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[Music]
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the surf and sand of central florida
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make this a popular vacation spot
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but the area lost some of its luster in
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1995
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when a serial killer set up shop
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after the fourth body was discovered
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police knew an important detail about
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the killer
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he had an unusual dog
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with an unusual drug habit
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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tampa florida is known not only as a
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tourist destination but it also has more
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thunderstorms than any other location in
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the united states
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the name tampa is derived from the
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colusa native american word meaning
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lightning
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along with the tourism
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there's prostitution
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on october 20th 1995
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a pizza delivery driver discovered the
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nude body of a white woman in nearby
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clearwater
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42 year old wendy evans was a crack
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cocaine addict recently released from a
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mental health clinic
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she was last seen hitchhiking in an area
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frequented by prostitutes
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wendy had been beaten and strangled but
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there were no signs of sexual assault
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the body had been dumped meaning she had
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been killed elsewhere
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not surprisingly a thunderstorm washed
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away possible evidence
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all the small artifacts that we would
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ordinarily hope to find on someone with
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clothing on
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we were doubtful we were going to get
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too much
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so we were going to have to use anything
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and everything at our disposal from from
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microscopic examination to the use of
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light energy to try to luminesce
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microscopic materials that our eyes
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could not see
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investigators used a luma light to
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examine the body
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this device uses high intensity light
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higher than sunlight which causes
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man-made fibers to glow or luminesce
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we felt it very important to use the
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light source the luma light in this case
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because of its power
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to search even though it was daytime and
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even though it was outdoors to do a
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search of that area in search of the
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victim's body for potential evidence
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the lumalite revealed several tiny
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fibers on wendy evans's body which were
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taken to the lab for analysis
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the lumalite also revealed a few strands
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of dog hair
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and about seven feet from where the body
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had been dumped
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was another potential clue
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a possible result of the rain
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a tire impression
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using dental plaster which hardens
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quickly into a flexible mold
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police made a cast of the impression
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which was photographed for analysis
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[Music]
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the tread patterns were clear
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meaning it was from a relatively new
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tire which had a small stone lodged in
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the tread
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just one month later
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police had another dumped body
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[Music]
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two teenagers found the nude body of
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peggy darnell
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a forty-year-old clearwater prostitute
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in the woods near a highway
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she had been dead for at least a week
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maybe longer
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her body was decomposed to the point
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that no significant evidence was
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recovered
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police believed the murders were
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committed by the same perpetrator
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and they quickly searched for other
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similar crimes in their cold case files
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they discovered another unsolved case
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sixteen months earlier
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ladonna gene stellar's nude and
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decomposed body was discovered in a
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vacant lot in downtown clearwater
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the cause of death like the other cases
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was strangulation
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ladonna was a former model a waitress at
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a local sports bar and had previous
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arrests for
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prostitution she was a single mother of
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two children
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police suspected they had a serial
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killer at work one that was one step
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ahead of their investigation
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in his mind he felt that he had denied
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us
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the physical evidence that would have
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tied him to a crime scene
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the bodies had been taken to remote
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areas they had been stripped of their
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clothing
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they had been moved from the original
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crime scene
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all of these things he had done to
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prevent us from catching him from
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finding evidence that would lead to him
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investigators fearful the killer would
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strike again
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we're racing against time
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[Music]
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in the fall of 1995 police in clearwater
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florida had three murdered women
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their nude bodies dumped in deserted
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locations
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[Music]
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with the passage of time between these
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three murders police knew they were
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dealing with a killer who lived in the
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area and not a tourist
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serial killers tend to hunt for victims
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close to where they work or live
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although the victims were nude
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the killer left behind some clues
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scientists analyzed the fibers found on
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wendy evans's body
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fiber specialist jerry cerino discovered
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that most were nylon but a few were made
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of polyester
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all were triangular or trilobal in shape
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and all were dyed with the same chemical
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pink
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but this positive news
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didn't come in time to save
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another life
