00:00:00
[Music] that crime scene was just brutal and evil and just [Music] ugly Linda Slayton remembered as a
00:00:22
loving mother was found dead in this home in 1981 it was a case that went cold for nearly four decades when two
00:00:30
brothers who weren't sure whether their mother's murder would ever be solved got
00:00:34
a chance of I freaked out I started crying I saw the whole crime scene right then and there as a 12-year-old kid I'd
00:00:41
have died that night trying to save my mom but I didn't hear nothing it's so hard to live with that
00:00:48
that one case just bothered me the way I saw that lady he entered that window and he went
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out of that window and that's where I got this print from son of a [ __ ] walking the street he's out free we
00:01:04
truly felt that the person that left us DNA behind was the person that actually killed her the boyfriend of Linda
00:01:11
certainly high on the list her ex-husband was another one all you need is a DNA match a hit that's all I need
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is a hit in the database and the further we went the longer we went the more discouraging you
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got the Hope started fading you can't lose your mom no worse than we lost our mom it's a nightmare I
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wouldn't wish on nobody I love you girl now we can't undo the tragedy we can never make up for what
00:01:44
happened the best outcome is that they get Justice I I may die I never know who did this you know loved ones and
00:01:51
especially children of a murder victim they need those answers remember how many techs we had to go through over the
00:01:58
years we was going to let them know we're still here here and we want we wanted who killed our
00:02:02
mom 38 years after this brutal murder that is felt like it know would be soft 38 years of more than two dozen
00:02:15
detectives coming up empty every turn I was striking out how long did it take you chromosome 3
00:02:23
chromosome 4 to solve this crime two days [Music] [Music] on the morning of September 4th
00:03:27
1981 you're going to walk Three to down mhm and have a cup of coffee with your sister
00:03:34
right when Judy Butler knocked on her older sister's front door Linda Slayton never answered at the time the sisters
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both lived in this Lakeland apartment complex so you started to walk back to your
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place and what happened and I turn and I see that the screen is out of the window Linda's bedroom window was wide
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open Judy walked over and looked inside and my vision comes across her where was she she was laying instead of
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up and down on the bed she was laying Crossways and at first I thought maybe she was
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asleep and then then I just started screaming when police arrived they found the partially Ned body of Linda Slayton
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31 with a wire coat hanger wrapped around her neck the killer had entered her bedroom
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through the open window the crackle of Police radios inside the small two-bedroom apartment
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woke up Linda's 15-year-old son Jeff sleeping on a cot in the living room I asked him what is going on he said
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police officer put on some clothes and go outside and he made sure I went out the front
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door and when I went out there it looked like every cop in the state of Florida cruise and man J was out there crying
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and she told my mom been murdered then I just couldn't believe it in the apartment second bedroom
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another officer woke up Linda's younger son Tim then 12 years old he goes do you
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need to wake up and go outside with your brother he never mentioned my mom like why why he not saying my mom why's the
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cop waking me up still in his pajamas Tim walked pass his mother's closed bedroom door
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suddenly it swung open as an officer left the room and I saw the whole crime scene I
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mean I saw my mom's bloody body with a coat hang around her neck you can't unsee that
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no and I still see it in 19 1974 Linda Slayton was a 24-year-old single mom finally free she
00:06:05
had just divorced Jeff and Tim's abusive father Frank Slayton after nine volatile
00:06:11
years of marriage he was a violent alcoholic to be honest with you yes did he hit your mom no
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yeah in the years that followed nothing was easy for the young family Linda struggled for work made her own clothes
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to save money and couldn't afford a car if you couldn't get a ride to practice who would take you coach come pick us up
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that's Coach Joe as the kids called him he often drove Tim and some other boys to and from football
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practice on the last full day of her life Linda and Jeff argued tensions had been rising with her teenage son I
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remember coming home there was nothing eat in the house you know how it is when you're 15 16 old kid you're mouthy
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and I got mad and I went out the door and got on my bicycle on Road 11 or 12 milesi to the north side of town they go
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to Grandma and Grandpa's house get something to eat at 8:30 that night Tim came home from football practice the
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coach brought me home around 9:00 Linda took Tim to a party next door to play cards grandma
00:07:23
grandpa brought me home about I think it was around 9 9 or 9:30 or so Linda and Tim came home about 11: by midnight Jeff
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made up with his mom he says and still remembers their final moment together she's washing a dishes and stuff when
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she went to uh to go to her bedroom I said I love you Mom I'll see you tomorrow you
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[Music] [Music] know what do you remember about the this Lon case I can remember everything about
00:08:01
it going to that Wonder looking at it where he went through it then uh went in then the children was
00:08:09
asleep and I saw that coat hanger around her neck former Sergeant Edgar picket now 94
00:08:18
years old was a legendary fingerprint expert with the Lakeland Police Department he led the crime scene unit
00:08:25
in fact the crime lab Bears his name but that sort of recognition was a long time
00:08:34
coming arriving at the Slayton crime scene in 1981 picket then 53 was just a year away
00:08:42
from retirement but his hard-earned reputation had never spared him from Prejudice so you pull up at the scene
00:08:51
and another detective says what to you that a black man don't have any business looking at a naked white woman even
00:08:59
though she was a homicide victim that's correct Sergeant picket believed Linda Slayton had been strangled with a coat
00:09:09
hanger from her own closet he dusted most of the bedroom for fingerprints even the floor and then I
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got that print off of that window seal it was a palm print with a fingerprint you got the most important print there
00:09:26
is I knew it the evidence picket uncovered would play a crucial role decades later especially the palm print
00:09:36
that really had never seen anybody in the shape that that lady was in and I've seen a lot of people
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killed an autopsy later confirmed what he already knew Linda Slayton had been sexually assaulted and strangled to
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death swabs taken and preserved in a rape kit revealed seen that morning picket says his thoughts kept returning to
00:10:03
Linda slayton's boys I had children too and I really wanted to clear that case I
00:10:14
did you guys are standing on the spot mhm where your life changed yes right here when I stopped being a kid was
00:10:22
right there you were 15 15 you really felt like this was the end of your childhood right here yes sir I think
00:10:28
exactly what it did when my Judy told my mom been murdered emerging through the terror and
00:10:35
tears that September morning 41 years ago the questions kept coming why who who could have done such an evil thing
00:10:57
[Music] on that late Summer Morning in 1981 Jeff and Tim Slayton faced a frightening World they no longer
00:11:15
recognized a world without their mother how do 12 and 15year old boys process that deal with
00:11:27
that there was hard yeah I thought about him been suicide a couple times it was that
00:11:34
bad the brothers moved in with their grandparents Clarence and Margaret Harris we just we stayed in the house we
00:11:41
didn't go anywhere scared of death scared of death you know to do [Music] anything for those first terrifying days
00:11:50
the family slept in the same room except Grandpa Harris and he was staying guard
00:11:56
with a gun all night while we slept the grandparents hoped a quick return to familiar routines would help their
00:12:04
distraught grandsons a few weeks after their mom's funeral the boys were back in school and just you know being with
00:12:12
friends and just just started living life again I guess you know going back to football his teammates and Coach Joe in
00:12:21
particular were always supportive always rooting for him says Tim and I looked up
00:12:27
to this guy he was my assistant football coach un rides to games rides to practice Tim's team football photo hung
00:12:33
in his bedroom it was taken just 1 month after the murder the picture was a reminder he says of something his mom
00:12:41
had taught him to keep moving forward and never give up she was a fighter yes oh yes oh yeah oh yes she might have
00:12:51
weighed 100 lb soak and wet but she was pretty tough everybody liked her that met her everybody was asking her her
00:12:57
date CU she was so young and pretty and then Linda met and married Frank Slayton he was a mean no count
00:13:09
scoundrel the brothers say it's hard to know when their dad began to beat their mom the more he drank the more violent
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he became I remember one time he was in the bathroom he had her bite of throat with a gun to her head and I was coming
00:13:21
there trying to get him off of her I feel like it saved her that you know that night that day but you were just a
00:13:26
little guy yourself yeah I was only six and a half seven years old [Music] Frank slayton's history of abuse made
00:13:34
him a person of interest for Lakeland detectives but investigators seem satisfied that Slayton was home in
00:13:41
Alabama on the night of the murder at the time of her death Linda had a boyfriend he too had a credible Alibi
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others were looked at like the partygoers next door but no one was charged lak police they used come down
00:13:56
to take me out of school and they was always interrogating me all the time in the early days it sounds like who the
00:14:03
police really were most thorough in checking out was me as a 15-year-old Jeff had plenty of
00:14:16
typical teen conflicts with his mom which he readily admitted to detectives including that heated argument on the
00:14:24
last day of her life know they had me put on lot tector test one time and I passed it then they wanted to do it
00:14:31
