All language subtitles for Homicide.City.S03E03.The.Thin.Blue.Line.720p.ID.WEBRip.AAC2.0.x264-BOOP[eztv.io]

I trusted Mike with my life
and he trusted me with his.

His eyes was open.

He had a look on his face like,
"my god."

His hands
was up in the air like this.

Some of us were trying
to work on him.

I've been involved
in other instances

where police officers
had been shot and killed,

but I've never been involved
in an incident

where the police officer
was assassinated.

I had a pit in my stomach.

That was like
the worst day of my life.

When your brother is not there
to see his daughter graduate

from college.

He's not there to see
his grandkids being born.

There's still a hole
in all of our hearts for Mike.

I'm saying to myself,
I'll find that evidence.

I will solve this case.

Michael Beverly
will not have died in vain

and we will not
let his killer go.

We will find him.

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

Mike Beverly grows up
in Chester, Pennsylvania,

a fading industrial city on
the outskirts of Philadelphia.

Mike is my baby brother.

There was 13 of US.

We grew up
very close-knitted family.

It was all kinds of regular fun,

making lemonade stands,
playing baseball on the corner.

You had some, you know, issues,

but nothing like
what you deal with today.

After a stint in the marines,

Mike attends north east
Christian university.

And that's where
he met Claudia.

I would say he came home
when he wanted to marry Claudia.

They were totally in love.

Then they got married,
had five kids, beautiful kids.

Mike absolutely loved
being a dad, he really did.

In 1989,
at the age of 24,

Mike joins
the Chester police force.

The city of Chester
was pretty rampant

with dealing with cocaine
and trafficking of drugs

during that period of time,

known for shootings
and guns and homicides.

I thought, you know,
we need some good

police officers on the force

that know people in the city.
We grew up in the city,

so I figured he might could do
some good for it.

Mike was an excellent
police officer.

He knew the ins
and outs of the streets.

The Chester police department
had a detective division,

and Mike
was assigned to that division.

Mike was
an outstanding detective,

an outstanding police officer.

The attention to detail that
he paid, his source information,

his ability to gather
information within the city

were second to none.

In 2000, Mike is
promoted to corporal.

Mike was an integral part
of training officers

when they first came on to teach
him how to do it the right way.

Mike taught US how
safety was first,

always safety first.

And he said,
you always want to come home.

Being a young rookie
police officer,

I always said I would like
to pattern myself after him.

The number one task
for Mike and his team...

Is to keep Chester streets safe
from the boyle street boys,

a gang that rules the highland
gardens neighborhood

highland gardens
is on the West Side

of the city of Chester.

At that time,
was a poor neighborhood.

Lot of abandoned houses,
a lot of rundown houses.

High crime was there.

It was so bad that
the city lights,

the street lights were out.

Highland gardens,
at that time,

was an open air drug market.

It was a very violent area.

And there was gunshots
all the time.

The individuals that lived
in there

were people that carry guns.

The boyle street boys had a
special reputation for violence.

Mike knew who they were.
He knew them very well.

He actually said, "ray,

if you ever go up
into highland gardens,

don't go up by yourself
and don't go up at night."

On October 16, 2001,
at 4:00 pm,

Mike starts roll call at
the Chester police department.

That's where we get
our assignments and our updates

by our supervisor.

They are on the hunt
for Brian Rogers,

a member of
the boyle street boys.

A week earlier,

he allegedly shot a young mother
named Tracey Saunders.

She'd agreed to be a witness
in a case against the gang.

The mistake that Tracey
made is Tracey told her cousin

that the authorities
wanted her to testify.

The members
of the boyle street crew,

the gang, knew that they were

going to get everything
from her,

and they couldn't
let that happen.

And that's when the decision
was made to kill her.

On the 8th of October --
it was a sunday night --

Tracey Saunders was coming out.
She worked the 11:00 pm

to 7:00 am shift
at a drugstore.

Brian Rogers walked
straight up to the vehicle.

The window was down.

He fired one round
into the side of her head.

He then reached into the car

and fired a second round
into her head,

making sure she was dead.

