Lance Herndon
Appearances
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Had Lance crossed the wrong rival? Not only did investigators have to consider that, while looking into his business dealings, they found something hard to believe.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Lance Herndon, it turned out, was heavily in debt. You were aware of Lance's financial troubles? Yes. Talana was one of the few who knew his secret.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Employee Holly Stuber says Lance appeared to have lost focus on his IT company.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
His eye, she says, was on another business altogether, Atlanta's thriving hip-hop scene.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Erica Bozeman says the club had problems from the beginning. She's the host of the true crime podcast Sinister and covered Lance's case on a recent episode.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
She learned that several months after it opened, a DJ was bludgeoned to death in the VIP room. The murder went unsolved. A couple of years after that, the club closed and investigators discovered Lance had a falling out with his partner.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Investigators were finding out all kinds of things connected to Lance's business, including this. The day before the murder, a man showed up at a local festival looking for Lance.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Days before he was killed, Lance called his friend, Teresa Stovall. The two met years before when she moved to Atlanta and Lance offered to give her a tour of the city. Now he was on the phone and she'll never forget how he sounded.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Almost like he had some type of premonition about what was going to happen to him. That's what it felt like. Not only that, in the months before his death, Officer Williams says Lance asked Roswell police to do a nightly check of his property.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
As investigators continued their dive into Lance's stormy business life, they looked into his personal relationships, too. She had some financial motives, perhaps, to want him dead.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
With little evidence at the crime scene, no fingerprints, no murder weapon, investigators were counting on Lance Herndon's autopsy to give them a lead. At first glance, the report didn't surprise them.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Hundreds of people were there to wish him well. It was a who's who of Atlanta society.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
He determined Lance had received a single non-fatal blow to the back of his head and multiple blows to the front and right side of his face that ultimately killed him. Were there any defensive wounds on Lance? Did he have a chance to even fight for his life?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Investigators learned something else from the autopsy. They got a description of the murder weapon. The medical examiner determined it was solid and heavy with a rounded surface and a curved edge. And he made a guess as to what it could be.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
A housekeeper told them Lance had been using a wrench to assemble a piece of exercise equipment in his bedroom.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Lance had more than just his birthday to celebrate. He'd risen from humble beginnings to become one of America's most successful black entrepreneurs, earning millions along the way.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Police needed to find that missing wrench. So once again, they searched every inch of Lance's 4,000 square foot colonial and the surrounding area, including the Chattahoochee River behind his house. They didn't find it.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
The autopsy contained another major clue. Based on the report from a blood spatter expert, the ME determined the likely position of the killer during the attack.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Clint Rucker, then an assistant district attorney, joined the case early on. To him, a killer straddling Lance didn't sound like an angry business associate.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
It was the whole reason their marriage had ended. But like so many failed relationships, investigators learned it started out with such promise. Their son Harrison describes how his parents first met.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Janine was a flight attendant on a layover. Lance was on vacation. Harrison says for his mom, it was love at first sight. Your mom was quite bold.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Talana remembers Lance telling her about this new woman in his life. He considered Janine marriage material.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
In that moment, 30 floors above the city, Lance Herndon seemed to be on top of the world. No one there could have known that in just months, Lance would be dead. Or that the perpetrator was among them that very night.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
But not long into the marriage, Janine found out about her husband's wandering eye. Lance cheated on Janine. How did she handle that?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
After Harrison was born, Janine took her son and moved out. Eight months before Lance was killed, she ended their six-year marriage. And I guess she was just a little fed up. Investigators wondered, fed up enough to kill him? Officer Tommy Williams said they discovered Janine might have had another reason to want Lance dead. She had some financial motives, perhaps, to want him dead.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Even though they were divorced, she was now set to collect $750,000. Janine admitted to investigators she knew the security code to Lance's house. But when they asked her where she was on the night he was killed, she said she was nowhere near his place. She was at her home, a 20-minute drive away.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
While detectives tracked down Janine's alibi, they moved on to other women in Lance's life. In particular, the one in the photo that was face down on the nightstand.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Her name, Kathy Collins, and her behavior at the crime scene put her front and center in the investigation. She's his girlfriend and doesn't seem overly upset that he's dead.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Investigators were under pressure to solve the high-profile murder case of Lance Herndon. Weeks had passed with no arrest. Lance's inner circle wanted answers. I felt unsettled. I was upset.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
