[Kenda] Laurel, Maryland, a suburban community
between Baltimore and Washington, DC.
Laurel still has a small town, kind of a Mayberry-like feel to it.
Everybody knows everybody.
[Kenda] Anne Donnelly, who is a private care nurse, is reporting for duty.
Her charge is a 26-year-old Jasmine Gilbert, who suffers from cerebral palsy.
Hello? It's Anne.
[doorbell rings]
Hello?
This is extremely unusual.
She expects to be greeted as she usually is. "Oh, good morning, Anne."
But the place is quiet, very, very quiet.
Hello?
She goes to the back door, the patio door.
Tina?
[Kenda] The door's unlocked.
James?
Tina?
And no one answers her calls.
James?
And then she was the one that found the bodies and found this horrific,
bloody scene in the bedroom.
[Anne screams]
[siren wailing]
When first responders arrive, they walk into a monstrous scene.
Jasmine's mother, 45-year-old Tina Towler is dead on the bedroom floor,
along with 42-year-old James Ferguson.
The bedroom is chaos, and back, tucked off beyond the bed,
is another bed with covers.
[suspenseful music playing]
And that's when they discovered Jasmine Gilbert.
[opening theme music playing]
I spent my career closing murder cases.
But I'm not the only one who answered the call.
It takes a rare breed to solve the unsolvable,
to catch a ruthless killer, to find justice for the dead.
That's what it takes to be an American detective.
My name is Joseph Bellino.
I've been with the Prince George's County Police since 2007.
This was my second homicide case.
The first case I got was, um... We closed it within 48 hours.
It wasn't a difficult case, but I told my sergeant that I wanted more of a challenge.
He said, "Be careful for what you ask for." [chuckles]
It was a nice spring morning.
I was driving into work.
It's just after 8:00 in the morning.
Dispatch to Detective Bellino.
Go for Bellino.
And they called me and said that there had been two bodies found
at a residence in Laurel.
[indistinct police radio chatter]
[siren wailing]
When it comes to investigating a case,
I want to live and die by my own hand.
So, for me, getting to the scene of the crime
and to be involved in the decisions is essential.
[Kenda] Detective Bellino's informed
there is a 26-year-old cerebral palsy patient, who is apparently unharmed.
There's no visible injury to this girl,
but they still had her removed to be medically examined.
But her mother, Tina Towler, and her boyfriend, James Ferguson,
are dead on the bedroom floor.
[Dana Daniels] Tina and I were best friends.
My husband and I end up moving into the same neighborhood,
and that's probably how our friendship evolved.
We would bring the kids together, do cookies for Christmas time.
I taught her how to drive a stick shift. [laughs]
[Jerome Spencer] James had a large and very dynamic family.
Everybody described somebody who was just fun to be around.
Just a good person to hang out with.
Somebody who would always welcome you into his apartment at any time
[indistinct police radio chatter]
[Bellino] When you initially enter the apartment,
there was a living space, dining room table, kitchen.
There was several beer cans that were on the coffee table.
Outside of that, everything appeared in order.
There was no signs of a struggle.
Once you got inside the bedroom, you could see that
a serious altercation had occurred there.
[Kenda] This is a very violent crime scene,
blood spatter on the walls, on the floor, and great deal of blood every place.
I noticed the door to the bedroom was damaged where the lock would be.
[Jonathon Church] So the thought was that somebody had kicked in that bedroom door.
We could see blood spatter on the ceiling
and just the brutal nature of the attacks on both of them.
[camera shutters clicking]
[Bellino] There were pots. There were pans.
There was a vase that had been shattered, broken, on either sides of the bedroom.
Must have been one hell of a struggle.
[indistinct police radio chatter]
[Bellino] And then there were these two bodies.
[dramatic music plays]
Tina was found at the foot of the bed.
She had multiple stab wounds to her back,
the lower back area.
Her face had been heavily beaten,
And he is immediately struck by something very unusual.
She had the imprint of what looked like "EVE" on her forehead.