Outraged by
the senseless murder

of this young mother,

Mike is determined
to track down Brian Rogers.

Mike would say there
is no reason

why she was
just gunned down like a dog.

It was just a shame when people
trying to do something right,

and there is no respect
for human life,

no human decency.

Although he tells
the officers

they should be on the lookout
for Brian,

he warns them not to go
to highland gardens.

There were three
detectives that were working

undercover operations up
at that location.

He stressed to US,
stay out of the gardens.

He said that multiple times --
stay out the highland gardens.

And when he walked out,
we kind of looked at each other

and we laughed.
It was a little inside joke.

How many times you gonna
tell US stay out the gardens?

That day, it was quiet,
little more quiet than normal,

but you couldn't put your hand

on where the tension
was coming from.

Around 9:30, my partner
and I receive a radio call

with a tone to it.

Officer down. All units,
shots fired, officer down.

And a call said, "we got
a report of an officer down."

All units report
to ward and 10th.

And they gave the location
in the highland gardens.

At the time, we looked
at each other

'cause this has to be a bad
call.

Despite Mike's
directive that night

not to go to highland gardens,
his men can't ignore this call,

we rush into our cars.

I look at my colleague,
and I said,

"be careful, all right,
we got to get out here.

We got to be careful."

We were the second car
that arrived on location.

And it's a big crowd there.

We're out, weapons
drawn for officer safety.

As everybody is moving,
getting out the way,

that's when I saw Mike.

He was in the driveway
at the location,

he was on his back.

You can see he had
multiple gunshot wounds.

And his eyes was open.
His mouth was open.

He had a look on his face like,
"my god."

His hands
was up in the air like this.

I remember getting to him.

I was holding his hand.

We called him "bev."

"Bev, bev. Come on, bev,
got to get up, got to get up."

Some of US were trying
to work on him.

One of our senior officers
pulled me away from him.

I remember him saying, "son,
you got to keep it together.

You got to get it together.
You got to keep it together."

From experience, we know
when somebody is deceased.

But because
that was one of our own,

we didn't want to accept it.

We all just lost it.

There were civilians out there
that were crying.

I just remember being in shock.

After the paramedics
pronounced him dead,

it started raining,
and one of our coworkers

had his raincoat.

Back then, we had
the old bright yellow raincoats.

He took it and placed
it over Mike.

All units respond.

Mike Beverly's team
has responded

to a call of an officer
down in highland gardens.

Everyone is stunned
to discover it's him.

I was upset that it was Mike.

We had spent a lot
of time together

and been through
a lot of things.

But I knew that I needed to keep
my composure that evening

if this was going to get solved,
do the right thing,

make sure you do it properly.

Detectives quickly
lock down the crime scene

and attempt to get
a better picture

of the injuries Mike sustained.

Michael Beverly was shot
four times, twice in the head

and twice in the torso in
between the opening of his vest.

The shooter was at a very
close range when he shot him.

There were no shell casings
at the scene,

which indicates he was shot
with a revolver.

I knew that Mike had come
across somebody

and was surprised
by that person

'cause his gun
was still in his holster.

And he had keys
to the car in his hand.

The question looming
in everyone's mind

is why Mike had ventured
into highland gardens

after warning his squad
to stay away from there.

I had no clue
what was going on.

No clue of why he was there,

no clue of anything.

Things are going
through my mind,

such as why didn't he call out?
Why is Mike here?

For Mike to be
in that neighborhood,

tell US not to go into it,
we thought that he had

some knowledge,
maybe somebody contacted him.

Detectives wonder
if Mike got a tip about

Brian Rogers, the gang member
suspected

in the murder of
Tracey Saunders.

Could Mike have decided
to follow a lead on his own?

Mike was very anxious

for Brian to be taken
into custody.

He took the Tracey Saunders
murder very hard.

And I do believe in my soul
that Mike wanted Brian bad,

to bring justice for Tracey
and for her family.

Now they can't help
but wonder

if Brian Rogers killed Mike.

We thought that Mike
was set up.

We believe that he was shot
and killed by Brian Rogers.

