All language subtitles for American.Detective.With.Lt.Joe.Kenda.S01E05.Tale.of.Two.Knives.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP.2.0.H.264-FLUX.[eng]

[music playing]

JOE KENDA: January 8 of 2010,
the Ridgeland, Mississippi

police department gets a
phone call that no one's ever

going to forget.

OPERATOR: Ridgeland 911.

JOE KENDA: This is
a very unusual call

in a small town like Ridgeland.

Very few homicides
ever in this city.

[theme music]

JOE KENDA: I spent my
career closing murder cases.

But I'm not the only one
who answered the call.

It takes a rare breed
to solve the unsolvable,

to catch a ruthless killer,
to find justice for the dead.

That's what it takes to
be an American Detective.

FRANK DILLARD III:
In 2010, I was

a detective with the
Richmond Police Department.

The eerie thing is, some
nights you knew the phone was

going to ring before it rung.

You could be laying in bed,
and you just get the feeling.

[phone vibrating]

This is Dillard.

I receive a call
from my supervisor,

telling me that
they had a homicide

at an apartment complex.

I'm on the way.

At this point, your brain is
going 1,000 miles an hour.

[siren]

[thunder]

When Dillard arrives
at the crime scene,

he's met by Brian Myers,
who is the commander

of the investigations unit
on the police department.

BRIAN MYERS: During
a case like this,

we're going to call just
about everyone in on our team.

And of course, we would call
Frank in for the interviews.

His specialty was interrogation.

What we got?

A young female
deceased in the bedroom.

The victim is
22-year-old Carmen Sanders.

Apparently died of a
stab wound to the chest.

LANAYA LEWIS: Carmen
was very bright.

She was from Natchez,
Mississippi, which is

about two hours from Ridgeland.

Carmen was a waitress
and went to University

of Mississippi Medical School.

LANAYA LEWIS: She
cared about her future.

She wanted to make sure
that she finished school.

Any witnesses?

Just one, 911 caller, the
boyfriend, Michael Mason.

JOE KENDA: Mr. Mason
reported that he

was out for the evening.

And when he returned
home, he discovered

property had been stolen,
and his girlfriend

had been murdered.

FRANK DILLARD III:
Typically, people are killed

by people that they know.

So he very well could
have been the person

that committed the murder.

Michael Mason has been
removed from the apartment

and taken to police headquarters
for further interview.

What'd he report stolen?

Some electronics, a
gaming system, I believe.

BRIAN MYERS: I noticed upon
entry into the apartment

that there was no forced entry.

JOE KENDA: Somebody
didn't break in.

They walked in.

Did they walk in because
they were invited?

Was the door not locked?

Did they have a key?

Lots of possibilities,
but the likelihood

is that the attacker
is known to the victim.

BRIAN MYERS: Once we entered the
apartment, it was in disarray.

LANAYA LEWIS: They found
that there was clothes

just scattered all over
the place on the couch

and on the floor.

FRANK DILLARD III:
You have to survey,

see exactly what you have.

You have to go in
and figure out, OK,

was the house like this already?

Did the suspect
throw stuff around?

Hey, check this out.

JOE KENDA: When Dillard
looked at the TV stand

and looked under it, he sees
a large, dust-free area,

a clean dust mark
where there was

an object, most likely
the gaming console

that the owner claims was taken.

Where's the body.

Back bedroom.

BRIAN MYERS: It was
obvious that there

was a struggle in the bedroom.

The mattress was moved off
of the bed a little bit,

things in disarray.

FRANK DILLARD III: She was
wrapped in a brown comforter

and had a butcher's knife
through the comforter,

through her body.

It actually came to
rest in the floor.

BRYAN BUCKLEY: What stood
out to me was her face.

Her eyes were open.

And those eyes-- you
know, they were lifeless.

And you knew that those eyes
had seen who had killed her.

And you wish you could see
with those eyes had seen.

JOE KENDA: Her jeans
are unbuttoned,

and her clothing is
somewhat disheveled.

Could this be a sexual
assault, or could

it be just something
that happened

in the course of the attack?

