All language subtitles for The.Murder.Tapes.S03E05.Dont.Look.Back.480p.x264-mSD[eztv.io]

It's not the same
without Karen.

It's not the same when
every bike ride is me alone.

She was murdered, but...

W-Why?

We found out that we had video
that actually captured

this homicide take place.

When I turned the corner,

I saw somebody had just jumped
the fence in the backyard.

We're definitely suspicious
at this point.

It's very important to get into
the background of the victim,

who her enemies might be.

When we got a DNA hit,

obviously that gets you excited,

hoping that this may be
something good for US.

First responders are dispatched

to the location of the incident,

a food-processing plant
in the center of town.

Upon arrival, officers
activate their body camera.

When this call came over,

it came over
as an injured and sick person.

You never know what
that call's gonna be.

Upon arrival, I observed that
the Milwaukee fire department

was performing cpr
on the victim.

And I observed her laying there

with an injury
coming from her head.

We determined it was
a gunshot wound.

Officers learn the victim

had originally
been found on the street,

but she was moved inside

by the fire department
for medical treatment.

About five minutes into
me being there,

they advised me
that she was deceased.

Upon looking at the body,

you could see that she did have
a gunshot wound to her face.

Now the homicide
investigation begins.

Detectives arrive and start

by interviewing the medics
at the scene

to get a better picture
of how the body was found.

Where this incident occurred,

which was right outside
the business door,

there was a small pool of blood
with eyeglasses,

which were determined
to belong to the victim.

There was also a fired
.40-caliber cartridge casing

left at the scene,
which is indicative

of a semiautomatic pistol
being fired.

A projectile had fallen out
of her clothing onto the ground,

and that was recovered also.

And that would be
a copper jacketing

and a lead-core bullet.

We were able to identify
the victim based on coworkers

as Karen simek.

Karen had
such a infectious laugh.

You almost had to laugh
along with her, too,

regardless of what
you were doing.

She worked in food service.

Not surprising
that she did that.

She would come over
or have US over to her house,

make wonderful meals.

One of the things
that we enjoyed

as a family together --

we'd throw everyone
in the station wagon,

and we would go camping.

We loved the outdoors.

The one place that
really captured

both of US was the Grand Canyon.

We found out that you could
actually hike all the way

to the bottom
and hike back out the next day

about 9 miles
into the 10-mile hike out,

Karen had really
worn herself down.

She sat down in a rock,

and she said,
"I can't go any farther."

She sat there for a while,
had a good cry,

and then picked herself up

and made it that last mile out.

And afterwards,
she said that that was

the greatest accomplishment
of her life.

Became a real bonding
experience for US.

When I found out...

Devastation.

How -- how -- how and why?

I just -- why?

I couldn't talk,
I was crying so badly.

Back at the crime scene,

detectives continue
the investigation.

They speak with the 911 caller,

a security guard
at the facility.

Video became an important role

in the investigation

to recover as much video as we
could depicting the incident

and/or the suspect
before and after the incident.

Investigators collect
this video footage

and back at the station
make a startling discovery.

We found out that we had video
that actually captured

this homicide take place.

Police in Milwaukee have located

surveillance footage showing
the murder of Karen simek.

You could see the suspect moving
at a rapid pace towards her.

There's a very brief
confrontation,

and you can see on the video
what appears to be

a firearm that's being fired.

And that's just prior to seeing

the suspect
running away from the scene.

At this point, we had a lot more
than we normally do.

We have video of the suspect.

Investigators next review

additional security cameras
from the area

to track the killer's movements
after Karen's murder.

Keep capturing little bits
of the suspect running away.

We were able to determine

he was a male
in his early to mid-20s.

The unique thing we were
concentrated on was his pants.

They were dark in color,
according to the video.

But they had some sort
of reflective design

or some sort of reflective
stripe near the knees.

Eventually, he comes to a point

where there is no more
surveillance footage.

There's no video in the area
that capture him any further.

So we had a limited idea
of his flight path

from the homicide scene,
but we did know

at least a direction
in which he went.

So investigators next
review the surveillance video

from the hour before the murder.

Before the incident occurred,

he may not have his guard up
as much,

so we can get a good image
of him.

Investigators review the footage
from around 5:23 A.M.,

about 17 minutes
before the murder

and discover the suspect
near the scene.

He's hanging out there
for a good period of time

across the street.

And then you see the victim's
car pull in off the main street.

You start to wonder,
was this particular victim

targeted more so
than just a robbery?

They also notice the man
in the video is smoking.

That led detectives to go back
and retrieve cigarettes

from the area
in hopes of obtaining DNA.

However, this does take
quite a bit of time.

Meanwhile, Karen's
family lays her to rest.

We were supposed
to get together,

and the weekend of her funeral
was the weekend we planned.

And...

