Down To The Truth | "48 Hours" Full Episodes | Forensic Files

All rise. >> Jury entering? >> Please proceed. >> Kill or be killed. Kill or be killed.
Kill or be killed. >> Defense calls as its first witness Virginia Vertetis. >> This was a case about a woman who shot
and killed the person attacking her. Patrick Houlihan. >> Prosecutor's position is my client
murdered Houlihan in cold blood. >> They were the only two people in that house [snorts] that night. One of them
is dead and one of them is on trial for his murder. >> 911, what's your emergency?
>> Somebody was breaking into my house. >> Police arrive on scene at 10:07. >> I shot the [ __ ] coming in my
house and he's dead. Oh my god, he's dead. >> They see Patrick laying there motionless, dead.
>> Is there anybody else IN THE HOUSE? >> WHO else is in the house? >> I was here alone.
>> Who else is here? >> They see the gun, a .38 caliber. She was immediately handcuffed
then placed into a patrol car. >> This defendant tried to orchestrate a story to make herself look like a
victim. >> She calls 911 and she lies. So, what happened? We have to know who these people are.
Who was Patrick Houlihan? Who is Virginia Vertitas. >> I know Virginia Vertitas. I've spent
hundreds of hours with her. She had a high-paying corporate job, and she gave it up and went to teaching. All
the parents would ask for her because she was such a great teacher. A loving mother, loving daughter.
To me, she got mixed up with the wrong man. >> This is a guy that retired as a police
[music] officer, was working on security for construction sites. Everybody loved this guy. Everybody
loved this guy. He beat the hell out of her. He choked her. He looked her straight in
the eyes and said he was going to kill her. >> I didn't >> [laughter] >> do anything wrong.
He beat me like that. >> Look at the evidence. I have this woman's life in my hands.
>> This is the moment of truth. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. We'll see whether the defendant was telling the
truth. >> [laughter] >> Why did you kill him? >> Because he was going to kill me.
>> I'm like jumping out of my skin. Someone's life is in my hands. >> This case is a monster.
>> It's a tremendous weight on on my shoulder. >> I just want this to start. >> Defense attorneys Ed Bilinkas and Sarah
McArdle are on edge as Virginia Vertetis' murder trial begins. >> I can't sleep anymore. Uh, I'm literally
bouncing off the walls. If I lose, she'll spend the rest of her life in jail. >> It's been 3 years since Patrick
O'Houlihan was shot to death in Virginia's home in Mount Olive, New Jersey. >> My client is not guilty.
She killed Patrick Gilhooly in self-defense. >> But it won't be easy for Bilinkas to
prove that. >> It's a difficult case. There's a lot of things that we need to address.
>> 911, what's your emergency? >> Starting with Virginia's 911 call. >> Somebody was breaking into my house.
>> One of the biggest challenges for the defense is what Virginia said on that call.
>> She makes up a story. She lies. >> I didn't know who was coming in my house. I was scared.
I thought I was dead. >> No one was breaking into her house on the night of March 3rd, 2014.
>> Big problem for her. >> She was with Patrick O'Houlihan, her on-again, off-again boyfriend of more
than 5 years. >> There's a legitimate reason why she did what she did. >> There is only one person who can explain
it. >> How are you doing today? >> Okay, just very nervous. >> But it's a big gamble.
>> It's always a risk to put a defendant on the stand. >> Even riskier because Virginia, severely
depressed and anxious, >> [music] >> is now heavily medicated. >> If you didn't put her on, the jury would
never know what happened that night. >> Do you still love Patrick Gilhooly? >> Objection, Judge.
>> I'll allow it. >> Yes. >> Their story began in 2008. >> How did you meet him?
>> I met him online. match.com >> Patrick was divorced. His two daughters are here in court.
>> Patrick You Houli was not perfect, ladies and gentlemen. By no means. >> He was, as prosecutor Matt Troyano, a
complicated man. >> He drank too much and too often. But he had a big heart. He worked hard.
He was loved by his family and friends. And he loved them. >> Patrick was working in private security,
including a stint as a bodyguard for Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt after he had retired as a cop.
>> It was a good relationship. He was a very attentive. >> When Virginia met Patrick, she had been
unlucky at love. She'd married three times in search of it. The first time she had married young and it didn't
last. She had fallen hard for husband number two, Scott Vertitas, also a police officer.
>> Oh, she loved him very, very much. >> Virginia's mother, Craney Colehofer, says when the couple's children, Kelly
and Billy, were young, Virginia left a high-paying job at AT&T to become a teacher so she could spend more time
with them. >> Virginia would do just about anything for her children, wouldn't you?
>> Absolutely. >> She was a marvelous mother. >> But she says that marriage collapsed
when Scott cheated on Virginia. >> That tore her world apart. Just tore her world apart.
She was never the same after that. >> She's has a history of abandonment from men.
>> Jim Faulkner was Virginia's husband number three. >> I met her on match.com. >> That was [music] back 2004,
4 years before Patrick. >> She had her master's degree, working on her doctorate, so she was very smart and
she knew what she wanted. She wanted this perfect life, this uh white picket fence and a happy
family. >> But he says the relationship was volatile, and whenever he tried to leave, Virginia begged him to come back.
>> She sent me 100 roses. She did everything in her power to get me back. She said she'll do whatever it takes,
and we even went to therapy. >> Do you get the impression that it's very difficult for Virginia to be without a
man? >> Yes, she has to have somebody at all times. >> The marriage to Jim didn't last either,
and soon Virginia was back on match.com. >> I saw email that she was dating somebody.
>> Patrick O'Hooley. >> Yeah. >> And that relationship was also volatile. >> We broke up a lot.
>> How many times had you broken up over the years? >> Countless. [music] I can't even tell you
how many. >> They fought a lot, she says. Patrick was unfaithful, at other times jealous.
>> He did not like me talking to other men. It made him feel humiliated. >> They even fought over taxes because
Patrick hadn't paid his in years. But mostly, she says, they fought about his drinking.
>> When he was drinking, he was terrible. He was terrible. >> Virginia says there were several times
when Patrick was drinking that he was violent with her. >> Pushed me down on the bed. He shoved me
into a wall. He threw me on the floor. >> A couple of times, this was towards the
end, I would see bruises. They would be on her arms or her legs or whatever, and
I would say, "Virginia." She goes, "Oh, I'm just clumsy." >> But Virginia never reported any of these
alleged incidents to police. >> But you're convinced that he was abusive to >> Oh, I am absolutely convinced that he
was abusive to her. >> Why do you think then she stayed with him? >> Every time I ask her those same
questions, "I love him." But I would say, "There's no but, Mom. I love him." >> Why did she remain silent? She had
various medical issues. >> Virginia struggled with an autoimmune disease. 3 months before the shooting,
she went on disability from her teaching job. >> She was weak, vulnerable. Ghoulie took
advantage of that. >> And the defense says there's a bigger reason Virginia didn't report anything.
>> Throughout the entire relationship, Patrick Ghoulie had thrown up in her face when he abused her, "I'm a cop.
They're never going to believe you." >> And that is the reason, says the defense, [music] that Virginia panicked
the night she shot Patrick and then [clears throat] lied about it. >> The cops come running in, "Get down! Get
down!" At that point in time, while she's on 911, she's thinking to herself, "After all of the beatings,
over the years that he beat her and what he said to her, they're never going to believe you."
>> [laughter] >> She makes up a story. She lies. >> On the stand, fighting through the haze
of medications, Virginia tries to convince the jury she is now telling the truth.
The couple argued that night as they had many times, she said, but this time was
different. >> I never saw his eyes look like that before. He said, "I'm going to [ __ ] kill you,
you I was scared to death. I ran up the stairs and ran into the master bedroom. I went over to the bed and I reached
under the mattress and I grabbed the gun. I just kept shooting. I quickly looked
and he was still on the stairs, so I just kept shooting down the stairwell. >> So, what led up to [music] that horrible
fight? >> She's the ex and I'm the new, so probably there's going to be a disgruntle [music] there.
>> A few weeks before Virginia Vertita shot and killed Patrick O'Hooley, trouble was brewing in their rocky
relationship once again. This time, over [music] this woman. Colleen Roper had been seeing Patrick
and when Virginia discovered it, she wasted little time contacting her. >> I was getting prank hang-ups on my
phone. >> Can you approximate how many prank calls you received? >> Three or four.
>> I'd like to direct your attention to February 4th, 2014. Do you recall whether or not you had received some
communication on Facebook? >> I was getting friend requests. I didn't know who this person was cuz I'm very
selective about who I'm friends with on Facebook. So, I said, "Who Who are you?"
>> Colleen says Patrick had told her about Virginia, but had been less than truthful and said she was an
ex-girlfriend. Believing him, Colleen sent Virginia this message back. >> I'm under the impression that two of you
broke up. Please don't friend me again. I didn't do anything to you. >> Sorry. >> Take your time.
>> And she text me back something like, "Do you think sleeping with my boyfriend of
6 years isn't doing anything to me?" And I said, "No, not if it's over." >> Virginia's response? She told Colleen
she had slept with Patrick that very morning. Patrick was so angry, he broke up with Virginia via text. "We are done.
So done. Wish you luck. Find someone else. You can do it. Good luck." A week later, they had another heated
text exchange after Patrick accused Virginia of contacting Colleen again. Patrick left Virginia this angry
voicemail. >> Hey, psycho psycho woman. I'll call your mother up. >> Yet fighting was part of their
relationship, and Virginia and Patrick kept communicating. But [music] the defense says in the weeks before the
shooting, Virginia had bigger problems on her mind than Patrick O'Houli. She had petitioned the school board to
return to work, and they had voted against her. >> I was very upset. I was ready to go back
to school, and I missed the kids. >> Virginia also missed her own children. Kelly was away at college, and Billy,
then 16, had recently decided to move in with his father. Virginia had shared her distress of her
son with her therapist on March 3rd, the morning of the shooting. >> [snorts] >> It was just really tough to talk about
Billy. I was heartbroken. >> Later that day, around 6:00 p.m., Virginia texted Patrick asking if he was
coming over, and he showed up a half hour later. Ed Bilinkas says Patrick had sex on his mind when And went over
there. >> He had taken Viagra. Which not based on personal experience, you're going to find out takes a while
to kick in. So, it had to have been planned. >> And the evidence shows that Patrick
mixed it with something else that night. >> How drunk was Patrick O'Folly on March
3rd, 2014? >> Crazy drunk. >> What, almost three times the legal limit? >> limit, absolutely.
>> I unzippered his pants. Yeah. >> According to Virginia, after a failed attempt at sexual intimacy that evening,
Patrick grew frustrated. >> And he kind of pushed me away and unzippered up his pants and put his belt
back on. >> Virginia says she left Patrick sort of dozing off on the floor and went to get
firewood at the 7-Eleven. But when she returned, he was gone. >> They finally connected on a telephone
call and he was screaming at her and ranting and raving about you why did you leave me? You didn't tell me and she's
trying to calm him down and she finally convinces him to come back. >> Virginia left open the front door and
while she was in another room, she heard him slam and shatter the storm door. Dropping glass on the mat inside.
