Original subtitles

This is the story of a little girl

who grows up to have everything she ever wanted.

She was secure. She was pampered.

She finds love, happiness, and success.

She just couldn't believe

that this guy picked her out of everybody.

He bought her a house, and he paid off her car,

and he's getting her this, and he's getting her that.

But lurking somewhere

in these never-before-seen videos

is a monster who will destroy it all.

How could somebody do this?

If the lord is with US, who is against US?

It's Christmas Eve, 1993, in winslow, Arizona...

...and snooping around the presents is

26-year-old Rebecca thudin.

Capturing it all on camera is their little sister, Linda.

Becky was a very fun-loving person.

She was a good sister,

always kind of on the go and just happy.

She was just a lot of fun -- very free spirit and loving.

Beautiful, successful, and wealthy --

Rebecca's trips home are the highlight of the holidays.

My sister came home to visit probably about once a year.

It was always a very exciting time.

Linda takes a break from filming to open a gift from Rebecca.

I've always been proud of my sister.

I love her dearly.

Every family member gets a special and expensive present.

To the rest of the family, Rebecca leads the perfect life,

but this is a life she almost didn't have.

These 16-millimeter clips date back to spring of 1968.

There's Rebecca in the pigtails.

This is an important day for her.

She has just been adopted by her new parents,

patsy and Howard thudin.

Rebecca was born in Tucson to a young drug addict.

Now her future is looking much brighter.

Two years later, patsy and Howard adopt Linda,

who is soon joined by new brother James.

My sister, Becky, my brother, James,

and I all got along very well.

We were all very close.

Patsy's mom looks on as she holds baby Linda.

And there's new baby-brother, 2-year-old James,

posing proudly next to his big sister Becky.

Mom, patsy, works as an accountant.

My mom is a very kind lady, very loving.

She cares about everybody.

We were raised in church from the time I can remember.

Dad, Howard, works hard over at the state roads commission,

but it's all worth it for moments like this.

My dad was a good man, very strong man.

I always looked up to him.

This footage shows that the holidays

in the thudin house never changed.

Christmases were always fun, always a good time,

always had the grandparents there all the time.

It's nice to see them, good to see how happy everybody was.

As the years pass, little Becky becomes Rebecca,

a beautiful sassy young woman with an independent streak.

She was very driven.

She was just very smart, very intelligent.

She decides she wants to see the world

beyond the Arizona desert, so she travels east to Florida.

I was sad when my sister left because there's a bond

sisters have that you just can't replace.

Rebecca's career also seems to take off.

She's a successful interior decorator

traveling the globe for work.

Rebecca doesn't have time to visit home much,

but when she does, she brings her energy and sense of fun.

My sister absolutely loved my kids.

My kids absolutely adored her because she was fun.

She's always the life and soul of the party,

like this Thanksgiving in 1997.

You ready? Scoop! Hurry!

But just four months after this footage was shot,

Rebecca receives a phone call that changes her life forever.

30-year-old Rebecca thudin

visits her adoptive family whenever she can.

It's the only family she has ever known,

that is until she gets a call.

Hello?

Is that Rebecca? Yeah.

The caller introduces herself as Karen Kendall,

and she is Rebecca's birth mother.

Rebecca was not quite 2 when I relinquished her.

I drank all the way to my pregnancy.

After my pregnancy, I started in with the drugs.

Rebecca was injured one evening.

I took her to the hospital,

and I was never allowed to take her home after that.

Rebecca was taken out of my custody

and put into foster care.

Rebecca was given a secure and loving upbringing,

but now she feels compelled to know more about

where she really came from.

She decides to meet her birth mother

and her half sister, Stephanie.

A mother never gets over her firstborn.

I wanted to give her a chance to know who her mama was.

It was like no time had passed, no love was lost.

It was just like we picked up where we left off in 1968.

We all have the same eye color,

and we all just look very similar,

and it was just sort of magical and surreal.

Rebecca tells her mom about her life.

