Narrator: A high-powered lawyer
Tries to balance her family and her career.
Debra: She loved those girls.
She wanted great things for them.
Worried about them like if they were her own children.
Carrie: After making partner,
Her goal and the next step was to be a judge.
Narrator: But when she disappears...
Debra: She's usually the first one in the office every day.
I started thinking something's wrong here.
Carrie: This is not good.
Lizzie would never not show up.
Narrator: The possibilities are frightening.
It was, uh, a home invasion robbery
Or even possibly a carjacking.
We're looking for people that may have heard screams,
Gunshots, uh, cry for help.
Narrator: Investigators uncover a criminal conspiracy.
Det. Kendall: Principal law partner was subject
Of a significant criminal ponzi scheme investigation.
Ended up being a $50 billion criminal enterprise.
Narrator: But do the clues lead to a motive much closer to home?
An evil person didn't get his way.
[♪♪]
Narrator: Plantation, florida is built on everglade wetlands
Drained by developers to create
What they called the city of the future.
The region's watery past is ever present in the series
Of managed canals
That snake through the community's lush backyards.
Carrie: In plantation is an upper scale middle class area.
The houses are larger.
They actually have a, you know, maybe a half an acre of land.
South florida as a whole is built on swamp land.
And so, it is not at all uncommon
To have your backyard a bunch of canal.
These canals are part of our everyday life.
They're everywhere.
Narrator: Early one Friday morning,
A maintenance worker is checking the pump station
On a canal that runs through the backyards of several homes.
He went out to do his morning review
And site maintenance
To make sure that the water is flowing
Through the grates and going out towards the everglades.
Narrator: That's when the worker notices something
Obstructing one of the grates.
Shari: Normally, it's just weeds, trash,
Things of that nature that will clog up the grating system.
He noticed that it was something unusual and went to inspect it.
He at first thought it was a mannequin.
He had found mannequins floating there before
That the clothing stores nearby
Had discarded in the canals as trash.
As he tried to clear, uh, the area,
He realized that this is not a mannequin.
This was in fact a human body.
Narrator: The worker immediately shuts down the pump
And calls 911.
[♪♪]
Det. Kendall: When I arrived at the canal,
I'm brought down to a landing
Which was the best location
To visually observe the body in the water.
It was a white female.
She had a brown hair.
She was wearing a-- it was like
A flowery colored blouse,
Dress pants, slacks.
Um, she had no shoes on.
In plantation, they don't have a huge crime rate
And when something happens of this nature,
It's almost always a big deal because it's, uh,
Extremely unusual discovery for that area.
Obviously, it is the number one burning question,
Who is this person buried in this backyard canal?
[♪♪]
Narrator: South florida's beautiful beaches
Attract sun worshippers from around the world.
But that's not why melissa lewis came here.
After earning her law degree,
She saw an opportunity in the sunshine state's
Rapidly growing legal profession.
Carrie: Lizzie liked to help people.
So, she wanted to implement law.
Lizzie was working at rothstein rosenfeldt adler
With debra, her best friend.
Debra: Melissa was a very high energy, motivated person.
If she set her mind towards something,
She accomplished the goal.
Narrator: 39-year-old melissa charts an ambitious course
At rothstein rosenfeldt adler and her efforts are rewarded.
She was the-the first woman to make a partnership,
Which was, kind of, a big deal.
It was life-changing for her.
She was very proud of that.
Um, after making partner,
Her goal and the next step was to be a judge.
She was just a very giving, fun-loving person.
Carrie: Lizzie was, um, an advocate
For victims of domestic violence.
She would donate things for women in distress.
Debra: I was going through my divorce.
I had left my ex-husband for many years
Because I was worried of what he might do
To me and the children.
And melissa was there for me.
My children loved her
Because I didn't have sisters.
She was like an aunt to them.
Carrie: She had debra, and she had her family,
Her dogs, her career.
She had the life, she was loving it.
Narrator: In her professional life
Melissa is all business,
Known for being punctual and prepared.
So when she doesn't arrive for a morning meeting
On March 6th, 2008,
Her co-workers immediately become concerned.
I got to work and melissa's assistant
Comes to me and she's like, "do you know where melissa is?"
I said, "she's not here?" uh, she's like, "no."
She's usually the first one in the office every day.
I'm calling her and texting her.
And she didn't answer.
I started thinking something's wrong here.
So, I called her sister.
Carrie: Lizzie would never not show up to something
That she's expected to, uh, to be there.
