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♪

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Some stories are
unforgettable.

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This is one of them.

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Everybody get back!

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It is an explosion.
There is a fire.

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We have one confirmed
fatality at this time.

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- I knew.
- You knew she was gone?

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Mm-hmm.
I knew it was her.

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He's a cute little bunny.

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She was just beautiful
inside and out.

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How a person is killed
can tell investigators a lot.

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In this story,
the killer's weapon of choice

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spoke volumes.

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This is murder by bombing.
- Exactly.

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The husband was aware that
Ildiko was cheating on him.

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How many other guys
were there?

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A good five or six.

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Elizabeth hated her.

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- She sent Ildiko photos.
- Right.

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Which we won't show
on television.

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What's the most common motive
in human history for murder?

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It's love.

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If this is intentional,
I would be a person of interest.

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Just naturally.

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Someone in this story
was being lied to

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in a big way.

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We had to decide
if I should be the one

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to break it to them.

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It was one of those moments
where my hairs

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stick on the back of my neck.

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- You thought, that's the end?
- No.

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If you watch "Dateline",
there's always an end.

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That wasn't it.

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♪

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This is
Dateline: Unforgettable.

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I'm Josh Mankiewicz with
a fresh look at

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Death at the Spa.

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♪

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Aliso Viejo
is a leafy green wedge

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of the suburban sprawl that
makes up Southern California's

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mythic Orange County.

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It's just down the road from
where the Real Housewives

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live their best lives.

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Not a lot happens
in Aliso Viejo.

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{\an8}And around here,
they like that.

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{\an8}Except on May 15, 2018,
just past 1:00 PM,

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something did happen.

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Something big.
- I heard it.

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I was on my lunch break
at home and I'm like,

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"That's weird."

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Holly Salceda
was about a mile away

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from what sounded to her
like a huge explosion.

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Others close by saw
the aftermath seconds later

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and began recording.
- Wow!

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A two story
commercial building

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had been severely damaged.

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Holly's co-workers
confirmed it.

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I said,
"Well, what street was it on?"

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And they said, "Mareblu."

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When Holly heard that,
she worried.

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{\an8}Her friend Ildiko Krajnyak
owned a day spa on Mareblu.

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{\an8}Had a gas leak
inside the building,

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caused the explosion?
- Get an ambulance!

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Or could this be terrorism,
either foreign or domestic?

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You know, we cover
a lot of stories in small towns

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where people
don't lock their doors.

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Well, this wasn't that town.

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In Aliso Viejo, a lot of people
don't just lock their doors.

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They buy an expensive
security system.

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And when they see something,
they definitely say something.

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It is a place where locals
expect to be safe.

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Spoiler alert--

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The explosion on that sunny
spring day was no accident.

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And some of the people we met
are still feeling

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its aftershocks.

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[sirens blaring]

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Within minutes of the blast,

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an Orange County
sheriff's deputy

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arrived on scene.
- Hey, everybody, get back!

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Everybody get back.

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- Dash camera recording.
- It is an explosion.

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There is a fire.

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Is there anybody hurt?

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283-- I've got body parts.

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Loss of life was a guarantee.

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Someone had been blown
literally to bits.

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Severed limbs
lay on the ground.

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Debris from the building
was strewn across the street.

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The sulfurous smell of fireworks
and a plume of white smoke

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filled the air.

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Valerie Stone was at work
several miles away

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when she heard about
the explosion.

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She immediately thought
of her boyfriend

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who helped run a spa
on Mareblu Street.

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I was texting back
and forth with Stephen.

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Stephen Beal was
at home that day.

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So right after
he heard from Valerie,

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his thoughts turned
to Ildiko too.

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They were business partners
at the spa.

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He texted her
in an apparent panic.

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He got no response.

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He was calling every number
he had for her,

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trying to reach her.
And no answer.

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Stephen wasn't the only one
trying to reach Ildiko.

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Sarah Thomas had been at the spa
that morning,

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getting her lashes done.

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Just a few hours later,
Sarah saw the building

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where the spa was located
on the news.

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I didn't really know
what to think of it.

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I just thought like,
"Oh, my gosh,

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there was a gas explosion, like,
when I left."

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- Did you try to contact Ildiko?
- Um, I did.

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I-I texted asking
if she was okay.

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You know, you see it and
you don't wanna

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believe it either.

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You're hoping that maybe
it just looks like

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it's in that area.

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There was a news conference.
My co-workers put it on.

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We arrived at the scene
of an obvious explosion.

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I didn't have to listen to it.

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I-I knew what they
were going to say.

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We have one
confirmed fatality at this time.

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There were two injuries.

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Both were transported
to area hospitals.

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Holly dialed Ildiko's
cell phone with dread.

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My iPhone was going to green
when it should be going to blue.

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I knew.
- You knew she was gone?

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Mm-hmm.
I knew it was her.

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Police weren't saying it,
but they knew the same thing.

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48 year old Ildiko Krajnyak
was dead.

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The two women critically injured

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had been
Ildiko's clients at the spa.

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One of them told
a first responder

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how she saw Ildiko open a box

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and then an instant later
came a bright light,

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and then darkness,
as the shock wave hit

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and the building
crumbled on top of them.

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Orange County Sheriff's
Investigator Jack Ackerman

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had been called to the scene.

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To him, the explosion
sounded alarmingly familiar.

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In March of that year
in Texas,

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there had been a person
doing package bombs.

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Tonight, a suspected
serial bomber

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may have struck again.

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In my head, I thought
maybe somebody was doing

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a copycat of that.
- So, Ackerman wondered,

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were there more packages
out there,

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maybe headed for
other targets?

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We started the process of
trying to interview people

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who might be close contacts
with, uh, the victims.

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They set up a tip line.

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Hundreds of calls came in,
including one from Stephen,

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Ildiko's business partner.

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He possibly had
information to provide us.

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Stephen indicated
he knew Ildiko well

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because he was Ildiko's ex
and helped her manage the spa.

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He told the dispatcher
he'd tried in vain

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to reach Ildiko.

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Ackerman's team drove
32 miles north of Aliso Viejo

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to where Stephen lived
to ask some questions

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and also make sure he was safe.

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We didn't know if
the business was the target.

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Uh, we didn't know
if Ildiko was the target.

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We didn't know if Mr. Beal
was the target.

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When they got to
Stephen's house,

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their concerns felt quite legit
because some boxes

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had just been delivered.

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♪

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♪

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It was a horrific scene.

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A package bomb had gone off
at a day spa in a Aliso Viejo.

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A woman had been killed,
two others injured.

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This isn't a town where,
you know, crime is rampant

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o-or things like this happen.

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When things like this
do happen, the FBI responds.

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The Bureau's Joint Terrorism
Task Force mobilized.

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Special Agent Ashley Merrick
was assigned to speak with

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the surviving victims.

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Lead Agent Nick Vicencia
went straight to the scene.

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We had a massive debris field,
a huge crime scene.

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And we wanted to initially
come up with

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an investigative plan

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and a plan to process
the crime scene

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as soon as possible.

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A bomber was on the loose
and other potential targets

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were out there.

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Agent Vicencia knew
timing was everything.

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He set up a command post,
staffed around the clock.

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Orange County Sheriff's deputies
had arrived at the home

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of Ildiko's business partner,
Stephen Beal,

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and saw he'd just received
some packages.

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Our team made
quick contact with him

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so that we could make sure
it was safe for him.

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{\an8}They had Stephen step outside.

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{\an8}Stephen sat with investigators
in their car

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while the bomb squad
went to work in his house.

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They were not devices.
They were benign.

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They were benign, right.

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So he had been doing
some remodeling in his house,

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and he was getting packages with
various items for remodeling.

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Stephen didn't appear
to be a target.

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So... was Ildiko?

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Ackerman believed
the answer was yes.

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Based off of her injuries
a-and our experts

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and the interviews with
the surviving victims,

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it was more likely
going to be a homicide.

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- This is murder by bombing.
- Exactly.

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That definitely made
this story stand out.

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Most of the murders we cover
are crimes in which the killer

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and the victim are
face to face or nearly so.

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Using a package bomb
is about as antiseptic

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as a homicide gets.

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The killer doesn't have to
lay a hand on the victim

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or even be in the same ZIP code.

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It is a calculated
act of violence

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that shields a murderer from
the grisly reality

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of taking someone else's life.

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{\an8}Investigators asked Stephen
the usual first question.

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{\an8}Of course, his own ties
to Ildiko

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put him on the list of people
to rule in or out.

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Stephen understood that
and consented to

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a search of his home

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{\an8}while he continued to
talk about Ildiko.

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Investigators were speaking
with Ildiko's friends, too,

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and her story quickly
started to emerge.

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Bunny!
Look at it!

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He's a cute little bunny.

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[gasps]
Look at the ears.

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She was just beautiful
inside and out.

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Ildiko was
a well respected esthetician

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who'd been recommended to Holly.

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How was she?
- Wonderful.

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From the very beginning.

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Wonderful technically or
wonderful as a person or both?

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Both.
Both, yeah.

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She made me feel like a friend
right from the start.

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Holly was going through
some hard times then,

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and Ildiko was
a good listener.

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They connected the same way
hairdressers sometimes become

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a data bank
of their clients' secrets.

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I confided in her and
she confided in me.

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They had some things
in common.

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They were both boy moms.

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She loved her son.
He was number one.

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- Talked about him all the time?
- Mm-hmm, yes.

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Just like I talked about mine.

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There was another
frequent topic.

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Ildiko's relationships
with men.

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And not just the one she had
with her husband of 22 years.

250
00:12:32,452 --> 00:12:35,088
I knew she had
her boyfriends on the side.

251
00:12:35,188 --> 00:12:36,689
How many other guys
were there?

252
00:12:36,789 --> 00:12:40,026
Um, a good five or six.

253
00:12:40,126 --> 00:12:42,095
There was always someone.

254
00:12:42,195 --> 00:12:44,731
Holly didn't approve of
Ildiko's affairs,

255
00:12:44,831 --> 00:12:47,534
but she did understand them.

256
00:12:47,634 --> 00:12:49,802
She just wanted to be loved

257
00:12:49,903 --> 00:12:53,173
and she loved
attention from men.

258
00:12:53,273 --> 00:12:56,009
Her husband's
not one of those men?

259
00:12:56,109 --> 00:12:56,910
No.

260
00:12:57,010 --> 00:12:58,478
What was wrong
in that marriage?

261
00:12:58,578 --> 00:13:00,246
I do believe,
from what she said,

262
00:13:00,346 --> 00:13:01,714
he was a good man.

263
00:13:01,814 --> 00:13:04,584
You know, he took care
of her mother.

264
00:13:04,684 --> 00:13:05,818
Very good to her mother.

265
00:13:05,919 --> 00:13:07,821
But she just wanted to
feel loved.

266
00:13:07,921 --> 00:13:10,123
And they grew apart.

267
00:13:10,223 --> 00:13:13,726
When Ildiko and her husband,
Ranilo Vestile, met,

268
00:13:13,827 --> 00:13:15,895
Ildiko had recently moved
to the US

269
00:13:15,995 --> 00:13:18,097
from her native Hungary.

270
00:13:18,198 --> 00:13:21,534
Ildiko's cousin, Eva Boni,
says their relationship

271
00:13:21,634 --> 00:13:23,002
was beautiful.

272
00:13:23,102 --> 00:13:24,370
They were a very cute couple.

273
00:13:24,470 --> 00:13:27,941
And they were in love.
- You could tell?

274
00:13:28,041 --> 00:13:29,275
Yes, of course.

275
00:13:29,375 --> 00:13:32,979
Just the warmness,
what they have between them.

276
00:13:33,079 --> 00:13:35,815
They had a son
who was now in college.

277
00:13:35,915 --> 00:13:39,485
And along the way, something
in the marriage changed.

278
00:13:39,586 --> 00:13:41,788
Eva wasn't sure what.

279
00:13:41,888 --> 00:13:45,291
She would not, um, give me
her private life,

280
00:13:45,391 --> 00:13:49,262
um, nor asking me my opinion.

281
00:13:49,362 --> 00:13:51,998
That was her life.

282
00:13:52,098 --> 00:13:54,901
Like Holly, Ildiko's friend
and client, Sarah,

283
00:13:55,001 --> 00:13:58,538
knew about Ildiko's
extramarital adventure.

284
00:13:58,638 --> 00:14:01,241
Did Ildiko's husband know
what was going on

285
00:14:01,341 --> 00:14:03,977
in her romantic life?
- I assumed so.

286
00:14:04,077 --> 00:14:07,413
She did make it seem like
they had an arrangement.

287
00:14:07,514 --> 00:14:11,184
Was Ildiko planning to end
that arrangement?

288
00:14:11,284 --> 00:14:13,987
When Sarah saw her
the morning of the explosion,

289
00:14:14,087 --> 00:14:17,991
Ildiko talked about a man
she had recently started seeing.

290
00:14:18,091 --> 00:14:20,860
She said,
"I want to be with him.

291
00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:22,996
I don't want to be dating
all these people."

292
00:14:23,096 --> 00:14:26,833
And that she was going to
move forward with this guy.

293
00:14:28,601 --> 00:14:31,237
A couple of hours after
that conversation with Sarah

294
00:14:31,337 --> 00:14:34,874
at her spa,
Ildiko was gone.

295
00:14:36,509 --> 00:14:41,514
Now an intense investigation
was underway into Ildiko's life.

296
00:14:41,614 --> 00:14:44,183
Investigators learned
she had recently returned

297
00:14:44,284 --> 00:14:45,685
from Hungary.

298
00:14:45,785 --> 00:14:48,655
Agents pulled her travel info
for the days leading up to

299
00:14:48,755 --> 00:14:50,089
the explosion,

300
00:14:50,190 --> 00:14:53,126
and they requested
her cell phone records.

301
00:14:53,226 --> 00:14:56,462
They also spoke with
Ildiko's husband, Ranilo,

302
00:14:56,563 --> 00:14:58,965
who actually found them.

303
00:14:59,065 --> 00:15:03,136
When the explosion happened,
he came down to the scene.

304
00:15:03,236 --> 00:15:06,839
He tried to ask
if Ildiko was okay.

305
00:15:06,940 --> 00:15:08,842
Those feel like the actions
of a person

306
00:15:08,942 --> 00:15:10,610
who didn't have any involvement.

307
00:15:10,710 --> 00:15:15,281
It felt to us what we observed
was a-a frantic individual

308
00:15:15,381 --> 00:15:17,750
looking for information.

309
00:15:17,851 --> 00:15:20,320
Ranilo said he was at work
when his brother told him

310
00:15:20,420 --> 00:15:22,956
there was an explosion
on Mareblu

311
00:15:23,056 --> 00:15:25,625
and one person had died.

312
00:15:25,725 --> 00:15:27,460
He said he wasn't sure
if Ildiko

313
00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:29,162
had returned from Hungary.

314
00:15:29,262 --> 00:15:33,299
So he texted,
asking if she was back in town.

315
00:15:33,399 --> 00:15:35,501
Ildiko did not respond.

316
00:15:35,602 --> 00:15:39,772
And that's when Ranilo says
he drove to Ildiko's spa.

317
00:15:39,873 --> 00:15:41,574
Can we tell him anything?

318
00:15:41,674 --> 00:15:44,410
You know, did we see if her car
was in the parking lot?

319
00:15:44,510 --> 00:15:47,514
Investigators couldn't answer
any of Ranilo's questions,

320
00:15:47,614 --> 00:15:50,016
so they told him to go home
to the house

321
00:15:50,116 --> 00:15:51,885
he shared with Ildiko.

322
00:15:51,985 --> 00:15:55,455
We put a surveillance team
on him right away.

323
00:15:55,555 --> 00:15:58,291
Um, so we were watching
his movements.

324
00:15:58,391 --> 00:15:59,893
When Ranilo made it home,

325
00:15:59,993 --> 00:16:02,295
Ildiko's cousin Eva
met him there.

326
00:16:02,395 --> 00:16:04,697
I asked him what does he know?

327
00:16:04,797 --> 00:16:08,368
And, uh, he said
he doesn't know anything.

328
00:16:08,468 --> 00:16:11,237
And then came
a knock at the door.

329
00:16:11,337 --> 00:16:16,209
Five to six, like,
a military style with the rifle

330
00:16:16,309 --> 00:16:18,945
people enter the house.

331
00:16:19,078 --> 00:16:21,948
♪

332
00:16:22,415 --> 00:16:29,322
♪

333
00:16:29,422 --> 00:16:33,693
48 year old Ildiko Krajnyak
had been killed by an explosion

334
00:16:33,793 --> 00:16:37,163
after she opened a package
at her day spa.

335
00:16:37,263 --> 00:16:39,499
Investigators had ruled out
any connection

336
00:16:39,599 --> 00:16:41,634
to those Texas bombings

337
00:16:41,734 --> 00:16:45,705
and now believed Ildiko
was the intended target.

338
00:16:45,805 --> 00:16:50,043
The big questions were why,
who built the device

339
00:16:50,143 --> 00:16:53,513
and how did it get to her spa?

340
00:16:53,613 --> 00:16:54,914
With an explosive device,

341
00:16:55,014 --> 00:16:57,450
they all have
their unique signatures.

342
00:16:57,550 --> 00:16:59,552
The chemicals,
how it was contained,

343
00:16:59,652 --> 00:17:01,621
how it was delivered,
how it was gone off.

344
00:17:01,721 --> 00:17:04,657
So you're kind of working
from inside out

345
00:17:04,757 --> 00:17:08,561
to trying to find the person
or persons responsible for it.

