Face and said try to leave. She just broke down. She looked afraid. Taunts, threats, then something deadly. They said that he had hired somebody to get rid of me. A doctor plotting a murder. Hes giving you a way to kill someone. Detailed, precise instructions. Investigators would launch a plot of their own and unravel not one murder scheme but two. So now you have a man and a woman who both want their exs dead. Is that beyond bizarre . Shocking. It just was unreal. I couldnt believe that this was happening. An unthinkable crime and an unbelievable twist. These detectives had a plan. And you were a big part of it. Oh my god. Just mind boggling to most people. Please tell me, its the worst, worst day of my life. Twisted in texas. Hello. And welcome to dateline extra. Im craig melvin. Four people having a care flee conversation out in public except this was a very private discussion and the exchange would be at the center of a courtroom battle. To understand how this meeting came to be and might be in grave danger we need to go back to the beginning when megan met a charming doctor named leon jacob. Heres andrea kanig. Reporter in the beginning it was heady, fun. Very charming. Reporter she was swept away. I dont think i ever had somebody tell me im beautiful that much. Reporter but without warning it all turned from love story to crime story. Relentless tsunami. He doesnt care who he affects. Just like out of a movie. It is, it is. Reporter i thriller. I ran across the street yelling leave her alone. Reporter with secret recordings. I want her gone. Reporter a fake death and another death that was all too real. Awful. Never should have happened,en in of it. Reporter megan is a pittsburgh girl born and raised, steeler games, tightknit friends, a solid family. I grew up with my parents who have been married for 35 years. Reporter megans love life wasnt simple. She got married in her 20s but she and her husband drifted apart so she threw herself into work managing a busy hotel downtown. Its a fun job. You meet a lot of different people. Reporter within of those people was a local doctor. His name was leon jacob. Whats your First Impression . Arrogant, like just, you know, oh, im a doctor. Give me whatever suite you have. What did you make of that . He wears on you. Reporter leon came from a welltodo family and attended an elite boarding school. Now, he told her, he was a transplant surgeon. I think that anybody is enamored by somebody who can save lives. Reporter like meghan, leon was unlucky in love. He told her he was going through a divorce. The more meghan got to know him, the more approachable he seemed. He is very charming. Reporter soon enough, a romance blossomed. And when leon moved back to his hometown of houston, he asked meghan to join him. He had made me feel like i deserved something else. Reporter Something Better . Yeah. Reporter houston was good for meghan. She found a job in hotel sales and signed a lease on a cool, new apartment. Leon moved in. That to me was really scary. Im very independent. And hes like, i opened a bank account and i put your name on it. Reporter thats quick . But i was like, oh, he really cares. Like okay. Reporter leons family welcomed meghan like one of their own. Did you start to envision the possibility of marriage with leon . Yeah. At 30 years old, you dont spend time with somebody that you dont want to be serious with. Thats not who i am. Reporter meghan settled in. She got a dog and made a new friend through work, aerial washington. We really clicked over just being from out of town. Both transitioning into houston, and were both steelers fans. Reporter leons selfies showed a loving couple. But there was one trouble spot in meghans new life. Leon didnt have a texas medical license yet. Why dont you go work as a surgical assistant . He was like, you dont understand what its like to be a doctor. You cant just take any job. Reporter meghan had to support both herself and leon. It really just seemed like frustrations within a normal relationship. Reporter but one night, everything changed. Meghan expressed her frustration in front of leons highachieving family. Like, i dont understand why hes not working. And he was like, were going to talk about this when we get home and he just tore up my entire closet and just threw all of my stuff on the balcony. Reporter what did you say back to him . I was, like, shocked. And i didnt know what to say. And i didnt know what to do. Like, here i am, i live with this person. Reporter that night started a downward spiral. According to meghan, soon, every day leon seemed to find a new reason to get angry. Eventually, she says, his anger turned into abuse. It was always something, almost like clockwork. He used to chew tobacco. I dont know what i did or what happened. He took the thing of spit and threw it across the room at me. It was constant. Reporter its humiliating . Yeah. And hes just didnt think it was a big deal, even though he would call me these horrible names and just demeaning and awful. Reporter then, she said, he would beg forgiveness. Im sorry. You know, i love you. I have so much other things going on. I need you in my world. Youre the only thing that keeps me happy. Reporter would you forgive him when he would say sorry . Of course. Reporter she says leon always promised to change, but never did. And did you ask yourself, how did i i dont know how i ended up there. Reporter get under this mans spell . Exactly. No one expects to be in in a relationship like that. Reporter then came january 12, 2017. Meghan got home late, after a long day at work. He started throwing stuff out of the dishwasher. Hes throwing it and throwing. And