there's my sweet little sister on the news. >> "dateline" is next on nbc. >> "dateline" is next on nbc. . - oh! baby, you were so good! - aw, thank you, mom. dad. you stayed? - i did. and i'm glad i did. you are really good. and if dancing is what makes you happy, then that's what you should do. you're a dancer, and a dancer dances. some guy was singing that in the john, and it stuck in my head. - that calls for a round of drinks. - uh, don't worry about me, mike. i get my drinks for free. - let me buy. i've got a lot of singles to get rid of. - one of us could go help him. - normally, i'd steal him for myself, but you're my sister. so go hit on our hot uncle and become our aunt. - are you sure? - yeah. i'm pretty sure he's into you. plus, i just made out with one of the strippers backstage, so...already checked that box. - hey, ethan. - hey, shea. - so... - so... - so there's something i kind of want to tell you, but i don't want it to be awkward. - well, maybe it's the same thing i've been wanting to tell you but i was afraid it was awkward. - okay. here it goes. [cell phone rings] - sorry. i have to take this. it's my agent. hello? seriously? of course i'll be there! thank you. - what was that? - they liked my tape. i'm gonna be dancing in "aladdin" on broadway. - [gasps] you'll be great in that. no shirts. - broadway. dream come true. but... i have to move to new york. - that's far away. - about what we were gonna say to each other... - maybe one day. come on. let's tell everybody. - i just got a call from my agent. i'm gonna be dancing on broadway! [all gasp] - really? broadway? well, that's something i can brag about! - i think we may be in the perfect place for it. - hey, everybody! my son is gonna dance on broadway! [cheers and applause] and before that, he was a professional golfer! and now he's gonna dance on broadway! [cheers and applause] - are you okay, mom? - my son is moving across the country. ah, i'm gonna need more than a minute. - mom, we'll talk every day. - from the gentleman over there. - oh, my. [chuckles] oh, well, i'm just gonna have to tell him i'm married. - actually, it's for him. - yes! finally! - lucky you. you should see him dance. - you know, i'm a little tired of hearing about this cowboy. i've got some pretty sweet a-moves myself. - i know you do, honey. - that's it. dj! hit it! [ginuwine's "pony" playing] ♪ [laughter] [cheers] ♪ and then newli lly weds. they were still on their honeymoon, only married four days, when this young bride was murdered. >> i get a phone call, screaming, crying. >> no murder weapon, no dna. but no shortage of suspects. >> did the miami lifestyle have something to do with her death? >> he did admit to having encounters with other couples there. >> objection. >> betrayal. >> he loved me. >> and finally, a verdict. >> the years of waiting. the years of mourning her. we needed justice. >> i'm lester holt, and this is "dateline." here's dennis murphy with "mystery in south beach." >> if you've spent any time down here, you probably sense there are really two miami beaches. you know this one by reputation anyway. south beach. a pulsating playground with energy that surges out of the ocean and exhausts itself in the all-night clubs. and then there's the old miami beach. here are the sunburned back streets of squat apartment blocks, where decades past people used to sit out in aluminum chairs. and that's where a young couple, wendy and michel, were trying to make a go of it. the rent was cheap. the window air conditioning was good enough. but if you have thought beautiful people catch all the breaks, then listen to this story of 21-year-old wendy trapaga, because she may be the most gorgeous doomed young woman to ever walk these streets. >> she was model pretty. >> i don't think that she thought of herself as anything spectacular. >> didn't become the central part of her personality. i am pretty? >> it wasn't what she was about. >> her much older sisters and brother ralph never used to qualifier "stepsister" when they speak of wendy. they'll tell you she was a little bit of a daddy's girl, international airline pilot who died, sadly, in a crash when wendy was just 6. her mother, miriam, raised her. and big sister rita always pitched in. >> i guess i was like that other mother for her. i was pretty much there by miriam's side, raising her. >> the love of animals was always a part of wendy. >> she was always rescuing some animal, dog, puppy, kitten, anything. >> she worked for a vet for a while? >> yes. >> but allergies would end her ambitions to become a vet. but she skid -- did have another passion, for fashion and makeovers. >> pretty girl. >> at easter, she memorably dolled up her nieces for a living room fashion show. >> here is the director of the entire operation. >> she had a flare for it and you can do very