Original subtitles

At night, I lock myself in my bedroom

with the alarm system on and a gun in my nightstand.

My adrenaline's kicking.

I was pretty amped up.

This kind of thing no one

ever thinks could happen to their family.

It's always something you see on TV or in the movies.

We've got somebody here out on the run

that smashed an old lady's head open.

We got to figure out who did this.

The community's wondering,

are they in danger?

This was probably the most gruesome

crime scenes I had seen.

Um...

Within minutes,

middleton police dispatch officer Ken chung to the scene,

a single-family home on the north side of town.

I just turned on my lights and responded as quickly

as I could to the address, which wasn't too far

from the police department.

I had just completed the academy,

and I was in my last phase of field training.

My adrenaline was kicking.

I was pretty amped up.

I could tell by my coworker, officer engstrom's face

and his expression that something serious had happened.

I looked over to my right, and I saw an older lady

lying in the garage

with a stream of blood flowing from her body.

Paramedics are already on scene,

as well as the 911 caller

and his mother, Rose,

who identifies herself as the victim's daughter.

It certainly...

Is something I'll remember for the rest of my life,

just like officer chung will, I believe,

just based on what we saw that day.

What's not immediately apparent is if there might be

another victim or possible assailants

inside the house.

So officers prepare to enter.

I turned to Rose and asked her for a key to the house,

and she was surprised that the door was locked.

Upon opening the door,

I started giving verbal orders.

I immediately noticed evidence right inside the door, um...

There was a decent amount of blood

and what I believed to be, like, bone fragments

or skull fragments along with

probable brain matter.

Officers also noticed blood smears on the floor

and blood spatter on the walls.

It was difficult responding and clearing that house,

because we knew it was a potential homicide.

It's the first homicide I've ever run into.

In law enforcement, you'll never forget your first homicide.

At that point, you could hear, I mean,

I was able to hear my breathing.

I could feel -- almost feel my pulse,

and...

I had to constantly remind myself to slow things down,

to think clearly, to breathe, and not to fall

into this tunnel vision.

It's like everything...

Unintentionally slowed down as we were walking

through the hallway

and clearing each room in the house.

With the scene secure,

officers next speak with Rose and her son.

They both positively identified the lady

lying on the garage floor as 82-year-old Agnes bram.

If you met my mom, you would not forget that you met her.

If you go anywhere in town, you just say aggie,

they'll know who you're talking about.

It's kind of like if you say Oprah,

because everyone knows who she is.

We're very lucky that grandma aggie lived

only six or so blocks away,

so whenever I got mad and wanted to run away from home,

it would be six blocks away.

She was always a loving, good lady,

and she made everyone laugh.

She was always throwing up the peace sign.

It was pretty unfathomable to hear

that someone did something to my grandma aggie.

It was a few days before we found her,

because she came over to my house

on the 26th of April,

which is my birthday,

and she gave me a hug and a kiss and said,

"happy birthday. I love you, and I'll see you later."

Back at the house,

forensic investigators process the crime scene.

It appears Agnes was struck in the head with some kind

of object, um...

We didn't know what that was,

um, and then was drug out into the garage.

Where there was pooling inside the residence,

the suspect placed a rug over that

to cover it up.

And there was also some blood spatter on the walls that

the Wisconsin state crime laboratory came in

and did some analysis on.

We did not find an obvious weapon that was

used to strike aggie at the scene.

Investigators also find that the residence

shows no signs of forced entry,

and nothing appears to be missing.

Officers then speak with Rose

to learn more about what may have happened.

I wanted her away from everyone else

and in a place that offered more privacy.

When I asked Rose if she can think of any possible suspects

that may have wanted to hurt her mother,

she couldn't think of anyone,

but one piece of information she gave US

that I found pretty important was that,

um, she...

Housed

different tenants throughout the years.

Rose briefly mentioned that she was concerned about some of

the tenants that she had and even mentioned it to Agnes,

that maybe she should consider

not having tenants.

And there was one tenant specifically

that Rose said she found particularly unnerving.

When I got the very basic information

that I had of Agnes living with a roommate,

or housing a tenant,

I passed that information on to the detectives,

but, I mean, that's all I had.

I didn't have any additional information to give them,

not even a name.

Hoping to find out more information

on Agnes's mystery tenant...

...investigators start a neighborhood canvass.

The neighbor describes Agnes's tenant

as a white male in his fifties

with close-cropped hair who was approximately

5'11", 240 pounds.

