(male announcer) In New York City's war on crime,
the worst criminal offenders are pursued
by the detectives of the Major Case Squad.
These are their stories.
[moaning]
I gotta get home.
I meant it last night.
We'll talk later.
Hurry up!
Here, let's take this.
What's that for?
It's just for show.
[speaking Spanish]
Work? Take me.
I work. Por favor?
Eh, work? I work hard.
Eh?
I didn't hear you come in last night.
Me either. And I waited up.
I was working on my film.
I didn't want to wake you.
Your mother was worried.
Sorry, Eme.
You'll be home for dinner?
Yeah, I'll try.
Meda meda.
Was it you? Huh?
Did you hit the baby? Huh?
Was it you?
Hey, are you crazy, man?
You crazy?
Get out of our neighborhood!
Hold him!
[chainsaw roaring]
Stop! Don't!
I'm taping all of you!
What the hell do you think you're doing?
Get her.
Terrorist bitch!
Give me the camera.
Get away from me.
Give me the camera.
Get away from my camera!
[laughing]
Meena Hasni, 19.
Student of Queensboro Community College.
4-9-1-1.
It's for 9-11? Another hate crime?
Third attack on a Muslim this month.
If you're keeping score.
You have any witnesses?
We're canvassing.
ME puts the death within an hour
of midnight either way.
Pretty quiet around here by then.
Whoever it was, they smashed the hell out of her face.
Yeah, but they left her gold bracelets,
her watch, her wallet.
Somebody was sending a message.
Well, looks like she fought back.
She's got scratches on her left hand here.
Whoever it was, they really gave her a beating.
And left her to die under the whole world.
Lucky for us, she still had her video camera.
Was it you? Huh?
Hey, man, are you crazy?
Get out of our neighborhood!
Hold him!
Chainsaw?
What the hell do you think you're doing?
Give me the camera.
That's weird.
Oh, wait. Freeze that.
Since when do Jews care about Mexicans
taking their jobs?
They don't, but they sure were upset
when they say Meena taping.
They went right at her.
[rewinding sounds]
This is all early morning.
Look at the shadows.
That means the timeline is off.
How did she end up dead at the Unisphere 15 hours later?
Wait, hold on.
Zoom in there.
Savoy at Little Neck.
So this shape-up must be right by
the Nassau County border.
Visitors welcome.
Hey, fellas. Habla Ingles?
Policia! Policia!
Hey, hold on, hold on! Come here!
[speaking Spanish]
It's okay.
[speaking Spanish]
We just wanna know who attacked you yesterday.
No one.
All right, look, you got nothing to worry about
with us, all right?
Who had the chainsaw?
It was three white boys.
Two had bats, one had a saw to my face.
I could feel the breeze.
Did you recognize them?
Not these guys.
Okay, so you've been harassed before, huh?
Every day.
I mean, usually they yell at us about stealing jobs,
but yesterday, these guys, they kept yelling...
The baby. Who hit the baby?
And how about her?
Yeah.
She had a camera.
And they yell at her to stop.
And they ran after her.
And then... And then we ran.
Go ahead.
"Who hit the baby?"
Last Friday night a mother and her stroller
were hit by a van full of day laborers
on Northern Boulevard.
She was on her way to Synagogue.
Well, this has got to be payback.
Until Meena got in the way.
Some illegal alien runs over a mother
and her baby and you arrest me?
Recognize this one?
No.
No?
No.
'Cause we have videotape of you and your chainsaw buddies
chasing this woman who ends up like this.
Okay, we ran after her, but that's all we did.
I mean, she was spying on us.
Where'd you chase her?
Through the empty lot.
She fell, she got up,
and then she ran towards the subway.
And where did you go?
To the Jewish Community Center.
We teach Hebrew.
Your Rabbi gonna back you up?
Of course.
We didn't hurt the Mexicans or that Arab girl.
We just want these people out of our neighborhood
before they kill any more of our children.
Put your hand on the table where I can see it.
Go on.
Now spread your fingers.
He gave up the other two batters.
No priors on any of them.
They even pay their parking tickets on time.
And their rabbi confirmed their alibi.
Three upstanding racist orthodox Jews.
In Queens, the most ethnically diverse county
in the country.
I guess that makes them even more xenophobic.
The Unisphere.
It was built to symbolize the theme
of the '64 World's Fair.
Peace Through Understanding.
I spoke to Meena's college advisor.
She was making a documentary about racism in Queens.
And her film partner Emily Williams left town
yesterday morning.
She's on her way back now.
Family's on the way to the morgue
to ID the body.
Yes, that's Meena.
My daughter.
Look at her face.
We're very sorry for your loss, Mr. Hasni.
Who would do this?
We're in the process of investigating that right now.
Do you know who she was with last night?
The body must be washed.
Could you tell us the last time you saw her?
Yesterday, at breakfast.
The funeral must happen right away!
If you wouldn't mind just answering
a few questions first.
How am I going to tell your mother?
Not now, please. Another time.
Cause of death...
a contracue injury to the brain.
Explain that to my partner.
I'll listen too.
All right, her head hit the ground.
Her brain smacked against the back of her skull,
which fractured.
Then the brain rebounded
and collided with the front of her skull.
Contracue.
Oh, got it.
Yeah.
You see this with rollerbladers
who don't wear helmets.
You hit your head like that, don't get to a neurosurgeon
in ten minutes, you're an organ donor.
Uh, Rodgers, what about
these bruises on her face?
(Rodgers) Not enough impact to kill her.
But I did find pieces of concrete
in her cheeks, nose.
So she falls backwards...
gets a hematoma that'll kill her.
But her attacker doesn't know that,
so he turns her around.
Bashes her face into the ground.
That's a lot of rage.
Yeah.
One more thing.
She was seven weeks pregnant.
I saw Meena yesterday.
I was her family counselor,
but that's all I can say about it.
You know someone killed her last night.
I know.
I'm sorry, but it's supposed to be kept confidential.
Oh, look.
Okay, Miss, Meena was Pakistani and Muslim.
We make one call to the Feds, they can invoke the Patriot Act,
get all the records.
Now, I don't wanna go that route, but I will.
Geez. Okay.
She came in with her boyfriend
and it was tense.
What was his name?
Uh, Rudi Ventano.
He was pushy.
She wanted to discuss options
and he kind of flipped.
Meaning he wanted her to get an abortion.
No, that wasn't it at all.
I wanted Meena to have the baby.
But she didn't want to?
We'd have worked it out. I loved her.
I wanted her to move in with me,
get married, everything.
When did you see her last?
The night before. We spent it together.
Rudy, Meena had breakfast with her family.
Look, she always did that, okay?
She'd sneak home before they woke up.
They didn't know about you?
They didn't approve.
It was the religion thing.
So you're sure that's the last time you saw her.
That's not what they told us at the clinic, Rudy.
Yeah, I saw her yesterday afternoon.
Like I said, nothing was resolved.
Okay.
By the way, what happened to your hand?
I was doing construction.
Listen to your uncle, Joseph.
You got nothing to worry about!
What if someone saw me?
They'd have taken you in.
Look, if they want to talk to you again,
what were you doing?
I was with you, watching the Knicks.
Perfect!
And afterwards?
Nobody needs to know about that.
Look, you were sleeping down here,
I went upstairs.
Got it?
You mother said she was trouble, Rudy,
from day one.
Rudy, she's gone now.
Meena didn't have a boyfriend, she was a good girl.
Very studious.
Rudy Ventano said they were in love.
What? What nonsense.
I told my daughter...
stay away from those people.
They're thugs.
In the mafia. They hate us.
The mafia?
Are you talking about Italians?
You have dark skin and an accent,
they'd beat you to death as soon as look at you.
Rudy was one of 'em.
Your daughter had many friends.
Classmates. Our daughter studied very hard.
She didn't have time to date.
Then why did Rudy say that he and Meena
were getting married?
'Cause he's a liar.
Mr. and Mrs. Hasni, this is difficult,
but we need to tell you, Meena was pregnant.
No.
That's impossible. Meena was promised to Tariq.
Who is Tariq?
Tariq Amir. From LaHore.
Our family and the Amir family,
we had an agreement.
Tariq came here two weeks ago
and enrolled at Queensboro.
They were supposed to marry.
Then move back together to Pakistan.
Meena agreed to that, an arranged marriage?
Those were the wishes of her family.
She must have told Rudy. Maybe he got angry.
My child.
My child and my grandchild.
So, we've got one girl, two fiancés.
One fiancé must have found out about the other
and taken it out on Meena.
And her family blames the Italian.
When they admit he exists.
They're in denial.
They actually believe she was going
to accept an arranged marriage.
A 19-year-old college student born here.
From a radically different culture
where the parents' judgment is absolute.
Anyone you can talk to outside of her family?
Her documentary partner, Emily Williams.
(Meena) This is the Jewel of Punjab,
the restaurant my parents owned until 9-11,
when everything changed.
And everyone stopped coming.
Now they work here with my brother Dani.
He had to drop out of college to help the family.
When our customers shunned the restaurant,
we came here.
And we all live in a small apartment on top.
What did Meena's parents say about the documentary?
They never saw it.
It won the student film award last year,
and they weren't interested.
Meena and her parents weren't on the same page
about her life, her studies?
Yeah, because Meena wanted a life.
Her family's friends called her an ABCD.
American Born Confused Dessie.
A Dessie's someone from Southern Asia.
Meena was split between the two worlds.
So she argued with her family?
No. She was too respectful.
Was she really going along with an arranged marriage?
No.
She was in love with Rudy.
Had you noticed any tension between them lately?
We know about her pregnancy.
Look, she loved Rudy.
But she wasn't ready to move into his mom's basement
and start a family.
His mom's basement? That was his plan?
Yeah, but she said that was as bad
as what her parents wanted.
So she decided to have an abortion.
She made up her mind when she got back
from the clinic.
I was gonna go with her next week.
That's a lie. We loved each other.
Meena may have loved you, Rudy,
but she wasn't ready to be barefoot, pregnant,
and in your basement.
She was confused, okay?
She was scared. So was I.
You're saying Meena loved you,
but she didn't tell you?
You wanna be a little careful here, Rudy,
because you've already lied to us once
and you're not very good at it.
Okay, she told me. Later that night.
The night she was killed?
That's when she told you she'd scheduled an abortion?
Was there any reason you didn't tell us this before, Rudy?
Now tell us the whole story.
We went for a walk at the Unisphere.
She was crying.
I was upset. We were stressed.
We kind of went at it.
And I did the worst thing I ever did in my life.
What was that?
I left her in the park alone.
What time was that?
10:00, 10:30.
And then where did you go?
I went home.
I spent the rest of the night with my Uncle Joseph.
If I could just take it back.
Leaving her there.
I'd do anything.
Well, he seems genuinely upset.
He has a lot of guilt.
Yeah, he left his girlfriend to die.
Or he killed her.
Meena could have told him she was having an abortion,
he flew into a rage.
I don't get that from him.
He wanted to control her.
Like everyone else in her life.
He may have pressured her to have their baby,
but I'm with Logan.
I don't see him bashing her skull in
or writing 4-9-11
in her blood.
You wanna street him?
Sure.
He'll just run home to mama if we need him.
In the meantime, talk to his uncle.
If Rudy has any idea who killed Meena,
he'll tell his uncle before he'd tell us.
We should call my cousin Vera, okay?
She's an attorney, she'll help you.
She's a paralegal, Ma.
And I don't need a lawyer, okay?
Where are you going? Don't go anywhere.
Look, I have to talk to them, okay?
Explain what happened before the cops tell them
I was with her.
Don't be crazy. Talk?
To those Arabs?
Pakistanis. Not Arabs!
How many times I gotta tell you?
Yeah, my Rudy.
He was in love with that girl.
She was gonna move in with him down here.
He built a room for the baby?
Yeah. Yeah, sure.
And who put the hole in the wall?
Rudy.
When he found out she was killed, bam,
he went ballistic.
So your son has a temper.
Oh, Joseph, basta.
No, my son, he had nothing to do with this girl's death.
Cecilia, please.
Don't start in with me, Joseph.
I know what happened, all right?
Mrs. Ventano, Rudy saw Meena the night she was killed.
Whoa whoa, and he left her alive.
He spent the night here, with me.
What were you two doing?
We were watching the game.
Yeah, the Knicks.
Oh, yeah.
You remember the final score?
It was memorable.
The Knicks won.
Double overtime.
He was here.
You should be talking to her family!
Those people, those Muslims,
they're killing each other all the time!
The bombs, cutting each other's heads off.
They're like animals, those people.
Mrs. Ventano.
This isn't a terrorist attack,
it's a homicide.
I apologize for my sister.
Don't you apologize for me.
Why are you bothering us?
Why don't you go talk to those Arabs?
'Cause God only knows what they've doing to him.
What they're doing to him?
Are you saying that your son went over there?
He left an hour ago.
I begged him not to go.
He said he needed to let them know
that he was innocent.
Let's go.
Listen, Meena loved me.
You killed my sister. No, man--
Get out! Leave us alone.
Hey, watch it, man.
Think you can come in here, threatening us?
Back off!
Hey, hey! What is going on?
What is happening?
Look, I just need to explain, okay?
You get out!
This is what you people do.
Look, just take it easy.
Get off me!
[speaking Punjabi]
What the hell are you doing?
[speaking Punjabi]
Just drop the gun.
Aaagh!
[speaking Punjabi]
Hey!
Kazi, no!
Savia!
[yelling in Punjabi]
[gunshot]
Drop that gun!
Drop it!
Rudy just showed up threatening me.
Telling me to keep my mouth shut.
About what?
That Meena was breaking up with him.
He told me not to tell the police.
I said I would say whatever I wanted
and he jumped me.
And then your father came in.
Yeah.
Please, my husband is not a violent man.
I know he doesn't have a license for the gun.
Well, after 9-11 we needed it.
Just to scare them.
They attacked our restaurant.
He would never hurt anyone.
He never even used it.
Until tonight.
This is America?
I'm a citizen.
Don't I have the right to protect my family?
Mr. Hasni, you have a right to remain silent.
We're bringing you down to the station.
He came at me and my son!
You're under arrest, Mr. Hasni.
No, please. Kazi!
[speaking Punjabi]
Kazi! Why are you doing this?
Kazi!
My father was protecting us!
You see what they do to him?
Let him go!
[chanting] Let him go! Let him go!
Listen, I do not care how tragic this is.
If you try to incite a riot,
I'm gonna throw your ass in jail!
You understand me? Now, cool it!
My boy. No!
No, please. I want my boy.
Why?
There was nothing we could do.
Get your hands off me!
We're very sorry for your loss.
I told him.
I told him that family was gonna kill him.
And those monsters killed him.
Charges just went up from attempted murder
to murder.
Mr. Hasni was just arranged.
The public defender
claimed defense of self and others.
We'll see what a jury says.
So we still don't know who killed Meena,
but now we have two families locked in a tribal war.
Post a car outside the Ventano home
and the Hasni home.
What?
Trouble?
Too late.
The precinct reports a 1031
at the Hasni family store.
The car's en route.
[yelling]
[crying]
Why is he refusing your lawyer?
He's very emotional right now.
He probably shouldn't be talking to anybody.
If you decide to press charges...
What is she doing here?
Oh!
My son is dead because of you!
I'm so sorry.
You're sorry? You killed my son!
You killed my boy!
Your son, my daughter.
Your whore daughter. You terrorist bitch!
You've had enough. Let's go.
I'm the only father he had.
I never married.
I worked as a doorman for 30 years
so he wouldn't have to.
All for nothing.
Did Rudy want to marry Meena?
Yeah, yeah.
My sister doesn't need to know the truth, okay?
I don't want her to know.
What is the truth?
What does it matter, huh?
He's gone!
You gonna let him take the rap
for killing the one person he loved?
Come on, Joseph.
It's time for you to tell us what he was doing that night.
And this time, the truth.
Okay.
He came home close to 11:00.
They had a big fight over the baby.
And?
Oh, no...
And stupid me, what do I know?
I mean, I wanted to make him feel better.
So I...
I took him to a cathouse.
Write down the address.
(Logan) We didn't come here to arrest you.
(Wheeler) We just wanna talk to you about this guy.
His name is Ventano. Rudy.
Might have used a different name.
He used his real name.
Tuesday night, arrived 11:00 with his uncle.
They had drinks, came in here with me at 12:00.
For how long?
Friendly uncle paid for an hour.
Did you notice if the younger guy
had any bruises or scratches on him?
We didn't get that far.
He wouldn't even let me touch.
Why not?
He just cried the whole time.
About?
His girlfriend didn't want to have his baby.
Not what I usually hear. She's lucky to have him.
Yeah, well, her luck ran out.
What does your hooker intuition say?
Hooker intuition?
I didn't even know they were using Blackberries.
She's got no reason to lie.
If Rudy didn't do it, we're back to Tariq,
the spurned suitor.
Boat ticket. Take it.
Why not just fly home?
They are looking for you, Tariq.
Then I should hide.
You'll end up in prison.
You have any idea how Americans would treat you?
The police, the criminals, the guards?
You've seen what they do.
Rudy didn't kill Meena.
They had a fight in the park, he left her there.
His uncle took him to a brothel.
And he didn't sleep with the hooker,
he just cried about Meena.
Does Meena's father know?
Not yet.
He's in Rikers. Hasn't posted bail yet.
Next time you see Mr. Hasni
let him know the kid he killed
loved his daughter.
Thank you.
That was the INS.
The fiancé, Tariq Amir,
they picked him up last night trying to board a freighter.
Will wonders never cease?
Meena Hasni, I barely knew her.
You were gonna marry her, weren't you?
Of course.
That's why I came here.
Yeah, but she didn't want anything to do with you, right?
Her family couldn't control her.
Yeah, that's what I said.
She didn't want anything to do with you.
No!
She wasn't pure.
And in your eyes that's a disgrace.
Is that why you killed her?
Why would I kill her?
Not worth wasting a bullet
or dulling a knife.
I told her father she was a whore.
Nice.
Where were you Tuesday night?
At a restaurant.
Uh-huh.
Here's the receipt.
This is a strip club, Mr. Amir.
Was it a pure one?
Okay, her parents didn't do a great job
picking out a husband for her.
But if his alibi checks, we're back to square one.
Maybe not.
Meena's family said she'd agreed to the marriage.
They were ashamed to tell us the truth.
Imagine the shame when Tariq told Kazi
his daughter was a whore.
Maybe Kazi tried to bring her to heel.
An honor killing. In New York?
A lot of women in a lot of countries
have been killed for less.
The thing is, Mr. Hasni...
Rudy didn't kill your daughter.
I saw him.
I saw his temper.
You didn't see the way he went after my boy.
Turns out he had an alibi. He was with someone else.
It can't be.
This family, they tell lies for him.
No. We checked, Mr. Hasni.
We're sure of it.
The boy was innocent?
What have I done?
She... broke my heart.
America.
I came here 25 years ago.
I thought my children would have a better life.
And in one day...
it all changed.
I don't want my grandchildren to grow up here now.
Well, you've lost a lot in five years.
Your home and your restaurant.
Your daughter meets an American boy.
Then she defies you in front of Tariq.
We also know that Tariq didn't kill your daughter.
He also has an alibi for that night.
Which brings us to where you were
the night your daughter was killed.
Mr. Hasni, as your attorney,
I would-- No, no, no.
No, I want to confess.
I killed my daughter.
Charge me with the crime. Write it down, I will sign it.
Mr. Hasni, we can't tell you what to say.
You have to tell us what you did.
Start with the park.
How did you know your daughter was even there?
I followed her from home.
I thought she was going to run away with that boy.
It was 10:00 at night. You weren't working?
I left my son and my wife in the store.
And your daughter, she was alone in the park?
No, she was with that boy Rudy.
They were arguing.
He left, I thought now she would listen to reason.
I told her that I could fix it so that she could
still marry Tariq.
But she refused.
And then you got into a fight.
Yes. We were angry.
And people didn't hear you?
They probably couldn't hear you because the fountain was on.
Yes.
Yes, that's right.
Go on.
I... I pushed her.
Hard. She fell.
She was bleeding.
And I left her there to...
die.
That is what happened.
He's obviously lying.
The fountain's emptied in October.
Yeah, the million-dollar question is,
who's he protecting?
(Meena) This was our beautiful home
before we had to move to the apartment
above the store.
Her first movie.
It was about our family?
You never saw it?
No, my husband didn't want to.
(Meena) This is my mother and father
on their wedding anniversary.
Their marriage was arranged for them
22 years ago.
I believe they love each other very much.
But I've never seen them kiss.
They just work all the time.
This is my boyfriend Rudy.
Hey, look at the camera. Look at the camera.
I've never seen him work.
Think that'll be me?
Just be running around.
Why are you showing me this?
So that you can see what she saw.
That he loved her.
Yes, I know.
He didn't hurt her.
I understand.
And Meena was right,
you love your husband, don't you?
Very much.
Where was he the night Meena was killed?
In the store with me.
And where was your son?
Zaphir, we think one of them may have been
in the park that night.
No.
Your husband said it was him.
He confessed to the murder.
No, no, that's not true.
He was with me all night.
Then he shouldn't spend his life in jail
for a crime he didn't commit.
There would be no honor in that.
What do you mean?
Someone needs to speak up for you daughter.
Who can do that better than you?
(Meena) I want to spend the rest of my life with him.
But my parents, they'll never understand.
(Wheeler) She was just starting her life.
Someone took it from her.
If I tell you who killed my daughter,
will you have mercy on my husband?
(Dani) I was over there by those trees.
And Rudy and Meena were here, fighting.
About what?
I couldn't hear her, but he was angry.
Your father was with you?
No, I was alone. So you can let him go.
No, Dani, that's not enough.
He already confessed.
What you said doesn't prove anything.
My father is lying.
How do we know that?
I mean, we're trying to get to the truth here,
but you're gonna have to help us.
Otherwise, you know, we're gone.
And then your father's finished.
I'm telling you, I saw it. The whole thing.
I saw Rudy kill her.
Specifically what did you see?
I was over there. And they were here arguing.
He pushed her.
So you saw all that from over there in the dark.
I kept moving closer.
I ended up over there.
Why were you even in the park?
I followed her to protect her.
Then why didn't you stop the fighting?
Because he moved too fast.
He shoved her down, hard. That was it.
He pushed her from the front or the back?
We know the right answer from the autopsy.
Show us what happened and use Detective Wheeler here.
Go ahead, you won't hurt me.
That's it?
She didn't fight back?
No.
She was surprised.
He pushed her harder than that.
Meena fell to the ground and hit the back of her head.
How hard?
Show me.
Then what?
He, uh...
He got down next to her.
And...he turned her around.
Why did he do that?
Because he can't bear to look at her.
Go on.
He grabs the back of her head.
How, Dani?
[grunts]
Ugh! Ugh!
He bashes her face against the concrete.
Until she's dead!
And his family is saved.
Why, Dani?
Because she wouldn't marry Tariq.
The one thing they asked her to do.
I had to do everything they asked.
I gave up college, my future.
To honor them.
And you shame them?
You defied papa?
Tariq called you a whore in front of our father.
I had to.
I tried to save our family from your dishonor.
I tried.
Oh, my God.
Oh, Meena.
Meena, please. Please forgive me.
Please, Meena.
Please. Please forgive me.
It's too late, Dani.
It's too late.
Put your hands behind your back.
You're under arrest.
Take him.