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police say that this car crash which killed an elderly woman was murder and arson
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the driver the victim's daughter insisted it was an accident two fire investigators came to two
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entirely different conclusions was it an accident or murder you decide [Music] [Music]
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[Applause] [Music] [Music] omega georgia is literally a one-stop-light town surrounded by peanut farms and cotton
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fields on august 18 1996 a hot quiet sunday a man driving down a remote country road
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saw a woman standing on a small bridge waving frantically the woman was sheila bryan
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the sky jumped out of the car and he said what's the matter what's the matter and i said um
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my mother's in the car in the car i think the car is on fire the car was down in a ditch and sheila's
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82 year old mother was trapped inside from the bridge you could see the smoke coming out of the car
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the man ran to a nearby house to get help by the time firefighters arrived the car was an inferno
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when the fire was put out they found freda weeks dead inside the car she had been unable to get out
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i just remember getting nauseated throwing up and the next thing i remember is just lots of people
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sheila told police that she and her mother were on their way to the local cemetery to visit her father's grave
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she said she was momentarily distracted and accidentally drove off the road into
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the ditch just before reaching the bridge it's about a 30-foot embankment which
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was very steep and when i got to the bottom there was a big jolt i was trying to get the
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car turned off and it wouldn't turn off somehow finally got it off and the keys
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they dropped out of my hand because i jerked them and they dropped out of my hand
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i kept telling her i said i'll be right back i'll be right back sheila ran around the car to the
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passenger side door to try to get her mother out but the door was locked [Applause]
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sheila said she ran up the embankment and flagged down a passing vehicle she said when she looked down she saw
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smoke coming out of the car for the first time when police arrived they noticed some irregularities
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that car traveled about 60 feet down the grassy shoulder of the road prior to making
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a right-hand turn and traveling about 30 feet down this embankment where it came
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to its final resting point perpendicular to the road in the ditch and then we started looking at there
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were no skid marks there were no signs in the grassy shoulder that there was an abrupt
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turn of any type and the front of the vehicle showed no signs of damage consistent with running
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down an embankment there were no scrape marks under the bumper under the undercarriage the
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plastic cowling under the bumper had no damage to it whatsoever all signs that were indicative that this car traveled
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down that embankment very slowly also suspicious the door to the gas tank was open
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and the gas cap was missing no autopsy was performed on friday weeks but the toxicology results were puzzling
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most people who die from smoke inhalation have carbon monoxide levels in their blood of 45 to 85 percent
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but the carbon monoxide level in frida's blood was zero lab results showed that there was no
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carbon monoxide in the victim's blood which could be indicative that she was
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not alive at the time of the fire if freda weeks was dead before the fire started
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how did she die the local sheriff's department brought in outside experts to help investigate
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the car accident and fire which killed frida weeks the engine and exhaust system showed
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little fire damage but the passenger compartment was destroyed it appeared that the fire started on the
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floor of the driver's side because investigators found burn patterns consistent with the use of an accelerant
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there are also burn patterns that protruded through or over the driver's door threshold which could be indicative
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that the door was open at some point during the time of the fire the debris inside the car was tested for
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accelerants but tests came back negative it's not uncommon in arson cases especially where fire departments have
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responded put a tremendous amount of water on the actual fire scene the only personal items found in the car
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were a wallet and the charred remains of a claw hammer the possibility that the hammer might
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have been the murder weapon led investigators to exhume frida week's body for an autopsy that's when i heard
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that they were suspicious arson you could have knocked me over with a feather i mean i just could not even believe
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where they could even come up with that and the investigation angered sheila's
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husband too mr brian became more upset and made the statement that well you guys need to do whatever you need to do
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and you need to do it because there's a hundred thousand dollars at stake and
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the insurance company is not going to pay until you get done with your investigation
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sheila's husband was referring to the liability coverage of his car insurance
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which he believed would pay them a hundred thousand dollars for frida's death
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which kind of corresponded with the amount he told us there in his driveway the autopsy found no injuries consistent
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with the use of a claw hammer the surprising news was that frida's lungs and nasal passages did not have
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any soot which usually happens when someone is alive and breathed smoke during a fire
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the medical examiner found evidence of severe coronary artery disease and listed the probable cause of frida's
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death as cardiac standstill dr clark said that she was probably alive at the time of the fire and may
