Operation Murder | Full Episode

48 Hours presents this is offic the Houston Police Department major offenders division career criminal [Music] Squad hey my name is Valerie McDaniel I've always tried to be an honest kind person I've try 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 she's generous and creative smart nice and sweet she would always like take care of my dog [Music] 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 MC MCD and 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 life of beauty Great Cars Valley had a Mercedes daughter went to a great school they worked a lot that was a big thing they both be working and but did they seem happy together yeah yeah it seemed [Music] great one morning at work there was a a note on my desk that said Dr McDaniel call Miss Brown she said I've been your husband's lover it tore 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 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 um planning on getting [Music] married Mac always wanted more more more at the detriment of their daughter my name is MZ Ai and Leon Jacob tried to hire me as a Hitman in the car did he give you $2,500 he paid the $2,000 in cash yes in cash right 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 loves so much the male subject he's gone he's done all right 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 [Music] [Music] 48 hours operation murder reported by Peter Van Sant continues in 90 seconds [Music] 2453 2453 yes ma'am it's going to be a major offenders [Music] investigation it's 3:00 a.m. on Friday March 10th 2017 h Houston police are making their way to the seventh floor condo of beloved veterinarian Valerie McDaniel AF we have some bad news bad doesn't begin to describe what's about to be revealed found it looks like it turns out to be a fatality Valerie's ex-husband Mack police tell her was dead just 6 months after after their divorce had become final do you have anybody you can call to to help you to stay to stay with you but how could Valerie's life have arrived at this Dreadful [Music] moment 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 a good man he was a standup guy Mack 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 fairy tale wedding moved into a house that my parents had bought me to live in not long after that Valerie decided to open her own Clinic Valerie's cousin Cody Bernard I admired her it sunk something inside of me I wanted to I want 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 he 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 2 days old but as their new family came together their marriage began to fall apart it started Valerie says with a phone call from a stranger the woman who claimed to have been Max's lover but Valerie says that wasn't all she gave me L of women that he had slept with Valerie says she confronted Mac and forgave him but claims it wasn't long before Mac cheated again and that was the first time I ever said the word divorce and I yeled 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 Golda Jacob stopped by he ran up to me and um stuck his hand out and introduced himself the cockiest mother ever met in my life Valerie was in her mid-40s but she was stunning um both inside and out the attraction was Mutual you could tell he knew how beautiful and I was lonely Leon Jacob was 8 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 and he sat across from me and we had some wine and I had my 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 uh all around I guess in December 2014 Valerie filed for divorce claiming Mac committed adultery Mac's attorneys told us Mac had no comment about the divorce petition and the claims Valerie made in her audio diary between Max 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 Oak section of Houston not long after Leon joined them here the relationship really Blossom quickly because we had been very close friends for so long Dr Britney King worked alongside Valerie at the vet clinic I seem very much in love um holding hands and and loving towards each other but there was one old problem in Valerie and lon's new relationship and his name was Mac there were multiple times in the clinic where she would just be in tears um say everything okay and it was something surrounding um her ex-husband Mac had found out that Leon was staying with me that be arguments or uh stuff with the the child of 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 connect 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 um in fact I I think he enjoys it Valerie McDaniel's new live-in boyfriend grew up in a Texas sized world of beauty opulence and opportunity 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 two great kids two boys they're the most important things to me in my life a good family and now with an MD 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 in their relationship he wasn't going to have it um 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 uh 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 veras 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 7eventh 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 um 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 3 years into their relationship Megan vericast thought leyon was a threat to her too Megan kicked leyon 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 uh were called there was no violence of any kind and 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 D smile it frustrated him to no end that Megan varos 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 star you can charge anybody with anything it doesn't mean that you're guilty of that the DA's office has been on this case since its Inception we help 