and we go about with my dad, our dad, as an angel on one shoulder and our brother as an angel on another shoulder. >> that's all for this edition i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. and this is "dateline." >> she was just so beautiful. >> they'd found each other and their own tropical island. >> we saw the lump in the water and said, that's it. that will be our spot pour the rest of our lives. >> she said it's like living in a poeflt card. >> a picture perfect life until she disappeared. >> imagine you were calling, leaving messages. >> calling, texting and we started wondering. >> why would she just leave? >> i called her best friend and said did she meet somebody? is there something going on?

>> where would she go? >> she wasn't selling that place. she loved it. >> why did someone new now own her slice of paradise. >> this guy fooled us all. he fooled everybody. >> he got away with murder. >> he got away with murder. hello and welcome to "dateline." it was a tropical hideaway where a group of adventurous ame para good times, sunshine, a relaxed lifestyle, a place where people didn't ask a lot of questions about their neighbors until some of those neighbors started to disappear. here is kate snow with "stealing mayor dies." >> it's a dream that seems so out of reach. quit the rat race, move to an exotic land and buy your very own private island. >> even when she was young, she

wanted to travel. she wanted to see the world. >> share hughes made it come true in the most unlikely place, the tiny islands of broke cass del toro, panama. >> she said it's like living in a postcard. >> life was beautiful and simple, an escape from the pressures of modern living. who could have known that evil could find a place in paradise, too, that beneath all that beauty was a dark secret. >> it still seems very unreal. i don't want to believe it. >> this is a really, really bad guy. >> just sent chills down my spine. >> but before the nightmare came the dream. bocas del toro is where people come to escape, a group of islands off panama, way off the

beaten path, the kind of place where things move more slowly and life is supposed to be easy. >> share first visited. it was love at first sight what's more, it was affordable, for is same money she had been saving up to sail around the world, she bought a piece of property, a rental property. >> we saw the lump in the water and said that's it. that will be our spot for the rest of our lives. >> cher and keith met seven years before that when the vivacious bloende walked into a bar keith owned in florida. >> came in, those big blue eyes and big smile, and i was hooked. she was so beautiful. >> cher grew up in st. louis where her all american good looks got her into modeling adds a teenager. >> she'd walk into a room, beep, everybody knew she was there.

she was always happy, always had a smile for everybody. >> eventually she moved to st. petersburg, florida, where her sister said she became a savvy business woman, running her own neon sign company. >> she made sure she had the income, making sure she was setting herself up to retire and travel around the world. >> she did travel, but mostly in the u.s. then a friend invited her to vice it bocas det toro. >> it took seven days for us to decide that's where we were going to live the rest of our lives. the people here are phenomenon. >> she loves children and panama has a lot of kids. >> he built their dream home, a collection of shiny wooden buildings on top of the lush green island. cher adopted lots of animals including a pet monkey and a beautiful brown doberman pincher named jack.

he adored cher and followed her wherever she went. she loved the local school kids, planned movie nights with pop corns and celebrated the holidays with enthusiasm even thoer her friend sean said the kids didn't get the significance. >> they would do the'ser egg hunt for all the kids. they had no idea what this crazy white woman was doing, coloring eggs and hiding them all around the island. they had never participated in anything like. >> keith and cher's relationship blossomed. in 2005 they married in front of their friends. >> it's a small place. you go to the grocery store and meet 20 people you know. >> kristen roberts became part of cher's group of friends. >> we kind of stick together and treat each other like family and take care of each other. >> everyone went by their first names or nicknames. keith and cher were known as ken

and barbie, the man who owned one of the local watering holes was known as wild bill, viking hat and all. bill and his wife jane opened a bar on their se secluded property accessible only by boat where ex--pats gathered for drinks. >> bill had these saturday parties once or twice a month. there was everybody there. >> it was cher's tropical dream come true, a beautiful backdrop like the time her aunt mary came to visit. >> her grandmother, my mother and i came down and visited and got the whirlwind tour and they met us at the airport was a big bouquet of flowers. it was just wonderful. there was another big trip in the works. cher's sister judy was planning to visit for the very first time. >> she wanted to show you her paradise. >> oh, yeah. >> the trip would be a good