346
00:17:08,661 --> 00:17:12,465
FBI bomb technicians told
lead agent Nick Vicencia

347
00:17:12,565 --> 00:17:16,236
the device that killed Ildiko
was a flash powder bomb

348
00:17:16,336 --> 00:17:18,404
hidden inside the cardboard box

349
00:17:18,505 --> 00:17:23,209
Ildiko's client saw her open
right before the blast.

350
00:17:23,309 --> 00:17:26,246
{\an8}Agent Merrick spoke with her.

351
00:17:32,051 --> 00:17:35,588
{\an8}Her recollection of
that was very good.

352
00:17:35,688 --> 00:17:38,625
As they continued to collect
evidence from the debris,

353
00:17:38,725 --> 00:17:41,261
bomb techs were identifying
the components

354
00:17:41,361 --> 00:17:43,596
of the explosive device.

355
00:17:43,696 --> 00:17:48,168
They found the jacket of
a CVS brand 9 volt battery

356
00:17:48,268 --> 00:17:50,537
completely split open.

357
00:17:50,637 --> 00:17:54,073
Cells from the battery were
found lodged in the ceiling

358
00:17:54,173 --> 00:17:57,076
right above
where the bomb went off.

359
00:17:57,177 --> 00:18:01,748
Investigators believed
that battery powered the bomb.

360
00:18:01,848 --> 00:18:04,751
The bomb itself tells you that
you're looking for someone

361
00:18:04,851 --> 00:18:08,721
who has some specific,
specialized skills.

362
00:18:08,822 --> 00:18:11,024
This is not a device that
just anybody could make.

363
00:18:11,124 --> 00:18:12,325
Correct.

364
00:18:12,425 --> 00:18:16,062
We were looking for anybody
with experience with chemicals

365
00:18:16,162 --> 00:18:17,564
and electric fusing systems.

366
00:18:17,664 --> 00:18:20,066
That's a fairly sophisticated
piece of knowledge,

367
00:18:20,166 --> 00:18:23,303
in both those cases.
- Very much so.

368
00:18:23,403 --> 00:18:27,006
Investigators needed to find
whoever that was.

369
00:18:27,106 --> 00:18:30,076
The night of the explosion,
what looked like a SWAT team

370
00:18:30,176 --> 00:18:33,646
showed up at Ildiko and
her husband Ranilo's house.

371
00:18:33,746 --> 00:18:36,216
Nilo, as he was called,
was there

372
00:18:36,316 --> 00:18:38,351
with Ildiko's cousin, Eva.

373
00:18:38,451 --> 00:18:43,223
I asked them why you guys
are here and Nilo was very calm.

374
00:18:43,323 --> 00:18:46,426
But I was keep asking them
and they couldn't give me

375
00:18:46,526 --> 00:18:47,527
any answer.

376
00:18:47,627 --> 00:18:50,363
They told me that
we don't know anything, ma'am.

377
00:18:50,463 --> 00:18:54,100
Then says Eva, 20 to 25 agents
went through the house

378
00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:56,402
inch by inch.

379
00:18:56,503 --> 00:18:59,806
The search continued overnight
and into the next day.

380
00:18:59,906 --> 00:19:02,108
A news chopper
captured the scene.

381
00:19:02,208 --> 00:19:04,043
Okay, good.
Oh, got them bringing stuff out.

382
00:19:04,143 --> 00:19:08,248
Ooh, there we go.
I'm gonna follow him, Aldo.

383
00:19:08,348 --> 00:19:09,782
With the package.

384
00:19:09,883 --> 00:19:11,818
When it was over,
did the house look like

385
00:19:11,918 --> 00:19:13,620
a tornado had hit it?
- Yes, yes.

386
00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:17,357
It was upside down. Yes.

387
00:19:17,457 --> 00:19:20,860
By now, it was clear to Eva,
Ildiko had been killed

388
00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:23,563
in the explosion at her spa

389
00:19:23,663 --> 00:19:28,234
and that law enforcement was
taking a hard look at Ranilo.

390
00:19:28,334 --> 00:19:32,472
Did you at any point think that
Nilo could be a suspect?

391
00:19:32,572 --> 00:19:34,674
Never, ever in my life.

392
00:19:34,774 --> 00:19:38,912
I mean, in this country,
sadly, marriages break up

393
00:19:39,012 --> 00:19:42,282
and husbands kill
their ex wives.

394
00:19:42,382 --> 00:19:43,917
I mean, that happens.
- Yeah.

395
00:19:44,017 --> 00:19:47,053
But I would never,
ever believe that of Nilo.

396
00:19:47,153 --> 00:19:49,722
I would believe that
the neighbor or anyone else.

397
00:19:49,823 --> 00:19:51,357
But not him.

398
00:19:51,457 --> 00:19:55,061
Investigators wanted to know
a lot more from Ranilo

399
00:19:55,161 --> 00:19:57,764
about his relationship
with his wife.

400
00:19:57,864 --> 00:20:00,099
Ildiko and her husband
still lived together,

401
00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:02,702
but essentially
lived separate lives.

402
00:20:02,802 --> 00:20:03,536
They lived in the same home.

403
00:20:03,636 --> 00:20:05,572
They were raising
a child together.

404
00:20:05,672 --> 00:20:09,409
They had dinner, um,
on a regular basis together.

405
00:20:09,509 --> 00:20:12,645
But, I mean, Ildiko was dating
men who were not her husband.

406
00:20:12,745 --> 00:20:14,080
And he was aware of that.

407
00:20:14,180 --> 00:20:15,815
I think he had
a sense of it.

408
00:20:15,915 --> 00:20:17,917
Maybe.
But during his interview,

409
00:20:18,017 --> 00:20:20,620
Ranilo expressed nothing
but love and respect

410
00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:23,456
for Ildiko to investigators,

411
00:20:23,556 --> 00:20:25,758
and they found nothing
suspicious in Ranilo

412
00:20:25,859 --> 00:20:27,660
and Ildiko's home.

413
00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:29,095
This is going to be
a very difficult situation.

414
00:20:29,195 --> 00:20:31,965
One day after the explosion,
law enforcement

415
00:20:32,065 --> 00:20:34,767
finally released Ildiko's name.

416
00:20:34,868 --> 00:20:38,338
Eva stood outside Ildiko's place
as a family friend

417
00:20:38,438 --> 00:20:39,772
spoke to the press.

418
00:20:39,873 --> 00:20:43,176
This is a complete shock
to family and friends.

419
00:20:43,276 --> 00:20:45,678
We are in full support
of our public authorities

420
00:20:45,778 --> 00:20:49,182
to do their jobs
in hopes of finding answers

421
00:20:49,282 --> 00:20:51,784
to many of the unanswered
questions.

422
00:20:51,885 --> 00:20:55,855
- Who'd want to kill Ildiko?
- I didn't think anybody would.

423
00:20:55,955 --> 00:20:59,125
You'd never heard her express
any fear of anybody?

424
00:20:59,225 --> 00:21:04,030
No, but I knew that she had
complicated relationships.

425
00:21:04,130 --> 00:21:06,699
I don't know,
maybe somebody she was--

426
00:21:06,799 --> 00:21:10,136
I-I don't know what
she was mixed up in.

427
00:21:10,236 --> 00:21:12,105
Maybe Ranilo did.

428
00:21:12,205 --> 00:21:14,173
When he spoke with
investigators,

429
00:21:14,274 --> 00:21:17,877
he did share a couple of
interesting details.

430
00:21:17,977 --> 00:21:22,682
There was a handyman named Max
who had a key to Ildiko's spa.

431
00:21:22,782 --> 00:21:25,185
Ranilo quoted Ildiko as saying,

432
00:21:25,285 --> 00:21:28,121
"Max would sometimes
park overnight in the lot

433
00:21:28,221 --> 00:21:30,123
and sleep in his car."

434
00:21:30,223 --> 00:21:33,726
So we definitely wanted to
talk with the handyman.

435
00:21:33,826 --> 00:21:37,163
When they did,
nothing alarming stood out.

436
00:21:37,263 --> 00:21:38,798
They moved on.

437
00:21:38,898 --> 00:21:41,501
Ranilo also talked about
a woman who'd been sending him

438
00:21:41,601 --> 00:21:44,003
angry messages recently.

439
00:21:44,103 --> 00:21:48,107
She was upset that Ildiko
had gotten between her

440
00:21:48,208 --> 00:21:49,876
and her husband.

441
00:21:49,976 --> 00:21:53,446
Stephen Beal,
had mentioned this same couple.

442
00:21:53,546 --> 00:21:56,015
That'll put somebody on
the radar screen pretty quickly.

443
00:21:56,115 --> 00:21:58,818
Yes, and it-- and it did.
Quickly.

444
00:21:58,952 --> 00:22:02,121
♪

445
00:22:02,622 --> 00:22:10,530
♪

446
00:22:10,630 --> 00:22:14,300
Ildiko Krajnyak had been
in someone's crosshairs.

447
00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,670
As a result, she was dead.

448
00:22:17,770 --> 00:22:20,206
Now, investigators had
heard twice about a couple

449
00:22:20,306 --> 00:22:23,676
Ildiko had somehow
become entangled with.

450
00:22:23,776 --> 00:22:26,779
A couple that lived
in Aliso Viejo,

451
00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:29,616
just a few miles from her spa.

452
00:22:29,716 --> 00:22:32,919
They were Elizabeth
and Gabor Papp,

453
00:22:33,019 --> 00:22:36,356
names familiar
to Ildiko's friends.

454
00:22:36,456 --> 00:22:37,891
Tell me about Gabor.

455
00:22:37,991 --> 00:22:40,660
She had a little fling
with him.

456
00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:44,664
Holly said Ildiko
met Gabor in 2015.

457
00:22:44,764 --> 00:22:48,101
They had an intimate
relationship, as far as I knew.

458
00:22:48,201 --> 00:22:51,504
It was a complicated
relationship, too.

459
00:22:51,604 --> 00:22:55,175
The major complication here
being that she and Gabor

460
00:22:55,275 --> 00:22:56,709
were both married.

461
00:22:56,809 --> 00:22:58,144
He thought he was going to
leave his wife

462
00:22:58,244 --> 00:23:00,880
and end up with Ildiko.
- Mm-hmm.

463
00:23:00,980 --> 00:23:02,682
That did not happen.

464
00:23:02,782 --> 00:23:06,452
Instead, there was
a confrontation at Ildiko's spa

465
00:23:06,553 --> 00:23:11,624
after Elizabeth said she found
Gabor and Ildiko having sex.

466
00:23:11,724 --> 00:23:14,894
Voices were raised,
and it got physical.

467
00:23:14,994 --> 00:23:16,963
Unclear who started that.

468
00:23:17,063 --> 00:23:21,100
In the end,
Gabor returned to Elizabeth.

469
00:23:21,201 --> 00:23:26,005
Two years later,
Ildiko poked Gabor on Facebook.

470
00:23:26,105 --> 00:23:29,209
According to Elizabeth,
she also began seeing Ildiko

471
00:23:29,309 --> 00:23:31,311
drive by their home.

472
00:23:31,411 --> 00:23:33,713
And Elizabeth responded.

473
00:23:33,813 --> 00:23:36,182
She sent Ildiko some photos,

474
00:23:36,282 --> 00:23:39,485
which we won't show
on television.

475
00:23:39,586 --> 00:23:42,822
- Right.
- But they were intimate photos,

476
00:23:42,922 --> 00:23:46,826
sort of taunting Ildiko that,
"I got him. He's mine now."

477
00:23:46,926 --> 00:23:48,194
- Right.
- What did Ildiko say about

478
00:23:48,294 --> 00:23:50,063
getting those photos
from Gabor's wife?

479
00:23:50,163 --> 00:23:52,866
She thought she was crazy
sending another woman

480
00:23:52,966 --> 00:23:54,567
photos like that.

481
00:23:54,667 --> 00:23:58,304
Even so, Holly says Ildiko
never expressed any fear

482
00:23:58,404 --> 00:24:00,740
of Elizabeth or Gabor.

483
00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:02,942
Should she have taken
the history of

484
00:24:03,042 --> 00:24:06,546
that love triangle
a little more seriously?

485
00:24:06,646 --> 00:24:10,183
FBI agents were wondering
the same thing.

486
00:24:10,283 --> 00:24:12,285
Less than 24 hours,
you're talking to the Papps

487
00:24:12,385 --> 00:24:14,754
about their relationship
with Ildiko.

488
00:24:14,854 --> 00:24:16,189
Correct.

489
00:24:16,289 --> 00:24:19,259
Elizabeth told
the agents a long, tawdry story

490
00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:22,161
about Ildiko's affair
with her husband,

491
00:24:22,262 --> 00:24:25,331
about the shouting fight
at Ildiko's spa,

492
00:24:25,431 --> 00:24:29,636
and about how Ildiko had tried
to reconnect with Gabor.

493
00:24:29,736 --> 00:24:32,539
That's when the scorned wife,
Elizabeth,

494
00:24:32,639 --> 00:24:35,708
texted the scorned husband,
Ranilo.

495
00:24:41,614 --> 00:24:45,652
And then this, just a month
and a half before the explosion.

496
00:24:56,362 --> 00:25:00,166
Ranilo texted back,
suggesting she block Ildiko

497
00:25:00,266 --> 00:25:01,901
on Facebook.

498
00:25:02,001 --> 00:25:04,871
To which Elizabeth responded...

499
00:25:12,478 --> 00:25:14,714
Elizabeth, um,
was very forthright

500
00:25:14,814 --> 00:25:16,316
of her feelings for Ildiko.

501
00:25:16,416 --> 00:25:18,418
She admitted
she didn't like Ildiko.

502
00:25:18,518 --> 00:25:20,587
And it stemmed from an affair
that Ildiko had

503
00:25:20,687 --> 00:25:22,989
with her husband.
- Correct.

504
00:25:23,089 --> 00:25:26,793
The Papps gave investigators
consent to search their devices

505
00:25:26,893 --> 00:25:28,428
and their home.

506
00:25:28,528 --> 00:25:33,333
There was no evidence that,
uh, her or her husband

507
00:25:33,433 --> 00:25:38,371
had any knowledge or materials
to detonate a device

508
00:25:38,471 --> 00:25:39,339
in this manner.

509
00:25:39,439 --> 00:25:41,841
- You didn't find anything?
- Nothing.

510
00:25:41,941 --> 00:25:44,043
No evidence of bomb making, maybe.

511
00:25:44,143 --> 00:25:48,047
But Elizabeth sure seemed
on the verge of detonating

512
00:25:48,147 --> 00:25:50,483
whenever she talked
about Ildiko.

513
00:25:50,583 --> 00:25:53,152
She told the bureau
they should have no trouble

514
00:25:53,253 --> 00:25:57,223
finding suspects,
because the men in Ildiko's life

515
00:25:57,323 --> 00:26:00,793
were a never ending
revolving door.

516
00:26:00,894 --> 00:26:04,097
We always aim to tell the most
well rounded story possible,

517
00:26:04,197 --> 00:26:06,366
but we don't always get to
interview all the people

518
00:26:06,466 --> 00:26:07,800
we'd like to.

519
00:26:07,901 --> 00:26:09,869
My producer and I
had a very long dinner

520
00:26:09,969 --> 00:26:13,940
with Gabor Papp to persuade him
to talk with us on camera.

521
00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:15,208
He said he would
think about it,

522
00:26:15,308 --> 00:26:18,411
but ultimately he declined
our invitation.

523
00:26:18,511 --> 00:26:22,549
He told us he was afraid of
making Elizabeth angry

524
00:26:22,649 --> 00:26:25,051
and wanted to
keep his wife happy.

525
00:26:25,151 --> 00:26:28,588
Agents knew they'd have to
speak with every one of the men

526
00:26:28,688 --> 00:26:30,323
in Ildiko's life.

527
00:26:30,423 --> 00:26:32,458
It doesn't sound as if Ildiko
was very concerned

528
00:26:32,559 --> 00:26:33,726
for her own safety.

529
00:26:33,826 --> 00:26:37,730
She didn't think there was
anything to be nervous about.

530
00:26:37,831 --> 00:26:40,400
Sarah, on the other hand, worried.

531
00:26:40,500 --> 00:26:44,370
And she couldn't help but wonder
about a guy she saw Ildiko with

532
00:26:44,470 --> 00:26:46,306
the morning of the explosion.

533
00:26:46,406 --> 00:26:48,675
She came out of
her room rushed,

534
00:26:48,775 --> 00:26:51,644
with, um, keys
and mail in her hand.

535
00:26:51,744 --> 00:26:56,516
And that's when the guy
was starting to come towards us,

536
00:26:56,616 --> 00:26:58,184
and she sort of shooed him off.

537
00:26:58,284 --> 00:26:59,352
What did he look like?

538
00:26:59,452 --> 00:27:03,723
He appeared to be pretty tall,
bigger, gray haired.

539
00:27:03,823 --> 00:27:05,859
I asked her who it was,
and she said,

540
00:27:05,959 --> 00:27:07,927
"Oh, just a friend."

541
00:27:08,027 --> 00:27:10,930
Ildiko didn't
share any details.

542
00:27:11,030 --> 00:27:13,199
It was all sort of
insignificant to me.

543
00:27:13,299 --> 00:27:15,201
It didn't seem
out of the ordinary...

544
00:27:15,301 --> 00:27:16,269
Until later.

545
00:27:16,369 --> 00:27:18,471
Until you leave a place
and a bomb goes off.

546
00:27:18,571 --> 00:27:20,707
Then everything seems weird.

547
00:27:20,807 --> 00:27:23,776
Which is why she contacted
law enforcement.

548
00:27:23,877 --> 00:27:27,547
And soon FBI agents
were at her door.

