Original subtitles

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[siren wailing]

- geez. - Damn.

- For the last 15 years,

"the first 48" has followed thousands

of homicide investigations...

[camera shutter clicks]

in more than 25 cities across the country.

♪ ♪

"critical minutes" will be looking back

at some of the most notable investigations

in "the first 48."

♪ ♪

[siren wailing]

- we have blood in the bathroom.

- A family murdered.

- The children are back here.

The body count's higher than usual.

Makes it particularly gruesome.

- That's some violent [bleep].

- A kidnapping turned deadly.

- All murders are horrific,

but this is probably the worst one I've ever worked.

- Been a year since he went missing.

- And a man's disappearance leads to answers

after two years.

- We found ray.

Ray's dead.

- Tonight, we look back

at some of the most haunting cases

in "first 48" history.

[camera shutters clicking]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- there are certain murders that haunt

even the most seasoned detectives.

This first case was particularly disturbing

because it involved children.

Six people were killed,

and three critically injured.

Most of them belonging to the same family

and all in the same memphis house on lester street.

♪ ♪

- [sighs]

get this thing on. Gotta stay warm.

- Do me a favor.

Nobody comes in this house.

I don't care what their rank is.

I don't care who they are.

- Clear. Yes, sir.

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

- what the hell? It's all right here.

♪ ♪

male narrator: In the living room

are four adult victims

shot multiple times.

♪ ♪

- they've been here a while too.

♪ ♪

- see, there ain't really no sign of a struggle in here.

- So it's almost like they was made to come in here.

♪ ♪

narrator: The first victim

is 30-year-old cecil dotson

who rents the house.

♪ ♪

also in the room is his girlfriend,

27-year-old marissa williams,

the mother of four of his children.

♪ ♪

- we've got multiple wounds.

Variety of wounds.

Narrator: The third and fourth victims

are 33-year-old hollis seals

and girlfriend, 25-year-old shindri roberson.

♪ ♪

both friends of cecil.

- I think it starts in here 'cause the kids aren't--

they're probably closed up in the room.

We have blood in the bathroom.

[dramatic music]

on the toilet.

On the tub.

♪ ♪

the children are back here.

♪ ♪

narrator: In back bedrooms,

they find two of cecil's young sons

also dead.

♪ ♪

[camera shutter clicks]

♪ ♪

four-year-old cemario dotson...

♪ ♪

and two-year-old cecil dotson ii.

- All right. - Talk to the news media--

- everybody-- everybody stand back.

♪ ♪

I want everything photographed as-is.

No placards.

Narrator: The team begins to process the crime scene

for potential evidence.

♪ ♪

- got a weapon.

Shotgun.

Narrator: Next to the body of cecil dotson,

they find a shotgun which has not been fired.

- He may been reaching for that.

♪ ♪

- knife blade, ok. - Yeah.

- A knife blade, knife blade.

This is a butcher knife.

Narrator: They find broken off knife blades and handles

throughout the house.

- We got a lot of-- splintered wood has been used.

We're gonna take that, see if we can process that at all.

Narrator: They also find pieces of wood,

apparently used to beat the child victims.

Narrator: Based on the condition of the bodies,

the team believes the murders occurred

sometime between 24 and 48 hours prior.

- The body count's higher than usual.

It makes it particularly gruesome, you know?

♪ ♪

um...

The kids bother me more than anything

'cause the kids ain't done anything to anybody.

♪ ♪

- it's a seven-year-old,

eight-year-old, and then a two-month-old baby.

The baby's got a major head wound.

That other one got the sawzall blade in its head,

and then that other one's got major head trauma.

Got multiple facial fractures, fractured skull,

stab wounds on each side of the eye.

♪ ♪

- so if--if I'm correct on the times...

♪ ♪

those kids laid there for...

A day? - Yeah.

- Can you imagine?

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- we wanna find out who did it.

♪ ♪

narrator: Jessie claims that cecil was in a gang

called gangster disciples,

and that cecil had been feuding

with an alleged fellow gang member

nicknamed doc holliday.

♪ ♪

- you don't know doc's real name, do you?

- Mm-mm.

♪ ♪

- ganger disciples have been known

to--to do all kinds of things.

But we've never--we've never seen anything like this before.

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

- looking up some old gd gang members right now.

Narrator: Sargant rick davidson

tracks down an ex-member of the gds,

the gangster disciples.

♪ ♪

stark and max go in to talk

to the ex-gangster disciples gang member.

♪ ♪

- here's the thing.

