tonight on "nightline," murder for hire. she survived three attempts on her life, but still stands by her man, who is accused of plotting her death with his mistress. tonight, the secret world of husbands, wives and hired guns. model mogul. from "sports illustrated" megababe to the ceo of a $2 billion brand. how kathy ireland built an empire on the messy lives of busy moms. and little orphan oscar. a dramatic thing, love, survival, starring one adorable baby ape. inside the amazing new documentary, capturing chimp life like you've never seen before. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city,

this is "nightline," april 12th, 2012. >> good evening, i'm bill weir. and we begin tonight with the classic tale of boy meets girl, boy marries girl and then boy's mistress hires hitman to take girl out. it is a homicidal love try angle with a surprising twist, when a woman's husband and his mistress are charged with masterminding a plot to kill her. she stands by her man. here's "20/20" anchor chris cuomo for our series "crime and punishment." >> reporter: murder for hire. seems to be a burgeons enterprise in america. >> the bullet went through this window. >> reporter: meet yvonne stern. she survived three separate shootings in a murder for hire plot. and this is? >> where the bullet hit the floor. >> reporter: so, it literally hit a foot from where you were standing? >> yes. >> reporter: the stern family lived a life of fanfare, not gun

fire, since yvonne met her husband jeff 30 years ago on a blind date. >> basically love at first sight. we have the same needs and wants. he's my soul mate. >> reporter: jeff is a successful personal injury lawyer. they have two aspen vacation homes. private plane. and a place in the fashionable circuit of houston charity ball. you were blessed with a good life. >> yes, we have. >> reporter: so, yvonne convinces herself the shooting was random. she was wrong. two months later, just after 10:00 p.m., the doorbell rings. so, you were walking down here -- >> i walked here, approaching the door, still saw no one. i see this man jumps out of the wall with a gun in his hand and a smirk on his face and shot. >> reporter: then, a month after the doorway shooting, yvonne is leaving her new apartment and heading for her suv in a gated parking garage. >> i see someone jump out of their car and ipse him coming

towards me with a gun. pointed to me. i jump in my car. he came to the car, pointed the gun to my head. >> reporter: this's just a car window between yvonne and a loaded gun. she begs for her life. >> i was crying, hysterical, yelling. i said, don't do this. and i thought i almost got to him, you know, making him feel sorry, okay, why am i doing this? he proceeded to walk away, but he turned around and he just pointed and shot me. >> reporter: yvonne is shot in the stomach. she plays dead, waiting for the gunman to drive away. then, bleeding and in shock, she drives to a nearby gas station where she calls for help. and yet, the worst pain was yet to come, when lying in the hospital, yvonne was told her husband of 20 years was having an affair with 39-year-old michelle geyser. and it that was gueyser who planned the shooting.

she cut a deal with the state. she agreed to testify against jeff stern in exchange for a 25-year sentence. her story? jeff was the brains of the operation, and prosecutors buy it. you see him equally responsible as michelle? >> yes. we believe the evidence shows that he is guilty of solicitation of capital murder. >> reporter: but that was before the latest twist. new evidence that geyser may have been involved in a previous murder for hire scheme and other criminal activity. >> this is a startling revelation. and it severely damages the prosecution's case. their case relies on the believability of the geyser woman. >> reporter: but the most unbelievable part of the story to many is the fact that the victim is supporting the man accused of trying to kill her. >> there's just no way. the affair, okay. i'll give you that one. but to plot my murder? absolutely not. it's ludicrous.

. >> reporter: that's right. after initially leaving him, yvonne decided to forgive jeff of his affair and take him back. a decision that fueled robust debate on tv. >> three separate attempts on her life and she still is standing -- >> standing by her man. >> reporter: unfortunately, it seems these murder for hire plots are not out of the ordinary. in fact, there have been several high profile cases in just the past several years. take the case that xilss practically start to finish on video and audio tape. >> i'm positive. >> reporter: the case of dalia, of florida, who thought she was paying a gunman to kill her husband, but it was actually an undercover cop, recording it all. they event went so far as to stage a fake crime scene and captured her rehearsed reaction on tape. >> okay, i'm sorry to tell you, ma'am, he's been killed. >> reporter: later that same day, though, they confronted her with the recordings. >> i didn't do anything. >> listen.

