A Veteran Accused

Summary

48 Hours: "A Veteran Accused" – Episode Summary

Introduction

In the gripping episode titled "A Veteran Accused," CBS News' award-winning series "48 Hours" delves deep into the harrowing case of Colonel George Marachek, one of the most decorated Green Berets in U.S. history, who stands accused of murdering his wife, Vi Porat. Host Susan Spencer unravels the complexities of this high-profile case, exploring themes of honor, betrayal, and the quest for truth.

Background: Colonel George Marachek

Colonel George Marachek's life is a study in contrasts. Born in Dolny Posdevna, Czechoslovakia, in 1932, Marachek survived a Nazi concentration camp and fled Europe post-World War II. Immigrating to the United States, he became an American citizen at 25 and devoted his life to serving his adopted country. Over 36 years and three wars, Marachek earned numerous decorations, including the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, and three Purple Hearts. Admired by peers and subordinates alike, Marachek epitomized integrity and devotion to duty.

Notable Quote:

George Marachek (03:09): "I stand for integrity, devotion to duty, love for your nation. And above it all, truth."

The Crime: Disappearance and Discovery of Vi Porat

On June 3, 1991, Colonel Marachek and his Thai wife, Vi Porat, were vacationing at Fort Fisher near Cape Fear, North Carolina. Both enjoyed the outdoors, often spending days at the beach. That day, after a morning at the beach, Vi Porat left to explore fishing spots, as she had expressed interest the day before. When Colonel Marachek returned around 5 PM, he found the cottage empty. Despite immediate concern, official authorities deemed it too early to declare her missing. Marachek took it upon himself to search extensively, eventually finding Vi Porat's body face down in the Cape Fear River the next day.

Notable Quote:

George Marachek (06:05): "This is what a poor little girl was. When I found her dead, she was somewhere in this direction... I think I screamed."

Initial Investigations and First Trials

The initial investigation posed significant challenges. Vi Porat's body was discovered without clear evidence or a visible murder weapon. The prosecution, led by Tommy Hicks, zeroed in on Marachek, citing his military background and potential motives, including possible infidelity and a $300,000 life insurance policy he had taken out on his wife six months prior. The first trial ended in a hung jury, signaling the case's complexity and the strong defense mounted by Marachek's legal team.

The Third Trial: Prosecution vs. Defense

After winning a retrial on appeal, Colonel Marachek faced a third trial where the stakes were undeniably high. The prosecution maintained a narrative of a straightforward motive driven by money and an alleged affair, while the defense introduced a convoluted theory of an international conspiracy aimed at discrediting a national hero.

Notable Quote:

Tommy Hicks (07:16): "What did you kill her with, Colonel?"

Prosecution's Case

The prosecution's strategy hinged on demonstrating Marachek's motive and opportunity. Key elements included:

1. Motive:

   • Infidelity: Testimonies from Marachek's son, Michael, and others suggested marital strife and possible affairs. Letters between Marachek and his cousin Hannah hinted at a deeper relationship.
   • Financial Gain: The $300,000 life insurance policy raised suspicions about Marachek's intentions.

2. Inconsistencies and Behavior:

   • Marachek's detailed account of the day of the disappearance conflicted with witness statements.
   • A pre-trial lie detector test administered by his attorney reportedly failed, casting doubt on his truthfulness (Tommy Hicks, 28:53).

3. Witness Testimonies:

   • Tom and Beth Delou (20:09): Claimed to have seen a man resembling Marachek and an anguished woman leaving the beach area.
   • Handyman Dennis Rood (20:46): Observed Marachek and his wife walking toward the river, with Vi Porat appearing distressed.

Notable Quote:

Tommy Hicks (28:53): "I do know that he bought the insurance."

Defense's Case: Conspiracy and Framing

Marachek's defense team, led by Russell Preston and attorney Cliff Barnard, presented an alternative narrative suggesting that Marachek was being framed as part of an international plot to tarnish his reputation. Key components included:

1. International Conspiracy:

   • Allegations that Russell Preston, a former army buddy, was involved in framing Marachek, possibly linked to political motives stemming from Marachek's connections to the Czech Republic and opposition to communism.
   • Claims that Preston had ties to the Czech secret police, although evidence was inconclusive.

2. Character Witnesses:

   • Russell Preston (24:35): Testified about past interactions with Marachek, including suspicious behavior.
   • Jan Benesch (32:42): Suggested Preston was under the influence of Czech secret agents aiming to derail Marachek's political ambitions.

3. Challenging Prosecution Evidence:

   • Highlighted the lack of physical evidence at the crime scene.
   • Questioned the reliability of witness testimonies and the integrity of the initial investigation.

4. Family Support:

   • Marachek's son, Michael, initially suggested possible infidelity but later recanted, aligning with the defense's assertion of police coercion.

Notable Quote:

George Marachek (28:35): "I really don't know. He never said."

Key Witnesses and Testimonies

1. Susan Spencer:

   • Wife of Russell Preston, testified about Preston's aggressive behavior and insinuated threat towards Marachek, suggesting involvement in the murder (25:37).

2. Michael Marachek:

   • Initially suggested his father might have been unfaithful but later testified for the defense, claiming he was coerced by police.

3. Russell Preston:

   • His credibility was questioned due to past allegations of sexual misconduct, which were ultimately dropped, but used by prosecution to undermine his testimony.

4. Jan Benesch:

   • Former dissident who alleged Preston's connections to the Czech secret police, reinforcing the defense's conspiracy theory.

