Original subtitles

The story you are about to see was inspired by actual events.

The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

It was Monday. It was overcast in Los Angeles.

My partner and I were working the day shift out of robbery homicide.

The call came at 1241.

Hikers found a girl's body by the old L .A. Zoo.

The zoo was abandoned way back in the 50s.

That was L .A., the city that refused to grow old. They tore things down and

replaced them before anyone noticed.

I used to come here as a kid.

The fight was overgrown now.

Silent. The buzz of flies, the familiar sound of death.

My name's Friday.

I'm a cop.

Body was partially covered by brush.

Bird watchers found her by the smell.

Damn. How old? My guess, 15 to 18.

At first I thought the throat was cut with a knife, but there's ligature marks

along the hyoid.

Garrity. My guess, wire was sawed back and forth in an attempt to decapitate

her.

Rape?

Inconclusive. With the decomp, insect activity, I'd estimate her TOD sometime

late Friday night.

Clothes, purse, book bag, anything to my idea?

Not that we found. What is this?

Some sort of herbs.

So what, he kills her and then sprinkles herbs on the wound?

And all over her body.

Look inside her mouth.

It's a peyote button, Joe.

She's clean.

This wound, she should have been soaked in blood.

Melted wax.

Someone was lighting candles.

Frank, there's vomit here.

I want this bag in check, maybe get some DNA.

That bothers me.

This?

It's a kid thing. Way to mark your territory.

You ever toss your titties up in a tree, Joe? You want to get those down?

Shoes in a tree.

My partner said kids everywhere did it.

My question, did it have anything to do with this girl's murder?

We ran her through missing persons. One hit. A 16 -year -old, Laurel Witkowski.

The family lived in Hancock Park, an old neighborhood in L .A. built for the

very rich.

Safe. Protected.

The girl had been reported missing this morning. Why?

She'd been dead for two days.

Didn't her parents wonder where she'd been?

When the door opens, the first thing you see is hope.

So my child be there.

When the parents saw our faces, It all started to crumble.

My wife's from Chicago.

She and Laurel only moved to L .A. this summer.

You're Laurel's stepfather.

We were married seven months ago, just after I got transferred to L .A.

What about the biological father?

We've been divorced for five years.

He wasn't involved in her life.

You reported Laurel missing since Friday. That's when we last saw her,

Friday night.

We were leaving for a weekend retreat.

But we wanted her to come with us.

We returned late Sunday night and she wasn't here.

But you waited until this morning to call missing persons?

We thought maybe she was at a friend's house.

It wasn't until she didn't show at school that we got worried.

I know that sounds bad. Laura was very independent.

We wanted to know her friends.

Know where she went, what she did.

Teenagers have their own worlds.

What about boyfriends?

I don't think so.

In Chicago, there was a boy she liked, but here... I had a trouble in school.

We never heard of any?

Laura was not a happy kid.

You don't know that.

She didn't confide in you.

Or me.

She was smart.

She was too smart for her own good.

That doesn't mean she was unhappy.

We're going to have to check Laura's personal effects, her writings, phone

records.

She was the sweetest little girl.

She used to laugh all the time.

What do we leave behind when we die?

Memories for those who knew us and possessions that usually don't mean much

anyone else.

We hoped what Laurel's parents provided would give us a clue to what they didn't

know themselves.

Who Laurel was, and maybe why she died.

Dressage Junior Championship. What the hell's dressage?

Dressage. Horses prancing, doing fancy steps.

Driving school lessons.

First grade report card.

Cook County, Spelling Bee. Phone book.

All of her friends.

It looks like a diary, but it looks like it's in code.

Me and my sisters wrote in code to keep our parents from finding out what we

were up to. Call every name in that phone book. Maybe we can find somebody

can decipher this.

Strange stuff.

Well, it's goth.

Goth? Yeah.

You know, like gothic.

Kids are into it these days. It's witches, druids, stuff like that.

Look how she changed.

That's before and after.

Like Christmas and Halloween.

I don't know how I'd feel if a kid of mine changed like this.

I'd be scared something bad was gonna happen.

Yeah.

Something did.

Shoe casts from 14 different pairs of footprints found within a 10 -meter

of the body. They're all labeled with size and thumb makes. Skateboard shoes,

sandals, gotta be teenagers.

