[zeena] coming to the u.S. Was a big change.
Achieving the american dream was the ultimate goal.
August 18th, 2009, my dad was supposed to take me
To baltimore, to my u.S. Citizenship interview.
He's not answering my phone call. What happens now?
Time goes by, and I find a ride.
I'm still calling and texting, but then I'm just like,
"okay, I'm going to do my interview."
I get home. The family is home.
And then somehow now the police is involved.
Something happened overnight.
And from that second, everything is just a blur.
[music]
[theme music]
[muffled scream, gasp]
[narrator] the nation's capital is an exciting city full of
Neighborhoods that each boast their own unique identity.
Edgewood, it's the northeast part of washington d.C.,
So it's probably about 10 to 15 miles from downtown washington.
[nicki] edgewood was a very working-class community
In the early 2000s.
It hadn't quite met gentrification yet,
So you do have families that had been there for a while
And they're still trying to hold down their blocks.
Beautiful homes, homes that have been in families for generations
That people actually inherited.
[narrator] at 12:20 pm on August 18, 2009,
A metropolitan police officer is on patrol
When 32-year-old allaudin rana approaches him
About a possible break-in at his family's business,
The pizza mart.
[kevin] the pizza mart was a neighborhood staple.
It was the only 24-hour marketplace in the area.
[narrator] allaudin tells the officer his 44-year-old brother
Shahabuddin rana, runs the stor and usually lets him in.
But earlier that morning,
His brother never answered the door, causing allaudin concern.
[deborah] the door had been locked, and he couldn't get in.
He tried calling his brother and ended up coming to the store
And breaking in with a police officer.
The officer used a pair of pliers to force entry
Inside the place.
Immediately when they go inside, they see it's ransacked.
It was chaotic. You can see blood.
There clearly had been a horrific event
That had occurred inside the pizza mart.
[narrator] the trail of blood leads them
To the back storage room, where allaudin and the officer
Make a devastating discovery.
Mr. Rana was in plain sight on the floor, face down.
This scene had more blood than normal because the decedent
Had been stabbed many times. He had been beaten.
He'd been kicked. There was blood everywhere.
So it's--it's awful for anyone to walk in on that,
But somebody you love, that's pretty horrific.
The patrolman immediately calls for medical assistance,
Immediately calls for backup.
He needed to get people there in order to start the process o
What's going on.
I got the phone call telling me that there was a homicide
And asking me to approve a search warrant.
And I went to go to the scene.
[narrator] when detectives begin processing the scene,
They determine a struggle likely ensued in the front
Of the business and ended in the back storage room.
It's obvious that he's fighting back. There's a struggle.
There was blood all over.
[mitch] a hundred and four latent prints were recovered.
Blood samples were recovered.
The hair was recovered that was on the scene.
There's objects that was recovered.
In a crime scene like this, you want to take
As many items as you can.
[narrator] as detectives search the storage room,
They notice singed debris around the victim
And burn marks on the body.
You could tell they tried to set fire to his body.
[mitch] it's obvious there's burnt marks.
You could see the burnt matches.
Things were clearly taken and scattered, um,
Throughout the pizza mart.
Money was missing out of the register.
[mitch] approximately $2,000 was taken.
And also cigarettes were taken from the establishment as well.
[deborah] anybody who went on that scene, including me,
All of us thought it was a botched robbery.
[narrator] when detectives conclude
Their crime scene investigation
They step outside and speak wit allaudin rana
To learn more about his brother shahabuddin.
My dad was born in pakistan, in a place called mianwali.
The roads are not the most decent, almost non-existent.
Educational facilities aren't there.
You can't easily find jobs. It was not an easy life.
He moved to the u.S. Around 199 for opportunities to pursue
All the dreams that he had.
[narrator] a natural entrepreneur,
Shahabuddin started off in the service industry.
[zeena] he started working and learning how to clean thing
At the restaurant, how to make food.
How could he potentially run his own business?
So just whatever he did, he wanted to do it
Really, really well. My dad was hard working.
He was like a bulldozer. He just wouldn't stop.
He initially started with renting the pizza mart.
And then at some point, for a lower cost,
He was able to purchase it
From the people he was renting it from.
The pizza mart never closed. It ran 24 hours.
Everybody knew him.
