NARRATOR: A retired judge finds Florida
the perfect place to spend his golden years.
SHARON: When he wasn't playing golf,
tennis, or racquetball,
he was out there
by the pool relaxing.
NARRATOR: But then, he vanishes.
ELLIE: Uncle Skip was very reliable.
He didn't show up.
There's something wrong.
NARRATOR: And one disturbing discovery.
DET.KURDYS: There was a large amount of blood
that we discovered in the garage.
NARRATOR: After another.
RALPH: We were surprised to discover just a torso.
Amputated just above the waistline.
NARRATOR: Plunge police into a macabre mystery.
EMILY: At some point, the person
did not want to look at the face
of the person that they were dismembering.
RALPH: The question is,
who buried this body in the sand?
[***]
ELIOT: Boca Raton was started,
uh, in the '20s
as an alternative to Palm Beach
for wealthy winter residents to live.
NARRATOR: Boca Raton is a jewel
on the Atlantic Coast of Florida
and has remained a winter haven
for the wealthy for more than a century.
ELIOT: When people ask what makes Boca Raton, Boca Raton.
The answer of course is the perfect climate.
There are very ritzy fancy golf courses
that were built as part of communities.
NARRATOR: But when the economy went south
in the mid-2000s,
Boca wasn't immune.
ELIOT: Boca Raton, it took a beating in 2008.
Some people lost as much as half
of their total property value,
and it wasn't unusual to see many homes
and golf courses go into foreclosure.
NARRATOR: Among the hardest hit
is the Ocean Breeze Golf Course.
ELIOT: The Ocean Breeze ran on hard times
and eventually shut down
and was abandoned.
[***]
NARRATOR: By 2018, it has lain dormant
for more than a decade.
But as dawn breaks on an April morning,
Ocean Breeze is again a center of activity.
Law enforcement has descended on the 18-hole wasteland
following leads in the search for a man
who has been missing for more than a week.
RALPH: Boca Raton Police Department were
investigating a missing person.
Um, they were doing surveillance at this location
and reported possible human remains
buried on the golf course.
[***]
DET.KURDYS: A cadaver dog showed a positive response,
um, in a small area
that looked like it had some freshly disturbed sand.
NARRATOR: Crime tags carefully cordoned off the sand trap
and begin digging.
RALPH: As we were removing the sand
two to two and a half feet below the surface,
I came across something buried in the sand.
EMILY: There were two different large garbage bags
slightly exposed,
and when they opened them,
in one bag was a human, uh, upper torso.
The head had been cut off.
Both of the arms had also been, uh, removed from the body.
The other garbage bag was the lower half of the torso.
And both of the legs had been cut off from the body.
Law enforcement continued to search that golf course
for a significant amount of time,
but they were unsuccessful to locate
the limbs and the head.
Without the head, it would be very difficult
to identify the human remains.
NARRATOR: Investigators believe whoever committed this crime
worked very hard to conceal the identity of the victim.
RALPH: So we transported the body back
to the medical examiner's office
to find out who this was buried in the sand.
[***]
EMILY: Over the last 30 years or so,
Boca Raton became known for the individuals
who come and live and enjoy their golden years together
down in beautiful sunny South Florida.
ELIOT: When people retire to Boca Raton,
the big draws are golf and tennis.
NARRATOR: That's definitely the case
for recently retired couple
Terri Scandirito and her husband James,
known to his friends as "Skip."
ELLIE: My Uncle Skip and my Aunt Terri
were life partners and best friends.
SHARON: They've always wanted to go
to Florida because they'd visit.
Of course, Florida had nice weather in the winter.
NARRATOR: At age 52, Skip leaves his career
as a judge behind
when he and Terri set their sights
on the ultimate retirement in Boca Raton.
[***]
SHARON: When he wasn't playing golf, tennis, or racquetball,
he was out there with the lawn
and pruning trees and watering the plants,
by the pool, relaxing.
And Skip was very, very happy here.
NARRATOR: Skip spends part of his time
as a volunteer marshal at the Ocean Breeze Golf Course.
He and Terri have found their own little paradise
in South Florida.
Before long, their son Jimmy follows them
to the Sunshine State.
SHARON: Terri and Jimmy were very close.