It's a possibility.

BRYAN BUCKLEY: Looking
at Carmen's body,

she was stabbed multiple
times in the abdomen.

JOE KENDA: This person
was attacked in a manner

referred to as a blitz attack.

It is incredibly violent,
and it is fatal, the earmark

of someone who has a violent
nature or a great deal

of experience in violence.

Do you see that?

I then saw a smaller
knife with a broken handle.

FRANK DILLARD III: That
speaks volumes to me.

The mindset of this
person's really enraged.

You can see the life
leaving this person.

You can feel the knife
entering this person's body.

Let's bag it.

Some prints.

A lot of knife fights,
when people are stabbing,

it's not unusual for them
to slip and cut themselves.

JOE KENDA: So all blood
samples will be taken

to confirm that either
it's all hers or it's hers

and someone else's.

Excuse me, detectives.

There's something in the
kitchen you should see.

FRANK DILLARD III:
Looking in the kitchen,

you notice that the
knife drawers are open.

You noticed that
stuff is everywhere.

You also noticed that
there's a dishwashing

detergent everywhere.

It's not unusual for burglars
or people who break in

to spread that to
make it harder for you

to lift prints, latent prints,
or spread fingerprint dust.

JOE KENDA: It
tells Dillard there

is some level of
experience in whoever

is responsible for this crime.

They probably have
a criminal record,

or maybe they have been in
custody to learn this trick.

BRIAN MYERS: This was
a very complex scene.

I backed out and decided to
call the Mississippi crime lab

and let their
forensics team come in

and assist us with this one.

JOE KENDA: Once they
clear this evidence,

the next step is to find her
car, which was in the parking

lot, and see if there's any
evidence of violence in the car

or in the area.

They find no evidence
indicating the car

has any involvement
in this offense.

But inside the car is her purse.

FRANK DILLARD III:
That tells us that she

wasn't planning on being
inside the apartment very long.

We found that Carmen's
phone was in the purse.

A phone is very important
because you can track it.

You can see what calls
were made to whom,

what calls were received.

REPORTER: As investigators work
to find a motive and a suspect,

they're questioning
Sanders inner circle,

starting with her boyfriend.

We're talking to him,
getting information from him.

At some point in time,
he'll either be eliminated

as a suspect or become one.

So Dillard's next step
is to talk to Michael

Mason, his only lead.

Because he's a good detective,
he wanted to know what

Mason said on the 911 call.

FRANK DILLARD III:
Went to the 911 center,

Ridgeland Police Department.

There was a lot of buzz
from the other officers

about the 911 call.

It just didn't make sense.

So I had to hear
that for myself.

There you go.

FRANK DILLARD III: Thanks.

NARRATOR: Dillard play
a tape of the 911 call.

He's extremely calm.

He identifies himself by
name, gives his address.

He almost as an afterthought
mentions, oh, by the way,

my girlfriend's
also been murdered.

It's very odd.

Stop the tape.

It really didn't
look good for him.

I thought, OK,
Michael Mason's trying

to separate himself from this
by saying that someone broke in.

They stole all my stuff
and killed my girlfriend.

JOE KENDA: Well, Michael,
did you kill your girlfriend

and try to cover it up?

Because we're going to
get to the bottom of it.

[music playing]

After listening
to the 911 call,

detectives believe that
Michael Mason could have killed

his girlfriend, Carmen
Sanders, and then covered

it up as a robbery gone wrong.

While Dillard makes his way
to speak to Michael Mason,

the victim's mother
comes running

into the police station,
screaming that her daughter

has been killed.

My baby's gone!

I know who did it!

FRANK DILLARD III:
Still to this day,

I can still hear her screaming
through the building,

my baby's gone.

You knew how much love
she had for her daughter.

Michael killed my baby.

I don't know he did!

CASSANDRA DOTSON: She was
sobbing uncontrollably.

She said, Michael
killed my baby.

I know he did.

See what you can
find out about Carmen

and Michael's relationship.

FRANK DILLARD III:
Detective Dotson

is the first black female
officer for the Ridgeland

Police Department.

