♪ Today's a new day... LIAM: Socks, soap,
toothpaste, toothbrush, hairbrush goes in every box.
Socks, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush,
hairbrush. Looking good, everyone.
Here we go. Goods for Good.
Now's the time to give. Let's go.
Let's get it done. Three days left, folks.
We've got a thousand boxes
to pack.
All right, you've got this, guys.
Next truck will be here in 40 minutes.
♪ I'll be honest with you...♪
Hey, Rita, let's not be slipping
any of those socks into our pockets now.
Pastor Liam,
what in the world am I gonna do
with a bunch of men's socks?
Now, that's between you and the Lord.
Not for me to judge.[Rita laughs]
Hey, good to see you, Teddy. Let's get
these boxes loaded. We're almost at the finish line.
Pastor Liam, this is my sister Erica
I was telling you about and her son Zach.
They're visiting from Ann Arbor
and insisted on coming out to help.
I've seen every one of your sermons on YouTube,
but Sunday will be our first
live service.Liam,
the people from Morning in the Cityare here.
LIAM: Enjoy your visit.
Hey, you're gonna need this.
No point in doing an interview about the new book
without... [chuckles]The book.
Our ninth book.
[phone beeps and buzzes]False alarm. They need
15 more minutes. I'm sorry.
It's okay. Take a breath, Richard.
Everything's good.
We don't want you having another heart attack.
Where's, uh, where's Olivia?
I think I heard she's all made up
and just waiting in the sanctuary by herself.
[bell tolling]
[door opens]
[footsteps approaching]
LIAM: Hey, Good.
How'd it go?
[sighs] About as awful as you would expect.
Mm.
They told him the cancer has spread to his bones.
It's only a matter of time now.[door opens]
RICHARD: Sorry to interrupt.
The Morning in the City people are ready.
Can you give us a minute, Richard?
If you feel like you don't want to do this,
we could always reschedule. It's no big deal.
No, it's okay. They're already here.
Let's go sell some books.
♪ Today's a new day
♪ But there is no sunshine
♪ Nothing but clouds, and it's dark in my heart ♪
♪ And it feels like a cold night ♪
♪ Today's a new day
♪ Uh♪♪ But where are my blue skies?
♪ Where is the love and the joy that you promised me? ♪
♪ Tell me it's all right ♪ I'll be honest with you♪
♪ I almost gave up
♪ But a power that I can't explain. ♪
[door opens]
[indistinct announcement over P.A.]
[door closes]
Thank you for coming.
Thank you for agreeing to meet with me.
Well, it's nice to meet you, Pastor Wright.
This is Benjamin Colón.
He's the only actual lawyer among us.
My name's Dr. Jason Bull.
How can we be of help to you?
You can bring my wife back to life. [chuckles]
Failing that, you can help me convince the police
and everyone else
that I had nothing to do with this.
So I can get out of here.
So I can go back to my ministry.
So I can give my wife Olivia
a proper funeral.
We've been together since high school.
I called her Good.
That was my-my nickname for her,
because she just was.
Good. She was the best person I knew. The very best.
I don't understand why anyone would want to do this to her,
and I don't understand why anyone would think
it might be me.
Pastor Wright, the police found drops of blood
on your shoelaces-- Olivia's blood.
Yeah, but I explained that to the police.
She had a nosebleed.
She gets them sometimes when it's dry out.
I'm guessing a, a drop must have fallen on my shoe.
Well, the police also tell us
that when they came by your house yesterday
to inform you that your wife had been murdered,
you insisted you were at your home when the murder occurred.
But the DVR connected to your home security cameras
very plainly show you arriving at your house
at 2:35 in the morning.
Well past the time the police believe
Olivia's throat was slit.
BULL: Liam...
Pastor Wright, if we are going to represent you,
you have to tell us the truth about everything,
starting with where you really were.
Whatever I tell you stays with you, right?
