Original subtitles

[dramatic music]

♪

- He was, like, frantic when he was trying to find her.

♪

- When someone is murdered, detectives look at the people

closest to the victim first.

- But sometimes the killer isn't just close.

They're obsessed.

- Wow.

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

- A couple is shot to death on their own front steps.

- They hear three shots. They open the door.

This is how they found them.

- Then...

- A love triangle leads to murder.

- And a woman is found in a trash can

just one year after her fiancé was murdered.

[screams]

[dramatic music]

♪

[tense music]

narrator: Dallas, Texas.

12:08 a.m.

In an affluent neighborhood known as the M Streets,

shots ring out.

[line ringing]

[siren wailing]

narrator: When police and EMS arrive,

they find a man and a woman on the front porch of a home,

shot dead.

[dramatic music]

- [sobbing]

- This all family, I guess, we have down here?

- Yeah.

♪

- Oh, my goodness!

♪

Another lady and this couple's baby

are inside the house.

They hear three shots.

They open the door.

This is how they found them.

♪

narrator: The victims, 40-year-old Yayehyirad Lemma,

known as Yared,

and his wife, 31-year-old Yenenesh Desta,

moved from Ethiopia 10 years ago

to try to make a better life in the U.S.

They opened an Ethiopian restaurant in Dallas

and were the parents of a two-year-old boy.

♪

narrator: Yenenesh has a gunshot wound to her head

and two to her chest.

- Her back was hit there.

narrator: Yared was shot twice in the head

and once in his chest.

- Wow.

♪

- When you-- as a homicide investigator,

you come to a scene where it seems like

there's an overkill, brutality and violence,

your job, at that point, is to determine

the people that they deal with on a regular basis.

Who would have the motive

to commit such an act to this degree?

Most homicides are carried between people

that have some type of affiliation with each other.

Very few homicides occur between people

that don't know each other at all,

especially to this level.

[dramatic music]

narrator: Sergeant Joe Garza has a possible lead

from family on the scene.

- That's what the family members were saying--

narrator: According to the family,

the victims sometimes brought home large amounts of cash

from their restaurant.

- It seems like this is somebody that's aware of both

their business and their business practice

of maybe carrying this money around.

narrator: They check the victims for money.

- Oh.

- Full of cash.

narrator: Yenenesh was carrying

over $9,000.

♪

- So eliminate robbery.

♪

Either they just freaked out at the end,

or that wasn't the motive.

Yeah.

[dramatic music]

♪

- You were home when this happened? You heard it?

narrator: Yeric speaks with neighbors

who have gathered at the scene.

- Either they followed them down here,

or they know them well enough

and they were waiting for them here.

♪

Let's check it out.

♪

I don't know how we're gonna really get this thing solved

unless somebody comes forward.

We haven't got any surveillance video,

no real information to go on.

♪

[phone ringing]

This is Yeric.

♪

Yes, I'm working a double murder right now.

♪

narrator: A detective from a small town in Kansas

has a man with information about the murder.

- And you said he was kidnapped?

♪

narrator: The man claims the couple's killer

kidnapped him in Dallas

and forced him to drive to Kansas,

where he was able to escape.

- OK, just hang on to them.

We're gonna be on our way as soon as possible.

OK, thanks.

Well, this is exactly what we needed.

It's almost midnight.

I'm gonna call Detective David and get him ready,

because in the morning, we're gonna leave

and go to Kansas.

[dramatic music]

♪

- Hi. - How you doing?

Steve David. - Joni Showalter.

- Mike Yeric. How are you?

- Nice to meet you. - Yeah, you too.

- I spoke with you on the phone.

narrator: They meet with Assistant Chief

Joni Showalter, Goodland PD's only detective.

- How was your drive?

- It's been long. - Long.

- And you guys can pull up a chair.

narrator: Showalter says the witness,

Patrick, escaped from the suspect at

a local Walmart.

- This is the guy that we have here.

- Mm-hmm. - This is your suspect.

♪

He took off.

He was screaming, "He's got a gun,

and he's--you know, he's gonna kill me."

narrator: Walmart employees called 911,

and police brought Patrick to the station.

- Patrick advised

that the subject that had been with him

had committed a double murder in Dallas, Texas.

