All language subtitles for wrong.man.s02e02.web.h264-xlf

Subtitles by explosiveskull
www.OpenSubtitles.org

All rise.

Just yesterday,
a judge found Vonda Smith

guilty of first-degree murder

in the death of 21-year-old
Jessie Morrison.

Jessie was
beaten to death and dumped

like a piece of trash,
but why?

When they searched the
car, there was Jessie's blood

inside the car.

Wow.

What jumped out at me
on this case was tunnel vision.

Once they got her
in the gunsights, that was it.

They didn't pay attention
to the evidence.

There's blood in the car,
she did it.

If anybody was gonna
force their self upon Jessie,

they had a fight
on their hands.

But when the police

went to question Vonda Smith,

she has no injuries, no marks.

Not even a... a torn nail.

She could not
have freaking done it.

- Right.
- Somebody did this, and I'd really like to know who it is.

When Jessie's body
was discovered,

she had 13¢ in her pocket.

Where did the money go
that Vonda gave her?

In that community,
meth is rampant,

and that is a lot of money.

A Greene County grandmother

sentenced to life in prison

is asking now
for a new trial.

Uh, we're here on the motion
for a new trial.

Standard practice
in the state of Tennessee is,

after you're convicted,

and after you're sentenced,

you file a motion
for a new trial.

Vonda has already been
behind bars

for more than two years.

If the judge grants her
a new trial,

Vonda's lawyer will be able
to introduce new evidence

and produce new witnesses.

On a regular appeal,
they can't do any of that.

I think they just
took advantage of my mom.

She was an easy target.

Hopefully, the right thing
finally gets done,

and she gets out.

It's gonna be hard,
but I'll be glad to see her.

I don't care if they hang her
on the street

and leave her hanging there
for everybody to see.

Jessie was a very beautiful,
wonderful person,

and the only crime
she committed

was trying to be a good mom
to her kids.

Showtime.

It's hard on both families.

Both families
have lost someone.

We've lost Vonda.

They lost Jessie.

It's lose-lose.

Judge, essentially,
it's our position,

there is, quite frankly,
nothing to indicate

that Miss Smith
killed this lady.

Uh, we don't know
who killed her.

We do know that there were
three unknown males' DNA

under her fingernails.

We submit there's not sufficient
evidence in the record.

Your Honor, the victim's blood

was found
in this defendant's car.

This court gave the jury
the law to follow,

and the 12 men and women that
heard this case followed the law.

This motion to dismiss

should be denied.

Anything else on this case?

Lawyers, anything else
on this case?

Not on this case.
No, sir.

No, Your Honor.

Okay, then, uh...

Okay.

Sir.

You know, Vonda... you could just
tell, it's like she was exhausted.

She had lost 70 pounds.

She seemed defeated.

She just seemed like she
just don't know what to do.

It may have finally come home
to her

that this prison cell is going to be
where she spends the rest of her life.

It went the way it should.

She needs to be denied.

Eventually, the rest of them
will be caught.

She did not do it
by herself,

but she's 100% behind it
and part of it.

That I know.

The whole story's
not getting told.

Whoever really killed
this woman

is just out here,
walking around free.

For me,
the biggest mystery of the case is

who actually killed
Jessie Morrison.

Jessie Morrison was savagely

and brutally beaten.

I don't think that Vonda Smith
was physically capable

of engaging in that beating,

and even if somehow,
we want to imagine

she had superhuman strength,

uh, certainly,
there would've been some marks,

some bruises, on her hands,

none of which were observed

the night that the police came
to speak to her.

So somebody did this,
and I'd really like to know who it is.

I think right now, even though we did
a lot of investigation on our own,

I still don't think
we know enough.

I think
there's a lot more to it.

Now, if you remember,

a few months
after Jessie's murder,

Vonda started doing
her own investigation.

She started looking
for the white van.

Vonda provided a story
to the police

that on the day of the murder,

she saw a white van.

Right.

And that's why,
according to Vonda,

on October 20th,

she decides to go out

and search for the white van.

She claimed that these two
guys pulled her out of the car,

beat her severely...

We do know she is found
by medical authorities.

But she says she doesn't
file a complaint because she's scared.

