>> tonight, one day, three deaths tied to one source. >> in the morning, i woke up and hadn't heard from her, so i knew something was wrong. >> we go inside the fentanyl crisis. as authorities sift

through an avalanche of evidence, he was told point blank that this batch of cocaine that he had laced with fentanyl was deadly. >> and yet he went ahead and delivered to three people who lost their lives racing to find the dealer responsible for the untimely deaths of three young people who thought they were buying party drugs but got something far more deadly. >> my dad asked, just tell us that she's alive and she couldn't respond. she couldn't say anything. >> what the families say justice looks like nobody should be putting up with this. >> people need to be solving this problem. >> plus, a complete unknown actor, timothee chalamet from the blockbuster dune franchise. >> you think i'm stupid enough to deprive myself of the best of us? >> stepping into a new role as legendary singer songwriter bob dylan? >> i knew little about bob dylan. i fell in love with him. >> the film is already drawing oscar buzz. >> i was a non guitar player. i

was a non harmonica player before the movie started. before the movie started. >> nightline will bey need to s. you reach for the really good stuff. zzzquil ultra helps you sleep better and longer when you need it most. its non-habit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil. hank used to suffer from hangover in the morning.edie ha ha. haha! then he switched to mucinex nightshift. mucinex is uniquely formulated to leave your system faster, so you wake up ready to go. uhh, hank! try mucinex nightshift and feel the difference.

been saved. >> thanks for joining us tonight. a triple tragedy. prosecutors say accidental fentanyl poisoning behind the deaths of three young people who had no idea the recreational drugs they thought they were buying were laced with the lethal substance.

march 17th, 2021 a day when thrg lives were cut short. ross matangi, amanda schurr and julia ghahremani were in the prime of their lives until the unthinkable happened. >> in the morning, i woke up and hadn't heard from her, so i knew something was wrong. >> amanda wouldn't hurt a fly. how could this happen? >> one day, one drug dealer, three senseless deaths. just blocks from each other. leaving behind a crater of grief. >> he was told point blank that this batch of cocaine that he had laced with fentanyl was deadly. and yet he went ahead and delivered to three people who lost their lives. >> what do you say to your friends or anyone who thinks, well, you know, it's just a little party drug. it's not going to hurt me. >> my sister thought the same thing, and it's not the same thing that it used to be. >> we're taking you inside one

horrific case in new york city, revealing an avalanche of evidence obtained by abc news exposing a brazen drug ring, boosting their profits by lacing what clients think is cocaine with powerful fentanyl, which is cheaper, more addictive and more deadly. minute by minute, the case unfolding the dealers text messages, the couriers movements caught on camera, stitching together the final hours of three young professionals before they took their final breaths. >> i think of it as like a nuclear bomb dropped on us. >> ross matangi was a harvard grad, a successful wall street trading exec. he had just turned 40 and was about to be a dad. 36 year old amanda scher was a social worker. happy new year. amanda was your first born? yes. yeah. daddy's girl for sure. super empathetic. she was highly dedicated to her job and her patients at a hospital in the

bronx. tell us about her personality. >> she was always a very empathetic person. she always. things always mattered to her. she. she cared about people she cared about things. and wonder why. >> babe. >> and julia ghahremani was a 26 year old ivy league attorney at a high powered law firm who lived in downtown manhattan. >> julia. she was very energetic. she loved to talk. she was full of joy. julia is a force of nature. >> texts show that around two in the afternoon, julia, who had a big work deadline, messages the man investigators identified as billy ortega. can you come through? she asks. ortega responds. i'll send them right now if you want. >> billy ortega is a cocaine dealer who for about seven years starting in 2015, had a very intricate delivery system where he would receive texts or phone calls from individuals who wanted cocaine, and he would distribute them out to his various couriers. >> surveillance video shows that

about 45 minutes later, a man in a blue face mask is seen walking up to julia's apartment building, buzzing himself in. police identify him as one of ortega's couriers, caitlin rainey. just four hours later, around 7:00, rainey shows up with a small bag at amanda, the social worker's apartment in greenwich village. about an hour later, ortega begins texting her, checking in. hey, try not to do too much because it's really strong. meanwhile, amanda's and julia's families unsuspecting. >> looking back, i can't believe we didn't speak to her that night or try to call her because we always spoke to her at night. >> i texted her, you know, see you this weekend. and she didn't respond. >> and we thought, well, maybe she's working on a big project. >> the germans had elaborate plans to gather for a persian holiday, but they hadn't heard from julia. worried, they asked her friend natalia to check in on her. her response ominous.

