a 4k streaming box. -for free! that's because you all have the same internet. xfinity xfi. so powerful, it keeps one-upping itself. >> i'm craig melvin. can your internet do that? >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline. " >> i refuse to live in fear. >> you're dead. she's that because she was my friend first melissa disappeared. where is melissa? that's the million dollar question. i knew right then that she absolutely never made into her house. left behind in her house. signs of a struggle. and a strange orange mist. we didn't know what it? was >> that her boss witnessing.

to? who was he >> afraid of >> he said if i don't get this taking care of us it's gonna be on my >> he left a high and a bigger mass >> a missing fortune. and on a half dollars >> a missing woman. >> we have no clothes no leads. >> was there a link. >> this had a twist to it. >> one for money, one supposedly for love. i'm behind both. a lingering mystery. >> it's just so ugly and so wrong, and i can't fix. it welcome to dateline hotshot florida was living large and fort lauderdale. but then her seemingly charmed life ended in tragedy. her body was discovered in a drainage canal. she had been murdered. but who would want her dead? with few clues, fewer sucks

folks, and a scandal involving a law firm, investigators had the work cut out for them to unravel the mystery of what it happened to melissa. here is dennis murphy with betrayed. >> if you ask somebody in town where the fussy is part of fort lauderdale lies, they'll talk probably still you. here lost all this boulevard. and way up there the high rent district, is a penthouse office suite, once upon a time it was home to a high powered law. from the boulders brassy us bunch of political connected lawyer players, in south florida. the ross teen law firm. >> i had a gorgeous panoramic view of the ocean. >> for a few guys law degrees, -- with more than 70 attorneys led by scott ross dean. mike maher was a columnist for the fort lauderdale sun-sentinel. he probably thinks i'm king of the world, and the firm is where melissa lewis.

earnest by the book attorney found great success for herself and her client. she was by all accounts a workaholic who loved what she did. no shrinking violet either. melissa love those boozy splash-y office parties just as much as the other lawyers. she had found herself a nice slice of the american pie. and that's the third about 38-year-old melissa lewis. even as she raised her voice and glass with the senior partners, her said and wasn't far off. and her unexpected death would get caught up in a chain of events right outside of a john grisham over. the trail, murder, and billions of dollars in fraud. melissa lewis. at the start of every thing awful would follow. >> it ended up being the beginning of the end. missy as her family called her, had come so far. penthouse lawyer was unlikely for a wrestling high school dropout. her mother lisa low point.

>> she was a kid who didn't really finish high school, she got the ged ticket. >> that's correct, she did plan to be a high school drop thought she was hurry to get life. started >> and focused enough finally to finish college. then in her late twenties golfer a lot agree. she breezed passed the lander law students to become the prestigious editor of the long view. and she caught the eye of one of her professors. scott rusty. who took her on as an intern. office manager depreciate the, met her owners first day of work. >> what did melissa bring to the? party >> she was smart, capable. she was everything you would want in a associate attorney. >> she was also one of the nicest people deborah said she ever met. the two became fast friends. >> we were like sisters, she knew all my faults and flaws and she loved me and you. he's >> debra and melissa saw the firm grow tenfold in just a few years. their gregarious boss scott was

the front man. he hobnobbed with a who's who a big deal names, sports, politics and, business. even future presidents. fund-raisers, scott was your man. once your name gets out there, you truly cannot imagine how many people knock on your door. and the door got knocked on, was melissa. >> melissa was the one who knew that she would handle it. he knew that she wouldn't let anything fall through the. cracked >> malicious specialized unemployment law. but volunteered her time for battered women and victims rights. she also worked on building a memorial garden for crime victims. >> she was also a champion for the underdog. >> melissa eventually met a lawyer from a different firmed, and married. >> debra was a bridesmaid. >> but after five years her best friends marriage had come undone, and ended in a messy divorce. >> that the voice just devastated her, after malicious divorce, she took on a second

