Original subtitles

[ gunshot ] aaah!

Narrator: Two murder investigations

From the case files of lieutenant joe kenda.

You all will died today!

Narrator: First, a family affair spirals out of control.

[ gunshots, tires screech ]

Oh, my god! Dad!

There was no justice.

Narrator: And kenda must figure out why.

Whatever happened started right here.

Drop the keys out the window! Do it now!

If you're being handled here at gunpoint...

Back off the car!

...Don't do something stupid.

Narrator: Then... [ bell tolls ]

A church of god turns into a house of horrors.

I am the lord jesus christ!

People were praying for their lives.

He has an inherent violence about him.

Don't touch the knife, richard.

Benjamin: He's not complying.

He was just kind of staring right through us.

♪

Don't do it, richard!

[ gunshot ]

In my business, you become a very light sleeper.

I had lot of people who wanted to kill me, among other things

If I would hear any noise, I was awake.

I was not just awake, I was wide awake.

This is the way our life was.

It was from one event to the next.

♪

There's one thing that never changes -- murder.

A life has been taken.

Their stories are now my stories.

I never know where a case is going to lead,

But I'll never stop until it's solved.

Somebody has to look out for the victim.

If you kill, I will find you.

-- Captions by vitac -- www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by discovery communications

♪

It's the middle of the night.

Larry and kelly schlott are asleep...

[ banging on door ]

...When all of a sudden...

Larry. What was that? Hmm? Hmm?

Sounds like someone at the front door.

Who the hell could it be at this hour of the night?

I don't know. I'll go check it out.

Stay here. Larry, what are you doing?

[ banging continues ] shh.

Larry picks up a baseball bat.

♪

[ banging continues ]

♪

He's ready to use it if he has to.

♪

Louise?

He's shocked when he opens the door.

This neighbor louise is crying and frantic.

[ crying ] it's peter. He's been shot.

I called 911, but I need you to help me.

Where is he?

She knew that larry knew cpr,

So she asked him to come render aid to pete.

Oh, my god. Pete! Pete, pete!

[ crying ] oh, my god.

Obviously, has serious injuries.

Oh, god.

Hold on, pete. [ blows ]

[ grunts ] you with me, buddy?

[ siren wailing in distance ] [ sobbing ] god.

Mann: Larry knows it's not working.

It's not going to be able to save him.

[ blows ]

[ wailing continues ]

[ sobbing ] no.

Narrator: A few miles north...

Sergeant joe kenda

Is struggling with his own personal battle.

Kenda: I don't sleep well,

And I would often slip out the front door

And be on my front porch and smoke a cigarette

And think about all the things I've done

And all the things I've seen and cannot unsee.

[ pager beeps ]

Huh.

And now here we go again.

♪

Narrator: Within the hour...

Kenda arrives on scene...

[ police radio chatter, siren wailing ]

...And meets with detective skip arms.

Hey, skip. Evening, joe.

When I arrived on scene,

There was very little activity going on.

There was no traffic in the streets.

It was really very quiet.

So, what have we got?

We've got one shooting victim,

Shot multiple times.

He left here in the ambulance alive,

But we're not sure what his status is now.

You got an I.D.? Yes.

The officer says that the victim is a 35-year-old male

Whose name is peter martinez.

He was shot in the front yard of his own home.

Any witnesses?

Martinez' wife and kids were in the house

At the time of the shooting,

But they've gone to the hospital with him in the ambulance.

That's about it.

They've already awakened

Several of their direct neighbors,

All of whom say they didn't see anything,

So the only thing left for us there is the crime scene itself.

You can learn a lot from a crime scene

If you listen and pay attention.

The crime scene will speak to you.

It will whisper, but it will speak to you.

Victim was lying here when the medical arrived.

What's that?

Looks like a crescent wrench?

Let's make sure we have that dusted for prints.

Arms: It would appear that the crescent wrench

Would have some role in this situation.

It potentially could have either been an offensive

Or a defensive weapon.

We also got some casings over here.

How many?

Five total.

.25-caliber.

We also found a slug in the yard, too.

Arms: The front yard appeared to be trampled down.

