Love And Death In Alaska

The Cold Truth In Alaska - A Crime Of Money, Power, Greed And Sex

(CBS)  For years, Carlin adamantly had denied knowing anything about the gun, much less owning it. But now his memory improved.

He now says he not only owned a Desert Eagle, he thinks it probably was the murder weapon.

Carlin says he had lied because he was under "intense scrutiny."

He claims that shortly before Kent disappeared, the gun mysteriously vanished, too, only to magically turn up in a closet after the murder.

"I found that gun…no I didn’t. I'm sorry. John found the gun in the closet," he says, referring to his son. “And I heard Mechele yelling 'Don't touch it…don't touch it!'"

Carlin says he rounded the corner and came face to face with a glaring Mechele; worried his son’s fingerprints were now on the gun, he washed it.

Carlin says he got rid of the run by tossing it into a dumpster.

If the tale is true, it leaves a lot unanswered about Mechele, but Carlin is sure of one thing: "She didn’t pull the trigger."

Asked who did, he says, "Good question, but it wasn't me, but it's one that should have been looked at."

Gullufsen meanwhile plans to make sure Mechele, like Carlin, stays behind bars too.

At home in Olympia, Mechele's husband Colin seems too stressed out to worry about what people think. "You keep your head above water and do multiple things or you can just relax and let the water enter your lungs and sink. I’ve gotta be number one dad and number one husband and all the rest can just wait," he says.

He struggles to keep the family together by phone, and - as long as the money holds out - by flying back to Alaska to visit Mechele in prison, daughter in tow.

Her family is pinning all hope on an eventual appeal. "I will fight as hard as I possibly can for as long as I possibly can until some appellate court says 'Bug us no more. Go away, Fitzgerald,'" her attorney vows.

But the Leppinks are convinced justice has been done, though that’s not much comfort. "When you lose a child you love so very much, it never stops hurting. We'll miss Kent as long as we live," Betsy says.

Looking back, they still marvel at those surreal days in Alaska, at Mechele's astonishing hold on Kent, and at that haunting letter predicting his own murder naming her as a likely suspect - a letter in which he wrote: "Make sure Mechele goes to jail for a long time," but couldn't help adding, "Tell her how much I really did love her. I really did want to marry her and make all her dreams come true."

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Kent Leppink's million dollar life insurance policy was shared among his family.

Mechele Linehan was sentenced to 99 years in prison. She'll be 68, when she gets her first chance at parole.

Mechele's husband and child visit her every few months.