Key Witnesses | "48 Hours" Full Episodes | Forensic Files

[Music] There's nothing in this world that anybody can ever do to me that's going to be worse than what
I've seen. I received a call from the sheriff's department that there had been a
homicide. It was very devastating. There wasn't a lot of murders in Washington County.
Everyone knew everyone. They all knew Michael. They all went to school with him. Everyone knew Rita.
I was really close with my mom. She was always at my football games, my baseball
games. She's always had the camcorder out. She was recording me. Come on, son. This murder was as brutal as they come.
[Music] The first responders called this crime scene horrific. There's blood all over the room.
Some sort of object was used to hit Rita at least once. Mike finds her body burning on the floor of her room. I was
scared to death. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know who to call. I didn't know I didn't know what to do.
My name is Michael Polite and when I was 14 years old, I was arrested for the murder of my mother.
Would either one of you ever, ever think, and be honest with me, that he might hurt your mother? No. I never
thought he would hurt our mom. No. She was very close with Michael. You know, he was her baby.
Tell me about December 4th, 1998. Do you remember that evening vividly? I was home and then I see
headlights coming down the the driveway and it's my mom and uh she comes into the house and she said, "I love you.
Good night. I'll see you in the morning." Is that the last thing your mom ever said to you? That's the last
thing she ever said to me. Next thing I remember, I I woke up and I see a light haze in my room. I opened my
door. I could see her feet and she was on fire from the waist up. And I could hear it.
What could you hear? Cracking of a fire. How soon did investigators focus on Michael? Immediately. Immediately. He is
a suspect from the moment they arrive at the scene. They said this kid didn't act
the way they expected. He wasn't emotional enough. You look like a pretty good suspect. You were a person who
loved to set fires. You had had arguments with your mother. You were having trouble in school.
But none of that suggests anything about murder. Were there any injuries on Michael? On your brother? None. Any
blood found on him, on his clothing? No. And no weapon? No. Let me ask you a question. What 14-year-old kid could
commit a crime that violent, that vicious, and not leave any any forensic evidence behind whatsoever? That's not
possible. Michael was convicted of murder in the second degree. He was sentenced to life.
[Music] Michael, did you kill your mom? No. And there's only one individual that I
know that hates her that much to do that to her. [Music] [Music] This is where the Pite family home once
stood on December 5th, 1998. The day Michael Pit says he woke up to find his mother's body lying on her bedroom floor
on fire. What I seen was hatred and evil. He was 14 years old. The individual that did
that to my mother hated her with everything inside of him. Rita Pite was just 40 when she died.
There's a lot of pictures of us and mom. All these years later, Michael's older sisters, Crystal and Melanie, still have
vivid memories. That's Crystal. That's mom. And that's me. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think
about Rita? Her laugh. She's always laughing, smiling. Michael and his sisters grew up in the
tiny rural community of Hopewell, Missouri. It's about 70 mi southwest of St. Louis. We didn't lock our doors. We
lived by all of our family. We rode bicycles and motorcycles. I was happy. Michael went by the nickname Bernie back
then. His middle name is Bernard. It's short for Bernard. Their parents, Edward and Rita, got married as teens. And
Crystal and Melanie say the couple had their struggles. He was very mentally abusive.
He also cheated on her a lot. But she loved him. love. It outweighed any other feeling she ever
had. Eventually though, love wasn't enough. I witnessed violence between the two of
them. There were allegations of domestic violence on both sides. The year before
the murder, there was an incident where police were called. Michael told an officer that his dad pushed his mom to
the floor and choked her. The couple ultimately divorced in the summer of 1998 after more than 20 years of
marriage. The divorce decree cited Edward's infidelity. My dad would he would try to pay me to
come live with him. I wouldn't I want to live with mom. Michael ended up having to split time between both
parents. On December 4th, 1998, he was at his mom's. That night she was out working at a local bar and Michael was
home alone. Probably 7, eight or so. I get bored. I ride my bicycle down to a general store. It's there that Michael
says he met up with his friend, 15-year-old Josh Sonsy, who he invited to sleep over. The two hung out for
hours until Michael's mom got home around midnight. I asked him, I said, "Mandy, where you want to sleep at? You
can sleep here in the living room on a fold out couch or you can just sleep in, you know, in the floor in my room. He's
like, I just crash in the floor. Michael says he slept through the night until just before 6:30 a.m. when he and
Josh awoke and noticed smoke in the room. We ran out of the room. My mom's bedroom door is facing me and I can see
the glow, an orange glow in that area. He says he called out to his mom, but there was no answer. Michael, what are
you feeling at this point? Panic, fear. Michael says he went and grabbed a hose outside and then ran toward his
mom's room. And what he saw he'd never forget. I seen blood on her legs. Then she was on fire from the
waist up. Now I turn the water hose on. I don't know how long it sat there. It could have been minutes. It
could have been seconds. I don't know. Josh ran to get help, but it was too late.
Crystal would soon get a call from her brother with the news. I just sat on my bed
and I just kept saying, "I don't want to go. I don't want to go. I don't want to
go." Because You know, then you know it's real. Crystal picked Melanie up and by the
time they got to the scene, police cars and fire trucks were lining the driveway. Mike was in the front seat,
passenger side of the police car, and we just ran up to the window, asked him what was like, what happened, and he had
sit on his face, and he had tear marks all down his face, and he said, "I don't know. Mom's
dead." You could smell the smoke. You could smell flesh. Tammy Nash worked for the Washington County Sheriff's Office
back then and was one of the responding officers. It was clear that this was a murder. Rita had suffered blunt force
trauma to the head and blood was visible on her bedroom walls, indicating a struggle had occurred. A fire marshal
quickly concluded that an accelerant was used to set her on fire. What was your job at that point? What was your
assignment? Together the evidence. We was looking for anything that she could have been struck with. We
never found a weapon. While Tammy processed the scene, Michael and Josh were taken away to the
sheriff's office for questioning. A police report indicates that on the way, Michael asked an officer something that
quickly put him under suspicion. He asked, "What's going to happen to my mom's truck?" Isn't that an odd thing to
say after you just saw your mother on fire? I don't think so. When you lose someone,
you want to hang on to things. To me, that's all it was, you know, and our mom loved that truck. But it did raise
eyebrows. And at the sheriff's office, Michael was given a voice stress test. And then they told me that I failed.
Investigators also took Michael's shoes so that an accelerant sniffing dog could
examine them. They said the dog alerted to my shoes to an accelerant. How would you describe the tone of the questioning
after the dogs alerted on your shoes and after you failed this voice stress test?
They wasn't questioning me no more. They were telling me that I did something. Michael and Josh both insisted they
didn't know what happened to Rita, that they had stayed in Michael's room all night, but investigators told them they
didn't believe them. The boys were questioned repeatedly, and 2 days after the murder, Josh gave a videotaped
statement with an officer on each side and his mother present. That statement seemed to poke a hole in Michael's
account. He said he woke up to a noise in the middle of the night. I heard a little
thud and I thought I heard like a a woman's voice. Did Bernie wake up too or did you see Bernie in the room at that
time? No. Bernie wasn't in bed? I didn't see him. Could you have seen him if he was? You
let Is that Yes or no? Yes. Okay. So, there's no doubt he wasn't in bed. Okay. And was he anywhere else in that
bedroom? No. Shortly after Josh gave that statement on December 7th, 1998, 14-year-old Michael Pit was
arrested for his mother's murder. I always believed that I was going to be found
innocent because have anything to do with what happened to my [Music] mother. Oh, was I in for a rude
awakening. He looks like a really happy kid. He was always really happy. When Melanie and
Crystal learned that their 14-year-old brother had been arrested for their mother's murder, they say they couldn't
believe it. How are they coming up with that conclusion? I I just thought they were crazy. He didn't do it. No one want
cleared. Chuck and Paty Skyles are Michael's uncle and aunt. They live next door to where the crime took place. They
also felt police had made a mistake. You know, we was the first ones to see him after it happened. He had no scratches,
no nothing on him. He's always giving his mom a hug. He loved his mom. But while Michael's family believed in
his innocence, the truth is Michael was hardly the model child. Something that even he admits. You failed seventh grade
three times. Yeah, I was on my third year. Uh because I became fluent. I just wasn't going.
Skipping school was one thing, but 10 months before the murder, things got so bad that Michael was hospitalized for
behavioral issues after he threatened to kill his mother and himself. For whatever reason, I told her that I would
put her six feet under just like her mom and dad. Did you mean that, Michael? No,
I didn't. And it's the biggest regret of my life. Melanie and Crystal blame Michael's misbehavior on their parents'
divorce. Our dad would kind of put him in the middle. Michael was clearly an angry, troubled teenager. Yeah, I think
he was mad at our dad for sure. Was he mad at your mom as well? No, I think I mean I know they didn't always get along
perfectly. Um I don't think any parent and child does. Three years passed with Michael in custody awaiting trial and
then the prosecution came to him with a deal. plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter and he'd spend a maximum of
15 years in prison. I rejected it. You didn't think about it? Nope. Why not? Cuz I didn't murder my mother.
In January 2002, Michael P, then 17 years old, went on trial. His life was on the line. The prosecutors and defense
attorney who tried the case didn't respond to our calls. But Josh Hedgecourt, the current prosecutor of
Washington County, where the murder took place, was willing to talk about the case.
