Original subtitles

Narrator: A night out with friends

ends in murder.

[ indistinct radio chatter ]

[ sirens wailing ]

pittman: Brain matter. Bone fragments.

This appeared to be very violent.

Narrator: A family in despair.

Marcel was so badly beaten that we weren't allowed

to even view him.

Narrator: Three people at the crime scene...

We called it a "who did it" investigation.

...All claim to know nothing.

Until a shocking trail of surveillance footage...

Reveals a killer...

Ready to strike again.

♪

♪

♪

newfoundland, canada,

in the small city of st. John's,

46-year-old marcel reardon is visiting

his older sister, jacqueline.

Oh, marcel you made it!

-Couldn't miss it. -Oh.

Every time I'd have him over for dinner,

I'd enjoy his company.

Oh, come on in.

Oh! Look at these girls.

Oh, my gosh. A couple of heartbreakers.

My girls loved him, and marcel loved my girls.

Oh, I feel sorry for the boys in town.

-Hey, brother. -Hey, bro.

Fleming: Marcel was always the center of attention

and the class clown,

a person that, you know, make the faces at the table.

Hey, what do you think? Is this my color?

[ laughter ]

it's my color. Come on.

Do you remember these?

-Ma's favorite. Yeah. -Blue, that's right.

Narrator: For marcel, jacqueline, and their brother,

scott, this gathering is bittersweet.

Their mom died of cancer eight months ago,

and today, the whole family is

making wreaths for the gravesite.

Hey, a toast to ma.

To ma.

When our mom passed September of 2015,

uh, we were all devastated,

but marcel took it the hardest

because marcel was the closest to our mom.

Marcel basically secluded himself.

Stayed in the house, and he --

he turned to the bottle.

♪

[ can pops open ]

-I'm so glad you came. -Oh, it was a good day.

-Mom would've loved it. -Oh.

It was so good to see your girls.

He lived in his own apartment here in town.

-We'll see you soon. -Yeah.

Fleming: He spent a lot of time -- lot of time downtown.

Now call me now!

Just went off about his own.

I will! I promise!

-Love you, sis! -Love you, too, marcel!

Fleming: Marcel was a free spirit, definitely.

Wherever marcel laid his hat, that was marcel's home.

He often left, came and -- came and went.

♪

narrator: Two days later,

a call comes in to st. John's police department.

[ sirens wailing ]

a man is lying outside an apartment complex.

He's not breathing.

Constable ryan pittman from the st. John's serious

crime unit is dispatched to the scene.

Pittman: I met with the officers who were there.

Essentially, the information that they provide is that

there was a male who's deceased on the property,

which was 91 brazil street.

And he was underneath the stairs.

He had severe trauma to his head.

[ camera shutter clicks ]

this was a very gory scene.

[ camera shutter clicks ]

narrator: Pittman's first task is to identify the body.

He did have a wallet in his possession,

which had a birth certificate

and also had

a, uh, another card with his name on it.

♪

the victim is marcel reardon.

♪

I observed what appeared to be blood,

brain matter,

bone fragments.

I observed blood spatter on the wall of the building

and on a window.

Narrator: Marcel is lying at the bottom

of an apartment building several stories high.

Was this a suicide?

So that was definitely something

that crossed our mind, you know?

Was he up on the rooftop? Did he jump?

We determined that the door that leads to

the top of the building was actually locked at the time.

No one had access,

so we were able to quickly rule that out.

Narrator: Tell-tale clues on

the ground indicate a more sinister explanation.

I observed what appeared to be some swiping marks,

almost like a dragging in the mud.

It seemed that his body was moved under the stairs.

On the concrete pathway,

I also observed what appeared to be

muddy footprints,

and they seemed to go around the building

to the front entrance.

With the amount of injuries that mr. Reardon had

to the back of his head,

the information suggested that it was a homicide.

Narrator: On the other side of the city,

word of the murder reaches marcel's

older sister, jacqueline.

[ phone ringing ]

Monday afternoon, right around 12:30,

1 o'clock or so,

[ phone ringing ]

I get a phone call from my aunt christine...

Hello. Oh, hey, christine.

...Saying marcel's gone.

And I was like, "what do you mean he's gone?"

he's been killed.

