Heroes Under Fire
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and exploded into an inferno. This fire was a monster. Six firefighters trapped. You couldn't see anything in there. Trying to rescue a homeless couple. If he knew anyone was in the building, he would be right in there. He was doing his job. Exclusive details. What's going through your head at this moment?

We've got to get this done. We don't have a lot of time. From the heat of battle... All of a sudden, there was a radio message. Give us some time. This is the right way to go. We're running low on air. We've got to get out of here. And Bill Lagatudo has the remarkable story of the homeless teenager accused of helping to start the fire. When I saw the picture, I knew immediately. Will an amazing twist of fate turn her life around forever? This tragedy doesn't need another victim.

A devastating fire that captured the nation's heart. I said, "My God, my son is trapped in that building." Heroes Under Fire. First alarm sounded here, Central Station, in the heart of Western Massachusetts. It set off a chain of events unlike anything this city had ever seen.

What happened here is a story of courage and sacrifice. We'll take you behind the lines into a world where bravery, honor, and devotion to work and to family are on display every day. A world where seemingly ordinary men perform extraordinary deeds.

all of it unfolding during a moment of crisis, a flashpoint for an entire city. But there's also a remarkable twist of fate that only underscores the dangers of the job and the selflessness of those who do it, heroes under fire. Come on, boys, we can get it! Okay, we're going to wait. That's all you have?

Every day the firefighters of Worcester, Massachusetts come to work ready to do what they've been trained to do and what they love to do. We believe we are the penultimate tough guys. We believe that we cannot be beaten.

We believe that we're going to go in and we're going to solve the problem, and we're going to beat this building, we're going to win, and we're going to lead. Just like we do every other time. Captain Robert A. Johnson... We always believe we can do the job. ...and District Chief Mike McNamee... This is just, this is our job. This is what we do. ...had never seen a building beat any of their men. That looks live on the left. Okay.

But when they went to do their job one evening, these firefighters faced a fire that still haunts them every day. Last thought before I close my eyes at night, first thought when I wake up in the morning. If I wake up during the night, it's what's on my mind and a hundred times during the day. It was December 3rd, 1999, just after six in the evening. All of a sudden, the alarm hit.

A report of smoke coming from a downtown warehouse. Right away I said, bad building. It's the Worcester coal storage building. A relic from the industrial age, the Worcester coal storage building had been vacant for almost a decade. And why did you say that's a bad building? You can picture a building that has virtually no windows in it.

Six stories worth of no windows, 18-inch thick brick walls, very difficult to make your way around inside. You could lose your bearings very easily. But when they got to the warehouse, there were no flames in sight. It was a light to moderate smoke condition showing at the roof at that point. I can remember saying, "Well, it doesn't look too bad." Still, just as a precaution, Chief McNamee called for backup as the arriving firefighters got down to work, laying hoses, venting the heat and smoke, searching for the fire.

and also searching for anyone who might be inside. So many times we've gone into abandoned buildings and found people there. We never assume a building is empty. We always search. This time there was even more reason to search. I heard the first fire truck go by. I looked out the window and I'd seen it stop. Bill McNeil ran out of his dime. First thing I did was go out the door and run up the street. He reported that somebody might be inside.

He knew two people who lived in the abandoned warehouse, 37-year-old Tom Levesque and 19-year-old Julie Barr. She said they had an apartment set up over there. He had seen them walking to the building that afternoon. We were already going through the search anyways, but then that made them comb it even more.

One of the first to start searching for the couple... He was doing his job. ...was Paul Brotherton. He had just always wanted to be a firefighter. Denise and Paul Brotherton were raising six boys. All of them knew how passionate their dad was about his job. What made it his passion? I think just the ability to be able to go in, to go in and make a difference.

to save a comrade, to save someone from a building. Paul Bretherton's partner that night was Jerry Lucy. If he knew anyone was in the building, he would be right in there.