So that indicated that perhaps there was

Some kind of struggle that may have occurred

On the yard and then moved into the street.

Well, whatever happened started right here.

My experience tells me there's a confrontation.

Words get exchanged, threats are made,

Things get out of hand,

And it ends with gunfire.

♪

[ indistinct arguing ]

Which hospital was the victim transported to?

St. Francis.

Okay, skip. I'll meet you there. Works for me.

So, for now, we've learned all we can here.

♪

We need to respond to the hospital where our victim is

To determine, "a," his condition,

And, more importantly, "b,"

That's where we believe we're gonna find our witnesses.

Mr. Martinez was shot five times in all --

Once in the shoulder, chest, stomach,

And twice in the arm.

He's in surgery now, but [sighs] it looks doubtful.

You know, another thing that you should probably be aware of

Is that the medics said they found him in his boxer shorts

When they first picked him up.

Really?

The odds are he was either getting ready for bed

Or was already in bed,

And when he was awakened by something,

He came out in his underwear,

And whatever happened next resulted in five holes

That he didn't have a little while earlier.

Is his family around?

His wife and children are in the lobby.

Alright. Thanks, doc.

So we encounter first the wife of the victim, louise,

And she has two sons are with her --

Peter jr. And eric.

Excuse me. I'm sergeant kenda. This is detective arms.

I'm louise.

Do you think we could talk to you for a minute

With you and your sons?

Well, um...

I'd prefer if they had a little more time,

But I can talk to you.

Kenda: They're worried about their father.

No point in even attempting a conversation with them.

Could you tell us a little bit about your relationship

With your husband?

Well, we aren't, um, technically married,

But peter and I have been together for over 15 years.

And everything was good between you guys?

Yeah. We had a good relationship.

We actually work together,

So we argue sometimes but nothing serious.

Peter and louise are both custodians

At a building downtown.

Doesn't pay a lot of money and it's hard work,

But they get to work together, and they enjoy that,

And it's something that louise really is happy about

That she gets to spend her days

Working with the love of her life.

So, what exactly happened last evening?

Well, um...

Peter and I were working, and we got home around 10:30.

They went in to check on their boys,

And they then made their way to bed.

[ sighs heavily ] I'm exhausted.

What do we have going on tomorrow, babe?

Um, eric's got baseball in the afternoon,

And I'm meeting lucy for lunch.

Alright. Well, I think I'm just gonna read

Some stuff this weekend.

Woman: Wake up, peter!

What the -- who the hell's that?

[ groaning ] oh, this again.

He goes and opens the door...

♪

Peter! [ laughs ]

...And it's his sister karen michaels...

What's up, brother?

You gonna let me in or what?

...And her friend lucia,

And they are both extremely intoxicated.

♪ hey, louise ♪

Let's have a drink!

They had been at a party, and they came over there

To keep the party under way.

Peter and his sister get along?

Sort of. I mean, karen can be a real pain in the ass.

[ echoing laughter ]

Kenda: He was really sometimes super annoyed with her

Because of her manners and why she lived her life

The way she did, of which he did not approve.

He thought she drank too much and too often and so on.

There's always this back and forth between he and his sister,

And now his sister's at his front door.

At first, peter was annoyed, but, after a while,

He started to loosen up and relax.

I don't know what either one of you are talking about.

I remember the old days.

No, you don't.

And they open some beers

And they turn on some music,

And they're talking and they're actually enjoying themselves.

I hope they do another block party.

I gotta take a leak.

♪ I'll be back ♪

[ laughter ]

Everything seemed to be going well.

What's that song?

You can change it if you want.

The stereo's in junior's room.

Just try to be quiet. He's sleeping.

♪

You want another? Oh, yeah. You know me.

But, all of a sudden, something happened.

Louise heard some type of a commotion

In peter jr.'s room.

[ crying ] peter, you ass [bleep]

Come on, lucia. Let's go.

Wait. Why?

I said come on. Let's get the hell out of here.

What happened? Karen, what's wrong?

Ask your damn husband!

Louise asked peter what happened,

And his response was, "oh, that's just karen.

