All language subtitles for American.Detective.With.Lt.Joe.Kenda.S01E04.From.the.Deep.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP.2.0.H.264-FLUX.[eng]

[Kenda] It's a calm sea,
off of Cape May, New Jersey,

near the Delaware state line.

[boat engine wailing]

A couple is exercising
their new fishing boat.

It's not uncommon
to find objects in the water.

It could be garbage,
it could be a dead fish.

But, they suddenly realized,

this is not a pile of debris,
it's a human body.

They're 3.3 miles
out in the Atlantic Ocean.

Now, how did this body
manage to get here?

How did that happen?

Sometimes the script doesn't
play out like you'd expect.

[Kenda] I spent my career
closing murder cases.

But, I'm not the only one
who answered the call.

It takes a rare breed
to solve the unsolvable.

To catch a ruthless killer.

To find justice for the dead.

That's what it takes
to be anAmerican Detective.

[man speaking indistinctively
on police radio]

I'm Steven Brown.

I'm a lieutenant

with the New Jersey
State Police.

I have been a trooper
for over 21 years.

When this case came in,

I had only been assigned as
a detective for maybe a month.

-What do we got?
-Uh, it isn't pretty.

My name is Jim Thistle,

and I worked for
the New Jersey State Police

for twenty 25 years,

and I ran
the Crime Scene Unit.

[church bells dinging]

In the homicide world,
you discover very quickly

that humans are very fragile.

They break easily.

And damage from decomposition
is dramatic.

[Thistle] You know you have
a human being there,

and you know it's a woman,

but it's almost
unrecognizable as a person.

[Brown] You have a body
that's in water,

it's going to be introduced
to marine life contamination.

[Kenda] The fish will attack
soft tissue first,

hence the ears and the eyes
are the first.

It's easy for a small fish
to feed off of that.

She had actually a rock crab
gnawing on the inside
of her thigh.

They're bottom feeders,

so she was probably
on the bottom
for a certain period of time.

[Brown] There was a large
metal chain wrapped
around her feet.

As soon as we saw that,

we knew that
there was more to this

than just something
that was accidental.

Someone believed
the chains would
take this body

to the bottom of the ocean,
never to be seen again.

-Do you see any wounds?
-Impossible to tell.

You're looking at this
you're like, "Man,
we don't have a crime scene."

[Brown]
We don't have anything, so,
it's easy to get overwhelmed

and start thinking,
"Hell, how am I ever going to
figure this out?"

[Kenda] This body is present
in the Atlantic Ocean.

So, it leaves you
with the total mystery of not
only how did this person die,

but how do they come
to be 3.3 nautical miles

off the coast of Cape May,
New Jersey?

[Thistle] With a lot of
dumped bodies

you don't know
where they were killed,

so you start
from basically the end

and you try to go back
to the beginning.

The body becomes
your crime scene
then you work from there.

-[Thistle] Hey, doc.
-Hey.

So, now we get to the autopsy.

There were X-rays done.

Dr. Blanchard noticed
there were several fractures

at the base of the skull.

The medical examiner
felt that,

either she was struck
by a very wide object

or it was blunt force trauma
from a fall
at a certain height.

How high are we talking?

At least five stories.

That really didn't make sense.

If you were in a small
size boat and you take the
body and throw it overboard,

you're not going to suffer
a large scale fracture
at the base of the skull.

Do we have cause of death?

Impossible to say.

[Brown] So, we weren't sure
if the victim entered
the water is still alive

or if she was deceased
prior to entering.

[Thistle] So, identification's
gonna be key here.

Fingerprints to me,
is the most logical way

to at least
try to get started.

When bodies are
found in water,
the skin wrinkles.

Her fingerprints are obscured

by the wrinkling
of the skin.

The lab coat.

[Thistle] So, I injected water
into her top portion of skin,

and as I did, it started
acting like a balloon,

and sort of blowing back up
to where

I could then see the ridges
without all that pruning

that takes place
with being in water.

[Brown] Once we got the
fingerprints,

we're able to submit those
neatly to our AFIS system.

And it came back as a match
for a 16 year old girl

by the name of
Kimberly Holton, who was
a foster-child at the time,

residing in Dover, Delaware.

I moved to the same
development as Kim,

my sophomore year
of high school.

We were together
every single day
since the day that we met.

