Original subtitles

[m

[mys

[myste

[mysteri

[mysteriou

[mysterious

[mysterious mu

[mysterious musi

[mysterious music]

- [Alan] Workplaces can be tight-knit groups,

and the Harris family's landscaping business

is no exception.

It's a mom-and-pop outfit run by a married couple

and their best friend.

The landscaping employees are treated like family.

- We were very tight with all of our guys.

We were all working sometimes 18, 20 hour days.

- So, imagine the horror when Starr Harris,

the 36-year-old wife, mother, and office manager

is found brutally murdered on their grounds.

- The force that it takes to break that part of the skull

is tremendous.

- This was so close to home.

- Investigators find clues

that lead them inside the family business.

- There were people on the work crew

that had been arrested before.

- Thinking that it's someone that's that close to you

is extremely scary.

- With twists that sent shockwaves

beneath these ground keeper's feet.

- Red flags began to come up.

- I said, "Don't ever contact me or my family again.

You are a whore."

- Our story begins on a typical day

at the Harris family's landscaping business.

But by nighttime, the small community is forced

to confront the terrifying question:

is the killer among us?

[anxious music]

[pensive music]

- Drummonds is what we call off the bluff.

So you don't have cell phone service,

and it's very close to the Mississippi River.

Everybody knows everybody.

Everybody goes to the beer joint

to drink beers on Friday night together.

It's just a close-knit community.

- In 2010, my friend, Starr, was married to Rick Harris.

She had eight children.

They were a large, blended family.

Rick ran a landscaping business,

and she was working for him.

- My name is Caroline Kelly Phelps,

and I was business partners with Rick Harris.

Rick and Starr's property was not only their home,

but it was also the headquarters for our business.

Every morning, our crews would meet there.

That's where we would congregate all the equipment,

anything that needed to be repaired.

Guys would come there to get their paychecks.

- [Shannah] Starr would work from home.

She would handle the office things, paperwork.

- We ranged from 10 to 30 employees at any given time.

During the summertime, we were excelling,

our business was just really taking off.

June 1st, 2010, I'm in my office at home.

It is around one o'clock,

and I have not been able to reach Starr all day long.

I'm still unable to reach Starr.

I have reached out to Rick on the job site.

He has not heard from her since one o'clock,

so I really just didn't know what to think.

When it got to, like, 8:00 in the evening, my phone rings,

and it was Nathan, Rick's son, Starr's stepson.

- [Donna] When Nathan gets home after work,

he goes into the house

and sees the office that something's not right.

- [Kelly] He found the computer desk toppled over backwards

and the back door is standing wide open.

And so, as soon as he said these things,

panic, you know, strikes my heart,

and I immediately went to Rick and Starr's house.

When I arrived,

one of the workers is sitting on the front porch

and Nathan was coming up from the woods,

yelling and screaming and kind of crying,

and he is saying, "I found her, and it's not good."

The worker called the police.

- Nathan reached out to Rick Harris and said

we had a really huge problem.

And I just remember thinking,

"Please, don't let this be real, don't let her be gone."

- [Alan] As Starr's younger children

are ushered from their friend's houses

to her ex-husband's home nearby,

a patrol officer is first to respond

and calls for detectives and CSI.

- When I get to the house, it was dark as pitch.

And the humidity was so high, it felt like it was raining.

As I'm walking up to the body, the first thing that I see

is that her clothes are down around her waist

and she has no bra on,

so she could have been sexually assaulted,

and then I'm just seeing a body covered with blood,

especially around the head area.

But I don't see gunshot wounds,

so I knew that she was repeatedly hit in the head

with something.

I saw pieces of wood around the body.

It had blood on it.

Could this be a potential weapon?

I'm looking at her hands,

and I see bruises that are extensive.

In my experience, it appeared she put up a heck of a fight.

Who would have that much rage?

- One of the things about Drummonds is

nobody really knows about Drummonds.

Who really wants to come to Drummonds

just to commit this type of crime?

- [Alan] Detectives hike up to the Harrises' house

and spy Kelly and Nathan on the property's perimeter.

