Phil Drake

pdrake@greatfallstribune.com

NBC TV’s “Dateline” looks Friday at the mysterious 1999 death of a woman along the Big Horn River and her family’s quest to bring her killer to justice.

The episode is titled “The Reckoning.”

Kathryn Laird and her husband moved to the area because they thought it would be a wonderful place to live, “Dateline” journalist Keith Morrison told the Tribune.

Laird died and there was always a lot of suspicion as to who did it, but not a lot of proof, Morrison said.

But her family did not give up.

Laird gets 100 years for 1999 Montana killing

“They went after it like a dog with a bone,” Morrison said, adding it would never have progressed except for FBI agent John Teeling. “He went about sorting out the mystery to produce a solution.

“Teeling was able to solve the mystery with very old-fashioned police work,” he said.

The 60-minute show will air at 9 p.m. Friday on NBC.

Family members speak out about the case for the first time, NBCUniversal officials said.

Morrison will also speak to Teeling and prosecutors Ole Olson, Chad Parker and Brant Light with the attorney general’s office.

Trial begins in case of man charged in wife’s 1999 death

“I love doing the Montana stories, for one thing I love going to Montana, it’s such a gorgeous state,” Morrison said. “Montana is full of good stories.”

He said Laird disappeared in 1999 and Teeling picked up the case in 2012 and was able to piece it together through “good old-fashioned police work.”

Her husband, Brian David Laird, 46, was found guilty of murdering his wife in March by a Big Horn County jury.

Morrison said the story reflects a growing worry he has as a reporter.

Man arrested in Colorado in 1999 Montana death

“I have been over the years become so increasingly concerned about young women who get married to controlling men and then they get themselves into a very bad place and when they try to leave it’s the most dangerous thing in the world,” he said. “One of the leading causes of death in young women in abusive relationships. The lesson is exercising caution and who you spend you life with.”

This latest episode is the latest in several Montana murders featured on “Dateline.”

The show has also looked at the 1996 death of veterinarian Brian Rein in Geraldine, the 2013 death of Timothy Newman southwest of Augusta, a 2009 death near Kalispell, the 2014 killing of a German exchange student in Missoula. The show has also done several episodes on Barry Beach, who was released from prison after serving more than 30 years for a murder he said he did not commit.

“Dateline” producer Shane Bishop is a Montana native. However, Friday’s episode was produced by Tom Keenan and senior producer is Ellen Mason.

Tune in

“The Reckoning” will be shown Friday on “Dateline.” The episode airs at 9 p.m.