- FEMALE NARRATOR: The ruthless murder of a beloved pediatrician
stuns a Florida community.
- The apartment was ransacked.
Someone was looking for something.
- He's submerged in a tub full of bloody water.
- NARRATOR: Investigators follow a trail of mysterious clues to
find out what could lead to such a violent crime.
- MIKE: We locate close to 20 thousand dollars in cash.
- FRED: When they would pick up the phone,
the person on the other end
would immediately hang the phone up.
- NARRATOR: Detectives race against the clock to unravel
a cold-blooded conspiracy.
- It was clear that they were concerned that
they might be being listened to.
They were saying things in layers and in code.
- He said to us, "What would happen if I told you that
I sent somebody there to beat him up?"
- He had a reputation for being involved with the drug gangs.
- He was telling her that they can't arrest her
if they can't find her.
- To the day, they still don't know exactly where he is
or where he went.
They don't even know if he's still alive.
- ♪
♪♪
- NARRATOR: January 25, 1994. St. Petersburg, Florida.
Officer Ell Jay Hartzig is just beginning his shift when he gets
a disturbing call from dispatch about a body found
in a nearby apartment complex.
- ELL JAY: It was probably about 20 to 25 after 3
I was in my cruiser getting ready to drive to my zone
that I patrol, when I heard the call come out.
- NARRATOR: At the apartment complex,
Officer Hartzig is met by a frantic young woman.
- ELL JAY: On arrival, I talked to a witness, Patricia Deninno.
I speak to her briefly.
She explained to me that the victim was in the bathtub
inside the apartment.
Once I entered the apartment,
I saw that the apartment was in disarray
and just everything was thrown about.
I went into the bathroom area.
I see the victim with his face down,
with his hands and his feet tied behind his back
with an electrical cord.
I see that the tub is halfway full with water.
It's bloody.
Alls I thought about at that time
was you preserve the crime scene.
- NARRATOR: As Officer Hartzig waits for detectives outside,
he gathers preliminary information from the 911 caller,
Patricia Deninno, who says the victim is her fiancé,
Dr. Louis Davidson.
- The deceased was a doctor in charge of the pediatrics
at Bayfront Hospital.
Miss Deninno was crying hysterically, she's upset.
It was hard to interview her.
I had to take my time and work with her to get the information
about who this doctor was and why she was there.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: 39-year-old Louis Davidson was well known
throughout the St. Petersburg community.
- He was so knowledgeable.
Um, he was such a good mentor
to all of us nurses doing pediatrics.
- NARRATOR: Though Louis considered the US home,
he'd only moved to the States in 1983.
- Louis was born in Jamaica, born in Kingston.
His father's a university professor.
Very, very smart.
- REBECCA: He had a very close family
with his parents and his sisters.
- NARRATOR: With his family's encouragement,
Louis had set his sights high from an early age.
- REBECCA: He was very gifted intellectually,
and it was destined that he become a doctor.
He was brilliant at it.
- I feel like that was his calling and he knew it.
- NARRATOR: Though medical school
rarely left time for dating,
Louis made room in his schedule
when a beautiful young model caught his eye
at a bus stop in Jamaica.
- FRED: Denise Davis was originally from Jamaica.
She was, uh, in Ms. Jamaica pageant.
She was a finalist in that pageant.
- SUSANNA: Denise was an absolutely stunning woman.
She was 22, he was 27 when they met.
She was waiting at a bus stop
and he stopped in his car and offered her a ride.
And I think she genuinely liked him.
She genuinely loved him.
- NARRATOR: After a short engagement,
the couple tied the knot in 1982 and quickly moved to the States.
Three years later, their daughter, Natalie, was born.
- FRED: They got married
and they moved to the Tampa Bay area,
where they lived and had a child together.
- ROBERTA: Denise was a very caring mother.
Supportive, loving and she was pretty much at--at home with,
uh, Natalie the first few years.
- DEB: Dr. Davidson doted on Natalie.
