Close to Home (2005) s02e14 Episode Script
214 - Hoosier Hold `Em
Oh, come on, man.
Come on, it's just a bad beat.
Buy back in.
And that's where he went wrong.
get on the ground! Come on! On your knees! Stomach on the ground! Connor bradley, central state freshman.
- Business major.
- And he robs a bank? On his way to the movieswith some friends.
- How muchdid he make off with? - $1,237.
That's barely enoughfor popcorn.
Computer techs say he was playing a lot of online poker.
Burns through his cashfor the semester.
Can't facehis parents.
He's addicted.
Gambling on a computer,there's nothing to stop you,except your cash flow.
Something you wantto tell us, ray? I keep my cards three-dimensional.
So is this an armed robbery, or did he justsweet-talk the teller? If you callthis sweet talk.
"Give me all your money, and you won't get hurt.
" She thought he had a gun.
- We recover anyof the loot? - Nope.
All right, let's set upsome initial interviews with the friends in the car,the parents - the parents are coming infrom missouri.
- Oh, no.
nothing like that, "hi, mom, I'm in jail," phone call.
College kidrobbing a bank.
Yeah, what is that,some kind of independent study? on the robbery charge, how does the defendant plead? Not guilty, your honor,and given that no weapon or moneyhas been recovered your honor, this defendant has shown a willingness to threaten the livesof innocent strangers.
Bail is setat $50,000.
Should the defendant make bail, he will not be allowedto return to missouri,to drive, or to use anything otherthan a library computerto continue his class work.
Will at least one parent remain in indiana until trial? - Yes, your honor.
- So ordered.
Next case.
so it's ten percentof $50,000? - That's right.
- How soon? You post the bond,I'll get the paperwork rolling.
- You could have him backat your hotel by supper.
- Thank you.
I assume you're not filling their heads with false hope.
My goal for the day was to getthis family back together.
And your goalfor tomorrow? How's 11:00 A.
M.
? Two years, plus mandatory treatment for his gambling addiction, and a full confession with financial restitution.
Wait, wait a minute.
I have to confess? We talked about this.
Confession of guilt before the judge is part of any plea arrangement.
You know,I just thought I thought I could keep my parents from having to go through a trial.
Sally.
Connor,we're here today to decideyour future.
We need to make a deal today,or that's it.
I can't make a confession in front of my parents.
It will kill them.
The jury is gonna see you on that tape robbing the bank.
They won't carewhat your parents think.
I-I can't do it.
Mr.
Bradley,we have it on tape.
Yeah, well, we've seen the tape, and it's a blurry mess,with somebody, who in our opinion doesn't even looklike connor.
Were you aware your son spent many hours gambling over the internet? Connor toldme about it,yes.
But he also said thathe quit doing it last semester.
It was his firsttime away from home.
He made a mistake.
And he's aboutto make another one.
You needto pressure himto take this deal.
He thinks he's letting you down.
Do you really wanta full-blown trial, landing him in jailfor four years, Maybe we should hearall the options.
He gave mehis word he didnot rob that bank.
Mr.
Bradley,this is a listof the students who went withyour son to the movies that day.
Do you understand? The jury has no reasonto doubt any of them.
Four friends of his placing him at the scene.
That's their business.
All right, let's be clear then.
We were willing to deal.
Doesn't meanwe'll go easy on him at trial--quite the opposite.
They're all yours.
I have witnesses to interview.
Central Indiana State University Snapping Turtles Kaitlin, the other passengers in the car that day describe connoras quiet and withdrawn.
- Is that accurate? - Yeah.
Do you have any idea what was going on with him? No, but I thought that going to the movies might cheer him up.
- Did he ever talkto you about money? - No.
But you're closewith him, right? I mean, we were friends.
Kelly runyun was in the carthat day, right? Yes.
He told meconnor has feelings for you.
I guess like a crush;nothing serious.
We're really good friends.
I had no ideahe was gonna rob a bank.
oh, excuse me.
Annabeth chase.
Hey, ray.
What's up? long way from theside of the road.
- Plus, no skid marks.
- The bike wasn'tmangled up.
Guy's out on bailfor three days,and he just happensto be the victimof a hit-and-run? Body's frozen.
He's beenout here at least overnight.
Why did his parents wait a dayto report him missing? They were tryingto find him on their own.
Said they didn't want him getting in any more trouble.
Proudly Presents Season 2 Episode 14 His windpipe was crushed, and the neck fractureswere inconsistent with any kind of fallfrom a bicycle.
He was choked to death.
And there are some minor scrapes on the back of his hands.
All of this happenedon the roadside? Lividity shows up on his back,but he was found on his side,so he was moved.
- What about time of death? - About four hoursof decomposition.
But then he was dumped in nearly freezing temperatures, so so if hewent missingon tuesday, and turned upon thursday? Means he could havebeen killed pretty much any timewithin that two-day spread.
Sorry.
But it's not all bad news.
- What? - This came from the lab.
- Fiber? - Found it in the bike gears.
It's car upholstery.
It's not every dayyour defendant becomes a murder victim.
We were justgetting started.
We hadn't evenfigured out whyhe robbed a bank.
Kid's anhonor student, no history of anykind of trouble.
Well, what dothe police have so far? Well, you knowhow it goes.
They start from the murderscene, and work out from there.
You think we should stickwith the robbery case,it gives us a leg up? At least talk to hisparents before theygo back to missouri.
And you still thinkhe didn't act alone? Maybe now that he's dead,people will be a littlemore willing to open up.
Yeah.
Where you going? I got to pick up my daughterat the airport.
Oh, that's great.
That's not great? Jessie got, uh, early acceptanceat college, and since then,she's been blowing off the last halfof her senior year.
I remember that.
We probably puttoo much pressure on her, right? And, uh, she achieved her goal, and now she's letting loose.
Sounds likeshe needs a little quality timewith her dad.
Yeah, that'swhat her mother thought, too.
But you don't? Jessie is a bright, articulate,independent, stubborn person,just like her mom.
And someone else I know.
I only havea few minutes.
My husband doesn't knowthat I'm here.
I understand.
After he turned down the deal and came back to our hotel, connor told methat he robbed that bank.
I see.
- Did he say wherethe money was? - No.
Did he say why herobbed the bank? No, and he begged me not to tell his dad until he got back.
- Got back from where? - I should have neverlet him go.
Just tell me what happened.
He said that he neededto straighten some things out.
I told him I'd haveto drive him, but he saidthat I needed to trust him so I let him go.
Your husband was whereat the time? He was out getting food for us.
And what timedid your son leave? It was around 3:00in the afternoon.
Okay.
How was he killed? He was chokedto death.
And then he was left outside for almosta day and a half.
Kaitlin, his momsaid the last timeshe talked to him he said he hadsome things tostraighten out.
You have anyidea what he wastalking about? - Well, you knowhe gambled.
- On-line, we know.
No.
I mean,he played poker live with a bunch of guys.
No one's evermentioned that before.
That's becausethe game's exclusive,invitation only.
Part of playing therewas not talking about it.
Are you sayinghe robbed a bank so he could keep playing poker? I wouldn't know.
But you knew about the game.
Did you play there, too? - Not exactly.
- Answer the question, please.
Look I know who runs the game, and I'm afraid of him.
Why? Because the last timeI saw him he twisted my armbehind my back and slammed meup against a wall.
Why would he do that? Because I was breaking upwith him.
- What's his name? - Bryce gibson.
You know mom alwaysmakes everything sound Don't even try it, jessie.
Your mother and I are onthe same page on this one.
It was chelsea's birthday.
You were gone all night,not one phone call.
- I forgot my cell phone.
- You forgot it,or you left it on purpose? - Let's talk aboutyour grades, too.
- They're not that bad.
Jessica, a c in calculus? For anyone else, that's okay.
For you, it's an embarrassment.
Dad, I'm going to bean english major.
Look, just because boston college gave you early admission doesn't mean they won't change their mindand drop you tomorrow.
Maybe I should lookat schools while I'm here.
- In indiana? - Notre Dame was alwaysmy second choice.
Have you talked to yourmother about this? - Do you not want meto go to school nearby? - That's not what I'm saying,you know that.
Jess.
Hey, ray.
- I thought that was you.
- Hi.
- Wow, you look great.
- Thanks! You, uh, staying long? Talk to your supervisor.
Actually, boss, ed'sready for us upstairs.
- This won't take long.
- I'm going to stay here.
Promise not to embarrass you.
Bye, ray.
Bryce gibson, junior at central state, lives in a house with his dad.
Parents are divorced.
What connects this guyto the victim? They played poker togetherat gibson's place, according to gibson's ex.
Yeah, poker and this.
Recovered from thevictim's bike gears.
We took the liberty of doing a drive-by gibson's house, and noticed he hada brand-new car, which led us to the onehe traded in.
Traded in the day after the victim went missing.
Which made our joba whole lot easier, sincehe no longer owned the car.
There's no way he can contest the grounds for the search.
This fiber matched theinterior upholstery.
Nothing dumber than a smart criminal, huh? Luminoled the floor boards.
Came back with some human dna, but the lab'sstill working on that.
We know the body wasmoved, and from paint dustfound on the backof the victim's hand, it looks like a fight that happened indoors somewhere.
Gibson loads the body andthe bicycle into his car and drives into the countryto dump the evidence.
What's the time of death? Victim's mother was thelast person to see him--tuesday at 3:00 P.
M.
When we recovered the body on thursday, it was frozen, with only about four hours decomposition.
So we don't knowwhen the body was dumped.
Going over dr.
Smith's report, something jumped out.
See that dust inthe snow on his arm? It snowed tuesday night at 8:00 P.
M.
For about an hour.
And that's thelast time it snowed, until the dayhe was found.
Which makes it likely the body was left outsidetuesday evening.
Good.
What do we knowabout the poker game? Not much.
The kids aren't anxious to let the parentsknow they're players.
So we're going through thecampus gamblers anonymous.
'Cause we think someonethere might want toget back at gibson.
What aboutthe "anonymous" thing? They're going to makean announcement.
Apparently, talking to us would count towards step four,making a moral andfinancial inventory.
We don't have time for that.
Let's arrest gibson right away, before he has time to hideany more evidence.
Marion County Jail Connor lost money,but it wasn't in likethe thousands of dollars.
- Just a friendlycollege poker game.
- It's a $2.
00 limit,texas hold 'em.
We've been told thegame was so exclusive, players weresworn to secrecy.
- I don't know whereyou heard that.
- Your ex-girlfriend,kaitlin howard.
- My ex-girlfriend? - News to you? - She's making things up.
- Like you throwingher against a wall? Can we confinethis to questions about the alleged victim,please? - Was connor a regular player? - He played maybe I don't know,six times since school started.
And the two of you nevergot into any kind of fight? Never.
So how did fibersfrom the victim's bike gearscome from a vehicleyou once owned? My client often gavethe alleged victim rides homefrom his house.
After poker, when it was toocold for him to ride his bike,we just threw it in the back.
That's considerate.
Where were you tuesdayafternoon? I was at home until my mompicked me up.
- And what time was that? - About 4:00,I don't remember exactly.
- We go to dinner on tuesdays.
- At 4:00? My mom likes to watchher money very carefully.
We get the early bird.
Watching sports is aboutthe only thing that gets my mind off poker.
Actually, the bestpart of a ga meeting is we get to talkabout gambling.
- What aboutbryce gibson's game? - Serious stuff, no limit pots.
How big? Thousand bucks a game, last time I played there.
Yeah? When was that? Wait a minute.
- I thought we were justtalking about bryce.
- You agreed to meet with us.
If you wind up givingus nothing we might think you havesomething to hide.
Last time I played at gibson's, I accused him of cheating.
You caught him? He had this pattern I couldn't figure out for the longest time.
It was like A a built-in pause before he made his bets, you know? Like he was waiting onfinal instructions.
And then I realized,he's wearing a wire.
- Did you actually see the wire? - You think I'm still blaming himfor my losses? I've already been throughthis in meeting.
Look, if he wasn't cheating, then why'd he throw meout of the room? - Physically? - Yeah.
I mean, maybe I shouldn'thave said itin front of everyone, but where exactly do thesegames take place? At a round table in the livingroom in the basement.
We've beenthrough his place.
There's no round tablein the basement.
I don't know what to say.
But bryce is the one who'sgot something to hide.
So gibson's dad livesupstairs; where's mom? Lives inhendricks county.
They're divorced.
Where is this supposed table? Used to be something here.
Oh, look what we have here.
Safety first.
Somebody tore the gutsout of this.
Doesn't look like the inside of a smoke detector to me.
What do you know? I wonder who was onthe other end of that.
we found the tale upsairs in the dad's place.
There's a camerain the ceiling.
Check this out.
This thing has an infraredlight hidden underneath, shining through thesmoked glass top.
You can't seeanything because it's invisibleto your eye.
So any cardlying facedownwould be visible to the pinholecamera above.
Hey, I'll take that hand.
Okay, for this to work,somebody would have to monitorwhat the camera was getting and relay it backto gibson at the table.
The other end of thecable came out in thespare bedroom upstairs.
So his dadmust have at least known what he was up to.
Maybe he also knows what happened to connor bradley.
That's strange.
I bought the house this past year and never noticed that.
Maybe the previous ownerswere security conscious.
We also founda table rigged to help your soncheat at cards, that had been moved toyour part of the house.
The police, all sortsof people have been in the house for days, moving everything around.
I'm in a hotel myself-- I can't even go home.
So it comes asa complete shockto you that your sonwas running a quickie gamein your basement? First of all I'm gone much of the time.
I'm the tri-state manager for a groupof insurance brokers.
Second: You're right,it is my basement.
But it's also a completelyseparate apartment, and I try to give brycehis privacy-- he isin college after all.
But you werearound wednesday to co-sign on a car loan? I got back that morning.
I, uh, had promised bryce a newvehicle a couple months ago.
His old one hada series of problems.
It really wasn'tworth fixing.
Like some torn upholstery.
I wasn't aware of that.
You weren't aware that yourson had used the vehicle to transport a bicycleand a dead bodythe day before? I highly doubt thatto be the case, since my son was withmy ex-wife that evening.
She picks him upat 4:00 every tuesday.
Believe me, she's verystrict about that.
You're not on good terms? We were in business together.
It went bankrupt.
Very ugly.
She blames me for all of it.
I picked bryce up at 3:00 so we could go to dinner.
So now it's 3:00? Your husband'sstatement says 4:00.
Your son'sstatement says 4:00.
What happened to 4:00? Well, because that's whenit normally is, but I remember it specifically, because I came by earlythat tuesday.
For what reason? I had some shelvesI wanted him to put up in my office.
Bryce is good with thatsort of thing.
- The name of the restaurant? - Metro grill on market street.
When you picked him up, did yougo in to his basement apartment? I called bryce from the car and told him I was out front.
I don't like running into my ex-husband, if I can help it.
Did you or your ex-husband knowanything about theillegal poker game he had at his place every weekend? I'm sorry he gotinvolved in that.
If he was living with me, it never would have happened.
But just because my husbandwas negligent, that doesn't meanbryce killed someone.
I don't knowwhat I'm looking at.
That's the victim's dna.
We found it in your son's car.
Well, bryce had many friends.
It's also the dna wefound on a scrape on the wall in yourson's apartment.
Take a good look.
That's anothermother's son.
Denham's going to makethe boys' connection seem as innocent as possible, and then hammer at the alibi.
Yeah, well,if connor left his house at 3:00 and gibson was on his wayto dinner at that time,we do have a problem.
But metro grill only has mother and son from 4:30 to 6:30.
What do you thinkdenham's going to do with a missing hour and a half? I'm looking forward to a slide show of the bookshelves gibson helpedhis mom put up.
Wait a minute.
Denham's putting mrs.
Gibson up to talk about the alibi, right? Right.
Why don't wedo the same thing with the dad, but do it first? We get him to denyall the gamblingstuff, where he'scompletely unbelievable, then switch him to the alibi.
- So it all feels like a lie.
- Work with the strengths, I say.
Speaking of which,how's scott payce holding up? Solid, paints gibson as a hothead when it comesto covering the cheating.
What about kaitlin? A little scaredof her ex-boyfriend still, but she'll get through it.
Play up the fear-- it's the bestemotional connection we have to gibson's violent side.
Typically,in choke holds,the forearm compresses the neckand occludes the upper airway, which cuts offoxygen to the brain.
Is that whathappened here? In this case, the hold wasapplied with such force that it fractured the larynxand hyoid bone.
- In other words,his neck was broken.
- That's correct.
Uh, this caused spinal shock, which immediately shut down his breathing and, uh, - he was dead within seconds.
- No further questions,your honor.
Aren't choke holdsmost effective when the person performing the hold has the heightand weight advantage? In a general sense.
- What was the victim's height? - Six-foot, 170 pounds.
Your honor,I'd like to submitinto evidence, my client's height:5'10", weight: 163 pounds.
If this were a collegewrestling matchup your honor, it wasn't a collegewrestling matchup.
Sustained.
One last thing: We heard earlierfrom you about how the time ofdeath was determinedby the tuesday nightsnowfall, is that correct? Yes.
Did you everconsider that whoever placed this bodyby the side of the road might have tried tocover it up with snow, thereby making itpossible that it could havebeen placed there at any point between thesnowfall and discovery? - It never came up.
- Thank you.
Dr.
Schmidt, canyou think of a reason why it never came up? Probably because therewas no more than one inchof snow reportedfor that evening.
- Can't even makea snowball out of that.
- Objection, your honor.
To what? The weather? The first week, there'd bea bunch of new players.
They'd do pretty goodtheir first time out.
That was bryce's way of hooking them in to the game.
- Objection, your honor.
Speculation.
- Sustained.
What happenedafter the first week? The second week,everyone would doa little worse.
And then, by the third week, bryce would completelywipe them out.
- And the next week? - He'd start all over again.
The last time you playedat bryce gibson's, you were thrown out--is that correct? - Yep.
- By bryce gibson himself? - Yeah.
- Why? I accused him of cheating.
And what didhe say to you when he physicallyejected you? He told me that if I wentaround telling anyonethat he was cheating,that he would - beat the blank out of me.
- No more questions, your honor.
- Mr.
Denham? - Nothing, your honor.
The witness may step down.
Ms.
Chase,next witness.
- What's up? - Kaitlin's a no-show.
I knew she was shaky, but I didn't thinkshe was this shaky.
I think we shouldmove up gibson's dad.
Back so soon? I was just going toshow jess what happenswhen college kids go bad.
Oh, the judge wantedan early lunch break.
- How's your trip so far? - It's pretty fun.
Indiana isn'tnearly as dull as my dadsaid it was.
Sorry, we have to work.
- You sure everything's okay? - Everything'sunder control.
- Ms.
Chase,this came whileyou were out.
- Thank you.
- Okay, you called and ray.
- I'll start callingher relatives.
Okay.
Maureen scofield.
- On our way.
- Maureen, look at this.
It's all money.
"Connor was goingto give this back.
Kaitlin.
" - I'm guessing$1,200 and change.
- That was the clerk.
- Judge lathrop wants us in chambers.
- Rains, it pours.
Anything you want to tell me? When we broke for lunch,I got into an elevatorwith the last witness.
Scott payce.
He was talkingon his phoneand he was saying that everything hesaid on the stand, he was making it up.
Did you know or suspect your witness was lying? Of course not,your honor.
Mrs.
Stottlemeyer,what did you do after overhearingthe witness say he was lying? I told paul here about it.
- And what did you do, paul? - I told two other jurors.
Then we decided we'd better come up here and tell you.
- So a total of four jurors? - Yes.
Thank you for your honesty.
In light of these developments, ladies and gentlemen,I am declaring a mistrial.
That means you can go.
I deposed scott payce.
His story was not made up.
This whole thing stinks.
Well, obviously,somebody got to him.
What about themoney from kaitlin? Did it check outat the bank? Every last serial number.
Any idea why she didn'tgive it up earlier? Connor must havegiven it to her to hide.
When he died, she probably got scared we'd thinkshe was in on it.
- Was she? - I don't know.
We haven't been able to track her down yet.
Of course, receiving money from her makes you a material witness when we start a new trial.
I haven't thought of that, actually.
First things first,though: Who tamperedwith scott payce? Denham's annoying,but not dirty.
Gibson's dad, though, definitely likes to game the system.
- You mean he likes to cheat.
- We never proved that.
We need to diginto this character's financial background and we need to useobstruction of justice to do it.
- We think somebody paid you off.
- No.
Nobody approached youbefore the trial? Nobody approached mebefore the trial.
- Nobody gave you any money? - Nobodygave me any money.
Perjury starts at three months and goes all the wayto two-year jail time.
Look, I didn't lie,all right? My testimonyis the same as it wasin the deposition.
You want to be a smart-assor tell the truth? Look,I was on the phonewith a friend, okay? We were kidding around.
It was, like, a joke.
I didn't know that there were any jurors on the elevator.
And besides,I'm in recovery, so I'm not reallyresponsible sometimes.
Are we done? 'Cause I'm going tobe late for class.
- So joe gibson'sinsurance company - yeah? Involves him visiting nursing homes all around the midwest.
To spread the security of a well-planned retirement, no doubt.
He sells deferred annuities from a reliable company.
- That doesn't sound so bad.
- Yeah, but I didsome calling around.
Turns out when he shows up to meet with these people, he abruptly switches financial products and sells them a supposedly better one.
- Ah, but it's not better.
- 40% early withdrawal penalty, anyone? - Daddy stealsfrom little old ladies.
- Technically, but not legally.
This guy is really goodat keeping his nose clean.
On the bright side, I looked into kaitlin's school records.
She's not a rich kid--academic scholarship.
That's nice, but how doesthat help us find her? It's mid-term weekat the university.
- I figure she mightskip court - but she won'tskip a mid-term.
I helped brycewith the poker games.
- Helped him cheat? - I knew about it.
It just didn't seem rightfor me to get up there and say stuff about himwhen I was a part of it.
How big a part? I'd meet new players and I'dbring them over to play.
- Like recruiting? - In a way.
That's how connor and I met.
He was such a sweet guy.
Did you havefeelings for him? Bryce found out.
That's why we broke up.
He said that ifconnor and I ever gottogether, he'd kill him.
And you believed him.
You know what he's capable of.
Did you tell connorthat you'd broken up? He found out.
He was all over me.
But then I gotreally scared for him, and I panicked and I lied.
I made up this story that I that I got kicked out of school because I was behind on tuition.
I just thought that that if I pushed him away I could protect him, you know? And do you know whathe does for me? - What? - He robs a bank.
Do you know what that's like? - To have someone do that for you? - Why did you keep the money? I was in shock.
All this happenedbased on a stupid lie.
And before I couldfigure out how to handle it, he was arrested.
But I did tell him the truth when he got out on bail.
I told him about the lie, about cheating,about everything.
How did he take it? Well actually, that'S that's when we got together.
- You slept with him? - It just happened.
I just think 'cause everything was out in the open.
We were goingto give the money back, we were going to tellthe police it was all my fault.
Kaitlin, he wasstill a bank robber.
He was still going to jail.
We knew that.
But we had a plan-- to come clean witheverybody, to start over.
That's why he wantedto go to bryce'S.
To tell him he knewabout the cheating.
And then he wanted totell bryce face-to-facethat he was in love with me.
And he never came back.
I begged him not to go.
But he promised methat everything would turn out fine ifwe just told the truth.
This thing betterwork with my dish.
Come on! The fight startsat 3:00, let's go.
Looks heavy.
Maybe you should take abreak and set it down.
He said nobody gavehim any money, but there's more ways then cashto a college boy's heart.
So I got him with a giantplasma tv, not much else.
You don't knowwhere it came from? Tracked it backto the store, but their recordsshow a cash sale.
- Does he know that? - Nope.
That's good.
We know who gave youthat television.
Nobody gave it to me, I bought it myself.
With what? Your checking accounthas a $65 high for the pastthree months.
The store came upwith the receipt.
And the guy who bought itfor you is gonna be bookedon obstructionof justice charges.
You're next.
You're bluffing.
- What makes you so sure? - I'm beyond sure.
If you want anything from me,I want a promise that I'm not gonna be chargedwith anything.
We'll think about it.
And I also don't want myparents to find out, either.
- All right?I'm inenough trouble as it is.
- Let's seeif it checks out.
You said some "guy.
" It wasn't a guy.
It was a woman.
Who? Gibson's mom.
She told me if I liedin front of some jurors, there'd be a tvwaiting for me, bought and paid for.
So you alone today? - Yeah, jessie went up to notre dame.
- By herself? That's the way shelikes to do things.
What's her mom thinkabout all this? She thinks I'm tryingto steal her away from her.
But you're not.
You know, the waythat kid is all over the place these days,I'm thinkingmaybe I should.
Where are wewith patricia gibson? We've got payce'sconfession,we got the plasma tv, but we don't have a receiptleading directly to her, so we're getting a searchwarrant for her house.
- What about her work? - Works at home.
Runs a non-profit that steers kids into college.
- What kind of kids? - Kids having troublein high school.
- Maybe she could give mea couple pointers.
- Yeah, you coulduse them.
It's not my faultone of your witnesseslied in court.
No, but scott paycedidn't lie in court,he lied after, in front of jurors,and that was your fault.
I have to say,looking around here, your organization seemsto exist on paper only.
Oh, no, those contain confidentialstudent records.
Really?They look like financialrecords to me.
You applyingfor a federal grant? $500,000? That's a whole lot of grant.
So, way back whenthey got divorced, the gibsons had a successfulvitamin supply business.
- Where's the bankruptcycome from? - That's the beauty part.
They get divorced,he transfers all his assetsto his ex-wifein the settlement, - and then declares bankruptcy.
- You think they divorcedfor convenience? - They're not exactlyozzie and harriet.
- More like bonnieand clyde.
I think we might havean answer as to where the gamblingprofits went.
Okay.
It's just a theory,but, uh, take a lookat these bank records.
How many non-profitsdo you know regularly take in $6,000, $7,000 in donations, that get deposited like clockwork on monday morning? Right after the poker weekend.
so joe gibson helps his kidcheat at cards, and then his kid sendsthe profits over to momto hide in her fake business.
Which also makes momlook legit on paper, so that she can apply for a half million dollar federal grant.
Your average american family.
With a whole lot to lose when their son commits a murder.
Illegal gambling,fraudulent non-profit, covering up a murder-- that's quite a list.
I haven't doneanything wrong.
As we speak,your son is making adeal to put you away.
I thought you might wantto spread the love.
- He wouldn't dosuch a thing.
- But that's how you raised him,isn't it? Look out for number one.
I've got mine,now give me yours.
He'll be the star witnessat your trial.
We know you hadnothing to dowith hiding the body.
So why am I here? There's the matterof illegal gambling, bilking senior citizens It was your wifewho tampered with the witness,wasn't it? You wouldn't do somethinglike that.
So why go away for it? - It was all joe's doing.
- I thought he was out of townon business.
In illinois,an hour away.
I called himwhen I got to bryce'S.
There was this dead boy.
And joe said, "go to dinner.
" Get out of the house,he would take careof everything, and he did.
- Your mom and dad aren'treally divorced, are they? - That's ridiculous.
The threeof you lived and worked togetheras a family.
- Only not one anyone onthe outside could see.
- You have nothing to prove this.
We have a direct connection fromyour client's illegal gaming to his mother'sfraudulent business.
What I'm proposing to you is a deal for voluntary manslaughter.
- Ten years for somethinghe didn't even do? - I'm not done.
We'll takeoff two yearsif you testify to your mother's role in the cover-up, and another two for your father.
Let me ask you this: You ever wonder whyyour dad used your car to dump the body,instead of his own? - I wanted to call the cops,all right? - My mom said no.
He came over to tell me that he and kaitlinwere together.
I said I didn't care.
And then he saidhe would tell everybodyabout the card game.
About the cheating.
And that'swhen the fight started.
I grabbed him around his neck, and the next thing I know,he's on the floor.
It was an accident.
That may be,mr.
Gibson, but your actionsthat followed were not.
The defendantsare remandedto the state's custody for the term set forthin their plea agreements.
this has beena nice trip.
I like it here.
Does that mean you madea decision about school? I'm going to boston.
Good.
Well, you made the right choice.
Yeah, I kind of hada wake-up call with notre dame this morning.
Oh, yeah? How so? They took one lookat my recent grades and put me on a waiting list.
Well, I hope this motivates youto get your act together.
Academically speaking.
Obviously, I can do better.
Well, for the record, jessica, it's been great having you here.
And I just wish that, um remember, when you moved here, you promisedto visit every month.
Yeah.
- How many times have you cometo visit? - Twice.
Maybe you should get your acttogether on that.
Well, obviously,I can do better.
hey, congratulations.
Six years for gibson,four years for each parent.
- Triple play.
- I had a lot of help.
Hey, where's jessie? I wanted to say good-bye.
Oh, you missed her.
I just drove her to the airport.
So what's the verdict? - Bc-- boston college.
- That must be a relief.
That's not a relief? I don't know,I guess I'm worried about her-- you know all the trouble college kids seem to get into these days.
- Tell me about it.
- Kind of liked having her here,you know.
You know,when my parents split up and my dad leftthe house, I started datinga race car driver.
What?! It was for,like, a month,and he was a teenagerace car driver-- little cars.
But that sure gotmy dad's attention.
You think that'swhat this is about? I think they're always testingus, right from the beginning.
Well, that might explain the constant sense of failure.
- how old is hayley? - 19 months.
Yeah, well, you should knowthen, right? All right, I gotta get hometo that.
- Good night.
- Good night.
Oh, by the way - not one word to maureen about the - the race cardriver? Oh, don't worry,I'm saving that for later.
Proudly Presents Season 2 Episode 14
Come on, it's just a bad beat.
Buy back in.
And that's where he went wrong.
get on the ground! Come on! On your knees! Stomach on the ground! Connor bradley, central state freshman.
- Business major.
- And he robs a bank? On his way to the movieswith some friends.
- How muchdid he make off with? - $1,237.
That's barely enoughfor popcorn.
Computer techs say he was playing a lot of online poker.
Burns through his cashfor the semester.
Can't facehis parents.
He's addicted.
Gambling on a computer,there's nothing to stop you,except your cash flow.
Something you wantto tell us, ray? I keep my cards three-dimensional.
So is this an armed robbery, or did he justsweet-talk the teller? If you callthis sweet talk.
"Give me all your money, and you won't get hurt.
" She thought he had a gun.
- We recover anyof the loot? - Nope.
All right, let's set upsome initial interviews with the friends in the car,the parents - the parents are coming infrom missouri.
- Oh, no.
nothing like that, "hi, mom, I'm in jail," phone call.
College kidrobbing a bank.
Yeah, what is that,some kind of independent study? on the robbery charge, how does the defendant plead? Not guilty, your honor,and given that no weapon or moneyhas been recovered your honor, this defendant has shown a willingness to threaten the livesof innocent strangers.
Bail is setat $50,000.
Should the defendant make bail, he will not be allowedto return to missouri,to drive, or to use anything otherthan a library computerto continue his class work.
Will at least one parent remain in indiana until trial? - Yes, your honor.
- So ordered.
Next case.
so it's ten percentof $50,000? - That's right.
- How soon? You post the bond,I'll get the paperwork rolling.
- You could have him backat your hotel by supper.
- Thank you.
I assume you're not filling their heads with false hope.
My goal for the day was to getthis family back together.
And your goalfor tomorrow? How's 11:00 A.
M.
? Two years, plus mandatory treatment for his gambling addiction, and a full confession with financial restitution.
Wait, wait a minute.
I have to confess? We talked about this.
Confession of guilt before the judge is part of any plea arrangement.
You know,I just thought I thought I could keep my parents from having to go through a trial.
Sally.
Connor,we're here today to decideyour future.
We need to make a deal today,or that's it.
I can't make a confession in front of my parents.
It will kill them.
The jury is gonna see you on that tape robbing the bank.
They won't carewhat your parents think.
I-I can't do it.
Mr.
Bradley,we have it on tape.
Yeah, well, we've seen the tape, and it's a blurry mess,with somebody, who in our opinion doesn't even looklike connor.
Were you aware your son spent many hours gambling over the internet? Connor toldme about it,yes.
But he also said thathe quit doing it last semester.
It was his firsttime away from home.
He made a mistake.
And he's aboutto make another one.
You needto pressure himto take this deal.
He thinks he's letting you down.
Do you really wanta full-blown trial, landing him in jailfor four years, Maybe we should hearall the options.
He gave mehis word he didnot rob that bank.
Mr.
Bradley,this is a listof the students who went withyour son to the movies that day.
Do you understand? The jury has no reasonto doubt any of them.
Four friends of his placing him at the scene.
That's their business.
All right, let's be clear then.
We were willing to deal.
Doesn't meanwe'll go easy on him at trial--quite the opposite.
They're all yours.
I have witnesses to interview.
Central Indiana State University Snapping Turtles Kaitlin, the other passengers in the car that day describe connoras quiet and withdrawn.
- Is that accurate? - Yeah.
Do you have any idea what was going on with him? No, but I thought that going to the movies might cheer him up.
- Did he ever talkto you about money? - No.
But you're closewith him, right? I mean, we were friends.
Kelly runyun was in the carthat day, right? Yes.
He told meconnor has feelings for you.
I guess like a crush;nothing serious.
We're really good friends.
I had no ideahe was gonna rob a bank.
oh, excuse me.
Annabeth chase.
Hey, ray.
What's up? long way from theside of the road.
- Plus, no skid marks.
- The bike wasn'tmangled up.
Guy's out on bailfor three days,and he just happensto be the victimof a hit-and-run? Body's frozen.
He's beenout here at least overnight.
Why did his parents wait a dayto report him missing? They were tryingto find him on their own.
Said they didn't want him getting in any more trouble.
Proudly Presents Season 2 Episode 14 His windpipe was crushed, and the neck fractureswere inconsistent with any kind of fallfrom a bicycle.
He was choked to death.
And there are some minor scrapes on the back of his hands.
All of this happenedon the roadside? Lividity shows up on his back,but he was found on his side,so he was moved.
- What about time of death? - About four hoursof decomposition.
But then he was dumped in nearly freezing temperatures, so so if hewent missingon tuesday, and turned upon thursday? Means he could havebeen killed pretty much any timewithin that two-day spread.
Sorry.
But it's not all bad news.
- What? - This came from the lab.
- Fiber? - Found it in the bike gears.
It's car upholstery.
It's not every dayyour defendant becomes a murder victim.
We were justgetting started.
We hadn't evenfigured out whyhe robbed a bank.
Kid's anhonor student, no history of anykind of trouble.
Well, what dothe police have so far? Well, you knowhow it goes.
They start from the murderscene, and work out from there.
You think we should stickwith the robbery case,it gives us a leg up? At least talk to hisparents before theygo back to missouri.
And you still thinkhe didn't act alone? Maybe now that he's dead,people will be a littlemore willing to open up.
Yeah.
Where you going? I got to pick up my daughterat the airport.
Oh, that's great.
That's not great? Jessie got, uh, early acceptanceat college, and since then,she's been blowing off the last halfof her senior year.
I remember that.
We probably puttoo much pressure on her, right? And, uh, she achieved her goal, and now she's letting loose.
Sounds likeshe needs a little quality timewith her dad.
Yeah, that'swhat her mother thought, too.
But you don't? Jessie is a bright, articulate,independent, stubborn person,just like her mom.
And someone else I know.
I only havea few minutes.
My husband doesn't knowthat I'm here.
I understand.
After he turned down the deal and came back to our hotel, connor told methat he robbed that bank.
I see.
- Did he say wherethe money was? - No.
Did he say why herobbed the bank? No, and he begged me not to tell his dad until he got back.
- Got back from where? - I should have neverlet him go.
Just tell me what happened.
He said that he neededto straighten some things out.
I told him I'd haveto drive him, but he saidthat I needed to trust him so I let him go.
Your husband was whereat the time? He was out getting food for us.
And what timedid your son leave? It was around 3:00in the afternoon.
Okay.
How was he killed? He was chokedto death.
And then he was left outside for almosta day and a half.
Kaitlin, his momsaid the last timeshe talked to him he said he hadsome things tostraighten out.
You have anyidea what he wastalking about? - Well, you knowhe gambled.
- On-line, we know.
No.
I mean,he played poker live with a bunch of guys.
No one's evermentioned that before.
That's becausethe game's exclusive,invitation only.
Part of playing therewas not talking about it.
Are you sayinghe robbed a bank so he could keep playing poker? I wouldn't know.
But you knew about the game.
Did you play there, too? - Not exactly.
- Answer the question, please.
Look I know who runs the game, and I'm afraid of him.
Why? Because the last timeI saw him he twisted my armbehind my back and slammed meup against a wall.
Why would he do that? Because I was breaking upwith him.
- What's his name? - Bryce gibson.
You know mom alwaysmakes everything sound Don't even try it, jessie.
Your mother and I are onthe same page on this one.
It was chelsea's birthday.
You were gone all night,not one phone call.
- I forgot my cell phone.
- You forgot it,or you left it on purpose? - Let's talk aboutyour grades, too.
- They're not that bad.
Jessica, a c in calculus? For anyone else, that's okay.
For you, it's an embarrassment.
Dad, I'm going to bean english major.
Look, just because boston college gave you early admission doesn't mean they won't change their mindand drop you tomorrow.
Maybe I should lookat schools while I'm here.
- In indiana? - Notre Dame was alwaysmy second choice.
Have you talked to yourmother about this? - Do you not want meto go to school nearby? - That's not what I'm saying,you know that.
Jess.
Hey, ray.
- I thought that was you.
- Hi.
- Wow, you look great.
- Thanks! You, uh, staying long? Talk to your supervisor.
Actually, boss, ed'sready for us upstairs.
- This won't take long.
- I'm going to stay here.
Promise not to embarrass you.
Bye, ray.
Bryce gibson, junior at central state, lives in a house with his dad.
Parents are divorced.
What connects this guyto the victim? They played poker togetherat gibson's place, according to gibson's ex.
Yeah, poker and this.
Recovered from thevictim's bike gears.
We took the liberty of doing a drive-by gibson's house, and noticed he hada brand-new car, which led us to the onehe traded in.
Traded in the day after the victim went missing.
Which made our joba whole lot easier, sincehe no longer owned the car.
There's no way he can contest the grounds for the search.
This fiber matched theinterior upholstery.
Nothing dumber than a smart criminal, huh? Luminoled the floor boards.
Came back with some human dna, but the lab'sstill working on that.
We know the body wasmoved, and from paint dustfound on the backof the victim's hand, it looks like a fight that happened indoors somewhere.
Gibson loads the body andthe bicycle into his car and drives into the countryto dump the evidence.
What's the time of death? Victim's mother was thelast person to see him--tuesday at 3:00 P.
M.
When we recovered the body on thursday, it was frozen, with only about four hours decomposition.
So we don't knowwhen the body was dumped.
Going over dr.
Smith's report, something jumped out.
See that dust inthe snow on his arm? It snowed tuesday night at 8:00 P.
M.
For about an hour.
And that's thelast time it snowed, until the dayhe was found.
Which makes it likely the body was left outsidetuesday evening.
Good.
What do we knowabout the poker game? Not much.
The kids aren't anxious to let the parentsknow they're players.
So we're going through thecampus gamblers anonymous.
'Cause we think someonethere might want toget back at gibson.
What aboutthe "anonymous" thing? They're going to makean announcement.
Apparently, talking to us would count towards step four,making a moral andfinancial inventory.
We don't have time for that.
Let's arrest gibson right away, before he has time to hideany more evidence.
Marion County Jail Connor lost money,but it wasn't in likethe thousands of dollars.
- Just a friendlycollege poker game.
- It's a $2.
00 limit,texas hold 'em.
We've been told thegame was so exclusive, players weresworn to secrecy.
- I don't know whereyou heard that.
- Your ex-girlfriend,kaitlin howard.
- My ex-girlfriend? - News to you? - She's making things up.
- Like you throwingher against a wall? Can we confinethis to questions about the alleged victim,please? - Was connor a regular player? - He played maybe I don't know,six times since school started.
And the two of you nevergot into any kind of fight? Never.
So how did fibersfrom the victim's bike gearscome from a vehicleyou once owned? My client often gavethe alleged victim rides homefrom his house.
After poker, when it was toocold for him to ride his bike,we just threw it in the back.
That's considerate.
Where were you tuesdayafternoon? I was at home until my mompicked me up.
- And what time was that? - About 4:00,I don't remember exactly.
- We go to dinner on tuesdays.
- At 4:00? My mom likes to watchher money very carefully.
We get the early bird.
Watching sports is aboutthe only thing that gets my mind off poker.
Actually, the bestpart of a ga meeting is we get to talkabout gambling.
- What aboutbryce gibson's game? - Serious stuff, no limit pots.
How big? Thousand bucks a game, last time I played there.
Yeah? When was that? Wait a minute.
- I thought we were justtalking about bryce.
- You agreed to meet with us.
If you wind up givingus nothing we might think you havesomething to hide.
Last time I played at gibson's, I accused him of cheating.
You caught him? He had this pattern I couldn't figure out for the longest time.
It was like A a built-in pause before he made his bets, you know? Like he was waiting onfinal instructions.
And then I realized,he's wearing a wire.
- Did you actually see the wire? - You think I'm still blaming himfor my losses? I've already been throughthis in meeting.
Look, if he wasn't cheating, then why'd he throw meout of the room? - Physically? - Yeah.
I mean, maybe I shouldn'thave said itin front of everyone, but where exactly do thesegames take place? At a round table in the livingroom in the basement.
We've beenthrough his place.
There's no round tablein the basement.
I don't know what to say.
But bryce is the one who'sgot something to hide.
So gibson's dad livesupstairs; where's mom? Lives inhendricks county.
They're divorced.
Where is this supposed table? Used to be something here.
Oh, look what we have here.
Safety first.
Somebody tore the gutsout of this.
Doesn't look like the inside of a smoke detector to me.
What do you know? I wonder who was onthe other end of that.
we found the tale upsairs in the dad's place.
There's a camerain the ceiling.
Check this out.
This thing has an infraredlight hidden underneath, shining through thesmoked glass top.
You can't seeanything because it's invisibleto your eye.
So any cardlying facedownwould be visible to the pinholecamera above.
Hey, I'll take that hand.
Okay, for this to work,somebody would have to monitorwhat the camera was getting and relay it backto gibson at the table.
The other end of thecable came out in thespare bedroom upstairs.
So his dadmust have at least known what he was up to.
Maybe he also knows what happened to connor bradley.
That's strange.
I bought the house this past year and never noticed that.
Maybe the previous ownerswere security conscious.
We also founda table rigged to help your soncheat at cards, that had been moved toyour part of the house.
The police, all sortsof people have been in the house for days, moving everything around.
I'm in a hotel myself-- I can't even go home.
So it comes asa complete shockto you that your sonwas running a quickie gamein your basement? First of all I'm gone much of the time.
I'm the tri-state manager for a groupof insurance brokers.
Second: You're right,it is my basement.
But it's also a completelyseparate apartment, and I try to give brycehis privacy-- he isin college after all.
But you werearound wednesday to co-sign on a car loan? I got back that morning.
I, uh, had promised bryce a newvehicle a couple months ago.
His old one hada series of problems.
It really wasn'tworth fixing.
Like some torn upholstery.
I wasn't aware of that.
You weren't aware that yourson had used the vehicle to transport a bicycleand a dead bodythe day before? I highly doubt thatto be the case, since my son was withmy ex-wife that evening.
She picks him upat 4:00 every tuesday.
Believe me, she's verystrict about that.
You're not on good terms? We were in business together.
It went bankrupt.
Very ugly.
She blames me for all of it.
I picked bryce up at 3:00 so we could go to dinner.
So now it's 3:00? Your husband'sstatement says 4:00.
Your son'sstatement says 4:00.
What happened to 4:00? Well, because that's whenit normally is, but I remember it specifically, because I came by earlythat tuesday.
For what reason? I had some shelvesI wanted him to put up in my office.
Bryce is good with thatsort of thing.
- The name of the restaurant? - Metro grill on market street.
When you picked him up, did yougo in to his basement apartment? I called bryce from the car and told him I was out front.
I don't like running into my ex-husband, if I can help it.
Did you or your ex-husband knowanything about theillegal poker game he had at his place every weekend? I'm sorry he gotinvolved in that.
If he was living with me, it never would have happened.
But just because my husbandwas negligent, that doesn't meanbryce killed someone.
I don't knowwhat I'm looking at.
That's the victim's dna.
We found it in your son's car.
Well, bryce had many friends.
It's also the dna wefound on a scrape on the wall in yourson's apartment.
Take a good look.
That's anothermother's son.
Denham's going to makethe boys' connection seem as innocent as possible, and then hammer at the alibi.
Yeah, well,if connor left his house at 3:00 and gibson was on his wayto dinner at that time,we do have a problem.
But metro grill only has mother and son from 4:30 to 6:30.
What do you thinkdenham's going to do with a missing hour and a half? I'm looking forward to a slide show of the bookshelves gibson helpedhis mom put up.
Wait a minute.
Denham's putting mrs.
Gibson up to talk about the alibi, right? Right.
Why don't wedo the same thing with the dad, but do it first? We get him to denyall the gamblingstuff, where he'scompletely unbelievable, then switch him to the alibi.
- So it all feels like a lie.
- Work with the strengths, I say.
Speaking of which,how's scott payce holding up? Solid, paints gibson as a hothead when it comesto covering the cheating.
What about kaitlin? A little scaredof her ex-boyfriend still, but she'll get through it.
Play up the fear-- it's the bestemotional connection we have to gibson's violent side.
Typically,in choke holds,the forearm compresses the neckand occludes the upper airway, which cuts offoxygen to the brain.
Is that whathappened here? In this case, the hold wasapplied with such force that it fractured the larynxand hyoid bone.
- In other words,his neck was broken.
- That's correct.
Uh, this caused spinal shock, which immediately shut down his breathing and, uh, - he was dead within seconds.
- No further questions,your honor.
Aren't choke holdsmost effective when the person performing the hold has the heightand weight advantage? In a general sense.
- What was the victim's height? - Six-foot, 170 pounds.
Your honor,I'd like to submitinto evidence, my client's height:5'10", weight: 163 pounds.
If this were a collegewrestling matchup your honor, it wasn't a collegewrestling matchup.
Sustained.
One last thing: We heard earlierfrom you about how the time ofdeath was determinedby the tuesday nightsnowfall, is that correct? Yes.
Did you everconsider that whoever placed this bodyby the side of the road might have tried tocover it up with snow, thereby making itpossible that it could havebeen placed there at any point between thesnowfall and discovery? - It never came up.
- Thank you.
Dr.
Schmidt, canyou think of a reason why it never came up? Probably because therewas no more than one inchof snow reportedfor that evening.
- Can't even makea snowball out of that.
- Objection, your honor.
To what? The weather? The first week, there'd bea bunch of new players.
They'd do pretty goodtheir first time out.
That was bryce's way of hooking them in to the game.
- Objection, your honor.
Speculation.
- Sustained.
What happenedafter the first week? The second week,everyone would doa little worse.
And then, by the third week, bryce would completelywipe them out.
- And the next week? - He'd start all over again.
The last time you playedat bryce gibson's, you were thrown out--is that correct? - Yep.
- By bryce gibson himself? - Yeah.
- Why? I accused him of cheating.
And what didhe say to you when he physicallyejected you? He told me that if I wentaround telling anyonethat he was cheating,that he would - beat the blank out of me.
- No more questions, your honor.
- Mr.
Denham? - Nothing, your honor.
The witness may step down.
Ms.
Chase,next witness.
- What's up? - Kaitlin's a no-show.
I knew she was shaky, but I didn't thinkshe was this shaky.
I think we shouldmove up gibson's dad.
Back so soon? I was just going toshow jess what happenswhen college kids go bad.
Oh, the judge wantedan early lunch break.
- How's your trip so far? - It's pretty fun.
Indiana isn'tnearly as dull as my dadsaid it was.
Sorry, we have to work.
- You sure everything's okay? - Everything'sunder control.
- Ms.
Chase,this came whileyou were out.
- Thank you.
- Okay, you called and ray.
- I'll start callingher relatives.
Okay.
Maureen scofield.
- On our way.
- Maureen, look at this.
It's all money.
"Connor was goingto give this back.
Kaitlin.
" - I'm guessing$1,200 and change.
- That was the clerk.
- Judge lathrop wants us in chambers.
- Rains, it pours.
Anything you want to tell me? When we broke for lunch,I got into an elevatorwith the last witness.
Scott payce.
He was talkingon his phoneand he was saying that everything hesaid on the stand, he was making it up.
Did you know or suspect your witness was lying? Of course not,your honor.
Mrs.
Stottlemeyer,what did you do after overhearingthe witness say he was lying? I told paul here about it.
- And what did you do, paul? - I told two other jurors.
Then we decided we'd better come up here and tell you.
- So a total of four jurors? - Yes.
Thank you for your honesty.
In light of these developments, ladies and gentlemen,I am declaring a mistrial.
That means you can go.
I deposed scott payce.
His story was not made up.
This whole thing stinks.
Well, obviously,somebody got to him.
What about themoney from kaitlin? Did it check outat the bank? Every last serial number.
Any idea why she didn'tgive it up earlier? Connor must havegiven it to her to hide.
When he died, she probably got scared we'd thinkshe was in on it.
- Was she? - I don't know.
We haven't been able to track her down yet.
Of course, receiving money from her makes you a material witness when we start a new trial.
I haven't thought of that, actually.
First things first,though: Who tamperedwith scott payce? Denham's annoying,but not dirty.
Gibson's dad, though, definitely likes to game the system.
- You mean he likes to cheat.
- We never proved that.
We need to diginto this character's financial background and we need to useobstruction of justice to do it.
- We think somebody paid you off.
- No.
Nobody approached youbefore the trial? Nobody approached mebefore the trial.
- Nobody gave you any money? - Nobodygave me any money.
Perjury starts at three months and goes all the wayto two-year jail time.
Look, I didn't lie,all right? My testimonyis the same as it wasin the deposition.
You want to be a smart-assor tell the truth? Look,I was on the phonewith a friend, okay? We were kidding around.
It was, like, a joke.
I didn't know that there were any jurors on the elevator.
And besides,I'm in recovery, so I'm not reallyresponsible sometimes.
Are we done? 'Cause I'm going tobe late for class.
- So joe gibson'sinsurance company - yeah? Involves him visiting nursing homes all around the midwest.
To spread the security of a well-planned retirement, no doubt.
He sells deferred annuities from a reliable company.
- That doesn't sound so bad.
- Yeah, but I didsome calling around.
Turns out when he shows up to meet with these people, he abruptly switches financial products and sells them a supposedly better one.
- Ah, but it's not better.
- 40% early withdrawal penalty, anyone? - Daddy stealsfrom little old ladies.
- Technically, but not legally.
This guy is really goodat keeping his nose clean.
On the bright side, I looked into kaitlin's school records.
She's not a rich kid--academic scholarship.
That's nice, but how doesthat help us find her? It's mid-term weekat the university.
- I figure she mightskip court - but she won'tskip a mid-term.
I helped brycewith the poker games.
- Helped him cheat? - I knew about it.
It just didn't seem rightfor me to get up there and say stuff about himwhen I was a part of it.
How big a part? I'd meet new players and I'dbring them over to play.
- Like recruiting? - In a way.
That's how connor and I met.
He was such a sweet guy.
Did you havefeelings for him? Bryce found out.
That's why we broke up.
He said that ifconnor and I ever gottogether, he'd kill him.
And you believed him.
You know what he's capable of.
Did you tell connorthat you'd broken up? He found out.
He was all over me.
But then I gotreally scared for him, and I panicked and I lied.
I made up this story that I that I got kicked out of school because I was behind on tuition.
I just thought that that if I pushed him away I could protect him, you know? And do you know whathe does for me? - What? - He robs a bank.
Do you know what that's like? - To have someone do that for you? - Why did you keep the money? I was in shock.
All this happenedbased on a stupid lie.
And before I couldfigure out how to handle it, he was arrested.
But I did tell him the truth when he got out on bail.
I told him about the lie, about cheating,about everything.
How did he take it? Well actually, that'S that's when we got together.
- You slept with him? - It just happened.
I just think 'cause everything was out in the open.
We were goingto give the money back, we were going to tellthe police it was all my fault.
Kaitlin, he wasstill a bank robber.
He was still going to jail.
We knew that.
But we had a plan-- to come clean witheverybody, to start over.
That's why he wantedto go to bryce'S.
To tell him he knewabout the cheating.
And then he wanted totell bryce face-to-facethat he was in love with me.
And he never came back.
I begged him not to go.
But he promised methat everything would turn out fine ifwe just told the truth.
This thing betterwork with my dish.
Come on! The fight startsat 3:00, let's go.
Looks heavy.
Maybe you should take abreak and set it down.
He said nobody gavehim any money, but there's more ways then cashto a college boy's heart.
So I got him with a giantplasma tv, not much else.
You don't knowwhere it came from? Tracked it backto the store, but their recordsshow a cash sale.
- Does he know that? - Nope.
That's good.
We know who gave youthat television.
Nobody gave it to me, I bought it myself.
With what? Your checking accounthas a $65 high for the pastthree months.
The store came upwith the receipt.
And the guy who bought itfor you is gonna be bookedon obstructionof justice charges.
You're next.
You're bluffing.
- What makes you so sure? - I'm beyond sure.
If you want anything from me,I want a promise that I'm not gonna be chargedwith anything.
We'll think about it.
And I also don't want myparents to find out, either.
- All right?I'm inenough trouble as it is.
- Let's seeif it checks out.
You said some "guy.
" It wasn't a guy.
It was a woman.
Who? Gibson's mom.
She told me if I liedin front of some jurors, there'd be a tvwaiting for me, bought and paid for.
So you alone today? - Yeah, jessie went up to notre dame.
- By herself? That's the way shelikes to do things.
What's her mom thinkabout all this? She thinks I'm tryingto steal her away from her.
But you're not.
You know, the waythat kid is all over the place these days,I'm thinkingmaybe I should.
Where are wewith patricia gibson? We've got payce'sconfession,we got the plasma tv, but we don't have a receiptleading directly to her, so we're getting a searchwarrant for her house.
- What about her work? - Works at home.
Runs a non-profit that steers kids into college.
- What kind of kids? - Kids having troublein high school.
- Maybe she could give mea couple pointers.
- Yeah, you coulduse them.
It's not my faultone of your witnesseslied in court.
No, but scott paycedidn't lie in court,he lied after, in front of jurors,and that was your fault.
I have to say,looking around here, your organization seemsto exist on paper only.
Oh, no, those contain confidentialstudent records.
Really?They look like financialrecords to me.
You applyingfor a federal grant? $500,000? That's a whole lot of grant.
So, way back whenthey got divorced, the gibsons had a successfulvitamin supply business.
- Where's the bankruptcycome from? - That's the beauty part.
They get divorced,he transfers all his assetsto his ex-wifein the settlement, - and then declares bankruptcy.
- You think they divorcedfor convenience? - They're not exactlyozzie and harriet.
- More like bonnieand clyde.
I think we might havean answer as to where the gamblingprofits went.
Okay.
It's just a theory,but, uh, take a lookat these bank records.
How many non-profitsdo you know regularly take in $6,000, $7,000 in donations, that get deposited like clockwork on monday morning? Right after the poker weekend.
so joe gibson helps his kidcheat at cards, and then his kid sendsthe profits over to momto hide in her fake business.
Which also makes momlook legit on paper, so that she can apply for a half million dollar federal grant.
Your average american family.
With a whole lot to lose when their son commits a murder.
Illegal gambling,fraudulent non-profit, covering up a murder-- that's quite a list.
I haven't doneanything wrong.
As we speak,your son is making adeal to put you away.
I thought you might wantto spread the love.
- He wouldn't dosuch a thing.
- But that's how you raised him,isn't it? Look out for number one.
I've got mine,now give me yours.
He'll be the star witnessat your trial.
We know you hadnothing to dowith hiding the body.
So why am I here? There's the matterof illegal gambling, bilking senior citizens It was your wifewho tampered with the witness,wasn't it? You wouldn't do somethinglike that.
So why go away for it? - It was all joe's doing.
- I thought he was out of townon business.
In illinois,an hour away.
I called himwhen I got to bryce'S.
There was this dead boy.
And joe said, "go to dinner.
" Get out of the house,he would take careof everything, and he did.
- Your mom and dad aren'treally divorced, are they? - That's ridiculous.
The threeof you lived and worked togetheras a family.
- Only not one anyone onthe outside could see.
- You have nothing to prove this.
We have a direct connection fromyour client's illegal gaming to his mother'sfraudulent business.
What I'm proposing to you is a deal for voluntary manslaughter.
- Ten years for somethinghe didn't even do? - I'm not done.
We'll takeoff two yearsif you testify to your mother's role in the cover-up, and another two for your father.
Let me ask you this: You ever wonder whyyour dad used your car to dump the body,instead of his own? - I wanted to call the cops,all right? - My mom said no.
He came over to tell me that he and kaitlinwere together.
I said I didn't care.
And then he saidhe would tell everybodyabout the card game.
About the cheating.
And that'swhen the fight started.
I grabbed him around his neck, and the next thing I know,he's on the floor.
It was an accident.
That may be,mr.
Gibson, but your actionsthat followed were not.
The defendantsare remandedto the state's custody for the term set forthin their plea agreements.
this has beena nice trip.
I like it here.
Does that mean you madea decision about school? I'm going to boston.
Good.
Well, you made the right choice.
Yeah, I kind of hada wake-up call with notre dame this morning.
Oh, yeah? How so? They took one lookat my recent grades and put me on a waiting list.
Well, I hope this motivates youto get your act together.
Academically speaking.
Obviously, I can do better.
Well, for the record, jessica, it's been great having you here.
And I just wish that, um remember, when you moved here, you promisedto visit every month.
Yeah.
- How many times have you cometo visit? - Twice.
Maybe you should get your acttogether on that.
Well, obviously,I can do better.
hey, congratulations.
Six years for gibson,four years for each parent.
- Triple play.
- I had a lot of help.
Hey, where's jessie? I wanted to say good-bye.
Oh, you missed her.
I just drove her to the airport.
So what's the verdict? - Bc-- boston college.
- That must be a relief.
That's not a relief? I don't know,I guess I'm worried about her-- you know all the trouble college kids seem to get into these days.
- Tell me about it.
- Kind of liked having her here,you know.
You know,when my parents split up and my dad leftthe house, I started datinga race car driver.
What?! It was for,like, a month,and he was a teenagerace car driver-- little cars.
But that sure gotmy dad's attention.
You think that'swhat this is about? I think they're always testingus, right from the beginning.
Well, that might explain the constant sense of failure.
- how old is hayley? - 19 months.
Yeah, well, you should knowthen, right? All right, I gotta get hometo that.
- Good night.
- Good night.
Oh, by the way - not one word to maureen about the - the race cardriver? Oh, don't worry,I'm saving that for later.
Proudly Presents Season 2 Episode 14