The Years of Living Dangerously

Barbara Bentley is swept off her feet by a retired naval officer. But she is also swept into the swirling tide of his mysterious and secretive life... and a world of subterfuge and intrigue from which it would take decades for her to surface. Dennis Murphy reports in this Dateline classic. Originally aired on NBC on June 7, 2009.

Some serious rationalization going on here

While interesting, it is hard to keep listening to such a ludicrous tale without losing all respect for the conned wife, who was either seriously deluding herself, completely self-absorbed in superficial standing, or an idiot (heck, maybe all three). Even without the internet to reveal the truth, this woman was wading through red flags way before she even married the guy. And then, after his blatantly obvious cons are exposed, she wastes no time capitalizing on her self-created situation with a book that completely ignores her own complicity in this ridiculous situation. Dateline treated her way too kindly and gave her far too much leeway in telling her side of the story without being challenged. They say conmen rely on their victims being greedy. This woman was apparently greedy for social standing and cachet. Not a crime, or a lot more people would be in jail, but not worthy of treating her as a wronged victim, either. In the end, the episode is incredibly annoying and lacks journalistic integrity.