full-time job. best and ever. carrie humbert is your sister. >> missy didn't have children herself? >> no she did want to have children. she wanted her career. >> i want her best friend debra zone marriage was in trouble and hitting the rock, separation, melissa was there for her to. playing the same great at row for deborah's for kids. the two became inseparable at work, and outside the office. >> she's cooking for me and the kids, and we have movie that's on saturday. after her divorce still shaking melissa started dating a little. but work not relationships would occupy her front and center. eventually her diligence paid off. in 2008 after seven years at the, from the former interned was made the first female partner. >> she shared with me early on, that she hoped to be a judge. monday >> and deborah had done wolf herself to. after all those years working as a paralegal, and keeper of the supply cabinet, her boss

got promoted her to chief operating officer. not bad for someone who never finished college. >> things were going really well at the resting law firm? >> yes yes. >> thank you much fifth 2000, eight just one week after melissa had been made partner. it was a wednesday night. debra tried to call her several times. but got no answer. the next morning the when melissa was a no-show at work, deborah called her friend repeatedly but to no avail. then she got a hold of melissa sister carry. >> and carrie was like me, oh no, something's wrong. >> debra told her boss got, well connected attorney that he, was he called the police officer he knew in plantation florida where melissa lived. the officer agreed to meet deborah and carry at melissa's house. when they got there everything seem to be normal inside the home. >> nothing was tossed, >> know the only thing that was a mess was in her garage. >> her car was gone, and that's why all clue to something

bizarre, a fine mist of what looked like orange spray-paint throughout the garage. >> whatever the stuff was in the got affected you. >> yes and i started coughing really, bad that's pepper spray. >> pepper spray like many women, melissa was known to carry a canister of it for self protection. had she been attacked, had she used it? >> i knew right then that she absolutely never made it into her house. >> something that happened in that garage, something very disturbing, and it wasn't looking good for ricin attorney, melissa was. coming up, worse melissa? >> that's the million dollar question. the answer comes all too soon. when dateline continues. continues. we're carvana, the company who invented car vending machines and buying a car 100% online. now we've created a brand-new

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melissa lewis was missing. and her friends and family were in a panic. she hadn't responded to phone calls and didn't show up. forward >> she's not want to take a mental health day? >> no. >> this was going to be a high profile case. melissa's boss scott rossen was a powerbroker eternity who had little extra dropped with local police. plantation police detective brent candle. >> he was our union attorney. he knew they were friends of. his >> eye malicious house the mysterious piled up. her car was gone. and there was pepper spray all over her. garage melissa also had a dog, and there was pepper spray on

the dog's face as well. >> so yearn fell play country with this investigation? >> our concern is greatly at this point that she is in some sort of danger. >> detectives wanted to know what melissa had been wearing the previous day at work. >> debra knew exactly, a newborn palace through with pink stripes. >> and there she was captured on security cameras with on security cameras, talking to another lawyer at 7 pm. after leaving but her sister carrie says she then went to the supermarket >> how did you know she gone to the supermarket? >> she actually called my daughter. that night she was a lesson to speak to her, and she said i'm going to. -- >> detective candle trick store civilians, and there was melissa in the cosmetic aisle reaching for something on the shelf. later the commercial her leaving. documenting the start of her pathway to doom. you have a timeline. and you know which is showing >> no we have a time stamp, of one we believe she arrived. home based on the distance of the distance of her house.

>> it was probably around 8:30, and the pepper spray on the walls and floor, it appeared melissa came home and was attacked inside the garage. detectives also found a small but in on the garage floor. perhaps ripped from that pantsuit, and then one detective had an idea. use the gps and security system in militias vehicle to locator. >> it's a catalyze, catalog has on star, they're able to activate beyond star, tell us the location of the vehicle through gps, and brought us right to this parking. like >> the car was about a half mile from melissa's house in this medical office parking lot that melissa never went to. >> and they're on star you can remotely open the vehicle. they were able to unlock the vehicle for us. >> inside the suvs, disturbing clues. >> what did? >> we found a suit jacket that she was going the night before. and on the subject that there was a missing button. and that's significant because, those corresponding buttoned were found on her garage floor.

