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[Music]
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police in illinois searched for a killer
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who was careful enough not to leave
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fingerprints
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but who didn't bother to mask his
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identity
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this is how a forensic scientist with
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some fancy footwork identified a
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perpetrator when not one but two
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eyewitnesses could not
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[Music]
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[Music]
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july 19 1991 was typically hot and humid
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in peoria illinois
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once the sun set and the temperature
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subsided it was a perfect night for a
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cookout
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it was hot
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very hot and we had the windows open and
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the back door was open casey johnson and
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her roommate jennifer logsdon spent the
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evening with jennifer's fiancee tommy
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smith
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after we ate dinner we went up to the
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grocery store and got stuff to make
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blizzards
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and came back and we moved the coffee
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table out of the way and pulled our
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mattress out into the living room so we
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could all three lay down and watch tv
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they all watched a stephen king horror
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movie and less than 15 minutes later
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jennifer fell asleep
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[Music]
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she awoke to sounds that didn't come
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from the television i could hear
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screaming she turned and saw tommy
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fighting an intruder who was armed with
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a knife casey ran to the phone to call
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police
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before police arrived the intruder
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wounded tommy then
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he went after jennifer i just kept
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screaming as loud as i could he just
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kept stabbing me all over what's going
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on
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incredibly jennifer grabbed the knife
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from her assailant i fought as hard as i
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could it was hitting him and kicking but
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her actions only fueled his anger the
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intruder got the knife back and attacked
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again that's when he cut me twice and
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just left me for dead this person that
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broke into your house if you have any
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weapons
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hello
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he then found casey in the bedroom on
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the phone with the police
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[Music]
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jennifer managed to run to a neighbor's
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home for help
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i can't move
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my my throat is split
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when the police arrived
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the intruder was gone
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i told
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the police i knew i was dying but go and
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save tommy and casey
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but it was too late for 21 year old
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tommy smith
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he was pronounced dead at the scene
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jennifer and casey were rushed to saint
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francis medical center
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my father came to get me at work and
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he told me that uh tommy had been killed
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and i
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immediately freaked out in in disbelief
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you know no it wasn't him you know not
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tommy
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and uh it wasn't soon after that that it
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finally sunk in that you know he was
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he was killed
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tommy smith's actually worked quite
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heroic
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he took it upon himself to apprehend the
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suspect and put him in a chair and stand
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over top of him hold him there until
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police arrived
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and in doing so he sacrificed his life
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i don't think tommy could have ever
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lived with one of them getting killed
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especially jennifer
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police hoped the two girls would be able
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to identify their attacker
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[Music]
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connie smith had to do what every parent
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dreads
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plan the funeral of a child
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he was the neatest kid a mother could
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have
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he was best baby best little boy most
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loving
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young man
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even if he got mad he never stayed mad
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long
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he would have made a great dad
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he would have made a great husband
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because i know he was a great son
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[Music]
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tommy's fiance jennifer was in the
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intensive care unit near death
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she had sustained multiple stab wounds a
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cut throat and a punctured lung
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if tommy smith wouldn't have been in
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that house
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those those two young ladies wouldn't be
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here today they'd be dead
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and i
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i believe that
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[Music]
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the crime scene gave mute testimony to
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the girl's intense will to survive
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he really did a number on both of the
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young ladies
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they both exhibited a great deal of
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courage
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they had very strong constitution they
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had a very strong will to live
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gradually their conditions improved but
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when they spoke to police
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they could remember very little
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he just kept
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stabbing me all over and nothing hurt
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but and i didn't see any blood either
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she did to state that a black male had
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entered the home she wasn't sure how
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and i can't remember what he looked like
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investigators would have to rely on the
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crime scene for clues
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they quickly concentrated their
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attention on the assailant's point of
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entry
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a bedroom window
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the outside screen was jarred and out of
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place and uh and cut
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investigators were shocked by the amount
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of blood found in the home
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i think once he started cutting he went
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into a frenzy
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and at that point he felt the only way
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that
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he could
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prevent the police from finding out
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who did this to these kids was to kill
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all three of them
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in one of the bedrooms amid the clutter
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police found the wooden handle of the
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murder weapon
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when the handle of the knife was located
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at the crime scene
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it speaks
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of our suspect's panic
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and his
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hurry to flee the scene
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mrs johnson we had grabbed the blade of
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the knife
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and was able to break it loose from the
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handle
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unfortunately there were no fingerprints
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on it
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police found a party invitation on the
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floor near the point of entry
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police used black magnetic powder to see
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if the killer may have knocked it to the
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floor during the struggle
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they were looking for the friction
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ridges of a fingerprint
