Original subtitles

[soft dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- The bullet shattered the rear window

and hit him in the back of the head.

- Most people let it go and move on

when they feel like someone has wronged them.

- She's trying to listen to see if she can hear

what's going on in the other interview room.

- While others will hold on tight to their resentments.

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

- Wow.

- Revenge is served cold in a parking lot.

- Then a young man is targeted for doing the right thing.

- And a case of deadly mistaken identity.

- I think he's gonna run.

[tires squeal]

♪ ♪

- [indistinct radio chatter]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- [indistinct shouting] [siren blares]

♪ ♪

- Unfortunately, I have seen

a lot of revenge cases in my career.

It's senseless,

but some people, it's a blow to their ego

to walk away from an altercation.

And over time, these things just fester inside of you

especially when you feel like

the person is going on with their life.

It's like a volcano. Eventually, it erupts.

♪ ♪

- I can't--where did he fall? Do you know?

- Right here where his hat--you see his hat and some blood.

♪ ♪

- Dang.

You got his name?

- Johnathan Carstarphen.

narrator: 45-year-old Johnathan Carstarphen

worked as a sheet metal subcontractor at a refinery

and liked working on his car in his spare time.

He leaves behind five children and two grandchildren.

♪ ♪

- Damn, popped him right in the head, huh?

narrator: Jonathan was shot twice in the head

and once in the back.

- Hey, sweetie.

I'm sure sorry about this for you.

How long y'all been separated?

- What was he doing over there?

- Yeah.

- They--yeah. He's deceased, yeah.

Yeah.

♪ ♪

- See if we can look at that video.

- Yeah.

narrator: The team will download

the restaurant's video.

- All right, we leaving.

Let's get that car gone and get the hell out of here.

♪ ♪

That's a dang good camera, isn't it?

narrator: The team gets the surveillance video

from the restaurant.

- Let's go back here.

That's his car, right?

- Yeah, that's his car.

♪ ♪

- Look at this dude here

♪ ♪

He's getting out.

♪ ♪

- Wow.

♪ ♪

Dang.

- He just shot him. Didn't take anything from him.

It's a hit.

- Dude didn't have a chance. Period.

- This guy is pretty distinctive, the way he looks.

- Only thing is you can't see the guy's face.

You can get a pretty good clothing description though.

♪ ♪

All right, man. Bye-bye.

In December of 2006,

law enforcement officials seized 16 ounces of cocaine

and 27,000 from his residence.

He was sentenced to 120 to 150 months,

but wound up cooperating with the government

and he went and made a buy.

That buy resulted in an arrest.

The guy arrested on that made a buy from somebody else.

narrator: Because of his cooperation,

Johnathan's sentence was reduced to eight years.

He was released in 2013.

- Two other guys were arrested

because of the actions of our victim.

♪ ♪

Are they still pissed ten years later?

♪ ♪

[line rings]

- Hello.

narrator: The Sherriff's Office calls in

with a new lead.

- Michael Johnson.

♪ ♪

The Sherriff's Office just got a tip

that our guy is Michael Johnson.

He stated that he killed Johnathan over a girl.

Black male, but they couldn't provide any other information.

♪ ♪

We're looking for Michael Johnson

which, obviously, is a pretty common name.

narrator: The team doesn't have enough info

to pinpoint a possible suspect.

♪ ♪

[knocks]

♪ ♪

- Right now, we've basically exhausted all of our leads.

narrator: Desperate for a break,

the team scours the database

for any recent police reports involving Johnathan.

♪ ♪

- There he is.

narrator: He's only associated with one report.

- Eight or nine months ago,

a lady made a harassment complaint against him.

Right now, we're gonna try to track her down

and just see what may be going on there.

It's a shot in the dark.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- We saw there was a report back in April.

It's at a house in Semmes.

- Can you tell me about what was going on there?

narrator: She says a couple of hours later,

Johnathan came back to her house and saw her boyfriend.

- Sure.

- Does your boyfriend know Johnathan at all?

- What's--what's your boyfriend's--

♪ ♪

- What kind of a guy is Michael?

- After that incident happened, did Michael ever say anything?

Was he angry about it?

Did he seem to hold a grudge against Johnathan?

- Do you think Michael is capable

of doing something like this to Johnathan?

narrator: Detectives decide to show her

the surveillance video of their suspect.