♪

- We'll see what he says.

- Yeah.

♪

- Patrick, I'm the one that's,

you know, looking into this thing.

From the beginning, just kind of tell us

what you know, what happened.

narrator: Patrick says the suspect's name

is Abey Girma.

narrator: He says the night of the murders,

Abey wanted to see him.

- OK.

narrator: Abey asked him to meet at the airport,

where they both work.

- What kind of car does he have?

narrator: Patrick says Abey walked over

and got into his car.

narrator: He claims Abey admitted

to following the victims home

from their restaurant.

narrator: He says after the confession,

Abey forced him to drive.

- Tell me what happens at the Walmart when you get here.

What's your purpose of stopping here...

- OK, OK. - At the Walmart?

narrator: Patrick says Abey wanted to use

the ATM inside the Walmart.

So...

narrator: He says when they got inside,

he ran screaming for help,

and Abey fled in Patrick's car,

a blue Nissan Versa.

- Let's focus now on what you know

about where he might be in Denver.

Did he used to live in Denver?

narrator: He says Abey was planning to hide out

with a friend in Denver.

- We are grateful that you did come forward

and tell us what he told you.

♪

narrator: 37-year-old Abey Girma

has no prior convictions.

- He must have been wanting to kill them to begin with.

- It was pouring rain. - Yeah.

- And he was right behind them.

He wasn't getting out to have a discussion

in the pouring thunderstorm.

He followed them all that way for a reason.

narrator: As the clock winds down,

Yeric will alert police and U.S. Marshals

in Colorado to search for Abey and the blue Nissan.

- So now we're in the manhunt stage.

We have a person out there who's armed,

clearly dangerous.

So it's important for the safety of everybody

that we get him off the streets.

♪

narrator: While detectives Michael Yeric and Steve David

drive back to Texas, a search for their suspect

gets underway in Colorado.

- To love somebody is understanding everything

that comes along with that person

and understand that love does not mean ownership.

But to obsess over somebody means that I believe

that I control that person.

I believe I control everything about that person,

which makes them dangerous.

And in this case, it's like,

if I can't have you, nobody else will.

I cannot live my life and bear the pain

of watching you go on with your life with someone else.

Either you're gonna be with me,

or you're not gonna be with anyone.

I love you to that point.

I love you to death.

[phone ringing]

narrator: Later that night...

- This is Yeric.

♪

Did you find him?

narrator: Abey Girma has been taken into custody

in Aurora, Colorado.

- I will head that way first way in the--

first thing in the morning.

[dramatic music]

♪

narrator: Yeric flies 870 miles northwest

to Aurora, Colorado.

- I'm Mike Yeric, Dallas Police.

- Warren Miller. - Good to meet you.

narrator: He meets with the Aurora officers

who apprehended Abey.

- So you got a call?

- So yeah, the information that we got from dispatch

was that a female was contacted by a male at a church.

narrator: According to patrol, Abey Girma accosted a woman

in a church parking lot.

- And then he told her he killed a bunch of people.

She was there with her kids.

She then got in the car with her kids and took off.

narrator: That's when the woman called police.

- She was hysterical.

I sent one of our cars up to the church, looking for him.

narrator: He says Abey sped off in his car

when police arrived at the church.

- We ended up doing a high-risk stop.

narrator: Police took Abey into custody

and found a 9-millimeter in his glove box,

the same caliber as the casings found

at the crime scene.

- There was a gun box in there too.

- Yeah. - A box of ammo.

- Yeah. - That's good work, man.

♪

narrator: After tracking Abey

across three states,

Yeric finally has him in the interrogation room.

- Hello, Abey.

My name is Michael Yeric. I'm a detective from Dallas.

I just got into town.

And I kind of want to talk to you for a little bit.

Are you willing to talk to me about what happened?

[tense music]

♪

- So I guess you knew Lemma, right?

Is that what you called him?

- What did you call her?

- Salome? OK. - Yeah.

All right. How long had you known

Yared and Salome?

- Where was it you first met her?

narrator: Abey says he ran into Salome

two years ago after eating at her restaurant.

♪

- OK.

Tell me about what happened Tuesday night.

