1 00:00:04,137 --> 00:00:04,170 -A                               2 00:00:04,170 --> 00:00:04,204 -A n                             3 00:00:04,204 --> 00:00:04,237 -A nav                           4 00:00:04,237 --> 00:00:04,270 -A naval                         5 00:00:04,270 --> 00:00:04,304 -A naval o                       6 00:00:04,304 --> 00:00:04,337 -A naval off                     7 00:00:04,337 --> 00:00:04,371 -A naval offic                   8 00:00:04,371 --> 00:00:04,404 -A naval officer                 9 00:00:04,404 --> 00:00:04,437 -A naval officer b               10 00:00:04,437 --> 00:00:04,471 -A naval officer bat             11 00:00:04,471 --> 00:00:04,504 -A naval officer battl           12 00:00:04,504 --> 00:00:04,604 -A naval officer battles         13 00:00:04,604 --> 00:00:04,637 -A naval officer battles         a                                14 00:00:04,637 --> 00:00:04,671 -A naval officer battles         a my                             15 00:00:04,671 --> 00:00:04,704 -A naval officer battles         a myst                           16 00:00:04,704 --> 00:00:04,738 -A naval officer battles         a myster                         17 00:00:04,738 --> 00:00:04,771 -A naval officer battles         a mysterio                       18 00:00:04,771 --> 00:00:04,804 -A naval officer battles         a mysterious                     19 00:00:04,804 --> 00:00:04,838 -A naval officer battles         a mysterious i                   20 00:00:04,838 --> 00:00:04,871 -A naval officer battles         a mysterious ill                 21 00:00:04,871 --> 00:00:04,904 -A naval officer battles         a mysterious illne               22 00:00:04,904 --> 00:00:04,938 -A naval officer battles         a mysterious illness             23 00:00:04,938 --> 00:00:04,971 -A naval officer battles         a mysterious illness b           24 00:00:04,971 --> 00:00:05,005 -A naval officer battles         a mysterious illness bel         25 00:00:05,005 --> 00:00:05,038 -A naval officer battles         a mysterious illness below       26 00:00:05,038 --> 00:00:05,071 -A naval officer battles         a mysterious illness below d     27 00:00:05,071 --> 00:00:05,105 -A naval officer battles         a mysterious illness below dec   28 00:00:05,105 --> 00:00:06,806 -A naval officer battles         a mysterious illness below deck  29 00:00:06,873 --> 00:00:08,942   on the open seas...            30 00:00:09,009 --> 00:00:11,611    -He was a healthy,             reasonably young guy.           31 00:00:11,678 --> 00:00:12,979    It was a puzzler.             32 00:00:13,046 --> 00:00:14,748 -...but loses the fight.         33 00:00:14,814 --> 00:00:18,685    -They still hadn't            determined yet what killed Lee.  34 00:00:18,752 --> 00:00:20,720 -But an autopsy                   provides investigators          35 00:00:20,787 --> 00:00:23,323  with a chilling answer           for his death.                  36 00:00:23,390 --> 00:00:26,192  -We found out                    that he had an elevated amount  37 00:00:26,259 --> 00:00:28,628 of arsenic in his blood.         38 00:00:28,695 --> 00:00:32,332   You say to yourself,           "Holy cow, how did that happen?" 39 00:00:32,399 --> 00:00:34,734   -It could have been            an accidental poisoning.         40 00:00:34,801 --> 00:00:36,336    Was it a suicide?             41 00:00:36,403 --> 00:00:40,206  -Somebody had painted graffiti    on the ship.                   42 00:00:40,273 --> 00:00:44,377    Maybe somebody on the ship    was trying to kill him.          43 00:00:44,444 --> 00:00:47,080    -I said, "Oh, man,            I hope they find out who did it, 44 00:00:47,147 --> 00:00:49,315  and I hope they pay."           45 00:00:49,382 --> 00:00:51,551 -All roads lead to dead ends...  46 00:00:51,618 --> 00:00:55,021 -If your primary suspect          passes the polygraph,           47 00:00:55,088 --> 00:00:57,791  that certainly creates            a roadblock                    48 00:00:57,857 --> 00:01:00,093   and the case becomes             a cold case.                   49 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:03,963   -...until investigators work    towards a shocking admission.   50 00:01:04,030 --> 00:01:06,599  -It's just one                  of the most bizarre confessions  51 00:01:06,666 --> 00:01:09,936   I've had in my entire career   as a prosecutor.                 52 00:01:10,003 --> 00:01:16,709    ♪♪                            53 00:01:16,776 --> 00:01:23,516    ♪♪                            54 00:01:23,583 --> 00:01:30,090    ♪♪                            55 00:01:30,156 --> 00:01:33,093    -In the Mediterranean Sea     off the coast of Spain,          56 00:01:33,159 --> 00:01:36,429    the USS Forrestal cruises     the open waters.                 57 00:01:36,496 --> 00:01:39,032   The aircraft carrier is one      of the crown jewels            58 00:01:39,099 --> 00:01:41,367 of the U.S. naval fleet.         59 00:01:41,434 --> 00:01:45,872 -The ship itself                  would house about 5,000 people  60 00:01:45,939 --> 00:01:49,909  and had the ability to provide   services that people require.   61 00:01:49,976 --> 00:01:51,611   Medical services --            62 00:01:51,678 --> 00:01:54,147 There was a hospital and doctors    facility on board,            63 00:01:54,214 --> 00:01:55,949    a surgeon on board            64 00:01:56,015 --> 00:01:59,052 because they had to be prepared  to treat battle injuries in case 65 00:01:59,119 --> 00:02:01,354 they were called                    upon to go to war.            66 00:02:01,421 --> 00:02:03,056   -But below the deck,           67 00:02:03,123 --> 00:02:05,625 doctors are not treating           a sailor injured in battle.    68 00:02:05,692 --> 00:02:08,995 They are tending to 37-year-old  Lieutenant Lee Hartley,          69 00:02:09,062 --> 00:02:11,631 who is battling                   a mysterious illness.           70 00:02:11,698 --> 00:02:16,903    -His job on the Forrestal     was as the disciplinary officer. 71 00:02:16,970 --> 00:02:20,974 -Lee Hartley was                  very well respected by friends  72 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:25,445    and by the people             he actually supervised.          73 00:02:25,512 --> 00:02:27,881    -I got to know Lee              fairly well,                   74 00:02:27,947 --> 00:02:30,216    and I knew                     that he was recently married.   75 00:02:30,283 --> 00:02:32,452   I knew that he was divorced.   76 00:02:32,519 --> 00:02:34,420  I knew he had a child.          77 00:02:34,487 --> 00:02:36,055   He and I would talk            78 00:02:36,122 --> 00:02:38,591  whenever I was in the            staff judge advocate's office.  79 00:02:38,658 --> 00:02:40,393  Every once in a while,          he'd drop down.                  80 00:02:40,460 --> 00:02:42,462   We would eat dinner            together in the officer's mess.  81 00:02:42,529 --> 00:02:45,798 Just a good guy.                 82 00:02:45,865 --> 00:02:47,400  When Lee became sick,           83 00:02:47,467 --> 00:02:51,938  he started to exhibit symptoms  that required treatment.         84 00:02:52,005 --> 00:02:59,112  -He was suffering from nausea,   diarrhea, vomiting, dizziness.  85 00:02:59,179 --> 00:03:01,981 -He had ulcerated areas           in his mouth,                   86 00:03:02,048 --> 00:03:05,018    his lips,                       severe stomach pain.           87 00:03:05,084 --> 00:03:08,855   -Mom told us                      that Lee was really sick.     88 00:03:08,922 --> 00:03:12,225 The ship doctor thought           he might have the flu.          89 00:03:12,292 --> 00:03:17,197 And the flu can hold on for days    at a time.                    90 00:03:17,263 --> 00:03:19,232    -You know, there is a lot     of things they examine,          91 00:03:19,299 --> 00:03:22,202 but they really weren't          sure what was going on.          92 00:03:23,169 --> 00:03:25,338   -While the ship was             in the Mediterranean,           93 00:03:25,405 --> 00:03:28,441    his situation deteriorated       over time.                    94 00:03:28,508 --> 00:03:30,109 He had great discomfort.         95 00:03:30,176 --> 00:03:33,913 He was just sick                 and sicker to the extent         96 00:03:33,980 --> 00:03:37,383    that the ship was               not capable of doing           97 00:03:37,450 --> 00:03:41,120   the diagnostic work            that was required to figure out  98 00:03:41,187 --> 00:03:43,656 what the heck was wrong             with him.                     99 00:03:43,723 --> 00:03:45,658  The ship said,                  "We just can't help him.         100 00:03:45,725 --> 00:03:47,260 We got to get him home."         101 00:03:47,327 --> 00:03:51,664  Lee eventually was medevaced,     medically evacuated,           102 00:03:51,731 --> 00:03:54,033  from the ship                     back to Jacksonville           103 00:03:54,100 --> 00:03:58,037    and was treated at            the Jacksonville naval Hospital. 104 00:03:58,104 --> 00:03:59,772   -While doctors order           additional tests                 105 00:03:59,839 --> 00:04:02,041 to determine what is ailing Lee, 106 00:04:02,108 --> 00:04:05,645    his wife, Pamela,             rushes to her husband's bedside. 107 00:04:05,712 --> 00:04:07,880    -He'd get better,             but then he'd get worse.         