You just get that unsettling feeling.
This is not good.
Debra: So then, I talked to the police officers
That I knew in plantation
And I said, "hey, could you do me a favor,
You know, melissa seems to be, kind of, missing.
Can you drive by her house to make sure she's okay?"
Narrator: Unable to shake their feelings of dread,
Debra and carrie meet the officer at melissa's house.
We walk in and just, you know, looking around,
Calling her name.
Melissa's dogs were there
And that they were like hyper
And carrie's like, you know,
"she'd never leave the dogs like this."
Obviously, you start looking closer
And then every little thing at that point.
And then when we got to the garage and her--
Her car's not in the garage.
And there was some yellow stuff, kind of, sprayed
All over the garage door on the inside
Of the garage all over the garage door.
And the officer was like, "okay, nobody touch anything."
And I'm like-- I said, "what? What is this?"
And the officer told me, "that's pepper spray."
It was all over the garage.
And then I looked down literally right under my feet,
I looked down and it's a button off of her suit.
And I just looked at the officer and I just--
It's a confirmation that some things got really, really wrong.
Det. Kendall: We are looking for people
That may have heard screams,
Gunshots, cry for help.
Maybe she's still alive, time is of the essence.
Last time that we spoke to her she was going into publix.
Maybe she was abducted in the parking lot.
[♪♪]
Narrator: When florida attorney melissa lewis
Is a no show for an important meeting,
Police officers find her home empty
And discover evidence of an attack.
They immediately called detectives to the scene.
Det. Kendall: When I first arrived at melissa lewis' house,
Her groceries is in the garage that have not been unpacked
And had been recently purchased.
The dog door to the residence
Had what look like pepper spray on it.
Melissa's close friend debra said that melissa
Did have pepper spray on her normally.
Um, carried it in her purse.
We started coming up with different theories
On what could've happened.
Could somebody have followed her in
To commit a home burglary,
A home invasion robbery,
Or even possibly a carjacking?
Maybe she's in the car, maybe she's still alive.
Time is of the essence.
Luckily for us, it was a newer model cadillac.
It was equipped with an onstar system.
We were able to have onstar provide us
With a gps location for the vehicle.
Shari: They located it,
Um, within walking distance to lewis-- lewis' home.
Parked, um, on the other side of the community
That melissa lewis lived in.
Narrator: The car is there, but not melissa.
We opened up the rear hatch of the vehicle.
Inside of there we found her shoes.
We found her suit jacket.
And the button that we had seen earlier
On her garage floor
Looked like it came from this jacket.
There's substances on the jacket.
Det. Kendall: If you're sprayed with pepper spray,
You may spit, cough, sneeze, um,
That type of fluid was on her jacket.
Shari: So just in case there's dna,
Great care is taken
To preserve all of those things.
They transport the car
To broward sheriff's office crime lab.
Narrator: Hoping to track melissa's movements,
Investigators immediately request
Her cell phone records
Knowing it will take some time.
In the meantime, they turned to her sister carrie.
She tells detectives that she spoke to melissa
By phone the previous evening.
Carrie: Um, she go went to publix almost every night
On the way home from work.
So that was the last time that we spoke to her,
She was going into publix.
Det. Kendall: We obtained surveillance video
From inside of publix.
They were able to see the suit that she was wearing,
What kind of purse she was wearing.
It was a designer purse.
Rafael: Because melissa was known to wear nice jewelry
And carry designer handbags
And things of that nature.
It was a natural theory for police to suspect
That this was a robbery gone bad.
Narrator: But the video doesn't show anything suspicious
Inside the supermarket
And there are no surveillance cameras
Outside the store.
Investigators check to see if one of melissa's neighbors
Might have seen something unusual.
Det. Kendall: Patrol officers canvass the area.
We are looking for people that may have heard screams,
Gunshots, uh, cry for help.
Unfortunately, after canvassing,
Um, that afternoon,
Nobody saw any suspicious vehicles,
Any suspicious people nearby.
Narrator: Investigators are still leaning
Towards a robbery.
But there's one thing that doesn't fit.
Det. Kendall: Usually in those carjacking robbery scenarios,
The body's not missing.
In my experience,
People aren't put in the back of a stolen vehicle
Then driven away somewhere.
Um, so her disappearance was really unusual.
Narrator: It's now the morning
After melissa is reported missing.
An engineer is clearing pumping machinery
In a backyard canal in plantation
When he spots what appears to be a mannequin
Buried in the debris.
