Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
This is the part where get scary.
This is the part where everybody is
panicking because the bad guys are coming.
Wait, where'd you see this movie?
It's not a movie, okay, it's a book.
But anyways, everybody is
scared, except for one boy.
He is the bravest one.
So can I go ahead and open it?
Yes.
Oh, Mom, this is
exactly the one I wanted!
Is that the good one?
Where did you get this?
Oh, my gosh.
Come here.
Stop.
This is the best mom in the world.
Ah, I love you, baby.
Love you, too.
I have legal proof now.
I'm the best mom.
At 6:47 a.
m.
, an anonymous
phone call was made
from a pay phone on the
I-15 by an adult male.
The caller said he drove
by and saw the body.
Sunrise was at 6:54 a.
m.
this morning.
Would have been too dark for
even an eagle-eyed passerby
to spot the body from that distance.
Have one of your guys dust
that pay phone for prints.
We might get something off it.
I'm gonna check with
missing persons.
Good luck.
Yeah, I'll handle it.
Thanks, Jim.
- Morning, Doc.
- Nick.
What's going on?
Well, he's been dead about four
to eight hours based on liver temp.
Depressed skull fracture
with a laceration to
the overlying scalp.
COD is most likely
contusion of the brain
and a subdural hemorrhage.
The breadth of the depression
suggests impact with
a wide, flat surface.
A wound like that with no blood pool?
Nope.
A body dump.
Dried blood underneath his fingernails.
I'll bag his hands,
preserve any evidence for transport.
Okay, if I check his pockets?
Go for it.
Compass, pocket knife.
Music.
Food rations.
Possible runaway.
A flashlight
with "East Las Vegas High School" on it.
Well, if he was a student, he
had to be at least 14 years old.
He's kind of small for that age.
I'll get a photo over to the school.
You know, I was really
small when I was 14.
Yeah?
Yeah.
Made me ambitious.
So what did you want
to be when you were 14?
Probably the same thing
he most wanted to be--
fifteen.
When was the last time you saw your son?
I didn't even look in Will's room
last night when I got home from work.
Didn't check on him.
And when did you get home?
Uh, club closed at 2:00.
Cashed out, divided up my
tips with the other waitresses.
It was-- it
was about 3:00.
I thought I was letting
him sleep in this morning,
till I got the call.
Ms.
Sutter, do you have any idea
where he might have
been going last night?
Who he might have been with?
He knows not to open
the door for anyone,
or-or leave without calling me.
A million times we've gone over it.
And where's his father?
He's not in Will's life.
Do you know if Will had
tried to contact him?
Because a boy Will's age
starting to think about
growing up, manhood--
sometimes they seek out a mentor.
Will's father is no mentor.
He's hardly a man.
I will still need to
be in touch with him.
His name's Billy Melvoy.
Your line
of work--
you're more likely to
bump into him than I will.
What about Will's friends?
Were any of them driving yet?
No.
No, he's-- he's got
two best friends.
They're 14, too.
Mason and Steve.
They live down the street.
They've all grown up together.
So they spent a lot of time with Will?
More than I ever got to.
Found a small crack in the
front window, but no prints.
Other than that, the perimeter's clean.
No sign of forced entry.
That's not surprising when you consider
how much equipment
Will had in his pockets.
It's clear he wasn't dragged out of
his bed in the middle of the night.
He was prepared for something.
He's got the whole universe
and all of human history here.
So what was he out in search of?
Or what was he running away from?
Right.
Got his recent online activity here.
E
- mail,
encyclopedia,
some comic book site.
Open this one, please.
Article of tribal
coming-of-age rituals.
"Only through a solitary
"and trying journey into a leral
"or metaphysical wilderness,
"can a young boy gain new acceptance
"as a man amongst the members
of his tribe or village.
"
- You must be Mason Ward.
- Yeah.
Yeah, hi, I'm Nick Stokes.
I'm with the crime lab.
I'm going to be asking
you a few questions.
- Go ahead and have a seat.
- Okay.
Now do you want a soda
or something to eat
before we get started?
Nah.
The vending machines here suck.
Yeah, yeah, I'd have to agree with that.
Now how do you know something like that?
You come here often?
My dad's a cop.
I've been around.
Oh, okay.
Then you know how important it is
that you help me
figure out what happened
to your friend last night.
Right.
Will wasn't really my friend anymore.
Steve, Will's mom said
that you and Mason are
Will's best friends.
Yeah, we were.
It's just different now.
How so?
Will would still ask
us to, like, ride bikes
or look for lizards in the park,
but we're not into that anymore.
- What are you into now?
- Girls.
You know, getting
serious about working out.
And, you know, other stuff.
Do you have any idea what might
have happened to him last night?
No clue.
When was the last
time that you saw Will?
I saw him yesterday at
school, but that's it.
Did you talk to him?
No.
Steve, you don't look so good.
Are you feeling okay?
Yeah, I'm fine.
Look, I know what you mean
about moving on to other things.
When I was your age,
I couldn't get there quick enough.
I started to wish there
was some magic potion
I could swollow to make myself older,
cooler.
Turned out there was.
The downside was,
the next day, I would feel awful.
My mouth would be dry,
my head would be pounding
and I could just smell this
sweet sugary poison
seeping out of my pores.
You're a tequila man, huh, Steve?
There were two different
fibers found on Will Sutter.
This one's a standard trilobal
nylon polypropylene fiber.
Widely used in the manufacture
of upholstered furniture and bedding.
This other fiber that
Nick found on the boy,
is significantly more specific.
It's an 80-20
rayon-nylon
with an emerald hue, used,
as far as my research shows,
exclusively to carpet
Not a popular seller.
And in addition to
carpeting the interior,
this same material was also
used to line the vehicle's trunk.
You know, I read something a while back.
Said that the distance from
home that the average parent
would allow their nine-year-old
to wander had shrunk to a tenth
of what it was when I was a kid.
The world's a scarier
place, that's for sure.
Oh, I was terrified back then.
But a boy who ventures out
thinking the world isn't
a place to hide from,
shouldn't be proven wrong.
Will Sutter was exchanging
emails with someone
screen-named "BlackChipCraig.
"
Correspondence was mostly about
historic sites, ghost towns, old mines.
So, one day
BlackChip suggests they go
check out one of the old mines.
Sounds like innocent geek fun.
Except
a check of BlackChip's static IP address
and a quick Web search
reveal him to be Craig Lifford,
from Henderson.
So a 40-year-old man
invites a 14-year-old boy
to a secluded location.
Could be more than
just innocent geek fun.
Mr.
Lifford.
I see you're a history buff.
You like old things
- vintage clothes, vintage cars.
Well, I-I drive a hybrid, but
What is this about?
Can you tell me how you got
the scratches on your left wrist?
Um, yeah.
I have a new kitten.
A new kitten?
So you like some newer things,
younger things.
Should I have a lawyer here?
Younger things like, um,
Will Sutter.
The young man you invited
on a trip to the Crowley Silver Mine.
Remember him?
Yeah?
What the hell is this?
No.
- No, no, no, no, no.
- Yes.
I
- I work in a library.
Among children.
This has been my life's passion.
And if someone got in that
boy's ear and egged him into
thinking that my communication with him
was something that it was not
Tell me about what happened
between you and Will.
Um, we met online, um,
in a forum on a history Web site.
His intellect,
his-his bearing--
I assumed he was an adult.
When I found out that
he was a young man
You continued to contact him.
About Nevada mining history!
I suggested a few historic sites
that his parents should take him to.
When he explained that he could
not, that that was not possible,
I guess, yeah,
I-I volunteered--
forgetting for one moment
the implicit nefariousness
of an adult male
taking a young boy's
academic curiosity seriously.
But we didn't go to the mine,
I never met him.
I didn't even know his last name.
I need to take a sample of your DNA.
Absolutely.
Open your mouth, please.
So is Will really claiming
that something happened?
Mr.
Lifford, Will is dead.
- Hey.
- Hey.
I got your text.
What exactly
am I not gonna believe?
That blood that was
under Will Sutter's nails
was a hit to somebody already in CODIS.
One of Sara's old cases.
And, before you look
at this, I promise you,
I triple-checked this;
it's absolutely accurate.
Okay.
Okay.
Simon Rose?
I know.
I don't know what to tell you.
It's impossible, but it's true.
Yeah, but he's been in
prison for the last
Two and a half years.
Exactly.
So how does his blood end up
under the nails of a dead kid?
Since the morning of January 1, 2006,
when his wife Samantha was
found murdered in their home,
I have stood by my client Simon Rose.
I was at his side while
he grieved over his loss,
while he endured trial,
mistrial and the retrial
that wrongfully convicted him of a crime
he did not commit.
My belief in Simon
Rose has never faltered.
And is morning's development
has vindicated my belief.
The discovery of this blood
under the dead child's nails
is evidence that there
is someone in Las Vegas--
a child murderer-- who
has the same DNA profile
as my incarcerated but
innocent client Simon Rose.
Mr.
Rose must be released
and the real murderer of both
Will Sutr and Samantha Rose
brought to justice.
Thank you.
This is Simon Rose's
blood all over his wife.
He choked her to death, left
her on the kitchen floor,
and then claimed to have been
upstairs asleep when she was attacked.
Well, if he choked her,
then how did his blood wind up on her?
Well, because for once,
she fought back.
She broke his nose, scratched his face.
She couldn't stop him.
And I guarantee that he took her
halfway there a dozen times before.
And there were police call-outs
for domestic but no convictions.
The house told the story.
Punched-in walls covered
up with paintings.
Broken vases glued back together.
He's rich and handsome,
he always got away with it,
and he almost got away
with killing her, too.
The mistrial?
The prosecution had a slam dunk going,
but there was juror misconduct.
Couple of weeks into
the trial, two jurors got
their hands on a bottle of
gin and got tanked at lunch.
Other jurors said that they saw one
of Lynn Stecker's associates
bringing the *** to them.
Yeah, but nobody can prove that.
They have tried everything
to get this guy off,
and they're still trying.
By planting blood under
a dead kid's nails?
I got to say, I wouldn't
put it past them.
Okay.
So, where did Rose's blood come from?
There were no
preservatives in the sample,
which means it wasn't blood
drawn from Rose and
stored in a blood bank.
If Rose did plan this,
he could have had blood drawn
and stored without preservative
before going to prison.
We're only dealing with a minute amount.
He could've snuck some
blood out of prison
via mail or a bribed guard.
Be tough to track that one down.
Well, if Rose cut himself to draw blood,
he might still have a wound.
I'd like to examine him.
As long as you're just
looking and not questioning,
he doesn't have a right to an attorney.
So make that happen.
Any other possible
sources for the blood?
Samantha's dress with
Rose's blood on it.
It's in permanent storage at
the Central Evidence Vault.
All right, why don't the three
of you focus on those angles,
Greg and I will look at something else.
A boy was killed.
Simon Rose didn't do it.
We need to find out who did.
Jim, at this firm,
we are the Lakers,
not the Globetrotters.
We don't rely on tricks.
Oh, I've seen you pass
the ball behind your back
quite a few times over the years, Lynn.
We've been pressing to get an
appeal for nearly two years.
This morning's discovery
will merely serve as
one more piece to present
in the evidentiary hearing a chance
to get real justice for my client.
This morning's discovery?
We're talking about a dead boy.
Don't give me justice for your
client; don't give me that.
Samantha Rose was covered
in your client's blood.
Funny how that works.
I argue in trial that one of
Mr.
Rose's many powerful enemies
could easily have drugged
and wounded Mr.
Rose,
killed his wife and then planted
Mr.
Rose's blood on his wife,
and the prosecution, the media,
treat that theory like it was a joke.
And yet, in this new case, some vast
blood-plant conspiracy is
the only viable explanation.
Fitting that it should be
blood we're talking about,
because isn't the stuff
supposed to smell kind of irony?
That's cute, Lynn.
But I'm telling you, and
I want you to hear this.
If you know anything about this
dead boy or the manipulation
of evidence, you have a lot
more to lose than just an appeal.
Does it get old, Jim?
Being sent as the sheriff's messenger?
Because when you're ready
to join a new team, you call me.
Yeah, I know a lot of
guys who worked PI for you.
Financially, it's great.
Ethically, it's not so great.
By the way, your theory's flawed.
- Oh?
- If someone wanted to plant blood,
they could do it in any crime scene.
What kind of a monster would
kill a kid to accomplish that?
The same kind of monster
who couldn't just divorce Samantha Rose.
Yeah, I-I remember you on this case.
W
- When Rose got off that first time round on that mistrial,
must have driven you nuts.
Drove me toward some
brochures about Costa Rica.
You're smart to get away like that.
'Cause I remember, when
I was wearing that vest,
I always told myself I'd do the same.
Little fishing lodge, Ely, Minnesota.
Clear all of it out.
But just didn't happen that way.
You ever get out of town now, George?
Oh, nah.
This-this here, this is my castle.
Let me see here.
Yeah.
Samantha Rose.
When was the last time
this evidence was taken out
by the defense for
independent examination?
Let's see.
November 4, 2006.
Returned two days later.
Right before the trial started.
Sealed, signed and dated by yours truly.
- Here you go.
- Thank you.
Okay.
Okay.
I'm going to need to see Simon
Rose's visitation records.
Yes, sir.
And I'd also like to
speak with his cell mate.
Well, his cell mate was
paroled three days ago.
But I can get you his PO's contact info.
All right.
You Ray Langston?
Yes.
Nate Haskell says hello.
Trustee!
Get back to work!
Step to the center of the cell.
Hello, Mr.
Rose.
My name is Ray Langston,
I work with the crime lab,
and I'm here to examine you today.
Notice you have a cut
there on your neck.
Can't help but breed
a few enemies in here.
You just hope that they come
at you with spoons not knives.
Breakfast, couple days ago.
Infirmary already shot
photos, documented the wound,
wrote up a report.
Take your shirt off, please.
I know how you guys are feeling.
Wake up one day and
everything's upside down.
Suddenly, what you know to be
impossible is the only thing
anyone else will believe,
because it's written in blood.
Turn around.
You know, when I was framed
I kept telling melf
if everything could be upended
in one morning like that,
maybe someday I'll wake up another day
and everything gets flipped back
the way it should be just as suddenly.
It took a thousand mornings for
that to finally happen, Doctor.
I wouldn't count on that if I were you.
Now shut up and drop your pants.
What sort of physical
evidence do you guys have?
Anything, uh, interesting
from the dump site?
Well, we're working on it.
Well, what about that payphone
where the guy phoned it in?
Sometimes you luck out with
a camera, fingerprints
Sorry.
Listen to me.
You still have the
instincts, huh, George?
Take care of yourself, okay?
You, too.
- Good to see you.
- You, too.
George?
Hmm?
Whose Cadillac is this?
That's mine-- uh, thing
barely runs anymore.
I just
I just can't bring myself to junk it.
I'm gonna need you to
open the trunk for me
please.
Step over there for me, please.
What is that?
That's a piece of a candy bar wrapper.
Same brand Will Sutter was eating.
I was the only one left
in the building last night.
I was closing up the vault
a little after midnight.
Turning off the lights.
Hey!
He was dead.
And I was afraid that him being inside
there could jeopardize the evidence.
George, why didn't you just call it in?
Why didn't you just
let us know about it?
That vault
is mine to protect.
I keep the records.
I watch over the evidence.
If someone gets inside that's
not supposed to get inside
that intrusion can
compromise all the evidence,
can threaten every conviction.
I was not going to let that happen.
I put all the Rose
evidence in a new box,
I signed and redated the seals
and placed it back on
its spot on the shelf.
I drove out to the vacant lot,
cleaned out the trunk afterwards
then called 911.
I didn't want to leave him out
there any longer than I had to.
Well, it looks like this is
where Will Sutter bled out.
It's consistent with George's story.
What was that kid doing in here?
Take a look at this.
"5-4-A-
That's the evidence
number for the Rose case.
With someone's algebra
homework on the back?
I'm guessing Will Sutter's.
- He knew what he was looking for.
- Yeah.
How did he get this number?
Well, Rose's attorneys would
have it in their case files.
But anybody in law
enforcement can look that up
on the C-Track Database.
So what are we saying, that
Simon Rose didn't kill Will Sutter
and have his blood planted on him,
but one of Rose's associates sent Will
in here to steal evidence?
It looks good for Rose's appeal
if the prosecution
lost all the evidence.
Yes, but why send a kid?
He's 14 years old, he's smart,
he follows instructions well,
and if he gets
caught, he's a juvie--
they just chalk it up to
a youthful misadventure.
That sounds right, but why Will Sutter?
What is his connection to Simon Rose?
Whoever's looking at
Will Sutter's death,
here's your tip: kid's dead,
boy's mother cashes in.
You look at her bank account.
Strange how
that happens--
he's dead and she's rich.
It came in as an anonymous tip.
That's Will's dad.
You told me that he wasn't in your life.
He isn't.
You used to work at the Shade Club.
Simon Rose was a silent
partner in that club,
spent a lot of time there.
I served him drinks.
And last week you deposited
$10,000 into your bank account.
Are you actually
accusing me of something.
Your son broke in to the
police evidence vault.
He died while trying to steal evidence
from the Samantha Rose *** case.
Somebody sent him on that mission.
Now, between the money
and your affiliation
with Simon Rose, it says
that that somebody was you.
Look, that
The money?
Will's dad came by last week.
He'd hit some parlay at
the sports book: $50,000.
He was drunk and
generous-- gave me $10,000.
I took the money.
God knows he owes me twice
that in child support.
Why is he calling us?
He probably sobered up
when he found out what happened to Will
and-and got pissed that
I'd still have the money
all to myself.
What a deal for me, huh?
Look, if you're gonna
arrest me, then-then do it.
I'm not here to
Then get the hell out of my house.
I still can't figure out how
Will got inside the vault.
On the night of his death, the
only thing that enters the vault
are the evidence custodians
and the evidence.
Wait, go back a little bit.
That's good.
Hold it.
Bring up camera three.
You know, I found some beige
microfibers in Will's hair.
Hodges ID'd them as the same type
used in upholstered furniture.
Hand me that evidence
entry list again, please.
Thanks.
"A woman walking her dog
spotted the bloody sofa
"sitting under a streetlight
in a park at 10:30 p.
m.
"Evidence custodians were
sent out to retrieve the sofa,
"and it was brought back
to the vault for holding
pending further investigation.
"
Give me a hand here, will you?
Cloth has been
slit along the seam.
Stapled shut at the top.
Open at the bottom.
Check it out.
Trojan horse.
Trojan sofa.
Must have been pretty terrifying, huh?
All hunkered down, alone
in there in the dark.
Brave kid wasted on a fool's errand.
Will wasn't bleeding when
he came into the vault.
Then where did that blood come from?
Right.
Yeah.
Smells a little fishy.
Does it?
Yeah, it does.
Hematrace.
Yeah.
Not human.
Blood was just the bait.
Smeared on the sofa to draw attention.
Sacrificial sea bass to
bless the Trojan voyage.
Captain, you wanted to see
me about the Sutter case?
Sit down.
Will was actually a
friend of my son, Mason.
But CSI, they've already talked to him.
Two days ago, you looked
up the Samantha Rose case
- on the C-Track database.
Why? - No, I didn't.
Your computer, 4:00 p.
m.
Two days ago, 4:00 p.
m.
, I would've been
doing paperwork in my office.
My son stopped by to hang out.
Do some homework.
Was Mason in your office?
Yeah, he said his mom
was bugging him at home,
so I said he could hang out.
Did he have access to your computer?
Well for a minute, yeah, I guess.
Do you recognize this sofa?
This looks like an old one
we got out in the garage.
Is that blood?
Mason?
Get out here.
Now.
Mason?
My God!
- Control, this is Captain
Brass-- we have a 421 - Oh, my God!
- with head wounds.
- Easy, buddy.
Send paramedics to my location.
Easy, Mason.
Mason must have written down
the Rose evidence number
and given it to Will.
The kid might have miscalculated
more than his algebra.
Found the weapon.
With a bloody print on the handle.
You know, either this assailant's
sloppy and disorganized,
or really, really bold.
They didn't just
leave a print--
they left a card.
Lynn Stecker, Attorney at Law.
You're lucky this was on my route
between appointments, Jim.
And whatever you want
to show me better be
earth-shattering.
Do you know him--
Officer Ward?
He one of the guys on your team?
Never seen him before.
I know you know his son Mason.
I know you know him,
because we found your
business card in his bedroom.
How dare you.
He's going in and out of consciousness.
He hasn't said
much-- yet.
Yes, I met the kid earlier today.
He tried to ambush me in
the firm's parking garage.
I saw you on TV, and I
know you're trying to get
Simon Rose out of jail,
because nobody knows
how his blood got on that
dead kid, but I do know how.
Look, kid, I don't know
what you're doing here
Will snuck in the evidence
vault on a dare, all right?
I know how he got in, and I know
how he got Simon Rose's blood on him.
And if you don't give me
$5,000, I'm gonna tell the cops.
And Simon Rose will
stay in prison forever.
He tried to extort you
and you didn't report it?
I'm reporting it now.
You pay him, or do you know
someone who plays baseball?
I gave him cab fare.
Told him to get lost.
How much?
I don't know-- whatever
was my pocket-- $200.
That's like cab fare to Reno.
A bold and creative
kid like that--
he reminded me of some
of my best interns.
I gave him my card, told him
to call me in a few years.
Let's let him make it
through the night first.
Good luck on that appeal.
So I heard that Mandy matched
the bloody print from the bat
to another crime scene.
Yeah, a swing shift case
from the night before Will Sutter died.
Swing shift CSIs responded
to an extinguished house
fire at 494 Harris Street.
Just northwest of Will
Sutter and Mason Ward's homes.
The house had stood vacant
for the past three months,
but upon entering it, the CSIs
discovered the following items.
Lighter--
peace pipe
And the print on that ***
matches a print on the bat.
So somebody parties in a
vacant house, sets it on fire
and then three days later
attempts to kill Mason Ward?
Yeah, in the meantime,
Mason helps Will sneak
into the evidence vault.
There's got to be a connection there.
Rose.
The burnt house was at the corner of
Harris Street and Rose Street.
Mason must have thought the
address was on Rose Street.
He wanted to retrieve the evidence.
So Mason went to his dad's office.
He looked up Rose Street
in the C-Track database,
but mistakenly wrote
down the evidence number
for Rose, Samantha.
But we don't have any evidence
of Will being in that burnt house.
There was no THC in his tox results.
So he wasn't partying.
Why did he go in to get the evidence?
Maybe so he'd be invited
to the next party.
This is a bottle of tequila.
We need to find Steve Reppling.
Las Vegas Police.
Open up.
Mr.
and Mrs.
Reppling,
we need to talk to your son.
Open up.
- Anything we can do?
- There's nobody home.
I'll be back with a unit--
we'll break down the door.
Call me if you need me.
Copy that, Captain.
- Dr.
Ray.
- Yes?
Something's burning over there.
Wouldn't that be right around
The corner of Harris and Rose.
Control, this is
Charlie-Zero-Four Sidle.
at the corner of Harris and Rose Street.
His bike's here.
Steven, where are you?
Steve, we saw your bicycle outside.
We know you're in here.
There he is.
Get him out of here.
Dr.
Ray, come on!
- I'll be right behind you.
- Let's go!
Sara,
we've got, uh, apparent
kindling for the blaze.
Lynn Stecker gave Mason Ward $200.
He deserved it.
Excuse me?
Mason deserved to die.
Mason started everything that night.
He bought some weed off a sophomore.
Snuck a few bottles from his dad.
We'd been hanging out in that house.
Mason Wha?
What did you do?!
I was just messing
around with the lighter,
and then the whole
I'm gone.
We needed help.
We knew Will could figure something out.
So we went back over, and the
firemen had put the fire out,
but the CSIs were bringing out
all the stuff we left in there.
What kind of stuff?
Uh
Look, Will, you got to help us.
Okay, that stuff is evidence.
They're gonna trace it and lock us up.
You're the smart one-- you
can come up with something.
Just please.
- Come on, man.
- Please.
All right.
Just let
me think for a minute.
Will was smarter, braver,
he was better than both of us.
Two Benjamins.
And I think I can get
even more out of the lady
- if I just
- Will died!
Trying to save us.
And what, you're just going
to make money off of that?
All right, you can have $50 of it, okay?
You got change?
It was blood money,
and I needed to see it burn.
I didn't even care if I went with it.
We let Will down.
He's the one who deserved to grow up.
Oh, Mom, this is
exactly the one I wanted!
That the good one?
Stop.
This is the best mom in the world.
- Ah, I love you, baby.
- I love you, too.
I have legal proof now.
I am the best mom.
Wow.
Check this out.
We can pop wheelies right here.
All right.
Okay, guys, get in for a group shot.
- Hi.
- Hi.