All language subtitles for The Murder Tapes S01E01 Albuquerque Ambush

You can almost describe it
as an ambush.

I feel so bad
for my granddaughter.

For 11 years, she had her daddy,

and she knew
true, unfiltered love.

Based on what I was seeing
in the video,

we may have captured
our murderer.

Within seconds,

Albuquerque police officers
arrive on the scene.

Arriving on the scene,

you really don't know
what you're getting into.

Kind of makes the hairs on
the back of your neck stand up.

You know that you're going into
something really serious.

And I activated my cameras
just to capture anything

that we might run into.

As soon as we entered the house,
I looked to my right,

and I see a Christmas tree
and a bike,

realizing that this is
somebody's kid

that is probably not gonna get
this present.

As soon as we turned
to our left,

we could see
the feet of somebody

that was laying on the floor.

You could see that his neck was
cut from basically ear to ear.

It kind of throws you
for a loop.

There's a million things
going through your mind

at that second,
and I felt at this point

that definitely
we had a homicide...

...and that we were about
to start a big process

of trying to figure out
how this occurred.

Outside, one of the women

identifies herself
as the 911 caller

and tells officer Riley
the victim's name is Don fluitt.

Kind of hits home
a little bit more,

with knowing
that he had a daughter,

knowing that she's not gonna
basically have her dad anymore.

The state that they're in,
I can truly understand

why they would be
like this.

This is something that
you're not supposed to see.

So you just try to calm them
and reassure them

that we're gonna
figure this out.

Within minutes,
fire and rescue arrive

and determine time of death
is within the past 24 hours.

Crime-scene techs now search
the scene for clues.

Albuquerque police detective
Matt caplan arrives

and learns everything he can
about the victim.

Don was
a very passionate person.

His relationship
with his daughter,

which was very close, a very
tight-knit relationship...

They would feed the homeless
on sundays.

It didn't appear
Don did anything

to really stoke
the anger of anybody.

After taking a look
around the scene,

detective caplan rules out
robbery as a motive

for Don fluitt's murder.

Because there didn't appear
to be any obvious signs

of forced entry,
our first thought is always,

"is this person related to Don?
Does Don know the offender?"

Everything seemed to be
in its place --

Don's wallet, everything
was found in the house.

All tvs were in place.

His cellphone was found
in the house.

So it was important
to collect that phone

and really start getting
as much data as possible.

We wanted to see who
he contacted most recently,

throughout the night.

We wanted to see if he was
having any problems or arguments

with anybody,
whether it's over text message

or through phone calls.

Detectives also
collect blood evidence

they believe is a surefire sign
of a struggle.

And hopefully, that
altercation with the offender

is enough that DNA traces
are left behind on the victim.

One of the first things
that we asked for

from the pathologist

was to please, please, please
get those fingernail clippings

so we can try to get
a lab analysis done on them

as soon as possible.

It could be days or even weeks

before detective caplan
gets results back from the lab.

In the meantime, he calls
Don's mother in California

to tell her
her son has been murdered.

In some respects,
it sort of makes you emotional.

You do take it personally,

and it's a very difficult
thing to do.

I just lost it, and...

I went running
down the hallway...

...screaming and crying.

I'd just lost my daughter
18 days before.

I lost my youngest daughter
19 years ago.

I don't know what I did wrong.

I got to take a minute.
I'm sorry.

My neighbor's
garage door is open...

While the fluitt family grieves,

detectives expand
their investigation

into Don's neighborhood.

Detectives talk with
Don's next-door neighbor,

who has two security cameras.

One that sort of looked
at the driveway of her residence

and captured a portion
of Don fluitt's driveway.

The other one's at her door.

The video evidence
from the neighbor

becomes extremely important.

Because a portion
of the driveway is captured

for Don fluitt,
we can see when Don's leaving,

when he's coming, and
potentially anybody else

that may be walking up
or parking in that driveway.

Later that evening,
detective caplan speaks

with Don's ex-wife
and his 10-year-old daughter

about the hours
leading up to the murder.

We knew that Don's ex-wife
and daughter

had been told
what had happened.

It was a lead that,
in our minds, couldn't wait.

The typical custody exchange
between Don and his ex-wife

usually occurs at 7:00 P.M.

The exchange was
pushed back to 8:00 P.M.,

so this sort of established
a time frame for US.

The ex-wife had no explanation

as to who may have
done this to Don.

What I was able to get
from both daughter and ex-wife

was an ongoing custody dispute

that's been happening
for quite some time.

There was
the new husband, Terry,

that was involved
with the ex-wife.

There had been some early
tension between Don and Terry.

