All language subtitles for A.U.S01E23.1080p.WEB.h264-CASUALTY_track3_[eng]

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] In 1986, a young
man is brand new to San Diego,

having just driven across
country in his new car

in search of job opportunities.

Though he's here
looking for work,

he's open to new experiences.

And on his first day in town,

he makes a new friend,
Stacy Littleton.

The next morning, Cyrus's
body is found on a rural road.

- He was likely
dumped and dragged

from his shoulders
and head area.

- [Narrator] As the
city experiences

a drastic increase in
violent crime and murder,

the resources to hunt down
Cyrus's killer become limited.

The case gets shelved
and 30 years go by.

But a rookie cold case
detective, Troy DuGal,

is determined to find justice.

- I took that on as
kind of a challenge.

- [Narrator] With almost no
evidence remaining in the case,

it would take a single glove
and a lot of determined

police work to finally
bring justice to a killer

who's walked free for
over three decades.

- The unsolved ones
we have to send up.

- And approach these cases
in a way outside the box.

- Let the world know,

those out there that
did commit a murder,

there are people that
are coming after you.

- There's just a
lot of good people

trying to do the right thing.

- Because it's something

that you have to be
passionate about.

- Solve this, bring some
peace to the family at least,

just doing my job.

- [Narrator] It's
just after 7:00 AM

on a Saturday morning in
the city of Lemon Grove,

located in San Diego County.

And most residents
are still asleep,

but for anyone up and about

looking to get an early
start on the weekend,

the last thing they
expect to find along

this quiet stretch of
dirt road is a body.

(dramatic music)

- He was wearing clothing

and his shirt was
up above his head

and he was wearing pants
and he was wearing socks,

but his shoes were missing.

- [Narrator] Detectives
arrive at the crime scene

and begin with trying
to identify the victim,

whose face is covered.

- The fact that his shirt was up

over his head was unusual.

- The victim has
several stab wounds

and his throat has been cut,

which is likely
the cause of death.

Given the method of execution,

the detectives make
a key observation.

There is a distinct lack of
blood at the crime scene.

However, they note the dirt
on the victim's clothes.

- [Troy] He was likely
dumped and dragged

from his shoulders and head
area, placed on the ground,

and right above his arms was a
single black motorcycle glove

that was just laying
there in the dirt.

- [Narrator] The presence of
the lone glove is strange.

It may have belonged
to the victim,

or possibly worn by the killer.

Detectives photograph the glove.

Then check the body for a
wallet or any form of ID,

but none can be found.

The victim's shoes
are also missing,

indicating that this may
be a robbery gone wrong,

a case where the victim
tries to fight back

and is stabbed to
death as a result.

- But detectives also note

tire impressions near the body.

The lack of blood at the
crime scene and the presence

of these tire tracks
could indicate the victim

was killed at another location.

The killer then
transports the body here

and dumps it along
this dirt road.

(police sirens blaring)

- [Narrator] From about
the mid-80s to 1995,

San Diego County saw an
increase in homicides

and violent crime that climbed
above the national average.

- I didn't know this myself
growing up in San Diego,

but homicides in the
80s were very high.

That's one of the
problems with this case.

The homicide detectives and
the homicide unit were flooded

with homicides more than
the subsequent years.

- [Narrator] Some
people linked this

to the growing meth problem

and increased violence among
rival gangs in that area.

But what is certain is
that homicide detectives

during this period
have more cases

on their plate than
they can possibly clear.

- As a result,

detectives aren't able to
devote the amount of time

and attention they would
like to in solving a case.

Follow-up interviews
don't always happen.

Witnesses aren't as thoroughly
canvased as they could be.

And potential suspects
aren't as deeply investigated

as they need to be.

- [Narrator] While today,

San Diego is known for
its bustling downtown,

its shopping, restaurant
and craft beer scenes,

as well as its pristine beaches,

it was still
developing in the 80s.

- There isn't much
to do after dark.

Horton Plaza is built in 1985

and begins attracting
some nightlife,

but for the most part,

downtown shuts down at the
end of the business day.