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 res resume his career as this beloved surgeon that he thinks that he is prosecutors claim Leon decided what he needed was a hitman and he thought he'd found one Taz 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 aay was introduced to leyon by a mutual acquaintance did Leon ever tell you how he wanted his ex-girlfriend to be killed yes he 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 Taz is a decorated former US Army soldier who saw Lyon's deadly demand as an opportunity 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 Leon knew Taz by the code name Zach he says Leon wanted him to kidnap Megan first to talk her into taking him back and if that didn't work leaving town but that wasn't all 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 Taz says Leon paid him $9,000 which he happily spent 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 then the man Leon knew as Zach vanished Leon Jacob was one of the most Unique Individuals I'd ever met Bale bondman Michael kubos this guy was focused 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 need to take care of this I felt like I was talking to the Devil Himself here more from the soldier who played a Hitman to Save a Life on Facebook at 48 Hours tonight's 48 hours will continue this is not a minor point this is really a who done it this is a heavy gun this is real this is crazy this is the Moment of Truth this is exactly what I tried to [Music] stop tucked away on a side street in Houston is perh perhaps the most colorful bail bondsman in all of Texas having hung out a bit with you you are the Elvis of bale bondsman you have his name is Michael kubos 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 helps saved lives during Hurricane Harvey I can see You' been really working hard I know all the major law enforcement people in in the whole County Leon had stormed into kubos his office he said I've paid Zach a lot of money to take care of this said take care of what he said I want her out of the picture and and and I 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 a a name that kubash did recognize as a former military man who is 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 to me Taz seemed genuinely concerned for Megan this man is an undercover officer with the Houston Police Department who goes by the name detective Javier 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 B 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 I'll clear my SK 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 we're taking care of both problems what both problems both of the individuals that we're talking about uh okay 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 he want 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 2 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 would say to me if she does not understand that then you do what you have to do those options don't work I don't give a we got got 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 would happen to him or could be a car it could be a robbery going 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 to go ahead want to do that take my the next day March 9th 2017 detective Javier called Leon to say he had good news that he insisted on delivering in person are you AF he went to their home where he informed them Mac was dead neither wanted to see this photo which seemed to show Mac with a gunshot to the head 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 what they didn't know is that Mac was alive and well he' posed for those photos as part of this elaborate sting operation believing was dead Leon set his sights on Megan so you're going to snatch her and you're going to bring her some and talk to her that's the plan I need to show up 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 I don't want to know anything 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 [Music] survive tonight's 48 hours will continue weekday good morning to you and welcome to CBS This Morning join Tony dcoa Anthony Mason and kale King I'm very glad it's us today the new CBS This Morning [Music] [Music] weekday it was probably around 2: or 3: in the morning on March 10th 2017 Valerie McDaniel and her Livin boyfriend Leon Jacob get a wakeup call from Sergeant Frank Quinn that will soon lead to an Oscar winning performance what's going on she lets them inside but she Fain surprise she can't understand why they're there remember just hours before detective Javier posing as a Hitman had told her that Mack was dead but now Valerie has to convince police she is hearing it for the first time sorry I have to tell you have you heard from him recently she pretends to be upset she puts her head in her hands uh she sits down and she acts like she's completely shocked and surprised that her ex-husband is dead is your boyfriend here with you you think he could kind of be a little help to [Music] tonight this surreal scene caught by the body cameras of Houston Police is about to reach its climax we were hoping you could help us we had to deliver some bad news to ex-husband been found toight oh my God Wass [Music] like might have been a robbery WR trying if anybody knows anything or no we to help us are you okay baby we've been here all night we were here all day with and their daughter and we watching movies we haven't been out of the house all day except then the cops decide to call cut on all this bad acting right now we're going to read you your rights cuz both of you are being arrested for solicitation it is only then that the couple learns that both their intended targets are alive and well I don't know why I'm being arrested 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 8-year-old