ANA_MARGARITA ANCHORMAN BO CHRIS DAN DANI DAWN DEREK FEMALE FEMALE_DEFENSE_ATTORNEY HAILEY JAMES JEN JENNIFER JODI LYNDI MALE MALE_DEFENSE_ATTORNEY MORGAN NARRATOR POLICE_OFFICER PROSECUTOR_ATTORNEY SINGER TEACHER YOUNG_ANA_MARGARITA YOUNG_BO YOUNG_HAILEY YOUNG_JAME YOUNG_JAMES YOUNG_JODI YOUNG_JUAN_PABLO NARRATOR We know you've seen lifetime movies with stories of women in bad situations… FEMALE NARRATOR Sex scandals, and shocking revelations. NARRATOR You can't get enough of them. But you wouldn't want to live one. FEMALE No! You can't take me! No! NARRATOR Tonight on My Life Is A Lifetime Movie, a woman in a seemingly perfect marriage finds out the shocking truth about her husband's double life. ANA MARGARITA Four years of my life were a facade. NARRATOR But first, a real life student seduction, when a young high school teacher gets too close to her student. JENNIFER She's really pretty. That's usually what you see with teachers who are having sex with students. JODI You'll be a sexual offender for the rest of your life. I thought student seduction was only a movie. But this is real life. A student got too close to me, and it turned into an obsession. Now my entire life hinges on what he's about to say. How did I get here? My name is Jodi Barrus. And My Life Is A Lifetime Movie. I was being charged with sexual exploitation. YOUNG JAME S I threw her on the bed. BO This whore teacher that's sleeping with this kid. POLICE OFFICER Oral copulation. BO Doggie style. JODI "I'm DTF for Friday. Ms. Barrus." LYNDI Obviously, something had to have happened if we're going to trial. BO And she was arrested, so you know she's guilty. JENNIFER She's guilty. DAWN She's guilty. JODI I grew up in Belmond, Iowa. Belmond has about 2,500 people, one stoplight. You had a bike trail. You had a pool. The movie costs $1. Everyone knows everyone. Everyone is very close. I wanted that for my kids. I met Bo in college. He was on the college baseball team. And I was on the college softball team. And I was, of course, starstruck. He always tells me, "I noticed you right away." BO She was the woman for me. I wanted to marry her. I wanted to have kids with her. I mean, she was… She was it. She was the one. JODI We got married and settled down in Idaho, where Bo was from. I got a job at a local high school and started teaching and coaching softball. Idaho was fine. But I always knew in the back of my mind that I wanted to move my family back to Belmond. So when I was offered a teaching job at my high school alma mater, I jumped at the chance to leave Idaho and return to Belmond. I was on cloud nine for my kids, for my husband, for my family, for the town. I was one of the youngest teachers in the school. And the students felt very comfortable around me. MORGAN She's really passionate about what she does. She loves being around us. I could just text her or call her and she'd answer her phone. So it's really easy to get to her. JODI I'm very laid-back, you know. If kids want to talk to me about anything, I'm with them right there, you know, whatever they need. You know, my policy probably was a little more open, but I was a lot different than most of the other teachers. But there would always be comments, you know, while you're standing in the hall. "Man, Miss Barrus, you're looking good today." Of course, you just say, "Well, you are too." MORGAN They would just say how beautiful she is and stuff like that. Harmless, really. JODI This loose attitude with my students is what got me in trouble. It was after Christmas. A student just pops his head in. And it's James Daley. JAMES Mrs. B? JODI I knew James, because he volunteered as an umpire for my softball team. We had a working relationship. DAN James Daley is a big strapping boy, good physique, lifted a lot of weights. He got big and strong. He had some natural ability in wrestling. MORGAN He kind of was just on his own. He did his own thing. He didn't really have a set group of friends, I guess you could say. And he wasn't very popular. JODI He was very nice. He said, "Hey, Ms. Barrus, is there any way I can serve my detention in your classroom?" YOUNG JODI Yeah, come on in. JODI I said, "Sure. Just have a seat. Sit in the back of the room. Get your homework out." You know, and I'd glance over every once in a while, and there would be James, just starting at me. JODI He would stare at me. And I'd go back to work and make sure, you know, I had everything organized for the next day. Shortly after James served his detention, within a day or two, I started receiving, I don't know, crazy text messages, you know, funny