>> natalia was just said, can you you guys need to come into the city? we kept calling natalia and kept calling her. she picked up the phone and my dad asked, just tell us that she's alive. and she couldn't respond. she couldn't say anything. so we just we pulled off the exit and greg was driving. >> i just screamed. >> meanwhile, ortega seemed desperate to reach julia, calling her seven times and texting her, hey, can you give me a call? need to ask you something real fast. within hours and just blocks away, amanda's dog walker arrived at her apartment and unimaginable. >> the phone rang, and when i picked it up and it was an officer saying that amanda had passed away. that wasn't the hardest part. the hardest part came when i had to go downstairs and tell fran. so that

that waseally hard to do that. >> do you remember what you said to fran? >> he just came down and said, amanda died, and i. didn't compute. it. i know it's my now. >> the nypd are also called to a third scene and find a third victim. ross. the banker had checked into a midtown hotel. a review of the hotel's surveillance footage found that same courier, caitlin rainey, also paid a visit to the building, seen here in the elevator, heading up to meet ross. photos from each crime scene show a white powdery substance, later confirmed to be cocaine laced with fentanyl. >> they knew immediately that she had been poisoned with

fentanyl. >> what were the telltale signs? >> the shape. your body position. you know, so, people die, you know, slumped on the floor. you asphyxiate. >> i don't think it's a painless death. >> there are many people here who are not addicted to drugs. maybe they're just a recreational user. completely unexpecting of having fentanyl in their drugs. and that is actually when it's the most deadly. >> for nearly a year, authorities say billy ortega continued his operation as local and federal agencies continue to build the case against him. >> the police were able to link billy ortega to these young people's deaths through a combination of physical evidence, like the plastic bags that contain the drugs, the drugs themselves. but they also had something else. they had an electronic paper trail. >> the text messages that billy

ortega had were a goldmine, not just in the fact of distributing the drugs, but it showed that he had the knowledge that at one point in time, his cocaine was of a weaker variety, and that he himself knew that the drugs were getting stronger based on what was put into it. >> texts show that ortega had been warned that his latest batch was dangerous, receiving an alarming text from a customer that read hey man, i gave most of my last bag to my buddy and he just called me the second to say he ended up in hospital last night. he had to get a narcan shot. in one text, ortega sent to another drug dealer. everyone is saying it's too strong. give it to some girls and you let me know lol. how does the lol hit you? >> it's like you killed my daughter and you don't care. no remorse, no regard, nothing you know, just pure callous greed. >> to prosecutors and to the jury, these messages signal that billy ortega did not care about people's lives. he didn't care

that the drugs he was pushing onto people could kill them. >> and it seems as though ortega tried to warn his buyers about the potentially deadly batch, at one point checking in with amanda, writing hey boss lady, you heard? >> lol lol he's looking at it so lightly. how dare he? how dare he? >> he called her repeatedly. there were many missed calls on her phone. what does that tell you? >> well, he knew something was up. >> he knows at this time that the people he's calling and texting are likely dead. and as opposed to doing the right thing, picking up the phone, calling 911, he does nothing. in fact, what he does is he switches his phone and he continues selling drugs. >> and if you take one marker, damien williams is the former u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york. >> williams team prosecuted the case against billy ortega and his drug ring.

>> this was a full time operation. he became a wealthy man based on the drugs that he was selling. >> a lot of the family members that we've spoken to really want to draw that distinction between an overdose and a poisoning. >> absolutely. >> why is that important? >> because so much of this is about these dealers, these cartels, these companies robbing people of choice. we're talking about teenagers who think they're taking a xanax, and instead they're taking a pill that's laced with fentanyl. and so to call it an overdose, i think, really misunderstands the moment that we're in. >> it took about a year, but the authorities arrested billy ortega, and they charged him with supplying the fentanyl that ultimately killed ross and amanda and julia, linking him to those deaths. the trial of billy ortega took barely two weeks before a jury w convinced he was guilty, and the very courier that was seen on surveillance images showing up at their houses to give them the drugs. he ended up pleading guilty and

testifying against ortega. >> he was convicted on three counts of narcotics distribution, resulting in death. would you consider that justice? >> justice would be if he gets life in prison. >> today was the end of a two and a half year process after the death of our respective children, who were poisoned with fentanyl. >> just last year, billy ortega was sentenced to 30 years in prison. for the families, it wasn't long enough. >> the sentence that was imposed was below what we wanted. we had asked for life in prison because billy ortega killed three people. >> what message does this sending out to other people? this is not going to do anything to help stem the use of fentanyl.