well in that field. >> so at 21, after a brief marriage, she enrolled in beauty school. and in 2002, that's where she first saw michel rumble up on his motorcycle. he was a sometime teacher of computing. but by his early 30s, he was looking for a career change. he thought he would try hairstyling, so he enrolled, as fate would have it, in the same cosmetology school as wendy. he had a string of admiring girlfriends. but wendy, younger by ten years, and prettier than most any other woman in his orbit, was a prize catch. his friend, ramone santa cruz. >> when i met wendy, he was on a motorcycle with her. i told myself, it's a beautiful girl. i don't know what he did to get this girl. >> whatever he did, it worked. >> she was totally in love, sparkling in the eyes. >> within six months they were living together on south beach. she dyed his hair blonde, perfect for the club scene. they lived for the day, and then came unexpected news for these two butterflies. wendy was pregnant. her mother had mixed feelings. how did she feel with the fact that she was pregnant this >> delighted with the fact being a grandmother but not delighted with the circumstances. >> wendy had the big church wedding for her first marriage. this time around they got hitched at city hall. >> you may kiss the bride. congratulations. >> the next day, wendy and michel set out for a brief weekend honeymoon, a drive down to the florida keys to key west where the road ran out. sunset drinks, dinner and a hotel. three days after the wedding, they were back in miami beach, sunday evening. wendy called her mother to say they were going to a movie and dancing later at a club. then in the middle of the night, the wee hours of monday morning, wendy's mother got an unexpected call from her new son-in-law, michel, saying they've had an argument. wendy stormed off, saying she was going to her mother's house. since then, the bridegroom says he repeatedly called wendy without success. right around then, in a bleak warehouse district, miles and miles from the after-hours bars of miami, a sanitation worker was startled to see the body of a young woman in a blue dress slumped between two vehicles. it was the newlywed, wendy. news travels fast. >> i get a call from my stepmother, screaming, crying. wendy's dead. they took her from me. she told me it's on the news. i went and looked and there's my sweet little sister being put on a gurney. and it's just so surreal. >> desolate warehouse place. >> all i kept thinking about was her being alone there, by herself, praying to god that she didn't suffer. >> the killer, who bludgeoned her to death, also erased the beauty from her young face. a honeymoon weekend for the new bride had ended behind yellow police tape. coming up, who killed wendy and why? was it a kidnapping, a carjacking gone bad, or did it have something to do with miami's wild night life? >> what's been going on with michel in the club scene? >> he did admit to having encounters with other couples there. >> the dark side of life in sunny miami. sunny miami. now more reliable than ever and i'm on a mission to prove it's the fastest. i'm traveling the country betting anyone and everyone that sprint is faster than their network. and guess who's winning? the guy with a trailer full of your stuff. i bet my space suit for that slightly oversized jacket. come on. come on. sprint wins! that was fast! yeah, sprint's killing it. the sprint lte network is now more reliable than ever. switch to sprint and save 50% on most verizon, at&t or t-mobile rate plans. if we don't win you over in 30 days, we'll refund your money. hey nithanks. today. juicy fruit? sure i'll try a piec.... juicy fruit. so sweet you can't help but chew. are you powered by protein? i am. milk has 8 grams of protein to help give me energy to unleash my potential. start every day with milk's protein and milk life. dogs - sure can be messy. but with nexgard, their flea and tick killer doesn't have to be. nexgard, the vet's #1 choice for dogs, is a delicious, beef-flavored chew that kills both fleas and ticks. so it's easy to give, easy to take. reported side effects include vomiting, itching, diarrhea, lethargy and lack of appetite. use with caution in dogs with a history of seizures. why mess around? for powerful flea and tick protection, ask your vet about nexgard. the #1 choice of vets for their dogs and yours. the yogurt made from your milk, is delicious. mmmm, yoplait. miami-dade police detectives lying between a car and a van. >> we could see the spatter of the blood on the van. whoever did it to her, did it right there. >> so this body hadn't been disposed of there. this was the place where she was killed? >> correct. >> her head had been bashed in. but there was no weapon fob to be found. >> what type of a homicide is this? is this a robbery, a drug