Paperwork John News Today

>> im craig melvin. >> and im natalie morales >> and this is dateline. >> i felt like this was the on that i have been waiting for maybe it was too good to b true oh. did he love me or was this all a game >> a beautiful businesswoman falls for a dashing doctor but her daughters have doubts. >> i had lots of suspicions. >> she thinks his fingernail are dirty. this knit does not look to her like the hands of an actua doctor >> who was this guy? >> his nickname was "dirty john". >> this w...

i felt like this was the one that ive been waiting for. >> maybe it was too good to be true. did he love me or was this all a game? >> a beautiful businesswoman falls for a dashing doctor. but her daughters have doubts. >> i had lots of suspicions. >> she thinks his fingernails are dirty. this does not look to her like the hands of an actual doctor. >> who was this guy? >> his nickname was "dirty john". >> this woman knew him all too well. >> i started snooping and i found everything. ...

>> they learned that one of his recent addresses was the orange county jail. >> john was not a center of care packages. he had been an in meat. and then in march 2015, four months after jon moved in with debra, the sisters snoop to around the balboa island house and jackpot, they found a stash of paperwork john had left their. legal documents. police reports. >> reports that he stopped other women and that other women had restraining orders on him. >> johns papers outlined a long criminal histor...

That was it. they were fed up. refused after that to speak to her. this was a very big, bad problem in your life. >> yeah. >> reporter: just how big and how bad they didnt know yet. but buried in that stash of johns papers was the name of someone who did. a detective, way off in ohio. one of the sisters picked up the phone. called him. what did you think when you got her call? >> i said, "hes very, very dangerous. you need to talk to your mother. you need to have her call me. i will tell her eve...

It made me tremble. i was in the middle of a case, and it just -- it popped up on the screen as a notification. "john was killed." by the time i took the patient outta the room, i was in tears. yeah. i wasnt in tears cause he died. i was in tears cause i had to tell his children. and that made me very sad to have to tell them. it was awful. >> reporter: her daughters, 16 and 21 at the time, said they regretted not being able to show him how well they turned out in spite of him. and now? debra st...

Somebody said she was bleeding. >> reporter: schuyler got to the parking lot and saw a man and woman she didnt know. >> as i was running, i could see everything that was going on. i saw him actually stab her. >> reporter: that woman being stabbed was terra, who, with her dog cash, had just stepped out of her car to find someone waiting. dirty john. >> he said, "do you remember me?" he looked me right in the eyes. >> reporter: there was no pause, no time to think. terra, sitting here talking abou...

>> remember what, john? >> keep that in mind. it was me. tonia, you enjoy your time left on this earth. okay? because thats what its gonna come down to. >> reporter: he was arrested for making threats against tonia in june 2001, was convicted of menacing and put on probation. he wasnt the man she thought he was? >> thats exactly right. there was another version of john. >> reporter: dennis luken was a police detective back then. he investigated the source of those drugs tonia found in the cedar ...

It was crazy. >> reporter: they wouldnt let you in? >> they said it was a crime scene. >> reporter: john meehan never regained consciousness. and four days later, dirty john was dead. right after the attack, newport beach detective rick henry found johns killer, terra, at the hospital. her dog still guarding her. >> and she told me the whole story. >> the whole storys a pretty complicated mess? >> yes. >> reporter: as doctors treated terras wounds, detective henry began investigating. the whole ...

Welcome back. they did not know each other but the two shared a connection. both fell in love with and victim to con man john. she escaped the evil clutches. her daughters were afraid she might not get away before it was too late. >> reporter: debra newell had fallen in love with a conman. and when her daughters spoke with the detective whod been investigating john meehan for years -- >> i says, "this guy is bad news. you need to get your mother away from him." >> reporter: debra had bought a ho...

>> reporter: but it wasnt that. there was a knife in the bag. cutting her. slicing into her. >> and i put my arm up with my purse above my heart. and i tried to get away from him. i was screaming. he put his hand over my mouth. and i bit as hard as i could. >> reporter: cash the dog barked furiously. bit into johns ankle. >> i got thrown down onto the ground somehow. and i was just pedal kicking him trying to block the knife when hes stabbing me. and i kicked the knife out of his hand, and it la...