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[Music] September 13th 2013 I received the call 3:00 in the morning I was told that we had a female
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who had stated she had been raped and she had shot and killed her rapist I of course think this is going
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to probably be a self-defense case she's got a rapist off the street all I thought was I want to shake her
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hand i'm summer r Benton and I am the lead homicide detective on the Victoria Rickman case
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just you shot him I shot him all over who was the victim the victim was Will Carter Jr they had been in a
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relationship it was off and on for a number of years he owned his own business it was doing very very well
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well he had his own home she she went through some horrible things this man abused her emotionally
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physically and sexually heartbreaking she's like the other half of me goofy funny she's a great mom just
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a great friend to be around as soon as I stepped foot in that back bedroom I knew we had a problem
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problem there didn't appear to be any signs of disarray or a fight nothing looked like what it should have looked
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like and then when the medical examiner turned him he had three gunshot wounds to the back and then a reality TV show
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came out yes in shock everybody no one knew that this was being filmed and how would you describe
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this show just filled with lies she's claiming that she was raped she's claiming rape when you haven't even got
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on the scene yet to know you haven't even spoke with her you don't even know what's happened yet 4130 show me 26 on
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Clifton there were so many things that were completely false for some reason this girl she did a tactical reload the
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fact that she reloaded the gun that wasn't true if you guys can get me every rape case she has ever filed the fact
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that she had claimed you know that she had been raped by so many men so many times it's too big to email that wasn't
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true it looks like she was training to kill wow please give me a break it just came across as what's
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going to make a good TV episode my name is Amanda Clark Palmer I represent Victoria Rickman you knew this was going
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to happen we're dealing with an investigation that wow was done quickly wasn't done thoroughly she has no
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scratches no bruising it certainly seems and looks like the TV cameras affected what
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happened there was no real investigation I think she made a lot of things up on camera if she had been raped that night
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then this would have been a Justified shooting and I would have written it up as one but this was not a Justified
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shooting this was cold blooded [Music] murder [Music] 48 Hours reality kills Atlanta police detective summer
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Benton has a name a job and some would say an attitude made for television tell me
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about the Hat Squad the Hat Squad um we're very proud of our hats we have summer fedoras we have winter fedoras
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but you're not allowed to wear Fedora until you've solved your first homicide case in her 16 years on the job
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detective Benton has been the lead detective on 65 homicide cases but it was the shooting death of Will Carter Jr
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in the early morning hours of SE September 13 2013 that put the detective in the
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spotlight as Benton investigated this just isn't adding up video cameras from that reality show inside homicide were
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rolling the TV Crews were embedded with the Atlanta police department and were following the action that night the
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shooter was Victoria Rickman a 30-year-old divorced mother she and Will Carter also 30 met through m mutual
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friends and dated for 3 years they bonded over their kids will had a daughter and Victoria a son who were
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about the same age he was good around his his daughter and she admired that about him they had a lot of things in
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common Victoria's friend Britney Morgan says that at one point Victoria a marketing consultant and will a local
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businessman moved in together and got engaged she wanted to have a family be married again and have that for her and
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her son but the relationship went off the rails the couple had a lot of arguments and began living apart it was
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just back and forth back and forth just very toxic and then just after midnight on September 13th
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2013 will arrived at the house where she was staying and Victoria told First Responders he raped her Victoria
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admitted shooting Carter with a 40 caliber semi-automatic that was in her bedroom
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room sh and Sh and sh she said she shot him to protect herself she fired nine times hitting will every time at first
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bton says she was giving Victoria the benefit of the doubt but then she called Will's father hi is this um Mr
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Carter my name is investigator Benton I'm with the city of Atlanta Police Department I've got some really bad news
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:30 in the morning and the phone rings twice so you know it's not good I'm so sorry sir it was detective Benton and
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she explained to me that our son had been killed by Victoria Rickman she did say right now this is a self-defense
