and four all of us here at nbc news, thanks for joining us. ♪ she lived in fear. we couldn't see her. she cut through the neighborhood just trying to escape. >> she was a young wife and mother about to start anew with her kids, but she had a chilling premonition that she was in danger. >> i think she actually knew she was going to die. >> hornell horribly, it came true, shot to death by a stranger at the door, mastry that lasted 15 years. >> there was no physical evidence. >> no. >> no fingerprints, no dna.

>> no. >> then a bolt from the blue, someone stepped forward. >> i was a basket case. >> another wife and mother who heard the horrible truth. >> she looked at him and begged him, pleaded him not to kill her. >> and then he pulled the trigger? >> yes. >> what she knew could solve the case, and she risked everything to tell it. >> you're going to pay with your life. >> "tangled lives." thanks for joining us. i'm chris hansen. it was a mystery for more than a decade, a kind and gentle wife and mother killed. police had a suspect, but they also had a problem. the man they thought was behind the crime had an airtight alibi, he was at work at his job in a plant the very moment the killing took place. so, would there be justice? one woman was about to risk her own life to make sure of it. two women, mary dabbs and teresa

french. they'd never met but became connected in a way no one could have predicted. was there a day went by that you didn't think about teresa? >> never. >> it would be terror in both their lives that would ultimately bring them together. one helping the other in a case that frustrated police for nearly 15 years. the story begins with teresa french, who was a young mother in muncie, indiana, back in 1993. >> she had an innocence about her. >> she just loved everybody. she was just so nice and friendly. >> would never say anything bad about anybody. >> teresa was beautiful and petite, had an open heart and unlimited compassion, offering help when needed and love without condition, qualities that amaze her older sister, jennifer nye.

>> she would gather up any animal in the neighborhood, bring it home. >> whatever it was. >> always, didn't matter. she had raised a raccoon, bottle fed it, get up every two hours and fed it. she loved everybody. she loved life. >> which was a good thing, because she was forced to grow up at a young age. teresa was in junior high when she started dating tony french, almost three years her senior, a local boy some described as a loner. tony and teresa had been dating a couple years. teresa was by now a high school freshman, 15 years old, when her sister, jennifer, saw something she couldn't ignore. >> i just noticed the change in the body, and i knew she wasn't going to tell mom because she was scared. so, i had called mom. i think we need to go to diner and i said, i think teresa's pregnant. >> their mother confronted teresa and found out, yes, she was indeed pregnant, and then told their dad.

>> and how did that go over? >> not so well. not so well. dad was traveling. and she called dad and said, "you're going to be a grandfather." >> what did he say? >> well, he was very angry, of course, at tony. and mom said, well, now we're going to need to plan a wedding. and he said, there will be no wedding. she's not marrying anybody. she's 15. and more than one occasion the invitations went into the trash can. >> but eventually, a wedding did take place. teen marriages too often don't last long, but in fact, this one did, and they went on to have more children. teresa was a natural mother. >> she adored them. it was almost like she put them on a pedestal like a barbie doll. they took that care of the children. went skating with them, watched movies with them, get up and do the barney dance in the middle of the floor with them. she's just a wonderful mother.

>> while teresa raised the kids, tony worked at the large borg-warner plant in muncie, now shut down, which manufactured parts for the auto industry. it was a good factory job, a nice middle class life, several cars, a boat, and two homes. one they rented out. next door they had a large garage where tony liked to tinker. that's where he met hank rowe. >> i bought a house half a block away from him. i could hear somebody working in the garage. i kind of thought, well, this guy's got a setup. he's got a nice garage, working on all his cars and he's got a nice wife and family, and his wife was pregnant at the time with their daughter. and you know, he seemed to be a pretty nice person. >> after hank and ginger engle became a couple, they grew close to teresa and tony, going out to dinner, playing cards, boating. >> we went down the river, us in our boat, them in their boat. we really enjoyed ourselves. >> it seemed life was good. teresa and tony appeared happy.