And neighbors in Roswell, the upscale Atlanta suburb, were on edge with a killer on the loose.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Lance's friend, Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell stepped in. At a press conference with Lance's mother, Jackie, by his side, the mayor offered a $12,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Police were working tirelessly running down leads and interviewing possible suspects. Based on the medical examiner's theory that Lance's killer straddled him during the murder, they focused on women who knew Lance intimately. One in particular was Kathy Collins, the woman whose photo was found face down at the crime scene. Lance's family and friends considered her his primary girlfriend.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Investigators learned she was one of the women Lance had been sleeping with while married to Janine. The two had met at a music industry party in Los Angeles, where she lived. She was kind of a go-getter. She's like, I know what I want, and this is how I'm going to get it. And Kathy, despite also being married, apparently wanted Lance. When Lance tells you that he's
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Kathy ended her marriage, and after Lance split with his wife, she relocated from the West Coast to Atlanta. She was the woman on his arm at his big birthday bash. Kathy graduated essentially from the other woman to the main woman.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Lance's friend Eva was never thrilled about his relationship with Kathy. To her, it seemed purely transactional.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Was he interested in settling down with her? No, because then he has other women in between. Okay, so the wandering eye doesn't go away with Kathy. No. Investigators worked to determine if Kathy had any reason to want Lance dead.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
A possible end to the lavish lifestyle Lance provided her. And investigators learned of another possible motive.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Both motives were being investigated. The focus on Kathy had started the minute she showed up at Lance's house the day he was murdered.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
August 8, 1996. Holly Stuber pulled up to Lance's Large Colonial on this cul-de-sac in the tony Atlanta suburb of Roswell. It was where he ran his lucrative computer company, Access Inc. Holly, one of a handful of employees who work there, unlocked the door to the home office at precisely 8 a.m.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
And police say Kathy's demanding behavior continued. Just six days after Lance's murder, she sent a letter to the Roswell police requesting, quote, property from the Lance H. Herndon home. She asked for dozens of items, including clothing, sunglasses, photos and bottles of expensive Merlot.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Investigators grilled her about where she was on the night of the murder.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Investigators set out to confirm Kathy's story. In the meantime, they turned their attention to someone else on their list, the last person known to have seen Lance alive. Did they ask you, did you have anything to do with Lance's murder? In the days after Lance Herndon's murder, investigators focused on his ex-wife and all the women he'd been dating at the time.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
But former prosecutor Rucker says there was one woman police were interested in who fell into a different category. You've already met her. Talana Carraway.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Talana freely admits she and Lance were sometimes more than friends. We were friends with benefits for a minute. So things turned romantic for a hot minute? A hot minute. She says her 11-year friendship with Lance began when she was working as a bank teller. He came to her window to make a deposit.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Lance sent her flowers and later asked her to lunch. Things progressed from there, but she says she never thought of him as a boyfriend. According to Talana, their relationship evolved from romance to friendship.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Lance even loaned Talana's boyfriend cash to pay off a car. And when she was in need of money, Lance offered her a part-time job. And it was that job that put her in police crosshairs. Turns out, she was in Lance's home office the night of the murder.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
So naturally, you're someone that the police need to look at. Absolutely. Sure enough, a few days after the murder, police came to her door, startling her.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
When Talana sat down with investigators at the Roswell Police Department, they asked her to tell them everything she could remember from the night of the murder, starting with when she arrived at Lance's home office.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
She says he came down to the office a few times to check in. What's Lance's demeanor like on this evening?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Among those companies, Bell South, Delta Airlines, and Coca-Cola. So Lance was doing well. He was, very much. That morning, inside the office, Holly was surprised to find no sign of her boss.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Talana finished writing the card and Lance went back upstairs. Do you remember approximately what time you left? I just know it was late because it was dark. She recalls it was raining and Lance was worried about her driving home. He checked up on you?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
She says she'd made it home by then, but missed the call because she was in the shower. Lance left a message on her machine. And what did he say on your machine?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