Jimmy was everything to her because he was the only child.
Jimmy, Skip, and Terri
were in Boca Raton, Florida for 20 years.
Before a tragedy happened.
[***]
ELLIE: My Uncle Skip texted me and let me know
that my Aunt Terri was diagnosed with lung cancer.
SHARON: Terri got sick and she died
the following year in the spring.
Terri was gone
and Skip and Jimmy were all each other had,
so they-- 'cause they were grieving,
they were doing things together.
NARRATOR: A few days after marking
the somber anniversary of Terri's death,
Skip and his son Jimmy prepare for a visit
from Skip's best friend Gary Goodin
to watch their home state of Michigan
play in the final four basketball championships.
ELIOT: Skip had texted Gary
and said that he was going to go kayaking that weekend,
but that he would get back to watch the game
with Gary and Jimmy.
But when Gary came over Saturday,
uh, he couldn't find Skip.
NARRATOR: When Jimmy arrives,
he hasn't heard from his dad either.
But they're not immediately worried.
Maybe Skip's just picking up beer.
But when the game ends with still no word from Skip
early on Easter Sunday, Gary and Jimmy
decide to call the police.
NARRATOR: Missing persons detectives
arrive at the Scandirito home
and begin trying to piece together
Skip's last movements.
EMILY: Jimmy told law enforcement that Friday
the two of them had exchanged vehicles
so that Jimmy could get a pressure cleaner
from his father.
And that was the last that Jimmy had heard from his father.
DET.KURDYS: And when he returned to Skip
Scandirito's residence later that evening
to return the pressure washer,
Skip was not there.
NARRATOR: Jimmy describes the days
leading up to his dad's disappearance,
hoping something will provide a clue
to Skip's whereabouts.
EMILY: Jimmy told detectives that
on Wednesday morning, his father and him played golf
at Southwinds Golf Course in Delray Beach, Florida.
DET.KURDYS: Jimmy stated that when they were playing golf,
that Skip had met a 62-year-old white female
on the golf course.
And they made plans to go kayaking on Saturday morning.
Jimmy didn't have the person's name
or any other information about her.
ELIOT: There were a lot of things that police
in Boca Raton didn't know.
One thing they did know was that a 74-year-old man
and also possibly this woman Skip's gonna go kayaking with
were missing and might be in danger on the water
and they needed to try to find them.
[***]
DET.KURDYS: Did Skip Scandirito meet
a female approximately 62 years of age?
ELIOT: Detectives went to the house
but nobody was there.
DET.KURDYS: There was a large amount of blood
that we discovered in the garage.
NARRATOR: 74-year-old retiree Skip Scandirito
has been missing for two days.
Investigators have turned their search to the open water
where they've learned he may have gone kayaking
with a female friend.
We knew they didn't return from a kayaking trip.
I was concerned that there may have been an accident
somewhere on the water
where they could be possibly injured or even deceased.
NARRATOR: But finding where Skip and the unidentified woman
may have put into the water won't be easy.
There are hundreds of waterways in the Boca Raton area
used by boaters and kayakers.
DET.KURDYS: Skip had a white SUV.
License plates were obtained
and sent to neighboring communities
that had boat ramps along the intercostal.
ELIOT: The Intracoastal Waterway separates the mainland
from the various barrier islands
that line South Florida from Miami all the way up.
NARRATOR: Law enforcement begins checking
the hundreds of docks and boat ramps
hoping to locate Skip's white Ford Escape.
It doesn't take long for authorities to get a hit.
DET.KURDYS: Delray Beach Police located
Skip Scandirito's vehicle
in a boat ramp area,
just north of the city of Boca
in a park called Knowles Park.
EMILY: Knowles Park boat ramp in Delray Beach
is 10 to 15 minutes from the Scandirito residence.
It was a very plausible explanation
that these elderly individuals
had simply encountered some type of accident
or medical emergency out on the waterway
and had either drowned
or had gone missing and were in distress.
The Coast Guard was called.
They did a thorough search on the waterway
to look for Skip Scandirito
and this woman to see if there had been
any kayaks that had surfaced.
NARRATOR: There's no sign of Skip
or his kayaking companion.
