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in 1992
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two masked gunmen broke into this home
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on the tiendaga mohawk territory in
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canada
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the motive was robbery
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but there was a struggle shots were
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fired
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leaving 54 year old ward maricle
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critically injured
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it took solid police investigation and
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some fancy footwork
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to identify the perpetrators
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[Music]
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the tie-in donega mohawk territory is a
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small community about two hours east of
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toronto canada
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[Music]
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the territory was founded over 200 years
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ago when the mohawk moved here from
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upstate new york
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the homes and landscape of the area are
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no different from any other north
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american community but the sense of
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family among the mohawk is especially
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strong
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[Music]
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it doesn't appear to be any different
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than anywhere else in canada or the u.s
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in what i would call
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for lack of a better term mainstream
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culture
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but like i say the differences is in the
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people in this community it's
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there's a lot of blood family
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but even if you're not related you know
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everybody pretty close so it's like
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being family
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[Music]
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ward and diana america were respected
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members of the community
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ward's gas bar the miracles business a
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gas station with the restaurant attached
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had always been a prosperous business
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at night they also operated a check
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cashing service from their home for
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people who didn't have an atm card
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everybody knows ward
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and diane
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the business there as well
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have contact with them
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they're good people
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at christmas time residents of the
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reserve celebrate the holiday just like
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any other community
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with santa claus christmas lights
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[Music]
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and prayer
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[Music]
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but in the early morning hours of
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december 30th 1992
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the holiday spirit of the community was
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shattered
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just before dawn
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two masked gunmen broke into the
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miracle's home
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[Music]
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we're coming to see you
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[Music]
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they went upstairs woke ward and diana
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and demanded money
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where's the money give me the money one
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was holding a 22 caliber pistol the
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other a piece of wood
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ward resisted shots rang out
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by the time it was over
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ward had been shot three times
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the second perpetrator took diana
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downstairs
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fearing for her life diana handed over
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the money they had on hand ten thousand
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dollars in cash
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and the intruders quickly fled
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[Music]
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uh we've got a shooting down here on the
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reserve
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ambulance
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please hurry okay
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ward miracle was rushed to the hospital
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with a bullet wound to his head
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he underwent emergency surgery
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most wounds to the head are fatal
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[Music]
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since the gunman wore masks
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all diana could tell police was that the
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assailants made their getaway in a red
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car
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few miles down the road
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police found the two masts used in the
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robbery one was a wool ski mask the
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other a rubber halloween mask
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inside the miracle's home police found
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three shell casings which were collected
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for analysis
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the callaway in this case i believe
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there were 22 short caliber the fact
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they are out on the ground would
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indicate that more than likely a
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semi-automatic pistol as opposed to a
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revolver was used
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since the stairs had no carpet and with
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snow outside
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investigators suspected that the
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perpetrator's wet feet might have left
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latent shoe impressions on the stairs
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the stairs were dusted with fingerprint
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powder
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and immediately
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a clear impression of a running shoe was
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evident
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outside the house forensic experts found
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a trail of evidence in the snow
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which they hoped would lead them to the
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perpetrators
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[Music]
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during the christmas holidays in 1992
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residents of the tayan danega mohawk
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territory learned the terrible news that
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one of their most prominent citizens
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ward maricle had been the victim of a
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senseless shooting
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there is very little violent crime in
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this small community of 2600 people
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shock initially
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that something of of this magnitude
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could happen
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in a community such as this
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[Music]
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ward marico was shot three times by a 22
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caliber pistol one of the bullets
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entered his head
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but he was fortunate he survived
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but the injury would leave him
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permanently disabled
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forensic scientist jim edie inspected
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the crime scene
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he noticed a piece of wood on the
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kitchen table
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[Music]
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diana merkel told police one of the
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perpetrators held the wood in his hand
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during the robbery
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when edie walked outside on the side of
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the house he found a wooden sawhorse
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with one of the legs missing
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it appeared that the perpetrators took
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the leg from the sawhorse and used it to
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break through the front door
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next to the sawhorse
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clearly visible in the bright december
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sunshine
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was a footprint in the snow
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and when i looked i could see footprints
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in the area of the sawhorse
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i was certain that somebody had gone
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back behind the house and got the
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sawhorse and ripped a leg off
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there was a potential piece of very
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important evidence
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jim edie realized he had to act quickly
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before the snow melted and before anyone
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else walked through the crime scene
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his first order of business was to
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photograph the footprints
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these stills would be important
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especially if he was unable to make a
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cast of the footprint
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he then rushed to his truck and looked
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for materials to make a mold
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there are a number of techniques for
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capturing a footprint impression in the
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snow if you choose the wrong one the
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impression could be lost forever
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presents interesting problems because
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if you use conventional
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casting materials such as dental plaster
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it's really very heavy dental plaster is
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hardens to stone
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and if you pour it into snow it tends to
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collapse the footprint because of the
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weight
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detective edie decided on a technique
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called sulfur casting
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he took a small burner and a pot and
