Love, and her husband. Its terrifying. You wonder what kind of story were you involved with . Jealousy, betrayal, revenge. Who had the motive to kill one person and one person only . There is no perfect murder. Im lester holt and this is date line. Heres andrea with the fire inside. Reporter its been said that everyone has three lives, one public, one private. And one secret. But in 2011 two new york area families had all three exposed when their lives collided in a lurid tale of sex and jealousy fire and murder. Its terrifying because then you think, well, hey. It could happen to me. It could happen to any one of us. Forever, those people forever their souls will be marred and torn by these events. Its hard to know exactly what happened that day at that door. Reporter that day was march 6th, 2011 a raw and rainy sunday in tea neck, new jersey. Henry rodson was the first to spot trouble. Reporter what was happening that night . I had a flat tire earlier in the day, and i had to come back to fix it. It was raining, it was windy. It was just very miserable. Reporter when we met up with rodzen almost five years after that gloomy night, the weather had changed, but his recollections had not. Started puttin all the all my tools away. For some reason, i just happened to look up, and i saw smoke goin across the street. Reporter from the corner house . From goin across from the corner house, goin across through right. So i said, okay, well lemme take a quick jog over, see whats goin on. Reporter what henry saw, once he reached the corner of terhune and elm, removed any doubt for the former volunteer firefighter. As soon as i saw that there was a bright amber glow, i knew so i decided to just quickly run back to my girlfriend, i said listen, call 911, theres a house thats on fire. Elm street in teaneck and its the back of the house is on fire. Okay, get everybody out of the house. Reporter youre a former volunteer firefighter. Are you thinking, ive gotta spring into action here in case so i started yelling, i started pounding on the door as hard as i could, just to see if there was any activity, see if anybody was home. Reporter anything . All the lights were off, when i went around to the side, the amount of smoke and the amount of flames the basement was fully engulfed. Reporter you have no gear nothing i also noticed that the neighbor had a spigot nearby. I was pouring water on the windowsill, but that fire inside was rolling. [ sirens ] reporter once inside the Burning House firefighters discovered a badly burned body in a basement bedroom. It was shortly before two in the morning, when Bergen County arson investigator sgt. Terry lawler got a wake up call from his boss. We have a fatal fire in teaneck, new jersey. Gives me the address on elm avenue and says, im headin out there. And ill meet you there. Reporter by the time he got there the victims body had been taken outside. The body had suffered severe burns on the front of the body, more so than the back, which wasnt bad as badly burned. Reporter they would soon learn that the victim was the owner of the house, a 59yearold man named rob cantor. His body had been found in a basement bedroom the same place where henry rodzen spotted the fire. Lawler thought it strange that cantor had died so close to where the fire started. Usually, you see healthy, middleaged males and theyre tryin to get away from the fire. So, maybe theyre overcome by smoke. Reporter lawler wanted to look around the basement where the body was found, but it was flooded. We had to wait and have the Fire Department pump some of the water out so we could enter the basement and conduct our investigate. Reporter that job would take several hours giving detectives from the Bergen County major crimes unit, time to question neighbors. Canvassing is the most time consuming thing, but you have to do that right away. Reporter former Bergen County prosecutor, John Molinelli was on the scene in those predawn hours. Unlike District Attorneys Office nationwide, in new jersey a county prosecutor is not just the chief Law Enforcement officer of the county, but also directly oversees the investigation of all major crimes. Reporter molinelli says from the first time he laid eyes on rob cantors body, something didnt look right. So he asked the medical examiner to fast track an autopsy. You could see some indication that this wasnt just somebody who was just smoking in his bed and then the bed lit fire. Reporter what was your gut telling you as to what this could be . What youre looking at . The first thought was, well, whoever did this act lit the crime scene in an effort to to frustrate Law Enforcement because dna evidence is always important. Reporter later that morning autopsy results confirmed the prosecutors hunch. The medical examiner had found a small hole at the base of rob cantors skull, and bullet fragments inside. Who killed rob cantor and why, were questions that would lead investigators far from the still smoldering house on elm avenue. When we come back, what had happened in that house . It wasnt just a shooting, it was an execution. Reporter diabolical . Yeah, despicable. Reporter turns out, there wasnt just one case of fire and murder in this county there were three are those other two murders the first thing that come to your mind . There was certainly a discussion. Reporter could rob cantors killer be the same killer . On. Now get our best offers of the season. On the agile mkc. On the versatile midsize lincoln mkx. Or go where summer takes you in the exhilarating mkz. The lincoln summer invitation sales event. Ask about complimentary pick up delivery servicing. 