Then, they comb through where Starr lived and worked.

- I saw there was no damage to the door,

and so there's no forceful entry.

But I noticed there was a huge package,

and I recognized a FedEx sticker.

As soon as I stepped into the house,

when I looked to the left,

it was like a tornado had hit it.

[anxious music]

- [Sherri] The office area inside the house,

where Starr normally worked from,

things were laying on the ground

that probably shouldn't have been on the ground.

- And so, I knew that there had been some type of violence,

but I do not see any blood.

There was still money on the table.

And on the far side of the wall, the back door is open.

It leads out into the backyard.

I do not think it is a robbery,

but we were kind of developing a chain of events.

It was not abnormal for her to be at the house by herself.

- [Sherri] We believe that the bad guy's at the house,

there was possibly a small fight inside the house.

And we believe that at this point,

bad guy forces Starr outside the back door.

And then they enter this wooded area.

They go further into the woods

where there was a fight

and where Starr ends up passing away.

- [Alan] As officers continue processing the scene,

the tragic word of Starr's death

spreads among her loved ones.

- [Kelly] At the top of the property,

Rick had just arrived home.

And he was running towards the edge of the woods

and the police stopped him.

And the look of sheer terror and just horror and heartbreak

on his face,

it overtook, like, his whole body.

Like, you could just see he was standing there

and it was just,

it was like he was frozen.

- When I got the call from my mother's boyfriend,

the call was, "Hello, your sister's dead."

And that was pretty much it,

because they didn't have any information.

At first, I just didn't believe it, to be honest.

Immediately after, I was out of my mind.

[somber music]

- [Alan] As more members of Starr's inner circle

received phone calls about her death

and stream onto the property,

it's clear to investigators

she was the matriarch of her family business community.

- [Kelly] Not only was Rick my business partner

and Starr my best friend,

but we were family.

It was just sort of a big family gathering all the time.

Starr was always cooking.

They would have barbecues with the staff.

They would have big poker parties

where everyone would come over with all their children.

Starr was such a loving, kind, giving person.

- [Tonya] Right out of high school,

she married her first husband.

Then the babies came.

And they were married for about 10 years,

and she decided to leave and was a single mom for a while,

and then she met and married Rick.

Actually, Rick's first wife, Rebecca, introduced them.

- [Kelly] So Rick was always this tall, charismatic guy.

He would light up the whole room.

He was really excited about this new opportunity in life,

to be in love.

- [Shannah] Starr went from three kids to eight kids

when she married Rick Harris.

It was a lot, but she just did it,

and she would just smile the whole time.

- Rick incorporated her into his business,

and she became the person who kept records of payroll.

- She was like everything, you know.

I called her 30 times a day.

We just sort of helped each other with everything we could.

- [Alan] As the crowd of onlookers grows

to include the Harris family's employees

returning from their landscaping work,

all assembled begin to murmur

about what might have happened.

- We were all concerned with who did this.

- [Shannah] That first night was a lot of confusion.

Somebody had to know her.

Strangers don't just walk up down this road

out in the country.

You had to know that she lived way out there.

So, who did this?

Are we standing out here with whoever did this?

Are they watching?

- [Kelly] Was it someone that works for us?

Who, who did this?

Our workers were all in and outta the house.

It was very scary.

- [Alan] With speculation running rampant,

detectives turn to Starr's shocked family for more clues.

- And we start talking to Rick Harris.

The statistics say, hey, it's probably the husband.

But at the same time, I don't wanna jump to conclusions.

- [Donna] He was sobbing,

but you could also see that there was an anger.

And so, I just didn't know if that anger

is the same anger that I had just seen

inflicted on Starr Harris.

At the same time, I'm going, "Does he have scratches on him?

What's on his clothes?"

- I think anytime that I work on crime scene,

you always feel that your suspect is close.

We've got a big family

and the company with a lot of workers.

I can't say it's not one of them.

- Starr Harris could possibly know who her killer was.

At this point in the investigation,

everyone is a suspect.