I mean... I'll tell you everything,
but we can have a discussion about it
before you decide to do anything with it, right?
Well, of course.
Everything you say to us is protected
under attorney/client privilege.
When my wife--
when my Olivia was being attacked,
I was...
I was with someone else.
A lover?
Okay.
But at least now we have an alibi.
Your lover, this woman you were with,
we're gonna need her to agree to testify on your behalf.
It wasn't a woman.
And did your wife-- did she know?
Yes, uh, Olivia knew all about it.
She'd known about it for years. Look, I...
I know how this sounds.
But neither one of us wanted to abandon
what we were doing at Riverstone.
We-we couldn't just quit what God helped us build.
Liam,
you have to know this is not helping you with a jury.
You are handing them a motive for murder
far stronger than divorce.
You have a secret,
and you wanted to keep it hidden.
Well, the prosecution is going to imply that Olivia was
threatening to share your secret with the world,
so you silenced her.
Conversely, we at least have a witness
who can corroborate where Pastor Liam was
when Olivia was killed.
No. No, I-I wouldn't want him to testify.
I don't want him dragged into this.
W-We need to find another way.
Liam...Gentlemen, please,
I've-I've... I've kept this to myself all these years
because I knew it would tear my church apart.
Sure, a small minority would understand,
but the rest...
Please. Please.
I-I've already lost my Olivia.
I can't lose Riverstone, too.
BULL: Liam, I understand this is very difficult,
but the reality is, you are on trial for your life.
And in my experience... [exhales sharply]
even though you don't want this to come out, it will.
Now, there have been other men, I assume.
Texts, e-mails, phone calls.
I promise you, as sure as we are sitting here,
someone's gonna sell their story.
Dr. Bull is right.
The best thing we can do is control the narrative.
Control how this is shared with the world.
BULL: I'm telling you,
I don't know how to do this if we hold this back.
This is your alibi, Liam.
Now, if you want to keep
your sexuality a secret...
if you want to cross your fingers that the prosecution
is not gonna discover this, then...
I think you need to find another legal team.
But if you want to trust us,
I think we can help you.
It's your choice.
♪
As a young man, I spent years praying to God,
pleading with him or her to change me... fix me.
Olivia would pray with me.
I can't pretend to know God's thinking,
but I can tell you the Lord never did answer
those particular prayers.
I can only assume he or she didn't think
I was actually broken.
Nice. Clever way to get our narrative out there
before we step foot in court.
Well, let's just hope our potential jurors are watching.
We were committed to our partnership,
to our mission to the church.
No one's claiming it was a traditional marriage.
But I truly loved her with all my heart.
Pastor Wright,
did you kill your wife?
As God is my witness, I did not.
BENNY: How are we ever gonna convince a jury
that Liam's telling the truth
when his entire life has been a lie?
[elevator bell chimes]
And it doesn't help that they've made millions
off his books either,
which are obviously complete fiction.
I share your concern, but let's not forget
all the good that's been done.
That church of theirs has opened up food pantries
for the poor and the homeless, clinics, shelters.
Liam and Olivia have never taken a salary, not a single penny.
Every dollar that was donated to the church
stayed with the church.
The only money they made came from their books.
Which were about a marriage that didn't exist.
So, do you want to call Liam and tell him
that we made a mistake, we don't want to represent him?
No, I don't want to do that.
I just think that lying, particularly on the part
of a spiritual leader, is going to be a tough thing
for a jury to overlook.
I agree. That's why we need jurors
who understand that to err is human.
And sometimes it's not possible to practice what you preach.
DETECTIVE DANIELS: The throat had been slit.
One clean cut, straight across.
A.D.A. SUTHERLAND: Anything else you can tell us about that night?
Yeah. She fought back.
Really? How can you be so sure?
Well, you can't slit someone's throat
in a clean cut like that unless you're certain
you have both their arms under your control.
Now, we believe the killer struggled with Olivia
until he was able to hold down both her arms
at the wrist with his left hand
and then he was able to make the cut with his right.
