Original subtitles

Hello?

My sister, Patty, and her husband, Richie,

started off as a young couple.

Richie got into the jewelry business.

Okay. Hey, pat.

Then they worked together,

and they made a life for themselves.

There was happiness in their life, but there were issues.

It's okay. He's downstairs.

I could sense that there was always a fear in their life.

They were always worried

that they were going to be attacked or robbed.

There's not a time that goes by

that I don't think about my sister and her husband.

I wanted justice. I wanted --

you know, I wanted to find out who did this.

Why did they do this?

I wanted to find out who killed my sister.

you've reached pat and rich.

We're not available to take your call.

Leave a message, and we'll get back to you.

Mom, dad, it's Michelle.

it's now 11:30,

and this is the third time I've called.

Can you please, either of you, call me back when you get this

so I know you're okay?

I love you. Bye.

There was a birthday party that was supposed to take place.

Michelle, my niece,

had invited her parents to this birthday party.

They didn't show up, and it was unusual

for them not to communicate, you know,

'cause Michelle was close to her mom.

Michelle didn't hear anything Saturday or Sunday.

Michelle was working as a dispatcher

for the police department,

and she asked the police department

to do a wellness check on her parents.

Hey, it's Michelle.

Yeah. I got a favor to ask.

I need you to check on my parents.

Unit five, we've got a request for a welfare check

at 112 south street, over.

Sergeant William Britt,

a 33-year veteran of Philadelphia homicide,

is a supervisor on duty that night.

I was informed that the radio dispatcher

wanted to do a check on the wellbeing,

and her supervisor had said, "come on. Let's go."

And they notified the district officers.

That's the 6th district there.

gate's open.

Mr. Zimmerman, Philadelphia police.

- The lights are on up there. - If there was someone up there,

they had to have heard that. Come on.

We got to get up there and see what's going on.

Dispatcher, I need a wagon at 100 block of south street.

They pulled up onto the pavement and climbed onto the roof

and were able to get up and look in.

Damn.

We got a problem here.

- What is it? - We got two bodies up here.

Call it in.

We got a male, female here at 112 south street.

We need a bus.

Murders come every day,

but this was society hill.

It's an affluent area.

There's a lot of nightlife, condos.

You know there's going to be a lot of questions,

but we work every murder the same way.

Philadelphia homicide detective Mike Walter from one squad

is assigned the case.

He arrives at the zimmermans' house while sergeant bill britt

is already processing the crime scene.

Looks like they've been here a while.

one shot each, back of the head,

like a hit maybe.

Maybe.

You see the male sitting at the table.

I don't think he saw what was happening when he was shot.

It was pretty gruesome.

Victims are Richard and Patty Zimmerman,

husband and wife.

About to sit down to eat.

Looks like it.

check this out.

diamonds...

In each of them.

It almost looked like he had been looking at jewelry

or stones when he was shot,

because he was slumped to the left, his hand was down,

and there were some envelopes on the floor.

A whole lot of money, lot of money.

It was troublesome because there was no forced entry.

We could not find anything out of place.

Nothing appeared to be missing. And it was,

"okay. What's the motivation for this?"

So what? So the doer comes in,

or more likely, they let him in.

Mr. Zimmerman's already at the table.

Bang.

Mrs. Zimmerman comes in from the kitchen

when she hears the shot. Then he turns on her. Bang.

And then what? He just leaves all the cash, the diamonds,

everything, and just walks out?

Like a hit.

Like a hit.

And it was like boom, boom.

They weren't expecting this at all.

Detectives.

We found one shell casing from a.45,

a semi-automatic pistol.

Now we're getting somewhere.

This was like a whodunit,

and now you know your work is cut out for you,

because now you have to really dissect their lives.

Come on, Mario. How many more times

you going to be taking pictures like this?

Enough.

Patty and Richard Zimmerman

had lived in Philadelphia 30 years.

They had two children,

Michelle and Matthew. That's my girl.

Mario ditroia is Patty's brother.

Patty was born Patricia ditroia in 1950.

Patty was 15 years older than I.