She explained to US that she was an interior decorator

that traveled a lot, that had a lot of important clients,

people that she spent a lot of time with.

She was pretty much her own person,

not worried about being dependent on anybody.

My sister seemed very glamorous.

My sister seemed very well-off.

I just wanted to be her and be next to her

and just be with her because she was just larger than life.

In 2005, another face enters Rebecca's life.

His name is Larry fenton.

She just couldn't believe that this guy saw her

and picked her out of everybody in that gym.

Hi.

Hi.

You know, they just had so much in common,

and she was just so swept away.

At 55, he is a little older than Rebecca,

but the attraction is instant.

I remember my sister telling me that she had met a lovely man.

She just absolutely adored him.

It's a whirlwind romantic.

Within three months, the couple are engaged and living

in a five-bedroom house in clearwater, Florida.

She was over-the-moon happy.

She was secure.

She was pampered.

She was taken care of, and this man was going to be

part of her life as long as she would allow him to be.

Larry is more than happy to provide for them both.

They would travel a lot,

and they would go on little vacations,

and they would, you know, go and do things together,

and it was all very whirlwind.

You know, he bought her a house,

and he paid off her car,

and he's getting her this, and he's getting her that.

Rebecca is now free to spend all her time

on her fitness and her beauty.

I had three complete distinct wrinkles

that went right across my face and a line.

I had what I called the running rivers and,

of course, the crow's feet.

Here she is in an ad for a local acupuncture clinic.

We're all getting older.

Nobody is going to live forever.

I just want to slow it down a little bit,

and I'd like to do it in a very safe way that was meant for me.

As usual, Larry can't help but sing her praises.

I definitely noticed a difference in her forehead

and here in her cheekbones.

You could see in his eyes how much he loved her,

just like you could in my sister's eyes her love for him.

But Rebecca hasn't been completely honest with Larry.

Are you okay?

She has a secret that could leave their future in ruins.

Rebecca thudin has met Larry fenton,

the man of her dreams.

She has built a perfect life for herself.

But everything could be about to change.

Honey, are you okay?

Rebecca has a secret from her past

that Larry has to hear.

Rebecca told US this story about being an interior designer,

and that's why she traveled, and, you know,

that was how she afforded the lifestyle.

But this was, in fact, a cover story.

She was working as an escort,

a very glamorous escort.

But an escort nonetheless.

Rebecca's adopted family in Arizona

had no idea how she funded her glamorous lifestyle.

I want you to know that I've put all of that behind me now,

and I just want to be with you.

Rebecca's confession could destroy everything she has.

To Rebecca's delight, Larry says he can put her past behind them.

In 2005, Larry and Rebecca tie the knot in a small ceremony

at a clearwater hotel.

The wedding was beautiful, and there was family there,

and she was very excited.

She looked absolutely gorgeous.

Karen acts as the official witness for the ceremony.

She wore a beautiful white Chanel suit.

It was very quiet,

very just-a-few-friends kind of thing.

We all had drinks. We all had cake.

Larry is so smitten with his new bride

that he has another surprise in store.

Just months after the wedding,

he invites Karen to live with them.

It was a turning point for me because I had a chance

to enjoy the lavish lifestyle.

She had this beautiful home.

We got to hang out together.

Larry would go out of town,

and we would do different things,

so it was all very bright and new for me.

But Karen still has issues with alcohol.

With nothing to occupy her days,

Rebecca starts to drink with her mother...

Cheers. Cheers.

...but hides it from her husband.

When he was away on trips, and I was living there,

it was not pretty.

As Larry's trips become more frequent,

so does Rebecca's drinking.

When we weren't out at the bar, she was drinking in the house.

It was an all-day, everyday thing.

I'm home.

Look at this place!

One day, Larry returns home to find

Rebecca and Karen very drunk,

which leads to a series of huge rows between the couple.

That's when he first became aware

of the seriousness of her alcoholism.

In an effort to save her marriage,

Rebecca agrees to attend alcoholics anonymous.

People have different struggles in life,

so I, like, really commend her for going to a.A.