and what did Valerie say to her you know something along the lines of just you know taking you to your dad he's outside and he's going to take you and it was very benign and you know just normal as could be 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 show the film of her going up for her arraignment you about fall out of your chair that 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 after 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 Britney says Valerie was weighed down by her arrest and the prospect she wouldn't be seeing her daughter for a long long time she visited Valerie at her high-rise condo but I remember giving her a hug goodbye and I just felt the life in the eyes was not there it's weird things it wasn't like Bam Bam Bam ression things just gradually happened 2 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 I didn't wake up one day and just say hey I want to kill my ex-husband for Valerie everything she loved was slipping away I want to talk to my daughter I want to talk to [Music] Leon this I'm just not SP I wish I were I just can't do it just can't do it 2 days after her final recording on March 27th 2017 Valerie who once seemed Unstoppable did the unthinkable she climbed over this very railing and jumped seven stories to her death she wanted me to be home with her and we were going to get through this and it was devastating and [Music] shocking I think that she was in a very vulnerable position when she met Leon Jacob but I think he influenced her and brainwashed her I'm innocent and um as a human being and as a physici that thought of killing somebody else is just goes against everything in my my nature it really depends on what they find Leon has hired one of the top defense attorneys in Texas George parnham who says Valerie McDaniel was the one calling all the shots I'm sorry for her demise but I believe that Valerie uh is and was responsible for this entire scenario that she was the driver she was the financier of all of this that that just my understanding the question now what will a jury think on March 20th 2018 a week before the first anniversary of Valerie's suicide this is a state of Texas versus Leon Philip Jacob Leon alone trial on two counts of solicitation of capital murder one of the things you learn about Leon Jacob is he has to be in control Mack was going to die and Megan was going to die Cameron cigan is Samantha con's co-prosecutor he says Lyon's motive was clear there was two obstacles to the defendant's new life with Valerie mcdan it was Ma and it was Megan Mac could keep Valerie away from him by making Valerie choose between the defendant and her daughter and Megan could make him end up in prison George parham's co-counsel Matthew ppil claims that it was the undercover officer whose identity were protecting by calling detective Javier who pushed Ferry and Lyon to make a deadly choice if it was not her offic trying to make this into a television story and force his own narrative Leon would not be forced here today to tell his story all right thank you all please be seated let's continue testimony begins with some of the early stops on this long road to Justice starting with Megan he didn't want her to testify against him and he had paid somebody a lot of money to make sure that she wouldn't be here to testify against him he actually wanted me to um make her disappear oh basically he wanted to gone like dead call your next witness please before the trial concludes two potential victim victims will rise from the dead to take the stand could you please introduce yourself to the members of our jury and the jury will hear from Leon who says he's only guilty of being a Casanova I have no problem sitting here and saying that I slept with Valerie 7 days after Megan and I broke up but I'm not on trial for being a womanizer I'm on trial for solitation of capital murder so you can assassinate my character all you want up here it doesn't make me guilty of what you charged me with [Music] one of the prosecution's strongest Witnesses Megan veros Leon's ex-girlfriend who had filed assault charges against him in January 2017 takes the stand it was a long time coming um I tried to leave several times she recalls Leon coming to the house where she was staying just after the alleged incident I obviously didn't want to be near him so I hid in a closet why did you hide in a closet because I was afraid of Leon he came in and was screaming and yelling and he said I know that that is here Megan says Leon kept pursuing her when she was at work he was in the bushes outside um on a cell phone um waiting for me and when she drove to her new home at that point I called 911 to let them know um that you know my ex-boyfriend who assaulted me was um in a car behind me and then some point Leon had gotten out of his vehicle in front of mine just yelling and waving his hands saying you know just talk to me just talk to me I need to talk to you Leon was arrested a second time on stalking charges on February 16th 2017 less than 10 days after that Megan was contacted by police and warned her life could be in danger she fled to her hometown of Pittsburgh but police soon called her to return to Houston to be part of that sting operation I sat in a chair in a warehouse and um they zip tied my hands and my feet um and put duct tap around my mouth to make me look as if I had been kidnapped I was crying and really upset next it was Valerie's ex-husband Mack McDaniel's turn we were married for 17 years and divorced and 2016 he recalled finding out his ex-wife was living with leyon what was your initial reaction to that my initial reaction was not good and why was that because I was aware of his history his criminal history did you convey to Valerie that