Twisted in Texas

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Speaker 4 I'm Lester Holt, and this is Dateline.

Speaker 6 They said we need you to get in the car with us.

Speaker 6 They zip-tied my arms and zip-tied my legs, duct tape my hair.

Speaker 7 There's no words.

Speaker 6 I'm sitting there just hysterical. It's terrifying.

Speaker 4 A secret, sinister plot.

Speaker 8 He's giving you a way to kill someone.

Speaker 9 Very detailed, precise instructions.

Speaker 4 And she was the target.

Speaker 10 I mean, she just broke down. She looked afraid.

Speaker 11 It was surprising. Normally, we don't deal with professional people looking to have somebody killed.

Speaker 4 But this would be far more twisted than investigators thought. Not one murder scheme, but two.

Speaker 12 So now you have a man and a woman who both want their exes dead. Is that beyond bizarre?

Speaker 5 Shocking.

Speaker 10 Well, I could feel my heart start racing.

Speaker 12 It just was unreal. I couldn't believe that this was happening.

Speaker 6 It was the worst, worst day of my life.

Speaker 4 Here's Andrea Canning with Twisted in Texas.

Speaker 12 In the beginning, it was Hetty. Fun.

Speaker 6 He's very charming.

Speaker 12 She was swept away.

Speaker 6 I don't think I've ever had somebody tell me I'm beautiful that much.

Speaker 12 But without warning, it all turned from love story to crime story.

Speaker 13 He's a relentless tsunami.

Speaker 6 He doesn't care who he affects.

Speaker 12 It's like out of a movie.

Speaker 13 It is.

Speaker 6 It is.

Speaker 2 A thriller.

Speaker 10 I ran across the street yelling, leave her alone.

Speaker 12 With secret recordings.

Speaker 14 I want her bomb.

Speaker 12 A fake death.

Speaker 12 And another death that was all too real.

Speaker 13 It's awful.

Speaker 12 Never should have happened.

Speaker 6 None of it.

Speaker 12 Megan Varricus is a Pittsburgh girl born and raised. Steeler games, tight-knit friends, a solid family.

Speaker 6 I grew up with my parents who've been married for 35 years.

Speaker 12 Megan's own love life wasn't so simple. She got married in her 20s, but she and her husband drifted apart.
So she threw herself into work, managing a busy hotel downtown.

Speaker 6 It's a fun job. You meet a lot of different people.

Speaker 12 One of those people was a local doctor who checked in during the winter of 2014. His name was Leon Jacob.
What's your first impression?

Speaker 6 He was arrogant, like just, you know, oh, I'm a doctor. Give me whatever suite you have.

Speaker 12 What did you make of that? Did you think to yourself, I don't want anything to do with you?

Speaker 6 Exactly, exactly.

Speaker 6 But he wears on you?

Speaker 12 Leon came from a well-to-do family and attended an elite boarding school. Now, he told her, he was a transplant surgeon.

Speaker 6 I think that anybody is enamored by somebody who can save lives.

Speaker 12 Like Megan, Leon was unlucky in love. He told her he was going through a divorce.
The more Megan got to know him, the more approachable he seemed.

Speaker 6 He is very charming.

Speaker 12 Soon enough, a romance blossomed. And when Leon moved back to his hometown of Houston, he asked Megan to join him.

Speaker 6 He had made me feel like I deserved something else.

Speaker 12 Something better? Yeah.

Speaker 12 Houston was good for Megan. She found a job in hotel sales and signed a lease on a cool new apartment.
Leon moved in.

Speaker 6 That to me was really scary. I'm very independent.
And he's like, I opened a bank account and I put your name on it. And I'm like,

Speaker 6 but I was like, oh, he really cares. Like,

Speaker 6 okay.

Speaker 12 Leon's family welcomed Megan like one of their own. Did you start to envision the possibility of marriage with Leon?

Speaker 16 Yeah.

Speaker 6 At 30 years old, you don't spend time with somebody that you won't want to be serious with. That's not who I am.

Speaker 12 Megan settled in. She got a dog and made a new friend through work, Ariel Washington.

Speaker 10 We really clicked over just being from out of town, both transitioning into Houston. We were both Steelers fans.

Speaker 12 Leon's selfies showed a loving couple. But there was one trouble spot in Megan's new life.
Leon didn't have a Texas medical license yet.

Speaker 6 So then I was like, okay, why don't you go work as a surgical assistant? And he was like, you don't understand what it's like to be a doctor. You can't just take any job.

Speaker 12 Megan had to support both herself and Leon.

Speaker 10 It really just seemed like frustrations within a normal relationship.

Speaker 12 But one night, everything changed. Megan expressed her frustration in front of Leon's high-achieving family.

Speaker 6 Like, I don't understand why he's not working. And he was like, we're going to talk about this when we get home.
And he just

Speaker 6 tore up my entire closet and just threw all of my stuff on the balcony.

Speaker 12 What did you say back to him?

Speaker 6 I was like, shocked. I didn't know what to say.

Speaker 6 And I didn't know what to do. Like, here I am.
I live with this person.

Speaker 12 That night started a downward spiral. According to Megan, soon, every day, Leon seemed to find a new reason to get angry.
Eventually, she says, his anger turned into abuse.

