All language subtitles for The Pharmacist - 01x01 - Justice for Danny.NF.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.x264-NTG+ION10.English.HI.C.orig.Addic7ed.com

[mellow instrumentals]

I'm Dan Schneider.

And I'm a pharmacist.

I can almost remember
every piece of my life.

And it's kind of a crazy story.

[crewmember] If you keep it focused,
we can go from the beginning.

Okay, I can tell...

I can try to tell a story,
but how far do you want me to go

before I stop?

You know, what's your next question?

[crew member] You can go all the way to...

- Okay, okay. I'll try, I'll try.
- [indistinct chatter]

[slate board claps]

I've never tried to be an actor though.

- Don't be an actor. You're a real guy!
- [laughs]

[ladder creaks]

[Dan] I guess some people would call me...

obsessive, if you want to call it that.

You know, I have, like,

hundreds of hours of videos

and cassette tapes

from wiretapping phone conversations...

about what happened to me.

[cassette rattles]

[Dan]
Let me just tell you something.

It was very inappropriate,

the way the police went about doing
what they did.

[man] Well, once again, Mr. Schneider,
I resent the implication.

[clicks off recorder]

[Dan] My son was murdered...

buying crack in the Lower 9th Ward.

The police have the attitude
that it's another drug deal gone bad.

And these kids maybe got
what they deserved.

[police sirens wail]

[man] You are not going to dictate to me.
I'm talking.

[woman] You don't talk to people like that
who just lost a son. We lost a son.

We just lost a son.
He didn't lose a son, okay?

He didn't lose a son!

[Dan] The New Orleans Police Department
was corrupt

and almost none of the murders

were ever solved.

But I was determined
to get the killer off the street

and if the police wasn't gonna do it,

I was gonna do it.

[dramatic instrumentals]

[reporter 1] In other news,
a St. Bernard family

is on a campaign for justice.

[nail gun clicking]

[Dan] I wasn't gonna let 'em
knock me down.

Twenty-three-year-old Danny Schneider
was gunned down in his pickup truck.

Police say that they have little to go on.

Schneider's parents are grief-stricken.

[crying] He was a good kid.

He didn't deserve this.

In my fight to get Danny some justice,

I promise I will work hard...

to try to save other lives.

At first,
my mission was to get justice for my son.

But then I started noticing,
in the drugstore,

an unusual amount
of high-powered opiate prescriptions.

[reporter 2]
Chalmette pharmacist Daniel Schneider says

he's taken a leave of absence
from his drugstore job

to crusade against the illegal use

of OxyContin.

[Dan] There was a certain doctor
using her license

to virtually decimate my community.

- Not only did I see malpractice...
- [pills shake]

...I saw corruption, I saw conspiracy.

People were dying every week.

- [cameras clicking]
- Eighteen, and 20, and 25-year-old kids.

I could see my son's face

in their face.

- [sirens wail]
- [voice breaking] I couldn't save my son.

But I can save some other kids.

And I'm not gonna let this drug

continue to kill.

I started realizing

that there was a bigger mission here.

OxyContin.
It was produced by Purdue Pharma.

- And I saw this opiate epidemic...
- [pills rattle]

...in its infancy.

[pill shatters]

We were creating addicts
all over this country.

Purdue could have done things
to stop this,

but they saw the profits.

Not only
were they white-collar criminals...

they were white-collar murderers.

My son's killer paid a price.

What about Purdue Pharma?

What price have they paid?

They gave birth to a crisis

that killed
hundreds of thousands of people.

- What price have they paid?
- [dramatic instrumentals fade]

[mechanical clicking and whirring]

[mellow instrumentals]

[mellow instrumentals fade]

[slide clicks]

[somber piano melody plays]

[Dan] St. Bernard Parish,
it's right next to New Orleans.

We used to call it God's Country.

Kind of sandwiched
between the Mississippi River

and, really, the swamps.

St. Bernard was basically middle-class.

We have two major oil refineries,

and fishermen and crabbing and oystering.

Somebody's always selling shrimp
on the side of the road.

My dad used to take us,
when we were little, me and my brother...

He'd tell us on a Sunday,

"We're gonna take a ride
to the end of the world."

He would drive us down,
way down deep into the parish...

past Chalmette,

Meraux, Poydras and Violet.

Way down to the end

where Delacroix Island was.

And it was the Gulf of Mexico.

And he'd just say, "Here's the waters."

[waves crashing]

"Here's the Gulf.
This is the end of the world to us."

And we always thought
that was the end of the world

for everybody.

[indistinct yelling]

[Dan] I started out in football

as a lineman.

I actually had pretty good hands
and I had great speed.

[slide clicks]

- [sentimental instrumentals]
- But I was blind as a bat.

- [whistle blows]
- We had a tremendous football season.

When I saw Annie,
she was just the cutest thing.

[Annie] I was a grade lower than him.

I liked his personality.

[Dan] I don't think I won her over
because of my looks, okay?

But we just really fell in love
with each other.

[Annie] We got married
a couple of years after high school.

I really didn't know what I wanted to do,
to be quite honest with you.

A friend of mine talked about
the pharmacists having a great job.

Didn't have a great interest in it.
It's just...

I had to pick out something real quick

where I could reach my goals
of having kids and having a house.

I became a pharmacist in 1975.

- [cars rushing]
- I worked for Bradley's Pharmacy.

You might call it a country drugstore.

I enjoyed being able to interact
with the patients,

being able to actually feel
like I was helping 'em.

I picked pharmacy
and then I... I stuck with it.

[Dan] Aw, look who had a bath.

[speaks indistinctly]

[Annie] We waited five years
before we had our first child, Danny.

[infant cries]

It was wonderful
to have a little boy to...

play with.

He was a good kid.

Gentle and caring.

He was just always happy.