However, people
manage to find a party

and have fun wherever they can.

- [Narrator] On
October 10th, 1986,

the day before
the body is found,

a young man named Cyrus
Jefferson meets Stacy Littleton

and gets invited
to the hotel room

of Stacy's girlfriend,
Echo, to party.

(dramatic music)

There, he meets
Echo's friend, Lori.

- According to the
statements of Lori and Echo,

they all partied, drank
beer, smoked marijuana,

played cards, just a hotel
party with 20 year old kids.

At some point in the day,
closer to the evening,

both ladies say that
Stacy and Cyrus leave.

- [Narrator] This
is the last time

the two women will
see Cyrus Jefferson.

Neither Lori nor Echo know where
Stacy and Cyrus are headed.

But when Stacy returns to
the hotel later to party,

he's alone and Cyrus's
whereabouts are unknown.

On October 11th, 1986,

hours after a body is
found in Lemon Grove,

the Sheriff's Department
gets a strange phone call

from a man named Henry.

Henry claims he came into
possession of some goods

and believes a crime took place.

- He doesn't want
nothing to do with this.

He now has a bloody
spare tire and tools

from what he knows is a car
where a murder likely occurred.

- [Narrator] The Sheriff's
Department tracks down the car

that Henry says the
tools come from.

- And they pop the back hatch
and there's blood in there.

- The Sheriffs
realize they'll need

to get a full story if
they're going to uncover

what happened in the car.

To do that,

they'll need to speak to Henry
and whoever had the car last,

which just happens to be
Lori and a man named Michael.

- [Narrator] Officers keep a
post on the car while Henry,

Lori, and Michael are
brought in for questioning.

- They interview
Michael and Lori,

right away know that
they have a big problem.

- [Narrator] While detectives
over in Lemon Grove

are beginning
their investigation

into the murder of
an unidentified man,

Lori is in custody telling
officers how she came into

possession of a car where
a murder may have occurred.

- The story that Lori provides

to the Sheriff
piques his interest.

She says the car belongs to a
man she just met named Cyrus

and that she hasn't seen
him since last night.

Suddenly the Sheriff
realizes that he needs

to call in homicide detectives.

- [Narrator] It doesn't
take long for departments

to coordinate and
homicide detectives

to learn the identity
of their John Doe.

His name is Cyrus Jefferson.

With the identity of
their victim revealed,

detectives have
one less question,

but there's still a long
assorted chain of events

to sort through if
they have any hope

of finding out who
murdered Cyrus Jefferson.

(dramatic music)

(dramatic music)

Cyrus Jefferson
is new to the city

of Lemon Grove in
San Diego County,

but it's his first day in town

and he's already made a
friend in Stacy Littleton.

Stacy brings him around to meet
his girlfriend and hang out.

After a few drinks
and some cards,

Stacy and Cyrus take
off to run an errand.

But several hours later,
when Stacy returns,

he has Cyrus's
car, but no Cyrus.

And when friends later find
blood in the back of the car,

they suspect Stacy
may have killed Cyrus.

Cyrus is new to
the San Diego area,

originally hailing
from Louisiana.

He's been working
hard at a pizza joint

saving up money to buy a car.

Meanwhile, his
younger sister Sidra

has been awarded a scholarship
and gone off to college

at Louisiana State University.

- He's trying to
figure himself out.

He decides he doesn't want
to just stay in Louisiana,

he wants to look elsewhere.

He had an aunt that
lived in San Diego.

He called his aunt and he said

"hey, I want to come out there.

I wanna see what's ahead of
me, what potential there is".

That's what brought him
from Louisiana to San Diego

on that trip across America
was he was growing up,

he was 20 years old,
he had a reliable car,

he was just doing pizzas.

He knew he could get a job
doing pizzas in San Diego,

so he reunites with his
aunt and then he says

"hey, I'm gonna go
get my car washed".

So he leaves the house
to go get his car washed.

She expects him to come back,
but she doesn't see him.

That was the last time
the family saw Cyrus.

