well, I mean, with the different women that I met, they accepted what

Speaker 8 it was because I was honest up front. This is what I'm looking for.

Speaker 14 15 to 20 different women at the same time?

Speaker 41 Hard to believe Brittany would be okay with that.

Speaker 43 And Norman didn't quite fit the image of a playboy.

Speaker 14 To save money, he was living in his parents' basement, yet was still barely staying ahead of debt collectors who would call him at work.

Speaker 2 You're still due for September, October, and November.

Speaker 3 For the payment? Yeah.

Speaker 27 Investigators might have simply written off Norman as a low-budget Don Juan, except for this.

Speaker 52 Three days before Brittany was murdered, after months of ignoring her, Norman suddenly showed an interest in her and their baby.

Speaker 3 I'm trying to figure out this text Norman sent me last night. He said, I will be back Sunday, stay pregnant till then, promise.

Speaker 9 And she said, what do you think that means? And I said,

Speaker 9 I have no idea.

Speaker 9 And she said, well, I guess he wants to be part of this baby's life.

Speaker 3 Well, he doesn't get a trophy for that.

Speaker 3 No.

Speaker 25 Why the sudden interest?

Speaker 22 What was Norman thinking?

Speaker 14 Investigators believed an entry from Brittany's diary provided a hint. She wrote that she planned to take Norman to court to get child support for her baby.

Speaker 9 She knew that he had a child

Speaker 9 with someone else and that he did participate there.

Speaker 9 So why wouldn't he hear?

Speaker 25 Andrea says the night before the murder, she was on the phone with Brittany, who was texting with Norman at the same time.

Speaker 9 She says he wants to meet Monday after work,

Speaker 9 and I said, tell him no.

Speaker 47 But Brittany said yes.

Speaker 51 Norman insists he blew off their date and did not go to her apartment Monday, the night she was murdered.

Speaker 14 But her family didn't believe him.

Speaker 25 They'd grown very suspicious of Norman and wondered why police hadn't moved in on him.

Speaker 41 How frustrated were you that he was walking around?

Speaker 37 Very frustrated.

Speaker 37 I even called the lead investigator at one point and told him, if you don't come get him, I will take care of him myself.

Speaker 10 Were you being serious?

Speaker 37 Oh, I was being dead serious.

Speaker 19 Despite the family's frustration, the case was moving forward.

Speaker 14 And almost two and a half years after Brittany was killed, prosecutors presented their evidence to a grand jury.

Speaker 43 It charged Norman Clark with the murders of both Britney and their unborn son.

Speaker 51 Clark was arrested on May 14th, 2014.

Speaker 14 He pleaded not guilty.

Speaker 8 When you're you're arrested for something you didn't do, and then there's no evidence to even show that you should have been arrested, that's when things really hit hard.

Speaker 8 That's when I really got scared.

Speaker 17 Norman Clark had reason to be scared.

Speaker 24 If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Speaker 5 Coming up.

Speaker 7 They've taken a good young man and they've destroyed his life.

Speaker 5 Norman Clark on trial.

Speaker 40 Yes, man.

Speaker 37 And on the stand?

Speaker 49 I thought he was my boyfriend.

Speaker 5 Girlfriends, many, many girlfriends. But where was the evidence?

Speaker 50 He gave DNA. He gave hair samples.
They all came back negative.

Speaker 37 When Dateline continues.

Speaker 59 Hey, weirdos, I'm Elena and I'm Ash, and we are the host of Morbid Podcast.

Speaker 58 Each week, we dive into the dark and fascinating world of true crime, spooky history, and the unexplained.

Speaker 59 From infamous killers and unsolved mysteries to haunted places and strange legends, we cover it all with research, empathy, humor, and a few creative expletives.

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Speaker 22 In August 2015, nearly four years after Brittany Eldridge's death, Norman Clark, a man who'd never been in trouble with the law, went on trial for murder in a Knoxville, Tennessee courtroom.

Speaker 10 How nervous were you going into trial? Your life's on the line here, your future.

Speaker 8 I was extremely nervous and scared to death.

Speaker 14 The prosecution told the jury Norman Clark strangled and stabbed Brittany because he didn't want her to have his baby.

