All language subtitles for Blood.&.Money.S01E02.The.Millionaires.Defense.1080p.PCOK.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

In the criminal
justice system,

detectives and prosecutors
face daunting challenges

when money
is the motive for murder.

[dramatic sting]

The Bellush homicide
was the big case

on all the news feeds.

This is
Sheila's last moment alive.

The murder
of quad mom Sheila Bellush

reveals a vicious plot
driven by greed.

We can link it to the money
that leads to the conspiracy.

Prosecutors are tested

by the killer's high-priced
legal team.

This is horrific.

Footprints all over the floor
of the children in blood.

We knew this was
about the money.

The problem was proving it.

These men and women dedicate
their lives to law and order.

This was the case
I'll always remember.

[dramatic music]

These are
their true stories.

[dramatic sting]

[phone line beeping]

[sirens wailing]

The first deputy on scene--

when he entered the house
and saw what had happened,

he immediately
knew something was wrong.

♪ ♪

The first thing our deputy
sees is four toddlers,

and they're covered
in their mother's blood.

In the kitchen,

he discovers
a 13-year-old girl

standing beside the body
of her mother.

♪ ♪

Police learned
the 911 caller

was 13-year-old
Stevie Bellush,

who discovered
the crime scene after school.

When I arrived at the house,

myself and
Lieutenant Ron Albritton

were made the lead detectives
in this case.

Ron Albritton was a supervisor

in the Detective Bureau
at the time.

His strengths were keeping
the supervisors above us

off our backs.

Detective Chris Iorio--

very thorough,
very experienced detective,

a little bit cocky--

exactly what you want
in a good detective.

Very quickly, Chris found out
that the quad mom from Texas

is our victim in this case.

[baby crying]

We first introduced
you to the Bellushes

in December of 1995,
when they had quintuplets.

Francis Anthony is named
after my father.

It was a very joyful time.

The Sheila Bellush homicide

was the most sensational story
I had ever been part of.

She was a young mother.
She had two teenage daughters.

And she had four quadruplets
with her husband,

Jamie Bellush.

First week--
oh, that was scary.

[laughs] I didn't have sleep
for two days,

and it was pretty rough.

It's overwhelming,

and, unfortunately, I do
a lot of out-of-town travel.

So I had to get
my wife some help.

They were still new
in the neighborhood.

They had relocated
to Sarasota from Texas.

Jamie was a very successful
pharmaceutical salesperson,

and Sheila Bellush
was a legal secretary.

I met Sheila
through a mutual friend.

We were like
the Three Musketeers,

you know, running around,
doing things.

She was a fun mom,

always making the kids laugh,
very active with them.

I really looked up to her.

It was about midday.

I got a phone call

that my friend Sheila
had been murdered,

and I just dropped the phone.

Knowing Sheila the way I did,

what happened to her
didn't make sense.

How could anyone...

even think of doing this?

♪ ♪

Initially,
when I walked into the house,

I just walked in
and took a Polaroid

and walked back out.

This is the only time
in my career

that I've had four toddlers
that I had to photograph.

They didn't have any injuries,

but they didn't understand why
all these strangers are here.

That was very emotional,

but you can't break down
in front of four little babies.

So you have to move on
and focus

on the next piece of evidence.

♪ ♪

In the garage,
there was a towel

that had what appeared
to be gunshot residue

and a hole in it,

apparently trying to make a silencer.

There was a casing
on the dryer,

as well as a bullet hole
in the utility-room wall.

So we dusted for prints
and managed to get

a print off of the dryer.

In the kitchen, there
was a bloody knife

with a bent tip,

which appeared
consistent with the knives

on a magnetic rack.

It looked like the murderer
switched to the knife

because the towel
jammed the gun.

So not only did she have
a bullet hole,

she had knife wounds
to her neck.

♪ ♪

This is
Sheila's last moment alive.

Tries to get the phone
to dial 911 and get help.