then her family began to notice tony was bossy, increasingly so, and becoming very controlling. >> i think she was just tired of being told what to do, where to go, when she could do it, what she could wear, when she could cut her hair, if she could cut her hair. >> at the same time, teresa, who had gotten married so young, started to wonder what life would be like on her own. >> she wanted to go back to school and he did not want that. and i just think she wanted to go on, to know if there was a life out there besides home and children. >> tony was having none of it. but teresa summoned the courage to leave. the house went on the market, the divorce would soon be finalized. and then one sunny may morning, it happened. ginger was on the phone with teresa. there was a stranger at the door, an inspector. teresa said "i'll call you back," but teresa didn't call back and ginger couldn't reach her again. after lunch, she headed to her friend's home to check on her. she couldn't get down the

street. >> all i seen was ambulance, cop cars, every neighbor is out, and i just pulled up there and a neighbor was out across the street. and i said, "what happened?" and she said, "something happened to teresa." >> what happened to teresa was about to launch a mystery that would haunt her family and friends for 15 years, a puzzle that would be put together with the help of a woman teresa never met, a woman who had the courage to expose the truth. coming up, the secret teresa tried to keep. >> she never disclosed where she was at each day. >> she lived in fear. >> and she wasn't the only one. >> people were scared. they were absolutely scared. >> when "tangled lives" continues. i love this "candy crush" game. it's so simple. it's just like my car insurance. i saved 15% in fifteen minutes. don't live in shirlee's world, live in the modern world. where you could save money on car insurance in half the time.

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it was may 1993. teresa french's sister, jennifer, received a frantic call from a close family friend. >> she said, you need to get to teresa's right now. i said, why, what's going on? tell me what's going on. she set get here now and slammed the phone down. >> what did you think had happened? >> when i saw the crime scene tape and all the police cars and the ambulances, i knew. i knew. >> you knew what? >> she was dead. i knew. i didn't even have to pull up. >> jennifer was right. teresa was dead, on the floor of her garage, shot eight times with a .22 caliber gun. >> she loved her children more than life itself. >> and now their mother, only 29 years old, was gone. the two younger children were away on a trip with teresa's mother. the oldest child, a teenager, was picked up at school by police and taken to the station where his aunt jennifer met him. >> i got down on my knees in front of him and told him that his mother had been killed.

and he said, where is he? where is he at? i know he did it. where is he at? >> talking about his father? >> right. those were the first words out of his mouth to me. >> police thought the same thing. in fact, they arrested tony shortly after teresa's body was found. but tony had an iron-clad alibi for the time of the killing, as richard bradshaw, then a muncie police detective, discovered. >> his alibi was he was at work, he was seen by numerous co-workers, all of whom were interviewed, gave statements that they were with him all day long and that he was inside a secure plant where you were logged in when you came to work and you were logged out when you left. >> so there was no way he could have committed this murder himself? >> that's right. >> with a firm alibi and no physical evidence tying him to the crime, tony couldn't be held for more than 48 hours. he was released. but the more police learned from teresa's friends and family from tony, the more they were convinced he was involved in the murder.

teresa's lawyer described their divorce as the most violent one she had ever handled. >> the history of their divorce was something in itself with the violence, the threats, the multiple reports that were done. >> the frenches' older son, the one who told his aunt jennifer that he thought his own father had killed his mom, provided eyewitness accounts of tony's abuse. he told police he had seen his dad get physical with his mom for years, including one day a few months before she was killed. >> he was talking about how his mom had to get to the neighbor's house to call an ambulance to come and get her because he wouldn't let her use the phone at the house. >> what prompted that fight was an evening when teresa went out with a few friends. tony was suspicious. >> and he had come to my house looking for her. i pulled the curtain back and it was him, and i had a hold of the door and i said, "she's not here," and he shoved the door open. >> literally pushes his way in. >> right. i said she's not here. where is she?

