00:00:05
>> Narrator: AS PEGGY CARR LAY
ILL IN A HOSPITAL INTENSIVE-CARE UNIT, DOCTORS WERE BAFFLED.
00:00:11
>> TAKE A DEEP BREATH FOR ME. >> Narrator: LAB TESTS WERE ALL
NEGATIVE, BUT ONE OF THE
00:00:16
DOCTORS NOTICED A TINY CLUE --
HER HAIR WAS FALLING OUT. IT WAS A SYMPTOM OF A VERY RARE
CONDITION -- ONE THE DOCTOR HAD
00:00:25
NEVER SEEN BEFORE. AND IF HE WAS RIGHT, THERE WAS
NO KNOWN CURE. AND IF HE WAS RIGHT, THERE WAS
NO KNOWN CURE.
00:00:47
AND IF HE WAS RIGHT, THERE WAS
NO KNOWN CURE. PEGGY CARR WAS A 41-YEAR-OLD
RESTAURANT WORKER WHO HAD BEEN
00:01:02
MARRIED TO HER SECOND HUSBAND,
PYE, FOR THE LAST SIX MONTHS. PEGGY WORKED AS A WAITRESS AT A
DRIVE-IN RESTAURANT AND HAD
00:01:10
THREE CHILDREN FROM A PREVIOUS
MARRIAGE. PYE HAD TWO CHILDREN AND WORKED
AT A PHOSPHATE MINE.
00:01:17
>> THEY SEEMED TO BE HAPPY. MY MOM LOVED HIM MORE THAN
ANYTHING. YOU KNOW, HE WAS JUST THE LIGHT
OF HER LIFE.
00:01:25
YOU KNOW, HE WAS IT. >> Narrator: BUT SOON AFTER
THEIR MARRIAGE, PEGGY BEGAN TO
00:01:31
QUESTION THE LONG HOURS PYE WAS
WORKING AT THE MINE. >> HE WORKED ALL THE TIME.
00:01:38
THERE WERE SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT
IF HE WAS REALLY AT WORK OR IF HE WAS OUT. >> Narrator: ONE NIGHT WHEN PYE
SAID HE WAS WORKING LATE, PEGGY
00:01:51
DROVE OUT TO THE MINE. IN THE PARKING LOT, SHE SAW ONLY
TWO CARS. ONE WAS PYE'S.
00:01:57
THE OTHER BELONGED TO ONE OF HIS
FORMER GIRLFRIENDS. >> MY MOM WENT OUT TO WHERE HE
WORKED, AND WE FOUND HIM WITH
00:02:13
ANOTHER WOMAN. >> WHEN, I GUESS, SHE FOUND OUT
THAT HE WAS CHEATING, THINGS
00:02:19
STARTED GOING DOWNHILL. >> Narrator: WHEN PEGGY LEARNED
OF THE AFFAIR, SHE TOOK HER
00:02:24
CHILDREN TO A NEARBY MOTEL AND
LEFT HER HUSBAND A NOTE. >> DEAR PYE, I'M GOING TO GIVE
YOU SOME TIME TO THINK ABOUT US.
00:02:32
I CAN'T LIVE LIKE WE HAVE BEEN. I CAN'T IMAGINE LIVING WITHOUT
YOU, BUT I CAN IF YOU DON'T WANT
00:02:40
ME. I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART. PEGGY. >> Narrator: AFTER A BRIEF
SEPARATION, THE COUPLE RESOLVED
00:02:49
THEIR DIFFERENCES, AND PEGGY AND
HER CHILDREN MOVED BACK HOME. ON THE DAY SHE RETURNED, PYE
LEFT FOR A PREVIOUSLY SCHEDULED
00:02:59
HUNTING TRIP. WHILE HE WAS AWAY, PEGGY BECAME
ILL, COMPLAINING OF AN UPSET STOMACH AND AN INTENSE BURNING
SENSATION.
00:03:09
WHEN PYE RETURNED HOME, HE TOLD
THE CHILDREN HE THOUGHT IT WAS ONLY A VIRUS. >> SHE WAS SICK.
00:03:16
SHE WAS VERY SICK. SHE WAS LAYING IN BED, AND SHE
COULDN'T MOVE. SHE KEPT COMPLAINING OF HER
HANDS AND HER FEET.
