Original subtitles

- Do you know anything about a murder here lately?

- No, not a murder. - Mm-kay.

♪ ♪

- tonight on "the first 48: Critical minutes"...

- Doesn't appear to be any forced entry.

- We look back at some of "the first 48's"

most memorable confessions.

- You haven't held back anything?

- A key witness caught in a lie.

- He talks about duct taping the guy up?

- I don't remember that.

- How could you not remember that?

- [sobs]

- then one of the most unexpected admissions

for this dallas detective.

- Did anything happen up at sioux falls?

♪ ♪

- and a skilled detective

interviews a possible serial offender.

- Take your time. We ain't rushing.

- I just have a lot of demons.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[sirens wailing]

♪ ♪

- a good investigator doesn't need a confession

to close their case.

But every detective would like to have one.

Still, not all confessions are what they seem.

As we've learned in this case from tulsa.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

[woman crying]

[indistinct radio chatter]

- what's going on?

- ...The inside of the living room

kinda looks a little bit ransacked.

So with that information, I stepped in the door,

I saw the blood.

His name's terry mccorkle.

Male narrator: 66-year-old terry mccorkle

was a recently retired welder and laborer...

♪ ♪

who raised two daughters in tulsa.

He lost his wife, shirley,

to cancer two years ago.

♪ ♪

- the daughter, she's right here.

Narrator: Detective dianna baumann

will take terry's daughter, marcie, to homicide.

♪ ♪

- well, they ransacked. They went through this.

- He's around here.

- The closet.

♪ ♪

- oh, yeah.

They beat the hell out of him, all right.

- Yeah.

Tied him up.

♪ ♪

it's all duct tape.

They used the tape and everything

to tie him around the-- - yeah, around the pole.

♪ ♪

here's a jewelry box that's been emptied.

- Looks like he's been robbed.

♪ ♪

- that looks like a drag mark going around the corner.

♪ ♪

- yeah, you can see where he drug him.

♪ ♪

doesn't appear to be any kind of forced entry.

Whoever did this crime knew him.

♪ ♪

we don't have a lot to go on,

but we're gonna try to get him some justice

and his family some justice.

♪ ♪

- can you tell me... When's the last time

you talked to him? - Yes.

I haven't talked to my dad since Sunday.

For two days, I didn't hear from him,

and I knew something wasn't right.

♪ ♪

- fyi, suspect might be chris wilson.

White male.

I'm gonna put him on a group.

- 10-4.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

I don't know who this girl is.

I don't know where adrienne's at.

- That's not adrienne? - That's not adrienne.

♪ ♪

- what's her name? - Jimmi.

Narrator: The passenger is jimmi sewell.

♪ ♪

- no. No, you can't.

- Nothing's gonna happen with her.

- [scoffs] we'll find out about that, ok?

♪ ♪

keeping the victim's vehicle, it's unbelievable.

The girl, if she's been around

even for the last couple of days,

she should have some knowledge about this.

So we'll try to pry that out of her

and then we'll see if he'll talk.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

I'm detective kennedy,

and this is detective frazier, ok?

- How's it going?

- I bet.

It's probably in your best interest

to give me everything you know.

So tell me how you know chris.

- Um...I met him through his cousin

who was my best friend.

We hang out a lot.

[tense music]

- when's the first time you saw him in that car

that you got pulled over in?

- It was Monday that he came over with the car.

Narrator: Jimmi says chris picked her up

in the maroon alero two days ago.

- How did he tell you he got that car?

- He said he borrowed it from some guy.

It was a funky last name. Mc-something.

- Mc-something? - Yeah.

- You didn't ask any more questions about this car?

- Well, here's the dilemma you're in.

That car...

We went over to that guy's house today,

and he's dead.

♪ ♪

he's murdered. Ok?

♪ ♪

- I don't know. You tell me.

Because I think you know a little bit more

than you're telling me.

♪ ♪

- he did mention something about getting in a fight,

but I don't know...

♪ ♪

- so what did he say about it?

- I mean, not a big deal, really.

I've heard about him fighting before.

- Yeah, but here you are, you're sitting,

riding around on a murdered guy's car.

So we got a little bit of a different dynamic

right now, don't we? - Yes.

I didn't know it was a dead man's car,

believe me, or I would not have been in it.

- So you really don't want to be mixed up

in any of this, do you?

♪ ♪

so I don't want you to withhold anything from me

because you do not want to become

an accessory into this.

♪ ♪

- he did bring me some jewelry.

