Original subtitles

[dramatic music]

♪

- It's horrible.

♪

- All murders are disturbing and tragic.

But some are so horrific...

- Can't tell right now if it's male or female.

- They haunt detectives long after the case is closed.

Tonight on "The First 48: Critical Minutes"...

♪

- A grisly scene at an abandoned house.

- Take a good look at that right there.

- "Look bitch I'm done."

- A married couple

bound and drowned.

- To be tied up and thrown in.

That's a pretty hellish way to kill someone.

- And a woman burned alive.

- You know, to be set on fire had to be pretty miserable.

This was personal.

♪

[dramatic music]

♪

- Murders that involve sexual violence

can be very tough to work.

In Atlanta, detectives found an abandoned house

that was the scene of a brutal rape and murder.

[suspenseful music]

♪

- Ah, it just stinks in here.

♪

- [clears throat]

♪

- [coughing]

- Does she have any ID on her?

- No, nothing.

♪

- Sadistic violence.

♪

- It's horrible.

It's classic sexual assault.

Elevated. Naked.

She's got a...

duct tape covering her mouth so she can't scream.

Broken fingernail.

Definitely struggled.

♪

- [sighs]

- Ligature marks around her neck.

- Definitely looks like a rape-murder.

♪

- Take a good look at that right there.

♪

Maybe this is a message about the person that's in here.

- Yeah. - I don't know.

- It's horrible.

- Can't imagine the horror she must have gone through.

[solemn music]

- OK. - It's this area right here.

♪

narrator: Two hours in...

narrator: A neighbor has come forward.

- That looks like our victim.

♪

- She did not deserve to be killed like that.

♪

We need to get whoever did this off the street fast.

♪

I've left the crime scene

up to the control of Detective Velazquez.

♪

♪

- [grunts]

- I know.

Big bucket of human feces.

This is the bathroom. Right?

♪

Rat droppings all over here.

They're all over the place.

♪

- Louise?

Hey, so it looks like we've got men's clothing in here?

And belongings.

♪

Let's take that bag with us.

♪

All right, let's see what we got here.

We have a name.

Ardentric Johnson.

♪

- He's a person of interest right now, yeah.

- "Murder Man"? What?

Anyone explain why that's his nickname?

- That's what he told me two years ago

when he was a witness to one of my homicides.

- And he said his nickname was "Murder Man"?

♪

- I got him.

He has an active warrant out for his arrest already.

♪

narrator: 36-year-old Ardentric Dion Johnson

has previous convictions for carrying a concealed weapon,

theft, false imprisonment, and battery.

His outstanding warrant is for a probation violation.

♪

- We just got done processing the scene,

collecting the evidence.

One of the things we do before we leave a scene

is after we get all the evidence out,

we do another walk-through.

Open drawers, open doors.

- All right.

♪

- This one?

♪

- Now, come on back.

- Not a room, it's a closet.

- Yeah.

- Oh, what the...

- Kay, we got another body back here.

- It's another body?

♪

[phone ringing]

- We've got another body.

- There's another body.

- You gotta be [bleep] me.

- It's in the same room, but in the closet.

- You hear that?

Second body in the house.

[indistinct radio chatter]

♪

- We never opened the closet.

- [sighs]

♪

[somber music]

- Nah, just hold on.

♪

[dark music]

- This...

♪

- All right.

Tell me how you came in possession

of this cell phone here.

- I seen Murder Man.

He ran into the street and...

like--flagged, waved me down.

- OK. - And then I stopped.

He said, "Hey, you hold this phone for me."

- Mm-hmm.

- "Give me $10 to hold the phone for me

"and I'll give you $20 back."

I'm like, "All right."

He said it was Heather's phone.

[dramatic musical sting]

'Cause I know Heather as well.

- I'ma be straight up with you, man.

We found a second body in that house.

Anybody else missing in the neighborhood that you know of?

- Yeah, we had put out missing posters...

narrator: The man gives Detective Scott DeMeester

the name of a woman who had disappeared

from the neighborhood a few months ago.

- And was she known to hang out with Murder Man?

- Yeah, she's...

Her and Murder Man, they used to fuss all the time.

- I'm gonna show you some pictures, all right?

Let me know if you recognize anyone in that lineup.

- It's him. Number two.

That's Murder Man.

- [sighs]

[paper rustles]

♪

- Yeah, here's a missing person's report right here.