- [Alan] Coming up:

- [Donna] There was at least 12 to 15 different people

that could have been in and out of the house.

= [Sherri] We were able to determine

that Rick Harris was hiding something.

- [Donna] This person not only had a criminal history,

but it was violent.

[tense music]

[t

[ten

[tense

[tense m

[tense mus

[tense music

[tense music]

[police radio chatter]

- [Alan] Starr Harris has just been found murdered

in the woods surrounding the family landscaping headquarters

and home.

Police are now questioning her husband, Rick.

Is the killer staring them right in the face?

- We had to figure out, was he happily married?

- Unfortunately, you do have to ask about their sex life,

like, are you guys still intimate?

That kind of stuff.

Did you ever feel that she was cheating?

Are you cheating?

He said they were still intimate

and they were still in love, happy.

- And then as a course of doing our investigation,

we want to know where Rick was all day long.

- [Sherri] He said he had an alibi

and that he was in another city

with his landscaping business.

- [Donna] So we needed to independently try to verify

where he was at,

but it also takes a lot of time to do that.

Then I was curious on getting a timeline

as quickly as we could and develop her last steps.

- [Sherri] Rick Harris said that earlier that day,

he had gotten a phone call from Starr.

[grass trimmer whirring]

- [Alan] Starr reached out that afternoon

about a pressing issue with one of their employees.

- According to Rick Harris, it was payday.

All the employees were coming by and picking up checks.

Starr would be there to give the checks.

And an employee of Rick Harris, Rickey Bell, got $300.

- [Alan] Rickey departed with the rest of the crew,

but returned hours later with a gripe.

- [Sherri] Rickey Bell felt he deserved more,

and he asked Starr Harris why his check was short.

- Starr called Rick Harris and handed Rickey Bell the phone.

- Rick Harris told Rickey Bell,

"You called in sick. Remember?"

Rickey Bell was like, "Yep, you're right."

And that was the end of it.

There was no confrontation.

Nobody was yelling, nobody was screaming.

- [Donna] And the telephone call was a few minutes after 1:00.

And that was the last time

Starr Harris spoke to Rick Harris.

They had found her body around 8:00,

so she had been down there for hours.

- Then we got a buccal swab from Rick Harris

for DNA evidence.

- [Alan] Investigators leave Rick alone for the moment

so he can grieve,

but deem him a suspect.

To follow up, they file subpoenas

for the records and content from the family's phones.

Then they seek out the employee Rick placed

at the crime scene,

who might also be the last person to see Starr alive,

Rickey Bell.

- [Kelly] Rickey Bell and his mom

lived around the corner from Starr and Rick,

and so, you know, you're in close quarters with this family.

- Rick Harris gave him a job

at the request of Rickey Bell's mother.

- Rickey Bell's mom had told Rick he needs a job.

You know, he'll be a hard worker for you.

He is just right around the corner, so he'll be on time.

- [Alan] But as detectives head to the Bell residence

for questioning,

they find the perimeter of the crime scene

is brewing into a volatile mob.

- [Donna] The work crews were still coming in after work.

It seemed like there were 20, 25 people standing everywhere

in the driveway.

It was chaotic.

Everybody wanted to know who would've harmed Starr.

She was loved by everybody.

They were questioning each other.

They did question Rickey Bell

because they heard Rick talking to Starr

about the money and the pay.

So there were also people from the Bell community

that was there.

Accusations were going back and forth.

It was heated.

[people chattering loudly]

The deputies were dispatched there

to separate 'em if there's any fighting,

and there were some arrests

because we had to diffuse the anger.

- [Alan] As tempers begin to cool,

police cut through the clamor and speak with Rickey Bell.

- [Donna] Detectives brought him back

to Tipton County Sheriff's Office.

Detectives were asking where he had been and what he knew.

He said he did not work that day.

Rickey Bell said that after talking to Rick on the phone,

he said he was in another town in Millington

that was a ways from there.

- [Sherri] Every person that we interviewed,

we took their DNA

as well as checked hands and torso area.

- [Donna] I felt like if it was a struggle,

that there would be some defensive wounds.