Two of the rings that are in my property.

- That they took off of you?

Narrator: Two rings were collected by police

when jimmi was brought in.

- And he didn't give you any details about the rings?

You said, "hey, well, where'd you get this?"

- I didn't say, "hey, where'd you get it?"

- mm-kay.

Anything else that he's given you in the last few days?

- We went shopping.

- How much money did he give you?

- Um...We used his bank card.

- Whose bank card?

♪ ♪

- I guess it was his. I don't know.

♪ ♪

- you haven't held back anything?

♪ ♪

if he tells me something that he told you all this,

we're gonna ask some questions

why you didn't open up and tell me that.

- I understand. - So if you got everything out

that you want to get out... - Yes, sir.

♪ ♪

- hang loose here.

♪ ♪

[suspenseful music]

- chris, I'm detective kennedy.

This is detective frazier.

- What's up, man?

- And I'm gonna talk to you about a case I'm working.

Do you know anything about a murder here lately?

- No, not a murder. - Mm-kay.

We went over to a guy's house.

Guy by the name of terry.

[tense music]

something bad happened over there.

And I think you may have some information about that.

♪ ♪

- he's dead?

♪ ♪

- you know what, chris?

You know, sometimes we make some bad decisions.

I can tell you're pretty upset about it.

- Just tell us what happened.

♪ ♪

- [voice breaking] adrienne and terry

came to pick me up from court.

- So did terry take you somewhere?

- We went to a bar and drank.

♪ ♪

- you guys were hanging out.

- And then we went back to his house.

♪ ♪

he started talking about adrienne

and how she's worthless and all, and...

I just got mad and punched him.

♪ ♪

- where'd you punch him at, buddy?

[chris sobbing]

- [voice breaking] in the head.

♪ ♪

- do you know how many times you punched him?

♪ ♪

- uh, four.

♪ ♪

- what'd you do then?

- I tried to wake him up.

Then I felt, I guess, what is that, remorse?

- Yeah.

- And then he was mumbling stuff under his breath to me,

and I was like-- then I said, "screw it."

♪ ♪

I tied him to a pole.

- In the closet? - Yeah.

- Ok. - With a red strap, a rope.

- Mm-kay.

Can you explain to me where all the duct tape came from?

- I don't know.

I don't know where no duct tape came from.

- Well, there was a lot of duct tape and stuff around him.

- There wasn't no duct tape involved.

♪ ♪

- did you take anything out of his house

while you were there?

- I took a little bit of jewelry.

♪ ♪

narrator: He claims that when he left,

terry was still alive.

♪ ♪

- I'll be back with you in a minute.

♪ ♪

I ask him about duct tape, he goes,

"I don't use any duct tape."

who knows?

I'm thinking jimmi was straight up,

and so she's probably gonna be a witness in this later.

Well, I need to get chris's phone records.

♪ ♪

- I didn't believe chris wilson when he said,

"I didn't know anything about the duct tape."

he was tough because you wanted to believe him

based on kind of his emotional statements.

But at the same time, you knew there was more to it,

and I think he was having a really hard time

getting over the fact that he was gonna

have to say it out loud.

[tense music]

- hey, mark, you got a winner on that search warrant.

Narrator: Chris's phone records are in.

- There's some pretty good text messages.

She said, "take his car."

- really?

♪ ♪

- and then he says,

"do you want me to do that?"

"yeah." "ok.

He has a fat bank card, and I know his pin number."

♪ ♪

her response? "give it to me." - man.

- "I might have to knock this old man out, babe.

What do I do?"

"do it."

♪ ♪

she makes a comment about, "I want his jewelry and guns."

- she says that?

Holy [bleep].

With a homicide suspect,

you always want to be prepared.

You want to have all the ammo necessary

to make them feel it's over.

You know everything.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

- we're gonna talk right here.

♪ ♪

it's up to you. Mm-kay?

- You are being arrested.

- For what? - First-degree murder.

- I didn't do it! - Mm-kay.

Well, I'm just telling you what you're being arrested for.

- Are you serious? - Yeah.

♪ ♪

- are you serious?

Sir, I didn't kill anybody.

♪ ♪

- I have plenty of evidence

to show that you were involved in this.

[jimmi sobs]

hey, it's time to be a big girl right now.

- I didn't kill anybody.

♪ ♪

- do you remember the first time that we spoke?

- Yes, sir.

- There was plenty of things that you left out

in this whole thing, mm-kay? - What--like what?

- I specifically asked you,

"did you know anything about chris hurting somebody?"

how he got the car?

