Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent (2024) s02e05 Episode Script

1
[NARRATOR]: In Toronto's War on Crime,
the worst offenders are
pursued by the detectives
of the Specialized Criminal
Investigations Unit.
These are their stories.
[ECHOING GAVEL]
I made sinigang!
Thank you!
I really wish I could
go with you this time.
Better.
What?
Your lola, she's better.
So we're not going.
Son, we're staying for your graduation.
We're so proud of you.
- Really?
- It's true!
Aw, but it's sold out.
- What?
- Huh?
Yeah. For like weeks now.
I'm sorry to disappoint you.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Hey, Luc!
Excuse me, I'm completely lost.
My son is graduating next weekend,
who do I talk to for tickets?
Sorry, I don't know.
This is the name of the boat
leaving Kowloon with the shipment.
Tsk, I don't care what
the name of the boat is.
Don't be a fool, alright?
You make sure this package
is inside your container
before that boat leaves.
[DOOR OPENING]
[IMITATES GUNSHOT SOUND]
Is everything okay?
[DOOR CLOSING]
[CELLPHONE NOTIFICATION]
Hey.
Come on, man. Let's go.
Let's get it.
Jerome?
Jerome. We need to talk.
Talk about what?
[SMASHING]
- Stay here.
- Dad. Dad.
Dad.
- Dad!
- Rodrigo?
Oy! Oy, get out!
[SMASHING]
Rodrigo! Oh! Oh! Get in! Get in, go!
Get in!
- Mom!
- Get in, get in!
- What are you doing?
- Gloria!
Ugh, ah, Rodrigo! Argh!
[SCREAMING]
Rodrigo!
Gloria!
[GUNSHOT]
No, Rodrigo!
[GUNSHOT]
Please, no, no, no!
[GUNSHOT]
[TWO GUNSHOTS]
[BANGING ON DOOR]
[BANGING ON DOOR]
[THEME MUSIC]
Rodrigo and Gloria Ábalos.
Import/export business, food mostly.
Neighbour called it in
just before midnight.
Poor kid.
Looks like a happy family.
Could you bag this for me, please?
Where was the son?
Closet. Mom locked him in,
first responders had to
wedge the door to get him out.
Thankfully, the key was
in Gloria Ábalos' fist
because the shooters
went through her pockets
and emptied her purse.
Well, two to the chest, one to the head.
Aka failure to stop, aka failure drill,
aka Mozambique drill.
- Casings?
- 40 calibre.
Judging by the exit
wound to her forehead
and where the casings landed,
Gloria was kneeling here,
and the shooter hereabouts.
So a gun to the back of the wife's head.
Open the safe, or
We'll redecorate your walls.
Except he did open the safe.
Then why kill them? I don't
see any defensive wounds
or any evidence that the
victims put up a fight.
- How much was in the safe?
- Ledger said 80 grand.
What?
Well, the bullet to the
back of Gloria's head
would've sent her that way, face down.
So the killers would've
had to flip her over
to put the two in the chest.
- To just make sure?
- Of what?
How to do the drill wrong?
The two to the chest comes first
and the head is just the insurance,
and you can reach the
heart from the back.
Why risk leaving trace evidence
by flipping the deceased over?
Pockets turned out,
purse rifled through.
It's like these guys couldn't decide
between a hit and a robbery.
Where's the son now?
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Detectives.
Thank you, Officer.
Jerome Ábalos?
I'm Detective Henry Graf,
this is Detective Frankie Bateman.
Could you tell us in your
own words what happened here?
Um
Uh, it was Thursday,
so I was helping my
parents with their books,
- like I always do.
- Why Thursdays?
Friday, all the deposits go to the bank.
I was calculating the debits
when we heard the back window smash.
Dad went out, then we heard him scream.
My mother told me to hide in the closet.
I hid like a coward.
They'd still be alive
if they hadn't cancelled
their trip to the Philippines.
Why did they cancel?
It was for my graduation.
Masters in Psychology.
They were so proud.
I bet. Anything seem off
about your parents yesterday?
No, I don't think so.
I only work here nights.
During the day I'm a TA.
I help Professor Sooley grade papers.
And would anyone else have known
that the money in the safe is
at its highest on Thursdays?