i said, well, i said, i don't know where she's at. i've not talked to her tonight. i have no idea. and he said, well, the next time you see her, she'll be in the hospital. and the next morning, when i got up, i got a phone call from my brother, and he said, get to the hospital. i said, why, what's going on? he said, teresa's in the hospital. >> so tony may good on his promise. >> right. that next morning he broke her nose and fractured her cheekbone. the eye socket area. and they had to do reconstructive surgery on her. >> teresa went to police and her divorce attorney. >> she suggested since things were so heated at that point in time, her face was all messed up, and two black eyes and her nose was crooked and, you know, the situation was still heated over the punching that she took that she would be better off if she went and stayed at the shelter, battered women shelter. >> they were at the shelter a few days when teresa went in for surgery on her battered face. that same day, teresa's close

friend, ginger, ran into tony in a grocery store parking lot. >> he asked me if he could speak to me and i said, yes. so, i got in his truck. and he asked me where teresa was and i told him, i don't have any idea. and he slammed his fist on the dash and said "i'm going to kill her." >> then as jennifer drove teresa home following the surgery, she was terrified as she looked in the rearview mirror and saw tony tailgating them. >> i drove like a maniac. and i was in a smaller sports car and he was in a big truck and camper. and i lost him and called the police. they sent two squad cars down and gave me a police escort home, helped me get her in the house. >> jennifer says the menacing behavior didn't end. >> and then we started receiving phone calls from him, just nonstop. you tell her i'm going to kill her next time i see her, i'm going to kill her. >> a few months late, tony

pleaded guilty to battery. and as the divorce went through its paces, jennifer says tony became increasingly furious about the prospect of losing his home and especially his beloved boat. fuming about it to anyone who would listen. teresa's friends were frightened for her. >> one time he ran into her van and chased her down there and almost trying to run her off the road. >> she would cut through the neighborhood just trying to escape him. she never disclosed where she was at each day. and this went on for 6, 8, 10, 12 weeks. it was tough keeping her secret. we couldn't see her unless we met at a certain place to meet out in public. >> she was scared. >> she lived in fear. >> it wasn't just tony's wife who lived in fear. tony had threatened others as well, including lana nannie, teresa's friend since childhood. tony and lana never got along. she says she was stalked and threatened by him for about a year before teresa was murdered. lana says she was so scared of

tony, she bought a gun. security at work advised her on how to evade him. >> whatever way you drive to work, drive home a different way. mix up your routine. >> jennifer says tony's threats and demeanor were so dark, teresa was convinced he meant what he said. >> i think she actually knew she was going to die. >> really? >> i think she believed every word that he told her. and i took her to cancel the life insurance policy. >> you drove her over there? >> yes, i did. >> tony had two life insurance policies on teresa, a $5,000 policy through his work and a $50,000 policy he bought himself. teresa tried to have the larger one canceled. >> they wouldn't let her cancel because tony owned the policy. and they told her, sorry. she said, i don't want him to gain on my death. and i know he's going to kill me. and the lady said, i'm sorry, you know, he paid for it, it is his, i can't -- there is nothing i can do. my hands are tied. >> a month later, teresa was

dead. but despite tony's history of violence, police couldn't link him to her murder. they kept trying, though, and one guy they thought might have information that would help make that connection was a co-worker of tony's named oren johnson, also known as o.j. tony had moved in with him during the divorce, and was living there when teresa was killed. >> we felt that if he wasn't a participant of some sort that he would have at least knowledge that would be extremely useful to us. tony was never very secretive about what his feelings were and what he -- what his ultimate goal would be or what he planned to do. we thought that o.j.'s information would be helpful to us. >> what did he say about it? >> he actually disappeared a day or two following the murder and he was difficult to locate. once located, he said tony french had made no threats against his life -- >> no threats. >> -- the entire time he had lived with him. we knew that was a lie. >> they tried to find other witnesses that could shed light on the case. but because tony was known as a

bully and people assumed he had something to do with the murder, they mostly kept their mouths shut, or when they did talk, they didn't want to be seen doing it. >> there were several people that would call, thinking that they had information on or wanting to talk to one of us where i couldn't get them to come to my office. i met people in coffee houses, i met people in parking lots, in cars, just so they wouldn't be seen coming to city hall because of that, the fear. >> people were scared. >> they were absolutely scared. >> and with good reason. >> he was well known to carry guns. i think the biggest problem with tony is people didn't know what he was capable of. i think they figured he was unpredictable. >> what was predictable, though, was that with teresa's death, the divorce case went away and tony got everything, the $55,000 in life insurance money, their cars, the boat and both houses. he moved back in the home where teresa was murdered. it was all so galling to jennifer. not only was her sister dead, but the man she believed was behind her murder got everything, including his

