Joe Hunter

On day three of Mark Lewis's arson and stalking trial, he changed his plea from not guilty to no contest, meaning he would not dispute the charges against him, but also would not acknowledge guilt.

Lewis was sentenced to eight years in prison.

How important was that development then in allowing you to then go back to the sheriff's office and demand that they reopen the case?

The Solano County Sheriff's Office did reopen the case in 2014.

Remember the churchgoer who called 911 the night Joanna died?

His name is Andrew Alvarado.

Back then, he told authorities he had played basketball with Pastor Mark Lewis for about six hours.

Detectives decided to re-interview him and recorded the call.

Was anyone else playing basketball with you?

Yeah, a couple other teenagers.

This time, investigators learned a new detail.

He had actually left the church grounds during those six hours to drive the teenagers home, he says, and wasn't sure what the pastor was doing while he was gone.

We repeatedly reached out to Alvarado, but never heard back.

So there were gaps of time when he was not with Mark Lewis.

Mark Lewis was not questioned during the reinvestigation.

The sheriff's office had another forensic pathologist look at Joanna's case.

Dr. Scott Luzzi agreed with the original coroner.

Suicide.

The case was closed again.

And then in 2015, the County District Attorney's Office announced its own investigation, which included DNA testing on Joanna's bathrobe sash.