Law & Order (1990) s15e02 Episode Script
The Dead Wives Club
NARRATOR: In the criminal justice system the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups, the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
MAN 1: It's unbelievable.
It holds, like, over 10,000 songs.
MAN 2: Dude, you don't even know 10,000 songs.
And where do you get off buying something like this when you still owe me a hundred bucks? MAN 1: (STAMMERS) I know 100,000 songs.
That's why they call me the Human Juke Box.
Hey, grab me a corn muffin.
I got to hit the head.
Yeah,yeah,yeah.
Black coffee and a corn muffin.
Yo, bro.
Canadian.
So? What is the difference? About 30 cents on the damned dollar! It's useless, you understand? It's a slug! (LOUD CRASHING) (ALL SCREAMING) Jerry? Jerry! OFFICER: We got 20 or so injured, a couple of them serious.
ED: Lucky it wasn't rush hour.
It would have been worse, but the ferry troop pulled a bunch of the injured out of the water.
They're real heroes.
They deserve a medal.
One DOA.
Female, white.
We found her purse on the rear upper deck.
ID? Yeah.
Driver's license says her name's Donna McClean, 34.
Brooklyn address.
Thanks.
Hey, Brody, what you got? The foam around her mouth would indicate she drowned.
Looks like she hit her head on the side of the boat when she fell.
Pretty nasty blow.
Wouldn't be surprised if she fractured her skull.
All right.
Hey, anything? No, everybody says the boat should have stopped, but didn't.
Smacked the dock petal to the medal.
Did anybody see her go in? No.
Nobody mentioned athing.
Carlsen.
DOT.
I'm curious.
What's Homicide doing at an accident scene? Two words, "dead body.
" Criminal liability.
Well, we don't know that yet.
Well, we do until we prove otherwise, okay? Detective? I found this in the Pilothouse.
Gin.
See what I mean? Okay.
Let's go talk to Captain Tanqueray.
The pilot we got back here.
You lead the way.
He was just here.
He was drinking coffee.
You left him by himself? Sorry.
I'll, um I'm going to get you his name and address.
ED: Do that, man.
Hey, can you get CSU to dust and voucher these cups? That's an awful lot of coffee for one guy, isn't it? Not if you're trying to sober up.
(SIREN WAILS) ED: Damn! What are the Feds doing here? FONTANA: Federal Maritime Law.
You kill somebody in U.
S.
waters through negligence or misconduct.
NYPD? Homicide.
Detective Green.
Fontana.
Special Agent Diamond.
The pilot's MIA.
Butthen, I guess you guys know that.
Sorry, guys, this one's ours.
Well, if you need anything.
(LAUGHS) I appreciate it.
Take it easy.
Stiff.
Yeah, when you walk on water.
Come on, I want to show you something.
You see this stuff? This is copper based paint.
I think they use it on boats and ships and hulls.
Stuff like that.
What are you saying? That the Feds are looking for the wrong kind of vehicle? Maybe the guy's got a boat.
Well, wouldn't the boat be registered with his car? Let's see if it's registered in his wife's name.
You did say we'd help him.
Uh-huh.
There's no signs of life.
Hey, if we see anything, we step off, we get a warrant, all right? Oh, yeah, sure.
Mr.
Williams? Anybody home? It's the police.
Captain? NYPD.
We need to talk to you, sir.
Aw, jeez Louise! (SIREN WAILING) Is he going to make it? ED: Uh-huh.
Lucky we got here in time.
Thanks.
You're welcome.
What the hell is this? I'm going to tell you what it is, Agent Diamond.
It's my tailor-made Italian silk shirt with his blood on it.
A little thing we like to call evidence.
You take it and you run a toxicology screen.
And by the way, I'm billing the FBI.
Now, excuse me.
(CHUCKLES) $300 Italian silk.
I got it the last time I was in Rome, at this great little negozio just off the Piazza Navona.
Oh, well.
Easy come, easy go.
Listen, I just heard from the U.
S.
Attorney.
They're running his blood alcohol now.
Guaranteed he was three sheets to the wind.
Anyway, he's the Feds' problem now.
Yeah, but a couple of the injured were city workers, so the Manhattan D.
A.
is planning to file charges of his own.
So what are you saying, Lieutenant? I'm going to need you to re-interview those witnesses.
I got a clean shirt in my locker.
$300 shirts? (LAUGHS) You should see his ride! I was working forward deck.
I heard a scream, and then a splash, and then the ferry hit the dock.
Wait.
Run that by me again.
You heard something before the crash.
Yes.
I went to the starboard side rail.
I thought I saw someone in the water, but then the boat hit and threw me down.
You're sure that's the way it happened? Yes.
Scream, splash, somebody's in the water, crash.
Positive.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) Excuse me.
Hello? Uh-huh.
Okay.
Thanks.
Lab results are in.
Pilot wasn't intoxicated.
Well, whose flask of gin did we find then? Who knows? It could have been from the night shift.
Doesn't mean he's off the hook.
He was still asleep behind the wheel.
Deck hand says he heard a scream and a splash before the crash.
Donna McClean, the DOA? Maybe.
The deck hand thinks he saw somebody in the water, but he's not sure who.
Why couldn't it have been suicide? Well, it could have been, but why would you wait until you're almost docked to take a swan dive? Why not take your shot in the middle of the harbor where nobody could fish you out? Plus the head injury.
That's more like she fell.
If she had jumped, she probably would have cleared the boat.
If she fell, that's an accident.
Not if she had help.
Then she's our DOA, not the Feds'.
RODGERS: Hairline skull fracture.
Traces of paint found in the head wound match paint from the lower railing.
ED: There was blood on the railing, too.
Yeah.
DNA lab's running it now.
I'll bet you a dollar it's hers.
Did the fall kill her? Well, didn't do her any good, but not directly, no.
It might have knocked her out cold, but she was alive when she hit the water.
She drowned.
Any defensive wounds? Did she struggle? No.
But look at these bruises.
Hmm.
Just about the height of the top rail.
Right where they'd be if somebody pushed her hard enough to put her into the drink.
McCLEAN: Any idea what happened yet? The investigation is going to take awhile.
So far they're not ruling out anything.
What was your wife doing on that ferry anyway? She had an appointment to get her hair done in Midtown.
Mr.
McClean.
Was your wife depressed at all? What are you talking about? Are you saying she jumped? This was an accident.
We have a witness that may have seen Donna in the water before the ferry crashed.
No way.
We were very happy.
We have a great family.
She'd never leave us on purpose.
You're a firefighter? Retired.
You were there? Ground Zero? Yeah.
We all were.
GIRL: Ed? Sarah's crying again.
Look, I appreciate your concern, but this was an accident.
So find out who was responsible and nail them to the wall, okay? When you were a kid, did you ever call your old man by his first name? (SCOFFS) Not unless I wanted to smell the Aqua Velva on the back of his hand.
Okay.
I got it.
Thanks.
Donna McClean legally changed her name about two years ago when she married Ed McClean.
Before that she was Donna Mahar, married to a Joe Mahar, also a firefighter.
So let's go talk to Joe Mahar.
Uh-uh.
Died in 9/11.
He was in the same engine company as Ed McClean.
Joe and Ed were inseparable.
Frick and Frigging Frack we called them.
That's why Ed got assigned Donna after Joe died.
Assigned? When one of our own dies, we look after the widow.
