and in the winter of 2000, eric bechler went on trial. the star witness, tina new. t just by her waffling about eric's guilt and her own checkered past, but also by one detail in the story tina says eric told her, something defense attorney john barnett says is critical. >> you'd expect if pegye's head was caved in by 35 pound dumbbells, there'd be blood. >> quite a lot of it. >> everywhere. and -- and there wasn't. >> reporter: on the stand, tina tried to defend herself. >> i'm a horrible witness when it comes to looking at me on paper. >> did 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. and i honestly didn't care what anybody thought. >> reporter: then there was the conversation she had recorded at el torito. eric's own words. the jury heard all of them. >> nobody knows anything but you! >> barnett offered his own explanation. >> i argued that 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