How did this all come to--come to happen?

narrator: Abey says he was angry

that Salome wouldn't leave her husband.

narrator: He says the night of the murders,

he followed Yared and Salome home from their restaurant.

narrator: Abey says he confronted the victims

at their front door.

OK?

Yared...

narrator: He claims he thought Salome

was reaching in her purse for a gun.

[dramatic music]

♪

- But as we always say, it's either love or money.

This time, it was love.

And Abey just couldn't take

the situation anymore.

♪

narrator: 12:00 a.m.

Louisville, Kentucky.

[siren wailing]

narrator: Officers arrive at the apartment complex.

They find a man lying in his doorway.

♪

- Let's see what we got.

♪

Hey, how you doing?

You about ready to go up?

It looks like it was an apparent home invasion.

narrator: 35-year-old Marcus Penny

was hearing impaired.

He lived alone, but was father to three small children,

currently in foster care.

♪

- People are creatures of habit.

You know, you typically go to the same grocery store,

same gas station.

You typically deal with the same people

on a regular basis.

Most people know what time you get home every day.

If you have a person, especially if it's somebody

that has a relationship with you,

I don't have to go look for you.

I know exactly where you are.

[tense music]

narrator: CSI searches the apartment for evidence.

♪

They find a prison identification bracelet.

- We got a person's armband in there

with his name and photo on it.

So we're gonna have to find out

whether or not he was a friend,

or whether this person dropped it during an encounter.

- OK.

[dramatic music]

♪

- Hey, we got a--we got a fellow of your all's that--

narrator: Detectives call the department of corrections

to get the bracelet owner's address.

♪

- We're gonna talk to him and see if he's been home.

I'm not gonna get my hopes up on any of this.

♪

[knocking on door]

♪

narrator: The man whose photo was on the bracelet

answers the door.

- How you doing, man?

I'm Detective Brown.

♪

narrator: Because the man is currently under house arrest,

Brown can have his monitoring unit tested

to see if he left his house.

[tense music]

♪

- Now I'm gonna attack my investigation

as if he does not exist.

♪

I'm Detective Brown. I'm Brown. - OK.

- Nice to m-- I'm sorry about your friend.

- OK. That's my friend.

- Did you see Marcus...

- See, you're gonna have to write stuff down for him.

- OK.

- Tell him.

- He'll tell you what--

narrator: George says he did see Marcus

the day he was killed.

- Who he had problems with?

narrator: George is unable to identify the suspect,

but believes Marcus was murdered

by someone Marcus knew.

- The victim comes over here, tells him about the problem

that he's having with a guy.

George tells him to lock the door.

It didn't really matter.

They got to him anyway.

Thank y'all. - All right.

♪

- Unfortunately, George was unable to ID

our suspect in the case.

But we know now that this was a personal crime.

This wasn't a random act of violence.

And Marcus may have known the person who killed him.

♪

narrator: Eight days into the investigation...

[phone rings]

- This is Detective Brown.

narrator: There's a major break in the case.

- Good.

narrator: A tipster gives Brown

the name of a suspect.

♪

29-year-old Michael Knights.

He is also hearing impaired.

- Wow.

narrator: The tipster claims that Michael

is also responsible for another murder

that happened one week before Marcus Penny was killed.

- They've actually linked this individual to two crimes.

♪

- It's all good.

narrator: Detective Leigh Maroni

is the lead detective on the other murder case.

♪

- It was a 72-year-old man

who was working at an army surplus store.

He was found beaten.

narrator: Darrell Spencer

was bludgeoned to death with an axe

during an apparent store robbery.

- The witness that gave us Michael Knights

has also told us that he's staying at the Salvation Army.

So we're gonna have a couple of guys

go over there and try to pick him up.

♪

The suspect that we have is hearing impaired.

To protect his rights and his interests,

we're gonna make sure that there's some interpreters.

- Most officers can't sign.

So you have to have an interpreter.

And it's been my experience that any time

that there's an interpreter, there's a lost

in translation at some point.

So sometimes what people are saying to you

don't always get related, and don't always get the tone.

Those cases are very, very difficult.

It tends to make the case move at a slower pace.

It tends to make you be more deliberate.