But as he gets closer,
He realizes it is a woman's body.
Det. Kendall: It was a little after 7:00 am.
I was driving into work that day.
Um, I heard a report over the police radio
That a body had been discovered.
Based on a brief description over the radio,
I thought, uh, the body that they had discovered
Could be melissa lewis.
When she was brought out of the water
There was very minor indications of trauma at that time,
Nothing obvious, no stab wounds,
Uh, gunshot wounds, things of that nature.
And because of the good condition of the body,
Um, we were able to make that identification ourself,
Uh, based on recent photographs,
Driver's license picture,
Um, clothing being worn.
That it was melissa lewis.
Narrator: Melissa's body is sent
To the medical examiner's office for an autopsy
As investigators begin the sad task
Of notifying her family and friends.
Debra: I've got a call from one of the detectives
And that's when everything changed.
And all the hope was gone.
[♪♪]
Debra: It was just-- it was unbelievable.
I just slowly started fading down to the floor.
I didn't have a sister growing up
And just all women are supposed to have
That friend in their life, you know?
And just all of a sudden they're just gone.
I was just devastated.
I know I did a lot of crying.
And, um, basically just focused on,
You know, stayed with my family,
Focused on my kids.
They were everything to her.
My kids were just like her own.
They were devastated.
Devastated.
[♪♪]
Narrator: The autopsy results come in
And the findings are chilling.
Det. Kendall: There is obvious trauma
To her neck area.
Uh, the medical examiner determined that
The cause of death was manual strangulation.
At that point, we knew that this case was a homicide.
Shari: A death like the one that melissa lewis suffered
Would be one of the most horrific ways a person can die.
Manual strangulation.
It's a drawn out way to kill someone.
Um, it's not something that happens instantaneously.
It takes minutes for someone to die.
It's a very personal way to kill somebody.
[♪♪]
Narrator: After the body of missing attorney
Melissa lewis is found floating
In a backyard canal in plantation, florida.
Police have determined that she was likely strangled
The same evening she was last seen.
Det. Kendall: So at this point,
Her death is classified as a murder case, a homicide,
Uh, which really ramps up the level of investigation.
Narrator: The canal is four miles from melissa's home.
Investigators begin an intensive search of the area.
[♪♪]
Det. Kendall: Our theory was that
She was transported there
And in her own vehicle.
And then dumped by somebody into the canal.
So we were looking for access areas.
There was a dirt road behind
A small, uh, strip mall.
Um, where a car could drive up into that area.
It was pretty concealed from the main road.
Someone could've easily at night
Open up the hatch of the vehicle
And either kick them down, push them down into the canal.
Narrator: But the search of the dirt road
And access ramp proves fruitless.
Det. Kendall: At first, I was leaning
Towards the carjacking robbery scenario.
But the crime took place in the garage of her house.
Her pepper spray had been used.
Her body was found miles away
And then her car was found near her house.
In my career,
This was highly unusual for a carjacking.
Narrator: The best clue at the moment
Is the nature of the killing.
Melissa lewis was strangled.
And because strangulation is so intimate,
The investigators conclude it's very likely
This crime was not random,
But personal.
So they begin to dig into melissa's personal life
Looking for someone with motive to harm her.
We talked to her best friend
Who identified as debra villegas,
A co-worker of hers,
And her sister, who's also very close with her.
And we asked them everything going on in melissa's life.
Debra: They wanted to know everything,
Anybody that she came in contact with,
Anybody who might be upset with her.
Det. Kendall: They repeatedly told us, no.
No relationship issues,
Uh, no,
Uh, issues at work with clients,
Things of that nature.
Carrie: I think I was grasping at straws at that point.
I remembered lizzie was an advocate
For, um, domestic violence because of debra.
And I remembered my sister telling me
That debra's husband, tony,
Um, had threatened to set debra on fire
In front of her children.
[♪♪]
Carrie: And that he had slashed her tires.
So I called them,
This man's abusive.
Debra: So then, they wanted all
The information about my ex-husband
And they asked, you know, would he be upset about anything
And I said, "oh, he's very upset about everything."
I told them that we were going through a divorce.
And gave them the details of our situation as well.
So they could see that it really didn't relate to her.
He would, you know, call and leave threats and--
But I just kept moving forward.
You know, don't antagonize him,
Don't argue with him,
Stay positive, and move forward.