But fortunately for
law enforcement,

the story continues because
we know who he ended up with.

(tense music)

- [Narrator] Lori states
that she's hanging out

in a hotel room
with her friend Echo

and Echo's one year old infant

when Echo's boyfriend
Stacy comes over to party

with a new friend he allegedly

just met at the
park named Cyrus.

The group spends the
afternoon in the hotel room,

drinking beer, smoking
weed, and playing cards.

getting closer to evening,

Lori states that
Stacy and Cyrus leave,

though she doesn't know
where they're going.

- They don't really care
because Michael has been

in contact with them and
Michael's gonna come over.

Echo was actually
interested in Michael,

which sounds a little convoluted

because Stacy and Echo
had a relationship.

- [Narrator] While Stacy
and Cyrus are gone,

the two women await
the arrival of Michael.

- So about three hours later,

Stacy comes back to the hotel

and he's driving
Cyrus's Honda Civic.

They ask where
Cyrus is and he says

"oh, he let me use his car".

That's the end of that.

Michael shows up,
Michael comes in,

Stacy says "I'm gonna
take Echo to the beach.

We're gonna go down and party

at the beaches like
1:00 in the morning.

(dramatic music)

While they're at the beach,
they smoked marijuana.

And I know from
what Echo tells me

that Stacy had supplied
a joint for them to smoke

and the joint was
laced with PCP.

So when Echo smoked the
joint, she got high on PCP.

- PCP, also known as Angel Dust,

is a hallucinogenic drug

taken for its
mind-altering effects.

These effects include
visual hallucinations,

sound distortions, and in
some cases, violent outbursts.

- She had never
smoked PCP before

and she literally lost her mind.

- [Narrator] When they
get back to the hotel,

Echo is frantic.

- She was going crazy,
she doesn't remember,

but she was making a scene

because this was like at
four or five in the morning.

The police are called and
Echo is taken into custody

for her own welfare.

- [Narrator] Police
take Echo to a hospital

for a psychiatric evaluation

and to be kept and
observed overnight.

What started as a party has
turned into a nightmare.

- Stacy says "I want to go
visit Echo in the hospital".

He's worried about
his girlfriend,

but they have the baby there.

- [Narrator] Stacy
still has Cyrus's car

and suggests they take
it to the hospital.

Lori and Michael get in the car

and wait for Stacy and the baby.

- Both Lori and Michael

notice blood spatter
on the headliner,

and more blood spatter
in the backseat.

- [Narrator] They don't
mention this to Stacy

when he arrives.

- When they get to the hospital,
Stacy gets out of the car.

Lori and Michael start talking

about the blood
spatter in the car.

Where is this kid,
Cyrus? What's going on?

Michael starts looking around.

He turns around,
it's a hatchback.

He turns around,

looks in the back and
there's a pool of blood

on the spare tire in
the far back of the car.

Michael's scared. Lori's scared.

They start to do their own
assessment of the events

of the night and they're worried

that Stacy probably
did something to Cyrus

because there was no
one else involved.

- [Narrator] For detectives,

Lori recounts why
neither she nor Michael

contacted police.

- Stacy comes back out and Lori

said she was very
nervous to ask him,

but she said basically
"what in the heck?

What is all this blood?"

And he said maybe someone got
killed and they just zipped

their lips because they were
scared to be very honest,

and they were drunk
and they were high

and they weren't
gonna call the police

because now they're inside
of a car with blood.

So Stacy goes back to the hotel,

Michael leaves, and
Lori is with Stacy.

- [Narrator] Once Stacy and
Lori return to the hotel,

Stacy does something
totally unexpected.

- Stacy says "hey, do
you want this car?"

Lori had some
difficulty with drugs

and she didn't have a job
and he's offering to give her

this car and she doesn't
have transportation.

Echo's in the hospital and
Stacy's gonna leave on his own.

So she actually wants the car.

She wants away to
get away from here.

- [Narrator] Stacy takes
the baby back to the hotel

and leaves Lori
with Cyrus's car.