We got together
in the worst way possible.

I didn't know where
we were going to put her.

It was up to me
to make that choice for her.

And so...That was
the most difficult part,

was just to know,
what was the right thing to do?

What would she really want me
to do?

On Friday was the wake,
and it was extraordinary,

the amount of people that came.

They had done enough
to her one side of the face

and tilted her a little
so you couldn't see it.

But we really wanted to
so we could say goodbye.

It's hard
to say goodbye to someone

when you're not really sure
what really even happened.

She was murdered, but...

W-Why?

Now detectives hope
the DNA results

from the cigarette butts

will lead them
to Karen's killer.

Not only are we hoping
that we're gonna get

the suspect's DNA
on one of the cigarette butts,

but we may get DNA from might be
a potential witness

that was in the neighborhood,
so that can be important, too.

When we got a DNA hit,

obviously that gets you excited,

hoping that this may be
something good for US.

The DNA is linked to
a man named Ralph algo.

Police locate Ralph and bring
him in for questioning.

They start by asking him
about his DNA at the scene.

Okay.

Yeah.

When we're starting
the interview,

we don't know if
we're dealing with the suspect.

We're gauging the nervousness.

We're starting the interview off
to see where we're gonna go.

We're definitely suspicious
at this point.

We begin to learn about
the person's prior drug history.

We begin to wonder
if this person

may have committed
a robbery that went bad.

Milwaukee police are
questioning Ralph algo

for the murder of Karen simek.

Police ask Ralph where he was
during the time of the killing.

As the interview went on

and the subject was forthcoming
with where he had been,

we had tracked down
his partner,

and we were able to confirm
his alibi.

This individual who's
interviewed with the potential

of not only being
a possible suspect,

but also being
a potential witness.

And in this particular instance,
he was neither.

The person was not considered
a suspect.

And we move on to
the next viable lead on a case.

Out of leads,
detectives turn back

to Karen's husband,
Kevin sasse, for help.

So in a case like this,
it's very important

to get into the background
of the victim,

who her enemies might be.

Who out there may have a reason
to harm her?

We really couldn't find a viable
motive that would indicate

somebody wanted
Karen hurt or murdered.

And there's no really link
or connection with the suspect.

That's when I started
to be concerned that

if they hadn't found
something useful now,

that maybe it wouldn't happen.

Kevin then tells
detectives he believes

a bag was taken from Karen
during the homicide.

Well, he was able to
give US a detailed description

of the bags,
which we appreciated.

And we in turn end up releasing
the description out to the media

in an effort
to try to identify a suspect.

Police believe that Karen simek
was carrying a bag

just like this one
from duluth trading company.

This is where she works,
and she was on her way

to work last week
when she was shot.

And police believe
that the suspect

may have taken that bag.

Milwaukee police hope her bag
can shed new light on her death.

Three days after
police put the word out

about Karen's missing bag,
they receive a tip from a woman

claiming to recognize it
from the news.

She believed that she observed
her grandson with the bag.

We looked him up in our files
and found his physicals

and his height and weight,

and it seemed to be
close enough with our suspect.

Detectives followed up on it.

When the police went there,
we located no such bag.

Now, five months
into the investigation

and with no real leads,

detectives have no choice
but to let the homicide go cold.

I was certainly
frustrated, tense.

There's a definite stress level
that never went away.

If Karen could speak to me,
then she would be saying,

"Kevin, you have to --

you have to pull
your weight here, too.

You have to help
to find this person."

Kevin appears on television

to get the word out
about Karen's murder.

Sasse has no expectations

that his wife's killer
will be found.

But he does have hope.

If it was me, then my conscience

would be bothering me
about it right now.

Where is this gun?

Does it turn up someplace?

Do they arrest somebody
for something else,

and then they confess?

After Kevin's media
appearance, a local inmate

named David mclaurin
reaches out to detectives.

He was in custody
for something else.

People that are in custody
will say things

that may be true,
may be not true,

just so that they have
an opportunity to try

and be released
with that information.

So we always take it
with a grain of salt.

Mclaurin tells investigators

that he believes
his former roommate,

a man named Carl knight,
is behind Karen's murder.

There are some skepticism
when he has a stake in it

that he wants to get out,

and he's looking for a way
to get himself out of trouble.

And that's taken
into consideration.

Mclaurin tells detectives

that Carl's girlfriend,
Samantha gustafson,

knew about the murder as well.

You don't blindly trust
what he says.

But that interview
kind of rejuvenated the case.

Our big thing was to find out
where Carl was.

Months into investigating
the murder of Karen simek

detectives are focusing
on a man named Carl knight

after getting a tip
from his former roommate.

Whenever we receive a tip,
we're gonna do our homework

on that person before going out
and talking to that individual.

Carl was changing
his address a lot.

That kind of made it hard
for US to track him down.