Good riddance. I'm glad she's gone."

They then went to bed.

[ inhales deeply ]

Not 30 minutes after we laid down,

We, um -- we heard people shouting outside.

Karen: Come out, peter, you ass!

Peter! Come outside, you jackass!

Damn it, karen! I want to talk to you!

Louise looks out the window.

Get your ass out here, you...

Kenda: She sees two cars -- a red car and a gray card.

And there's a bunch of people out there,

And she doesn't know who these people are.

What were they saying?

I don't know, but they sounded upset.

So louise is gonna call 911 to report this problem.

Karen: Come out here, you ass! You...

Peter!

Dispatcher: 911. What's your emergency?

But before she can say a word...

Hi. There's --

[ gunshots ]

[ tires screech ]

So I dropped the phone, and I ran outside.

[ tires screeching ]

The red car was gone,

And the gray one was pulling away.

[ sobbing ]

And peter was just lying there in the street, all alone.

Do you think karen could have shot peter?

I don't think so. I mean, it's her own brother.

Okay. You said you saw a gray car.

Do you know what type of car was?

Yeah, I think so.

Having this information at hand,

It's important for us to try to find the gray car...

Sergeant kenda to dispatch.

...The occupants of the car...

I need to put out an apb.

♪

So we offer the description of the suspect vehicle over the air

To all officers, all points bulletin --

A suspect vehicle in what probably is a fatal shooting.

Consider armed and dangerous.

[ police radio chatter ]

Narrator: Luckily... [ siren wailing ]

...It doesn't take long for an officer

To spot the vehicle in question.

31 to dispatch. Dispatch to 31.

Got eyes on that possible suspect vehicle.

Go ahead and send me backup.

2000 block of corona street.

[ siren wailing, police radio chatter ]

We basically call it a felony traffic stop.

Driver!

Turn off the car and drop the keys out the window!

They fear that the occupants are potentially involved

In a serious violent felony crime.

Do it now!

So the driver was directed to exit first.

♪

Driver, step out -- slowly!

♪

Keep your hands where I can see 'em.

♪

He was a tall black male, which didn't fit the descriptions.

Back up to the sound of my voice! Do it now!

Passenger! Step out of the car! Do it now!

♪

When the passenger steps out of the car...

Officer: Hands on your head.

...She is karen michaels,

Sister of the victim.

How convenient.

So now we do have the right car,

And we certainly have the right people.

Now this situation has become dangerous.

♪

We're investigating the shooting of a father of two children,

Peter martinez,

And patrol officers have just stopped a car

That was seen fleeing from the scene...

Officer: Driver, step out -- slowly!

...Containing an occupant that was involved

In a disturbance with the victim.

On your knees!

[ police radio chatter ]

You're being handled here at gunpoint.

Don't do something stupid.

Don't move.

Arms: Because of the short time frame between the shooting

And the contact with this vehicle...

Alright. Stand up.

...The chances are very high

The occupants were involved in the crime.

Put your hands behind your back!

Do it now!

So they had to be treated

As potentially violent felony suspects.

It's clear.

So the two occupants were driven to the detective bureau.

♪

And once there, they were placed in separate rooms.

[ sighs ]

So, what do you want to do?

Why don't you take karen? I'll talk to this guy.

Works for me.

♪

This individual identifies himself as hank michaels,

And he is karen michaels' husband,

And they have this car registered

In both of their names.

Is someone gonna finally tell me

What the hell is going on?

I was actually hoping that you'd be the one to do that.

Mann: We know karen left the house upset.

Did she go home and tell her husband

That she had this fight with her brother?

And did he come back over to the house in his gray car

To avenge his wife?

How'd you end up going for a drive

With your wife so early in the morning?

[ breathes deeply ] man...

I was sleeping,

And karen came home all worked up.

He says his wife woke him up when she came home.

She said she got in a terrible fight with her brother

And she wants him to drive her to her mother's house.

And you didn't ask what went on between her and peter?

No! They're always arguing about something.

And, besides, karen was drunk,

And I did not want to get her going.

So I just...

Drove her to her mother's house.