Investigators must consider
that they never made it into the water
and that Skip and his friend might have encountered trouble
in the boat ramp parking lot.
EMILY: South Florida is absolutely a hotbed
for drug trafficking and narcotics activity.
ELIOT: In South Florida,
drugs move in and out all the time,
sometimes in the middle of the day.
So they at least thought about the idea that
Skip and this woman had stumbled across people
bringing in drugs in the Intracoastal Waterway.
NARRATOR: Missing persons investigators
check with colleagues in narcotics
to get a line on known drug activity in the area.
EMILY: But it was reported that
in terms of that specific boat ramp,
it has not necessarily been pegged as a hotbed
for illegal narcotics trafficking.
NARRATOR: Having eliminated the possibility of trouble
on the waterfront, investigators refocus
the search on land.
Hoping to learn more about the woman
Skip went kayaking with,
detectives head to the Southwinds Golf Club.
DET.KURDYS: One of the first things we wanted to confirm was
if Jimmy and Skip Scandirito did in fact play golf
on that Wednesday morning,
and did Skip Scandirito meet
a female approximately 62 years of age.
They were able to confirm that Jimmy and Skip
were there on Wednesday morning.
And I was able to obtain four names of people
that Skip may have had contact with
prior Jimmy's arrival that were females.
NARRATOR: Using phone numbers provided by the golf course,
investigators quickly tracked down three of the women.
DET.KURDYS: All three females stated that they were there.
However, they had no contact with Skip Scandirito
and don't remember him even being there.
NARRATOR: But finding Skip's last potential companion
won't be so easy.
DET.KURDYS: We had the first name of Lorraine
and a possible last name
that looked like the last name may have been Stemp or Stemper
with no cell phone number.
We conducted numerous database records checks.
We contacted all the local agencies,
but there were no other missing persons reports
suggesting that a 62-year-old White female
had been reported missing.
At that point, we felt upset.
We were still working a missing person investigation
and we weren't really getting anywhere with it.
ELIOT: Now police are not sure
if there ever was a Lorraine.
NARRATOR: The detectives conclude
that Skip did not go kayaking with anyone.
But where is he?
As the search for him enters its second day,
forensic techs processing his car
make an interesting discovery.
EMILY: Law enforcement was able to uncover
a crumpled receipt from Home Depot
that had a timestamp of about 6:00 in the morning.
[***]
DET.KURDYS: When I've noticed the date and time,
Thursday morning, it's almost like
Skip had to have been waiting for the store to open.
EMILY: So the detectives went to that Home Depot
and were able to obtain surveillance video
from that timeframe.
DET.KURDYS: And lo and behold once we've had a chance
to review that video.
You don't see Skip at all.
It's somebody else entirely.
NARRATOR: Florida detectives looking for Skip Scandirito
hoped that a crumpled receipt
discovered on the floor of his car
can provide a clue about his last movements.
But as they examined store surveillance video,
the man they see at the counter
is not the missing 74-year-old.
EMILY: Investigators found it very surprising
that Skip did not make that purchase.
The Home Depot had opened
at 6:00 in the morning and Skip's son,
Jimmy Scandirito was the first customer in that day.
He entered inside the Home Depot,
purchased a red hand truck and a gasoline tank,
placed it inside, uh, his vehicle and left.
NARRATOR: The detectives wanna know
how Jimmy's receipt got into Skip's car.
They head to Skip's house
eager to hear an explanation from Jimmy.
ELIOT: Jimmy said, "I was in there"
"buying these items to do some pressure washing"
"at my home back in Fort Lauderdale."
NARRATOR: The next day, Friday,
Jimmy says he borrowed his dad's SUV
to transport the washer,
and that's likely when he dropped the receipt.
Skip's friend Gary who's still at the house
appears to support the timeline in Jimmy's story
and he tells the detectives that Skip reached out to him
on Friday night.
EMILY: Gary said he received a text message asking
what time he was going to be arriving in Boca Raton
the following day.
They had a quick exchange
and, um, that was the last that he had heard
from Skip Scandirito.
NARRATOR: It appears there's a plausible explanation
for the receipt.
It won't give detectives
the clue they were hoping for.
While the investigation grinds on,
Jimmy and Gary are determined
to get answers on their own.