things, maybe a forward from a Hollywood star or something, you know. I mean, very innocent things, nothing that was a red flag at all. I had no idea this working relationship was turning into something much more serious. JODI It was February. I think it was the 8th, the 9th, about 10:30 at night, and, all of a sudden, I get a text. And it's from James. And it says, very bluntly, "Ms. Barrus, will you go to prom with me?" And so I just said, "Hey, James, well, this is Ms. Barrus. I'm your teacher. You know, it's very inappropriate for you to talk to me that way. I can't go to prom with you." And he texts back, "Why can't you talk to me?" And I'm like, "No, James, really, you need to stop… You know, you need to stop right now." He texts me back. He said, "Well, I don't understand why you still can't go to prom with me." And finally, my last message was, "James, you need to take me out of your phone. You need to stop texting me." I didn't hear from James for a few weeks after that. Then, one day, I got a text asking me if he could come to my home to pick up his last check. And I think I was getting ready for a game that day and just said, "You know, stop by my house. I have a check written for you. Hailey will give it to you. My daughter will be at the front door waiting." YOUNG JAMES Hi, Hailey. JODI It didn't seem like a big deal to have him come to my home. But I had no idea what was going on inside his head. YOUNG JAMES Oh, thank you. YOUNG HAILEY Bye! YOUNG JAMES See you later. JODI I thought I'd heard the last from James. But he was just getting started. Apparently, he was having a meeting with the school administration behind my back. About three, four weeks later, I was in the grocery store and noticed James. YOUNG JAMES Ms. Barrus. YOUNG JODI Hey, James. JODI And he kind of leaned over the counter and said, "Ms. Barrus, I need to come talk to you tomorrow." I mean, he looked like a little kid, scared to death. And I said, "Well, James, are you okay?" He says, "No." And I was like, "Well, does it deal with me?" And he's like, "It deals with you." And he says, "The superintendent is accusing you of texting me inappropriately." And I said, "Well, James, are you kidding me?" YOUNG JAMES You don't have to worry. JODI He's like, "I think I cleared it up. I think I cleared it up. So you don't have to worry about it, Ms. Barrus." YOUNG JODI It needs to be taken care of, okay? JODI Little did I know, this was all part of James' plan. He had already told half the town, and the gossip was spreading like wildfire. DAWN The rumors, specifically that I heard, was that they had had sex on a snow day in her house. FEMALE You know what? I heard that they did it in the back of his car. FEMALE No way. DAN Some people said, "Oh, yeah, we believe that she was doing things with him." DAWN They had had sex in his car. And there was oral sex involved. MORGAN It's just a small town. It is very gossipy. If somebody catches on to something, it spreads like wildfire. JODI And I asked people blatantly, I said, "Did you know about this?" A teacher came up to me and said, "Look at this text message." It says, "I'm DTF for Friday. Ms. Barrus." TEACHER He showed me a text, okay? LYNDI I have a relative. He had heard that Jodi had lost her job at Pocatello Falls because she had had inappropriate relations with a student, so that's why they came back to Iowa. BO Guy's just down the bar flapping his mouth, "You guys hear about this whore teacher that's sleeping with this kid?" JODI I felt like people were like, "Oh, there she is. That's the girl they're talking about." BO And, you know, "I heard that they were out in the middle of a corn field. And I heard they were in her house. And I heard they did this in the middle of the gym floor." JODI "That's the girl sleeping with all those boys. You know the boys' names?" You know, that's how I felt. MALE Jodi Barrus, please report to your homeroom. DAN Anytime that there's allegations of sex with the students, you're pretty well out the door. JODI This is where my lifetime movie got very serious. NARRATOR Up next, the police interrogate Jodi… JODI Do you know what DTF stands for? And they said, "Well, it means… POLICE OFFICER Down to . NARRATOR And show the evidence against her is mounting. POLICE OFFICER We believe him. NARRATOR And later, a story of a woman whose husband was lost in a tragic, heroic fight to save Cuban refugees. ANA MARGARITA I hadn't been able to sleep or eat for two days. I was really falling apart at the seams. NARRATOR But was he the man she thought he was? JODI My name is Jodi Barrus. And My