- [distorted voice] right.

- If you were to write him up,

what would be the penalty?

- A d.V.?

♪ ♪

- kill you?

- What do you think in your heart?

♪ ♪

narrator: The man says the gds

may have ordered to kill the whole family.

They call this a blackout.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

narrator: Nicole says that for their safety,

she and her family moved last night

from her apartment to another family member's house.

- You started receiving some phone calls last night

that your family was in danger?

Narrator: Nicole says that soon after they moved,

someone started calling her

from her empty apartment.

- Do you know who the person was that was calling you?

♪ ♪

- the whole family moved from sister's house.

There was a phone call made to the sister's cell phone

from her house.

♪ ♪

- this was just found out about her.

- They're hunting 'em.

[slams papers]

- somebody's got to be in my house

for my number to show up on here.

This is my back door key.

♪ ♪

narrator: Sargent bart ragland

heads out with the tactical team.

- Hopefully, you know, we don't have another crime scene there.

♪ ♪

[helicopter whirring] [indistinct radio chatter]

♪ ♪

[knocks]

[dramatic music]

- got it?

[door creaking]

- police warrant. - Police!

[door snaps]

- anybody in the apartment? Hello.

♪ ♪

police! Police!

Police now. Police!

- Excuse me.

♪ ♪

- police department!

♪ ♪

- clear? - We're clear.

Narrator: They find no signs of forced entry.

[indistinct chatter]

across town,

sergeants caroline mason and joe stark

return to the hospital,

hoping the oldest surviving child,

9-year-old cecil dotson jr.,

has recovered enough to talk to them.

- It's one of these up-and-down cases.

And a lot of it might depend on that nine-year-old.

♪ ♪

narrator: Three hours later,

mason returns from the hospital

with startling news.

♪ ♪

- and I said, "well, you know why I'm here."

we started talking about it.

I said, "what happened to you?"

it's all on tape.

Narrator: The case takes a turn.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

narrator: The nine-year-old says

that his father's brother,

jessie dotson, also known as uncle junior,

is the one who attacked him.

- Kind of a shocking change of events.

We've had jessie in protective custody

the whole time with his family.

We're gonna contact the tact unit,

and get them to bring him down here

and see what he'll tell us.

♪ ♪

pe for a confession

when they go into an interview,

but for a crime as horrific as this,

it's also a chance to find out why.

♪ ♪

- have a seat.

Narrator: The team brings jessie dotson

back to homicide.

♪ ♪

- we gonna go at jessie pretty hard tonight.

I don't expect him to come off with anything willingly.

I don't expect him to come off with anything

just right off the bat.

Narrator: Lieutenant tony armstrong

decides to interview jessie himself.

- What's up?

I'm lieutenant armstrong. All right?

Let me ask you something.

How old are you?

- So you've been in jail almost most of your adult life?

- You have made some bad mistakes, man,

and we all make bad mistakes.

You've had our worst day.

I ain't gonna tell you about your worst day, man.

I wanna get you some help.

That's what you need more than anything else in the world.

Why you hurting, man?

- Talk to me about it, man.

- [sniffs]

- give me your hand, man.

♪ ♪

I got you, dawg.

You got me?

I got you. I'm telling you I got you.

Give me the other hand, man.

Give me your hand, playa. Come on, man.

Reach out here. Reach out too.

- [breathing heavily]

- I got you, man. I got you.

We can't do this by ourselves, man, I'm telling you, man.

This got both of us messed up.

- Just talk to me.

[soft dramatic music]

♪ ♪

what they call you?

- Junior. - Junior?

Everybody in your family call you junior?

- Yeah.

- Everybody in your family call you junior?

Listen to this.

- What'd they say?

- Junior.

♪ ♪

- junior.

What did you just tell me your family says?

♪ ♪

- they know me by junior. - By junior!

- Junior.

- What did that little boy just get through saying?

- Junior. - Junior!

♪ ♪

that's what that little boy just got through saying.

Junior!

[dramatic music]

that's what the [bleep] he said!

He didn't mix it up!

♪ ♪

but you [bleep] up,

and you left somebody alive at their [bleep] damn house.

You left somebody alive that can identify your [bleep] ass!

A child

called your name.

Jun-ior.

♪ ♪

I'm listening.

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

[sighs]

♪ ♪

narrator: According to jessie,

he and cecil had been out the night of the murders.

They started arguing.

When they returned to the house,

cecil reached for his shotgun.

♪ ♪

- how many times you shoot him?