distraction for cher, her life recently turned upside down, her 5-year marriage to keith hit a rough spot. he even moved out. >> when keith moved off the island she was pretty devastated. then again, i thought, whose marriage is perfectly, hopefully they'll work it out. i knew they still loved each other. >> the sisters were excited about the trip, plans were in full swing. >> and then what happens? >> then i don't hear from her. >> one day passed, then another and still nothing. >> too much time has gone by and now i know something has happened. >> judy was worried and cher was gone. >> coming up. >> where is cher. i don't know, but we're mad at her, too. >> maybe her mysterious disappearance could be solved. a text message from cher to keith with bad news. >> she said i met somebody else who is better than you. >> and she was running away with

that person. >> so maybe she got on a boat with a new friend you didn't know about and maybe she'd be back in a week. >> it wouldn't have been surprised me, mary, i went sailing, and my phone fell off the deck when i dropped my purse. that would be cher. >> who was this new miss steer man and where was cher, when "dateline" continues. i've seen how cancer can affect the people i care about. that's why i'm helping protect myself against some cancers

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i don't want shingles when i'm your age. actually, if you're 50 or older, you're at increased risk that's life, nothing you can do... uh, shingles can be prevented. shingles can be whaaaat? prevented. you can get vaccinated. where? at your pharmacy, your doctor's - hold on! don't want to go through that! 50 years or older? get vaccinated for shingles. now. >> reporter: on the exotic coast of panama, cher hughes had been living out the dream of owning her own island. but then she vanished. >> i imagine you were calling? >> calling. >> leaving messages? >> texting, facebooking. and then i started reading her facebook. and it's, like, "cher, where are

you?" people who were in panama, in bocas, "haven't seen you around town, where you at, gimme a call." and we started wondering. >> reporter: when cher's husband keith realized she'd left town, he was surprised. but he thought he might know why. cher had been talking about spending time in panama city. a place where she could blend into the scenery more easily, and wrap her head around their breakup. >> she told me she wanted to have an apartment in panama city and just spend some time in the city and get out of bocas. cause it was such a small community and -- >> she was getting a little tired of it? >> yeah, you just keep bumping into the same people, having to tell the same story. and she was just ready for a little break of bocas. >> it's not unusual for people to come and go around here. after all, the easy-going lifestyle is part of the island's charm. but cher's friends and family said it wouldn't be like her to leave so abruptly. leave her cherished island with all of her belongings still here. >> reporter: cher's aunt mary started phoning cher's friends in panama. >> we immediately started

calling her friends and everyone going, "what's going on?" and everyone was saying "you know cher. she might've just gone -- for a week. and you know, lost her phone, and we're like, "well, okay, maybe." >> reporter: mary logged on to cher's facebook page and reached out to those friends. >> "where's cher?" and they're going, "i don't know, but we're mad at her, too. doggone it, we -- she -- she always calls me. she calls me every day. what -- where did she go? how -- why would she not call me?" and we got a little aggravated with her. like, dang it cher, what are you doing? >> and then some good news. cher's friends received a text message from her -- saying she'd gone sailing. >> she's a free spirit, right? she's-- >> oh. >> adventurous. >> she had an opportunity, she'd-- she'd go. you know. >> so, maybe -- >> but -- >> she just got on a boat with some new friend that you didn't know about and she'd be back in a week. >> right, yeah. >> it wouldn't have surprised me that, "oh mary, i went sailing and then my phone fell off the deck when i dropped my purse." that would be cher -- for three to four days.