That's just how he was. Jerry's wife, Michelle, and the couple's two sons saw his passion for the job. You know, he started collecting some pictures. They also saw the risks. And if you really look close at this picture, you will see a silhouette right there in the fire. And I asked him, what were you doing? And he says, well, to be quite honest with you, I was looking for a way to get out. Jerry Lucy and Paul Brotherton now went inside this warehouse along with two dozen other men.

to search for the homeless couple who might be inside. But none of them knew what they were walking into that night. None of them knew that the homeless couple they were now searching for had knocked over a candle which had set their belongings ablaze. None of them knew that this fire had already burned for 90 minutes before the alarm was called in. We found the fire on the second floor and we were attacking it and we thought we had it boxed. Then, in the blink of an eye,

Everything changed. I'd say three to four seconds it went from you looking at me and talking at me to I'm not here anymore.

Just gone. Thick, acrid smoke, given off by the burning petroleum-based insulation of the cold storage lockers, blinded those inside. I gave a very loud yell on the stairway. I want all personnel down off the upper floors. I want a head count taken. As the men made their way out of the smoke-filled building... All of a sudden, there was a radio message. Rescue 600 to command.

We're in the building, we're disoriented, we cannot find our way out. Somewhere inside the smoke-filled maze of cold storage rooms, Paul and Jerry were lost. We're looking at each other going, "Did you hear what he just said?" To listen to men in that situation, especially when they're friends of yours. That'll never leave me. I'll never forget it. Chief McNamee now ordered a new search to find Jerry and Paul. What's going through your head at this moment?

We've got to get this done. We don't have a lot of time. The men walked back into a building that was now bursting into flames. You couldn't see anything in there. You were just going by feel, senses, touch, and it was like...

Nothing you've ever seen before. The men worked in shifts. There were probably up to 40 people at one time. There was Tim Jackson and his partner, Tommy Spencer. Tommy Spencer had this look in his eyes, let's get this done. And they just watched them just disappear up into the smoke. There was Joe McGurk and his partner, a young man named Jay Lyons. Jay has a very special place in my heart because...

I moved into this house in 1977. Jay was 12 years old. He lived across the street. He became my young friend. He used to always quiz me about the fire department, the firefighters, until he finally became a firefighter after he graduated from college. But that night, Jay was just another fireman doing his job. The searchers could find no trace of the homeless couple.

And by now... We had several transmission from Paul and Jerry. Paul Brotherton and Jerry Lucy's oxygen tanks were almost empty. Okay, we're on the floor now, we're buddy breathing, which means one of them ran out of here and they're taking the one face piece and they're going back and forth with it. We're buddy breathing, hurry. But the building was turning into a giant oven with temperatures reaching over 3,000 degrees.

And now, some of the firefighters searching inside were lost. Chief McNamee faced the toughest decision of his life. How many more men would he risk to save those missing firefighters? I said, "My God, my son is trapped in that building." That's next.

This fire was a monster that was growing by the minute. The fire is going on so loud, I can't hear you too well. In less than an hour, a sighting of smoke on the roof of the Worcester Coal Storage building had exploded into a raging, full-alarm blade. Yet incredibly...

There were 40 firefighters inside the Inferno. We're running low on air. We're running down out of here. Searching for two comrades, Paul Brotherton and Jerry Lucy, lost inside the building. We were fighting time, and it was getting down to a critical point at that point. District Chief McNamee was about to see it get even worse. Two more men, partners Tim Jackson and Tom Spencer, were not responding to radio calls. Ladder 200 to Ladder 2.

No answer. I'm listening to this. Trying to make contact with Jim and Tom. With Tim and Tom. Nothing. And then the fourth or fifth call was almost a cry into the radio. Ladder 200 to Ladder 2, answer me! I just went, oh my God. There's two more.