>> When he came back to the house, he was a raving lunatic. >> So, this is Virginia's home.
>> We asked Belinkas [music] to take us through what he says happened in the house next.
Patrick eventually calmed down, Belinkas says. But they soon started arguing again.
>> And that started the rage that to me was building up inside of him. She sees that, she gets up and she starts to walk
away from him. >> But then Virginia, says Belinkas, made a fatal mistake and said to Patrick,
>> [music] >> "At least I pay my taxes." >> Do you think that line is what set everything off? At least I pay my taxes.
>> You know, that's when he comes after her. >> The defense believes that earlier that
evening, Patrick had discovered an IRS form that Virginia had filled out to turn him in for unpaid taxes.
>> And where did the physical altercation actually take place? >> here as she was entering the foyer. He
grabs her from behind. She's trying to get away and he pushes her up against the front door.
He grabs her by the throat and starts choking her. He looks her dead in the eye and says, "I'm going to
kill you, you >> After fighting on top of the broken glass in the foyer, Balinkas says
Virginia managed to escape and ran upstairs to her bedroom, where she grabbed the gun she says Patrick had
left under the mattress. >> She reaches under. She grabs the gun. She runs out here. She sticks the gun
around the corner and starts firing. >> The defense says Virginia, fearing for her life, shot at Patrick. The first
shot missed. >> The second shot is to the hand as he's reaching up maybe to try to stop or grab
the gun. The next shot goes to the neck. And the third shot is the one that hit his arm.
He's starting to come down. He gets a shot in the back. It goes through out and out his chest. He's starting to
collapse and his body lurches forward and that's when he gets the last shot. He's fatally wounded and he collapses.
And that's where he died, right here. >> Virginia told the jury she sat frozen in
fear before walking over to him prone on the floor. >> I am. I sat down next to him.
And I kept shaking him. Patrick, please wake up. Please wake up. >> [snorts] >> And he wasn't waking up.
>> She was lying to the jury under oath. >> The state contends that Virginia's story
about what happened in the house that night is full of holes. >> Oh my gosh. >> In my office, I keep a wall of people
that have been killed [music] or the victims of some crime, and it does become personal. I think it should.
>> Prosecutor Marc Traiano can't help becoming invested in murder cases, especially when he believes the victim
has been [music] dragged through the mud. >> Basically, her defense is blame the
victim. >> Oh, yeah. And it's hard. It's a very one-sided argument because, you know,
Patrick's not there to defend himself. >> You were angry. >> No, not angry. >> That's why Traiano felt pressure to
prove to the jury that Virginia was a real aggressor that night. It sounds like what you're saying is
Virginia Vertetis is a liar. >> It's a good way to say it. >> The truth, Traiano says, is that
Virginia was obsessed with Patrick. She simply couldn't accept that the relationship was over. Why do you
believe that Virginia Vertetis shot and killed Patrick Kaholek? >> Because she was having problems, you
know, with her son. She was having issues with work, and Patrick, the person that really she felt closest to,
was just up and leaving her. >> And the proof, he says, is in the texts sent after that February 4th breakup
over Colleen. >> Do you recall saying to him things like, "There won't be another relationship.
I'll be dead first." >> Yes. >> Troiano says Virginia tried to get Patrick back by playing on his sympathy.
She claimed she had multiple sclerosis. >> At that time, did you specifically know
that you had MS? >> I specifically believed I had MS. >> I understand that. But you didn't tell
him that you believe you had it. You told him, in fact, that I do have it. >> Yes.
>> But when that tactic didn't work, Troiano says Virginia tried to lure him with sex.
>> Did you ever ask him to come and say that it was just friends with benefits? >> Yes.
>> By March 3rd, Patrick may finally have had enough. His friends and family say
he went to Virginia's that evening to end things with her once and for all. >> May have a seat, sir?
>> Patrick's brother, Paul Gahooly. >> And he said to me that, "This is it. I can't do this anymore." And he also said
to me that he wanted to discuss with her some tax situation. >> But that testimony seems to support the
defense theory. And attorney Abel Lankas seizes on this. >> And why would he talk about that tax
situation with my client if you know, based on your conversation? >> On prior conversations, he had told me
that he was worried about Virginia talking to the IRS about a tax situation. >> Belinkas says it's more proof [music]
that it was Patrick's unpaid taxes that sparked the fatal fight. >> He'd beaten her that night. He had
threatened to kill her that night. >> But was there a physical fight that night at all? Matt Troiano doesn't buy
it. He charges that Virginia's injuries are self-inflicted. And shows the jury what he says appears
to be Virginia scratching herself in the interrogation room video. >> So, when the state says that she created
those injuries, what do you say? >> Bull crap. You know, how about the injury to the throat? When did she
create that? >> If she did one, she did all. >> You believe that? >> Patrick O'Houlihan was a big guy. If
what she says is true, she would have looked beat up really, really bad. >> And if Patrick had broken the glass
storm door in anger and struggled with Virginia on [music] top of the shards of glass, why doesn't Virginia have cuts
and slashes? >> You know, you hear about essentially this death struggle that happens in the
middle of this foyer, but there's no cuts from glass. There's none of that. >> And Triano says he knows why.
>> Patrick didn't break that glass. I don't think that the evidence supports that at
all. >> This is the glass from the exterior storm door? >> Triano called forensic expert Howard
Ryan to the stand to explain to the jury why Virginia's story about Patrick breaking the glass storm door couldn't
be true. >> There's generally three types of glass we deal with. They're all going to do
certain things. >> For starters, Ryan says storm doors are not that easy to break.
To test the state's position, we hired Jim Molinaro who works with Howard Ryan at Forensic Training Source.
>> So, are almost all storm doors now that are used made of tempered glass? >> Yes.
>> What makes tempered glass different? >> Tempered glass is stronger than regular
glass. Generally speaking, it's about four times stronger. >> When the defendant says that she heard
the door break after Patrick O'Houlihan slammed it, what's your first reaction to that?
>> The likelihood of that happening, I wouldn't expect that to happen. >> Okay, do you want to try?
>> We can give it a try, yes. >> Okay. We tried slamming it over and over again.
And when that didn't work, we tried kicking it. Do you believe that if and when she says
that door, she heard the door break before the shooting? >> No. And you see them right here.
>> Even giving Virginia the benefit of the doubt that Patrick somehow managed to
break the storm door, forensics appeared to disprove that, too. Howard Ryan explained that during the shooting, one
of the bullets went through both the front door and the glass storm door. Emanating from the bullet hole were
something called radio lines, and these are telltale clues. >> Radial fracture lines will only occur on
the first break of the window. >> Using a set of doors similar to the crime scene, we asked Jim Molinaro to
show us what happens to an unbroken storm door when it's hit by a bullet. Now, you're not going to be actually
firing the gun. >> No, I'm going to turn this over to Jeff Brannon from the Gwinnett County Police
Department. Eyes and ears in place, everybody behind the 15-yd line. >> You ready to go look?
>> Let's go take a look. >> Oh my gosh. >> You can see they point directly to where
the bullet perforated the glass. >> I mean, this looks almost identical to the photos in evidence.
>> Yes, exactly. We couldn't have asked for better results. >> Just to see what the bullet hole would
look like if the glass was already broken, like Virginia said it was. >> All right, range is hot.
>> We had Officer Brannon shoot the door again. But what is not here that we saw with
the very first shot? >> You don't have the production of any radio fracture lines emanating out from
where the bullet went through the glass. >> All this is proof, the state says, that
the bullet was the only thing that broke the glass that night, that Patrick never
shattered it in a rage. But what are they believe happened right before the shooting?
>> Jury entering? >> Patrick's own daughter, Jennifer Gaholly, says she heard everything.
>> I heard my dad screaming, "She's hitting me. She's hitting me. Stop. Stop." >> Mr. Troiano, call your next witness.
>> Yes. At this time, the state will call Jennifer Gaholly. >> Jennifer was going to be the star
witness in the case. >> Do you know an individual by the name of Virginia Vertetis?
>> I do. >> And do you see Ms. Vertetis in court here today? >> I do. >> Could you identify her, please?
>> She's sitting at the table right over there. >> Stipulation, she's identified my client.
>> Jennifer Gaholly, Patrick's older daughter, was as close to an eyewitness as the prosecution had.
>> Jennifer, I'd like to direct your attention to March 3rd, 2014. Do you recall that day?
>> I do. >> Do you recall where you were that >> That night, Jennifer got three calls
from her father in just 4 minutes, right before he was shot. >> The first phone call, when I picked up,
he was screaming, "She's hitting me. She's hitting me." And I kept hearing him screaming, "Stop.
Stop." He called me again. I just heard yelling. I didn't really hear words. >> The phone calls prove, Troiano says,
that Patrick was not attacking Virginia. It was the other way around. >> Did you communicate with your father
again? >> I said, "Dad, I'm coming." He's like, "It's too far. You won't get here in
time." And the next thing I know is I heard three loud shots. I heard him say, "Holy Who is shooting?"
>> [snorts] >> And the phone call went dead. I'm just sorry. He was sorry. >> That was the last [music] phone call
Patrick O'Houlihan ever made. But he didn't just call Jennifer those three times. He also made three other
phone calls to friends in those same 4 minutes before he was shot. Patrick's phone was later found in his
pocket, which is why defense attorney Ed Belinko says most of those calls were actually pocket dials. But they go to a
number of different people. >> Okay, they go to a number of different people, but there's no real
communication between any of those calls. You know, I made three pocket dials yesterday.
>> Pocket dials would suggest that Patrick's hands were free to attack Virginia.
The defense calls legendary pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht to buttress their case. >> He's been involved in cases like
John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Elvis Presley. >> In this case, Dr. Wecht draws a jury's
attention to the wound on Patrick's right hand, which Wecht says was caused by the first bullet to hit him.
>> shot that was fired as Mr. O'Houlihan was reaching up with his right hand would fit in with that grazing gunshot
wound of >> And that, says the defense, suggests Patrick was coming up the stairs towards
Virginia just as she described. >> My opinion is that Mr. Houli's uh right hand was reaching up toward Ms. Vertis.
>> It is almost physically impossible for that to have happened that way. >> So, how do you believe that Patrick
sustained that bullet graze wound on his hand? >> that he was on the phone with his
daughter, he was going down the steps, and he had a phone up to his ear, and the bullet came right past.
>> But if the prosecution is right, how did Patrick's phone get back into his pocket?
