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[Music]
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up next
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a violent thunderstorm provides cover
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for a brutal murder
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it was an absolutely brutal crime scene
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obviously this was a case of an overkill
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there are plenty of suspects with clear
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motives but they all
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pass polygraph tests it's not 100
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reliable if investigators didn't find
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the one tiny clue left at the scene
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they might never have solved it
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[Applause]
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the real estate development business in
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texas always seems to be active
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daryl north a manager for a
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multi-billion dollar development company
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had no shortage of work daryl north was
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in charge of building
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budget suites for a company out of las
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vegas
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and he had been in charge of building
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several in this area
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daryl had a reputation as a fair-minded
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boss who set high standards
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i asked a subcontractor was daryl
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hard to work for was he mean
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and he said no he was not he said he
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expected
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quality work i have seen dad fire
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numerous subcontractors over the years
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my dad had the ability to get his point
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across
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very clearly he's very pointed he was
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very direct
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daryl was always punctual so when he
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didn't come home from work one day
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and didn't answer his phone his family
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was concerned
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when i got to the job site it was after
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11 o'clock at night
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the lights of his trailer were on and
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his car was out front
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and i knew his car hadn't been moved
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because it was dry underneath his
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vehicle
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where everything else was just was just
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drenched
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the door was padlocked his son
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knocked on the door but got no answer
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i climbed up on the rail with a
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flashlight trying to
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shine the flashlight into that dark
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office see if they had a heart attack or
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something had happened
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mark saw his father on the floor i saw
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dad
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laying against the door and
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and he was just laying face down you
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know not moving
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paramedics and police declared daryl
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north dead
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at the scene
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he'd been stabbed repeatedly blood
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was spattered everywhere it was an
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absolutely brutal
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crime scene as would be typical with any
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case where there's
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multiple stab wounds there was a
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tremendous amount of blood
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there was blood in two of the three
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rooms
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it was obvious a life and death struggle
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had taken place
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there was also a hole punch that was
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discovered in very close proximity to mr
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norris body that was bent
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that would lead me or any other
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investigator to believe
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that either mr north may have been
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struck with that hole punch or mr north
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may have struck
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his assailant with that hole punch there
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was a trail of blood
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from the filing cabinet to daryl's body
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then to a desk on top
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police found a machete the type used to
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clear brush
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from construction sites it was perfectly
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clean
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it actually wasn't blood soaked but we
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didn't know if it might have been used
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and then cleaned off in place there
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daryl north secretary told police there
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were normally two machetes in the
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trailer
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there was a second machete that had gone
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missing
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police assumed this was the one used in
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the attack
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the extra wounds on the back of the head
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which almost decapitated him
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indicated a tremendous desire to make
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sure that the person was deceased
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daryl's wallet was still in his pocket
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nothing had been stolen
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there was no sign of forced entry
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this and the level of violence indicated
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a very personal crime out of the
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40 cases that i worked this was the only
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one
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that had that type of rage exhibited
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daryl hired
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many contractors so his decisions could
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either make or break some of them
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someone's anger had spiraled out of
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control
