Murder Comes Knocking

A Gift Lures An Unsuspecting Dad To His Death

(CBS)  Sorensen believed Kelee was involved in the planning of the murder from the very beginning. At this point though, there was no evidence to support that and Kelee and her parents all claimed they were innocent. "The reality of it is I had nothing to do with the death of Malia’s father," Kelee tells Maher. "I did not kill her father."

Next to Jarrod himself, perhaps the most tragic victim of this murder is Jarrod’s little girl, Malia, who was just three years old at the time of the shooting.

Malia turned in six in 2006. She has suffered an overwhelming loss. Her father was murdered; her mother was arrested, as were the grandparents with whom she had spent nearly every day of her life.

Jarrod’s parents are now raising Malia and trying to help her deal with this tremendous vacuum in her life. "I think the wisest thing that the therapist ever said to us was, 'If you treat her as if she’s broken, she will be.' And to be honest with her," says Susan.

When Jarrod was murdered, Kelee told Malia only that a bad man had shot her daddy.

Seventeen months after Jarrod's murder, authorities finally managed to get Philip Jones to confess to the killing. But he did so only after prosecutors agreed that his daughter Kelee would not be tried for the murder.

The Davidsons went to court to see their son’s killer sentenced, but it was a stunningly different Philip Jones they saw: while in jail he had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

Struggling just to breathe, Phil Jones admitted he pulled the trigger. "I shot and killed Jarrod," he admitted in court. "Mindy and I believed that we needed to do something."

As part of a plea deal, the judge reluctantly allowed Kelee’s father to offer his explanation for why he did it: Philip Jones claimed that Jarrod was molesting Malia and had to be stopped.

This sickening accusation against Jarrod first came from Kelee, roughly four months before the murder. Kelee says she learned of it from Malia. "I just thought, with her going to preschool, and that maybe she needs to know where it's okay for people to touch her and where it’s not," says Kelee. "I asked her if anybody touched her where they shouldn't. And when she said, 'Yes,' I said, 'Who?' And she said 'My daddy does.'"

Kelee contacted the authorities, and Det. Sorenson was assigned to help investigate what was a very serious allegation. And at first it seemed there might be something to the charge.

Sorensen says Jarrod failed a lie detector test over one key question. "It was a question about inappropriate touching. He was very nervous which was understandable," the detective says.

Because stress can sometimes lead to false results, Jarrod's parents paid for him to undergo a second, privately administered polygraph test, which he passed. Investigators dug deeper and found no evidence to substantiate the claim.

"We were not able to find any physical evidence, any corroborating statements, anything that would show that, yes, he did molest that girl," Sorenson says.

Prosecutors refused to take the case, since they believed the claim was fabricated.

That was also the firm belief of the entire Davidson family, who were horrified by the allegations, believing Kelee made them up for her custody fight.

Richard Davidson, wearing his murdered son’s hockey jersey, was allowed to address the court.

He angrily defended Jarrod. "We have also seen repeated lies told solely for the purpose of slandering Jarrod's good name as a sick attempt to justify the defendant's murderous act."

Perhaps equally outraged was the judge in this case. "Jarrod Davidson does not have the ability to respond to these allegations because you killed him. You murdered him! This is an execution murder, lying in wait. Thank you. Court’s adjourned," the judge said.