Right. If we can go to
where the assault occurred,

I think that'll put a lot of pieces of
the puzzle... it'll just fill it in.

Yes.

Here's the area
over here, huh?

Yeah.

That's a deep fall there,
brother.

Mm-hmm.
That's got some height to it.

Now, this water wouldn't
have been here during that time.

- It was kind of dry, yeah.
- Lower.

You say... what's that,
about 15 feet?

It might be a little further.

- It looking like 20.
- Yep.

That is deep for sure.

That's a significant fall.

That is.

It's interesting, Ira. Look at how
big some of those rocks are right here.

Yes.
Oh, yeah.

I mean, those are
significant-sized rocks.

She should've been
broken up

if she was tossed
over this bridge.

Yeah.

And even a young kid
or a young person jumping...

- I think they would break a leg.
- Yeah.

- You gonna break something.
- Oh, yeah.

Especially after
she was beaten, kicked,

pretty much stomped.

- Mm-hmm, yeah.
- You know?

How would she even
survive this, you know?

Yeah.

Now, when you talked
to Vonda,

she said some passerby
saw her car,

and they called the police.

Okay.
Okay.

And then the police comes out,

and they find Vonda.

She was incoherent,

didn't know what was going on.

She went to the hospital
after that.

Right.
But here's my issue.

Why are you gonna leave
a live witness around?

Exactly.

Why didn't they make sure
she was dead

if they made sure
Jessie was dead?

Right, right.

Why throw her
over a bridge?

I want to believe her,

but it just don't make sense,
either.

Right.

It would be nice if there was
a shred of evidence

to corroborate Vonda's account

of the beating.

We don't have that here.

We don't have it here.

But we could never find any
proof

where she got beaten up
or anything.

If they want to keep her
quiet, why not just kill her?

They already killed one person.

- Could be no one, and she's making it up.
- Right.

I think Vonda's not so innocent
as we think she is.

Maybe Vonda's trying
to distract the investigation

by pointing them
in another direction.

Right.

So I wanted to talk
to Vonda herself

about her memory
of the day of the killing,

but the prison she's in

would not allow
video recording,

but I was able
to speak with her by phone.

- Hello.
- Hello.

This is a prepaid call from...

Vonda Smith.

An inmate

at West Tennessee
State Penitentiary.

Hi, Vonda?

Hi, Vonda. It's attorney Ron Kuby.
How are you?

Okay, I want to focus
on this day.

So Jessie leaves around
4:30 in your car, and th...

Right.

What's the... the next thing
you remember?

And about what time was that?

Mm-hmm.

But you didn't see Jessie
return the car.

You... you saw...

You saw who you believed
to be Gary.

So Vonda's story is that
on the day of the murder,

whoever parked the car

jumped in a white van
and pulled off,

and she thought it was Gary,
which I thought was interesting.

Yes. Gary... he was actually
interviewed by the police.

Right.

You know, police took
a long, hard look at Gary.

He was questioned,

and they later took
his fingerprints.

They also took a DNA sample
from him.

Gary denied any involvement,

and he was never charged

in connection
with Jessie's murder.

- I mean, Gary does have a decent alibi.
- Right.

He was at his job.

He clocked in
at about 6:00 in the morning,

and then he clocks out
after it's 7:00,

and it's around 6:00
when the car gets returned.

But Gary testified at trial

that he was alone
in his department at work

from 3:00 p.m.
until about 7:30 p.m.,

so there is this window where Gary
is completely unaccounted for.

Exactly.

Let's not forget,
according to police reports,

Gary actually has a history
of allegations

of domestic violence,

although he was
never convicted.

One of his girlfriends reported to
police that he cracked her skull.

That was discussed
at Vonda's trial,

but Gary confirmed
on the stand

that the charges against him
were dropped.

That's true,

but I just think

we don't know enough
about Gary...

- Mm-hmm.
- To dismiss Vonda's story or discount it.

Right.
So I think Amber Hammonds...

- Yes.
- Should be questioned,

'cause she's
the former girlfriend of Gary.

Sometimes it's easy to get
information from the exes.

Oh, you're absolutely right.

I am headed
to talk to Amber Hammonds.

Amber was Gary's girlfriend

prior to Gary
and Jessie dating.

We want to get as much
information about him as possible.

