Buttoned Up Case News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. and this is dateline. >> i just collapsed. she's dead because she was my friend. >> first melissa disappeared. >> where's melissa? >> that's the million dollar question. >> i knew right then she absolutely never made it into her house. >> left behind in her garage signs of a struggle and a strange orange mist, then her boss went missing too. >> who is he afraid of am. >> he might have been afraid he's next. >> he left behind a bigger mess. >> we three kings be stealing the gold. >> a missing fortune. >> ballpark a billion, billion and a h...

>> reporter: a funny thing happened to tony villegas on the way to the courtroom. he'd exhibited bizarre behavior and stopped communicating with his attorneys and was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial. still in custody, he was in and out of treatment facilities for years until doctors found him competent again. finally, in the summer of 2016, eight years after the murder, tony went on trial. >> the defendant in this case -- >> reporter: the prosecutor shari tate argued that tony, fueled by a jealous rage, waited in the bushes for melissa to come home, followed her into the garage an...

>> the defendant in this case -- >> reporter: the prosecutor shari tate argued that tony, fueled by a jealous rage, waited in the bushes for melissa to come home, followed her into the garage and then launched a brutal attack on his wife's best friend. >> it is a hands on, personal murder. it takes time. it takes premeditation. and, why? because she was a friend. >> reporter: but the residue of pepper spray all over the garage was evidence that melissa had fought back and some had apparently gotten on the killer. tony's housemate testified the night of the murder, he saw his roomie scrubbing h...

All told by thursday, the day after the murder, the phone or whoever had it travelled a distance of about 60 miles. >> so obviously, who's with that cell phone, was most likely the last person that was with -- with melissa. >> reporter: detectives also focused on those five hours the phone was stationary in miami gardens. was the killer home in bed? >> we have to identify if melissa knows somebody that lives in this area. >> reporter: does anything come up at that point? >> no. we have no reason to believe anybody she's dating, anybody she knows lives there. >> reporter: melissa's family confi...

>> silent, sir. >> reporter: in closing arguments, prosecutor tate said all the evidence pointed to tony. the pepper spray, cell phone records, and the dna. >> there is not one other person on the planet earth that could leave the dna on this jacket. >> reporter: the defense reminded jurors that the pepper spray evidence was weak, and that both phone records and dna results could be manipulated. >> the pieces of the puzzle do not fall into place, because reasonable doubt prevents them from falling into place. >> reporter: the jury now had the case. outside the courtroom debra villegas saw meli...