out of treatment facilities for years until doctors found him competent again. finally in the summer of 2016 it years after the murder. tony went on trial. tony villegas, the defendant in this case, prosecutor shari tate, argued that tony, fueled by a jealous rage, waited in the bushes, for melissa to come home. fall into the garage, and then launched a brutal attack on his wife s best friend. it s a hands on, personal murder. it takes time, it takes premeditation, and why? because she was a friend. but the residue of pepper spray all over the garage was evidence that melissa had fought back. and some had apparently gotten on the killer. tony s housemate testified the night of the murder, he saw his roomy scrubbing his arms. he said that he got pepper
of a guy as rothstein was, people would think that they can do things. they can conjure up dna. and use it to frame tony villegas. before the defense rested, the judge asked tony villegas if he wanted to testify? is your wish to testify or remain silent? silencer. in closing arguments, prosecutor tate said all of 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. the defense reminded jurors that the proper spray evidence was weak. and they 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. the jury now had the case. outside the courtroom, debra villegas saw melissa s family for the first time in eight years.
in the, and it will be the largest pawns game in florida history. how big did i get? ballpark, a billion, billion and a half dollars. and then, halloween eve 2009. more than a year had passed since melissa s murder. with tony villegas still sitting in jail awaiting trial. and another twist to the story. scott rothstein has disappeared. unlike melissa, scott was not a murder victim. but he was a fugitive. a burning made off figure on the run. he had left the country in a private jet from morocco with $16 million of cash, and his collections of watches, and jewelry. fleeing after learning unhappy investors had gone to the fbi. one month later, he was back in florida, but not under arrest. what no one knew was that scott had cut a deal with the fbi to act as an informant. this is scott rothstein, november 16, 1:33 pm.