And we talked briefly. So this is around like 11.30, midnight? Yeah. That part of her story was easy enough to verify.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Investigators weren't ready to clear her, but she'd given them an important piece of the timeline. And another thing she told them about the night of the murder piqued their interest... a woman had called asking for Lance repeatedly. Is she annoyed that he's not calling her back? Right. Annoyed enough to show up at his house, Delana was sure the woman was on her way over.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Lance's son Harrison has only vague memories of the dark days surrounding his father's murder. Just a little boy at the time, he mostly remembers how he wasn't allowed to watch TV. Because it was everywhere.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Meanwhile, investigators were working around the clock trying to solve the murder, interviewing possible suspects and examining evidence. But so far, none of it had brought them any closer to making an arrest in the brutal murder of the millionaire businessman. Police were hoping DNA from the crime scene might give them the break they needed.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Barbara Retzer, a forensic biologist, worked the case at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab, where they were testing those hair samples and other evidence connected to the case.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Investigators knew Lance had no defensive wounds, so he would not have gotten DNA under his fingernails from fighting back. But Retzer says there still could be DNA if Lance touched his killer. When the analysts ran the tests, he found nothing of interest from Lance's left hand.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Only trace amounts, but still a potential break in the case. Now, investigators needed to compare that DNA to their list of possible suspects. There was Janine, the ex-wife who stood to collect three-quarters of a million dollars. Kathy Collins, Lance's main girlfriend who he seemed to be phasing out. And Talana, Lance's close friend and confidant who police thought might be more than that.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
She also noticed something else that was amiss. Normally, Lance left audio tapes on each employee's desk first thing.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
But Talana told them about yet another woman. She said while she was working at Lance's office that evening, the phone rang several times.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Talana says the woman tried a third time. By then, Lance was back in the office and took the call. And what did you overhear? I didn't.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Talana suspected the woman was making plans to come over that night. Did you see Lance when he left?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
And it wasn't the kind of company Talana wanted Lance to keep. She thought this was a bad idea and told him so. What were your last words to him?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
So who was this mystery woman? Police were about to find out. Talana Caraway had told investigators about another one of Lance Herndon's girlfriends she thought they should focus on. She's the one Talana was certain was coming over that night, who'd called Lance three times in the hours before his murder. I knew her name was Dionne Baugh. So she's the frustrated caller.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
After hearing about her from Talana, police went to Dionne Baugh's home to speak with her.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Dionne cried as she told them about her time dating the tech mogul.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
But Dionne said she wasn't at his home the night of the murder. He was at hers. That he'd come by to loan her his laptop, the same laptop detectives had been looking for. She told them she was a college student and needed it for homework. Investigators collected it as evidence and left her apartment determined to learn more about her. Dionne was 27 and originally from Jamaica.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
She had been living in Atlanta for four years, attending Georgia State University.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
That assistant job was at MARTA, Atlanta's transportation agency. Dionne was also married with a young daughter.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Like the time she scored an invite to Lance's big birthday bash four months before he was killed. Dion wasn't on the original guest list, but her boss was.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Talana told police that's where Lance first met Dion. And from the beginning, he wined and dined her, showered her with expensive gifts. He even leased a new silver Mercedes for Dion to drive. Talana says she picked it up. So I drove the Mercedes to his house.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Lance, she says, was a stickler for time. He also wanted everything in its place.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Hearing all of this, the detectives asked Dionne to come to the station for a formal recorded interview.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
The detectives thought Dion's giggly demeanor seemed strange for someone who had just lost a boyfriend. She told them that at first she believed she was the only woman in Lance's life, but then she realized he was seeing others.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
To investigators, Dionne did appear to be a jealous woman, but jealous enough to kill Lance? They needed more details about her timeline for the night of the murder. She told detectives she dropped off her husband and daughter at the airport around 7 p.m., then headed home. That's when she says Lance stopped by her place to bring the laptop.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Investigators believed they'd caught Dion in a lie. They kept pressing, zeroing in on that laptop.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
No, no. He just gave it to me. That didn't jibe with what Lance's employees had told them.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Had he overslept? Not likely. Employee and friend Talana Caraway says Lance made sure of that. He set three alarm clocks?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
So detectives pushed it even further by saying this. It was all a ruse. Lance didn't have any surveillance cameras at his home. Detectives were lying to her to try to get a confession.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Then, just as detectives thought they were closing in, Dion turned the tables on them. Did you see me on the surveillance camera?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