Life Is A Lifetime Movie. MALE Jodi Barrus, please report to your homeroom. JODI The two officers say, "You know, Ms. Barrus, why don't you have a seat?" POLICE OFFICER Go and have a seat, Ms. Barrus. JODI And I said, "Oh, okay." You know, I'm kind of soft-spoken. I'm, you know, scared to death. POLICE OFFICER Ma'am, we need to talk to you about an incident that was reported to us. JODI And they said, "We need to read you your rights." And I said, "For what?" And I think the first question was, "Tell me about your relationship with James Daley." And I said… YOUNG JODI Relationship to James Daley? What--what relationship to James Daley? JODI And they said, "Well, to be honest, Jodi, James has said that you guys are having a sexual relationship and that you are sleeping with each other." POLICE OFFICER You had oral copulation, sexual intercourse. JODI The police told me that James said, "Jodi gave me a job on the way home from Mason City. And I had sex in her house twice." He said, "He came at 5:00, 6:00 in the morning. And we know your husband's gone on snow days." And they said, "Well, we have some more questions for you. Do you know what DTF stands for?" POLICE OFFICER Are you familiar with the term DTF? JODI Well, it means… POLICE OFFICER Down to . Text messages that you sent James. JODI And I went, "Me?" YOUNG JODI Me? Text "down to ? JODI Are you kidding? Why would I do that? I'm like, "That is something a kid would text. I would never text something like that." And they said, "Well…" POLICE OFFICER We have witnesses. JODI Well, we believe him. POLICE OFFICER We believe him. JODI It was terrible. It was the worst thing ever. BO By the time I got there, she was in her classroom, sitting down in a chair, head on the desk, crying. YOUNG BO Jodi. Are you okay? BO Like, all I did was basically console her. I really didn't know what was going on, because she couldn't tell me. YOUNG BO What's happening, huh? YOUNG JODI JODI And I said, "They're gonna arrest me for having sex with James Daley." JODI My lawyer told me that if I was convicted of this crime, sexual exploitation by a school employee, that it has a sentence of up to five years. I'd be a sexual offender for the rest of your life. And it scared me because I knew I would never be able to walk on the school grounds, see a Christmas program, watch my kids graduate. I mean, that was huge for me. ANCHORMAN Belmond-Klemme schoolteacher Jodi Barrus was arrested for sexual exploitation of a student. BO I just kind of glanced and saw what was going on. And I saw her face up there. And I was almost disgusted. HAILEY Well, she said she was being accused of being--having sex with a teenager. YOUNG JODI It's okay. It's okay. BO You can tell the kids that nothing's gonna, you know, happen to mom. But in the back of my mind, I know there's a jury involved. You don't know what the jury's gonna do. You have no idea what they're gonna do. JODI The next day, my face was plastered all over the papers. This kid's game had just snowballed into a media storm, and I was the center of it. Here we go. This is just the beginning. Everyone in the town's gonna know I did something wrong. MORGAN When her mug shot surfaced, people thought that was funny. FEMALE Oh, my god. Why is she smiling? MORGAN She didn't really look her best in her mug shot. She did smile. And I'm not really sure why she did. But you can't look your best when you're getting accused of, um, having sex with a student. LYNDI You know, it went from rumors to "Now we're going to the police station." And I'm like, "Obviously, something had to have happened if we're going to trial." DAWN Splattered across the Mason City paper. Headlines were so accusatory. You know, "She's guilty." JEN I was her friend first and foremost, so whether or not it happened or not, I was gonna be there for her. I think anyone would be lying to you if they would say there wasn't a moment that they questioned it. JODI I honestly believed that everyone was gonna think I was guilty. MORGAN After James had accused her of having sex with him, he became popular. He had people asking him questions all the time, like the football team, like, "Did that really happen, man? Like, did you really do it? Did you really have sex with her?" The whole town noticed him, noticed who he was, like, knew what was going on. So he got what he wanted by ruining someone else's life. JODI James had gotten to the town, the school, my friends, pretty much everyone. But it was about to get worse. BO My assistant at work, he says, "Well, you know, you never know what's going on." You know, putting