>> reporter: the messages were reassuring, but not for long. a few days passed, and cher didn't return. then another text message -- this one from cher to keith. >> she just said i met somebody else who's better than you, yeah. >> she said she had met someone else? >> yes. >> and she was running away with that person? >> yeah. >> reporter: a mystery man? keith wanted to get to the bottom of it. >> i called her best friend, and said "did cher meet somebody? does she have a man that i don't know about? is there something going on?" she said "she's never mentioned any guy to me ever. she's waiting for you. there's no man in her life. she didn't run away."' >> reporter: but keith noticed something strange about the messages. they weren't written in cher's usual style. >> instead of small letters, it'd be all capitals. and she'd always write a-r-e, and this would be an r for "are" or "2," the number, would be there rather than t-o. so, it was just -- i said it was just -- it just changed. >> reporter: and then, the text messages simply stopped. cher's aunt mary called the u.s. embassy in panama, and begged

for help. >> the embassy -- made a big point of saying people disappear all the time. and if she wants to be found, she will contact you. and so i had a hard time shouting into the darkness of the embassy saying "help me, help me." >> reporter: things got worse. cher didn't call her father on his birthday. it was a huge alarm bell. >> i knew how she felt about her dad. and she would never, ever miss his birthday. so something had happened to cher, for sure. in my heart, i knew then. >> reporter: after two months, it was staring everyone in the face -- the unanswered phone calls, the strange messages, the missed birthday -- all the clues pointing to a horrible conclusion. >> did you start to panic? >> yeah. i knew something was wrong. the whole family started to panic. >> reporter: the terrible realization sank in -- cher hadn't gone off sailing, or run away with a mystery man. she wasn't hiding out in apartment in panama city. something had happened to her. friends in bocas wracked their brains for answers, and they

started thinking about another american from their group who'd also left abruptly. had anyone heard from him? what if cher wasn't the only person missing -- what if there were two? >> i just woke up one morning. just like one of those weird things. and i just knew. coming up, another american who apparently just walked away leaving his home and a lot of questions behind. >> >> just gave me a really weird vibe. >> i knew off the bat that something weird was going on. >> i couldn't ignore it anymore. somebody had to do something. >> when "dateline" continues.

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in the picturesque islands of bocas del toro, panama, a crisis was crewing. cher hughes was missing for two months. now her family and friends wondered if her disappearance had anything to do with another american who left the island abruptly, four months before cher. a man named bo icelar. >> bo was quiet. introvert. he was a really great guy. >> bo kept a low profile since moving to bocas from santa fe, new mexico in 2004. the former antique dealer was so

quiet that no one really noticed when he took off. >> a lot of people say, let's g tell them we're leaving. that is easy to be not missed for a while. >> it made more sense when they found out that beau sold his home to wild bill, another american in their group famous for throwing lively parties many of the ex-pats attended including cher's friend kristen. >> i knew that they wanted to sell and move somewhere different. and so i assumed they sold and that beau had left. >> still, as keith thought back to the days after beau moved out, an image kept returning to his mind. an image of beau's house right after he left. >> i walked in and looked around. it looked as if beau had gone to the store, not moved out. i went back and told my friends, i can't believe that house. it is really weird. towels on the back of the chair. some shoes by the door. his cane is next to the front door. there is dirty dishes in the sink. a really weird vibe that beau

would just walk away. >> two americans missing. rumors began to swirl. could their disappearances be linked? >> the more you think about something like that, you know, it didn't add up. >> did it eat at you? >> yes, i kept thinking about it. because it wasn't right that cher would leave without a party. i knew this girl would not leave town without saying good-bye and without a party. and beau could leave, but the two of them going together, i'm just like sending their belongings after the fact doesn't sound right. >> and then chris continue heard something that made the floor drop from under her, beau had abruptly stopped paying his bills, something totally unlike him. >> i just woke up one morning. it's a weird thing. i just knew. i couldn't ignore it anymore. i just couldn't. somebody had to do something. >> kristen went to the place. >> did they immediately investigate? >> no. they just put it in a file.

