Page 2 - Paperwork John News Today

A very smart, articulate addict. >> reporter: eventually, thanks to luken, john did jail time for stealing drugs in ohio and michigan. and tonia felt guilty. wondering if shed missed warning signs. wondered what else john might have hidden from her. never thought about the clue. way back at the beginning. on her wedding video. >> and the groomsmen whod had some drinks and have their arms around each other, and theyre talking about how they met him. >> were here to celebrate john. >> one of the g...

Welcome back. her daughters were set on proving that their mothers new husband was a fraud. they found that not only was he lying about being a doctor, but he was an excon. with several restraining orders against him. it didnt seem to matter who continued to standby her man. a woman from his past was about to surface with a story too terrifying to ignore. was someones life in danger? >> reporter: just how big and how bad they didnt know yet. but buried in that stash of johns papers was the name ...

Something in the trunk of johns car. >> we found a backpack with numerous other knives inside. we found zip ties. we found duct tape. we found his passport. >> it took some organization. it took thinking. hes planned this out. this was a revenge killing. >> reporter: orange county deputy district attorney matt murphy believed the evidence spoke for itself. >> there is an image of this young woman in the hospital with her dog sitting on her bed. talk about a picture saying 1,000 words. it screams...

>> this reporter made some unnerving discoveries, too. >> he scared a lot of people. he swindled a lot of people. >> the story of his "dirty deeds" riveted the nation in a hit podcast. >> announcer: this is dirty john. >> but dirty was about to turn dark. >> hes got duct tape, hes got all the tools ready to kidnap her. >> would this mom and her daughters learn the truth in time? >> she was in a panic. she said, "i saw john." "outside in a car." >> a story ending in savagery that would stun even ...

Her daughters and read everything they had uncovered about john meehans past. i assume by this time you didnt feel in love with him anymore? >> no. >> reporter: what did you feel? >> confusion. i thought, "how could this man fake it to this degree? did he love me or was this all a game?" and i realized i was his newest victim. >> reporter: in april 2016, 16 months after marrying john meehan, she fled from the home they shared in vegas back to orange county, and from a safe distance, she filed fo...

And im thinking, "life had turned around?" hmm. so i questioned him, and he said that he writes and sends care packages to people in prison. >> reporter: sounded plausible enough to debra, but not to the sisters. especially not once their private investigator began reporting his findings on john meehan. >> they learned that he was not a doctor. he was not an anesthesiologist. >> reporter: john had worked as a nurse anesthetist, but not recently. and he certainly had not been in iraq with doctors...

We would take walks every night. he held my hand. i mean, he was everything that you would want. >> pinch yourself. youve got it finally. >> yeah. >> reporter: then, just before thanksgiving, as terra helped her mother move into the balboa house -- >> he started moving his stuff in, too. >> reporter: terra didnt like it. not a bit. she confronted her mother. >> i told her it looks fishy. i dont get it. she told me i needed to mind my own business. and he came up behind her. >> reporter: whatd he...

>> terra was very emotional. i thought, "just suck it up. you know? its christmas. have fun. >> reporter: instead she felt that that man had come and usurped something? >> yes. >> yes. >> reporter: he had not only stolen their christmas, thought the daughters, but both of them worried he was stealing their too trusting mother. taking advantage of her. she just let him drive her car. why would he need to? wasnt he a prosperous doctor an anesthesiologist? couldnt he afford a car? well, there was a...

He goes, because i knew you would never date me if you knew the truth, and i said, youre right. i wouldnt have. >> reporter: thing was, john was so sad. seemed so sincerely contrite. >> he started crying and crying and crying. and he said, "please forgive me. i love you so much. i can never live without you." >> reporter: and it was true that he made her feel like she was the only woman in the world. and when they were alone together she felt truly loved. >> and im thinking, "okay, 90% of me doe...

She doesnt know why he wears surgical scrubs everywhere. it seems to be a costume hes wearing. she thinks his fingernails are dirty, and this does not look to her like the hands of an actual doctor. >> reporter: and so they started digging. an investigation that would lead halfway across the country. to the depths of evil. to an appointment with death. coming up -- troubling revelations about john. >> they learned that he was not a doctor. >> discoveries that were about to go from disturbing t...