[gurgles and sings indistinctly]

[Dan] Then we had a daughter, Kristi.

[Kristi] My family was very, very close,
growing up.

We did all kinds of family vacations
together.

[Dan] There's the old Tin Lizzie.

[Kristi] It was long travels.
We would go across country.

[Dan]
That's the Shenandoah Valley outlook.

[soft instrumentals]

Here we are out in Alabama.

It looks like the Alabama tree.

Many people thought
we were like the Griswolds.

[Dan] Here we are. The Griswolds.

[young Kristi] Shut up!

[Annie] We had the same type of car
they had.

Danny was like Chevy Chase.

[Dan] Intercourse, Pennsylvania.

We just seen some Amish people.

- [young Kristi] Amish people.
- [hooves clomping]

As a matter of fact,
when we had Christmas,

you know, it was like we used to get
this big, giant Christmas tree.

A seventeen-foot Christmas tree,
we'd have in our house.

It was like Christmas Vacation
every Christmas for almost 20 years.

[Kristi] My dad,

every year, wanted to get a tree...

Like the biggest tree
you could get. [chuckles]

- [rustles plastic]
- [indistinct chatter]

[Annie] This is 1989.

[Kristi] My friends would come over

and relatives would come over
and help decorate it.

So it was like a family tradition.

[Annie] Okay, wait a minute.

[indistinct chatter]

And it just felt like the perfect life.

We didn't want for nothing else.
We had everything.

[group murmurs]

[Annie] The Schneider clan.

- [Annie] Where are you, son?
- [young Danny] Up here.

[Annie]
Going on the plane from...

[Dan] My son was a really good-natured,
compassionate kid.

As he got a little bit older,
he really became kind of like a peacenik.

[Kristi] He was very creative.
He liked to write poems.

And a lot of my friends
had crushes on Danny

and it used to aggravate me.

[Dan] Will he make it? Oh, Lord!

- [applause]
- Almost!

Danny was a good dad. He was a doting dad.

He made sure, you know,
the kids had what they needed and wanted.

[Dan] Later on in life,
when I had a few pennies,

I really wanted a project with Danny.

Danny and I tore apart this Mustang.

Pulled the motor out
and worked on, uh, rebuilding the car.

[engine hums]

We would go on long rides
with that Mustang.

We both loved that car.

[ambient instrumentals]

St. Bernard Parish
was right down the street

below the Lower 9th Ward.

[birds chirping]

One day, I took Danny
to the Lower 9th Ward,

which was in the city.

And we drove and saw the house
that my family came from.

My family moved out of the 9th Ward

during the era of what you might call
the "white flight."

It was racial.

[man] As a child growing up in the city,

a lot of African-Americans started

started buying homes in the Lower 9th Ward

and white Americans
moved into St. Bernard.

And it's like two different worlds.

At that time, it was a real,
in-your-face type of racism.

All the time, they would call you a nigger

or they would write it on the car
or they would write it on something.

That's what we grew up with, you know?

It was basically called
a city into a city.

[group] This day, I wanna be a girl's...

[Shane] We used to play softball

on the levee.

We would have little penny parties,

waistline parties.

[women laugh]

As they would say, a wing dang doodle,

when everybody would get together

and just basically have fun.

But, in the '80s,

the neighborhood had...

had totally changed.

[reporter] The housing projects
and streets of New Orleans

are filled with people
who are hooked on crack cocaine.

[Terrence] By that time,

the crack epidemic was setting in.

It just got real bad.

[kids chatter]

[man 2] I grew up in the Lower 9th Ward.

And it was a place...

that we considered as hell.

You see white folks down here, you...

"Are you not the police?
Or are you looking to score something?"

The neighborhood that I was in,
in the 9th Ward,

that's all that came around.

They was all from St. Bernard Parish,

you know, coming down to buy drugs.

- [dramatic instrumentals]
- [sirens whooping]

[Dan] I had been aware at the time
that a number of kids from St. Bernard

had gotten shot to death
up in the 9th Ward,

buying drugs.

And, much as I hate to say it...

I heard about it
and read it in the paper and...

my attitude at that time,
and I'm not proud of it, okay, was...

Well...

"Kids shouldn't have been up there."

[Annie] And now we're going into
the Schneider house.

Let's see what's going on in here
on Christmas Day.

What you got, Danny?

[Dan] Danny had some difficulty,
his senior year.

He barely graduated.

Some people could say
these were warning signs,

but, at the time,
we really couldn't see it.

He went to Nunez Community College.

And even though he was 22 years of age,
he was still living with us.

He worked at Pizza Hut at night.

He had purchased
a brand-new Ford Ranger pickup truck.

And, uh, he was really excited about that.

[Annie] His girlfriend had a scholarship

to the University of Mississippi,
so he would drive

back and forth
to Hattiesburg every weekend

to see his girlfriend,
which was a long way.

[Kristi] I think Danny was just struggling

with what to do with himself.

[automated voice] Wednesday, 2:45 a.m.

[Danny] Hey, baby, um...

Just calling to say I love you.

Um... I can't wait to talk to you...

tonight.

I'll talk to you later.
I hope you're having a good day.

I love you. Bye.

[receiver clicks]

[answering machine beeps]

[distant police sirens]

[tense instrumentals]

[Kristi] Well, I was just downstairs
on the computer, doing my own thing and...

Danny came down the stairs
and talked to my parents

and said he was leaving the house.

[Dan]
"I'm going to a friend's house tonight

to study for a test
that I have tomorrow in school."

[Annie] "Okay, don't be too late.
You've got school tomorrow."

You know, so he said, "I won't."

He said, "Love y'all," and he left.
He said, "I'll be back soon."

[Kristi] I heard him go out the back door
and leave,

and that was it.

[Shane] I'm not sure.

I think it was around 12 o'clock
that night.