again they want to put me on hypnosis and then there's one time one of the cops he's like you got big arms on you
00:14:36
and you're strong enough put your hands around your mom's neck and kill her what
00:14:40
who was do that to a kid I was 15y old kid hurting and say that to me me that's that's always
00:14:46
hurt finally Jeff's grandparents said enough it's like get out there and find Who Killed My Daughter leave this kid
00:14:54
leave his family alone two weeks later according to the Lakeland police report Jeff took took a second polygraph test
00:15:01
and was cleared at that point the investigation slowed then ground to a halt as the years passed Jeff and Tim
00:15:13
started their own families but to this day there is still grief and guilt for not hearing anything that night for not
00:15:22
coming to their mom's rescue I'd have died that night trying to save my mom but I mean we're right there in the
00:15:28
house how can you not hear something like that and they lived in fear of the man
00:15:33
they called the monster unless he was dead he was out there somewhere around the 20th anniversary of
00:15:44
their mom's murder Jeff and Tim met with Lakeland detective Brad GCE who was taking a fresh look at the case soon as
00:15:53
Jeff and Tim walked in the door I realized I had known Jeff for years since I was in my 20s
00:16:01
through Bowling I was like BR sure enough I knew him from Bowling years ago Grace took DNA samples from the brothers
00:16:09
to clear them again then gave Jeff something in return a promise he made me promise that I wouldn't retire until I
00:16:17
solved his mother's case and I I wanted to so bad for him and his brother I did Grace had already sent DNA from the
00:16:29
Slayton rape kit to the state's major Crime Lab at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement the FDLE do you have any
00:16:37
confidence that you could solve it I was hoping DNA would you know it was becoming a big tool by March 1999 the
00:16:45
FDLE had developed a full DNA profile of Linda slayton's Anonymous killer all you
00:16:54
need is a DNA match a hit that's all I need is a hit in the D dat base detective Grace took dozens of DNA
00:17:04
samples from prior Persons of Interest submitting them to the FDLE for comparison we were trying everything
00:17:11
even the brother's father Frank Slayton who had stopped drinking volunteered a sample none
00:17:19
matched then in September 2001 Grace got a tip nearly a year after the Slayton killing a 24-year-old man named Jimmy
00:17:28
hmer pulled a 10-year-old girl through her bedroom window and nearly killed her he was convicted of that and sentenced
00:17:36
to like 80 years in prison the Savage assault seemed eerily similar to the Slayton case and detective Grace
00:17:44
discovered that around the time of Linda slayton's murder Jimmy Almer had been staying with a friend who happened to
00:17:51
live in the very same apartment complex as Slayton hang on Jimmy was staying in an apartment right across the way from
00:18:01
the slats yes you must have felt like that's our guy I felt very strong I did om had died in prison 5 years
00:18:13
earlier in 1996 but Grace got a DNA sample from his mother I honestly felt that when we got
00:18:21
the results back that we would know who did it and we get the the notice that it
00:18:28
was him at that point you must have been like we're never going to solve this thing I sure felt that way it was very
00:18:37
discouraging you know it's like oh my God we're back to square one again you feel like he's on a roller coaster for
00:18:43
pretty much your whole life by 2005 detective Grace was heading up a new Cold Case unit and the FBI was
00:18:52
running the DNA profile of slayton's killer continuously through all federal data banks
00:18:59
but the years continued to pass without a match Jeff would call and Jeff I I got
00:19:05
nothing for you you know that hurt my heart too you know Grace had a growing suspicion he was chasing a ghost I
00:19:14
honestly thought the suspect might be deceased he had made that promise to the brothers that he wouldn't retire until
00:19:22
their monster was caught I had some medical things that were popping up it was a promise he he couldn't keep
00:19:30
detective Grace retired in 2015 there was probably nothing in your professional life you wanted more than
00:19:38
to call Jeff Slayton and say got him absolutely after detective BR grass retired I'm like I like well
00:19:47
I'm probably to take my last breath and I know who murder my mom I already starting to come to terms with
00:19:53
it but 3 years later there was renewed hope a groundbreaking DNA technology began to Electrify the law enforcement
00:20:03
community and genetic genealogist CC Moore was taking on the Slaton case I was determined I was going to
00:20:13
help these boys find out who killed their mom see more photos from the case at 48
00:20:22
hours.com CC Moore is a renowned expert in the field of investigative genetic genealogy
00:20:41
if you have that DNA there is no reason you cannot solve that mystery whatever that mystery
00:20:51
is Moore launched her hunt for Linda slayton's Killer by uploading the anonymous DNA from slayton's rape kit to
00:21:00
a public Genealogy website called Jed match she then meticulously constructed Branch by Branch his genetic family tree
00:21:10
I built the family trees of those people who share DNA with him and then I identify common ancestors between those
00:21:17
people she made those connections by pouring over birth certificates marriage licenses obituaries and social media to
00:21:25
fill in the family tree with names it sounds like basically you're putting together a
00:21:33
giant jigsaw puzzle yes as my work is constantly putting together puzzles piece by piece by
00:21:42
piece these matches all share DNA with each other so they're my first genetic Network CC Mo uncovered three genetic
00:21:51
networks branches of the killer family tree that ultimately narrowed to the one person most likely responsible
00:21:59
for the murder of Linda Slayton fortunately those three genetic networks converged into one family tree that
00:22:09
pointed at one immediate family and he was the only son in that family and we knew the killer was a male so it had to
00:22:18
be him that was the DNA contributor after hundreds of leads and dead ends after dozens of suspects were
00:22:27
investigated and cleared CC Moore identified the probable killer in one weekend there was just one person who
00:22:37
was high confidence and who was that Joseph Clinton Mills Joseph Clinton Mills Coach Joe who
00:22:47
drove Linda slayton's 12-year-old son Tim to and from practice but authorities wanted to be certain before they
00:22:55
notified the brothers and then there is a sort of exhilaration because he's alive and so there's a real chance for
00:23:03
justice and maybe even answers CC Moore's final 2019 report confirmed that Joseph Mills then 58 was living in
00:23:12
Kathleen Florida about half an hour from the crime scene and I reviewed the case
00:23:18
and I'm like I remember that name I I remember seeing that name that that guy was
00:23:24
interviewed detectives Tammy Hathcock and Russell Hurley were the next generation of Lakeland investigators
00:23:31
leading the Slayton Cold Case I'm telling you it's like I won the lottery I I remember grabbing that piece of
00:23:36
paper from the report and just running down the hallway to my sergeant saying oh my God he was interviewed he was
00:23:43
interviewed according to the case File investigators did question Joseph Mills then 20 years old just one day after the
00:23:52
murder he was very basically touched I mean like just a very brief interview and it was conducted on the phone not in
00:24:00
person the fact that investigators never question Mills face to face suggests he
00:24:06
was never considered a suspect during the brief call Mills acknowledged he had driven Tim Slayton home from football
00:24:13
practice on September 3rd just hours later Linda Slayton was dead how was Joseph
00:24:21
Mills not followed up on more aggressively in 1981 at that point I mean he was just a football coach that
00:24:31
had dropped off Timmy he was never on their radar to be a suspect just based off of the information that they were
00:24:38
given by Timmy and by by Mr Mills Joseph Mills seen here in a 1984 driver's license photo was convicted
00:24:48
that year of Grand Theft for forging a will he never went to jail but he was fingerprinted Lakeland Police also took
00:24:57
a palm print in August 2019 investigators compared those prints to the one Sergeant picket lifted off
00:25:04
slayton's window sill nearly 38 years before when the prince came back there was a match yes high-tech genetic
00:25:13
genealogy had identified Mills as the likely killer and an old-fashioned palm print match helped confirm his identity
00:25:21
but Hathcock and Hurley still needed to compare a fresh DNA sample from Mills to
00:25:26
the decades old DNA recovered from the crime scene as we had to get his DNA without his knowledge and see if we can
00:25:34
get a match we had to do some surveillance it was several weekends that we were following him around trying
00:25:39
to get discarded just looking for a cup that he drank from or a tissue that he used
00:25:45
anything after tracking Mills with no luck the detectives decided it was time to get their hands dirty they covertly
00:25:53
took Mill's trash back to the police department here we are in dress clothes just digging through trash bags not the
00:26:00
most glamorous thing they discovered a piece of used medical adhesive tape and sent it off to the FDLE crime lab for
00:26:08
testing after searching Mill's trash they dug through his life he's been married to the same woman and he lived
00:26:15
in the same place he was a business owner a cleaning service was a truck driver over the years he had a family
00:26:21
married kids married kids grandkids 11 days later the stunning lab result Joseph Mills 2019 DNA found on the
00:26:32
medical table and the 1981 unknown DNA from Linda slayton's rape kit were a spot-on
00:26:40
match that's when the brothers were told the monster had been found this guy you
00:26:47
last knew as coach Joe oh my goodness mhm it was him and I had a picture of my house ever since
00:26:56
then he never knew it was him Tim's 1981 team football photo a source of Pride for years sickens him today
00:27:07
because standing directly behind him is the man he once trusted and admired Coach Joe I've been carrying the
00:27:15
Killer's picture of my house this whole time and never had a clue even after the
00:27:21
murder Joseph Mills continued driving Tim to and from football practice picking him up and dropping him off at
00:27:29
his grandparents house he'd ask us how the case was going he wouldn't ask questions about he just what is any new
00:27:35
news or any new leads and I was like no nothing you know he's talking to a 12-year-old boy and trying to keep tabs
00:27:41
on a murder investigation through the the son of the murdered woman yeah yes when he knows exactly who did it he's a
00:27:50
cold holder monster is for sure December 12th 2019 the detectives moved in arresting
00:28:00
Joseph Mills you have the right to remain silent anything you say can you use to
00:28:06
get sh he was calm cool and Collective like it was another day on the beach most
00:28:12
people's reaction would be why am I being arrest it why are you taking me in you expected some of that right some
00:28:18
kind of emotion and nothing [Music] [Music] it's been 38 years and I'm sure you go
00:28:46
to bed every night thinking about this I have no doubt in my mind detectives hatcock and Hurley
00:28:53
finally had Joseph Mills right where they wanted him in the claustrophobic confines of a police interview room when
00:29:01
I pick the boys up we we we stayed in the vehicle and I don't recall of going to in or out of a house
00:29:11
period there's no way that is the truth I mean he's saying he's never been in there we got him what we have tells us a
00:29:19
different story okay you were in that apartment ratcheting up the pressure the detectives told Mills they had
00:29:28
overwhelming evidence placing him inside Linda slayton's bedroom your fingerprints matches you the DNA matches
00:29:35
you that's when Mill's story began to change and then how did you end up going through her