And she was so close.

She gets her hand on the phone,

and the blood smear
slides down.

I think that was
a mother's instincts

- kicking in and protecting--
- I totally agree.

She's thinking
about protecting her kids.

I totally agree. Yep.

- Poor little guys.
- Yeah.

♪ ♪

Jamie Bellush showed up,
found out what happened.

Of course, he was, you know,
grief-stricken at the time.

And once he collected himself,

we told him we would like
to talk to him

about the situation.

He said, do I need
an attorney for this?

That was a surprise statement
for an innocent person.

Why does he need a lawyer?

Is he hiding something?

♪ ♪

[dramatic sting]

♪ ♪

With suspicions aroused,

investigators questioned
Jamie Bellush,

looking for opportunity
and motive.

Jamie Bellush was a
strongly built former Marine,

short-cut hair, a no-nonsense
type of guy, tough guy.

He wasn't going to take crap
from anybody.

You could tell he was worried
about his kids, the quads.

And he was worried
about his stepkids,

Stevie and Daryl Bellush.

They were the natural children
of Sheila

with her ex-husband,
Allen Blackthorne.

Jamie was able to tell us
that this ex-husband

was really a tyrant.

There was issues
with paying child support.

He was complaining about
how much money they all got.

Jamie Bellush had
an alibi in Fort Myers,

running his pharmaceutical
sales routes.

He's a person of interest,

but without any evidence,

we can't put him
in the crime scene.

We got to keep looking.

As investigators examined
Jamie Bellush's story,

they needed to also talk

to Sheila's millionaire
ex-husband, Allen Blackthorne.

I called him on the phone,

and he was very nonchalant
about it.

He'd already seen it on TV.

There was no grief or anything

about his ex-wife
being murdered.

But after we started
looking into him,

we found out he had
an airtight alibi.

He was on a golf course
at the time of this murder.

Hundreds of people could say,

oh, yeah,
he was golfing that day.

[dramatic sting]

♪ ♪

A lot of people
in our community

seen this story on the news,
and calls started coming in.

But it's so rare that those
phone calls to us

would end up relevant
to the case.

However, we received
a call from a lady

who worked at a gas station
on Bee Ridge Road,

and she told us

a male came in
asking for directions

to Markridge Road.

That's where our homicide
took place.

She described the male

as either Hispanic or Italian.

He had on combat gear
or camouflage.

And she provided him
with a map of Sarasota,

trying to tell him how you get
to Markridge Road.

She said, I still have
the map if you want it.

Of course, we wanted it.

And it was this laminated map

that was perfect
to develop some fingerprints.

We ended up processing it

and got a match to
the thumbprint on the dryer.

I said, are you kidding me?

♪ ♪

And then we got a tip
that was like

what every cop goes
to bed and prays for at night.

We get a telephone call

from a fella
by the name of Jacob Mast,

working on the lawns
here that day.

He sees this guy come up,

and he's like, this guy
doesn't fit this neighborhood.

He goes back to work,
but he does one more thing.

He makes up a rhyme
that allows him

to remember the tag number.

We ran it as a Florida tag,
of course,

and we got back
absolutely nothing.

Sheila Bellush was from Texas,

Allen Blackthorne
is from Texas.

So we run it as a Texas tag.

Bingo.

There is a car
registered out of Texas

with that tag number on it.

Sounds pretty good to us.

We're off to Texas.

We got so much more
than we bargained for.

They located
the camouflage gear, the boots.

I find out that he's
very nervous about something.

What is his motive?
Does he know the Bellushes?

He thought his testimony

should be
his get-out-of-jail-free card.

As investigators
sought answers

in the killing of quad mom
Sheila Bellush,

her murder quickly made
national headlines.

[dramatic sting]

The day Sheila Bellush
was killed,

the man the employee described
for this composite sketch

came to her asking for
directions to Markridge Road.

I'm 95 years old.