freedom. >> i was mad. i really didn't understand the way of the law at that time. >> there was no physical evidence tying him to this murder. >> no. >> no fingerprints, no dna. >> no. >> no witnesses who saw him do anything. >> right. >> did you see him anywhere around town? >> oh, yes. he would pull up aside you and just -- on more than one occasion did he do that to me. >> just pull up next to you and scoff. >> oh, yeah, and grin and ride by and wave on his motorcycle, his new girlfriend. it was a little hard to take. >> police had no suspects other than tony french, and he had a concrete alibi. still, they suspected that while he didn't pull the trigger, tony definitely was involved. but the case went nowhere, until years later. that's when a woman whose life would become intertwined with teresa's death heard something.

she asked a question that would change everything. >> i said, what the hell is going on? >> coming up, learning the truth about what had happened to teresa and who was behind it. >> did he ever admit to you what he had done? >> yes. >> when "tangled lives" continues. in fact, your appraisal should be ready, let's pull it up. now, how long do i have to decide on this offer? seven days, and we'll buy your car even if you don't buy ours. but if i decide to buy a convertible? the offer is exactly the same either way. nice! aaanndd... here it is! we'll take it! terrific. sell your car the fast and easy way, with no strings attached, at carmax. start here.

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the case of teresa french's murder had gone cold and stayed that way for almost five years. then suddenly, it heated up when this woman told muncie police detectives about a man they had never heard of. >> he was very good to me and very good to my daughter. he made me feel relaxed and comfortable. i felt safe. >> when mary dabbs fell for david woods, he was a tough guy mechanic and friend of the outlaw motorcycle gang. but he had a charming side. he showed mary great compassion and kindness when she had breast cancer. he took care of her when she had no one else. >> i didn't have any help, no support system.

i had a 10-year-old daughter. i had just moved into a small town and didn't know anybody, didn't even know my neighbors. >> they married in the summer of 1996. and in the early days, how was the marriage? >> it was good. >> what kinds of things would you do together? >> not that we really did anything together except go to o.j., linda's house, we always did that together. >> oren johnson and his girlfriend? >> yes. >> and how would you describe o.j., oren johnson? >> he was always drunk, always on pills. >> oren "o.j." johnson, remember him? he was tony french's friend, the guy from work who let tony move in when he was going through his divorce. well, woods and o.j. were also friends, very close friends, since childhood. and in the summer of 1997, mary and her husband were visiting o.j. and his girlfriend when the two men started talking about tony's late wife, teresa french.

you heard the name teresa french before that? >> never. >> did you know who that was? >> no. did you know the circumstances around her murder? >> no. i was confused at first. didn't know what they were talking about. >> police had interviewed o.j. back in '93 when teresa was killed, but they hadn't learned anything from him. now he had been arrested on cocaine charges. the charges were eventually thrown out, but mary says, for some reason, her husband seemed worried o.j. might have talked to police about teresa french. he asked o.j. if he had. and what did o.j. say? >> he told him not to worry about it, that he hadn't told him anything and they weren't going to get anything out of him. >> did your husband seem relieved at that point? >> he was very unsettled. he was very agitated. he was very nervous. he was a very different person at that point. he was different than i had ever seen him. >> tony french's name also came up, a man mary had never met,

knew nothing about, but just the secretive way they were talking made her suspicious, and she demanded to know more as they drove home. >> as soon as we got in the car, i got very ballistic on him. >> you were upset? >> oh, big time. i said, "what the hell's going on?" >> at first, woods told her nothing, but she wouldn't let it go. >> he tried to avoid me. he tried to make me shut up. >> by doing what? >> telling me it was none of my business. >> none of your business. >> mm-hmm. >> did you buy into that? >> no. i said it was very much my business and i wanted to know what was going on. >> what he did tell you? >> he got very angry. he was pounding his fists into the dashboard. he was trying desperately to intimidate me to shut up. >> he did hit you? >> yes. >> how many times? >> i can't remember. >> over and over? >> yes. he shoved my head into the side of the car window. >> was this the first time he had physically abused you?