If the boyle street boys
decided that Michael Beverly

should be killed,
then Brian Rogers

would have no problem
killing Michael Beverly.

News of the fallen
officer spreads quickly.

Wo tonight, police are on
the hunt for a suspect

in the brutal murder
of one of their own.

There's a news flash
comes over the TV --

"breaking news, police officer
killed in Chester."

And I'm like, "my god."

I made a call and I found out
it was Mike Beverly.

I had a pit in my stomach.

It just --
I couldn't believe it.

When Michael's family
was advised of his death...

That was hard.

He had young kids,

some of them were too young
to really understand,

but he had older ones that did.

And that's just -- I can't even

tell you
how we felt on that one.

That was like
the worst day of my life.

Claudia was devastated.

We couldn't believe somebody
would actually,

like, shoot him, period,

but then, to shoot him multiple
times, we thought,

"wow, like, they just
meant to kill him."

It just hurt my soul that
these kids,

no dad, you know,
and taken like that.

Everybody
was just brokenhearted.

Detectives continue to believe
Brian Rogers is their guy,

but they're going to have
to find a way to prove it.

After the death
of Mike Beverly,

detectives did intensify their
effort to find Brian Rogers.

You had a guy that was a member
of the boyle street boys,

and then, you had an officer now
who was dead.

So it was a serious effort
to go get Brian Rogers.

I thought there had
to be somebody

that saw this take place.

They return
to highland gardens

to canvass for witnesses.

We were going to stop
everybody that came and went

and question
and write down

everybody's name
that we could possibly talk to.

I start talking to some of
the people in the neighborhood.

Nobody will talk to US.

No.
-They said,

"if I say something to you,
I might not be here tomorrow."

We're investigating
a murder case.

Boyle street gang, they had
an iron fist in that city.

The investigation was hot
and heavy.

Posters were made.

They were placed in businesses.
Fliers was given out.

People, not only detectives,
were out there

pounding the pavement,

trying to get someone
to speak on it,

and it seemed like
we were going nowhere.

But Brian Rogers can't
stay hidden for long.

Brian Rogers was arrested
in darby, Pennsylvania,

by darby borough
police department.

He was with another member
of the boyle street gang

at a girlfriend's house.

Once in custody,
investigators hope Brian Rogers

will confess to the murders of
Mike Beverly

and Tracey Saunders,

but he refuses to talk.

He immediately lawyered up
and asked for an attorney.

That's when
detective carr

gives Rogers an ominous warning.

I told him, "I know what
you've done,

I know who you did it to.

You need to make sure
that you take care of yourself

because one of your guys
are going to flip.

So do you want to get
on the bus first

or do you want to get on last?"

He kind of looked at me
and didn't say anything,

and I said,
"thanks for listening, Brian."

I says, "we'll be talking again,
guaranteed."

Gang member
Brian Rogers refuses to confess

to the murders of Mike Beverly
or Tracey Saunders.

And with no evidence
against him,

detectives have no choice
but to release him.

We had to build our case,
and that's what we did.

They start by looking
into Mike's phone records,

the last number
that he called

came back to a Gloria Adams,

who resided steps away from
the location of the homicide.

It was about 8:30

that Mike had called
the number on ward street,

and it was only about 10 minutes
prior to his being shot

and being found dead
at the scene.

Detectives immediately
go to Gloria Adams' home

in the highland gardens
neighborhood.

We knock on the door,
Gloria Adams,

she says, "I know Mike."

Miss Adams was visibly upset.

I mean, she was shaking
at a point.

She was upset about the fact
that Mike had been shot.

Gloria tells detectives that
she had known Mike for years.

Not only that, Mike had been
a positive role model

for her 18 year
old son, Maurice.

Maurice hung around with
the boyle street boys,

but more of a wannabe
than an actual member.

Miss Adams was concerned
about her son and his welfare

and his dealings with people
in the neighborhood.

Mike was trying to do that,

as he had done for other people
in the neighborhood.

If they asked him,

"is there any way
that you could talk to my son

because he's really
going astray?"

Mike would try to talk to them,

to direct them in a better path.

We learned this

is the reason Mike is at that
location of highland gardens.