DET.KURDYS: Jimmy and Gary Goodin were creating
missing person flyers
that they were then gonna hand out
not far from those park and in areas of Delray
to see if anybody might have had information or seen
Skip Scandirito potentially launching a kayak.
SHARON: I thought he's gonna turn up.
And so a couple days later,
when they didn't find him,
we couldn't believe it.
ELLIE: I was worried about Jimmy.
His dad was missing and I felt so sorry for him.
NARRATOR: Though delayed by the Easter holiday weekend,
Skip's phone records are now finally available.
Investigators begin looking
for digital footprints they can follow.
DET.KURDYS: I was able to locate
a last known location ping
from Skip's cellphone,
not far from that boat ramp in Delray Beach
on that Saturday morning.
With no other cell phone calls, no other cell phone pings,
we became more concerned this is where Skip's cell phone
probably died.
NARRATOR: The detectives can't track Skip
through his cell phone,
but they're hoping to find some answers
in his banking records.
DET.KURDYS: Because Jimmy obviously was very close
to his father, I asked Jimmy if he had
any access to any of Skip's bank accounts
to see if anything had transacted,
um, since Skip's disappearance.
DET.KURDYS: And Jimmy said that there was no
suspicious behavior
or any activity on any of Skip's accounts.
NARRATOR: Jimmy appears to be cooperating
with the investigation, but the detectives find
they can't fully dismiss their suspicions about him.
Not only are there the oddly timed
early morning purchases he made at Home Depot,
but both he and Skip's friend Gary
were at Skip's home on Saturday,
the day he went missing.
Something's just not adding up.
ELIOT: Police decided that they can't rule out friend Gary,
because Gary and Jimmy did tell a similar story.
DET.KURDYS: We don't wanna leave any stone unturned.
NARRATOR: The detectives decide there's enough uncertainty
that they need to take a closer look at Skip's home.
DET.KURDYS: Because Skip had been missing so long,
we thought something actually may have happened to Skip
at Skip's residence.
We explained to Jimmy and Gary
that they needed to leave the residence
so that we could secure it
prior to obtaining the search warrant.
Jimmy kind of flipped a little bit at that point.
He became angry. He became agitated.
NARRATOR: The men finally agreed to leave the property.
But the strange interaction convinces the detectives
they need to keep an eye on Gary and Jimmy.
DET.KURDYS: They checked in a hotel not far
from Skip's residence.
Now unbeknownst to them,
we established surveillance
on Gary Goodin and Jimmy Scandirito.
NARRATOR: While the surveillance team
monitors Gary and Jimmy,
back at Skip's residence, the search warrant arrives,
and police quickly make a startling discovery.
EMILY: Detectives noticed that on the ground,
the garage had a square in the center of it
that was completely clean.
Debris was still along the outer edges of the square,
which we believe showed where the tarp had been placed
and later removed.
DET.KURDYS: But when you took a closer look at the floor,
it appeared that we had some coagulated blood
inside that garage.
[HELICOPTER WHIRRING]
DET.KURDYS: We knew that we would be conducting
surveillance on both of them
just to see what they did.
And that's what wound up breaking the case wide open.
ELLIE: I was astonished,
absolutely flabbergasted
that I physically couldn't contain the shock.
[***]
NARRATOR: Florida Police searching for missing retiree
Skip Scandirito have become suspicious of his son Jimmy.
Their suspicions grow when they discover blood
in the garage of Skip's home.
DET.KURDYS: The amount of blood that we found,
it's not like a little nick on his finger.
There was a large amount of blood
that we discovered in the garage.
[***]
NARRATOR: As crime techs process the garage,
investigators turn up more troubling evidence.
We located the hand truck
that had been purchased at the Home Depot
by Jimmy Scandirito.
We found coagulated blood in the wheel of the hand truck.
There was also duct tape
and cleaning supplies that were collected.
[***]
DNA swabs were collected
and were sent to our DNA labs
to determine if it was Skip's blood.
[***]
NARRATOR: But what motive would Skip's son Jimmy have
to hurt him?
Knowing that money can cause friction in families,
the detectives take another look
at Skip's financial records.