>> I think she put it there. >> Virginia did have plenty of time, [music] he points out, because she
didn't call 911 for 25 minutes. >> Not 25 seconds, not 2 and 1/2 minutes, 25 minutes. [snorts]
>> Virginia's explanation, she says she couldn't find her cell phone, and the battery on her landline was dying.
But the state believes she was really using that time to clean up and place Patrick's phone in his pocket,
staging a scene that would match the lie she told police. >> Somebody was breaking into my house.
>> Police say they found her bedroom shower wet and a single pair of pink pajama
pants in the washer, which was running. >> Patrick Houli left a .38 caliber loaded
revolver underneath your mattress. >> Yes, he always had it under the mattress. >> Most important, Triano is determined to
pin Virginia down on where she got the gun. She claims Patrick left it there in the
spring of 2012, 2 years before the shooting, and it had been under her mattress ever since.
>> Did he leave it there because he forgot it or did he leave it there because you
wanted it? >> He left it there. He knew I was worried. He knew I didn't like being alone.
When he when um Oh god, I just lost my train of thought. >> Sitting in the courtroom, Patrick's
younger daughter, Heather, hears this and then realizes she has proof that Virginia's story can't be true. She
calls the prosecutor that night after court. >> And I told her that well, you can't just
tell me this. I can't testify about it. >> Heather, do you recognize this photo?
>> Yes, I do. >> You have to testify. >> She brings in a picture taken when her father was still alive.
>> What is that photo of? >> Uh that's a photo of my father's first gun that he had when he was a cop.
>> And when did you take that photo? >> August of 2012. >> All right. And do you recall where you
took that photo? >> In Staten Island at my mother's house where I was living at the time.
>> That puts the gun 50 miles from Virginia's house months after Virginia said she had the gun hidden under her
mattress. >> Maybe took the gun, maybe cleaned it, maybe brought it back. >> But Troiano thinks she stole it.
Two weeks before the shooting, cell tower data traced Virginia driving from New Jersey to Patrick's home in Staten
Island when he wasn't there. She says she never went inside. >> It's just your testimony that you didn't
have a key for that apartment. >> Yes. >> The defense is now struggling and Ed Bilinkas is frustrated because the rules
of evidence limit what he could tell the jury about an incident in Patrick's past.
>> He was suspended from the New York Police Force for beating his first wife. >> Newspaper articles from 1996 tell the
story of an alleged assault where Patrick slammed his then wife's head against the wall and the sink. But all
the jury heard was this. >> He told me that at one point he hit his wife, got in trouble with the police,
but that he really just got a slap on the wrist. >> Patrick was charged with misdemeanor
assault and suspended without pay. The charges were later dropped. >> Let me tell you something. If you put
your hands on a woman once, you can do it again. >> But what would the jury think?
>> We heard voicemails, we read text messages. He had a temper. >> It's a huge undertaking.
There's a lot of responsibility that's on you. You feel the weight of the world.
It's very nerve-racking. >> As prosecutor Matt Troyano prepared for closing arguments, he reviewed crucial
evidence in the case. The storm door, Heather Gahooley's photo of the gun, and then there was this, Patrick's car
key fob. It was found in pieces throughout the house. Troyano thinks he knows how it got that
way. >> My theory is she just takes it and she breaks it herself. The way to keep him there was to break
that key fob. >> But it was just a theory. There were no fingerprints [music] and no DNA on the fob. So Troyano didn't
know whether he'd be able to make that argument to the jury. >> All rise. We're ready for summations, Mr.
Belinkas. >> But during the defense's closing argument, Troiano saw his opportunity.
>> Who broke the key fob? >> Ed Belinkas offered the jury his theory of how the key fob may have been broken.
>> Prosecutor's position is there was no signs of a struggle, but there's a broken key fob.
>> And that gave Troiano the opening he needed. >> Do you know what you can't do after the
key fob's broken? You can't drive your car anymore. >> If Patrick couldn't use his car to leave
the house, then that would explain the six calls he made in the minutes leading up to the shooting.
>> Patrick O'Houlihan had to call somebody to pick him up. He wasn't going anywhere if this was
broken. >> The defense is hoping the jury will believe that Patrick was a violent man.
>> The evidence is clear that my client was in fear of her life. If she didn't kill
him, he would have killed her, period. >> Patrick O'Houlihan does have at least one incident in his background. Doesn't
that make you wonder if in fact there was some kind of physical altercation with Virginia?
>> No. No. I will be as emphatic as I can be. No. There was an incident with his wife
a very long time ago, and that wife, who was his ex-wife at the time of the trial, sat through that trial every
single day. >> This is not self-defense. This is a murder. >> I was in the office, and somebody said
they have a verdict. You got to let everybody know. You got to get the family. >> All rise.
>> Good morning, everyone. Please be seated. >> After almost 7 hours of deliberations,
>> the jury has reached a verdict. >> I'm getting more nervous. >> All right, let's get the jury, please.
>> I was definitely not confident at all. >> Madam forelady, with regard to count
one, what is the verdict of the jury? >> Guilty. >> Oh my gosh. >> Guilty of first-degree murder.
>> We will now take a individual polling of all the jurors. >> I prepared them for the worst. I think
that they were probably expecting the worst. So, when it turns the other way, it felt good. It was emotional.
>> All right, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, your service in this case is complete. I
hope you found it to be a rewarding experience for you. Perhaps you >> I felt really comfortable with, you
know, our decision. >> We spoke to three of the jurors after the verdict. John Hoover, Gina Samara, and Patty Mew.
>> Did any one of the jurors believe that it was self-defense? >> No. >> No. >> Not one.
>> No. >> No. >> And they say the key fob was critical. >> Do you believe that she broke it so
[snorts] he couldn't leave? >> I really do. I really do. Cuz we actually took all the pieces in the jury
room. >> And put it back together. >> all back [clears throat] together. >> It wasn't broken. It was
>> not one broken piece. Down to the battery. Put the whole thing back together.
>> And what did that say to you, Patty? >> It looked like it was intentionally taken apart.
>> Not letting him get away. Not letting him start the car and get away. >> This is State of New Jersey versus
Virginia Vertetis. Matter is on for sentencing before the court. May I have >> Two months after the verdict,
>> My name is Paul Dehouli, Patrick's brother. >> Patrick's family addresses the judge at
Virginia's sentencing. >> Patrick will not be there to walk his daughters, Jennifer
and Heather, down the aisle when they marry. >> One of the statements comes from the
woman he allegedly attacked all those years ago. >> [music] >> Can I get your name for the record,
please? >> It's Teresa Higgins, and I'm going to be reading on behalf of my daughters,
Jennifer and Heather Gillooly. >> Patrick's ex-wife, the mother of their children.
>> Our father will never be able to hear us wish him another happy birthday or another happy
Father's Day. Our father will never again get to hear "I love you, Daddy." >> [snorts]
>> Miss Rothe does please stand for a moment. On the charge of first-degree murder in
the >> Virginia was sentenced to 30 years in prison. >> You must serve the full 30 years in
prison without the possibility of parole. >> Do you [music] think you will at some
point see Virginia walk out of prison? >> Before I die, I hope so. >> Her mother, Cranny, is helping with her
appeals. >> One of the things she keeps telling me is, "Mom, don't leave me." >> [snorts]
>> And I hope I don't have to before she gets out. >> And now Virginia, who feared
abandonment, could spend the [music] rest of her life alone. >> [music] [music] [music]
>> Coles and my husband have an emergency. >> I'm in the PARKING LOT OF PLANET FITNESS
IN KINGSTON. I was looking for my husband and I found HIM IN HIS CAR. AND I DON'T KNOW IF HE'S BREATHING.
>> OKAY, MA'AM, I need your address, please. >> Thomas Coleman was dead in a vehicle in
a parking lot of a fitness plaza. >> The car was sitting here? >> Yes, [snorts] actually this particular
spot right in front of us. There was nothing in the car that would suggest anything of him being attacked
or anything obvious of physical trauma. >> When I was told that my father died, everything I had ever known changed in a
second. My dad was an amazing father to four kids and a great man. At first, we thought it was a heart
attack, something natural but sudden. >> After the autopsy, we knew something was
wrong. >> Something happened to him. >> The doctor labeled it as acute midazolam poisoning.
>> Poisoning? >> Yes. >> Midazolam? What is midazolam? >> It's a conscious sedative.
>> It's used in hospital settings, also in dentist office who do oral surgery. There was no reason for it to be in his
system. >> Is it like that that you change your mind and go this is homicide? >> Basically, yeah.
We knew Coles had video on the corner of their building. Told him I need this video. Once you pull it up real quick,
we'll take a look at it and see if there's any cars that meet him there. And uh sure enough, there's a car that
pulls in, parks first. >> So, he shuts the car down. >> This is uh Tom Coleman's car pulling in
right there. It's 4:54 a.m. >> Our victim, Tom Coleman, pulls up side by side. >> That was basically holy [ __ ]
>> Somebody had knowledge of literally speaking with our victim that morning. >> See the white SUV here leaving.
>> We started thinking with the circle of people close to Tom Coleman, and the only person with the white SUV was uh
Gilberto Nunez. >> They suspected Gil Nunez, who was my dad's best friend, who we had met,
who we knew. It was shocking. >> It's emotional for you. >> Of course, very emotional.
Because Tom was my best friend, truly. >> We had Nunez come meet us for an interview.
>> I know you had met with Tom at Planet Fitness earlier this morning. >> No. >> I know you were there. I'm pretty sure
>> you know, I wasn't there. But like I said it over a hundred times, well, I wasn't there.
>> You gave him a drug that you had access to. >> Mr. Nunez, his profession was a a
dentist. >> Hello. I'm >> [music] >> Dr. Gilberto Nunez. Besides treating my patients with
dignity and and doing everything [music] I do for them, I just like to serve people, but not to hurt anybody.
>> You fed him something that killed him. Yes, you did. >> I'm innocent. I haven't done anything
wrong. This is a murder case. >> It's not murder. >> [music] >> It was unusual. This individual, the way
he was positioned in the car and where he was parked, it was unusual. >> On November 29th, 2011, Detective
Michael Thomas answered the call when 44-year-old Tom Coleman was found dead in his car.
>> He was actually in the driver's seat, but yet he was laying almost flat as you
would as if uh you were sleeping. >> It was in the Kingston Planet Fitness parking lot in Ulster County, New York.
>> Wasn't parked near building. That's the strange thing. If you're going to go work out in the morning, you're going to
park close to the building. >> The car's location caught the attention of fellow Detective Brian Reedy
and Lieutenant Kyle Berardi. >> I think we were intrigued, interested. This whole case was odd.
>> 1,800 miles away in Colorado, >> Tom is dead. And I couldn't process it. >> Tom's ex-wife Michelle could not believe
that Tom, who seemed healthy, had died. >> Never crossed my mind that it could be
anything other than something tragic health-related. >> Michelle and Tom had been divorced for
12 years, but they remained close. They had two children, Jillian, who was then 15, and Bradley, who was 17.
