1 00:00:32,665 --> 00:00:35,467 AUTOMATED VOICE: Thursday 2:19 a.m. 2 00:00:43,543 --> 00:00:45,044 MAN: Minutes before she was kidnapped, 3 00:00:45,078 --> 00:00:46,845 Morton used a cell phone to report 4 00:00:46,913 --> 00:00:49,481 someone had just rear-ended her -- police found her car 5 00:00:49,549 --> 00:00:51,150 running, her purse inside, 6 00:00:51,217 --> 00:00:53,585 but they did not find Morton. 7 00:01:12,439 --> 00:01:16,341 [theme music playing] 8 00:01:22,248 --> 00:01:25,517 MAN: There's this thing inside of me, it's like... 9 00:01:25,552 --> 00:01:26,518 the appetite. 10 00:01:26,586 --> 00:01:28,087 It's like a wolf that's... 11 00:01:28,154 --> 00:01:32,424 filling... the hunger. 12 00:01:32,492 --> 00:01:37,162 ♪ 13 00:01:38,698 --> 00:01:41,800 MAN: Amanda's family contacted news media Thursday morning 14 00:01:41,868 --> 00:01:43,268 and gave them Amanda's picture. 15 00:01:43,336 --> 00:01:46,505 Investigators got their break when a motel owner in 16 00:01:46,573 --> 00:01:48,340 Camden County saw her picture on 17 00:01:48,408 --> 00:01:50,776 the five o'clock news and called police. 18 00:01:50,844 --> 00:01:54,480 He said Amanda and a man in a pickup checked into his motel. 19 00:01:54,547 --> 00:01:56,615 That led police to St. Clair County, 20 00:01:56,683 --> 00:01:58,584 to the home of David Zink. 21 00:03:21,401 --> 00:03:24,269 BERRILL: He can play the easygoing nice guy. 22 00:03:24,337 --> 00:03:29,107 He uses that kind of calm, cool persona to move 23 00:03:29,175 --> 00:03:34,046 his plans along and seems to do so with pretty good success. 24 00:03:34,113 --> 00:03:36,381 SAHNI: Amanda just happened to be in 25 00:03:36,449 --> 00:03:38,417 the wrong place at the wrong time. 26 00:03:38,484 --> 00:03:40,252 I have no doubt that he lulled her 27 00:03:40,286 --> 00:03:42,654 into going with him, because he was charming. 28 00:03:42,722 --> 00:03:45,757 We, as humans, are socialized to believe that people who 29 00:03:45,825 --> 00:03:48,560 are humorous are likeable, and people who are likable 30 00:03:48,595 --> 00:03:49,928 are trustworthy. 31 00:03:49,996 --> 00:03:52,297 So it's a really unfortunate reality that 32 00:03:52,365 --> 00:03:54,800 he was able to exploit as a psychopath 33 00:03:54,867 --> 00:03:57,069 that assumption we make as humans. 34 00:03:57,103 --> 00:04:00,038 DERIGHT: He is not perceiving people as other human beings. 35 00:04:00,106 --> 00:04:02,374 He's seeing them as objects, in this case, 36 00:04:02,442 --> 00:04:03,642 that are in his way -- to me, 37 00:04:03,710 --> 00:04:05,877 the Zink case is all about self-preservation. 38 00:04:05,945 --> 00:04:07,879 He's gonna do whatever it takes 39 00:04:07,947 --> 00:04:11,516 to preserve himself being out of prison. 40 00:04:56,863 --> 00:04:58,096 Assuming this did actually happen, 41 00:04:58,131 --> 00:05:02,934 it gives you the sense that he was not in any way afraid. 42 00:05:03,002 --> 00:05:06,638 He was not in any way unsure about what he was doing. 43 00:05:06,706 --> 00:05:10,442 He was making jokes with the cashier. 44 00:05:10,510 --> 00:05:13,945 He's self-assured, he keeps his cool, 45 00:05:14,013 --> 00:05:18,216 he's got the persona down pat of being, you know, like a good 46 00:05:18,284 --> 00:05:20,686 old boy, and everything is under control, 47 00:05:20,753 --> 00:05:22,287 and that's -- that is spooky. 48 00:05:22,355 --> 00:05:25,891 She's in the office with him, which I find more incredible. 49 00:05:25,958 --> 00:05:29,461 Like, here's this girl, and she doesn't flip out 50 00:05:29,529 --> 00:05:31,263 and say, "Call the police." 51 00:05:31,297 --> 00:05:33,832 So she obviously, on some level, must have 52 00:05:33,866 --> 00:05:36,501 trusted him or didn't see him as a threat. 