Original subtitles

[ police radio chatter, Tires screech ]

Narrator: Two murder investigations

From the case files Of detective rod demery.

-oh, my god! -okay, step back.

[ flies buzzing ]

A gruesome discovery Propels demery

Into one of the most Bizarre cases of his career.

Demery: it's the kind of thing That you associate

With a mafia or cartel-type hit,

Not with a happily married Father from the suburbs.

Narrator: then, a showdown With police ends in bloodshed.

Demery: In moments like this,

The police officer's instinct And training takes over.

Everything is muscle memory.

Everything is reactionary.

Narrator: And when the smoke clears,

Demery faces A painful realization.

Demery: there's probably nothing Worse than showing up

At a crime scene And a person who's been shot

Is somebody that you know And love.

My gut told me That he was trouble,

But I didn't know I was looking Into the eyes of a killer.

Murder and me -- We go way back.

When I was a child, Murder took my mother.

Years later, It came for my brother.

That's when I found My mission in life.

Every case I worked, I solved.

Every case I solved, I got a confession.

I'm detective rod demery.

I didn't choose murder.

Murder chose me.

--captions by vitac-- Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

It is a wednesday morning, A little after 8:00 a.M.,

And george mcwaters

Is opening his roofing business For the day.

Hey, boys,

We got to take everything In this one truck today.

There's issues With parking at the location.

-yes, sir. -sure thing.

On this particular morning, We were loading trucks

Out front Of the office building.

Woman: help!

And heard a loud screaming.

[ crying ] Please help me.

What the hell?

Help me.

And we looked up and saw A girl running down the road.

Help me.

What's wrong?

[ engine revving ]

What?[ tires screech ]

Please.What's the problem?

Back up.

Seeing that gun come out Was shocking, and we froze.

We stopped in our tracks.

-get back! -please, please.

Back up, back up, back up.Take it easy, man.

Take it easy.

Do not move. Sidney, get in the car.

It looked as if They were coming

From a wedding or a funeral.

We don't see that very much --

People dressed up like that Running down the street

At 8:00 in the morning.

Stay back.Please.

Get back right now. Get in the car.

Mcwaters: It looked like the woman Was in fear of her life...

No, no, no.Get in the car.

Get in the car right now.No, no. Ow!

No, please.

...And grabbed her by the hair

And was dragging her back To his car.

No!Get in the car!

Now! Get in the car.

Do not move.

Mcwaters: we could not do Anything towards protecting her

Or stopping anything From happening.

We felt helpless.

Sorry, please.

Shut up![ engine revs ]

Please.[ tires screech ]

I'll call 911.

I've seen a lot of things Happen, but this was more crazy

Than some other things I've witnessed.

I'll always remember What I saw that day.

♪♪

Demery: On this particular morning,

I was on my way into the office To begin day shift...

And the radio goes off.

It's a shots fired call.

Dispatch, this is demery. I'm en route now.

[ car engine starts ]3049 is a highway marker.

And it's a little odd To be given a highway marker

Instead of an address, So at this point,

I'm not sure what's going on.

But I turned on the lights that Are inside my unmarked car

And speed to the scene.

[ engine revs ]

[ siren wailing ]

[ police radio chatter ]

♪♪

When I pull up to the scene, I see two police cruisers

Parked behind a black sedan.

Between the police cruisers And the black sedan

Is a body laying in the street.

As I get closer,

I see that the patrol officers Look really shaky.

The detective with them Is craig ivey,

Who I know very well.

Everybody okay?

Yeah. Let me fill you in.All right.

Demery: Ivey pulls me to the side.

He told me That there was a car chase

And at the end of the car chase There was a gun battle

And the officers Had to shoot the suspect.

Shooting and killing someone Is not an easy thing to do.

Afterwards, You're second-guessing yourself,

Whether or not You should have done it,

Whether or not There was another way to do it.

It's a pretty trying incident.

We should probably Give 'em a minute.

Okay, well, I'm gonna go take a look.

Okay.

♪♪

The suspect is lying About 20, 25 yards

In front of The police officer's car.

♪♪

There's not a lot of blood,

But there's an obvious gunshot Wound to the suspect's head.

As I look at the suspect Laying on the ground,

I feel like I know him.

I'm not sure how, But I got an eerie feeling

That I know this guy.

