Original subtitles

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- Sometimes, the most important moment

in a homicide investigation

happens in the interrogation room.

- What is this about?

- This is about...

you shooting a girl nine [bleep] times in her back!

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

- Detectives go to the source of the crime...

- Do the right thing, man.

- Interrogating suspects in three brutal homicides...

- You are going up the river. I hope to [bleep] you can swim.

- To get the real story behind the murders.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

narrator: Cleveland, Ohio, just after midnight,

a quiet residential block on the city's east side.

Gunfire erupts in the middle of the street.

[sirens wailing]

Patrol and paramedics race to the scene

and find a woman shot several times.

♪ ♪

She's rushed to the hospital,

but she dies.

♪ ♪

- So what we got?

What's the victim's name?

- Keisha Freeman.

narrator: The victim is 31-year-old Keisha Freeman.

She was the mother of three young boys

and worked at a local fast food restaurant

to support them.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- She was shot multiple times.

narrator: Keisha was hit seven times in the back.

♪ ♪

- Yeah.

♪ ♪

narrator: Then...

- Yeah, this is Detective Griffin, Homicide.

narrator: Griffin gets a break.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- Tell us what you witnessed.

narrator: He says Keisha's friend, Courtney Greene,

was arguing with her boyfriend in the yard,

and Keisha stepped in to break up the argument.

♪ ♪

narrator: He thinks Black James

wanted Keisha to know he has a bad reputation.

narrator: Once Black James left,

the friend says he went inside

while Keisha and Courtney talked out front.

♪ ♪

- So you never saw this guy shoot her?

- So Courtney witnessed the whole thing?

- All right.

♪ ♪

narrator: 29-year-old James McAlpine

has convictions for assault

and attempted intimidation of a witness.

He was just released

from a four-year prison sentence

for aggravated robbery with a firearm.

- She was standing up for her friend.

Such a heinous and unnecessary crime.

♪ ♪

- We've got to find somebody

that actually saw this guy shoot her.

Courtney is gonna be the key.

♪ ♪

- What do you know about Black?

- I don't know [bleep] about him.

People keep saying that's my boyfriend.

That's not my man.

I don't know nothing about that man.

- Have you ever argued with him?

- No. Never.

- Tell me about this interaction

between him and Keisha.

narrator: Courtney claims the man

that Keisha was arguing with walked away.

- Me and Keisha standing there talking.

This red car comes out of nowhere

like-- [imitates screeching]

Me and everybody else ran

before that gunfire even happened.

♪ ♪

- Your involvement is more than what you're telling me.

- No, it's not, sir. I swear to God.

♪ ♪

- All right, Courtney.

♪ ♪

- Based on the known facts of the investigation,

we feel that she's lying to us.

We don't know whether she's lying

because she's afraid of James McAlpine

or whether she's in cahoots with him.

We can't hold her for anything right now,

but we are still concentrating on James McAlpine.

- As a homicide investigator,

you are used to people lying to you.

You expect people to lie to you,

whether it's a witness or a suspect.

You have to be able to do your homework

and get enough facts

and enough information to be able to discern

whether they're telling you the truth or not.

♪ ♪

narrator: After three weeks without a lead...

- Do you guys still have an inmate there

by the name of James McAlpine?

♪ ♪

narrator: The team learns that

James McAlpine has been arrested

on an unrelated charge.

- We'd like to bring him over to talk to him.

All right, he's still over there.

♪ ♪

From everything that we have concerning this investigation,

this is the right guy.

Without any direct witnesses,

this is the route that we have to take.

♪ ♪

narrator: Griffin shows McAlpine

a photo of the victim.

- You know anything about her?

- Who is she?

- Yes or no. Do you know anything about her?

- Who is she?

♪ ♪

If I get what I need

in the case of this girl,

you're gone. - Who is she?

What is this about?

- I know you know.

- I'm asking the question.

You're not telling me. What is it about?

- This is about you-- - What is it about?

- Shooting a girl nine [bleep] times in her back!

That's what it's about, [bleep].