And I told them if I were the one murdered,
You know, he would be your guy,
But he has no reason to be upset with melissa.
He didn't even know her very well.
Narrator: Based on deborah's description,
The detectives don't consider her ex-husband
To be high on the list of suspects.
They decide to search elsewhere in melissa's life
For someone who might have motive to attack her.
Det. Kendall: During an interview of carrie,
She mentioned her ex-husband anthony godinez
As someone that has a, um, criminal history.
Carrie: Anthony, uh, is father of my two oldest children.
And we were married for 11 years.
He was a drug addict
And had been in prison for armed robbery.
He-- he wouldn't have killed her, I don't think.
But he had also been involved in an armed robbery.
So, you know, uh, you just never know.
So I did throw it out there.
I told the police
Melissa helped me fill out the divorce papers
And then she told me that he came to her house.
And, you know, it startled her a little bit.
Det. Kendall: We believe she was strangled
By someone who personally knew her
On the floor of her garage.
And anthony godinez is a felon.
Uh, he had committed an armed robbery years earlier.
Um, he spent some significant time in prison.
So at that point, mr. Godinez is
A significant suspect in this case.
We need to find him.
Shari: If that melissa was going to expose
His criminal episode at the law firm
That set off alarm bells.
Det. Kendall: The crime lab contacted us ,
We have an exact match.
Two dna collected
From melissa lewis' jacket.
[♪♪]
Narrator: Florida detectives have identified
Their first solid suspect in the murder of melissa lewis,
Her former brother-in-law, anthony godinez.
Det. Kendall: We learned anthony godinez was a felon.
He had been arrested years earlier
For an armed robbery.
He was released from prison about three years
Prior to this day.
I told him, really in my heart,
I knew that he didn't have anything to do with it.
Narrator: Detectives stake out anthony's home
Four and a half miles from mellissa's
Hoping to corner him and speak with him.
Det. Kendall: We've conducted a surveillance
At mr. Godinez's residence,
Where we found, uh, that he wasn't physically able.
Shari: Investigators learned
Anthony recently has been diagnosed with ms.
And based on what they were able to piece together
Up to that point,
He would not have been able to carry out
That type of abduction.
Det. Kendall: We spoke with him,
Uh, and he had a reasonable alibi,
Um, on the night that she went missing.
Narrator: With their initial suspect now cleared,
Investigators dig back into the evidence.
Melissa was a successful attorney
And the detectives consider
Whether her work might have played a role
In her violent death.
Scott rothstein, the founding partner
Of the law firm she worked for, was interviewed.
Shari: Scott rothstein was very close to melissa lewis.
She had interned in the past for him.
Um, he had a close relationship with her
And knew her very well.
Scott rothstein was
A, uh, a very well connected lawyer.
When this happened, his firm put up a $250,000 reward,
Uh, for information.
She was a very well thought of attorney in broward county.
Maybe there were cases where someone would have an axe
To grind with her.
Narrator: But there are no promising suspects
In melissa's caseload.
[♪♪]
Narrator: Then, after a frustrating three-day wait,
Detectives finally receive melissa's phone records.
Det. Kendall: The data showed when she left work.
Uh, we could show her traveling
From, uh, downtown fort lauderdale
On the evening of March 5th.
Arriving in the vicinity of the publix grocery store
At about 7:00.
Arriving home a little bit after 8:00 pm that night.
Narrator: At that point, the signal is stationary
At melissa's house for almost an hour.
Police believe it is during this time period
That melissa is murdered.
But oddly after that, her cell phone is on the move.
Det. Kendall: The phone travels at about 9:00 pm that night
From the cell tower and melissa's neighborhood,
Out to the area where we now know
Where she, uh, was dumped in a canal.
And then it travels back, um, towards her home,
Back to her home cell tower.
And then it travels down
Through broward county,
Through interstate, the 595,
Along interstate 75
Into, uh, dade county,
Uh, northern miami area
Where it finally settles at one cell tower
Between 10:00 and 11:00 that night
In the city of hialeah.
Narrator: The phone stays in that location
Until 6:00 am the next morning.
Then, it hits the road again.
The early morning hours of March 6th, 2008,
The phone travels
In a very direct straight line,
Um, up towards palm beach county.
And then it disappears.
[♪♪]
Narrator: Detectives believe that whoever attacked melissa
Kept her phone.
Since the phone spent the night in hialeah,
They conclude so did the killer.