And you said, "no."

♪ ♪

- I didn't know it was a dead man's car,

believe me, or I would not have been in it.

♪ ♪

- and I've got text messages between him and you.

He's telling you he's with this guy, terry.

- Yeah, you do.

♪ ♪

you tell him to take his car.

Then you tell him "to bring me jewelry, money, and guns."

- we're not gonna play the, "oh, I was on xanax,

I didn't know what I was doing."

- no, no, I probably was.

- And then he talks about duct taping the guy up.

You never mentioned that in our interview.

- I don't remember that.

♪ ♪

- how could you not remember that?

♪ ♪

and then he even asked you,

"do you really want me to go through with this?"

and you said, "yeah."

- I don't remember any of that.

♪ ♪

[voice breaking] I didn't do it.

I didn't-- I didn't kill the guy.

- I didn't say you killed him.

But you're a part of it.

You're a principal in this.

♪ ♪

at least have some remorse about what happened.

♪ ♪

- I'm sure chris killed the guy for...

I don't know what.

He's an old man. He's my dad's age.

♪ ♪

he was my dad's age.

I would feel terrible if somebody did that to my dad.

- You would?

- Oh, my god!

[crying]

♪ ♪

- own up to what you did.

♪ ♪

you remember going shopping.

You remember using the credit card.

But when we start talking about specific texting--

- lawyer, please. - Oh, man.

- Lawyer. - You just can't remember.

Lawyer? Ok, that's fine.

- Can I call my dad at least?

- No, you can't.

- I just want to say bye to my daughter. Please.

- You'll get phone calls in jail. We're done.

- [sobbing]

I didn't...Kill nobody.

- No, but you're sure a part of it.

♪ ♪

- I'm sorry.

I'm [bleep] sorry.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- she instigates it,

and she says, "take his car."

- and "I don't remember sending those."

you don't get to not remember stuff like that.

- Yeah.

♪ ♪

- okay.

♪ ♪

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

- homicide detectives see a lot

throughout their careers.

Still, there are moments that are unexpected.

♪ ♪

in dallas, texas, detective brian tabor

was investigating the murder of a man

shot in a garage,

and it led to an unforgettable confession.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- it's just a detached garage back there

that they converted to a little living area.

The me's on their way.

- Hey, brian, this is gonna be [indistinct].

♪ ♪

- james lamont stevens.

♪ ♪

narrator: The victim is 40-year-old james stevens.

An amputee, he lost his leg

in an accident several years ago

and turned to panhandling to make ends meet.

♪ ♪

- there's casings all over.

♪ ♪

I think we're up to what, ten or twelve?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

narrator: James has been shot

several times in the back.

♪ ♪

- suspect just unloaded.

♪ ♪

hey, bud, what's your first name?

♪ ♪

- do you know anything what happened today?

♪ ♪

narrator: He says james' roommate, speedy,

might have been in the room when the shooting happened.

♪ ♪

- which one's speedy?

♪ ♪

narrator: Speedy is still on the scene.

♪ ♪

- we're gonna get him taken down now,

just get him in a more comfortable setting.

Narrator: They take speedy to headquarters

to find out what he knows.

♪ ♪

- all right, man.

My name's brian tabor.

I'm a detective with dallas pd.

♪ ♪

so you were there.

- Yeah.

- Ok.

Tell me from the very beginning.

♪ ♪

- who's we all?

Narrator: Speedy says the previous night,

he and the victim and the victim's girlfriend,

goldie, were in the garage playing dominoes.

- Ok.

- Everything? - Yeah.

- Was she wearing her panties and bra?

- Just completely nude. - Yeah.

♪ ♪

- kept on on her getting dressed.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- her name's letisha morgan.

♪ ♪

34 years old.

She's been arrested for...

Prostitution two months ago.

♪ ♪

huh.

Narrator: Tabor comes across

some surprising information.

- Looks like letisha

was questioned in a murder back in 2010

in sioux falls, south dakota.

♪ ♪

they first need to find their suspect.

♪ ♪

in dallas, detective tabor learned some surprising news

about his investigation.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

[line trills]

- hey, detective webb.

It's brian tabor with dallas pd.

Narrator: Tabor gets ahold of the detective

in charge of the homicide case

in sioux falls, south dakota.

- I don't know much about y'all's case.

What happened on y'all's deal?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- our deal is, she had a, you know,

kind of a boyfriend she was staying with,

and she just shot him.

Uh...She emptied the magazine.