[Spencer] One of the first images I remember that would never leave
my mind is looking at Tina's body and to see the letters imprinted on her forehead.
That's a critical piece of evidence, but what does that mean?
Next to her on the floor, flat on his back, is James Ferguson.
He had multiple sharp force injuries, stab wounds, to his hands and chest,
upper body.
[Kenda] He's also wearing a leather pouch on his belt,
the type that's worn that contains a knife.
That pouch is empty, and the snap closure is open.
So did that knife somehow become involved in this offence?
When you have a boyfriend, girlfriend dead in a home or in a residence, it means,
you always have to examine whether it's a possibility it's a murder-suicide.
[Kenda] But Bellino looks at these bodies and notices immediately
that can't be true.
Mr. Ferguson has extreme blunt trauma injuries to his face.
He didn't beat himself up.
Tina Towler has the same thing.
They were both attacked by someone else.
This is a double homicide.
I'd never seen a case like that.
This was a horrible, horrible killing
[Bellino] When we continued to look
through the apartment in a bathroom that was just adjacent to their bedroom,
there was a knife that was unfolded
that was in the sink next to a bar of soap.
We also found a towel nearby.
That knife came from the sheath that's carried on Mr. Ferguson's waist.
Did he pull that knife to try to defend himself
and it was taken away from him
and then used against him?
It's likely that's true.
[Bellino] The problem is that in any bathroom, and in this one,
there's soap, there's water, and there is a way for that evidence
to then be disinfected, cleaned and then sent down the drain and destroyed.
[Kenda] There is nothing apparently missing, no ransacking in the other rooms,
no open drawers, no searched-through purses, none of that.
None of that the purpose of this event is murder. Nothing else.
[male reporter] The victims, 45-year-old Tina Towler and her boyfriend,
42-year-old James Ferguson, found beaten and stabbed to death
in the bedroom of their apartment in Laurel.
Police say they found no sign of forced entry.
The victim's daughter wasn't hurt. [sucks teeth]
She is a witness to the crime, and she is now in the care
and custody of the State of Maryland.
[Kevin Leonard] We hear about murders all the time, you know,
in the state and in the region.
The fact that her daughter was there and witnessed it,
and, you know, in her physical condition,
it really put a tragic, sad twist on the whole thing.
[Church] When Jasmine was born,
she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and given three months to live.
Obviously, at the time of this double homicide,
she had outlived those expectations.
[siren wailing]
[Kenda] Unfortunately, Jasmine has a very severe form of cerebral palsy.
Ultimately, it results in a person who is incapable of walking, standing, sitting.
It is a terrible disease.
[monitors beeping]
Nurse Anne Donnelly is there at the hospital and says she's fine.
She's not hurt.
[Bellino] Anne Donnelly and the other nurses were a select a group of women
who had cared for her for a long period of time.
[Kenda] So they had an afternoon nurse until 9:30 or so at night,
and then the first thing the next morning,
they would have a day nurse that would come in.
So between 9:30 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. is the time this crime occurred.
I can't imagine what she went through.
Definitely, the trauma doesn't just stop, you know,
with the witnessing of the horrific event,
Not, you know, knowing why you're being taken out of your home
and then put in this hospital,
not knowing who these doctors and nurses are,
it could cause even more stress for her.
[Kenda] He asks, "Do you think she could understand me if I ask her something?"
Donnelly says, "I don't think so. You can try."
This child is nonverbal...
[Bellino] But she connects in other ways?
Yes.
She knows voices.
So if you go in and you say, "Hey, Jazzy-jazz, how you doing?
And she would smile, and she would start to laugh.
She just loved music.
Tina sang to her a lot, so she liked for her mom to sing to her.
[Church] Because she was in that room and it was evident
that this all took place right there in front of her.
So what did she know?
Our goal was to try to figure out what did she see?
Jazzy, honey, it's Anne.
You're in a hospital.
Jazzy honey...
It was always in the back of my mind, you know,
how had this affected her? Would she be able to communicate?
[Kenda] The only person who saw, or potentially saw anything is Jasmine.