He'd just glow and he would talk about Natalie
and he loved her very much.
- NARRATOR: After climbing the ranks in his profession,
Louis settled into his career
at Bayfront Hospital in St. Petersburg.
- He eventually became the head of the pediatrics, um,
in the emergency room division.
- DEB: He was a good man, a talented man.
He had this kindness and this compassion for his job and for
the people around him and his patients that he took care of.
- NARRATOR: While his career blossomed,
his relationship with Denise began to crumble.
- Approximately 1991, Denise Davidson,
Dr. Davidson separated.
It was at that time that Dr. Davidson
moved out of the residence.
- ROBERTA: He got an apartment in--in St. Petersburg.
And she w--remained in their home in Tampa
with her daughter, Natalie.
- NARRATOR: In October of 1993, Louis and Denise decided to make
their separation legal.
- Dr. Davidson had developed a new relationship
with Patricia Deninno.
Patricia Deninno works for Bayfront Hospital within
the emergency room and emergency room pediatrics
where Dr. Davidson works.
And so they started off
just knowing each other from the hospital.
And at this point in time, they're boyfriend-girlfriend.
- NARRATOR: Louis wasn't the only one who had moved on.
- Denise Davidson still lived in Tampa.
She developed a relationship with a gentleman from Jamaica,
a Leo Cisneros.
So, Dr. Davidson and Denise Davidson
were kind of going on with their lives.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Not long after their separation,
St. Petersburg homicide detectives have just arrived
at Louis Davidson's apartment, where his girlfriend, Patricia,
found him dead in a bathtub.
- I arrived just after the initial officer on scene,
Officer Hartzig, had spoken and took the initial statement from
Patricia Deninno.
At that point, I arranged for Patricia Deninno to be
transported to the St. Petersburg Police Department
as we start to process our scene.
- MARK: I go through the front door,
and I can see that obviously the apartment was ransacked.
Someone was looking for something.
- NARRATOR: In the foyer,
detectives identify their first potential clue.
- We notice there is a footprint, a shoe impression,
on the floor.
Whether it was wet or grease or oil,
whatever may have been on the bottom of the shoe
left an impression on that tile.
- FRED: It was a--a certain make, a Voit,
which wasn't a real popular type of shoe.
And, uh, it appeared to be about a size nine.
- NARRATOR: Detectives also find what appears to be
evidence of a struggle.
- MIKE: I can see items thrown on the floor.
The cushions were off the couch.
There's a vacuum cleaner sitting here that has the cord cut,
and a pair of scissors laying on the ground,
which is obviously not in its normal place.
In the bedroom, the closet door is open,
and I can see clothes and items have been thrown onto the floor.
It's a mess inside that closet.
As I approach the bathroom, I'm looking in,
and I'm seeing the wall where there's obvious blood splatter
here on the wall.
- NARRATOR: Inside the bathroom,
detectives get their first look at the victim.
- He was drowned while tied and blindfolded--
drowned in a bathtub full of hot water.
- A vacuum cleaner cord was used to tie up his hands
and there was a cashmere article of clothing
that was used to tie him up as well.
- The scene is extremely violent in nature.
- The appearance leads me to believe that there's more than
one person involved.
- FRED: In the closet of Dr. Davidson,
they found a garment bag.
And in that garment bag was a substantial amount of money.
- MIKE: We locate close to $20,000 in cash, um,
along with Dr. Davidson's jewelry.
The items of true value were not stolen.
Instead, we have a staged crime scene
and a dead doctor with a very brutal type of killing.
- NARRATOR: Coming up: Investigators uncover
salacious secrets.
- She denied that she was posing for dirty pictures.
- REBECCA: Was Dr. Davidson involved
in some kind of activity that could have brought
this type of a crime closer to him?
- MARK: The first person of interest
was in that type of crowd
where he would've known the people who were able to
pull off such an event.