00:29:43
window is like an invitation an invitation from Linda Slayton Mills claimed for consensual
00:29:51
sex a Flatout lie say the detectives he said it was a sex game that she had had the hanger around her neck when he came
00:29:59
through the window and she asked him to tighten it down and then did you start applying
00:30:06
pressure yes and when I pointed out well the brutality of the hanger and how deep it
00:30:15
was into her skin he stuck with the it was a game you purposely killed her we all all sitting here we know
00:30:23
that at the end of the day what happened here I think it's pretty evident that he
00:30:30
targeted her after dropping off Tim from football practice on September 3rd 1981 Joseph Mills returned later that
00:30:41
night the detectives say breaking in through Linda slayton's bedroom window no one heard Mills they believe because
00:30:48
no one was home Jeff was still at his grandparents house Linda and Tim were at the party next door if you look at the
00:30:57
crime and all that the hanger obviously came from the closet we figured that's what happened as he was hiding in the
00:31:03
closet were you ever in the closet in the final moments of her life the detectives believe that Linda after
00:31:14
saying good night to her sons walked into her bedroom and closed the door never knowing that Mills was already
00:31:22
inside waiting for her there was no invitation no consensual sex they say Joseph Mills raped and murdered Linda
00:31:34
Slayton detective Brad Grace always suspected the killer's name was buried somewhere in the thick police case File
00:31:43
why do you feel that the investigation didn't Circle back to Joseph Mills well obviously I put a lot of that on me now
00:31:52
you do I do Grace blames himself for not taking a harder look at Joseph Mills a sentiment
00:32:00
not shared by the Slayton Brothers they feel nothing but gratitude to the detective and friend who spent 17
00:32:10
years Chasing The elusive killer I could tell how hard he wanted to solve it and
00:32:16
I actually named my son after him my son's name Brad too here's Brad Slayton graduating from high school Jeff put a
00:32:23
little pressure on me over the years you know he did you can't retire until solv
00:32:28
this case and then he names his son after me and honestly I just wanted to to solve this case for them more than
00:32:36
anything how both of you doing how you doing all right so did this former investigator 94-year-old Edgar picket
00:32:45
the brothers had always wanted to meet him well I want to thank you for all you did for our mom back then you hav done
00:32:51
it this monster still be running free today sure would I'm sure it is poignant praise for sergeant picket who who
00:32:57
lifted the Palm prit that helped identify the monster Joseph Mills that's a case I can never forget up here I
00:33:08
can't get rid of it during his distinguished and trailblazing 29-year career Sergeant picket had seen it all
00:33:16
and yet it's the Linda Slayton case that haunts him to this day he never knew police had questioned a man named Joseph
00:33:24
Mills just one day after the killing you didn't know for 38 years that he was talked to immediately afterward no I
00:33:37
didn't instead picket says he was asked to compare Prince of a number of black men who were questioned in the days
00:33:45
after the murder following neighbors reports of suspicious activity I kept picking up a lot of blacks and it was
00:33:53
giving me their prints for me to look at theirs it not just haunts but angers pick it
00:34:03
black men were rounded up and fingerprinted while the white football coach driving Linda's son to and from
00:34:11
practice was never considered a suspect they just talk to him and let him go you're telling me this case could have
00:34:19
been solved in the first days after the murder if they had just taken a print from Joseph Mills that's
00:34:28
correct there was a lot of people who came before you I get it but you got this palm print in the window sill
00:34:36
almost immediately wouldn't you just get some prints from the guy anybody who had
00:34:41
been near the house in the 24 hours prior to the murder there was no indication that he had been in the house
00:34:48
I mean all the witnesses said that he dropped the kid off from practice and never got out of the truck so the only
00:34:55
reason why he was spoke to was because when they Backtrack on the previous 24 hours he was in that equation you don't
00:35:02
feel like he slipped through net no no Joseph Mills Day of Reckoning would finally come 40 years later he's got
00:35:18
cold black murder and eyes as Joseph Clinton Mills he just sit there not a [Music]
00:35:26
word what did do you make of Coach Joe's story of what happened that night join the conversation now on social
00:35:50
media our mom was a good person he took that away from us to avoid a trial and a possible death
00:36:00
sentence Joseph Mills pleaded guilty to all charges including first-degree murder sexual battery and
00:36:09
burglary at his sentencing what Linda slayton's family wanted most was the answer to one question why I just want
00:36:17
to know why Joe why' you take my mom from me I love my mama we was happy my blood would start boiling every the time
00:36:24
I look at him the brothers and Dan Dy tried to look him in the eye see if there was
00:36:31
any human being in there see if he was alive it's see he had a soul never thought his silence infuriated the
00:36:42
family and a few minutes later so did his comments to the court I am a good person I'm not that person that they're
00:36:50
painting me out to be I think this case made me the angriest out of the hundreds
00:36:56
of cases I've been in involved in because what he did with her children there and then the things he said about
00:37:03
her that she lured him in even all these years later he was willing to try to make her look bad to denigrate the
00:37:11
victim and her boys have to hear that it's just sickening I will sent you to life in prison without the possibility
00:37:18
of parole and just like that Joseph Clinton Mills was gone facing four life terms
00:37:28
and finally a measure of Justice maybe not full Justice in your view full Justice by no means I wanted to go to
00:37:36
trial I wanted to see him up on the stand and and tell everybody why he did this and he never did
00:37:46
that the Slayton Brothers feel some comfort knowing Joseph Mills will never leave prison alive but there's still
00:37:53
anger they say because Mills never took full responsibility for the premeditated
00:37:58
rape and murder of their mother he never apologized and there were all those years of Freedom he lived his whole life
00:38:07
he raised his family you know he had a good life that was right after she was killed
00:38:14
we went back it's the brothers who feel they were handed the far more severe sentence life without the
00:38:20
possibility of growing up with their mom should still be here today she'd only be
00:38:25
72 you know could have had her my whole life I just wonder what life would have been like to
00:38:33
have any part of you when you think about all of this at all angry with the way the police handled it that it took
00:38:43
this long to get Joseph Mills you could look at it that way I know it's a lot of
00:38:47
hard work behind the scenes that people don't see that goes on you know what they do the hours upon hours they put in
00:38:53
I mean you can get mad it only so much be done in a day we owe a huge debt of gratitude to
00:39:03
those original crime scene investigators because at the time this crime was committed they didn't even know DNA was
00:39:10
going to be used in criminal investigations and so the fact they collected that and then it was stored
00:39:18
responsibly and carefully all these years by that department is so important if that
00:39:24
hadn't happened we couldn't have done our work Jeff and Tim said they're determined to
00:39:29
move on as best they can to live life well for their mom and for their families the brothers also know they
00:39:40
never would have survived their ordeal without each other just check it out bro they remain extremely close Live just a
00:39:49
few miles apart and share passionate Hobbies like restoring cars you the credit for living this
00:40:00
life to the spirit of your mouth yes most definitely sure do love you Mom I miss
00:40:08
you so much every day my mom she's looking down on us and want us to live our lives and do good you know and I
00:40:14
always think she's looking down on us and I want to make her proud yes I want to make her proud yes
00:40:20
[Music] [Music] a mother of three alone in her home it was an execution this was somebody who
00:40:48
was there with a purpose a shadowy figure seen on camera puts a neighborhood on edge were people scared
00:40:55
that there was a killer loose definitely 48 Hours next on CBS and streaming on Paramount
00:41:02
[Music] plus how old were you when you were adopted I was nine and that's what I wanted I want to feel
00:41:31
loved and I want a [Music] family I wanted a lot of children you see your friends having
00:41:46
children and you try and you can't it was difficult when we finally learned that we were going to be able to go over
00:41:53
to Russia and pick up a little boy and girl of our own it was just a tremendous event and we were very
00:41:58
excited we had seen pictures of the children and they were beautiful how did the agency describe
00:42:07
Caroline a wonderful outgoing intelligent little girl loved to be around all ages of children and
00:42:14
desperately looking for parents was that an accurate description no it was not [Music]
00:42:24
no after we returned home we would see her staring off into the distance blankly in a trans-like state she
00:42:31
started to stand over our bed at night I'd wake up and she'd be right over my face there was a coldness in her and an
00:42:39
anger and just a distance she became someone I didn't know at all I mean at all carolly began stealing everything in
00:42:50
the house she stole all my jewelry our knives were disappearing she would do things like putting a kitten in the
00:42:56
middle of a pack of dogs cruel type behavior and then she snapped and tried to kill Joshua she had
00:43:05
him in her hands and was going to throw him over the deck she had him yes yes over the side here yes and I just
00:43:11
started screaming put him down carolly put him down what are you doing I'm going to kill
00:43:19
him I called the psychiatrist what am I going to do you know what what do we do she's becoming violent doctor there is
00:43:26
no question question in your mind that Carol is a very troubled little girl no there's no question in my mind about it
00:43:32
at all this child I would considered to be a homicide risk she has been on all kinds of
00:43:39
medication and none of it has worked we've had cameras installed and we've had alarms installed on her
00:43:47
doors you know I don't know what the solution is what am I going to do we're going to get you the best help
00:43:56
we can okay I I try to K my brother I love him I'm a dad just understand I've done many stories during
00:44:09
the course of my career but this was one that that really stuck with me you want
00:44:15
to resend the adoption we feel like we tried everything it hit me in my heart so you
00:44:23
plan on taking carolly back to Russia yes yes I felt helpless leaving her behind I didn't know what would become
00:44:38
of her you're a strong girl strong girl you're going to be fine okay don't cry for
00:45:00
[Music] [Music] oh [Music] josua I don't see him Mama get more than two decades ago an
00:45:58
American couple adopted this little girl from Russia 30 seconds ago he was terrified of her they soon came to
00:46:04
believe she was dangerous catch your hurry even capable of murder you take care okay be strong strong I was with
00:46:12
them when they brought her back to Russia and left her covering the story changed my life and left me steep in a
00:46:20
haunting mystery that began when the couple first arrived in Moscow hoping to find the per perfect
00:46:28
[Music] child I think it's innate in every woman to want to be a good parent to have
00:46:37
children and to share your [Music] life there's Crystal she's tired often comments would be made about well when
