The Man with Two Names

Summary

48 Hours – "The Man with Two Names" (May 18, 2026)

Podcast Summary by Episode Segments and Key Voices

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Main Theme

This gripping episode of "48 Hours" investigates the tangled life and crimes of a man known by two names: John Green and Ted Maher. Centered around deception, betrayal, and a transatlantic trail of wrongdoing, the episode follows Green/Maher through a notorious arson-murder in Monte Carlo, a whirlwind relationship and destructively failed marriage in New Mexico, identity changes, and finally, a shocking murder-for-hire plot. Through interviews with those closest to the case—including victims, law enforcement, attorneys, and Maher himself—the show unravels the layered saga of a man for whom reinvention masked darker motives.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Introducing John Green/Ted Maher: Charm and Deception

• The Man Behind the Mask (01:56–04:03)
  • Introduced as a "charmer" and "smooth talker" with a mysterious, troubling past.
  • Debate among acquaintances: Is he unlucky or fundamentally bad?
  • Kim Lark (ex-wife): “I never felt like I'm with a bad person.” (02:15)
  • Friends saw happiness in his marriage—until money and motives are questioned.

2. The Romance and Unraveling with Kim Lark

• Romance, Riches, and Rupture (04:29–07:39)
  • John Green settles in Carlsbad, New Mexico, meets Dr. Kim Lark—a well-off veterinarian.
  • Courtship described as idyllic: skiing, dogs, adventure.
  • Kim learns of his past: “falsely accused of arson… deaths of two people, including a billionaire banker in Monte Carlo.” (05:11–05:32)
  • The relationship sours rapidly amid theft and betrayal.
  • John Green steals thousands via forged checks, then absconds with Kim’s prized search-and-rescue dogs, a major personal and professional blow.

3. The Dog-Napping and Recovery Mission

• Search, Rescue, and FBI Involvement (07:39–10:24)
  • Kim’s beloved and valuable dogs are stolen, including one pregnant.
  • Enlists former FBI agent Abel Pena: “Dogs don’t maintain a paw print online. It’s more challenging…” (08:48)
  • After a month, dogs and new puppies are found in Texas; emotional reunion (10:12–10:19).
  • A puppy is named Abel in gratitude.

4. The Murder-for-Hire Plot

• From Jailhouse Pawn to Plot Exposed (10:33–12:32, 33:14–38:17)
  • Green is jailed for forgery/larceny, where he meets Greg Marcum.
  • Marcum: “He kept asking me if I knew somebody that could kill his wife.” (11:04)
  • Marcum pretends to agree, gains Green’s trust (and alleged payment) in hopes of saving his own dog via bail money.
  • The plot includes instructions to poison Kim Lark with fentanyl, or coerce her under threat to dogs (12:17–12:32).
  • At trial, prosecutors present detailed and chilling murder plan evidence—house diagrams, witness testimony, recorded jail calls requesting fund transfers.

5. “The Monte Carlo Inferno”: The Safra Case

• Flashback to Infamy (14:15–31:53)
  • Ted Maher’s true identity is revealed—convicted in relation to the 1999 fire that killed billionaire Edmund Safra and his nurse.
  • Ex-wife Heidi Westrout, lawyer Michael Griffith, and authors Jennifer Thomas and Bill Hayes narrate Maher’s checkered past: Special Forces claims, nursing, the Monaco penthouse fire, and contested confessions (19:34–20:16).
  • Theories of mafia hits and elite intrigue swirl, but Maher is convicted on confession and scenario that he intended to play hero by setting a small fire—unintentionally killing two when events spun out of control.
  • He escapes prison briefly, but is recaptured; Heidi divorces him.
  • Upon release, Maher/Green returns to the U.S., assumes a new identity, and the cycle resumes.

6. Trial and Conviction of John Green

• Final Judgement (33:14–38:17; 39:01–43:43)
  • Detailing the New Mexico murder solicitation trial: Marcum’s testimony, diagram evidence, and Green’s defense.
  • The prosecution highlights direct evidence: “The plan was for him to overpower Kim and grab the gun... [he] told him how to control my dogs.” (35:02–35:10)
  • Jury finds Green guilty after about an hour of deliberation (38:10).
  • Sentenced to nine years.

7. Interviews from Prison – Denials and Deflection

• Green/Maher’s Defence & Final Questions (39:01–43:19)
  • Interviewed via video, Green denies guilt in both murder-for-hire and Monte Carlo deaths.
  • “Absolutely not. I shouldn’t be here.” (39:01)
  • Asserts that the $2,500 to Marcum was just to rescue a dog.
  • Continues reframing his own story, casting himself as a victim of circumstance and corrupt intrigue.

8. The Aftermath: Doubt, Fear, and Lingering Mystery

• Impact and Unresolved Truths (43:03–44:20)
  • Army records refute Maher/Green’s Special Forces claims.
  • Kim Lark: “He’s a thief, he’s a liar, a con artist. When he gets out, I’ll be in trouble.” (43:03; 43:13)
  • Former supporters now express doubt, regret, and betrayal.
  • Kim Lark remains vigilant and emotionally scarred, trusting only her dogs.

