they grew up in the same apartment building in brooklyn. he was the same age as my brother. he always felt like a little brother to me. i can t tell you how close we were. reporter: after college, tom sold cars for a while and then landed a job as a broker at smith barney. other jobs in finance followed, including a stint as a bank executive on wall street. he seemed to have it all. he called me on some corner in manhattan. and he said, she s unbelievable, we re having so much fun. reporter: tom whitman as well, from day one. he said, whoa, she s an amazing gal. a great gal. reporter: even though they lived apart, they started i m seeing each other regularly. beth was eager for marriage and family. soon there was talk of rings. although, beth s brother said, it was mainly tom doing the talking. it s my understanding that that first day, he said, i m going to marry you.
we re having so much fun. reporter: tom whitman as well, from day one. he said, whoa, she s an amazing gal. a great gal. reporter: even though they lived apart, they started i m seeing each other regularly. beth was eager for marriage and family. soon there was talk of rings. although, beth s brother said, it was mainly tom doing the talking. it s my understanding that that first day, he said, i m going to marry you. and she is like, yeah, right. reporter: beth hesitated as she learned more about her new man. he told her he had drinking problems. i knew he had a drinking problem. but for burnett fognini, and regardless, i know 1 playing cupid, it hardly seemed like a deal breaker. million people with drinking problems.
smith barney. other jobs in finance followed, including a stint as a bank executive on wall street. he seemed to have it all. he called me on some corner in manhattan. and he said, she s unbelievable, we re having so much fun. reporter: tom whitman as well, from day one. he said, whoa, she s an amazing gal. a great gal. reporter: even though they lived apart, they started i m seeing each other regularly. beth was eager for marriage and family. soon there was talk of rings. although, beth s brother said, it was mainly tom doing the talking. it s my understanding that that first day, he said, i m going to marry you. and she is like, yeah, right. reporter: beth hesitated as she learned more about her new man. he told her he had drinking problems. but for burnett fognini,