Michelle had to tell the kids their father was dead. >> I didn't know how I was going to say it.
So, I just figured just get it over with. >> You heard the words, >> Your dad is dead.
My immediate instinct was, "No. I'm going to call him and he will answer because he always has. He has to be
fine. [music] That's just he has to be. He just had a kindness about him. He was just always there for everybody.
>> Tom's mother Marie and his father Tom Sr. were proud of their son who had a doctorate in physical therapy.
>> You're raising somebody you have hopes and they fulfill those hopes and they become successful.
It's great. >> Tom was more focused on spending time with his family than with friends, but
he did have one very close friend, Gilberto Nunez. Nunez was going through a divorce, but
was still a devoted father. He met the Colemans at their kids school and soon Tom, Gil, and Tom's wife Linda all grew
close. >> I was looking for my HUSBAND AND I FOUND HIM IN HIS CAR and I don't know if he's
breathing. >> It was Linda who found Tom. After she learned he didn't show up for work, she
went out searching. Linda knew that Tom went to Planet Fitness most mornings, so
that's where she went. And it's where Gil went when he said he heard something bad had happened.
>> When he initially got there, he ran towards Thomas Coleman's vehicle. What happened? What happened? He's my best
friend. >> I didn't see anybody trying to do CPR. I didn't see anybody doing anything. So,
I'm like, "What What What's going on?" >> This is Nunez's only television interview.
>> And that's when I found out that Tom is dead. You know, there's nothing you can
do for him. >> He dropped to his knees. >> I was just really upset that, you know,
my best friend was was dead. >> Did it seem overdramatic to you? >> Overdramatic? Absolutely. 110%.
>> Gilberto Nunez is originally from the Dominican Republic. He is well-known in
Kingston. He's a volunteer firefighter with a thriving dental practice. >> Dr. Nunez is one of the best dentists
that I've ever worked for. >> Mary Ellen McManus spent 13 years as Dr. Nunez's dental hygienist.
>> I have never heard him raise his voice, be angry, or fly off the handle. >> But detectives had questions about
Nunez. They were still waiting for the final autopsy results, but they remembered something from the day they
met him. He arrived at the scene in a white SUV, and they believed that surveillance footage, though very
blurry, also showed a white SUV. >> Bells and whistles went off. >> It's very hard to see, but that's Tom's
car next to it in the nearly empty parking lot. So police called Nunez in for an
interview 3 days after Tom's death. >> We were just trying to figure out what happened.
>> At that point, it was an informational meeting, kind of seeing >> What can you tell us about Tom?
>> what he wanted us to know. >> And he wanted them to know a lot, especially about his love life and Tom's
wife. >> I don't know if you guys know, but anyway, um me and Linda we we have we have a
relationship. >> Sexual relationship, I'm assuming? >> Well, yeah. >> Police had heard rumors of an affair
between Nunez and Linda Coleman, but they hadn't confirmed anything. Turns out, they got all the help they
needed with that from, of all people, Nunez himself. >> I fell in love with his wife, and she
fell in love with me. >> He told them all about their 11-month liaison. >> And when was the last time you were with
Linda? >> Um Like you mean like intimately or or just >> Yes, both of you. >> No, intimately.
>> Intimately. >> Um well, like I don't know. 2 and 1/2, 3 weeks. >> 2 30 weeks.
>> This was a guy who was sitting with detectives saying, "Oh, by the way, I had an affair with the wife of the dead
guy." >> Oh, he's still in love with her, too. He >> Right. >> He wanted to make that clear.
>> So, that seems to me, anyway, to be to be unusual. Am I wrong here? >> Yeah, it is very unusual.
>> I didn't want to like keep something that I knew they were going to find out anyway, first to begin with, and second
will make me look like, you know, I'm not being honest with them about anything [music] I'm I'm saying to them.
>> Did it bother you that she was married? >> I guess at the time, no. >> This guy was your friend.
>> Yes, he was my friend. >> That's awkward. >> That is that is really awkward. >> It might have been awkward, but it
didn't stop Gil or Linda. [music] When they weren't together, they texted constantly, more like teenagers than
middle-aged lovers. >> Love you, I miss you, [music] I wish you were here. >> They celebrated anniversaries monthly
with cards like this from Linda to Gil, her little devil stud muffin. Did you urge her to leave her husband?
>> No, I wasn't, you know, we're not thinking or talking about that. >> We wanted to ask Linda about her
relationship with Tom and Gil, but she declined our request to be interviewed. Gil says the affair was going well and
kept going even after Linda's husband, the man he called his best friend, learned all about it.
>> Not my definition of a best friend. >> How did he hear about it? That is one of the most peculiar parts
of this case. >> Nothing kind of surprises us anymore, but that was definitely [music] at the
top of the list. >> I wanted to talk to him so I can explain to him that this is not something that I
plan on or something. It was just something that happened. >> Chances are pretty good you've never
heard of an affair quite like the one Dr. Gilberto Nunez >> [music] >> was having with his best friend's wife,
Linda Coleman. For one thing, Nunez wanted to tell his friend Tom Coleman all about it.
How did Tom Coleman find out about the relationship? >> Through Through me, actually.
>> You told him? >> Um not directly. >> Not quite directly. In July 2011, Tom and Linda Coleman both got text messages
from a number neither of them recognized. The messages told each of them that the other was having an
affair. The one saying Tom was cheating was a lie, but of course the one saying Linda was
cheating was the truth. So they they figured out all of these messages were coming from the same
phone. >> Yeah. >> And did they figure out who had that phone? >> Yes, they did.
>> And who had that phone? >> Gilberto Nunez. >> The unknown number was a burner phone
that belonged to Gil Nunez. He admitted sending the texts. He said he was feeling guilty about the affair and
that's why he told Tom. How did he react to that? >> Well, at first he confronted her one day
and said like I know you're having an affair, you know, with Gil and so she she acknowledged that and she
said yes, you know, having an affair. So probably like three four days or something he didn't talk to me. I tried
to call him. I tried >> Not surprisingly, the friendship was damaged. >> And I felt horrible because I was like
he was he actually he was my friend, you know, and and and I don't have too many
friends. >> A few days later, Gil says he went to beg Tom for forgiveness. >> I actually got on my knees and I said,
you know, I'm really, really sorry. >> You got on your knees literally? >> Yes, I did. I
literally did. So, he said, "Get up." So, I get up and he actually gave me a hug, you know.
>> Gave you a hug? >> He gave me a hug. >> Was that the reaction you were expecting?
>> No, I thought he was going to hit me. >> What's strange is Tom and Gil's friendship continued. What's even
stranger is the affair continued, too. And perhaps strangest of all, according to Gil, both relationships grew even
stronger. >> And from that moment on every time he'll ask me, you know, "Did you see Linda today?" And I would say,
"Yes." He would know that I was being honest to him, that I wasn't like, you know. And then we started getting like
more like closer together. >> You and Tom started getting closer? >> Because Tom and I came to a point where
we used to text a lot. A lot. I mean, hundreds of texts every day. >> The love triangle was news to the rest
of the Coleman family, who did not learn about the affair until after Tom's death.
>> Do you believe that he approved of this affair? >> That's one of the hardest things for me
to believe. And um Tom's not here to tell us. >> The man that I knew probably would have done anything to
keep his family together. And I I could understand where he was thinking it would work out in the end.
>> In fact, Tom did seem okay with things. In text messages, Tom and Gil called each other bro, and sometimes signed
off, "Love you." And in a text, Tom referred to Linda, his own wife, as Gil's girlfriend,
telling Gil, "Your girlfriend is baking." To which Nuñez responded, "Great. I love her so much."
>> People can say, you know, anything they want or feel whichever way they want,
but he was truly my best friend. >> Tom was not just Gil's friend, he was also his patient. And Gil told police
about Tom's medical history in that interview, 3 days after Tom's death. >> That I know he had sleep apnea.
>> Gil told detectives Tom suffered from sleep apnea that can cause people to stop breathing in their sleep.
>> It was something I shared trying to help them to maybe help the medical examiner
or something figure out what could have happened to him, you know, if it was a heart attack, if it was whatever the
case might be. >> In fact, the autopsy did note Tom suffered from an enlarged heart and mild
obesity. But 2 weeks later, the toxicology report came back finding that midazolam in
Tom's body. >> Did you use midazolam, huh? >> No. >> Dentists do though, right? >> Uh oral surgeons that do sedation do.
And there are some some dentists that they they specialize in sedation, but uh I I
never use midazolam. >> This is a general practitioner office. We don't use any sedation at all.
We don't even have nitrous oxide. >> Mhm. >> The amount of midazolam in Tom's system
would not normally kill somebody, but because there was no explanation for why the drug would be there, his death was
classified acute midazolam poisoning. >> I'm not a chemistry guy, but in terms of
that being a lot, no. Volume-wise, no. Um however, the effects are different on people that have medical conditions.
>> I mean, I guess the real question is is that enough to kill a guy? >> I think it is, yes, cuz
especially someone with sleep apnea it could shut down his respiratory system. >> But remember, it was Nuñez himself who
first alerted police to Tom's sleep apnea. >> You know, the sleep apnea always confirmed.
>> Okay. >> The midazolam in his system did change everything. >> Murray Weiss, who was a 48 Hours
consultant, has written about murder cases for decades. >> Police believed that Dr. Nunez met Tom
Coleman outside his gym, and while sitting with him and talking to him, gave him a cup of coffee that was laced
with the midazolam. >> The detectives would routinely have to eliminate other people who might have
access to midazolam? >> There was obviously people in echoes with every investigation.
>> People of interest. >> So, detectives also looked at other people in Tom's life, including his
wife, Linda, who worked at a local hospital. >> How long was she looked at? >> Quite some time. Family is always looked
at. Freddy always start close to home. >> Police still could not prove much about
Tom Coleman's death. How did that midazolam get into his body? If it was in a cup of coffee,
where was the cup? Was that Gilberto Nunez's white car next to Coleman's in the surveillance tape?
And why was Coleman's body found this way? >> His pants were undone and his fly was,
I think, partially down or not all the way down. That looked kind of staged. >> Police were thinking Gilberto Nunez
staged the scene to make it look like Tom was having a sexual encounter when he died.
By now, Nuñez was their only suspect. >> We looked at both equally, Linda and Gil.
>> Linda had passed a polygraph test. >> Eventually ruled out Linda. >> Linda and Tom's house was never
searched. A search of the hospital where Linda worked as an administrative assistant
found no missing midazolam. So, in February of 2012, 2 months after Tom's death, police
called Nuñez in again. >> We were just trying to to get the background and and had from somebody that was close with
him and >> But soon, the tone of the interview turned. >> I know you met with Tom at Planet
Fitness this early that morning. >> Like I've said, I wasn't there. >> No, I wasn't there. If I would have been
there, I would have said so. >> This was the first time you'd heard that you were a suspect?
