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A very smart, articulate addict. >> reporter: eventually, thanks to luken, john did jail time for stealing drugs in ohio and michigan. and tonia felt guilty. wondering if she'd missed warning signs. wondered what else john might have hidden from her. never thought about the clue. way back at the beginning. on her wedding video. >> and the groomsmen who'd had some drinks and have their arms around each other, and they're talking about how they met him. >> we're here to celebrate john. >> one of the groomsmen said -- >> john meehan's nickname is filthy john meehan. >> reporter: filthy john, over...

Welcome back. her daughters were set on proving that their mother's new husband was a fraud. they found that not only was he lying about being a doctor, but he was an excon. with several restraining orders against him. it didn't seem to matter who continued to standby her man. a woman from his past was about to surface with a story too terrifying to ignore. was someone's life in danger? >> reporter: just how big and how bad they didn't know yet. but buried in that stash of john's papers was the name of someone who did. a detective, way off in ohio. one of the sisters picked up the phone. calle...

Something in the trunk of john's car. >> we found a backpack with numerous other knives inside. we found zip ties. we found duct tape. we found his passport. >> it took some organization. it took thinking. he's planned this out. this was a revenge killing. >> reporter: orange county deputy district attorney matt murphy believed the evidence spoke for itself. >> there is an image of this young woman in the hospital with her dog sitting on her bed. talk about a picture saying 1,000 words. it screams out that this is an innocent woman who came very close to being murdered by a really bad guy and ...

>> this reporter made some unnerving discoveries, too. >> he scared a lot of people. he swindled a lot of people. >> the story of his "dirty deeds" riveted the nation in a hit podcast. >> announcer: this is dirty john. >> but dirty was about to turn dark. >> he's got duct tape, he's got all the tools ready to kidnap her. >> would this mom and her daughters learn the truth in time? >> she was in a panic. she said, "i saw john." "outside in a car." >> a story ending in savagery that would stun even police. >> there's no way he gets away with this unless he kills her. here's keith morrison with "...

Her daughters and read everything they had uncovered about john meehan's past. i assume by this time you didn't feel in love with him anymore? >> no. >> reporter: what did you feel? >> confusion. i thought, "how could this man fake it to this degree? did he love me or was this all a game?" and i realized i was his newest victim. >> reporter: in april 2016, 16 months after marrying john meehan, she fled from the home they shared in vegas back to orange county, and from a safe distance, she filed for an annulment. and soon discovered just as tonia bales had discovered years before that john coul...