>> yes. >> so, this man who was once so kind when you were recovering from breast cancer was now slamming your head into the car window. >> yes. >> what was going through your mind at that time? >> terror. i was in shock. but i wouldn't let it go. we fought all the way home. we fought all the way into the house. we fought all the way into the middle of the night. >> for hours? >> long hours. >> did he ever admit to you what he had done? >> yes. >> what exactly had david woods done? and what did it have to do with the murder of teresa french? coming up -- >> she looked at him and begged him please not to kill her. >> and then he pulled the trigger? >> yes. >> a horrifying secret revealed. when "tangled lives" continues. there it is... this is where i met your grandpa.

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i'm milissa rehberger. pennsylvania state police believe they are closing in on eric frein, the man they believe killed one state trooper and wounded another nine days ago. they're searching the woods near his parents' home and are warning residents nearby to stay alert. and a massive march for climate change was held in new york city today ahead of the meeting of the u.n. general assembly. secretary-general ban ki-moon marched along with al gore and actor leonardo dicaprio. back to "tangled lives." after mary relentlessly hounded her husband, david woods, about a woman named teresa french, he finally told her a story. it was a secret he had kept for more than four years. back in 1993, said woods, he met tony french while tony was living with their mutual friend,

oren "o.j." johnson. back then, tony was very upset and angry. he wanted his wife killed because he felt the divorce was ruining him financially. woods said he could help him out. >> he originally was to hire a friend of his, chad, that he knew from the outlaws. >> the biker gang. >> yes. david chose him because he had no morals, was his way of describing him. >> mary says her husband told her that for some reason chad was not following through with the hit. tony was getting nervous. he wanted his wife out of the way before their home was sold and the divorce became final. it was then mary says her husband told her something that took her breath away. he had become directly involved in the murder. his justification? >> he thought he was helping god rid scum of the earth. >> helping god rid scum of the earth? >> yes. >> how did you react to that? >> i hated him.

>> how could he possibly consider teresa french scum of the earth? >> he felt that way about all women, he said. >> was this the david woods you married? >> i didn't know anymore. i didn't know who i married anymore. >> did he go on to give you more details? >> yes. >> what did he tell you? >> he said that he had arranged for tony to come to his house and meet chad and set up the arrangements to have teresa killed. >> why did chad not follow through? >> he didn't know either. chad just didn't ever come back around again. >> then the story got even worse. >> the line was coming around and chad wasn't getting the job done and tony was freaking out, and o.j. was calling him. and so, he had told his boss at work that he was going to take the car he had been working on and take it for a test drive.

he said that he took one of the guns out of the toolbox that had the silencer on it, and he took the car to muncie. he had changed clothes into a suit and he went to her house. >> posing as an inspector. >> he said someone from the real estate company. he said he walked up to her door and that she was on the telephone, and she told the person she was on the phone with that she had to get off the phone, that someone from the real estate agency was there. >> did he describe how he carried out the hit? >> he just said that he killed her. >> did he tell you what her last words were? >> he said she looked up at him and begged him, pleaded not to kill her. he said she cried, "my babies, my babies." >> and then he pulled the trigger? >> yes.

just to see the look on his face telling it, i've lived that over and over and over. >> how would you describe the look on his face? >> a man of evil. >> you had to be blown away to hear him make this confession to you. >> it's just tough to relive those moments. >> why do you think he confessed to you? >> i wouldn't leave him alone. >> you just were on him. >> i wouldn't stop. i don't know what drove me. i still can't decide what drove me so hard, why i needed to know so much. >> mary finally got what she wanted, the truth. but there would be serious collateral damage. >> he had pulled all of the guns out from underneath the bed, laid them out across the bed without all the boxes and ammo. he reached in the drawer. he had a shirt that had the logo of the outlaws on it. it had a picture of a heart,

