>> reporter: who was this man who'd stolen debra's heart? this john meehan? tonia bales had no idea either, when he stole her heart decades ago. >> he was playful. he was interested, engaging, smiley. >> reporter: it was the late 1980s. tonia was a young nurse anesthetist in dayton, ohio. john was in law school there. until he met her, that is, and said he had a kind of epiphany. >> he said, "you know, i'm not even sure i'll be happy being an attorney. i think i wanna be a nurse anesthetist" and i think my jaw fell to the ground, because i thought he was, you know, a second-year law student. >> reporter: in fact, he wasn't. he had been kicked out. though he didn't tell her that. >> all the days of my life. >> reporter: so, in her blissful ignorance, she married him in her family's church in 1990. >> mr. and mrs. john meehan. >> reporter: and she helped put him through nursing school. they had two daughters before things stopped adding up. >> and i found out that he was having an affair. >> reporter: tonia wondered, what else did she not know about her soon to be ex-husband. like, why did he refuse to invite his family to their wedding? why not let her even meet them? she decided to call his mother. >> i said, "dolores, this is tonia. i'm married to your son, john."