53 00:05:36,569 --> 00:05:39,638 This just really illustrates how he manipulated her 54 00:05:39,672 --> 00:05:41,807 or, you know, lied to her. 55 00:05:41,874 --> 00:05:44,810 WOMAN: Little did she know, he was a killer. 56 00:05:44,877 --> 00:05:46,044 Zink kidnapped her, 57 00:05:46,112 --> 00:05:49,481 took her to a motel near Camdenton, where he raped her. 58 00:06:27,587 --> 00:06:29,888 He's a psychopath who is lying his way through 59 00:06:29,956 --> 00:06:31,690 this portion of the interrogation. 60 00:06:31,758 --> 00:06:36,328 Zink's DNA was found on Amanda's body. 61 00:06:36,396 --> 00:06:38,096 There is no doubt that there 62 00:06:38,164 --> 00:06:40,932 was some sort of sexual interaction. 63 00:06:42,602 --> 00:06:45,303 BERRILL: It's a little odd -- Killing someone's okay, 64 00:06:45,338 --> 00:06:48,507 but don't think about me as a rapist. 65 00:06:48,574 --> 00:06:50,909 There are a lot of crimes you can commit to wind you up 66 00:06:50,977 --> 00:06:54,513 in jail, but sex crimes are seen as sort of the low man on 67 00:06:54,580 --> 00:06:58,550 the totem pole, because sex crimes make you 68 00:06:58,618 --> 00:06:59,851 a target in jail. 69 00:06:59,919 --> 00:07:03,054 If you're a rapist, everyone will say, 70 00:07:03,122 --> 00:07:06,091 "Well, I have a sister or a wife or a mother, 71 00:07:06,159 --> 00:07:09,928 so you're a piece of garbage," and if it's a kid, forget it. 72 00:07:09,962 --> 00:07:14,366 They emerge in prison, at least, as likely targets for sexual 73 00:07:14,434 --> 00:07:18,036 abuse themselves, and he doesn't want to be seen that way. 74 00:07:49,702 --> 00:07:52,237 Zink has a strange disconnect in his thought process 75 00:07:52,305 --> 00:07:53,905 right now, because on the one hand, 76 00:07:53,973 --> 00:07:56,341 he's saying he has no intention of going back 77 00:07:56,409 --> 00:07:57,642 to an incarcerated life. 78 00:07:57,710 --> 00:08:00,045 But on the other hand, he's sort of giving into 79 00:08:00,112 --> 00:08:02,080 the simplest, most obvious solution, 80 00:08:02,148 --> 00:08:03,982 which is also the most ridiculous, 81 00:08:04,050 --> 00:08:07,085 the most anti-social, and the most violent. 82 00:08:07,153 --> 00:08:09,354 But for Zink, it isn't as much of a leap. 83 00:08:09,422 --> 00:08:12,123 He has a problem to solve, and this is a logical solution. 84 00:08:41,754 --> 00:08:45,190 Zink underwent psychological evaluations as part of 85 00:08:45,258 --> 00:08:46,958 his court cases, and they really 86 00:08:47,026 --> 00:08:49,928 give you a sense of how his psychopathy manifested 87 00:08:49,996 --> 00:08:51,329 from an early age. 88 00:08:51,397 --> 00:08:54,599 The report reads, "Zink was afraid of his mother, 89 00:08:54,667 --> 00:08:57,102 "who suffered from depression and was impatient, 90 00:08:57,169 --> 00:08:58,570 "nervous, and irritable. 91 00:08:58,638 --> 00:09:01,606 "She was very harsh with him and often yelled at him, 92 00:09:01,674 --> 00:09:03,808 "grabbed him, and talked down to him. 93 00:09:03,876 --> 00:09:05,844 "She provided little guidance or discipline. 94 00:09:05,912 --> 00:09:09,214 "She would get drunk a lot and would get angry. 95 00:09:09,248 --> 00:09:10,515 Zink hid from her." 96 00:09:10,583 --> 00:09:12,751 And here's what Zink says about his father. 97 00:09:12,785 --> 00:09:16,288 The same report reads, "When Zink was four, his father 98 00:09:16,355 --> 00:09:18,690 "was involuntarily committed to a mental hospital for 99 00:09:18,758 --> 00:09:20,759 "several months -- His father often talked of 100 00:09:20,826 --> 00:09:23,161 "suicide or engaged in suicidal behaviors, 101 00:09:23,229 --> 00:09:25,897 "even in front of Zink and his two sisters. 102 00:09:25,965 --> 00:09:30,235 Zink saw his father take a gun and threaten to shoot himself." 