[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[suspenseful music]
- It was close contact, which suggested she knew her killer.
- Get your hands up!
Open the driver's side door!
- He's got smooth sailing.
If he believes that nobody's going to say he did this--
- He knew a heck of a lot more than he was letting on.
- We're appealing to his compassion, humanity.
- See, I try to find the best in people,
and then I get lied to.
It's now or never.
- There's a potential witness.
- If the jury does not believe our surprise witness,
that will prevent a conviction, full stop.
- The defense showed that he could have been lying.
- It's a total nightmare at that point in time.
narrator: For those most affected by a homicide,
the first 48 is just the beginning.
- He took my baby. [crying]
narrator: This is the story of the fight for justice
in the weeks, months, and years
after the first 48.
♪ ♪
[soft somber music]
♪ ♪
[line ringing]
[sobbing]
[tense music]
♪ ♪
- Yeah, it's opening morning of deer hunting season.
I was going to take my oldest.
I woke him up and told him, sorry, buddy,
I got to go to work.
♪ ♪
In 2014, I had two years in the unit.
You know, I was still learning.
And I wanted to do the best job I can.
You can't fix someone being dead.
So what can I do?
Try to bring justice for them.
♪ ♪
[dog barking]
- This job is meant to deal with people that
are having their worst days.
It's heartbreaking, but I try not to get
into the emotions or feelings.
That makes the job a little bit tougher.
[indistinct chatter]
♪ ♪
- Hey, Sarge. What do we got?
- [exhales]
♪ ♪
narrator: 31-year-old Leslie Griffin was
known as Bella.
She moved to Tulsa 17 years ago with her mother.
She worked as a cashier, but struggled with drug addiction
and had recently been living on the streets.
♪ ♪
- It was close contact, which suggested to me
that she knew her killer.
It's a sad deal.
♪ ♪
- You guys find any casings?
- Just that one live one.
- We're looking to put all the pieces together.
What is those final moments?
- Obviously, somebody's gone through her purse.
- Is it an argument?
Is it a John?
- These two gentlemen.
- There was a father, son
right in front of where it happened.
It gives you a starting point.
- What do you recall from tonight?
- I thought I had heard a shot right around 1:30.
I looked outside all the windows
and didn't see anything.
- OK, and then you went to bed.
- Yeah.
- Can I talk to you for a second over here?
- OK.
- I wanted to get the father by himself
so he's not having to be concerned about,
what am I saying in front of my son.
Do you know who this girl is?
- I don't think I've really seen that one.
I've seen that other one that was hanging--
they were talking to earlier, that Patty girl.
She's been over for years.
And I heard commotion.
narrator: He says two hours after the gunshot,
he heard Patty shouting.
- It sounded like she was arguing with somebody.
She was right there by that bush.
And then the guy was there.
- What guy?
- It was a bearded guy, a guy who's named Louis.
And he walked off.
I know he lives in those apartments over there.
♪ ♪
- You guys canvas that apartment building.
When you find Louis, thumbs up. - OK.
♪ ♪
narrator: Three hours in.
- I'll tell you what. They'll run you downtown,
and we'll talk to you down there?
♪ ♪
narrator: Patty, the 911 caller,
is also taken to headquarters.
- It gives you a glimmer of hope
they will tell you what they know.
- You doing OK, Louis?
- After what I just seen, the best I can.
When the officer finally got to...
shine their light on the side of that woman's head--
[sniffles]
It's burnt into my [bleep] eyes.
♪ ♪
I'll tell you what I heard.
It was about 3:30 this morning.
I hear this-- just beating on my door.
I said, "Who is it?"
And he says, "It's Todd.
"And I need a ride. I got $50.
It's an emergency."
I said, "Man, I don't have a vehicle.
You know that. Go the [bleep] away."
Well, I was kind of irritated, so I open my door
and I hear her outside, just hysterical.
- You hear Patty screaming--
- I hear her screaming, and I know her voice.
And I ran over there.
- OK.
When he said it's Todd, you knew exactly who it was.
- Yeah.
He's a very dark Black man, and he's missing teeth.
