Beth Dutton

Less than a year later, the Maguires had their first son.

Melanie went to work at a fertility clinic, and Bill began teaching computer science at a technical college.

Was it a happy time for you?

It was.

I saw Bill morph into kind of the family man that he always wanted to be, and it really touched me.

But as with so many couples, Bill and Melanie's relationship did not withstand the test of time.

I can't say his fault, my fault.

Things changed and we were no longer able or willing to meet in the middle.

By the birth of their second son, the couple had grown even further apart.

One reason, according to Melanie, Bill's frequent trips to Atlantic City.

Would you say that Bill had a gambling problem?

Yes.

Yes.

For him, it was a goal.

He needed more money.

He wasn't somebody who could sit there and be content with what we had.

It was always it had to be a step better.

Melanie says Bill became increasingly erratic, even volatile.

She remembers one night he called from the road in a rage after getting a speeding ticket.

She hung up on him.