Speaker 18 Reporter Jamie Satterfield.

Speaker 28 She believed it was the baby that was the target, that this baby was going to ruin Norman's life. And so

Speaker 28 he killed Brittany more to kill the baby. And she was collateral damage.

Speaker 14 Prosecutor Leslie Nasios painted an ugly portrait of Clark.

Speaker 47 A man having trouble paying his bills.

Speaker 43 A Playboy trying to juggle relationships with with more than a dozen women.

Speaker 49 You express the jury the nature of your

Speaker 8 relationship with him.

Speaker 49 I thought he was my boyfriend. I loved him with all my heart.

Speaker 25 The jury heard all about Norman Clark's prolific sex life as several of his lovers took the stand.

Speaker 49 At some point, did your friendship with him become intimate?

Speaker 6 Yes, ma'am.

Speaker 49 I don't mean to embarrass you, but did he have a particular way of referring to a part of your anatomy?

Speaker 28 Yes, ma'am.

Speaker 49 In what way, what did he say?

Speaker 49 Ownership was his.

Speaker 44 He must have been stretched so thin to be attentive to 15 different women.

Speaker 28 That is one of the reasons that the prosecution said he was just, he broke. And now here's this baby, and Brittany's saying, I'm going to take you to court.

Speaker 25 Next, the prosecution established a timeline to place Clark at Brittany's apartment at the time she was killed.

Speaker 32 Here's Brittany leaving work at 8.05 p.m.

Speaker 25 The medical examiner estimated her time of death as early as 8.30.

Speaker 30 An FBI cell phone expert testified that Clark's phone pinged off a tower near Brittany's apartment at 8.28 and again at 9.05.

Speaker 49 We know where his phone was. It was in Brittany Elder's cell phone location during those critical times.

Speaker 24 Remember, Clark's alibi was that he was at a friend's house the night of the murder.

Speaker 14 That friend, Leanne Hong, was actually one of his many girlfriends.

Speaker 11 Clark was at Leanne's that night, but her testimony seemed to shred his alibi.

Speaker 60 Your testimony is that he comes into your bedroom without calling you, without any notice, and you recognize the time as

Speaker 49 around 10.30.

Speaker 11 The prosecutor said if Clark was at Brittany's at 8.30 and arrived at Leanne's two hours later, that gave him plenty of time to commit murder, stage the crime scene to look like a burglary, and clean himself up.

Speaker 49 Ladies and gentlemen.

Speaker 25 After presenting a circumstantial case, the state rested.

Speaker 24 Norman Clark's defense attorney, Greg Isaacs, derided the state's case as all theory.

Speaker 46 They had no physical evidence, no eyewitnesses, no proof Clark was a killer.

Speaker 50 He gave DNA, he gave a statement, he gave hair samples. They all came back negative.

Speaker 35 The defense aggressively attacked the state's case and witnesses, starting with leanne hahn the woman clark says he spent the night with

Speaker 61 the question was when did he get to her house you have no idea when you saw him at 10 35 as to what time he arrived correctly and you were asleep with your television on correct

Speaker 35 the defense drove home the point since leanne was sleeping her testimony about when clark arrived was meaningless isaac said clark actually arrived much earlier and watched Monday night football alone before getting into bed.

Speaker 10 The defense argued there was no way Clark could have committed a violent murder, cleaned himself up and the crime scene, staged a burglary, and then made it across town, all in less than an hour.

Speaker 17 The state's FBI expert said Clark's cell phone signal placed him near Brittany's apartment the night she was killed.

Speaker 25 The defense countered with its own expert who said the state got it wrong.

Speaker 50 We had one of the nation's preeminent experts on this. He and the FBI agent testify against each other all over the country.

Speaker 10 It feels like this is almost one of those scenarios where the experts kind of cancel each other out. Exactly.

Speaker 57 I'll give you anything you want.

Speaker 44 It was a rush to judgment to pin the killing on Norman Clark, the defense said, claiming investigators overlooked the most obvious explanation for the crime.

Speaker 21 The killer was a burglar who was caught in the act.