00:46:46
are you going to have children it was hard we thought this is going to be a wonderful Journey
00:46:55
[Music] Moscow 1997 Crystal and Jesse we agreed not to use the last name are both 30 and have
00:47:07
tried for years to have a child of their own it was something we really wanted to
00:47:11
do we wanted to parent we really wanted a house full far away from home they're finally about to become parents we
00:47:19
really wanted to give a child an opportunity adoptive parents I was adopted myself I know the benefits that
00:47:26
adoption can bring they found their daughter on an adoption agency's web page posted on the internet
00:47:32
she was a beautiful child for them she was the perfect child a blond blue-eyed 9-year-old we thought you know this is
00:47:41
an older child we can give a normal life before leaving for Russia the adoption agency gave them the little girls
00:47:48
medical records the agency described carolly as a wonderful outgoing intelligent little girl who is ch fing
00:47:57
to be around you understood though that adopting an older child carries certain risks absolutely certain
00:48:05
[Music] risks they took an 8-hour train ride from Moscow to an orphanage in the small
00:48:13
town of borovichi they already paid nearly $30,000 to make all the necessary arrangements and the child they called
00:48:23
Carol Le was anxiously awaiting their arrival she uh looked in my eyes very warmly you're my mama she called you a
00:48:33
mama she did from the very beginning my American mama she said at the orphanage the couple would not only adopt Carol Le
00:48:41
they also found her a baby brother a three-year-old they would name Joshua it was exciting but there were signs that
00:48:49
the road ahead might be Rocky we did see the anger but it could be explained certainly a child arriving to a new
00:48:56
culture a new family you know leaving her home that's the only thing she's ever known back in the United States the
00:49:03
family settled into a brand new home in a comfortable suburb of Atlanta a short commute to Jesse's computer engineering
00:49:10
job we tried to make it very homey for her and happy she's a little princess daddy we tried to give her everything we
00:49:18
thought a little girl should have but the beautiful little girl was having big problems as soon as we brought her home
00:49:24
she was very very withdrawn and isolating didn't cry at all but just very angry it was nothing they thought a
00:49:32
little love couldn't fix I spent all the time with her I quit my job I gave her 100% of me it wasn't
00:49:40
working they say off camera she started acting badly she just began becoming very destructive ho ho ho then the
00:49:49
unthinkable happened go car on Carol's second Christmas in America things seemed to have started
00:49:57
off well car got a new bike and we were learning how to ride it she had never ridden one before you're doing it I
00:50:05
really thought that everything was going great it was not long after when Crystal
00:50:10
heard the horrible sound so I was over planting and I heard Joshua screaming crystal says that's when she
00:50:19
first saw Carol Le holding her four-year-old brother Joshua over the railing of the 30ft high dck she had him
00:50:27
yes yes over the side here yes this wasn't rough housing no in her face there was anger and hate crystal says
00:50:36
that moment changed everything I'm going to kill him she said I'm why I'm mad at
00:50:42
him what did he do he's getting on my nerves I said you would kill him for trying to get on your nerves surely you
00:50:49
don't mean it you don't mean kill him and she said yes I do what can you do this
00:50:58
I can do that we asked Joshua about it are you afraid of carolly yes because she tried to throw off the deck because
00:51:07
she tried to throw you off the deck yes that's why I afraid of her [Music] [Music]
00:51:31
are you worried that she's going to do something to you right now cuz she's not mommy's here Crystal and Jesse's
00:51:37
relationship with Carol Le was in freefall after the incident involving Joshua on the Family's 30 foot outdoor
00:51:45
deck she started telling me you know I'm hearing voices and I'm seeing things she
00:51:52
says when the voices tell her to do something she has to do it or they'll hurt her and the voices she said told
00:51:57
her to kill him she was hallucinating that she was seeing snakes the couple had her admitted to a psychiatric
00:52:04
hospital she spent almost four months under constant care before Crystal and Jesse say their insurance started
00:52:12
running out and they were forced to bring Carol Lee back into their home again this is what you see yes she's
00:52:21
repeated this for months on multiple occasions if I get another chance I will kill him and she told us that too try to
00:52:30
um call Joshua so they're installing an elaborate security system so you have cameras installed at various points in
00:52:41
the house right yes in the living room her bedroom her bathroom Carol Le is forbidden to be alone with Joshua is he
00:52:49
safe no that's why mean I had to get help that's why you have to get help she is a risk to the family members Dr
00:53:01
Brian Kennedy was one of the psychiatrists who saw carolly she's got a tremendous amount of rage and anger
00:53:09
that she's hidden inside her there's clear evidence of a clinical depression um there is definitely um
00:53:17
clear evidence of an attachment disorder um now there may be other developing psychiatric difficulties such
00:53:26
as bipolar illness or schizophrenia she was given heavy medication okay but they say the
00:53:34
medications aren't working I'm going to get you the best help we can okay it's going to be all right you love her but
00:53:43
you're frightened of her yes the anger that she has focused towards Joshua is like something I've never seen before
00:53:52
mommy's not ever going to let her hurt you four-year-old boy should never have have to ask their parents the question
00:53:58
why did my sister try to kill me but since being home from the psychiatric hospital there's already
00:54:04
been another frightening incident they say Carol tried strangling the family dog Aurora we woke up at 3: in the
00:54:12
morning and Aurora was hung from her collar with the leash tied to a Poe I'm going to go to my grandma today so
00:54:22
Joshua's being sent 600 miles away to live at his grandmother's house in Texas why do we have to send him to Grandma's
00:54:30
to keep them safe because I may hurt him just imagine you think you're bringing a
00:54:36
bright girl to your home but no one's told you that they're sociopathic and they have no
00:54:42
conscience in fact they say the agency that arranged Carol's adoption the Frank Foundation told them the opposite
00:54:50
carolly is emotionally nice she's open she's tender she's obedient she's friendly nothing in that sentence would
00:54:58
lead you to question wow could there be you know a tremendous variety of hidden medical issues here it was a glowing
00:55:05
report except for one thing they did say she was a ligren translated then as mental retardation but the couple says
00:55:15
they asked about it and were told not to worry they stated that it was developmental delay just slow to learn
00:55:22
and we were assured that this job was healthy and that in a good home home with proper nutrition um with the best
00:55:29
of doctors in America helping her with the developmental issues that she should be fine only after the adoption was
00:55:36
official Crystal and Jesse say did the Frank Foundation provide them with more documents that revealed troubling things
00:55:43
about Carol's past says the mother was amoral and antisocial you know these types of words are very loaded they
00:55:51
carry a lot of psychological meaning [Music] the new documents described how Carol's
00:55:58
birth mother left her dirty hungry and in rags Crystal and Jesse believe the mistreatment had a lasting effect on
00:56:08
carolie when I dreamed of adopting a little girl this was not my dream we would not have adopted the
00:56:15
child you would not have adopted her no we would not have and as they continued digging into Carol's past they found out
00:56:24
more officials at the orphanage say carolly was in a special dorm for children with mental disabilities
00:56:30
critical information the couple says the adoption agency failed to share with them you didn't hide any information
00:56:38
never and why would I back then Nina castina a Russian immigrate ran the Frank Foundation she said the medical
00:56:47
information she received was limited by Russian privacy laws but adopted parents
00:56:52
once in Russia can get anything they need once the parents are in the orphanage they have access to any
00:56:59
medical records to the to the doctors to anything and this is their time when they should ask any questions so it's
00:57:07
their fault I'm not telling fault I'm telling that this is their obligation this is Lifetime decision they should do
00:57:13
it while they're in the orphanage when we first covered this story more than two decades ago Nina castina said that
00:57:20
no information had been withheld from the family but at the time 48 Hours spoke with eight families who adopted
00:57:26
through the Frank foundation and they all said they had received inaccurate medical information their children had
00:57:34
been diagnosed with illnesses like fetal alcohol syndrome hepatitis C brain tumors and a slew of psychological
00:57:42
problems they claim the Frank Foundation didn't prepare them for three of the families who spoke with sued but lost to
00:57:52
Crystal and Jesse feel like they're out of options so as Joshua leaves for the safety of his grandmother's home in
00:57:59
Texas oh I'm going to miss you so much they make a painful decision and we cannot continue to be
00:58:09
our parents they say the only way their son can return home is to send Carol Le away forever we've been here every day
00:58:17
loving her nurturing her helping her we we couldn't save her [Music] time to go get your picture made cly she
00:58:43
has so many psychological problems what we're going to do is we're going to get your picture made today she is a danger
00:58:49
to society but more than that she's a danger to our son so you still like to get your picture taken after all this
00:58:56
time I like it the fact of the matter is that we cannot be her parents anymore 1
00:59:01
2 3 Crystal and Jessie are about to do something that's difficult to imagine honey did you want to see it they are
00:59:09
taking Carol Lee back to Russia and CH there are parents out there that will not be able to understand what you're
00:59:18
about to do if I hadn't been in this position myself I might have been stating the very same thing that I
00:59:25
expect to hear from them why how could you do this how could you do this it's a long trip you need keptic color there
00:59:31
must be a family somewhere in America that would adopt her we thought that uh there would be a family out there how
00:59:38
are you today and we've actually spoken to a few families in every case so far after reviewing the medical information
00:59:44
she tried to throw my son off a very high deck they've said thanks but no thanks they have told Carol Lee they're
00:59:50
taking her to a new hospital how long we going to stay in in there but she has no
00:59:56
idea it's a psychiatric hospital in Russia this 12-year-old girl has been abandoned by her birth parents and now
01:00:04
her adoptive parents are also rejecting her well it's not a case of her adoptive
01:00:09
parents rejecting her but that's what she's going it's going to be a of her adoptive parents not being able to care
01:00:16
for her what's wrong but you have to understand psychiatrist tells that Carol Le has no bonding no affection it's
01:00:27
okay I think the best thing in the world for her is a good night's sleep I do too
01:00:31
so carolly most likely will just move on it looks cruel to me cruel and a thoughtful Nina castina the woman who
01:00:39
arranged Carol's adoption is distraught over the decision I feel very sorry for her for her part she questions whether
01:00:48
Carol Lee is even that sick they say that she tried to kill her little brother this is what they she tried to
01:00:56
