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a union official was executed in his home not long after a strike by union membership
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no one in the neighborhood heard any gunshots it would take a forensic sound test an electron
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microscope and a nightgown to explain why [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] thirty-nine-year-old joe doyle was an
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official of the local afscme a union representing government employees it could be the most bitter cold day in
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the world and if he thought you were cold he'd take his shirt off and give it
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to you even if he didn't know you now he also as big as he was he wasn't
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afraid to tell you exactly what he thought he got into people's faces he was a
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wonderful guy they either either loved him or they might have hated him joe and his
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wife katie had been married for about eight years on july 30th 1998 the couple went to a
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private club after work for drinks [Music] early the next morning katie phoned police in a panic
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[Music] did you hear him fall or anything no he's laying in bed on his stomach i went
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in to wake him up for work you okay all right we'll get somebody right there
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don't touch anything all right joe doyle had been shot at close range it was an execution-style killing
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when someone's dead with four four gunshot wounds to the head the first question that anyone is going
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to ask is did this person have enemies because obviously it wasn't a friend that did this
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there was no sign of forced entry and joe's empty money clip was on the floor which according to katie had
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contained approximately eighteen hundred dollars the first suspect in a murder like this
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is always the surviving spouse katie's hands were tested for gunshot residue which would have been present
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had she fired a gun the test was negative katie told police that they got home from the club around 8 30 had dinner
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then went to bed around midnight katie said she went to sleep in an adjacent bedroom
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it was because of joe's really really really loud snoring that she couldn't
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take it she tried to get to sleep and she lay there for an hour or so but she finally had to leave and go into this
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next door bedroom because of the snoring the next morning when katie went in to wake her husband
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she found him dead under the covers katie insisted she didn't hear any gunshots
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neither did any of her neighbors one of the funniest things in the case was that no one heard the gunshots no
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one we really did not have any good evidence of any uh any hearing of gunshots that night
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it's possible a silencer could have been used it could be a professional type of
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silencer that is affixed to the gun police couldn't help but notice the amount of dust in the doyle's home
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and wondered whether this might help track the killer's movements and ultimately reveal his identity
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[Music] after the murder of 39 year old joe doyle friends and family told police that his
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marriage to wife katie seemed solid the couple were building an addition to their house and planning for the future
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katie is telling the police that joe was the love of her life that she loved them
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more than you could love anyone that everything was perfect in their marriage that they just had sex the night before
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he was killed and katie both worked at the same hospital and their co-workers gave police a
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different picture of their relationship kate was having a brazen brazen affair with a co-worker
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that she was basically flaunting that relationship that she told people that she was obsessed with jordan that she
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wanted nothing to do with her husband her husband was controlling that george was the love of her life
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george lewis was a groundskeeper at the hospital and police found evidence the two were
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more than just lovers she purchases jewelry form she gives them a thousand dollar down payment for
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a vehicle she purchases clothing for him she does everything for him really katie admitted the affair but her lawyer
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says it meant nothing it was a fling it was not brief but it was not a motive for murder
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at the crime scene police found a clue in the nightstand next to the bed in the nightstand was a lock box marks
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in the dust indicated the box had recently been moved but no fingerprints were found
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missing from the box was joe doyle's nine millimeter makarov pistol this is one of the four bullets
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recovered from doyle's body deformed by impact when a handgun is fired the bullet spins as it travels through
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the barrel the soft outer shell is scored by a corkscrew line cut into the barrel
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a process known as rifling it causes the bullet to rotate on its longitudinal axis given an aerodynamic
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stability while it's in flight the line cut into the bullet is called a groove the spaces between the grooves
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are called lands these lands and grooves are different for each make of gun investigators wanted to know whether
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this bullet was from a pistol like the one owned by joe doyle using a comparison microscope forensic
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scientists compared the bullet from joe doyle's body to one fired from a makarov
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pistol on the macro it has four lanes and grooves with the right twist and there are not many firearms that
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have that those class characteristics the results were clear joe had been killed with the same model
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nine millimeter pistol that he had once owned but was now missing the bullets were consistent with
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being fired from this model so that was the evidence with the gun that's what they started with and on the