[Andrews] She was a big
animal lover,
always reading magazines

about animals and watching
[laughs] the Animal Channel.

She was so sweet.

We had found out that Kimberly
had been reported missing

by her foster-mother
and in a report,

detailing when the last time
she actually saw Kimberly,
September 29.

So, now we had starting point.

So, we needed
to get together.

[Brown] We have Delaware State
Police Homicide Unit.

-Porter.
-[Brown] And began
sharing information.

[Kenda]
We now have the
New Jersey State Police

and the Delaware State Police,

working together
in this investigation.

[Jeff] Dover is the capital
of the state of Delaware.

We're considered a small city.

[Thistle] This is what we're
looking at, right here.

Seems like,
when we do get into the news,

it is for something
larger-than-life,
as was with this case way.

We don't have
many 16 year olds
that are murdered.

I was just more determined
to figure out a case
because of her age.

[Thistle] Think of a girl
being dumped in the ocean
like a piece of trash.

It was devastating to hear.

I mean, you wonder what can go
so wrong in her life

that she ends up
3 miles out in the ocean,

with a chain
wrapped around her.

There is an address for this
young lady in Dover, Delaware.

It is current.
Her foster parents are listed

as Ronald and Laura Michaels.

The first step now
is to contact
the foster-mother

and give her the news
that the child she reported
missing has been found.

[Kenda] It's something
all policemen dread,

to give that kind of news
to someone.

I did it too often.

They already know
when you come to see them.

You can see it
in the person's face.

-Mrs. Michaels?
-Yes.

We found Kimberly's body.

She's deceased.

[Brown]
She took it really hard.

Kimberly had run away
in the past, several times,

but she would always return
within two or three days.

This time,
she didn't return.

[Brown] At that point,
we wanted to get some details,

just as far as the
background goes into what

Kimberly's life was like.

Her foster-mother told us
that Kimberly was
from New Jersey.

Her life was
a very difficult life.

There was a lot of conflict,
a lot of sadness.

[Jeff] Her father
was a criminal.

He was in jail at the time
all of this happened.

[Brown] Her biological mother
reportedly had some issues

with various things,
relationships,
substance abuse,

so, Kimberly would
travel over to Delaware

and visit
her grandfather there,

in the Dover Air Trailer Park.

Her grandfather tried to get
some responsibility into her

by giving her chores
and things that she needed
to do around the house.

[Jeff] And Kimberly,
apparently didn't like that.

And Kimberly didn't want
to be with her grandfather.

-Oh, hey, you want a burger?
-Come over and join us.

[Holton] Okay, thanks,

[Kenda] Laura Michaels had
another child named Heather.

And because Heather and
Kimberly got along so well,

Laura decided to become
Kimberly Holton's
legal guardian.

[Nasakaitis] Kim and I
grew a quick
relationship and bond.

We were friends. With Kim
it was easy to be sisters.

And we did sisterly things.
Dressing up the same...

She was just always happy,
and she really liked
to be around people.

I think deep down,
Kimberly was probably
looking for stability

[Jeff] As I understand it,
she was very happy
to be there.

[Porter] If you get through
the death notification

then you start in with,
"Who do you think
could have done this?"

We wanted to get some details
from her foster-mother.

[Brown]
So, we interviewed her
at the station.

[Brown speaking]

[Laura speaking]

[Kenda]
What would cause Kimberly

to get out of bed
and disappear
into the cosmos?

So, they question
Laura Michaels,
"Has there been anything

you're aware of
that she was disturbed
or distressed about?"

Laura Michaels then drops
a bomb in the middle of
that conversation.

[Laura speaking]

[Kenda] Laura Michaels
explains that Kimberly Holton

contacted the police
on September the 13th,

17 days before she
disappears, to report
her husband, Ronald Michaels.

[Laura speaking]

It was like a red flag
when he came around her.

[Andrews] She would get
very uncomfortable.

and she acted
totally different.

My stepfather was
a monster
and the things that he did,

I don't... I wish we could
have done more.

[Kenda] Police arrested
Ronald Michaels
on the 19th of September,

which is only 11 days
before Kimberly disappears.

[Kenda] They charge him
with sexual assault on
a child, very serious charges

and potentially carry
a heavy penalty.

He's going to become
one of our main suspects
at that point.