doubt in my mind. He said, "Well, James told me, he said that she was giving him jobs, doggie style, and she had a phenomenal ass." You know, things like that. I came home from work, and I was stewing over it all day at work, whether I should just say anything or not. YOUNG JODI Hey. YOUNG BO Hey. BO But I, somehow, in my head, I had to ask her. YOUNG BO I don't have anything to worry about, do I? JODI You've got to be kidding me. NARRATOR Next, Jodi's in for the trial of her life, when James reveals all on the stand. YOUNG JAMES She just came over and started giving me . JENNIFER Before the trial even started, I was thinking, "She's guilty." NARRATOR And later, a mother of two who had given up on men meets the love of her life. But was he the man she thought he was? ANA MARGARITA He disappeared for a whole week and never even called. JODI My name is Jodi Barrus. And My Life Is A Lifetime Movie. BO My assistant at work, he says, "Well, James told me, she was giving him jobs, doggie style, and she had a phenomenal ass." I came home from work, and I was stewing over it, whether I should just say anything or not. JODI He goes, "Jodi, I love you. I love you so much. I just want you to know that." He said, "But I'm just gonna ask one time." YOUNG BO I don't have anything to worry about, do I? YOUNG JODI BO I said, "Jodi, do we have to worry about any of this, you know, the accusation, stories, anything?" JODI And I got mad at him for asking me, 'cause I was like, "Why would you ask me that?" I was like, "You know I didn't do this." And he was just like, "Don't get mad." He was like, "I just had to ask, because I know you'd tell me. If something happened, you know, you would tell me." YOUNG JODI How do you think that this has been for me? YOUNG BO I just--I have to ask. I just need to know. BO In Jodi fashion, she was like, "No, absolutely not." YOUNG JODI You got nothing to worry about. BO And I said, "that's--okay. I'm not gonna say another word about it." YOUNG BO Then we're gonna beat this. We're gonna get past this, right? JODI He just came over and gave me a hug. And he's like, "Well, we'll fight this. Everything will be just fine." Because I had been on administrative leave, I had plenty of time to help my lawyers prepare for my case. Well, I started gathering all the information that I possibly could. I knew my lawyers, Dani Eisentrager and Derek. I mean, they weren't directly involved in this, so it was me trying to tell them everything I possibly could. I started with the phone records. I ran around the house and took pictures of my home. The other part of the… You know, part of his description was where we had intercourse. And he describes, you know, my bedroom. I took pictures and dimensions and actually did a layout of our floor plan so people would know, you know, what did James really see when he came to your house when he came to get his paycheck for umpiring? So I tried to lay out all those details so that the jury knew every little detail. DEREK When we were doing the jury selection in this case, there was already jurors that said, "She's guilty." When we talked to some of these jurors, they'd say, "Oh, yeah, they went and had sex in a red pickup truck," which is something we'd never heard of. So the small town rumors had gone crazy. And it was definitely a hostile environment. JODI It wasn't until that morning, I woke up and I thought, "Holy cow. For the last four months, this is what I've been working towards. The last four months is today." Bo and I really didn't talk a whole lot on the way over. It was just me and him. And I think we both were so nervous. I remember him holding my hand. That's what I remember. And at that point in our relationship, we were very close, because we knew that, "Could there be a chance that I might not come home?" JENNIFER Before the trial even started and I seen her, I was kind of thinking, "She's guilty," Just from looking at her, 'cause, I mean, she's pretty. It happens. DANI Jodi's appearance and her good looks were definitely a concern that we had. You know, you put a pretty face out there, and people are gonna assume things that they shouldn't assume. And we were concerned about that. BO Jodi seemed calm on the outside. I know she was nervous as could be on the inside. JODI The jury already knew it dealt with sex and it dealt with a teacher and a kid. So they knew it was kind of big and juicy. All I could do is sit there and wait for James. If I'm convicted of this, I'd be a sexual offender for the rest of my life. Would the jury believe his story or mine? NARRATOR Coming up, James