She closed out a lot of cases.

Very passionate
in what she does.

CASSANDRA DOTSON: It
hurts to see a parent cry.

I take it personal
because I have daughters.

It made me want to do more.

I was told that Carmen
was a very nice person.

She was a people person.

LANAYA LEWIS: Carmen and
her mother were very close.

Carmen would go back home
to Natchez frequently,

visit family, visit friends.

JOE KENDA: Mrs. Sanders
explains her daughter

Carmen had a life plan.

She was taking courses
for medical tech work

and was working several
jobs to pay for school.

She lived with Michael
Mason basically

as a convenience and a way
to split the cost of rent.

Here is a girl who has
a future, has a plan

to reach that future,
and somebody takes that

away from her in an instant.

CASSANDRA DOTSON: She said
that Carmen and Michael

were not getting along.

Their relationship
was deteriorating.

She explained that her
daughter had told her that she

was having difficulty
studying because he had

friends come over all
the time, and they

played video games all night.

Michael.

Ooh, good ball.

Ooh.

Michael, can you
that down please?

I have a test in the morning.

Let's go!

Let's go!

CASSANDRA DOTSON: I
was informed that she

would go to the back room
while his guests were there.

JOE KENDA: So Mrs. Sanders
explains that it got worse

with Michael, that he hacked
her email account, found

an email from a male
friend, and he accused

Carmen of seeing this man.

Turn that down.

Just listen to me.

Get the hell out of my face!

LANAYA LEWIS: Well, it
got so bad that Michael

pushed her during an argument.

And any parent hearing that
would think that their daughter

would be in danger.

It's possible, seeing as how
he's surveilling her emails,

that Michael could have learned
that she was moving out.

And could that have set him off?

Maybe, maybe not.

So far, we have
innuendo and accusation.

What we don't have
is any hard evidence.

We're going to
need some of that.

So she communicates this
information to Dillard.

And he now knows
how to pursue this.

First, he's just going
to get a feel for Michael

and see what he's like
and see his demeanor.

FRANK DILLARD III: I had
to remember that, hey, I

need him to confess.

I need to be nice to him to
get what I need out of him.

And most importantly,
he is innocent until I

can prove that he's guilty.

When he goes in
to talk with him,

he discovers a totally
different person than what

he'd sounded like on the phone.

Mason is very distraught.

And he says, I
don't want a lawyer.

I want to find who
did this to her.

And when Dillard asks him about
the confrontations he's had

with her, he said, that's true.

LANAYA LEWIS: Michael
thought Carmen was cheating

with her ex-boyfriend
Chris Baker,

who she met in college at
Mississippi State back in 2006.

BRYAN BUCKLEY: He
even said that he

saw an email where she
claimed that the boyfriend was

her soulmate.

So he seemed jealous of her.

JOE KENDA: But he
willingly says that,

and he was sorry about that.

So he's not trying to
conceal that from Dillard.

You have Michael to walk
through his daily routine

to see if his alibi
will hold water.

Michael worked as a substitute
teacher at a middle school.

He worked that day
from like 7:30 to 3:30.

But he also worked a second
job, which was at a restaurant.

And he went straight to
his job at the restaurant

and stayed there
until about 10:30.

Mason originally believes
she's just joking around.

And he said, come on,
quit joking around.

He pulls the comforter
back, exposing

that knife in her
stomach and realizes

she's not ever going to get up.

And he ran out of the
apartment to call 911.

The more time I spent
with him, the more I

realized he was a gentle giant.

The more I realized that this
guy probably didn't do this.

JOE KENDA: He takes a short
break to make a few phone

calls to Michael's employers.

And he's able to
confirm his whereabouts

from 7:30 AM to 11:00 PM.

With the evidence
of Michael's alibi,

it shows that he could
not have done the murder.

JOE KENDA: That takes
him back to square one.

Who killed Carmen Sanders?

Because there was no
signs of forced entry--

Please.

No.

BRYAN BUCKLEY: --it looks like
Carmen let the killer inside.

