Elements Of Murder | FULL EPISODE | The New Detectives

In Montana, a

murder

ed woman is found stuffed in the trunk of her car with little physical evidence to go on. Investigators fight to catch her killer. An apparently healthy 33-year-old woman dies in her sleep. Tennessee police must determine whether her death was due to natural causes or

murder

in Ohio A woman abandons her husband and her two children, but a routine investigation reveals that her disappearance may not have been intentional. A well-executed homicide can baffle even the most skilled investigator, but forensic examiners go beyond the obvious to find evidence of the killer's guilt. and expose the

elements

of murder sitting in the heart of Big Sky Country the city of Great Falls Montana is surrounded by the majestic Rocky Mountains to the west and the Little Belt Mountains to the east on an October morning a man walking along the secluded banks of the in the Missouri River came across several identification cards belonging to a concerned young woman, alerted police officers from the Cascade County Sheriff's Department who responded to the call on the river bank found additional identification cards belonging to the woman , police were familiar with the name 27 year old Susan Galloway had been reported missing the previous day, unsure what to do with the findings, boat patrol officers were called to drag the river 20 feet from the shore, they indicated that they had trapped a woman's purse inside, there was more information about the identification of the missing woman and credit cards there was also 100 in cash but there was no sign of Susan Galloway Cascade County police contacted the parents of the missing woman and brought them in for an interview.

The family was alarmed when they discovered that her daughter and her vehicle were gone. Susan had recently converted. engaged and seemed so happy that her fiancé Craig Smith was stationed at the nearby air force base (the couple often helped out in the business) that Galloway area Susan was a devout Mormon and, although Craig was not, there was agreed to convert so the two could marry, the family planned to give the couple ownership of the store as a wedding gift, they couldn't understand why Susan would just walk away without saying a word, veteran detective Ken Anderson wasn't optimistic, well , finding the ID indicated that, uh, susan galloway, uh, didn't do it.

In fact, she just left town or drove away in her vehicle without saying goodbye to her and that kind of thing because she certainly wouldn't have left her identification and her money behind her. Police arranged an interview for the missing woman's fiancée. Craig Smith had no idea where Susan could have gone. He last saw her the night before she disappeared after leaving a dinner party. Susan dropped him off at her apartment around midnight. He hadn't heard from her since the detective was curious about a bandage on Smith's hand. He explained that he had accidentally cut himself with a knife a few hours after Susan dropped him off.

He woke up thirsty. He tried to open a frozen can of orange juice but was having trouble. He grabbed a knife but it slipped while trying to open the can. His car was not. working and he walked to the air force base where he was stationed to have a doctor treat the wound. Police later confirmed that she had visited the doctor that night. The search for Susan Galloway was going nowhere. Three days later, a power company employee working on the Rainbow Dam saw something on a hill across the river. He decided to go check it out.

When he arrived at the scene, he found a car that had plunged down the hillside. The vehicle appeared to be stuck in bushes, police and crime scene technicians were contacted and responded to the scene. A check of the vehicle's tags revealed that the car was registered to missing Susan Galloway, age 27. Sergeant Anderson walked down the hill through the window and observed a key in the ignition; There didn't seem to be anyone inside, but in the back of the vehicle he noticed streaks of blood, there was also what appeared to be a footprint in the trunk, so Anderson took a closer look at the inside of the car, the back cushion of the back seat was had separated from the trunk area and at that moment I could see a body inside the trunk of the car.

The woman matched the description of Susan Galloway and it looked like she had been murdered. Police towed the vehicle and began searching for clues inside the car. Technicians found large blood stains on the front passenger seat. Several fragments of broken green glass stained with blood were also recovered. The exterior of the vehicle was thoroughly photographed. The victim's body was transported to the medical examiner's office for an autopsy. The lack of evidence found near the car led police to believe she had been murdered elsewhere and then took him to the hillside, bringing in a dog to track the victim's scent a mile from the car, alerting him to a hole. partially dug.

More blood was found from the victim. Apparently, the suspect took the woman to this location, finished the killing, and then attempted to. bury the victim but for some reason he gave up the medical examiner confirmed that the victim was actually susan galloway pieces of green glass from a 16 ounce soda bottle were found embedded in her skull and neck her carotid artery had been severed and as a result Susan had bled to death now the

detectives

had to discover who had murdered Susan Galloway and why, but with few clues and no obvious suspects, they knew it wouldn't be easy.

