00:00:00
[Music] [Music] oh my oh my Lord it was disguise a limit for a 21y old that was talented and that everybody
00:00:36
[Music] loved I'm Kevin Harris's Dad okay he's my son and he was named after me it was going to be a suay like any
00:00:52
other even if he didn't go to church that day he was naive Kevin Trust Soul maybe a little too
00:01:04
much he'd say why you got to tell everybody I'm your son I said because I'm proud of
00:01:11
you my best friend my teammate I haven't been able to watch a a father take his son to the park with a ball you know for
00:01:22
a while so [Music] he was making a name for himself cuz I heard where Britney and Rihanna actually
00:01:40
were interested in some of his material Kevin always had it the Beats were great I knew he was going to make it
00:01:54
some people have that thing where it's like you're Relentless to a point where nothing can stop you
00:02:01
the stuff that he would send me was a lot of like an R&B feel mixed with like pop pop and
00:02:13
Hip-Hop Church like gospel like those ches a lot of things were happening too quickly
00:02:23
it videos camera shoots Ice Cube tracks and he went to that dog on Studio that night and that
00:02:39
happened last day and he kissed me on it on my left cheek he hugged me and he just held me
00:02:49
and I said what's wrong Kevin and he said nothing mom he said everything's just happening
00:02:58
so fast I feel like something's going to happen I said don't think like that 10 to 17 shots two different
00:03:10
handguns how much do you have to kill him a lot of suspicious things happened that
00:03:16
night the clues are absolutely out there we just need that one piece that one Smoking Gun
00:03:29
[Music] [Music] [Applause] time is of the essence I've hate how long my breath takes those are are the
00:04:30
words of Kevin Harris on his Twitter account in the summer of 2009 Kevin was just 21 when he was
00:04:39
gunned down shortly after 8:00 p.m. on a September Sunday that same year he had been sitting in his car alone in
00:04:46
Englewood California a small City in Los Angeles close to LAX I got a call at 9:15 are you at the
00:04:57
hospital I said for what what happened what's wrong Kevin's been shot Kevin Harris senior is Kevin's dad
00:05:06
we ran every light just to be told that we couldn't see him I was in denial Catherine is his mother the night that
00:05:14
he was murdered and I do say murdered people like to say he passed he did pass on but someone actually took the time to
00:05:21
murder him the harrises couldn't believe that somebody wanted their Son dead this is this is Kevin this was
00:05:34
during the the the photo shoot that they had so handsome confident very confident tell me about your angel our
00:05:44
Angel our Ang she called him angel face his mother his mother I wish he could have met him he was beautiful man and he
00:05:52
was still close with his childhood friends like Cameron Woods we've known each other since we were like two three
00:06:00
years old we continue going to the same school with each other all the way to all the way to
00:06:05
here um it's still so fresh yeah hold on sorry what are you thinking I don't want to
00:06:16
cry it's a little harder a little H yeah it's okay you know that right what do you miss most about him
00:06:35
his smile his generosity never heard anybody tell me anything bad about him say anything bad
00:06:44
about him never really heard him say anything about about anyone besides my be feel you know I
00:06:49
mean no one's perfect but he was he was close he was close to that the harrises led by example were
00:06:59
working hard dad at the LA airport and selling cars and Mom working retail they were regulars in church and
00:07:09
they sent Kevin to a Catholic school she and I were like helicopter parents under
00:07:15
surveillance at all time as a form of protection yes if he hadn't come home at a certain time I would text a question
00:07:22
mark just knowing the the possible hearts that lay out there in the street one of Kevin's h H Cameron says was
00:07:31
hanging out with his mom spending time with his mom really yeah he love yeah wait wait wait a teenager enjoying
00:07:39
spending time with his parents I don't know if I should say but he was like kind of like a mama's boy but I mean I'm
00:07:43
a mama's boy so there's nothing wrong with that Kevin was a perfect date Jasmine
00:07:57
Tanner was Kevin's high school sweetheart not really a hugee dancer but like you
00:08:02
know he had his little twostep that he would do everything that he did was in from a
00:08:08
very loving place the harrises kept their son involved in sports especially basketball I'll take you through my
00:08:17
house right now right here in my room but his real calling was music much of the music you're hearing in this
00:08:24
broadcast is his see this all you need right here is a little kid right here see turn up the music a
00:08:32
second see got all that got the turntables mix [Music] s he taught himself to play he taught
00:08:42
himself he had Rock he had Classics he had Jazz uh East Indian music soon after high school graduation
00:08:53
Kevin landed a gig apprenticing at a local music studio yeah he start boobing that head then he just the next thing
00:09:00
you know he's like oh oh listen to this and then he'll click something it's like
00:09:05
going to the next level by the summer of 2009 he'd stacked up hundreds of hours in the studio he began breaking into the
00:09:13
Los Angeles hipop scene but he just wanted to be the best producer ever Kevin's Vibe was he was comfortable
00:09:23
with himself Sonia techly is a poet and singer one of a number of artists working with Kevin I had never felt
00:09:32
comfortable in recording sessions until my sessions with him and a lot of times like you
00:09:38
know guys are just trying to like get at girls and do all these things but he was
00:09:43
just he stayed in his Lane he was focused on his work as Kevin's career picked up speed
00:09:52
he bragged about working at a big fancy Studio where Michael Jackson once recorded Thriller and he was like right
00:10:00
there like you know like a pinball and you get your ball ready and and you pull it back and then let go but everything
00:10:07
would soon come to an abrupt and violent end my naive loving son probably just could have been possibly Sleeping with
00:10:15
the Enemy and had no idea [Music] [Music] to this day no one has been charged for
00:10:39
the murder of Kevin Harris they thought we're going to do this sneaky stuff here and we'll get
00:10:45
away with it they effed with the wrong father this [Music] time Kevin Harris senior is determined
00:10:54
to change that he spent the past 11 years Seeking Justice for his Nam sake I never got to speak to Kevin that day at
00:11:02
all I went to work 9:00 a.m. he was still asleep and I looked in on him and I left that Sunday morning in the summer
00:11:13
of 2009 Kevin shared breakfast with his mother Catherine I saw have the plate the paper the
00:11:22
napkin the last carton of juice I have all of that from that day you memorialized L
00:11:30
him I just love him I love him retracing their son's steps the harrises say nothing seemed unusual that
00:11:42
day from what I hear at some point he wound up at a Pop Warner football game and then later on he went to his
00:11:52
aunt's Karen Staten is the last known person to see Kevin alive he was his regular happy goodlucky self hi Auntie
00:12:03
how you doing where'd you cook and he stayed we ate we laughed we talked and after a few hours Kevin left saying he
00:12:12
was headed to the music studio I said Kevin don't go we're having too much fun I don't want you to go
00:12:19
yet and he said auntie I have to go because the studio is quiet no one's there I can record I can go over some
00:12:27
things I can write I can perfect what I'm working on and we hugged each other and he was out the
00:12:36
door he drove to the studio in his beloved Green Camaro he was supposed to meet up with a friend known in the
00:12:44
community as a wannabe rapper but that friend was a no-show a lot of suspicious things happened that
00:12:54
night the studio was in a converted Garage in a residential neighborhood Hood Kevin arrived but never made it out
00:13:02
of his car he was shot multiple times from two different guns I never expected anything
00:13:10
like this to happen to Kevin Kevin's friend Jasmine says he didn't have a chance to find out that he was shot
00:13:18
outside the studio that he loved to go to so much it was just like nowhere is safe the harrises went to the crime
00:13:28
scene no more than 3 hours after their son had been shot the police were already gone it was already cleaned up
00:13:36
it was so weird and strange it was like why is this crime scene already done car
00:13:43
was gone everything it seemed as if there were more expeditious in cleaning up their crime scene than they were in
00:13:47
trying to find out who did this within the proverbial 24 to 48 hours that's what it seemed
00:13:57
like Catherine and took what was left behind I walked around in front of the studio and I saw blood wipe the blood up
00:14:06
off the street and uh the glass from his window was on the ground and I used my hands as a broom to gather the
00:14:17
glass this young man deserves better than what happened here there was early speculation that Kevin's death was Gang
00:14:25
Related an assumption that upset his father you hear shot and killed the first thing you want to say he drive by
00:14:33
was he in the game no no he wasn't he was just a loving young man with a heart as big as his
00:14:42
church music journalist Raman Duke says no matter how innocent the victim is people assume a crime like this is Gang
00:14:51
Related cuz there a young black man so it's automatic yeah and in that and specifically within that neighborhood
00:15:00
100% young black man shot in the music business yeah those are all elements and the odds of solving crimes
00:15:13
with those elements are slim for one thing witnesses can be hard to find people in these communities they stick
00:15:20
together when these situations occur they're like I'm not not dealing with with the law enforcement they weren't
00:15:28
here to help us why we going to why we going to help them I have seen people step forward but
00:15:34
the majority of the time that doesn't happen why a lot of times cuz they're afraid that person still has to live in
00:15:44
that neighborhood there there might be some retaliation there's this mentality where it's like just mind your own
00:15:51
business as time past Kevin's parents felt that the police pushed their son's case to the back burner even when they
00:15:59
tried to help and they would tell me just go home just go home we'll take care of
00:16:05
this we let the law enforcement handle it unfortunately it didn't work it was sat on the police told 48 Hours quote
00:16:13
our hearts go out to the parents and family of Kevin the Englewood police department has done everything possible
00:16:21
to bring closure and Justice to the family the harrises continued to push for answers they held memorials for
00:16:31
Kevin inviting the police and local officials but the stress of losing their son took its
00:16:42
toll the gun kills more than this intended victim and it always will and after he died not right away but a lot
00:16:50
of everything that meant everything to our family was destroyed [Music] two years after Kevin's murder the
00:17:03
harrises ended their 23-year [Music] marriage it was a dark time for Kevin Senior he searched for
00:17:18
[Music] Solace and he found it in church a Baptist Church in the Los Angeles community
00:17:32
[Music] of my heart is broken but God has piece by piece put it back together Pastor Winford Bell helped the
00:17:44
heartbroken father Channel his grief into a newfound purpose speaking out against gun violence for Bell's
00:17:53
organization Silver Lining of hope my heart has been ripped smiing Dre I really Revel in this because it's
00:18:01
medicine to my soul to speak about the loss of my son Kevin stepped up when they kill your
00:18:09