>> the jacket smelled of pepper spray to, there were two shoes found in the car, but nothing else. melissa had been wearing a sterling silver ring, diming airings, and a 5000 dollar watch. she also had unexpected prone to handbag, and an iphone. it could very well be a target of some opportunities go up and run. >> at the point where we found a vehicle, we have no clothes, no leads, and we don't have any suspect to identify. suspects did find a tiny drop of malicious blood in her car, and on a timeline or. house but there were no fingerprints other than malicious at either place. dna testing would take longer >> so now the question is where 's melissa? >> that's the million dollar question at this. point >> two days after she went missing, a worker made a gruesome discovery. that he was clearing debris from a water pump at a nearby canal. >> he's poking around with his rega. >> i guess the first thing that comes to mind, is that it's just a mannequin, and then you realize it's actually a. body >> it was 38 year old

melissa lewis. the missing persons case, was now a murder investigation. >> it's still a who done it, we have no idea. >> workers discovered lewis's bodies floating in this plantation. canal >> the news media quickly picked up on the story. >> my husband told me. he sought ahead of news. >> my came to my work in told, me and i just spoke to. >> i couldn't believe it. >> police called the victims best friend, debra. >> when they told me that they had found her, body i just collapsed to the ground. >> your friend melissa was dumped into a drainage canal. >> this beautiful, wonderful, person who was nothing but kind, -- >> when the medical examiner's report was completed it showed she had been strangled. >> that is such a personal thing to do to somebody. to have to look them in the eyes and do that. >> and up close, and personal killer, no questions, but those timeless questions of all

investigations one unanswered. >> who, and why, coming up, a person of interest very close to home. i said oh no you better not have done anything to. her and a missing cell phone, of great interest to police. when dateline continues. active gum repair toothpaste. (girl) feeling lost...help? (man) do what moves you. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ hey google. ♪ ♪ ♪

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big whoop! mine gives me a 4k streaming box. -for free! that's because you all have the same internet. xfinity xfi. so powerful, it keeps one-upping itself. the hunt was on for a suspect can your internet do that? in the strangulation murder of

melissa lewis. the lawyer's body was found floating in a canal two days after she went missing. as they always do, detectives looked at the circle she moved. and >> was there something in the background of my victim here, that accounts to what's been happening to? them >> we don't think so she was living a high-risk lifestyle, she's a prominent attorney, she safety conscious, she carries her pepper spray. >> melissa specialized and people with [inaudible] . employment lawsuits. people didn't find anything between melissa nord clients, or people she had. sued >> detectives talk to the ex-husbands. but his alibi was solid. and then they looked at the current men in her life. >> what about boyfriends? she was a single woman who had been dating some. guys >> we assigned to tech those to go out there and talk to them, and they were all abide out pretty quickly. of course they also wanted to talk to melissa's coworker, and boston. >> who better to talk to than someone's best friend. to find out what their habits are. but they like to do.

did they have strange men come to her. home >> far from, it deborah told detectives. most nights melissa was either a diverse house cooking dinner for her and her kids, or home with their dogs george and greasy. still they continue to pick debris spring. >> it was just humiliating. you can't even imagine the questions that they ask. you >> detectives also asked that resistance. gary asked would she thought might have done. with >> her reaction was immediate. >> i said oh no he better not of the main thing to, my ex-husband. because we had just gone divorce. and he knew my sister, he got served by harvard. so you thought that if he's gone missing, she might have something to do with it. >> she said that he had come to her house. it just, to just kind of scatter. >> detectives found out that he had a record. so they checked out the sister's ex. >> he was a subject of interest early on in the investigation. he came in, he consented to any

type of questions we asked of him. he voluntarily entered them. he had been released from prison in the past. >> so you have a ruled him out? yet >> not yet. >> with a list of possible suspects shrinking, detective shifted their focus is something that might have provided them a first break in the. case >> with melissa's iphone missing detectives put an emergency request to the phone company. to see if it could help track herself. one thing i got the report. detective candle couldn't believe what he. saw ulises iphone had been active after the murder. and somebody had actually gone into her voice mail, and play back messages. red tex. >> it kind of makes sense, as to why he would want to do something like. this >> police were dumbfounded that somebody wouldn't know that a smartphone was a detective's best friend. and police could track them using cell towers. it was either bold or stupid or both. >> people know this concept of pinging off towers. the cell phone is telling the