kill the family dog she's extremely violent that's what they say yes do you believe
01:01:02
it that's what they say psychiatrist Brian Kennedy says carolly suffers from attachment disorder in effect an
01:01:10
inability to love and that he says makes her dangerous it's hard for me to digest
01:01:17
because when I look at her she seems like a very sweet little girl who smiles and laughs she does love to smile and
01:01:25
laugh and I think in certain situations that are nonstressful for her she presents as a very amiable child but I
01:01:33
think when you look at what she's been through and when you see how she functions under stress she can become
01:01:40
very different and have very significant rage she has thought about killing her brother she has tried to kill him and
01:01:47
she could not give me assurances that she wouldn't kill him others who treated Carol Le had concerns as well but at
01:01:54
least one psychiatrist had another opinion after treating Carol Le he wrote Carol's Behavior was impeccable he said
01:02:02
the staff perceived that Crystal and Jesse were too often cool and distant towards their daughter and that Carol Le
01:02:09
at times appeared to be frightened by her interactions with them Carol Le is a very different person when you really
01:02:16
get to nowh it took me a year and a half to break through the facade they have made up their minds Carol Le must return
01:02:26
to [Music] Russia the doctors in America have told me that if she returns home she will
01:02:36
kill my son I believe them she's already tried it once it's very strong possibility she'll try again with
01:02:42
success they tapped into their life savings to bring Carol Lee here to be treated by Russian doctors they have
01:02:50
worked with kids from Russian orphanages they found a bed for Carol Lee at this children's psychiatric Hospital in
01:02:57
Moscow but they don't hold out much hope and they're now thinking about annulling
01:03:03
the adoption doctors suspected they were trying to abandon her and demanded copies of their passports and made them
01:03:10
promise to return for carolly in two months carolly understands that she is here to be treated by Russian
01:03:17
Specialists and that's all she's here for at the time but she does not understand that you will not be
01:03:23
returning for her no that's not the case at this time the only thing we're stating is that she's here for a
01:03:28
diagnosis and an evaluation but carolly senses something is terribly wrong they tell me that list they love me and
01:03:37
everything I told them I love them very much but they didn't know that but didn't believe me then just a few
01:03:46
minutes before she'll enter the hospital Carol Le tells me something she's never
01:03:50
told me before I did not try to kill my brother that she never tried to kill her
01:03:56
brother Joshua you didn't try to kill Joshua you're telling me the truth I just tried to him just pick him
01:04:05
up that's all cuz he was too heavy Carol Lee says it was all a big misunderstanding I didn't not try to
01:04:13
kill my brother I love him I'm my daddy just understand it but there's no turning back you've pursued every
01:04:23
possible Avenue and this is the only thing thing you can do this is this is the only thing we can do ready come on
01:04:32
honey crysto and Jesse left her there days later I returned with a hidden camera and visited carolene
01:04:45
hey hi now in a locked Ward I don't feel safe stay here she was frightened oh look back America I'm scared of staying
01:04:55
here but Crystal and Jesse have made a final decision now we're heading back to the
01:05:01
airport it's been a long trip oh USA they're not bringing carolly [Music] [Music]
01:05:23
back hey the last time I saw Carol Lee was in Russia more than 20 years ago she was
01:05:32
terrified she was in a locked ward in a children's psychiatric hospital the door
01:05:38
slammed shut and I wasn't sure if I'd ever see her again over the years we repeatedly tried
01:05:47
to find her I always wondered how she was doing if she was thriving if she was happy
01:05:55
[Music] many years past she was in my thoughts and in my heart hey oh my gosh and finally she got in
01:06:09
touch with me it's been so long now 33 years old she calls herself Sabrina look at you and is married with four children
01:06:20
what have you been doing over the last 21 years making babies so beautiful we met near her home in North Carolina we
01:06:29
have a lot to catch up on yeah I had a thousand questions for Serena how did she end up here what she says happened
01:06:38
on that deck that day and what she thought went wrong with Jesse and Crystal you liked her I did you liked
01:06:47
him I did it was a family that said hey I will adopt this child and I would like
01:06:53
to give them a home and they will love me for who I am but to Sabrina back then it seemed
01:06:59
that Joshua was always the favorite did that create any jealousy it didn't create jealousy I felt more down I felt
01:07:08
like I wasn't good enough I felt like I wasn't this child that they wanted cuz I
01:07:14
was I was older I had my own feelings I already had a history you know I loved that he was getting loved and he was
01:07:24
having a family yes it sucked for me you didn't have an emotional connection with Crystal and
01:07:30
Jesse because Joshua was so centered I think we lost it I think it was just lost I was starting to become very
01:07:38
depressed it came to the point I was very suicidal suicidal I was very suicidal there were days I I tried to
01:07:46
attempt multiple times and I just couldn't do it that's when I started creating a
01:07:53
story I told Chris still you know I'm seeing and hearing things are you seeing something
01:08:00
now did you see something earlier cuz I want it out I I want it out so were you hallucinating at that
01:08:10
time no no hearing no seeing things it's just a child trying to get out she had him in her hands and was going to throw
01:08:19
him over the deck and as for what happened on the deck Sabrina has a decidedly different version of event
01:08:25
from Crystal that she says started when Crystal asked her to get Joshua Crystal was gardening and Joshua was screaming
01:08:34
on top of the deck and crystal said I need you to go get Joshua trying to pick up a child that's really almost as big
01:08:41
as you is kind of hard so I'm trying to walk down the steps just able to hold him so he doesn't fall Crystal looked
01:08:48
and she said put him down carolly put him down put him down I eventually put him down and she's like you tried to
01:08:55
kill him didn't you and I said no I was trying to pick him up so he doesn't fall
01:09:00
cuz he was sliding off my hands and she's like no you were trying to kill him and she kept saying it and saying it
01:09:06
and I said yes so I just I finally said yes Serina repeated that story that she tried to kill Joshua to everyone yes
01:09:15
including me what happened that day out on the deck I try him push off the deck you're trying to push him off the deck
01:09:24
try to um kill Joshua what happened on that deck seemed to take on a life of its own Crystal
01:09:35
brought Sabrina to various doctors I went to psychiatrist after psychiatrist and I remember chrisal said
01:09:43
Just remember you wanted to kill Joshua I said Okay I I will tell him Dr Kennedy
01:09:48
said you were potentially schizophrenic bipolar you had homicidal tendance and you were a danger to this family H
01:09:59
that's hard to hear if I wanted to hurt somebody it would have been done and that never happened I'm not that person
01:10:08
I was never that person today Sabrina says she is not on any medication and suffers from no mental illness a number
01:10:17
of doctors back then though seem to think she needed help we tried to contact Dr Kennedy but have been unable
01:10:24
to reach him you were also accused of trying to kill the family dog I don't know where that came from
01:10:32
because I love that dog it's okay how did you learn that you were going back to Russia crystal
01:10:42
said they were running out of options and they think the Russian Institute would be better so how is it going here
01:10:54
not good not good why how did that make you feel when you're sitting there in the hospital in
01:11:02
Moscow waiting for them to return to pick you up and they didn't I knew they weren't coming I felt so
01:11:11
guilty because I wanted to take you but what can I do I wanted you to take me I was like why is nobody taking me I just
01:11:19
want it out Sabrina said she cried and was frightened I feel like I was in jail but then I think of it I put myself
01:11:27
there you know all those lying and doing what they want me to do I put myself there then after 2 months it was
01:11:37
Nina castina from the adoption agency who arrived at The Institute Nina showed up and she brought me clothes she asked
01:11:45
me if I remembered her and she took Sabrina to live with her in Virginia eventually Sabrina moved in with a new
01:11:53
set of parents in North Carolina I have parents they're the parents that took me
01:11:59
in that took their time to learn who I am and make me a better person after high school she volunteered for the
01:12:08
nonprofit Mercy Ships and spent two years in Africa helping to provide medical care to underprivileged people
01:12:16
loved it really I did when she returned home in 2010 she got a job in a hospital
01:12:23
and at church she met math teacher Phil calwell I fell in love with him when I saw him interact with kids the way he
01:12:32
was treating them how committed he was she's just very real and very genuine and I love that about her but before she
01:12:39
would even consider getting engaged she insisted that Phil watched the original 48 Hours show about her early life my
01:12:48
heart broke for her I really couldn't believe all of the things that she had gone through I think she expected me to
01:12:54
R but it was the opposite reaction of what she expected me to think they married in 2014 and now have
01:13:04
three lovely daughters and a newborn son fun kids love them she's very loving and she's very
01:13:13
caring it looks real good and I think probably what Sabrina went through has had a a greater impact on her parenting
01:13:22
than she can see herself you go girl because she is so amazing at it I do it you are doing it all by yourself Phil
01:13:32
recently stopped teaching and started a new job at the same hospital where his wife works seems like you're in a really
01:13:39
good place I am Sabrina you're happy I [Music] am but Sabrina like me has always
01:13:49
wondered what happened to Crystal and Jesse and she says that after two decades she was ready to find
01:13:58
[Music] out after she became a mother Sabrina says she wanted Crystal and Jessie to
01:14:11
know she had a family of her own and she wanted to share her side of the story she found Crystal on social media and
01:14:20
finally hit the send button I'd sent her a message stating to her that I hope she's well and I just want to make this
01:14:31
really clear for you I've never wanted to H Joshua and I never heard or saw things in my life and how did she
01:14:39
respond she said she prayed that I would have a better family did you love Crystal and Jesse I did and I still have
01:14:49
a high respect for them putting myself in their shoes I would have probably done almost
01:14:55
the same thing but not everything I would never take a child back still she says she Harbors no hard
01:15:08
feelings toward them I learn to forgive my past I have an amazing husband I can't thank God enough for him I have
01:15:16
amazing kids but if I didn't go through what I went through I wouldn't have that Sabrina says Crystal and J have
01:15:25
three biological Daughters of their own along with Joshua they declined our request for an interview however Jesse
01:15:32
said that he and Crystal were glad Sabrina's life had turned out so well and that Joshua was now a father
01:15:41
too hi girls in the end it appears that Crystal and Jesse like Sabrina eventually found families and happiness
01:15:52
and as it turned out so did I don't be scared okay and my journey started the minute I left Sabrina in
01:16:01
Russia I cried as I was leaving then I started saying to myself you know maybe one
01:16:09
day I I I can Rescue an an older child but the timing wasn't right I was single and as a CBS