To me, that tells me
it's gonna be

a very complicated
investigation.

54-year-old Don fluitt
has been found murdered

in his own home
just four days after Christmas.

He did love Christmas.

He would start in July

getting his Christmas stuff
ready for Christmas,

knowing his daughter absolutely
adored Christmas, too.

I feel so bad
for my granddaughter now

because for 11 years,
she had her daddy

and the Christmas holidays,

and she knew
true, unfiltered love.

From the second she was born,
it was a love affair.

And as she got a little older,
it was more of a love affair.

It was, I think, what every girl
would want from her father.

She was totally a daddy's girl,

and he was totally
his daughter's daddy.

They were a match made
in heaven.

Now, almost 24 hours
after discovering Don's body,

investigators turn
to his ex-wife's new husband,

a man named Terry white.

When I finish my interview

with the ex-wife
and the daughter,

it's clear to me that
I'm going to need to interview

Terry, the new husband.

One, there's an ongoing
custody dispute,

and, two, there has been
some tension between

Don and Terry in the past.

The initial impression was,
he was calm,

was very open with US
about what he had done

and what he was doing,

was very open
to letting US take DNA,

giving US his work
or cellphone records.

I didn't have any reason

not to believe Terry,
the new husband.

So, as we're awaiting
the surveillance video

from the neighbor,
as we're awaiting data

from Don's cellphone,

we're still obtaining
information from people.

Detectives also
speak with Terry's boss.

We wanted to establish
Terry's alibi.

We asked them to provide US
with surveillance footage

of Terry white coming and going

as he was clocking in
and getting ready for his shift.

When we request that type of
information to confirm or refute

someone's alibi, if that
person's alibi is confirmed,

we can cross their name
off a list.

If that alibi is refuted
by this physical evidence

that we've recovered,
that's a different story.

While police study
the surveillance video

looking for clues,

Don's friends and family
gather to say goodbye to Don

and mourn his death.

His mom requested
an open casket,

so we got to see him
for the first time,

and we could tell that
he had been brutally attacked.

That was hard to see.

You realized a little more
about what he had gone through.

The last time I spoke to him
was at 7:30,

before he took his daughter
to her mother's,

and then the last time
I saw him was in the casket.

And I wanted to jump
in the grave with him.

I thought,
"I can't do this again."

Mothers aren't supposed to Bury
their children.

It doesn't go away.

It doesn't go away.
It doesn't get easier.

Detectives
next turn to Don's phone,

found at the crime scene.

We do what's called
a forensic analysis of the phone

because we want to see,
obviously,

if Don's having
any arguments with anybody,

if someone was visiting him
that night we didn't know about.

So, during the course of
looking at this data,

what we notice right away
is that Don appears to have

a very friendly relationship
with an individual.

We reach out to her to establish
what the relationship was.

There seemed to be some
reluctance to speak with US,

and it's hard
as an investigator,

especially when you're talking
to someone for the first time

to sort of Gauge
the reason for that.

So, during the course
of our conversation

with this individual,

we had been given
information of, sort of,

maybe a conflict between Benny,
the landlord, and Don fluitt

during their relationship
as tenant and landlord.

Police note
to follow up on the landlord,

but who the woman points to next
is jarring --

Don's own brother, Dennis.

She had found that odd

because Dennis just showed up
out of the blue,

and now, Dennis was
very involved in Don's affairs

since he's been deceased,
dealing with the townhome,

the property
that Don left behind.

Detectives now have to
consider that a family feud

might be at the center
of this crime.

I was furious.

How dare they think
that my other son

would hurt his brother?

Not a chance in hell.

Almost a month after
Don fluitt was discovered

murdered in his
Albuquerque, new Mexico, home,

detectives are zeroing in
on people closest to him.

We're still obtaining
information from people,

and Dennis,
Don fluitt's brother,

sort of came onto our radar.

As information came in
about Dennis

and sort of that re-emergence
of a relationship

that didn't appear to exist
until Don's homicide,

it prompted US
to take a look at Dennis

as a potential
person of interest

in this investigation.

Detective caplan
questions Dennis fluitt

about his relationship
with his brother.

Dennis --
when we started speaking to him,

his frustration was very evident
from the get-go.

He had believed
the investigation had stalled.

He thought that US looking
at him was a waste of time.

Dennis was called in,
thinking that he was a suspect

because him and Don
hadn't spoken in a few years.

I don't care if they hadn't
spoken in 20 years.

If one of them needed
the other one,

they were there.

And I was furious.

How dare they think
that my other son

would hurt his brother?

I know, you always have to go
to the family.