Great Falls Montana police had few leads in the murder of 27-year-old Susan Galloway. The young woman had been brutally beaten with a soda bottle placed in the trunk of her car and then thrown down a steep embankment. No usable fingerprints were found on the glass or in the victim's vehicle in hopes of identifying a suspect. Investigators released details of the crime through The media shortly after received a tip. She knocked on my door. A man stationed at the local air force base believed he had information. He asked me what time he came to the room. He said that the night Susan disappeared, he had seen her.

His fiancé Craig Smith Smith had arrived at the barracks in the early hours of the morning and noticed that his friend was carrying a bundle of dirty clothes. He also noticed a cut on Smith's hand. Smith told him that she had cut it with a knife and that he was on his way to see the doctor for treatment and asked her friend to take him home after doing so. Smith had also told the airmen that he had been drinking with friends and became stranded, in fact he asked his friend to keep the story a secret because his fiancée Susan Galloway would not have been happy about it.

The airman's story contradicted the craig smith's claim that on the night of the disappearance he had gone to bed shortly after susan left him sergeant ken anderson suspected it was almost as if craig was lying about something and all of a sudden he became the prime suspect instead of The grieving promise police sought to corroborate Smith's story, located the doctor who had bandaged his cut hand, and confirmed that Craig Smith had come for treatment for a cut in the early morning hours of October 23, but the doctor He recalled thinking that the wound was consistent with having been caused by a serrated edge rather than the blade of a knife, as Smith suggested, although the incriminating information stopped short of proving that Craig Smith was a murderer who is now seeking to link the suspect to The Crime Scene Police canvassed the nearby area.

A convenience store employee recalled seeing Smith and Susan Galloway the night she disappeared and, according to the employee, they appeared to be arguing when they entered the store, bought some bottles of soda and then left. We're leaving. The employee showed the officer the type of soda purchased by the couple. They were 16-ounce bottles made of green glass identical to the glass that had killed Susan Galloway. The information was enough for police to obtain a search warrant for Craig. Smith's residence, the suspect continued to deny any involvement in Susan's death. He admitted that he and Susan had been at the store that night and also admitted that in the past he had been in the area where his car was later found, but Smith denied ever having been.

At the location where the partially dug hole was found, the location police believe was the site of the murder,

detectives

collected the clothing she was wearing on the night of Susan's disappearance, but the items had recently been cleaned. Is there a shirt there? Also Ken, the police realized his only hope. would be linking Smith to the sneaker print recovered from the trunk of Susan's car. They picked up a single pair of muddy shoes. An examination revealed that the shoes seized from Craig Smith were the same size and souls had the same pattern as those collected from the vehicle, but that alone would not be enough to prove murder.

He had driven his car several times. His fingerprint was in a rough spot on the trunk, but he could have been there. The police would have to physically locate him at the scene of the murder and everything. What they had to do was put some dirt on the sole of Smith's shoes and we believed that if he had been standing in the area of ​​the killing site he would have picked up dirt, it was very sandy and totally different from mud and dirt. . In the area where the car was pushed, investigators collected soil samples from several locations where the suspect claimed to have been the night of Susan's disappearance.

They also collected samples from the location where they believed the murder took place. All the land was sent to the University of Montana for analysis. There, geologist and mineralogist Jack Warrenberg worked on the case. I was to examine the soils from the crime scene and there was an open burial site and there are several other small areas that they wanted to check to compare the soil that was present. Regarding the suspicious shoe, Wareenberg noted that soil samples taken from the sole of Smith's shoe contained small pieces of glass, probably from broken bottles. Microscopic analysis also revealed that the sample contained pieces of ash that were consistent with having been produced by the copper in the collected samples.

From Craig Smith's yard and the path he had walked to the base there were no such ashes, in fact only the samples taken from the crime scene had both the small glass shards and the copper ashes and the reason seemed simple to some. hundreds of meters from the crime. The scene on the banks of the Missouri River was the site of a copper smelting plant that Berg determined was the only area in the county where copper ash appears in the ground. Craig Smith had been at the scene of the killing, something he had previously denied when confronted. with the evidence against him craig smith admitted to killing his fiancée said he wanted the galloway family business but had no interest in marrying susan was charged with first degree murder based on information that police believe that on the night of the murder the The couple had a heated argument and then Craig Smith brutally attacked his fiancée, then dragged her to a secluded location to finish the job and bury his victim, but when that didn't work, he placed her in the trunk of his car and attempted to send her away. vehicle on cliff craig smith was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 100 years in prison a patch of land was enough for montana police to expose a killer's dirty secret, but in tennessee detectives must look further Beyond the obvious to find answers to explain a mysterious debt In the early morning hours of December 23, 1997, Nashville police and emergency workers responded to a frantic 9-1-1 call, Terry Robinson said his wife had She had been seriously ill for several days and was now not breathing, she was pronounced dead at the scene with no obvious cause of death.