I think she got him 11 times

out of the 12 that were in the magazine.

So she just--

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- if we get her, and she's willing to talk,

do you want us to bring up the...

Y'all's case?

- Ok.

♪ ♪

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

narrator: A few days later...

♪ ♪

- all right, letisha.

My name is brian tabor, and I'm a detective with

the dallas police department, ok?

Now...

Do you know a guy by the name of james?

- Yes.

- Were y'all dating?

Kinda like a boyfriend, girlfriend type of deal?

- Yeah.

- Did you know that he was staying in...

The back of a garage?

- No.

- So you never been over there to...

You know what happened to james?

- When's the last time you talked to james?

♪ ♪

- [stammers] you talked to him before you killed him?

- Ok.

Well, that's what I want to talk--

what I want to talk to you about.

What happened...

With james?

- What, you walked into the garage and...

♪ ♪

- ok, well, that night, I understand

that you and james got into an argument.

- Uh-huh.

- Well, did y'all get into an argument

about you taking your clothes off and...

Walking around the yard naked?

- Well, hey...

- Who, james?

- Does he get mad or does he get jealous?

...This and that. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

- You were just kind of fed up with the whole situation.

- Ok.

You moved down here from...

- Sioux falls.

What took you to sioux falls?

- It's ok.

♪ ♪

- did anything happen up in sioux falls?

- [sighs]

- what happened up there?

♪ ♪

- ok. Can you tell me about that?

What happened on that deal?

- A guy that you were dating?

- Yeah.

- Ok. Did you have anything to do with that guy's death?

- No.

- Letisha, you're being honest about everything.

So you had nothing to do with that murder?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- no, no-- look at me, letisha.

Letisha, look at me, please.

- I don't want you to tell me something--

you did something you did not do.

♪ ♪

- well, what happened?

Was he abusive to you?

Was it kind of a similar situation where...

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- you remember how many times you stabbed him?

- Do you know what you did afterwards?

- Yeah, um...

- I'm talking about after you stabbed him.

♪ ♪

- she admitted to killing james, and...

♪ ♪

admitted to--told us why she did it and how she did it.

On the case in sioux falls,

they didn't have enough to file on her.

Getting the confession is what they needed.

Turn around for me.

I'm sure it's gonna be satisfying

that they can close their case for the family's sake.

And get her off the streets, 'cause obviously,

letisha doesn't need to be out there on the streets

with anybody.

♪ ♪

- thanksgiving eve.

What I've been told when I got the phone call was,

it was a male wrapped in a blanket on a street.

♪ ♪

- atlanta detective david quinn is known

for being very effective in the interview room.

In this next case,

quinn had his hands full

when it appeared someone was targeting

and killing homeless people.

♪ ♪

- what's that, brother?

- This gentleman appears to be homeless.

He's sleeping out here on the sidewalk.

♪ ♪

shot multiple times. - Ok.

♪ ♪

- anybody give dude a name yet?

♪ ♪

he's tommy mims.

♪ ♪

narrator: 58-year-old tommy mims

was known as can man.

He grew up in a large family in atlanta,

but had been homeless for almost 30 years.

♪ ♪

- that one's traveling through...

- There's another one there.

Narrator: Tommy was shot

three times in the chest

and twice in the head.

♪ ♪

- yes. - Checks out.

- He was right here. - Let me see.

♪ ♪

- it's a big-ass gun.

♪ ♪

- he's got two coming out of his head.

- In the head.

- Projectiles came out so pristine.

I mean, they look like teeth.

- And what's that looking like? A .45?

- A big gun.

Either a .357 or a .45 revolver, maybe.

- That's crazy.

♪ ♪

looks like it's just a straight-up malice murder.

I mean, what's he got to rob? There's nothing.

His whole life is in that shopping cart up there.

♪ ♪

[indistinct chatter]

- hey, quinn. - Mm-hmm.

- You think that's related or what?

- Wow.

Narrator: Three days earlier,

and just a few miles away,

another homeless man, also murdered in his sleep.

- Unbelievable.

- Right now, it looks like almost exactly the same.

Two homeless people, sleeping,

wrapped in blankets and shot to death.

It could be a gang initiation.

It could be racially motivated.

We haven't had anything like this since I've been here.

♪ ♪

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

- the gun in question is a taurus judge .45.

♪ ♪

looks like a [bleep] cannon.

This gun is rare.

In the street, you don't see revolvers like this.

♪ ♪

[phone ringing]

- this is quinn.

