‘Dateline’ investigates the eerie link between two Southern California murders

(NBC News) — Friday’s “Dateline” is an all-new two-hour mystery where investigators explore the possibility that two murders are connected.

When new father Justin Hilbert is found dead on the side of the road and a woman is stabbed a few weeks later, investigators reveal a dark plot where appearances are deceiving.

Here is a preview of Josh Mankiewicz’s report:

Nearly everybody in Southern California saw the police chase.

TONYA HILBERT: I was watching the news.

MALLORY GOINS: There’s a car chase.

TONYA HILBERT: He wanted to talk to me while he was being chased, but I didn’t want to talk to him.

When you make a wrong turn, even by mistake, the results can be tragic.

TONYA HILBERT: I just remember her screaming. It was terrible.

Terrible doesn’t begin to describe this.

MALLORY GOINS: I couldn’t wrap my head around it, it didn’t make sense.

Making sense of what happened would take years.

LANCE STOYER: There was a little bit of a web to untangle.

As investigators uncovered a sinister plot where nothing was as it seemed.

Watch “Dateline: Wrong Turns” Friday at 9 p.m. on NBC4.