deal that went bad? >> tell me what you're taking in about the victim? >> she's a young girl. she didn't have her shoes on, which is unusual. why is this young girl in this industrial parking lot -- >> no reason to be in this part of the county? >> no. unless she met up with someone. >> so the detectives headed out to do the part of the job that never gets easier. >> so you're delivering terrible news? >> horrible news. >> amid the shock and tears, they piece together from their mother a sense of who the victim was and what her final hours and days had been about. sunday evening, the phone call, wendy sounded okay, the detectives were told, but that next call at 5:48 am, the one from michel, asking if she was at her mom's, was worrisome. a few hours later, he was waiting for wendy's mother at the school why she worked. >> he met her at her job. he was very worried about where she could be. >> he was about to get an official answer as to where she was. >> as we're talking, the phone rings and it's michel escoto calling. >> again asking his mother-in-law if she had heard from wendy. detectived grabs the phone and asked where he was. they head over to where he was. to deliver the news of his girlfriend of eight months, his bride of four days. >> we explained we're investigating the death of wendy, and he started balling up. >> doubled over, crying. police gave him a few minutes to compose himself before asking him to come down to headquarters to answer some more questions. there he recounted the honeymoon. michael told the detectives that wendy had the idea of adding a little more spice before rejoining their workweek lives. >> well, we haven't had much of a honeymoon this weekend. let's extend our honeymoon. >> so as michel escoto told it, around midnight they checked into a miami hotel that features fantasy suites with a private pool and jacuzzi. he says they had sex, slept a little and wendy dosed off in the jacuzzi. around 4:00 am, michel says, they checked out and headed home. that's when, he said, the newlyweds had their first argument. michel says he walked into the apartment, leaving wendy in the car. >> three minutes later, he comes out. he says when he comes out, the car is gone. wendy is gone. >> he spoke with detectives for 14 hours. they asked him repeatedly if he could identify anyone with a motive. he said he couldn't. after leaving police headquarters, he saw his friend ramone santa cruz. >> he was looking depressed. he looked down, maybe tired. >> five days after her murder, wendy was laid to rest. and then friends and family gathered at her parents' home. detective bias was there as well and he learned something about the couple that would send the investigation down another path. a thread of this investigation takes you into the swinger lifestyle. what's been going on with michel and wendy and the club scene? >> after i'm informed of this, that wendy was part of a swingers club, a place called the miami velvet down here in south miami, the first thing i did was i called michel. he did admit to having encounters with other couples there. >> now you got to wonder did somebody with a thing they developed about wendy and is that person maybe the killer? >> it turns out the club is within a mile and a half of the scene, so i wanted to explore that. >> the swingers club was cooperative and detectives took dna samples from a few employees and members. they would have to wait for the results. in the meantime the investigation was turning up a new lead, a former girlfriend of his, yolanda sirrio. >> she had a relationship with him before he met the victim. according to her, michel left her for wendy. she loved him and was very much in love with him. >> a single mother, was she also a woman scorned? michel left her just six months earlier. and to add insult to injury, asked her to take care of his dog while he was on a honeymoon. >> to go to the ex-pent of taking care of someone's dog during their honeymoon, as a woman, very strange to me. >> does yolanda become a suspect? a woman who feels she was fired because of a younger woman and nobody gets away with that, and i'm going to kill you? >> there's a lot to yolanda. >> a lot of bad if you ask ramon santa cruz. >> i didn't like her from the beginning. she was very evasive. the apartment was always dirty. she was never a good person to begin with. >> detectives met with yolanda who freely admitted that she was devastated when michel left her. but she had no idea who beat his wife to death. >> she said she didn't know anything about it. >> but the detectives noted something else about yolanda. she lived just a few minutes from the parking lot where they found wendy. >> when you started adding up things, her proximity to the crime scene, i'm very interested in her. >> no one knew what yolanda was hiding. that would