Prelude

Mariet Ford won a place in sports history on Nov. 20, 1982, for his role in one of the most unforgettable moments in athletics. Mariet's Cal Berkeley Bears trailed their arch rivals, the Stanford Cardinal, 19-20. The Bears received the kickoff, pitched the ball five times, and -- with no time on the clock -- evaded the Cardinal's tacklers as well as the marching band to score the winning touchdown. The kickoff return has been ranked one of the most memorable replays of all time. It is so famous, it is known simply as "The Play." CNN and SportsIllustrated ranked it among "Our Favorite Games."

Mariet's life took a turn for the worse 20 years later when his pregnant wife and 3-year-old son were murdered and their bodies set on fire. Mariet was convicted of the crime. He has always proclaimed he was innocent. And the details of the case leave Monday morning quarterbacks room to wonder: Did he do it?

1. Loss of Innocents

As time goes on,

 new and remoter aspects 

 of truth are discovered. 

 -Clarence Day

Mariet Ford left home early on the morning his 8-month-pregnant wife, Tess, and their 3-year-old son, MoMo, were murdered.

A lot of things Mariet would later say about this day are suspect, but there's no reason to doubt that he called home a little before 8 a.m.

In the Fords' one-story, two-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Elk Grove, the phone rang and rang, but Tess and Momo couldn't come to the phone.

They were dead.

It was Thursday, Jan. 16, 1997.

Mariet was no ordinary man. In sports circles, Mariet was was famous, especially in the Bay Area's high concentration of Stanford and Berkeley grads.

Fifteen years earlier, Mariet had secured his footing in collegiate football history in 1982 when, with no time left on the clock and the opposing band already on the field, he pitched the ball so a teammate could score the winning touchdown in a kickoff return so spectacular sports fans would know it simply as “The Play.”

But “The Play” was 15 years behind him and his football career long gone from Mariet’s life by that morning in 1997 when his 8-month pregnant wife and 3-year-old son were murdered, set on fire and left to burn.