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on top of the friction ridges are pores
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and that's where the perspiration comes
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from when the person sweats and when
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they touch an item they may or may not
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leave their identification through those
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unique characteristics
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on the invitation
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gary siebenthal found what appeared to
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be a partial palm print
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a print that did not belong to tommy
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jennifer or casey
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[Music]
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while interviewing neighbors
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police were surprised to learn that
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despite the girl's screams no one saw
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the killer leave the crime scene
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police thought they had solved the case
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when they found blood on the screen door
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of a neighbor's home gene brown
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and he explained that he had cut himself
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on the
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on the lower leg carrying the garbage
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out earlier in the night
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test revealed the blood was browns
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and investigators found broken glass in
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his trash can which brown said had
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caused the cut
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brown's palm print did not match the
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print on the party invitation at the
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crime scene
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and neither jennifer nor casey
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identified their next-door neighbor as
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the assailant
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police suspected the killer lived nearby
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since he fled the scene on foot
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and it was the foot
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which would lead police to the killer
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gary siebenhall refused to give up in
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the search for tommy smith's killer
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in reviewing the case siebenthal
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recalled something jennifer and casey
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had both remembered about the intruder
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i ended up taking the knife away from
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him because he had
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socks wrapped around his hand
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she did describe him as wearing she
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thought khaki shorts
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he was also described as being a black
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male
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approximately six foot six foot one slim
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build
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with a mustache
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and the girls remembered something else
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the intruder was barefoot
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why would a killer enter a home wearing
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socks on his hands
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but nothing on his feet
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and if the killer lived nearby
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why didn't he cover his face
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he's breaking into a home where people
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can recognize and will certainly
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recognize him
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and i think by the fact that he went in
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there quietly armed with a knife
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that his intention all along was to do
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great harm to both the young ladies
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living there
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but the fact that he was barefoot
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quickly became
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the central focus of the investigation
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that
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led a little insight into what the
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strange
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print was on the
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card
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because it didn't look like a palm print
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to the crime scene investigators it was
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something strange that they really
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hadn't
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hadn't seen before
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suddenly it occurred to c benthal that
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the print on the party invitation might
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not be a palm print at all
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if you look at certain parts of the palm
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they they can mimic
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parts of the foot because they have the
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same
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characteristics they have
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dots short ridges and bifurcations and
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triforcations
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was it possible
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that the perpetrator knocked the party
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invitation to the floor and then
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stepped on it
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if so
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the hot muggy july night created the
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perfect conditions for leaving a print
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behind
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how he does that is
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is is through the uh to the moisture
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that the individual leaves in his
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fingerprints and his palm prints
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siebenthal began the painstaking task of
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identifying the print
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using a microscope and the pointer he
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examined the friction ridges
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every bifurcation and trifurcation which
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are points where one line divides into
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two or three
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police have a fingerprint database they
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can refer to but
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they don't collect footprints
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on a hunch
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police asked the girl's next-door
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neighbor gene brown for his
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we took his footprints through a search
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warrant
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but taking footprints is something that
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the average person doesn't have to do
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when they're taken into custody
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sibenthal compared brown's footprints to
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the print on the party invitation
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you have to look for the uniqueness of
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those points
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of identification
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and we found it on the outside left heel
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printed gene autry brown
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gary siebenthal
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had a match
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and it was the first time in the history
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of the peoria police department that a
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footprint had been recovered from a
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crime scene
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while he had no shoes on i'll have no
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idea but uh
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it wasn't very smart it wasn't the
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smartest thing you can do the average
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person doesn't realize that their
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footprints in fact
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are inherent to that particular person
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they are as individualistic as
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fingerprints are
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so
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you know he would have been
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as well off to leave the socks on his
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feet
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and put another pair on his hands
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in a search of brown's home
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police discovered a set of knives which
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were identical to the murder weapon
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and they also found
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casey johnson's
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purse police found bloody socks with the
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broken blade of the murder weapon inside
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and in one of the socks
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was jean brown's wedding ring
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finally
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investigators found tiny traces of blood
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in brown's hair
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he must have had a great deal of blood
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on him when he left
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[Music]
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the house after attacking the three
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individuals
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and he had still had blood on his body
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dna tests of the blood sample showed it
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was from all three victims tommy
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jennifer and casey
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gene brown
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was arrested
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and charged with murder
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he had a wife he had a cute little boy
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he had a family that cared for him
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you know
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and because he chose drugs he took my
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son away from me
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when you