baby it's few people that want to fight to fix it so that your baby or my baby or anybody else's baby doesn't suffer
00:18:19
the same [Music] thing now more at peace with himself Kevin Senior found more will to keep up
00:18:28
the long fight to find out who murdered his son and he was about to get some unexpected help we're going to put as
00:18:36
much time and energy as it takes we will not stop we will figure this out [Music]
00:19:05
Kevin Harris senior continued to speak out 6 years after his son's senseless murder his heartbreaking story finally
00:19:14
had an impact the local police brought in the FBI to work the case when I heard I was going to get a call from the FBI I
00:19:22
felt that all my aggressiveness wasn't in vain have you met the parents I have the parents are fantastic and as soon as
00:19:32
I met them we immediately bonded and they have begged us to just find the people that did this and that's my
00:19:42
commitment to them vet Morgan is in charge of FBI criminal investigations in Los Angeles I'm vested so we'll find
00:19:51
them and we'll hold them accountable Welcome to the New [Music] FBI I think there was a tough case with
00:19:59
you know not a lot of evidence there was no DNA there was no actual physical touching FBI special agent Sean sterley
00:20:06
got the case he started with the crime scene photos and with what witnesses that did speak out saw a dark sedan that
00:20:14
pulled up next to Kevin Harris's Camaro the shots were fired from that car we believe there were probably three people
00:20:22
in the car the driver and two Shooters they were approximately about 6 in door too so so close that the shell casings
00:20:31
from the shooters guns two of them end up inside Kevin's [Music] car also new to the case former LA
00:20:45
detective John scags know the streets and I know how to talk to people where are you taking us right now
00:20:53
we're going to the crime scene where Kevin was killed there's a couple things I need to
00:20:59
look at and then there's a uh resident that I want to talk to scags came out of retirement to work with the local Cold
00:21:06
Case unit and assist the FBI so is this a hopeless case or a stalled case uh it is stalled and absolutely not hopeless
00:21:18
and what's the difference well there's still clues that haven't been burned out this is the street where Kevin was
00:21:25
murdered exactly [Music] detective scags walks into the house attached to the music studio hey John
00:21:39
skags from Englewood police and comes out a half an hour later with owner Randy Thomas Hi how are you I'm Michelle
00:21:46
Miller 48 hours so Michelle had a really good talk with Randy uh he was friends he knew Kevin for about four years and
00:21:54
Kevin would use his studio for for his music Randy says by the time he got outside that night the shooters were
00:22:01
gone I heard cap cap cap I thought it was firecrackers then the neighbor came outside and said somebody shot and you
00:22:09
saw Kevin's I saw the green camar I said oh my God oh my God the amms came in the
00:22:16
fir truck and they pulled him out tried to revive him but it was bad to see him here on the street in front of your
00:22:24
house broke my heart it's almost like someone had to have follow him here so you think it was
00:22:30
someone he knew that I don't know but I know that no one comes here on Sunday [Music]
00:22:41
nights the new detectives confirmed what Kevin's parents and friends had said all
00:22:47
along Kevin Harris was really quite a remarkable kid we probably did somewhere close to 70 to 80 interviews we could
00:22:55
not find anybody who would say anything you close remotely uh negative about [Music]
00:23:05
him and they learned that in the months before his death Kevin's career was on a
00:23:10
roll this studio was his home base there's a lot of steps be very careful okay so you have a sound mixer right you
00:23:20
have a sound booth right so this is where we do the music at and Kevin had key he can come anytime he' like to come
00:23:27
[Music] in the summer of 2009 Kevin was becoming better known by his stage name track
00:23:35
bully I think he was just really positive about the way his life was going I mean his name was track bully
00:23:42
for exactly cuz his tracks was crazy one of the artists Kevin was closest with was jizzel a hip-hop poet
00:23:53
and rapper seen in this video with Diddy I look at this picture and what do you see oh man that was just bro when he was
00:24:04
hungry like just trying to figure it out he got the TV on his hat for track bully
00:24:10
but by then he was already like lit kind of huh yeah yeah he was lit and I used to go by Lady g at the time so he' be
00:24:20
like what's up lady G like man you got to mess with me on the music man and so he finally like sent me a a like a batch
00:24:28
of be [Music] we can get it we get it get it we jizzel and Kevin work together on
00:24:41
Poppin a catchy tune they believe could break through and become a hit this is poppin this is poppin wow that's you
00:24:50
yeah man is that him there yeah right there off to the side yeah Kevin was clearly proud of that song
00:25:01
jizzel may have been the star but Kevin made sure everyone knew he was the force
00:25:07
behind it and then there was his Triumph of scoring a really big sale it was to hipop Star Ice Cube once again proudly
00:25:17
tweeting about his feet right before he was killed he had sold the track to Ice Cube I mean how big of a deal was that
00:25:24
it's a very big deal Ice Cube was a legend in music not just hip-hop is music it's a really big
00:25:31
deal Kevin's career was skyrocketing and his dad was feeling a little uneasy if I
00:25:38
would have had a chance I would have reeled him back in just a little bit looking back Kevin Senior believes his
00:25:44
son was playing with fire put it this way there's not this evil Grim Reaper with a hood that's just
00:25:53
standing around on streets normally is someone that you know or someone you've had an acquaintance with a friend one
00:26:00
day and a me the next [Music] [Music] [Music] the new detectives continued to study
00:26:33
the crime scene photos is kind of like you see his life right there I mean high school basketball player great outside
00:26:40
shooter his laptop and his uh hard drive with all his his music so in his car for
00:26:46
all his loves and horribly that's where he died since Kevin's reputation was golden
00:26:56
they wondered if his death could could have been a case of mistaken identity they learned Kevin wasn't the only one
00:27:03
in town with a green Camaro there was an active gang member that lived less than
00:27:07
two blocks away from Kevin at the time that gang member they say had a look alike car I was able to interview
00:27:16
him the guy's changed his life and he's told me about some of the stuff that he was doing back in that day there could
00:27:23
easily be a cause for somebody to retaliate against anybody driving a green Camaro
00:27:30
when you grow up in La no matter how sheltered you are or how strict your parents are you're going to run into the
00:27:39
culture it's no secret that Los Angeles does have a gang culture even though he wasn't in the streets I think we all
00:27:49
kind of know what that's like you know your parents can't protect you from everything but detectives now say they
00:27:56
took a hard look at that mistaken identity Theory and ruled it [Music] out they believe that Kevin rolled down
00:28:06
his window to talk to the people who drove up next to him that night and that he would not have done that unless he
00:28:13
knew them so they're looking at each other eye to eye that kind of dispels gang retaliation shooting where Kevin
00:28:20
was misidentified for another gang member they were convinced Kevin Harris was the intended target but why were
00:28:29
there clues in his surging career for one thing in the hip-hop business you can get rich
00:28:38
overnight you have like really young artists like 18 19 years old and they're millionaires two three years before that
00:28:45
they probably have $10 in their pocket Kevin hadn't made any big money yet but he definitely was a prospect a kid with
00:28:55
big potential he was really hustling trying to get artists and putting music together and getting his music heard
00:29:02
Kevin was all over the place he was putting himself out there more people more parties and his tweets
00:29:12
show it party in Baldwin Hills pool party at the [Music] custom there's no other way to kind of
00:29:23
attain your goals and aspirations without going at 24/7 I could just see that in him you
00:29:32
showing up where you're supposed to show up and yourself out there putting himself out there he was
00:29:40
getting a little more flashy he put extra wide chrome wheels on his Camaro his dad didn't approve now you're kind
00:29:49
of blinging a little bit too much for maybe the average young man you have to be less visible and Kevin was also
00:29:58
getting louder on Twitter Kevin got real cocky his name was like really getting out there I did feel like you know maybe
00:30:05
he was kind of feeling himself a little fluffing his uh his little feathers I felt like blessing people with my
00:30:11
presence he tweeted word was that Kevin didn't want to work with people who weren't up to his level when you start
00:30:19
getting hot everybody wants a piece of you you just can't work with everybody and sometimes some people get
00:30:28
offended by that things could happen out of those situations and Kevin wasn't shy about
00:30:34
calling some people out that's clear in his tweets I'm getting bored by my so-called peers and here he says someone
00:30:42
was quote exceeding their talent in the music business words like that could be a problem there's no
00:30:51
difference between that and dissing someone in the streets what is a diss a diss is disrespect it's a very real
00:30:59
thing and again it goes back to like these Street rules so a lot of this conversation is through social media
00:31:05
Twitter specifically I'm sure that Kevin was aware of it did he think it would lead to him potentially losing his
00:31:12
life I don't think so just who was Kevin dsing in those tweets no one knows for sure could it
00:31:22
have been that wannabe rapper who stood him up at the studio that night was there bad blood between them the people
00:31:30
who knew Kevin best sensed he was uneasy in the weeks before his death his demeanor did seem a little different I
00:31:38
couldn't really pinpoint like what it was but I can tell when someone's Vibe is off he'll come home couple
00:31:46
times I'd see him look back out the door I'd say what's wrong man somebody following you no no I'm
00:31:54
okay the harrises that prepared Kevin for life growing up in a tough neighborhood there was sometimes gunfire
00:32:02
in the area but they belied they taught Kevin how to avoid it still Kevin Senior
00:32:08
was taken aback by a question his son had at one point he did ask me about what do you think about
00:32:16
bulletproof windows I said why I said Kevin is somebody bothering you no it's all right I'm okay I said
00:32:25
just let me know I left here long enough we could we could speak on and we can get it taken care of
00:32:30
peacefully no I'm all right Dad it was always I'm all right Dad I love you Kevin but something must have been wrong
00:32:40
after Kevin died Catherine was surprised to learn that he was thinking of joining
00:32:45
the military and getting out of town a week after uh he was murdered I received a letter from the recruiter's office for
00:32:54
him to go see the recruiter you know a lot of people say timing is everything and gosh I wish I kind of wish it would
00:33:00
have came a week [Music] [Music] earlier we get we can get we can get we can get we can get
00:33:29
Kevin Harris never lived to see his recording played on the radio that song by jizzel I was at work and then someone
00:33:39
told me that it would be coming on and then I hear it and I kind of broke down right
00:33:45
there everybody came running over you know I said that's that's Kevin that's my son 11 years later his father is putting
00:33:55
his faith into the new invest instigation the clues are absolutely out there we just need that one piece that