>> i wake up and i realize that julia is never going to be here again, and that there is true evil in the world. >> still, their fight isn't over. >> this case brought out a lot of awareness, and that's in large part thanks to ross and julia and amanda and their families. but the fentanyl problem in the country is not going away. fentanyl is showing up in other drugs, partly because the drug dealers want people hooked. and that's why law enforcement is continuing the fight. >> our mission is to make sure that this doesn't happen. the reason why we're talking now is because it's still happening. >> justice for julia is acting and acting now. nobody should be putting up with this. people need to be solving this problem. >> if someone you know

needs help with addiction, please call or text 988. when we come back, we switch gears on this friday night. it's a hard, it's a hard. >> rain's a-gonna fall. >> timothee chalamet takes on a >> timothee chalamet takes on a hard rain and elentless weed, moderate to severe ulcerative colitis symptoms can keep coming back. start to break away from uc with tremfya... with rapid relief at 4 weeks. tremfya blocks a key source of inflammation. at one year, many people experienced remission... and some saw 100% visible healing of their intestinal lining. serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections may occur. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms or if you need a vaccine. healing is possible with tremfya.

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>> welcome back! actor timothee chalamet earned an academy award nomination at 22 for call me by your name, his performance hailed as a true breakout. his latest role has him taking on a music icon, the legendary folk rocker bob dylan. here's abc's deborah roberts with another look. >> how much did you really know about bob dylan? >> i knew little about bob dylan. i fell in love with him, and i fell in love at a time in my life where my career was taking off. and most importantly, his music is the music of life. >> actor timothee chalamet, one of today's biggest stars, now channeling one of america's most enduring folk music icons. once upon a time, you threw the bums a dime in your prime. few songs have stood the test of time, like bob dylan's like a rolling stone. >> how does it feel? the name bob dylan. like elvis presley. like freddie mercury. like elton john. it's as iconic, but weirdly, his face is imprinted

less in some way than these other figures because he's kept himself at a distance. this movie doesn't demystify him, but it honors the cryptic figure that is bob dylan. >> from the look to the voice, chalamet even learning to strum the guitar like bob dylan for the new biopic a complete unknown. you were meant to have a few months to work on this, but because of the pandemic and other interruptions, you got five years. >> i was a non guitar player. i was a non harmonica player before the movie started. what would have been a months long, disciplined, structured process became a years long side passion. >> the film getting oscar buzz and golden globe nominations. >> the first time that i saw timothee perform as bob and fully kind of embodying him, i was moved to tears. >> i caught up with chalamet and costar elle fanning at one of new york's legendary spots, where bob dylan famously launched his career. >> that's where we started in 1961, coming to greenwich village, to this place right here, to the cafe wha. where a lot of folk musicians at the

time were trying to get their careers going. >> fanning's character, based on dylan's girlfriend suze rotolo, seen on the album cover of the freewheelin bob dylan. >> you came here with nothing but a guitar. you never talk about your family, your past. >> i'm playing someone that isn't as well known. it was kind of introducing her to the audience, someone that is in this world not to gain fame. you know, she's really there out of a pure love for bob. >> are you happy i came here? >> chalamet, on a meteoric rise since his breakout role in call me by your name. elle fanning, known for starring in the hulu series the great. >> but i actually don't care whether it costs you it will be done. >> bob dylan is considered one of music's greatest songwriters, his lyrics capturing the era in blowin in the wind, blowin in the wind, an anthem of the 60s civil rights movement. music. magic brought to life and introducing an american icon to a new generation. the awards. the attention is rolling in. are

you prepared? >> i want to be a bridge to this period and this music because it was a transformative, artistic time. it was a time that was as fraught as our time right now politically, culturally, socially. and i hope this movie is a humble bridge to that period for all people to discover. whether you are right or wrong. or wrong. >> our thanks look! here we go! (♪) (♪) they're following us! (♪) woo hoo! this is awesome! (♪) (♪) giddy up. the first ever nissan rogue rock creek. (♪) speak now or forever hold your- [cough] only took 4-hour cough liquid? [cough]

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a remarkable 2020, for less than a month until he returns to the white house,

>> aant final note tonight. remembering a true. abc news legend. our friend suzanne or tony. he was a beloved abc news cameraman for more than four decades. early on, he captured searing images like these from vietnam. he braved the dangers in the field alongside sam donaldson, peter jennings, ted koppel. >> this is ted koppel. abc near camelot, south vietnam. >> david muir, each of whom considered tony a news legend in his own right. he will be missed. that's nightline. you can watch all of our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here monday. thanks