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heated the powdered sulfur
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it takes about 15 minutes before it
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melts into a thick brown liquid
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it's then cooled to the point above
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crystallization
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as it poured into the snow
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the sulfur re-crystallizes immediately
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and hardens retaining the important
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details needed for identification
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[Music]
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the impression was from a pair of nike
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air sneakers size eight
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the shoe was relatively new with very
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little wear
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in the impression were some important
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clues about the perpetrator details
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called accidental characteristics
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[Music]
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and the part of the shoe that's going to
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be rubbing against the road and against
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the sidewalk and that has those
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accidental characteristics that we're
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going to be looking for
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in an accidental characteristic is not
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just a little point oftentimes it's like
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a mini piece of art
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edie noticed three small cuts all in a
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row on the sole as if the wearer had
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stepped on a small piece of wire
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in all
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jimmy d identified 10 accidental
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characteristics in the shoe impression
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[Music]
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these would distinguish this particular
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shoe from the thousands of other nike
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air size 8 running shoes that were in
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circulation
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not surprisingly
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the shoe impression in the snow
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matched the shoe print on the wooden
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steps inside the home
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we recovered some very good evidence we
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had shoe prints
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we had brass casings
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the difficulty is unlike fingerprints
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which can be searched on a computer and
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identified in the case of bullet casings
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or shoe prints
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you need a suspect
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but finding a suspect
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would not be easy
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[Music]
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the robbery and shooting of ward miracle
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on the tien de nega mohawk reserve was
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widely covered by the media in the
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surrounding areas
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[Music]
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two days after the shooting
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an anonymous telephone call suggested
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police look into the whereabouts of
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peter benedict and frank linu in the
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early morning hours of december 30th
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both men were 21 years old both had
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criminal records
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benedict lived in cornwall which is
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about an hour's drive from the reserve
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police had no fixed address for lanu
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police went to peter benedict's
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apartment armed with the search warrant
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outside benedict's apartment
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police noticed a red car
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similar to the one diana merkel
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identified as the getaway car
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[Music]
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peter benedict denied any involvement in
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the crime and said he didn't know where
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franklin knew was
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inside benedict's apartment police found
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a 22-caliber pistol
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the same caliber used in the shooting
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they also found a number of pairs of
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running shoes but none were the nike air
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model size 8 like the impressions found
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at the crime scene
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police also found twenty five hundred
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dollars in cash
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and benedict was wearing what looked to
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be a very expensive ring
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in benedict's bedroom police found a
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receipt for the ring
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it was purchased on december 31st
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just hours after the robbery at the
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miracles home
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the ring was purchased with eleven
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hundred dollars in cash from a jewelry
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store in ottawa
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uh we went out to the car
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and we searched the vehicle after that
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and in the trunk uh i found an aldo shoe
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box
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so i thinking well all those shoebox
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brand new running shoes brand new ring
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i'm going to ottawa because there has to
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be a story to be told in ottawa and i
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wanted to hear the story
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once he got to the mall
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rick myers discovered that there were a
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number of shoe stores in the mall
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he patiently visited each one
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asking store employees if they
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recognized benedict or leno as a recent
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customer
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hey you work here oh yeah
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the last store that he visited was a
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foot locker
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and he got a break
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you seen him
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i think he came in a couple days ago
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actually the store clerk recognized
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peter benedict from the mug shot
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he said benedict bought a pair of
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running shoes just a few days earlier
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and he recalled that benedict wore the
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new shoes out of the store and left his
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old pair behind
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he just simply gave up the old ones for
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garbage and just wore his new ones home
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i asked if he would check to see if the
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old ones were still around he told me
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that no the garbage had gone out the
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friday
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i was insistent that he go and and
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recheck because
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it's always good to recheck everything
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particularly when you're so close in
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this type of investigation getting
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something that you really want
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fortunately for investigators the trash
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hadn't been removed from the back room
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and in the trash bin
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the clerk found the sneakers benedict
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left behind
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he did and sure enough he comes back
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dangling
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the shoes
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and a very nice smile on his face and it
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was even bigger one in mine
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they were size 8 nike air charcoal high
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top basketball shoes but were they the
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ones worn to the crime scene
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when jim edie analyzed the shoes from
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the trash bin he discovered the shoe had
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10 accidental characteristics which were
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in the same location the same shape and
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size as those found on the shoe
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impression in the snow and on the steps
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investigators now knew that peter
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benedict took part in the robbery
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okay here we are but was he the shooter
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and where
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was franklin
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just shut up i want the money
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could the mask somehow
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identify who pulled the trigger
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within a week of the robbery and
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shooting of ward miracle on the
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tiendanega mohawk reserve in canada
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police had two suspects peter benedict
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and frank lanew
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peter benedict was already in custody
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and frank lanew voluntarily came into
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police headquarters for
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questioning both denied any involvement
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in the crime
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but the evidence against peter benedict
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was mounting quickly
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the shoes he left at the shoe store were
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positively identified as the shoes which
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left the print on the miracle stairway
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and in the snow print outside their home
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next benedict's 22 caliber gun was
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tested by ballistics
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this pistol here is a beretta
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model 950b
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it's a semi-automatic pistol 22 short
00:17:29
caliber which is really the short the
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smallest
00:17:32
caliber that's used in handguns
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it doesn't look like much it's
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just a 22.
