Law & Order (1990) s23e03 Episode Script
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1
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.
- [METALLIC CLATTERING]
- [GASPS]
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
♪
- Celeste, wait up.
- [GASPS]
[SIGHS]
What are you doing?
You scared me half to death.
I just want to talk to you.
What the hell are you doing?
Say you love me.
- What?
- Say it!
Say you love me.
OK, OK. Just let go, please.
♪
I love you.
Say it again.
I love you.
- Liar.
- [SCREAMS]
[TENSE OMINOUS MUSIC]
[INDISTINCT POLICE RADIO CHATTER]
Hey, Jalen.
[SIGHS] Sorry, man.
I was up in Riverdale
at my son's basketball game.
The traffic was a nightmare.
I think I got a bad taco or something.
Ugh. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln?
[SCOFFS] Yeah,
the play definitely sucked.
How'd your son's team do?
Oh, man. They got smoked.
Spencer went 0 for 9.
Can't all be Steph, huh?
What do we got?
Female, white, age 27.
Appears to have been choked to death.
Appears?
You'll see.
Any witnesses?
One saw a man running from the scene
wearing a red jacket, then she saw
the victim's body on the ground
and she called 911.
See anything else? Hair color, race?
Mm-mm.
♪
Oh, my God.
You weren't kidding, huh?
This play just got a wholelot worse.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Celeste was happy.
She was working at a big wealth
management firm on 7th Avenue.
She loved it.
She just got promoted to vice president.
Was she dating anyone?
I don't know.
We didn't talk about
her social life that much.
Is there a reason for that?
People her age
they see the world so differently.
It was hard for me to relate.
So we just
We didn't discuss her personal life.
That's all.
[SOFT SOMBER MUSIC]
There are too many criminals out there.
And they just keep getting more brazen
because nobody cares.
It's like you're giving
these animals a free pass,
telling them it's OK to rob someone.
[SOBS] Or kill someone.
Ma'am
I get it.
We both do.
And for what it's worth,
the two of us actually do care.
We do.
I promise you,
we will do everything in our power
to find the person
that hurt your daughter.
You have my word.
If you should remember anything else,
we're here.
♪
So
how did she die?
You never told me how she actually died.
♪
Just spoke to the ME.
Cause of death was asphyxiation.
I saw the crime scene photos.
[EXHALES HEAVILY]
Looked like a lot more
than just asphyxiation to me.
Yeah. It was a violent end for sure.
Broken hyoid bone,
fractured cervical vertebra.
Though I'd never seen a head
in that position before.
Takes a lot of hate and rage
to do something like that.
I just ran Celeste's texts and emails.
It all looks pretty typical,
except for one sent yesterday.
Definitely filled
with a lot of hate and rage.
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
♪
Our guy's got a pretty good
résumé for a murder suspect.
Harvard, Columbia, MBA, Goldman Sachs.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
- Hey.
- Hey, hey, hey, hey.
Stop! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Don't hurt me. Please.
I'll pay the money, I swear.
Hey. Relax, Mason.
We're not debt collectors.
♪
Let's start with some basics.
When was the last time you saw Celeste?
I don't know. Um
a week ago?
- Oh.
- All right.
Well, that's you outside
her apartment yesterday.
And that's you, too,
three blocks from the crime scene
seven minutes after she was murdered.
Wait, she's
she's dead?
You're serious?
I loved Celeste.
Is that why you were stalking her?
No. I wasn't stalking her.
I can get a bit obsessive,
but she wasn't returning my texts.
People don't just stop returning texts.
I would never hurt Celeste!
Never.
Even so, we're gonna take a little ride
down to the precinct, OK?
This guy looks good for it, Lou.
He already admitted to
being jealous and obsessive.
Plus, we got video of him
three blocks from the scene
minutes after the murder.
An obsessive ex-boyfriend
on a downward spiral.
Tale as old as time, right?
And one that never ends well.
Hey, um, I've been doing some research,
and it turns out that
three other women in New York
were killed the exact same way
as Celeste all in the past three years.
Suffocation, broken hyoid bone,
and fractured cervical vertebra.
That is a very specific way
to kill someone.
Hey, Lou. I dug up the files.
Theresa Potter, 24, Black.
Last known address, Red Hook, Brooklyn.
One prior arrest, larceny.
Was reported missing August 22, '23.
Body was found this year, October 27th.
And we have Angela Rice, 21, Black.
Last known address,
Weeksville, Brooklyn.
Two prior arrests for drug possession,
was reported missing
on November 11, '21.
Body was found April 3, '22.
And then we have
Olivia Washington, 22, Black.
Last known address, Clinton
Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.
Right?
Three priors for possession.
Went missing early May 2020.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
That was my case.
I was lead on that.
We couldn't find anything.
We had no body, no evidence.
The thing just went cold.
Not quite.
February 11, 2021, somebody found her
buried in an industrial park
in Long Island City.
♪
I didn't know.
I was transferred out
of the 3-4 in November.
That case got reassigned.
So three Black women died
the same way Celeste did?
Strangled, broken hyoid bones,
and fractured cervical vertebrae?
Yeah.
And that would be quite
the coincidence, huh?
[SCOFFS]
There's no such thing.
Not in this business.
Celeste doesn't exactly
fit the same profile
- as the other vics.
- Yeah.
Well, maybe he wanted
something more exotic.
Wouldn't have been
the first serial killer
who changed lanes.
Look, I need you guys
to go back in there
and try to find a connection
between Mason
and these three victims, OK?
Done. [PHONE BUZZES]
Oh, hold up.
Hold up.
The DNA under Celeste's nails
just came back.
[SIGHS]
No match.
But based on the markers,
there's a 99.8% chance
it belongs to a white male
with blue eyes.
So we're good? You believe me?
Yeah, we do.
OK, cool. Can I go now?
Yeah, but first, I just want
to ask you a few more questions
about Celeste, if that's OK.
Sure. Anything to help.
Now, I know she worked in finance.
Um
just to be blunt,
was she also a sex worker?
Like like an escort?
Vince.
Let him answer.
No. She wasn't an escort.
She work as an exotic dancer?
She go to swingers parties,
sex clubs, that kind of thing?
Vince, let me holler at you.
No, no, no. It's OK.
He's right.
Celeste was definitely
into the whole sex club scene.
But she wasn't a sex worker.
There was no money involved
or anything like that.
You know the names of
the clubs she liked to go to?
Look, obviously, I didn't know
Olivia Washington was a sex worker.
I missed that in the case file. [SIGHS]
- I just thought, you know
- I was fishing for gossip?
So Olivia's case just went cold?
Yeah, no body, no witnesses.
I think it's strange
nobody found anything.
- Yeah?
- Yeah.
You've been working Homicide
a few years, right?
Two.
So you know it's not that
strange with a case like that?
Like that, huh?
A missing person case.
Look, you want to say something?