We've used the same
bank for over 20 years,
so they would, I guess?
Jerome, were you in the
closet the entire time?
I left my phone on the counter.
Couldn't call the police,
I couldn't do anything.
Do you remember seeing anything,
or hearing anything the killer said?
I don't think they spoke.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
At all?
What, is this, is that strange?
Jerome, did you parents have
any enemies that you know of?
No. None.
Jerome, if you know something,
now is the time to tell us.
Ábalos Imports had dealing with
syndicate drug runners, the Ghosts.
Three days before the
murders, Hao Leung,
the son of Ghost leader Sam Leung,
was in the shop making threats,
until Rod told him to take a hike.
- Brave man.
- Or foolish.
Double tap to the
chest, one to the head.
It's consistent with
several unsolved killings
attributed to the Ghosts.
Why, didn't Gloria
Ábalos have any skeletons?
Uh, none that we can see so far.
Rod Ábalos had an appointment yesterday
with a Dr. Fooi, or Fu-eye.
But, we haven't been able
to track down anyone
with those names as yet.
What about the son?
Yeah, he was trapped in the closet.
He heard the entire thing.
He also said that the killers
never uttered a single
word during the robbery.
Ghosts are pros. Pros work quietly.
Yeah, but they're not mute.
They don't go through
pockets, empty out purses.
Why not?
For all we know, whatever
Gloria Ábalos had on her
was the real reason for the murder.
Perhaps.
Talk to Sam Leung.
If this was the Ghosts,
I want to know what
kind of illegal import
was worth the exposure
of two dead bodies.
[ECHOING GAVEL]
You're barking up the
wrong tree, Detectives.
Rod Ábalos was a close friend.
We met stocking shelves
when we were kids.
What business did you
have with Ábalos Imports?
They imported the food
for my exotic pets.
Nothing more.
Right, and that's why your
son threatened Rod and Gloria
three days before they were murdered?
Because they refused to import
dead crickets for your iguanas?
No, my son threatened them
because he is an idiot.
Oh, we're still going
to need to talk to him.
My son wanted something imported
that could've gotten
Ábalos Imports into trouble.
When he is done pouting,
he can tell you himself.
- Sorry, what kind of trouble?
- Not illegal, just messy.
Like, guns kind of messy?
Asian leaf turtle kind of messy.
Catch a good price, but
without the right permits
Rod refused.
He called me, I took
care of it, end of story.
And how did that sit with your son?
I assure you he did not kill anyone.
How can you be so sure?
Because he has seen what happens
to people who disappoint me.
You know, Mr. Leung,
Rod and Gloria didn't
appear to have any enemies.
Our suspect list is getting shorter,
and you talking like this
Ábalos Imports has been
vandalized twice in the last month.
Rod has also received several
threatening phone calls.
Sounds like an enemy to me.
And Rod told you this?
He thought it was an ex-employee,
but I don't have a name.
I was hoping he would ask
me to take care of it, but
Some advice, detectives.
Find whoever did this before I do.
Sam Leung is a gangster.
He's just trying to stop
you from arresting his son!
Hao was with friends during the murders.
Queensway VIP, we checked.
Jerome, was there some reason
why you didn't tell
us about the vandalism?
Signs get smashed all the time.
Your parents were killed
by amateurs, Jerome.
The scene was staged to make
it look like it was the Ghosts,
but they didn't do this.
Were there any employees
that might've been
angry with your parents?
My father fired a lot of people.
Alright, well we need you
to write down their names,
and we'll have a chat with them. Okay?
Would you excuse us for a minute?
Yeah.
Mark found something on the CCTV.
A dark grey sedan pulls
in behind Ábalos Imports
before the murders,
pulls out again about 10 minutes
after the shots were reported.
Mmm, grainy photograph with
two unidentifiable figures.
My favourite.
Uh, maybe one of these
unidentified people
was fired from Ábalos Imports.
What's that on the bumper?
What is that? A sticker?
I know exactly what that is.
[ECHOING GAVEL]
Yeah, I know 'em.
That's Bo Lennox and Carlos Rodriguez.
They're not on the list.
That's a pretty bad photo,
you sure about the names?
