Rebecca Filmer
Appearances
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
I was so busy with life and kids. We were just living our best lives.
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
Sometimes when Sarah Jane would be around Bailey, she would just cry because she would see Bailey and she would just want so badly to share that with Donna and she would just get emotional. That bothered Mark because he didn't want her to cry around Bailey.
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
Mark wanted to go and be checked out at the emergency room because he wasn't feeling well. And I looked over in the waiting room and I saw Deanne.
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
I see here on the bottom of the stairs the Winger Inn, established 1996, which was the year that we got married. Everything was supposed to be perfect, just like in this picture.
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
It went from Winger as a hero who was defending his wife to manipulative, deviant murderer.
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
I didn't see it coming. I didn't know that this whole investigation was brewing. I never thought the whole time that they thought my husband was a diabolical murderer.
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
I remember making it to 2001 and thinking, I think we're okay. It's been a whole year, and then they still haven't arrested him. They must not have a case.
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
I got a phone call and it was Mark's secretary and she told me that Mark had just been arrested and the whole body just kind of went numb.
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
I felt that I owed it to him and to my kids to just stand by him. Nobody wants to go through a murder trial. It's very surreal. I just had to tell myself, walk, sit down, don't fall, don't cry. In my mind, Mark was innocent before. He was innocent from the start. That's what everybody thought.
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
I didn't think that anybody would believe her, and I just thought if that was truly the case, and Mark truly did that, she would have come forward right away.
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
I really believed that at the end of that trial that he was going to walk out and walk home with us.
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
It just kind of rings in your head and echoes guilty, guilty, guilty. I didn't understand how 12 jurors could be so certain that that's how it went down when I had so many questions.
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
It wasn't just him being sentenced to life. We were sentenced to a life of a father in prison. I do feel that that whole time, Mark was giving a grand performance. I could never come back and say, oh, he got angry at me or he was rough with the kids. I had nothing. I had nothing. He was perfect.
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
I was married to a murderer. Then after he was convicted, I went from being a stay-home mom to being homeless overnight. Thank you.
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
This is Rebecca, interview take one, soft sticks. This is the first time I've sat down to tell my story. I was going to become her nanny or governess. I would move into the home and take care of her basic needs and I just felt like she deserved the best.
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
It was a big responsibility, but I was ready for her. Bailey made me a mom, and sometimes a child has to appear for the mom to be created.
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
When you live with someone and you're taking care of a child together, it's very easy to kind of play house. You're already put in those roles.
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
And I remember asking him how he could move on so quickly. And he explained to me that when you have a good marriage, it's natural for you just to want that again. Good boy.
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
Come here, sweetheart. Mark had always told me that he was not capable of having children. I was very surprised to find out I was pregnant. He was thrilled. He was absolutely thrilled. Mark put pressure on me to marry him and have children with him. Immediately he started going to church with me to persuade me that we could have that life. He writes to me, I love you.
20/20
Bad Romance: Web of Lies
You love me and you're pregnant with our child. I believe that you and I together can raise a family in a truly Christian home. I would be honored to be your husband and blessed if you were my wife. Mark and I eloped. We went to Maui and it was kind of a secret and a surprise and I didn't even tell my own family.
20/20
The Lies Beneath
She goes, I know he's coming around. I know he's harassing me. There's doors that were closed or open. And I'm like, you need to get a restraining order.
20/20
The Lies Beneath
How did you meet Lori? So I originally met her at Gold's Gym. I met her through her then boyfriend, Jay Townsend. He introduced us as his girlfriend at the time. She had just lost a lot of weight and she wanted to start working out. Lori was super sweet. She was just someone that was very easy to talk to. She liked going out to dance and stuff. So we just kind of connected.
20/20
The Lies Beneath
She told me she was in this relationship that he made her feel bad about herself. And I started to understand why she wanted to lose so much weight, why she was so focused on her appearance. I mean, in session, she'd be in the mirror, like, fixing her hair and making sure everything was just so.
20/20
The Lies Beneath
There was a time we're sitting in the living room and she's sobbing. She's just, I know he's coming around. There's stuff, you know, doors that were closed or open. And I'm like... You need to get a restraining order, you know, if it's getting that bad. She said, no, I don't want to be bothered. It's just going to kind of open up a whole other can of worms.
20/20
The Lies Beneath
And she goes, oh, I had the quarter parents for her to settle their divorce. I'm like, oh, okay. You know, how did that go? She said it was settled. She's officially divorced. And I was like...
20/20
The Lies Beneath
It was clear that he wasn't going to be leaving his wife. They were going to work it out, and him and Lori were over.
20/20
The Lies Beneath
After that night, it was Travis this, Travis that. And I'm like, oh my god. Here we go. I think she has a type. When I've seen pictures of Mike and the way that he would dress, it was similar to Travis.
20/20
The Lies Beneath
I remember thinking, it's a complete misunderstanding. They're going to find that he just wasn't where he was supposed to be. It just kind of snowballed into he's missing, missing.
20/20
The Lies Beneath
No. Lori was convinced that Jay was leaving his wife, and that couldn't have been further from the truth.
20/20
The Lies Beneath
And she got married here. Yep, right out there. We walked by here, walked through here, walked all the way out, and yep. Right past, you know, a human being that was just... It's so disturbing because, again, we've been out here. I've stood. right where he was, and I didn't know.
20/20
The Lies Beneath
She's sobbing. She's just, I know he's coming around. There's stuff, you know, doors that were closed or open.