>> Yes. >> If I look you dead in the eye, I tell you I know you were there. >> Then I'm telling you that you don't
know, because it's not true. >> I have you and your vehicle parked in the Planet Fitness parking lot with Tom
that night. >> They also had this surveillance video from local businesses showing what they
say is his car [music] driving on the way to the parking lot. >> You parked next to him, okay? You fed
him something that killed him to take him out of the picture hoping you would have Linda for the rest of your life.
>> No, I did not. Yes, you did. >> No, I did not. >> You're a liar. >> Nuñez never wavered
>> I didn't meet Tom that day. >> through nearly 7 hours of questioning willingly without a lawyer.
>> I was not there. I didn't think that I needed an attorney to just to speak, you
know, the truth. >> He quickly changed his mind when he found out that while he was being
questioned, police were searching his office and home. >> When I left and I went home, I found my
place destroyed. That's when really kind of like came into me that oh my god, these people
really believe that I did something to Tom. And the next morning I decided to get an attorney.
>> Investigators seized the office computer and files, but what really caught their
attention were two emergency medical kits. And when you open it up, what did you
see? >> Two two vials of midazolam. >> Midazolam, the drug found in Tom's body. The vials
in Nunez's office were full and unopened, and they did not have Nunez's fingerprints on them.
Neither did Tom's car. In fact, when police examined it, there was no trace of Nunez whatsoever.
>> No outside DNA, nothing absolutely out of the ordinary. >> Still, the police thought evidence
against Nunez was piling up. They believed he wanted Linda all to himself. And Linda gave them a strange email she
received months earlier from Nunez's mother. Supposedly, >> that was him claiming to be
>> His mother? >> His mother. >> His mother? >> Yeah. >> He was pretending to be his mother?
>> Yes. >> Sending his girlfriend messages? >> Yes. >> The email, which Nunez later admitted to
writing, pleaded with Linda to leave Tom saying Linda and Gil would only be happy
if they spend the rest of your lives loving each other. >> Any idea why he would have sent a
message pretending to be his mother? >> To break up the Colmans. >> Why would you oppose this your mother? I
>> Just the stupid things that that we do in life, you know. >> Can I tell you, doctor? I've done a lot
of stupid things in my life. >> Yeah. >> I've never sent a text saying I was my mother trying to get a woman to fall in
love with me. >> I understand that. >> So, was that manipulative? Was that obsessive?
>> No, I think I I probably was looking into getting a closer relationship, I guess,
between my mother and her. >> Police also learned from Linda that Gil did something possibly even more
preposterous. He gave her a letter from what he described as his contacts inside
[music] the CIA. Supposedly reporting on charges that Tom was having an affair. Police also found
this fake CIA ID on Nunez's computer. >> That was just like a stupid game. That's all it was. It's just It's a
stupid game. >> But detectives say it was all part of an elaborate plan. They say Nunez hired a
friend to pose as a CIA agent to presumably intimidate Tom. >> Well, that never happened. That never
happened? No. I did a lot of stupid things in the relationship, you know. >> It made Nunez look wacky, but not
necessarily guilty. >> That that doesn't make me a murderer. >> Police needed to prove that car in the
parking lot next to Tom's was Nunez's. >> When we're looking at vehicles >> So, investigators hired Grant
Fredericks. >> We're looking at physical characteristics that we can compare. >> Fredericks has spent decades analyzing
forensic video for law enforcement. >> This is [music] the We'll call it the suspect vehicle.
>> Okay. >> Police had that surveillance footage from businesses along a road leading to
the parking lot that showed a car they believed was the same one seen next to Coleman's. They could not find any video
of a car leaving Nunez's home. Still, they believed the car on the surveillance tapes was this car, a
Nissan Pathfinder that belonged to Gil Nunez. >> And I'm looking through this to try to
determine any features that would be consistent. >> Fredericks thinks he can identify the
car caught on the tapes with this database. >> This is like facial recognition. >> Yes.
So, this is a Pathfinder, which is the same make, model, and year of the Nunez vehicle.
>> This might be a Nissan Pathfinder, but Fredericks could not say it was Nunez's.
His car had decals. It also had emergency lights inside the car because he was a volunteer fireman.
>> And you don't see any of those on the surveillance. >> There just isn't enough resolution, so
we can't say whether or not those features exist. >> But Fredericks did notice something he
thought might be unique to the car in the surveillance tape, an unusual pool of light on the road coming from one of
the headlights. >> In most cases, you'll see [music] two uniform uh headlight patterns from most
vehicles. This was different. >> Fredericks specializes in what is called headlight spread pattern analysis. He
believes cars can be identified partly by their headlight beams. >> Is this [music] what you're talking
about? This is the pool of light right here? >> Yes. >> Fredericks needed to see if Nunez's car
projected the same kind of light pool as the car in the surveillance video. So, police got Nunez's car
>> This is the car that Dr. Nunez owned. >> Yes. >> And videotaped it driving along the same
route. Fredericks compared the headlight spread pattern with the vehicle on the surveillance tape. He compared two other
Nissan Pathfinders to see if their headlights projected that same pool of light.
They did not. And Fredericks feels he has enough to make a conclusion. It is bad for Nunez.
>> The science [music] says that the vehicle is indistinguishable from Dr. Nunez's
>> For years, we only knew 5% of what they knew. They were convinced [music] that Gil was
guilty. And at this point, I wasn't. >> You were not? >> Not really, no. >> For 4 years, Jillian Coleman didn't know
exactly what had happened to her father. The police weren't sharing any details with the Coleman family.
>> I didn't want to push them because I didn't want to aggravate them. >> How hard was it to be patient?
>> It was It was very hard. >> They'd all struggled with Tom's loss, but his son, Bradley, took it the
hardest, according to his mother, Michelle. >> The 1-year [music] anniversary came up
um in late 2012, and a few weeks later, Brad attempted suicide [music] with over-the-counter medications of sleeping
pills. And he said, "I just wanted to go to sleep and wake up with Dad." >> And what happened next?
>> 3 months later, he committed suicide. >> Bradley was just 18. The Colemans were now coping with two
deaths. But life went on for Gilberto Nuñez. He continued working and dabbled in online
dating, where on match.com, he met the woman who would become his new wife, Jamil.
>> I knew he was innocent, but it was always looming over our heads, over our relationship.
>> So, yeah. >> And then, what they feared would happen >> Out of the car. >> happened.
Just a year into their marriage, in October 2015, police arrested Gilberto Nuñez
and charged him with second-degree murder. He was also charged with forgery because of the fake CIA report and ID.
>> 40673 >> They're trying [music] to make a way out of no way and a case out of no case.
>> Nunez retained top New York City criminal defense attorneys Joel Char Gel and Evan Lipton.
>> Here's the detective at the scene. >> They got Nunez out on $1 million bail. He had spent 1 month in jail.
>> We don't believe that Tom Coleman was murdered. >> This case is about obsession.
>> In May of 2016, 4 and 1/2 years after Tom Coleman's death >> Gilberto Nunez was obsessed with Linda
Coleman. >> Gilberto Nunez's trial began. >> He used deception and he used manipulation to get Linda for himself.
>> Senior Assistant District Attorney Mary Ellen Albanese told the jury the only
person who would want Tom Coleman dead is Gilberto Nunez. >> Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
good afternoon. >> Char Gel's argument, Gil had no reason to kill his best friend who accepted the
affair. >> There was no bad blood between Tom and Gil, absolutely none. >> And Tom died, Char Gel says, of natural
causes. >> It may have been a heart attack because he had an enlarged heart. >> But Tom did have midazolam in his body
and police found those two unused vials of it in [music] Dr. Nunez's office. >> Midazolam that was found was an amount
that was too small to cause anyone's death. >> Except the prosecution argues it was
enough to stop someone from breathing if, like Tom, they had sleep apnea. But the DAs had no DNA or fingerprints
tying Nunez to the car. So they had to rely on Grant Fredericks and his headlight spread pattern analysis.
>> The vehicle was consistent in shape, color, uh the same kind of vehicle. It had the
pool of light and the timing matched perfectly. >> They matched. It was I remember sitting
there thinking, "Oh my god, he he it's true. He did it." >> It was so a lot of hocus pocus and in my
view junk science. >> Nunez did not take the stand, but the woman in the middle of the love triangle
did. Linda said she planned on staying with her husband and was working on their marriage.
>> She was still in love with Tom. She was in love with the the family. She wanted to keep that.
>> But emails Linda sent to Gil seemed to tell a different story. That her marriage was crumbling.
And that Gil was still very much in the picture. >> Did you get the impression that she
might break up with you after that meeting? >> No. No, not at all. >> It's a key point for the defense that
undercuts any motive for him to want to kill Tom Coleman because he didn't know that he was going to be dumped.
>> In fact, just the day before Tom died, he and Gil texted 62 times. Gil says the
texts were about a football game. Police recovered Tom's phone the next day and curiously all the texts were missing.
>> Did you delete those texts? >> No, [music] of course not. >> How did they How did these texts end up
being deleted? >> Well, you know, you tell me. They touched the phones. >> Do you believe that the police deleted
those texts? >> I do. To be honest with you, I do. It was not convenient for them to see that all me
and Tom were talking about was football. >> Police testified they were able to recover a few texts, and they were just
about the football game. And in an unexpected move, the last person the defense calls to the stand
was the police supervisor who oversaw the case against Nuñez. >> I think they're trying to undermine
the investigation. They're trying to undermine my oversight of the investigation by things that we didn't
do. >> One thing police didn't do was look into an unopened email Tom received on the
day he died. >> BeNaughty. >> It was from an adult website called BeNaughty.com.
>> It's a spam email, basically. >> If that had been followed up, I think that the investigation would have by
necessity taken a different direction. >> So, you match BeNaughty.com with the way
in which his body was found reclined and with his pants open. >> Something wasn't kosher.
>> If their theory is going to be that he met a lady from BeNaughty.com that drove
a white SUV and had access to Midazolam at 5:30 in the morning at Planet Fitness,
>> They ought to >> start playing a lot on that one if that's the case. >> Three weeks after the trial began, it
was time for closing arguments. >> This investigation started and ended with Gilberto Nuñez, and much about
Thomas Coleman remains unknown. >> Ladies and gentlemen, this man, Gilberto Nuñez, is not Thomas Coleman's
best friend. >> Prosecutors know they have only circumstantial evidence against Nuñez,
but [music] they say it's more than enough to convict. >> The evidence of the defendant's guilt is
overwhelming. >> I'm anxious and [music] I'm scared. I'm not going to say that I'm not scared.
>> With the case in the hands of the jury, Gilberto Nuñez can do nothing but wait.
