48 Hours - Operation Murder - Encore

Episode Date: July 7, 2019

"48 Hours" Presents: Two doctors who hired a hit man to kill find out he wasn’t a killer at all. "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant has the final chapter in the twisted tale.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. This is Officer, the Houston Police Department, Major Offenders Division, Career Criminal Squad. Hey, my name is Valerie McDaniel. I've always tried to be an honest, kind person.

I've tried to live the best life I can. Valerie wound up being the top of the class. The valedictorian? The valedictorian in our 1987 high school graduating class. She sure did. My name is Megan. She's my second cousin. Megan. She's my second cousin. She's generous and creative, smart, nice and sweet. She would always like take care of my dog. I wasn't sure if I should be a

vet anymore and Valerie brought that passion back. I know that Valerie made an audio recording of all of her memorable moments in life. I met through friends a man named Mac McDaniel. And I thought he was the cutest thing, tall and skinny with his boots. Valerie and Mac lived a lavish lifestyle. A high-end life, you know, a life of luxury, a life of beauty. Great cars. Valerie had a Mercedes.

Her daughter went to a great school. They worked a lot. That was a big thing. They both beat work in working. But did they seem happy together? Yeah, yeah, they seemed great. One morning at work, there was a note on my desk that said, Dr. McDaniel, call Ms. Brown. She said, I've been your husband's lover. It tore her up.

Divorce is never an easy thing. She met Leon. A medical doctor. He actually went to the same school I did. A little bit of ER, but then also like cardio and transplant. I looked at him and smiled, and he smiled back, and just a beautiful person. Her face, her smile, she had this outwardly exuberance of energy that I really can't describe. She fell for Leon. She was madly in love with him.

We were planning on getting married.. Mac always wanted more, more, more, at the detriment of their daughter. My name is Mottaz Azee, and Leon Jacob tried to hire me as a hitman. In the car, did he give you $2,500? Yeah, he paid the $2,500. In cash? Yes, in cash.

And what did you see on his face? Excitement. He was enjoying it. Like, he actually was excited about the whole thing. I could never hurt the man that my daughter loved so much. The male subject, he's gone. He's done. Hi.

This has been a long, drawn-out story that's led to an unbelievable conclusion. When he came into my office, he shut the door. He said, I'm Dr. Leon Jacob. I felt like I was talking to Satan himself. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. The scary cult classic was set in the Chicago housing project. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror.

Candyman. Candyman? Now we all know chanting a name won't make a killer magically appear, but did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. We're going to talk to the people who were there, and we're also going to uncover the larger story. My architect was shocked when he saw how this was created. Literally shocked. And we'll look at what the story tells us about injustice in America. If you really believed in tough on crime,

then you wouldn't make it easy to crawl into medicine cabinets and kill our women. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, wherever you get your podcasts. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all. I'm Marsha Clark, host of the new podcast,

Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop. Now, through dramatic interviews and access, I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informants's Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. 2453. 2453.

Yes, ma'am, it's going to be a major offender's investigation. Yes, ma'am. It's going to be a major offender's investigation. It's 3 a.m. on Friday, March 10, 2017. Houston police are making their way to the seventh-floor condo of beloved veterinarian Valerie McDaniel. Bad doesn't begin to describe what's about to be revealed. Somebody on the other side. Your ex-husband's been found. It looks like it turns out to be a fatality.

Valerie's ex-husband, Mac, police tell her, was dead just six months after their divorce had become final. Do you have anybody you can call to help you, to stay with you? But how could Valerie's life have arrived at this dreadful moment? Angel student, they called her. Valerie's cousin, Cody Bernard. The angel student. The angel student, yeah. Valerie earned her degree in veterinary

medicine at Texas A&M. It was during that time she met Mac McDaniel, Valerie's friend Greg Holloway. My impression of Mac is that he was a good man. He was a stand-up guy. Mac proposed, and Valerie had the man of her dreams, as she describes in that recording of her memories. We did get married. We had a beautiful fairytale wedding. I moved into a house that my parents had bought me to live in. Not long after that, Valerie decided to open her own clinic.

I admired her. It sunk something inside of me. I wanted to do that one day, something big, you know. Mack was her office manager, but even as the vet clinic thrived, the two longed for something more. They said she couldn't have any children, so the only option was to adopt.

In 2008, the couple adopted a daughter when she was just two days old. But as their new family came together, their marriage began to fall apart. It started, Valerie claims, with a phone call from a stranger, the woman who claimed to have been Mac's lover. But Valerie says that wasn't all. She gave me lists of women that he had slept with. Including, Valerie says, one of her best friends. Stunned, she says she rushed home and confronted her husband. I forgave him. I don't know why.