Now, you see evidence of this struggle
in the smashed glass on the victim's wristwatch.
We suspect
that as he smashed her wrist to the floor,
the watch crystal shattered.
Now, this is also how we were able
to establish a time of death.
10:43 p.m.
Now, Detective Daniels, as the lead investigator
on this case, it was your job to inform
Olivia Wright's husband-- the defendant--
of her death the morning her body was discovered.
Is that correct?
That's correct.And did you notice
at that time anything unusual about his appearance?
When I made the initial contact, no.
I went to his home, he was dressed in pajamas
and a robe and slippers.
But, uh, when I asked him to accompany me
to identify the body and he got dressed,
I noticed some dark spots on his shoes.
Specifically on the laces of his right shoe.
Uh, I asked if these were the same shoes he was wearing
the day before and he freely admitted that they were.
And then what happened?
Well, once we took the defendant into custody,
we collected the shoe and sent it to the lab for testing.
And what did they find?
That the spots were in fact blood
and that the blood matched that of the victim Olivia Wright.
SUTHERLAND: And did the defendant offer any explanation
for the presence
of his wife's blood on his shoes?
He claimed the victim had had a nosebleed the morning before.
SUTHERLAND: And did he indicate whether or not
there were any other witnesses to this alleged nosebleed?
DANIELS: No. He claimed it happened in the residence,
that just the two of them were there.
SUTHERLAND: I have no further questions at this time, Your Honor.
Now, Detective Daniels, when you found Mrs. Wright,
it was in the hall of the church, was it not?
Yes.
A-And the hall was in the midst of being used
as a place to assemble hundreds of gift boxes
filled with personal items for the less fortunate.
Uh, things like new socks, mm, bathroom products.
That sort of thing.
Yes. Mrs. Wright's body was actually found under one
of the tables being used to put those boxes together.
I see.
And were you able to determine
if any of the boxes were missing?
Excuse me?Well, the,
uh... the-the boxes.
The gift boxes.
Certainly it crossed your mind
that this might have been an attempted robbery.
You wouldn't just leap to the idea
that my client did this without exploring
every other possibility, now, would you?
The witness will answer the question.
That's all right, Your Honor.
I'll ask another.
Detective, how would you describe
the neighborhood where Riverstone is located?
How do you mean?
Well, would you regard it as a safe neighborhood,
a somewhat unsafe neighborhood, a dangerous neighborhood?
Somewhere between unsafe and dangerous, I suppose.
Hmm. Detective, were you aware that statistically,
the neighborhood where Riverstone is located
sits at the bottom ten percent of New York City neighborhoods
for crime and safety?
Objection. Relevance?
Seems completely relevant to me.
Overruled.
Witness will answer the question.
Yes. I'm aware of that.
And yet you never investigated this as an attempted robbery?
Once I noticed the blood on the shoes, I-I knew that...
Isn't it possible
that this murder was committed by a random assailant?
And not somebody that Mrs. Wright even knew?
O-Objection. Calls for speculation.
Counselor's badgering the witness.
Uh, that's all right, Your Honor.
I withdraw the question.
Nothing further.
We're close to lunch. Let's take a one-hour recess.
RICHARD: Dr. Bull.
You look exactly like your picture on the Internet.
Richard Newhouse.
I'm the church's operations manager.
Close friend of Liam's.
Ah, Mr. Newhouse.
This is Pastor Liam's attorney
Benjamin Colón.Nice to meet you.
Didn't realize they don't let the public inside anymore.
COVID thing, I guess.
So, how's it going in there?
Well, we're not really at liberty to discuss it
without Liam's permission, but frankly,
we're still very early on in the trial.
Okay. I understand.
Just tell him I've been praying for him--
a lot of us have--
and that God's gonna get him through this.
I'll definitely pass it on.
You know, it's actually great to see some people
from his church here.
Any chance you'd consider
being a character witness for Pastor Wright?