- Lori drives to the
East County of San Diego,

meets back up with
Michael because

they want to talk about what
the heck are they gonna do.

Now they've been in the car,

they're worried about
their involvement.

- [Narrator] Both Michael
and Lori are concerned

that they're now
caught up in a crime,

possibly even a murder.

But with blood literally
on their hands,

they fear they have
nowhere to turn.

(dramatic music)

(dramatic music)

Cyrus Jefferson goes
missing on his first day

in San Diego, and the last
person to see him alive,

Stacy Littleton,
now has his car,

and the car is covered in blood.

After a night of partying
and a visit to the hospital

to take care of Echo,

Stacy gives the car
to his friend Lori.

But this gift ends
up being a curse.

As Lori now suspects,

she's caught up in the
middle of a murder.

Lori and Michael have
decided they need help,

but they don't see going
to the police as an option.

- Michael decides to reach
out to his friend Henry

who he admires, and
Henry's a logical guy.

They drive the car over to
Henry's house and they tell him,

"hey, first of all, we need
to get rid of this car".

And he said "why?"

And they said "well,
check this out".

And they pop the back hatch
and there's blood in there.

- Henry's first
thought is that Michael

and Lori have committed a crime,

and he threatens
to call the police,

but Michael asks him to listen

while he explains the situation.

- Henry takes the time
to hear the story,

and then Michael offers up
and it's kind of arbitrary,

but Michael says

"hey, I'm gonna get
rid of this car.

Do you want the spare tire
and the tools right here?"

And Henry takes
them because Henry

was a construction guy, and
he took them, once again,

not the right action for
somebody to do, but he did it.

- [Narrator] Feeling
uneasy about the situation,

Henry contacts the police.

He agrees to come
down for an interview.

Henry describes to
detectives about feeling odd

about the exchange and
being in possession

of items that may be
linked to a murder.

Police dragged down the car
in East San Diego County

near the hotel where
the group partied.

- Detectives are beginning

to get a clearer picture
of Cyrus's last day,

where he was, and
who he was with.

But there's the unaccounted
three hour period

when he was alone in
the car with Stacy.

To fill in that time gap,

they're going to have
to bring Stacy in

for questioning as a suspect.

- So they tow the
car into evidence

and they process the
car for evidence,

and they start the search
warrant for Stacy's house.

They talk to Echo,
they talk to Lori,

they talk to Michael,
they talk to Henry,

and based on their statements,
they get the search warrant,

they take Stacy into custody.

- [Narrator] Suspect Stacy
Littleton is questioned,

but tells detectives that

he doesn't know what
happened to Cyrus.

- Stacy says that Cyrus
had received a paycheck.

I don't know how he had
this paycheck that was $125.

Stacy was going with Cyrus
to cash that paycheck.

- [Narrator] Stacy
claims that afterwards,

Cyrus gave him his car.

When questioned about the blood,

he provides no explanation, but
denies that he killed Cyrus.

- You have to remember

this is 1986 and there is
no way of testing the blood

to verify the victims
using forensics science.

As long as Stacy
keeps his mouth shut,

there's nothing concrete

connecting the blood
in the car to him.

- While it may seem
obvious to detectives that

Stacy Littleton is involved

in the murder of
Cyrus Jefferson,

they know that the District
Attorney is going to need more

than just
circumstantial evidence

and belief to convince a jury.

- [Narrator] For
officers to make arrests,

they need a probable cause,

which is at least 50% likelihood

that the suspect has
committed a crime.

(tense music)

- The problem with
getting it into court

is you have to get
beyond reasonable doubt.

Reasonable doubt is
a much higher bar.

There is no percentage
based on it.

But you're talking to
12 ordinary citizens

who may or may not know
anything about law enforcement,

and you have to
convince them that

the evidence you have,
the statements made,

everything makes this guy,

beyond a reasonable
doubt, the suspect.

That's the bar for
the District Attorney.

That's why the District
Attorney rejected the case.

- Without a witness or
any further evidence,

detectives can only
hypothesize about what happens

in the three hours
between Stacy and Cyrus

leaving the hotel together
and Stacy returning alone.