start out with a heartbeat, and then it goes to a flat line, and it says "snitches are a dying breed." >> snitches are a dying breed. >> he threw it on my face. he told me that's what was going to happen to me. >> that he would kill you? >> yes. >> just like he killed teresa french? >> yeah. repeatedly. >> did you believe him? >> oh, yeah. >> why didn't you just leave? >> you're trapped. you can't. >> what was it like to spend the night with him? >> terror. a living hell. >> mary said she didn't leave because she felt woods would harm her if she left. what would your husband do to drive home the point that you'd better not talk about the details you knew of the teresa french murder? >> he would drive by her house. >> and say what? >> he would say that's what's going to happen to you. >> and he would drive by there

on purpose? >> yes. >> that had to be terrifying. >> yes. >> if woods feared tactics weren't enough, things got even worse. mary says she discovered illegal drugs in their car and flushed them down the toilet. woods was enraged. >> when he found out about it, he came after me at work and he threatened to kill me. he asked me if i was ready to pay for what i had done. i told him i wasn't going to pay for drugs. and he said, yes, you are, you're going to pay with your life. >> she says he was reaching for a weapon as they struggled in the parking lot. >> and there was another person in the parking lot who had seen us and asked me if i needed help. and he hollered, "she doesn't need help!" and it was at that moment he threw me and i went sliding across the parking lot. >> mary was able to escape. >> had that stranger not come out --

>> i'd probably be dead. >> it was then that she finally found the courage to go to police and tell them everything. officers went to their home and food found woods' weapons, including an illegal machine gun. he was arrested, convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison on a weapons charge. but detailed as mary's account was, nothing happened in the teresa french murder case. >> even though it was a huge break, it was another piece of the puzzle. prior to that, we really hadn't had much. she gave us a lot of information, but it itself wasn't enough to actually go to court. >> what did your instinct tell you at the time about david woods? >> that he was the shooter, he was the hit man. >> this was big news to them because until mary dabbs came forward, they had never heard the name david woods. he had never been connected to the case, until now. did you call him in? >> no. >> police wanted to do more investigating before tipping their hand to their main suspect and his associates.

>> we felt at the time that if we went to him, all the rest of the potential witnesses would either never be cooperative or potentially disappear. >> scatter like cockroaches. >> he didn't know what information she had given us and we knew that the secrecy at that point was on our side and we were going to take that information and pursue it the quietest and best way we could. >> what mary told them was explosive, but it was very hard to substantiate. there were no other corroborating witnesses and no physical evidence linking tony or woods to the murder. it was all so frustrating. a brutal murder of a young mother, but still no arrests. mary dabbs divorced david woods, fearful for her life, she told virtually no one about the case for a decade. >> what gave you the courage to ultimately divorce david woods? >> i had to. i couldn't live like that. >> how did he react when you told him you were going to get divorced?

>> he went. he was accusing me. i was the one in the wrong. i was trash. i was garbage, a liar, no good. i didn't care. i just -- i just wanted away. i just wanted me and my daughter and get away as fast as i could. >> lieutenant al williams, who by now had joined the case, got a call from a local prosecutor that finally blew the case wide open. >> just kind of out of the blue you get a call and, hey, we have oren johnson and he's thinking about talking to us. how do you feel about it? we knew right then that this could be our big break, you know? >> soon, a sting would be set up with cameras rolling. >> at one point he looked dead center into the camera. >> right into it. >> right into it. i know there is a camera in here and looks dead center into it. >> would the murder case of teresa french finally be solved?

coming up, the undercover sting is set in motion. >> he was nervous. you could tell he was scared. >> but just who would get stopped when "tangled lives" continues. and for many, it's a struggle to keep your a1c down. so imagine, what if there was a new class of medicine that works differently to lower blood sugar? imagine, loving your numbers. introducing once-daily invokana®.

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free you to focus on what matters. with custom communications solutions and dedicated support, your business can shine all week long. 15 years after the murder, and a decade after mary dabbs had gone to police, the killing of teresa french remained unsolved. police now believe that teresa's husband, tony french, had hired a man named david woods to kill her. woods was out of prison and had recently moved to california, when out of nowhere the key link in the case started talking. finally, in from the cold came oren "o.j." johnson.