9. Current Status

• Where Are They Now? (44:30)
  • Ted Maher (John Green) denied appeal, scheduled for release in 2029.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “He’s a charmer. He’s a smooth talker…I think he could talk his way in anyone’s life. Beneath the surface, there’s something really dark.” (Narrator, 01:56)
• Kim Lark: “I never felt like I’m with a bad person.” (02:15)
• Greg Marcum: “He kept asking me if I knew somebody that could kill his wife.” (11:04)
• Kim Lark: “He could have taken anything except my dogs.” (08:11)
• Ted Maher / John Green (from prison): “No, I did not. Absolutely not. I shouldn’t be here.” (39:01)
• Jennifer Thomas: “I feel betrayed.” (42:09)
• Kim Lark: “When he gets out, I’ll be in trouble.” (43:13)
• Detective Garrett Silva: “There’s no telling what he may do.” (43:21)
• Army Statement (paraphrased): There is no evidence that Theodore Maher served in the Special Forces. (43:03)

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Segment Timestamps for Important Moments

• 02:14 — Narrator/Commentator definitively calls Green a “bad guy.”
• 03:20 — In jail discussion about murder-for-hire plot.
• 04:53 — First impressions: the charming, easygoing John Green.
• 07:03–07:39 — Discovery of Green’s frauds and theft of dogs.
• 08:48 — Abel Pena compares finding missing dogs vs. people.
• 10:12–10:19 — Reunion between Kim and her dogs.
• 11:04–11:11 — Greg Marcum discusses the murder discussion in jail.
• 12:17–12:32 — Details of the alleged murder plot emerge.
• 14:15–25:05 — Monte Carlo arson-murder case retold.
• 26:26–26:43 — Defense admits Maher started fatal fire to appear a hero.
• 28:52–31:53 — Conviction, escape, failed relationship.
• 33:14–38:17 — Solicitation trial details and conviction.
• 39:01 — Jail interview: Maher/Green’s denials.
• 43:03–43:47 — Kim’s ongoing fears; police comments on safety.
• 44:30 — Maher’s/Green’s current status: appeal, release date.

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Tone & Language

The episode leverages direct, evocative language typical of crime journalism—balancing suspicion, bewilderment, and grim fascination. Interviewees’ voices alternate between shock, sorrow, disbelief, outrage, and lingering fear, emphasizing emotional stakes alongside factual investigation.

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Conclusion

"The Man with Two Names" peels back the layers on Ted Maher/John Green—a seasoned chameleon whose entwined histories of love, lies, and lawbreaking leave a long trail of trauma. The episode highlights the ripple effects of manipulation and the lasting damage wrought on those who cross his path. Even after conviction and exposure, unsettling uncertainties about the true nature—and future—of “the man with two names” haunt survivors, investigators, and listeners alike.

Transcript

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[Narrator/Commentator]

John Green does what John Green does, right? He's a charmer. He's a smooth talker. I think he could talk his way in anyone's life. Beneath the surface, there's something really dark.

[Documentary Narrator]

Is this a man who just happens to have really bad luck or is he a bad guy?

[Narrator/Commentator]

He's a bad guy.

[Kim Lark]

We had good times together. I never felt like I'm with a bad person.

[Abel Pena]

I think he's unlucky. I think he's unlucky.

[Jennifer Thomas]

We were so happy when he met Kim Lark, his wife. They went skiing together. They loved dogs together. I had not seen him so happy in all these years that we've known him.

[Narrator/Commentator]

I think John Green saw Dr. Kim and saw dollar signs.

[Documentary Narrator]

You think he targeted her?

[Narrator/Commentator]

Yeah, I do.

[Kim Lark]

It all turned sour really quick. They were not only separating, but he took the dogs.

[Narrator/Commentator]

She loves her dogs. Those are her babies. It's like if he had taken her Children.

[Documentary Narrator]

He's stealing your dogs. He's kidnapping your dogs.

[Kim Lark]

Oh, I was scared to death that he would get rid of them.

Now it became just one thing after another. He's on the road. On the road and on the run with the dogs.

[Documentary Narrator]

He's actually arrested in San Antonio.

[Kim Lark]

He's a thief. He's a liar, a con artist.

[Greg Marcum]

At Eddy County Detention Center, I met John, and he kept asking me if I knew somebody that could kill his wife.

[Kim Lark]

So here's my husband in jail talking with somebody about the various different ways to kill me and take care of the body.

[Documentary Narrator]

Do you believe that this was a real plan?

[Kim Lark]

Yes.

[Detective Garrett Silva]

This isn't the first time he's been in question of a heinous crime. If he did it once, he can do it again.

[Documentary Narrator]

Who was this man, really? He wasn't John Green. His real name was Ted Maher, and he had been convicted of an arson

[News Reporter]

resulting in the death of a billionaire.

[Ted Maher / John Green]

I am innocent.

[Documentary Narrator]

At guard.

[Kim Lark]

So much of it still remains a mystery. I mean, this guy's story is just crazy.

[Greg Marcum]

Aaron Moriarty reports.

[Kim Lark]

The man with two names.