00:34:04
one Smoking Gun that we need to solidify this this is an active case so the detectives won't name the names of
00:34:14
anyone they have in their sites but scags did drop this clue about Kevin's last day he had made plans with one of
00:34:22
the individuals who's definitely a suspect in this case to meet him at at the studio at 8:00 as far as I know that
00:34:30
individual was the only other person that knew that Kevin was going to be at the studio at 8:00
00:34:36
p.m. we have now learned that that man was Desmond Carter the wannabe rapper that Kevin was supposed to meet at the
00:34:44
studio that night he definitely caught the attention of the police in fact 48 Hours has learned that Desmond Carter
00:34:52
was arrested for the murder of Kevin Harris in 2017 and here's the record Carter was questioned but never
00:35:04
charged with anything authorities told us the evidence they had did not cross the threshold of Reasonable Doubt still
00:35:13
Desmond Carter remains a suspect that's partly because there had been bad blood between Desmond and Kevin
00:35:23
word on the street was that Kevin had dissed Desmond by refusing to give him beats whatever it was that brought Kevin
00:35:35
to the studio that night authorities suspect it was a trap I believe Kevin Harris was set up Kevin's own words may
00:35:43
support that theory 10 days or 2 weeks before his death when he told one of his best friends that something's come up
00:35:50
missing I'm getting blamed for it I didn't have anything to do with it but I'm really scared of what might happen
00:35:58
what had gone missing that Kevin was being blamed for was it money drugs police have told 48 hours they do not
00:36:07
believe that Kevin was dealing drugs somebody blamed him for doing something that they did and blamed him to some big
00:36:15
hitters that were going to seek revenge this is a classic story of a kid who trusted too much in several other
00:36:23
people that he didn't really know that well but he gave them all his trust and he ended up being killed as a
00:36:31
result we reached out to Desmond Carter he didn't want to go on camera or comment directly but through a friend he
00:36:39
said he had nothing to do with Kevin's death and that he thought of Kevin as one of his best friends I'm angry yes
00:36:47
I'm angry I'm angry with certain people that were hanging around my son because it has all the ear marks of someone that
00:36:56
he knows well that was in the circle I grew up at the beach I really love the ocean and it's always been part
00:37:08
of my life detective Scag says walking on the nearby Beach helps clear his head and reminds him to be
00:37:17
patient it does not discourage me if these cases were easy it'd all be solved I know that some of the people that I'm
00:37:24
interviewing are not telling me the truth so you know just makes it so hard detectives are hoping for new
00:37:31
information there's a ton of circumstantial evidence that kind of end ends up adding up into one big
00:37:38
significant theory that I think we're very close to proving we think we're 80 85% there I am fully confident that this
00:37:46
case is going to be solved yeah so anybody who has any information about what happened to Kevin
00:37:52
that day whether they were an eyewitness overheard something at a later date or later got knowledge of what happened to
00:37:58
Kevin and who hurt him that person needs to come forward for so many reasons first of all for justice justice for
00:38:04
Kevin and his family it's the right thing to do and could be preventing these bad guys from hurting more people
00:38:10
we really need help from the public and anybody who knows anything about this case and what happened to him and what
00:38:18
happened that night to come forward and that's what our plea is to uh to the public as the case stands today the
00:38:28
murder of Kevin Harris remains unsolved you still miss him what do you miss most I just miss his spirit I think um
00:38:40
it's just not knowing you know not knowing not supposed to cry but um just not knowing like to
00:38:50
see all that potential just to see that the path that he was on to know the support that he had from everyone around
00:38:58
him it's just really unfortunate to not be able to see that just you know reach his full
00:39:05
potential you know so I just I just miss the spirit I miss having him around I miss I miss the fact that I that we all
00:39:11
missed the chance to see how he would grow you know Kevin's parents say they'll never
00:39:19
give up I have nothing else to do with the grief that I feel every day but to be motivated by when I walk out the door
00:39:24
each day let's kick some doors in let's stay relentless with this you can't hide from God you
00:39:30
can hide here on Earth duck and Dodge go to another state go to another continent
00:39:35
whatever but you can't hide from God the FBI helped fund Billboards to help get new information they've also
00:39:45
contributed to a $50,000 reward the harrises say the reason they agreed to talk with 48 hours is their hope this
00:39:54
will finally bring Justice for their son but when I go to sleep and I dream he's
00:39:59
always there with [Music] me for my son I'm never going to stop [Music] grieving murdered he was
00:40:18
murdered these pictures are in my room and to be honest with you since we resemble each other so much I turn them
00:40:25
backwards it's kind of hard hard to look at him all the time like that Kevin Harris senior doesn't need to look at
00:40:33
those pictures anymore because the image of his son is fresh in his mind every single day and he is consumed with
00:40:41
solving this case for one reason so I can lay my son soul to rest properly his mother and I will make sure
00:40:53
his passion and his dream lives on [Music] the FBI is asking for information from
00:41:03
the public the tip line phone number is 3104776565 take an in-depth look into the
00:41:11
investigation to find who killed Kevin Harris at 48 hours.com I just my boyfriend in the
00:41:20
night but police say she confessed to murder I one big problem you can't hear it how do you mess up the
00:41:30
confession what will a jury believe 48 hours Saturday at 109 Central on CBS [Music]
00:41:49
[Music] I remember having a nightmare that something was terribly wrong Jesse [Music]
00:42:10
was was killed and when I woke up it was just a dream my name is Gary Bardwell Jesse
00:42:29
Bardwell is my daughter go this way do it Jesse do it I called her my beautiful daughter and I still do a beautiful
00:42:37
Jesse she lived in Orange Beach Alabama she just loved being around water she would be in the water fighting
00:42:49
the waves and having fun she worked at a place called uh cobal the restaurant it's beautiful
00:42:59
place I don't know why she decided to move she just up and moved to Texas and she said like I'm just going
00:43:09
out there to clear my head I'll be back I just going for a couple weeks and I'll
00:43:12
be back my name is Kimberly Asbury I was friends with Jesse it just went from hearing from her a lot talking to her to
00:43:21
nothing I knew something was wrong I was the father of three girls I was very determined to get to the bottom
00:43:28
of what had happened to Jesse bwell my name is Kon hail I was the lead detective on Jesse's
00:43:35
case Jesse was nowhere to be found when we got to Texas I had the fear that we would never find her tell me what it
00:43:43
felt like then to go 2 days 3 days 4 days it was hell after so many days it's kind of
00:43:54
hard to believe that she's just going to come back with shopping bags In Her Arms
00:43:58
it was just like brace for impact I knew she was dead how did you know I had that
00:44:04
Nightmare and I felt it she was not on this Earth anymore this story is about a young
00:44:15
girl thinks she finds love and it turns out he's Pure Evil [Music] [Music] 48 Hours taken away
00:44:49
[Music] yesterday uh I went down to the river and just uh sat there and watched the
00:45:04
boats go by and took some deep breaths and said I don't know how much of this I can take you know any
00:45:15
longer there are days when it's hard for Gary Bardwell to get out of bed but he always does determined to get Justice
00:45:23
for Jesse his 27-year-old daughter who went missing from Richardson Texas in May of
00:45:30
2016 I'm doing it for Jesse taking one day at a time one step at a time Gary knew something was wrong before he even
00:45:39
knew Jesse had gone missing something from my soul was gone and I was afraid that it was her
00:45:48
that connection that Bond Deeper Than Words formed the moment Jesse was born says Gary as soon as she was born
00:45:57
immediately started crying it was just such a happy moment such a happy moment Jesse grew up alongside her older
00:46:05
brother Brandon me and Jesse have been two pe's in a pod since we were young there's Brandon and Jesse Gary a
00:46:17
now retired firefighter with the Pascagoula Mississippi Fire Department loved being a dad she kind of didn't
00:46:25
want me out of her sight she just just like to know where I was she slept with this every night I just love those days
00:46:35
dad is a little girl for sure when Jesse was 14 Gary and her mother Carla divorced she loved her mother too very
00:46:44
much so Jesse spent her high school years with her father I just have my Cofe you want some and her new
00:46:51
stepmother Gina this is Jesse's graduation picture after few tries at college life somewhere along the line
00:47:00
she was having more fun than school that's when Jesse moved to Orange Beach and started working tables at Cobalt a
00:47:10
popular Beachside restaurant we talked every day she text me every day like he came and they went boating and they went
00:47:18
fishing Jesse's good friend restaurant manager Kimberly Asbury found out Gary was an accomplished musician and booked
00:47:27
him at the restaurant she go to his gigs I mean they were friends they weren't just
00:47:35
father and daughter Jesse had been living with a long-term boyfriend but surprised
00:47:42
everyone when she fell for a new guy Jason low it kind of came out of nowhere Jesse's friend Terry saw the romance
00:47:51
start Jason seemed friendly he definitely um was outgoing as well he was handsome had two college degrees and
00:48:01
ambitious for Jesse not just a new love but a ticket to a more exciting life when Jason went to Dallas for a
00:48:10
six-figure job in the tech industry Jesse decided she would join him and pursue her own dream of Cosmetology she
00:48:19
thought of it as more of an adventure like I'm I'm trying something new but Jesse failed to mention that she was
00:48:26
about to go to Dallas when she saw her family that Christmas I had no clue of what was
00:48:32
going on she knew that she was fixing to leave for Texas and I would have done everything I
00:48:40
could to try to talk her out of it shortly after the holidays Jesse left for Texas and suddenly the girl who
00:48:49
always had her iPhone was now never on it you couldn't reach her the moment that I really started to get worried was
00:48:56
when her phone number was cut off and everything that we talked to her had to go through Jason the only way to get
00:49:04
Jesse was to call Jason's phone or the house phone they would come to find out that Jason was monitoring all her calls
00:49:13
eventually every time Gary called Jesse he only got Jason I said let me speak to
00:49:21
Jesse he said uh she said she'll call you later two months later Gary finally got his
00:49:29
chance to meet Jason low Jason and Jesse came to pasula for a visit Gary tried to
00:49:36
persuade Jesse not to go back to Texas I remember Jesse was was hugging me more than normal and I was
00:49:49
going are you okay yeah yeah I I definitely want to go to Texas I just want you to be proud of me you
00:50:00
know they left I watched the car drive away even though Jesse never let on that anything
00:50:09
was wrong Gary had a bad feeling he went into his Studio Jesse's childhood room she said Daddy don't wor and wrote this
00:50:19
song it's going to be all right that song taken away was written the very last time I saw