♪♪

Ah, damn.

As I walk up to the vehicle,

I notice there's another body Inside the vehicle.

♪♪

It's a black female, deceased,

In the passenger seat Of the vehicle.

♪♪

She's received An obvious gunshot wound

To her clavicle And gunshot wounds to the head,

As there was a raccooning Beneath her eyes.

Raccooning is when There is a lot of pressure

That enters the head.

All that pressure creates blood In sort of a vacuum,

And it's evident by dark rings Or circles beneath the eyes.

♪♪

Looking at the victim, I'm wondering who the victim is,

How is she connected To the suspect,

And who shot her.

So, how you guys doing?

Definitely not the way We want to spend our day,

But we're okay.

Yeah. Why don't you take me Through what happened?

Sure. Uh, we got a call From dispatch about a man

Possibly holding a female At gunpoint.

Mm-hmm.We saw that sedan, gave chase.

Demery: The officers explained

That they pursued him For a couple of miles.

While they were pursuing The suspect, they hear gunshots

And actually see the muzzle Flash of a gun being fired

Inside the vehicle.

At which point he pulled over And got out of the car,

Started firing at us.

We shot back at him, Struck him, and killed him.

In moments like this,

The police officer's instinct And training takes over.

They don't have time to think.

Everything is muscle memory. Everything is reactionary,

And when they see bullets Are being fired at them,

Their natural reaction Is to fire.

And after we determined the Subject was no longer a threat,

We approached the vehicle

And located the deceased female Inside the vehicle.

Have we identified The suspect or the victim?

Not yet, sir.

I'll take care of that.Thanks, man.

[ siren wailing ]

Look, guys, sounds like you Didn't have much choice, right?

♪♪

As I speak to them,

A caddo parish Sheriff's deputy's vehicle

Arrived on the scene.

Excuse me.

When the detective Gets out of the vehicle,

I realize it's donnie laney.

Donnie laney is a caddo parish Sheriff's deputy

Who's a homicide investigator.

He's also my neighbor.

What's happening, man?

Hey, buddy.What you doing out here?

What do you mean, What am I doing out here?

What are you doing out here?

Me and demery Have been friends for 10 years

And neighbors for 10 years.

We pass each other In the profession.

We shared information on cases That could help each other out.

This is my jurisdiction, Neighbor.

Yeah. I suppose you're right.

Demery: the city of shreveport Is patrolled by city police.

As you start to go outside The city and the city limits,

That's patrolled By the sheriff's department.

I realized that we have traveled Into his jurisdiction.

Laney: 'cause it was outside The city limits,

We take over The lead investigation.

I was told I would be the lead Investigator on this homicide.

Well, listen, you want me To bring you up to speed

Before I get out of here?That'd be great.

Demery: As I'm briefing laney,

Detective ivey Starts to walk towards us.

And as he approaches,

He has the I.D. Cards Of the victim and the suspect.

Hey, man, what'd you find?

Yeah, so, uh, the suspect Is donnie ray plater,

42 years old.

Okay. And the female victim?

♪♪

What is it, man?

Ivey's very reluctant

When I ask For her identification card.

♪♪

Sidney jackson?

When ivey gave me the I.D. Card, It just went out of me.

I realized that I know Who the victim is

And I know her very well.

But for some reason, When I looked at her body,

I just didn't recognize her.

Sidney jackson Was a very special person to me.

We had a brief relationship In the past,

And we remained Very close friends.

I couldn't begin to process That she had been murdered.

There's probably nothing worse Than showing up at a crime scene

And the person who's been shot, Killed,

Or mutilated in some form

Is somebody That you know and love.

It's really every homicide Detective's worst nightmare.

♪♪

[ police radio chatter ]

♪♪

Demery: I'm investigating A bizarre shooting

That resulted in the death of Both the victim and the suspect.

♪♪

After killing the woman He was holding hostage,

42-year-old donnie plater Was gunned down

In a gun battle with the police.

While inspecting The crime scene,

I realized I have a history With the victim,

Sidney jackson.

Did you know her, rod?

♪♪

Yeah.

We used to date. She and I were tight.

I met sidney jackson Several years before.

I was working As a burglary detective,

And I got a call to a burglary In the city sunset acreage area.

We had a rash of burglaries In that area.