[Documentary Narrator]

Carlsbad, New Mexico, a small city dwarfed by a vast, dirt red desert was home to John Green in 2017. That was the year a routine medical exam would become a turning point for him and his new doctor, Kim Lark. The very first day when he walks in, how would you have described him?

[Kim Lark]

Smiling, happy, wanted to talk. Just kind of made you feel comfortable.

[Documentary Narrator]

Months later, they began texting, then dating.

[Kim Lark]

He liked everything that I liked. We started skiing together. We started riding bikes together.

[Documentary Narrator]

Early in their relationship, Kim says Greene told her about his troubled past, that he had been falsely accused of arson more than 20 years ago, causing the deaths of two people, including a billionaire banker in Monte Carlo.

[Kim Lark]

I had believed him at first. I kind of believed his side of the story.

[Documentary Narrator]

She says she wanted to believe the best about the new man in her life.

[Kim Lark]

He said all the right things. He did all the things that I needed my best friend to be.

[Documentary Narrator]

By the time they married on Valentine's Day, 2020, they'd already settled into a comfortable life. Kim had a lucrative medical practice, an $800,000 retirement account tucked away, and a home on four acres outside of town. At that time, did you realize what he was capable of?

[Heidi Westrout]

No.

[Kim Lark]

I had no idea.

[Narrator/Commentator]

I think he's motivated by money, motivated by power.

[Documentary Narrator]

Molly Forster, a documentary filmmaker and CBS News consultant, has spent years reporting Greene's story for a new series streaming on the EPIS online platform.

[Kim Lark]

He likes skiing. It's Just like he was a chameleon.

[Documentary Narrator]

She says the man who calls himself John Green has led a life of deception.

[Narrator/Commentator]

He's been able to fool a lot of people and caused a lot of

[Documentary Narrator]

trauma, trauma that would eventually crumble their marriage in just a few years, says Kim.

[Kim Lark]

Just because he's so willing to lie, cheat, steal.

[Documentary Narrator]

In April 2022, Kim noticed her checkbook was missing.

[Kim Lark]

And that's when the bank called me and said, hey, did you write this check?

[Documentary Narrator]

She learned that her husband, seen here on bank security footage, was trying to cash thousands of dollars in checks by forging her name at banks all over town. Kim filed for divorce and changed the locks on her house. About a month later, he stole something else from her that mattered a lot more than money. He's kidnapping your dogs?

[Kim Lark]

My dogs and my vehicle, yeah.

[Documentary Narrator]

Storm, Zero and Felony are not only precious pets, they're extremely valuable, highly trained search and rescue dog, says Kim. And she is their trainer.

[Kim Lark]

We have a really special bond. My dogs are with me 24. 7.

[Documentary Narrator]

For years, Kim and her canine companions have assisted FEMA during national disasters and law enforcement at crime scenes.

[Kim Lark]

He could have taken anything except my dogs.

[Documentary Narrator]

And Zyra was pregnant at the time.

[Kim Lark]

I really was scared to death.

[Documentary Narrator]

Kim believed her estranged husband might have taken the dogs to Texas, and she found someone there who could help. Abel Pena had 26 years with the FBI before he retired and founded a nonprofit called Project Absentis to help find missing people. What is the difference between looking for missing people and missing dogs?

[Abel Pena]

Dogs don't maintain a paw print online. It's more challenging to try and find dogs.

[Documentary Narrator]

It was more than a month before he got a good tip, and it wasn't about the dogs, but about green himself. On June 13, 2022, Pena called law enforcement for help staking out a parking lot in San Antonio. Shortly after, Green arrived in a BMW, authorities arrested and charged him with forgery and larceny. He had changed his appearance, shaving his head.

[Abel Pena]

I ran over to the vehicle, looked in the back windows to see if the dogs were there. The dogs were not there.

[Documentary Narrator]

But Pena had another lead and headed to a nearby house belonging to the aunt of one of Greene's friends.

[Abel Pena]

I knock on the door, and I'm greeted by an older woman. She was like, I know why you're here. Come on in.

[Documentary Narrator]

He found Kim's dogs in a back bedroom. And by then, Zero had multiplied. There were now eight puppies in a box. And how did you feel?

[Abel Pena]

I was ecstatic.

[Documentary Narrator]

Abel pena took all 11 dogs to his house and waited for Kim to arrive.

[News Reporter]

Look what we have here.

[Kim Lark]

Come on, Belly. My girls were so happy to see me. I was so relieved.

[Abel Pena]

It was a fantastic ending.

[Documentary Narrator]

Kim was so thankful, she named one of the puppies Able, after the man who had found them. Bye.

[Groons Brand Representative]

Bye.

[Heidi Westrout]

Thank you.

[News Reporter]

See you later.

[Documentary Narrator]

Did you think at that point you had it all behind you?

[Kim Lark]

Yes.

[Documentary Narrator]

The forgery and larceny charges landed John Green here, locked up in the Eddy County Detention center in Carlsbad, where he met this man, Greg Marcum, detained on drug charges. Was he angry with Kim?

[Greg Marcum]

Furious with her?

[Documentary Narrator]

Markham says they bonded over a chessboard.

[Greg Marcum]

I played chess with him every day, got to know the guy. He kept asking me if I knew somebody that could kill his wife.