come later. and so would the revelation of a motive that would seem to explain every violent little thing. >> coming up, a million reasons why someone wanted wendy dead. >> i asked him, how much is the life insurance policy and he said $1 million. >> when "dateline" continues. >> when "dateline" continues. i am a migraine sufferer. my mom wants to understand, but she just can't see it. so excedrin worked with me to show my mom what i experience during a migraine. excedrin relieves my pain and symptoms. but their dedication to migraine sufferers doesn't stop there. oh my god... i'm so sorry, honey, that you go through this. now i finally feel understood. experience more stories at excedrin.com dmade with the perfect balance of raspberry ice cream, luscious raspberry sauce, and belgian chocolate. discover magnum chocolate pleasure. new layers to our famous lasagna. with three new irresistible dishes like chicken parmigiana lasagna. and seafood lovers lasagna. all with our unlimited salad and breadsticks. and all starting at $11.99. olive garden. people are taking charge of their type 2 diabetes with non-insulin victoza®. for a while, i took a pill to lower my blood sugar. but it didn't get me to my goal. so i asked my doctor about victoza®. he said victoza® works differently than pills. and comes in a pen. victoza® is proven to lower blood sugar and a1c. it's taken once a day, any time. victoza® is not for weight loss, but it may help you lose some weight. victoza® works with your body to lower blood sugar in 3 ways: in the stomach, the liver, and the pancreas. vo: victoza® is an injectable prescription medicine that may improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. it is not recommended as the first medication to treat diabetes and should not be used in people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. victoza® has not been studied with mealtime insulin. victoza® is not insulin. do not take victoza® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to victoza® or any of its ingredients. symptoms of a serious allergic reaction may include itching, rash, or difficulty breathing. tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. serious side effects may happen in people who take victoza®, including inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis). stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you have signs of pancreatitis such as severe pain that will not go away in your abdomen or from your abdomen to your back, with or without vomiting. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you have any medical conditions. taking victoza® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. the most common side effects are headache, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. if your pill isn't giving you the control you need ask your doctor about non-insulin victoza®. it's covered by most health plans. what about yolanda, the husband's ex-girlfriend, enraged perhaps to be traded in for wendy, the younger model. the detective's dput -- guts told them yolanda knew way more than she was saying. but how to crack her? then there was the husband himself. they kept going back over their notes from the 14-hour interview with him. at times it had been pulling teeth. >> we asked him over and over again, is there anybody with a motive, anything at all, anything you can tell us? i bring up a point, don't you have a life insurance policy? he says, yeah, we do. >> a hefty one, it would seem, for a healthy 21-year-old woman he wasn't even married to at the time of purchase. >> i asked him, how much is the life insurance policy? and he said a million dollars and i said a million dollars? and you don't think that's a motive? you don't think that's important to tell us? and he said no, i don't, because i have a million dollar life insurance policy on myself, too. i said that's not in question because you're here. you're alive. >> one thing he did reveal, wendy was not pregnant. he said that was the cause of their argument that night. he said wendy had lied to him about the whole thing. as the detective's questions got sharper that day, michel shut down. >> he didn't take himself off the list. >> the working theory of the crime was as simple as it was brutal. he bashed her in skull with a $1 million payout. the tire iron was missing from the car, nowhere to be found. >> so you go to the prosecutor and say we got it, grand jury. >> no, you've got to prove it. got to prove it. >> so the police let their person of interest go. in the meantime, wendy's family had huge suspicions about michel. and then michel sued the insurance company to pay him his million dollars. would a guilty man be so brazen as to try that? absolutely, the family said. by then they had had enough. the family got a lawyer, jorge barone, and together they went