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case and can you help me with some details but when she said this was a self-defense case what was your reaction
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I mean I got puked I mean it's like no it's not either Will's father told Bon that a year earlier the couple was
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fighting and his son showed up bleeding she hit him in the head with a hammer and she bit him in the back in fact I
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told will after that incident said if she' had a gun she'd have killed you but Victoria called police and told them
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will had tried to force her to have sex and that she used a hammer to fight him off will was arrested for sexual battery
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and simple assault two weeks later she's standing in her driveway with Will so I
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said you don't can't ever come over here again she just snapped she got furious with me and she said you can't tell me
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what to do she said I have a gun I know how to use it it's like whoa eventually Victoria declined to press charges and
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the case against will was dismissed no no no no no no no no no no no no no you were not coming in my house and then in
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May 2013 4 months before Victoria shop will Tor I didn't tell you to be here get the
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out of here dude I'm scared of you there was this incident captured by Victoria on her cell phone as she tried to enter
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Will's house all you are is a toxic Web of Lies stop it I'm going to call the police this time Victoria was the one
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arrested and charged with battery those charges were pending at the time of Will's
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death Benton took into account what Mr Carter had told her and then the medical examiner discovered that will had three
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bullets to his back after that Benton no longer believed this was self-defense what we
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truly believe happened is that he was standing and he was not facing her at the time this animation shows what
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police suspect may have happened we believe he was standing next to the bed facing the window when he was shot in
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the back three times which then one of those shots filled his lungs with blood which caused him to cough causing the
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blood spray pattern on the wall next to the window and then we believe he fell back onto the bed as he's lying on the
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bed she is then finishing him off firing more shots into his chest and his head to Benton this was straight up murder
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there were no signs that she had tried to scratch him her nails were pristine he had no scratches on his body
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I do not believe she was raped Victoria was given a rape exam it showed she had intercourse but there were no signs of
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internal injuries hospital records noted bruising on Victoria's arm and leg but that's not
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what Benton told a prosecutor on that TV reality show any indication from the hospital of any injury to her at all
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there's nothing she has no scratches no bruising Bye by midday on September 13th
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2013 only hours after the shooting Benton arrested Victoria Rickman I advise her that she's being arrested for
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murder and she simply says Okay that was it no screaming up and down I'm innocent I didn't do
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this while Victoria appeared stoic back at the Carter home in Marietta Georgia William Carter senior and his wife Caro
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were shattered they consoled each other and wondered as they had many times before about Will's Fatal Attraction to
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Victoria it's as if nobody could have done anything he wouldn't listen to anybody
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about this his biggest flaw was that he couldn't see the evil in her but if Victoria had personal demons so did Will
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years earlier will had been arrested several times for property damage and drug use Will Carter admits his son had
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been a drug addict back then like what kind of drugs I don't know you name it the doctor said it was more than
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something like marijuana it was dangerous after 10 years of drug use will went into a rehab facility he actually
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overcame his uh addiction and started his own business I was extremely proud of Will and he never gave up he didn't
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give up on anything or anyone what Drew will to someone like Victoria my sister who's a u psychologist said will that
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Victoria was his last addiction I don't think he realized how dangerous she was but Victorian says will was still the
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dangerous one and only 4 months before the shooting Victoria reported to police that will had beaten her and she had
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documented it with these photographs I think the constant abuse that she was going through she just could not take it
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anymore Victoria went to court for restraining order but the office was closed a deputy sheriff working there
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spotted her bruises later for her own protection he gave her a gun he encouraged her to use that gun
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when it came to Will [Music] Carter after Victoria rickman's 2013 arrest for the murder of Will Carter Jr
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she was dened denied bail and held at the decab County jail in decar Georgia do you think you should be on trial at
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all for anything to be honest no I don't really think I've done anything illegal jail
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officials would not let us interview Victoria face to face everything was done for a TV show and there was no real
