All language subtitles for Episode 01 Wife Killer or Self-Defence

There's nothing
in this world

that compares
to having to take a life.

Nothing.

God.

All I do
is think about every second
of what happened that day.

And if there was another option,

I didn't know it.

I couldn't take it no more, sir.

I'm looking
at the rest of my life in prison

but no matter
what the outcome of this,

my mind will always be
trapped in a prison cell.

You'll never escape that,
no matter what.

This is
news channel 11 at noon.

A man accused
of first-degree murder

in the shooting death
of his wife in January

had his case bound over
to the grand jury this week.

Bryan Lawson is charged
with first-degree murder
and reckless endangerment

in the death of his wife,
Beth chandra Lawson.

Church hill police say
a home surveillance system

recorded Lawson
shooting his wife.

Investigators said
that video also showed

the pair in an argument
before the shooting.

The couple's small child
was standing beside chandra
Lawson when she was shot.

It's a very serious charge.

It's not a death penalty charge,

but it is a first-degree
murder charge.

Theoretically, he could go
to jail for the rest of his life

and he believes that he has
a good case of self-defense

because he was
in an abusive relationship.

The state's going to argue
that it was not self-defense,
that he intended to do this,

but my personal feeling is,

when the jury does see
what was taking place,

they're going to realize
that he had to defend himself

and he doesn't wish
to harm or hurt anyone.

Hey, Bryan.
-Hey, Larry.

How you doing?
All right.

We're gonna
look at the film, okay?
Okay.

The events that led up
to the actual shooting.

Why don't you tell US,

what the plans were
this morning?

I got up that morning,
sitting there waiting on her.

She was in the bedroom,
watching TV.

I went back,

she opened the door,
greeted me,

it was fine
at that point.

And I started saying,
"hey, we gotta go.

"We're already behind schedule,
running late."

And she snapped.

Is there a reason why
you just didn't get up

and hit her back
at that point?

I was too scared to.

Why do you think
she continued to hit you

as many times as she did
on the video?

She enjoyed it
in these states.

When she got into
these fits of violence,

anything was possible.

She was very dangerous.

Had I said the wrong
word right here,

she would have killed me.

She would have
hit you with the bat.

Yes.

And my whole goal
during this situation was

to do everything
to calm her down,

any sign of aggression
would have pushed her further.

Why do you think

she tries to strike the ground
where your feet are?

She knows that my left foot
on this side is crippled.

And she knows that my foot's
been through multiple,
multiple operations.

She was trying
to cause me the most pain
and anguish she could that day.

How many different times
would you say, over the years,

she's used
the ball bat on you?

At least 10, 15 times.

Okay.

What about hit you in the throat
with her fist or her knuckles?

Almost every time.

And that would be upwards
of hundreds of times.

The video
speaks for itself

and that is very important
to your defense in this case.

If it wasn't for the video,

you'd be looking at
a serious amount of time

but I suspect
the state's gonna argue

you did this knowing
it was all gonna be on camera

and set her up
to cause her to beat on you,

get her started beating on you
so you could, in essence,
pull the trigger.

You need to be able
to tell the jury

why you had an internal security
system in your apartment.

About a year
prior to this,

one night , I went out
and I caught a girl that,

about a week before
had been arrested

for breaking into
another apartment.

So, me and my wife

decided to get
a surveillance camera

in case our apartment
was broken into.

She picked them out,

she purchased them,

she brought them home,
and I had them installed.

I'd been with her almost
10 years at this point

and she abused and abused
and abused on me.

And I took it

because there was
no controlling her.

And right here, she says,
"I haven't decided for sure

"how you're gonna die
but you're going to."

Why did you not
walk away from this?

I couldn't leave my son,
she had him in the back room.

And I believe that
had I left

or even called the police,
before they would
have got there,

she would have
took our lives.

Was there
access to weapons?

She had a 12-Gauge,
three-and-a-half inch Magnum

set up to shoot.

It was hanging in her bedroom
a little while.

Also there was a Taurus
.38 special back there.

And right here's when
I retrieved the pistol

from behind the couch,

and I just got it,
put it in my pocket for safety,

tried to defend
me and my son's life

to the best of my ability.

There's no dispute
that Bryan shot her.

There's no dispute
that he said he shot her.

The dispute is why he did it.

I kept the domestic abuse
a secret

because I didn't
want people to know

that she was doing
things like that.

I didn't know what to do.

There's no class for me
and other guys to say,

"hey, if your wife's
beating you,

"you need to do this,

"these are the steps
you need to take

"if you're having these types
of problems in a relationship."