It's the worst crime
I ever heard in my life.

I was not prepared for
the gravity of the situation

at the funeral.

CNN and a lot of news media
were there.

Everybody was just devastated

that it happened
in front of the babies.

Jamie had said
they were so little

that he was hoping
they wouldn't remember.

In their little eyes,

you can see that there's
something going on--

more than just them smiling
or being kids, you know.

They had something horrific
happen to them.

They witnessed it all,

and you didn't want
to believe it, you know?

[somber music]

When we run the tag
on our suspect's car,

it tells us its owner

is Maria Del Toro
of La Pryor, Texas,

and she's a woman in her 60s.

We're off to Texas
the next morning,

on the first flight out
at 6:25.

[dramatic music]

Maria Del Toro said,
yes, it is her car,

but her grandson
is who drives it all the time.

His name is Joey Del Toro.

Joey Del Toro was a star
football player

at his high school--
the running back, you know.

Very popular.

He's not
an accomplished criminal.

He's more of a party boy,
you know, a fun guy.

Everybody loves Joey.

And then we get a call
from the forensic unit saying,

we got the fingerprints back
from Texas on Del Toro,

and we've got a match
to the fingerprint on the dryer

in the laundry room.

We now know Joey Del Toro's
in our crime scene,

and now we have
probable cause.

We actually went
by the address

of his girlfriend's house
in Austin,

and we spotted the car.

Authorities
entered the apartment

and discovered
that Joey wasn't there.

Joey's girlfriend revealed
that he had fled days earlier,

leaving behind his car
and a small duffel bag.

Inside the duffel bag,
we get camouflage clothes

consistent with what's being
reported back in Sarasota,

that people saw
on our suspect.

We have Joey's vehicle towed

to DPS crime scene in Austin.

And we got so much more
than we bargained for.

There was receipts

from Sports Authority
and some other stores

for the camouflage gear,
the boots.

And they located the gun,
which was a Colt .45,

and it had three magazines.

That .45 ultimately matches

the one we get
at the crime scene.

Anything we can imagine
was there.

We found a map of Florida,
directions to Florida.

The question of the day was,

why would he drive from Texas
to Sarasota,

kill Sheila Bellush,
and drive back?

What's his connection?

Does he know the Bellushes?

Did he meet them
at some point in the past

back in Texas?

♪ ♪

Investigators interview
Joey's contacts

to reveal
where he could be hiding out.

Pretty much
without exception,

they were all telling us
his cousin, Sammy Gonzales.

Sammy Gonzales
is brought back

to the Texas Ranger station.

The only thing we wanted
to get out of Sammy is,

where's Del Toro?

[dramatic sting]

I started interviewing him,

and I find out that he's
very nervous about something.

And not just about, you know,
knowing where his cousin is.

Little by little,

we found out that Gonzales was
involved in this conspiracy.

A friend of his,
Danny Rocha, had asked him,

did he know anybody

that would beat up somebody
for some money?

You know, maybe a
few thousand dollars.

We're like,
who is this Danny Rocha guy?

What is his motive?

That's not clear.

Sammy referred Danny Rocha
to his cousin, Joey Del Toro.

During the summer of '97,

the conspirators
get together in Texas.

Of all the people involved,

nobody really needed the money
that bad.

It was easy greed.

I mean, they assumed they could
do this and never get caught.

Detectives realized they had
uncovered a murder-for-hire,

but Sammy was unaware
of who had paid Danny Rocha.

Whoever had pulled the strings
and the murderer

had yet to be brought
to justice.

Jamie Bellush checked out.

He had nothing to do with this.
We eliminated him.

We work with Sammy
and try to get information.

Where's Joey?

Sammy tells us

he got a frantic phone call
Monday morning.

Joey became aware
that the cops from Sarasota

is here asking questions.

And at 3:00 a.m.
on Monday morning,

Del Toro took a bus
from San Antonio to Laredo

and crossed the border
to Mexico.

