The Silhouette

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What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com slash bank. Capital One N.A. Member FDIC. She was crying and crying. I said, what's wrong? And she says, Debbie's dead. We all wanted to believe that it was an accident. There's no possible way he could do this on purpose. A dark house. A husband with a gun. A wife. dead on the floor make sure that she is still breathing oh i don't think she is damn it there was no question who killed her the mystery was why i hear the door squeaking

And I hear the grumbling, and I hear the dog growling. How can you not tell that's your wife? It was dark. He just kept saying it was an accident. He said he didn't do anything wrong. Others disagreed. We never for a second believe that he didn't know who that was standing in front of him. Was it a tragic mistake? He was broken. Or cold-blooded murder? These bits of emotion are only done in front of the detective.

They're not done when he's alone. A room too dark to see? So let's shut the light up. Or a story too hard to believe? There was nothing accidental about what he did. A shot in the dark. and doubt in the light of day. I'm Lester Holt and this is Dateline. Here's Andrea Canning with The Silhouette.

What happened inside this house would destroy everything the woman who lived there had worked for. She finally had it all. The career, the dream home, the marriage she'd waited so long for. There was a brightness in her eye. I trusted that she knew her heart. That we're in love. There's no other way around it. Her life now complete, fulfilled, safe. We never worried about her. But was it all an illusion? Stand in ambulance, please. What happened that morning, in the pre-dawn hours, in the dark?

The women at this San Antonio Racquet Club say you can tell a lot about a person by the way they play tennis. I think tennis in general just really brings out your personality. Tennis brings out either the best or the worst in you. As for who had the best character at their club? The answer comes as fast as a Serena Williams serve. Their friend, Debbie Kelly. Debbie, for me, was kind of the whole package of a person. Fair.

fun, and a great leader. Debbie, fiercely independent, driven. Always wanted to be a career woman. She climbed the corporate ladder in health care. Her mom and dad, Jim and Ann Kelly, marveled at her commitment. She spent many, many hours traveling and many hours working overtime. But Debbie hadn't found as much success in her personal life. She got married in her 20s, but it didn't work out.

Now in her 40s and dedicated to her career, there was little time to look for the right guy. Was it hard to date? It was hard for her to date. So in 2008...

Debbie took a new job that allowed her to focus a little more on her personal life. That's when she got serious about her tennis game. She was a little bit of a tiger. That's how she met this bunch. Betty Pace, Surrette Shook Kelly, and Ellen Mitchell. She was not a big person, but all of her went up and the hair would fly up and she would smash that ball. The ladies clicked off the court too, bonding over post-match drinks.

She had a great laugh. She throws her head back and chuckles and just her whole body laughs. She had a real silly, funny, quirky side. So I've heard that she was very private. Would she talk about dating and guys with you all? A lot with me. She just wasn't one to talk about herself, period. But I was always trying to find her somebody. How did she receive Betty the Matchmaker? Well, she'd always be like, oh no. Husband or not.

Debbie was ready to plant some permanent roots. She bought a house in a gated community and began to remodel it on her own. She told her friend Liz Sevilla all about it. Was she like an HGTV type of girl? Yes, oh my gosh. Hey, I'm going to Home Depot and she's working on the sprinkler system or she's deciding on materials for the floor.

But the busy executive couldn't do everything herself. So in 2012, she hired a contractor. His name was Lars Itzo. But once work got underway, Lars seemed in no rush to finish the job. She was getting very frustrated, and she's just like, I wish this person would finish. But Lars' siblings, Ken and Christy, said he wasn't dragging things out for the money. He had an ulterior motive.

He goes, yeah, she keeps flirting and talking and we're laughing and having a good time. Lars liked Debbie, and he thought it was mutual. And he goes, can I ask her out? I'm like, oh, yeah, why can't you? So began an unlikely courtship between Debbie, the petite powerhouse, and Lars, the six-foot-two Nordic he-man. They were cute. They were goopy. Yeah, teenagers.

Debbie got a kick out of Lars' laid-back ways. Just a guy into old-school board games, restoring muscle cars, and drinking Texas' favorite homegrown soft drink, Dr. Pepper. About a quesaday. I mean, a lot of Dr. Pepper. At least a 12-pack, I know. I've never heard of someone drinking that much Dr. Pepper. I thought it would kill him. Doesn't drink a lot of alcohol at all. Just Dr. Pepper. And when...

