recollection of her mother saying to her, i love you. i'll be back soon. and she has a very distinct image in her mind that's the last time she saw her mother. >> tonight the latest in a headline-making case of a picture-perfect power couple. he had been a producer for the reality blockbuster, "survivor." >> he was a very creative person. >> she a vivacious restaurant owner. she and her lover took off for

paradise. >> they were hoping to rekindle the spark and go to a romantic place. >> she disappeared. among the pools, frustrating clues. what really happened to this beautiful wife and mom? >> i'm not going to rest until justice is made. >> mystery at moon palace. thanks for joining us. i'm lester holt. a vibrant young couple takes a vacation to a lavish resort in a place where crime sometimes lurks just outside the gates. when the wife disappeared, police would search the surrounding neighborhoods. but the more time that went by, the more her friends and family began to believe that the real danger might have been right in her own room. here's natalie morales. >> reporter: for years it's been

the ritual destination for spring breakers. cancun, mexico, providing fun in the sun by day and a nightlife full of girls and boys gone wild. but there is another part of cancun that isn't quite so wild or sexy. >> this was the place that had a spa, that had, you know, high class restaurants, that had 24-hour security and was kind of gated away from the riffraff of cancun party life. >> reporter: this quieter, family-friendly corner was where a young california couple traveled for their own version of spring break in 2010. but that vacation would turn into a hellish ordeal. >> a person that does something like that has no heart, you know. no heart. it's just horrible. >> reporter: life seemed to be sailing smoothly for bruce redmond and his wife monica before that time.

monica borgos was a bright-i'd girl from rio de janeiro from brazil. her two sisters later followed her. >> she was helping people find places to stay, cars to bichuy. she was always helping someone. >> reporter: she settled in los angeles and opened up this brazilian restaurant and club, zabumba, which soon became the social hot spot for the brazilian country there. monica would host weekend theme parties and dress up for the occasion. why was the restaurant so important to her, carla? >> i actually opened the restaurant, me and her, because sometimes in america people don't have enough fun, you know. it was very important for us to show, you know, how brazilians can have fun. >> reporter: but it was a ha

handsome american customer who caught her sister's eye one day here at zabumba. >> he came here to have lunch. it was charisma and energy and love at first sight. >> reporter: they married in 1999, just as bruce beresford redmond's tv career took off. he became a hot shot producer for the show that started the tv phenomenon "survivor" and hopped the globe to shoot seasons of the show in the south pacific and the amazon jungle. >> when he was out there, he was basically the boss. >> reporter: this man worked with bruce when he was a contestant on the show. >> what does the producer do? >> they're on set, they take notes. every couple of days we do interviews. he was the one that asked the questions. he was very compassionatcompass

hard-working. very good at what he did. >> reporter: so good that his star kept rising. he did other shows like "the contender" with sly stallone. he also did the show "pimp my ride." >> his stature, his job, his status didn't really count to us, didn't matter. what mattered to us was that he made monica happy. >> reporter: while bruce's career kicked into high gear, monica continued to run her restaurant and even caught the tv bug herself. recording this footage for a brazilian reality show called flash brazil. it gave her the chance to show off her fun-loving personality as the host of zabumba. but a more domestic life was on the way as the couple began a family. their daughter camilla came along first, then a son alex.

>> everything was about those children. >> reporter: their friend, junior ozzy, is camilla's godfather. >> what was she like as a mom? >> she was the perfect mom. whatever they wanted to do, they did. whatever they wanted, they got. >> reporter: the family lived in this $2 million home in a plush l.a. suburb right near the ocean. they would trek around the globe with the children in tow. >> those children have been traveling more than most people do in their lifetimes. >> reporter: in march 2010, they were off to cancun to celebrate monica's birthday. they booked into the moon palace spa and golf resort. >> reporter: the moon palace was an exclusive resort that had all

the comfort and possessions of an american lifestyle with the feeling of being in a foreign country. >> reporter: bruce and monica arrived with their two young children at the hotel and enjoyed a few days snorkeling and bathing in the cancun sun. but by the fourth day, something had gone terribly wrong. >> bruce called me tuesday in the afternoon when i was at work, around 1:45, and told me my sister was missing. >> reporter: where was monica? >> coming up, her family and friends are about to find out. >> i still don't believe it. it was probably one of the worst moments of my life. >> when "mystery at moon palace" continues. windy city of chicago. people here sure are friendly but some have had a hard time understanding my accent. so to make sure people get every word of the geico savings message i've been practicing how to talk like a true chicagoan. switching to geico could save you hundreds of dollars on car insurance... da bears.