They don't know who it was,

they don't know who did it, but...

They're investigating it.

That's when I lost it.

I went blank. My mind just went blank.

I just didn't know how to deal with it,

didn't know...

That just...

That devastated me.

♪

narrator: Back at the crime scene,

constable pittman gathers more evidence.

Pittman: His clothing was examined, and there

was brown pieces of glass in his pocket.

Mr. Reardon was a bigger male,

so you always wonder that the person responsible was

probably a stronger person who would have moved the body.

Narrator: The local media pick up the story.

By the time reporters got there, the police,

they had it taped off.

We had been told that a man had died.

When there's a crime of that nature in a town of

this size,

the first reaction is always wondering if there's a killer

on the loose, should we be scared?

Narrator: As media interest in the story grows,

officers canvass the apartment building, hoping for a lead.

Pittman: We were trying to establish what

his connection was to that building.

How did he end up there? Why was he at this location?

Narrator: But no one recalls seeing

or hearing anything unusual.

Pittman: We did obtain a list of all

the tenants that lived there,

and marcel reardon's name was not part of that list.

Narrator: With no apparent connection between marcel

and the apartments,

investigators search for a weapon.

When we do a line search of the wooded area

or the grassy area behind the apartment,

there was a dumpster outside.

So we did secure that and examined the contents of

all of the garbage bags.

There's no murder weapon located there.

So we need to follow up and try

and identify what the weapon is and where it is.

Narrator: While there's no smoking gun, there is some

potential evidence.

Pittman: Our forensics identification officers

found a lighter,

a beer bottle,

and a package of cigarettes.

They sent that up to our forensic lab.

Narrator: Just a few feet away, an even more promising lead.

Pittman: Marcel reardon was found underneath the stairs

of an entrance on the rear of the building.

Directly above the doors to that entrance was a camera that

would have captured all the events that took place

directly below it.

We're really excited to see what is on that video.

That could be a key piece of evidence for us.

We're gonna identify how many people were there,

what weapon was used,

even possibly identify the suspect,

or suspects, at this point.

Narrator: Just hours after marcel reardon was

found brutally murdered outside an apartment complex,

investigators hope cctv will show them

his killer's identity.

Pittman: We decided to take the whole dvr system

itself and bring it back to rnc headquarters.

The video -- that could certainly give us

a solid lead on this investigation.

♪

as pittman: What -- what's wrong here?

Narrator: But there's a problem.

Pittman: It was just snowing out.

There was no video recovered of the actual incident itself.

It's very frustrating.

We can't believe that one of the best pieces of

evidence that we have is not available to us.

♪

narrator: In need of fresh leads,

constable pittman runs a background check on marcel

and discovers an incident the day before his murder.

Pittman: In the early morning hours of Sunday,

may 8, 2016, marcel was intoxicated.

He was arrested and held at a st. John's city lock-up.

Someone could end up in our lock-up if there's a concern

for their safety, and when they sober up,

they can just be released.

And shortly after noon that same day,

he was released from custody.

Narrator: Pittman knows there are security cameras

pointing towards the building's exit

and covering the street outside.

Hey, can you put some lock-up footage for me?

Narrator: The cameras may reveal who marcel was with

in the hours leading to his death.

We're trying to establish any connections who

our victim would have had in the community.

Any modes of transportation, any persons outside waiting for him.

Okay, take us to just before 1 p.M.

♪

[ chord strikes ]

and we observed marcel leaving the st. John's city lock-up

at around 1 p.M.

Now zoom in.

Pittman: He was wearing a two-toned winter boot,

a pair of what appeared to be jeans, and a red sweater.

He had a jacket that was draped over his body.

Narrator: The same clothing marcel was wearing

when his body was found.

Marcel makes his way toward the front of the station.

Can you focus in?

Narrator: Up ahead, a group of people wait on the corner.

As marcel passes the group,

he appears to exchange words with them,

but they're too far away to be sure.

Can you check the other angle on that?

Narrator: They switch to the camera

covering the front for a closer look.

As marcel passes the group, he keeps walking.

There's no interaction.

Pittman: Marcel reardon was observed

heading west on water street.

Narrator: They wait to see if the group follow.