Amber, I appreciate
you talking to me

about Vonda's case.

It's very brave of you.

Someone should speak up, because Jessie...
she was a good person.

My heart just broke
for her kids,

because I know how much
they loved their mom.

So tell me about your
relationship with Gary Ealey.

In the beginning,

the first year
that we were together,

it was awesome,

but it was a bad time
in my life,

because at the time,
I was on drugs,

and he would use
my addiction against me,

telling me
that I was useless,

I didn't deserve anything,
or anyone,

or anything good,
to come to me,

because I was a junkie.

There was one time I was in a car with
him, going down the road.

Me and him started arguing
back and forth,

and he grabs me
by my throat

and pushes my face up against the
glass on the passenger window.

I did call the police,
but he was never arrested

because I told them I didn't
want to have him arrested.

And people can say, "Well,
you should've just left."

It's never that easy
just to up and leave,

because he would somehow
always con me into coming back,

making me believe
that he loved me.

Do you know if that's what his
relationship was like with Jessie?

I can't say for certain.

She started dating him
after me and him separated.

Everything seemed
to be okay,

but you never know what
goes on behind closed doors.

There's just certain signs
that you look for,

things like they look down,

they try to not
acknowledge anything,

because if they say the wrong
thing to the wrong person,

then that's something for them
to, uh, have to pay for later on,

when the company's gone.

Did Jessie ever show signs

that there may be
something wrong?

She was very quiet.

She always looked down.

I mean, and that could be her
personality, but I don't think so.

I mean, I can't say 110%
for certain,

but Gary and I were together

around four years,
almost five.

When a person is a certain
way for so many years,

and you know that person,

it's just hard to see

that they would even change.

All right, Chrystal.

We're gonna see Gary Ealey,

the famous Gary Ealey.

- Right.
- I want to talk to him about his relationship with Jessie,

and I'd like to find out
about Vonda's story

- that he returned the car the night of the murder.
- Right.

- Yeah, that'd be important.
- That's huge. Yeah, absolutely.

I also want to know if Gary thought
that Jessie's unborn baby was his.

Yeah.

And there he is.
That's him.

- Are you Gary?
- Yes, Ma'am.

Can we talk to you
for a minute?

Is... you got
just a second? All right.

You know why anybody
would have some sort of motive

to do something to Jessie?

Not something like that.

If... if you hate somebody,
you know what I mean?

If you can't stand somebody,
you're not gonna kill them

while they're pregnant.
You don't kill a baby.

Phew. Sorry.

Um...

You get emotional right now.
What did you just think of?

Um, you know, uh...

Y'know the baby'd probably be
pushing three right now.

Do you think
Jessie was carrying your baby?

I believe so.
I-I believe so.

Were you and Jessie really
excited about having the new baby?

We was.

Did you love Jessie?

Yes, sir.

I gotta ask you some tough questions, too.
Did you kill Jessie?

No, sir.
I did not.

- You ever hit her?
- No, sir.

Have you ever had
to hit a woman?

Like, you know,
they keep fighting at you or something

and you have to hit them
just to get them off you?

Now, Vonda always tried
to claim

that you dropped Vonda's car
back off at Vonda's house.

Now, did that happen?

No.

- No?
- I was still at work.

Had you ever driven
Vonda's car?

Never.

Did you ever think
you were a suspect?

I felt like they did.

Did the police ever photograph
you for injuries, scratches?

Yes, sir.

Okay, and at that time,

you had no kind of wounds
on you.

- No, sir.
- Okay.

I mean, they went
through the vehicles.

If I'm not mistaken,
they looked at my pants,

my clothes,
through our trash,

swabbed my mouth and stuff.
And scared the crap out of me. You know?

Right.

- Vonda Smith?
- Yes, sir.

Do you think Vonda's
capable of killing Jessie?

I feel like Vonda definitely...

she knows 100%
what happened.

Okay.

Right.

What would you say to Jessie
if you saw her right now?

She was a hell of a mama
and a-and a hell of a woman.

You know, she was
a really good person,

not somebody that deserved
to die like that.

What I think is really good
about Gary is, law enforcement...

if they investigated him
thoroughly...

- Mm-hmm.
- They took DNA from him.

He said they were back
and forth.