And they're extremely difficult to work.

- The reason why you're here is 'cause your name

came up in a case I'm working.

- Homicide.

♪

- I saw on the news, someone got killed here recently,

and I do know that man.

- My girlfriend's ex-boyfriend.

♪

narrator: According to Michael,

his girlfriend is the mother of Marcus's children.

- They have three kids together.

- Is that rough, dating--

dating a woman and you got her ex kinda hanging around?

- In some ways, yeah.

You know, he--he tended to harass her and, you know,

wanted her back.

- You're dating his ex, got her in the mix right now.

- Just in the deaf community, it just--

it's like a rumor mill.

Things just get spread. - Right.

You must tell me now what really happened.

- Oh, I understand, but I was not in that area at that time.

- You were there. What happened?

- Tell me.

- What happened there? both: What happened?

- What happened?

- Tell me exactly what happened.

- [sobs]

- It's all right, Mike.

You're not no bad guy. You're not.

♪

- It was self-defense.

♪

I was afraid of him.

- It was me and my friend, Jus--

- Jeston. - Jeston.

narrator: Michael says that he and his friend, Jeston,

went to Marcus's apartment on the night of the murder.

- That's when he hit me in the ribs.

narrator: Michael says that Marcus

attacked him before they could enter his apartment.

- I was on my knees.

Jeston slipped me the knife.

narrator: According to Michael, during the fight,

Jeston gave him a knife.

- And he hit me again, and that's when

I roundhoused him into his side.

♪

- But there's still things that just kinda don't fit.

narrator: Brown turns to the second murder,

72-year-old store clerk Darrell Spencer.

- I didn't kill that man. It was--Jeston did it.

He's the one that had the axe.

narrator: According to Michael,

Jeston beat Darrell Spencer to death

with the back of an axe.

♪

- It's just total stroke of luck

that we could ever match these two cases up.

narrator: Brown looks for Jeston Murray

in the database.

♪

- Here's Jeston Murray.

He's pled guilty to criminal abuse

in the first degree with a child.

narrator: Jeston is 27 years old and recently out of jail.

♪

Later that night, Jeston Murray

arrives at headquarters.

- How you doing?

I'm Detective Will Brown.

She'll be interpreting.

narrator: Jeston Murray is also hearing impaired.

He will be questioned through an interpreter.

♪

- I saw the whole thing. I saw everything that happened.

He said, you know, I'm gonna go kill him.

♪

narrator: Jeston claims the suspect, Michael,

told him he wanted to kill Marcus.

- I saw--I saw Marcus try and defend himself.

narrator: Jeston says Michael forced his way into

Marcus's apartment and stabbed Marcus.

- I didn't wanna go. I didn't wanna go,

but I went with him.

He said I'm chicken and, you know, was making fun of me

and thinks, you know, that I couldn't do it.

- The 72-year-old man.

- Well, his plan was--

- It was Mike's idea.

Mike did all the work.

narrator: Jeston claims it was Michael

who killed Darrell Spencer.

- You've put yourself there.

Both of y'all are pointing the finger at each other.

You're gonna be arrested for murder on both of these cases.

[dramatic music]

♪

[dramatic music]

narrator: Tulsa, Oklahoma.

7:00 a.m.

A public housing complex on the north side.

- [screams]

[dramatic music]

♪

- I think that throwing somebody into a dumpster

following killing them, in--

amongst the trash, that's beyond low.

Pathetic and evil.

- One of the most difficult things about Homicide,

people think that it's seeing the gore and the violence

that we have to witness.

It's not necessarily that.

Especially a veteran homicide detective

will learn to look at the signs

associated with homicide.

But you never get over the pain that homicide cause.

You never get over the devastation of the survivors.

♪

- Do we have her name?

♪

narrator: 19-year-old Marquisha Walker was

raised in Tulsa by her mother.

Her dream was to become a cosmetologist.

She was previously engaged.

But seven months ago, her fiancé was murdered,

and his case is unsolved.

- Looks like she's got some sort of trauma

to the side of the head.

narrator: Marquisha has been shot twice in the head.

- I'm not seeing any blood on the path that--

she may have been wrapped up.

- Yeah, the roommate says the blankets are her blankets.