Goes right along with the junk food wrappers.

Tobacco.

Marijuana, diabetes, clothes.

Candles were pure paraffin. Mr. Zogg's sex wax. Seemed someone got creative and

stuck a wick in them. What about the blood? The ground underneath her body

soaked. All matches the victim.

From the tree.

We haven't started on these yet.

They were all tied with cotton laces. Except for these. Blood.

Garrett needs handles.

The wire slices through the hands. Check for prints. Get a DNA match on the

victim. You think they were hers?

I don't know whose shoes they were, but I'll tell you this.

I think they killed her.

Laura Witkowski attended a private high school called Oakcroft Academy.

No graffiti, no boom boxes.

For 20 grand a year, her parents hoped to buy peace of mind, security.

But it didn't work for Laura.

This is Reverend Hugh Hightower, co -headmaster and school chaplain, and

Margolis, head of security for Oakcroft. Matt, long time. It's good to see you,

Joe. I wish you were under different circumstances.

My partner, Frank Smith. Hello, Frank. Joe and I worked together in Metro.

Gentlemen, please have a seat. In our 72 years, not a single student has been

murdered. Suicide, yes.

We had a kidnapping, but never, never this.

The students are devastated.

I'm sure.

Laurel's other classmates. We'd like to speak to anyone that was close to her,

with the parents' permission.

Well, that would take time, Reverend, and time is something we don't have.

We can't allow it without parental consent.

How about Laurel's teachers?

If a teacher said anything about a student that resulted in, I don't know,

problem for the parents... Got to admit, there's a potential for a lawsuit

there.

Lawsuits.

Parental consent.

What were they talking about?

A young girl was murdered and this was all they would do?

Until we come back with a court order. Is that a threat?

The school's attorney would challenge that. Well, just assume for now that our

feelings about Laurel's murder are stronger than yours.

Thanks for your time.

Wyatt got deep through the trachea. The killer was strong.

Any sign of struggle?

Abrasions on the hands and arms.

Had a .2 level of alcohol in the system.

So she could have been unconscious or knocked out while the attack occurred?

Found a partial boot imprint on the upper mid -back. So he killed her when

was face down?

He wraps the carrot around her neck and uses his boot as leverage. And turns her

back over.

Now, if there was rape or sexual activity, the assailant was careful.

trace of semen. It's unusual in a case like this. Now, on the peyote button,

there's relatively little saliva residue.

Most likely placed post -mortem.

For how long after he killed her? My estimate, three, four hours prior to

That's a big button.

I'd like to see the cacti that was cut from. It must have been massive.

Well, maybe purchased legally from a licensed dealer.

Licensed peyote dealers?

Native American church members can buy peyote legally.

Friday.

Thanks. They've checked Laurel's phone records.

The right Reverend Hightower may not be as right or as reverent as he would like

to appear.

I didn't exactly lie. Laurel called you the night she was killed. What would you

call that exactly? An oversight?

An omission?

She's been brutally murdered. If anyone knew she was here, I'd be branded a

pedophile. So she was here. Why?

She just appeared at my door, upset.

A child in need is a child in need. We can see you needing her.

We talked. That's all.

What about? She said she hated her parents.

Said her mother was selfish. Married a man she hated.

Intimated her stepfather was cruel, both mentally and physically.

So after you talked.

She stayed here.

She said she was scared to go back home. She pleaded.

My room's in the back.

Laurel slept down the hall in the guest room.

In the morning, she was gone.

So was my silver and turquoise cross.

Are you willing to take a polygraph?

No. I can understand him talking to Laurel, even offering her a place to

but what I don't understand is why she went to him.

He's not someone you would confide in? Sixteen -year -olds don't confide.

Well, maybe she went there to steal his fancy turquoise cross.

Fits with the satanic angle. Goth stuff.

We gotta break.

Metro cops picked up a kid for tagging. He's spray -painted on a billboard. Big

red letters.

Laurel Witkowski died because of you.

You sprayed Laurel Witkowski died because of you on a billboard across

main entrance at Oak Grove.

Who's the you?

Society. Be more specific.

Human society.