towers here i am. >> yes so it's given a general vicinity of an area, with that cell phone communicated. >> and the phone records showed that that person had been on the move from the time of the murder, into the next day. >> how important is the story told by the self. a >> very important. cellphones are someone like dropping pieces of popcorn, leaving a trail. >> but the chill was allied one. self on tires don't pinpoint exactly patient. >> we know from that cell tower, that there's maybe 3 to 4 mile radius from the tower that we're looking for, to try and figure out where that phone is. investigators believe that melissa was killed in her garage around 8:30 pm wednesday. that night, her phone went south from her home implantation, eventually stopping in an area in miami gardens. >> from midnight to about 5 am, the phones in one location. >> thursday morning the phone one northeast to fort lauderdale. then went further to pump no beach. shortly after it turned back

toward fort lauderdale. but somewhere along the way, the signal was lost. either the battery died. or the killer dump the phone. all told by thursday the day after the murder. the phone, or whoever had, it travel the distance about around 60 miles. >> so i would say whoever's with that cell phone was most likely the last person who was with melissa. >> detectives also focused on those five hours the phone was stationary in miami gardens. was the killer home in bed? >> we have to identify if melissa know somebody that lives in the. >> does anything come up at that point? >> no we have no reason to believe that anybody should dating, anybody she knows of's there. -- willis's family confirmed it. police asked everyone remotely involved in the case of the answer kept coming up no. by now police had also clear the asked who's been oh calista sister. did not have a connection to the air either. but when they asked deborah if she knew anyone who lived around their, her job dropped. she said she did know someone.

>> i was like i just did not think it was him. but cops are funny. they don't just take people's words for. things they check them out. >> police have identified and cleared a number of potential suspects. but now there's someone you on the radar. the revelation would rock a malicious friend deborah, why would he want to kill her? . >> coming up she couldn't connect the dots to put her in that garage with a. front absolutely not >> i remember that i couldn't even. standup wasn't able to stand on. my feet >> when dateline continues. ne continues. control? hide my skin? not me. by hitting eczema where it counts, dupixent helps heal your skin from within, keeping you one step ahead of eczema. and that means long-lasting clearer skin... and fast itch relief for adults. hide my skin? not me. by helping to control eczema with dupixent, you can show more with less eczema.

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to a body to be of gaby potato was found in frigid tea time new foreigners to wyoming. the cause of death has not been determined. florida investigators are still searching for potatoes fiancée, brian laundry. who despite appeared after being named a person of interest. and at least two were injured after military plane crashed outside of fort worth texas.

two crew members injected from the aircraft, and one is hospitalized, critical condition. now back to dateline. welcome back. i'm craig melvin. desperate to find melissa lewis's killer, police turned to technology to help unlock the secrets in melissa's phone. what they found, sent them hurling in an unexpected direction. here again is dennis murphy with betrayed. melissa lewis's cell phone should looking to be the key to unlock the mystery the night of her murder. the phone stayed with the person that we believe took. melissa >> now they were focused on miami gardens, where the phone had been stationary for several hours after the. murder police asked militias best friend debra va guess if she knew anyone who lived in that area. >> debbie says my husband, tony. i'm going through divorce.

with debra was dumbstruck. tony, melissa. >> you have no reason to do this to melissa? you have no reason? >> so you're telling the detectives you're looking at the wrong guy. he had met her a few times. over the years that we weren't social. never told police that she and tony had been married for 17 years. and had four children. they had separated more than a year earlier. tony had been moving to a house in miami gardens with a. friend for 20 years, he worked for a florida east coast rail war, he basically drove a tree for. 11 >> police drove a train for a living detectives want to talk to toni and recorded the conversation. >> how well did you, know this deborah's foreign? >> melissa, i know her from her. i've seen a few times. >> you guys never had any problems maybe, anything like? that no i don't think i ever