That's what it's about!

- Now you tell me about it.

You shot her in the back like a dog!

Nine times in the back.

- That's you right there.

- You shot her down like a damn dog!

You tell me. - I don't know her.

I don't know this woman.

I don't know what you talking about.

I don't want to be here anymore.

I would like to have an attorney present.

I would like to leave.

♪ ♪

narrator: James is transported back to the county jail.

♪ ♪

- They have nothing to hold him.

We need more evidence at this point

and a bona fide witness.

♪ ♪

narrator: Later that night, the team gets news

that James was bailed out of jail

by Courtney Greene.

♪ ♪

- Insisted she didn't know who the guy was,

but yet she's posting bail for this guy.

♪ ♪

narrator: The next day,

a witness comes forward

who heard James talking about the murder.

- We need you to tell us what he told you.

♪ ♪

[sinister music]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- This is a major break in the case.

Where now, I have probable cause to arrest him.

Signed, sealed, and almost delivered.

♪ ♪

narrator: But after searching for over two weeks...

[phone rings] - Yeah, Griffin.

narrator: Griffin gets disturbing news.

- Gotta be kidding.

during an inone it

more times than I can remember.

Sometimes when you're interviewing somebody

that you know is the suspect,

that you know that they're responsible for it,

it is extremely hard to keep your cool.

There have been times that I've done it

making it seem as if I was upset.

But there are times that I've been acting on

raw emotion as well.

[dramatic music]

[phone rings]

- Gotta be kidding.

All right.

Just got a call from Detective Entenok.

He had a homicide.

This guy was shot in front of his girlfriend.

♪ ♪

The girlfriend had told Entenok

that the shooter was Black James.

♪ ♪

- I just came back from the crime scene.

Our victim is Reshawn Foster.

narrator: 29-year-old Reshawn Foster

was gunned down in a parking lot.

- Sounds like his girlfriend saw what happened,

so I'm gonna go in there, talk to her,

find out what she saw.

♪ ♪

- Very sorry for your loss.

narrator: Reshawn was known to his friends as "Smurf."

He leaves behind six young sons.

narrator: She says moments later,

Smurf walked outside, and James called him over.

[imitates gunshots]

narrator: She says she ran into a nearby building

to hide until James and Courtney drove away.

♪ ♪

- It's almost like a modern day Bonnie and Clyde.

They're very dangerous.

- We need him caught, and we need him caught bad.

[knocking]

narrator: As the search continues,

the community rallies to help find the suspects.

- We've got to get him off the street.

We gonna hold his picture up.

No justice... crowd: No peace.

♪ ♪

narrator: The next day...

[phone rings] - Griffin.

narrator: The pressure on the street pays off.

- Really?

narrator: A confidential informant

says that James and Courtney may be hiding out in a hotel.

♪ ♪

- We're taking these two subjects.

They're in a hotel nearby.

- Police.

♪ ♪

Hands on the small of your back.

♪ ♪

narrator: James and Courtney are taken into custody.

♪ ♪

- It went very well.

We're real happy. Hopefully Cleveland's happy.

♪ ♪

narrator: Back at Cleveland Homicide,

♪ ♪

James McAlpine refuses to speak about the murders,

but Courtney wants to talk.

- This is her, I think, last and best chance

to tell us the truth as far as what happened.

We shall see.

- Hello, Ms. Greene. How you doing?

Doing all right? - Yes.

- OK.

narrator: Griffin asks Courtney about the night

Keisha Freeman was murdered.

- I need to know what happened

after you went down to Keisha's house.

- Keisha's standing in front of her house.

- Uh-huh. - And I walked down there

to talk to her.

That's when he came back around there in a red car

and just shot her.

♪ ♪

Like, I seen the fire come out the gun on that one.

♪ ♪

- And so the reason James shot Keisha was what?

- Because she was cussing him out.

No reason at all.

♪ ♪

narrator: Entenok and Carlin head in to talk about

Reshawn Foster's murder.

♪ ♪

- Well, we want to get your side of the story.