- ♪
- FEMALE NARRATOR: The ruthless murder of a beloved pediatrician
- NARRATOR: St. Petersburg detectives are investigating
the vicious murder of pediatric emergency doctor Louis Davidson.
- MIKE: Dr. Davidson was hogtied.
He was blindfolded, gagged,
and bleeding from about the head area,
and then the bathtub was filled with, at that time,
still, warm water.
- NARRATOR: While CSI techs finish up their search for
additional evidence, investigators turn to
Louis's neighbors for leads.
- We identify two witnesses that observed a couple
playing with a ball around 9, 10 o'clock in the morning,
just outside the doctor's apartment
in the area by the pond.
- CRAIG: It was a--a black man and a white woman,
a blonde-haired woman,
playing catch with a cricket ball.
Which is, uh, not something
you would normally see here in Florida.
- They noticed the young lady appeared to be more of
a British-type accent.
- NARRATOR: Witnesses mention after the unusual game of catch,
the man disappeared and the woman got into a nearby car.
- Here is someone that's just sitting
in the apartment complex,
basically in front of the doctor's apartment.
So, now we're looking at some suspicion there.
- NARRATOR: While officers continue canvassing
the neighborhood, detectives head to the station
to conduct a formal interview
with Dr. Davidson's girlfriend, Patricia Deninno.
- MIKE: She said she was at work that day at Bayfront Hospital.
But whether there's any involvement at--at this point,
we have no idea who's involved.
- NARRATOR: Patricia says she had just started her day shift
when she last spoke with Louis.
- MIKE: Dr. Davidson was finishing his shift around
8 a.m., and then once he finished his shift,
he had a meeting to attend-- 9 a.m. meeting--
um, for the hospital, for the pediatric section.
- When she tried to call him afterwards,
he was not responding to her calls.
- Around 3:30, she goes to his apartment to see why
she can't reach him all day.
- MIKE: When she arrives at the apartment complex,
she enters into the apartment,
the door was unlocked, but closed.
And she starts to notice that the apartment's in disarray.
It's at that point that she enters the bathroom
and she discovers Dr. Davidson in the bathtub.
- NARRATOR: A distraught Patricia says she has no idea
who could have wanted Louis dead,
but he has been getting some strange calls lately.
- FRED: Numerous hang up calls--
66, I think, in a matter of a few weeks.
When Dr. Davidson or Ms. Deninno would pick up the phone,
the person on the other end
would immediately hang the phone up.
- To the detectives, that sounded like someone trying to
track his movements.
Where he was at different times, what he was doing.
- NARRATOR: Patricia says the most recent suspicious
phone call was just that morning.
- Somewhere between 9, 10 o'clock in the morning,
Patricia Deninno receives a phone call at the hospital
with someone is looking for Dr. Davidson,
and they asked for him.
She replied that he was not available at the time.
Things felt suspicious involving the calls at the hospital.
But we did not know who would be connected to this that may have
committed harm to Dr. Davidson.
- NARRATOR: Detectives ask if Louis could be connected
to anything illegal.
- REBECCA: Initially, the $20,000 in the garment bag
caused them to have some alarm.
You know, was Dr. Davidson
involved in some kind of activity
that could have brought this type of a crime
closer to him?
- NARRATOR: Patricia refutes the notion.
- he is explaining to me that the doctor would keep money
in his closet so that it would--not all his money was in
the bank account because of the divorce situation.
- CRAIG: That was a tumultuous relationship
between the two of them.
There were allegations from her that he had abused her.
There were allegations from him
that she had posed for erotic photos.
Uh, but, course he denied the abuse
and she denied that she was posing for dirty pictures.
- NARRATOR: Patricia says the focus of the divorce revolved
heavily around the couple's daughter, Natalie.
- CRAIG: They had fought very bitterly
over custody for Natalie.
Denise wanted to take Natalie with her to Jamaica,
and Louis was determined that was not going to happen.
He was not going to lose access to his daughter.
