.
- 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.
- I don't anticipate we'll get any pushback.
No.
But just in case, I want to be prepped for Friday's meeting
with a list of all the necessa--
what the hell?
Are you kidding me?
No, I'm pretty sure I just stepped in a pile of vomit.
It's all over my brand-new Ferragamos.
Listen, I gotta call you back.
Did you do this?
Hey, Jose, I'm talking to you.
Is this you?
Did you make this mess?
Yeah, it was you, wasn't it, huh?
You know what?
You people are ruining the city.
Oh, no. Look at all your garbage.
- Whoa. Hey, hey, hey, hey! - Clean it up.
[speaking Spanish]
- It's you?
Tranquilo what? You want some of this too?
- I just want you to leave him alone.
I don't want any trouble. - Yeah?
Well, you are trouble, pal.
What?
What? Hey.
[both grunting]
Hey, get off me.
That hurts, you dirty--
- You mess with anyone around here again,
I'll make you really hurt.
You understand?
- Yeah.
[tense music]
- What are we looking at?
- DOA's male.
Looks to be in his 20s.
Male was out walking his dog before bed,
saw the body lying on the bench.
Thought the guy was sleeping until he saw the blood.
- Shot three times in the back.
Blood streaks on the pavement over there.
- Shot over there, killer drags them over here,
lays them on the bench.
Buys some time before anyone notices the body.
- Time of death? - It wasn't that long ago.
I'd say less than two hours.
- So around midnight?
- Around then, this place is deserted.
There's no cameras.
What about a wallet and ID?
- No. No phone, either.
- Maybe a mugging?
- I don't know if our vic had anything worth stealing.
Bleecker Mission Shelter.
Looks like our vic was homeless.
- Well, if he had a place to stay,
what's he doing out here?
- I don't know.
That's the Venezuelan flag.
What do you want to bet he's from there?
* *
- Give me your tired, your poor,
yearning to breathe free.
[dramatic music]
* *
- [sighs] That's Luis.
He's been staying with us for about four months now.
I knew something was wrong when he
didn't make curfew last night.
We have a strict 11:00 p.m. cut off.
Luis had never missed it before.
- What's his last name? - Morales.
- You know what could have kept him out past curfew?
- No, but I can take you to his locker.
- What can you tell us about Mr. Morales?
- He was one of the greatest kids I ever met--
the kind of person who'd give you
the shirt off his back even though
you don't need it and he does.
- That's fine.
That's fine. I got it.
- Which one of these bunks is his?
- Right there.
- Parents? - Both dead.
They were killed by police in Venezuela
at a protest against the country's
political corruption.
- The situation is really bad down there.
- Luis's parents told him that America was different,
the land of opportunity. He believed it too.
- You don't?
- Work here for a week and then talk to me.
It took Luis months to make his way up through Mexico.
Then he finally crosses the border in Texas only
to be packed onto a Greyhound and shipped
3,000 miles away by a governor looking to make headlines.
- He was on one of the migrant buses?
- Disgusting.
Politicians using human beings as props.
- I think he would have been better off here than Texas.
- Not so much.
I mean, Luis was on the first bus to arrive in the city.
The mayor's there, greets them, shakes their hands.
Says they'll all be taken care of.
- But then no follow through?
- [laughs] Not even a little.
Mayor got his photo op, but then the buses kept coming
and the city never came up with a plan.
- You know of anyone who might want to hurt Luis?
- There was a situation yesterday.
Luis got into a fight with a man just outside.
- From the shelter security cameras.
- Whoa.
Morales could have been a contender.
Do we know who the guy is who's getting his ass handed to him?
- Facial rec got a hit.
Gavin Stulner, 28, works in I-banking.
He's got priors for drunk and disorderly
and assaulting an officer.
- Oh, a real stand-up guy.
- Ass whooping like that, that had to bruise his ego.
- Maybe he settled the score later that night.
- That kid was a punk. - Really?
Because everyone we spoke with said just the opposite.
- No, I'm telling you, my apartment's right
next door to that shelter.
The whole place is a mess.
And that dude is the worst of the bunch.
I'm not the only one in my building
who's had an issue with him, either.
- What was he doing that was so horrible?
