Page 35 - Eric Bechler News Today

Welcome back to "dateline" extra. im tamron hall. when eric bechler confessed to his girlfriend that he tossed his wife into the ocean, he may have sunk himself. the prosecutions case against him hinges on tinas testimony and recordings she made. as the trial loomed, tinas determination wavered. would she take the stand? heres josh mankiewicz with the conclusion of troubled waters. >> beach volleyball is a kids game played by grownups. murder for profit is played only by adults and its for keeps...

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 did you know that? >> reporter: the fact is, she hadnt known. call it intuition or the effects of the drug or a random guess. but it was an opening and tina barreled through. >> i said you need to tell me the...

In the hours after the boating accident that left pegye bechler missing, her friends and family had high hopes that she would be found alive. they all knew something about pegye that made it impossible to think she could be lost at sea. here again is josh mankiewicz with "troubled waters." >> reporter: its said theres nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline. this was supposed to be something like that. a romantic outing. an anniversary and birthday gif...

>> you never said hey, look, man, i dont know what the [ bleep ] you guys are talking about. but im innocent. you never said anything about anything. >> i have so. do i have to say it every week? >> reporter: kobe tried again. >> i protected you. i basically made you look like a saint in the interview i had with the detectives. >> reporter: a dead end. but detectives were now convinced that eric killed his wife. >> even though it didnt lead to anything, that conversation with kobe, that got you ...

Think she was alive anymore? >> i kept thinking that she was, but how could she, you know, that length of time. >> reporter: unless, of course, what appeared to be an accident was not. the coast guard conducted a re-enactment at sea to try to understand how pegye could have fallen off the boat and they couldnt do it. >> they said it doesnt appear to be feasible to them given the sea conditions. >> reporter: thats when the coast guard called the orange county sheriffs office. detective sean murph...

Slipping into the darker side of show biz. she started doing drugs and lost custody of her two young children because of it. and fell for a succession of guys who did not treat her kindly. >> i had an ex-boyfriend put a gun to my head, play russian roulette between me and him. i was held over the balcony by my neck. >> reporter: tina, who was broke and near rock bottom, was desperate. >> i got down on my knees literally begging and i said ill do whatever you want, lord, just help me. i cant do t...

In a guy who had basically taken you from a terrible life and given you a great life? >> because i couldnt live with myself. no way. >> reporter: police planted microphones in her car, in her purse and on her body. and tina arranged a meeting. she told eric that after the domestic violence call, sheriffs homicide detectives came in to ask questions about eric. this dinner date, tina told eric, was to get their stories straight in case the cops questioned her again. tina, wired up, picked up eric...

Detail and story tina says eric told her, something the defense attorney says is critical. >> youd expect, if pegyes head was caved in by 35 pound dumb bells, thered be blood. >> quite a lot of it. >> everywhere. and there wasnt. >> on the stand, tina tried to defend herself. >> im a horrible witness when it comes to looking at me on paper? do you think anybody would believe you? >> no. i knew that i told exactly what he had said to me. and i knew that i was doing the right thing. i honestly did...

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 then he put the weights and tied it down to the rope and threw her in. >> reporter: two years after pegye vanished, a stunning confession. then you go to sleep next to a man that you believe is a killer? >> no, act...

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 didnt think about ...