What was the most important evidence? The scientific evidence, and that would start with the shoes that he was wearing
at the sheriff's office. Not only had a dog detected an accelerant on Michael's shoes, according
to the prosecution, later testing also confirmed the presence of gasoline on them. And there was testimony that an
accelerant had been used to burn Rita's body. And so all of these components together, I think, solidified that he
must have set the fire. But Michael had told police the gasoline found on his shoes meant nothing and that he and his
friends would often set fires for fun. But we all did that. It was in it was in the country. In fact, Michael told
police that just hours before the murder. He and his friend Josh used gasoline to set a fire on the railroad
tracks near his house before Rita got home. Got to show the persistence of fire. But the prosecution used that
admission as another piece of evidence against Michael. See the heavy charring in it? They argued the burn pattern on
the tracks matched the burn pattern on Rita. See the outlets showing nothing electrical that could have caused the
fire. Linda Dickerson Bell and Jonathan Peterson were jurors on the case. I'm like that's it's not looking good for
him. What they were telling us was that Michael had a problem with burning and that he was the only person that could
have done this. The jurors never heard about Michael's problems at school and that threat to his mother, but a witness
testified about a disagreement that Michael had with his mother weeks before the murder. It was over money and he sat
flicking a lighter afterwards. It happened, but not in the way that the state portrayed it. I was flicking the
wheel on the lighter. That's that. You weren't threatening your mother with that? No. And there was something even
more damaging. The prosecution claimed that Michael had actually confessed to the crime. during a suicide attempt at a
juvenile detention center exactly 1 month after the murder. Three witnesses who worked there wrote in reports that
Michael said, "I haven't cared since I killed my mom." But Michael says that's not what he said. When they asked you
why you were trying to kill yourself, you say you said what? I haven't cared since I killed my mom.
It's the difference of one word, but that one word carried a lot of weight, and the jury would never hear from
Michael because when it was the defense's turn, he didn't take the stand. Today's date is the 7th day of
December, 1998. And leaving the jury with even more unanswered questions was the fact that they were told that Josh,
the other boy in the house that night, had been granted immunity. I kept waiting, thinking, "Okay, well, if he's
been given immunity, then he's got to have something to offer." But the jury never saw or heard from Josh at all. He
wasn't called to the stand. And they were never shown his videotape statement. Michael's sisters also
weren't called. But I never really heard anybody in his defense say Michael didn't do this.
Instead, the defense hinged its case on the lack of direct evidence. No murder weapon had been found. And despite the
violence of the attack, Michael had no injuries and no blood on his clothing. After 3 days of testimony, the case went
to the jury. To hold someone's life in your hand, have you ever done that? It's not a pleasant thing to do. I
wanted to get it right. But Linda and Jonathan say they were left with so many questions. Too many questions. And they
felt pressured by other members of the jury. I I think everybody finally just got to me and just like, you know, we're
ready to go home. And then I was like, yeah, but you're ready to go home and this kid's ready to go to prison.
After more than four hours, the jury filed into the courtroom with their verdict. Guilty of secondderee
murder. I wept. Why? Because it was wrong. Michael was sentenced to life in prison.
It was um it was it was unbelievable. It was I I never thought it would happen. Michael would spend years in a Missouri
prison before a new team of lawyers would take his case and make it their mission to turn it around. The state
essentially never really had any case against this kid, but the case that they even did have back at trial has been
indisputably proven false. After Michael Pulite was convicted and sentenced to life at the age of 18, he
was sent to the Missouri State Penitentiary, once called the bloodiest 47 acres in America.
Being so young, I was a target. I got in a fight my first day there. Dudes were trying to rape me. Michael says he
became desperate for some sense of safety. You became a skin head. Yeah. Join a gang. That's where you got the
tattoos. Yep. It was something that I felt like I needed to do to survive. It's not the way that I
feel. Um it's not the way that mom raised me. I just didn't fit in. Michael says
he longed to prove his innocence and get out of prison. He needed to hire a lawyer. So he says he asked his dad for
help. Did he? Nope. So how did you keep up any hope at all? I didn't for a few years. I was heroin addict. Um anytime I
left my cell, I was looking for drugs. I was just self-medicating. That's the way things were until Michael
finally found something that gave him hope. 5 years after his conviction, he wrote a
letter to the Midwest Innocence Project and they agreed to take his case. The organization worked on it for years and
eventually attorneys Trisha Bushnell, Megan Crane, and Mark Emerson became involved. Mike was convicted because he
was a kid, pure and simple. They said he wasn't emotional enough. Trauma doesn't
look like what people think it should look like. Trisha, Megan, and Mark picked apart the case against Michael.
They say it was based on bad science. Break his trip. Started with the prosecution's claim that an accelerant
was used to set the fire that killed Rita. When the fire investigator came to the scene, they immediately determined
it was a fuel-fed fire based on just visual patterns. Uh just based on looking at the scene, which at the time
violated gold standards of fire investigation, there has to be lab testing. Control sample taken there and
lab testing was done on carpet samples from the crime scene. No accelerant was detected. The prosecution explained that
away by saying it could have burned up, but defense attorney Megan Crane says that suggestion isn't reasonable.
There's no scientific basis for that being possible. Do you believe that the jury believed that in fact there was an
accelerant used to set Rita on fire? Absolutely. The main case against Michael was that it was a gasoline fire
and in order to attempt to tie Mike to the crime, the only physical evidence was the gasoline that the state alleged
was on his shoes. But Michael's new lawyers say that Michael's shoes didn't have gasoline on them either. Another
footprint found. They say a chemical used in the shoe manufacturing process was wrongly identified as gasoline at
trial. And even the Missouri State Crime Lab agrees. In this 2020 letter, officials say it is now known that
solvents found in footwear adhesives have similarities to gasoline, but that in the late 1990s, this knowledge was
not widely known. Could the dogs have been alerting to the chemicals used in the shoes? Absolutely. The jurors cared
about the gas on the shoes. They asked to see the shoes. It was the nail in the coffin.
But what about Michael's alleged confession at the juvenile detention center? Witnesses wrote that they heard
him say, "I haven't cared since I killed my mom." But Michael insists he said, "I
haven't cared since they killed my mom." In the same way we talk about tunnel vision, people can hear what they
want to hear. They're talking about one word in a room where there's lots of activity happening. They have a a kid in
the detention center that they believe has probably committed this crime, right? And so that's their view of
him. There is one big question that remains. What about Josh Sansi? Remember, the jury was told he got
immunity and there was that videotape statement where he told police that he woke up in the middle of the night and
Michael wasn't there. So, there's no doubt he wasn't in bed. Okay. And was he anywhere else in that bedroom? No. Now,
many years after the crime, Josh is speaking publicly for the first time about what he says really happened that
night. I spent the majority of my life just trying to forget about [Music] it. I've done pretty good just moving on
with it. But I mean it's it's still it's always there, you know. Josh Sansusi is now 39 years
old. He says he's never been quite the same since he woke up from that sleepover at Michael's at the age of 15
and found himself in the middle of a murder investigation. He says he was questioned
by police repeatedly for hours at a time. Every time I tell them something, they would be like, "No, that's not what
happened. This is what happened." I remember telling my mom, I said said, "They keep saying that I'm lying." I
said, "I don't even know if I'm telling the truth anymore." But the truth, Josh says, is that
nothing out of the ordinary happened on that night in question. It was just like
a normal night. I couldn't sleep very good at night. I was kind of waking up. I woke up one time. But what about that
videotape statement where Josh told police that he woke up in the middle of the night and Michael wasn't there? So
there's no doubt he wasn't in bed. Okay. And was he anywhere else in that bedroom? No. I don't remember ever
saying that. And I feel like if I said that then it was maybe at a weak point or something. Michael's attorneys say
they've seen this all too often in interrogations. What we see in Josh's interrogation is
the result of hours and hours of interrogation. And every other time he has never ever said that that was what
happened. In a deposition right before Michael went on trial, Josh said that he never sat up from where he was sleeping
on the floor and that it's not that I did not see him in his bed. It's I couldn't see him in his bed. There's no
way I could see anything that's on top of the bed. So, why did Josh take that immunity deal? I just wanted it because
I knew they was going to try to pin it on me or Bernie. I was like, well, if they'll give me immunity, then maybe I
don't have anything to worry about. You know, Michael's lawyers say the prosecution was likely trying to get
Josh to flip on Michael. And the fact they didn't even put Josh on the stand says it all. They didn't call him
because it wasn't going to go well for them. He had nothing helpful to say for the state. Why didn't the defense call
Josh? That's a great question, Aaron. And there's a lot of great questions about what the defense didn't do and who
they didn't call. Michael's trial attorney was a public defender back then. In a court affidavit, he admits
that Michael's case was the first homicide case that he had tried on his own and that today he would handle his
representation of Michael differently. Michael's new legal team was committed to getting him out of
prison. They filed court documents suggesting an alternative suspect, Michael's father, Edward Pit. I believe
he is responsible for what happened to the mother. If that's true, that means Michael's own
father stood by and let his son take the fall for a murder that he was behind. Michael's sisters say their
father was furious over the financial terms of the divorce. A judge had finalized them just 4 days before the
murder. She got half of his retirement, maintenance, maintenance, child support,
alimony. And the one thing that I remember about growing up with our dad is you don't mess with his money. You
just don't do it. He had an outburst in the court. He said, "You'll never live to
see a dime of that money." Police did interview Edward Pit after the murder. He had an alibi. He
was home more than 80 miles away at the time of the murder. But Michael's defense team says investigators didn't
look hard enough. They didn't at all investigate the possibility that perhaps Ed did this with someone else. And
Michael says he believes his dad did arrange the murder and had help. I think he hired Johnny to murder my mother.
Johnny is Johnny Pit Edward's cousin. Michael's legal team identified witnesses who placed Johnny near the
crime scene on the morning of the murder just as first responders were arriving.
Well, I'd heard sirens and uh as I'm coming up the road and I'm approaching the railroad tracks, Johnny Polley was
walking down railroad tracks. Larry Lee is one of those witnesses. He's known Johnny for years.
[Music] As he's walking up to my truck, he asked me if I I heard about Rita. He said, "Somebody killed." And
I'm like, "Do what?" [Music] About a week later, Larry's wife, Carolyn, says Johnny came to their door
and it was like 6:00 in the morning. He said, "I need to know what you know about Rita's death." He said, "Me and
Edward are doing our own investigation and we heard you were up at the store talking about it." And I said, "Johnny,
I don't know nothing." "No, we need to know what you know," he said. And I said, "You know, I think it's time for
you to go." Were you scared? A little bit. Did the two of you talk to investigators about this? No. We think
back now and we wish we would have. And I ain't saying he had anything to do with anything either. I don't know. But
you know, another man places Johnny Pit's truck near the same spot that Larry Lee says
he ran into Johnny on the morning of the murder. In an affidavit filed by Michael's team, the man says he saw the
truck just as emergency vehicles were coming down the road. Former investigator Tammy Nash says she doesn't
remember hearing that Johnny Pit had been seen that morning, but she does recall something that happened in the
days after the murder. Once the crime scene had been released, somebody came in to the
sheriff's department and said that they had found a tire iron or tire tool or something in the closet.