Private Debbie brought Lars out to meet her friends. They knew it was serious. And he arrived with her hand in hand. Sure, they noticed Lars was a different sort of match for their friend. He's very quiet. He's got the blonde hair that would go with being named Lars. He seemed like a surfer big man. But to Debbie, he was the right man.

I felt like she was really in love with them. I can understand her thinking, you know, maybe it's time to try something just different. And pretty soon that something different was official. After a year of dating, Debbie and Lars were engaged. So baby brother finally settled down. He did. And he was happy. Never seen him that happy.

They married soon after at this chapel in Arkansas, near her parents' homes. How beautiful did she look on her wedding day? The main thing is she just looked so happy. That was really important to me. Debbie and Lars embraced the contented rhythms of married life, spending weekends with family, enjoying the outdoors, and her dog Cody. But after two years together, things started to change. Debbie got a coveted promotion.

to vice president. That was going to entail more traveling and a lot more working too. Big responsibilities, more pay, but less time at home, less time with Lars. October 9, 2015. Debbie, recently back from a business trip, went to bed early for a morning tennis game. Debbie's beloved Cody slept on the floor beside her. The shades were down. Lars joined them a little past midnight, four hours past, and then...

What had happened in that Texas home when we return? Danger in the night and a confrontation in the dark. when Dateline continues.

Lars Itzo called 911. I'm a male. She's a female. We send an ambulance, please. That female was Debbie, shot and gravely wounded. I want you to walk over to her. And make sure that she is still breathing. Oh, I don't think she is, damn it. The 911 operator guided Lars through CPR. Kneel beside her. Cheers. Police raced up to the house, dashcams rolling. The audio kept recording as they entered the house. They found Lars standing over Debbie's body back by the bedroom.

As an officer tended to Debbie, Lars tried to explain how the shooting happened. As EMTs took over trying to save Debbie, Lars went with police down to the station. They urgently needed more details. Where were the intruders? Were they armed? What did Lars know? What exactly did he do? Sitting in the interview room, wrapped in Cody's dog blanket, Lars took them through what happened, step by step. He said he was awakened around 4 a.m. by strange noises in the house.

He said he'd never heard Cody growl before, so he was instantly on alert. Lars says he moved toward the sound that he heard with his shotgun in hand. He reached this tiny hallway where he says he saw a silhouette standing in front of him about... three feet away. He says he made the split second decision to fire his gun, fearing for his life. All of this happening, he says, in the pitch black darkness.

But the person Lars shot was not an intruder. It was Debbie. Police quickly determined that the only shot fired in the house came from Lars' gun. He said it was an accident, a case of mistaken identity. Nevertheless... Lars answered each of the investigators' questions. In return, he just wanted to know one thing. So after two hours of talking, they broke the news. But your wife didn't make it. Okay. She is deceased. Just before 10 a.m., police let Lars go.

Ken and Christy remember their younger brother that morning, overwhelmed with grief. He was completely hurt, shattered. In those hours afterwards, what was he talking about? He really wasn't talking. He was just in shock. Yeah. If he opened his mouth, he broke down. Across town, Debbie's tennis friends were out on the court waiting for her.

To start that early morning match, one of their husbands came out to tell them about Debbie. So he called me over and said that Lars had shot her. What are you thinking when you hear that? It was very surreal. I mean, I couldn't comprehend how could someone shoot somebody. It didn't even make any sense to me. In Arkansas, Jim and Ann Kelly learned the news from their son. That's just the worst news that...

a mother could ever hear. How does your brain process that information? I don't think you do. I couldn't process the shooting part, I guess, just that she was gone. A part of me died the day she died. Just kept saying, not Debbie, not Debbie, not Debbie. Debbie's parents flew to San Antonio to spend time with Lars to support him in their shared grief. He could hardly talk. He seemed extremely remorseful. Was he saying everything that you would want to hear? I did it. I'm sorry.

He apologized profusely for it and said it was just an accident. It was dark. Some people might be really angry, but you didn't go down that road. We did not go down that road. We supported him. But that support was about to be put to the test. Coming up... I know that she was frustrated. How strong was that marriage? How dark was that night? That's your wife.

