it so doesn t matter. reporter: but it had been years before, when melissa was first hired out of law school. detectives discounted it, saying it had nothing to do with melissa s murder, and was not relevant. and, of course, rothstein himself was grilled about melissa lewis murder during depositions in civil suits brought by the investors. we asked him directly whether or not he was involved in any way in in the homicide, and he vehemently denied it. reporter: how did he take it? he was indignant. but he was also a great actor, because he was a sociopath. reporter: in the end, neither the police, nor the fbi could connect melissa s murder to rothstein, and his ponzi scheme. so what happened to his loyal aide debra? she pleaded guilty to money laundering and the judge came down hard. and you went away to federal prison? i did, with a 10-year sentence. reporter: the sentence was later reduced to four years. meanwhile, years had gone by and debra s ex-husband tony still h
this is scott rothstein, november 16th, monday, 1:43 p.m. reporter: he wore a wire and helped convict 26 people involved in his ponzi scheme. and despite his cooperation, in 2010, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison. but one big question emerged, speculation about that woman in the firm who d been killed. whether melissa knew about the ponzi scheme is one of those great mysteries. reporter: scott had started his ponzi scheme three years before melissa was murdered. is it time to take a fresh look at the whole melissa lewis murder? is there something more sinister? reporter: detective brian kendall now had a whole new problem with his fairly straightforward case against tony, the jealous train engineer. is this woman, melissa, killed because she knew too much? after we think we had this solid, buttoned-up case, we do have the whole scott rothstein ponzi scheme comes into play? reporter: the fbi combed through the detectives files looking into a melissa-rothstein-pon
does he feel like he s been tossed out of the house because melissa has taken his place? i think he definitely believes that melissa was a catalyst to enable debbie to go forward with the divorce. he kills melissa lewis to get back at debra for divorcing him. reporter: but if you re lethally angry about an impending divorce, why not kill the wife? if he kills melissa and he s caught, debbie s still there to raise their kids. reporter: although tony would later deny it, debra told detectives he had been violent with her and her kids in the past. because of that, debra said she had decided on her own that tony had to go. you thought he was physically gonna hurt the kids? no, he was already physically hurting them. i thought he was going to go too far. debbie was scared of tony. but didn t raise any suspicion as to why he would want to ever harm melissa. reporter: she couldn t connect the dots that put him in that garage with her friend. absolutely not. reporter: maybe s
even future presidents.us fundraisers? well, scott was your man. once your name gets out there you truly cannot imagine how many people knock on your door.n reporter: and the door scott knocked on was melissa s. melissa was the one that he knew she could handle it.el he knew that she wouldn t let anything fall through the cracks. reporter: melissa specialized in employment law, but volunteered her time for w, battered women and victims rights. she also worked on building a memorial garden for crime al victims.mo she was always a champion for the underdog. reporter: melissa eventually met a lawyer from a different firm and married. debra was a bridesmaid.ar but after five years her best friend s marriage had come undone and ended in a messy divorce. that divorce just devastated her.vo reporter: after melissa s divorce, she took on a second full-time job, best aunt ever.rc carrie holmberg is her sister. missy didn t have children herself. no. she didn t want to have ch
happened to melissa. here is dennis murphy with betrayed. reporter: if you ask someone in town where the buzziest part of ft. lauderdale lies, they ll probably steer you here. las olas boulevard. and way up there in this s rgheanand thou high-rent district is a penthouse office suite that once upon a time was home to a high-powered law firm. the boldest, brassiest bunch of politically-connected lawyer players in south florida. the rothstein law firm. it had a gorgeous, sweeping, panoramic view. all the way out to the ocean. reporter: from a few guys with law degrees to a juggernaut by the mid 2000s. with more than 70 attorneys led by scott rothstein. mike mayo was a columnist for the ft. lauderdale sun sentinel. he probably thinks, i m king of the world. reporter: and the firm is where melissa lewis, an earnest, by-the-book attorney, found great success for herself and her clients.d she was by all accounts a workaholic who loved what she