108 00:04:07,947 --> 00:04:10,283  He was very, very ill.          109 00:04:10,350 --> 00:04:13,686   It caused a severe bloating      of his body.                   110 00:04:15,388 --> 00:04:18,625  -Dad called and said,            "We got to go to Florida now."  111 00:04:18,691 --> 00:04:20,093 He said,                         "Lee is in the hospital,         112 00:04:20,159 --> 00:04:22,228  and they don't expect           him to make it."                 113 00:04:22,295 --> 00:04:24,597    And we got there,             114 00:04:24,664 --> 00:04:29,435   but Lee was                     not cognizant at all.           115 00:04:29,502 --> 00:04:32,238  He looked like                   he weighed 300 pounds.          116 00:04:33,406 --> 00:04:35,742   -The cause of Lee's illness       remains a mystery             117 00:04:35,808 --> 00:04:39,279 as his body begins to shut down. 118 00:04:39,345 --> 00:04:42,682   -Lieutenant Hartley,           after approximately five months  119 00:04:42,749 --> 00:04:45,652   of being ill                      starting on the Forrestal,    120 00:04:45,718 --> 00:04:52,025 ended up finally passing          away on November 18th of 1982.  121 00:04:52,091 --> 00:05:01,634    ♪♪                            122 00:05:01,701 --> 00:05:03,236 -Mom got the phone call          123 00:05:03,303 --> 00:05:07,340    and she called us               and we got together,           124 00:05:07,407 --> 00:05:11,311   and then we drove down there    after he passed away,           125 00:05:11,377 --> 00:05:13,112    of course,                    126 00:05:13,179 --> 00:05:16,416   because he was already gone      and it was just devastating.   127 00:05:18,718 --> 00:05:23,756  -Verle Lee Hartley was          my older brother                 128 00:05:23,823 --> 00:05:26,526   by about 14 months.            129 00:05:26,592 --> 00:05:31,064  -There are seven of us          and the oldest one is Verle Lee. 130 00:05:31,130 --> 00:05:33,633    We all grew up in Elwood,     Indiana.                         131 00:05:33,700 --> 00:05:38,838   We'd play hide and go seek,     tag and kick the can,           132 00:05:38,905 --> 00:05:42,275  and we had a really good time.  133 00:05:42,342 --> 00:05:43,976 -He was a very laid-back         person.                          134 00:05:44,043 --> 00:05:45,778  He really was.                  135 00:05:45,845 --> 00:05:48,348   Wasn't a mean streak in him.   136 00:05:48,414 --> 00:05:50,683  -Being our big brother           who always --                   137 00:05:50,750 --> 00:05:55,121 when something came up,           he tried to handle it.          138 00:05:55,188 --> 00:05:57,590 And that's what big brothers do. 139 00:05:59,092 --> 00:06:02,362   -As a teenager, Lee            had ambitions to join the Navy.  140 00:06:02,428 --> 00:06:04,564  At 17,                          with the support of his parents, 141 00:06:04,630 --> 00:06:08,468   he enlisted                    and left home for the high seas. 142 00:06:08,534 --> 00:06:11,304    -He was all Navy.              He really was.                  143 00:06:11,371 --> 00:06:12,939 He was all Navy.                 144 00:06:13,005 --> 00:06:16,509   -He just really loved being    in the service.                  145 00:06:16,576 --> 00:06:19,579   He was quite good at the job   he did.                          146 00:06:19,645 --> 00:06:21,881    -Lee quickly makes            a name for himself in the Navy,  147 00:06:21,948 --> 00:06:25,284  and his high aspirations draw      attention from superiors.     148 00:06:25,351 --> 00:06:27,120   While stationed in Florida,    149 00:06:27,186 --> 00:06:30,022   the rising star Lee Hartley    falls in love with Linda Patel,  150 00:06:30,089 --> 00:06:31,824 and the two are married.         151 00:06:31,891 --> 00:06:34,827 Seven years later, Lee and Linda    welcomed their only child,    152 00:06:34,894 --> 00:06:37,263   a daughter named Stephanie.    153 00:06:37,330 --> 00:06:40,199  -He thought that Stephanie was    just the cat's meow.           154 00:06:40,266 --> 00:06:41,968  You know, she could do             no wrong.                     155 00:06:42,034 --> 00:06:45,271   That's a real daddy's girl,       you know?                     156 00:06:46,172 --> 00:06:48,074   -After years                    of climbing the ranks,          157 00:06:48,141 --> 00:06:53,679    Lee Hartley became a naval    lieutenant on the USS Forrestal. 158 00:06:53,746 --> 00:06:56,048 When Lieutenant Hartley             turned 37,                    159 00:06:56,115 --> 00:06:57,950 less than a year before he died, 160 00:06:58,017 --> 00:07:01,821   he experienced a little bit      of a midlife crisis,           161 00:07:01,888 --> 00:07:04,690   and he fell in love              with his secretary.            162 00:07:04,757 --> 00:07:06,492   Her name was Pamela Johnson.   163 00:07:06,559 --> 00:07:11,230 She was a pretty redhead         and 12 years his junior.         164 00:07:11,297 --> 00:07:15,468 -When Lieutenant Hartley         had met Pamela Johnson,          165 00:07:15,535 --> 00:07:18,838   she actually was in the Navy     and worked for him.            166 00:07:18,905 --> 00:07:21,974    And then that's when they     became a couple.                 167 00:07:22,041 --> 00:07:25,445  In the military, that actually  is fairly frowned upon.          168 00:07:25,511 --> 00:07:27,847    So she had left the Navy.     169 00:07:27,914 --> 00:07:31,684  -Lee decides to divorce Linda,     and he and Pamela             170 00:07:31,751 --> 00:07:34,887  are married just a few months   into their relationship.         171 00:07:34,954 --> 00:07:37,123   -They fall in love.               They get married.             172 00:07:37,190 --> 00:07:39,826  They're making a life           for themselves.                  173 00:07:39,892 --> 00:07:45,097   And all of a sudden,           Lee subsequently passes.         174 00:07:46,199 --> 00:07:50,002    -They still hadn't            determined yet what killed Lee.  175 00:07:50,069 --> 00:07:53,339    -He was a healthy,             reasonably young guy.           176 00:07:53,406 --> 00:07:55,007    It was a puzzler.             177 00:07:55,975 --> 00:07:58,444  -Nothing seemed right             at the time.                   178 00:07:58,511 --> 00:07:59,879 Why Lee?                         179 00:07:59,946 --> 00:08:02,548 I mean,                             it just didn't seem right.    180 00:08:02,615 --> 00:08:05,251 They kept saying                   that he'd come off the ship    181 00:08:05,318 --> 00:08:07,887 with flu-like symptoms.          182 00:08:07,954 --> 00:08:11,657  And I said, "No, it can't be.    The flu don't last this long."  183 00:08:11,724 --> 00:08:15,361    And my stepmother decided       that she wanted an autopsy.    184 00:08:15,428 --> 00:08:17,029    She pushed enough,            185 00:08:17,096 --> 00:08:20,700   the Navy decided to go ahead     and do the autopsy.            186 00:08:22,401 --> 00:08:25,204    -From the autopsy,            the medical examiner determines  187 00:08:25,271 --> 00:08:27,773  that Lee Hartley died              of cardiopulmonary arrest     188 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:29,842    due to the stress              that the 5-month-long           189 00:08:29,909 --> 00:08:32,712    mysterious illness put on        his body.                     190 00:08:32,778 --> 00:08:35,982    But with the cause             of the sickness still unknown,  191 00:08:36,048 --> 00:08:37,550   Lee's blood and hair samples   192 00:08:37,617 --> 00:08:40,686   are sent to                    the toxicology lab for testing.  193 00:08:40,753 --> 00:08:42,522   As his family awaits             the results,                   194 00:08:42,588 --> 00:08:46,158 they prepare to lay the          decorated naval veteran to rest. 195 00:08:47,894 --> 00:08:52,198 -We went to the funeral            in Augusta, Georgia,           196 00:08:52,265 --> 00:08:54,934 at Pam's mother's home.          197 00:08:55,001 --> 00:08:57,637   -But it didn't even              look like him in the casket.   198 00:08:57,703 --> 00:09:00,273   I mean, he was so blowed up.   199 00:09:00,339 --> 00:09:03,609   His face looked like              it could bust any second.     200 00:09:03,676 --> 00:09:07,547 He just looked like somebody put  air in him and blowed him up.   201 00:09:07,613 --> 00:09:10,650 It didn't look like him.         202 00:09:10,716 --> 00:09:13,920   Mom had a nervous breakdown,   203 00:09:13,986 --> 00:09:15,855   complete nervous breakdown.    204 00:09:15,922 --> 00:09:19,225  I mean, she shut down.          205 00:09:19,292 --> 00:09:20,927  It was awful.                   206 00:09:20,993 --> 00:09:23,296  We should have just buried her     with Verle                    207 00:09:23,362 --> 00:09:25,531 because it was that bad.         208 00:09:25,598 --> 00:09:31,938    ♪♪                            209 00:09:32,004 --> 00:09:38,144    ♪♪                            210 00:09:38,210 --> 00:09:41,814 -Weeks after Lieutenant          Hartley is laid to rest,         211 00:09:41,881 --> 00:09:46,452   his toxicology tests arrive    with unexpected results.         