He has great motive
for wanting Kimberly dead,

Either not to testify
against him or a revenge
type of thing.

What do you have to say
about that, Mr. Michaels,

'cause we'd certainly like to
ask you.

[Kenda] Many homicide cases
begin with the same level
of mystery.

But this has
an extra edge to it.

Sixteen year old,
Kimberly Holton, is found
in the Atlantic Ocean,

not in her bedroom.

This case really did
get a lot of attention

because it was
just frankly bizarre.

We found out that
the foster-father
had been charged

previous to Kimberly's
disappearance
with sexually assaulting her.

Obviously, he's going to
become one of our main
suspects at that point.

[Kenda] Ronald Michaels is
scooped up and brought in
for an interrogation.

He tells the usual story.

He denies it.
Says, it isn't true.

"This is all a result of
Laura, my soon to be ex-wife
conspiring to cause me harm."

But he claims that
the foster-mother

talked Kimberly into
these allegations,

and none of them
were true and he claimed that
he was staying

on the 29th into the 30th
with his biological daughter.

And she did confirm
that he had stayed there
during that time frame

that we know that Kimberly
went missing.

Come on, stand up.

[Kenda] Now he has an alibi
as to whereabouts
for the night in question.

Therefore, he ultimately
has no opportunity.

Part of the process
of homicide investigation is,

you go from confident
to no confidence from suspect,

to not having one, to bouncing
back and forth all the time.

It is in nature
of the beast.

[woman speaking
indistinctively on radio]

-What about the oppressor?
-This is what we have so far.

At the end of each day,
we would get
a game plan together

on what we're going to do
the next day.

[reporter] Police are looking
for any more information...

The more information
that's put out
through the media,

the greater the chance
of coming up with a clue.

-[telephone ringing]
-[indistinct talking
on police radio]

[Brown] Porter.

[Kenda] At this juncture,
Detective Porter

gets a phone call from a woman
who identifies herself

as Kimberly Holton's aunt
and she has information

that she thinks
the police need to know.

[Brown] She had indicated
some concern regarding
an ex-boyfriend

who had made some remarks
at some people

that if Kimberly ever broke up
with him he would kill her.

[Kenda]
Now that's a direct threat.

Matt Wyatt said
he would do physical harm
to Kimberly Holton

if she broke up with him
and she broke up with.

So, we had to make sure
we cross all our t's
and dot all our i's.

[Brown] We were able to
track him down
and speak to him.

You can understand
what we're saying,
right, Matt?

When they find
this ex-boyfriend,

he's working in a restaurant
in the downtown area of Dover.

You threatened to kill
the girl and then
she ends up dead.

I know, but I didn't mean it.

He freely admits it.

"I just said it as I was mad
and I was hurt."

Matt, can u tell us
where you were the morning
of September 30th?

Uh, September...
Yeah, I was...

He indicated to us
that he was actually
getting his learner's permit

from the state of Delaware.

...my learner's permit.

[Brown]
And fortunately for him

It had a time stamp and date
and everything on there

to verify that
that's where he was
at that particular time.

[Kenda] It doesn't get
much better in terms of alibi.

He's not a part of this.

Even though it sounded like
he was. He isn't.

Elation. Depression.

After sometime,

Detective Brown gets
a phone call from
the forensics people

to report that they have
some important information

that they have recovered
from the chains
found with the body.

What we got here?

Well, let's have a look.

[Thistle] The chains were
actually in pretty good shape
for being in saltwater.

So to really work on them,
we did clean them a little bit
and we took a close up.

We saw a marking on there.

He found out
the manufacturer
of the chain.

He contacted the manufacturer,
and the manufacturer
said, "Yes,

we sell that particular chain
to Lowe's Department Stores."

We did some digging
and, of course,
right in this general area

a couple miles away
from where Kimberly resides

is a Lowe's Home Improvement
Store.

[man] Hey, here's a receipt
I found.

There's a receipt
where someone had purchased
the exact length of chain

and the exact clamps
found wrapped around
Kimberly's ankles,

as well as two cinder blocks.

All these items were purchased
on the very afternoon

that Miss Holton
was reported missing.

So that was a huge
turning point for us there.

This store,
like all stores in the
modern day, videos everything.

[Kenda] We might have
a movie of our dude.

Now this case
is hitting on all
eight cylinders.