They have no choice
but to release Stacy.

- [Narrator] A
couple of days later,

Echo's mom goes
down to the station

to retrieve Stacy's things
that police took into evidence

during their search warrant.

- They collected
all his clothes,

they went through his house,
they collected evidence.

He's been cleared because
the District Attorney,

they're not filing charges.

They could later file charges.

Property evidence checked
with the homicide detectives,

for whatever reason,

whether the homicide
detectives were too busy,

didn't think about it,

for whatever reason,
I don't know,

they authorized the release
of that physical evidence

from the property evidence room.

- [Narrator] Police
have a viable suspect

in the murder of
Cyrus Jefferson,

but without additional
evidence or the resources

to pursue Stacy
Littleton further,

detectives are
forced to shelve it

while they deal
with other cases.

- That's one of the
problems with this case

or why this case ended
up as a cold case,

is the homicide detectives
in the homicide unit were

flooded with homicides more
than the subsequent years.

- [Narrator] Detectives
have good reason

to believe Stacy Littleton

brutally murdered
Cyrus Jefferson.

But for now they have no choice

but to let their prime
suspect walk free.

(dramatic music)

(dramatic music)

Detectives hear a
story from Lori,

Michael, and Henry that
all points to one suspect,

Stacy Littleton.

But Stacy denies having anything
to do with Cyrus's murder.

But with no witnesses
or substantial evidence,

the District Attorney fears that

a jury would acquit
Stacy Littleton,

and they decide not
to try the case.

It becomes a cold case
for over 30 years.

(dramatic music)

- Well, I went to a
Thanksgiving dinner,

and I knew I was
slated to become

the next cold case detective.

And I sat next to my
lieutenant and my lieutenant

is talking to me very
friendly and he says

"hey, are you ready to
come over to Cold Case?

You ready for that step?"

And he goes "I really
need you to solve a case".

And I said "well of course,
that's why I'm coming there."

And he said "no, you
don't understand.

Cold cases are
very hard to solve

and it's been a couple years

since this agency
has solved one".

And he said "I know
they're working hard,

I know that they're
doing everything

they can to solve these crimes,

but we really need
somebody in there gung ho

to get busy and get one solved".

I took that on as kind
of a challenge, right?

So that was Thanksgiving,
you go through Christmas,

I get the call, you're
going to Cold Case.

And within a week or
two I get this message,

call Sidra Jefferson about
her brother's 1986 cold case.

- [Narrator] Cyrus's
younger sister Sidra

has been calling the Cold Case
division at least once a year

in an effort to keep her
brother's case alive.

- So on a professional
level, I was ready to go.

I was gonna solve every
case that I touched,

but on top of that,

then I get the emotional
part from the family.

That family is just amazing.

They're the sweetest people
and this case kills them.

- [Narrator] Detective
Troy DuGal doesn't want

to give Sidra any false hope

that her brother's
case can be solved,

but he promises her
he'll do everything

within his power to
bring justice for Cyrus.

- First thing I did was I
went down to the crime lab,

which was in the same
building as the homicide unit

and I pulled all the evidence

that was available for this
case and I reviewed it.

I opened every package,
I looked at it,

I got a physical
understanding of what evidence

I could lay in front of a jury.

I resealed it and then
I went back and reviewed

the case again to see where
that evidence came from,

what potential
that evidence had.

And the glove was interesting
to me from the very beginning.

I was like, why a
motorcycle glove?

And the obvious answer
is maybe somebody wore

motorcycle gloves to
hide their fingerprints.

Because in 1986,

DNA was not an issue
in law enforcement,

but fingerprints
were a big issue.

So if you were wearing gloves,

it would hide your fingerprints.

I read through all the reports

and there was really no
mention of the glove.

I looked through more
of the photographs,

and they did collect the
glove, but once again,

there was no mention of
it, no testing of it.

And I started to just use
my experience and training

and what I had seen in the past.