- NARRATOR: After finishing up with Patricia,
detectives call Bayfront Hospital to verify her alibi.
- MIKE: We were able to determine right away that
Patricia Deninno had been at the hospital during the daytime
after the doctor had left from his shift.
- We did rule her out as a suspect early on.
- NARRATOR: With Patricia's whereabouts verified,
detectives make haste in locating Denise.
- It's no secret that if you have an estranged spouse
and that person winds up dead that you're going to be the one
that is first suspected.
- They met with her at her home in Tampa and made
the notification that her husband had been found dead.
- REBECCA: When Denise Davidson was asked what she was doing
the morning he was murdered,
she really didn't have a lot to report
other than just usual routine, uh, things that she always did.
She didn't go to work that day,
but she did have the care of her daughter.
- FRED: She told law enforcement
that they were in the middle of a custody fight,
but she said he's the father of her child
and she had no reason to want to hurt Dr. Davidson.
- NARRATOR: As a matter of routine procedure,
detectives ask Denise
if she's currently involved with anyone new.
- The information that was provided to us
by Denise Davidson
that the boyfriend's name is Leonardo Cisneros.
- NARRATOR: The two had met during one of her visits
back home to Jamaica.
- ROBERTA: He seemed to, uh, become really enamored with her.
He at one point, uh, then asked her to marry him.
- FRED: Denise was questioned about the whereabouts of
her new boyfriend, Leo Cisneros.
She indicated that he was back in Jamaica.
That he had not been in the Tampa Bay area at the time
Dr. Davidson was killed.
- NARRATOR: Back at the station,
detectives research Denise's new flame.
- CRAIG: He owned a nightclub or co-owned a nightclub in--
in Jamaica, in Kingston.
He had a reputation for being involved
with the drug gangs there.
- MIKE: We were able to determine several years prior,
he had been arrested during a traffic stop in Georgia
and a warrant had now
been issued for trafficking narcotics.
- NARRATOR: Between his fiancée's custody dispute
and his own criminal record, investigators feel Leo
could have both the motive and means to kill Louis.
- He definitely was in that type of crowd where he would've known
the people who were able to pull off such an event.
- MIKE: So, it was the determination that I made that
our best effort at this point
would to be surveillance on Denise Davidson
to see if Denise Davidson would lead us to Leo Cisneros.
- NARRATOR: Coming up: The top suspect
proves to be a slippery one.
- MARK: He was there illegally and immediately fled thereafter.
- NARRATOR: And watchful eyes
soon witness an unexpected twist.
- CRAIG: After the murder,
she sent $15,000 via Western Union.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: It's been 24 hours since Dr. Louis Davidson was
found violently murdered in his St. Petersburg apartment.
Detectives have placed his soon-to-be ex-wife,
Denise Davidson, under continuous surveillance,
hoping to spot her shifty fiancé, Leo Cisneros.
- MIKE: We can't say that Denise is involved at this point,
but she is the girlfriend to Leo Cisneros and he's--
he's our first person of interest.
- NARRATOR: On January 27, Denise's surveillance team calls
detectives with unexpected news.
- MIKE: We follow her to a bank.
She goes to an ATM machine, withdraws some money.
And we now, we surveil her
to a Western Union money transfer facility.
- NARRATOR: Detectives subpoena Denise's financial records
and find suspicious activity.
- She would send Western Union money orders either
to Robert Gordon in Miami
or to a woman who lived in Miami.
She had sent some money prior to the murder,
about $7,500.
And then after the murder, she sent another $7,500.
So, all told, she had sent
$15,000 via Western Union.
- NARRATOR: Detectives first look into the name
Robert Gordon--and find a curious connection.
- REBECCA: Robert Gordon was a gentleman from Jamaica.
He was known to be an associate of Leo Cisneros,
who's Denise Davidson's boyfriend.
He did have a criminal history,
so immediately that began to tie everybody together.
- MIKE: One of the last Western Unions that was sent was by
Denise Davidson to Carol Caison in Miami, Florida.