He promised he'd never do it again. But now I know. Cheaters cheat. Cheaters cheat. Valerie claims it wasn't long before she caught Mac again, this time under her own roof. I heard the noises of two people making out, and I lost it. Rage took over, and that was the first time I ever said the word divorce, and I yelled it at him outside, and I yelled it, and I yelled it. Valerie says she forgave Mac yet again, but then a chance encounter would change the course of her life.

Leon Jacob, the son of Valerie's neighbor, divorce attorney Golda Jacob, stopped by. He ran up to me and stuck his hand out and introduced himself. The cockiest mother****** I've ever met in my life. Valerie was in her mid-40s, but she was stunning, both inside and out. The attraction was mutual. You could tell he knew how beautiful he was. And I was lonely. Leon Jacob was eight years younger than Valerie and a doctor.

What type of surgeries have you done? All kinds of surgeries. I've assisted in heart, kidney, pancreas, transplants. With a strained home life and an attractive new friend, what happened next may have been inevitable. He sat across from me and we had some wine and I had my feet out on the chair next to him. Just out of the blue, he reached out and just ran his finger up my left foot and that was it. It was like a movie moment. It's quite an interlude, according to what she described.

Yeah, compliments all around, I guess. In December 2014, Valerie filed for divorce, claiming Mack committed adultery. Mack's attorneys told us Mack had no comment about the divorce petition and the claims Valerie made in her audio diary. Between Mack's alleged cheating and Valerie's new love interest, both wanted out of the marriage. The divorce was finalized in August 2016.

Valerie and her daughter then moved into this building in the upscale River Oaks section of Houston. Not long after, Leon joined them here. Their relationship really blossomed quickly because we had been very close friends for so long. I think she was excited. I saw it as positive. Dr. Brittany King worked alongside Valerie at the vet clinic. What were Valerie and Leon like together? What was the dynamic like? They seemed very much in love, holding hands and loving towards each other.

But there was one old problem in Valerie and Leon's new relationship, and his name was Mac. There were multiple times in the clinic where she would just be in tears. Was everything okay? And it was something surrounding her ex-husband. Mac had found out that Leon was staying with me. There'd be arguments or stuff with the child, a visitation. But Leon had his own issues with past loves, one involving extreme mental cruelty

and another, assault and stalking charges. Leon Jacob is a predator. He's scary. Samantha Necht is a Harris County Assistant District Attorney. He wants what he wants, and he'll stop at nothing to get it. Could there be more to Valerie's new love than she can imagine? He has no problem using women. In fact, I think he enjoys it. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge?

Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly? Introducing the best idea yet. A brand new podcast from Wondery and T-Boy about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with. And the bolder risk takers who brought them to life. Like, did you know that Super Mario, the best-selling video game character of all time, only exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye? Or Jack, that the idea for the McDonald's Happy Meal first came from a mom in Guatemala? From Pez dispensers to Levi's 501s to Air Jordans, discover the surprising stories of the most viral products.

Plus, we guarantee that after listening, you're going to dominate your next dinner party. So follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. It's just the best idea yet. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn, and it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reach the age of 10 that would still have urged it. It just happens to all of them. I'm journalist Luke Jones and for almost two years I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn.

When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Valerie McDaniel's new live-in boyfriend grew up in a Texas-sized world of beauty and opulence. The eldest son of two Houston professionals, Leon Jacob, seemed to have it all. My dad was a North Peak surgeon, great father, always there. My mom was a wonderful woman, a great mother.

We had a great family. Unfortunately, my dad died when I was 13 years old. A crushing blow at a young age. And to honor his father, Leon focused on one goal, becoming a surgeon just like him. I always wanted to be a doctor my whole life, ever since I was about three or four. As he pursued his degrees, Leon met and married his college sweetheart. They had two boys. We had a happy, loving family.

I got two great kids, two boys. They're the most important things to me in my life. A good family, and now with an M.D. after his name, Leon was well on his way. But Leon's picture-perfect life disguised a troubled relationship. After 12 years of marriage, his wife filed for divorce, citing extreme mental cruelty. And one year later, Leon was arrested for stalking his now ex. Leon has to be in control. When his ex-wife went to end their relationship, he wasn't going to have it.

