The Man with Two Names | Full Episode + Post Mortem | Forensic Files

John Green does what John Green does, right? I He's a charmer. He's a smooth talker. I think he could talk his way in
anyone's life. Beneath the surface, there's something really dark. Is this a man who just [music] happens to have
really bad luck, or is he a bad guy? >> He's a bad guy. >> We had good times together. I never uh
felt like I'm with a bad person. >> I think he's unlucky. I think he's unlucky. >> We were so happy when he met Kim Lark,
his wife. They went skiing together. They loved dogs together. I had not seen him so happy in all these years that
we've known him. >> I think John Green saw Dr. Kim and saw dollar signs. >> You think he targeted her?
>> Yeah, I do. >> It all turned sour really quick. They were not only separating, but he took
the dogs. >> She loves her dogs. Those are her babies. It's like if he had taken her
children. >> He's stealing your dogs. He's kidnapping your dogs. Oh, I was scared to death
that he would get rid of them. >> Now it became just one thing after another. He's on the road on the road
and on the run >> with the dogs. >> He's actually arrested in San Antonio. >> He's a thief. He's a liar, a con artist.
>> At Eddie County Detention Center, I met John and he kept asking me if I knew somebody that could kill his wife.
>> [music] >> So, here's my husband in jail talking with somebody about the various
different ways to kill me and take care of my body. >> Do you believe that this was a real
plan? >> Yes. This isn't the first time he's been in question of a heinous crime.
>> If he did it once, he can do it again. >> Who was this man really? >> He wasn't John Green. His real name was
Ted Maher and he had been convicted of an arson resulting in the [music] death of a
billionaire. >> I am innocent at >> so much of it still remains a mystery. I mean this guy's story is just crazy.
>> [music] >> Carl'sbad, New Mexico, a small city dwarfed by a vast dirt red desert,
was home to John Green in 2017. That was the year a routine medical exam would become a turning point for him and
his new doctor, Kim Lark. The very [music] first day when he walks in, how would you have described him?
>> Smiling, happy, wanted to talk, just kind of made you feel comfortable. >> Months later, they began texting, then
dating. >> He liked everything that I [music] liked. We started skiing together. We
started riding bikes together. Early in their relationship, Kim says Green told her about his troubled past,
that he had been falsely accused of arson more than 20 years ago, causing the deaths of two people, including a
billionaire banker in Monte Carlo. >> I believed him at first. I kind of believed his side of the story. She says
she wanted to believe the best about the new man in her life. >> He said all the right things. He did all
the things that I needed my best friend to be. >> By the time they married on Valentine's
Day 2020, they'd already settled into a comfortable life. Kim had a lucrative medical practice, [music] an $800,000
retirement account tucked away, and a home on 4 acres outside of town. At that time, did you realize what he was
capable of? >> No, I had no idea. >> I think he's motivated by money, motivated by power. Molly Forester, a
documentary filmmaker and CBS News consultant, has spent years reporting Green Story for a new series streaming
on the Epis online platform. >> He likes skiing. It's just like he was a chameleon.
>> She says the man who calls himself John Green has led a life of deception. >> He's been able to fool a lot of people
and [music] caused a lot of trauma. trauma that would eventually crumble their marriage in just a few years, says
Kim. >> Just cuz he's so willing to lie, cheat, steal. >> In April 2022, Kim noticed her checkbook
was missing. >> That's when the bank called me and said, "Hey, did you write this check?"
She learned that her husband, seen here on bank security footage, was trying to cash thousands of dollars in checks by
forging her name at banks all over town. Kim filed for divorce and changed the locks on her house. About a month later,
he stole something else from her that mattered a lot more than money. He's kidnapping your dogs.
>> My dogs and my vehicle. Yeah. >> Storm Zero and Felony are not only precious pets, they're extremely
valuable, highly trained search and rescue dogs, says Kim. And she is their trainer.
>> We have a really special bond. My dogs are with me 24/7. For years, Kim and her K-9 companions
have assisted FEMA during national disasters [music] and law enforcement at crime scenes.
>> He could have taken anything except my [music] dogs. >> And Zero was pregnant at the time.
>> I really was scared to death. >> Kim believed her aranged husband might have taken the dogs to Texas and she
found someone there who could help. Abel Pena had [music] 26 years with the FBI before he retired and founded a
nonprofit called Project Absent to help find missing people. >> What is the difference between looking
for missing people and missing dogs? >> Dogs don't maintain a a paw print online. It's more challenging to try and
find dogs. >> It was more than a month before he got a good tip. And it wasn't about the dogs,
but about Green himself. On June 13th, 2022, Pena called law enforcement for help
staking out a parking lot in San Antonio. Shortly after Green arrived in a BMW, authorities arrested and charged
him with forgery and lararseny. He had changed his appearance, shaving his head. I ran over to the vehicle, looked
in the back [music] windows to see if the dogs were there. Um, the dogs were not there.
>> But Pena had another lead and headed to a nearby house belonging to the aunt of
one of Green's friends. >> I knock on the door and I'm greeted by an older woman. She was like, "I know
why you're here. Come on in." >> He found Kim's dogs in a back bedroom and by then zero had multiplied. There
were now eight puppies in a box. And how did you feel? >> I was ecstatic. >> Abel Pena took all 11 dogs to his house
and [music] waited for Kim to arrive. >> Look what we have here. >> Come on, Philly.
>> My girls were so happy to see me. I was so relieved. >> It was a fantastic ending.