549
00:27:27,647 --> 00:27:31,384
They asked me to try to
identify who I saw that day,

550
00:27:31,484 --> 00:27:34,120
which I could not do.
- They show you any photos?

551
00:27:34,220 --> 00:27:36,055
Yeah, but they were
like yearbook size.

552
00:27:36,156 --> 00:27:39,659
Like this small,
really grainy, bad photos

553
00:27:39,759 --> 00:27:42,295
on a paper like this.

554
00:27:42,395 --> 00:27:46,666
And so all I could tell them
at the time was,

555
00:27:46,766 --> 00:27:49,235
"It's definitely not him."

556
00:27:49,335 --> 00:27:51,704
Turns out the man Sarah saw
that morning

557
00:27:51,804 --> 00:27:54,807
showed up at the spa
after the explosion

558
00:27:54,908 --> 00:27:57,877
because he had lunch plans
with Ildiko.

559
00:27:57,977 --> 00:28:02,181
His name was Scott Mullally and
investigators spoke with him.

560
00:28:02,282 --> 00:28:05,885
He told us that he and Ildiko
met at a casino

561
00:28:05,985 --> 00:28:06,986
a few weeks prior.

562
00:28:07,086 --> 00:28:08,421
He dropped her off
at the airport

563
00:28:08,521 --> 00:28:11,391
when she went to Hungary,
and he offered to pick her up.

564
00:28:11,491 --> 00:28:15,094
Ildiko agreed and so
he picked her up from LAX

565
00:28:15,195 --> 00:28:16,596
the night before.

566
00:28:16,696 --> 00:28:18,498
They spent the evening together,

567
00:28:18,598 --> 00:28:21,968
and he drove Ildiko to her spa
the next morning.

568
00:28:22,068 --> 00:28:23,469
And so there certainly
wasn't any bad blood

569
00:28:23,570 --> 00:28:24,571
between two of them.

570
00:28:24,671 --> 00:28:25,939
- No.
- No.

571
00:28:26,039 --> 00:28:29,142
When investigators looked at
the video from LAX,

572
00:28:29,242 --> 00:28:33,446
there he was,
with Ildiko at baggage claim.

573
00:28:33,546 --> 00:28:35,481
He seemed to be
telling the truth.

574
00:28:35,582 --> 00:28:39,118
Even so, they checked
his records and searched his car

575
00:28:39,219 --> 00:28:42,155
and home,
and there was this...

576
00:28:42,255 --> 00:28:45,124
Before landing at LAX,
Ildiko made a stop

577
00:28:45,225 --> 00:28:47,360
at the San Francisco airport.

578
00:28:47,460 --> 00:28:50,763
Investigators obtained
that video, too.

579
00:28:50,864 --> 00:28:54,868
There was Ildiko,
and she wasn't alone.

580
00:28:55,969 --> 00:28:57,804
Who was that?

581
00:28:57,904 --> 00:29:00,106
Investigators needed to
find out.

582
00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:03,743
♪

583
00:29:04,944 --> 00:29:12,685
♪

584
00:29:12,785 --> 00:29:15,188
When investigators obtained
Ildiko Krajnyak's

585
00:29:15,288 --> 00:29:17,423
travel information,
they saw that

586
00:29:17,524 --> 00:29:21,027
before landing in LAX
on her way home from Hungary,

587
00:29:21,127 --> 00:29:23,963
she'd made a stop at
the San Francisco airport.

588
00:29:24,063 --> 00:29:25,632
We got the airport video.

589
00:29:25,732 --> 00:29:27,734
We saw her coming
through customs.

590
00:29:27,834 --> 00:29:31,538
They also saw that
Ildiko wasn't alone.

591
00:29:31,638 --> 00:29:35,975
This turned out to be
a man named Laszlo Zabo.

592
00:29:36,075 --> 00:29:37,343
Who is that?

593
00:29:37,443 --> 00:29:41,481
It was a person
she was, uh, off and on dating,

594
00:29:41,581 --> 00:29:44,250
and she went on the trip
to Hungry with.

595
00:29:44,350 --> 00:29:47,020
He and Ildiko flew back
to the States together

596
00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:49,455
and parted ways in San Francisco

597
00:29:49,556 --> 00:29:53,893
before Ildiko caught a flight
to LA and met Scott.

598
00:29:53,993 --> 00:29:55,028
You talk with him?

599
00:29:55,128 --> 00:29:56,830
- Yeah.
- Oh, yes.

600
00:29:56,930 --> 00:29:59,265
Laszlo told investigators
he'd been in Hungary

601
00:29:59,365 --> 00:30:00,600
for the last few weeks

602
00:30:00,700 --> 00:30:06,239
and he hadn't visited
Southern California in months.

603
00:30:06,339 --> 00:30:08,608
Investigators had plenty
to keep them busy,

604
00:30:08,708 --> 00:30:12,212
including Ildiko's
business partner, Stephen Beal,

605
00:30:12,312 --> 00:30:14,581
whose house they were searching.

606
00:30:14,681 --> 00:30:17,650
His girlfriend, Valerie, said
on the day after the bombing,

607
00:30:17,750 --> 00:30:21,054
Stephen couldn't stop
thinking about Ildiko.

608
00:30:21,154 --> 00:30:24,123
And he's like,
"God, I got t-this weight,

609
00:30:24,224 --> 00:30:26,059
you know, on his shoulders."

610
00:30:26,159 --> 00:30:28,394
And he's, like, really concerned
about what's going on

611
00:30:28,495 --> 00:30:29,796
with the investigation.

612
00:30:29,896 --> 00:30:32,098
And so at that point,
we decided to go

613
00:30:32,198 --> 00:30:34,200
to the police department.

614
00:30:34,300 --> 00:30:36,836
He comes down to
our Aliso Viejo substation

615
00:30:36,936 --> 00:30:40,273
and says, "Hey, I'd like to
talk to, uh, the investigators

616
00:30:40,373 --> 00:30:42,575
in charge of the investigation."

617
00:30:42,675 --> 00:30:44,177
So Investigator Ackerman

618
00:30:44,277 --> 00:30:46,012
from the Orange County
Sheriff's Department

619
00:30:46,112 --> 00:30:49,716
and an FBI agent
sat down with Stephen.

620
00:30:49,816 --> 00:30:52,819
That conversation
was recorded.

621
00:30:52,919 --> 00:30:54,821
Real quick, before we start,
I just wanted to--

622
00:30:54,921 --> 00:30:56,589
that you're here voluntarily.

623
00:30:56,689 --> 00:30:58,024
You came in,
drove in on your own?

624
00:30:58,124 --> 00:30:59,792
- Yes.
- Keep in mind,

625
00:30:59,893 --> 00:31:01,427
at this point
in the investigation,

626
00:31:01,528 --> 00:31:04,397
Stephen Beal was very much
a person of interest.

627
00:31:04,497 --> 00:31:07,467
Law enforcement was eager
to learn more about him.

628
00:31:07,567 --> 00:31:10,870
And Stephen was about to
save them a lot of time.

629
00:31:10,970 --> 00:31:16,142
If oversharing were a sport,
he'd be an Olympian.

630
00:31:16,242 --> 00:31:18,845
He just randomly starts
sharing bits of information

631
00:31:18,945 --> 00:31:21,781
about the relationship
and the business.

632
00:31:21,881 --> 00:31:24,984
Stephen was a grandfather now,
a widower

633
00:31:25,084 --> 00:31:27,287
with four adult children.

634
00:31:27,387 --> 00:31:31,491
He and Ildiko met in 2016
when they both swiped right

635
00:31:31,591 --> 00:31:35,728
on a dating app and
then immediately hit it off.

636
00:31:35,829 --> 00:31:36,896
We went away a lot.

637
00:31:36,996 --> 00:31:41,234
We were, uh, exclusively dating
with one another.

638
00:31:41,334 --> 00:31:44,103
And, you know, all of those
sort of texts

639
00:31:44,204 --> 00:31:45,805
that you send
at 3:00 in the morning

640
00:31:45,905 --> 00:31:48,041
when you can't sleep,
saying, you know,

641
00:31:48,141 --> 00:31:49,475
"I miss you,
I wish you were here."

642
00:31:49,576 --> 00:31:52,245
You know, like,
"Pillow's not the same."

643
00:31:52,345 --> 00:31:53,746
You know, all that (BLEEP), right?

644
00:31:53,846 --> 00:31:56,149
Over time, Stephen says
he got involved

645
00:31:56,249 --> 00:31:58,151
with Ildiko's spa.

646
00:31:58,251 --> 00:32:00,053
We both signed a lease
together.

647
00:32:00,153 --> 00:32:02,622
- Okay.
- Um, y-you know, so--

648
00:32:02,722 --> 00:32:05,592
And we're building that
business, uh, and--

649
00:32:05,692 --> 00:32:08,261
And quite, quite successfully.

650
00:32:08,361 --> 00:32:11,297
And while their business
appeared to be thriving,

651
00:32:11,397 --> 00:32:14,901
their romantic relationship
started falling apart.

652
00:32:15,001 --> 00:32:16,803
About a year and a half into it,

653
00:32:16,903 --> 00:32:20,440
Stephen said Ildiko
seemed to be hiding something.

654
00:32:20,540 --> 00:32:24,711
I confronted her with
some changes in her behavior.

655
00:32:24,811 --> 00:32:25,945
Like, what?
What do you mean?

656
00:32:26,045 --> 00:32:29,115
Well, when we first
started dating,

657
00:32:29,215 --> 00:32:31,317
she gave me, uh, access to,
you know,

658
00:32:31,417 --> 00:32:32,652
she gave me
her sign on credentials

659
00:32:32,752 --> 00:32:34,287
for her United account,

660
00:32:34,387 --> 00:32:36,990
numerous little things
like this.

661
00:32:37,090 --> 00:32:45,398
And then, um, she, at one point,
just for seemingly no reason,

662
00:32:45,498 --> 00:32:50,003
she, like,
changed her password.

663
00:32:50,103 --> 00:32:52,672
Stephen knew full well
Ildiko was married

664
00:32:52,772 --> 00:32:55,775
to someone else,
but until then,

665
00:32:55,875 --> 00:33:00,513
he thought he was the only
other man in her life.

666
00:33:00,613 --> 00:33:04,117
Now he realized
world traveler Ildiko

667
00:33:04,217 --> 00:33:08,221
was also a frequent flyer
in the world of romance.

668
00:33:08,321 --> 00:33:12,892
The issue was, for me,
you know, why

669
00:33:12,992 --> 00:33:14,460
and why are you
trying to hide it?

670
00:33:14,561 --> 00:33:15,461
- Yeah.
- You know?

671
00:33:15,562 --> 00:33:17,964
Because the reality is,
if she had said--

672
00:33:18,064 --> 00:33:20,233
if she had come to me
and said, you know,

673
00:33:20,333 --> 00:33:23,169
"I really think that
I want to, like,

674
00:33:23,269 --> 00:33:24,871
open up our relationship
a little bit.

675
00:33:24,971 --> 00:33:26,005
I don't want to be exclusive.

676
00:33:26,105 --> 00:33:28,975
I want to, you know,
date other men."

677
00:33:29,075 --> 00:33:31,578
I would've said, "Okay..."

678
00:33:31,678 --> 00:33:36,382
But it was the hiding it
that was the deceit,

679
00:33:36,482 --> 00:33:38,618
planned deceit is a problem.
- Sure.

680
00:33:38,718 --> 00:33:41,387
Stephen said
the path of their relationship

681
00:33:41,487 --> 00:33:44,057
reminded him of a song.

682
00:33:44,157 --> 00:33:45,892
You know, when you wake up
in the morning and you're--

683
00:33:45,992 --> 00:33:48,228
and you're humming
the Carole King song,

684
00:33:48,328 --> 00:33:49,229
"One of us is changing.

685
00:33:49,329 --> 00:33:51,865
Or maybe we just
stopped trying", you know?

686
00:33:51,965 --> 00:33:55,068
You know something is-is amiss.

687
00:33:55,168 --> 00:33:57,370
And now it was too late.

688
00:33:57,470 --> 00:33:59,806
Ildiko had been killed
by a package bomb

689
00:33:59,906 --> 00:34:01,875
that ripped open their spa.

690
00:34:01,975 --> 00:34:04,944
Stephen once again said
he had no idea

691
00:34:05,044 --> 00:34:06,579
who could be behind it.

692
00:34:06,679 --> 00:34:09,249
Like, your whole deal is,
you know, means, motive,

693
00:34:09,349 --> 00:34:10,884
and-and opportunity.

694
00:34:10,984 --> 00:34:13,386
And I don't know people that--

695
00:34:13,486 --> 00:34:15,722
I don't know anybody
that has the motive.

696
00:34:15,822 --> 00:34:18,258
Okay, what about the means?

697
00:34:18,358 --> 00:34:20,059
I-I don't know
what's in my garage.

698
00:34:20,160 --> 00:34:21,594
I don't know what
chemicals they found.

699
00:34:21,694 --> 00:34:23,696
So I-- you know, I suppose
I could probably

700
00:34:23,796 --> 00:34:27,901
fall into that category if-
if the chemicals are right.

701
00:34:28,001 --> 00:34:29,936
Law enforcement
tends to pay attention

702
00:34:30,036 --> 00:34:32,539
when you tell them
you could be a suspect

703
00:34:32,639 --> 00:34:35,742
in the crime
they're currently working on.

704
00:34:35,842 --> 00:34:37,810
And investigators who were,
at that moment,

705
00:34:37,911 --> 00:34:40,413
still searching Stephen's house

706
00:34:40,513 --> 00:34:44,117
had found large quantities
of explosive chemicals

707
00:34:44,217 --> 00:34:46,252
in Stephen's garage.

708
00:34:46,352 --> 00:34:49,556
Stephen said there was
a simple explanation for that.

709
00:34:49,656 --> 00:34:51,324
He used to make
his own fireworks

710
00:34:51,424 --> 00:34:55,662
and was a longtime
rocket hobbyist.

711
00:34:55,762 --> 00:34:58,932
A friend of mine and I,
w-we would build model rockets.

712
00:34:59,032 --> 00:35:01,935
And I started this years ago
when my kids were little

713
00:35:02,035 --> 00:35:04,037
and it got to be almost
an obsession.

714
00:35:04,137 --> 00:35:06,940
And so my kids,
we built a 25 foot tall,

715
00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:10,677
6 inch diameter,
4 stage rocket.

716
00:35:10,777 --> 00:35:13,580
It had been years since
he built one, he said,

717
00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:18,685
and those chemicals were just
sitting in the garage unused.

718
00:35:18,785 --> 00:35:21,788
Investigator Ackerman
wanted to know more.

719
00:35:21,888 --> 00:35:26,860
When they do their analysis
of chemicals found there,

720
00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:30,897
chemicals found in your-
your home,

721
00:35:30,997 --> 00:35:33,733
it would just be a coincidence
if the same...

722
00:35:33,833 --> 00:35:35,435
Again, I don't remember
what chemicals

723
00:35:35,535 --> 00:35:36,536
are around in the house

724
00:35:36,636 --> 00:35:38,671
because I haven't--
I haven't taken them down,

725
00:35:38,771 --> 00:35:40,340
I haven't looked at them,
I haven't thought of them.

726
00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:41,641
I didn't even know
where they were.

727
00:35:41,741 --> 00:35:43,343
If there's an oxidizer,
I mean, sure,

728
00:35:43,443 --> 00:35:46,179
there was some sort of
an oxidizer that was in the bomb

729
00:35:46,279 --> 00:35:48,715
that was placed
because you'd have to.

730
00:35:48,815 --> 00:35:55,321
Um, and it clearly is possible
that I have that oxidizer.

731
00:35:55,421 --> 00:35:57,957
An oxidizer,
meaning a chemical agent

732
00:35:58,057 --> 00:36:01,394
that helps ignite fuel
and cause an explosion.

733
00:36:01,494 --> 00:36:04,230
Would someone with
your type of experience

734
00:36:04,330 --> 00:36:08,501
be able to convert that into
something on a bigger scale?

735
00:36:08,601 --> 00:36:10,737
I saw the devastation,
you know,

736
00:36:10,837 --> 00:36:13,039
in the pictures
and news reports.

737
00:36:13,139 --> 00:36:19,112
I have no idea how you would,
like, put something together

738
00:36:19,212 --> 00:36:23,716
that would-that would cause
something like that.

739
00:36:23,816 --> 00:36:26,820
Ackerman now had his doubts
about that.

740
00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:28,354
I don't know what Mr. Beal
was thinking

741
00:36:28,454 --> 00:36:30,690
when he came in there
and talked to you,

742
00:36:30,790 --> 00:36:34,027
but if he was trying to get
himself out of the spotlight,

743
00:36:34,127 --> 00:36:36,196
it feels like he did
exactly the opposite.

744
00:36:36,296 --> 00:36:39,566
He definitely put himself
as more of a person of interest

745
00:36:39,666 --> 00:36:41,601
as that interview went on.

746
00:36:41,701 --> 00:36:44,504
And Stephen Beal wasn't done.

747
00:36:44,604 --> 00:36:47,140
He gives us a lot of these
extraneous details

748
00:36:47,240 --> 00:36:50,109
to things that really don't
make much of anything

749
00:36:50,210 --> 00:36:53,479
except for kind of allude to
what's going through his--

750
00:36:53,580 --> 00:36:54,914
his mind, maybe.

751
00:36:55,014 --> 00:36:58,418
Like the idea
he was about to reveal

752
00:36:58,518 --> 00:37:02,455
for a screenplay
about an assassin.

753
00:37:02,555 --> 00:37:04,858
I can't believe
he's telling me this story.