So now there's
legal roadblocks

involved in this case.

It's torturous because we know
who the people are

behind the murder
of Sheila Bellush,

but they're not in jail yet.

We're on the right track
with the right people,

[dramatic music]

Across the border,
radio stations there

have been receiving calls--

people saying they've seen
Del Toro walking around.

♪ ♪

At this point, we know
everything that had happened

in Florida,

everything that had happened
in Texas,

and Del Toro in Mexico.

So we're working
with prosecutors in Florida

and in Texas
before we proceed any further.

Investigators continue
to track down Del Toro,

while prosecutors
begin to build a case

against the conspirators
of this murder-for-hire.

Thank you.

We work closely together.

He's a workaholic.

We didn't have
anything else to do.

[laughs]

Families didn't really
want us at home,

and this was the place to be.

And it was
a joke around here.

We went to lunch together
virtually every day

for 30 years.

We got to be close friends.

In this case,
it was very clear

that Joey Del Toro
was enlisted

basically by his cousin
Sammy Gonzales

and by Danny Rocha
to commit murder-for-hire.

At one point, there
was talk about $10,000

to have Sheila killed.

So the picture
was fairly clear.

The problem was, why was Danny
willing to have her killed?

Rocha's financial records
revealed a membership

to the Oak Hills Country Club,

a club whose members included
another person

very familiar to detectives.

Turns out Danny Rocha

is Allen Blackthorne's
best golf partner.

We have a suspect golfing

with Sheila's ex-husband.

♪ ♪

Danny played golf,
but he didn't golf for fun.

He golfed for money.

And Allen,
from all appearances,

was a bottomless well
of money.

They would bet just staggering
amounts on a golf game.

And in one year, Danny got
about $300,000 in cash

from Allen, betting on golf.

It appeared that Danny

was hustling
Allen Blackthorne.

In fact,
it was the other way around.

Our theory was
that Allen recognized

that he had
somebody in Danny Rocha

who might be able to serve

his still-ongoing vendetta,
as it were,

against Sheila over the
payments after their divorce.

The financial records
of Blackthorne's company

revealed multiple medical patents

worth millions of dollars.

After the divorce,
Sheila Bellush

was due a payout of over
a million from Blackthorne.

With Allen Blackthorne,
there's monetary advantages.

There's motive.

He didn't want
to pay her a dime,

and he knew
that he could manipulate Danny

to cause harm to Sheila.

Allen would fertilize

the discussion
with things like,

he was thinking
about building a golf course.

Danny, you could
run the golf course,

and I'll give you
an interest in it.

He knew that Danny
would respond to this,

and so he was fairly
easily manipulated.

The problem was proving it.

Allen had been particularly
devious and successful

in putting distance
between himself

and the actual commission
of the murder.

Prosecutors believed
that Allen Blackthorne

had ordered the hit,

but they needed Danny Rocha
to prove it.

Investigators set sights

on getting Danny
to turn on his boss.

[dramatic sting]

While doing a drive-by

at Danny Rocha's aunt's house,
where he is frequently,

we see him come
out of the house

on to the front porch.

We get out and confront him.

Danny's demeanor is,

I knew this was coming,
and I want my attorney.

So, at that point, we really
don't get to interview him.

He's not under arrest
at this time.

In fact, Sammy Gonzales is not
under arrest at this time.

So things progress slowly.

We figured, you know what?

We have to go try to talk
to Allen Blackthorne.

So we drive
to this mansion in Texas.

It's this big,
gaudy pink mansion.

You know,
big, humongous entryway,

"double front doors"
kind of a thing,

just a huge, huge home.

♪ ♪

His current wife,

Maureen Blackthorne,
was there,

and she invited us in.

She knew who we were

and probably figured
we were coming eventually.

Maureen gets on the phone,
calls Allen,

and says, we have company--

clearly a code
as to who's here,

because within one minute,
the telephone rings,

and she answers it.