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have taken one or two gasps after that fire was started and then died the medical examiner did not rule the
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death a homicide nevertheless prosecutors believe that the fire was deliberately set and
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charged sheila bryan with arson and murder sheila pled not guilty at the trial prosecutors said the motive for the
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crime was money the sheila killed her mother and staged the crime scene to collect a death
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benefit from her car insurance i said that's ridiculous i said this is something that you're required to have
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by law to be able to drive a vehicle and two there was no way for me to even collect
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any money from them prosecutors knew that the car insurance wouldn't have paid anything after
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frida's death but believe that sheila and her husband were unaware of that at the time of the
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incident to prove it prosecutors pointed to the statement sheila's husband allegedly
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made to investigators was the state's position that they intended to collect
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on that insurance money and the reason the state thought that is first because of what carlos bryant told
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them that that was their intention and secondly because they had hired an attorney to
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collect the money at the trial sheila took the stand in her own defense her testimony however
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differed in some respects from the statement she gave to police immediately after the accident
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when she got on the stand she told this story about stopping on the edge of the embankment and
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teetering i was sitting there and i said i was going to try and get out i opened
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the car door and i still had my seat belt on when i did the car door come back and hit my arm
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and then the car rolled down the ditch bank which was not anything that she had said at the
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time of the accident sheila first told investigators that her mother showed no signs of distress after the accident
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on the witness stand she said her mother wasn't responsive i told mama i said i'll be back in just
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a minute she didn't respond well i thought she had passed out when she got on the witness stand that
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story had changed remarkably and i think it didn't ring true to those jurors
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but it was testimony about the burn patterns that i think sealed her fake the prosecution's arson expert said
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those burn patterns were consistent with a fire started with an accelerant the jury found sheila bryan
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guilty of arson and murder she was sentenced to life in prison i could not believe
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that this had actually happened i said why why am i here i don't understand i even looked around for a rusty screw
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to cut my wrist i said i cannot let my children be exposed something like this the rest of their life
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and then all of a sudden something come over me and i said god if i'm here to help
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somebody then you show me what you want me to do and and i had a piece about me after after
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that sheila's friends and supporters believed in her innocence and raised funds to
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hire an independent fire investigator to look into the case and the person they found
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also happened to be an outspoken critic of arson investigations dr gerald hurst you had a woman who had a close
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relationship with her mother and plenty of people who knew about this relationship they said that the reason
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that she had torched her mother was because the mother was getting old wearing a diaper and she was just too
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much trouble you see it just doesn't fit it was real clear to me that this case had divided that
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community in this area half believing she was guilty and half believing that she was innocent
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after sheila brian was convicted of murdering her mother in a car fire sheila's friends and family hired dr
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gerald hurst to conduct an independent investigation i read the original investigation reports and all of the
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police work done in connection with the the fire and then i read the trial testimony
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and i found that there was a lot of bunko involved in the prosecution sheila's car was a ford hearst and his
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colleague chris bloom quickly discovered that there had been a number of suspicious fires in similar ford
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vehicles the problem was the ignition switch a box of electrical contacts on the
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steering column by turning the key different contacts in the switch start the car and turns on
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the electrical system and it's a small little component you don't normally would even think about it
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but that little component has been the source of at least alleged 8 000 fires many of these cars caught fire while
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sitting in garages and parking lots and some while being driven down the road in
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1996 ford issued one of the largest car recalls in history a lead in the ignition switch had
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electricity flowing through it constantly a plastic box separated the leads but in some cases carbon buildup caused
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the circuit to arc it's creating a circuit where a circuit was not designed and and as a result
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there's overheating that's occurring and that overheating will result in the
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ignition of the surrounding combustibles the plastics and such dr hurst and chris bloom
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made another interesting discovery the task force at the ford motor company that confirmed the ignition switch
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problem was headed by ralph newell mr newell was also a fire expert and was the star witness for the prosecution in
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sheila's trial i'm not saying that he did anything wrong but i'm saying he was under
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heavy influence he was getting i think about 150 000 a year or at least that year and certain amounts in other years
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working for ford motor company the key thing i noted was that not a single person
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mentioned the ignition switch in the case and it didn't matter whether they said i
