contamination to tilt the scale so the results pointed at tony. our goal was to educate the jury on the rothstein connections, and the rothstein influence. reporter: had meddled with the physical evidence? contaminated it maybe? we can only speculate. but when a man is as powerful a guy as as rothstein was, people would think that they could do things. they could conjure up dna. reporter: and use it to frame tony villegas. before the defense rested, the judge asked tony villegas if he wanted to testify. is it your wish to testify or remain silent? silent, sir. reporter: in closing arguments, prosecutor tate said all the evidence pointed to tony. the pepper spray, cell phone records, and the dna. there is not one other person on the planet earth that could leave the dna on this jacket. reporter: the defense reminded jurors that the pepper
bring debra s ex-husband to trial. here s dennis murphy with the conclusion of betrayal. reporter: a funny thing happened to tony villegas on the way to the courtroom. he d exhibited bizarre behavior and stopped communicating with his attorneys and was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial. still in custody, he was in and out of treatment facilities for years until doctors found him competent again. finally, in the summer of 2016, eight years after the murder, tony went on trial. the defendant in this case reporter: the prosecutor shari tate argued that tony, fueled by a jealous rage, waited in the bushes for melissa to come home, followed her into the garage and then launched a brutal attack on his wife s best friend. it is a hands on, personal murder. it takes time. it takes premeditation.
making her a partner. now, he was helping her family with funeral arrangements. melissa s aunt, lynn haberl, spoke at the church memorial. i could look out from the podium and see a sea of lawyers out there. reporter: including scott rothstein? including scott rothstein. reporter: who actually paid for the funeral. he actually paid. he came to the funeral home and paid for everything. reporter: three days after the funeral, detectives arrested tony villegas. he was charged with first-degree murder. he denied involvement in this. reporter: tony s attorney is bruce fleisher. they sought the death penalty. reporter: police and prosecutors were confident they had a solid case against tony villegas, but something happened that threw the whole investigation into freefall. that s because new crimes were about to be revealed. and new questions were about to be raised about who really killed melissa. and in the midst of it all, scott rothstein, like melissa, would disappear.
spray evidence was weak, and that both phone records and dna results could be manipulated. the pieces of the puzzle do not fall into place, because reasonable doubt prevents them from falling into place. reporter: the jury now had the case. outside the courtroom debra villegas saw melissa s family for the first time in eight years. all these years later and it just washed over me like like it had just happened. you know, that that i had caused these people a kind of pain that s unimaginable. reporter: later that afternoon, the jury sent out a note. verdict. as the verdict was read, debra sat with melissa s family, consoling her niece. tony villegas is guilty of murder in the first degree. reporter: tony s face was blank. before sentencing, melissa s aunt, lynn haberl, addressed the court and said directly to tony. we forgive you because we must and release you into god s hands for all eternity. reporter: sentencing was immediate. sentenced to spend the rest