212 00:09:46,519 --> 00:09:49,388    -When we received                the toxicology report back    213 00:09:49,455 --> 00:09:51,123    after the autopsy,            214 00:09:51,190 --> 00:09:54,327 we found out that he had          an elevated amount of arsenic   215 00:09:54,393 --> 00:09:58,464  in his blood, quite elevated.   216 00:09:59,832 --> 00:10:04,971 Lee had approximately a thousand  times more arsenic in his body  217 00:10:05,037 --> 00:10:07,373  than one would expect.          218 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:10,710 That was the cause of his death. 219 00:10:10,776 --> 00:10:14,614 Well, when we found out that Lee  had this high level of arsenic  220 00:10:14,680 --> 00:10:17,450  in his blood,                     you say to yourself,           221 00:10:17,516 --> 00:10:19,685    "Holy cow,                     how did that happen?"           222 00:10:22,989 --> 00:10:25,224 It became obvious that not only  223 00:10:25,291 --> 00:10:28,127 was Lee homesick                 for being with his wife,         224 00:10:28,194 --> 00:10:30,663 but he was also                   a little bit jealous.           225 00:10:30,730 --> 00:10:34,734 Clearly, he wanted to be            with his new wife.            226 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:38,037   Maybe he was trying              to be relieved from the ship   227 00:10:38,104 --> 00:10:39,405  and sent home.                  228 00:10:39,472 --> 00:10:46,946    ♪♪                            229 00:10:47,713 --> 00:10:47,780    ♪                             230 00:10:47,780 --> 00:10:53,653    ♪♪                            231 00:10:53,719 --> 00:10:55,688    -Lieutenant Lee Hartley's       blood sample                   232 00:10:55,755 --> 00:10:57,657 shows lethal levels of arsenic,  233 00:10:57,723 --> 00:11:00,826   finally giving NCIS              investigators an explanation   234 00:11:00,893 --> 00:11:03,029  for his months-long sickness.   235 00:11:03,095 --> 00:11:06,432  -He was losing weight.            He had severe stomach pains.   236 00:11:06,499 --> 00:11:09,101 He was vomiting.                 He had diarrhea.                 237 00:11:09,168 --> 00:11:14,240    All of these were typical     symptoms for arsenic poisoning.  238 00:11:14,306 --> 00:11:16,842    -In my experience,             he's the only person I know of  239 00:11:16,909 --> 00:11:20,913   who has died                   from arsenic poisoning.          240 00:11:20,980 --> 00:11:23,716    We are exposed to arsenic       in the dirt                    241 00:11:23,783 --> 00:11:26,352 and maybe a little bit in water     and other things,             242 00:11:26,419 --> 00:11:29,155 but only minute amounts            that don't affect us over --   243 00:11:29,221 --> 00:11:31,357    even over a long lifespan.    244 00:11:31,424 --> 00:11:34,894   But a thousand times            more is a lot.                  245 00:11:36,028 --> 00:11:38,798   -It is tasteless, odorless,    246 00:11:38,864 --> 00:11:44,103  but once it gets into           the system, it doesn't go away.  247 00:11:44,170 --> 00:11:47,339    -And so if you get             a little bit of arsenic today   248 00:11:47,406 --> 00:11:49,308   and a little bit of arsenic    tomorrow                         249 00:11:49,375 --> 00:11:51,944  and a little bit more arsenic    the next day,                   250 00:11:52,011 --> 00:11:57,416 each day that amount of arsenic     is building in your body.     251 00:11:59,952 --> 00:12:01,387 -Once it was determined          252 00:12:01,454 --> 00:12:03,389 that Lieutenant Hartley          had been exposed                 253 00:12:03,456 --> 00:12:05,825 and died from arsenic poisoning,  at that point,                  254 00:12:05,891 --> 00:12:08,527   they had to look at, "Well,    where did it come from?"         255 00:12:08,594 --> 00:12:10,162    And the first thought is,     256 00:12:10,229 --> 00:12:11,931    could it have been             something on the ship?          257 00:12:11,997 --> 00:12:14,700  So could it have been           an accidental poisoning?         258 00:12:14,767 --> 00:12:17,670 -For all we know, there            might have been arsenic used   259 00:12:17,737 --> 00:12:20,206   in various ways on the ship.   260 00:12:20,272 --> 00:12:23,008  There might have been piles of   arsenic laying around the ship  261 00:12:23,075 --> 00:12:25,144 for some purpose                    at various times,             262 00:12:25,211 --> 00:12:28,380  which would be                  of critical concern to the ship  263 00:12:28,447 --> 00:12:33,753 because if they used arsenic on  board the ship for any purpose,  264 00:12:33,819 --> 00:12:38,457 well, then everybody on the ship will be exposed to this.         265 00:12:38,524 --> 00:12:40,793 It would be an epidemic          of people dying                  266 00:12:40,860 --> 00:12:43,863  if this stuff was all            over the ship for some reason.  267 00:12:43,929 --> 00:12:46,665   We need to find out            from the supply officer          268 00:12:46,732 --> 00:12:49,602  whether or not there's             arsenic on board the ship     269 00:12:49,668 --> 00:12:51,470 and what's it used for?          270 00:12:51,537 --> 00:12:55,040    And the answer was            they had no arsenic on the ship, 271 00:12:55,107 --> 00:12:57,476  and they didn't use it           for anything.                   272 00:12:58,744 --> 00:13:02,281 So, Lee,                          if he was exposed to arsenic,   273 00:13:02,348 --> 00:13:06,519    it wasn't an environmental       or an industrial issue now    274 00:13:06,585 --> 00:13:07,787  for the Navy.                   275 00:13:07,853 --> 00:13:09,221  It was something else.          276 00:13:09,288 --> 00:13:10,856   -That's when                    they were looking at,           277 00:13:10,923 --> 00:13:12,792  "Could this have been            intentional?"                   278 00:13:12,858 --> 00:13:16,829    -Was there some reason for    somebody to want to do him harm? 279 00:13:19,465 --> 00:13:21,066   The challenge that we faced    280 00:13:21,133 --> 00:13:25,471  is we didn't even have           all the puzzle pieces.          281 00:13:25,538 --> 00:13:27,973 -With the USS Forrestal            in the Mediterranean           282 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:29,508 on a 6-month deployment          283 00:13:29,575 --> 00:13:31,710 holding potential clues          in Lee's death,                  284 00:13:31,777 --> 00:13:34,547  NCIS investigators are forced   to get creative,                 285 00:13:34,613 --> 00:13:37,116    and recent headlines spark       a theory.                     286 00:13:37,183 --> 00:13:42,221    -In 1982,                       there was a number of cases    287 00:13:42,288 --> 00:13:45,958    where people were poisoned       by Tylenol                    288 00:13:46,025 --> 00:13:47,760 that they bought on the shelves. 289 00:13:47,827 --> 00:13:50,396  And back then,                     if you took the capsules,     290 00:13:50,462 --> 00:13:52,798    you could open it                and put something in them.    291 00:13:52,865 --> 00:13:57,002   And somebody had put            potassium cyanide in a number   292 00:13:57,069 --> 00:14:00,639   of different bottles           in a number of different stores, 293 00:14:00,706 --> 00:14:03,609    and it's never been solved      to this day.                   294 00:14:03,676 --> 00:14:06,979   -Tylenol poisonings              have just shocked the nation   295 00:14:07,046 --> 00:14:09,081 after seven people died.         296 00:14:09,148 --> 00:14:12,117  Only a month earlier,           on October 5th,                  297 00:14:12,184 --> 00:14:16,188  a nationwide recall of          Tylenol products was announced.  298 00:14:16,255 --> 00:14:18,357  -Investigators notice           in the personal effects          299 00:14:18,424 --> 00:14:20,492 that came home with Lee             from the Forrestal            300 00:14:20,559 --> 00:14:22,528 is a bottle of Tylenol.          301 00:14:23,696 --> 00:14:25,865  They're concerned that          Lee Hartley could be the victim  302 00:14:25,931 --> 00:14:27,466    of a similar case,            303 00:14:27,533 --> 00:14:29,235   and he's unknowingly              ingested capsules             304 00:14:29,301 --> 00:14:31,637 purposely tainted with arsenic.  305 00:14:32,571 --> 00:14:35,140 -So we seized medicines            that he had                    306 00:14:35,207 --> 00:14:38,177   and had them examined to see    if there was anything in them,  307 00:14:38,244 --> 00:14:40,045   see if they'd been tainted.    308 00:14:40,112 --> 00:14:43,749    None of those tests showed      that there was any problem.    309 00:14:43,816 --> 00:14:45,985   It didn't turn anything up.    310 00:14:46,051 --> 00:14:49,154 -As NCIS agents continue            to rule out possibilities     311 00:14:49,221 --> 00:14:50,890  of the arsenic source,          312 00:14:50,956 --> 00:14:53,392  they must determine if          someone aboard the USS Forrestal 313 00:14:53,459 --> 00:14:55,227 was trying to harm Lee.          314 00:14:55,294 --> 00:14:57,062  To explore the theory,          315 00:14:57,129 --> 00:15:00,766  they set up an interview with     Lee's widow, Pamela Hartley.   316 00:15:00,833 --> 00:15:04,937 -I drove up to Georgia,            met the agent there,           317 00:15:05,004 --> 00:15:08,073   and we then went to              her mother's house.            