Yeah, Bo here bought this car
from my Zamboni driver
about eight months ago.
And where Bo goes, Carlos
is never far behind.
How well do you know these guys, Manny?
I coached both of them.
Violent kids, even from a young age.
They spent more time
in the penalty box
than you did, Frankie.
[LAUGHTER]
Those two were brutal.
Every game, I'd have to
pull one off the other.
- So Bo and Carlos would fight.
- Yeah.
The boys made me
question my life choices.
You think your Zamboni driver
has an address for Bo Lennox?
Why are we doing this?
The man supplies the metal man
gets say where the metal goes, aight?
Just trust me.
Man, we coulda got two racks for them.
Man, who says we didn't?
[CHUCKLES]
[DISTANT THUD]
Yo, what was that?
- Police, police!
- Carlos, go! Move!
- Show me your hands! Get down!
- Hands in the air!
Down now! Don't move!
[GRUNTING]
Police! Get down on the ground!
Down! Now! Don't move! Don't move.
[GRUNTING]
Detectives, all yours.
Okay, we're looking
for guns, phones, money.
Anything of interest.
Detectives?
Any interest in a big bag of cash?
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Ábalos Imports.
Oh. What do you know?
The money was found
in a bag in the garage,
along with a deposit
slip from Ábalos Imports.
Guns? Any connection to the victims?
No, not yet, but Sam Leung said
that a disgruntled employee
was threatening Rod and Gloria.
Yeah, we think somebody Rod
fired might have contracted
Bo and Carlos, somebody
who knew that the safe
was full of cash on Thursday nights.
Quite the rap sheets, but nothing big
ever seems to stick
to these guys, does it?
I have to say, I am not hopeful
that they're going to open up
just out of the
goodness of their hearts.
Interview room.
Kind of like a penalty box,
wouldn't you say, Bateman?
Oh, we need these two
to drop the gloves,
start fighting each other.
[FOLDER SLAMS ON DESK]
Miguel Carlos Rodriguez.
You've already spoken to
your lawyer on the phone,
I assume you know your rights.
You can just sit there. Silent.
I tell you, you are a much
better friend than I would be.
I mean, if my buddy left a sticker
on the back of his car
that got me convicted of murder?
I mean, oof, I would be pretty pissed.
Here's the thing, Carlos.
Up until now,
you've just kind of been an idiot,
but what we're talking
about today is murder.
This is life, Carlos.
This, this is your life.
And I don't know if you
want to trust Bo with that.
Because he's pretty chatty.
Look, I got nothing to say.
Oh, that's right, you're a pro.
You don't need to me to tell you
that we got you dead to rights.
You know that already,
you've been mulling it over
in that mind of yours.
Over and over and over, all
the things you screwed up.
The sloppy crime scene,
the clumsy getaway.
It's like you wanted to go to jail.
So what's your play now?
'Cause if it was me
sitting in that chair,
I'd be talking about who hired me.
No, it's okay. You
don't have to say anything,
Bo's doing enough talking
for the both of you.
Do you know that, uh,
he's saying you were the only shooter?
That you killed both Rod
And Gloria? All he
did was empty the safe.
He also say the cops
are allowed to lie in interrogations?
This isn't an interrogation, Bo.
This is just two guys talking.
Your lawyer's on the way,
we've been through that already.
Did you know, though,
when you took the job,
that Sam Leung was a close
friend of Rod Ábalos?
Yeah, I uh, I saw Sam the other day.
He told us to find the
triggerman before he did.
We can protect you, Bo.
We're sworn to.
It's your choice.
Wait!
Sam Leung never hears my name, right?
Bo and Carlos were hired
by ex-Ábalos employee Luc Francis.
They grew up in the same
housing project in the Vern.
Luc got in touch with these
two from a burner phone.
- They told you this?
- Yeah.
Bo said if it wasn't someone they knew,
they would have never taken
the job in the first place.
Yeah, but Bo and Carlos
both destroyed their phones
once the job was done, so, uh,
in terms of a solid connection,
how do you feel about the
word of a career criminal?
It's a start.
What's Luc's beef with
Rod and Gloria Ábalos?
He was fired for stealing.