And as they were in the act of doing that,

They're stopped by the police

And they got guns pointed at 'em

And he doesn't know what's going on.

So you never went to peter's house at all?

No. Not at all.

So, there's hank's story.

Is that believable? Well, maybe it is.

Think back to louise.

Louise says she sees karen and some people.

If this guy is there to defend his wife,

He's the one knocking on the door.

Arms: So we try to find a record for hank.

He doesn't have a record. He's clean.

At face value, there's no reason to believe

He's being deceptive to us.

So now our next step is to want to talk with karen

And see where that takes us.

♪

[ banging ] wake up, ms. Michaels.

[ sighs ]

What the hell do you want?

I want to talk to you about your brother.

Which brother?

Kenda: Karen michaels is beyond drunk.

She's loaded,

And she couldn't hit the ground with her hat.

Your brother peter -- peter martinez.

What about him? He was shot five times.

Do you happen to know who did that to him?

I ain't talkin' until I get a lawyer.

Well, you're drunk, karen,

But you know enough to keep your mouth shut

When you're in a jam, and guess what, babycakes --

You are in a jam.

Alright. Well, we're still gonna hold you

For the time being.

Whatever.

So have we gotten very far? No.

We have her, which is useful,

But she has nothing to say to us.

So now we need another pathway

To find out who we're looking at.

[ bell tolls ]

Arms: So we felt that with some time passing,

We would want to circle back

And see if either louise knew anything new

Or if, by this point, either of her sons were willing to talk.

Joe: Have you received any word on your husband?

He went in for another surgery,

So we're just here to get something to eat

Before heading back.

We were wondering if either one of your sons

Might be able to talk to us.

I really don't think eric is,

But junior could probably talk to you.

Junior! Come here for a minute!

Peter jr. Is in high school.

We think he's our best shot because he's a little older

And maybe a little less emotional...

Do you want to have a seat?

...And maybe a little more honest.

Junior, did you happen to see

Any of what happened to your father last night?

Yeah.

Can you tell us what happened?

I was sleeping in my bedroom

When my aunt karen woke me up.

♪

Aunt karen? What's going on?

How do you work this thing?

They had long lengths of speaker wire

Coming from the stereo in the son's bedroom

To the speakers in the living room area.

Peter jr. Says that she wants to change the music

But she can't make this thing operate.

Aunt karen!

Karen, what the hell are you doing in here?

Damn it, karen, don't be disrespecting my house!

It's not my fault that your radio's crap.

Karen, get the hell out of my son's room now.

Oh, shut up. What you gonna do --

[ crying ]

And he slaps her, open-handed, in the face hard.

You're always walking around here drunk, asking me for money!

You don't respect no one! Get out of here!

[ crying ]

Go to hell, peter, you ass [bleep]

Peter jr.: She stormed out of the room,

And my dad told me to go back to sleep.

But...

A little while later, something woke me up again.

Karen: Wake up, peter!

He was awakened, so he gets up in a haze.

Looks out the window.

He sees his aunt, karen michaels.

Her children are with her.

Karen, what are you doing, you crazy [bleep]?

And they are in an argument.

Did you see what happened?

Well, I-I ran outside and tried to help.

Dad! What's going on!?

Get the [bleep] off my property! Whatever.

Man, [bleep] you, karen. Get the [bleep] out of here.

Dad! Junior, go get my gun!

And the kids says, "I didn't know what he meant

Because we don't have a gun.

I guess he was trying to bluff 'em."

Hey, hey, hey. Hey. Calm down.

Calm down. Calm down.

Apparently, it worked, because he saw karen

And the kids start retreating.

I went back inside because I thought it was over,

But...It wasn't.

Peter jr. Says...

[ gunshots ]

[ tires screech ] oh, my god! Dad!

...He heard several gunshots.

[ tires screech ]

As the gray car drove away,

Peter jr. Tells us that he was able to see the person

That was in the passenger seat,

And that is most likely our shooter.

♪

This is the break we need.

Did you recognize him?

Yes. I-I know it is.

This whole search process and this investigation

Has been to find a good witness,

And we have just discovered a star witness.