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monica beresford redmond had vanished while vacationing with her family at a luxury resort in cancun, mexico. her husband bruce told police she had left their hotel room at 8:30 in the morning to go shopping and never came back. panicked and frightened, her sister quickly booked a ticket to cancun to go and help her brother-in-law. >> he had two small children with him, and i'm going to help with that, too, relieve him so he can do what he needs to do. >> with bruce's hollywood profile as a reality tv producer, monica's disappearance began making news in los angeles. >> monica beresford redmond. >> i love her very much, and i'm really worried about her, and i

really wish if someone knows anything about it, please contact nbc and let us know anything, anything. >> reporter: her family and friends worried that monica, an adventurous traveler, might have stepped off the beaten path and into one of cancun's dangerous areas, the crime-ridden area that tourists aren't supposed to see. >> 19 people have been murdered in three days. >> reporter: today mexico is a country in crisis. with a deadly drug war raging every day. and more and more americans are getting caught in the crossfire. according to the state department, in the last three years, the number of u.s. citizens killed in mexico has tripled. >> we've done stories down in t tijuana -- >> he's covered a number of stories in mexico. he traveled to cancun to report

on monica's disappearance. >> i think the perception as to what's happening in mexico right now is that if you're a tourist and you stay in the tourist areas, you're going to be fine. as soon as you step out, it's dangerous. >> mindf >> reporter: mindful of those dangers, bruce checked out the contacts he'd made, and discovered a businessman who owned a resort that he had visited. >> why did he reach out to you? >> i think he thought i might have connections in mexico that could help him. >> reporter: he immediately called bruce in cancun. >> he started to tell me monica is missing. i said, when did she leave? he said, monday morning about 8:30. i was concerned. if someone needs help, i try to help. >> in mexico, police launch aid search as bruce put up flyers in cancun. one day had gone by, then another, and still no sign of

monica. their friend junior ozzy, flew down to help, but when he got to cancun, 17 hours after monica disappeared, the police had some news. and it was the worst imaginable. >> the moment that i arrived at the hotel, some guy from the mexican authorities came in and walked away with the manager. and i overheard him saying, we found the body. >> how were you feeling? >> i still don't believe that. it's probably one of the worst moments of my life. >> reporter: that day, april 8, was monica's birthday. she would have been 42. mexican police broke the news to bruce. >> he was very quiet, and i'm not a psychologist, but it was one of those things you might say the guy was in shock. then he hugged me. i was standing there, and he said, monica's gone.

>> he said that to you? >> what are we going to do. >> what are we going to do? >> he cried hugging me. >> she was -- it was pretty severe, horrible. >> reporter: police cold giovani how horrific her sister's death had been. >> she was naked. she was strangled. she died of asphyxiation, and she had bruises all over her body, including her face. >> reporter: mexican authorities now had a brutal murder to solve with reporters eager for information. but it wasn't the story they had expected. monica hadn't stepped out into the criminal fringes of cancun. a hotel worker had found monica's body inside this sewer drain less than 300 feet from bruce and monica's room. >> i went to the spot and i saw where her body was found. it was disgusting. >> reporter: monica had been found, but the mystery had only

deepened. giani got a friend to take her young niece and nephew back home to los angeles. >> i wanted the kids out of there because something is wrong. >> reporter: now cancun police focused their investigation on the resort and potential suspects there. a hotel worker, a guest, or perhaps bruce himself. >> yes, bruce. because what he was telling people about monica's disappearance was making some of them suspicious. >> my antennas were going, this is

three days after she had gone missing, the investigation into who killed monica barrister redmond had shifted from inside cancun to outside the gates of the moon palace resort. her sisters had started to sift