>> i didn't do anything. >> you're going to jail. >> reporter: and then, the biggest shock of all. her husband, mike, appears. >> oh, my god. >> he's alive. >> come here, please. come here. mike, come here. >> reporter: she's now under house arrest while appealing a 20-year sentence. she is also divorced. brad garrett says it is tough to know how much of this is going on, because we usually only hear about the ones that fail. >> there are a few people that get away with it, but very few. if, in fact, the murder is attempted, it is usually by somebody who either doesn't know what they're doing and they botch it, so, the quality control is extremely poor in murder for hire cases. >> reporter: however, in a situation that seems to be a textbook case of irreconcilable differences, yvonne says her marriage is even better after. >> we share more. we're closer. basically inseparable. >> reporter: a whole new meaning

to the vow of "for better or worse." for "nightline," i'm chris cuomo in new york. >> and when we come back, how kathy ireland went from a pinup in the dorm room to a brand name in the family room. [ nadine ] buzzzz, bzzzz, bzzzz, bzzzz, you know, typical alarm clock. i am so glad to get rid of it. just to be able to wake up in the morning on your own. that's a big accomplishment to me. i don't know how much money i need. but i know that whatever i have that's what i'm going to live within. ♪ ♪

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>> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with bill weir. >> when they carve a mt. rushmore of super models, and you know it's just a matter of time, she will be the one that beat out tyra banks, cindy crawford and christy brinkley for the highest receiving kovmer of "sports illustrated." but these days, you are more likely to find her in the board room than a bikini, after parlaying her smile into a $2

billion brand. how? well, here's abc's david wright. >> reporter: she was an '80s icon. one of the most fay mouls faces and bodies of the era. kathy ireland, featured in 13 consecutive "sports illustrated" swim suit issues. her first cover remains the magazine's best selling swimsuit issue ever. >> you all look amazing. and you have gorgeous smiles. >> reporter: heavy pressure here to be posing in front of a super model. ireland is now the businesswoman behind the lens. in this case, launching her newest venture, kathy ireland weddings. as forbes recently put it, super model is now a super mogul. she semis an estimated $2 billion worth of retail product a year. >> i don't measure success in terms of dollars. >> reporter: you've been called the martha stewart of middle america. >> i think it's interesting, the

only thing that martha and i have in common is that we both used to model. >> reporter: you were a little more successful on the modeling front. come on. you're bigger than martha stewart, right? >> i don't talk numbers. ill nev i never have. >> reporter: she here's had some of the typical milestones. she tried acting. playing a female football player in "necessary roughness." >> allow me to escort you to the party? >> all right. >> reporter: she released a workout video. and a few years ago, had a brief turn on "dancing with the stars." but it's in business where she's truly made her mark. her business is licensing and marketing products. >> hi, i'm kathy ireland for window world. >> reporter: her company doesn't make anything. but they make money from everything they sell. how are you different from martha stewart design? >> her designs are picture perfect.

our philosophy is, life is messy. >> reporter: a philosophy she says she learned as a mother of three. more than 15,000 products carry kathy ireland's name. there are now kathy ireland tables, area rugs, lamps, window replacements? i guess wedding dresses now, too. >> we design products that work the way we live. so, now, from her engagement ring to the wedding gown, the fine china and crystal to her flooring as she's nesting, that baby crib, the cradle, her windows, up to the creeiling fa. really bring it all together. >> reporter: an empire that started 20 years ago with socks. one would have expected you yo start with swim wear and yet you started with socks? swim wear would have been too obvious with that modeling background. >> reporter: nobody would have bought it because they know they're not going to look like kathy ireland when they put it on? >> they might have bought a bikini from me, but what then? i wanted to build a real brand that would be lasting. >> reporter: did one of your

strat jimss say socks? >> i was actually offered the opportunity to model a pair of socks and it was at a time when not a lot of job offers were coming my way. i was an aging model, pregnant at my kitchen table. and my first response was no thank you. but i knew i could use the money. >> reporter: so, instead of modfuling the socks, she went into business with her own brand. >> people said it was stupid. they latch elaughed in our face. >> reporter: later, warren buffett advised her to start with rugs. >> fashion and apparel changes, but home is more consistent. >> reporte >> reporter: and how did you meet elizabeth taylor? >> i took a deep breath, picked up the phone and i asked if i could be mentored by her. >> reporter: what did she say? >> she said, i would love that. >> reporter: were you intimidated? >> i was so scared.