She rebelled against my dad,

so she left and ran away from home

when she was about 16, 17 years old.

People are going to think I'm wanted

by the way you're taking pictures of me like that.

After she left, Patty met Richie, started a little family,

and started their jewelry business,

and she made a good life for herself.

Hi.

Patty seemed very happy at that stage in her life.

Beautiful, absolutely beautiful.

I mean, she really had a good life.

Stop.

as the sun rises over society hill the next morning,

detectives ratchet up their investigation.

The first order of business was to start doing interviews,

talk to the family,

and get a clearer picture

of Richard and Patricia's life.

Any witnesses?

No, nothing. The daughter's here,

the one that called about the welfare check.

Okay. Which one is she?

There.

We want to find out from the daughter, Michelle,

when the last time they spoke to them?

What's their everyday life like?

Did they have any enemies?

When you last spoke with your parents,

did they mention having any trouble with anybody?

Not recently.

I mean, they had some tough times in the past,

but they were tough people.

Is there anyone else in your family,

anyone we got to get in touch with?

Yeah, Matthew, my brother.

And, obviously, we need to talk to the son.

The mom and dad are dead, unexplained.

Where is he?

Is he possibly dead, too?

I'll try and find him,

let him know you want to talk to him.

A few hours after police speak with Michelle,

her brother, Matthew, shows up at police headquarters.

You got any idea who'd want to do this?

Your mom and dad, they got any beefs with anybody?

Man, I got no idea.

He's like, "I have nothing to do with my mom and dad.

I was on my own since I was 17 years old.

They threw me out of the house.

I don't even know where they live at."

Still, I'm sure that's a blow,

both your parents going that way.

Like I said, we weren't close.

He wasn't upset.

He just was, like, blank.

Matt, where were you this weekend?

I was up in Kensington, a couple buddies, helping them move.

You can ask them if you'd like.

And he was with them, you know, the entire time of the weekend.

And gave US the names of the individuals,

and, you know, then we're going to follow up.

Investigators visit Matthew's neighborhood

in the Kensington section of Philadelphia,

five miles from society hill

and a world away.

His friend, Tammy, is easy to find.

New digs?

Yeah. Still moving, as you can see.

So, did Matt help you with all this this weekend?

Um...no.

He was supposed to show up Friday night.

We waited and waited.

He didn't show.

We ended up doing it all ourselves.

When they asked him, you know, "yo, what's up?

Why didn't you come and help US move?"

He's like, "I got lost. You know, I couldn't find it."

Hard work, like moving,

it's not Matt's thing.

So when did he get here?

On Saturday.

Then he was with US the rest of the weekend.

All weekend?

Yeah, until Tuesday.

His friend, Richie, came by around noon that day

and told him about his parents being dead.

How'd he seem?

He didn't show any emotion,

but that's just Matthew.

So, walking away from that interview,

now Matthew's offering up an alibi,

and they're saying, "no, that's not true,"

he's lying to US about his whereabouts,

and why?

Hoping to find an angle to work,

detective Walter runs a background check into Matthew.

Looks like this kid's been a guest of the city a few times.

His record wasn't extraordinary.

He had some contacts with law enforcement,

but it was nothing that told US

that this guy is wreaking havoc on the city of Philadelphia.

Until they have something

much more incriminating against Matthew,

investigators have to pursue other leads in the case,

and a solid one quickly materializes.

Got the file on the zimmermans.

This isn't the first time somebody's taken a shot at them.

1994. Robbery, kidnapping.

The guy who did this is about to be retried,

and the star witnesses -- Patty and Richard Zimmerman.

Before I was in homicide, I handled a robbery

and a kidnapping and a shooting

of Richard and Patricia Zimmerman.

And Richard was shot, Patricia was kidnapped.

They were going to retry the individuals

that committed the crime against the zimmermans,

so this could be a motive.

They want to silence the zimmermans

from testifying against them.

it's been less than 24 hours

since Patty and Richard Zimmerman were found dead

in their Philadelphia townhouse.

People are going to think I'm wanted

by the way you're taking pictures of me like that.