No, you are not. I was not there. And of course, she wasn't caught on tape because there never were any cameras.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Clint Rucker ticked through his list of possible suspects and began a process of elimination. The first person he could cross off? Lance's ex-wife, Janine. Detectives learned he'd been taking good care of her.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Detectives also looked into her alibi and confirmed she was at home with her new boyfriend on the night Lance was killed. Her alibi made sense?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Then there was Kathy Collins. Police thought her behavior in the wake of Lance's death did appear insensitive, but they concluded it wasn't really proof of anything. And Lance's friend Eva had a theory about that picture of Kathy that had been turned down in his bedroom that night. What does that say to you that that picture was down?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Police agreed. Kathy had a solid alibi, too. They tracked down that secret boyfriend of hers. He said they'd spent the night together.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
As for Talana Carraway, detectives had found it strange that she showed up with a lawyer when they interviewed her. Did they ask you, did you have anything to do with Lance's murder?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Those phone records police obtained showed Lance called Talana at home at 11.31 p.m. and spoke with her for several minutes, just like she'd told detectives.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Dionne Baugh, Lance's newest girlfriend who'd been tough in that interrogation room.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
And that wasn't all they had. Police searched their files and learned Lance had reported a trespasser outside his house a month before he was killed.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Holly paged her boss. No reply. By now, another coworker had arrived. Holly paged him again. Still no response. So this is the man who is on top of everything, is suddenly nowhere to be found. Correct. At 10 a.m., Lance's mother got to the house. Jackie Herndon was a fixture there, regularly pitching in to help out with the business.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
It was Dionne, but that incident and her lies in the interrogation weren't enough for police to pin a murder on her. With no evidence to put Dionne at the crime scene, Rucker and his team were at a standstill, and the case dropped out of the news. I mean, more than a year and a half goes by, and there's no arrest.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Then, in January 1998, a year and a half after Lance's murder, they got a big one. A phone call came in. On the line, Dion's husband, Sean Nelson. He told police that he and his wife were getting a divorce, and one recent argument had turned ugly.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
But the prosecutor still needed more. After speaking with Dion's husband, Rucker learned she was set to testify in an Atlanta divorce court. So he went to the trial to be a fly on the wall and heard this curveball.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
That completely contradicted the relationship she described to detectives. Caught in another lie.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
And as she began testifying about the night of the murder, she told a whole new story. It was a whopper.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
A complete reversal of what she'd told police. Now Rucker believed he had enough evidence. But time was ticking. He feared Dionne might head back to her native Jamaica after the divorce case.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Police set up a traffic stop along Dionne's route home from court, pulled her over, and arrested her. What was that moment like when you got that word of that? Basically, it's about time.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Entrepreneur Lance Herndon was only 41 when he was beaten to death in his bedroom.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Five years later, his lover, Dionne Baugh, was on trial for his murder.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Clint Rucker was the lead prosecutor. What did you want the jury to know in your opening statements right off the bat in this case?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
The evidence will show you. Rucker told jurors in his opening remarks that Dionne was pure evil, a woman who had an ugly thirst for the finer things in life, a description that didn't sit well with her.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Dion's attorney fired back in his opening statement, telling jurors the state's case lacked a key element, evidence.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
As the trial got underway, Rucker argued his theory, that Dion felt Lance was done with her. So she killed him in a fit of rage, then stole from him.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Each one gave Rucker a chance to tell jurors a story. He said the first C was for Lance's computer, that expensive laptop. The jury heard Dion tell police in her interview that Lance dropped off the laptop at her house.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
That couldn't have happened, Rucker told the jurors, because phone records backed up Talana's version of events, that she answered three calls from Dion between 9 and 10.30 when Lance was home. The second seat was for one of Lance's credit cards that police discovered was missing from his bedroom.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Lance's mother had found him in bed, unresponsive, his head and face badly injured. In a panic, she called 911.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
If she's the killer and she's taking the credit card, that is cold. If you're out shopping for furniture after you bludgeoned a man to death.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
The prosecution had evidence Dion may have been scheming to keep the car. A state special agent testified about an unusual letter he found.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
It was addressed to whom it may concern and said Lance was not able to update his will. But in the event of his death, the Mercedes should be released to Dion. It was unsigned.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