Do you want to come out
and interview me, too?

Am I a suspect?

I could've put
a hit out on my son.

What I typically try to do,

without tipping my hat
or my cards,

is really explain to them
that a thorough investigation

requires a full elimination
of everybody involved,

and that if you feel like
this is a waste of time,

I understand that,
but more importantly

is that we do everything
in our power to show not only,

"this is who did it,"
but we can say,

"this is for sure
who didn't do it."

As detectives collect
Dennis' DNA,

he suggests someone else
who had an issue with Don,

and it's a name
they've heard before --

his landlord, Benny ruiz.

So, there were multiple things

that prompted US
to want to question Benny

and take his physical evidence.

One was Don's female friend,
and Dennis' suspicions of Benny.

Almost a month
after Don's murder,

Benny arrives
at the police station.

When Benny is done
providing DNA samples,

detective caplan presses him
about Don's townhouse.

In the course of
my discussion with Benny,

he answered questions
that we asked of him.

What did sort of stand out
for US

was that Benny did state
that there was some money issues

creating maybe some animosity
between landlord and tenant.

All of these things sort of,
to US, gave US an idea

that maybe there was some more
conflict between Benny and Don.

But just when detectives
are seriously considering

Benny's motive for murder,
he turns the tables.

I believe it was even described

that Dennis was wearing
some of Don's clothes,

which was very unusual.

It's a very strange thing
to hear about,

so it sort of raised that level
of suspicion for Benny

and, frankly,
for US, as well.

Like Benny,
this isn't the first time

Dennis' name has come up
in the investigation.

So, we have, at this
point in the investigation,

two really strong people of
interest, Dennis and Benny,

who are pointing the finger
at one another,

describing very odd
or unusual behavior --

living in a townhome,
wearing clothes,

a relationship that's suddenly
appeared out of nowhere.

So it's very unusual,

and we can't eliminate them
from the investigation.

So, once we've collected
physical evidence from Benny

and we've collected
physical evidence from Dennis,

our process is to start looking
at all the evidence

that's been accumulated
and start seeing

where we can go for leads

while we await DNA
or any physical evidence

that came from the scene
to be processed.

And that search for evidence
leads to an important clue.

So, we had asked
Don's neighbor

to provide US with
the surveillance video,

so that took
a little bit of time.

Once we got that,
there was a huge swath of video

that we had to start reviewing

'cause we didn't know
when Don was murdered.

And sort of two things
happened at once.

We're reviewing the video,

and the neighbor's also going
through the video, as well.

And I recall very distinctly --

I believe it was 5, 6 o'clock
in the evening.

I'm home,
and this neighbor calls me,

and she's very excited,
and she says,

"there's something
you need to see on the video."

Police investigating
Don fluitt's murder

have their eye on two men --

Don's landlord, Benny ruiz;

and his own brother,
Dennis fluitt.

And they're hoping
the surveillance video

from Don's next-door neighbor
has caught the killer on camera.

When you start looking
at the video of the time frame

in conjunction with
the night of the homicide

after Don fluitt
and his daughter returned

from California...

We knew Don left for the custody
exchange at about 8 o'clock.

You see the garage come up --
comes up very smooth.

You see brake lights come on
and Don's white pickup truck

pull out of the driveway
and then leave.

The garage comes down.

It's quiet for a few minutes.

And that's when
you see this figure.

You can see this figure
in a hoodie.

You see him
dump a trash can over

that's being picked up
the next morning

into the street

and then walk back
into the shadows.

A few minutes after that,
Don returns.

You see his truck
pull into the driveway.

The garage comes up.
He pulls in.

After a few minutes,
Don -- you can see him

stepping out of the garage,

walking to the trash can,
picking it up,

and then walking
back into the garage.

Now the garage starts closing,

and we know this 'cause
the shadow starts shortening.

And it looks like it's before
it actually hits the ground,

the garage comes back up...

...and then you see
a series of flashes.

Then the garage comes back down.

Based on what I was seeing
in the video,

we may have captured
our murderer at that point.

So detectives caplan
and hsu decide to do a test.

Detective hsu and I
return to Don's townhome,

and we started manipulating
the garage door...

...and see if we can have
that garage flash

the same amount of times
that we saw in the video.

And the only way
that we were able to get

that same number of flashes

was to trip the garage-door
sensor as it was coming down.

We were very confident

as to how the individual
got inside the townhome.

We saw sort of the ruse
this person used

to lay down the trash can
and sneaking into the garage

after Don's return
back into the garage.

But without a solid suspect,

the case stalls,

and Don's family wonders if his
murderer will ever be caught.

