welcome back. dan wozniak confessed to the murders of sam and julie. he also told police he acted alone. there was no physical evidence tying dan s fiancee rachel buffett to either killing but detectives believed she had lied to them to protect dan. now the couple, once of toast of their community circle theater, face separate trials. would two grieving families finally learn the truth? here is the conclusion of the final curtain. reporter: in december 2015, five years after sam and julie s murders, the lives of two young actors was playing out, not on stage, but here in court. dan wozniak went on trial first.
one evasive witness. rachel didn t tell us the day before. i told the truth to the best of my capability. police wondered had another murder been planned? they said if you had gone back that day they wanted to kill him. did rachel have a secret? what do you do? i think you know what i did. would she keep it? this is as diabolical as any case i ve seen. or was the occur fan. to close? they are trying to sail i am somebody i m not. this is my life. this is my entire future. i m innocent. hello. rachel buffett and dan wozniak were struggling actors and money was tight and they were in love and about to tie the knot but
steve, before you find out, we just wanna let you know sam was dismembered. and that that s when i just lost it. reporter: dan wozniak was charged with two counts of first degree murder. the news hit the wire. and at the police station, the phone rang. the caller had a story to tell, one that cast a whole new light on dan s leading lady, rachel buffett. coming up a witness. something was terrifying in the feel of the room. i just wanted out of there. and a new suspect. we were shocked to learn it. we went back and said, hey, you know, rachel didn t tell us any of this the day before. when dateline continues. ely street of dreams here i go again on my -
her name is rachel buffett. you may remember her from a story we first reported in 2016 about her then fiance dan wozniak and about two families in search of the truth. i know a lot of answers now. a lot more than i had the last time we met. reporter: now the final curtain. i believe with all of my heart they were trying to get me back and daddy killed me. there are things that people need to know and need to be said. reporter: the question what would you do for love? we will get to all of that. first, let s go back to where this story began. orange county, california. not too far from the coast you ll find the camden martinek apartments. we had pools and hot tubs and where everyone wanted to be. reporter: back in 2010,
and he met two struggling young actors, dan wozniak and rachel buffett. dan was very charming? he was very open, and personable, and i felt like we had a lot in common. and rachel was obviously beautiful and they were just very welcoming to me. reporter: chris soon learned his new friends had financial troubles, and he offered to help by lending them money. all my friends had just done this big benefit for me, so time to give back? yeah. reporter: chris also wanted to make sure that he got his money back, so chris told a story that was 100 percent false. so i said, well, i can t lend you the money personally, but i know some people i could get it from, but they re not good people, so we got to get it back. reporter: he lent dan and