and they go just yeah, yeah, yeah. people get lost in panama all the time. >> she reached out to someone she thought could help, another ex-pat, don winner, a man that runs a website for foreigners living in panama. >> i was contacted by one of her friends that was concerned that she was missing. and they asked for my help. >> don has lived in panama for decades and acted as a consultant on this story. he came here with u.s. military intelligence back when noriega was in power and never left. now he turns his attention to the two missing americans. >> i knew right off the bat, whoa, hey. what's going on here? and i knew that i had to apply a lot of time to it and a lot of attention to it. and i also knew that i had to get it right. >> he hopped on a flight from his home in panama city to bocas del toro and tapped into the coconut telegraph. >> what is the coconut

telegraph? >> that's just the rumor mill. they call it the coconut telegraph. when something happens, word spreads quickly. >> and from what don was hearing, things just weren't adding up. he checked to see if bo and cher might have left the country. >> i knew that bo and cher, both of them, their passports had not gone through the airport. if you look at immigration movements, both of them you can track. could they come in and they leave. they come in and leave. they came in, they never left. all right. so they're still in panama somewhere. >> but where? there was one more piece of the puzzle falling into place and that would point a finger of suspicion at someone living right among them. >> coming up. >> always the loudest voice in the room. he would text everybody and say your lord kplands you to come to my party. >> a pirate out to make a killing in real estate. >> she wasn't selling that place. she loved it. >> he showed up and said, yep, i bought everything. >> when "dateline" continues. bm overreacting to allergens all season long.

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i'm dara brown. here is what's happening. the senate passed a $1.9

trillion coronavirus package, $300 per week jobless benefits through the summer. child allowance up to $3,600 for one year and $350 billion for -- biden praised the senate's actions. the house must repass the bill before sending it to the president's desk because of the amendments added in the senate. that vote is expected monday. now back to "dateline." >> welcome back to "dateline." i'm natalie morale las. cher hughes and bo icelar, two americans living the good life in panama seemed to have have had anyonished. a check of their pass words showed that neither had left the country. it turns out there was something else they shared raising even more concern. here is kate snow with "stealing

paradise." two americans vanished and their friends and family were convinced that their disappearances were linked and that something terrible had happened to both of them. >> they both disappeared. and neither of them contacted anybody. and the same story, both of them had personal belongings that were going to be sent to them. one and one is two. >> american bo icelar was the first to leave last fall. at the time, no one thought it was unusual, especially when they learned he sold his house to someone else in the ex--pat community, wild bill. >> bill had this persona of i've got buckets of cash, i can pay for it outright. >> the blogger don winner did some digging. he pulled documents from the public registry and found out that wild bill had actually bought more than just beau's home. >> bill cortez had taken over

bo icelar's company. and the company owned the property. so shortly after bo goes missing, bill cortez and his wife are now the president and secretary of this company. they own it. >> bill was in a hurry to get bo's house remodelled and flipped to a new owner. he even placed an ad in the local paper trying to sell it. in fact, wild bill seemed to be on a real estate buying and telling spree. he got his first property in 2007 from a reclusive family living on an estate close to cher's island, the browns, father, mother, and teenage son. now he acquired bo's house as well. it was bill's next purchase that grabbed everyone's attention. >> bill showed up and said, yep, i bought everything. >> everything? >> everything. >> meaning your rental properties, the house you built together, five buildings. >> yeah. >> this beautiful estate. >> exactly. >> bill said he bought cher's entire estate, even her beautiful island and that cher had simply taken off. >> my dogs were there. my tools were there. belongings were still on the island.

where is cher? where is all that stuff? when she gets back, can you deal with that. that's between you and her. >> keith asked bill to bring his dogs and his stuff back. >> he placated he brought me one of my dogs. here's one dog. here is a table and two chairs. and here's a toolbox. i said that's a lot more missing here, bill. >> to keith, the whole story just didn't add up. >> she would have never sold the island. >> did you have an interest in any of that property? >> we put everything in cher's name. >> she had the right to sell? >> absolutely. >> but you don't think she would have done that? >> i don't think so. it was never about the stuff or money. it was our home. we set it up to live there forever. >> it all sounded wrong to aunt mary as well. >> she wasn't selling that place. she loved it. she loved it. >> mary wanted answers. she picked you up the phone and called wild bill. and he told me, yeah, i got a great deal on cher's property. i bought everything at 50 cents