[mouse clicks]

There she is.

Possible victim in the closet.

♪

Was involved in an altercation with Murder Man

the day before she disappeared.

He's definitely our prime suspect, for sure.

And we're gonna do everything we can

to try to get him off the streets.

♪

[radio clicks] - Hey, we got him.

♪

- You and Heather ever had anything going?

- No? Not at all?

You ever been in that house on Madrona with her?

- No.

- Have you ever had sex with Heather?

- Do you know what happened to her?

- She was killed.

- Mm-hmm.

- No?

- Mm-kay.

She was killed in your house.

- She's dead in your house.

♪

How do you think that happened?

♪

- Sometimes it's not

just the murder itself

that haunts detectives,

but the suspect who committed it.

Dealing with someone involved

in a deeply disturbing homicide

is something you don't forget.

♪

Well, I mean, let's just be straight up with each other.

You gave her phone to somebody.

Correct?

- Um...

- And that somebody gave you how much money

for the phone?

- Ten dollars? OK.

- Yeah.

- All right, well. What day was that?

- OK.

It was this week though, wasn't it?

- Hmm. All right, well... we gon--

We're gonna come back to that, man.

Because you're not--

you're not being honest with me, man.

♪

narrator: Detective Summer Benton finds Heather's friend

and makes a disturbing discover.

- She was associated with Ardentric

in a report from a couple of years ago.

She filed a police report

when she was down at Grady Hospital

getting treatment for whatever happened, so...

That's interesting if he can identify her.

- Thank you.

You familiar with the 17 associated with that?

- No. - I'll bring that in.

[indistinct chatter]

♪

- Who is that?

- OK.

She's pretty, man.

♪

[indistinct chatter]

- Thank you, sir. - Yep.

[paper rustles]

- So this is a police report.

Your girlfriend

said her boyfriend, identified as Mr. Ardentric Dion Johnson,

ran up to her and stated, "That's what you get"

after she was struck.

She was transferred to the hospital.

She also stated her boyfriend had locked her in a room

for four to six hours.

♪

Made her smoke crack and take pills.

♪

And she also stated her boyfriend pimped her out

and made her work. - Hm.

- Didn't they arrest you for this?

- Yeah.

narrator: Ardentric pled guilty

to the assault on Heather's friend

and was sentenced to four years' probation.

- What's your nickname?

♪

- What do they call you?

- They call you "Murder Man."

narrator: The woman reported missing a few months ago

also knew Ardentric as Murder Man.

- She was involved in altercation with Murder Man

who hit her and beat her up.

narrator: Velazquez reads from a report

filed two days before she disappeared.

- Why would she lie?

- She's dead, too.

Ardentric, you know that.

She's dead, and she was in the closet in your house.

Dead, been dead for four months.

Tied up.

Now you got two dead girls in your house.

Not just one, bruh. You got two.

So any reason we'd find your DNA on her?

- You would be willing to give me a sample of your DNA?

- Not really?

- You don't want to give me your DNA

as you know that your DNA is there.

You know that.

Look, man, you got two women.

Two women you've been connected to.

You got a woman right here who--

what, the same day?

You selling her phone to somebody?

Selling--you sold a dead lady's phone, man.

- Bruh.

Think about it, man.

- OK.

So maybe we still cool without a lawyer today talking?

We OK?

[device beeps]

- We're just gonna leave him like he is.

Uh, got a warrant for his DNA. - Yeah.

[door opens]

- So here's the deal. Want you to read this.

The warrant is for me to take your DNA.

♪

Once we do that, we're gonna send you

down to Polk County, and that's it.

♪

We have made progress.

He's committed to the phone,

so he's now saying he was in possession

of this dead girl's phone.

He's now connected himself to two women

found dead in a house that he occupies.

So that interview, although it was not a confession,

was great.

♪

narrator: A few days later...

- The victim that we had in the closet

has been positively identified.

narrator: The victim is the same woman

who was reported missing a few months earlier.

- Nobody deserves to die at the hands of another.

[solemn music]

♪

- In New Orleans, Detective Ryan Vaught

led one of the most disturbing cases

of his career

when a married couple disappeared

and one of their bodies washed up

on the city's Intracoastal Waterway.

- Yep.

- He's been here for a while, huh?

[eerie music]

- I...

[chuckles dejectedly]

It's, uh...

a body.