No!

No!

No!

BRYAN BUCKLEY: If it's
not going to be Michael,

then it's got to be
someone she knows.

JOE KENDA: Now we
have this Chris Baker,

this mysterious maybe
lover of Carmen Sanders.

What does he have
to do with this?

And how can he explain
what he's been up to

on the evening of this crime?

So while Dillard
puts out the word

to assist in
finding Chris Baker,

he's informed that the coroner
has finished the autopsy.

So Dillard response to
the morgue to discuss

this case with the coroner.

She hadn't been punched, hadn't
been hit, had no bruises.

And even though her clothing
was unbuttoned and somewhat

disheveled, there was no
evidence of sexual activity

or sexual assault.

Unfortunately, the lab
wasn't able to recover

any blood other than
Carmen's at the scene.

During inspection
of Carmen's body,

they noted that she
had been stabbed

more than a dozen times.

I found 15 stab
wounds in her abdomen.

And you could tell
that it was from two

knives, differing depths.

FRANK DILLARD III:
The coroner also

noted that a blade was
broken off into her rib cage

and was still
inside of her body.

JOE KENDA: The most revealing
fact is that the actual murder

weapon was a steak knife
with a smaller blade,

and a butcher knife
was an afterthought.

I surmised that
once the steak knife

was broken into her rib cage,
the suspect threw it down.

And then she was wrapped
into the blanket.

And post-mortem, we believe
that the butcher knife

was then shoved into her chest.

And it actually came to
rest in the concrete floor.

That is enormous force.

That's driven by one
thing, and that's rage.

REPORTER:
Investigators say there

were no signs of forced
entry into the couple's

apartment and report
that the attack

was at close range and violent.

A key part of the investigation
will be confirming

when Sanders was murdered.

We knew that she'd
been home for some time.

We're not sure
exactly for how long.

We're still canvassing the
area, talking to neighbors,

trying to pinpoint maybe
an exact time of death.

JOE KENDA: With her boyfriend,
Michael Mason now cleared

as a suspect, detectives
are wondering if Chris

Baker might be involved.

FRANK DILLARD III: He
was given a phone call,

and he agreed to come
meet with the detective

regarding this case.

JOE KENDA: In this
particular case,

Dillard asked Detective
Dotson to begin

the interview with him.

And Dillard observes
the interview

through a two-way mirror.

FRANK DILLARD III:
You start looking

for, where is he sitting?

Does he have his arms crossed?

Is he leaning toward the door?

Mr. Baker does not
exhibit any guilty behaviors

or any behavior of being devious
or withholding information.

JOE KENDA: Baker said that
he was aware she was dating

Michael Mason at the time.

Wasn't trying to
interfere with that.

Just wanted her to know
that if in the future

her circumstances changed, he
would be interested in meeting

her again.

CASSANDRA DOTSON: Chris
seemed to care about Carmen.

They were friends.

I think they had a love
relationship, not physical,

but caring.

FRANK DILLARD III: Chris
living about 180 miles away,

and his phone records put
him not near Ridgeland

on the night of the murder.

CASSANDRA DOTSON: At
that point, we did

not feel that he was a suspect.

JOE KENDA: And so everything
about this, including

his alibi, is airtight.

Baker is not involved.

There was no triangle, and
Baker is not part of anything.

So Dillard is faced, as all
homicide detectives are,

with the need to start over.

You pull all the stops out
when you're working a homicide.

If you don't have anything to go
on, you go back to the basics.

You start from point A.
You go back to point Z.

JOE KENDA: So he begins
with recordings of Mason.

He mentioned that
couple of co-workers

had been to his house.

We got to figure out who
would commonly come over.

And we got to vet
all of these people.

FRANK DILLARD III: When I
initially heard the name Robert

Harvey, I thought
I heard it before,

but I wasn't totally sure.

So I went and spoke
with another detective,

and I asked him about that name.

Oh, yeah, I remember Harvey.

He remembers it
because he was going

to serve an arrest warrant on
him in a sexual assault case.