318 00:15:08,140 --> 00:15:09,642 And it was a difficult interview 319 00:15:09,708 --> 00:15:11,911 because she was                    the grieving widow,            320 00:15:11,977 --> 00:15:15,347  and we were sorry to be there    talking to her                  321 00:15:15,414 --> 00:15:20,052 about the death of her husband,   which had to be heartbreaking.  322 00:15:20,119 --> 00:15:24,556 The idea would be to go and see  what was his life like at home?  323 00:15:24,623 --> 00:15:26,158  What happened?                  324 00:15:26,225 --> 00:15:27,927   -Pamela tells agents              that during Lee's             325 00:15:27,993 --> 00:15:29,762 final deployment                  in the Mediterranean,           326 00:15:29,828 --> 00:15:31,563  his demeanor changed.           327 00:15:31,630 --> 00:15:35,200  Lee became unusually paranoid,     and in letters and calls,     328 00:15:35,267 --> 00:15:38,103    he had expressed concerns     for his safety.                  329 00:15:38,170 --> 00:15:40,739   -Because of                     Lieutenant Hartley's position   330 00:15:40,806 --> 00:15:42,875   as a legal officer,            331 00:15:42,942 --> 00:15:47,513  he was in a disciplinary role,  and so there always was,         332 00:15:47,579 --> 00:15:51,617 "Could this be somebody             who he made so mad            333 00:15:51,684 --> 00:15:55,654    that they would come back      and try to kill him?"           334 00:15:55,721 --> 00:15:57,489   -Was there somebody              who didn't like him?           335 00:15:57,556 --> 00:15:59,925    Was there somebody            who had some grudge against him? 336 00:15:59,992 --> 00:16:03,729    Maybe somebody on the ship    was trying to kill him.          337 00:16:03,796 --> 00:16:09,001    ♪♪                            338 00:16:10,936 --> 00:16:11,003    ♪                             339 00:16:11,003 --> 00:16:15,808    ♪♪                            340 00:16:15,874 --> 00:16:19,678    -NCIS investigators wonder    if someone on the USS Forrestal  341 00:16:19,745 --> 00:16:22,281  held a grudge                   against Lieutenant Lee Hartley,  342 00:16:22,348 --> 00:16:26,118  a grudge that would lead them     to poison the naval officer.   343 00:16:26,986 --> 00:16:29,922   -He was a legal aid              aboard ship.                   344 00:16:29,989 --> 00:16:33,392  Anybody got in trouble            aboard ship                    345 00:16:33,459 --> 00:16:35,294  had to go through Lee.          346 00:16:35,361 --> 00:16:37,029  So that's what I was thinking.  347 00:16:37,096 --> 00:16:41,533 Somebody aboard ship was taking  it out on Lee and poisoned him.  348 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:43,669    -Somebody could be            putting something in his coffee. 349 00:16:43,736 --> 00:16:46,605    Somebody could be putting     something in the coffee          350 00:16:46,672 --> 00:16:48,374 in the office that he worked in. 351 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:51,243    Somebody could be putting      something in the food           352 00:16:51,310 --> 00:16:53,379  in the officer's mess.          353 00:16:53,445 --> 00:16:55,447    -Investigators ask              Lee's widow, Pamela,           354 00:16:55,514 --> 00:16:59,151   if he mentioned any threats      below deck on the high seas.   355 00:16:59,218 --> 00:17:01,987 -We became aware                  that there were two incidents   356 00:17:02,054 --> 00:17:07,726    that were reported by Lee     that might be of interest to us. 357 00:17:07,793 --> 00:17:11,430    First, it was in a letter        that Lee had written home,    358 00:17:11,497 --> 00:17:15,367 where he claimed                 that there was somebody          359 00:17:15,434 --> 00:17:21,373  who attacked him on board the   ship with a sword of some type,  360 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:26,678 and that he had managed             to disarm the individual.     361 00:17:26,745 --> 00:17:31,250   He had reported another time   in a letter or a telephone call  362 00:17:31,316 --> 00:17:35,054    that somebody had painted     graffiti on a bulkhead,          363 00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:41,326  a wall on the ship that said,   "Hartley is a dead man."         364 00:17:41,393 --> 00:17:44,496 Now, that seemed                   a little incredible,           365 00:17:44,563 --> 00:17:48,567    because if you're on board      a U.S. naval vessel            366 00:17:48,634 --> 00:17:51,770   and somebody                      attacks you with a sword,     367 00:17:51,837 --> 00:17:53,605  there's a whole lot of people     in the world                   368 00:17:53,672 --> 00:17:56,809  who are going to want             to know about that.            369 00:17:56,875 --> 00:17:58,811 Lee was                             the disciplinary officer.     370 00:17:58,877 --> 00:18:01,947   I mean, my goodness,             who would not report           371 00:18:02,014 --> 00:18:05,384  being attacked                     by somebody with a sword?     372 00:18:05,451 --> 00:18:07,386 Well, curiously enough,          373 00:18:07,453 --> 00:18:12,658   there was no report              made of this alleged attack.   374 00:18:12,724 --> 00:18:19,031   We could not imagine             why he would have said that.   375 00:18:19,098 --> 00:18:20,766   -Did Lee not report             the incidents                   376 00:18:20,833 --> 00:18:23,635  because he feared for             his safety?                    377 00:18:23,702 --> 00:18:25,771   As investigators contemplate   378 00:18:25,838 --> 00:18:27,940  Lee Hartley's                   unsubstantiated claims,          379 00:18:28,006 --> 00:18:30,142    the USS Forrestal               arrives at the port            380 00:18:30,209 --> 00:18:32,177    after months away.            381 00:18:32,244 --> 00:18:36,281  -The Forrestal returns          to Mayport after its deployment. 382 00:18:36,348 --> 00:18:40,686   We execute a search             of his belongings on the ship   383 00:18:40,752 --> 00:18:42,287  and a search of the stateroom   384 00:18:42,354 --> 00:18:44,790  that he shared                   with another officer,           385 00:18:44,857 --> 00:18:48,560 but none of that showed             that arsenic was resonant.    386 00:18:49,628 --> 00:18:51,463   We had to interview             various people                  387 00:18:51,530 --> 00:18:53,465    that might have known him        on board the ship             388 00:18:53,532 --> 00:18:56,802  in order to determine           whether or not there was anybody 389 00:18:56,869 --> 00:19:02,040 that they knew of who might have had an interest in harming Lee.  390 00:19:02,107 --> 00:19:04,610  We didn't come up with anybody  391 00:19:04,676 --> 00:19:07,579  who had any experience             like that.                    392 00:19:07,646 --> 00:19:10,149 -Lee Hartley was                   very well respected,           393 00:19:10,215 --> 00:19:15,521 both in his job but also           as a friend, people he knew.   394 00:19:16,622 --> 00:19:21,326  -We did, however, at one point  come up with indications         395 00:19:21,393 --> 00:19:25,430 that Lee had represented         that he,                         396 00:19:25,497 --> 00:19:28,133 understandably being a newlywed, 397 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:33,038 wasn't looking forward to going   on this particular deployment.  398 00:19:33,105 --> 00:19:37,009  Whenever the ship pulled into   port, he would go up to the USO, 399 00:19:37,075 --> 00:19:40,712 where back then they had            a bank of pay telephones,     400 00:19:40,779 --> 00:19:45,384    and he would spend              an awful lot of time           401 00:19:45,450 --> 00:19:49,087 on the phone talking to his wife at home.                         402 00:19:49,154 --> 00:19:50,889  -He was lonely, sure,           403 00:19:50,956 --> 00:19:54,293 but it's not an uncommon feeling   for most of the crew           404 00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:56,562 on an aircraft carrier.          405 00:19:56,628 --> 00:19:58,463    -During the course             of the investigation,           406 00:19:58,530 --> 00:20:00,666 it became obvious that not only  407 00:20:00,732 --> 00:20:03,635 was Lee homesick                 for being with his wife,         408 00:20:03,702 --> 00:20:05,537 but he was also                   a little bit jealous.           409 00:20:05,604 --> 00:20:09,675  He had married a pretty woman      who was younger than him,     410 00:20:09,741 --> 00:20:12,177   and now he's at sea            for six months.                  411 00:20:12,244 --> 00:20:17,749    And, you know, he was just     jealous that she was so pretty  412 00:20:17,816 --> 00:20:20,552   and he wasn't there.           