>> 911 emergency. >> has the jury reached a verdict? >> we, the jury, find the defendant -- >> he lived the life of a millionaire with a name that rolls off the tongue. >> dominique digiorgio. >> dominique digiorgio. >> dominique digiorgio, a wealthy italian businessman with interest in cattle. >> he bought and sold cattle to japan. >> fashion. >> he had even clothed cher. >> music. ♪ >> a diversified business empire with a love life to match. >> he's got five or six other wives at the same time. >>, but is this big-time player for real?

>> whenever somebody lied, you'd get skeptical. >> who is this italian stallion, and what's his game? >> he's very convincing. >> in this hour, "the marrying kind." ♪ >> what's the dream when you're thinking about what you want to do? >> my dream? >> what do you imagine for yourself? >> i imagine becoming a professional country western singer, get on stage with a bunch of lights, a whole bunch of people. >> in a small town in oregon, a

dot on the map, lived a bright-eyed beauty with a voice for country and dreams of star dom. ♪ that you needed some time to find yourself♪ >> unrequited dreams, until out of the blue along came a man who promised to take her there. and just like it was a fairy tale, she knew her dream would come true. >> i can't picture myself doing anything else. >> at the other end of life in her golden years, was a woman who also had fairy tale dreams about love. >> there was still something left in life no matter what age i was. >> had you ever been better taken care of? >> no. >> how could it be that two such different women would share one strength tale? here is how. this very same man promised to make their dreams come true. not a model prince charming? don't be too sure because these two women, 50 years apart in age, were not the only ones to discover unique italian mover and shaker named dominique digiorgio. charms of this is not just a story about a charismatic man and the women under his influence.

it's about the line, the thin line we all walk between believe and make-believe or dreams and reality or love and deception. in 1994, jean moffet, who made a nice living as a cook with some crocheting on the side, met dominique digiorgio, not over the modern marvel the internet but through the u.s. mail. >> we just kept writing back and forth. >> one thing led to another. >> one thing led to another and that's how it got started. >> jean's husband of 33 years died three years before and her grown children had moved away. she was lonely. what did the handwriting look like to you? >> beautiful. he has beautiful handwriting. >> the letters she received filled a void, even if they came from prison where dominique was an inmate and had learned about jean, the widow, from one of her relatives, a cellmate. his early letters revealed he was a wealthy cattle baron and entrepreneur from italy and who had irs troubles and was caught

transporting gambling machines, he thought legally, across state lines. convicted and stuck in an idaho prison, he, too was lonely. he was grateful to have someone to talk to? >> yeah. >> he fell in love with you, didn't he? >> he sure did. >> did he tell you that? >> yep. >> what did you say to him? >> i said, we'll see. >> it didn't matter to dominique that jean was a few years older than he was. he found a powerful connection with her and soon began addressing his love letters not to jean moffet but to jean digiorgio. i will fill your life with meaning he wrote. i want wait to hold you and take care of you. they wrote to each other for nine long, promise-filled years. what kind of things did he write you about? >> oh, just that he'd like to be able to take care of me the rest of my life and that we'd just go

cruising around when he got out. >> and then in march of 2003, dominique was released from prison, and jean, like a nervous schoolgirl, met him outside. i just would love to know how you felt when you're waiting to see this guy you've been writing to for years. >> i was scared to death. >> when he got out of prison, how did he treat you? >> very nice. he was always the perfect gentleman. >> early on they lived together in jean's house in ogden, utah. dominique pampered her like she was royalty. he was sweet? >> yep. and he knew i had diabetes, so he'd get up first thing in the morning and fix a bowl of fruit for me and make sure i had something to eat. >> he'd do everything for you. >> yeah, everything. he'd scrub the floor on his hands and knees in the kitchen and do the vacuuming. he'd even throw clothes in the washer.

