Lost Hills: The Dark Prince

Shortly after Jeanne’s death, Fred starts seeing Verna, one of Jeanne’s closest friends. It’s a whirlwind romance, and soon they’re merging families. The timeline of their relationship stokes Malibu gossip, and, later, piques the interest of detectives. Was it just a coincidence that Verna’s first husband had died unexpectedly, too?

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The sheriff’s department orders a new set of autopsies on Verna and Doug, to be conducted in secret. Now, there’s enough evidence to arrest Fred. Meanwhile, detectives talk to his neighbors, coworkers, and friends. Some say he’s a charming, dedicated family man, while others whisper of a dark side and a hair-trigger temper. Also, one of Doug’s best friends remembers life in the Roehler household. 

After Fred’s arrest, detectives start looking into his finances. How does a civilian employee of the Navy afford a beachfront home, on a gated road in Malibu, and a brand-new $150K sailboat? Also, they learn that the Roehlers owned large insurance policies. Could that be the motive the cops are looking for?

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Fred hires a high-powered defense attorney and a team of private eyes, and starts pushing back on the detectives’ narrative. He’s got an explanation for everything: his real-estate holdings, his income, and all those insurance policies. But can the detectives explain why their witnesses are walking back statements?

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Fred’s trial is the longest and most expensive in Santa Barbara history, and the dory plays a starring role. Stan Roden, the DA, wants to send Fred to the gas chamber at San Quentin. At the heart of the trial are two conflicting sets of autopsies. Which expert is to be believed?

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Fred’s daughters share a trove of correspondence, and wrestle with unanswered questions about Jeanne’s death. The fight for Fred’s release continues. And a trip to Bird Rock brings resolution, at last.

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Rob Lowe moved to Malibu in 1976, when he was 12. The Malibu of his youth was crazy. He saw Fonzie jump the shark, at Paradise Cove. He saw Nick Nolte at the grocery store. He saw coke—at a 7th-grader’s birthday party. The kids were running wild and the parents were running wilder. His mind was blown, never to recover. In this Season 2 bonus episode, Lowe takes us on a trippy trip down memory lane...

Fred's first wife, Jeanne, started flying for United in the 1960s, at the height of the glamorous jet age. The job was adventurous and fun, and it inducted Jeanne into a tight-knit sorority of fellow flight attendants—a group of women who would be first shocked, then haunted by her unexplained death. In this Season 2 bonus episode, a flight attendant who worked with Jeanne the day of her drowning shares new details about Jeanne’s last flight and final hours.

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