Whose closet? Michael's closet. Police records show the person who found that tire tool was Johnny Pit. Could you
have missed that in your first search? No. Are you absolutely sure? I am positive I did not miss that. If it
wasn't there when you searched, what does that mean? That somebody placed it there. Tammy went and retrieved the tire
tool from Michael's closet. It was later ruled out as the murder weapon. Do you believe that tire iron was put in your
closet to set you up? I do. Johnny and Edward P didn't respond to our request for an interview. Neither has been
charged in the case. It's been years since Michael and his sisters have spoken to their father, but they say
they did ask him whether he had anything to do with their mother's murder, and he
denied it. It's not our our job and it's not our focus to say who who did commit
this crime. But what we do know is it was not Michael Pit. And while Michael's lawyers were trying
to prove that, the case would take a turn. Best day in the world. I never thought this day
would come. It's amazing. Take an in-depth look at the case at 48 hours. It's hard. It's real hard here in
Missouri to get these convictions overturned. It's a battle. I don't know why they don't want to have a hearing.
Michael's legal team was shut down by appeals courts at every turn. It is a constant fight with, you know,
Goliath really is what it feels like. Despite the letdowns, Michael and his sisters kept up hope that one day he
would be freed. And in 2021, there was an unexpected development. A bill passed in Missouri giving juvenile offenders
convicted of serious crimes a second chance. He gave me an immediate pearl hearing. Michael went before the parole
board asking for his release. I told him I was innocent and I told him, "This is
why I'm innocent. This is why you should believe I'm innocent." It worked. On April 22nd,
2022, Melanie and Crystal brought friends and family and a change of clothes to the Jefferson City
Correctional Center. It was a really great day. It was a dream come true really.
On that day, Michael Pipe walked out of prison. [Laughter] I love you. I love you. Incarcerated at
just 14 years old. I love you guys, man. He was now 38. Where's my lawyer? It's overwhelming to see all the love. All
the nights sitting in myself wondering what it would be like to be out here and have this moment and have it finally
come through. It's It's awesome. Yeah, it's it's finally here. I'm free. How you doing? Can I have a hug? Michael
says he felt his mom's presence when a bird flew by overhead. Hey, Mom. She's always in my thoughts.
She's always in my mind. And everything I do and everything that I process through today is guided by her. Michael
left prison that day doing one of the things he enjoyed most before he went in. We're going to take a bike ride from
the parking lot to the railroad tracks. You ready to go, man? I'm ready. I'm leaving here the same way that I came in
here. Riding a bicycle. Justice for Let's go, man. [Laughter] Felt good. It best bike ride in the
world. Welcome home, Mike. This is it. Welcome home. Following his release, Michael moved in with his sister,
Melanie. You ready? Drum roll. Hey, he started getting those reminders of prison, his tattoos covered up with this
new art. He also found job as a carpenter, and got his driver's license. You're now out. Is that enough? Not
enough. Because as you sit right now, you are a convicted felon on parole. You have a criminal record that says you
killed your mother. Y Michael wants to clear his name. And it just might happen because Josh Hedgecourt, the current
prosecutor in the county where the murder took place, has filed a motion asking for Michael's conviction to be
overturned. To me, it all always comes back to the science. Hedgec court agrees with Michael's attorneys that the
scientific evidence used to convict Michael is problematic. So, I don't believe that Michael received a fair
trial. I can't say that the prosecutor at the time knew what he was putting on was false. It just shouldn't have been
presented. Could you retry Michael Ped for the murder of his mother based on the evidence you have today? On the
evidence I have today, I don't believe I would file this case. But while the local prosecutor believes Michael's
conviction should be thrown out, another public official, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmidt is fighting it. In
every Exoneration Missouri, the attorney general fights it because they say, "We
have to respect, honor, and protect the verdict of these jurors." Well, that goes out the window when the jurors
themselves want this verdict overturned. In sworn affidavits, five jurors have questioned whether Michael got a fair
trial, including Jonathan Peterson and Linda Dickerson Bell. I do not believe that Michael Pulite killed his mother,
but I don't know how to fix it. The Attorney General's office didn't reply to our request for comment, but in a
court filing, they say that Michael cannot meet the standard for actual innocence. And the AG has argued that
the evidence against Johnny and Edward Pit would have been inadmissible at trial. There you go. Michael hopes that
a judge will hear the case and decide to overturn his conviction. But in the meantime, prosecutor Josh Hedge has
revealed to us that the local sheriff's department has reopened the investigation into Rita's murder. We
want to do the right thing. If someone else did this, we want to know that even if it's new evidence that it was
Michael. Neither Hedgecourt nor the local sheriff would comment on the specifics of the investigation,
including whether Johnny Pit or Edward Pit are persons of interest. And I feel bad for Bernie and his
family. I mean, everything they had to go through and Bernie lost his whole childhood. Josh Sonsy hasn't seen
Michael Pite since they were kids, but they hope to one day reunite. The night of that sleepover and
its aftermath has haunted Josh all these years. What would you say to him? I'm sorry. And that, you know, he didn't
do anything wrong. In Possi, Missouri, not far from where the murder took place, Rita's truck has
sat all these years. It's going to need new tires. So much smaller than I remember. Her
family says they held on to it because it's one of the only things they have left of her. That's her truck. You know,
it's a part of hers that that belongs to her. They hope to fix it up and get it running again.
We're going to get justice for her. I believe that one day we're going to we're going to get justice for Rita.
[Music] [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Personally, I could sort of relate to Kathy Blair and just thinking about what
that would be like as a woman to be home alone. That is the boogeyman story for every
woman, right? It's awful. An intruder is in your house. Yeah. Someone is stabbing you.
What's happening? My mom is dead. He killed my mom. This is a case that sticks with you
throughout your life. My name is Derek Israel. I was working in the homicide unit when this case
occurred. Uh my name is Carrie Scandal and I was the lead investigator on the Kathy Blair murder.
Kathy was a larger than life. She's my big sister. I have always thought everything Kathy did was
amazing. How would you describe her from a student's perspective? She was so kind. Um, just believed in me
wholeheartedly. It still makes no sense. Who kills a choir director? Who does that? A monster.
Uh, I get notified that there's been another murder. The victims are an elderly couple. They were the best parents you
could ever want. They were just sweet people like anybody's grandmother and grandfather.
Right from the get-go, it started sounding really familiar. It's so violent and it's eerily similar
to Kathy Blair's And when we saw the connection, we just continued to work the investigations
together. You know, Carrie and I both kind of came to the conclusion that there was a serial killer working here
in Austin. I was uh out testing a thermal scope. I needed to get some video of some deer.
Rob Leaf has this thermal imaging scope. It's a night vision rifle scope. So, I saw the car pull up in park. I zoomed in
with the scope and by the time I had zoomed in, someone had gotten out, walked over to the sidewalk.
That is just unbelievably chilling. The last thing they were expecting was high resolution thermal video. This video
showed the murderer walking towards Kathy Blair's house. The actual killer. The actual killer.
[Music] [Music] These days in Texas, it seems like all roads lead to Austin. The sleek skyline of the Lone Star
Capital [Music] glittering. A boom town that welcomes newcomers chasing dreams. It's a city charged with life.
An unlikely place to find tragedy as dark as the death of a dreamer like Kathy Blair.
She loved life. You loved being around her. What were the things that were important to her? She had, I think, a
sense of justice, right and wrong. Kirsten Mat is Kathy's younger sister. Um, she was bossy. And even as kids in
California, it was clear Kathy had a passion. She was always singing. She had a god-given talent, which was her voice.
It was music that led Kathy to Austin. Kathy went to UT Austin to get her master's degree in vocal performance.
She loved Austin. But love didn't always work out for Kathy. She divorced twice.
Still, her affair with Austin held firm. And by 2013, Kathy was renting a house on a quiet street here on Tamarak
Trail. It was home. She loved the people here. She loved the vibe. In a city known around the world
for music, Kathy Blair fit right in. She had melody and rhythm in her soul. But you wouldn't find her singing the blues
here on Austin's famed Sixth Street. Instead, she chose a more spiritual stage for her talents.
Christian Coral Society was a positive social setting. The kids were kind to each other.
Barbara Sally's daughter was one of hundreds of students touched by Cathy's talent as a choir director and teacher.
I think she lived, breathed, ate, slept music. Barbara along with Kathy's student Kristen Degrroot met with us to
share their memories of Kathy. She was so kind. um just believed in me wholeheartedly, which uh was something I
really needed. And for Kristen, Kathy was a role model. She and I were the same. Music needed to be in our lives or
we would die. She was their teacher and their mentor. One of her friends called it the Kathy Nation. The Kathy Nation.
The Cathy Nation. It was December 6th, 2014. Kathy's son Joe was staying with her
while waiting for his assignment from the Navy. After a night out, he came home to Tamarak Trail. What he found was
shattering and echoed across that Kathy nation. Think my mom is dead. There's a lot of
blood. These are broken. They killed my mom. Joe, what's your mom's name? Her name is Kathy Blair.
[Music] This case was clearly different really right from the right from the get-go. Starting with
the location. Oh, this is a nice neighborhood. This is a place where people I think feel safe.
Up until this case, which would frighten and chill Austin and shock veteran detectives scanlin and Israel,
one of the first things I thought of, I'm like, why this house? Yeah, why this house? There's nothing that uh makes
this house stand out from all the other ones. This is the living room right here. Then in Kathy Blair's bedroom,
there's a full-size jewelry case right here. Large drawers. All the drawers have been pulled out and they're stacked
up. So, it's like someone dumped them out and then put them in a pile right here. Someone who had time to do that.
Correct. a jewel thief who had time because Kathy Blair was already dead. This murder started right here on
the bed. 53-year-old Kathy Blair lay alone asleep in her own bed. She awoke to the
ultimate nightmare. Yeah, Kathy Blair fought like hell. Choked, stabbed, and finally slashed
across the neck. The wound is a fatal wound, but she still has time, you know, to put up that fight. She she fought for
her life. Kathy's here, and there's blood all around her. So much blood that it formed the timeline of a murder.