I was standing in front of my mom's house.

And as the red truck passed us,

I could see it was a white guy.

My friend, he said...

"Who that is?
'Cause he was looking at you."

I said, "I don't know who that is."

[tires crunch on pavement]

[engine idles]

At two o'clock in the morning,
we got a loud knock on the door.

[insects trilling]

[Annie] I woke Danny up and said,

"Somebody's knocking at our door.
It's two o'clock in the morning.

Who can that be?" You know?

[Dan] There were two policemen
at the front door and they came in

and said, "We'd like to come in

and discuss something with you."

- [police siren chirps]
- [indistinct police radio chatter]

[Annie] They said they found our son
in the 9th Ward in New Orleans.

I said, "No, my son's upstairs sleeping.
I don't know what you're talking about."

[Kristi] I just ran to his room...

to see if he was sleeping.

I said, "Okay, well,

we'll go get dressed.
I guess we'll get dressed."

We got into the sheriff's car.

We're going,
"Where did y'all say his truck was at?"

And, "It's in the 9th Ward."

We said, "We want to pass
where you said his truck was at

before you go any further."

[indistinct police radio chatter]

[Jeffery] Sitting there,
watching that scene of the cops

around a red truck...

- and me knowing...
- [radio chatter continues]

what just took place...

It was unbelievable to me.

But it was believable
because it's right in my face.

[Shane] When you're from
the Lower 9th Ward...

you don't snitch.

You don't snitch.

[Dan] Police department drove past
the scene

and this all started hitting me
in the face that there was a drug deal.

He was buying crack in the 9th Ward.
I couldn't believe it.

They said...

"Your son was shot."

And I said, "What hospital is he in?"

[stammers] And then they had to reiterate,
"No, no, he's dead."

[sniffles] So...

[cries softly, sniffles]

- [static crackles]
- [indistinct yelling]

[indistinct chatter]

- [Dan] ...at Virginia Beach.
- [cheering]

[water splashes]

[young Kristi screams]

[static crackles]

[ambient instrumentals]

[Debbie] I went over there
and Annie opened the front door

of the house.

And she fell on the floor.

They were...

beyond...

Beyond help.

[Dan] The day after,
me and my wife stayed in bed all day.

We thought about committing suicide...

as a family.

We actually thought about it.

'Cause we just couldn't see a future.

[gears click]

[Annie sobbing]
Why did he have to take him so soon?

[sobs]

Why did he have to take him so soon?

He could have waited. [cries, gasps]

[continued sobbing on tape]

[wailing sobs]

[Dan] I can't answer that, baby.

I don't think he just took him.
I think it just happened, Annie.

[Annie sobs]

Things sometimes just happen, Annie.

People in the wrong place
at the wrong time.

[Annie]...he got a motorcycle...

[Dan] It might have made him

a special angel,
it may have given him a place in heaven.

[Annie weeps]

All you can think is that he's in heaven.

- [cheering]
- And that we're gonna be there with him...

someday.

I could have just been a little bit

more lenient with Danny a little earlier.

I mean,
if I could've just sat down with him

and said, "Danny,
you can tell me anything."

[Annie] I should have been there for him.

[Annie gasps and sobs]

[bell rings]

[Dan] Baby, we were here for him.
He could have came here this last night.

[Annie moans]

He could have came in this room
that last night

and said, "Mom and Daddy, I'm in trouble.

I feel like I've got to go up there
and buy dope. Okay?

[stammers] And I don't want to, Daddy.
Help me, Daddy."

[Annie wails on tape]

[Danny and Kristi chatter indistinctly]

[Annie] Why couldn't he tell us
he was doing that?

- [kids laugh]
- [water splashes]

So we could help him.

[Annie weeps]

[Dan] He was proud.
He was too proud, baby.

He was too proud to admit that he...

[sniffles]

...was getting addicted.

- That stuff gets hold of you.
- [Annie] I should have watched him closer.

- I shouldn't have let him do that.
- [Dan] Baby, baby, it wasn't your fault.

[Annie sobs]

[Annie pleads indistinctly]

[Annie sobs]

[Debbie] Dan told me

that he didn't even think...

that anybody killed Danny.

That was the furthest thing from his mind.

He knew Danny was shot,
but he just couldn't even think...

that there was a crime.

[Dan] One day it hit me,
my son had been murdered.

I started moving into
the investigation phase,

you might say, you know, we...

There was a killer out there
and we wanted to find his killer.

[ambient instrumentals]

Around the time of Danny's death,

New Orleans had a reputation

of "the murder capital of America."

And almost none of 'em got solved.

[reporter] New Orleans will set a record
for homicides this year.

It has, by far,

the highest murder rate
of any big city in the nation.

The reasons most often cited
for the increase:

kids, guns and drugs.

[woman screams]

[man] At the time,
the New Orleans Police Department

were the poster children
for how not to run a police agency.

[reporter 2] In the past three years,
more than 100 police officers

have been suspended, fired, arrested

or convicted
of a wide variety of serious crimes,

ranging from bribery to murder.

[Jack] If you're a guy in that situation,

it's hard to have
a high degree of confidence in the police.

[ringback tone]

- [man on tape] Investigations.
- [Dan] Hi, yes, is this Sergeant Fanguy?

- [Fanguy] Yes, it is.
- How are you doing? This is Dan Schneider.

[Dan] I knew I was gonna have
an uphill battle with the police.

They kind of almost have the attitude

that these kind of kids
maybe got what they deserved.

[Fanguy on tape]
Once out of every 200 dope deals,

somebody gets stupid
and then somebody gets shot.

[Dan] I know, but let me just tell you,

my boy was not stupid.

[Fanguy] I'm telling you,
he did not give the money to the guy,

and the guy upped with the pistol
and popped him.

- Okay? And...
- [Dan] So you think he tried...

