Woman Speaks Out After Her Ex-Boyfriend Fatally Shoots Her Fiancé

A woman whose fiancé was fatally shot by her jealous ex-boyfriend is telling her story to "48 Hours" in "The Ring: The Murder of Patrick De La Cerda."

Gregory Bender, 54, is now in prison serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole after he was found guilty in May of first-degree murder in the February 2018 killing of 25-year-old Patrick De La Cerda in Deltona, Florida.

In an interview with "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant, De La Cerda's fiancée Jessica Devnani detailed her past relationship with Bender and how an encounter at a hospital led to events that "would forever change lives," according to CBS News.

Devnani met Bender, who was nearly 20 years her senior, online in 2009, and they soon began dating. But she eventually began to notice that the hedge fund manager had a streak of jealousy in him that would sometimes escalate to verbal threats.

"I never feared what he could do to me, but I feared what he could do to other men," she told Van Sant.

Despite his flaws, she remained with him, and eventually, they got engaged. However, a shocking twist in their relationship came in 2016 when Bender had to undergo a procedure at a hospital

While he was recuperating in the ICU, Devnani thought of making a surprise visit. However, this led to her encounter with Daymara Sanchez, Bender's wife at the time, in his room and the discovery that he was married while dating her.

Devnani said she was left devastated by the revelation. Days later, Bender reached out to her and explained the situation, claiming that it was strictly a marriage of convenience so he could help the woman's son attend a better school district.

While they got back together, Devnani said she gave Bender an ultimatum – he had to divorce his wife. But she broke up with him months later after he continued to delay filing for divorce.

Devnani met De La Cerda on a dating app in June 2017, a month after her breakup with Bender. "I was afraid that he would find out about our relationship," Devnani said.

However, Bender eventually learned about Devnani's new relationship with De La Cerda from Facebook and started messaging her new boyfriend and threatening him. After both of them kept receiving alarming messages, Devnani got a restraining order against her ex, who was ordered not to contact her and to hand over his firearms.

Devnani and De La Cerda got engaged at the end of 2017. He initially popped the question with a temporary engagement ring, while he waited for the delivery of a ring he had designed.

However, on Feb. 27, 2018, Devnani found De La Cerda dead in a pool of blood at the front door of his home in Deltona, Florida.

"I think my mind just doesn't want to accept it … My whole future was taken away. My whole world was taken away," Devnani said.

During the investigation, a detective got a tip that led to Bender's arrest from Sanchez, Bender's now ex-wife. After learning about De La Cerda’s murder from media reports, Sanchez told investigators about a "murder plan" she had found in which Bender laid out a plot to kill the other man.

When police searched Bender's home in Windemere, Florida, they found a murder plan in the trash can in Bender’s office. The notes had De La Cerda's address, sketches of his property and notes on how to enter and exit the premises without being detected. They read in part, "... dispose of clothes, plate, tracker [and] gloves."

Aside from that, they also found ammunition and a shell casing similar to the rounds found at the crime scene.

During Bender’s trial in May, both Devnani and Sanchez testified against him.