And the agent found something else in her purse, physical evidence that he believed tied her to the crime scene.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
He told the jury investigators found similar wrappers littered across Lance's driveway the morning of the murder.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
The medical examiner showed jurors the type of heavy wrench the prosecution claimed killed Lance. As Eva sat in the courtroom, she remained hopeful, even though she knew it was an entirely circumstantial case.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Three days into the trial, the prosecutor launched into the forensic evidence.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
He called an expert who said two of the hairs found in Lance's bed were a likely match to Dionne's hair. And Barbara Retzer, the state forensic biologist, testified about that DNA found under Lance's fingernails.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
There were no matches to Talana, Janine, or Kathy. Still, the expert couldn't pinpoint when Dion's DNA got under Lance's nails.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
The prosecution knew the DNA result wasn't a slam dunk. After all, Lance and Dion had been lovers, shared his bed. But then Officer Tommy Williams took the stand. He shared that story about Dion banging on Lance's door one month before his death. He testified it was actually the second time police were called that night about the banging. So he told Dion she was under arrest for trespassing.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
And this story gave the prosecutor yet another motive for why Dion killed Lance. He told the jury she was to appear in court for that trespassing incident the day he was murdered.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Prosecutor Rucker argued Deon was worried Lance wasn't going to help her out of those charges. So she went to his house looking for assurances. When he refused, she waited for him to fall asleep and then used that wrench from his bedroom to repeatedly strike him in the head.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
As the state rested its case, the defense was ready to fight back, and it had something up its sleeve. Forensic evidence that raised the question, was there someone else in Lance's bed that night?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
But this was no accident, and he was beyond hurt, beyond help. Somebody done killed my baby. Who would want to kill Lance Herndon, the millionaire entrepreneur? This mystery would take nearly a decade to solve with no shortage of suspects.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Dionbaugh was facing the prospect of life behind bars, and her defense team was determined to stop that from happening. Her attorneys told jurors investigators zeroed in too quickly on Dion, that Lance lived a risky double life with a lot of enemies.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Dion's attorneys hired criminal defense investigator Charles Mittelstadt to dig into the case.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
The defense pressed that point during cross-examination of Lance's ex-wife, Janine Herndon.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
I would think more, a little bit of both. Take Lance's company, the one most thought was successful but was actually failing.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Holly Stuber said her boss had been dealing with some questionable business associates, and one person stood out. And I believe Lance said he thought the man was crooked.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Dionne's attorneys argued the police didn't take that lead seriously or do a deep dive into some of his other business dealings, like that nightclub. They pressed Lance's girlfriend, Kathy Collins, about the club.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Yes. To establish more reasonable doubt, the defense pointed the finger at the last known person to see Lance alive, Talana Carraway. You're the alternate theory here for the defense as a killer.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
but maybe Talana's boyfriend would. The defense made sure jurors heard about that money he owed Lance. And one of Lance's neighbors testified that he saw a suspicious man in a light-colored compact car around 4.45 a.m. near Lance's house the morning he was killed. Talana had a similar looking car.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Light blue. Dion's attorney pressed the lead detective on why he didn't investigate the boyfriend.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Besides Dionne, the defense argued police didn't look for other women in Lance's life beyond Talana, Janine, and Kathy.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
As defense attorneys chipped away at the state's case, they also pointed out police never found the murder weapon. In fact, the wrench prosecutors showed in court it was a prop they picked up at Home Depot.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
The medical examiner testified even though he theorized a wrench was used to kill Lance, he couldn't be 100% sure.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Then, evidence Dion's attorney said was a game changer. Two unknown strands of hair found in Lance's bed.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
As for the hairs that were a match to Dion and her DNA under Lance's fingernails, the defense argued that should surprise no one in the courtroom.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
And Lance's laptop, the one the prosecution made a big deal about? Even its own witnesses admitted Lance often lent it to Dion and freely let his girlfriends use his credit cards.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Had defense attorneys created enough reasonable doubt for Dionne Baugh to be found not guilty? As they rested, there would soon be a verdict.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Closing arguments were underway in the Fulton County, Georgia courthouse.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
The last chance to convince jurors of Dionne's innocence or guilt.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Defense attorneys returned to their main argument. Prosecutors lacked evidence. Take the violent crime scene. They asked, why didn't the police have any blood evidence connected to Dionne?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