Nothing happens, until...

Marcel walks back, past the same group,

now heading downtown.

As marcel leaves frame, the group begin to follow,

♪

but it's impossible to know if they are

in pursuit or simply heading in the same direction.

They watch on,

but there's no further sign of marcel or the group.

It's just 21 hours before marcel's body is found.

They need to know what happened next.

Pittman: We deployed a team of officers to canvass

the downtown area for cctv.

The purpose of doing this is to establish a timeline and to

visually track marcel reardon

and anybody who could have been with him

leading up to his death.

♪

narrator: While officers hunt for footage,

detectives hope marcel's family can provide them

with much needed leads.

As pittman: We wanted to thank you for coming in.

We're very sorry for what happened to marcel.

Um, why don't you start with explaining to me,

you know, his friends, anyone that you know,

some acquaintances.

We didn't know a whole lot who he hung out with.

I can't think of anybody that would do this to him.

Marcel wasn't -- wasn't a vengeful person,

wasn't a hurtful person.

So the thing is why --

why was somebody out to hurt him?

♪

narrator: As investigators draw another blank,

they get an unexpected breakthrough.

Hello, detective.

I heard you're working the reardon case.

-Yeah. -I may have some information for you.

-Pull up a chair. -Thank you.

Pittman: We had an officer actually come to us late

that evening and told us that they had interactions

with marcel in the area of shamrock city on

water street around eight o'clock the previous night.

Eight p.M., shamrock city.

Narrator: Shamrock city is a well-known bar downtown where

the officer gave marcel a warning for being drunk

and disorderly.

I find your man reardon there.

He's intoxicated. I didn't want to take him in.

Pittman: So now we know he's alive

at eight o'clock that evening,

and at 9:39 the next morning, marcel's found dead.

So that narrows a timeline for the investigative team.

Narrator: An officer is immediately dispatched to

the bar to speak to the manager.

There's no cctv, but the manager remembers marcel,

and she knows the people he was drinking with.

She had alerted the officer that some of the people

who marcel was actually with were actually outside the bar

at that point.

Those people were jessica peach

and kevin o'brien.

Narrator: Jessica and kevin

agree to come in for questioning.

Jessica is first to be interviewed.

She confirms they were with marcel at shamrock city

the previous night

but claims marcel was so intoxicated that he left

at one a.M.

Pittman: Jessica peach told us that marcel would have been

a bit rowdy and that he fell down and broke a beer bottle.

His beer just broke on the floor,

and there was glass everywhere, and...

And that's interesting, because there was glass,

broken pieces of glass, found in his pockets.

Jessica then told us that marcel drinks maximum ice beer,

and that was interesting, because there was

a maximum ice beer bottle

actually located at the scene where marcel was found.

Was there anyone else with you there that night?

-Yeah, anne. -Anne who?

Anne norris.

Pittman: This was the first time

that anne's name came up in our investigation.

Narrator: The name immediately stands out.

She was known in the media for her -- for athletics.

She was a star on the university basketball team, and...

She'd going to the canada winter games.

Narrator: Jessica says that at 1 a.M.,

marcel was so drunk, anne took him to her place to sober up.

She returned later alone.

Kevin o'brien corroborates her story.

He also reveals where anne lives.

Pittman: Kevin told us that in the early morning hours,

he, jessica peach, and anne norris stayed the night in

anne norris's apartment at brazil street apartments.

Narrator: It's the apartment building

where marcel's body was found,

placing all three of them at the crime scene.

Pittman: Jessica peach, kevin o'brien, and anne norris

were together hours prior to marcel reardon's body

being discovered.

Narrator: The investigation into marcel reardon's

murder now has three potential suspects.

Pittman: We're closing in on the people who were associated

with marcel reardon leading up to his death.

We didn't rule out anybody -- we kept our mind open

that more than one person could have been involved.

So we would call this ourselves

a "who did it" investigation.

Narrator: Canadian investigators have identified three

potential suspects

in the murder of marcel reardon.

Kevin o'brien and jessica peach say their friend, marcel,

took a taxi to anne norris's apartment at 1 a.M.

On the morning his body was found.

Anne now comes forward to give her account of the evening.