bares all in front of the jury. YOUNG JAMES I undid my pants and then grabbed her hand. And I threw her on the bed. JODI I just flipped her over and did it. You know, I was just… It was so crude. BO Doggie style in their bed. NARRATOR While Jodi's freedom hangs in the balance of 12 strangers. JENNIFER And the phone records showed that she had texted him. It didn't show what she texted. NARRATOR And later, a wife begins a frantic search for her husband. ANA MARGARITA His drawers were practically empty. The only thing that I found was his cell phone. And that's all there was. NARRATOR Will he be found dead or alive? JODI My name is Jodi Barrus. And My Life Is A Lifetime Movie. James finally entered the courtroom. I felt the jury was looking at me like, "You're guilty. Look at you. You're a pretty teacher. If you're here, you're probably guilty." JENNIFER Jodi looked very pretty, which was another shocker. Not to be superficial, but she's really pretty. That's usually what you see with teachers who are having sex with students. DANI Jodi's very fashionable also, and we wanted her to look, you know, very professional, not that she's not professional. LYNDI Jodi, as a teacher, possibly dressed inappropriately. Was she inappropriate in the classroom? It makes you wonder, made you wonder. JODI The prosecuting attorney started asking him questions. PROSECUTOR ATTORNEY James, tell me a little bit about how you started text messaging Ms. Barrus. YOUNG JAMES Well, "DTF" is what she started texting me when she was down to . That's what "DTF" means. JENNIFER All the witnesses that seen the text messages took the stand and were testifying. James had showed the text message to, like, other teachers. All the teachers believed him. They all thought that she was guilty. And the phone record showed that she had texted him. It didn't show what she texted. JODI He would just say that, you know, "I unzipped my pants, and she came over and performed oral sex on me." YOUNG JAMES And started giving me . It's slang for "oral sex." JODI "We had sex in her room, but I did it two different kinds of ways. Like, one was doggie style maybe." YOUNG JAMES Then I threw her on the bed. And at first, she wanted to do doggie style. JODI And another one was, you know, we did it missionary style, because that's how I… You know, he was very assertive, "That's how I like to do it. And that's what I was gonna…" You know, "I was gonna take demand of her." JENNIFER Other jury members had, like, smirks on their face at some points. And, you know, there was older people on there. So some of the stuff that they heard was probably kind of shocking to them, you know? I just think that would be kind of uncomfortable for an older woman to hear probably. YOUNG JAMES I undid my pants. And then… JODI "I wanted it this way. And that's how it was gonna be." "Well, you didn't ask her?" "No, I just flipped her over and did it." You know, it was just… It was so crude. I mean, some of the women in there were just like, "Ugh." You know, I mean, they were talking about such graphic detail. BO I was just sickened by this whole story. When James was claiming, you know, "I had sex with her doggie style in their bed," testifying that he was doing this with my wife in front of the whole courtroom, you know, that obviously was not a comfortable feeling. JODI He went into detail about what my bedroom looked like… MALE DEFENSE ATTORNEY You went into her bedroom on the right side in the second doorway? YOUNG JAMES It was on the left. JODI And what my body looked like. YOUNG JAMES The scar on her abdomen, yeah, she… She has it, like, right… Like, right here. MALE DEFENSE ATTORNEY And approximately how long would you say the scar is? YOUNG JAMES Maybe, like, around 3 inches, 2 inches. JENNIFER I know that James gave the cops a very detailed description of everything that happened. And I know that the cop that was on the stand believed everything he said. I hadn't completely made up my mind by the time he got off the stand. And he really made it sound like she was guilty. YOUNG JODI I want to take the stand. FEMALE DEFENSE ATTORNEY Jodi, you realize you don't have to do that. YOUNG BO Jo… BO I was on the other side of the fence when it came to Jodi taking the stand. I didn't want her to do it at first. DANI We did talk with her about it and explained to her that she certainly has the right to remain silent. JODI I mean, Bo knows me. He knows I just go on and talk and talk and talk and talk. So he was afraid that I wouldn't have control to stop and not get angry and not defend myself. BO But she was real