Original subtitles

[tense music]

♪ ♪

[indistinct radio chatter]

- How many shell casings do we have?

- Oh, Lord. - Damn.

♪ ♪

- That's gotta be blood. - Yeah.

- You see that bottle down there?

- I say you got two.

♪ ♪

- Tonight, on the "First 48 Critical Minutes"...

♪ ♪

- Memphis Police!

- We look back at three cases

where a trusted family member turned violent.

- These two are second cousins.

This is crazy.

- A young father's murder tears a family apart.

- The family is out here.

It's a sad situation.

- Did you see him shoot the gun?

- Then... - I smell the morgue.

That's what it smells like.

- A newlywed couple disappears

and their uncle's home holds a clue.

- Something happened here.

Something bad.

- And a sister-in-law

goes too far in Dallas.

- Something is wrong.

- How did you get the cuts on your hand?

[dramatic musical sting]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- Blood isn't always thicker than water.

And sometimes what starts out as a harmless argument

between young men,

can turn into much more when a weapon is involved.

♪ ♪

narrator: Less than eight miles

from the Homicide office

in New Orleans East, 1:43 p. m.

♪ ♪

[sirens wailing]

narrator: EMS and patrol arrive at the car wash

and find the attendant murdered.

♪ ♪

[indistinct radio chatter]

♪ ♪

- Man, look at all these people.

♪ ♪

We got victim information?

- Apparently the victim works here.

His name is Dion Johnson.

Looks like he was born in '93.

♪ ♪

narrator: 21-year-old Dion "Nupea" Johnson

worked at the car wash

to support his two young children

and girlfriend.

He lived with them in an apartment

just across the street.

- That's pretty young.

[people clamoring]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

It looks like--you know, he might've been, like,

doing the--the zigzag trying to get away.

- Right. - And then...

♪ ♪

- OK, I got one more.

How many shell casings do we have?

narrator: The team finds nine .40 caliber casings

and three projectiles.

- Here's the jacket.

- [sobbing]

[people talking indistinctly]

♪ ♪

- The family is out here.

It's a sad situation.

I'm gonna give them a time to grieve

before I go over there and talk to them.

So I'll just contact them a little bit later.

[people talking indistinctly]

- Everybody out here gonna be a witness

in some type of way.

♪ ♪

- Was you at work today?

♪ ♪

narrator: According to the witness,

the suspect left the car behind and fled on foot.

- OK.

We'll take the car in.

- Does he work here?

OK.

narrator: The witness is transported to Homicide.

♪ ♪

- Who would shoot somebody at a car wash

in the middle of the afternoon

with all those innocent bystanders around?

One of them could've got hit.

It's crazy, man.

Greg, we 'bout to get this party started.

♪ ♪

All right, sir.

♪ ♪

Just wanna go ahead and tell me

what happened today?

narrator: He says he could hear Nupea shouting

with one of the customers at the car wash.

♪ ♪

narrator: He says that's when Nupea threw a chair

at the suspect's car.

- What kind of car did he have?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Describe the shooter.

- OK.

- Who do you think shot Nupea?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Would you be able to identify him?

♪ ♪

- OK.

Just sit sight for me, all right?

♪ ♪

narrator: Detective Nicholas Williams

runs the plates of the silver Monte Carlo

left behind at the crime scene.

- Registered to a Tyrone Daniel

born in 1956.

♪ ♪

[keyboard clicking]

The son born in '93.

♪ ♪

That would be in the 20s, early 20s range.

His name Tyrone too.

narrator: 20-year-old Tyrone Daniels

is from Central City neighborhood in New Orleans.

He doesn't have a criminal record.

- I'ma do a lineup.

♪ ♪

See what happens.

Interview room number one.

♪ ♪

This the moment of truth.

♪ ♪

- You don't recognize anybody?

OK.

♪ ♪

- [sighs]

♪ ♪

This doesn't make any sense.