Knowing if he is convicted, it could [music] mean life in prison. This is the most important day of
Gilberto Nuñez's life. The jury in his murder trial is deliberating. >> I'm scared and I'm anxious. In a split
second, my whole life can change. >> The rest of his life could be spent in prison if he's convicted of killing his
friend, Tom Coleman. >> I get up in the morning and I said to my wife, you know, this might be the last
time I sleep in my bed. We never know. >> It's out of our hands. We hope the jury
sees what we all see. >> After a 4-year investigation, a 3-week trial, and testimony from more than 50
witnesses, the jury reached a verdict in just 6 hours. >> I was thinking in that's a guilty
verdict. >> All right, jury entering. >> It feels like your heart is coming out of your chest. [music] My whole body was
shaking. >> Mr. Foreman, how say you to count one charging the defendant, Gilberto Nuñez,
with murder in the second degree? >> Find defendant not guilty. >> Is that verdict unanimous?
>> Yes, sir. >> Not guilty of murder. Tom Coleman's wife, Linda, is livid, believing her former lover got away with
murder. >> Psychotic, sociopath. >> You are officially, legally not guilty of murder.
>> Yes, I I knew it that I was innocent. My family knew it. But everybody now knows it.
>> So, what are you going to do now? >> Work. >> Let me understand this. You've just been
acquitted of murder. >> Yes. >> And just like that, you're going back to >> Yes.
>> drilling people's cavities? >> Yes, I'm going back to what I love to do. >> Open up an office.
>> So, when you heard the verdict, what did you think? >> I couldn't believe it. They shocked I
was shocked. >> Utter disappointment. >> The Colemans say the police did their jobs, but the jurors did not.
>> I felt like the jury betrayed us. >> Justice was not done. >> The words not guilty haunt me.
>> To me, there was holes in all of it. I don't think the midazolam is what killed [music] him.
>> The jurors say there were too many questions left unanswered, too much reasonable doubt.
>> What do you think caused his death? >> A enlarged heart, which is a ticking time bomb.
>> More natural causes than murder. >> Yes. >> But the jury did find Nunez guilty of
forgery because of the fake CIA documents. >> He was guilty. >> He was guilty. >> He did it.
>> For those convictions, Nunez is facing up to 14 years in prison. >> Are you ready for that?
>> You know, we haven't finished fighting. >> That's because there were even more
charges to come and potentially more prison time. While detectives were investigating
Nunez for murder, they found what they believe to be a false insurance claim for $8,400 that Nunez filed in 2014
and they accused him of lying on an application for a pistol permit. >> Jury selection is underway in the third
trial involving Kingston dentist Gilberto Nunez. >> The new charges meant two more trials
for Nunez over the next year. >> I'm scared about our future. I'm scared that he might go to prison. I'm scared
of for my children. >> Kingston dentist Gilberto Nunez is found guilty of perjury and making
>> He was found guilty in both trials and immediately taken into custody. In February of 2017,
nearly 8 months after he was acquitted of murder, Nunez was sentenced for those forgery, [music] insurance fraud, and
perjury convictions. >> Society deserves protection from his sociopathic, narcissistic behavior.
>> Prosecutor Mary Ellen Albanese argued for the maximum sentence, 25 years, while Nunez's attorneys fought for
leniency, presenting the judge with 130 letters from Dr. Nunez's supporters, friends, and former patients. But Judge
Donald Williams was unmoved. >> Tragically, you believe that society's rules do not apply to
you. I see no chance of rehabilitation. >> Nunez's sentence, 2 and 1/3 to 7 years
in prison. >> Obviously, he's deeply disappointed. We're going to file notices of appeal.
This was a very severe sentence. >> I like this picture, too. It's cute. >> For the Coleman family, there is some
comfort in knowing that even though Gilberto Nunez was not convicted of murder, he will spend time behind bars.
>> We've disrupted his life now. Just trying to get through it. Nothing is ever going to bring Tom back
or Bradley. >> And that is what Tom's daughter Jillian can never forget. She is now a college
student facing a life that has seen tremendous pain, but still holds tremendous promise.
>> It's hard not having them here, and I don't think that any verdict I mean, he could be
imprisoned for the rest of his life. Dad's still gone. My brother's still gone. I carry Brad with me every day. I
try to make dad proud every day. And I think that I do. >> [music] [music] >> Before all of this,
my my get a beautiful girlfriend, Taylor. They had friends, Mark. And sort of in the blink of an eye,
that's completely changed, you know? We can't bring Mark back. If we could, we would.
>> This story is about a very violent, very bloody murder involving three promising young people
just outside Washington, [music] D.C. >> It starts with some friends and a birthday dinner.
>> They're going to go out and celebrate. >> Montgomery County 911, what is the address of the emergency?
What is your name? >> Taylor Gold. >> The police get this 911 call. It's a little vague.
>> There's blood everywhere. >> What do you mean there's blood everywhere? What What happened?
>> I don't know. >> The police come into this efficiency apartment that's all bloody.
They see a dead guy with a lot of blood on him. They see his friend who's covered with
blood. And then they see the friend's girlfriend. She's got blood on her. >> Mark Waugh, the victim, was stabbed in
the neck, was stabbed in the chest, twice in his left shoulder, his jugular vein was cut.
Just brutal. >> I got a call that two subjects were coming. They were definitely not the usual cast
of characters at all. >> Mark Waugh, he's a first-year law student at Georgetown.
Rahul Gupta is Mark's friend from high school. He's got an engineering degree. And then there's Taylor Gold,
Rahul Gupta's girlfriend. She's got a biomedical engineering degree as well. >> Mark is dead.
>> What? >> Yeah. >> Taylor Gold. >> My god. >> You know, clearly she had been drinking.
Mr. Gupta had also been drinking. >> I don't know how Mark got stabbed. >> They can both remember up until a
certain point, but the crucial 45 minutes, nobody seems to remember anything. >> I remember what happened. I told you
everything I did remember. >> You're talking about a really small apartment. To say that you don't know
what happened when somebody gets killed violently is unbelievable. >> Somebody was murdered
in your joint. >> I know. >> Some people are going to do whatever they have to do in order to try to save
themselves. >> One of them had to do it. >> I really don't remember. >> I didn't believe her then, and I still
don't believe her now. And I don't know that we believed either one of them. >> I know my brother.
He didn't do this. >> [music] >> One of them did it. >> Oh my god. >> I'm Richard Schlesinger. Tonight on 48
Hours, what happened in apartment 1601? >> [music] >> When you came in the door,
how did you approach this place? >> Well, we're stacked up kind of like how we are now. One guy behind me.
>> Officer Dean Skiba was working the night shift in Montgomery County, Maryland
when he got the kind of call young police officers sometimes dream about and sometimes lose sleep over.
>> How bloody was this apartment that day? >> It's like a horror movie. You could see
it is up all over the wall, all over the ground. >> It was about 2:00 a.m. October 13th,
2013. Three successful 20-somethings arrived at this tiny studio apartment near Washington, D.C. Two of them lived here,
a grad student named Rahul Gupta and his girlfriend, Taylor Gold. They'd been bar
hopping for Rahul's 24th birthday and came home with a friend, Mark Waugh, who was a promising young law student.
But within about an hour, Mark Waugh would be dead, stabbed to death here on the floor.
>> He's He's here and I I need emergency right now. >> When Taylor Gold called the police,
she was drunk, at times incoherent. >> What is happening? >> know. >> When Officer Skiba and the other first
responders got to the scene, Taylor Gold met them at the door and stayed in the hall with police. He says
the first responders had no idea what they were walking into. [music] >> It was just a mess. Mark was laying
right here. >> Mark Waugh was dead. >> Gupta was laying right here. >> Gupta was covered in blood and drunk.
>> He kept rambling and talking in circles. >> But Skiba says he was startled by what
Gupta said next. >> I do remember him distinctly saying to me, "I caught my buddy and my girl cheating.
I killed my buddy." >> As drunk as he was, it was hard to know if Gupta's confession was believable.
He was handcuffed on the spot. >> What did you think about the woman? Was she a suspect?
>> Uh yeah, definitely. >> Because they also suspected Taylor, police handcuffed her as well.
Taylor and Gupta arrived at police headquarters at about 5:00 a.m. where veteran interrogator Detective
Paula Hammel met them. >> I'm Paula Hammel, detective with the police department.
>> They were both brought to headquarters as suspects. >> You can close your eyes.
>> As a mother of six, >> Hey Taylor. >> Detective Hammel had questioned her share of young people.
>> Taylor, can you help up for a minute? >> And she says it was clear in Gupta's and
Taylor's answers >> first name? R R >> that the haze of alcohol was obscuring the details.
>> They were the only people who were still alive and they were of no help. >> No help?
>> No help. >> I'm really not sure what happened between when we got there and when police got there.
>> They told strikingly similar stories about what they remembered, which was >> I don't know.
>> not much. >> It's kind of that I don't remember what happened. >> Hammel suspected they both knew more
than they were letting on. >> That apartment, there's not even like a separate bedroom or anything.
>> Somebody was murdered. >> I know. >> I mean, you have to have some explanation.
>> That certainly is something that you would remember for your life. >> Because he confessed, Rahul was still
the prime suspect. But Detective Hamill couldn't possibly have expected what happened when she turned up the heat on
Taylor. Listen to how Taylor answers when she's asked if she did it. >> Did you kill Mark?
>> I don't think so. >> She doesn't say no. She told police she didn't remember.
In his drunken confession at the scene, Gupta said he did it because he caught Taylor cheating on him with
Mark. But Taylor says she and Mark did nothing untoward. >> You did not have any kind of sexual
relationship with Mark? >> No. I can't imagine doing that. But if you find evidence otherwise, I'm not going
to deny it. >> Detective Hamill spent hours going back and forth between Taylor and Rahul and
getting very little. As the hours passed, Gupta was sobering up >> I found him like that.
>> and starting to back away from his confession. >> So if you don't remember, then then
there's the possibility that you did it. >> There is that possibility, but I I know
for a fact that I didn't do it. >> Was he frustrating you? >> Yes. >> I can't say what happened.
>> tough for me to wrap my head around that? >> Sure. After several hours of interrogation,
Gupta was charged with murder and his parents hired defense attorneys Phil Armstrong and Jennifer Page.
>> The first statement your client makes to the police was a confession. How do you
get around that? >> People who are under stress do crazy stupid things. >> He says in this case, Gupta tried to
cover for Taylor. >> The bottom line is this, he's innocent. >> They agree his drunken confession is not
as revealing as his character. >> Rahul Gupta is a kind, mild-mannered man whose life's intent was to marry Taylor
Gold, have a family, and help society. >> The Guptas arrived in the Washington area from India in 1986
and built a successful printing business. They moved to the affluent suburb of McLean, Virginia.
Rahul met Mark Waugh in high school. Waugh was known as a quirky kid who loved to smile and loved to challenge in
school and in the great outdoors. >> Huge personality, always smiling, always joking, huge heart.