And we went to the home Of ms. Jackson,

And she had been burglarized.

They went through the dresser In my bedroom.

They took my laptop, My -- my jewelry.

They even took My grandmother's ring.

I understand. Well, look.

We're gonna do everything we can To try and get your stuff back.

Look, I know how this goes.

Sidney was real concerned About the burglary,

And it was clear That she was shaken.

I know that my stuff Is outside,

Being sold For drugs or something.

Well, look, We don't know that yet, okay?

And my plan is to check All the local pawnshops

And try and stop this guy Before he gets that far, okay?

Okay, yeah.

Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you.

Look, if I was you, I might do the same thing.

All right?

I promise you, I'm gonna Take care of this for you, okay?

Yeah. Thank you.

Yeah.

Have a good one.

You too.

When I met her, there was An immediate connection.

We just hit it off.

She was An incredibly beautiful woman.

She was obviously burglarized And frustrated,

But she was polite and gracious In spite of all that.

Wow! What was that?

What?

That look. You know what I'm talking about.

Was it that obvious?

Man, look, You better find her stuff.

That's all I'm saying.

Yeah, I plan to, man.Bet you do.

Definitely planning to.

There had been a rash of Burglaries in that neighborhood,

And I had a pretty good idea who Had committed the burglaries,

And I was already on the trail So I could solve the case

And return the things To ms. Jackson.

Hi. Hey.

What?

How did you even do this?

Hey, I'm police, man.

I don't know How to thank you.

Yeah, no worries.

Come in. Thank you.

After that, I didn't know If I was gonna see her again,

But I hoped at some point That I would.

♪♪

You guys have a good night, Get home safely.

I.D., please.

Oh, my god.

Hey. What's up?[ chuckles ] Hello, rod.

How are you?

I'm good. How are you doing?

Good. It's so good to see you.

It had been a couple years Since I'd seen sidney,

And I was working off-duty At a festival downtown.

Good. Just working.

Sidney had this big, Huge smile.

All the things That were really bad

With work and violence Just kind of went away.

Well, it's good to see you.

Thank you.

Hey, uh...

Think you might want to grab A bite to eat?

♪♪

Yeah, yeah. Yeah?

Yeah, that sounds good.

Cool. Why don't you see me On the way out?

Okay. Don't forget.All right?

And I won't forget, I promise.Okay. [ chuckles ]

♪♪

Rod, I'm really sorry man.

Yeah. Me too, man.

You know, She had a couple of kids,

Worked hard at the hospital.

When I found out it was sidney, I was just shocked.

None of it made sense At that particular moment.

I had actually been in The vehicle.

I was two inches away From her face,

And I didn't recognize her.

You're not expecting to see Somebody that you love

As that victim in that car,

But, also, the disfigurement Is generally substantial

When there's a gunshot wound To the head.

This is your jurisdiction, Right?

Yeah, but if you want to --

Please, Just take care of this.

I-I can't -- I can't deal with this.

Demery: when I found out It was sidney in that car dead,

I just didn't want to be there.

[ siren wails, Police radio chatter ]

I knew that I wouldn't Be able to function

As a police officer, Detective, or person.

I don't remember Even saying goodbye.

I left the scene and went home For the rest of the day.

♪♪

When I got home,

I was trying to remember The last time I talked to her,

And I had odd memories of her.

I think the biggest Was the cake that I baked.

I made it as a surprise,

And it was something That I never did.

I just never did That kind of thing.

Wait. So you made this yourself?

Yeah. I really did.

[ gasps ] It's beautiful.

Uh, I don't know About that.

I think something went wrong With the recipe.

Listen, it's thoughtful, And I love it.

Do you? Yeah.

♪♪

Let's cut it.

Demery: It was lopsided.

It was probably The ugliest thing

You ever seen in your life.

But she looked at it And ate it

Like it was just some elaborate, Beautiful creation.

[ tv plays indistinctly ]

When sidney and I Would hang out,

It would be such a great time.

[ cellphone vibrating ]

But it was always interrupted.

[ sighs ]

[ cellphone vibrating ]

This is demery.

It would be abruptly interrupted By somebody got shot,

Somebody got robbed.

All right, I'm on my way.

[ cellphone beeps ]

Hey, I'm gonna try and be back As quick as I can, okay?