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but police and daryl's family had no
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idea who it was
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daryl north's autopsy revealed he'd been
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stabbed
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46 times with two different weapons
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a clear case of overkill
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our killers as we define it is wounding
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a person
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way beyond what what we require to kill
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a person
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so now we frequently see not just a few
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wounds but
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many and it's all indicative of rage
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that is going on between the two
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persons involved in the assault the
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victim and the assailant
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a machete missing from his office was
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believed to be
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one of the murder weapons the other was
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believed to be
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a knife it had a single sharp age and a
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blunt age
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we could predict that it was a larger
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knife
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some of the wounds were at least inch
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and a half in width on the body surface
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the level of violence limited the
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family's options in terms
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of funeral arrangements it was just an
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absolute
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disaster it was awful just absolutely
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awful
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and i made my mother promise that she
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and my sister would not
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go up to the funeral home and see
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the family tried to help investigators
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by identifying anyone
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who might have had a reason to harm
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daryl
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i thought it must be a stranger you know
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that
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maybe was robbing him or something
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i could not in in my wildest
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imagination you know believe that
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someone would do that
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daryl's secretary told police that
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everyone left the construction site
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early on the day of the murder because
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of the severe rainstorm
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she said daryl stayed behind to meet
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with a contractor named
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curtis pope curtis pope was a
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pool contractor
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daryl was basically mentoring curtis
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into the construction business
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he stayed approximately 20-25 minutes he
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left daryl darrell said he was going
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to wait out the rain and
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let the traffic die down before he
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headed home
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daryl's wife told police curtis pope
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could
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not be the killer curtis pope had done
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some
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repair work on our pool i said
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please don't spend your time looking at
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curtis pope he did not
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kill daryl please you know spend your
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time looking
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for the person that did
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pope was distraught over daryl's murder
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he came through the receiving line
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crying and i thought he was so touched
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by
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daryl's death and he said i loved
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daryl he was better to me than my own
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father
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pope was 40 years old married with a
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young daughter
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he did however have a police record
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consisting of arrests for
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petty theft since he was the last known
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person to see daryl alive he was
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automatically considered a suspect
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pope agreed to take a polygraph
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examination
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and passed it's not likely that somebody
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could come in and intentionally be
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untruthful and still pass the polygraph
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test
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the next suspect was bob johnson a
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roofing contractor
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daryl fired johnson just two weeks
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before his murder
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he was upset that he wasn't going to
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continue to work there because
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according to him daryl had promised him
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continued work daryl's family never met
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johnson
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but they'd heard of him daryl had
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mentioned that he had had
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some problems with him he usually didn't
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bring his problems home and so
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since it was something that he had
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shared with me i thought
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it was probably serious incredibly
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just two days after daryl's murder
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johnson called asking
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to get his job back the superintendent
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felt like it was odd
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that bob johnson was calling there when
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can i come to work
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after the fact after daryl's been
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murdered because his belief was is that
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daryl didn't want him there
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johnson said that on the day of the
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murder he was with his child