Now, who might this shooter be?

♪

[ police radio chatter ]

We're investigating the shooting of peter martinez,

Who was gunned down in front of his own home.

Oh, my god! Dad!

We've now learned that his son peter jr...

[ tires screech ] ...Got a good look

At the shooter.

So, what's the guy's name?

Jake ferguson.

So, jake is our dude.

It isn't karen, and it's certainly not her husband.

Who's jake ferguson?

He dates my cousin nina.

The information that peter jr. Could give us about jake

Is he's a white male, about 18 years old or so.

He's only been in town a few weeks,

But everybody classifies him as a bully,

And everybody knows that jake always has a gun.

Do you know where we could find this jake?

I think he's in the army or something.

Thank you for talking to us.

We'll let ourselves out.

Thank you. Thank you.

♪

Kenda: So we drive over to fort carson,

And we find out that mr. Ferguson is living

And working on fort carson as a private e1

In the united states army.

So we have to elicit the cooperation

Of military police authorities,

And they snatch up jake ferguson in a heartbeat.

Jake, I'm with the colorado springs police department.

Do you know why I'm here?

I think so.

You can just see it in his eyes. It's obvious that he's scared.

As someone who interviews and interrogates people,

You need to gear your questioning

Based on what you see in order to be effective.

♪

Am I under arrest? Well, not at the moment.

But I need to know what happened last night.

[ breathes deeply ]

Okay.

I'll tell you everything.

He didn't hold back.

He really needed to get this off his chest.

I was at my girlfriend, nina's, house.

We had a few beers, watched a movie.

Then I fell asleep on the couch

When her brother rico woke me up.

Jake! Jake! Jake!

Come on. Get up. Get up, man.

What's going on? Come on. We've got to go.

Where's nina? She's already in the car.

We got to help my mom. You got your gun?

Yeah, right here. Alright, let's go.

Kenda: Their brother rico tells jake

They're gonna go settle a fight

Between nina's mom and her brother peter martinez.

He sees this as an opportunity to be an enforcer,

To go help the family defend their honor, so to speak.

♪

Who went to peter's house?

Karen was hammered, so I drove her car.

Nina, rico, and their other sister, marta,

Were in another car.

♪

Peter! Come out here! I want to talk to you!

You ain't gonna hit our mom!

Get your ass out here, uncle peter!

Jake: I kind of hung back by the car

While they went up to the house to confront peter.

Come out here!

Peter jerked the door open, already in a rage...

Karen, what the [bleep] you doing, you crazy [bleep]?!

You a big man hitting a woman, uncle peter?

Get the [bleep] off my property!

...And is screaming and yelling

And using obscenities toward karen michaels and her children.

Man, learn to control your kids!

You don't get to tell me what to do with my kids!

I'm gonna kick [bleep] peter!

Beat his ass, mom!

What the [bleep]? Get off me, karen!

Jake says a scuffle begins,

Followed by them falling down

And rolling around in the dirt in the front yard.

[ grunting ] get up, pete!

Kick his ass, mom. [ laughs ]

Get the [bleep] off my property.

Jake said that karen actually pulled peter's pants off,

Leaving him just in his underwear,

And then she started laughing at him.

[bleep] you, karen.

Touch me again.

Do something! Hey, d-dad!

Come on! What's going on?

Junior, go get my gun!

Get in the [bleep] truck! You don't want me to drive?

Jake: So they started heading back to the cars.

I go to get in the front,

But karen insisted on driving.

[ engine sputters ]

[ tires screech ]

[ engine sputters ]

Come on, damn it!

Because karen was drunk,

She was having difficulty getting the car started.

[ engine sputters ] peter: Get the hell out of here!

What's wrong with you?!

Yo, back off! Back off the car!

What, are you deaf?! Are you drunk?! It's stupid!

I said, "back off the car," old man.

What did you call me?

Think you're tough, white boy?

Jake says that he then sees peter

Reach for his waistband

And pull out an object

He said was long and shiny.

[ distorted voice ]

[ gun cocks ]

Jake panics.

♪

[ gunshots ]

♪

...And empties that gun into peter martinez

From a range of 3 or 4 feet.

