1976: Having returned from a tour of duty in Vietnam, Dr. David Thornton did not think he could operate on a person ever again. He decided instead to become a physician’s assistant. Ruth Martin took notice of David’s abilities. David admitted that he was surgeon. Ruth helped him to recover his abilities and mental health. He knew he could not have reclaimed his life without Ruth. He proposed marriage, to which she reluctantly accepted.
The night Ruth was to confront her husband, Dr. Joe Martin, about David went terribly awry. Joe was admitted for a severe case of appendicitis. David was the only person on call who could do the surgery. When Joe recovered, Ruth professed her love for him. She gently let David down.

1977: Dr. Chris Karass caught David’s eye. The haunted woman had turned to the young Dr. Jeff Martin to help her determine who was writing death threats to her. David knew that Chris needed an experienced doctor on the job, and not the young Martin. Under hypnosis, David determined Chris had suffered from a split personality stemming from the night she thought she had killed her father. Chris was appreciative for David’s help. Soon they were a couple.
Chris and David were engaged to be married when Jeff uncovered David’s darkest secret. He was still married to his wife, Edna Thornton, and they shared a child, Dottie Thornton. David assured Chris that their marriage was on paper only. He began to plot how he was going to cut Edna out of his life forever
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1978: When Chris returned her engagement ring, David knew he had to do something about Edna. She was not going to agree to a divorce. He began to slip digitalis into Edna’s drink to cause a rapid heart rate. He had hoped to induce a heart attack. The night he would pour a lethal dose into Edna’s drink, the couple got in a fight. David did not notice his daughter, Dottie, had innocently switch their glasses. After taking a sip of the lethal wine, David experienced major cardiac arrest. In his last moments he called Chris for help.