through everything bruce told them since the day she disappeared. >> he told me she had left at 8:30 in the morning to go shopping before nothing is open. my sister never wakes up early. she works at night and she's not a morning person at all. >> reporter: there were other things that struck giani as strange. bruce said she had plans to go to a spa after shopping and didn't expect to be back until 10:00 at night. it didn't seem like monica to be away from bruce and the kids for so long. what's more, monica had left her cell phone in the hotel suite. giani began to think that bruce was hiding something. >> the first thing i said, did you guys fight? no, no, we were having a great time. >> reporter: but she knew times had not actually been so great for the couple prior to the trip. bruce had recently had an affair. >> when did you find out from monica that bruce was having an affair? >> exactly when she really knew

for sure was around valentine's day. >> reporter: that was february 2010, just six weeks before their trip. the woman was joy pierce, a casting director who worked with bruce on several reality shows. this photo of them together appeared on tmz's web site after monica vanished. but her sister carla had seen bruce and joy together before. >> as soon as we walked into this nightclub, this woman comes and jumps into his lap. and i could see from that time he was having an affair with that woman. >> reporter: family friend junior ozzy introduced them years before. >> did you ever get the feeling that bruce showed extra interest? >> i did not at all. i was always very surprised about it. >> reporter: it was a. monica shared their e-mails with

his sisters, like this one where bruce fessed up to the affair. we first had sex in detroit. since then we have had a full sexual relationship. i take responsible for this and i apologize to you. monica fired off an e-mail to bruce's mistress: good luck. he's all yours now. the problem is yours. i'm out. she made the decision to divorce bruce. she threw him out of the house and changed the locks. >> for me it was a relief. now she decided she's going to go get out of this relationship, she knew about everything, and she was going to create her life again. >> reporter: but bruce wasn't ready to give up. i do not deserve it but i would like one more chance. i am making a choice to be with you and fix what i have broken and build from there. i still feel so much love for you. the desperate pleas for forgiveness worked. monica took bruce back. >> monica was the type of person

that tomorrow will be better. we're going to work it out and see what happens. >> reporter: so after just a few weeks of separation, they were back together, planning their trip to mexico to celebrate her birthday and rekindle their relationship. >> i think she wanted to save her marriage badly. she, too, felt that she loved bruce and she really wanted to have the family together. >> reporter: now giani wondered if bruce was telling the truth. he had said their reconciliation trip had been a happy one. but when she spoke to hotel workers in cancun, giani heard a different story. >> what were you hearing from the employees? >> that they had a fight, my sister was crying. there were a lot of things going on that people said. >> reporter: reporter john talked to a security guard that witnessed that fight outside the restaurant. >> the security guard said he could tell something wasn't right because they were both raising their voices, they were

yelling at each other. even though he didn't understand the language, he knew they were angry about something. >> reporter: and several hotel guests said they heard another argument coming from inside bruce and monica's room. >> there appeared to be all this stress. >> a former police officer from england was staying in a suite just above bruce and monica's. he told "dateline" he overheard them in their room the night before monica vanished. >> the lady was screaming, the man was shouting at the top of his voice, and then it all went quiet. >> reporter: two other guests in the room below complained to the hotel about loud noises and gave this written statement to police. they were woken by screams, crying for help and extremely loud banging from the room above. it sounded like a woman in extreme distress. junior ozzy spoke to the employees at the hotel who took their complaint. what did they tell you?

>> their comments were, they called the room, and i guess bruce answered the phone and said everything was fine. >> reporter: it was the next morning that bruce said monica went shopping and never came back. as mexican investigators gathered evidence at the hotel, they kept bruce close in their sight. >> from your understanding, were they zeroed in on him already as a primary suspect? >> they were questioning him, yes. >> reporter: did he show concern that he was being questioned in that way? >> when i saw him, he looked like -- he was just like blacked out. >> reporter: back in california, bruce's business contact, tim blikseth, knew nothing about the witnesses in mexico or bruce's affair. but he was having his own suspicions as he looked over the e-mails bruce had sent him asking for help. he says they were packed with details which seemed peculiar both to tim and his wife jessica. >> there were many insignificant details about what she was