He does stay behind that yellow house with her.
- Patty? - Mm-hmm.
They are homeless.
She's--
narrator: Louis says Patty works in the sex trade.
- OK, is he like her pimp or--
- I'm not 100% on that, but--
- You know, the detective I was then versus the detective
I am now, you have a lot more experience.
Louis gives us some leads,
but ultimately, it was a part of a story.
It wasn't the whole story.
Why is it an emergency for Todd?
- Fled the scene right before police get there.
Doesn't look good for Todd.
- At that time, we had a little bit of something
to go on--the name Todd.
Maybe Patty can tell us all of the story.
What do you know?
What have you seen and heard tonight?
- The only thing-- I seen this Black dude
on 10th and St. Louis.
He was leaning over her, and she had some belongings.
He was digging.
- You saw him digging where?
- He was like this,
and he was scrounging like this.
And then he went--
and he said, "Does anybody have a phone?"
I said, "I do."
And I started running down there.
I said, what's going on?
What happened?
So when I looked, I said, that's my friend.
That's Bella.
That's who I sleep with in that little shed
behind the yellow house.
- Do you know who this guy was that asked you to--
- No.
- Does he live in the neighborhood?
- I have seen him around.
- Patty would never say who that individual was.
So it's a little bit more poking and prodding
to get to the truth.
Anybody else staying in the shed with you, Bella?
Who is Todd?
- I never was in there--
- I didn't ask you that.
You know Todd I'm talking about?
- I've seen him around.
- Did you see him tonight?
- Mm-mm.
- Was Todd the Black guy you saw bent over--
- I don't--I don't know who.
I couldn't tell who or what.
- Dealing with people is the most challenging part
of any police officer's job.
Patty's trying to protect Patty.
But you do know Todd.
- I know of him.
- So if I showed you a picture, you'd be able to say,
"Yeah, that's the guy, that was Todd"?
- Let me tell you something.
There's a big difference knowing somebody
and knowing of somebody just being out there.
I'm a working girl.
♪ ♪
I told you guys what information I have.
I don't know any more.
I can't deal with a bunch of questions, man.
- She was all over the place.
Patty realizes that she still has
to live there in that neighborhood,
and she really can't say too much.
♪ ♪
- Todd's maybe their pimp.
Say they get in an argument, pulls the trigger.
And then a couple hours later, no one's found her yet.
He goes back, grabs the money out of her purse.
Patty shows up, sees him, and then he takes off.
♪ ♪
narrator: The team searches the database
for men fitting the description
Louis and Patty gave.
♪ ♪
- Here he is right there, brother.
That is the mother[bleep] right there.
All my children--
- Got him.
♪ ♪
He says, "I think that's him."
Lincoln Todd Newton.
- He's got quite a record--
spent 16 years in prison.
He's obviously there and has the opportunity.
We needed to find Todd.
♪ ♪
- Her mother looks almost identical.
You can just tell how healthy Leslie looks.
I remember meeting Leslie's mom, Connie.
She described her as someone who was funny.
She was strong-willed.
And this is all, obviously, before the addiction
kind of took over her life.
♪ ♪
At the time of Leslie's murder,
Connie had not had a lot of contact with her.
Leslie just probably didn't want her mom
to really know what was going on.
And this is the shed where Leslie and Patty
had been sleeping.
She was not only struggling with her addiction,
but she was also working on the streets.
I've met a lot of women like Leslie
who lived these situations.
And people like to say, oh, my gosh,
why would anyone do that?
I'm sure Leslie would have rather gone home
to a clean house every night and lived a different life.
But unless you've experienced that level of addiction,
you don't know why anyone would do that.
So this is the flowers placed where Leslie's body was found.
And to die in the street in the dark,
it definitely hits home for me as a woman, as a mother,
that there's a lot of women out there
that are in these situations.
♪ ♪
narrator: 8 hours into the investigation...
[suspenseful music]
- Being that Todd was homeless,
we looked the streets, the shelters,
anywhere that he might frequent.
- Tulsa Police.
- You've seen him today?
narrator: After 4 hours...