We thought we would try
the girlfriend's first

and see what they said.

And that prompted US to try
to go and locate Samantha

and bring her in
for questioning.

Detectives start off
the interview

by trying
to verify the information

given to them
by Carl's former roommate.

It did come up in our
conversation about the last time

she had seen Carl,
and to our surprise,

she said she had
talked to him on the phone,

and that's of interest for US.

But Samantha tells
investigators

she left her phone at home.

So after our interview concluded
with her,

we drove her back to her house

for the purpose
of getting her phone.

I stood by the front door
facing the street.

She knocked on the door
and was led in by my partner.

Meanwhile, a neighbor observed
somebody

fleeing out of the window
towards the back of the house.

When I turned the corner,

I saw somebody had just jumped
the fence in the backyard.

Believing
this mystery man could be Carl,

detectives bring Samantha
back to the station

for more questions.

But then detectives imply
they have enough

to charge her as well.

Now she was willing to talk.

She was concerned about
being charged

with harboring a fugitive.

We confirmed that he was there

and she had knowledge
of the homicide.

She did tell US about the fact

that he may have robbed
a donut shop.

When you start
looking back at his history

and things
that he was involved in,

clearly he was using
whatever means necessary

to supply his needs
to get money.

And so with that,
I wouldn't put doing a homicide

or anything like that above him.

Milwaukee police put
out an a.P.B. For Carl knight.

At this point,
the number-one priority,

especially for me now,
is that we wanted to find Carl.

Several days later,
there's a hit on the a.P.B.

U.s. Marshals track Carl's phone
and pick him up.

Milwaukee detectives travel
to Chicago to speak with him.

Carl knight saying, "I didn't
Rob any old white lady" --

that was a clue because
he shouldn't know those details.

We didn't mention them to him.

Makes the -- you know, your
little detective hairs stand up.

We can't assume that
it's just a lucky guess.

Carl knight's girlfriend also
implicated Carl knight

in a robbery of a donut shop.

Typically, we'll bring
those crimes up to the suspect

just to Gauge his level
of truthfulness.

We were all kind of
caught off guard

that Carl did jump the fence
and take off.

When Carl jumped out the window,

it's possible that
he didn't even know

that we were looking for him
for the homicide.

Carl had not reported to his
probation agent in over a year,

and he had been hiding from her.

After having in-depth
conversation with him,

now we're thinking that maybe
he wasn't involved in this.

Now back in Milwaukee,
detectives continue

to press prime suspect
Carl knight and confront him

about what his former roommate
David mclaurin

revealed about the murder.

It can be very frustrating
talking to someone

who continuously lies
in an interview.

After that,
Carl asked for a lawyer.

If somebody asks for a lawyer

during an interview,
we're not talking to them again.

The interview's over.

We didn't have a lot

where you could
show it to a jury,

and a jury would be able
to look at it and say,

"yeah, that's Carl knight."

So at the point that he asked
for a lawyer,

things were looking pretty grim.

Officers end the interview

and prep Carl
for transport to the jail.

But to their surprise,

Carl asks once again
to speak with detectives.

I figure that he just wanted to

stretch his legs
and get a break from his cell.

But I could tell immediately
after entering the room

that he wanted to talk.

He eventually kind of
broke it open,

and he just blurted out
how it happened.

Carl brought a loaded gun

to that robbery of Karen simek,

but when you raise a gun
to someone's head,

you have to realize

that you might be the one
that gets scared,

and you might be
the one that flinches,

and you might pull that trigger.

Carl knight pleads guilty

to one count of felony murder

and one count of possession
of a firearm

by a person convicted
of a felony.

He's sentenced
to 31 years in prison.

Samantha gustafson pleads guilty
to one count

of harboring and aiding a felon
as party to a crime

and sentenced
to a year of probation.

We worked very hard
on this case.

I was proud of the unit.

I was proud of the detectives
that were able

to get those interviews

and give the family closure.

The awful part of this

is that Karen didn't do
anything wrong.

Karen showed up to work that day
and was just parking her car

and going into work like she did
every day she worked.

That's the real tragedy.

I was relieved
once he was put in jail.

Yeah.

That's the closure.
That's the closure you need.

Her godchild got married
last year,

and she didn't get to see it.

Yeah, so...

He took that away from US.

It's not the same
without Karen.

It's not the same when
every bike ride is me alone.

Whee!

I did go back and do the
Grand Canyon hike again myself.

And...i found that rock
that she sat down on,

and I just sat on the rock
for a little while

and had a moment there,

you know, remembering
that great trip,

that triumphant moment.

This is my little moment
with Karen.

But the car's
really dusty from our foray

down the gravel road
yesterday,

looking for the...
Waterfalls.

...waterfalls
that don't exist.

Okey-dokey.
Okay. Buh-bye.