wearing, and it wasn't odd for her to be late. she wasn't expected back until 10:00 that night and you're vacationing with your two children? it was just very odd to me. >> tim talked to bruce on the phone. >> when i would ask questions, he would stutter a little bit. like when i said, did you have a fight with your wife? he would say, security was called. he changed the topic. he didn't say yes or no. just things like that, my antenna was going, this isn't right. >> reporter: he was getting a weird feeling about it all and believed bruce might be using him. >> i thought bruce was calling me as an alibi so later on he could say, yeah, i called a guy i know who had some connections in mexico and i was very concerned. so i said, let me call you back. so i went to jess and i said, i think i just talked to a murderer. >> coming up, the investigation

is about to turn up the heat on bruce. but bruce himself has disappeared. >> there is no other suspect. how can you not watch that one suspect? >> when "mystery at moon palace" continues. every day, an average of 5,000 people switch from cascade to finish dishwasher detergent. that's about 150,000 a month - over 2 million people so far. with finish quantum you get incredibly clean, sparkling dishes without having to rinse them first. now see for yourself why millions have switched to finish. join the finish revolution. and for two years in a row, finish quantum was rated #1 by a leading consumer publication. challenge that. olay smooth finish facial hair removal duo. first a gentle balm then the removal cream. effective together with less irritation and as gentle as a feather. olay hair removal duo.

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monica barrister redmond's family believed her husband bruce knew more than he was telling about his wife's murder in cancun. and now four days after her death, mexican authorities branded the hollywood producer

their person of interest in the investigation. police confiscated his passport and told him to remain in mexico. robin sachs, a former los angeles prosecutor and writer, followed the case. >> their feeling was, let's hold his passport. that will keep him safe here in mexico until we decide whether or not we should pursue criminal charges. >> reporter: by now monica's sisters believed they knew what happened and that their brother-in-law would be arrested any minute. >> we really can't say anything about the investigation, just that it was very is productive and we are satisfied with the work that the authorities in mexico are doing. >> reporter: the investigators gathered more and more evidence and went public with it. bruce had scratches on his face and body when they interviewed him. perhaps signs of a struggle. and word leaked out that police had found blood traces on a pillow, on the bathroom sink, and a railing outside.

then police also noted something curious in the hotel records. on the night bruce said he was waiting for monica to return from her shopping trip, the keycard to their room had been used 11 times between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. francisco allard, the attorney overseeing the investigation, thought that was very odd. >> translator: going in and out of the room 11 times back to back is not logical. it's not normal. i'm not saying it doesn't happen, but it's not normal. >> reporter: he said all the evidence in the case seemed to point one way. >> translator: what we're finding is that everything in this investigation is revolving around bruce. >> reporter: and yet weeks went by and police still hadn't arrested him as he kept a low profile in mexico. back in los angeles, monica's

sisters rallied friends together at her restaurant, urging mexican officials to take action and charge bruce with murder. >> justice for monica! justice for monica! >> you have no idea how this felt. i wished it wasn't true. all the things that happened doesn't even leave space for me to think anything else. >> reporter: then on a friday night in may, seven weeks after monica's murder, mexican police had some news, but not about an arrest. they tried to bring bruce in for more questioning but couldn't find him. he was missing. >> there is no other suspect. how can you not watch that one suspect? >> reporter: and mexican authorities were taking the heat for letting a possible murderer slip through their fingers. after all, this was a man who globe-trotted to exotic locales for a living with survival

instincts that could come in handy for someone on the run. >> this was someone who knew how to get things done in foreign countries. he was very strategic. >> and he's out there a freeman. >> a freeman, just doing whatever he wishes to do. >> reporter: but then two days later, bruce suddenly resurfaced. he hadn't chartered a boat to a desert island or hidden underground, he wasn't on the lam. he was in los angeles. and far from hiding, bruce, the reality tv producer, had just walked into his own reality show with reporters following his every move. >> he's been apologizing to me and my family about the media, the circus that was going on. >> reporter: lori wheeler and a friend and neighbor who lives across the street. she went to visit bruce when he returned home and says he was consumed with grief. >> it was very, very sad. i started crying, he started crying. he had camilla in his arms. i mean, it was just -- it was