I mean, our witness knows this guy

by his name, but he doesn't recognize him

in any of the photographs.

[sighs]

I don't know if he's hiding something

or if he's just scared.

♪ ♪

I'm 'bout to call the victim's mom.

Just see if she knows anything.

My name is Detective Nicholas Williams.

I just wanted to call, offer my condolences.

Is there anything that you could tell me

that might help me in my investigation?

- Do you know his name?

♪ ♪

- All right.

narrator: She says Tyrone was cheating on his girlfriend

and that he asked Nupea to cover for him.

- Mm-hmm.

- Right.

narrator: When Nupea was in junior high school,

his father was murdered.

♪ ♪

And you know...

- Right.

♪ ♪

You have my condolences.

- Thank you so much.

- You're welcome, ma'am.

♪ ♪

When these homicides are occurring,

do you think about what children are gonna go through?

♪ ♪

I can be honest.

I sit and watch my wife to this day.

♪ ♪

Her father got killed back in 1995

in the streets of New Orleans.

And I watch her to this day how it still affects her,

and she's 30 years old.

♪ ♪

So these two are second cousins.

♪ ♪

This is crazy.

♪ ♪

narrator: Eight hours in...

This lady just sort of walked

into the 7th District station out in New Orleans East

and she told the desk officer that she had some info

on my murder.

♪ ♪

My name is Detective Nicholas Williams.

Can you just tell me what brought you

into the 7th District today?

♪ ♪

- A murder between relatives may happen

in the blink of an eye,

but its effects can be far-reaching,

damaging a family for generations.

You know, I cannot imagine a similar set of circumstances

where two cousins are fighting each other

because one refused to lie for the other one,

especially as it relates to physical violence

and escalates even to murder.

The whole thing just does not make sense.

♪ ♪

- Right.

narrator: She says her daughter got on the phone.

♪ ♪

- What's your daughter's boyfriend name?

♪ ♪

- Thank you.

♪ ♪

I need to talk to that girlfriend

because I don't have enough to pick up Tyrone right now.

Everyone keeps saying Tyrone Daniels,

but I need somebody to ID the dude.

♪ ♪

narrator: Without a positive ID on Tyrone,

Williams decides to search the silver Monte Carlo

witnesses claim the suspect left at the crime scene.

- OK, this the perpetrator vehicle.

He was trying to get in his car and leave, but he just ran off.

Victim picked up a shell and threw it at the car.

♪ ♪

If this is the dent,

I don't think that he deserved to die.

That's crazy.

♪ ♪

- It's empty.

♪ ♪

Hey, Nick.

- Oh, that's sweet.

♪ ♪

- Taurus PT140 Pro.

narrator: The weapon is a .40 caliber semiautomatic.

The same caliber as the shell casings found

at the crime scene.

- Found my weapon.

Yes, baby.

♪ ♪

Do you remember that room we was in?

You gonna go in the same one.

♪ ♪

That's the witness from the first day.

♪ ♪

Earlier today I got a phone call

from one of his relatives

and they told me that he wanted to come back in

and speak to me about this incident.

So I'm hoping he has a change of heart.

- [clears throat]

♪ ♪

- This is gonna be a second interview.

I understand that it was some more things

that you wanted to tell me.

♪ ♪

- Did you see him shoot the gun?

[dramatic musical sting]

- What kind of gun did he have?

If you--

♪ ♪

- I'm gonna take care of that part.

Talk with the victim, witnesses is all wraps

and you have my word on that.

All right, we'll be right back.

♪ ♪

narrator: The witness will be shown a lineup

a second time.

- All right, baby.

♪ ♪

Keeping our fingers crossed.

♪ ♪

It takes a lot of courage to come in this building

and sit in that chair and say, "This man did this."

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- They gonna really find him.

- I love it.

I love it.

♪ ♪

They had Tee Boy on the news

first thing in the morning when everybody wake up

and they getting they coffee.

♪ ♪

narrator: Less than four hours

since Tyrone's photo hit the airwaves...