Speaker 50 There were 12 break-ins that occurred within a three to four week period in a very close proximity and 10 of the 12 involved flat screen TVs.

Speaker 50 Also, there was a break-in in that very same complex four days before the homicide of Brittany Eldridge. So very powerful.

Speaker 10 Why not take the TVs?

Speaker 50 We don't know. Maybe the person got startled.
Maybe they couldn't do this. That's law enforcement's job, not mine.

Speaker 17 Finally, the defense said there was powerful evidence to support the burglar theory that would prove Norman Clark's innocence.

Speaker 44 Irrefutable physical evidence.

Speaker 50 There were two unknown DNA samples on the lingerie that covered Brittany's body in her bedroom where she was found murdered. DNA from an unknown male contributor, not from Norman Clark.

Speaker 50 All they have done since day one at 1234 is focus on Norman Clark.

Speaker 14 As the trial drew to a close, Defense Attorney Isaacs told the jurors to focus on the evidence, not Norman Clark's womanizing.

Speaker 22 womanizing.

Speaker 49 This is not a place for moral judgments.

Speaker 50 There's a guy upstairs that does that in a different court, more majestic, and then the broad.

Speaker 24 Clark did not take the stand, but he says the state did not prove its case.

Speaker 10 The prosecutor said that you had the means, you had the opportunity,

Speaker 10 and you had the motive to kill Brittany.

Speaker 8 And I feel all that is wrong. Definitely far from the motive, because it doesn't make any sense.
And the opportunity, it's pretty much impossible.

Speaker 13 Well, it's not impossible.

Speaker 8 To me, it seems impossible to get that done in that short span.

Speaker 3 You're the boyfriend. First of all,

Speaker 10 the motive from law enforcement's perspective was very clear. You didn't want to be in a relationship.
You didn't want this baby. You wanted it to go away so you could continue to live your lifestyle.

Speaker 8 Right. I don't understand how they could say that when...
If you know my lifestyle, then you know that I love children, I take care of my own child, and I wanted more children.

Speaker 10 Well, there's the other side of your lifestyle too, that you're sleeping with 15 different women.

Speaker 8 Right, which has nothing to do with the murder.

Speaker 23 During the trial, Norman Clark's mother was in the courtroom supporting her son.

Speaker 17 As the jury started deliberations, she was anxious and bitter.

Speaker 7 They've taken a good young man, and they've destroyed his life.

Speaker 43 Brittany's brother, Jeffrey, was certain the jury would return the verdict he'd wanted so badly.

Speaker 37 I thought 100% we got this. There was no doubt whatsoever that they were going to come back and return a guilty verdict.

Speaker 32 But nobody on the outside really knows what happens in a jury room.

Speaker 17 And after deliberating for six hours, this jury gave up.

Speaker 39 They came close, but could not reach a unanimous verdict. The vote was 11 not guilty, only one guilty.

Speaker 62 At this point, I am going to declare a mistrial and disband this jury.

Speaker 10 They come come back hopelessly deadlocked. And not only that, but it's 11 to 1 acquittal.

Speaker 11 Right.

Speaker 10 You must have been just shell-shocked.

Speaker 37 Devastated. Just devastated.

Speaker 35 Norman Clark had been held in jail for 15 months since his arrest.

Speaker 14 He was released after his mistrial, but was still an accused murderer.

Speaker 26 Do you feel like you have a cloud hanging over your head?

Speaker 8 Oh, yes, ma'am, definitely. It's a huge dark cloud above my head.

Speaker 42 That cloud would remain because prosecutors decided they would try Norman Clark again.

Speaker 44 Same charges, same evidence, same prosecutor.

Speaker 23 Would it lead to a different outcome?

Speaker 1 Coming up, trial number two.

Speaker 49 Norman Clark is a killer.

Speaker 8 You can destroy my character or try to, but you still are not going to prove that I was guilty.

Speaker 5 More drama in the jury room.

Speaker 40 It became a very hostile room.

Speaker 5 And another surprise in the courtroom.

Speaker 14 Norman Clark's second trial began in September 2017.

Speaker 35 It had been six long years since Brittany had been killed.

Speaker 10 Trial two would play out a lot like trial one, but with one big change.

