The small town of West Des Moines, Iowa, isn't usually where you expect to find a masterclass in manipulation and forensic science. But that’s exactly what happened when NBC aired Dateline The Devil's in the Details, an episode that basically became a blueprint for how a seemingly open-and-shut case can be anything but. You’ve probably seen the headlines or caught a rerun on Oxygen, but the actual mechanics of the case involving Justin Michael’s murder are way more twisted than a simple "whodunit."
It was the summer of 2014.
Justin Michael was 30 years old, a well-liked guy working for Wells Fargo, and he was sleeping right next to his fiancée, Angie Ver Huel. Suddenly, a masked intruder bursts in. A red laser sight dances across the room. Gunshots. Justin is dead, and the killer vanishes into the Iowa night without taking a single cent or touching Angie.
What Really Happened in the Case Behind Dateline The Devil's in the Details
Most people watching true crime expect the spouse to be the primary suspect. It's the "it's always the husband/wife" trope. Police initially looked at Angie, which makes sense from a procedural standpoint, but she was genuinely traumatized. The investigators, including those interviewed in the Dateline The Devil's in the Details episode, realized early on that this wasn't a crime of passion from within the house. It was a targeted, cold-blooded execution.
The breakthrough didn't come from a dramatic chase. It came from digital breadcrumbs.
Investigators started looking into the couple's circle and found David Moffitt. Now, David wasn't just some random guy; he had briefly dated Angie before she got with Justin. But here's where it gets weird. Most killers try to hide their identity. David Moffitt, according to the evidence presented, tried to steal someone else's.
He didn't just kill Justin. He tried to frame a man named Andrew Wegener.
The Framing of an Innocent Man
This is the part of Dateline The Devil's in the Details that makes your skin crawl. Moffitt was meticulous. He didn't just drop a name; he curated a "guilt trail." He bought a car similar to Wegener's. He left Wegener’s "identification" near the scene. He even went as far as to plant evidence that would lead police straight to Andrew.
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Think about that for a second. The level of premeditation required to not only take a life but to systematically destroy another person’s future by feeding them to the legal system is staggering. It’s a level of narcissism that even seasoned detectives find rare.
Honestly, it almost worked.
If the West Des Moines police hadn't been so thorough, Andrew Wegener might be sitting in a cell right now. But the details—those tiny, annoying little facts—didn't line up. For instance, the red laser sight. Why would a casual killer use a high-end tactical tool? And why would an "accidental" trail of evidence be so perfectly laid out?
The Forensic Science That Cracked the Case
In the episode Dateline The Devil's in the Details, we see how the digital forensic team became the real heroes. They started digging into Moffitt's computer. They found he’d been researching how to commit the perfect murder and how to frame someone.
They found:
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- Evidence of him purchasing the murder weapon.
- Records of him stalking the couple.
- The digital "fingerprints" of him setting up the frame-job against Wegener.
It’s kinda wild how people forget that in 2026, or even back in 2014, your "private" searches aren't really private. Moffitt thought he was the smartest guy in the room. He wasn't. He was just the most arrogant.
The trial was a rollercoaster. The defense tried to argue insanity or diminished capacity, basically claiming that Moffitt’s mental state at the time was so fractured he couldn't be held fully responsible. The jury didn't buy it. In 2015, David Moffitt was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Why This Episode Resonates Today
You might wonder why we’re still talking about an episode that’s several years old. It’s because Dateline The Devil's in the Details highlights a shift in true crime. It’s no longer just about the "who" or the "how." It’s about the "why" and the terrifying reality of obsessed individuals.
The episode title isn't just a catchy phrase. It refers to the small errors Moffitt made—the receipts he kept, the search history he didn't scrub well enough, the over-elaborate nature of his framing attempt. Real life isn't a movie. When you try to make a crime look like a movie plot, you leave behind "narrative" mistakes that detectives can pull apart.
The human element is also devastating. Angie Ver Huel had to witness the love of her life being murdered and then endure the suspicion of the public and the police. The trauma doesn't just go away when the credits roll or when the judge bangs the gavel.
Lessons for True Crime Enthusiasts
If you’re a fan of these long-form investigative pieces, there are a few things to keep in mind when watching or re-watching this specific case:
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- Circumstantial evidence is still evidence. People often dismiss it, but a mountain of small "coincidences" usually points to a singular truth.
- Digital footprints are permanent. Even if you delete the history, the cache, the metadata, and the ISP logs tell a story you can't erase.
- The "framing" defense is a red flag. In many high-profile cases, when a suspect claims they were "set up" with zero evidence of a conspiracy, it’s usually the last gasp of a guilty person.
Moving Forward: How to Stay Informed
If you want to understand the deeper legal implications of the Moffitt trial, you should look into Iowa’s laws regarding first-degree murder and the "insanity" defense. It’s actually quite difficult to prove in a court of law that a defendant didn't know right from wrong, especially when they spent weeks planning a framing attempt. Planning requires a clear understanding of consequences.
To get the most out of your true crime deep dives, follow these steps:
- Cross-reference the court transcripts. Dateline is great for drama, but the actual trial testimony often contains gritty details about the ballistics and the specific GPS pings from Moffitt’s phone that didn't make the final cut.
- Study the behavior of the "framed" individual. Andrew Wegener’s experience is a haunting case study on how innocent people react to being accused of heinous crimes.
- Watch for the red flags of obsession. Many stalking cases follow the same trajectory as Moffitt’s. Recognizing these patterns early can literally save lives.
The case of Justin Michael remains a tragedy, but the work done to catch his killer serves as a testament to modern policing. The devil really was in the details, and luckily, the right people were looking at them.