Det. Kendall: Unfortunately, it wasn't precise
Gps lat and long coordinates
Being provided, but it was at a cell tower.
It could be one to three miles
In either direction of the tower,
Which is a lot of area to search.
Narrator: The cell tower data isn't specific
Enough to pinpoint their suspect.
But because she was strangled,
Investigators believe melissa knew her attacker.
And now they know that person likely
Has a connection to hialeah.
Det. Kendall: The best way to get additional information
Was to talk to debra and carrie again.
So we brought them both back in
And we told them what the data showed.
[♪♪]
Narrator: Melissa's best friend and company-worker debra
Is staggered by the information.
[ sniffles ]
It was just horrible,
Because it was then when I realized that--
That she's gone because of me.
-[birds chirping] -[♪♪]
My divorce was very, very ugly over
The course of-- of the first year.
Tony was-- was very angry
And he's just not a very stable person.
He broke into my truck a couple of times
And put water in my gas tank.
Left dead animals on my front porch.
Just bizarre things.
Narrator: When police asked melissa's best friend
Debra villegas about a suspect
With a connection to hialeah,
She's stunned to realize who it might be.
Det. Kendall: Debra said he had recently moved in
With a friend in hialeah
Within the, uh, area of the cell tower
Where the listed phone was pinging
The night of melissa's murder.
Narrator: Deborah initially told police
Her ex-husband had no reason to harm melissa.
But now she's not sure that's true.
Debra: Melissa was my dearest friend
And somebody to make me happy and to laugh with.
Her support was just helping me move forward in a positive way.
Det. Kendall: She then went on to tell us
Her husband is a,
Uh, conductor on a train...
[train horn blaring]
Det. Kendall: ...Uh, florida east coast railways
That run from downtown fort lauderdale
Up into pompano.
The track of the cell phone
Is mirroring where tony villegas would be.
Where he lives and where he works.
Police now subpoena tony villegas' phone records.
On the night that melissa lewis was killed,
Wherever melissa lewis' phone was,
So was tony villegas' phone.
Narrator: The phone evidence connecting tony to melissa
Is the lead law enforcement has been waiting for.
But it's not concrete proof he killed her.
Hoping to find that proof,
Detectives obtained a search warrant
For the apartment tony shares with a roommate.
Det. Kendall: We were looking for obvious items of evidence
Such as pepper spray, melissa's cell phone,
Or any other items that could link him to the load.
But we didn't find anything unusual.
[♪♪]
Shari: His roommate said that on the night
That melissa lewis went missing,
Um, tony villegas vegas came home late that night
And had asked if he knew of a way
To wash it off or get rid of,
Um, pepper spray that was on your body.
That sent off alarm bells.
Our theory was that he wanted to hurt debra
In the deepest way possible,
But it was his ultimate way to hurt debra,
"I'm gonna kill and take away your best friend,
Your support person."
Narrator: Even more alarms go off a few days later
When police received dna test results
For the small stain on melissa's jacket
That was recovered from her car.
Det. Kendall: The evidence dna collected
From melissa lewis' jacket,
That dna belonged to tony villegas.
[♪♪]
Narrator: A week after her death,
A judge issues an arrest warrant for tony villegas
On the same day melissa is laid to rest.
Carrie: Melissa's funeral was surreal.
The reporters outside, and I remember scott,
Uh, scott rothstein, um, speaking at her funeral.
And the firm, they paid for the funeral.
Everything.
Debra: It was so hard because to--
To look at the family of her
Knowing that she's gone because of me,
Because tony knew that it would torture me,
Because I would have to live with this pain and sadness
The rest of my life.
It was just--
It was-- it's just overwhelming.
[♪♪]
Narrator: While melissa is being buried,
Police are zeroing in on tony villegas.
Later that day, they find him hiding in his mother's house.
Det. Kendall: Investigators and other special response units
Were down outside of the home
And tony peacefully surrendered.
Carrie: When they found her murderer,
Uh, that was a huge relief.
[♪♪]
Narrator: Tony villegas is arraigned on a charge
Of first degree murder.
He insists he's innocent,
And that he's being set up by someone.
But he refuses to say who.
Det. Kendall: He gave no other information
To investigators.
Nothing else to say about what happened that night.
He was stoic.
Narrator: Defense attorneys stall that judicial process
For more than a year.
Then a stunning new development
Threatens to derail the prosecution's entire case.
Det. Kendall: Scott rothstein, melissa's principal law partner,
Was subject of a very significant
Criminal ponzi scheme investigation.