adamant that she wanted to get on the stand and have her chance to have her say in the whole deal. MALE DEFENSE ATTORNEY You do well, we win this case. YOUNG JODI I'm ready. YOUNG BO Are you sure? YOUNG JODI I'm prepared. MALE DEFENSE ATTORNEY Okay. JODI I opened the stand, and I raised my right hand, and I'm literally just shaking. My voice is cracking. I can feel it cracking. And I can hardly control myself. MORGAN You could see it on her face. You could hear it in her voice. She was panicking. She was fighting for her life, basically, for her job, for her reputation. There was just a lot riding on it. DANI I started out with basic stuff, just to, you know, let her calm her nerves. FEMALE DEFENSE ATTORNEY Please state your name for the record. YOUNG JODI Jodi Barrus. FEMALE DEFENSE ATTORNEY Jodi, how old are you? YOUNG JODI 33. JODI I knew I just had to pull it together, and so I just took a big breath, and I just started… You know, the lawyer said, "Well, point to your bedroom. Point to this diagram." I took pictures and dimensions and actually did a layout of our floor plan. BO They were talking about Jodi's cesarean scar, and they asked him a couple times, "Where--does she have a scar… A cesarean scar?" And he said, "Yes, she does." JODI And they talked to me. "Well, Jodi, tell me, you know, you've had four cesareans, and you had a hysterectomy. Do you have any marks on your stomach?" FEMALE DEFENSE ATTORNEY On the abdomen area? YOUNG JODI Not on--not on my abdomen. JODI And then they pull out the picture of my body. You know, I just had some really short shorts on and a sports bra, and so I, you know, almost was naked. I felt naked. FEMALE DEFENSE ATTORNEY And where are they located? YOUNG JODI Lower than my navel, under my navel. FEMALE DEFENSE ATTORNEY Okay, from C-section, from childbirth. YOUNG JODI That's correct. DANI Jodi did an amazing job. YOUNG JAMES Nothing that James Daley has said is true, and you've seen that. DANI She made good eye contact with the jury. YOUNG JODI Please understand that this is my life we're talking about here. DEREK By the time we came to closing, we presented that, in this case, there were 50 different inconsistent statements or lies. JODI And they went through, very slowly, through each one of the lies. So we stand up after everyone is done, and the jury is directed to deliberation. BO I walked to the end of the lobby, got a drink out of the fountain, turned back around and kind of peeked into the courtroom, and the door swung open, and here they come back in. I mean, it was just that quick. JODI You know, Dani straightened up my outfit and made sure everything looked good, and we walked back in there. So I just--I watched them, and they were really not making eye contact with anybody but the judge. He asked everyone to sit down, and he says, you know, "Can I have the verdict?" And he reads--he looks at it. And all of a sudden he starts reading out loud. And all of a sudden I hear him say, "Miss Barrus is not guilty. Miss Barrus, you're free to go." BO The whole three-month… Actually longer than that…ordeal was over. And I was looking at her, but the thing that I heard was all of her friends. JODI "Oh, my gosh, this is wonderful." I mean, it was, like, a huge eruption, like we had just won the state softball tournament. BO So I went through the swinging doors, and we hugged. I told her I loved her. Told her it was over. Told her we were getting out of town. We're gonna go for a trip. We're gonna go somewhere. JODI He was almost crying, and so was I. I mean, that was everything I worked for the last four months. I was done. I remember calling Jen Tenold, because that's where my four kids were. I said, "Hey, Jen." And she's like, "What is it?" And I'm like, "It's not guilty." She just started crying, and, of course, I was crying. And I'm like, "Will you please just give my kids a hug and tell them I'll be home soon?" JEN "Tell them. They need to know now." And so I just remember it being beautiful, just being able to run up to Hailey and tell her it's over. HAILEY She came and gave me a hug, and she started to cry. JEN Hailey's just a wonderful, beautiful girl, and she just looked at me and said, "It's over?" And I hugged her, and I said, "Yeah." HAILEY And that's the point where it just all--it got really joyful. JODI I think my kids just needed to hear those words to be able to say, "You know, my mom is free. None of this is ever going to happen to her again, and everything's going to be okay." DEREK What happened in this case is, the allegation came out, and before they fully investigated, they