Page 28 - Eric Bechler News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Investigation into the cold case of a young woman who was drowned at sea during a romantic boat trip.

>> right. right. so that -- that wasn't good. that hindered the investigation. >> reporter: the boat, said detective murphy, was pretty clean. crime scene did find blood, just one drop, under one of the cushions. but not enough to determine whether it was human blood. it could have come from a fish. not enough evidence to arrest eric for murder or even prove that a murder occurred. pegye's close friend glenda didn't believe eric was a killer. >> there's no way that eric would have done that. you know, i mean there's just absolutely no way. it was unfathomable to me. >> reporter: tina new felt ...

>> so there was some serious chemistry from the beginning. >> yes. we went out that night actually. he asked me out that night. and then i moved in the next day. really fast. >> you don't wait, do you? >> no. not then. >> reporter: eric lived in a giant house and drove a porsche. and he was a gentleman in her life after a long string of men who were not gentle. >> i'd never been spoiled like that. i remember thinking i was, like, julia roberts in "pretty woman." >> reporter: tina was moved by eric's story. >> he said to me that his wife died in a tragic boat accident. and that they were never ...

Bechler was trying to be successful at both. detectives had put him in jail. but then, two weeks after eric's arrest, came this headline in the local paper. "witness in murder case doubts suspect's guilt." tina new, who'd worn a wire and helped police nail eric, now said maybe he didn't kill pegye. >> i knew that the kids had lost their mom, and now they're gonna probably lose their dad for a very long time. and so i felt guilty. >> reporter: guilty that she'd helped jail a man she once thought she'd marry. >> and i remember he called me from the jail and he told me that he had tried to hang h...

Show "baywatch nights." but that turned out to be the peak of her career. soon tina found herself slipping into the darker side of showbiz. she started doing drugs and lost custody of her two young children because of it and fell for a succession of guys who did not treat her kindly. >> i mean, i had an ex-boyfriend put a gun to my head, play russian roulette between me and him. i was held over the balcony by my neck. >> reporter: tina, who was broke and near rock bottom, was desperate. >> i got down on my knees, literally begging. and i said, "i'll do whatever you want, lord. just help me. i ...