so she didn t know how much money they had as a family? no, no idea. reporter: how much money did they have, this family? well, including the equity in the home, probably $6 million to $7 million. reporter: which in a legal separation by california law would be split down the middle. but lisa said lynn told her fred would never part with any of that money. lynn also told her about fred s physical abuse. and so with a pending separation lisa worried about lynn and charlie s safety. i wanted her to move out of the home with charlie. she wouldn t do it. she wouldn t leave her home. she wouldn t disrupt charlie. he was just starting high school. they d lived in the neighborhood forever. so she was a sitting target. reporter: did she understand that it was dangerous for her? yes, yes. reporter: and yet, she went ahead and did it anyway? that s how important getting out of that relationship was to her. she was willing to risk her life, and she told me that. reporter: lisa
come over, and they noticed stuff, and it was weird for them to notice things and to comment on it. but yeah, it was always just that s what families did. reporter: year after year it went on, said charlie, until his mother came to whisper her own secret. she was finally going to leave fred. my mom was tucking me in at night when i was 12 or so, and she was talking about how she was thinking about doing this and that she was so nervous about doing it and didn t know if it was the right choice or what to do about it. reporter: what d you think? my first thought was very excited because it was just great to be able to think of getting away from him. reporter: and then, finally, more than a year later lynn hired family law attorney lisa brandon. what did she tell you she wanted from you? she wanted a fair division of the property. reporter: but, said lisa, fred controlled all the finances.
physical abuse. and so with a pending separation lisa worried about lynn and charlie s safety. i wanted her to move out of the home with charlie. she wouldn t do it. she wouldn t leave her home. she wouldn t disrupt charlie. he was just starting high school. they d lived in the neighborhood forever. so she was a sitting target. reporter: did she understand that it was dangerous for her? yes, yes. reporter: and yet, she went ahead and did it anyway? that s how important getting out of that relationship was to her. she was willing to risk her life, and she told me that. reporter: lisa told lynn she should at least get a restraining order against fred. it wouldn t make a damn bit of difference. reporter: that s what she told you? uh-huh. if he s going to kill me, he ll kill me. restraining orders won t stop
about doing it and didn t know if it was the right choice or what to do about it. reporter: what d you think? my first thought was very excited because it was just great to be able to think of getting away from him. reporter: and then, finally, more than a year later lynn hired family law attorney lisa brandon. what did she tell you she wanted from you? she wanted a fair division of the property. reporter: but, said lisa, fred controlled all the finances. so she didn t know how much money they had as a family? no, no idea. reporter: how much money did they have, this family? well, including the equity in the home, probably $6 million to $7 million. reporter: which in a legal separation by california law would be split down the middle. but lisa said lynn told her fred would never part with any of that money. lynn also told her about fred s
she was a sitting target. did she understand it was dangerous for her. yes, yes. yet she went ahead and did it anyway. that s how important getting out of that relationship was to her. she was willing to risk her life and she told me that. lisa told lynn she should get a restraining order against fred. it wouldn t make a dam bit of difference. that s what he told you. yes. if he s going to kill me, he ll kill me. restraining orders won t stop him. too late now. of course, but what about charlie. the detectives worried about his safety. called lynn s brother mark. he had gone back across the country to georgia. urged him to invite charlie for an extended visit with him and his wife even though they did not tell mark about their suspicion. i was surprised. i am still to this day that fred allowed that to happen, but he did. perhaps fred had more