♪ ♪

- get the hell outta here.

Hold on, let me get something to write with

so you can-- [stammers]

I know I haven't had any sleep,

but you've got me dreaming over here.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- ...Adam, edward, man...

- Aeman presley.

Narrator: The transit police

are transporting presley to homicide.

- Bye-bye. - All right, bye.

- That's crazy, what just happened.

Just wanna know who he is.

♪ ♪

narrator: 34-year-old aeman lovel presley

has felony convictions for terroristic threats

and obstruction.

♪ ♪

- he's not gonna want to talk without a lawyer.

♪ ♪

all right, I'm gonna see what's up with this brother.

♪ ♪

- ended up getting two bags, man.

And they were little.

Sometime it works like that, you know what I mean?

- Initially, coming into that interview room,

you've gotta have some kind of icebreaker.

If you can find that, or you can crack a joke,

or you can somehow lighten this mood of,

"hey, we're getting ready to talk about

you killing somebody."

it's gonna help you in the long run.

♪ ♪

- you ever see this cat before?

His name is tommy mims. He's a homeless brother.

He was sleeping in, like, some covers.

And he was shot.

A lot. Ok?

There was another case where this guy right here got killed.

You ever see him before?

His name is dorian jenkins.

What stuck out to me was,

the bullets in this man,

and the bullets in this man here,

they looked exactly the same.

Turns out they both came from the same kind of gun.

Right? - Mm-hmm.

- Well, when you got stopped today,

you had this very same ammo and the gun on you.

♪ ♪

if you can't explain this, it is an issue.

Something mental that I need to know about?

- Mm-hmm.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- when you say "demons," what's that mean?

♪ ♪

- make me understand this.

Talk about it. Take your time.

- And so...

- You?

- No [bleep].

I want to see if I can get a job acting.

- Mm-hmm.

♪ ♪

- that's for sure. - Well...

- Hm.

♪ ♪

- and when was that?

- Shooting him right there in the restaurant?

♪ ♪

- no [bleep], right?

- I heard what you had to say,

and I'm just trying to figure out.

- I don't want to waste your time.

Just give me a second.

- Well, take your time.

We ain't rushing. We ain't rushing.

Already told my wife I'ma be late anyway.

♪ ♪

- take your time. - You know what I'm saying?

- Your life is fluid, brother.

- I know. - Your life is meaningful.

And...

♪ ♪

whatever's in you, it's all about the truth, man.

That's it.

That's why we sitting here.

That's it.

♪ ♪

- mm-hmm.

- Oh, [bleep].

- How many do you think it's been altogether?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- in the interview room,

the biggest trick that I learned is...

You move the table, you move all the obstacles

between you and that person.

The power of human touch is massive, you know?

And sometimes a hand on a shoulder

can be the turning point in an interview.

[tense music]

- that's dorian jenkins.

Talk to me about what happened.

- Mm-hmm.

♪ ♪

- mm-hmm.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- mm-kay.

Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam.

♪ ♪

- which one do you want to talk about next?

- The one that came before mr. Jenkins?

Was it in atlanta?

♪ ♪

narrator: Presley says he killed his first victim

two months before he killed dorian jenkins.

- What'd he look like?

- Ok.

♪ ♪

- so...

How did you arrive at mr. Tommy mims?

What happened?

- So what'd you do?

- So the blood lust is driving the bus.

♪ ♪

- ok.

- "boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom."

♪ ♪

- mm-hmm.

- Mm-hmm.

Boom.

- Mm-hmm.

- Mm-hmm.

♪ ♪

narrator: Ten days after killing tommy mims,

he says he shot a woman in decatur.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- how many times did you shoot?

♪ ♪

- there's been nothing else since then.

♪ ♪

- you know what?

You just told the truth.

♪ ♪

narrator: After 5 1/2 hours...

Quinn ends the interview.

♪ ♪

- ooh.

- Spread your feet.

- The bullet box I published nationwide yesterday

is in his bag. Who does that?

That's somebody who wants to give it up.

Wants to stop what he's doing.

That wasn't me. I just sat there and listened.

Was humble to my luck today.

That's it, so...

That's it.

[somber music]

♪ ♪

- interviewing homicide suspects

that have committed

unthinkable things...

Is gonna stick with you.

But no matter how bad it affects you,

you're gonna do your job, and you're gonna do it well.

♪ ♪

because it's about the victims.

It's about their families.

It's about... "if this person did this,

"not letting them ever, ever, ever,

do it to someone else."

♪ ♪