All right, let's cut to the chase, Randy. Did you kill Laurel? Does it

I'm just gonna get blamed for it anyways.

We don't act on blame. That's not satisfying.

We want to arrest the real thing.

So who did kill Laurel?

Let me tell you guys a little story, okay?

A few nights ago, I go to this club, and there's this dwarf there, and he's got

this big, badass belt buckle. It says dwarf on it, and I think, that is so

So I say to the guy, that is so cool. You've got dwarf on your belt buckle.

know what he says to me?

He says, Dwayne.

You get it?

Dwayne, not dwarf.

I just assumed it said dwarf because of how he looked.

What, no comment on my parable about society's preconceived notions?

It's what?

Oh, my God, it's Chester the Molester.

Hey, Huey, what do they got you in for? Fondling little boys or killing more?

Okay, Randy, let's stop wasting each other's time.

Any information you have to help us solve Laura's murder.

Like your whereabouts Friday night.

Oh, you're not going to make me call Mommy and Daddy's attorney, are you?

Because I hate them almost as much as I hate cops. You come up with something,

call us.

God, Vlad.

Put him on the list.

We were calling the names in Laura Witkowski's phone book.

All we heard was no.

Parents didn't want their kids talking.

Not the cops investigating a murder.

I understood.

That didn't mean I wasn't angry.

We had a job to do.

They were in our way.

I got one.

Yeah, that would be great.

Okay, we'll wait here.

A classmate of Laurel's, Mallory Tasker.

Mom's bringing her in.

Laurel taught me how to make a code.

She was wicked smart.

No one without the template could decipher it.

Laurel used to be at our house all the time. It's because she hated being at

own house.

Why is that, Mallory?

She hated her stepfather.

He was a total jerk -off.

Laurel was into some guy.

See?

That's a symbol for a hot guy.

But there's no name.

What does it say about him?

I can get him to notice me.

I'll still...

Reverend Hightower's cross.

You have no idea who Laurel was trying to impress.

After she went goth, she stopped talking to me.

I heard a rumor.

Some guys went to the old zoo to drop peyote.

And they saw Laurel dead.

Who were they?

I don't know.

I...

I always thought, you know, we'd make up.

We'd be friends like we were.

I can't believe she's gone.

Did those guys kill her?

Is that who killed her up there?

No priors, no record, not even any parking tickets gone to warrant. All

check and see if there's an ex -wife. Check the murder weapon, the Garrett,

matching M .O .s. Here's a crime with a similar M .O. Last year, a woman in

Olympia, Washington, was found decapitated, maybe with a wire. No

DNA. Suspect's still at large.

Talk to the detectives in charge. Get the autopsy report.

Check any ritualistic aspects of the crime that might match ours. You got it.

Any help, guys?

Open forum. Let's go.

Only 65 members of the Native American Church in L .A. and one honorary member

has a son attending Ocroft Academy. Also, there's a woman who reported an

assault last night. Stretch a road by the crime scene.

Yes, sir. Come in.

Frank, take the woman. I'll follow the peyote. Let's go. Let's go.

This guy pulls up, offers to take me to the nearest gas station. Now, normally,

I would never get in a car with a strange man, but this guy seemed okay.

Stupid, but understandable.

I was desperate.

So, we start driving, and he says he wants to hold my shoe.

And, of course, I say no, and he freaks out.

Starts attacking me, and I start whacking him with my purse.

I got him backed off and got the hell out of his car.

It's a jerk to get one of my shoes, though.

Uh, Caucasian male.

Mm -hmm.

Late 50s, balding. Mm -hmm. And the car, white four -door? Uh, yeah.

Maybe Japanese. I don't know.

Uh, one thing, there was a pedal on the passenger side because I cut my foot

getting out. Like a driving instructor's vehicle?

Uh, I wouldn't know. My dad taught me to drive in his pickup.

Um, some of my stuff fell out when I was hitting him.

I'm missing a lipstick and a bunch of business cards, and I work at home.

Well, you may want to change your phone number.

Uh, I'll have a patrol car run checks.

Keep an eye out.

Thanks.

Peyote at the crime scene, and a man who could legally possess it, Dr. Rupert

Miles. His son, Wes, was a student in Laurel Wodkowski's class at Oakcroft. I

heard. It's terrible.