Are you kidding? I owe the man my life.
Literally. He and Olivia paid for my pacemaker.
They've been with me through everything.
Just tell me when.
Well, we appreciate it.
[siren wailing in distance]
Incoming.
Gentlemen, so glad I caught you. Updated witness list.
Enjoy. Wait a minute.
You're calling a new witness right after lunch?
How are we supposed to prepare?
Sorry. She just came forward. I don't know what to tell you.
So, who's Britney Lang?
The woman Olivia Wright was leaving your client for.
Have a good lunch.
It would have been really helpful to know
Olivia was seeing someone, Liam.
I know.
I'm sorry. It's just...
I felt it wasn't my story to tell.
Olivia kept it private while she was alive.
I didn't think it was my place to...
BENNY: We respect
your integrity, Liam.
We really do.
But how do we explain this? How do you explain this?
You have to understand,
Olivia and I, we-we grew up together in a tiny town
outside of Albany.
Everything revolved around the church.
My-my father was pastor,
the values were very traditional.
Being gay, it just didn't exist.
And then, one night, when I was 16,
I found Olivia, my best friend,
sitting in a... used car her dad bought her for her birthday,
crying her eyes out in the church parking lot.
She told me she didn't understand why,
but boys just left her cold.
Girls on the other hand,
just as she was falling asleep,
that's what she'd be thinking about.
I will never forget that moment.
'Cause all I felt was relief.
I wasn't alone.
My father died a few years later.
I became pastor.
I was good at it.
And Olivia had
such an amazing gift for connecting with people.
I-- No one ever actually said it,
but there was an expectation in our church
that the pastor should be married,
and so, that's what Olivia and I did.
Okay, but that was 20 years ago.
You've had time to reconsider.
People do get divorced.
I wasn't lying when I said we spent years praying.
We did. For each other.
And-and when we finally accepted who we were, it just...
...it felt too late.
I mean, the church had gotten so big.
People relied on us, they looked up to us.
We-we thought if we cou-- if we could just sacrifice
a little bit of our own happiness for Riverstone,
then maybe we could...
We understand.
You should make your way back to the courtroom.
[gavel bangs]SUTHERLAND: Ms. Lang.
You contacted my office,
suggested you might be able to shed some light
as to why Pastor Wright would have committed this crime.
Is that correct?
Y-- That's correct.
[whispers]: Any idea where this is going?
[whispers]: None.
SUTHERLAND: Now, before we get into all of that, could you tell the court
the nature of your relationship with the victim?
We were romantically involved.
And just to be clear, uh, were you and Olivia Wright,
wife of Pastor Liam Wright, physically involved?
We were involved in every way
one person can be involved with another.
We loved each other.
SUTHERLAND: And to the best of your knowledge,
was Pastor Wright aware of this?
Oh, he was absolutely aware of it.
The three of us spent a good deal of time together.
Not physically.
But Pastor Wright and Olivia had a 20-year-old connection.
So if you were important to Olivia,
you were important to Pastor Wright.
It was just understood.
SUTHERLAND: Which brings us
to you reaching out to my office.
You believe Pastor Wright killed Olivia, don't you?
Objection! Calls for speculation.
Objection sustained.
Let's be sure and color within the lines, Counselor.
My apologies, Your Honor.
[clears throat]
Ms. Lang, were you surprised when you heard
that Olivia had been killed?
I was startled, but not surprised.
And I wasn't surprised when I heard that Liam, was--
uh, Pastor Wright, had been taken into custody.
And why is that?
Because I knew that Olivia was planning to tell Liam
that she was going to leave him.
That she wanted to spend her life with me.
That she was filing for divorce.
SUTHERLAND: You attend Riverstone.
You're a congregant. That was true before
you even became involved with Mrs. Wright, correct?
Yes.And did you ever hear
the Wrights speak about their marriage?
Of course.
Pastor Wright mentioned it in his sermons,
Olivia talked about it on her blog, uh, at church events.