However, the neighbor says

he never learned the man's name.

At this point, we don't know who this guy is.

We're getting discouraged, and we're getting concerned,

because we've got somebody here, um,

out on the run that smashed a little old lady's head open.

We gotta figure out who did this.

Police in middleton, Wisconsin, are investigating

the murder of 82-year-old Agnes bram.

And are looking for a mystery man

who rents a room from the victim.

Because I'm looking at this serious crime here,

I'm trying to figure out who could

be responsible for this and who's got motivation.

Back at the station,

hoping to put a name to the mystery tenant,

detectives speak with Agnes's grandson.

The 911 caller,

her grandson knew that aggie was renting a room

out to somebody, however,

didn't know that person's name or couldn't provide any details

about who that was.

However, he is able to provide information

about an earlier tenant,

someone who had suddenly moved out.

The victim's grandson tells detectives

the tenant's name is bemis gorvego.

I was familiar with bemis from past context.

As a detective, I start thinking,

okay, is this -- is this motivation?

But before they can track down bemis, the next day,

the results of the autopsy come in.

They confirm investigators' suspicions

about how Agnes died.

The medical examiner ruled aggie's death

homicidal by blunt force trauma to the back of her head.

It was some type of implement consistent

with a hammer.

There were some other injuries that weren't circular in pattern

that may have been caused

from the claw side of a claw hammer.

Agnes was very small.

She's a little old lady.

In my 20-plus years of law enforcement,

this was one of the most gruesome crime scenes

I had seen.

It was unbelievable to think that somebody else

could have done this to somebody.

I feel like...

With her getting murdered on my birthday...

It's something that I'll probably never forget.

At night, I lock myself in my bedroom

with the alarm system on and a gun in my nightstand.

So...i am terrified all the time.

We never used to lock our doors at our house at all.

We'd leave our cars unlocked all the time.

I mean, we live in a safe city in a safe neighborhood,

and it's not like that anymore.

The bram family holds a funeral

for their beloved Agnes,

praying that justice will be served.

This is the kind of thing you -- no one

ever thinks could happen to their family.

It's always something you see on TV or in the movies,

and when it's happening to you, it's happening, and...

There's nothing you can do about it.

Now, investigators are determined to locate

their two possible suspects.

They continue their neighborhood canvass

when a uniformed officer has a chance encounter with bemis's

former boss at a local convenience store

while on break.

In fact, investigators also learn Agnes

had taken bemis to court over unpaid rent.

We had learned that her previous tenant

and Agnes had some arguments over money,

and that immediately raises a little bit of a red flag

for US as detectives.

That would be a lead and someone we'd would want

to talk to, because any time you have money involved,

it might -- and money owed,

it might be a motive to do something like this.

Bemis's former boss gives officers bemis's address,

and he's brought into the station for questioning.

Good.

Yes.

Any time that somebody has knowledge of the layout of

the house or habits that people maintain

as far as locking doors and windows and with that

interior garage door never being locked,

knowing where a hidden key is for the house,

those are things that always perk our interests

as detectives.

Growing suspicious of bemis, detectives then turn

their attention to the day Agnes was murdered.

Bemis said that, you know, during the timeframe

that we thought that aggie was murdered,

that he had been working.

He works as a landscaper, so I told detective Jones

we'll follow up with his employer

and get work records and verify that he was at work.

And with no other direct evidence

connecting bemis to the murder,

detectives are forced to let him go.

Out of leads,

detectives ponder their next move when a man from Agnes's

neighborhood comes forward claiming to have information

pertinent to the investigation.

Detectives speak with him at the police station.

The man explains that he was recently visited

by his former neighbor,

a man named Jack hamann.

The neighbor tells detectives that Jack has a mean streak

in him, especially when it comes to women.

However, he did help Jack financially when Jack

asked him for money.

Hamann asked him for money, and the citizen's like,

well, is, you know, everything okay with your new place?

He knew that he had just moved.

And are you making rent?

Is everything good with that?

And hamann says to this citizen...

Shhh.

The citizen was very alarmed by the way Jack said that,

and after learning about this crime,

felt extremely compelled

to come and -- and tell the police about this.

We've got some flags now.

We don't know if he's been involved.

Detectives then ask the neighbor if he knows

the name of Jack's landlord and are struck with his reply.

Jack's associate told US that his landlord's name

was Agnes bram.