It was a store where if you didn't have, like, 20 cents,
Or a dollar or whatever, my dad would be like,
"okay, make sure, you know, just come back next day."
He put his blood, sweat, and tears into building a landmark
Business in that neighborhood.
[narrator] after establishing his business
And getting married,
In 2002, shahabuddin focused on bringing his daughter
To the united states.
I was the only child. I came here when I was around 10 or 11.
I was able to come because my stepmom sponsored me.
Coming to the u.S. Was a big change.
[narrator] with a wife and daughter to support,
Shahabuddin worked around the clock.
As the business grew,
He and his family purchased a home in the maryland suburbs.
[zeena] my dad did end up buying his house in silver spring.
Achieving the american dream was the ultimate goal.
As time went on, my dad was always working long hours.
So even though he was able to get the house,
Or the store and things like that,
He just can't do everything by himself.
So he brought in his family members.
[narrator] with shahabuddin's help, his brother, allaudin,
Immigrated from pakistan in 2006.
They were very close.
[deborah] it was more like a father and a son
Than a brother and a brother.
[mitch] they both worked very hard, 24 hours a day,
7 days a week.
One working 12 hours at night,
One working 12 hours during the day.
It's a two-man operation.
And that--that's tiresome, but chasing that american dream
Requires it at times.
[zeena] he wanted a good life there for everyone.
I think he felt the success is now finally showing,
Or maybe he's finally getting somewhere.
[narrator] but less than three years later
Shahabuddin has been found murdered.
With allaudin rana's help,
Detectives begin to build a timeline.
Eight o'clock that morning,
Allaudin rana responded to this pizza mart
In an attempt to get in.
That's the time he normally arrives there to begin work.
But he could not get in.
He said he didn't have a key. It was very peculiar that
His brother was not there to let him in.
[narrator] allaudin tells detectives that he went home,
Thinking shahabuddin had done the same.
But when several hours passed with no word from his brother,
He returned to the store with police.
He was very upset. It was difficult for him to speak.
He's a very proud man. He didn't want to cry.
[narrator] due to the ransacked store,
Law enforcement's initial impression of the crime
Looks like a robbery.
But according to allaudin, late at night,
The front door remained locked, and employees would assist
Customers through a small service window.
[mitch] the pizza mart is not a big establishment.
When you walk in, you have a small area
Where customers would stand.
And then the employees would take the orders.
No one was allowed to enter the back part
Where the employees would be, so there was always a separation
Between customer and employees.
[narrator] as detectives process this new information,
A different theory emerges.
[mitch] well, there's no forced entry.
You're not going to allow a robber to come in.
So therefore, right then it's telling you the perpetrators
Are someone that he knows.
[narrator] coming up...
Detectives investigate someone close to home.
Why did you wait so long to contact the police?
All that kind of stuff makes you think that it was an inside job.
[narrator] and a secret romance
Will give authorities a new name to consider.
He would do anything for her.
I don't think that he knew what he was getting his self into.
[kevin] they were an explosive couple.
I don't think the crime would have happened
Without the passion that they had.
[music]
[narrator] hours into the d.C. Investigation of
Shahabuddin rana's murder, his autopsy gets underway,
Leading to more revelations about the brutality
Of the crime.
[mitch] the cause of death was determined to be
Multiple lacerations to the body,
At least 12 stab wounds.
We have the burn marks.
And we have blunt force trauma to the head,
Which was obviously made by a hard object.
With robberies of establishments,
The goal of the suspects, to get in and to get out.
This particular crime scene, it's obvious a lot was going on
For a period of time. It's not we go in, we rob, we get out.
[narrator] despite the fact that a robbery has occurred
Inside the store, detectives believe that shahabuddin was
Specifically targeted while he worked the late-night shift.
Looking at the victim, it was a crime of passion.
I mean, it's personal.
[deborah] we thought it was someone who knew the store.
The hours that they picked to hit it, all that kind of stuff,
Makes you think that it was an inside job.
[narrator] to learn more about shahabuddin's inner circle
And who in his life might have the means and motive
To commit such a brazen crime,
Police turn their attention to his family.
The police came to the house, and now there's, like,
A victim's rights advocate that I'm talking to.
And I'm informed that he's dead.
So yeah, you don't expect that.
We were in disbelief.