Help them with groceries, bills.
I think Ed did more than unpack a few D'Agostino bags.
Hey, listen.
Things happen.
You know how emotional it was.
The aftermath.
We all lost near and dear.
Yeah, so I'm saying they comforted each other.
Right after the attacks, Ed spent a lot of time with Donna.
All right.
One thing led to another.
Well, what about Ed? Was he married? Collette.
High school sweethearts.
That kind of thing.
ED: They got kids? Ten-year-olds.
Twin boys.
He's a good father, Ed.
Really? And he left their mother for his best friend's widow? What kind of settlement did Donna get for her husband's death? Those 9/11 settlements ran in the millions.
Ed wasn't after her money.
He fell in love with Donna.
He didn't mean to, hejust did.
(DOORBELL RINGING) WOMAN: You looking for Collette? Yeah.
NYPD.
Do you know where we can find her? She's at work.
FONTANA: How well do you known the McCleans? Yeah, her name's Connolly now.
It's her maiden name.
She went back to it after the divorce.
So, do you know Ed and Collette pretty well? Sure.
Forever.
This is a very tight-knit community.
Was.
Come in for a minute.
I got to keep an eye on my husband.
You know, people have to wait a little longer in line at the airports, saying 9/11 changed everything.
They have no idea.
This neighborhood? We used to do everything together.
I mean, everybody worked for the fire department, police.
Now we're strangers.
Divorce, remarriage It will never be like it was, that's for sure.
just as sure as it killed Joe and the other men who were there that day.
How so? Russ was at Ground Zero for weeks.
Leukemia.
From mercury.
Millions of busted fluorescent light bulbs from the Towers.
Donna wears a Chanel dress to Joe's memorial, and the guys who found his body can't even pay their medical bills.
Did you ever ask Donna for help? No, I don't see Donna anymore.
I'm not a part of her new life.
You mean her new life with Ed McClean? Her new life with the Dead Wives Club.
What they call themselves, They cleaned up after their husbands died.
From what I heard, it was a lot of money.
No, it's not just the money.
It's how they act with it.
Parading it around town like its freaking Mardi Gras, while the rest of us just scrape by.
Like Collette's scraping by? That bastard left her high and dry.
Why do you think she had to go back to work? COLLETTE: I was plenty angry at first, but you got to move on.
Anger doesn't do anyone any good, especially not the kids.
Me and Ed, we got to do what's right for the boys' sakes, try and act civilized.
I just feel sorry for Donna's girls.
You know, Ms.
Connolly, we checked into your ex-husband's finances, and all of the 9111 settlement money is in Donna's name.
She also got death benefits from the city and from Joe's life insurance, not to mention over$2 million from the Federal Victims Compensation Fund.
Yeah, well, she deserved it.
She lost her husband.
So did you.
Your ex-husband officially retired on a disability pension.
Yeah.
After 9111, he couldn't go back to work.
But you had to.
He pays you minimal child support and alimony.
Yeah, what can you do? I mean, these are things the court decides.
You're very understanding, Ms.
Connolly.
Well, like I said, it's for the kids.
And to tell you the truth, I don't mind working.
It gets me out of the house.
How did you break your arm? My wrist.
I fell.
My fault.
I was racing up the subway steps late for work and I tripped.
I put my arm out to brace myself, and When was that? The day before yesterday, as a matter of fact.
The same day that Donna died? That morning, yeah.
It was a bad day.
Thank you.
We'll talk again.
She broke her wrist the same day as the crash.
Now, there's a coincidence for you.
Yes, indeed.
I tell you one thing.
I never heard a woman talk so good about a man who done her so bad.
Positively, the late Mrs.
McClean's blood on the lower railing.
Did CSU find anything on the upper deck? Fingerprints and two sweaty palm prints from two different individuals, both left hands, right next to each other on the upper railing.
CSU lifted a partial off one, Latent matched it to Mrs.
McClean.
What about the other one? Of no value.
But they recovered some DNA from it.
Not Mrs.
McClean's.
You can get DNA from a sweaty palm print? (LAUGHS) Low copy number analysis.
You ID any suspects, get me their DNA, I can run a comparison to see if they match.
Ed McClean's coming in today.
Guilty people don't normally drive themselves to the M.
E.
's office to give up DNA.
Which leaves his ex-wife.
She's not returning our calls.
That's a nice ride.
Yeah, it's okay.
So I checked the subway times with Transit.
There are trains that pull into that station at 10:45 and 11:12.
According to Saint Ann's, she signed in the E.
R.
at 11:15.
So she fell, broke her wrist, and either waited a half an hour to get medical treatment Or she sprinted eight blocks in three minutes with a fractured wrist.
She didn't look like Marion Jones to me.
On the other hand, the ferry crashed at 10:00.
She had plenty of time to get uptown to Saint Ann's.
Just because I can't remember exactly when I fell, that doesn't mean Oh, no, no! We're not accusing you of anything.
It's just that we have to clear up these little discrepancies in the timeline for our report.
It's our boss.
She's a stickler like that.
You know? You're right.
I didn't go straight to the hospital.
I waited to see if I put some ice on it, would it feel better.
And it didn't, so that's when I decided I needed to go to the E.
R.
Uh-huh.
Ms.
Connolly? Could I trouble you for a cup of coffee? I'm dragging, andifldonW get ajolt, I'm never going to make it through the day.
Sure.
I just made a pot.
How do you take it? Black.
Truckload of sugar.
Thanks.
Do you ever use it? What? The ferry? I wish.
FONTANA: You should.
I never have time.
Well, didn't you use it the other day? I took the subway.
I told you.
Right.
Your wrist.
Mmm-hmm.
Thanks.
You should pay this parking ticket.
Yeah, I'm a little behind on the bills.
Twins, huh? Mmm-hmm.
I got two boys myself.
Eric and Tyler.
Oh, yeah? How old? Twelve and 14.
(LAUGHS) Teenagers.
Wow.
It's rough.
You know, if my wife left me and my sons and lived like royalty while we struggled, I'd be out of my mind.
Yeah, well, that's you.
Not me.
All I'm saying is, I could understand if you did something about it.
I didn't do anything.
Then you wouldn't mind giving us your DNA? It's the easiest way to get this behind you.
I'll just check with my lawyer first.
You know, most dudes lie about not being married.
Uh, lthought I'd take a shot.
You ever been married? No.
Never.
You? Hell, no.
Too young.
Too old.
Now let's go talk to that E.
R.
doctor and find out how she really broke her wrist.
Of course I can't discuss a patient's medical history with you.
Okay.
Let's say we spoke in hypotheticals.
Hypotheticals? Oh, yeah.
We love hypotheticals.
Okay, shoot.
Okay, let's say, hypothetically, that somebody's rushing up some concrete steps Like a subway.
Right.
And they trip and they fall forward.
When someone puts their arm out in front of them to break their fall, the type of fracture that results is always the same, a Colles fracture.
Okay, so if somebody has a Colles fracture, their story of tripping and falling forward would be consistent? Well, let's say a person has a different sort of fracture.
A Smith's fracture.
There would be a discrepancy in what they're telling you? A Smith's fracture results from an outstretched arm to prevent a backwards fall.
You understanding what I'm saying? Yeah.
You can't get a Smith's fracture from a forward fall with your arms stretched out in front of you.
Anatomically impossible.