- Go ahead.
♪ ♪
- Over there? - Yep.
Hop up in front.
- Put your seat belt on.
♪ ♪
- I wasn't optimistic in getting Todd to talk.
What's it going to benefit him to tell me his story?
Where were you at last night, Todd?
- I went all over town last night
for a bit of panhandle hustling stuff, yeah.
- Anything interesting happen?
- Um, yeah.
A friend of mine, a real close friend of mine,
I seen her on the ground.
I just tried to wake her up.
You know what I'm saying?
And you know, I love her, so you know,
I was trying to help her.
And being an old girl coming around the corner, Patty did.
- What time do you think you got out
of that area last night?
- When I left the bar to come down, it was like 12:20.
Back and forth to QuikTrip,
drunk, like, maybe three or four beers on the steps.
- You said your friend.
Who's your friend that died last night?
- She died?
I didn't know she died.
I just said she wouldn't wake up.
I didn't know she was dead. She dead?
Bella?
- What I was picking up from Todd
was that he knew a heck of a lot more
than he was letting on.
- But I was not sure if he was our suspect or not.
- Did you go through her purse at all?
- I grabbed a book of rolling papers.
I still got the papers.
- He actually gives quite a few details of what he was doing.
When someone doesn't give you a whole lot of detail,
it's usually an indication that they're trying to hide stuff.
There's a witness that sees you run up
to some apartment building right afterwards.
- I hear this-- just beating on my door.
I said, "Who is it?"
And he says, "It's Todd."
- Do you know anybody north of 10th Street,
in those apartments back there?
- A white dude.
I don't know his name.
I might have went down there.
I'm trying to think.
I might went and knock on his door and ask him for a ride.
- Todd was leaving stuff out.
But I didn't feel that he was my killer.
- He said, "I ain't got no car."
Said, "All right, cool. You all right."
I just forgot about it.
♪ ♪
- It's possible that she gets shot
when he goes back to the QuikTrip,
is why he doesn't hear the shot.
- I don't feel one minuscule amount that he is the shooter.
Could he have been there when something happened
and ran off and then comes back to check on her?
That's still a possibility.
- I think Nathan does read a lot of goodness in people
in a squad full of veteran homicide cops.
Sometimes we can get jaded to the point
where we think everybody's lying.
But I just had a feeling on Todd.
- Are you going to tell me you don't think he killed her?
- He doesn't have money for a gun.
- Right now, we got nothing to dispute his story.
- We had no evidence that he actually hurt Bella.
- We're going to take Todd back to the shelter.
We'll go back to the neighborhood,
see if we can drum up any more leads.
♪ ♪
narrator: 33 hours in.
- In talking to some of the people in the neighborhood,
found out that there was a small-time drug dealer.
One witness described him as selling bad dope to Bella.
It'd be cut so it wouldn't get someone as high,
or it might just be completely fake
to where it wouldn't get you high at all.
narrator: The witness told Schilling
the man goes by the nickname K.
- So if he's selling her bogus dope,
and she's raising a stink with him out there in the street--
- Some of the people that knew Bella
described her as being vocal.
So if she got bad dope from somebody,
she's probably going to make a fuss.
♪ ♪
It is a big deal to get the information on K.
Stephen Scyffore, 24 years old.
narrator: Stephen Scyffore earned his GED
and lives in the neighborhood where Leslie was killed.
- Robbery, dangerous drugs, and weapons.
narrator: As the first 48 runs out...
- We found out our narcotics unit
was already investigating him for some drug transactions.
They had enough to get a search warrant
for his apartment.
♪ ♪
narrator: The team heads to Stephen's apartment.
- Car 11 to St. Louis.
- Ideally, if we can get the suspect out of the house
before we go up to it, that's a better scenario
than us going up to a house
where he's going to have the advantage.
You're dealing with people that aren't afraid to shoot.
- [exhales]
♪ ♪
- OK, he's actually in the car.
- Boo-yah!
- Northbound on St. Louis.
♪ ♪
See him across down there.
[door beeping]
- Get your hands up!