So, it's critical that Bellino makes every attempt
to try to get information from her.
She is the ultimate loose end.
[reporter] Tina Towler and her boyfriend, James Ferguson,
were found beaten and stabbed to death in their bedroom after a home nurse
arrived to care for Towler's severely disabled daughter Jasmine.
The daughter was in a location where it would be reasonable
that she would, uh, have been... Either have had witnessed
the homicide or a portion thereof.
[Church] We knew Jasmine was in the room when both James and Tina were murdered.
And our goal was to try to figure out, what did she see?
What does she know about it?
Jazzy, honey, you're safe now, okay?
This nice man wants to ask you some questions.
[Kenda] But does she understand what she's being asked?
An eyewitness certainly can be extremely useful
As a cerebral palsy patient
in terrible physical condition,
how useful that may be remains to be seen.
[Anne] Jazzy, we have to know what happened last night.
Did you see who hurt your mom?
[suspenseful music playing]
[Bellino] It was disappointing to know that somebody who was present during the crime
is not gonna be able to give us information
that we really need.
I'm sorry.
I just don't think she understands.
Let's just let her rest for now. I can come back later.
The fact that Jasmine was left alive was an indicator
to us that the individual who killed James and Tina knew of her condition
and did not kill her
because they knew that she would never be able to tell.
Obviously, we had a large contingent of officers
who assisted with the neighborhood canvass
to knock on doors, speak to all the neighbors,
and from speaking to witnesses in the case,
we learned that Jay Towler is Tina Towler's ex-husband.
[Kenda] The officer says he spoke to a neighbor who noticed that the ex-husband
was standing in the crowd outside the crime scene.
Now, that's kind of odd.
Why did you not contact the police if you're concerned about the victim?
So, Jay Towler is invited to come for an interview with the police department.
Any time you have a crime like this,
you have a woman who was murdered,
you have her boyfriend who's murdered,
There's potential that this could be
some type of love triangle gone bad.
One of Jasmine's nurses called and said
that Mr. James and Miss Tina aren't responsive.
So I told my boss I had to go and I left.
You couldn't get close.
They had it all blocked off.
Just a lot of people around cameras,
TV cameras, and so forth.
Police would say, "Well, we're gonna
"take you down. We have some questions for you
"down the police station."
When the crime is wide open,
everybody's a suspect.
I certainly interviewed him that way.
So you were not in the apartment last night old?
No! I already told you.
I told detective I wouldn't do nothing like that.
It was like Mike Tyson hit me in my stomach.
I was... crushed.
He seemed to be truly emotional
and distraught over her death
and came off as somebody who wanted to be helpful
in any way he could.
I met Tina on the subway
and she was struggling with Jasmine.
I gave her hand with Jasmine
and we kind of talked a little bit.
and I got her number, and so forth.
And eventually, we got together.
Got married later on.
Me, Tina, Jay, and my husband,
we started taking vacations together, so we did cruises.
The families just merged.
So he asked Towler to explain to him
what caused her marriage to break up.
When we had a child, Michael,
Michael, at two years old,
he was diagnosed with a paddle blastoma.
And he passed at three years old.
And the sudden death of their child.
It changed the trajectory
of her life, and their marriage.
Mr. Towler explained
that she was overwhelmed emotionally
and they drifted apart as a result.
Maybe we couldn't live together.
That didn't mean we didn't care for each other.
I always would check on her and Jasmine,
you know what I mean?
He had no hatred toward her.
They just didn't want to be married anymore.
And they got unmarried.
We have a second victim in this house.
What do you say about Mr. Ferguson?
James, he's seems like a decent person.
We got along real well.
And he would call me up. "Jay, come on over."
"I got dinner. Come on over."
So there was no animosity
toward his ex-wife or toward James ...
We still want an alibi and where were you
on the night this occurred?
I was at my regular job.
I went to fix the ... up in Ginsburg.
Then I was home after that.
He told me that he'd gotten home that evening.
Probably nine, ten o'clock.