heart-wrenching. >> reporter: news cameras caught him doing household chores and playing with his kids, camilla and alex. and tmz followed him around los angeles. >> did you kill your wife? who do you think killed your wife? >> reporter: bruce wasn't speaking to the media. >> i'm sorry, i don't have any comment. >> reporter: but he did issue a written statement. monica was the axis around which our whole family revolved. i am devastated at her loss and i am incensed at the suggestion that i could have had anything to do with her death. i am innocent. >> he's told me how much he misses her. he said that when he wakes up in the morning, that's the worst time, like is this real? she's not there. that's when he feels the worst. >> reporter: as he was trailed by the tabloid press in l.a., bruce was in legal limbo. the mexican authorities could still charge him with murder, so

he hired a pair of attorneys to prepare his defense. >> he wanted to be with his children. >> reporter: richard hersh and vicki pobroski said by leaving mexico, bruce wasn't a fugitive at all. he was just coming home. >> if there was a warrant for his arrest, a judge had ordered him to stay, of which neither occurred, he didn't have to stay in mexico. >> reporter: the authorities told him not to leave the country, so isn't that in defiance to the authorities? >> the authorities had no legal right to tell him to stay. >> but it gave the impression he was a criminal fleeing in the night. with no passport, even. >> there were film crews camped out his house. he certainly wasn't hiding. >> reporter: no reason to hide, say his attorneys, because bruce is innocent. they say the investigation in

mexico was botched from the start. >> it was sort of like round up the usual suspects, casablanca, and no attempt to see if anyone else was involved in monica's death. >> reporter: and they said they have evidence that could clear bruce's name. >> coming up, the couple's young daughter speaks. could it turn the case upside down? >> she has a very vivid recollection of her mother wearing a blue dress, gold hoop earrings and saying to her, i love you. i'll be bekac b soon. >> when "dateline" continues. this great reunion in austin.ys but this year, i can only afford one trip and i've always wanted to learn how to surf. austin's great -- just not for surfing. so i checked out hotwire. and by booking with them, i saved enough to swing both trips. see, hotwire checks the competition's rates every day

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so you can experience the spirit of these national treasures in your home. the new national park collection. something in the air wick. we think the police could have done a better job. >> reporter: bruce barrister red ford's attorneys believe police made a rush judgment. they think they rushed into it because of his affair, an affair he admitted. >> everything that was going on at that time was indicative of an attempt to have the marriage work out. >> reporter: the evidence against him, they say, is

circumstantial and weak. >> the hotel security guard said he witnessed bruce and monica having what appeared to be a very physical and loud fight. that was at 8:30 the night before monica disappeared. do you know what they were arguing about? >> we don't think that that happened. >> reporter: they say the security guard was mistaken. after all, the two guests he said he saw fighting were not with two young children. >> there's just a lot of discrepancies in what he has to say. the children with were them. this man never sees any children, and it seems highly unlikely that that scenario would have been playing out in a family vacation. >> reporter: but what about that other loud, possibly violent, argument that hotel guests said they overheard later that night from the room below? the family said they heard screaming that morning and what sounded like a woman in distress crying, help me, help me. they said it really frightened them. what was bruce's account of what

was happening in the room during the night? >> bruce had given an account about how he was playing a game with his family, and as part of that game, he was jumping on furniture and jumping on the bed and they were all screaming. >> reporter: so there was no argument, just a game the kids called mater after a boyisterou character on the movie "cars." and her abrupt departure the next morning? >> he was looking for her and he would come back and check on the children, and he did that numerous times. you tend to do that when someone is missing and you're nervous. you look even though it's useless, but back immediately to check on the children. >> reporter: as for physical evidence, police say they have nothing to tie him to monica's murder. bruce had scratches on his face and body.