♪ ♪
- Open up your driver's side door.
- Let me see both your hands. - All right.
Turn around.
♪ ♪
- I felt good.
Now I get an opportunity to find out
what he was doing that night.
♪ ♪
In a perfect world, you'd love to get a confession.
But getting someone to confess to a murder
is one of the hardest things there is.
You know why we were there this morning.
- You all had a search warrant. - Yeah.
And there's a lot of stuff going on in that neighborhood.
And we're just trying to figure some of that stuff out.
♪ ♪
The morning Bella got killed, I--
- It's kind of weird. Like, no, I didn't know her.
I'm just investigating her death.
Maybe he thought, oh, I'll acknowledge knowing her,
and then I'll maybe see what information
I might be able to get out of Detective Schilling.
- Stephen came across as polite, respectful,
but he also seemed pretty cold.
♪ ♪
- He's got smooth sailing.
He believes, in his mind,
that nobody's going to say he did this.
- Was she getting from you?
- The fact that he is a drug dealer,
it's part of the picture.
And that's why she was interacting with him.
- What do you think happened?
- I agree.
And some of those shady characters, as you say,
has even thrown down your name.
♪ ♪
No?
♪ ♪
- Let me talk to Detective Schilling
for a minute.
♪ ♪
- Like right now?
♪ ♪
- I was afraid of that.
He had some crack cocaine in his pocket.
- There's enough for Stephen to go to jail for drugs,
but there's nothing to keep him there for the murder.
♪ ♪
- At that point, you're kind of stuck spinning your wheels.
What if you don't ever get anything else?
♪ ♪
narrator: But two days later...
♪ ♪
- We got word that there's a potential witness
that we just brought in.
He's sitting on something.
♪ ♪
- I believe he knows what's going on.
He's just fearful of saying that.
- You have the opportunity to do the right thing,
or keep your mouth shut and let stuff like this
go on and happen.
So when do we, as a society,
sit there and say, dude, enough's enough?
We're appealing to something,
whether you want to call it his compassion, humanity.
- Just do the right thing, man.
Seriously.
♪ ♪
- What were they doing?
♪ ♪
- That's huge.
The statement that Stephen says to the surprise witness
is almost as good as a confession.
- Without a doubt in your mind,
Todd was there when this gal got shot?
- Todd obviously left some stuff out of his story
when we talked the first time.
But then there's something that raises the stakes.
narrator: The team learns Stephen has been released
on bond for the drug charges.
- And now, all of a sudden, there's this pressure.
- So we needed to go find Todd again
and put a little bit more pressure on him.
♪ ♪
narrator: After four days of searching...
♪ ♪
[car honks]
Todd.
♪ ♪
- Yes, sir.
♪ ♪
- You were there, and you saw it happen.
- But I can. - If I seen them--
- You say you cared about her.
This interview with Todd--
it could really easily solidify what our witness told us.
This is his opportunity to be truthful,
to be honest, come clean.
- It is what it is, man.
I ain't trying to--
I ain't trying to hide [bleep], man.
- Why do you think I'm talking to you?
- When I know that a witness lied to me in the past,
it changes the dynamic.
The surprise witness said he's there
right before Bella gets killed.
He could do what's right for Bella,
but his right for himself and my right
clearly aren't in line.
♪ ♪
- Listen to me, man.
When the person who pulled the trigger gets arrested,
if you don't get out in front of this,
you're just as culpable.
♪ ♪
- I'm gonna tell you again, I don't know.
I'm done, man.
- You have this bubble of optimism,
thinking that Todd would push it over the edge.
And then it just pops.
But at this point, we're pretty sure
Stephen Scyffore is who it is.
I thought, let's go talk to a DA.
♪ ♪
- I would hesitate to write a arrest warrant.
I think you're close.
- But Sergeant Walker wanted more.
My question is, what else do I need?
To me, that's a confession.
♪ ♪
- You know, in the back of my mind,
what if it doesn't get any better?
It's like, what else is there?
What else can I do?
- Corroboration.
And I think we can get somewhere else.
We need to look at it from a defense attorney standpoint.