01:16:19
News correspondent I was still traveling endlessly then I had a story in Johannesburg South
01:16:30
Africa and I went to an orphanage there to make a donation I said you know what uh I'm
01:16:37
close to 40 now I'm going to go for it in 2003 I became certified to adopt a child and learned about a woman in jouti
01:16:48
Africa who wanted to find someone to adopt her four-year-old son and I looked at his photo and the
01:16:57
resemblance was uncanny this looks like my kid I had been to Africa twice and never
01:17:06
heard of shabui but that Thanksgiving I flew there to meet this young boy and his
01:17:14
mother his name was a kadra Mahmud AB I noticed that his eyes danced that's a signal that he's smart he's
01:17:26
clever his mother was kadra she gave birth to her son after a short affair with a French soldier and ever since
01:17:34
then she feared for the boy's safety because he was mix Rays they were homeless and living in an abandoned
01:17:42
building he was sleeping on the floor so was she begging was his routine I took them
01:17:50
to lunch and over the course of the next two weeks I got to know them I began bonding over
01:17:57
hamburgers fries and walking around on the street he spoke four languages but not English
01:18:06
we mind like let's eat you need to go home sleep I mean that's how basic it was fortunately there was a bowling
01:18:17
alley and a small beach in a nearby military base we went bowling a lot with something he had never done before we
01:18:25
didn't know how to swim so we took a boat to this small little Beach Island that was reserved for the military
01:18:35
personnel I made two more lengthy visits to jibuti but when it came time for the
01:18:41
adoption there was a problem kadra never signed her name before she didn't know how to sign her
01:18:53
name she practice over and over again you know over and over again and it was such a um loving and
01:19:07
selfless act the attorney sitting next to us said to kadra Troy will be a good father and she looked me dead in the eye
01:19:20
and she said time will tell my name is Jonah gray Roberts and my father is Troy Roberts that's the street you moved
01:19:39
on in jibou the whole adoption process I was 4 years old there wasn't really much to
01:19:46
tell a 4-year-old you are I was just there's a man here who's you know taking care of
01:19:53
me who's feeding me he also did get me a tutor so I was getting education at that age you don't
01:20:00
really think anything about it um you're just this could be you know my long lost
01:20:05
dad and then 10 months after meeting my son it was finally time to go that was an intense
01:20:14
day I'm thousands of feet in the air this is my first time ever on an airplane then my dad tells me oh we're
01:20:24
in New city is your new home and I remember seeing my first home my first real home and he's like this is your
01:20:33
room it's my own bed I didn't have to share with anyone I had a desk a place where I started studying had the
01:20:41
tutors it was it was amazing we did everything together so much together I really enjoyed watching him
01:20:54
learn new things and introducing him to A Whole New World there was never father
01:21:01
and adopted son it was always you know father and son and like any father I have a lot to learn from my son who
01:21:12
needs three monitors Jonah I do you don't understand technology empty breida we refrigerating plastic what can I do
01:21:22
you just stand there every Thanksgiving we have this thing where before we start eating after I've
01:21:29
made the full meal cuz he doesn't know how to cook um we would always start off by saying like what we're grateful for
01:21:37
this year and now when I think about Sabrina's journey and Crystal and Jesse's and Jonah's and my own I realize
01:21:48
how much we all have to be thankful for it seems like everyone's story has a happy ending and
01:21:58
uh that's that's pretty cool you [Music] know 48 Hours don't miss an episode [Music]
01:23:01
it took nearly 24 hours to recover all the bodies from inside the ruins of Rhode Island Station nightclub horrible
01:23:09
things happened to people for absolutely no reason the death toll was far greater
01:23:15
than anyone expected we went out on a Thursday night to listen to music drink some beers and
01:23:23
have a good time and a quarter of those people didn't get to go home [Music] ever this is what I live with I don't
01:23:36
hide it second and third degree burns over 34% of my body from the heat I'm lucky I even have
01:23:47
arms it was a neighborhood club for live music the people who went to that club were regulars the headliner was Jack
01:23:55
Russell's great white you really had to work your way through the crowd it was packed I'm
01:24:03
standing you know three rows back from the edge of the stage we're just waiting and then it gets
01:24:10
dark the music starts the pyrot Technics went off and I remember being a little shocked it just
01:24:19
felt really big and I just sort of noticed some flame on the walls on either side and
01:24:28
then it just kept it kept growing when that fire alarm went off that's when I said to myself this
01:24:38
and I remember the words this isn't this isn't good this is not going to be good
01:24:42
this is bad it went from 0 to 10 in what seemed like a second and then the building's
01:24:51
you know completely engulfed we have a mass casualty incident here we have fully engulf fully engulf
01:25:05
building we have people on fire inside a lot of [Applause] walking literally laid there said God
01:25:17
just take care of my family because I knew I was going to die 100 lives were taken more than 200
01:25:27
people were hurt it's hard to describe the level of Agony the state of Rhode Island is small
01:25:37
and it feels like somebody knew somebody who was in that fire or knew somebody who did and so the pain is very
01:25:44
personal we realize there's very little we can say that will provide Comfort to the thousands of no one meant for this
01:25:51
to happen Brothers Jeffrey and Michael thear and co-owners of the club are both charged with involuntary manslaughter
01:25:58
what is your reaction to the indictment taking responsibility for your actions goes a long way and you don't feel the
01:26:04
brothers have ever accepted responsibility true people who were key to understanding this tragedy had
01:26:12
remained silent working why are you sitting here talking to me I think we're sitting here talking to you because we
01:26:20
wanted the full story to come out and that for people who want to come to their own conclusion on what happened
01:26:27
that night [Music] [Music] hopped out of bed grabbed my clothes grabbed my keys hopped in the car and
01:27:19
took off on February 20th 2003 at about 1110 p.m. Jody King got a call that something was going on at the station
01:27:28
nightclub in West Warick Rhode Island but he didn't know what I got to find Trace he was worried about his brother
01:27:35
Tracy who worked there as a bouncer as I went by the fire station fire trucks are
01:27:41
coming out now the question in my head is why are all these fire trucks leaving when jod arrived he saw the devastating
01:27:50
scene [Music] [Applause] I see the Hara and it was ugly the roof was caving in walls were caving in body
01:28:03
after body in front of me I don't even like to talk about it it would become one of the deadliest
01:28:11
fires in a club in US history it should not have happened it was completely preventable Scott James has written a
01:28:19
book about the tragedy called trial by fire I decided I would just start asking some
01:28:25
questions describe the station night club for me what kind of Club was this it was a typical kind of roadside
01:28:34
die these are videos from prior performances taken inside the club it smelled like spilled beer and stale
01:28:41
cigarettes and everything was just a little bit Freight at the edge but it's fun the night of the fire hundreds of
01:28:48
people gathered at the station to see great white an 80s band now with some new members led by singer Jack Russell
01:28:56
known mainly for their hit once bitten twice shot they had their moment and they
01:29:04
played the Arenas that was in like the 80s but you know they have a following to this day were you a fan of the band
01:29:11
great white yes definitely Linda Saran was a regular at the station that evening she had a girl's night out with
01:29:18
a friend while her young daughter was at a sleepover the night of the fire I got
01:29:23
in for free I was asked to work the merch table for the band so I was getting 40 bucks and
01:29:28
two T-shirts and I was paying staff pricing for beer cuz I knew a guy also there
01:29:35
that night was Bates College student Phil bar who was home for winter break you know just have a beer see a concert
01:29:42
Phil who was in his junior year had dreams of a career on Wall Street and swam competitively for his college swim
01:29:49
team I loved it it was really everything to me at that time unlike many of the patrons there this was Phil's first time
01:29:56
at the club he arrived early around 8:30 p.m. there really weren't that many people around early in the night so I
01:30:06
actually got a really good sense of the layout of the venue when people arrive they walk
01:30:13
through this entrance and this kind of longish hallway you'd see on your left a horseshoe shaped bar this was the main
01:30:20
bar where you could get your drinks to the right was this larger space in front of a stage we have four exits there's an
01:30:28
exit near the stage we have an exit through the kitchen one near the bar and then the main exit that hallway where
01:30:35
everybody came through the station was owned by Brothers Michael and Jeff dearion
01:30:43
they're speaking out about the fire for the first time their story starts 3 years before
01:30:50
the fire either of you know anything about running a nightclub zero no no play an instrument the darians bought
01:30:56
the club as an investment Jeffrey was responsible for all of the marketing activities and I was responsible kind of
01:31:02
for the day-to-day both the brothers had other jobs Michael owned a financial services business we're live in
01:31:09
Wakefield tonight I'm jeffan Jeff was a local news reporter for years he' worked
01:31:14
in Boston for channel 7 we're live in adoro this morning I'm Jeff the Darian at the time of the fire he had just
01:31:20
started a new job closer to home in Providence at the local CBS station that night he allowed a cameraman to shoot
01:31:28
footage inside the club For an upcoming story about safety in public venues how ironic is that
01:31:38
right right 48 hours is not showing any of that footage but that night leading the
01:31:45
cameraman around was bouncer tracy King a dedicated husband and father of three young boys he was gregar
01:31:54
he was out there and he just loved being in the center Tracy liked to entertain people with his unique talent a surgery
01:32:03
to correct a childhood ailment with his ears left him able to balance objects on
01:32:09
his chin tracy King ladies and gentlemen Tracy went on David letman twice to do stupid human tricks you're going to
01:32:17
balance it on your chin yes all right when he walked into a room if there wasn't a smile he'd start
01:32:26
balancing stuff to get you uplifted and smiling that was his gift Jody says his brother enjoyed
01:32:35
working for the darians they were friends he trusted the club he trusted the owners he trusted in his friends
01:32:44
were you making money not really the Darian say despite their love for the club the business had peaked and they
01:32:52
were in the process of of selling it the club was sold the club was sold it was already in contract uh purchase and sale
01:33:00
had been signed but their plans for the future would suddenly change as great whites started their
01:33:08
first song their tour manager Daniel beakley set off four large fireworks called gerbs they are what they call 15
01:33:17
by 15 they go for 15 seconds and they go 15 ft into the air so it was not a great
01:33:25
decision to use these inside a nightclub that only has 12T ceilings seconds later Flames appeared
01:33:33
on the back wall most of the crowd thought it was part of the show and didn't move you know people didn't