He raised his shirt up,

he showed hands,

checked his back, his legs,

and he showed that he didn't have any wounds on him.

So we were eliminating him as a suspect,

and we started to look at other people.

- [Alan] The next day as they investigate men

with proximity to Starr,

police begin interrogating the hoard of colleagues

who visited her on payday.

- [Donna] There was at least 12 to 15 different people

that could have been in and out of the house

before they left for work that day.

- [Kelly] We all had to go to the police department

and be questioned and have DNA taken.

We all felt like, well, maybe it was a disgruntled employee.

But, you know, we were very tight with all of our guys.

We were all working sometimes 18, 20 hour days.

- [Donnna] We started to interview

and find as many answers to as many questions as we could.

You also want to have an initial

"Hey, what do you think happened?"

It's like, "Do you know anybody that would do this?"

- [Sherri] We had an employee that was scheduled

for an interview and he doesn't show up.

At that point, this is suspicious.

Is he on the run?

And it was later on determined

he actually had court-ordered anger management

that he had to attend.

But if it's court-ordered anger management,

we're dealing with violence.

- [Alan] Detectives peer into the employee's background

and discover that he's currently under investigation

in other cases.

- [Sherri] He was a suspect in a lot of stuff.

Then later on, comes in for an interview.

But he had an alibi,

so that cleared the air with our investigation.

- [Alan] In running background checks

on all of the landscaping crew,

police discover that Rick and Starr gave many people

an opportunity to reenter the workforce.

- [Sherri] Several of his workers had criminal histories,

and there were convicted felons.

Our suspect list was off the charts.

[tense music]

- [Alan] As detectives continue investigating

the many possible suspects at hand,

other investigators return to where Starr was found

to search for evidence

that might point to a particular lead to chase.

- On day two, I get to the crime scene.

Yeah, come on.

Wait, wait, we're gonna get the video camera

going down first.

We meet as a team,

and I start coordinating a grid search from the house

going all the way down to the trees.

Richard, you ready? - Someone gonna show me.

- [Officer] Go to the left.

- [Donna] Okay, yeah.

I was standing where Starr's body was found,

and so I looked up the hill.

Hey, Sherri, if you wanna come on up here with your camera.

I noticed, like, a trail,

and I started tracking up the hill.

Look, you can see the drag marks.

See it, look. Look back down that way.

See how they drug her that way?

And you can see it this way

because that's the directionality of the leaves.

As I got to the top of the hill,

the sheriff pointed out something that he noticed

that did not look normal,

and it was a condom.

It was a fresh condom, and it was on top of the leaves.

- [Officer] Plastic bag for the condom.

Plastic bag.

- We feel we had a sexual assault

because we had found the condom.

You're hoping for DNA.

It's a very big deal.

- Then you have to stop and start grid searching

all the way out around it.

[intense music]

The condom is one thing, but then we found a gun.

[tense music]

[t

[ten

[tense

[tense m

[tense mus

[tense music

[tense music]

- [Alan] The day after Starr's murder,

with a long list of possible suspects

in her family business forming,

including husband Rick Harris,

investigators have discovered a condom and a gun

near where she was found.

What can the pistol tell them about this horrendous crime?

As they inspect the evidence,

they reach a surprising conclusion.

- [Donna] I had picked up the pistol,

and I was trying to collect it as evidence and to secure it,

and I couldn't get the clip out of it.

And I said, "What is wrong with this gun?"

And the sheriff was standing there with me

and said, "That's not a real gun."

- It's a lighter, but it looks just like a gun.

- [Alan] Detectives believe that if the lighter fooled them,

it could have tricked Starr as well.

- So we think that somebody showed up at the house.

He has what appears to be a gun

that was found in another area

that looks like something had occurred.

The leaves were out of place.

It was possibly the rape site.

It looked like he had forced her into that area.

We saw no blood to that point,

so we know she got out there and she wasn't bleeding.

- [Alan] The gun-shaped lighter makes detectives

revisit their prior assumptions

and transforms their theory of events.