How it's important to have someone you're accountable to.
The power of partnership.
They talked about it all the time.
Hmm. So as a foundational piece of their ministry,
it would make sense that if their marriage failed--
for instance, if they got a divorce--
then the church would fail as well?
BENNY: Objection!
Your Honor, the prosecutor, again,
is asking the witness to speculate.
Sustained. Don't test me, Counselor.
Apologies, Your Honor. I have no further questions.
Nice to meet you, Ms. Lang.
So...
you believe Olivia Wright was contemplating
leaving her husband Liam to start a new life with you.
Yes.
I see. And you believe this because...?
We talked about it. All the time.
Okay. When you say you talked about it,
was it you who talked about starting a new life
or was it Mrs. Wright?
I see where you're going with this...
and I resent the inference.
Uh... [clears throat]
I'm sorry. Was that your answer?
The witness needs to answer the question.
I'm sorry. Can you ask again?
Yes. Yes. Uh, when you talked about starting a new life...
It was both of us. We were talking to each other.
Hmm. And how long ago would you say
these conversations started?
How many months would you say this had been
the topic of conversation?
Five or six.
Five or six. All right.
And, uh, in all this time,
to the best of your knowledge,
did Mrs. Wright ever speak to a divorce attorney?
Mm. Well, I don't actually know.
Really?
Hmm.
Don't you think, if that had happened,
she would have mentioned it to you?
T-That's all right.
Uh, let me ask another question.
In all that time, did Mrs. Wright
purchase you an engagement ring?
Did you purchase her one?
No.
What if I told you this is the first time
her husband's hearing about this?Objection!
Counsel is testifying. No foundation.
BENNY: I withdraw the question, Your Honor.
You know, sometimes
when people are in love,
they say things they think the other person wants to hear.
They say things they think will make the other person happy.
They seem to agree with things
they don't really agree with.
You know what I'm talking about, don't you?
The witness will answer.
I suppose I do.
Thank you.
Nothing further, Your Honor.
BULL: Well, here's a first.
I have no idea what that jury is thinking.
I know what just happened on that stand
made a difference,
but I'll be damned if I can see it or feel it.
MARISSA: I don't have mirror juror data to offer,
but I can give you an opinion just from listening.
I think they just don't care.
I think they find the whole thing so sordid,
the details no longer matter to them.
Everyone involved is a liar of sorts.
The victim. The accused.
I think the jury's just numb.
[sighs]
Is the defense prepared to call its first witness?
Yes, Your Honor.
The defense would like to call Cole Adkins
to the stand.
Good morning, Mr. Adkins.
I appreciate you being here.
So, how long have you known the accused?
17 months.
BENNY: And it is your testimony that on the night
of Mrs. Wright's murder, Pastor Wright
was with you.
Yes, sir.
Liam arrived at my apartment at about 7:00 p.m.
And when did he leave?
Somewhere between 2:30 and 3:00 a.m.
the following morning.
BENNY: And as it's been established by the prosecution, we know now
that Liam's wife Olivia was attacked
at approximately 10:43.
So, just to be clear,
you are saying, under oath,
that during the time of Olivia's murder,
Pastor Wright was with you,
in your apartment?
And at no point were you apart?
That's correct.
This is our alibi witness. Do they care?
MARISSA: I told you before, Bull,
I know they're hearing it, I just don't think
they're allowing it to change their minds.
BENNY: Let me ask you a personal question,
Mr. Adkins.
Prior to the death of Liam's wife Olivia,
prior to the media reporting
that you would be a witness in his defense,
did your parents know that you and he were involved?
Objection. Relevance.
Your Honor,
I think it's important for the jury to understand
that this witness coming forward
comes at some personal and emotional cost to him.
And I believe, in order to give this witness's testimony
its proper due,
it's important for the jury to understand
the sacrifices he is making to offer it.
Objection overruled.
The witness may answer the question.