>> if in the bedroom dominique was no italian stallion, well, what did it matter? did you have a sex life? >> no, no sex life. he had problems from being in prison. >> what kind of problems? >> well, he had prostate problems. >> how did you feel about that? >> i went along with it. sex isn't everything in life, you know? >>, but the rest of it, magic. a whirlwind of scenic trips, fancy meals, love. so when dominique, just a month out of prison, proposed, jean didn't hesitate. on april 24, 2003, in palm springs, california, jean moffet became mrs. dominique digiorgio. must have felt great. >> it did. somebody to take care of you, somebody to pay attention to you. you didn't have to be alone all the time. >> before long, the newlyweds moves out of jean's ogden home. dominique assured jean he'd take

care of her continuing mortgage payments. and they came here, baker city, oregon, where dominique could keep tabs on the lucrative cattle business he'd written jean about. baker city is in the middle of cattle country. dominique said he also ran other businesses from his offices here in downtown baker city. >> every morning he'd get up so bright and early and go to work. >> besides cattle, dominique's ventures included land development, construction, a television business, and production company. his television and entertainment empire was here. when did you write this? >> about two years ago. >> with a small platform for auditions. ♪ i remember it clearly that summer night ♪ ♪ when you packed your bags and you moved far away ♪ >> it's where dalea wilds from another small town in oregon came for an audition in early 2004 and returned with me, two sisters, her parents, bob and

theresa. >> a hurtin' song. ♪ >> the audition, the wilds were told, was for a music video dominique was making. what did you two think when you heard about this potential opportunity? >> we thought, well, let's check it out, you know? let's get over there. >> what were your hopes? >> i was hoping i'd get discovered and become a big star or something. >> but dalea's dreams of stardom were no laughing matter to dominique digiorgio. he told the wilds he could make them come true, and he appeared to have the means to pull it off. coming up -- >> he was talking about johnny cash's band. >> as dominique's promises grow, so do the stakes. what will it take to make dalea a star? sure wish you guys would bring layaway back.

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some memories♪ >> when digiorgio productions held auditions in 2004 for a music video in baker city, oregon, dalea wild jumped at the chance. >> i was really hoping something would come out of it, but i wasn't sure. >> after the audition, dominique digiorgio, the owner of the production company, asked the wilds to meet with him. what did he say about your daughter? >> he goes, you've got a star, a diamond in the rough. and so -- i mean, that's how he starts out. bob and i are like, that gets our attention. >> what did you think when you heard that? >> i thought it was probably somebody sent from heaven. >> we were all excited. >> i believe he believed in me. >> and they, in turn, believed in him. he talked like a mogul, knew about music, too, and his

passion for dalea's talents was obvious. >> i thought, this guy will make it happen. >> the wilds looked like they belonged in a norman rockwell painting, good-look, close, loving, sweet, rural, religion, with music in their blood. mom and dad sang in the church choir. ♪ i've just got to be strong >> and baby dalea would amaze all. >> she would rock -- >> the music. >> -- to the music in her crib and she would get the beat going and she would be about -- she was about 8 months old. i'm like, look at that. >> years later dalea was surprised and pleased when her dad let her quit college to pursue a singing career. >> dalea says, dad, i don't know what i'm doing in school. what am i doing here?

she was in tears. i says, dalea, why don't you just drop all of your classes? why don't you just do what your dream is, you know? you got to do -- you got to go for your dream. >> how did you feel when he said that? >> i'm like, i can't do that. you know, it's like a rule, you're supposed to go to college, get your degree, you know, but my drive was in a different direction. >> dalea cut a demo album, and waited for her big break. >> i know i'm meant to do this, i just know. >> as if it was meant to be, a few weeks after dalea dropped out of the college to pursue a singing career, the wilds met dominique digiorgio. the big break they were desperately seeking, seemed to have arrived. >> he said, she's going to be a star. >> just at the moment when you're trying to figure out what are we going to do to get her started. >> this is what we're supposed to do. >> the wilds are straightforward, honest people, and as we said, kind. so they were moved when dominique told them how in spite of his big-time connections, he