- [scoffs] What do you think?
Harassing people, loitering, stealing stuff.
That's what they all do.
- They? - Yeah. The homeless.
- [laughs] - What?
I know it's unpopular to say, but they make
the neighborhood less safe.
Half of them are illegal immigrants who shouldn't even
be here in the first place,
and the other half are freeloaders or drug addicts.
- You sound a little angry.
- No.
I'm very angry.
- [laughs] - What?
I pay 10K a month in rent to live in a luxury high rise,
only to end up next to a bunch of people who treat
the sidewalk as their toilet.
- Very angry people make very stupid choices.
- Yeah, especially angry people who get their asses kicked.
We caught that video of your altercation.
- Big deal. He jumped me.
- That's not what we saw.
- That doesn't mean I killed him.
I trade muni bonds, I don't murder people.
- What were you doing last night at midnight?
- I was at a bar in Dumbo.
Took a bunch of the firm's new recruits out for drinks.
We didn't leave till after 2:00 a.m.
A place called the Vault. You can check it.
- We will.
You said that other people in your building
had a problem with Morales.
- That's right.
- Care to elaborate? Got a name?
- Yeah, I know him. Name's Luis.
- Are you two friends? - No, not exactly.
He did a job for me. It didn't work out so well.
- Yeah, we heard about that.
We talked to somebody,
he said you pulled a gun on him yesterday?
- I did. But it was in self-defense.
- How's that?
- I hired him to patch a hole in my dining room wall.
I went into the other room to take a work Zoom,
and when I came back out to grab the phone,
I caught him trying to steal it.
- What was he doing?
Hiding it in a bag or something?
- He was holding it.
Said he was just borrowing it to make a call,
but I'm not stupid.
I grabbed it from him and told him to get out,
but he refused. - He refused to leave?
- He wanted me to pay him for the dry wall job.
- Had he finished the job?
- Yeah, but I wasn't gonna give money to a thief.
He wouldn't budge, so I went and got my gun.
My dad gave it to me during COVID to make sure
I'd be safe, and that did the trick.
He got right the hell out.
- And you didn't see him again?
- No.
I have every right to defend myself in my own home.
- Lou, little update here.
So Luis Morales was killed by a 9-millimeter.
Samantha Morris's firearm's a SIG Sauer .45.
Not our murder weapon. - So we got nothing?
- However, we checked Morris's phone records,
and it looks like Morales did, in fact,
use her cell to make a call.
- That's odd.
- No, not really. He's--he's homeless.
- He saw it on the table.
It was still unlocked, he picked it up and made a call.
- Do we know who he called?
- Number's registered to a Michael Higueres.
Call lasted a minute 45.
- We know anything about him?
- He's a journalist living in Battery Park City.
- That's one block from the crime scene.
- Mr. Higueres, I'm Detective Cosgrove, Detective Shaw.
We'd like to ask you about Luis Morales.
You know him, right? - Yes.
I interviewed him a few months ago
for an article I was writing about the migrant buses.
He was helpful.
Gave real depth into the plight of these immigrants.
I mean, they came here hoping for a better life.
- Can I ask you, did you keep in touch with him?
- Yeah, I was supposed to meet up with him last night,
actually, but he never showed.
- That's because he's dead.
[suspenseful music]
Yeah, someone shot him.
- I can't believe he--
he must have been telling the truth.
He really did see something.
- What are you talking about?
- Luis said he had a story for me.
Said he knew something about a murder.
* *
.
- Hey, what do we got?
- According to Michael Higueres, Morales called him
the day he was killed, wanted to talk about a murder.
He said he saw something crazy the day before.
- Did he say what this crazy thing was
or any other pertinent information?
- No, he was in a hurry.
Just said it had something to do with a murder.
He told Higueres they need to meet up in person
so they can discuss it in detail.
- So if he knows about a murder,
why doesn't he just call the police?
- He might have been scared about his immigration status.
- And trusted a journalist more than cops.
- Okay, so the guy sees something crazy.
He reaches out to his trusted journalist friend,
and he gets shot before he's actually
able to hook up with him.
- According to Higueres, Morales was a no show.
- Looks like he's telling the truth about that.