on the dollar. i said i'd like to see that receipt. well, i signed a confidentiality statement. i said, well i'll take a look at that. >> where did he tell you she had gone? >> he said i heard she got an apartment in panama city. >> i said so where is her stuff and everything? he goes, oh, yeah, she got there and had me send her some jewelry and money air cargo. i said i'd like to see the receipt on that. this girl is not going to have you looking through her drawers finding her jewelry. >> and another curious thing was happening over at bill's place. no one could figure out why cher's devoted dog jack kept leaping off cher's island and swimming to bill's house over and over again. >> they kept going back to your old home and swim over. >> he would swim right back and stay right there. >> but for bill, it was business as usual. he even threw one of his famous parties at cher's place with all her things still there.

it all seemed a little odd to her friend shawn trainer who stopped by that night. >> it wasn't very well attended. >> why didn't people go? >> i just think that everybody had the same thing. it was kind of like really weird it was at cher's house and she was doing it. >> bill even made a toast at the party to friendship. >> and bill gave a speech? >> yeah. this really was something about having good friends. >> just like a here's to good friends? >> yeah, just like that. >> wild bill was about an hour's boat ride from the main island. a big guy with a big personality. he was known for throwing parties at his place. and even in a place that is full of colorful characters, wild bill stood out. >> he was always the loudest voice in the room. he would text everybody and say, you know, your lord commands you to come to my party. >> your lord commands you? >> yeah. he always talked to himself in the third party and a royal sense of some sort. you know, everyone took it as one of bill's quirks. >> another quirk? a pirate club bill created called the jolly roger social club.

bill joked that only 90% of the members survive. by now, and uneasy feeling was spreading about wild bill. and the rowdy party guy was suddenly lying low. >> every time i saw him, he was in a hurry. he was trying to get it done and get out of. there he didn't want to answer a lot of questions. he was nervous. >> and with good reason. they tapped into the coconut telegraph, the more he became convinced that wild bill was the key to finding bo and cher. >> this was the common denominator between the two of them that this guy had apparent -- supposedly bought their property for cash and then both people disappear. >> flares went off in my head. bill has dealt with both of these people and they're missing. >> you remember that moment? >> it came over me like oh, my god, he could have done something to these people. >> could the brash real estate buying bartender be hiding a deadly secret? coming up, the dark side of

paradise. >> execute a search warranted on his house, find the ak-47, get him in custody. >> police went up with shovels and then they came down about two hours later and said we need you to come up and take a look. >> when "dateline" continues. ust sign, abreva can get you back to being you in just 2 and a half days. be kinder to yourself and tougher on your cold sores. ♪ ♪ are you ready to join the duers?

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welcome back. wild bill cortez ran a social club where a group of people like to gathered. he seemed just as interested in acquiring the local real estate. just how far did bill go to get his hands on these properties? local police were about to find out. continuing with "stealing paradise," here is kate snow. >> in the tiny ex-pat community of bocas del toro, all eyes were on one of their own, wild bill cortez. in four month's time, he'd snapped up the homes of two people who'd mysteriously vanished -- bo icelar and cher hughes. now cher's husband keith was telling anyone who'd listen that the disappearances and property transfers were no coincidence. >> i right away thought that bill has done something. i was telling people in bocas, obviously, of the suspicions. and, in a small community, we're all saying the same thing. >> reporter: and bill's still living nearby. >> and bill's still in the area.

and he told people he was going to come and shut me up. >> reporter: he told people that? >> he told three or four people that. i moved out of my house and moved into a hotel that had security. >> keith wasn't the only one who was nervous. >> i got to the point where i became convinced that this guy cortez killed these people in order to steal their property. that's when i said i'm going to the authorities. >> he urged keith to do the same. >> he said you need to get to the prosecutor and really turn up the heat. >> keith went to panama city and laid out the case against wild bill to the dij, the panamanian fbi. >> from that point on, kudos to the panamanian police, they just stepped it up. but for all the suspicion, there was still no hard evidence of a crime. that's when don winner got an idea. he'd heard a lot of stories about wild bill and his ak-47, how he'd even fire it off sometimes to impress his friends. but in panama, it's illegal for a civilian to own that type of weapon. so don made a suggestion to police.