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defense side we established that there were at least 3 000 other guns of this make and model alone
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that existed in in our state about 14 000 in the country police then looked into joe's union ties
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there recently had been a strike with the union and the the victim was involved in some of the activities
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regarding that strike it was a strike by state employees joe had the potentially dangerous task
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of repossessing the state-owned cars driven by the striking members people can be volatile tempers flare up during
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a strike situation one person against another there could have been some problems
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between him and one of the people whose cars he repossessed joe in some sense was viewed as this type of tyrant he had
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to confiscate vehicles uh tangents ran high um you know arguments occurred that sort of
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thing and that's it's a typical union scenario at the same time katie told investigators that her
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husband was involved in project children an organization which brings children from northern ireland to the united
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states for summer vacations here's a guy who travels to another country to a to a hot spot in the world
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a a bed of terrorism a bed of strife is this a i mean i i think anyone with common sense would look into this and
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and see if there's a connection here well the fact that he was uh executed in
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his own bed uh most likely at night while he was sleeping and uh no one uh seemed to have heard shots
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uh let people believe geez they might have used a silencer that you know it's
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an execution this could be as a result of his ties with the ira if he had ties the investigation took forensic
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scientists from the united states all the way to northern ireland but the real evidence was right in joe doyle's
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backyard police investigating the murder of 39 year old union official joe doyle
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pursued every possible lead looking into his union activities over the past several years as well as his involvement
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with the charity in northern ireland [Music] police couldn't identify anyone angry
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enough with doyle to want him dead [Music] so they looked once again at his wife katie and her lover
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george lewis research into katie's background found evidence of substance abuse and
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financial disagreements joe was tough on katie katie had a drug problem years before
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joe carter joe didn't trust katie anymore didn't trust her with the money
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no relationships perfect this one certainly wasn't a perfect relationship they're going to take a microscope and
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examine the spouse their entire life and they're going to try to dig up any piece of dirt possible
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her boyfriend george lewis had an alibi for the night of joe doyle's murder george basically was a a real lover
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he had other girlfriends besides katie apparently and so he was out with one of his
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girlfriends that night two people alibide him the first one which would be for the earlier part of
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the evening was with the other woman with whom he was having an affair and then for the later part of the evening
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was with his wife as for katie doyle she said that she had sex with her husband that night and
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later left to sleep in an adjacent bedroom because of joe's snoring the door was shut and the air
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conditioner was running and she claimed she never heard the shots the head of her bed
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would be resting against a wall that wall is the same wall that separates her room
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from the bedroom where the victim is sleeping which puts them in extremely close proximity to each other a matter
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of feet the distance was 15 feet separated by a 5-inch wall and a closet investigators brought in dr harry
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holleen a forensic audio expert to test katie's claims on a shooting range pauline fired a
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makarov nine millimeter pistol and recorded the sounds when you fire a gun you explode some
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gunpowder in a cartridge in a barrel and that explosion is very rapid so the acoustic signal coming out of the
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barrel is the bullet comes out of the barrel very rapidly the acoustic signal also is is uh one
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that's very abrupt the makarov generated between 118 and 120 decibels of sound
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and it would be comparable to a motorcycle a heavy bus close by uh power lawnmower
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uh chainsaw things such as that but the sound created by a gun is of short duration
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would katie doyle have heard it to find out holine used two adjacent bedrooms in his
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house he then put the recording he had made of the makarov pistol in one bedroom
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and the sound meter in the other bedroom if the shot was 118 decibels 60 of that
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sound approximately 70 decibels reached the other bedroom if you're asleep there's a very good
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chance that it would wake you up and forensic scientists found another discrepancy in katie's story
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katie said she left joe's bedroom around midnight and that she found him dead at
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6am but forensic scientists found alcohol in joe's stomach the alcohol he consumed at
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the club would all have been absorbed in his body had he been killed after midnight
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the medical examiner estimated the time of death was closer to 10 p.m this could easily explain
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why neighbors didn't hear the shots the ambient sounds of televisions radios and
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stereos at that time of night could easily have muffled them next investigators wanted to test katie's
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nightgown that was found on the floor next to joe's body pulling the trigger creates a small