Two palm prints, both of them left-handed, right? Right.
Let's say Donna McClean was standing here, put her left hand on the railing as the boat pulled into the dock.
Collette Connolly comes from behind.
Hypothetically.
Right.
She pushes her over.
Donna screams.
She falls, she hits her head on the lower railing.
She goes into the water, and she drowns.
Now, that's what the deckhand said.
Okay, but how does the second sweat print get on the hand rail? The killer needs two hands to push the victim over.
Okay.
After Donna goes into the water is when the ferry hit the dock, right? Right.
Okay.
The impact of the crash sends Collette forward, and then back.
She tries to hold on to the railing with her left hand, but she can't keep her grip Leaving a sweaty palm print.
Exactly.
She falls backwards.
She tries to brace her fall with her right hand.
Smith's fracture.
Smith's fracture.
You're in a whole lot of trouble, Collette.
We've got witnesses that saw you push Donna over the side of that boat.
No, that's impossible.
lwasn't there.
I wasn't on that ferry.
Look, we know you're lying.
We know didn't take the subway.
We know you didn't trip and fall on any stairs.
I told you how I broke my wrist.
Yeah, well, we talked to a doctor who said that it couldn't have happened the way that you said.
Now when that boat hit the dock, you fell backwards on the deck and you put your hand behind you.
That's how you broke your wrist.
In the chaos of the crash, you slipped out, you jumped into a taxi, you went uptown to the hospital.
No, I broke my wrist on the subway.
We found the taxi driver.
He remembers you.
He said you were in a whole lot of pain and he offered to take you to a closer hospital, but you said, "No.
I want to go uptown to Saint Ann's.
" Take it easy, will you? Here you go.
Thanks.
Collette? You did it for your kids.
For your boys, right? No.
I didn't do anything.
Donna is dead.
Ed inherits all the money.
You can take him back to court.
Make him pay his fair share.
Support his kids the way he's supposed to support his kids.
Put that down now, Collette.
Do not take a sip.
Nice try.
You want her DNA, get a warrant.
And why is my client crying? She has been lying to us every step of the way.
So you say.
You don't have probable cause, which means you can't hold her.
Come on, Collette.
I'm going to take you home.
Well, that could have gone better.
Well, it's too bad that we don't have those witnesses or that cab driver.
We really wouldn't need her DNA.
Maybe we don't need her to give us her DNA voluntarily.
I spoke to the D.
A.
's office.
They're making a warrant application to a friendlyjudge.
Thatjudge better be our brand-new very best friend.
JACK: It's the epitome of judge shopping, YourHonoL Judge Tucci already signed a warrant to obtain a DNA exemplar from Collette Connolly.
If he weren't conveniently out of town on vacation, we wouldn't even be here.
We're moving to quash an improperly granted warrant.
Ms.
Galiano didn't like Judge Tucci's decision, so she's trying for a more favorable result from you.
All due respect, Judge Tucci signs off on anything the People place in front of him.
JUDGE: Mr.
McCoy, it seems to me you have a warrant, which you're using to confirm a suspicion the People have, which is not the same as probable cause.
Motion granted, warrant quashed.
(BANGS GAVEL) Without the DNA, we need to figure out another way to put her on the boat.
And we have a motive problem.
What are you talking about? We've got loads of motive.
Rage, jealousy, money.
Once Ed inherited Donna's millions he couldn't evade paying Collette reasonable alimony and child support anymore.
She's had all the same reasons since the marriage broke up.
So Why'd she kill her now? I'd like to know what triggered this.
HEATHER: The name's a joke.
People expect widows to act a certain way.
And they hate us because we don't.
Because we've got money now.
Let's face it.
They hate us because we married our dead husband's friends.
I'd hate us, too, but we also lost husbands and our kids lost fathers.
We grieve, too.
Every day.
It's been hard for everyone, I'm sure.
SLOAN: Exactly.
We all learned the hard way life's too short.
I know my first husband, God his rest his soul, is happy I'm happy.
Look, I understand from your point of view, life goes on.
But what about the wives that were left? Like Collette? Well, that's what we're talking about.
She was more of a mess after 9/11 than Ed was.
She wouldn't leave the house.
Didn't want him going anywhere.
Crying all the time.
And he was alive.
SLOAN: No wonder he left her.
Don't get me wrong.
I feel sorry for her.
I do.
We all do.
So Collette and Donna were close? Best friends.
Excuse me! Was there something else that you wanted to tell me in there? I still care about her, about Collette.
I don't know if she did this to Donna but If you could help me understand what happened.
Collette called me one night, a few weeks ago.
She was hysterical.
It was the first time we'd spoken in months, and she said Ed told her he and Donna wanted custody of the twins.
When was this exactly? A week before Donna died.
We re-interviewed everyone that was in the area of the ferry that day.
No one remembers seeing her.
So we're back at square one.
Well, maybe not.
I saw something at Collette's that might give us her DNA.
LegaHy? Without her permission or a court order? What did you see, a magic wand? No.
A parking ticket.
She has dozens of them.
Owes the city over $1,000.
We send her a notice offering amnesty.
All tickets forgiven for a token hundred bucks.
So she ignores that, too.
Well, if she decides not to take advantage of the amnesty, the city threatens to put a lien on her property.
And here's the beauty part.
We send her a self-addressed, stamped envelope for her to send the check in.
She licks the envelope, mails it back to us and we have her DNA.
Right.
She hands it over.
Voluntarily.
GALUkNO: The parking ticket sting was a blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment, YourHonoL Mr.
McCoy ignored your ruling and used a ruse to obtain DNA which you said he had no right to.
You said the People had no right to a warrant, Your Honor.
I had every right to trick Ms.
Connolly into giving us what we wanted.
People v.
Blandon, "Trickery is only improper when the conduct is so unfair "as to deny due process.
" Since the DNA on the envelope matched the DNA on the ferry railing, we know we're not dealing with the rights of an innocent person here.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Counselor.
No one's been convicted of anything yet.
It appears that the defendant's Fourth Amendment rights weren't violated here.
Anything else, Ms.
Galiano? GALIANO: Yes, Your Honor.
The low copy DNA analysis that People used is an untested, unreliable science, which hasn't gained widespread acceptance in New York.
All I am asking for is a hearing to determine whether this novel, untested science meets the Frye standard.
I'll hear from experts tomorrow.
(BANGS GAVEL) Low copy DNA analysis utilizes much smaller samples of DNA to find a match.
Isn't it fair to say that these samples, which can be left by just touching a steering wheel or rubbing your fingers over a keyboard, are very often infinitesimal? Yes, that's correct.
Sometimes as little as a couple of skin cells.
The extracted DNA is then replicated many times so testing can be done.
So, isn't it true, Dr.
Merrick, that this multiple replication process creates a greater risk for false matches and inaccurate results? MERRICK: The odds of error are about the same as regular testing.
One in a trillion.
Infinitesimal.
But low copy DNA hasn't even been used yet in a criminal proceeding in New York, has it? MERRICK: No, actually it has been used.
When the Twin Towers collapsed, many of the samples we used to identify victims were low copy DNA.
But that wasn't a criminal case.
JACK: Not a criminal case? It was the largest mass murder in our nation's history, Your Honor.
Which means there's a history of this science already being used in New York and the Frye standard is met.
I agree.
The DNA comes in.
(BANGS GAVEL) Murder two.