00:03:26
SHE SAID SHE COULDN'T OPEN HER
EYES. SHE WAS NAUSEATED. >> Narrator: BY THE TIME PEGGY
WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL,
00:03:34
DOCTORS NOTICED SOME WEAKNESS IN
BOTH SIDES OF HER FACE. BUT WHEN LAB TESTS WERE NEGATIVE
AND THEY COULDN'T DIAGNOSE HER
00:03:41
PROBLEM, PEGGY WAS RELEASED. >> THE NEXT DAY, I WENT UP TO
CHECK ON HER, AND SHE WAS EVEN
00:03:47
WORSE. AND I TOLD PYE, I SAID, "WE NEED
TO TAKE HER TO THE HOSPITAL AGAIN BECAUSE SHE'S NOT GETTING
ANY BETTER."
00:03:54
WELL, HE WENT TO WORK. >> Narrator: THE CHILDREN DROVE
HER TO THE HOSPITAL ONCE AGAIN.
00:04:01
THIS TIME, ONE OF THE PHYSICIANS
WHO EXAMINED HER NOTICED A TINY CLUE. >> I NOTICED THAT HER HAIR --
SIMPLY RAISING HER UP OFF THE
00:04:10
PILLOW TO LISTEN TO HER BACK,
QUITE A BIT OF HER HAIR WAS LEFT ON THE PILLOW. >> Narrator: DR. ROBERT VAN HOOK
AND HIS COLLEAGUES THOUGHT IT
00:04:21
MIGHT BE A POISON -- A VERY RARE
ONE WHICH DOESN'T SHOW UP IN NORMAL LAB TESTS.
00:04:26
A SPECIAL TEST CONFIRMED HIS
SUSPICION. IT WAS THALLIUM POISONING. THALLIUM IS A HIGHLY TOXIC METAL
WIDELY USED AS A PESTICIDE
00:04:37
BEFORE IT WAS BANNED IN THE
UNITED STATES IN 1972. ONCE INSIDE THE BODY, THALLIUM
ATTACKS NERVE ENDINGS AND
00:04:46
MUSCLES, CAUSING THEM TO ATROPHY
AND DIE. IN SEVERE CASES, IT CAN CAUSE
DELIRIUM, PARALYSIS, COMA, EVEN
00:04:55
DEATH. TESTS REVEALED THAT PEGGY HAD 50
TIMES THE MAXIMUM HUMAN EXPOSURE IN HER SYSTEM, AND THERE IS NO
KNOWN CURE OR ANTIDOTE.
00:05:07
WITHIN DAYS, PEGGY'S STEPSON
TRAVIS AND SON DUANE WERE HOSPITALIZED, AS WELL.
00:05:13
THEY, TOO, HAD THALLIUM
POISONING. >> IT WAS LIKE SOMEBODY TAKING A
THOUSAND NEEDLES, PUTTING YOUR
00:05:19
FEET IN THEM, AND JUST PRESSING
ALL AT ONCE. YOU KNOW, REAL, REAL PAINFUL. SOMETHING THAT YOU JUST COULDN'T
LET GO.
00:05:27
>> Narrator: HOW DID PEGGY CARR
AND THE TWO BOYS INGEST SUCH LARGE AMOUNTS OF THALLIUM?
00:05:34
WAS IT ACCIDENTAL, OR WAS
SOMEONE TRYING TO KILL THEM? >> Narrator: SINCE THERE IS NO
CURE OR ANTIDOTE FOR THALLIUM
00:05:46
POISONING, PEGGY CARR'S
CONDITION GREW PROGRESSIVELY WORSE. AFTER LOSING ALL OF HER HAIR,
SHE SLIPPED INTO A COMA.
00:05:55
HEALTH OFFICIALS FRANTICALLY
SEARCHED FOR THE SOURCE OF THE THALLIUM. THE ORANGE GROVE NEXT TO THE
CARRS' HOME WAS TESTED TO
00:06:04
DETERMINE WHETHER THALLIUM HAD
BEEN SPRAYED ON THE ORANGE TREES, AND THE DRINKING-WATER
WELL IN THE AREA WAS ALSO
00:06:11
TESTED. BUT THALLIUM WASN'T FOUND. NEXT, HEALTH OFFICIALS GATHERED
AIR AND DUST SAMPLES FROM INSIDE
00:06:19
THE CARRS' HOME AND TOOK MORE
THAN 400 HOUSEHOLD ITEMS FOR LABORATORY ANALYSIS.