754
00:37:04,991 --> 00:37:08,528
♪

755
00:37:08,661 --> 00:37:16,269
♪

756
00:37:16,369 --> 00:37:18,338
Stephen Beal had
walked himself into

757
00:37:18,438 --> 00:37:20,874
the Aliso Viejo
sheriff's station.

758
00:37:20,974 --> 00:37:24,010
And, over several hours,
he had talked himself

759
00:37:24,110 --> 00:37:27,013
into more trouble
than he was already in.

760
00:37:27,113 --> 00:37:30,717
The whole interview
is-is odd to me, um,

761
00:37:30,817 --> 00:37:33,086
from the beginning.
- Because why is he there?

762
00:37:33,186 --> 00:37:34,454
Right.

763
00:37:34,554 --> 00:37:38,124
The interview had veered into
some truly bizarre territory.

764
00:37:38,224 --> 00:37:41,294
Stephen told them about
a screenplay he was writing

765
00:37:41,394 --> 00:37:45,999
about a soccer mom
who was a part time assassin.

766
00:37:46,099 --> 00:37:47,066
Now, she's very good.

767
00:37:47,166 --> 00:37:48,902
She planned every
step of the way.

768
00:37:49,002 --> 00:37:51,171
She covered her tracks.

769
00:37:51,271 --> 00:37:53,873
He also told several jokes.

770
00:37:53,973 --> 00:37:57,043
Then he performed a magic trick
on someone

771
00:37:57,143 --> 00:38:00,580
in the process of
investigating a murder.

772
00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:02,782
He did the, you know,
pull a coin

773
00:38:02,882 --> 00:38:05,885
from behind my ear kind of-
kind of trick.

774
00:38:05,985 --> 00:38:09,088
- You're kidding me?
- No. I was blown away.

775
00:38:09,189 --> 00:38:11,524
Unusual, yes.

776
00:38:11,624 --> 00:38:15,195
Then again, Stephen was also
an aspiring actor.

777
00:38:15,295 --> 00:38:18,164
Stephen had worked for years
as an executive consultant,

778
00:38:18,264 --> 00:38:21,568
he said,
and was on disability now.

779
00:38:21,668 --> 00:38:23,603
He was apparently
looking forward to

780
00:38:23,703 --> 00:38:27,173
turning this new unfortunate
set of circumstances

781
00:38:27,273 --> 00:38:28,875
into something positive,

782
00:38:28,975 --> 00:38:31,578
as he shared a conversation
he'd had with his girlfriend,

783
00:38:31,678 --> 00:38:34,247
Valerie, after the explosion.

784
00:38:34,347 --> 00:38:38,818
She said, you know, actually,
when you get past all of this,

785
00:38:38,918 --> 00:38:42,922
you need to do a stand up
comedy routine about it.

786
00:38:43,022 --> 00:38:45,191
Because there's a lot
of really, you know,

787
00:38:45,291 --> 00:38:49,863
potentially humorous anecdotes
that are just wrapped up

788
00:38:49,963 --> 00:38:52,232
in the most intense
life situations.

789
00:38:52,332 --> 00:38:54,267
- Yeah.
- And, you know,

790
00:38:54,367 --> 00:38:57,036
the audience can relate to-
to what you're going through

791
00:38:57,136 --> 00:39:00,940
and it's delivered in-in a,
you know, a humorous manner,

792
00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:04,577
people love
to be entertained.

793
00:39:04,677 --> 00:39:07,146
I've never experienced that
in all the interviews I've done

794
00:39:07,247 --> 00:39:08,281
in my police career.

795
00:39:08,381 --> 00:39:11,718
I think he thinks
he's outsmarting everybody.

796
00:39:11,818 --> 00:39:13,386
Wrong again.

797
00:39:13,486 --> 00:39:16,656
Stephen may have thought he was
the smartest guy in the room,

798
00:39:16,756 --> 00:39:19,893
but he evidently missed
this basic truth--

799
00:39:19,993 --> 00:39:23,863
Telling police you think
your ex lover's violent death

800
00:39:23,963 --> 00:39:26,799
would be great material
for a comedy routine

801
00:39:26,900 --> 00:39:29,969
is not something that will
take you off their radar.

802
00:39:30,069 --> 00:39:33,206
Investigator Ackerman
was not entertained.

803
00:39:33,306 --> 00:39:36,242
He was convinced Stephen
wasn't grieving at all.

804
00:39:36,342 --> 00:39:37,644
Far from it.

805
00:39:37,744 --> 00:39:40,113
But Ackerman played it cool.

806
00:39:40,213 --> 00:39:42,482
You said you have the means.

807
00:39:42,582 --> 00:39:48,254
Now look at the traditional
motives o-of homicide

808
00:39:48,354 --> 00:39:52,225
and there's a couple motives
there that stand out.

809
00:39:52,325 --> 00:39:53,293
And-and--
- Excuse me.

810
00:39:53,393 --> 00:39:55,495
D-Do you think that you
fall into the categories

811
00:39:55,595 --> 00:39:58,064
o-of having those motives?

812
00:39:58,164 --> 00:39:59,833
Love gone wrong?
No, no.

813
00:39:59,933 --> 00:40:02,101
- Do you have some war wounds?
- No, not at all.

814
00:40:02,202 --> 00:40:07,040
Okay. I rely on evidence,
um, but in my heart.

815
00:40:07,140 --> 00:40:09,609
- You got a gut too, though.
- Yeah, in my heart, my gut,

816
00:40:09,709 --> 00:40:14,013
I-I'm thinking he-he's the one
definitely who killed her.

817
00:40:14,113 --> 00:40:16,349
They had no evidence
linking Stephen Beal

818
00:40:16,449 --> 00:40:18,618
directly to Ildiko's murder.

819
00:40:18,718 --> 00:40:21,488
However, in the search
of his home,

820
00:40:21,588 --> 00:40:24,824
investigators found what
looked like sticks of dynamite

821
00:40:24,924 --> 00:40:27,961
you'd see as props
on a movie set.

822
00:40:28,061 --> 00:40:30,296
This morning we learned
59 year old Stephen Beal

823
00:40:30,396 --> 00:40:31,364
was arrested.

824
00:40:31,464 --> 00:40:34,601
So the feds arrested him,
not for murder,

825
00:40:34,701 --> 00:40:36,469
but for being in possession of

826
00:40:36,569 --> 00:40:40,273
unregistered
destructive devices.

827
00:40:40,373 --> 00:40:43,443
Ackerman had some reservations
about the arrest.

828
00:40:43,543 --> 00:40:47,514
He knew evidence in the case
was still scarce.

829
00:40:47,614 --> 00:40:49,749
I wanted to get to the bottom
of a homicide

830
00:40:49,849 --> 00:40:53,753
and not arrest somebody for
having some type of devices.

831
00:40:53,853 --> 00:40:55,655
So you wanted to follow him
around for a couple of days

832
00:40:55,755 --> 00:40:56,956
and see what happens?

833
00:40:57,056 --> 00:40:58,424
I wanted to follow him around.

834
00:40:58,525 --> 00:41:00,994
I wanted another chance
to interview him,

835
00:41:01,094 --> 00:41:03,029
talk to him again
at a later date.

836
00:41:03,129 --> 00:41:06,266
Any variety of other
investigative techniques

837
00:41:06,366 --> 00:41:07,400
is what I would have preferred.

838
00:41:07,500 --> 00:41:09,636
And the Bureau
wanted him locked up?

839
00:41:09,736 --> 00:41:11,204
Yes.

840
00:41:11,304 --> 00:41:13,840
Then about a week later,
Stephen Beal

841
00:41:13,940 --> 00:41:16,042
made headlines again.

842
00:41:16,142 --> 00:41:18,745
This was a very unusual move
by federal prosecutors.

843
00:41:18,845 --> 00:41:20,513
They went to a judge
over the weekend

844
00:41:20,613 --> 00:41:24,050
to ask that charges be dismissed
against Stephen Beal.

845
00:41:24,150 --> 00:41:28,021
- Federal prosecutor Mark Takla.
- The FBI lab examiner,

846
00:41:28,121 --> 00:41:30,123
could not rule out these items

847
00:41:30,223 --> 00:41:33,393
as possibly being used
in rocketry.

848
00:41:33,493 --> 00:41:35,028
So you end up
dropping the charges.

849
00:41:35,128 --> 00:41:35,929
Correct.

850
00:41:36,029 --> 00:41:37,730
And he walks out of
the lockup.

851
00:41:37,831 --> 00:41:39,165
He does.

852
00:41:39,265 --> 00:41:41,868
Ildiko's friends didn't know
what to think.

853
00:41:41,968 --> 00:41:44,337
I just didn't know if they
were ever going to find--

854
00:41:44,437 --> 00:41:48,541
Find the person responsible.
- I was very upset.

855
00:41:48,641 --> 00:41:49,642
I didn't understand it.

856
00:41:49,742 --> 00:41:53,213
- You thought, "That's the end"?
- No.

857
00:41:53,313 --> 00:41:56,049
Because if you watch Dateline,
there's always an end.

858
00:41:56,149 --> 00:41:57,717
And that wasn't it.

859
00:41:57,817 --> 00:42:01,321
Oh, she's right.
This wasn't the end.

860
00:42:01,421 --> 00:42:06,092
Because a mundane ingredient
of the bomb that killed Ildiko

861
00:42:06,192 --> 00:42:08,628
was about to become a key piece
of evidence

862
00:42:08,728 --> 00:42:14,234
when video surfaced of this guy
purchasing a 9 volt battery

863
00:42:14,334 --> 00:42:16,402
just days before the bombing.

864
00:42:16,503 --> 00:42:18,705
It was one of those moments
where my hair sticks

865
00:42:18,805 --> 00:42:22,842
on the back of my neck.
- And later, a sting operation.

866
00:42:22,942 --> 00:42:24,844
I had to sign documents
so they could go in

867
00:42:24,944 --> 00:42:28,081
and put cameras and
listening devices in our room.

868
00:42:28,181 --> 00:42:30,116
It was a nightmare.

869
00:42:34,354 --> 00:42:41,094
♪

870
00:42:41,194 --> 00:42:44,631
For some people,
finding love is easy.

871
00:42:44,731 --> 00:42:47,834
Others don't have
the same kind of luck.

872
00:42:47,934 --> 00:42:50,537
Like Valerie Stone.

873
00:42:50,637 --> 00:42:53,740
I've dated people who are
still stuck on their exes,

874
00:42:53,840 --> 00:42:57,644
and that obviously
doesn't work out.

875
00:42:57,744 --> 00:43:00,246
In her online
dating profile,

876
00:43:00,346 --> 00:43:03,917
Valerie warned
those guys away.

877
00:43:04,017 --> 00:43:06,052
Must not be stuck
in the past

878
00:43:06,152 --> 00:43:08,721
or stuck on your ex,
or, you know,

879
00:43:08,822 --> 00:43:10,123
something like that, and--

880
00:43:10,223 --> 00:43:11,558
'Cause I was
so tired of it.

881
00:43:11,658 --> 00:43:13,726
You want to weed out
those guys who can't move on.

882
00:43:13,827 --> 00:43:15,295
Exactly.

883
00:43:15,395 --> 00:43:17,163
I mean, who wants
to be in a relationship

884
00:43:17,263 --> 00:43:20,333
with someone who doesn't
really want to be with you?

885
00:43:20,433 --> 00:43:23,203
Then she came across
Stephen Beal's photo,

886
00:43:23,303 --> 00:43:24,871
and she swiped right.

887
00:43:24,971 --> 00:43:26,906
So did he.

888
00:43:27,006 --> 00:43:29,042
A few days later,
they met for dinner.

889
00:43:29,142 --> 00:43:31,644
And she says they
instantly connected.

890
00:43:31,744 --> 00:43:34,047
It was great. We just--

891
00:43:34,147 --> 00:43:35,782
No holds barred
on the conversation.

892
00:43:35,882 --> 00:43:37,584
We talked about anything
and everything.

893
00:43:37,684 --> 00:43:39,319
Complete honesty.

894
00:43:40,253 --> 00:43:42,822
And right away,
Stephen brought up Ildiko,

895
00:43:42,922 --> 00:43:44,390
his ex.

896
00:43:44,490 --> 00:43:45,725
He was completely upfront.

897
00:43:45,825 --> 00:43:48,261
He says,
we're no longer dating.

898
00:43:48,361 --> 00:43:50,730
She's moved on.
She's dating other people.

899
00:43:50,830 --> 00:43:52,765
Any indication he was
thinking about her?

900
00:43:52,866 --> 00:43:53,700
Not at all.

901
00:43:53,800 --> 00:43:55,902
Stephen told Valerie
he and Ildiko

902
00:43:56,002 --> 00:43:59,706
were still business partners,
but that was all.

903
00:43:59,806 --> 00:44:01,908
I was completely
okay with it.

904
00:44:02,008 --> 00:44:03,042
They were friends.

905
00:44:03,142 --> 00:44:05,545
He had nothing but
nice things to say about her.

906
00:44:05,645 --> 00:44:08,982
I never saw anything in terms
of anger towards her.

907
00:44:09,082 --> 00:44:10,783
And you were probably
listening for that,

908
00:44:10,884 --> 00:44:14,153
weren't you?
- Uh, you bet I was.

909
00:44:14,254 --> 00:44:17,657
Only a month
after that first date,

910
00:44:17,757 --> 00:44:19,559
Stephen Beal was at the center
of the investigation

911
00:44:19,659 --> 00:44:22,929
into Ildiko's murder
and had been arrested

912
00:44:23,029 --> 00:44:26,933
for possession of unregistered
destructive devices.

913
00:44:27,033 --> 00:44:30,837
Okay, now, Valerie,
reality check.

914
00:44:30,937 --> 00:44:33,940
Is there any feeling
in your head saying,

915
00:44:34,040 --> 00:44:36,142
maybe this is not
the guy I thought he was,

916
00:44:36,242 --> 00:44:38,811
maybe this is not the person
I should be involved with?

917
00:44:38,912 --> 00:44:40,513
Yes, the thought
across my mind.

918
00:44:40,613 --> 00:44:41,581
I guess the thing is,

919
00:44:41,681 --> 00:44:44,918
is I've had so many
poor relationships that--

920
00:44:45,018 --> 00:44:47,353
And this one
was going well up until

921
00:44:47,453 --> 00:44:52,091
this horrific in--
incident happened,

922
00:44:52,192 --> 00:44:57,497
that it was kind of like,
but if he's not guilty,

923
00:44:57,597 --> 00:44:59,365
where could this
possibly go?

924
00:44:59,465 --> 00:45:01,401
How good could this be?

925
00:45:01,501 --> 00:45:03,636
Now, maybe that sounds
like I'm desperate.

926
00:45:03,736 --> 00:45:06,005
Desperate's not
where I was going.

927
00:45:06,105 --> 00:45:08,041
Foolish might be
where I was going.

928
00:45:08,141 --> 00:45:09,175
Okay.

929
00:45:09,275 --> 00:45:10,443
I also need to point out
to you that there are

930
00:45:10,543 --> 00:45:13,713
other men out there,
online and elsewhere,

931
00:45:13,813 --> 00:45:16,316
who are not targets
of law enforcement.

932
00:45:16,416 --> 00:45:17,450
True.

933
00:45:17,550 --> 00:45:20,587
He didn't have handcuffs on
up until that point.

934
00:45:20,687 --> 00:45:23,389
Because that point
is the point where

935
00:45:23,490 --> 00:45:25,892
a lot of people might
think to themselves,

936
00:45:25,992 --> 00:45:29,729
"This is where I get off
the Stephen Beal express."

937
00:45:29,829 --> 00:45:30,897
Yeah.

938
00:45:30,997 --> 00:45:33,066
And here you are.

939
00:45:33,166 --> 00:45:37,971
Stephen had handed Valerie
a big bouquet of red flags,

940
00:45:38,071 --> 00:45:39,572
which she ignored.

941
00:45:39,672 --> 00:45:41,641
And in that respect,
she's not unique.

942
00:45:41,741 --> 00:45:45,111
Covering this beat, I have seen
more times than I can count

943
00:45:45,211 --> 00:45:48,381
just how blind
love can really be.

944
00:45:48,481 --> 00:45:52,051
That's a cliche for a reason,
because it happens a lot

945
00:45:52,151 --> 00:45:54,521
and it can be costly.

946
00:45:54,621 --> 00:45:56,890
When the government
dropped those charges,

947
00:45:56,990 --> 00:45:59,759
Valerie was there to
take Stephen home,

948
00:45:59,859 --> 00:46:02,395
still wearing
his jail issue jumpsuit

949
00:46:02,495 --> 00:46:04,898
with his belongings
in his hand.

950
00:46:04,998 --> 00:46:07,166
And you and Stephen
both think, that's it.

951
00:46:07,267 --> 00:46:09,569
"We're done.
Nightmare over."

952
00:46:09,669 --> 00:46:11,638
Yep.

953
00:46:11,738 --> 00:46:13,506
The next day,
says Valerie,

954
00:46:13,606 --> 00:46:15,608
she and Stephen were
running errands

955
00:46:15,708 --> 00:46:18,945
when suddenly they realized
they had company.

956
00:46:19,045 --> 00:46:20,613
We're going
down the freeway,

957
00:46:20,713 --> 00:46:22,015
and I see
an Orange County sheriff.

958
00:46:22,115 --> 00:46:23,583
Next thing I know,
he's behind me

959
00:46:23,683 --> 00:46:24,951
and his lights are on.

960
00:46:25,051 --> 00:46:27,854
I was just like,
oh, God, pull over.