And doing what she needed to do.

Anytime Rebecca commits to anything,

she does it 150%.

And she most definitely did this when she joined a.A.

She wasn't going to do this with just one foot in.

She was going to jump in wholeheartedly.

Rebecca becomes a regular at the meetings

and soon starts making an impression.

I first met Rebecca at one of the meetings.

She was bubbly.

She was funny, and I liked Rebecca.

I thought she was really cool.

February 3rd, 2008 -- it's super bowl sunday.

I'm going out back for a bit, okay?

Okay, honey.

In a few short minutes,

Larry and Rebecca's lives will change forever.

This love story is about to come to a brutal end.

Sunday, February 3rd at 4:55 P.M.,

clearwater police dispatch receives a frantic call.

It's 40-year-old Rebecca fenton.

When officers arrive,

they immediately begin to film the scene.

This never-before-seen police video

shows exactly what they find.

The house has been turned upside down.

And laying in the hallway in a pool of his own blood

is Larry fenton.

He appears to have been shot in the back and the neck.

The violent shooting in this quiet wealthy area

has drawn news crews,

and their cameras capture Rebecca

talking out front with police.

Becky was just devastated.

She was crying. She was in tears.

She was just literally heartbroken.

She is in a state of shock

and calls her friend Sheila for support.

I picked up the phone, and it was Rebecca on the phone

just freaking out, crying,

saying, "my god, Sheila! My god!"

I went to her house,

and they had yellow ribbons everywhere, tape.

Well, I went and sat by Rebecca.

It was absolutely terrifying.

Larry was inside, dead at the bottom of the stairs,

and she says someone shot him.

How could somebody break in and do this?

How could somebody kill this wonderful, wonderful man?

I loved Larry. He was a great guy.

Detectives ask Rebecca to come to the police department

to give a statement.

Okay.

Rebecca says she was working out in the gym

in their garage at the time of the shooting.

Rebecca tells police that when she gets outside,

she notices that Larry's white Jeep cherokee is missing.

Right. I understand.

Police conduct a gunshot-residue test on Rebecca.

The result -- she's clean.

With nothing to suggest Rebecca was involved in Larry's death,

she's free to go.

Back at the house...

Forensic teams continue to look for clues.

It's clear that the place has been ransacked,

just like Rebecca said.

The positioning of the body

suggests Larry was running towards the door

as he was gunned down from behind.

He could've been the victim of a home invasion gone wrong.

While canvassing the neighborhood,

investigators find something unexpected.

It's Larry's stolen Jeep,

parked just a block away from the crime scene.

Inside are items that appear

to have been taken from the house.

There's no signs of forced entry or hot-wiring.

Whoever took the vehicle must have had the key.

The following day, investigators decide to conduct

a routine check of Rebecca's car.

It hasn't left the driveway since the murder.

One of the techs finds a plastic bag under the passenger seat.

It contains a man's watch, a .38-caliber revolver...

...and the keys to Larry's Jeep.

Records show that the gun is registered

to Larry and Rebecca.

No identifiable fingerprints are recovered,

but forensic tests reveal the .38 is

the weapon that killed Larry.

The discovery of the murder weapon in her car

means that Rebecca is back on the suspect list,

but detectives decide against questioning her again

until they find something to tie her directly to the scene.

When Rebecca said that somebody broke in and killed her husband,

I had to believe that was the truth.

I didn't know why, and I didn't know who it could be,

but there was just no way that I could believe my daughter

would purposely shoot and kill this man.

The lack of fingerprints

combined with the negative residue test

means that police do not have enough evidence

to charge Rebecca with murder.

With no other leads, the case goes cold.

Five years pass, and Rebecca tries to move on,

but Larry's murder remains unsolved,

and as a result, the life insurance doesn't pay out.

Rebecca never really received any money

on behalf of Larry's estate.

Any insurance policies or any of those things

were reserved and held back until there was more answers.

Rebecca finds herself more and more in financial trouble.

Then the bank says it's going to foreclose on her house.