Did you know her?

I had seen her around school, picking up Wes, that's my son.

I'd never spoken with her. I don't think I could be much help.

Are you Native American?

No. I'm an honorary member of the Native American Church, doing research into

addiction and the...

Potentially curative effects of peyote on serotonin rehab pick inhibitors. Do

you have peyote buttons? I have a legal right to possess them.

Where's this going?

Well, for starters, where do you keep them?

They're locked in a safe. A combination safe.

What's the number? A birthday? Anniversary?

I'd like to speak to your son.

Wes had nothing to do with this.

You have to understand how traumatic this crime has been for these children.

He knew his son was lying.

That's why I'd never get to him.

I couldn't allow him to be subjected to questions without seeking advice from an

attorney.

Scary, isn't it?

I called in a favor from my day's working Metro.

Matt Margulis was never much of a cop.

I wondered how good he was at providing private security at Oakcroft.

I needed information.

If there was one thing Matt loved, it was the sound of his own voice.

All in all, I would say private security is a good gig, it's good money. I'm

going to need help with the doctor's son, a feyote.

Oh, you scared the hell out of Dr. Miles, you know. He called.

He's getting his kid out of town. Well, somehow that kid's involved.

Well, it's too late. He's gone.

By the way, I need a number two.

Have you thought about early retirement?

I'm going to ignore that. What?

You're blocking access to witnesses, Matt. Were you offering me a bribe? No,

didn't mean it that way. Well, that's how I took it. Well, I'm sorry. You

misunderstood. Well, then let me make something very clear.

You help us and help us now or you could be facing obstruction charges. You

don't get a free ride for being an ex -cop, pal.

Now, that goth kid, Randy Southbrook, is he involved?

I don't know.

Kids went up there where Laurel died.

Now, besides the doctor's kid, who else would know about the peyote?

Wes Miles' best friend is a surfer kid, Jerry Richter. I'm not saying he was

there, but he might know.

One advantage of having a younger partner is his fluency in several L .A.

regional dialects.

Gate rat, snowboarder, and surfer.

Like the ones you're wearing. What size are you? Ten? Ten and a half?

Eleven. You want to try on a pair?

What's the damage?

Eighty -four bucks.

You're Jerry, right?

Yes.

You're cops.

Wes Miles. You two are friends, right?

Yeah. Me and Wes are buds.

The peyote.

Whoa.

I don't have to talk to you, right? Let's never go to the old zoo, Jerry. I

mean, legally, I got no obligation.

How about you? Been to the zoo lately?

Why are you harshing on me? I didn't do anything. Because footprints near the

body, same size and make as the ones you're wearing now.

Candles surrounding the corpse.

Made with Mr. Zogs.

Hey! Get him, Frank.

I'll catch up.

You all right, Jerry?

You're not the brightest bulb on the porch, are you, kid?

Come on, let's go.

How you doing, Frank?

I'm okay.

You look like hell.

Watch your head.

While some parents try to protect their kids by keeping them away from us,

others are refreshingly straightforward.

My son and I had a little talk.

He's here to tell you exactly what happened.

Isn't that right, Jerry?

Thanks, Mr. Richter.

So we drop the Yodis.

You guys ever taken peyote?

Kicks your ass.

This isn't the first time?

West's dad drops them in the name of science. Go on.

And we wait for the old heave -ho to kick in.

Before you trip, peyote makes you barf.

I head for the bush, and as I'm blowing chunks, I see Laurel.

And I totally freak out.

Because her throat, it's like disgusting.

And her head's like half off.

And there's blood everywhere.

And everybody comes up and we're like, this is bad.

This is really bad.

And she looks so sad, you know?

Tragic. And we wanted to help her.

We took the herbs from Wes's dad's medicine bag and sprinkled them on her

I swear.

We're trying to help her.

Dad, you've got to believe me.

I can't sleep.

Her head keeps popping in the back of my eyelid.

It's all right, son. You told the truth.

These look related.

How many are there? Only three right now, but we got a lot of calls out.

We've been missing this the whole time.

We have one in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Two in the state of Washington.

Olympia and Spokane. All killed with a garrison. All three.