Detectives were sent to the home as a matter of routine, so homicide detective E.J. Bernard was assigned to the case. Lenora Robinson, 33, lay dead in the couple's bed. Investigators noticed a black substance on the woman's shirt. and on the pillowcase that seemed to come from the victim's mouth and nose there did not appear to be blood, perhaps they thought it had originated from a cigarette found next to Lenora's bed. They also found and collected a bottle of Gatorade and a glass. filled with the orange liquid, Terry Robinson told the detective that Lenora had been suffering from severe flu-like symptoms for the past four or five days;

In fact, the day before, Terry had taken his wife to a doctor to be treated for a high fever and uncontrollable vomiting. and diarrhea the doctor who examined lenora diagnosed her with a severe case of the flu gave her an injection to relieve the symptoms and sent her toTerry said Lenora seemed better for a while but that night her symptoms worsened. He tried to breastfeed her by giving her Gatorade and her medications, but when he checked on her the next morning, she was not breathing, although there were no signs to suggest foul play. . The police were worried that someone as young as Lenora would die from the flu.

Detective Bernard ordered an autopsy to be performed on the first day. It was assumed that he had something to do with the flu or the vaccine or possibly a heart attack, a brain tumor, something totally unknown to family members or any of the medical staff on the scene. His body was transported to the Tennessee State Medical Examiner's Office located in Nashville. Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Bruce Levy performed the autopsy. The thick black substance that had come out of Lenora Robinson's nose immediately caught his attention. Well, in this case the first thing was that a black residue had been noticed on the pillow next to where her mouth had been.

It means that something had come out of her body, we weren't sure what exactly it was. The internal examination uncovered evidence of a heart condition and congested lungs, supporting the idea that Lenora had died of natural causes. Then Detective Bernard arrived to see the autopsy and noticed something. Unusual was the bitter almond odor coming from the body; it was an odor associated with people who had died as a result of cyanide poisoning. Closer examination however failed to reveal the telltale signs associated with cyanide ingestion; there was no liver damage and no signs. of burning mouth or esophageal toxicologyTests on the Gatorade found near Lenora's bed came back negative for poison if the 33-year-old woman had been exposed to cyanide.

The question now was how and by whom an autopsy performed on 33-year-old Lenora Robinson led authorities in Nashville, Tennessee, to believe she was dead. had resulted from cyanide exposure to prove this, additional testing would have to be performed, the medical examiner collected samples of blood tissue and urine, the items were then sent to forensic toxicologists to test for the presence of poison, the samples were mixed with chemicals that react to cyanide. if poison is present, it will turn a bluish-purple color within a few minutes. Tissue samples came back negative, but Lenora's blood and urine tested positive for the poison to be absorbed into the blood, but not into the tissue she would have had to absorb. have been inhaled and, according to forensic expert agent louis kykendall, cyanide is more lethal in a similar state, usually the person will have seizures, they will have an upset stomach, but usually very quickly, between 30 seconds and maybe two minutes, will go into a coma. state and then die very quickly the medical examiner bruce levy contacted the police with the findings.

I got lenora robinson's toxicology results. She tests positive for cyanide, but until police can rule out that the poisoning was accidental or suicide, the manner of death would remain undetermined. Detective E.J. Bernard was quickly able to rule out both scenarios. There were no suicide notes. I found out that she would have died within minutes of ingesting the cyanide, therefore, she would have left something near her. There was nothing nearby. Mr. Robinson assured me that he didn't clean anything up the stormy police believed that lenora robinson had been murdered to find out why they questioned the victim's mother and stepfather they both agreed that the marriage had been difficult for some time according to the mother of lenore the couple was suffering from serious financial problems the small business they owned and operated together was not doing well and the bills kept piling up had caused a lot of anger and resentment between terry and leonardo lenora said they had recently started talking about the possibility of divorce They had one more piece of information to add Terry said he had once worked as an exterminator and as part of his job he had worked with deadly poisons before obtaining a warrant to search Terry Robinson's home.

The police needed to know if it was possible for him to create cyanide vapor pesticides, industrial pesticides, especially the Kaikendal agent. confirmed that the process is relatively simple, you can go ahead and collect he gave the police a list of items to look out for armed with a warrant, the police returned to terry robinson's house, the suspect maintained his innocence, but When Detective Bernard began examining the couple's financial documents, he discovered a letter Lenora had written to her husband in which she threatened him with a bitter and expensive divorce with a list of chemicals that could be used to transform cyanide into Detective Bernard searched the suspect's garage, there he found several common household items that could have been used, he also collected numerous containers of unidentified liquid at the TBI crime lab, Agent Kaikendal began analyzing the substances collected from the house, but The results were not what the researchers expected, essentially what EJ found and sent to me, none of them had cyanide. or enough cyanide at any level that if someone wanted to ingest it or put it on it could harm them, the investigation went back to square one to present their case, the police would have to rely on circumstantial evidence and their best option would be to prove that the suspect had access to the cyanide Detectives contacted Terry Robinson's former employer at the extermination company where he had worked years before.

