A new Dateline episode airing on Friday night sheds light on a case that has ties to San Diego County. An Escondido woman was warned that the man she married may be a murderer.
In the two-hour episode "Chameleon," Dateline correspondent Andrea Canning uncovers the dark secrets of John Smith, a man with two missing wives.
While some described Smith as "really nice," Canning explains in a preview of the episode that there was another side to him.
"When a New Jersey woman goes missing, investigators uncover her husband’s chilling history, including dark secrets about another missing wife," the episode's synopsis reads. "Would he be caught before he put another woman in danger?"
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
Smith was living in Escondido with his third wife, Diane, when he was arrested in 2000. He was convicted of killing his first wife and was charged in his second wife's death, but prosecutors dropped the murder charge in July of 2023, according to NBC News.
To create this episode, Dateline went to Escondido, as well as New Jersey and Ohio. The episode features interviews with Dedy Childers and Sherrie Davis, the victim's daughter and sister, Det. Dave Mansue and former Supervisory Special Agent Bob Hilland.
You can tune in to "Chameleon" at 9 p.m. Friday on NBC 7 or stream it on Peacock. The episode will also run again over the weekend.
Local
NBC 7's Marianne Kushi speaks with Canning about the Dateline episode in the video above.
