Page 29 - Eric Bechler News Today

Know it, he took along some weights. >> then he goes then i walked up behind her and he goes i hit her so hard she didnt feel a thing. im like what do you mean, you hit her so hard. he said i hit her over the head with a weight. >> reporter: she said he told her there was blood everywhere. then tina says eric bechler told her how he got rid of his wife. >> he just did her wrists and ankles together so she was completely bent in half. he said he took two trash bags he had, put her body in it and ...

>> he says we cant find pegye. and i said what do you mean, you cant find her? where is she? what are you trying to tell me? >> reporter: eric told june that pegye was driving the boat, towing him on a body board, when all of a sudden a wave wiped him out. when he came up from under the water, he said, he could no longer see pegye inside the boat. >> we thought they should be finding her because we really just thought she would swim out of it. >> reporter: you see, pegye was quite at home in the...

I honestly didnt care what anybody thought. >> then there was the conversation she had recorded at el torita, erics own words. the jury heard all of them. >> and offering erics own explanation. >> i argued the reason was the shut her up, calm her down. >> and eric had never said he had done it. the only person who had said that was the only person with a drug conviction on her record. >> without that statement they have a lot of what ifs, but they dont have anything that makes this a homicide. >...

Oh, my gosh, what is this? >> reporter: then she turned to eric. >> i looked at him. his face turned white. like he literally lost the color in his face and he said to me how did you get that? i said i dont know. >> reporter: his reaction troubled her. she hit play and it just got worse. the news report did not match the story eric had told her about pegyes disappearance. >> he told me there was three to four foot waves, it was really choppy out there. >> reporter: on the report the day pegye we...

Way. >> reporter: now tina tried to get eric out of the car. >> pull my car over now. i dont trust you. im afraid of you now. >> all im asking -- you dont have to -- nobody knows anything but you. you dont have to tell anybody anything. >> reporter: eric pulled over and got out, and tina hopped in the drivers seat. just like that, tina new drove away from her old life. in the end, you got enough. >> absolutely, yeah. >> reporter: eric was arrested and charged with pegyes murder. what was it like...

Way. i was really afraid because he was always with me. >> reporter: afraid, yet they continued to see each other, sleep together and party together. about two weeks after eric changed his story, he and tina went to a club and took the drug ecstasy. >> we get home, we walk inside the house and were both laying on the bed staring straight up at the ceiling together. all of a sudden as we were talking, it just came to me and i said to him, i said oh, my god, you hit her over the head. he goes how ...

Maybe even within sight of the same beach that had spawned her marriage. eric seemed devastated, fearing his wife and business partner was dead. but erics mother linda saw things quite differently. >> i was sure that they would find her, that it would all turn out well. >> i was sure that they would find her, that it would all turn out well. >> reporter: not just because pegye was a strong swimmer. everyone knew that. linda knew more. a secret about her

Kids away and i was never going to see them again. >> reporter: eric reassured tina. >> all i know i would never, ever do anything to harm anybody ever again. >> she was good. she was really good. >> reporter: but the drama wasnt over. tina left the restaurant with eric, still wired up. >> this is where it gets really scary. were walking out to the car and he says to me let me drive. >> reporter: that was not part of the plan. >> we lose sight of them. >> reporter: in a movie this is where you h...

This hot young woman who had been brought in to replace their missing daughter. >> right. right. exactly three months to the day. i cant even imagine what they were thinking. >> reporter: pegyes family wasnt alone. detective sean murphy had also noticed the new woman in eric bechlers life. >> she was ostentatious. she was just a hot number as they say. she was co-habitating with him right after this horrible boating accident with his wife. >> reporter: so murphy arranged to bump into tina. >> sa...

Occasions that hes sick and tired of his wife. he would tell me that he just couldnt take it anymore. he was tired of it. >> reporter: about seven months before pegye vanished, kobe says he and eric had a conversation that kobe describes as haunting him ever since. >> eric asked me about what he thought -- what i thought of the idea of him killing his wife. and i was pretty much shocked. i didnt know what to say. he told me that he was thinking of taking her out to the ocean and dumping her in a...