then, he, like, threw a glass of wine on me. Reporter meghan had to get out. And i was like, im done. Im leaving. Reporter she rushed to pack a bag. He put his hands over my my face and said, go ahead and try and leave, you dumb reporter meghan made a run for it. She took their dog and got in the car. She said leon chased her down the driveway. Hes pulling on the car door. And pulling on the car door. And he was like, if you dont give me the dog, im going punch in your window. Reporter leon grabbed the dog, but meghan got away. She was free, or so she thought. Coming up i had pulled out and he was right behind me. Was meghan in danger . When twisted in texas continues. Making easy work of tough messes. Dawn is a goto greasecleaner throughout the kitchen, too. Keep a bottle in the laundry room to pretreat greasy stains. And keep dawn in the garage to lift grease off car rims. Its even gentle enough to clean wildlife affected by oil. Dawns grease cleaning power takes care of tough grease wherever it shows up. Scrub less and save more. With dawn. What are you doing back there, junior . Since were obviously lost, im rescheduling my Xfinity Customer Service appointment. Ah, relax. I got this. Which gps are you using anyway . A Little Something called instinct. Been using it for years. Yeah, thats what im afraid of. He knows exactly where were going. My whole body is a compass. Oh boy. The my account app makes todays Xfinity Customer Service simple, easy, awesome. Not my thing. Welcome back. It had once been a budding romance, had deinvolved into abuse and humiliation. Meghan moved nearly 1, 500 miles from home in hopes of love but after 1 too many fights she packed a bag an putt an end to the volatile relationship or so she thought. Meghan was about to discover it was actually the beginning of something much more dangerous. Reporter every morning around 8 30, aerial washington had a sales meeting with her friend and coworker Meghan Verikas. But january 13, 2017, was different. I was like, good morning. And i was the next words out of my mouth were, whats wrong . Her face was blotchy. Marks and things like that around. Reporter it was the morning after meghans desperate flight from her boyfriend, leon. She started crying. I closed the door, you know, broke out tissues. Reporter until that moment, aerial knew very little about meghans troubles with leon. She looked afraid, and in in disbelief that Something Like this happened to her. Reporter as the women talked, meghans cell pinged incessantly. It was just nonstop. Emails, phone calls. Reporter all from leon. Erratic messages, from an account called, leonlovesmeghan. Hes like, i love you. Heres this wedding ring i was gonna buy you. Then the next email would be, oh, youre so done. I want nothing to do with you. Reporter meghan texted leon to leave her alone. They were over. But there was more to come and it was infuriating. Meghan found out that leon had withdrawn most of the money from their joint bank account. And when she went to her apartment to get her belongings, she was shocked by what she saw. I had no furniture left. Nothing. He luckily i had gotten there in time before he he took my clothes. Reporter meghan went to the police and swore out a complaint against leon. And i just sat in this filthy office, just crying and and writing down everything i could remember. Reporter she told police leon had assaulted her. She applied for a protective order. But it didnt come through immediately. A few days later i had pulled out of my work. And he was right behind me. Reporter meghan said she sped through downtown, but she couldnt shake her ex. Then, leon cut her off with his car. He jumped in front of my vehicle, telling me im making a huge mistake and that he loves me. Reporter meghan says she managed to swerve around leon and escape. But he kept showing up at the hotel where she worked, asking to see her. His demeanor was very calm but very persistent. Thats actually scarier because you dont know whats going on in the back of their head. Reporter the hotel banned leon from the property, but coworkers still saw him lurking. We walk outside and see him standing there behind a bush, like youre invisible. I just remember the first words coming out of my mouth were, do you know we can see you . Reporter furious, aerial said she ran across the street yelling. Go away. Get away from us. Leave her alone. Reporter Police Arrested leon for assault. But that was very shortlived because he was out i want to say within the next day. Reporter two weeks later, leon and meghan appeared in court. The judge granted that protective order. He then ordered leon to be arrested again, on the spot. This time for stalking. As officers read leon his rights, meghan was surprised to see a familiar face in the gallery. I noticed valerie was sitting in the stands, which i thought was odd. Reporter Valerie Mcdaniel, a successful veterinarian in town, recently divorced from her husband of 19 years, mack. Meghan met valerie, mack, and their daughter when their marriage was falling apart. She would come over and have martinis. And she would be over a lot. We went to a couple nightclubs and things like that. Seemed like a nice person. Reporter how did leon act around valerie . Like it was anybody else. Reporter but that was then. On this day in court, meghan thought leon and valerie looked like a couple. She learned later that valerie this man, a bail bondsman named michael kubosh, who a couple of days later got an unsettling visit from leon. He shut the door behind him. Reporter was that odd . Very odd. And he says, im here because i wanna know one thing. Reporter leon asked the bail bondsman for