question, if he didn t feel like question, if he didn t feel like we had phrased it right, he we had phrased it right, he would rephrase it for us. would rephrase it for us. you need to restate your you need to restate your question and put it into context. question and put it into context. i believe that he felt like i believe that he felt like he was smarter than cameron and i. reporter: did you just wanna reporter: d smack him? yes. reporter: leon, they argued, didn t care who lived or died in his wake. he did nothing to stop this. in his mind his ex-girlfriend, is sitting by herself in a warehouse somewhere, in this city, zip-tied, with duckttape around her mouth. he thinks he can just walk away from this. reporter: it took the jury all of an hour and 15 minutes to decide leon s fate. we the jury find the defendant, leon phillip jacob, guilty of solicitation of capital murder. reporter: guilty of all charges. and in texas, the jury can also decide punishment
bondsman, michael kubosh, who told the jury he had no doubt told the jury he had no doubt leon wanted to hire a hitman to kill meghan. i felt like i was talking to the devil himself. reporter: the state then called the supposed hitman turned informant, taz, who testified that he too, knew exactly what leon wanted done. i asked him to bring $2,500 to see how serious he is. and he brought that money? yes. reporter: prosecutors played the tape where leon discussed in detail how he, as a doctor might get rid of meghan give her an injection of potassium chloride to stop her heart, untraceable. i d prefer not to do that. but my survival is more important. he might not have said he might not have said murder, he might not have said murder, he might not have said kill, but he knew what he was asking for reporter: one of the star witnesses was the man who played dead. mack mcdaniel alive and well mack mcdaniel alive and well told the jury that he didn t told the ju
what did the defendant tell you? that was my punishment for that was my punishment for calling the police was being calling the police was being held in the bed with a knife to my throat. reporter: this defendant cannot be trusted to live among us. a guilty verdict without the a guilty verdict without the appropriate punishment is hollow. appropriate punishment is hollow. reporter: there s something reporter: there s something you want out of the punishment you want out of the punishment phase? i would never want him to be i would never want him to be able to do this to somebody else able to do this to somebody else because if it wasn t me, if it because if it wasn t me, if it wasn t valerie, if it wasn t wasn t valerie, if it wasn t annie, it s gonna be somebody annie, it s gonna be somebody else. else. and that needs to stop. and that needs to stop. reporter: the jury sentenced reporter: the jury sentenced leon to life in prison. leon to life in prison. afterwards
i m dara brown with the hour s top stories. the investigation into the alleged attack against empire star jussie smollett, has shifted to whether the actor paid two men to fake the attack. smollett s attorneys denied he played a role in that attack. and president trump s ambassador to the united nations, is withdrawing. heather nauert says the past two months have been grueling for her family. now, back to dateline. welcome back to dateline. meghan had been attracted to leon jacob in part because as a doctor, he saved lives. now, police officers were telling her he was trying to hire a hitman to potentially take hers. and there was more. she wasn t the only target. but the police were putting the wheels in motion on a plan of their own. here s andrea canning with
reporter: as for leon s claim he never suggested killing meghan. if you injected someone with potassium chloride and stopped their heart that it would hurt them? yes. it would kill them? yes. and you knew that as a doctor. yes. when we would ask him a question, if he didn t feel like we had phrased it right, he would rephrase it for us. you need to restate your question and put it into context. i believe that he felt like he was smarter than cameron and i. reporter: did you just wanna smack him? yes. reporter: leon, they argued, didn t care who lived or died in his wake. he did nothing to stop this. in his mind his ex-girlfriend, is sitting by herself in a warehouse somewhere, in this city, zip-tied, with duckttape around her mouth. he thinks he can just walk away from this. reporter: it took the jury all of an hour and 15 minutes to decide leon s fate. we the jury find the defendant, leon phillip jacob, guilty of solicitation of