after michel. >> we believed he was the killer. >> two years after the murder, the family filed a wrongful death suit. metlife put the money in escrow and waited on the sidelines as it was fought out in civil court. but if he wanted to see as much as one cent of that money, he would have to do something he hadn't done before. >> he would have to testify. he cannot plead the fifth, especially since he's pursuing the claim. so he has to testify. >> michel was videotaped as he gave a sworn deposition. >> we took a deposition and his stories kept changing. >> so the story about a fight and she takes a hike -- >> it doesn't add up. he testified that wendy was -- it was her idea all of a sudden that night to go to the miami executive hotel. >> however, back in 2002, yolanda, the ex-girlfriend, told police michel asked her to make the hotel reservation. it wasn't wendy's idea at all. a factual discrepancy also known as a lie. when the civil case went to trial, he got so roughed up that on the second day, he was a no-show in court. wendy's mother got the insurance money, and prosecutors got to hear firsthand about his constantly shifting stories. >> the state attorney said in the courtroom and was taking notes. >> did you have a little chitchat in the hallway outside? >> we did. what is did he say? >> it's your case. you have all the evidence. we had everything outlined. >> he was arrested three days after his court no-show and charged with the murder of he is bide, wendy trapaga. but police still thought they needed more, so they fixed their eyes on the girlfriend, yolanda. >> i knew that eventually as time goes by, that relationship would deteriorate. >> why did you think that? >> if they have that secret amongst each other, that was going to be a friction point in their relationship. >> in 2006, one year after michel was arrested, yolanda and her attorney went to prosecutors and said, let's make a deal. she got full immunity in exchange for telling how she helped michel that night. >> she came into the state attorney's office and explained that she did take him away from the crime scene. >> so that's a great story to tell a jury? >> yes. that's it. >> police may not have had a murder weapon or helpful forensic clues but now they had yolanda, who was about to give her version of that night. it was cold hearted and calculating. >> coming up, an arrest, and a witness who was there. it's not the end of the story but the beginning of a whole new drama that would play out in court. every story has two sides, especially when it's a lover's triangle. >> i don't put it past her as being a person who would have committed this crime. >> and should a spurned lover be believed anyway? >> he said calm down. it was all a plan, that he didn't love her. he loved me. >> things were heating up. >> things were heating up. okay, spinach. gotta get those b's in. oh, kale. yes, kale. kale, kale kale. carrots mm... beta carotene. yes, i like it. listo. mmmm. mmmm. mmmm. i feel healthier already. me too. fitness in real life. now that's the good stuff. alwhen your symptoms start... distracting you? doctors recommend taking ...non-drowsy claritin every day of your allergy season. claritin provides powerful, non-drowsy 24 hour relief... for fewer interruptions from the amazing things you do every day. live claritin clear. i to the acidity in any foods.ht never thought about the coffee i was drinking having acids. it never dawned on me that it could hurt your teeth. he told me to use pronamel. it's going to help protect the enamel in your teeth. it allows me to continue to drink my coffee, and it was a real easy switch to make. four days to muster up a tear four days to muster up a tear for the million dollars he was never going to see.ars he was never going to see. >> what was his reaction? >> what was his reaction? >> that lack of emotion was an indifference to wendy or a indifference to wendy or a disregard for women in general. disregard for women in general. escoto was a man with a history escoto was a man with a history of mooching off girlfriends. of mooching off girlfriends. this former lover testified she this former lover testified she supported escoto for years. supported escoto for years. >> how much money did you give >> how muc him a month? him a month? >> approximately $1,500. >> approximately $1,500. >> go figure, the state said. >> go figure, the state said. for whatever reason, women threw for whatever reason, w gifts at escoto. gifts at escoto. one bought him the motorcycle, one bought him the motorcycle, another a car. another a car. but still another former lover but still another former lover who also supported him for years who also supported him for years would be the prosecution's star would be the prosecution's star witness. witness. >> yolanda serrio. >> yolanda serrio. >> the