what was his explanation for that? >> he explained to the police that he had been to a water park with his children and his wife and that he had sustained scratches when he was attempting to get his son out of a river that they were swimming in, and it was very rocky. he indicated that he also sustained some scrapes to the back of his neck on a different water adventure they went on. >> reporter: sounds like a rough vacation. >> they were a very active family. they were not sitting at the beach every day. >> reporter: and whatever happened inside the room, they say those supposed blood samples police found proved to be mostly useless. some weren't even blood. >> if a homicide occurred in that room, you certainly would have expected to see blood throughout the room or certainly in many areas of the room, and certainly outside the room. none of that was ever seen or recovered or ever found to be true. >> reporter: even though monica's body was found at this sewage drain so close to the hotel suite, they say footprints

found at the scene did not match bruce's shoes. and they say there's reason to believe monica was attacked in a robbery. bruce told police monica was carrying $400 in cash and a credit card. they were not in her purse found at the scene. so you believe that she was robbed? >> we have no way of knowing. but again, it's a theory that no one really investigated. >> reporter: they say the notion that bruce could have killed his wife on a family vacation is absurd. and, in fact, mexican police never even interviewed the two people who may have seen everything: their children, alec and camilla. >> she's a very, very articulate little girl. >> reporter: camilla was five years old when her mother was murdered. with a therapist present, she told bruce's attorneys what she remembered about the mexico trip, and she mentioned that loud game of mater with her dad. >> she recounted a very similar

type of game. said that her brother was screaming very loudly. she then screamed for me to show me how loud it was. it was very high pitched. could easily have been mistaken for a woman. >> reporter: camilla also told them her parents did not yell at each other and never hit each other anywhere any time. and her account that morning in the hotel room matched her father's. when was the last time that she remembers seeing monica? >> she has a very vivid recollection of her mother wearing a blue dress, gold hoop earrings and saying to her, i love you. i'll be back soon. and she has a very distinct image in her mind that's the last time she saw her mother. >> reporter: could that account be enough to clear bruce? monica's sisters carla and giani were outraged that his attorneys would even subject the child to questions about the case. convinced that bruce murdered monica, they've been fighting an

emotional battle for custody over the children who are now under the permanent guardianship of bruce's parents. carla and giani were worried that bruce might even disappear again and take the children with him. >> it's scary, you know. only he is here around the kids, and you say, oh, my god, he came to get the kids. >> reporter: every day goes by and you think of her children. how much pain do you feel for those kids? >> a lot. i can feel it must be very confusing for them and very painful not to have their mother with them. >> reporter: with bruce now in los angeles, giani flew down to cancun one more time to press the mexican authorities for action. >> how do you feel about bruce escaping from mexico? >> what a shame. >> reporter: then the sisters got what they wanted as a mexican judge issued a warrant for bruce's arrest on charges of aggravated homicide. but mexican police couldn't

arrest bruce on american soil themselves. that would be up to u.s. martials who arrived at his home to take him to a federal jail in november 2010, seven months after monica's death. >> the hollywood producer accused of killing his wife in mexico appears in court and vows to fight extradition. >> reporter: a federal judge would hold a trial in los angeles to decide in the mexican case was strong enough to send bruce back to cancun to face the homicide charge. >> coming up, the judge rules after prosecutors release disturbing new details about monica's murder. >> that takes the ruthlessness of this case from being a disgusting, despicable crime to being off the

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where do you draw your strength? >> love. from love.

from my love for my sister and my love for those kids. >> giani and carla borgos had waited for more than a year for this day, and it finally came. a federal judge would now decide if their brother-in-law, bruce barrister redmond, could be handed over to mexico and stand trial for killing their sister, monica. u.s. martials brought bruce to court from his jail cell in downtown los angeles, and prosecutors laid out mexico's case against him. >> the prosecution theory is that she was killed and dumped. >> reporter: former prosecutor robin sachs says according to the case file, mexican investigators believe bruce strangled or smothered monica after a violent argument in their moon palace suite earlier that morning. >> the cause of death was asphyxiation, so she was suffocated to death. there were also clearly injuries that occurred prior to the point her body was thrown into the

sewer. >> reporter: investigators believed her body remained in the room all day as bruce kept a do not disturb sign on the door. they say he then disposed of her body later that night inside the sewer drain, making those 11 trips in and out of the room all in the presence of their two children. >> if this crime was committed by bruce barrister redmond and his children were there during the time, then that takes the callousness and the ruthlessness of this case from being a disgusting, despicable crime to being off the charts. >> reporter: but bruce's attorneys argue that's one place where the prosecution's theory falls apart. >> think about the absurdity of that. if that occurred, it would have been in the presence of these two children, and these children loved this man. i see the interaction between the children and bruce. if he had killed their mother in front of them, they would never be as warm and loving of him as they are. >> reporter: unless they were sleeping and missed it all.