I'm saying it, bro.
Which is what?
Which is that poor Black girls don't get
the same kind of love
that rich white girls get.
You know that. That's how it is.
Hey, man, maybe that is how it is.
But that is not how it is with me.
All right?
I worked that case hard,
the same way I work every case.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Good to know.
♪
Thank you for taking the time
to talk to us, Ms. Horn.
Of course.
I was literally just reading about
that poor woman in the "Post."
I didn't recognize her from the photo,
but if you say she was here
Well, here's another photo.
Maybe it'll jog your memory.
On a busy night,
we have over 200 guests.
Tough to keep track.
You guys probably keep
records though, right?
Of course.
Can you run the name Celeste Clark?
Sorry, we don't
reveal our guests' names.
That's why they come here.
Because they feel safe.
They know that they
can express themselves
free of judgment and scrutiny.
Nothing's more important than that.
Except murder.
- What's this?
- Subpoena.
Compelling you to hand over
all business records,
surveillance video,
and receipts from the last two weeks.
You see, I knew places
like this existed, but I
[CHUCKLES]
But what?
I just can't process it.
I mean, I know some wild people.
I'm a fun guy, but I don't think
I've ever met anybody who would actually
go to a place like this.
That might not be true.
Well, you learn something new
every day, huh?
[CHUCKLES]
Oh, hey. I think this is her.
Sure is.
And she's wearing a necklace there,
but we didn't find one on the body.
She's talking to this
white dude and then she leaves.
And he follows her out 41 seconds later.
Let me see if I can get
a clean angle on the face.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
All right.
I'll send it to the
Facial Identification Section.
Good work. As usual.
♪
Bruce is a good man.
Runs one of the top
investment firms in the city,
went to Stanford.
Very impressive.
Yet he treats people with respect,
which is even more impressive,
if you ask me.
Most people like him
don't give you the time of day.
That's great.
Is he upstairs in his condo?
Not sure. I just clocked in.
- But I'll call up.
- Thank you.
[LINE RINGING FAINTLY]
He's not picking up.
Mind if we take a look
at your surveillance video?
We just want to see what time
he came in last night.
I think he got back around 11:00.
[KEYBOARD CLICKING]
- Freeze there.
- There he is.
I was close. 11:17.
Check out that jacket.
That's enough
for a search warrant, right?
Sure is.
♪
NYPD.
Bruce Elliot!
♪
NYPD.
♪
[MUFFLED LAUGH] No, stop.
♪
Oh, my God, please.
[MUFFLED SPEECH]
NYPD.
[SCREAMS] What's going on? Who are you?
- Police. Where's Bruce Elliot?
- He just went to the bank.
- Who are you?
- His friend.
- His friend?
- Yes.
All right, friend, time to go.
Get your stuff. Let's go. Come on. Here.
- OK.
- Come on, let's go.
What's going on?
♪
Yo, Vince.
Think I found something.
♪
Oh, man, we got him.
Now we just got to find him.
[TENSE MUSIC]
Hey, so the surveillance
camera had a clean angle.
Elliot made a withdrawal from that ATM
exactly seven minutes ago,
started heading south.
So I say if he's moving, say,
a block a minute, right?
That's seven blocks, maybe eight
if he's moving faster than usual.
I say we move the canvass
south to Franklin.
I like how you're thinking.
But there are three subway stations
within a ten-block radius here.
This bastard could be anywhere by now.
Yeah, Yee ran his credit cards, man.
He doesn't have a Metro app or a card.
Not necessarily. That doesn't mean
He's a rich prick who
doesn't take the subway, OK?
There's no way he's gonna
change his habits now.
He's walking, man, somewhere.
- Call it in.
- Yeah.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
Hey, Vince.
That's our boy.
We got Elliot moving south on Greenwich.
NYPD!
[HORN BLARES]
Hey, hey, hey! [TIRES SCREECHING]
Whoa, whoa.
[TENSE MUSIC]
[DELIVERY PERSON SHOUTS]
[PEOPLE CLAMORING]
Out of the way!
♪
- Hey, hey, hey!
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
- On the ground! On the ground!
- Stop right there!
- [SCREAMING]
- Stay back! Stay back!
- No, don't do it! Don't do it!
- Hear me? Stay back!
- No, no, no, no.
- No, no, no, no.
[HOSTAGE SCREAMING]
Don't do it! Don't do it!
Don't. Don't! [HOSTAGE SCREAMING]
I'll call for a negotiator.
No, man. We don't have time for that.
Wait, what are you doing?
Hey, I'm gonna go in
and I'm gonna talk to him.
That's a bad idea.
He's desperate, he's armed,
and there's too many people inside.
Which is why it's a bad idea.
Look, look, look.
I know why you're doing this.
You don't have to.
I'm gonna go in.
♪
We're going in there.
[EXHALES SHARPLY]
[PEOPLE CLAMORING]
Bruce!
♪
NYPD. Hit the exit.
Move, move, move, move.
Exit. Go, go, go, go.
Everybody, everybody, hit the exit.
Bruce, this is Detective Vincent Riley.
Stay back, or I'll shoot this bitch!
All right, listen, Bruce,
you got to let her go, man.
You don't want to make this
any worse than it already is.
Get me a car now, or
I swear to God, I'll shoot her!
I'm gonna work on that,
but the best thing that you can do
to make that happen is to let her go.
She's not going anywhere!
Not till I get the car!
OK, how about this, Bruce?
How about you exchange her
for me, OK? All right?
I'm worth a lot more than she is, right?
I'm a cop. She's a civilian.
- Stop walking!
- All right, all right.
- Now!
- OK. All right. I've stopped.
We are gonna work this out.
I promise you.
You and me, OK?
Now, please, let her go.
Come on. Let her go.
You need to let her go, Bruce.
OK, you, come here.
- OK, OK, OK.
- Now. Now!
OK. OK. I'm coming.
I'm coming, all right?
I'm taking it slow,
and we're staying calm.
We're gonna work this out. All right?
'Cause the guys outside,
they get anxious.
They don't want to hear a gunshot.
[GRUNTING]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Bruce Elliot, you're under arrest
for the murder of Celeste Clark.
[HANDCUFFS CLICK]
♪
Next case. [GAVEL BANGS]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Calling docket ending in 9612.
People versus Bruce Elliot,
murder in the second degree.
Your Honor, we plead not guilty.
Ms. Maroun, I'll hear you on bail.
People seek remand, Your Honor.
The defendant's DNA was found
under the victim's fingernails.
And the necklace she was wearing
on the night of the murder
was found inside his condo.
The defendant also took a woman hostage,
held a gun to her head.
We'll be adding kidnapping
charges later on today.
It's also important to note
that the defendant
is a suspect in three other homicides.
Given the severity of the charges
and the defendant's financial means,
he is definitely a flight risk.