Notable Quote:

Susan Spencer (25:13): "Colonel Marachek was living a lie."

Verdict and Aftermath

After a tense six-day trial, the jury reached a verdict in less than three hours, finding Colonel George Marachek guilty of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Marachek vehemently denied the charges throughout the proceedings, maintaining his innocence and vowing to seek justice to uncover the truth behind his wife's death.

Notable Quote:

George Marachek (43:22): "I'd rather die in this prison than to admit to something that I have not done. I'm not going to be free until I find out who killed me."

Conclusion

The case of Colonel George Marachek serves as a compelling exploration of the intersection between honor, duty, and personal tragedy. "48 Hours" masterfully presents both sides of the argument, highlighting the complexities inherent in high-stakes legal battles. While Marachek's military accolades painted him as a paragon of virtue, the courtroom dynamics revealed a man entangled in a web of suspicion, personal flaws, and possibly deeper conspiracies. The episode leaves viewers pondering the nature of truth and justice, especially when intertwined with national heroes.

Final Note

Colonel George Marachek was released from prison in 2003 and passed away in 2020. His legacy remains a topic of debate, emblematic of the challenges in reconciling a celebrated past with contentious legal accusations.

Notable Quote:

Tommy Hicks (44:18): "He most certainly deserves every bit of those 30 years."

---

This detailed summary encapsulates the multifaceted narrative of "A Veteran Accused," providing an insightful overview for those unfamiliar with the episode while preserving the intensity and complexity of the original reportage.

Transcript

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[George Marachek]

He is one of.

[Susan Spencer]

The most decorated Green Berets in history.

[George Marachek]

George Marachek is the American story of success.

[Susan Spencer]

The hero on the battlefield.

[George Marachek]

He a Silver Star, three Purple Hearts, a colonel. I stand for integrity, devotion to duty.

[Susan Spencer]

But in civilian life, he's in a world of trouble.

[George Marachek]

I loved her. I still love her.

[Susan Spencer]

The colonel is accused of murdering his wife.

[Tommy Hicks]

What did you kill her with, Colonel?

[George Marachek]

I did not kill her.

[Susan Spencer]

Even the colonel's old army buddy says he confessed. Reach over and grab my arm. They'll never catch me. I'm too smart for them. Susan Spencer tracks down an incredible story.

[George Marachek]

Could this American hero be the target.

[Susan Spencer]

Of an international plot to destroy him?

[Leslie Stahl]

You believe that Russell Preston is framing the colonel? Yes, I do. He looks like the least likely person on earth to have committed a crime like this.

[Tommy Hicks]

What's a murderer look like?

[Susan Spencer]

48 Hours Investigates who killed the Colonel's wife?

[Cliff Barnard]

Welcome to 48 Hours Investigates. I'm Leslie Stahl. His name is Colonel George Marachek, a real life American hero. To his admirers, he's a man of honor. But he's also accused of murder. The question a jury must decide did this former Green Beret, who learned well the arts of war to defend his country, cross the line in civilian life? Our Susan Spencer traveled around the world to Asia and Europe for this story. But her report begins near a place in North Carolina called Cape Fear.

[George Marachek]

I stand for integrity, devotion to duty, love for your nation. And above it all, truth.

[Leslie Stahl]

Retired Colonel George Marachek may be 68, but he's still tough as nails. Still every inch the Green Beret.

[George Marachek]

These are my decorations. The Distinguished Service Cross.

[Leslie Stahl]

In fact, one of the most decorated Green Berets in the Army's history.

[George Marachek]

The Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star, the Silver Star, three Purple Hearts.

[Leslie Stahl]

From Heartbreak Ridge in Korea to the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Vietnam, this star spangled soldier really has seen it all.

[George Marachek]

I kind of pride myself that out of all the years in wars, I only lost three people.

[Leslie Stahl]

And this is over how many years?

[George Marachek]

36 and three wars, only three people. I had to write a letter to their parents saying they died. I took care of my people.

[Leslie Stahl]

But the most astonishing thing about George Marachek today is not his past glory, but his present situation.

[Tommy Hicks]

George Marachek was one of the best wartime soldiers the army had ever seen, but he did not do nearly as well in peacetime.

[Leslie Stahl]

This American hero stands accused of. Of murder. You have no doubt George Marachek killed his wife?

[Tommy Hicks]

None whatsoever. He struck her with a blunt object and drowned her.

[Leslie Stahl]

Bottom line. Colonel, did you kill your wife?

[George Marachek]

No, I have not.

[Leslie Stahl]

June 3, 1991. Colonel Marachek and his Thai wife, Vi Porat, were vacationing as they often did at Fort Fisher, a military recreation area near Cape Fear, North Carolina. They both loved the outdoors.

[George Marachek]

I like to come here because I feel like she's here with me.

[Leslie Stahl]

This is actually the cottage where you were?

[George Marachek]

Yes.

[Leslie Stahl]

He says they spent that morning at the beach. After lunch, he says he went back to the beach for more sun.

[George Marachek]

I left the cottage about 1:20, which was at the beginning of the second episode of All My Children.

[Leslie Stahl]

Viparat, he says, told him she planned to check out fishing spots.

[Tommy Hicks]

I told him to go down on this sand that you're seeing over here.

[Leslie Stahl]

In fact, a stranger recommended one just the day before.

[Tommy Hicks]

He asked me where a good secluded area was.