00:50:28
Jesse as they were leaving it was written about seeing them leave Tak away me getting a gut feeling
00:50:39
of something was bad wrong take on away she said there is nothing you can say on in May 4 months after Jesse moved to
00:50:58
Texas she stopped answering his calls all together Gary called Jason and insisted on knowing where Jesse was he
00:51:09
says Jason told him he didn't know what was he saying I don't know where in the hell she is we don't live codependent
00:51:18
she can go and come as she pleases but when she didn't call her mom and stepmom on Mother's Day Gary had had
00:51:27
enough I said we're leaving in the morning let's pack some bags and we're going to
00:51:40
[Music] Texas when Gary Bardwell got in his truck and headed to Texas he was angry
00:51:52
very angry I get so angry that it scares me his little girl was missing and he believed Jason low was behind it I text
00:52:02
him on the way there I said if Jesse is not there when I get there you are in a tremendous amount of trouble but when he
00:52:12
got to Jesse and Jason's apartment she was nowhere to be found Gary immediately filed a missing person's Report with the
00:52:20
Richardson police department 804 2017 over the next 24 hours the police repeatedly visited the apartment and
00:52:29
still she never showed up that's when detective hail got assigned to the case Jason low please uh speaking he first
00:52:38
made contact with Jason by phone he stated the last time he saw her was on May 8th which was Mother's Day that
00:52:44
morning at 10:00 a.m. and she left in her acur and is that car still gone yes the next day detective hail made a
00:52:53
house call and made another audio recording still hadn't heard from Jesse right by then Jesse had been reported
00:53:02
missing for 3 days it seemed everybody was desperate to find Jesse except the man who claimed to be in love with her
00:53:12
we just did our own thing always I didn't question her she didn't question me and it
00:53:17
worked the detective looked around the apartment and saw no sign of a struggle Jason stuck to his story that she left
00:53:26
home home in her Acura there was just one problem with that story the police learned that Jesse
00:53:33
and Jason had sold that Acura 3 weeks before Jason claimed she drove off in it they found it in the new owner driveway
00:53:43
Jason's lies were not very smart who would lie about an Acura that had been sold it was pretty clear that there was
00:53:50
definitely something other going on other than just a missing person it became even CLE clearer the
00:53:57
following day a team of detectives including hail and his partner Eric willson returned to the apartment they
00:54:05
saw what appeared to be a line of cocaine you have Coke on the countertop a line of it yes or no yes sir but it
00:54:12
was an odor coming from the garage that really got their attention so it smells really bad in here yeah I know thanks
00:54:20
the yeah it does it's a smell that you never forget once you've smelt it you know instantly when you smell it again
00:54:27
it was the smell of death and it was coming from the back of Jason Low's black Audi detective Hil opened the
00:54:35
hatch door there was no Jesse Bardwell but a body had clearly been there there was standing fluid in the back hatch and
00:54:44
it smelled like just decaying flesh it had front end damage it did not have the bumper the bumper was inside
00:54:52
the vehicle and it had a lot of mud on the inside and on the out Side Jason told the detectives he'd
00:54:59
gotten stuck in the mod while searching for Jesse he still held on to the fact that he did not know where Jesse
00:55:07
was but when they sprayed the chemical blue star in the cargo compartment of the Audi it lit up like crazy indicating
00:55:17
the presence of blood it pretty much turned into a homicide investigation at that point we're wondering if you would
00:55:23
mind coming down to the station so we could talk like right now yeah Jason low was initially arrested on
00:55:30
drug charges and thrown in jail my name is detective okay detectives used the opportunity to further question him on
00:55:38
Jesse's whereabouts want to talk with you for a few minutes we spent a long time speaking with him you see this
00:55:43
picture look at the picture Jas to try to relate to his emotions his feelings the girl you were in love with the girl
00:55:50
that you wanted to marry and nothing seemed to work don't patronize me he didn't seem to care he seemed irritated
00:55:58
and thought that we were trying to pin things on him that he hadn't done well you tell me where she's at I don't know
00:56:04
man I'm wrapped up like I'm I'm not going to be accused of stuff and I'm done talking even without a body Jason low
00:56:13
was charged with murder I had no doubt that he had killed her but they did have doubts grave
00:56:22
doubts that they would ever find Jesse Texas is a huge state we've got lots of rivers lots of lakes lots of ponds
00:56:29
Fields there are 100 million different places you could hide a body in Texas back home in Pascagoula the town
00:56:37
rallied around the family Jesse's grandmother Miss Kitty they had a candl light visual at the
00:56:46
beach praying that she'd be found maybe safe somewhere on May 19th almost 3 weeks
00:56:54
after Jesse was last seen alive they finally got an answer the police had reason to believe
00:57:02
Jesse was on a remote Ranch in north Texas Gary says they wouldn't tell the family how they knew only that it was a
00:57:10
reliable source Chief Jimmy Spivey called the Bardwell family into the station the
00:57:17
chief said it's going to be a bad day for y'all today because we do not expect to find your daughter alive
00:57:27
a team of detectives FBI investigators and prosecutors made their way to that remote Ranch detectives where are we
00:57:35
we're in Farmersville Texas they arrived late afternoon and started walking through the fields we
00:57:43
saw where he had gotten stuck in the mud you could still see the car parts on the
00:57:47
ground you could we found a piece of metal looked like it was shielding something kind of a makeshift burial
00:57:51
area and at that point you can start to smell you know decaying flesh so we walked walked closer she was covered
00:57:57
with the Sheep so we could tell but you can see the outline of the body under the
00:58:01
Sheep Jesse Bardwell had been crudely wrapped in a blue fitted sheet and covered with a pile of debris including
00:58:10
a red blanket and two red and gold towels what was the condition of this body it's one of the worst we've
00:58:18
seen it would take 7 days to officially identify her body the medical examiner ruled J Jess's death a homicide but her
00:58:28
body was so badly decomposed officials could not say how she was murdered I got Jesse's ring that's her ring that's her
00:58:39
ring against his better judgment Jesse's father read the autopsy report I felt it was my responsibility
00:58:48
as Jesse's Daddy to read the report she was toally murdered and she was thrown away like a
00:59:00
piece of trash wrapped up in a sheet barely looking like a person and they sent the hearse to Texas
00:59:13
to pick her up and my firman buddies loaded her into the back of the hearse this is my life now
00:59:27
I love you over 900 people showed up at First United Methodist Church to mourn the death and celebrate
00:59:40
the life of 27-year-old Jesse Bardwell if this town could be washed with all the tears that were shed over
00:59:47
Jesse it'd be real clean we wouldn't even need for it to rain for the tears that were shed for Jesse
00:59:58
while the bardwells spent the next year grieving a very different looking Jason low was in a mckin Texas jail cell
01:00:06
preparing his defense one of the key issues in this case is whether or not to have our client
01:00:12
testify Jason's courta appointed attorney Andy farcus says he is sure that Jason did not murder Jesse he's not
01:00:22
so sure Jason can convince a jury but he has a plan I've been a lawyer for 42 years I have never done this before
01:00:35
never done this [Music] before as the months passed after Je 's death her father Gary struggled through
01:00:58
his grief and through his rage I'd get a 12lb sledgehammer and had a stump outside the house and I would print out
01:01:09
pictures of his face and I'd set it on the stump and beat the hell out of it until I couldn't swing
01:01:18
anymore there was only one thing that kept him going waiting to see Jason low face a judge at and jury in a court of
01:01:27
law and be convicted of the murder of his only daughter I think about what I think happened to
01:01:36
her and I couldn't protect her it's just unimaginable it's Unthinkable it's [Music]
01:01:51
unforgivable I don't feel he's guilty of murder in August 2017 we went to the Colin County jail
01:01:59
with attorney Andy farcus to meet his client he is in which one this one this one right here Jason
01:02:07
low we met Jason low but he would not talk to us on camera he told us he's saving his story for the witness stand
01:02:18
farcus believes that allowing Jason to tell his version of what happened to Jesse will help him get acquitted of
01:02:25
murder and to gauge how a jury will react okay good morning everybody farcus is doing something he's never done
01:02:33
before he and co-consul Maria to are conducting a mock trial be seated it's essentially a simulated trial with
01:02:43
pretend jurors who will pass judgment Maria too will act as the prosecutor and we know that the
01:02:51
defendant put her there and farcus the defense the state can't tell you you how where when or why this happened while
01:03:02
the defense Maps out its strategy in mock Court the real prosecutors westwin and santhia Walker are fitting together
01:03:11
the pieces of what they admit is a mostly circumstantial case do you know how Jesse is murdered no do you know why
01:03:20
Jesse was murdered no and do you know where Jesse was murdered no no so we don't know how we don't know why and we
01:03:28
don't know exactly where that's correct but you have the body and that's enough for you to create the picture yes they
01:03:37
have no doubt that Jesse Bardwell was murdered by Jason low a man whose dark side she didn't see they believe until
01:03:45
it was too late Jesse really thought she was in love with this guy and everything
01:03:50
was good at first Jesse told her father life in Texas was eight but then only a month after moving they had a big fight
01:04:01
Jason would later say it was because Jesse had a brief affair before moving to Texas and got pregnant he was Furious
01:04:09
when he found out eventually he says Jesse had an abortion she called me uh really upset she was crying said you
01:04:18
were right I should have never come out here Jason kicked me out I'm freezing fortunately a friend of a
01:04:26
friend took her in for the night Gary bought her a plane ticket to Alabama for the next morning one of her friends went
01:04:34
to the airport the next night when she was supposed to be there and waited 7 hours for her to get there and she never
01:04:42
came Jesse told her father that Jason felt bad about the fight and would try to trust her again she was 27 a grown
01:04:50
woman so Gary reluctantly Let It Go a decision that haunts him to this day my mind never stops it never
01:05:02
stops thinking why did you not go out there sooner if there were any more incidents Jesse didn't LED on to the
01:05:12
folks back home and she was even less forthcoming with her new Texas friends messed up my hair Regina and Tommy
01:05:19
Jordan she was just real timid and quiet we just seemed to be real shy mhm we could never pull anything out of her she
01:05:27
didn't really talk much did they seem like they were a happy young couple he made it seem like that the Jordans were
01:05:35
so fond of the couple we took them in our wing like one of our own children they asked them to house sit their home
01:05:41
and dog while they went out of town for a few days they left on May 1st the last
01:05:47
time you saw Jesse alive was here at your home yes when they returned everything seemed