- James shot Smurf, and he just kept shooting him.

And that's when, basically, we left and went to Texas.

- Did he ever talk to you about why he did this?

- James said that he shot him

because I guess he snitched.

And that's why he got killed.

♪ ♪

- It's good to have McAlpine off the streets.

With him being out there,

it's unlimited what he could have done.

♪ ♪

Courtney witnessed both homicides,

and she fled to Texas with him,

so she would be charged

with conspiracy to commit murder.

♪ ♪

- When detectives are conducting an interrogation

where the victim is missing,

you have to go in with kid gloves on

because you don't want the suspect

to shut down on you first.

You have to go in and establish a relationship.

A lot of investigators make the mistake

by going in on level ten

when it's not necessarily the time to go in on level ten.

♪ ♪

- Well, we're heading to the scene right now

out in district two.

There's no body on the scene at this time.

Could be a homicide.

Once we get there, we'll learn more about what's going on.

♪ ♪

Broken front passenger window.

Yeah, that's a lot of blood they lost.

♪ ♪

Somebody in that vehicle was definitely seriously hurt.

♪ ♪

narrator: Deputy Russell Gonzales

runs the vehicle's license plates...

- Amber, the girl who owns the truck.

♪ ♪

narrator: And learns the vehicle belongs

to 20-year-old Amber Elkins.

♪ ♪

- Fired shell casings.

narrator: CSI finds a spent nine millimeter shell casing

on the back seat.

♪ ♪

- Whoever was driving was pretty tall

'cause the seat's laid back.

And this one's up, so...

♪ ♪

Casing went this way.

And that's how you get this window shattered down.

narrator: Based on the evidence,

investigators believe the driver

may have shot the front seat passenger.

- A lot of this stuff is kind of piecing together

that something bad did happen here.

♪ ♪

- Yeah.

♪ ♪

At this point in the investigation,

we do not know if the owner of the vehicle

or a different victim are the ones that were injured,

but we're definitely gonna investigate it

as a homicide.

♪ ♪

We're gonna go talk to Amber's mom.

And her ex sister-in-law gonna be there.

How are you doing?

Is the mom here or-- - Yeah.

Do y'all want to come inside?

narrator: The family says they are worried about Amber,

who has a nine-month-old daughter

who they've been watching.

The last time they heard from Amber was two days ago,

when they missed her call at 3:00 a.m.

Her mother called back,

but Amber's boyfriend, JD, answered

and then hung up.

♪ ♪

- We've learned that he answered her phone

early Monday morning,

so he was definitely with her.

♪ ♪

[knocking on door]

How you doing?

You James?

narrator: JD's roommate answers the door.

- Is James here?

- Oh, OK.

♪ ♪

I'm just gonna ask you a couple questions, OK?

Do you know Amber?

narrator: According to the roommate,

he saw JD and Amber together

the day before she disappeared.

- You know where he's at?

♪ ♪

- That is James Clarke.

That's the boyfriend of our missing girl.

narrator: JD is 32 years old

and has multiple convictions

for possession of a controlled substance.

♪ ♪

- All right, now we have a vehicle

that belongs to, you know, this missing girl,

and then we've got a lot of blood in there,

and we got a shell casing.

Leads you to believe that someone's been killed.

♪ ♪

- All right, you ready?

How long have you known Amber?

- That's how long she's known JD or what?

narrator: He says JD and Amber

quickly jumped into a serious relationship.

- And then what happened?

♪ ♪

- Do you think JD is capable of killing Amber?

♪ ♪

- Has JD said anything about Amber?

- Amber isn't around, and she's normally always around?

♪ ♪

- I don't think he's told her.

♪ ♪

But he ain't ask for Amber, she ain't been around.

It's almost like he knows she's not ever coming back.

narrator: Quintanilla checks in with Amber's family.

- Tell me what was going on with Amber and JD.

- All right.

narrator: According to Amber's father,

Amber called him the night she disappeared

and said she was having problems with JD.

♪ ♪

- Uh-huh.