And he wasn't going to go down without a fight. Leon, isn't it true that you've had brushes with the law involving stalking, cyber-stalking, intimidation, physical harassment, assault. Aren't all those true? I pled guilty to a attempted cyber harassment charge that was stemming from an acrimonious divorce that I went through with my previous wife. Leon admits that he called often, but he claims it was simply to speak with his boys. I tried desperately to contact my kids over and over and over again, and I'm not going to apologize for that. Leon finally moved on to a new residency and was living in Pittsburgh,

where he met this woman, 33-year-old Megan Veracast. I met Megan in a hotel in Pittsburgh. She was the assistant general manager there. The new couple moved to Houston. There were lavish vacations, family get-togethers, and yet another residency, Leon's seventh. He's a failed doctor. He's been kicked out of every residency program he's ever been a part of.

And what's the problem? What was the basis of these dismissals, do you know? The belief that he was the smartest guy in the room, inability to get along with people, inability to get along with patients. And in fact, one of the records that we found said that they believe that he was a danger to patients and that he would be a liability for them to keep around. Three years into their relationship, Megan Veracast thought Leon was a threat to her too.

Megan kicked Leon out of their apartment, later accusing him of assaulting her. She wanted me to move all my stuff out. She came there and was very hostile. The police were called. There was no violence of any kind. A day later, she claimed that I had hit her. And that you'd put your hand over her mouth. Yeah, which is not true.

Leon is about Leon. Smile, Megan, smile. It frustrated him to know in that Megan Verkos would not forgive him. And the fact that he couldn't get Megan back frustrated him and angered him. Leon was arrested in February 2017 for assault and stalking. Do you have a personality that when a woman rejects you, you get violent? You get nasty, you stalk, you intimidate. You harass with social media. You are assuming

that I was physically violent. I wasn't. You can charge anybody with anything. It doesn't mean that you're guilty of that. Guilty? No. The DA's office has been on this case since its inception. But prosecutors are convinced that Leon knew his future as a doctor would be destroyed if Megan testified against him. So they believe he planned a little operation to make his pain go away. He feels like if Megan disappears, if she goes away, that his criminal case will go away and he can resume his career as this beloved surgeon that he thinks that he is. Prosecutors claim Leon decided what he needed was a hitman. He was a dangerous man. He is a dangerous man.

He actually ultimately wanted to kill. Taz Azei. He's the man Leon was convinced was a hitman. Taz, now at the center of this shocking case, speaking publicly for the first time. Did Leon ever tell you how he wanted his ex-girlfriend to be killed? Yes, he actually offered suggestions. One of them was a syringe to the heart with potassium would give her a heart attack and that would actually kill her. He didn't want to have a gunshot that would create noise and blood. He wanted a needle.

He wanted to do it himself. He was into it. Who is Motaz Azeh? He was a private investigator that I had consulted with. That's all I'm going to say about that. The two men were introduced by a mutual acquaintance. Taz thought it might be a chance to make some money. Are you a hitman?

No. Were you ever willing to murder anyone for money? No, no, no, no. I would never do something like that. Taz is actually a decorated former U.S. Army soldier who was wounded fighting in Iraq when his Humvee ran over a roadside bomb in 2005. This one is the Purple Heart.

So you were a hell of a soldier. I was a soldier, yes. I am a soldier. Now, over a decade later and a world away, Taz says Leon Jacob's deadly demand gave him a new mission. Not to kill, but to save a life. I saw somebody in danger and I knew that I can do something about it. And I did something about it. Taz claims Leon thought he was a hitman willing to kill Megan.

His codename was Zach. What did Leon Jacobs say to you when you first met face to face? He's like, I want you to actually kidnap her, take her to a hotel, and take me to her. And I want to talk to her and get her back. Taz claims that you told him, I want you to basically kidnap her, your ex-girlfriend. I'm not going to comment on that. And if that doesn't work, what are you going to do? He's like, then I'm going to ask her to leave. Completely false. If she doesn't leave, what are you going to do? And he was like, I want you to kill her. I'm not going to comment on any of this. It's just ridiculous. What's not ridiculous, though, is the $9,000 Taz, now Zach,

says Leon paid him for the job. I actually spent that money because I needed to keep appearance. To be honest, I don't feel bad that I spent Jacob's money. Matter of fact, I feel really good I spent his money. He spent the money and disappeared into thin air. With Megan still very much alive, a desperate Leon visited the one man he was sure could hunt down his hitman.

Leon Jacob was one of the most unique individuals I'd ever met. Bail bondsman Michael Kubosh. This guy was focused. It was very intimidating. Didn't shake my hand. Just wanted to know one thing. I want Zach's number.