[Fanguy] And I can tell you that,

with all the murders we've handled,

the white kids
coming from St. Bernard Parish,

that's the exact parameters
of what takes place

and that's the outcome.

[Dan] But why would my son beat 'em
for the dope?

My son don't wanna die.
My son is not stupid.

[Fanguy] Guess what?

None of those other people
who got shot and killed

wanted to die either.

[Dan] A sergeant lit into me.

He said, "Your son's a spoiled brat.

He's nothing but a crackhead.

If you go above me or below me,

I'll make sure your son's case
is destroyed."

I was shocked

that he could talk to me like that, okay?

After we'd just lost our son.

It was from that point on
that I started recording these guys.

[tapes clatter]

[tape clicks in tape deck]

[officer 1 on tape]
What are you doing calling my house

at seven in the morning?

[officer 2] We're not gonna jerk people
off the street

and pull them into the station

- because somebody wants it done.
- [Fanguy] You think you're the police.

You think you have all the theories, okay?

I'm not gonna sit here
and go through this.

I've been a policeman for 25 years.

[Dan] My son had been murdered.

Somebody out there took his life.

I was determined
to get the killer off the street

and, if the police wasn't gonna do it,
I was gonna do it.

[dramatic instrumentals]

While some people are paralyzed by grief

and don't know what to do
and can't get out of bed

and turn to alcohol or drugs or whatever,

Dan didn't do that.

Dan channeled all of that grief into,
"I'm gonna get to the bottom of this.

I'm gonna find out who killed my son."

[engine revs]

The first thing that we did,

- we called the TV stations in,
- [stapling]

so we could get publicity.

[reporter] The St. Bernard family

is on a campaign for justice.

[Dan] We made a little memorial up there.
We said a prayer.

[together] Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.

[Dan] All we did was cry all morning.

You just get sick with crying
and then you just feel like

you have to do something.

[Dan] Putting up posters,

walking the streets, questioning people.

[reporter 2] They hope that someone
may recognize Schneider's picture

and provide a clue to his killer.

[Jack] He started talking to people
and, in fact,

canvassing the neighborhood.

At which point in time,
I told him that...

that was probably
a really, really bad thing to do.

That he was gonna be the next victim
of a gunshot wound in the Lower 9th Ward.

[Shane] I seen them walking

along the block.

I knew they didn't belong
in the neighborhood

because if it wasn't an insurance man
or the bill collector...

they didn't belong there.

I wouldn't have the balls
to go door-to-door on the Lower 9th Ward

with a gun on me.

We had officers shadow him.

[Jeffery] It was just like,
"He's got to be crazy.

What's wrong with him, coming in here,
doing all this here?"

He was that bold.

He was that bold. He wanted...
He wanted answers.

[Dan] We went and met with
some of the churches.

And they prayed with us.

[Terrence] I remember Dan and his wife

coming to our family meeting...

and, um,
speaking about the loss of their son.

I just remember that he was very hurt.

I call it a "question mark" pain.

"I can't live with this question mark."

[Dan] Elder Reed said,
"You know, Mr. Schneider,

we'll walk the streets with you.

We will go house-to-house,

and we'll let you ask the questions
and we'll be there with you

as moral support and protection."

I just said, "I'll help you."

'Cause I felt his pain.

He was in a lot of pain and he was angry.

And I thought that was a good recipe
to get yourself killed

in this neighborhood.

[dramatic instrumentals]

[spokesman] Sad to say,
but we haven't really been able

to locate anyone who's been willing
to come forward

who may have witnessed the incident

or who may have any information
regarding the incident.

[Debbie] So many unsolvedmurders
in New Orleans.

Because nobody was coming forward.

What do you do?

What do you do?

- [Dan] How are you doing?
- Good, Danny.

[Dan] Debbie Marino,
good, good friend of ours.

She handed me a check for, like, $2,000.

And other people,
family members and friends, put in money.

- The reward fund is up to $10,000.
- Ten thousand dollars.

Ten thousand dollars on the table.

[reporter 1]
Call Crimestoppers at 822-1111.

[Dan] It was explained to me
that the person would be anonymous

and that only upon indictment

would they actually receive their reward.

[reporter 1] And a reminder,
you do not have to give your name.

That's one big concern with the family.

They feel anybody in the neighborhood
who may know something

is afraid to come forward
and tell what they know.

When the reward was just at $1,000,

it was just like, "Yeah, okay,
that's another murder happened,

you know, that ain't gonna get solved."

Well, when $10,000 came up,

they had people
pulling them flyers down

wanting to talk.

[phone ringing]

[Fanguy] Yes? Sergeant Fanguy.

[Dan] Thank you, Sergeant.
What you got?

[Fanguy] Uh... wanted to let you know

that we found out
who the shooter was on your son's case.

[Dan] Thank you. [exhales]

Do we have any witnesses?

[Fanguy] We do have an eyewitness.

[Dan] Okay.

[Fanguy]
The kid has picked his picture out.

We're getting ready to take a statement
from him.

Uh, he corroborates a lot of things
based on evidence at the scene.

[Dan] And they went out to a young man

named Jeffery Hall.

He was about 15 years of age.

Apparently, Jeffery saw it all.

[Jeffery] They were questioning me
about it, you know, and, um...

I gave them...

to the best of my ability,
what I could remember.

[solemn instrumentals]

[Fanguy on tape] This juvenile,
that's the witness...

- [Dan] Yeah.
- ...sold drugs to your son before.

- [Dan] Wow.
- [Fanguy] He knew your son.

He was walking towards your son
when he saw him pulling up,

but the other boy was standing there first
and he approached your son.

[Dan] Oh, so somebody beat him to it.

[Fanguy] Right.

[Dan] So this guy probably
wouldn't have blown my son away.

- He would probably have dealt with my son.
- [Fanguy] Right. Right.