Your Honor,
my client has no prior arrests,
and he is an upstanding
and philanthropic
member of the community.
Moreover, the evidence is weak.
This is a witch hunt designed
to generate headlines
Defendant is remanded.
Your Honor, my client is willing to post
a $5 million bond.
You can post a $5 billion
bond, it won't matter.
This is about safety.
Next case. [GAVEL BANGS]
Excuse me. Sir?
How come you're only charging
this man with one murder?
Paper said he killed three other girls.
Why not charge him
with those murders too?
There isn't enough evidence.
But the police are still investigating.
- If you will please excuse us?
- No!
You don't get to walk off
and pretend those other girls
didn't exist.
That my Theresa didn't exist!
Sir.
Of course, your daughter existed.
But all we're saying is,
we don't have enough evidence
to move forward on those
three cases at the moment.
And why is that?
You'll have to talk to the police.
And they'll tell me
the same nonsense
they've been telling me.
Just admit that y'all don't
care about poor Black people.
'Cause if you did,
you'd already have
all that damn evidence
you keep telling me you need.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
If there's no evidence,
there's not much to discuss.
No, there's evidence.
Is there any that actually
ties Bruce Elliot
to these three other victims
besides the manner
in which they were killed?
He sent a few vague texts
to a phone registered
in the name of victim three.
There's a statement
from a friend of victim two
saying he bought her drinks
the night she disappeared.
And there's surveillance video
of Elliot's Range Rover three blocks
from the industrial park where
victim one's body was found.
Smoke, no fire.
I suppose, but the police
also found jewelry
in Elliot's condo, trophies.
One of the pieces belonged to Celeste
and the other three presumably belonged
to the other three victims.
Police have been trying to find
evidence to support that assertion,
but so far, no luck.
These women didn't have
much of a social footprint.
The odds of success here are remote.
We can try to push back the start date,
find more evidence, and
try all four cases together.
It'll give the families
of the other three victims
a more thorough sense
of justice and closure.
It will definitely show the jury
what kind of person Mr. Elliot is,
assuming the police can eventually
find enough evidence.
The Celeste Clark case is
much stronger than the others.
We're dealing with a different
type of victim here too.
Joining the three other cases
will muddy the waters.
It will enable the defense
to focus on their drug use,
their prior arrests,
the fact that they were sex workers.
I'm not sure that's fair
to the other families.
If you're certain
we can nail this monster
for Celeste Clark's murder, then do it.
Let's not complicate matters.
It might not be fair, Ms. Maroun,
but it's the right move.
Ms. Horn, have you had an opportunity
to review the footage recorded
by surveillance cameras
located inside your club
from the night Celeste Clark
was murdered?
Yes.
When you reviewed this footage,
did you see Celeste Clark
and the defendant together that night?
Yes. I found video of them
talking to one another.
- How long did they talk?
- About a minute.
Did it appear that they were involved
romantically or sexually?
No. They were just talking.
What happened after their brief chat?
- Celeste left.
- What about the defendant?
He left 41 seconds later.
Nothing further.
Ms. Horn, the club you manage
provides a forum for
"adults to engage in
adventurous and unconstrained
sexual activity."
Correct.
And this is a bondage room?
Yes.
"A comfortable and clean dungeon
where the choking and whipping of"
Objection. Relevance.
Ms. Stanley, where are you
going with all this?
The victim was choked to death
30 minutes after leaving a club
that celebrates BDSM,
a fetish that oftentimes
involves choking.
Every single person in that
club or any other sex club
she ever visited is a potential suspect.
That's preposterous.
There is no evidence
that Celeste enjoyed
or participated in any type
of sexual activity
that involved choking.
More importantly,
whether she did or didn't enjoy
that type of sexual behavior
is irrelevant to whether
Bruce Elliot killed her.
Not so sure about that.
Your Honor.
Her lifestyle exposed her
to a certain level of risk.
That's fair game to explore.
It's admissible.
[SOMBER OMINOUS MUSIC]
So back off, Mr. Price.
♪
Please continue.
Your club offers a clean
and comfortable dungeon
where the choking and whipping
of submissives
takes place, correct?
Yes.
There's also a cuckold room
where patrons watch their partners
have sex with strangers.
And you said you saw
Celeste Clark and my client
talking to one another
inside the club that evening.
Yes, on the surveillance video.
Surveillance video inside a club
where many patrons were having sex.
Some. I'm not sure how many.
You don't have video cameras
inside the rooms
where people actually have sex?
Yes, that's correct.
So the fact that you didn't
see my client and Celeste
having sex doesn't mean
they didn't have sex.
Correct.
♪
Judge Pappas was way more
liberal than I was hoping for.
And Stanley was way more effective
than I was hoping for.
It was too easy.
Sex club, the fetish rooms.
She couldn't help herself.
When in doubt, shame the damn victim.
Turn her into a sex freak.
Social norms have changed, Nolan.
People my age don't view sex
with the same level of judgment you do.
Um uh
first off, "people your age"?
Second. I'm not that judgmental.
OK. If you say so.
Good news is, I deliberately
picked the youngest,
most liberal jury for this very reason.
I know. But that might not be enough.
We need to let the jury know
that Bruce Elliot isn't just
another fun-loving sex club patron
who happened to have a bad night.
- Are you suggesting
- We don't have a choice.
Your Honor, this is outrageous!
There is absolutely no evidence
that my client
had anything to do
with those other murders.
If there were,
Mr. Price would have already
charged him with those crimes.
These three other homicides
clearly constitute prior bad acts.
More specifically, they show
a unique pattern of conduct.
All three women were killed
the exact same way
as Celeste Clark.
Also, contrary
to Ms. Stanley's assertions,
there is evidence tying Elliot
to these three other women.
Not enough to indict at the moment,
but enough for them to be
admissible under Molineux.
I agree.
Your Honor, this is unduly prejudicial.
By Mr. Price's own admission,
the evidence is scant.
Four women were killed
in the exact same horrific way
within five miles of each other.
That's good enough for me.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Given the uniquely violent
behavior in this case,
we decided to search our database
to determine
if any other homicide victims
had been killed in this same manner.
And what did you find?
Three other women were
killed the exact same way,
strangled to death, their hyoid bones
and cervical vertebrae broken.
No further questions.
To be clear, Ms. Dixon
LieutenantDixon.
My client has not been charged
with those three murders?
Correct.
My client's DNA was
not found on their bodies.
Correct.
So there's no proof
that Bruce Elliot had anything
to do with those three deaths.
She's lying!
Don't believe a word
out of her damn mount!
Sir, sit down and be quiet!
That son of a bitch right
there killed my baby girl!
Don't believe a word
out of her damn mouth.
Sir, sit down and be quiet.
That son of a bitch right
there broke her damn neck!
Have him removed!
He needs to pay for what he did!
You killed my baby!
I have no idea what
you're talking about, sir.
I never met your daughter.