prosecution argued she was the girlfriend with intimate knowledge of how escoto carried out this brutal crime. she had been given immunity in exchange for her testimony here. wiping away tears she recounted how it all started, how she fell hard for the defendant she thought to be a charmer. >> have you ever had a man you thought you could share your life with? >> i thought it was michel. >> only to realize he was dumping her for the younger, more attractive wendy. yolanda then said she confronted escoto in this restaurant parking lot and heard for the first time that his impending marriage to wendy was all a sham. that in the end he would come back to yolanda with pockets full of cash. >> he said to calm down. it was all a plan. that he didn't love her. he loved me. he was going to marry her. they were going to have an insurance policy and she was going to die. >> all right. so he told you he had a plan? >> yes. >> the plan was murder. it was during that conversation, yolanda told jurors, that she became a co-conspirator, not only helping escoto cover up his crime but also help him carry it out. this was the plan. on his wedding night, yolanda said he would drug and drown wendy. to make sure he got it right, yolanda admitted she took part in a grim dress rehearsal of what was meant to look like an accidental death. >> we filled up my tub and i got in the water. and he pushed me down with his hand. >> you let him push you under the water? >> yes. >> what did you say once he let you up? >> i told him that wouldn't work. >> why? >> because the force of him holding her down in the water would leave bruises. >> what did you suggest? >> i suggested he used a towel to hold her down. >> yolanda said she even helped him whip up a drug laced concoction to knock wendy out. >> he came over and he brought some percocet pills. and he and i started squishing them, like a mortar pestle thing. >> what was he going to do with the perk sit -- perkset pills that you ground? >> he was going to give it to her so she would be drugged. >> and then drowned, said yolanda. the plan to kill wendy hit an unexpected snag. at the honeymoon hotel, wendy balked at the taste of the drugged cocktail. so he tried again late they are weekend at the other hotel. this time she drank the cocktail but for some reason he couldn't manage to drown her. yolanda recalled that escoto showed up at her place in the middle of the night with a dazed wendy in the front seat of the car. >> did you see anything in the passenger seat? >> i saw a movement. somebody inside the car. >> wendy was still alive. yolanda said escoto ordered her to follow him in her car. >> then what happened? >> he got out of the car, walked over to my car and he told me, drive around. give me 20, 25 minutes. >> eventually, yolanda said she spotted escoto again, walking down the street, splashed now in blood and carrying a tire iron. she said she drove him to the bay in downtown miami where he got out of the car with the weapon. >> and he threw the thing in the water. >> after dropping him off at his apartment, she said, she took his bloody clothes and threw them in a dumpster. >> happy with yourself? >> no. worse. that's how i feel right now. >> is this about you? >> no, it's not. it's about a mother who lost her daughter and i have something to do with it. >> yolanda's time on the witness stand would get tougher still. two old lovers were about to face off in court. one defending himself and the other testifying against him. a roiling, boiling drama in real time. coming up, michel escoto acts as his own lawyer. >> this is harder than i thought it would be. >> and on the stand, his ex-lover, now the star witness against him in wendy's murder. >> did you wish she was dead? >> i wish it would go away. >> when "dateline" continues. >> when "dateline" continues. i have asthma... ...one of many pieces in my life. so when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my long-term control medicine. i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment with breo. once-daily breo prevents asthma symptoms. breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. breo won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. breo opens up airways to help improve breathing for a full 24 hours. breo contains a type of medicine that increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. breo is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop breo and prescribe a different asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. do not take breo more than prescribed. see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. ask your doctor if 24-hour breo could be a missing piece for you. see if you're eligible for 12 months free at mybreo.com. we invited women to a spa to dish soap. body wash. you may not feel it, but some body washes