you did not want the defendant around your daughter on the weeks that she had custody yes ma'am and did she agree to that she did at some point did you learn that she was not abiding by the agreement I did Mack tells the jury he too was notified he was the target of a murder plot then the prosecution shows the jury that photo can you describe for the members of the jury what you're doing here staging my death did they pour blood on you Pig's blood 3 days into the 5-day long trial it's the defenses turn they call their star witness I never asked anybody to kill anybody does the word kill hurt harm in any way shape or form appear in any of those recorded conversations not on my behalf except for to exclude them from things I want done I never asked to have anybody hurt killed harmed um kidnapped I never asked for anybody to be in any way physically hurt but the prosecution says that's not true she's dead she's gone I don't want to know anything and they claim those undercover tapes back that up did you not want anybody hurt when you said inject her with potassium chloride stop her heart untraceable I said that was a something you could do I didn't say that for him to do that did you recall telling the undercover officer if those options don't work I don't give a then you got to do what you got to do because my survival is more important yes Leon's own words come back to haunt him regarding Mack as well after the undercover officer proposed a fatal car jacket it could be a robbery Leon offered $10,000 in four weekly installments so you're agreeing to give him $2,500 just after he tells you I'm going to put a bullet in his head and throw him on the street if that's what you say well that's in the recording it's not what I say it's what Javier and you said right I guess Leon and the defense team tried to make their point that the undercover officer was pressuring them into making deadly decisions I kept on telling them I didn't want anybody hurt and they kept on going back to the theme of killing people I felt a lot of pressure from them to sort of commit to this idea of killing people and that was never my intent were you asking them just to threaten people essentially is did you actually want any harm to come to anybody no but the prosecution points out that when Leon thought Megan was tied up and refusing to cooperate he did nothing to stop the lethal final step you'd agree with me that you never said no no I don't want you to do anything stop this you didn't say anything like that did you no the jury gets the case is the jury reached unanimous verdicts it takes just an hour and 15 minutes before returning to the courtroom with the jury find the defendant Leon Philip Jacob guilty of solicitation of capital murder is charged in the indictment Leon is found guilty on both counts of conspiring to have Megan and Mack killed the trial moves to the sentencing phase the same jury that found leyon guilty will decide his punishment new testimony begins I have no sense of trust um just constantly afraid that something else is going to happen the only thing that might impact Leon's sentence more than the words of his exgirlfriend may end up being the words of his ex-wife the state calls Annie Morrison Annie Morrison has flown in from Chicago to testify yes there was a time that we got into a fight and he pulled an knife on me there was one time he pushed my head down onto the counter and and bruised my face near my eye any recounts an incident she says occurred when she was 7 months pregnant with their second child he threatened a punched me in the stomach um he kicked my legs I remember I remember bringing my legs up as far as I could toward my chest to try to protect my stomach he threatened that if I ever left that he would kill me he said that nobody would ever find my body because he was a doctor and he had access to chemicals that would that would dissolve my body Annie did leave moving to her parents' home in Chicago that's when Lon started threatening her parents thank you judge may I publish st's exhibit number 81 to the jury as the jury heard in this recording Annie made of a phone call with Leon I will torture them in of you the defendant please stand the jury took just one hour to decide Leon Jacob's sentence life in prison on each count solicitation of capital murder for Megan veros and MC McDaniel victim imp statement please in Texas the victim impact statements come after the sentence Megan takes the stand one last time you will never see your children grow up you will not be a part of their lives and they will be F better for it you destroyed me financially and took away my sense of security but you can do that no more while you sit in jail I hope you think of me the girl that you called poor and uneducated because it's because of me you will be in prison for [Music] life Leon Jacob will be eligible for parole in the year 2047 he will be 69 years old I intended to kill him was he brainwashed by a psychiatrist Dr bookfinder claims that she had no involvement at all in this then why was she just arrested why did you buy that Sledgehammer a Hollywood producer and writer of graphic novels his girlfriend brutally murdered this was a prolonged and brutal crime Blake was concerned that his brother's gambling had placed his family in danger was it revenge or was his graphic novel a script for murder it's just more like a horror movie CBS News original [Music] reporting

Channel: 48 Hours

Views: 1,519,117

Keywords: 48 hours, cbs news, valerie mcdaniel, leon jacob, murder, murder-for-hire plot, Moataz Azzeh, Mack McDaniel, veterinarian, hit man, Texas, full episodes, true crime

Id: vA-weO9f7sc

Length: 43min 46sec (2626 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 23 2024