Now, why would we accept that? Your client ambushed the victim, and then tried to cover up the crime.
We have DNA.
We have motive.
And we have a woman suffering from extreme emotional disturbance.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from the September You're confused.
Collette Connolly's ex-husband was the firefighter.
Firefighter or not, like all New Yorkers, she was affected by 9J11.
Just like the New Yorkers who will be sitting on myjury.
It was a Tuesday.
Remember how beautiful the weather was? Gorgeous, yeah.
Thank you.
I picked the boys up from school.
I tried to get them to not watch the television.
I didn't want them to see that The Towers fall over and over.
We all just sat around waiting for the phone to ring to see if Ed was dead or alive.
When you finally heard from him? I just thanked God.
I was just so thankful and relieved.
And then guilty.
SQ guilty-.
Guilty? All his friends that didn't make it? His brothers? You have no idea how close they are.
I mean, our neighborhood alone.
You could hear people screaming and crying all up and down the street.
I keep replaying that day in my head.
It's like a movie I can't turn off.
You know, every time a plane flies overhead, I get a knot in my stomach.
And every time they raise the threat level, I think, my children will never see the end of this.
(BREATHING DEEPLY) The world seems ruined to me.
I swear, sometimes I wish I had died on September 10th.
For her, the attacks, losing her husband, possibly custody of her kids, these aren't separate events.
And they're not over.
They're one huge event that has wrecked her life, and she's reliving it every day.
So she lashes out and kills the woman who married her ex-husband? She can't strike out against the terrorists, so the next closest culprit, as she sees it, is the woman who replaced her as wife, and, potentially, as mother.
All right.
Thank you.
You think ajury will buy that? Well, they don't have to buy it.
They just have to feel sorry for her.
I agree.
You don't think this defense has some merit, Jack? A stress response to an act of war justifies the murder of an innocent third party three years later? No, I don't.
Her entire life was turned upside down after 9111.
Jurors will sympathize with that.
The defense will paint the husband as a bastard, and the victim as a home wrecker and a hussy.
That won't be too hard.
And the defendant as one more victim of 9/11.
Maybe you ought to plead this one out, Jack.
Collette Connolly didn't just run into Donna McClean that morning at the ferry.
She stalked her, she killed her, and then she tried to make it look like an accident.
That's murder, not manslaughter.
And if we give in to this, what kind of precedent does it set? None.
This case is sui generis.
I don't agree.
It's a license for anyone who was in the city that day to act out.
I was elected to this office because people wanted to feel safer after 9111.
It'd be ironic if that event became an excuse for criminal behavior on my watch.
Don't forget, Collette Connolly murdered the mother of two young girls who had already lost their father.
You don't think that there's some room for leniency here, Jack? Absolutely.
From the judge, at sentencing.
McCLEAN: Collette just couldn't take care of the kids anymore.
She was depressed.
Anxious.
I told her I thought they'd be better off with us until she got on her feet.
We weren't trying to take her children from her.
What was the defendant's reaction when you said you wanted custody of the boys? She went into a rage.
Started cursing at me, throwing things.
Said the kids already had a mother.
Said she'd fight us tooth and nail.
Said she'd never let us have them.
You say your ex-wife wasn't supervising the children properly? McCLEAN: She wasn't at home a lot.
She was at work, wasn't she? Yes.
Did she work out of the house before the divorce? No.
She was a stay at home mom.
That's correct.
Your wife Donna, your new wife, received a substantial settlement from 9111, didn't she, for the death of her first husband? Yes.
Did you and Donna share this windfall with your ex, the mother of your children? That's why we wanted them to come live with us, we could provide You and Donna intentionally kept her millions in her name to avoid having to pay additional alimony to your ex-wife.
Objection! Judge, this is all part and parcel of the stress that my client was under after the events of 9/11.
Overruled.
That was Donna's decision.
It was her money.
So the fact that Collette had to go to work, because you and your new wife wouldn't provide enough money to support your children, is the reason you wanted to take custody of your sons? Isn't that blaming the victim, Mr.
McClean? Objection! GALIANO: Withdrawn.
Let me get this straight, Mr.
McClean.
You left your wife, the mother of your children, by your own testimony, depressed and emotionally traumatized by the events of 9/11, so that you could marry her newly rich best friend, your best friend's widow? It wasn't like that! Wasn't it? Nothing further.
Redirect, Your Honor? Where were you when the first tower collapsed? Objection.
Relevance.
The defendant is using 9111 as an excuse for her actions.
The question goes to the legitimacy of the entire defense.
The witness may answer.
In the North Tower, in a stairwell.
And where was your best friend, Joe Mahar? Next to me.
JACK: But you got out.
Yeah.
And Joe? He didn't.
You ever feel any stress or anxiety or guilt since that day? Of course, every day.
Any sleepless nights? Nightmares? Frequently.
You retired after 9/11.
I couldn't work anymore.
My nerves were shot.
The stress ever get so bad that you killed someone? Objection.
Withdrawn.
No more questions.
GALIANO: What happened to your marriage after September 11th? I never saw Ed.
He spent all his time with Donna.
Consoling her.
And then he left me.
She took my husband, and made me a widow.
Tell me what happened on the ferry that morning.
I saw her standing at the rail, and she looked so happy.
So content.
And I couldn't take it.
I just wanted to talk to her.
(CRYING) Tell her to leave my children alone.
GALIANO: Did you speak to her? I wanted to, but, uh I walked up behind her and she didn't see me.
All I could think about was all that I had lost since the attacks.
Ed.
How my whole world had fallen apart.
And now my kids.
(SOBS) Sol pushed her.
Hard.
I didn't even think about it.
It just happened.
It just happened? COLLETTE: Yes.
Like you just happened to be on the ferry that morning, the same morning Donna McClean was? Yes.
And you didn't even think about it, pushing her over the side.
Is that your testimony? Yes.
When you got off the ferry, there were police and emergency personnel there, correct? COLLETTE: There was.
You didn't say anything to any of them about the woman you'd just pushed in the water, did you? No.
In fact, you were able to hide your injury, avoid the police, and leave without anyone knowing you were on that boat, correct? I was in a daze.
Were you still in a daze when the police first questioned you, two days after killing Donna McClean? I was scared, so I lied.
And when the detectives came to your house and questioned you a second time, and you lied again about how you broke your wrist? Still scared, still in a daze? L--- Yes.
And when you were brought to the precinct for questioning and you denied once again killing Donna McClean? No.
I I don't know.
You have health insurance from your job? Yes.
In the years since 9/11 that you've allegedly suffered from this Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, there's not one visit in your insurance records to a therapist of any kind.
In fact, as far as I can tell, the first time you mentioned this problem to anyone was when you raised it as a defense for killing Donna McClean.
Objection.
JACK: That's all right.
She doesn't need to respond.
We all know the answer.
(SNIFFLING) Jury's been out six hours.
Well, it's not an easy case.
It's a run-of-the-mill murder with a headline defense.
I don't think so.
Donna McClean, Collette Connolly They're both collateral damage from what happened that day.
YOLIT CFOSS was SO So what, Serena? BAILIFF: Counselor, we got a verdict.
If you can't stand to hear this, you can go back to the office.
On the first count of the indictment, murder in the second degree, how do you find the defendant, Collette Connolly? We find the defendant guilty.
(CROWD MURMURING) (SOBBING) No! (SOFTLY) It's okay.
COLLETTE: No!
These are their stories.
MAN 1: It's unbelievable.
It holds, like, over 10,000 songs.
MAN 2: Dude, you don't even know 10,000 songs.
And where do you get off buying something like this when you still owe me a hundred bucks? MAN 1: (STAMMERS) I know 100,000 songs.
That's why they call me the Human Juke Box.
Hey, grab me a corn muffin.
I got to hit the head.
Yeah,yeah,yeah.
Black coffee and a corn muffin.
Yo, bro.
Canadian.
So? What is the difference? About 30 cents on the damned dollar! It's useless, you understand? It's a slug! (LOUD CRASHING) (ALL SCREAMING) Jerry? Jerry! OFFICER: We got 20 or so injured, a couple of them serious.
ED: Lucky it wasn't rush hour.
It would have been worse, but the ferry troop pulled a bunch of the injured out of the water.
They're real heroes.
They deserve a medal.
One DOA.
Female, white.
We found her purse on the rear upper deck.
ID? Yeah.
Driver's license says her name's Donna McClean, 34.
Brooklyn address.
Thanks.
Hey, Brody, what you got? The foam around her mouth would indicate she drowned.
Looks like she hit her head on the side of the boat when she fell.
Pretty nasty blow.
Wouldn't be surprised if she fractured her skull.
All right.
Hey, anything? No, everybody says the boat should have stopped, but didn't.
Smacked the dock petal to the medal.
Did anybody see her go in? No.
Nobody mentioned athing.
Carlsen.
DOT.
I'm curious.
What's Homicide doing at an accident scene? Two words, "dead body.
" Criminal liability.
Well, we don't know that yet.
Well, we do until we prove otherwise, okay? Detective? I found this in the Pilothouse.
Gin.
See what I mean? Okay.
Let's go talk to Captain Tanqueray.
The pilot we got back here.
You lead the way.
He was just here.
He was drinking coffee.
You left him by himself? Sorry.
I'll, um I'm going to get you his name and address.
ED: Do that, man.
Hey, can you get CSU to dust and voucher these cups? That's an awful lot of coffee for one guy, isn't it? Not if you're trying to sober up.
(SIREN WAILS) ED: Damn! What are the Feds doing here? FONTANA: Federal Maritime Law.
You kill somebody in U.
S.
waters through negligence or misconduct.
NYPD? Homicide.
Detective Green.
Fontana.
Special Agent Diamond.
The pilot's MIA.
Butthen, I guess you guys know that.
Sorry, guys, this one's ours.
Well, if you need anything.
(LAUGHS) I appreciate it.
Take it easy.
Stiff.
Yeah, when you walk on water.
Come on, I want to show you something.
You see this stuff? This is copper based paint.
I think they use it on boats and ships and hulls.
Stuff like that.
What are you saying? That the Feds are looking for the wrong kind of vehicle? Maybe the guy's got a boat.
Well, wouldn't the boat be registered with his car? Let's see if it's registered in his wife's name.
You did say we'd help him.
Uh-huh.
There's no signs of life.
Hey, if we see anything, we step off, we get a warrant, all right? Oh, yeah, sure.
Mr.
Williams? Anybody home? It's the police.
Captain? NYPD.
We need to talk to you, sir.
Aw, jeez Louise! (SIREN WAILING) Is he going to make it? ED: Uh-huh.
Lucky we got here in time.
Thanks.
You're welcome.
What the hell is this? I'm going to tell you what it is, Agent Diamond.
It's my tailor-made Italian silk shirt with his blood on it.
A little thing we like to call evidence.
You take it and you run a toxicology screen.
And by the way, I'm billing the FBI.
Now, excuse me.
(CHUCKLES) $300 Italian silk.
I got it the last time I was in Rome, at this great little negozio just off the Piazza Navona.
Oh, well.
Easy come, easy go.
Listen, I just heard from the U.
S.
Attorney.
They're running his blood alcohol now.
Guaranteed he was three sheets to the wind.
Anyway, he's the Feds' problem now.
Yeah, but a couple of the injured were city workers, so the Manhattan D.
A.
is planning to file charges of his own.
So what are you saying, Lieutenant? I'm going to need you to re-interview those witnesses.
I got a clean shirt in my locker.
$300 shirts? (LAUGHS) You should see his ride! I was working forward deck.
I heard a scream, and then a splash, and then the ferry hit the dock.
Wait.
Run that by me again.
You heard something before the crash.
Yes.
I went to the starboard side rail.
I thought I saw someone in the water, but then the boat hit and threw me down.
You're sure that's the way it happened? Yes.
Scream, splash, somebody's in the water, crash.
Positive.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) Excuse me.
Hello? Uh-huh.
Okay.
Thanks.
Lab results are in.
Pilot wasn't intoxicated.
Well, whose flask of gin did we find then? Who knows? It could have been from the night shift.
Doesn't mean he's off the hook.
He was still asleep behind the wheel.
Deck hand says he heard a scream and a splash before the crash.
Donna McClean, the DOA? Maybe.
The deck hand thinks he saw somebody in the water, but he's not sure who.
Why couldn't it have been suicide? Well, it could have been, but why would you wait until you're almost docked to take a swan dive? Why not take your shot in the middle of the harbor where nobody could fish you out? Plus the head injury.
That's more like she fell.
If she had jumped, she probably would have cleared the boat.
If she fell, that's an accident.
Not if she had help.
Then she's our DOA, not the Feds'.
RODGERS: Hairline skull fracture.
Traces of paint found in the head wound match paint from the lower railing.
ED: There was blood on the railing, too.
Yeah.
DNA lab's running it now.
I'll bet you a dollar it's hers.
Did the fall kill her? Well, didn't do her any good, but not directly, no.
It might have knocked her out cold, but she was alive when she hit the water.
She drowned.
Any defensive wounds? Did she struggle? No.
But look at these bruises.
Hmm.
Just about the height of the top rail.
Right where they'd be if somebody pushed her hard enough to put her into the drink.
McCLEAN: Any idea what happened yet? The investigation is going to take awhile.
So far they're not ruling out anything.
What was your wife doing on that ferry anyway? She had an appointment to get her hair done in Midtown.
Mr.
McClean.
Was your wife depressed at all? What are you talking about? Are you saying she jumped? This was an accident.
We have a witness that may have seen Donna in the water before the ferry crashed.
No way.
We were very happy.
We have a great family.
She'd never leave us on purpose.
You're a firefighter? Retired.
You were there? Ground Zero? Yeah.
We all were.
GIRL: Ed? Sarah's crying again.
Look, I appreciate your concern, but this was an accident.
So find out who was responsible and nail them to the wall, okay? When you were a kid, did you ever call your old man by his first name? (SCOFFS) Not unless I wanted to smell the Aqua Velva on the back of his hand.
Okay.
I got it.
Thanks.
Donna McClean legally changed her name about two years ago when she married Ed McClean.
Before that she was Donna Mahar, married to a Joe Mahar, also a firefighter.
So let's go talk to Joe Mahar.
Uh-uh.
Died in 9/11.
He was in the same engine company as Ed McClean.
Joe and Ed were inseparable.
Frick and Frigging Frack we called them.
That's why Ed got assigned Donna after Joe died.
Assigned? When one of our own dies, we look after the widow.
Help them with groceries, bills.
I think Ed did more than unpack a few D'Agostino bags.
Hey, listen.
Things happen.
You know how emotional it was.
The aftermath.
We all lost near and dear.
Yeah, so I'm saying they comforted each other.
Right after the attacks, Ed spent a lot of time with Donna.
All right.
One thing led to another.
Well, what about Ed? Was he married? Collette.
High school sweethearts.
That kind of thing.
ED: They got kids? Ten-year-olds.
Twin boys.
He's a good father, Ed.
Really? And he left their mother for his best friend's widow? What kind of settlement did Donna get for her husband's death? Those 9/11 settlements ran in the millions.
Ed wasn't after her money.
He fell in love with Donna.
He didn't mean to, hejust did.
(DOORBELL RINGING) WOMAN: You looking for Collette? Yeah.
NYPD.
Do you know where we can find her? She's at work.
FONTANA: How well do you known the McCleans? Yeah, her name's Connolly now.
It's her maiden name.
She went back to it after the divorce.
So, do you know Ed and Collette pretty well? Sure.
Forever.
This is a very tight-knit community.
Was.
Come in for a minute.
I got to keep an eye on my husband.
You know, people have to wait a little longer in line at the airports, saying 9/11 changed everything.
They have no idea.
This neighborhood? We used to do everything together.
I mean, everybody worked for the fire department, police.
Now we're strangers.
Divorce, remarriage It will never be like it was, that's for sure.
just as sure as it killed Joe and the other men who were there that day.
How so? Russ was at Ground Zero for weeks.
Leukemia.
From mercury.
Millions of busted fluorescent light bulbs from the Towers.
Donna wears a Chanel dress to Joe's memorial, and the guys who found his body can't even pay their medical bills.
Did you ever ask Donna for help? No, I don't see Donna anymore.
I'm not a part of her new life.
You mean her new life with Ed McClean? Her new life with the Dead Wives Club.
What they call themselves, They cleaned up after their husbands died.
From what I heard, it was a lot of money.
No, it's not just the money.
It's how they act with it.
Parading it around town like its freaking Mardi Gras, while the rest of us just scrape by.
Like Collette's scraping by? That bastard left her high and dry.
Why do you think she had to go back to work? COLLETTE: I was plenty angry at first, but you got to move on.
Anger doesn't do anyone any good, especially not the kids.
Me and Ed, we got to do what's right for the boys' sakes, try and act civilized.
I just feel sorry for Donna's girls.
You know, Ms.
Connolly, we checked into your ex-husband's finances, and all of the 9111 settlement money is in Donna's name.
She also got death benefits from the city and from Joe's life insurance, not to mention over$2 million from the Federal Victims Compensation Fund.
Yeah, well, she deserved it.
She lost her husband.
So did you.
Your ex-husband officially retired on a disability pension.
Yeah.
After 9111, he couldn't go back to work.
But you had to.
He pays you minimal child support and alimony.
Yeah, what can you do? I mean, these are things the court decides.
You're very understanding, Ms.
Connolly.
Well, like I said, it's for the kids.
And to tell you the truth, I don't mind working.
It gets me out of the house.
How did you break your arm? My wrist.
I fell.
My fault.
I was racing up the subway steps late for work and I tripped.
I put my arm out to brace myself, and When was that? The day before yesterday, as a matter of fact.
The same day that Donna died? That morning, yeah.
It was a bad day.
Thank you.
We'll talk again.
She broke her wrist the same day as the crash.
Now, there's a coincidence for you.
Yes, indeed.
I tell you one thing.
I never heard a woman talk so good about a man who done her so bad.
Positively, the late Mrs.
McClean's blood on the lower railing.
Did CSU find anything on the upper deck? Fingerprints and two sweaty palm prints from two different individuals, both left hands, right next to each other on the upper railing.
CSU lifted a partial off one, Latent matched it to Mrs.
McClean.
What about the other one? Of no value.
But they recovered some DNA from it.
Not Mrs.
McClean's.
You can get DNA from a sweaty palm print? (LAUGHS) Low copy number analysis.
You ID any suspects, get me their DNA, I can run a comparison to see if they match.
Ed McClean's coming in today.
Guilty people don't normally drive themselves to the M.
E.
's office to give up DNA.
Which leaves his ex-wife.
She's not returning our calls.
That's a nice ride.
Yeah, it's okay.
So I checked the subway times with Transit.
There are trains that pull into that station at 10:45 and 11:12.
According to Saint Ann's, she signed in the E.
R.
at 11:15.
So she fell, broke her wrist, and either waited a half an hour to get medical treatment Or she sprinted eight blocks in three minutes with a fractured wrist.
She didn't look like Marion Jones to me.
On the other hand, the ferry crashed at 10:00.
She had plenty of time to get uptown to Saint Ann's.
Just because I can't remember exactly when I fell, that doesn't mean Oh, no, no! We're not accusing you of anything.
It's just that we have to clear up these little discrepancies in the timeline for our report.
It's our boss.
She's a stickler like that.
You know? You're right.
I didn't go straight to the hospital.
I waited to see if I put some ice on it, would it feel better.
And it didn't, so that's when I decided I needed to go to the E.
R.
Uh-huh.
Ms.
Connolly? Could I trouble you for a cup of coffee? I'm dragging, andifldonW get ajolt, I'm never going to make it through the day.
Sure.
I just made a pot.
How do you take it? Black.
Truckload of sugar.
Thanks.
Do you ever use it? What? The ferry? I wish.
FONTANA: You should.
I never have time.
Well, didn't you use it the other day? I took the subway.
I told you.
Right.
Your wrist.
Mmm-hmm.
Thanks.
You should pay this parking ticket.
Yeah, I'm a little behind on the bills.
Twins, huh? Mmm-hmm.
I got two boys myself.
Eric and Tyler.
Oh, yeah? How old? Twelve and 14.
(LAUGHS) Teenagers.
Wow.
It's rough.
You know, if my wife left me and my sons and lived like royalty while we struggled, I'd be out of my mind.
Yeah, well, that's you.
Not me.
All I'm saying is, I could understand if you did something about it.
I didn't do anything.
Then you wouldn't mind giving us your DNA? It's the easiest way to get this behind you.
I'll just check with my lawyer first.
You know, most dudes lie about not being married.
Uh, lthought I'd take a shot.
You ever been married? No.
Never.
You? Hell, no.
Too young.
Too old.
Now let's go talk to that E.
R.
doctor and find out how she really broke her wrist.
Of course I can't discuss a patient's medical history with you.
Okay.
Let's say we spoke in hypotheticals.
Hypotheticals? Oh, yeah.
We love hypotheticals.
Okay, shoot.
Okay, let's say, hypothetically, that somebody's rushing up some concrete steps Like a subway.
Right.
And they trip and they fall forward.
When someone puts their arm out in front of them to break their fall, the type of fracture that results is always the same, a Colles fracture.
Okay, so if somebody has a Colles fracture, their story of tripping and falling forward would be consistent? Well, let's say a person has a different sort of fracture.
A Smith's fracture.
There would be a discrepancy in what they're telling you? A Smith's fracture results from an outstretched arm to prevent a backwards fall.
You understanding what I'm saying? Yeah.
You can't get a Smith's fracture from a forward fall with your arms stretched out in front of you.
Anatomically impossible.
Two palm prints, both of them left-handed, right? Right.
