All language subtitles for The First 48 Presents Critical Minutes S01 E05_track3_[eng]

[dramatic music]

♪

[tense music]
[radio chatter]

- Wow.
- Looks like our guy.

♪

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

- I wanted to be
a police officer

since I was a little kid.

- Just trying to piece
all of it together.

There's so many different
components.

- I'm not gonna give up
on this case

until it's over.

- [sobbing]

- Rookie detectives
are put to the test.

- Yeah, that's how I roll.
- Damn.

- Psht.
- Let's roll.

- And need to prove themselves.

- Come off the bull[bleep].

Just tell me exactly
what happened.

- As they work
their first cases.

- I still got a lot to learn
about this job.

[sirens wailing]

[dramatic music]

♪

[smooth music]

♪

- Remember your first case, bro?

- Yeah, I do remember.

A little bit over
five years ago.

It was on Shalimar St.,
New Orleans East.

Over a bottle of cough syrup.

Yeah.
- Jeez.

Cleared it?
- Not till recently.

- Oh, really?
Wow.

Hope it doesn't take me
five years to clear this one.

- New Orleans detective
Rayell Johnson

was with the police department
for six years

before he joined Homicide.

In March 2014, the young father
got called to his first case

as lead detective.

[suspenseful music]

♪

- What's up, buddy?
What's up?

- All right, so preliminary
information we've got right now.

We've got two victims.

One's at the hospital, and
they're working on him now.

- Mm-hmm.
- One's deceased.

- You have a name on him?
- Just Charles Meyers.

[somber music]

male narrator:
Thirty-two-year-old

Charles Meyers was born
and raised in New Orleans.

He was the father
of a six-year-old daughter

and a two-year-old son.

♪

- Um, trash cans, where'd they--

- Trash cans were brought out
here by the people

in the neighborhood...

narrator: Charles was shot
ten times at close range.

♪

- We got this black truck
that's pulled over.

Multiple gunshots
inside of that.

Got multiple shell casings
around the victim.

- Looks like
.40 caliber casings.

- Mm-hmm.

narrator: Half a block
from the body...

- That's 9 mm casings
down there.

- Back over there
where that unit is?

narrator: A second set
of casings.

- You got two different
calibers.

Probably two different shooters.

- I don't understand why
the casings are over there.

- Yeah, that's...
- That car parked right there.

- It's a little confusing.

So far it's really scattered

as to what could've possibly
happened.

Now, we have two sets
of casings a block apart.

I'm going to see
what they're looking at.

♪

What the hell?

Look like some type
of cable box.

- Yeah.
- It's just a cable box.

- I know.
- [chuckles]

Mm.

- This is related
to the whole thing, I think.

Finding the truth
is gonna be...

♪

[sighs]

- This is Rayell's first case,
and it's a complicated case,

but, uh, I have all
the confidence in the world

that Rayell
will solve this case.

- [sighs]

Well, gonna head up to see
if we get surviving victim

to give us some information
about what happened out here.

Just trying to piece
all of this together.

There's so many
different components.

[crows caw]

[somber music]

♪

As of right now,

we think
that he's just a victim,

that he didn't, you know,
do anything wrong,

so, uh, we're just gonna
get him in there

and see if
he's willing to talk.

All right.

Just start from the beginning.

What happened?

- They were jumping into your--

- OK.

- You don't know
who these dudes are?

- All right, and then
what happened after that?

narrator:
The surviving victim

says he couldn't warn Charles
to stay away.

- And what happened?

narrator: He says three men
tied them up at gunpoint.

- OK.

narrator: Charles tried
to run for his life,

but the heavyset man
gunned him down.

narrator: He says the driver
shot at him

and jumped out of the car.

♪

♪

- See that video, bruh.

Here they come.

- OK, that's them right there.

So it looks like they jumped
the fence.

- Whoa. Puts on the brakes.
- Yeah.

So it kind of looked like
they was just waiting on him

to get home.

Pretty much how he described it.

- That's a robbery in progress.
- Mm-hmm.

- Jesus, so he's telling
the truth.

They abducted him.
- Yeah. Yeah.