We found street cam footage that shows Higueres waiting
on a bench on the other side of the park
during the time of the murder.
- Okay, so we know that this crazy thing that Morales saw
happened the day before he was murdered.
So we need to retrace his steps that day
and figure out where he was and what he might have seen.
- That would have been what? Three days ago?
I don't remember anything unusual.
Luis woke up early, like always, had breakfast,
and then headed out for the day.
- Where was he going?
- To try and find work.
He was determined to afford his own apartment
so that he could get out of here.
But, you know, being undocumented,
the only work he could find was under the table.
- So you have no idea where he might have been looking?
- He picked up odd jobs and day labor shifts
all over the city.
But now that I think about it, I did notice
he left that morning with Obie White,
another one of our residents.
- Is that unusual? - Not necessarily.
It's just that Obie struggles with heroin addiction.
- Is he here right now?
- Looks like he hasn't been back here since that day.
Obie's a good guy.
No way he'd ever be involved in something like this.
- I'm sure he is.
But all the same, do you know where he
hangs out when he's not here?
[suspenseful music]
- Where there's drugs, there's murders.
The cost of doing business.
- Yeah, generally.
But I don't think that's the case this time.
This kid Morales seemed clean.
I mean, everybody keeps saying he was a great guy.
- Doesn't mean he wasn't dealing.
- Frank, these guys are dealt a really bad hand, all right?
This kid comes over here looking for a new life,
doesn't pick up any good cards when he crosses the border.
He's punted like a political football from Texas to here.
He got no family in the States so he can't get naturalized,
which means he can't get a good job, which means
he can't make a living wage.
- That's our guy.
* *
- 5-0! [all yelling]
- NYPD, stop!
Freeze! Police!
* *
Police! Stop!
- Oh, that had to hurt.
All right, come on. Get up.
Let's go. - [grunts]
I didn't have any drugs on me.
- Of course you don't.
But we don't care about that, Obie.
- We're the murder cops, Homicide.
Want to talk to you about Luis Morales.
- Homicide?
But--Luis is dead?
- Oh, you hadn't heard? Someone shot him.
- I tried to warn him.
- Tried to warn him about what?
- Ugh.
- Look, we're not trying to hem you up, bro.
We don't want the paperwork,
and you don't want to go to jail, am I right?
Okay, so just shoot us straight,
and we'll look the other way on the possession charge.
But you gotta tell us everything
that you know right now.
Talk!
- The last time I saw Luis was a few days ago.
He was going out to find work,
and he wanted to bring me with him.
He was trying to keep me busy, help me stay sober.
- What were you trying to warn him about?
- We went to look for work down at this
big construction site downtown.
I mean, they're building one of those giant skyscrapers.
- Okay. Okay, keep going.
- We had worked there before,
a lot of guys at the shelter too.
The foreman down there, he likes hiring guys
on the fringe, you know?
Illegals, deadbeats.
They pay us in cash.
No union rules.
- No union wages.
- Exactly.
Pennies on the dollar for the same damn work.
- So you go over to the construction site and?
- We saw something we shouldn't have seen.
* *
[sirens wailing]
- You're the foreman, Randall Tully?
- Yeah. Can I help you?
- NYPD.
We need you to shut down all work immediately.
- On what authority?
- The Supreme Court of the State of New York.
[device beeping]
[device beeping rapidly]
- Detectives, I found something.
* *
That's a skull.
There's the torso. Those are the legs.
- All still attached?
- Yes. Body looks fully intact.
So does the other one.
- Other one? - Yes.
There are two bodies. See?
Right here.
* *
.
- Our techs were working all night
excavating those two bodies we found in the foundation.
They're getting an autopsy right now.
So why don't you just do yourself a favor
and tell us who they are?
- I--I--I don't know anything about that.
- Randall, we got a witness who saw you
pour the concrete over the bodies.
Showed up at the site that morning with Luis Morales.
The witness saw what he saw, freaked out, and took off.
But Luis stayed, didn't he?
He stayed and he confronted you, didn't he?
- That why you killed him?
- I'm sorry, I--I don't know who you're talking about.
- You don't know Luis?
You gonna stick with that story?
Because we found some really interesting things
in his apartment.
Oh, you didn't know that, did you?
Yeah, he got out of the shelter, got his own place.
You know what we found there?
His journal.
It's a treasure trove. [chuckles]
You know what he was putting in there?
He was writing down all the stuff he was doing,
the people he was meeting, how he was working
for the number-one developer in New York City.
- Randall, he had a phone he took pictures with,
probably to send back to his family in Venezuela.
He let them know that he was doing good,
he got a good job, working for a good company, good people.
We have the photos. You want to see them?
- No, I remember the guy.
- Oh, so now you remember him?
- Well, I don't pour concrete.
You know, I'm the foreman.
- You're terrible at this, Randall.
- What? This? - Lying.
So do yourself a favor.
Just come clean with everything, please.
Come on.
[suspenseful music]
- Look, I didn't kill anybody, I swear to God.
They were already dead when I found them.
I hired two migrants for day labor.
They must have snuck back onto the site when
everyone left for the night. I don't know.
They were probably looking for a place to sleep.
- How did they die?
- They took an elevator that was only supposed to be
for building material and small equipment.
It's 100-pound weight limit.
It's 120 max.
There's a sign on the damn thing too.
Maybe they couldn't read English.
- You're saying this whole thing was an accident?
- When I gotta the site,
the elevator was smashed like a--
like a pancake, and they were on the ground
in the middle of the mess, dead.
- And you didn't think to call the police or report that?
You thought a better idea would be,
let's bury them in cement?
- No, no, of course, I wanted to do the right thing,
but there's been a lot of accidents lately,
and the city comptroller said he was gonna shut us down
if there was any more injuries.
So I--I just called Mr. Wise, my boss.
- Wait. Hold on, hold on.
* *
Eric Wise?
- Yeah.
Do--do you know him?
- No.
I just see his name on buildings like everybody else.
- Well, if you knew him, then you know how he'd feel
about a $300 million project being shut down.
He told me to make the problems go away.
- So you did.
- Yeah.
I'm not proud of it, but, you know.
- Yeah.
So let's talk about Luis Morales.
How did he end up dead? You shoot him?
- What? No.
That wasn't me.
I was at my house with my family all night.
- Who killed him then?
- I--I--
I told Mr. Wise that this Morales kid
was asking a lot of questions,
that he might have seen the dead bodies.
- And then what did Mr. Wise say?
- He said that he'd take care of it.
* *
- Hey.
ME said that both bodies recovered
at the construction site were dead prior
to being put in the concrete.
And the cause of death for both was
this massive traumatic event--
nearly every bone in their body was either broken or fractured.
We found an incident report too.
There was an elevator on site that collapsed four days ago.
No injuries reported.
- So Tully was telling the truth,
at least about those two.
- Doesn't mean he wasn't lying about killing Morales.
- His alibi checks out.
He was in Queens at the time of the murder.
[elevator beeping]
* *
- I called, and I told him I was coming.
- Yes, Mr. Wise is expecting you.
Follow me.
- [whistles] Hell of a view.
- Sir.
- You get to live up high when your empire
is built on other people's backs.
- Sorry to bother you. - No. No problem at all.
Have a seat.
Hey, you thirsty? Want something to drink?
- No.
- [sighs]
- The police found the two bodies.
- Yeah, I heard.
- But we're okay, though. I--they--they questioned me.
I said I didn't know anything, and they--they bought it.
So we're okay.
- And my biggest project is-- is shut down indefinitely,
maybe permanently because now it's
an active crime scene, so I don't know how okay I am.
- They also asked me about that Morales kid's murder,
and I said I didn't know anything about that, either.
- Because you don't, right?
- Yeah. Sure.
But my point is, is that I don't think
they have anything on you.
But just in case, you-- you should make sure
that you cover your tracks, and I could help.
- See, I don't know what you're talking about.
I mean, if you're somehow implying that
I had something to do with that day laborer's murder...
- No, I--you-- you said that you were
gonna take care of him.
- Yeah, I don't remember that conversation.
- I hid the bodies because you asked me to.
So you know you can trust me.
- I'm sorry to hear you say that, Randall.
- Wait, well, hold-- hold on, hold on.
You don't have to play tough guy.
- What? No one's playing tough guy,
but you come into my home,
you start making ridiculous accusations.
- He's in trouble. We gotta go in there.
- Wait.
- I just think it's best if you leave.
- Yeah, it's not a problem.
- And I also think it's best you find a new job.
- What do you--
- Someone's gotta be held accountable
for those two deaths.
That someone is you.
Show Randy out.
- Can you zoom in on the security guard?
- Yeah. - Small of his back.
- Oh, he's packing.
That looks like a 9 mil.
- Yep. - Mm-hmm.
- Psst. Hey, Ian. Hey.
No, no, no, no! Police. Police.
Do not do that. Do not do that.
We have a warrant for that weapon you're reaching for.
Do yourself a favor, take your hand away,
and put it above your head.
Do it now, or my partner will shoot you where you stand.
- Go ahead, sweetheart. Give me a reason.
- Do it.
[tense music]
Do it now!
- Above your head!
- Interlock your fingers.
Turn around! Turn around!
Ian Belsky, you're under arrest.
- What for?
- Well, for starters, possessing a firearm
without a conceal permit.
But once we've run the ballistics,
I'm sure we'll upgrade that charge to murder.
* *
.
- Ballistic tests confirm that your gun was the one
used to kill Mr. Morales.
Police found traces of Morales's blood
on clothing recovered from your apartment.
And we can place your car and your cell phone
near the park at the time of the murder.
- I assume you brought us here for more than just
a show and tell.
- When police searched Mr. Belsky's apartment,
they also found a duffel bag filled with $100,000 in cash.
If someone paid you to kill Luis Morales,
we might be able to work out some sort of an arrangement.
- What kind of arrangement?
- Depending on what he says, we'd be willing to offer
man one, recommend 20 years.
- [scoffs] I want ten.
- [laughs] You're looking at life.
20 is a gift.
- They can't use anything I say here against me, right?
- That's correct.
- If I keep my mouth shut and eat the charge,
Eric Wise is gonna take care of my family.
Only thing he can't offer me is time, you can.
And if you won't, I'll take his money.
Ten years or I don't testify.
[tense music]
* *
- Without Belsky, we don't have a case against Wise.
- Ten years for a cold-blooded murder?
- I--I get it, but--
- But what?
- Wise ordered the murder.
And he is a threat to society.
He regularly uses and abuses migrant workers
to build his skyscrapers.
- There have been eight deaths on Wise City construction sites
over the past two years alone.
- Not counting the two workers buried in cement?
- And those are just the ones we know about.
Who knows how many others he's covered up.
- Unfortunately, the practice of hiring unskilled workers
is not uncommon nor even illegal in many instances.
Lots of companies do it.
There was an article in "The Times"
a couple of months ago detailing a number
of accidental deaths
on construction sites all over the city.
- But unlike those developers, Eric Wise escalated
to straight-up murder.
- Yeah, which means we can put him away for life.
- If we give Belsky what he wants,
we need to be sure his testimony is enough
to get a conviction against Wise.
- I understand.
- Okay.
Make the deal.
- Mr. Belsky, you admit to murdering Luis Morales?
- Yes.
I shot him three times.
- And did the defendant, Eric Wise, pay you to kill him?
- Yes.
He offered me 100 grand
but said it had to be done that day.
- He say why?
- Apparently, the kid knew something
he wasn't supposed to.
Wise needed him silenced before he talked.
- And after you killed Mr. Morales,
did the defendant pay you the money he promised?
- Yeah.
The next day, I went to his apartment,
where he gave me the money in cash.
- Thank you. Nothing further.
- There's no proof of this transaction
you claim happened, is there?
No bank statements, wire transfer logs?
- Like I said, he paid me in cash.
- Do you know Randall Tully,
the foreman who Luis Morales caught pouring concrete
over the two dead construction workers?
- Yeah, I know him.
- You two close?
- I only know him because we both worked for Wise.
- But Randall Tully doesn't work
for Mr. Wise anymore, does he?
No, my client fired him once he learned
of his horrific actions--
attempting to cover up the accident,
which occurred under his supervision.
- Objection. Relevance?
- Where is this going, Mr. Rems?
- Your Honor, as foreman, Randall Tully
had exclusive access to a slush fund
to address any issues that arose on the site.
The defense is entering into evidence financial records
showing that $100,000 is missing from this account.
Isn't it true, Mr. Belsky,
that it was Randall Tully who hired you
to kill Luis Morales to stop him from telling
anyone what he saw Randall do?
- No.
- And isn't it true that he's agreed to pay you
even more money to point the finger at my client,
the man who fired him?
- No.
Eric Wise is the one who hired me.
- Mm-hmm.
[tense music]
Mr. Belsky...
You've admitted to everyone here
that you murdered someone for money.
Doesn't it stand to reason that you'd just as easily
lie for money too?
* *
.
- Tully swears he didn't take the money out of that account.
But the bank statements clearly show
he was the authorized user who withdrew the 100k.
- Is there video of the transaction?
- It happened over two months ago.
The bank doesn't keep video logs going back that far.
Wise is smart.
He must have figured out some way to withdraw
the money using Tully's card.
- Yeah, or he--or he paid someone after the fact
to doctor the records.
Either way, they've given the jury
a credible narrative that Randall Tully, not Eric Wise,
was behind the murder.
- We can call Tully to the stand,
have him refute the claim.
- No, given that the defense has painted him
as a bitter ex-employee with an axe to grind against Wise,
and the fact the jury's already heard about him
burying two dead bodies under the concrete,
I don't think they'll find him any more credible than Belsky.
We're gonna have to find something else.
- Hmm.
- Is that a good "hmm"?
- Maybe.
In Cosgrove's arrest report, he mentions that
Eric Wise's housekeeper showed the detective
into Wise's office to make the arrest.
She was also present when Tully tried
to implicate Wise on the wire.
- What's your point?
- Wise doesn't think of the people
who work for him as human beings.
Hell, he doesn't even think of them at all.
Which makes it easy to forget that they are people
with thoughts and feelings--
- And ears.
[indistinct chatter]
- Excuse me. - Yes.
- I'm with the district attorney's office.
- Well, what do you want?
- I just want to ask you a few questions
about your boss, Eric Wise.
- I have nothing to say.
- [speaking Arabic]
- We're from Beirut.
- Oh, that's where my parents are from.
They moved here years ago, before I was born.
- And now you're a lawyer here?
- Uh-huh. [chuckles]
- [chuckles]
- Samantha Maroun.
- Soraya Hamoud.
- And I'm Injila.
I like your bag.
- Injila, go upstairs.
I'll be there soon, okay?
- How long have you two been in the U.S.?
- Almost two years.
I wanted a better life.
- I understand.
You know your boss, Eric Wise, is on trial, right?
- Yes.
- I need to know if you ever heard him talking
to his bodyguard, Ian Belsky.
[tense music]
* *
It's okay.
- Mr. Wise likes to act like I don't exist.
- The day after Morales was murdered,
Soraya heard Wise tell Ian Belsky he did a good job
taking care of the problem.
He also told him not to deposit the 100k he gave him
to avoid a paper trail.
- Sounds good to me.
- But Soraya and her daughter are here illegally.
She had friends who applied for H-1 visas and were denied,
and she was scared it would happen to her too.
- So how did she get here?
- She got a tourist visa, claimed they were visiting
a cousin and gave a fake address on the application,
and has been evading ICE ever since.
- She can still testify.
We don't report undocumented witnesses
to federal authorities.
- I told her that, but she's scared.
- Of course.
But we don't have a choice.
We need her testimony.
- Oh, so we use her
like Eric Wise used undocumented workers
to build his buildings?
This could ruin her life and her daughter's.
- She attempted to circumvent the law.
It's not up to us to shield her from the consequences of that.
We'll do everything we can to protect her, you have my word.
But we're calling her to the stand.
* *
.
- Your Honor, we're having some difficulty
locating our next witness, Soraya Hamoud.
The People request a brief continuance
while detectives track her down.
- The prosecution is obviously stalling here.
If the state can't make their case, that's on them.
- I'll give you 24 hours, Mr. Price.
But tomorrow morning, the trial will resume
with or without your witness.
I'll see you all then. [gavel bangs]
We're adjourned.
- Soraya could be anywhere.
For all we know, she's halfway to California by now.
- We found her.
- That's good news.
- Yeah, well, I'm not so sure about that.
She's in ICE custody.
Her neighbors said that they raided her apartment
in the middle of the night.
They took Soraya and her daughter.
[tense music]
* *
- Son of a bitch tipped off the Feds.
- Where is Soraya being detained?
- I'm sorry, the detainee you're attempting to see
isn't allowed visitors.
If you'd called ahead, we could have warned you.
- I'm not here for a visitation.
Soraya Hamoud is a witness in a murder trial.
We're requesting that you release her
and her daughter to state custody so she can testify.
- Not that simple.
- There are allowances for instances where
a witness is necessary or-- - There are.
But I can't just let her go.
You need to file the necessary paperwork.
- By the time I do that, she'll be back in Lebanon.
- Sorry. Nothing I can do.
- You may want to rethink that statement
if you want me to keep my mouth shut.
* *
- Excuse me?
- I have a big mouth, Mr. Garson.
A really big mouth.
And I can get really loud, too,
especially when I know about a federal agency
aiding and abetting a murderer.
- They took Injila away from me.
I--I don't know where she is.
- She's here.
She's being held with other children her age,
but she is safe.
- I need to see her.
I need my daughter.
- I will talk to them.
- We can't go back to Lebanon.
We have nothing there.
Her life-- - I've arranged a deal.
If you agree to testify against Wise,
they'll keep you and your daughter in custody,
but they'll postpone your removal hearings
until after the trial is over.
- So you get what you need, but what about us?
- Well, the delay will buy us some time
to figure out how to keep you here.
My boss is the district attorney.
He has some sway.
And your assistance in a high-profile case
will help us argue you should be allowed to stay.
There's still hope.
Trust me.
* *
- Ms. Hamoud, could you please tell the court
about the conversation you overheard
between the defendant and Ian Belsky
on the afternoon of Thursday, November 10?
- They were in his office.
Mr. Wise had me bring whiskey.
I remember thinking it was early to be drinking,
but they were celebrating something.
Mr. Wise made a toast.
- Do you know what it was they were celebrating?
- I didn't at the time.
But Mr. Wise thanked Mr. Belsky,
said he did a good job taking care of his problem.
- Did you hear him say anything else?
- He told him to be careful with the money
he had given him.
He said that if Mr. Belsky deposited
$100,000 in his bank account, it would be suspicious.
He told him not to spend it
on something extravagant, either.
- Did you notice anything unusual
when Mr. Belsky left the apartment that afternoon?
- Yes.
He left with a piece of luggage, a small bag.
There is a word for it. Uh.
- Duffel bag? - Yes, that's it.
He did not have it when he arrived.
- Thank you.
Nothing further, Your Honor.
- You're asking us to believe that my client
said all of these incredibly incriminating things
right in front of you?
- Mr. Wise never really thought about where I was or wasn't.
Most of the time, he forgot I was even there.
* *
- Ms. Hamoud,
are you a legal resident of the United States?
- No, I am not.
- So you're here illegally?
- Yes.
- In fact, you're currently in federal custody, aren't you?
- Yes.
- Ms. Hamoud, did the district attorney's office
offer you a deal to stay in this country in exchange
for testifying against my client?
- They said they would help.
- No further questions, Your Honor.
- But I would have testified even if they didn't.
- Your Honor.
- I left where I'm from
because powerful people abused
and oppressed people like me.
I came here because I believed this country was better,
that there was more opportunity here for people like me.
And I still believe that.
[dramatic music]
* *
- Will the defendant please rise?
Madam Foreperson, has the jury reached the verdict?
- We have, Your Honor.
In the charge of murder in the first degree,
we find the defendant, Eric Wise...
guilty.
* *
- Okay, thank you so much.
- Ms. Maroun.
- Good news.
I just found an amazing immigration lawyer.
- It's too late.
- What do you mean?
- Soraya's hearing was yesterday.
- What?
They said they would wait until after the trial was over.
- They lied.
- Well, that's disgusting.
- It sure is.
- Well, then--then we file a petition,
figure out how to reverse the decision.
- They're gone.
Soraya and her daughter are back in Lebanon.
* *
- Excuse me.
[dramatic music]
* *
[wolf howls]