True Lies

Dateline NBC

A true crime mystery unfolds in Seminole, Florida, where Diane Kine is found dead in her bedroom in 2010. Her husband Bill and son Kevin bot

Key takeaways

• Both Bill and Kevin have compelling yet contradictory accounts, making it impossible to determine who committed the crime.
• Kevin was initially convicted but later acquitted due to reasonable doubt and jury perception of his sincerity during testimony.

Main topics

• Murder mystery
• Family conflict

Notable quotes

"It's almost like an Agatha Christie mystery. There's only three people there and one of them is dead."

Conclusion

Diane Kine's murder remains unsolved, with both her husband and son ma

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Stay Speaker 7 (0:00) informed with the NBC News app. Speaker 1 (0:02) Major developments out of the White House. Speaker 7 (0:04) Read, watch, and listen throughout your day. And now, unlock even more with an NBC News subscription. Get deeper reporting and exclusive articles. Plus, more insight, analysis, and content only for subscribers. When you really look inside these numbers... It's more context and clarity from the reporters you trust. Download the NBC News app now and subscribe for more. Speaker 1 (0:30) Hi, I'm Kate Snow, NBC News anchor and host of the NBC News podcast, The Drink. This month, I'm sitting down with actor, writer, producer, Brendan Hunt. Most of you know him as Coach Beard from Ted Lasso, but there is so much more to his story. We sit down, we talk about all of it, from his bumpy upbringing to his years in improv comedy and how a Hollywood rejection opened the door to co-creating Ted Lasso. It's an open, funny conversation about perseverance, creativity. and the winding road that brought him right here. We hope you'll join us for the drink. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 2 (1:08) I'm Lester Holt. Tonight on Dateline, Mystery in Paradise, a classic whodunit along Florida's picturesque Gulf Coast. It's an unusual case Speaker 5 (1:20) from the beginning. It's almost like an Agatha Christie mystery. There's only three people there and one of them is dead. The killer has to be one of the other two. Speaker 4 (1:32) I'm not breathing. I don't think he's breathing. It was heartbreaking. It was absolutely heartbreaking. They believed that Diane was both smothered and strangled. Speaker 2 (1:42) There's some broken glasses at the bottom of the bed. I see three small spots of blood on her leg. Speaker 6 (1:48) You've got the son and you've got the stepfather. Each is accusing the other Speaker 3 (1:52) of the crime. Speaker 2 (1:53) Yes. Speaker 6 (1:54) I Speaker 3 (1:54) grabbed him. I said, stop. And he throws me to the ground and takes off running. He's Speaker 8 (1:59) very good at making up stories, but that's not true. No Speaker 7 (2:02) one on our side of the family had... Speaker 4 (2:05) any doubt. His Speaker 8 (2:06) story is all lies. I didn't do it. It Speaker 4 (2:09) was just such a battle. Both sides are coming, guns blazing. Speaker 5 (2:13) You may have the wrong guy in jail here. Speaker 2 (2:25) Here's Dennis Murphy with True Lives. Speaker 6 (2:37) Wilkine knew he was a lucky man. The single dad with five kids was getting a second chance at love. Speaker 3 (2:43) She was the most wonderful lady I've ever met. He first set eyes on her at a nail salon, a business she ran with her twin sister. And they're standing in front of this big neon sign that says nails. And I says, do you all do nails here? And they just looked at the sign and then looked at me and said, yeah. Speaker 6 (3:01) Her name was Diane, a vivacious blonde with a ready smile. Speaker 7 (3:05) He saw Diane through the window, so the next weekend I went to get my nails done. Speaker 6 (3:10) Rebecca Kine is Bill's youngest child. Speaker 7 (3:12) Gave him an excuse to meet her. Speaker 6 (3:14) Rebecca, you were being used as bait. Do you realize this now, looking back? Speaker 7 (3:17) Oh, I was fully aware at the time. It Speaker 6 (3:20) was a light moment and just what Bill needed. Only eight months earlier, he'd become Speaker 3 (3:24) a widower. My wife, Krista, she fell in the middle of the night. They say she hit her head and now she drowned in the pool. I pulled her out of the pool Easter Sunday morning. In 2000, I pretty much fell apart. There I was, a single dad, trying to raise them and, you know, keep the family going. Speaker 7 (3:43) He loved my mom. He loved her to the moon and back. And then he lost her. He was just lonely, and you could see it in him. And my brothers were definitely egging him on to get out and meet somebody. Speaker 6 (3:54) And in Diane, Bill met somebody special. Speaker 7 (3:57) Diane comes into the picture, and he has this beautiful woman, and now she's taking care of him. He was in love with her. He needed that. He needed her. She Speaker 3 (4:07) was actually what I consider my dream girl. blonde hair, blue eyes, and just a beautiful person inside and out. She had just a big heart, and she would reach out to family and friends. Anyone who was in trouble, they could always count on her. Speaker 8 (4:22) And the person who counted on her most was her son, Kevin. I'm an only child. I was actually, through my whole childhood, was raised by my nana. Now, my mom, she worked full-time and was a single parent. Kevin could be a handful. but he was always a bit of a mama's boy, and Diane doted on her young son. Me and my mom, every day when we woke up, every night before I'd go to bed, we'd say we loved each other. I mean, we loved each other immensely. We were best friends. Things moved quickly for Diane and Bill. Kevin thought they seemed just right for one another. He was a kind person. He did do a lot for my mom. He gave her what she wanted, and they lived a happy life. Bill and Speaker 6 (5:07) Diane married in 2002. Kevin was 15 years old when he walked his mother down the aisle. They moved into Bill's home on a quiet cul-de-sac in Seminole, Florida, near St. Petersburg. A solid neighborhood, good schools. For the first time, Kevin had a