The Delaware New Jersey
State Police agencies

have narrowed the chain

that was found
wrapped around
Kimberly Holton's ankles

to a particular store
in Dover, Delaware,

So immediately we began
checking video surveillance.

Wait, wait.

The tape matches
the date and time
of the transaction record.

You can see
the length of chain

being piled on
the sales counter,

the clamps being placed
on the a sales counter

and two center blocks.

This is the it.

We were really excited
because we have two males

buying the exact chain
that we're looking for.

Because of the fractures
to Kimberly's skull,

we knew she had to be lifted

and thrown from
a higher elevation

whether it be
a boat or bridge.

It would have been easier
for two people to do
something like this.

So that made sense.

Now we have to figure out
who these two people are.

[reporter] Sixteen-year-old
Kimberly Holton's body

was found floating
in the Atlantic Ocean
on Thursday.

Police are looking
for any information

as to the identity
of these two men.

So police publicize
these photographs
of these two individuals

On television
and placed in newspapers,

asking for the
public's assistance.

Do you know these men?

[Jeff] The surveillance
video was not that clear,

but they could say
to the public,

if there's something out there
that looks familiar to you,

give us a call.

[waves splashing]

[Kenda] A matter
of a few hours passes...

[phone ringing]

And detectives get a bonanza.

The voice on the phone says

that he's one of the two
people in the picture.

It's a huge break.
So you get really excited.

Come on down, my boy.

You're the next contestant
on "The murderer is right."

He was genuinely scared,

and he wanted
to clear his name
on this investigation.

So he is anxious
to talk to anybody

that'll listen to him
about what he was doing

in this Home
Improvement Center

with his "friend".

Buying things, they wound up
attached to a dead girl.

He was able to identify
the other person
that he was with.

That's Jacob Jones,

And he goes on to explain
that Jacob called him

and said, "Hey,
I want to go down to
the Home Improvement Center.

I saw this thing about how
to make an exercise device

using center blocks
and a length of chain."

[Porter] And we sort of
looked at each other,

the Detectives and said,
"This isn't right."

I've never known people
to make workout equipment

from chains and cinder blocks.

And he says, Jacob leaves
with his chain, cinder blocks
and his clamps.

And never sees his after that.

That's his story. He said,
I don't know where he is,

but you might check
with his girlfriend.

[Kenda]
Detectives are immediately
struck by the name Heather.

They've heard that before.

Heather is Kimberly's
foster sister.

So now we have
a direct connection

between Kimberly
and Jacob Jones.

[Porter] I don't really
believe in coincidences

to see Jacob Jones
purchasing the chain,

his girlfriend's
Kimberly's sister.

It was just too much.

[Brown] So now
we have to unravel
what occurred here.

Was it something

[Brown] where
Heather was involved

and told Jacob to do this.

or Jacob did it
behind Heather's back.

Was it a love triangle?

We're left with this situation
where the suspect.

prime suspect
is dating the victim's sister.

That certainly
could be a fatal mix.

[Kenda] We find 16 year old

Kimberly Holton floating
in the Atlantic Ocean.

With chain around her ankles.

We have traced
the chain to a buyer

who, interestingly enough,
is the boyfriend

of Kimberly Holton's
foster sister, Heather.

[indistinct chatter
over radio]

[Brown] So we need
to interview Heather

to try and piece
this entire thing together.

[Brown speaking]

[Young Heather sobbing]

[sniffles]

[Heather] The reason
why they wanted me

to come down to the station

was so that
they could talk to me

about Kim
and our relationship.

The indication
given from Heather

was that she loved
her initially.

Kimberly welcomed
into the home.

And then at some point
during the relationship,

things started to go south.

Jealousy started to seem

like its surface
between the two of them.

[Young Heather speaking]

What are you doing?

[Young Heather] I'm looking
for my sweater.

Well, I don't have it.

Are you kidding me?

-Come on.
-Heather, relax!

It was one sweater!

[Heather] When I saw that Kim
was wearing my clothes,

it was done.
I wasn't her mom.

I wasn't anybody
that could be there
to take care of her.

[Young Heather speaking]

This household has become

in a state of disarray
in the past few months.

The foster parents
break up their marriage.

Ronald Michaels is accused
of sexual assault

against Kimberly Holton.

Everything that had been
a stable influence

had been taken away.

