deputy district attorney matt murphy believed the evidence spoke for itself. >> there is an image of this young woman in the hospital with her dog sitting on her bed. talk about a picture saying 1,000 words. it screams out that this is an innocent woman who came very close to being murdered by a really bad guy and fought bravely and survived. >> reporter: the prosecutor said it was an easy decision. this was self-defense. case closed. did a feeling come with that? >> a sense of relief that it's, like, finally over. >> reporter: john meehan's ex-wife, tonia bales, was working when she got the news. do you remember that moment? >> oh, yeah. it made me tremble. i was in the middle of a case, and it just -- it popped up on the screen as a notification. "john was killed." by the time i took the patient outta the room, i was in tears. yeah. i wasn't in tears 'cause he died. i was in tears 'cause i had to tell his children. and that made me very sad to have to tell them. it was awful.

lot of a rental apartment complex in newport beach, california. that's when they heard it. >> and she says this woman's just screaming. >> all right. >> whole complex must have heard it, terrified, howling, desperate. >> is she ok? >> reporter: there was a man down there, they could see him. he had a knife. he was stabbing the screaming woman and nobody was helping her. >> it's really bad -- >> all right. i understand. we have officers on the way. >> too late. too late. >> oh, the ambulance is here. they're doing cpr on somebody. >> the bloody ending. but the story, the whole terrible tale, is much deeper than that one thing, dreadful though it was. a story christopher goffard of of the "los angeles times" spent months unraveling. strand by disturbing strand. >> it's a story about trust and betrayal, and it's a story about family.