can contain cleansers found in dish soap. dove body wash is different. it has only the gentlest cleansers. it just made me feel good. this is dove. what is freedom? yes, it's riding a horse across fields and stuff but it's mostly getting to watch your directv with unlimited data from at&t. we're setting families free. so they can stream away - and not squabble over who's using how much. so go, family. watch. freedom. seize the data! get unlimited data when you have at&t wireless and directv. switch and get up to $650 credits, per line. the state of florida had succeeded in painting michel escoto as a man who used women for women, in other words, a cad. but then again, a cad is a far cry from a killer. >> i don't think he's a cad. you think there's problem with this evidence. >> he said the case against michel weak from start to finish. there was no blood, no dna linking the defendant to the crime, which is maybe why michel escoto, who already pled not guilty to the charges did what many men facing a life in prison sentence would never dream of doing. he defended himself in court. >> was it lincoln's advice that a fool is a client? those who represent themselves? we'll see. >> wearing glasses, khakis, a sweater, and speaking in a soft voice, he seemed less like a killer and more like a geek. a hopeless novice, getting pummeled by the execution. >> judge, i'm telling him he was being sandbagged -- >> one time the newbie seemed near tears, another overwhelmed. >> this is harder than i thought it would be. >> was this clutsy moment all about winning sympathy for the jury, the time he stumbled? >> sorry, twisted my ankle, judge. >> one of the important advantages he has here is that human connection that he's getting, standing up there and with every witness who says you're a murderer, you're this and that, him not backing down. he's never backed down. >> escoto, the hapless underdog, still needed to convince jurors he was not violent. especially when it came to women, wendy in particular. this former girlfriend and self-confessed sugar momma had to admit he was never a violent bully. >> did i ever throw anything at you? >> no. >> did i ever punch you? >> no, no. >> did i ever slap you? >> no. >> did i ever push you on the ground? >> no. >> more important, he wanted to show that the state's theory of the crime was a fairytale, starting with the idea that he drugged wendy. >> the toxicology reports are consistent with normal doses that you would take of any of these medications. >> she wasn't heavily drugged as the state argued. what's more a dna expert said she expected to find escota's dna on the clothes, but she found something more. >> there were several markers where his dna is not represented. >> dna traces for two different males, and get this, traces for a female. to standby lawyer terry, that could mean only one person. yolanda, who said she was with him before and after the murder. >> who got immunity. >> first thing to know about yolanda is that she's a liar. first, she knew nothing about the crime. then she said she did but only after the fact. the final story put yolanda front and center in planning the murder. >> lo and behold we have a story that comes about, about the drowning and the drugging and all this drama that i believe is rubbish. >> so what did make sense? a killer, he said, who hated wendy enough to pummel her so badly she was unrecognizable. and who fit that bill? >> i felt destroyed because she took you from me, yes. >> in a beyond weird courtroom exchange, escoto in cross-examination took on his former lover, yolanda. who admitted her poisonous resentments of wendy. >> i hated what she stood for. i didn't know who she was. i didn't -- i hated the whole situation. i hated that you left. >> you wish she was dead? >> i wished she would go away. >> so, you see yolanda's hand in this directly? >> she's lying because she feels that's in her best interest. i don't put it past her as being a person who would have committed this crime. >> but would jurors see it that way? here is the critical moment of the trial, a chance for each side to sum up its case. and this potential tipping point, even michel escoto seemed to agree was no time for amateurs. coming up, the verdict. >> the years of waiting. the years of mourning her. we needed justice. >> if there's a hung jury, we may have to start over again. may have to start over again. ♪ dogs - sure can be messy. but with nexgard, their flea and tick killer doesn't have to be. nexgard, the vet's #1 choice for dogs, is a delicious, beef-flavored chew that kills both fleas and ticks. so it's easy to give, easy to take. reported side effects include vomiting, itching, diarrhea, lethargy and lack of appetite. use with caution in dogs with a history of seizures. why mess around? 