The Battle To Build A Case

Relatives Frustrated By Inability To Prosecute

(CBS)  Though Steven Dow died 19 years ago, his memory lives on.

"I miss the fact that I never got a chance to see him grow up - really grow up." says Wally Mederios who is still haunted by the deaths of his son and former wife, Janet Dow.

His grief runs deep and is compounded by the frustration that no one has been charged with what appears today to be murder.

Despite the results of the second investigation, New Hampshire Attorney General Philip McLaughlin doesn't think he has enough hard evidence to indict Dick Dow, Janet's second husband, for the murders.

The reason: The original police investigation was bungled.

Just An Accident?

To review the initial details of the Dow case, click here.

"There was essentially no meaningful investigation done," says McLaughlin. "People thought of this as an accident, so they didn't investigate it as a crime. In this particular case, we have a car towed away, destroyed; the bodies (were) cremated and no autopsies done."

When the state initially refused to prosecute, Janet and Steven Dow's family and friends took matters into their own hands. Last year they sued Dick Dow, claiming he killed his wife and stepson, and then profited from their deaths by collecting Janet Dow's federal pension.

But the suit was dismissed. So they turned to the state legislature for one last appeal. That legislative committee asked the attorney general to bring the case to a grand jury. But McLaughlin refused, again citing a lack of evidence.

Just An Accident?

For details of the second investigation into the Dow case, click here.

Dow remarried a few years ago and now lives in Maine. He refused to talk about this case with 48 Hours.

"The last phone call I had with him was two, two and a half years ago," says Wally Medieros. "I said to him, 'You know if I were you, and I were innocent, I'd be down pounding my fists in the attorney general's office demanding a public apology or trial.' And he - and his response was to laugh and say, 'Why the hell should I do that. They can't prove it. They don't have any evidence.'"

For now, he must accept that this case may never be resolved. Says Medieros, "The toughest thing for me in all of this is the fact that Dick Dow's still walking around, talking, and breathing and eating and sleeping and watching TV and so on and so forth....and two people I love very much aren't."

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