- He wasn't lying.

- Wow.

- So is that our deceased?
- That's the deceased, yeah.

That's them walking him to
the backyard, like they said.

narrator:
The team searches every angle

for the suspects' faces.

♪

- One spot, one spot,
one spot, one spot, one spot.

♪

- Here comes anoth--
- There you go.

Pause it, pause it right now.

narrator: Detectives
see a fourth suspect.

- Another perp.

- We have a video
of the perpetrators,

so about to send a bulletin
to all the district units.

Hopefully we'd be able
to get them identified.

[dramatic music]

♪

narrator: The next day...

♪

- How you doing?

I came here
to show this video.

narrator: Detective
Rayell Johnson and the team

show the surviving victim video
of the suspects

and get a break.

- That's something.

[engine starts]

[sighs]

After seeing the video, he says
that the big guy is the shooter.

narrator: He pointed out
the heavyset man

in the white T-shirt
as the man who killed Charles.

- Disappointed
he couldn't ID him.

♪

[tense music]

♪

[telephone rings]

♪

Wow.

All right, appreciate you.
Thank you.

A man named Jonathan Holmes
had been bragging

about being responsible
for the murder.

♪

I believe him to be the guy
who actually shot

and murdered Charles Meyers.

I mean, to do something
like this, broad daylight,

he's a real dangerous guy.

That's somebody we don't need
on the streets.

narrator: An hour later,

the surviving victim arrives
at headquarters.

- Let's see if he picks
this guy out, so...

we'll see.

[suspenseful music]

- Review each photograph
carefully.

If you recognize anyone,
tell me why you recognize them.

♪

- That's Big Boy?

- OK, and how
do you know Big Boy?

- He's the one that shot
your cousin?

- [exhales]
All right.

Nice, we picked him out.

Real brave of him to come in
and, you know, ID this guy.

Him and his cousin,
they were real close.

They pretty much grew up
together.

They've been tight
their whole life, so...

Get this warrant signed
for his arrest,

send it out and...

see if I can get
this guy picked up.

narrator: Johnson sends out the
Violent Offender Warrant Squad

to track down the alleged
killer, Jonathan Holmes.

[sirens wailing]

♪

narrator:
The alleged killer,

Jonathan Holmes,

is taken into custody.

- Do you wish
to waive your rights

and speak with the police
or do you wish to remain silent?

narrator:
Holmes is taken to jail.

[suspenseful music]

An hour later...

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

- But then he told SOD
when he got there

he wants to talk.

- Pfft.

- Yeah, so...

We'll go over there
and try to talk to him,

then we'll bring good old
Detective Tim Bender,

we'll bring the wise,
old, savvy veteran.

Sometimes got
old wise-guy-ass tricks

up his sleeve,
you never know, so...

- We'll see.
If this cat wants to talk,

he's gonna talk.

♪

- OK.

[dramatic musical flourish]

♪

- [groans]

The fact is he put
himself there,

we have proof
that he was there,

and we have somebody who ID'd
him as the shooter, so...

that's a wrap.

First case.
Pretty excited.

- That's good.
Congratulations.

- Thank you.
- First case?

- Let's knock it
out of the park.

Boom-psht.

- Wonderful job.
I'm so proud of you.

Your first case too, huh?
- Yeah, that's how I roll.

- Damn.
- That's how I roll.

Psht.
[laughs]

- You can train these guys,
but you know...

- But there's plenty more
to do, so, you know...

- Still, outstanding job.

- Appreciate that, bro.
Appreciate that.

[somber music]

♪

You know, it's a tragic case.

Charles lost his life

just trying to fight
for his own life.

With me, it's just gonna be
one of those cases

that's gonna
stick with me forever,

not just because
it's my first one.

Just because I can kind of
relate to it, being that I have

a young daughter,
and him having young kids,

but I did my part

in trying to get justice
for him.

It's just sad.

♪

[uneasy music]

♪

- I'm not gonna give up
on this case

until it's over.

- Phoenix detective,
Jason Schechterle,

had overcome a lot of adversity

before joining
the homicide unit.