As detectives dig into their past,

they learn this was not the first time

the couple had been targeted.

Patty and Richie were attacked

a few years before

they were finally killed.

As they were leaving one of their business locations,

they were accosted, and Richie was shot in the leg.

They almost blew Richie's leg off.

My sister was abducted.

I remember my sister telling me

that they ripped her earrings out,

then they, you know, drove her around, and...

They finally dumped her out in front of a church.

Philadelphia police had apprehended

only one of the three kidnappers,

an ex-con named Gregory Hughes,

who is now back in jail with a different charge.

His first trial for the attack on the zimmermans

ended in a hung jury,

and the retrial is scheduled a few short weeks away

with the star witnesses, Patricia and Richard Zimmerman,

making Gregory Hughes

one of investigators' first suspects in their murders.

If Gregory Hughes was a defendant

in a case where Richard and/or Patricia Zimmerman

would be testifying against him,

that person would have a motive to eliminate the witnesses.

They're dead?

- Both of them? - That's right, Greg.

- They're dead. - Damn.

Two main witnesses against you,

and they're killed right before you head back to trail.

Talk about luck?

You called someone from the outside.

You called in a favor.

Man, you see me? You see where I am?

It look like I can order a hit?

What you think, I'm John gotti?

Nah, man. It don't work like that.

He lit up. It's like, "no, no, no, no.

I had nothing to do with their murders.

Even if I wanted to, I don't have the ability to."

Listen, man. You know just as well as I do

that them people already testified

against me in the first trial.

They just going to read that back in the next trial.

Wiping them people out ain't gon' save me.

In talking to him, he knew that,

from the first trial, even if they were murdered,

it wasn't going to prevent their testimony from coming in.

We never found anything that, you know,

whether it was prison correspondence

or phone calls or anything like that,

that he was soliciting help from the outside.

Yo, listen.

Those people know the business they're playing in.

You got the gold, you're the target.

Although Hughes may not have had the zimmermans killed,

the crime he's accused of had a lasting impact on the couple.

they changed their habits.

They had a storefront on south street that they closed.

Both had purchased guns and had them registered,

and then they went a step further.

The zimmermans actually installed

their own security system.

You would have to call him and say,

"hey, I want to come down,

and I want to buy, you know, a chain,"

or, "I need you to fix my diamond ring," or whatnot.

Yeah, 8:00 is good.

I'll see you then.

When you got down there,

on the other side of south street,

about 20 yards from them,

was a pay phone,

and they were instructed to get on that pay phone

and call the house.

- Hello? - Richard would answer.

He'd look out, see the person on the pay phone,

and then he would tell his wife to go down

and allow them to come in.

Hey, pat.

- What is it? - He's downstairs.

It's okay.

So he knew exactly who was coming through his door.

You never popped in unannounced.

If you did, they wouldn't answer the door.

It tells you that the zimmermans knew,

trusted, and let in, voluntarily,

the people who murdered them.

six days into the investigation,

detective Walter calls the crime lab

for any leads from forensics.

Good afternoon, sergeant. Yeah.

I'm just checking in on those ballistics and prints.

There were two spent shell casings

that were.45 calibers,

both close to the bodies.

That ballistic evidence told US that the murder weapon

was a.45 Cal,

and it was an automatic.

Okay, and the prints?

Unfortunately, there are no matches to known felons.

It is assumed that the prints came from customers or clients.

You don't have that smoking gun.

You don't have an eyewitness.

You have to take your time.

It was a difficult case.

When detectives allow it,

Patty Zimmerman's brother, Mario,

and daughter Michelle

enter the apartment for the first time.

The detectives handed me the keys

and said, "here you go,"

and, you know, to walk into a place

where your family members were executed,

it was kind of rough.

are you ready for this?

Michelle, obviously, didn't know what to expect.

Yes.

You walk into a home where your sister and her husband lived,

and then you can see their remains on the ground,

you know, on the floor of their home.

you know, it hits home. It's like, "okay.

Well, this is where my brother-in-law was.

This is where my sister was."