♪

- The boyfriend's name is Walker, and he's downtown.

narrator: Marquisha's current boyfriend, who called 911,

has been brought to Homicide.

- Barry is the roommate of the victim.

- OK. - The guy sitting right

over here on the curb.

♪

- All right, I think I'm gonna go downtown and start

doing these interviews.

♪

Let's start off from the beginning.

- So during the day...

narrator: He says Marquisha's boyfriend, Demond,

also goes by the nickname "Dirt."

- And we end up getting into it today because he made it seem

like it was my responsibility to watch his daughter,

which it wasn't.

We was just arguing.

And basically, he, like, grabs my shirt and turns me around,

you know, and that's when Marquisha said get off of him

and pushed him away.

Well, he said, to get out of his house.

narrator: Barry says he and Marquisha

went back to their apartment

and hung out with some other friends.

- We was all just sitting outside, chilling, you know?

Quesha started getting sleepy around 3:30.

That's when she went to Dirt's.

narrator: An hour later, he saw Demond walking

through the apartment complex.

- And he was going to get some cigarettes.

By the meantime, he asked us, have we seen Quesha?

I haven't seen her. My phone is dead.

He tried to call her a million times.

We walked around the apartments a little bit.

narrator: He say they checked all the apartments

where Marquisha might be but couldn't find her.

- What was his demeanor like?

- He was, like, frantic when he was trying to find her,

you know, like--like, walking around the apartments,

he was frantic.

- Is that unusual?

- It seemed unusual.

- Who do you think did this?

- Honest opinion...

I think it was him.

- I'll be right back.

[tense music]

♪

- He's been arrested.

narrator: 19-year-old Demond Walker has one conviction

for drug possession.

- Nothing super violent that I see.

♪

- Hey. What do you got?

- The neighbor--

narrator: Corporal Nathan Schilling got a lead from one

of Marquisha's neighbors.

- The most significant thing he says

is two to three weeks ago, Quesha comes in,

and she's upset, and she's like,

"I can't believe it.

I just found out who killed my fiancé."

♪

Dirt took her to a place, and he's like,

"Man, I killed this dude here."

♪

And Quesha puts two and two together

and is like, holy crap.

narrator: According to the neighbor, Marquisha believed

Demond killed her late fiancé.

♪

- All right, that gives me some things to work with.

Let's figure that out.

♪

- Let me ask you about something else

that's kind of interesting to me that--

that was brought up.

Her ex-boyfriend that got murdered,

what do you know about that?

♪

- Basically, he just said that he did it.

[dramatic music]

- Did he say how he killed him?

- Would you think that maybe Marquisha at any point in time

might have confronted him about that?

- Yeah, she did. Yes. - So tell me about that.

I mean, what did she say, "You killed my boyfriend?"

- She was-- - "My fiancé."

- Yeah, basically. She was like, "Why--

why--why would you do that?"

- Was there anything recent that came up

in reference to that?

- Last--last night? - Yeah, sorry.

- OK, that'd be a big deal. [laughs]

You know, that's a big deal.

♪

Did she-- - But she didn't say anything.

It was me. - What did you say?

- I was like, how are you gonna be around his family

and you did that to him?

- You said that last night?

- And what did--what was his response to you?

- OK.

Thank you.

I'm liking where it's going at this point.

♪

- There was a casing right next to the couch.

♪

And there's two dark spots on the carpet.

♪

♪

- Let's go in there and start talking to him.

- Let's do it.

♪

- I'm sorry you had to wait so long.

- What time? - I seen text messages

from Quesha.

narrator: He says around 2:00 a.m.,

Marquisha sent several texts asking him to tell

his daughter good night.

- I just texted her back and was like,

why don't you come over?

And she was like, "All right, I guess."

narrator: He says he headed home to meet Marquisha,

but she never showed up.

- And I'm walking down the sidewalk.

And then I seen Barry and my friend.

I'm like, "Man, y'all ain't seen Quesha?"

They was like, "Nah, I thought she was with you."

And we was walking around every place

that he knew that she would be at, looking for her.

narrator: He says after an hour of searching,

Barry went home.

But he kept looking for Marquisha.