Can't tell right now if it's male or female.

♪

I'm not ready for this.

♪

Damn.

♪

narrator: The victim is unrecognizable.

The wildlife in the water has eaten away the face.

- Got the nose and the lips and the eyes.

I think it's a female.

- Looks like a female. - Yeah.

- She's bound.

♪

♪

- There is a tattoo.

- What's it say?

- K-E-N?

♪

- What was her name?

The ones at St. John we're looking for?

♪

narrator: Detective Bob Bachelder

thinks this might be connected to the missing couple.

- Kenneth and Lakeitha.

- K-E-N.

- I mean, it's possible.

- With the male being named Kenneth,

and this victim having "K-E-N",

it might be the female from that couple.

♪

Body has been in the water for at least a week.

At least. It could have been longer.

We're starting way behind

in our investigation.

♪

[phone ringing]

narrator: Vaught calls the detective

working the missing couples' case.

- Can you tell me about a tattoo that she may have had?

- OK, that's gonna be her.

♪

narrator: 29-year-old Lakeitha Joseph

served a year in the navy

before marrying her high school sweetheart,

Kenneth Joseph.

They were together for 10 years

and had planned to start a family.

narration: Horatio was a cousin of Lakeitha's husband,

Kenneth.

They allegedly had a falling-out over money.

narrator: Detectives heard that Kenneth

had a large amount of money hidden in his house.

- What do you think?

You think he reached the same fate?

Met the same fate?

All right, bye bye. - Bye.

♪

narrator: The next day...

♪

- There's no real major injuries to her.

narrator: Autopsy results are in on Lakeitha.

- Nothing that would suggest a manner of death.

It was ruled to be a drowning.

♪

- I'm sorry for your loss.

♪

- It's such a heinous crime.

It was so very deliberate and thought-out.

That it-- yeah, it keeps me up.

Keeps me up thinking about it.

But it's not unique to me.

I'm sure every guy up here goes through that.

Right, Bob?

- You end up waking up in the middle of the night

on some of these cases.

"Why haven't I done this?" or "Why haven't I done that?"

Case gets in your head while you're working it.

♪

[suspenseful music]

♪

[suspenseful music]

♪

- Kettlebell, look at that.

♪

- In New Orleans,

two weeks after Lakeitha Joseph

was recovered in the waterway,

her husband's body had finally been found.

♪

narrator: A 30-pound kettlebell

is tied to his feet.

♪

- That's what they used to weight him down with.

And that looks like the same rope that she was tied up with.

- Rope looks the same.

Difference is the kettlebell's still with him.

- Yeah.

♪

- Yeah.

♪

narrator: After searching several stores...

- Hi.

narrator: They find the same type of kettlebells

and blue rope used in the murder.

narrator: They also find a credit card transaction

at 1:00 a.m. the night the couple went missing.

- [sighs]

- Hoh, hoh!

- Yo. - Hey!

You at the office? - I am.

- We got video, we got the receipt,

and the credit card--

- Yes.

- No way.

- We'll be there shortly.

- All right, bye. - Bye.

[bleep] damn, what a day!

narrator: At Homicide, Vaught looks up Brittany Martin.

[dramatic music]

- There's Ms. Martin.

All I'm seeing are DMV photos.

She's never been arrested.

I'm gonna call the St. John investigator.

[line trilling]

Hey.

Uh... the name "Brittany Martin",

that ring any bells with you?

♪

narrator: Brittany Martin

is the girlfriend of Horatio Johnson,

one of the first names to come up in the investigation.

- Really?

All right, thanks. Bye.

♪

Uh, Kenneth and Horatio are cousins

and they had a dispute over money.

♪

Well, here's Horatio right here.

narrator: 37-year-old Horatio Johnson

was convicted of manslaughter in a drug-related shooting.

He served 17 years of a 35-year sentence,

and was released on parole less than three years ago.

- Brittany worked as a corrections officer.

She was fired

because of an improper relationship with an inmate.

That inmate happened to be one Horatio Johnson.

♪

narrator: Vaught turns to the surveillance video

to try and see if Brittany was with anyone

when she purchased the items.

♪

- Look, it's definitely her.

That is Brittany and Horatio.

♪

narrator: At the cash register...

- Look there, the kettlebell.

- Yeah. Kettlebell. - Yep.

♪

- Wow.

- Look at him.