[Leslie Stahl]

When he got home at 5, he found the cottage empty. He says he never saw his wife alive again. The next day, he says he found her bludgeoned body face down in the Cape Fear River.

[George Marachek]

This is what a poor little girl was. When I found her dead, she was somewhere in this direction. Right here. Somewhere in this direction. Okay. She was bobbling on the water. I think I screamed. I think I. Yeah, I know I screamed. And I just grabbed her, holding her like if I want to kiss her.

[Leslie Stahl]

He dealt matter of factly with death on the battlefields, he says, but this hit too close to home.

[George Marachek]

I don't think you really can describe it that's like a lightning going through you. Flashes and anger and uncertainty and frustration. That's the worst thing ever happened to me in my life.

[Leslie Stahl]

Marachek took authorities to the body. Then they took him to the hospital. A grief stricken spouse.

[George Marachek]

I loved her. I still love her. And I will always love her, will always carry her in my heart.

[Tommy Hicks]

I think that's sort of the surface that George Marachek wants the world to see.

[Leslie Stahl]

Because, says prosecutor Tommy Hicks, George Marachek is the killer. And Hicks thinks he can prove it.

[Tommy Hicks]

George Marachek's version of how he found the body was not the case.

[Leslie Stahl]

What really did happen? The search for clues leads around the world.

[Susan Spencer]

Awesome.

[Leslie Stahl]

Back in time to the shadowy era of Cold War espionage and to a family split apart.

[George Marachek]

It's turned everybody against everybody.

[Leslie Stahl]

As an American war hero fights the battle of his life on trial for murder. Next on 48 Hours Investigates.

[George Marachek]

Who did it? Who killed Wyvarat Marachek?

[Leslie Stahl]

Retired Colonel George Marachek is about to go on trial for his wife's murder. And this is the third time he calls it persecution.

[George Marachek]

I know that I haven't done anything. I know I'm innocent.

[Leslie Stahl]

The first trial ended in a hung jury. The second jury convicted Marachek, but he won a new trial on appeal. He has contended from the start that the state is trying to use his military career against him, trying to portray him as a trained killer. The police, he charges, have used him as a scapegoat to cover up a botched investigation.

[George Marachek]

They didn't preserve anything, he says.

[Leslie Stahl]

They ignored crucial evidence at the crime scene, including a pair of shoes, beer cans and a footprint in the sand.

[George Marachek]

They destroyed it.

[Leslie Stahl]

This time, he thinks the jury will see things his way.

[George Marachek]

If anybody treasures life, it would be a guy like me who'd been on battlefields. George was extremely brave.

[Leslie Stahl]

Retired general Sydney Shacknow has known Marachek for 30 years.

[George Marachek]

If I was to go back into combat, I would want George Marachek with me. He led by example. He commanded respect. Because of what he has accomplished, George Marachek is the American story of success.

[Leslie Stahl]

The colonel's incredible story starts here in the Czech Republic, in his hometown of Dolny Posdevna, on the German border. He was born here in 1932, and within a few years the Nazis were moving in. By the time he was 12 years old, he was in the Resistance, but the Germans caught up with him. He says he survived a concentration camp and fled Europe after the war.

[George Marachek]

When I saw the Statue of Liberty when we pulled into New York, I was speechless.

[Leslie Stahl]

He became an American citizen at 25. But he vowed to one day help free his homeland from communism. That made him a natural for the Special Forces. He volunteered to go to Vietnam. By then he was married. He left wife Billy and three kids behind. What kind of father was your father?

[Michael Marachek]

He wasn't home a lot. He was in the army and at war.

[Leslie Stahl]

Daughter Susan Kirk I loved him.

[Michael Marachek]

I missed him. I adored him. He was kind of like a hero.

[George Marachek]

Honest, straight up American soldier.

[Leslie Stahl]

But son Michael says their relationship was sometimes rocky.

[George Marachek]

He's firm, he's hard. You know, he runs a straight ship and you know, that's the way he wants. Is difficult to maintain good family ties when you are an infantry officer that is usually committed in trouble spots around the world.

[Leslie Stahl]

His first marriage ended in divorce. He found himself single, stationed in Thailand. Viparat Tse Wong, meanwhile, was in her mid-20s living in Bangkok.

[Jui]

We are walking toward the dormitory where Viparat used to live.

[Leslie Stahl]

In the very neighborhood where her best friend Jui today still makes her living selling food on the street.

[Jui]

We were like sisters. We were really happy. I remember her smiling face.

[Leslie Stahl]

And Jui remembers that Viparat wanted more than anything to live a life abroad.

[Jui]

She was ambitious. She wanted to have a brighter and better life. She introduced me to her boyfriend here and we had coffee.

[Leslie Stahl]

The boyfriend was Marachek. Zhuyi had her doubts about him from the start.

[Jui]

He was handsome and a good looking Westerner, but his eyes showed that he was a playboy. I wanted her to change her mind, but she said there was no problem.

[George Marachek]

And this is our wedding picture.

[Leslie Stahl]

The Maracheks married in 1982.

[George Marachek]

My nickname to her was Tukota, which is a Thai word for baby doll. And that's really what she was, just a warm, cuddly, very efficient, trustworthy, good wife. Good is not good enough. Excellent.

[Jui]

She gave me from Thailand and I always have it on.

[Leslie Stahl]

But her best friend in America, Inge Shaw, says things were not what they seemed.

[Jui]

From the beginning, I didn't think it was a very happy marriage.