♪ ♪

- Sit right here.

♪ ♪

Come on, let's go back.

♪ ♪

- I know, sweetie.

- You got to tell me who that was--who that was, OK?

- And who was that in the video?

♪ ♪

- That's Michael?

- Your boyfriend?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

narrator: 41-year-old Michael Johnson

served ten years in prison

for possession of a controlled substance.

- You think it's because he spit on you?

Do you think he would hold a grudge that long?

♪ ♪

- Let me see your hands.

♪ ♪

- You know Johnathan Carstarphen?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

You know about an incident back in April

when Johnathan came out to her house and spit at her?

- Why did he spit at her? What were they arguing about?

- Have you seen Johnathan since then?

- The day that Johnathan was killed, where were you at?

- Work.

- What time did you get off work that day?

- [sighs]

- Where did you go when you got off of work?

- What vehicle were you in that day?

- I mean, I'm just gonna be straight with you, man, OK?

All right, you're on video

in the parking lot at Rodgers Bar-B-Q.

♪ ♪

- Well, here's the thing, man.

What's happened has happened, Mike,

and there's nothing that you can sit here and say

to change that, but what you can do, Mike,

is you can shed a little light onto why this happened.

♪ ♪

- Yeah.

♪ ♪

- Do you have anything to say to his family?

♪ ♪

- Was he your friend? Did you even know him?

Anything to say to that, man?

♪ ♪

- Johnathan had a pretty troubled past,

but he had turned his life around.

For him to get killed after coming out of the situations

that he had dealt with before seems senseless.

♪ ♪

- There are cases that we get

where people seek revenge for putting them in jail.

Even though they know that they committed the crime,

they still feel like, "How dare you?

I'm untouchable." And it's an intimidation thing.

It's one of the reasons why people tend not to want

to get involved which makes it very, very difficult

for law enforcement to solve crimes.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Let's angle down here, Ron. - OK.

♪ ♪

- It's a terrible shooting.

narrator: The team learns from family on the scene

that the victim is 22-year-old Milton Flores,

a native of Houston.

He leaves behind a wife and a 5-year-old stepdaughter.

♪ ♪

Pulled up next to him and shot him.

- There was four in his arm, one in his wrist,

and I believe, one in his chest.

narrator: Two hours in...

- All right, well, thank you.

narrator: Hunter gets a clue from a woman in the crowd

about the Mercedes that fled the crime scene.

- The people that live here... - Mm-hmm.

- Saw the car the day before.

narrator: According to the witness,

the Mercedes SUV had been parked in the area

for the past two days.

It was occupied by two people.

- So what we have here is

people waiting on him for a hit.

- Yeah.

[sighs]

♪ ♪

I want to talk to some of these family members.

narrator: In the crowd of onlookers,

Hunter finds Milton's wife.

♪ ♪

- I know you're grieving,

but it's important for us to be on top of this.

- Have you and your husband

been having any problems with anyone?

narrator: According to Lina,

Felix fled when one of Milton's coworkers

interrupted the robbery.

Milton later pressed charges,

and Felix was arrested for aggravated robbery.

♪ ♪

narrator: Lina says that Milton was scheduled

to testify against Felix next week.

- OK, but right now, Felix is in jail.

- OK. Who would Felix get to do this?

♪ ♪

[keys clacking]

- This is Felix Amador.

narrator: Felix is 21-years-old.

He has been convicted in the past for auto theft.

♪ ♪

- This is Felix's girlfriend.

I'm gonna show her to Milton's wife.

That's her--kind of... - That's her.

♪ ♪

That's her.

♪ ♪

- Just tell us what's been going on with Felix.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

So...

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- What's her name?

- OK and how was she gonna do that?

- Get rid of who?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- What was her plan?

♪ ♪

- OK.

- Who was helping her?

♪ ♪

- What's Eric's last name?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- This is Felix Amador's sister, Sonya.

narrator: Just 25 years old, Sonya has lengthy record.

- Carrying a weapon,

possession of a controlled substance,

theft, felony, theft.

- You go killing a complaining witness

in a case, it doesn't get much more serious than that.

Everybody involved in this needs to answer.

- You get a lot of cases where you think,

"How did this ever make sense to you

"that you thought that this was the right road

for you to be going down?"

The person that you thought you were protecting

is going to get out of jail in a couple years for auto theft,

but you're gonna go to jail

for the rest of your life for murder.