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Reporter an avid guitar player, rob had worked as a Software Engineer for verizon. For 26 years he and his wife had lived on this street in teaneck. Theyd raised their two daughters here. Now, investigators had to figure out who wanted him dead. It wasnt just a shooting, it was an execution. He shot him from behind execution style. Diabolical . Yeah, despicable. Reporter back at the scene of the fire, investigators found a bullet casing for a. 380 caliber handgun. An analysis of a comforter also found in that bedroom revealed something else. And the forensic scientist was able to determine that ethanol was on the comforter. Reporter that suggested an accelerant had been used to set robs body on fire. For Bergen County prosecutor John Molinelli, that was a disturbing development. Thats because this was now the arson homicide in Bergen County in less than a year. Are those other two murders the first thing that come to your mind when you see this crime scene . There was certainly a discussion and a deliberation on the topic, certainly within the first few weeks of the cantor murder. Reporter on the surface, there were haunting similarities. In april of 2010, 69yearold Dolores Alliotts had been found stabbed to death in her burning home. She was a woman that was known to leave her house open. She did not lock her doors. It could have been a stranger from the street. Reporter a few months later, 74yearold joan davis, a well known Community Activist seen here at a Teaneck City Council meeting was found strangled and stabbed to death in her burning home. We had always believed that the person who murdered joan davis was someone that she let into the house. Reporter and now, rob cantor had been found dead in his burning home also in teaneck. Very early on we were looking at you know, could rob cantors killer be the same killer in teaneck with ms. Davis and in Palisades Park with ms. Alliotts. Reporter the answer was unclear, at first. But detectives did have leads in the cantor case. A neighbor had reported seeing a stranger near the cantor home shortly before the fire. Did you hear about the stranger that was in the area . Yes. Can you tell us about that . Yeah. We werent able to track who the person was and we tried through canvassing to trace, but we never had him coming outside of the house or we never had him reporter according to robs friends, someone had been stalking him. About a year earlier, they said rob told them hed gotten some creepy emails, which suggested that he was being watched. This is one of them rob, saw you this morning with this woman on upper west side. How are things with her . Very, very strange email addresses, strange names. Another one was eor247. Reporter assistant heads the countys computer crimes unit, says the emails seemed intended to intimidate. Imagine that rob was getting these emails, being quite troubled that somebody knew where he was at a particular time, you know, who he was with. Reporter with that in mind, the prosecutor and his top detectives decided to take a hard look at robs personal relationships, starting with his wife of 27 years, Susan Kirschenbaum, seen here in happier times. Its sergeant love. Reporter sgt. Cecelia love was the case detective. What was going on in their lives at this time, susan and rob . Well, they were living separately. Um, they had still had a relationship, because they had the you know, the two daughters together. They were divorcing . Yes. And you know, they were they had been discussing selling the house, you know, dividing up assets. That can get tense, even for the best of relationships. Absolutely. Did you need to take a close look at her . In the beginning, you know, you always would think, it could exwife. Reporter not only that, robs friends told investigators that he had a younger lady in his life. A french woman named Sophie Meneut who lived across the river in manhattan. Was this divorce because of the other woman . No, it definitely wasnt because of the other woman. They had been talking about divorce before, uh, sophie. Reporter the detectives had a lot of questions for the women in robs life. Coming up the estranged wife. We did bring her in and speak to her. And the new love. She was crying. She was shocked. Police wondered did either have a motive for murder . When dateline continues. Hey, leggo my eggo. Uh uh. Not ccc cause i have the and i i. Thats a lot. Raisins. Really . What just happened here . You know the rules. I make the rules. Know the rules. Keep your eggo. Leggo my eggo. Im doing this for you, dad. Thanks son. Hundreds of dollars on youmy car insurance. Saved me huh. 