413 00:20:20,619 --> 00:20:22,054  My thought at the time          414 00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:25,991    was he might have                been setting up a scenario    415 00:20:26,058 --> 00:20:32,764  whereby it was unsafe for him    to remain aboard the Forrestal  416 00:20:32,831 --> 00:20:36,134   because somebody was trying      to kill him                    417 00:20:36,201 --> 00:20:37,269   or hurt him.                   418 00:20:37,336 --> 00:20:39,004   By not reporting it,           419 00:20:39,071 --> 00:20:43,408    he doesn't have to suffer        the consequences of myself    420 00:20:43,475 --> 00:20:46,211 or the other agents finding out     that he was lying             421 00:20:46,278 --> 00:20:48,046    and filing a false report,    422 00:20:48,113 --> 00:20:50,549   or the Navy finding out that     he was filing a false report   423 00:20:50,616 --> 00:20:55,020  and taking disciplinary action  on him,                          424 00:20:55,087 --> 00:20:59,091   but rather somebody at home      might report                   425 00:20:59,157 --> 00:21:03,595    that, "Gee, Lee is               under threat on the ship."    426 00:21:03,662 --> 00:21:07,599 Clearly, he wanted to be            with his new wife.            427 00:21:07,666 --> 00:21:10,969   Maybe he was trying              to be relieved from the ship   428 00:21:11,036 --> 00:21:12,904  and sent home.                  429 00:21:12,971 --> 00:21:15,507  -And possibly                   the lovesick sailor was willing  430 00:21:15,574 --> 00:21:17,976    to take this ruse             a step further.                  431 00:21:18,043 --> 00:21:23,615   -And then to follow              on that same line of logic,    432 00:21:23,682 --> 00:21:27,152   maybe Lee was taking arsenic   433 00:21:27,219 --> 00:21:32,257   so that he would be              ill enough to be sent home.    434 00:21:32,324 --> 00:21:35,327 -So was it maybe                  not intending to die,           435 00:21:35,394 --> 00:21:37,929  but could he be making           himself sick?                   436 00:21:37,996 --> 00:21:40,565    -Maybe he unwittingly took     enough                          437 00:21:40,632 --> 00:21:43,735  of whatever the substance was    to make himself sick,           438 00:21:43,802 --> 00:21:48,940    without understanding that     it just builds up to the point  439 00:21:49,007 --> 00:21:52,177   that there's so much              in your body that you die.    440 00:21:52,244 --> 00:21:55,047  -So it could have been          an accidental poisoning.         441 00:21:55,113 --> 00:22:01,253    ♪♪                            442 00:22:02,187 --> 00:22:02,254    ♪                             443 00:22:02,254 --> 00:22:08,327    ♪♪                            444 00:22:08,393 --> 00:22:10,762  -Investigators working           the arsenic poisoning           445 00:22:10,829 --> 00:22:12,531 of naval Lieutenant Lee Hartley  446 00:22:12,597 --> 00:22:15,767 develop a theory to help          explain the rare circumstances  447 00:22:15,834 --> 00:22:17,536    around his death.             448 00:22:17,602 --> 00:22:20,739    -Maybe Lee Hartley              was taking arsenic himself,    449 00:22:20,806 --> 00:22:26,078 setting the stage to be relieved   from the ship and sent home.   450 00:22:26,144 --> 00:22:28,747    -Desperate to return home     to his new wife,                 451 00:22:28,814 --> 00:22:31,183   Lee may have                    accidentally ingested           452 00:22:31,249 --> 00:22:33,919 a fatal dose of arsenic.         453 00:22:33,985 --> 00:22:37,556    -But investigators              also ask themselves,           454 00:22:37,622 --> 00:22:40,859  what if the fatal dose wasn't     an accident?                   455 00:22:40,926 --> 00:22:43,228    -Was it a suicide?            456 00:22:43,295 --> 00:22:47,299    Lieutenant Hartley            had expressed some homesickness. 457 00:22:47,366 --> 00:22:51,036  Also, there was some jealousy    with his wife.                  458 00:22:51,103 --> 00:22:53,872  -You collect anything            that might be of significance.  459 00:22:53,939 --> 00:22:56,575 And so one of the things          you certainly want to collect   460 00:22:56,641 --> 00:23:00,011    are any writings,               any notebooks, any diaries,    461 00:23:00,078 --> 00:23:03,682 and any letters                  that the person might have made. 462 00:23:03,749 --> 00:23:06,885   -That's how they determine,    was he suicidal?                 463 00:23:06,952 --> 00:23:09,621   Could this have been             intentional?                   464 00:23:09,688 --> 00:23:11,890    -And we sent them                to a psychologist             465 00:23:11,957 --> 00:23:13,825  in order to have them examined  466 00:23:13,892 --> 00:23:17,529   and try to get some insight    into his state of mind.          467 00:23:17,596 --> 00:23:22,300 The examination of those            by the psychological staff    468 00:23:22,367 --> 00:23:27,539    did not show any suicidal     thoughts on Lee's part.          469 00:23:27,606 --> 00:23:29,975 -With all their theories          leading to dead ends,           470 00:23:30,041 --> 00:23:32,911   investigators hope new data       from Lee's autopsy            471 00:23:32,978 --> 00:23:34,880   can provide answers.           472 00:23:34,946 --> 00:23:39,551  The results of his hair-sample  analysis have just reached NCIS. 473 00:23:39,618 --> 00:23:41,420    -Through the hair,            474 00:23:41,486 --> 00:23:44,589  you can actually tell when the   person was exposed to arsenic.  475 00:23:44,656 --> 00:23:46,958  So they were able to,           month by month,                  476 00:23:47,025 --> 00:23:51,196    tell when he began              to be exposed to the arsenic   477 00:23:51,263 --> 00:23:54,766  and how it progressed              to the time of his death.     478 00:23:54,833 --> 00:23:57,769  So literally,                   you can look at the hair         479 00:23:57,836 --> 00:24:00,305   and do a graph or a timeline   480 00:24:00,372 --> 00:24:04,075 of exactly when                  he was being exposed to arsenic. 481 00:24:04,142 --> 00:24:08,113  -Lee's hair indicated              a level of arsenic            482 00:24:08,180 --> 00:24:12,184   in his body                    peaked at various times.         483 00:24:12,250 --> 00:24:15,921   The spikes occurred             both before the cruise          484 00:24:15,987 --> 00:24:17,956   and then, during the course     of the cruise,                  485 00:24:18,023 --> 00:24:21,860    when the ship was             in a port visit.                 486 00:24:21,927 --> 00:24:24,896    When the ship was               in Benidorm, Spain,            487 00:24:24,963 --> 00:24:26,565    there was a spike.            488 00:24:26,631 --> 00:24:28,967    When the ship was                in Naples, Italy,             489 00:24:29,034 --> 00:24:31,102    there was a spike.            490 00:24:31,169 --> 00:24:34,473   So we said, "What is             the common denominator here    491 00:24:34,539 --> 00:24:37,075    that would give us             these spikes?"                  492 00:24:37,142 --> 00:24:40,245   -Investigators note            an unsettling common denominator 493 00:24:40,312 --> 00:24:43,482  associated with Lee's           arsenic spikes.                  494 00:24:43,548 --> 00:24:46,718 -Lee's wife was sending packages  to him                          495 00:24:46,785 --> 00:24:50,555  and visiting him when the ship     pulled into foreign ports,    496 00:24:50,622 --> 00:24:52,791 which was not uncommon.          497 00:24:52,858 --> 00:24:56,094   Navy wives,                    and especially officers' wives,  498 00:24:56,161 --> 00:25:00,999   will travel in groups to the    port to visit their husbands.   499 00:25:01,066 --> 00:25:02,601 We thought, "Well, gee,          500 00:25:02,667 --> 00:25:06,304  he's getting packages              and Pam is visiting him."     501 00:25:06,371 --> 00:25:11,343   But at that time, we didn't     have her as a suspect in this.  502 00:25:11,409 --> 00:25:13,278 -I still hadn't                     thought about Pam.            503 00:25:13,345 --> 00:25:15,046 They hadn't been married            that long.                    504 00:25:15,113 --> 00:25:18,850   I couldn't figure, you know,   why would she want to hurt him?  505 00:25:18,917 --> 00:25:21,386 -Pamela was not                   initially considered a suspect  506 00:25:21,453 --> 00:25:23,221  because Lee's poisoning began   507 00:25:23,288 --> 00:25:27,959 while thousands of miles          of ocean separated the couple.  508 00:25:28,026 --> 00:25:32,664    But further investigation       forces agents to reevaluate.   509 00:25:32,731 --> 00:25:35,634 -There were more                   and more common denominators   510 00:25:35,700 --> 00:25:39,104  that were linking her             to the spikes in the levels    511 00:25:39,170 --> 00:25:41,172 of arsenic in his body.          512 00:25:41,239 --> 00:25:45,277    -Pamela Hartley became one    of the primary suspects,         513 00:25:45,343 --> 00:25:49,014   partially because you always    look at the significant other.  514 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:52,951  Also, just hearing, you know,      how they became involved,     515 00:25:53,018 --> 00:25:57,188 the differences in age, the fact   that he had been out at sea.   516 00:25:57,255 --> 00:25:58,957    But also,                       I think some of her actions    517 00:25:59,024 --> 00:26:02,827    after he died were            suspicious in some ways,         518 00:26:02,894 --> 00:26:06,598   because she pretty much just   cut off contact with his family  519 00:26:06,665 --> 00:26:08,533 and didn't want to talk          about it                         520 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:11,803    and moved on a lot quicker     than you would think.           