was mark, as clients could clearly tell. he just thought she was beautiful, wonderful, smart. never, never ever said anything bad about her, never. keith morrison: seemed to be in love. he was, he was totally, totally crazy about her. keith morrison: it wasn t his father, wally opdycke, who owned kiket island. mark and linda lived there on wally s island, and grew their very successful business together. and then in 2002, they made their union permanent, an intimate wedding ceremony in the presidential suite of the las vegas four seasons. wally opdycke: mark, welcome to the opdycke family. keith morrison: but maybe nothing is forever. it was just three years later when linda told the employees she was taking an extended vacation, alone. and that vacation kept extending and extending. and she just never came back.
because he knew that he wasn t going to survive. he knew it. keith morrison: wow. he knew his life was over, he just knew it. and that there was nothing he could do about it. keith morrison: as detective luvera talked to friends and dog-owning clients, he heard all about mark s fears those last few months. he kept on pointing the finger at linda, but again, there was no evidence to prove that or suggest that i guess. but he was, he was concerned. and he had this feeling that something terrible was going to happen. keith morrison: what did he tell you about linda? he told me that she will not rest until i m dead. keith morrison: and it wasn t just linda mark fretted about. he told friends he was afraid of her father, too. why was he afraid of them? what i can say is often he would comment that they always win. and they always get the last word.
keith morrison: up to the jury then. and as the hours became a day and then two and then three, it seemed perhaps they were having trouble making up their minds. mark stover s loyal friends and clients kept vigil, hoping for conviction, eager to tell whoever would listen that mark was never the abusive villain the defense contended. that michiel oakes, his children, and extended family, were joined by linda opdycke. they waited in a rented waterfront house. and of course, neither they nor anyone knew what drama was coming with the reading of the verdict. judge: i understand the jury has reached a verdict. woman: yes, we have, your honor. keith morrison: coming up, emotions boil over. when dateline continues.
oh, it s beautiful, it s a wonderful place. keith morrison: kiket island is what it s called. an 84-acre teardrop of primeval forest and meadows and beaches plunked a few feet offshore, a 90 minute commute north of seattle. the dogs could go swimming in the water there. there s plenty of trail walks and it s just really, really outdoorsy and beautiful. keith morrison: outdoorsy and beautiful are words which also happen to describe the human love of mark s life, linda opdycke, the willowy blonde daughter of wally opdycke, the wealthy investor who d once helped found chateau saint michele winery. linda s seemed a perfect match for mark, according to the clients and friends who knew him best. she was mark two. you know, i mean they were peas in a pod. they had similar hobbies, hunt and fish, you know, go camp somewhere, you know, that kind of stuff. he just thought she was the most wonderful thing since sliced bread basically. keith morrison: very protective of his linda,
keith morrison: so instead, he said, he ditched mark s car at that casino, looked around for a place to dump his body. michiel oakes: there s kind of a dilapidated-looking dock thing. and i got my car as close to that as possible and muscled him out and dropped him in the water. keith morrison: an area investigators had searched but never found anything. then, he said, he drove across the state not to his kids, but to linda s house, though he insisted he did not tell her any of what just happened, didn t tell her what he d done. i just said i had a really bad day. and when the police showed up the next night, he admitted, he did try to throw out some evidence. what was your intent? i needed i needed one more day. i didn t i was trying not to get arrested just yet. keith morrison: but of course, he was arrested and charged. and now, it was prosecutor rich weyrich s turn to challenge his story about, for example,