Needing his help, the man confirmed that while Robinson worked there the company used cyanide. In fact, Terry Robinson helped convert the crystallized poison into a liquid state that was then It would be administered with a gentleman to combat insects and rodents. The former employer had not seen Terry in some time and was not aware of any poison he may have brought with him when he left the company, but Detective E. Bernard refused to give up, many Thanks, well, I kept looking for the magic bean. We'll tell you where he could get a receipt where he bought cyanide.

I was unable to locate him, although the police had established motive and opportunity, they had no hard evidence linking Terry Robinson to the poison that was used to murder his wife and without that Lenora's murder threatened to remain unsolved by forensic toxicologists. of Nashville, Tennessee, had exposed the poisoning death of 33-year-old Lenora Robinson as a homicide, but until now had been unable to link it to her husband, Terry Robinson. to the cyanide gas used to kill her but then they got the rest they needed Lenora Robinson's great-uncle came to talk to I think your name is a police officer Blanton remembered that some time ago Terry had asked him for help killing wasps that had nested nearby in his house He paid him for this.

The uncle agreed and came to the house to give Terry various insecticides and poisons. Among the items were cyanide tablets, although the evidence was circumstantial at best. The police were able to obtain an arrest warrant for Terry. Robinson on June 30, police returned to his home and arrested him. Terry Robinson was charged with first-degree murder of his wife Lenora based on evidence that police believe Terry Robinson took advantage of Lenora's illness to free himself from an unhappy marriage, a large debt and an impending divorce on December 22. his bedroom and administered the deadly poison On October 15, 1999, Terry Robinson, 49, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 51 years in prison to catch a killer and present his case to police.

Nashville has had to rely on both hard science and dogged determination, but some predators have a deep understanding of law enforcement tactics and outsmarting them can be a tough challenge with a population of less than eight thousand residents. Belpre Ohio is considered a friendly and close-knit community. and when someone goes missing it's everyone's business on september 19, 1996 jack mcrady came to talk to belfree police investigators knew him well mcrady was a respected ohio state police officer and now he wanted to report that his wife jennifer had missing said he last saw his wife that morning when they were getting ready for work, jack said he hadn't noticed anything unusual in her behavior that morning, although their marriage had its problems, he thought things had gotten better, there okay, okay, he later found out that jennifer never showed up for work that day.

Jack suspected that his wife had been having an affair and now feared that she had gone off with another man, leaving him with the couple's two children. Detective Dave Garvey agreed when he got home the first thing he saw was Jennifer's wedding. band on the kitchen counter searched the house and discovered that certain items were missing from the house, luggage was missing, and photographs were missing, although the police had no reason to suspect that a crime had been committed, they agreed to investigate the case and began questioning the McCready's. One of the neighbors believed he had seen Jennifer leaving the house that morning at 10 a.m. m., he saw Jennifer's jacket leave the driveway and screeched down the street erratically.

The neighbor admitted that he never actually saw Jennifer's face, but he knew that her jacket was hers. He drove the car and he had never seen anyone else drive it, then a few days later the police received a call that a vehicle that matched Jennifer's jacket had been located in a parking lot. Jack McCrady was dispatched to the scene and confirmed that it was, in fact, his wife's car. Investigators searched the interior of the vehicle and found no obvious signs of a struggle or evidence of foul play. Still, the vehicle was impounded for further analysis. Crime scene technicians searched the vehicle using luminol, a chemical that can detect invisible traces of blood and other biological evidence. but after hours of processing, the examination revealed nothing to suggest a crime had been committed as an adult, jennifer mcrady had a right to be missing, and having found no evidence that foul play had been committed, belpre police He had no choice but to give up his search for the young mother of two detectives in Bel Pre-Ohio had found nothing to suggest that the missing wife of state police officer Jack Mcrady had been the victim of a crime;

All signs suggested that the 30-year-old mother of two had simply packed her bags and left in the city, but then friends of the missing woman contacted police, worried that something bad had happened to her. jennifer mcrae jennifer said that she was dedicated to her children they were her life no one who knew her could believe that she would simply abandon her children and no one believed that she was having an affair as jack mccrady suggested, but jennifer had been talking about divorcing her possessive and jealous husband, then a witness came forward with information and said that at the time of Jennifer's disappearance he saw a police vehicle driving in a remote area.