00:06:26
FRIENDS TOLD POLICE THAT THE
FAMILY RECEIVED AN ANONYMOUS THREATENING LETTER JUST A FEW
MONTHS EARLIER.
00:06:33
IT WAS ADDRESSED TO "PIE" CARR,
MISSPELLING PYE'S NAME. >> "YOU AND ALL YOUR SO-CALLED
FAMILY HAVE TWO WEEKS TO MOVE
00:06:43
OUT OF FLORIDA FOREVER, OR ELSE
YOU ALL DIE. THIS IS NO JOKE." >> Narrator: POLICE WERE
SUSPICIOUS OF PYE CARR, NOT ONLY
00:06:53
BECAUSE HE FAILED TO MENTION THE
THREATENING LETTER BUT ALSO BECAUSE OF HIS EXTRAMARITAL
AFFAIR, THE FACT THAT HE WAS
00:07:01
AWAY WHEN PEGGY FIRST GOT SICK,
AND HIS HESITATION IN TAKING PEGGY TO THE HOSPITAL.
00:07:07
>> WE DUG VERY DEEPLY, AT THAT
POINT, INTO PYE CARR'S BACKGROUND.
00:07:13
ANYTHING THAT WOULD SHOW
MOTIVATION ON HIS PART TO POISON HIS WIFE. >> WE THOUGHT, YOU KNOW, PYE HAD
SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT BECAUSE
00:07:22
OF THE WAY HE WAS ACTING. HE WAS ACTING SO STRANGE, YOU
KNOW. HE WAS ALWAYS SO SECRETIVE.
00:07:30
HE WAS ALWAYS -- IT'S LIKE HE
ALWAYS HAD SOMETHING TO HIDE. >> Narrator: ALL OF THE
REMAINING FAMILY MEMBERS WERE
00:07:37
ASKED TO UNDERGO THALLIUM
TESTING, AS WELL, JUST AS A PRECAUTION. AND THE RESULTS WERE SURPRISING.
00:07:44
PEGGY'S DAUGHTER CISSY AND HER
CHILD KASEY BOTH HAD TRACES OF THALLIUM IN THEIR SYSTEMS...AND
SO DID PYE.
00:07:53
THE ONLY FAMILY MEMBER FOUND NOT
TO HAVE THALLIUM IN HER SYSTEM WAS PYE'S DAUGHTER TAMMY.
00:08:00
WHEN THE LABORATORY ANALYZED THE
ITEMS FROM THE CARRS' HOME, THEY FOUND THE SOURCE OF THE
THALLIUM IN SOME EMPTY SODA
00:08:11
BOTTLES. DETECTIVES RETURNED TO THE CARR
HOME AND FOUND THREE FULL BOTTLES FROM THE SAME CARTON.
00:08:18
THE FBI FOUND NO FINGERPRINTS ON
THE FULL BOTTLES RECOVERED FROM THE CARRS' HOME.
00:08:24
BUT, UNDER A SCANNING ELECTRON
MICROSCOPE, MAGNIFIED 100 TIMES, THE FBI DISCOVERED TINY SCRATCH
MARKS ON THE CAPS -- AN
00:08:37
INDICATION THAT THEY HAD BEEN
METICULOUSLY REMOVED AND REPLACED. USING A PROCESS CALLED FLAME
ATOMIC-ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY,
00:08:48
THE SODA PRODUCED A DISTINCTIVE
GREENISH COLOR TO THE FLAME -- A POSITIVE INDICATION THAT
THALLIUM WAS PRESENT.
00:08:58
TESTS REVEALED THAT EACH OF THE
THREE BOTTLES CONTAINED MORE THAN A GRAM OF THALLIUM, ENOUGH
TO KILL AN ADULT.
00:09:06
THALLIUM CAUSES DRINKS TO
OVERFLOW, ALTERS THE COLOR, AND PRODUCES A NOTICEABLE SEDIMENT
ON THE BOTTOM.
00:09:15
BUT THE MIXTURE FOUND IN THE
SODA AVOIDED THESE PROBLEMS AND WAS A MIXTURE WHICH WILL NOT BE
REVEALED IN THIS PROGRAM.