He stayed there at the apartment,
watched some TV and went to sleep.
I didn't have no girlfriend
at the house and nothing like that.
And so I'm thinking now,
"Wow, this isn't a good alibi."
But it's the truth.
When I'd asked him for somebody
who could verify his whereabouts,
he said that Thurston Yerby, his roommate,
will be able to verify
that he, in fact, was at home that evening.
Mr. Yerby?
I'm calling in reference to Jay Towler.
Is there any way you can come down
to the station this afternoon?
When I initially spoke with Thurston,
he had left the Laurel area
and had gone to North Carolina
with his girlfriend
to visit some of her relatives.
And he confirms Mr. Towler's alibi
that he was home that night.
He remembers him coming home and he never left.
And Thurston Yerby further said
he'd be happy to come down
and make a written statement to that effect
when he returns from his trip.
Thurston, over the phone?
Confirmation isn't enough.
Detective Bellino's thorough on what he does.
He needs to have you
and he needs to have you interviewed.
Hey, the M.E. called. They're ready for you.
I always say I've seen enough death.
I'll be fine if I don't see anymore.
There's no way for us to escape
that really intimate exposure to death
that you have when you're in an autopsy.
It's important that you are somebody
who work with ghosts.
So what'd you find?
They both have alcohol in their systems.
I haven't seen anything this brutal in a long time.
James Ferguson's cause of death
were blunt force injuries
and multiple stabbing/cutting wounds.
I think he had somewhere near fifteen.
The coroner also told Bellino
that the knife found in the bathroom sink,
the folding knife from the sheath or pouch
on James Ferguson's waist,
is consistent with all of the wounds
and therefore is likely the murder weapon.
Tina Towler' cause of death was multiple injuries.
Mainly because there were so many different things
that were done to her.
Blunt force injuries, stabbing and cutting wounds.
And then the attempted asphyxiation as well.
It takes a certain type of individual
to strangle somebody.
You have that type of close, intimate contact.
This level of violence is not exhibited
by a stranger versus another stranger.
This is someone who knows them, who hates them.
But who's the intended victim here?
What do you make of that?
There is a word on the forehead of the victim.
E-V-E.
It was the indicator to us that extreme force
had been used to kill her.
Wait a minute.
I know what this is.
The victim's, 45-year-old Tina Len Towler
and 42-year-old James Bell Ferguson,
lived together in the apartment.
Detectives recovered multiple murder weapons from the scene,
including household items and a knife.
The exact motive for these murders
is still unknown.
When Bellino meets with the medical examiner,
he sees a mark on the forehead
that is actually a word.
It's E-V-E.
And we were able to determine
that those letters were on a flashlight
that was broken and found on scene at the crime,
And it was an Eveready flashlight.
She was so savagely beaten with with that flashlight
that part of the name
of the light was transferred to her forehead.
The fact that she had
all these blunt force injuries to her face,
to me, it was overkill.
Whatever happened to her was excessive.
What it shows is that the focus of the assault
was probably, primarily, on Tina Towler
What was really striking about this particular case
is the multiple instruments that are used.
The knife, flashlight,
the vase, the frying pan, the pot.
This is somebody who is clearly reacting
in rage that point.
He's determined to not just kill them
but seriously kill them.
At that point, there wasn't any one piece of evidence
that gave us a solid lead
that would clearly identify who was responsible for this.
There is always dead ends in murder cases,
and people think that's frustrating.
But by the same token,
you're eliminating what didn't happen.
It allows you to focus on what did happen.
At that point, the only eyewitness
was Tina's adult daughter, Jasmine.
Early on, I was informed
that Jasmine was non-communicative.
But I started to explore the possibility
that there are other individuals
who don't speak traditionally as we do,
but are able to communicate in other ways.
Bellino did a lot of research
before he attempted to contact Jasmine again.
He looked at medical research.
He talked to a team of people
who are familiar with this disease.
It's still clear to Bellino
that this is a nearly impossible task.
But he's willing to attempt it
because he doesn't have another option at the moment.
