Tom Foley and his wife Darlene “Dee Dee” (aka “Dar”) Foley were ready to celebrate the tenth birthday of their son Heath at a neighbor’s house down the road. Tom and Heath (and Heath’s friend) left the house first. Dar was to follow them in her own car but she never arrived. So Tom left the party and went home to look for his wife. He found her naked, bleeding to death in the shower. She had been shot in the head by a shotgun at close range (about six inches).
When the Coldwater, Michigan police arrived, they thought it was a home burglary gone wrong. But when Tom said he found Dar in the shower and turned off the water, investigators became suspicious. The shower was dry. Tom was later arrested and convicted even though the shotgun was never found. During the trial, prosecutors said Tom took his son (and his friend) to the party, and then came home to make it look like a burglary. They claimed the Foley marriage was crumbling and unemployed Tom would collect $280,000 from their life insurance policy. When a new witness came forward about seeing a strange car approach the Foley farm, Tom Foley was granted a second trial. He was acquitted and is now a free man. Some say he got away with murder. Dateline NBC will air its report on August 21 at 10pm.