>> it was beyond my wildest expectations, because i had dealt with o.j. in the past. he was a hard nut to crack, let me tell you. >> prosecutors jeff arnold and eric hoffman as well as the police were excited. tony had lived with o.j. during his divorce. he had been questioned by police a number of times since 1993, but had never revealed anything. now he was coming forward on his own, ready to tell all. and he knew a lot. what was o.j.'s motivation for wanting to talk to you guys? >> i think there was a lot of things going on in his life. he was older now. he was retired from the factory, wasn't in that same environment, wasn't around tony french anymore. david woods had recently moved to california, was not in the area anymore. o.j. talked about his family and just carrying this burden for years. i just think he felt guilty about it and wanted it off his chest as much as anything. wanted to move on with his life. >> o.j. also had recently been

busted again for cocaine, which is what brought him in contact with the law. prosecutors offered him a deal. if he told all he knew about teresa's killing, they wouldn't charge him with conspiracy to commit murder. >> he told me he was there, present, when the whole idea was thought of how teresa french was going to be murdered. he was present when dave woods and tony french went into detail about how they could do it, get away with it, what they were going to use, the roost they were going to use to get in the house and things like that. i mean, they had five or six different conversations in his presence, in his living room, about her death and how it was going to play out. >> so he was there, o.j. was there -- >> absolutely. >> -- at his house when david woods and tony french were discussing the details of how they were going to carry out this murder. >> absolutely, several times. he's the one that introduced

them. everything he was telling us was accurate. we can prove that through corroborating witnesses, corroborating statements. we can prove that through evidence from the scene. >> why kill her in the garage? >> tony insisted upon it. he told david that i do not want you to kill her in the house because i'm going to get that house back. once she's dead, i want that house. i don't want my house shot up. i don't want blood on the floor. >> so, it was a matter of convenience? >> correct. >> no miss, no fuss. >> he told david to take her into the garage and kill her there. >> it took 15 years to find out exactly how teresa's murder went down. now it was finally being revealed. but prosecutors needed more. they wanted o.j. to secretly record tony talking about the murder. o.j. agreed. what is the roos? what is the reason for getting together? >> oren johnson was going to drop in on tony out of the blue and tell him that david woods was out in california and he had gotten into some trouble and a mutual friend of theirs called oren and told him that david

woods was telling everything about the french homicide back in muncie. o.j. was going to tell tony we needed to get our -- in his words, get our ducks in order, and get a story down so if the police come to us, we'll know what to say. >> and does tony french react to this news? >> he was shocked. >> wanted to know why he would be running his mouth, why he would be cooperating with the police. at one point in time, he even made the statement, what's he trying to do, go to prison for the rest of his life snp. >> want to go to prison for life or what? >> i don't know what he wants to do. it's got me scared. >> me too. it's going to get bad. >> yeah. >> the first taped rendezvous went well. in fact, there was talk of the payment for the hit, a total of $5,000. but prosecutors wanted o.j. to talk to tony again, see if could get tony to make more incriminating statements. this time, they had the truck wired for sound and video and had o.j. meet tony in this parking lot the very next morning.

>> we knew he was nervous. we could tell he was scared with what may happen. >> we didn't want him to contact dave woods. we didn't know if they would talk to each other. >> they had to move fast before they had a chance to talk to david woods? >> right. >> but now tony was on edge, suspicious and started accusing o.j. of setting him up. he anxiously searched the truck for wires and a camera and it got very intense. >> i don't have anything, man. just telling you what's going on. >> it was pretty intense. watching the recording as it is going on, i remember us sitting there with our guns in our lap. >> coming up, would teresa's killer really confess or might he get away with murder? >> i was a basket case. >> when "tangled lives" continues. hi! can i help you? i'm looking for a phone plan. it has to be a great one, and i don't compromise. ok, how about 10 gigs of data to share, unlimited talk and text, and you can choose from 2 to 10 lines. wow, sounds like a great deal. so i'm getting exactly what i want, then? appears so.