The heavy black smoke was now pouring out of the storage lockers and into the stairway. It was forcing you back down the stairs, you know, you had to fight your way up. We almost got trapped. As a federal inquiry later confirmed, malfunctioning radios added to the confusion of the moment. 200, every time you transmit, you roll up your lap, close off.

Now I was asking people every time they came down, "What are conditions like up there? How bad is it getting up there?" And when this very experienced lieutenant was coming down with his crew and he said, "Chief, we couldn't even make the third floor." That's when I knew it was time for a decision. I had approximately a dozen firefighters lined up, ready to go up. I stood in the doorway at the base of that stairwell.

I looked at them and I said, "That's it. No more." Some of them started to get vocal and said, "What do you mean? What do you mean? They're still up there. What do you mean no more?" And that's when I said, "Lookit, we've already lost four. We're not going to lose any more." Then McNamee called for an all-out. Somebody gets into every fire truck and starts giving successive short blasts of all the air horns. They hear this. They know it's bailout time.

What was your first reaction when the chief said? I burst into tears, but then I had to stop and physically restrain some of the men that were with me. It was like somebody had collectively kicked them all in the stomach. They deflated, their shoulders slumped, their hands fell, their heads went down. At that final call, the fire just blew right through the roof. And it just really sunk in that there was an end to it. You know, there were guys in there and...

You didn't want to leave him in the air. We also realized, too, that the chief was making the right decision at that point in time. I don't know if I would have had the guts to make that call, and that might have cost this department more lives. But the worst was far from over. Engine 3 to 300, J.O. Joe. The officer of Engine 3 came up to me and said, Chief, I can't find J.O. Joe. Nobody's seen him.

Joe McGurk was last seen with Jay Lyons. The boy McNamee watched grow up to be a firefighter. At that point, you thought you'd lost four. Four. Now it was six. Through these moments developing into minutes, what's your interior conversation? You know, you hear the term, I have a heavy heart. I had the heaviest heart. I felt like a weight hanging on my chest. Looking at that building that night and just...

Knowing that those six were in there, it was just a horrible, horrible feeling. There was no longer any way to fight this fire. All the firefighters could do was keep it from spreading. And what? Also watching that night was the homeless couple the firefighters had gone looking for. Julie Barnes watched it from the window of a friend's motel room. Tom Levesque from the street.

Word of the fire spread quickly through Worcester. Two Worcester firefighters are confirmed dead tonight, and at least two more are missing. Michelle Lucy was at work. My brother called to tell me, you know, that there was a fire in the city, and a lot of times he would do that. Denise Brotherton was at home. Paul always came home. This was not going to be any different. Paul was always going to come home.

And the parents of 34-year-old Jay Lyons, Joan and Jim, were watching TV. The news came on and she said, "My God, six firefighters are missing. Is Jay working?" And he was. Mike McNamee, who had known Jay since he was a boy... He was the closest of the six. ...went to break the news to Jay's family himself. Mike McNamee came to the door. I've known him for 23 years and I cannot ever remember Joan calling me Michael. It's always Mike.

She opened the door and she said, "Michael, do you have bad news for me?" And he said yes, that Jay was missing. It was just such a terrible feeling. Jay's father Jim drove to the fire scene. I'll never forget the sight of that building. He needed to see for himself what his son was up against. Flames were shooting 100 feet in the air. I said, "My God, my son is trapped in that building." It was a hopeless situation.

I can tell you what Jones said to me most of the night. I want to hold him in my arms. More than 12 hours passed before the inferno was under control. As dawn broke, the city of Worcester and the work learned the devastating impact of the blaze. 17 children left fatherless, five women lost their husbands, and the deaths of the six brave men touched countless other lives. We walked in with six fellow firefighters.

and we're waiting to walk out with them. So now we have to find them. The task of finding their fallen brothers seemed almost impossible. The building's roof and interior had collapsed. We eventually had the left end of the building removed. Now we can go in and we can start searching by hand, trying to find any sign of anybody. It was eight days. It was eight days. And for eight days, these guys didn't sleep.