His first case's lead
had just one clue,

but he was determined to get
to the bottom of it.

♪

- I've been in Phoenix Police
Homicide Unit

for about 18 months now,

and in the world of Homicide,

that's about 20 minutes.

narrator: Jason Schechterle
is Homicide's newest rookie.

- 'Cause I still got a lot
to learn about this job.

narrator: Four years ago,
he was just starting out

as a patrol officer,
when he barely survived

a car accident.

- My patrol car
caught on fire,

and I suffered severe burns
to about 43% of my body.

I was off work
for about 18 months.

I went through quite
the recovery process.

So far, I've had 47 surgeries

to rebuild and try to make
my appearance, you know,

a little bit better.

I didn't really know what I was
gonna do with my career

or didn't really feel like I had
a place in the world anymore.

The Homicide Unit took me in
and gave me a home,

and things have been great
ever since.

This will actually
be my first case

as a lead investigator.

[electronic music]

♪

narrator: The crime scene
is in the parking lot

of an auto body shop.

The response team finds
the victim's shirt...

and truck.

[dramatic music]

♪

- The victim is
Eduardo Beltran.

Hispanic male, uh,
about 28 years old.

The victim had gone into
the office with the manager,

telling him that he needed
an estimate

on the damage for his truck,

that he was in an accident
the night before.

narrator: The victim told
the auto body shop manager

that he was meeting the man
who crashed into his car.

Together, they were gonna get
an estimate for damages.

- Manager went back inside
and heard the shot.

They all came out and found him
lying on the pavement

out here in this parking lot,
and that's all we have.

narrator: Detectives find
their first clue.

- Ah, excellent.
- Uh, what that is

is a money receipt
in the victim's name.

What we're concerned with
is the receipt,

has some writing on the back
we think is the person

he had the accident
with last night,

his phone number.

- It's leading us in one
direction at this point.

Hopefully it's in
the right direction.

This is our best lead
right now.

[energetic music]

♪

- Eduardo Beltran,

the last phone number
he dialed and received

in his phone
is the same number,

and it's also written on a piece
of paper in his truck.

He was in a car accident
less than 24 hours ago,

so it really looks like his
murder is related

to that accident
and this phone number.

narrator: Schechterle tries
to track down a name or address

for the suspect's
cell phone number.

- It is a long shot that
this phone is connected,

but, first of all,
it's my only lead.

[dramatic musical flourish]

The registered subscriber
to that cell phone number?

No such address, no such name.
Nothing.

- Eduardo Beltran is dead.

- The only thing--
- That's as far as we've gotten

in five hours.
- That's all we have.

- Nothing.

[suspenseful music]

♪

- So, I think
it's a great lead.

I'll get a subpoena and see
if I can get it figured out.

- OK.

[speaking in Spanish]

♪

- Hi, Maria.
I'm Jason Schechterle.

I work for the Phoenix
Police Department.

How are you?
- Good. Fine.

-Phoenix Detective
Jason Schecterle worked

the one clue he had
in his first case,

a phone number,

and the records eventually
led him

to the girlfriend of a man
named Arturo.

- Oswaldo told us that
the phone belonged to a man

named Arturo, and that
the reason Arturo calls

all the time is because he's
in love with you, basically,

and he calls Oswaldo,

so Oswaldo
can give you messages,

and that he wants you back
and that he loves you.

- It's not the real name
for that guy.

- OK, well,
that's what I'm looking for.

- The guy that's supposed
to be named Arturo,

it's not his real name.

- Well, the man I'm asking
about, Arturo,

what do you know him as?

- Rodolfo.
- Rodolfo?

- Mm-hmm.
- He shooting my new boyfriend.

- He shot your boyfriend?
- Yeah.

- Is he still alive?
- Yeah.

male narrator: Maria says that
Rodolfo broke into her house,

shot her boyfriend,

and then disappeared.

- You saw him do it?
- Yeah.

- So did you talk to police
that night?

- Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
- Did they ever arrest him

or talk to him?
- No, they never arrested.

- They never found him?
- No, they never--

- I think we have
positively ID'd the guy

with the phone number
that I've been looking for.