961
00:46:27,954 --> 00:46:29,822
They're like, "Well, do you see
who's in your car with you?"

962
00:46:29,923 --> 00:46:31,491
And I'm like, "Yeah.

963
00:46:31,591 --> 00:46:34,027
"And you guys released
him from jail."

964
00:46:34,127 --> 00:46:35,228
Dropped the charges.

965
00:46:35,328 --> 00:46:37,931
Dropped the charges.
What's the problem?

966
00:46:38,064 --> 00:46:39,199
♪

967
00:46:39,299 --> 00:46:41,267
Deputies searched
their car

968
00:46:41,367 --> 00:46:43,570
while Valerie hit record.

969
00:46:43,670 --> 00:46:46,039
Those are posters.
You can open them.

970
00:46:46,139 --> 00:46:49,776
We spent about three hours
on the side of the road,

971
00:46:49,876 --> 00:46:52,779
and they brought in
a bomb-sniffing dog,

972
00:46:52,879 --> 00:46:57,217
and I swear there were
probably 13 cars behind us.

973
00:46:57,317 --> 00:47:00,520
They uncovered
exactly nothing.

974
00:47:00,620 --> 00:47:03,189
To Valerie, it felt
like harassment.

975
00:47:03,289 --> 00:47:04,791
And even though
Valerie and Stephen

976
00:47:04,891 --> 00:47:07,093
were allowed to leave,
Stephen's daughter,

977
00:47:07,193 --> 00:47:10,663
Charlene Brown, said she knew
the search for evidence

978
00:47:10,763 --> 00:47:13,766
against her father
was not over.

979
00:47:13,867 --> 00:47:16,836
They want to bring
whoever did this to justice

980
00:47:16,936 --> 00:47:20,373
and they clearly
want it to be him.

981
00:47:20,473 --> 00:47:23,476
For investigators,
combing through that evidence

982
00:47:23,576 --> 00:47:26,012
was a huge task.

983
00:47:26,112 --> 00:47:29,115
We continued to
analyze hundreds,

984
00:47:29,215 --> 00:47:33,386
if not thousands, of hours
of CCTV footage,

985
00:47:33,486 --> 00:47:36,589
tens of thousands
of digital media

986
00:47:36,689 --> 00:47:39,492
from both Ildiko,
Stephen Beal,

987
00:47:39,592 --> 00:47:42,262
other family and friends,
business records,

988
00:47:42,362 --> 00:47:43,530
financial records.

989
00:47:43,630 --> 00:47:45,965
And it takes a long time
to process micro-bits

990
00:47:46,065 --> 00:47:49,269
of evidence when
a bomb goes off.

991
00:47:49,369 --> 00:47:51,237
Just sort of
slowly building a case.

992
00:47:51,337 --> 00:47:53,506
We wanted to
do it right, yeah.

993
00:47:53,606 --> 00:47:56,409
Then came what
looked like a major clue.

994
00:47:56,509 --> 00:47:59,512
A deep dive into
Stephen's financial records

995
00:47:59,612 --> 00:48:01,548
led to this purchase.

996
00:48:01,648 --> 00:48:05,351
We found him buying
a twelve, by six, by six box.

997
00:48:05,451 --> 00:48:10,924
Right, and we were able
to obtain CCTV footage

998
00:48:11,024 --> 00:48:13,026
of him buying that.

999
00:48:13,126 --> 00:48:14,360
That was at a store
right around the corner

1000
00:48:14,460 --> 00:48:16,863
from the spa.

1001
00:48:16,963 --> 00:48:19,432
About a week
before the bombing.

1002
00:48:19,532 --> 00:48:22,001
The box matched
the description of the one

1003
00:48:22,101 --> 00:48:24,637
the surviving witness
said Ildiko was opening

1004
00:48:24,737 --> 00:48:27,040
at the moment
of her death.

1005
00:48:27,140 --> 00:48:29,008
Then there was this.

1006
00:48:29,108 --> 00:48:31,945
Bank records also showed
Stephen Beal getting cash

1007
00:48:32,045 --> 00:48:34,013
from this ATM.

1008
00:48:34,113 --> 00:48:37,450
When an investigator familiar
with the area saw that,

1009
00:48:37,550 --> 00:48:39,385
he remembered that
just down the street

1010
00:48:39,485 --> 00:48:41,855
was a CVS store.

1011
00:48:41,955 --> 00:48:44,757
He checked the store's
security video.

1012
00:48:44,858 --> 00:48:47,527
And that guy you
saw at the register?

1013
00:48:47,627 --> 00:48:51,531
It's Stephen Beal,
one week before the bombing,

1014
00:48:51,631 --> 00:48:55,802
buying a CVS brand
single 9 volt battery

1015
00:48:55,902 --> 00:48:58,938
and paying in cash.

1016
00:48:59,038 --> 00:49:00,840
That changed
everything for me.

1017
00:49:00,940 --> 00:49:02,175
It was very compelling.

1018
00:49:02,275 --> 00:49:04,577
At one point, you have
to stop and say,

1019
00:49:04,677 --> 00:49:07,280
when do the coincidences stop?

1020
00:49:07,380 --> 00:49:09,249
That's the battery
and that's your bomber.

1021
00:49:09,349 --> 00:49:11,317
- Right.
- Correct.

1022
00:49:11,417 --> 00:49:13,920
What's more, investigators
were now hearing stories

1023
00:49:14,020 --> 00:49:16,689
suggesting Stephen
and Ildiko's relationship

1024
00:49:16,789 --> 00:49:19,592
was not at all like the one
Stephen had described

1025
00:49:19,692 --> 00:49:21,661
to investigators.

1026
00:49:21,761 --> 00:49:23,396
There was
one night she told him

1027
00:49:23,496 --> 00:49:25,765
she was out
to dinner with Holly.

1028
00:49:25,865 --> 00:49:29,002
And he apparently didn't
take her word for it.

1029
00:49:29,102 --> 00:49:32,872
He did not believe
that she was with me.

1030
00:49:32,972 --> 00:49:35,708
So he kept blowing up
her phone, texting her,

1031
00:49:35,808 --> 00:49:37,610
calling her.

1032
00:49:37,710 --> 00:49:40,446
He assumed she was
with another man.

1033
00:49:40,547 --> 00:49:43,516
When we walked out of
the restaurant, he was there.

1034
00:49:43,616 --> 00:49:45,885
He was pretty angry
that night.

1035
00:49:45,985 --> 00:49:48,755
- And pretty jealous.
- Yes.

1036
00:49:48,855 --> 00:49:53,593
Well, stories about jealousy
are not evidence of murder.

1037
00:49:53,693 --> 00:49:56,362
And if Stephen had trouble
moving on earlier,

1038
00:49:56,462 --> 00:49:57,897
that seemed
to have passed.

1039
00:49:57,997 --> 00:49:59,966
A couple of months
after the explosion,

1040
00:50:00,066 --> 00:50:04,070
Stephen certainly seemed
serious about Valerie.

1041
00:50:04,170 --> 00:50:05,805
He wrote me a love letter,

1042
00:50:05,905 --> 00:50:07,840
and at the end of the letter
asked me to marry him.

1043
00:50:07,941 --> 00:50:09,909
Did you have to think
about it at all?

1044
00:50:10,009 --> 00:50:11,945
Nope. I didn't.

1045
00:50:12,045 --> 00:50:14,180
I'd moved into the house.

1046
00:50:14,280 --> 00:50:16,816
I mean, I'd been through
everything in his household.

1047
00:50:16,916 --> 00:50:18,952
Sock drawers, you know.
I mean...

1048
00:50:19,052 --> 00:50:21,087
You'd done
your own warrantless search.

1049
00:50:21,187 --> 00:50:22,322
Exactly.

1050
00:50:22,422 --> 00:50:25,859
I mean, I did my due diligence
in the house, you know.

1051
00:50:25,959 --> 00:50:29,863
I didn't see anything
that was of concern.

1052
00:50:29,963 --> 00:50:33,299
- You said yes right away.
- I did.

1053
00:50:33,399 --> 00:50:35,702
Charlene approved.

1054
00:50:35,802 --> 00:50:38,371
I think she's good for him.
I think he's good for her.

1055
00:50:38,471 --> 00:50:41,074
And she doesn't
shy away from a guy

1056
00:50:41,174 --> 00:50:44,244
who has already seen
the inside of a lockup.

1057
00:50:44,344 --> 00:50:46,980
I said to her that
if you at any point

1058
00:50:47,080 --> 00:50:48,781
decide to walk away,

1059
00:50:48,882 --> 00:50:50,383
not that it matters
what we think,

1060
00:50:50,483 --> 00:50:52,385
but none of us
would blame you.

1061
00:50:52,485 --> 00:50:55,488
- But she stuck around.
- But she stuck around.

1062
00:50:55,588 --> 00:50:59,626
That loyalty of Valerie's
was about to be tested.

1063
00:50:59,726 --> 00:51:02,228
- You get another proposal?
- Yeah.

1064
00:51:02,328 --> 00:51:05,431
This one from
some guys in gray suits.

1065
00:51:05,532 --> 00:51:06,432
Yeah.

1066
00:51:06,533 --> 00:51:08,835
And you had to say
yes to that, too?

1067
00:51:08,935 --> 00:51:11,571
I didn't feel
I had a choice.

1068
00:51:15,375 --> 00:51:21,915
♪

1069
00:51:22,015 --> 00:51:24,951
Valerie Stone
and Stephen Beal were engaged.

1070
00:51:25,051 --> 00:51:28,454
He gave her a ring,
a diamond solitaire.

1071
00:51:28,555 --> 00:51:31,391
- Let's see it.
- A little over a carat.

1072
00:51:31,491 --> 00:51:34,027
- Very nice.
- It is.

1073
00:51:34,127 --> 00:51:38,131
Sometimes an engagement is
when people drop by with gifts.

1074
00:51:38,231 --> 00:51:39,766
Not these guys.

1075
00:51:39,866 --> 00:51:41,768
They pull up
in a black Suburban

1076
00:51:41,868 --> 00:51:45,338
and ask me to get in,
so I get in.

1077
00:51:45,438 --> 00:51:46,840
And they tell me,
we're gonna go off site.

1078
00:51:46,940 --> 00:51:49,242
We need to talk to you.

1079
00:51:49,342 --> 00:51:51,010
It was the FBI.

1080
00:51:51,110 --> 00:51:53,279
They showed up at her work
and drove Valerie

1081
00:51:53,379 --> 00:51:55,248
to a nearby park.

1082
00:51:55,348 --> 00:51:57,317
And they say, "Okay,
leave all your electronics

1083
00:51:57,417 --> 00:51:59,485
"in the car."

1084
00:51:59,586 --> 00:52:02,622
Then she says two agents
walked in one direction

1085
00:52:02,722 --> 00:52:05,458
while the agent in charge
walked in the opposite direction

1086
00:52:05,558 --> 00:52:07,594
with Valerie.

1087
00:52:07,694 --> 00:52:08,595
He has a file.

1088
00:52:08,695 --> 00:52:11,130
And he shows me
some pictures of the, um,

1089
00:52:11,231 --> 00:52:13,900
inside of the building
after the explosion.

1090
00:52:14,000 --> 00:52:17,470
And then I think there was one
of Stephen buying boxes

1091
00:52:17,570 --> 00:52:18,505
or something.

1092
00:52:18,605 --> 00:52:22,008
All of that's supposed
to both horrify you

1093
00:52:22,108 --> 00:52:23,776
as to what
the crime actually was

1094
00:52:23,877 --> 00:52:27,046
and also suggest that they have
evidence that he's involved.

1095
00:52:27,146 --> 00:52:29,349
Yeah, yeah.

1096
00:52:29,449 --> 00:52:31,451
The feds were asking
Valerie to become

1097
00:52:31,551 --> 00:52:34,454
what they call
a cooperating witness.

1098
00:52:34,554 --> 00:52:37,423
You might call that
an informant.

1099
00:52:37,524 --> 00:52:40,026
They were trying to
get me to get him

1100
00:52:40,126 --> 00:52:43,363
to admit that
he is the one

1101
00:52:43,463 --> 00:52:46,533
who packaged up the box,

1102
00:52:46,633 --> 00:52:49,469
and that he had used the box
that he had bought

1103
00:52:49,569 --> 00:52:51,271
to make the bomb.

1104
00:52:51,371 --> 00:52:53,907
Without revealing
their specific tactics,

1105
00:52:54,007 --> 00:52:57,076
I can tell you the feds pulled
every lever they knew

1106
00:52:57,177 --> 00:52:58,978
to get Valerie
to cooperate.

1107
00:52:59,078 --> 00:53:00,947
She was under what
I would consider to be

1108
00:53:01,047 --> 00:53:03,883
pretty significant pressure
to wear a wire.

1109
00:53:03,983 --> 00:53:07,620
Valerie told me she believed
that if she turned them down,

1110
00:53:07,720 --> 00:53:10,056
her reputation would not
be the only thing

1111
00:53:10,156 --> 00:53:11,357
that would suffer.

1112
00:53:11,457 --> 00:53:16,196
She also says she felt
it was the right thing to do.

1113
00:53:16,296 --> 00:53:20,066
I said, "I want you guys to
catch the person who did this."

1114
00:53:20,166 --> 00:53:21,968
You know?
- Even if that's Stephen.

1115
00:53:22,068 --> 00:53:23,403
Even if it's Stephen.

1116
00:53:23,503 --> 00:53:25,471
I told him
I didn't think it was.

1117
00:53:25,572 --> 00:53:26,372
But if it is,

1118
00:53:26,472 --> 00:53:28,441
"I'm okay with him
being locked up."

1119
00:53:28,541 --> 00:53:30,276
It was such
a horrendous crime

1120
00:53:30,376 --> 00:53:34,314
that whoever
did this to Ildiko

1121
00:53:34,414 --> 00:53:37,317
deserves to be
behind bars.

1122
00:53:37,417 --> 00:53:40,019
And if it was Stephen,
it was Stephen.

1123
00:53:40,119 --> 00:53:44,357
How would she bring herself
to get the man she loved

1124
00:53:44,457 --> 00:53:47,327
to admit to
such a terrible crime?

1125
00:53:47,427 --> 00:53:50,296
I was like, "Oh, well, we're
doing this Malibu wine hike."

1126
00:53:50,396 --> 00:53:54,234
Valerie says the FBI wanted in
on the romantic getaway

1127
00:53:54,334 --> 00:53:56,503
she and Stephen
had planned,

1128
00:53:56,603 --> 00:53:58,571
and they offered
some free upgrades

1129
00:53:58,671 --> 00:54:01,808
that aren't usually
included in the resort fee.

1130
00:54:01,908 --> 00:54:04,277
They're like, "Okay, well,
we'll pay for the hotel."

1131
00:54:04,377 --> 00:54:07,413
So in-- for them to pay
for the hotel,

1132
00:54:07,514 --> 00:54:10,283
I had to sign documents so they
could go in and put cameras

1133
00:54:10,383 --> 00:54:13,153
and listening devices
in our room.

1134
00:54:13,253 --> 00:54:14,921
It was a nightmare.

1135
00:54:15,021 --> 00:54:16,189
There's not just
two people in the room.

1136
00:54:16,289 --> 00:54:18,758
There's like, what, 25?
- Yeah.

1137
00:54:18,858 --> 00:54:21,961
Except, 23 of them are
watching and listening.

1138
00:54:22,061 --> 00:54:24,264
You guys have
fun that weekend?

1139
00:54:24,364 --> 00:54:27,500
Not a lot, no.

1140
00:54:27,600 --> 00:54:30,904
It was, um,
extremely stressful.

1141
00:54:31,004 --> 00:54:33,173
Your boyfriend's thinking,
"This is great.

1142
00:54:33,273 --> 00:54:34,641
"We can leave all
our troubles behind

1143
00:54:34,741 --> 00:54:35,942
"and have
a nice weekend together."

1144
00:54:36,042 --> 00:54:37,944
You're thinking maybe
I can get him to confess

1145
00:54:38,044 --> 00:54:41,347
to a murder?
- Yeah.

1146
00:54:41,447 --> 00:54:44,951
They also bugged
Valerie's car and her phone.

1147
00:54:45,051 --> 00:54:47,820
And it turns out
they did have a gift.

1148
00:54:47,921 --> 00:54:50,823
A necklace with
a hidden listening device

1149
00:54:50,924 --> 00:54:53,760
to be worn
the entire weekend.

1150
00:54:53,860 --> 00:54:57,664
And Stephen did not say,
where'd you get that?

1151
00:54:57,764 --> 00:54:59,666
Actually, I had a-a--
a reason.

1152
00:54:59,766 --> 00:55:00,700
I said, "Oh,
look what I found.

1153
00:55:00,800 --> 00:55:01,968
"I hadn't seen
this in forever.

1154
00:55:02,068 --> 00:55:03,503
"I thought I'd lost it."

1155
00:55:03,603 --> 00:55:05,838
I mean, that, to me, is like
you delivering for them.

1156
00:55:05,939 --> 00:55:09,275
I was trying.
I mean, I--

1157
00:55:09,375 --> 00:55:11,511
I tried very hard.

1158
00:55:11,611 --> 00:55:14,948
Agents Vicencia and Mericle
were there for it.

1159
00:55:15,048 --> 00:55:16,115
Did you guys have
a nice weekend?

1160
00:55:16,216 --> 00:55:18,451
No, we didn't really
enjoy the weekend.

1161
00:55:18,551 --> 00:55:22,989
Perhaps because
the itinerary was derailed.

1162
00:55:23,089 --> 00:55:25,258
She brought up Ildiko,
brought up the bombing,

1163
00:55:25,358 --> 00:55:26,993
tried to get him
to discuss it.

