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You know, i can't believe you did that. >> reporter: but what had caught her attention was that letter was from an inmate at the orange county jail. >> did you read the letter? >> i did. >> reporter: what was in it? >> it was talking about how lucky he was that he had found love, and that his life had turned around. and i'm thinking, "life had turned around?" hmm. so i questioned him, and he said that he writes and sends care packages to people in prison. >> reporter: sounded plausible enough to debra, but not to the sisters. especially not once their private investigator began reporting his f...

>> reporter: the prosecutor said it was an easy decision. this was self-defense. case closed. >> did a feeling come with that? >> a sense of relief that it's, like, finally over. >> reporter: john meehan's ex-wife tonia bales was working when she got the news. >> do you remember that moment? >> oh, yeah. it made me tremble. i was in the middle of a case, and it just -- it popped up on the screen as a notification. "john was killed." by the time i took the patient outta the room, i was in tears. yeah. i wasn't in tears 'cause he died. i was in tears 'cause i had to tell his children. and that m...

>> reporter: it was the late 1980s. tonia was a young nurse anesthetist in dayton, ohio. john was in law school there. until he met her, that is, and said he had a kind of epiphany. >> he said, "you know, i'm not even sure i'll be happy being an attorney. i think i wanna be a nurse anesthetist" and i think my jaw fell to the ground, because i thought he was, you know, a second-year law student. >> reporter: in fact, he wasn't. he had been kicked out. though he didn't tell her that. >> all the days of my life. >> reporter: so, in her blissful ignorance, she married him in her family's church in...

John, and he said they had the wrong guy. >> he said, "there's gonna be allegations that other john meehans did." and i thought, "well, okay, you've got a point." >> reporter: john said he was a victim of mistaken identity in some cases, and in others, he was framed. >> and he said, "i was set up. and i said, "but you lied to me ". he goes, because i knew you would never date me if you knew the truth, and i said, you're right. i wouldn't have. >> reporter: thing was, john was so sad. seemed so sincerely contrite. >> he started crying and crying and crying.

Your husband. i'm so sorry." and i'm thinking, "what?" >> reporter: debra raced over there. >> you could see police cars blocking it off, fire engines. it was crazy. >> 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...