>> execute a search warrant on his house, find the ak-47, get him in custody. >> get him on possession of firearms? >> find the gun, lock him down. >> and then, figure out what role, if any, he might have had in the disappearance of two people. police drew up the warrant. on a steamy day in july, authorities descended on wild bill's home. bill and jane were nowhere to be found. police began the search. so police are looking around. they're here. they have a search warrant on this property looking for a gun. >> yeah. they're executing a search warrant for an ak-47. and when they got here, they encountered cher's dog. jack, the doberman who adored cher, was already at bill's place. no one knew exactly how he got there, but the dog was anxious, pacing nervously. >> jackie was really animated and agitated, and just kept circling and running up into the jungle. >> and the dog would come down and like bark at the people that

were doing the search, and run up the hill -- "follow me, guys" and the dog led them up there -- >> reporter: this hill right here?" >> right here. and went up into the back of the property. >> reporter: jack bounded up and down the hill, until police followed him. and there -- they found something shocking. a mound of disturbed dirt. they began to dig. cher's husband keith waited at the bottom of the hill. >> the police went up with shovels, and then they came down about two hours later, and said, "we need you to come up and take a look. >> reporter: in a shallow grave -- hidden under a mound of garbage, the police made a horrible discovery -- the body of cher hughes. she had been shot once in the back of the head. i imagine that was one of the hardest days of your life. >> yeah. it sure is. i mean, no -- no one should ever see someone they cared about look like that. >> reporter: now, keith finally understood why jack kept swimming to bill's place. >> he'd swim that mile back and just stay right there. he was staying true to mommy.

>> but the horror wasn't over. as police continued searching bill's property, they discovered another mound of disturbed dirt, another shallow grave. there buried beneath more rubble, the body of bo icelar, the other missing american. >> when they found the bodies, >> reporter: keith watched as authorities raided bill's home. he says they found evidence of the ghastly crimes -- bo's id, cher's passport, her purse, and her cell phone, from which she'd allegedly sent those text messages, saying she'd simply gone for a sail. and there was more -- nazi memorabilia, strange satanic signs, jewelry that may have belonged to the victims. and the most gruesome discovery -- about a dozen gold teeth. >> he lived with these things. he lived with the corpses and people's personal effects around him. >> reporter: the ex-pats in bocas were in turmoil. two of their friends were

dead -- their bodies found in the backyard of a man they once trusted -- wild bill cortez. >> to know that he lived next to me for two and a half years, and i had him in my home. i invited him to dinner. we did the social neighbor thing with him. he shot my wife. it's just inconceivable. >> reporter: authorities launched a search for bill and his wife, who they also suspected was involved, but it was too late. they had already this is now a major manhunt. >> i knew he was probably out of the country already. that he was on the fly. so, the most important thing at that point was to get his picture out there on every television screen. on every newspaper cover. on every computer monitor, it's gotta get out there in a big way to get him caught. >> reporter: by then, wild bill and his wife jane were in costa rica. someone recognized them there, and contacted the police. as the search intensified, bill and jane made a desperate attempt to cross into nicaragua by boat, but they were stopped by soldiers at a checkpoint. >> they got the drop on him with

machine guns and basically said, "halt or die." and he stopped. he gave himself up. >> reporter: the end of the line. >> that was the first time he had ever had handcuffs on in his life. >> reporter: it was also the first time anyone on the island heard wild bill's real name -- >> my name is william dathan jolbert. >> reporter: fun loving bocas del toro bartender wild bill cortez was in fact, william dathan holbert -- a 30-year-old who'd been on the run from american authorities since 2006. as the islanders absorbed the headlines of a killer among them, they discovered that wild bill had a long and notorious past that stretched nearly 2,000 miles. from the white sand beaches of bocas del toro all the way to the blue ridge mountains of north carolina. that's where he grew up, going by his middle name, dathan. he played high school football. married his sweetheart, had three kids, and worked as a landscaper. his old boss at a gym, kevin hoover, liked dathan -- until dathan had an affair with one of