01:05:53
normal but then they heard the shocking news Jason had been arrested for murdering Jesse did you think he was
01:06:02
capable of doing something not at all we all kind of thought he was innocent Tommy went to the jail to talk
01:06:08
to Jason all right can you pick up the phone and that's your bu a videotaped conversation what's up brother what's up
01:06:16
man that would become a key piece of evidence in this case back up from the monitor a little bit they scaring me I
01:06:23
go man I didn't know what happened I mean I like I up I made a mistake like it was an accident and I
01:06:30
know what I'm guilty of I'm guilty of criminal negligence it was a stunning statement Jason was now admitting he was
01:06:42
there when Jesse died back at the mock trial criminal negligence acting prosecutor Maria 2 I hope everybody
01:06:49
heard that seizes on those words as evidence of his guilt he know he's guilty he's guilty of criminal
01:06:57
negligence Andy farcus knows that tape will be one of his biggest problems that's the only piece of evidence they
01:07:04
have that ties him to her death so farcus rot tests Jason's Story it was all an accident so the story that Jason
01:07:14
is going to tell on the stand does the prosecution have any idea have they heard this story at all no they have no
01:07:20
idea no idea but farcus tells Jason's entire story to the pretend jurors he's eager to learn their
01:07:29
verdict they deliberate over lunch we don't have any evidence to show what actually happened neither does the state
01:07:38
that's right I can't believe the da even took this T Frankl and the mock jurors reach a verdict what was the verdict
01:07:46
after they heard the whole story it was 15 to zero acqu not guilty of murder murder after hearing
01:07:56
those two words not guilty Jason thinks there's a good chance he'll walk out of jail a free
01:08:03
[Music] man the time had finally come Gary Bardwell said goodbye to his fireman buddies and then the hardest goodbye of
01:08:27
all you're going to be all right in Texas his mother you're going to do a good job you're going to do this for
01:08:33
Jesse Justice for Jesse you remember that just I love you son I love you I love you for the first time in 30 years
01:08:42
Gary got on an airplane as he and his wife Gina headed to Texas for the trial of the man accused of murdering his
01:08:49
daughter Jesse he had waited a year and 4 months for this day that's stomach is in knots I just don't know how I'm going
01:08:58
to react when I get in the courtroom each of youly swear prosecutor West Wind calls Gary as his first
01:09:05
witness I was shaking so bad that I was afraid that people could see me shaking is that a photo of
01:09:15
Jesse yes it is and sir I know this is this difficult just take your time pay the state
01:09:23
portrays Jason low as a man with a dark side a man with a long history of drug abuse a pathological liar who often told
01:09:35
people he was a Navy SEAL but was never actually in the military a man who Abused Women I think I would most
01:09:44
certainly be killed by him if I had continued dating him the state managed to find two of Jason's ex-girlfriends
01:09:53
Haley McDaniel and Chrissy Chambers both say Jason drove a wedge between them and their families just like he did
01:10:00
with Jesse it was just all manipulation and control they say he would get furious
01:10:08
accusing them of cheating one night Chrissy says he pushed her to the floor and sat on top of her he had one hand
01:10:17
over my mouth and another his another hand over my nose and um was just pushing pushing pushing pushing on top
01:10:25
of me and he wouldn't get off um I'm thinking that he's going to kill me because he looked me in my eyes and
01:10:34
he told me he was he said I'm killing you right now Jason denies any of this happened
01:10:42
but the jury won't get to hear Chrissy and Haley's stories because in the end prosecutors decided it wasn't necessary
01:10:50
and likely inadmissible they are confident Jason Low's sadistic side will come through he about as cruel of a
01:10:59
individual as I've dealt with and I've been doing this a long time it wasn't just the act of murder say the
01:11:05
prosecutors it's what he did and did not do after the murder to cover up his crime while Jesse lay dead in the back
01:11:13
of Jason's Audi decomposing Jason was using her phone to send these text messages pretending she
01:11:21
was still alive that's what criminals do they want to find a way to get away with
01:11:26
it and one of those ways is to pretend that this other person is still alive prosecutors think Jesse was killed
01:11:35
on or about May 1st the last day she was seen Alive by the Jordans they believe Jason kept her body in his car day after
01:11:44
day after day eight days in total before dumping it and when Jesse's body was finally found on May 19th prosecutors
01:11:54
say the way in which she was discarded said it all this wasn't some accident it's not how you would leave someone
01:12:03
that tragically died someone that you love someone that you care for it told me that she was
01:12:10
murdered the physical evidence at the scene the red blanket the red and gold towels the blue fitted sheet Jesse's
01:12:17
body was wrapped in all LED back to the home where they had been house sitting this is your linen closet yes
01:12:24
Reg still has the matching top sheet to the blue one Jesse was wrapped in you kept it I kept it I don't know why I
01:12:33
kept it it just uh gives me creeps just even thinking about it after the first week of trial Gary
01:12:44
facetimes his mother our lawyers have a plan they they know what they're doing you got to remember that you got to
01:12:51
remember that but I know it's exhausting it's got to be exhausting I have heard that Jason low is actually going
01:12:59
to take the stand it's going to get harder this week that's when it's going to get
01:13:06
nasty you've got enough prayers to hold you up and give you strength you're going to have the strength that you need
01:13:12
love you love you too bye bye bye it was the moment Gary had been dreading and Jason had been waiting for
01:13:24
the defense calls Jason low his chance to convince the real jury he is innocent of murder the defense tries to humanize
01:13:34
him he admits getting hooked on drugs at age 13 oxycoton heroin and xanax with his
01:13:43
parents listening in court he talks about growing up an only child in a well-off family working on his master's
01:13:51
degree and meeting Jesse Bardwell we you on laugh yes sir he says they had plans to get
01:13:59
married and buy a house and then it all came crashing down it was the evening of
01:14:06
May 1st he and Jesse were house sitting at the Jordans he claims they had taken GHB a sedative often called a date rape
01:14:15
drug they were getting intimate in the shower while we're having sex I'm standing here bracing myself and I start
01:14:24
to slip first he slips then Jesse he says she falls and hits her head on the porcelain tub and then sits on the edge
01:14:34
she just kept saying I I I feel hot she was like I feel a little bit dizzy and she was I mean like what I would say
01:14:42
kind of bugging out is what I thought instead of getting medical help they go to sleep when Jason woke up in the
01:14:49
morning he says Jesse was lying on his chest I tried to kind of shake her and kept knocking the dog working she didn't
01:14:56
move she was dead the defense would claim of a possible brain injury what was it like for you to watch him get up
01:15:05
on the stand and tell his story it was like somebody ripped my heart out it ripped my soul out my
01:15:14
soul Gary does not believe a word of it but Jason continues he says he heard a knock on the door I just panicked and I
01:15:24
opened the door it was Robert Gwyn AKA Cowboy Jason says he's his drug dealer and it was he Jason claims who took the
01:15:34
sheet from the linen closet he wrapped her up and together they put Jesse's dead body in the back of Jason's
01:15:42
Audi Wes wi wasn't buying it you're just watching has the love of your life gets
01:15:48
bagged up in a fitted sheet and then the two of you carry her outside right yes sir and you toss her in the back of your
01:16:02
alley plac her oh affectionately I'm sure prosecutors don't even bother to call Cowboy to the stand do you believe
01:16:14
that Robert Gwyn Cowboy had anything to do with the murder of Jesse no no do you
01:16:19
think he had anything to do with covering it up no after after Jesse's body was loaded
01:16:26
into the back of his car Jason admits he parked it in the garage left her there for days and began reaching out to other
01:16:35
women sexting or I'd love to have you bend over like that while I'll give you what you want and sexting I want to
01:16:42
taste you so bad and sexting you were sending photos of your penis to other women while the love of your life rotted
01:16:52
in the trunk of your car well was that like for you to hear him talk about that my first thought is
01:16:58
I was that I had to find a way to get to him and kill him with my bare [Music] [Music]
01:17:18
hands prosecutor West win is gunning for a guilty verdict never once said there's
01:17:23
been an accident and J low is in his line of fire never once call the police he aims right for the bullseye the love
01:17:33
of your life it's rotting in your trunk and after all it was just an accident and hits his Mark you didn't
01:17:45
want anyone to know she was dead you didn't want anyone to find her body after 7 hours of tears I just she
01:17:54
was asleep sleep excuses I didn't know what to say and denials knew I didn't willingly and intentionally kill someone
01:18:03
killed Jesse killed the girl that I was in love with the defense plays its last sympathy card who pointed out to the
01:18:11
police where Jesse was buried I didn't remember when the police wouldn't tell the bardwells how they
01:18:19
found Jesse's body well it was Jason low who told them where to find her his lawyer says Jason did it for the sake of
01:18:28
Jesse's family but the prosecution says the only reason is because he cut a deal
01:18:35
you're getting something in exchange for that agreement right if convicted instead of
01:18:41
serving 99 years the most Jason low will serve is half that 50 years and why was
01:18:49
that deal offered it's important for the family it was important to find her after 5 days of testimony taking some
01:18:59
items out of the vehicle the lawyers sum up their cases you can't trust a word that comes
01:19:07
out of his mouth for the state it comes down to Jason Low's character evil typically doesn't announce
01:19:16
itself you rarely see it that's what we have here but the defense argues the state did not prove
01:19:24
murder over accident their case is built on he lied to the cops he hid the body therefore he's
01:19:34
guilty that's not proof beyond all reasonable doubt it was now up to a jury to decide after 6 hours of deliberations
01:19:44
the jury hands its verdict to Judge Scott Becker and it please rise we the jury find the defendant guilty of murder
01:19:51
as charged in the indictment so sweet to know that monster is going to be put away for a
01:20:01
long time before sentencing Gary finally got the chance to face the man who killed his
01:20:09
daughter I looked him straight in the eyes and it frightened me for about 5 Seconds there was nothing in his eyes
01:20:21
nothing I am very sad and angry standing beside Gary for support Jason's ex-girlfriends if I could say anything
01:20:31
to Jesse I would say run save yourself that same day judge Becker sentenced Jesse's killer to the
01:20:41
negotiated maximum you can go with the deputies 50 years we took one last trip to Colin
01:20:48
County jail to see if Jason would finally own up to what he had now been convicted of so I am walking in right
01:20:55
behind me into the jail and I'm going to ask him face to face did you kill Jesse
01:21:04
Bardwell hey Jason hello thank you for doing this yes ma'am have a seat please thank
01:21:13
you did you have anything to do with the death of Jesse Bardwell no ma'am did you
01:21:19