521 00:26:11,870 --> 00:26:13,572   -And paperwork shows           522 00:26:13,638 --> 00:26:16,374  that Pamela benefited            financially from Lee's death.   523 00:26:16,441 --> 00:26:19,644 -Pamela Hartley                   received benefits as the wife   524 00:26:19,711 --> 00:26:24,416   of a service person             that she got monthly.           525 00:26:24,482 --> 00:26:30,522   She also had $35,000           through a life insurance policy. 526 00:26:30,589 --> 00:26:34,159    -Investigators dig              into Pamela Hartley's past,    527 00:26:34,225 --> 00:26:38,096  and a job at an animal           laboratory catches their eye.   528 00:26:38,163 --> 00:26:40,565 -Pamela Hartley,                 before joining the Navy,         529 00:26:40,632 --> 00:26:43,168   had been a wildlife officer,   530 00:26:43,234 --> 00:26:47,405  where they did investigations   into how arsenic                 531 00:26:47,472 --> 00:26:50,108   and other substances              affected wildlife.            532 00:26:50,175 --> 00:26:53,244 So she did have                    some scientific background.    533 00:26:53,311 --> 00:26:56,548 She possibly had                   a little bit more knowledge    534 00:26:56,615 --> 00:26:59,250   than maybe your average Joe,   535 00:26:59,317 --> 00:27:03,388   but also arsenic at the time   wasn't that hard to get.         536 00:27:03,455 --> 00:27:08,059 You could get it through         rat poison, anything like that.  537 00:27:08,126 --> 00:27:10,395  -For evidence                    to tie her to Lee's poisoning,  538 00:27:10,462 --> 00:27:13,732 the NCIS team interviews friends and neighbors of Pamela,         539 00:27:13,798 --> 00:27:15,900   both inside the Navy            and civilians,                  540 00:27:15,967 --> 00:27:18,837   to determine                      if she's a viable suspect.    541 00:27:20,238 --> 00:27:23,708   -We learned                      that after Lee died,           542 00:27:23,775 --> 00:27:29,214 Pamela became allegedly           romantically involved           543 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:31,383 with one of the officers         544 00:27:31,449 --> 00:27:34,686 who was an acquaintance          of Lee Hartley.                  545 00:27:34,753 --> 00:27:40,492  And this was not years later,   but weeks later,                 546 00:27:40,558 --> 00:27:42,794    after Lee passed.             547 00:27:42,861 --> 00:27:44,629    During the course              of the investigation,           548 00:27:44,696 --> 00:27:47,832   we learned the wives           not only do they travel          549 00:27:47,899 --> 00:27:49,434  to the foreign ports,           550 00:27:49,501 --> 00:27:52,103   but they form the Officer's       Wives Club                    551 00:27:52,170 --> 00:27:54,639    and have dinner and drinks     and things like that.           552 00:27:54,706 --> 00:27:57,308  And during the course of that,  553 00:27:57,375 --> 00:28:00,345 they on occasion                 would joke about, "Hey,          554 00:28:00,412 --> 00:28:02,080 it's pretty nice                 not having the guys home         555 00:28:02,147 --> 00:28:04,249    because we can do                whatever we want.             556 00:28:04,315 --> 00:28:06,718    We can stay in our pajamas    all day if we want to."          557 00:28:06,785 --> 00:28:10,088    And at one point,              Pamela allegedly said,          558 00:28:10,155 --> 00:28:12,223 "Well, you know,                  maybe it would be nice          559 00:28:12,290 --> 00:28:13,825 if we just got a hit man          and got rid of them,"           560 00:28:13,892 --> 00:28:15,760   and everybody else laughed.    561 00:28:15,827 --> 00:28:19,397 And all of the people that were   present for that conversation   562 00:28:19,464 --> 00:28:22,434   when we asked said, "Oh, no,      we just took it as a joke.    563 00:28:22,500 --> 00:28:23,968  Everybody was goofing around,   564 00:28:24,035 --> 00:28:25,470    everybody had had                a couple of drinks            565 00:28:25,537 --> 00:28:28,173    and nobody thought               she was serious."             566 00:28:28,239 --> 00:28:30,575 -Further interviews help            investigators to determine    567 00:28:30,642 --> 00:28:34,546  if Pamela did the unthinkable      and poisoned her husband,     568 00:28:34,612 --> 00:28:37,015  causing a slow                     and painful death.            569 00:28:37,082 --> 00:28:40,819 -Lee's roommate,                    who shared his stateroom,     570 00:28:40,885 --> 00:28:43,388    also was sick on occasion,    571 00:28:43,455 --> 00:28:46,558  but not nearly as sick            as Lee was.                    572 00:28:46,624 --> 00:28:49,961  Then we thought if he            was getting things in the mail  573 00:28:50,028 --> 00:28:53,465 that was making him sick           and tainted for some reason,   574 00:28:53,531 --> 00:28:56,334 and he was sharing these            with his roommate,            575 00:28:56,401 --> 00:28:59,370    that would explain               why the roommate got sick.    576 00:28:59,437 --> 00:29:02,006   And at one point during one     of the import periods,          577 00:29:02,073 --> 00:29:04,642 Pamela cooked breakfast           for everybody.                  578 00:29:04,709 --> 00:29:08,113  And after that again,            they get sick.                  579 00:29:08,179 --> 00:29:09,714    And at this point,            580 00:29:09,781 --> 00:29:14,786 the only common denominator left   was Pamela.                    581 00:29:15,820 --> 00:29:19,624 She was a suspect at this stage. 582 00:29:19,691 --> 00:29:24,062  We requested she takes          a polygraph examination.         583 00:29:24,129 --> 00:29:26,030    We're hoping at this stage      of the game                    584 00:29:26,097 --> 00:29:30,201  that her answers will indicate  deception or that she was lying. 585 00:29:30,268 --> 00:29:32,937   Then prompt her to confess.    586 00:29:33,004 --> 00:29:39,778    ♪♪                            587 00:29:40,545 --> 00:29:40,612    ♪                             588 00:29:40,612 --> 00:29:45,517    ♪♪                            589 00:29:45,583 --> 00:29:48,186    -Pamela Hartley has agreed       to take a polygraph test,     590 00:29:48,253 --> 00:29:51,055  and investigators hope          deceptive answers will lead her  591 00:29:51,122 --> 00:29:53,825    to confess to the             poisoning death of her husband,  592 00:29:53,892 --> 00:29:55,560 Lieutenant Lee Hartley.          593 00:29:55,627 --> 00:29:58,730  -Now, the polygraph initially     would have been administered   594 00:29:58,797 --> 00:30:04,536 by a licensed polygraph examiner   who was also an NCIS agent.    595 00:30:04,602 --> 00:30:08,640  -After analysis, investigators   received the results.           596 00:30:08,706 --> 00:30:11,509   -When she was asked             questions particularly related  597 00:30:11,576 --> 00:30:14,712   to the death of her husband,   598 00:30:14,779 --> 00:30:19,350   she, in her answers,           indicated no deception.          599 00:30:21,252 --> 00:30:23,121    -The results were             that she passed,                 600 00:30:23,188 --> 00:30:26,791    that she was not involved      in his death.                   601 00:30:27,826 --> 00:30:32,030 -If your primary suspect          passes the polygraph,           602 00:30:32,096 --> 00:30:34,632  that certainly creates            a roadblock                    603 00:30:34,699 --> 00:30:40,405    and a bit of a problem for    the investigators going forward. 604 00:30:41,739 --> 00:30:44,876   There are no                   more outstanding leads.          605 00:30:44,943 --> 00:30:47,345 There's no logical leads            to follow.                    606 00:30:47,412 --> 00:30:50,715  -Wasn't anything else             they could do at that point.   607 00:30:50,782 --> 00:30:53,484   -I was subsequently               transferred away.             608 00:30:53,551 --> 00:30:57,856    We went about our careers        and the case sits.            609 00:30:57,922 --> 00:30:59,490   -They're called going cold,    610 00:30:59,557 --> 00:31:03,194   but basically they're put on   the back burner.                 611 00:31:03,261 --> 00:31:05,496  -And I kept thinking about it,  612 00:31:05,563 --> 00:31:09,567   and my younger brother Art,       him and I went for a ride,    613 00:31:09,634 --> 00:31:13,404  and Art looked over at me and    said, "That bitch killed him."  614 00:31:13,471 --> 00:31:15,306 I said,                             "Why would she kill him?"     615 00:31:15,373 --> 00:31:16,808  And Art says, "I don't know."   616 00:31:16,875 --> 00:31:20,411   But he said,                   "That bitch killed him."         617 00:31:20,478 --> 00:31:22,013    -It had to be her.            618 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:24,015  But, you know,                     you can't prove anything.     619 00:31:24,082 --> 00:31:29,053 You just have to wait on the law   to prove who did it.           620 00:31:31,522 --> 00:31:35,193 -13 years pass,                   and the case remains untouched  621 00:31:35,260 --> 00:31:37,896   until a new directive begins   to make its way                  622 00:31:37,962 --> 00:31:42,033 through law-enforcement agencies   across the country.            