00:09:25
THE FBI KNEW THIS WAS NOT THE
WORK OF AN AMATEUR. THE SOPHISTICATED KNOWLEDGE OF
CHEMISTRY, THE PROFESSIONAL
00:09:36
REMOVAL AND REATTACHMENT OF THE
BOTTLE CAPS TOLD THE FBI THAT THE KILLER WAS VERY SMART, VERY
ORGANIZED, AND WOULD BE VERY
00:09:46
DIFFICULT TO CATCH. >> Narrator: WHEN PEGGY CARR
SLIPPED INTO A COMA, HER DOCTORS
00:09:53
HAD LITTLE IF ANY HOPE FOR HER
RECOVERY. HER SON AND STEPSON WERE BOTH
IN SERIOUS CONDITION BUT
00:10:00
EXPECTED TO RECOVER. PYE'S DAUGHTER TAMMY WAS THE
ONLY FAMILY MEMBER WITHOUT
00:10:06
THALLIUM IN HER SYSTEM. SHE TOLD POLICE SHE DIDN'T DRINK
THE SODA BECAUSE SHE CONSUMED
00:10:13
ONLY DIET DRINKS. AND WHEN THALLIUM WAS FOUND IN
PYE'S SYSTEM, HE WAS NO LONGER
00:10:19
CONSIDERED A SUSPECT. WITH NO OTHER LEADS, THE FBI WAS
ASKED TO PROVIDE A PSYCHOLOGICAL
00:10:27
PROFILE OF THE POISONER. THE PROFILING UNIT BELIEVED THAT
THE POISONER WAS HIGHLY
00:10:34
INTELLIGENT, A WHITE MALE IN HIS
MID-30s, WHO RESOLVES CONFLICT WITHOUT DIRECT CONFRONTATION.
00:10:41
HE LIKED TO READ ABOUT MURDER,
WATCH VIOLENT MOVIES, AND WOULD THEN FANTASIZE ABOUT COMMITTING
MURDER.
00:10:50
>> IT'S MORE OF A PASSIVE TYPE
OF PERSON, AND IT'S MORE OF A
00:10:53
COWARDLY TYPE OF CRIME. YOU DON'T HAVE TO LOOK THE
INTENDED VICTIM IN THE EYE.
00:10:58
IT'S VERY SIMILAR TO A BOMBER --
VERY SIMILAR TYPE OF PERSONALITY. >> Narrator: THE FBI SUGGESTED
POLICE QUESTION THE NEIGHBORS,
00:11:08
BECAUSE WHOEVER POISONED THE
FAMILY KNEW THEIR COMINGS AND GOINGS AND PLANTED THE SODA
WITHOUT BEING SEEN.
00:11:16
THE CARRS' ONLY NEIGHBOR WAS
DR. DIANA CARR, NO RELATION TO PEGGY CARR, AND HER HUSBAND,
GEORGE TREPAL.
00:11:25
DIANA CARR HAD A MASTER'S DEGREE
IN CHEMISTRY AND GRADUATED FROM MEDICAL SCHOOL AS AN ORTHOPEDIC
SURGEON.
00:11:32
HER HUSBAND, GEORGE, WAS A
FREE-LANCE WRITER FOR A COMPUTER MAGAZINE. BOTH WERE HIGHLY INTELLIGENT AND
MEMBERS OF MENSA, AN
00:11:41
ORGANIZATION FOR INDIVIDUALS
WITH IQs IN THE TOP 2% OF THE POPULATION. POLICE LEARNED THAT DIANA CARR
HAD A FIGHT WITH PEGGY JUST A
00:11:52
WEEK BEFORE SHE WAS POISONED. >> SHE WAS CUSSING AND RAVING
ABOUT MY TWO BROTHERS HAVING
00:11:57
MUSIC ON IN THE FRONT YARD,
TELLING THEM TO TURN IT DOWN. >> MY MOM HAD ENOUGH OF THIS
LADY YELLING AT HER, SCREAMING
00:12:03
AT HER, CUSSING AT HER, SO SHE
TURNED AROUND AND WALKED OFF. "I'M DONE TALKING WITH YOU."