>> but then there would have been screams because the theory is the screaming was her as she was being assaulted. it woke up the people downstairs. one would think if it was that loud, the children would have been awakened also. >> reporter: what's more, they say that bruce never could have dumped monica's body in the sewer as mexican police claimed, carrying her nearly 300 feet down a flight of stairs and across a courtyard visible from a dozen other motel rooms. >> he would have had to carry her quite a distance, and yet there is no evidence of a body being dragged, carried. she's 170 pounds. she's a large woman. it would have been dead weight. >> reporter: in court, bruce's attorneys argued that the mexican investigation was flawed. there was no physical evidence to tie him to the crime because bruce was not a murderer but a loving father. he admitted to his infidelity and then worked to save his marriage and his family. and his mother, juanita,

explained on the "today" show. >> despite difficulty in the marriage, everyone has difficulties, usually there's still a great deal of love. and with everything else aside, there is no way bruce would have taken their mother away from those children. >> reporter: now his own daughter, camilla, was set to testify that she never saw any arguments between her parents on that trip and even remembered seeing her mother leave the room alive. but when the moment came, something changed. >> there was an opportunity to actually bring camilla, the six-year-old, on the stand. what happened then? >> we spoke to camilla that morning. her therapist was present. and after taking the time to speak to her, the therapist concluded that she thought it would put camilla under too much stress to testify in court, and so we opted not to put her on the stand. >> reporter: camilla's prior statements were submitted. then the judge ruled. enough evidence existed to try him for homicide.

bruce beresford redmond would be extradited to mexico. >> i can't say we were surprised. the standard for extraditing somebody from the united states to another country is small. >> reporter: and in february, mexican authorities transported bruce back to cancun. >> we've been told the jail in cancun is the most violent and dangerous jail in all of mexico, that a person such as bruce, an american citizen coming down there, is going to be at great risk for his safety. >> reporter: in a preliminary hearing, his mexican attorneys asked that the charges be thrown out and gave a preview of their defense, producing two witnesses who said they saw monica out shopping that day she disappeared. bruce watched the proceedings from behind bars inside the courtroom. four days later, the mexican judge ruled the case would go to trial. >> i am very disappointed.

>> reporter: leon is his mexican attorney. >> i was there when he was told that bit court. and i can tell you he was completely devastated. >> reporter: monica's sister giani was there to watch. >> i am very confident they are doing an excellent job and they are doing all they can to bring closure to and justice to my sister. >> now her sisters have another mission. keeping their sister's legacy alive for her children. what will you tell her children when they're old enough to ask questions? >> we will never say to the kids, your father did that, or your father killed your mother, or anything like that, or anything that will just create more pain. what we'll say is, you know what? your mommy is no longer with us but she's in your heart. so when you want to talk to her,

just put your hand in your heart, go inside. she's there and she wants to talk to you. >> that's all for now. i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. this sunday, it may be that women, swing states, decide this presidential election. and the fight for their vote heated up this week when a prominent democratic strategist took on ann romney. and created a firestorm. >> his wife has actually never worked a day in her life. >> my career choice was to be a mother. i think all of us need to know that we need to respect choices that women make. >> i think this was an ill-advised statement by somebody on television. >> the fight for women voters and the gender wars is what kicked off this general election campaign. we'll debate thit this morning with kirsten gillibrand and republican, former presidential candidate and congresswoman

michele bachmann. plus, we'll analyze how the gender gap figures into the fall campaign with our roundtable, with us, savannah guthrie, harold ford, republican strategic mike murphy and nbc's chief courthouse correspondent and political director chuck todd. first this morning, i talk to the president's point man on the economy, treasury secretary timothy geithner about jobs, your taxes and the fight over economic fairness in this campaign. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning. the president is in south america for a trade summit this weekend. his visit has been overshadowed by some news and the news is alleged misconduct with prostitutes involving at least 11 secret service agents. the investigation is continuing this morning. we'll have more on this story and reaction as we go through the hour. back at home, tax day is tuesday and with the general election now under wa