- The first night while we were at the crime scene,

I thought we were looking probably for somebody

with defensive wounds.

But in my mind, as I looked at this replica gun,

somebody is holding a weapon on you.

If that's the case,

she never got a chance to grab a hold of him.

We now know that is why

there didn't have to be any defensive wounds.

- [Alan] With this new evidence,

anyone they've cleared before

based on a lack of defensive wounds

is now back under suspicion.

- Rickey Bell didn't have any wounds on him that night.

And Rick Harris didn't have any defensive wounds either.

And so, they were both suspects again.

- [Alan] Detectives send their new evidence for DNA testing

and race to gather more evidence on Bell and Harris.

But first, they conduct a background check on both men.

- [Donna] Rick Harris had some arrests, drug possession,

some charges that we could verify through our records.

But we quickly confirmed that Rickey Bell Jr.

not only had a criminal history, but it was violent.

And so, we knew that he had some violent tendencies

as well as sexual assaults.

That hyper-focused me into him as a suspect.

[tense music]

- [Kelly] When I initially met Rickey Bell,

he really didn't smile a lot,

almost kind of nerdy.

There was nothing about him at all to me

that seemed scary or intimidating or strange.

He was just sort of very quiet.

- [Alan] With Rickey Bell fully on detectives' radar,

they look to see where he fits in the timeline

of Starr's murder.

- We began getting back telephone records.

Starr's last phone call was a few minutes after 1:00.

I remember, at the house,

I noted, hey, there's a FedEx box here.

And when talking with the FedEx driver,

when the package was delivered a few minutes after 2:00,

he knocked on the door but Starr didn't answer.

That meant she was not in the house.

So we had roughly an hour window of when she was killed.

Who had access to Starr Harris during that time?

[dramatic music]

- [Alan] Detective subpoena receipts for the businesses

where husband Rick claimed to be the day of the murder.

Detectives also hope

more clues to the identity of Starr's final contact

will be found in her autopsy report.

- [Donna] The cause of death for Starr Harris

was strangulation and blunt force trauma.

- [Sherri] The basilar skull fracture on Starr

actually went from, like, ear to ear.

The force that it takes to break that part of the skull

is tremendous.

- The crime itself was so violent,

it was just so horrific.

- It was alarming to me.

So we had a rough timeline.

Then I provided that to the medical examiner,

who confirmed that her death

could have been within that timeframe.

- [Alan] With the killer's window of opportunity now clear,

investigators receive more information

in the form of Rick Harris's cell phone records.

- [Donna] In the records that we got,

some apparent red flags began to come up.

The text messages that I read from Rick's cell phone

showed that we weren't being told everything.

Rick Harris was having an affair with his ex-wife.

[tense music]

[t

[ten

[tense

[tense m

[tense mus

[tense music

[tense music]

- [Alan] As husband Rick Harris and employee Rickey Bell

top the list of suspects,

phone records roll into the police.

The text messages reveal a shocking truth.

Rick was having an affair with his ex-wife, Rebecca,

around the time of Starr's murder.

Detectives wonder, did Rick kill his wife

so he could be with his mistress?

- [Donna] We were trying to figure out through

Starr's friends if she knew about this relationship.

Could it be a love triangle?

- [Shannah] Starr did know about his affair.

Yeah, that's a heartbreak for any wife.

But she stayed.

- [Tonya] I was home,

and Rebecca messaged me

and said she had something to tell me.

So, I called and she said,

"I don't want you to think I'm a whore."

And I said, "Just tell me, Rebecca."

And she said her and Rick were having an affair.

So, I said, "Well, don't ever contact me

or my family again.

And I do, in fact, think that you are a whore."

[tense music]

- Absolutely, red flags go flying.

Maybe they are fighting.

He now has a reason to kill Starr Harris.

That does give us a motive.

- [Donna] Rick Harris was still a suspect,

and so we knew we had to define what that relationship was.

There was no other way to do it than to set up an interview.

We did that with Rick and confronted him with this affair.

- Seeing how he reacted once we confronted him,

it wasn't a deny, deny, deny.