♪ ♪

- He was telling me that he had learned

that Amber was gonna break up with JD on Sunday.

Maybe that's a motive why she's missing.

But until we talk to JD, we won't know the real truth.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

- And this is what JD was telling you?

narrator: She says JD claims to have witnessed

Amber being murdered by gangsters.

- If it happened the way he said,

why would they take her body?

Or why would they allow him to leave?

They just shot and killed somebody.

Why would they allow him to drive off?

- Do you honestly think

he doesn't know where the body's at?

narrator: She tells Quintanilla

where he can find JD.

Quintanilla heads out to JD's address.

He hopes JD will come in voluntarily.

♪ ♪

One hour later,

JD arrives at Homicide.

You know what I'm saying?

♪ ♪

narrator: JD says he last saw Amber

the night before she disappeared.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- You told her...

narrator: Quintanilla tells JD

that he's already interviewed his female friend.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- During this case, the suspect

is looking down at the floor.

He doesn't want to make eye contact

with the investigators.

He has visible injuries, scratches on his arm,

which indicates that he's possibly been in

some type of physical altercation.

So I think the investigators knew

that they have enough just to continue the investigation.

- [exhales deeply]

narrator: Without enough evidence to charge JD,

investigators are forced to let him go.

Later that day,

the case takes an unexpected turn.

♪ ♪

- Person came in with some information

in regards to the case.

That person's very scared.

Hopefully, this information will help us

in busting this case wide open.

♪ ♪

I really appreciate you coming in.

What information do you have to tell us?

♪ ♪

narrator: According to the CI,

JD admitted to shooting Amber.

♪ ♪

The team heads out to pick up JD.

[moody rock music]

♪ ♪

- We'd definitely like to locate the body

and give the family some closure.

That's what's actually missing at this point in time.

♪ ♪

- Oh, he woke up. - All right.

♪ ♪

- You want to tell us where Amber is located?

This is your opportunity right now.

- We've talked to some more people, James, OK?

We want to know what happened.

This is your opportunity to clear it, James.

- You want to at least show these people

that you're remorseful for what you did?

♪ ♪

- James, right now, Amber's gone.

There's no bringing her back.

♪ ♪

But right now, there is something you can do.

She's out there somewhere.

♪ ♪

Show us where Amber is.

Do the right thing, man.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- All right, I'll just take that as

you don't give a damn.

Well, we're done with you, man.

That's about as cold as you can get right there.

He just wants to sleep it off, act like it didn't even happen.

♪ ♪

- We have enough evidence at this time

to file a murder charge on James Clarke,

and we're gonna take him to the Harris County Jail.

♪ ♪

[line ringing]

narrator: The victim is rushed to the hospital,

where he dies.

♪ ♪

- Whoa.

♪ ♪

narrator: Inside the apartment,

detectives find a large pool of blood...

♪ ♪

And a single shell casing from a .380 caliber handgun.

♪ ♪

- The victim. - What's his name?

- Jimmy Anderson.

- Henderson? - Anderson, A.

- That's the victim?

♪ ♪

narrator: Jimmy Anderson was known in the neighborhood

as "Mr. Jimmy," a retired landscape gardener.

He was 75 years old.

- He had a knife.

They're saying he had a knife in his hand.

Maybe he was trying to defend himself with it or something.

narrator: The 911 caller and the occupant of the apartment

is Georgia Bady, Mr. Jimmy's girlfriend.

She is being held for questioning at Homicide.

- His so-called girlfriend,

she's saying she was in the bathroom

the whole time this was going on.

- Mm-hmm.

♪ ♪

Are you the property owner?

narrator: The landlord tells Mason

that Mr. Jimmy might have been set up to be robbed.

- She told you what?

♪ ♪

- I think we get down here and drill Georgia.

- Georgia got more. She know more.

- Georgia's got what I need.

♪ ♪

- Somebody just came in and just shot him?

♪ ♪

- Why'd you say you didn't think he had any money?