decided to settle in tiny baker city. >> he said he was traveling along the freeway in a motor home, through baker, a big wind comes up and knocked his motor home over and caught fire. >> only the heroics of the baker city fire department saved his living dominique said, and so he, of course, wanted to give back to the community, and baker city had business potential, he said. he compared it to a city in missouri known as the family-friendly las vegas. >> he said, this is a little branson, missouri, this town could be. and we owe -- we owe because we wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for the baker city fire department. if we'd wrecked anywhere else in the united states, the fire department wouldn't have risked their lives to go into that motor home and get us. >> that would be a great reason to kind of want to support baker, you know, where he felt like he'd be dead if this would have happened anywhere else. >> that, thought the wilds, was

impressive, and so was dominique's advice. always be careful, he warned them. others might take advantage of her. theresa remembered dominique's words. >> do you know if you just leave your girl somewhere, somebody could just con this daughter, and you never know. you can't trust people. >> man who carried enough to offer good advice about trust, and they certainly could trust him. couldn't they? at the same time that dominique was plotting dalea's singing career, mrs. dominique digiorgio settled down to her brand-new life with her wealthy businessman husband in baker city, oregon, and the honeymoon was soon over. marriage to a one-man conglomerate was not going as well as jean imagined. >> he'd keep telling me his plate's so full, you know, he's so busy. i used to tell him the plate's turned into a platter. it's plum full. >> months after her 2003 wedding, jean was often home alone with her crocheting in an unfamiliar house in an unfamiliar town. she knew no one here. >> he was gone every morning and bright and early.

he didn't come home until late. >> or even home at all, since his business ventures would often take him on the road. >> he had his fingers in everything. >> there was new business, managing the fledging career of dalea wilds, and the old business, cattle. only something unexpected jeopardized it all. mad cow disease. >> and i kept saying, when are you going to get them cattle sold? well, this mad cow disease is on and now i can't move the cattle. i've got to feed them now until they lift that. >> dominique's cattle problems seemed to affect his cash flow. until he got back on his feet he told his wife, he'd have to rely on her bank account and credit cards but just temporarily. >> i told him, hey, about time you start bringing some money in here. >> how did he react to that? >> oh, he said, that's why i'm doing this. he said i'm getting this all so that i can support you. >> he also had jean take out a second mortgage on her house back in ogden, utah, a home she'd owned for 50 years and had nearly paid off.

>> he says, i'll pay you back for every dime that i've taken of yours. i said, okay. >> in early 2004, jean was still getting acclimated to baker city when dominique told her they were moving again. >> got a surprise for you. i got a house. i said, yeah? he said, yeah. i got you a nice house, you'll really love it. >> the house was in mesquite, nevada, a small gambling town, so jean hauled nearly everything she had down there. why mesquite? she actually didn't know, and she wasn't the only one asking that question. >> he said meet us in mesquite. our first thinking was why does he want us to meet in mesquite? it seemed odd their potential manager asked them to drive several hundred miles to a town they'd never heard of. but despite their reservations, dalea and her family headed to mesquite as well. coming up -- vegas glitz, rock star glam, big

plans ahead for dalea's big chance. >> so we went for the ride. let's go see what this guy has to offer, you know? >>, but where would the trip take them? ♪ walk, little walk ♪ ♪ small talk, big thoughts, gonna tell them all ♪ [ male announcer ] the most headroom per dollar of any car in america. from $10,990. the all-new nissan versa sedan. innovation upsized. innovation for all. ♪ ♪ small talk, big thoughts, gonna tell them all ♪ [ male announcer ] the most legroom per dollar of any car in america. from $10,990. the all-new nissan versa sedan. innovation upsized. innovation for all. ♪ innovation upsized. innovation for all. now there's no need to hold back. new revolutionary scope dualblast obliterates strong food odors leaving your breath minty fresh. hey. [ male announcer ] so there's no trace of evidence... new scope dualblast. she is the greatest thing ever.