01:33:40
react instantly but Jeff who was helping out at the bar says he and an employee tried to get to the stage with a fire
01:33:48
extinguisher we tried to get as far as we could we couldn't we couldn't make it about 40 seconds after the song began
01:33:54
great white stopped the show and all but one member of the band escaped through the stage door exit that exit door would
01:34:02
soon be engulfed in flames the fire alarm you hear it kick in and that's when the crowd realizes this is a real
01:34:11
danger and we have got to get out of there hundreds of people ran to the only exit many of them knew the way they came
01:34:19
in it's like a rip tide it's a surge of bodies the fire was now out of control it had
01:34:27
spread along the foam that lined the walls and ceiling intended to dampen sound the foam was raining down and the
01:34:36
Flames are dripping from the ceiling looked like it was raining black fire they only have about 60 seconds to
01:34:44
get out of that building if they're going to live [Music] [Applause] [Music] this is what the station fire looked
01:35:03
like about 15 minutes after it began those who were trapped inside when the flame started knew they needed to get
01:35:11
out fast I remember the smoke descended really quickly one of those people was Phil bar we kind of crouched down behind
01:35:21
some of the people in front of us you you could not see your hand in front of your face that's how thick the smoke
01:35:29
was once you could no longer see it was total pandemonium Phil was located between the
01:35:37
stage and the front door a lot of people moved back towards the main entrance it
01:35:43
became really clear that we were not going to be able to get out the front door since I had been there earlier in
01:35:50
the night I knew that there was at least an exit in in the back barroom that is the furthest exit away
01:35:58
from the stage but it's a relatively straight line I went around the people trying to
01:36:07
push to the front door into the main bar room I remember getting pushed from behind and I tripped over what I assume
01:36:14
was a bar stool and I just kind of went down on my face it became very very hard to breathe
01:36:25
lying on the floor not far from the Horseshoe Bar Phil lost Consciousness the bar got quiet because people were
01:36:34
dying literally and all you could hear was the Roar of the fire and liquor bottles exploding Linda Saran and her
01:36:43
friend Deb were in The Atrium huddled together under a table I said you know what we're running out of time and I
01:36:51
knew the window was to my left so I said to Deb stay here I'll be right back and
01:36:58
I stood up I went over put my hands against the glass and I started kicking at that
01:37:05
window and it wouldn't break I I went and laid down next to Deb and just waited to
01:37:17
die did you have enough time to form those complete thoughts yes I thought how terrible it was that my daughter was
01:37:29
going to grow up without her mom and I heard and out Deb went it was like what and then outside I went cold air washing
01:37:42
over me an off-duty police officer standing outside had heard her kicking at the window he got a tire iron from
01:37:49
his car smashed the glass and started pulling people out when I first went out the window I landed on the stairs I
01:37:58
couldn't get up and I said my hands won't work and that's when I noticed the black
01:38:05
on my arms it looked like a ladder of those black jelly bracelets from the80s hanging in rings around my
01:38:14
[Music] wrists and I took a good look and I said oh I'm burned [Music] I couldn't hear alarms I couldn't hear
01:38:27
noise I couldn't hear screaming anymore Phil Bar says when he came to he felt excruciating pain near the base of his
01:38:34
spine and burning on his face I don't like to talk about it but I remember feeling weight on top of me and I'm
01:38:43
pretty sure I crawled out from under another person to pull myself up I ran across the room and I ran face
01:38:50
first into the wall and I felt the door and I just heaved my shoulder into it and I
01:38:59
fell down the stairs out that door Phil was now outside but he felt like his lungs were on fire it was getting harder
01:39:10
and harder to breathe I could feel tightness and constriction in my chest some bleeding I could notice in my
01:39:19
throat also outside was club owner Jeff dearion he says he managed to escape through the front door before a stampede
01:39:26
of people got stuck in the narrow hallway and blocked the exit I remember we were trying to get
01:39:34
people away from the building like get away from the building it was happening so fast fast
01:39:42
fast fast that's all I just can keep seeing in my head and the the the the roof and just everything
01:39:50
just fast too fast Jeff called his brother Michael who was in Florida he's completely out of it out
01:40:02
of it I couldn't understand him or understand the magnitude of what was going on there and I'm saying to him did
01:40:10
everybody get out did anybody die you know and he's like he don't know he's like he don't know he don't know doesn't
01:40:18
know anybody see Tracy I have to find him at the scene Jody King was desperate for information about his brother and
01:40:27
began to fear the worst I spent the next five or 6 hours going back and forth in
01:40:33
the parking lot talking to firemen asking firemen can you please pull the sheets back for me I don't care what I'm
01:40:40
going to see Linda Saran and Phil bar badly injured were transported to a local hospital we have 39 confirmed fatalities
01:40:51
we're still in the process of searching the rubble is now well over 50 we're now
01:40:55
at 65 and it may be higher can you come in they want to talk to you and I'm like okay the night of
01:41:04
the fire Jeff gave a statement to the local police and another one to an investigator with the Attorney General's
01:41:09
office remember I'm still in Florida Michael also spoke via phone to an investigator do you feel oh my goodness
01:41:19
we're in trouble no no no no why because in my mind I had nothing to hide if I had nothing to hide
01:41:30
then why why wouldn't you why wouldn't you talk to them and tell them what you knew or what you didn't know
01:41:53
3 days after the station fire Jody King finally got the news that his brother Tracy's body had been
01:42:03
found in the months and years that followed Jody also learned about Tracy's hero last
01:42:11
moments he ran in and came out nine times in 90 seconds how do you know that he went in
01:42:18
nine times nine different families have come up to me and said thank you for having a great brother he
01:42:25
threw my wife my cousin my uncle my sister out of window what a great brother you have you
01:42:35
should be proud I am proud in the days after the fire victim's families and survivors faced a
01:42:52
harsh new reality Phil bar awoke after 3 weeks in a medically induced coma and was told his
01:42:59
lungs had been badly damaged when you come to you're in a hospital room yep my dad was in the room I can't speak
01:43:11
everything was you know sore and horse I picked up the pen and in very weak you know kind of handwriting I wrote I hope
01:43:20
to make progress every day where'd that come from from don't know true to his words Phil fought to
01:43:30
breathe on his own and then ever so slowly he learned to walk again but even more than walking Phil wanted to return
01:43:40
to swimming I asked my pulmonologist you know when can I get back in the pool he
01:43:45
was very kind about it but he said I don't ever see you competitively swimming again I refused used to accept
01:43:55
that as the outcome about a month after the fire Phil went home from the hospital and the following year he was
01:44:05
able to accomplish The Impossible and rejoin his swim team he had an unlikely friend rooting for him I want to ask you
01:44:14
about Phil bar how'd you meet him my Hospital roommate he and I took turns driving the respiratory therapist crazy
01:44:22
in some ways it's almost like being in war together like you feel that kinship that you know God I really hope this guy
01:44:29
makes it and yet at the point in time I don't even think I knew his name like Phil Linda had also spent 3
01:44:38
weeks in a medically induced coma second and third degree burns over 34% of my body from the
01:44:45
heat I literally baked alive then as it heals the scarring tightens up so before I knew it this
01:44:57
finger was contractured down in this position and the rest of them were all bent backwards cuz the skin had
01:45:05
tightened up so the only way to pick up a can of soda would be to do this I had no control over my muscles and that's
01:45:16
when it starts to hit you all that you've lost and that's when the despair sinks
01:45:24
in that's when you make a decision am I going to sit here and cry about this my friends were dead my other friends are
01:45:32
severely injured I no longer look like myself but I made a choice I'm going to do
01:45:42
this Linda was one of the more than 200 who were seriously hurt in the fire a staggering hundred lives were
01:45:50
lost almost immediately the finger pointing started rock supposed to be fun not deadly you know the morning after the
01:46:01
fire the lead singer of great white Jack Russell claimed the brothers had given the band permission to set off the
01:46:08
fireworks we never do anything without asking permission first no permission was ever requested
01:46:15
by the band or any of its agents to use pyate Technics at the station and no permission was ever given the following
01:46:21
day the brothers responded at a press conference many people didn't make it out and that is a horror that will haunt
01:46:29
my family and I for the rest of our lives we have an investigation ongoing and we need help we need answers and I'm
01:46:39
trying to get them Rhode Island attorney general Patrick Lynch opened an investigation and convened a grand jury
01:46:45
to determine if anyone should face criminal charges certainly there are people that we're looking at ultimately
01:46:51
we may Target in private practice Lynch says he looked into a host of people I don't think anybody in anything that
01:46:58
they did wanted anybody to die that night or get injured but does that mean it's not a
01:47:05
crime the answer is no one of the angles Lynch investigated was the Darian Brothers they were running the operation
01:47:14
they promoted the event so it was very quickly they were in the circle of people we should look at over the course
01:47:19
of the investigation what did you learn about the way the brothers ran their business looking back on it I would say
01:47:28
they ran it as a side business an attempt to maybe make some extra money with a callous utter disregard for those
01:47:37
that work there and assembled there the biggest question was why had the fire spread so quickly to satisfy
01:47:47
noise complaints from Neighbors The Brothers had installed foam along the club's walls and ceilings
01:47:53
as it turns out the foam they used was highly flammable the type of foam was equal to gallons of gasoline it was
01:48:02
Liquid Fire who's responsible for that foam going up on the wall Jeffrey and Michael D Daran Lynch also points out
01:48:11
that the exits were a safety issue inspection records showed that just 3 months before the fire the darians had
01:48:18
been cited by the local fire marshal for having a secondary interior door by the
01:48:23
stage that opened inward which violated regulations they were told to take it down but the night of the fire it was up
01:48:32
to help cut down the noise Not only was the door up which it shouldn't have been
01:48:37
opened inward which it shouldn't have shouldn't have it was covered in foam it was also on fire that door being up
01:48:43
there is no question that that increased the likelihood that many many more would
01:48:50
perish in December 2003 9 months after the fire Jeff and Michael dearion were in court
01:49:00
each charged with 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter how you BL i c not guilty or 100 for a criminal
01:49:08
negligence and 100 for misdemeanor manslaughter not guilty your honor great white's tour manager Daniel beakley also
01:49:16
faced the same charges he had failed to get a license for the pyrotechnics from the state of Rhode Island is and permits