And she says,

this is Roy Barrera,
Allen's attorney, on the phone.

He would like to speak
with one of you.

And his first question is,

are there any warrants
for my client?

I said, no, not at this time.

And he said, well, my client
will not be allowed to talk

to anyone without me
being present at any time.

And at that moment,

Allen Blackthorne
walks in the door.

He certainly wasn't
going to talk to us.

♪ ♪

We got what we expected.

We got what we were prepared
for at that point, you know.

- Yeah. Cocky.
- Yeah.

- Real cocky, arrogant.
- He's got money.

He's got lawyers.
I don't have time for you guys.

You guys are from some
little bitty town in Florida.

Yeah, right.

- You ain't going to get me.
- Right. That's...

He did.

Basically what he didn't say,
but you know was his attitude

and what he was thinking
when it come to us.

Everything was against us
at this point.

Joey's in the wind,
nowhere to be located,

and now Allen Blackthorne's
lawyered up.

As a detective,
you have to make this work,

and you can't give up
on the case.

It's up to you
to seek that justice.

This was at her baby shower--
three boys and one girl,

so the one pink bootie's
for the one girl.

She's sitting there
telling my husband that--

They have their birthdays
one day apart,

and she would say,

hey, Terry, you need
to respect your elders.

And we would all giggle
and laugh about that,

'cause she was funny.

I miss her every day.

During their nasty divorce,

Allen would drag her
into court

for whatever reason
he could think of.

He was battling her
with his lawyers constantly.

She would never, ever...

let him have full custody.

Allen was awful, but he
was making all that money.

He could get away with it.

But in the end,
she beat him in court so much

that she got a lot of money,

and he did sign over custody,
you know,

so he wanted to make sure
that she suffered in some way.

I just think he didn't want her
to have the money.

[somber music]

After her murder,
I knew that Allen...

[sniffles]

Had her killed.

♪ ♪

I just kept praying that
they're going to prove it,

and he's not going
to get away with it.

♪ ♪

When it comes time to do
any prosecution in this case,

everybody's saying,
why isn't Allen arrested?

Why haven't you gotten
this guy?

Let's remember--

Allen Blackthorne had the best
lawyers that money can buy.

You can put an awful lot
of circumstances

that says Allen Blackthorne
is behind this,

but what's the one piece
of evidence that says

he's the mastermind?

You need Danny Rocha
for that direct testimony.

Danny Rocha wasn't going
to talk about the murder

or anything like that.

We thought,
well, you know what?

An arrest would get
somebody to talk.

We got with Texas
and Florida prosecutors.

We said,
at this point in time,

we think we have enough
evidence to arrest them.

Let's go ahead and arrest
Rocha and Gonzales.

When we get there,
Danny Rocha looks at me,

and he says, is it time?

It's time, Danny.

[dramatic music]

While all this is going on,
Del Toro is in Mexico.

Eagle Pass Police hoping
Jose Luis Del Toro's photo,

now splashed
across newspapers,

will eventually lead
to his arrest.

Mexican authorities
are cooperating fully

in their search for Del Toro,

a 21-year-old drifter wanted
for murdering Sheila Bellush

in Sarasota, Florida,
almost a week ago.

[dramatic sting]

And then on the 18th
of November,

I get a phone call.

They just arrested Joey
in Monterrey, Mexico.

When the Mexican authorities
find out

that Joey failed
to get a visa,

they were able to bring him in
and put him in jail.

So now we need to see
if we can get him

back to the United States.

We start extradition procedures.

All of a sudden,
there's roadblocks.

We can't have him back.
We can't get him back.

With Joey
at least temporarily

out of the picture,

hopes rested in convincing
Sammy and Danny

to flip on Blackthorne.

Sammy Gonzales was
the first to cut a deal--

a plea bargain in exchange
for his testimony.

He was going to testify
against Del Toro.