murder Jesse Bardwell No Ma'am why are you sitting here for 50 years I'm reaping what I swed like I said you know
01:21:27
I was I lied I was scared and I thought I could fix this I thought I thought about just myself I didn't think about
01:21:34
her family I didn't think about her he'll have half a century in a Texas prison to think about all that pain he
01:21:41
sowed if her parents were here right now is there something you would want to say
01:21:46
to them I'm sorry and what are you sorry for for being a piece of dirt after the trial Gary Bardwell and his
01:22:00
family went back to Mississippi where he used to spend long summer days on the water with his
01:22:06
daughter Jesse only now is he able to get back in a boat and go to some of the places they
01:22:14
used to go a Bittersweet reminder of the daughter he [Music] lost Jason low took away a Beautiful
01:22:25
Soul a beautiful heart the life of the party a smile that would light up this dark room she will live forever I always
01:22:35
called her my beautiful little girl in my heart and soul my beautiful daughter Jesse how many
01:22:43
breaks can my heart take until it's taken away [Music] [Music] this is a murder case that began with a
01:23:39
nightmare and a woman who had visions of violence to me it was a dream I woke up
01:23:47
and it just startled me I usually have very strange dreams when I wake up in the morning I remember
01:23:54
bits and pieces and within half an hour it's completely gone I said I'm worried about Kelly I
01:24:00
think Kelly's hurt Kelly Brennan was a nurse at one of the local hospitals well thought of at
01:24:06
the hospital Kelly was beautiful when she came in the room it was like glamorous she was patient oriented
01:24:18
wasn't afraid to take charge we called her the sge tell me what happened what did you
01:24:24
dream about Kelly everything was black and she was arguing with somebody and I saw the sign for Mark's landing on
01:24:32
February 15th 2010 Kelly Brenan went missing she didn't show up for work there was like A unsettling Panic that
01:24:41
we didn't know what what happened to Kelly something was not right it was not adding up and that's why we called the
01:24:46
police 911 what's the problem there I think there's been a murder we sent people down to start to look at Mark's
01:24:53
landing and in that area to see if they could find Kelly and actually put a Aviation unit up in the air helicopter
01:24:59
had had spotted what they believed to be a a person laying in the wooded area shortly later we were able to uh
01:25:06
identify that it was Kelly brunn if you follow me Peter right back in here toward the scrub wow back in the
01:25:13
bush and this is where Kelly ended her life right here most of the injuries are are directed direct at her
01:25:21
head so there's a frenzy attack with many blows being struck there's a lot of anger and rage in that once the body's
01:25:29
found and it's where she says it is Mark Landing I said I can see Mark's Landing
01:25:34
of course then she becomes your prime suspect in the dream is just like I told them she was arguing with somebody my
01:25:42
name is Todd darany I was a criminal defense lawyer and one day Sheila Trot came into my office and told me that she
01:25:48
was accused of murder Sheila was trying to convey to me that she didn't commit any murder and that she merely had a
01:25:55
dream a vision about this that came to her like she was Clairvoyant if it hadn't been for me
01:26:02
they wouldn't have gone to Mark's Landing looking for her I told the truth and I'm continuing to tell the truth I
01:26:07
did not kill Kelly Brennan you don't believe that she has some Supernatural ability that all these facts came to her
01:26:15
in a dream no I don't think she's clar voyant I think she's a killer I'm Peter vanand tonight on 48
01:26:30
Hours a vision of murder [Music] [Applause] [Music] it's hard to imagine this picturesque
01:27:04
Seashore marks landing on Florida's Space Coast as a Beachside [Music] grave is this the spot where Kelly
01:27:16
Brennan was lying on the ground you noticed her legs sticking out from the bushes a little bit and kind of
01:27:23
the lower part of her TSO it was on the morning of February 16th 2010 that Chopper pilot John Copa of the bravard
01:27:32
County Sheriff's Department spotted a body we landed I got out of the helicopter ran over to her I saw a lot
01:27:40
of trauma to her head it's it's a very sad moment to see somebody dead like [Music]
01:27:49
that it was 46-year-old Kelly Brennan who had vanished from her home in Indie Atlantic less than 24 hours
01:27:57
earlier there was no saving Kelly Brennan no unfortunately no there was no saving her she was so alive she was
01:28:04
always you know running around doing things and then to know that she was dead it was just a total
01:28:10
shock Lou irvy and Kelly were close friends and nurses at a local hospital they often kayaked together when you
01:28:19
think about Kelly Brennan what do you miss the most her friendship working with her was was good because she was a
01:28:25
good nurse she knew her stuff and but also just as a friend Kelly was committed to her patience even after she
01:28:32
was diagnosed with an incurable disease multiple sclerosis it would flare up at times and she would just keep working
01:28:40
and work right through it which was another thing I admired about her Sheila Trot the woman at the center of this
01:28:46
murder says Kelly Brennan was her friend as well what is it about her that you liked we had the type of friendship
01:28:53
where we wouldn't see each other for four or five years and then something would bring us together she hosted
01:28:58
parties she liked to be the center of attention Kelly was a great girl there was nothing that she did to deserve that
01:29:04
at all so how did it come to this Sheila Trot suspected of brutally murdering her
01:29:09
friend and dumping her body right here among these bushes well it's a complicated tale of Secrets lies and
01:29:17
Intrigue a story that begins with an eerie dream and ends like a Shakespearean tragedy does this case
01:29:25
have an affair yes sex sure Jealousy on both sides major Todd gooder is the lead
01:29:33
investigator and a nightmare and visions and who knows what Clairvoyance of course that's our our suspect saying
01:29:41
that she's Clairvoyant for us that's somebody that's trying to live with what they've done I woke up and it just
01:29:47
startled me and I said I'm worried about Kelly I think Kelly's hurt in this dream
01:29:53
was Kelly Brennan dead mm-m did you see her blooded no mm-m did you see her body
01:29:59
at Mark's Landing uh-uh no you did not kill Kelly no no I would never have hurt Kelly no I never would have hurt
01:30:11
Kelly but to truly understand just how strange this story is you have to go back in time 20 years Kelly Brennan a
01:30:20
nursing student and Sheila Trot were friends she was working three jobs to put her husband Daniel through flight
01:30:27
school Dan was an uly mobile kind of guy liked Limelight a little bit some of the
01:30:33
things we heard was he a little narcissistic one of those people that liked to believe he had a little more
01:30:38
power and a little more status she was Head Over Heels Allison Bartlett remembers when her best friend Sheila
01:30:45
fell for the tall handsome aspiring pilot I never heard or saw that spark in her that did when she talked about Dan
01:30:56
and sent photos of Dan and I could see that they were going to be getting married and what did she tell you about
01:31:03
his personality fun like the same things that she did I think in a lot of ways she found a soulmate at least she
01:31:11
thought she did at least she thought she did Sheila and Dan were married on August 26th
01:31:19
1989 the couple had two sons kraton and Graham she became a real estate agent and Daniel Trot achieved his dream of
01:31:28
becoming an airline pilot in 2002 his political career also took off when he was elected mayor of their small town in
01:31:38
the Atlantic based on your investigation were Dan and Sheila Trot considered a power couple in India atantic I think
01:31:45
within town because of his status of being uh you know formly in the political circles there and her being a
01:31:51
real estate agent and being fairly well to do I think they were in that Social Circle to where they would be well known
01:31:57
throughout the community from the outside Sheila and Dan seemed to have the perfect
01:32:05
life but images can be deceiving what did you see in his behavior what happened he began having
01:32:15
Affairs I would notice his ring was on the counter he wasn't wearing his ring and then when I would say look at we
01:32:20
need to talk what's going on he would swear and cuss at me that's story 48 Hours reached out to Dan Trot about
01:32:27
these allegations but he refused to comment by January 2009 Sheila had had enough so you asked for the divorce oh
01:32:38
absolutely yes I said I'm done while her marriage was crumbling Sheila and Kelly met for a girl's night
01:32:45
out and it wasn't long before Sheila realized that Kelly's six-year marriage to restaurant manager gin Rallo was on
01:32:53
the rocks too she had made a point of saying that she wouldn't care if Gino had an affair
01:32:59
which I thought was a really strange thing to [Music] say Dan Trot moved out and joined a
01:33:06
Cycling group where Kelly Brennan was a member and soon they were going out on more than long bike rides Dan and Kelly
01:33:15
were both lying to everybody saying that they weren't having an affair and while
01:33:18
this whole thing was going on I was having my problems with Dan he was just being very belligerent Sheila's mother
01:33:24
repeated to investigators her daughter's claims of other Affairs but major goodar
01:33:29
says it was Dan's admitted relationship with Kelly that led to murder she's going to lose Dan I'm going
01:33:37
to kill the thing that he now loves or I'm going to take that away and I'm going to hurt him as bad as he's hurt me
01:33:42
and then you get the third thing if I can't have him nobody's going to have him you've been portrayed as being
01:33:47
obsessed with Dan but you laugh you you that you're saying that's not true oh no
01:33:53
he would I'm sure he wishes I was obsessed with him no absolutely not you couldn't bear the thought of losing him
01:33:58
you couldn't bear the thought of him with another woman oh I no well the fact that I set him up with Kelly would you
01:34:05
know that would be a little different but uh with Kelly Brennan yes absolutely you set them up yes absolutely wait a
01:34:12
second yeah she was my ticket out of a bad marriage but police aren't buying one
01:34:19
word of Sheila's story and they want to question her about Kelly Brennan's murder God's honest truth if I was going
01:34:26
to kill anybody for any reason it would have been [Music] him that's the place that's the place
01:34:48
that she loves that's where her heart is right there Sheila Trot had a lifelong love affair with the water yeah I should
01:34:57
have been born with gills I suppose long before she was accused of murder she spent Carefree Summers on this
01:35:04
picturesque Canadian Island this is where she learned to swim and this was her favorite place in the whole
01:35:11
world Margaret Byer says her daughter doesn't belong at the center of this murder investigation but back with her
01:35:19
family in Canada jila used to just love to run through these rocks if she could see this right now she would just be in
01:35:28
tears this is where she belongs it was Sheila's love of the water that Drew her to live on the Florida coast where she
01:35:35
was a diving instructor and went to college now she swims in a sea of Suspicion I did not kill Kelly Brennan
01:35:44
she was the best thing that could have ever happened to me in fact Sheila says she orchestrated the relationship
01:35:51
between Dan and Kelly one night over over dinner to speed up her own divorce so I said to her I said you know
01:35:58
something Kelly I said you and Dan would be great for each other and she just perked up and she said really and I said
01:36:03