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Made with premium cuts of 100 kosher beef, so you can feel good feeding your family, no matter what time dinner is. Hebrew national. We remain strict. You give us comfort. And we give you bare feet. I love you, couch. Backsweat and gordos everything. I love you, but sometimes you stink. New febreze fabric refresher with odorclear technology. Cleans away odors like never before. Because the things you love the most can stink. And plug in febreze to keep your whole room fresh for up. To 45 days. Breathe happy with new febreze. Reporter after rob cantors murder, investigators searched for a link between his death and two other arson homicides in Bergen County. They couldnt find one. So detectives intensified their focus on those whod been closest to rob. Was this high priority . Absolutely. We interviewed the friends and family members. Lots of people to talk to . Yes. Reporter at the top of the list were the two women in robs life. His lover Sophie Menuet and his estranged wife, Susan Kirschenbaum seen here in a facebook photo. We did bring her in and speak to her. Who wanted this divorce . Rob or susan . I think they both wanted it. It was a mutual decision. Reporter still, the detective says, robs estranged wife seemed devastated by his death. According to susan, shed been at home and on the phone with a friend on the night of the murder. Nothing really led us to believe that she had any involvement in this. Reporter over in manhattan, detective love met with the other woman in robs life, Sophie Meneut. She was crying. She knew that he was deceased. Did you tell her that he had been murdered . Later on in the interview, yes. What was her reaction. She was shocked. Like anyone would be if you found out that information. Reporter sophie told the detective that shed seen rob hours before he died. Rob, with his two friends had gone sophie and her daughter, her eightyearold daughter at a museum. How open is sophie to you . She was a very open person. When i asked her why would rob cantor be found in the basement bedroom, she broke down and she began to cry. What was significant about the basement bedroom . That was the place that she and rob had consummated their relationship. Reporter the french born sophie was 40, 19 years younger than rob. Theyd been seeing each other for more than a year, she said and had a lot in common. Running, philosophy and science. But there was one problem. Sophie was married when they met and raising three daughters, ages 5 to 10, with her husband, tony tung. Sophie was living a bit of a secret life . Initially, yes. But it wasnt too long before it you know, it all came out. Reporter sandra milon, a close friend of sophies husband, was living in france when she heard about the affair. I was sad. You know, my friend was really going through a terrible time and i was so far away. Reporter sandra met tony tung when she was living in new york back in the 80s. She says when tony first met sophie, he fell hard. They were a beautiful couple. I was very happy for them and i. And then sophie being french, so that was great. Reporter all she knew. Sophie had the career, an important job in finance with an tony stayed home with the kids. He served as president of the pta at their school. Did tony share with you the joys of being a dad . Yeah, cause we talked about it all the time. He was so much full of love for his girls and since he was the one raising them, he was there yeah. Reporter once the girls were older, tony wanted to work, too. So, with sophies financial help, he opened a computer store. Hopes were high, but business was bad. And sandra says when tony learned sophie was having an affair, his world fell apart. He was really, really hurt. But trying to do his best for the girls, as always. Reporter the couple soon went their separate ways. But when rob cantor was killed a year later investigators came to see tony. The reason were here is because there has been an incident that happened in new jersey. Okay. Reporter the detectives told tony he was just one of several people they were questioning. Dont take this the wrong way. What . Was your wife cheating on you with rob . Yeah. Reporter tony admitted that hed been upset when he first learned of the affair, but told detectives hed moved on. Tell you if my wife was seeing somebody else i wouldnt be too happy. Oh no, no. The pain is gone. Reporter according to tony, hed been at home alone the night before. I was on facebook, reading email and watched the news. Reporter the detectives werent convinced. But with no smoking gun, no d unlikely this case would be solved in a matter of days, or even weeks. Still, when months passed with no arrest, robs friends became impatient. Outrage today in new jersey over a perceived lack of progress solving a murder case. Reporter first they hired a private investigator. Then they petitioned the governor. When that didnt work, they ethous one of robs coworkers spoke for the group. They keep telling us, give them time or dont interfere. private detec