[Documentary Narrator]

Greg Marcum says he saw an opportunity to make John Green his pawn.

[Greg Marcum]

And I was like, you know what, man? I can't find anybody. I'll do it. How do you want it done?

[Documentary Narrator]

So you promised to kill his wife.

[Greg Marcum]

I said, oh, yeah, man, I'll do it. I'll do it for you.

[Documentary Narrator]

Were you going to?

[Greg Marcum]

No. No.

[Documentary Narrator]

Markham says he's a con man, not a hitman, and was never serious about killing Kim Lark.

[Greg Marcum]

Living on my own. It's me and my dog.

[Documentary Narrator]

He desperately needed bail money, he says, to save his dog Atlas, from being euthanized.

[Greg Marcum]

I gotta convince this guy to bomb me out so I can go take care of my dog, make sure he's okay.

[Documentary Narrator]

He says Green paid for the bail.

[Greg Marcum]

Once he was convinced that I was going to do it, he wouldn't stop talking about it. Let's talk about it again. What are you going to do?

[Documentary Narrator]

Markham says Green had a specific way he wanted his wife to die. He concocted a lethal plot to poison Kim, forcing her to drink water laced with fentanyl to look like an overdose.

[Greg Marcum]

Yeah, I was supposed to mix up fentanyl pills and make sure she drank the whole water bottle.

[Documentary Narrator]

If she refused, says Marcum, Greene's grisly plan was to aim a gun not at Kim, but at her beloved dogs.

[Greg Marcum]

And she'll do whatever you want done.

[Documentary Narrator]

John Green fiercely denies all of it and was determined to fight the charges against him as he had before in another courtroom on another continent 26 years earlier. A roaring inferno engulfed a Monte Carlo penthouse, killing the billionaire and his private nurse. At the fiery center of that mystery was the very same man with a very different name. There's never been a better time to get outside and experience the benefits of nature, discover nearby trails and explore. Explore the outdoors with Alltrails. Download the free app today and find your outside.

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[Documentary Narrator]

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[Documentary Narrator]

Sun drenched, laid back Carlsbad, New Mexico isn't the only place where this man made headlines.

[News Reporter]

One of the world's richest bankers died today in a.

[Documentary Narrator]

It isn't the first time he was accused of a major crime.

[News Reporter]

An American male nurse.

[Documentary Narrator]

And Kim Lark is not the only woman who loved him.

[Heidi Westrout]

I've saved every rose he gave me.

[Documentary Narrator]

Every rose he's given you since you've known him?

[Heidi Westrout]

Yeah.

[Documentary Narrator]

It was 2002 when I first met Heidi Westrout. She was married to the man who would one day become John Green. His name then Ted Maher. That name would become known around the world. The couple lived in New York and had two children together, meeting in nursing school. What kind of nurse is he?

[Heidi Westrout]

He's a neonatal intensive care nurse. Some pictures with kids, just some of the infants that he took care of.

[Documentary Narrator]

Ted told her about his time serving as a Special Forces Green parade. He seemed defined by intensity and compassion.

[Heidi Westrout]

He always put others first. He was just so loving, so caring, you know, And I wanted someone like that.

[Documentary Narrator]

His compassion was on display in the summer of 1999 in the neonatal unit where Ted worked when two grateful new parents connected him to the job of a lifetime.

[Heidi Westrout]

To take care of a rich banker who we never heard of to be his private nurse. He had Parkinson's disease.

[Documentary Narrator]

Edmund Safra was that rich banker. And he wasn't just regular rich. He was one of the richest men on earth. The bank Safra owned it, living with his elegant wife Lily in this penthouse above this bank branch here in the Monte Carlo district of glittering diamond sized Monaco tucked along the exclusive Front Riviera.

[Heidi Westrout]

Obviously, we've never seen the world, you know, like that.

[Documentary Narrator]

So when Safra made the offer, Ted couldn't refuse, says Heidi, despite having to leave his family, we thought, this is

[Heidi Westrout]

just temporary and we have the rest of our lives to get Together afterwards.

[Documentary Narrator]

It was that October when Maher's fascinating new job brought him to Monaco.

[Heidi Westrout]

It was just a different world. He kept saying he liked it. He liked Mr. Safra very much. They got along well.

[Documentary Narrator]

Maher sometimes worked the night shift, at times with nurse Vivian Terente. Along with his private duty nurses, Safra also kept a personal security force for protection.

[Heidi Westrout]

We didn't know who this man was. It was all new to us.

[Documentary Narrator]

December 3, 1999.

[Heidi Westrout]

I was getting the kids off to school in the morning as usual, and I got a phone call and it was Ted's sister who sounded upset and crying. She asked me to turn on the news.

[News Reporter]

Two masked men armed with knives invaded the Riviera penthouse of Edmund Safra.

[Documentary Narrator]

It was a startling report about intruders and a fire in the Safra penthouse just five weeks after her husband left for Monaco. The billionaire who brought him there and nurse Vivian Terente were dead. Autopsies would determine they had both died from smoke poisoning and Ted was wounded and bloody. Ted would tell authorities a story that would be discussed and debated for years. He said that intruders broke into the penthouse, attacked and stabbed him, that he scrambled to get help while his boss took shelter in a bathroom. Ted says he lit a small fire with a candle and paper towels in a trash basket, thinking the fire department would respond to.