brought charges, and--no offense to the media--but once it got all that media attention, I don't think the state felt that they could just dismiss it. They had to try it and get an outcome that way. BO After the trial was over, we--I was really wanting to get out of here. She would keep telling me, you know, "If we just up and go, I'm not comfortable with that. I'm not gonna have people run me out of my own town. This is where I grew up. We're gonna prove to people that we can't be run out of here." JODI So I'm teaching art. You know, I'm the head volleyball coach now. I'm the head softball coach. I run the youth volleyball program for third through sixth grade. I've grown up. I've changed… Changed for the better. And, you know, hopefully we just have more to come. James still lives in town. He goes about his life as if nothing happened. It's impossible to avoid him. We've even caught him parked outside of our house. I just want my life back the way it was. NARRATOR If you thought Jodi's Lifetime Movie was one wild ride, just wait till you hear from Ana. The lies in her story stretch far beyond domestic borders. ANA MARGARITA I was living the perfect life. I thought I married the perfect man. Then I found out everything he told me was a lie. ANA MARGARITA My name is Ana Margarita Martinez, and My Life Is A Lifetime Movie. I was born in Havana, Cuba. I left when I was six years old, in 1966, with my mother and my grandmother on the Freedom Flights exodus. We pretty much came to the United States with nothing, with what we were wearing. I eventually met the father of my children. He was great till I married him. And so finally in 1989, I finally said, "That's enough." I asked him to leave, and so it was a struggle, because now I had two children to feed and support. You always want Prince Charming to come along, but is there a Prince Charming? The next three years I focused on work and raising my children. I had dated some, but nothing lasted more than a few weeks, until I met someone in the spring of 1992. MALE Juan Pablo Roque, welcome to America. ANA MARGARITA My first encounter with Juan Pablo was at church, on a Sunday. He had arrived from Cuba, I believe three days prior. YOUNG JUAN PABLO I'm so happy that the Cuban American community… ANA MARGARITA He told us he escaped Cuba by swimming through shark-infested waters to Guantanamo Bay. He became an instant hero to many people, and he definitely caught my eye. The church singles group had a social function, and that's how we really started talking, and he asked me to dance. ANA MARGARITA He asked me for my phone number, so that was our first kind of date, you know? In 1992, there was a huge hurricane in Miami, Hurricane Andrew, and I have to say that we survived it because of Juan Pablo. ANA MARGARITA I remember him moving us from one room to another, depending on where he felt we were the safest. We eventually ended up in the master bathroom. He proved to me that he was a man who could protect and take care of us. I felt like he was someone I could trust and depend on for anything. We got married in the chapel at church. My daughter was the flower girl, and my son was the ring boy. About a year after he arrived in the U.S., J.P. joined an organization by the name of Brothers to the Rescue. Their mission was to rescue rafters that were fleeing from Cuba in the Florida Straits. He was a pilot, so he was excited to be out there flying and saving lives. Castro considered Brothers to the Rescue a threat to his regime. They were an embarrassment to him. I was proud of Juan Pablo for his sacrifice and his patriotism. A few months later, Juan Pablo told me that he was collaborating with the FBI. He told me, "I can't keep you informed. I can't tell you anything about what's going on because I don't want you involved." I though, you know, if you were in a position to assist the authorities, I think it's the right thing to do. I thought it was cool. Shortly after he started working for the FBI, he told me he needed to go to Georgia, I believe. So he disappeared for a whole week and never even called. And I thought that was rather strange. Juan Pablo came back with a tan. I questioned him, and he said he, you know, had spent time at the pool, and it just didn't sit right, you know? You know when something's not right. And--but there was nothing I could really do about it. It was in early December that J.P. started acting really strange. YOUNG JUAN PABLO No, no, I can't fly. ANA MARGARITA He was called by Brothers to the Rescue to fly on that Saturday, February 24, 1996. YOUNG JUAN PABLO