They asked us, can we think of anybody that would've wanted
To harm my dad?
We just couldn't come up with anybody.
I don't know what happened.
We just could not understand why or how
He opened the door for somebody. That was the biggest question.
That was never even supposed to be my dad's shift to cover.
[narrator] according to the family,
Shahabuddin's brother, allaudin is the only other employee
Who would cover the late-night shift.
But the family is adamant allaudin would never hurt him.
Allaudin was very helpful to the detectives,
But there was still a looming question about the amount of
Time that had passed between finding out that he couldn't
Get inside the pizza mart and finally contacting police.
[mitch] in this situation, the brother arrives there
At 8 o'clock in the morning,
Does not flag down the police until four or five hours later.
Why did you wait so long to contact the police?
[keith] it was unusual that he did not have a key.
He worked there. He was the brother of the owner.
Why would you not have a key? That was a little suspicious.
Detectives have to look at everyone who could be associate
With a crime scene or a victim, so looking at mr. Allaudin rana
As a possible suspect is not unusual.
[narrator] forty-eight hours into the investigation,
Detectives ask allaudin to come in for a formal interview.
When pressed about the fact that the perpetrator
Was clearly known to shahabuddin,
Allaudin swears that he would never hurt his older brother.
He reiterates that shahabuddin held the only key
To the business.
[mitch] the normal course of activity for him is to show up.
He gets in. His brother leaves.
He's there all day. At night, his brother comes.
It's like a routine-type thing.
If you think about it, there's really no need
For him to even have a key 'cause his brother's there.
He claimed that he was home on the night of the murder.
[narrator] without any evidence connecting him to the crime,
Detectives release allaudin.
However, as police continue digging into
Allaudin's background, they discover the recent
Immigrant and his wife, 26-year-old shanika robinson
Are under investigation for marriage fraud.
[kevin] shanika robinson was a washington, d.C. Native.
Her family, the robinson family, was from the edgewood area.
And they had a home near where the pizza mart was.
That's when she and allaudin rana
Got to know each other, because she was a customer.
Shanika is amazing. Honestly, she's--she's amazing.
She's smart, funny.
She will try to do whatever she can just to get you to smile.
Shanika, she was determined. She had two jobs.
She worked at the post office, but she was no stranger to
Making money on the side.
In fact, she was very talented with doing hair.
[keith] shanika wanted to be more than a cosmetologist
Or a post office worker.
She really had this sort of charisma of that I want to
Live a life larger than what I'm living now.
The family was poor. No one went to college.
No one had a good-paying job. They struggled.
[narrator] shanika was also caring
For a terminally ill sister, so she invited her,
Her cousin shawn, and her brother leon to live with her.
[shawn] shanika was loving and super caring.
She was trying to be a caretaker
Slash protector for her family.
One of the people in the house is her younger brother, leon.
And he's fresh out of prison.
[kevin] leon had gone to prison right after high school ,
After his mother's boyfriend had attacked his mother with a pipe.
And leon defended her and attacked the boyfriend
And spent nearly nine years in prison.
So her little brother has a place to stay in her house.
And you can imagine that he's very grateful.
They were always together. You would think they were twins.
[narrator] despite her best efforts,
Shanika had recently fallen on hard times.
2008 was pretty rough for most of us, so she was laid off.
In her search for some other income,
She went into the pizza mart looking for work.
[narrator] in early 2008, shanika's determination and lov
For her family quickly caught the attention of allaudin rana.
That relationship led to them getting married
In October of 2008.
[kevin] the marriage would pave the way for allaudin to become
A naturalized american citizen.
[narrator] but on July 22nd, nine months into their marriage
Allaudin's citizenship case had been flagged.
[mitch] we learned that a month before the murder,
Allaudin and shanika went to immigration for the interview.
[nicki] they put them in separate rooms
And they asked them similar questions.
Things like, where did they go their wedding night?
Where did they spend their honeymoon?
Where do they currently live? Do they even live together?
And a lot of the information was conflicting.
He didn't know what she ate for breakfast.
She didn't know what he ate for breakfast.
Officials from the immigration and naturalization department
Became suspicious.
[keith] they weren't convinced that this couple was actually
A real husband and wife.
Remember, we're in washington, d.C. This is not unusual.