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in a dallas hospital this was verified
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but he still had time to commit the
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murder
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the alibi wasn't sufficient enough in my
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mind to
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totally exclude him but like curtis
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spoke he
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too passed the polygraph examination
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the polygraph is just a tool it's not
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100
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reliable uh it's why it's not admissible
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in court if it hadn't rained maybe we
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could have gotten fingerprints but
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you can't focus on what we could have
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had you've got to find what you do have
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investigators needed forensic evidence
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to solve this crime
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and hope to find some of it at the scene
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daryl north's murder was so violent
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that forensic tests were needed to make
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sense of what happened
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we had numerous types of blood stains
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they included
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passive blood drops we had smears
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transfers and frankly there was so much
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blood
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that you'd be hard-pressed to try to
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classify some of it as to how it got
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there
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we took many samples we took 23 samples
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of blood from various different parts of
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that crime scene
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they first had to determine if all the
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blood had
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come from daryl north when the assailant
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is wielding a knife and he stabs a
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victim
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oftentimes that knife blade hits bone
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and it stops and oftentimes
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the killer's hand continues his movement
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and it slides down the blade
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and can cut the assailant
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the other clue they looked for was shoe
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prints
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with so much blood both the killer and
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the victim
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would have stepped in it crime scene
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technician
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jim varnan found several shoe prints and
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tried to enhance them
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with a special dye amino black works
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because it stains proteins
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and it's applied to protein stain in
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this case a blood stain
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for wearing pressure in blood or
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fingerprints latent prints in
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blood can be enhanced with this
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substance
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in several of the enhanced prints
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analysts
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could clearly see the word justin
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a well-known brand of texas-made boots
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we knew that these footwear impressions
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in blood that had the pattern of a
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justin
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heel was most likely going to be from
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our assailant
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because it did not match the only other
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bleeder at that crime scene which was
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our victim
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unfortunately these boots weren't
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unique how common are they
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you're probably not from here if you
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don't have a pair
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and it was impossible to tell the size
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of the boot from the print
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in a justin boot heel it is possible
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that you're going to have
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one physical size that would overlap
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into several different boot sizes
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so that you're not going to be able to
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tell the precise size of the boot
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by looking at the size of the hill
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nevertheless
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investigators asked both suspects bob
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johnson
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and pool contractor curtis pope if they
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owned
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a pair of justin brand boots
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bob johnson owned a pair but the heel of
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his boots was larger
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than those at the scene curtis pope also
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owned a pair of justin brand boots which
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appeared to be new
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and willingly turned them over to
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investigators
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in this case my result was inconclusive
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i could not eliminate or identify
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the boot as having made that mark
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when investigators talked with pope
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about his boots
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they noticed something they hadn't seen
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before
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some bruising under his eye
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he had some darkness under his left eye
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there was no cut but it was a slight
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bruising
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a background check revealed pope's
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business was faltering
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he had a reputation of just not being
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very good
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at what he did as far as the
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construction of these swimming pools
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pope's business records indicated he was
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deeply in debt
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wasn't able to pay his suppliers and the
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only