[birds chirping]

[Jeff] I don't think
that she was emotionally

mature enough to be able
to handle something like that.

I think she was just kind
of drifting in the wind.

[Brown speaking]

[Young Heather speaking]

[Brown speaking]

[Young Heather speaking]

[Brown speaking]

Obviously, at that point,
we knew it was Jacob.

And she's very
reluctant to reveal

and confirmed that
that was actually him.

[Brown speaking]

They explain to Heather,
"This is not some silly game."

It's a homicide investigation.

Tell us what you know.

Because we're probably
gonna find out anyway.

[Heather] I was just as
shocked as everybody else.

I thought something happened
to Kim in New Jersey.

When it led back to Delaware

and the Lowe's video,
I was in disbelief.

I was panicking.

I felt that it was him.

[sobbing]

[Brown speaking]

[Young Heather speaking]

[Brown speaking]

[Young Heather speaking]

[crying]

[Heather] I'm sitting
there freaking out

and I was crying so much,
my nose was bleeding.

[Young Heather speaking]

[Brown] And then immediately,

she's almost trying to be
a character reference for him.

[Heather] Jacob
was very smart.

He was always a high
performer at school.

He had that full
ride to college?

Jacob is a sophomore
at Delaware State University.

He's a student
and aerospace science

and seems to be totally
organized as do his life span.

[Brown] She said he has a job
as a flight instructor

in a local airbase
and would give lessons

and had access
to different planes

at Delaware State,
which is interesting.

[Porter] When we found out
Jacob was an instructor pilot,

we said, "You know, Kimberly,

she could have been
turned out of an airplane."

[Brown] We're kind of like,

"Well, is that something
that's even possible?"

"Could that have
actually happened?"

[detective speaking]

[crying]

[Young Heather speaking]

-[detective speaking]
-[sighs]

The coroner says fractures
in the head and neck

are probably from dropping
from height into water.

[birds chirping]

What better way to do that
than out of an airplane?

[siren wailing]

[Porter] At that
point in time,

we knew Jacob Jones
was our man.

[Brown] My thought was Heather

really didn't know
exactly what happened.

But we obviously didn't
have a confession there,

and we couldn't continue
on in the interview.

So, now we need
to get a statement from Jacob.

[detective 1 speaking]

[Jacob speaking]

[detective 1 speaking]

-[Jacob speaking]
-[detective 1 speaking]

[detective 2 speaking]

[Brown] Initially he had
little emotion.

He was very indifferent.

[detective 2 speaking]

[Jacob speaking]

[detective 1 speaking]

[Brown] He admitted to being

the person
who bought the chains,

and he goes along
with the same story

that they were gonna
use it as a workout equipment.

[detective 1 speaking]

[Jacob speaking]

[detective 1] Mmm-hmm.

[Jacob speaking]

[detective 1 speaking]

[Jacob speaking]

[detective 1 speaking]

The more they press him,
the more nervous he becomes.

[Jacob speaking]

[detective 1 speaking]

[Jacob speaking]

[detective 1 speaking]

[Jacob speaking]

-[detective 2 speaking]
-[detective 1 speaking]

He invoked his right
for an attorney.

Your conversation
with this person

ends forever
and a day at that moment.

[detective 2 speaking]

[detective 1 speaking]

[detective 1 speaking]

At that point,
we didn't have enough evidence

to charge Jacob
criminally with anything.

So, we need to still work
to build this case.

[Kenda] Defectives proceed
to Dover Air Base.

There is a flying club

[Brown] How you doing?
[Kenda] where Mr. Jones
is a flight instructor.

[Brown] Hey, Jason.

[Kenda] They ask about him.
[Brown] Jacob Jones.

He's a good guy. I liked him,

but having some
problems with him lately.

[Brown] The supervisor
indicated that Jacob

was very distracted and often
times would set a date

and wouldn't show up.

And just wasn't
very consistent.

There was some indication
he had some issues with anger

and had some
disciplinary issues.

So, we knew
there was more to Jacob

than just what Heather
was telling us.

And we're kind of starting
to see another side of him.

Did you happen to have
any records of his flights?

[Kenda] They pull
their logbooks,

and they determined...

The flight records here.

...that on the evening
of September the 30th,

he takes off in an airplane
from the club

at 11:45 at night

and returns at 1:50 a.m.
the next morning.