FRANK DILLARD III: I actually
went with Detective Morton

to affect the warrant.

But by the time we got
to him, he had fled.

He went to Florida
and stayed for about

a year and a half, two years.

Remind me, what did
you have on him?

Well, we had a
pretty strong case.

According to the victim, she
met Robert at a local mall.

They talked a little
bit, became friends.

He convinced her to
come to his apartment.

I think I've got
some wine coolers.

OK, cool.

But I can't stay long.

I got to work tomorrow.

Oh, me too.

No worries.

FRANK DILLARD III: Once he
got her to his apartment,

she said he became
a different person.

She became very afraid,
and he threatened her.

JOE KENDA: Then he
sexually assaulted her,

and she reported it.

She felt like had she
not given in that she

would have been killed.

Case got dropped when
we couldn't find him.

But we all knew he
was responsible.

JOE KENDA: He even
said that Robert

had a reputation among
local prostitutes

who are also police informants.

They said he was
really nice until he

got you into his environment.

He was very controlling.

And at that point,
you were going

to do what he wanted him to do,
or he was going to hurt you.

After I pulled Robert
Harvey's jacket,

I learned that he
had multiple arrests.

But one causes Dillard
to drop his pencil.

Get up!

I'm so sick of you!

I'm sick of you, Robert!

No!

No!

Shut up!

No!

No!

No!

[choking]

Robert Harvey strangled
his kid's mother.

He has killed before.

In 1996, he was found
guilty of manslaughter

and was sentenced to 20 years
in prison in Mississippi,

but released after five
years due to overcrowding.

That is startling.

FRANK DILLARD III: When you look
at how Carmen was killed versus

how Robert Harvey
killed his kid's mother,

you look at the power struggle.

You're right on top of
somebody, strangling them.

You're right on top of
them, stabbing them.

This is up front and
close and personal,

looking them in the eyes
and taking their life.

I suspected that I was dealing
with a possible serial killer.

No.

Please.

No.

Stop!
No!

Stop!

And he is still on the loose.

Will we have another killing?

[music playing]

JOE KENDA: Detective
Dillard and his team

are investigating the murder
of 22-year-old Carmen Sanders.

They've cleared two suspects,
Chris Baker and Michael Mason.

But the chance
mention of a friend

of Mason's, a Robert Harvey, has
put Dillard on the right track.

BRIAN MYERS: He's already
killed one person, served time.

No!
No!

Now he's out.

We had a possible serial killer.

We wanted to get him
in custody quickly.

Harvey was living less than a
mile away from the crime scene

at another apartment
complex with his mother.

Detective Dotson
reached out to her.

She actually knew
Harvey's mother.

CASSANDRA DOTSON: It was kind
of hard for me to go to her

and seek out this information
because I knew Carolyn.

We were schoolmates.

And she loved her kids.

But I had a job to do.

Ms. Sanders, the
mother, continued

to be in my mind, my heart.

And I wanted to make
sure I got some answers.

When you're dealing with a
family member of a suspect,

you don't want to
reveal too much.

So in this case, we
were trying to be

as transparent as we could
without jeopardizing the case.

CASSANDRA DOTSON: I
could feel her hurt,

but I think she wanted
to do the right thing,

even if it was
involving her child.

JOE KENDA: She said, well,
Robert told me that there was

no forced entry,
that soap had been

scattered all over the
apartment to destroy evidence.

And what was
interesting is this

is right after this occurred.

And none of this had been
released to the media.

JOE KENDA: The only
way Harvey would

know the details he gave his
mother is if he was there,

and he did them.

There was no other explanation.

FRANK DILLARD III:
But we didn't have

the evidence,
circumstantial or not,

at this point to arrest him.

So at this point,
we're building a case.

JOE KENDA: Dillard is aware
that in the past, when

Harvey was wanted by the police,
he would flee the jurisdiction.

So Dillard wants to
put together a plan

that gets him in custody before
he runs to God knows where.

So the plan is to surveil
him and arrest him.

BRIAN MYERS: We actually kept
Mr. Harvey under surveillance

for a couple of days.