He was just stopping
by a friend's house.

While interviewing miss Adams,

she indicated that,
after he left,

he heard the gunshots,
and she said she looked outside,

and she saw Mike laying next
to the -- to his car.

She just was very upset.

Detectives finally understand

why Mike was
in highland gardens.

Now they hope to talk
to her son, Maurice.

While we were there,
Maurice day came home.

He indicated that, at the time
that Mike Beverly was killed,

he had already arrived
at his girlfriend,

Teresa knight's, house
sometime around 9:00.

He was very upset.

Maurice's girlfriend
confirms he was with her.

Just when it seems any leads
are drying up...

Jenkins.

...detectives receive
an anonymous tip

that they hope will lead them
to the murder weapon.

On October 18,

the two detectives assigned
got information

to check the abandoned buildings
over on boyle street,

that they may find
some weapons over there.

So they started checking
the abandoned buildings.

When they entered that house,
they were checking the cabinets.

And none of those detectives
opened the oven door.

And they found a gun
wrapped in a t-shirt.

It happened to be a .44 caliber.

It was found to have four spent
shell casings

within the revolver,

which would match up
to Michael Beverly

being shot four times.

It was a huge find.

This could be the weapon
used to kill Michael.

The gun and casings
are sent to the lab to determine

if they match the bullets
found in Mike's body at autopsy.

When the ballistics came
back, it came back

as it was the murder weapon
of Mike Beverly.

Investigators
seem to be

one step closer
to identifying the shooter.

They sent the t-shirt
and the weapon for DNA.

If you can get
a DNA match on somebody,

there's no doubt about it,
you were there.

But when the results
come back,

it's another dead end.

There is no DNA
on the gun or t-shirt

to connect the murder weapon
to the shooter,

it's actually hard
to get some DNA.

It's not like you see on,
you know, "CSI."

You have to really have
a good sample.

Without being able to get
any kind of forensic evidence,

it's very frustrating.

On October 23, 2001,
seven days after his murder...

Thousands gathered to mourn

the passing
of veteran police officer

Mike Beverly.

Mike's funeral
was on the West Side of Chester

at the first pentecostal church,
which, at the time

was the largest church
in the city of Chester.

It still wasn't big enough.

There's police departments
from Florida, Maine.

All over the country,
they came,

and to pay their respects
to one of their own.

Day of the funeral, that was
another day to remember.

His funeral was like a scene
out of a movie or something.

It was unbelievable.
So many people came out.

So many people.

One of the hardest things
was to see him laying there.

The second hardest thing was
to see his family sitting there.

We all just held each other.

We cried so much
that we couldn't cry anymore.

That was a very,
very difficult funeral

to go through
for myself, personally.

And I'm saying to myself,

I'll find that evidence,
I will solve this case,

Michael Beverly
will not have died in vain,

and we will not let
his killer go.

We will find his killer
no matter what.

We will find him.

By December 2001,
two months have passed

since Mike Beverly's murder,

and Brian Rogers

is their number one suspect,
but they still need proof

to tie him
to Mike Beverly's murder.

Brian Rogers,
like any other criminal,

never want to get caught.

The whole purpose
of committing a crime

is hopefully to be successful
in getting away with it.

Ray carr decides
to take a big step

to ramp up the investigation.

I went into
the u.S. Attorney's office,

I talk to the assistant
United States attorney,

and I says, "we need
to do something."

Updegraff: When I was introduced
to the investigation,

it appeared to me that the state
and local entities

were still working diligently
to solve these crimes.

It's just they needed
an extra boost.

Here's the situation --
nobody's talking to US.

Because they're afraid
if they do,

then they'll wind up like
Tracey Saunders or Mike Beverly.

So we have to create
an environment where they will.

Thanks a lot.

We need to find out
what they know.

Some of the witnesses says,
"how is that going to ensure

that nobody's going to know
what I'm saying?"

And I said, "because we're
bringing in the whole
neighborhood."

You weren't going to be
singled out for being the one

that was brought
into the police station.

Everybody's being brought
into the police station.