spoke to her. >> do you know if she had anything to do with what you're going through right now with debra? >> i don't know. and i really don't know. >> that wouldn't bother you if she? did >> know the thing is i just want to get away from my wife. i just want to be in peace. with melissa's death? >> no. >> but what tony didn't know was that before detective spoke to him, they had obtained a copy of the train route he drove the day after the murder. and guess what? it matched the route traveled by melissa's phone. detectives confronted him with the evidence. >> her phone after it was stolen, drove to the area of your house and stay there overnight. and came to work with you the next day, and travel north with the train, because the train has gps on, it doesn't? it it was on the train, okay? and less someone else here

knows melissa, lives in your house, comes to work with you, but you had the phone. okay? listen, i'll be honest with you, this doesn't look very good for you. >> but i don't even know. her >> detectives searched tony's house, his car, and his train, but never did find melissa's phone. and it was still a missing motivation piece of this puzzle. why in the world with tony kill someone he barely knew? and yet, tony said something during his interview that opened a window into a private side of his character. he was capable of intense jealousy when talking about his estranged wife. >> the few times i've picked up my kids, she has guys there, so i always told her i don't like flies on my meet. and i love her, i gave all my life to her. >> it wouldn't bother you, then if she spending a lot of time with melissa? that wouldn't bother? you >> know. >> despite what tony said,

detective thought the crude comments had a broader meaning. speaking to the bff relationship of debra and melissa. >> does he feel like he's been tossed out of the house, because melissa has taken his place? >> i think he definitely believes that melissa was a catalyst to enable debbie to go forward with a divorce. he kills melissa lewis to get back at debora for divorcing him. >> but if you are legally angry about an impending divorce, why not kill the wife? >> if you kills melissa and he is caught, debbie is still there to raise their kids. >> although tony would later deny, it never told detectives he had been violent with her and her kids in the past. because of that, denver said, she had decided, on her own, that tony had to go. >> you thought he was physically going to hurt the kids? >> oh, he is already physically hurting. them i thought he was going to go too far. >> debra was scared of tony but didn't raise any suspicion as to why he would want to ever harm melissa.

>> she couldn't connect the dots and put him in that garage with her phone? >> absolutely not. >> maybe senseless to the wife, but those dots were starting to connect for detectives. they eventually share their suspicions with debra and now the evidence of the traveling iphone pointed to tony. >> i remember that it couldn't stand up, i wasn't able to stand on my. feat >> melissa's murder was diverse testing and frightening for everyone at the law firm. especially, it seemed, for scott roth screen. only the week before, roth scene was toasting melissa after making her a partner. now, he was helping her family with funeral arrangements. malicious and, lynn april, spoke at the church memorial. >> i could look out from the podium and see a sea of lawyers out there >> including skyrocketing? >> including. skyrocketing >> he actually paid, he came to the funeral home and paid for everything. >> three days after the funeral, detectives arrested tony vegas,

he was charged with first degree murder. >> he denied involvement in this. >> tony's attorney is bruce flasher. >> they sought the death penalty. >> police and prosecutors were confident that they had a solid case against tony vhs. but something happened that through the whole investigation into freefall. that's because new crimes were about to be revealed, and new questions were about to be raised about who really killed melissa. as in the midst of it all, scott ross, like melissa would disappear. coming up, where melissa and scott roth scenes disappearances connected? >> we three kings be stealing the gold. >> the dark secret buried beneath all those rough seen riches. >> he said if i don't get the sick enough, i will get a bullet in the back of my head. >> when dateline continues. my head. >> when dateline continues >> when dateline continues you'll find a better life. it all starts with the most innovative technology. like the new miracle-earmini, available exclusively at miracle-ear.

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when we made grand wagoneer, proudly assembled in america, we knew no object would ever rank with the best things in this country. but we believed we could make something worthy of their spirit. debra vhs's world had been turned upside down. her best friend, melissa lewis, had been murdered. and debra's exchanged husband, tony, was charged with killing. her >> people thought deborah's psycho ex-husband has murdered melissa, you know. it's just overwhelmed with guilt and shame. >> melissa's word or weighed heavily on deborah's mom as well as the mind of her boss, scott racine. but scott seemed to be rattled by something more than just melissa's murder. for some reason, after tony's arrest, rotten beefed up his own security.