I initially thought that there was a possibility
that we could get some type
of non-verbal "yes or no" response.
At that point, she was at a home.
It wasn't quite a nursing home,
But they took care of adults with various disabilities.
Hi, Jasmine.
I'm Detective Bellino.
She smiled.
She gave signs of recognition
to the nurses when they entered the room.
And I attempted to talk to her.
So somebody was in your room that night.
Somebody hurt your mom and James real bad.
I think you saw what happened.
I looked at her in her eyes.
I looked at her hands, her head to just see
if I could in any way, get her to respond or acknowledge
that she understood the information
I was trying to relay to her.
Do you know who was in your room that night?
Jasmine, do you know who killed your mom?
Jasmine?
From everything that I could gather,
she was not understanding any of the information
I was attempting to present to her.
Thank you, Jasmine.
There was no indication
that she had any idea what he was talking about.
Bellino was forced to have reached the conclusion
that he no longer had an eyewitness.
Jasmine was incapable of providing him
with any information whatsoever.
So the case proceeds
as if she wasn't even in the room.
We needed a fresh look at this.
Forget what's happened so far and start over.
When your case kind of reaches an impasse, lots of times,
detectives will go back out and re-canvass the area.
And not just for evidence,
but also knocking on doors to see
who might have seen or heard anything.
You don't always find everybody the first time.
You contact every door again, see what happens.
Is this about the murders the other night?
I spoke with a resident of the building
who was able to give me some information
about the night that James and Tina were murdered.
And suddenly, a second canvas has produced
potentially, a very valuable witness.
Is this the lead we've been looking for?
So nothing has worked out in terms of leads.
And suddenly, a second canvas has produced potentially,
a very valuable witness.
She says that when she comes home
from work the night of the murders,
it was almost eleven o'clock at night.
She said that there was a large white SUV
that was outside the victim's apartment.
She hadn't seen it there before,
and there was a male sitting behind the wheel
with a baseball cap on,
smoking a cigarette.
He's within the time frame of when the murders occurred.
Whoever he may be.
So what is he doing?
Waiting for people to go to bed
so he can kill them? I don't know.
Thanks for your time. That's all we need.
We just thought it was unusual and suspicious.
Bellino's next move is to check in
with the forensics team.
DNA evidence was vital.
It's essential on us being able
to identify the killer.
I found some things you might be interested in.
And one thing that's of particular interest
is a garbage can found in Tina's kitchen.
There were several beer cans inside that trash can.
And then underneath,
what looked like a large white disposable cloth.
It turned out to be like a nurse's smock.
That's the evening nurse throwing it away
when she left at 9:30.
Those beer cans that were on top of the smock,
were placed there after she had left.
Some of the beer cans were compared
and determined to have the DNA of James Ferguson.
But there were other cans that had the DNA
of an unknown individual.
It's important that we recover DNA from everybody involved
or potentially involved in this crime.
Jay Towler is asked for a DNA sample,
which he freely offers.
I knew my DNA and stuff was there
'cause I'm there every day, checking on 'em.
But I give it to him anyway.
I don't have nothing to hide.
So he provided a DNA sample.
The one last thing that we had to do
to truly eliminate him was to interview an alibi witness.
That person was Thurston Yerby.
Thanks for coming in, Mr...
So Thurston Yerby drove to the police station,
came in that with me.
He was an electrician's who worked with Jay Towler.
Because of their work together and home remodeling,
they decided to get an apartment together.
And he confirms Mr. Towler's alibi.
He remembers him coming home, and he never left.
You mind if we get a DNA sample?
I asked Thurston if he was willing
to submit a sample of DNA
for the purpose of elimination.
I wasn't even certain that I was gonna take it
because he's just an alibi witness.
But I wanted to see his response.
It's not gonna be a problem, is it?
Yeah...
I'm gonna have to talk to my lawyer about that.
When a witness tells you they're not willing
to give a DNA sample,
it raises red flags.
Bellino knows this is something
to pay attention to because he's reacting.