A few miles outside of town, the officer narrowed the description of Jack McCrady to a woman who had provided unreliable information in the past and at first Detective Dave Garvey didn't believe this would be any different, but when no additional clues emerged, the Detectives decided to drive. Upon reaching the secluded place where the woman had seen the patrol there, they found something that seemed out of place, a mound of dirt. They shoveled a few centimeters of dirt and hit a vinyl claw that was followed by the unmistakable smell of a crime and death. Technicians on the scene were quickly dispatched to the scene as the excavation continued, the team unearthed a comforter and a sleeping bag and, wrapped inside them, were the decomposed remains, the head covered with a white plastic garbage bag when they were found. removed the bag, one of the officers identified the woman as Jennifer.

McCrady was wearing pajamas that contradicted her husband's claim that the last time he saw her she was dressed and leaving for work as a matter of routine. Soil samples were collected from the makeshift grave. Technicians collected the bedding and sleeping bag for further detailed analysis. The victim was transported to the medical examiner's office for an autopsy. The medical examiner determined that Jennifer Mcrady had died as a result of a gunshot wound to the head. fatal .357 magnum bullet was collected and sent to the bell crime lab pre-investigators now had a homicide on their hands inconsistent information plus witness testimony pointed out to state police officer jack mcrady when the lead suspect detectives prepared to speak with him At the barracks where he was stationed when he was given the news of Jennifer's death, he was visibly shaken, but when they began questioning him, McCrady asked for a lawyer and ended the interview shortly after Jack Macrady was placed on leave.

Investigators hope forensic evidenceI can tell you more. All items collected from the crime scene were sent to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Affairs. While processing the evidence, criminalist Michel Yezzo discovered dozens of synthetic fibers. He also located strands of fiberglass attached to the inside of the sleeping bag. Finding fiberglass insulation inside that sleeping bag was very unusual in my opinion because that is very itchy and so that's not something you would want to have in that type of context. Police obtained a warrant to search the McCrady home in the bedroom. They found bedding that matched the duvet.

The victim had been buried in several fibers. collected for comparison to those recovered from the crime scene in the kitchen, police located a .357 Magnum, the revolver-style weapon used to kill Jennifer McCrady, as the search continued, investigators found and collected newly installed fiberglass insulation in the couple's garage. The material looked identical to the insulation found in the sleeping bag, then they noticed another potential clue: There were numerous shovels and some were covered in dirt, although McCrady explained that she had recently worked in her garden. The police confiscated the tools. Now forensic examiners began analyzing all the evidence that Michelle Yezzo found. that carpet fibers collected from the McCrady home shared the same microscopic characteristics as those recovered from bedding the victim had been buried in.

All evidence suggested that the victim was murdered in her own home, but none of the evidence suggested that the victim was murdered in her own home. it said who had led them to discover the homicide and their best chance of linking jack mcrady to the murder turned out to be a dead end the barrel of the gun had been perforated making ballistic comparisons almost impossible the police had underestimated jack mcrady i don't see anything there the suspect had been smart enough to tamper with the only evidence that could directly link him to the murder or so he thought.

Police contacted Richard Bisping. A forensic microscopist from the private firm Macron Associates asked him to compare soil samples that were collected at the grave site. Jack Mcrady's shovel and from the suspect's yard we analyzed soil samples making a careful side-by-side comparison of all the details that we can find in the soil itself. The soil differs by color and by the presence of plant material. It differs by its content. mineral content, differs by its texture, the size of the particles in the soil grains themselves and all these characteristics are compared. Bisbing began his analysis by comparing the soil taken from McCrady's shovel with samples taken from his garden, but the texture, size, color and mineral composition of the two samples did not match, but when he compared the soil from the grave with the soil taken from the shovel found one consistency after another, we were able to conclude that the soil on the shovel was similar to that of the tomb and could have originated from the tomb and we were able to demonstrate that the site of the tomb was different in its soil classification, even from the site where the defendant lived, and the ground was different than most places in the county shortly thereafter, Ohio State Police Officer.

Jack Mcrady was arrested and charged with the murder of his wife Jennifer, although police are still unsure what drove him to murder. Evidence suggests that on the night of September 18, Jack Macrady shot Jennifer once in the head to cover up her actions. she in a remote location returned home and altered the barrel of his gun despite her efforts jack mccrady was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison some murderers will go to great lengths to distance themselves from their actions but no The crime is perfect and sometimes investigators must rely on a few molecules to put together the

elements

of the murder.