Speaker 6 It was always something like almost like clockwork. He used to chew tobacco, and he, I don't know what I did or what happened.

Speaker 6 He

Speaker 6 took the thing of spit and threw it across the room at me. It was constant.

Speaker 12 It was humiliating.

Speaker 6 Yeah, and he just... didn't think it was a big deal, even though he would call me these horrible names and just demeaning and awful.

Speaker 12 Then, she said, he would would beg forgiveness.

Speaker 6 I'm sorry. You know, I love you.
I have so much other things going on. I need you in my world.
You're the only thing that keeps me happy.

Speaker 12 Would you forgive him when he would say sorry?

Speaker 7 Of course.

Speaker 12 She says, Leon always promised to change, but never did.

Speaker 12 And did you ask yourself, how did I

Speaker 6 get under this man's name? Exactly. Don't expect to be in a relationship like that.

Speaker 12 Then came January 12th, 2017. Megan got home late after a long day at work.

Speaker 6 He started throwing stuff out of the dishwasher. He's throwing it and throwing it.
And then he threw a glass of wine on me.

Speaker 12 Megan had to get out.

Speaker 6 And I was like, I'm done. I'm leaving.

Speaker 12 She rushed to pack a bag.

Speaker 6 He put his hands over my face and said, go ahead and try and leave you, dumb.

Speaker 12 Megan made a run for it. She took their dog and got in the car.
She said Leon chased her down the driveway.

Speaker 12 He's pulling on the car door and pulling on the car door.

Speaker 6 And he was like, If you don't give me the dog, I'm going to punch in your window.

Speaker 12 Leon grabbed the dog, but Megan got away. She was free, or so she thought.

Speaker 6 When we come back, I had pulled out, and he was right behind me.

Speaker 10 She looked afraid.

Speaker 4 Was Megan in danger?

Speaker 17 He said, She's got to be out of the picture. If he'd hired somebody to do something, who knows what they're going to do?

Speaker 12 Every morning, around 8:30, Ariel Washington had a sales meeting with her friend and co-worker, Megan Vericus. But January 13th, 2017, was different.

Speaker 10 I was like, good morning.

Speaker 10 The next words out of my mouth were, what's wrong? Her face was blotchy, marks and things like that around.

Speaker 12 It was the morning after Megan's desperate flight from her boyfriend Leon.

Speaker 10 She started crying. I closed the door.
I, you know, broke out tissues.

Speaker 12 Until that moment, Ariel knew very little about Megan's troubles with Leon.

Speaker 10 She looked afraid and in disbelief that something like this happened to her.

Speaker 12 As the women talked, Megan's cell pinged incessantly.

Speaker 6 It was just non-stop emails, phone calls, all from Leon.

Speaker 12 Erratic messages from an account called called Leon Loves Megan.

Speaker 8 It's like, I love you.

Speaker 6 Here's this wedding ring I was going to buy you. Then the next email would be, oh, you're so done.

Speaker 12 I want nothing to do with you. Megan texted Leon to leave her alone.
They were over. But there was more to come, and it was infuriating.

Speaker 12 Megan found out that Leon had withdrawn most of the money from their joint bank account. And when she went to her apartment to get her belongings, she was shocked by what she saw.

Speaker 6 I had no furniture left. Nothing.
He, luckily, I had gotten there in time before he took my clothes.

Speaker 12 Megan went to the police and swore out a complaint against Leon.

Speaker 6 And I just sat in this filthy office, just crying and writing down everything I could remember.

Speaker 12 She told police Leon had assaulted her. She applied for a protective order, but it didn't come through immediately.
A few days later.

Speaker 6 I had pulled out of my work and he was right behind me.

Speaker 12 Megan said she sped through downtown, but she couldn't shake her ex. Then Leon cut her off with his car.

Speaker 6 He jumped in front of my vehicle telling me I'm making a huge mistake and that he loves me.

Speaker 12 Megan says she managed to swerve around Leon and escape, but he kept showing up at the hotel where she worked asking to see her.

Speaker 10 His demeanor was very calm, but very persistent. That's actually

Speaker 10 scarier because you don't know what's going on in the back of their head.

Speaker 12 The hotel banned Leon from the property, but co-workers still saw him lurking.

Speaker 10 We walk outside and see him standing there behind a bush like you're invisible. I just remember the first words coming out of my mouth were, do you know we can see you?

Speaker 12 Furious, Ariel says she ran across the street yelling.

Speaker 10 Go away, get away from us, leave her alone.

Speaker 12 Police arrested Leon for assault.

Speaker 10 But that was very short-lived because he was out, I want to say it within the next day.

Speaker 12 Two weeks later, Leon and Megan appeared in court. The judge granted that protective order.
He then ordered Leon to be arrested again on the spot, this time for stalking.

Speaker 12 As officers read Leon his rights, Megan was surprised to see a familiar face in the gallery.

Speaker 6 I noticed Valerie was sitting in the stand, which I thought was odd.

Speaker 12 Valerie McDaniel, a successful veterinarian in town, recently divorced from her husband of 19 years, Mac.

Speaker 12 Megan met Valerie, Mac, and their daughter when their marriage was falling apart.

Speaker 6 She would come over and have martinis, and she would be over a lot. And we went to a couple nightclubs and things like that.
She seemed like a nice person.