1164
00:55:27,093 --> 00:55:28,161
Correct.

1165
00:55:28,261 --> 00:55:30,063
And he didn't really
incriminate himself at all.

1166
00:55:30,163 --> 00:55:33,032
He didn't really
talk about it at all.

1167
00:55:33,132 --> 00:55:35,168
The FBI wouldn't
give us the tape,

1168
00:55:35,268 --> 00:55:39,038
but apparently
the operation was a bust.

1169
00:55:39,138 --> 00:55:42,008
I was doing everything
within my power

1170
00:55:42,108 --> 00:55:44,210
to get him
to do something.

1171
00:55:44,310 --> 00:55:47,981
And nothing.
No confession.

1172
00:55:48,081 --> 00:55:51,184
FBI agents continued
to keep a close eye on Stephen.

1173
00:55:51,284 --> 00:55:53,319
- Hi, I'm Stephen Beal.
- Online,

1174
00:55:53,419 --> 00:55:55,922
they found
his acting reels.

1175
00:55:56,022 --> 00:55:57,190
I believe, though,
that an actor

1176
00:55:57,290 --> 00:56:00,760
has to have a life
outside of the camera.

1177
00:56:00,860 --> 00:56:05,865
Art illuminates life,
but also life illuminates art.

1178
00:56:05,965 --> 00:56:09,235
He spent more money
getting classes, um,

1179
00:56:09,335 --> 00:56:12,739
and lessons than he did ever
making any money from acting.

1180
00:56:12,839 --> 00:56:14,941
- Welcome to showbiz.
- Yeah.

1181
00:56:15,041 --> 00:56:17,377
So when Stephen
was cast in the play

1182
00:56:17,477 --> 00:56:20,013
"Twelve Angry Jurors,"

1183
00:56:20,113 --> 00:56:22,549
the FBI was
in the audience.

1184
00:56:22,649 --> 00:56:25,752
We were there, too,
to watch the aspiring actor

1185
00:56:25,852 --> 00:56:29,088
play the role
of a jury foreperson

1186
00:56:29,189 --> 00:56:30,890
in a murder trial.

1187
00:56:30,990 --> 00:56:33,593
The Bureau went to
the play because agents

1188
00:56:33,693 --> 00:56:36,796
were investigating
Stephen's disability claims.

1189
00:56:36,896 --> 00:56:38,698
They learned he'd
been on disability

1190
00:56:38,798 --> 00:56:40,400
for more than a decade,

1191
00:56:40,500 --> 00:56:44,037
because, Steven said,
he suffered from aphasia,

1192
00:56:44,137 --> 00:56:46,706
difficulty communicating,
memory loss,

1193
00:56:46,806 --> 00:56:49,609
and an inability to read.

1194
00:56:49,709 --> 00:56:51,511
He was able
to memorize lines

1195
00:56:51,611 --> 00:56:53,279
and recite them,

1196
00:56:53,379 --> 00:56:57,817
which was contrary
to what he was providing

1197
00:56:57,917 --> 00:56:59,285
on the disability forms

1198
00:56:59,385 --> 00:57:01,154
as things that he was
not able to do.

1199
00:57:01,254 --> 00:57:03,156
He had to know he was
still in the FBI's sights.

1200
00:57:03,256 --> 00:57:04,023
Yeah, he did.

1201
00:57:04,123 --> 00:57:06,192
And, yes, he was
concerned about it.

1202
00:57:06,292 --> 00:57:10,063
But you can't let that stop you
from living your life.

1203
00:57:10,163 --> 00:57:11,264
Something he loves to do.

1204
00:57:11,364 --> 00:57:12,398
I don't know.

1205
00:57:12,499 --> 00:57:14,968
Pretty interesting play
that he chose to be into.

1206
00:57:15,068 --> 00:57:16,102
Maybe a surprising choice.

1207
00:57:16,202 --> 00:57:17,303
Or maybe not
a surprising choice.

1208
00:57:17,403 --> 00:57:19,505
Maybe a poignant choice.

1209
00:57:19,606 --> 00:57:21,341
Because the message of
that play is how people

1210
00:57:21,441 --> 00:57:23,643
can believe one thing,
all of them,

1211
00:57:23,743 --> 00:57:26,379
and then it turns out
what they thought they believed

1212
00:57:26,479 --> 00:57:28,414
actually isn't true.
- Right.

1213
00:57:28,514 --> 00:57:32,085
Now, Stephen Beal's
offstage life

1214
00:57:32,185 --> 00:57:34,954
was about to take
yet another turn.

1215
00:57:35,054 --> 00:57:37,123
- You thought this was over?
- I thought it was over.

1216
00:57:37,223 --> 00:57:37,957
Heartbreaking.

1217
00:57:38,057 --> 00:57:40,026
It was just
the beginning.

1218
00:57:44,297 --> 00:57:50,803
♪

1219
00:57:50,904 --> 00:57:53,039
March 3, 2019.

1220
00:57:53,139 --> 00:57:54,607
It was a Sunday.

1221
00:57:54,707 --> 00:57:56,943
Steven had left to run
some errands.

1222
00:57:57,043 --> 00:57:59,179
I was still in bed.
Kissed me goodbye.

1223
00:57:59,279 --> 00:58:01,948
[phone vibrating]
- Then Valerie's phone rang.

1224
00:58:02,048 --> 00:58:03,583
Steven was calling.

1225
00:58:03,683 --> 00:58:06,853
And he's like,
"I've just been arrested."

1226
00:58:06,953 --> 00:58:09,956
And then hands the phone
to the special agent in charge.

1227
00:58:10,056 --> 00:58:13,059
This time it was the charges
and not the vacation

1228
00:58:13,159 --> 00:58:15,795
that received an upgrade.

1229
00:58:15,895 --> 00:58:19,132
Mr. Beal was arrested pursuant
to a federal criminal complaint

1230
00:58:19,232 --> 00:58:21,067
that charges him with
the malicious destruction

1231
00:58:21,167 --> 00:58:24,470
of a building,
resulting in death.

1232
00:58:24,571 --> 00:58:26,539
The charge carries
a potential sentence of life

1233
00:58:26,639 --> 00:58:31,010
in federal prison without
the possibility of parole.

1234
00:58:31,110 --> 00:58:32,579
This adds up
to a murder charge

1235
00:58:32,679 --> 00:58:35,415
in terms of what he's facing.
- Correct.

1236
00:58:35,515 --> 00:58:38,518
What sort of got you
over the hump?

1237
00:58:38,618 --> 00:58:42,088
The lab finished, you know,
its analysis and conclusions

1238
00:58:42,188 --> 00:58:45,124
of all the hundreds
of pieces of evidence

1239
00:58:45,225 --> 00:58:46,359
that we submitted to them.

1240
00:58:46,459 --> 00:58:48,428
It sounds like there wasn't
any one particular thing.

1241
00:58:48,528 --> 00:58:53,399
It was sort of the totality
of everything adding up.

1242
00:58:53,499 --> 00:58:57,036
- He's in shock.
- And you must have been, too.

1243
00:58:57,136 --> 00:58:58,538
I really was.
I was--

1244
00:58:58,638 --> 00:58:59,706
There's, like, no way.

1245
00:58:59,806 --> 00:59:02,475
There's no way they
have a case against him.

1246
00:59:02,575 --> 00:59:06,045
And so days, weeks,
months went by.

1247
00:59:06,145 --> 00:59:09,582
Stephen Beal sat
behind bars without bond.

1248
00:59:09,682 --> 00:59:13,519
Valerie once again
stood by her man.

1249
00:59:13,620 --> 00:59:15,588
You've never felt
like you were at risk

1250
00:59:15,688 --> 00:59:17,323
by being with Steven?
- Never.

1251
00:59:17,423 --> 00:59:19,025
If all this ends
with an acquittal

1252
00:59:19,125 --> 00:59:23,663
and he walks out
of jail a free man,

1253
00:59:23,763 --> 00:59:26,232
you still have no worries?
- Nope.

1254
00:59:26,332 --> 00:59:29,269
- You believe him.
- Wholeheartedly.

1255
00:59:29,369 --> 00:59:31,771
- You love him?
- Yes.

1256
00:59:31,871 --> 00:59:34,040
Do you believe him
because you love him?

1257
00:59:36,276 --> 00:59:37,177
No.

1258
00:59:37,277 --> 00:59:39,679
No, I believe him
because I believe

1259
00:59:39,779 --> 00:59:42,882
he's not a sociopath
or a psychopath or--

1260
00:59:42,982 --> 00:59:44,384
Murderer, is the word.

1261
00:59:44,484 --> 00:59:47,153
Yeah, he's not
a murderer either.

1262
00:59:47,253 --> 00:59:51,324
Proving that Stephen Beal
was a murderer became the job

1263
00:59:51,424 --> 00:59:53,326
of federal prosecutors
Mark Takla

1264
00:59:53,426 --> 00:59:55,829
and Annamartine Salick

1265
00:59:55,929 --> 00:59:57,997
You confident you
got the right person?

1266
00:59:58,097 --> 00:59:59,365
Absolutely.

1267
00:59:59,465 --> 01:00:01,801
100%.

1268
01:00:01,901 --> 01:00:05,138
The case finally
went to trial in 2022,

1269
01:00:05,238 --> 01:00:08,074
four years after
the explosion.

1270
01:00:08,174 --> 01:00:12,845
Prosecutors reminded the jury
Ildiko wasn't the only victim.

1271
01:00:12,946 --> 01:00:15,315
Two other women have
for years dealt with

1272
01:00:15,415 --> 01:00:18,618
the medical repercussions
from that blast.

1273
01:00:18,718 --> 01:00:21,554
The government played for
the jury an excerpt of a poem

1274
01:00:21,654 --> 01:00:25,225
Stephen Beal recorded for Ildiko
while they were dating.

1275
01:00:25,325 --> 01:00:28,294
I love how when I dream
of my life partner,

1276
01:00:28,394 --> 01:00:31,764
the only person
that I can see is you.

1277
01:00:31,865 --> 01:00:34,133
They told the jury
Stephen Beal was a obsessed

1278
01:00:34,234 --> 01:00:36,669
and infatuated
with Ildiko.

1279
01:00:36,769 --> 01:00:38,838
And when he learned
of her deceit,

1280
01:00:38,938 --> 01:00:40,807
he was humiliated.

1281
01:00:40,907 --> 01:00:45,011
The government showed photos
found on Stephen Beal's phone

1282
01:00:45,111 --> 01:00:49,115
of Ildiko's text conversation
in Hungarian

1283
01:00:49,215 --> 01:00:53,019
with her San Francisco guy,
Laszlo Szabo.

1284
01:00:53,119 --> 01:00:55,855
Prosecutors said Stephen
found those texts

1285
01:00:55,955 --> 01:00:58,324
while on a trip with Ildiko
just two months

1286
01:00:58,424 --> 01:00:59,893
before the explosion.

1287
01:00:59,993 --> 01:01:01,494
And so the only reason
that we could determine

1288
01:01:01,594 --> 01:01:03,763
why he would
take those pictures

1289
01:01:03,863 --> 01:01:06,699
is so that he'd get those
translated later on.

1290
01:01:06,799 --> 01:01:08,201
In those texts,

1291
01:01:08,301 --> 01:01:10,436
Laszlo and Ildiko
are discussing plans

1292
01:01:10,537 --> 01:01:14,807
to go dancing during
Ildiko's trip to Hungary.

1293
01:01:14,908 --> 01:01:18,177
According to prosecutors,
it was then that Stephen

1294
01:01:18,278 --> 01:01:21,314
made his plan
to kill Ildiko.

1295
01:01:22,682 --> 01:01:25,618
He knew how to make
rockets and fireworks,

1296
01:01:25,718 --> 01:01:30,823
and those are the exact things
one needs to know how to make

1297
01:01:30,924 --> 01:01:32,058
to make a bomb.

1298
01:01:32,158 --> 01:01:35,461
And he used that
to end her life.

1299
01:01:35,562 --> 01:01:38,631
Prosecutors also
showed jurors a video

1300
01:01:38,731 --> 01:01:41,701
investigators found of
Stephen demonstrating

1301
01:01:41,801 --> 01:01:44,604
how to safely mix
explosive chemicals

1302
01:01:44,704 --> 01:01:46,706
when making
homemade fireworks.

1303
01:01:46,806 --> 01:01:50,076
The advantage of this method
is that even if

1304
01:01:50,176 --> 01:01:53,880
you're using
highly sensitive materials,

1305
01:01:53,980 --> 01:01:58,318
this is extremely gentle
and will not cause

1306
01:01:58,418 --> 01:02:03,423
the formulation to spark
or self ignite.

1307
01:02:03,523 --> 01:02:05,024
That shows his expertise.

1308
01:02:05,124 --> 01:02:06,960
Hard to argue that
the guy in that video

1309
01:02:07,060 --> 01:02:09,462
wouldn't have known how
to build an explosive device.

1310
01:02:09,562 --> 01:02:10,663
And could do it safely.

1311
01:02:10,763 --> 01:02:13,066
You know, the person has
to be really confident

1312
01:02:13,166 --> 01:02:14,534
that they're able to
put this thing together

1313
01:02:14,634 --> 01:02:15,768
without killing themselves.

1314
01:02:15,869 --> 01:02:18,171
And that is a special,
special skill set

1315
01:02:18,271 --> 01:02:21,241
in electrical
and chemistry.

1316
01:02:21,341 --> 01:02:24,177
The government told the jury
Stephen used materials

1317
01:02:24,277 --> 01:02:27,046
he had in his home
to build the bomb,

1318
01:02:27,146 --> 01:02:29,215
including an oxidizer,

1319
01:02:29,315 --> 01:02:33,119
which caused the bomb's
distinct grayish white smoke.

1320
01:02:33,219 --> 01:02:35,788
The forensic evidence
was clear.

1321
01:02:35,889 --> 01:02:40,326
The chemical residue
that was found at the scene

1322
01:02:40,426 --> 01:02:43,329
that was determined
to be part of the bomb

1323
01:02:43,429 --> 01:02:47,033
was from the same specific
types of chemicals

1324
01:02:47,133 --> 01:02:50,570
that Stephen Beal
kept in his home.

1325
01:02:50,670 --> 01:02:53,673
Prosecutors said that just
days before the explosion,

1326
01:02:53,773 --> 01:02:57,844
Stephen Beal bought two items
to complete the bomb package,

1327
01:02:57,944 --> 01:03:02,582
a box and that CVS brand
9 volt battery.

1328
01:03:03,216 --> 01:03:05,251
What are the odds that
somebody else purchased

1329
01:03:05,351 --> 01:03:09,923
a battery from that lot
available during that time,

1330
01:03:10,023 --> 01:03:13,693
same kind of battery
as was in the bomb?

1331
01:03:13,793 --> 01:03:14,861
I'm not a statistician.

1332
01:03:14,961 --> 01:03:17,030
I can't talk
to probability.

1333
01:03:17,130 --> 01:03:21,100
But what I can say is that
Stephen Beal purchased

1334
01:03:21,201 --> 01:03:26,606
the exact same type,
make and model of battery

1335
01:03:26,706 --> 01:03:30,376
that the evidence shows
was part of the bomb.

1336
01:03:31,311 --> 01:03:32,946
And because Stephen
was involved

1337
01:03:33,046 --> 01:03:35,582
in Ildiko's business
and had full access

1338
01:03:35,682 --> 01:03:36,749
to her schedule,

1339
01:03:36,850 --> 01:03:39,919
prosecutors said he
found the perfect moment

1340
01:03:40,019 --> 01:03:42,155
to plant the bomb.

1341
01:03:42,255 --> 01:03:44,424
And then he waited.

1342
01:03:44,524 --> 01:03:49,362
He repeatedly, for no reason
that we could discern,

1343
01:03:49,462 --> 01:03:52,265
was checking
her appointment schedule

1344
01:03:52,365 --> 01:03:57,036
and her Facebook account
over and over on the day

1345
01:03:57,136 --> 01:04:00,840
he knew she would be returning
to the United States,

1346
01:04:00,940 --> 01:04:03,843
to the spa
to see clients.

1347
01:04:03,943 --> 01:04:05,378
And there was this.

1348
01:04:05,478 --> 01:04:07,714
Prosecutors told the jury
Stephen was searching

1349
01:04:07,814 --> 01:04:11,651
for information online
about whether a narcissist

1350
01:04:11,751 --> 01:04:14,954
could beat
a polygraph test.

1351
01:04:15,054 --> 01:04:18,725
And so that suggested that
he's thinking of a polygraph.

1352
01:04:18,825 --> 01:04:20,293
And he thinks of himself
as a narcissist.

1353
01:04:20,393 --> 01:04:21,928
Correct.

1354
01:04:22,028 --> 01:04:24,063
According to
Stephen Beal's defense team,

1355
01:04:24,164 --> 01:04:27,767
what that really showed
was a massive case

1356
01:04:27,867 --> 01:04:29,702
of tunnel vision.

1357
01:04:29,802 --> 01:04:32,772
The entire force of
their investigation

1358
01:04:32,872 --> 01:04:36,509
was proving Stephen did it,
rather than finding out

1359
01:04:36,609 --> 01:04:40,346
who actually
killed Ildiko.

1360
01:04:40,446 --> 01:04:42,081
And they were about
to tell the jury

1361
01:04:42,182 --> 01:04:46,019
how the government's case
appeared to be a strong one,

1362
01:04:46,119 --> 01:04:50,690
but not if you look
just below the surface.

1363
01:04:54,894 --> 01:05:03,536
♪

1364
01:05:03,636 --> 01:05:07,974
Was this the murder trial
of an obsessed, spurned lover?