He said, I've paid Zach a lot of money to take care of this. I felt like I was talking to the devil himself. Tucked away on a side street in Houston is perhaps the most colorful bail bondsman in all of Texas. Having hung out a bit with you, you are the Elvis of bail bondsman in all of Texas. Having hung out a bit with you, you are the Elvis of bail bondsmen. His name is Michael Kubosh. These are people that we're looking for, fugitives. And he understands the criminal mind. I deal with the nicest, the kindest, and the meanest people on the face of the earth.

I've bonded out judges, prostitutes, preachers, missionaries. He's also a larger-than-life member of the Houston City Council, who helped save lives during Hurricane Harvey. I know all the major law enforcement people in the whole county. So for a man who has seen it all, Kubosh is still gobsmacked when describing the day Leon Jacob came barreling into his office, demanding he find his hitman Taz, who Leon still knew as Zach. He looked very, very serious at me. Didn't shake my hand.

Never greeted me. Just wanted to know one thing. I want Zach's number. Leon told Kubasz that he was looking for a client of his, a man named Zach, who was out on bail. The name didn't ring a bell with Kubosh, but what Leon said next did set off an alarm.

He said, I've paid Zach a lot of money to take care of this. I said, take care of what? He said, I want her out of the picture. And she can't be testifying against me. Out of the picture? Out of the picture. And she can't be testifying against me. Out of the picture? Out of the picture.

I believe that he meant ill toward this woman. And that's why I call the chief. The chief of? The chief of police in Houston, Texas. A search for the mysterious Zach was triggered, and investigators quickly learned his real name, Taz Azeh, a name that Kubosh did recognize as a former military man

who was facing a misdemeanor theft charge for stealing from his roommate. He was on bond with me. He was still free. It took Houston police about a week to find Taz, and that's when things got really interesting. Do you believe Taz Aze is a hitman? No, I don't believe that at all. He's a good guy in my eyes. This man is an undercover officer with the Houston Police Department who goes by the name Detective Javier. To me, Taz seemed genuinely concerned for Megan. He didn't want to see her hurt.

So Taz agreed to participate in a sting operation to help catch Leon Jacob in the act of soliciting a murder. Hello? Hey, what's up, man? How you doing, buddy? Taz told Leon that he felt he had grown too close to him and Valerie and thought it best to hire another hitman. And he knew just the right guy.

Can you meet me tomorrow? Yeah, I'll clear my schedule, no problem. The next day, Taz would introduce Leon to his new hitman, undercover detective Javier. But before Taz could hang up, Leon dropped a bomb. Okay, you're going to take care of both problems, right? He says, you're going to take care of both problems, right? We're taking care of both problems? What both problems?

Both of the individuals that we're talking about. Uh, okay. Both of the individuals that we're talking about. Okay. Assistant District Attorney Nathan Moss was stunned. They hang up the phone and Taz is like, oh, yeah, there's this Valerie McDaniel girl. Valerie McDaniel, Leon's new girlfriend, the mild-mannered veterinarian who friends had described as an angel,

wanted her ex-husband murdered. Valerie wants to talk to you about what she wants to do with her ex-husband. Okay, that's good. All right, just bring her with you tomorrow. The next day, Leon and Valerie met with Taz and Detective Javier at this Olive Garden to discuss the fate of both their exes over lunch. The entire operation was recorded. The meeting lasted nearly two hours and began with Leon's target, Megan. I don't want you to hurt her, but I want her to go.

He told me that he wanted me to run her off the road and threaten her, but then he wanted me to run her off the road and threaten her. But then he would say to me, if she does not understand that, then you do what you have to do. If those options don't work, I don't give a f***. Then we gotta do what we gotta do. There was no doubt in my mind that Leon wanted Megan killed. The subject then turned to Valerie's target, her ex-husband, Mac. Say if something were to happen to him, would it be like a car wreck?

It could be a car wreck. It could be a robbery gone wrong. She was under the belief that I was going to carjack him and I was going to put a bullet in his head, which is exactly what I told her I was going to do. But you need to go ahead. You want to do that? Is that where she crossed the line? Absolutely.

The plan was set, and at Leon's insistence, Megan would go first. But later that night, Valerie and Mac got into a verbal argument over their daughter. So Leon called me on the telephone that same night, and he told me, whatever plan that you made with Valerie has to happen quick. This has got to be s***, right? Yeah. No, we'll take care of it.