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examined the ignition switch and eliminated as cause i looked at the ignition switch there was nothing wrong
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there was no mention of it this was particularly interesting since sheila's first statement to police
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mentioned her inability to remove her car keys after the accident miss brian after running off the road
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tried to get the keys out of the ignition and couldn't get the keys out that indicates that they have something
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wrong with the ignition lock or the ignition switch sheila's car was a 1987 ford cougar
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but the recall only went back to 1988. bloom and dr hurst suspected that sheila's car had the same ignition
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switch this is a recalled switch from an 88 ford escort the important thing to note
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is the model number on the switch when i pulled the large wiring loom out of the 87 cougar
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and examined this switch you can see the model numbers are the same but what caused the burn patterns in the
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interior which prosecution experts said was from an accelerant this steering column cover and carpet
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are from the same model and year car as sheila bryan's gerald hurst believes the switch inside
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the steering column overheated and the plastic cover ignited melted and dripped like this one burning down through the
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carpet like a liquid accelerant now if this were in a real automobile you would also begin dripping the same
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molten flaming plastic on the seat which contains polyurethane foam and that would take off like the proverbial
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house of fire anytime a fire consumes the interior of a car you're going to have masses of flammable
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plastics that melt and flow they themselves the plastics become in effect liquid accelerants
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hearst also said a gap in the door seal allowed melted plastic from the seats doors and dashboard to flow under the
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door in not one but two spots it was not a liquid accelerant that produced it i'm quite confident it was
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the plastic but that was of less importance to me than the fact that the prosecutor and all the king's horses and
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all the king's men would not be able to produce that pattern with gasoline the information should have been
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presented to the jury hey this is a known problem that it's a rare problem but it's a
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known problem that catches fire after 10 months in prison the georgia supreme court unanimously
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voted to overturn sheila's conviction the court stated the testimony that inferred there was an insurance motive
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was improper and any financial motive was tenuous at best i immediately got on my knees and prayed
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and thank god for for that because that just does not happen it does not happen in the length of time for me to even get
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an appeal usually people stay in there for years and years before they even get an appeal
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so i was very well blessed with that just as sheila was released from prison she had another surprise
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prosecutors for the state of georgia said they would try her again for murder and arson
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due to extensive publicity the second trial would be held in neighboring thomas county
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and it was quite naturally a battle of the experts but which experts would the jury believe
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converse wright was the new defense attorney representing sheila bryan at her second murder trial
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there was no trauma involved and the blood test and the autopsy showed that this lady
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was dead before the fire started most likely by a heart attack if the jury accepted that then that would that ended
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the case right there but the cause of the fire was again the prosecution's focus claiming sheila
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brian had set the car fire by pouring and lighting some type of liquid accelerant
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it either came out of the tank or she brought it there there's no container found
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there's no instrument like a siphon or whatever this time sheila's defense relied on dr
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hurst's opinion for what caused the deadly fire an expert witness in a case performs several functions obviously he
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testifies and gives expert opinion he also can help prepare cross-examination by pointing out
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fallacies and foibles in the other side's position ralph newell the prosecution's star
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witness in the first trial admitted he had worked for the ford motor company on the task force investigating ford's past
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ignition switch problems but newell insisted he eliminated the switch in sheila's car as the cause of
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the fire newl admitted however that he did not photograph or document his analysis of
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the switch in his report without the insurance motive the prosecution argued that sheila had
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grown tired of caring for her 82 year old mother they were all one very close-knit family
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the testimony was unanimous about that there was no there was no dissent to that
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after a four-day trial the jury deliberated for just under three hours before finding sheila bryan
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not guilty i just thank you lord well you could cite this case as an example of the system
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failing and that she did 10 months in jail for something she didn't do or you could cite it as an example of
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the system succeeding because it corrected itself two different trials two different verdicts
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the town of omega will never be the same there were heated debates about her guilt or her innocent up until the first
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child and they continued of course after she was convicted and went to prison and and they continue to this day
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but sheila bryan is a free woman and gives the credit to forensic science what made the difference
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having a very credible expert that believed in what he was doing and what he was saying
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this was a case of forensic evidence whether it be medical or automobile this was what this case was all about was
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forensic evidence [Music] [Music] [Music] you