What are they going to be able to shoot holes in?
That's why we need that extra piece of confirmation.
It's there.
Maybe it takes another canvass of the whole neighborhood.
Nathan Schilling wasn't none too happy with me.
- Sergeant Walker just wants to be able
to say without a doubt, there's no stone left unturned.
- So what do you think about taking another run at Louis?
Maybe he's heard something new?
♪ ♪
Come on, Nate. Let's go.
Cheer up a little bit. Holy crap.
I'm not a cheerleader.
Our job from that point is,
OK, suck it up, and let's go get more.
♪ ♪
[knocking at door]
- How are you doing?
- Louis, how are you, sir?
- I'm good.
♪ ♪
narrator: 12 days into the investigation...
♪ ♪
- You know, we talked before,
and having had some time to decompress,
anything else you remember?
- Nothing really changed.
- What about earlier in the night?
- I had come home from work.
- You didn't go out at all?
- Not really.
- You say not really.
I mean--
- Honestly, I cannot remember.
I don't know if I went down the street to my buddy's house.
- Who's your buddy? - K.
♪ ♪
- I just had the feeling that Louis was
withholding additional information.
Having been around the block long enough, in this job,
I expect people to lie to us.
- Have you asked him about Bella?
- I've asked him, like, you know, what happened,
and I've never got a real response.
I know for a fact because I've heard it come out of his mouth
that Bella did owe him money.
- Now we've got Louis giving us motive
as to why this happened.
- You're excited.
But then you're also frustrated and disappointed
and like, why didn't you tell me this before?
Wouldn't you think that's pretty important?
- I'm trying my best to tell you everything I know.
- I got to call [bleep].
I'm cynical, but Nate is hopeful.
I don't think he was expecting for folks just
to boom, right off the gate, start lying to you.
- Here, in this moment, I had this point
where it's like, it's now or never.
See, I try to find the best in people,
and then I get lied to and I get walked on.
And then I deal with these guys that have been around
and seen it a lot more and seen people like me
get fed a line of BS when it is--
and then they're sitting on the outside watching
and just watching me eat it up.
♪ ♪
- I do know one thing that I was--
I did not tell you at first.
narrator: Louis identifies the man who showed him
the message as the surprise witness.
- Louis finally puts all of his cards on the table.
And this is all pointing back to K.
It feels good.
- It worked out well.
We've got the truth.
Arrest the killer, and move on.
♪ ♪
- The warrant's filed.
Now we just have to find him.
He's out on bond.
♪ ♪
narrator: The team stakes out Stephen's neighborhood.
♪ ♪
- Let's go.
♪ ♪
[dogs barking]
♪ ♪
[indistinct chatter]
♪ ♪
- What are you doing?
- You're under arrest for first-degree murder.
♪ ♪
- Probably the most satisfaction is being able
to go and tell Connie that we made an arrest.
♪ ♪
[knocking at door]
♪ ♪
- Hi. - Hi, Connie.
- Come on in.
- Thanks for seeing us so late.
We just wanted to come by so we could tell you in person.
♪ ♪
We made an arrest in Bella's death, Leslie's death.
There's a man who lived across the street
from where she was killed.
His name is Stephen Scyffore.
♪ ♪
- Why?
Why?
Why did he do it?
- I don't know why.
♪ ♪
He declined to speak to us.
This is just the first step.
And now it's going to be a court process.
♪ ♪
- But I wanna be there.
I wanna be in the courtroom.
And I want to let him know that he took my baby.
She was somebody.
[crying]
I just hope that he doesn't ever
get out and hurt anyone else.
- I'm going to do my best.
♪ ♪
- Thank you.
- Oh, you're welcome.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
- Yes.
- It brings a sense of satisfaction,
but the arrest is only the beginning.
♪ ♪
narrator: Tulsa Homicide hands the case over
to the DA's office.
- I don't have an actual eyewitness.
I'm not very likely to have any forensic evidence--
DNA, fingerprints.
So this case is going to be about witnesses.
- I've seen this Black dude leaning over her.
- I grabbed a book of rolling papers.