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investigation but we spoke to her via an inmate video calling system I'm innocent
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of the charges that are alleged against Victoria stuck to the story she told [Music]
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police that she was fighting off will who had raped and beaten her unfortunately I've been humiliated
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dehumanized by the system publicly without my consent did you think your life was at risk of course no doubt in
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my mind Victoria says that night will was behaving erratically he had relapse and was intoxic
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and it was a very very very scary situ but no one will ever know if that's true because detective Benton never
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requested a toxicology report she says she didn't know it was her responsibility because this was her
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first homicide case in De Cab County which had a different set of procedures I had no idea that you have to specially
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request a victim's tox and blood alcohol so even though they had taken his blood
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and held on to it at some point they then disposed of it so it was destroyed the blood was destroyed for my
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understanding it was but Victoria does not believe that was a casual oversight she thinks it was something far more
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Sinister I think that did not she was that to my defense and to my Inn she's extremely good trying to play the
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victim Benton may not have believed Victoria but there was that one law enforcement officer Cobb County deputy
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sheriff Rick price who did months earlier price had spotted a black eye and bruises on Victoria that time he met
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her at the courthouse Rick price gave Victoria a gun it was one of Price's personal guns and the deputy even
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brought Victoria to a gun range to practice says Atlanta police detective Kevin Leon Packer and lo and behold
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she's used that very gun to shoot and kill Will Carter and right after the shooting Rick
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price was the first one she called he told her to call 911 when the phone records came back we found out that just
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before she called 911 Victoria called Rick and it was about a two-minute phone call Benton believes price was just one
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more male caught in Victoria's web she was extremely good at getting the men to give her whatever she wanted Victoria
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Rickman was a very skilled manipulator so this is your house yes and who is this down here this is
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Spencer it's actually Victoria's dog Andrew scar is a lifelong friend of Victoria this is the back bedroom and
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this was where Victoria stayed yes he owns the house where the shooting occurred early that evening Victoria
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told Andrew she wanted to be alone and asked him to stay at his mother's house after he left Victoria spoke on the
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phone with Will police don't know what was said but sometime after midnight will showed up when you're in here you
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know that something happened between 12 20 and about 2:15 in the morning what do
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you believe happened in here oh I believe her story 100% did Victoria Rickman shoot will In
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Cold Blood did she plan to kill him that night did she invite him over to kill him she didn't invite him over she
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didn't want him over there she didn't plan to kill him and she didn't murder him I 100% believe she shot him in
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self-defense defense attorney Amanda Clark Palmer says Victoria killed Will Carter after he raped her because he was
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still close enough to be a threat do you think there's about this amount distance
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for those shots they would have been somewhere within 6 in to 2 feet of each other Clark Palmer demonstrated what she
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believes happened in this KingSize four poster bed that is similar to Victoria's
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and the gun's over here right she insists the first shots were to Will's chest not his back as the police believe
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so he gets the two shots to his chest and then um turns he stands up and he coughs and um gets the blood spatter on
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the wall and then gets the shots in the back and then kind of sits down and falls back and as he's falling back
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she's still shooting and so she shoots him two more times in the head correct he gets the he gets the shot through the
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nose that goes through the nose chin shoulder arm and then the shot to the head is the last shot
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probably was it stressful highly traumatic situation the shots happened I mean within a matter of seconds Bam Bam
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Bam Bam Bam right after it was let me shoot until I think the threat is over while Clark Palmer was trying to
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make sense of the murder scene investigators were taking a second look at all the
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evidence no one had been able to crack the secret code on Victoria's cell phone but a few months before the trial
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investigators made a crucial Discovery and came across a piece of paper that said phone code and it had a
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four-digit code on it and the investigator punched it into the phone and poof it opened right
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up the phone spit out more than 66,000 texts some 4,000 Pages worth sent and received received by Victoria so