It makes no sense at all.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Thank you so much.

♪ ♪

I'm gonna turn it over to the Gulf Coast Task Force

and let them do what they do.

♪ ♪

[line rings]

narrator: As the team waits to track down Sonya...

- Hello.

narrator: Felix is cleared of the aggravated robbery charge.

♪ ♪

- Milton was murdered on the 30th,

and they dismissed the case on July 2 against Felix.

- They didn't waste any time releasing him.

♪ ♪

narrator: The next day,

the Gulf Coast Task Force locates Sonya Amador.

♪ ♪

The team also finds Felix Amador.

♪ ♪

- Can we talk?

♪ ♪

narrator: Hunter asks Sonya about the day of the murder.

- OK.

And that's what? All day to that evening or...

I'm sorry. I get high too much.

♪ ♪

- So are you aware that Milton...

- What's your understanding of Milton right now?

- Has died.

- I talked to my baby daddy and he's all like,

"Oh, you heard that Milton got shot in the head?"

- Why would somebody do that?

- I don't know.

- Milton had a full-time job.

He was married.

He was trying to raise her 5-year-old daughter.

What you think about somebody gonna come

and take his car or take his life?

What would you think about somebody?

- That's not right.

- What? You don't think it's kind of funny that

one week Milton files

criminal charges against Felix,

and the next week he's dead?

♪ ♪

- We have you identified.

♪ ♪

Now, I understand blood is thicker than water

'cause that's your brother,

but right now, you're at a point in your life

that you need to show that,

"OK, maybe I made a stupid mistake out of anger

or whatever, but I'm really not a bad person."

- [laughs]

- You don't want to say anything on your behalf

to help yourself right now.

- Mm, no. I didn't do anything.

- Right now, I have a warrant for you,

and you are being charged with capital murder.

- OK.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Maybe when Felix finds out that his sister

is being charged with capital murder,

he'll tell us whatever he knows.

♪ ♪

Hey, man.

♪ ♪

- You know, I'm willing to talk.

I just want to tell you, you know, I really--

I'm innocent, sir. I don't know why Milton

would put my name in something like that.

♪ ♪

- Felix is wanting to talk about

the aggravated robbery charge

like he doesn't know about the murder.

♪ ♪

- And I talked to an investigator

when I was incarcerated, and I told him I was innocent, sir.

I wasn't there. I wasn't no near there.

♪ ♪

- We're here because Milton was murdered.

- Huh?

- You didn't know Milton was dead.

- I really didn't know he was dead, sir, no.

- What you think about that, man?

- I think that's really, like, [bleep] up.

We used to be good friends, like, back in school, you know?

We had our conflicts, but it was nothing like that.

♪ ♪

- Can you think of anybody

that would have a reason to kill Milton?

- No, sir.

♪ ♪

- How do you get along with your sister?

- My sister? - Yeah.

- She's my sister, like, I love her.

She loves me.

- What all you think she'd do for you?

♪ ♪

You think she'd kill somebody to help you?

- No, sir.

- Sure about that? - No, sir, I'm--

- Why are you crying, man?

♪ ♪

how you got out of jail

and how he-- - Nothing.

She just told me, "I love you."

♪ ♪

What has my sister done?

- Milton was a witness against you in a robbery case, OK?

Milton got murdered, and you got out of jail.

And...

Your sister is charged with his murder.

- [cries] Damn.

♪ ♪

- She's trying to listen to see if she can hear

what's going on in the other interview room.

- [cries] She didn't tell me about this.

- So you didn't know anything about what she was gonna do

before she did it? - No, sir.

That's real stupid, man.

♪ ♪

- Are you upset for Milton or your sister?

- I'm--both.

[cries]

♪ ♪

- You hang tight, man.

♪ ♪

- I didn't do it.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- It is common that innocent people get caught

in gang retaliations

and there are people being killed over minor things.

When somebody feel like that they are being humiliated,

they often feel like that, "I have to retaliate.

I have to do something just to keep my status."

♪ ♪

[indistinct radio chatter] - What do we got?

- Looks like the victim was sitting in the back seat.

The bullet shattered the rear window

and hit him in the back of the head.

♪ ♪

- What's the victim's name?

♪ ♪

narrator: 23-year-old Blaine Wells

was born and raised in Oklahoma.