The hair's standing up on the back of the neck.
He started to get uncomfortable
and I could tell he was nervous.
Is there any reason for your DNA or fingerprints
to be inside Miss Towler's apartment?
Nope.
You want one?
[Joe Kenda] So Bellino uses a standard technique and offers him a bottle of water.
He takes a drink.
If he leaves that behind, it's abandoned property
and they can test it for DNA and use it in the court.
-Do you mind? -Yeah, why don't we go outside?
When Yerby leaves, he takes that bottle with him
puts the cap on it, sticks it in his pocket.
I had never seen that where a suspect, uh,
understands and knows that they may be leaving DNA behind,
and then carries their trash in their pocket outside.
While we were outside, I continued to converse with him.
He said Jay Towler was a contractor, and there were occasions
where he would hire James Ferguson him as well as Thurston Yerby
to do some work for him in his contracting business.
So Thurston knew and was friendly with at least one if not both of the victims.
So you knew Tina and James through your roommate Jay.
But you hadn't been in the apartment recently.
That's right. I haven't.
And I'm watching him smoke the cigarette
all the way down to the last bit of tobacco.
Bellino is anxious to get his hands on the cigarette butt.
He then stuck the butt in his pocket, and I thought that this is very unusual.
He's leaving no trail behind him.
He's been coached by someone on how DNA can be obtained,
and he makes certain that two objects that contain it,
he's taking with him.
That makes Thurston Yerby a prime suspect,
but there's not enough there to lock him up. Not yet.
[Joe Kenda] So now it's a hurry up mode.
Now the chase begins.
They've got to get to people before Yerby does.
Detective Bellino starts having people look into the background of Mr. Yerby.
And people that knew him could tell he likes a party.
I don't know. Moody, I guess.
You guys talking about that murder?
Why do you ask?
Because I'm pretty sure he had a thing with that.
What?
We came across and spoke with another witness
who suspected that Thurston had had an affair with Tina.
They had gone to a hotel room several months prior
and had seen Thurston in a hotel room with Tina Towler in bed under the sheets.
And her boyfriend, James Ferguson, didn't know.
Well, now isn't that interesting?
So this is certainly something Belinda has not heard the Tina Towler now has a chance.
Romantic involvement with Thurston Yerby
It was a big break in the case.
The fact that someone we were just speaking with
as an alibi witness it was now being uncovered
was in fact, having a sexual relationship, was an affair with our victim.
So that was huge.
So it's all starting to come together.
But Bellino still does not have Yerby's DNA,
and you can't get it without his consent at this point.
But he does have his fingerprints because he has a record.
Detective Bellino looks into the evidence that was collected back in the house
and determines that the beer can that came out of the trash can has fingerprints on it.
What do you know?
The fingerprints recovered from the beer cans
were identified to be those of Thurston Lamont Yerby.
It proves that he was inside the residence after
the time that the nurses had left while he had told us and told me
he had never been inside the residence. That was a lie.
And that he was the last person who was inside that home
before the victims were murdered.
Now, we can't ask the judge to order him to give his DNA
just that you are hereby commanded to get a DNA sample of Mr. Thurston Yerby.
Or as they say in Ireland, you are [bleeped].
DNA doesn't lie.
DNA isn't influenced, and DNA isn't interpreted.
Either it matches or it doesn't.
And if it matches, Mr. Yerby has something he cannot explain.
After a protracted investigation of the deaths of James Ferguson and Tina Towler
Detective Bellino has arrived at a prime suspect Thurston.
We were able to get a warrant to obtain a sample of his DNA
to compare it against evidence in the scene of the crime.
Please have a seat right here, sir.
All right. Open your mouth, please sir.
What if I don't?
Mr. Yerby is cocky and confrontive.
It's like he's saying, catch me if you can.
He believes he's smarter than the police and he comes across that way.
Yes sir. You're free to go.
Don't leave town.
Bellino releases him pending the results of the DNA examination.
Fourteen out of fifteen illegals.
It's about as clear as it gets.