So Mac went to the front of the line. Mac went to the front of the line. The next day, March 9th, 2017, Detective Javier called Leon to say he had good news that he insisted on delivering in person. So Leon and Valerie invited their hitman into their home, where he tried to show them this shocking photo of Mac, who appeared dead from a gunshot wound to the head. What they didn't know is that Mac was alive and well

and participating in this elaborate sting operation. When Valerie got the news that her husband was dead, was she emotional about it? Did she say, oh my God, I never wanted to go this far? She did not show that. She excused herself immediately. And I asked Leon if he wanted to see a picture, and he told me that he did not want to see a picture. So neither of them ever saw? They never wanted to see a picture.

Believing Mac was dead, Leon set his sights back on megan so you're gonna snatch her and you're gonna bring her somewhere and talk to her that's the plan i need to show if you call me later that night these staged photographs of megan were texted to Leon, and he was told she was so out of control, she had to be killed. She's dead. She's gone. On that scale of good to evil, in your mind, what is Leon Jacob? Leon is a very evil person.

He was willing to do whatever he needed to do to survive. He would step over everybody. And kill anyone? And kill anyone. Oftentimes, if your loved one is found murdered, the Houston Police Department will come and give you notice of the death. It was probably around 2 or 3 in the morning. It was probably around 2 or 3 in the morning. On March 10, 2017, Valerie McDaniel and her live-in boyfriend Leon Jacob get a wake-up call from Sergeant Frank Quinn

that will soon lead to an Oscar-winning performance. What's going on? She lets them inside, but she feigns surprise. She can't understand why they're there. Remember, just hours before, Detective Javier, posing as a hitman, had told her that Mac was dead. But now Valerie has to convince police she is hearing it for the first time. I'm sorry to have to tell you, but we heard from you recently. Why are you doing this? Why aren't you getting right to the point?

Why are you doing the death notification first? If they really want to come forward and they really want to be honest, that would be the time to do it. I was just there last night. She pretends to be upset. She puts her head in her hands. She sits down and she acts like she's completely shocked and surprised that her ex-husband is dead.

This surreal scene, caught by the body cameras of Houston police, is about to reach its climax. Oh, my God. She's playing the grieving widow. He's playing the sympathetic, loving boyfriend, right? Yes. Then Leon does something that would have made him a a suspect even if he hadn't been one already. We've been here all night. He volunteers an alibi. We were here all day with their daughter and we were watching movies. We haven't been out of the house all day.

They do offer an alibi when they're not asked. That does arouse everybody's suspicions. Police let the bad acting go on a little longer. I lost my father when I was young. We've known each other for years. I'm a doctor here, too, in town. She's a veterinarian. And then the cops call cut. Right now we're going to read you your rights. Me?

Because both of you have been arrested. Your solicitation has been murdered. It is only then that the couple learns that both their intended targets are alive and well. I walked into the condo and Valerie had her face in her hands and she looked up and saw me

and her face dropped, her jaw dropped, and she was in shock. Valerie goes quiet, but Leon can't seem to stop talking. Can I call the lawyer now? And demanding. I just had no underwear on. Can I get some underwear? Yeah. I don't know why I'm being arrested. You just put it.

Even as Valerie and Leon are separated to be transported and booked, Leon keeps thinking about Leon. I need my glasses. I wear eyeglasses. Leon is led out. Can I get a sweatshirt? I'm already cold. And Valerie has a much bigger concern.

Her daughter, who's been asleep in the apartment this whole time. Although not caught on camera, Mac arrives to pick up their eight-year-old. And what did Valerie say to her? You know, something along the lines of just, you know, taking you to your daddy's outside and he's going to take you. And it was very benign and, you know, just normal as could be. For Valerie, the animal lover, it was not the ending to the week she planned for her daughter. You don't have any animals? You do? What do you have? Three cats and a dog. Where were they at?

Supposed to go to New York for spring break. They were all at the clinic. And so all of a sudden on the news media came the arrest of two doctors. A Houston woman and her boyfriend were charged with trying to have their exes killed. And I'm laying there thinking, well, that's not the Valerie I know.

And they showed the film of her going up for her arraignment. Did you both fall out of your chair? Yeah, I almost rolled out of the bed. Because Leon has those other pending charges related to Megan, he doesn't make bail. But Valerie does. Valerie was rushed out the jail alongside family... And goes home to wait for the legal process to play out.