So he is there
in the dead of night

flying this airplane.

The flight pattern shows
exactly this plane

taking off from Delaware,

exactly where it went

and, exactly where it
ended up over the ocean

and how it turned around
and went back to Delaware.

[Porter] Our theory was,

He went
to the Dover Air Force Base

after he killed Kimberly.

[airplane flying over]

[Porter] Loaded her in a plane

and dumped the body
out over the bay.

[Kenda] So with that
information in hand,

they are now prepared
to arrest Jacob Jones

for the crime
of first degree murder.

They haven enough.

[cell phone vibrating]

[Brown] They arrest warrant.

-Brown.
-[indistinct chatter
over cellphone]

[Brown] And as Delaware
State Police detectives

are on their way to go arrest
Jacob Jones for this crime,

we receive a call...

And, we were all just,
we were shocked

that this happened.

Sometimes the script doesn't
play out like you'd expect.

[siren wailing]

[Kenda] The warrant
has been signed.

And the Delaware
and New Jersey State Police

are on their way
to the home of Jacob Jones

to charge him with murder
of Kimberly Holton.

-Police!
-[Kenda] House is unlocked.

It wouldn't matter if it was.

They make entry.

[indistinct chatter]

My God. What the hell
happened in here?

[indistinct chatter]

Jacob committed suicide.

He killed himself.

I remember getting the call
from a uniformed division.

And the first thing
was like, "Whoa!"

He used a shotgun.

And it made a mess.

[Kenda] So, Mr. Jones
was determined to not survive.

He selected the right
weapon to do that with.

On the table was Detective
Porter's business card.

TV was on, and I think he was
watching the news of time.

[reporter on TV] 16 year old

Kimberly Holton's
body was found.

[Brown] I think Jacob
may have seen

the walls starting
to close in on him.

[shotgun cocks]

[Brown] His parents
were home at the time.

[man speaking over TV]

-[gun fires]
-[gasps]

[panting]

[objects clattering]

[woman screaming]

[Destinee] That was
a coward move.

I think that he took
the easy way out.

[woman sobbing]

We're now having to deal
with the Mom and Dad

who are shocked
by what just happened.

[man] He told me what he did.

[Porter] Jacob Jones confided
in his parents

That he did have something
to do with this case

because they obviously
saw him on TV,

purchasing the chains
at Lowe's.

It was almost like instead
of leaving a suicide note,

he left this confession
with his dad.

[Kenda] Mr. Jones says

that Jacob killed
Kimberly Holton

with the assistance

and participation
of his friend Michael Keyser.

They haven't heard
that name before.

[Jeff] Jacob and Keyser
had known each other

for about six years.

They've known
each other in school.

Their working theory
has always been

and Jones had a helper.

And not only did he have one
we know who is now.

[siren wailing]

So, Michael Keyser's located,

he's brought in
for an interview.

[detective speaking]

[Michael speaking]

He was genuinely scared.

[Michael speaking]

[detective speaking]

[Michael speaking]

[Brown] He admits
to being there

during the murder
of Kimberly Holton.

[Porter] Michael Keyser
told me that he was contacted
by Jacob Jones.

He wanted Michael
together with him

to the residence and pick
up Kimberly Holton.

[crickets chirping]

Jacob Jones is completely
privy to the drama going on

in Heather
and Kimberly's life.

Jones calls her the night
of the 29th and says,

"We need to talk
about this and work out

these problems
between you and Heather."

Well, Kimberly probably
wanted to do that as well.

So, she went.

I'm sure
she didn't stop to think

that they were going
to try to kill her.

[detective speaking]

[Michael speaking]

[detective speaking]

[Michael speaking]

[detective speaking]

[Michael speaking]

[Kimberly laughs]

[Michael] So,
what you want to get?

So, when she comes out,
we can do it.

[exhales]

[detective speaking]

[Michael] Mmm-mmm.

No one's gonna miss her,

no one's gonna
notice she's gone.

Jacob Jones sees her
as a throwaway person.

Everybody's gotten
rid of her up to now.

I'm gonna do the same thing.

I'm gonna make my getting
rid of her for permanent.

[Michael speaking]

[detective] Uh-huh.
[Michael] Uh...

Oh, Michael.

No one in that room
believes that.

Probably not even Keyser.