00:12:08
>> SHE SAYS, "THIS AIN'T OVER
YET. THIS AIN'T OVER YET."
00:12:13
>> Narrator: A BACKGROUND CHECK
REVEALED THAT TREPAL HAD BEEN ARRESTED IN NORTH CAROLINA IN
THE MID-'70s FOR RUNNING ONE OF
00:12:20
THE LARGEST METHAMPHETAMINE LABS
IN THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. THE DRUG AGENT WHO ARRESTED
TREPAL CALLED HIM THE SMARTEST
00:12:29
CHEMIST HE HAD EVER KNOWN. ON MARCH 3, 1989, FOUR MONTHS
AFTER SHE WAS POISONED,
00:12:39
PEGGY CARR DIED. IT WAS NOW A MURDER
INVESTIGATION. THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT
ASSIGNED SPECIAL AGENT
00:12:52
SUSAN GOREK TO THE CASE. SHE WAS ASKED TO GO UNDERCOVER
TO INFILTRATE THE MENSA GROUP TO
00:12:59
WHICH GEORGE TREPAL AND
DIANA CARR BELONGED, AN EXPERIENCE SHE VIVIDLY DESCRIBED
IN HER BEST-SELLING BOOK
00:13:07
"POISON MIND." UNDER AN ASSUMED NAME AND
IDENTITY, SUSAN GOREK ATTENDED
00:13:13
A MENSA MURDER-MYSTERY WEEKEND
WHICH GEORGE AND HIS WIFE DIANA WERE HOSTING. >> BEFORE I WENT TO THE WEEKEND,
I SPOKE WITH THE PEOPLE UP AT
00:13:22
THE FBI BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE UNIT
TO SEE IF COULD GET SOME TIPS ON THE TYPE OF PERSON OR TYPE OF
PERSONALITY THAT I SHOULD
00:13:30
DEVELOP IF I WAS TO MEET
GEORGE TREPAL. >> Narrator: WHEN GOREK ARRIVED
FOR THE WEEKEND, SHE RECEIVED A
00:13:37
COPY OF THE MURDER SCENARIOS
GEORGE TREPAL WROTE FOR THE PARTICIPANTS. ONE WAS A MURDER BY POISONING.
00:13:45
>> "FEW VOODOOISTS BELIEVE THAT
THEY CAN BE KILLED BY PSYCHIC
00:13:48
MEANS, BY NO ONE DOUBTS THAT HE
CAN BE POISONED." >> Narrator: SUSAN GOREK
ACCOMPLISHED HER MISSION THAT
00:13:55
WEEKEND WHEN GEORGE TREPAL
BEFRIENDED HER. >> HE'S VERY INTELLIGENT.
00:13:59
HE MAY BE A LITTLE ECCENTRIC. A LOT OF PEOPLE WOULD CALL HIM
ODD. BUT BECAUSE I SPENT SO MUCH TIME
WITH HIM, I GOT TO KNOW HIM, AND
00:14:09
I DID SEE A GOOD SIDE OF HIM. I DID SEE A NICE PERSONALITY,
BUT I ALSO SAW A VERY EVIL SIDE.
00:14:16
>> OH, YES, SOMEBODY GOT
POISONED NEXT DOOR. >> Narrator: IN HER UNDERCOVER
ROLE, ALWAYS UNDER SURVEILLANCE,
00:14:23
GOREK MET WITH TREPAL ON
NUMEROUS OCCASIONS, HOPING TO GATHER EVIDENCE OF HIS
INVOLVEMENT IN THE POISONINGS.
00:14:30
THEIR RELATIONSHIP LED TO AN
IMPORTANT BREAK. A YEAR AFTER PEGGY CARR'S DEATH,
GEORGE AND HIS WIFE, DIANA,
00:14:39
MOVED. THEY RENTED THEIR OLD HOME TO
GEORGE'S NEW FRIEND -- SUSAN GOREK. SHE MOVED IN BEFORE ALL OF THE
COUPLE'S BELONGINGS HAD BEEN
00:14:51
REMOVED. AND WHEN SHE DID, HOMICIDE
DETECTIVES MOVED IN WITH HER. THEY SEARCHED THE HOUSE AND THE
SHED TREPAL USED AS A WORKSHOP.