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Lars Itzo admitted he fatally shot his wife, Debbie, but said it was a terrible accident. From the very beginning, he cooperated with police, answered every question, no lawyer present. Then, about eight hours after that first conversation about the shooting, Lars headed back to the station and sat down for a polygraph test. He volunteered to go do it. I'll take a polygraph. Because he said he didn't do anything wrong. Yeah.

But the polygraph indicated Lars was deceptive in some of his answers. His brother and sister said it was perfectly understandable. Well, he's nervous. He's in shock. He couldn't even get his name right, his birthday, where he was born. Maybe so. But his performance on the polygraph was enough for detectives to grill him relentlessly. How could you not see that was a woman? It was dark, sir.

No matter how dark it was, how scared he was, how could Lars fail to recognize Debbie three feet away? That's your wife. Height, weight, shape. How could you not tell that's your wife? It was dark. Do you understand how lame that sounds, Lars? It's the truth. You're 36 inches from a human being and you can't tell it's your wife. I don't care if it's pitch dark. No room is completely dark. There's ambient light from every room.

It may not be much, but it's enough to tell a shape. Otherwise, you wouldn't have fired. You obviously saw something because you fired the gun. Lars insisted he thought there were intruders in the house, and he and Debbie were in danger. I thought there was somebody else in the house going down the hallway the other direction. I thought there was one coming at me this way. That's what I think. Yes, sir.

There was no witness or apparent evidence to contradict him. After an hour of questioning, police once again let Lars go. Six days later... He said his final goodbye to Debbie, her parents by his side. How was Lars at the funeral? What did that say that the family was supporting him? It said a lot. It was great. Debbie's friends weren't nearly as supportive. Did you say anything to him? Did he say anything to you? No. I didn't. I did not.

They were furious at Lars for doing something so stupid, so careless. Everything he did bothered them, even his taste in flower arrangements that day. like the one that's pictured here there was a wreath up at the front that was a huge flower heart and in the middle of it it was broken with these lines so it was this broken heart

And it actually looked like a heartbeat. And it was in such poor taste. She was actually shot in the heart? Well, it penetrated the lining of her heart, yes. As family and friends tried to sort out their feelings... Police reviewed the case, looking to see if this was a crime or not, since even an accident can warrant criminal charges. And sure enough, 11 days after Lars fatally shot Debbie,

He was charged with manslaughter. Carl Alexander and Leo Gonzalez were the prosecutors who caught the case. Why did manslaughter fit? Manslaughter is defined in the Texas Penal Code as causing the death recklessly of an individual. Essentially, that's what it boils down to. It was somehow, somewhat of an accident. Lars was released on bail.

Debbie's parents continued to support him. Manslaughter still, in our understanding, would be an accident. And so we go forward from there. But as the days without Debbie stretched into weeks...

Something cooled in their relationship. He starts changing in terms of my conversation, connections with him, and he's not so forthcoming. If I ask him something, he kind of holds back. Lars' sister said his behavior could be explained. He had sunk into a deep depression. He just kept saying he wanted Debbie back. If he could get her back, it was an accident. He was sorry.

Investigators, as they worked through the case, looked into the couple's finances. Debbie's assets totaled more than a million dollars when she died. Her dad was named the beneficiary on most of her investment accounts. So Lars, it seemed, had little to gain by killing her. Still, the whispers continued among Debbie's friends, who told investigators there was another side to the marriage. I know that she was frustrated.

Even simple things caused tension. Liz Sevilla volunteered that Lars, the contractor, was slow to finish projects around the house. She did send me a picture of what Lars did in the bathroom. The measurements were incorrect, and so it ended up making a hole. She goes, I just want my bathroom fixed. She would express frustrations about Lars.

sitting around on the couch all day and watching TV. Debbie's friend, Ellen Mitchell, noticed a change in Debbie's behavior when she returned home from business trips. She would come home from some of these trips and say, hey, let's go get a drink. Let's have some dinner. And your expectation would be, I want to get home to my husband. She didn't seem to be in any particular hurry anymore.

Debbie's parents wondered if the marriage frayed because Debbie, the modern woman, wasn't meeting Lars' old-fashioned expectations. She was not the kind to stay home and bake cookies or walk in the door. serve you a meal because she'd worked just as hard too. And all these friends, she goes and spends tennis time, does things. Maybe just you feel like you're getting shortchanged. He wanted more of Debbie. He did want more Debbie.