One of the most significant ponzi schemes
In the history of the united states.
Rafael: He was running a--
What ended up being a $50 billion
Criminal enterprise.
Det. Kendall: We learned, uh, he had fled
The country to morocco.
Narrator: An fbi probe reveals that one of scott's partners
In the massive financial fraud
Is the law firm's office manager,
Debra villegas.
[♪♪]
Narrator: Detectives are forced to wonder,
Could this multibillion dollar crime
Be the real reason for melissa's murder?
Shari: As prosecutors in the case,
The ponzi scheme could not be ignored.
Rafael: The time of melissa's murder,
She was working for an enterprise
That was-- was criminal.
There's no evidence that she was tied
To any criminal behavior or activity.
But the idea that melissa's death
Had absolutely nothing to do with any of that,
It seemed to lack credibility.
Det. Kendall: If melissa had learned of the ponzi scheme,
Or was directly involved herself,
Scott rothstein may have wanted to have her eliminated.
[♪♪]
Narrator: Tony villegas is awaiting trial
For the murder of melissa lewis.
But the case has been upended by an fbi investigation.
Melissa's law firm has been charged with financial fraud
And tangled up in the massive ponzi scheme
Is her boss, scott rothstein,
And best friend and office manager,
Debra villegas.
Tony's lawyer suggests that scott and debra
May be melissa's real killers.
Shari: Debra being best friends with melissa lewis,
Obviously the questions started coming out
About was there any connection
Between any of the illegal activities
Of scott rothstein,
Um, any illegal activities that debra
May have been involved in
And the murder of melissa lewis.
If melissa lewis had found out and was going to expose
This very large criminal episode
That was happening at the law firm,
Then they needed to eliminate melissa
Before she exposed it to law enforcement.
Narrator: The prosecutor's theory has been
That tony villegas killed melissa in a fit of anger.
But detectives must now examine whether melissa
Was the victim of a sinister plot
To keep her silent.
Shari: It would be negligent on the investigator's part,
It would be negligent on our part not to make sure
That it wasn't scott rothstein.
Det. Kendall: We had the fbi and the florida department
Of law enforcement assist us in our investigation.
Narrator: Every piece of evidence,
Every document, every interview
Is picked apart,
Looking for any connection
And the murder of melissa lewis.
Det. Kendall: There was no evidence of that.
To think that for all the available people
To go out and hire to commit a murder,
Would scott rothstein use tony villegas,
The estranged husband
Of his confidant in his ponzi scheme
To kill somebody else in the law firm? No.
That theory didn't hold up.
There was no connection
From scott rothstein's activity
To the death of melissa lewis.
Debra: Melissa would've been horrified.
It was humiliating, it was--
It was just the worst,
And it's just the guilt that I guess
I live with forever.
[♪♪]
Shari: We were confident we had the right person arrested
And we were prosecuting the right person.
Narrator: The case is finally back on track.
The tony villegas murder trial begins
Eight years after melissa's body was found
Buried in a backyard canal.
Prosecutors tell the jury that tony was a controlling
And obsessive husband enraged by what he saw
As melissa's interference in his marriage.
Shari: Melissa and debra were best friends.
Melissa, in his eyes,
Figuratively moved into his spot.
He felt that melissa had advised debra
To get the divorce and that it was her fault.
The investigation led us to believe
That that night, tony villegas had driven
To the parking lot near melissa's neighborhood.
Det. Kendall: He walked less than a quarter mile
To melissa's house
Where he waited for her to return home.
When she opened the garage,
He entered the garage.
[♪♪]
Det. Kendall: She probably saw him coming.
Used pepper spray in self-defense.
He was a strong guy.
He strangled her right on the floor of her garage.
Shari: He puts her body in the back of the suv,
And then he drives it through the canal,
Takes her body out of the back of the suv,
Throws it down into canal.
Drives back to where his corvette was parked.
Drives his corvette back down to miami.
Narrator: The trial lasts a week.
It takes the jury just two hours
To reach a verdict.
Shari: The verdict was guilty as charged
Of first degree murder.
And he was consequently sentenced to life in prison.
[♪♪]
Debra: She was just a very special person
Taken away from us because of...
An evil person
Who didn't get his way.
It's senseless.
[ sighs ] I miss my sister
Being able to share the excitement in my kids,
And their achievements.
She was humble, and kind,
And giving,
Selfless,
Just...
A great person.
[♪♪]