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this was like a motherload of information it absolutely it was a motherload these 3 years and 10 months
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have passed and we've had no trial Paul Rickman Victoria's father has patiently stood by his daughter for nearly 4 years
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waiting for this day all August 22nd 2017 the day her trial for murder begins I'm hoping that we get through with this
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and have it over and have her home Victoria Rickman faces life in prison for shooting her on again off again
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boyfriend Will Carter Jr we miss him every single day it's a big hole in our heart will Carter's parents attend the
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trial to stand witness for the type of person will was everything we've done is to get his reputation back and to be
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able to tell his story ladies and gentlemen of the jury good afternoon Sheila Ross who has a
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reputation is one of the most successful prosecutors in Georgia lays out the case
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against Victoria Rickman the evidence will show that she did not shoot William Carter Jr out of fear but rather anger
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he and this defendant were involved in what could only be described as an on again off again toxic relationship very
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Jerry springl why are you naked why are you taking pictures of me Ross plays for
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the jury that cell phone video made by Victoria during the contentious visit to Will's house in May
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2013 no no no no no no no no no no you were not coming in my house 4 months before the couple's fatal encounter Tori
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I didn't tell you to be here get the out of here dude I'm scared of you all you are is a toxic Web of Lies stop it
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you'll hear a lot out of her mouth that she's an abused woman that she has PTSD that she has been raped you'll hear
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the tears and you'll see the tears so just be ready for it but we're going to ask that you look past that and we're
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going to ask that you render a verdict that speaks the truth of what happened to William Carter Jr that night which is
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nothing short of murder thank you may I proceed Victoria's defense attorney Amanda Clark Palmer paints a very
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different view of the case this case is about domestic violence he abused her physically
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verbally and emotionally she felt like he was going to do something terrible to her based on the way he was acting and
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based on the fact that he said I'm going to kill you the defense attorney never shows the footage from inside homicide
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to the jury fearing it will give them the wrong idea about Victoria detective Benton didn't come alone but she tells
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them all about it in her opening detective Benton was the star and she's kind of like narrating what she's doing
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to the cameras I just did the initial walkthrough no one asks Victoria who's just been raped who's just shot and
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killed William Carter defending herself if she's okay being on TV they just come
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over and start filming everything that's going on from the looks of things it doesn't appear there was a struggle and
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what happens next was a rush to judgment in this case and we got a lot of shell casings the police show up they collect
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evidence they're not as meticulous as I think they should have been it looks like she was training to
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kill wow she was justified in defending herself she was in fear for her life and
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she's not guilty on the second day of testimony prosecutor rot calls detective Benton to
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the stand Did You observe any forced entry into the home no I did not were there any injuries to her face no there
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were not was her bra torn in any way no it was not did you look for signs of a struggle I did I was unable to find that
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there were any signs of a struggle but the defense challenges that assertion and we can see the lamp on top
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of the nightstand right yes ma'am dare to say this lamp has been knocked over yes it definitely looks like a struggle
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occurred there and we also see the sound machine hanging down between the nightstand and the bed right correct
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it's not a neat and orderly room did you find a firearm there we did detective Benton is questioned closely
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about the gun used by Victoria what type of firearm was it it was a 40 caliber semi-automatic detective Benton believed
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the gun could hold only 12 bullets at the scene she found nine shell casings four bullets left in the gun that adds
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up to 13 so Benton concluded that Victoria had to have reloaded and shared her thoughts with the cameras the gun
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doesn't hold 13 for some reason this girl she did a tactical reload wrong the capacity of the gun is 13 could not be
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clearer to anybody who knows anything about Firearms I'm extremely proficient with a firearm the issue is crucial
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because bent says if Victoria reloaded she canot claim self-defense detective Benton thought that that was indicative
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of premeditation murder you recognize now that the maximum capacity of this weapon is 13 right no I realized that
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you didn't write that in your report no I did not weren't you wrong about the reloading no I was not at this moment
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you have no evidence she reloaded no you just can't say that you made a mistake I