You know, next time. ANA MARGARITA And he told them that he was going to be out of town that weekend, that he couldn't fly. He couldn't go on a volunteer flight that weekend. I felt really, really uneasy. I said, "Do you really have to do this? I really would prefer that you didn't." And he got very upset. And he said, "I've already committed to doing this." YOUNG ANA MARGARITA I don't understand why you have to go. ANA MARGARITA He told me he would be taking his cell phone with him, and it would be turned on at all times in case I needed to reach him. He got up at 3:00 in the morning, like he said he would. The bathroom light woke me, and then I just saw him walking out the door. And I called. I said, "Juan Pablo!" And he turned around, and I said, "Aren't you going to kiss me good-bye?" He came over, kissed me good-bye, turned around, and left. The only thing I really remember about that moment are his teary eyes. The next day, I start calling him on his cell phone, and his cell phone is turned off, so I began to panic, and I was a wreck that day. I called him so many times. And I discovered that his drawers were practically empty. The only thing that I found was his cell phone. That's all there was. No note, no nothing. I didn't know what to think. I was--I was losing my mind. I was such a wreck. I got a call that two planes had been shot down. YOUNG ANA MARGARITA What? ANA MARGARITA I was fearful Juan Pablo had been one of the victims. I had no idea if my husband was dead or alive. I didn't know if he was one of the four pilots who were killed. I hadn't been able to sleep or eat for two days. I was really falling apart at the seams. All I did was cry. I was a zombie. I couldn't do anything. I just wanted my husband to be back home and safe and sound. 72 hours had passed, and I still didn't know if my husband was dead or alive. I turned on CNN, and there I saw my husband disembarking a Cubana de Aviacion airplane in Havana. I held my breath, as the reality sunk in that my husband was alive. And then he goes on Cuban television talking about Brothers to the Rescue and saying that they're a terrorist organization. It was at that moment that I had to face reality. My whole marriage was a lie. SINGER How did I get here? NARRATOR Up next, Ana Margarita comes face-to-face with her husband's double life. CHRIS Juan Pablo was ordered to infiltrate Brothers to the Rescue because the founder of Brothers to the Rescue is a longtime enemy of the Castro Brothers. ANA MARGARITA My name is Ana Margarita Martinez, and My Life Is A Lifetime Movie. I turned on CNN, and there I saw my husband on Cuban television talking about Brothers to the Rescue and saying that they're a terrorist organization. CHRIS Juan Pablo's job as a Cuban spy was to prove that he was here for the long term, and so what better way to show that you're serious about staying than to find someone and marry? Juan Pablo Roque met Ana Margarita in church, and that was part of why he was so successful in the relationship, because when you think about it, where is a person going to be most defenseless, most unguarded? It's gonna be in church. Juan Pablo was ordered to infiltrate Brothers to the Rescue because the founder of Brothers to the Rescue is a longtime enemy of the Castro Brothers, and the Castro Brothers decided that something needed to be done to bring down Jose Basulto and Brothers to the Rescue. The Brothers to the Rescue went up on their scheduled flight. They were intercepted by Migs. Two of the three aircraft were shot down, killing four Americans. In the blink of an eye, they were gone. ANA MARGARITA It was a very difficult fact to accept. It was a process, coming to the realization that four years of my life were a facade. The FBI questioned me on and off for nearly two years. They knew all along that I was a victim. They said to me that the family is the easiest to fool, because we naturally trust, and we're not looking for signs that someone is a spy. I was in denial for a long time, probably months. It was an event that was so damaging, so traumatic, I felt like I really didn't want to live anymore. My children were the main reason for moving on, for getting up and picking up the pieces, and just going on. I had to. I had to. I was responsible for those two lives as well. I sued the Cuban Government and won $20 million. To me, having won a judgment was therapeutic. It was empowering. Now I feel that I have given myself that stability and that security, and I think that, at this point, I can probably have a healthy relationship, when the right person comes along.