steady male role model in his life. Speaker 3 (5:25) So how was Kevin fitting into the picture here? Kevin was fitting into the picture quite well, really. He... really took to me more than anyone else that Diane dated with, she told me that. And, you know, we got along very well. Kevin appreciated Bill so much he wanted to take his name. He wanted his name to be the same as his mom and I. And I was very proud of that. Speaker 6 (5:48) So what's wrong with this picture? Not much. Kevin got along fine with Bill. But joining a big family with five kids was a challenge. Kevin's cousin, Tanya, says the kind kids didn't make things easy for their stepbrother. Speaker 1 (6:02) The kids weren't accepting them at first. You know, they were mean. Speaker 6 (6:07) Kevin felt like an outsider? Speaker 1 (6:09) A little bit, yeah. I think there was a lot of friction in the house. Speaker 6 (6:12) In the summer of 2010, things in the kind house were tense and coming to a head. Kevin, now 23, was jobless and still living at home. And then he had brain surgery to remove a benign tumor. He felt he needed time to recover. But Bill and Diane were ready for the next chapter of their lives, and his. Speaker 3 (6:33) We had actually been talking a long time about buying our dream home. Diane and I wanted to get out on our own, start our own life together. We were looking for a place of our own. But Kevin comes too. No, you're 23 years old. It's time for you to be on your own. I needed Speaker 8 (6:50) to get out. We all knew that. And I wanted to. They wanted the house to themselves. I wanted to be on my own, too. I don't want to live with my parents the rest of my life, even though we're extremely close. On August 15, 2010, Speaker 6 (7:05) thoughts of dream homes and moving out faded into the routine of a hot Florida Sunday. Bill mowed the lawn and cleaned the pool. Kevin was looking forward to the NASCAR race and sprawled out on the couch. Diane settled into the bedroom. Speaker 6 (7:24) It happened a little before 2 p.m., a desperate call to 911. Speaker 1 (7:31) Then, moments Speaker 6 (7:34) later, another call, a different voice. Speaker 1 (7:41) Something Speaker 6 (7:42) unspeakable had happened in the Kine house, a senseless, violent act, a mystery with lots of clues. but no easy answers. Speaker 5 (7:55) It's almost like an Agatha Christie mystery or something where there's only three people there and one of them is dead. So the killer has to be one of the other two. Speaker 2 (8:05) But which one of the other two? That was the question that would haunt police when we come back. It's a difficult case. The evidence at the scene. There's some broken glasses and a shoe. Who would it point to? Both father and son tell their stories down at the station. I says, Kevin, stop. Speaker 3 (8:24) He grabs me and he throws me to the ground and takes off running. Speaker 8 (8:27) He's very good at making up stories, but that's not true. 911, Speaker 3 (8:46) is this a fire or political Speaker 6 (8:47) emergency? The 911 operators in Pinellas County, Florida, are used to dealing with life and death emergencies. But this one was different. Diane Kine was dead. Her husband and son were both distraught and both making frantic calls. First, Kevin. My Speaker 1 (9:04) dad's trying to kill me. Speaker 1 (9:07) Okay, calm down. Stay on the phone with me. And Speaker 6 (9:14) then Bill. Speaker 1 (9:21) Two Speaker 8 (9:22) calls Speaker 6 (9:28) from the same location, just minutes apart. Kevin Kine and his stepfather Bill, each accusing the other of murder. Speaker 6 (9:39) Reporter Curtis Kruger says the competing calls were even more unusual because they were made in the heat of the moment. Speaker 5 (9:46) One person presumably is calling and telling the truth. The other person has already figured out the story that they're going to use that's not true. That's pretty rare and certainly quick and devious thinking by someone. Speaker 6 (10:03) Father and son, one falsely accused of an appalling crime. the other the real killer, and a devious liar. The case would be a tough one. It went to veteran homicide detective Jim Bining. Speaker 2 (10:16) They both immediately accused each other of being the killer. Speaker 6 (10:18) So you could evaluate all these stories and figure out what's really going on. Speaker 2 (10:22) I do. It's a difficult case. Speaker 6 (10:24) First responders found Diane Kine's lifeless body face up in her own bed. Kevin's loving mother, Bill's loving wife, was just 49 years old. Speaker 2 (10:34) It appears that she has died from a possible strangulation or asphyxiation. And there's some other things in the room. There's some broken glasses at the bottom of the bed and a shoe. Maybe most interestingly, there was Speaker 6 (10:47) blood. Blood on the bed cover, blood on the victim, upper leg, huh? Speaker 2 (10:53) Yes, the victim had three small spots of blood on her leg. Speaker 6 (10:58) Things were in disarray both inside the house and in the front yard. Speaker 2 (11:03) Bining took a quick inventory. There's shirts in the driveway, in the yard, a pair of shorts, a phone was in the front yard. Just those visual Speaker 6 (11:12) observations, any of that stuff explain itself? to you about what might have happened there? Speaker 2 (11:16) Not really. No, at this point, we've got to interview the two people that were there. Who do you begin with? Begin with Bill. Speaker 6 (11:23) Detectives asked Bill to come down to headquarters so they could get his story. Speaker 2 (11:27) All right, Bill. You do know why we're here tonight, right? His story is he and Kevin were going to sit down and watch the NASCAR races on television. Speaker 6 (11:36) Bill says Kevin went Speaker 3 (11:37) to the bedroom to talk to his mom. I hear her holler out, Kevin, in a loud voice. And probably 5, 10, 15 minutes goes by. So I get up to go see what's going on. I push the door open, and I see Kevin on top of Diane. I ran in, grabbed Kevin from the back, pulled him back off of Diane. He slammed me back into the armoire, and he scooted out the door. I caught him