peggy. >> the unimaginable happened. >> male, distraught, said his wife fell overboard. >> it was a boating accident, said eric, and the coast guard agreed. something they see all too often. but soon, secrets emerged that would make some people wonder. what really happened to peggy beckler. >> when we come back. >> i thought they would find her. >> maybe alive. >> i did, because she is a fabulous swimmer. >> where was peggy, and what had gone wrong on that boat?

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>> the coast guard immediately launched a search, but by nightfall, no sign of peggy, alive or otherwise. and so eric called peggy's mom, june. >> he says we can't find peggy. and i said what do you mean you can't find her? where is she? what are you trying to tell me? >> eric told june peggy was driving the boat, towing him on a body board, when all of a sudden, a wave wiped him out. he came up from under the water, he said, he could no longer see peggy inside the boat. >> we thought she would be finding her, because we really just thought she would swim out of it. >> you see, approxima peggy was home in the water.

she didn't have to wear the back brace and she became a very accomplished swimmer. >> she wouldn't panic. she would swim. because she loved the water. >> the next morning, june and glenn marshall were on the first flight out to california. peggy had been missing almost 24 hours. >> of course, the ocean is just bigger, bigger, bigger than you think about if you're in new mexico. >> peggy's friend glenda, tried to stay opoptimistic. >> i thought they would find her. >> maybe alive. >> i did, because she is a fabulous swimmer. >> she went to the beckler house to see eric. >> how did he

>> hyste rca l. he looked up set as he would be, one would expect. >> she was the best person. >> this video from local news shows a devastated eric. it was now day two of the search for peggy, still nothing. the next day, the coast guard interviewed eric. eric beckler could barely speak. >> what did you take with you? >> we had a couple of bags and a cooler. we wanted to see if we could see catalina, but it was so hazy, so peggy, you know, it was too hazy, we shouldn't go too far out. >> eric told the coast guard he tried to body board on the way out. >> eric said they stopped on the water to enjoy some margaritas

h peggy had made and wanted to try the body board again. eric was being pulled on the board. >> it just jerked. you know, just couldn't hold on. the boat was just going circles. the boat kept going farther and farther away. and i couldn't see any other boats, and i was screaming. and looking around. it was my fault. if i could only see her again. >> and so peggy beckler was simply gone. maybe even within sight of the same beach that spawned her marriage. eric seemed

his wife was dead. >> i was sure they would find her. it would turn out well. >> not just because peggy was a strong swimmer. everyone knew that. linda knew more, about her daughter-in-law. >> you thought what, peggy faked her death, or disappeared deliberately. >> uh-huh. >> coming up, peggy's secret. what was it? >> stopped me on the stairway and she said i have to talk to you. >> and enter, the bikini model. >> she was just a hot number, as they say. >> how would she figure into all of this,

a brilliant pacific ocean sun set, closed out day three of the search for peggy beckler, and even though family and friends tried to remain hopeful,

set in. and it was painful. >> at this point, you didn't think hee was alive any more? >> i kept thinking that she was, but you know, how could she, you know, that length of time. >> unless, of course, what appeared to be an accident was not. the coast guard convected a reenactment at sea. they couldn't do it. >> they said it doesn't appear to be feasible to them given the sea conditions. that's when the coast guard called the orange county sheriff's office. >> detective shawn murphy was put on the case. >> they weren't even to duplicate what was ahead by eric that his wife was tossed off by a wave. >> if peggy's disappearance was no accident, hur fee's job was to find out what did happen. detectives started by reinterviewing eric and asking him about hisat

peggy. >> he said his marriage was good, no problems with it. >> you didn't take his word for it. >> no, in our game, we don't take anyone's word into anything. we looked into it. >> they met with the improbably named, kobe laker, eric's best friend and kobe backed him up. >> terrific marriage, no problems whatsoever. >> but if the marriage seemed solid, there were questions about peggy, at least according to linda beckler, eric's mother. linda says peggy told her something in confidence. just before she disappeared. >> she stopped me on the stairway as i was leaving and she said i have to talk to you. she said i'm afraid i'm going to jail. >> according to court documents, about a year before peggy disappeared, the couple sold their physical therapy business to another company. but they stayed on as employees. then just four months before peggy vanished, the becklers were fired,