The oldest of four children.

He'd recently lost his parents.

♪ ♪

Blaine was just three weeks from his 24th birthday.

♪ ♪

- Jimmy Turpin is the witness.

♪ ♪

narrator: Jimmy, the driver of the car,

and another friend of the victim

had been taken to Homicide.

♪ ♪

- Hi, Jimmy.

Man, I'm Detective Frazier. This is Detective Ritter, OK?

Man, just kind of tell me what was going on today

prior to all this happening.

- We had just left the casino,

I want to say 5:30 almost.

We went back to the apartment, and I grabbed...

narrator: Jimmy says he went to his apartment

with Blaine and their other friend

to get more money for the casino.

- We pulled out the apartment.

When we did, I seen a car come to a stop sign.

You know what I'm saying? We're facing each other.

I don't know exactly what kind of car it was.

narrator: He says the car was white

with dark, tinted windows.

- And we pulled out.

I'm looking in the rearview, and I notice he gets behind us.

narrator: The white car followed them

for several blocks.

- All right? And then I come to that stop sign.

He stops about a car length behind us,

so I rolled down the window and I'm thinking,

"Who the hell is this following us?"

♪ ♪

And I stick my head out, and by the time I was

sticking my head out, he's getting out the car.

- OK.

- I seen the pistol in his hand.

♪ ♪

I turned around, you know, and I was gonna gun it.

Next thing you know, it's like, bam.

And that's when the shot was fired,

and I just took off. You know what I'm saying?

- What'd he look like?

- I want to say he was over six foot.

About shoulder length hair-- - White guy?

- White guy. - OK.

- Parted in the middle and he had on all green.

He was slender. - And he's wearing all green?

- All green.

♪ ♪

- Why would anybody be doing this?

Why would anybody following you around?

- I don't know. That's what I'm saying.

- Tell me about Blaine. - All right.

Well, Blaine-- we was real, real close.

He's a good kid. You know what I'm saying?

He been trying to stay clean.

- Sit tight.

♪ ♪

narrator: The next night,

Blaine's family decides to remove him from life support.

♪ ♪

- Hey, what's up?

♪ ♪

- Hey, man, this is Detective Frazier with TP Homicide.

narrator: Then...

- Hey, is there a manager around

I can holler at real quick?

narrator: The case takes an unexpected turn.

- There's a guy in jail

that may have some information about Blaine's murder.

We're gonna go see what he has to say.

♪ ♪

- Doing all right, bud?

- How do you know Blaine?

- Ok, I mean, you care about him.

- So--well, just anything that you've heard

as to why this happened--

♪ ♪

- Why?

♪ ♪

narrator: The inmate says his gang

has been feuding with a rival gang called the Irish mob.

narrator: He says just nine hours before the shooting,

he and a friend confronted

three Irish mob members outside a car wash.

- Yeah.

[laughter]

narrator: He says he punched one of the men in the face

and the fight broke up.

- Have you ever seen those guys in a car at all?

- What kind of car were you riding around in?

narrator: He says after the fight,

he left with his friend in a silver car.

narrator: The inmate gives them a nickname

and description for his friend

that was driving the silver car.

- All right, man, we'll get you back over there.

♪ ♪

He was saying that, man,

he's been fighting with the Irish mob,

which--those guys wear green stuff all the time,

and the suspect, they say he's wearing all green.

- There's a chance that these idiots

just got the wrong freaking car.

♪ ♪

- You and I, if we were sitting here and you referred to me

as a leprechaun, we might get a laugh out of it,

but in gangs, street credit's big.

Somebody's disrespecting them.

They feel like they have to go and retaliate for that.

Then you got gang A revenging on gang B

and so on and so forth. It never ends.

narrator: Detectives head out to the car wash

to see if they have surveillance cameras.

- He said the actual "physical" altercation

occurred in front of this car wash.

narrator: But as they pull in...

- Hey, is that the friend right there washing that silver car?

- You kidding me?

♪ ♪

What's going on?

- So what happened the other night?

narrator: The friend saw the inmate

punch an Irish mobster named Little Man in the face.

- What'd that guy look like?

- Yeah.

narrator: Little Man doesn't match

the description of the shooter.

narrator: Little Man lives in an apartment

near the crime scene with some other Irish mobsters.

- Who are they?