Middleton, Wisconsin, police

are searching for Jack hamann,

a man who rented a room from 82-year-old Agnes bram

and who they believe may have

valuable information relating to her murder.

Things are starting point towards this current roommate,

and we need to find him, because, you know,

as the hours pass, it becomes more difficult to solve.

This is a big investigation.

This is a whodunit homicide.

So we're urgently trying to figure out where he is.

Police run Jack hamann's background and discover

a state ID photo and a criminal record.

An investigative lead that detectives will use

in pursuing a possible suspect in a crime such as this

would be their -- any activity that they have

on social media sites to --

to develop information about them,

and their whereabouts and who they are.

In investigating

Jack hamann, a social media post

was located in which he made derogatory comments about women

and the fact that he had disdain for women.

Unfortunately, apart from Agnes's house,

investigators find no record of an address.

At this point,

we've learned that Jack hamann

can be pretty angry toward women,

and he owes Agnes, his landlady, money,

and we're not able to find him.

He's become a prime suspect at this point.

As the investigation stalls, Agnes's family is hit with

another wave of impatience,

bewilderment, and fear.

We were frantically watching the news,

talking with the detectives, getting any updates

we could -- of course, it was an anxious time.

It did feel like an eternity

of just sitting there, waiting.

Out of leads,

the case threatens to go cold.

This is a case where time is not on our side.

We don't have a lot of luxury in waiting

to find the suspect.

Then investigators get a call from a manager

of a local business

claiming a strange man came in seeking assistance.

We were contacted by a local business who said

that they had an individual, an older, disheveled,

upset, panicked male subject,

looking for a ride to the hospital.

The business didn't provide him with that ride

but did direct him to the bus stop.

Investigators learn the incident

was captured on surveillance video.

They review the footage and identify the man in question.

It's none other than Jack hamann.

It looked exactly like him.

He even kind of walked with that gait

that some of these neighbors talked about.

So at this point, we know that we need to locate Jack

and interview him and find out what he knows about

what has happened to Agnes.

Does he have valuable information about it?

Is he okay?

Is he a victim?

Is -- is he involved in this?

Investigators know from the surveillance video

at the bus stop

that Jack boarded a bus heading for

the university hospital.

But they don't know where he got off.

Haselow: Hours passed, and we don't know where he is,

and we can't find him.

So we start to wonder if he actually

is there and when we'll be able to find him.

They pull the surveillance video

from inside the bus and eventually locate

footage of Jack boarding.

We were going through bus footage trying

to figure out where he got off.

He had told staff at this local business

that he wanted a ride to the uw hospital.

We suspected that's where he was at.

But again, this took time reviewing this video.

Officers continue scrolling through the footage

and watch as the bus makes each stop.

Sure enough, they observe Jack exiting

the bus at the stop near the hospital.

Hamann's whereabouts are finally confirmed,

and officers are sent to the scene.

There's Jack in bed,

in a gown, kind of disheveled.

And his response is -- is quite memorable,

and he says...

Police investigating the murder of Agnes bram

in middleton, Wisconsin,

have just apprehended their prime suspect,

54-year-old Jack hamann,

who rented a room from the victim

and who may have been the last person to see her alive.

Jack hamann was ultimately located at uw hospital,

but that was just the beginning.

Police transport hamann in a squad car

to the middleton police department's medical facility

and then obtain a search warrant for his DNA.

A forensic scientist from the state crime lab

arrives to examine his body.

Lift that hand up again, please.

A detective is in the room,

I'm in the room, so that I can analyze and collect

We collected his DNA

His demeanor was...

Nonchalant.

Or may have some information that we don't.

We just didn't know at that point,

and I wanted to talk to him.

Yeah.

My personal approach is just treat everyone,

even someone who is a suspect in a homicide --

IQ-wise, I think he was savvy.

The chances of that attorney saying, "yeah, go ahead

Jack hamann, the man middleton

murdered Agnes bram, has shut down his interrogation,

And...um...

While she was lying in the garage.

Is a direct match to Agnes.

Her DNA is there, but he's not

walking around in her blood every day.

Why -- why would there be blood on the side of his shoe

After her homicide,

He grabbed the nearest implement

and he just beat her to death with it.

He is sentenced to life in prison

we'll never bring her back, but, you know,

He's where he should be.

Justice was served, um,

but mentally, I don't think it's ever gonna go away.

I think the worst part was that we didn't get