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Somebody said she was bleeding. >> reporter: schuyler got to the parking lot and saw a man and woman she didn't know. >> as i was running, i could see everything that was going on. i saw him actually stab her. >> reporter: that woman being stabbed was terra, who, with her dog cash, had just stepped out of her car to find someone waiting. dirty john. >> he said, "do you remember me?" he looked me right in the eyes. >> reporter: there was no pause, no time to think. terra, sitting here talking about it, was still struggling with what happened. still visibly keeping an emotional distance, as if i...

>> remember what, john? >> keep that in mind. it was me. tonia, you enjoy your time left on this earth. okay? because that's what it's gonna come down to. >> reporter: he was arrested for making threats against tonia in june 2001, was convicted of menacing and put on probation. he wasn't the man she thought he was? >> that's exactly right. there was another version of john. >> reporter: dennis luken was a police detective back then. he investigated the source of those drugs tonia found in the cedar box. he started at john's house. and found a gun. illegal, because john was on probation. so he ...

It was crazy. >> reporter: they wouldn't let you in? >> they said it was a crime scene. >> reporter: john meehan never regained consciousness. and four days later, dirty john was dead. right after the attack, newport beach detective rick henry found john's killer, terra, at the hospital. her dog still guarding her. >> and she told me the whole story. >> the whole story's a pretty complicated mess? >> yes. >> reporter: as doctors treated terra's wounds, detective henry began investigating. the whole family waited and worried. >> reporter: so what were you afraid of? >> well, i didn't know if th...

Welcome back. they did not know each other but the two shared a connection. both fell in love with and victim to con man john. she escaped the evil clutches. her daughters were afraid she might not get away before it was too late. >> reporter: debra newell had fallen in love with a conman. and when her daughters spoke with the detective who'd been investigating john meehan for years -- >> i says, "this guy is bad news. you need to get your mother away from him." >> reporter: debra had bought a house near las vegas where john could live away from her family, she split her time between there and...

>> reporter: but it wasn't that. there was a knife in the bag. cutting her. slicing into her. >> and i put my arm up with my purse above my heart. and i tried to get away from him. i was screaming. he put his hand over my mouth. and i bit as hard as i could. >> reporter: cash the dog barked furiously. bit into john's ankle. >> i got thrown down onto the ground somehow. and i was just pedal kicking him trying to block the knife when he's stabbing me. and i kicked the knife out of his hand, and it landed on my righthand side. >> reporter: and then, full of adrenaline, she did something astonishi...