- They searched his house.
- Right.

And they even took
full photographs of him.

- Right.
- No scars, no injuries.

- Right.
- You know, Jessie was in a fight with somebody.

Yeah. My opinion
about Amber Hammonds is,

I don't doubt that there was some
domestic problems in their relationship,

but I don't think Gary
killed Jessie Morrison.

I agree.

So, you know, Gary...
he totally denied Vonda's story

about him being
in the white van.

He wasn't at Vonda's house.

He knew nothing about it.

Wow.

And, I mean, it seemed
like it was real emotions, too

that, you know,
he had lost his baby,

so that's pretty interesting,
too, right?

The investigators
did investigate

Gary's whereabouts.

He did have
a decent alibi,

but not a perfect one.

They also took DNA from him

and searched the trailer.

He says they investigated him
thoroughly

before dismissing him
as a person of interest.

Vonda... I think she was

intentionally planting
the notion

that Gary may have had
something to do with the murder.

- I agree.
- I mean, in my opinion,

Gary has nothing to do
with this. He's innocent.

Okay, Vonda
is almost certainly lying

about Gary,

but let's not forget,

she's not the only witness

to report seeing a white van.

There is something to it,

because there's independent
witness, Jason Matthews,

that also sees a white van.

Jason, do you remember
seeing Jessie

come out of her home?

And you believe
it was around 5:30?

And do you know
what color the van was?

So Mr. Matthews testified
that he saw Jessie

get into a white van
around 5:30,

and then she's found
about 7:30.

So there is a van.

The question is,

we gotta make sure
we get the right van,

and that may be
the difficult piece.

I'm thinking
as an investigator,

who are the people
with the white vans?

What's interesting
is that JD Ealey,

Gary's dad,

testified at Vonda's trial

about being in a white van

on the day of the murder.

Yes, JD Ealey,

who lived with Gary
and Jessie, the victim.

JD is allegedly
a meth dealer.

He was arrested repeatedly
for meth.

The police took
his fingerprints

after Jessie's murder,

and they took a DNA sample.

When they questioned JD
about his alibi on that day,

he said he was with a guy
named Dudley Hudson

in Dudley's white van.

Dudley Hudson.

Him and JD are best buddies.

You know, they hang out
together.

And he had a criminal record.
He had a rap sheet.

Guilty pleas for theft,
drug charges,

and even domestic assault.

Dudley had always been
a pretty rough character. Uh...

Is... is he a user?

Yes, ma'am.
Dudley's a user.

Which... I was once a user,

but just in a different clique.

You know, a different crowd.

And I've not been
around Dudley,

like I said, since...

eight years, about eight to ten
years, of eight... you know.

JD and Dudley, uh, provided
each other with alibis.

Right, they're... they're sort
of cross-alibis for each other.

"I was with JD."
JD says, "I was with Dudley."

And I think they were... said they
were working on a... on a septic tank.

- Septic tank?
- Yes.

On Dudley's mom's
septic tank.

Yeah, and JD also said

they went to a yard sale
that afternoon

and bought a bike
and some other things.

Police also took Dudley's
fingerprints after Jessie's murder.

And they collected
his DNA, too.

Police never found any evidence
implicating JD or Dudley,

and neither of them was charged
in connection with the murder.

That's true, but,
if you remember

that JD and Dudley...

these guys are known
drug dealers and drug users.

JD is in federal prison.

He took a plea agreement

for drug charges for meth.

And, uh,
Dudley Hudson's no choir boy.

Dudley Hudson
pled guilty to drugs, theft,

and domestic violence charges.

The fact that Dudley and JD
had a shared alibi

should've been a red flag.

Exactly. So we wanted to
go and verify that alibi.

- Of the septic tank?
- Yes.

Now, JD is in federal prison

and we're not able
to get to him,

and Dudley Hudson...
we couldn't find him,

so we went out to Mabel's
house, Dudley's mom house.

We went and talked
to Mabel.

Mm-hmm.

Mabel... she said they're both
too lazy to do anything.

"They... they never fixed
my septic tank."

- Hmm.
- It never happened.

- Oh, wow.
- Right.

Of course, it doesn't mean

they were involved
in the murder.

Yes, that's true.