[Heidi Westrout]

He knew the smoke detectors were direct access to the fire department, so he wanted to set that off.

[Documentary Narrator]

Back in New York, Heidi was worried and she contacted Safra's office. She wasn't surprised at what she heard.

[Heidi Westrout]

They said that Ted was indeed a hero. That night, I said, that's Ted.

[Documentary Narrator]

And within hours, Heidi headed to Monaco.

[Heidi Westrout]

I was to go straight to the hospital to see Ted.

[Jennifer Thomas]

Did you?

[Heidi Westrout]

No.

[Documentary Narrator]

Instead, soon after arriving, Heidi says she was intercepted by police. She had been told that Ted acted like a hero. That was about to change. As police questioned her, Heidi says it became clear they thought her husband might be a killer. She alleges they took her passport and used it as a weapon against Ted.

[Heidi Westrout]

When my passport was taken, they brought it to Ted to get him to confess for this. And he was told then that I was strip searched and tortured and I would not be allowed to leave the state of Monaco back to our family.

[Documentary Narrator]

She said that threat caused Ted to falsely confess. He would now say there were no intruders, that he had taken a knife and that he had stabbed himself to make it look like he had tried to save his powerful boss from attackers.

[Heidi Westrout]

They're saying he gave himself a lidocaine injection prior to Stabbing himself and lidocaine. What dead would numb it.

[Documentary Narrator]

And Heidi says the confession he signed was written in French, which Ted did not understand.

[Heidi Westrout]

I feel they want a nice, clean ending to this quick. It would be good for the state of Monaco to have their citizens feel safe.

[Documentary Narrator]

Ted was locked up, charged with arson and intentional act leading to the deaths of Safra and Terenty. He faced life in prison if convicted at trial.

[Heidi Westrout]

This is someone I know. I know he didn't do this.

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[Documentary Narrator]

Chosen foods. With the strike of a match, Ted Maher's dream job went up in smoke. Two people were dead and Ted was now being blamed.

[Heidi Westrout]

I've known him now 13 years. He would never hurt anyone.

[News Reporter]

Monaco's chief prosecutor says an American male nurse confessed to starting the fire that killed Safra and another nurse.

[Documentary Narrator]

The death of Edmund Safra exploded into a sensational story that would fascinate authors Jennifer Thomas and her husband, Bill Hayes.

[Kim Lark]

If you Saw this on the screen, it'd be all, this doesn't. None of this makes sense. This doesn't happen.

[Documentary Narrator]

There were allegations, none of them substantiated, that might have supported Ted's original claim about intruders. Talk that Safra had enemies, that he had been the victim of a Russian mob hit.

[Kim Lark]

Safra had an awful lot of connections to Russia.

[Documentary Narrator]

And rumors were inflamed by a suspicious discovery. Heidi told us that the night of the fire, Safra's private force of security guards were, oddly, not on sight. Was that usual?

[Heidi Westrout]

Unheard of.

[Documentary Narrator]

There were also whispers about Safra's stylish

[Jennifer Thomas]

wife, Lily, the rumors about her and her previous husbands.

[Documentary Narrator]

Lily had been married four times with one other husband also deceased, prompting more conjecture.

[Jennifer Thomas]

She is rumored to be a black widow who has inherited a lot of money from her husband's.

[Documentary Narrator]

But police believe Ted was responsible for two deaths. It would take three long years to bring Ted to trial.

[Heidi Westrout]

Hello.

Hello, Heidi.

Hi.

How you doing?

Okay.

[Documentary Narrator]

And in that time, Heidi was only occasionally able to speak to Ted from his prison on the Mediterranean Sea.

[Heidi Westrout]

I'm not an arsonist or a murderer. It goes against everything that I've done in my entire life.

I try to be strong because I know he needs my strength, too.

Never forget this, Heidi. Never. I love you.

I love you.

The happiness of a man in his life height doesn't consist of in my absence, but what I retain and hold in my heart.

I just wish this wasn't my life.

[Michael Griffith (Lawyer)]

We're going to the prison. The Maison Derrid.

[Documentary Narrator]

New York lawyer Michael Griffith joined Ted's defense team. Griffith had made a name for himself defending Americans abroad. Ted Maher became a client and a tough one. Let me go through some of the odd things about this case. Is there any evidence other than what Ted said initially? Any evidence of two intruders?

[Michael Griffith (Lawyer)]

There is no evidence that I know of any intruders.

[Documentary Narrator]

Instead, Griffith would argue that Ted did what authorities said he stabbed himself and set the fire, but that he never intended for anyone to die. He was just trying to make himself look like a hero.

[Michael Griffith (Lawyer)]

Ted is the fireman who started the fire. Firemen who start fires do it not to hurt people, but to save people.

[Documentary Narrator]

Are you saying that you believe Ted actually did. Did start the fire? Cut himself to make himself look like a hero?

[Michael Griffith (Lawyer)]

I believe that's what Ted did.