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in the spring of 2004, businessman dominique digiorgio left baker city, oregon, with his new wife, jean, and moved to a new home in mesquite, nevada. dominique also asked singer dalea wilds, whose career he was starting to manage, to bring her family and come to mesquite to discuss her future. what a weird place to have a meeting. >> right. i never heard of it. >> there was a perfectly reasonable answer. dominique explained that mesquite would be a perfect home base for dalea's career. it was only an hour from las vegas where he said he was licensed to bookings at the mirage and treasure island casinos. >> we went for the ride. let's go see what this guy has

to offer, you know? >> they met him at this casino in mesquite. >> zooms up behind us in this new cadillac. >> escalade. >> escalade. takes bob into the casino. but walks just ahead of him. just so he shows that he's o got a little -- he's powerful. when he walks into that casino, people move over. >> dominique seemed to own the town. he said he and other italians had invested heavily in mesquite including this upscale condo development. it's where he wanted dalea to live while she chased her musical dreams. >> so after showing us the subdevelopment, he looks at me and goes, but i've got something i want to show you because this will be of interest to you. drives down and takes us over to the catholic church and goes, here's the catholic church that we built and donated to the small community so i would be relieved that she would have a church to go to. >> there was something for bob too. bob's in the construction business. maybe, says dominique, he could

get bob a position in these new housing developments. he just seemed to know, dominique did, what to do, and how to get it done. >> i trusted him. dressed the way he was, acting the way he acted. i trusted him. i felt like he was going to take us all away and do whatever it took to get dalea there. as for dalea, dominique showered the would-be star with fancy makeover, hair, nails, makeup. >> he called the lady at the mirage and got the lead hairdresser to come out. while she was doing that, he was on the phone with, at that time, interviewing one of the band members that he was thinking about for dalea to be a part of her band and was saying, okay, well, i'll fly you out here but you're going to have to find your own flight back. >> then he treated the family to an elton john concert. >> theresa always wanted to see elton john, and it was mentioned because we saw elton john was there. so he takes off to the ticket

booth, comes back with four tickets, and it appeared like they were $1,100. it was right on the ticket. >> $1,100 per ticket? >> per ticket. >> nine seats back, center stage. >> he was all about surprises. >> now, remember, dominique had told his wife jean he was badly strapped financially. but to the wilds he was all las vegas big shot. told dalea he'd make her into the next shania twain. but there was one little complication -- this would not come cheap. he'd require an investment from the wilds. a quarter of a million dollars or more. >> he wanted all of our relatives and whoever we could get. >> friends, relatives. >> to invest in it, like stock, shares. and he said why not have your family and friends get a little piece of the money? >> though bob and theresa were reluctant to ask for money, some

friends and family members were keen on investing right away. then something happened that made theresa think twice about dominique and her daughter. it involved the catholic church, the one dominique said he built for mesquite. >> we're like driving by the church, and i'm like, that says united methodist church on the sign. i'm like, no way. i can't believe that. dang, what in the heck? >> theresa let dominique know she had serious doubts about his story. >> he approached me and got in my face and said you've got to believe me, you've got to trust me on this, and you've got to -- and i'm like, you know what? nobody does that to me. >> so she began to snoop around. and what she would discover was even more unbelievable.

meanwhile, dominique's wife, jean, still in mesquite, was never with her husband when he was with the wilds. in fact, she was hardly ever with her husband at all. and she was growing more frustrated by the day. so things are not the way they were back at the beginning. >> no. >> your expectations -- >> dropped clean to the bottom. >> she was in the dark about so many things. where was her money? where was her husband? and who was she? coming up -- >> he says, hello, mrs. digiorgio. >> dominique digiorgio's best-kept secrets. >> she's been married to him four months. and i said, what four months? >> mrs. digiorgio and mrs. digiorgio. across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy... we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school...