I'm 6'5". 250, 260 pounds.

Why didn't you jump up
and do anything?"

Well, if I would have hit her,

she would have
killed me for sure.

I tell you, one time,
I did get mad enough to leave

and she got a pistol out
and put it in her mouth

and had it not jammed,
she would have killed herself.

You know I love her
just as much right now

as I did
the first day I met her.

And I always will.

I wish I would have
done something different.

It just spiraled
out of control.

Well, he's certainly guilty
of pulling the trigger.

Now, did he have reason to feel
that his life was in danger?

And that
he was defending himself?

I certainly think he does.
Yes, I do.

I think it's a classic case
of self-defense.

I met chandra when I was
probably about 24, 25 years old.

I guess it was just one of those
love-at-first-sight things.

It was a fire
that I was attracted to

and it was not only warm
to feel around you

but it was beautiful
to gaze upon.

There were no bad times
for so long.

Everything was just beautiful.

She was my queen
to put on a pedestal.

She was in the national guard
at the time

and she was about to do
two tours of Iraq.

But she got her neck broke
during the training process.

Due to her neck injury,
they couldn't really deploy her.

We turned to the doctors

and they started
giving her pain pills,

hundreds and hundreds
of narcotics a month.

And then before you know it,

she'd become addicted to it.

I mean the love
we had for each other,

nothing could stop US
in the beginning,

but when the drugs came in,
it just...

It destroyed a lot of it.

I interviewed
Dr. Tom schock yesterday.

The forensic psychologist
who's been furnished

substantial mental
health records

of the deceased lady,
chandra Beth Lawson.

What her mental health records
show is that

she was a substance abuser
and she had a bipolar condition.

Substance abuse mixed with
a bipolar condition

directly results to
a problem with violence.

Is he in a position to say that
the medications that she was on

or abusing exacerbated
the bipolar disorder?

Aggravated it.
Okay.

He went ahead to say people
who have a bipolar condition

and people who are
substance abusers

are six times more likely
to commit a violent act

than the average
everyday person.

And we also know
that we have a document

in her mental health file
which says, when manic,
she abuses her husband.

That document itself
it's a gold-plated document

that we wanna be sure
and get into the record.

I was born with what
they call severe clubfoot.

It was almost turned
completely backwards.

From six months to 17,
I had surgeries all the time.

Doctors...

You get to the point where
there's nothing they can do
other than take it off.

So, it was pain management
from then on out.

I've been on morphine,
I've been on opana.

Any pain medication
that there is out there,
I've been on it.

You keep getting more
and more and more
and then you start abusing them.

You start crushing them.

You start snorting them.

And then you wake up one morning
and you say "I'm a junkie."

You know,
I've ruined my hands, my arms,
it's all from shooting up

and when you
get to that stage...

It's hard to come back.

I was in rehab,
called home to check in
with my wife,

she said she was pregnant.

And it hit me...

And I thought, "god,

"if you take the needles
out of my arm,
I wouldn't put them back."

And I left the drugs
and I left them behind.

I think him being born
saved my life.

And I have never shot up since.

But she never gave up
the needle,

and I never could
convince her to.

The worse the drugs got,
the worse the violence got.

Had we been
able to skip the drugs,

we wouldn't be
sitting here right now.

Okay, Bryan,
are you telling me,
without an absolute doubt,

that this woman
mainlined every day?

Yes.

Every day?
Every day.

Three times a day?

Three times a day.

She would go into the bedroom,
back bedroom,
where the camera's at,

shut and lock the door
because she didn't want kids
or nobody to walk in on her,

and she shot up.

It's on that video,
I promise you.

So we want to try to see
what's going on here.

If it does show her
using drugs intravenously,

that could be
very important to US.

We can show that
she's not an innocent victim,

her actions are as much
as what led to the event

as anything, if not
the lead cause of it.

So I think it's important
to show that to the jury.

I don't know.
It's not working
is all I can say.

It's not playing it.
It's not a video file.

There could be some
exculpatory evidence on this

that we really could
hang our hat on,

but it could potentially prove
problematic for US

if we can't access or see it.

Okay, Bryan,

let's just bring you up to date
a little bit on what's going on.

We've been working
on this camera footage.

We've been unable to pull it up
and I think it's part
of the state's attempt

to try to keep US
from getting that information

because it shows that this lady
had a problem with drugs.

I don't know
why they're having such trouble.

They handed US over
the first 24 hours.

More likely than not,

they'd prefer US
not to have this information.

That's my personal opinion.

They should be able
to just hand it over.

I think there's
a problem there.

Wait and see.