Seriously.My job always had me out,

And I certainly wasn't gonna Put her in a position

Where she had to play Second fiddle to police work,

So we remained friends.

I hadn't seen her In probably a year.

I talked to her quite often, But I hadn't seen her.

That night, I had a range of emotions.

♪♪

At one point, I got really angry,

And I couldn't understand

How somebody could do that To sidney.

It's not my case to work, But I know I won't rest

Until I find out Why plater murdered sidney.

So instead of just stewing About what happened to sidney,

I decided To look into what happened.

At the crime scene,

I learned the killer's name Was donnie plater,

But that's pretty much All I knew about him.

I want to make sense of it,

So I go back To the police station,

And I start To look into plater's background

And see who he is.

♪♪

I found out that sidney and Plater were actually married.

As I researched plater further, I find out that he's an abuser.

This is not the first woman He's beat or hurt.

That bothered me a great deal.

Wait a second.

When I pull up plater's photo, I recognize him.

I realized That I met him before.

♪♪

It was a few years earlier.

I was working off-duty At a restaurant,

And sidney and donnie walked in.

Hi, rod.Sidney girl, how you doing?

I'm good. How are you?

I'm good.

Always working.

Yeah. You got me.

What's going on, brother?

Let's go. Our table's ready.

Uh, I'll look forward To seeing you again?

Yeah, for sure.

When I saw plater, I just didn't like him.

I didn't like Anything about him.

I usually get that About evil people.

I can feel it.

It's just a police thing, I guess.

♪♪

[ sighs ]

♪♪

My gut told me That he was trouble.

♪♪

But I didn't know I was looking Into the eyes of a killer.

♪♪

Demery: The murder of a good friend

Has me struggling To control my emotions.

♪♪

After discovering the suspect Was sidney's husband,

I realized that I had met Donnie plater before.

Now I'm left with more questions Than answers.

♪♪

Listen, I've got some questions

That I just can't seem To find the answers to.

Can I come over And talk to you?

I wondered What would make plater

Want to kill such an innocent And sweet person.

Yeah, thanks. I'll see you in a bit.

♪♪

The next day, I went to visit With sidney's mother and sister.

Guys, I'm really sorry.

I know this has got To be eating you up inside.

So what was going on With their relationship?

I mean, Were they having trouble?

[ sighs ] It's been going bad For a while, rod.

According to sidney's family,

She and plater Have been separated

For the past six months.

They said that plater didn't Actually lay hands on her,

But he was very mentally abusive And would berate her.

She couldn't take it anymore.

One day, She just packed up her stuff

And got the hell out of there.

But donnie -- He wasn't down with her.

We learned from the family

That he had been calling, Harassing her,

Been trying to get The relationship back together,

And she refused.

Donnie didn't want To let go of the relationship.

He would follow her around,

Show up at her church bible Study unannounced, unwanted.

[ bell tolling ]

Man: "The same Was in the beginning with god.

All things Were made by him

And without him Was not anything that made --"

♪♪

Donnie, What are you doing here?

I told you I don't want to talk to you.

Look, sidney, I've been thinking, all right?

And I can change,

And I think We can be a family again.

No, donnie, I'm done.

Sidney.

Sidney, wait.

Sidney, come back here!

I told you, Leave me alone, okay?

Leave me alone.

Holmes: She was moving on with her life.

She was in the process Of getting a divorce.

She had already Moved out of the house,

So she started Seeing somebody else.

And when she started seeing

That old boyfriend From high school

[sighs] Things just went From bad to worse.

Laney: we learned During the investigation

That donnie found out About her new boyfriend,

And I believe that set him off.

Thank you so much, guys.

Thank you.

Demery: Later that week, I received word

The sheriff's investigation Has been completed.

♪♪

What's happening, man?

What's going on rod?

I want to find out Exactly what happened,

So I go find detective laney.

I want to get all the answers.

Well, after talking With all the witnesses

And viewing All the surveillance cameras,

We have a pretty good idea Of what happened.

♪♪

Laney said that sidney spent The night with her boyfriend

At a bossier city casino hotel.

That explains Why she was dressed up.

♪♪

Sidney left the casino At 6:00 a.M. That morning

To take her girls to school,

And she called her boyfriend To let him know

That she would be back soon.