There has never been a tactic
where we shut down

a whole neighborhood.

It takes a great deal
of resources, from the DEA,

the FBI,
and the u.S. Attorney's office.

You had the Chester
police department,

Delaware county cid,
Pennsylvania state police.

We go in, we block off

the entrances
and exits to highland gardens.

Every single home
was knocked on

and they were given a subpoena.

For the next 18 months,

once a week, we brought 30 to
40 people down to Philadelphia,

and we interviewed
every single one.

We even subpoenaed
the boyle street gang members.

Some of them had no information
at all.

Some of them did.

The dramatic
and unprecedented efforts

of the multi-agency
task force pay off.

A woman comes forward in
the murder of Tracey Saunders,

the case Mike had been
so driven to solve.

There was a witness
that saw everything happen.

She saw Brian Rogers
go up to the car

and fire two rounds
at Tracey Saunders.

And she yelled out,
"it was 'b,' it was 'b.'"

that is Brian Rogers'
nickname on the street.

And I placed that witness
into protective custody.

After an intense manhunt,

Brian Rogers is arrested for
the murder of Tracey Saunders.

Realizing his best option

is to make a plea deal,
he agrees to talk.

The person that was killed,
Tracey Saunders,

was a federal witness.

It's a sentence
of minimum of life,

could be a death penalty case

all depending on
how it's packaged.

Brian Rogers confessed.
"I killed Tracey Saunders.

I did it.

I shot her in the head.
I'm confessing what I did."

And that doesn't happen
very often.

But Rogers insists
he didn't kill Mike.

Then he claims he knows who did.

And he tells US that, yes,
he knows exactly what happened.

And he has a name,

one that the detectives
have heard before

but never connected
to Mike's murder.

And he tells US
Maurice day did it.

Maurice day,
the boy Mike Beverly

had been trying
to keep out of trouble.

I thought to myself,
I thought, "wow."

First thing was why?
What is this about?

Mike was trying to help him.

Maurice had told detectives
he was at his girlfriend,

Teresa's, the night
of Mike's murder.

Maurice day said he had
arrived at Teresa knight's house

sometime around 9:00,
and Mike Beverly

was killed somewhere after 9:00.

Teresa had initially
corroborated Maurice's story.

Teresa knight, when she gave US
her statement,

indicated that Maurice
had shown up at her house.

Police now tell her
she'll be forced to testify

if she doesn't tell the truth.

Soon enough, she caves.

According to
Teresa knight, Maurice,

he didn't arrive there
until after 9:30.

And when he did arrive,

he was out of breath.

Alibi's out the window.

You're on my radar, pal.

Detectives track
Maurice down

and bring him
in for questioning.

I said, "I don't think
you did it.

I know you did it.
I've been doing this for years.

I talk to innocent people.
I talk to guilty people.

I know you did it."

And he kept saying,
"well, I don't know.

You don't have any evidence
that I did it.

I don't see
how you could think I did it."

We had no eyewitnesses and no
physical evidence to come up

with any type of an arrest

in reference
to the Michael Beverly case.

Detectives
have no choice

but to release Maurice day.

To Mike's
fellow officers and family,

it seems like the case
is going nowhere.

Just seemed like
it was at a snail's pace.

Time just started going longer,
longer, and longer.

And the anticipation of getting
that person to justice

seemed like it
wasn't going to happen.

That's how you solve most
cases, you get lucky

and you run into something that
you really weren't looking for.

It just happens
to jump out in front of you.

One year after
Mike Beverly's murder,

in October 2002,

detectives get that lucky break

when a woman named
Melanie Harris

is arrested on
a drug possession charge.

And I was processing
her, she said,

I got some information
about the Beverly case.

I'll be honest,
I take everything serious,

but after almost a year
of getting dead ends,

I really didn't think
we were going anywhere.

Elijah Thompson tells me
that she has some information.

And she basically tells me
that she is an eyewitness

to the homicide
of Michael Beverly.

She was fearful
for her life

and for her safety
and the safety of her family.

That's why she didn't want
to come forward.

But she said,
"I'm already in trouble,

I've already been arrested,

so I'm just going to tell you
what I saw."