103 00:09:30,303 --> 00:09:31,937 I don't think they're necessarily modeling 104 00:09:32,004 --> 00:09:33,038 psychopathy here, 105 00:09:33,105 --> 00:09:35,807 but they are modeling violent behavior. 106 00:09:35,875 --> 00:09:39,611 So he has whatever genetics are there. 107 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:43,582 He has this upbringing where he's neglected. 108 00:09:43,649 --> 00:09:47,285 This is the recipe for psychopathy here. 109 00:09:47,353 --> 00:09:49,654 BERRILL: If you're talking nature versus nurture, 110 00:09:49,689 --> 00:09:51,122 I really do think that, 111 00:09:51,190 --> 00:09:52,757 you know, there is some temperament 112 00:09:52,825 --> 00:09:54,092 that you're born with. 113 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:57,562 For example, if you're a high risk taker, and you're fearless, 114 00:09:57,630 --> 00:10:00,332 maybe you become a firefighter, 115 00:10:00,366 --> 00:10:02,233 or, depending on the environment 116 00:10:02,301 --> 00:10:04,269 you grow up in, you become a bully, 117 00:10:04,337 --> 00:10:07,138 or you become someone that engages in criminal behavior, 118 00:10:07,206 --> 00:10:10,942 but the environment will lead you down a path to 119 00:10:11,010 --> 00:10:13,778 acting that temperament out in some fashion. 120 00:10:13,813 --> 00:10:15,680 We know he's a risk taker. 121 00:10:15,748 --> 00:10:18,350 So if you grow up in a house where there is violence, 122 00:10:18,384 --> 00:10:22,320 it does set the tone, perhaps, for becoming 123 00:10:22,355 --> 00:10:23,855 the kind of person he became. 124 00:10:54,487 --> 00:10:56,788 BERRILL: There's some amusement he takes 125 00:10:56,856 --> 00:10:59,524 in the fact that she's not getting it. 126 00:10:59,558 --> 00:11:03,094 She's essentially being escorted to her death. 127 00:11:03,162 --> 00:11:06,164 He's not telling her the truth about what's gonna happen. 128 00:11:06,232 --> 00:11:09,134 It's all sadistic, uh, 129 00:11:09,201 --> 00:11:11,936 but he doesn't want her to panic, 130 00:11:12,004 --> 00:11:13,271 so he's staying cool. 131 00:11:14,306 --> 00:11:16,274 DERIGHT: To him, it's extremely logical that she 132 00:11:16,342 --> 00:11:18,309 should be using common sense at this point, 133 00:11:18,377 --> 00:11:20,578 when nothing about this invokes 134 00:11:20,646 --> 00:11:23,014 the idea of common sense -- To Zink, 135 00:11:23,082 --> 00:11:27,052 all of these pieces do connect in a very cohesive way, 136 00:11:27,119 --> 00:11:28,553 but they don't. 137 00:11:28,621 --> 00:11:32,424 It's part of the narcissistic tendency to feel like you have 138 00:11:32,458 --> 00:11:35,193 everything under control and figured out. 139 00:11:35,261 --> 00:11:36,995 WOMAN: About six hours later, 140 00:11:37,063 --> 00:11:39,431 at 4 in the morning, investigators recovered Amanda's 141 00:11:39,498 --> 00:11:42,033 body from a shallow grave in this cemetery. 142 00:11:42,101 --> 00:11:44,135 MAN: She'd been strangled and stabbed. 143 00:12:50,369 --> 00:12:53,738 BERRILL: His description of the murder is highly sanitized. 144 00:12:53,806 --> 00:12:58,042 The fact that they found dirt in her mouth or seminal fluid 145 00:12:58,077 --> 00:13:02,013 in her anus would suggest that, uh, there was 146 00:13:02,081 --> 00:13:06,084 a deeper level of psychopathology taking place 147 00:13:06,152 --> 00:13:08,419 that he cared to discuss. 148 00:13:09,555 --> 00:13:11,222 In looking at the court records 149 00:13:11,290 --> 00:13:14,459 and psychological evaluations that were available on Zink, 150 00:13:14,493 --> 00:13:17,295 here's an excerpt that gives us some of that information. 