- [mumbles indistinctly] - hm?

- What about the women? What'd you do with them?

- Didn't you shoot the women?

- Yeah.

- Tell me what happened.

- Then what happened?

[dramatic music]

- by doing what?

♪ ♪

- where'd you get the knife from?

- Where?

- All right. I'll be right back.

♪ ♪

- it's terrible that he would do this.

Narrator: According to jessie's sister, nicole,

he has not been the same since serving time in prison.

- My brother got hatred in his heart

towards his family

because when he did those 13 and a half years,

he felt like we was not there for him.

♪ ♪

- as a detective approaches the end of their career,

you're often haunted by the cases you couldn't close.

For me, it was the 2015 investigation

into the disappearance of navy veteran ray howard.

♪ ♪

I'd really love to solve that ray howard case.

♪ ♪

he didn't pick up his paycheck.

I mean, he just left

all his belongings, his car, everything.

So I mean, that is definitely odd.

♪ ♪

[wind chimes ringing]

- ray's roommate, robert, reported him missing.

♪ ♪

- this trip to kansas never happened.

Narrator: Ray's roommate, robert tyson,

became a person of interest

when detectives were unable to corroborate his story.

- You know robert tyson?

He's like, "I didn't tell them that we had a fist fight

"the night before.

It's not gonna look good on me."

- if you're thinking about motives to kill ray,

one would be, you know, 25 grand

in his 401k.

When did he sign that over to robbie?

- Couple weeks before... Both: He disappeared.

- It's either you,

or there's something that we're missing.

- I--I don't have an explanation.

I don't know.

It's not me.

♪ ♪

I've been cooperative. I have nothing to hide.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- been a year tomorrow since he went missing.

♪ ♪

one year anniversary.

This was my first case--

first case I got assigned to in homicide.

- Is it really? - Yeah.

- Still bothers me that we haven't solved it.

Ray's family needs some answers.

♪ ♪

in 2015

will keep you up at night.

Once a case goes cold, it's very difficult to solve.

Seven months had passed

since we started reinvestigating

the case of ray howard's disappearance

when suddenly we got a break.

- Breaking news.

Possible human remains were found in vera.

This is just outside of ramona.

A surveyor made the discovery.

♪ ♪

[camera shutter clicking]

♪ ♪

- the remains were wrapped in--

in two layers of plastic with duct tape.

So, uh, it's not like he just walked off

and got hit by a car

or any kind of accidental deal.

I mean, it's gonna be a murder.

♪ ♪

hoping to find some kind of forensic evidence

in that plastic or the duct tape,

but he's been out there in the elements

for coming up on two years now.

[sighs]

[birds chirping]

[car door opens]

[ominous music]

- I think he was just right there.

- She said he was 49 feet from the road.

♪ ♪

[camera shutter clicking]

♪ ♪

- yeah, it's amazing that they found him at all.

♪ ♪

it is a pretty perfect place.

If he's wanting to get rid of the--the weapon,

does he leave it with it?

Or does he throw it in the dumpster before he gets here?

Does he just-- [exhales]

chuck it out there into the field?

♪ ♪

- lots of questions.

Hopefully he'll answer them once we say,

"hey, got your dna on the stuff."

♪ ♪

- in the initial investigation,

we identified a person of interest,

ray's roommate, robert tyson.

At the time of ray's disappearance,

there was not enough evidence to charge him,

but once ray's body was discovered,

we hoped to find new evidence.

[energetic music]

♪ ♪

- we just got the lab results back.

[dramatic music]

all right, so we're gonna see if we got any hits

in that duct tape, or in that plastic,

or, you know, even in the clothing.

♪ ♪

come on, come on, come on.

♪ ♪

we got nothing.

They weren't able to find any dna evidence at all

in the remains.

♪ ♪

so I don't know if we're gonna have enough

to present to the da.

Everything's inconclusive.

♪ ♪

I've decided I'm gonna take a new job

with something completely different,

and do something else where I can spend

some more time with my family.

So at this point,

I just don't think I can take it to the finish line.

♪ ♪

after I left homicide,

detective max ryden took over the investigation.

He decided to take a look at robert tyson's phone records

to see where he was around the time of ray's disappearance.

[ominous music]

- I'm looking at robbie's phone records.

It's showing he's making phone calls

to maria after the incident

from a town north of tulsa in skiatook.

♪ ♪

ray's phone was found near there,

and ray's body was found north of that

in another town.