You know, I mean, I can only imagine

what Michelle was thinking.

God.

It's going to be okay.

I'm trying to play this part of a rock

and being supportive, and, you know, "hey, look.

You know, we got to get this cleaned up," and...

It wasn't a pleasant time.

and there is more unpleasantness in store,

as Mario walks Michelle home one night.

So, Michelle and I, we're walking back from dinner,

and, on the sidewalk in front of her home

was a message written out in chalk,

big letters that said, "I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

Detective Walter records the disturbing event.

Michelle, she was nervous.

It was obviously a message that was sent to her.

She was afraid that whomever may have killed her parents

may be, you know, out to get her.

We tried to review security tapes in the area

to see if we could see who was responsible for writing that,

and that was a dead end.

but Michelle soon offers detectives

a possible lead in her parents' murders.

- She said, "there's a jeweler. - He goes by Nick the Greek."

Nick the Greek was operating a jewelry business

at her father's old storefront,

and he was moving to evict Nick the Greek.

They had a few arguments over that,

and they had a falling out.

So then we have to talk to Nick the Greek.

Philadelphia detectives

searching for Richard and Patty Zimmerman's killer

have a new suspect in their sights,

a business associate named Nick the Greek

who works out of a storefront the zimmermans had rented out.

The zimmermans owned two jewelry stores.

Now, the one where the murders occurred

was an upscale residence and jewelry store.

Now, the second jewelry store that they owned

that they were actually leasing out

was, you know, at front street, right off of allegheny ave,

in a very high crime, dark area.

It's a pawn shop, basically.

They're there to buy stolen jewelry.

myself and detective Joe bamberski,

we went to do a check into the jewelry store.

So, you know the zimmermans?

Know them? Of course, I know them.

We did business together for years.

They had a falling out. The zimmermans were moving

to evict Nick the Greek from the store.

Would that lead him to want to commit a murder

against Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman?

I heard you had a beef between you and the zimmermans.

No beef.

He wanted to raise the rent. I didn't want him to.

That was it, just a business thing.

Well, I heard things got heated.

No, it didn't get heated.

It was a negotiation.

He admitted, yes, you know, it was a business disagreement

but nothing to the point that he would want to kill them.

Aw, come on.

Well, look. You know the zimmermans.

You're close to them. We got to clear you.

And when I was talking to him, I look past him,

and on this workbench,

there's a.45 caliber pistol.

Is that your.45, Nick?

Yes, it is.

- may I see it? - And I saw the pistol,

and I was like, "hold on."

We know that the zimmermans were killed with a.45 auto.

We're not sure if that's the murder weapon or not.

Look, I deal with cash and jewelry.

I can't be in here with nothing.

So you got a permit on this?

Yeah, I got a permit for it...Somewhere.

why don't you come down to my office with US,

where we can speak more comfortably?

It's your world.

if you can find the motive of a homicide,

then you're on the right track

as finding who the person is that did that.

He would be allowed in the house,

and he has business relations with him,

and we're not ruling anything out.

Anything's possible here.

We had ballistic testing done, and it turned out

that it absolutely did not match.

Nick the Greek just slid way down on the suspects list,

but there are dozens of other contacts to investigate.

Mr. Zimmerman kept a logbook,

and in that logbook contained his business transactions

with his customers, their names and what was owed

and what was purchased.

You've reached pat and rich.

We're not available to take your call. Leave a message...

And there were, I would say, about 15 to 20 phone messages.

We were able to pretty much backtrack

and find his customers, his inner circle.

You see the Zimmerman family, and you think, "my gosh.

You know, wealthy society hill people."

So that made me wonder,

who buys jewelry

from some guy's dining room table?

It looks like they have this life,

but what kind of life did they really have,

and who wanted them to be killed?

One of the Zimmerman's business associates, a man named John,

tells them about a piece of jewelry

that might be a motive for murder.

I never saw it myself, but Richie told me all about it.

He said he bought it from a guy who couldn't sell it,

you know, the regular channels.

