.
- 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.
- Thanks, Professor.
I'll let my team know the good news
and we'll have a business plan ready for you by next week.
Talk soon.
[gunshots] [groans]
[siren wailing]
- DOA's a Hudson grad student named Emily Wade.
27, two in the chest. - Witnesses?
- Just the classmate who found her.
Didn't see anything, but she was pretty shaken up.
Said she was the most intelligent
and driven woman she'd ever met.
- Where is this classmate now?
- EMTs are treating her for shock.
- Evidence of a break-in?
- No, looks like it all went down outside.
- Cameras? - Afraid not.
Off-campus housing. Security's pretty lax.
- All right, let's see what footage we can find
from businesses and traffic cams, huh?
- I'd ballpark time of death as 9:30.
- Any indication of assault?
- No. But some blood splatter.
Means the shooter was point blank.
- I'll check inside.
- Probably got hit with some droplets.
- Yup.
"Thinking of you."
Doesn't say who it's from or where it's from.
Can you bag that? Thanks.
You already check this?
Cell phone still here.
Wallet, credit cards, money.
- Doesn't look like anyone tossed the place.
There's jewelry still along the nightstand.
- So it's not a robbery, not an assault.
Double tap to the chest.
Starting to feel like an execution.
The question is why. - Sad.
Seems like she was going places too.
- Too bad she'll never get there now.
♪
[dramatic music]
♪
- I was dropping off a statistics outline
Em had loaned me. Saw this van speeding off.
- What'd the van look like?
- Uh, blue. Green stripe down the side.
- You get a look at the plates or the driver?
- Sorry. No.
- How well did you know the victim?
- We were study partners.
- Can you think of anybody she had a problem with?
- Yeah.
We'd get drinks at this place
in Dumbo on Wednesdays called Ewing's.
She didn't want to go last week.
Said she was fighting with one of the bartenders.
- You know what the issue was about?
- No.
But he apparently followed her to the library the other day.
[door clicks]
- Sorry, guys, not open till five.
- Nathan Brae.
- Who's asking?
- We're New York City detectives.
We need a word.
[cups clatter]
[dramatic music]
♪
[both grunt]
Give me your hands. Give me your hands.
- I didn't do anything wrong.
[handcuffs clicking]
- I only ran because I had coke on me.
I didn't want to get in trouble.
- Good instincts, so unless you start talking,
we're gonna charge you with possession.
- What's your beef with Emily Wade?
- I was dating her friend, Alli.
It was going good, too,
until she dumped me out of the blue last week.
Turns out Emily's been dissing me all over the place.
I was pissed. - Is that why you followed her
to the library? - Yeah.
I told her to stay the hell out of my life
and then some muscle-head gets in between us
and tells me to back off, so I did.
- And you didn't go back to her place later that evening,
try to finish the conversation? - No.
There's no point, you know?
- So where were you? - What do you mean?
Why do you care? - Because Emily Wade is dead.
Nathan Brae's alibi checks out. Nothing on canvass either.
- Any next of kin we can talk to?
- Nobody even to notify.
Her parents died when she was five.
She was raised in foster care.
- So what about this mysterious blue van?
- Snake eyes. [knock on door]
- Got something here, Lieutenant.
This is last Wednesday afternoon
outside Drummond Library.
- There's our boy, giving her the what for.
- The argument doesn't get very far.
- Huh, looks like our Good Samaritan's
no random bystander.
- Any chance we can get an ID?
- I already sent the image to FIS.
This is what they just sent back.
Bobby Gorman, 28, ex-Marine.
- Any recent contact with Emily?
- Lot of romantic back and forth.
Whoa.
Punctuated by a nasty DM he sent early yesterday
accusing her of cheating on him.
"I'm so angry, I could kill you."
- We got an address on this charmer?
- Sheepshead Bay. - All right, guys.
Dust off your E-ZPass. You're going to Brooklyn.
.
- I found out about Emily on Citizen.
I can't believe she's gone.
- Were you two together?
- For a few months.
- How was it going? - Ups and downs.
But I saw a future there.
- Let's talk about those downs then, huh?
Like you threatening to kill her.
- What? You think I did this?
- We think you need to explain why
you were sending her threatening texts.
- I felt terrible about that.
I was just venting. - About what?
- All she did was study.
Barely had any time for me.
So I showed up at her place on Thursday
to surprise her with Knicks tickets,
but she was on her way out, all dressed up.
She claimed she had a family issue to deal with.
- You go by her place last night for any reason?
- No.
Look, I didn't kill her.
I loved her.
- Key card to Gorman's loft confirms his alibi.
- So where are we with
the unspecified family issues that he alluded to?
- Still looking for the family.
- All right, so let's work back from the time of the murder.
What was Emily doing that day? Where was she?
Who was she with? - Already on it.
I pulled Emily's financials.
Found an Uber charge the day of the murder at 4:14 p.m.
- Hmm. - Where'd she go?
- Yes, I met with the poor soul
day before yesterday. - About what?
- Her foster brother, Lonnie, is a member here.
She was worried about him.
- What was she worried about, Pastor Butler?
- Uh, it's Pastor Mike, and no offense, Detectives,
but I take my parishioners' privacy very seriously.
- We understand, but Emily was murdered shortly after
she left here, so you have to understand
that we need to know why she was so concerned about him.
- Yes.
He'd been asking her for money.
She was worried about the direction his life was taking.
- What direction are we talking about?
- She asked that I motivate him to find a job.
I told her I would do my best and she left.
Excuse me for a second. Reverend Sherman.
Liturgy looks perfect, Henry. Thank you.
Lord's work is never done.
- Speaking of the Lord's work--
it's been a minute since I was an altar boy,
but why would Emily think career advice
is something that's in your portfolio?
- The success of our flock glorifies God,
so part of our work is to guide them to milk and honey.
As Jesus said, "I came that they may have life
and have it abundantly."
- And that's your thing? Abundance?
- Yes. My congregation is very generous.
- Thank you for your time. - Thank you.
- We'll let you know if there's any follow-up.
- Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. - Tell me how you really feel.
- Don't tell me you didn't see that fancy, schmancy suit
and $10,000 watch.
He's bleeding that congregation dry.
- It's a little more complicated than that.
A guy like that-- he takes, but he also gives.
- How so?
- Some of these folks are having trouble finding a job,
paying rent, even harder time staying positive.
- No different from any church I know.
- Yeah, but Pastor Mike
fills a void for people who feel hopeless.
He's modeling success
so that his congregation has something to aspire to.
- Not my idea of religion. - Not mine either.
But religion is whatever works for you, right?
So some people think it's the body of Christ
being represented by a wafer.
Some people think it's ponying up so the pastor
can wear a Rolex. - I am not buying it.
- He's not selling it to you.
Prosperity means something different
when you grow up poor and Black, Frank.
- Fair enough.
- Let's check with Emily's foster brother.
See what he knows.
- Emily and I spent five years in this group home in Canarsie.
The only thing we got out of that place was each other.
She was my big sis.
- Sorry for your loss, Lonnie. - Yeah.
- We're trying to piece together
Emily's movements two days ago.
When was the last time you saw her?
- I went by her place about lunch.
- Now, would you say that was a social call or something else?
- I needed her to float me rent.
- Oh, you were having money problems?
- I got laid off a month ago.
Savings are a little light.
- I mean, I couldn't imagine how that conversation might go
between me and my sister if I was asking her to pay my rent.
You guys didn't fight or argue, did you?
- No, she was happy to do it.
She even had the money wired to my landlord.
- How much money we talking about?
- Two grand.
- Yeah, well, the brother's story checks out.
- Then let's follow the money trail.
- Communication just finished the work up on her device.
GPS puts her at the corner of 11th and Avenue C
right after eight on the night of the murder.
The address is a match for a pawn shop
called Sid's Jewelry and Loans.
- There ought to be security cams on that street, right?
- Searching now.
Pawn shop's got them on front and back.
This is at 8:20.
- That looks like Emily.
- Hey, can you get in tighter on that guy?
- Yes, but you never see his face.
- All right, well, fast forward on the tape.
- This is 8:32. - She hawks something,
and then an hour later, she's dead.
- GPS confirms her next stop was home.
[tense music]
- Freeze that.
- Yeah, blue van, green pinstripe.
- Got a shot of the driver too.
Can't make out details, but it looks like a Black male
wearing the same New York logo hat as the guy on the street.
- Could fit the bill of the van leaving the murder scene.
Can you pull up the registration?
- Plate comes back to Ruben Grandy,
Astoria.
He's got priors for armed robbery.
- All right, bring him in.
[dramatic music]
♪
- [grunts] - [shouts]
- Police! Show me your hands.
- Don't move!
- Take it easy, fellas.
- Who else is here? - Nobody, I swear to God.
- All rooms clear. - Clear.
- Let's go. - All right, keep your hands up
and stand up for me. Let's go.
- All right, but I'ma need my crutches.
I got a broken leg.
♪
.
- I told you, I was playing poker here with some friends.
- Where's your van? - Gave it away a few weeks ago.
- To who? - My church. First Harmony.
Cast won't come off till summer, so I can't drive.
I was happy to send it their way too.
- And why's that? - Guy that runs the church,
Pastor Mike, he's a good man.
Found me a job when I got out of Sing Sing.
- So Pastor Mike is the one driving the van now.
- No, he gave it to the vice pastor,
Reverend Sherman.
- Yes, I was driving Ruben's van.
My car is in the shop.
- Where'd you go after you left the church?
- Home.
- You have any interaction with Emily Wade couple nights ago?
- Who? - Emily Wade.
Her brother's Lonnie Ballard. He's a congregant.
- Mm.
Before I say anything else,
I need to know why you're asking that.
- That van was used in the commission
of the murder of Emily Wade.
- You accusing me of something?
- You stop by a pawn shop that night around 8:30,
maybe one on 11th and Avenue C? - No.
- So you're saying you went straight home
from First Harmony and you never left.
Is that right, Henry? - It's Reverend Sherman.
You'd do well to remember who you're talking to.
- [chuckles]
- We know exactly who we're talking to.
An ex-con with a rap sheet as long as my arm
and a seven-year stint in Fishkill.
And now, all of a sudden, you're a man of the cloth?
- Meaning what? - Meaning you're no bishop,
so you need to account for your whereabouts two nights ago.
- The only one I need to account to is God.
And I won't stand here and be insulted...
- Hey. - For devoting my life
to the almighty. - Calm down.
- You can see yourselves out. - You're on parole.
You're not going anywhere. - [scoffs]
both: Hey, hey. Wait. - Yo, take your hands off of me.
- Hey, Henry. - [grunts]
- We got a church too.
And putting hands on my partner,
that's a sin.
Let's try this again. - I already told you.
I was at the church until six then I went home.
- How do you explain the fact that you were seen
in that van driving away from the church?
That same van was spotted a few hours later
fleeing the scene of Emily's shooting.
- Someone else had to be driving it.
- Somebody else is driving your van?
- Yeah, I left the keys on the front tire when I parked it.
- And why would you do that?
- So parishioners in need of transportation can use it.
- You got callers for possession and burglary.
Maybe you're using again. Maybe you're hard up for cash
and you saw Emily as an easy target.
- You're wrong. - I don't think I am.
I'm searching your van.
- You okay with all this? - With what?
- End of the day,
you got to decide whose side you're really on.
- I've already decided, brother.
I'm on God's side.
Turns out, he doesn't like murder.
- There's a baseball cap with a New York logo on it
and there's blood on the armrest.
- [whistles] Blood.
You want to explain that? - I'm not talking.
- Well, maybe you'll talk to a jury.
You're under arrest for the murder of Emily Wade.
- Calling docket ending in 2129.
People versus Henry Sherman
charged with murder in the second degree.
- How does the defendant plead?
- Not guilty, Your Honor.
- I'll hear the people on bail.
- We're seeking remand.
The defendant stalked the victim,
followed her home, then shot her to death
during a botched robbery.
Evidence is substantial.
We found the victim's blood in a van
that the defendant had control over--
the same van seen leaving the victim's apartment
shortly after the murder. - Mr. Gale.
- My client is a highly respected member of the clergy.
- With a lengthy criminal record.
- Who's lived an exemplary life since finding God.
There's no eye witnesses, no gun,
no evidence of motive.
No one can put my client behind the wheel of that van
at the time of the murder.
- An argument you're free to make at trial, Mr. Gale.
Bail is set at $1 million. [gavel thumps]
- Case is solid, but our motive is still weak.
Why on Earth would this man kill Emily Wade?
- Does it matter? If we can prove he shot her,
his motive's irrelevant.
My mentor taught me that.
- Yes, but he also taught you
juries hate cases that don't make sense.
- You're right. He did.
So let's dig deeper.
Find a credible reason why Sherman wanted to kill Emily.
- Scour his texts, email, phone records, financials.
- [whistles] - Mm-hmm.
A V12. - Gentlemen.
- Pastor Mike.
Nice ride. You got a minute?
- I'd love to chat, but I'm late.
One of my oldest and dearest congregants is quite ill.
I'm heading over to the hospital to pray with him.
Help him find peace before he passes.
- Oh, that's fantastic, so this won't take long.
We just have a few questions.
- Sorry, I can't. Not now.
- Oh, you misunderstand my kindness here.
I'm not asking. I'm telling.
- You're telling?
No, you don't get to tell me a damn thing.
- Sure I do. For starters, I'm telling you
that we know that vice Pastor Sherman
deposited a $50,000 check a day after Emily Wade was shot.
- So?
- So we want to know what the check was for.
- It's a private matter. - Private?
Sherman was charged with murder,
so anything he has said or done is now a public matter.
- I'm done talking, so you can either arrest me
or step out of my way.
♪
Good day.
[car engine turns over]
- Does your pastor drive a Bentley?
- I don't go to church enough to know.
.
- A superseding indictment for first-degree murder.
On what basis? - Murder for hire.
Pastor Mike paid your client to kill Emily Wade.
- Is this a joke?
- Here are 50,000 reasons it's not.
- So he makes a $50,000 deposit.
Who cares? - I'm guessing the jury might
since it was the day after the murder
from a First Harmony account.
- And phone logs show Mr. Sherman called Pastor Mike
just before and after Emily Wade was shot to death.
- Look, if we're right, and we are,
you would be wise to cooperate.
Tell us what really happened, or there's a very good chance
you'll die in prison.
- I've got nothing to say.
- You feel obligation to Pastor Mike
because he took you in,
he gave you a job, a purpose.
But what he really did is use you.
That's why you're here taking the rap and he's not.
Murder two, 15 years.
- I'm not a rat.
[soft dramatic music]
♪
Hold on. Wait.
- How about man one, ten years flat?
- We're listening.
- Pastor Mike was nervous.
Said that Emily was a problem.
That we needed to shut her ass up.
- What did he mean by that?
- He wanted me to kill her.
- Why would he want to do that?
- She told Pastor Mike she was gonna call the police
if he didn't return her brother's donation.
Let them know what's really going on in the church.
- Is that some sort of secret? - No.
But Pastor Mike doesn't like paying taxes
or going to jail, so he panicked.
- Okay.
Yeah, we got a deal,
assuming your story checks out, of course.
Did you give or donate money to Pastor Mike?
- Yes.
$40,000.
- Did Emily know about this? - Yes.
I told her that day I asked her to help me pay the rent.
- Well, when she heard about the donation, was she upset?
Did she tell you she was going to go get your money back?
- She was upset. She thought I was an idiot.
But she didn't think like I did.
She's not a believer like me.
Wait.
You think Pastor Mike has something to do
with her murder?
- That is correct.
- When she found out you gave him that money,
she stormed over to the church and demanded he give it back.
- Or she would inform the police about his antics.
- What do you mean antics?
- Buying houses and boats with his congregants'
hard-earned cash. - You're wrong.
The money we give helps with prosperity.
It's part of the gospel.
- I know this is hard for you to hear--
- Pastor Mike would never hurt Emily.
He's a healer.
I mean, if it wasn't for him, I'd probably be dead.
I mean, he got me off heroin.
- And with all due respect,
that has nothing to do with your sister's case.
- I think I've had enough.
Please leave.
Now.
- Let me get this straight.
You want to go after a pillar of the community,
a clergyman,
on the word of a convicted felon
with every reason to trade up.
- We believe Henry Sherman is telling the truth.
The victim's brother confirmed the crux of his story.
- That's great, but Sherman is still the felon
with a fantastic motive to lie his ass off.
- We're talking about a religious leader
who orchestrated someone's murder to cover up his scheme.
If we don't at least try to hold someone like that
accountable, we're in the wrong line of work.
- Put Pastor Mike on trial, not his church.
If you lose religious jurors, you won't have a prayer.
choir: ♪ Gonna lay down my burden
♪ Down by the riverside
♪ Study war no more - Yes.
- Lord. [cheers and applause]
They live. - Yes.
- Praise the Lord. - Yeah!
- Thank you, choir, for lifting our spirits
on the winds of your song. Amen?
all: Amen. - Amen?
all: Amen.
- I want to talk about
the importance of your financial support.
What you give your church will come back to you tenfold.
all: Yes. - Detectives.
You're interrupting our service.
- Pastor, we need a word.
- You're gonna have to wait. - Justice waits for no man.
[attendees shouting]
You're under arrest for the murder of Emily Wade.
[overlapping shouting]
- Fear not, my children. God has a plan.
The righteous shall prevail.
.
- This is ludicrous.
Do you seriously think
that I'm involved in this young woman's death?
- We do.
- Because Reverend Sherman made up a story.
- He seemed pretty credible.
- Evidence supports it too.
- I suppose the darkness from within was just
too much for him to overcome.
- Yeah, that may be true, but right now,
you need to help yourself and tell us what happened.
- I'm done talking.
I want a lawyer.
Reverend Sherman can say whatever he wants,
but the truth will prevail.
- After Emily Wade left First Harmony,
did you have occasion to confer with Pastor Mike?
- I did. - And what did he tell you
about the conversation that he'd had with her?
- We didn't talk about her. We talked about his sermon.
- He didn't tell you that Ms. Wade
wanted her brother's money back
or she was gonna go to the police?
- No. - He didn't tell you
that she would destroy everything you'd built,
so you had to shut her up? - No.
[tense music]
♪
- Mr. Sherman, did you or did you not tell me
Pastor Mike paid you to kill Emily Wade.
- I did tell you that,
and I was lying because I wanted a deal.
[overlapping chatter]
- Quiet or I'll clear the gallery.
- The truth is you're lying now out of some misguided
sense of loyalty to your boss, aren't you?
- I'm not lying. I'm telling the truth.
- Sir, I remind you that if you violate the terms
of your plea agreement-- - Objection.
Asked and answered. - I agree.
Mr. Price, the witness' testimony
is very clear.
- Nothing further.
- Mr. Dressler?
- No questions, Your Honor.
- The People request a brief recess.
- We're adjourned until tomorrow.
[gavel thumps]
- Rikers' Visitor Log shows Pastor Mike's attorney
went to visit Sherman in jail yesterday.
Less than 24 hours later, Sherman sandbags us.
It's witness tampering.
- No doubt.
But that's too hard to prove.
We'll just have to make the case without him.
- We were looking at calls coming into Pastor Mike
the day of the murder, right?
- Yeah, I'm not following.
- We know Sherman called Pastor Mike
right after he killed Emily.
But according to this call log, Pastor Mike called someone else
as soon as that conversation was finished.
- Let's find out who he called and what he said.
- As Senior Pastor of First Harmony,
I don't have day-to-day involvement.
I function strictly in an advisory capacity now.
- Yes, but that capacity includes
the provision of counsel to Pastor Mike, doesn't it?
- It does.
- Does he typically call you in the evening?
- He does not. - But he did call you
December 14th at night.
What did you two talk about?
- [chuckles]
I'm a preacher.
Conversations with my congregants are
meant to be confidential.
- A woman was murdered.
Doesn't that trump confidentiality?
♪
- He called me on that night as his clergyman.
He wanted to unburden his soul,
which means the nature of that conversation
is protected under the laws of the State of New York.
- So just so I'm clear...
you're okay if a murderer walks free?
- I'm not talking, fellas. Simple as that.
♪
.
- Bryant is the whole ballgame. He has to testify.
- But he's a clergyman. And he's right about the law.
His conversation with the defendant is privileged.
- Unless that privilege is in service of a crime or fraud.
- You're on dangerous ground, Nolan.
To prove that, you have to attack the church.
I thought we agreed
that we would make the case about the man not the religion.
- I'm not going after religion.
I'm going after a single corrupt preacher.
- It'll read as blasphemy.
- Delegitimizing First Harmony
is the only way to convict Pastor Mike.
Otherwise, we may as well drop the charges.
- If we lose this case, all people will remember
is an over-zealous prosecutor
who vilified a church for no good reason.
And that's all I'm going to remember too.
[dramatic music]
- The mere suggestion this trial should devolve into
a referendum on the legitimacy of First Harmony is outrageous.
- I take the point. Mr. Price?
- The People are aware of the sensitivities at play here.
But we're only questioning that legitimacy
for the limited purposes of a privilege inquiry.
- The phone call between Pastor Mike and Pastor Bryant
was obviously for the purpose of seeking spiritual advice.
- Presumptively for that purpose,
a presumption that can be overcome
if we establish that the church is a corrupt enterprise.
- I share your concerns, Mr. Dressler,
but this is a murder trial.
So I'm gonna grant the People a limited opportunity
to demonstrate fraud.
And the defense will have the chance to rebut.
- Mr. Conley, how much did you donate to First Harmony?
- $61,000 over three years.
- And during that time,
did you experience any financial setbacks?
- Yes. I lost my home, my car.
Couldn't even pay the storage facility,
so they sold my stuff.
- And yet you continued donating to First Harmony, right?
- Yes. - Why?
- Because Pastor Mike told me if I stopped giving,
it could jeopardize my relationship with God.
- The money you donated-- do you know where it went?
- Yeah. His Tesla.
His mansion in Armonk. His catamaran.
What Pastor needs a catamaran?
- Nothing further.
- Mr. Conley,
are you currently a member of Gamblers Anonymous?
- Yes.
- And how much money have you lost gambling
the past three years?
- I don't remember.
- Nearly $200,000. Is that right?
- I guess.
- So First Harmony isn't the real cause
of your financial woes, is it?
- Doesn't matter.
That man over there stole from me.
♪
- Mr. Ballard, you're a recovering heroin addict.
Is that right? - Recovered.
- That's amazing.
And to what do you attribute your recovery?
- Pastor Mike.
He got me into a facility, paid for the program.
Visited me every day for six weeks
to make sure I was doing the work.
- Were you employed as a sales rep
for Shearing Pharmaceuticals?
- Yes, for four years.
I just got laid off.
- I'm sorry about that. And who got you that job?
- Pastor Mike.
- There's been testimony about
Pastor Mike's extravagant lifestyle.
Are you familiar with how he lives?
- Of course.
And it's a blessing to the congregation.
- Do you believe First Harmony defrauded you in any way?
- No. As Pastor Mike likes to say,
"When we invest in the church, we invest in ourselves."
And I'm living proof that's true.
- Thank you.
- Mr. Ballard,
I'm very sorry about the loss of your sister.
- Thank you.
- Until a short time ago, what was your net worth?
- About $40,000.
- What's your net worth now?
- Less than that. - In fact, it is zero.
Because you donated every cent you had to First Harmony.
- I'll make more.
- How much have you given First Harmony
over the past four years?
- I don't remember.
- Does almost $90,000 sound right?
- I donated because that's the right thing to do.
I owe Pastor Mike. I owe him.
- Well, isn't it possible that the man you say you owe
turned you into a productive citizen
in order to milk you of everything you earned?
- No. Donating to your church is the right thing to do.
Pastor Mike deserves every penny I gave him.
- Oh, you gave Pastor Mike your money?
- No, no, I meant I-- I gave it to First Harm--
this man is trying to fool me!
- No, sir.
I am not the one fooling you.
Nothing further.
♪
- The parishioners who donated
did so knowing that Pastor Mike was spending at least
some of the money on himself.
No one was threatened or coerced.
They donated for inspiration, which is exactly what they got.
Pastor Mike's success was a beacon to his parish,
which is all that the prosperity gospel entails.
You get the benefit of your bargain,
it can't be fraud.
- Mr. Price?
- Fraud needn't be a function of deceit or coercion.
It can also be manipulation
by a person in a position of trust,
such as a pastor who tells his flock
that their relationship with God will be compromised
if they don't give money to the church.
These donations were part of a shameless money grab
by a charismatic and manipulative figure
in a position of control and power.
The defendant concealed these cash contributions from the IRS
and used the money he received
to finance his opulent lifestyle.
That is not religion. That's fraud.
- I agree with Mr. Price.
And since the defense did not rebut his claims,
I am vitiating the clergy privilege.
♪
- Mr. Price.
Why you doing this? - Excuse me?
- Trying to destroy my church.
- No, I can assure you, that is not my objective.
- You're acting like we don't know what we're doing,
that Pastor Mike is trying to defraud us.
That's not what's going on here.
We know what we're doing. We want to give him our money.
- That is your choice. I--I don't really care.
I'm simply trying to present the facts to the jury
so they know what really happened--
so they know who really killed Emily, your sister.
I-I would've thought that's something
you might be interested in as well.
- Don't do that.
Don't you dare suggest that I don't love my sister Emily.
I do. More than anything.
But she's gone.
Ain't nothing we can do about that.
And nothing you could do to convince me
that Pastor Mike is involved.
- I won't bother trying. - Wait, wait.
[stammers]
I'm just scared.
If you destroy Pastor Mike and my church...
I'm left with absolutely nothing.
Please.
- Pastor Mike Butler
called you at 9:14 on the evening of Emily Wade's murder.
- He did. - And what did he tell you?
- He told me he wanted to pray with me
because he had transgressed.
- Did he tell you exactly what the transgression was?
- This is not right.
That conversation was sacred.
- Pastor Bryant--
- Only God should know the contents.
- Will the court please instruct the witness to answer?
- Pastor Bryant, the court has ruled
clergy privilege does not apply here.
- Oh. - If you don't answer,
I will have to hold you in contempt.
Do you understand that?
♪
- Yes.
- Ask your question again, Mr. Price.
- I'll make it a simple yes or no question.
Did the defendant tell you
that he had instructed Mr. Sherman to kill Emily Wade?
♪
- Yes.
[crowd gasps, murmurs]
- Nothing further.
- Then we are adjourned for the day.
[gavel thumps]
- Man one, 20 max.
- Murder two, 20 to life.
- I'll start drafting the plea agreement.
- I'll, um, talk to Emily's brother,
let him know the case is over.
[knocking on door]
Lonnie? [knocking]
It's Nolan Price from the DA's office.
Hello, Lonnie? [knocks]
[tense music]
[doorknob rattles, clicks]
Oh, no. Lonnie?
Lonnie.
Lonnie? Lonnie?
Lonnie? Oh, God.
[line ringing]
Yeah, I-I need an ambulance. [stammers]
435 Warshaw, Queens. Apartment 4B.
He's overdosed. I need help right away.
Lonnie? Lonnie, stay with me.
[grunting]
♪
[wolf howls]