>> Before Mark Waugh started Georgetown Law School, he'd been a star debater in high
school and college. But Jason Peters met him years before that, in Cub Scouts. [music]
>> I remember sort of a funny, goofy character. >> A decade of campouts, cookouts, and
community service eventually made them both Eagle Scouts. >> He was a strong leader and someone that
you could really look up to. He prided himself on his leadership ability. >> Mark was just a really nice kid. He was
a really good friend for Rahul. >> [music] >> Gupta's older sister, Shireen, says
her brother was a loyal friend, too, because they'd been raised [music] to believe anything worth having was worth
working hard to keep. In fact, the Gupta family worked hard for everything, especially education.
Rahul was going for his second master's degree. >> Rahul is a really smart guy. >> Reporter Dan Morse, covering the murder
for the Washington Post, said everything about this crime was interesting. Especially the three people who were
there that night. >> There's Mark Waugh. No one can say a bad thing about the guy. You know, why would
anyone want to hurt him? And then there's Taylor Gold. >> He says Taylor showed immense promise,
too. She and Gupta had started dating as seniors at George Washington University
and moved in together after graduation. >> Did he ever talk to you about her? >> I asked him one time like
"Are you serious? You know, is do you think this is going somewhere?" And his reply was yes.
>> And you approved? >> Yeah, I mean I support him. >> Taylor helped out with some of Gupta's
bills while he paid for his studies. >> She works at the FDA. >> Nice government job. The three of them
all had these very bright futures ahead of them. >> And one of them still could have a
bright future. But not before police find out what happened in apartment 1601 and who did it.
>> I clearly I, you know, interacted with the body cuz I had blood on me. I just don't know when it happened.
>> We started figuring out that something was wrong when Rahul didn't respond to
any of our birthday wishes. >> It was the evening after Mark Waugh's murder and Shireen Gupta Rappaport says
her family still had no idea what had happened. In fact, they'd planned a dinner out to celebrate Rahul's
birthday, but Rahul and Taylor Gold never showed up. >> How worried were you? >> I mean, really worried.
Really worried because it just wasn't normal. We couldn't get him on the phone. We couldn't reach Taylor on her
phone. We knew there was something wrong. >> [music] >> Did you touch him? >> That part I don't remember.
>> At police headquarters, Paula Hammel spent about 8 hours talking to Gupta and
Taylor, but not getting anywhere. >> The blood on your hands and your feet, do you have any idea where that came
from? >> I assume from Mark. >> Hammel says Gupta was still trying to talk his way out of his confession.
>> I want to take this time now to say that I did not attack anybody. >> Gupta says he was zoned out on the
couch, drunk and stoned, and only looked up when he heard Taylor screaming. When he realized Mark was hurt, he says,
he tried to stop the bleeding. >> I came to him, and then I put a lot of pressure here,
and then I just sort of like hugged him. >> Gupta acknowledged he never actually saw
his best friend and his girlfriend doing anything improper. He only had a hunch.
>> Him and Tay would just made it seem like they were they had a thing going on. As
soon as I found that out, I just started doing my own thing. >> The brother that I know is very calm,
actually very calm person. >> But since he had confessed at the scene, Gupta remained the prime suspect.
Prosecutors Timothy Hagen and Patrick Maze would begin looking into his past. >> He was overly competitive,
confrontational. >> There was some talk about him having a temper. >> Yeah, not that I've seen.
>> You've never seen him mad? >> No. >> We know that he has a temper, and we know that that temper gets worse when he
drinks. >> They say it's a wonder Gupta and Taylor remember anything at all. >> You have the mix of alcohol and drugs.
[music] >> I smoked marijuana before I went out before I went out. >> Gupta and his friends went bar hopping
for his birthday, to three bars. Drinking for hours. Gupta, Taylor, and Mark were joined by
another friend, Josh White. >> And everyone agrees things started getting strange around midnight at this
bar, Buffalo Billiards, but they strongly disagree on crucial details. Along with the drinking, there was a
little flirting. One of the most important questions in this case is, who was flirting with whom? Taylor Gold said
Josh White was getting a little too friendly. >> Josh was texting me and it was really
weird and he was kind of hitting on me and um Josh was? >> Yes. >> But Josh White would later tell them it
was the other way around. >> She was saying that she was a little flirtatious to Rahul's friends. And I
just asked her like straight up like, "What's the deal? Like, you know, you're you're a little flirtatious." And she
said, "I could I couldn't do that to Rahul. You know, I love him very much." >> He says Mark walked up to them at
exactly that moment, overheard her say, "I couldn't do that to Rahul." And misunderstood.
>> It sounded like I was hitting on her. And so, he took that very badly. He was
pretty pissed off. >> Josh White says he tried to explain the misunderstanding to Mark and Rahul at
the bar, but things had gotten uncomfortable and Taylor wanted to leave. White went back to his place. Mark went
home with Gupta and Taylor. This is security video of the three of them walking through the lobby toward
the elevator. Not long before the bloody attack on Mark Wahl. >> Can you tell anything from the body
language of Rahul Gupta and Taylor Gold? >> She seems intoxicated. >> Does she seem mad?
>> I don't think so. I didn't see that. >> Does he seem mad? >> It's hard to tell.
>> To this day, prosecutors still aren't sure how Mark Wahl became the target of
this brutal attack. >> Was there ever any friction between your brother and Mark?
>> Not that I know of. >> But at one point, Mark texted a friend, apparently from the bathroom.
"My night is becoming historically awkward and I'm about to gnaw my hand off so I can
leave in the ambulance." >> He's just looking for an escape. >> So there was some drama going on in that
apartment. >> Absolutely. >> Because Gupta and Taylor both lived here, DNA and fingerprints wouldn't
help. But there were other bits of evidence that would. And the prosecutors say that's what
focused their attention on Gupta and away from Taylor. >> It's not possible that she physically
could have done it. >> Taylor is only 5'5" and 125 lbs. They were sure she isn't big enough to be the
killer. >> Mark is considerably larger than her. Was fighting back and she doesn't have a
mark on her consistent with being fought back. >> They also don't think she was bloody
enough. >> She has no blood on her face, no blood in her hair. >> Could she have washed up?
>> There are photographs that are taken within several minutes. Her hair is not wet
and she has her makeup on. >> And they say she behaved as anyone would who is confused and innocent.
>> How did she get blood on her hands? >> Contact with Gupta. >> On the 911 call, it does sound like
Taylor could be touching Gupta. >> He awkwardly both touched me. >> The prosecutors concede Taylor and Gupta
might have been in love once, but they say they were not at the time of the murder.
>> This relationship was not a good relationship. >> Rahul was just like, I just want to have
fun. It's my birthday. And then Taylor was like, we should just go. >> By the time police talked to Josh White,
they were already thinking that Rahul's birthday binge was an argument waiting to happen.
>> I'm just trying to find out what the happened. What the heck happened? >> Yeah, somebody got stabbed.
>> Great. >> So So Again, I I don't know. I didn't do it. >> Rahul still insists he didn't do it. But
now, for the first time, he says he knows who did. >> If you didn't stab him, then who did?
>> It happened >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> He said you had to done it cuz he didn't do it.
Oh my god. >> I'd say don't trust that Kayla girl. I just don't trust her. >> But I did not attack Mark. I did not
attack anybody. >> I think he felt like maybe he could talk himself out of whatever trouble he might
be in. >> I didn't stab anyone. >> Detective Paula Hammel, who spent hours interrogating Rahul Gupta, says when he
changed his story, she didn't change her mind. >> I believe that his initial statement was
as truthful as he could have been. And then I think he spent the rest of the time trying to get away from that.
>> There's no question that Rahul made false statements. >> Defense attorney Jennifer Page says
Gupta was drunk and disoriented and that's why he confessed to protect Taylor from being charged with the
murder. >> I think it's very difficult for people to believe that an innocent person would
implicate themself for any reason at any time to any degree. >> I think that he would definitely try try
to protect Taylor. >> I mean when you heard what he said to that first police officer who came in,
what did you make of that? >> Honestly, I didn't believe it. >> You didn't believe he said those words?
>> Correct. >> Co-counsel Phil Armstrong says as Gupta sobered up he quickly realized going to prison for
Taylor Gold wasn't a good idea. So, he started telling the truth. >> When they questioned him about what
happened, he was adamant that he had not done it. >> And Armstrong says the evidence backs up
his client starting with that surveillance tape from shortly before the murder. >> Mark was laughing. He and Raul appeared
to be interacting favorably. >> And they think if anyone was acting suspiciously that night, it was Taylor
Gold. Gupta's lawyers say Taylor only called 911 when Gupta ordered her to and she
wouldn't tell the operator much of anything. >> Okay, Taylor, are you there? Taylor,
hello? Hello? >> Taylor. >> Yeah. >> Yes, hello. I need you to talk to me. >> The defense says that tape reveals a lot
about Taylor and Gupta. >> You can hear him screaming, call 911. >> What is the address of the emergency?
>> He is bereft. He is sobbing. He is begging. >> No. >> This is inconsistent with somebody who
hated this man so much that he had to stab him 11 times. >> Page and Armstrong say Gupta did
everything he could to keep his friend alive. >> We know for a fact that he gave him CPR.
>> And they say that's why he's covered in Mark's blood. They argue much of the other forensic evidence at the crime
scene is meaningless as well because police were careless. >> Horrible mistakes were made.
>> And the lawyers think Taylor acted too deliberately that night considering she
claimed not to remember what happened. There is evidence that before the first responders could get there, she changed
her clothes. Not once, but twice. >> How did she get blood all over her legs, her hands, her dress?
>> How did the blood get on the dress? I mean, maybe maybe I was by Mark before all of that. I mean, I I have no idea.
>> You had the wherewithal to change your clothes, yet you can't remember how you
got the blood on you. >> I'm telling you the truth. >> Gupta's lawyers say these photos show
Taylor could have been responsible. >> There were two very peculiar marks on her hand located just below the knuckle
of the little finger. If you stab someone with the knife with any reasonable degree of force,
it's possible that your hand will slide down the knife and it will hit the bottom of the handle.
>> Page and Armstrong say Taylor was strong enough to stab Mark to death despite her
size. >> And we asked the medical examiner, "Who could do this?" She said, quote, "Any
healthy adult." >> Police believe Mark Wahl fought his attacker, and the lawyers say there is
evidence that Taylor Gold was in a fight. Her fingernails were bloody and one was broken. One of her contact
lenses was stuck to the back of Mark's jeans and there was something else, long blonde hair just like Taylor's was found
on the murder weapon. >> Found wrapped around the knife, never tested. >> And it wasn't just on the knife, more
long blonde hair was stuck in a blood stain on the wall. And even in Mark Waugh's hand.