For eight days they searched for six of their own. As the search continued, over 30,000 firefighters from all around the world and a television audience of millions joined the city in honoring the fallen six. I was proud. I was very, very proud. Whether it was a homeless person or the richest person in the world, it made no difference to them.

they knew their job was to save lives and i was determined to hold my head high and say this is for you jerry joe jay timmy and tom this is for you three days later paul brotherton was the last of the six to be found these were my husband's dog tags that they found i'm happy i was able to have something

But amid the grief and the tributes... Thomas S. Levesque, Julie Ann Barnes. ...an arrest, the homeless couple that the firefighters went looking for are charged with six counts of manslaughter. If we can establish that arson occurred, then maybe a more appropriate charge could be murder.

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As Worcester mourns... Major breaking developments in that tragic warehouse inferno in Worcester that kills six firefighters. The two people who started the fire are brought into court to be charged. Two homeless people are charged with accidentally setting that blaze. 37-year-old Tom Levesque, a drifter, and his 19-year-old companion, Julianne Barnes, who is three months pregnant. They've been living illegally in the vacant warehouse for months. They had recently argued...

Both had been in the building prior to the fire and knocked over a candle which ignited some clothing. They tried to extinguish it but did not. They're charged with six counts of manslaughter, six counts for six dead firefighters. The investigation is still continuing. We're not certain what kind of evidence may be revealed, if any. The police say the pair not only failed to put out the fire, they failed to report it. They should have been aware enough

to notify somebody that there was a fire there. Instead, they listened to music at a nearby mall. They were right over in this area. The store manager overheard them arguing. She was raising her voice at him and it seemed like she was angry at him. Then they went to have dinner at a food kitchen.

And then they went their separate ways. He stayed overnight in a friend's apartment. She stayed with a friend in a hotel room and watched the fire from a fourth floor window. If we can establish that arson occurred, then maybe a more appropriate charge could be murder. But while Julie Barnes and Tom Levesque are being held in prison on high bail awaiting trial...

300 miles to the north, really a world away, here along the coast of Maine, something is about to happen that will change this case completely. Tim and Deb King live in Ellsworth, Maine. One day, two weeks after the fire, Tim King picks up the morning paper to read the latest account of the tragedy. But when he sees this photograph of Julie Barnes' troubled, bewildered face,

Tim King notices something remarkable. I looked at the picture of Julie and said, "Gosh, she looks remarkably like my daughter Jennifer." Sixteen-year-old Jennifer is Tim and Deb King's adopted daughter. When I saw the picture, I knew immediately it was Jennifer's biological sister. Deb King had always known Jennifer had an older sister named Julie. She had met Julie when she adopted Jennifer in Worcester 13 years ago.

Deb also knew that the sisters shared a significant limitation. Jennifer is diagnosed as mentally retarded. Most of her testing puts her at about a seven, eight-year-old functioning level. What was Julie's condition? Similar to what I felt Jennifer's was, very shy.

slow but when the Kings adopted Jennifer they felt they just couldn't take on 2 kids with special needs and Julie was left behind in foster care. I never forgot about ever ever never always wondered you had a sense that you and Julie's life was not anything close to her sister Jennifer's right and I knew that you felt that she would wherever she was she would have not good now.

It wasn't good. In and out of foster homes, then a life on the streets. And now, while Julie awaits trial in Worcester. She always had that happy little smile. This is her first hissy fit. Back in Maine, Jennifer King. We're looking at pictures of you. The sister who grew up with love and support. After dinner, Jen, you need to take a shower. A special education honor roll student.

He's certainly been on the honor roll a lot more than I was. He's getting ready for the last day of school. Tell me about her personality. She's just sweet. Good night, sweetheart. She looks for the good in everybody. She's just a beautiful, wonderful child. These two sisters, who've led strikingly different lives, have the Kings wondering, what if? When you look at it and you realize that, oh my God,

You know, this could have been my daughter. You think that Julie wouldn't have had the wherewithal to realize that the warehouse was on fire and that she needed to call the authorities? That's correct. Do you think that she knew the seriousness of the fire? No. Do you think she knew the potential of the fire? No, absolutely not. What is it that you would like to do for her? Bring her here.