Speaker 12 How did Leon act around Valerie?

Speaker 6 Like it was anybody else.

Speaker 12 But that was then. On this day in court, Megan thought Leon and Valerie looked like a couple.

Speaker 12 She learned later that Valerie even posted Leon's bond with this man, a bail bondsman named named Michael Kubosch, who a couple of days later got an unsettling visit from Leon.

Speaker 17 He shut the door behind him.

Speaker 1 Was that odd?

Speaker 17 Very odd. And he says, I'm here because I want to know one thing.

Speaker 12 Leon asked the bail bondsman for help finding another client of his. Leon said the client's name was Zach.

Speaker 2 And I said, well, I don't know Zach.

Speaker 17 Who are you talking about? He said, you know him. He's ex-military, ex-CIA, he's Middle Eastern.

Speaker 12 Leon said he'd hired Zach to do a job for him, but now couldn't find him.

Speaker 17 And then he tells me that he's paid him a lot of money to take care of this.

Speaker 2 Take care of what he's doing.

Speaker 17 And he said, she's got to go either back to Pittsburgh. She's got to be out of the picture.
I'm a doctor. I can't have her come to this court and testify against me.

Speaker 12 Kubosh found Leon's words frightening.

Speaker 17 I felt like it was much more sinister than just wanting her to go to Pittsburgh.

Speaker 12 To what extent? Were you thinking?

Speaker 2 I didn't know.

Speaker 17 If he'd hired somebody to do something, who knows what they're going to do?

Speaker 12 Turns out, the bail bondsman also happened to be a city councilman and a friend of the Houston police chief.

Speaker 12 So he gave the chief a call and said they should take a closer look at Leon and the mysterious Zach.

Speaker 4 Coming up.

Speaker 4 An undercover mission to learn what Leon's really up to.

Speaker 8 He's giving you a way to kill someone.

Speaker 9 Very detailed, precise instructions.

Speaker 4 And the real jawdropper, Megan, wasn't the only target.

Speaker 15 We're taking care of both problems, but both bubbles.

Speaker 15 Both of the individuals that we're talking about.

Speaker 4 When Dateline continues,

Speaker 19 some stories never make national headlines, but stories from small towns and coastal communities deserve recognition too.

Speaker 19 I'm Kylie Lowe, host of Dark Down East, a true crime podcast that gives voice to victims through investigative journalism and powerful storytelling.

Speaker 19 Set in my home state of Maine and the greater New England area, it's my goal to dig through the archives to bring the stories of the people at the heart of these cases to light.

Speaker 19 Listen to Dark Down East, wherever you get your podcasts.

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Speaker 12 February 23rd, 2017. Leon Jacob had been arrested two days before.
Megan Varakis had a protective order against him. So, for the first time in weeks, she should have felt safe.

Speaker 12 But that evening, her phone rang. It was a police officer.

Speaker 6 And he basically said that there was a credible threat to my life.

Speaker 12 Police came to meet Megan the next morning. Her friend Ariel remembered Megan was so afraid she wore a disguise.

Speaker 10 You know, she's putting this wig on, putting a hat on, you know, jeans, tennis shoes, t-shirt, so that, you know, she could try to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Speaker 12 Megan and Ariel checked the officers' IDs one by one. Then, investigators shared the tip they got from the bail bondsman, Michael Kubosch.

Speaker 6 They think that

Speaker 6 my ex-boyfriend may have hired somebody to have me hurt

Speaker 6 and that I need to be surrounded by people 24 hours a day and not be left alone.

Speaker 12 Normally, I would say, that must have been shocking. Were you all that surprised that I wasn't.
The police suggested Megan go back to Pittsburgh for a while, so she bought a ticket and flew home.

Speaker 12 Meanwhile, at the Harris County DA Special Crimes Bureau, investigators Jimmy Turpin and Mike Mulden started looking into Leon. Were you surprised to see a doctor involved in this?

Speaker 11 It was surprising to us. Normally, we don't deal with professional people looking to have somebody killed.

Speaker 12 Their first priority, locate the elusive Zach, the guy Leon asked the bail bondsman about, the guy who may have been a hitman. They searched databases, knocked on doors, and they found him.

Speaker 12 His real name was Motaz Azza, or Taz for short.

Speaker 22 And he said, we need to talk.

Speaker 12 Taz said they had him all wrong. He was no hitman, but they were right about Leon.
He wanted to get rid of Megan.

Speaker 11 His main goal was that she'd not appear in court. Whatever means that required that to happen,

Speaker 11 that was fine with Leon, up killing her.

Speaker 12 Taz said Leon gave him $9,980 in cash and a couple of fancy watches to do the job. But Taz said he had no intention of doing it.

Speaker 22 His story was he was playing Leon. He wasn't ever going to do the hit.

Speaker 12 But Taz told police he had no doubt Leon still wanted it done. Taz also said he was willing to work with them to help catch Leon.

Speaker 12 So, police told Taz to call Leon. They recorded the call.

Speaker 24 Hello? Hey, what's up, man?

Speaker 15 How you doing, Blake?

Speaker 24 Very good. Hey, listen, I'm going to set up a meeting with you tomorrow so we can finish this, okay?

Speaker 12 Okay.