151 00:13:18,264 --> 00:13:21,032 "By the time he was 10, Zink was placed in foster care. 152 00:13:21,066 --> 00:13:23,101 "Within a few weeks, Zink ran away. 153 00:13:23,169 --> 00:13:25,303 "Around that time, his foster mother found 154 00:13:25,371 --> 00:13:27,438 him making a noose out of a rope." 155 00:13:27,506 --> 00:13:31,543 He had an emerging obsession and fixation or focus on 156 00:13:31,577 --> 00:13:33,812 strangulation from a very, very young age. 157 00:13:33,879 --> 00:13:36,080 Clearly, there was a willingness to 158 00:13:36,148 --> 00:13:38,850 start to skirt the idea of death, 159 00:13:38,918 --> 00:13:40,585 the idea of violence, 160 00:13:40,653 --> 00:13:43,087 the idea of strangulation. 161 00:13:43,155 --> 00:13:44,889 BERRILL: The fact that he had rope in his car, 162 00:13:44,957 --> 00:13:47,158 I don't know if that's just a coincidence. 163 00:13:47,193 --> 00:13:49,394 You don't have to tie a dead body to a tree, 164 00:13:49,461 --> 00:13:52,096 but you do have to tie a live body to a tree 165 00:13:52,131 --> 00:13:53,965 so that they can't struggle. 166 00:13:53,999 --> 00:13:56,901 It raises, I guess, deeper concerns 167 00:13:56,969 --> 00:13:59,370 about how savage he really is. 168 00:14:13,886 --> 00:14:15,653 DERIGHT: We'll never know if those were actually 169 00:14:15,721 --> 00:14:18,223 her last words, but in one way or another, 170 00:14:18,290 --> 00:14:20,825 he wanted you to know that there is some connection with 171 00:14:20,926 --> 00:14:23,194 his mom in why he's doing this, too. 172 00:14:23,262 --> 00:14:26,497 The connections between Zink and his mom were 173 00:14:26,565 --> 00:14:29,667 really apparent in the court records, as well. 174 00:14:29,735 --> 00:14:32,470 The court records say, "Although the foster family 175 00:14:32,538 --> 00:14:33,938 "wanted to adopt him, he always 176 00:14:34,006 --> 00:14:37,141 "fantasized about going back home -- at age 14, 177 00:14:37,209 --> 00:14:40,144 "Zink asked to move home, but his mother refused, 178 00:14:40,212 --> 00:14:41,446 devastating him." 179 00:14:41,513 --> 00:14:43,915 The thing that really pops out to me here is this 180 00:14:43,983 --> 00:14:48,086 element of maternal rejection, which in the psychopathy 181 00:14:48,153 --> 00:14:50,021 literature, is very prominent. 182 00:14:50,089 --> 00:14:53,625 And this is not an everyday maternal rejection. 183 00:14:53,692 --> 00:14:55,760 This is mom gave him up, 184 00:14:55,828 --> 00:14:59,230 but it is not inevitable that anyone who is rejected 185 00:14:59,298 --> 00:15:01,532 by their mother is going to be a psychopath. 186 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:03,635 It is one piece of the very, 187 00:15:03,702 --> 00:15:07,138 very complicated puzzle that goes into creating a psychopath, 188 00:15:07,206 --> 00:15:09,741 and it is not an excuse for 189 00:15:09,808 --> 00:15:11,743 what he turned into and what he did. 190 00:16:24,483 --> 00:16:25,783 DERIGHT: This is the kind of statement that 191 00:16:25,851 --> 00:16:30,521 gives you this icky feeling that you're -- 192 00:16:30,589 --> 00:16:34,459 You just shouldn't be hearing something like this. 193 00:16:34,526 --> 00:16:36,661 We see that he was torturing her, he was beating her. 194 00:16:36,729 --> 00:16:38,930 He was playing with her as an object, 195 00:16:38,998 --> 00:16:40,865 and it takes it to a whole other level. 196 00:16:40,933 --> 00:16:43,301 SAHNI: And unlike some other psychopaths, 197 00:16:43,369 --> 00:16:46,704 he doesn't really even make an attempt to pretend 198 00:16:46,772 --> 00:16:48,272 that he feels bad. 199 00:16:48,374 --> 00:16:51,242 He doesn't try to pretend that he has emotions 200 00:16:51,310 --> 00:16:53,778 or that he's even really bothered or disturbed by it. 201 00:17:37,790 --> 00:17:40,258 SAHNI: He's not panicked. This is just a normal day, 202 00:17:40,325 --> 00:17:41,826 like it's no big deal. 203 00:17:41,894 --> 00:17:45,863 And that really I think sums up a lot of how Zink, 204 00:17:45,931 --> 00:17:49,834 as a psychopath, sees his crimes. 