>> Good boy. Kim was so thankful she named one of the puppies Abel after the man who had found
them. >> Bye >> bye. Thank you. >> See you later. >> Did you think at that point you had it
all behind you? >> Yes. The forgery and lararseny charges landed John Green here, locked up in the Eddie
County detention center in Carl'sbad where he met this man, Greg Markham, detained on drug charges. Was he angry
with Kim? >> Oh, he's furious with her. >> Markham says they bonded over a chess
board. >> I played chess with him every day. Got to know the guy. He kept asking me if I
knew somebody that could kill his wife. >> Greg Markham says he saw an opportunity
to make John Green his pawn. >> And I was like, "You know what, man? I can't find anybody. I'll do it. How do
you want it done?" >> So, you promised to kill his wife? >> I I said, "Oh, yeah, man. I'll do it.
I'll do it for you." >> Were you going to? >> No. No. Markham says he's a con man, not
a hitman, and was never serious about killing Kim Lark. >> Living on my own, it's me and my dog.
And >> he desperately needed bail money, he says, to save his dog, Atlas, from being
euthanized. >> I got to convince this guy to bomb me out so I can go take care of my dog,
make sure he's okay. >> He says Green paid for the bail. >> Once he was convinced that I was going
to do it, he wouldn't stop talking about it. Let's talk about it again. What are
you going to do? >> Markham says Green had a specific way he wanted his wife to die. He concocted a
lethal plot to poison Kim, forcing her to drink water laced with fentanyl to look like an overdose.
>> Yeah, I was supposed to mix up fentanyl pills and make sure she drank the whole
water bottle. >> If she refused, says Markham. Green's grizzly plan was to aim a gun, not at
Kim. but at her beloved dogs >> and she'll do whatever you want done. >> John Green fiercely denies all of it and
was determined to fight the charges against him as he had before in another courtroom on another continent.
26 years earlier, a roaring inferno engulfed a Monte Carlo penthouse, killing the billionaire and his private
nurse. At the fiery center of that mystery was the very same man with a very [music] different name.
Sundrenched Laidback Carlsbad, New Mexico, [music] isn't the only place where this man made headlines.
>> One of the world's richest bankers died today in a >> This isn't the first time he was accused
of a major crime. an American male nurse. >> And Kim Lark is not the only woman who
loved him. >> I've saved every rose he gave me. >> Every rose he's given you since you've
known him. >> Yeah. >> It was 2002 when I first met Heidi West. She was married to the man who would one
day become John Green. His name then Ted Maher. That name would become known around the world. The couple lived in
New York and had two children together meeting in nursing school. What kind of nurse is he?
>> He's a neonatal intensive care nurse. Some pictures with kids. Um just some of
the infants that he took care of. Ted told her about his time serving as a special forces green parade. He seemed
defined by intensity and compassion. >> You always put others first. He was just
so loving, so caring, you know, and I wanted someone like that. His compassion was on display in the summer of 1999
in the neonatal unit where Ted worked when two grateful new parents connected him to the job of a lifetime
>> to take care of a rich banker who we never heard of to be his private nurse. He had Parkinson's disease.
>> Edmund Saffro was that rich banker. And he wasn't just regular rich. He was one
of the richest men on earth. the bank. Saffra owned it, living with his elegant wife Lily in this penthouse
above this bank branch here in the Monte Carlo district of glittering diamondsiz Monaco
tucked along the exclusive French Riviera. >> Obviously, we've never seen the world,
you know, like that. So when Saffron made the offer, Ted couldn't refuse, says Heidi, despite having to leave his
family. >> We thought this is just temporary and we have the rest of our lives to get
together afterwards. >> It was that October when Maher's fascinating new job brought him to
Monaco. >> It was just a different world. He kept saying he liked it. He liked Mr. Saffer
very much. They got along well. Mahers sometimes worked the night shift at times with nurse Vivien Torrene
along with his private duty nurses. Saffra also kept a personal security force for protection.
We didn't know who this man was. It was all [music] new to us. >> December 3rd, 1999.
I was getting the kids off to school in the morning as usual and I got a phone call and it was Ted's sister who sounded
upset and crying. She asked me to turn on the news. >> Two masked men armed with knives invaded
the Riviera penthouse of Edmund Saffra. >> It was a startling report about [music]
intruders and a fire in the Saffra penthouse. Just 5 weeks after her husband left for Monaco, the billionaire
who brought him there and nurse Viven Torrene were dead. Autopsies would determine they had both [music] died
from smoke poisoning and Ted was wounded and bloody. Ted would tell authorities a story that
would be discussed and debated for years. He said that intruders broke into the penthouse, attacked and stabbed him,
that he scrambled to get help while his boss took shelter in a bathroom. Ted says he lit a small fire with a candle
and paper towels in a trash basket, thinking the fire department would respond quickly.
>> He knew the smoke detectors were direct access to the fire department, so he wanted to set that off.
Back in New York, Heidi was worried and she contacted Saffra's office. She wasn't surprised at what she heard.
>> They said that Ted was indeed a hero that night. I said, "That's Ted." >> And within hours, Heidi headed to
Monaco. >> I was to go straight to the hospital to see Ted. >> Did you? >> No. instead. Soon after arriving, Heidi says
she was intercepted by police. She had been told that Ted acted like a hero. That was about to change. As police
questioned her, Heidi says it became clear they thought her husband might be a killer. She alleges they took her
passport and used it as a weapon against Ted. When my passport was taken, they brought it to Ted to get him to confess
for this. And he was told then that I was strip searched and tortured and I would not be allowed to leave the state
of Monaco back to our family. >> She said that threat caused Ted to falsely confess.
He would now say there were no intruders, [music] that he had taken a knife and that he
had stabbed himself to make it [music] look like he had tried to save his powerful boss from attackers.