And I knew circumstantially
from Cyrus's body position,

the fact that the shirt
was over the head,

his arms were up,
up above his head,

and then the motorcycle
glove was above his arms,

not near his hands,
didn't come off his hands,

it was just laying there.

- [Narrator] Something about
the placement of Cyrus's body

and the shirt covering
his face catches

detective DuGal's attention.

- So I made an interpretation
that he was likely dumped

and dragged from his
shoulders and head area,

placed on the ground, and
then then either the suspect,

because of the dragging motion,

the shirt went up over the
head or the suspect knew him.

And that'll happen where a
suspect wants to cover the face

of a decedent because they
have some consciousness

and they don't want
to see the face

of the person they just killed.

- If Detective DuGal's
theory is right,

the killer was
known to the victim.

According to statements
from the family,

Cyrus was new to the area

and didn't know anyone
except for Stacy,

the friend he just made.

- If Stacy and Cyrus
were in the car together,

then the tire
tracks photographed

at the scene are likely
from Cyrus's car.

Though nothing in the
evidence file shows that

detectives confirmed
that his car

was at the scene of a crime.

But as Detective
Dugal tracks down

all the remaining
evidence in the case,

he makes a grim discovery.

- The car, because there
was no pending trial,

it sat stored forever
and it was basically

sold to a towing company

and the towing
company destroyed it.

So I lost my crime scene

from a cold case
detective point of view.

So a lot of problems
with the case.

- [Narrator] Detective
DuGal also discovers

that days after Stacy Littleton
is released from custody,

his girlfriend's mother goes
down to evidence and requests

the items taken from his
place in the search warrant.

DuGal is surprised to learn

that the evidence is
released to Echo's mom,

but the destroyed car
and missing clothes

aren't the only
gaps in the case.

- I did notice a few issues.

When we process a
suspect, we take many,

many photographs of the
suspect from every angle,

and we definitely focus on hands

and body for injuries and stuff,

and we have the suspect
hold their hands out

and flip them over and have
their fingers displayed

so that we can see everything,
so we can see injuries.

I noticed in the photographs
of Stacy Littleton

that he had his hands
together pinched

and actually overlapped.

That concerned me because he
could be hiding an injury.

- [Narrator] With a
lot of the evidence

in this case either
released or destroyed,

it leaves DuGal with very
little to go on 31 years later,

but he isn't deterred.

He has a hunch that the
black motorcycle glove

may be a crucial piece
of overlooked evidence.

- And I didn't know
whose glove it was,

I didn't know why it was there,

but I had anticipated

that Stacy likely wore it
to hide his fingerprints.

So that was a critical
piece of evidence.

I knew then that I now had a
potential piece of evidence

that could get us over
the reasonable doubt.

- The glove is sent away
to be tested for DNA,

a test that didn't
exist back in 1986,

one which will hopefully
blow the case wide open.

- [Narrator]
Detective DuGal knows

he can't put all his
hope in the glove

as it may not
return any results.

He turns his attention
to the witness interviews

and notices that they're
surprisingly brief.

Most of them lasting
only about 20 minutes.

- The interviews were, in
my opinion, good interviews,

but very short.

They didn't go into detail.

So if there was something
that was open-ended,

if I'm doing an interview
and somebody gives me an

open-ended statement
saying "I went to 7-Eleven,

two hours later I was
back at the hotel".

Well what you
should do is go back

and say "tell me about
those two hours".

- [Narrator] He decides
to track down everyone

who gave statements in 1986

and re-interview them,
this time more thoroughly.

Detective DuGal now
faces the daunting task

of trying to track
down everybody

who was there the
night of Cyrus's murder
over 30 years ago.

(dramatic music)

(dramatic music)

On October 11th, 1986,

the body of Cyrus Jefferson
is discovered in Lemon Grove,

a small city in
San Diego County.

All signs point to Stacy
Littleton as the killer.

But with limited evidence
and no eyewitnesses,

detectives have to
let him go free.

Now, over three decades later,

detective DuGal is working
the case for any clues

or statements that might
have been overlooked.

But tracking down those involved

is proving to be
harder than expected.