his employees, and hoover says, embezzled $25,000 from the gym's accounts. >> he had told me he had thought that was part of his pay, his package. and i said, "no, dathan, it's not part of your package." >> reporter: and that was just the beginning. dathan left the job -- and his wife. he ran off with laura michele reese, who'd later be known as jane cortez in bocas. in 2005, police say dathan started in on his real estate scams. he sold a home that wasn't his for $200,000. police charged him with obtaining property under false pretenses. by the time the owner realized what had happened, dathan was on the run. that landed him on the television program "america's most wanted." somewhere along the line, police say dathan sold a stolen car in montana, and when cops pulled him over for speeding in wyoming, he took off, leading them on a high-speed chase before escaping.

it seems it was only after he moved to panama that dathan's scams took a sinister turn. >> the change was he killed people to get the documentation in order to take over the property. >> reporter: and not only was he stealing their property, he would steal everything in the house -- cars, boats, right down to the toothbrush and the underwear and their dogs. he took on their entire lives? >> yeah, right down to the change in their pocket. >> reporter: four years after fleeing from the states, wild bill was finally in police custody, charged with heinous crimes, the murders of bo icelar and cher hughes. >> there are dozens, if not a hundred people in this town, in bocas, that all knew cher, that all knew bo, and they're all thinking, "wow, man, this guy fooled us all. he fooled everybody." >> reporter: he got away with murder. >> he got away with it for awhile. yeah. >> reporter: little did everyone know that wild bill had actually gotten away with a lot more. after authorities nabbed wild bill in costa rica, what else would they discover when he was

brought back to panama? coming up -- >> there's a guard in this jail that brings me a cell phone and i get death threats. i've never tried to paint myself as a good guy. i'm not. i'm a bad guy. i'm getting what i deserve. >> when "dateline" continues. when a certain medicine did not help enough. xeljanz is the first and only fda-approved pill for moderate to severe uc. it can reduce symptoms in as early as two weeks, improve the appearance of the intestinal lining, and provide lasting steroid-free remission. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections. before and during treatment, your doctor should check for infections, like tb and do blood tests. tell your doctor if you've had hepatitis b or c, have flu-like symptoms, or are prone to infections. serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened. taking a higher than recommended dose

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>> welcome back. william jolbert and his wife, known to their pat friends known

as wild bill and jane cortez were arrested for not only stealing the properties of two americans, but allegedly murdering them in cold blood. now bill was talking to the police. but they couldn't have been prepared for his stunning confession. here is kate snow with the conclusion of "stealing conclusion of "stealing paradise. she was charged with murder. >> look into those soft, sweet p after being caught at p border, wild bill and p after being caught at p his wife's p merge friday the jungl

shackles. p bill's wife was subdue denied any involvement. prbill, however, appeare surprisingly prbill, however, gl sayi rp was hawas happy to k p >> those first days when bil as brought panama, what he like? >> he was making jokes, and he was laughing on it and he was really -- he wanted to -- people to see him. he was really trying to show off. >> reporter: national director of police gustavo perez interrogated wild bill and says he talked openly about the killings. bill admitted to shooting bo icelar on his boat. for cher, it started with a friendly dinner at bill's place. afterwards, bill took her outside to see some animals behind his house. when she turned to look at them, he shot her. did bill tell you why he murdered the people that he confessed to murdering? >> he said money. he say, "i want to -- i wanted to have their things." >> reporter: but even the most hardened cops were shocked to hear what else bill had done. wild bill drew a map of his home -- with x's marking where the bodies were buried.