FRANK DILLARD III: We
had great expectations.

You might see him talking
to someone who might

be another person of interest.

He might take you to where
some of the stolen items are.

You want to find that smoking
gun, that golden bullet.

Damn.

He's going straight home
three nights in a row.

While they tail him
for a number of days,

Harvey keeps a low profile and
only leaves his mother's house

to go to work.

FRANK DILLARD III: It
was somewhat frustrating.

Robert Harvey was,
indeed, a flight risk.

No one wants to be the one
that let anybody, especially

a murderer, get away.

So you pull out all the
stops on a homicide.

You have to.

Dispatch, give me
Commander Myers now.

JOE KENDA: They are
aware by his record,

his driver's license
is suspended.

So he is illegally operating a
motor vehicle under suspension.

We knew that he had an
incorrect tag on his vehicle,

which was enough to
pull him over and arrest

him on a traffic violation.

JOE KENDA: The point is
to get him into custody

and maybe get a confession.

And the next day,
they get their chance.

Suspect is turning
onto Broad Street.

Everybody get ready.

While we were following him,
we got him inside the city

limits of Ridgeland.

I'm thinking, is
this guy dangerous?

Yes, he's dangerous.

This guy's served time.

He's done this before.

This is not a
normal traffic stop.

We are going to be prepared
for the worst on a traffic

stop of that nature.

Show me your hands!

JOE KENDA: All it takes
is for a split second--

Show me your hands!

Get out of the car!

JOE KENDA: --for
things to go south.

And these officers are
ready for anything.

Show me your hands!

We carefully approach the
car on both sides just

to make sure he wasn't going for
a gun or something like that.

You never know with someone
who's been in the system

that many times.

Turn away from me.

Walk back to the
sound of my voice.

He was compliant.

And we got him out of the
car, got him patted down,

took him into custody.

JOE KENDA: When they bring
him into police headquarters,

Dillard is getting
ready to talk to him

and is assuming he's going to
talk to a hard-nosed convict.

Dillard is considered
to be one of the best

interrogators in the
Ridgeland Police Department.

He stays with it, and
he can play with people

for hours at a time.

FRANK DILLARD III: Now it's
up to me to do my part.

That's a lot of pressure.

The last thing you want
to do is let someone who

committed a homicide get away.

Once I entered
the interview room,

Robert Harvey was very
polite and extremely calm.

FRANK DILLARD III:
You're waiting for him

to make some kind of mistake.

But he's extremely
nice, extremely polite.

In the back of your
mind, you're thinking,

OK, this guy's not
acting like a murderer,

but he's giving off clues
that he knows something.

JOE KENDA: Dillard
asked him, what

do you know about the
murder of Carmen Sanders?

Well, nothing.

I don't know anything about it.

He doesn't mention
that he told his mother

in detail facts of the crime.

He denied knowing Carmen.

He said he didn't know
what I was talking about,

never met her.

JOE KENDA: He asks him where
he was the night that Carmen

Sanders was murdered.

And he reports that
he was visiting

a female friend in
that area that he

hadn't seen for a while.

FRANK DILLARD III:
And I'm thinking,

OK, he's probably lying to
me, but I can't prove it yet.

I've been a
detective long enough

to know that if you
stick with it long enough

and turn over enough rocks,
you're going to find something.

JOE KENDA: Dillard has
to put him off balance.

He has to change
his approach to him.

And a way to do that
is to leave the room.

The greatest enemy you have
when you're guilty of a crime

is your mind.

You begin to think
up horrible scenarios

on what that detective
could be learning when he's

not sitting in front of you.

BRIAN MYERS: Frank
was methodical.

He always took his time.

Sometimes that was
a little unnerving

because it just took so long.

But in an interview, he would
sit for six hours if need be.

So the next step is to
see whether he was visiting

this girl at that time.

FRANK DILLARD III:
I found the friend

that he claimed to have been
visiting and spoke with her.

And she said she hadn't
spoken with him in months.

Dillard begins to
unravel Harvey's story.

I know he's a liar.

I can prove he's a
liar at this point.