No. My parents did not know
I was involved with Pastor Wright.
Did they know you were involved with other men?
No. They did not.
How about the people you work with?
The folks you do business with?
You are a copy editor at a major advertising agency?
Yeah, that's correct. And no.
No one at work knew anything about my private life
beyond the fact that I was single.
Your neighbors?No.
And I have to imagine that this is not the way
you would have chosen for this information to get out.
Absolutely not.
BENNY: Thank you.
No further questions, Your Honor.
SUTHERLAND: Mr. Adkins.
Is the defendant paying for your testimony today?
[laughs softly]
No, of course not.
Okay, but isn't it true that while he might not
be paying you directly for your testimony,
if he went to prison,
your lifestyle would certainly be impacted?
Uh, no, not really.
We don't go anywhere.
COVID.
Besides, Pastor Wright is a public figure.
Mm. That watch you're wearing.
It's very expensive, isn't it?
Yeah, I believe so.
You bought that on your own?
No. Uh, it was a gift from Liam for Christmas.
And I love it.
But it's not something
that I asked for, it's not something that I needed.
I make my own money.
I'm sure you do.
I have here certified copies
of your past year's checking account statements.
Last December you made a rather large deposit: $5,000.
Do you mind telling the court where that money came from?
Objection. Your Honor, relevance.
Mr. Cole is not on trial here.
SUTHERLAND: Defense counsel offered personal information about
the witness's life in the hopes of persuading the jury
that his claims about the defendant's whereabouts
on the night of the murder would be given greater weight.
All I'm doing is trying to fill out that picture,
trying to give the jury all the facts
as they weigh this testimony.
Objection overruled.
The witness will answer the question.
The $5,000 was from Pastor Wright.
A loan. I wanted to move.
I found an apartment that I loved
and he was just trying to help.
I didn't have the money for the security deposit, so...
[exhales] Uh...
I've repaid most of it.
SUTHERLAND: And what about this $3,000
two months later?
Was that from the defendant as well?
[Cole laughs softly]
He encouraged me to try to get an MBA,
and it was the tuition for an online program.
And always in cash.
No checks, no electronic transfers.
Why do you think that is, Mr. Adkins?
Well, he's a private person.
He values his privacy, obviously.
And obviously, he didn't want anyone knowing about me.
About us.
Uh, I would assume he didn't want to leave a trail.
SUTHERLAND: I suspect you're right.
Any idea where all this money came from?
I already told you. Liam.
N-No, no.
I-I mean, his personal checking account?
His personal savings account?
Uh, I have no idea.
Right.
Hard to know when it's all cash.
No checks, no transfers, just cash.
Okay.
Makes sense though, right?
If you didn't want anybody to be able to follow
a money trail, and you had access
to Sunday morning collection plates full of cash,
isn't that where you'd get the money for your secret lover?
Objection, Your Honor.
The prosecutor is offering speculation as fact
and then questioning the witness
as if these insinuations deserve answers.
SUTHERLAND: I'll withdraw the question, Your Honor.
I have nothing further.
BULL: I've been doing this a long time, Pastor Wright,
and that jury is just not with us.
They just can't seem to get past...
LIAM: The deceit.
They just can't seem to get past the deceit.
All the lies.
I'm sorry.
BENNY: We'd put you on the stand
if we thought it would make a difference.
But we can't imagine what you'd say
that hasn't already been said.
I understand.
Tomorrow we will rest our case,
and we will make as passionate a closing argument as we can
and then...And then the jury
and God will have their say.
And whatever it is, it will be just.
Not a day went by when I didn't think about the fact
that I wasn't fooling God.
That as well-intentioned as it might have seemed,
my path was cowardly.
My lack of honesty
made a mockery of those I was trying to help.
[knocking]MAN [distant]: Prison van is here.
LIAM: I'll be right out.
Gentlemen,
I'm grateful for all you've attempted on my behalf.
See you in the morning.
[phone ringing]
Marissa, what's up?