623 00:31:42,100 --> 00:31:45,904    -The NCIS gets interested      in cold cases,                  624 00:31:45,970 --> 00:31:50,341    as does my office,            and somebody from NCIS suggests, 625 00:31:50,408 --> 00:31:52,176  "Hey, let's look at this one."  626 00:31:52,243 --> 00:31:55,280 Is this something that there is  a reasonably good chance         627 00:31:55,346 --> 00:31:57,782  that we possibly can resolve?   628 00:31:57,849 --> 00:31:59,918 There was just so much evidence. 629 00:31:59,984 --> 00:32:03,121 It just seemed like a good case. 630 00:32:03,187 --> 00:32:05,256   Lieutenant Hartley deserved    better.                          631 00:32:05,323 --> 00:32:07,725 He died a very,                    very painful death.            632 00:32:07,792 --> 00:32:12,363  And he really deserved             our trying to resolve it.     633 00:32:13,431 --> 00:32:16,467    The case involving             the investigation of the death  634 00:32:16,534 --> 00:32:22,273   of Lee Hartley was reopened     in September of 1995.           635 00:32:22,340 --> 00:32:23,808  -My brother Wilbur called me.   636 00:32:23,875 --> 00:32:28,012  He said that they was opening      the case.                     637 00:32:28,079 --> 00:32:31,582    I said, "Oh, man,             I hope they find out who did it, 638 00:32:31,649 --> 00:32:36,254    and I hope they pay dearly      for what they did."            639 00:32:37,288 --> 00:32:38,756   -The investigators,            640 00:32:38,823 --> 00:32:41,092  both from NCIS                    and from my office,            641 00:32:41,159 --> 00:32:43,361 as well as from                   the medical examiner,           642 00:32:43,428 --> 00:32:45,129 pretty much start from scratch.  643 00:32:45,196 --> 00:32:46,864   They go through everything.    644 00:32:46,931 --> 00:32:50,168 They also, at that point, start  looking at where are the people? 645 00:32:50,234 --> 00:32:51,769  So particularly in this case,   646 00:32:51,836 --> 00:32:53,938 where was Pamela Hartley          at that point?                  647 00:32:54,005 --> 00:32:55,573  Where was she living?           648 00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:59,110  What had happened in her life   since that time?                 649 00:32:59,177 --> 00:33:03,214 She had returned                   to her hometown in Georgia.    650 00:33:03,281 --> 00:33:05,316   Once they determined            where she was,                  651 00:33:05,383 --> 00:33:08,987    they began a surveillance      to determine what she's doing.  652 00:33:09,053 --> 00:33:11,589 Is she working?                    Anything like that.            653 00:33:11,656 --> 00:33:15,927  Her life had not taken             necessarily the best turn.    654 00:33:15,994 --> 00:33:18,930   She had received some money      after her husband had died,    655 00:33:18,997 --> 00:33:20,631  but I believe she was             unemployed.                    656 00:33:20,698 --> 00:33:22,600   I think she was living with      her mother.                    657 00:33:22,667 --> 00:33:26,104  And it turned out she had had   some drug and alcohol problems,  658 00:33:26,170 --> 00:33:29,474  which that's something           that we look at in these cases  659 00:33:29,540 --> 00:33:31,309  because does that mean          660 00:33:31,376 --> 00:33:35,246    that somebody might now be     ready to confess to something?  661 00:33:35,313 --> 00:33:37,615   Or was that                      why she had these problems?    662 00:33:37,682 --> 00:33:40,151   Because she was living with       the guilt.                    663 00:33:40,218 --> 00:33:42,453   -Investigators keep            a close watch on Pamela          664 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:45,089 and comb through                  original evidence sealed away   665 00:33:45,156 --> 00:33:47,225    for over a decade.            666 00:33:47,291 --> 00:33:48,526 Pamela's polygraph test,         667 00:33:48,593 --> 00:33:50,461 the one in which                 she showed no deception,         668 00:33:50,528 --> 00:33:52,830 is closely scrutinized.          669 00:33:52,897 --> 00:33:57,335 -The Technical Services          Division at headquarters         670 00:33:57,402 --> 00:34:00,104   re-examines                     the polygraph results           671 00:34:00,171 --> 00:34:05,176   and determines that initial      determination was in error.    672 00:34:06,444 --> 00:34:10,048   And in fact,                     it was inconclusive.           673 00:34:10,114 --> 00:34:14,652  She had not failed it,             but she had not passed it.    674 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:16,487   -Once we determined            675 00:34:16,554 --> 00:34:18,623   that the original polygraph      might have been interpreted    676 00:34:18,689 --> 00:34:22,560 incorrectly, it was one factor.  677 00:34:22,627 --> 00:34:26,798  It wasn't everything,           but it did take away from that,  678 00:34:26,864 --> 00:34:28,766 "Wait a minute.                  She passed a polygraph.          679 00:34:28,833 --> 00:34:31,702  So are we on the right track?"  680 00:34:32,904 --> 00:34:35,706  -So during the course            of the initial investigation,   681 00:34:35,773 --> 00:34:37,608    many, many people                were interviewed.             682 00:34:37,675 --> 00:34:39,444   People on the ship,            683 00:34:39,510 --> 00:34:42,947   people who knew Pam, people     who knew Lee, family members.   684 00:34:43,014 --> 00:34:44,749  And one of the family members   685 00:34:44,816 --> 00:34:47,652 that would have been interviewed  was Pamela's brother,           686 00:34:47,718 --> 00:34:51,489   and initially he did            not indicate anything unusual.  687 00:34:51,556 --> 00:34:53,357    When the cold-case people     go back                          688 00:34:53,424 --> 00:34:56,427  and do the interviews             as they do,                    689 00:34:56,494 --> 00:34:59,397    they reinterview Pamela's     brother                          690 00:34:59,464 --> 00:35:03,101    and at this point,               his story changes.            691 00:35:04,268 --> 00:35:06,070   Now he says                    692 00:35:06,137 --> 00:35:09,874  Pamela approached him           to be a hit man                  693 00:35:09,941 --> 00:35:12,543  and kill her husband.           694 00:35:12,610 --> 00:35:16,614   -And he tells investigators    the whole sordid story.          695 00:35:16,681 --> 00:35:18,950 Pamela told him she was unhappy  696 00:35:19,016 --> 00:35:21,752    and wanted                    Lieutenant Hartley dead.         697 00:35:21,819 --> 00:35:25,022 She offered Fred a share           of the life insurance money    698 00:35:25,089 --> 00:35:26,657    if he would do it.            699 00:35:26,724 --> 00:35:29,460 Pamela said they                 were going to poison her husband 700 00:35:29,527 --> 00:35:31,095    while he was on the ship.     701 00:35:31,162 --> 00:35:33,631   Fred wanted no part in this.   702 00:35:33,698 --> 00:35:35,266   He refused to help.            703 00:35:35,333 --> 00:35:37,201    -Fred tells investigators       he's worried                   704 00:35:37,268 --> 00:35:40,972 that his sister may place blame     for Lee's poisoning on him    705 00:35:41,038 --> 00:35:43,040    now that the case has been       reopened.                     706 00:35:43,107 --> 00:35:45,543  But instead of taking             the fall for any involvement   707 00:35:45,610 --> 00:35:47,145  in the murder,                  708 00:35:47,211 --> 00:35:50,348 Fred makes a proposition          to save his own skin.           709 00:35:50,414 --> 00:35:51,983    -And he indicates to them     710 00:35:52,049 --> 00:35:54,585  that he's also willing             to testify to this            711 00:35:54,652 --> 00:35:56,854   against his sister.            712 00:35:56,921 --> 00:35:58,789 The NCIS agents realized         713 00:35:58,856 --> 00:36:01,893  that they have a good witness   now in Pamela's brother.         714 00:36:01,959 --> 00:36:04,896    -Investigators plan to use      Pamela's brother's admission   715 00:36:04,962 --> 00:36:09,667 against her for leverage to see     if her story will change.     716 00:36:09,734 --> 00:36:12,170    -They know                       that this has been a case     717 00:36:12,236 --> 00:36:15,773  that was unsolved technically      for years,                    718 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:20,178  and they are not going to have     a million chances             719 00:36:20,244 --> 00:36:21,779   to close this case.            720 00:36:21,846 --> 00:36:24,882  They're probably going to have    one chance.                    721 00:36:25,983 --> 00:36:27,518    Pamela has already               been interrogated             722 00:36:27,585 --> 00:36:29,120   earlier in the case.           723 00:36:29,187 --> 00:36:30,588   She's already taken            a polygraph earlier in the case. 724 00:36:30,655 --> 00:36:32,290   She's gone on with her life,   725 00:36:32,356 --> 00:36:36,561  and they're going to approach   her now                          726 00:36:36,627 --> 00:36:38,729  and try to talk to her again.   