And, according to the witness,
the guy upped with the pistol

- and shot him.
- [Dan] Okay.

Okay.

Wow.

[crickets chirping]

[Fanguy] So,

he just picked the suspect's picture
out of a lineup.

[Dan] And the suspect
was a guy named Scarface.

[Jeffery] Scarface was a person
in the neighborhood

who was known for doing bad things.

Jacking, killing, robbing. Just...

Anything bad, Scarface did it.

[Fanguy] The way he describes
how the shooting took place,

he'd have had to been there
to see it go down.

I'm gonna have the warrant

put in the computer immediately.

He could be arrested
in the next 30 minutes.

[Dan] Oh, boy.

You've taken about a thousand pounds
off my back, I think.

[Dan] Well, the next morning,

the lieutenant called me and said...

"Mr. Schneider,
I'm sorry to say this, but, uh...

your son's murder isn't solved.

We went out to arrest that killer,
but we found out that killer was in jail

and he had been in jail
the night your son was murdered...

so he couldn't have been the killer."

The DA told me the case was pretty weak.

Because of all the confusion,

it was gonna be hard
to actually charge the case.

[Fanguy] I mean, he has made
contradictory statements, as I told you.

[Dan] He's really lost
a lot of his credibility.

I didn't actually, you know, know the guy.

I knew him, but I couldn't point him out.

[Dan]
You said that you were gonna recommend

that the case, at this time, be, uh...

- [Fanguy] Refused.
- [Dan] Just refused.

[Fanguy] That the testimony
is insufficient to prove this crime.

[Dan] I didn't trust the cops or the DA.

I thought that if we could get the DA

to re-interview this witness,

maybe we could get the story straight
and have a case.

I said,
"I'd like to bring the witness back in.

Can you give me his address?"

I started reflecting on where he grew up.

And I found out

that the conditions
he came up in had been really bad.

It was a struggle every day, man.

You know, Mom had a problem...

you know, that I didn't understand.

Seeing my mom on drugs
was real painful for me.

One time,

I was 11 years old...

Um...

I took her drugs and her paraphernalia

and I took it and threw it away

and told her
she was gonna get off this stuff.

And she taught me a lesson.

[burner ignites]

Turned on the stove.

She called some people and held me off

and held my arm, held my two legs and...

she took my hand and put it on the fire,
like this.

And that's what really led me
to being affiliated in the streets.

Being the age that I was
and in that situation I was in...

it was a constant challenge
and struggle for me.

I was scared more than anything.

[chair creaks]

[Annie] Danny was hoping
that this young man

could actually help us

find the killer of our son

and he believed in him.

[button clicks]

[Dan] It's, uh... I think it's July 28th.

I, uh...

need some help today.
Today's an important day

[strained] in my fight
to get Danny some justice.

Today's the day, God, that Jeffery Hall,

who is the witness... [sniffles]

The DA's gonna interview him.

[sniffles] I've had a couple conversations
with the kid.

He's scared to death.
He's scared of the police.

The people on the street.

He's afraid he might have to appear
in court.

[crying] I need God to get inside him
and get the whole truth.

God...

help him get in the car with me today.

[sniffles] I need him in court, God.
I need the boy to be brave.

And I need you to protect him. [sniffles]

Please.
I know you can't give me my boy back...

on Earth...

but you could have an effect
on this young man.

He was on my front step seeking answers,
wanting answers.

[Dan] I was already recording
a lot of people, so I felt like

- that was a great opportunity.
- [tape clicks]

And I wired my car...

with a recording device...

and put it in the trunk of the car
with a wire that went to the back seat.

I figured that maybe I could get
some revealing information.

- [mellow instrumentals]
- [clicks]

[Dan] It's the corner here.
Jeff, you were riding up here?

[Jeffery] Danny and them were right here
on this block.

So by the time I got down,
Danny made the block...

Scarface, you know, was right here.

[Dan] Scarface, right here?

Okay, but the first night...

This is where I'm confused,
because this is what messes up the case.

They showed him some pictures.

He finally picked out somebody
that first night.

- [woman] Mm-hmm.
- [Dan] Why did you pick out that guy?

[Jeffery] I was just lying, you know.

I just did. I was scared for my life.

[Dan] You were scared and you thought
that would get you out of it?

That's the damn problem.

The DA can't just disregard
that first statement.

Jeffery, you're gonna have to do your best
to let that DA know.

You've got to try to come across truthful
to him now...

so that it means a little more to him.

You know, in his opinion,
you could just be...

- [woman] Telling him anything.
- [Dan] You could be saying anything.

You were lying the first time
and you were lying the second time.

- [woman] Right.
- [Dan] And so...

You just tell the truth.

There ain't no way
they're gonna nail you on this.

I'll make damn sure. Okay?

Alright.

[exhales slowly]

[Dan] The DA re-interviewed him.

And then, the next day,

I talk to the DA and he says, "Look,"

he says, "It didn't get any better.

He contradicts himself."

[clicks button]

"Jeffery Hall is not a credible witness
any longer."

"What do I do from here?"

[ambient instrumentals]

I was told,
"You've got to find another witness.

You're not gonna get a prosecution
unless you get a witness."

[NOPD officer on tape] It's not a point
of going through the motions.

It's a point of making a good case
that you can prosecute.

They're not gonna accept this case
unless we produce additional witnesses.

We need a witness or we need evidence.

[Dan] I started looking for witnesses.

I was starting to walk the streets again
and put posters up.

Some of the drug dealers
had put a bounty out on him

to stop him
from coming in that neighborhood.

[Kristi] He wasn't sleeping.

He was up constantly, investigating.

And I didn't want him
to go in the 9th Ward and get killed.

[crickets chirping]

Then I wouldn't have my dad or my brother.

[Annie] I was scared,
you know, all the time.