Now Luc would've known that
the safe was full on Thursdays
and to instruct Bo and Carlos
to kill them in a very specific way.
Make it look like Sam Leung's crew.
Exactly.
That's why the crime scene
was so performative, inconsistent.
These two, they really
didn't understand the brief.
We got a video statement from Bo Lennox,
it's a full taped confession.
You shouldn't have!
Murder weapons?
Uh, that's another weird thing.
Day after the murder,
Luc texts Bo and Carlos
and instructs them to stash the guns
in the south garbage
bin of a skate park.
And he pays them an extra 10 grand.
Did we go pick up the guns?
Yeah, we sent a team,
the guns are gone already.
Killer could be looking to
finish a frame job on the Ghosts.
Okay. Find this Luc Francis character,
maybe we'll get lucky,
maybe he still has the guns.
Hey!
Whoa! What the hell are you doing, Luc?
I cannot go home, Jerome!
There's a cop parked
outside my apartment.
Don't you think your family
has put me through enough?
Yo, my parents are dead because of you!
What?
Bo and Carlos.
You told them about the money,
you told them about the safe!
So they robbed my parents
and then they killed them!
You knew it and you let it happen!
Hey, Grandma! Ah, you know.
I was thinking.
Maybe we could visit Aunt
Shirley on Manitoulin.
Luc. These officers
would like to talk to you.
[DOOR OPENING]
Look, look. I didn't kill anybody.
No, you had your buddies Bo and Carlos
take care of that for ya.
Look, we aren't buddies.
Well then why did they
receive a text message from you
instructing them how to
kill Rod and Gloria Ábalos?
- Wait, what?
- Yeah.
Found these in your
grandmother's crawlspace.
Two Glock 27s.
Now they just happen
to be the very same guns
that were used to murder the Ábaloses.
You, Bo and Carlos, just
like old times, right?
Wait, wait, wait. Look. No,
no, I didn't do anything!
Sit down! Luc, sit down.
Look.
Bo and Carlos got my brother killed.
- What?
- Yeah.
Never told you that, did they?
Dorian was 13,
and those fools convinced him to
rob this old man around the way.
What they didn't tell him
was that old man was a G-soldier.
The street gang?
Yeah, shelled out soon as they broke in.
They ran.
Ah, my brother took two in the back.
Dorian Francis. Ellesmere Road.
That was your brother?
Yeah.
You think I'd have
anything to do with them?
Well, Rod fired you for
stealing, you were
No, no, no, I didn't steal anything!
Okay, I guess you didn't break the sign
outside of Ábalos Imports, either?
Okay, no, no. I did do
that, but I was pissed, okay?
Rod set me up!
So, you're not a murderer,
you're not a thief.
Sure seems like
somebody's out to get you.
Luc, you knew that there was money
in the safe on Thursday night.
You knew that the Ghosts were clients.
This is revenge, plain and simple.
Rod set you up to look like
a thief, and you made him pay.
No, no, no, no! Rod
didn't fire me for stealing.
He fired me for being
friends with his son.
What? What, what does that mean?
Dah, Jerome always seemed so lonely.
So I took him out to a club one night.
He got lit, threw up the
whole next day at work.
Rod let me have it, didn't
want me distracting Jerome
from his schoolwork, so I said fine.
I told Jerome, no more invites.
Yeah, well I guess that wasn't enough,
because three days later,
Rod "found" three grand
worth of Asian black
truffles in my locker.
Fired me on the spot.
So, you're saying Rod
set you up and fired you
just for trying to be
friends with Jerome?
That was a light touch for Rod Ábalos.
When was this?
I don't know, like five months ago.
Uh, th-that night with Jerome
was the last time I saw Bo and Carlos.
Um. Luc,
you happen to notice if
Jerome exchanged numbers
with Bo and Carlos that night?
I mean, he could've.
I mean, Jerome talked to them for hours.
Look, I told him those
guys were bad dudes.
What time did Bo and Carlos
get the text telling them to
stash the guns in the skate park?
Um
About one hour after we told Jerome
that we were looking into
ex-employees like Luc Francis.
Well, well, well.
You uh, fancy a stroll around campus?
I'd be delighted.
[ECHOING GAVEL]
Professor Sooley.
Yes, that's right. Can I help you?
Toronto Police.
We're looking for Jerome Ábalos.
Who?
Your TA, Jerome Ábalos?
I don't know who that is.
He just finished his
Masters in Psychology
at this university, he's
set to graduate Saturday.
Uh, you don't, you don't recognize him?
Detectives, I oversee every
Masters student in my department
and I've never even so much
as heard of a Jerome Ábalos.
- He lied?
- Yeah.
Jerome was never even enrolled.
Listen to this, we talked to
a Bonnie Baker in Admissions,
she said she received an
email from Jerome six years ago
asking for an example
of tuition receipts
so he could assure his elderly parents
that they could still pay by snail mail.
So he forged the receipts?
Yeah, we're waiting on
a warrant to confirm.
You know, the sneak in and out kind,
because if Jerome
knows what we're up to,
that proof's going
to start to disappear.
He was lying from the beginning, Theo.
He was trying to point
us toward the Ghosts,
and when that didn't stick
He pointed to the only
other person with motive.
Luc.
Did Jerome plan to frame
Luc from the beginning?
No, I think he pretended to be Luc
so that Carlos and
Bo would take the gig,
but when we blew up his
frame job on the Ghosts,
he had no choice.
Okay.
If it wasn't money,
what's the motive?
Freedom.
Freedom?
Jerome felt controlled,
and according to Luc,
his parents put
unbelievable pressure on him.
[SIGHS]
If I'm going to prosecute,
I need the word of someone
other than Luc Francis.
Who right now is still our best suspect
for orchestrating the murders.
I need to hear from someone who
can testify to Jerome's entire life.
Get me that, and I'll
think of getting you Jerome.
Yeah, same class since kindergarten,
but I wouldn't say we were friends.
- How come?
- Jerome was weird.
Our high school was super competitive,
he was like, remedial, you know?
Dead weight?
And you were, what, valedictorian?
Was third in my class.
I got into every
university I applied for.
Now I don't mean to offend,
but if you got into university,
why'd you end up here, feeding fish?
School was my father's dream, not mine.
I wanted to be like him,
but when you're the
first son in new country,
your parents expect you to
be better than they were.
Jerome's parents,
were they the same way?
They were next level.
This one time, Jerome
was doing a violin recital
and he fell apart.
He always did in front of a crowd,
but he was crying and
he pissed his pants.
Rod grabbed his arm, ripped
him right off the stage
in front of everybody, he was
Almost felt bad for the kid.
Advanced Bookkeeping, Bellwoods College.
Presented, ooh, with honours
to one Jerome Ábalos, check it out.
Iggy Pop or Milli Vanilli?
What?
Er, fake or forgery?
Forgery is the real thing,
it's just been altered.
Uh-huh.
Iggy Pop refused to lip
sync one of his songs
on Australian television because
that would have been a forgery.
Whereas Milli Vanilli never sang a word.
Neither the first nor last.
I mean, can we even be sure that
their names were Rob and Fab?
Agh, we'll never know! You tell me!
Well, the paper feels solid.
But the seal isn't raised.
And the ink is pooled and
bled through the paper.
Dead giveaway.
What we have here, ladies
and gentlemen, is a fake.
Let's get the documents section in.
All these photos are from
one stage in his life, his graduation.
Now, don't parents put
up photos of their kids
in every stage of life?
You know, their baby photos, birthdays?
First day of school, that kind of thing?
Yeah, every parent I know.
Hey. You in the mood to
take me to a fake grad?
'Cause I got two tickets.
Milli Vanilli all the way.
Okay, what do we have?
Everything is fake.
Advanced bookkeeping courses, first aid,
I mean there's even a chess
Grand Master certificate.
Chess Grand Master, tell me more.
Well, it's really interesting, actually,
how they determine your
rating, they use this AI,
you were joking.
But, wasn't there a ceremony
where he supposedly
graduated with his BA?
Yep, but the convocation
for his first fake degree
just happened to take place
right after Rod and Gloria
flew to the Philippines
to attend a funeral.
We checked Rod's email, and Jerome
Jerome sent this photo
in a message explaining.
I didn't tell you about Grad
because I didn't want to
stop you from going home
to pay your respects.
Yay us! We did it!
Who are the other kids in the photo?
Get this, paid actors!
Now you're joking!
No! And you know what, he
was about to do it again.
What?
Summer 2024 Convocation,
Gallery Section, General Admission, wow.
Yeah, if it ain't broke, why fix it?
Jerome knew his grandmother was sick,
waited for his parents to book flights,
and then what do you know?
It's the same week of his convocation.
Yeah, except his grandmother
made a miraculous recovery,
and so the parents told Jerome
they could make it after all.
So, rather than face the music,
he decided to just kill
his parents instead.
Go figure.
Yeah, two days before the murder,
he makes a large withdrawal.
Eight grand.
That's enough for two black market guns.
Oh, it's nice to see that tuition money
going for something,
but, why keep up the lie?
Ego and insecurity are
two sides of the same coin.
Now, Jerome's parents had
such high expectations of him
that it made him feel like a failure.
In retaliation, he made
them look like fools,
outsmarting those he could never please.
Must've been quite the drug.
Do we have anything tying him
directly to Bo and Carlos yet?
Nope.
Then why are you smiling?
Well, because now we get to
do a little acting of our own.
But you found the guns at
his grandmother's house!
I know, but as far as we know,
Bo and Carlos could
have planted them there.
My guts are churning over this, Jerome.
It's, I feel sick about it.
If only we had something
tying Luc to Bo and Carlos.
Phone call, text, anything.
Look, Jerome. You have our word.
Until Luc Francis is behind bars,
we won't stop digging.
We're going to find every
piece of evidence we missed.
[SOFT JAZZ MUSIC]
Jerome!
Hi! Any news?
Actually, we've had
some incredible luck.
Um, due to a perfectly
timed anonymous tip,
the burner phone that was used to
hire Bo and Carlos has been found.
Oh my God. That's, that's great news.
I agree. It's from our spin team.
I have to hand it to you, Jerome.
You really had us fooled.
I don't think you're going
to be so lucky with the jury.
Take him away.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Hey, what's up?
Bo Lennox isn't going to testify.
What? But, we have
his statement on tape.
His statement has been excluded.
On what grounds?
Well, Mr. Lennox's lawyer maintains
the statement was given under threat.
Oh!
What, said I made it seem
that if he didn't confess,
Sam Leung would kill him?
- Hmm.
- I did my job to the letter.
Well, so did she.
Alright, look. This is on me.
I lost today.
I really don't want to lose
the next one, so, any ideas?
Okay.
Uh, we have this photo of
Jerome with the burner phone,
we have an extensive
story of his deceit
Which Sutton will spin
into a tale of parents
pressuring a child
to the point of lying.
- Not murder.
- Right. Okay, so, we have nothing.
Bo's confession, that was the case,
that was the entire glue
keeping this thing together.
[SIGH]
Look, if family issues
were admissible as evidence,
we'd be sitting pretty.
Family issues. Dr. Fooi,
Rod Ábalos' notebook.
- Fooi.
- I thought you couldn't find
a doctor with that name.
We couldn't. But what if
it's not a name? What if
It's an acronym.
We need to find what
therapist Rod was talking to
on the day he died.
And why.
[ECHOING GAVEL]
Yes, Rod Ábalos was my patient.
But I only saw him once.
Can you tell me what he
came to see you about?
No. And you know that, Detective.
But what if he's been murdered?
Well, that would change things.
My God, what happened?
Did Rod mention his son Jerome?
It's all he talked about.
Six years is a long time
to fake being a student.
Wait, Rod knew about the lying?
Oh yeah. He knew everything.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Everything.
[CAR DRIVING OUTSIDE]
Detective Bateman.
Two men were hired to kill
Rod and Gloria Ábalos.
The instructions came over text.
Objection! Your Honour,
the Crown can't argue its
case through the witness.
Your Honour.
We have heard no testimony,
nor even in fact seen
any evidence to suggest that anyone,
murderer or otherwise,
was hired by text.
Sustained.
Crown, evidence first, questions second.
The weapons used to kill
Rod and Gloria Ábalos
were stashed in a trash receptacle
at the skate park near
Evans Avenue, were they not?
