Murder Comes Knocking

A Gift Lures An Unsuspecting Dad To His Death

(CBS)  Phil did his best to not cooperate, by refusing to answer questions, like, "Was your wife with you when you shot Jarrod Davidson?"

But the judge ordered Phil to testify.

The defense hoped at worst to make a case for voluntary manslaughter-suggesting, that in her mind, Mindy had to kill Jarrod to protect her granddaughter. But the prosecutor maintained that the family made the whole thing up and the judge this time refused to allow any mention of the alleged molestation.

As Landheer saw it, the truth of whether Jarrod molested Malia was not even the real issue here. "They honestly held that belief that the child was going to suffer some harm at his hands," he says. "It was perhaps misguided and tragic."

But given the tough restrictions from the judge, the defense was left only with the opportunity to hint to the jurors that there's more to the story than they were told.

"Crime is sometimes evil. And sometimes crime is not crime. Sometimes it is justifiable," says Landheer.

Throughout it all, Mindy maintained she remembered absolutely nothing of Jarrod’s killing but that she was innocent of the murder charges against her. The jury took several hours over two days to reach a guilty verdict for the crime of murder.

Mindy showed no reaction to the verdict or to the sentence, life in prison, with no chance of parole.

Jarrod's parents and brother feel it is very important for Malia to visit her father's grave. "It says he was a devoted father, your daddy, and he was our son and he was Mikey's brother," Richard tells Malia.

Richard still feels tremendous guilt, convinced he could have somehow prevented his son’s murder. As he describes it, he had secretly feared that the Joneses might murder his son to get him out of Malia’s life.

"And I didn’t share that with him or my wife," Richard says. "And I will live with that guilt for the rest of my life, for not sharing that."

As for Kelee, it is thought of her daughter that keep her going. Asked how much she misses Malia, Kelee says, "I don’t even think I can describe it. I miss everything about her. She is the reason I got up every morning. She’s the reason I went to work. She’s the reason I took the deal, so I can get home with her."

And it is Kelee's intense feelings for Malia that have the Davidsons worried about their own safety.

"She’s in jail. There are bad people in jail. Our concern is that she develops a relationship that gets us murdered," says Richard.

As it is, the Davidsons already face a tough challenge. Somehow, they have to help their granddaughter piece together her life as she tries to make sense of her father’s senseless murder by people she had trusted and loved.

"As she grows up, she’ll learn more and she’ll understand more," says Susan.

It has been an emotionally devastating two-and-a-half years for Richard and Susan Davidson and their ordeal may be far from over.

"This is never going to stop. This will never stop," they both say.

Never stop, because their granddaughter Malia’s future remains uncertain. Kelee vows to fight the Davidsons to regain custody when she gets out of prison.

"I believe it’s gonna be a difficult battle," Kelee tells Maher. "But I don’t believe it’s a battle I can’t win."

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Mindy Jones is appealing her conviction.

Kelee Davidson was released from prison on July 6 and is living in California.

On May 19, 2007, Philip Jones died.