- And he typed into his phone, "Don't say nothing about K."
- Corroboration was going to be the key
to unlocking this case.
♪ ♪
narrator: 18 months after Stephen's arrest,
his murder trial begins.
- The defense comes out swinging.
At the end of his opening statement,
he, more or less, says not just that my client is not guilty,
but I'm going to prove to you who the killer is.
Todd is the killer.
♪ ♪
- When I heard the defense say that Todd had
committed the murder,
that was very hard to hear.
- My head's just racing
because I'm going to have to disprove it.
- To Connie, Leslie's mother, that felt like,
oh, my gosh, Stephen is going to get away with this.
And I just kept saying, this is opening statement.
It's persuasion.
But when you're sitting there, and it's your loved one,
every word is like a knife.
♪ ♪
narrator: To counter the defense's claim,
Grayless calls Louis to the stand.
- He's ready to go.
And he says what he told police.
- This dude walked up to me that night.
Typed into his phone,
"Don't say nothing about K. Don't say K's name."
♪ ♪
- So I'm like, OK, we're on our way.
He's a solid witness.
- But then he made a motion with his hand
that raises alarm bells.
- He tells us the day after the homicide,
Stephen rolls by in this car,
and he gives them this mean look.
And then he makes this hand gesture--
the gun gesture, fingers extended.
And he pulls the trigger.
And the defense immediately jumps up and asks to approach.
narrator: Stephen's counsel requests a mistrial
because he claims there's no record of Louis telling
anyone about the gun motion.
- The defense argued that it was prejudicial,
overly prejudicial to their case.
The judge agreed and declared a mistrial.
♪ ♪
But the truth is, this was on the record.
This is Louis's second interview.
The video is what is key to whether or not
that was this gun gesture.
- He was in the car. - Did he ask you--
- So this is the critical hand motion.
- And he kind of went like this to me as he drove by.
- So there's the motion.
So it's definitely not like a peace sign.
It's definitely not a hard gun.
It's just this kind of limp-handed motion
that he makes as he describes
this uncomfortable feeling he has from Stephen.
- But the smile that he gave me was just off-putting.
It was kind of creepy.
- My argument was that this was open for interpretation.
It's a total nightmare at that point in time.
- To think that one motion can completely stop it--
it's very defeating.
♪ ♪
- It was a difficult case to get everybody there
and get them cooperative.
And then it's like, mistrial.
Do it again.
narrator: The setback also gives Grayless an opportunity.
- Now we know the defense's strategy.
They're going to point the finger at Todd.
♪ ♪
So here we go.
Eight months later, take two.
narrator: The retrial of Stephen Scyffore begins.
- Louis's testimony went much smoother the second time
with the hand gesture on the record in the first trial.
And it came very clear he was still afraid of Stephen.
♪ ♪
I now have the defendant pointing a gun finger
at one of our key witnesses and "pulling" a trigger.
That's great evidence.
narrator: But Louis's testimony doesn't just
help the prosecution.
- He gave the defense something to work with also.
In the investigation, who's the first guy
that really says Todd does something?
It's Louis.
- He says, "It's Todd, and I need a ride."
♪ ♪
- I remember Louis saying that Todd came up to his door
because he needed a ride to get out of town.
And it sounds like you're trying to get away,
like after you did something bad.
It's very suspicious.
♪ ♪
- Louis knew that Todd had been in that area.
And he thought that Todd might have done it.
- The defense has gone full bore, attack.
I have to respond.
I have to go on the offensive.
Now this case hinged on that surprise witness.
♪ ♪
He gets up, and he tells me
exactly what Stephen said to him--
that "I just smoked that B."
That's damning testimony.
narrator: But there's a problem with relying
on the surprise witness.
- He had a pending first-degree burglary count
in another county.
He was facing up to 20 years in prison.
And I had told him that I can give him consideration
if he does the right thing and tells the truth
about what he saw.
So the defense accused him of essentially being a pawn
of the State of Oklahoma.
We do not have a case if the jury does not
believe our surprise witness.
That will prevent a conviction of Stephen, full stop.