[Documentary Narrator]

Did he actually tell you he did this himself?

[Michael Griffith (Lawyer)]

Well, yeah, he told me that he did this to himself, and that's the basis of our defense.

[Documentary Narrator]

Griffith contends that no one would have died that night, if police and firefighters had gotten to the victims faster. It took them about two and a half hours to reach Safra and Terente. But authorities say they got to the scene in minutes, but had to be careful and slow their response because Ted told them there were violent intruders inside.

[Kim Lark]

He's totally liable of the circumstances that

[Documentary Narrator]

he created in 2002. Attorney Mark Bennon spoke to 48 Hours. He represented Safra's widow, Lily. He says the rumors about her are false.

[Kim Lark]

It's not only. It's not true, obviously, it is scandalous. Lily is devastated by what happened.

[Documentary Narrator]

November 2002, Heidi traveled to Monaco. As the trial began, Ted was facing possible life in prison. Do you think your husband will get a fair trial in Monaco?

[Heidi Westrout]

Not at all.

[Documentary Narrator]

Why not?

[Heidi Westrout]

They have the reputation of Monaco on the line, and they would never risk that.

[Documentary Narrator]

She wasn't happy when Ted testified that there had been no intruders and that he had, in fact, stabbed himself. And she was furious that Griffith allowed Ted to take the blame for something she believes he didn't do. Heidi believes with all her heart that Ted didn't do this, that he's being forced to say he did it. I mean, what's the truth here?

[Michael Griffith (Lawyer)]

Well, all I know is that Ted is my client. I know what Ted has told me.

[Heidi Westrout]

He was told this is the best way to go.

[Michael Griffith (Lawyer)]

Heidi, I don't know what to tell you. All I know is I'm doing my job based upon what my clients told me. And I guess you're gonna have to.

[Heidi Westrout]

And this is our life.

[Michael Griffith (Lawyer)]

This is your life.

[Heidi Westrout]

This is Ted's life.

[Michael Griffith (Lawyer)]

Right.

[Documentary Narrator]

Ted Maher was convicted of arson leading to the death of two people.

[Michael Griffith (Lawyer)]

Yeah, we were disappointed in the.

[Documentary Narrator]

He was sentenced to 10 years.

[Heidi Westrout]

Heidi.

[Documentary Narrator]

To Heidi, it was the end of life as she had known it.

[Michael Griffith (Lawyer)]

Yeah, she's. She's upset.

[Documentary Narrator]

And then in January, just seven weeks after the trial, Ted called Heidi from outside the prison.

[Heidi Westrout]

Ted said, it's me. I'm out.

[Documentary Narrator]

He had cut the metal bars, scaled down the prison walls, and escaped.

[Heidi Westrout]

I said, you're joking. And he says, no, I'm out. He asked for money, and I said, no. And he got angry at me.

[Documentary Narrator]

Ted's freedom was short lived. The next day, he was back in custody. Heidi was furious that he would risk so much, including having his sentence extended. She says her faith in Ted had run out.

[Heidi Westrout]

I don't need him and I don't want him. I did the best I could to bring him home, but now it seems like he's doing his own job of screwing up.

[Documentary Narrator]

Heidi filed for divorce. As for Ted, he was released in 2007. When he landed at JFK, the woman who had believed in him was nowhere to be found. But Ted would eventually find others in his corner. Those authors, Jennifer Thomas and Bill Hayes. Together with Ted, they would write Framed in Monte Carlo. Ted was back to insisting that while caring for Edmund Safra, he was attacked by violent intruders.

[Jennifer Thomas]

What they had accused him of doing didn't make any sense why anybody would do that in the first place. And so everything he said made perfect sense when he told us the story.

[Documentary Narrator]

What Thomas and Hayes found intriguing was a report in a French newspaper. According to Le Figaro, at an unrelated hearing, a judge who served on Ted Meyer's case had claimed Ted's sentence had been predetermined before the trial even began. And in your mind, the real story is this guy was set up 100%. Back in the States, Ted was alone. Steady work, tough to find. Especially if your name was Ted Maher. And that new name.

[Jennifer Thomas]

John Green.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying. No judgments. But that's weird. Okay, one judgment anyway. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment

[Documentary Narrator]

of $45 per three month plan, equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail]. In his first 10 years back in the United States, John Green tried to shed his alter ego, Ted Maher of Monaco. He found a new job driving trucks and began a new romance with Dr. Kim Lark, who he went on to marry in 2020. But the marriage crumbled, and in 2023, Greene found himself facing a new charge. Solicitation to commit first degree murder.

[Detective Garrett Silva]

Dr. Lark is a big name in this town. She's well known by a lot of people.

[Documentary Narrator]

Green was still behind bars for forging those checks and stealing the dogs when Detective Garrett Silva of the Addy County Sheriff's Office began investigating the alleged plot that Green made with his jailmate Greg Marcum to murder Kim.

[Detective Garrett Silva]

Greg Marcum was hired by John Green to kill his wife.

[Documentary Narrator]

It was a charge that Green vigorously denied when investigators interviewed him in September of 2023. On harming Dr. Lark.

[Ted Maher / John Green]

Is there anything that we need to be aware about for her safety and or Yours? No, Absolutely not. None.