>> They're saying he gave himself a lidocaine injection prior to stabbing himself
>> and lidocaine what dead >> numb it. >> And Heidi says the confession he signed
was written in French, which Ted did not understand. I feel they wanted a nice clean ending
to this quick. It would be good for the state of Monaco to have their citizens feel safe.
>> Ted was locked up, charged with arson, an intentional act leading to the deaths
of Saffron Torrene. He faced life in prison if convicted at trial. This is someone I I know
>> and I know he didn't do this. >> Tonight's 48 hours will continue. A family patriarch disappears. [music]
The blame game goes round and round. >> It's a homicide. >> Absolutely. Follow and listen to Blood
is Thicker, the Ferris [music] Wheel, on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get
your podcasts. With the strike of a match, Ted [music] Maher's dream job went up in smoke. Two
people were dead, and Ted was now being blamed. I've known him now 13 [music] years. He would never hurt anyone.
>> Monaco's chief prosecutor says an American male nurse confessed to starting the fire that killed Saffra and
another nurse. >> The death of Edmund Saffra exploded into a sensational story that would fascinate
authors Jennifer Thomas and her husband Bill Hayes. >> If you saw this on the screen, you'd be
going this does none of this makes sense. This doesn't happen. There were allegations, none of them substantiated,
that might have supported Ted's original claim about intruders. Talk that Saffra
had enemies, that he had been the victim of a Russian mob hit. >> Saffra had an awful lot of connections
to Russia. >> And rumors were inflamed by a suspicious discovery. Heidi told us that the night
of the fire, Saffra's private force of security guards were oddly not on site. Was that usual?
>> Unheard of. >> There were also whispers about Saffra's stylish wife, Lily. >> The rumors about her and her previous
husbands. >> Lily had been married four times with one other husband also deceased,
prompting more conjecture. She is rumored to be a black widow who has inherited a lot of money from her
husbands. >> But police believe Ted was responsible for two deaths. It would take three long years to bring
Ted to trial. >> Hello. >> Hello. Heidi. >> Hi. >> How you doing? Okay. >> And in that time, Heidi was only
occasionally able to speak to Ted from his prison on the Mediterranean Sea. >> I'm not an arsonist or a murderer. It go
It goes against everything that I've done in my in my entire life. >> I try to be strong because I know he
needs my strength, too. >> Never forget this, Heidi. Never. I I love you. >> I love you. the that the happiness of of
a man in in his life I doesn't consist of of in my absence but in in what I retain and hold in my heart so you be
strong >> I just wish this wasn't my life >> we're going to the prison that is on
there >> New York lawyer Michael Griffith joined Ted's defense team Griffith had made a
name for himself self defending Americans abroad. Ted Maher became a client and a tough one.
>> Okay, let me go through some of the odd things about this case. Is there any evidence other than what Ted said
initially, any evidence of two intruders? >> There is no evidence that I know of any
intruders. >> Instead, Griffith would argue that Ted did what authorities said. he stabbed
himself and set the fire, but that he never intended for anyone to die. He was just trying to make himself look like a
hero. >> Ted is the firemen who started the fire. Firemen who start fires do it not to
hurt people, but to save people. >> Are you saying that you believe Ted actually did start the fire, cut himself
to make himself look like a hero? >> I believe that's what Ted did. Did he actually tell you he did this himself?
>> Well, yeah. He told me that that he did this to himself, and that's the basis of
our defense. >> Griffith contends that no one would have died that night if police and
firefighters had gotten to the victims faster. It took them about two and a half hours
[music] to reach Saffra and Torrene, but authorities say they got to the scene in minutes, but had to be careful
and slow their response because Ted told them there were violent intruders inside.
>> He's totally liable of the circumstances that he created. >> In 2002, attorney Mark Ben spoke to 48
Hours. He represented Saffra's widow, Lily. He says the rumors about her are false.
>> It's not only it's not true, obviously, it is scandalous. Lily is devastated by
what happened. >> November 2002, Heidi traveled to Monaco as the trial began. >> Ted was facing possible life in prison.
Do you think your husband will get a fair trial in Monaco? >> Not at all. >> Why not?
>> They have the reputation of Monaco on the line and >> they would never risk that.
>> She wasn't happy when Ted testified that there had been no intruders and that he
had in fact stabbed himself. And she was furious that Griffith allowed Ted to take the blame for something she
believes he didn't do. Heidi believes with all her heart that Ted didn't do this. That he's being forced to say he
did it. I mean, what's the truth here? >> Well, all I know is Ted is my client. I
know what Ted has told me. >> He was told this is the best way to go. >> Heidi, I don't know what to tell you.
All I know is I'm doing my job based upon what my clients told me. And I guess you're going to have to
>> and this is our life. This is >> This is your life. This is Ted's life, >> right?
Ted Maher was convicted of arson leading to the death of two people. >> Yeah, we were disappointed in the
>> He was sentenced to 10 years. >> Heidi >> to Heidi. It was the end of life as she
had known it. >> Yeah, she's she's upset. And then in January, just seven weeks after the trial, Ted called Heidi
from outside the prison. >> Ted said, "It's me. I'm out." >> He had cut the metal bars, scaled down
the prison walls, and escaped. >> I said, "You're joking." And he says, "No, I'm out."
He asked for money, and I said, "No." Oh, and he got angry at me. >> Ted's freedom was short-lived. The next
day, he was back in custody. Heidi was furious that he would risk so much, including [music]
having his sentence extended. She says her faith in Ted had run out. >> I don't need him, and I don't want him.
I did the best I could to bring him home, but now it seems like he's doing his own job of screwing up.