As they do, they spot something unusual
about the timing of one transaction at a supermarket.
It appears to have occurred after Skip was last seen
five days ago.
They head to the store to check surveillance video.
DET.KURDYS: And again,
we don't see Skip using the credit cards.
We actually see Jimmy Scandirito
using those credit cards to purchase things
that were concerning.
He was purchasing cleaning supplies and garbage bags.
Things that make you wonder why he's purchasing these things
using his father's credit cards.
Things used to clean up a crime scene.
EMILY: During the early investigation,
Jimmy Scandirito was specifically asked
whether there was anybody using any of the accounts in any way.
DET.KURDYS: Now that we actually observed that video,
we knew that Jimmy had lied to us.
NARRATOR: And as investigators dig deeper
into the financial reports,
they discovered that Skip's credit cards
are not the only things that have been accessed.
DET.KURDYS: There was a check for $9,500
made out to Jimmy Scandirito.
He had deposited it into his account
from his father's account.
We found out through forensic document examiners
that that check had been forged.
[***]
I was informed by the detective that Jimmy was indeed
a suspect in this case.
I didn't believe it.
NARRATOR: But Jimmy isn't the only one
on law enforcement's radar.
Skip's best friend, Gary Goodin,
was also at Skip's home when he disappeared.
He and Jimmy are still staying at a nearby hotel
under the watchful eyes of a surveillance team.
DET.KURDYS: We were conducting surveillance
on both Jimmy and Gary, um, just to see what they did.
And that's what wound up breaking the case wide open.
[***]
NARRATOR: At around 3:00 AM,
the stakeout team spots Jimmy exiting the hotel
and heading to his car.
He's on the move.
And a sheriff's department helicopter is called in
to help with the surveillance.
[HELICOPTER WHIRRING]
ELIOT: The police trailed Jimmy and they followed him
to the Ocean Breeze Golf Course,
which was abandoned.
It was 3:00 in the morning,
so whatever Jimmy might wanna do,
he could do he thought without anybody really seeing him.
DET.KURDYS: That's when things got pretty interesting.
Jimmy parked his Prius.
He walked onto the golf course by himself
with nothing.
[***]
DET.KURDYS: And when he came back about 45 minutes later,
he was dragging a, uh, suitcase with him.
And he placed that suitcase into the back of his trunk.
NARRATOR: When Jimmy drives out of the golf course,
the ground team follows.
[***]
As police watched,
Jimmy drove to another location,
walked over to a dumpster and put the suitcase in.
DET.KURDYS: And then, he was observed
getting back into his car.
And the helicopter was able to follow the Prius
getting back on to 95.
EMILY: Unfortunately, law enforcement lost track
of Jimmy Scandirito's car
because of the cloud cover that night.
NARRATOR: Jimmy Scandirito has disappeared.
But police still have eyes on the suitcase
he sought to conceal in the dark of night.
That suitcase was recovered
by our crime scene unit.
The suitcase that was dumped into the dumpster
was a large suitcase that contained a smaller suitcase.
EMILY: At the time, they were not quite
sure what they had
until they opened the suitcases.
NARRATOR: Jimmy Scandirito has emerged as a suspect
in his father's disappearance.
He's hit the road after police spotted him
retrieving suitcases hidden at an abandoned golf course
and tossing them into a dumpster.
Officers retrieved the suitcases and carefully opened them.
EMILY: Both suitcases had human decay inside
and a significant amount of maggots were present
inside of those suitcases.
And that was the first time that
law enforcement realized that there was some type
of a dead body inside.
[***]
NARRATOR: As day breaks on April 4th, 2018,
police begin searching the abandoned golf course.
A cadaver dog hits on a disused sand trap
and officers begin digging.
Two and a half feet down,
they discover a trash bag.
RALPH: Once the garbage bag was opened,
I think we were all surprised to, uh, discover just a torso.
Amputated just above the waistline.
[***]
EMILY: In the second garbage bag
was the lower half of the torso.
Both of the legs had been cut off from the body.
RALPH: This case started as a missing person.
Now, it's a homicide investigation.
[***]
NARRATOR: Divers searched the waterways around the golf course
hoping to locate the missing body parts, including the head.