He's not even touching the kettlebell.

- Holy [bleep], you are right.

♪

He is covering his hands...

- To not get fingerprints on the kettlebell.

- That's crazy, dude.

- There's the rope.

♪

- And there they go. They're leaving the store.

♪

Look at that. She's smiling.

- Was she duped?

Was she doing it blindly out of love?

How does one go from this side of the law

and then fall so far to the other side?

♪

- You OK?

You understand you are under arrest for two counts

of second degree murder? - Mm-hmm.

- All right, home address.

- Help me remember.

- You know what? I need a lawyer present.

[suspenseful music]

♪

♪

- They say how they got 'em?

- [distorted voice]

♪

♪

- On her head, he said?

Mm.

- Any indication why, why all this happened?

♪

- I think this couple had money in their home.

The plan was to get said money

and then do away with the couple.

That's just-- just vicious.

That's brutality.

♪

- There are times when an investigator

is called to a case that is so horrific,

it's hard to wrap your head around.

In Harris County, Texas,

detectives responded to a case

where a woman had been burned alive

and was clinging to life at the hospital.

♪

- How's it going, man?

narrator: The victim gave her name

before losing consciousness.

♪

narrator: 29-year-old Melissa Burch

grew up in Liberty, Texas.

The oldest of three sisters.

She works for a local trucking company.

- Pictures? - Yes.

narrator: Photos taken by fire marshals

reveal Melissa was burned over 80% of her body.

- Who knows.

narrator: The team speculates

that Melissa jumped out a window

to escape the burning trailer.

- Did y'all notice she had some wounds

up there on her head? - It's a lot of blood.

- I don't think that's from the burns.

- No, I think she's bleeding from her head.

- But from looking at the pictures,

she's not just burned.

It looks like she may have been beaten beforehand.

♪

narrator: He says the victim collapsed on his porch.

- [distorted voice]

- Had you ever seen this girl before?

- Tell me about that trailer next door.

narrator: The neighbor says no one has lived in the trailer

for months.

- Yeah.

narrator: He says the trailer is used by drug addicts

and prostitutes.

- All right.

♪

[phone ringing]

- Hello?

narrator: Brown gets an update on Melissa's condition.

- All right, I appreciate it.

That was the deputy down at the hospital.

They're moving her over into the burn unit,

and doctors say she doesn't look good right now.

Chances of making it after being burned that bad

are pretty slim.

♪

I've got some enemies,

and I couldn't wish that on my worst one.

You know, to be beaten, bound, and set on fire

had to be pretty miserable.

This was personal.

[dark music]

♪

[knocking]

♪

narrator: Brown heads to Melissa's address

hoping to find her roommate, Joker.

♪

- There's a car in the driveway.

[knocking]

♪

[knocking]

narrator: "Joker" is not home.

♪

- We'll come back tomorrow and see if Joker's home then.

♪

- OK, I appreciate it.

All right.

narrator: In addition to severe burns,

Melissa has head wounds and broken bones

from being brutally beaten.

She's been placed in a medically induced coma

to try to save her life.

[knocking]

♪

- No one's home.

♪

narrator: The team puts out a BOLO for the gold car.

- Right now, we don't know Joker's real name.

So the best way to figure that out

is probably track down that gold car.

And hopefully he'll be the one driving it.

♪

[phone ringing]

- Homicide. Brown.

narrator: Patrol calls in with a lead.

Someone gave them the name of a Latin male

who was seen with Joker painting a gold car

and removing its plates.

- All right, cool.

Kinda suspicious if Joker is Melissa's roommate

if he's trying to repaint his car

and changing the license plates on it.

♪

narrator: The next afternoon,

Brown heads back to Melissa's house with a search warrant.

- We're gonna go look inside the house.

See if anything happened there.

If there's any kind of evidence as far as blood

or signs of a struggle.

♪

- I think this is his room.

♪

- Garrick Hastings.

narrator: Brown finds prison paperwork

belonging to a man named Garrick Hastings.

- We'll take it.

narrator: The team may finally have a lead

on Joker's identity.

♪

- I'm gonna call this girl TDC

and see what they have on him.

narrator: Brown calls

the Texas Department of Corrections

to find out if Garrick Hastings is "Joker."

- Really?

♪

- He's got that clown tattoo.

I think he's our guy.

Send me everything you got on him.