And every bullet he fires hits him.

Oh, damn. Oh, damn.

Give me -- give me the gun. Give me the gun.

It's not like he wasn't asking for it.

[ engine sputters ]

Even though she was still pretty intoxicated,

The fact that she didn't care

Whether or not her brother just got shot

Is pretty callous.

What did karen do with the gun?

I don't know. I think she has it somewhere in the house.

Well, jake, I appreciate you being honest with me,

But I'm gonna have to place you under arrest.

Go ahead and cuff him.

♪

[ pager beeps ]

[ sighs ]

Peter martinez has been pronounced dead at the hospital.

So now it's no longer attempted murder,

It's just murder.

Narrator: After jake ferguson's confession,

Investigators go to the house of karen michaels

In search of the murder weapon.

We find a .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol

That's obviously been wiped clean,

But ballistics says this is the weapon

That fired the shots that killed peter martinez.

Arms: Jake was charged with second-degree murder.

Karen was charged with accessory to a second-degree murder.

And then the district attorney ultimately made the decision

To take this case to a grand jury.

And after the case was presented to the grand jury,

They came back with a no true bill.

Meaning that, in their opinion, there is insufficient evidence

To prove beyond a reasonable doubt

Jacob ferguson engaged in criminal behavior.

So mr. Ferguson was released without charges,

And, therefore, so was karen michaels,

And the matter was closed.

You know, it's the kind of thing where...

Really, there was no justice --

No justice for peter, no justice for his family --

Because nobody had to be accountable

For what happened to him.

Had peter gone back in the house,

Closed the door, you know, would he still be alive today?

Just makes you wonder.

It was just a sad set of circumstances

That cost somebody their life.

♪

Mix old family roots,

Loss of control of your emotions,

And alcohol, and it often results in violent deaths.

That's a terribly sad thing in the case of peter martinez.

Narrator: Coming up,

An unhinged madman threatens the safety

Of an entire church congregation.

You all will die today!

This is st. Mary's cathedral.

How could this have happened in here?

♪

[ bell tolling, choir vocalizing ]

Ryder: In January of 1996, the church service was going on.

It was Sunday morning, downtown.

How are you?

Near the end of the first service,

An usher, ron meredith, is passing the collection plate

Like they do every Sunday.

[ choir singing, organ playing ]

But a man is sitting in the back

And just seemed a little out of it.

These people don't know what the hell they're doing.

[ music continues ]

Give it to me! Excuse me, sir.

That's not yours. Give it to me, damn it!

Give me that!

There was a lot of confusion. Sir, back off.

Ron is able to grab it, and the deranged man

Told everybody...

I am the lord jesus christ, and you all will die today!

That made people very, very nervous.

Honey, call the police.

♪

Narrator: Later that morning,

Lieutenant joe kenda is on his way into work.

Dispatcher: Dispatch to x-ray 1.

Radio cracks and says, "x-ray 1,"

My call sign.

Go for x-ray 1.

Report of a shooting on bijou street.

Redirect immediately.

Copy that. I'm on the way.

Ooh? On a Sunday morning, when this town

Is either in church or still asleep?

Pretty unusual.

[ tires screech, siren wailing ]

♪

[ bell tolling ]

[ wailing continues ]

I arrived at the address before I realized

This was st. Mary's church.

It's a huge church, beautiful building.

Been there for many, many years.

My parents got married there in 1938.

Good morning, lieutenant. Morning.

What in the world is going on here?

Come inside. Take a look.

[ police radio chatter, indistinct conversations ]

♪

So I walk in that church, as I have done many times.

I'm directed to the men's room.

Whoa.

♪

This is st. Mary's cathedral.

How could this have happened in here?

Narrator: Less than an hour before lieutenant kenda

Arrived on scene...

[ people screaming ]

...Chaos was just beginning to unfold at st. Mary's.

Hello. 911?

Dispatcher: 911. What's your emergency?

A man just tried to steal from my church,

And then he threatened to kill us,

And I'm afraid he's going to try to come back.

We'll send units immediately.

Okay. Thank you.