Let's say Donna McClean was standing here, put her left hand on the railing as the boat pulled into the dock.
Collette Connolly comes from behind.
Hypothetically.
Right.
She pushes her over.
Donna screams.
She falls, she hits her head on the lower railing.
She goes into the water, and she drowns.
Now, that's what the deckhand said.
Okay, but how does the second sweat print get on the hand rail? The killer needs two hands to push the victim over.
Okay.
After Donna goes into the water is when the ferry hit the dock, right? Right.
Okay.
The impact of the crash sends Collette forward, and then back.
She tries to hold on to the railing with her left hand, but she can't keep her grip Leaving a sweaty palm print.
Exactly.
She falls backwards.
She tries to brace her fall with her right hand.
Smith's fracture.
Smith's fracture.
You're in a whole lot of trouble, Collette.
We've got witnesses that saw you push Donna over the side of that boat.
No, that's impossible.
lwasn't there.
I wasn't on that ferry.
Look, we know you're lying.
We know didn't take the subway.
We know you didn't trip and fall on any stairs.
I told you how I broke my wrist.
Yeah, well, we talked to a doctor who said that it couldn't have happened the way that you said.
Now when that boat hit the dock, you fell backwards on the deck and you put your hand behind you.
That's how you broke your wrist.
In the chaos of the crash, you slipped out, you jumped into a taxi, you went uptown to the hospital.
No, I broke my wrist on the subway.
We found the taxi driver.
He remembers you.
He said you were in a whole lot of pain and he offered to take you to a closer hospital, but you said, "No.
I want to go uptown to Saint Ann's.
" Take it easy, will you? Here you go.
Thanks.
Collette? You did it for your kids.
For your boys, right? No.
I didn't do anything.
Donna is dead.
Ed inherits all the money.
You can take him back to court.
Make him pay his fair share.
Support his kids the way he's supposed to support his kids.
Put that down now, Collette.
Do not take a sip.
Nice try.
You want her DNA, get a warrant.
And why is my client crying? She has been lying to us every step of the way.
So you say.
You don't have probable cause, which means you can't hold her.
Come on, Collette.
I'm going to take you home.
Well, that could have gone better.
Well, it's too bad that we don't have those witnesses or that cab driver.
We really wouldn't need her DNA.
Maybe we don't need her to give us her DNA voluntarily.
I spoke to the D.
A.
's office.
They're making a warrant application to a friendlyjudge.
Thatjudge better be our brand-new very best friend.
JACK: It's the epitome of judge shopping, YourHonoL Judge Tucci already signed a warrant to obtain a DNA exemplar from Collette Connolly.
If he weren't conveniently out of town on vacation, we wouldn't even be here.
We're moving to quash an improperly granted warrant.
Ms.
Galiano didn't like Judge Tucci's decision, so she's trying for a more favorable result from you.
All due respect, Judge Tucci signs off on anything the People place in front of him.
JUDGE: Mr.
McCoy, it seems to me you have a warrant, which you're using to confirm a suspicion the People have, which is not the same as probable cause.
Motion granted, warrant quashed.
(BANGS GAVEL) Without the DNA, we need to figure out another way to put her on the boat.
And we have a motive problem.
What are you talking about? We've got loads of motive.
Rage, jealousy, money.
Once Ed inherited Donna's millions he couldn't evade paying Collette reasonable alimony and child support anymore.
She's had all the same reasons since the marriage broke up.
So Why'd she kill her now? I'd like to know what triggered this.
HEATHER: The name's a joke.
People expect widows to act a certain way.
And they hate us because we don't.
Because we've got money now.
Let's face it.
They hate us because we married our dead husband's friends.
I'd hate us, too, but we also lost husbands and our kids lost fathers.
We grieve, too.
Every day.
It's been hard for everyone, I'm sure.
SLOAN: Exactly.
We all learned the hard way life's too short.
I know my first husband, God his rest his soul, is happy I'm happy.
Look, I understand from your point of view, life goes on.
But what about the wives that were left? Like Collette? Well, that's what we're talking about.
She was more of a mess after 9/11 than Ed was.
She wouldn't leave the house.
Didn't want him going anywhere.
Crying all the time.
And he was alive.
SLOAN: No wonder he left her.
Don't get me wrong.
I feel sorry for her.
I do.
We all do.
So Collette and Donna were close? Best friends.
Excuse me! Was there something else that you wanted to tell me in there? I still care about her, about Collette.
I don't know if she did this to Donna but If you could help me understand what happened.
Collette called me one night, a few weeks ago.
She was hysterical.
It was the first time we'd spoken in months, and she said Ed told her he and Donna wanted custody of the twins.
When was this exactly? A week before Donna died.
We re-interviewed everyone that was in the area of the ferry that day.
No one remembers seeing her.
So we're back at square one.
Well, maybe not.
I saw something at Collette's that might give us her DNA.
LegaHy? Without her permission or a court order? What did you see, a magic wand? No.
A parking ticket.
She has dozens of them.
Owes the city over $1,000.
We send her a notice offering amnesty.
All tickets forgiven for a token hundred bucks.
So she ignores that, too.
Well, if she decides not to take advantage of the amnesty, the city threatens to put a lien on her property.
And here's the beauty part.
We send her a self-addressed, stamped envelope for her to send the check in.
She licks the envelope, mails it back to us and we have her DNA.
Right.
She hands it over.
Voluntarily.
GALUkNO: The parking ticket sting was a blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment, YourHonoL Mr.
McCoy ignored your ruling and used a ruse to obtain DNA which you said he had no right to.
You said the People had no right to a warrant, Your Honor.
I had every right to trick Ms.
Connolly into giving us what we wanted.
People v.
Blandon, "Trickery is only improper when the conduct is so unfair "as to deny due process.
" Since the DNA on the envelope matched the DNA on the ferry railing, we know we're not dealing with the rights of an innocent person here.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Counselor.
No one's been convicted of anything yet.
It appears that the defendant's Fourth Amendment rights weren't violated here.
Anything else, Ms.
Galiano? GALIANO: Yes, Your Honor.
The low copy DNA analysis that People used is an untested, unreliable science, which hasn't gained widespread acceptance in New York.
All I am asking for is a hearing to determine whether this novel, untested science meets the Frye standard.
I'll hear from experts tomorrow.
(BANGS GAVEL) Low copy DNA analysis utilizes much smaller samples of DNA to find a match.
Isn't it fair to say that these samples, which can be left by just touching a steering wheel or rubbing your fingers over a keyboard, are very often infinitesimal? Yes, that's correct.
Sometimes as little as a couple of skin cells.
The extracted DNA is then replicated many times so testing can be done.
So, isn't it true, Dr.
Merrick, that this multiple replication process creates a greater risk for false matches and inaccurate results? MERRICK: The odds of error are about the same as regular testing.
One in a trillion.
Infinitesimal.
But low copy DNA hasn't even been used yet in a criminal proceeding in New York, has it? MERRICK: No, actually it has been used.
When the Twin Towers collapsed, many of the samples we used to identify victims were low copy DNA.
But that wasn't a criminal case.
JACK: Not a criminal case? It was the largest mass murder in our nation's history, Your Honor.
Which means there's a history of this science already being used in New York and the Frye standard is met.
I agree.
The DNA comes in.
(BANGS GAVEL) Murder two.
Now, why would we accept that? Your client ambushed the victim, and then tried to cover up the crime.
We have DNA.
We have motive.
And we have a woman suffering from extreme emotional disturbance.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from the September You're confused.
Collette Connolly's ex-husband was the firefighter.
Firefighter or not, like all New Yorkers, she was affected by 9J11.
Just like the New Yorkers who will be sitting on myjury.
It was a Tuesday.
Remember how beautiful the weather was? Gorgeous, yeah.
Thank you.
I picked the boys up from school.
I tried to get them to not watch the television.
I didn't want them to see that The Towers fall over and over.
We all just sat around waiting for the phone to ring to see if Ed was dead or alive.
When you finally heard from him? I just thanked God.
I was just so thankful and relieved.
And then guilty.
SQ guilty-.
Guilty? All his friends that didn't make it? His brothers? You have no idea how close they are.
I mean, our neighborhood alone.
You could hear people screaming and crying all up and down the street.
I keep replaying that day in my head.
It's like a movie I can't turn off.
You know, every time a plane flies overhead, I get a knot in my stomach.
And every time they raise the threat level, I think, my children will never see the end of this.
(BREATHING DEEPLY) The world seems ruined to me.
I swear, sometimes I wish I had died on September 10th.
For her, the attacks, losing her husband, possibly custody of her kids, these aren't separate events.
And they're not over.
They're one huge event that has wrecked her life, and she's reliving it every day.
So she lashes out and kills the woman who married her ex-husband? She can't strike out against the terrorists, so the next closest culprit, as she sees it, is the woman who replaced her as wife, and, potentially, as mother.
All right.
Thank you.
You think ajury will buy that? Well, they don't have to buy it.
They just have to feel sorry for her.
I agree.
You don't think this defense has some merit, Jack? A stress response to an act of war justifies the murder of an innocent third party three years later? No, I don't.
Her entire life was turned upside down after 9111.
Jurors will sympathize with that.
The defense will paint the husband as a bastard, and the victim as a home wrecker and a hussy.
That won't be too hard.
And the defendant as one more victim of 9/11.
Maybe you ought to plead this one out, Jack.
Collette Connolly didn't just run into Donna McClean that morning at the ferry.
She stalked her, she killed her, and then she tried to make it look like an accident.
That's murder, not manslaughter.
And if we give in to this, what kind of precedent does it set? None.
This case is sui generis.
I don't agree.
It's a license for anyone who was in the city that day to act out.
I was elected to this office because people wanted to feel safer after 9111.
It'd be ironic if that event became an excuse for criminal behavior on my watch.
Don't forget, Collette Connolly murdered the mother of two young girls who had already lost their father.
You don't think that there's some room for leniency here, Jack? Absolutely.
From the judge, at sentencing.
McCLEAN: Collette just couldn't take care of the kids anymore.
She was depressed.
Anxious.
I told her I thought they'd be better off with us until she got on her feet.
We weren't trying to take her children from her.
What was the defendant's reaction when you said you wanted custody of the boys? She went into a rage.
Started cursing at me, throwing things.
Said the kids already had a mother.
Said she'd fight us tooth and nail.
Said she'd never let us have them.
You say your ex-wife wasn't supervising the children properly? McCLEAN: She wasn't at home a lot.
She was at work, wasn't she? Yes.
Did she work out of the house before the divorce? No.
She was a stay at home mom.
That's correct.
Your wife Donna, your new wife, received a substantial settlement from 9111, didn't she, for the death of her first husband? Yes.
Did you and Donna share this windfall with your ex, the mother of your children? That's why we wanted them to come live with us, we could provide You and Donna intentionally kept her millions in her name to avoid having to pay additional alimony to your ex-wife.
Objection! Judge, this is all part and parcel of the stress that my client was under after the events of 9/11.
Overruled.
That was Donna's decision.
It was her money.
So the fact that Collette had to go to work, because you and your new wife wouldn't provide enough money to support your children, is the reason you wanted to take custody of your sons? Isn't that blaming the victim, Mr.
McClean? Objection! GALIANO: Withdrawn.
Let me get this straight, Mr.
McClean.
You left your wife, the mother of your children, by your own testimony, depressed and emotionally traumatized by the events of 9/11, so that you could marry her newly rich best friend, your best friend's widow? It wasn't like that! Wasn't it? Nothing further.
Redirect, Your Honor? Where were you when the first tower collapsed? Objection.
Relevance.
The defendant is using 9111 as an excuse for her actions.
The question goes to the legitimacy of the entire defense.
The witness may answer.
In the North Tower, in a stairwell.
And where was your best friend, Joe Mahar? Next to me.
JACK: But you got out.
Yeah.
And Joe? He didn't.
You ever feel any stress or anxiety or guilt since that day? Of course, every day.
Any sleepless nights? Nightmares? Frequently.
You retired after 9/11.
I couldn't work anymore.
My nerves were shot.
The stress ever get so bad that you killed someone? Objection.
Withdrawn.
No more questions.
GALIANO: What happened to your marriage after September 11th? I never saw Ed.
He spent all his time with Donna.
Consoling her.
And then he left me.
She took my husband, and made me a widow.
Tell me what happened on the ferry that morning.
I saw her standing at the rail, and she looked so happy.
So content.
And I couldn't take it.
I just wanted to talk to her.
(CRYING) Tell her to leave my children alone.
GALIANO: Did you speak to her? I wanted to, but, uh I walked up behind her and she didn't see me.
All I could think about was all that I had lost since the attacks.
Ed.
How my whole world had fallen apart.
And now my kids.
(SOBS) Sol pushed her.
Hard.
I didn't even think about it.
It just happened.
It just happened? COLLETTE: Yes.
Like you just happened to be on the ferry that morning, the same morning Donna McClean was? Yes.
And you didn't even think about it, pushing her over the side.
Is that your testimony? Yes.
When you got off the ferry, there were police and emergency personnel there, correct? COLLETTE: There was.
You didn't say anything to any of them about the woman you'd just pushed in the water, did you? No.
In fact, you were able to hide your injury, avoid the police, and leave without anyone knowing you were on that boat, correct? I was in a daze.
Were you still in a daze when the police first questioned you, two days after killing Donna McClean? I was scared, so I lied.
And when the detectives came to your house and questioned you a second time, and you lied again about how you broke your wrist? Still scared, still in a daze? L--- Yes.
And when you were brought to the precinct for questioning and you denied once again killing Donna McClean? No.
I I don't know.
You have health insurance from your job? Yes.
In the years since 9/11 that you've allegedly suffered from this Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, there's not one visit in your insurance records to a therapist of any kind.
In fact, as far as I can tell, the first time you mentioned this problem to anyone was when you raised it as a defense for killing Donna McClean.
Objection.
JACK: That's all right.
She doesn't need to respond.
We all know the answer.
(SNIFFLING) Jury's been out six hours.
Well, it's not an easy case.
It's a run-of-the-mill murder with a headline defense.
I don't think so.
Donna McClean, Collette Connolly They're both collateral damage from what happened that day.
YOLIT CFOSS was SO So what, Serena? BAILIFF: Counselor, we got a verdict.
If you can't stand to hear this, you can go back to the office.
On the first count of the indictment, murder in the second degree, how do you find the defendant, Collette Connolly? We find the defendant guilty.
(CROWD MURMURING) (SOBBING) No! (SOFTLY) It's okay.
COLLETTE: No!