All marriages have problems, very few and this badly. So investigators decided to take an even closer look at the husband who pulled the trigger. Lars seemed upset. Was he? These bits of emotion are only done in front of the detective. They're not done when he's alone. When Dateline continues.

As 2015 gave way to 2016, investigators weren't so sure Debbie Kelly had been happy in her marriage to Lars Itzo. And they took a closer look at the circumstances of her death. They pulled all those recordings from the day of the shooting, examined Lars' behavior, his turns of phrase, even things he didn't do, starting with the 911 call. This is Lars in the first moments of that call.

I had a gunshot fire. I thought somebody was in the house. My wife. And you did shot somebody? Yes, ma'am. What is your name, sir? My name is Lars. What do you make of this tone from Lars? He's not really that upset about what he's just done. I thought he was having more of an all shucks moment as opposed to an oh my god moment, I just shot my wife. But within moments, Lars became frantic, hyperventilating, moaning. The question, was it for real?

The way he switched up emotions from when he starts doing CPR, it sounded a lot like mouth breathing. To me, it sounded like overacting. And investigators also noticed how Lars' story evolved over just a few hours. On the 911 call, he set the scene this way. To responding officers, he changed the order of events, telling them he saw that light after he got out of bed. And Lars added various new details to his story. In his interview down at the station, Lars revised his story again.

That's when he said he woke to the front door squeaking and offered, for the first time, this description of how he realized he'd shot Debbie. During those interviews... Lars appeared heartbroken, at times falling apart. He was described as pacing in the blanket, he was mumbling, he was moaning. At various times, yes. Is that not the, what a...

husband should do after something like that? It sounds normal. Well, that's the thing. It sounds normal, right? But when the detective looks at him and he doesn't see any tears, okay, that doesn't jive with everything else. These bits of emotion. are only done in front of the detective. They're not done when he's alone. What was he doing when officers were not watching him? Sat in this banner. Sleeping at moments. And sipping his signature drink, Dr. Pepper.

Free on bail, Lars understood he was still under the microscope. It was difficult. He didn't sleep much. Watching Lars suffer was torture for Ken and Christy. They knew how much their brother loved Debbie. And how dark and confusing that house could be at night. You felt it was important that we come to the house now? Yes, I did. Why? Because no one...

Realizes how dark it was. We're here. It's around 4 o'clock in the morning. Yes, it is. This was Lars and Debbie's bedroom. The bed was on this wall. Ken Itzo walked us through the story Lars told him countless times.

He wasn't sure what he was saying. He just thought it was an intruder, maybe two. There's the thought of, well, Debbie's only 5'3". She's blonde. She was wearing a light... t-shirt how could he not see his own wife at four in the morning you don't see anything you it's dark and i don't think size weight or complexion matters at four in the morning

When you're awakened by a noise and your dog's growling. Ken wanted us to experience it with the lights off. Let's do it. So let's shut the light off. At first, it was pitch black. But as my eyes adjusted... I could make out something. I can see a little bit of a silhouette, but I cannot see your face. I'm going to turn the light back on. I believe I was standing about where Lars was standing. Yes. You were standing about where Debbie was standing. I will say...

He would be able to see probably about the height of the person. Right. If he has similar eyes to me. And that depiction means absolutely nothing at four in the morning. What's your reaction to that? Does that change anything? By her size alone, he should have known it was her. A silhouette, I mean, three feet away, he should have known that that was his wife. Prosecutors believed it simply was not as dark that morning as Lars claimed.

And said photos from inside the house proved it. Those are the big picture windows that are there in the living room. The drapes are never pulled back. And just circle where the shooting happened. It would have been over here. These are the windows the prosecution made such a big deal about.

Even the curtains are exactly the way they were the morning of the incident. They believed ambient light would have had to have seeped through these windows, from neighborhood streets, from homes, even the night sky. Prosecutors believed that ambient light was enough for Lars to see Debbie's silhouette. They factored in his inconsistent behavior, his shifting story. When you kind of put it all together, there was nothing accidental about what he did.