Speaker 23 Clark had a new court-appointed lawyer, Kit Rogers.

Speaker 10 What was your strategy, and was it going to be different from Greg Isaac's strategy in the first trial?

Speaker 36 It didn't differ. I was basically just saying, look at the evidence.
And to me, when I looked at it, it looked like a burglary that was interrupted and went bad.

Speaker 14 Prosecutor Leslie Nacios has been on the case from the very start.

Speaker 24 Baby Zeke was born.

Speaker 61 Clark was going to be exposed for exactly who he was. The birth of this baby threatened his way of life and that his solution to that problem was murder.

Speaker 28 She was very emphatic that Norman Clark was not only guilty, but was kind of a sleazy human being.

Speaker 10 Did you worry that the jury would just not like Norman?

Speaker 24 Absolutely. Because of his lifestyle.

Speaker 36 Yes, that was a big worry, and I addressed that from the very beginning and all the way through.

Speaker 61 We hear a lot about sex, and what I want you to pay attention to is the evidence.

Speaker 30 After six days of testimony, it all seemed to come down to Norman Clark and what kind of man he is.

Speaker 49 They did not prove their case. These murders were personal.
Strangulation is a personal type of killing. It is a killing that shows control and a desire to control the victim.

Speaker 49 Norman Clark is a killer. He killed Brittany Eldridge.
He killed his baby.

Speaker 14 Those same arguments had led to a mistrial before. Incredibly, when this jury got the case, it also came down to a loan holdout.

Speaker 39 Only this time, the majority wanted to convict.

Speaker 17 We spoke to two jurors about their deliberations.

Speaker 10 The person who voted not guilty, who was not going to change their mind, what was their issue?

Speaker 40 We asked, and

Speaker 40 the response that was made is I'm the smartest person in the room. Yes.

Speaker 9 I have a PhD.

Speaker 37 You guys are all ganging up on me.

Speaker 40 At that point, it became a very hostile room.

Speaker 3 Yes.

Speaker 40 And we decided to call it.

Speaker 24 After four long days, they were hopelessly deadlocked.

Speaker 31 Another hung jury.

Speaker 37 You just wake up and you wonder,

Speaker 37 why is this happening?

Speaker 38 You know, why

Speaker 37 is my baby sister not here?

Speaker 38 And

Speaker 38 why can people,

Speaker 37 why can the people on the jury not see? what I can see.

Speaker 4 Our family can't keep going through these trials coming out with the same verdict.

Speaker 4 We can't do it.

Speaker 14 The family may not have to do it again.

Speaker 44 After six years and two trials, prosecutors said that was it.

Speaker 25 They decided to dismiss the charges against Norman Clark.

Speaker 8 All they were worried about was trying to show the jury that I had a lot of women, I loved sex, and that I had bills to pay. That's it.

Speaker 8 You can destroy my character or try to, but you still are not going to prove that I was guilty.

Speaker 25 Even when dismissing the case, prosecutors made it clear they believe they tried the right man and would file new charges against Clark if they get new evidence.

Speaker 33 Did you kill Brittany?

Speaker 8 No, I did not.

Speaker 17 What do you say to those people that believe everything just adds up to you being her killer?

Speaker 8 What do I say to them?

Speaker 13 I don't say anything to them.

Speaker 8 I don't like ignorance in my life. So if you feel that way, yes, you're ignorant.
And that's very sad. And I will pray for them.

Speaker 26 Brittany's family prays too for justice and closure and how to make peace with a loss they will never understand.

Speaker 37 Over six years I haven't focused on anything else except for getting justice. There's no closing the book.

Speaker 36 Me and my sister grew up doing everything together.

Speaker 50 I mean everything. How do you say goodbye to something like that?

Speaker 4 She and I had a special bond. And there are still times that I'll think, oh, I need to tell Brittany about this.
or,

Speaker 4 you know, you can't call her, you can't email her, you can't text her.

Speaker 4 All you can do now is go to a grave.

Speaker 4 And that's not good enough.

Speaker 4 It's never going to be good enough.

Speaker 5 That's all for now. I'm Lester Holt.
Thanks for joining us.

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