Remember, according
to JD's testimony,

the septic tank story
is just part of their alibi.

Right.
Maybe Mabel could be misremembering,

or JD was confused
about the timeline,

but if the police didn't
investigate it thoroughly,

there could be
other, unknown, suspects

they also didn't
fully investigate.

That's right.

It does strike me
as a big hole.

Ultimately, it might not
have proven anything,

but clearly,

this should have been
investigated

at the very beginning.

Right.

One thing
that I know for sure,

or I feel
very strongly about,

is the crux of the case and the facts
of the case revolve around the blood.

Right.
The biggest mystery here

is why Vonda did not see blood
in the car

when we can obviously see
the blood from the pictures.

That's the biggest mystery
for me.

Well, we had a jail call
with Vonda.

We talked to her
on the Skype call,

and I asked her this one
question about that bloody car.

And you tell me if you think
Vonda is telling the truth.

Okay.

So Vonda,
I want you to listen to me.

You can trust me.

Why was all that blood
in your car?

You didn't know the blood
was in there at all?

Okay,
so let me ask you this.

How do you think the blood
got in your car?

If you telling me you think somebody
put that blood in your car...

If she's not lying,
somebody planted the blood

to frame Vonda.

Let's assume the killing was done by X.
We don't know who X is.

In a... in a hypothetical
universe,

planting the blood,

it points the finger over at,
you know, a little old lady,

little old grandma.

Fortunately, we have the car.

Yes.

Oh, yeah,
we... we've got the car.

We were able to make sure it's
on the proper chain of custody

when it's released from TBI,

and it's been in safekeeping
ever since.

We want to have the car tested,
especially the passenger seat.

Yeah. So we were really
interested to see

what Johnny Lawrence...
he's our blood spatter expert...

was able to uncover.

That's one thing
that will seal that deal.

That's right.

Been around long enough
to know every case is different.

They might seem the same,

but as many homicides
I've worked,

every case
is gonna be different.

When you work
with the blood spatter,

it's figuring out puzzles.

That's basically
what we do here.

Right.

Vonda...

argues that somebody
planted the blood there.

Will you be able to determine
if blood was planted or not?

Yes.

Most people, when they get the idea,
"Let me plant some evidence"...

- Right.
- They get an eyedropper or something,

- just drop it around.
- Yes, yes.

'Cause that's what
everybody sees: blood drops.

But bloodstain
is all based on gravity.

Once it hits a surface,

you can tell directionality,
where it's coming from...

up, down, sideways...

usually the angle
of it hitting,

maybe it's how tall
someone is, how short,

if they're down on their knees,
if they're standing up,

so we should most definitely
be able to see

if the victim
was killed in the car,

if she was transported
in the car,

or if it was staged.

- Whole lot of questions.
- Yes.

- That's why we need an expert here.
- Exactly.

I love a challenge.

What I'm mainly looking for is blood
that we can't see with the naked eye,

and we call it hidden blood.

And what I do... I-I use
leuco crystal violet.

It's a chemical,
kind of a misty spray,

It helps you find
hidden blood.

Now,
when you spray this on,

how soon do you get
the results?

If it's there,

as soon as I hit it
with the spray,

it'll give, like,
a purple color.

Okay.

Look at the armrest.

- It looks like an arm was up there.
- Oh, yeah.

- Right there is the outline of the arm.
- Yep.

Looks to me that there's
blood all over the arm...

- Right.
- And the arm was laying on the rest.

Right.
It looks like a forearm.

It looks like... it looks...
that's why I'm showing.

It looks just like that
right there is laying,

and that would make
perfect sense.

I do want to spray
the passenger seat

to see what pops up.

- Oh, yeah, yeah.
- Yeah.

You can definitely see
that right there.

That is amazing.

And everything you see purple
is blood.

And that's not
a small amount.

No, that's a lot of blood.

Wow, wow.

- That is crazy.
- Yeah.

That's a lot of blood
in that passenger seat.

Mm-hmm.

So what are you thinking,
Johnny, at this point?

Is there any way
that any of this blood

planted in the car,
in your mind?

No, because it...

you have very small stains
in the front.

If you look to the side of the
glove box right there, you see it.

It's definitely
expirated blood.