Today, I'm going to court
for a motions hearing.

We've asked for the footage
from the camera system

that was operating in my house
at the time

and the hard drive they sent
was completely blank.

So, that's going to be
the biggest issue
we're addressing.

It's a really big deal
because if we go to trial,

we need all that footage
to compile a good defense.

All rise for the honorable
judge John dugger, presiding.

Thank you. Be seated.
Good morning.

This is case number 17cr070,

state of Tennessee
v. Bryan Lawson.

Now, there was a motion about...

You have a copy
of the video by the tbi,
a hard drive or something,

that's been downloaded,
that you're not able to open it.

The point I'd like
to make is this, your honor

is they were able to give US
that 45 minutes of the incident

when the shooting began
and ended.

What I saw in the courtroom.

What you saw in the courtroom,

why can't they just
give it to US like that?

Well, your honor,

we don't have any obligation

to provide voluminous material

that we don't think
is remotely relevant.

Of course, it's relevant

we don't think we should spend
our time or taxpayer money
to produce something

that's never going to see
the light of day
in the courtroom.

What do you want
to say about that?

I think this is something
that's exculpatory to him

from the standpoint of
how often, daily,
she used these syringes.

Let's assume,
for the sake of argument,

that she was using
every day.

What is the possible relevance
to why he shot her
three times?

What is the possible
relevance?

I'll tell you exactly
what the relevance is.

A person who has
a bipolar personality

and who is addicted
to any kind of opiate-type
medication

is six times more likely
to commit a violent act.

Okay.
So I am telling the state

that they need to,
technology-wise,

make sure that the tbi
technology person
talks to him

so they can look at it.
Yes, sir.

I want this done
before February.

We're not getting to February
and going, "I didn't get to see
all the hours."

This case needs to be tried.

Court's adjourned.
Thank you.

Liam is my wife's son.

So, he'd be my stepson.

I was with him
for about 10 years

and we had a really
great relationship.

He's absolutely a great kid.

From day one, I loved him.

We don't get into the details
of what happened.

We're trying to help
each other move on

but I've got to be
realistic about it.

No matter what the reasons
that I had that day,

that's still his mother.

Come on in, buddy.
Howdy.

Good to see you.

I love you so much.

I love you, too.

Good to see you.

Come on. Let's go get you
something to drink.

So it's great
to have you here.

You have no idea
what it does for me.

I have something
to be happy about.

I just think
it's no good to hold hate
toward somebody.

You're right,
you're right.

What good does it do to me
to sit in a room

and just be filled
with anger towards you?

And nothing good
comes from anger.

You can see that
anywhere, anytime.

These situations with drugs
and domestic violence...

I've lived through it.
Right.

I've been on one end of it,
you've been on
the other end of it.

I knew something
was going on

and it was causing problems.
Right.

I hope you can forgive me
for those times.

And I apologize to you
for that from the bottom
of my heart.

So... 'Cause, I love you.

You coming to see me
and you coming
to hang out with me...

It's the best thing I have
going in my life right now.

God love you.

God love you.

I love you, Liam.
I love you, too, buddy.

I loved my mom
she was a very good mother
she was very supportive,

she was always there,
but my mother
had a bit of a temper

and she let her anger
take the best of her.

I didn't like the arguing,
I didn't like the yelling,

the fussing,
those moments were what...

Um...

It was just a hard thing
to deal with.

It was a terrible thing
that she died,

but you can't keep that hate
because anger will destroy you.

When my stepson
comes to me and tells me
he still loves me,

that's the greatest love
I can ever have
bestowed upon me.

And you've become
everything your mother
would want you to become.

And I want you to know that

I may not necessarily
be the right person
to tell you this,

that she would
be proud of you,

but she would be.

To a degree,
I have forgiven you,

but you will always be
the man that killed my mother.

The level of trust
that we had before

is never going to be there
fully, completely.

There's damage done
that's always gonna be there.

We can still love each other,

but we will never
be there for each other
in the same way that we were.

You still have to atone
for what you did.

There still needs to be
that justice served.

And if that's your freedoms
being taken away,

whether it be five to 10 years,

or 10 to 20 years,
that's fine by me, I guess.

Larry has called
me to come in

and we're going to
go through the video

and I'm going to try
to remember what was said.

It makes you relive
what happened that day,

but without the video I wouldn't
even have a shot at a defense.

Who would have believed me?
You know?

Okay, Bryan you found
anything new

that appears to be different

or enlightens you on
anything that we've...

There's a couple of things.

One thing, I did notice
this round about 8:07.

She starts telling me
that she will bash
my brains in.