only there were more than two x's on bill's map. there were five. five victims. not just bo and cher, but three more people who'd died at the hands of wild bill. this time, it was a father, mother and their teenaged son -- the brown family. they were the original owners of bill's property, cher's neighbors. r >> after the neighbors. r bodies were discoveredas a monster in pal p killer who kept his vi p personal things in his house. we wanted to speak with bill we wanted to speak with bill holbert. r>> we got a return c. pit was him self calling f cell in panama. p he already confessed p murders, but he said he

r rp >> i am not den activity. rpi'm only saying that n p portrayed in the media a p crazy serial killer tg is completely untrue. >> i'm not a serial killer. i've never taken the pleasure in harming another human being. i'm left down here to die basically in a panamanian jail. >> you have to understand the victims of these crimes, their families are incensed. their families say you had parties at their homes. how can you possibly defend that action? >> what i'm saying is that i didn't wake up one morning and decide to kill my neighbors. >> shortly after our call, a very different looking bill holbert gave an interview from his jail cell. his wild blond air replaced by a buzz cut. >> i planned it. i did it. i'm going to be punished for it. >> he recounts how he murdered the brown family. >> i separated them. this is gruesome and i understand it's very -- but you're asking me and i'll answer your question, sir. i separated them. i asked mike brown to show me a

well he dug in the back of the property. i took him there. and without him knowing what happened, i shot him from behind and killed him. >> holbert also admits to another victim, number six. american ex-pat jeffrey kline. hole bert claims he died when the two got on a fight on a boat. too afraid to go to authorities, holbert came up with his own solution to get rid of the body. >> i took it home and buried it. and then i built a picnic area over it. it's horrible and stupid. it was definitely the wrong thing to do, but i had never been in that situation before, didn't know what to do. i never tried to paint myself as a good guy. i'm not. i'm a bad guy. i'm geeting what i deserve. i can nothing to bring those people back, especially cher hughes who was a good person. >> if she was sitting here, i would tell her i'm sorry she ever met me.

because she didn't deserve this. if i could give my life to set her free, i would. that's it. >> and the man who said he killed six people, now has time to sit in a cell and think about his own death. william holbert and his wife apparently received threats in prison. >> there's a guard in this jail that brings me a cell phone and gives me death threats from these people. i'm a dead man. i don't even care. that is not even important. but my wife doesn't deserve this. >> have you talked to authorities about this? what are the options they have? >> options? what options? excuse me. give me a second to compose myself. >> this is a really, really bad guy. he's the worst of the worst. >> do you think the trail of bodies is longer than we even know? >> i have no doubt. how many people did this guy kill? nobody knows.

>> panama's auxiliary prosecutor says he's reaching out to other countries to see if any of their missing persons may have crossed paths with wild bill. >> translator: once they verify and confirm any persons that had contact with him and have disappeared, they'll take measures to verify where they are. >> if there are other victims out there, they may be hard to find. wild bill mostly targeted loners, people's whose disappearance may not be noticed. it wasn't until bill killed cher, the woman who had a smile for everyone, that he was caught. >> his mistake of targeting cher is what was his down fall. >> he couldn't have picked a girl more loved. he picked someone that absolutely stood out everywhere she went and would be missed and loved. >> someone the family cared so much about, that they would start calling immediately. >> this is our girl. how dare you mess with our girl and think we're not coming for her?

>> it could take seven long years for the wheel of justice to turn in panama. during that time, jolbert's wife divorced him while they both sat in separate panamanian jails. cher's family final guy got the news they long waited for. he was found guilty of the murder of five people. he was sentenced to 47 years in prison, and the woman once known as jane cortez, she was sentenced to 26 years for her role in the crimes. for san jose's sister, judy, there are only good memories and appreciation for the big sister who followed her adventurous spirit all the way to paradise. >> you're not bitter that she ever went to panama, to bocas

del toro? >> i'm happy she went because i know what it meant to her, the peace in her heart of being able to live there. i wouldn't have wanted her to miss that. >> that's all for this edition of "date line." i'm natalie morales. thanks for watching. breaking right now on msnbc. giant step forward. tens of millions of americans inching closer to getting desperately-needed covid relief aid from washington. >> this follows a marathon voting session on the senate floor spanning 25 hours of debate. president biden taking a victory lap over the bill's passage which will send out $1,400 in direct payments to those who qualify. >> this plan will get checks out the door starting this month to the american people who so desperately need the help. >> republican civil war