♪♪

Investigators learned That donnie plater

Had actually followed sidney To the casino

And that he had dressed up

In this three-piece suit To blend in,

Which shows donnie's level Of premeditation.

♪♪

Security-cam footage At the casino

Revealed that plater showed up And forced her into the vehicle.

♪♪

[ tires screech ]

♪♪

Donnie, let me out Of this car right now.

Let me out Of the car right now.

No, sidney, You're staying right here.

This isn't the way To go about it.

Why do you even have a gun?

As plater and sidney Drove through downtown,

She attempted to escape At stoplights

Or any time she thought There was an opportunity

To get out of the car.

♪♪

[ sighs ]

Sidney...

Hey where are you going?!

♪♪

[ crying ] Help! Please.

Please help.

I learned On grimmett and airport road,

She jumped out and was banging On the van for help.

Help me!

Please, please, help me!

Miss, miss, hold up.

Please, please help me.My god, what's wrong?

Call 911, please.No.

Hey, man, You mind your business.

You mind your business.Please, no!

Let's go!

Sidney, Get in the car...Now!

Stop! You're hurting me!

Get in the car now!Stop it!

Plater got out, Grabbed her by the hair,

And pulled her back to the car.

We found out she jumped out

Five to six more times Asking for help, and each time,

He would put her back in the car And then drive off.

She was a fighter, rod.

Yeah.

She did everything she could To escape,

But plater kept dragging her Right back into the car.

Demery: when I hear all these Details, I'm filled with rage.

I just wish there was something Or some way

I would have known What was going on.

After all the 911 calls Came out, we gave chase.

[ siren wailing ]

Watching the dashcam video From the pursuing officers

Show exactly How things went down.

[ police radio chatter ]

[ tires screeching ]

♪♪

Plater's driving,

And he won't stop For the police.

The car is drifting In between lanes,

And I think As the car was traveling,

Sidney was trying to escape.

Plater was trying To maintain control

Of the vehicle and sidney.

The spd officers Heard several shots...

[ sirens wailing, gunshots ]

After that, they didn't see Sidney move again.

Right after she was shot, He started speeding up again.

They went out the george road.

He pulls over, and he gets out.

[ sirens wailing ]

♪♪

[ gun cocks ]

When plater Pulled the vehicle over,

He had nothing else to lose.

♪♪

He pulled his firearm

And started firing At the police officers.

♪♪

The officers took cover Behind the vehicles

And began firing at plater.

♪♪

They returned fire,

But neither one of them Hit each other.

He walked To the rear of the car,

Then took off in a jog Towards them, shooting.

♪♪

Aah!

They ended up striking plater Two times,

And once he went down, They went to the car

To see if sidney Needed any medical attention.

♪♪

[ sirens wailing, Police radio chatter ]

As they walk to the vehicle To rescue sidney,

They realize she had been shot And killed.

Laney: they found 10 shell casings in the car,

And she was shot Several times in the upper body.

♪♪

Demery: I think the last few moments For sidney were terrifying.

Here's a beautiful, Incredibly pure person

That's murdered by somebody Who's just savage.

And the reocurring question In my mind

Is how could I not have been In between the two of them.

Whether you give your life Or you take their life,

It doesn't matter.

You preserved the life Of a person who was innocent.

It's just who you are As a police officer.

It's who you are as a person.

Plater was shot And killed by police,

But I think it's too good.

I think he should have suffered In a prison

For the rest of his [bleep] Life But he got the easy way out.

♪♪

When I found out About sidney's services,

I drove to the church, But I didn't get out of the car.

I just couldn't do it.

[ bell tolling ]

♪♪

I didn't want to be around All those people.

I didn't want to have to see All the emotion.

I didn't know how to process What I was feeling.

I didn't know if I was gonna be In control of my emotions.

♪♪

So I waited until everyone left.

♪♪

Since I was 3 And my mother was murdered,

This is the only other person

That I loved dearly That was murdered.

One situation, I was 3 years Old, and I couldn't hold a gun.

And the other time,

I was an adult, But I was somewhere else.

So not being able to interject

Is the difficult part To deal with.

♪♪

[ sniffles ]

[ sighs ]

♪♪

I just pray That sidney's children are okay

And, unfortunate for me,

I know what they are feeling, And they're not okay.