Speaker 12 Taz told Leon he was bringing a partner.

Speaker 24 I'm going to bring with me the

Speaker 24 Navy C guy because he wants, you know,

Speaker 24 so we can get this done. I wanted to.

Speaker 12 Taz didn't tell Leon his new partner was really an undercover police officer. Then, Leon said something Taz wasn't expecting.

Speaker 15 We're taking care of both problems.

Speaker 24 What? Both problems?

Speaker 15 Both of the individuals that we're talking about.

Speaker 22 Taz looked at me and shrugged his shoulders.

Speaker 12 A second potential victim has just been added to the mix.

Speaker 1 Yes.

Speaker 12 Leon agreed to meet at an Olive Garden restaurant with Taz and the undercover officer who went by Adam. We've agreed not to show his face.
What is the goal of this meeting?

Speaker 9 Make sure that this really is a murder for hire. and to gather evidence, to see what it is that they want, also to discuss payment.

Speaker 12 When Leon showed up, he wasn't alone.

Speaker 9 We followed Leon to the table where we sat down. We were introduced to Valerie.

Speaker 12 That's right. Valerie McDaniel, Leon's new girlfriend, the woman who bonded him out of jail.
Here was Valerie meeting two supposed hitmen.

Speaker 15 Thanks, Valerie. Nice to meet you.

Speaker 25 Nice to meet you.

Speaker 12 When the conversation started, Leon didn't sound like someone trying to hire a hitman. He said he'd be happy if Megan just went back to Pittsburgh.
I wanted to

Speaker 12 But as they ate their pasta, Leon's tone hardened.

Speaker 11 Make it very clear, but

Speaker 11 if she doesn't

Speaker 11 try to

Speaker 15 severe hospitalization.

Speaker 12 During the conversation, Leon said he wanted Adam to try another tactic: plant some drugs on Megan.

Speaker 12 And Leon had a more sinister idea, which, to the undercover officer, sounded like an invitation to murder.

Speaker 8 He's giving you a way to kill someone.

Speaker 9 He gave me very detailed, precise instructions on how to kill somebody.

Speaker 12 But it wasn't just Megan whose life was in danger. Remember, Leon had said something about both individuals.
Who was the other target?

Speaker 15 I don't mind the

Speaker 15 act.

Speaker 12 Leon clearly hated the guy. So who was he?

Speaker 27 We never met a human being

Speaker 27 like her.

Speaker 27 And I've met some pretty bad people.

Speaker 12 Her ex-husband, he meant Valerie's ex-husband, Mac.

Speaker 12 That's right. This murder for hire was a double plot, a twofer.
It seemed Leon and Valerie both wanted their exes dead.

Speaker 12 Leon and Taz left the table for a smoke, and Valerie talked specifics with Adam about how he could bump off her ex-husband.

Speaker 12 The undercover officer suggested some simpler execution options.

Speaker 25 Take his car, leave him on the street, make sure he's dead, maybe put another bone on his head. We call that a double tap.
They'll think he was a a robber.

Speaker 12 But first, Adam wanted to know: was she sure?

Speaker 25 Give me the go ahead. There's no going back.
That's okay.

Speaker 12 Of course, explained Adam. A second target would cost extra money.
Leon returned to the table to negotiate a payment plan.

Speaker 25 $5,000 after Turing is getting ill. Take care of it.

Speaker 12 Listening in from a nearby table was Sergeant Frank Quinn, who was in charge of the undercover operation. So now you have a man and a woman who both

Speaker 12 want their exes dead.

Speaker 1 Yes.

Speaker 12 Is that beyond bizarre?

Speaker 5 I hadn't seen anything like it before, and it was really

Speaker 5 shocking.

Speaker 12 The meeting broke up. Adam and Taz promised to be in touch.
Investigators thought they had a case, but to make it stick, they needed the money to change hands.

Speaker 12 And they had a wild, elaborate plan to make that happen.

Speaker 4 Coming up.

Speaker 6 They said we need you to get in the car with us.

Speaker 4 Undercover sting, scene number two.

Speaker 5 We zip-tied her hands, zip-tied her feet, and then duct tape around her mouth.

Speaker 6 I'm sitting there just hysterical.

Speaker 7 There's no words.

Speaker 12 After some anxious days in Pittsburgh, Megan Varicas got a call from investigators to come back to Houston. Soon after she arrived, they called again with a surprise.

Speaker 6 They said, we're outside, we need you to get in the car with us.

Speaker 12 It's like out of a movie.

Speaker 6 It is. They take me to some lot that looks like a junkyard, kind of.
There's cars with bullet holes in them.

Speaker 12 Just then, another car pulled up and a man got out. Megan recognized Valerie's ex-husband, Mac, and learned that he, too, was the target of a hit.

Speaker 6 He just hugged me and he was like, I heard about this like a day ago. And I was like, yeah, I've been dealing with this for some time.

Speaker 12 But neither Megan nor Mac could have anticipated the incredible scheme police had in mind for them.

Speaker 12 Sergeant Frank Quinn and his officers wanted Megan and Mac to participate, get this, in a fake kidnapping and murder.

Speaker 12 What a bizarre request of someone who's a victim in a potential murder for hire plot to, hey, we want you to pose and you're going to look dead.