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entered the house
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and started across the bedroom towards
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the door i didn't see anyone until i got
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in the living room by that time the guy
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dumped me grabbed me
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[Music]
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do you understand that you have the
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right to remain silent and you do not
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have to talk to me or answer any
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questions unless you voluntarily choose
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to do so correct
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when police confronted gene brown with
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the mountain of evidence against him for
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the murder of 21 year old tommy smith
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and the attacks on jennifer logsdon and
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casey johnson
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he confessed
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did you stab him with the knife
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i can't say i stabbed him
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so i don't know i don't know he was
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struggling
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it was more or less he was trying to get
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the knife and i was trying to keep the
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knife but at the same time
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he was being cut
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did
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you and he struggle for
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any length of time i'd say about 45
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seconds
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what ended the struggle
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he
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walked away
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fell to the floor
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brown admitted using crack cocaine on
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the day of the attack
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after having dinner with his wife and
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infant son brown said he needed money to
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buy more cocaine
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went to
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bed got up put my clothes on
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went next door
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he removed his shoes
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so he could walk quietly and used his
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socks to cover his hands to make sure he
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didn't leave any fingerprints
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he entered the victim's home through an
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open window by removing the screen
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but he never realized his feet could
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leave the very same prince as his
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fingers just as distinctive
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just as incriminating
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tommy smith fought valiantly but was no
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match for brown's knife
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[Music]
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jennifer slipped out of the house when
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brown was in the other room
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casey survived by playing dead after she
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was attacked
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prompt medical attention save them both
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[Music]
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tommy smith's best friend
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still struggles with the absurdity of it
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all
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it disgusted me that somebody would take
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a life
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like that for a dollar
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so he could go uh get high
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it it was very very senseless a very
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senseless act
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you know losing him so early
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what made it
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bearable was
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he had 20 years and he enjoyed every one
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of them he knew how to enjoy life
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despite his confession
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there are still parts of brown's story
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detectives don't believe
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[Music]
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jennifer and casey live next door to
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brown
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police think that brown broke in with
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the intent to rape and kill the two
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girls and didn't realize that tommy
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smith had stayed over that night
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he deliberately went to barefooted
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just to stop it to hold the noise down
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he wore gloves to avoid leaving
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fingerprints
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he took a knife
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with him that was still encased in a
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cardboard sheath so that he would not
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injure himself
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[Music]
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he took no it made no effort whatsoever
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to cover his face
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and he's going into the home next door
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it takes a it takes a bit of an evil
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individual
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to take a life
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hand to hand
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let alone attempt to take three
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he went from
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a sneak thief to a murderer
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within moments
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in exchange for his guilty plea
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gene brown was sentenced to life in
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prison for the murder of tommy smith and
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30 years for each count of attempted
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murder
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he did this
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in order to
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escape the chants
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facing the death penalty in a trial
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it was a capital case and
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i think probably it was a good move on
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his part
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little did gene brown know
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that tommy smith's mother would not have
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pushed for the death penalty
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i could not stand the thought
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of another mother standing over a casket
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with her son so cold
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and another family going through what
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this family's went through
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you know
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having a son in prison for the rest of
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his life is bad
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but nothing is worse than burying one
00:19:31
[Music]
00:19:34
i don't really know where to begin
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i don't know why it just happened
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but it did
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and all the time i've been sitting there
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talking to you guys i wish there was a
00:19:47
way that i could take it back
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but it's done
00:19:50
he would express remorse
00:19:53
and state how sorry he was that this
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thing had happened
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but at the same time he would protect
00:19:58
himself but not being able to recall
00:20:00
just what had occurred
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did it happen
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and i'm still asking myself why i don't
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i don't know why
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jennifer logsdon is now married with
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children
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but she still lives with emotional and
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physical scars from that
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attack said he was sorry he didn't mean
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to
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to do it
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[Music]
00:20:26
and i can't forgive him yet
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yeah i think he got what he deserved
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you get caught doing something you say
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i'm sorry
00:20:37
would you say you're sorry if you didn't
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get caught
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i'd say i don't i don't know i don't
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believe that
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if gene brown hadn't gone barefoot that
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night
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investigators wouldn't have recovered
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the valuable footprint that placed him
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at the crime scene
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well i think it's the greatest army of
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all to be so smart and get caught
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she goes to show you the best laid plans
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of mice or men you know he
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he in fact
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tried to go in barefoot
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so that he would be quiet and be able to
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move through the house quietly and in
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fact left behind you know tremendous
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piece of evidence
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when you're able to point out
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to your suspect
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that they in fact are the best witness
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that we have against themselves
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and in the case of this particular
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footprint that was left
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he did seal his own fate
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[Music]
00:21:48
[Music]
00:22:07
you