they had over buiilled medicare for over $1 million. so when linda heard she vanished. >> i started thinking how disturbed she was about going to jail. >> and she wondered if peggy had somehow staged her own disappearance. peggy's friend glenda said no way. >> was peggy beckler capable of committing white color crime, medicare overbilling? >> in my opinion, no. >> but if you're wrong about that, then maybe the idea that she faked her death to escape possible prosecution, would than -- maybe that's more plausible. >> white color crime and faking your death and leaving your family and your children are two separate issues. >> glenda said peggy a dodored children and would never abandon them. >> i would say that people who

a courtroom or jail cell, sometimes do pretty crazy things when they rel lieds that might happenalize that might happen to them. >> i believe that, but not peggy. >> she did tell the detectives they were having some issues, like how peggy was busy with work and kids, while eric seemed occupied on the volleyball court. >> she confided in me. they were having some financial trouble. >> eric and peggy seemed determined to work everything out. but now peggy was gone and eric was a single dad with three kids under the age of four. and a new player was about to enter the story. >> you were drawn to eric right away? >> yes. >> like countless young women before her, tina had drop dead looks and hollywood dreams. she had done

modeling and had a small part on "bay watch nights." but that turned out to be the peek of her career. soon, she found herself slipping into the darker side of showbiz. she started doing drugs and lost custody of her two children because of it. fell for a succession of guy whose did not treat her kindly. >> i mean, i had an ex-boyfriend put a gun to my head, i was held over the balcony by my neck. >> tina, who was broke and near rock bottom, was desperate. >> i got down on my knees and said i'll do whatever you want, lord, just help me. i can't do this any more. i need to you show me a sign. >> and the universe sent you eric beckler. >> the next day, i meet him and all my problems are gone. >> she had taken a modeling gig, eye candy at a trade show. eric was there promoting his new business. it was three months to the day since peggy disappead.

chem tree from the beginning. >> yes, we went out that night actually. he asked me out that night and i moved in the next day, really fast. >> you don't wait, do you? >> no. not then. >> eric lived in a giant house and drove a porsche. >> i had never been spoiled like that. i remember thinking i was like julia roberts in pretty woman. >> she was moved by eric's story. >> he said his wife died in a tragic boat accident and that they were never able to find her. >> she couldn't help noticing how great he was with his kids. >> he would get on the floor and play with them. i thought he was a great dad. >> she was eager to help while. >> i thought they lost their mom, they need someone to step in and not be their mom, but do things their mom would do for

them. >> and when they took the kids to visit the parents, there was a lot of animosity. >> there was a hot young woman replacing their youmissing daughter. >> shawn murphy also noticed the new woman in his life. >> just a hot number, as they say. and she was cohabitating with him right after this horrible boating accident with his wife. >> so murphy arranged to bump into tina. >> said hey, if you have any information about this boating accident involving eric, your boyfriend, just give us a call, and i gave her my card with my number on it. >> nothing came of it. tina didn't call. but someone else did. >> coming up, the best friend has second thoughts. kobe laker

>> i protected you. i basically made you like lie a saint. >> and the new girlfriend is about to see this case in a whole new light. >> i took a videotape in and i said oh, my gosh what, is this. level of clean to it. it just kinda like...wiped everything clean. 6x cleaning my teeth are glowing. they are so white. 6x whitening i actually really like the 2 steps. step 1, cleans step 2, whitens. every time i use this together, it felt like... ...leaving the dentist office. crest hd. 6x cleaning, 6x whitening i would switch to crest hd over what i was using before. i tabut with my back paines, i couldn't sleep and get up in time. then i found aleve pm. aleve pm is the only one to combine a safe sleep aid plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. i'm back. aleve pm for a better am.

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tho shawn murphy, it sounde more than suspicion. taking up with a gorgeous red head, just three months after his wife was lost at sea. but murphy didn't have much more than a gnaw in his gut until his phone rang. >> we got a call from kobe's lawyer saying he wanted to have an interview with kobe. >> kobe laker, eric's best friend and volleyball buddy. he told detectives the marriage was great. now he had a different story. >> eric

tired of his wife and he would tell me that he just couldn't take it any more, he was tired of it. >> about seven months before peggy vanished, kobe says he and eric had a conversation that kobe describes as haunting him ever since. >> eric passed me about what i thought of the idea of him killing his wife, and i -- i was in shock. i didn't know what to say. he told me that he was making her take him out to the ocean and dumping him in a barrel. >> when he saw there was a boating accident and she was missing, you knew right then and there, he knew he killed his wife. he lied to us because he panicked and he was afraid and didn't know what do. >> detectives convinced kobe to wear a wire, and to meter rick at a restaurant in