Mei -Ling Chow, 16, Olympia, Washington.

Nearly decapitated.

Joanne Henth, age 15, Spokane.

Susan Bellinger, 18, Klamath Falls.

All in the Northwest.

And all on their teens.

They find garrison in the crime scene. Like wires with shoes, maybe.

Those scenes aren't fresh. They're going back to look now.

Peyote, herbs, candles.

Maybe the Old Craft kids were at the old zoo just tripping on peyote, not

killing Laurel Witowski. One thing's missing. What ties our case to the ones

Oregon and Washington?

Northeast Division call. A 911 call from the Reverend Hugh Hightower.

Do you see what he did to my house?

You think Randy Stopbrook did this?

He's the one who spray -painted that billboard, isn't he? Did you see him? I

watching TV when I heard some commotion. He must have taken off when he heard me

coming. You talked to the neighbors? Up and down the block. Nobody saw anything.

I want the works on that. I'm terrified.

That boy killed Laurel Wachowski. Now he's out to get me.

That's a possibility.

I'm an educated man, detective.

I'm no reactionary. But you better arrest him before he kills again.

Randy Southbrook is evil.

Reverend Hightower couldn't resist spewing hellfire and brimstone.

Why?

Was it about his missing turquoise cloth?

Anger that Laurel Witkowski stole it for the boy she was in love with?

Because I had a feeling that boy was Randy Southbrook. Hightower, where are

parents? They're in Stade, which is in Switzerland.

See, I'm a latchkey kid officer. It's the root of my neuroses.

Did you know that Laurel Witkowski was in love with you?

Well, can you blame her?

Laurel went to Hightower's house the night of her murder.

Well, she didn't go over there to get laid.

Hightower likes little boys. He had a blue crotch.

She wanted to steal it and give it to you.

You like music?

Yeah.

Yeah, my dad does that. I bet you two would have a lot in common. Friday

Did you send Laurel to Hightower's house?

Oh, my God. Did something happen?

Someone put a boar's head on Hightower's lawn.

No. Oh, that is superb.

You think I did it?

All right, Randy, game time's over. You either had something to do with Laurel's

murder or you didn't. Either way, I've had it with you.

Now, you're 18 years old. You're going to agree to take a polygraph. You're

going to give us fingerprints and DNA.

What if I say no? What are you going to do? You're going to beat me up? You're

going to stick bamboo shoots under my fingernails? Where'd you get the boar's

head you threw in front of Hightower's?

I know people.

You know where to get a boar's head.

Obviously. You know the difference between a boar's head and a sheep's

Because it was a sheep's head that was in front of Hightower's.

Smart kid like you wouldn't make that kind of mistake.

You didn't do it.

Why do you want to get credit for bad things you don't do?

What's Hightower got against you, anyway?

I don't know. He was up for this big grant a while back, and it's possible

I negatively impacted his chances when I walked up to the visiting committee and

told them that he was my favorite teacher. And for some reason, they held

endorsement against him.

I noticed your reaction when I told you Laurel stole that cross from Hightower

for you.

You liked her.

But you're getting off on being accused of a murder.

I am not.

Makes you feel superior?

Wearing that Halloween mask, people judge you how you look?

You do.

Do I?

You'd be the only cop in history that didn't.

Nothing cut through that shield of grease paint, huh?

Even the death of your friend.

I want you to get out of here. Don't come back.

Great.

Joe.

Nancy Pringle, the girl that was attacked by the Laura Wetaski crime

She thinks she'd be in stock, so I told her to come in.

I changed my phone number, and I spot your patrol car sometimes, but I keep

seeing this white car go by at night.

How often?

Three or four times.

And you think that it was the same make and model as the car you were attacked

in? I think so.

But I can't be sure.

I mean, it's not like I can lean in and check to see if there's dual brake

pedals. Right, the driver, Instructor Scott.

I tried to see his face, but it's always at night.

White, Caucasian, balding.

I think so.

Did you tell the patrolmen?

They're only there a couple of times.

And they say they've never seen the white car.

I'll notify our watch, Commander.

See if we can get some extra patrols to swing by.

It's possible I'm just being paranoid.

Nancy, you were attacked.