There's a light switch. Now, that light switch, we saw blood, like a a blood swipe that told us that the perpetrator
had come in here after the murder and switched that light on. There are more blood swipes on these drawers. That
tells me the murder of Kathy Blair occurs before these drawers were removed. Word soon spread across Austin
and across Kathy Nation. I just said, "No, that's not what happened. That cannot possibly be what happened." Was
Kathy Blair the kind of woman who might have an enemy who would do that? No. She didn't have a malicious bone in her
body. Why does someone come in here and and murder someone in order to steal a little bit of jewelry? You know, it
doesn't make sense. It would be the first in a hideous series of senseless events. It's just
one of those moments where you're in disbelief. You think you're living in a dream. This does not happen.
But it did happen. And the killer left almost no evidence. No DNA. No fingerprints.
No fingerprints. And no blood from the killer. No. Israel and Scanland would need all their street smarts and then
some. Because just 9 days later, I get notified that there's been another murderer.
[Music] for Austin Detectives Israel and Scanland. Images of Kathy Blair's death
were harrowing. attacked in the middle of the night and it was a really horrific scene.
But there was no physical evidence from a killer who made virtually no mistakes.
And that meant there was no clear suspect. Then suddenly the search for a suspect changed in a way no one could
imagine. It was around 1:30 a.m. on the night that Kathy Blair died. One of her neighbors was out for a late night walk.
What he saw and what he did would give the detectives their first big break in the case.
I was out testing a thermoscope. I needed to get some video of some deer. And we've got some deer up and down the
street. Rob Leaf lived a few short blocks from Kathy Blair. So, it's a thermoscope. So, it picks up a heat
signature. Wow. It's like daytime. Except it was the dead of night and Rob was only looking for deer. I saw the
headlights of a car coming up. I saw the car pull up in park and on this street on this street. Rob kept recording. This
is video he recorded that night with a scope like this one. I zoomed in with the scope and by the time I had zoomed
in, someone had gotten out and walked over to the sidewalk. You can flip the setting to red to see the image more
clearly. Did you focus in on the card? I first focus in on the person and he turns left on Tamarack Kathy Blair
Street. The next day, Rob flew to Las Vegas on a planned trip with old friends. Reading the news on my phone
and saw a murder story. I clicked on it and I saw the address. Rob raced back to Austin. He checked the
video of that stranger on his street and I called Austin police. How important does the video end up being in Kathy
Blair's case? Very, very important. The video was tantalizing, but blank on images that did not give off heat, so
you couldn't actually identify the man, a license plate number, or even if there
was anyone else inside the vehicle. Still, there was one important clue. It gave us an idea of what kind of vehicle
our murder suspect arrived at the crime scene with, and it was a sedan of some sort.
These cops needed much more evidence. Then 9 days after Kathy Blair's murder, in another peaceful Austin neighborhood
just 15 minutes from Cathy's home, they would get it. The victims are an elderly couple
murdered overnight viciously. Viciously. Sydney Jr., Johnny and Brenda want their parents to
be remembered as the outstanding people they were, not the grim headlines they became. Billy and Sydney Shelton were
hardworking and happily married for 64 years. We were never rich, but not once did daddy ever complain about it. Not
once did mama ever complain about it. A life well-lived and peacefully slowing down. Billy was 83. Her husband Sydney
85. These are sweet people that'll, you know, send you on your way with some cookies.
Home nurse Dao Catola was making her scheduled visit on December 15th, 2014. I knocked. Nobody answered. Front door
was splintered. It was clearly had been busted open. D nervously headed to the Shelton's modest bedroom and their room
had been ransacked and then to the left I saw him on the bed and I I ran. I just
turned around and I ran. Sydney and Billy Shelton had been beaten and stabbed. The knife is still present.
Yes. In one of the victims. That's correct. Is it clear that it's also a burglary? Yeah, I was seeing some of the
same things. The same things found at Kathy Blair's murder scene. Starting with an empty
jewelry box. And again, the drawers were pulled out. It had been emptied and stacked. Three people had been
slaughtered in their own beds. The crime scenes were eerily similar, and investigators were privately wondering,
was there a serial killer loose on the streets of Austin? [Music] If word gets out that there's a serial
killer, it kicks it to an entirely different level. So, investigators kept their worst fears to themselves. But why
would any killer target Kathy or Billy and Sydney, who cops determined didn't even know each other? None of these
people had any enemies that we could figure out. What is it that connects these people together besides the
killer? Every lead was chased down. Then almost 3 weeks after Kathy was killed, the name of a stranger surfaced. Tim
Paron. He'd done yard work at Cathy's house, and a friend reported Parland was weird and rude. I go to our computer
system. It was a simple and easy search. Tim Paron had spent decades in prison. And he jewelry and he stole jewelry.
Specifically jewelry at night. Are you hopeful at this point? Yeah, I am. So, this is the in town suites. Tim
Parland where he was living at the time the murders happened. Israel and Scandlin went to look up the
lifelong convict. The detectives snapped these photos of Tim Parlin. Told them were
homicide detectives. So, he asked us a few questions as well about the murder. Well, yeah. Like, so how'd she die? Wow,
that's bold. you know, stuff like that. He's sussing it out to see what we know.
Cat and mouse. It is. Harland spoke to the cops in the hotel's parking lot, but when they asked to see his room, he
refused, claiming his wife was inside and asleep. And you drive away. And what's the conversation? I said, "This
is our guy." You did? Yeah. And Derek says, "I don't know yet." A return trip to the in town suites just
a few days later pays off. Parland wasn't home, but his wife was. Explain what we were investigating. And she knew
the Shelton. His wife knew the Shelton. Tim Parlland's wife knew the Sheltons from church. And Tim Parlin had worked
in Kathy Blair's yard. It was tenuous, but it was a connection. She gave us permission to search the apartment. Did
you find anything? We did a pawn receipt. This is that pawn receipt for a piece of jewelry, a a nugget pendant.
And it turns out that pendant belonged to Kathy Player. It was pawn on the same night that Kathy Blair was murdered.
We found out that his sister had a green Toyota. Haron had been using his sister's car, a
green Toyota. Its outline appeared similar to the car in Rob Leaf's video. and one caught on security footage
approaching that Austin pawn shop less than 24 hours after Kathy was murdered. We took it. We had it towed. Towed and
tested. On the passenger seat, traces of dried blood. Blood belonged to Kathy Blair that was
in that car. Austin was on edge. Kathy Blair was found dead inside her home, hoping for
an arrest. The wait for justice has been troubling for her students, family, and
friends. My name is Ha Müller, and I'm an anchor at CBS Austin News. It was very, very shocking in the community,
and it was really unsettling. But now, justice was closing in on one man, Tim Parlin. But you're thinking one guy
still. Oh, yeah. When Kathy Blair's blood was found in Tim Parland's car, detectives Israel and
Scanland were convinced that he had killed her. At that point, we're all jubilant. We're super excited. We got
our guy. Parland fit the bill perfectly. He had done yard work for Kathy Blair and was a
career criminal with a long wrap sheet of burglaries. Now I just need to question him. confront him. Hopefully,
he'll confess, but if he doesn't, we have hard physical evidence to tie this guy to the murder. Israel had Parl
arrested for an unrelated parole violation and brought in for questioning. Seemed like a pretty short
and straight road to charging Tim Parliament with murder. It turned out it wasn't a short road, and it certainly
wasn't a straight road. The first step was to get Parland to corroborate some of the details of
Cathy's murder. I just straight up told him that, you know, we knew that he had killed Kathy Blair. What's his response?
I didn't do it. And this was the thing he really liked to say. These hands didn't kill anyone.
So, the detectives asked him who did, but Parlin wasn't giving up that information so easily. So, after hours
of this conversation, he finally says, "Okay, I'll tell you who it was." And that's when he said, "Sean Gant Ben
Alkazar." Who is that? That's what I said. Who is that? Did you think he was stalling? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This
sounded completely made up. And I knew as soon as he said it, that he had screwed us cuz now you had to cuz now we
got to go hunt some mystery guy down and prove that he didn't commit a murder. With their lead suspect behind bars for
now, the detectives reluctantly contacted Parland's mystery man. Shaun Gant Benelkazar had never been in
trouble with the law. He had a degree in microbiology, was once a high school science teacher, and seemed an unlikely
acquaintance of a serial jewel thief. This guy lived in Galveastston. He didn't cause any trouble. Gampelazar
readily agreed to meet with them that night at the Galveastston Police Department. See there? All right. We're
investigating a murder in Austin. And in particular, we're looking at Tim Carlin
as the person that we we believe committed the murder. I'm completely in the dark on this. Um, who was murdered?
He tells the detectives he barely knows Parland, that he just met him a few months earlier when his sister began
dating Parland's nephew. So, we started talking. Okay, when's the last time you were in Austin? Well, I've been in
Austin a few times the last month. He was in town during the the weekends of both of those murders and on top of it
he was staying with Tim Parlin. The thing is honestly I want to help you guys out because this guy wolf and
sheep's clothing basically didn't tell me anything about his past and I'm starting to feel like he set me up like
a psy. The detectives knew from Parland's criminal record that he did have a history of being a master manipulator.
Did Tim ever approach you about doing burglaries? And before long, the mystery man who initially said he knew nothing
slowly started to crack. Gant Benelkazar now says he was sitting in the car when
Parli went into Kathy Blair's house. So where are you sitting in the car? Passenger seat. Well, if he's sitting in
the passenger seat, then why is there blood in the passenger seat? But Gampen Elkazar had an explanation. He says
Parland came back to the car clutching a bloody pillowcase. Came back with a sack
had blood on it. Threw it in the passenger floorboard and I took a peek at it. Had
jewelry in it and I didn't want anything to do with it. When did you figure out that it had something to do with the
murder? The fact that it had blood on it was not a good sign. Then about 4 hours into the interview.