Plus, we might have--

- He's going around
shooting people [laughs].

- Plus, we know--yeah,
we know that he's capable

of shooting somebody.
Yeah, I never expected

to find out,
when I identified this guy

that he's wanted
for shooting somebody.

That's just--
That's huge.

♪

I am going to try
and find a picture of him

in our Crime Catcher system.

And there he is.

narrator:
Schechterle gets a look

at his suspect,

Rodolfo Gutierrez.

[suspenseful music]

- Recognize this guy?

- It's him.
- That's who?

- Rodo.
- That's--

- Rodolfo Gutierrez.
- That's Rodolfo Gutierrez?

♪

I used to work patrol
for this beat, right here.

OK, that building right there

is where she says it was.

449 would be
on the bottom floor.

It's gonna be the door

just on the south side
of that stairwell.

I will go back,

get his photo turned over to
one of our SWAT team squads

and, uh, see what they can do.

This apartment is very close
to the intersection

where I had my accident
several years ago.

See where that white truck is?

I was there.

My car was hit,
and I ended up right here

in front of this green pole.

My car travelled that far,
burst into flames,

but thankfully,
there was a fire truck

just sitting right there,
as fate would have it.

They were able to help me out.

I try in my mind to equate
that to the challenges

of this investigation here.

Just as I didn't give up
on myself,

my family didn't give up on me
or anything.

I'm not gonna give up
on this case

until it's over.

narrator: That evening,
the SWAT team serves a warrant

at Rodolfo's apartment.

Rodolfo is arrested for
shooting Maria's boyfriend.

- We'll bring him upstairs,
see what kind of an interview

we can get out of him.

- Our goal is going to be to
gradually go from the interview

of the aggravated assault
into the homicide.

It's a solid connection
that Jason has uncovered.

That's what it's all about, man.
- Oh, this has been--

- This is all up.
- This has been so much fun,

I can't tell you.
- Right now,

you just have to slow down.

Younger detectives, they get
excited about these things,

and that's OK, but we--
right now,

we wanna slow
everything down.

[suspenseful music]

narrator: Spanish-speaking
detective, John Shalhoub,

will conduct the interview.

narrator: Rodolfo admits that
he broke into Maria's house

and shot her boyfriend.

- I think you're getting
somewhere.

They're talking
about the shooting.

He was involved
in the agg assault.

Hey, he's crying.

He's admitting to his
involvement in the agg assault.

narrator: Shalhoub
then turns the interview

to the homicide.

narrator: Rodolfo says
he and his friend, Moreno,

are part of a gang that robs
illegal immigrant traffickers.

[dramatic musical flourish]

They were setting up
a robbery nearby

when the victim kept calling
about repairing his truck.

Rodolfo went with Moreno
to the auto body shop.

- Jason.
- Yeah.

- They're talking about being
at the body shop.

- He admits being there?

- He admits to being there.

- That's good.
It's going really good.

♪

- A little bit more.

narrator: Rodolfo says that the
victim's calls annoyed Moreno.

- You got it, brother.
- Yeah, man.

- What did he have to say?
- That was awesome.

- He did it.
- He said he shot him?

- He shot him.

[somber music]

♪

- You know, a good person,
a family man,

a guy who works,
loses his life

because he called
somebody's cell phone

at the wrong time,
on the wrong day.

It's crazy that life is that
meaningless to so many people.

♪

- Working on homicide is not
only about the investigation.

Detectives must work closely

with the victim's family
as well.

Atlanta detective
Scott Berhalter

needed to crack
a suspect's alibi

in order to bring closure
to the victim's family.

♪

[suspenseful music]

- Victim was shot

multiple times with, uh,

what they call on the streets
is a chopper,

an AK-47-style weapon.

The, uh, shooter fled on foot,

so that's all we know right now.

male narrator:
Rookie homicide detective,

Scott Berhalter,
will lead the investigation.

- I wanted to be
a police officer, uh,

since I was a little kid.

After a stint in the gang unit,

I got to go
to the homicide unit.

They're the best.
It is an honor and a privilege

to, uh--to work with these guys

and to learn
from their experience.

