Dateline: The Silhouette - A complete timeline of the Debbie Kelly murder case, revisited 

Among the tragic cases featured on Dateline is The Silhouette, which explains how a successful woman's life ended in the early hours of October 16, 2009. What's even more heartbreaking is that the incident took place right inside the house, where she was living with her husband.

Dateline: The Silhouette is about Debbie Kelly who was a healthcare executive in San Antonio. As mentioned above, Kelly died in 2009 when her husband fired, thinking he was dealing with an intruder.

Lrs Itzo thought someone had entered their house without permission, so he grabbed his gun and fired a shot. Now the main question in this case is, Was Debbie’s death the result of a terrible mistake, or did her husband intentionally pull the trigger?

Explore the full timeline of the Debbie Kelly murder case below and find out how it was handled.

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Dateline: The Silhouette sheds light on Debbie Kelly's life before death

The Dateline episode explains that Debbie Kelly was a hardworking healthcare executive who used to travel a lot due to her job. Later, she met a contractor named Lars Itzo when he came to work at her house and the two developed a liking for each other.

Soon, they married and started a new journey. On the surface, they seemed to be a happily married couple but close friends and family members noticed there was tension between the two. When Debbie was promoted, she had to travel more.

At the same time, she didn't like Itzo being slow in his work. He had several unfinished home projects and Debbie even expressed her frustration over these delays. As seen in the Dateline episode, many belived that Debbie and Lars were quite different personalities.

Also Read: Dateline: Out There in the Dark - A complete timeline of the Brandy Daniels murder case, revisited

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Dateline: The night of the shooting of Debbie Kelly and the investigation that followed

The events of October 16, 2009, when Debbie was shot in the chest at their San Antonio residence, changed everything for Lars overnight. He told police that when he awoke to the sound of strange noises and believed someone had broken into their house.

He retrieved a shotgun and, through the bedroom door, shot at a figure he saw moving through the hallway without realizing that Debbie was not asleep in the bed. He said that after he fired the shot, he called 911.

His explanation during the 911 call and subsequent statements generated immediate concern for the police. First, he stated that he had seen a light (in the hallway), second, he appeared calm (unusual for people in crisis), and third, he had no blood on him after stating that he planned to perform CPR on his wife.

As explained in the Dateline episode, detectives determined that his statement to police about shooting Debbie was not consistent with his later results from a polygraph test. In addition, investigators were curious as to how Lars failed to recognize his wife, especially since he was able to see her clearly from such a close distance.

As a result, suspicion quickly grew. Although initially Debbie's family cared for the incident as a tragic error, investigators believed that there was more to this case than simply an accidental shooting.

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Dateline: The criminal charges and trial of Lars Itszo after the Debbie Kelly shooting incident

Lars was charged with manslaughter due to his reckless behavior just 11 days following the murder of Debbie. The prosecution eventually increased the charges against him after uncovering various inconsistencies in his accounts and analyzing his performance during his police interrogations.

The prosecution believes there were several factors involved that led them to believe an elevated charge of murder was warranted. It also includes the way their bodies were positioned when Debbie was shot and the distance Lars was from Debbie when he pulled the trigger.

Dateline explains that the case finally went before a jury in December 2016. Lars testified that he and Debbie had a wonderful, loving relationship and claimed that he shot her because he thought someone was breaking into their home.

Although the prosecutors presented a very different picture of Debbie and Lars’s relationship. They argued that Debbie's desire to be independent was in direct opposition to Lars's control over her life.

In the end, the jury did not convict Lars of murder, but they did convict him of manslaughter and sentenced Lars to 15 years in prison. Lars still maintains that the shooting was simply a sad mistake and stated that Debbie was everything to him.

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Also Read: 48 Hours: Grapes of Wrath - How a $800,000 business deal in Napa Valley ended up in murder

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