In your home. That's correct. Why burden yourselves with this? I mean, you've got enough on your hands now. I feel a real commitment that I... It's Jennifer's sister, and maybe we can give Julie the chance that she hasn't had.

It's the right thing to do. And it's the right thing to do. We have to get her out of there. And so, after a meeting with Julie in prison, This is a girl that's limited. the Kings make a major decision. Six counts of manslaughter. They will first work to get her out on bail. Oh, God. And then fight to get the charges dropped. We're going down to Massachusetts.

We're going to speak to groups. Welcome to Worcester. We're going to speak to individuals. If it wasn't for us, that could be Jennifer. We're going to speak to organizations. And for them it was like looking in a mirror because they look so much alike. We're going to raise this money. We're trying to raise $75,000 for the bail money. But in Worcester, where the wounds are still fresh, what they want for Julie will be a tough sell. I don't think we've healed enough for someone to come on the radio and ask for money to help this girl. What did she do wrong?

And you don't think she has any responsibility? What did she do wrong? They certainly could have called 911. They certainly could have told somebody. We can understand a fire starting accidentally. However, we find it troublesome and hard to understand that

the fire department was not notified. What do you say to the families of those firefighters, to the 17 children who will never see their father again, to the grieving widows? What do you say about your fight to have the charges dropped? We say to them we have the utmost respect for them, for the families, for the firefighters, that we feel a tremendous sadness at their loss. But this

tragedy doesn't need another victim. Will the Kings get Julie out of prison? Or will she pay the price for the deaths of six firefighters? In the weeks that followed, the building that had taken such a terrible toll on the city surrendered to the wrecking ball. Remnants of the old coal storage warehouse were torn down and cleared away.

300 miles away in Ellsworth, Maine, Deb and Tim King are on a mission to get Julie Barnes out of prison on bail and get all of the charges dropped. She's one of two homeless people charged with six counts of manslaughter for the firefighters' deaths. Correspondent Bill Lagatuda continues now with Julie's story.

Julie Barnes has been in prison for more than eight months. She's given birth to a baby boy who's been placed with a family for possible adoption. But Julie may soon get out if her lawyers can persuade a judge to reduce her bail. Julie may be released in the next day or so. Oh, God. My heart is, like, pounding. I'm, like, so excited. Finally, the King's hard work has paid off.

Thank you, folks. The judge has ruled. Julie's companion, Tom Levesque, will stay in prison on high bail. But because of the efforts of Deb and Tim King, Julie's bail is reduced. I can't believe it. I can't believe it. To $25,000. I got the money. I'm on my way to the prison. Which is just about all the Kings have been able to raise. What?

I had to take $25,000 in cash in my trunk. Doesn't this look like something in the old days as a cowboy? And drive all the way to Massachusetts. The charges still stand, but Julie is released from prison in the custody of the Kings. Today is a miracle because you live in your small town, you work with your community, but you just never realize that you can make a change like this. This is a big change. You know, we've made a big change.

It's a five-hour car ride home to Ellsworth, Maine. My sense tells me she really wants this family. She really wants the structure. I've got one of these. You like these? The following morning, Julie Barnes is getting to know her new family. Just pretend they're not there. Julie is painfully shy. Oh, God. But by the time the Kings hit the shopping mall...

She's beginning to feel a little more comfortable. There you go. There's your shoes. The Kings can't wait to see Julie reunited with her younger sister Jennifer. That happens a week later when they pick up Jennifer from summer camp. Guess who's here? Can you guess who's here? Give her a hug. Guys! At first the meeting is a bit awkward. Pizza helps break the ice.