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don't believe I did did it ever occur to you that you might be putting wrong information and affecting potential
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jurors who see this show no that means she had to switch magazines this was a brand spanking new show four 5 6 7 8 I
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didn't know if that part was going to air or what was going to air I didn't see it until it aired the same day
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everybody else saw it and did you then say wish I hadn't done that no what your reaction to that it was incredibly
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unfair to Victoria as unfair as parade in a rape victim before television cameras says Victoria's lawyer and then
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there's the information Benton says she got from the Cobb County District Attorney's office that aired on inside
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homicide they stated that she has got such a long list of rape claims against so many men that it's too big to email
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they'll have to physically bring it to me well that wasn't true you know everybody makes mistakes I'm not saying
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we didn't make any mistakes I'm not saying cop County didn't make any mistakes you know we're all human still
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detective Benton does not believe the misinformation from the show will affect the trial I think we have smart people
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out there and smart jurors out there it doesn't matter what they may or may not have seen on television or on a
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television show you swear following Benton to the stand is her colleague detective Kevin Leon Packer I've
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developed another uh type of expertise that involves uh the analysis of cell phone records Leon packer formed the
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forensic examination of Victoria's cell phone the detective zeros in on the night of September 12th
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2013 just a few hours before the alleged murder there were several threads of communication with call records and text
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messages between Miss rickman's phone and other individuals Leon Packer says Will's text to Victoria reveal he was
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Furious because she had called the mother of his child will text Victor Toria that he's breaking up with her
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Liam Packer reads the text in court you are too dangerous to be around never contact me or the mother of my child
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again why are you taking pictures of me and in the text will also says he's going to follow up on criminal charges
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against Victoria in that incident captured on this cell phone video I'm going to need you to get out of here
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Victoria may have feared an assault conviction would affect custody of her son she begins sending texts to her
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friend deputy sheriff Rick price sounding more and more desperate about will he wants me put away now my only
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hope is to change his mind I think that what the evidence has shown what the text messages have shown
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is that she made a decision um when she called Will Carter that night to kill him but the texts are not the only
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surprised detective Leon Packer finds inside Victoria's phone I was dumbfounded that was like wow she will
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go to any links to prove her [Music] story she's just the best person I really know the best friend I've ever
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had and it's hard to see me to see her go through this Britney Morgan has always believed
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Victoria rickman's claim of self-defense as her closest friend she had seen the bruises and hoped to be in
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court every day to support Victoria I need her to be able to know that I'm there I'm there for her he Britney how
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are you fine how you do but she and Victoria's Father Paul it's a say a situation there's no way you can put it
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in words and Victoria's lifelong friend Andrew scar is it's devastating it's devastating are barred from sitting in
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at her trial until after they testify she's not a cold blooded killer before court begins Victoria's attorney wants
00:29:10
to ensure Victoria puts her best face forward in every possible way she doesn't deserve to be in jail back on
00:29:20
the stand detective Leon Packer details his forensic analysis of Victoria's cell
00:29:26
phone remember that photo of bruises to Victoria's right arm the morning of the shooting it turns out detective Leon
00:29:36
Packer found these selfies in her phone I looked at the metadata on the photos to see when were these photos
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taken and that's when I found they were 24 hours before the murder ever occurred this is her whole defense this
00:29:52
is her whole assertion of self-defense of justification for shooting and killing will and those bruises existed
00:29:59
before he ever showed up at her house that night there was some evidence indicate that maybe the injuries she had
00:30:05
she actually had 24 hours before isn't that really damaging for your case not at all not really damaging she had other
00:30:13
bruises that were notated you know on her body in the medical records State calls rck price the cob County deputy
00:30:21
sheriff who gave Victoria the gun she used to kill Will Carter is now an instructor at Dobbin Air Force Base he
00:30:29
testifies he met Victoria at the courthouse where he worked four months before the
00:30:34
shooting she told me that um her ex had uh beaten her and she needed a protective order I could see the brues
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on her arms I could also see that she had the outline of black eyes prosecutor Sheila Ross suggests price had romantic
00:30:56
feelings for for Victoria I was interested in Victoria um but we never developed past
00:31:04
uh just good friends did you ever have sexual relations with her then no did you ever tell anyone that you
00:31:13
did I I've told people all sorts of things that had nothing to do with reality price was fired 5 days after the
00:31:23