She's telling me she wants
my mother to have to clean
my brains up.

And that's why
she gets the bat.

My little boy
was in the bedroom,

she states that after
she kills me,

she's going to take Brayden
and herself in the bathroom

and get in the bathtub
and cut their arteries
with a scalpel.

I tried to plead with
her to put the bat down,
stop talking about killing,

but anything I say to her
only makes her angrier.

And then she very plainly
points to the door

and then she starts
pointing at me.

And then I remember now
that she's telling me

that no matter who comes in
that door, everybody's dying.

I ask her why she won't
leave Brayden alone

she said he was put on
this earth to pay her back

for every bad thing
she'd ever done.

There's your little boy
patting his ears there.

Yes, because
she's screaming.

He's just as scared as I am.

About 8:31 she brings
Brayden into the room.

Up to this point she's done
nothing but tell me how
she's going to kill him.

So, for my own son's safety,

I retrieved the pistol
from behind the couch

and I just put it in
my pocket for safety.

I didn't arm myself
at the beginning.

I armed myself when
she convinced me that

she was aiming
to do him harm.

Points at me ,
everybody's going to die

is that what she said?
Yes, yes.

Right then.
I wasn't going to risk his life.

He was too precious.

I couldn't take that chance.

After I pick up my little boy

my whole intention
was to get to that phone

and get help
as fast as possible.

That's it.

Since those bullets
left that pistol

my mind has been nothing
but pain and anguish.

I regret she lost her life
with all my heart and soul.

All I do is think
about every second
of what happened that day.

And if there was another
option I didn't know it.

I had to shoot my wife
to save my son.

But what I thought I did
to save everything

ended up being
what made me lose everything.

The day that I was
arrested, I was sitting
in the police department

and a tbi agent walked in
and he says,

"son, I got something
I need to talk to you about."

"Have you ever
heard of this man?"
And I said, "yes, I have."

And he said,
"have you ever heard

"that he might be the father
of your son?"

And I said,
"no, I have not. Never."

He just showed up to the jail
and said, "that's my son,

"but nobody knows about it."

I was still in such shock
at what had happened
that morning.

I couldn't take it all in,
but I thought there's no way.

Me and Larry talked it through

and he says we gotta
do DNA immediately.

So I get called in
to Larry's.

And then he gives me
a copy of the DNA test.

And it says Bryan Lawson
is not the biological father.

Yeah!

I love you, love you.

No! No!

The most important thing
in my world was that boy.

It destroyed me
because me and him
had such a tight bond.

In my heart, he's still mine,

but they won't let me
around him in any way,
shape or form.

So...

My mom and my mother-in-law,
chandra's mother,

they have custody of him
and he goes back and forth.

I can't talk to him.
I can't be anywhere he is.

We go to trial and I win
I can see him immediately.

The court would have
no reason to hold him from me.

I miss him beyond belief.

But...

That little boy is what gives
me the strength to keep living.

Okay, Bryan,
we're going to look
at the film again, okay?

Okay.

One of the cameras
is in the bedroom,

which is where
we're looking at now.

Yep.
And I already found her
shooting up four times.

So, right now, she's got
the syringe in her hand.

Now this, is Brayden's
personal blanket.

And she lays it out there.

And...

She shoots up
on top of his blanket.

So now it's going in.

See the black plunger
going down?

She's getting it in,
right there.

She's gonna be more relaxed
because she's got her fix.

It's over and done.

If she hadn't had any,
that's when you would notice it.

Well,
the significance of this,
that Dr. Schock tells me,

is that, the day that
all this event happened on,

she didn't have an injection
or we'll call it "a fix",

and it made her
far more agitated...
Yes.

...than she normally
would've been...
Yeah.

...and this triggered the event
that ultimately took place.

I think it would be wise
at this point,

that you let Daniel and me
take these to the da's office.

And let them see
what's there to be seen.

And it may help
modify their position.

Okay.

But let me tell you,
if you didn't have
that videotape,

you'd be looking at 50 years.
-Yeah.

Absolutely.

Bryan, you know,
I think now, the state
is beginning to realize

that there might be a problem
with their case.

We were approached
by the da's office,
Dan Armstrong,

and he's beginning
to talk some sense about
trying to make a deal.

What they
have proposed is,

that they've come down
to voluntary manslaughter.

But, instead of
considering you
a standard offender,

they're gonna consider you
a mitigated offender.

That just means you'd serve
20% of your sentence.

It'd be 15 years, 20%.

So, you'd serve
roughly three years

and then you're eligible
for parole.
Okay.