And Dion's attorney told jurors, despite what they heard from the prosecution, Dion and Lance were on good terms.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Prosecutor Rucker would have the final word in his closing arguments.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
He stitched together all the crime scene evidence, taking the jury through a dramatic step-by-step narrative of how he believed an unhinged Dionne Baugh killed Lance.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
News of Lance Herndon's death spread fast through his tight-knit community. Those close to him, like friend Talana Carraway, were devastated. How do you find out what has happened to Lance?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
With that, the case was in the jury's hands. Were you feeling confident when the jury went out to deliberate?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Dionne was also found guilty of theft of the laptop and financial fraud for using Lance's credit card.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Everyone thought that was the end of it. But two years later, a huge development. Georgia's Supreme Court overturned the conviction. It said the trial court allowed improper hearsay evidence from the lead detective.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Jurors deliberated for five days. Then they sent the judge a message.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
But Rucker had a problem. The special agent on the case had passed away, and Lance's mother said she didn't want to go through another trial. So he offered Dion a plea deal.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Lance's friends were devastated that Dionne got such a light sentence.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Today, Dionne is a free woman. She was released from prison in 2011. And now, so many years later, Lance's son has a message about his father's legacy.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Harrison Herndon is married and is now CEO of his own marketing agency.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Key questions also on the minds of Roswell detectives as they worked the crime scene and spoke with witnesses. Employee Holly Stuber was one of the first to be interviewed.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Also on the scene, forensic experts from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to collect and analyze evidence. It was obvious to everyone Lance had been bludgeoned to death.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Retired Roswell police officer Tommy Williams says it was an especially brutal attack.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Investigators on the scene took note of the unusual position of Lance's body.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
A gruesome scene, but investigators didn't find any bloody footprints or fingerprints. They checked Lance's bathroom.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
When they pulled back the shower curtain, the tub was wet. That led them to believe the killer had rinsed off. So this person had time to clean up.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
And plenty of time to wash away evidence. Investigators took a closer look at the bed, hopeful the killer had left something behind.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Next to the bed, investigators found an intriguing clue on the nightstand, a picture frame placed face down. It was a black and white photo of a woman posing in lingerie.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Something else they needed to look at? Those three alarm clocks Lance religiously set. They were unplugged.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
It provided investigators with a possible timeline of when Lance was murdered. But the bigger question was, why?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Including Lance's wallet and a stack of credit cards on his dresser.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
They noted there was no forced entry. But downstairs, Holly Stuber knew one thing was missing, the office laptop, a black IBM ThinkPad. The case, however, was still there, something Holly thought was strange because Lance had a strict rule. Never leaves the office without the case.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
To Holly, it meant the laptop might have been stolen. By late morning, investigators were fanning out across Lance's property. In the driveway near the garage, they noticed something odd. They found gum wrappers outside the house?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
they continued searching for a critical piece of evidence, the murder weapon. What do they believe he was killed with? Was there an object anywhere around there? Was it like a blunt type object, given that he was beaten?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
With little to go on, investigators needed to dig into Lance Herndon's life, and they were about to find something big. Turned out, Lance had a secret. Did you get a sense that something was wrong with him?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
That's what it felt like. The murder of a millionaire entrepreneur in one of Atlanta's wealthiest suburbs made big news.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Just months after his 41st birthday, friends and family gathered once more in Lance Herndon's name, not to celebrate, but to mourn. Lance's longtime friend, Eva Allen, says that amid the shock and grief, many there felt another emotion, fear. Lance's killer was still at large. You go to the funeral. Is the person here?
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Lance and Janine shared custody of their only child, Harrison, who was four at the time. Today, he's 33, but can still recall the day he learned about his father's death.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
But the memories of being with his dad are still very much alive.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
Harrison grew up hearing many grand stories about his father, the pilot, the world traveler, the car collector.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
A night to remember. A lavish birthday party high atop Atlanta's Hilton Hotel. It was to celebrate a leader and a CEO, a man respected, charismatic, at the very pinnacle of his career. Exactly the evening he wanted. After all, Lance Herndon threw it for himself. What did he tell you about the party? That it was going to be the best party Atlanta has ever seen.
Dateline NBC
The Killer Among Them
With Lance gone, Eva wondered if the killer was somehow involved in Lance's professional life.