[ breathing heavily ]

[ siren wailing ]

Narrator: C.S.P.D. Officers immediately respond,

Including patrolman robert benjamin.

In January of '96,

I was in the patrol division.

Who here put in the call?

Yeah, right here. We did.

Is the suspect still inside?

No. He fled.

He came in, tried to take our collection plate,

And threatened everybody.

Where's the rest of the congregation?

They're inside.

Okay. Can you describe this guy?

Well, he's a pretty big guy.

Mr. Merriman told me he was kind of a stocky build,

About 180 pounds.

Ryder: As ron is talking to the police,

Something interesting happened.

Yeah, I think I know this guy.

His name's dearsmith -- richard dearsmith.

You sure about that?

Yeah. Things happened pretty quickly in there,

But I'm pretty sure it's him.

So not only are they just looking for a description,

They're looking for richard dearsmith.

Give me a moment, please.

Golf 85 to dispatch.

Can I get an apb on a white male,

6'2", 180 pounds,

Named richard dearsmith?

Narrator: When officers call in the suspect's name...

Dispatcher: Patrol, did you say dearsmith?

Narrator: ...It immediately raises red flags.

That's right.

You have a pen handy?

So they find out that mr. Dearsmith

Has a rather sensitive criminal record.

So, apparently, our suspect

Has been arrested 17 times in 3 different states.

Two of those were for assaulting an officer.

So you take that in sum,

And this not only is a disturbed person,

But he has an inherent violence about him,

And he's physically capable of carrying it out.

We have his name and description out there.

We're looking for him.

You call us if anything else happens.

Okay. Thank you so much.

Ryder: The police leave the scene

And start looking for the suspect in the neighborhood.

[ siren wailing ] kenda: He resides in the area.

Witnesses in his neighborhood report

They saw dearsmith leave his house,

Carrying his large knife, which they say is routine for him.

He's always ranting out loud and talking to himself

Or to invisible people,

And they are very frightened of him.

He's obviously deeply disturbed.

Narrator: While officers are busy canvassing the area,

The congregation picks up where it left off.

[ organ playing ]

Man: A reading from the first letter of st. Paul

To the corinthian brothers and sisters

"strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.

Love is patient."

Ryder: At that time....

Man: "love is kind."

...Richard dearsmith returns to the church,

And this time...

[ speaking indistinctly ]

...He's got a knife in a sheath on his belt.

[ speaking indistinctly ]

Aaaaah!

[ people murmuring ]

♪

Dearsmith is something kind of interesting

And maybe unexpected.

But he went straight to the bathroom.

♪

♪

Hey! Hey!

Let me out of here!

[ banging on door ]

The people who really deserve a lot of credit --

The quick-thinking ushers.

We need to get the police back out here.

Come on! Hey! Get me out of this room!

Narrator: Within moments,

Officer benjamin and company are back on the scene.

God will punish you for this!

He's been going crazy in there.

Ugh! Hey! Hey!

Does he have any weapons on him?

Yeah, he's got a knife.

Get me out of this room!

Lots of thoughts going through my head,

Knowing we have a combative suspect in front of us.

Here. Get these guys out of here.

Get me out of this room!

It was not the first time that he had been involved

In potential violence towards police.

Hey! Hey!

The three officers go to the door...

Somebody get me out of here!

...Unlock the door...

Hands up, richard!

Keep your hands up, richard.

Hands up! Don't do that, richard.

The ushers hear somebody say, "don't do it, buddy.

Don't do it."

Richard, no! Don't do it, richard! Stop!

♪

Kenda: The church services continue after the dust settles

From the emotion of this event...

Aaaaaaah!

...And it's no more than a few minutes

After the officers leave...

Richard dearsmith comes back in the church.

He has a knife, and he's locked in a bathroom.

Hands up, richard! Hands up!

The police open the door, guns drawn, because

They didn't know what they were going to find.

Dearsmith: Hey! Richard, don't!

[ gunshot ] [ gasps ]

The ushers heard a gunshot, and they thought,

"god, what is going on in there?"

♪

Kenda: That's when the officers come out.