♪ ♪
- When the defense brings up
the surprise witness's criminal history,
there's a concern there that
a jury would not believe him because of that.
♪ ♪
- They really went after him and really showed
that he could have been lying.
♪ ♪
- The defense's case was looking very good.
narrator: On the second day of testimony...
- Now my back's against the wall.
The entire case is going to turn on the next one,
how Todd reacts on the witness stand.
He was the exact person that the defense was going
to say committed the murder.
- When Eric decided to call Todd as a witness,
I was apprehensive.
He was such a volatile person.
- [bleep] will tell you anything about me,
but until you ask me--
- Why do you think I'm talking to you?
- I don't give a [bleep].
- You never know what he's going to do.
And that's why I realized, hey,
I have to switch strategies.
narrator: Grayless calls Lincoln Todd Newton
to the stand.
- Here we have the testimony that Todd gave in the trial.
I ask open-ended questions
and questions that end in, like, "why" or "how,"
as opposed to something that may just be more
of a yes or no or a narrative question.
I want to show that jury that he does not have the capacity
to commit this crime.
So I want to get Todd talking.
I say to Todd, "When you say you're hustling,
will you tell the jury what that means?"
He says, "Hustling--selling dope
"and helping girls that need a hookup.
And we get high and collaborate."
He talked about doing so many drugs that day
that his ability to do really anything
was up for question.
"'Tell me what you did that night.'
"'I went to a bar, met a girl at the bar.
"'We had a few beers, was going to go get some work.
Took off on my bicycle.'"
The testimony was so scattered that he's just a drug user,
not, you know, the cold-blooded killer.
♪ ♪
narrator: The defense summons their only witness.
- They call Patty.
This was a surprise.
- She said that Stephen wasn't mean.
He was giving her clothes and a place to stay and food.
And I think she felt that she needed
to say all these nice things about him
so that if he did get out, he wasn't looking for her.
♪ ♪
- She seemed convincing, saying that
Stephen Scyffore was like a brother
and he was also friends with Bella.
♪ ♪
narrator: Both sides rest,
and the jury leaves to deliberate.
- I'm nervous because it's this human unknown.
You put people in a room, and you just don't know
what's going to happen.
- This is something that really stayed in my mind a long time.
- Oh, yeah.
My first thought was "not guilty."
- I had the opposite.
I thought that Stephen could have done it.
- I had Patty's testimony that made me think
that maybe Stephen didn't do it,
and then also Todd's testimony as well.
He left a lot of unknowns.
So it was like, oh, maybe-- maybe he did do it.
So it made it real difficult for me.
- There's a big jump between reasonable doubt and certain.
♪ ♪
I want to be really convinced to feel absolutely sure.
Todd--there were certain reasons
that he just didn't fit it.
He was not at certain places at certain times.
But K, he hauled it out of there,
telling a guy he smoked her.
Nobody else had any motive.
- Yeah, it was good to talk it out with people.
When I made my final vote, I felt real good about it.
♪ ♪
- When that jury walks out,
I just can't look at them because I'm scared.
- All 12 of us came to the same conclusion.
♪ ♪
- They said guilty.
♪ ♪
- Connie just gave out this, like, OK.
And she just kept saying,
"Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you for doing this for my daughter."
- Leslie seemed like a free spirit.
Some of the witnesses called her Tinker Bell
because she danced and sang in the neighborhood.
And there was something about that
that just broke my heart,
that in her essence, she was a good person.
♪ ♪
- So this is the neighborhood that the crime happened,
and we're actually just a few yards
from where Bella was found.
♪ ♪
It is easy to become jaded in this job
when you can't relate to something
because it's not part of your life.
But imagine one of your kids making poor choices
and going down a road that they shouldn't go down.
It's tough to think about, even nine years later,
what Connie's having to deal with.
And even with the closure of a conviction,
it's still a tragedy for her.
It's heartbreaking.
- We cared.
Tulsa Police cared. Everybody cared.
She was not just a, you know-- a picture in a file,
not to us, not to me.
- Bella won't be forgotten.
♪ ♪