♪

[indistinct chatter]

He didn't make it past
this threshold most likely.

Do we have a name?

- Deontavious Wright.

narrator: 29-year-old
Deontavious Wright,

known as Deon,

grew up in Atlanta
with his two siblings.

He leaves behind a young
daughter and an infant son.

♪

After hearing
about the shooting,

Deon's family and friends
gather at the scene.

[solemn music]

- [sobbing]

- We do have a couple
of witnesses.

The brother of the victim.
Another one is the, uh--

a friend of the victim.

They were inside
of the apartment

when the incident happened.

narrator: The team will take
the witnesses to headquarters

to be interviewed.

♪

Detective Tracy Casey
interviews Deon's friend,

who was in the apartment
when he was murdered.

- Just tell me the story,
how it all went down.

narrator: She says the gunmen
forced Deon into her bedroom.

- Who was he?

- Did you see a second person?

narrator: She says she did not
recognize the second intruder.

[disturbing music]

- Did you see anybody
with a gun shooting?

♪

- Tell me everything from
when they first came up.

narrator: Down the hall,
Detective Summer Benton

speaks to the victim's brother.

He says the three intruders
stole money and cell phones,

then one of the men
grabbed the AK-47

and pointed it at Deon.

- OK, the one male that said,
"Shoot," who was that male?

- OK.

♪

[suspenseful music]

♪

- I can't arrest Little Larry
at this time

without more evidence.

Witnesses are pretty adamant
that Little Larry's involved,

but they are also saying that
Larry was wearing a ski mask.

You know, he did give
us Tony Rucker,

and I need the witnesses
to be able to tell me

that this person is the person
that they saw.

[dialing]

[line trilling]

- This is Detective Berhalter
at Atlanta Police Department.

narrator: Berhalter asks
Deon's friend to come back

and look at a lineup
for the suspected shooter,

Little Tony.

- It will be a huge help,
definitely.

narrator: She's heard that
they've questioned Larry

and released him.

- Before I can take warrants out
and place anybody under arrest,

there are certain things
that I have to do

so that we can--

you know, the goal isn't
to just get an arrest.

The goal is for us to get

a conviction
and get you guys justice.

- Look, ma'am,
the goal for tonight,

the reason why I wanted
to speak with you...

- ...is to show you
a photographic lineup.

- What can I--what can I do
for you to give you

a better feeling
about all this?

-Rookie Atlanta detective,
Scott Berhalter,

was in a tough spot,

but Berhalter had to follow
proper procedures

before he could
make an arrest.

[suspenseful music]

- We're not trying to say
that what you said

isn't important or isn't true.

I believe all of you, OK?
I do.

But in order for me to put
someone under arrest, OK?

I have certain things
that I have to go through,

and I am doing everything
that I can.

- OK.
- OK.

- All right.

- Your goal for her
is you need to get her

to look at the lineup,
right?

- Mm-hmm.
- We need to get to her ASAP.

narrator:
Detectives Scott Berhalter

and Mike Young
hope they can get the witness

on their side.

♪

♪

♪

- It went well.

♪

Have a seat, please.

narrator: The next day,
the victim's brother comes in

to ID the shooter.

- We have a photographic lineup
to show you, m'kay?

One of these three suspects
may or may not be

in this photographic lineup,
right?

♪

And who is that?

- And what did he do?

[disturbing music]

♪

- I think that getting an arrest
warrant for Little Tony

and getting him off the street
will really help

the other witnesses
in the family.

It'll kind of help put them
at ease.

[suspenseful music]

♪

- Tony, what's up, bud?

♪

- On the couches?

Anybody in the back bedroom?

narrator: He claims he left
before the shooting went down.

- M'kay, who'd you come
in there with?

- And that doesn't make sense.

We got witnesses that put
the three of you together

at the time of the shooting.

The three of you run out
together.

- People aren't gonna buy
that story.

Now, people might believe

that you were there
for the robbery,

but you weren't expecting it
to go bad.

You figured the AK-47 was enough

to scare the [bleep]
out of anybody.

- Okay.