She was a person of interest, because she was one

of the last known people to be with marcel reardon.

She was fully cooperative.

I hung out with jessica and kevin for most of that day.

Uh, marcel met up with us

later on, after he got out of the lockup.

Narrator: She confirms taking marcel back to her apartment.

-When was that? -Uh, about 1 a.M., um...

But when we got there, he -- he didn't come in.

He wanted to go to a nightclub.

Narrator: With marcel gone,

anne says she went back to the bar to rejoin her friends.

After a couple more hours downtown,

all three of them then ended back at anne's.

They never saw marcel again.

The next morning, we heard what happened to marcel.

-Could I go now? -Yeah.

Narrator: Anne, kevin, and jessica's stories match up,

but it doesn't mean they weren't involved in the murder.

Investigators hope surveillance cameras

downtown will confirm what happened.

They start with a camera overlooking the bar

they know marcel was drinking in.

They cue the footage to just before 1 a.M.,

when anne said she left with marcel in a taxi.

♪

at 12:44, a figure in red staggers into frame.

Freeze. Freeze that right there.

So that's marcel.

And that's anne.

We observed marcel reardon and anne norris on the corner

of george street and adelaide street.

Marcel was wearing winter boots, jeans, and a red sweater,

and anne, a pair of heeled shoes, a light pair of pants,

a dark jacket with a light-colored book bag.

A third figure dressed in black joins them.

Okay, stop.

Narrator: He matches the description

of kevin o'brien.

Detectives watch on, looking for any signs of trouble.

Marcel was intoxicated, more than the average person.

In general, it just looks like people hanging out

on a regular night in george street.

♪

suddenly, anne leaves with kevin close behind.

♪

a few moments later,

marcel also disappears from view.

Let's go to the camera at the back of the building.

Narrator: They pick marcel up crouched in an alleyway.

That's marcel.

Narrator: A minute later, anne returns,

followed by kevin.

It's hard to make out what's happening,

but suddenly, marcel falls to the ground.

It's kevin who hauls marcel back to his feet.

♪

when you consider the crime scene

where marcel reardon was found

and, you know, the possibility that he could have been moved

and tucked under the stairs,

kevin o'brien stood out.

He's a taller, bigger guy.

Maybe he had some involvement in that.

Okay, let's go back to the taxi stand.

At approximately 12:55 a.M.,

I observed marcel reardon

and anne norris getting into a taxi van.

Marcel reardon was placed behind the driver's seat.

♪

and then anne norris

gets into the front passenger seat.

Narrator: Investigators watch closely

to see what kevin does next.

♪

pittman: Kevin o'brien was not observed getting in that van.

So to our knowledge, at this stage, it was

just the driver, anne norris, and marcel reardon.

We interviewed that operator of the vehicle,

who confirmed to us

that he dropped anne norris and marcel reardon off

at brazil street apartments.

Narrator: But without cctv from the complex,

investigators don't know what happened there.

Pittman: Our timeline is getting smaller and smaller,

leading up to the death of marcel.

Narrator: On the other side of town,

marcel's family share the painful task of

clearing out his apartment.

Last time I saw marcel, the last words that

we said to each other,

which means, like, the world to me right now, is,

"I love you, jackie."

and I says, "I love you, too, marcel."

and I said, "don't forget, now call me -- call me later."

so, um, he didn't call me later.

To this day, I'm still --

I'm still not over the loss of my brother,

the loss of marcel.

♪

let's get the rest of the stuff in the car.

♪

narrator: Back at the police department,

detectives scour more footage collected from downtown.

They need to pick up kevin o'brien's trail

after anne and marcel left in the taxi.

We review all the video surveillance that

we obtained, follow up on their statements.

Narrator: Just after 2 a.M.,

they spot something.

Stop. That's them there.

Narrator: This is the first time

investigators see jessica peach on camera.

She goes into a store, leaving kevin alone.

Can you zoom in there? What's in that bag?

Narrator: Kevin appears to be

hunting for something in his bag,

but it's impossible to make out.

Jessica returns, and the pair leave together.

Pittman: This is part of the highs and lows of doing

an investigation.

So you get excited that you may have a lead

and then you're knocked back down.