They are familiar with these types of tactics.
And these type of games, if you will, that people play
To become u.S. Citizens.
[kevin] following the interview, there was a letter that was sen
Out from immigration to shanika and to allaudin
Saying that further investigation
Would be necessary.
[narrator] if the investigation yielded sufficient evidence,
Shanika could face up to five years in prison
And a $250,000 fine,
While allaudin could face deportation.
Given how much shahabuddin wanted his brother to remain
In america, detectives wonder if this information
Could be relevant to their case
[mitch] in investigations where suspects are not known,
You look into any and everything that raises a red flag.
And in this situation, where there is issues with
His marriage to a local girl-- is it a sham?
Is it real?
At this point, detectives knew they had
To go talk to shanika robinson.
[music]
[narrator] while investigating the murder
Of local business owner shahabuddin rana,
Detectives in washington, d.C. Have discovered that
His brother, allaudin, is already under investigation
For possible marriage fraud.
At this particular point, you really can't say this is
Something that may be connected to the homicide,
But it's something you most definitely cannot ignore.
[narrator] unable to immediately track down allaudin's wife,
Shanika robinson, for questioning,
The metropolitan police department
Issues a press release and a $25,000 reward
For information leading to shahabuddin's killer.
Not long after the $25,000 reward is offered,
A woman comes forward.
She's identifying herself as the cousin of shanika robinson.
And boy, does she have a story to tell.
[narrator] shanika's cousin shawn confirms authorities'
Suspicions that shanika's relationship to allaudin rana
Is in fact a marriage of immigration convenience,
But she claims that shahabuddin was the one
Who put the plan together.
[shawn] shanika, she called her husband rana.
Rana's brother is the one who approached shanika
At the pizza mart.
She claimed shahabuddin rana had approached her with a plan
To help his brother remain in this country
And offered her $500 per week
To simply conduct a sham marriage,
Initially with no intimacy,
But simply to go to immigration meetings
With his younger brother and to help his younger brother
Remain in the united states.
[narrator] despite allaudin knowing
This was a business arrangement
Shawn believes allaudin agreed to it with the hopes
That an authentic relationship could blossom.
[shawn] when he came over, he was so soft spoken.
He liked her. You could tell he was trying to get to know her.
Like how people are thrown in arranged marriages,
And they basically are forced to get to know one another,
That wasn't the case.
It was him more so trying than her.
You could tell she didn't like him.
[narrator] according to shawn,
Allaudin and shanika would meet up once a week.
[shawn] he comes over on sundays for, like, I think,
Four hours. And she gets this benefit.
Her rent is taken care of, and she got her pocket money.
[narrator] shawn claims shanika was willing to marry allaudin,
But she wasn't willing to give up her boyfriend,
25-year-old isiah "ike" genus.
[shawn] she loves money. She loves guys,
A lot of guys, a lot of different guys.
[nicki] she let shahabuddin know,
"hey, I actually have a boyfriend."
He's like, "oh, don't worry about that,
Don't worry about that, I got you."
So it didn't seem like there was an issue that, you know,
She had this boyfriend already in her life.
[narrator] shawn tells detectives that shortly
Before her arranged marriage to allaudin rana,
Shanika and isiah began dating in 2008.
[kevin] they had gone to school together.
Started off a platonic relationship,
Which developed into an intimate relationship.
They had a very passionate relationship
That was very volatile.
Ike was extremely protective of shanika.
While shanika and ike were a couple,
It wasn't a mutually exclusive relationship.
It was one of those where shanika was dating whoever
She wanted to outside of him.
And he wasn't always too in love with that idea.
[kevin] shanika found it easy to attract men.
She had kept her appearance up very well.
And she had a personality where she could deal with
Almost anybody.
There was fights, jealousy between shanika and ike,
But it was obvious they-- they did love each other.
[shawn] he would do anything for shanika.
Like, she say, "jump". "how high?"
You know what I mean? Like, for the most part,
Whatever she says was law as far as with him.
[narrator] in August 2009,
Isiah was spending most of his time at shanika's home.
He's staying at the house, you know what I mean?
Getting loved on. He was her boy toy.
[narrator] but shawn claims that isiah and shanika's relationshi
Had escalated to new heights, and reveals that she was privy
To their planning of shahabuddin rana's murder.