June 2013, 5 years after Larry's murder,

fire trucks respond to yet another 911 call from Rebecca.

Her house is up in flames.

The home she shared with Larry fenton

is completely devastated.

Rebecca is interviewed by a local news crew.

Just say, "goodbye."

It's the end of the chapter.

I'm not sure if this is an ending

or if it's a beginning, you know?

If the lord is with US, who is against US?

Authorities suspect arson, but like the murder,

the cause of the Blaze is found to be inconclusive.

Just five years ago, Rebecca had everything she wanted.

Now she has lost it all.

It's hard to imagine.

Things are about to get a lot worse.

It's been five years since the shooting of Larry fenton.

Police originally suspected his wife, Rebecca.

But there wasn't enough evidence to tie her to the crime...

...that is until police arrest a petty criminal

named Alfred Nolan for violating his parole.

He's looking at some serious jail time

until he tells the police all about a woman

he was living with, a woman by the name of Rebecca fenton.

Rebecca was trying to keep her head above water.

I think that she was struggling to survive financially.

Alfred claims that a fight broke out over money.

Where is the money?

I'll get you your money.

According to Alfred, she grabbed a butcher knife

and put it to his throat and said,

"I will kill you like I killed Larry."

With this damning statement in hand,

an investigative team specializing

in unresolved cases is brought in.

And on march 21st, they question Rebecca.

The detectives sum up what they already know.

This time, detectives reveal

that the murder weapon was found in Rebecca's car.

Armed with Alfred's testimony

and a new investigative team,

police are now certain they have enough to charge her.

Rebecca's trial begins in November 2015.

The reason I went to the trial,

besides the fact that she sent for me,

was that I needed to get the truth about what happened,

and I didn't feel like I was getting the truth from Rebecca.

In the pinellas county courtroom, prosecutors lay out

what they think really happened that afternoon.

The prosecution says this was no random home invasion

or burglary gone wrong.

After her workout, Rebecca checked to see

that Larry was still distracted.

She then loaded it with five rounds

then went down to confront him in the living room.

Larry bolted for the front door, but Rebecca opened fire.

She figured all she had to do was throw open some drawers,

knock stuff off the shelves, and take a few token items

to make it look like the place had been ransacked.

After wiping herself clean of gunshot residue,

police believe she hid the items in Larry's car

and drove it a few streets away to make it look

as if it had been taken.

What she didn't have time to do

is properly dispose of the murder weapon,

so she threw it in her car, thinking she'd ditch it

after the police had finished searching her home.

Go ahead, caller. What's going on?

But police found it first.

The presentation of small yet important pieces of evidence

is compelling to the jury,

and Alfred Nolan's testimony seems to seal the deal.

On November 13th, 2015,

Rebecca fenton is found guilty of first-degree murder.

She is sentenced to life in prison

without the possibility of parole.

To this day, Rebecca's two families remain divided

about the verdict.

I was very shocked.

How do you sit on a jury or be that cop and say,

"without a doubt, she did it"?

I think anybody could just set somebody up.

She was an easy scapegoat.

That's what I think.

Rebecca's biological family feel differently.

I just wasn't too surprised.

I sat there through the nine days of the trial,

and I saw the witnesses.

I saw the evidence.

I couldn't see that there was any other outcome

but that she was guilty.

They are still no closer to understanding

what drove Rebecca to kill.

I was sad for Rebecca that her life was over.

I was sad for my mom that her firstborn child

was going through this experience.

I was sad for Larry that his life had ended

in such a tragic way by somebody that he loved so much.

I wish I knew why Rebecca killed Larry.

I really have no idea why.

But Karen believes that Rebecca

could've been motivated by greed.

I don't think Larry was exciting enough for Rebecca.

I think Rebecca thought that if she killed or got rid of Larry

that she would be free and rich enough to go on

and pursue other interests in her life.

Watching this video makes me realize she grew up

with such a obviously loving, warm family.

Rebecca had the best life ever for herself.

Sometimes, that's not enough.