- NARRATOR: Though Carol seems to have no obvious connection
to Leo or Denise, detectives continue to
monitor their communication.
- We looked at a lot of the phone calls that were being
made by Denise Davidson and phone calls to Denise Davidson
and noticed some numbers that kept repeating.
One of these numbers was to a bar in Jamaica called Peppers.
We were able to ascertain through a lot of folks
that Leo Cisneros was a part owner of Peppers.
- NARRATOR: Detectives reach out to Leo directly.
- MIKE: He was in Jamaica;
it was actually at Pepper's Bar in Kingston.
I'd left a phone message for him there at the bar.
He actually returned my phone call.
Leo told me that he had troubles in the past
in the United States for drug trafficking
and that he couldn't use his real name
to travel to the country.
So, he would utilize fictitious passports and that's how he was
traveling back and forth.
- NARRATOR: Not only does Leo come clean
about entering the US illegally,
but the 32-year-old also admits to being in Florida
the day of the doctor's murder.
- He felt like he would be in trouble,
because he was there illegally, and immediately fled thereafter.
He wanted to play down his role as much as possible.
He did not wanna be in the forefront in the investigation.
- NARRATOR: Though Leo claims innocence
in regard to Louis's murder, detectives suspect the contrary.
- MIKE: We make the determination that we're going
to do a wiretap on Denise Davidson's phone.
- [phone ringing]
- REBECCA: The calls were interesting because it was clear
that they were concerned that they might be being listened to.
They were saying things in layers and in code.
- MIKE: The conversations between Leo and Denise would
refer to: Have you talked to your people in Miami yet?
Have you heard from your people?
- NARRATOR: Detectives also pull Denise's phone records
from the day of Louis's murder.
- MIKE: We were able to identify
a 305 area code phone number being called.
It's a pager number.
On the morning that Dr. Davidson was killed,
from Denise Davidson's house,
this pager was called 52 times
between 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
- NARRATOR: Detectives find the number used to return the pages
equally interesting.
- The phone was bought and paid for by Denise Davidson.
- FRED: We also found numerous phone calls by Robert Gordon to
Denise Davidson's home number.
So, law enforcement started to find a link
between this Robert Gordon and Denise Davidson
that went beyond the mere providing money
through those Western Union's.
- NARRATOR: When detectives triangulate
the phone's coordinates on the day of the murder,
everything comes full circle.
- It's in the area of Dr. Davidson's apartment.
There's a series of communications that are done
with this phone and we can actually track it.
- They tracked it all the way across the bay to, uh,
a Days Inn.
- NARRATOR: One month after the murder of Dr. Davidson,
detectives head to the Days Inn.
- FRED: They had photos of Robert Gordon.
And the people who worked there specifically remember that
Robert Gordon stayed in a specific room at that hotel
with a white female on the day Dr. Davidson had been murdered.
- CRAIG: They were able to verify the identity
of the white woman
because she's the one who registered for the room.
She wrote down the name Susan Shore.
- MIKE: The front desk receptionist also identified
a second black male.
- MARK: She noticed that they were very nervous.
In fact, they left in such a hurry,
they left behind some clothing.
- NARRATOR: Without hesitation, detectives collect and examine
the forgotten belongings.
- MIKE: Inside that bag are a pair of size nine Voit sneakers
and a gray sweatshirt.
The sweatshirt has what appears to be
blood spatter on the front.
The sneakers also appear to have blood droplets on it.
- We knew that that was very similar,
if not the exact same pattern,
that we had seen previously in the little foyer area.
- REBECCA: They had an idea,
but they couldn't say definitively until they sent it
to the FBI lab that it was a match.
- NARRATOR: Investigators hope the evidence will identify
the second male at the hotel.
Awaiting results from the crime lab,
detectives head to Miami on February 28 to track down
31-year-old Robert Gordon.