It doesn't mean
you're automatically
released,

it means you get
your parole hearing.

Okay.
Okay?

Right now, and is that
what you would advise?

Well, I...
The final, the final decision
always has to be yours.

But, you know,
I think that you've got

a very good chance
of acquittal.

This is as strong
a case of self-defense
as I've ever seen.

I would like for Bryan
to go to trial.

If it goes perfectly,
I think he gets acquitted.

But, the thing
about jury trials

is you never know what a jury
is gonna hang their hat on.

You kind of
roll the dice sometimes.

But with this kind of case,

sometimes it pays off big
to go ahead and roll that dice.

If it was me,
I'd take it to trial.

I have to let the da know
if I'm gonna go to trial
or I'm gonna take the plea.

Under no circumstances,
does her family want it
to go to trial

because they don't want
all this stuff to come out
about chandra.

I know they want
to hush this up,

I take my plea.

They wanna see me
serve some time.

The reason to do the things
they have asked,

is because they have
control of Brayden.

Right now, he's between
my mother, Evelyn,
and chandra's mother.

I know that if I go against
her family's wishes,

then they can
take him away from mom.

But if I take the plea,

I know that
they'll still let Brayden
be a part of her life.

One minute,
I'm ready to take the plea,

one minute,
I'm ready to go to trial.

It's the hardest decision
I've ever had to make
in my life.

But if I had to make
a decision right now,

I'd go all the way
to the jury.

I think I have a good chance
that I would win.

And there is an advantage,
because I have just told
the flat-out truth.

- Today is February 1st and,
- I have to have a decision.

It's either plea or trial.

I'm just an absolute
nervous mess.

Can't sleep, can't eat.

I don't feel well.
I've been throwing up.

You know,
just knowing that...

The end's coming,
but not certain
on what the end is.

Taking a life fills you
with so much emotional pain
that it becomes physical.

You'll never
lose that pain. Never.

This is Brayden's
latest picture.

I haven't seen him
or spoke to him,

or held him
since that day.

I've missed everything.

He was in the room
when his mother
was shot and killed.

I did it to save him
and me both.

But will he understand that?
I don't know.

You know,
that's his mother...

Period.

That little boy
should have his mother.

It's hard
to believe that...

The moment's here.

Two years ago, I didn't think
it was ever gonna come

and now it's here,
I wish it never would have.

I'm ready.

All rise.

Court is back in session.
-You can be seated.

This is case number
17cr070.

State of Tennessee
v. Bryan Steven Lawson.

We're here today
on a plea.

General, you want to tell US
about the plea?

Your honor, count one,
will be amended

to voluntarily
manslaughter.

This plea offer was made
on the recommendation
of the mother of the victim

and the eldest son
of the victim.

Is the victim's family here?

The son is, your honor.

I'll say thank you
for being here.

State your full name
for the court.

Bryan Steven Lawson.

You were originally
charged by the grand jury
with first-degree murder.

You've heard
the Attorney General
amend the charges today,

to voluntary manslaughter.

Do you know what
voluntary manslaughter is?
I do.

Is this your signature
on this waiver of rights

to plead guilty?
It is, your honor.

Did you read it?
Did you understand it?
I did.

You understand
by pleading guilty,
this is the only trial,

the only hearing
you will ever have
on these charges,

there will be no opportunity
for you after today

to present evidence
of your innocence

or to plead not guilty?
I do.

What you are agreeing,
is to take a 15-year sentence.

Do you understand that?
I do.

And it's gonna be,
because you have no record,

to a 20%.

And do you understand 20%
doesn't mean

you're automatically released
after serving 20%?

You could be required
to serve every day

for 15 years.
I do.

Are you pleading guilty
because you are guilty?
Yes, sir.

Any force, threats
or pressure?
No, sir.

Anybody promise you
anything other than

what's on this waiver of rights
to plead guilty?
No, sir.

Are you satisfied
with your lawyers?
I am.

Did they do everything
you wanted them to do?
Yes.

Do you have any statement,
or anything you want to say?

I'd just like to let
the family know

that I appreciate
all their support during this.

And I express every
level of remorse

that I have in my fiber
to them.

And I'm sorry this happened.

In Hawkins county case
17cr070,

I find you guilty
to voluntary manslaughter

and sentence you
to serve 15 years,

which means you're now
a convicted felon.

All right,
you'll be in custody.

You'll go over here
with the sheriff.

With all my heart,
I wanted to go to the trial.

But it's not
all about me.

It's about
a little boy's life.

If I could take that suffering,
off of him by going to jail...

Even if it's 100 years,

I'm going to take it.