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on january 18 1996
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there was a fourth victim
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27 year old cindy pugh who had recently
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moved to clearwater from maine was
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beaten strangled to death and her body
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dumped in an industrial area near a
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dumpster
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again alumalite was brought to the scene
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and again it revealed the pink fibers
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i can say that these fibers from the two
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different cases could have originated
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from or could have shared a common
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source
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i think after all the examinations that
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i conducted
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that the fibers in these cases
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were very solid evidence
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another unusual piece of evidence was
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what looked to be a piece of cigarette
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paper on cindy pugh's body
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the little piece of paper that was found
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on the breast of one of the the victims
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if we would have got there maybe half an
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hour later
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it was ready to blow off it was barely
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sticking to the skin the cigarette paper
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contained saliva
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enough to get a dna profile
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but was the dna
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from the killer
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dog hairs were also found at the scene
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the dog hairs were sent to the fbi and
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identified as those of a pug
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the pug is a toy-sized dog with a very
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low tolerance to heat making them
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somewhat uncommon in states like florida
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investigators sent photographs of the
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tire impression found near wendy evans
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body to peter mcdonald a forensic
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analyst who literally wrote the book on
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the identification of tire
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he recognized the tire immediately
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i received the photographs
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and this was just
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amazing to me
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it was a tire that i had designed when i
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was at firestone
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we had no idea that he was the designer
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of the tire we
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were looking for
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so that was just a very lucky break for
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us also
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the tire was a firestone radial atx
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last manufactured in 1992
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these were after-market replacement
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tires used on small pickup trucks and
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sports utility vehicles
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police researched sales records on how
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many of these tires were shipped and
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sold in florida
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and they got a break
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the atx was not a best-selling model
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and only one dealership in the entire
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state of florida had sold the atx tires
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in the last 12 months
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tire tracks can be
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a very valuable
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bit of evidence at a crime scene
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one set was purchased by a woman living
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in clearwater just a few miles from
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where the bodies were discovered
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and she also owned
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a dog
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[Music]
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florida investigators were on the hunt
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for a serial killer known to be driving
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a vehicle with firestone radial atx
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tires
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police discovered
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that a woman living in the area terry
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joe howard purchased a pair of firestone
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radial atx tires a few months before the
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murders began
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terry joe lived with a boyfriend
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41 year old james randall
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we went to their belcher road address at
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night
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and
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we had a detective sneak up on the
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vehicle
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and identify the tires on the vehicle as
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being the firestone radial atx tires
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that peter mcdonald said they were
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terry joe was a recovering drug addict
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and a former prostitute
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james randall was a construction worker
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terry joe also had a dog
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a pug
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that she would walk in the neighborhood
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local prostitutes identified randall as
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a regular customer
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police surveillance teams followed
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randall for days and followed him into a
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car dealership driving the vehicle with
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the firestone radial atx tires
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not wanting to give away anything the
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officer following
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stayed in the background
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and the dealer
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took the two tires off and replaced them
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then the detective called me all excited
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he said
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pete
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we've got the two rear tires
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but investigators needed all four tires
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to get a proper match
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so police devised a ruse
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posing as an employee from the tire
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dealership
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a police detective told randall that his
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new tires were defective
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but if he brought his car in right away
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he'd receive four brand new tires for
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free as a gift for his inconvenience
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that same afternoon terry joe howard
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showed up with james randall and gave
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her four brand new tires that the
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sheriff's office had purchased and the
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new tires placed on randall's vehicle
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were marked
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we marked them in a certain way so that
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if those tires showed up at one of our
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crime scenes in the future
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we would know for sure that
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they were at the tires from james
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randall's truck
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peter mcdonald studied the four original
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tires from randall's vehicle
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tires have a feature called
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sipes
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small cuts in the tread that grabbed the
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road in an effort to prevent
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hydroplaning
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the molding process creates marks in
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these sites
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marks that can distinguish one tire from
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another
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the sipes from james randall's tire
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matched those from the crime scene
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photos