Sergeant Dixon was very
integral with the case.

He did the interviews with me.

We checked with that
girl you said you visited.

She hasn't seen you in months.

But you said that's where you
were, but you weren't there.

FRANK DILLARD III:
At that point,

his whole demeanor changed.

He has to redirect
his thinking to, OK,

this guy knows something.

He knows I'm lying
about something.

Harvey then tried to tell
detectives that he and Carmen

were involved with
each other, that they

had been seeing each
other, and they didn't

want Michael to find out.

JOE KENDA: He said, well,
actually, I went over

there to have sex with her.

And she was dead
when I got there.

According to him, someone
else committed the murder.

And he ran out of the
apartment, but what's he done?

He's put himself
in that apartment

alone with a homicide victim.

That's what he's done.

FRANK DILLARD III:
For Robert Harvey

to admit to being in
Carmen's apartment,

that is a game-changer.

Because we went from
being on the outskirts

to not knowing her at all to
being now in that apartment.

JOE KENDA: So Dillard
keeps going with this game

because it's working
nicely for him.

FRANK DILLARD III: I
asked him, OK, well

you're having sex with her.

I understand then why
you're at the apartment.

Tell me about the tattoos
that she has and the scars.

He told me he didn't see
any tattoos and scars.

Well, she has tattoos,
Robert, all over her chest.

FRANK DILLARD III:
He said that, well,

she always kept her shirt on,
which did not make sense to me.

He has a preposterous
answer for every question

Dillard poses.

JOE KENDA: He's obviously lying,
and he's lying very badly.

And at that point, I believe
he asked for an attorney.

By law, you have to
stop the interview.

But at that point, he's
charged with capital murder.

We can offer an
explanation of what

happened in this crime by
conjecture and by opinion,

not by fact.

Mr. Harvey never
said what he did.

We know that our
victim, Carmen Sanders,

was innocently going to
stop by her apartment

to get something before she
met her friend for dinner.

BRIAN MYERS: She
didn't lock the door.

She was coming in and
leaving right away.

Either Robert
knocked on the door,

and she opened it for him,
or she left it unlocked,

and he just came in.

I believe his intent
was on raping her.

[gasps] Uh,
Michael's not here.

It's cold outside.

Let me wait in here for him.

No, I got to go--

Come on, girl.

You know we can hang
for a minute, right?

Get off of me.

BRIAN MYERS: I think he had
a sexual interest in this

and some anger issues as well.

I believe he came in on
her, and she ran from him.

Please.

No.

As small as the apartment was,
she wouldn't have had a way

out no matter where she went.

She was trapped in that bedroom.

JOE KENDA: Carmen encountered
a violent criminal

at exactly the wrong moment.

No!

No!

No!

JOE KENDA: When his instinctive
reaction was to attack

and kill her in a blitz attack.

She grabbed that
comforter as a shield

and tried to wrap herself in it.

JOE KENDA: He stabbed
her multiple times

till the blade of the knife
broke off in her rib cage.

BRIAN MYERS: She's already
down on the ground.

He has the time to go
back to the kitchen

and get another knife and
come back and finish her off.

He drove it all the
way through her body

and stuck it into the floor.

That is violence.

I'm sure somebody
told him to spread

detergent all over everything
to break up fingerprints.

He then took the game
console and fled.

And he wound up
selling it for $100.

[buzzing]

In May 2011, Robert Harvey
pled guilty to the murder

of Carmen Sanders.

He is currently serving a
life sentence in Mississippi.

FRANK DILLARD III: We got
the results that we wanted.

Now, would I have wanted
something stiffer,

maybe the death penalty?

Possibly, but I understand
that sometimes you

have to take what you can get.

In this case, I think
we did pretty good.

It's upsetting because a
person's life is taken away.

They're not able to
fulfill their goals

that they had for their life.

She never finished school, and
she never got to truly be happy

and be where she wanted to be.

JOE KENDA: People can lose
their lives in a violent manner

through absolutely no
fault of their own.

That's the reality of life.

Bad things happen
to nice people.