Melanie claims she saw
Mike leave Gloria Adams' home

moments before he was shot.

He was
in the driveway.

And he had his keys in his hand.

She said the shooter
was a person she knew as "ece."

She said a light-skinned,
in her words, "young boy,

slim young boy."

Some things
that she was saying,

only a person
that was there would know.

A woman named
Melanie Harris claims

she witnessed Mike Beverly's
murder on October 16, 2001.

Not only that, she knows
who his killer was.

She has referred
to Maurice day.

And that's when detective nuttal
said,

"we got what we need."

And that's when he went
and put together

the warrant,
the criminal complaint.

We knew that all roads
lead back to Maurice day.

Even though you know that
and you know it in your heart,

you still have to prove it.

All units, be advised.

Be on the lookout
for Maurice day.

On October 12, 2002.

They hunt down Maurice
in highland gardens.

Somebody saw him in the area,
and he took off running.

We have eyes on the suspect.

They ran him down and ended up
capturing him,

placing him under arrest.

Suspect is in custody.

Maurice day
doesn't confess.

But they learned the details
of Mike Beverly's tragic murder

from gang member Brian Rogers.

Mike Beverly had become
friends with Gloria Adams

and was trying
to keep Maurice day

from hanging out over on
the boyle street boys' section.

The individuals in boyle street
and the crew

were giving day a hard time
about the police officer

always coming around
looking for him.

Rogers: Yo, Maurice said Mike
was his mom's friend,

and she wanted him
to stop hanging out

with the boyle street boys,
with US.

They started calling him
"five-o."

Rogers: Corporal Beverly,
I mean, he was around a lot.

Police kept showing up
and arresting the boys,

but not Maurice?

We started calling him
"911 boy."

He didn't like that.

They said, "every time
you're here,

it's like somebody called 911,
the cops show up."

He continued to escalate.

Rogers: Maurice said to me,
"I rocked him."

One night in October,
he says, "I'll take care of it,

I'll take care of it."

He says, "that's it,
I'm going to rock him."

Maurice goes
to an abandoned house

over near boyle street,
takes a .44-caliber weapon

that belonged to one of
the other boyle street members.

He takes that gun out...

He walks over,
and he waits outside

behind a fence by his home.

And Mike Beverly walks out.

Maurice shot him
in the face.

And then stood over him
and shot him again in the torso.

Mike's gun was in his holster.

He didn't expect that
whatsoever.

He knew this kid,

and I don't think
he ever thought ever

that would happen from this kid.

There was anger.
It was personal.

Mike Beverly never had a chance,
never saw it coming.

Maurice day then goes to
this girl's house

and tells her,
"you're my alibi."

After he did it, he was
very proud of what he did.

Don't mess with Maurice day
anymore.

Every time I think about this,
I get angry.

After a week-long
trial, on march 2, 2004,

a Delaware county jury convicts

Maurice day
of first-degree murder.

He is sentenced
to life imprisonment.

This case was a slam dunk.

One witness, who was
a relative of Maurice day,

came forward and said,

"I asked him if he did it,
and he told me he did it."

Mike Beverly would be pleased
to know that, on April 12, 2006,

three members
of the boyle street gang

are put behind bars
for the murder of young mother

Tracey Saunders.

The guys that didn't make a good
choice are doing life sentences.

Brian Rogers received
a sentence of 42 years.

Mike's wife said to me,
at the end of this,

she said, "thank you."

Shortly after,
there was an older lady

that was sitting on her porch.

She said, "I'm so sorry what
happened to that young man.

But I have to say,
this is the first time in years

that I could sit out here
on my porch with comfort.

Thank you."

I said, "Mike,
even though this happened,

something still good
came out of it because of you."

Mike should had a career,

he should have enjoyed
his family,

should have enjoyed his kids,
and he's never going to get

the opportunity to do that,
and that's wrong.

When your brother does
not there to see

his daughter graduate
from college,

he's not there to be there
for his son

and supporting him
in the military,

he's not there to see
his grandkids being born,

there's still a hole left

in all of our hearts for Mike.