[Detective Garrett Silva]

I think you know where we're going with this.

[Ted Maher / John Green]

You think that I'm gonna have somebody harm Kim? Absolutely not.

[Documentary Narrator]

But authorities weren't persuaded. John Green's trial began on March 3, 2025. Prosecutor Martin Wolfson called his star witness, Greg Marcum, to the stand. Mr. Marcum, did John Ravine instruct you on how you should carry a burger out?

[Greg Marcum]

Yes, in great detail.

[Documentary Narrator]

Kim Lark took us through the house where it was supposed to happen. What's he supposed to do?

[Kim Lark]

Turn off the power to the house.

[Greg Marcum]

I've been an electrician for 19 years. I knew how to do that.

[Documentary Narrator]

And where was he going to be?

[Kim Lark]

He was supposed to be hiding in the carport.

[Documentary Narrator]

Now, this used to be a carport here.

[Greg Marcum]

Well, he said, she's kind of pretty frail. You're a big guy.

[Documentary Narrator]

Markham says the plan was for him to overpower Kim and grab the gun she kept in the center console of her car.

[Kim Lark]

Apparently, he was going to bring me into the house. He told him how to control my dogs.

[Documentary Narrator]

Show it to me.

[Greg Marcum]

Yeah. So you're raising your hands up as high as you can get, and you yell down as loud as you can and slam your hands down, and them dogs stop, and they won't move until given another command.

[Documentary Narrator]

According to Marcum, Greene also told him where he could find Kim Lark's safe. You would only know that if somebody told you that, right? There's no way you would.

[Heidi Westrout]

Yeah.

[Documentary Narrator]

But defense attorney Blake Duggar told the jury Greg Marcum is no angel and that they shouldn't believe a word he says.

[Abel Pena]

One of the greatest powers you have today is the power to judge someone's credibility. Greg Marcum is an individual with a checkered past who really tried to take advantage and did take advantage of John Green.

[Documentary Narrator]

But the state presented evidence they say proves Greg Marcum was telling the truth. A diagram Marcum made with similarities to the interior of Kim's house. He testified John Green had detailed it to him as part of the murder plot.

[Greg Marcum]

Described a long hallway beside the back door.

[Documentary Narrator]

And prosecutors had evidence that Greene was in a hurry to get money to pay Marcum for the hit. Jail calls between Greene and author Jennifer Thomas, who was managing his finances while he was behind bars. Greene called her multiple times, asking her to wire $2,500 to an intermediary. First he said he wanted the money to buy a trailer. But his story kept changing.

[Heidi Westrout]

Would that be a pain for you to do?

[DSW Advertiser]

There's many ways I could send money to him.

[Documentary Narrator]

Thomas eventually did what Greene asked. But she was stunned when she learned the prosecutors believed the money was really partial payment in a murder for hire. You had gotten the money for him.

[Jennifer Thomas]

I was freaked out.

[Documentary Narrator]

She said. She and Hayes were relieved when the DA Decided they had not knowingly done anything wrong. Blake Duggar insisted his client didn't either, arguing even Greg Marcum's diagram wasn't damning because it could have been cooked up after a casual conversation with Greene.

[Abel Pena]

It is not a crime for a man to proudly describe how his house

[Ted Maher / John Green]

looks to other people.

[Documentary Narrator]

John Green didn't testify, and Duggar didn't call any witnesses, believing that prosecutors had failed to prove their case. After just two days, it was in the jury's hands.

[Abel Pena]

I was feeling good. I was feeling good.

[Documentary Narrator]

The jury deliberated for only about an hour.

[News Reporter]

We find the defendant, John Green, guilty.

[Documentary Narrator]

They convicted him of solicitation to commit frank first degree murder.

[Kim Lark]

His lying has finally caught up with him.

[Documentary Narrator]

Judge David Finger sentenced John Green, AKA Ted Maher, to nine years in prison. With time served, he'll be out in less than three. For nearly 25 years, we've had questions for Ted Maher. New Mexico authorities bar our cameras from the prison, but In March of 2026, Ted's attorney, Blake Duggar, arranged a video visit with him, and Ted allowed us to interview him. Did you try to hire someone to kill your wife?

[Ted Maher / John Green]

No, I did not. Absolutely not. I shouldn't be here. But unfortunately, I am here.

[Documentary Narrator]

Once again, Ted says he was framed. He would never instruct someone to hold a gun to a dog's head, he says. And he claimed that he only gave Greg Marcum the $2,500 to help rescue Marcum's dog, not to murder Kim.

[Ted Maher / John Green]

You don't pay somebody $2,500 to kill anybody. That is absolutely ridiculous.

[Documentary Narrator]

But how then did Markham seem to know so much about the layout of Kim Lark's house?

[Greg Marcum]

But this was the basic layout.

[Documentary Narrator]

Marcum made us a diagram, too.

[Greg Marcum]

I knew where the keys were, and

[Documentary Narrator]

we compared it to the house itself. It wasn't exactly a match, but there were disturbing similarities. It shows where the power source is.

[Kim Lark]

Right.

[Documentary Narrator]

And where the safe was. Is that right?