[phone rings]

- Detective Nick Williams speaking.

How may I help you?

Where is he at right now?

I mean, I would like for him to come in here

and make a statement.

I mean, but that's fine.

Whatever you wanna do.

♪ ♪

OK. Thank you. Bye.

♪ ♪

That was Tyrone Daniels' attorney.

He's gonna turn himself in

but he doesn't wanna speak with us at this time.

♪ ♪

His client is claiming self-defense.

I think Tyrone Daniels is gonna say that

because the guy threw the chair at him.

That's what made him pull the gun out.

I don't think his life was in danger.

♪ ♪

Just thinking that there had to be a better way

for these two cousins to settle their problems.

I mean, there's multiple lives lost

in this situation.

Tyrone is probably gonna to jail

for the rest of his life.

And Nupea's two kids are gonna grow up without a father

in the same way that he did.

It's just a senseless situation.

♪ ♪

- Daddy.

- He came through and he looked at me.

He said, "Monique, I'm sorry."

No, he whispered, "I'm sorry, Monique,"

and I just dropped.

Just to hear him say those words.

♪ ♪

- We will never be a family again.

Never.

♪ ♪

- As a detective, I've seen family members

do some pretty shocking things to one another.

I worked on the next case myself

and it began as a disappearance,

a complete mystery.

But the more we investigated,

family ties begin to unravel,

and things soon took a sinister turn.

♪ ♪

- A Midtown couple has vanished,

leaving no clues behind.

Take a look at these pictures.

♪ ♪

- No one has seen or heard from them in a week.

- I mean, they lead a very quiet lifestyle.

I can't imagine what could've happened to them.

♪ ♪

- I don't know if any of y'all been looking at the news

over the last couple of days--

about the missing couple.

♪ ♪

- The two individuals that are missing

is Stephanie Smith and her husband, James Smith.

♪ ♪

narrator: The Smiths, Stephanie, 21,

and James, 22, are newlyweds,

married a little more than a year.

They live in Memphis and work in Mississippi.

♪ ♪

- And I know some of y'all are sitting here now

probably saying, "OK, we don't have no bodies.

Why we getting involved in that?"

It is bizarre for two people

to just not show up for work, not call their families,

and just disappear.

♪ ♪

- Mitchell, today's your lucky day.

All right.

♪ ♪

narrator: The team heads out to search the Smith home.

♪ ♪

- Memphis Police!

♪ ♪

- I don't see anything.

♪ ♪

Nothing's broken.

Nothing's knocked--kicked over, knocked over.

♪ ♪

- This was Thursday morning, 2:00,

just waking out of a dead sleep, you know--

I was just sound asleep-- by screaming.

A woman screaming.

It was a loud scream.

It was-- and something was wrong.

- Mm.

♪ ♪

- It's not looking too good.

If anything happened here at the house,

there's no sign of it.

♪ ♪

narrator: Investigators run a background check

on the couple.

- $5,000 withdrawal?

♪ ♪

- The Smiths' bank gives them a lead.

- Do you know who made the withdrawal?

♪ ♪

Stephanie?

♪ ♪

narrator: Stephanie Smith withdrew $5,000

from the couple's account the day after

she was last seen leaving work.

- Do you happen to recall if she was with anyone?

♪ ♪

White male, blonde hair, in his 30s.

♪ ♪

- Blonde hair?

♪ ♪

- Thank you so much.

♪ ♪

- He got brown hair, don't he?

♪ ♪

- That's certainly not gonna be her husband.

♪ ♪

- Maybe she ran off with somebody

or kidnapped her, forced her to withdraw money.

- This guy with blonde hair is gonna be the last person

she was seen with.

♪ ♪

narrator: Sergeant Mason calls the Smith family

to find out if they know the man last seen

with Stephanie.

- A coworker, or an acquaintance,

or someone like that?

Oh.

♪ ♪

OK.