She was like, "you're gonna be our alibi."
I'm like, "alibi?"
Leon found out that I knew about what they were gonna do.
And him telling her that they were gonna eventually
Have to get rid of me. I was terrified.
I came forward to save my life.
She said that shanika and two other men were at the pizza mart
The night of this murder.
And the two men was leon, which is shanika's brother,
And her boyfriend, ike.
They, in fact, had something to do
With the death of shahabuddin rana.
This was the break that detectives needed.
It was the first time that they were able to put someone
Or someones in the pizza mart the night the victim was killed.
[music]
[narrator] ten days after shahabuddin rana
Was brutally murdered inside his d.C. Pizzeria,
A witness has come forward implicating shanika robinson,
Shanika's boyfriend, isiah genus,
And shanika's brother, leon robinson, in the crime.
Detectives asked the cousin, why does she believe
That they were involved?
She told them how she saw them take some items out to the
Fire pit in the rear of the house and began burning items.
[narrator] detectives learn that in the days since
Shahabuddin's murder, shanika has resurfaced
And begun picking up shifts at the request of her husband
And shahabuddin's brother, allaudin rana.
Shanika was currently working at the pizza mart.
So they went to her and asked her to come in for questioning.
She had no problem going down to talk to the detectives.
Shanika was confronted with what they knew.
She admitted that she was involved in a sham marriage,
Receiving the payments.
She tearfully talks about how she got into this
Because she had lost her job, um, at the post office.
She said this was a way of survival for her
Until she was able to get back on her feet.
It was only supposed to last for a certain amount of months
Until mr. Rana was able to get his green card.
[narrator] shanika outlines that she and allaudin married
On October 31, 2008.
[mitch] and the whole idea of this was just to show
The appearance of that there was a marriage,
Even though they were living in separate locations.
Shahabuddin began to have concern that the marriage
Didn't appear to be real.
The scrutiny from the immigration department
Increased.
[nicki] she told the detectives
That by the time January rolled around,
A lot of things seemed to have shifted with shahabuddin
And this deal that they had brokered,
Because now he's looking at her and saying,
I need you to consummate this marriage.
[shawn] she literally didn't want to do it.
And she was trying to come up with every excuse in the world
Not to do it.
[mitch] she felt as though that was her
Being treated like a prostitute
She began doing that.
And it was something that she really didn't want to do.
But in order for her to continue to receive the money,
She had to go along with the plan.
She gets paid, like, $2,000 a month just to basically
Have sex with her husband every Sunday,
And she gets this benefit.
[narrator] according to shanika, allaudin began to develop
Real feelings for her.
I think he actually loved her.
It was more so her, "I gotta do this so I can get this money."
And him being oblivious to all of that, I--I'm seriously
Thinking that he was, he was thinking that she was
On, like, the same page.
I think it was a coming to america gone wrong.
[narrator] shanika claims that allaudin soon began to resent
Their arrangement and her relationship with isiah genus.
He had complained to his older brother that he was always there
When he went to see shanika.
[narrator] shanika tells detectives that in may of 2009,
She received surprising news.
What changed everything was when
Shanika became pregnant.
Shanika told allaudin that she was pregnant,
But she eventually had had a miscarriage.
[shawn] at the same time, she still had other male
Sexual partners and males that she was spending time with.
Her husband was extremely upset about that.
[mitch] I mean, he's acting like he's really her husband.
She's out here screwing around with other guys.
[kevin] he was complaining to his brother that there were
Times that he wanted to spend quality time with shanika
And he couldn't do it
Because shanika had another boyfriend around her.
Shahabuddin exploded.
He was upset, and he, um, told shanika that he would stop
The payments immediately unless shanika cleaned up her act.
Rana's brother called shanika, leaning on her about her
Having sex with these multiple men.
And that's not what he was paying her for.
[narrator] shanika explains that the breaking point came
Two months later, after the couple's disastrous interview
With immigration officials in July.
The way that she was dressed the day of the meeting was a problem
Because it wasn't, I guess, what they agreed on.
That started the fuel, so the explosion that happened.
He would call shanika and basically screamed on her
Or whatever and told her that he wasn't paying her no more.
He's stopping her money train.
Shanika was trying to work something out, um, you know,
What can we do? How can we make this better?