eric had no idea that police were listening in, even so, he stuck to his story that peggy's death was a terrible accident. >> i was there. i know what happened. it's so hard for me to understand, you know, there could be any other -- people could think anything else. >> you never said, hey, look, man, i don't know what the [ bleeping ] but i'm innocent. i never said anything about anything. do i have to say it every week. >> kobe tried again. >> i protected you. i basically made you look leak a saint in the interview i had with the detectives. >> a dead end. but detectives were now convinced that eric killed his wife. >> even though he didn't lead to anything, that conversation with kobe, that got you from suspicious to knowing. >> it moved it over. we knew we had a homicide. >> but knowing it and proving it were two very different things. >> you didn't get the

the crime scene for almost a week. >> right, right. so that wasn't good. that handed the investigation. >> the boat, said detective murphy war murphy, was pretty clean. they found blood, just one drop, under one of the cushions, but not enough to determine whether it was human blood. it could have come from a fish. not enough evidence to arrest him for murder, or even prove that a murder occurred. peggy's close friend glenda didn't believe eric was a killer. >> there is no way eric would have done that. no way. >> tina felt the same way. >> i felt the police were trying to frame an innocent man. no way, the way he treats me, no way he could have hurt his wife. >> tina also noticed he kept photos of peggy in every room in the house. he could not imagine a man that killed his wife would want to see her face

>> eric was the answer for your problems for a while, wasn't he? >> yeah, he was. >> so you weren't too anxious to question him. >> no, i believed him. >> after about six months. >> he says will you mary me? >> and you say. >> i said yes. >> you don't say no a lot. >> i mean, he treated me so good. >> she also admits, she newer rick was due to collect more than $2 million in insurance money, once he was cleared in his wife's disappearance. >> and everything would work out. >> everything would work out, yep. >> well, you were wrong. >> i was definitely wrong. >> they had been a couple for two years. still, not married, but living together off and on. one night, tina was showing eric some of her old modeling shots and tv appearances. >> we were looking at my picture, but i put the video in and i was fast forwarding it and it just stopped. >> purely by chance, she accidentally recorded a news report about peggy's disappearance. >> the whole sn

ex, my gosh what, is this. >> and she turned to eric. >> he turned white. like he lost the color in his face. s he said how did you get that? >> his reaction troubled her. he hit play and it got worst. the news report did not match the story eric had told her about peggy's disappearance. >> he told me there was three to four-foot waves, it was choppy out there. >> but on the report she went missing there were only two-foot waves and the weather was described as ideal. >> he lied. he lied all this time to me. you know, and he was just really quiet. >> sitting next to you. >> signatutting next to me. >> i yelled at him and i said why is this different than what you told me. he just like got really quiet. >> then she says eric beckler

happened when peggy fell off the boat. he thinks she hit a wake and fell off. he said, and i didn't get to her. and i said didn't get to her or you didn't want to get to her. he said, at first he told me that he didn't get to her. then later he changed it and he said i could have helped her but i didn't. >> that's completely different from what he told police. >> right. >> chilling as that sounded, tina feared it still wasn't the whole story. she was determined to get the rest, but like a career in showbiz, you have to be careful what you wish for. coming up -- >> i'm afraid of you. >> nobody knows anything but you. >> from model and actress to undercover agent, a secret operation to learn the truth. >> this is where it gets really scary. >> when "dateline" continues. ito

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>> afraid, yet they continued to see each other, sleep together, and -- about two weeks after eric changed history, he and tina went to a club and took the drug ex tas see. >> we're both just laying in the bed and staring at the ceiling together. it just came to me and i said to him, i said oh, my god, you hit her over the head. he said how did you know that. >> the fact is, she hadn't known. call it intuition or the effect of the drug or a random guess, but it was an opening, and tina barrelled through. >> i said you need to tell me the truth. he is calmly talking to me and he said i'm going to tell you the truth. we had this huge party so everybody could see how happy we were together. >> all their friends were there. witnesses to the happy marriage. then a couple of days later, she says, eric t