So the phone records show that after the incident,

it appears that robbie headed north

and dumped ray and his phone

during the same time frame on the same path.

[dramatic music]

so I'm feeling pretty good about the case right now.

First I wanna talk to robbie

before I submit the case to the da's office.

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

let's go into the morning that you last saw ray.

What time did you wake up?

- Pretty early.

5:00 or 5:30 maybe.

[ominous music]

- and was he up already?

- Yes. He was up.

- And then you washed your truck out, you said?

- Yeah.

Got the trash out of the back of the truck,

and cleaned the mud out, and stuff.

♪ ♪

- did you talk with your ex-girlfriend maria

about a fight that you'd had with ray before he left?

- I have no clue where that came from.

- Mm-kay.

Do you know we found blood in the apartment?

♪ ♪

narrator: Three months after ray went missing,

the team searched the apartment he shared

with robert for blood spatter.

[spraying liquid]

- oh!

Look at that.

- As big as that stain is...

- That looks like... - Blood.

[camera shutter clicking]

♪ ♪

- would there be any reasonable explanation

how that blood ended up where it ended up?

♪ ♪

- all right, robert.

Nut cutting time.

♪ ♪

we found ray.

Ray's dead.

♪ ♪

- I'll let you know that in a minute.

I know when he was killed.

It was on or about September the 4th.

I know where he was killed.

It was in that apartment 'cause of the blood.

I know how he was killed.

He was beaten over the head with something.

The question you have to answer is

why he was killed.

[dramatic music]

for as long as ray howard's did,

you wanna see it solved

regardless of who closes the case.

With new evidence about robert tyson's phone records in hand,

detective ryden confronted him.

♪ ♪

- for some reason,

he switched you to his beneficiary on his account.

I've got your girlfriend saying

he admitted there was a fight the night before.

The person that killed him

took his old phone,

and at some point during the next four days,

they drive it out, put it on the side of the road.

At some point during that weekend,

you made a--calls from your apartment,

but you also went to skiatook during that time frame.

[ominous music]

- yeah.

- And his phone that was recovered

is right in between the two.

This is another piece to the puzzle.

These are all things that anybody with common sense--

- everything beyond a reasonable doubt says

robert and ray had a fight, and ray got killed,

and robert got rid of his body.

♪ ♪

I don't know if any detective's ever told you this.

I am telling you. You killed ray.

♪ ♪

- did not.

I'm not--I'm not denying it looks bad.

It d--it does.

I had nothing to do with it.

♪ ♪

- ok, I'll let you get out of here, man.

So I appreciate you coming down,

being man enough to talk to me about it.

- Thank you.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- did he say who this person was,

how he knew him?

- Ok.

- But he admits he did kill his roommate?

- Did he say with what?

♪ ♪

- when I heard robert tyson was arrested,

I felt great for the family, you know,

so that they could get a little bit of closure.

To know that all those paths that we took

that continued to lead us back

to robert was correct,

it just felt really good

and gave me a little bit of closure.

♪ ♪

- so last night a young couple

was kidnapped and taken hostage.

This morning at 6:09 a.M.,

the victims are discovered in northwest atlanta.

The female who was seven months pregnant

was taken to the hospital,

and right now, we're hearing

that she's in critical condition.

The male victim is deceased at the scene.

[ominous music]

[birds chirping]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- the female is briana brooks.

♪ ♪

narrator: 23-year-old jeronta brown

and his fiancée, 21-year-old briana brooks,

were in the middle of planning their wedding.

They have an eight-month-old daughter,

and briana is seven months pregnant

with their second child.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

narrator: Jeronta was shot at close range.

[camera shutter clicking]

- yeah.

[dramatic music]

narrator: Three hours in...

- Where do we stand

with the criminal investigation side of this?

Narrator: The team meets

with dekalb county detective lynn schuler,

who's been working the kidnapping investigation

for eight hours.

♪ ♪

- correct.

Narrator: Schuler says the suspects

have been calling jeronta's step-father,

demanding a ransom.

♪ ♪

- 150,000 cash.

♪ ♪

that's a lot.

♪ ♪

narrator: Five hours in,

jeronta's fiancée clings to life

as doctors struggle to save her and her baby.

- They take someone who's seven months pregnant,

handcuff her behind her back,

and shoot her execution style.

You know, I mean all murders are horrific,

but this is probably the worst one I've ever worked.

♪ ♪

er brutality

involved in the homicides.

When an engaged couple

was shot on the side of the road,

atlanta detectives spoke with the victim's stepfather

about the kidnapper's ransom demands.