yeah I said but Kelly you're going to have to lose weight but prosecutor Samantha Barrett
01:36:09
says Sheila is making up the Matchmaker story Barrett says that Sheila was simmering with anger and jealousy over
01:36:15
the relationship anger that finally boiled over when she savagely killed Kelly on this lawn right behind me
01:36:24
it was horrific she was lying in wait for Kelly When Kelly came out of her house I believe once she started the
01:36:32
attack and she knew Kelly wasn't going to be able to fight back that that's when the the rage came to the
01:36:41
surface authorities begin building a timeline that prosecutor Jim McMaster says started on the night of February
01:36:49
15th 2010 when Kelly misses an appointment with her personal trainer and they couldn't find her we couldn't
01:36:56
contact her and couldn't find her Kelly's roommate files a missing person's report two hours later they
01:37:03
checked every Police Department every hospital fire rescue Highway Patrol they went to her residence and were clueless
01:37:11
as to where Kelly Brennan was meanwhile according to her sons Graham and kraton Sheila arrives home
01:37:19
after a 4-Hour trip to Walmart she was dizzy shaking and acting strangely so our rescue was to address the emergency
01:37:28
so her son's girlfriend calls 911 a paramedics arrived they couldn't find anything physically wrong with her so
01:37:35
they left an hour later another call to 911 my boyfriend's mom just had a seizure about an hour ago and they said
01:37:43
to call back if she's been acting weird or anything and she's acting very strange she was then transported to the
01:37:49
hospital and they ran routine tests and nothing of medical significance was identified she was released from the
01:37:56
hospital and came home when they returned from the hospital in the wee hours of the morning Sheila begins
01:38:03
talking about the dream she called her younger son Graham into the bedroom she told him she had a bad dream she kept
01:38:11
seeing Kelly's face in the dark and that she believed that she hurt Kelly worried Sheila's Sons telephone
01:38:20
their grandmother Graham just said to me Margaret we need you we need you she drives from her Florida condo to
01:38:29
Sheila's house where she finds her daughter curled up in a fetal position on her bed she was shaking from head to
01:38:39
toe and she said call the police I said what happened she said mom everything's black everything's black and all I can
01:38:45
see is Kelly's face it was Graham that said to me Margaret I think Mom's killed Kelly
01:38:53
fearing her daughter was having a nervous breakdown Margaret buers makes yet another 911 call um we just need a
01:39:01
policeman please what's the problem there please this call would change Sheila's life
01:39:07
forever I think there's been a murder my daughter I has had a nervous breakdown and she's saying she's killed somebody
01:39:13
your daughter's telling you she killed somebody yes all right she she didn't tell you who she saying she killed she's
01:39:19
saying she I don't know Kelly Kelly do you did she tell you where this happened well she it's down Mark's Landing Mark's
01:39:32
Landing it's sort of the defendant's own words through her mother and and through
01:39:36
her sons I mean she's basically confessing to the crime in the 911 call after that explosive call officers
01:39:45
rushed to Sheila trt's home and she continues rambling about the dream she's making some statements I believe I heard
01:39:53
some someone I keep seeing Kelly's face to the point that the Indi Atlantic police believe we may have a homicide on
01:40:00
our hands then detectives put two and two together wait a minute we had a missing person report last night of
01:40:07
Kelly Brennan and when you make that connection what are you thinking you're talking to the
01:40:14
killer that's when Kelly's Body is spotted from the air and cops on the ground rush to Mark's Landing detectives
01:40:22
have been at this India Atlantic home for some time all after the body of 46-year-old Kelly Brennan was found 10
01:40:28
miles away in this sandun area Kelly's body was found exactly where Sheila dreamt it would be and so less than 2
01:40:36
days after Kelly Brennan disappeared Sheila Trot is arrested for murder I'm going to be in jail for a
01:40:45
very long time okay Sheila Trot calls her son kraton right they're charging me with first-degree
01:40:51
murder she says but it's not true I didn't do it Sheila hires defense attorney Todd deratany and even though
01:41:01
that dream led to Kelly's Body darany insists the prosecution's case Isn't So Ironclad the police didn't have DNA they
01:41:11
didn't have fingerprints Witnesses and they didn't have any blood that matched the Sheila Trot looks like you've got at
01:41:19
a minimum a case of Reasonable Doubt absolutely reasonable doubt it a dream case
01:41:23
so little physical evidence prosecutors say because Sheila Trot planned it that way it's not like she all of a sudden
01:41:32
found out that Kelly was having an affair with Dan Trot and then confronted her immediately and beat her to death
01:41:38
she'd known this had been going on for months and months and months and she planned it down to the Last Detail she's
01:41:45
a murderer my daughter I has had a nervous breakdown and she's saying she's killed
01:42:06
somebody did you kill Kelly no I didn't kill Kelly brenon absolutely not Sheila Trot remains behind bars for 4 and a
01:42:13
half years awaiting trial for the brutal murder of her friend Kelly Brennan she said all I want to do is hug my boys and
01:42:22
I understand that cuz all I want to do is hug my girl today you absolutely believe in your daughter's innocence
01:42:28
correct absolutely 110% as the trial finally begins in September of 2014 remain seated come to order please
01:42:37
for investigators believe they've built a strong but admittedly circumstantial case beginning with that bizarre dream
01:42:47
the defendant began saying that she'd had a dream that she may have hurt Kelly and that it happened at Mark's
01:42:55
Landing do you have an eyewitness to this murder no do you have a murder weapon no do you have Sheila trt's DNA
01:43:03
on Kelly Brennan no no I don't believe so but major Todd goodar does have a theory of the murder based on blood
01:43:12
stains and divots in the grass in front of Kelly's home Peter this is the house where we believe that Sheila Trot laid
01:43:20
in wait waited for Kelly Brennan to come out to Reve vehicle snuck up behind her
01:43:25
at nightfall hit her in the back of the head and then continued to hit her in the head multiple multiple times with
01:43:31
some type of object we believe a hammer good your believe Sheila then put Kelly's body inside Kelly's own SUV
01:43:39
where CSI found her blood on the passenger side floor he says Sheila then drove Kelly's SUV to Marks Landing where
01:43:48
she dumped the body then she abandoned the SUV at a nearby condo what kind of a murderer could I have been that I didn't
01:43:56
leave fingerprints I didn't leave hair I had no bruises I had no broken Nails no cuts
01:44:03
on me or anything like this nothing connects me to this crime whatsoever this was not a physical fight
01:44:12
this was an ambush where she bashed in This Woman's brains with a hammer um she probably didn't have to break a nail to
01:44:19
do that what the lack of physical evidence means to me is how premeditated the crime actually was defense attorney
01:44:29
Todd deratany couldn't wait to bring this case to trial I was absolutely certain that this was 80% chance I could
01:44:39
have won this case working at half speed it was that good of a case but as the trial begins darany won't be able to
01:44:47
show how good a case he thought he had he's nowhere near the courtroom you looking for 4x4 or two wheel drive he's
01:44:57
selling used cars across town at a dealership he now owns Big Boy Motors he has had his own legal troubles
01:45:07
Florida state supreme court has permanently disbarred him for harming clients by taking their money and then
01:45:14
failing to represent them so while dar's counting the cash from his car business
01:45:20
Sheila is fighting for her freedom the prosecution plays that damning 911 call from Sheila's mother all right she she
01:45:29
didn't tell you who she's saying she killed I don't know ke did she tell you where this happened Mark Landing the man
01:45:37
at the center of this alleged love triangle takes the stand my name is Daniel Trot last name is spelled t TT
01:45:45
it's Sheila's husband and Kelly's boyfriend at the time of the murder clearly annoyed Dan Trot wishes he could
01:45:53
be anywhere but here do you recall the date of February 15th of 2010 yeah you have specific memory about
01:46:03
that day I've been spending nearly the last 5 years trying to forget it but yes I
01:46:09
suppose I remember a few things prosecutors need to establish Dan's affair with Kelly as the motive which
01:46:15
pushed Sheila to kill you're looking forward to seeing her that evening absolutely very much so Sheila's new
01:46:23
attorneys public defenders see an opening they used Dan Trot to point the finger at a man they believe had the
01:46:31
strongest motive to Kill Kelly her jealous husband Gino Rallo who reacted with violence when he learned of the
01:46:39
affair he physically shows up at your house and confronts you he physically broke through the door and came up and
01:46:47
essentially assaulted me yes did he have a weapon in his hand when he barged through the door yes he did
01:46:54
describe that weapon uh it was some sort of Jack Dan suffered injuries to his face and neck
01:47:01
he says moments later Kelly followed Gino home where Gino turned his rage on her he uh attacked her in the garage
01:47:11
essentially was choking her it was rather rather violent encounter less than two months later Kelly was murdered
01:47:20
State calls Gin Gin r testifies Sheila Trot was the master manipulator who taunted him into attacking Dan she would
01:47:30
call me from time to time and say hey this is going on and they're having an affair how many times was the defendant
01:47:37
calling you about this a lot did you believe it at the time I did not prosecutors say Sheila used emails
01:47:46
to light Gino's fuse as well but they also revealed her own deep-seated anger in one email she wrote he was sitting in
01:47:56
front of you lying to your face were you hoping that Gina was going to go over and attack his wife or attack your
01:48:04
husband putting an end to this affair so you could have Dan back oh no oh no I wasn't upset that Dan was having an
01:48:11
affair with Kelly I was upset that he was spending the money that he was still trying to prove no one was more upset
01:48:17
than Gino Sheila's attorneys want the jury to hear a voicemail that he left Ban 2 months before Kelly's murder you
01:48:26
mother come on you want to this marriage I'm going to cat your mother but the judge refuses declaring
01:48:34
it irrelevant G's the only person who knew where Kelly specifically was that evening it sounds like you think Gino's
01:48:41
the killer I'm not going to say who I think it is Gino could absolutely do it Kelly wanted out of that marriage
01:48:46
prosecutors say Gino has a strong Alibi they say the security video from a drugstore in another town proves Gino
01:48:55
couldn't have been at the murder scene and Kelly's nextdoor neighbor Scott Vickers testifies that he saw a blonde
01:49:03
woman not a man on Kelly's lawn that night um it was a light colored a light colored outfit which you know that's or
01:49:12
else I wouldn't have been able to to really see but it was uh some type of light outfit that light colored outfit
01:49:18
detectives theorize could be a reason why none of Kelly's blood blood was found on Sheila what do you think about
01:49:25
their contention that you were wearing some sort of Hazmat like Su that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard
01:49:30
we're next to Disney World why didn't they just put me in a Mickey Mouse suit are you serious things are about to
01:49:37
get very serious at Sheila trt's trial her two sons are about to take the stand against her and what they have to say is
