Page 34 - Eric Bechler News Today

But not enough to determine whether it was human blood. it could have come from a fish. not enough evidence to arrest eric for murder or even prove that a murder occurred. pegyes close friend glenda didnt believe eric was a killer. >> theres no way that eric would have done that. theres just absolutely no way. it was unfathomable to me. >> reporter: tina new felt the same way. >> i felt like the police were just trying to frame an innocent man. i thought theres no way. the way he treats me, ther...

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 went missing, there were only two foot waves and the weather was described as ideal. >> he lied. he lied all this time to me. he was just really quiet. >> reporter: hes sitting right next to you. how does eric look at that point? >> flushed ...

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 water. growing up, it was the only time she didnt have to wear ...

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. >> you understand youre under arrest? >> reporter: eric was arrested and charged with pegyes murder. what was it like to get the call that eric had been arrested? >> well, i just trembled all over. i couldnt really believe it. >> reporter: but two weeks after erics a...

It. >> reporter: you didnt take his word for it? >> no. in our game we dont take anyones word for anything. we look into it. thats what we did. >> reporter: they met with the improbably named kobe laker. erics best friend. and kobe backed up eric. >> they had a terrific marriage and there was no problems whatsoever. >> reporter: but if the marriage seemed solid, there were questions about pegye. at least according to linda bechler, erics mother. linda says pegye told her something in confidence ...

Drif on the establish herself as a successful physical therapist. she had almost everything she wanted. >> she did want to find a guy. >> and the clock was ticking a little bit. >> it was. >> and then one day on the beach, you found somebody for her. >> we did. so one afternoon on a weekend peggy called me and said what are you doing? and i said well, im going to go down and watch dave play some volleyball on the beach. >> dave was glendas husband. i asked peggy if she wanted to come with me and...

Im tamron hall. tina new was granted a new lease on life when she met eric bechler. so when he opened the door to telling her the truth about his wifes disappearance, she had a decision to make. walk through that door and the good life she had come to know could be gone forever. heres josh mankiewicz again with "troubled waters." >> reporter: tina new thought she had found happiness with eric bechler until he changed his story about what happened the day his wife disappeared in the ocean. you di...

>> we were excited about it in a morbid kind of way because we knew it would go sideways. >> reporter: because when relationships go sideways sometimes people start talking. >> thats right. >> reporter: and thats what happened two weeks after erics apparent confession. a neighbor called 911 after hearing yelling coming from tinas apartment. when police arrived, eric was gone but tina was angry and she still had the business card detective murphy had given her almost two years earlier. >> i grabb...

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 cohabitating with him right after this horrible boating accident with his wife. >> reporter: so murphy arranged to bump into tina. >> said hey, if you have any inform...

Certainly not with the police or pegyes family. but erics best friend, what exactly did he know and how far would he go to get proof? here again is josh mankiewicz with "troubled waters." >> reporter: to detective sean murphy it sounded more than suspicious. eric bechler taking up with a gorgeous redhead just three months after his wife was lost at sea. but murphy didnt have much more than a gnawing in his gut until his phone rang. >> we got a call from kobes lawyer, said he wanted to arrange an...