Now I'm just wondering is the restroom. As he walked down a hallway and he was walking in front of me. I looked up and
it just I mean I got a chill because I was like that's the same walk as the guy in the video.
Remember that spooky thermal video that the cops think accidentally caught Kathy
Blair's killer amling down the sidewalk? You know it was just the broadness, the
deliberate steps. I thought it was him. I definitely believed it could be him. Was it
actually Gamp and Alkazar and not Parland who had gone into Cathy's house? We started pursuing, you know, the line
of questioning along the lines of maybe he was in the house. Did he bully you into going into the
house or I was scared? And you know, he he was taking a threatening tone. He told me to go in the house and get the
stuff and finally he admitted I did go into the house and I did steal the jewelry. Came in through where? The back
door you said? Yeah, it was open. Okay. Open and unlock. Unlocked. Yeah. I looked around and kind of prowled and
snuck through quietly. I turned on a couple lights um in rooms where I didn't see her. I found the room where she was
and she was fast asleep. That was the room her jewelry box was in. Okay. And so I I opened the jewelry box, took the
stuff out, put it in the the thing. Maybe he went back. I don't know. But I didn't kill her.
I told him that's that's impossible. Everything you said is true except that it's not possible she was still alive
when you left. And I explained that the person who turned on those light switches, you talked about turning on.
The person who removed that pillowcase, you talked about removing. The person who removed those drawers, you talked
about removing. That person had Kathy Blair's blood on his hands. So the person who did all that
killed Kathy Blair. I kept pushing him for the reason. Something happened in that room when you were there. What
happened? And that's when he said, "I was standing there. I was looking at her."
With no room left to lie, he breaks down. She woke up. She lunged at me, grabbed the knife, started trying to
wrestle it out of my hand, and then it was a struggle, and I stabbed her in the neck.
The confession came unexpectedly. The witness was now the prime suspect. We had gone to clear the guy and instead he
confessed to capital murder. Gampanelkazar kept talking and claimed that after murdering Kathy Blair, he
handed off her jewelry to Parl. You didn't get to keep any of it? No, he didn't give me anything. I got nothing.
You're going to have to ask him where he fenced it. Shawn Gampanelkazar appears to have
gained absolutely nothing from this senseless murder. I've never met anyone who would go into someone's house and
sneak in at night and and murder them in their bed. For what reason? None. For their own gratification. That's it.
We're going to place you under arrest for capital murder. Detectives immediately read Gant Panelazar his
rights, but they still wanted to learn what he knew about the murder of the Shelton. We started talking again. Ask
him about the Shelton. Try as they might, Genelcazar wasn't talking anymore. Well, I wasn't there for that one. I
don't know anything about that one. By this point, everyone is exhausted. So, eventually, he just he terminated the
interview. He said, "I'm done." Done. Wish this all had never happened. After the arrest, Detective Scandlin made this
video of Gamp Benelkazar on his cell phone. His hunch seemed right. That's the moment that you think Yeah, that's
what I thought it was him. Two men are in jail in connection with the murder of a beloved choir teacher. 4 days later,
Austin police announced that they had made two arrests. 30-year-old Shawn Gant Benal Khazar of Galveastston is charged
with capital murder. 49year-old Timothy Parlland is also expected to face charges related to Blair's murder. Sean
Gant Benelkazar, he was a UT graduate. He had no criminal record of any kind. How did he get involved with a crime
like this? Tim Parlin had an answer. Later, while in custody, Parland admitted to the cops
that he had driven Gamp and Alkazar to Kathy Blair's house and to the Shelton residence on the nights they were
murdered. And Parlland says he knew all along that GM and Elkazar had killed all
three of them. Investigators now thought they understood what had happened. Shawn
murdered the Sheltons. Tim Parlland was a party to that murder and he planned it. He facilitated it. He profited from
it. He assisted in it. But you are 100% convinced that it was Shawn who murdered
that couple? Yes. Will he ever be brought to trial for it? It seems unlikely. Unlikely because there was no direct
evidence linking Gampan Alkazar to the Shelton murders and he would always deny he had killed them. Prosecutors would
focus instead on building their strongest case using Gampanelkazar's confession to convict him of killing
Kathy Blair. But when Shawn Gampanelkazar finally gets his day in court, no one could have
anticipated what would happen next. Makes you worry because this guy cannot be out on the
[Music] streets. Okay. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We're here to starts the
trial in the state of Texas versus Sha Gant Ben Alkazar this morning 3 years after Shawn Gant Benelkasar confessed to
the murder of Kathy Blair his trial begins did then and there intentionally commit murder by causing the death you
never know what a juryy's going to do but it was a very very strong case you're all here today assistant DA's
Andrea Austin and David Lovingston present the state's case the man who sits among us in this courtroom the
defendant Shan Gant Epcazar is Kathy Blair's killer. How hard was it to be there during that
trial? It was really hard. There were some pictures throughout that that I saw that I can't
unsee. There was a car that parked while I was on my walk. Kathy's neighbor, Rob Leaf,
testifies about the video he recorded on the night she was murdered. By the time
I zoomed and zoomed back in, someone was already out of the car and was crossing
onto the sidewalk. That someone, the prosecutor tells the jury, was Shawn Gampanelkazer, on his way to murder
Kathy Blair. I just kind of looked through the rooms, you know, and I I turned on a couple lights um in rooms
where I didn't see her. The prosecution's case hinges on Gamp Binocar's rambling 5-hour confession
where he describes breaking into Cathy's house. She woke up. She lunged at me. He had a
knife out. They fought over the knife. And I stabbed her in the neck. He didn't just kind of confessed. He
straight up confessed to all the details of of killing Kathy Blair. Signed and dated right here. That confession was
vital to the prosecution's case. He gave enough details in this confession that were kept out of the media so we could
show the confession was from the actual killer and that he knew enough about this crime to have either been there or
done it himself. There's no question that this is a horrible, horrible crime. But Gapan Elkazar's defense lawyer,
Ariel Pion, makes a bold accusation right off the top. That damning video, she just was trying to fight the knife
away from me and I was It was all a lie. A false confession coerced by detectives
Israel and Scandlin. No, I'm just wondering. The defense tells the jury that during
that five-minute bathroom break in the hallway when Gamp Benelkazar was not being recorded, detectives threatened
him. Law enforcement went down there, we believe the evidence will show, with the
express idea, plan, purpose, and intent to try to get him to confess to something he didn't do. They have to
come up with something. They have to argue that it's a involuntary statement, but we obviously knew that wasn't true.
The exact words were, "This is important and we're not you're not going anywhere
until we finish." Gampelazar takes the stand to blame the cops for his confession. That if I I didn't explain a
reason for having done it, even though I didn't do it, um I would get the death penalty. And he maintains that it was
actually Tim Parland who killed Kathy Blair on that chilly December evening back in 2014. Were you worried the jury
might just have to worry with juries. You don't get blood on your hands and put it on a jewelry chest. At closing
arguments, prosecutors insist Gap and Elkazar voluntarily confessed and offered details about the crime only the
killer could have known. I think it comes down to credibility and hopefully are sitting there thinking, "This guy
confessed. Why are we here?" The case goes to the jury. When the hours started ticking away,
two, three, five, six, seven, eight, nine, you feel you feel awful. Were you worried? Yes. The idea
that he would get out is just unthinkable. I mean, Sean is going to kill somebody else if he got
out. After 19 hours of jury deliberations, this time I'll declare a mistrial. A mistrial. The jury cannot reach a
verdict. If one person held out, she didn't want to consider the confession. I mean, look, that's what this system is
about. We we're required to get a unanimous verdict. We didn't get a unanimous verdict. How hard was it to
hear that there was a mistrial and you would have to go through it all over again? really hard. Yeah, that was that
was tough. With a retrial in the works and Tim Parland's trial less than a month away, prosecutors were worried.
Could they get any jury to convict either of these men? Good morning. This man, Timothy
Parland, knew that Shan Gant would go in and murder Kathy Blair. With Sha Gamp and Elkasar's mistrial still fresh in
her mind, prosecutor Andrea Austin is determined to put Tim Parlin away for life. He stands trial for both the
murders of Kathy Blair and the Sheltons. In Texas, if you were part of the crime,
then you are also guilty of that crime. You can convict him even if you don't believe he stepped foot inside that
house because he was there and he participated. Correct. I'm going to ask you to find him guilty of capital
murder. Detectives were convinced Gant Vanelazar had killed the Shelton, but had no
evidence to charge him with their murders. So Tim Parlin would prove to be an easier target for prosecutors.
Parlund admitted he drove Gampan Elkazar to both murder scenes. And the car Parlin was driving had Kathy Blair's
blood in it. Oh, he did much more than sit in the car. He's the one who targeted
Kathy. He's the one, for whatever reason, said, "Hey, you know what? This would be a good person for you to
murder." Morning ladies and gentlemen. Parland's lawyer Keith Lowerman argues that
despite his client having confessed to driving Gampelazar to both murders, there is no evidence placing Parl inside
the two houses. He never set foot in either one of these houses. And at the very end, you're going to realize that
this man in those hands never participated in any murders. After a nine-day trial, the jury doesn't
take long to reach a verdict. We the jury find the defendant Timothy Parley guilty of the offense of capital murder.
Guilty. Parlin is sentenced to mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole for his role in the murders of
Kathy Blair and Sydney and Billy Shelton. Five months later, Gampanelazar went to
trial a second time for the murder of Kathy Blair. The nerves were much higher the second round. Well, there's a lot at
stake. There's a lot at stake. The vehicle parked on the side of the street that it wasn't in front of a house.