Five months after Debbie's death, the state made its move. Had you all kind of thought maybe this was going to go away since so much time had passed? I'm just kind of hoping it would. Instead... On March 3rd, 2016, Lars Itza was rearrested. The charge this time? Murder. Coming up... A very thirsty suspect. I enjoy Dr. Pepper every now and again, but I don't want to drink a Dr. Pepper when my hands are covered in my wife's blood. But does that make Lars a murderer when Dateline continues?

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Or a killer trying to cover his tracks? That was the central question as the People vs. Lars Itzo began in December 2016. The stakes were high. If Lars was convicted of murder, he could face up to 99 years in prison. If he was convicted of manslaughter, as few as two. We never for a second believed that he didn't know who that was standing in front of him.

But the prosecutors knew proving intentional murder wouldn't be easy. Especially in this case, though, where you have someone saying, I did it. I confess, but it was an accident. I loved my wife. Yeah, we were aware of that and we were willing to accept that challenge. Lars' attorneys, David Phillips and Tamara Cochran-May, believed their client and thought the jury would too.

This was simply a terrible accident. When I first met Lars, I could see his remorse. And after speaking with him, I said, this man didn't do anything on purpose. The prosecution started off in dramatic fashion. They played Lars' 911 call for the jury. As the tape rolled, Lars shook and sobbed with his entire body.

Once again, the prosecution wondered, was it real remorse? I have small children. I have seen that face before, and it usually involves just before a dirty diaper. Now that's a first on Dateline. He had that expression of bearing down, and he was kind of turning red, and you never saw a tear. Next up, the first officer on the scene that night. He testified that Lars didn't look like a man who'd been doing CPR on his mortally wounded wife.

He was clean. And what do you mean by clean? He didn't have any blood on his body. Once they saw him doing some CPR, then he had blood on his hands. Detectives told the jury Lars put on an emotional display. They played that video of Lars at the police station to show how he seemed to keep... adding details to his story of the shooting. And how, in the midst of tragedy, Lars still had the presence of mind to ask for his favorite beverage.

I enjoy Dr. Pepper every now and again, but I don't want to drink a Dr. Pepper when my hands are covered in my wife's blood. He doesn't even seem to take notice of that. There was one point in the video where he actually sees it and kind of wipes it off on the blanket. No big deal. Whatever. Little Debbie. Let's go. The prosecution's case revolved around this question.

Around 4 a.m. in a dark house, could Lars see well enough to know who he was shooting? Liz Sevilla, a frequent house guest of Debbie and Lars's, testified she could easily see at night in their home. There was enough light coming through the big windows that I could find my way. And remember, Debbie was only about three feet away when Lars shot her.

Prosecutor Carl Alexander wanted to show the jury just how close that is. What was the experience? Terrified. Why? I'm a gun owner. One of the absolute cardinal rules of... of using a firearm is you do not point the barrel at anything you do not intend to destroy, ever. I knew it was unloaded, but in that moment, my pulse skyrocketed. He wanted the jury to think hard.

No matter how dark it was, wouldn't you recognize your own spouse? He knows her scent. He knows her sound. He knows her shape. He knew who that was in front of him. After laying out how Lars killed Debbie... The prosecution thought the jury would want to know why. What was the motive? The couple, they said, had hit a breaking point. Liz Sophia testified that her hard-charging, multitasking friend Debbie found Lars a little too laid back. There was always a project, and it was taking a long time.

The prosecutors told the jury this marriage of opposites became too lopsided for Lars to handle. She took time to play tennis. Work was very important. She took time out to go have dinner with friends and family. He wasn't a factor. She didn't consider him enough to be a part of her normal everyday life. They said Lars wanted more from Debbie, and when he didn't get it, he got rid of her instead. This is a new one for me, one of the possible motives that was brought up.

that Lars was old school and was upset that Debbie did not take his last name. She was a professional woman, and she was very driven. And I think that's part of why she didn't take his name. She kept everything separate. Including her bank accounts.

She never put Lars' name on them. This was not about money. No, it wasn't. And I think it really has to do with he loved her more than she loved him. When its turn came, the defense said, of course Lars loved Debbie. which is exactly why he did not murder her. What he is guilty of is making the most horrific mistake in his entire life. And they called a reluctant surprise witness, Debbie's own mother, whose early support for Lars had waned.

