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>>> I heard a scream.

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I actually think I heard two.

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I was like, joel.

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Where is joel?

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And then -- they said that he

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was dead.

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>> we have these true crimes,

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these murder mystery on every

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week.

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But you know what makes this one

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different?

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It was broken wide open by one

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of our viewers just watching

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"20/20" at home.

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>> joel --

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joel had been stabbed to death.

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>> this would be joel's room

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where he was sleeping.

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This would be julie rea's room

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where she was sleeping.

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She encounters this dark figure.

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They begin fighting.

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>> there wasn't any overturn

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furniture.

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>> they decided that julie

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decided to stage the crime scene

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and had just not done it very

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well.

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>> what could be worse than

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being wrongfully convicted?

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Being wrongfully convicted of

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the murder offure only child.

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>> I didn't commit this imkroo.

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I did not.

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>> but if julie didn't do it,

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who did?

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>>> I'm at the home of

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alan berkshire.

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Alan, do I have your permission

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to videotape your statement

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today?

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>> yes, you most certainly do.

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I had encountered a person in

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the lawrenceville drive-in on

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Friday night, just a couple of

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days before joel kirkpatrick was

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murdered.

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And he come in and he looked

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around, and he kind of almost

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seemed disoriented.

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He sat down and started talking.

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You know, is this your son?

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I said, yes, this is my youngest

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son.

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And he tapped him on the

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shoulder one time.

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He said, I bet you're a pretty

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good boy, or something.

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He made a very unusual comment

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that really upset me.

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He said, I'll bet you're afraid

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of me, aren't you?

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And the guy did a funny --

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[ laughs ]

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you know, I guess maybe

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everybody ought to be an afraid

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of me.

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>> that is about the happiest

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face you have ever seen.

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His plan was to be a programmer

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and video-game tester, but, you

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know, the intentions of a

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10-year-old boy.

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Joel was brilliant beyond my

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wildest imagination.

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I'm not saying that because he

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is my kid.

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Everybody loves their kid, but

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every teacher told me that he

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was the smartest student they

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ever had.

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What is your Sunday school

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teacher's name?

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>> carla.

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>> carla?

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Is she nice?

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>> yep.

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>> can you describe him to me?

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What kind of kid was he?

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What was he like?

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>> the funniest kid in the

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world, and I am not just saying

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that because I am his mother.

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Joel was sensitive and kind and

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caring and perceptive, but he

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was also a little boy.

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He didn't like to have to take a

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bath.

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I mean, everybody kind of wanted

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to be armed joel.

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He was just really fun.

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>> I do remember joel.

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He's just a very nice kid.

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He didn't have anything

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malicious about him.

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He's just a very happy and

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smiley person.

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>> I can remember the last time

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I saw joel.

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It was his weekend to be with

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his mother.

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>> julie and len were married

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for eight years but divorced

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when joel was 7.

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>> but the one thing they both

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were totally consistent on was

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this was an exceptional boy,

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a beautiful boy, and that they

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both loved him more than

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anything else.

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>> it was a long weekend.

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Columbus day, I think.

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Since he was going to be out of

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school on Monday, julie asked if

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she could have an extra day.

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I said yes, and I go in to say

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good-bye to joel.

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He gave me that -- that bear hug

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that he liked to do.

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I kissed him good-bye.

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>> joel said he wanted to be

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with me that day and we had a

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blast.

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We went to a park with a blanket

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look at the clouds and -- see

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that?

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That's a this or that's a that.

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Do you see this?

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Do you see that?

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>> they were very affectionate.

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Lots of hugs and just good

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communication.

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He loved being with her and

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doing things with her.

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>> we had gotten a milkshake and

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went home.

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>> julie had a house in

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lawrenceville.

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It was a tiny, little

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ranch-style home in kind of a

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subdivision there in town.

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And this is where she would

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be when joel would come for his

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visits.

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>> I remember being at their

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house that evening actually.

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>> touch nothing but the lamp.

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>> I remember watching "aladdin"

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while the moms were talking,

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doing their thing over at the

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dinner table.

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>> julie was always a wonderful

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hostess and, you know, made you

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feel really comfortable in her

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house.

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We sat down at the table and

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worked on our scrapbooks and

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talked about hopes and dreams

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normally talked about.

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>> after a while, joel said that

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he wanted to go to bed.

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He didn't feel good.

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I went and tucked him in and

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prayed with him and --

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told him I loved him and we

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said good night like always.

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>> she made sure she locked the

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front door.

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She has never been able to say

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for sure whether she locked the

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door from the garage into the

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kitchen.

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>> around midnight, I crashed.

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I was exhausted.

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>> she was asleep, and at some

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point, she was awakened.

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>> I heard a scream.

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The scream didn't really sound

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like joel because it sounded so

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horrible.

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>> I was really groggy, and I

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really don't want to talk about

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this.

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>> but it's kind of important

195
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for us to have it in your own

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words.

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>> I know.

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It's just really hard.

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I didn't say I wouldn't.

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00:07:37,558 --> 00:07:40,058
I'm just having a hard time.

201
00:07:40,093 --> 00:07:41,927
I just remember thinking, oh, my

202
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god, I wonder if it's joel.

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00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:46,832
>> he was not in his bed.

204
00:07:46,867 --> 00:07:49,634
>> I know I screamed his name.

205
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I was like, joel.

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>> and the next thing she knows,

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a man jumps across the bed

208
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toward her.

209
00:07:57,344 --> 00:07:58,643
>> the person had on a ski mask.

210
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>> they scuffle.

211
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She's trying to stop him from

212
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getting away.

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>> he was obviously trying to

214
00:08:04,084 --> 00:08:09,421
get out of there.

215
00:08:09,456 --> 00:08:11,389
He broke out the door.

216
00:08:11,425 --> 00:08:13,225
>> she's hanging onto his legs.

217
00:08:13,260 --> 00:08:14,693
>> the person was hitting my

218
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face into the ground.

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00:08:16,497 --> 00:08:21,566
>> she said that he removed his

220
00:08:21,602 --> 00:08:22,067
mask, and then just sauntered

221
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off into the night.

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00:08:27,574 --> 00:08:28,673
>> I -- I was scared.

223
00:08:28,709 --> 00:08:30,342
I didn't know what to do.

224
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I thought, oh, my god, they've

225
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kidnapped joel, because the

226
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person was walking away.

227
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It's like, where is joel?

228
00:08:39,319 --> 00:08:40,952
I ran to the closest house and

229
00:08:40,988 --> 00:08:44,155
started pounding on the door and

230
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screaming to get let in to call

231
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the police.

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00:08:46,026 --> 00:08:47,559
>> she was in shock.

233
00:08:47,594 --> 00:08:49,895
Her eyes were big.

234
00:08:49,930 --> 00:08:53,431
She had a big knot over her eye.

235
00:08:53,467 --> 00:08:53,798
>> julie said, somebody has

236
00:08:53,834 --> 00:08:57,802
taken joel.

237
00:08:57,838 --> 00:08:59,237
And then she said, will you

238
00:08:59,273 --> 00:09:04,242
please go find him?

239
00:09:04,278 --> 00:09:06,945
>> about 4:30 in the morning,

240
00:09:06,980 --> 00:09:09,414
a call went in from a neighbor's

241
00:09:09,449 --> 00:09:09,848
home, and the lawrenceville

242
00:09:09,883 --> 00:09:11,182
police arrived.

243
00:09:11,218 --> 00:09:11,783
>> two officers that came to the

244
00:09:11,818 --> 00:09:12,584
scene.

245
00:09:12,619 --> 00:09:14,352
One stayed with julie.

246
00:09:14,388 --> 00:09:15,020
And then the deputy went into

247
00:09:15,055 --> 00:09:20,659
the house.

248
00:09:20,694 --> 00:09:22,761
>> when he did so, he made his

249
00:09:22,796 --> 00:09:24,396
way to the back bedroom and

250
00:09:24,431 --> 00:09:25,830
found joel lying in a pool of

251
00:09:25,866 --> 00:09:28,133
blood next to his bed.

252
00:09:28,168 --> 00:09:36,908
>> between the bed and the wall.

253
00:09:36,944 --> 00:09:40,211
>> he had a t-shirt on.

254
00:09:40,247 --> 00:09:41,112
And it was covered with blood.

255
00:09:41,148 --> 00:09:41,446
That's when I saw a big hole in

256
00:09:41,481 --> 00:09:43,214
his chest.

257
00:09:43,250 --> 00:09:49,688
He was already gone.

258
00:09:49,723 --> 00:09:54,659
It was just a real bad scene.

259
00:09:54,695 --> 00:09:54,993
>> and then they said that he

260
00:09:55,028 --> 00:10:00,198
was dead.

261
00:10:00,233 --> 00:10:03,635
And I said, no.

262
00:10:03,670 --> 00:10:05,337
He wasn't in the house.

263
00:10:05,372 --> 00:10:06,071
He would have heard me.

264
00:10:06,106 --> 00:10:08,373
I screamed for him.

265
00:10:08,408 --> 00:10:10,175
He would have come.

266
00:10:10,210 --> 00:10:13,545
I said --

267
00:10:13,580 --> 00:10:14,145
maybe they were wrong.

268
00:10:14,181 --> 00:10:16,815
Maybe he was still alive.

269
00:10:16,850 --> 00:10:17,716
>> when 10-year-old joel

270
00:10:17,751 --> 00:10:18,383
kirkpatrick was found stabbed to

271
00:10:18,418 --> 00:10:21,119
death, his mother told police

272
00:10:21,154 --> 00:10:23,221
both she and her son were

273
00:10:23,256 --> 00:10:24,889
attacked by a knife-wielding

274
00:10:24,925 --> 00:10:26,558
intruder, but a search for this

275
00:10:26,593 --> 00:10:29,094
suspect turned up no leads.

276
00:10:29,129 --> 00:10:30,562
>> one of the things that made

277
00:10:30,597 --> 00:10:33,264
police begin to focus on

278
00:10:33,300 --> 00:10:34,766
julie rea was a series of odd

279
00:10:34,801 --> 00:10:36,101
observations made the night of

280
00:10:36,136 --> 00:10:39,871
the crime.

281
00:10:39,906 --> 00:10:42,207
>> and I looked at her knees,

282
00:10:42,242 --> 00:10:44,576
and she pulled her knees up like

283
00:10:44,611 --> 00:10:46,711
a little child and said, I have

284
00:10:46,747 --> 00:10:51,883
a boo-boo on my knees.

285
00:10:58,992 --> 00:10:59,824
>>> lawrenceville is, I would

286
00:10:59,860 --> 00:11:00,091
say, a quintessential midwestern

287
00:11:00,127 --> 00:11:03,595
town.

288
00:11:03,630 --> 00:11:04,195
It's a rural community.

289
00:11:04,231 --> 00:11:10,001
It's a farming community.

290
00:11:10,037 --> 00:11:12,971
>> miles and miles of

291
00:11:13,006 --> 00:11:13,538
cornfields.

292
00:11:13,573 --> 00:11:16,474
Less than 5,000 people.

293
00:11:16,510 --> 00:11:18,043
I think at that time we probably

294
00:11:18,078 --> 00:11:19,644
had three stop lights.

295
00:11:19,680 --> 00:11:20,311
>> it has a small town square,

296
00:11:20,347 --> 00:11:26,151
coffee shops and an occasional

297
00:11:26,186 --> 00:11:27,786
bar, a grocery store and it's

298
00:11:27,821 --> 00:11:28,420
a friendly little quiet little

299
00:11:28,455 --> 00:11:31,489
place.

300
00:11:31,525 --> 00:11:34,926
>> 10-year-old joel kirkpatrick

301
00:11:34,961 --> 00:11:35,560
was found murdered here in his

302
00:11:35,595 --> 00:11:37,629
lawrenceville home early the

303
00:11:37,664 --> 00:11:38,730
morning of October 13th.

304
00:11:38,765 --> 00:11:41,066
>> I could see them drive up

305
00:11:41,101 --> 00:11:43,501
plain as day.

306
00:11:43,537 --> 00:11:47,806
You can tell by the look on

307
00:11:47,841 --> 00:11:48,673
their face that they didn't come

308
00:11:48,709 --> 00:11:53,011
here with good news.

309
00:11:53,046 --> 00:11:55,780
They sat down with me and told

310
00:11:55,816 --> 00:12:00,151
me --

311
00:12:00,187 --> 00:12:00,418
that joel had been stabbed to

312
00:12:00,454 --> 00:12:10,829
death.

313
00:12:10,864 --> 00:12:11,496
>> julie and len married very

314
00:12:11,531 --> 00:12:12,831
young.

315
00:12:12,866 --> 00:12:13,231
They were both children of

316
00:12:13,266 --> 00:12:16,000
missionaries.

317
00:12:16,036 --> 00:12:16,234
>> we met when we were 16 years

318
00:12:16,269 --> 00:12:19,270
old.

319
00:12:19,306 --> 00:12:21,940
We got married when I was --

320
00:12:21,975 --> 00:12:23,708
one month after think 18th

321
00:12:23,744 --> 00:12:24,075
birthday.

322
00:12:24,111 --> 00:12:24,676
She was 17.

323
00:12:24,711 --> 00:12:26,111
Her parents sign for her.

324
00:12:26,146 --> 00:12:29,380
>> joel came along very quickly

325
00:12:29,416 --> 00:12:29,748
after they got married, less

326
00:12:29,783 --> 00:12:34,185
than a year.

327
00:12:34,221 --> 00:12:37,088
Julie was pursuing a ph.D in

328
00:12:37,124 --> 00:12:38,389
educational psychology, and len

329
00:12:38,425 --> 00:12:41,693
was pursuing law enforcement.

330
00:12:41,728 --> 00:12:45,930
But they divorced by the time he

331
00:12:45,966 --> 00:12:46,598
was 7 or 8.

332
00:12:46,633 --> 00:12:48,833
>> it was a pretty bitter

333
00:12:48,869 --> 00:12:51,436
divorce, and they had joint

334
00:12:51,471 --> 00:12:52,370
custody of joel, but len had

335
00:12:52,405 --> 00:12:53,037
just won physical custody.

336
00:12:53,073 --> 00:12:56,241
>> there was a long battle of

337
00:12:56,276 --> 00:12:57,642
custody of joel, and the final

338
00:12:57,677 --> 00:12:58,209
decision was that August, two

339
00:12:58,245 --> 00:12:58,877
months before his death.

340
00:12:58,912 --> 00:13:02,147
>> the difference came down to

341
00:13:02,182 --> 00:13:03,648
the fact that julie was single,

342
00:13:03,683 --> 00:13:04,983
while len kirkpatrick had

343
00:13:05,018 --> 00:13:08,453
remarried.

344
00:13:08,488 --> 00:13:09,320
And so his home would be a

345
00:13:09,356 --> 00:13:11,156
two-parent home.

346
00:13:11,191 --> 00:13:12,624
>> julie was not happy about

347
00:13:12,659 --> 00:13:14,793
that, to say the least.

348
00:13:14,828 --> 00:13:16,261
>> I'm john miller, deputy

349
00:13:16,296 --> 00:13:17,495
commissioner of the

350
00:13:17,531 --> 00:13:19,364
new york city police department

351
00:13:19,399 --> 00:13:19,931
for intelligence and

352
00:13:19,966 --> 00:13:21,199
counterterrorism.

353
00:13:21,234 --> 00:13:25,837
And at the time this happened,

354
00:13:25,872 --> 00:13:27,539
I was with "20/20".

355
00:13:27,574 --> 00:13:30,108
I was the co-anchor with

356
00:13:30,143 --> 00:13:31,009
barbara walters, and this was

357
00:13:31,044 --> 00:13:31,242
the story that I was assigned

358
00:13:31,278 --> 00:13:32,744
to.

359
00:13:32,779 --> 00:13:34,846
Investigators were looking at

360
00:13:34,881 --> 00:13:35,747
the crime scene and they're

361
00:13:35,782 --> 00:13:36,214
looking for the story the crime

362
00:13:36,249 --> 00:13:37,549
scene will tell.

363
00:13:37,584 --> 00:13:38,449
>> the police didn't have a lot

364
00:13:38,485 --> 00:13:39,017
of experience investigating

365
00:13:39,052 --> 00:13:39,851
cases of this magnitude.

366
00:13:39,886 --> 00:13:41,252
So, pretty quickly, they called

367
00:13:41,288 --> 00:13:43,354
in the illinois state police.

368
00:13:43,390 --> 00:13:44,923
>> what the officers found in

369
00:13:44,958 --> 00:13:48,026
her house did not fit their

370
00:13:48,061 --> 00:13:49,727
mental image of what they would

371
00:13:49,763 --> 00:13:55,567
find had there been an intruder.

372
00:13:55,602 --> 00:13:57,669
>> julie had claimed that there

373
00:13:57,704 --> 00:14:01,973
had been this terrible struggle

374
00:14:02,008 --> 00:14:02,974
with an intruder, and yet the

375
00:14:03,009 --> 00:14:04,108
house was not in the kind of

376
00:14:04,144 --> 00:14:05,076
condition where you would expect

377
00:14:05,111 --> 00:14:07,145
a house to be after that.

378
00:14:07,180 --> 00:14:09,347
>> this is a scale model

379
00:14:09,382 --> 00:14:11,449
representing the house where

380
00:14:11,484 --> 00:14:12,383
julie rea and joel were the

381
00:14:12,419 --> 00:14:15,086
night of the crime.

382
00:14:15,121 --> 00:14:15,520
This would be joel's room where

383
00:14:15,555 --> 00:14:18,289
he was sleeping.

384
00:14:18,325 --> 00:14:19,457
This would be julie rea's

385
00:14:19,492 --> 00:14:23,161
bedroom where she was sleeping.

386
00:14:23,196 --> 00:14:24,729
In this vestibule in between the

387
00:14:24,764 --> 00:14:30,134
two, she encounters this dark

388
00:14:30,170 --> 00:14:30,635
figure.

389
00:14:30,670 --> 00:14:32,937
They begin fighting.

390
00:14:32,973 --> 00:14:34,939
That fight, according to her,

391
00:14:34,975 --> 00:14:36,107
through the dining area,

392
00:14:36,142 --> 00:14:39,110
towards -- there's a door that

393
00:14:39,145 --> 00:14:40,178
leads to the garage.

394
00:14:40,213 --> 00:14:40,578
It goes through the garage to

395
00:14:40,614 --> 00:14:42,447
another door.

396
00:14:42,482 --> 00:14:43,915
And that is where the struggle

397
00:14:43,950 --> 00:14:47,752
in the rear yard starts.

398
00:14:47,787 --> 00:14:48,519
>> the house itself was very

399
00:14:48,555 --> 00:14:49,454
neat inside.

400
00:14:49,489 --> 00:14:50,521
There wasn't any overturned

401
00:14:50,557 --> 00:14:51,956
furniture.

402
00:14:51,992 --> 00:14:52,891
There wasn't any pictures on the

403
00:14:52,926 --> 00:14:53,558
wall that had been knocked

404
00:14:53,593 --> 00:14:54,592
askew.

405
00:14:54,628 --> 00:14:59,898
There wasn't any broken chairs.

406
00:14:59,933 --> 00:15:00,999
>> there were no signs of

407
00:15:01,034 --> 00:15:04,969
anything stolen and no apparent

408
00:15:05,005 --> 00:15:05,703
forced entry.

409
00:15:05,739 --> 00:15:08,273
>> she became a suspect the very

410
00:15:08,308 --> 00:15:09,240
morning of October 13, 1997,

411
00:15:09,276 --> 00:15:09,874
because the crime scene

412
00:15:09,910 --> 00:15:10,842
technicians that arrived saw

413
00:15:10,877 --> 00:15:11,109
that the scene did not fit her

414
00:15:11,144 --> 00:15:12,510
story.

415
00:15:12,545 --> 00:15:13,211
>> I went up to the funeral

416
00:15:13,246 --> 00:15:17,882
home.

417
00:15:17,918 --> 00:15:19,984
I wanted to be alone.

418
00:15:20,020 --> 00:15:26,324
And see him for myself.

419
00:15:26,359 --> 00:15:26,691
I went to the table, pulled back

420
00:15:26,726 --> 00:15:33,898
his cover.

421
00:15:33,934 --> 00:15:35,967
And it just suddenly hit me, he

422
00:15:36,002 --> 00:15:37,035
was killed with a knife that

423
00:15:37,070 --> 00:15:38,636
came from the last gift I ever

424
00:15:38,672 --> 00:15:39,370
gave her as husband and wife at

425
00:15:39,406 --> 00:15:46,110
christmas.

426
00:15:46,146 --> 00:15:46,811
>> they would discover that the

427
00:15:46,846 --> 00:15:48,212
murder weapon was a steak knife

428
00:15:48,248 --> 00:15:48,947
that was in the butcher block in

429
00:15:48,982 --> 00:15:50,915
the kitchen.

430
00:15:50,951 --> 00:15:52,350
So, in other words, the story

431
00:15:52,385 --> 00:15:55,787
becomes he came into the house

432
00:15:55,822 --> 00:15:57,956
without even a weapon.

433
00:15:57,991 --> 00:15:58,990
>> the murder weapon was found

434
00:15:59,025 --> 00:16:00,558
on the floor in the hallway

435
00:16:00,593 --> 00:16:02,193
between the two bedrooms.

436
00:16:02,228 --> 00:16:02,927
>> the knife is found on the

437
00:16:02,963 --> 00:16:04,329
carpet.

438
00:16:04,364 --> 00:16:05,930
The evidence seemed to suggest

439
00:16:05,966 --> 00:16:07,298
that it had been placed there

440
00:16:07,334 --> 00:16:09,667
as opposed to thrown down.

441
00:16:09,703 --> 00:16:10,535
You don't see any blood spatter

442
00:16:10,570 --> 00:16:12,737
around on the knife.

443
00:16:12,772 --> 00:16:14,939
>> when she ran next door

444
00:16:14,975 --> 00:16:17,475
barefooted and in her underwear

445
00:16:17,510 --> 00:16:19,577
and t-shirt, even to the

446
00:16:19,612 --> 00:16:20,411
neighbor, she made strange

447
00:16:20,447 --> 00:16:22,880
comments.

448
00:16:22,916 --> 00:16:23,681
>> here was this lady who's just

449
00:16:23,717 --> 00:16:26,551
been distraught, and I'm looking

450
00:16:26,586 --> 00:16:28,720
at her arm and she says, you

451
00:16:28,755 --> 00:16:31,723
don't have to worry about me.

452
00:16:31,758 --> 00:16:32,790
I don't have aids.

453
00:16:32,826 --> 00:16:33,491
Almost a total change of

454
00:16:33,526 --> 00:16:34,158
personality there for that brief

455
00:16:34,194 --> 00:16:37,161
moment.

456
00:16:37,197 --> 00:16:38,796
Then I looked at her knees and

457
00:16:38,832 --> 00:16:39,864
she pulled her knees up like a

458
00:16:39,899 --> 00:16:40,765
little child and said, "I have a

459
00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:42,000
boo-boo on my knees."

460
00:16:42,035 --> 00:16:43,001
>> these were just comments made

461
00:16:43,036 --> 00:16:44,168
within minutes of this woman

462
00:16:44,204 --> 00:16:45,703
supposedly discovering that her

463
00:16:45,739 --> 00:16:46,337
child had been abducted from her

464
00:16:46,373 --> 00:16:50,908
home.

465
00:16:50,944 --> 00:16:51,676
>> julie's shirt had traces of

466
00:16:51,711 --> 00:16:52,343
blood on it.

467
00:16:52,379 --> 00:16:54,479
>> on the back of her shirt,

468
00:16:54,514 --> 00:16:54,779
that appeared to have been a

469
00:16:54,814 --> 00:16:57,215
spatter.

470
00:16:57,250 --> 00:16:59,917
>> dna testing would later

471
00:16:59,953 --> 00:17:00,551
reveal that it was joel's blood

472
00:17:00,587 --> 00:17:01,886
on the shoulder and back of

473
00:17:01,921 --> 00:17:04,288
julie's shirt.

474
00:17:04,324 --> 00:17:06,958
>> her account doesn't have her

475
00:17:06,993 --> 00:17:09,861
in contact with joel at any time

476
00:17:09,896 --> 00:17:10,628
during that crime.

477
00:17:10,663 --> 00:17:12,196
She thinks he's been kidnapped.

478
00:17:12,232 --> 00:17:13,765
So how would blood from him have

479
00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:14,766
transferred onto her when she

480
00:17:14,801 --> 00:17:20,171
didn't have that contact?

481
00:17:20,206 --> 00:17:21,739
>> the more investigators looked

482
00:17:21,775 --> 00:17:23,841
into it, the more they became

483
00:17:23,877 --> 00:17:26,411
convinced that julie was the

484
00:17:26,446 --> 00:17:30,782
suspect and nobody else.

485
00:17:30,817 --> 00:17:32,350
>> the question that the police

486
00:17:32,385 --> 00:17:33,151
officers immediately had was,

487
00:17:33,186 --> 00:17:36,054
who does this?

488
00:17:36,089 --> 00:17:38,656
Who breaks into a home for no

489
00:17:38,691 --> 00:17:40,758
reason, kills a kid for no

490
00:17:40,794 --> 00:17:44,395
reason, and then leaves an

491
00:17:44,431 --> 00:17:45,029
adult essentially unharmed?

492
00:17:45,065 --> 00:17:45,596
It doesn't make any sense to

493
00:17:45,632 --> 00:17:49,700
them.

494
00:17:49,736 --> 00:17:51,702
>> they told me to meet them at

495
00:17:51,738 --> 00:17:52,804
the police station.

496
00:17:52,839 --> 00:17:55,106
I thought they were trying to do

497
00:17:55,141 --> 00:17:56,674
their job.

498
00:17:56,709 --> 00:17:57,875
They said they thought I did it.

499
00:17:57,911 --> 00:17:58,543
They said that they were sure I

500
00:17:58,578 --> 00:18:00,211
did it.

501
00:18:00,246 --> 00:18:01,646
I said you're wrong.

502
00:18:01,681 --> 00:18:01,879
I didn't commit this crime.

503
00:18:12,892 --> 00:18:16,861
>>> 10-year-old joel kirkpatrick

504
00:18:16,896 --> 00:18:17,662
was found murdered.

505
00:18:17,697 --> 00:18:18,296
His mother told police she was

506
00:18:18,331 --> 00:18:19,330
awakened by hearing her son

507
00:18:19,365 --> 00:18:22,066
screaming.

508
00:18:22,102 --> 00:18:22,366
>> people woke up and were just

509
00:18:22,402 --> 00:18:28,806
stunned.

510
00:18:28,842 --> 00:18:30,241
The shock of an ugly murder like

511
00:18:30,276 --> 00:18:33,544
this in a small town.

512
00:18:33,580 --> 00:18:36,147
>> you think everybody's safe,

513
00:18:36,182 --> 00:18:37,181
and then something like that

514
00:18:37,217 --> 00:18:38,082
happens, it's frightening.

515
00:18:38,118 --> 00:18:38,749
>> just 'cause it's a small

516
00:18:38,785 --> 00:18:40,251
town, that's no sign it's not

517
00:18:40,286 --> 00:18:43,554
gonna happen here.

518
00:18:43,590 --> 00:18:48,259
>> she says she was then

519
00:18:48,294 --> 00:18:50,761
attacked by an intruder.

520
00:18:50,797 --> 00:18:53,931
A lawrence county sheriff's

521
00:18:53,967 --> 00:18:54,732
deputy found 10-year-old joel

522
00:18:54,767 --> 00:18:57,368
dead a short time later.

523
00:18:57,403 --> 00:18:57,869
>> julie had seen the intruder's

524
00:18:57,904 --> 00:18:59,237
face without a mask.

525
00:18:59,272 --> 00:19:00,138
She sees him for just a few

526
00:19:00,173 --> 00:19:00,972
seconds, and then he takes off

527
00:19:01,007 --> 00:19:02,273
after that.

528
00:19:02,308 --> 00:19:04,442
>> I looked over my right

529
00:19:04,477 --> 00:19:06,043
shoulder and saw the person

530
00:19:06,079 --> 00:19:06,978
walking away, and they had the

531
00:19:07,013 --> 00:19:08,713
mask off at that time.

532
00:19:08,748 --> 00:19:10,681
>> julie worked with a sketch

533
00:19:10,717 --> 00:19:10,982
artist, and they came up with a

534
00:19:11,017 --> 00:19:13,484
sketch.

535
00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:15,620
>> she described the assailant

536
00:19:15,655 --> 00:19:17,155
as thin, about 5'9" to 5'11",

537
00:19:17,190 --> 00:19:21,259
wearing camouflage pants.

538
00:19:21,294 --> 00:19:23,227
>> and this was circulated in

539
00:19:23,263 --> 00:19:23,728
the hopes of finding who she was

540
00:19:23,763 --> 00:19:25,496
talking about.

541
00:19:25,532 --> 00:19:26,063
>> as for the people of

542
00:19:26,099 --> 00:19:27,165
lawrenceville, it's the

543
00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:27,899
community rumor mill that's

544
00:19:27,934 --> 00:19:29,867
fueling their own stores as to

545
00:19:29,903 --> 00:19:30,701
just what may have happened to

546
00:19:30,737 --> 00:19:34,605
joel kirkpatrick.

547
00:19:34,641 --> 00:19:36,107
>> there was a woman who sold

548
00:19:36,142 --> 00:19:38,843
a greyhound bus ticket to

549
00:19:38,878 --> 00:19:41,512
somebody who she felt matched

550
00:19:41,548 --> 00:19:42,213
the description based on this

551
00:19:42,248 --> 00:19:43,614
sketch.

552
00:19:43,650 --> 00:19:45,750
>> the woman called the police

553
00:19:45,785 --> 00:19:47,018
and said, that man was at the

554
00:19:47,053 --> 00:19:51,055
bus station.

555
00:19:51,090 --> 00:19:53,724
>> someone else said that they

556
00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:55,293
saw a man over by the railroad

557
00:19:55,328 --> 00:19:57,428
track wearing camo fatigues.

558
00:19:57,463 --> 00:19:59,964
>> there were a group of kids at

559
00:19:59,999 --> 00:20:00,665
a party who said that some kids

560
00:20:00,700 --> 00:20:02,600
had shown up at the party saying

561
00:20:02,635 --> 00:20:04,769
we just killed somebody.

562
00:20:04,804 --> 00:20:06,437
And some of them said that those

563
00:20:06,472 --> 00:20:08,005
kids had blood on their clothes.

564
00:20:08,041 --> 00:20:10,074
>> supposed to have been three

565
00:20:10,109 --> 00:20:10,775
teenagers, I guess, broke in

566
00:20:10,810 --> 00:20:14,212
there.

567
00:20:14,247 --> 00:20:14,679
>> a kid that we went to school

568
00:20:14,714 --> 00:20:15,947
with killed joel.

569
00:20:15,982 --> 00:20:16,814
>> to a group of boys tripping

570
00:20:16,849 --> 00:20:18,015
on methamphetamine.

571
00:20:18,051 --> 00:20:19,150
>> none of this checked out.

572
00:20:19,185 --> 00:20:21,152
>> there were other leads coming

573
00:20:21,187 --> 00:20:23,354
in and other leads being looked

574
00:20:23,389 --> 00:20:26,891
at, but in the end, they kept

575
00:20:26,926 --> 00:20:28,693
coming back to her.

576
00:20:28,728 --> 00:20:29,360
>> julie cooperated with the

577
00:20:29,395 --> 00:20:31,362
investigation.

578
00:20:31,397 --> 00:20:33,297
She was interviewed by the state

579
00:20:33,333 --> 00:20:40,738
police three times.

580
00:20:40,773 --> 00:20:41,439
>> conducting this test, there

581
00:20:41,474 --> 00:20:42,106
are a couple of issues I have to

582
00:20:42,141 --> 00:20:43,374
explore.

583
00:20:43,409 --> 00:20:44,008
One is that everything happened

584
00:20:44,043 --> 00:20:44,775
exactly the way you said it

585
00:20:44,811 --> 00:20:47,278
happened.

586
00:20:47,313 --> 00:20:48,212
Another is that you harmed joel.

587
00:20:48,248 --> 00:20:49,313
>> I remember julie took a

588
00:20:49,349 --> 00:20:49,847
polygraph test to prove she had

589
00:20:49,882 --> 00:20:52,483
nothing to do with it.

590
00:20:52,518 --> 00:20:54,986
>> what I would like to do now

591
00:20:55,021 --> 00:20:55,353
is to get you attached to the

592
00:20:55,388 --> 00:20:57,021
instrument.

593
00:20:57,056 --> 00:20:57,655
>> okay.

594
00:20:57,690 --> 00:20:58,022
>> I have to put this around

595
00:20:58,057 --> 00:21:01,626
behind you.

596
00:21:01,661 --> 00:21:05,296
During the early morning hours

597
00:21:05,331 --> 00:21:07,732
of 13 October, 1997, were you

598
00:21:07,767 --> 00:21:08,199
assaulted by a masked intruder

599
00:21:08,234 --> 00:21:09,667
you did not know?

600
00:21:09,702 --> 00:21:11,068
>> yes.

601
00:21:11,104 --> 00:21:14,305
>> julie took two polygraph

602
00:21:14,340 --> 00:21:16,340
tests from -- not from the state

603
00:21:16,376 --> 00:21:17,275
police, but from independent

604
00:21:17,310 --> 00:21:18,509
polygraph examiners.

605
00:21:18,544 --> 00:21:20,011
>> did you deliberately cause

606
00:21:20,046 --> 00:21:20,745
any of joel's injuries?

607
00:21:20,780 --> 00:21:24,849
>> no.

608
00:21:24,884 --> 00:21:26,684
>> julie passed both of them.

609
00:21:26,719 --> 00:21:29,687
>> after really a small number

610
00:21:29,722 --> 00:21:30,488
of leads, the police ran out of

611
00:21:30,523 --> 00:21:32,156
other suspects.

612
00:21:32,191 --> 00:21:33,858
The case went cold.

613
00:21:33,893 --> 00:21:34,492
Julie was still suspect number

614
00:21:34,527 --> 00:21:37,561
one.

615
00:21:37,597 --> 00:21:40,064
>> I said, well, do you still

616
00:21:40,099 --> 00:21:41,832
think I'm a suspect?

617
00:21:41,868 --> 00:21:44,201
You know, are you wasting your

618
00:21:44,237 --> 00:21:47,071
time on that?

619
00:21:47,106 --> 00:21:48,706
And he said, well, yeah, you're

620
00:21:48,741 --> 00:21:49,707
a suspect.

621
00:21:49,742 --> 00:21:50,207
You were there.

622
00:21:50,243 --> 00:21:53,311
And I said, okay.

623
00:21:53,346 --> 00:21:55,379
And so who else are you looking

624
00:21:55,415 --> 00:21:56,013
at?

625
00:21:56,049 --> 00:21:56,314
And he said, you're our main

626
00:21:56,349 --> 00:22:03,287
suspect.

627
00:22:03,323 --> 00:22:05,456
>> they didn't have enough

628
00:22:05,491 --> 00:22:06,557
evidence to indict her, and so

629
00:22:06,592 --> 00:22:07,658
the case kind of just languished

630
00:22:07,694 --> 00:22:11,762
for a few years.

631
00:22:11,798 --> 00:22:15,833
>> no one has been identified as

632
00:22:15,868 --> 00:22:18,936
the suspect or -- and there's

633
00:22:18,971 --> 00:22:19,937
not enough evidence that we've

634
00:22:19,972 --> 00:22:21,072
evaluated for us to make that

635
00:22:21,107 --> 00:22:23,374
decision at this time.

636
00:22:23,409 --> 00:22:24,809
>> the case just went nowhere

637
00:22:24,844 --> 00:22:29,280
almost immediately.

638
00:22:29,315 --> 00:22:32,983
I -- I pity the investigators

639
00:22:33,019 --> 00:22:36,320
just because this -- this would

640
00:22:36,356 --> 00:22:44,362
happen every time I called them.

641
00:22:44,397 --> 00:22:46,030
And they had to have got sick of

642
00:22:46,065 --> 00:22:46,864
it.

643
00:22:46,899 --> 00:22:50,601
For years, nothing happened.

644
00:22:50,636 --> 00:22:54,672
♪ how do you keep your head

645
00:22:54,707 --> 00:22:55,306
above the water when you never

646
00:22:55,341 --> 00:22:56,607
learned to swim ♪

647
00:22:56,642 --> 00:22:57,308
>> julie tried to move on with

648
00:22:57,343 --> 00:22:58,576
her life.

649
00:22:58,611 --> 00:22:58,943
She remarried to a man named

650
00:22:58,978 --> 00:23:00,911
mark harper.

651
00:23:00,947 --> 00:23:01,812
She moved to

652
00:23:01,848 --> 00:23:02,947
bloomington, indiana.

653
00:23:02,982 --> 00:23:05,549
>> julie's family put up a

654
00:23:05,585 --> 00:23:06,684
reward on the one-year

655
00:23:06,719 --> 00:23:07,785
anniversary of joel's death

656
00:23:07,820 --> 00:23:09,787
for any information leading to

657
00:23:09,822 --> 00:23:10,221
the killer, and the reward was

658
00:23:10,256 --> 00:23:11,555
never paid out.

659
00:23:11,591 --> 00:23:14,458
>> she continues working on her

660
00:23:14,494 --> 00:23:16,093
ph.D, but all the time she kind

661
00:23:16,129 --> 00:23:16,360
of knows that this could crop up

662
00:23:16,396 --> 00:23:24,001
again.

663
00:23:24,036 --> 00:23:26,370
>> it's now 2000.

664
00:23:26,406 --> 00:23:27,004
An appellate prosecutor gets the

665
00:23:27,039 --> 00:23:29,573
case.

666
00:23:29,609 --> 00:23:30,775
He is convinced that julie rea

667
00:23:30,810 --> 00:23:32,143
is guilty.

668
00:23:32,178 --> 00:23:35,713
So he takes the case to the

669
00:23:35,748 --> 00:23:36,080
grand jury, and he gets an

670
00:23:36,115 --> 00:23:39,250
indictment.

671
00:23:39,285 --> 00:23:42,453
>> ed parkinson is appointed to

672
00:23:42,488 --> 00:23:43,053
prosecute this case.

673
00:23:43,089 --> 00:23:45,790
>> the fact that this is a

674
00:23:45,825 --> 00:23:47,324
circumstantial case for the most

675
00:23:47,360 --> 00:23:48,592
part doesn't make it any less

676
00:23:48,628 --> 00:23:50,027
the case.

677
00:23:50,062 --> 00:23:51,529
Very few murders are witnessed.

678
00:23:51,564 --> 00:23:52,163
This was a strong circumstantial

679
00:23:52,198 --> 00:23:53,631
case.

680
00:23:53,666 --> 00:23:55,132
>> this is not the first time

681
00:23:55,168 --> 00:23:56,801
julie kirkpatrick has been

682
00:23:56,836 --> 00:23:57,835
rumored to be involved in her

683
00:23:57,870 --> 00:23:59,336
son's murder, but it is the

684
00:23:59,372 --> 00:24:01,672
first time she has been

685
00:24:01,707 --> 00:24:12,650
officially labeled as a suspect.

686
00:24:12,685 --> 00:24:16,053
>> I was shocked, going to

687
00:24:16,088 --> 00:24:16,754
appoint a grand jury for her.

688
00:24:16,789 --> 00:24:18,389
I can't imagine a mother doing

689
00:24:18,424 --> 00:24:21,992
something like that to a child.

690
00:24:22,028 --> 00:24:23,527
>> to believe her, you would

691
00:24:23,563 --> 00:24:26,764
have to believe that this

692
00:24:26,799 --> 00:24:27,798
assailant came into her home

693
00:24:27,834 --> 00:24:29,467
in the middle of the night,

694
00:24:29,502 --> 00:24:31,869
forgot to bring a murder weapon

695
00:24:31,904 --> 00:24:33,437
along, and after he accomplished

696
00:24:33,473 --> 00:24:35,105
his result, he then pulled off

697
00:24:35,141 --> 00:24:36,507
the mask to reveal his identity

698
00:24:36,542 --> 00:24:37,074
to her.

699
00:24:37,109 --> 00:24:39,210
Total nonsense.

700
00:24:39,245 --> 00:24:40,311
>> she had invited me to spend

701
00:24:40,346 --> 00:24:41,912
the night there, and why would

702
00:24:41,948 --> 00:24:42,913
she invite me to be there if she

703
00:24:42,949 --> 00:24:45,082
had planned on killing joel?

704
00:24:45,117 --> 00:24:49,887
It didn't make any sense at all.

705
00:25:06,305 --> 00:25:07,204
>>> the grand jury handed down

706
00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:08,205
two counts of first-degree

707
00:25:08,241 --> 00:25:10,374
murder against julie.

708
00:25:10,409 --> 00:25:12,042
There hadn't been any movement

709
00:25:12,078 --> 00:25:19,316
on the case in three years, so

710
00:25:19,352 --> 00:25:19,817
it was, wow, we couldn't believe

711
00:25:19,852 --> 00:25:21,018
this was happening.

712
00:25:21,053 --> 00:25:22,152
>> it just feels so surreal.

713
00:25:22,188 --> 00:25:22,653
Like, how in the world did this

714
00:25:22,688 --> 00:25:26,123
even happen?

715
00:25:26,158 --> 00:25:27,424
She surrendered.

716
00:25:27,460 --> 00:25:28,492
She hugged each one of us and

717
00:25:28,528 --> 00:25:29,126
then was taken away into the

718
00:25:29,161 --> 00:25:30,060
jail.

719
00:25:30,096 --> 00:25:30,861
>> when she was arrested, she

720
00:25:30,897 --> 00:25:32,196
still had a belief that the

721
00:25:32,231 --> 00:25:33,797
truth would come out, that the

722
00:25:33,833 --> 00:25:34,532
legal system would prove her to

723
00:25:34,567 --> 00:25:38,536
be innocent.

724
00:25:38,571 --> 00:25:40,804
>> I didn't commit this crime.

725
00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:42,306
I said, I could not.

726
00:25:42,341 --> 00:25:43,140
I'm not capable.

727
00:25:43,175 --> 00:25:43,807
I would not.

728
00:25:43,843 --> 00:25:44,041
I have no reason to, and I did

729
00:25:44,076 --> 00:25:46,544
not.

730
00:25:46,579 --> 00:25:47,244
>> attorneys tell news 25 she is

731
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:49,246
anxious to now have her case go

732
00:25:49,282 --> 00:25:49,847
to trial so a jury can hear the

733
00:25:49,882 --> 00:25:55,419
truth.

734
00:25:55,454 --> 00:25:56,554
>> julie's trial took place in

735
00:25:56,589 --> 00:25:59,523
wayne county, illinois.

736
00:25:59,559 --> 00:26:00,925
The judge granted a change of

737
00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:01,859
venue case because of all the

738
00:26:01,894 --> 00:26:03,527
pretrial publicity.

739
00:26:03,563 --> 00:26:06,797
>> the courtroom was small.

740
00:26:06,832 --> 00:26:09,066
It had benches in it that looked

741
00:26:09,101 --> 00:26:09,900
like pews.

742
00:26:09,936 --> 00:26:11,502
Julie had a public defender

743
00:26:11,537 --> 00:26:12,303
because she couldn't afford

744
00:26:12,338 --> 00:26:14,672
anything else.

745
00:26:14,707 --> 00:26:17,207
And you had the whole entire

746
00:26:17,243 --> 00:26:17,441
resources of the state against

747
00:26:17,476 --> 00:26:20,010
her.

748
00:26:20,046 --> 00:26:21,378
>> and so it's a total mismatch

749
00:26:21,414 --> 00:26:26,850
in the courtroom.

750
00:26:26,886 --> 00:26:30,854
>> the prosecution's case is

751
00:26:30,890 --> 00:26:31,555
there was no other explanation.

752
00:26:31,591 --> 00:26:32,289
They reject her explanation that

753
00:26:32,325 --> 00:26:33,090
there was a masked intruder who

754
00:26:33,125 --> 00:26:34,658
entered her house and killed her

755
00:26:34,694 --> 00:26:35,593
son with a knife that he found

756
00:26:35,628 --> 00:26:37,795
in the butcher block.

757
00:26:37,830 --> 00:26:39,930
It sounds too preposterous.

758
00:26:39,966 --> 00:26:41,498
>> to believe her, you would

759
00:26:41,534 --> 00:26:43,100
have to believe that this

760
00:26:43,135 --> 00:26:45,669
assailant came into her home

761
00:26:45,705 --> 00:26:46,303
in the middle of the night

762
00:26:46,339 --> 00:26:47,905
in dark clothes, hiding his

763
00:26:47,940 --> 00:26:48,672
identity by the use of a mask

764
00:26:48,708 --> 00:26:51,942
for the sole purpose of killing

765
00:26:51,978 --> 00:26:54,778
a 10-year-old boy.

766
00:26:54,814 --> 00:26:56,413
And yet he took such care to

767
00:26:56,449 --> 00:26:58,549
hide his identity by wearing a

768
00:26:58,584 --> 00:27:00,751
mask, he also forgot to bring a

769
00:27:00,786 --> 00:27:02,252
murder weapon along and used her

770
00:27:02,288 --> 00:27:04,455
kitchen knife to do it with.

771
00:27:04,490 --> 00:27:05,990
And after he accomplished his

772
00:27:06,025 --> 00:27:07,024
result, according to her, he

773
00:27:07,059 --> 00:27:08,592
then pulled off the mask to

774
00:27:08,628 --> 00:27:09,927
reveal his identity to her.

775
00:27:09,962 --> 00:27:12,262
Total nonsense.

776
00:27:12,298 --> 00:27:13,263
>> the best evidence against

777
00:27:13,299 --> 00:27:17,368
julie was that she survived.

778
00:27:17,403 --> 00:27:20,270
>> during the trial, prosecutors

779
00:27:20,306 --> 00:27:24,341
presented to the jury that julie

780
00:27:24,377 --> 00:27:24,775
had, essentially, setup, staged,

781
00:27:24,810 --> 00:27:27,144
the whole scene.

782
00:27:27,179 --> 00:27:32,282
>> they look at the two doors

783
00:27:32,318 --> 00:27:32,950
where there were breaks, and

784
00:27:32,985 --> 00:27:37,621
there's glass broken, but it's

785
00:27:37,657 --> 00:27:38,856
fallen on the outside.

786
00:27:38,891 --> 00:27:40,457
So the prosecution made an issue

787
00:27:40,493 --> 00:27:43,027
of this, which is if the person

788
00:27:43,062 --> 00:27:45,195
broke the glass to break into

789
00:27:45,231 --> 00:27:45,896
the house, the glass would be on

790
00:27:45,931 --> 00:27:49,400
the inside.

791
00:27:49,435 --> 00:27:50,968
>> they decided that julie had

792
00:27:51,003 --> 00:27:53,671
tried to stage the crime scene

793
00:27:53,706 --> 00:27:58,308
and just not done it very well.

794
00:27:58,344 --> 00:27:59,643
>> the house was in complete

795
00:27:59,679 --> 00:28:02,413
neatness.

796
00:28:02,448 --> 00:28:06,350
And if there was a struggle

797
00:28:06,385 --> 00:28:08,452
throughout a long hallway,

798
00:28:08,487 --> 00:28:09,520
out through the kitchen, past

799
00:28:09,555 --> 00:28:10,587
furniture, past plaques on the

800
00:28:10,623 --> 00:28:11,555
wall, as she described fighting

801
00:28:11,590 --> 00:28:12,756
and wrestling with this

802
00:28:12,792 --> 00:28:14,692
intruder, there would have been

803
00:28:14,727 --> 00:28:16,427
some disturbance, some blood

804
00:28:16,462 --> 00:28:17,227
trail, something knocked ajar.

805
00:28:17,263 --> 00:28:20,130
There was none.

806
00:28:20,166 --> 00:28:21,632
>> they want a jury to believe

807
00:28:21,667 --> 00:28:24,735
that because the furniture

808
00:28:24,770 --> 00:28:25,269
wasn't torn up, there must not

809
00:28:25,304 --> 00:28:28,005
have been a struggle.

810
00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:28,939
>> I keep coming back to,

811
00:28:28,974 --> 00:28:30,040
where's the blood?

812
00:28:30,076 --> 00:28:30,641
Where's the bloody clothing?

813
00:28:30,676 --> 00:28:31,775
Where's the blood on her?

814
00:28:31,811 --> 00:28:36,547
They want to say that she had

815
00:28:36,582 --> 00:28:37,281
blood on her, she got rid of it.

816
00:28:37,316 --> 00:28:38,515
Where is it?

817
00:28:38,551 --> 00:28:39,183
They dug up the septic tank the

818
00:28:39,218 --> 00:28:39,983
drains are dry, the traps have

819
00:28:40,019 --> 00:28:41,285
no blood in it.

820
00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:44,488
>> she stabbed him, threw a

821
00:28:44,523 --> 00:28:45,556
quilt, threw blanket threw a

822
00:28:45,591 --> 00:28:46,390
sheet down, into his shirt and

823
00:28:46,425 --> 00:28:47,458
into his chest.

824
00:28:47,493 --> 00:28:48,759
So each time the knife was

825
00:28:48,794 --> 00:28:49,526
brought back, it was being wiped

826
00:28:49,562 --> 00:28:50,327
by the cover.

827
00:28:50,362 --> 00:28:52,830
>> the case against julie rae

828
00:28:52,865 --> 00:28:53,497
was entirely circumstantial, and

829
00:28:53,532 --> 00:28:54,398
a big part of it was based on

830
00:28:54,433 --> 00:28:54,698
expert testimony about blood

831
00:28:54,734 --> 00:28:57,034
spatter.

832
00:28:57,069 --> 00:28:58,736
>> I'm matt steiner.

833
00:28:58,771 --> 00:28:59,570
I'm a certified senior crime

834
00:28:59,605 --> 00:29:01,472
scene analyst.

835
00:29:01,507 --> 00:29:04,608
>> we're going to cover the

836
00:29:04,643 --> 00:29:07,244
container of animal blood.

837
00:29:07,279 --> 00:29:07,945
And now we're going to take the

838
00:29:07,980 --> 00:29:10,180
knife and put it through the

839
00:29:10,216 --> 00:29:10,514
sheet and comforter to see what

840
00:29:10,549 --> 00:29:14,518
happens.

841
00:29:14,553 --> 00:29:16,153
>> so it did wipe it off

842
00:29:16,188 --> 00:29:17,788
somewhat, but there's still

843
00:29:17,823 --> 00:29:19,389
visible blood on that blade.

844
00:29:19,425 --> 00:29:20,991
As you see from photographs

845
00:29:21,026 --> 00:29:22,493
at the crime scene, we have

846
00:29:22,528 --> 00:29:24,128
bloodstain patterns on the

847
00:29:24,163 --> 00:29:24,895
headboard, the wall, and the

848
00:29:24,930 --> 00:29:26,797
carpeting.

849
00:29:26,832 --> 00:29:29,399
So I think the whole theory of

850
00:29:29,435 --> 00:29:31,034
not getting blood on julie

851
00:29:31,070 --> 00:29:31,835
because of this wiping action

852
00:29:31,871 --> 00:29:33,670
here is false.

853
00:29:33,706 --> 00:29:35,272
If she had killed joel, we'd

854
00:29:35,307 --> 00:29:37,975
expect to see a lot more blood

855
00:29:38,010 --> 00:29:39,910
on the shirt, and there is not.

856
00:29:39,945 --> 00:29:40,277
>> julie's shirt had traces of

857
00:29:40,312 --> 00:29:41,912
blood on it.

858
00:29:41,947 --> 00:29:43,280
Joel's blood.

859
00:29:43,315 --> 00:29:45,816
The prosecution claimed that the

860
00:29:45,851 --> 00:29:46,950
blood traces on her shirt

861
00:29:46,986 --> 00:29:48,285
spattered there directly while

862
00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:48,919
she was killing her son.

863
00:29:48,954 --> 00:29:51,121
>> how did the little boy's

864
00:29:51,157 --> 00:29:52,823
blood get on her shirt?

865
00:29:52,858 --> 00:29:55,959
>> well, if julie did scuffle

866
00:29:55,995 --> 00:29:56,960
with this intruder, who would

867
00:29:56,996 --> 00:29:59,530
have had blood on him from

868
00:29:59,565 --> 00:30:00,164
stabbing this child, it's

869
00:30:00,199 --> 00:30:01,198
entirely plausible that she

870
00:30:01,233 --> 00:30:02,032
would have a little transfer

871
00:30:02,067 --> 00:30:03,767
stain on her.

872
00:30:03,803 --> 00:30:04,168
>> also there was the question

873
00:30:04,203 --> 00:30:08,071
of the knife.

874
00:30:08,107 --> 00:30:09,139
>> the knife was found on the

875
00:30:09,175 --> 00:30:11,809
floor between the two bedrooms

876
00:30:11,844 --> 00:30:12,810
and the investigators said there

877
00:30:12,845 --> 00:30:13,477
were no signs that the knife had

878
00:30:13,512 --> 00:30:14,678
been dropped or the knife had

879
00:30:14,713 --> 00:30:17,114
been tossed.

880
00:30:17,149 --> 00:30:19,249
>> we say it was placed because

881
00:30:19,285 --> 00:30:21,318
there was no evidence that there

882
00:30:21,353 --> 00:30:22,920
was blood spatters immediately

883
00:30:22,955 --> 00:30:23,987
around the blade of the knife.

884
00:30:24,023 --> 00:30:25,055
>> but what they didn't realize

885
00:30:25,090 --> 00:30:28,725
is that often in crime scenes

886
00:30:28,761 --> 00:30:29,860
killers that use a knife will

887
00:30:29,895 --> 00:30:33,163
wipe the knife off on their

888
00:30:33,199 --> 00:30:35,599
clothing.

889
00:30:35,634 --> 00:30:36,667
And then if I take that knife

890
00:30:36,702 --> 00:30:39,837
and I just drop at our scene,

891
00:30:39,872 --> 00:30:40,671
we're not going to see spatter

892
00:30:40,706 --> 00:30:45,576
from that knife.

893
00:30:45,611 --> 00:30:47,311
>> even in the backyard,

894
00:30:47,346 --> 00:30:48,879
investigators said there didn't

895
00:30:48,914 --> 00:30:49,613
seem to be any indication of a

896
00:30:49,648 --> 00:30:51,515
struggle.

897
00:30:51,550 --> 00:30:54,051
>> they had an officer testify

898
00:30:54,086 --> 00:30:57,821
that that there were no

899
00:30:57,857 --> 00:30:58,522
footprints in the grass because

900
00:30:58,557 --> 00:31:00,424
they would have been seen in the

901
00:31:00,459 --> 00:31:09,333
dew of the grass.

902
00:31:09,368 --> 00:31:12,970
I can remember most clearly

903
00:31:13,005 --> 00:31:16,139
about the trial are some of the

904
00:31:16,175 --> 00:31:16,406
autopsy pictures they showed of

905
00:31:16,442 --> 00:31:17,708
joel.

906
00:31:17,743 --> 00:31:18,175
I mean, he was just a kid.

907
00:31:18,210 --> 00:31:21,044
It was just awful.

908
00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:22,479
>> one of them was joel's body

909
00:31:22,514 --> 00:31:22,746
lying between the bed and the

910
00:31:22,781 --> 00:31:25,716
wall.

911
00:31:25,751 --> 00:31:29,519
I've been a reporter for

912
00:31:29,555 --> 00:31:31,321
decades, and that was the only

913
00:31:31,357 --> 00:31:31,922
picture that stuck with me in a

914
00:31:31,957 --> 00:31:33,257
really bad way.

915
00:31:33,292 --> 00:31:34,825
>> the prosecution made julie's

916
00:31:34,860 --> 00:31:35,392
character the central argument

917
00:31:35,427 --> 00:31:38,562
in their case.

918
00:31:38,597 --> 00:31:42,232
Julie, herself, never testified.

919
00:31:42,268 --> 00:31:42,933
Her lawyer did not want her to

920
00:31:42,968 --> 00:31:44,735
testify.

921
00:31:44,770 --> 00:31:44,968
>> brad told me absolutely not

922
00:31:45,004 --> 00:31:46,970
to.

923
00:31:47,006 --> 00:31:50,607
I argued with him about it.

924
00:31:50,643 --> 00:31:51,775
And I said, brad, I want to.

925
00:31:51,810 --> 00:31:53,176
This jury has not had a chance

926
00:31:53,212 --> 00:31:55,879
to hear me talk.

927
00:31:55,915 --> 00:31:57,414
And he's like, no, no.

928
00:31:57,449 --> 00:31:58,081
Our experts have said that

929
00:31:58,117 --> 00:31:59,082
parkinson will use everything

930
00:31:59,118 --> 00:31:59,816
you say and try to twist it

931
00:31:59,852 --> 00:32:01,318
around.

932
00:32:01,353 --> 00:32:02,419
And I'm thinking, well, that's

933
00:32:02,454 --> 00:32:03,086
different than what he's done so

934
00:32:03,122 --> 00:32:05,956
far how?

935
00:32:05,991 --> 00:32:06,323
Because he's done that with

936
00:32:06,358 --> 00:32:08,158
everything.

937
00:32:08,193 --> 00:32:09,526
Would bear up well under

938
00:32:09,561 --> 00:32:10,761
cross-examination.

939
00:32:10,796 --> 00:32:11,862
Not because she wouldn't be

940
00:32:11,897 --> 00:32:13,397
telling the truth, but because

941
00:32:13,432 --> 00:32:14,364
her demeanor, the way she

942
00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:14,898
answers questions, she doesn't

943
00:32:14,934 --> 00:32:20,337
answer them directly.

944
00:32:20,372 --> 00:32:22,940
>> I was asked to testify in

945
00:32:22,975 --> 00:32:23,840
julie's trial that she had

946
00:32:23,876 --> 00:32:24,541
invited me to spend the night

947
00:32:24,576 --> 00:32:26,109
there, and why would she invite

948
00:32:26,145 --> 00:32:27,678
me to be there if she had

949
00:32:27,713 --> 00:32:30,447
planned on killing joel?

950
00:32:30,482 --> 00:32:33,483
It didn't make any sense at all.

951
00:32:33,519 --> 00:32:33,750
>> why would a mother kill her

952
00:32:33,786 --> 00:32:35,452
child?

953
00:32:35,487 --> 00:32:39,456
We don't know.

954
00:32:39,491 --> 00:32:40,557
We do know, though, that there

955
00:32:40,592 --> 00:32:43,093
was a long battle for custody of

956
00:32:43,128 --> 00:32:46,396
joel, and she disliked her

957
00:32:46,432 --> 00:32:47,331
ex-husband so much that whether

958
00:32:47,366 --> 00:32:54,338
this was to punish him or

959
00:32:54,373 --> 00:32:55,238
whether, in her own twisted way,

960
00:32:55,274 --> 00:32:55,872
she thought joel would be better

961
00:32:55,908 --> 00:32:56,640
off than growing up with her

962
00:32:56,675 --> 00:32:57,808
ex-husband.

963
00:32:57,843 --> 00:32:59,009
>> I know it's an

964
00:32:59,044 --> 00:33:00,143
oversimplification, but I

965
00:33:00,179 --> 00:33:02,713
believe it's as simple as if I

966
00:33:02,748 --> 00:33:03,013
can't have him, you can't

967
00:33:03,048 --> 00:33:05,515
either.

968
00:33:05,551 --> 00:33:07,517
>> when they announce the

969
00:33:07,553 --> 00:33:08,352
verdict, it was just so

970
00:33:08,387 --> 00:33:09,619
unbelievable.

971
00:33:09,655 --> 00:33:11,154
>> I don't think mr. Parkinson

972
00:33:11,190 --> 00:33:11,588
or I either one knew what the

973
00:33:11,623 --> 00:33:12,789
result would be.

974
00:33:12,825 --> 00:33:13,890
>> I literally cried in my

975
00:33:13,892 --> 00:33:13,923
chair.

976
00:33:24,536 --> 00:33:25,035
>>> the jury didn't seem to

977
00:33:25,070 --> 00:33:26,169
deliberate that long.

978
00:33:26,205 --> 00:33:28,739
I think they were only out five

979
00:33:28,774 --> 00:33:29,406
hours, maybe a little more, and

980
00:33:29,441 --> 00:33:31,274
they came back with a verdict

981
00:33:31,310 --> 00:33:32,075
that same day.

982
00:33:32,111 --> 00:33:37,147
>> the verdict, julie rea was

983
00:33:37,182 --> 00:33:37,547
guilty of first-degree murder of

984
00:33:37,583 --> 00:33:42,119
her son, joel.

985
00:33:42,154 --> 00:33:45,288
>> julie turned around, started

986
00:33:45,324 --> 00:33:46,023
crying and was looking at all of

987
00:33:46,058 --> 00:33:46,656
us.

988
00:33:46,692 --> 00:33:49,693
It was just so unbelievable.

989
00:33:49,728 --> 00:33:55,966
>> I don't know how they came up

990
00:33:56,001 --> 00:33:56,533
with a guilty verdict.

991
00:33:56,568 --> 00:33:58,135
I really have no clue.

992
00:33:58,170 --> 00:34:00,904
>> there was really an

993
00:34:00,939 --> 00:34:01,872
overwhelming sense of -- of

994
00:34:01,907 --> 00:34:02,973
anger, shock, disbelief.

995
00:34:03,008 --> 00:34:04,608
>> she was found guilty of

996
00:34:04,643 --> 00:34:06,043
murder and was sentenced to

997
00:34:06,078 --> 00:34:09,880
65 years in prison.

998
00:34:09,915 --> 00:34:12,082
>> this is julie rae moments

999
00:34:12,117 --> 00:34:13,650
after a jury found her guilty of

1000
00:34:13,685 --> 00:34:14,384
stabbing her son, joel, to death

1001
00:34:14,420 --> 00:34:16,787
in his bed.

1002
00:34:16,822 --> 00:34:17,888
>> I can't tell you there's any

1003
00:34:17,923 --> 00:34:20,490
science as to how juries come to

1004
00:34:20,526 --> 00:34:24,194
the decisions they come to.

1005
00:34:24,229 --> 00:34:25,128
Stronger people win out, and

1006
00:34:25,164 --> 00:34:25,796
people who aren't so strong in

1007
00:34:25,831 --> 00:34:28,398
their convictions or in their

1008
00:34:28,434 --> 00:34:29,499
persistence will give in.

1009
00:34:29,535 --> 00:34:30,500
>> the more I talked, I really

1010
00:34:30,536 --> 00:34:31,668
felt like she was guilty.

1011
00:34:31,703 --> 00:34:34,838
There was no logical explanation

1012
00:34:34,873 --> 00:34:35,639
on how she couldn't have done

1013
00:34:35,674 --> 00:34:39,876
it.

1014
00:34:39,912 --> 00:34:41,445
>> she said he just stopped

1015
00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:42,345
beating her head on the ground,

1016
00:34:42,381 --> 00:34:42,679
he walked off and pulled his

1017
00:34:42,714 --> 00:34:43,980
mask off.

1018
00:34:44,016 --> 00:34:44,881
>> under a security light.

1019
00:34:44,917 --> 00:34:45,649
>> calmly, too.

1020
00:34:45,684 --> 00:34:46,983
>> and it just didn't have the

1021
00:34:47,019 --> 00:34:47,884
ring of truth?

1022
00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:49,286
>> no.

1023
00:34:49,321 --> 00:34:50,253
>> and my thought was, why

1024
00:34:50,289 --> 00:34:52,189
didn't he kill her?

1025
00:34:52,224 --> 00:34:54,091
>> to me, it was the fact in her

1026
00:34:54,126 --> 00:34:55,225
statement, she says that she

1027
00:34:55,260 --> 00:34:56,293
wrestled in the backyard with

1028
00:34:56,328 --> 00:34:59,663
this man and he beat her head

1029
00:34:59,698 --> 00:35:00,363
violently in the ground.

1030
00:35:00,399 --> 00:35:02,032
Deputy york testified that there

1031
00:35:02,067 --> 00:35:02,799
was not dew disturbed in the

1032
00:35:02,835 --> 00:35:03,700
backyard.

1033
00:35:03,735 --> 00:35:05,235
>> the fact that they said that

1034
00:35:05,270 --> 00:35:06,903
there was no sign of forced

1035
00:35:06,939 --> 00:35:08,205
entry, no blood trail, all of it

1036
00:35:08,240 --> 00:35:11,675
added together.

1037
00:35:11,710 --> 00:35:12,676
>> and the prosecution said the

1038
00:35:12,711 --> 00:35:14,344
murderer came in the house and

1039
00:35:14,379 --> 00:35:15,879
he throwed up his hands and say,

1040
00:35:15,914 --> 00:35:18,482
oh, I forgot a murder weapon.

1041
00:35:18,517 --> 00:35:19,549
If he had intentions to kill

1042
00:35:19,585 --> 00:35:22,085
somebody, you would think he

1043
00:35:22,121 --> 00:35:22,385
would have brought his own

1044
00:35:22,421 --> 00:35:27,057
weapon.

1045
00:35:27,092 --> 00:35:29,993
>> julie had this story that --

1046
00:35:30,028 --> 00:35:32,262
I mean, honestly it doesn't make

1047
00:35:32,297 --> 00:35:34,397
sense, and parkinson said she

1048
00:35:34,433 --> 00:35:36,032
was convicted by her own

1049
00:35:36,068 --> 00:35:38,902
ridiculous story.

1050
00:35:38,937 --> 00:35:40,003
>> in talking to those jurors,

1051
00:35:40,038 --> 00:35:40,971
the key difference, according to

1052
00:35:41,006 --> 00:35:42,038
the people who were on the

1053
00:35:42,074 --> 00:35:42,372
fence, was she didn't get up on

1054
00:35:42,407 --> 00:35:43,607
the stand.

1055
00:35:43,642 --> 00:35:44,741
>> I looked at her for two

1056
00:35:44,776 --> 00:35:47,110
weeks, stared her in her eyes

1057
00:35:47,146 --> 00:35:48,411
for two weeks.

1058
00:35:48,447 --> 00:35:52,115
I wanted her to tell me that

1059
00:35:52,151 --> 00:35:53,083
story, what happened, see if

1060
00:35:53,118 --> 00:35:53,416
she -- how upset she was, how

1061
00:35:53,452 --> 00:35:58,555
she felt.

1062
00:35:58,590 --> 00:35:59,623
>> the prosecution didn't have

1063
00:35:59,658 --> 00:36:01,758
to move any motive, but the

1064
00:36:01,793 --> 00:36:02,759
jurors were convinced that julie

1065
00:36:02,794 --> 00:36:05,896
wanted to do anything to keep

1066
00:36:05,931 --> 00:36:06,796
her son, joel, away from her

1067
00:36:06,832 --> 00:36:08,064
ex-husband, len.

1068
00:36:08,100 --> 00:36:08,832
>> I feel it was hatred toward

1069
00:36:08,867 --> 00:36:11,801
her husband.

1070
00:36:11,837 --> 00:36:12,736
>> you know, if I can't have

1071
00:36:12,771 --> 00:36:14,104
him, no one will.

1072
00:36:14,139 --> 00:36:14,804
>> I just felt she snapped.

1073
00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:16,173
I truly do.

1074
00:36:16,208 --> 00:36:19,342
>> I'm very satisfied that this

1075
00:36:19,378 --> 00:36:20,243
jury spent two weeks listening

1076
00:36:20,279 --> 00:36:20,844
to the evidence and they didn't

1077
00:36:20,879 --> 00:36:23,380
take very long to find her

1078
00:36:23,415 --> 00:36:24,548
guilty unanimously.

1079
00:36:24,583 --> 00:36:25,682
>> not for one second do I

1080
00:36:25,717 --> 00:36:27,817
believe that she could've ever

1081
00:36:27,853 --> 00:36:28,418
even thought about murdering her

1082
00:36:28,453 --> 00:36:30,453
son.

1083
00:36:30,489 --> 00:36:41,998
She loved that child so much.

1084
00:36:42,034 --> 00:36:46,336
>> not long after she's

1085
00:36:46,371 --> 00:36:48,838
convicted, we get to the town

1086
00:36:48,874 --> 00:36:49,172
in illinois and we arrange the

1087
00:36:49,208 --> 00:36:52,576
interview.

1088
00:36:52,611 --> 00:36:54,978
>> julie was allowed out

1089
00:36:55,013 --> 00:36:56,413
briefly.

1090
00:36:56,448 --> 00:36:58,515
She had a very moving reunion

1091
00:36:58,550 --> 00:36:59,149
with her new husband and with

1092
00:36:59,184 --> 00:37:05,789
her parents.

1093
00:37:05,824 --> 00:37:09,292
It is genuine love.

1094
00:37:09,328 --> 00:37:10,627
It is relief, if only for a

1095
00:37:10,662 --> 00:37:13,730
short period.

1096
00:37:13,765 --> 00:37:14,331
They hug.

1097
00:37:14,366 --> 00:37:15,532
She's in tears.

1098
00:37:15,567 --> 00:37:17,767
It's quite a moment.

1099
00:37:17,803 --> 00:37:19,302
>> the kind of reunion she was

1100
00:37:19,338 --> 00:37:21,438
having with her loved ones

1101
00:37:21,473 --> 00:37:27,143
really got her over the top

1102
00:37:27,179 --> 00:37:28,878
emotionally, and you can kind of

1103
00:37:28,914 --> 00:37:29,813
almost see her recovery occur on

1104
00:37:29,848 --> 00:37:30,113
the video before the interview

1105
00:37:30,148 --> 00:37:33,717
starts.

1106
00:37:33,752 --> 00:37:35,819
The woman who had not testified

1107
00:37:35,854 --> 00:37:39,489
at trial was about to testify

1108
00:37:39,524 --> 00:37:40,123
to the whole world through

1109
00:37:40,158 --> 00:37:47,731
"20/20" for the first time.

1110
00:37:47,766 --> 00:37:52,102
>> tonight on "20/20"

1111
00:37:52,137 --> 00:37:53,036
john miller with a story that

1112
00:37:53,071 --> 00:37:53,703
turned up lots of leads.

1113
00:37:53,739 --> 00:37:54,337
>> did you kill your son joel?

1114
00:37:54,373 --> 00:37:57,173
>> no.

1115
00:37:57,209 --> 00:37:58,308
No, no, no.

1116
00:37:58,343 --> 00:38:01,378
Why would I?

1117
00:38:01,413 --> 00:38:03,446
I wouldn't hurt anyone.

1118
00:38:03,482 --> 00:38:04,281
The last person in the world I

1119
00:38:04,316 --> 00:38:06,616
would hurt is my son.

1120
00:38:06,652 --> 00:38:10,120
>> I have interviewed every kind

1121
00:38:10,155 --> 00:38:11,254
and form of criminal.

1122
00:38:11,290 --> 00:38:11,888
You can't tell who's telling the

1123
00:38:11,923 --> 00:38:12,555
truth and who's a very good

1124
00:38:12,591 --> 00:38:14,024
liar.

1125
00:38:14,059 --> 00:38:14,991
There's no human lie detector,

1126
00:38:15,027 --> 00:38:16,593
but she gave every sign of

1127
00:38:16,628 --> 00:38:18,261
someone who was willing to

1128
00:38:18,297 --> 00:38:20,897
answer every question and didn't

1129
00:38:20,932 --> 00:38:21,965
seem to have trouble coming up

1130
00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:24,100
or constructing those answers.

1131
00:38:24,136 --> 00:38:26,569
Are you hoping people will hear

1132
00:38:26,605 --> 00:38:26,870
this, that something will

1133
00:38:26,905 --> 00:38:28,738
change?

1134
00:38:28,774 --> 00:38:30,940
>> yes, I do hope that.

1135
00:38:30,976 --> 00:38:33,043
At a very survival-oriented

1136
00:38:33,078 --> 00:38:36,279
level, I am praying to god.

1137
00:38:36,315 --> 00:38:38,415
My son knows I didn't hurt him.

1138
00:38:38,450 --> 00:38:39,115
My son knows I would have never

1139
00:38:39,151 --> 00:38:44,788
hurt him.

1140
00:38:44,823 --> 00:38:45,655
>> it was a desperate call, one

1141
00:38:45,691 --> 00:38:48,358
that was just made of hope.

1142
00:38:48,393 --> 00:38:49,259
You know, can someone hear this?

1143
00:38:49,294 --> 00:38:49,626
And what happens next is truly

1144
00:38:49,661 --> 00:38:51,528
remarkable.

1145
00:38:51,563 --> 00:38:53,096
>> she was interested in getting

1146
00:38:53,131 --> 00:38:55,198
this story out there and hoping

1147
00:38:55,233 --> 00:38:56,032
that someone might be able to

1148
00:38:56,068 --> 00:38:57,667
corroborate it.

1149
00:38:57,703 --> 00:38:57,934
And as it turns out someone

1150
00:38:57,969 --> 00:39:01,104
could.

1151
00:39:01,139 --> 00:39:04,607
>> the "20/20" show becomes a

1152
00:39:04,643 --> 00:39:08,111
pivotal turning point.

1153
00:39:08,146 --> 00:39:09,112
>> I sat down to watch "20/20."

1154
00:39:09,147 --> 00:39:10,013
I didn't expect that I would

1155
00:39:10,048 --> 00:39:13,416
blow a case apart.

1156
00:39:13,452 --> 00:39:15,418
>> a serial murderer sitting on

1157
00:39:15,454 --> 00:39:17,887
death row says, "I did it."

1158
00:39:26,131 --> 00:39:27,931
>>> it was a horrifying story

1159
00:39:27,966 --> 00:39:30,166
that rocked this tiny town in

1160
00:39:30,202 --> 00:39:32,502
southern, illinois.

1161
00:39:32,537 --> 00:39:34,104
The intruder breaking in without

1162
00:39:34,139 --> 00:39:37,273
any apparent motive, killing her

1163
00:39:37,309 --> 00:39:39,509
son and running away, which

1164
00:39:39,544 --> 00:39:40,944
sounded unlikely enough she was

1165
00:39:40,979 --> 00:39:42,078
convicted.

1166
00:39:42,114 --> 00:39:45,415
>> but who could ever imagine a

1167
00:39:45,450 --> 00:39:48,218
"20/20" view e a true crime

1168
00:39:48,253 --> 00:39:50,687
writer watching one night would

1169
00:39:50,722 --> 00:39:52,889
make a complete u-turn in.

1170
00:39:52,924 --> 00:39:54,591
>> I had justice in my hands and

1171
00:39:54,626 --> 00:39:56,860
I had to do something.

1172
00:39:56,895 --> 00:39:57,660
>> did you commit the murder of

1173
00:39:57,696 --> 00:39:59,529
the boy in lawrenceville?

1174
00:39:59,564 --> 00:40:00,463
Yes, this is another one of my

1175
00:40:00,499 --> 00:40:01,264
murders.

1176
00:40:01,299 --> 00:40:02,165
>> that guy would confess to

1177
00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:04,200
anything.

1178
00:40:04,236 --> 00:40:08,538
>> the prosecutor completely

1179
00:40:08,573 --> 00:40:11,141
dismisses the tommy lynn sells

1180
00:40:11,176 --> 00:40:11,741
confession.

1181
00:40:11,777 --> 00:40:15,111
He calls it fiction.

1182
00:40:15,147 --> 00:40:16,413
They have a serial murder

1183
00:40:16,448 --> 00:40:18,281
sitting on death row who says, I

1184
00:40:18,316 --> 00:40:19,349
did it.

1185
00:40:19,384 --> 00:40:22,018
>> you think that would get

1186
00:40:22,053 --> 00:40:23,453
julie rea out of prison, but not

1187
00:40:23,488 --> 00:40:24,320
so fast.

1188
00:40:24,356 --> 00:40:27,524
♪ how do you keep your head

1189
00:40:27,559 --> 00:40:37,801
above the water? ♪

1190
00:40:37,836 --> 00:40:39,769
>>> tonight, on "20/20" with

1191
00:40:39,805 --> 00:40:42,272
barbara walters and john

1192
00:40:42,307 --> 00:40:43,473
miller --

1193
00:40:43,508 --> 00:40:45,442
>> abc "20/20" does the story of

1194
00:40:45,477 --> 00:40:49,512
julie's case.

1195
00:40:49,548 --> 00:40:51,414
Within a few months after she's

1196
00:40:51,450 --> 00:40:52,115
convicted, and for the first

1197
00:40:52,150 --> 00:40:53,516
time, julie tells what happened

1198
00:40:53,552 --> 00:40:54,217
in her own words.

1199
00:40:54,252 --> 00:41:00,290
>> somebody jumped on me or at

1200
00:41:00,325 --> 00:41:01,057
me, um, and I didn't know what

1201
00:41:01,092 --> 00:41:02,926
was going on.

1202
00:41:02,961 --> 00:41:05,595
>> one of the people watching

1203
00:41:05,630 --> 00:41:07,564
that night was diane fanning,

1204
00:41:07,599 --> 00:41:08,498
who's a crime writer.

1205
00:41:08,533 --> 00:41:09,432
>> did you kill your son joel?

1206
00:41:09,468 --> 00:41:13,336
>> no.

1207
00:41:13,371 --> 00:41:16,206
No, no, no.

1208
00:41:16,241 --> 00:41:18,241
>> I think julie agreed to talk

1209
00:41:18,276 --> 00:41:18,975
to us because she was out of

1210
00:41:19,010 --> 00:41:22,011
options.

1211
00:41:22,047 --> 00:41:24,647
>> at the time, dianne fanning

1212
00:41:24,683 --> 00:41:26,249
is working on her first book,

1213
00:41:26,284 --> 00:41:28,251
which is about a serial killer

1214
00:41:28,286 --> 00:41:32,655
named tommy lynn sells.

1215
00:41:32,691 --> 00:41:35,792
>> tommy lynn sells is on death

1216
00:41:35,827 --> 00:41:37,060
row for attempting to murder two

1217
00:41:37,095 --> 00:41:40,563
small girls.

1218
00:41:40,599 --> 00:41:41,264
I mean, these girls are not much

1219
00:41:41,299 --> 00:41:43,233
older than joel.

1220
00:41:43,268 --> 00:41:45,301
>> tommy lynn sells is on death

1221
00:41:45,337 --> 00:41:48,972
row for the slashing murder of

1222
00:41:49,007 --> 00:41:50,607
13-year-old kayleen harris.

1223
00:41:50,642 --> 00:41:51,508
Also attacked with a knife, a

1224
00:41:51,543 --> 00:41:51,841
10-year-old girl sleeping in the

1225
00:41:51,877 --> 00:41:55,044
same room.

1226
00:41:55,080 --> 00:41:56,546
>> I woke this girl up.

1227
00:41:56,581 --> 00:41:57,647
She tried to come over here, and

1228
00:41:57,682 --> 00:41:59,916
I stabbed her, and this little

1229
00:41:59,951 --> 00:42:01,651
girl up here, I walked over

1230
00:42:01,686 --> 00:42:03,553
here, and I went like this.

1231
00:42:03,588 --> 00:42:04,821
>> after he slit my throat, I

1232
00:42:04,856 --> 00:42:05,822
just laid there, and then he

1233
00:42:05,857 --> 00:42:07,824
left.

1234
00:42:07,859 --> 00:42:09,926
>> I decided to write about

1235
00:42:09,961 --> 00:42:13,563
tommy lynn sells because of the

1236
00:42:13,598 --> 00:42:13,863
last little girl he tried to

1237
00:42:13,899 --> 00:42:16,199
murder.

1238
00:42:16,234 --> 00:42:16,466
She survived and she became my

1239
00:42:16,501 --> 00:42:19,035
hero.

1240
00:42:19,070 --> 00:42:20,236
>> I got up and went down to the

1241
00:42:20,272 --> 00:42:22,238
neighbors.

1242
00:42:22,274 --> 00:42:31,214
I just went as fast as I could.

1243
00:42:31,249 --> 00:42:35,018
>> diane fanning was sort of pen

1244
00:42:35,053 --> 00:42:35,885
pals.

1245
00:42:35,921 --> 00:42:37,587
She'd gone and interviewed

1246
00:42:37,622 --> 00:42:40,456
tommy lynn sells many times but

1247
00:42:40,492 --> 00:42:42,692
in between, she wrote letters.

1248
00:42:42,727 --> 00:42:43,893
>> I was almost finished writing

1249
00:42:43,929 --> 00:42:44,294
my book, when I sat down to

1250
00:42:44,329 --> 00:42:45,495
watch "20/20."

1251
00:42:45,530 --> 00:42:46,162
so I'm listening to julie rea

1252
00:42:46,197 --> 00:42:46,796
herself talking about how she

1253
00:42:46,831 --> 00:42:47,730
did not kill her 10-year-old

1254
00:42:47,766 --> 00:42:50,733
boy.

1255
00:42:50,769 --> 00:42:52,569
And then the prosecutor came on.

1256
00:42:52,604 --> 00:42:54,137
>> to believe her, you would

1257
00:42:54,172 --> 00:42:56,205
have to believe that this

1258
00:42:56,241 --> 00:42:57,340
assailant came into her home

1259
00:42:57,375 --> 00:42:58,708
for the sole purpose of killing

1260
00:42:58,743 --> 00:43:00,510
a 10-year-old boy.

1261
00:43:00,545 --> 00:43:02,679
And yet he also forgot to bring

1262
00:43:02,714 --> 00:43:04,814
a murder weapon along and used

1263
00:43:04,849 --> 00:43:05,615
her kitchen knife to do it with.

1264
00:43:05,650 --> 00:43:10,086
Total nonsense.

1265
00:43:10,121 --> 00:43:10,920
>> sells had done that on more

1266
00:43:10,956 --> 00:43:12,755
than one occasion.

1267
00:43:12,791 --> 00:43:13,489
He often didn't bring weapons

1268
00:43:13,525 --> 00:43:15,458
with him.

1269
00:43:15,493 --> 00:43:18,061
>> so after watching "20/20,"

1270
00:43:18,096 --> 00:43:18,761
diane sits down and writes sells

1271
00:43:18,797 --> 00:43:21,631
a letter.

1272
00:43:21,666 --> 00:43:23,666
>> the other night I was

1273
00:43:23,702 --> 00:43:25,468
watching a story on tv about a

1274
00:43:25,503 --> 00:43:29,973
woman who claimed someone broke

1275
00:43:30,008 --> 00:43:34,444
into her house.

1276
00:43:34,479 --> 00:43:35,244
And listen to the prosecuting

1277
00:43:35,280 --> 00:43:35,945
attorney, a person does not come

1278
00:43:35,981 --> 00:43:37,313
into someone else's home without

1279
00:43:37,349 --> 00:43:38,014
a weapon and then pull a knife

1280
00:43:38,049 --> 00:43:38,481
out of the kitchen drawer in the

1281
00:43:38,516 --> 00:43:41,884
house and use it.

1282
00:43:41,920 --> 00:43:45,254
I thought that the crime could

1283
00:43:45,290 --> 00:43:46,623
have been committed by somebody

1284
00:43:46,658 --> 00:43:47,857
who was very much like tommy

1285
00:43:47,892 --> 00:43:55,765
lynn sells.

1286
00:43:55,800 --> 00:43:56,432
And I did not tell him the name

1287
00:43:56,468 --> 00:43:57,333
of the prosecutor, the name of

1288
00:43:57,369 --> 00:43:58,368
the case, the town where it

1289
00:43:58,403 --> 00:43:59,469
occurred, the time when it

1290
00:43:59,504 --> 00:44:00,536
occurred, nothing like that.

1291
00:44:00,572 --> 00:44:01,638
>> tommy lynn sells writes back,

1292
00:44:01,673 --> 00:44:02,639
and diane fanning is just

1293
00:44:02,674 --> 00:44:04,374
absolutely blown away.

1294
00:44:04,409 --> 00:44:07,043
>> tommy responded by writing,

1295
00:44:07,078 --> 00:44:08,711
about that woman claimed someone

1296
00:44:08,747 --> 00:44:11,247
broke into her house, was that,

1297
00:44:11,282 --> 00:44:12,815
like, maybe two days before my

1298
00:44:12,851 --> 00:44:15,652
springfield, missouri murder?

1299
00:44:15,687 --> 00:44:20,456
Maybe on a 13th?

1300
00:44:20,492 --> 00:44:22,325
I was shocked.

1301
00:44:22,360 --> 00:44:24,827
Joel was murdered on the 13th.

1302
00:44:24,863 --> 00:44:26,429
And stephanie mahaney in

1303
00:44:26,464 --> 00:44:28,031
springfield, missouri on

1304
00:44:28,066 --> 00:44:29,198
the 15th of that month.

1305
00:44:29,234 --> 00:44:31,801
>> this serial killer on death

1306
00:44:31,836 --> 00:44:33,302
row nails the exact date of

1307
00:44:33,338 --> 00:44:37,407
joel's murder, October the 13th.

1308
00:44:37,442 --> 00:44:38,141
That's two days before he's

1309
00:44:38,176 --> 00:44:39,208
believed to have kidnapped,

1310
00:44:39,244 --> 00:44:40,610
sexually assaulted, and killed

1311
00:44:40,645 --> 00:44:43,746
stephanie mahaney.

1312
00:44:43,782 --> 00:44:48,418
>> he described

1313
00:44:48,453 --> 00:44:48,985
stephanie mahaney had a

1314
00:44:49,020 --> 00:44:49,686
bugs bunny night shirt.

1315
00:44:49,721 --> 00:44:51,354
The texas rangers consider that

1316
00:44:51,389 --> 00:44:52,355
a corroborated confession

1317
00:44:52,390 --> 00:44:53,056
because he had given details

1318
00:44:53,091 --> 00:44:56,225
that only the killer would know.

1319
00:44:56,261 --> 00:44:57,560
>> when I read that letter, my

1320
00:44:57,595 --> 00:45:01,964
hands started shaking.

1321
00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:04,067
I felt I had justice in my hands

1322
00:45:04,102 --> 00:45:08,371
and I had to do something.

1323
00:45:08,406 --> 00:45:12,008
The first thing I did was call

1324
00:45:12,043 --> 00:45:14,243
texas ranger johnny allen.

1325
00:45:14,279 --> 00:45:16,879
He knew sells well, and he said

1326
00:45:16,915 --> 00:45:18,347
that what I was telling him made

1327
00:45:18,383 --> 00:45:20,049
it sound like it was very

1328
00:45:20,085 --> 00:45:23,786
possible that sells killed joel.

1329
00:45:23,822 --> 00:45:25,888
I thought, maybe someone who had

1330
00:45:25,924 --> 00:45:28,491
more ability to get information

1331
00:45:28,526 --> 00:45:29,892
than I did would be able to

1332
00:45:29,928 --> 00:45:32,795
track this down.

1333
00:45:32,831 --> 00:45:33,563
>> so she just kind of eludes to

1334
00:45:33,598 --> 00:45:37,900
it in her book.

1335
00:45:37,936 --> 00:45:40,203
>> anger drove him.

1336
00:45:40,238 --> 00:45:41,237
He picked up a knife and headed

1337
00:45:41,272 --> 00:45:41,904
straight for the first bedroom

1338
00:45:41,940 --> 00:45:45,274
door.

1339
00:45:45,310 --> 00:45:46,476
There, 10-year-old

1340
00:45:46,511 --> 00:45:47,009
joel kirkpatrick dreamed his

1341
00:45:47,045 --> 00:45:52,348
last dream.

1342
00:45:52,383 --> 00:45:55,218
>> diane fanning publishes her

1343
00:45:55,253 --> 00:45:58,154
book, and clearly "20/20" had to

1344
00:45:58,189 --> 00:45:58,755
go back and look into the story

1345
00:45:58,790 --> 00:46:00,723
again.

1346
00:46:00,759 --> 00:46:03,392
Clearly, I was going to

1347
00:46:03,428 --> 00:46:08,831
interview tommy lynn sells.

1348
00:46:08,867 --> 00:46:10,733
Did you commit the murder of the

1349
00:46:10,769 --> 00:46:12,869
boy in lawrenceville?

1350
00:46:20,545 --> 00:46:21,110
>>> it's never pleasant to

1351
00:46:21,146 --> 00:46:24,814
interview someone in jail.

1352
00:46:24,849 --> 00:46:29,285
People who are incarcerated are

1353
00:46:29,320 --> 00:46:31,154
difficult sometimes.

1354
00:46:31,189 --> 00:46:32,121
It's not the kind of assignment

1355
00:46:32,157 --> 00:46:34,290
I've ever looked forward to.

1356
00:46:34,325 --> 00:46:36,926
I'm lynn scherr, and I was a

1357
00:46:36,961 --> 00:46:38,494
"20/20" correspondent, and I

1358
00:46:38,530 --> 00:46:43,800
covered julie rea's story.

1359
00:46:43,835 --> 00:46:45,468
The idea of a mother and a

1360
00:46:45,503 --> 00:46:46,803
father losing his child is as

1361
00:46:46,838 --> 00:46:52,875
sad as it gets.

1362
00:46:52,911 --> 00:46:57,079
I walked into this interview,

1363
00:46:57,115 --> 00:47:04,487
a maximum security prison in

1364
00:47:04,522 --> 00:47:07,190
texas ---

1365
00:47:07,225 --> 00:47:08,624
she me where you want me.

1366
00:47:08,660 --> 00:47:09,559
And there I was facing serial

1367
00:47:09,594 --> 00:47:10,126
murderer tommy lynn sells.

1368
00:47:10,161 --> 00:47:11,160
>> an ex-con and a known

1369
00:47:11,196 --> 00:47:14,330
drifter, sells is linked to

1370
00:47:14,365 --> 00:47:15,331
murders in at least 11 states.

1371
00:47:15,366 --> 00:47:19,802
>> his victims died from

1372
00:47:19,838 --> 00:47:21,337
gunshots, blunt trauma, throats

1373
00:47:21,372 --> 00:47:22,538
being cut, strangulation.

1374
00:47:22,574 --> 00:47:25,174
>> he preferred, he's told me,

1375
00:47:25,210 --> 00:47:26,108
strangulation because then he

1376
00:47:26,144 --> 00:47:26,475
could watch the light leave

1377
00:47:26,511 --> 00:47:29,979
their eyes.

1378
00:47:30,014 --> 00:47:31,380
>> I was very grateful for that

1379
00:47:31,416 --> 00:47:34,217
barrier between us.

1380
00:47:34,252 --> 00:47:37,954
This is a man who was pure evil.

1381
00:47:37,989 --> 00:47:38,621
Tommy, you know why we're here.

1382
00:47:38,656 --> 00:47:40,056
>> mm-hmm.

1383
00:47:40,091 --> 00:47:42,058
>> so, let's get right to it.

1384
00:47:42,093 --> 00:47:43,025
He seemed mild-mannered.

1385
00:47:43,061 --> 00:47:45,228
He seemed a little coy.

1386
00:47:45,263 --> 00:47:46,395
He was playing with me.

1387
00:47:46,431 --> 00:47:48,931
What were you wearing on your

1388
00:47:48,967 --> 00:47:51,834
feet, do you remember?

1389
00:47:51,870 --> 00:47:54,604
[ laughs ]

1390
00:47:54,639 --> 00:47:55,304
>> what was you wearing three

1391
00:47:55,340 --> 00:47:58,941
years ago, four years ago?

1392
00:47:58,977 --> 00:48:03,012
>> but he essentially confessed.

1393
00:48:03,047 --> 00:48:03,512
Did you murder --

1394
00:48:03,548 --> 00:48:04,981
>> yes.

1395
00:48:05,016 --> 00:48:05,781
>> a child in lawrenceville,

1396
00:48:05,817 --> 00:48:06,215
illinois.

1397
00:48:06,251 --> 00:48:06,916
>> yes.

1398
00:48:06,951 --> 00:48:08,050
This is another one of my

1399
00:48:08,086 --> 00:48:09,285
murders.

1400
00:48:09,320 --> 00:48:12,555
>> so much of what

1401
00:48:12,590 --> 00:48:14,624
day sounded exactly like what

1402
00:48:14,659 --> 00:48:15,791
julie rea had described.

1403
00:48:15,827 --> 00:48:20,663
>> it was around midnight.

1404
00:48:20,698 --> 00:48:22,098
I checked on him.

1405
00:48:22,133 --> 00:48:22,565
He was sleeping.

1406
00:48:22,600 --> 00:48:26,035
He was fine.

1407
00:48:26,070 --> 00:48:31,908
>> I know it was late, and

1408
00:48:31,943 --> 00:48:32,842
that's the time I -- I -- I

1409
00:48:32,877 --> 00:48:33,509
mostly strike, is late.

1410
00:48:33,544 --> 00:48:34,577
>> why would you go to a house

1411
00:48:34,612 --> 00:48:35,578
intent on killing someone and

1412
00:48:35,613 --> 00:48:37,280
not bring your own weapon?

1413
00:48:37,315 --> 00:48:38,881
>> I guess you ain't never seen

1414
00:48:38,917 --> 00:48:43,052
me kill with my bare hands then.

1415
00:48:43,087 --> 00:48:44,086
>> do you remember the actual

1416
00:48:44,122 --> 00:48:48,557
moment that you killed this

1417
00:48:48,593 --> 00:48:50,026
other person and how you did it?

1418
00:48:50,061 --> 00:48:56,399
>> well, with a knife.

1419
00:48:56,434 --> 00:48:59,168
>> um, I heard a scream.

1420
00:48:59,203 --> 00:48:59,902
>> and, uh, I hear someone in

1421
00:48:59,938 --> 00:49:01,771
the house.

1422
00:49:01,806 --> 00:49:02,038
>> and I jumped up and ran in

1423
00:49:02,073 --> 00:49:04,040
there.

1424
00:49:04,075 --> 00:49:05,541
>> and I get up and that's when

1425
00:49:05,576 --> 00:49:09,845
I noticed it was a woman.

1426
00:49:09,881 --> 00:49:10,413
>> somebody jumped on me or at

1427
00:49:10,448 --> 00:49:13,115
me.

1428
00:49:13,151 --> 00:49:14,016
>> I went to cut her but I

1429
00:49:14,052 --> 00:49:15,084
didn't have the knife no more.

1430
00:49:15,119 --> 00:49:15,885
I'm not sure what in the hell

1431
00:49:15,920 --> 00:49:19,255
happened to it.

1432
00:49:19,290 --> 00:49:20,289
>> he broke out the door.

1433
00:49:20,325 --> 00:49:22,992
>> she tried to follow me.

1434
00:49:23,027 --> 00:49:24,593
>> the person seemed really

1435
00:49:24,629 --> 00:49:26,162
angry with me at this point.

1436
00:49:26,197 --> 00:49:29,365
>> I finally just hit her.

1437
00:49:29,400 --> 00:49:30,066
>> hitting my face into the

1438
00:49:30,101 --> 00:49:32,568
ground.

1439
00:49:32,603 --> 00:49:34,503
>> and that's when it stopped,

1440
00:49:34,539 --> 00:49:34,904
and I went ahead and

1441
00:49:34,939 --> 00:49:37,707
disappeared.

1442
00:49:37,742 --> 00:49:40,543
>> I've met awful people.

1443
00:49:40,578 --> 00:49:43,646
I've met awful people who don't

1444
00:49:43,681 --> 00:49:45,881
necessarily murder children.

1445
00:49:45,917 --> 00:49:47,216
Do you, in fact, recall that it

1446
00:49:47,251 --> 00:49:52,355
was a young child?

1447
00:49:52,390 --> 00:49:53,456
>> uh, maybe I just don't like

1448
00:49:53,491 --> 00:49:55,825
to say that.

1449
00:49:55,860 --> 00:49:59,528
>> why not?

1450
00:49:59,564 --> 00:50:02,999
>> living with what I done is a

1451
00:50:03,034 --> 00:50:03,232
hell of a lot harder than doing

1452
00:50:03,267 --> 00:50:05,601
it.

1453
00:50:05,636 --> 00:50:07,870
>> he just had a calmness about

1454
00:50:07,905 --> 00:50:10,406
his body and a look in his eyes

1455
00:50:10,441 --> 00:50:15,211
that I found terrifying.

1456
00:50:15,246 --> 00:50:18,280
Sells confession sparked new

1457
00:50:18,316 --> 00:50:20,282
interest in julie's story.

1458
00:50:20,318 --> 00:50:20,950
>> all of this publicity caught

1459
00:50:20,985 --> 00:50:22,051
the attention of the illinois

1460
00:50:22,086 --> 00:50:25,688
innocence project, and they took

1461
00:50:25,723 --> 00:50:26,756
up julie rea's case.

1462
00:50:26,791 --> 00:50:27,723
>> to find what other evidence

1463
00:50:27,759 --> 00:50:28,924
there may be to connect

1464
00:50:28,960 --> 00:50:29,859
tommy lynn sells to this case.

1465
00:50:29,894 --> 00:50:33,629
Turns out there's a lot.

1466
00:50:33,664 --> 00:50:39,135
>> sells described that the

1467
00:50:39,170 --> 00:50:40,536
house, it was brick, and so that

1468
00:50:40,571 --> 00:50:41,504
was one of the details he knew

1469
00:50:41,539 --> 00:50:43,239
and was accurate about.

1470
00:50:43,274 --> 00:50:44,640
My name is bill clutter.

1471
00:50:44,675 --> 00:50:45,341
I'm a private investigator that

1472
00:50:45,376 --> 00:50:46,008
investigates wrongful conviction

1473
00:50:46,044 --> 00:50:48,511
cases.

1474
00:50:48,546 --> 00:50:49,912
I am in lawrenceville looking

1475
00:50:49,947 --> 00:50:51,447
north on highway 1.

1476
00:50:51,482 --> 00:50:56,485
>> when clutter goes down to

1477
00:50:56,521 --> 00:50:57,453
lawrenceville and starts asking

1478
00:50:57,488 --> 00:50:58,421
around, little pieces were

1479
00:50:58,456 --> 00:50:59,055
starting to add up to

1480
00:50:59,090 --> 00:50:59,622
corroboration with julie's

1481
00:50:59,657 --> 00:51:06,028
story.

1482
00:51:06,064 --> 00:51:09,799
>> one of the key pieces of

1483
00:51:09,834 --> 00:51:11,901
investigation was the sighting

1484
00:51:11,936 --> 00:51:15,471
of tommy lynn sells both in

1485
00:51:15,506 --> 00:51:16,005
lawrenceville and then across

1486
00:51:16,040 --> 00:51:18,674
the border in indiana.

1487
00:51:18,709 --> 00:51:20,109
>> jane rea, julie's mother,

1488
00:51:20,144 --> 00:51:23,446
told me that I should pay

1489
00:51:23,481 --> 00:51:24,213
particular attention to the

1490
00:51:24,248 --> 00:51:27,750
greyhound bus ticket agent.

1491
00:51:27,785 --> 00:51:28,284
>> sandra, would you please

1492
00:51:28,319 --> 00:51:30,953
state your full name?

1493
00:51:30,988 --> 00:51:35,691
>> my name is sandra June wirth.

1494
00:51:35,726 --> 00:51:36,492
>> sandra wirth was a greyhound

1495
00:51:36,527 --> 00:51:38,861
ticket agent in princeton,

1496
00:51:38,896 --> 00:51:41,530
indiana, who sold the ticket to

1497
00:51:41,566 --> 00:51:43,065
the person she felt matched the

1498
00:51:43,101 --> 00:51:47,369
description of the assailant

1499
00:51:47,405 --> 00:51:48,771
after seeing that she contacted

1500
00:51:48,806 --> 00:51:49,805
the illinois state police.

1501
00:51:49,841 --> 00:51:52,141
>> it was just odd.

1502
00:51:52,176 --> 00:51:54,176
Someone coming in like that and

1503
00:51:54,212 --> 00:51:55,611
being nervous and needing a

1504
00:51:55,646 --> 00:51:59,014
ticket right away.

1505
00:51:59,050 --> 00:52:01,050
>> he wanted to buy a bus ticket

1506
00:52:01,085 --> 00:52:06,989
to winnemucca, nevada.

1507
00:52:07,024 --> 00:52:08,557
>> the reason it stood out to me

1508
00:52:08,593 --> 00:52:09,258
is we don't see very many

1509
00:52:09,293 --> 00:52:11,060
tickets to winnemucca, nevada.

1510
00:52:11,095 --> 00:52:13,095
>> had you ever heard of

1511
00:52:13,131 --> 00:52:13,362
winnemucca, nevada, before that?

1512
00:52:13,397 --> 00:52:15,397
>> no.

1513
00:52:15,433 --> 00:52:16,465
>> I got thinking about that.

1514
00:52:16,501 --> 00:52:17,166
Where have I seen winnemucca,

1515
00:52:17,201 --> 00:52:20,202
nevada?

1516
00:52:20,238 --> 00:52:22,872
I went to diane fanning's book,

1517
00:52:22,907 --> 00:52:27,009
I read it once, and I reread it

1518
00:52:27,044 --> 00:52:28,978
and there it was.

1519
00:52:29,013 --> 00:52:32,314
On December 13, 1997, the texas

1520
00:52:32,350 --> 00:52:34,817
rangers put tommy lynn sells in

1521
00:52:34,852 --> 00:52:36,719
winnemucca.

1522
00:52:36,754 --> 00:52:37,920
And of course the bus transfers

1523
00:52:37,955 --> 00:52:39,855
at st. Louis.

1524
00:52:39,891 --> 00:52:40,723
>> where do you think of when

1525
00:52:40,758 --> 00:52:42,024
you think of home?

1526
00:52:42,059 --> 00:52:43,359
>> st. Louis.

1527
00:52:43,394 --> 00:52:43,792
>> st. Louis?

1528
00:52:43,828 --> 00:52:49,965
>> yeah.

1529
00:52:50,001 --> 00:52:52,301
>> we know that sells lived in

1530
00:52:52,336 --> 00:52:53,169
st. Louis.

1531
00:52:53,204 --> 00:52:56,639
That's where his mother lived.

1532
00:52:56,674 --> 00:52:58,407
>> what do you remember him

1533
00:52:58,442 --> 00:52:59,074
saying about his mother?

1534
00:52:59,110 --> 00:52:59,675
>> he said his mother was sick

1535
00:52:59,710 --> 00:53:00,776
and he had to get to her.

1536
00:53:00,811 --> 00:53:03,512
>> the state police had

1537
00:53:03,548 --> 00:53:04,513
detectives board the bus, but

1538
00:53:04,549 --> 00:53:05,581
the person that bought the

1539
00:53:05,616 --> 00:53:07,716
ticket wasn't on the bus.

1540
00:53:07,752 --> 00:53:08,684
>> sells probably got off at

1541
00:53:08,719 --> 00:53:09,385
st. Louis, traveled on to

1542
00:53:09,420 --> 00:53:10,686
springfield, missouri, where he

1543
00:53:10,721 --> 00:53:13,389
killed stephanie mahaney two

1544
00:53:13,424 --> 00:53:13,689
days after joel kirkpatrick was

1545
00:53:13,724 --> 00:53:16,225
killed.

1546
00:53:16,260 --> 00:53:18,794
>> and it turns out there was

1547
00:53:18,829 --> 00:53:20,462
something in sells' criminal

1548
00:53:20,498 --> 00:53:21,463
history that sheds some light on

1549
00:53:21,499 --> 00:53:22,298
a part of julie's story that

1550
00:53:22,333 --> 00:53:26,936
baffled police.

1551
00:53:26,971 --> 00:53:28,003
Why would someone break into a

1552
00:53:28,039 --> 00:53:29,205
house and target a kid instead

1553
00:53:29,240 --> 00:53:30,039
of an adult?

1554
00:53:30,074 --> 00:53:31,173
>> my name is

1555
00:53:31,209 --> 00:53:32,908
fabienne witherspoon, and I'm a

1556
00:53:32,944 --> 00:53:35,878
survivor of tommy lynn sells.

1557
00:53:51,462 --> 00:53:53,562
>>> I had encountered a person

1558
00:53:53,598 --> 00:53:54,897
in the lawrenceville drive-in

1559
00:53:54,932 --> 00:53:58,801
on Friday night.

1560
00:53:58,836 --> 00:54:00,436
Just a couple of days before

1561
00:54:00,471 --> 00:54:05,841
joel kirkpatrick was murdered.

1562
00:54:05,876 --> 00:54:10,546
>> I follow up on this tip that

1563
00:54:10,581 --> 00:54:11,880
came in from alan berkshire.

1564
00:54:11,916 --> 00:54:12,748
I conducted the video interview

1565
00:54:12,783 --> 00:54:15,117
in his home.

1566
00:54:15,152 --> 00:54:16,619
So he has about a 45-minute

1567
00:54:16,654 --> 00:54:16,852
opportunity to lay eyes on this

1568
00:54:16,887 --> 00:54:20,823
guy.

1569
00:54:20,858 --> 00:54:22,224
He matched the description of

1570
00:54:22,260 --> 00:54:24,927
the assailant that julie gave.

1571
00:54:24,962 --> 00:54:25,694
>> he was 145 pounds, maybe

1572
00:54:25,730 --> 00:54:28,097
155 pounds.

1573
00:54:28,132 --> 00:54:28,764
About my height, about 5'9",

1574
00:54:28,799 --> 00:54:32,301
5'10."

1575
00:54:32,336 --> 00:54:33,135
there was something definitely

1576
00:54:33,170 --> 00:54:35,437
wrong with him.

1577
00:54:35,473 --> 00:54:41,343
He was either drunk or high.

1578
00:54:41,379 --> 00:54:42,244
He was telling me that he wasn't

1579
00:54:42,280 --> 00:54:42,845
from around here, and that he'd

1580
00:54:42,880 --> 00:54:47,182
been living in st. Louis.

1581
00:54:47,218 --> 00:54:48,584
>> and he says that this drifter

1582
00:54:48,619 --> 00:54:48,817
seems to be preoccupied with his

1583
00:54:48,853 --> 00:54:50,853
son.

1584
00:54:50,888 --> 00:54:53,322
>> tapped him on the shoulder

1585
00:54:53,357 --> 00:54:55,724
one time.

1586
00:54:55,760 --> 00:54:57,593
You know -- he said, I'll bet

1587
00:54:57,628 --> 00:54:59,261
you're afraid after me, aren't

1588
00:54:59,297 --> 00:54:59,828
you?

1589
00:54:59,864 --> 00:55:01,530
And the guy did a funny

1590
00:55:01,565 --> 00:55:04,867
[ laughs ]

1591
00:55:04,902 --> 00:55:05,301
I guess maybe everybody ought to

1592
00:55:05,336 --> 00:55:13,609
be afraid of me.

1593
00:55:13,644 --> 00:55:15,344
>> he sees this drifter walking

1594
00:55:15,379 --> 00:55:16,578
south toward the railroad

1595
00:55:16,614 --> 00:55:19,281
tracks.

1596
00:55:19,317 --> 00:55:19,848
If you keep walking it would be

1597
00:55:19,884 --> 00:55:21,884
in the direction of the

1598
00:55:21,919 --> 00:55:22,384
neighborhood where julie rea was

1599
00:55:22,420 --> 00:55:23,686
living at the time.

1600
00:55:23,721 --> 00:55:26,255
>> 10-year-old joel kirkpatrick

1601
00:55:26,290 --> 00:55:27,456
found murdered here in his

1602
00:55:27,491 --> 00:55:28,624
lawrenceville, illinois home.

1603
00:55:28,659 --> 00:55:30,292
The boy had been stabbed

1604
00:55:30,328 --> 00:55:32,628
multiple times.

1605
00:55:32,663 --> 00:55:33,529
>> on the morning that I heard

1606
00:55:33,564 --> 00:55:34,129
there has been a little boy

1607
00:55:34,165 --> 00:55:36,732
brutally murdered, I kept

1608
00:55:36,767 --> 00:55:40,936
thinking, wow, maybe it was him.

1609
00:55:40,971 --> 00:55:43,605
>> the remarkable thing about

1610
00:55:43,641 --> 00:55:45,074
this is that alan berkshire went

1611
00:55:45,109 --> 00:55:47,843
to the sheriff to report

1612
00:55:47,878 --> 00:55:49,244
encountering this drifter at the

1613
00:55:49,280 --> 00:55:53,582
lawrenceville diner.

1614
00:55:53,617 --> 00:55:55,150
I said, I have a possible

1615
00:55:55,186 --> 00:55:56,051
suspect that I think you should

1616
00:55:56,087 --> 00:56:00,055
try to find out.

1617
00:56:00,091 --> 00:56:02,324
He said, okay, I'll have

1618
00:56:02,360 --> 00:56:03,359
deputies and stuff check into

1619
00:56:03,394 --> 00:56:04,293
this.

1620
00:56:04,328 --> 00:56:07,196
>> he takes alan berkshire's

1621
00:56:07,231 --> 00:56:07,429
statement but never documents

1622
00:56:07,465 --> 00:56:08,130
it.

1623
00:56:08,165 --> 00:56:08,997
>> he never took any written

1624
00:56:09,033 --> 00:56:10,933
information.

1625
00:56:10,968 --> 00:56:11,166
>> and did any deputy contact

1626
00:56:11,202 --> 00:56:11,533
you?

1627
00:56:11,569 --> 00:56:14,169
>> nothing.

1628
00:56:14,205 --> 00:56:15,637
>> bill clutter begins to

1629
00:56:15,673 --> 00:56:19,742
compare julie's statements with

1630
00:56:19,777 --> 00:56:22,010
the interview tommy lynn sells

1631
00:56:22,046 --> 00:56:23,078
gave to the state police, and

1632
00:56:23,114 --> 00:56:23,412
many of those details match up

1633
00:56:23,447 --> 00:56:30,586
perfectly.

1634
00:56:30,621 --> 00:56:31,420
>> sells described getting the

1635
00:56:31,455 --> 00:56:32,020
knife from a butcher block.

1636
00:56:32,056 --> 00:56:32,888
>> I remember the knife I

1637
00:56:32,923 --> 00:56:36,125
pulled.

1638
00:56:36,160 --> 00:56:38,427
I want to say butcher block,

1639
00:56:38,462 --> 00:56:40,129
but a swear thing.

1640
00:56:40,164 --> 00:56:44,900
>> julie described the

1641
00:56:44,935 --> 00:56:45,467
assailant backhanded her.

1642
00:56:45,503 --> 00:56:49,671
>> tommy lynn sells was

1643
00:56:49,707 --> 00:56:50,539
interviewed six years later.

1644
00:56:50,574 --> 00:56:51,206
>> there wasn't no punching.

1645
00:56:51,242 --> 00:56:52,508
I backhanded her.

1646
00:56:52,543 --> 00:56:55,611
>> julie describes following the

1647
00:56:55,646 --> 00:56:58,380
intruder out into the backyard,

1648
00:56:58,416 --> 00:56:59,948
where he turns and again knocks

1649
00:56:59,984 --> 00:57:00,649
her to the ground.

1650
00:57:00,684 --> 00:57:01,283
>> I hit her at the back of the

1651
00:57:01,318 --> 00:57:05,954
house.

1652
00:57:05,990 --> 00:57:08,690
>> those are details that sells

1653
00:57:08,726 --> 00:57:10,459
couldn't fabricate.

1654
00:57:10,494 --> 00:57:13,629
>> and it turns out there was

1655
00:57:13,664 --> 00:57:14,329
something in sells' criminal

1656
00:57:14,365 --> 00:57:15,197
history that sheds some light on

1657
00:57:15,232 --> 00:57:16,165
a part of julie's story that

1658
00:57:16,200 --> 00:57:16,532
baffled police and the

1659
00:57:16,567 --> 00:57:17,900
prosecutor.

1660
00:57:17,935 --> 00:57:18,801
Why would someone break into a

1661
00:57:18,836 --> 00:57:19,168
house and target a kid instead

1662
00:57:19,203 --> 00:57:21,170
of an adult?

1663
00:57:21,205 --> 00:57:22,638
>> tommy lynn sells had sort of

1664
00:57:22,673 --> 00:57:24,807
shifted away from attacking

1665
00:57:24,842 --> 00:57:26,341
adults after he attacked a woman

1666
00:57:26,377 --> 00:57:33,081
named fabienne witherspoon.

1667
00:57:33,117 --> 00:57:38,253
>> I was 19 years old.

1668
00:57:38,289 --> 00:57:40,422
Walking back to the house over

1669
00:57:40,458 --> 00:57:42,925
the bridge, and I saw a man

1670
00:57:42,960 --> 00:57:45,093
holding a sign that said

1671
00:57:45,129 --> 00:57:47,095
"hungry, will work for food."

1672
00:57:47,131 --> 00:57:47,629
he had showed me a picture of

1673
00:57:47,665 --> 00:57:48,864
three small children.

1674
00:57:48,899 --> 00:57:50,799
And he said, we are very hungry.

1675
00:57:50,835 --> 00:57:53,602
He didn't look scary.

1676
00:57:53,637 --> 00:57:54,336
I felt more sorry for him than

1677
00:57:54,371 --> 00:57:57,206
anything.

1678
00:57:57,241 --> 00:58:01,643
>> she brought him home.

1679
00:58:01,679 --> 00:58:03,579
She filled up a bag of food and

1680
00:58:03,614 --> 00:58:05,848
another of clothing.

1681
00:58:05,883 --> 00:58:08,484
>> I had him wait on the porch

1682
00:58:08,519 --> 00:58:09,151
outside and asked him to stay

1683
00:58:09,186 --> 00:58:13,188
there.

1684
00:58:13,224 --> 00:58:16,859
While I was doing that --

1685
00:58:16,894 --> 00:58:17,559
he had come in the house and

1686
00:58:17,595 --> 00:58:22,097
gotten a knife from the kitchen.

1687
00:58:22,132 --> 00:58:22,598
He took me to the bathroom, and

1688
00:58:22,633 --> 00:58:24,366
he closed the door.

1689
00:58:24,401 --> 00:58:25,367
He held a knife and started

1690
00:58:25,402 --> 00:58:28,070
telling me things to do.

1691
00:58:28,105 --> 00:58:30,739
That was, I think, the point

1692
00:58:30,774 --> 00:58:31,607
where I said, no, I am not going

1693
00:58:31,642 --> 00:58:32,107
to do anything anymore.

1694
00:58:32,142 --> 00:58:33,909
I am going to fight.

1695
00:58:33,944 --> 00:58:38,881
I saw on the back of the toilet

1696
00:58:38,916 --> 00:58:41,483
was a ceramic duck.

1697
00:58:41,519 --> 00:58:45,687
And I picked the duck up and --

1698
00:58:45,723 --> 00:58:47,189
>> smashed it into his head.

1699
00:58:47,224 --> 00:58:48,957
>> I'm thinking in the movies

1700
00:58:48,993 --> 00:58:50,559
you get hit over the head with

1701
00:58:50,594 --> 00:58:51,293
something, they pass out.

1702
00:58:51,328 --> 00:58:52,327
And he was still standing.

1703
00:58:52,363 --> 00:58:53,929
>> she managed to get control of

1704
00:58:53,964 --> 00:58:54,930
the knife, and she stabbed him,

1705
00:58:54,965 --> 00:58:55,397
and stabbed him, and stabbed

1706
00:58:55,432 --> 00:58:56,532
him.

1707
00:58:56,567 --> 00:58:58,166
>> and then, I felt something

1708
00:58:58,202 --> 00:59:02,404
come crashing down over my head.

1709
00:59:02,439 --> 00:59:07,142
And that's the last thing I

1710
00:59:07,177 --> 00:59:09,878
remember until I came to.

1711
00:59:09,914 --> 00:59:11,346
I remember the detective asking

1712
00:59:11,382 --> 00:59:14,082
me, who did this to you?

1713
00:59:14,118 --> 00:59:16,652
And I said, he had told me his

1714
00:59:16,687 --> 00:59:17,553
whole name.

1715
00:59:17,588 --> 00:59:22,157
Tommy lynn sells.

1716
00:59:22,192 --> 00:59:24,059
>> they had tracked him down.

1717
00:59:24,094 --> 00:59:24,927
He had a nicked kidney, a nicked

1718
00:59:24,962 --> 00:59:26,261
liver.

1719
00:59:26,297 --> 00:59:27,362
His testicle was sliced.

1720
00:59:27,398 --> 00:59:28,163
He was cut up and bleeding

1721
00:59:28,198 --> 00:59:33,201
profusely internally.

1722
00:59:33,237 --> 00:59:34,102
>> so that attack didn't just

1723
00:59:34,138 --> 00:59:34,770
injure him physically.

1724
00:59:34,805 --> 00:59:35,637
He also ended up in prison for

1725
00:59:35,673 --> 00:59:40,275
about five years.

1726
00:59:40,311 --> 00:59:44,546
>> he decided, never again will

1727
00:59:44,582 --> 00:59:45,280
I attack a man or a woman who is

1728
00:59:45,316 --> 00:59:48,617
my size.

1729
00:59:48,652 --> 00:59:51,987
>> when he's released in the

1730
00:59:52,022 --> 00:59:53,655
spring of 1997, just a few

1731
00:59:53,691 --> 00:59:56,825
months before joel kirkpatrick

1732
00:59:56,860 --> 00:59:58,293
was killed, he starts targeting

1733
00:59:58,329 --> 00:59:58,627
the most vulnerable of victims,

1734
00:59:58,662 --> 01:00:05,000
children.

1735
01:00:05,035 --> 01:00:06,335
>> there had been corroborating

1736
01:00:06,370 --> 01:00:06,902
evidence to place him in

1737
01:00:06,937 --> 01:00:07,636
lawrenceville.

1738
01:00:07,671 --> 01:00:09,104
>> these corroborations, these

1739
01:00:09,139 --> 01:00:14,009
eyewitnesses, that description

1740
01:00:14,044 --> 01:00:14,676
of tommy lynn sells -- to us,

1741
01:00:14,712 --> 01:00:15,711
that's pretty strong evidence.

1742
01:00:15,746 --> 01:00:18,413
>> with mounting evidence of

1743
01:00:18,449 --> 01:00:19,314
tommy lynn sells' connection to

1744
01:00:19,350 --> 01:00:20,015
joel's murder, julie's

1745
01:00:20,050 --> 01:00:23,251
supporters are hoping this might

1746
01:00:23,287 --> 01:00:24,386
prove her innocence.

1747
01:00:24,421 --> 01:00:26,488
>> you really don't buy into any

1748
01:00:26,523 --> 01:00:27,656
of the tommy lynn sells argument

1749
01:00:27,691 --> 01:00:28,290
at all.

1750
01:00:28,325 --> 01:00:30,559
>> no, I quit reading fairy

1751
01:00:30,594 --> 01:00:33,695
tales when I was about 9.

1752
01:00:33,731 --> 01:00:34,930
>> but a surprise no one could

1753
01:00:34,965 --> 01:00:36,465
have predicted might give julie

1754
01:00:36,500 --> 01:00:36,898
a second chance, and it has

1755
01:00:37,401 --> 01:00:37,833
nothing to do with

1756
01:00:37,868 --> 01:00:40,268
tommy lynn sells.

1757
01:00:55,619 --> 01:01:00,088
>>> julie rae has been in prison

1758
01:01:00,124 --> 01:01:00,856
for two years when,

1759
01:01:00,891 --> 01:01:01,456
surprisingly, a technicality

1760
01:01:01,492 --> 01:01:05,227
sets aside her conviction.

1761
01:01:05,262 --> 01:01:07,963
>> it just couldn't be true.

1762
01:01:07,998 --> 01:01:08,897
Are you sure?

1763
01:01:08,932 --> 01:01:10,999
Pinch.

1764
01:01:11,035 --> 01:01:11,667
Yeah.

1765
01:01:11,702 --> 01:01:12,601
Are you sure?

1766
01:01:12,636 --> 01:01:13,735
Okay.

1767
01:01:13,771 --> 01:01:14,936
This is real.

1768
01:01:14,972 --> 01:01:15,303
But then it was, like, too good

1769
01:01:15,339 --> 01:01:16,505
to be true.

1770
01:01:16,540 --> 01:01:16,938
>> prosecutor ed parkinson

1771
01:01:16,974 --> 01:01:17,839
refiles charges.

1772
01:01:17,875 --> 01:01:18,373
Julie will have to face a second

1773
01:01:18,409 --> 01:01:20,909
trial.

1774
01:01:20,944 --> 01:01:21,877
>> her family thought this day

1775
01:01:21,912 --> 01:01:23,545
may never come, but after

1776
01:01:23,580 --> 01:01:25,514
receiving the bond last week,

1777
01:01:25,549 --> 01:01:27,816
today they raised the

1778
01:01:27,851 --> 01:01:29,484
necessary $75,000 to bail julie

1779
01:01:29,520 --> 01:01:30,118
rea harper out of jail.

1780
01:01:30,154 --> 01:01:35,257
>> she's let out on bail and

1781
01:01:35,292 --> 01:01:38,326
then she reacts pretty much the

1782
01:01:38,362 --> 01:01:39,928
way you would expect anyone to

1783
01:01:39,963 --> 01:01:40,996
react who's just gotten out.

1784
01:01:41,031 --> 01:01:45,133
>> I'm a little embarrassed.

1785
01:01:45,169 --> 01:01:45,667
I -- I guess I wanted to feel

1786
01:01:45,703 --> 01:01:48,303
the grass on my feet.

1787
01:01:48,338 --> 01:01:49,638
Oh, it felt so good.

1788
01:01:49,673 --> 01:01:51,339
Yeah.

1789
01:01:51,375 --> 01:01:56,411
Incredible.

1790
01:01:56,447 --> 01:01:56,678
It fell like, um -- like I was

1791
01:01:56,714 --> 01:01:58,714
home.

1792
01:01:58,749 --> 01:01:59,781
>> she will still face charges

1793
01:01:59,817 --> 01:02:01,416
on the murder of her 10-year-old

1794
01:02:01,452 --> 01:02:02,884
son, joel kirkpatrick, a crime

1795
01:02:02,920 --> 01:02:10,425
she contends she did not commit.

1796
01:02:10,461 --> 01:02:12,561
>> her second trial was moved

1797
01:02:12,596 --> 01:02:13,261
because of publicity surrounding

1798
01:02:13,297 --> 01:02:15,197
her case.

1799
01:02:15,232 --> 01:02:17,032
>> this trial happened in

1800
01:02:17,067 --> 01:02:19,234
carlyle, illinois.

1801
01:02:19,269 --> 01:02:28,343
Another very small town.

1802
01:02:28,378 --> 01:02:32,347
>> I spent two years -- eager

1803
01:02:32,382 --> 01:02:35,117
for a new trial.

1804
01:02:35,152 --> 01:02:35,684
Pent up, nervous, scared.

1805
01:02:35,719 --> 01:02:36,818
You know, just all these

1806
01:02:36,854 --> 01:02:39,321
emotions all at the same time.

1807
01:02:39,356 --> 01:02:39,755
>> in this case, a literal dream

1808
01:02:39,790 --> 01:02:41,523
team was formed.

1809
01:02:41,558 --> 01:02:43,725
Starting with the innocence

1810
01:02:43,761 --> 01:02:44,693
project, leading to the center

1811
01:02:44,728 --> 01:02:47,929
for wrongful convictions.

1812
01:02:47,965 --> 01:02:50,632
>> and they put together, I

1813
01:02:50,667 --> 01:02:52,701
called it, the best defense team

1814
01:02:52,736 --> 01:02:55,370
money couldn't possibly buy.

1815
01:02:55,405 --> 01:02:57,439
>> she had a defense team that

1816
01:02:57,474 --> 01:03:00,175
was really extraordinary.

1817
01:03:00,210 --> 01:03:03,411
The lead person on that defense

1818
01:03:03,447 --> 01:03:04,346
team, ron safer, had actually at

1819
01:03:04,381 --> 01:03:05,514
one point been a federal

1820
01:03:05,549 --> 01:03:07,115
prosecutor working with one of

1821
01:03:07,151 --> 01:03:07,849
the most prestigious law firms

1822
01:03:07,885 --> 01:03:11,286
in chicago.

1823
01:03:11,321 --> 01:03:12,521
>> I had not been nervous

1824
01:03:12,556 --> 01:03:15,457
leading up to the trial.

1825
01:03:15,492 --> 01:03:19,161
I was not nervous at all.

1826
01:03:19,196 --> 01:03:20,729
And then I heard parkinson

1827
01:03:20,764 --> 01:03:24,833
stand up in front of the jury.

1828
01:03:24,868 --> 01:03:26,001
And he put up the crime scene

1829
01:03:26,036 --> 01:03:26,835
photo of joel, which is

1830
01:03:26,870 --> 01:03:30,906
horrific.

1831
01:03:30,941 --> 01:03:34,543
And I looked at the jury, and I

1832
01:03:34,578 --> 01:03:35,644
saw these people are angry.

1833
01:03:35,679 --> 01:03:37,112
And she's the only one in this

1834
01:03:37,147 --> 01:03:38,313
courtroom to vent their anger.

1835
01:03:38,348 --> 01:03:39,881
>> the prosecutors in the case

1836
01:03:39,917 --> 01:03:41,049
had not changed their minds at

1837
01:03:41,084 --> 01:03:44,586
all.

1838
01:03:44,621 --> 01:03:45,287
They still believed that they

1839
01:03:45,322 --> 01:03:47,055
had the killer, that the killer

1840
01:03:47,090 --> 01:03:49,391
was julie rea.

1841
01:03:49,426 --> 01:03:54,196
>> the evidence was virtually

1842
01:03:54,231 --> 01:03:54,563
the same from the prosecution's

1843
01:03:54,598 --> 01:03:55,831
standpoint.

1844
01:03:55,866 --> 01:03:57,399
We had a 10-year-old boy stabbed

1845
01:03:57,434 --> 01:03:59,000
in his own bed with his mother's

1846
01:03:59,036 --> 01:04:01,670
knife in the middle of the night

1847
01:04:01,705 --> 01:04:02,370
with no forced entry and for no

1848
01:04:02,406 --> 01:04:03,772
reason.

1849
01:04:03,807 --> 01:04:07,375
>> the defense in the second

1850
01:04:07,411 --> 01:04:07,742
trial called attention to shoddy

1851
01:04:07,778 --> 01:04:09,578
police work.

1852
01:04:09,613 --> 01:04:11,213
That the police decided so

1853
01:04:11,248 --> 01:04:13,381
quickly that they already had

1854
01:04:13,417 --> 01:04:13,982
their killer that they didn't

1855
01:04:14,017 --> 01:04:17,352
have to go to any lengths

1856
01:04:17,387 --> 01:04:18,053
whatsoever to rule out the

1857
01:04:18,088 --> 01:04:19,321
possibility that she was telling

1858
01:04:19,356 --> 01:04:20,555
the truth.

1859
01:04:20,591 --> 01:04:21,089
>> there were lots of questions

1860
01:04:21,124 --> 01:04:22,157
raised about, um, the

1861
01:04:22,192 --> 01:04:23,859
fingerprinting process and what

1862
01:04:23,894 --> 01:04:26,261
was and was not fingerprinted.

1863
01:04:26,296 --> 01:04:27,596
>> this was a house that was,

1864
01:04:27,631 --> 01:04:28,296
you know, the suspect herself

1865
01:04:28,332 --> 01:04:29,731
lived in.

1866
01:04:29,766 --> 01:04:33,268
This was not a fingerprint case.

1867
01:04:33,303 --> 01:04:33,869
>> and then they said, well,

1868
01:04:33,904 --> 01:04:34,469
there's no evidence of an

1869
01:04:34,504 --> 01:04:35,737
intruder.

1870
01:04:35,772 --> 01:04:37,072
Of course.

1871
01:04:37,107 --> 01:04:38,106
You didn't investigate the

1872
01:04:38,141 --> 01:04:40,308
evidence of the intruder.

1873
01:04:40,344 --> 01:04:42,377
>> the classic example of what

1874
01:04:42,412 --> 01:04:43,311
we call tunnel vision in the

1875
01:04:43,347 --> 01:04:44,479
innocence movement.

1876
01:04:44,514 --> 01:04:48,750
>> they dusted around the

1877
01:04:48,785 --> 01:04:51,920
doorway and on fragments of

1878
01:04:51,955 --> 01:04:52,787
glass, and I think they made

1879
01:04:52,823 --> 01:04:53,955
efforts at that.

1880
01:04:53,991 --> 01:04:54,256
I don't believe they had tunnel

1881
01:04:54,291 --> 01:04:55,624
vision.

1882
01:04:55,659 --> 01:04:58,827
>> I remember pictures of the

1883
01:04:58,862 --> 01:05:01,596
officers holding up the bed

1884
01:05:01,632 --> 01:05:02,464
linens to display the rips that

1885
01:05:02,499 --> 01:05:03,131
had been made by the stabbing.

1886
01:05:03,166 --> 01:05:06,334
To a crime scene investigator,

1887
01:05:06,370 --> 01:05:07,235
they were pictures of officers

1888
01:05:07,271 --> 01:05:10,538
destroying evidence, because any

1889
01:05:10,574 --> 01:05:11,306
kind of hair or other fibers

1890
01:05:11,341 --> 01:05:13,775
were just falling off.

1891
01:05:13,810 --> 01:05:15,243
>> our police investigators said

1892
01:05:15,279 --> 01:05:17,412
that the bottom part of that

1893
01:05:17,447 --> 01:05:18,880
was, which isn't shown in the

1894
01:05:18,916 --> 01:05:19,514
picture, was still folded, was

1895
01:05:19,549 --> 01:05:20,348
still there, and after which

1896
01:05:20,384 --> 01:05:23,618
they folded it up.

1897
01:05:23,654 --> 01:05:26,354
>> one of the things that comes

1898
01:05:26,390 --> 01:05:30,692
out later, is that one of the

1899
01:05:30,727 --> 01:05:31,793
officers claims that there were

1900
01:05:31,828 --> 01:05:32,894
no footprints in the dew on the

1901
01:05:32,930 --> 01:05:34,362
grass.

1902
01:05:34,398 --> 01:05:36,898
Therefore julie's story about

1903
01:05:36,934 --> 01:05:37,866
the intruder walking off

1904
01:05:37,901 --> 01:05:42,837
couldn't be true.

1905
01:05:42,873 --> 01:05:49,678
Both our students and julie's

1906
01:05:49,713 --> 01:05:50,779
second husband, mark harper,

1907
01:05:50,814 --> 01:05:51,579
did a very clear investigation

1908
01:05:51,615 --> 01:05:52,280
and found out meteorologically

1909
01:05:52,316 --> 01:05:53,114
there could not have been dew on

1910
01:05:53,150 --> 01:05:54,482
the ground.

1911
01:05:54,518 --> 01:05:55,951
So one has to ask themselves,

1912
01:05:55,986 --> 01:05:58,753
how do you explain that?

1913
01:05:58,789 --> 01:06:00,255
>> the glass was broken from the

1914
01:06:00,290 --> 01:06:01,923
kitchen outwards to the garage

1915
01:06:01,959 --> 01:06:04,559
in a way that appeared to our

1916
01:06:04,594 --> 01:06:05,393
expert that this was -- appeared

1917
01:06:05,429 --> 01:06:06,761
to be staged.

1918
01:06:06,797 --> 01:06:09,364
>> other experts counter that by

1919
01:06:09,399 --> 01:06:10,365
saying you can break the glass

1920
01:06:10,400 --> 01:06:11,499
but it's actually the door

1921
01:06:11,535 --> 01:06:12,767
swinging open and hitting the

1922
01:06:12,803 --> 01:06:13,735
apex that causes the glass to

1923
01:06:13,770 --> 01:06:16,838
fall.

1924
01:06:16,873 --> 01:06:22,177
>> the blood spatter becomes

1925
01:06:22,212 --> 01:06:23,611
very critical.

1926
01:06:23,647 --> 01:06:23,912
When we get to the second

1927
01:06:23,947 --> 01:06:24,612
trial --

1928
01:06:24,648 --> 01:06:26,114
>> there is blood spatter on the

1929
01:06:26,149 --> 01:06:30,719
walls, on posters, on pictures,

1930
01:06:30,754 --> 01:06:31,219
on the floor, on shoes all the

1931
01:06:31,254 --> 01:06:36,091
way across the room.

1932
01:06:36,126 --> 01:06:38,760
Julie, not one single bit of

1933
01:06:38,795 --> 01:06:44,099
projected blood from joel.

1934
01:06:44,134 --> 01:06:46,735
>> there was some of joel's

1935
01:06:46,770 --> 01:06:50,905
blood on her t-shirt, which

1936
01:06:50,941 --> 01:06:51,906
could have included joel

1937
01:06:51,942 --> 01:06:52,173
fighting for his life, pushing

1938
01:06:52,209 --> 01:06:54,576
back.

1939
01:06:54,611 --> 01:06:55,076
And in fact, our expert says

1940
01:06:55,112 --> 01:06:56,211
that's what it was.

1941
01:06:56,246 --> 01:06:57,145
It was like a handprint.

1942
01:06:57,180 --> 01:06:57,812
>> I remember very vividly where

1943
01:06:57,848 --> 01:07:01,649
he holds up this nightshirt to

1944
01:07:01,685 --> 01:07:03,585
the jury, and he points at it

1945
01:07:03,620 --> 01:07:06,955
and he says, see?

1946
01:07:06,990 --> 01:07:11,626
Can't you see the imprint of a

1947
01:07:11,661 --> 01:07:14,195
hand on this nightshirt?

1948
01:07:14,231 --> 01:07:17,365
That was joel's hand trying to

1949
01:07:17,401 --> 01:07:19,100
she was stabbing him.

1950
01:07:19,136 --> 01:07:20,135
And the fact of the matter is,

1951
01:07:20,170 --> 01:07:20,802
you couldn't even begin to see

1952
01:07:20,837 --> 01:07:23,872
that.

1953
01:07:23,907 --> 01:07:28,043
>> she has transfer stains of

1954
01:07:28,078 --> 01:07:29,477
joel's blood on her back.

1955
01:07:29,513 --> 01:07:32,347
Transfer stains.

1956
01:07:32,382 --> 01:07:35,850
How does that get on her back?

1957
01:07:35,886 --> 01:07:38,653
A third person.

1958
01:07:38,688 --> 01:07:40,889
Innocent beyond any doubt.

1959
01:07:40,924 --> 01:07:42,357
>> both the sheriff's office and

1960
01:07:42,392 --> 01:07:44,059
the illinois state police

1961
01:07:44,094 --> 01:07:47,662
declined to comment on the case.

1962
01:07:47,697 --> 01:07:48,797
>> of course, the biggest

1963
01:07:48,832 --> 01:07:49,864
difference between this trial

1964
01:07:49,900 --> 01:07:50,632
and the first trial is someone

1965
01:07:50,667 --> 01:07:53,535
has confessed.

1966
01:07:53,570 --> 01:07:55,136
They have a serial murderer

1967
01:07:55,172 --> 01:07:57,072
sitting on death row who says,

1968
01:07:57,107 --> 01:08:00,675
I did it.

1969
01:08:00,710 --> 01:08:03,344
>> tommy lynn sells recanted.

1970
01:08:03,380 --> 01:08:04,846
I think it was a made-up

1971
01:08:04,881 --> 01:08:06,714
distraction, fabrication,

1972
01:08:06,750 --> 01:08:06,881
complete b.S.

1973
01:08:17,694 --> 01:08:18,526
>>> one of the huge differences

1974
01:08:18,562 --> 01:08:20,228
between the first trial and the

1975
01:08:20,263 --> 01:08:21,262
second trial is that julie's

1976
01:08:21,298 --> 01:08:21,996
story all of a sudden made

1977
01:08:22,032 --> 01:08:24,999
sense.

1978
01:08:25,035 --> 01:08:26,601
>> looking back on it, if

1979
01:08:26,636 --> 01:08:28,803
somebody's going to invent a

1980
01:08:28,839 --> 01:08:31,439
story of an intruder, you would

1981
01:08:31,475 --> 01:08:32,507
think she would've also invented

1982
01:08:32,542 --> 01:08:35,577
a burglary or something to make

1983
01:08:35,612 --> 01:08:37,212
it more believable.

1984
01:08:37,247 --> 01:08:39,214
Instead she stuck with this

1985
01:08:39,249 --> 01:08:41,449
unlikely story that just

1986
01:08:41,485 --> 01:08:42,250
happened to be the exact m.O. Of

1987
01:08:42,285 --> 01:08:43,184
a serial killer.

1988
01:08:43,220 --> 01:08:43,751
>> they introduce a who and

1989
01:08:43,787 --> 01:08:45,687
that's tommy lynn sells.

1990
01:08:45,722 --> 01:08:47,288
So that, in the reasonable doubt

1991
01:08:47,324 --> 01:08:49,357
world is an alternative suspect.

1992
01:08:49,392 --> 01:08:50,992
>> the same prosecutor from the

1993
01:08:51,027 --> 01:08:53,027
first time around, ed parkinson,

1994
01:08:53,063 --> 01:08:54,696
isn't buying any of the new

1995
01:08:54,731 --> 01:08:56,764
evidence from tommy lynn sells.

1996
01:08:56,800 --> 01:08:57,765
He still believes she did it,

1997
01:08:57,801 --> 01:09:02,137
that she murdered her son.

1998
01:09:02,172 --> 01:09:03,104
>> the defense interjected the

1999
01:09:03,140 --> 01:09:04,239
myth, in my opinion, of

2000
01:09:04,274 --> 01:09:06,908
tommy lynn sells, a serial

2001
01:09:06,943 --> 01:09:11,546
killer out of texas, and they

2002
01:09:11,581 --> 01:09:12,213
threw that in there to derail

2003
01:09:12,249 --> 01:09:18,386
the jury's focus on julie rea.

2004
01:09:18,421 --> 01:09:18,653
>> she has rug burns on her

2005
01:09:18,688 --> 01:09:24,726
knees.

2006
01:09:24,761 --> 01:09:28,096
She has scrapes and cuts on the

2007
01:09:28,131 --> 01:09:30,665
top of her feet, where she was

2008
01:09:30,700 --> 01:09:31,833
dragged through the grass.

2009
01:09:31,868 --> 01:09:32,600
She has a big black eye when he

2010
01:09:32,636 --> 01:09:32,901
slammed her head into the

2011
01:09:32,936 --> 01:09:37,005
ground.

2012
01:09:37,040 --> 01:09:39,073
These wounds perfectly matched

2013
01:09:39,109 --> 01:09:41,109
what sells says happened and

2014
01:09:41,144 --> 01:09:47,015
what she says happened.

2015
01:09:47,050 --> 01:09:50,818
>> one of the key pieces of

2016
01:09:50,854 --> 01:09:53,388
evidence introduced at the trial

2017
01:09:53,423 --> 01:09:56,057
is part of the transcript of my

2018
01:09:56,092 --> 01:09:57,158
interview with tommy lynn sells,

2019
01:09:57,194 --> 01:09:59,260
where tommy lynn sells confesses

2020
01:09:59,296 --> 01:10:01,162
to me, to our audience, is now

2021
01:10:01,198 --> 01:10:02,897
heard by the jury.

2022
01:10:02,933 --> 01:10:03,932
Did you murder a child in

2023
01:10:03,967 --> 01:10:04,699
lawrenceville, illinois?

2024
01:10:04,734 --> 01:10:05,667
>> yes.

2025
01:10:05,702 --> 01:10:06,834
This is another one of my

2026
01:10:06,870 --> 01:10:10,872
murders.

2027
01:10:10,907 --> 01:10:12,006
>> the defense team tried to

2028
01:10:12,042 --> 01:10:15,143
convince the jury by playing his

2029
01:10:15,178 --> 01:10:16,611
videoed interviews that he did

2030
01:10:16,646 --> 01:10:16,911
it, and that's smoke and

2031
01:10:16,947 --> 01:10:19,714
mirrors.

2032
01:10:19,749 --> 01:10:22,050
It's a fairy tale.

2033
01:10:22,085 --> 01:10:23,651
>> the prosecution maintained

2034
01:10:23,687 --> 01:10:24,652
repeatedly that tommy lynn sells

2035
01:10:24,688 --> 01:10:25,486
had nothing to do with this.

2036
01:10:25,522 --> 01:10:26,154
>> that guy would confess to

2037
01:10:26,189 --> 01:10:28,823
anything just to get out of a

2038
01:10:28,858 --> 01:10:31,192
cell on death row, in my

2039
01:10:31,228 --> 01:10:33,194
opinion.

2040
01:10:33,230 --> 01:10:36,898
And besides, he was 33 years old

2041
01:10:36,933 --> 01:10:37,865
at the time, and julie described

2042
01:10:37,901 --> 01:10:40,468
the assailant as a young kid.

2043
01:10:40,503 --> 01:10:45,807
It doesn't even match that.

2044
01:10:45,842 --> 01:10:50,612
>> the person julie described

2045
01:10:50,647 --> 01:10:52,380
was thin build.

2046
01:10:52,415 --> 01:10:54,582
14 to 17 years old.

2047
01:10:54,618 --> 01:10:55,550
Look at the driver's license.

2048
01:10:55,585 --> 01:10:56,217
Although sells is in his early

2049
01:10:56,253 --> 01:10:57,185
30s, his weight is 130 pounds.

2050
01:10:57,220 --> 01:10:58,286
He could have easily been

2051
01:10:58,321 --> 01:11:00,989
mistaken for a much younger

2052
01:11:01,024 --> 01:11:03,024
person with that low weight.

2053
01:11:03,059 --> 01:11:04,058
>> a lot of the work that

2054
01:11:04,094 --> 01:11:06,861
bill clutter did on

2055
01:11:06,896 --> 01:11:08,496
tommy lynn sells becomes the

2056
01:11:08,531 --> 01:11:09,998
basis for the evidence that gets

2057
01:11:10,033 --> 01:11:13,134
used in the second trial.

2058
01:11:13,169 --> 01:11:19,407
>> there was independent

2059
01:11:19,442 --> 01:11:23,177
evidence that somebody like

2060
01:11:23,213 --> 01:11:23,511
tommy lynn sells was there in

2061
01:11:23,546 --> 01:11:26,014
the town.

2062
01:11:26,049 --> 01:11:27,482
>> tommy lynn sells did not have

2063
01:11:27,517 --> 01:11:28,249
a pristine memory of this

2064
01:11:28,285 --> 01:11:31,286
murder.

2065
01:11:31,321 --> 01:11:32,787
There's plenty of reasons that

2066
01:11:32,822 --> 01:11:34,956
he got some things wrong.

2067
01:11:34,991 --> 01:11:35,623
Um, but he got a lot of things

2068
01:11:35,659 --> 01:11:38,126
right.

2069
01:11:38,161 --> 01:11:39,160
>> I mean, when you kill that

2070
01:11:39,195 --> 01:11:39,894
many people, it's hard to keep

2071
01:11:39,929 --> 01:11:43,398
all the details straight.

2072
01:11:43,433 --> 01:11:43,998
They kind of mingle together in

2073
01:11:44,034 --> 01:11:46,501
your head, I would think.

2074
01:11:46,536 --> 01:11:48,903
>> tommy lynn sells later

2075
01:11:48,938 --> 01:11:51,239
recanted.

2076
01:11:51,274 --> 01:11:52,173
I think it was a made-up

2077
01:11:52,208 --> 01:11:53,174
distraction, fabrication and

2078
01:11:53,209 --> 01:11:57,178
complete bs.

2079
01:11:57,213 --> 01:11:59,547
>> he did recant certain parts

2080
01:11:59,582 --> 01:12:00,381
of his story.

2081
01:12:00,417 --> 01:12:01,215
He told different details at

2082
01:12:01,251 --> 01:12:03,017
different times.

2083
01:12:03,053 --> 01:12:05,553
But it would almost be more

2084
01:12:05,588 --> 01:12:05,953
suspicious if he had every

2085
01:12:05,989 --> 01:12:10,958
detail exact.

2086
01:12:10,994 --> 01:12:11,759
>> tommy lynn sells confessed.

2087
01:12:11,795 --> 01:12:13,494
He recanted.

2088
01:12:13,530 --> 01:12:13,861
Tommy lynn sells is a

2089
01:12:13,897 --> 01:12:20,835
psychopath.

2090
01:12:20,870 --> 01:12:21,502
You do not have to reach

2091
01:12:21,538 --> 01:12:22,704
tommy lynn sells or his

2092
01:12:22,739 --> 01:12:24,172
confession to know that julie is

2093
01:12:24,207 --> 01:12:27,909
innocent beyond any doubt.

2094
01:12:27,944 --> 01:12:29,043
But tommy lynn sells is the

2095
01:12:29,079 --> 01:12:35,850
embodiment of reasonable doubt.

2096
01:12:35,885 --> 01:12:37,919
>> in the second trial, the

2097
01:12:37,954 --> 01:12:41,189
lawyers going in know some

2098
01:12:41,224 --> 01:12:43,658
things that the first jury said

2099
01:12:43,693 --> 01:12:44,125
we needed to hear from her, and

2100
01:12:44,160 --> 01:12:45,426
she does testify.

2101
01:12:45,462 --> 01:12:49,163
>> they got to hear her

2102
01:12:49,199 --> 01:12:50,198
explanation of events, and, uh,

2103
01:12:50,233 --> 01:12:50,965
they got to hear how much she

2104
01:12:51,000 --> 01:12:54,369
loved joel.

2105
01:12:54,404 --> 01:12:57,572
>> it seemed to go quick.

2106
01:12:57,607 --> 01:13:01,209
>> how do you think you did?

2107
01:13:01,244 --> 01:13:05,913
>> I told the truth.

2108
01:13:05,949 --> 01:13:07,181
>> again and again I remember

2109
01:13:07,217 --> 01:13:10,017
she began sentences sort of

2110
01:13:10,053 --> 01:13:11,986
calmly and then would gradually

2111
01:13:12,021 --> 01:13:13,388
sort of break down into crying

2112
01:13:13,423 --> 01:13:14,021
then have to compose herself.

2113
01:13:14,057 --> 01:13:18,893
>> I don't know if it was an

2114
01:13:18,928 --> 01:13:19,927
act, but it didn't appear -- we

2115
01:13:19,963 --> 01:13:20,762
didn't see tears like that in

2116
01:13:20,797 --> 01:13:21,662
the first trial.

2117
01:13:21,698 --> 01:13:22,296
>> if I were that talented,

2118
01:13:22,332 --> 01:13:23,531
surely, I would have done it

2119
01:13:23,566 --> 01:13:27,735
during the first trial.

2120
01:13:27,771 --> 01:13:30,471
>> even though it was a

2121
01:13:30,507 --> 01:13:31,606
circumstantial case, I was still

2122
01:13:31,641 --> 01:13:32,640
confident, because from my view,

2123
01:13:32,675 --> 01:13:34,575
I thought that this tommy lynn

2124
01:13:34,611 --> 01:13:36,744
sells nonsense was so out there

2125
01:13:36,780 --> 01:13:37,078
that I thought the jury wouldn't

2126
01:13:37,113 --> 01:13:42,450
buy that.

2127
01:13:42,485 --> 01:13:42,784
>> I prayed that they would see

2128
01:13:42,819 --> 01:13:47,989
the truth.

2129
01:13:48,024 --> 01:13:50,358
>> there was no worse moment in

2130
01:13:50,393 --> 01:13:50,958
my life professionally than

2131
01:13:50,994 --> 01:13:53,828
waiting for that verdict.

2132
01:13:53,863 --> 01:13:54,562
>> and I saw julie just go down

2133
01:13:54,597 --> 01:13:55,897
to the ground.

2134
01:14:08,778 --> 01:14:09,410
>>> the jury took about

2135
01:14:09,446 --> 01:14:10,411
12 hours, twice as long as the

2136
01:14:10,447 --> 01:14:15,183
first time to deliberate.

2137
01:14:15,218 --> 01:14:17,885
>> ed parkinson, he had been

2138
01:14:17,921 --> 01:14:18,953
there the entire time, and then

2139
01:14:18,988 --> 01:14:19,587
just moments before the verdict,

2140
01:14:19,622 --> 01:14:22,089
he left.

2141
01:14:22,125 --> 01:14:24,225
>> the other prosecutor went in.

2142
01:14:24,260 --> 01:14:28,396
I had a bad feeling about it.

2143
01:14:28,431 --> 01:14:32,200
>> the foreman handed the

2144
01:14:32,235 --> 01:14:32,733
envelope over to someone who

2145
01:14:32,769 --> 01:14:40,441
took it to the judge.

2146
01:14:40,477 --> 01:14:42,910
And I heard ---his words.

2147
01:14:42,946 --> 01:14:47,615
♪

2148
01:14:47,650 --> 01:14:48,349
>> jury came back, they said,

2149
01:14:48,384 --> 01:14:51,118
not guilty.

2150
01:14:51,154 --> 01:14:54,322
Julie collapsed.

2151
01:14:54,357 --> 01:14:54,689
>> it was over.

2152
01:14:54,724 --> 01:14:57,892
Finally.

2153
01:14:57,927 --> 01:14:59,894
Finally.

2154
01:14:59,929 --> 01:15:00,728
>> she cried out, literally fell

2155
01:15:00,763 --> 01:15:04,699
to the ground.

2156
01:15:04,734 --> 01:15:05,500
I've covered a lot of trials,

2157
01:15:05,535 --> 01:15:06,601
but I've never quite seen

2158
01:15:06,636 --> 01:15:08,903
anything like that.

2159
01:15:08,938 --> 01:15:11,539
>> and I just felt like joel was

2160
01:15:11,574 --> 01:15:12,840
right there with me and he was

2161
01:15:12,876 --> 01:15:15,543
just so happy.

2162
01:15:15,578 --> 01:15:20,014
It was incredible.

2163
01:15:20,049 --> 01:15:23,017
>> tears fell from the eyes of

2164
01:15:23,052 --> 01:15:23,718
julie rea harper minutes after

2165
01:15:23,753 --> 01:15:24,385
she heard the jury's not guilty

2166
01:15:24,420 --> 01:15:25,820
verdict.

2167
01:15:25,855 --> 01:15:26,420
>> I almost wanted to cry with

2168
01:15:26,456 --> 01:15:27,855
her.

2169
01:15:27,891 --> 01:15:29,023
I mean, my heart was just

2170
01:15:29,058 --> 01:15:30,057
beating a mile a minute, and I

2171
01:15:30,093 --> 01:15:30,725
just -- it just -- we freed this

2172
01:15:30,760 --> 01:15:35,329
woman.

2173
01:15:35,365 --> 01:15:36,464
>> this has been a nightmare

2174
01:15:36,499 --> 01:15:37,632
that nobody should have to live

2175
01:15:37,667 --> 01:15:39,000
through.

2176
01:15:39,035 --> 01:15:40,501
>> legally, she's not just

2177
01:15:40,537 --> 01:15:40,801
acquitted, she's not just not

2178
01:15:40,837 --> 01:15:44,405
guilty.

2179
01:15:44,440 --> 01:15:46,474
The state of illinois gave julie

2180
01:15:46,509 --> 01:15:51,279
rea a certificate of innocence.

2181
01:15:51,314 --> 01:15:53,915
>> the special prosecutor, such

2182
01:15:53,950 --> 01:15:54,682
as the one in my case, need to

2183
01:15:54,717 --> 01:15:58,152
be held accountable.

2184
01:15:58,187 --> 01:16:01,422
>> if someone like julie, who

2185
01:16:01,457 --> 01:16:02,456
led an exemplary life, can be

2186
01:16:02,492 --> 01:16:05,026
swept up and accused of a crime

2187
01:16:05,061 --> 01:16:06,561
she did not commit, that means

2188
01:16:06,596 --> 01:16:11,065
all of us are vulnerable.

2189
01:16:11,100 --> 01:16:14,635
>> when the wrong person is

2190
01:16:14,671 --> 01:16:17,271
arrested, tried, and ultimately

2191
01:16:17,307 --> 01:16:22,476
convicted, the real perpetrator

2192
01:16:22,512 --> 01:16:23,344
is allowed to remain free.

2193
01:16:23,379 --> 01:16:25,580
And the consequences of that

2194
01:16:25,615 --> 01:16:30,351
are predictably awful.

2195
01:16:30,386 --> 01:16:30,685
>> my son deserves to be

2196
01:16:30,720 --> 01:16:33,087
respected.

2197
01:16:33,122 --> 01:16:35,456
He deserves justice to be

2198
01:16:35,491 --> 01:16:37,258
sought.

2199
01:16:37,293 --> 01:16:39,727
>> a serial killer,

2200
01:16:39,762 --> 01:16:40,261
tommy lynn sells, has been

2201
01:16:40,296 --> 01:16:42,196
executed.

2202
01:16:42,231 --> 01:16:43,831
>> tommy lynn sells was never

2203
01:16:43,866 --> 01:16:44,765
convicted of joel's murder.

2204
01:16:44,801 --> 01:16:46,434
He was however, executed.

2205
01:16:46,469 --> 01:16:47,902
There are those who will say,

2206
01:16:47,937 --> 01:16:55,843
justice has been served.

2207
01:16:55,878 --> 01:16:59,480
♪ we could be together again ♪

2208
01:16:59,515 --> 01:17:02,083
>> now, I freely admit that this

2209
01:17:02,118 --> 01:17:07,655
has broken me.

2210
01:17:07,690 --> 01:17:08,389
Nobody teaches you how to be --

2211
01:17:08,424 --> 01:17:16,063
to survive this.

2212
01:17:16,099 --> 01:17:17,565
I miss him so bad to this day.

2213
01:17:17,600 --> 01:17:18,366
He was just truly, truly

2214
01:17:18,401 --> 01:17:23,004
special.

2215
01:17:23,039 --> 01:17:24,005
>> this was a mother who went

2216
01:17:24,040 --> 01:17:24,772
through the worst thing any

2217
01:17:24,807 --> 01:17:28,843
parent could go through, losing

2218
01:17:28,878 --> 01:17:30,845
a child and then actually serve

2219
01:17:30,880 --> 01:17:32,913
prison time for that and

2220
01:17:32,949 --> 01:17:34,849
essentially prove your

2221
01:17:34,884 --> 01:17:35,716
innocence.

2222
01:17:35,752 --> 01:17:36,617
That's as much a definition of

2223
01:17:36,653 --> 01:17:37,018
hell as I think anyone could

2224
01:17:37,053 --> 01:17:38,719
come up with.

2225
01:17:38,755 --> 01:17:39,920
Will it cause future

2226
01:17:39,956 --> 01:17:42,456
prosecutions to perhaps be a

2227
01:17:42,492 --> 01:17:43,090
little more diligent about at

2228
01:17:43,126 --> 01:17:44,025
least considering what sound

2229
01:17:44,060 --> 01:17:44,392
like unlikely alibis?

2230
01:17:44,427 --> 01:17:47,428
It should.

2231
01:17:47,463 --> 01:17:51,098
>> even though her strong faith

2232
01:17:51,134 --> 01:17:53,434
has sustained her, she is still

2233
01:17:53,469 --> 01:17:53,968
and will continue to suffer for

2234
01:17:54,003 --> 01:17:59,340
his murder.

2235
01:17:59,375 --> 01:18:01,308
>> joel's always going to be a

2236
01:18:01,344 --> 01:18:02,843
part of my life, and he's with

2237
01:18:02,879 --> 01:18:03,244
me every day.

2238
01:18:03,279 --> 01:18:09,517
Wherever I am.

2239
01:18:09,552 --> 01:18:13,554
♪ and hooked up to your life

2240
01:18:13,589 --> 01:18:15,523
support, so don't let me go ♪

2241
01:18:15,558 --> 01:18:17,858
>> we should note since her

2242
01:18:17,894 --> 01:18:19,060
exoneration, julie rea has

2243
01:18:19,095 --> 01:18:21,796
become an advocate for women who

2244
01:18:21,831 --> 01:18:22,129
feel they have been wrongly

2245
01:18:22,165 --> 01:18:22,797
convicted.

2246
01:18:22,832 --> 01:18:24,331
>> she is working with

2247
01:18:24,367 --> 01:18:24,932
organizations who are fighting

2248
01:18:24,967 --> 01:18:26,233
to prove their innocence.

2249
01:18:26,269 --> 01:18:27,968
That's our program for tonight.

2250
01:18:28,004 --> 01:18:30,304
I'm amy robach.

2251
01:18:30,339 --> 01:18:32,807
>> I'm dm david muir.

2252
01:18:32,842 --> 01:18:34,008
For all of us here, thanks for

2253
01:18:34,043 --> 01:18:35,376
watching.

2254
01:18:35,411 --> 01:18:46,987
Good night.