A few weeks after meeting Valentina, Dorian Lester flew to London to be with her and made plans to move his "executive protection" business there. First, he needed to divorce his estranged wife Elaine.

The father of two children, Lester was a popular figure in Charlottesville, where locals knew him as a martial arts exponent, a firearms expert, a paramedic, and scuba diver. As a young man, he had traveled the world with rock-gospel and country music bands.

Lester's life changed in 1987 when he was hired as a minder by America's then richest man, media tycoon John W. Kluge, and his wife Patricia at their Charlottesville estate, Albermarle House. Three years later, he was cruising on the Kluges' yacht in the Bahamas with Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

After resigning from his jet-set job at the end of July 1997, to be with Valentina in London, Lester needed to return to Charlottesville briefly to finalize his divorce. Valentina joined him there two months later. On October 1, hours before they were to return to London to start a new life together, they were arrested in the centre of Charlottesville. Four days earlier, someone had placed a Glock 9mm pistol to the head of jeweler George Moody in his workshop in the City's Belmont district and blown his brains out. According to detectives, the gunman and his female accomplice scooped precious gems and two small diamonds from Moody's open safe and made their getaway in a van.

Detectives received a tip-off that Dorian and Valentina were the couple in question. "Eight policemen in anti-terrorist gear leapt out with handguns drawn and shouted 'Police! Down!'" says Valentina. "Dorian is given to playing practical jokes on people so I giggled- I thought it was a joke."