- Yeah. - I didn't ask you

about any money. Why'd you say--

- When an investigator's interviewing someone that is

clearly under the influence of a drug, alcohol,

or some unknown substance,

you have to keep in mind that whatever they tell you

could be questioned in a courtroom.

The best way to handle that is to give that person time

to sleep it off.

- She's stoned. - Mm-hmm.

- Or wishes she was.

I don't think she did it, but I think she knows who did.

♪ ♪

narrator: 18 hours in,

the detectives interview Georgia again,

hoping she can identify the suspect.

- Here you go.

She's a rocket scientist today compared to yesterday.

She was climbing the walls yesterday.

- You giving her sugar? - [chuckles]

How you feeling now, Georgia?

Feel better than you did yesterday?

Let's talk about this. What did Jimmy do?

- In the living room or your bedroom?

Listen. I told you before.

Suspect or witness, OK?

Did you shoot that man?

- Did you see somebody shoot that man?

- Then you need to tell us about that.

That makes you a witness.

- Yeah, you're a witness, not--

right now, you're gonna be charged.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Jimmy was on the floor or standing up?

- Where was the guy? Was he facing Jimmy?

- And he had a gun in his hand? - Yeah.

- You don't know what this guy's name is?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- We know that. - We know that, Georgia.

- We know that, Georgia.

They took it to a whole 'nother level.

They didn't have to do it like that.

What's the guy's name?

- What you call him?

♪ ♪

- They call him Homie?

- Lil Homie messed up.

♪ ♪

narrator: According to the police database,

Lil Homie is 20-year-old Anthony Clay.

♪ ♪

- He has a long, lengthy arrest record.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

narrator: They find him at the home

of his older sister

and take Lil Homie into custody.

♪ ♪

Lil Homie is taken back to headquarters for questioning.

♪ ♪

- I just hope he talks to us.

He might go ahead and get it off his chest.

- You know somebody named Georgia?

- Uh-uh.

- You know who her boyfriend is?

- Uh-uh.

- You ever shot a gun?

- Uh-uh.

- You ever robbed anybody before?

None of that.

♪ ♪

- There ain't no more chances.

But you want to sit in here, "I'm telling y'all the truth."

You are going up the river. I hope to [bleep] you can swim.

Get him ready.

Gonna write your [bleep] up, send you to bed.

I'm going to bed too.

♪ ♪

We've got to get more out of Lil Homie.

We might be forced to release him if we can't get more

to tie him to this homicide.

If we wanna get him to talk,

he's gonna need a mother figure.

♪ ♪

You've been out here fighting for your own

pretty long, based on the fact your dad is not around.

You got a lot of sisters and brothers.

Your mom is sick.

That's weighing heavy on you.

It's hard for you to get a job.

You understand what I'm saying, Anthony?

- Yes, ma'am.

- Bad [bleep] happen sometimes to good people.

You don't have to come from a bad way of life,

struggling all your life.

[bleep] can go bad in a few seconds,

turn your whole life around.

♪ ♪

- I want to go home.

[sobs quietly]

- When you get this off your chest,

you'll feel a lot better.

♪ ♪

- It depends on what you tell me.

♪ ♪

- I'ma tell you the truth.

♪ ♪

- That's--I mean, you're human.

Now you know what? You do have a heart.

You do have a heart.

- And this is why I'm telling you you gotta tell the truth.

- She's got it now.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- And where were y'all at? In the kitchen?

- Right.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- I think Georgia set this whole robbery up,

and she got Lil Homie to help her out with it.

But I don't buy that line about

he did it in self-defense.

[elevator beeping]

So a 75-year-old man is now dead.

Lil Homie's life could be over.

I mean, what's it all for?

♪ ♪

- In any interrogation,

police are looking for the facts.

We often have forensics and other evidence

to give us part of the story,

but getting the full truth usually requires

someone giving up the details.

In this case, the detective chose

to take the strategy of being a mother figure

to the suspect.

There's so much going on in his young mind

that he probably can't process it all.

So to have somebody

take a particular interest in his life,

and to take a gentle approach was very, very effective.

♪ ♪