- MIKE: Based on our observations, what we found,
the Western Union money, um, the eyewitness that puts him at, um,
the apartment complex the week before, we felt we had enough,
so we now--we're looking to arrest Robert Gordon in Miami.
- FRED: He was actually on a transit bus,
not leaving the area, but local transit.
We arrested him off that bus for the first-degree murder.
And we transported him back to Pinellas County for prosecution.
- NARRATOR: Detectives then head to the home of Carol Cason,
the second individual Denise had wired money to after the murder.
- They followed up on that and went to see her.
And discovered that there was another man there at the time
who, uh, gave 'em the name of Tony.
So, they said, "Well, you know, it would be helpful if we had,
"you know, say hair samples from you--
that would help us-- and maybe fingerprints."
- MIKE: At that time while they are talking to him,
his fingerprints are checked.
And it is determined that Tony Bowens is not his name,
but his name is Meryl McDonald.
- There was a warrant out for him on drug charges from
South Carolina, so they arrested him there in Miami
and--and put him in the jail.
- NARRATOR: As for Carol Cason, she admits she did obtain money
on Meryl's behalf, but strenuously denies knowing
anything about the murder.
After an alibi rules Carol out, detectives move on
to 26-year-old Susan Shore.
- CRAIG: Susan Shore was gone.
She was a cruise ship cocktail waitress
and had shipped out for Jamaica.
And when she got wind that they were looking for her,
she made sure to try and--and hide.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: On March 1, detectives receive word
from the FBI about the evidence collected from the Days Inn.
- We were able to link them to Meryl McDonald
and link them to Robert Gordon.
They located blood on the Voit sneakers.
That blood was later compared with the DNA blood of
Dr. Davidson.
And they determined it was a match.
- NARRATOR: Detectives now have enough evidence
to officially charge 47-year-old Meryl McDonald
with the murder of Louis Davidson.
But there's just one problem.
- MIKE: He had a drug trafficking warrant.
Unfortunately, the warrant had been invalidated.
So a day or two later, they released him from jail
without notifying us.
His whereabouts were still unknown.
- NARRATOR: With Susan and Meryl on the run and Leo in Jamaica,
detectives focus on Louis' bitter ex.
- We were able to identify that on January 24,
the day before the murder,
Denise Davidson used her credit card
at the Walmart behind her house in Tampa
and purchased a pair of size nine Voit sneakers
and a gray sweatshirt that was of the same brand
as the one discovered in this hotel room.
My jaw just about hits the ground because it's not very
often that you have this type of evidence.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Coming up: Denise appears to
go from suspect to victim.
- She felt like her life was in danger because of this
threatening phone call.
- REBECCA: It was sort of a raspy voice,
a message received at her house, "You'll be sorry, Denise."
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Just over a month
after the murder of Dr. Louis Davidson,
detectives suspect the crime was orchestrated
by the victim's estranged wife, Denise Davidson,
and her new man, Leo Cisneros.
In a stunning turn of events, on February 25,
Denise contacts detectives, claiming she could be next.
- MIKE: She calls me and says, "Detective Celona,
someone's threatening me."
She's basically trying to say, hey,
these people that killed her husband are after her.
- It was sort of a raspy voice,
a message received at her house, "You'll be sorry, Denise."
- She felt like her life was in danger because of this
threatening phone call.
Little did Denise Davidson know
that at the time that that phone call was made,
Denise Davidson was under surveillance.
- They actually witnessed Denise walk out of the business,
go to the pay phone, and then call her own home.
- NARRATOR: As evidence continues
to stack up against Denise,
detectives continue monitoring her calls
for another week.
- Denise Davidson and her father in Jamaica
had a conversation.
- CRAIG: She felt like the police were closing in on her.
And her father suggested that, you know,
they can't arrest you if they can't find you.
- MIKE: We let surveillance know, "Look,
just be on a little heightened alert."
And it was around 5 o'clock in the morning on March 4 that
I get the phone call from the wire room that says, "Hey,
"surveillance just notified us.