Okay? It's not an easy thing to get over.

Not when you're as neurotic as I am.

Everybody in L .A. is neurotic.

I guess that makes me feel better.

She saw a passenger side brake pedal like an instructor's car. At first, we

didn't know what to make of it. The Spokane victim, 15 years old. She took

driving lessons six months ago.

I haven't found out yet if it was dual pedals.

Clambeth Falls, she was 18, just got her license. They're looking to see if she

took lessons.

Did you find it? I didn't even remember it, and I had it in my hand. It was in

the box of her stuff.

Laurel with Kowski was taking lessons at the Addison School of Driving.

We wanted to link to the other cases.

That's a pretty good one.

Frank Smith, LAPD.

You work here at the driving school?

Cliff Hartley. I'm the manager as well as the certified driving instructor.

You have a contract with Oakcroft Academy, right?

We teach spoiled rich kids how to crash their brand new Mercedes.

You know who gave an Oakcroft girl Laura Lukowski lessons?

That'd be me.

I read in the paper about her murder.

Awful. You liked her?

Not exactly. She was a snot -ass just like the rest of them.

Doesn't mean she deserved to die, though.

So where were you Friday night, Cliff?

Oh, you mean the night Laura was killed?

Yeah. I was in Vegas.

A bunch of us flew up together for a bachelor party.

I didn't get back till Sunday. I'll need the names and numbers of those you were

with. Is this the car you gave her the lesson in?

Yep.

How'd that blood get on the pedal?

What blood?

I don't see any blood.

How would blood get into my car?

I don't know. You tell me. Well, how should I know?

Sounds like a trick, huh?

Yeah.

I'll still need the impounder, though.

Thanks.

You're driving instructors back to the party?

Three piles confirmed.

Cliff was in Vegas all weekend. Yeah. I checked with Vegas PD. They went to the

hotel. He was registered.

The lab guys are working all the cars at the driving school. Lots of prints, no

matches. They haven't found blood on a pedal yet.

Something's wrong here.

Cliff Hartley gave her a lesson, but his alibi holds.

Get a look to the other instructors. See if anyone else gave Laura Wachowski a

lesson. And get the whereabouts of them off the night that she was killed.

Frank Smith.

Joe, don't tell me that.

I'll be right down.

I don't want to hear it anymore.

You were supposed to be watching her.

Frank, I'm sorry.

We were doing six patrol checks a shift.

You couldn't sit out here all night. Tell it to her.

I'll let it go.

The woman came to us for help, Joe.

She said that she was scared he might come back. L .A. City's got, what, four

million people?

Under 9 ,000 cops. What are you going to do?

Joe, here's what you're looking for. Get him to the lab now.

Joe, Frank, it's Ben Jameston. He saw something that you need to hear.

What is it? I was out running like I always am at this time, and I noticed

same car circling the block. And you didn't drive the car? Yeah, it was a

four -door. I didn't get the make.

You see the driver?

In profile.

He was an older guy, bald kind of. Looks like a professor.

Sounds like the guy Nancy described. Can you remember anything else?

When the car went under a streetlight, I saw a bumper sticker on the back.

Rectangular. Student driver.

So, Cliff, one of your cars was out last night.

Commonwealth and Finley?

Nuh -uh.

Cars are either locked up on the lot or in for servicing. So who does the

servicing? We have a deal with a guy named Jeff Murphy.

This guy Jeff, he ever give a lesson?

No. You have to have a driving instructor's license to teach driving.

does service.

So he never drove your car?

No.

Can you count to ten, Cliff?

Because that's what you'll get for accessory to murder.

Jeff drove your car.

Well, if you mean because one time I got sick, yeah, it did happen.

You let Murphy give a lesson to Laurel Lukowski.

Like I said once.

And your little omission might have cost a woman her life.

Seriously? Hey, my bad, totally.

Where is Jeff?

Now.

Jeffrey Jackson Murphy, born Galveston, Texas, August 21st, 1951.

Father's deceased, mother hasn't seen him in over a decade.

No siblings, as far as we can tell, no friends. Now there's a profile.

Aggravated assault, Lincoln, Nebraska, 98, did nine months, a year probation,

nothing since.