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federal government. 8 in 10 americans are dissatisfied with the way the government is working and one-third say they are angry. and a crew is assessing the damage in oklahoma after the strongest quake ever measured there. it buckled roads and crumbled chimneys. more news later. we'll see you in an hour. dominique digiorgio, a self-purported cattle baron and businessman from italy, living whiz new wife, jean, in mesquite, nevada, a casino town an hour outside las vegas. he convinced dalea wilds to move to mesquite as well so as to better let him manage her career. >>, but the grandiose facade of the suave italian was beginning to crack. you called your bank? >> yeah. he went through everything. >> he had been borrowing a lot of money from his new wife, and

his credit as manager with dalea's parents was running low. >> we knew that he lied, and whenever somebody lied, you get skeptical very fast. >> more lies. >> yeah. >> but unbeknownst to both jean and the wilds, dominique had the support of some secret admirers. >> it's nice to be spoiled. it was seductive. >> this woman had her own tale of love. she, too, was swept off her feet by dominique digiorgio. and jean digiorgio had no idea about cathy. completely unaware that dominique had been writing cathy from prison too. >> he looks nice in orange, don't you think? >> the same flowery letters, the same intimate promises, and the same claims about his businesses. >> and i believed it. >> where was dominique when he wasn't with jean or dalea? why, he was here in northern washington, taking romantic rides at sunset with cathy rowley.

>> he had a cooler in the back of his truck. we stopped to look at something. i had a glass of wine in my hand. >> within days, dominique just married to jean proposed to cathy. she quit her teaching job, ready to live happily ever after. >> i never had anybody treat me quite like that. >> quite a skill, given the fact that at the very same time -- >> he makes people smile. he knew how to make women feel good. >> there was naomi. naomi fletcher from sandy, utah, met dominique in may, 2004, in the casino in mesquite at about the same time he was plotting dalea's singing career and commuting between jean and cathy. what's your first impression of this guy? >> i thought he was fun. >> charming? >> charming, you know. he put his arms around me and gave me a big kiss, yeah. he was very cozy right away. >> naomi had come to mesquite to

have some fun, but she certainly wasn't a pushover for any man who came along. she had been divorced with three grown children. in her professional life she had been in the military, helped build the f-16 fighter jets, and she worked as a nurse. now she was ready for a little fun. and she was charmed by this short, stalky italian and his debonair ways. she even found it sweet how he fractured english phrases. like what? >> what do you think i am? green behind the thumb? >> green behind the thumb? >> yeah. you think i'm green behind the thumb? and i'd laugh, i'd say, no, no, that's not what you say. he'd say wet behind the ears or do you think i'm a green thumb? >> it was a very fast courtship. dominique was generous, attentive, sensitive, romantic. he wanted to get married right away. and he found naomi at just the right time. >> i was ready for a change in my life.

i had accomplished a lot of things. i was gearing down. i was ready to travel. i wanted companionship. and i thought why not? >> besides dominique was wealthy, was in a clothing business at a store called touch of italy. >> he said, elizabeth taylor used to have him come over and make clothes because she was lonesome. >> of course, he didn't mention prison time and didn't mention any sexual problems he had with jean. did he seem to have any dysfunctions in the bedroom? >> no. no. >> i didn't know how else to ask that. >> no. i -- i found no problems there. >> willing and able. >> mm-hmm. >> and attentive. >> he was a little one-sided, but aren't most men? >> on june 20th, 2004, naomi and dominique took the plunge. they went to nevada and got married. >> he says, hello, mrs. digiorgio. >> what were the vows?