Detective DuGal's search
for Henry, Michael, Echo,

and especially
Lori is exhaustive.

- There's Lorraine,
Lori. That was 2017.

She was homeless. I had
to go find her in a tent.

None of this was easy.

- [Narrator] But eventually,

he's able to track them all down

and conduct new
interviews with them.

- As I filled those gaps, the
case got a little stronger,

not great,

just based on statements alone

would not have gotten
us over probable cause.

But it definitely strengthened
the circumstantial evidence

of the statements and
the people remembered

because back then
they were all young,

they were all together,

they realized there was a
murder being investigated,

they were all scared and they
were protective of each other.

Especially Henry, when he
was interviewed back then,

told an absolute lie because

he was trying to
protect Michael,

not knowing what
Michael would say.

He didn't want Michael
exposed at all.

Now 30 years later,

he hasn't even seen Michael
in 30 years and now he's free.

His conscience is clear.

He's gonna tell me
exactly what he remembers,

and he's no longer
protecting friends.

And that helps. That helps
in the 30 year old interview.

- [Narrator] Lori is
likewise more cooperative

and less concerned about
protecting her friends

now that three
decades have passed.

- My interviews in
2017 were closer

to an hour for each person.

I had the advantage of
hearing the old interview,

knowing the story,

being able to ask questions
that would fill the gaps,

but also their memory,
their recollection,

and their lack of desire
to protect their friends

brought a bolder statement.

For instance, in 1986,

I think Lori said when Stacy
came out of the hospital,

he said "maybe somebody
got killed in here".

2017, she says
somebody got killed.

Stacy told her
somebody got killed.

Well, there was
nobody else involved.

So now going back to
what I need for court,

the statements got better.

That alone isn't the new thing
that can make a cold case

better unless they
admit to a confession

or hearing a confession.

- [Narrator] The statements
provide a clearer picture

of what happened the
day of Cyrus's murder

October 11th, 1986.

All signs point to Stacy
Littleton as the killer,

but this is still insufficient
for the DA to reopen the case

and try Stacy Littleton.

A piece of evidence,
a confession,

or a witness is still needed.

Then in April 2017,

detective DuGal
gets a phone call

that will change everything.

- And then the crime lab DNA
gal calls me and she says

"Troy, you won't believe
it, 30 years later,

I've got the DNA and the glove,
and it's Cyrus and Stacy."

And now I've got this
glove by the victim

with the suspect's DNA in it.

And that's awesome.

So there's my piece of evidence

that was just the golden nugget.

It didn't absolutely prove
or disprove anything,

but it put Stacy in that glove,

and the glove was
at the crime scene

where the body was dumped.

And there's a lot of
explanation there.

How does that happen?

- [Narrator] Detective
DuGal now believes

he has enough evidence
to convince the DA

to go after Stacy Littleton.

- And I would constantly say

"this is what I got,
here's the new stuff".

And he'd say "that
ain't enough".

Here's the new stuff
I had, ain't enough,

because he's working
through his mind

that reasonable doubt that
a jury has to get over.

And when I called him and said

I got that glove at the
crime scene, Stacy's DNA,

he said "that's enough for
an arrest warrant, let's go".

- [Narrator] Detective DuGal
doesn't have to look far

to track down Stacy Littleton.

He's already serving time at
San Diego County Central Jail

for drug and drug
paraphernalia possession.

- Stacy waives
his Miranda Rights

and decides to give
Detective DuGal a statement.

- I go down to the jail

and I interview
him and he gives me

a statement that differed
from his 1986 statement.

His 1986 statement
was ludicrous, to
be honest with you.

When he was arrested,
he talked in 1986,

but he said in those
hours he was gone,

they drove up to LA and
met some gang member

who was selling drugs and that
gang member gave him money.

But in 1986, one of the
statements that Stacy says that

nobody else talks about
is he says that Cyrus

had received a paycheck,
whether that was mailed to him,

I don't know how he
had this paycheck,

but Stacy said that Cyrus
had a paycheck that was $125.

Stacy was going with Cyrus
to cash that paycheck.