I remember texting her throughout the week and calling her and constantly sending her, I love you, you know, you can get through this. So happy you're out. Valerie's veterinary license got suspended because of the charges. Brittany King says the clinic staff met with Valerie at her high-rise condo to plan the future. Was it an emotional time when all of you got together this first time after she got out of jail? Oh, absolutely. I mean, there were tears. There were, what does this all mean? While the vet clinic would live on, Valerie would help in the back and help with laboratory things. Brittany says Valerie was weighed down by her arrest and the prospect she wouldn't be

seeing her daughter for a long, long time. But I remember giving her a hug goodbye, and I just felt the life in the eyes was not there. Humiliated and ashamed, Valerie knew everything she had worked for and dreamed of was gone. I want to talk to my daughter. I want to talk to Lena. I'm just not responding. I wish I were. I just can't do it. I just can't do it. I can't do it. I just can't do it.

To hear more of Valerie reading her diary, join us online at 48hours.com. File! Try not to judge me. I've always tried to be an honest, kind person. Two weeks after the shock and shame of being charged with solicitation of capital murder, Valerie McDaniel used her iPad... March 25th, it's been a few days. ...to record her side of the story.

It's weird. It wasn't like bam, bam, bam, a progression. Things just gradually happened. I didn't wake up one day and just say, hey, I want to kill my ex-husband. In the 90-minute recording made over several days, Valerie lashes out at Mac. He was a narcissist. A psychotic narcissist in

every sense of the word. I believe she made him seem a lot worse than he was. Mac's attorney says he does not intend to speak publicly about the case and is focused solely on the emotional well-being and physical

safety of his daughter. For Valerie, everything she loved was slipping away. I have three great loves in my life. I have my daughter, I have Dan, and I have my wife. Two days after her final recording, on March 27, 2017, Valerie, who once seemed unstoppable, did the unthinkable. She climbed over this very railing and jumped seven stories to her death. I was shocked. It was really upsetting.

She wanted me to be home with her and we were going to get through this. And it was devastating and shocking. Do you believe in a way she was confessing that she had been involved in this murder for hire plot? Yes, I do believe that. I'm not doing this. I was guilty of the accusations. It wasn't my heart I knew. I didn't want to hurt anyone.

It just got out of control. I think that she was in a very vulnerable position when she met Leon Jacob. But I think he influenced her and brainwashed her. She was absolutely guilty of solicitation of capital murder. She agreed to it. She spoke with the undercover. She knew exactly what she was asking for, and she was asking for him to die. Valerie gave a confession. She gave a full confession. Valerie McDaniel was definitely guilty, but I also believe that Leon was the

mastermind. For those who believe, I'm looking into the eyes of essentially a killer, someone who was going to hire a hitman to kill his ex-girlfriend. What do you want those people to know? I'm innocent. And as a human being and as a physician, that thought of killing somebody else just goes against everything in my nature. It really depends on what they find. Leon has hired one of the top defense attorneys in Texas, George Parnum, who says Valerie McDaniel was the one calling all the shots. was the one calling all the shots. I'm sorry for her demise, but I believe that Valerie is and was responsible

for this entire scenario. That she was the driver. She was the financier of all of this. That's my understanding. And Parnum says that Valerie's own words, including those police undercover tapes, actually help Leon. In no time in any of her statements, I'm led to believe never, never incriminates or suggests that Leon is part of this whole scenario in which she was charged with solicitation of capital murder.

It's an accusation embraced by Leon, who has now turned on the woman who loved him so. Your attorney said if you never met Valerie McDaniel, you would not be in this jail today. It's probably true. be in this jail today. It's probably true. Well, I think it's always good to shift the blame to somebody that can't defend themselves and somebody that's dead. Leon does have a criminal history. He's faced charges of domestic violence, aggravated stalking, intimidation, cyber stalking. Why shouldn't we believe that this man who couldn't control Megan Barakas made the final attempt to control her by wanting her dead? Our standard is beyond a reasonable doubt.

Sadly, Valerie is no longer here to defend herself or watch her daughter grow up. or watch her daughter grow up. After her death, her friends and family held a memorial service in front of her beloved vet clinic. I pray you are at peace now. I will never forget you. It's where Brittany King first read this tribute to her friend. You are a colleague, a loving friend, a mentor, an inspiration, a teacher, and a healer. It's just sad. I know, life's too short.

Leon Jacob will stand trial for solicitation of murder in December 2017. Valerie's daughter inherited her estate and now lives with her father, Mac McDaniel. Taz Aze, the hitman, accepted a plea deal in his theft case and is currently on probation. He hopes to become a Houston police officer. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey.