The Murders (2019) s01e04 Episode Script

1 - Hey, sis.
- Oh, my God, Bo.
Come in! - What are you doing here? - Is it all right? Yeah.
No, of course.
Sorry, I'm just making myself a cup of tea.
I'm gonna make one for you, too.
This is a really nice surprise.
Got an even nicer one.
Something to help out.
Consider it an advance until the real cash arrives.
Bo, where did you get this? Ah, it doesn't matter.
I'll send more once I get settled.
You'll need it once the baby's born.
Settled? Where are you going? I need to disappear for a while.
I'm just getting to know you.
I'm having a baby, you're about to be an uncle.
Can't it wait? I'll stick around til the end of the week, then I have to go.
It's not fair.
But it's for the best.
For everyone.
I love you.
Get out! Get out of here! I said, get out! - Ma'am? - He won't leave.
Drop your weapon, sir.
Drop it.
Sir.
Final warning! Put your weapon down! Ambulance needed at 1409 Victoria Drive.
He's dead.
- Um, excuse me.
- Hey, whadda we got? Detective Nolan.
Hey, Ben.
Hey.
I was hoping you'd catch this case.
How'd you get here so fast? Staying close by.
Who's our guy? He's famous.
You don't recognize him? Not with his eyes closed.
It's Bo Townsend.
He was exonerated for killing that young girl in 2002.
Her name was Sadie Briggs.
But Townsend only got out of prison, what, a month and a half ago? What a kick in the balls.
Survives all those years inside, dies in a Laundromat.
Uni said he came in, tried to make a call, but he couldn't manage the phone.
Any ideas about his cause of death? The wound on the left side of his head looks like a hard blow to the temporal bone.
My bet is a fracture followed by an epidural hematoma.
That started the ball rolling, and the swelling in the brain eventually killed him.
So he got thumped in the melon, had a blood clot, died.
Uh, the state of his hands suggests a fight.
Responding officer said he was bleeding when he entered.
He was unresponsive, talking gibberish.
Classic talk and die syndrome.
It's too bad.
If he went to the hospital right after the head trauma, he might've lived.
Traffic was terrible.
I was hoping you'd show.
We have business to wrap up.
Sit.
Just one second.
So, unless you object, I think our work here is done.
You're firing me? You've been coming here because you're a rookie cop in homicide, and your partner was killed in the line of duty.
You had no choice.
You want to look like you're playing ball, correct? Don't take it personally, but yes.
That's fine.
A client decides how far they're willing to go, and how much they're willing to share.
So, I'm cured.
Well, you're certainly cleared to work without mandatory therapy.
Your coping strategies work, you function well on the job.
Staff Sergeant Chen gave you a glowing performance review.
Great.
I've enjoyed working with you.
Yeah, me too.
Um.
Thanks for everything.
You're welcome.
Be well, Kate.
You too, Doctor Powell.
Media's gonna be all over this once word leaks out.
The guy's wrongfully convicted for killing Sadie Briggs 17 years ago.
They release him and he's found dead in a month.
Do we know what happened to Bo Townsend before he entered the Laundromat? I'm waiting on CCTV footage from cameras in the area.
Too bad his lawyer didn't collect on the settlement before he died.
Six million dollars? Hardly seems like enough.
That's one unlucky bastard.
Look, not everyone agrees with Project Innocence's take on him.
Including you? All I know is he died from a blow to the head.
So let's treat this like a homicide until we know different.
You two, go to Bo's place, find anything that will explain his last few hours.
Meg, hit up his lawyer.
See if she can shed any light on an enemies list.
Okay? What do you got? Someone did a clean-up job.
Luminol on the floor shows bleach to remove blood.
The neighbours heard raised voices breaking glass at around 9:00 last night.
Blood, broken glass, shouting.
Sounds like a fight to me.
Our ME said Bo took a hard blow to the head.
Coulda happened there.
Well, if he died here, that would be manslaughter at the very least.
Maybe he was planning a camping trip.
Tent, stove, cooler.
Look at this.
That looks recent.
Yeah, these photo booth pics are but the other photo of Bo must be 20 years old.
Mmm, Townsend looks so young.
And that girl next to him is Sadie Briggs.
Odd he hung onto it for all these years.
Probably a memory of good times before his life was ruined.
Who's the woman in the photo booth? Mark Footman.
Landlord.
A real piece of work.
Hey.
You seen this woman on the right before? I don't go lookin' for trouble, trouble don't come lookin' for me.
Yet, here we are.
What else you got? Bo's car ain't in his parking spot.
What's the make and model? It's his lawyer's old, uh, red Cadillac.
Huh? You got somewhere you need to be? Uh, yeah.
7B's got a clog in the bathroom.
Oh, well, please don't let us hold you from important business.
Let us know if you remember anything else.
Yeah.
This guy would rather deal with a toilet than talk to me.
Don't say it.
So, Bo has a fight at his place in Surrey, then drives 20 kilometers to an East Van Laundromat? For what? Washing machine here was busted? Put a BOLO out on his car.
I knew in my gut by the end of our first meeting, Bo didn't do it.
That's why we took him on as a Project Innocence client.
And how was he after he was released? Shell-shocked.
The media called him the $6 million dollar, and people came out of the woodwork, asking him for money.
Like a lottery winner.
Except they get lucky, at least once.
Not Bo.
Investigators landed on him as a suspect in Sadie's murder, fast.
They built a circumstantial case to support their theory.
Twelve jurors were convinced? A 17 year old girl was raped and murdered.
The media was screaming for his head, and there was huge pressure for conviction.
Right.
We're reaching out to his sister, Isabelle.
Do you know of any other family? His father's dead, and his mother's in a home with dementia.
His sister is all he's got.
She and her boyfriend, Jeremy.
Any thoughts on who might be good for this? Lots of people think a killer got off, even though DNA testing cleared him.
That doesn't really narrow things down.
Start with Oren Briggs.
The dead girl's father.
He smeared him in every media outlet that would listen.
Nobody hated my client more than Oren Briggs.
Okay, thanks for coming in.
Let me know if you need anything else.
Ah, you got a job interview? - What do you mean? - Uh, the jacket? It's a distraction.
I got called in to update the chief and I got nothing for him.
Bet it makes you miss working in the field.
On days like this, it does.
Nice tie.
Nice face.
Who's that, suspect? We don't know yet.
50 bucks says she's a hooker.
- Nice.
- A little decorum, Detective? What? Just got out of prison.
The guy wants to get laid.
I'd wanna drink a case of the priciest Bordeaux.
Hard pass.
Uh, I don't know.
Visit my dad's grave? - Buzzkill.
- Boring.
But, it does make you the perfect person - to interview the sister.
- I'll do it.
Nah, you're gonna check out photos of all the pros, ID our photo booth gal.
You guys get a break, I'm your first call.
Can I help you? Are you Isabelle Townsend? I'm Detective Kate Jameson.
Is this about Bo? Is he dead? Yes, he is.
I'm sorry for your loss.
He was murdered, wasn't he? Can we go inside and talk? You expected something like this to happen to Bo? People hated him.
Look at the front of our house.
People drive by and egg it just cause he was my brother.
He joined my beer league hockey team, quit after the dirty hits he took.
Even our own guys had issues with him playing.
Did you know Bo before his conviction? We partied with the same people in high school.
I thought he was guilty until his lawyer, Jennifer, took on his case.
He started visiting Bo and stayed in touch with Jennifer.
Even reached out to me.
That's how we got together.
I'm trying to reconstruct his last few hours.
Did you see or speak with him last night? Yeah, um, he stopped by at around 6:00 to tell me that he was going to be leaving town soon.
You need to talk to Oren Briggs Sadie Briggs' father.
He already went at Bo once.
Went at him? Bo bumped into Briggs at the liquor store after he got out.
It took three guys to pull him off.
I have pictures.
Bo didn't want to press charges, he said that Briggs had been through enough, but I took these just in case he changed his mind.
Briggs was yelling the whole time that he was going to kill Bo.
He's a big guy.
Owns a sawmill in Maple Ridge.
I'm looking for a quick sale.
Well, I may have found a buyer for you.
I can show the property anytime.
So I hate to ask, but does this sale have to do with that guy being released? Let's keep that scumbag out of it, alright? Look, I've got a teenage daughter myself, you know? And if her killer walked free, I can't imagine how I would feel.
You'd feel exactly the same way I do.
Have you spoken with Bo Townsend since his release? I said everything to that scumbag at his trial.
And every single one of his parole hearings.
This is a report filed by a witness who saw you beat him up.
- Am I under arrest? - No.
But we have some questions for you relating to his murder.
We need you to account for your whereabouts two nights ago.
What time? Between 9:00 and midnight.
I was at home, watching the game.
Was anyone with you? No.
You guys are going to screw with my sale.
We got what we need.
For now.
Don't leave town.
Grieving man who blames the justice system for freeing his child's killer? Or a guilty man avoiding questions.
- Tell me how you like it? - Like that.
Bad news? A telemarketer.
Won a trip to Mexico.
Is the boss around? He's working on messaging with the communications team, and hating every second of it, I'm sure.
Bet when he was coming up, he never thought he'd wind up an admin guy.
Hmm.
Tech assembled CCTV footage from cameras near the laundromat.
Townsend's completely out of it.
A real life zombie.
Patrols couldn't find his car near the Laundromat, so they've expanded the search, but I've got something else for you.
Ingrid Sifton.
Our gal from the photo booth pictures.
A few soliciting charges, no convictions.
You owe me 50 bucks.
What, why? She's a working girl.
I assume you guys will do the interview? Her contact info's in the file.
Let's go, noob.
Hey.
- I'm with you.
- Are you? Bo was a good guy.
What was your relationship to the victim? Are you gonna make me say it? Um, would you say you two are close? Yeah.
When he was on top of me.
Let's start over.
Sorry for your loss.
Did you see one another often? Once a week, after Mark introduced us.
Mark Footman.
His landlord.
We went for dinners, then back to his place.
He'd play music for me.
It was cute.
He was the perfect date, except he was tight with money.
His ship hadn't come in yet.
He had plenty of cash.
I wanted to go upmarket to eat, but he had a teenager's taste.
Lots of chain restaurants.
Where did the money come from? I didn't care.
I just wanted to get paid.
But his wallet was a brick.
The guy deserved his second chance.
Um, if you think of something that might be useful, give the station a call.
Thank you for your help.
Let me know if I can be useful.
She liked you.
Because I treated her like any other businesswoman.
Bo had money, but nobody we talked to mentioned him having a job.
There's a high rate of recidivism for ex-cons.
He was innocent.
Best place to lose your innocence is prison.
Plus, he was looking for a job for the first time.
So you think he couldn't get legit work, so he took it wherever he could? That money had to come from somewhere.
Wells.
On our way.
That was Meg.
Mark Footman called.
We're going back to Townsend's place.
Some guy asked to get into Bo's apartment.
Said he was a relative.
Footman wouldn't let him in.
You lied about knowing Ingrid Sifton.
Oh, I don't "know her", know her.
If you're looking for a charge, I can help you out with that, smart-ass.
Hey, I don't go looking for trouble Yeah, yeah, and trouble doesn't come looking for you.
Get the hell outta here! Get out of here! Call for backup, I'll handle it.
Hey, I didn't do anything.
Then why'd you run? That guy was chasing me.
- Handled it.
- Call it in? I thought I'd apprehend him first.
I tell you to call it in, you call it in.
Is that clear? Yes.
Backup is there for times you need it.
Cops wind up dead.
Come on, get over here.
This envelope's stuffed full of 50s, I found it hidden in the bedroom closet.
Guess you didn't think to look there.
I wasn't looking for anything.
I was returning a book.
Books are for people who can read.
I need some time, I gotta go talk to someone.
Okay, but make it quick.
Say hi to your paid friend for me.
I wouldn't call a therapist a "paid friend.
" Head-shrinker, then.
I won't be long.
Pete! Someone's had a rough day.
We'll grab takeout, and I booked us a Hey! Ow! What are you doing? We sleep together a few times, and you think it's okay to record me? - What? - When we hooked up, you recorded us.
You're hurting me! Am I? Okay, if you wanna role-play, we should talk limits, cause Yeah.
Yeah, right there.
Why would you do that? What is that, part of the scene, or what? You recorded me, and then you blocked your number when you sent it.
I don't know what your game is.
Okay, whoa, whoa, I didn't do any of that.
Kate, I swear.
I don't know where that came from.
Delete the file and my number.
Or I'll tip my friends in the drug squad off to your recreational hobby.
Kate, I didn't record us, I swear.
C'mon, why don't you believe me? Nigel Allen Elaschuck.
Where were you two nights ago between 9:00 and midnight? Having a massage.
Where do dealers go to get knots out of their back after a long stressful day of selling drugs? I don't know, you'd have to ask them.
I was with May-Lin at the Golden Emperor.
Small world.
I raided the Emperor when I was with the sex crimes unit.
Those girls were sure happy to get their passports back.
You built up an impressive collection of drug convictions, spent some serious time inside.
Is that when you met Bo Townsend? Is that the charge? Being friends with an ex-con? The charge is breaking and entering.
What were you doing in his apartment? When are the police going to arrest Oren Briggs? We don't care about the friggin' lawsuit or the settlement.
- You want me to drop the suit? - No! Uh, I'm sorry, but Bo would've wanted us to have that money for the baby.
For our family.
Tell me how you like it.
You like that? Like that.
You were gone a minute.
I miss anything? We got hits for the prints on the cash.
Nigel Elaschuck and Bo Townsend.
I left them on your desk, you wanna walk them into Nolan? I can do it.
Thanks.
Look at that.
Big wad of cash found in dead man's apartment with your prints all over it.
I lent a friend some money.
So what? A very close one to lend that much.
We were cellmates when he came in.
Kid needed someone to look out for him.
Aren't you sweet.
I felt sorry for him.
He was scared.
Needed to learn a few things.
Being outside with the right kind of people.
So you put Bo to work selling drugs after he got out, waiting to collect on that protection when the settlement came in.
Well, you got one thing right.
Townsend promised to square things up.
He rip you off? Say he was gonna pay you back, but he didn't, and that got him dead? I been accused of a lot of things, but I'm no killer.
An ex-con with morals.
And a lawyer.
I'm done talkin'.
You know, Bo never stood a chance at the straight life after prison.
There's always a chance.
He didn't want to flip burgers waiting for his big payday.
We got a hit on Bo's car in a garage in Burnaby.
He lives in Surrey, dies in East Van, but his car's in Burnaby? I can follow up on the car.
We'll do it.
Check on Nigel's alibi, he said he was at the Golden Emperor.
Yes.
Thank you.
Ah, ah, ah.
Don't leave that there.
You're buying the stupid sign? I knew it.
Does your wife put up with this behaviour? Oren Briggs' place is a few blocks away from here.
Maybe Bo went to finish the fight.
I'm gonna check the trunk for the tire iron.
Here we go There's a sleeping bag covered in blood.
There's blood on the safety latch.
What if Bo wasn't driving? Maybe he was in the trunk.
There was camping gear at Bo's place, but no sleeping bag.
What if the killer used it to move what he thought was a corpse? Bo hits his head on the coffee table during the fight, gets knocked out, but the killer thinks he's dead.
Decides to move the body, stuffs him in the sleeping bag to get him in the trunk, drives across town.
Killer abandons the car, Bo comes to, he's disoriented, fights his way out of the sleeping bag.
Pulls the trunk latch, grabs a tire iron, maybe to defend himself.
But he's injured, deteriorating, and he gets lost.
Winds up in the laundromat looking for help.
So who drove him here? Whoa, you're playing racquetball with Nolan now? What, are you tired of losing to me, Chen? Yeah, well I needed a confidence boost.
He won by one point, we've agreed to disagree on whether he cheated.
Meg got results back from forensics on Bo's car, and on the sleeping bag.
Yeah, while you were playing with your balls, - we got a break in the case.
- Okay, we get it.
- What'd they find? - Clothing fibers, hair, particulate dust, dog fur.
A blood sample from inside the trunk that's a match to Bo Townsend, a second one on the sleeping bag that isn't.
Okay, have forensics see if it matches Nigel Elaschuck's blood.
- I'm already on it.
- Good.
Take Kate.
Go back to Oren Briggs.
Ask him to swab for DNA.
The guy barely talked to us last time, there's no way he'll do it voluntarily.
Get creative.
I wanna talk to Briggs, alone.
I know I blew it with Ingrid Sifton.
Can't let you blow it again.
Not on this one.
I won't.
I can relate to Briggs, I know how to talk to him.
I can do this.
Make it count.
Get this order out here today, alright.
Mr.
Briggs? What can I do for you, Detective? I need to get a sample of your DNA.
Chasing your own tail if I'm your prime suspect.
Then this shouldn't be a problem for you.
I hope that I never understand what it feels like to lose a child to a violent death.
But my father was a cop, and he was killed on the job.
I know the rage that comes when someone you care about is murdered.
It's poison.
I'm sorry about your father.
I'm afraid that kind of thing stays with you.
I thought it couldn't get any worse, until I made a mistake that got someone killed.
I even faked my way through therapy because I couldn't talk about it to someone who'd never understand.
But I think you understand.
Every day since Bo Townsend was arrested, I've fantasized about killing that guy.
I took my best shot at it too, when he told me he was moving away.
"I'm gonna leave you in peace," he said.
Peace? I lost it.
I understand about making a mistake more than you know.
The night my daughter was killed, when she missed curfew, I locked Sadie out.
How'd it go? Got the sample.
Hey.
Nice work on Briggs.
Do we have any chocolate? Do you talk to your wife about the job? I try not to.
I mean, Emily's supportive, but I don't want to bring this home to her and the kids.
Who do you talk to, then? Bottom of a red wine bottle, when it gets bad.
Catch you later.
We're out of chocolate.
Forensics cross referenced Nigel Elaschuck's records with the blood in the trunk.
It's not his.
Does the blood belong to Briggs? His DNA rules him out, and Nigel's alibi checks out.
Did the family ever get a serious look? The boyfriend, Jeremy, reached out to Bo and Isabelle once the lawyer took on Bo's case.
Six million bucks, sets up a young family for life.
That kind of money makes people do things they normally wouldn't do.
Was there anything in the trunk or the sleeping bag that links them to Bo? Clothing fibres, hair, fine particulate dust, dog fur.
Did they have a dog? No dog.
What about the particulate dust? Composition says synthetic latex binder.
Water based, that's house paint.
Colour's blue.
Isabelle's expecting.
That's the colour they're painting the baby's crib.
She was in the room when I interviewed her.
If the blood in the trunk was Isabelle's, the test would've ID'd a familial match to Bo.
It's not hers.
When Emily was pregnant, I did all the painting in the baby's room.
I didn't want her near the fumes.
Her boyfriend What if Jeremy painted the crib? That would make him a prime suspect.
You know, even if we can connect the paint dust to Jeremy, we still need motive.
Six million reasons don't convince you? Jeremy came back into Bo's life before the settlement was even on the table.
He was there for him.
Yeah, and he saw an opportunity.
Take out Bo, point us at Briggs, Isabelle collects the money.
Briggs was a good suspect.
Especially after the takedown on Bo.
Okay If Jeremy killed Bo and pinned it on Briggs, could be that strategy worked for him in the past.
I mean, think about it.
There were no leads in Sadie's murder until Jeremy pointed at Bo.
Once the police landed on him, that was it.
So, he came back into Bo's life because he was afraid the appeal would point to him.
We have reason to believe Jeremy was involved in your brother's death.
That's impossible.
Jeremy loved Bo, he was trying to help him.
Was he with you the night Bo died? No, he was playing hockey with the guys.
I'll need their names and numbers to corroborate.
How did you get those bruises? It was an accident.
Someone grabbed your wrist.
Hard enough to bruise it.
Was it Jeremy? We found samples of paint dust in the trunk of Bo's car.
It's the same colour as your baby's crib.
Did Bo paint the crib? No.
Jeremy did.
Oh, my God, this can't be real.
Jeremy was so sure that it was Oren Briggs.
I need your permission to get a sample of the paint from your house.
Yes.
You have my permission.
Get the sample.
Send someone over to Jeremy Clark's residence right away.
Thank you.
Twenty years ago, everyone saw Sadie leave the party with Bo.
He told investigators that people were drunk, she wanted to go.
They went back to his place to listen to music.
Yeah.
Typical teenager who's trying to impress her.
I did that with my crush.
Nobody ever tried that with me.
Probably because they knew your old man carried a gun.
Bo doubled Sadie home on his bike.
Drops her off a few doors down from his house, so her dad wouldn't see him.
Sadie gets home, and the door is locked.
What does she do? She'd go to a friend's.