He was going to testify
against Rocha.

Sammy wasn't our big fish,

but he was a big part
to get to the big fish.

Prosecution was making
that bridge

from Joey Del Toro
up to Allen Blackthorne.

But we need
the testimony of Danny Rocha.

He arranged the conspiracy
on behalf of Blackthorne.

However, the same deal
we offered Sammy Gonzales--

20 years,
where he really does 15,

and he'll be out in exchange
for his testimony--

Danny Rocha turns down.

He thought his testimony
to give us Blackthorne

should free him and be
his get-out-of-jail-free card,

and no deal was ever brought

because he thought he would
never serve time in prison.

That's what he's banking on.
He's betting his life on it.

[dramatic sting]

Daniel Rocha,
the defendant,

on trial
for first-degree murder.

When you tell someone

that it would be easiest
to shoot her to get your money,

you are conspiring to commit
first-degree murder.

It wasn't something
that the evidence shows

that he wanted to happen.

Sheila's widower, Jamie,
usually calm,

released his frustration
and anger.

Danny blamed everything
on Joey Del Toro.

She was supposed
to get beaten,

and Del Toro took it
upon himself to kill her,

so why was he
responsible for that?

It was a tough case
to present,

because he didn't pull
the trigger.

The law's in Florida

that if you conspire
to murder somebody,

you don't have
to actually even be there.

We had to try to convince
the jurors

that everybody had their
little part in this thing.

And you take one piece
out of the puzzle,

and it doesn't happen.

Sheila Bellush is alive.

Since prosecutors believed
that Blackthorne's motive

was to avoid a massive payout
to his ex-wife,

they needed to prove

that Danny had provided
a cheaper solution--

murder-for-hire.

[dramatic sting]

Halfway through trial,
Sammy testified to the jury

that Danny was telling Joey,
look, you can do this.

The easiest way to get
your money is to shoot her.

And at the end
of that trial,

Danny rolled the dice and
come up snake eyes because...

We, the jury,
find as follows

as to count one
of the charges--

the defendant is guilty

of principal to murder
in the first degree.

He lost.

At that moment,
Danny Rocha knows

he's spending the rest
of his life in prison.

Allen played him
for a sucker.

It aggravated him
that he's in prison for life

and Blackthorne's golfing

and living the life
of a millionaire.

And he figures,
this isn't right.

Danny,
at some point in time,

realized that he was being used.

While awaiting
Joey Del Toro's extradition

from Mexico,

prosecutors prepared their case

in order to bring charges
against Allen Blackthorne.

[dramatic sting]

I am 100% convinced that
everyone involved in this case

will be eventually arrested, prosecuted,

and sentenced to prison.

- Including Allen Blackthorne?
- Everyone involved.

It's tough when you're guilty
until proven innocent.

It's a tough spot to be in.

I pray no one else has to find
themselves in that position.

The district attorney
for the state of Texas

wanted to try the case.

But the state
was having difficulty

getting around
the accomplice witness rule,

which is a rule
of Texas procedure

that a person
cannot be found guilty

based on the uncorroborated testimony

of a witness who participated
in the crime.

Allen offered them X dollars
to kill Sheila.

In manipulating
Danny and Sammy,

there was nobody left
to testify,

and Allen Blackthorne

was protected by
the accomplice witness rule.

And so that's how it came
to John Murphy and I.

In federal court,

there was a fairly recently
enacted statute--

the Violence Against Women Act.

One of the provisions
of that act

made it unlawful
for a spouse or former spouse

to travel
in interstate commerce

to cause harm
to their former partner.

It was almost,
like, tailor-made

for this particular case.

We had to show
interstate travel,

and the idiot
used his cell phone.

Yeah, what we did was we took
the telephone records,

but each one of these was a
location and a time and a date

where he connected
with a cell phone tower.

He's hit Macon, Georgia,
after the murder...

[clears throat]
And comes across.