00:17:38
it'll kill you just the state of the
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bigger caliber as well
00:17:42
the bullets recovered from ward miracle
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in the operating room were too badly
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damaged for forensic analysis
00:17:50
22s when they hit bone on head shots are
00:17:53
usually useless the projectiles they'll
00:17:55
break up very very badly
00:17:58
so investigators used the spent shell
00:18:00
casings found in the miracles home for
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comparison
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benedict's gun was test-fired in the
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ballistics laboratory
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the act of pulling a trigger causes the
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firing pin to strike the primer which
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ignites the powder propelling the bullet
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through the barrel
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simultaneously the spent shell casing is
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pushed back with equal force
00:18:29
[Music]
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just as the bullet is marked by its
00:18:33
passage through the barrel so is the
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shell as it comes into contact with the
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metal surfaces of the weapons firing and
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loading mechanisms
00:18:42
[Music]
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firing pin impressions are as unique as
00:18:46
a fingerprint
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the firing pin impressions on the shell
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casings test fired from benedict's gun
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were identical to the impressions on the
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three shell casings found inside the
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miracle's home
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it's still you looking at it in your
00:19:03
training and your experience that
00:19:06
causes you to reach a conclusion and in
00:19:08
this case what i saw and my predecessor
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saw whom i trained uh indicated to us
00:19:13
yes
00:19:14
those cartridge cases were fired in that
00:19:16
gun and no other
00:19:19
the money found in peter benedict's
00:19:21
apartment had numbers written by hand on
00:19:24
the bundles
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they matched diana maricle's handwriting
00:19:30
not surprisingly
00:19:32
inside benedict's car on the driver's
00:19:34
side were peter benedict's fingerprints
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but on the passenger side were frank
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linus
00:19:43
[Music]
00:19:45
the last challenge for investigators was
00:19:47
to discover which one of these two
00:19:49
suspects was the shooter
00:19:55
diana merkel said the gunman was wearing
00:19:59
the wool ski mask
00:20:01
the man in the rubber mask held the
00:20:04
piece of wood
00:20:07
scientists were able to identify traces
00:20:09
of saliva and mucus inside the masks
00:20:13
and from that
00:20:14
they were able to generate a dna profile
00:20:17
of the individuals who wore
00:20:19
each mask
00:20:21
when police compared the dna of frank
00:20:24
linu and peter benedict they discovered
00:20:26
that peter benedict's dna was inside the
00:20:30
rubber mask
00:20:31
and that frank lanew's dna
00:20:33
was inside the wool mask
00:20:38
this identified frank lanew
00:20:41
as the shooter
00:20:44
when peter benedict and frank lanew
00:20:46
learned about the overwhelming forensic
00:20:49
evidence against them they both pleaded
00:20:51
guilty to aggravated assault and robbery
00:20:55
they were each sentenced to six years in
00:20:57
prison
00:21:00
[Music]
00:21:01
ward maricle eventually recovered from
00:21:03
his injuries after a long and difficult
00:21:06
rehabilitation
00:21:08
published reports say he still has
00:21:10
lingering problems resulting from the
00:21:13
head injury
00:21:16
he and diana still live and work on the
00:21:18
mohawk reserve
00:21:21
to this day
00:21:22
ward and diane america refused to talk
00:21:26
about what happened in the early morning
00:21:28
hours of december 30th 1992
00:21:38
it was a great case it was a classic you
00:21:40
know
00:21:42
one of
00:21:43
the many highlights of my career i i
00:21:45
enjoyed that case it was a very exciting
00:21:48
day for me when i saw those running
00:21:49
shoes come come waltzing out from behind
00:21:52
the back room
00:21:54
i believe that the shoe print evidence
00:21:56
that we were working with was very
00:21:57
strong evidence and
00:22:00
it was very strong evidence of the
00:22:01
preliminary hearing and
00:22:04
and i think
00:22:07
i feel like i'm bragging
00:22:09
[Music]
00:22:20
[Music]
00:22:45
you