Expirated blood is blood coming
from the nose or the mouth

or an opened air passage.

Cavity fills full of blood,
and it has to come out.

- Right.
- Like blowing your nose.

Blood's the same way.
It's got to go somewhere.

So it's coming out
with force behind it.

It's just not possible

to... to put those type of stains
and plant it.

The stains that are present indicate
that the blood is not planted.

Wow.

There's no way that
this thing could've been staged.

All right.

In my opinion, she was not
killed in that car.

- Ah.
- She was not beat in that car.

Yeah, it looked like
transport only.

- I think we agree with you 100% on that.
- Yes.

What we got
is indications of cleanup.

Some of the blood in the passenger seat...
blood's gone...

- Yes.
- Except for the hidden blood.

- Yes.
- Stuff you can't see with the naked eye.

But when we lit it up
with leuco crystal violet,

you had a lot of what looked
like watered-down bloodstains.

It was diluted.

Somebody was trying
to clean the seat up.

Vonda made a claim that...

"We were only cleaning
the seats

because the cat pee."

Cleaning up the cat urine

was prior to any blood.

You would not have dilution
of the blood.

It would not affect
those stains.

Whatever she used
to clean should've dried.

Right. And the blood
would be on top of that.

It would not look diluted.

Yeah, that's right.

So they were cleaning blood.

Right.

I'll tell you what.

Time's running out for Vonda.

Time is running out.

Johnny Lawrence... he's our blood spatter
expert... confirmed to me and Ira.

He said, "Look, this blood
was not planted in this car.

It was not put
in this car."

- Right.
- And Vonda wasn't set up.

- Right.
- From what you're saying, we're in a position

where we firmly believe that
there was blood in the car.

When Vonda had the car
and was picking up Emma

at... at Sharon Burgner's house.

And maybe Sharon Burgner...

I can see her,
being a little older,

maybe she didn't see it,

because from all accounts,

doesn't appear like she's lying.

I agree.

But Vonda

would have seen
blood in the car.

Yes.

Well, Vonda denied

that there was blood
in the car,

and then the fact that
the cleaning fluid was used

- after the blood was in the car...
- Yes.

- It casts a shadow on her innocence, to me.
- Yeah.

Absolutely.

Maybe a cat
did pee in the car,

and Vonda used bleach
to clean it up,

but the point is,
someone used bleach after the murder

to clean up the blood.

I want to find out
why Vonda's lying

about seeing the blood
in the car.

I agree.
Well, I'm gonna interrogate her.

I've been doing this
35 years.

I wanted to go and sit
with her, face to face,

and have a conversation
with her.

- At the county jail?
- At the county jail.

Great.

I think
at that moment,

when Vonda screamed it out,

it was like, I could actually
see it erupt out of her,

because she was intense
and shaking.

Her face was red,
her fists were clenched,

her eyes were bucky,

and she screamed it.

I mean, "It was William.
It was William."

And then, she come
to the realization,

like, "Oh, my God,
what have I just done?

Oh, my God, I just told
on my son."

Oh, wow.

Now, we're not saying

William killed anyone.
We don't know.

All she did was say
he brought the car back.

- Right.
- So she's... she's not...

she's not admitted
any knowledge

of him participating
in the murder.

- Yes.
- Not, "It was him that murdered Jessie."

No, no.

I think when she realized

blood was in that vehicle,

it freaked her out,
and I think

she just didn't tell
the police the truth

because Vonda,

was trying to protect her son.

I don't have a lot of sympathy
for Vonda Smith.

And this is why.

She tries to implicate
a... totally innocent person.

She tries to go in and say,

"Oh, this white van comes up,

and I think it's Gary
that gets out."

You're talking about putting
a wrong person in jail.

- Okay?
- Yes.

And I also asked...
I said, "Vonda, did you tell

your attorney this,
Gene Scott?"

and she said,
"Yes, I told Gene this,

but I told Gene he couldn't
do anything with it."

- Hmm.
- You know, so she tied

her own attorney's hands
with it.

Gene Scott declined to comment
on this case,

because it's still on appeal.

You know, the police
did investigate William.

They took a DNA sample.

They gave him a polygraph,
and he passed.

They didn't find any evidence
to link him to the murder,

and he was never charged.