>> what his mainly said was i will always be there for you. and as added bonus, i'll raise the color in your cheeks. and i'll always make you laugh. you know, just -- >> good stuff. >> uh-huh. >> what did you say to him? >> he was helping to restore my faith in men. boy, was i wrong. >> within hours of her quickie wedding in a place a little like this one, mrs. naomi digiorgio began to feel as if she had made a huge mistake. it wasn't because of the $10,000 she would invest in his businesses. no, it was his temper, which he showed early, and which wasn't pretty. and then she caught him in some lies. pretty soon she began to think he was full of something and it wasn't charm. so she, too, began to do some checking, and one day she found a phone number, apparently a number connected to his clothing

business. and so she dialed. a young woman answered. and naomi, now deeply suspicious, introduced herself. and she turned around and said, hey, mom, there's another mrs. digiorgio on the phone. coming up -- the secret's out. >> what kind of man does that? dirty rotten scoundrel. >> a fairy tale fracture. who will pick up the pieces? ♪ ♪ ♪ walk, little walk ♪ small talk, big thoughts ♪ gonna tell them all just what i want ♪ ♪ i said don't stop, don't stop ♪ ♪ don't stop talking to me [ male announcer ] the most legroom per dollar of any car in america. the all-new nissan versa sedan. from $10,990. innovation upsized. innovation for all. ♪ actually... that way i could split my payments up

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in the spring of 2004, cathy rowley was in the middle of a whirlwind romance with an italian mover and shaker named dominique digiorgio. soon dominique proposed, and after living alone for several years, cathy, divorced with grown children of her own, said, yes. >> he was intelligent.

he was well spoken. he had assets. it would work. >>, but while things were going well with cathy, dominique, a man of many stories, was arousing lots of suspicions from others, like theresa wilds, the skeptical mother of singer dalea, whose career he was trying to manage. ♪ memories >> and the other two mrs. digiorgios, jean and naomi. theresa, upset after learning dominique lied to her about building a church, called las vegas, asked the casinos whether a dominique digiorgio had a license to book acts, like he told her he did. they had never heard of him. >> they looked his name up and said, i have no recollection whatsoever of a dominique digiorgio. >> shaken, theresa remembered that sweet story about how dominique wanted to repay baker city because he had been saved

by its fire department. >> i called the fire department. is that true that this motor home was traveling through and blew over, you know? he said, let me get back to you. >> the police department called them back instead. >> that's when the chief of police called me at work and said, this guy had been in prison for nine years. i'm like, he was in prison? and we were with this guy? i cannot believe this. >> jean digiorgio, who had been kept in the dark about everything, now, too, began to see the light. >> i was figuring on going myself. >> what do you mean you were figuring on going? i was leaving. >> you were fed up with it. >> yeah. this life wasn't for me. >> in the summer of 2000, fed up because she hadn't heard from her husband in more than a month, jean returned to her home in ogden and went to the police to report the car dominique was using, the car she paid for, was stolen. soon after she received that shocking phone call from the

other mrs. digiorgio. what kind of a man does that? >> a dirty rotten scoundrel. he's a no-good, rotten bum! >> he was just convincing. >> melissa melcher, the ogden police detective investigating jean's case, said digeorgio was so smooth he could make you believe cows could fly. not to mention that they were his cows. >> he took her to a ranch and showed her some cattle and says, those are our cattle. took her to housing developments and showed her housing developments and said this is what i'm working on now. kept her away from her family, kept her away from her mail, phone calls. >> kept her off balance. >> basically. he pampered her. he didn't know it was with her money. >> jean had been duped into paying for dominique's lavish lifestyle, rented homes, trips, fancy cadillac, his business fronts, including the

entertainment empire and cattle and construction companies. >> if he had said give me your money, i'm going, that wouldn't hurt me half as bad, but he had to run every credit card in the nation up on me. >> all of dominique's businesses were phony, every one, detective melcher concluded. dominique wasn't a cattle baron at all, certainly not a master builder. he'd never been an entertainment mogul. but then, who was he? was his name dominique digiorgio? >> no. his name was george washington upton. >> any money? not a dime. >> so george washington upton alias dominique digiorgio is what? >> he is a con artist and a criminal. >> and about as italian as chico marx. george upton was born in california. his arrest record dates back to 1968, goes up to 22-page rap

sheet, 38 arrests. no fewer than eight convictions here in nevada. in california, in florida, idaho, missouri, oregon, washington, the sort of crimes romanticized in "catch me if you can" except upton's victims were not banks. they were real people. >> frauds, schemes, thefts, auto thefts, felony thefts. >> things based on lies. >> he's a predator. everybody that he comes in contact with, he lies to. >> in 1985, he gained national notoriety for an attempt to swindle the widow of the founder of the learjet company. according to records he posed as an italian investment banker. he offered mrs. lear $72 million in loans to save an ailing company she owned requiring only $65,000 upfront. for legal reasons he claimed. >> he's always looking for someone he can take advantage of

and steal something from identity, credit, money, whatever he can take. >> ten minutes after the second visit there, he said he wanted to marry me. and he said, well, just come to baker city and look at what i have there. >> you quit your job in a town in which you've lived for 28 years. >> uh-huh. >> and have had a career here and four children here, and the four children are still here, and everything about your life is in this little town. >> mm-hmm. >> and you up and quit and went off to baker city with this guy. >> mm-hmm. >> after a few -- few meetings. >> crazy, huh. >>, but this time george upton met his match. not cathy, she will admit. she said yes, remember? no, it was her grown son, eric, who unlike upton's victims, wasn't blinded by love or stardom. it was at the engagement dinner at eric's house when dominique

slipped up. >> so we all gathered at dinner. he got up, and he was so excited about joining together our two families. >> he proposed a toast declaring his love for cathy and her family was so intense that he had forged the names of eric and cathy's father, her wealthy father, on some business papers, the better to bind the families together. he actually said he forged the names. >> yes, he did. joining together his land holdings with my father's land holdings. >> a merger? >> a merger. >> what was the reaction to that? >> well, the reaction from eric is history because eric is the hero in this. he contacted the police department of baker city and that was the end of it. >> and the beginning of the end for george washington upton. additionally, you remember, the baker city police were also getting complaints about

dominique from theresa wilds but by now, george upton was on the run, and nowhere to be found. coming up -- the jig is up and the chase is on. >> the police department barely missed him maybe by 20 minutes. . and spending the day moving furniture and lugging around a hot water extraction unit can be a rush! i know. that's why i'm carpet for life. but look, if things get out of hand, and the place starts smelling like wet gym sock, there's no shame in calling a professional. i respect you for trying. ♪call 1-800-steemer. fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit.

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during the summer of 2004, authorities in utah and oregon had been called by several people who had fallen prey for charming swindler who went by the name of dominique digiorgio. over a two-year period he married several women and tried to fleece them and others for all he could. but his real name was george upton, a convicted criminal, and after hearing the full allegations, police issued arrest warrants for him.

>> he was listed as a wanted person. >> upton had already skipped town, but authorities were able to track the car, which was stolen, with onstar. >> they located the vehicle in moja mojave, arizona, just outside nevada. parked at a pizza parlor. the officer said that he did sit back and watch the vehicle for a while to see if anybody would walk up to the car and no one ever did. and he ended up going into the pizza parlor to ask questions, if anybody had seen the person that was driving that cadillac escalade, and they had said it was an individual that was actually trying to purchase the pizza parlor. he was out doing another fraud, trying to fraudulently buy another business or open up another business. >> scamming until the very end. >> scamming until the very end. >> i can find that. give me a second. >> working on a hunch, investigators figured upton might surface at an old haunt, say, palm springs where he married jean. so his picture was sent to police in palm springs, and sure

enough, in september 2004, only a week on the lam, they nabbed him. but not soon enough for jean. >> well, he totally destroyed me. >> of all his alleged victims, she lost the most by far. because he was jean's husband dominique seemed to have no problem removing $158,000 from her bank accounts, police said, while running up massive debts on credit cards and car loans in her name. and her personal belongings left behind in their mesquite rental home when she returned to utah couldn't be retrieved in time. they were sold at auction by the landlord who had been stiffed by dominique. including the flag that draped the casket of her late husband, a veteran of world war ii. >> on the front there was a gold plaque that had his name and his rank and what part of the service he was in.

so it's really no good to nobody but me. >> all your most personal -- >> i lost everything. everything. all my -- all my kids' pictures. everything. >> along with every bit of money you had in the world? >> lost my home. lost everything. >> house payments dominique promised to make were not paid. >> he kept telling her not to worry about the bills. >> in early 2005, jean declared bankruptcy. her ogden house, near foreclosure, but of all her losses, the biggest may have been jean's heart. >> she thought that he loved her and she loved him and that's what hurts most. >> taking advantage of love. >> taking advantage. >> basic human emotion. >> people's feelings and emotions. >> love them, leave them, and bilk them. that was his typical heartless scam according to police who

said upton was a serial marrying man with as many as nine marriages over the years. turns out, their marriages were never legal because his name on the license dominique digiorgio was an outright phony. after his capture, upton was placed in a jail in baker city, oregon. the charges included racketeering, aggravated theft, forgery. all felonies. he pleaded not guilty. >> we have a number of matters set this morning. >> then in april 2005, george upton was moved to boise, idaho, where he stood trial first for yet another crime, and that's where our cameras caught up with him. in court, and in custody. >> first of all, state of idaho versus george washington upton. >> it was in idaho he'd face a felony charge, grand theft by deception for conning an 84-year-old woman from boise out of $22,000. he's eventually pleaded guilty,

was sentenced to 14 years in jail. >> what a waste. what a waste of humanity and talent. this guy is so good at what he does that if he put it to good use, he probably would have been wealthy anyway. >> george upton did not respond to letters seeking comment. and after this hearing his lawyer told us upton is simply not interested in talking to us. but the women in his life, well, now that's another story. amazingly, he wrote cathy from his idaho jail, professing his undying love and total innocence. i do not have a number of women in my life, as there is none who could hold a candle to you. why are you talking to us? because i know you were concerned about this. >> because i hope that he won't be able to hurt anyone else. and if somebody's listening to this that can learn from it, take heed. >> i'm sure people have asked you, come on, how did you get taken by this guy?

ing. >> oh, yeah. if it seems too good to be true, it might not be true, but i let my guard down, i did. you know, when romance comes in the window, common sense goes out the door. >> jean got a sweet letter. i just care about you, and you shall see that all shall come out well. upton told her not to believe the police, what they have said to you is far from being true, he wrote. do you say to yourself, jean, why would you believe a prisoner? >> well, if you'd ever talked to him, you wouldn't ask that question because he's very smart, very debonair, very polite. you'd never think, well, he's just a prisoner, you can't trust him. >> after being sentenced in idaho in 2006, upton was transferred to utah to face charges there for crimes against jean. >> just waiting for closure. it's been drug on for so long that it's getting ridiculous.

>> jean comes to every one of his court hearings, angry at what he did to her life. >> i just want to see that he's placed for what he's done. ♪ >> i just don't trust people anymore. >> is there a country and western song in this? >> it's up there in my head somewhere. >> while they say they got lucky that they got wise to upton before they invested anything more than their time and yet they feel betrayed just the same. >> it's hard because you think your daughter's going to go somewhere and you know she can be someone and you get caught up in all of that. ♪ homemade lemonade memories, mama pour the sugar ♪ >> dalea didn't let her experience with upton destroy her dream. >> we're going to take this from the top one more time. >> she moved to nashville, started a myspace page for her music, and she began working

with a man named dave gibson, a renowned country musician and producer who has had several hits. gibson's wife, daisy dern, is also helping her try to get a record deal. ♪ homemade lemonade memories >> she reminds me a lot of some of the classic country singers, you know. a little bit of alison krauss in there. she kills me. she really does. >> dalea says she's put her experience with dominique in the past. she's moved on. >> i could have lived in that moment and let that ruin my whole life, you know, let that ruin my whole dream, crush my dream, but eventually, you know, if you're persist tempt and you're driven and you're determined, you're gong to make it. you're going go, you know? i think that's with anything. you have to stay motivated and determined.