>> who is he afraid of? >> obviously, he was. next >> but if melissa's murder had been solved, why was scott still worried? debra knew, because she was privy to a secret that threatened to send even more people to prison and to destroy scott rothstein reputation as a high-profile mover and shaker. >> he could pick up the phone and call and make things happen. >> a walk through his office left no doubt. his hero wall was plastered with pictures of him with politicians, business moguls, and movie stars. the governor was on speed dial. it had been a heavy ride from a boy from the bronx, by no means shy about his success and who likes to joke about how he got there. >> and tonight, we are breaking the -- law. if we are not going to break the, law who? is >> he had his trophies for sure. a waterfront mansion with an 87 foot yacht outback. his fleet of cars included 1 million dollar boogie, a maserati, and a lamborghini. his wrist also flashing an

expensive watch from his collection. >> why did he want all that stuff? >> he wanted people to look at him and say, that's a successful guy and he knows everybody. >> rothstein's braggadocious success and conspicuous bling had already caught the eye of fort lauderdale's son central reporter, mike mayo. >> i was asking, how is your for making all this money? he said, well i we've come up with the formula where we are not going to trial. we are settling cases before trial. >> the cases were age and sex. discrimination lawsuits. rothstein figured out a way to file the cases without the firm paying to do it. instead, he found investors willing to fund the lawsuits. they were promised a fantastic return for their investments, once the cases were settled. attorney sam raman represented the banker who represent the business of. scott >> the investor would give the $5 million to rothstein racine intern, he would tell the investor i'm going to give you $6 million in six months. >> but behind the scenes, there were big problems, as debra

learned about a week before melissa was murdered. >> he told me he was in trouble. he had gotten in over his head with some not so nice people and he said, if i don't get this taking care of, these people are going to put a bullet and. head >> scott then asked her cross the line and forged signatures on documents. >> i knew this was something that should be going on, but you know, at this is going to be a onetime. thing >> it wasn't. >> scott asked deborah, his chief up officer to do it again and again. the reason? the cases were made up, phonies, and the forged documents were used to fool investors. >> the settlements were not real. >> there wasn't? client >> the cases were fabricated. >> it turned, out it was all a ponzi scheme. mr. highflier scott rothstein did not use investor money to file lawsuits. instead, he used that money to fund his champagne and yacht lifestyle. >> we three kings be stealing the gold. >> in the end, it would be the largest ponzi scheme in florida history. >> how big did it get?

>> ballpark, a billion billion and a half dollars. >> and then, halloween eve, 2009. more than a year had passed since melissa's murder. and tony villegas still waiting in jail, awaiting trial. and, another twist to the story. >> scott rothstein has disappeared. >> unlike, melissa scott was not a murder victim, but he was a fugitive. a burning he made off figure on the run. >> he had left the country in a private jet for morocco, with $60 million in cash and his collections of watches and jewelry, fleeing after learning on happy investors had gone to the fbi. >> one month later, he was back in florida, but not under arrest. what no one knew was that scott had cut a deal with the fbi to act as an informant. >> this is scott rothstein november 16th, monday, 1:43 pm. >> he wore a wire and helped convict 26 people involved in his ponzi scheme. and despite his cooperation, in

2010, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison. but one big question emerged. speculation about that women in the firm who had been killed. >> whether melissa knew about the ponzi scheme is one of those great mysteries. >> scott had started his ponzi scheme three years before melissa was murdered. >> is it time to take a fresh look at the whole melissa lewis murder? is there something more sinister? >> detective brian candle now had a whole new problem with his fairly straightforward case against tony, the jealous train engineer. >> is this woman, melissa, killed because she knew too much? >> we think we had the solid buttoned up case, we do have the whole scott rothstein ponzi scheme comes into play. >> the fbi combed through the detectives files, looking into what melissa rothstein ponzi -- >> they spent a week going through every inch of that case, to find out if there was a connection to scott rothstein