>> Clutched in his hand as he lies dead on the floor. >> The hair was never tested but it was
assumed to belong to Taylor Gold. But the prosecutors say it doesn't matter because she lived there.
>> There were strands of hair of hers throughout the apartment, in every room. >> There is [clears throat] a mountain of
reasonable doubt Rahul Gupta did not do it. >> Mark Waugh was stabbed by Rahul Gupta. What she did was most
likely nothing. >> The prosecutors say they became convinced Taylor Gold is innocent
largely because she admitted she could be guilty. >> I can't myself imagine doing that,
right? So I'm just confused cuz like I'm not trying to put the blame on the wrong
person. >> She's trying to be truthful in describing the fact that she does not have a memory of what happened in that
apartment. >> That gives her credibility in your >> It does. >> But the defense lawyers believe whatever
Taylor and Gupta said to police should not overshadow what they said to each other about 5 hours after they arrived
at police headquarters. In an unusual move, their interrogators brought them together
and left them alone to see what happened. >> That was probably the second time in 10
years that I had done it. Maybe one of them would say something that would make us go
Oh, did you hear that? >> What happened? What happened to Mark? >> This conversation could make the
difference between who goes home and who goes on trial for murder. >> Did you use that marker now?
>> Rahul Gupta and Taylor Gold had been talking to police for about 5 hours when
Detective Paula Hammel made that unusual strategic decision to let them talk to each other.
>> Okay. >> Yeah. >> If Gupta was acting for the detectives, he was staying in character
in a performance with Taylor. >> Did you use that marker now? >> I don't think like I wouldn't do that.
Why would I attack someone? >> Gupta kept trying to blame Taylor. >> What happened between you two?
>> And she kept not quite denying that she did it. >> Did they have some conversation before
the police got there to say, "I'll say I don't know, you say you don't know." And
maybe they'll never find out. >> But the conversation between Taylor and Rahul at times sure sounded unscripted.
>> I want to poop. I want to eat. I'm hungry. Go out there and tell them that I want my lawyer and I want to get the
>> Hey. >> I need to go out of here, dude. >> And after that meeting, Taylor made what
sounds like another ambiguous remark to Detective Hammel. >> You know, if I did it, I don't I I him
to get hurt in this process. >> But after more than 5 hours at police headquarters,
Taylor was released. And Gupta was soon charged with murdering Mark Waugh. Why did you believe her and not him?
>> I don't know that we believed either one of them. But at the end of that day,
there was more evidence to support his being responsible for the murder than her.
>> Is there any chance that Rahul and Taylor did this together? >> No. I don't believe knowingly that they did
this together. >> A year and a half after Mark Waugh was killed, Dan Morse of the Washington Post
was in court to cover Rahul Gupta's murder trial. Cameras weren't allowed. >> Right away, you're sort of wondering how
this defense is going to play out. >> I want you to have the opportunity to answer this as directly as possible.
Did your brother Rahul Gupta kill Mark Waugh? >> No, he did not. >> And you're certain of that.
>> I'm 100% certain of that. >> But Gupta did confess to murder, even though he later changed his mind. So, in
opening arguments, his lawyers made some bold promises. They promised he would take the stand, and they promised to
show not only is he not the murderer, but Taylor Gold is. She isn't on trial, but she will be a
witness. And Gupta's lawyers will get to cross-examine Taylor. So, while prosecutors Timothy Hagen and
Patrick Mayze officially prosecute Gupta, they also have to unofficially defend Taylor.
>> Somebody who murders someone in this fashion, you would expect to be covered in blood. One person in that apartment
was covered in blood. Rahul Gupta. >> The defense maintains Gupta got the blood on him when he gave Mark CPR, and
they say Taylor had more than enough blood on her to be guilty. Including spots inside her dress and on
her bra. And Gupta's lawyers want the jury to focus on those blonde hairs on the knife and in Mark's hand.
>> What are the chances that there's going to be hair in the knife, hair in the hands, hair on the wall, and she says
she has no involvement in this case? >> How would Taylor Gold's blonde hair end up in Mark Waugh's hand?
>> Any number of possibilities. We're talking about a dirty apartment. We aren't talking about a clump of hair.
We're talking about a strand. >> Taylor wasn't much help in clearing anything up on the stand.
Even in front of a jury, she said she just didn't remember because she'd blacked out from all the drinking.
>> By the time she said it over and over again, it's somewhat credible. >> If she had done it, the easiest thing in
the world for her to do now was to point the finger at him. But she never does that.
>> Except on the stand, she finally says she did not kill Mark. She says she's not capable of it.
But from the beginning, there was a sense that if there was a bombshell in this trial,
it would come from Rahul Gupta when he took the stand. >> People were just hanging on this guy's
words, and it's a cliché, but you could have heard a pin drop. >> Gupta was calm and composed.
He testified that after arriving home, he'd argued with Taylor about whether she'd been flirting with Josh Wyatt at
the bar. And he told the jury something he hadn't told police. He said he tripped and hit his head
right before Mark was killed. >> When Rahul Gupta sat back up from falling, this entire event had gone on all around
him and that he hadn't noticed it. >> On cross-examination, Pat Mayes confronts Gupta
about how such a brutal attack could have happened in such a small space without him noticing.
And then Mayes launches an attack of his own, offering texts suggesting Taylor and Gupta's relationship was in trouble
and that he would never have confessed just to protect her. >> And then he hits him with these texts
about Taylor complaining about their sex life. And he's saying, "Well, you were willing to spend the rest of your life
in prison for this young lady that's complaining to you about your performance in bed?"
>> They cherry-picked a half a dozen texts over 2 years, and we gave them back very similar texts
that indicated they had a very loving relationship. >> We know that this was a rocky
relationship at best. >> Thank you. >> Mark. >> Gupta's lawyers think it's critical for
jurors to know that he maintained his innocence in that tape [music] discussion with Taylor.
But it won't work because in a potentially crucial decision, >> I don't know what happened.
>> the judge rules that the jury cannot see it. >> The guy who's on trial says, "I didn't
do this" to his girlfriend, "did you?" And she says, "I don't know." And the jury never got to hear it.
>> But the jury did get an earful of another recording. >> I have a free call from Rahul Gupta.
>> And that one could decide this case. >> Yeah, can you hear me? Yeah, I can. What happened?
>> [music] >> After nearly 15 hours in custody, Rahul Gupta made a phone call. He called his
father. >> Where are you? >> I'm in jail. >> Like most calls from most jails, this
one was recorded. Gupta told his father what happened in the apartment. >> What happened?
>> Like I got into a fight and he tried to get a knife and then I grabbed the knife.
>> It's hard to hear, but it sounded to lawyers on both sides like Gupta admitted holding the knife. The jury
will decide for itself. >> I grabbed the knife. >> He's still traumatized by what happened.
It doesn't make any rational sense. >> It doesn't unless he's telling his father the truth.
>> And he might be telling his father the truth if it weren't for the fact that all of the scientific evidence points in
the opposite direction. >> In their closing argument, prosecutors say the jury doesn't have to take their
word about Gupta being guilty. >> Who who who Who did you get into a fight with?
>> They can take Gupta's. >> Mark. >> It's the first and the last statements that he makes. And in between there, he
tries a number of different lies. >> The state has made a strong case against Gupta.
But Dan Moralis says on the witness stand, Gupta made a pretty strong case of his own.
>> I thought he might pull this off. >> How did he present himself? >> I thought he did really good. I mean, he
was Rahul, you know, he was him. >> As the jury begins to deliberate, the stakes for the prosecution could not be
higher. If Rahul Gupta is not convicted of murdering Mark Waugh, chances are nobody ever will be because the state
has already argued Taylor Gold is not the killer. The jury takes less than a day to
decide. >> A Montgomery County jury today found Rahul Gupta guilty of killing his best
friend. >> The verdict guilty. >> Our son, Mark, all I can say is a gift from God.
>> And the sentence, life in prison, is what Mark Waugh's family was hoping for.
>> His murder was a sin. Not just on his family, but on the community as a whole.
>> I mean, it was devastating. >> How do you deal with that? How do you absorb that?
>> [snorts] >> Um when you don't have a choice, you just do it. >> We feel very strongly he didn't get a
fair trial. >> Gupta's lawyers believe the judge should have allowed the jury to see that tape
of Gupta talking to Taylor >> What happened to Mark? >> I don't know. >> at police headquarters.
>> I don't know. I'm freaking out, okay? I don't >> This is important stuff that goes right
to the issue of guilt or innocence. >> Is Taylor Gold an innocent bystander in all of this?
>> Yes. >> Purely innocent. >> We believe so, yes. >> I feel comfortable that she wasn't held
criminally responsible in the murder. >> Detective Paula Hammel maintains Taylor
Gold is legally not guilty. But she believes Taylor may have played some role in what happened that night.
>> Ms. Gold could have set up an environment that caused Mr. Gupta to become upset.
I also still do believe that she was possibly involved in a relationship with the victim
behind Mr. Gupta's back. >> Taylor Gold did not want to discuss that night or anything else with 48 Hours.
She's getting an MBA and moving on with her life. >> Ms. Gold has something that she has to
carry for the rest of her life. >> Shreen Gupta Rapaport says Rahul does too. The family is doing what they can to
help him transition from life in this kind of institution to life in this kind. >> Rahul and us,
you know, we're determined to make the best of this, however that might be. I don't think we have a choice.
>> But Rahul is still in their lives. >> At the end of the day, I'm grateful that
I have my brother. You know, he's still somebody I can go and talk to. I can visit. I can write to
him. >> She says all the Guptas know that's more [music] than Mark Waugh's parents have.
>> While I can talk to my brother, you know, they can't talk to Mark. >> His death is a tragedy
that we must carry for the rest of our lives. >> [music] [music] [music] [music]
>> Mhm.

"48 Hours" cases that involve the quest for truth in complicated investigations. Watch the YouTube mini-marathon, which includes "Moment of Truth," "Death and the Dentist" and "What Happened in Apartment 1601?"

00:00 Moment of Truth 42:14 Death and the Dentist 01:24:09 What Happened in Apartment 1601?

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Virginia Vertetis' murder trial reveals complexities of self-defense amid claims of domestic abuse and emotional turmoil.

Key points

The Trial Begins. Virginia Vertetis' murder trial kicks off with high stakes and emotional tension.
The Glass Evidence. Forensic expert Howard Ryan explains why the glass storm door couldn't have been broken by Patrick.
Jennifer's Testimony. Patrick's daughter Jennifer recounts the frantic calls from her father before he was shot.
The Verdict. After hours of deliberation, the jury finds Virginia guilty of first-degree murder.
Tom's Sudden Death. Tom's unexpected death leaves his family and friends in shock.
The Midazolam Mystery. Toxicology report reveals midazolam in Tom's system, raising suspicions.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I never saw his eyes look like that before.

11:23WatchJun 20, 2026

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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