- Shane Vanderpool? OK. - What does he look like?

- About shoulder length hair-- - OK.

- Parted in the middle and he had on all green.

- Do you ever see those guys in a car?

- A newer one. - Mm-hmm.

♪ ♪

narrator: Vanderpool's car

also matches the suspect vehicle.

♪ ♪

Ritter looks up Shane Vanderpool.

- Parted down the middle, shoulder length hair.

- Yup.

narrator: Vanderpool is 38 years old

and has prior convictions for drugs

and assault with a dangerous weapon.

♪ ♪

- He's got a warrant.

♪ ♪

narrator: Vanderpool had agreed

to turn himself in on unrelated charges,

but never showed up.

- He definitely fits the description

better than anybody else.

♪ ♪

narrator: A few days later,

the team gets Vanderpool's phone records

from around the time of the murder.

- 6:30 on the 21st,

this guy's hitting at a tower right here

which is blocks away from where the murder happened,

so it's real good.

♪ ♪

narrator: The next day,

the team stakes out Vanderpool's apartment.

- Blue Impala looking thing, maybe leaving.

♪ ♪

narrator: Detective Ronnie Leatherman

spots a man resembling Vanderpool driving an Impala.

♪ ♪

- I got eyes on him there.

David 202,

driver we're looking for is Shane Vanderpool.

♪ ♪

narrator: Frazier calls on patrol

to pull over the Impala.

[siren blares]

♪ ♪

Patrol attempts to stop the car.

[tires squeal]

♪ ♪

narrator: But as they close in,

it takes off.

- Where's he at? Where'd he go?

♪ ♪

- Oh.

Hey, I've got him over here.

30th, I think, and 101st.

He's walking away. He's on a cell phone.

Car is parked.

- 202, trying to get to you.

narrator: Patrol closes in to try and take him on foot.

♪ ♪

- Ooh, dog's out.

♪ ♪

narrator: K-9 dogs pick up Vanderpool's trail.

♪ ♪

- Booyah. Boom.

Good deal. He is in custody.

♪ ♪

narrator: With an updated photo of Vanderpool,

Frazier preps lineups to show Jimmy and the other witness.

♪ ♪

- There's a lot of circumstantial stuff,

but that's not gonna be enough

to be able to charge him with it.

If we get a photo ID, then we're gonna file charges.

He's toast.

♪ ♪

Let's see if you recognize anybody

out of these photos, OK?

♪ ♪

- It looks like him.

- That looks like him?

- That is--

it seem like he was younger.

- All right, man, I appreciate it.

- All right. Thanks, sir.

♪ ♪

- I would call that a tentative ID.

Gonna head to her now.

narrator: Frazier hopes the other witness

can ID Vanderpool as the shooter.

- We'll see.

Here we go. Moment of truth.

♪ ♪

Good ID on Mr. Vanderpool.

♪ ♪

Shane, man, wake up, buddy.

- Man, I'm Detective Frazier. OK, this is Sergeant Walker.

- Well, man, we're investigating a shooting.

Do you know what shooting I'm talking about?

- No idea?

- It happened the morning of February 21.

You remember what you did that day?

- What motel did you go to?

- Yeah.

narrator: Vanderpool claims,

at the time of the shooting, he was at a motel across town.

- OK, what kind of car were you in?

♪ ♪

- What if I told you

that people saw you in a different place Sunday morning?

- I agree.

I mean, I know you weren't at the motel on Sunday morning.

- I'm asking you.

- I'm telling you, you weren't. I know you weren't.

- No, I'm not gonna argue with you.

- OK, Shane.

We got him locked into a story.

He was in 31st and Memorial,

and his phone records say different.

He was at 51st and Union.

Sometimes a lie is just as good as a confession, so...

♪ ♪

- We going to the buffet now? - First stop.

I'll tell security to get you buffet.

- I don't want that one.

[laughs]

♪ ♪

- I think that it was because of mistaken identity.

♪ ♪

Now Blaine's gone.

You know, a kid that's 23 year's old

that's trying to get his life together and get back on track

is never gonna get a chance to.

♪ ♪

- People become obsessed with getting revenge.

You still see this person living their life

and it seems like that they're doing it at your expense

and it just consumes you.

You can't go on with your life until you feel like that

this person gets what you feel like they have coming to them.

You end up ruining your life to exact revenge.

♪ ♪