It was like "Yes, I was cheating on Starr Harris."

But he said, "I wouldn't kill my wife

because I was doing that.

I regret it."

So, do we believe that this is a motive

or do we believe that this is a mistake?

- [Alan] Then detectives shift their focus to his lover,

the woman who introduced him to Starr,

his ex-wife, Rebecca.

- [Donna] Where was she?

Is she married?

Is there somebody that could have been mad?

This led us to an interview with her, Rick's ex-wife.

- They were planning to meet up that day, June 1st.

They were planning what they call a Fraser

'cause they would meet in Fraser to hook up.

- She had an alibi.

We very quickly substantiated where she was at that day.

- [Alan] Then, detectives received long-sought evidence

about Rick's whereabouts on the day of the murder.

- When we began,

we had to find out where Rick was between 1:00 and 2:00.

[pensive music]

He said he had gone to Munford Tire.

We pulled the video.

We knew he was standing at Munford Tire

at this particular time, and he was there.

Rick Harris and Starr Harris had had some problems.

He had an affair,

but we were able to confirm that he had an alibi,

and we cleared him as a suspect.

- [Alan] With Rick and Rebecca both having solid alibis,

Detectives Turner and Wassel

circle back on evidence from the crime scene

that may hold the key to this case.

- [Donna] Where would this gun come from, this replica gun?

And what do I know about Rickey Bell?

I spoke to Rickey Bell's mother.

She confirmed at her house

that she had one that looked similar to that,

and said that she kept it on top of a cabinet

that we were sitting in front of.

And I never will forget,

I stood up and reached up

where she said that gun would've been,

[suspenseful music]

and there no gun.

- I just remember it being like a light bulb

that just went off all of a sudden.

It's all falling into place.

- [Alan] But just as soon as detectives zero in

on Rickey Bell,

they receive evidence that gives them pause.

The DNA results from the crime scene condom.

- [Donna] There's actually two samples of DNA on the condom.

And I thought, oh, another curveball.

Here we go.

[intense music]

[t

[ten

[tense

[tense m

[tense mus

[tense music

[tense music]

- [Alan] DNA evidence in the Starr Harris investigation

has caught detectives by surprise.

Having 2 DNA profiles on the same condom

presents them with an extraordinary situation.

- Never in my career have I ever gotten multiple DNA hits

on a condom.

Rickey Bell's DNA is inside the condom,

but Rick Harris's DNA is on the outside of the condom.

We had to have that explanation,

because it's like, as gross as it is,

did they share a condom?

Did they both hurt Starr Harris?

- [Donna] That led to another interview with Rick Harris

to flesh out what really is going on behind the scenes,

without telling him why

that we wanted to know that.

Rick confirmed, when we questioned him,

that he had sexual intercourse with Starr

the night before her death.

[tense music]

And then we clarified with the scientist

that the DNA on the outside of the condom

could have been from consensual sex.

- [Sherri] We actually had somebody with the lab

tell us this happens often.

It usually stems from married couples.

They would've had sex,

and the sperm is still inside the female.

And then later on, the suspect comes in wearing the condom.

- And so, we eliminated Rick Harris as a suspect.

- [Alan] With Rick Harris eliminated,

detectives make a momentous decision.

- We believe that Rickey Bell killed Starr Harris,

and it is time to go and arrest.

We do the arrest warrant,

and he was placed in custody in the Memphis area.

He wasn't saying anything.

We had a sexual assault,

and in Tennessee, it pumps it up to not just a homicide,

but a first degree murder.

- [Donna] I notified the team, got the DA.

We were elated.

- [Alan] Law enforcement's excitement of the arrest

of their top suspect is echoed by Starr's loved ones.

- [Kelly] I was so, so glad, so thankful.

I felt so much relief,

because thinking that it's someone that's that close to you

is like extremely, extremely scary.

- When we heard that there was an arrest,

I was shocked, honestly.

- [Kelly] The question in our mind was,

how could someone that we've hired, that works for us,

someone that we go to work with every day,

we're sharing lunch with on lunch breaks,

how could someone do this to Starr?