Speaker 5 Yes.

Speaker 12 Quinn's plan was to show photos of the stage scenes to Leon and Valerie. He wanted to see their reaction and also have them make a payment for the fake hit.
Mac went first, playing a murder victim.

Speaker 12 Was Mac up for this?

Speaker 5 Yes, definitely.

Speaker 12 Quinn's unit used pig's blood to simulate a head wound. They knew they had to make it look convincing to Leon.

Speaker 5 When you're dealing with a doctor who's probably seen wounds, then you need to be as realistic as you can. He's been shot?

Speaker 12 Yes, shot in the head.

Speaker 1 In the photos?

Speaker 5 Shot in the head, yes.

Speaker 12 Megan's role was different.

Speaker 12 She played the victim of a kidnapping.

Speaker 5 We zip-tied her hands, zip-tied her feet, and then duct tape around her mouth. For us, this is very clinical.
But in Megan's case, it hit her, and tears were flowing, and she just broke down.

Speaker 7 There's no words.

Speaker 6 I'm sitting there just hysterical.

Speaker 8 But I guess it made the photos look better because it was real tears.

Speaker 6 It was real emotion.

Speaker 12 Meanwhile, Adam, the undercover police officer posing as a hitman, exchanged texts and calls with Leon. I want that taken care of ASAP too.
This has gotta be sick.

Speaker 9 Most of the conversations have to do with Leon asking me to hurry up and commence with

Speaker 23 the murder. We just want these two destructions taken care of immediately.

Speaker 12 Later that day, armed with the staged photos, the undercover officer Adam went over to Leon Leon and Valerie's home to tell them he'd killed Mac and get them to pay.

Speaker 28 The male subject, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. He's gone, he's dying.

Speaker 12 But Leon wanted to talk about Megan and how they were a bad match from the start.

Speaker 24 She grew up sort of middle, lower, middle class.

Speaker 28 This girl, she didn't understand my world.

Speaker 12 Adam returned to the business at hand, said he planned to deal with Megan the next day. If she refused to leave town, he would kill her.
Tomorrow?

Speaker 12 More than likely.

Speaker 12 By tomorrow, she'll more than likely be dead, and

Speaker 12 that's it. I'd like her not.

Speaker 26 I understand you prefer not, and I can't give you a hundred percent guarantee.

Speaker 12 Leon showed the undercover officer a pile of cash wrapped in a dish towel, payment for homicidal services rendered.

Speaker 9 $1,800 in cash with the promise to pay me the remainder of the $10,000 at a later time.

Speaker 12 What does that say to you in that moment? Like, this guy's obviously serious.

Speaker 9 That's what told me there was no going back. He was dead serious about it.

Speaker 12 The next day, Adam texted Leon that photo of Megan crying, zip-tied, and duct-taped. Leon didn't respond, so the undercover officer called to tell him he'd had to kill Megan.

Speaker 9 There's no reason for her.

Speaker 28 She's put too much risk on us, and she doesn't care

Speaker 24 about leaving.

Speaker 28 That's pretty much it, man.

Speaker 28 She's dead. She's gone.

Speaker 15 She's just like

Speaker 28 and so many words. Yeah.

Speaker 24 She's

Speaker 24 dead.

Speaker 24 You already secured me? Yeah.

Speaker 12 Hours later, continuing the ruse, police arrived at Valerie and Leon's apartment with their body cameras rolling.

Speaker 5 We're just coming to inform her that her husband has been killed to get her reaction. Your ex-husband's been found.
It looks like it

Speaker 5 turns out to be a fatality.

Speaker 12 What was their their reaction?

Speaker 5 Well, you know, they try to feign some kind of surprise. And then we want to gauge his reaction, too.

Speaker 15 Oh, my God.

Speaker 5 We're here all day with

Speaker 11 their daughter, and we're watching movies. He immediately offers an alibi.
He's like, oh, my gosh, we've been here all day.

Speaker 13 Suspicious?

Speaker 11 Very suspicious, yes. The one thing he's not is an actor, a good actor.

Speaker 12 The police got the reaction they were looking for. They had the money paid to the undercover officer, and so they sprang their trap.

Speaker 11 Right now, we're going to read you your rights.

Speaker 3 Me and both of them.

Speaker 12 They arrested Leon and Valerie for solicitation of capital murder and revealed there was no murder and no kidnapping. Megan and Mac were alive and well.

Speaker 11 They had no idea. They believed that their issues had been taken care of.
They had no more problems.

Speaker 11 And to immediately go from a death notification to you're under arrest for solicitation of capital murder.

Speaker 12 That's a head snapper.

Speaker 11 Yeah, that'll get your attention.

Speaker 4 Coming up.

Speaker 12 I couldn't believe that this was happening to my sister.

Speaker 4 What could have driven Valerie to do this?

Speaker 29 I hate the idea that everybody thinks I'm a monster.

Speaker 3 She tells her story.

Speaker 4 And Leon tells his.

Speaker 4 When dateline continues.

Speaker 19 Some stories never make national headlines, but stories from small towns and coastal communities deserve recognition too.

Speaker 19 I'm Kylie Lowe, host of Dark Down East, a true crime podcast that gives voice to victims through investigative journalism and powerful storytelling.

