Stephanie Ramos

He's worked in Maryland law enforcement for 45 years.

He says he understands why investigators were focused on Sandy Prier.

That's been McCarthy's professional experience, and it's supported by national statistics.

According to the Department of Justice, women are five times more likely to be killed by an intimate partner than male murder victims.

And the marriage that Sandy had described was volatile.

So when Sandy insisted to investigators that Leslie had been alive when he left her on Wednesday morning, the detectives weren't convinced.

In their notes, they wrote that Sandy told them, I have been honest with you.

To the best of my knowledge, I didn't kill my wife.

The phrase, to the best of my knowledge, was underlined twice.

From this moment on, the focus on Sandy would be much more pointed.

What they wanted from him now was a confession.

Even before word spread that Sandy Prier was a suspect, Leslie's death had rocked their quiet suburban community.

Detectives had questioned the neighbors along Drummond Avenue on the day Leslie's body was found.

At the time, none of them reported anything unusual, just shock at what had happened.

With the increased scrutiny of Sandy, things started to change.

One month after the murder, a neighbor told police that he remembered seeing all the lights on in the prayer house at 2 a.m.

the day the body was found.

He thought it was odd.

Two months after the killing, another neighbor told investigators that she remembered Sandy leaving the house around 7.35 a.m.

as he told detectives.