[Leslie Stahl]

The year before the murder, Marachek made three trips to the new Czech Republic. Now retired, he talked of moving there, even running for office. Inge Shah says Wiperath felt her marriage crumbling.

[Jui]

Many times she had tears in her eyes and she said, always my fault, always my fault.

[Leslie Stahl]

Marachek calls that ridiculous.

[George Marachek]

I don't think that we ever had a bad day in our marriage.

[Leslie Stahl]

Never had a bad day?

[George Marachek]

No, I really don't think so. You couldn't be mad at her.

[Leslie Stahl]

He remembers that they took that fateful vacation to celebrate their ninth anniversary.

[George Marachek]

That's her.

[Leslie Stahl]

This is the last picture you have?

[George Marachek]

Yeah. The 3rd of June, 9 o' clock in the morning. Today she got killed sometimes in the evening.

[Leslie Stahl]

Juy remembers Vipara too.

[Jui]

It is so hard to talk about. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't give food to the monks. And when I do that, I say her name. We believe the person will get what we are giving.

[Leslie Stahl]

What Inge Shah remembers is how worried she was for her quiet friend.

[Jui]

And I prayed and I said, dear God, let her come back.

[Leslie Stahl]

Because she says, just before the couple left for Fort Fisher, Vipparat was scared to death.

[Jui]

She said, ingi, if I don't come back, promise me, call the police.

[Tommy Hicks]

This case is about a woman who knew she was going to die. And that was what the case was about.

[Leslie Stahl]

Next on 48 Hours. Investigate.

[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Leslie Stahl]

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[Tommy Hicks]

It was the most unusual homicide I'd ever seen.

[Leslie Stahl]

Prosecutor Tommy Hicks remembers the very moment his boss gave him his daunting assignment. Convict a war hero of murder. You look at Colonel Marachek's record, he looks like the least likely person on earth to have committed a crime like this.

[Tommy Hicks]

What's a murderer look like?

[Leslie Stahl]

This murderer left few hints.

[Tommy Hicks]

She was sitting on the bottom of the river. She had been completely stripped of everything.

[Leslie Stahl]

No crime scene and no murder weapon either. And at first, no clear motive. But they certainly had a suspect.

[Tommy Hicks]

They pretty much focused on Marachek because from the very beginning they can tell he wasn't being truthful with them about what he was saying about his wife's disappearance. What you're saying and what we see are two different things. I felt sure that I had the.

[Susan Spencer]

Killer sitting in front of me.

[Leslie Stahl]

Detective George Landry questioned the Colonel shortly after the murder.

[George Marachek]

That was Sunday night.

[Leslie Stahl]

We walked and says his story was easy, inconsistent.

[George Marachek]

It was Monday.

[Leslie Stahl]

Routine questioning.

[Tommy Hicks]

It was very harsh, very intense.

[Leslie Stahl]

Quickly became an interrogation.

[Tommy Hicks]

What did you kill her with?

[Leslie Stahl]

Colonel, please.

[Tommy Hicks]

What did you hit her with?

[George Marachek]

I did not kill her.

[Tommy Hicks]

I needed to get his attention.

[George Marachek]

Oh, Colonel.

[Tommy Hicks]

I beat on the desk and you were here.

[George Marachek]

No, sir.

[Tommy Hicks]

I called him a killer. You killed her. What did you do with her clothes and jewelry?

[George Marachek]

I did not tell her. Please, sir, this is ridiculous.

[Leslie Stahl]

Marachek still insists he didn't kill his wife. In fact, he spent hours frantically searching for her on that night in 1991.

[George Marachek]

Once I got seven o' clock, I got very concerned. Somebody could have abducted her or sexually abused her or something. At 8 o' clock we come called 911.

[Leslie Stahl]

Police patrol the area, but they said it was too early to officially declare Viiprat a missing person. So Marachek says he searched on his own. Searched in fact, until almost midnight.

[George Marachek]

I didn't go to sleep. I was drinking tons of coffee.

[Leslie Stahl]

The next morning, he says he scoured the area again. And shortly after noon he found Viiparat's body here at this grassy point on the Cape Fear River.

[George Marachek]

Just ran down there and grabbed her and pulled her in on a more solid surface.

[Leslie Stahl]

But prosecutor Hicks wonders why the Colonel didn't go straight to the place the stranger recommended to the Maracheks the day before.

[Tommy Hicks]

Here you've got a man that is so intelligent and is so smart, he's talked to a guy who says this is a good place to go fishing. Tells him how to get there. And it takes him 12 hours to figure out that might be a place to go look for.

[Leslie Stahl]

You're saying that logically that should have been the first place he looked.

[Tommy Hicks]

Wouldn't that be the first place you would look?

[Leslie Stahl]

But Marachek says the truth is in a four page document he wrote after Viperat disappeared. This is a very meticulous document. From stating specific times to noting that your wife had low fat cottage cheese for lunch.

[George Marachek]

Yes.

[Leslie Stahl]

So you were thinking that clearly at the time?

[George Marachek]

Well, of course, I have to be specific all my life because my job in the military As a leader, I have to pay attention to what I'm doing and when I did it.

[Leslie Stahl]

Rubbish, says Tommy Hicks. The statement was supposed to be an alibi and it doesn't explain why. Where the colonel really was. The afternoon viparat died.

[Tommy Hicks]

And nothing really comes contested till about 4 o' clock in the afternoon.

[Leslie Stahl]

Remember, Marachek says he hadn't seen his wife since lunchtime. Hicks says that's a lie and he's got witnesses to prove it.

[Susan Spencer]

It was probably right along in here.

[Leslie Stahl]

Off duty cops. Tom and Beth Delou were driving past Fort Fisher that day at about 4pm.

[Susan Spencer]

I would probably say when I first noticed them, they were probably about where the car is.

[Leslie Stahl]

Gwen. Tom says they passed a Caucasian man and an Asian woman on the road, apparently headed away from the beach toward the river.

[Susan Spencer]

I'm sure the man standing in the road was Colonel Marachek.

[Leslie Stahl]

Beth isn't so sure. I could not identify either one of them. I couldn't tell if they were coming back from the beach or going to the beach.

[Susan Spencer]

She seemed.

[Leslie Stahl]

But like Tom Delew handyman Dennis Rood says he also saw the Maracheks walking toward the river a few minutes later at about 4:15.

[Susan Spencer]

I could actually feel her eyes on me.

[Leslie Stahl]

What's more, he says Vipparat seemed upset.

[Susan Spencer]

She just looked at me and she wouldn't take her eyes off. Something just didn't seem right to me. It just looked like somebody just was walking with somebody that they just didn't care to be with.

[Leslie Stahl]

Prosecutor Hicks says tensions in the Marachek marriage were obvious to many people, including the colonel's own daughter.

[Michael Marachek]

He acted like he didn't want to speak to her, would prefer she wasn't in the same room with him. The phone would ring and it was always the same thing. You know, I think he's having an affair and your dad's not, you know, doing right.

[Leslie Stahl]

The year before the murder, Marachek had spent weeks at a time in the Czech Republic. Her biggest fear, if you will, was that you were having an affair with your distant cousin Hannah. Was that true?

[George Marachek]

No, not at all.

[Tommy Hicks]

We do have letters that tend to indicate that there's a relationship. And I think his language is the important thing is that we be together.

[Susan Spencer]

It stunk. It reeked.

[Leslie Stahl]

This former army buddy of Marachek says there was an affair.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Let's go check this out.

[Leslie Stahl]

And he knows the truth about the murder. Why? Because the colonel told him. Now he wants to tell the jury.

[Susan Spencer]

Reach over and grab my arm. They'll never catch me. I'm too smart for him. With a real firm grip Told his eyes mean as a snake.

[Cliff Barnard]

They call them Special Ops, the elite troops now at the center of America's war on terror. As a highly decorated Green Beret, George Marachek was one of the best of the best. Now the 68 year old retired colonel is in a very different kind of fight. He's on trial for the brutal killing of his wife. The prosecution says it's a very simple case. It was murder from money and another woman. But the colonel's defense team points to a dark conspiracy, an international plot to discredit an American hero. Here again is Susan Spencer.

[Susan Spencer]

Number one is going in up there.

[Tommy Hicks]

Number two, he's gonna get ready to go right here.

[Leslie Stahl]

It's 5:00am get the arms forward.

[George Marachek]

Roll the feet around properly.

[Leslie Stahl]

A few weeks before Colonel Marachek's third murder trial, and Butch Hendrick is hard at work. He's been brought in by Marachek's supporters as an authority on homicide by drowning.

[George Marachek]

She's found.

[Leslie Stahl]

Yep.

[Susan Spencer]

We're within 10ft.

[Leslie Stahl]

To prove a body put in the river at the critical time our primary mannequin is on the move would have been swept away.

[George Marachek]

If it gets out and makes it past this point, it's going to be gone.

[Leslie Stahl]

It's going to be traveling down. If she was put in while the.

[George Marachek]

Tide was going out, she would have gone out to sea.

[Leslie Stahl]

The prosecution says that proves nothing about whether the Colonel killed his wife.

[Russell Preston]

We need to have a final strategy meeting.

[Leslie Stahl]

But Marachek's lawyer, Cliff Barnard, welcomes any good news. Impressed with the colonel, he took this case for free.

[Russell Preston]

We are scrambling, trying to do the.

[Leslie Stahl]

Best we can as he collects evidence.

[Russell Preston]

I am feeling apprehensive about getting this all together.

[Leslie Stahl]

Barnard has asked the judge to delay the trial.

[Russell Preston]

I'm an attorney who's representing Colonel Marachek.

[Leslie Stahl]

To find old witnesses and he hopes, new ones.

[Russell Preston]

Trying to find everybody we can.

[George Marachek]

How far is that mannequin out there?

[Leslie Stahl]

One new defense witness already has surfaced.

[George Marachek]

If they would have just run out here and thrown a basketball in the water back then, they could have figured it out.

[Leslie Stahl]

The Colonel's son Michael testified twice that his dad hinted that he was the killer. Now he says police brainwashed him.

[George Marachek]

It pisses me off because they lied to me. Bend the truth, you know, make up something else to be the truth that ain't.

[Leslie Stahl]

But while Michael will testify for the defense this time.

[Michael Marachek]

I left my dad. I still left my dad.

[Leslie Stahl]

His sister Susan is on the prosecution's Witness list. A reluctant witness for whom loyalty has lost out to what she fears is the truth.

[Michael Marachek]

If dad has done something he shouldn't have done, he needs to be in prison.

[Susan Spencer]

He planted it down to the last detail.

[Leslie Stahl]

Russell Preston is a former army buddy of Marachek's and like Susan at first could not believe his hero was a murderer.

[Susan Spencer]

But now, no doubt in my military mind.

[Leslie Stahl]

Why? Because he says Marachek all but told him so. Almost two years after the crime, we.

[Susan Spencer]

Were sitting side by side and I squirted around to him, said, george, listen, this has gone on long enough. It's starting to stink. You reach over and grab my arm. They'll never catch me. I'm too smart for them. With a real firm grip. Cold. Cold as ice. Mean as a snake.

[Leslie Stahl]

Why didn't you run home and call the cops?

[Susan Spencer]

Several reasons, several excuses. None of them good.

[Leslie Stahl]

This wasn't the first time Preston had done his friend a favor. Just days before her murder, Wieperat had asked Preston's Czech born wife to translate some documents she'd found. They appeared to be letters from her husband to his Czech cousin Hanna. And she suspected they were having an affair.

[Susan Spencer]

She suspected it was between her husband and his mistress. And she was going to get them translated to use in a divorce trial.

[Leslie Stahl]

Instead of translating them for her, you call her husband. Why did you do that?

[Susan Spencer]

Loyalty. Special Forces. Brotherhood.

[Leslie Stahl]

Marachek denied any affair.

[Tommy Hicks]

Still in those letters were some language which tended to indicate that they had some sort of plan to be together.

[Leslie Stahl]

And that, says Tommy Hicks, is a motive for murder. The plan is ready. I only need time and your help with it. And it goes on. I'm always thinking of you. I wish to be there with you. It will be soon. Trust me. I have to hurry. I'm sending you a kiss. I love you terribly. That's not a love letter. No, just friendly, says Marachek. And lost in the translation is that he and Wiperat were planning a trip to the Czech Republic. The plan is ready. What does that mean?

[George Marachek]

The plan was to have a big celebration to welcome her to my country of birth.

[Leslie Stahl]

At first, Russell Preston believed Marachek's story. But he says he was surprised when a few months later, the colonel's cousin Hannah moved in with him.

[Susan Spencer]

And then she told us that they'd gotten married. But he didn't want anybody to know just yet.

[Leslie Stahl]

Hannah Marachek today says, so what?

[George Marachek]

Is it law in America to inform everybody immediately after you got married?

[Leslie Stahl]

But Preston was concerned about something else.

[Susan Spencer]

He had remodeled his house. Extensively blacktopped his driveway. Just an exorbitant show of wealth.

[Leslie Stahl]

Tommy Hicks thinks he knows where the money for that came from.

[Tommy Hicks]

I do know that he bought the insurance.

[Leslie Stahl]

A life insurance policy that paid out $300,000. Marachek bought it for Vipparat just six months before she was killed.

[Tommy Hicks]

There's a woman, there's money. And those are two of the oldest motives in the history of all time.

[Leslie Stahl]

Marachek says insurance is just prudent.

[George Marachek]

I do it because it's a good management thing.

[Leslie Stahl]

And he resents any implication he is lying. Did you take a lie detector test?

[Susan Spencer]

No.

[Leslie Stahl]

You never took a lie detector test? Not your own attorney? Not the police?

[George Marachek]

My own attorney did.

[Leslie Stahl]

You took a lie detector?

[George Marachek]

Not my own attorney.

[Leslie Stahl]

And how did that come out?

[George Marachek]

I really don't know. He never said.

[Leslie Stahl]

Weren't you curious?

[George Marachek]

No. Because I don't believe in lie detector tests.

[Leslie Stahl]

Did he ever take a lie detector test?

[Tommy Hicks]

Oh, yeah.

[Leslie Stahl]

And flunked it. He flunked it?

[Tommy Hicks]

Yep.

[Leslie Stahl]

Flunked it. Like flunked it. Flat out flunked it.

[Tommy Hicks]

Flunked it.

[Leslie Stahl]

As the evidence mounted, Colonel Marachek's one time admirer became an important witness against him.

[Susan Spencer]

Colonel Marachek was living a lie.

[Leslie Stahl]

But Marachek insists it's actually Russell Preston who's been living a lie. And he hopes to discredit him in court.

[George Marachek]

He's a rapist. He's a womanizer. Matter of fact, he's a traitor.

[Leslie Stahl]

Does Russell Preston have a shadowy past? And might he be out to frame the Colonel? That's next.

[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Susan Spencer]

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[Leslie Stahl]

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[Susan Spencer]

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[Leslie Stahl]

No matter what.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I would never leave you hanging in the deep end.

[Susan Spencer]

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[Susan Spencer]

He'll be voted guilty by a jury of his peers, sent away for a long period of time, which is as it should be.

[Leslie Stahl]

If Colonel George Marachek is convicted, Russell Preston may be the main reason why. So defense lawyers would love to discredit both him and his story that Marachek once bragged he'd get away with murder. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. In Preston's checkered past, the Marachek team thinks it's hit pay dirt.

[Susan Spencer]

Pay duck.

[Leslie Stahl]

Flashback to 1990, when, thrilled by the fall of communism, George Marachek traveled back to his homeland and began making political connections. Preston says he was thinking big.

[Susan Spencer]

He wanted to be, of course, president of the Czech Republic. Thought that he was a natural.

[Leslie Stahl]

But the colonel's supporters charge that Russell Preston himself set out to make sure that never happened. Why? I believe Preston is a tool for someone because Preston was a spy for the Czech secret police. Or so says Marachek's friend Jan Benesch, a former dissident who thinks Marachek was a threat to the communist old guard. Anybody who lives free and who thinks free is a threat for this system. So the theory goes, Preston invented the murder confession to frame the colonel to end his political hopes. Marachek only hopes the jury buys it. What do you know about his ties to the Czech secret police?

[George Marachek]

Well, he was definitely on the books. He had a number.

[Leslie Stahl]

And in fact, Russell Preston also had a file in the archives of the Czech secret police. It shows he traveled behind the Iron cross Curtain in 1987 and 1988, meeting at this Prague hotel with an agent code named Needle. Even from what's left of the file, it shows they met five times in Prague. We met with a former high ranking Czech secret agent, Colonel Jan Belichick. Every foreigner of any interest was put into a room which was tapped. And we asked him to evaluate the Preston file. It is clear that he was work on to be an agent for the stb. We are looking in a possibility when press Preston was controlled in the past. So whoever it was could be still controlling him and might try to use him against Marechev.

[Susan Spencer]

Mr. Russell Preston.

[Leslie Stahl]

Russell Preston is hardly undercover, relaxing with musician friends in Germany. Preston says imperial. He is no spy out to get the colonel. They wouldn't have sent their former agent, Russell Preston out to frame him.

[Susan Spencer]

Oh, this is rich.

[Leslie Stahl]

This is rich. This is the theory.

[Susan Spencer]

Oh, you gotta do better than that, George. Good luck.

[Leslie Stahl]

Preston freely admits visiting Prague in the 80s as a tourist and says, of course, as a Green Beret, he would interest the secret police. Were you ever in contact with any agent from the Czech secret police knowingly?

[Susan Spencer]

Not knowingly.

[Leslie Stahl]

Indeed. The file doesn't indicate that Preston ever responded to attempts to recruit him. Did you ever provide intelligence?

[Susan Spencer]

Not to the Czechs. Not to the Czechs, not to any foreign government. Let me make it more sweeping.

[Leslie Stahl]

We finally located the one shadowy figure who should know if Preston worked for the secret police. Colonel Jaroslav Britzik, once in charge of recruiting him. We met for an intense two hours at this hotel coffee shop in Prague. And the ground rules were simple. No cameras, no recording and no notes. But there was no doubt about what the former agent had to say. Russell Preston, he insisted, never worked for the Czech secret police. A high level US military source told us the same thing. And it's clear the spy charges will be hard to get into court.

[Russell Preston]

I just don't think that I'm going to be able to get enough evidence to present this.

[Leslie Stahl]

But determined to discredit Preston.

[George Marachek]

This goes in your car?

[Leslie Stahl]

Yes. The defense has another card up its sleeve.

[Russell Preston]

There were some allegations that Russell Preston sexually assaulted some women in 1993.

[Leslie Stahl]

Despite his suspicions about the colonel, Preston looked up two friends of Hannah Marachek's in Prague. A year later, they accused him of rape. You have sex with both of them?

[Susan Spencer]

Yes.

[Leslie Stahl]

You're telling me that this was totally consensual?

[Susan Spencer]

Absolutely.

[Leslie Stahl]

Preston admits to adultery, but says it was not rape.

[George Marachek]

He knew he did wrong.

[Leslie Stahl]

Marachek did report him to the military, and Czech officials investigated as well.

[Tommy Hicks]

My decision was the.

[Susan Spencer]

This was not a rape.

[Leslie Stahl]

Prague detective Pavel Oswald says charges were dropped after the women told him exactly why they'd spoken up.

[Susan Spencer]

They would never report this on their own. They stated they reported it after being asked, pressured by Mrs. Maroschuk. She really pushed the two women because it would help in the case of her husband happening in the U.S. you.

[Leslie Stahl]

Took a lie detector test?

[Susan Spencer]

I took two and passed them both flying colors.

[Leslie Stahl]

The army also eventually dropped the rape charges. It was clear during the investigation proceedings that the alleged committed crimes had been fabricated. Still, the struggling defense may try to get this into evidence at the trial.

[Russell Preston]

That might show some of his motive for trying to testify against the colonel.

[Leslie Stahl]

Whether or not they can undermine Preston, the defense has one more card to play.

[Susan Spencer]

She walked in as I was walking.

[Leslie Stahl]

Out a new witness. Do you appreciate the fact that this is in the defense's eyes an absolute bombshell information?

[Susan Spencer]

I do appreciate it greatly, but I know what I saw.

[Leslie Stahl]

Will his testimony save the colonel? Next on 48 Hours Investigates.

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[George Marachek]

Good morning.

[Leslie Stahl]

After just 90 days preparing their case.

[George Marachek]

You guys are doing a super job.

[Leslie Stahl]

Colonel Marachek and his team of attorneys have their backs against the wall.

[Russell Preston]

We are scrambling, trying to do the best we can at this point with What? We've got 60ft now.

[Leslie Stahl]

The expert who did their mannequin test is out of the country and an apparently fed up judge has denied motions for a delay.

[George Marachek]

That's it. Of course I'm scared. Only fools are not scared.

[Leslie Stahl]

But on trial day, he marches off to battle head held high.

[George Marachek]

You're clear your mind and you start focusing on the objective.

[Leslie Stahl]

Russ Preston is here too, also on a mission.

[Susan Spencer]

Go tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.

[Leslie Stahl]

Marachek's one time army buddy is here to tell the jury how Marachek once boasted he would never be caught.

[Tommy Hicks]

Morning, gentlemen.

[Russell Preston]

If the jury believes him, we're in deep trouble.

[Tommy Hicks]

Justice will prevail, of course.