He gets to Hillsboro, Texas,
the next day at 9:21 a.m.

So he drives straight across.

[phone rings]

We filed a motion
to detain Allen Blackthorne

on the two charges
that he caused another person

to travel
in interstate commerce

to commit murder-for-hire,
and we were off to the races.

[dramatic music]

They went out
to Oak Hills Country Club.

They waited for him
to finish golfing.

When he came out
into the parking lot,

they arrested him.

♪ ♪

I went to San Antonio
to cover the federal trial.

This case that has stretched
2 1/2 years

was finally coming to an end.

Prosecutors say they're
anxious to try the case--

the first real test
of two charges

stemming from the 1994
Violence Against Women Act.

It was a big story.

The place was packed
with reporters.

The family was there.
Allen's wife was there.

He had his five lawyers.

Allen's been waiting
a long time.

We feel that his innocence
will be demonstrated

in this courtroom.

The courtroom
was always full,

but I don't pay attention
to the gallery.

I'm concerned
about the jury's reactions.

And so our first day's
evidence was the 911 call.

[person crying]

So the foundation was laid.

We used a lot of photographs.

[camera shutter clicking]

We had the crime scene tech--

called her as our next witness,

and she was allowed to describe

footprints all over the floor
of the children in blood.

They were left for hours

with their mother
in a pool of blood.

I'm sure they were hungry,
they were cold,

they were scared.

So the jury got the message.

There were
a couple of jurors

who really physically
reacted to the photos.

It's horrific.

So we got their attention
early on, and it was just--

immediately set the tone.

This is very serious stuff.

And then we called Stevie.

So Stevie, in 2000,
at the criminal trial,

had turned 16 years old.

♪ ♪

She pretty much held up.

She may have cried
a couple times.

Finding your mother in a pool
of blood with her throat slit

and your four brothers
and sisters covered in blood.

I covered every moment
of that federal trial,

and seeing Stevie up there
was heartbreaking.

Her mom is dead, and her father
is probably going to prison.

And she, at that point,

had stopped
referring to him as Dad.

Certainly, it didn't
help Blackthorne.

That was his daughter
up there describing

the most horrendous crime scene
you could think of,

and he has no emotion.

Just not a care in the world.

It struck us as unnatural.

He had zero empathy...

none.

So sad.

The next phase of it was,
we put on Danny Rocha.

Every day Danny Rocha
was sitting in prison,

he knew Allen Blackthorne
was out playing golf,

having a great time.

And trust me,
that worked on Danny Rocha.

His first statement
on the stand was,

I have nothing
to lose or gain.

The jury heard
how it came about

that Allen Blackthorne
had Sheila murdered.

♪ ♪

Over time, as the events
were occurring

concerning child custody
and money,

Allen's anger at Sheila
was increasing.

The terms, the intent,
they changed over time,

and he wasn't going
to be satisfied

with just beating her up.

There was talk about $10,000.

At another point,
it was up to $50,000,

if I get the girls back.

And that came
out of Danny's mouth.

Danny's testimony
made his motive clear.

Once Sheila was eliminated,

each of the conspirators
received a split of $10,000

and the promise
of more to come.

On cross-examination,
Lubin, the defense attorney,

he kept harping on the idea

that Danny's worthless
as a witness.

He's a liar, and he could
never be trusted as a witness.

Their theory
coming into the case was,

this case depended solely
on Danny Rocha.

As prosecutors
presented their case

against Allen Blackthorne,

the trial took
an unexpected turn.

[dramatic sting]

Allen Blackthorne arrived
at federal court

once again this morning,
handcuffed and shackled.

After we arrested and they
put on a couple of witnesses,

they announced
that Allen Blackthorne

was going to testify.

Normally, a murder suspect
never gets

on the witness stand,

because a good prosecutor
can open all kinds of doors.

But Allen Blackthorne, again,

part and parcel
to his entire mentality was--

I'm so smart, I'll convince
a jury I'm innocent.