It was horrible.

I would call detective caplan
if there was anything I heard

or anything I learned
or questions that I had.

He was so kind.
He was so patient.

And he would tell me,

"please, sharron,
just try to be patient."

Police have been
painstakingly reviewing

the alibis of everyone
they've interviewed,

and one story
isn't checking out.

It's the alibi of the other guy
in Don's life -- Terry white.

The surveillance footage
that we got

from Terry white's workplace,

it contradicted
Terry white's alibi.

He had told detective caplan
that he had arrived at work,

and he had taken a long nap.

The surveillance footage
obviously showed

there wasn't
a 30- or 45-minute nap.

It was him parking his truck,

getting out, and going
straight to the office.

So we knew that we had to talk
to him again about his alibi.

Detectives bring Terry in

for a follow-up interview.

Initially, he had told US he had
gone to a fast food restaurant

and then driven to the parking
lot, where he fell asleep.

This time around,
it was much different.

He had gone to
a fast food restaurant.

He had also gone to a department
store to buy clothing.

Then he had gone to the work,

but instead of parking
in the parking lot,

which he intimated
the first time he talked to US,

he went to a very dark-lit,
unrelated business

and fell asleep there.

He just failed to mention it
the first time around.

So his story had changed
fairly substantially

from the first time
we interviewed him.

The change in Terry's story
is not enough for an arrest,

so after taking a DNA sample,
they must release him.

It was during this time
that our DNA lab called,

said, "hey, we've got
DNA results for you."

Your excitement level
sort of goes up,

because you could tell
in the analyst's voice

that there's something there.

And the analyst said,
"well, it's a match."

Detective caplan gets
Don's mother on the phone.

After three months
of grueling investigative work,

detective caplan finally knows
who killed Don fluitt.

It was Terry,
and I knew it.

I was screaming and yelling

and jumping up and down
in my house,

and I called every number I had
to tell them,

"he did it. Terry did it."

Now detective caplan
can start piecing together

what really happened that night.

The surveillance video
was extremely important

because that outlined
the time frame

that Terry had snuck into
the garage.

We saw sort of
the ruse he used,

to lay down the trash can,
sneaking into the garage.

You can almost describe it as
an ambush of Don at this point.

When you start fitting that into
the alibi that Terry gave US,

he had talked about
going to a fast food place.

But more importantly, in that
second interview with him,

he had talked about
going to a department store

and buying clothing.

All of this combined starts
filling in those holes

that we didn't know before.

Albuquerque police
move in to arrest Terry,

but he's disappeared.

So, the best thing that
we can do as an investigator

is to flag the warrant.

The arrest warrant
is a national warrant.

It can pick him up
anywhere in the United States.

One day later,
there's a hit on the warrant.

Navajo county sheriff's deputies
find his truck and arrest him.

Detective caplan is notified,

and he and detective hsu head to
navajo county, Arizona.

But Terry refuses
to speak to them.

Although Terry isn't talking
to detectives,

he is talking
with someone else.

An inmate
at the county jail says

he has rock-solid information

about what happened the night
Don fluitt was murdered.

We made contact
with Terry's cellmate,

and he told US that
Terry admitted to the murder.

Terry had told the cellmate
that he knew Don to be a smoker.

He also intimated that Don
doesn't smoke in the house,

because he knows that his
daughter doesn't like smoking.

So he had come back
into the garage,

I would assume,
to smoke a cigarette.

That's when
the ambush happened.

After a three-day trial,

Terry white is found guilty of
murdering Don fluitt

and on August 16, 2018, is
sentenced to life plus 12 years.

Now Don's family
can only speculate

as to why Terry murdered Don.

Don was taking
his ex-wife back to court.

Terry stood up in court
when the judge asked him

what he thought
or what he wanted,

and he said,
"what I want is Don gone.

What we want is Don gone.

We want that little girl
to be our family."

Such a waste.
All because of jealousy.

At his sentencing,
Terry maintains his innocence

and refuses to apologize
to the fluitt family.

I have always said
I was innocent,

and will continue
to say so.

No, I will not be apologizing
to the fluitt family

for a murder
I did not commit.

I just sort of smiled,
and I thought,

"I don't want your apology."

I was truly happy he said that

because there's nothing
that he can give me.

He's already taken away
part of my life.

How do I feel now?

I miss him every day of my life,

every hour, every minute.

I miss my phone calls from him.

I miss his funny, silly,
crazy little jokes.

He's so funny.
He was so funny.

The hardest word
is the word "was,"

and I always catch myself
saying "is."

But it isn't -- it's "was."

It's a really difficult word.

I miss him.