But dark water ponds on an abandoned golf course
are home to alligators.
Nothing is found and likely never will be.
RALPH: Tossed away, uh, the head.
No teeth, no fingerprints.
It makes the job of identification much harder.
NARRATOR: The remains are taken to the medical examiner
for an autopsy.
And with close examination,
there's evidence the victim underwent
some type of heart surgery.
A tiny wire with a serial number is discovered
in the chest cavity.
RALPH: The pathologist compared the sternal wiring
to the chest plate to hospital records.
EMILY: The medical examiner was able
to determine that the dismembered torso...
belonged to Skip Scandirito.
SHARON: That was hard to hear.
I thought they'd find my brother but not in pieces.
ELLIE: It's more than the mind can comprehend.
I couldn't even imagine him in pieces
because I knew him as a whole person.
NARRATOR: When DNA tests on blood samples
found in Skip's garage come in,
they are a match for the retired judge
confirming the detective's hunch that the garage
was a crime scene.
But now, one of their prime suspects,
Jimmy Scandirito is nowhere to be found.
DET.KURDYS: Not only the helicopter
but our surveillance units on the street
lost contact with his vehicle
and were unable to locate him again.
ELLIE: I knew he was a suspect.
I tried to call Jimmy,
the phone went right to voicemail.
NARRATOR: But the other man police have been watching,
Skip Scandirito's friend, Gary Goodin is easy to find.
He's still in his hotel room.
When the detectives tell him what they found,
he seems genuinely horrified.
EMILY: Gary Goodin felt
disgusted by the fact that the son of his good friend
was linked to be responsible for his disappearance.
DET.KURDYS: Gary gave us no indication
that he had anything to do with Skip's disappearance.
NARRATOR: The detectives fully eliminate Gary Goodin
as a person of interest when the autopsy report confirms
that Skip's death occurred on Wednesday, March 28th,
three days before Gary arrived in town.
DET.KURDYS: So our focus was on Jimmy Scandirito.
We had no idea where Jimmy Scandirito had gone.
He wasn't in his apartment in Fort Lauderdale.
He'd fled.
NARRATOR: A check of Jimmy's bank records reveals he's broke.
If he's trying to disappear,
investigators reason he'll try to get some cash first.
Since Jimmy appears to be unaware
that the police are onto him,
they keep close watch
on all of his accounts hoping he'll make a move.
EMILY: Law enforcement was able to see
IP addresses that were associated with transfers
between Jimmy Scandirito's bank accounts
and Skip Scandirito's bank accounts.
NARRATOR: Using location data from the IP addresses,
police are able to track Jimmy to a hotel
in Bonita Springs, Florida two hours away.
DET.KURDYS: There was surveillance being done
at the hotel.
Then at one point,
Jimmy left the hotel and started heading north.
So, we obtained a warrant for the, uh,
for the murder charge and he was arrested.
He was a little shocked to see us there.
NARRATOR: News that Jimmy has been arrested
for his father's murder comes as another emotional blow
to an already grieving family.
ELLIE: I was astonished,
absolutely flabbergasted that...
I physically couldn't contain the shock.
EMILY: Jimmy Scandirito was indicted on...
one count of first degree murder
and one count of abuse of a dead human body.
NARRATOR: But prosecutors worry that the evidence they have
might not be enough to secure a conviction.
EMILY: The victim may have been strangled,
may have been shot,
may have been suffocated, beaten,
but the head had been decapitated.
The arms and the legs had also been, uh,
removed from the body.
The concern we had at that point was because we only had
the upper and lower torso,
we had no definitive cause of death.
[***]
NARRATOR: In March 2019,
Jimmy Scandirito goes on trial for the murder
and dismemberment of his father, Skip Scandirito.
Prosecutors tell the jury it's a crime motivated by greed.
DET.KURDYS: Jimmy Scandirito was flat broke
and his father, Skip Scandirito had about $800,000 net worth
that Jimmy Scandirito would have inherited
in the event that Skip died.
NARRATOR: Prosecutors argue that Jimmy was used
to receiving financial help from his mother Terri,
but things changed after she died and that made him angry.
His father was relatively fed up with his son
coming to him for money.