Of course. I can definitely head back to the office.
Let me check with Benny.
After the A.D.A. cross-examined Cole,
Taylor went through the church's financial records again.
TAYLOR: And at least as far as we can tell,
Liam wasn't stealing,
but it looks like someone else might have been.
[exhales] So, Taylor found these on Olivia's computer.
They're the weekly collection plate totals
for the entire year.
Wow.
Looks like Riverstone was quite the enterprise,
averaging about $40,000 a week.
Give or take. Every week hovers around there.
Every week but two.
On these two Sundays, there was a big spike.
They actually took in almost $50,000.
Well, that doesn't sound like someone was skimming,
it sounds like a big donor dropped in.
That's exactly what we thought.
But then I took a closer look at what Olivia wrote
in the notes column for those two entries.
"R.N. Snowstorm and R.N. Baptism."
The first time I went through it, I thought Olivia
was just trying to figure out who the big donor was.
But then I realized there was no snowstorm in New York
the first week and no baptism at the church on the other.
So who's R.N.?
MARISSA: We think it's Richard Newhouse.
BENNY: Oh, he's the church's
operations manager.
We met him at the courthouse.
We had him lined up as one of Liam's character witnesses.
He's also someone that Liam personally mentored
for the last six years.
Apparently, Richard was struggling with alcohol
and having difficultly holding down a job,
that is, until Liam gave him one.
Another interesting fact,
as operations manager, one of his duties
was to count and deposit the weekly collection.
MARISSA: We think he was consistently
skimming money and that's why in the weeks he wasn't there,
like when he went to his nephew's baptism in Florida
and when he got caught in a snowstorm in Chicago,
the collections were over 25% higher.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to locate the money
in any of his accounts yet.
Here's the thing, though: Olivia created this spreadsheet
at 6:20 p.m. on the night of her murder.
It's one of the last things she did before she was killed.
Aha.
So the theory is that Olivia discovered what he was up to,
she went searching for him, found him in the church corridor
and confronted him.And in a moment of panic,
Richard killed her to keep it all silent.
Something like that.
MARISSA: The thing we can't figure out is,
why wouldn't Olivia have told Liam about it?
If they were as close as Liam says,
this seems like something you'd share.
Redemption.
Olivia and Liam understood the power of a second chance.
Olivia wanted to give Richard a second chance,
an opportunity to come clean with Liam before she told him.
And instead he kills her.
The wife of the man that bought him a pacemaker.
Please tell me Richard does not have an alibi.
He claims he was in his office working late,
catching up on paperwork.
You're not saying anything.
Well, we don't know.
We don't know that Olivia confronted Richard,
we don't know that he killed her.
We don't know that Richard was embezzling any money.
And this jury is so clearly not with us...
[exhales]
...I don't see how we're gonna convince any of them
that Liam's innocent
unless we can tie Richard to the crime scene.
I may have an idea.
What kind of idea?
You ever read "The Tell-Tale Heart"?
BENNY: Now, Mr. Newhouse, could you please
tell the court your relationship to the accused?
We work together. We're friends.
I guess I'm also his employee.
I'm operations manager
at the Riverstone Church.Hmm.
And as operations manager, isn't it one of your duties to, uh,
collect, count and deposit the weekly offerings?
The, uh, collection plates that are passed around
during church services?
Yes, it is.
Very good, very good.
Let me ask you another question.
Do you have any reason to believe that Pastor Wright
was, uh, somehow stealing money from these offerings?
No, I do not. Not at all.
If you knew Pastor Wright, you would know
what an absurd assumption that is.
Uh, objection. Calls for speculation.
I withdraw the question, Your Honor.
The jury will ignore the question
and the witness's response.
Next question.
Now, Mr. Newhouse, are you aware
that the late Olivia Wright suspected that someone
was stealing from the church, embezzling money
from the church, that she felt strongly
that there were inconsistencies in the tabulation
and recordings of the weekly collections?
