she was very, very concerned about her job stability at her company. and they were making layoffs. reporter: according to candace, job insecurity couldn t have come at a worse time. her sister told her the financial pressures on their lives were mounting. she and michael were drowning in credit card debt. and that big house had turned into a money pit. and they d invested heavily in her company s tech stock, only to lose a bundle when the dotcom bubble burst. then, there were the big college tuition bills. we ve got three kids going to college, and good colleges, expensive private colleges. reporter: kathleen s daughter from her first marriage, caitlin, remembers it, too. there was a lot of financial problems. i sensed it. i sensed the stress of that. reporter: and when investigators looked at the couple s credit reports they saw just what kathleen s sister candace feared. it was living above their means. i mean, you know, if he wasn t writing a book or had any royalties