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years after the murder of teresa french. oren "o.j." johnson was in a truck wired for sound and video. he was meeting with tony french a second time in two days, trying to get him to talk more about his wife teresa's murder. the day before he was surprised to be contacted by o.j. today, he was suspicious. >> he was looking in the vehicle for a wire. at one point in time o.j. pulled his coat off to show him he didn't have any. >> offers to take his underwear off. >> right. that was pretty much the conversation on and on, you're wearing a wire, you're trying to set me up, why are you doing this to me, things like that. >> setting me up. >> hell, no, i ain't wearing no wire. i don't do wires. i'll take my underwear off if you want. no, i don't do wires, uh-uh. >> what are you thinking? >> it was pretty intense. i'm sitting 75 yards away

watching the recording as it is going on. i actually remember telling the other officer, if this starts to really go bad, your job is to get us across the street. and i remember us sitting there with our guns in our lap. >> at one point, he looked dead center into the camera. >> i know there is a camera in here. [ bleep ] >> "i know there's a camera in here" and he looks dead center into it. after it was over, i said, did anybody else think that was a little intense? and eric said, "i thought i was going to get sick." and my stomach was absolutely in a knot. >> it ended up being worth all the acid buildup and chain smoking. they caught tony in a web of lies they thought incriminating and put him at the center of his wife's murder. >> i want you to stay away from me. i don't want you to ever see me again. we never spoke. i never seen him, met him a kda

in my life. >> that's cool. >> he's trying to get his story together with o.j. make sure you tell him i don't know dave woods, never met him, we haven't talked. i think the one line that is the topper of all is when he tells o.j., unless there is something in this vehicle to prove otherwise, that's the story and we're sticking to it. >> i don't know anything either. >> stick to it. >> eight days later, tony french was arrested in muncie. david woods in california. for years, mary dabbs had concluded, like so many others, that the men had gotten away with murder, but then investigators called her in to tell her the news. >> i was a basket case. after all those years, for it to surface. >> was there a day that went by where you didn't think about the murder of teresa french? >> never. i never had in moments, not even a moment's peace. >> prosecutors say mary was a crucial and compelling witness for the state, even though she

was terrified to face her ex-husband in court. >> how difficult was that? >> the hardest thing i've had to do. >> did you two come eye to eye, face to face? >> i couldn't look at him. i was terrified of him. >> based on mary's testimony, as was that of o.j. and others, both men were convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. tony french in late 2008 was sentenced to 80 years in prison. david woods in 2009 received a sentence of 100 years. both filed appeals. and both lost. but tony french has a new attorney who's trying to find another way to get him a new trial. jeff lockwood thinks the police unfairly focused on him all along, ignoring other possible suspects, including o.j., who he says was out to save his own skin. can you look me in the eye and tell me that you truly believe

tony french should be walking the streets? of muncie, indiana? >> yes, sir. yes, sir, i can. >> in spite of all that testimony? in spite of abusing his wife? >> i am not impressed with that testimony. if you don't have oren johnson, what proof do you have that tony french killed anybody? >> but to those close to teresa, there was never any doubt tony was behind the murder. it took patience, hard work and a lot of courage, especially from mary dabbs, a woman who herself had been in an abusive marriage and risked her life for a woman she never met. to this day, she can't go past the french home without being overwhelmed. teresa's friends and sister say they're just thankful the truth finally came out. what do you say to teresa french's family?

>> i'm so sorry. i'm so sorry. >> sorry for what? >> i wish that i had been strong enough to go sooner. i wish that i overcame my fear sooner. i just wasn't strong enough. >> our prayers have been answered. a million perils have been lifted from my chest, and my mother finally knew what happened to her baby. such a peaceful feeling. >> in the end, for teresa's family and friends, justice may have been delayed, but it was not denied. you can find more information about the teresa french story on our website at dateline.msnbc.com. that's all for now. i'm chris hansen.

for all of us at nbc news, thanks for joining us. ♪ has the jury reached a verdict? >> we, the jury, find the defendant -- they call it murder mountain. so many lives lost. so many of them young. >> he was the tow-headed kid that everybody loved. >> her brother was murdered here. his daughter. >> how can you take three lives? for what? >> police were certain they knew the answer to that question. certain they had their killer. case closed. >> absolutely. >> but then a strange thing happened, with the convicted killer locked away for life, the killing continued. >> he had told