727 00:36:40,665 --> 00:36:42,533 -Investigators have one goal --  728 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:45,102  to induce a murder confession     from Pamela,                   729 00:36:45,169 --> 00:36:46,971   as it may be their only path    toward getting                  730 00:36:47,038 --> 00:36:50,441 a conviction and justice           for Lieutenant Lee Hartley.    731 00:36:50,508 --> 00:36:53,477    They sit down with Pamela     at her mother's home in Georgia, 732 00:36:53,544 --> 00:36:58,249 and what she tells investigators is the last thing they expected. 733 00:36:58,316 --> 00:37:05,856  -During her interrogation, she  confesses to the killing of Lee. 734 00:37:05,923 --> 00:37:11,963    ♪♪                            735 00:37:12,930 --> 00:37:12,997    ♪                             736 00:37:12,997 --> 00:37:17,802    ♪♪                            737 00:37:17,868 --> 00:37:20,771 -Pamela Hartley has just stunned  investigators                   738 00:37:20,838 --> 00:37:22,840  and confessed                      to poisoning her husband,     739 00:37:22,907 --> 00:37:26,377 Lieutenant Lee Hartley,           with arsenic.                   740 00:37:26,444 --> 00:37:29,947 -Pamela Hartley,                   according to her statement,    741 00:37:30,014 --> 00:37:33,284    bought rat poison             at a feed store                  742 00:37:33,351 --> 00:37:37,288 where you could buy feed          for animals but also poisons.   743 00:37:37,355 --> 00:37:40,992  So she bought this rat poison,     which did contain arsenic.    744 00:37:41,058 --> 00:37:46,397  And then she would administer     spoonfuls in the baked goods   745 00:37:46,464 --> 00:37:47,965    that she sent him.            746 00:37:48,032 --> 00:37:50,301  Then once he got home,           in his meals.                   747 00:37:50,368 --> 00:37:52,470    -Even when he was             in the hospital,                 748 00:37:52,536 --> 00:37:57,008  Pamela would go and visit him      and mix some of the poison    749 00:37:57,074 --> 00:38:00,978  into the juice                  that she was helping him drink.  750 00:38:01,045 --> 00:38:04,715    -At that point, it became       obvious he was going to die.   751 00:38:04,782 --> 00:38:07,218   She realized she had             some evidence there,           752 00:38:07,285 --> 00:38:12,423    so she emptied it               and put it in a nearby lake.   753 00:38:12,490 --> 00:38:16,494 Later, NCIS sent                 investigators or divers.         754 00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:19,463 They were never able to find it. 755 00:38:20,965 --> 00:38:22,600  -It's my understanding             that at one point,            756 00:38:22,667 --> 00:38:24,835  she also said                      that the reason she did it    757 00:38:24,902 --> 00:38:27,305  is that she didn't want to be   married to Lee anymore.          758 00:38:27,371 --> 00:38:30,441  Even though their marriage was  of such short duration.          759 00:38:30,508 --> 00:38:32,877 -He was talking                     about leaving the military    760 00:38:32,943 --> 00:38:34,545    and she didn't want that.     761 00:38:34,612 --> 00:38:38,149    She enjoyed being the wife      of a naval officer,            762 00:38:38,215 --> 00:38:42,286   having the prestige,            the benefits of that.           763 00:38:42,353 --> 00:38:47,491    -And so, rather than hurt      his feelings and divorce him,   764 00:38:47,558 --> 00:38:51,595 she decided to simply kill him.  765 00:38:51,662 --> 00:38:54,532 -She experienced divorce            in her own family.            766 00:38:54,598 --> 00:38:56,667   She knows how painful it is.   767 00:38:56,734 --> 00:39:02,306  And so somehow she was sparing  him by killing him with arsenic. 768 00:39:02,373 --> 00:39:04,008  Just the fact                   769 00:39:04,075 --> 00:39:07,111 that she was witnessing          what he was going through daily  770 00:39:07,178 --> 00:39:11,182  for her to say, "Hey, I don't     know what death feels like,    771 00:39:11,248 --> 00:39:13,150  but I know divorce isn't fun,"  772 00:39:13,217 --> 00:39:15,820    is just one of the            most bizarre confessions         773 00:39:15,886 --> 00:39:19,323   I've had in my entire career   as a prosecutor.                 774 00:39:20,791 --> 00:39:23,194 -She killed a good man.          775 00:39:23,260 --> 00:39:25,696    It just didn't make sense.    776 00:39:25,763 --> 00:39:30,901  -You never think that someone    that he loved would hurt him.   777 00:39:30,968 --> 00:39:33,371    You know?                     778 00:39:33,437 --> 00:39:35,740  But when we found out           that it was her,                 779 00:39:35,806 --> 00:39:38,743 Mom was just devastated.         780 00:39:38,809 --> 00:39:44,215    -On March 2, 1996,              14 years after Lee's death,    781 00:39:44,281 --> 00:39:46,217   Pamela Hartley was arrested    782 00:39:46,283 --> 00:39:50,121   and charged                       with first-degree murder.     783 00:39:50,187 --> 00:39:52,423 -Unfortunately,                  in this particular case,         784 00:39:52,490 --> 00:39:54,558   we had evidentiary problems.   785 00:39:54,625 --> 00:39:58,496    In order to go in front of       a jury and prove this case    786 00:39:58,562 --> 00:40:00,865    and introduce the evidence      of the hair                    787 00:40:00,931 --> 00:40:04,335 and the arsenic,                  which laid out the whole case,  788 00:40:04,402 --> 00:40:06,837   the public defender              who represented her            789 00:40:06,904 --> 00:40:09,573    would have had to have an     opportunity to have it examined, 790 00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:12,009 have his own expert examine it.  791 00:40:12,076 --> 00:40:18,449   Because the hair was used up   in the initial testing,          792 00:40:18,516 --> 00:40:19,784 it didn't exist.                 793 00:40:19,850 --> 00:40:21,719  And so therefore, the only way  794 00:40:21,786 --> 00:40:24,188  to have brought that evidence      in front of a jury            795 00:40:24,255 --> 00:40:27,425   would have been Lee Hartley     would have had to be exhumed.   796 00:40:27,491 --> 00:40:31,195  The family was adamant            that they did not want that,   797 00:40:31,262 --> 00:40:33,030    and that's understandable.    798 00:40:33,097 --> 00:40:35,633   And their thing was,            well, they're getting closure,  799 00:40:35,699 --> 00:40:38,402  which is very, very important.  800 00:40:40,538 --> 00:40:43,340  -On October 16, 1996,           801 00:40:43,407 --> 00:40:46,777  Pamela pleaded guilty           to second-degree murder          802 00:40:46,844 --> 00:40:48,479    in a Florida state court,     803 00:40:48,546 --> 00:40:52,550  and she was sentenced            to 40 years in prison.          804 00:40:52,616 --> 00:40:55,853  Since the crime occurred back   in 1982,                         805 00:40:55,920 --> 00:41:00,124 Pamela was subject to the rules  of sentencing and parole         806 00:41:00,191 --> 00:41:05,129  based on the laws at the time     the crime occurred.            807 00:41:05,196 --> 00:41:09,467    -And she ended up spending    14 years                         808 00:41:09,533 --> 00:41:11,735 and her mother got sick          809 00:41:11,802 --> 00:41:15,473   and they let her out           for humanitarian reasons         810 00:41:15,539 --> 00:41:20,077 to go so she could help           her mother while she was bad.   811 00:41:20,144 --> 00:41:21,846    I mean, he didn't go easy.    812 00:41:21,912 --> 00:41:27,551  Lee went out hard, and           she had to be so hard-hearted   813 00:41:27,618 --> 00:41:30,154    to do something like that.    814 00:41:30,221 --> 00:41:35,826  Watch him and give him             last dose in the hospital.    815 00:41:35,893 --> 00:41:37,661    It just...                    816 00:41:37,728 --> 00:41:39,663 It made no sense to me.          817 00:41:39,730 --> 00:41:42,633    -The sad thing is,            818 00:41:42,700 --> 00:41:47,571 is that both lives and the lives  of their family get destroyed,  819 00:41:47,638 --> 00:41:51,275 and all she would have had to do   is simply walk away.           820 00:41:52,643 --> 00:41:54,178 Just walk away.                  821 00:41:56,847 --> 00:42:00,818 -And there was no reason          even for Lee to even be dead.   822 00:42:02,486 --> 00:42:04,688   Whenever people kill            somebody else,                  823 00:42:04,755 --> 00:42:08,259 it's not just the person         you're killing,                  824 00:42:08,325 --> 00:42:10,227  it's the whole family.          825 00:42:10,294 --> 00:42:12,963 It does leave a big void         826 00:42:13,030 --> 00:42:15,232 because you just                    don't ever get over that.     827 00:42:15,299 --> 00:42:18,202    Because you always               think about that.             828 00:42:18,269 --> 00:42:21,939   I think that people            would love him if they knew him, 829 00:42:22,006 --> 00:42:24,041  talked to him.                  830 00:42:24,108 --> 00:42:29,947   What a kind, gentle, loving    brother he was.                  831 00:42:30,014 --> 00:42:31,815 And we miss him.