"You have me to worry about

and you have your daughter
to worry about, okay?

And we're still here, you know?"

[Fanguy]
You need to leave the dust settle

right where it's at, right now.

[Dan] I'm trying to help,
but I'm not trying

to get in your business, okay?

He came to my office and put the recorder
on my desk and said, "Listen to this."

[chuckles] I say,

"You crazy fuck." [laughs]

You know, "We're gonna be
scraping you off the street out there."

[Dan] I didn't really believe in guns,
and so I chose to go up there

without a gun.

But one of my friends
was so concerned about me

that he decided to ride with me.

He says, "We'll go up there

and you can do your interviewing
and you can do your questioning, okay?

And I'll be in the car with a gun."

And we pulled over the car

and right next to us was a guy,
he's a retired drug dealer.

He asked me the details,
he asked me the names of the suspects,

you know,
what corner it was on and all this.

And he says, "Okay."

He says, "I'm pretty sure I can find out
which one it is.

Okay? And verify that...

they killed him.

Do you want me to have him killed?"

[sighs heavily]

I don't know what world I'm in anymore.

I really don't know what world I'm in.

[stammers] For a moment...

[sobbing] I actually thought about it.

Crazy.

[sniffles]

But I remembered...

[sniffles] I'd promised God
that I was gonna do this the right way.

I was gonna do it right.

[sniffles]

[engine starts and revs]

[engine accelerates]

[Dan sniffles]

It's torturing me!

[crying] I can't do it forever.

It's tearing me up. It's tearing Mom up.

I've set sort of a time limit.

I don't know
if I'm gonna wanna stick with that, but...

I can't torture myself forever,
Danny. [sniffles]

You want to give up, but you can't give up
because you're looking for the answer.

You're looking to solve the case.

[sniffles]

Which doesn't help that much,
because you still lost your son.

[Dan] I asked God...

to help me quit.

I was anticipating quitting.

[sniffles]

I said, "If I haven't found anything
by the end of September...

I promise I'll give it up."

There were a lot of things I wanted to do
during the course of this investigation.

What I really wanted to do,
is I wanted to call people

in the neighborhood.

And, at the time, there was something
called a Haines Directory.

It was a big, thick book

and it had all the addresses
and phone numbers

of everybody in the city,

so I took out a map

and I drew a circle...

so many blocks each way,

in a circle around the corner
where my son was killed,

Dauphine and Forstall.

I went home, [sniffles]
I sat on my bed...

and I started making phone calls.

- [dial tone]
- [dialing]

Then when I called, half weren't home.

[recording]
We're unable to answer your call,

- so speak after the beep and we'll...
- [beep]

[automated voice] We're sorry,
you have reached a number

that has been disconnected
or is no longer in service.

[woman on phone] Hello?

[Dan] Yeah, Miss Smith,
this is Dan Schneider.

You don't know me, but my son was killed

on the corner of Dauphine and Forstall
a couple of months back

in a red pickup truck.

[Annie] Every night, he would sit and call
maybe 40 or 50 at a time or something.

[Dan] Some of 'em weren't very receptive.

[man on phone] I be at work too much.
I really don't know.

[woman] A week later,
I heard something about that,

but I don't have any idea.

[Dan] There was a boy
named Scarface arrested for it.

[woman] A boy named who?

Somebody might've been out there
who saw something.

[woman laughs]

Uh-uh, not here.

[Dan] A few of 'em were very sympathetic.

[man] I was sorry to hear about it,
you know, 'cause, uh...

- [Dan] Yeah, it's...
- [man] When it happened, you know, I...

I was surprised, you know.
I heard the shot.

You hear shots in this neighborhood a lot.

- That's the way it is.
- [Dan] Yeah.

- [man] It's gotten so bad, you know?
- [Dan] Yeah.

[man] So I'm sorry to hear about
your son.

[woman] If I had heard anything,

I would've let somebody in authority know,

because my son got killed
and I know how it feels.

- [Dan] Your son got killed?
- [woman] My son got killed.

[Dan] Oh, my Lord.

- [woman] Yeah, he got killed.
- [Dan] How long back?

[woman] Uh, two years ago.

- I know how it feels.
- [Dan] How old was he?

[woman] He was 38 years old.

He was my baby son.

My heart goes out to you
'cause I've been through it

and I know how it feels.

It's something I'll never get over
as long as I live.

[Dan] I think it was my last call

for the day,
at the end of the list.

[ringback tone]

[Shane] Hello?

- [Dan] Yeah, Ms. Madding?
- Uh-huh.

[Dan] You don't know me,
but, uh, my name's Dan Schneider

and my son was killed
down the street from you

on the corner of Dauphine and Forstall.

Now how did he know my number?

My heart started beating faster
on that one.

And I couldn't believe he had actually...

called the right house.

[tape clicks]

[Dan] You were the first one to call 911.

[Shane] Uh-huh. I just called them
and told them someone had been shot...

in a red truck.

[Dan] I couldn't believe it.

She said, "I saw the whole thing.

I saw it all.

I called Crimestoppers."

[Shane] I called them twice
to find out

if they hadn't gotten the person
and stuff.

[scoffs] I called my wife.

[exhales sharply]

I said, "I've got something!" [sobs]

[strained] "I've really got something.
I've got a chance.

[sniffles]

I can't quit."

[sniffles]

And I sat down and...

I told him what I knew.

On that night...

I was standing in front of my mom's house.

Me and a guy friend.

I looked to the corner,
because I saw headlights,

and I seen a little red truck.

And as the red truck passed us,
I could see it was a white guy.

I knew he was young.

Your son had the window down.

- [Dan] My son had the window down?
- [Shane] Yeah.

[Dan] And then you seen...

Tell me what happened then.
He passed you up, drove down the street.

[Shane] I saw the dealer flag him down.

