Transcripts for MSNBC Dateline 20200406 05:56:15 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
this go. so he called the park rangers and basically just said, we re close with toni. we have suspicions. please investigate this, please. he begged them. i felt immediately upon hearing the news that we had to find out exactly what was what happened, and that we had to be her voice because the only story we were going to get was going to be his story. reporter: but they all soon discovered even getting harold s story wasn t easy. did you ask harold, tell me what happened? several times. i said, what happened, harold? and he blew me off. reporter: when harold came to mississippi for toni s memorial service her family thought he was more interested in watching a football game than talking about toni s last day on earth. he announced to us that day that he wanted to sit down with us and talk. and he said, oh, he totally brushed off. it will take about ten minutes. i want to watch the game.
inkling that anything bad was to come. harold told the ranger the ridge where they had lunch wasn t private enough. so they climbed down these loose rocks looking for another spot. at this point they were several hours into their hike with not much daylight left and not much time to keep a 7:00 p.m. dinner reservation. they ended up on a small, flat area with not a lot of wiggle room and steep drops all around. it s where this pictures was taken at 5:00 p.m. it s one of the last pictures on toni s camera. rangers believe toni fell from right here, 128 feet down. this is a spot that most people would be too nervous to approach without the proper safety gear, but harold said toni was trying to capture the perfect picture of some wild turkeys and apparently just got too close to the edge. harold said by the time he scrambled down the mountain and found his wife, toni wasn t talking. she was barely breathing, and
mississippi. and every southern lady ought to be able to cook some fried chicken. and little did she know that, you know, when you took it out of the freezer you d have to let it thaw. reporter: frozen fried chicken aside, toni was someone who set goals and made them happen. after college she went to medical school, and in 1988 graduated in the top 10% of her class. then she settled into a new practice and a new marriage with a young dentist. but the woman who could do it all couldn t save a relationship that wasn t working. she tried. but after seven years the marriage ended. i don t think my sister took failure well. and so i think that was a disappointing time in her life. reporter: todd s wife rhonda remembers how toni continued to thrive at work, but her love life stalled. her career was extremely important, and so there was a time issue there. she didn t have a lot of time to probably go places to meet guys. she went to church, and she went
we would like to be able to go to a grave somewhere and see her. i mean, first family said the same thing. you know, devastated. never heard that, you know, she wanted to be cremated. i mean, as soon as he got that body released, boom, cremated. reporter: and the bertolets added, if that wasn t enough, he then took those ashes and put them where he wanted them. toni s ashes are spread on the same mountain that he spread the first wife s ashes. same spot. did the exact same thing. and he always claims that it s their favorite spot. i mean, we re talking he did the exact same things from start to finish with both wives. crazy. i mean, even the same photo pose. reporter: the families thought what harold did with his wives remains was insensitive. but the cops, federal and local, were looking for something else. evidence of murder.