And on the radio...

We need a medical down at the church right now.

...A shooting, officer involved.

As I walk in,

I see richard dearsmith lying dead on the floor...

With a single gunshot wound in the upper left chest.

You stand there for a moment in that doorway

And you look in this men's room

And you think, "why would that happen?

We need to find that out."

[ siren wailing ]

Narrator: Shortly after kenda examines the crime scene,

An investigator from the district attorney's office

Arrives to assist.

On any officer-involved shooting,

The district attorney's office is called immediately.

Definitely still a lot to figure out.

Okay. Well, I'm gonna need to talk to everybody involved.

Of course.

The district attorney's office conduct

All police-officer-involved shootings

Independently of the police department.

They are investigating why is it necessary for the police

To use great force to effect his arrest?

So we teamed all of our investigators

And detectives up together

And started interviewing all the potential witnesses.

Narrator: The eyewitness interviews

Help investigators piece together exactly what happened

When dearsmith returned to the church.

When the ushers at the church saw dearsmith come back...

... With a knife....

[ speaking indistinctly ]

Aaaaaaah!

[ people murmuring ]

...They were scared.

♪

As they had the opportunity to lock him in the bathroom...

Hey! God will punish you for this! Hey! Let me out!

...They found the miracle they were praying for. But.

Narrator: When officer benjamin responded for the second time...

Oh, god.

...He knew the suspect had a history of assaulting police.

I was worried about the safety of the parishioners

That were in the church.

He's been in there going crazy. He's got a knife.

Let's go this way.

[ dearsmith shouting indistinctly ]

Hey! Hey!

At the time, all three officers had their hands on their guns.

They were ready for anything.

They knew he was armed at this point.

Somebody get me out of here!

Get me out of this room!

Police! Hands up! Hands up, richard!

Keep your hands up, richard.

Dearsmith has the knife.

It's a 10-inch-blade bowie knife.

Very large knife.

Turn around, richard.

Turn around. Walk backward toward me.

Turn around.

He's not complying.

He's just kind of staring right through us.

Turn around, richard.

Richard, turn around and slowly walk back toward me.

♪

Good.

Keep your hands visible.

Okay. Back up toward me.

♪

Very good. Hands up.

Keep your hands up where I can see 'em.

Nice and slow. Good. Good.

Hands up. Do not put that hand down!

Do not touch that knife, richard!

There's something called a continuum of force,

And this is how police officers are trained.

You confront someone.

You announce to them that they're under arrest.

If they physically resist you,

You are authorized by law to use

Whatever force is necessary to overcome that resistance.

Don't do that, richard. Do not touch that knife!

Stop!

I am the lord jesus christ!

Those people don't know what the hell they're doing.

Oh, god. Let me out!

Richard, do not touch that knife!

Don't do it, richard! Richard, no!

Richard, stop!

He reached for the knife.

♪

[ gunshot ]

At that particular point, I knew I had no other option.

♪

It's a very difficult thing to take a human life.

It is.

Policemen are trained.

Officer benjamin followed his training to the tee.

He handled that perfectly under the worst

Possible circumstances.

But it is a devastating emotional effect on the officer.

It wasn't till after everything had calmed down

That I started to think about what had transpired.

You know, just playing over and over in your head,

And you start to sometimes second-guess yourself.

"well, what if I'd have done this different?"

Martin: In this particular case,

The ruling from the district attorney

Was that the police officer was justified

In using deadly force against mr. Dearsmith.

No charges were filed.

And the matter was closed.

And mr. Dearsmith was left to a higher court.

Benjamin: You never forget it.

Quite frankly, it's -- it's tough to -- to sleep.

You know, it just plays continually in your head.

And you eventually come to the conclusion

That you had to do what you had to do

And it was necessary,

And, you know, you just move on from that,

But you never forget.

Kenda: I was very fortunate, in all of my years as a policeman,

Even though I displayed my weapon probably 20,000 times,

I never pulled a trigger,

Never once.

We're in the business of saving people,

Not killing them.

Officers try anything to avoid it.

And they suffer sometimes for the rest of their days

If they're called upon to do it.