help finding another client of his. Leon said the clients name was zack. And i said, well i dont know a zack. Who you talking about . He said, you know him. Hes exmilitary, excia. Hes middle eastern. Reporter leon said hed hired zack to do a job for him, but now couldnt find him. And then he tells me that hes paid him a lot of money to take care of this. Reporter take care of what . He said, shes got to go either back to pittsburgh. Shes gotta be out of the picture. Im a doctor. I cant have her come to this court and testify against me. Reporter kubosh found leons words frightening. I felt like it was much more sinister than just wanting her to go to pittsburgh. Reporter to what extent were you thinking . I didnt know. If hed hired somebody to do something, who knows what theyre gonna do . Reporter turns out, the bail bondsman also happened to be a city councilman and a friend of the Houston Police chief. So, he gave the chief a call and said they should take a closer look at leon and the mysterious zack. Coming up an Undercover Mission to learn what leons really up to. Hes giving you a way to kill someone. Very detailed, precise instruction. 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Meghan sought a protective order and the judge granted it and had leon arrested on the spot for stalking. That was not the end of the trouble with the ex. Things were about to get more troubling. Reporter february 23, 2017. Leon jacob had been arrested two days before. Meghan verikas had a protective order against him. So, for the first time in weeks, she should have felt safe. But that evening, her phone rang. It was a police officer. And he basically said that there was a credible threat to my life. Reporter police came to meet meghan the next morning. Her friend, aerial, remembered meghan was so afraid she wore a disguise. You know shes putting this wig on, putting a hat on, jeans, tennis shoes, tshirt, so that, you know, she could try to be as inconspicuous as possible. Reporter meghan and aerial checked the officers i. D. S once by one. Then investigators shared the tip they got from the bail bondsman, michael kubosh. They think that my exboyfriend may have hired somebody to have me hurt. And that i need to be surrounded by people 24 hours a day and not be left alone. Reporter normally i would say that must have been shocking. Were you all that surprised that i wasnt. Reporter the police suggested meghan go back to pittsburgh for a while. So she bought a ticket and flew home. Meanwhile at the Harris County d. A. Special crimes bureau, investigators jimmy turpin and mike mauldin started looking into leon. Were you surprised to see a doctor involved in this . It was surprising to us. Normally we dont deal with professional people looking to have somebody killed. Reporter their first priority, locate the elusive zack, the guy leon asked the bail bondsman about. The guy who may have been a hit man. They searched databases knocked on doors and they found him. His real name was moataz azzeh, or taz for short. And he said, we need to talk. Reporter taz said they had him all wrong. He was no hit man. But they were right about leon. He wanted to get rid of meaghan. His main goal was that she not appear in court. Whatever means that required that to happen, that was fine with leon, up to killing her. Reporter taz said leon gave him 9,980 in cash and a couple of fancy watches to do the job. But taz said he had no intention of doing it. His story was, he was playing leon. He wasnt ever going to do the hit. Reporter but taz told police he had no doubt. Leon still wanted it done. Taz also said he was willing to work with the them to help catch leon. So, police told taz to call leon. They recorded the call. Hello . Hey. Whats up, man . How you doing, buddy . Pretty good. Hey, listen, im going to set up a meeting with you tomorrow, so we can finish this. Okay . Okay. Reporter taz told leon he was bringing a partner. Im going bring with me the navy s. E. A. L. Guy because he wants, you know so we can this done reporter taz didnt tell leon his new partner was really an Undercover Police officer. Then leon said something taz wasnt expecting. Were taking care of both problems . What both problems . Both of the individuals that were talking about. Taz looked at me and shrugged his shoulders. Reporter a second potential victim has just been added to the mix. Yes, right. Yes. Reporter leon agreed to meet at an olive garden restaurant with taz and the undercover officer who went by adam. Weve agreed not to show his face. What is the goal of this meeting . Make sure that this really is a murder for hire and to gather evidence. To see what it is that they want, also to discuss payment. Reporter when leon showed up, he wasnt alone. We followed leon to the table where we sat down. And we were introduced to valerie. Reporter thats right. Valerie mcdaniel, leons new girlfriend, the woman who bonded him out of jail. Here was valerie meeting two supposed hit men. Hey, valerie. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Reporter when the conversation started, leon didnt sound like someone trying to hire a hit man. He said hed be happy if meghan just went back to pittsburgh. I want her just to leave. Yeah. I dont want her hurt. Reporter but, as they ate their pasta leons tone hardened. Make it very clear to her that if she doesnt leave this time, theres gonna be some severe consequences. Reporter during the conversation, leon said he wanted adam to try another tactic, plant some drugs on meghan. She gets pulled over, she has a little cocaine. Shes not a credible witness anymore. Reporter and leon had a more sinister idea, which to the undercov