So, you know, I think
it was real important

to interview William.

I wanted to get personal
with William

and see what kind
of human being

this guy really was.

That day, the day that Jessie
lost her life...

That was
a really important day.

That's the day that the mother
of your child was murdered.

Did you see Jessie that day?

The day she got killed?
No, sir.

Around the time
when Jessie was murdered,

were you and Jessie
sleeping together?

No.
No, sir.

When was the last time
you had sex with her?

When my son was conceived.

So that morning...
what was you doing that morning?

I can't recall right off.

Were you getting high
during that time?

Mm, not on methamphetamine, no.

- Wasn't getting high on meth?
- No.

You sure about that?

I don't know.
I don't...

I don't want to say "no,"
and then I did.

I don't... I could. I pos...
very well possibly could have.

Okay.
Why don't you remember that?

Some shit I remember,
and some I don't.

Have you always had
memory lapse?

Here and there. I mean, it's getting...
it gets worse, I guess, but...

And you've been honest
with me, right?

- Yes, sir.
- You've been honest with me about using drugs.

- Yes, sir.
- Right on camera,

you told me
you used meth, right?

- Yes, sir.
- You've been honest with me

about your memory lapse,
right?

- Yes, sir.
- Okay, so...

I'ma ask you a tough question,
but I have to.

When people are high,

there's things that happen
that you wouldn't normally do

when you're not high.

When you're high,

you're not yourself.

I wouldn't put my hands on her.

- Well, how do you know?
- I just know.

'Cause you're telling me
right now you can't re...

I just know that, 100%,

and my mother
wouldn't have, either.

And I cannot tell you
every step I made that day.

No, sir, I cannot,

and I will... I won't be able to.

I understand that.
I'm not trying to trick you.

- You remember anything else?
- I'm gonna say as much.

- I do know. I don't...
- Hmm?

- We done.
- You want to stop?

Yes, sir.

So we wanted to take William

back where the body
was dumped

to see if we could trigger
some sort of emotion.

We're standing at the place
where Jessie was dumped

like some garbage,

and some of her spirit
is here.

How's it make you feel?

Makes me think about a lot.

- Mm-hmm.
- What really happened.

Yeah.

She never done
anything to deserve this, so...

- Mm-hmm.
- Oh, we know that.

Yes, sir.

We know that.

William,
it's real important

that we share this with you.

I'ma tell you about this
witness that we talked to.

Right.

On the day of her murder

they saw you
in your mama's car,

and they saw you
backing up the car...

- Here?
- No, in front of your mama's house.

- Nowhere near here.
- Mm.

They saw you get out
your mama's car

and get into a white van

and then drive off.

Mm-mm, um...

- And...
- They're mistaken.

- No way.
- Uh-uh.

- Let's take a listen.
- Yes, sir.

Vonda, tell me
the 100% truth.

So tell me how you know
it was William.

You saw him.

And tell me what you saw,
Vonda.

He parked the car and
got in the van and left.

Thank you, Vonda.

- And...
- She didn't see me back in no car.

No, man.

Take your time.
You're shaking.

I prom... I know.

Brother, here's the thing.

This wasn't planned.

Nobody went out here
to kill this girl.

- I guarantee it.
- Right.

When they woke up that morning,
they had no idea

of what was gonna happen
that late afternoon,

and when it happened,
they went, "Oh, my God,

what do we do now?"

I can't tell you I had anything
to do with something I didn't.

I don't know nothing
about what happened to her.

How you doing, Rod?

All right, I guess.

We got some new developments.

Me and Joe
went over to the jail,

and Vonda revealed
something to us

that was a little disturbing
to us.

She basically said that William
was the one

that brought the car back.

- Who?
- William.

Me.

On the day of the homicide,
she says she saw him.

- You brought the car back?
- That's what she said.

That's what she told
all them.

I want you...
I want you to listen to this.

I mean, it's her.

I want to to hear.
It's not your fault, Vonda.

So... so tell me
how you know.

You saw him.

I'm not hiding nothing.
I didn't bring that car here.

I-I understand that.

You think I done that?

I don't know, son.

Not...

I don't know.

I had nothing to do with this.

I promise.

William... his response
was weird.

He didn't react
how I thought he would react.