Narrator: As they continue to search for clues,

[ phone ringing ]

a call comes in from the city's harbor police.

They found a backpack in the water.

[ sirens wailing ]

pittman: Within minutes of receiving that information,

I arrived at the st. John's city harbor.

Narrator: The bag's contents could finally

reveal who killed marcel reardon.

Narrator: Two days after marcel reardon's murder,

a backpack is discovered floating in the local harbor.

Officers arrived on scene,

and they took control of the book bag.

The bag was a light blue,

and it had a reflective stripe across the front of it.

Inside, there was a pair of light-colored pants.

Wrapped up inside was a hammer with a claw end.

The grip on it was yellow.

And at the base was a red substance,

which appeared to be blood.

There was a debit card inside the book bag,

and the name associated to

the debit card was jessica peach.

All of that made me think

we had the murder weapon at this stage.

Narrator: Detectives check earlier cctv to confirm

that the bag is jessica's.

But the only person with a bag

is kevin.

But it's not clear if it's the same bag found in the water.

So kevin and jessica are brought back in

for questioning.

Jessica confirms that the bag is hers

but denies throwing it in the harbor.

During those interviews, jessica told us that

she loaned anne norris her book bag that night.

She said anne threw her book bag in the harbor,

and kevin was present at the time.

Narrator: Kevin confirms that he saw anne throw

the bag in the water around 3 a.M.

But says he has no idea why

and didn't know it contained a hammer.

Unconvinced by the account,

investigators hope surveillance footage

can tell them the truth.

They start with a camera that

films steps leading down to the harbor.

They cue the footage to 2:30 a.M.,

90 minutes after marcel was last seen alive.

[ chord strikes ]

okay, freeze it there.

So that's kevin.

And that is definitely anne.

Kevin o'brien had a dark book bag,

and anne norris had what appeared to be

jessica peach's book bag,

walking together to the harbor.

Can you switch back to the harbor angle?

Stop it there. Stop it there. Stop it there.

Rewind it. Play it again.

Okay, stop that there.

Pittman: We'd see a white flash...

Do you see that?

...Which suggested to me that the book bag that was

thrown had that reflective stripe on the front of it.

It is very hard to see the discarding of the book bag.

You do see that flash.

Narrator: Investigators try to make out who throws the bag,

[ music climbing ]

[ chord strikes ]

but the image quality is too poor.

Okay, can you switch to the harbor steps?

Narrator: Pittman checks the footage again.

This time he spots something else.

♪

anne norris is wearing dark footwear,

dark pants,

a brown- or green-type jacket.

The clothing is completely different than

the clothing that she was wearing earlier that night.

Narrator: With evidence pointing to

anne's involvement in the murder,

she is placed under surveillance.

[ sirens wailing ]

and while investigators await

a search warrant for her apartment,

marcel's body is laid to rest.

Fleming: Marcel was so badly beaten that

we weren't allowed to even view him.

So he got him cremated without closure.

Marcel was actually buried right beside our mom,

because their mom got cremated too.

So, um, marcel's urn was...

Right next to ma's.

So yeah, it was devastating.

It was hard, it was -- saying goodbye,

saying our last goodbyes.

♪

narrator: With a warrant secured,

a search of anne's apartment is underway.

[ camera shutter clicks ]

[ camera shutter clicks ]

[ camera shutter clicks ]

♪

[ chord strikes ]

pittman: There was a skirt that anne norris was observed

on cctv wearing leading up to the murder,

which had what appeared to be blood staining on it.

Narrator: Luminol tests reveal further evidence of a crime.

There was positive reactions for blood

in the sink and in the tub.

Narrator: Then another potential clue --

a walmart receipt timestamped at 10:14

on the night of marcel's murder.

The receipt revealed a person was successful

in purchasing a hammer and a knife.

Narrator: But the receipt doesn't reveal

the buyer's identity.

Jessica, kevin, and anne all slept at the apartment.

[ camera shutter clicks ]

the receipt could belong to any one of them.

[ sirens wailing ]

constable pittman heads straight to the walmart.

But as he is about to check the surveillance footage,

[ phone ringing ]

a call comes in.

It's the undercover officers trailing anne norris.

They've been following her all day.

She is now heading towards the walmart store.