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explosion when the primer ignites the gunpowder which in turn propels the bullet
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gases from that explosion create a small cloud about three to five feet in diameter that usually wafts back over
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the shooter the gases from the primer escape from the firearm through any available opening
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in the form of a gas or a vapor it then solidifies into tiny particles which are deposited on the hands
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clothing or the immediate proximity of the discharge using an aluminum disc with a permanent
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adhesive scientist skip schwabel lifted samples from the surface of the nightgown
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next he removed the stud from its plastic holder and placed it inside a scanning electron microscope
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the particles are magnified and scanned to reveal their chemical makeup on katie doyle's gown with thousands of
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particles seen here magnified four thousand times they were made up of lead antimony and
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barium the chemical components of gunpowder it's not natural in the environment
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when it's when those three particles are fused together that's unique to gunshot
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residue schwabel also found gunshot residue on the bedding next to the body gunshot residue is going to get on the
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bed and on items on the bed katie said that before she left that room and went to the other room to go to
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sleep she took her nightgown off threw it on the bed she doesn't recall where she threw it on the bed it was
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dark with no gunshot residue on katie's hands and gunshot residue on the bedding as
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well as her nightgown prosecutors had no forensic evidence katie doyle fired the pistol
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and without forensic evidence prosecutors had plenty of suspicions but very little proof
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[Music] police believe katie doyle lied when she told them her husband was alive when she
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left his bedroom around midnight an analysis of his stomach contents put the murder closer to
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10 p.m according to their home phone records someone called for joe shortly after 10 pm
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and what katie told the caller was revealing she said that the victim couldn't come
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to the phone because he was toast in other words he was intoxicated and that's why he couldn't talk on the
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phone there was no gunshot residue on katie's hands but her nightgown found on the floor did
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test positive for gunshot residue and so did the covers on the bed so skip schwabel decided to analyze the
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nightgown to study the exact concentrations and placement of the residue 20 years ago when we didn't have the
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automated analysis by scanning electron microscope a sample could take 12-13 hours looking at it manually today
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we're able to look at many thousands of particles in a short period of time those tests revealed
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large amounts of residue on both the right and left front chest area consistent with where a gun would be
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positioned [Music] that was all the evidence police needed the significance of the gown
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is the reason why i arrested the victim's wife for the murder of her husband prosecutors think they know
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the motive for the murder she was head over heels over the sky she didn't want joe anymore i mean this is
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your standard one spouse not wanting to be married the forensic evidence shows that joe doyle was in bed sometime
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before 10 p.m prosecutors believe katie went into the bedroom took her husband's nine millimeter
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pistol from the lock box then fired four shots into his head at close range the invisible gunshot vapor
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drifted backwards towards her and settled on her nightgown katie took off her nightgown and threw
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it on the floor to show police the two had slept together but it was proof of something else proof
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that she had worn it while killing her husband katie had seven or eight hours to leave
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home and get rid of the pistol [Music] the next morning neighbors said katie's car was in a
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different parking spot from where it was the night before [Music] according to telephone records
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katie called her boyfriend three times on the night of the murder prosecutors don't believe the boyfriend
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was involved if she even acknowledged and admitted that she had gotten in touch with george
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that night if he had any role in it we have no proof of it katie doyle was convicted of first
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degree murder and sentenced to life in prison her lawyer maintains katie is innocent
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but he has no idea who killed joe doyle why are we looking at kate because she's
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the wife because the police don't want to get outside the house because that's
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their mode of investigation and they're stuck there and they're stuck there to this day
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investigators say science leaves no doubt about the killer's identity it's much harder to get away with a
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crime today than it was years ago we have instrumentation preparation techniques
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that are much more advanced now we can do particle extractions from clothing from hands
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and it doesn't have to be specifically gunshot residue if it wouldn't have been
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again with the work that skip schwabel did with the micro particles that were found on the
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uh the night shirt that she had been wearing uh the night that this uh this occurred
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we probably would have never had enough information to make an arrest let alone to get a conviction i'd rather
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rely on science in every case than on a human being science especially when you can get
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different areas of science all pointing to the same suspect is key to any prosecution
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[Music] [Music] [Music] you