One of the contacts said, "I know that rich Zimmerman

had this enormous diamond ring

that he said he had purchased from a burglar,

and he said it was his rainy-day fund,

and if he ever needed money, he could sell this."

So you're saying it was hot?

I didn't say that.

So maybe he sold it then.

Nah, that ring was the type of thing he would hang on to.

It was for emergencies, worth a quarter million dollars.

Look, we didn't find anything like that at his house.

And that's the thing. Rich told people he had that ring.

Even people you wouldn't want to know knew.

So I was thinking maybe someone came back to the house

for the ring and bumped off rich and Patty.

All of a sudden, we're like, "well, wait a minute.

Where's the diamond?"

We didn't find that at the house.

Is that the reason why they were murdered?

Detective Walter dives deeper into the zimmermans' file

for any sign of the missing ring,

and he hits pay dirt.

We found out that the zimmermans had safe deposit boxes

spread over three banks,

so we had to get search warrants for every bank

to go through these safe deposit boxes.

okay.

- anything? - Nah.

Old watches, a couple of silver dollars,

nothing you need a security deposit box for.

All right. Let's hit the last one.

- What number was it? - It's, 107.

does that one feel lucky?

Joe, look at this.

Roughly three weeks after Richard and Patty Zimmerman

were gunned down in their home,

detectives are attempting to locate

a missing piece of jewelry

that might've been the motive for murder.

We found out that the zimmermans had this big ring.

Myself and detective bamberski, we had to get search warrants

and go to several banks

to check safety deposit boxes

looking for that ring.

all right. Does that one feel lucky?

Joe, look at this.

And, finally,

we find this big ring,

and it was so big, it looked fake.

It really -- it was enormous.

Since it was never stolen,

the lavish ring is of little value to the detectives.

Well, so much for that.

Mark it down?

Mark it down.

Once we found the ring, that trail was cold.

after working the Zimmerman case fruitlessly

for almost a month without interruption,

Philadelphia police detective Mike Walter

is pulled onto other cases.

- Detective Walter. - Mike, we got a triple

on the 1700 block in north Howard.

You're up on this one.

You got it, sarge.

You got a certain window to spend on a crime

when stuff is really fresh.

If it doesn't get solved, you're up again.

While investigating other homicides,

weeks turn into months,

and it seems like the zimmermans' killer

will get away with their murders.

that's my girl.

Mario, you spoil your women like this,

you'll be in good shape. Don't worry about it.

There was always this question in the back of our mind --

who did this? Who did this? Who did this, you know?

And I would always reach out

periodically to the detectives and say,

"hey, what's going on? What did you find out? What do you know?

This is my sister and her husband,

and, you know, where's justice at?"

That's enough.

Come on. Let's go away.

the Zimmerman case lies virtually dormant for two years.

Then, in 1999, the Philadelphia police department

establishes its first cold case squad.

One of its first detectives is Mike Walter.

It was explained to US by our captain

that we could go to any case that we wanted,

and the one case that I wanted back

was the Zimmerman case.

It looks like they knew the killers.

Well enough to get in the house and close enough not to miss.

My partner was detective Patrick Mangold.

We started a cold case, and we'd sit down,

put our heads together and say,

"okay, this is what I think. This is what you think,"

and Mike said, "this is what I think."

We're going to need to talk to everyone again,

get them on the record.

When they reopen the case,

the detectives take a new look

at Patty and Richard Zimmerman's surviving family.

They find not much has changed for their daughter, Michelle.

But they discover that their son, Matthew's, fortunes

have improved dramatically.

Bank records, major purchases, credit card records.

Looks like he was a busy boy the last two years.

Look at this.

where did all this come from?

This kid win the lottery or what?

we're coming to find out that Matthew is out there

with cash.

He purchased a house, you know?

He's up in the Kensington area, flashing jewelry

and unexplained amounts of money.

It became apparent that he benefited financially

from his mom and dad's death.

again, we look for motive.

The first motive one would think of,

I think, naturally, would be robbery.

98% of what they had around them

was still there.

Who does a robbery and leaves all that behind?

Only one class of person, and that would be someone

who's going to inherit it anyway.

who else was with Matt

the weekend of the murder at the house?