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>> i would like to let him take over, judge. >> thank you, judge, i'm ready to proceed. >> for the first time in this trial, seasoned defense attorney would take over and urge the jurors to find reasonable doubt in the state's case. he jumped, attacking what he called the prosecutor's overselling of a mostly circumstantial case. >> this is a court of law. and no matter how much i scream as an advocate, no matter how much i wave my hands or say villain, villain, villain, bad, villain, it doesn't make it so. >> his strategy was to plant a seed of doubt in just one juror's mind. >> if there's a hung jury, we may have to start over again. >> then the case went to the jury. wendy's family, as they had done throughout the trial, gathered together once again and prayed. her mother hugged prosecutor gail levine, who pursued escoto so ferociously. >> she is my hero, without a doubt she is my hero. >> two and a half hours after the jury went out, cell phones started buzzing in the courthouse. so many years after wendy's murder. now, in moments, her family would know. >> the years of waiting. the years of mourning her, all of a sudden we're told the verdict is in. before i got to the courtroom i was already crying. i was shaking. >> wendy's family members held their breath. escoto appeared to do the same as the judge instructed the clerk to read the verdict. >> we the jury this 22nd day of april, 2014 find the defendant michel escoto guilty of first-degree premeditated murder. >> michel sat stone-faced in his chair, his lips turned down in a grimace. for the family there were more tears but of a different kind. now sorrow, mixed with relief and satisfaction. wendy's mother dropped to her knees and gave thanks. for the detective, a 12-year-old case was now officially stamped closed. >> he'll never do this to another woman again. his lies and his charming and planning and evil plan will not affect another person. >> but there was someone the family felt had gotten away with murder, his girlfriend yolanda. her immunity deal meant she would never spend a day in jail. >> they're both monsters and psychopaths. >> i don't care at all how desperate, how insecure, how lacking in self respect you have. you're a mother. and you went ahead and planned out the death of another mother's daughter. >> but investigators said without yolanda, things might have turned out differently. >> people are going to be throwing their shoes at the tv screen at this point, detective. >> she gave us the additional thing that we needed to charge and keep and bring michel escoto to justice in this case. >> he gets a life sentence and she gets have a nice day. >> that's how it appears. in lieu of not having anybody held accountable for this, i'll take that. >> the family wasn't going to let yolanda off so easily. they sued her for the wrongful death of wendy and were awarded a $44 million judgment. though they had no expectations of ever seeing that kind of money. >> if she has to pay one cent a week, it's well worth it. as a reminder for the rest of her life, how she assisted that monster. >> two weeks after his conviction, he was sentenced. at the hearing, he proclaimed his innocence. >> no matter how satisfaction this verdict has given any of you, an innocent person was convicted in this case. >> finally the family had a opportunity to address the man who killed wendy. >> justice is served. off to hell with you and good riddance. >> when wendy's mother spoke through a translator, there wasn't a dry eye in the courtroom. >> translator: sunday is mother's day. many of you have daughters or sons. and you will receive a kiss from them. i have to go to the cemetery to put flowers on my daughter's tomb. >> judge marisa mendez gave escoto the mandatory sentence. >> life in prison without the possibility of parole. >> the only way he leaves prison is in a pine box. on the day escoto is found guilty, the family went to the cemetery to visit wendy. they sat on her grave and talked to her. >> i kind of just sat back and felt that i could breathe for the first time in so long and felt she was finally at peace. she can rest now. >> rest for wendy, the kind, young woman who loved animals and enjoyed playing dress-up and who fatally married a stranger, till death he did part. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm lester hol right now at 11:00, dmeonal trump and joe biden together. a philadelphia man accused of dousing his girlfriend with gasoline, setting her on fire and leaving her for dead. today outside the courtroom, he said he killed someone he loved when he started that fire. good evening. that arson sparked an evacuation of the lincoln motel in bucks county just after 2:00 this morning. more from the suspect's apparent confession.

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