far from a united front. tom s parents still weren t speaking to linda and tom s daughter, jillian, had limited contact with her while in town for the trial. i just knew i had to be there for as much of it as i could be. i needed that closure and i wanted to hear everything that i wasn t being told for all those years. gil s supporters were also there his new wife, employees and several loyal patients. zach sklar was one of them. why did you feel the need to be there? we live in a society where you re innocent until proven guilty. i saw nothing that would lead me to believe that this could possibly be true. and so i went there to support him, to show him particularly because he is dominican in a very white area, that there are people who will support him. but the prosecution s case would be difficult for gil s friends to hear. the state s theory, gil killed tom because he wanted linda all to himself.
been together since tom died. phone records also proved tom and gil were indeed friendly until the end, texting each other throughout that last giants game tom watched. and gil, like tom, was well-respected around town. he works hard, and he is not interested in money, as far as i can tell. zach sklar is a patient of gil s and has always admired his generosity. does a lot of volunteer work in poor areas. did he ever say why he likes to do that? i think he s a man who cares. it s as as simple as that. i mean, he cares about his patients. and he cares that about, you know, people having access to good dental care. he was a member of the local chamber of commerce, a volunteer firefighter, voted one of the top hudson valley dentists five times, and chosen to endorse products in online ads. i m dr. gilberto nunez. i m a practitioner in kingston, new york. it was a very thriving practice. we were v we re very busy.
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reporter: as gilberto nunez s trial for second degree murder played out blocks away from his practice, the dentist tried not to let it distract him from his patients. even during his trial, he would come and see patients in the evenings. some days were better than others. he seemed to be doing okay. reporter: patient zach sklar never wavered in his support. do i have doubts about his whether he murdered someone? absolutely not. why are you so sure that there s not a darker side to gilberto nuñez? i m not sure about anything. i think there s a darker side to all of us. people are complex. but there s absolutely no evidence that the guy committed murder. reporter: in court, gilberto was represented by two heavy hitters from new york city, evan lipton and gerald shargel who had previously defended mafia boss john gotti. they argued that the
reporter: the rest of the kolman family felt the same but were far from a united front. tom s parents still weren t speaking to linda and tom s daughter, jillian, had limited contact with her while in town for the trial. i just knew i had to be there for as much of it as i could be. i needed that closure and i wanted to hear everything that i wasn t being told for all those years. reporter: gil s supporters were also there his new wife, employees and several loyal patients. zach sklar was one of them. why did you feel the need to be there? we live in a society where you re innocent until proven guilty. i saw nothing that would lead me to believe that this could possibly be true. and so i went there to support him, to show him particularly because he is dominican in a very white area, that there are people who will support him. reporter: but the prosecution s case would be difficult for gil s friends to hear.