But he was done.
[kevin] she needed that $2,000 a month to pay her rent.
Otherwise, her family would be homeless
From the capitol heights home that she was renting.
Shanika's frustrations grew, so therefore, ike convinced her
That maybe I should go talk to him man to man,
But she did not want him to go because he was a hothead.
[narrator] but shanika says she eventually relented,
Agreeing to let isiah take charge of the situation.
Shanika's initial story is that her and ike
Went to the pizza mart. Mr. Rana lets them in.
They go inside the pizza mart. There's an argument.
During the argument, she leaves out.
She goes to the car.
And then ike comes out.
The next day, ike gives her $500.
And then later, she hears about the murder.
[narrator] shanika claims she considered contacting police,
But she worried what would happen to isiah.
[mitch] now, detectives know,
Just based on the condition of the body,
More than one person is involved.
You're talking stab wounds, severe damage to the head.
So now they're leaning on her. They're confronting her
With more about there has to be another person involved.
[kevin] we didn't believe that one person had garnered
This much damage on another human being.
[narrator] while it is clear that isiah played a role
In shahabuddin's murder, detectives question shanika
About her brother leon's involvement.
Shanika was confronted with the story that her cousin
Had told the police that her brother leon was there.
She blames the murder on ike
And an unnamed man.
She won't say it's her brother.
She claimed she waits for them outside the store.
That they went in the store. She never entered.
After shanika's interview with detectives, along with
The information from the cousin, probable cause was obtained.
An arrest was made.
And shanika was charged with felony murder.
[narrator] detectives locate isiah genus and leon robinson
At their home in capitol heights
And take them into custody.
Ike and leon were arrested without incident.
Leon lawyered up and refused to talk.
Isiah said he didn't know nothing about nothing.
He wasn't in it.
[narrator] shanika robinson, isiah genus, and leon robinson'
Fingerprints are compared to those collected
At the crime scene.
[mitch] naturally, shanika's fingerprints are gonna be
Inside of the premises because she worked there.
But ike's also was recovered.
But leon, no prints were recovered.
[narrator] by the evening of August 28, 2009,
Metro police execute a search warrant
On shanika's house in capitol heights.
[nicki] shanika's cousin had told the detectives
That the group had discarded everything from the crime scene
In a fire pit in the back of the house.
During the search warrant of the home, in the fire pit area,
There were traces of clothing.
[narrator] while they fail to recover any murder weapons,
Detectives do find a damning piece of evidence
In shanika's bedroom-- her diary.
In the diary, what they saw was a diagram of the pizza mart.
[keith] shanika wrote everything down in her diary.
Words to the effect that "we can do this one of two ways."
But the goal was to get the money she needed for rent.
[keith] either you're going to give it to us
Or we're going to take it,
Is basically what shanika was saying.
[nicki] very seldom do you find a smoking gun, and in this case
Okay, it's not a murder weapon, but it's a whole map
Of the location in which a murder happened.
Finding this inside her diary no doubt shows premeditation.
This was planned.
[music]
[narrator] d.C. Police have arrested shanika robinson,
Her boyfriend, isiah genus, and shanika's brother,
Leon robinson, for the murder of pizzeria owner
Shahabuddin rana.
We received more details. In those moments,
You are solely thinking of surviving.
You're thinking they've been arrested.
You're thinking about how did this even happen?
You're thinking about this can't be real life.
[narrator] with shanika claiming innocence
Isiah is given another opportunity to come clean.
[keith] shanika's boyfriend immediately realized
They have enough evidence against me,
Let me cut a deal.
[deborah] isiah confessed first.
He said, "yeah, I was there." and he told everything.
Everything.
[narrator] in his confession, isiah confirms
It was shanika's idea to rob shahabuddin.
She had a plan. It wasn't, oh, she went there,
And, um, they had a heated argument,
And everything went to [bleep]. Like, she was on a mission.
The plan was to go inside and to beat him up
And get the money, not to kill him.
Shanika planned it out in her journal
And rehearsed what everyone's role would be.
[nicki] ike told the detectives that they decided to go in
When nobody's around, less traffic,
Which means the middle of the night.
So the group went in August 18t in the wee hours of the morning
And the plan was for shanika to go to the door and
To get shahabuddin to open the door up.