Again, Rob Leaf's testimony is critical for the prosecution. And uh did at some point did you see an
individual get out of that car? Yes, sir. I did. I want you to watch this. It was a
struggle and I stabbed her in the neck. I I didn't Look what he does with his hands. I was
just He's retrieving a memory, right? Involuntarily, he's doing this. He remembers doing because he's the one who
murdered her. The police wouldn't let me go. It was my understand. Once more, Gampanelkazar swears the cops coerced
his confession. And I come out of the bathroom. They keep saying, "Oh, we we know you did it. There's no doubt you
did it. And they keep saying it. Keep saying it. And I just got worn down. This time out, the jury deliberates less
than 3 hours. We, the jury, find the defendant, Shan Gamp Benazar, guilty of the offense of
capital murder. We poured our emotions out into this case. Was justice delayed and
Yeah. But delivered. but deliver. Like Tim Parliament before him, Shaun Gampen Elkazar was sentenced to life in
prison without the possibility of parole. We're pleased. Um, we miss Kathy. This isn't going to bring her
back. Our hearts are never going to completely heal. A few months after the verdict, I spoke
with Gampen and Elkazar via a prison video phone. I wanted to ask why. Why would a guy who'd never been in trouble
with the law suddenly turn into a vicious killer? Instead, with no evidence of any remorse, he repeated
what he told the jury, that he was innocent, the cops had forced him to confess, and that Tim Parlin was the one
who had killed Kathy Blair. When I went to go see him at 4 4:00 a.m., um he said, "Well, we're going to go get
breakfast." and uh drove me out to the place and then said that he had killed her and told me about it. Tim Paron
confessed to you that he killed Kathy Blair. Yeah, that's right. How could you have
known the movements of the killer? Anything that um I said was something that either uh you know Tim told me or I
just made up. And not surprisingly, when I visited Parland at a prison in northeast Texas,
hello. Hello. How you doing? He pointed the finger at Camp Gampanelazar and claimed he knew absolutely nothing about
the murder of Kathy Blair. After Shawn viciously kills Kathy Blair, gets back in your car and drives away and he goes
back to Galveston. He never said a thing. Never said a thing. He never said he stone cold individual actually.
Right. You've been described as the master manipulator that you talked him into doing it. My IQ
is very low and I have a big heart. I believe that it is. It's very low actually. And I have a big heart. So I'm
not the mastermind behind anything. You're just a big teddy bear behind bars. Yeah, pretty much.
Bob Leaf is the accidental hero of this story. Someone who never knew he'd be called upon to help solve a murder. And
you ended up leaving the neighborhood. I did. Needed a change. I did. Absolutely.
I would not be where I am as a a professional actor and musician without her influence. Kathy Blair's student
Kristen Degrroot is moving to New York to pursue her dream of a career in music.
One of my greatest regrets is that I never was able to tell her that she did this for me. How proud do you think she
would be of you? I I hope she'd be really proud of me. They're just evil people in the end.
There's just two broken human beings who, you know, basically put a path of destruction
through, you know, two families. [Music] Two families who will forever share the
same tragedy. They were the best parents you could ever want. [Music] I just miss
her. And at the end of the day, she's gone and I can't call her [Music] tonight. 48 hours. Don't miss an
episode. [Music] [Music] You feel like you're in a hole or a sewer and you're looking up and you're
calling out for help from people and people are walking by, you know, cuz they don't hear you.
I don't think people know how blessed they are to be able to just hug somebody that they love or to wake up in a house
with people that love you. I haven't had the chance to do that in 28 years. I'm just going to ask you, did you kill
Marcus Boyd? I did not kill Marcus. He was like a friend of He was one of my best friends and I I I loved him. In
1994, Marcus Boyd was shot and killed. Marcus Boyd was shot and killed. Two masked men ran up and shot and killed
Boyd. When he pulled the trigger, I seen the flash. I swear I could almost see like muscle and tendons because the
flash was so big. It's like an X-ray. Could you see their faces? Could you identify these men? No, I couldn't
identify him. He had an alibi. I was about 3 miles away uh at a friend's house. And his
girlfriend at the time provided that alibi. I know for a fact he didn't do it. He
wasn't there. He was not involved. You agreed to a lineup? Agreed to a lineup. I couldn't identify anybody in all of
it. Greg viewed the lineup with Lamar Johnson in it at least three times. There's no identification and that
should have been the end of it right there. But it wasn't. I felt bullied by the detectives and only after pressure
from the detective did he all of a sudden say, "Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that guy did it." I just kept having pressure
to go along with this. He saw his friend murdered. He was scared. He was easily manipulated by the police and the
prosecutor in this case. I had what I believed to be a murderer and I had an identification witness who I believed
was truthful and honest. I presented the evidence I had and a jury convicted him.
A trial of heirs from start to finish. It was devastating. Since my conviction, I've been
petitioning every judge to give me a hearing and no judge has given me a chance to be heard. The problem is I
don't know what else to do. I lost so much just milestones, everything that a little
girl wishes that she could, you know, experience with her dad. Our conviction integrity unit found new
evidence that will exonerate Mr. Lamar Johnson. There's something powerful, really powerful in our system of justice
when the prosecutor says, "We're the ones who made the mistake. We're trying to free this man. Free Lamar Johnson.
Free Lamar Johnson." It's devastating for me that this man has spent 28 years in
prison for a crime he did not commit. All right. This is really kind of Lamar Johnson's last chance, isn't it? Yes,
that is absolutely true. [Music] [Music] Convicted at 21, still locked up at 49, Lamar Johnson
has spent most of his life in prison for a crime he insists he did not commit. How do you keep up hope? I have a
choice. I I know the truth. I know that I didn't kill Marcus. Lamar Johnson was convicted of
firstdegree murder in 1995 for shooting 25-year-old Marcus Boyd on his front porch. Johnson was sentenced to life
without the possibility of parole. What have you lost? time and um there's a closeness between
especially with a a father and his daughters and I I missed being able to be a part of their life.
You want your dad to come home? Yeah, I definitely do. Britney Johnson was just one year old when her dad was sent away.
It was definitely hard, but I learned to live without my dad. Kiier Barrow was just an infant. Then we're still
waiting. There is still an innocent man in prison. Kiier's mother, Erica Barrow.
Did you think you'd marry him? Yes, I did. I mean, he was my first love. Lamar Johnson grew up in St. Lewis,
consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous cities in the country. His southside neighborhood in 1994 was
battered by high crime and homicide rates. Johnson had steered clear of serious trouble. He wanted to better
himself. He wanted to be the man that he needed to be for his his children. So Johnson, the 20-year-old father of
two, worked at Chiffy Lube while attending community college, but he also had a dangerous side hustle, selling
small amounts of crack cocaine for extra cash. Yes, I was making some poor choices
then, and I I take responsibility for that, but that wasn't the sum of who I was. Selling drugs wasn't his life. It
was just something to help him manage until he could do better. Johnson's good friend Marcus Boyd, five years older,
had also started a family and was holding down a solid job at a printing company. And he too sold drugs on the
side. Marcus was like the the preppy type, you know, he wasn't very street. He was a really really good guy. Greg
Eling, then 30, had worked briefly with Boyd at the Printing Company. And Elen admits he was an
occasional customer. On the evening of October 30th, 1994, he wanted to get high, but Boyd said no. He was like,
"We're going to go to work tomorrow." So, we actually sat down on the front porch up on the stairs. Marcus Boyd's
street, Louisiana Avenue, was empty. his girlfriend and their baby were upstairs.
All he talked about all the time, you know, was about his baby and about his girlfriend. He's making me laugh. We're
kind of laughing at each other, but all of a sudden, he went serious. He was like, "Oh, no." From the narrow pathway
next to Boyd's apartment, two men came out of nowhere, barely visible in the dim light. These guys, they had
completely dark clothing and they had masks on. Black masks like this one and they had
guns. The men flew up the porch steps, says Eline. One attacked Marcus Boyd and he's wrestling with Marcus. The second
gunman grabbed Eline and he says, "Get the up." I remember looking at him right in the guy's eyes. The other guy, I seen
him put the gun right up to Marcus's like neck area. And when he pulled the trigger, I seen the
flash. Boom. The third shot. I kind of seen Marcus's soul just go, and I knew I knew he was dead.
To Elen's horror, both men continued to shoot Boyd, then vanished the same way they had appeared, sprinting down the
dark pathway. Surprisingly, the shooters spared the only eyewitness. You say you looked into one
shooter's eyes. All I seen was the eyes. Could you tell whether he was white or black? Um, I knew he was black.
When the gunman were gone, Greg Elking took off in the opposite direction. As he ran away, Elkine says he could hear
Marcus Boyd's girlfriend screaming. It's still hard to talk about it, isn't it? [Music]
And where were you when this happened? I was about 3 miles away. Johnson says he
was with his girlfriend, Erica Barrow, and their five-month-old daughter, Kiara, visiting friends. Erica says that
entire evening, Lamar Johnson was out of her sight just once. So, we were there because he was making a transaction.
Someone was coming. And so, he was just like, "I'll be right back." Johnson left
the house, Erica says, just as she began changing Kiara's diaper. And um I went out to meet uh somebody that I was
dealing with. His customer picked him up at the corner of 39th in Lafayette. Johnson says they completed a quick
transaction while driving around the block. By the time I finished changing her diaper and clean everything up, he's
coming back up the steps. And how long does that take? 3 to 5 minutes and he's talking, you know, nothing out of the
ordinary. It He was just normal. Minutes later, Johnson got a call that Marcus Boyd had been shot. The next day,
he learned that Boyd had died. Johnson's own life began to unravel. According to
investigators, when they asked Boyd's girlfriend, whom she suspected, only one name came to
mind, Lamar Johnson. She thought the longtime friends might have had a falling out. Marcus and I have never had
an argument or a fight. I loved him. I had no reason to want to hurt him. You agreed to talk to the cops without a
lawyer. That was risky, wasn't it? Well, I didn't have anything to hide. [Music]
Four days after Marcus Boy was shot to death on his front porch, St. Louis police tracked down the only eyewitness
to the murder, Greg Elken. How would you describe what you went through that night? It was the most horrifying thing
I've ever seen in my life. Shaken and scared, Elin says he was initially reluctant to talk until he met lead
investigator Joe Nickerson. I thought he was a this amazing dude. I thought he was like Nick Noli from 48 hours out of
a movie. He was awesome. I mean, it was it was somebody that I just immediately admired.