Well, thank you very much.

The only person they can think of

is a guy named Larry Mosley.

He's gonna be James' uncle by marriage.

So he's looking a little bit older than they are.

And believe it or not, this guy lives right next door.

♪ ♪

There he is.

♪ ♪

Born in 1977.

Laramie Mosley.

♪ ♪

narrator: Mosley's not in.

Oliver talks to his employers.

- He's gone?

- Yeah. - Not heard from him?

- Well, he didn't show up at 10:00 a. m. and didn't call,

and that's just not like him at all.

I mean, he was--you could set your clock by him.

- When was the last time you talked to him?

- I see a white truck over there at his house.

- Mm-hmm. - Parked over York.

And I could see the driver's side door

open a little bit. - Mm-hmm.

- And I see Larry over there.

narrator: Mosley was recently seen

sitting in his truck near his apartment

next door to the Smiths.

- His truck is parked on York.

♪ ♪

- I mean, ten houses down York.

- OK.

♪ ♪

narrator: Oliver and Bass rush back

to the Smiths' neighborhood

to look for Larry Mosley.

♪ ♪

- There's his truck right there.

♪ ♪

Ain't that some [bleep]?

♪ ♪

In the back of this truck over here on York,

there's a big roll of real heavy gauge black plastic

and some damn weights.

♪ ♪

You look at that and you think, "That's a good way

to dispose of a body."

- All right, we're on the way.

♪ ♪

[knock at door]

[door creaks open]

- Memphis Police!

♪ ♪

Clear.

narrator: Mosley isn't home.

♪ ♪

- What's that smell?

[sniffs] I'm telling you, I got a bad feeling.

♪ ♪

[sniffs] I smell the morgue.

♪ ♪

That's what it smells like.

♪ ♪

- I do remember going to the house,

and when we initially entered the house,

it was neat, but there was a strong odor of bleach,

as if someone had went to some extreme measures

to clean the house.

But on top of that bleach,

there was a distinctive smell

that most homicide detectives are familiar with,

and it was that of dead bodies.

♪ ♪

Smells like a body to me.

We need to get some suits.

♪ ♪

narrator: The team dons biohazard suits

to protect potential evidence.

♪ ♪

- Crime scene, gentlemen.

Check all that mattresses.

Take the sheets off and everything.

♪ ♪

- What's that up there?

♪ ♪

- It looks like cocaine.

narrator: Meanwhile, in Mosley's bedroom,

CSI makes a startling discovery.

- Look at this.

Oh! There we go.

♪ ♪

- Something happened here.

Something bad.

♪ ♪

- We definitely gotta Luma this room.

narrator: CSI brings in a Luma-Lite

to help detect traces of blood.

- I imagine we'll see some blood somewhere

when we turn that light on.

[light switch clicks]

♪ ♪

- Oh, Lord. - Look at that.

♪ ♪

- That's gotta be blood. - Yeah.

♪ ♪

- Damn.

♪ ♪

Whatever happened here,

it was bloody and it was violent.

♪ ♪

- I was wondering about this.

♪ ♪

Look back there.

♪ ♪

- You got a mask?

♪ ♪

All right, hold on.

♪ ♪

- OK.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

There's a pair of feet right here.

I don't want to cut into that.

[indistinct radio chatter]

- Let's move.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Body one. - One.

- Tied in that black coaxial cable.

♪ ♪

Number two.

She's wrapped up in black plastic, white sheet.

narrator: The bodies appear to be those

of Stephanie and James Smith.

- Right now, we can't say exactly how they died,

but it was brutal.

♪ ♪

You hate for it to end this way,

but at least we can give the families some type

of closure.

♪ ♪

We have to find Larry Mosley.

♪ ♪

- Breaking news on a missing Memphis couple.

Tonight, police found two bodies

inside, a man and a woman.

Let's talk a little bit about

who they're looking for in this case.

- They're looking for James' uncle

who, ironically, lives right next door,

29-year-old Larry Mosley.