That brought money
into the issue.

I believe the motivation
for the murder unfortunately

was that cash and
potentially the car.

And I think Stacy,
once he got the car,

realized it is the
scene of the crime.

So he wanted to get rid of
the car and gave it to Lori.

- [Narrator] Detective
DuGal notices a scar

on Littleton's hand and
questions him about it.

- And when I ask him about
the injury on his finger,

he shows me and he's
got a scar on his pinky

that he was definitely
hiding back then.

I asked him how he got
that scar and he says

"I got the scar in a fight,
I also broke my finger".

And I said "you got the cut
and a broken finger in a fight.

Was that during the
murder of Cyrus?"

And he goes "I don't know".

It wasn't "no",

it wasn't "I'll tell you about
the fight that caused this".

It was "I don't know".

Does that make him guilty? No.

But all these things
start piling up.

- [Narrator] Finally, detective
DuGal moves onto the glove

containing Littleton's DNA.

- [Troy] It was golden because

he denies ever wearing a glove.

He never saw a glove.

Just a lot of "no", "wasn't me",

"I didn't do it",
that kind of thing.

- Detective DuGal has now
caught Stacy in a lie.

The DNA evidence proves
that he did wear the glove,

the likely explanation being
to cover up any fingerprints.

- [Narrator] Given Littleton's
contradictory interview,

in combination with the new
physical evidence against him,

detective DuGal is confident

that Stacy Littleton
killed Cyrus Jefferson.

Detective DuGal calls
Cyrus's sister Sidra,

finally with some good news.

- I called her and told
her he was arrested

and then I asked her if
I could go come visit her

and talk to her.

And she was thrilled.

People sometimes go

"well why is a detective
flying to the victim's house?"

She was in Houston, Texas.

"Why are you going to the
victim's family's house?"

Well she's got
information for me still.

I have questions for her. I
want more background on Cyrus.

I wanna know if
anybody in the family

ever heard of Stacy Littleton.

A lot of questions and I
wanna do that in person.

And there's a huge satisfaction

in sitting with the
victim's family and saying

I did this, I worked hard,

and we've come to a conclusion

and all of us should
be very happy.

She was thrilled.

- [Narrator] With the
collection of new statements,

including Stacy's
contradictory account,

as well as new physical
evidence in the case,

the DA takes it to trial.

- On July 3rd, 2018,

after a two week trial and
11 hours of deliberation

over three days,

a jury convicts Stacy Littleton

of killing Cyrus
Jefferson with a knife.

Stacy Littleton is sentenced
on August 6th, 2018,

and receives a
sentence of 25 years

to be served on
top of the sentence

he's currently serving
for drug possession.

- I think he spent two
years, three years,

and he died in custody.

This case had the
potential to be solved

obviously because I
was able to solve it.

That doesn't mean that

other investigators couldn't
solve this, they could.

The reason it was
solved was timing,

Sidra's determination to
call the homicide unit,

my availability to
dive into the case,

because right after this case,

genetic genealogy
became a very big issue

in the Sheriff's Department

and we changed our
focus to the cold cases

which had genetic
genealogy potential.

This one didn't.

So this one would've
been not pushed aside,

but lowered on a priority

because it wasn't a
genetic genealogy case.

So Sidra's right, God
reached down and said

"let's solve this one".

- [Narrator] Due to
the tireless work

of Detective DuGal and the DNA
evidence found in the glove

that investigators preserved
for over three decades,

Cyrus Jefferson's family
finally has justice.

- I want the families of
victims who have cold cases

to understand that
there is a potential

for solving the
case in the future.

I've solved many, and after
that, I've solved five more.

So that's very rewarding
for all those people

who had gotten no
closure for many years,

and now the case comes to
fruition and they find somebody,

or we know who the suspect is.

Sometimes in cold case,
your suspect is deceased.

That happens.

It's happened to a couple
of those five I solved.

And sometimes they're
still alive and doing well,

and you would never
guess that they committed

a murder 20 or 30 years ago.

(dramatic music)

(dramatic music continues)