♪♪

I think you've got A future in baking.

I definitely Wouldn't say that.

Sidney was a very unique person.

Her spirit and her happiness, Her blissfulness,

It was just contagious.

I can see her smile, Hear her voice giggle,

All that as if though She was still here.

But the takeaway From this case

Is that people are always in Danger of being violated by evil

And I think that we should Recognize the beauty

And the love that people have And cherish it,

'cause you never know

When somebody like plater Is gonna surface.

♪♪

Narrator: coming up...

When a body turns up In an unlikely location,

Demery is propelled

Into one of the most bizarre Cases of his career.

Demery: it's the kind of thing That you associate

With a mafia Or a cartel-type hit,

Not with a happily married Father from the suburbs.

♪♪

Hey, how's it going?All right. You call?

Yeah. It's the, uh, bmw over here.

Okay, let's go take a look.

Mayfield: On this particular day, An officer was dispatched

To a local tow yard In reference to a vehicle

That had been towed From an apartment complex

For basically parking illegally.

So, uh, you think You can run the plates for me

So I can notify the owners?

Yeah, I can run it. Let me take a look at it first.

Why don't you check inside For a registration slip?Sure.

Tow yards do not have the Ability to run license plates

Or to actually search a vehicle,

So that's why they need Police officers' help.

♪♪

Oh! My god.

What the hell is that?Oh. [ groans ]

Mayfield: the officer detected A strong, foul odor

That kind of took him aback.

Okay, Let's pop the trunk.

Okay.

♪♪

So he made his way To the back of the car.

♪♪

Oh!Oh, my god. Oh, my god.

Okay, step back.[ flies buzzing ]

31 to dispatch.

Mayfield: Just shocked both of them.

There was a body sitting Right there in the trunk.

Yeah, we've got A situation here.

We're gonna need major crime. Send them out, please.

[ coughing ]

It's not at all what they Were expecting to find,

And a body was the last thing On their mind.

[ flies buzzing ]

[ thunder rumbles ]

Demery: when I get the call, I go to miracles towing.

This is your typical Car graveyard.

There are some cars That will never be repaired

And gonna be salvaged for parts.

♪♪

[ beeping ]

Hey, demery.What's up, mayfield?

We got a weird one Out here, man.

All right.

Detective mayfield tells me That they have found a body

In one of the vehicles Parked there.

All right.

All right. Let's see what we've got.

Mayfield found an I.D. In the car

Of a 50-year-old male, Charles thompson.

And when officers Ran the plates,

We learned the car Belonged to him.

♪♪

When a body's found, the coroner Is called immediately.

The coroner has authority And jurisdiction

Over all dead bodies.

We can visually inspect the Body, but we can't move the body

Or touch the body until We've contacted the coroner.

Oh! They weren't Lying about the smell.

The closest comparison To the smell

Is one of rotting meat,

If you've ever had meat That is spoiled

And produces that horrid odor.

Definitely looks like he's Been here for a couple of days.

There are five stages Of decomposition,

And the second stage Is bloating.

That stage, The body fills up with gases,

And as the gases Build up in the body,

The gases force the fluids To leak

From the natural orifices -- The eyes, the nose, et cetera.

This body, the eyes were open,

And you can see as the fluids Are starting to come out.

All right, Let me get a look here.

♪♪

[ police radio chatter ]

As the coroner arrives And we examine the body,

We are looking for Signs of foul play.

Well, that's interesting.

What do you see?

Actually, It's what I don't see.

Coroner tells us There are no stab wounds,

There are no cuts, There's no gunshot,

There's no trauma To the body at all.

So how are you saying He died?

I won't know for sure till We get him back to the morgue.

Okay.

Guys, get him out of there.

[ police radio chatter ]

I'll, uh, Call you with the results.

All right. Thanks doc.

At this point, The only way to find out

The exact cause of death Is to get an autopsy done.

All right. Let's take a look In the car.

The question now Is who had killed this man,

And why would they put him In the trunk?

♪♪

Looks like I got $500 here.

Pills?

You think this guy was dealing?

The fact that there is A large sum of money

And a ziplock bag full of pills,

It's possible That thompson may be involved

In the drug trade.

I mean, He was dressed pretty well

To be a low-level street pusher.