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big client he had left was daryl north
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if daryl fired pope during their meeting
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it would have been the end of pope's
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company
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pope's finances were in terrible shape
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he was on the fine edge of disaster
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all the time with a warrant
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investigators searched pope's home
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computer and found something suspicious
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someone on that computer had visited a
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website
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on how to beat a polygraph and had in
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fact paid money to download a book
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on how to beat it as testing continued
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on the bloodstains on the floor of the
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crime scene
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investigators noticed one blood drop on
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daryl north's pants
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that they had previously overlooked
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there was a vertical drop on the back
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left pant leg
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of daryl north while he's laying on the
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floor
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the shape of the drop was perfectly
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round
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meaning that the origin of the blood was
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stationary
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and hit the fabric at a 90 degree angle
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the significance of such a drop falling
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and hitting the pants perpendicularly
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while mr north is on the floor is that
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it would mean that the assailant is
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standing above him bleeding on him
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after he has been attacked so it puts a
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sequencing
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to the events max courtney
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cut out the stain and submitted it for
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dna testing
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investigators found five other drops of
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blood at the scene
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perfectly round in between daryl's body
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and the door
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and i said why not let's just test these
00:15:20
five particular drops of blood that we
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know or we feel like didn't come from
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daryl north
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tests confirmed the blood was not
00:15:29
daryl north's there was only one
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question that remained
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who left the blood one of the two
00:15:37
suspects
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or someone else
00:15:43
this tiny drop of blood on the back of
00:15:45
daryl north's pants
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told an important story since the blood
00:15:50
hit daryl's pants at a 90 degree angle
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it meant
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the killer was standing over daryl's
00:15:56
body
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while he was bleeding from his own wound
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and he continued to bleed
00:16:01
as he left the scene when we
00:16:04
observed those vertical drops of blood
00:16:06
leading away from mr nor's body that was
00:16:08
a very significant
00:16:09
thing for us to find because we knew
00:16:12
then that
00:16:13
the killer's dna was going to be present
00:16:15
on that scene
00:16:16
and there was a possible explanation for
00:16:19
how the killer was injured the dented
00:16:22
two-hole paper punch unit found near
00:16:25
daryl north's body
00:16:27
daryl may have used it to defend himself
00:16:30
causing
00:16:31
an injury of facial cut or nosebleed
00:16:34
to identified the killer dna samples
00:16:38
were collected from the two suspects bob
00:16:40
johnson and curtis pope
00:16:44
dna testing revealed it was curtis
00:16:48
pope's blood at the crime scene
00:16:52
if daryl north had not taken some steps
00:16:55
to defend himself
00:16:57
causing him to bleed uh this case
00:16:59
wouldn't have been solved would have
00:17:00
never dreamed that
00:17:01
you know firing somebody you know would
00:17:03
cause somebody to
00:17:05
you know go postal daryl's family
00:17:09
couldn't believe that the man whom daryl
00:17:12
had mentored in business
00:17:13
and treated in many ways like a son
00:17:16
could have done this
00:17:18
not until the day they came out here to
00:17:20
the house and told me
00:17:21
they that it was his dna that had been
00:17:24
identified did i really believe
00:17:27
the bruises police noticed under pope's
00:17:29
eye
00:17:30
were probably the result of the fight
00:17:33
and i was able to examine his arms and
00:17:35
his hands
00:17:36
for injuries he didn't have any there
00:17:39
was no cuts
00:17:40
on the night of daryl north's murder the
00:17:43
dallas fort worth area was hit with a
00:17:45
driving rainstorm
00:17:47
causing flash floods and power outages
00:17:51
the storm was so bad daryl sent his
00:17:54
construction crew home early
00:17:57
but he stayed behind because he had a 5
00:18:01
pm appointment with curtis pope
00:18:04
they were going to discuss quality
00:18:06
problems with the swimming pool
00:18:08
pope was installing at the hotel
00:18:11
pope was having financial problems his
00:18:14
company was headed towards bankruptcy
00:18:16
and daryl north was his only large
00:18:19
client
00:18:20
although it's unclear whether daryl knew
00:18:23
this
00:18:23
[Music]
00:18:26
no one knows what the two men said to
00:18:29
each other
00:18:31
but prosecutors believe curtis pope
00:18:34
snapped
00:18:34
and attacked daryl with a knife
00:18:40
daryl was caught off guard and struck
00:18:43
pope in the face with the paper punch
00:18:45
causing the nosebleed
00:18:48
pope stabbed daryl over 40 times
00:18:54
as he laid dying on the floor a drop of
00:18:57
blood from
00:18:58
pope's nose fell onto daryl's pants
00:19:02
and he continued to bleed as he left the
00:19:06
scene
00:19:07
mr pope might have been able to come up
00:19:08
with an explanation about how some of
00:19:10
the other drops
00:19:11
of blood got in the trailer on that
00:19:13
particular night but there's no way he
00:19:15
could have explained the way how
00:19:17
his blood was dripped onto daryl norris
00:19:19
pants
00:19:20
we knew we had eliminated any possible
00:19:22
innocent explanation for his blood being
00:19:24
at the scene
00:19:26
and we felt like we had him curtis pope
00:19:29
was arrested and charged with
00:19:31
first-degree murder
00:19:33
he posted bail but on the first day of
00:19:36
his trial
00:19:37
pope didn't show up we learned
00:19:40
through an informant that
00:19:43
he was headed toward canada
00:19:47
that afternoon police in watertown new
00:19:50
york just 25 miles from
00:19:52
the canadian border stopped a car from
00:19:54
driving the wrong way down a one-way
00:19:56
street
00:19:57
it was curtis pope he tried to run
00:20:01
but was arrested at a shopping center
00:20:04
curtis pope was returned to texas
00:20:08
he stood trial and was convicted of
00:20:10
first
00:20:11
degree murder he was sentenced to life
00:20:14
in prison
00:20:15
there is nothing good about curtis pope
00:20:18
i just think he's a sociopath
00:20:21
and an endangerment to society it was an
00:20:24
unusually bloody crime scene but daryl
00:20:28
north unwittingly
00:20:30
provided the evidence needed to convict
00:20:33
his killer he probably
00:20:36
bloodied curtis pope's nose we have
00:20:39
always thought
00:20:40
daryl helped to convict curtis pope
00:20:44
the forensic evidence in this case was
00:20:46
absolutely the
00:20:47
linchpin of the entire case this case
00:20:51
stands out to me
00:20:52
because it is a one of the best of the
00:20:56
uses of dna combined with
00:20:59
blood stain pattern analysis we're
00:21:02
working together
00:21:03
the two show who the blood came from
00:21:06
and provide a scenario by which it
00:21:08
possibly got there
