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Melissa Lewis, 39, was a top Fort Lauderdale attorney and partner at the now-dissolved Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm before she was brutally strangled to death in her garage. Lewis' body was dumped in a nearby canal in March 2008. Tony Villegas, her best friend's ex-husband, was convicted in the murder case years later after multiple incriminating pieces of evidence linked him to her death.
The thorough investigation into Lewis' murder took authorities on a case filled with twists and unexpected turns, making multiple revelations, before finally landing Villegas as the primary suspect. This article will further elaborate on many of the case's shocking details ahead of ID's Vanished Into Thin Air episode scheduled to air this Monday, November 21, at 10:00 pm ET.
The official synopsis of the episode, titled Going Places, reads:
"When Melissa Lewis doesn't show up for work, an intensive search finds her brutally killed. To locate her killer, police must reconstruct her movements."
Five key facts from Melissa Lewis' 2008 murder case
1) Melissa Lewis was attacked in her garage after returning home from work
On the evening of March 5, 2008, Melissa Lewis reportedly left work and headed to the Publix grocery store on her way home. She was made a partner at the firm and was expected to be there for a meeting, but when she failed to show up at work, her colleagues got concerned and asked authorities to do a welfare check.
Upon reaching Lewis' home, authorities discovered that her garage door was open and her car was missing. Moreover, the grocery bags were left behind and there were signs of struggle inside the garage, including pepper spray marks on the door. A button from her coat, which she wore to work the day she went missing, was also found on the floor. This led authorities to believe that she was attacked.
2) Lewis' car was found not far from her home
Investigators were able to use Lewis' car's OnStar security to access the GPS system and ultimately discovered it close to her house, but the missing lawyer was still unaccounted for. Her shoes and a suit jacket were found in the car trunk. A few days later, her body was found in a canal, four miles from her house. Her death was subsequently attributed to physical strangulation.
3) Tony Villegas soon became a prime suspect in the case
Tony Villegas, the husband of Melissa Lewis' best friend, Debra Coffey, soon became a prime suspect in the murder case after authorities learned that he was having problems with his wife and was on the verge of divorce. It was alleged that Villegas assumed Lewis persuaded Debra to break up with him. Lewis' phone was also tracked to Hialeah, where Villegas was living with a roommate at the time.
Tony Villegas, Coffey's soon-to-be ex-husband, was reportedly staying with a friend in Hialeah, close to the tower Lewis' phone was intercepted. Villegas' phone records also showed that he was at the exact same location on the night of the murder where Melissa's phone was traced back to.
4) More incriminating evidence surfaced against Villegas, including his DNA
Tony Villegas' roommate confirmed that the night Melissa Lewis was murdered, Villegas returned home later and asked him questions about how to get rid of pepper spray residue. This information, along with pepper spray evidence found in Lewis' garage, proved that he may have been involved in her killing. Later, forensics revealed that Villegas' DNA was found on the victim's coat.
5) Tony Villegas was convicted in Melissa Lewis' 2008 murder case
In June 2016, six years after Melissa Lewis' murder, after less than two hours of deliberation, a jury ruled that Tony Villegas was behind her 2008 killing. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Prosecutors alleged that he killed her after assuming that she was responsible for his marital problems, given that he and the victim's best friend Debra were on the verge of divorce. He is currently serving time at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Lake City, Florida.
Learn more about Melissa Lewis' murder case on ID's Vanished Into Thin Air on Monday, November 22.