Speaker 19 Set in my home state of Maine and the greater New England area, it's my goal to dig through the archives to bring the stories of the people at the heart of these cases to light.

Speaker 19 Listen to Dark Down East, wherever you get your podcasts.

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Speaker 12 The headline was just so sensational: Ritzy River Oaks couple take out hits on their exes.

Speaker 12 The murder for hire plot that sent shockwaves through River Oaks. In the days following the arrests, revelations about Leon's past flooded in with every newscast, including NBC affiliate KPRC.

Speaker 12 Channel 2 Investigates is digging up new details. Court documents showed Leon wasn't exactly who he appeared to be.

Speaker 12 He'd been kicked out of residency programs, convicted of attempted cyber-stalking and criminal trespassing. And there was another woman from Leon's past who accused him of abuse, his ex-wife.

Speaker 26 One count of solicitation of capital murder, Mr.

Speaker 12 Leon was held without bail, but the judge did set bail for Valerie. She was allowed to go home.
Her sister Angela was in shock.

Speaker 12 It just was unreal. I couldn't believe that this was happening to my sister.

Speaker 7 The most

Speaker 6 kind,

Speaker 12 sweet,

Speaker 12 loving person. It's like you got your sister back, but I did.
With all these things happening now. Yeah.
Yeah. Did you ask her, did you do this? Did you want Matt killed?

Speaker 2 I did.

Speaker 12 What did she say?

Speaker 6 No. She said, absolutely not.
No.

Speaker 12 Valerie's best friend, Maggie, said Valerie was scarred by her recent divorce.

Speaker 13 It It left her extremely vulnerable to a predator like Leon to come along and sink his teeth in.

Speaker 12 It's when you want to shake your friend.

Speaker 13 He said, what are you doing?

Speaker 13 This guy is gross.

Speaker 13 I mean, every stretch of, I mean, every...

Speaker 12 After the arrest, Maggie confronted Valerie.

Speaker 13 And I just kind of said, listen, you are under some sort of spell right now. This monster has gotten you into some trouble and

Speaker 13 you need to fight like hell.

Speaker 12 What did she say?

Speaker 13 She did not understand what was happening. She just seemed

Speaker 13 off, terribly, terribly sad.

Speaker 12 At home, alone, Valerie recorded an audio diary on her iPad.

Speaker 16 Hey, it's Valerie.

Speaker 12 She recounted how, back when her marriage to Mac was crumbling, she ran into her neighbor's son, Leon.

Speaker 29 I was completely turned off immediately by his attitude because you could tell he knew how beautiful he was.

Speaker 12 But over time, Valerie, like Megan before her, thought she saw something in him. And, as with Megan, Leon captured their budding romance and selfies.

Speaker 29 I got through that exterior and realized he was

Speaker 12 a nice person.

Speaker 29 And I was lonely. And he kept me company.
I fell deeply in love with Leon.

Speaker 12 But Valerie said she never intended intended to have her husband killed.

Speaker 29 I hate the idea they're going to think I'm a monster.

Speaker 12 The audio diary turned out to be her final recorded words. I don't want to hurt anyone.
Just me.

Speaker 12 Okay, thank you for listening.

Speaker 12 A little over two weeks after her arrest, Valerie McDaniel jumped to her death from the seventh-floor balcony of her apartment building.

Speaker 6 It was the worst.

Speaker 6 Worst day of my life.

Speaker 12 Valerie's friend Maggie blamed Leon.

Speaker 13 I see it as murder. I really do.
I think he's murdered her reputation and he ultimately murdered her.

Speaker 12 Even though she made that choice on her own?

Speaker 13 Yes.

Speaker 13 Never, ever, ever. None of this would have ever happened without him.

Speaker 12 Leon Jacob didn't see it that way at all. We met him at the Harris County Jail, where he was awaiting trial, far removed from the promise of his early years.
This was a privileged life.

Speaker 12 Top boarding school, fancy vacations, nice house. Would you describe it that way?

Speaker 23 Yeah, I mean, I can't say that I wanted for anything.

Speaker 12 And what drew him to medicine?

Speaker 23 I think, in a lot of ways, as a physician, you're a public servant.

Speaker 12 He says Megan caught his eye at first sight.

Speaker 23 She was beautiful and

Speaker 23 vivacious and smart.

Speaker 12 She thought you were obnoxious when she first met you.

Speaker 23 I don't know. It was just being myself.

Speaker 23 Some people find me obnoxious or confident when they first meet me, but after they get to know me a little bit, I'm just an easygoing, fun-loving kind of person.

Speaker 12 After Leon was charged with soliciting Megan's murder, the old misdemeanor assault charge was dropped. He told us he never physically abused her.

Speaker 23 You know, it's very nice in hindsight to rewrite history, but when the trial goes on, you're going to see that this was a shock that she wanted out of this relationship.

Speaker 12 She said that you would yell and scream at her, that you would turn the TV up to the highest volume, that you would rip out all of her clothes, that this was a constant thing with you.

Speaker 23 I don't recall their relationship being like that.

Speaker 12 She said the final straw was when you grabbed her face in the bathroom and you physically assaulted her, and that's when she finally left.

Speaker 1 Her recollection

Speaker 23 of that night is different than mine.