- I don't know what to think.

This was so close to home.

- Finally, maybe we're gonna get some justice.

- [Alan] With Bell in custody,

detectives seek out absolutely crucial pieces of evidence...

- [Alan] A motive and a confession.

You're close to solving this case,

and it all comes down to the interview.

- He wasn't saying anything because he knew he was caught.

- [Alan] Then, Deputy Chief Turner presses Rickey Bell

on the physical evidence in hand.

- We had a condom and a replica gun,

both matched Rickey Bell.

So I can put Rickey Bell at the crime scene.

- It was flippantly to the point that it just angered me.

I sat across from pure evil

when I sat across the room from Rickey Bell Jr.

- But he did not admit to killing Starr Harris.

- [Alan] Bell's silence means he'll face the music at trial.

And almost two years later, in March of 2012,

the friends, family, and colleagues of Starr Harris

get their showdown with Rickey.

Without a confession, will the evidence be enough?

- [Sherri] When you're being questioned,

a defense attorney can make you second guess

everything you do.

And all you can do is sit and think, like,

could my testimony be the reason

that this jury comes back not guilty?

And I know this man did it.

[intense music]

[t

[ten

[tense

[tense m

[tense mus

[tense music

[tense music]

- [Alan] The Drummonds community is on pins and needles

for Rickey Bell's trial.

Law enforcement feels confident in their evidence,

but they're yet to see

exactly what the defense has in store.

Will the jury convict Rickey Bell of murder?

- [Kelly] When I walk in the courtroom,

I'm looking at all of Starr's friends and family.

And then I have to look over at Rickey Bell.

He seems so much more callous and sort of with an attitude.

I'm, you know, praying to God that

I don't get up and attack this man.

And I was just thinking,

"Well, how can anyone we've been around do this?"

[pensive music]

- The trial was a way to display all the forensics.

And with the DNA evidence,

he's the one that did it.

- [Alan] But the defense refuses to go down

without a fight.

- They were trying to portray

that Rickey Bell, because of a low IQ score,

he didn't know what he was doing.

But his actions did not match a low IQ.

I think he forgot that he had called in sick

or for whatever reason,

and I think he was an angry person that did not get his way,

and he killed Starr Harris over 50 bucks

that he didn't even earn.

- [Alan] Then, after four days of testimony,

the case is handed to the jury.

- [Sherri] You never know what a jury of twelve's gonna do.

Hopefully, this defense does not find one juror in there

that finds sympathy with him.

- [Kelly] You're sitting there holding your breath,

praying to God, please let the jury

come back with a conviction on this.

[suspenseful music]

- [Donna] His verdict was guilty of first-degree murder

and aggravated rape.

We were so fortunate to get this person

that I would only describe as an animal for what I saw.

- [Tonya] We were extremely happy, of course,

because somebody is now going to pay.

He'll be in prison for the rest of his life.

- [Kelly] I did feel like justice was served,

and there was no way he was gonna get out of this.

- After Starr was gone,

her children went to live with their father.

She lived a beautiful life with beautiful children

and made people feel special.

And I think she deserves to be remembered in that way.

- [Shannah] I hope that people that watch this,

they just remember her and that smile and that laugh.

The rest doesn't matter.

She mattered.

She still matters.

- [Alan] In the wake of Starr's murder,

the Harris landscaping company

tries to survive while Rick takes an extended leave.

But for the crew, they take other jobs for the lack of work.

- [Kelly] I was scared of people

that we tried to hire after that.

Are they from around here?

Do you know this person?

I don't think that Rick ever recovered emotionally

from all of it.

[somber music]

Rick passed away a few years ago,

and I think that the way he was living his life

contributed to that.

You never know when tragedy's gonna strike

and your whole world is gonna be ripped from underneath you.

So love, and let people know they're loved.

Say the words.

And that's what I have learned from all of this.

- Starr Harris's murder was an immense tragedy.

She worked hard to support her family of 10.

The business also helped dozens of men

get back on their feet.

She never could have known

that a killer was among them.