Page 8 - Eric Bechler News Today

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, theres no way he could have hurt his wife. >> reporter: tina also noticed that eric kept photos of pegye in every room of the house. she could not imagine that a man who had killed his wife would want to see her face everywhere. eric was really the answer to all your problems for awhile, wasnt he? >> yeah. he was. >> reporter: so you werent too anxious to question him. >>...

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 just before she disappeared. >> she stopped me on the stairway as i was leaving and said, came up and said i have to talk to you. she said im afraid im going to jail. >> reporter: according to court docum...

Some lucky tourists aboard an eight-passenger boat called "the green machine" were marveling at a school of dolphins playing in the water when they came across the unexpected. >> weve got a loose boat out here about five miles out of newport beach. >> reporter: the captain radioed the coast guard that a small speedboat was circling out of control n the water nearby was a man holding on to a body board. >> the husband apparently fell off the boat and the wife apparently fell off the boat. >> repo...

>> there was a lot of animosity towards me. i understood why. >> reporter: all they saw was 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 cohabitating with him right after this horrib...

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, theres no way he could have hurt...

California. pegye had been missing almost 24 hours. >> of course, the ocean is just bigger, bigger than you think about if youre in new mexico. >> reporter: pegyes friend glenda tried to stay optimistic. >> i absolutely thought they would find her. >> reporter: maybe alive? >> i did. because she was a fabulous swimmer. >> reporter: glenda went to the bechler house to see eric. how did he look? >> hysterical. he had been crying and his face was red and you know, all of those things. he looked ups...

Are you thinking to yourself at thats it, i got him? >> i thought it was good but i didnt think it was enough. >> reporter: remember, pegye had a life insurance policy worth more than $2 million. again, she tried to get him to give her a reason. >> reporter: eric reassured tina. >> 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...

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 grabbed my partner, we went out there in the middle of the night and we met up with tina. >> reporter: she told detective murphy and his partner, gary jones, what eric had said. a big break, yes, but not nearly enough for a...

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 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 arrest made headlines, tina made some headlines of her own. that put the whole case in jeopardy. >> coming up, eric bechler on trial and tinas credibility is on trial, ...

I told pegye it was too hazy. >> reporter: eric told the coast guard he tried to body board on the way out and said there was a pretty good swell in the ocean. >> was it as high as the side of the boat? >> big enough to notice. >> reporter: eric said they stopped out here on the water to enjoy some margueritas pegye had made and later in the day they decided to try the body board again, this time on their way back to the harbor. pegye was driving. eric was being pulled on the board. >> all of a ...