"Denise Davidson is on the move.
And it looks like she's heading towards the airport."
They follow her right to the airport,
right to the ticket counter, and stand in line behind her
as Denise purchases a one-way ticket to Kingston, Jamaica.
I told her she's under arrest for the murder of her husband
as the FDL agent puts the handcuffs on her.
- She thought she was still under the court order that had
been given her and Louis during the divorce proceedings
not to take Natalie out of the country.
So, she made arrangements to leave Natalie
and go down by herself.
- We had detectives travel to Jamaica.
Um, Detective Desaro actually went to Jamaica
and interviewed Leo Cisneros himself.
- MARK: The first time we speak to Leo,
he denied any knowledge of involvement.
One of the interesting things that he said to us was,
"What would happen if I told you that I sent somebody there
to beat him up and they just got carried away?"
- Deasaro wanted to slap cuffs on him and drag him back
that day from Jamaica.
But, um, unfortunately, the--
we just couldn't get the warrant issued to us.
- NARRATOR: Back in the States,
detectives keep plugging away at their case...
and on March 22, they finally catch a break.
- We had a warrant issued for Susan Shore.
And Susan Shore was located in Kingston, Jamaica.
Kingston Police had identified her and stopped her.
- NARRATOR: Susan Shore is immediately extradited
back to the States.
In an interview with detectives, the 26-year-old comes clean
about her role in the crime.
- She really didn't know Gordon and McDonald at all.
She had met them at, uh, the Hialeah Racetrack in Miami.
- REBECCA: She was basically asked to drive
McDonald and Gordon up to Tampa Bay.
She maintained that she did not know
the real reason why they were being asked to be
driven around in the St. Petersburg area.
- NARRATOR: Susan tells detectives she drove
Robert and Meryl to the Days Inn
on the night of January 24, 1994.
- CRAIG: She had done it in exchange for $100.
And it turns out the reason why they were doing that
and the reason for the 52 calls to the pager
were because they thought
that Louis Davidson was gonna get home
about 7 in the morning.
But he'd been held up by a meeting,
so they were kind of killing time
waiting for their victim to show up.
- NARRATOR: Susan says once Louis arrived,
Robert told her to wait in the car.
- At that point they think Gordon and McDonald
rushed him in and then beat him up and killed him.
- NARRATOR: Susan tells detectives from there,
they headed back to the Days Inn.
- CRAIG: Once they got to the Days Inn,
Gordon was--was very agitated, was waiting for somebody.
Finally, uh, Leo Cisneros showed up and Denise showed up.
The two of them talked to the two hitmen at some length.
- NARRATOR: The information from Susan helps detectives
finally secure an arrest warrant for Leo.
Now, they just have to find him.
- MIKE: We were going back to Jamaica.
We get a warrant for Leo Cisneros to arrest him,
and he had fled the country.
- NARRATOR: With Leo on the lam, detectives turn their attention
to the other accomplice yet to be accounted for:
47-year-old Meryl McDonald.
- Utilizing phone records, in October of 1994,
we found Meryl McDonald hiding out in New York,
again using an--an alias.
- We arrested him without any fight,
and we brought him back to Florida for prosecution.
- NARRATOR: Coming up: As authorities try to strengthen
their case against Denise, they uncover a slew of secrets.
- REBECCA: When she was booked,
I believe she was about four months pregnant.
- NARRATOR: And will resurfacing allegations throw a wrench
in the state's case at trial?
- SUSANNA: She was every battered woman
I ever worked with.
- FRED: Unbeknownst to her, he had hired these two hitmen
and it was all his doing.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: St. Petersburg detectives have arrested
4 individuals in connection with the brutal death
of 39-year-old Dr. Louis Davidson.
- So, now we had Denise Davidson, Robert Gordon,
Meryl McDonald, Susan Shore all in custody.
And the only person we were lacking was Leo Cisneros,
who had fled Jamaica.