>> with all these messy complications, tony's defense attorney, bruce flusher, thought about two words. reasonable doubt. >> a lot of people thought that because of the rothstein ponzi scheme, that he had something to do with the murder of melissa lewis. >> and debra villegas was back in the hot seat herself. being grilled by homicide detectives who bluntly asked her about scott, the ponzi scheme, and militias work. she had her lawyer with her this time. >> was melissa aware of anything that scott was involved with? and i'm going to use a term ponzi scheme. >> no. >> and then the question got more direct. >> was there any discussion between you and got that we have melissa killed? >> absolutely. not >> are you aware of any discussion or of conspiracy to hire tony to murder. melissa >> would alight have killed melissa? i would've let him move back into my house. that's the biggest forget that i have in all of this. >> but detectives did learn one new thing about melissa and scott. some dish. >> she had an inappropriate

relationship with scott. >> melissa had had a very, very brief, like a three-week thing with. scott and i said god, melissa that snow doesn't matter. >> but it had been years before, when melissa was first hired out of law school. detectives discounted it, saying it had nothing to do with malice murder and was not relevant. and of course, rothstein himself was grilled about melissa lewis's murder. during depositions and civil suits brought by the investors. >> we asked him directly whether or not he was involved, in any way, in the homicide. he vehemently denied. >> how did you? take it >> he was indignant. but he was also a great actor, because he was a sociopath. >> in the end, neither the police nor the fbi could connect melissa's murder to rothstein and his ponzi scheme. >> so, what happened to his loyal aide debra? she pleaded guilty to money laundering and the judge came down hard. >> you're right you want to wait federal prison? >> i did. with a ten year sentence. >> the sentence was later

reduced to four years. >> meanwhile, years have gone by and diverse ex-husband, tony, had not gone to trial for murder. he sat in jail all but mute. his lawyer claiming -- that might prevent him from ever seeing a judge and jury. coming up, -- eight years after melissa lewis's death, tony villegas would stand trial, but what would a jury make of such a strange murder? >> you have these domestic homicides all the time. but this one had a twist to it. >> when dateline continues. >> when dateline continues >> when dateline continues ♪ breeze drifting on by you know how i feel ♪ [man: coughing] ♪ it's a new dawn, it's a new day... ♪ no matter how you got copd it's time to make a stand. ♪ ...and i'm feelin' good ♪ start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler,

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investigators looking into melissa lewis's murder had been thrown a curveball. her boss had been running a giant ponzi scheme that also involved her best friend debra. both denied melissa knew anything about it. then, the massive fraud was ruled out as a factor in her death. now, prosecutors are ready to bring deborah's ex-husband to trial. here is dennis murphy with the conclusion of betrayed. >> a funny thing happened to tony villegas on the way to the courtroom. he exhibited bizarre. behavior and soft communicating with his attorneys, and was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial. still in custody, he was in and out of treatment facilities for years, until doctors found him competent again.

finally, in the summer of 2016, eight years after the murder, tony went on trial. >> tony villegas, the defendant in this, case -- >> prosecutors sherrie tate argue that tony, feels bad jealous rage, waited in the bushes for melissa come home, followed her into the garage, and then watched a brutal attack on his wife's best friend. >> is it hands on, personal murder. it takes time, it takes free meditation, and why? because she was a friend. >> but the residue of pepper spray all over the garage was evidence that melissa had fought back and some had apparently gotten on the killer. tony's housemate testified the night of the murder, he saw his roomy scrubbing his arms. >> he said that he got pepper spray on him and that his hands were burning and itching. >> then, an expert on cell phone tracking told the jury that joni had both melissa's

phone and his own personal phone with him, the night of the murder. and the next day, when he was driving his train. >> they moved north and then back south, on the railroad. >> but now, prosecutors had to tackle the head-scratching question of motive. why would tony kill melissa in the first place? debra villegas testified that tony became very jealous and angry with melissa, because she had virtually replaced him in the household. >> was melissa helping you through this difficult time in your life enough for this divorce? >> yes, ma'am. >> and that was the theory, in order to get deborah, he killed her best friend. >> you have these domestic homicides all the time, but this had a twist to it, because he did not kill deborah. >> then tony endeavors 23 year old son, caleb, was called to testify against his father. the usual blank stare on tony's courtroom face changed, as his son recalled how his father

