welcome back. wild bill cortez ron the jolly roger social club, where americans living on a group of panamanian islands liked to gather. but he seemed just as interested in acquiring some of the local real estate. just how far did bill go to get his hands on these properties? local police were about to find out. continuing with stealing paradise, here is kate snow. reporter: in the tiny ex-pat community of bocas del toro, all eyes were on one of their own wild bill cortez. in four months time, he d snapped up the homes of two people who d mysteriously vanished bo icelar and cher hughes. now cher s husband, keith, was telling anyone who d listen that the disappearances and property transfers were no coincidence. i right away thought that bill has done something to these people. i was telling people in bocas, obviously, of the suspicions. and, in a small community, we re all saying the same thing. reporter: and bill s still living nearby.
reporter: still, as keith thought back to the days after bo moved out, an image kept returning to his mind. an image of bo s house right after he left. i walked in and looked around. it looked as if bo had gone to the store, not moved out. i went back and told my friends, i can t believe that house. it is really weird. towels on the back of the chair. his cane is next to the front door. there is dirty dishes in the sink. it s just weird. bo would just walk away. reporter: two americans missing. rumors began to swirl. could their disappearances be linked? the more you think about something like that, you know, it didn t add up. reporter: did it eat at you? yes, i kept thinking about it. because it wasn t right that cher would leave. i knew this girl would not leave town without saying good-bye and without a party. and bo could leave, but the two of them going together, i m just like sending their belongings after the fact doesn t sound right. reporter: and then kristen con
here s your top stories. cardinal theodore mccarrick has been expelled by the pope after the church found him guilty of sexually abusing children and adults. the 88-year-old is the highest-ranking official to be defrocked. he is likely to face charges. heather nauert is out of the running for the ambassador of the united nations. she withdrew her name from consideration, saying the past few months were grueling for her family. now, back to dateline. welcome back to dateline. i m natalie morales. cher hughes and bo icelar, two americans living in panama, each seeming to have vanished.
panama as wild bill and jane cortez, were arrested for not only stealing the island properties of two americans but allegedly murdering them in cold blood. now bill was talking to the police. but they couldn t have been prepared for his stunning confession. here is kate snow with the conclusion of stealing paradise. the search ended with them in shallow graves. after being found at the border, wild bill and his wife emerged in shackles charged with the murders. bill s wife was subdued and denied any involvement. bill, however, appeared surprisingly cheerful saying he was happy to be back in panama. those first days when bill was brought back to panama, what was he like? he was making jokes, he was
texting. i called her best friend and said, did she meet somebody? is there something going on? where would she go? she wasn t selling that place. she loved it. and why did someone new now own her slice of paradise? this guy, he fooled us all. he fooled everybody. he got away with murder. he got away with murder. hello and welcome to dateline. it was a tropical hideaway where a group of adventurous americans thought they had found paradise. good times, sunshine, a relaxed lifestyle, a place where people didn t ask a lot of questions about their neighbors, until some of those neighbors started to disappear. here s kate snow with stealing paradise.