And then they went back round the block
and they came back again.

And before they could get
to Dauphine Street,

by the pool, I saw the car stop.

I saw them brake.

And they stopped
onDauphine and Forstall.

I saw the dealer get out of the truck
and run to the driver's side.

The red truck jacked,
like he was trying to get away.

And there was a "pow."

[gun fires]

[Shane] I looked up and I heard a pop

and saw the fire from the gun.

And all I know is I heard one shot.

Everybody says he was shot twice.

I say that boy was shot one time.

- I wouldn't go down there to look.
- [Dan] Right.

[Shane] All I could see down the street
was the truck had come to a halt.

It was like,

you know, slanted on the sidewalk
in front of the street.

[engine idles]

After that,

I just saw the shooter running

and he threw the gun in the drain.

[gun clatters]

[Dan] And you even seen his shirt
and all? His white shirt?

[Shane] Mm-hmm.
It had splattered blood on it.

[Dan] It had splattered blood on it.

I saw the killer.

He saw me.

[Shane] Well, see,
I could put my hand on the Bible

and I swear to God... God loves the truth.

Scarface wasn't the killer.

Jeffery was.

[Shane] It was Jeffery.

[Dan] That can't be... [stammers]
I mean...

I'll be darned.

[Shane] Jeffery was the killer.

[Dan] I mean, I'd heard...

The police said
it could have been Jeffery,

but, you know, I did meet with Jeffery.

- I hate to say it, but I believed Jeffery.
- [Shane scoffs]

[dramatic instrumentals]

[scoffs] Um...

[Dan] Jeffery said he knew my son

- and he wouldn't have killed my son.
- [Shane] What?

[Dan] That's right.
That's what Jeffery told me.

He said he was kind of a friend
with my son.

He'd sold my son drugs a couple of times,
but that he wouldn't...

He wouldn't have hurt Danny.

You never did see Jeffery on his bike?

[Shane] No.

[Dan] You did see him in my son's truck
and get out and walk around the back?

- [Shane] That's right, and shot him.
- [gun fires]

[Dan] And shot him?

[Shane] And shot him.

[Shane] After Daniel's murder,
Jeffery came back.

'Cause he saw us standing out there.

He said...

"Titi, you see what I did?"

[Shane] He said,
"Titi, look what I've done."

- [Dan] What he calls you?
- [Shane] "Titi."

- [Dan] Titi?
- [Shane] Mm-hmm.

Jeffery was my best friend's son.

I was always "Auntie,"
or "Tidi," or "Titi,"

um, to her kids.

Jeffery was the oldest.

His mom had...

ten more children.

I guess between drugs and babies...

you know, she didn't focus.

[clicks recorder]

[Dan]
Did Jeffery ever mention to you...

why he shot my son?

Did he just...

lose his mind and do it?

What provoked it?

[Shane] He didn't lose his mind.
Peer pressure.

[Dan] Peer pressure?

- Maybe somebody told him...
- [Shane] That's all.

[Dan] Maybe that was his assignment
that day,

to kill somebody.

This is the corner right here.
Jeff, you were riding here?

[Jeffery] Danny and them
were right here on this block.

[Dan] Not only did I find out
that Jeffery was the killer...

but he had betrayed me.

He had lied to me.

It sounds petty,
but that almost bothered me as much.

I trusted him.

He was gonna help me.

And he was the killer.

How could this thing get so screwed up?

[mellow instrumentals]

[Jack] Crimestoppers gets information
on a suspect.

NOPD goes to the suspect.

He immediately says it was some other guy,

who he probably thinks
the police are gonna like more than him.

So the whole thing starts to get really,
really convoluted then,

because now he goes from the suspect
to a potential witness.

[Dan] I was later told
you never make a suspect a witness.

And that's what they immediately did.

"Police 101," they call it.

They should have went in the house,
looked for a gun.

They should have looked for blood
on the tennis shoes,

clothing that had blood on it,
blood splatter.

They didn't do any of that.

[Shane] But I need y'all to promise me

that they'll never know it's me
that's giving out this information.

- [Dan] I understand. Look...
- [Shane] I don't want my name mentioned.

[Dan] I'm with you on that.

And I am not gonna mention your name.

I don't want to put you in jeopardy,

but I would like a little help,

'cause, apparently,
they're not having much luck.

These cops ain't the sharpest guys
in the world.

The fear had really set in
after that call.

I knew if he could walk the blocks...

and if he could call me on the phone...

they were gonna find out it was me.

If those guys find out
that you was a witness,

then they're gonna come and threaten you
or threaten your family members,

to let them know that, "If you do testify,

we're gonna kill everybody."

[Shane] I didn't know
how it was gonna happen.

I just knew in my heart
something was gonna happen to me.

[dramatic instrumentals]

[Shane] Yeah, I have nightmares...

- [Dan] Right.
- [Shane] ...thinking of, you know,

what my outcome...

What might happen to me,
what my children...

Who's gonna raise my children?
My mama and my dad's already sick.

My mama has heart trouble.

- [Dan] Right.
- [Shane] It's a lot to think about.

[Dan] I don't want to give you danger.

You might be the only person
that can help solve this case.

So I fear for you too.

I fear for you not only personally...
I don't want to see you harmed.

But I also fear
that if something happened to you,

there is no case.

I knew I was gonna have an uphill battle.

[ringback tone]

[Shane] Hello?

- [Dan] Yeah, Shane?
- [Shane] Uh-huh.

[Dan] This is Mr. Schneider.
How are you?

[Shane] All right.

[ringback tone]

- [Shane] Hello?
- [Dan] Yeah, Shane?

- [Shane] Yeah.
- [Dan] It's Danny.

[Shane] I'm outside with company.

- [Dan] Are you?
- [Shane] Yeah.