His buddy who owned the place, his girlfriend,

and the girl Matt was with at the time, Amy.

Since they're no longer together,

Amy might have more to share with detectives.

So what I don't understand is,

if Matt was estranged all those years,

why'd they leave him the money and then put him on that policy?

They never gave up on him.

He was their son no matter what.

We come to find out that it wasn't 100% estranged,

that he had spoken to his parents,

and, from time to time, his father would give him money.

And something would happen. It would blow up.

Was a cycle.

Were you with him the weekend of the murder?

Yes.

Matt wanted me to know what to say

when you people came after me.

He told US all to say the same thing.

He was telling them,

"hey, if the cops come and ask you, I was with you.

I need you to alibi me and tell the cops

when they come to talk to you

that I was with you the entire time."

It wasn't just that. He said...

If his parents were dead, he wouldn't be worried,

that he was coming into some money.

Really?

And so what we did is we figured

it's a good opportunity to bring Matt in,

get a chance to talk to him again,

'cause we haven't talked to him in a couple years.

Nonetheless, detectives have their doubts

about getting Matthew to talk.

It didn't work out so well the first time.

You got any idea who'd want to do this?

No idea, man.

Just kind of futile. If he lied before,

he's going to lie again. When you have something solid,

like a solid piece of evidence or a statement

to go at a suspect and throw it at them and say,

"hey, listen. This is what I have.

Now what do you want to say?"

And that's called a hammer in police work.

What about this?

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

It's the graffiti left in chalk

in front of his sister, Michelle's, house

right after the murder.

We saw this piece of evidence.

We thought, "you know what?

Let's take a crack at it."

Initially, police couldn't find the individual

who authored the graffiti.

Could it have been Matthew after all?

And now they may have just found a way to put him to the test.

What about it?

That could be our hammer.

Why don't we bring Matthew in for a handwriting test?

What do you mean?

We get a warrant, bring him in,

have him do a handwriting sample.

We send those samples over to the FBI for comparison.

If his writing's a match,

we got our guy.

Worth a shot.

Look, I answered your questions two years ago.

What y'all want?

He was, you know, put out that we, you know, reached out to him

and wanted to talk to him, like, you know,

"why are you bothering me?"

I got a little something I'd like you to write down

on a piece of paper.

I don't have to write a thing for you guys, man.

Got a little piece of paper signed by a judge

that says otherwise.

Why don't you give it a read?

And I said, "listen, Matthew.

And I want you to write on these pieces of paper 20 times.

I'm going to hand you a single piece of paper each time,

and I want you to write this phrase."

20 times?

You want to see that court order again?

20 times, or we book you in for contempt of court.

Okay.

What do you guys need me to write?

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

With the Zimmerman homicide investigation heating up again,

detectives revisit the jewelers' son, Matthew,

who clearly profited from the tragedy.

They hope to link him to the murders

through handwriting analysis.

1 down, 19 more to go.

Matthew would take his time.

He wouldn't write it correctly.

He wrote the first one. It took him about 3 minutes.

- Number two. - He was playing with US.

He wasn't writing it out in his own handwriting.

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

He, like, chuckled about it.

He was kind of laughing about it.

And they had him do several samples,

and every sample, he wrote differently.

anything else?

You can leave.

Forensic examiner said they were ridiculous handwriting examples.

It was inconclusive because he had written 20 different samples

with 20 different handwritings.

It leaves detectives back where they started.

They may suspect Matthew,

yet they have nothing on him.

But detectives will get another chance at their prime suspect.

and it's a total fluke.

All cars. All cars, officer needs immediate assistance.

White male suspect is 10-32, over.

I'm driving one night,

and we hear a general come over the police radio,

and it says, "all cars, be on the lookout.

Looking for a white male in his 20s.

He just tried to run over a drug enforcement agent."

Suspect is Matthew Zimmerman, over.

Yo, Mike.

Yo, what's up?

Matthew just got in a dust-up with the d.E.A.

- What? - Yeah.

All right.

Let's go see if we get him.

