. >> reporter: over time alayne says gail appeared to bounce back, landing a job at an ad company and building her way back up. >> and that's when one of her friends decides that she's got to introduce gail to dr. robert bierenbaum. >> reporter: robert bierenbaum met gail during his surgical residency in new york. >> he's close to her age, jewish, classical guitar player. he spoke several languages. he was a gourmet cook. an expert skier. he had mastered instructor level piloting. >> reporter: the doctor swept gail off her feet immediately. >> however, in spite of all of his pluses, there were problems with the relationship. and it was obvious early on. >> when we would be together with them as a couple, he would be very controlling of her. >> reporter: but gail had made up her mind. bob was marrying material. and the two get engaged. but then all of a sudden those red flags about gail's seemingly perfect fiance become four-alarm sirens. >> during the summer of '82 i get the hysterical call from my sister. bob tried to kill the cat. he had the cat in the toilet choking it with its hea

. >> alayne says things went downhill for gail from there.arm injury, drops out of school, and is drifting without a purpose. it all comes to a head on a traumatic night in 1979. >> on a night that i'm supposed to meet her, i get a call. she's in the hospital. she's tried to commit suicide. in my heart of hearts, i believe it was more of a really, really big cry for help than a true suicide attempt. how did gail recover from that experience? she didn't. >> over time, elaine says, gail appeared to bounce back, landing a job at an ad company and building her way back up. >> and that's when one of her friends decides that she's got to introduce gail to dr. robert bierenbaum. >> robert bierenbaum grew up in west orange, new jersey. it is upper middle class. very nice area. his father was a physician. >> attended local high school, where he was brilliant. he was always interested in flying. in high school, he got a pilot's license and was allowed to fly out of a number of small airports dotting northern new jersey. >> but he decided to pursue a ca