These two sisters, sisters with similar faces and similar limitations, sisters separated for 13 years, are starting to find each other. How old is Julie? She's 20. How would you describe her intellectual age and her emotional age? She goes anywhere from a 12-year-old to maybe a 14-year-old.

You know, she's like the boy crazy age. You like NSYNC? Yep. Justin. He's fine looking. Come on, can you look at me for a second? I want to see your pretty face. Come on! I've been looking at pictures of you and I look at pictures of you. What do you... I've never met you before. Come on, I'm not that bad to look at. I'm not... I don't look like Justin. I'm not as cool as he is. Does she understand the charge against her? No. Why she's in court? No.

Do you understand all of what's going on? Yeah. You do? Blame me for six manslaughter. Julie's muffled answer was, "They blame me for six manslaughter." But will she be tried? If so, this will be a difficult case to prove. Is there a duty to report a fire? Does her disability excuse her failure to report? Should her companion be held more responsible?

Or was this simply a horrible tragedy that produced six true heroes, but no true villains? What do you think the authorities should do? Drop the charges? Absolutely. Absolutely. Smile for the camera.

I think that most people understand that even finding someone responsible, even finding someone at fault, will not bring closure to the pain and the terrible wound that Worcester area suffered. Doing anything to these people would be the equivalency of kicking a puppy. It may feel good, but it's not going to change anything and it's not going to teach them anything.

Now, Julie's lawyers must go back to court and ask the judge to drop all of the charges. Hi, Julie. She still faces the possibility of 120 years behind bars. Even as difficult questions of justice hang over this city and this case, the families of the six firefighters who were lost are facing another fight to try and rebuild their lives.

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Michael and Brian Brotherton are no strangers to Worcester's Central Fire Station or the antics of the firefighters. They ride with us, they'll spend nights with us, they eat with us, they get yelled at by us. We cut them no slack.

All over here is the rescue side. For six years, this was their father's second home. This side is the engine. All engine one. Our father slept right here. This was his bunk. Paul Brotherton died December 3, 1999, doing the job he loved. His son, Brian, had always wanted to follow his dad. So when you come up, where do you sleep? Down here with the rescue group? Yes. Sleep in the same bed as my dad slept on.

Before the fire, I had an idea of being a firefighter. This is what generates the joys of life. Since the fire, Michaels made up his mind. When did you decide you wanted to do something in firefighting? Pretty much right after the fire. They're very proud of their father. A lot of people, including this person, might say, but having lost your husband to fire, does it occur to you, well, maybe to hope against hope they won't do it? It doesn't bother me.

I will respect them in whatever endeavor they choose. You have six children. How do you cope with this? They keep my feet planted every day. They always talked about Jerry having that twinkle in his eye. Jerry Lucy's wife, Michelle, is turning her grief into action. When you lose somebody who was so involved in something that he believed in,

I think you really want to make something positive, you know, come out of it and have their deaths not be in vain. If you had a vacant building... The campaign begins in Worcester. I'm on the abandoned building task force. Michelle has teamed up with Kathy Spencer, the widow of firefighter Tom Spencer. If the building is totally boarded up... They're looking at new ways to keep homeless people out of Worcester's vacant buildings to prevent future tragedies.

And they can be perforated so that the firefighters can see out. My name is Michelle R. Lucy. Michelle is also lobbying the city for more training and equipment. Equipment like these thermal imaging cameras, which allow firefighters to see through smoke. How you doing, Jeff Howard? I'm doing fine. Since the tragedy, eight cameras have been donated to the department. I'm fighting now for his brothers, and I'm fighting now for our future firefighters.

Maybe my children someday. There's 17 children that are left behind, but I'm sure at least half of them are going to be firefighters. A federal safety panel cited equipment failure and confusion over the building's layout, but the lead investigator acknowledged there's no way of knowing if anything could have prevented the deaths of the firefighters. You must think at least some of the time, is there anything that I could have, should have done differently?