he said he hit her over the head a weight. he told her there was blood everywhere. then eric beckler told her how he got rid of his wife. >> he just -- he did her wrists and her ankles together so she was completely bent in half. he took the two trash bags he had and put her body in it and put the weights and tied it down to the a rope and threw her in. >> two years after she vanished, a stunning confession. >> and you go to sleep after a man -- >> no, actually then we have sex. and i felt like i had to do it, because i think that made him feel like i was going to be quiet and you know, that he

with me or something. >> but the deal was not sealed. not with anyone. the case was still open, and detectives had been keeping an eye honor rick -- on eric and tina all along. >> we knew it was going to go sideways. >> because when they go sideways, people start talking. >> that's right. >> and that's what happened, two weeks after eric's apparent confession. a neighbor called 911 after hearing yelling. when police arrived, eric was gone, but tina was angry, and she still had the business card detective murphy had given her almost two years earlier. >> i kbrabgrabbed my partner an met up with tina. >> she told him what eric said. a big break, yes, but not enough for an arrest.

ideal witness. detectives knew they would need more than her word against eric. so they asked tina. >> would you be willing to wear a wire. i said yes. >> why would you turn in a guy who had basically taken you from a terrible life and given you a great life. >> because i couldn't live with myself. i mean, no way. >> police planted microphones in her car, in her purse, and on her body. and tina arranged a meeting. she told eric that after the domestic violence call, sheriff's homicide detectives came in to ask questions about eric. it was to get their stories straight in case the cops questioned her again. tina wired up, picked upper rick from his home and drove to a restaurant called el torito. >> were you worried? >> not really. i was worried that i wouldn't getim

>> i had two stories. >> no story to tell. you you weren't there. it was an accident. >> once inside the restaurant, tina tried to getter rick to repeat the details of peggy's death. eric wouldn't go there. >> don't worry about it. details are not important. >> so tina tried to get him to say why he did it. >> i mean, how do i know you wouldn't get so mad at me. >> tina, i've been way more mad at you. >> you know. so how could you do that. >> i don't know. >> no confession, but not a denial either. >> are you thinking to yourself at that point, that's it, i got him. >> i honestly thought it was good, but still thought it wasn't enough. >> but you do know, there was a reason. >> remember, peggy had a life insurance policy worth more than $2 million. >> again, she tried to get him to give her a reason. >> what was it about her

made you want to -- >> i felt like i was backed in a corner, like she was gonna steal the kids. >> and eric tried to reassure tina. >> i would never do that. >> she was good. she was really good. >> but the drama wasn't over. tina left the restaurant with eric, still wired up. >> this is where it gets scary. so we're walking out to the car and he says to me let me drive. >> that was not part of the plan. >> we lose sight of them. >> in a movie, this is where you hear the sound of gun shuts. >> that would not have been good. >> in the car, with eric behind the wheel, tina cranked up her acting skills, and -- >> just tell -- i haven't talked about it for over a year and of ma. >> you're making me lie. >> i'm not making you do anything. you tell them anything. >> i don't care at this point. >> tell them what?

>> whatever you [ bleeping ]. >> don't you talk to me that way. >> now she tried to getter rick out of the car. >> pull my car over. >> i will. >> now. >> i don't trust you. i'm afraid of you. >> i'm just -- all i'm asking -- you don't have to -- nobody knows anything but you. you don't have to tell anybody anything. >> tina hopped in the driver's seat. >> meet me at my house. that's why i'm going to be. >> and just like that, tina drove away from her old life. >> in the end, you got enough. >> oh, absolutely, yeah? >> understand you're under arrest. >> he was arrested and charged with peggy's murder. >> what was it like to get the call that he had been arrested? >> i just trembled all over. i couldn't really believe it. >> but two weeks after eric's arrest made headlines, tina made some headlines of her own. put the whole case in

coming up -- >> i did not commit this crime. >> eric beckler on trial, and tina's credibility, that's on trial too. >> do you think anybody was -- >> no. >> without that statement, they don't have anything that makes this a homicide.