Fantastic. Thank you, ma'am.

narrator: After searching for two days,

the team gets their first look at "Joker."

♪

25-year-old Garrick Hastings

recently served time for aggravated robbery.

- Joker's definitely our prime suspect,

but right now we don't have enough to pick him up.

So, first order of business is talk to that guy

he was spray-painting that car with

and see what he has to say.

[suspenseful music]

♪

narrator: 11 days later,

patrol finally finds the man

who was painting the car with Joker at a friend's house.

♪

At the house, officers noticed the man's friend

has fresh burns on his legs.

- We found that pretty suspicious

considering what happened to Melissa the other day.

narrator: They brought the friend to Homicide

along with his girlfriend.

Brown goes in to talk to the man

who helped Joker paint the car.

♪

- Let's talk about what we're here today on,

about what happened to Melissa.

- [distorted voice]

narrator: The witness says that while he and Joker

were painting the car,

Joker confessed to assaulting Melissa.

narrator: He says Joker found Melissa outside a motel.

narrator: He reveals his friend with the burned legs,

Thomas "Crash" Martin,

and Crash's girlfriend, Anita Pena,

helped Joker beat Melissa.

♪

- So tell me how Melissa gets to the trailer.

narrator: He says Joker told him

they drove Melissa to the trailer

where they continued to beat her.

narrator: He says Joker ignited the trailer.

Crash was too close to the flames

and his legs caught fire.

- So where was the victim while

Crash and Joker were doing this in the trailer?

- All right, hang tight.

We'll check on you.

- He's the only person

that didn't actually participate in it,

as far as we can tell,

so that makes his statement very important.

narrator: Brown and Sergeant Mark Reynolds

will confront Thomas "Crash" Martin

about the burns on his legs.

He told officers he got the burns from a barbeque pit.

- You're under arrest

for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

I'm just gonna lay it all out here for you.

We know that the burns that you sustained on your body

did not come from a barbeque pit.

- No, it's not. That's not the case.

- You think? - Mm-hmm.

♪

- Obviously you know why we're here.

- Well... You do.

You know who's in the other room?

- Crash is over there.

You know who else is here?

- Anita.

- Now, what would all those people and you have in common

to do with an assault?

- I'll tell you that you're the last person we talk to today

and I think we've got a general idea

of what happened that night.

Oh, you want me to break it down for you?

♪

- I know that...

Melissa was taken to the trailer out there.

I know somebody poured gasoline on her and set her on fire.

- [coughs]

- I know that you were there.

I know that Thomas Martin was there, "Crash."

That's what I know.

- I mean, you want it to go to trial?

While we're up on the stand

and we wheel this gal that's all scarred and burned up

and parts of her body are missing...

- ... while she talks about the people

whooped her ass and took her to that trailer

and burned her.

- I mean, I wanna know everything I can know

about what happened.

But if you ain't gonna say it, you ain't gonna say it.

- Oh, yeah.

- [sighs]

♪

- Chances are he knew that she was still alive

and expected her to finish perishing inside the flames

so definitely says something about his mental state

and his regard for life.

♪

♪

narrator: Two months later,

Melissa miraculously came out of her coma.

Over the next seven months,

she endured 42 skin grafts

and lost her right hand as a result

of the brutal assault.

♪

Today... - Come here.

Melissa gathers with family and friends

to celebrate her 30th birthday.

- Hi, Lana. - You surprised?

- Yeah, you surprised me.

- Six months ago, eight months ago...

we didn't think we was gonna see this day.

♪

- I remember everything.

To be set on fire alive is something...excruciating.

There's no way to explain it.

♪

I'm not understanding what provoked him

to go this extreme.

I have to wake up every day like this

and I'm loved, and I'm blessed.

♪

- Go slow, go slow. Don't let 'em go.

- All right. - All right.

[overlapping chatter]

- Let it go! Let it go.

- Ooh! - Happy Birthday!

And many more!

[all cheering]

all: Happy Birthday!

- I'm having a blast.

Everyone's here.

Everyone played a role in my recovery,

and they're still here

and still sticking by me. [chuckles]

♪

- Working homicides that are brutal,

that are violent...

they're tough to deal with on a daily basis.

I've still think about 'em every day

and I've been out for almost four years.

The hardest thing for me, as a homicide detective, was...

knowing that that was the last thing

that those people got to experience on this planet.

♪