Well, one thing's for sure --

Whoever did this Wasn't looking for money.

Mayfield: the fact that There was still $500 in the car,

As well as the drugs,

Lets you know that there was A purpose behind this killing

And it wasn't robbery.

Demery: In the vehicle's glove box,

I find charles thompson's Cellphone,

Which offers another clue About a possible motive.

I just found this.

It looks like somebody Took the battery out.

When you remove the battery From the phone,

You can no longer track it.

Whoever killed mr. Thompson

Obviously didn't want His body to be found.

Find anything?

Yeah. I got a computer With some drives.

Throughout the cabin Of the vehicle,

We find removable drives, Computer parts.

The question is Is any of this evidence

Related to his death Or his murder?

All right, I think We've got everything.

Let's go see what we can Find out about our vic.

Sounds good. All right.

At this point, I'm done at the crime scene.

I head back To the police station,

And we start to research Charles thompson.

We find out that there has been A missing persons report

Filed for charles thompson.

Who filed the report?

Uh...It looks like his wife Filed it a couple of days ago.

You know, we really should Get out there

And make this Death notification,

See if she knows anything.

All right. Sounds good.

Hopefully, his wife Can give us a lead

On who may have wanted To kill him

Or if he had any enemies.

♪♪

Ma'am, we're with The shreveport police.

Are you married To charles thompson?

[ voice breaking ] Yes, sir, I am.

Mind if we come in?

Yeah.Thank you.

♪♪

When a person files A missing persons report

And homicide detectives Show up at the home,

They kind of have a feeling Of what's coming next.

I knew something awful happened When he didn't come home.

[ sobbing ]

Sennet: lisa tells investigators That her and her husband,

They live a great life.

He has a great job.

He has two kids From a previous relationship.

So she thought all was well,

And that's why this news Was pretty shocking for her.

Demery: Charles thompson is unlike Any of the murder victims

That we typically come across.

He's married. He seems to be stable.

He has a wife who's obviously Concerned and loves him.

He has a great career, And he's fairly wealthy.

The fact that he would be Found in the trunk of a vehicle

At a tow yard is just not Something we were prepared for.

Ma'am, can you think of anyone

Who might've wanted To do some harm to your husband?

♪♪

Not charles.

God no.

He didn't have any enemies.

He was a good man.

He had a few brushes With the law a few years back,

But that was all behind him.

If you think of anything, Please give us a call, okay?

Thank you. [ sobbing ]

So what was that all about

With her husband's brushes With the law?

Yeah, I didn't want To push it on her,

Considering what we Just laid on her.

Yeah, me either, But we got to look into this.

[ car engine starts ]

♪♪

[ telephone rings ]

Demery: I wanted to look At mr. Thompson's

Criminal record, His background.

Maybe it was something

That could have caused him To be murdered.

Wow. Look at this.

Yeah, so we've got fraud, Forgery, and theft.

Now, maybe he ripped off The wrong person, right?

Somebody just wasn't Gonna put up with it.

Mayfield: Messing with someone's money

Is definitely a reason That somebody may want to hurt

Or take the life Of mr. Thompson.

It's clear that whatever Mr. Thompson was doing,

He has created some enemies,

And it may have brought somebody To his doorstep to kill him.

♪♪

Demery: I'm investigating The death of charles thompson,

Who was found dead In the trunk of his own car.

Now we learn that thompson

Had a history Of white-collar crimes.

And I'm thinking that may have Played into him being murdered.

But in doing our background Check on mr. Thompson,

We learned his past crimes May not be so far in the past.

Demery: And it looks like

There's an active warrant out For charles thompson.

So one of our guys Was looking to bust him?

Yep.

Who's working the case?

Let me check.

As I'm looking through Thompson's record,

I find the detective Who obtained the warrant

Is detective bobby herring.

Herrings's a pretty Thorough detective,

And I'm betting that this time

He knows a lot more About my victim than I do.

Herring: yeah, I heard you found Thompson's body, right?

Yeah.

[ sighs ] Now, did you read his record?

This guy had his hand In a few different cookie jars.

Herring tells me That thompson

Has schemed a lot of people Throughout the country --

Chicago, new york, l.A. --

And he owes a lot of money To a lot of people.

You think somebody was Trying to settle a score

By murdering him?