Look at me! Look at me,
you sorry son of a
Look at me!
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
You are instructed to ignore
the assertions and statements
you heard from the person
who was removed from the gallery.
His daughter's death and his beliefs
as to who may have murdered her
are irrelevant
and may not be taken into
account during deliberations.
Ms. Stanley, please call
your first witness.
We call Detective Vincent Riley.
Did you interview
the defendant in connection
with a missing persons report
involving Olivia Washington?
I did.
Did the police ever find Olivia?
They found her, but she was dead.
Has anyone ever been arrested
in connection with her death?
No.
How long did you speak
with Mr. Elliot that day?
About 30 minutes.
And what was the result?
Uh, I don't think I know what
you mean by the word "result."
After talking with him for 30 minutes,
did you arrest him?
No.
Did you consider him to be a suspect?
No.
And your official rank?
Detective, First Grade.
That is a prestigious position, correct?
One reserved for only
the NYPD's best and brightest.
[TENSE MUSIC]
Yes, it is.
Is this your handwriting?
Yes.
And those are your notes?
Yes, they are.
Can you please read what you wrote down
after interviewing Mr. Elliot?
♪
"Talked to Bruce Elliot
at approximately 2:30 p.m.
"on May 13th.
"His demeanor was calm,
"no overt signs of anxiety or guilt.
Alibi was credible."
Detective Riley, you are considered
to be one of the best
detectives in the entire NYPD.
And you concluded
that Mr. Elliot was a kind,
law-abiding citizen who had
absolutely nothing to do
- with
- Objection.
Sustained.
Withdrawn. Nothing further.
♪
You really think the jury
bought Stanley's song and dance number?
It was pretty convincing.
I was staring at the jury
the whole time.
So now what?
We need to counteract Riley's testimony.
How?
By impeaching his credibility
as a detective.
Excuse me?
The defense painted him out to be a hero
and one of the best detectives
in the entire police force.
If someone of his ilk
thinks Elliot is a prince,
then damn it, he must be a prince.
Exactly.
You want to turn Riley
into the court jester?
It turns out,
Riley was suspended for six months
three weeks after he interviewed Elliot.
Our relationship with the police
is already fraught, as you know.
So going after Riley on a case
with this much publicity
We're talking about
a serial killer here, Jack.
Putting him away for life.
It is more important than our
relationship with the police.
Or embarrassing Riley.
It just is.
Give Dixon a heads-up.
[SOFT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
[SIGHS]
Thanks for meeting me.
You're really gonna do this?
You're really gonna impeach Vince?
I don't have a choice.
Sure you do.
You're just making the choice
that's best for you.
Best for the case.
Same thing.
[SIGHS] I need to know
why Riley was suspended.
For God's sake, Nolan.
There's got to be another way.
There isn't.
I can subpoena the official
records, if you prefer.
Listen, Riley is a good man.
He is a great cop.
And for you to just tear him apart is
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[SIGHS]
Look, he had a really rough go.
His father was dying.
He couldn't bear the thought
of putting him in a home,
so he worked all kinds of crazy overtime
just to pay for the caretakers.
And he tried to cope, like we all do.
And then one day
while all this was going on,
he overheard a huge argument
I was having with my captain.
And that sexist son of a bitch
called me something that he shouldn't.
I'm just gonna leave it at that.
And, uh
Vince walked in[SIGHS]
And he knocked his ass out. One punch.
Yeah. And he'd been drinking.
So not good.
♪
OK.
I'm gonna send you over
the official report.
♪
But, Nolan.
♪
He threw a punch for me.
Who does that?
[CHUCKLES]
And as stupid and reckless as it was
♪
I appreciate what he did.
♪
Shortly after
interviewing the defendant,
you were suspended from the NYPD.
That's correct.
For attacking a captain while drunk.
Not exactly. Um
I punched him once in the face,
and I wasn't drunk.
But you'd been drinking.
I had had a few sips of alcohol
earlier that day, yeah.
You drink alcohol
while you're on the clock
working as a police officer?
For a short period of time, I did, yes.
And during this short period of time,
you interviewed the defendant
in connection with
Olivia Washington's disappearance?
Correct.
Also, during that period of time,
your father was ill and
your wife and kids
had moved out of your house?
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Yes.
That's obviously incredibly stressful.
Yes, it was.
So when you interviewed the defendant,
you were under incredible stress,
you were drinking.
I didn't drink that day.
Even though you admit
to drinking during the day
- while on the job?
- I never said
that I drank every day.
I-I-I don't know what that means.
It means that I didn't drink every day.
OK, but the point here, Detective,
is that you drank while at work
during this period of time
and you were under extraordinary stress,
which means your assessment
of the defendant's guilt
or innocence is absolutely meaningless.
Objection!
Sustained.
[SIGHS]
Nothing further.
♪
[SIGHS]
♪
[KNOCK AT DOOR]
Hey. You doing OK?
I know it wasn't pleasant, but
you did the right thing for Celeste.
And for the other three victims.
Yeah. Well, it'll all be for naught
if we don't get a conviction.
Let's dig into the file, get to work.
[KNOCK AT DOOR]
You got a minute?
Yeah, sure.
Come on in.
Look, I'm sorry about today.
I get it.
You did what you had to do.
So why are you here?
Well, I kept on digging
into those other three murders.
And I made some phone calls,
found some photos,
and I found something that
I think is gonna be pretty helpful.
♪
Is this what I think it is?
♪
Defendant is a psychopathic misogynist
who derived pleasure
from killing defenseless women
with his bare hands.
The night of December 4th,
he met Celeste Clark at a club,
and later that night, he killed her,
choked her to death, and then
viciously broke her neck
and her hyoid bone.
[PEOPLE MURMURING]
Not easy to break a hyoid bone.
In fact, it's extremely
difficult and and rare.
Hyoid bone fractures represent
only 0.002% of all fractures
because it's so well-protected
by its location in the neck
behind the mandible in front
of the cervical spine.
In other words, it takes tremendousforce
and tremendousviolence
to break someone's hyoid bone.
The defendant then
snatched Celeste's necklace
as a trophy.
Police found it
inside his condo the next day.
But Celeste is not the only woman to die
at the hands of this hateful man.
His killing spree began
three years before Celeste's murder.
You heard the testimony.
You saw what the detectives found
inside the defendant's condo.
That ring and those two necklaces.
♪
The defendant robbed these
four women of their lives.
♪
And then he stole their jewelry
to commemorate his despicable acts.
♪
Bruce Elliot is a vile,
cold-blooded killer
and must be held accountable
for his actions.
So please,
analyze the evidence carefully.
And then convict this monster of murder.
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
♪
In the matter of People v. Bruce Elliot,
has the jury reached a verdict?
- Yes, we have, Your Honor.
- How do you find?
We find the defendant
guilty.
[SIGHS]
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
we thank you for your service.
[GAVEL BANGS]
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.
- [METALLIC CLATTERING]
- [GASPS]
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
♪
- Celeste, wait up.
- [GASPS]
[SIGHS]
What are you doing?
You scared me half to death.
I just want to talk to you.
What the hell are you doing?
Say you love me.
- What?
- Say it!
Say you love me.
OK, OK. Just let go, please.
♪
I love you.
Say it again.
I love you.
- Liar.
- [SCREAMS]
[TENSE OMINOUS MUSIC]
[INDISTINCT POLICE RADIO CHATTER]
Hey, Jalen.
[SIGHS] Sorry, man.
I was up in Riverdale
at my son's basketball game.
The traffic was a nightmare.
I think I got a bad taco or something.
Ugh. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln?
[SCOFFS] Yeah,
the play definitely sucked.
How'd your son's team do?
Oh, man. They got smoked.
Spencer went 0 for 9.
Can't all be Steph, huh?
What do we got?
Female, white, age 27.
Appears to have been choked to death.
Appears?
You'll see.
Any witnesses?
One saw a man running from the scene
wearing a red jacket, then she saw
the victim's body on the ground
and she called 911.
See anything else? Hair color, race?
Mm-mm.
♪
Oh, my God.
You weren't kidding, huh?
This play just got a wholelot worse.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Celeste was happy.
She was working at a big wealth
management firm on 7th Avenue.
She loved it.
She just got promoted to vice president.
Was she dating anyone?
I don't know.
We didn't talk about
her social life that much.
Is there a reason for that?
People her age
they see the world so differently.
It was hard for me to relate.
So we just
We didn't discuss her personal life.
That's all.
[SOFT SOMBER MUSIC]
There are too many criminals out there.
And they just keep getting more brazen
because nobody cares.
It's like you're giving
these animals a free pass,
telling them it's OK to rob someone.
[SOBS] Or kill someone.
Ma'am
I get it.
We both do.
And for what it's worth,
the two of us actually do care.
We do.
I promise you,
we will do everything in our power
to find the person
that hurt your daughter.
You have my word.
If you should remember anything else,
we're here.
♪
So
how did she die?
You never told me how she actually died.
♪
Just spoke to the ME.
Cause of death was asphyxiation.
I saw the crime scene photos.
[EXHALES HEAVILY]
Looked like a lot more
than just asphyxiation to me.
Yeah. It was a violent end for sure.
Broken hyoid bone,
fractured cervical vertebra.
Though I'd never seen a head
in that position before.
Takes a lot of hate and rage
to do something like that.
I just ran Celeste's texts and emails.
It all looks pretty typical,
except for one sent yesterday.
Definitely filled
with a lot of hate and rage.
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
♪
Our guy's got a pretty good
résumé for a murder suspect.
Harvard, Columbia, MBA, Goldman Sachs.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
- Hey.
- Hey, hey, hey, hey.
Stop! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Don't hurt me. Please.
I'll pay the money, I swear.
Hey. Relax, Mason.
We're not debt collectors.
♪
Let's start with some basics.
When was the last time you saw Celeste?
I don't know. Um
a week ago?
- Oh.
- All right.
Well, that's you outside
her apartment yesterday.
And that's you, too,
three blocks from the crime scene
seven minutes after she was murdered.
Wait, she's
she's dead?
You're serious?
I loved Celeste.
Is that why you were stalking her?
No. I wasn't stalking her.
I can get a bit obsessive,
but she wasn't returning my texts.
People don't just stop returning texts.
I would never hurt Celeste!
Never.
Even so, we're gonna take a little ride
down to the precinct, OK?
This guy looks good for it, Lou.
He already admitted to
being jealous and obsessive.
Plus, we got video of him
three blocks from the scene
minutes after the murder.
An obsessive ex-boyfriend
on a downward spiral.
Tale as old as time, right?
And one that never ends well.
Hey, um, I've been doing some research,
and it turns out that
three other women in New York
were killed the exact same way
as Celeste all in the past three years.
Suffocation, broken hyoid bone,
and fractured cervical vertebra.
That is a very specific way
to kill someone.
Hey, Lou. I dug up the files.
Theresa Potter, 24, Black.
Last known address, Red Hook, Brooklyn.
One prior arrest, larceny.
Was reported missing August 22, '23.
Body was found this year, October 27th.
And we have Angela Rice, 21, Black.
Last known address,
Weeksville, Brooklyn.
Two prior arrests for drug possession,
was reported missing
on November 11, '21.
Body was found April 3, '22.
And then we have
Olivia Washington, 22, Black.
Last known address, Clinton
Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.
Right?
Three priors for possession.
Went missing early May 2020.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
That was my case.
I was lead on that.
We couldn't find anything.
We had no body, no evidence.
The thing just went cold.
Not quite.
February 11, 2021, somebody found her
buried in an industrial park
in Long Island City.
♪
I didn't know.
I was transferred out
of the 3-4 in November.
That case got reassigned.
So three Black women died
the same way Celeste did?
Strangled, broken hyoid bones,
and fractured cervical vertebrae?
Yeah.
And that would be quite
the coincidence, huh?
[SCOFFS]
There's no such thing.
Not in this business.
Celeste doesn't exactly
fit the same profile
- as the other vics.
- Yeah.
Well, maybe he wanted
something more exotic.
Wouldn't have been
the first serial killer
who changed lanes.
Look, I need you guys
to go back in there
and try to find a connection
between Mason
and these three victims, OK?
Done. [PHONE BUZZES]
Oh, hold up.
Hold up.
The DNA under Celeste's nails
just came back.
[SIGHS]
No match.
But based on the markers,
there's a 99.8% chance
it belongs to a white male
with blue eyes.
So we're good? You believe me?
Yeah, we do.
OK, cool. Can I go now?
Yeah, but first, I just want
to ask you a few more questions
about Celeste, if that's OK.
Sure. Anything to help.
Now, I know she worked in finance.
Um
just to be blunt,
was she also a sex worker?
Like like an escort?
Vince.
Let him answer.
No. She wasn't an escort.
She work as an exotic dancer?
She go to swingers parties,
sex clubs, that kind of thing?
Vince, let me holler at you.
No, no, no. It's OK.
He's right.
Celeste was definitely
into the whole sex club scene.
But she wasn't a sex worker.
There was no money involved
or anything like that.
You know the names of
the clubs she liked to go to?
Look, obviously, I didn't know
Olivia Washington was a sex worker.
I missed that in the case file. [SIGHS]
- I just thought, you know
- I was fishing for gossip?
So Olivia's case just went cold?
Yeah, no body, no witnesses.
I think it's strange
nobody found anything.
- Yeah?
- Yeah.
You've been working Homicide
a few years, right?
Two.
So you know it's not that
strange with a case like that?
Like that, huh?
A missing person case.
Look, you want to say something?
I'm saying it, bro.
Which is what?
Which is that poor Black girls don't get
the same kind of love
that rich white girls get.
You know that. That's how it is.
Hey, man, maybe that is how it is.
But that is not how it is with me.
All right?
I worked that case hard,
the same way I work every case.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Good to know.
♪
Thank you for taking the time
to talk to us, Ms. Horn.
Of course.
I was literally just reading about
that poor woman in the "Post."
I didn't recognize her from the photo,
but if you say she was here
Well, here's another photo.
Maybe it'll jog your memory.
On a busy night,
we have over 200 guests.
Tough to keep track.
You guys probably keep
records though, right?
Of course.
Can you run the name Celeste Clark?
Sorry, we don't
reveal our guests' names.
That's why they come here.
Because they feel safe.
They know that they
can express themselves
free of judgment and scrutiny.
Nothing's more important than that.
Except murder.
- What's this?
- Subpoena.
Compelling you to hand over
all business records,
surveillance video,
and receipts from the last two weeks.
You see, I knew places
like this existed, but I
[CHUCKLES]
But what?
I just can't process it.
I mean, I know some wild people.
I'm a fun guy, but I don't think
I've ever met anybody who would actually
go to a place like this.
That might not be true.
Well, you learn something new
every day, huh?
[CHUCKLES]
Oh, hey. I think this is her.
Sure is.
And she's wearing a necklace there,
but we didn't find one on the body.
She's talking to this
white dude and then she leaves.
And he follows her out 41 seconds later.
Let me see if I can get
a clean angle on the face.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
All right.
I'll send it to the
Facial Identification Section.
Good work. As usual.
♪
Bruce is a good man.
Runs one of the top
investment firms in the city,
went to Stanford.
Very impressive.
Yet he treats people with respect,
which is even more impressive,
if you ask me.
Most people like him
don't give you the time of day.
That's great.
Is he upstairs in his condo?
Not sure. I just clocked in.
- But I'll call up.
- Thank you.
[LINE RINGING FAINTLY]
He's not picking up.
Mind if we take a look
at your surveillance video?
We just want to see what time
he came in last night.
I think he got back around 11:00.
[KEYBOARD CLICKING]
- Freeze there.
- There he is.
I was close. 11:17.
Check out that jacket.
That's enough
for a search warrant, right?
Sure is.
♪
NYPD.
Bruce Elliot!
♪
NYPD.
♪
[MUFFLED LAUGH] No, stop.
♪
Oh, my God, please.
[MUFFLED SPEECH]
NYPD.
[SCREAMS] What's going on? Who are you?
- Police. Where's Bruce Elliot?
- He just went to the bank.
- Who are you?
- His friend.
- His friend?
- Yes.
All right, friend, time to go.
Get your stuff. Let's go. Come on. Here.
- OK.
- Come on, let's go.
What's going on?
♪
Yo, Vince.
Think I found something.
♪
Oh, man, we got him.
Now we just got to find him.
[TENSE MUSIC]
Hey, so the surveillance
camera had a clean angle.
Elliot made a withdrawal from that ATM
exactly seven minutes ago,
started heading south.
So I say if he's moving, say,
a block a minute, right?
That's seven blocks, maybe eight
if he's moving faster than usual.
I say we move the canvass
south to Franklin.
I like how you're thinking.
But there are three subway stations
within a ten-block radius here.
This bastard could be anywhere by now.
Yeah, Yee ran his credit cards, man.
He doesn't have a Metro app or a card.
Not necessarily. That doesn't mean
He's a rich prick who
doesn't take the subway, OK?
There's no way he's gonna
change his habits now.
He's walking, man, somewhere.
- Call it in.
- Yeah.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
Hey, Vince.
That's our boy.
We got Elliot moving south on Greenwich.
NYPD!
[HORN BLARES]
Hey, hey, hey! [TIRES SCREECHING]
Whoa, whoa.
[TENSE MUSIC]
[DELIVERY PERSON SHOUTS]
[PEOPLE CLAMORING]
Out of the way!
♪
- Hey, hey, hey!
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
- On the ground! On the ground!
- Stop right there!
- [SCREAMING]
- Stay back! Stay back!
- No, don't do it! Don't do it!
- Hear me? Stay back!
- No, no, no, no.
- No, no, no, no.
[HOSTAGE SCREAMING]
Don't do it! Don't do it!
Don't. Don't! [HOSTAGE SCREAMING]
I'll call for a negotiator.
No, man. We don't have time for that.
Wait, what are you doing?
Hey, I'm gonna go in
and I'm gonna talk to him.
That's a bad idea.
He's desperate, he's armed,
and there's too many people inside.
Which is why it's a bad idea.
Look, look, look.
I know why you're doing this.
You don't have to.
I'm gonna go in.
♪
We're going in there.
[EXHALES SHARPLY]
[PEOPLE CLAMORING]
Bruce!
♪
NYPD. Hit the exit.
Move, move, move, move.
Exit. Go, go, go, go.
Everybody, everybody, hit the exit.
Bruce, this is Detective Vincent Riley.
Stay back, or I'll shoot this bitch!
All right, listen, Bruce,
you got to let her go, man.
You don't want to make this
any worse than it already is.
Get me a car now, or
I swear to God, I'll shoot her!
I'm gonna work on that,
but the best thing that you can do
to make that happen is to let her go.
She's not going anywhere!
Not till I get the car!
OK, how about this, Bruce?
How about you exchange her
for me, OK? All right?
I'm worth a lot more than she is, right?
I'm a cop. She's a civilian.
- Stop walking!
- All right, all right.
- Now!
- OK. All right. I've stopped.
We are gonna work this out.
I promise you.
You and me, OK?
Now, please, let her go.
Come on. Let her go.
You need to let her go, Bruce.
OK, you, come here.
- OK, OK, OK.
- Now. Now!
OK. OK. I'm coming.
I'm coming, all right?
I'm taking it slow,
and we're staying calm.
We're gonna work this out. All right?
'Cause the guys outside,
they get anxious.
They don't want to hear a gunshot.
[GRUNTING]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Bruce Elliot, you're under arrest
for the murder of Celeste Clark.
[HANDCUFFS CLICK]
♪
Next case. [GAVEL BANGS]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Calling docket ending in 9612.
People versus Bruce Elliot,
murder in the second degree.
Your Honor, we plead not guilty.
Ms. Maroun, I'll hear you on bail.
People seek remand, Your Honor.
The defendant's DNA was found
under the victim's fingernails.
And the necklace she was wearing
on the night of the murder
was found inside his condo.
The defendant also took a woman hostage,
held a gun to her head.
We'll be adding kidnapping
charges later on today.
It's also important to note
that the defendant
is a suspect in three other homicides.
Given the severity of the charges
and the defendant's financial means,
he is definitely a flight risk.
Your Honor,
my client has no prior arrests,
and he is an upstanding
and philanthropic
member of the community.
Moreover, the evidence is weak.
This is a witch hunt designed
to generate headlines
Defendant is remanded.
Your Honor, my client is willing to post
a $5 million bond.
You can post a $5 billion
bond, it won't matter.
This is about safety.
Next case. [GAVEL BANGS]
Excuse me. Sir?
How come you're only charging
this man with one murder?
Paper said he killed three other girls.
Why not charge him
with those murders too?
There isn't enough evidence.
But the police are still investigating.
- If you will please excuse us?
- No!
You don't get to walk off
and pretend those other girls
didn't exist.
That my Theresa didn't exist!
Sir.
Of course, your daughter existed.
But all we're saying is,
we don't have enough evidence
to move forward on those
three cases at the moment.
And why is that?
You'll have to talk to the police.
And they'll tell me
the same nonsense
they've been telling me.
Just admit that y'all don't
care about poor Black people.
'Cause if you did,
you'd already have
all that damn evidence
you keep telling me you need.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
If there's no evidence,
there's not much to discuss.
No, there's evidence.
Is there any that actually
ties Bruce Elliot
to these three other victims
besides the manner
in which they were killed?
He sent a few vague texts
to a phone registered
in the name of victim three.
There's a statement
from a friend of victim two
saying he bought her drinks
the night she disappeared.
And there's surveillance video
of Elliot's Range Rover three blocks
from the industrial park where
victim one's body was found.
Smoke, no fire.
I suppose, but the police
also found jewelry
in Elliot's condo, trophies.
One of the pieces belonged to Celeste
and the other three presumably belonged
to the other three victims.
Police have been trying to find
evidence to support that assertion,
but so far, no luck.
These women didn't have
much of a social footprint.
The odds of success here are remote.
We can try to push back the start date,
find more evidence, and
try all four cases together.
It'll give the families
of the other three victims
a more thorough sense
of justice and closure.
It will definitely show the jury
what kind of person Mr. Elliot is,
assuming the police can eventually
find enough evidence.
The Celeste Clark case is
much stronger than the others.
We're dealing with a different
type of victim here too.
Joining the three other cases
will muddy the waters.
It will enable the defense
to focus on their drug use,
their prior arrests,
the fact that they were sex workers.
I'm not sure that's fair
to the other families.
If you're certain
we can nail this monster
for Celeste Clark's murder, then do it.
Let's not complicate matters.
It might not be fair, Ms. Maroun,
but it's the right move.
Ms. Horn, have you had an opportunity
to review the footage recorded
by surveillance cameras
located inside your club
from the night Celeste Clark
was murdered?
Yes.
When you reviewed this footage,
did you see Celeste Clark
and the defendant together that night?
Yes. I found video of them
talking to one another.
- How long did they talk?
- About a minute.
Did it appear that they were involved
romantically or sexually?
No. They were just talking.
What happened after their brief chat?
- Celeste left.
- What about the defendant?
He left 41 seconds later.
Nothing further.
Ms. Horn, the club you manage
provides a forum for
"adults to engage in
adventurous and unconstrained
sexual activity."
Correct.
And this is a bondage room?
Yes.
"A comfortable and clean dungeon
where the choking and whipping of"
Objection. Relevance.
Ms. Stanley, where are you
going with all this?
The victim was choked to death
30 minutes after leaving a club
that celebrates BDSM,
a fetish that oftentimes
involves choking.
Every single person in that
club or any other sex club
she ever visited is a potential suspect.
That's preposterous.
There is no evidence
that Celeste enjoyed
or participated in any type
of sexual activity
that involved choking.
More importantly,
whether she did or didn't enjoy
that type of sexual behavior
is irrelevant to whether
Bruce Elliot killed her.
Not so sure about that.
Your Honor.
Her lifestyle exposed her
to a certain level of risk.
That's fair game to explore.
It's admissible.
[SOMBER OMINOUS MUSIC]
So back off, Mr. Price.
♪
Please continue.
Your club offers a clean
and comfortable dungeon
where the choking and whipping
of submissives
takes place, correct?
Yes.
There's also a cuckold room
where patrons watch their partners
have sex with strangers.
And you said you saw
Celeste Clark and my client
talking to one another
inside the club that evening.
Yes, on the surveillance video.
Surveillance video inside a club
where many patrons were having sex.
Some. I'm not sure how many.
You don't have video cameras
inside the rooms
where people actually have sex?
Yes, that's correct.
So the fact that you didn't
see my client and Celeste
having sex doesn't mean
they didn't have sex.
Correct.
♪
Judge Pappas was way more
liberal than I was hoping for.
And Stanley was way more effective
than I was hoping for.
It was too easy.
Sex club, the fetish rooms.
She couldn't help herself.
When in doubt, shame the damn victim.
Turn her into a sex freak.
Social norms have changed, Nolan.
People my age don't view sex
with the same level of judgment you do.
Um uh
first off, "people your age"?
Second. I'm not that judgmental.
OK. If you say so.
Good news is, I deliberately
picked the youngest,
most liberal jury for this very reason.
I know. But that might not be enough.
We need to let the jury know
that Bruce Elliot isn't just
another fun-loving sex club patron
who happened to have a bad night.
- Are you suggesting
- We don't have a choice.
Your Honor, this is outrageous!
There is absolutely no evidence
that my client
had anything to do
with those other murders.
If there were,
Mr. Price would have already
charged him with those crimes.
These three other homicides
clearly constitute prior bad acts.
More specifically, they show
a unique pattern of conduct.
All three women were killed
the exact same way
as Celeste Clark.
Also, contrary
to Ms. Stanley's assertions,
there is evidence tying Elliot
to these three other women.
Not enough to indict at the moment,
but enough for them to be
admissible under Molineux.
I agree.
Your Honor, this is unduly prejudicial.
By Mr. Price's own admission,
the evidence is scant.
Four women were killed
in the exact same horrific way
within five miles of each other.
That's good enough for me.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Given the uniquely violent
behavior in this case,
we decided to search our database
to determine
if any other homicide victims
had been killed in this same manner.
And what did you find?
Three other women were
killed the exact same way,
strangled to death, their hyoid bones
and cervical vertebrae broken.
No further questions.
To be clear, Ms. Dixon
LieutenantDixon.
My client has not been charged
with those three murders?
Correct.
My client's DNA was
not found on their bodies.
Correct.
So there's no proof
that Bruce Elliot had anything
to do with those three deaths.
She's lying!
Don't believe a word
out of her damn mount!
Sir, sit down and be quiet!
That son of a bitch right
there killed my baby girl!
Don't believe a word
out of her damn mouth.
Sir, sit down and be quiet.
That son of a bitch right
there broke her damn neck!
Have him removed!
He needs to pay for what he did!
You killed my baby!
I have no idea what
you're talking about, sir.
I never met your daughter.
Look at me! Look at me,
you sorry son of a
Look at me!
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
You are instructed to ignore
the assertions and statements
you heard from the person
who was removed from the gallery.
His daughter's death and his beliefs
as to who may have murdered her
are irrelevant
and may not be taken into
account during deliberations.
Ms. Stanley, please call
your first witness.
We call Detective Vincent Riley.
Did you interview
the defendant in connection
with a missing persons report
involving Olivia Washington?
I did.
Did the police ever find Olivia?
They found her, but she was dead.
Has anyone ever been arrested
in connection with her death?
No.
How long did you speak
with Mr. Elliot that day?
About 30 minutes.
And what was the result?
Uh, I don't think I know what
you mean by the word "result."
After talking with him for 30 minutes,
did you arrest him?
No.
Did you consider him to be a suspect?
No.
And your official rank?
Detective, First Grade.
That is a prestigious position, correct?
One reserved for only
the NYPD's best and brightest.
[TENSE MUSIC]
Yes, it is.
Is this your handwriting?
Yes.
And those are your notes?
Yes, they are.
Can you please read what you wrote down
after interviewing Mr. Elliot?
♪
"Talked to Bruce Elliot
at approximately 2:30 p.m.
"on May 13th.
"His demeanor was calm,
"no overt signs of anxiety or guilt.
Alibi was credible."
Detective Riley, you are considered
to be one of the best
detectives in the entire NYPD.
And you concluded
that Mr. Elliot was a kind,
law-abiding citizen who had
absolutely nothing to do
- with
- Objection.
Sustained.
Withdrawn. Nothing further.
♪
You really think the jury
bought Stanley's song and dance number?
It was pretty convincing.
I was staring at the jury
the whole time.
So now what?
We need to counteract Riley's testimony.
How?
By impeaching his credibility
as a detective.
Excuse me?
The defense painted him out to be a hero
and one of the best detectives
in the entire police force.
If someone of his ilk
thinks Elliot is a prince,
then damn it, he must be a prince.
Exactly.
You want to turn Riley
into the court jester?
It turns out,
Riley was suspended for six months
three weeks after he interviewed Elliot.
Our relationship with the police
is already fraught, as you know.
So going after Riley on a case
with this much publicity
We're talking about
a serial killer here, Jack.
Putting him away for life.
It is more important than our
relationship with the police.
Or embarrassing Riley.
It just is.
Give Dixon a heads-up.
[SOFT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
[SIGHS]
Thanks for meeting me.
You're really gonna do this?
You're really gonna impeach Vince?
I don't have a choice.
Sure you do.
You're just making the choice
that's best for you.
Best for the case.
Same thing.
[SIGHS] I need to know
why Riley was suspended.
For God's sake, Nolan.
There's got to be another way.
There isn't.
I can subpoena the official
records, if you prefer.
Listen, Riley is a good man.
He is a great cop.
And for you to just tear him apart is
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[SIGHS]
Look, he had a really rough go.
His father was dying.
He couldn't bear the thought
of putting him in a home,
so he worked all kinds of crazy overtime
just to pay for the caretakers.
And he tried to cope, like we all do.
And then one day
while all this was going on,
he overheard a huge argument
I was having with my captain.
And that sexist son of a bitch
called me something that he shouldn't.
I'm just gonna leave it at that.
And, uh
Vince walked in[SIGHS]
And he knocked his ass out. One punch.
Yeah. And he'd been drinking.
So not good.
♪
OK.
I'm gonna send you over
the official report.
♪
But, Nolan.
♪
He threw a punch for me.
Who does that?
[CHUCKLES]
And as stupid and reckless as it was
♪
I appreciate what he did.
♪
Shortly after
interviewing the defendant,
you were suspended from the NYPD.
That's correct.
For attacking a captain while drunk.
Not exactly. Um
I punched him once in the face,
and I wasn't drunk.
But you'd been drinking.
I had had a few sips of alcohol
earlier that day, yeah.
You drink alcohol
while you're on the clock
working as a police officer?
For a short period of time, I did, yes.
And during this short period of time,
you interviewed the defendant
in connection with
Olivia Washington's disappearance?
Correct.
Also, during that period of time,
your father was ill and
your wife and kids
had moved out of your house?
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Yes.
That's obviously incredibly stressful.
Yes, it was.
So when you interviewed the defendant,
you were under incredible stress,
you were drinking.
I didn't drink that day.
Even though you admit
to drinking during the day
- while on the job?
- I never said
that I drank every day.
I-I-I don't know what that means.
It means that I didn't drink every day.
OK, but the point here, Detective,
is that you drank while at work
during this period of time
and you were under extraordinary stress,
which means your assessment
of the defendant's guilt
or innocence is absolutely meaningless.
Objection!
Sustained.
[SIGHS]
Nothing further.
♪
[SIGHS]
♪
[KNOCK AT DOOR]
Hey. You doing OK?
I know it wasn't pleasant, but
you did the right thing for Celeste.
And for the other three victims.
Yeah. Well, it'll all be for naught
if we don't get a conviction.
Let's dig into the file, get to work.
[KNOCK AT DOOR]
You got a minute?
Yeah, sure.
Come on in.
Look, I'm sorry about today.
I get it.
You did what you had to do.
So why are you here?
Well, I kept on digging
into those other three murders.
And I made some phone calls,
found some photos,
and I found something that
I think is gonna be pretty helpful.
♪
Is this what I think it is?
♪
Defendant is a psychopathic misogynist
who derived pleasure
from killing defenseless women
with his bare hands.
The night of December 4th,
he met Celeste Clark at a club,
and later that night, he killed her,
choked her to death, and then
viciously broke her neck
and her hyoid bone.
[PEOPLE MURMURING]
Not easy to break a hyoid bone.
In fact, it's extremely
difficult and and rare.
Hyoid bone fractures represent
only 0.002% of all fractures
because it's so well-protected
by its location in the neck
behind the mandible in front
of the cervical spine.
In other words, it takes tremendousforce
and tremendousviolence
to break someone's hyoid bone.
The defendant then
snatched Celeste's necklace
as a trophy.
Police found it
inside his condo the next day.
But Celeste is not the only woman to die
at the hands of this hateful man.
His killing spree began
three years before Celeste's murder.
You heard the testimony.
You saw what the detectives found
inside the defendant's condo.
That ring and those two necklaces.
♪
The defendant robbed these
four women of their lives.
♪
And then he stole their jewelry
to commemorate his despicable acts.
♪
Bruce Elliot is a vile,
cold-blooded killer
and must be held accountable
for his actions.
So please,
analyze the evidence carefully.
And then convict this monster of murder.
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
♪
In the matter of People v. Bruce Elliot,
has the jury reached a verdict?
- Yes, we have, Your Honor.
- How do you find?
We find the defendant
guilty.
[SIGHS]
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
we thank you for your service.
[GAVEL BANGS]