01:49:24
from the local fire [Music] department they blamed three they should have blamed
01:49:31
more there are other people who should be responsible in February of 2006 3 years
01:49:52
after this Station nightclub burned down many in Rhode Island were shocked to learn that instead of a trial a plea
01:49:59
deal had been reached with Daniel beakley the tour manager for the band great white I don't know that I'll ever
01:50:06
forgive myself for what happened that night so I can't expect anybody else to beakley pleed guilty to 100 counts of
01:50:17
misdemeanor manslaughter and was sentenced to 4 years in prison he was granted parole and then released
01:50:26
after 22 months there is so much pain and heartache that happened on our doorstep Michael and Jeff Taran pled no
01:50:34
contest to 100 counts of MISD meter manslaughter and agreed to a deal there's so many things that factor into
01:50:42
the decision to do that it would have been horrific to to have people go through this and then we've got the
01:50:49
pressure from the judge saying that you know you're going to go to jail for 30 years of peace the brothers plea deal
01:50:54
stated only one of them would go to prison the brothers decided that because Jeff had young kids Michael would go he
01:51:02
spent 33 months in prison while Jeff had to do 500 hours of community service we
01:51:08
never knew the whole story cuz a trial never happened so everything really never came out there are so many people
01:51:17
still to this day angry that the case didn't go to trial do understand that anger we do understand that anger and
01:51:24
that's that's that's why we're here with you and 18 years after the fire the brothers say they want to set the record
01:51:32
straight and reveal new information if you have a message that you want the people of Rhode Island to hear there
01:51:40
were plenty of ways to get it out long before now I don't know about that I don't know first of all I don't know how
01:51:47
you would how would you accomplish the detail and the amount of new information in news conference or you know a
01:51:54
commercial or something that we would try and do on our own for the darians the full story
01:52:02
begins with the issue of permission the brothers have always maintained that they never gave the band permission to
01:52:09
use pirate Technics was there a contract yes did the contract specify the use of
01:52:16
pirate Technics did not these contracts are pretty specific so I would think that
01:52:22
the pyot Technic provision would be in there just like we need to have you know 12 M&M's I mean you know and they need
01:52:28
to be brown according to author Scott James Great White had reportedly used a large
01:52:35
pyro display without permission at other clubs including just days before the fire at a show in New Jersey and the
01:52:43
nightclub operator there was so angry when he saw what had happened in Rhode Island he went public and he even made
01:52:49
public the contract that he had with great white that showed there was no evidence of fireworks were going to be
01:52:55
part of the show then there's that interior inward swinging door by the stage that former
01:53:02
Attorney General Patrick Lynch says was responsible for loss of life the night of the fire I don't think there's any
01:53:09
question that had that door not been up a significant number of people would have survived that door was meant to
01:53:18
block the noise from the neighbors and so when the fire inspector came in and said that that door had to come down the
01:53:26
door the door did come down but then the door would go back up when it was going
01:53:31
to be a loud night it didn't have a lock on it there was nothing that would make
01:53:35
it so you couldn't get out of it and according to the brothers it was one of the first exits used when the fire
01:53:42
started that door was opened immediately and that's where the band went out but that door became impassible almost
01:53:49
within seconds because clearly there's phone home that's burning at 1,800 or 1500° and then it just got engulfed in
01:53:58
fire correct you weren't approaching that area at all and then there's the foam the fire
01:54:05
spread so quickly because rather than fire retardant sound foam on the wall of the club was highly
01:54:16
flammable Packing phone that is correct undisputable the brothers sent a fax to the phone company specifically asking
01:54:24
for sound phone but what they received was highly flammable Packing phone the brothers say wait a minute we ordered
01:54:32
sound phone how is it our responsibility if they gave us the wrong phone first of
01:54:38
all I think it's pathetic disgusting and unsettling to think that they're even speaking now the foam that they put up
01:54:46
had a direct impact on the survivability of the bulk of the people that were assembled that night the Arians say that
01:54:53
in the 3 years they owned the club no one ever questioned the safety of the phone and they're quick to point out the
01:54:59
club wasn't inspected by their insurance company and multiple times by the local
01:55:04
fire marshal Dennis Lorac he finds the deficiencies you have to correct the deficiencies and then signs off so that
01:55:13
you can get your liquor license that happened in 2000 that happened in 2001 that happened in 2002 the brothers have
01:55:21
since learned that the fire Fire Marshall should have tested the foam on the wall the field test is Crystal Clear
01:55:28
you take one square in of the foam you hold it up with a roach clip and light it on fire with a wooden match that's
01:55:37
what the code says that specific did he do that zero right none of the inspections and then follow-up
01:55:44
inspections if he had done that then he would have obviously have said to us take this stuff down this is solid
01:55:51
gasoline this is flam you can't have this when Lorac testified before the grand jury he claimed he never saw the
01:55:58
foam the brothers however find that hard to believe considering the foam covered
01:56:03
the wall ceiling and even the inward swinging door he cited as a violation did he do his job perfectly absolutely
01:56:12
not according to Lynch under Rhode Island law the fire marshal could not be criminally charged unless there was
01:56:19
evidence of bad faith or malice while troubling while concerning maddening it doesn't mean that somebody
01:56:27
should be charged or can be if the brothers are relying on the fire marshal to tell them whether or not they can
01:56:34
continue to do business and he says you can isn't that an important fact in determining who's at fault again any
01:56:42
reference in this conversation about what the brothers say I I I I take a step back and think I
01:56:50
don't really trust it but many including the brothers feel strongly Lorac should also have been
01:56:58
charged why is it okay that the fire marshal is allowed to miss something or make a mistake and what he did was just
01:57:08
an oops but what we did was criminal and why wasn't the foam company charged the brothers say there was
01:57:17
evidence that the grand jury never heard [Music] [Music] 2 years after the fire at the station
01:57:37
nightclub the darians learned about a piece of evidence they say is important that was never presented to the grand
01:57:44
jury this eight-page facts sent to the Attorney General's office anonymously just months after the fire and titled
01:57:52
the fire the foam they got this fact and it went on to describe the business practices of the foam company
01:58:00
investigators eventually discovered the fax was sent by Barry Warner a former employee at American Pham the company
01:58:08
that had sent the darians the packing foam made of flammable polyurethane Warner lived next to the station and had
01:58:15
met the brothers he writes up this long almost a Manifesto about all the things that he thinks are wrong in that foam
01:58:23
company that led to this tragedy he wrote this is a company that is well aware of the dangers of polyurethane
01:58:30
foam this is a company that did little to educate their employees about the limits of polyurethane foam in fact they
01:58:38
did the opposite when the phone came was there anything on the packaging that indicated that it was highly flamable
01:58:46
zero no nothing but when Warner was called before the grand jury he was not asked about the allegations he made in
01:58:53
the facts they didn't even bring up the facts to him they didn't even let him talk about it Mr Warner's fact wasn't
01:59:01
presented to the grand jury correct I I can't remember honestly why wouldn't it be I you're telling me it wasn't and I
01:59:12
don't know that it wasn't 48 Hours has confirmed the fact was not presented to the grand jury regardless Lynch points
01:59:20
out that Darian still chose to take a plea deal instead of going to trial the defendant has every right to go to trial
01:59:29
and say hey if it's this mysterious facts that it's trying to be referenced today 18 years later hey this is
01:59:38
important American fo said Warner's claims about the company are false and while they weren't charged in the
01:59:45
criminal case survivors and victims families sued them in civil court for not warning the darians the foam they
01:59:53
sent them was flammable the company paid a hefty settlement and they weren't the
01:59:59
only ones at least 64 others were also sued including the state of Rhode Island cited for the fire inspector's failure
02:00:07
to report the flammable foam during multiple inspections in the end the survivors and victims families settled
02:00:15
for a total of $176 million great white was part of the lawsuit and settled for $1 million Jack
02:00:25
Russell declined our request for an interview 18 years later there is no consensus among survivors when it comes
02:00:34
to blame Linda still places much of it on the Darian Brothers they have said they were sorry but never once do they
02:00:43
say we screwed up if they stood up and said small business owners we were inex experienced we took shortcuts we screwed
02:00:55
up I would forgive them in a heartbeat to people who feel that the two of you have never said we own this what do you
02:01:04
say we say that we're sorry for all of it and if we could change it we would you know a day doesn't go by that we
02:01:11
don't think about it in some way shape or form so to the people who think we don't own it I'm telling you we do own
02:01:19
it okay we own it we own it every day does that mean you feel a sense of responsibility we feel a sense of guilt
02:01:26
about what happened in the sense that you're you carry the guilt of knowing that these people aren't here anymore
02:01:35
and these people are hurt for the rest of their life there isn't a guilt in terms of like that we knowingly did this
02:01:42
or or or or you know caused it but there's a guilt of that that we it happened on on our watch happened on our
02:01:49
watch as a human being how do you not feel some sort of responsibility for that pretty girls look what Mama's got I
02:01:59
could have missed it all I could have missed my daughter's High School graduation the birth of her children I
02:02:05
could have missed that my friends that didn't survive that night have missed that Linda will forever wear the scars
02:02:15
of that horrible night but she refuses to live in the past I think a lot of people miss out out on the moments not
02:02:24
you no not anymore being a survivor of the Station nightclub fire is piece of who I am it
02:02:33
fuels you ready set here we go today Phil is married and a father of two little girls I'm catching up getting
02:02:43
another opportunity to live my life came with enormous responsibility that's not just about
02:02:51
hitting the next goal but doing something really meaningful because so many people that
02:02:57
were there don't have that [Music] opportunity in 2017 a memorial was opened to honor the 100 innocent lives
02:03:13
that were tragically lost in the station fire including tracy King who died saving so many
02:03:22
others I'm so proud to say he's my brother hey Trace that's my buddy my parents taught
02:03:32
us a lot a lot of things one of them is Never Say Die never give up miss you Trac Tracy
02:03:43
died never giving up [Music] 48 Hours don't miss an episode [Music]