[Leslie Stahl]

In opening arguments, prosecutor Hicks tells the jury that Viperat Marachek was terrified her husband was going to kill her. The defense says the evidence, the life insurance and letters could just as easily show that George Marachek was a good family man and that the state's witnesses are either confused or lying.

[Russell Preston]

The real fights are going to be coming up in the next couple of days.

[Leslie Stahl]

One fight is made home harder when the judge refuses to admit testimony about the dismissed rape charges against Preston. And with no proof Preston was a spy, the defense doesn't even bring that up.

[Susan Spencer]

And that's one of the things I would like to have gone into further.

[Leslie Stahl]

Nor will the judge give the defense more time to investigate a new claim by Marachek supporters that a serial killer in Michigan has confessed to this crime.

[Tommy Hicks]

They don't have a confession. They've never showed us a confession. First of all, he was in School on June 3, at least for part of the day. He did not have a driver's license until sometime in 1992. It took us approximately three hours to determine that this person was not a viable suspect.

[Leslie Stahl]

Somehow, the Colonel's team remains confident.

[Tommy Hicks]

Of course we're ready. Good people in North Carolina going to quit our clients.

[Leslie Stahl]

And as it turns out, they saved their best move for last.

[Russell Preston]

He was the last person to see her alive.

[Leslie Stahl]

Richard Tobin was a national guardsman visiting Fort Fisher in June of 1991. He contradicts Dennis Rood and Tom Delew, saying he saw Vipparat alone around the time prosecutors say she took her death march with the colonel. You are absolutely certain in your own mind that that is who you saw?

[Susan Spencer]

Absolutely 100% certain. I can tell you exactly what the person who's my ex wife was wearing the first night that we met.

[Leslie Stahl]

That's not the same as passing somebody you don't know in the doorway of a grocery store.

[Susan Spencer]

I didn't know she was going to be my wife either.

[Leslie Stahl]

He says he told his superiors at the time, then let it drop.

[Susan Spencer]

He told me to stand by.

[Leslie Stahl]

So he did for nine years until the defense found him. Do you appreciate the fact that this is in the defense's eyes an absolute bombshell information?

[Susan Spencer]

I do appreciate it greatly, but I know what I saw.

[Leslie Stahl]

Encouraged by Tobin's testimony and worried that his training in wartime killing might be used against him, Colonel Marachek does not take the stand.

[George Marachek]

I'm an innocent man and jury should be able to reach to that conclusion.

[Leslie Stahl]

By this time tomorrow, the jury will have the case and they will decide if George Marachek will go to jail or have his name cleared once and for all. After a six day trial, the defense rests.

[George Marachek]

I believe my dad is innocent.

[Michael Marachek]

Anything could happen. You have to live with the outcome, it doesn't matter what you think or how you feel. You just live with it.

[Susan Spencer]

We wait right now.

[Leslie Stahl]

But they don't have to wait long. It takes the jury less than three hours to reach its verdict. Guilty of second degree murder. The sentence, 30 years.

[George Marachek]

That's a disbelief. That's just like somebody hit you in the head with a hammer. I don't think there would have been a word that came out of my throat even if I wanted to. It was just numb.

[Leslie Stahl]

Clearly, the jury didn't buy the National Guardsman's story.

[George Marachek]

It's stunning. I didn't expect it. He's not got any choice. He's gonna go to prison.

[Michael Marachek]

There's no good out of him. He's my dad and I love him. I wish he could go back nine years and change everything, but you can't.

[Leslie Stahl]

For the man Marachak called a traitor and a rapist, it's a final vindication.

[Susan Spencer]

I knew he was guilty. The truth came out.

[Leslie Stahl]

For the prosecutor who tried him through three times, it's a sweet victory.

[Tommy Hicks]

He most certainly deserves every bit of those 30 years.

[Leslie Stahl]

For Hanna Marachek, a crushing disappointment.

[George Marachek]

I don't understand how the people can do this to men who spent 36 years fighting for this country.

[Leslie Stahl]

But for the colonel, what mattered in the end was not what he did for his country country, but what the jury believed he did to his wife.

[George Marachek]

I'd rather die in this prison than to admit to something that I have not done. I'm not going to be free until I find out who killed me. It may take lifetime, but that's what I'm going to pursue.

[Ryan Reynolds]

George Marachek was released from prison in 2003.

[Susan Spencer]

He died in 2020. Now streaming. When everything's on the line, real heroes rise to the occasion. TV's hottest show is Fire Country. We're firefighters. We're gonna find a way to get you out of here. We take the hitch together.

[Leslie Stahl]

We're on the same team.

[Susan Spencer]

I'm right here with you.

[Leslie Stahl]

No matter what.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I would never leave you hanging in the deep end.

[Susan Spencer]

This place is a way of giving you new family. Fire Country. All episodes now streaming on Paramount +9116.

[George Marachek]

Emergency.

[Cliff Barnard]

Yes.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Somebody killed two girls.

[Michael Marachek]

My grandbaby, her friend.

[Susan Spencer]

A Paramount+ original.

[George Marachek]

She wants to find more young women.

[Susan Spencer]

For him to kill. The untold stories of the real cases.

[George Marachek]

Each one he gets away with. He's emboldened the FBI can't shake.

[Leslie Stahl]

It's very satisfying to be able to.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Look at a bad guy and go.

[Leslie Stahl]

We never forgot you.

[Susan Spencer]

An all new season of FBI True streaming now on Paramount. Plus.