He talked about shanika being the coordinator
And having gloves for everybody upon entry.
He said that leon brought the knife.
And they waited on the side, in the darkness,
While shanika got mr. Rana to open the door.
When shanika got mr. Rana to open the door,
They barged their way in, and as soon as they got inside,
Leon and ike just started stabbing mr. Rana.
[narrator] according to isiah, when leon dropped the knife,
Shahabuddin fled to the back storage room,
Attempting to barricade himself inside,
But leon broke through the door
Leon grabs a hammer and starts pounding on mr. Rana's head.
[kevin] and at that point, there was a discussion
About getting rid of forensics, the dna, and fingerprints,
And the plan to, uh, to burn the body developed.
There were multiple attempts to ignite mr. Rana's body
In the storage room, and apparently,
They simply couldn't get a fire going on the body.
Prior to the two gentlemen and shanika leaving,
Shanika did start gathering valuables from the store.
She took money from the cash register, cigars, cigarettes.
Ike does confirm that they did go back to the house
In capitol heights. They took the clothes
And burned them all in the fire pit,
That they took bleach and tried to wipe off
All of the murder weapons,
And then discarded those in a nearby dumpster.
[narrator] following his confession,
Isiah agrees to a plea deal in exchange for his testimony.
[kevin] leon was charged with first-degree felony murder.
Shanika's charges were elevated to first-degree murder.
[narrator] when the victim's family learns of shanika's
Involvement in shahabuddin's murder,
They are devastated.
Allaudin, he didn't think his wife had anything to do with it.
When he was told, he was stunned.
[zeena] they're saying, "she did this."
And we're just thinking, there's no way.
She's come to our house. She's helping at the store.
She's part of the family.
There's no way she would do anything like that.
I think what truly happened started to sink in
When the court trial started.
[narrator] at trial in July 2011,
Shanika and leon robinson are tried as co-defendants.
The two siblings, leon and shanika,
They were being tried together. And it is rare that you have
A brother and a sister on trial for murder together.
Prosecutors described her as the mastermind.
They described her as a black widow.
They described her as a woman who got men to do her bidding.
[narrator] the state's star witness is shanika's now
Ex-boyfriend, isiah genus.
[keith] the prosecutors really relied on the testimony of ike
Because there were no eyewitnesses.
There was no video cameras.
They had no weapons.
And there was no dna connecting leon to the crime scene.
[narrator] shanika and leon both testify in their own defense
And maintain their innocence.
Leon sticks to the story that he was not there.
[narrator] when it's shanika's turn to testify,
She decides to flip on her brother.
[kevin] when shanika got on the witness stand, she talked about
How she had no idea what leon and ike were going to do.
There was no plan of any violence.
I remember watching leon's expression.
And he just sat there shaking his head,
Just exasperated, as if he felt as if shanika, his older sister,
Literally threw him under the bus.
[zeena] even though three different perspectives
Were heard, you could tell all three were present
In that building that night.
And at any given point, they had the opportunity
To open that door again and walk out.
They were never taught the value of human life.
And that's sad.
[narrator] on August 1, 2011,
Jurors retire to deliberate shanika and leon's fate.
[nicki] the jury was out for two days in this case.
And when they came back,
They found leon guilty of murder in the first degree.
Then they found shanika guilty of murder in the second degree.
Leon got 76 years for this.
Shanika got 56 years for this.
And then sometime later,
They finally came out with the sentencing for ike,
Who had cooperated with authorities.
And he got 20 years.
[zeena] when somebody just makes your dad disappear,
You don't necessarily even think the justice system
Can give you justice.
But the court system did the best it could do,
And I'm grateful that they were found.
I do think shanika should've had a harsher sentence
Because lives were ruined because of her.
[nicki] shanika had a man that would do anything for her.
He really was infatuated with her, in love with her,
Mesmerized by her, and willing to kill for her.
They were driven by their devotion
And commitment to each other.
[kevin] they were an explosive couple
That each fed off the other.
And I don't think the crime would have happened
Without the passion that they had.
[zeena] I want my dad to be remembered as somebody that
Was always going to take care of anybody he loved.
His legacy is of an unstoppable hardworking, resilient,
Compassionate, fearless human being that anything is possible.
Anything can be possible. You just don't stop.
[music]