Objection! Your Honour,
police have already testified
they found no guns in that park.
Sustained. Clean it up
or move on, Mr. Forrester.
Detective, you met with Jerome Ábalos
the same day you became
aware that the murder weapons
may have been stashed
at the skate park, is that correct?
Yes.
Uh, we informed Mr. Ábalos
that we were looking
into former employees
who had been fired by his father.
He gave us a list, Luc
Francis was at the very top.
This was one hour before
the guns were stashed.
Objection! Your Honour.
Ms. Sutton just said police
were sent to the skate park
to retrieve the murder weapons.
I mean, they didn't do it
because they needed the overtime.
Your Honour, they went
because they received a tip.
Overruled.
And where were the murder
weapons eventually found?
In the crawlspace in Luc
Francis' grandmother's home.
Hmm.
Detective, can you tell
the court what this is?
Yes, this is the pay as you go cellphone
we caught Jerome Ábalos
stashing in Luc Francis'
grandmother's hanging planter.
And was this phone used
to contact the killers?
It's got some water damage,
but the data we could retrieve
corroborated our theory
that the men who killed
Rod and Gloria Ábalos were
hired through this very phone.
Thank you, Detective. No more questions.
Detective.
Once the minutes are used
up on a pay as you go phone,
people often just
throw them away, right?
Yes. I suppose.
And you advised Mr. Ábalos
that you needed the phone
that Luc Francis used to
contact the two killers,
did you not?
Yes, as a ploy to get Mr. Ábalos to
And after that conversation,
Mr. Ábalos retrieved a cellphone.
Yes, to plant it to frame Luc
Francis, as I've already
Detective, isn't it possible
that Mr. Ábalos saw Luc Francis
throw away that phone,
and only retrieved it
in order to help get
justice for his parents?
That would be highly
improbable and coincidental.
Much like the Crown's case.
- Objection!
- Withdrawn. No more questions.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
We're losing, Theo.
We need to get Jerome up on the stand.
He needs to hear what his
father's therapist told us.
It's in disclosure, Graf.
He's most likely read it.
I don't know, I don't know
if Jerome would want to know
what his father said
about him to a therapist.
And even if he has read it,
he hasn't faced it in front of a jury.
He's a pleaser, he cares
what people think about him.
Hao Leung said it, that he
crumbles before an audience.
Exactly.
Sutton's entire narrative
has been about how horrible
Rod and Gloria were to poor Jerome.
Are we really going
to beat up on this kid?
- We need to push back.
- It could backfire.
Even if he does decide to testify,
I can't be certain the jury
won't be fooled like you were.
Well, the kid plays sympathetic.
Come on, Theo, it's going to work.
We searched the Ábalos home,
there wasn't one photo of
Jerome before his graduation
from Osler with a BA, and why?
Because before that,
he had never lived up
to his parent's expectations.
Exactly.
It, it's like they
cancelled the old Jerome.
Buried him because
he wasn't good enough.
Look. If he hears
what his father said about
him in that session
Put me on the stand, Theo,
and I'll get him up there.
And you can take him down.
[COUGHING]
My apologies, your Honour.
Here you are, Detective.
Thank you.
Detective Graf, did Rod
Ábalos see a therapist?
Um, yes.
Rod had F-O-O-I,
or, or Fooi written on his notepad,
next to the word Doctor.
Now I originally thought that Fooi
might have been a doctor's last name,
but later I realised it was an acronym.
Families Of Origin Issues,
it pertains to familial
sources of trauma.
And what did you learn from your review
of Rod's therapy records?
Rod and Gloria Ábalos
had discovered that Jerome, uh,
had been lying about
attending Osler University.
Rod wanted to confront Jerome,
but Gloria convinced Rod to
talk to a therapist instead.
And what was discussed
at Rod's therapy sessions?
Well, Jerome's many obvious psychoses
Objection! Your Honour, Detective
Graf is not a psychotherapist.
He can't diagnose my client.
Sustained.
Detective Graf,
is it true that Rod and Gloria
were looking for a healthy way
to talk to their son about his lies?
Yes, but at the time
Uh, please, the microphone, Detective.