Constable pittman asks security staff to pull up

live cctv from the entrance camera.

♪

[ music climbing ]

♪

pittman: Anne norris is observed in dark clothing

entering the walmart.

Narrator: She's unaware a security team are on her tail.

Pittman watches on as

anne heads straight for the hardware aisle.

♪

♪

she appears to be looking at various types of hammers,

different weighted hammers.

She's actually observed waving both hammers.

It's almost like she's weighing the hammers in her hands.

We have serious concerns that

anne norris might commit bodily harm to somebody.

Narrator: Murder suspect anne norris is examining

hammers in a walmart store.

Investigators believe the hammer used

to bludgeon marcel reardon was purchased from

the same store five days earlier.

Detectives watch on live cctv as anne selects a hammer,

♪

hides it inside a backpack,

and heads for the exit.

She tried to leave the store without paying for those items

but was stopped.

The hammer is seized by store security staff.

But anne isn't detained, nor is she deterred.

A few minutes later,

she sneaks back in

and chooses another hammer.

This time, she'll pay for it.

As she stands in line,

an arrest unit move in.

Pittman: We have to consider public safety

and the safety of others.

The decision was made at that point to arrest anne norris.

Narrator: Anne norris is now safely in custody,

but detectives still don't know who bought

the hammer they believe to be the murder weapon.

Pittman returns to walmart footage

from the night of marcel's murder.

♪

at 10 past 9 p.M.,

he spots a familiar figure.

Pittman: We get a good visual of anne norris

and the clothing that she's wearing,

specifically that skirt.

Narrator: And there's something in anne's cart.

It's the hammer,

with its distinctive yellow handle.

There's no sign of kevin o'brien or jessica peach.

Anne norris arrived at that location by herself.

She remained in the store by herself.

And she left by herself.

Narrator: Anne is presented with the evidence against her.

She makes an astonishing admission.

Anne norris accepted being

the sole person responsible for murdering marcel reardon.

Narrator: Police conclude kevin o'brien and jessica peach

had no knowledge of marcel's murder and are cleared of

all involvement.

The group who were waiting outside st. John's lock-up

were also found to have no connection to the crime.

Anne is charged with first-degree murder,

and in January 2018, the case goes to trial.

Anne's legal team argue that she has a history

of mental illness and cannot be held criminally responsible.

We all got together and went down to the courthouse

and waited for the person to come in that killed him.

We were all just...

In shock, we all just gasped.

She was, like, a little girl, young.

Just -- just didn't look like -- just a kid.

She probably weighed a hundred pounds soaking wet,

and my brother was, uh, almost six foot.

Narrator: Court reporter tara bradbury

is there to cover the trial.

Anne norris admitted to have been hanging out

with marcel reardon on the night in question.

She admitted having left

and gone to a walmart, where she bought a hammer.

She admitted to coming back and then later

going to her apartment building with marcel reardon.

She admitted to having struck him in

the head with a hammer several times until he died.

She admitted to going back downtown

and throwing the hammer into the harbor.

When jessica peach and kevin o'brien came to

anne's later that night,

they had no idea marcel was lying dead

under the stairs outside.

Anne's defense says she was

suffering from schizophrenia and delusions

bradbury: When she was with marcel back at her apartment,

she had gone inside, and he was outside.

She started to think that he was going to break in,

and that's when she decided that

she was gonna protect herself with a hammer.

[ music climbing ]

♪

♪

narrator: Although anne norris admits to murdering marcel,

the jury finds her not criminally responsible.

Bradbury: A not criminally responsible verdict

is extremely rare.

You have to prove that a person was so unwell

that they didn't realize the consequence of their actions.

That just...

That devastated me.

It devastated us all, but it devastated me.

Narrator: Norris is sent to a psychiatric hospital to

undergo treatment.

Her release is subject to review.

Marcel's family may finally know the truth,

but peace remains elusive.

Fleming: I don't have closure.

The way my brother died...

I think about it all the time.

I've got a picture that my brother gave me,

and I look at it often.

And his remark to me was, "here, jackie,

"this picture's for you,

and this is water under the bridge."

that was his way of saying, you know, "just let it go."

but I just want justice.

I want justice for marcel.

♪