That's very true,

but that doesn't mean
Vonda is telling the truth.

It doesn't mean William had
anything to do with the murder.

Yes.

That's absolutely true.

The police investigated
William,

and they didn't charge him
with anything.

And the male DNA
found on Jessie...

they couldn't test it,

so there was no match
with William.

Right.

There's nothing
that Vonda says

that we can rely on as true

unless we can corroborate it.

Let's not forget
her lie about Gary.

Exactly.

Innocent people

don't point a finger
at a particular person

and sets who she gives up
immediately.

I agree with you,

but we do know William

may have some answers.

Absolutely.

To me, he's also
a key piece in here.

- Yes.
- Right.

At this point,

it's basically Vonda's word
against William.

Yes.

We also talked
to Brittney Brown.

She was William's girlfriend
at the time of the murder.

When you heard
about Jessie's murder...

- Mm-hmm.
- What were you doing?

It was around 4:00.

It was still dark outside.

My daughter, Emma...

she was down
at Vonda's house.

She called,
and she was like,

"Mom, I think something bad
happened to Jessie."

You know, "The police were
here, and Vonda's gone."

So I woke William up,

and we went
straight down there.

Did he drive,
or did you drive?

I drove.

William... he was very shocked.

He just kept saying,

"What did she get
herself into?"

That's all he said.

Inferring Vonda?

No, Jessie.

Jessie, okay.

So all he said was,
"What did she get herself into?"

Yes.

Brittney, who you think
killed Jessie?

I have no idea.

If any of us knew
what really happened,

it... we would say something,

'cause Vonda does not deserve
to be in there.

Mm-hmm, no, she doesn't.

I know Vonda didn't do that.

I know that in my heart.
She didn't.

At the same time,
we gotta remember Jessie,

'cause people forgot
about Jessie.

Nobody should die
like that, you know.

No, and she
definitely didn't deserve

to die that way.

She was
a wonderful person,

not because she was
my daughter.

She was just
a fun-loving person.

And she loved them boys
with everything in her.

They were her life.

Here's the theory.

Vonda never expected
to get convicted at trial.

Exactly.

It was specifically alleged

that it was Vonda,
and Vonda alone,

who struck each and every
fatal blow,

and Vonda thinks
Vonda's gonna get off.

It kind of would've been perfect.
She goes to trial,

she gets acquitted.

Okay, people think
she still did it,

but, you know,
she was found not guilty.

Let's all move on.

The only problem was,
in fact,

- she got convicted.
- Yes.

But I think
that the evidence

demonstrates
pretty conclusively

she did not do what she was
convicted of doing.

We know she could not
have committed that murder.

Physically incapable
of doing it,

and there were no marks
on her hands.

Yes.

- Y...
- There's at least one other person involved.

- Absolutely.
- Oh, yeah, has to be.

And we know that,

because
of the unidentified DNA

from the three males

found under
Jessie's fingernails,

as well as the white van

that showed up
when Vonda's car was returned.

- Correct.
- Right.

So the real question is,

what can be done from here,

and who are the people
who can do it?

I talked with Vonda's lawyer,
Gene Scott,

and he said
he's definitely gonna go

and appeal this case,

so he's working on that
right now.

You know, I asked Vonda.
I said,

"Vonda, what
are you hoping for?"

and she said she's hoping that
she win the appeal,

but if she doesn't win
the appeal,

she said, "I'm done, Ira.

"I'm done.
I'm not gonna appeal it

anywhere else.
I'm just done."

Wow.

Law enforcement needs
to reopen this case.

Exactly. This is real
lives you're talking about.

This is not a case.
This is not a piece of paper.

It's not a file. These are human
beings we're talking about.

We're talking about...
somebody's in jail

that may be
wrongfully convicted.

Yes.
It's also about the victim.

Jessie was a young woman
whose life was taken.

We need to find justice
for her.

I completely agree.

Investigators need
to talk to more people...

Absolutely.

And trace that
unidentified DNA evidence.

Find the person who
actually killed Jessie Morrison

and let Vonda
be put on trial

for what she actually did.

There's a lot
of leads to follow.

And trust me, they can find out
who did this.

Absolutely.

Subtitles by explosiveskull
www.OpenSubtitles.org