♪ ♪

- Now is Larry your brother?

narrator: Larry's sister saw the case on the news

and called in.

- OK.

Where's Larry?

♪ ♪

Coldwater, Mississippi.

narrator: She says Larry is on the run with his father

in neighboring Mississippi.

- Thank you, ma'am.

narrator: Sergeant Oliver alerts Mississippi police.

- She's saying that he's got a gun.

♪ ♪

And that he's gonna shoot somebody.

♪ ♪

[phone rings] Hello?

narrator: Sergeant Oliver gets disturbing news.

♪ ♪

- You have got to be kidding me.

♪ ♪

Both of them are dead?

♪ ♪

narrator: After a police chase,

Larry Mosley's father shot Larry and then himself.

- Damn.

♪ ♪

Get the story from somebody that was actually there.

♪ ♪

- The vehicle was heading in our direction.

narrator: Lieutenant Cedric Davis

says he and fellow officers

tried to pull Larry and his father over,

but they resisted. - Larry's dad,

Mr. Frank Mosley, shot Larry and placed the weapon

to his own head, killing himself.

♪ ♪

- Homicide. Suicide.

♪ ♪

narrator: Back at the station,

Sergeant Oliver receives the autopsy results.

♪ ♪

Stephanie and James Smith

both died from blunt force injuries to the head.

♪ ♪

- As an investigator,

the hardest thing about this case is not knowing

why Larry Mosley would kill this couple.

♪ ♪

And it's probably gonna bother me,

you know, forever.

[somber music]

♪ ♪

- You know, when there's a murder in a family,

the family never does completely recover from that

because the person that's responsible

for the murder has people that love him.

And the victim almost certainly has people

that supported him and loved him as well.

So you have a family that's torn apart

and tend to take sides,

and that family never recovers from that.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

narrator: The victim is 24-year-old Felicia Dabney.

She was known for her beautiful singing voice

and her close relationship with her family.

♪ ♪

- You ready, Kelly?

- [talking indistinctly]

♪ ♪

- See, but her hands look like they had defensive cut wounds--

- Yeah, like this.

You know, whatever this is.

♪ ♪

- Is that a--just a little--

oh, that went right through her bra.

- Yeah. - Like a stab wound.

- [indistinct] - OK.

Could that be knife wounds?

♪ ♪

[sighs] Well, what do you think they are, Kelly?

- The injuries that she had were, like, blunt force trauma,

so what we're looking for is something

that can be used that has a little bit of weight

or something that could cause an injury

consistent with what we saw.

I would almost expect her to be over there and--oh.

- You see that bottle down there?

- Yeah. I say you got two.

♪ ♪

A bottle that's empty may do it,

but a bottle that's got fluid in it

is gonna give it more weight and more impact.

♪ ♪

- The girl that lives here. - Yeah.

- She's downstairs.

- The girl who lives here?

♪ ♪

narrator: An 18-year-old girl

named Tremicia has arrived at the crime scene.

She says the victim, Felicia Dabney, is her aunt.

- She hasn't been her since 12:30 yesterday afternoon

and so she lives here with the aunt.

♪ ♪

- When's the last time you spoke to your aunt?

- This morning when she-- - What time?

- Around 7:00, 7:20.

- OK, and you haven't talked to anybody since then

from this house? - Uh-uh.

And I called around 12:00,

but I got no answer.

- Who else was here?

narrator: Tremecia says her mother,

Yolanda Wilson, and her 12-year-old sister

were also staying in the apartment.

♪ ♪

- And you last spoke to your mom...

- This morning around 7:20.

- And now they're missing?

- Uh-huh.

- OK.

♪ ♪

Who is it that you think that I could call

to try to find where your mom is

so I can talk to her and make sure she's OK

and your sister's OK?

- His name is Go Hard.

That's his nickname, and I know the number.

narrator: Lundberg calls a friend of Yolanda's

who may know where she and her daughter are.