Yes, but at that time, they
weren't privy to the fact
that the psychopath they raised
intended to have them killed.
Objection! Your Honour.
Detective Graf, one more move like that
and I'll call a mistrial.
I agree.
It's not a good idea.
I'm the one accused of
butchering my family.
Don't you think the jury
wants to hear from me?
That's not what I'm worried about.
Don't let the Crown's
affable demeanor fool you,
the man is a shark.
Sharks don't scare me.
Being thought of as a murderer does.
I've done nothing wrong.
The jury will believe me.
My parents were everything to me.
All I wanted was to make them happy.
But you couldn't, could you?
No. But my parents weren't bad people.
They just wanted me to have
everything they couldn't
growing up in the Philippines.
But the pressure to be successful,
it must have been suffocating.
It was.
But I understood it.
Jerome, if your parents were
alive, right now, right here.
What would you say to them?
I'm sorry.
Sorry I couldn't live up to your dreams.
Hearing you die in that closet
will haunt me for the rest of my life.
Thank you, Jerome.
[CLEARS THROAT]
Please.
You just said you couldn't
live up to your parent's dreams.
Did that make you angry?
No. Sad, maybe.
They just wanted me to
reach my full potential.
Full potential. Right.
Can you identify this for the court?
That's my degree. Bachelors of Science.
Your fake degree. Bachelors of Science.
- Yes.
- Fabricated by you.
Yes.
Can you describe this
photograph to the court?
It's a
it's a photo of my parents
and I celebrating my degree.
Sorry?
My fake degree.
From Osler University.
Jerome, there are no other photos of you
from before this moment
on the walls of your house,
your parents' business, why is that?
- I don't know.
- You don't know?
Mm-mm.
Okay.
Well, is it safe to say
that this kind of love
and happiness and
pride from your parents
was something new for you?
Yes.
Say from the from the
moment you started lying
about your academic achievements?
Yes.
It was so much pressure.
So I lied. To make them happy.
Jerome, your parents were killed
exactly two days after
they cancelled their trip
to the Philippines so they could
attend your Masters convocation.
But there was no graduation.
- Was there, Jerome?
- No.
So you killed them so that
they wouldn't find out.
Describe this photo, Jerome.
Oh, your Honour. This
is just gratuitous.
I'm losing patience
with you, Mr. Forrester.
Well, your Honour.
Jerome just stated love was
a new thing in his household.
It's crucial to the Crown's
case to prove that wasn't true.
Get to the point!
Photo, Jerome.
That's my mother's hand.
Clutching a key as she's
being brutally murdered.
A key, that if found,
would have meant certain death to you.
Her only son.
Yes.
Can you tell me in your own words
what it felt like to
finally have, as you say,
your parents' love.
After all the years of disappointment
that you caused them.
It felt amazing.
I bet it did.
In the six years that you
were lying to your parents
about going to school,
were you ever afraid
that if they found out,
they would stop loving you?
Yes.
You couldn't bear to
lose their love again.
- Could you?
- No.
Even if it meant killing them
so that they wouldn't find out.
- No!
- Do you know what your father
said about you in therapy, Jerome?
After he learned you'd
been lying to him for years,
stealing his money, making
him look like a fool?
He said,
"Please help me show my son
how much I love him."
- My father did not say that!
- That is a direct quote!
It was in disclosure.
Probably too painful for you
to read though, wasn't it?
You probably assumed your
father was cutting you down.
But he said was,
"Please help me show my
son how much I love him."
- No, that's not true.
- No?
Read it yourself.
Your father wanted to help you, Jerome.
Your mother clutched
that key as she was beaten
and shot to death at point blank range,
so you would be safe.
Even when they knew you
lied to them, they loved you.
They died for no reason, Jerome.
Look at me. Look at me, Jerome.
If you had known that,
if you had known how they felt,
would your parents still be alive today?
Would they still be alive today, Jerome?
Yes!
[PEOPLE GASPING]
Yes.
Of course they'd still be alive.
[INDISTINCT MURMURS]
But how could I have known that?
How?
How would I ever have known that?
How?
[SOBBING]
Did the parents create the monster,
or was it always hidden inside?
It doesn't matter.
The monster's real.
Either way.
[THEME MUSIC]