All right.

- Right, but you were there.

- Okay, all right.

All right,
that's what I'm going with.

[door closes]

[radio chatter]

narrator: Tony Rucker is placed
under arrest for murder.

- Through the open the door.
Hook a left.

♪

- This way.

♪

[telephone rings]

- Atlanta Police, Homicide,
Detective Berhalter speaking.

narrator:
Berhalter gets a break.

- How do you know him?

narrator: A CI has information
on the third suspect.

- And who is that?

♪

[suspenseful music]

male narrator: The caller gives
Detective Berhalter

the name of the third suspect.

- All right,
thank you very much.

Buh-bye.

Searching.

Black male by the name
of Aaron Simmons,

also known as Little Pea.

♪

narrator:
19-year-old Aaron Simmons

has previous convictions
for forgery

and giving a false name.

- According to the witnesses,

this is the individual
that had brought the AK-47

into the apartment and said,
"Shoot him."

♪

narrator:
While the Fugitive Squad

searches for Little Pea...

- All right, all right,
all right.

- Detective Berhalter continues
to look for holes

in Larry's alibi.

- Uh, we got Larry's phone
records back in

on the day of the homicide.

10:02, he made an outgoing call.

♪

Tsk.
And then, yeah.

10:02 a.m. is right before
the homicide occurs,

and when Larry made
that phone call

it was pinging on the side
of the tower

that would place him
at the scene of the homicide.

I'm confident he was
there already,

because witnesses say he may
have been wearing a mask,

but that is him.

So if we combine that
with the phone records,

we'll definitely get an arrest
warrant for him.

♪

narrator: Five months after
Deon's murder...

♪

- I received a call from, uh,

Gwinnett County
Police Department,

and they, uh, told me
that they had, uh,

apprehended Aaron Simmons,
our third suspect.

♪

Now, here's the thing.

I don't think you're a killer.
- Huh?

- It doesn't matter
what I think, OK?

Because right now
I got folks talking

and saying you are a killer.

So I wanted to give you
this opportunity.

That's why I'm here.

So, come off the bull[bleep],
all right?

Just tell me exactly
what happened.

♪

- Okay.

Who killed him then?

- I don't know, I just say
that I wasn't in the house

when the man got killed.
I was around the area.

narrator: Aaron claims he was
in a different apartment

in the complex at the time
of the shooting.

- Suspect interviews
can be challenging

for the most
experienced detectives,

let alone a rookie
new to the process.

When Detective Scott Berhalter
finally identified and arrested

the third suspect
in this shooting,

he hit a dead end
in the interview.

♪

- I've been doing this
for 30 years.

- You have a grandmother
or a mother?

- Yeah, see, the only benefit

is that they know
you told the truth

about what happened.

- Why were you
in the apartment?

- What kind of business were
you doing in the apartment?

- Okay.

So, while you're in
the apartment, what happens?

narrator: Little Pea claims
two men burst in

to rob the apartment.

- Yeah.

- Mm-hmm.

narrator: He says he immediately
ran out the door.

Boom-boom-boom-boom
boom-boom-boom.

- Mm-hmm.

- Mm-hmm.

- Dig it, dig it.

- All right.

At no point did you ever
participate in that robbery,

is what you're saying?

You're just there
when it happened.

- All right.

I appreciate your truth, man.

I appreciate that today.
All right?

- Yes, sir.
- All right?

- I'm just saying.
- All right.

♪

- The goal by going outside was
to get him in the apartment

where the murder
actually happened,

and we accomplished that
out in the courtyard,

out in the sally port,
so that's a good look.

It's good, man.
Great job on it, man.

- I appreciate it, man.
- Good luck.

- It's nice to have
the veteran detectives

to help you and mentor you,

and it feels great that I was
able to solve this one.

[dramatic music]

♪

♪

- Getting your first case
as a lead detective

is nerve-wracking, right?

It's stressful.
Am I good enough to do this?

Am I gonna get this done?

You wanna be a good detective.

As you go,
and you get your experience,

you're gonna eventually become
that great homicide detective.

- [laughs]
- Congrats, boy.

♪