>> Heidi filed for divorce. As for Ted, [music] he was released in 2007. When he landed at JFK, the woman who had
believed in him was nowhere to be found. But Ted would eventually find others in
his corner. Those authors Jennifer Thomas and Bill Hayes. Together with Ted, they would write framed in Monte
Carlo. Ted was back to insisting that while caring for Edmund Saffra, he was attacked by violent intruders.
>> What they had accused him of doing didn't make any sense why anybody would do that in the first place. And so
everything he said made perfect sense when he told us the story. >> What Thomas and Hayes found intriguing
was a report in a French newspaper. According to Lef Figuro at an unrelated hearing, a judge who served on Ted
Meer's case had claimed Ted's sentence had been predetermined before the trial even began. And in your mind, the real
story is this guy was set up >> 100%. >> Back in the States, Ted [music] was alone.
Steady work tough to find, especially if your name was Ted Maher. And that new [music] name,
>> Don Green. Tonight's 48 hours will continue. >> 48 hours is back. >> 48 hours
>> and so is the official after show podcast postmortem. >> Great to be with you again.
>> Where we bring you a closer look at each case. >> This was one of the most emotional
interviews. >> Follow and listen wherever you get your podcasts. In his first 10 years back in the United
States, John Green tried to shed his alter ego, Ted Maher of Monaco. He found a new job driving trucks and began a new
romance with Dr. Kim Lark, who he went on to marry in 2020. But the marriage crumbled and in 2023, Green facing a new
charge, solicitation to commit firstdegree murder. >> Dr. Lark is a big name in this town.
She's well known by a lot of people. Grie was still behind bars for forging those checks and stealing the dogs when
Detective Garrett Silva of the Eddie County Sheriff's Office began investigating the alleged plot that
Green made with his jailmate Greg Markham to murder Kim. >> Greg Markham was hired by John Green to
kill his wife. It was a charge that Green vigorously denied when investigators interviewed him in
September of 2023 >> on harming Dr. Lark. Is there anything that we need to be aware about for her safety andor yours?
>> No. Absolutely not. None. >> I think you know where we're going with this. >> You think that I'm going to have
somebody harm Kim? Absolutely not. But authorities weren't persuaded. John Green's trial began on March 3rd,
2025. Prosecutor Martin Wolson called his star witness, Greg Markham, to the stand.
>> Mr. Markham, did John Green instruct you on how you should carry the murder out?
>> Yes, in great detail. >> Kim Lark took us through the house where it was supposed to happen. What's he
supposed to do? turn off the power to the house. >> I I've been an electrician for 19 years.
I knew how to do that. >> And where was he going to be? >> He was supposed to be hiding in the
carport. >> Now, this used to be a carport here. >> He said, "She's kind of pretty frail.
You're a big guy." >> Markham says the plan was for him to overpower Kim and grab the gun she kept
in the center console of her car. >> Apparently, he was going to bring me into the house. He told him how to
control my dogs. >> Show it to me. >> Yeah. So, so you're raising your hands up as high as you can get and you yell
damn as as loud as you can and slam your hands down and them dogs stop and they won't move until given another command.
>> According to Markham, Green also told him where he could find Kim Lark safe. >> You would only know that if somebody
told you that, right? There's no way you would. >> Yeah. But defense attorney Blake Duggar
told the jury Greg Markham is no angel and that they shouldn't believe a word he says.
>> One of the greatest powers you have today is the power to judge someone's credibility.
>> Greg Markham is an individual uh with a checkered past who really um tried to
take advantage and did take advantage of John Green. >> But the state presented evidence they
say proves Greg Markham was telling the truth. a diagram Markham made with similarities to the interior of Kim's
house. He testified John Green had [music] detailed it to him as part of the murder plot.
>> You described a long hallway beside the back door. >> And prosecutors had evidence that Green
was in a hurry to get money to pay Markham for the hit. jail calls between Green and author Jennifer Thomas, who
was managing his finances while he was behind bars. Green called her multiple times, asking her to wire $2500
to an intermediary. First, he said he wanted the money to buy a trailer, but his story kept
changing. >> Would that be a pain for you to do? >> There's many ways I could send money to
him. Thomas eventually did what Green asked, but she was stunned when she learned the prosecutors believe the
money was really partial payment in a murder for hire. You had gotten the money for him. I was freaked out.
>> She said she and Hayes were relieved when the DA decided they had not knowingly done anything wrong. Blake
Duggar insisted his client didn't either, arguing even Greg Markham's diagram wasn't damning because it could
have been cooked up after a casual conversation with Green. >> It is not a crime for a man to proudly
describe how his house looks in front of people. John Green didn't testify and Duggar
didn't call any witnesses, believing that prosecutors had failed to prove their case. After just two days, it was
in the jury's hands. >> I was feeling good. I was feeling good. The jury deliberated for only about an
hour. >> We find the defendant, John Green, guilty. >> They convicted him of solicitation to
commit firstdegree murder. >> His lying [music] has finally caught up with him. Judge
David Finger sentenced John Green aka [music] Ted Maher to 9 years in prison. With time served, he'll be out in less
than three. For nearly 25 years, we've had questions for Ted Maher. New Mexico authorities
barred our cameras from the prison. But in March of 2026, Ted's attorney, Blake Duggar, arranged a video visit with him.
and Ted allowed us to interview him. Did you try to hire someone to kill your wife?
>> No, I did not. Absolutely not. I shouldn't be here. >> But unfortunately, I am here.
>> Once again, Ted says he was framed. He would never instruct someone to hold a
gun to a dog's head, he says. And he claimed that he only gave Greg Markham the $2500
to help rescue Markham's dog, not to murder Kim. >> You don't pay somebody $2500 to kill
anybody? That is absolutely ridiculous. >> But how then did Markham seem to know so
much about the layout of Kim Lark's house? >> But this was the basic layout. >> Markham made us a diagram, too. I knew
where the keys were >> and we compared it to the house itself. It wasn't exactly a match, [music] but
there were disturbing similarities. It shows where the power sources, >> right? >> And where the safe was. Is that right?
>> Yes. >> He did a drawing of her house. How would he have those details if you didn't give
it to him? >> That drawing was not all at all. They're 100% factual. Then you had like a dining
room. >> Ted echoed what his lawyer argued in the trial. Whatever Markham knew about the
home's layout came from innocent conversations. [music] >> I explained how I had re done electrical
panels. And I talked about how I had a bookcase to put a safe at a high level so she would have to bend down.
>> In fact, [music] he told us he was a doting husband devoted to making life easier for Kim. You said you loved Kim
Lark. >> I still love her. >> He admitted he forged her [music] signature on a check, but said as the
marriage crumbled, he had no income and needed money. And he said he had [music]
a right to the dogs. Since his divorce settlement with Kim hadn't been finalized yet,
>> those dogs were still community property. Just like he once claimed in Monaco, he
told us he's an innocent and fundamentally good man taken advantage of by others.
As you sit here today, do you feel responsible for Edmund Saffra's death? >> No, I don't.
>> But the couple who once believed Ted Maher's proclamations of innocence, >> I'm not RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATH of two
people. Now wonder what really happened on the December night in Monte Carlo that ended
with [music] the death of a billionaire and his nurse. >> There is a chance in my mind now that
[music] he did orchestrate that. >> Bill Hayes still believes Ted told the truth about intruders attacking him that
night. But Hayes and Thomas agree that when it comes to Ted's plot to kill Kim Lark, the plot they say he sucked them
into, he is guilty [music] as charged. >> I feel betrayed. >> I would want to know why why you lied.
And while we may never know the whole truth for sure, we found evidence that Ted had hedged one of his most basic
claims which he repeatedly made over the years. Were you in fact special forces and a green beret?
>> I went through all three phases. >> You're saying you went through the training?
>> I finished the three program. >> Come on, Ted. Don't double talk here. >> I never was assigned to a unit as a
Green Beret. So, you never served as a Green Beret? >> I served I I went down into special
forces. Yes, I did. >> If Ted Maher didn't give us a straight answer, the army certainly did, [music]
telling us, quote, there is no evidence that Theodore Maher served in the special forces.
>> He's a [music] thief. He's a liar, a con artist. And Kim Lark says she's worried
she hasn't seen the last of him. >> When he gets out, I'll be in trouble. >> Does Kim Lark have a reason to be scared
of you? >> Yeah, absolutely not. >> There's no telling what he may do. >> Detective Garrett [music] Silva, who
helped piece the murder solicitation case together, was promoted to sergeant with the K9 unit. He told us that if he
were in Kim's position, he would keep a dog by his side for protection. And that's exactly what Kim Lark is doing.
>> I don't trust anybody. I'm always on alert. >> She told us Ted has demanded money as
part of their divorce, and she's infuriated. [music] Kim admits that anger can be lonely.
>> Come on, Pbell. But anyone who knows Kim [music] knows >> Yeah. We're just going for a ride.
>> She's never really alone. >> Kim, do they follow you everywhere? >> Yes. >> Oh my god, [music] that makes me laugh.
>> Dogs just want to be with you all the time. >> And you [music] can trust them.
>> Yes. Yes. >> Okay. Welcome back to another episode of 48 hours postmortem. I'm your host, Ann
Marie Green, and today we are talking about the man with two names. The first name, John Green. Uh he is serving time
for soliciting the murder of his wife in New Mexico. He was also convicted uh for
forging checks and larseny. But more than 20 years earlier, this same man, then known as Ted Maher, was at the
center of an international mystery involving a billionaire in Monaco. So joining me now to unpack this
intercontinental criminal decadesl long saga are 48 hours correspondent Aaron Morardi and producer Josh Jagger. Thanks
for joining us Aaron and Josh. >> Hi Anie. It's a pleasure to be here. >> It's great being here because I think
Josh would agree with me this is one of the more unusual defendants we've ever run into. Wouldn't you say?
>> I would say so. We've both been doing this job a long time and it's hard to hard to get to know him, hard to know
what to believe and it's been an adventure covering him. So, speaking of that, um, you all have actually been
covering Ted Mahar John Green since 2002. >> Well, not exactly. I mean, we really
thought back then when that story ended when he was convicted that we had seen the last of him. So, I mean, I think
Josh and I were both surprised that he would come back into our radar screen with a whole other crime.
>> Okay, so there is obviously a lot to talk about. Before we get going, of course, a reminder for everyone. If you
haven't watched or listened to this episode, it's called The Man with Two Names. Go check it out and then come on
back for our conversation here at Postmortem. So, first we're going to take you back to the late 1900s, uh,
more specifically December 3rd, 1999. In the early morning hours, emergency responders arrived at the Monte Carlo
penthouse of billionaire Edmund Saffra. There had been a fire and both Saffra along with his nurse, her name is Vivian
Torrene, they've died from smoke poisoning. Well, soon after an American, then known as Ted Maher, was arrested.
Josh Maher is working as a nurse. Um, but how does this American nurse find himself involved in the life of an
international financeier, one of the wealthiest men in the world? It's just an amazing story and an incredibly lucky
turn of events in his life. Um, at least it seemed so at the time. He'd been working as a nurse in a hospital in New
York City and he was in the the neonatal unit. According to his wife at the time,
he had taken care of twins at the hospital. But when the babies were allowed to go home, the parents
mistakenly left behind a camera which turns out to have had the very first pictures of the babies on it. And he
contacts them. Well, it turns out these parents, this couple is a very wealthy couple who live in New York who happen
to be friends of Edmund Saffra and his wife Lily. and they're so grateful to Ted for returning their camera. And they
say to Ted, "We have someone we'd like to introduce you to, a friend of ours happens to need
a nurse." And the rest is history. >> His wife at the time, she said that she felt that part of Saffra's attraction to
someone like Maher was that he was also purportedly a green beret. Right, Aaron?
>> Yes. Amarie, remember Saffra had Parkinson, so he was sick. He wanted great care, but also Saffer surrounded
himself with security because he believed he had enemies who might come after him. So the fact that Ted Maher
told people that he was a Green Beret, this appeared to be a perfect fit. A nurse who also had a military
background. So Ted took the job, moving around with the Saffas, sometimes going back home to New York and eventually
ending up in Monaco with the Saffas. But then there is this fire and there are all sorts of versions about how the
events unfold. Aarin, what do we know? We know for one thing that Saffra and his nurse died from smoke poisoning as
you had talked about and the two had locked themselves into a secure room when Ted Maher alerted them that there
were intruders in the apartment. Maher was in fact found wounded at that time. He claimed he was stabbed by two
intruders. He also said that the reason why he lit a small fire in a trash basket was because he thought that would
set off the fire alarm and get help, thinking that the fire department, especially in Monaco, that small
country, they would respond quickly. What did seem odd to observers at the time, this became a big deal afterwards,
is that most of Saffra security wasn't there that night. So that seemed to be very strange.
Maher's wife at the time told us that her husband was initially seen as a hero, but then later he was charged with
arson and in part because Maher signed a confession saying there were no intruders. He said he stabbed himself
then set that small fire. His lawyer though maintained that uh Ted never intended to kill anyone. He just wanted
to look like a hero uh by saving his boss. And his attorney also said that no one would have died if the responders
had gotten to the victims faster. But authorities blamed Ted because they said they did get to the scene in minutes,
but they had to be careful and they slowed their response because Ted had told them that there were violent
intruders inside at the scene. So, he is arrested and Josh uh you were in Monaco
in uh 2002 and you are able to briefly film him in prison. You throw him a few questions, but I need to hear that story
about how you even managed to do that. >> Well, as a producer, you encounter lots
of obstacles in the field, and your job is to get around them, over them, under them. In this case, we got got over one.
Above >> above one. Exactly. Um, Monaco did not make Ted Maher available to the press
for interviews and we were afraid we weren't going to get to talk to him. But over the course of the trial, I noticed
that when the court wasn't in session, he would come out into the prison yard, which was a sort of an asphalt surface
with a cage around it at roughly the same time every day. And there was one building right up next to the prison
yard, which happened to be something like 10 stories tall. Um, and so I took the crew and we somehow managed to talk
our way through the lobby of this building and got get permission to go up on the roof with our camera and our
tripod. And right on schedule that day, he came out and he was by himself in the
prison yard. We started filming immediately. I leaned over the wall and started yelling questions at him and I
said, "Did you do it?" He heard me and started answering. >> Oh my gosh. I I assume he said he didn't
do it. He said he was as I recall innocent as charged and I'm not responsible for the death of
two people. That's my recollection of what he said. >> That is fascinating. See that's the kind
of uh work that that goes into getting these sort of amazing interviews and this is next level. Um so in the end Ted
Maher was found guilty of arson uh leading to the death of two people. He was then sentenced to 10 years in
prison. But then weeks later he escapes and we actually learned how he escaped from this prison because years later he
wrote a book about it. Aaron, yes that was the book framed in Monte Carlo. According to that um he had cut the bars
of his cell. I mean this story is just so crazy. Then he used a rope made of trash bags and scaled the wall. Um, he
claimed that he had had hacksaw blades smuggled in, hid them in the lining of his fridge, hid the trash bags in the
prison library. I mean, doesn't sound like there was great security there, right? And then he had to saw through
multiple layers of bars. Uh, again, according to the story he tells, um, it took five and a half weeks to cut his
way out. There should have been a movie made about this. really so crazy. >> You think you've seen everything in this
job a and I've seen a lot since then, but this still ranks up there among the most bizarre things that have ever
happened. This is about a month or two after he's convicted. And it just so happened that Erin and I were back in
Monte Carlo sort of tying up loose ends on the story. And I'm in my hotel room fast asleep. It must be 2:30 or 3 in the
morning when my phone rings. I sit up in bed and I answer the phone and it is Ted Maher's wife. She said,
"My husband escaped. He just called me from outside of the prison telling me he was out and asking for my help."
>> Oh my gosh. >> I grabbed my mini DV camera and ran up to the prison. Wasn't very far away from
the hotel. And I look up and I see a window on the side of the prison that's been pried open. So, I film the open
window and I head back to my hotel room, lie down in bed, and there's a knock on
the door and I am suddenly surrounded by police. I I speak enough French to know that
that they wanted me to come down to the station. >> Wow. >> It's by now probably 4 in the morning. I
remember the the detective sitting there had a sort of cigarette with a long ash
dangling off the end and there was smoke curling up towards the ceiling. It was very, it's sort of something out of film
noir. And I was sitting there and >> absolutely >> I said, "What's going on?" And I I think
I got the feeling that what they were worried about was why did the American inmate escape on the same night that the
American TV producer was up lurking around the prison in the middle of the night.
>> Finally, we cleared everything up and I got home and I saw Erin in the lobby,
filled her in. And I remember the look on her face and that was just yet another weird little chapter in this.
>> I would have loved to seen Aaron's face when you were like, "Guess what I've been up to over the last six hours.
[laughter] >> Guess what Ted has been up to." >> Yeah, indeed. >> Freedom was not long for him. Uh the
next day, uh he was back in custody and that is where sort of the the story sort
of ends. You think for you two, right? Decades pass. Um, but then Josh, you just happened to be digging around
recently. >> So, I'm sitting there in my office probably 2 and a half months ago, 3
months ago, and it just popped into my head. I wonder what some of the truly outlandish people you have covered in
the in your 30 years at CBS, what some of them are doing now. And the name that went immediately to the top of
the list was Ted Maher. So, I literally Googled him. I put his name into Google and the first thing that popped up was
about a documentary made primarily on the Monaco case that happened to be dropping that night. But then I look
below that on on the Google search and I learn that Ted Maher got out of prison in Monaco, came back
to the United States, changed his name to John Green, and just last spring, the spring of
2025, was convicted for soliciting the first degree murder of his wife in New Mexico.
And my next move was immediately to call Aaron and say [laughter] and say, "Remember Ted Maher?"
>> So now Maher is charged with a new crime. You would think that he would come back to the United States. He would
go back to nursing or something like that, but he would lead a straight and narrow life. [music] But now this put a
whole new wrinkle to the story. Who was this guy? Welcome back. So, you were able to
interview some key figures in the life of John Green, as he's known now. Uh, chief among them his now ex-wife, uh,
Kim Lark. She's a retired physician in Carlsbad, New Mexico, and also the trainer and owner of Search and Rescue
Dogs. Uh, she met Green when he came into her office for a biopsy. She said they really hit it off. and Kim marries
him in 2020. Did she know about his past and did any of that give her pause? >> That was one of my first questions,
Amarie, because you know, she's a very smart woman. She's a doctor. But she said that very early in their
relationship, John, cuz he went by the name John Green by then, he told her his real name, Ted Maher, and then he gave
her the book Framed Monte Carlo. And and of course that book is all his side of the story. And she said to me that she
believed him. Um and she thought that it in fact he may have been unfairly blamed
for the deaths. But I think she really wanted to believe him too. >> Right. Kim Lark said, I'm paraphrasing
her, whatever I wanted my best friend to be, he was. And he had a way of just being who you needed him to be. And that
resonated with me as something he perhaps has always known. how to do. >> He's a chameleon.
>> That's what I think he is. He's a chameleon. >> I mean, the guy looks good on paper,
right? Nurse, former Green Beret, and he loves dogs. But even with all of that, uh Kim is starting to have suspicions
about this new man in her life. And I want to play an unaired clip of your interview with Kim.
>> Did you over time start thinking he would tell stories that put him in a good light?
>> Always. He liked to still tell stories and brag about things that he had done. And just
little by little, I realized that a lot of them were stories. >> Like what? What do you remember? Like
any kind of story or anything that seemed to be a red flag. >> We we took a concealed weapons permit.
Now, supposedly Ted is a Green Beret, and I'm no Annie Oakley, but I really outshot him with my right and my left
hand. >> What did you think? >> I thought, "Oh, dear God, he's lying about that."
>> When Kim told us that, we started doing research and the army told us there was
no evidence that had served in the special forces. So when I got a chance to talk to him, I asked him directly
about that, this is a man who could talk a lot and never give you a straight answer. So I kept asking him, were you a
member of the special forces at a Green Bray? And he would say something like, "Well, I was never assigned to a unit at
the Green Bray." So I then go, "So you never served as a Green Bray?" He goes, "Yeah, yeah, I did." I was so confused.
Um, but I'm going with the army on this one. >> Yeah. I mean, one of the things we see a
lot is in this job is is people who know how to talk a lot while while saying almost nothing.
>> Very little. Yes. >> So true. Well, I'm sure when you're living with him, then this stuff pops
up, you know, more and more. And no surprise, um, his marriage goes south. Uh, really south. Uh, Green is charged
for forging checks. He also receives several other charges that were later dropped. Kim then initiates divorce. But
about a month after Green received those initial charges, Kim said he drove away
with her dogs in the car. Why would he take them? >> Okay, so the first thing I think you
have to bear in mind about Kim Lark is she doesn't just love these dogs. Lots of people love their dogs. These dogs
are the most important thing in Kim Lark's life, but they are also very valuable, very highly trained as search
and rescue, disaster response, cadaavver dogs. In fact, one of them is a descendant of a dog that Kim took to the
Pentagon soon after 9/11 um and and helped look through the rubble of the Pentagon and respond to that disaster.
And um one of the dogs whose name was Zero was even pregnant when Ted took them. So these dogs are everything to
Kim. >> She was very scared that he might sell the dogs. I don't think she worried
about him hurting the dogs because he cared about dogs as well, but she was scared she'd never see the dogs again.
Uh Green is arrested and then he ends up in this detention center, but then of course things get even worse. Uh there's
another person that is introduced into the story, Green's jailmate. His name's uh Greg Markham. What did he say
happened? >> So this is another unusual character. Greg Markham is a guy who was detained
on drug charges when John Green got to the Eddie Count County Detention Center. So they were in jail together. And
Markhamm said they struck up a sort of a casual friendship and started playing chess every day until one day Markham
told us that John Green asked him, "Do you know anyone who could and would kill my wife?"
Referring to Khim Lark. So what happens according to Greg Markham is he said to John Green, "If
you help me get money for bail to bond out of jail, I'll do it." He said that he never really planned to kill Kim
Lark, but he wanted this bail money. >> So Markham says that sort of this is the
plan. Green describes a layout of Kim's home. There's a diagram that's drawn out
and the idea was to make her drink water laced with fentinyl, which seems like a
plan that's got, you know, a few holes in it. >> More than a few holes. >> I mean, what if she doesn't drink the
water? >> Markham, as Josh said, is quite the character. He says that Green told him
that the way to force her to take ventil, okay, is by pointing a gun, not at Kim, but at her dogs. And that she
cared about her dogs so much she would do whatever she was ordered. And then the whole idea was once the deed was
done, there was this like uh code phrase and it was supposed to be I walk the dogs. I mean, as you point out, Emory,
it was a ridiculous plan. When I asked Kim about the plot, and remember she's she's a tough chick. She said she would
have refused to drink anything and she would have fought like hell for her dogs if she had to. And of course, then when
we talked to John Green, he denied all of this. A >> and the thing about Markham is that he's
certainly no boy scout at all. >> Well, Markham called himself a con man, not a hitman. One thing that he was
unequivocal about though was that I may be a lot of things, but I'm not an assassin and I would I would never kill
anyone. >> So then how was the plot ultimately uncovered? >> So you have Green and Markham in in jail
and there's a another inmate who apparently overhears Green and Markham talking about this plot. That inmate
takes it upon himself to write Kim Lark a letter. And in the letter, the inmate is saying to Kim, "Your husband is
someone who's in jail with me, and I have the feeling he's planning to do something to you.
>> If you want to know more details, um, I'm willing to tell you and also even get up in court and testify to
this." >> Wow. >> And do the right thing if you pay me. >> Um, [laughter] >> oh my gosh. So, so what happens is uh he
sends that letter to Kim and she immediately gives it to authorities who track down the author of the letter and
interview him. He leads them to Greg Markham who corroborates the story and alleged plot.
>> So then Green goes on trial in March of 2025. He's charged with criminal solicitation uh to commit firstdegree
murder. Markham testifies against him. Green's found guilty. He's sentenced to nine years in prison, but with time
served, he could actually get out in less than three years. Erin, you managed to talk to Green. You get an interview
with him. His attorney sets up a video conference and you can ask him some questions. I imagine you must have
mapped out your questions and you were ready to hit him. >> Well, and remember I He's with me, but
he's on video. It's almost like a Zoom interview. It really is. And so it was frustrating um because while we could
see him on screen it's not quite the same um in many ways even though you know he had aged definitely over the
years he was the same guy after all these years denied any kind of uh crimes just as he always had. Um and as we've
been saying throughout this he has a way of saying a lot without answering your questions at all. was very very
>> it's always so frustrating talking to people like that especially when you know your time is limited. Um we saw
some of the interview in the hour. Let's place some more of your conversation. >> I have followed your life for the last
25 years. I mean when you read your book it's you seem to blame everything on somebody else.
>> Was I not framed in Monaco? I'm I'm just saying what I'm saying is that when I
look at your life over everything in Monaco and then here, you're you're always blaming somebody else. It's Kim
and not you. Do you take responsibility for any of this? >> Oh, I took the responsibility for what I
did when I took the dogs, but what I did was in most ter in most uh most actions
was community property. I didn't take a gun to anybody's head. I didn't do anything that was going to harm anybody.
>> Ted, somebody listening to right now is listening to what sounds like a very angry man. I mean, did you want Kim Lark
dead? >> No, absolutely not. >> I mean, you sound very angry. You sure you didn't like bring this up with Greg
Markham? >> No, absolutely not. Like I said, you don't pay somebody $2,500 to kill
somebody. >> That's a convenient thing for him to say. you don't pay $2,500 to kill
somebody because Greg Markham said the $2,500 payment was only the initial installment of what he allegedly was
promising to Markham. >> And I just want to remind you, Emory, even though he says he never wanted to
see his wife dead, the judge at sentencing who had listened to all the evidence said that he was worried about
Kim's safety. Green had appealed. his conviction was denied, but he was going to get out at some point. As for Kim,
she told us that even now, even though Green is still behind bars as we speak, she still keeps a shotgun within easy
reach. >> And she also keeps those dogs around, too. She has the dogs still. >> Yeah. And you know what what's so great
is that Felony and Storm are back with her. Zero has a new home. And I I just want to remind people that because Zero
was pregnant, she had puppies. So, there were a lot of dogs and there were people
who benefited from Zero and her puppies. >> That's fantastic. Well, I don't know.
This is a hell of an odyssey, but thank you so much for joining us for this podcast.
>> Pleasure. >> It was fun talking about this. >> Um, and thank you all for watching or
listening to Postmortem. And if you like this episode, please rate and review on
Apple Podcast or Spotify.

Watch "The Man with Two Names" and then catch up with "48 Hours" correspondents Anne-Marie Green and Erin Moriarty, along with producer Josh Yager to discuss the case against Jon Green on "Post Mortem." Green was arrested for stealing his ex-wife’s dogs and convicted in 2025 for soliciting her murder. But Erin and Josh first met Jon Green back in 2002, when he was then known as Ted Maher.

00:00 The Man with Two Names 41:47 Watch the "Post Mortem" podcast

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Brief Summary

John Green, formerly Ted Maher, faces murder solicitation charges after a troubled marriage and a past conviction for arson in Monaco.

Key points

A Shocking Confession. In jail, John Green discusses plans to kill his wife, raising alarming questions about his character.
The Truth Unveiled. John Green's real identity is revealed as Ted Maher, a man with a dark past.
Ted's Escape. After cutting metal bars and scaling prison walls, Ted calls Heidi to announce his freedom.
Heidi's Ultimatum. Furious with Ted's reckless behavior, Heidi declares her faith in him has run out.
John Green's Murder Plot. John Green is accused of soliciting his jailmate to murder his wife, Kim Lark.
The Verdict. The jury finds John Green guilty of solicitation to commit first-degree murder.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This guy's story is just crazy.

2:32WatchJun 7, 2026

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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