. >> reporter: tony's attorney is bruce fleisher. >> they sought the death penalty. >> reporter: policerosecutors were confident they had a solid case against tony villegas, but something happened that threw 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. and in the midst of it all, scott rothstein, like melissa, would disappear. >> coming up -- were melissa and scott rothstein's disappearances connected? >> we three kings be stealing the gold. >> the dark secret buried beneath all those riches. >> these people are going to put a bullet in my head. >> when "dateline" continues. protect your pet with the #1 name in flea and tick protection. frontline plus. trusted by vets for nearly 20 years. frontline plus. they're out there. thousands ofr allergensyes know in each cubic yard of air. no wonder you rub your eyes hundreds of times a day. but now, relief is just one drop away. introducing pataday® full prescription strength pataday works right in your eyes. right on the ce

in miami, bruce fleisher has honed the skill as well as anyone. see right away knew it long before the trial was that the scene in that courtroom was about as bad as it could be. because there they were, just feet apart. his client and a blind father. the survivor of christopher sutton's alleged plot to kill his parents. >> the fact that john sutton survived and was blind to me was the greatest prejudice in the case. >> reporter: there he was right behind the bar the whole time. >> the jury would hear something bad and they would look over at john sutton. they had to be thinking, "this poor man, look what he has to go through life with." >> for the victim, fleisher knew he must display only sympathy. instead he would attack the murder investigation itself. the way the police came up with their two star witnesses, juliet driscoll, and garrett kopp without them the state's case was weak. why do you suppose they came forward anyway? because they were forced to. or so reasoned fleisher. juliet driscoll, why did she tell police christopher talked about