>> reporter: the two became close friend. so much so, taylor left her so many paintings, as well as her lifetime achievement oscar. what did you learn from her in a business sense or design sense? >> detail. she would look at a piece of jewelry and turn it on the back and maybe think, well, nobody is going to see the back. no, no, the woman wearing it will see it and she will know and it matters. thank you very much. >> reporter: a passion for detail and a love of design ireland now brings to her business. she doesn't just rubber stamp the products that carry her name. >> we're trying it with a deeper finish. >> reporter: she and her team are actively involved in everything from design to marketing. >> when i used to model, the job description was shut up and pose. there are people today who would really like me to go back to that old job description and simply shut up and pose. >> reporter: those days are over for kathy ireland. and there's no going back. so, which is more fun?

super model or super mogul? >> i always knew i belonged on the other side of the lens. >> reporter: she's more than proved it. i'm david wright for "nightline" in palm springs. >> kathy ireland will be live on "good morning america" tomorrow. our thanks to david wright. and just ahead, the touching story of a little orphan chimp and the alpha male why took him under his wing.

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in defiance of u.s. and u.n. warnings, north korea launched a long range rocket tonight. not only to mark the 100th birthday of the nation's founder, but also, many in this country believe, to display the nuclear ambitions of kim young un. but it lasted on 81 seconds after liftoff, when the rocket broke into pieces and fell into the sea. but unlike past misfires, the state run media in north korea is acknowledging this one. and while that country's yesterday to launch anything into space, another underground nuclear test is expected this year. turning now to the amazing true story of an orphaned chimp, alone in the jungle. camera crews followed little oscar's progress for three amazing years. what they captured has left

experts stunned and audiences charmed. >> reporter: from the first frame, there is no doubt oscar is the star of this film. impossibly cute baby chimp. we meet him as he is first introduced to life in this remote african rain forest, closely surrounded by an extended family of chimps. but none is more important to this adorable little fella tha ' eisha. and just as they are suddenly wrenched away from their babies, eisha leaves baby oscar to fund for himself. what we do get to witness is a real life tale of loss and survival, playing out right before our eyes in disney's new documentary, "chip pan see." without his mother, oscar's chances are survival are slim.

but that's when name sure finds a way. >> not only is the footage spectacular, but the story that unfolded, i mean, they have to be the luckiest film team ever to have the most extraordinary story just happen in front of the camera. >> reporter: the role of mom is unexpectedly and quite touchingly filled by this guy, freddy. while oscar may be the star here, freddy is most definitely the hero. the leader of the chimp group takes oscar under his massive arms and becomes a father, a teacher and a lifeline. world famous dr. jane goodall has studied chimps for 50 years. >> i've never seen a fully grown male adopt an unrelated infant. so, for me, that was very moving, actually. >> reporter: and likely the first time it's been captured on film. documentary crew spent more than three years shooting the movie, braving the elements and rough

terrain. to capture the all-too-human aspects of life. their routines, battles and family bonds. decades ago, there were more than a million chimps in africa. now, only 300,000. humans hunt these animals for food and destroy the forest they call home. the conservation battle continues, but the hope with this movie is that viewers leave with more understanding of these animals, more sympathy. and above all else, a sense of connection. >> they are more like us than any other living creature. and it helps us to realize that we are part of, not separated, from the animal kingdom. >> reporter: i'm rob nelson for "nightline" in new york. >> "chimpanzee," a disney nature film, opens in theaters april 20th. check with us tomorrow night, special edition of "nightline,"