CSI: NY s07e09 Episode Script

Previously on CSI: New York You never reported her missing.
My sister had a habit of disappearing.
We're gonna do everything we can to find her killer.
Damn right you are.
Is that from Roni Parker's grave? Cases involving a colleague are always tough, but this one-- Chief Carver being so on top of it-- Well, his sister was killed and buried in the park, and somebody's digging her up after all these years.
I think I'd be all over it, too.
- This could be our killer.
- How do you figure? Most thieves steal an identity for days, maybe weeks.
But years? They took over Roni Parker's life because they knew she was dead.
This is who stole my sister's identity.
Oh.
No.
Please! I'm so sorry! You don't have to do this.
I'm so sorry.
Please don't hurt me.
Not again! No.
No! Please! No! No.
It's definitely her.
Oh, my goodness.
That beating speaks to pure rage.
Wasn't the beating that killed her.
Shot in the heart.
Someone making an emotional statement? This was no boy scout.
Somebody tried to weigh her down, the knot came undone.
Harbor says they got the call around dawn.
Couple of fishermen spotted her.
No petechial hemorrhaging.
She hasn't been in the water long.
Maybe a couple hours.
Well, it was a slack tide till about a half hour ago.
Probably didn't travel far.
Still wearing her night clothes, so wherever she was laying her head is probably where she was killed.
I got my guys calling hotels and motels in the area for anyone who checked in in the last 24 hours, paying cash.
You all right, Chief? Yes.
Just wasn't expecting this.
Hoped that she'd have some answers to my sister Roni's murder.
This vic spent years living as your sister.
So until we know her true identity, there'll be more questions than answers.
Probably ran back to the city to find someone she trusted, someone from her past.
Somebody who wasn't very happy to see her.
Water probably washed away any hope we had of finding out who did this.
Not all hope.
The killer left something behind.
* Out here in the fields * * I fight for my meals * * I get my back into my living * * Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah * * Could a body close the mind out * * Stitch a seam across the eye * * If you can be good, you live forever * * If you're bad, you'll die when you die * * Hearing only one true note * * On the one and only sound * * Unzip my body, take my heart out * * 'Cause I need a beat to give this tune * * Oh, the body swayed to music * * Oh, the lightning glance * * I would give it all in all * * Maybe you would hear me ask * * For half a chance * * Hearing only one root note * * Planted firmly in the ground * * Undo my heart, unzip my body, yeah * * Lend unto my ear a clear and a deafening sound * * Unzip my mouth * * And if I need a rhythm * * It' will be to my heart I listen * * If it don't put me too far wrong * * Anybody, anybody * * Everybody smile, please * * Nobody pay no mind to me * * Finger in position on the switch * * A little flash photography * * Taking a picture of you * * Taking a picture of, taking a picture of me * * Taking a picture * * Ramalama bang bang * * Crash bang bing bang * * Bing bong, ding dong * * Dum dum d' dum * * With a hammer, bang bang * * Flash bang, press gang * * Bing bang, ding dong * What's so urgent you couldn't tell me over the phone? I have to believe you'd be smart enough not to use your own gun.
Watch yourself, Mac! You can't honestly believe I killed that woman.
What I believe is that Sid Hammerback just pulled a slug from her body that came from a gun registered to you.
I lost that gun years ago.
And you never bothered to report it? And you just lost that one, not the two service weapons you own? I don't expect you to believe me, but yes, just that gun.
Just help me out here, Ted.
Tell me why I shouldn't believe you killed the only suspect in your sister's murder? Can we go for a ride? I want to show you something.
All right, so what are we looking at? Where my sister lived with her three kids when she disappeared.
Drug addicts, prostitutes.
My sister was one of them.
Worst of all, though, she was a horrible mother.
If you'd have asked me back then if I had a sister I would have told you she was dead.
When was the last time you saw her? Came home one night.
She was waiting outside my apartment strung-out, hungry, looking for money.
I let her in.
Gave her something to eat.
It's the only time I can think of that she had an opportunity to take the gun.
That was 15 years ago.
Why didn't you report it stolen? Couple of months before I even realized the gun was gone.
By that time, I had the kids.
Things were good.
They were thriving.
I didn't want her to come back.
And if you reported it, someone might go looking for her.
I figured, one day, she and the gun would show up.
I'd deal with it then.
Mac, listen, I promise you, I had nothing to do with that woman's murder.
Mac? Okay, our victim was using Roni Parker's identity to hide from a man with a history of domestic violence.
Her real name is Marcella Gomez.
She came to New York 15 years ago on a K-1 Visa from Colombia.
She filed for what's called a "Petition for Alien Fiance".
That gentleman, Mitch Barrett, is listed as her future husband.
An immigration marriage scam.
Barrett pays for the privilege of marrying Marcella.
She gets to stay in the country.
I'm sure she was just a poor, lonely, desperate woman hoping to find a better life.
And instead she found herself being used as Barrett's personal punching bag with benefits.
- Mitch Barrett! NYPD.
- Who? NYPD.
We need to talk to Mitch Barrett.
You got a warrant? If I had a warrant, you would be face down on the ground in handcuffs sucking in dust balls, and we wouldn't be having this conversation through the door.
I don't think so.
You don't think so, what? Hey, look, Mitch, it could be nothing.
We just want to ask you a couple questions about a girl you might know.
Whoa! Shots fired! Central, we have shots fired at 1754 Albemarle Road, third floor.
- You guys okay? - Yeah, we're good.
We're good, we're good.
Come on in.
It's open.
On three.
One two Down on the ground.
Now.
Do it! Or what? You gonna shoot an unarmed man? Get down on the ground and face the floor.
Now! No.
You want to put those cuffs on me? You need to come and get me.
Come on! Come on! Yo, Adrian! How are you liking your new accessories? They fit? How'd you know I killed Marcella? Be honest with you? We were a little iffy until you started shooting at us through the door.
Actually, the reflective paint that you left behind after you stomped her half to death.
You know, just before you shot her? You're the only guy on three road crews repainting lines the last couple days who has a rap sheet says he likes to beat women.
Why'd you kill her? That was just me keeping a promise.
Keeping a promise? Promise to who? I told her "If you ever try to run away from me, I'll kill you".
Took 15 years, but here we are.
I can't imagine why she got cold feet.
Look, when I met her, she had nothing.
I gave her a place to stay.
I put clothes on her back, food in her mouth, and she runs away? Huh? That's how she repays me? Settle down, Mother Teresa.
How'd you know that she was at the, uh, not-so-Grand Parker Hotel? Same way you know things.
A little bird whispered in my ear.
Oh, yeah? A little bird also give you a gun? She had the gun.
I'm so sorry! You don't have to do this! She had the gun? That's what you're going with? That ain't what I'm going with.
It's the truth.
I don't need no guns.
I went there to give her an old-fashioned beating with my fists.
The gun was just the icing on the cake.
Wow.
When Flack and his people got to the hotel room where Barrett killed Marcella, her bag had been turned upside down and everything dumped out.
At first we thought Barrett was looking for money, but his prints weren't on any of her stuff.
So Marcella was searching for something in that bag right before she was killed.
Probably Carver's gun.
I recovered two sets of overlapping prints on the weapon.
Barrett's prints were on top of Marcella's.
Okay, then Barrett's telling the truth about Marcella having the gun.
But where did she get it? Probably the same place she got her identity.
She stole it.
No.
This wasn't your standard case of identity theft.
She didn't just steal some credit cards and run up some charges.
Marcella assumed Roni's identity.
She had to know Roni was dead.
Otherwise, she would have been taking a big chance in getting caught.
So Marcella killed Chief Carver's sister Roni.
No.
There's no way.
His sister Roni was bludgeoned and stabbed to death in a very up-close and personal way.
Marcella doesn't feel like a killer.
She's just a frightened, battered woman running from an abusive man.
Well, if you are right, then who killed Chief Carver's sister? Carver's lying.
Lying is not a crime.
Murder is.
Do you really think that Chief Carver killed his sister? I think he had something to do with it.
At the very least, I think he knows more than he's saying.
Okay, if you go up there making accusations like that, and you're wrong, there's serious consequences.
I can handle the consequences.
I want the truth.
Please don't get on that elevator without hearing me out.
I think you're letting your emotion cloud your judgment.
My judgment has never been better.
There's too many things that don't make sense.
A cop doesn't lose his gun and not report it.
There's no way that Carver goes to sleep every night knowing his gun's still out there.
Until this moment, you seemed to buy it.
I wanted to buy it.
I wanted to buy that Ted Carver was a good man, and didn't look me in the eye and lie to me.
What if you're possibly wrong? Carver takes the kids, never reports his sister missing.
All these years, Marcella somehow knew that no detective would come knocking on her door, looking for Roni Parker? How would she know that? These are good questions that have to be answered.
Here's another question.
Why wasn't Marcella at her apartment when we came knocking with a warrant? He tipped her off that we were coming, and she ran-- right into the fists of Mitch Barrett.
Mac, we are talking about the Chief of Manhattan Detectives.
- He's no different than anyone else.
- Yes, he is.
He's the chief! And because he's the chief, we need more than this, and you know it.
Just give me a little time, Mac.
I saw the way he looked at her on that dock, Jo.
He knows who Marcella Gomez is.
And he knows who stabbed Roni Parker to death.
All right, I need to know where we are and what we know.
If there's a connection between Roni Parker and Marcella Gomez, other than the gun and the ID, I can't find it.
There doesn't seem to be any motive for Marcella to kill Roni Parker.
Any link between Marcella and Chief Carver? We know Marcella lived in Carver's precinct, when she arrived in the country-- that's about it.
There's nothing on paper to connect them.
No complaint reports.
She was never arrested.
Anything new with the evidence? Yes, the high cell content in the soil preserved Roni's body.
It also prohibited the microbes from corrupting the DNA on the gum that was found in the grave.
I was able to extract and amplify a usable profile, but the bad news is-- there's no hits in CODIS.
Now, this jacket was used to cloak Roni's face when she was buried.
Which is typical when a killer has a personal relationship with the victim.
Now, it was hand-sewn by a custom tailor.
A guy by the name of Mario Bottone.
He kept great records, and he knew all his clients personally.
We took him the jacket, and he matched it to a paper pattern he had on file for a long-term client by the name of Richard Hudson.
Now, Hawkes and I spoke to him yesterday.
Am I supposed to know her? Come on, Mr.
Hudson.
Your heart just about leapt out of your chest.
- How do you know her? - Told you.
I don't.
What about this jacket? Oh, God.
- Am I going to need a lawyer? - Only if you killed her.
This can't get back to my wife, or my employer, I-- My family would be devastated.
I'll lose my job.
How did you know her? It was like 15 years ago.
Things were not good with my wife.
We had little kids-- You know, you can save all that for Dr.
Phil.
We dated.
Okay? How much did you pay for those dates? What was the deal? Dinner, drinks, then up to her room for a happy ending? But this didn't end so happy, did it? Look! I used to see her sometimes, okay? Well, what happened the last time you saw her? We had a few drinks at Mantle's.
We started to take a walk in the park.
It was chilly, so I gave her my jacket.
I left my credit card at the bar, so I told Roni to wait for me.
I ran back inside to get it.
When I came back, there was a cop talking to her.
I swear to you, the last time I saw her, she was with that cop.
Would you recognize this officer if you saw him again? It was a long time ago.
I never got a look at his face.
I hesitate to use the word "credible," but I think he was telling the truth.
Jo, this knife that we pulled out of Roni's grave also has an interesting story behind it.
According to Sid, the blade is consistent with the stab wounds and the tool marks found on Roni Parker's rib cage.
I was able to get a partial DNA profile from the protected part of the knife.
It came back to this guy.
It's Jimmy Valdez.
That picture was taken when he was 15 years old.
And this is him today.
Well, he had more than a few brushes with the law when he was a teenager, but he doesn't seem to have been in any trouble since then.
Any connection to either of our victims? Nothing.
But this is definitely his DNA on the knife.
Any other evidence to link him to the murder of Roni Parker? Not right now.
But Flack picked him up a half an hour ago.
He's got him over at the precinct on ice, waiting for me to be done here.
You're done here.
- Where'd you get this? - From her.
- Who the hell's that? - Her name is Roni Parker.
She was stabbed to death in Central Park, back in 1995.
And you're saying this knife was used to do that? - That's what I'm saying.
- You think I'm the one who killed her? - That's impossible.
- How's that impossible? It's been a while, but I'll never forget that knife.
It was in the window of the hardware store, around the corner from my building.
I had my eye on it for the longest time.
And my older brother gave it to me on my 15th birthday.
He told me to keep it in my pocket, just for protection.
Not to show it off.
I couldn't keep my eyes off it.
I had to show my friends.
Big mistake.
You gotta find that cop.
He's the one that had that knife.
If you saw him again, you think you'd recognize him? I don't know.
Maybe.
Take your time, Jim.
No rush.
I think he's telling the truth.
He wouldn't make up an alibi like that, "A cop took my knife.
" Hmm.
Story makes sense.
In those days, every cop who walked the foot post had a shoebox full of knives in his locker.
Do you have a shoebox full of knives in your locker? Promise not to tell.
You're not going to tell me, are you? Back then, the crime rate was much higher.
A cop leaving his post to get a pocketknife off the street wasn't a wise use of manpower.
Well, I'd imagine that'd get a watch commander's panties in a bunch.
No doubt.
Probably have you assigned to the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge on a midnight.
We showed him photos of every cop walking a foot post anywhere near Chambers and West the day he had his knife taken away-- he didn't recognize any of them.
We even showed him cops from adjoining precincts.
Nothing.
You show him a photo of Carver? Carver was nowhere near Chambers and West that day.
The roll call had assigned him to the 11th Precinct.
Can we check to see if he was on court alert? Why are you so sure it's Carver? I'm not sure.
But West and Chambers is the subway station where cops get off to go to court.
Yeah.
And if he was activated on a summons case, he would've passed that corner.
And those alerts aren't usually reflected on the roll call.
You call the court section.
I'll pull up an array with Carver in it.
Jimmy, I got one more array to show you.
- Then I'll let you get out of here.
- All right, no sweat.
That's him! That's the guy who took the knife off me.
Way to go, Kyle! I'm here watching my grandnephew play soccer.
This better be good.
I don't know if I'd call it good.
What exactly can I do for you, Mac? You can tell me why you murdered your sister.
He positively identified you in a photo array.
So, what? You think I took this knife off the Valdez guy, and used it to kill my sister? Fine.
Put the cuffs on me.
Take me away.
Lock me up.
What? You don't have enough? You know what happened to your sister, Ted.
This is your opportunity to tell your side of the story.
What, did you come here looking for a confession? Mac, all right.
Look.
You listen, and you listen good, all right? This ends now.
No more intrusions.
No more unannounced visits.
This isn't going away.
I'm not going to stop until I have enough to make it stick.
Yeah, well I suggest you get to work then.
I want you to know, you guys did fantastic today.
Fantastic! No, it's all right, it's all right.
You guys did your best.
But we lost, Coach! It's all right.
It's all right.
You want to know why? 'Cause we worked hard, you had fun-- And we respected ourselves, and we respected our opponent.
Yo! Uh! Hurro! Boss? Everything okay, boss? I saw you looking-- Adam, I want you to compare the DNA profile you recovered from the chewing gum we found in Roni Parker's grave to her own profile.
Uh, boss, I already typed it.
The DNA on the gum came back to a male donor.
- It's definitely not hers.
- I know.
Just do it.
Okay, Sid.
I need to know if Ted Carver's physical stature and strength are consistent with the injuries on this victim's body.
Ted Carver was a familiar face around here for several years.
I can't believe we're even talking about him as a murder suspect.
We, uh, we used to joke, uh, you know, with that last name he should have been a medical examiner.
Or a killer who likes to use a knife.
Yeah.
But in this case, I don't think he's your suspect.
Roni Parker was five foot nine.
Carver is six four.
And all the stab wounds are in the lower abdomen, all below the seventh rib.
The tool marks are on the underside of the bone, which means she was most likely stabbed in an upward angle.
Well, it's not an exact science.
There can be a lot of variables involved here, such as body position of both suspect and victim, but those stab wounds coupled with this The blunt force injury to the back of the head was in the occipital region.
And with someone Carver's height, the injury most likely would have been to the parietal area.
Parietal? Impressive.
And the blow to the back of the head was delivered by a solid, blunt object.
Maybe a large stone, at an upward angle.
And it caused only a hairline fracture.
Someone as powerful as Carver likely would have caved in her skull.
Sid believes we're looking for someone much smaller and much less powerful than Carver.
Someone like Marcella Gomez.
We've been through this before.
I need motive, and I need evidence.
What reason would Marcella have to kill Roni Parker? I don't think she did it, Boss.
We got a match.
All right, everyone.
This is how it's going to go.
The bride and the father walk down the aisle.
Music is playing.
Very good.
That's it.
Now you deliver the bride.
And you'll be asked, "Who gives this young woman?" Father steps back, but does not sit down.
Uncle Ted.
- Go to Julie, she's going to need you.
- Look, Jay, don't No, please! Please.
I did it, Detective.
I killed my mother.
Where did you get the knife? Um, my Uncle Ted would stop by a couple times a year, usually on birthdays.
And sometimes he'd bring a gift.
He knew that I liked to carve things out of wood, so he gave it to me.
Told me never to take it out of the house, and I didn't.
Until that night.
- Come on.
- Yeah, yeah.
Whatever.
Jay? What the hell are you doing? You little Did your uncle help you dispose of the body? No.
No, I did that all by myself.
Why'd you decide to go and dig up your mother's body? I was, uh, reading in the papers that the city was planning on expanding a bike path into that area of the park, and I was-- I was just afraid that they would uncover the body, so I went there to move it.
So when you went to the park that first time, did you go there to kill your mother? I'm not going to lie to you, Detective.
This is something that I thought about for a long time.
Yes, I did.
I planned it.
I went there to kill her.
Thanks, Mac.
How'd you figure out it was him? DNA on a piece of chewing gum found in your sister's grave was a familial match to Jay.
To be honest, Ted, I thought it would come back a match to you.
Almost wish it did.
When did you know? He called me crying couldn't bring himself to tell me what he had done.
And when I got home, he was waiting on the stoop.
And he told me he'd-- he'd killed Roni.
He wanted to turn himself in to me.
Look at your face! All right, come on.
Get upstairs.
I took him inside.
Got him cleaned up.
But why, Jay? Why would a 14-year-old boy want to kill his mother? Why? I'll show you why.
Oh, dear Lord! My God, Jay! God! Jay! Jay! It's all right.
It's okay.
Come on.
Sit down.
I'm so sorry that had to happen to you.
It's okay.
I know it sounds crazy, but I sort of got used to it.
Did she do the same thing to your brother and sister? For a long time, it was just me.
But then they started getting older, and I would come home from school, and I would see the-- I would see the welts, and the burns and the bruises on their bodies.
I thought the only chance they had to make it stop was me.
Because there was nobody else there to protect them.
I didn't see any other way out.
I was really afraid that one day she would kill us.
We had nobody.
I knew what a monster she was, what those kids were living with.
I should have been there.
There's no use looking back.
You can't change what is.
Mac, I put that knife in Jay's hand.
It was just sitting up in my locker.
He liked to carve things.
That knife didn't stab your sister, Jay did.
If it wasn't that knife, it would have been another.
None of this had to happen.
I could have stopped it.
You did.
Taking those kids in, adopting them? You turned their life around.
I just wish it hadn't been this hard to get there.
One thing I don't understand.
Your connection to Marcella.
I was walking my foot post at a midnight tour, and she was sitting there on the curb in the rain, crying.
Talking about killing herself to get away from Barrett.
Even too terrified to file a complaint.
Well, I get why you'd give her Roni's identity as a way to escape, but why would you give her your gun? Later that night, I had a little chat with Barrett.
He was one of those guys, Mac, you know, the kind that scares the hell out of you.
And I knew.
If he found her he'd kill her.
You were right.
I-- I have to live the rest of my life knowing that he used my gun to do it.
I keep waiting.
For what? For the sadness to come.
For the day that I'd feel guilty for what I did.
If I'd known then what I know now, I never would have done it, but I'm not sorry for it.
The world is a better place without my-- Without her.
Quite a case! Kind of sad to see a guy like Ted Carver go out like this.
He was one hell of a cop in his day.
Well, there could be worse.
He could have been arrested, or charged criminally.
The department was his life.
Being fired and stripped of his pension's far worse than any charges the DA could file.
They made the right decision.
You must be one hell of a poker player.
What are you talking about? Come on, Mac! "They made the right decision"? I just got back from the DA's office, where we were meeting about Jay's case.
You know, one of my greatest assets is my Southern charm.
Folks around here don't quite know what to do with that.
They open up.
They tell me things.
Things like you going over there and persuading them not to charge Carver criminally.
All I said was, "Ted Carver's not a perfect man, he's made some mistakes in his life, but that's no reason to erase all the good he's done.
" What about Jay? Where do you stand on that? I understand why he killed her-- he was just a kid.
And Roni was pure evil.
But he planned it, and I'm not sure how to justify premeditated murder.
Well, after interviewing all the kids, and corroborating all the stories and all the old injuries, the DA has no interest in taking Jay to trial.
He'll agree to a plea of manslaughter, with no jail time.
What do you think about that? It's not important what I think.
What's important is that Ted Carver took a horrible set of circumstances and turned it into something special.