SID found a partial of the Nancy Pringle crime scene, three -point match, not

perfect, but good possible for Jeff Murphy.

Or I'll personally drive over to your payroll office and become very

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Jeff Murphy's last paycheck went to 4722 Gatwick.

Call for backup, tell him we're on our way.

All right, this is what we know. Guy like kid, like to drive him around. Like

shoes. Fix his cars for a living.

Judging from where he was staying, has to keep working to keep eating. Talk to

family, friends, anyone who's had any contact with this maniac.

Talk to driving schools.

See if they have any new mechanics in.

Driving schools.

There were hundreds of them.

Dual brake pedals.

The only other thing we knew was that Jeff Murphy was a mechanic.

That was all we had to find him.

That... 25 telephones and detectives with persistence.

I could feel Murphy's presence.

He was close, out there somewhere, just inches under our radar.

We had to find him before he found another victim, marked by a pair of

tied with wire.

California School of Driving, out in Pomona.

Manager's been looking for a new mechanic for weeks.

Guy came in this morning, answered their prayers and ours.

Certified dual brake specialist.

Name Jeff Murphy.

Yes. Jeff Murphy?

Yeah? Come on up out of there. Good day.

What can I do for you folks?

Get up.

Get up.

Put your hands behind your back.

I'm going to arrest for the murder of Laura Wachowski and Nancy Fredel.

How did he get away with it?

Wouldn't any woman, even a child, look into those eyes and see danger?

But they didn't.

A drifter moving from place to place, leaving little of himself behind.

except as victims.

Cold cases all over the country are becoming hot. Phoenix, St. Louis,

Montgomery. Bangor, Maine, Atlanta, Orlando.

Man got around.

He doesn't want a lawyer. Get his statement. We'll deal with the cold

I enjoyed driving little Laurel around despite her unbecoming black makeup and

disappointing tennis shoes.

She was the one that told me about the old zoo, how it was a party place for

kids.

I like kids.

Yeah, I can tell.

Friday night, little Laurel comes alone.

And I think she was drunk because she kind of passed out there in the grass.

Girls her age shouldn't be drinking.

Well, they shouldn't.

Yeah.

I just felt her a little, and she started to scream, and I told her not

They never listen.

And what?

That's when I got out the wire.

Grabbed her shoes.

I like ladies' shoes.

That's how come I gave that girl Nancy a lift.

She had these nice, buttery, soft, leathery shoes.

Sometimes they have rings.

Jewelry.

A cross, maybe.

Something that's worth a few bucks.

I got Laurel turned over, got my boot in her back, got the wire on

her, and she got all quiet and nice.

And I could be with her as much as I wanted without having to hear all that

screaming.

You want to solve your case, scour the crime scene vicinity.

Shoes might still be there.

Look up in the trees, the telephone poles. If you find shoes tied together

wire, you've got your murder weapon.

All right, keep me posted.

He was in the lobby, said he wouldn't leave until he could talk to you.

Thanks.

Hey, uh, I said on the news you caught Laurel's killer.

Not just Laurel's.

So how many people did he kill?

What are you doing here, Randy?

I was just wondering if, um, maybe I had some of the laurels I could have.

Well, you'd have to check with Laurel's family.

Yeah, I tried that, but, uh, for some reason, they don't want to have anything

to do with me.

I just want to know if you thought that, uh...

Maybe if Laurel didn't go to Hightower's that night, you know, and steal that

cross from me, that maybe... I don't know.

Yeah, I feel kind of bad about that.

I can tell.

Anyway, thanks for...

You know, catching Laurel's killer.

You're welcome.

Why had he come in here?

I guess to tell me what I already knew.

He wasn't as tough as he pretended to be.

I could barely remember what I was like at his age.

I rebelled in my own way, kids do, but...

It was a safer world back then, smaller.

What can you tell kids?

We try not to scare them, keep them too close.

We look for ways to say the one thing they can't really hear.

They're not immortal.

Hubert Hightower's position as chaplain and head of school at Oakcroft Academy

was terminated.

He pled guilty to filing a false police report and is serving weekends in the LA

County Jail.

Jeff Murphy confessed to the murders of 13 women in seven different states.

His trial in California has been continued until all extradition charges

been filed.