No. She certainly never discussed
anything like that with me.Hmm.
Mr. Newhouse, what was your salary at Riverstone?
Objection. Mr. Newhouse's salary
is in no way relevant to the case at hand.
Your Honor, I promise the relevance will become
very clear very soon.
Get to it quick, Mr. Colón.
Overruled.
BENNY: Again, Mr. Newhouse,
what is your annual salary?
This past year, approximately $75,000 dollars.
Hmm. $75,000.
Now, in New York City,
$75,000 doesn't go that far, does it?
It's a church. Ah.
I don't preach, but I do think of the work
as something of a calling.
Uh, you don't get into it to get rich.
My wife and I make do.
Hmm. So we hear.
What I meant is, we've been speaking
with some of your friends
and fellow congregants at Riverstone,
and apparently, even though
your wife is a stay-at-home mother,
you've been able to afford a mortgage,
private school tuition for both of your children,
and not one, but two overseas vacations
this year, isn't that right?
We budget.
Uh, and... I-I'm not proud to admit this,
but on occasion, my wife's parents help out.
BULL: Jury's leaning forward.
I can hear the sounds of minds changing.
BENNY: On the night of Olivia Wright's murder,
the night her throat was cut in the church hall,
where were you?
I was two floors away.
I was in my office.
It was the end of the month. I had a lot of data entry due.
Uh, deposit slip reconciliation.
Uh, things like that.
Things like that.
Got it.
Your Honor, we'd like to offer into evidence...
...Mr. Newhouse's medical records.
Specifically, the data transmission
from his pacemaker to his cardiologist.
Mr. Newhouse,
are you aware that your pacemaker
not only records your heart rate,
but matches your heart rate to a specific time?
I wasn't aware. No.
The miracles of modern medicine.
Now, did you know
your resting heart rate is 77 beats per minute?
Ah. That's a little on the high side.
Now, I mention that because...
at 10:32 p.m. on the night of Olivia Wright's murder,
your heart rate elevated to 108 bpm for about seven minutes.
Now, that's quite high for someone doing data entry.
Actually, probably more consistent
with someone being confronted for possibly embezzling funds.
Is that what happened, Mr. Newhouse?
Did Olivia find you in the church hall
and ask you to make sense of all the shortfalls
that occurred week after week
except when you were out of town?
I don't know what you're talking about.
Like I said, I was in my office.
As for my heart rate,
I care deeply about my work.
I-I get excited when I realize
there are problems I can't solve.
Whatever you say, sir.
But then we see an even bigger jump in your heart rate
to 121 bpm for the next three minutes.
The same heart rate one would expect
if someone was running to the church kitchen.
To find a knife, perhaps.
I was in my office.
Heard you the first time, Mr. Newhouse.
But then, we see an even bigger jump
to 141 bpm at 10:43.
Right around the time Olivia Wright's watch
indicates she was having her throat cut.
I have no further questions, Your Honor.
Although I'm reasonably sure the police will.
I just don't understand.
He was a friend.
I brought him into the church.
If she had told me, maybe I could have stopped it.
Stopped all of it.
Well, she wanted to give him a chance.
A chance to tell you, a chance to make it right.
Unfortunately, those were not things he was interested in.
So what now?
Will you go back to Riverstone?
I don't know if Riverstone can survive this.
But if it doesn't, maybe it's just God's way
of telling me that it's time to move on.
Who knows? Maybe I'll start my own church.
One where I can be myself, my true self.
The worst part is,
Olivia would have been the perfect partner
to start it with.
Thank you, gentlemen.
Pastor Wright.
BENNY: Let us know where you land.
[exhales]
So, what are you thinking?
I don't know.
Just hoping he's wrong.
That his church does take him back.
That they'll realize that both Liams
are the real Pastor Wright.
That he truly did love his wife.
That he truly did love his church.
He just wasn't so crazy about himself.
Captioning sponsored by CBS
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org