I don't know, But the strange thing is,

I talked to him the other day,

And he was gonna Turn himself in to me.

Nonviolent warrants are usually Negotiated over the phone.

You can simply call up A suspect

And tell him that You need to see him,

And they'll come in willingly.

He was being pretty cooperative,

So I was pretty Confident he'd show up.

Hmm. Maybe somebody got wind Of it, got nervous,

And decided To take him out early.

My thought is that maybe Thompson had a partner in crime,

And when that partner found out

That thompson Was going in to the police

That he could've game Him up or her up

And they took him out.

Excuse me, detective demery.

Yeah?The coroner's office called.

They wanted to let you know That they just finished

The initial autopsy On charles thompson.

Okay, thank you. You want to take a ride?

-sounds good. -cool.

-catch up with you later, Brother. Thank you.

I'm hoping the coroner's gonna Give me some information

That's gonna help Put this puzzle together.

♪♪

Hey, doc, What's going on?

What's up, guys?

So, what have you got for us On mr. Thompson?

Well, the findings Are a little surprising.

It does explain why

We didn't find any injuries On his body, though.

What is it. What happened to him?

He died Of a drug overdose.

♪♪

A drug overdose. Are you sure?

I'm pretty confident.

Now, we don't have the full Toxicology report back yet,

But all of the preliminary Findings indicate that.

The fact that thompson Died of an overdose

Obscures everything.

How likely is it For someone to ingest thompson

With enough drugs to kill him?

There's something missing.

I just can't figure it out yet.

♪♪

You know, something Doesn't feel right.

Yeah.

There's just Got to be more to this.

What do you say We go by the forensic lab,

See if they've got any info

About the drives We found in thompson's car.

All right.

Our electronic forensics unit

Had been examining The drives,

And their job is to locate Any forensic evidence

Of crimes or information

That could give us direction Into this investigation.

♪♪

What's happenin', jason?

How are you, detective?

Good, man.

So, what've you got For us from the stuff

From the thompson car?

Well, mr. Thompson Was a busy man.

♪♪

The computer tech tells me

That he's found all sorts of Evidence of financial crimes.

Thompson had account numbers, Access numbers, pin numbers,

Personal identification-type Information

On different people.

This is just a fraction Of the bank accounts

He had access to.

There's a huge black market For this type of information.

Thieves all over the world Will pay good money for it.

Hmm.

Not only that, But I found something

A little more personal Regarding charles thompson.

What the hell?

Are you kidding? It's a suicide note. [ scoffs ]

Demery: now I realize That this wasn't a homicide.

It wasn't An accidental overdose.

Mr. Thompson intentionally Took his own life.

He must've known

That detective herring Had the goods on him.

Yeah. Knew he was getting close To getting caught.

This wasn't about drugs.

It wasn't about drug-dealing

Or even someone Wanting to kill him

For stealing their information.

It was about the fact

That the walls were starting To close in on thompson,

And he decided He was gonna get out.

♪♪

Mayfield: Mr. Thompson had decided That he couldn't overcome

The mistakes that he had made In his life,

The embarrassment that he was Gonna be to his family,

And he drove his vehicle To an apartment complex

And just parked it.

He took the battery Out of his phone.

He didn't want anybody To try to talk him out of it.

He was smart enough to know

That there would be No possible way

That his phone could be pinged

If it didn't have Any power supply.

♪♪

So I think thompson Thought this out thoroughly

Before he ended his life.

♪♪

♪♪

He then ingested A large amount of pills,

Crawled into The fetal position...

♪♪

...And died.

Mayfield: once mr. Thompson's Life ended that night,

Apartment managers found his car Parked in somebody else's spot

And towed his car To the tow yard.

Demery: that tow truck driver Was not just towing a car.

He was towing a dead body.

The case was ruled a suicide And closed.

Mayfield: when someone decides To take their life,

You know, to them, That was the final option.

But unfortunately, The pain that they don't see

Is that mom, that dad, That wife

Who feels like had I said One more thing,

Told them I loved them One last time,

You know, maybe they Wouldn't have done this.

Demery: this is a case Not like any I've seen.

Finding a body In the trunk of a vehicle,

One automatically Assumes it is a homicide.

But that's homicide Investigation.

Nothing is ever As it appears to be.