Well, if I was second-guessing myself, one thing, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you right now. I'd be over in a corner somewhere curled up in a ball. The scary part about what happened that night was we fought that fire the way we fought a thousand other fires. We went by the numbers. We vented, we entered, we attacked the fire, and we searched. That's what we do at every fire.

That, of course, is my husband, Paul. The support Denise Brotherton has received, not only from her community but across the nation, is helping her to cope with her loss. All of the letters and cards, about how many did you get? Somewhere between 30 and 40,000. This is one of 39 containers that I have accumulated. I had one letter up on my refrigerator that said, "Dear Mrs. Brotherton,

Spider-Man used to be my hero, but no more. Mr. Brotherton is. What a wonderful thing for the child to do. Phenomenal. Phenomenal. This is where everybody sits. The tribute Michael and Brian Brotherton want to make is to proudly wear the uniform of a Worcester firefighter, just like their dad. There's no better legacy than to have the son carry on in the footsteps of the father. And I think they would do themselves proud and their dad proud.

while the Brotherton boys have a clear view of their destiny. Judge Manslaughter, six counts. The future of Julie Barnes and Tom Levesque hinges on a court's decision. They both face very serious charges of manslaughter. How do you feel about that? That's a hard one. They didn't start the fire on purpose. I wish they'd called. A judge decides their fate.

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In Maine, still facing six counts of manslaughter, Julie Barnes is trying hard to become a brand new person. What did she say to you yesterday? How she can change her name to Sandy King and be part of the family. What has she told you about the night of the fire? She just tells me she didn't do it. She had nothing to do with it. That she wasn't even there. That she wasn't even there.

And then, unexpectedly, there is a dramatic development in the court case. The judge drops the charges against the homeless couple accused of setting that deadly Worcester warehouse fire. They dropped the charges against Julie. She doesn't have to go to court anymore. Oh my God. The judge dismisses all the charges against both Julie and Tom LeVac. We're just extremely grateful that he made this decision and it was a well thought out decision. Was it wrong what they did to walk away from such a fire? Did they even know what they did?

In the end, the judge rules the fire was an accident and decides the case by the letter of the law alone. In Massachusetts, there is no legal obligation to report a fire. And since this broadcast first aired, Julie was hired as a full-time hotel housekeeper. You accomplished what many people said would be impossible to do. I even think you had your doubts. I think a lot of people had their doubts. We never doubted it.

We never doubted it. We just knew it was going to happen. Looks like that little cat likes you. It had to happen because it was wrong. Now I see how right I am about her, that she's just an innocent soul that got lost in the system, and that's sad. Julie Barnes, now free and living far from the streets of Worcester, free to begin a new life with a new and loving family. The very same week Julie Barnes began her new life,

The families of the six Worcester firefighters whose lives were lost were in Colorado Springs, Colorado, joining there at the site of a national memorial to firefighters who died in the line of duty. We're so proud of him, so proud of what he did.

It's still so hard for the family of Jay Lyons and all the families of the fallen six from Worcester. We are joined together today to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, America's bravest. For the Lyons and the Brothertons and the Lucys and the Jacksons and the McGurks and the Spencers, there was a chance to share a sense of loss and a sense of purpose with 53 other families.

And somehow these families and these firefighters will carry on. He was doing his job. He'd be saying, what's going on with all this stuff? We were just doing our job. The true heroes are these firefighters that had to get back on the truck. Every one of the guys sitting here at this table and everyone on this department are the same way. They're all heroes. As long as there's firefighters, there's going to be heroes. ♪

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They called it the happiest place on the high desert, home to a tight-knit group of 30-somethings who like to party. It starts as a Playboy Channel fantasy, but this is real life. Where passion leads to murder, and a killer seeks God's help with the cover-up. I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and this is Deadly Mirage, an all-new podcast from Dateline. Listen to new episodes for free each week, wherever you get your podcasts.