- NARRATOR: With Leo on the run, authorities continue
strengthening their case against the others
and find two substantial motives.
- Denise had notified the county jail personnel that, um,
she was pregnant.
- CRAIG: It turns out that it was Leo Cisnero's child,
which sort of gave an added urgency to her wanting to move
to Jamaica to be with him.
But she couldn't go to Jamaica
unless Louis let her go with her daughter
and he was making clear that that wasn't gonna happen.
- We also found there was life insurance policy on
the life of Dr. Davidson for $400,000.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: On September 5, 1995,
the trial for Denise Davidson gets underway.
Prosecutors assert that Denise
played a very large part in her husband's demise.
- FRED: Denise Davidson had hired the men, had paid the men,
had provided the men, um, you know,
the cell phones to utilize.
- CRAIG: After the murder, Leo and Denise came to the Days Inn
and met with Robert Gordon and with Meryl McDonald
and talked to them at some length.
So, that really nailed down
that Denise was very much involved in the murder.
- NARRATOR: Prosecutors surmise that on January 25, 1994,
Robert, Meryl, and Susan waited around
until the doctor got home...
and then the two men attacked.
- The struggle really goes on from almost the moment that
Dr. Davidson opens the front door.
We never knew for sure exactly what it was they used
to bludgeon him with.
- CRAIG: He's been hog tied.
His arms and feet tied behind him with a vacuum cleaner cord
and a cashmere belt.
And, uh, he's been submerged in this tub and drowned.
- NARRATOR: The defense counters
by placing the blame entirely on Leo Cisneros.
- Denise Davidson's defense was that she had
nothing to do with this.
Unbeknownst to her, Leo Cisneros had hired these two hitmen
and it was all his doing.
- NARRATOR: To bolster their claims,
Denise takes the stand in her own defense.
- REBECCA: The Defense presented Denise's case as if she had been
a victim of domestic violence,
that she was once again the victim of a man
who would want to control her, which would be Leo Cisneros.
- SUSANNA: Denise has very flat affect,
but that's pretty classic
when somebody is abused,
controlled, powerless.
She was a stunningly beautiful young woman,
but she was every battered woman I ever worked with.
- The prosecution tore into her on cross-examination.
They definitely turned against her and said, you know,
"This woman has been lying to us right from the start."
There was no physical evidence
presented that she had been abused.
- MIKE: Probably the biggest moment was when the prosecutor
played the audio tape of that phone call
where she called her own phone,
disguised her voice, and left a message,
"Denise, you'll be sorry."
- CRAIG: At that point, she just kind of deflated.
You could just see the whole air going out of her.
- It was at that moment that she knew that we had her.
- NARRATOR: On September 16, the jury finds Denise guilty of
first-degree murder.
She is sentenced to life in prison.
- DEB: It was as it should be. She should be punished.
Dr. Davidson didn't deserve any of that.
And it just left a big hole in a lot of people's heart and soul.
- NARRATOR: Alleged hitmen Robert Gordon and Meryl McDonald
receive a more severe punishment.
- Ultimately the jury found them guilty of first-degree murder.
- REBECCA: They were sentenced to death.
And they, uh, are still on death row.
- NARRATOR: In exchange for her testimony against the others,
Susan Shore receives probation.
- We charged her with accessory after the fact
and she was deported back to England.
- NARRATOR: Leo Cisneros still faces
a first-degree murder charge, but has yet to be captured.
- CRAIG: To the day, they still don't know exactly where
he is or where he went.
They don't even know if he's still alive.
- ♪
- ROBERTA: Denise continues to maintain her innocence.
She has never wavered on that.
Uh, and she now believes that Leo was the one and only
responsible for this and felt that he intentionally let her
take the rap for him.
- NARRATOR: For those who knew Dr. Louis Davidson,
his memory will live on, despite the tragedy of his death.
- His family and those closest to him
had their heart and soul ripped out.
And the world is certainly worse off for not having him in it.
- ♪
♪♪