-So this is a match. -It's a match.
Thurston Yerby's DNA, is on a bloody tile on
a bathroom along with both victims DNA's.
His DNA is on a murder weapon, and his DNA is on the beer can in the trash can.
Thurston could deny all he wants.
The evidence is overwhelming, and it says otherwise.
He was culprit involved in these murders.
When they finally have their warrant in hand,
Yerby understands he's been looked for.
He knows they'll find out evidence,
particularly after they took that DNA sample.
So he's a little elusive at the moment.
Way need to get him in custody.
We didn't want a high speed chase or some type of incident
out for the danger of the community.
I just pulled into the elementary school.
We'll find him at the school where his girlfriend works.
It's definitely a dangerous situation.
He is bringing himself and stopping at a location
that has large amounts of small children.
If he moves, they're going to follow him away from the school.
Stop him and arrest him.
But they want those kids out of there and gone before they try anything.
And they do. They wait till the kids come out.
[school bell rings]
The kids leave the area. He's still sitting here.
I don't know what he's doing there, but that's where he is.
Let's move.
Put your hands out.
Stand up. Face away from me.
Walk backwards. Stop. Lay down on your face!
Thurston Yerby.
You have the right to remain silent. If you give up the right to remain silent...
We were fortunately able to get in in custody
without anyone really coming to aware of it.
But, he says in his same cocky I know everything manner.
You got one chance to convict me, and if you don't, I'm walking.
The suspect wanted for the murders of a couple in Laurel is now in police custody.
The Prince George's County Police Department obtain a warrant on Wednesday
charging 47 year old Thurston Lamont Yerby
of Laurel with first degree murder.
There is a sense of satisfaction when you solve a case like this.
The detectives put a lot of hard work into this case, and it is, um very satisfying.
what I believe happened that night is Thurston Yerby
wanted to have sex that evening.
He had had a relationship with Tina Towler at one point before
and he went by the house because he had been there before
and he knew where it was.
[doorbell rings]
What are you doing here?
-Hey baby. -Hey, man. Long time no see.
-What was going on bro? -Huh? Nothing. Come on in.
Have a drink.
And it seems that Tina Towler and James Ferguson may have let them come in.
I believe that he drank beer with James Ferguson
and played it off as if he was there just to socially spend time and hang out.
It looks like at some point when James Ferguson
went into the bathroom, that Thurston Yerby attempted
to take advantage of that time.
[Tina screaming] James!
[James] What the hell are you doing?
James Ferguson probably pulled out the knife that he carries on his belt
and Thurston Yerby who was stronger and bigger.
than James Ferguson disarmed him.
[screams and cries]
Killed James Ferguson, stabbed him to death
and then realized that he could not leave a witness.
So after killing James, he decided to kill Tina.
In my opinion first, Yerby pulled
bedsheet over Jasmine's head so she couldn't see what was happening.
Thurston Yerby went to the bathroom,
cleaned himself up, cleaned off as much blood as he could
and decided not to kill Jasmine because he knew that Jasmine
was never going to be able to communicate.
He got in this vehicle left.
Thurston Yerby was convicted on two counts of second degree murder.
He's serving two 30 year sentences consecutively
at Jessup Correctional Institution.
My brother would look out, and help anyone knowing
that he's very respectful. And he's gonna be truly
rightfully missed.
I want to remember Tina as the person that I knew her
as the sweet,
bubbly, loving, caring, giving person.
[Jay] I know that Tina wanted to be with Michael,
so hopefully that's where she got to because that was our heart.
So there are many tragedies to this case.
A problem with it is it that lingers with me so many years later, not just as to
what happened to Tina and James, but what Jasmine
must have been feeling, experiencing.
She became a word of the state and wound up in a state facility hospital.
I hope that Jasmine can find peace and have an understanding
of the lengths that we went to to get justice for her and for her mother.
Detective Bellino is representative of every
homicide detective in this country.
People who do the work because they find it to be important.
You do it for the victims and their families
because nobody else is ever going to.