205 00:17:49,935 --> 00:17:52,970 He's just really not broken up by them. 206 00:17:53,038 --> 00:17:55,873 One thing that's really notable from Zink's childhood is 207 00:17:55,941 --> 00:17:58,876 that he seemed to have a pretty severe case of meningitis, 208 00:17:58,944 --> 00:18:02,580 and the results of his PET scan were consistent with some 209 00:18:02,648 --> 00:18:04,515 of the brain abnormalities that 210 00:18:04,583 --> 00:18:07,285 we know about psychopaths in the literature. 211 00:18:07,352 --> 00:18:12,056 For example, he had less activation in the amygdala 212 00:18:12,124 --> 00:18:14,559 and the cingulate, both of which 213 00:18:14,626 --> 00:18:17,161 are very important areas in the brain involved in 214 00:18:17,229 --> 00:18:19,097 fear and emotional response. 215 00:18:19,164 --> 00:18:22,900 So the fact that these areas are under-activated 216 00:18:22,968 --> 00:18:26,938 in psychopaths and in Zink is not surprising. 217 00:18:27,005 --> 00:18:30,374 He is not afraid at all of the consequences. 218 00:18:55,734 --> 00:18:58,703 After his arrest, Zink exchanged letters 219 00:18:58,770 --> 00:19:00,872 with a local TV news journalist. 220 00:19:00,939 --> 00:19:03,341 Uh, here are some excerpts from it. 221 00:19:03,408 --> 00:19:05,943 "I've secretly always wanted to be a serial killer. 222 00:19:06,011 --> 00:19:07,445 "Your preconceived idea 223 00:19:07,479 --> 00:19:09,480 "that this is a crime motivated by some type of 224 00:19:09,548 --> 00:19:12,717 "sexual perversion -- You don't even come close. 225 00:19:12,784 --> 00:19:14,385 "There's no sex in the world that can 226 00:19:14,453 --> 00:19:17,655 "give you a pleasure of taking a life, 227 00:19:17,723 --> 00:19:19,924 "watching their eyes, and knowing that I have 228 00:19:19,992 --> 00:19:22,160 "the power to give or take that life. 229 00:19:22,227 --> 00:19:24,595 "I hope that you would just put this letter in the trash. 230 00:19:24,663 --> 00:19:27,165 "Nothing good can come from selling death. 231 00:19:27,199 --> 00:19:30,434 Have a good day, David Zink." 232 00:19:30,502 --> 00:19:33,804 It's almost his manifesto in a way -- he wants to control 233 00:19:33,872 --> 00:19:35,973 the narrative and say, "Hey, 234 00:19:36,041 --> 00:19:40,144 put me on TV, and this is the story I want you to tell." 235 00:19:40,179 --> 00:19:42,747 BERRILL: But you heard none of that kind of talk during 236 00:19:42,814 --> 00:19:45,683 his interview, nothing even remotely like that. 237 00:19:45,751 --> 00:19:50,688 He's kind of a liar, and he's playing games to sidestep 238 00:19:50,756 --> 00:19:52,623 the whole notion that he's driven 239 00:19:52,691 --> 00:19:56,827 by perverse violent sexual fantasies. 240 00:19:56,895 --> 00:19:59,230 There seemed to be a multitude of risk factors here, 241 00:19:59,298 --> 00:20:03,000 where he has these biological variants 242 00:20:03,068 --> 00:20:06,671 and his tumultuous upbringing that all come together here 243 00:20:06,738 --> 00:20:11,709 and really create a recipe for a psychopath. 244 00:20:17,983 --> 00:20:20,818 Mr. Zink, would you please rise? 245 00:20:22,487 --> 00:20:25,356 We, the jury, having found the defendant, 246 00:20:25,424 --> 00:20:28,593 David Stanley Zink guilty of murder in the first degree of 247 00:20:28,660 --> 00:20:30,194 Amanda L. Morton, 248 00:20:30,262 --> 00:20:33,464 now assess and declare the punishment at death. 249 00:20:39,738 --> 00:20:41,806 MAN: The Morton family says they will now move on 250 00:20:41,873 --> 00:20:43,841 and try to come to grips with what's happened. 251 00:20:43,909 --> 00:20:45,576 What will you tell Amanda in your prayers tonight? 252 00:20:45,644 --> 00:20:47,979 We got it for you, baby. 253 00:20:51,016 --> 00:20:53,718 As well as we can do, we got justice for you.