Linda Zapata

But you will not leave with proof and certainly not proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

I ask you to find Eugene Zapata not guilty.

We had come so far from nothing.

We were asking a lot of a jury to convict without a body and convict without DNA.

But anyone looking for answers to this 30-year-old mystery would have to keep looking.

Because behind closed doors, the jurors argued and debated.

But even after four days, they could not decide what happened to Jean Zapata, no matter how hard they tried.

They left the judge no choice.

I couldn't see what it was that we had missed.

On September 17, 2007, Eugene Zapata walked out of court a free man.

But the father of three who kept silent during his trial was about to stun everyone.

After three decades, two investigations, and one trial, Eugene Zapata is about to break his silence and tell a chilling story.

I felt that he had gotten away with it for 30 years, but I don't like a guy to get away with a crime for 30 minutes.

Prosecutor Bob Kaiser was ready to go back to court to try Zapata again.

And that's when Zapata suddenly announced he was willing to plead guilty.

Zapata was ready to finally answer the 30-year-old question, what happened to his wife?

But only if prosecutors would reduce the charge from murder to reckless homicide.

The DA thought that Eugene's daughter, Linda, should be the one to decide whether they should accept his plea or start all over again in court.

I said the only thing I want is for him to admit he did it, tell us what happened to her, how he did it.

And above all, I needed to see it come out of his mouth.