Wait, according to the notes, this is the address where Briggs' family lived when Sadie was killed, and this was Jeremy Clark's address as a teenager.
Jeremy's family lived around the corner from Sadie Briggs? You're thinking Bo wasn't the last person to see her the night she died? Well, she was locked out.
She had to go somewhere.
She went to Jeremy's.
If Bo found that out, that would give Jeremy motive to kill him.
Ready to start with Jeremy Clark? Kate should interrogate him.
You wanna do it? Absolutely.
We've got him on the evidence, I want to make him confess.
Then go do it.
Kate.
Don't make me look bad.
Isabelle said you played hockey the night of Bo's death.
The rink was hosting a girl's skating competition that night.
I went to North Van and played with friends there.
And your hand? I dropped the gloves in a game.
Look, this is crazy.
I didn't kill Bo.
We found blood in the trunk of Bo's car.
I can clear you right now if you give me a DNA sample.
Isabelle thinks you did it.
She okayed Forensics going into your home.
I told her we found paint dust in Bo's car.
My bet is, it's from the crib you were painting.
The evidence will speak for itself.
Why don't you tell me what happened? He was gonna kill me.
Why would he do that? We were doin' shots, he was drunk.
Or he realized you murdered Sadie.
I was defending myself.
Oh, no.
Means a lot, you standing by me.
Yeah, I got your back, man.
Always will.
Isabelle, too? I'm glad she's gonna have you looking after her and the baby.
She took it pretty hard when I told her I was leaving.
Ah, she'll be okay.
She thinks I'm playing hockey.
I, uh, wanted a guy's night, you know, before you left.
So, you uh, never got with Sadie, huh? It wasn't like that.
That's cause you got friend-zoned.
Girl like her, gotta take charge.
Make her give it up.
She pretends she doesn't want it, but you know she does.
She had weird taste in music, just like you.
All American Rejects.
She loved this CD.
What? This album.
Sadie was into it.
How did you know that? She wouldn't shut up about it.
Offered to burn me a copy.
What? Sadie heard that for the first time the night she died.
I played it for her.
What are you freaking out for, man? That was the last CD we listened to before I brought her home.
That means you saw her after I dropped her off.
You raped her and then you killed her.
It was you.
You did it.
When darkness turns to light It ends tonight It ends tonight Just a little insight will make this right It's too late to fight It ends tonight It ends tonight It ends tonight, tonight It ends tonight It ends tonight What happened when Sadie came over? We went for a drive, I was wasted.
- I don't remember.
- Are you an angry drunk? Do you black out? Do you remember having sex with Sadie? She wanted it.
She never said "no" or "stop.
" She just said "go slow.
" That's what girls say when they're scared to say no.
You force Isabelle to have sex with you, too? No.
Sadie came to my place at 1:00 in the morning.
It wasn't rape.
She threatened to go to the police.
You don't like it when girls talk back, do you? So you lost your temper, she tried to get away, and you killed her.
Is that what happened? Huh.
You let Bo do 17 years.
I was making it up to him.
What else could I do? You coulda come clean.
That's what you coulda done.
Hi, Doctor Powell.
Remember me? That guy I was sleeping with? He sent me an audio file of us together.
I dumped him.
So that's progress, right? What are you doing here, Kate? I was hoping we could continue our sessions together.
I don't see there's value in that.
But I like talking to you.
I like talking to you, too, but that's not what therapy's about.
You know I have a waiting list of patients desperate to do the hard work of facing the things they fear, the things that keep them stuck.
And I want to help them do that.
That's therapy.
I understand.
Next time on The Murders.
At least you picked a friendly district to get tanked in.
It was all a big misunderstanding.
Our victim is Jake Merridew.
He put a body in a barrel of acid and it disappears.
He worked the screenings last night.
- When did he leave? - I don't know.
But my wife might.
Your relationship with Jake was strictly professional.
You need to get me out of this mess.
Have you told me everything I need to know, Alicia.
What's this about Nolan getting in a bar fight.
I don't know where he goes between shifts.
I don't want to bench you so deal with it, talk to somebody, whatever it takes, man.
So you have just been lying to me all these years.
I'm tired of living this lie.
You got an 8 mm editing machine upstairs.
Alicia insists she had no idea these women were being filmed.
So what are they, victims or conquests?