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and so did
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one other distinguishing feature
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i found that the right rear tire
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as chance would have it
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was
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the best photograph tire
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and there was a stone that was held in
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the groove in exactly the same location
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that was recorded at the crime scene
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the
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stone being held in the tire
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allowed for a positive identification
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but police wanted as much evidence as
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they could gather
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and they wanted to examine the hair of
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the pug owned by terry jo howard
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two female detectives knocked on terry
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joe's door saying they had a new dog
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grooming service and offered to wash her
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dog free as a promotion
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terry joe accepted before
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what do you think
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come on in great
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terry joe howard let the detectives in
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the house
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and they washed the dog and at that time
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they were able to pull dog hairs
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onto clean white towels
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and
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use them to compare the dog hairs from
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cindy pugh's body
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scientists discovered that the hair from
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terry joe's pug
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was microscopically similar to the pug
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hairs found on two of the victims
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a background check on james randall
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revealed some startling information
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in violation of his parole
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randall fled the state of massachusetts
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after serving six years in prison for
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twice raping his first wife
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james randall has been identified as a
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sexual sadist
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and that is a person who
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has to inflict pain on his sexual
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partner in order to
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obtain sexual gratification for himself
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terry jo howard described randall the
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same way
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he got really mad at me
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and i sat down in the chair
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and he was yelling at me and he
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came over and he picked me up by my
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throat and pinned me up against the wall
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that
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was the last thing i remembered until i
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woke up on the bed
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and he was on top of me having
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intercourse with what i believe he
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thought was my dead body
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inside of their apartment
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police found more forensic evidence more
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proof
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that the murders were committed here
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i never felt so betrayed in my whole
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life
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and he was a master master manipulator
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[Music]
00:15:49
when they told me
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that they thought that jimmy was the one
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that was killing all the girls
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in the area
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i was so shocked i just started
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screaming
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james randall and terry jo howard were
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living together during the time police
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suspected randall was killing clearwater
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prostitutes
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i think he liked the life he lived with
00:16:14
me
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it was a clean good life i don't think
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either one of us had ever
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lived life that good boot in our
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previously
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[Music]
00:16:27
dinner waiting at home
00:16:28
someone who cared about you
00:16:30
someone to go to movies with
00:16:33
someone to chat with someone to watch tv
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with
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armed with a search warrant
00:16:39
investigators discovered a pink throw
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rug under the couple's bed
00:16:45
scientific tests found that the main
00:16:48
portion of the rug was nylon
00:16:50
the fringe was polyester
00:16:53
the fibers were triangular in shape
00:16:56
and the dye
00:16:58
was the same as those on the victims
00:17:02
because the fibers had so many different
00:17:05
characteristics that i could examine and
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compare
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that told me that
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either these victims came in contact
00:17:14
with this particular
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rug
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or with a rug that is composed of the
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exact same fibers
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as this particular rug
00:17:26
in searching randall's home police found
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something unusual
00:17:32
small bits of cigarette paper scattered
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all over the floor
00:17:38
evidence that their dog the pug
00:17:41
had an unusual habit
00:17:43
terry jo howard's dog
00:17:45
had a nicotine addiction and the dog
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would normally take cigarette butts out
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of the
00:17:50
ashtrays and chew them up and spit them
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out and leave them on the floor of the
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apartment terry joe was a smoker and
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would
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you know toss out her cigarette butts
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and the dog would pick them up and chew
00:18:01
on them
00:18:02
and so there were at least little flecks
00:18:03
of cigarette paper
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all around
00:18:08
remember the cigarette paper found on
00:18:11
cindy pugh's body that contained saliva
00:18:15
the dna from that saliva
00:18:18
belonged to terry joe howard
00:18:20
proof the cigarette paper had come from
00:18:23
inside their apartment
00:18:26
we believe that it was one small piece
00:18:27
of a cigarette butt that the dog had
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chewed up and left behind
00:18:31
that was
00:18:32
attached to cindy pugh's breast
00:18:35
unbeknownst to gene randle
00:18:37
which was a major major piece of
00:18:39
physical evidence i believe some of
00:18:41
these murders happened in my home in my
00:18:42
bed i know some of them did two of them
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did
00:18:47
i was over here in west palm
00:18:51
visiting my sick and dying mother
00:18:54
prosecutors believe that randall would
00:18:56
pick up victims and take them back to
00:18:58
the apartment when terry joe was gone
00:19:04
[Music]
00:19:18
[Music]
00:19:33
on the pink carpet
00:19:35
randall acted out his sadistic impulses
00:19:39
strangling the women during sex and
00:19:41
killing them
00:19:46
[Applause]
00:19:52
while there
00:19:53
the victims picked up carpet fibers and
00:19:55
dog hairs
00:19:57
later found on the bodies with the
00:19:59
lumalite
00:20:02
the cigarette paper chewed by the dog
00:20:05
with terry joe's dna
00:20:08
was found on cindy pew
00:20:11
when randall dumped wendy evans body his
00:20:14
truck left the tire impression in the
00:20:16
sand
00:20:21
terry jo confronted randall about all of
00:20:24
this
00:20:25
when she went to see him in prison
00:20:28
i just kind of looked and said why not
00:20:30
me
00:20:31
huh
00:20:32
why not me jimmy
00:20:34
and he looked at me and he started
00:20:36
crying he didn't want them to hear what
00:20:38
he was about to tell me which was
00:20:41
i heard others so that i would not hurt
00:20:44
you
00:20:45
at the trial
00:20:47
james randall's first wife testified
00:20:50
against him
00:20:51
her description of randall's sadism
00:20:54
was chilling
00:20:56
and told me to lay down and tied my
00:20:58
hands up behind my back
00:20:59
of my shoelace
00:21:03
i'm at this point
00:21:05
it was like i didn't know if i was going
00:21:06
to make it out of there or not
00:21:09
james randall was convicted of the
00:21:11
murder of wendy ann evans and cynthia
00:21:14
gene pugh
00:21:15
and was sentenced to two consecutive
00:21:18
life terms
00:21:22
i really wanted to see him
00:21:24
die for what he's done
00:21:27
life in prison is not good enough for
00:21:28
this man
00:21:34
he wanted to kill them
00:21:36
he knew he was going to kill them
00:21:40
and afterwards when
00:21:42
after i did find out i was talking to
00:21:44
him
00:21:44
didn't seem like it was that big a deal
00:21:48
to him
00:21:54
they were just prostitutes
00:21:57
they were just drug addicts
00:21:59
they were just
00:22:00
women
00:22:04
[Music]
00:22:13
[Music]
00:22:34
you