Elen says even though the shooters were wearing masks, he could tell they were dark-skinned black men, but he only saw
the eyes of one of them. Still, Nickerson, he says, insisted on showing him several photos. One, says Eling,
stood out. I said, "These eyes, there's something about these eyes." And that's all I said. It was a photo of Lamar
Johnson. And immediately he said, "Would you sign the back of it?" And I said, "No, I
don't want to sign the back of it." Why not? Because I didn't want nothing to do
with this because I couldn't pick out no murderer and I don't even think he's a I
didn't say he was a murderer. Nickerson, Elking says, warned him his life could be at risk, telling him that Lamar
Johnson was a dangerous man who may have been involved in as many as six murders.
Attorney Lindseay Reynolds says none of that was true. If they had any evidence whatsoever, then or now, Lamar Johnson
would be charged with a crime. Ronald began working on Johnson's case when she was in law school. Does he have a record
at all for violence? No, his record was is is and was minor. It's a possession charge, possession of cocaine, and then
a tampering with a license plate. She says Johnson received probation for those offenses. Still, she says cops
aware of his criminal record kept him and young men like him on their radar. It's just the usual suspects type of
round him up and everybody's guilty by association. But after the murder on Louisiana
Avenue, police had a new reason to focus on Lamar Johnson. The victim's girlfriend had given them his name, and
now they have what they said was a photo identification. On the evening of November 3rd, 1994, 4
days after the murder, they arrested Johnson along with his friend, Philip Campbell. I couldn't even understand
why. Why would they arrest you? Johnson's girlfriend at the time and his alibi for the night of the murder, Erica
Barrow. I begged him to get a lawyer. And all he kept saying is, I don't want my mom and stepfather paying all the
money, all this money for a lawyer. I didn't do it. I didn't have anything to hide. So,
I you know, I believed in the system. I believe that if I explained to them what
I knew and and where I was that that would sort itself out. At the police station, Johnson agreed to a live
lineup. I wanted to try to be as cooperative as I could. I wanted them to to to investigate and and talk to the
people whose house I was that night. You know, I would expected that they would reach the conclusion that I didn't have
anything to do with. But investigators never spoke to anyone who had been with Johnson on the night of the shooting,
not even Erica Barrow. They put him in that lineup. He's the third man in this photo. And brought in Elking to view it.
Could you identify anyone? No. Altogether, Elking viewed that lineup three times and never picked Johnson.
Elking was then asked to view a different live lineup. Lamar Johnson wasn't there, but the man arrested with
him, Philip Campbell, is number four in this photo. Elen still couldn't identify
anyone and says he feared he'd let down the detective he admired and trusted. I felt so bad. I could see it in his eyes
like I I hurt this guy like this whole time, you know, I just wasted his time. Then according to Elkine, he asked
Detective Joe Nickerson how he could help. All that came out of my mouth was like, "All right,
Joe, if you tell me what the numbers were, and I'll tell you if they were correct." What does he say to you? He
says three and four. And I was like, "You're right. Three and four." Lamar Johnson was number three in that first
lineup. Philip Campbell was the fourth man in the other lineup. If Joe Nickerson is telling me that three and
four is it, it's got to be Lamar and whoever at Phillip because he wouldn't lie to me. Joe wouldn't lie to me. So
you picked three and four because Nickerson told you. Yeah. We asked Joe Nickerson for an interview.
He declined our request, but sent us a text saying in part, "I went where the facts, evidence, and circumstances took
me." Eling claims he told no one that Nickerson had allegedly given him the suspect's numbers in the lineups.
Instead, he told the other detectives that he was able to identify Lamar Johnson because of his distinctive eye.
They had asked me, "What do you mean about the eye when you say that you could pick, you know, these eyes?" And I
and I said, I don't know, like like a lazy eye or something like it's different from the other. Dwight Warren,
the prosecutor, says he pressed Elking on his identification of Johnson. I believed Mr. Elking uh because I looked
him straight in the eye and said, you know, I want to know if he did it. Tell me you're sure of your identification.
Please tell me the truth because I don't want to go uh and charge somebody who's
not guilty. What did Greg Elken say to you when you said that to him? Well, quote unquote, I you know, I I couldn't
tell you, but he told me he was telling the truth that he w he knew who did the shooting, and it was Lamar Johnson and
Philip Campbell, so I charged them both. In July 1995, Lamar Johnson went on trial with Eling as the star witness. If
he had backed off of that, I would never have issued a case. So, it was he was absolutely essential to bolster the
case. One of the witnesses the prosecution called was William Mock, a jailhouse informant with a lengthy
criminal history, who claimed that he overheard Johnson and Campbell in a holding cell talking about the murder.
But attorney Lindseay Ronald says Mock wasn't credible and that his cell wasn't close enough to hear anything. Lamar
wasn't ever settled with Campbell and Campbell nor Lamar were ever in the same cell as William Mock. So, how could you
hear this if it happened at all, which it didn't? Don't you want to make sure that jailhouse snitch is telling the
truth? How am I going to do that? Well, you wouldn't put someone on the stand unless you could check out their story,
right? Unless I I did check it out. He was in two jail cells away. He was in a position to to be able to hear that.
Johnson didn't take the stand at his trial. The defense relied on his girlfriend, Erica Barrow, who told the
jury he was with her at the time of the murder. It took less than 2 hours for the jurors to reach a
verdict. Guilty. Johnson's life had been changed forever by Greg Elking, who says that as he was
pointing at Johnson at trial, he knew he had identified the wrong man. This isn't
the dude I seen at all. Because to me, Lamar is not dark and not what I seen. You had doubts right afterwards. Why
didn't you tell somebody? Why didn't you say? Because nobody talks to me. Nobody.
Who am I going to tell? I don't know who I could have told. Did it occur to you at that moment that you might have put
an innocent man? Yes. Behind bars? Without a doubt. Because I lied on the testimony.
I lied because I thought I was doing the right thing. [Music] Lamar Johnson was just 21 years old when
he was convicted of murder. At my trial, they did not even present a motive. They
never explained why supposedly did this. And then before his sentencing, Johnson
received surprising new information that he believed would prove his innocence. handwritten letters from his friend, the
other suspected killer, Philip Campbell. One said, "You didn't do a thing." He said, "I'm sorry you got convicted for
something you didn't do." He said he wanted to come forth, but his attorney wouldn't let him because he thought he
could beat his case. And Philip Campbell was actually one of the shooters. He was
Campbell even named the other shooter who was with him on the night of the murder, a man named James Ba Howard.
Johnson now had the names of both shooters. He wrote the judge and asked for a hearing, but his request was
denied. In September 1995, Lamar Johnson was sentenced to life in prison without
parole. Girlfriend Erica Barrow blames law enforcement. You didn't care to check his alibi. You wanted to blame
someone and you did exactly that. You just flat out didn't care. You didn't care.
Lamar Johnson didn't give up. He became his own jailhouse lawyer, sifting through police reports, trial
transcripts, and gathering new evidence. Johnson, with legal help, filed a petition asking for a new trial in
1996. Again, he was denied. Then, two years later, he would meet another inmate with a similar story. We were
both assigned to Possi Correctional Center in Missouri. Our friendship was almost instant. Ricky Kidd, who is also
serving a life sentence for murder, remembers when he first learned about Johnson's case. He said, "I have to go
to the law library." I said, "What are you working on?" And he turned to me. He said, "Well, I know everybody says this,
but I'm innocent." And I a big old smile appeared across my face kind of like you're seeing right
now. And I said, "Well, I know everybody say this, but I'm innocent, too." The two men made a pact in prison. He said,
"Let's make a promise that whoever makes it out will come back for the other, and
we shook on it." The Midwest Innocence Project had already been working on Kid's case before he himself was
exonerated. Kid says he convinced lawyers there to take a closer look at Johnson's case. When that team of
lawyers began their research, they discovered that the star witness, Greg Elking, in prison himself for bank
robbery, had written a letter to a clergyman admitting he had lied at Johnson's trial. What did you think
would happen? Again, I thought that I would be heard. So, it made me even more hopeful that I would that the court
would at least listen. Eling's letter would reveal another reason why he agreed to testify against Johnson. At
the time of the murder, Elking had been in serious financial straits. Detective Nickerson and the prosecutor's office
put him in a witness protection program. Elking's debts were paid and his outstanding traffic warrants cleared.
And that's not all. whose idea was to give you money, to move you, to give you cash. Joe Nickerson, they paid my first
month and last month's rent for a for a house. Altogether, Elen had received more than
$4,000. None of that was disclosed to Johnson and his lawyer at trial. Johnson repeatedly asked for a
hearing. He was denied and his case stalled. I mean, what else is needed? The only thing that's that that I
haven't been able to present is DNA. And God, I wish there was some DNA. Then in 2018, St. Louis Circuit Attorney
Kimberly Gardner agreed to look at his case. She had created a conviction integrity unit to look at cases of
possible wrongful conviction. and I started seeing some red flags and I consulted my team and I said, "I think
we have a problem here." One of the many flags for Gardner was the timeline for the murder. Could Johnson have had time
to kill his friend Marcus Boyd? Erica Barrow said Johnson had only left their friend's apartment for around five
minutes. And you cannot drive that distance. You'd have to be speeding through St. Louis to even get there. And
then you'd have to speed all the way back. There's no way you could do that. But prosecutor Dwight Warren says Erica
could have lost track of time. The Johnson could have been gone as long as 15 minutes. She didn't have a stopwatch.
Lamar got into a car and took off. At Johnson's trial, Detective Joe Nickerson testified that it only took him 5
minutes to go from the alibi location to the crime scene. We asked Chief Investigator Robert Olga from the
circuit attorney's office to take us on that same drive. According to testimony,
it just takes 5 minutes to get there. You're laughing. Yeah, help me. We timed the drive using a cell phone.
Yep. 12:55. 13 minutes. 13 minutes one way. That's more than double the time Detective Nickerson
said it took. In 2019, Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner's team released a detailed
report listing numerous errors that undermine Johnson's conviction. As a prosecutor, you put people in prison.
You don't try to get them out. As a prosecutor, no prosecutor, I believe, wants to secure a conviction
wrongfully using wrong tactics. That's just not what we want to do. We want to get it right. Jurors never learned that
jailhouse informant William Moff was a racist who had a hatred for black people. Nor did they hear the majority
of his criminal record. And they were never told Greg Elking had been paid thousands of dollars. Gardner was
convinced Johnson was innocent. But when she tried to get his conviction overturned, court after court, including
the Missouri Supreme Court, said she didn't have the power. And when you try to abide by your oath and you're stopped
every way, it weighs on you. In 2021, the Missouri legislature passed the law that gave Gardner and other
prosecutors the power to bring cases of innocence to court. A year later, Johnson got the news he had been praying
for. After nearly three decades in prison, he would finally get a hearing to present new evidence in his
[Music] case. On December 12th, 2022, Lamar Johnson and his legal team gathered in a
St. Louis courtroom for a week-l long hearing. His daughters, Britney and Kiara, were in the courtroom nearly
every day. I think we're all trying to be hopeful that my dad gets justice. All right.
One man, Judge David Mason, will decide Johnson's future. You may be seen. He has three options. Overturn the
conviction and grant a new trial. overturn the conviction and declare Johnson innocent. Or he could uphold the
jury's verdict. What is at stake here with this judge's decision? Justice and the integrity of the whole criminal
justice system. Circuit attorney Kimberly Gardner sat by Johnson instead of her usual seat at the
prosecution table. Gardner appointed two lawyers to handle Johnson's case, Charlie Weiss and
Jonathan Pots. I took this case because I believe that Lamar Johnson's innocent.
I didn't take it because I think he might be innocent. There was no physical evidence at all connecting Lamar Johnson
with the murder of Marcus Boyd. Period. Thank you, your honor. May I please the court? This is a rather historic moment
in this court. This is the first time where the court is hearing an actual innocence claim filed by a prosecuting
attorney. Good morning, your honor. The Missouri Attorney General's office sent a team of their own to argue that
Johnson's conviction should stand in response to our request for an interview. They provided us with this
written statement that read in part, "The attorney general's office has fought to keep a convicted murderer in
prison." The judge, attorney Miranda Leesh told the judge not to trust the witnesses who were about to vouch for
Johnson's innocence. They're going to ask you to believe convicted murderers and gang members. Their evidence is not
credible. Johnson's team calls their first witness. James Howard takes the stand and admits that he's one of the
men who murdered Marcus Boyd. How did Marcus die? Me and Philip Campbell killed him on his front porch. Remember,
Philip Campbell had written Lamar Johnson saying he and Howard were the real shooters. Campbell, who was later
convicted of the murder, took a deal and served only 5 years. He has since died.
Howard was never charged with Boyd's death. He's currently in prison for life for unrelated crimes, including
murdering another man. I killed him the exact same way. I fired two shots in the
back of his head. But attorneys Jonathan Pototts and Charlie Weiss can't rely on
Howard's word alone. They must now tear apart the original case against Lamar Johnson. They called Greg Elking, the
state's former star witness. Law enforcement was wanting me to help and I trust him. I wanted to help. Eling
told the court that he felt pressured by Detective Joe Nickerson to identify Johnson in the lineup. He goes, "I know
you know who it is and you're just not saying." And this is the part I hate the most. I just remember saying to
him, "You tell me the numbers and I'll tell you if you're right." And he did. And I was like,
"That was it." That was the numbers. And I've been living with it 25, 28 years. And I'm telling you, I
I just wish I just wish I could change time. On day three, Judge Mason questioned the
original prosecutor in the case, Dwight Warren, about the reliability of Greg Elking's identification of Lamar
Johnson. He told you and the officers that it was based upon him looking at the eyes cuz that was all he could see.
Isn't that correct? I believe so. And did he or did he not tell you that all of this happened within seconds?
Yes. Yes. And that's what you decided was sufficiently liable to seek a murder conviction to take it to a jury. Yes,
sir. Two perpetrators came. Warren admitted to Johnson's lawyers that without an eyewitness, he would never
have filed charges in the first place. Oh, absolutely not. I didn't have any evidence. You sound clear that you're
not on day four. Lamar Johnson finally got the chance to defend himself in his own words. So you talked to Detective
Nickerson that night, correct? Yes, ma'am. And when you talk to Attorney Miranda Leash asked him about his
conversation with Detective Nickerson a few days after the murder. I said, "Man,
that boy was my friend. I didn't shoot him." I said, "Okay, I will I voluntarily participate in the lineup."
You had every thing to lose at that point, didn't you? I didn't think so. You didn't think so? You were arrested
for a homicide. I didn't commit the homicide, so why would I be concerned that I had everything to lose?
As the hearing week neared the end, Detective Nickerson takes the stand. The man Elking claims pressured him into
falsely identifying Johnson. Mr. Elen goes, "Hey, I know who it is. It's number three in the first lineup
and it's number four in the second lineup. And did you tell him to say that? I didn't tell him to say anything.
But Judge Mason had some questions of his own for Nickerson. Are you aware that all the evidence suggests that your
witness could only recognize some aspect of the odds? I'm aware of that. Let's stand up. Mr.
Johnson, I'm just curious cuz I don't know what in the world is distinctive about this
man's eyes or Well, you can tell his eyes are different. I just tell me what you see cuz I can tell that his right
eye is different from his left. One is lower or higher than the other. Okay. How would you describe the involvement
of Judge Mason in this case? Well, that was one of the most unique things I've seen in any trial I've ever covered.
Columist Tony Messenger covered the case for the St. Louis Post Dispatch. He didn't just ask questions, he took over
the questioning at times and made it very clear when he was believing something and when he wasn't.
After 5 days of witnesses, court adjourned. With his freedom on the line, Johnson was taken to a St. Louis jail to
wait for Judge Mason's decision. I don't know how to not fight for my innocence. To fight for his right, what
was wrongfully taken from me. [Music] What do you think the judge should do in this case? Take a look at the evidence
at 48our.com. [Music] It's been really [Music] hard. We heard everything in court.
Lamar Johnson's daughter, Kiara Barrow, has finally heard what happened to her father so many years ago. the misconduct
and the negligence that occurred. The hardest thing was just that Greg lied, knowing that his testimony did put
him in jail. Britney Johnson believes that Greg Alen's lies robbed her of time with her dad. I'm very angry. This is
hard. Yes, it's very hard. I hate that I'm crying right now. The dad is is the most important role.
But their wait isn't over. Two months pass with no decision from the judge. Kiier is hoping it happens soon. We've
been robbed of so many opportunities and milestones. I'm getting married in April
of this year. It would just mean so much to me and I know to my father to have him
there with me and for him to be able to give me away. Finally, on a Tuesday afternoon in
February, Johnson's family and friends returned to the courtroom. Lawyers with the Missouri Attorney
General's office fighting Johnson's release are at one table. At the other, the team trying to win Johnson's
freedom. Seated next to Johnson, his attorney, Lindseay Reynolds. What should Judge Mason do in this case? Judge Mason
should vacate these convictions and Lamar Johnson should walk out of that courtroom today.
All right. After both legal teams were given copies of his final opinion, Judge David Mason
announced his decision on February 14th, 2023. After reviewing both the underlying trial as well as the entirety
of the hearing, for the reasons stated above, it is hereby ordered that the motion of
the circuit attorney of the 22nd Judicial Circuit filed herein for the benefit of Lamar Johnson is granted.
[Applause] The provision of Lamar Johnson, the state be Lamar Johnson. Calls 2294137068 is hereby set aside and held
for not. Johnson's murder conviction was overturned. The judge also found that there was clear and convincing evidence
of Johnson's innocence. After more than 28 years behind bars, he was more than a
free man. 49year-old Lamar Johnson had finally been exonerated. Bailey. Yes, sir. This year he gets a
chance. All right. [Applause] This time he would leave the courthouse not in a prison van, but in a black
sedan. When I first met you, I asked you to identify yourself. My name is Lamar Johnson. I've been in prison for 26
years now. And if I asked you to identify Lamar Johnson right now, what would you say? I am a free man, an
exonerated man, and a blessed man. And how important was it to have Greg Elking take the stand and and tell the judge
what he had done at trial? That was very important. He intentionally, you know, falsely
identified me. But not only did he acknowledge that he made a mistake, he took steps to try to correct it
and I'm extremely grateful to him for that. And during that time he spent in prison,
he says he never forgot about his friend Marcus Boyd, who died that night. I didn't want Marcus's family thinking
that I did this to him cuz I genuinely cared about Marcus. Marcus was a good guy. In the meantime, Johnson is
starting over. His friend Ricky Kidd knows it won't be easy. It's going to be tough, but Lamar has the ability to
adapt and adjust and see new opportunities. Worked 30 years for the Department of Corrections for pennies. I
don't have anything. I hope somebody's willing to to to to give me a shot. I want to work. You have a date coming up,
an important date. My youngest daughter is getting married and you know it'd be nice if I could do something special or
nice for them. But presence matters more than presence. And I'm going to make the best
of the life I have. [Music] A mother of six becomes ill with unusual symptoms. Doctors were at a loss. We're
struggling to figure out what in the hell is causing this. What is making her sick? Was she murdered by a poison
protein shake? What the hell is in that protein powder? 48 Hours Saturday on CBS
and streaming on Paramount Plus. [Music]

“48 Hours" reports on cases where witnesses became pivotal in a crime investigation. Watch the YouTube mini-marathon, which includes "The Case Against Michael Politte," "The Shape of a Killer" and "Lamar Johnson: Standing in Truth."

00:00 The Case Against Michael Politte 42:11 The Shape of a Killer 1:24:08 Lamar Johnson: Standing in Truth

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Michael Pit was wrongfully convicted of murdering his mother and fought for years to prove his innocence before being exonerated in 2022.

Key points

The Arrest of a 14-Year-Old. Michael Polite is arrested for the murder of his mother, shocking his family and community.
Trial and Conviction. Michael's trial reveals troubling evidence and leads to a life sentence for the young boy.
Josh Sansi Speaks Out. For the first time, Josh Sansi shares his perspective on the night of the murder.
Michael's Release from Prison. After years of fighting for justice, Michael is finally released from prison.
The Murder of Kathy Blair. Kathy Blair's murder leaves the community in shock and disbelief.
A New Victim. Just nine days later, another couple is brutally murdered in Austin.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I always believed that I was going to be found innocent.

12:42WatchApr 12, 2025

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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