Speaker 12 Tell us what happened in your eyes.

Speaker 23 We were fighting. It wasn't going to restrain her in any way.
I mean, I ever physically touched her or hurt her in any way,

Speaker 27 despite what she claims.

Speaker 12 He did admit he called Megan repeatedly and followed her around after their breakup. Said he just wanted to talk things out.

Speaker 12 She says that after she moved out and she was basically in hiding, according to her, that you started stalking her, that you would come to her work, you would call her work.

Speaker 12 multiple times a day, that she lived in terror of you.

Speaker 23 Again, that's her recollection of what happened. I've been to her work a bunch.
I went to take her out to lunch, sort of say, I'm sorry.

Speaker 12 You're making this sound like it's nothing. She was living in such fear that she didn't know if she was going to live to see another day if you found her.

Speaker 23 That's absurd.

Speaker 23 Absolutely absurd.

Speaker 12 Leon insisted he didn't hire anyone to hurt Megan. He was just trying to help her return to her hometown.

Speaker 23 I never asked him to snatch anybody or kidnap anybody. What I was told was what Megan wanted to do was go back to Pittsburgh.

Speaker 12 Why would you want to be nice nice at this point though? Megan doesn't want anything to do with you. It doesn't make any sense.

Speaker 23 I was told that's what her wishes were.

Speaker 12 And what about those tapes that sounded so damning?

Speaker 15 Yeah.

Speaker 12 Leon said the tapes didn't prove anything. Why go down this road? Why hire us who you think is a hitman if you don't want Megan dead?

Speaker 23 He was a hitman. You have to understand something.
I never thought these people were

Speaker 23 violent criminals at all.

Speaker 12 That's not how it appears on the tapes.

Speaker 23 If you really listen to what's said, I never asked them to hurt anybody.

Speaker 23 I never asked them to

Speaker 22 kill anybody.

Speaker 12 But remember, he did offer a suggestion on how to kill her.

Speaker 12 Why are you telling him how to do this?

Speaker 23 I will talk about that when I'm on this witness stand.

Speaker 12 So there's nothing you want to share now? No.

Speaker 12 We also asked how Valerie's husband became a target. Valerie was having a lot of problems with Mac.

Speaker 12 Did she confide in you?

Speaker 2 Yes.

Speaker 12 How angry did that make you, hearing these stories about Mac and Valerie?

Speaker 23 I didn't really have a reaction to it except to be there for his support system. I wasn't living in their marriage.
I only met him once. That was that he was never really around.

Speaker 12 One of Valerie's friends said that you were obsessed with Mac and the whole situation, that you had a lot of anger towards Mac yourself.

Speaker 23 I was upset with

Speaker 23 how he made her feel. You know, if you have a friend who's being abused, obviously you're not going to be happy about that, but I really had no feeling the way the other.

Speaker 12 If Leon told us he was being kind to Megan, it was a different story with Valerie.

Speaker 23 I had nothing to do with what was going on with Mag.

Speaker 12 He shifted blame to his late lover, even as he tried to sound sympathetic.

Speaker 23 Valerie wasn't a monster.

Speaker 2 She

Speaker 23 clearly had reached a breaking point, and I can't say that I condone what she wanted to have done. As a doctor, just as a human being, you know, taking someone's life is not

Speaker 9 okay with me.

Speaker 12 So, you're saying you two were not in on this together?

Speaker 22 Not in on having anybody killed, absolutely not.

Speaker 12 Did you mastermind the plan to have Megan and Mac killed?

Speaker 23 There was never a plan to have anybody killed, so no, I did not mastermind a plan to have Megan and or Mac killed.

Speaker 12 Do you believe believe Valerie was the mastermind behind this plan?

Speaker 23 I don't think the mastermind is

Speaker 23 the correct term. She asked for something to happen that she clearly wanted to have happen.
I don't think she masterminded it. I think that she

Speaker 23 progressively got there.

Speaker 12 Convenient for Leon, Valerie wasn't around to defend herself. Then again, he was the one about to go on trial.

Speaker 4 Coming up.

Speaker 26 You need to restate your question.

Speaker 1 A suspect, not as clever as he thinks, or just clever enough to convince a jury.

Speaker 26 I never asked to have anybody hurt, killed, harmed,

Speaker 23 kidnapped.

Speaker 4 What would the verdict be?

Speaker 12 Harris County Prosecutor Samantha Connect and her co-counsel Cameron Calligan knew they had a strong case against Leon Jacob for solicitation of capital murder and additionally for solicitation of kidnapping.

Speaker 12 They also knew they had a potential problem. As you headed to trial, what was going to be the cornerstone of your case?

Speaker 21 The recordings.

Speaker 30 The recordings.

Speaker 16 There was no way that he was going to be able to get himself out of all of the things that he said.

Speaker 12 What would you say was the weakest part of your case?

Speaker 30 Well, an aspect of the recordings as well. The defendant is educated.
He's intelligent. He was cautious in his approach to talking to the undercover officer.

Speaker 12 That was the problem. In all those recorded conversations, Leon never said, kill Megan.

Speaker 12 Yet the prosecutors had to prove that's exactly what he meant.

Speaker 26 Leon Jacob does not stop until he gets what he wants.