- Hi, are you familiar with Yolanda Wilson?

- Yes, yes, I am. What about?

- There's been some trouble with her family,

and I'm trying to find them

so I can verify that they're OK.

When's the last time that you saw--

- Oh, is she missing, officer?

- Well, there's been an incident

where she was staying and we can't--

- Uh-huh. - And we can't find her

or her daughter.

And-- - Oh, my God.

Say, officer-- - Yes?

- There's something wrong with her.

Something is wrong.

- Would you agree with what he was saying there?

- Yeah, it's like she been paranoid

and she thinks people trying to kill her.

- Yolanda Wilson said mercenaries were trying

to get her?

♪ ♪

narrator: Their potential suspect,

Yolanda, along with her 12-year-old daughter,

had been found at a hospital.

- Hey, Sergeant Wilson?

- OK, great. Thank you.

I appreciate it.

- Oh, man, oh, man. - [laughs]

♪ ♪

- Hello, young lady.

♪ ♪

- Hey, Sarge. - Mm-hmm.

- If you wanna take the young girl down

to our office, that would be great.

- They'll know where to put her.

- Yeah, yeah, just take her to Homicide.

- OK.

♪ ♪

- Hello, Miss Wilson.

I'm Detective Lundberg.

♪ ♪

How did you and Felicia get along?

- You and Felicia got along well?

- Yeah.

- Mm-hmm.

♪ ♪

What time did you wake up this morning?

narrator: Yolanda says that she left

the apartment early that morning

to visit a friend in the hospital.

- And when you left, Felicia was sleeping?

- Mm-hmm.

♪ ♪

- OK, and you haven't been home since?

♪ ♪

- OK, let me ask you this.

How did you get the cuts on your hand?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Running down stairs and fell, OK.

How'd you get the cut on the leg?

- That's from--

- Oh, that's where you got--

From a branch?

♪ ♪

You know Felicia's not OK.

- Because Felicia's dead.

♪ ♪

And I know that the injuries that you got...

♪ ♪

Weren't from falling down.

♪ ♪

You understand what I'm saying, Yolanda?

♪ ♪

God is the ultimate judge of everything.

For us to be forgiven,

he wants us to be upfront and honest

about what we've done wrong.

But you can't be truly penitent

unless you admit your guilt.

As a Christian, you know that.

- And what I want from you right now

is to help yourself.

♪ ♪

Yolanda, I know you don't wanna go to jail.

Nobody does.

♪ ♪

I know, Yolanda.

♪ ♪

[sniffs]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- So what happened this morning?

narrator: Yolanda says she and her sister-in-law

got into an argument.

Then she cut her with a knife.

- She grabs the knife from you

and then--then you-- then what happened?

- OK.

- OK.

Mm-hmm.

- But I want you to tell me why this happened.

I mean...

Why did this happen to her?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Who was gonna come and hurt you?

♪ ♪

- OK.

♪ ♪

Officer? - Yes, ma'am.

- I--I...

Yolanda--

- No, Yolanda, I do believe you.

- Yes, I do. - [sobbing]

♪ ♪

- I know you do.

♪ ♪

- I know.

♪ ♪

I know.

♪ ♪

[handcuffs clinking]

♪ ♪

- Here, we're gonna come this way, Yolanda.

- Oh. - OK?

You're gonna come with us.

- Usually, when a case is solved

and a bad guy's taken into custody,

usually, I'm very upbeat about that.

Tonight, there's not that feeling of jubilation.

This is a tragic event.

♪ ♪

- I think sometimes when you have family members

that take the life of another family member,

when the have time to think about it,

when they're sitting in a jail cell 24 hours a day

they think about what they've done,

they think about the devastation that it has,

the impact that it has on the family.

And I've talked to some of them, and they basically say

"You know, I don't even remember the exact act I did

"to take this person's life, and if I could just get

"that three seconds back,

I'd do anything to change that."

♪ ♪