While d.E.A. Agents fan out across the city

searching for Matthew Zimmerman,

Philly homicide detectives

pressure the person closest to Matthew,

his sister, Michelle, to tell them where he is.

He tried to run over a cop, Michelle.

He's going to get himself killed.

You got to tell US where he is before someone puts him down.

You want to help him now? Is that it?

She was complete in denial.

"He has nothing to do with this."

He's made some mistakes, but he's not a killer.

He would never hurt our parents.

And she give a statement saying

that she would do everything in her power

to derail our investigation if it centered on her brother,

to the point that she would go to court and lie.

You've got the wrong guy.

I'm not helping you find him.

He's innocent.

Michelle refuses to help police.

the next day, Matt Zimmerman surrenders to the feds

in the drug case,

but that doesn't help the homicide detectives.

He won't talk about the murders.

it takes three long and frustrating years

for detectives to catch another break.

But when they do, it's a big one.

An informant came to police with information.

Carmen Monica is an incarcerated killer

with information to share.

So Matt Zimmerman asked you

to kill his parents, just like that?

Said his parents had this life insurance

and a lot of money and all that.

He goes on to say that, you know,

he lays out the whole security of mom and dad.

He said he could get me in the house,

acting like I was his friend.

"You'll be with me. They'll buzz me in,

and then, you know, I just need you to kill them.

And I'm going to come into a lot of money.

And I'll pay you, and I'll give you this.

And then, when I get cash, I'll pay you additional money."

He told me six times to do it.

I said no every single time.

According to Carmen that, you know, he's a trigger man,

and Carmen's like,

"no, I'm not. I'm not going to do that. They're your parents."

The lies about where he was when his parents were killed,

the insurance money, and now Carmen Monica's story --

all paths finally lead to Matthew Zimmerman,

and now the detectives can prove it.

The way we think it played out

was that the zimmermans had a routine

on Saturday night.

Hello? Around 8:00,

they had a before-bedtime dinner, snack.

Hey, pat?

And Matt came to the house.

It's Matthew. He's downstairs.

She opened the door. She went upstairs

and was walking toward where the father was seated.

And so, the way it would lay out,

because her back was to Matt, she probably was shot first.

and then, as soon as she dropped, they turned around,

and before Mr. Zimmerman could react, he was shot.

they were so afraid of being attacked from outside.

And here, they're buzzing in their killer,

and it's their own son.

I mean, that's pretty ironic.

Sad.

He wanted their money, and he didn't care

what happened or how it happened.

They needed to be dead so he would get their money.

and we all agreed that we thought

there was enough to arrest him now.

The honor of issuing Matthew Zimmerman's arrest warrant

goes to a colleague,

Philly homicide detective Steven Buckley.

We talked with Carmen Monica.

Your pal, Carmen, says you asked him

to kill your mom and dad for you

six times.

Go ahead.

That's his statement right there.

That's the missing piece, Matt -- Carmen Monica.

Carmen?

That's your missing piece?

That dude is a snake.

Let me guess. You offer him a reduced sentence,

and he gives you this bogus statement.

This is your last chance, Matt, to come clean.

All right? What do you think a jury is going to think

about a son who killed his mom and dad for some money?

This is it.

You're right! I did kill them!

And I don't want to talk about it anymore,

so take me down and charge me.

that was it. Matthew shut down.

He wouldn't say anything else

after he made that, you know, "I did it."

And he was charged with the homicide.

Matthew Zimmerman's sentence was life imprisonment

for the murder of his mother

and life imprisonment for the murder of his father.

Matthew's sister, Michelle,

continued to defend her brother throughout his trial.

Her brother never admits

to having written the chalk graffiti

found in front of her building.

She now lives in her parents' apartment

and no longer works for the Philadelphia police department.

You know, my own nephew, his life's shattered.

My niece, she misses her parents, and over what?

Money? You know, it's tragic.

Patty had a lot of life left in her, you know?

To be snuffed out like that was totally uncalled for and unfair.

I mean, she was a very beautiful woman,

and I miss her terribly, you know?