Speaker 12 The trial began on March 20th, 2018. The prosecution called the bail bondsman Michael Kubosch, who told the jury he had no doubt Leon wanted to hire a hitman to kill Megan.

Speaker 17 Felt like I was talking to the devil himself.

Speaker 12 The state then called the supposed hitman turned informant, Taz, who testified that he too knew exactly what Leon wanted done.

Speaker 26 I asked him to bring $2,500 to see how serious he is. And he brought that money.
Yes.

Speaker 12 Prosecutors played the tape, where Leon discussed in detail how he, as a doctor, might get rid of Megan.

Speaker 11 I'm traceing her.

Speaker 27 I'd prefer not to do that.

Speaker 27 My survival walked forward.

Speaker 16 He might not have said murder, he might not have said kill, but he knew what he was asking for.

Speaker 12 One of the star witnesses was the man who played dead. Mac McDaniel, alive and well, told the jury that he didn't want Leon, a man accused of stalking in assault, anywhere near his daughter.

Speaker 31 Did you convey to Valerie your wishes that Natalie not be around the defendant? Yes.

Speaker 12 Motive, said the prosecutors, for Leon to have Mac killed.

Speaker 26 Mac and maybe even the courts may get involved are going to make Valerie choose between her daughter and the defendant. She's going to choose her daughter.

Speaker 12 Sergeant. Mac recounted the emotional moment when he learned about the murder plot.

Speaker 4 That if they would have been successful, Natalie would have not had any parents.

Speaker 12 Then it was Megan's turn. No gag or zip ties this time.
She told the jury she had no doubt Leon wanted her dead.

Speaker 31 Were you scared? Very scared.

Speaker 31 How did that affect how you felt about your safety around the defendant? I was terrified.

Speaker 12 Defense attorney George Parnum said the prosecution had it all wrong. Leon didn't want anyone killed.

Speaker 5 He wasn't suggesting that this be done.

Speaker 12 He argued Leon was just a lovelorn ex-boyfriend who'd gone overboard with big talk.

Speaker 5 His braggadoches and then backtracks.

Speaker 12 You might think that would make him a risky witness, but Leon wanted to testify.

Speaker 26 I never asked to have anybody hurt, killed, harmed,

Speaker 26 kidnapped. We had multiple discussions or multiple conversations about not wanting to harm or hurt anybody.

Speaker 12 The state said that was just semantics.

Speaker 12 On cross-examination, prosecutor Samantha Connect pointed out that despite Leon's claim he hadn't explicitly asked for Megan or Mac to be killed, he didn't exactly shy away from violent talk.

Speaker 31 Snatch her, put her in a room, and tell her if she doesn't leave, I'm going to kill her parents, right?

Speaker 26 If that's what you say I said.

Speaker 31 Did you say it, Mr. Jacob?

Speaker 26 Sure.

Speaker 12 As for Leon's claim, he never suggested killing Megan.

Speaker 31 If you injected someone with potassium chloride and stopped their heart, that it would hurt them.

Speaker 26 Yes. It would kill them.

Speaker 31 Yes. You knew that as a doctor.

Speaker 26 Yes.

Speaker 16 When we would ask him a a question, if he didn't feel like we had phrased it right, he would rephrase it for us.

Speaker 26 You need to restate your question and put it into context.

Speaker 8 I believe that he felt like he was smarter than Cameron and I.

Speaker 12 Did you just want to smack him?

Speaker 21 Yes.

Speaker 12 Leon, they argued, didn't care who lived or died in his wake.

Speaker 26 He did nothing to stop it. In his mind, His ex-girlfriend is sitting by herself in a warehouse somewhere in this city, zip-tied with duct tape around her mouth.

Speaker 26 He thinks he can just walk away from this.

Speaker 12 It took the jury all of an hour and 15 minutes to decide Leon's fate.

Speaker 26 Will the jury find the defendant Leon Phillip Jacob guilty of solicitation of capital murder?

Speaker 12 Guilty of all charges. And in Texas, the jury can also decide punishment.
In the penalty phase, prosecutors called a new witness, Leon's ex-wife, Annie.

Speaker 12 She testified in vivid detail that Leon was abusive.

Speaker 16 What did the defendant tell you?

Speaker 12 That was my punishment for calling the police, was being held in the bed with a knife to my throat.

Speaker 31 This defendant cannot be trusted to live among us. A guilty verdict without the appropriate punishment is hollow.

Speaker 12 There's something you want out of the punishment phase.

Speaker 6 I would never want him to be able to do this to somebody else because if it wasn't me, If it wasn't Valerie, if it wasn't Annie, it's going to be somebody else. And that needs to stop.

Speaker 12 The jury jury sentenced Leon to life in prison. Afterwards, Megan addressed him directly.

Speaker 31 While you sit in jail, I hope you think of me.

Speaker 31 The girl that you called poor and uneducated. It's because of me, you will be in prison for life.

Speaker 16 I was really proud of her. I think it took incredible courage on her part to see this through.

Speaker 12 Megan knows, in a way, she was lucky.

Speaker 6 Every day, there are women that are in situations like this that don't have the means to get out.

Speaker 6 I have had so many people help me, and I just want to make a difference for those who don't have a voice.

Speaker 4 That's all for now. I'm Lester Holt.
Thanks for joining us.

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