01:49:48
another nightmare for their mother in a tragedy that seems to know no bounds Sheila trt's two sons are about
01:50:05
to testify at her murder trial for the prosecution how are you related to her she's my mother and do you see her in
01:50:13
the courtroom here today yes can you with his mother watching and listening just 15 ft away Graham Trot first
01:50:20
describes helping her when she seemed to be having a seizure the night Kelly Brennan was killed I picked her up and
01:50:28
put her on the couch cuz she was hitting her head against the wall prosecutor Samantha Barrett quickly cuts to the
01:50:34
chase asking him what happened after his mother came home from the hospital a few
01:50:39
hours later she was telling me she was seeing things what did she say she saw she saw Kelly's face and she said she
01:50:47
thinks she's hurt and a beach despite the prosecutor efforts did you ever hear her say I think I hurt
01:50:57
Kelly no Graham won't repeat what he initially told investigators in a recorded interview she says I think I
01:51:05
hurt Kelly and I keep seeing her face and then I hurt her and I was like well that's not
01:51:11
good but what he does reveal next is a bombshell and it's something he did not tell law enforcement until shortly
01:51:19
before the trial I said do you want to drive down to this beach that you're seeing and we can see there's nothing
01:51:26
there and then we can call tonight and go to sleep Sheila agreed taking her son's Graham and kraton and Graham's
01:51:35
girlfriend on a maob field trip to Mark's landing and there with Sheila leading the way the boys 16 and 18 years
01:51:44
old at the time saw Kelly's bludgeon body you could see I mean it was just a lifeless body just lying there was your
01:51:58
mother with you when you saw that yes um what did she say I don't nothing really she just in
01:52:09
shock why would you take your two teenage Sons out to Mark's landing and show them where the body was the kids
01:52:17
took me you led them to that place I didn't take them right to the body we walked around and we were just on our
01:52:23
way out when we saw her feed why is it when your mother came over to the house you didn't tell her we just got back
01:52:29
from Mark's Landing where we saw a dead body uh you'd have to ask the kids that I don't know it just never really came
01:52:37
up when my mother first came come up didn't come up Sheila didn't come up You' just been to see a dead body a
01:52:43
woman who whose skull was crushed well when my mom came in I was in bed and she woke me up I don't remember the
01:52:50
conversation very well as inexplicable as that seems the horror of the night didn't end there for Sheila's Sons she
01:52:58
told them she also had visions of a nearby vacant lot and that's where kraton Trot tells the court they made a
01:53:06
second damning Discovery a bag mom opened it up went into the purse and saw opened up the wallet and we saw
01:53:17
Kelly's driver's license what did you do next after you saw the bag with uh Kelly
01:53:24
Brennan's driver's license in the wallet um told her that we didn't want to have
01:53:29
anything to do with it that me and Graham were going to go to sleep and that she had to deal with it on her
01:53:37
own how important are these boys to your case their testimony is absolutely critical it seemed that they were
01:53:44
determined to do what was really the right thing and tell the truth sir you're free to go but after her son's
01:53:51
scathing testimony Sheila's defense team faces a huge uphill battle they try to poke holes in the forensic evidence
01:54:00
gathered at Mark's Landing well we know that Kelly's Body comes out of the car and comes down this way and we know that
01:54:06
because there's blood transfer found on this Pole right here Kelly's blood was on this very post right the defense says
01:54:13
not so fast the spots on the fence post and did you afford them for forensic testing they were not
01:54:22
so as to whether those items are blood or a kid's red slurpie we're left to guess right if you would like to put it
01:54:33
that way and the defense tries to tear apart the alleged motive that Sheila was jealous and murderously angry over her
01:54:41
husband's affair with Kelly Elizabeth McHugh was Sheila's divorce attorney she says Sheila seemed fine with the affair
01:54:50
she really didn't have a problem with because she knew her and so she knew she would be very good with the children and
01:54:57
wouldn't really be a problem in the divorce okay Mo of aside Sheila's dream about Kelly ly hurt here at Mark's
01:55:04
landing and that field trip with her two sons here are among the strongest evidence against her but there is a new
01:55:11
twist to this tale Sheila says that dream was actually a memory of witnessing Kelly being killed by a
01:55:20
strange man she was was arguing with him and I heard him say but Kelly and she said enough and then she went and bent
01:55:27
into the car to do something and I saw him hit her while behind bars awaiting trial Sheila says that her memory has
01:55:35
come back to her and she's written a detailed account of what happened then you right he dragged her
01:55:44
into the grass and kept hitting her mhm is that what you saw yes yes and I didn't do
01:55:57
anything you didn't call police why not I don't know Sheila shared this memory in a letter to a friend she claims that
01:56:05
she had decided to stop at Kelly's house that night to ask Kelly to stop driving
01:56:10
by her house looking for Dan and at the exact moment she arrived Sheila saw a strange Man attack
01:56:20
Kelly how would you describe this man who was with K it was too dark it was too dark this letter prosecutors say
01:56:29
this is a confession no it's not a confession letter that's my account of what happened that
01:56:35
evening but Sheila's new account becomes even more bizarre instead of running for
01:56:42
her life or to the nearest police station she followed the stranger's car all the way to Mark's landing and
01:56:49
watched him dispose of Kelly's Body and belongings do you understand as you sit across from me right now that your story
01:56:59
is a fantastic story you follow the killer which doesn't make a lot of sense to anyone MH and then you don't tell
01:57:06
cops what happened what unfolded you don't even tell your own mother all these things are consciousness of guilt
01:57:13
are they not well if they're consciousness of guilt why would we call the police if I committed this crime and
01:57:19
I had killed her I would have taken off I'm not stupid enough to stick around come please and Sheila believes this new
01:57:26
memory could set her free but the question is will the jury get to hear Sheila tr's version of what happened the
01:57:35
night Kelly Brennan was killed [Music] is Sheila Clairvoyant has she had Visions throughout her life dreams that
01:57:59
have come true I don't think so Peter with her daughter's dream now being described as an eyewitness account
01:58:09
of Kelly's murder 48 Hours has brought Margaret a copy of that document Sheila wrote Ask do you recognize the
01:58:17
handwriting on this letter yes who is it Sheila's she reads for the first time from its 22
01:58:26
Pages he dragged her into the grass and kept hitting her I felt the blood rush out of my arms and legs and I started to
01:58:34
shake are these the writings of an eyewitness to a murder or the writings of a murderer describing what she has
01:58:44
done I think she must have seen it she couldn't have done it Peter I did not murder Kelly I witnessed it
01:58:54
now came the moment in court where Sheila Trot could take the stand and persuade the jury her new story is true
01:59:02
but on the advice of her attorneys first of all have you made a decision about whether you wish to testify in your case
01:59:08
or not yes sir what is your decision not to Sir that you've chosen not to testify
01:59:15
yes sir Sheila's first lawyer thinks he knows why Sheila didn't testify and explain that letter obviously this was
01:59:23
just her confessing to the crime she needed to get it off her chest Todd daratan Todd deran is a liar so the case
01:59:32
goes straight to closing arguments with prosecutors zeroing in on what Sheila did say after Kelly
01:59:41
disappeared The Smoking Gun in this case are the defendant's own words telling the police where the dead
01:59:53
body is they play Margaret's damning 911 call one last time and my daughter I has
02:00:01
had a nervous breakdown and she's saying she's killed somebody your daughter's telling you she killed somebody
02:00:07
yes defense attorneys make no mention of Sheila's new claim she saw Kelly's killer instead they try to pick apart
02:00:16
the state's case you're being asked to believe 115 lb personing is going to be able to pick up 146b person probably
02:00:26
deceased at this point and no pun intended but there's dead way but she's going to pick her up from the floor lift
02:00:34
her up and place her in the seat of not of a Honda Civic but of an SUV Place her in there when no neighbors
02:00:47
hearing a thing no neighbors hearing blow after blow after blow does that make any logical
02:00:59
sense they end by pointing the finger at Kelly's jealous husband she had no ill will no spite no evil intent no
02:01:11
premeditation you saw the person you heard from the person that had all those things and how he acted on those
02:01:20
feelings ladies and gentlemen the decision that you need to speak is that Sheila grah Trot is not
02:01:31
guilty thank you less than 3 hours after beginning their deliberations jurors reach a
02:01:40
verdict Margaret can't wait to hear the good news I was dancing I was dancing in
02:01:47
the elevator I was so excited cuz I knew I knew and I kept saying we're going to
02:01:51
bring our girls Home Instead the defendant Sheila Graham Trot is guilty of first-degree
02:01:58
premeditated murder guilty of first-degree murder Sheila Trot was immediately sentenced it's a sentence of the court
02:02:08
that you serve um life in prison as a minimum mandatory sentence for Margaret buers who wishes
02:02:15
she never made that 911 call The Embers of blame burned deep within her heart you are a loving mother and grandmother
02:02:27
and you love Sheila dearly yes does it tear you up at night to think that I put my own daughter in jail yes it sure does
02:02:38
it just tears me up you think I put my kid in jail for the rest of her life absolutely isn't it time for you to stop
02:02:51
telling these stor stories and tell the truth don't let your loved ones suffer thinking that you're innocent when you
02:02:57
did this MH I told the truth and I'm continuing to tell the truth and I'm going to keep telling the truth she
02:03:03
killed Kelly Brennan she's a murderer she's finished as well she should be for Kelly Brennan's mother the taste
02:03:12
of justice is Bittersweet guys put tragedy for that family as well almost 5 years after her death
02:03:23
Kelly's friend Lou says her kind Spirit lives on when she did come to work she was always happy and she had her little
02:03:31
corner it was called Kelly's Corner a place in the hospital where Kelly gave Extra Care and attention to her patience
02:03:40
and even after she died that was a an area of reverence if you went there um it was it was comforting
02:03:53
why shouldn't this audience believe you're just a clever sociopath that you are a killer you know the difference
02:04:00
between right and wrong but in the case of Kelly Brennan you don't care I do care I do
02:04:07
care when would her body have been discovered you said yourself who led them to the body it was us saying that
02:04:13
it was at Mark's Landing they would never have checked at Mark's Landing but despite leading her sons to
02:04:21
Kelly's battered body and being found guilty by a jury of six Sheila Trot is unrepentant the real killer she insists
02:04:31
still walks free I have to live with a lot of guilt for not stopping the attack now I'm paying the
02:04:42
price Kelly's family has closure but they don't have Justice cuz I didn't kill Kelly
02:04:53
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