Page 3 - Buttoned Up Case News Today

The missing persons case was now a murder investigation. >> still a whodunit. we have no idea. >> reporter: the news media quickly picked up on the story. >> my husband told me. he saw it on the news. >> reporter: how did -- how did he tell you? what was the -- >> he came to my work and told me. and i just broke down. i couldnt believe it. >> reporter: police called the victims best friend, debra. >> when they told me that they had found her body, i just collapsed to the ground. >> reporter: you...

>> reporter: tonys attorney is bruce fleisher. >> they sought the death penalty. >> reporter: police and prosecutors were confident they had a solid case against tony villegas, but something happened that threw the whole investigation into freefall. thats because new crimes were about to be revealed. and new questions were about to be raised about who really killed melissa. and in the midst of it all, scott rothstein, like melissa, would disappear. >> coming up -- were melissa and scott rothstei...

Speculation about that woman in the firm whod been killed. >> whether melissa knew about the ponzi scheme is one of those great mysteries. >> reporter: scott had started his ponzi scheme three years before melissa was murdered. >> is it time to take a fresh look at the whole melissa lewis murder? is there something more sinister? >> reporter: detective brian kendall now had a whole new problem with his fairly straightforward case against tony, the jealous train engineer. is this woman, melissa, ...

>> is it your wish to testify or remain silent? >> silent, sir. >> reporter: in closing arguments, prosecutor tate said all the evidence pointed to tony. the pepper spray, cell phone records, and the dna. >> there is not one other person on the planet earth that could leave the dna on this jacket. >> reporter: the defense reminded jurors that the pepper spray evidence was weak, and that both phone records and dna results could be manipulated. >> the pieces of the puzzle do not fall into place, b...

He voluntarily answered them. he had been released from prison -- in the past. >> reporter: so you havent ruled him out yet? >> not yet. >> reporter: with the list of possible suspects shrinking, detectives shifted their focus to something that might provide their first break in the case. with melissas iphone missing, detectives put in an emergency request to the phone company to see if it could help track her cell. when he got the report, detective kendall couldnt believe what he saw. melissas ...

Melissas fault? >> he -- he believed that she had a part in it. yes. >> did he tell you that he was mad at melissa about this? >> yeah. he was mad about the whole situation. >> reporter: oh, and there was one more thing. remember melissas jacket, the one found in her suv? tests showed tonys dna on the jacket. prosecutors believe tony wiped his nose with it after being pepper sprayed. >> odds of finding an unrelated individual with that profile are rarer than one in 30 billion. >> reporter: you c...

In miami gardens. >> from midnight till about 5:00 am, the phones in one location. >> reporter: thursday morning, the phone went northeast to fort lauderdale then went further north to pompano beach. shortly afterwards, it turned back towards fort lauderdale. but somewhere along the way, the signal was lost. either the battery died or the killer dumped the phone. all told by thursday, the day after the murder, the phone or whoever had it travelled a distance of about 60 miles. >> so obviously, w...

Signal was lost. either the battery died or the killer dumped the phone. all told by thursday, the day after the murder, the phone or whoever had it travelled a distance of about 60 miles. >> so obviously, whos with that cell phone, was most likely the last person that was with -- with melissa. >> reporter: detectives also focused on those five hours the phone was stationary in miami gardens. was the killer home in bed? >> we have to identify if melissa knows somebody that lives in this area. >>...

He was charged with first-degree murder. >> he denied involvement in this. >> reporter: tonys attorney is bruce fleisher. >> they sought the death penalty. >> reporter: police and prosecutors were confident they had a solid case against tony villegas, but something happened that threw the whole investigation into freefall. thats because new crimes were about to be realed. and new questions were about to be raised about who really killed melissa. and in the midst of it all, scott rothstein, like ...

The case. >> $251,000 sg. >> ironically, he never got the award. the collapse of the ponzi scheme put an end to that. as to it will prosecutions theory of motive, it was as thin as it was nonsensical. >> you would think if you were so enraged at your wife for doing this, you want to harm her and not someone else. >> as for debra, defense attorney surprised everyone when he he didnt ask her a single question. he did go after the son, challenging him as to why he sat for so long on this story abou...