shooting for not cooperating with the investig we going to call Dr John lockd halfway
00:31:31
through the second week of trial the defense begins its case Victoria's lawyer calls to the stand Will Carter
00:31:39
psychiatrist Dr John Lockridge when is the last time you saw Will Carter Jr who makes a startling Revelation he says
00:31:49
that on September 10th 2013 just 3 days before Will's death will reported having Del Illusions he
00:31:58
said he thought he was famous he was on TV he was talking to and through the TV Lockridge testifies that will had been
00:32:07
taking an anticho drug to help him sleep better but because detective benon never
00:32:14
ordered a toxicology report no one will ever know what drugs will had in his system when he was shot Victoria claims
00:32:23
that will had stopped taking his prescribed medications and have gone back to illegal drugs it's a reason why
00:32:32
he went crazy and raped me like for in there and was going to murder me also testifying for the defense a former
00:32:41
Chief medical examiner for the state of Georgia Dr Chris Lee Sperry bolsters the
00:32:47
defense theory that Victoria fired the first shots into Will's chest not his back as the prosecution contends he is
00:32:57
turned somewhat towards um the lady with the gun the person with with the weapon
00:33:03
he could be twisted towards her you know leaned over so he gets the two shots to
00:33:07
his chest um Britney Morgan and now it's time for Victoria's friends who have been waiting to tell the jury what they
00:33:15
saw in the year and the months before the shooting the bruising was It was kind of almost look like fingerprints on
00:33:23
the side I've seen bruises on their arm I've seen a black eye I have seen a mark
00:33:30
above her eye right about here and where did she have the bruises on her body on
00:33:35
arrest on our arms and the second occasion on our throat Cobb County Police Lieutenant Robbie Ray says he too
00:33:43
saw bruises on Victoria a year earlier she had some bruising on her left upper forearm and on her left bicep she said
00:33:53
her ribs were sore Victoria Rickman decides Ides not to take the [Music] stand but in her closing argument Clark
00:34:04
pommer makes sure jurors hear what Victoria's voice sounded like the day of the shooting I don't know how
00:34:13
help that is not the voice of a killer imagine how powerless she felt when William Carter who was taller than
00:34:22
her heavier than her and stronger than her was raping her [Music] she finished him off with a shot to the
00:34:46
head that is cold blooded murder no more after two weeks of testimony prosecutor
00:34:55
Sheila Ross is ready for closing arguments and she holds nothing back and if he in fact was raping her and she
00:35:03
shot him good ridd the world could use one less rapist but that's not what happened Victoria Rickman is not guilty
00:35:14
defense attorney Amanda Clark Palmer argues there is no way Victoria could have planned to kill will because she
00:35:21
had no idea he was coming over that night there is zero proof that Victoria Rickman invited Will Carter to her house
00:35:30
and once more Clark Palmer slams the behavior of detective summer Benton she wanted to know what's the capacity of
00:35:37
the gun and she got it wrong she says that Benton's investigative work was shoddy and biased from the start against
00:35:46
Victoria she was trying to make good TV and she didn't want to do anything or take any steps in her investigation that
00:35:54
would contradict her theory that VI Toria Rickman was guilty ladies and gentlemen the jury you
00:36:01
were considering the case of the state of Georgia closing arguments end late on the Friday before Labor Day weekend but
00:36:09
judge JP Boule orders jurors to begin deliberating you may now retire to the jury room but did not begin your
00:36:16
deliberations until anybody started standing around thinking you know we're going to be here
00:36:22
for hours and they said we've got a verdict sir have you reached your verdict we
00:36:33
have your honor the jury returns with a verdict in less than an hour coun the judge has the lawyers look
00:36:41
at the jury form to make sure it's proper and the lawyers clearly see the verdict it was a very simple verdict
00:36:48
form him it just had the four counts it said um she was guilty on each and every
00:36:55
count we saw you whisper something to Victoria I just said to her I'm sorry yeah was that hard it was
00:37:04
extremely hard state of Georgia vers the next moments make it official count one
00:37:11
Malice m we the jury find the defendant Victoria Rickman [Music] guilty I think that their verdict the swiftness
00:37:29
in which they rendered their verdict speaks for itself was that your verdict in the Jury Room yes sir when the
00:37:36
verdict was read there was a huge rainbow that came over Atlanta to me that was will he was
00:37:43
finally at [Music] peace for detective baton the verdict is gratifying the gun doesn't hold 13 for
00:38:00
some reason this girl she did a tactical reload all along she has stuck to her conviction that Victoria reloaded the
00:38:07
gun but after speaking to her superiors she's reconsidered I probably wouldn't have
00:38:15
made that grand of a statement but you know it doesn't matter this case is not about me this case is
00:38:22
about William Carter Jr and the fact that what happened in that [Music] bedroom all right here for the C count 5
00:38:35
Weeks Later everyone is back in court for sentencing there's no doubt Victoria will get life in prison the most she can
00:38:45
hope for is the possibility of parole thank you for the time to speak and clarify the facts of this case
00:38:53
Victoria Rickman who did not testify on her own behalf addresses the court I'm a mother who has been stolen
00:39:02
from her son's life I a battered woman I am a victim who continues to suffer the
00:39:09
nightmares and symptoms of PTSD caused for being forced to defend myself in years of
00:39:16
abuse so I ask you your honor for turn me to my son in my life give me back my voice and my dignity Victoria offers no
00:39:27
apology M Rickman please stand and the judge offers no mercy this court sentences you to life without the
00:39:37
possibility of [Music] parole two days after the sentencing hearing will would have turned 35 years
00:39:53
old Will's mother says her son's death death is a loss for everyone but especially for his young daughter she's
00:40:01
a good student she's got a beautiful heart never see a graduate and never you know be at her wedding but his memories
00:40:10
is what's important and that's what I want to be able to carry on and be grateful that I had this young man in my
00:40:18
life morning on man come on Loki let's go and the memories of will are everywhere
00:40:27
Loki is connection with will in a way will love his dog he's almost 13 Way Beyond his normal
00:40:38
lifespan there's Loki she's swimming Loki gives me a lot of comfort because I know how close will was to Loki and he's
00:40:46
we still have that connection with our son of something here on Earth we're going to be okay we're going
00:40:54
to make it through this [Music] [Applause] [Music]