blamed melissa for the divorce. >> did he tell you that it was melissa's fault? >> he believed that she had a part in it, yes. >> did he tell you that he was mad at melissa about this? >> yeah, he was mad about the whole situation. >> oh, and there was one more thing. remember melissa's jacket, the one found in her suv? tests showed tony's dna on the jacket. prosecutors believed tony wiped his nose with it after being pepper sprayed. >> the odds of finding an unrelated individual with that profile are rarer than one in 30 billion. >> you couldn't have had better evidence if you had a movie of him killing her. >> right. >> the defense had been dealt of poor hand to play. >> but attorney bruce fleisher chipped away at -- , starting with tony housemate, the guy with the scrubbing away pepper's great story. >> the defense said he had 250,000 reasons to make his story up. >> there was a reward offered. >> yes. >> and who offered that reward?

>> scott fleisher we rothstein >> -- $251,000. >> ironically, he never got the reward. the collapse of raw steams pause pansies keen put an end to that. as for the prosecution's theory of motive, on fleischer argues it was as thin as it was nonsensical. >> you would think that if you were so enraged that your wife was doing this, that you want to harm her, and not someone else. >> as for debris being, is when -- he didn't ask her a single question. but he did go after the sun, caleb, challenging him as to why he sat for so long on this story about his father bad-mouthing melissa. >> you didn't tell your mother about that when you first heard about that, did you? >> no. i didn't see any relevance. >> and when you spent time with him, things were good? >> yes. >> okay. you love your dad? >> yes. >> whatever is noticed the tear rolling down tallies cheek.

>> so, on to the scientific evidence, the cell phone first. lawyer fleisher found a mistake and a chart that states expert had. use was the expert analysis, in fact, sloppy? >> if you are such a hot shot expert, how did this air happen? >> he said, oh well it was a mistake. >> the same for the dna evidence. attack the credibility of the analysis. the defense said that dna results were turned within a few days were rushed through the police lab because of rothstein's connections. >> attorney fleisher also suggested there could've been cross contamination to tilt the scale, so the results pointed at tony. >> our goal was to educate the jury on the rothstein connections and the rothstein influence. >> and metal with physical evidence, contaminated, maybe? >> we can only speculate. but when a man is as powerful a guy as rothstein was, people would think that they could do things. they can conjure a beanie. >> and use it to frame tony

villegas. before the defense rested, the judge asked tony villegas if you wanted to testify. >> but -- to testify or remain silent? we >>, silence. or >> in closing arguments, -- said that all evidence pointed toward. tony the pepper spray, cell phone records, and the dna. >> there is not one other person on the planet earth that could leave the dna on this jacket. >> the defense remind the jurors that the pepper spray evidence was weak and that both phone records and dna results could be manipulated. >> if pieces of the puzzle do not fall into place because reasonable doubt prevents them from falling into place. >> the jury now had the case. outside the courtroom, deborah villegas some ulises family for the first time in eight years. >> all these years later, and it just washed over me like it just happened, you know, that i

had caused these people the kind of pain that is unimaginable. >> later that afternoon, the jury sent out a note. verdict. as a vertical is, red never sat with melissa's family, consoling her niece. >> tony villegas is guilty of murder in the first degree. >> tony's face was blank. before sentencing, melissa, and lynn april, address the court and said directly to tony, >> we forgive you. because we must and release you into god's hands for all eternity. >> sentencing was immediate. >> spend the rest of your natural life in a forest state prison. >> after tony was let out of the courtroom, melissa's family went to his people and hugged them. then all cried together. >> my heart broke for them, it's a legacy for their family. >> melissa's own legacy is something called the garden of reflection. before her murder, she worked for victims rights and raised money to build it. now, her name is inscribed

there too. the victim, as prosecutors told, it that in the end had nothing to do with knowing too much about inventories scandal, but a victim simply of an all-consuming jealousy. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin, thank you for watching. weu fo watching we but at the same time you do not want to know. this woman had gone out to get the mail. and disappeared in her pajamas. because we're never close. it was consuming all of us. >> the individual who was wearing a baseball cap, hoodie with the hood pulled off, and large mirrored sunglasses. >> oh my gosh did this really happen. >> i'm like don't do