We know that
he has a role in it,

so, he's gonna do
whatever he can

to try to minimize his role.

[Michael speaking]

-[Jacob grunts]
-[screams]

-[Jacob grunts]
-[Kimberly screams] Please!

-[Jacob grunts]
-[[Kimberly choking]

Michael Keyser told us
he held her legs down.

Jacob Jones took a phone cord

wrapped around
her neck and strangled.

[Michael speaking]

[detective speaking]

[Michael speaking]

Now Keyser says,

"Out of fear
of reprisal Assistant Jones

and loading this girl
in the trunk of his car.

it was almost like there was
a plan in place ahead of time.

-[cameras flashing]
-There's items
bought at Lowe's.

He's driven
to the Dover Airport base,

-where Jacob had rented
that Cessna 172 plane,
-[engine whirring]

her body was loaded
into the plane.

And the plane took off.

[engine accelerating]

and the body was discarded
from the plane

into the ocean.

[Porter] When she hit
the ocean way.

We think
the impact disintegrated
the cinder blocks

and, the only thing she had
left on her was the chain.

Jacob Jones believed
the chains would take her

to the bottom of sea,
to Davy Jones's locker,

and that would have been that.

Except it didn't
work that way.

[Michael speaking]

I find it difficult
that if Michael Keyser

was involved with this
up to this point

that just all of a sudden

he decided, "Listen, I'm not
going with you in this plane.

I'm not assisting anymore.

[Porter] At that point
in time, Michael Keyser

was going to get charged
with murder first, regardless,

whether he helped push
the body of plane or not.

We offered him a plea.

He didn't accept
a plea bargain,

and he wanted to go to trial.

[reporter] Keyser's attorneys
called only two witnesses

in his defense.

In an unexpected move,

The defense did not
call Keyser to testify,

because Keyser
decided against it.

Chief prosecutor
Bobby o'Neill says

he was surprised
Keyser didn't testify,

but he says it
shouldn't have made

any difference on their case.

We put in the case
that we, um,

thought was the strongest,

and the, um,
evidence is what it is.

He was ultimately
found guilty.

In the State of Delaware
he's sentenced
to life in prison

[Porter] We didn't think
Heather was the killer,

but we did think Heather knew
more than she was telling us.

[detective speaking]

[Young Heather] No.

[detective speaking]

[Young Heather speaking]

[detective speaking]

[Young Heather speaking]

[detective speaking]

[Young Heather speaking]

[Brown] It's very difficult
for me to believe

that Heather didn't have
some knowledge of this.

Maybe not pre-medicated,
but maybe post.

[Heather] After Jacob
shot himself,

his father kind
of stabbed at me.

He said, "Some way somehow,
you're involved in this."

And, um, I said, "I'm not."

I'm in just as much shock
as everybody else.

It all happen behind my back.

I don't know
how it got to the point

where he felt
he had to do that.

[detective speaking]

[Young Heather]
I know nothing.

[crying]

[Heather] The reason why
I decided to do this show

is because I wanted to be able
to speak to the fact

that something really
awful did happen.

We were all good people.

Things just got
way out of hand

and something snapped.

And I want people to know

that it wasn't anything
that any of us want.

[Brown] I think that Heather
almost felt like

it was Kimberly's fault
that the family had broken up.

The root of her entire
issue with life

seemed to focus
around Kimberly,

and she confided
in her boyfriend, Jacob,

about the problems
that Kimberly

was causing in the family.

So, Jacob,
wanting to help Heather,

devises this plan,

and at some point

Kimberly ends up dead
at that motel room.

I absolutely believe that Kim
would still be here today

if she had a better life
where she was.

I just want
her memory to live on.

I want the fun,
Kim the smiling cam.

I don't want her
to be remembered

as a 16 year old girl who got
murder in Dover, Delaware.

I want her to be
remembered as Kimberly Holton.

[birds chirping]

[Brown] I f you do, you're 25,
30 years in law enforcement,

you have hundreds of cases,
if not more.

This is one of those ones
that nobody forgets.

I like to think that
for nothing else,

somebody for once, stood up
for Kimberly in her life.

That's why I look at it.

[Kenda] In the movies,
there's all these

dramatic motivations
to kill people,

but that's in the movies.

In the real world,

people die over nothing.

That's reality.

Reality is a terrible thing
because it is so real.