[Kim Lark]

Yes.

[Documentary Narrator]

He did a drawing of her house. How would he have those details if you didn't give it to him?

[Ted Maher / John Green]

That drawing was not all at all. They're 100% factual.

[Greg Marcum]

Then you had, like a dining room.

[Documentary Narrator]

Ted echoed what his lawyer argued in the trial. Whatever Marcum knew about the home's layout came from innocent conversations.

[Ted Maher / John Green]

I explained how I had re done Electrical panels. And I talked about how I took out a bookcase to put a safe at a high level so she would have to bed.

[Documentary Narrator]

In fact, he told us he was a doting husband devoted to making life easier for Kim. You said you loved Kim Lark.

[Ted Maher / John Green]

I still love her.

[Documentary Narrator]

He admitted he forged her signature on a check, but said, as the marriage crumbled, he had no income and needed money. And he said he had a right to the dogs. Since his divorce settlement with Kim hadn't been finalized yet, those dogs were still community property. Now, just like he once claimed in Monaco, he told us he's an innocent and fundamentally good man taken advantage of by others. As you sit here today, do you feel responsible for Edmund Safra's death?

[Ted Maher / John Green]

No, I don't.

[Documentary Narrator]

But the couple who once believed Ted Maher's proclamations of innocence are not responsible for the death of two people now wonder what really happened on the December night in Monte Carlo that ended with the deaths of a billionaire and his nurse.

[Jennifer Thomas]

There is a chance in my mind now that he did orchestrate that.

[Documentary Narrator]

Bill Hayes still believes Ted told the truth about intruders attacking him that night. But Hayes and Thomas agree that when it comes to Ted's plot to kill Kim Lark, the plot they say he sucked them into, he is guilty as charged.

[Jennifer Thomas]

I feel betrayed.

[Kim Lark]

I would want to know why. Why you lied.

[Documentary Narrator]

And while we may never know the whole truth for sure, we found evidence that Ted had hedged one of his most basic claims, which he repeatedly made over the years. Were you, in fact, Special Forces and a Green Beret?

[Ted Maher / John Green]

I went through all three phases.

[Documentary Narrator]

You're saying you went through the training?

[Ted Maher / John Green]

I finished the three programs.

[Documentary Narrator]

Come on, Ted. Don't double talk here.

[Ted Maher / John Green]

I never was assigned to a unit at the Green Beret.

[Documentary Narrator]

So you never served as a Green Beret?

[Ted Maher / John Green]

I went down into Special Forces. Yes, I did.

[Documentary Narrator]

If Ted Maher didn't give us a straight answer, the army certainly did, telling us, quote, there is no evidence that Theodore Maher served in the Special Forces.

[Kim Lark]

He's a thief, he's a liar, a con artist.

[Documentary Narrator]

And Kim Lark says she's worried she hasn't seen the last of him.

[Kim Lark]

When he gets out, I'll be in trouble.

[Documentary Narrator]

Does Kim Lark have a reason to be scared of you?

[Ted Maher / John Green]

Yeah. Absolutely not.

[Detective Garrett Silva]

There's no telling what he may do.

[Documentary Narrator]

Detective Garrett Silva, who helped piece the murder solicitation case together, was promoted to sergeant with a K9 unit. He told us that if he were in Kim's position, he would keep a dog by his side for protection. And that's exactly what Kim Lark is doing.

[Kim Lark]

I don't trust anybody. I'm always on alert.

[Documentary Narrator]

She told us Ted has demanded money as part of their divorce, and she's infuriated. Kim admits that anger can be lonely. Come on, Falbelle. But anyone who knows Kim knows we're

[Kim Lark]

just going for a ride.

[Michael Griffith (Lawyer)]

Mm.

[Documentary Narrator]

She's never really alone. Kim, do they follow you everywhere?

[Kim Lark]

Yes.

[Documentary Narrator]

Oh, my God. That makes me laugh.

[Kim Lark]

Dogs just want to be with you all the time.

[Documentary Narrator]

And you can trust them.

[Kim Lark]

Yes. Yes.

[Documentary Narrator]

Okay.

[Kim Lark]

John Green, AKA Ted Maher, appealed his conviction and was denied. He is scheduled for release in 2029.

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[Documentary Narrator]

Mom, can you tell me a story?

[Carvana Advertiser]

Sure. Once upon a time, a mom needed a new car.

[Documentary Narrator]

Was she brave?

[Carvana Advertiser]

She was tired, mostly. But she went to Carvana.com and found a great car at a great price. No secret treasure map required.

[Documentary Narrator]

Did you have to fight a dragon?

[Lemonade Pet Insurance Advertiser]

Nope.

[Carvana Advertiser]

She bought it 100% online from her bed, actually.

[Documentary Narrator]

Was it scary?

[Carvana Advertiser]

Honey, it was as unscary as car buying could be.

[Documentary Narrator]

Did the car have a sunroof?

[Carvana Advertiser]

It did, actually.

[Documentary Narrator]

Okay, good story.

[Heidi Westrout]

Car buying.

[Carvana Advertiser]

You'll want to tell stories about. Buy your car today on Carvana. Delivery fees may apply.