She did not want to testify on his behalf. I didn't take it well. I actually started screaming at the attorney. But Ann took the stand. Lars' attorney showed her a check she once wrote to Debbie. Debbie Itzo. Debbie Itzo. Proof, the defense argued, that independent Debbie sometimes went by her married name. They called Lars' friends to say the couple's marriage was solid. How would you describe his relationship with him? Perfect.

Christy Itzo explained how her normally stoic brother was overcome with profound grief. I curled up in a ball. He grabbed me. We cried for like 20 minutes. And all he wanted was Debbie back. But the defense knew their case hinged on one thing. Lars' state of mind the moment he pulled the trigger. And there was only one person who could tell that to the jury.

Coming up, a grieving husband or a lying one? To the love of your life. Yes, sir. A person you know better than anybody else. Yes, sir. And you can't tell it's her when you pull that trigger. when Dateline continues. I heard a moaning

Lars Itzo, up on the stand in his own murder trial. To tell the story of what he described as the perfect relationship. The best thing that ever happened to me. Then, what everyone in the courtroom was waiting for. Details about the morning Debbie was killed. I heard a grumbling, and as I woke up, Lars stuck to his story that he couldn't see what he was shooting at. He thought their lives were in danger.

The movement in front of me and I had pulled the trigger at that time. He said he was a good man who made a horrible mistake. No, she was the love of my life. A mistake, he said, he would regret forever. On cross-examination, prosecutor Carl Alexander challenged Lars' key claim that in the dark, he simply couldn't distinguish Debbie from an intruder.

You know Debbie Sheik. I know her Sheik, yes, sir. To the love of your life. Yes, sir. A person you know better than anybody else. Yes, sir. And you can't tell it's her when you pull that trigger. No, sir. Lars testified for two and a half hours. But would it be enough to convince the jury he was innocent? They now faced a decision between murder, manslaughter, or not guilty.

After more than six hours of verdict. On count one, the murder charge. But before anyone in the courtroom had time to react. Another verdict. The verdict pleased almost no one. No, this can't be. For so many on Debbie's side, it was as if the jury just let Lars off. Disbelief, anger, beyond words. But Lars' family believed prosecutors had it all wrong. It was about them winning. It had nothing to do with justice or the truth.

Then came sentencing. In Texas, the jury decides. It soon became clear they wanted to hold Lars accountable. Fifteen years. Just a few years shy of the maximum sentence. I spoke with Lars at the state penitentiary in Beeville, Texas, where he says he carries a photo of Debbie in the pocket of his prison uniform. I kiss her picture every morning, every night. I asked him to describe, once again, what happened the morning he shot Debbie. The story sounded familiar at first, but then...

And I've seen the door closing very, very, very slowly. He'd seen the door closing slowly? As he had before, Lars just added a new detail to his story. Moments later... He seemed to add another. Believing that there were people in my house reaching for me. Reaching for you? Well, I just seen movement. So I asked Lars about his inconsistencies. Why was your story changing? I don't believe it was. I don't have a script in front of me that I'm reading. This is exactly what happened.

step by step by step. But isn't the truth the truth? Absolutely. But to have an exact answer every single time, that's not me. I will have an answer. Then we talked about the key question. What, really, did he see before he fired the gun? It was very dark, but I could make out your brother's silhouette. Would you not clue in that that could be Debbie and maybe I shouldn't pull the trigger? I know assailants come in.

very, various forms. I didn't recognize that it was my wife. If it was, I would have never pulled the trigger. Did you see her silhouette? No, ma'am. I seen movement. That was all I seen was like a shadow moving. The first thing was in my mind was to protect. Did you stage this death? Absolutely not. Did you murder Debbie? No, ma'am.

My wife was everything. She was great in every sense of the word. After 10 years in prison, Lars Itza was released in October 2025. As for the Kellys, Lars' words offered little comfort. The only real satisfaction would be to have your daughter come back through the door, and that's never going to happen. What do you want people to walk away from watching about her and her life? I think Debbie was an inspiration.

She will always be a part of me. And still is. So ambitious, so hardworking, so close to realizing her dreams. Debbie's tennis friends say they miss her every day. I think Debbie is all around us and supporting us, and we find hints of that constantly in our lives. She was a wonderful present. And we're blessed to have known her as a friend. That's all for now. I'm Lester Holt. Thanks for joining us.

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