reporter: the third of 5 children, she was raised in peekskill, new york, about 50 miles nur north of new york city. my mom was home, dad was home at 5:30 for dinner. reporter: but for years, if it was summer, beth was on the island. she was game for everything. leslie costello met beth more than three decades ago. they were freshman at the university of notre dame. the last time she was in california, we were going to go out surfing, and i said, beth, i think you better she boogie boarded plenty, she never served before, and she said, i know, i want to go for it, i want to learn to serve. so here she was, always willing and wanting to embrace new experience. embrace it with joy. reporter: after college, that settled in new york and started her own company. in this video, she talked about those early days. i worked my fingers to the
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and he followed her and said, they got to the metropolitan, and she said, i was standing there, in front of this painting, this dark painting, saying that this painting reminds me of tom toolan. reporter: that was the moment, beth later told leslie, that tom toolan i picked to propose to her. he chose a gallery in this world famous museum, the metropolitan museum of art. he proposed to beth before but never like this. he pulls this run out, gets on his knees, proposes to her again. and she says, i was not she didn t feel safe enough to say no. she knew she was in a dangerous situation. so she said to him, i need more time. she was so upset. because he said, it s now or never. and her response to him was? then it has to be never. and these are words right out of best mouth. reporter: beth rushed out of
living room floor. it was just weeks after she thought she had found the love of her life and dreamed of a new beginning. for the lochtefeld family, life would never be the same. what did you lose on that day? i would have to say i lost my best friend and confident apart from my wife, she was my closest sibling. we always got along very well. leslie got a call that same day. when you heard the news, how was a tool to you? he killed her. and i just remember being in shock. i didn t see it coming, i didn t know it was coming, it was shocking. you knew exactly who he was. oh yeah. yeah. i did. tom toolan was arrested, picked up in rhode island, with bottles of beer and vodka in
s apartment when she got their, beth stayed. and leslie says that beth later told her that things went from bad to terrible. he got very violent with her that night. he sexually assaulted her. and i think that beth was probably, sort of in a state of it s a confusing thing when it is somebody that you are supposedly close to. who violates you. my guess is that she was probably just in the state of shock. and why she didn t leave that next day, i m not exactly sure. reporter: by friday, october 22nd, two days after the dinner with her brother, beth decided to leave new york. friends and family say it was clear that she intended to call it quits with toolan, and she had even left her weather a message, saying she was coming to spend the night. but by now, something else was becoming clear. tom toolan was not going to let death go. he wouldn t leave her.