1365
01:05:08,074 --> 01:05:10,009
No, said his defense.

1366
01:05:10,109 --> 01:05:13,580
Stephen Beal was simply
a hopeless romantic.

1367
01:05:13,680 --> 01:05:16,316
One of the themes
is that Mr. Beal

1368
01:05:16,416 --> 01:05:20,119
was a jilted ex lover.

1369
01:05:20,220 --> 01:05:23,957
It's a nice sound bite.
It's great for TV.

1370
01:05:24,057 --> 01:05:28,394
But the evidence
directly refuted that.

1371
01:05:28,494 --> 01:05:29,629
Craig Harbaugh was

1372
01:05:29,729 --> 01:05:32,065
Stephen Beal's
lead defense attorney.

1373
01:05:32,165 --> 01:05:35,735
He told the jury the
relationship between his client

1374
01:05:35,835 --> 01:05:39,272
and Ildiko Krajnyak
was complex,

1375
01:05:39,372 --> 01:05:43,877
that even after he'd moved on,
Stephen still cared for her

1376
01:05:43,977 --> 01:05:45,812
and she for him.

1377
01:05:45,912 --> 01:05:48,882
These texts were exchanged
just a couple of weeks

1378
01:05:48,982 --> 01:05:50,750
before the explosion.

1379
01:05:50,850 --> 01:05:52,051
Ildiko To Steven...

1380
01:05:54,988 --> 01:05:57,023
Seconds later,
Steven de Ildiko...

1381
01:05:59,792 --> 01:06:02,195
The strongest piece
of evidence

1382
01:06:02,295 --> 01:06:06,900
is Mr. Beal's total
lack of motive.

1383
01:06:07,000 --> 01:06:09,168
He said there were
plenty of others

1384
01:06:09,269 --> 01:06:11,437
with a motive
to kill Ildiko,

1385
01:06:11,538 --> 01:06:13,473
people who weren't
thoroughly examined,

1386
01:06:13,573 --> 01:06:15,742
like Elizabeth Papp,

1387
01:06:15,842 --> 01:06:18,778
the woman who despised
Ildiko for getting involved

1388
01:06:18,878 --> 01:06:21,047
with her husband.

1389
01:06:21,147 --> 01:06:25,251
Elizabeth hated her,
wanted her out of her life,

1390
01:06:25,351 --> 01:06:28,888
and made it very clear
in all of her communications.

1391
01:06:28,988 --> 01:06:31,257
It got to the point where
Elizabeth reached out

1392
01:06:31,357 --> 01:06:33,827
to Ildiko's husband, Ranilo.

1393
01:06:33,927 --> 01:06:37,163
She demanded that
he do something about it,

1394
01:06:37,263 --> 01:06:39,432
challenged his masculinity

1395
01:06:39,532 --> 01:06:43,736
when he wouldn't
stop Ildiko.

1396
01:06:43,836 --> 01:06:47,240
That was about a month
and a half before the explosion.

1397
01:06:47,340 --> 01:06:49,042
When Elizabeth
took the stand,

1398
01:06:49,142 --> 01:06:52,478
she said she had nothing
to do with Ildiko's murder,

1399
01:06:52,579 --> 01:06:55,081
even though she knew that
after the explosion,

1400
01:06:55,181 --> 01:06:58,518
law enforcement
would seek her out.

1401
01:06:58,618 --> 01:07:01,421
And when they did,
the defense argued

1402
01:07:01,521 --> 01:07:03,790
the FBI search
of the Papps' home

1403
01:07:03,890 --> 01:07:06,059
was perfunctory at best,

1404
01:07:06,159 --> 01:07:10,330
as demonstrated by these photos
taken at the scene.

1405
01:07:10,430 --> 01:07:13,499
The photographs are
completely illegible.

1406
01:07:13,600 --> 01:07:15,034
They're completely dark.

1407
01:07:15,134 --> 01:07:17,437
In contrast to the
hundreds of photos taken

1408
01:07:17,537 --> 01:07:20,373
of Mr. Beal's home.

1409
01:07:20,473 --> 01:07:23,243
The Papps,
particularly Elizabeth,

1410
01:07:23,343 --> 01:07:25,712
were dismissed too quickly
as possible suspects,

1411
01:07:25,812 --> 01:07:29,349
said the defense,
as was Max, the handyman

1412
01:07:29,449 --> 01:07:32,352
who had full access
to Ildiko's suite.

1413
01:07:32,452 --> 01:07:36,890
She was reporting her fear
of Max being there.

1414
01:07:38,458 --> 01:07:39,993
The defense pointed
out to the jury

1415
01:07:40,093 --> 01:07:41,361
that the cameras
in the building

1416
01:07:41,461 --> 01:07:43,096
were not working
at the time.

1417
01:07:43,196 --> 01:07:46,399
And a handyman would
have known that.

1418
01:07:46,499 --> 01:07:49,903
So he knew he could get in
and out of Ildiko's spa

1419
01:07:50,003 --> 01:07:53,173
without ever being seen.

1420
01:07:53,273 --> 01:07:55,742
And of course, there was
Ildiko's husband,

1421
01:07:55,842 --> 01:08:00,180
who had some pretty obvious
reasons to be angry with her.

1422
01:08:00,280 --> 01:08:06,886
The husband was aware
that Ildiko was cheating on him

1423
01:08:06,986 --> 01:08:10,056
while they lived
under the same roof.

1424
01:08:10,156 --> 01:08:11,891
And as for
the government's evidence

1425
01:08:11,991 --> 01:08:14,494
against Stephen Beal,
the defense argued

1426
01:08:14,594 --> 01:08:17,897
there were easy explanations
for some of it.

1427
01:08:17,997 --> 01:08:22,435
For example, that 9 volt battery
he bought with cash.

1428
01:08:22,535 --> 01:08:25,038
It makes sense that Stephen
would have purchased

1429
01:08:25,138 --> 01:08:26,573
that battery.

1430
01:08:26,673 --> 01:08:29,042
Ildiko needed
9 volt batteries

1431
01:08:29,142 --> 01:08:32,912
as a regular part
of her business.

1432
01:08:33,012 --> 01:08:36,616
And the box the government
said contained the bomb?

1433
01:08:36,716 --> 01:08:38,685
Stephen was
remodeling his home,

1434
01:08:38,785 --> 01:08:41,754
packing up his belongings
and moving them around.

1435
01:08:41,855 --> 01:08:46,025
The defense argued purchasing
a box wasn't unusual.

1436
01:08:46,693 --> 01:08:49,062
He used
his Staples rewards card,

1437
01:08:49,162 --> 01:08:51,965
not hiding who he was.

1438
01:08:52,065 --> 01:08:54,367
The defense said
the government could not prove

1439
01:08:54,467 --> 01:08:57,704
that box had been used
to make the bomb,

1440
01:08:57,804 --> 01:09:00,006
despite one of
the blast survivors

1441
01:09:00,106 --> 01:09:02,375
saying it was
very similar.

1442
01:09:02,475 --> 01:09:06,112
And they said the chemicals
the FBI found at his home

1443
01:09:06,212 --> 01:09:08,514
were simply part of
a harmless hobby

1444
01:09:08,615 --> 01:09:11,518
building rockets
and fireworks.

1445
01:09:11,618 --> 01:09:13,820
And as for Stephen's
online research

1446
01:09:13,920 --> 01:09:16,623
about passing
a polygraph examination,

1447
01:09:16,723 --> 01:09:19,526
the defense
had an explanation.

1448
01:09:19,626 --> 01:09:23,530
Mr. Beal had been
offered an audition

1449
01:09:23,630 --> 01:09:26,766
to be a polygrapher.

1450
01:09:26,866 --> 01:09:31,237
That search was within days
of that audition.

1451
01:09:32,505 --> 01:09:34,374
Simply put,
said the defense,

1452
01:09:34,474 --> 01:09:37,210
law enforcement got
the wrong guy.

1453
01:09:37,310 --> 01:09:42,549
Mr. Beal is
a warm, funny,

1454
01:09:42,649 --> 01:09:46,252
kind of quirky
older man,

1455
01:09:46,352 --> 01:09:48,454
has raised children,

1456
01:09:48,555 --> 01:09:51,524
has grandchildren,

1457
01:09:51,624 --> 01:09:54,694
loves his hobbies,

1458
01:09:54,794 --> 01:09:57,997
which, unfortunately,
those hobbies

1459
01:09:58,097 --> 01:10:01,401
made him a target
of law enforcement here.

1460
01:10:02,735 --> 01:10:06,139
Seven weeks of trial,
66 witnesses.

1461
01:10:07,207 --> 01:10:11,277
Now, Stephen's first fate was
in the hands of 12 strangers,

1462
01:10:11,377 --> 01:10:12,679
the jury.

1463
01:10:12,779 --> 01:10:14,280
Probably he did it,

1464
01:10:14,380 --> 01:10:16,416
but I'm not firmly
convinced he did it.

1465
01:10:16,516 --> 01:10:17,917
Probably is not
good enough.

1466
01:10:18,017 --> 01:10:21,621
Probability is not--
not good enough.

1467
01:10:25,058 --> 01:10:29,729
♪

1468
01:10:29,829 --> 01:10:32,565
This is what I think,
and I have no proof--

1469
01:10:32,665 --> 01:10:36,269
Stephen Beal's life
and Stephen Beal's art

1470
01:10:36,369 --> 01:10:38,771
were on
a collision course.

1471
01:10:38,872 --> 01:10:42,108
Here, he was acting
in real life.

1472
01:10:42,208 --> 01:10:45,445
Stephen was literally
a captive audience,

1473
01:10:45,545 --> 01:10:49,115
as the case against him
was laid out for jurors,

1474
01:10:49,215 --> 01:10:53,086
critics who would
have the final say.

1475
01:10:53,186 --> 01:10:55,522
We sat down with
three of those jurors.

1476
01:10:55,622 --> 01:10:58,658
Maricella, Klaus,
and Malcolm.

1477
01:10:58,758 --> 01:10:59,592
He had the materials,

1478
01:10:59,692 --> 01:11:00,927
and he would have
known how to do it.

1479
01:11:01,027 --> 01:11:02,529
- Yeah, absolutely he did.
- Yes.

1480
01:11:02,629 --> 01:11:03,730
And I think we all
agreed on that.

1481
01:11:03,830 --> 01:11:04,631
Yeah.

1482
01:11:04,731 --> 01:11:05,932
Those were some of
the first things

1483
01:11:06,032 --> 01:11:07,901
we checked off that no matter
what side you fell on in it,

1484
01:11:08,001 --> 01:11:12,105
we all agreed that
he had the means to do it,

1485
01:11:12,205 --> 01:11:14,374
he had the knowledge
to do it.

1486
01:11:15,008 --> 01:11:18,378
The question was whether
he acted on that knowledge.

1487
01:11:18,478 --> 01:11:20,880
That's where
jurors struggled.

1488
01:11:20,980 --> 01:11:22,715
They didn't disagree
about whether Stephen

1489
01:11:22,815 --> 01:11:24,817
had purchased
a 9 volt battery,

1490
01:11:24,918 --> 01:11:28,321
only about whether it was
part of the bomb.

1491
01:11:28,421 --> 01:11:32,292
To Klaus, there was
no doubt that it was.

1492
01:11:32,392 --> 01:11:34,961
There's only one way
something gets shot

1493
01:11:35,061 --> 01:11:38,097
into the ceiling
at that kind of speed,

1494
01:11:38,198 --> 01:11:40,867
and that's if it's sitting
right on top of the-the thing

1495
01:11:40,967 --> 01:11:42,035
that detonates.

1496
01:11:42,135 --> 01:11:44,237
Maricella
wasn't so sure.

1497
01:11:44,337 --> 01:11:45,905
You were not
convinced, ultimately,

1498
01:11:46,005 --> 01:11:48,374
that the 9 volt battery
was part of the bomb?

1499
01:11:48,474 --> 01:11:51,611
Not beyond
a reasonable doubt.

1500
01:11:51,711 --> 01:11:55,848
And there was the motive,
or lack of one.

1501
01:11:55,949 --> 01:11:58,017
Based on what you heard
in that courtroom,

1502
01:11:58,117 --> 01:12:00,453
was Stephen Beal
obsessed with her?

1503
01:12:00,553 --> 01:12:03,423
And was he so furious that
she no longer wanted

1504
01:12:03,523 --> 01:12:06,826
to be with him that
he killed her as a result?

1505
01:12:06,926 --> 01:12:09,062
It wasn't obvious
from the testimony that, uh,

1506
01:12:09,162 --> 01:12:13,500
that he was the kind of person
who would fly off the handle.

1507
01:12:13,600 --> 01:12:17,237
Frankly, this was what
I saw as the biggest weakness

1508
01:12:17,337 --> 01:12:18,605
in the government's case.

1509
01:12:18,705 --> 01:12:21,741
Usually men who kill their exes
nearly always telegraph

1510
01:12:21,841 --> 01:12:25,512
that fury long before
any blood is spilled.

1511
01:12:25,612 --> 01:12:27,814
If Stephen was obsessed
with Ildiko

1512
01:12:27,914 --> 01:12:29,816
and burning with jealousy,

1513
01:12:29,916 --> 01:12:32,218
why wasn't there
more evidence of it?

1514
01:12:32,318 --> 01:12:34,721
I asked prosecutors
about that.

1515
01:12:34,821 --> 01:12:38,825
I don't really see the venom
here from Steven to Ildiko.

1516
01:12:38,925 --> 01:12:40,827
Where's the text
where he says,

1517
01:12:40,927 --> 01:12:42,328
"You'll never be
with another man?"

1518
01:12:42,428 --> 01:12:43,696
Where's the text
where he says,

1519
01:12:43,796 --> 01:12:45,231
"You will pay for this?"

1520
01:12:45,331 --> 01:12:48,234
He was an individual that
was trying to win her back.

1521
01:12:48,334 --> 01:12:52,805
And so I think that reaction
that you're asking about

1522
01:12:52,906 --> 01:12:55,041
might not have been
the best way for him

1523
01:12:55,141 --> 01:12:57,243
to interact with Ildiko
to keep her in his life.

1524
01:12:57,343 --> 01:13:00,213
That's not
who Steven Beal is.

1525
01:13:00,313 --> 01:13:04,250
Steven Beal is a calm,
calculating individual.

1526
01:13:04,350 --> 01:13:07,787
Stephen Beal thinks he
is the smartest person

1527
01:13:07,887 --> 01:13:09,689
in the room.

1528
01:13:09,789 --> 01:13:11,658
Well, even
the sharpest among us

1529
01:13:11,758 --> 01:13:14,961
are sometimes tripped up
by the complex details

1530
01:13:15,061 --> 01:13:17,597
of the webs they weave.

1531
01:13:17,697 --> 01:13:21,000
During that very first interview
outside his home,

1532
01:13:21,100 --> 01:13:24,504
you may have noticed Stephen
was talking about Ildiko

1533
01:13:24,604 --> 01:13:26,506
in the past tense.

1534
01:13:37,617 --> 01:13:40,553
No question, she was
no longer among us.

1535
01:13:40,653 --> 01:13:43,122
But up to that point,
law enforcement

1536
01:13:43,223 --> 01:13:46,826
had not yet identified
Ildiko as the person

1537
01:13:46,926 --> 01:13:50,663
who had died
in the explosion.

1538
01:13:50,763 --> 01:13:53,099
Jurors took
an initial vote.

1539
01:13:53,199 --> 01:13:54,968
- Eight to four.
- Which way?

1540
01:13:55,068 --> 01:13:57,070
Uh, eight to four
to convict.

1541
01:13:57,170 --> 01:13:59,339
I said,
probably he did it,

1542
01:13:59,439 --> 01:14:01,474
but I'm not firmly
convinced he did it.

1543
01:14:01,574 --> 01:14:02,942
Probably is not
good enough.

1544
01:14:03,042 --> 01:14:05,712
Probability is not--
is not good enough.

1545
01:14:05,812 --> 01:14:08,181
There were raised voices.
There was pointing.

1546
01:14:08,281 --> 01:14:11,618
There was a--
a little bit of, um--

1547
01:14:11,718 --> 01:14:13,019
- Yeah.
- There was some acrimony.

1548
01:14:13,119 --> 01:14:16,389
Yeah, definitely.

1549
01:14:16,489 --> 01:14:20,293
Finally, jurors sent
the judge a note.

1550
01:14:20,393 --> 01:14:22,729
A hung jury.

1551
01:14:22,829 --> 01:14:24,964
No way around it.

1552
01:14:25,064 --> 01:14:26,633
What was that like?

1553
01:14:26,733 --> 01:14:28,234
Horrible.

1554
01:14:28,334 --> 01:14:32,038
I was so disappointed,
just for her family.

1555
01:14:32,839 --> 01:14:35,441
The judge
declared a mistrial.

1556
01:14:35,542 --> 01:14:40,513
For prosecutors, a setback,
maybe a temporary one.

1557
01:14:40,613 --> 01:14:41,981
Was there ever any thought
about whether or not

1558
01:14:42,081 --> 01:14:43,816
you were going to
go ahead and retry?

1559
01:14:43,917 --> 01:14:44,884
No.

1560
01:14:44,984 --> 01:14:47,086
We were always going
to retry that case.

1561
01:14:47,187 --> 01:14:50,056
For Stephen Beal,
a victory,

1562
01:14:50,156 --> 01:14:52,325
also perhaps temporary.

1563
01:14:52,425 --> 01:14:54,294
Acquittal would
have been better,

1564
01:14:54,394 --> 01:14:58,831
but certainly
a hung jury

1565
01:14:58,932 --> 01:15:01,301
is better than
a wrongful conviction.