beach volleyball is a kid's game played by grown-ups, murder for profits is played only by adults. and it's for keeps. prosecutors believed eric beckler was trying to be successful at both. detectives put him in jail, but then two weeks after eric's arrest, came this headline in the local paper. witness in murder case doubts suspect's

tina, who had worn a wire and helped police nail eric, now said maybe he didn't kill her. >> the kids lost their mom and they're probably going to lose their dad for a long time. i felt guilty. >> guilty for a man she was about to marry. >> he tried to hang himself with the sheets. >> that was enough to make you think twice. >> i didn't want him to die. >> you felt guilty. >> i felt guilty. >> you tried to roll the whole thing back. >> yeah, i did. >> but she said she always believed he was guilty. and in the winter of 2000, eric beckler went on trial. the star witness, tina, a witness who was to be fair, compromised, not just about her waffling and her own checkered past, but one detail in the story tina says eric

critical. >> you expect if peggy's head was caved in by 35 pound dumbbells, there would be blood. >> quite a lot of it. >> everywhere. and there wasn't. >> on the stand, tina tried to defend herself. >> i'm a horrible witness when it comes to looking at me on paper. >> do you think anybody would believe you? >> no. you know, i knew that i told exactly what he had said to me, and i knew that i was doing the right thing. i honestly didn't care what anybody thought. >> then there was the conversation she had recorded at the restaurant. eric's own words. the jury heard all of them. >> nobody knows anything but you. >> barnett offered his own explanation. >> i argued the reason he said it is to shut her up, to calm her down. >> in any event, the defense said, eric never said on tape that he hit peggy. the only person who heard him

a woman with a fraud conviction on her record. >> without that statement, they have a lot of sir coupcircumsta evidence. >> another theory. >> she was under a great deal of pressure and could easily be distracted. and in combination with alcohol, she she rarely drank, but she did on that day, could contribute to a lack of care in driving the boat. >> you don't think peggy beckler faked her death? you think she's dead. >> i do not think she faked her death. >> do you think she died accidentally and her body hasn't been found. >> that's right. prosecutor's argued it was eric's doing. >> he had 3.5 million reasons for killing her. and that's what he stood to gain if he had gotten away with it. >> he ha

home that appeared to be incomplete. they believe he used the missing weight to kill peggy and sink her body. >> what about the blood? a luminol test, a lot of blood in the boat, but it was cleaned up, and of course, there was tina herself despite her past and criminal record and her drug use, she rang true to you? >> yes, absolutely. >> who would the jury believe? and would tina's past make a difference? >> it doesn't matter what i did before or after i met him, you know. what i did with myself has nothing to do with what he did. >> after seven days, the verdict. guilty of first degree murder. >> you are thrilled the man did it is behind bars, but nobody wins in this situation. nobody. the children now have no mother and no father. so there is no winn

rick killed peggy for the money. he was found not guilty of murder for financial gain. h at his sentencing, he addressed the judge. >> the accident was a horrible tragedy. it affects our families and a as much as the marshals are hurting, my family is also hurting, because i did not commit this crime. >> the judge sentenced him to life without the possibility of parole. >> linda thinks the verdict was wrong. >> is it possible you don't know your son as well as you think you do. >> oh, baloney. i know him like the back of my hand i. >> i could understand a mother not wanting to believe her son committed a crime. >> listen, if my kid was a druggy, gopher, thief, rapist. >> murderer? >> whatever, well, yea b

he isn't. >> peggy beckler's body has never been found. >> you want to know what happened? you still don't want to hear murder. >> at least you know. >> that's still pretty hard to take. and even with all of this information, we don't have a body. >> are you all right? >> yeah. >> you discover you were stronger than you thought you were? >> oh, yeah. >> peggy's mother and sister ended up raising her kids. and one more person who was stronger than she thought. tina. >> you're leading a different life these days. >> completely different life. >> she gave up drugs, married a nice guy, and now she is a stay at home mom with five kids. hollywood happy ending, no. sometimes real life is better. that's all for now. i'm lester holt. th

this sunday morning, the sudden death of justice antonin scalia and the rarest of events, a vacancy on the supreme court in the middle of a presidential election. how the fight over his replacement could paralyze the senate and all of washington. we'll hear from four republican presidential candidates, donald trump, ted cruz, marco rubio and john kasich. plus, that wild republican debate last night. >> you are a principle -- >> you are the single biggest liar. >> when you point to his own record, he screams liar, liar, liar. >> i think we're fixing to lose the election to hillary clinton if we don't stop this. >> also, bernie sanders gets a taste of what he may face as he tries to win african-american voters. >>óvç i've said black 50 times,l right. that's the 51st time. >> can hillary clinton win by making this campaign a referendum on sanders, not herself? joining me this sunday morning for inside and