- [Dan] You want me to call another time?
- [Shane] Yeah, call me about 9:30.

[Dan] Call you about 9:30.

- Shane, how are you doing? This is Danny.
- [Shane] Right now, I can't talk to you.

[Dan] No? Got somebody there?

- [Shane] Yeah.
- [Dan] Okay.

He can be a pain in the ass.

[Dan] When's a time
I might be able to give you a call?

- She's not in?
- [woman 1] She's sleeping.

[Dan] I'll give her a call later.
This is her daughter?

- [woman 1] It's her niece.
- [Dan] Nicki, I believe?

[woman 2] How are you doing
with your new job?

- [Dan] Hello?
- [woman 3] Hello?

[Dan] My wife was sending letters,
and his girlfriend was sending letters.

My daughter was sending letters.

[operator] This number is not in service.

I would move!

Change my number.

- [dial tone]
- He would find me.

[indistinct chatter]

[Dan] Yes, is this Anne?

- [woman] This is Sheri.
- [Dan] One of the Madding sisters?

- [Sheri] We're friends with Shane.
- [Dan] Do you know her boyfriend?

[woman 4] My husband got your number.
I can't really remember...

[Dan] Nicki was helping us.
Could you give us the address...

Leave me alone. Please stop calling me.

- [Shane] Who is this?
- [Kristi] Yeah, this is Kristi.

[Shane] Kristi, this is Shane.

Let me tell you something.
Your mom and them is harassing my mother.

Dan called my sister's house.

Now that's making me back off

because they're pushing me,
you know, close to like...

I want to do it,

but as long as they're interfering

and notifying my people...

They're stalking my little niece, Nicki.

My family is jumping.

They don't want y'all to call.
My mama wants me to press charges

against your mother and father.
Understand?

- [Kristi] Mm-hmm.
- [Shane] So the police is on their way

soon to my house

to press trespassing charges
if they come close.

What do you think that's gonna do?

My sister. They're calling my sister.

You know, they're getting in touch
with everybody in my family.

That's not fair.

As long as they do that,
I'm gonna stay away, Kristi,

- and that's on the real.
- [Kristi] I know.

It's like agony for us,

'cause it keeps dragging on.

We just want it to be over with, you know?

[Shane] Well, let me do it
at my own pace.

[clicks recorder]

We were so close to getting her and...

I wanted her to come forward so bad.

[somber instrumentals]

After Danny died,

everything changed. [sniffles]

My life ended too.

[Shane] It was Kristi, the sister.

I felt every painthat she felt.

[sniffles] Because I felt like that, too.

[birds cawing]

I was 12...

when my brother...

was murdered.

[sniffles]

We were real close.

And he would be the... [chuckles]

The person that you would want
at your party to have fun.

He loved to dance.

My brother loved to dance.
He loved to dress.

And I always think about...

how we never... we never...

[sniffles] got the truth.

And that's a hurtful thing

to not know.

Because there's just...

There is no closure.

It's just... always there. [sniffles]

And it'll never go away. [sniffles]

[Shane] The conversations
me and Kristi used to have...

I felt every pain that she felt.

[Kristi] "Danny was my only sibling.

We talked about everything and anything.

Now that he isn't here,

I feel so lost.

It's hard to do anything.

I have to force myself to sleep
every night

and then force myself to wake up
the next morning.

I'm now an only child.

It's so different without him around."

- [kids laughing]
- [Kristi sniffles]

[Shane] "Nothing will ever
completely heal my pain.

But one thing I know for sure

and that is the person
who killed my brother should be punished.

You are our only hope
to put this person away."

My heart just...

was so weak for her.

She would cry. There were many times...

when she would cry.

I would still try to make an excuse.

[Dan] At one point, she said...

"I want to see...

Danny's room."

Shane came over to our house
in St. Bernard Parish.

Annie made coffee and snacks.

[Kristi] We brought her upstairs
to his room

and she looked around at things and...

[sniffles]

we cried.

[somber instrumentals continue]

[Shane] I just felt a different energy.

This young man had so much going for him.

He didn't deserve it.

It just made me feel...

I needed to do something.

Because that's something...

I never got.

I never got that.

[somber instrumentals fade]

[Dan] The next day,
Shane went to the Police Department

and made a statement.

They went out
and they arrested Jeffery Hall.

[police sirens whoop]

[officer] That information was critical
in terms of identifying

the person responsible.

We believe that the 16-year-old juvenile

was the actual trigger person
in this homicide.

[dramatic instrumentals]

I got... I got swept up.

Got picked up and arrested.

[Dan] The case went to the DA's office.

Victims and witnesses were interviewed.

We explained the court process to them,

'cause it was important for them to know

that they would
come into the courthouse...

uh, there would be
many people in the courthouse,

including the perpetrator, or the accused.

At which point, sometimes the victim
or witness might say,

"You know what? Never mind.
I've changed my mind."

[Shane] I was told that Jeffery's lawyer

had given him information...

that it was me.

[Jeffery]
When I found out it was her, I...

I was like, "Wow, Shane?" Like, damn.

"You know, I've looked at you as an auntie
and this is how you repay me?"

You're gonna send me out like this?"

You know what happens
if you cooperate with the police.

You know, you...

You wind up dead or you disappear.

[Dan] She starts getting threats.

Left and right.

"We will kill you if you testify."

[Terrence] These are drug dealers.

All of these guys are criminals, man.

They'll set you up.

You know, they will come around
with street sweepers

and, if they can catch you
on the corner store,

they might have five, six, seven,
eight kids out there...

They just didn't care, man.

[Shane] Witness Protection moved me
and my kids.

I had been there maybe about two months.

I come outside.

There's a brick...

on my car seat,
with my windows bust.

My tires...

are slashed.

And the note said...

"Bitch, I found you."

[dramatic instrumental intensifes]