1566
01:15:03,570 --> 01:15:07,607
Stephen remained in jail,
waiting for another trial.

1567
01:15:07,707 --> 01:15:10,910
That began in June 2023.

1568
01:15:11,010 --> 01:15:14,214
And prosecutors again
presented their evidence.

1569
01:15:14,314 --> 01:15:16,082
The box, the battery.

1570
01:15:16,182 --> 01:15:19,252
What they said was Stephen's
obsession with Ildiko

1571
01:15:19,352 --> 01:15:23,590
and his expertise
with explosive materials.

1572
01:15:23,690 --> 01:15:27,160
There was just simply
no one who had that amount

1573
01:15:27,260 --> 01:15:29,362
of overwhelming evidence
against them.

1574
01:15:29,462 --> 01:15:31,865
Not her husband,
not the handyman,

1575
01:15:31,965 --> 01:15:34,267
not anybody
that she had dated.

1576
01:15:34,367 --> 01:15:35,969
Not the Papps, no one.

1577
01:15:36,069 --> 01:15:37,303
- No one.
- Just Stephen Beal.

1578
01:15:37,403 --> 01:15:39,839
Just Stephen Beal.

1579
01:15:39,939 --> 01:15:42,008
None of
that evidence was new,

1580
01:15:42,108 --> 01:15:43,776
which is why
in a retrial,

1581
01:15:43,877 --> 01:15:46,312
the defense typically
has the advantage.

1582
01:15:46,412 --> 01:15:49,148
It's like playing
a football game over again

1583
01:15:49,249 --> 01:15:51,384
and knowing the plays
in advance.

1584
01:15:51,484 --> 01:15:54,554
The defense has already
seen the prosecution's case.

1585
01:15:54,654 --> 01:15:58,157
However, a retrial is
also an opportunity

1586
01:15:58,258 --> 01:16:01,027
for prosecutors to refine
their strategy.

1587
01:16:01,127 --> 01:16:05,532
And that is exactly
what happened.

1588
01:16:05,632 --> 01:16:08,434
This time, they concluded
their case with a recreation

1589
01:16:08,535 --> 01:16:11,404
of the explosion
that killed Ildiko,

1590
01:16:11,504 --> 01:16:15,308
and played it for jurors
side by side with the video

1591
01:16:15,408 --> 01:16:18,378
and photos of
the actual aftermath

1592
01:16:18,478 --> 01:16:20,113
at the spa.

1593
01:16:20,213 --> 01:16:24,751
It really showed how
that bomb could have gone off

1594
01:16:24,851 --> 01:16:27,987
and what the effect on Ildiko
would have been.

1595
01:16:28,087 --> 01:16:31,524
It also matched the chemical
used in the bomb,

1596
01:16:31,624 --> 01:16:34,527
which matched the chemicals
the defendant had

1597
01:16:34,627 --> 01:16:37,297
at his residence.

1598
01:16:37,397 --> 01:16:40,233
The courtroom was silent
as the images played,

1599
01:16:40,333 --> 01:16:45,338
complete with photos of
Ildiko's scattered body parts.

1600
01:16:45,438 --> 01:16:48,374
And the eerie piece
about that demonstration

1601
01:16:48,474 --> 01:16:51,177
was the mannequin
had disintegrated.

1602
01:16:51,277 --> 01:16:52,979
The hands and arms
were blown into bits.

1603
01:16:53,079 --> 01:16:55,481
The legs were severed
from the mannequin's body

1604
01:16:55,582 --> 01:16:58,351
in very much the same way
that Ildiko was found

1605
01:16:58,451 --> 01:16:59,986
after she died.

1606
01:17:00,086 --> 01:17:03,823
It was a vivid reminder
of what happened to Ildiko

1607
01:17:03,923 --> 01:17:07,260
as well as a demonstration,
said the prosecution,

1608
01:17:07,360 --> 01:17:10,196
of what Stephen Beal
was capable of.

1609
01:17:12,465 --> 01:17:15,368
To prove Stephen Beal
was no murderer,

1610
01:17:15,468 --> 01:17:18,504
this time, the defense
would rely on the woman

1611
01:17:18,605 --> 01:17:21,941
who'd been by his side
all those years.

1612
01:17:22,041 --> 01:17:24,277
His fiance, Valerie.

1613
01:17:24,377 --> 01:17:26,045
You still think
he's innocent?

1614
01:17:26,145 --> 01:17:27,614
I do.

1615
01:17:31,484 --> 01:17:37,991
♪

1616
01:17:38,091 --> 01:17:40,693
Stephen Beal's fiance,
Valerie Stone,

1617
01:17:40,793 --> 01:17:43,963
had stood by him
for five years.

1618
01:17:44,063 --> 01:17:46,833
All I want is
a not guilty verdict

1619
01:17:46,933 --> 01:17:49,169
because I know
he didn't do it.

1620
01:17:50,236 --> 01:17:53,273
Now she would take
the stand for him in court

1621
01:17:53,373 --> 01:17:56,543
as the defense's
star witness.

1622
01:17:56,643 --> 01:17:59,445
For this trial,
Stephen had a new defense team,

1623
01:17:59,546 --> 01:18:02,749
Meghan Blanco
and Anthony Solis.

1624
01:18:02,849 --> 01:18:05,251
They told the jury
Stephen Beal was merely

1625
01:18:05,351 --> 01:18:08,054
a rocket
and firework hobbyist.

1626
01:18:08,154 --> 01:18:10,356
He wouldn't have
built a bomb.

1627
01:18:10,456 --> 01:18:14,294
And they said he certainly
wasn't furious enough at Ildiko

1628
01:18:14,394 --> 01:18:15,728
to kill her.

1629
01:18:15,829 --> 01:18:18,464
Instead, he moved on.

1630
01:18:18,565 --> 01:18:22,268
And the proof
of that was Valerie.

1631
01:18:22,368 --> 01:18:23,870
He starts
a new relationship.

1632
01:18:23,970 --> 01:18:27,640
Psychologically, that is
not what jilted lovers do.

1633
01:18:28,975 --> 01:18:30,476
The defense wanted
the jury to hear

1634
01:18:30,577 --> 01:18:34,013
about that relationship
directly from Valerie.

1635
01:18:34,113 --> 01:18:37,317
We called Valerie Stone to
the stand to help give the jury

1636
01:18:37,417 --> 01:18:39,586
a better understanding
of what was going on

1637
01:18:39,686 --> 01:18:42,088
in Mr. Beal's life.

1638
01:18:42,188 --> 01:18:43,790
And Ms. Stone was able
to tell the jury

1639
01:18:43,890 --> 01:18:45,425
that he had moved on.

1640
01:18:45,525 --> 01:18:46,759
She was able to
explain to the jury

1641
01:18:46,860 --> 01:18:49,929
what their relationship
was like.

1642
01:18:50,029 --> 01:18:52,732
Valerie testified about
that wine hike in Malibu,

1643
01:18:52,832 --> 01:18:54,734
the bugged necklace
she wore,

1644
01:18:54,834 --> 01:18:59,205
and how the FBI's sting
went nowhere.

1645
01:18:59,305 --> 01:19:01,608
They instructed her
to ask him specific questions

1646
01:19:01,708 --> 01:19:03,309
in an attempt
to elicit

1647
01:19:03,409 --> 01:19:06,112
some incriminating evidence
from him.

1648
01:19:06,212 --> 01:19:07,513
And nothing came of it.

1649
01:19:07,614 --> 01:19:09,349
Stephen Beal never said
anything that ended up

1650
01:19:09,449 --> 01:19:11,117
getting introduced?
- No.

1651
01:19:11,217 --> 01:19:12,619
There's no admission.

1652
01:19:12,719 --> 01:19:15,555
And she told the jury
after that was all over,

1653
01:19:15,655 --> 01:19:19,659
she confessed to Stephen
she'd been an informant.

1654
01:19:19,759 --> 01:19:23,329
She says he wasn't
angry at all.

1655
01:19:23,429 --> 01:19:28,168
A horrific crime that
required a lot of planning.

1656
01:19:28,268 --> 01:19:30,303
It required
a lot of emotion,

1657
01:19:30,403 --> 01:19:33,873
and we just didn't
have that.

1658
01:19:33,973 --> 01:19:38,011
Now the case was again
in the hands of a jury.

1659
01:19:38,111 --> 01:19:41,748
In less than two hours,
five years after the explosion

1660
01:19:41,848 --> 01:19:46,085
that shook Aliso Viejo,
the jury reached a verdict.

1661
01:19:46,186 --> 01:19:48,788
Guilty.

1662
01:19:50,123 --> 01:19:51,891
Ildiko's cousin, Eva.

1663
01:19:51,991 --> 01:19:55,695
I was very happy to
hear that, very relieved.

1664
01:19:55,795 --> 01:19:57,864
It's not going
to bring her back,

1665
01:19:57,964 --> 01:20:01,334
but we-we did
something together,

1666
01:20:01,434 --> 01:20:06,105
all these people who worked
on this case and helped us.

1667
01:20:07,774 --> 01:20:11,544
After the verdict,
I spoke with Valerie again.

1668
01:20:11,644 --> 01:20:14,581
A few things have
happened for both of us.

1669
01:20:14,681 --> 01:20:17,083
You moved out
of Southern California

1670
01:20:17,183 --> 01:20:19,719
to another state?
- Yep.

1671
01:20:19,819 --> 01:20:22,856
I went on a big diet.
I lost 70 pounds.

1672
01:20:22,956 --> 01:20:24,123
Here's something
that didn't happen,

1673
01:20:24,224 --> 01:20:27,060
which is you didn't
break up with him.

1674
01:20:27,760 --> 01:20:29,229
You guys are
still together.

1675
01:20:29,329 --> 01:20:31,164
Mm-hmm.

1676
01:20:31,264 --> 01:20:34,267
Valerie still believed
Stephen was innocent.

1677
01:20:34,367 --> 01:20:37,370
If he were guilty, she said,
he would have confessed

1678
01:20:37,470 --> 01:20:40,039
during that sting
she was part of.

1679
01:20:40,139 --> 01:20:42,408
I did everything
that they asked me to.

1680
01:20:42,509 --> 01:20:45,211
They asked me to try and
get him angry,

1681
01:20:45,311 --> 01:20:48,481
to see if he, you know,
have an outburst.

1682
01:20:48,581 --> 01:20:50,016
He never did.

1683
01:20:50,116 --> 01:20:53,653
He was always calm,
cool, and collected.

1684
01:20:53,753 --> 01:20:56,856
Okay, it's possible
I've seen too many movies.

1685
01:20:56,956 --> 01:20:59,392
But maybe there was
a reason for Stephen

1686
01:20:59,492 --> 01:21:02,762
not taking the bait.

1687
01:21:04,564 --> 01:21:06,466
During those conversations,

1688
01:21:06,566 --> 01:21:08,168
you hold up a piece
of paper like that.

1689
01:21:08,268 --> 01:21:10,136
- Nope, nope.
- You didn't warn him?

1690
01:21:10,236 --> 01:21:12,238
Nope.

1691
01:21:12,338 --> 01:21:14,307
Did not.

1692
01:21:14,407 --> 01:21:16,209
Because she was
on the witness list

1693
01:21:16,309 --> 01:21:18,077
for both trials,

1694
01:21:18,178 --> 01:21:21,648
Valerie missed a lot
of what happened in court.

1695
01:21:21,748 --> 01:21:25,552
What came next wasn't
pleasant for either of us.

1696
01:21:25,652 --> 01:21:29,756
I read her some text messages
between Ildiko and Stephen

1697
01:21:29,856 --> 01:21:32,826
that were presented
to the jury.

1698
01:21:32,926 --> 01:21:36,229
Those were texts
Valerie hadn't seen.

1699
01:21:36,329 --> 01:21:38,998
If you'll recall,
she and Stephen started dating

1700
01:21:39,098 --> 01:21:41,501
in mid April 2018.

1701
01:21:41,601 --> 01:21:43,703
And it was then he said
his relationship

1702
01:21:43,803 --> 01:21:47,073
with Ildiko was over.

1703
01:21:47,173 --> 01:21:49,642
He was still
friends with her.

1704
01:21:49,742 --> 01:21:52,178
They weren't romantically
involved any longer.

1705
01:21:52,278 --> 01:21:55,248
- Are you convinced of that?
- Absolutely.

1706
01:21:57,383 --> 01:21:58,551
"Building a relationship
with you

1707
01:21:58,651 --> 01:22:00,920
"is the single most
important period of my life.

1708
01:22:01,020 --> 01:22:03,823
"Ildiko, you rock my world.

1709
01:22:03,923 --> 01:22:07,227
"You are the woman that
I've always dreamed of.

1710
01:22:07,327 --> 01:22:09,896
"I will love you forever."

1711
01:22:09,996 --> 01:22:13,600
That was on
April 22nd of 2018.

1712
01:22:13,700 --> 01:22:14,634
Oh, wow.

1713
01:22:14,734 --> 01:22:17,770
April 28th,
he texts Ildiko,

1714
01:22:17,871 --> 01:22:20,940
"I'm also missing you."

1715
01:22:22,141 --> 01:22:23,443
Wow.

1716
01:22:25,912 --> 01:22:28,114
That kind of makes me feel
(BLEEP) right now.

1717
01:22:28,214 --> 01:22:30,183
[laughing]

1718
01:22:30,283 --> 01:22:33,253
I-I'm sorry about that.

1719
01:22:33,353 --> 01:22:35,255
I do want to say

1720
01:22:35,355 --> 01:22:38,892
that perhaps not everything
that somebody says

1721
01:22:38,992 --> 01:22:41,060
in a text
to somebody else

1722
01:22:41,161 --> 01:22:43,630
has to go through
a lie detector.

1723
01:22:43,730 --> 01:22:46,466
- Yeah.
- Like, sometimes--

1724
01:22:46,566 --> 01:22:48,501
I know this is gonna come
as a shock to you.

1725
01:22:48,601 --> 01:22:52,639
Men say things to women
that are not 100% true.

1726
01:22:55,008 --> 01:22:56,843
Sorry.

1727
01:22:57,744 --> 01:23:00,413
Now I really need to
reevaluate things.

1728
01:23:00,513 --> 01:23:04,117
I mean, it's been
five years alone

1729
01:23:04,217 --> 01:23:07,053
and hoping.
- Yeah.

1730
01:23:07,153 --> 01:23:08,855
You owe yourself
something here too.

1731
01:23:08,955 --> 01:23:11,090
Not just him.
- Yeah.

1732
01:23:11,191 --> 01:23:13,259
My producers and I
talked at length about

1733
01:23:13,359 --> 01:23:17,030
whether we should tell Valerie
about those texts.

1734
01:23:17,130 --> 01:23:20,333
We decided she was entitled
to the same information

1735
01:23:20,433 --> 01:23:21,668
the jury had seen.

1736
01:23:21,768 --> 01:23:24,470
Valerie later told me
hearing the texts

1737
01:23:24,571 --> 01:23:28,474
that exposed Stephen's lies
had the effect of tough love,

1738
01:23:28,575 --> 01:23:30,510
and it helped her move on.

1739
01:23:30,610 --> 01:23:33,680
She and Ildiko ended up
having one big thing in common.

1740
01:23:33,780 --> 01:23:37,183
They both trusted
the same wrong guy.

1741
01:23:38,551 --> 01:23:42,522
In January 2024,
64-year-old Stephen Beal

1742
01:23:42,622 --> 01:23:46,626
appeared in court again,
this time to hear his sentence,

1743
01:23:46,726 --> 01:23:49,395
which was life
in federal prison,

1744
01:23:49,495 --> 01:23:51,331
plus 30 years.

1745
01:23:51,431 --> 01:23:53,066
He is appealing.

1746
01:23:53,166 --> 01:23:56,069
Eva spoke outside
the courthouse.

1747
01:23:56,169 --> 01:23:58,938
After five years of
waiting and wondering,

1748
01:23:59,038 --> 01:24:01,774
our family and friends
have peace in knowing

1749
01:24:01,875 --> 01:24:06,546
that Mr. Beal will spend
his remaining days in prison.

1750
01:24:06,646 --> 01:24:08,915
She will live
forever in our hearts

1751
01:24:09,015 --> 01:24:12,185
and never be forgotten.

1752
01:24:13,386 --> 01:24:15,255
What do you miss
most about her?

1753
01:24:15,355 --> 01:24:18,057
Her calling
and checking on me,

1754
01:24:18,157 --> 01:24:21,161
like every day that--
"What are you doing?"

1755
01:24:21,261 --> 01:24:24,097
You come over,
we go here and there

1756
01:24:24,197 --> 01:24:26,599
and then just her laugh.

1757
01:24:26,699 --> 01:24:28,168
[laughter]

1758
01:24:28,268 --> 01:24:32,372
She has this energy that
you go in and you depressed,

1759
01:24:32,472 --> 01:24:34,374
and you leave the salon
and you're flying

1760
01:24:34,474 --> 01:24:38,745
because she will bring up
something positive about you.

1761
01:24:38,845 --> 01:24:40,280
So go see Ildiko
and come out feeling great.

1762
01:24:40,380 --> 01:24:43,249
Yes, yes, exactly.

1763
01:24:43,349 --> 01:24:47,554
For Ildiko's loyal client
slash friend, Holly,

1764
01:24:47,654 --> 01:24:51,791
that's exactly the way
Ildiko made her feel.

1765
01:24:51,891 --> 01:24:56,696
{\an8}She was the sunshine
in some of my darkest days.

1766
01:24:58,298 --> 01:25:01,301
{\an8}And I just miss her
and love her.