NARRATOR: Prosecutors tell the jury that Skip intended
to cut Jimmy off on the night of Wednesday, March 28th,
three days before Skip's friend,
Gary Goodin is scheduled to visit,
Jimmy's resentment reaches a tipping point.
DET.KURDYS: My gut instinct is that Jimmy asked his dad
for some money and Skip wasn't gonna give him anything.
They were drinking.
They both have fiery tempers,
and I think one thing led to another.
And he did something that caused the death of his father.
NARRATOR: The jury hears that Jimmy used the hand truck
he purchased at Home Depot to move skips body into the garage.
The medical examiner determined
as Jimmy Scandirito was cutting through the front of the neck,
he had some point stopped,
and the body was flipped over.
What that indicated to us was that the person
did not wanna look at the face of the person
that they were dismembering.
NARRATOR: The prosecutors lay out how Jimmy's phone data
indicates a scramble to cover up the crime.
EMILY: The path of travel was frantic
back and forth to pick up some cleaning supplies.
NARRATOR: With Gary Goodin's arrival imminent,
the clock was ticking.
EMILY: And then Jimmy Scandirito spent
a significant amount of time trying to make it seem like
Skip Scandirito was still alive.
NARRATOR: Prosecutors contend it was Jimmy who sent the text
supposedly from Skip to Gary saying he was going kayaking.
Then he left his father's car at the boat ramp
to complete the ruse.
Skip never went kayaking.
There never was a Lorraine.
EMILY: When the vehicle was dumped at Knowles Park,
the defendant's phone and the victim's phone
were pinging together.
NARRATOR: Then prosecutors say,
Jimmy turned to a familiar location
to hide his father's dismembered body.
The abandoned Ocean Breeze Golf Course where Skip
once volunteered as a marshal.
DET.KURDYS: Jimmy Scandirito had gone to the golf course
with his father's body parts in that large suitcase.
And buried those body parts in the sand,
but decided to dispose the suitcase in the dumpster.
NARRATOR: When the defense gets its turn,
Jimmy's lawyers begin with a stunning admission.
DET.KURDYS: The defense admitted that Jimmy
dismembered his father's body,
but that he didn't kill his father.
Jimmy stated that they were partying together
on that Wednesday night,
that there was some cocaine being used.
Jimmy stated that he went outside to take a phone call
and came back inside
and saw his father deceased.
And he believed that he had overdosed on cocaine
and panicked at that point.
JIMMY: I did not kill my dad.
Um, my first reaction was, "Oh, no."
You know, they're gonna-- I'm gonna go, you know,
I'm gonna get in trouble because he was--
he died snorting my cocaine.
PROSECUTOR: Have you decided in your mind
what you're gonna have to do?
-I have. -PROSECUTOR: And what was that?
That I'm gonna have to dismember my dad
to be able to move him out of the house.
DET.KURDYS: Jimmy felt that he would get
in trouble for possible drug use or drug paraphernalia.
EMILY: Jimmy said he made the decision to get rid of the body
rather than get rid of the drugs.
However, the blood toxicology
from Skip Scandirito's body revealed...
there was no cocaine in his blood.
NARRATOR: After a two-week trial,
the jury is left to consider the conflicting stories.
Within 10 hours, they reach their verdict.
EMILY: Jimmy Scandirito was found not guilty
of first degree murder.
[***]
SHARON: I felt like someone took a sledgehammer to me
that he got away with that.
ELLIE: When that verdict was read,
I couldn't physically contain my body.
I actually had to walk myself out of the courtroom.
I felt this...
really strong sense of rage.
Beyond furious.
EMILY: This was a homicide by unspecified means
because without the head and the various body parts,
the medical examiner was unable to determine
a definitive cause of death.
[***]
NARRATOR: But Jimmy is found guilty of abuse of a dead body
for dismembering his father's corpse.
He receives the maximum 15-year sentence.
After the criminal trial, Skip's family files
a civil suit to prevent Jimmy from receiving
any of his father's money.
For us as a family, this is not about money.
There's many different ways for a person to get justice
and this is one way
and he needs to be held accountable for my Uncle Skip.
SHARON: Skip was a wonderful person.
He loved life, he loved people, loved his family.
And I don't want him to be forgotten.
[***]