- Something said look inside of the trash can, so I did.

And I seen my girl just sitting there.

Just laying there lifeless.

I ain't know what to do.

I just started crying. I started yelling, "Barry!

"I found her. She in a trash can, bro.

This ain't cool."

He's like, "What is you talking about?"

I said, "Bro, I found her, and I seen her in the trash."

♪

- Yeah, and we know that's tough on you.

I know it's a lot to process, isn't it?

You strike me as a young man that's got dreams, hopes,

and--and probably a heart.

But something bad happened, and you did it.

Did you shoot her?

♪

- No, I did not.

♪

I'ma keep it a dollar with you.

- This isn't the time to protect anybody.

- Yes, sir.

I'm gonna--I'm not gonna lie.

I did lie to y'all at first.

It was my cousin.

narrator: Demond claims his cousin shot Marquisha.

- How did he do it? Tell me the whole thing.

- We was watching TV. I had dozed off.

Then I heard a bah!

And then I heard it again--bah!

And so I stepped out.

She, like, landed this way.

And her head is, like, where you at.

And my cousin is standing right there.

- Why would he do this?

- Her and him used to have a thing,

and I took her from him.

- So why didn't he come after you, then?

- I honestly don't know, sir.

But what I'm saying is the truth.

- How'd she get in the dumpster?

Did you help him? - Don't lie.

- I'm not. I did not help him.

I watched that man struggle on his own.

- I don't believe for one minute

that you didn't help your cousin

take her down the stairs.

Did you, or did you not?

Yes or no?

- With my life being threatened, yes, sir, I did.

- OK.

Let's be real about this, dude.

You're in trouble.

It wasn't because she was throwing your name out there

that you were involved in that murder?

- What?

- No, don't give me this "I don't

know nothing about nothing."

Her ex, her fiancé.

- She was telling me that he passed.

I don't know nothing about happened.

The only person I know that shot her was my cousin,

Henry Mack.

- Henry Mack. - Mack.

- If you're throwing your cousin down for something

that you did, then you're--you're lower

than I've met in a long time.

- What do you think?

[laughs] I mean, you helped dump a body in a dumpster.

You think you might be in a little bit of trouble?

- With my life being threatening and doing it.

- Well, we're gonna have to talk to him

and see what's up, OK?

I'm gonna bring in this marshmallow suit for you

to take your clothes off and stick them in bags for me, OK?

Sit tight.

All right, we're gonna drive you over there.

You're gonna point out where your cousin is.

I wanna find him to talk to him.

Before that, is there any way there's gonna be any gunshot

particles from shooting a gun in your hands

before we test it?

Be honest with me, please.

He made me shoot the gun.

- OK, then there, we have another lie.

♪

So you both shot her in the head?

- No. He made me.

I didn't do nothing without being forced.

I promise you. - Did he pull the trigger

with his finger over your finger?

- Yes, sir. - Oh, come on, dude.

[laughs]

The thing of it is, is that she was about

ready to tell the cops that you were involved in that murder,

and you were freaking out about it.

- No, I was not involved. I promise you.

♪

- Henry?

Your name came up on something earlier.

♪

Is that guy a cousin of yours, maybe?

- Oh, yeah, that's my cousin.

- Demond? OK.

Did you go over to his place last night?

- I left from his place last night.

♪

- I'll tell you, man.

Your cousin tells us that you were over there

and some bad stuff happened.

- What--what are you talking about?

- He told me that you killed her.

- He said what? - Yeah.

- That I killed her? - Yeah.

- OK.

- Not true? - Not true.

♪

- At this point, we don't have any evidence

that Henry was there, and he claims that he wasn't there.

So he's free to go.

What it looks like to me is that Demond is desperate,

and he's trying to cast the blame elsewhere,

primarily towards his cousin, which is--

is pretty despicable.

♪

narrator: 13 hours in,

Detective White closes his case.

♪

- Can you turn around, for me?

♪

- No, it's all good. Let's go.

- [coughing]

♪

- One minute, I have every reason in the world to love you

and to support you.

And the next minute, I have every reason

in the world to hate you.

And because of the way that I have loved you,

the level of hate is a level

most people will never understand.

And because of that, it often turns violent.

♪