His lawyer, Lubin, took
Allen through his testimony,

and what his explanation was--

how much he loved the girls,

and all of the things that
he did were in the interest

of his love for the girls.

Nonsense.

I said, how many times have
you sent gifts to Daryl?

Well, none.

I said, how many
Christmas cards, birthday cards

have you sent her
in the last four years?

Mm, none.

He had no contact
with them whatsoever

after he had
their mother butchered.

And I said, you go to the
golf course and lose $20,000.

You haven't given
your kids a penny

since you had
their mother killed.

He couldn't deny that.

He didn't like
the "had her killed" part.

He had a line that came up--
did you hate Sheila?

I didn't hate Sheila.
I hated the things she did.

Blackthorne had made himself
a target for ridicule.

So the ridicule was,
well, he didn't hate Sheila.

He just hated
the things she did,

and then he did this
and this and this,

but he didn't hate Sheila.

He just hated
the things she did.

By the third time you do it,

most listeners are going to
get, yeah, yeah, sure he did.

With closing arguments completed,

the jury convened
to deliberate.

Hours passed with no verdict.

When the jury
was deliberating...

[phone ringing]

We get the phone call.

The murderer,
Joey Del Toro,

is going to be flown
from the Mexican prison

to Miami International Airport

and handed over to us.

Chris and I leave
to go pick him up.

I ran over to the jail.

I figured, if he's ever going
to tell me anything,

it's going to be now.

[dramatic sting]

So he tells me
he watched her for an hour,

and he makes eye contact
with her, with Sheila.

He says, I was just getting
ready to leave, and she saw me.

And then I had to do it.
Can you believe that sh--?

The horror
that she had to feel

at that particular moment.

He could have got the hell
out of there,

and we wouldn't be here today.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

Joey Del Toro finds
an open window unlocked,

and that's how he gets
into the house.

From there, he takes
a vantage point

and starts watching
Sheila Bellush--

laying in wait, in effect
waiting his opportunity

to kill her.

♪ ♪

It's something
you don't forget.

It's something
you'll always remember.

You can't forget that.

♪ ♪

Joey Del Toro was finally
stateside and facing trial,

but Blackthorne's trial
wasn't over.

After 33 1/2 hours
of deliberation,

the jury reached a verdict.

It's a moment
of apprehension.

You don't know which way
this is going to come out.

The jury hands the paper
to Judge Prado,

and he reads the verdict.

He said, on count one, we the
jury find

that the defendant,
Allen Blackthorne, is...

guilty.

And as to count two,
we the jury find him guilty.

♪ ♪

I screamed
and jumped for joy.

I ran outside,
and I fell to my knees,

and I looked up to the sky, and
I said, yes, thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord.

Joey Del Toro decides
he's going to plea,

knowing that he's going to get
life in prison.

So, for, you know, maybe
a few thousand dollars,

Joey Del Toro
got life in prison.

Not much compensation to ruin
the rest of their life.

We were very relieved.

Justice is done,

and it's done fairly
to the right outcome.

♪ ♪

At Thanksgiving,
we left Texas,

and we come home.

Cops have families, too.

Every case has a lesson,

and the lesson learned
from this was very clear--

your family, your loved ones,
the people you care about,

all that can change
in a moment.

[voice breaking]
So we came home

and spent Thanksgiving
with our families.

There's a lot of closure

that's going to be brought
about today.

Thank you for considering
all the evidence carefully,

and thank you for delivering
the proper verdict.

I just tell them Mommy's
in heaven with Jesus.

When they're old enough,
we'll be able to...

talk about what
this is all about.

One of the most remarkable
coincidences in this case--

and yet so appropriate,
as it turned out--

it was that Allen Blackthorne

was all about money
and control.

Now his whole life is about
to be controlled for him.

Of all people,

even Allen Blackthorne is now
going to have to pay the price.