♪ ♪

narrator: He says that when he refused to open the door,

the men took jeronta and briana.

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

- why would they think that you would be in a position

to give them that kind of money?

- Why would they think that?

[ominous music]

- [sighs]

♪ ♪

- hey, you wanna hop in the back seat?

[dramatic music]

there's my card.

- Read that card.

- Yeah.

Here's the thing: Your phone popped up

in some phone records that I'm looking at.

- Ok.

- Within the past seven days,

your phone number has appeared in these phone records--

♪ ♪

- what's his name? E?

Narrator: The woman says the number belongs to a man

nicknamed e.

- Ok.

Where do you know him from?

- How long you known him?

♪ ♪

- how hard do you think it would be

for you to find out his real name?

♪ ♪

you're our only help right now.

- Ok. Ok, well, we appreciate that.

- Thank you.

♪ ♪

yeah, this tipster called the homicide office this morning.

She said that a good friend of hers

got a voicemail the night of the kidnappings and murders,

and she feels like this voicemail

could somehow be related to this case.

So we're gonna go catch up with that friend of hers.

[car beeps] [door clicks shut]

♪ ♪

tell me about the voicemail that you got.

You got a disturbing message.

♪ ♪

narrator: 30 minutes after jeronta and briana

were kidnapped,

someone accidentally dialed the man

and left a three minute voicemail.

- What do you think this has got to do with it?

- Whose number is that that it came from?

[ominous music]

- I gotta take this voicemail off the phone,

take it back to hq.

[car beeps]

♪ ♪

so this is a butt-dial voicemail

that was left 30 minutes after my kidnapping occurred.

♪ ♪

- [breathing] [beeps]

- oh, wow.

- "we ain't trying to hurt your baby, ma'am."

she was seven months pregnant.

♪ ♪

- that is a woman. - Mm-hmm.

Narrator: Leonpacher recognizes the woman's voice.

- [distorted voice] homicide?

- Yeah.

I think it's her voice.

I think she's in the van when it all went down.

- Yeah, she's gonna have some explaining to do.

- [exhales]

[tense music]

♪ ♪

narrator: The woman comes to homicide

with a lawyer.

- She might be able to bring down the whole pyramid here.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

narrator: She admits to knowing andre

since before he went to prison,

and that she recently reconnected with him.

Narrator: She says they made plans to hang out

with a man called fathead

the night of the kidnappings.

- There it is. Bam, boom.

Narrator: She says they parked outside

jaronte's step-dad's house.

Moments later, a car pulled up.

♪ ♪

narrator: She says andre and fathead

then forced jaronte and briana into the van.

♪ ♪

- what's the girl saying?

♪ ♪

- and what else did you say after that?

- Thank you.

- [cries]

narrator: She said they drove to an apartment complex

where fathead called jaronte's stepdad.

Narrator: She and andre got into a car

and followed fathead and the couple

to a dark street.

Narrator: She says andre stayed behind

with fathead and the victims.

- Who pulled the trigger?

[tense music]

itness

to learn how a young couple ended up dead.

♪ ♪

- who killed these people?

♪ ♪

- how do you know that?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- biggest question: Is there an e?

♪ ♪

- so he doesn't exist. He's a ghost?

♪ ♪

- I'm looking for fathead.

- I have a fathead in my case.

- Really?

Narrator: Fathead has an open murder warrant

for one of demeester's cases.

- His name is richard wilson.

♪ ♪

narrator: 40-year-old richard wilson,

aka fathead,

has prior convictions for armed robbery,

aggravated assault, and manslaughter.

He was recently released from prison.

- I'm looking to talk to him,

but he's never made himself available.

[energetic music]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

narrator: The next day,

fathead is extradited back to atlanta.

- The main reason we wanted to talk to you

is because of a double homicide that occurred

on the morning of August 30th.

Ok, you oughta start answering.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

narrator: He says they grabbed the couple,

took them to the front door,

and started knocking.

- You're saying, "open the door."

- yeah. - He ain't doing it.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[dark music]

♪ ♪

- his description is horrific.

I mean, it literally shocks the conscience.

It's absolutely heinous, and he knows it.

♪ ♪

[somber music]

♪ ♪

[dark music]

♪ ♪

- I think about my old cases all the time.

I can't walk through or drive through tulsa

without thinking about a case.

[somber music]

you think about those murders, all the different motives,

how evil humans can be.

That's something that will always sit in my mind.

♪ ♪