00:15:00
>> WE SENT EVERYTHING FROM THE
WORKSHOP GARAGE TO THE FBI LABORATORY FOR THEM TO EXAMINE.
00:15:07
>> Narrator: INSIDE ONE OF THE
BOTTLES, THE FBI DISCOVERED THALLIUM SIMILAR TO THE TYPE
FOUND IN THE SODA BOTTLES IN THE
00:15:17
CARR HOME. >> WE HAD A LOT OF
CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE, BUT THIS WAS THE ONLY PIECE OF REAL
EVIDENCE THAT YOU COULD ACTUALLY
00:15:26
PUT YOUR HANDS ON. >> Narrator: THE POLICE THEN
SEARCHED TREPAL'S NEW HOME AND
00:15:31
DISCOVERED A NOTEBOOK GEORGE
CAPTIONED "GENERAL POISONING GUIDES." INSIDE WERE EXCERPTS FROM BOOKS
USED BY HOMICIDE DETECTIVES.
00:15:42
ONE WAS "DEATH BY POISON." ANOTHER LISTED DETAILS OF THE
USES AND DEFECTS OF THALLIUM.
00:15:50
GEORGE TREPAL WAS ARRESTED FOR
THE MURDER OF PEGGY CARR AND THE ATTEMPTED MURDER OF THE ENTIRE
CARR FAMILY.
00:16:01
>> Narrator: POLICE BELIEVE THAT
GEORGE TREPAL GREW ANNOYED WITH HIS NEIGHBORS, ESPECIALLY THE
CHILDREN.
00:16:08
WHEN THE THREATENING LETTER
FAILED TO SCARE THE FAMILY AWAY, TREPAL TOOK A MORE DIRECT
APPROACH.
00:16:14
HE PURCHASED SOME SODA AND
CAREFULLY REMOVED ALL OF THE BOTTLE CAPS WITH SPECIAL TOOLS.
00:16:22
HIS CHEMICAL KNOWLEDGE LED HIM
TO CHOOSE A POISON WHICH HAD NO CURE OR ANTIDOTE -- ONE THAT
COULDN'T BE DETECTED BY
00:16:30
CONVENTIONAL MEDICAL TESTS. IT WAS HAUNTINGLY SIMILAR TO THE
PLOT HE WOULD LATER WRITE FOR
00:16:38
THE MURDER-MYSTERY WEEKEND. >> "WHEN A DEATH THREAT APPEARS
ON THE DOORSTEP, PRUDENT PEOPLE
00:16:44
THROW OUT ALL OF THEIR FOOD AND
WATCH WHAT THEY EAT. MOST ITEMS ON A DOORSTEP ARE
JUST A NEIGHBOR'S WAY OF SAYING,
00:16:52
'I DON'T LIKE YOU. MOVE, OR ELSE.'"
>> Narrator: THE CARR FAMILY
00:16:59
REMEMBERS DRINKING THE SODA AT A
FAMILY DINNER WHEN THEY HAD FRIED CHICKEN. PYE CARR WAS DRINKING BOURBON
AND ADDED A SPLASH OF SODA FROM
00:17:09
ONE OF THE BOTTLES. PYE'S DAUGHTER TAMMY WAS
DRINKING DIET SODA AND WAS THE ONLY FAMILY MEMBER WHO WASN'T
POISONED.
00:17:22
PEGGY MOST LIKELY INGESTED MORE
SODA THAN THE OTHERS BECAUSE SHE HAD THE HIGHEST THALLIUM LEVELS.
00:17:32
AFTER SHE WAS HOSPITALIZED, HER
CONDITION DETERIORATED. SHE SLIPPED INTO A COMA AND DIED
FOUR MONTHS LATER.
00:17:45
THE TWO BOYS WERE ALSO
HOSPITALIZED BUT RECOVERED. >> I WOULD SAY THAT THIS WHOLE
CASE IS SCIENCE.
00:17:53
THIS CASE WAS ABOUT BEING ABLE
TO FIND THE THALLIUM IN THE WASHINGS OF THE EMPTY BOTTLES.
00:18:00
WHEN COCA-COLA DID THE
EXPERIMENTS, THAT PROOF WAS EXTREMELY COMPELLING. THE SCIENCE AT THE FBI LAB -- IF
YOU PICK UP THOSE BOTTLE CAPS,
00:18:10
YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY, I DON'T
THINK WITH A MAGNIFYING GLASS, FIND THOSE TOOL MARKS.
00:18:16
AND YET, THEY'RE SO OBVIOUS IN
THE BLOWN-UP PICTURES THAT THE FBI DID. ANOTHER THING VERY IMPORTANT
ABOUT THE SCIENCE WAS GEORGE'S
00:18:24
KNOWLEDGE OF THE SCIENCE AND THE
AMOUNT OF LITERATURE WE FOUND IN HIS HOUSE THAT BACKED IT UP.
00:18:29
>> Narrator: WHEN TREPAL WENT ON
TRIAL IN 1991, THE CASE AGAINST HIM WAS LARGELY
CIRCUMSTANTIAL --
00:18:37
TREPAL'S CRIMINAL HISTORY AS
HEAD CHEMIST FOR AN ILLEGAL METHAMPHETAMINE LAB, THE FACT
THAT HE USED SIMILAR PHRASEOLOGY
00:18:45
IN AN INTERVIEW WITH THE POLICE
THAT WAS USED IN THE THREATENING LETTER, HIS AUTHORSHIP OF THE
MURDER-MYSTERY STORY LINE
00:18:53
DEALING WITH BOTH A POISONING
AND A THREATENING LETTER, THE BOTTLE WITH THALLIUM FOUND IN
HIS WORK SHED, AND THE BOOKS
00:19:02
WITH INFORMATION ON THE USE OF
THALLIUM FOUND IN HIS HOME. >> THE WHOLE CASE IS
CIRCUMSTANTIAL.
00:19:09
I MEAN, THAT WAS MY WHOLE
CLOSING ARGUMENT. AND THE WAY THAT WE APPROACHED
IT BECAUSE OF THAT WAS TO
00:19:16
EXCLUDE EVERY OTHER PERSON ON
THE FACE OF THE EARTH. >> Narrator: THE DEFENSE ARGUED
THERE WAS NO PROOF THAT TREPAL
00:19:23
PURCHASED THE SODA. HIS FINGERPRINTS WERE NOT FOUND
ON THE SODA BOTTLES OR ON THE
00:19:29
VIAL OF THALLIUM. HIS LAWYER ALSO SUGGESTED THAT
THERE WAS REASONABLE DOUBT. ALL OF THE EVIDENCE COULD ALSO
POINT TO TREPAL'S WIFE, DIANA,
00:19:40
WHO HAD A MASTER'S DEGREE IN
CHEMISTRY. IT TOOK THE JURY JUST SIX HOURS
TO REACH A VERDICT.
00:19:48
GEORGE TREPAL WAS FOUND GUILTY
OF ALL CHARGES, AND HE WAS SENTENCED TO DEATH. >> I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT.
00:19:57
I HONESTLY DIDN'T BELIEVE IT,
BECAUSE THE MAN THAT I KNEW, YOU KNOW, WAS THE MAN -- I MOWED HIS
DRIVEWAY BECAUSE IT WAS 2 FOOT
00:20:05
OFF OF OUR PROPERTY LINE. I MOWED HIS DRIVEWAY. HE ALWAYS WAVED AT ME. SURE, HE WAS WEIRD, AND HE WAS A
NERD.
00:20:11
YOU KNOW, I HEARD HE WAS A
CHEMICAL FREAK OR WHATEVER, BUT HE DIDN'T SEEM CAPABLE OF
MURDER -- NOT IN MY EYES.
00:20:19
>> HE DID THE MOST HORRIBLE ACT
THAT I'VE EVER SEEN AS A HOMICIDE INVESTIGATOR -- A
HEINOUS ACT.
00:20:27
HE KILLED ONE PERSON, PUT HER
THROUGH TORTURE BEFORE HER DEATH. >> SHE WAS REALLY, TRULY MY BEST
FRIEND.
00:20:35
SHE WAS MY MAID OF HONOR AT MY
WEDDING. SHE WAS THE ONLY ONE I HAD FOR A
LONG TIME.
00:20:42
MY DAD WASN'T ALWAYS THERE, AND
SHE ALWAYS WAS. MY DAD WASN'T ALWAYS THERE, AND
SHE ALWAYS WAS.
00:21:00
I MISS HER A LOT.