1 00:00:01,021 --> 00:00:04,021 - ♪ 2 00:00:07,021 --> 00:00:10,021 - ♪ 3 00:00:10,021 --> 00:00:12,021 - MALE REPORTER: It was around noon when police were called 4 00:00:12,021 --> 00:00:13,021 to this apartment. 5 00:00:13,021 --> 00:00:16,021 That's where they found the body of the 25-year-old victim. 6 00:00:18,021 --> 00:00:19,021 - AYMEE: Corey's one of those people that 7 00:00:19,021 --> 00:00:22,021 when she walked into a room, people took notice. 8 00:00:23,021 --> 00:00:26,021 - EDDIE: I've been to a lot of bad scenes in my career, 9 00:00:26,021 --> 00:00:27,021 but nothing prepared me for what I saw. 10 00:00:28,021 --> 00:00:30,021 - WILLIAM: He would stand outside her bedroom window 11 00:00:30,021 --> 00:00:34,021 at night and try to peep in. 12 00:00:34,021 --> 00:00:35,021 - PAUL: He had created a relationship with her 13 00:00:35,021 --> 00:00:38,021 that existed solely in his mind. 14 00:00:44,021 --> 00:00:46,021 - MALE NARRATOR: Five unique perspectives, 15 00:00:46,021 --> 00:00:49,021 five points of view, one murder. 16 00:00:50,021 --> 00:00:51,021 - AYMEE: Corey Parker was my best friend. 17 00:00:51,021 --> 00:00:52,021 - EDDIE: I was the on-call detective. 18 00:00:53,021 --> 00:00:54,021 - PAUL: I was an investigative reporter 19 00:00:54,021 --> 00:00:55,021 at the Florida Times Union-- 20 00:00:55,021 --> 00:00:56,021 - WILLIAM: --in the investigative section-- 21 00:00:56,021 --> 00:00:57,021 - ANGELA: I was the lead prosecutor. 22 00:00:57,021 --> 00:01:00,021 - ♪♪ 23 00:01:03,021 --> 00:01:08,021 - ♪ 24 00:01:08,021 --> 00:01:09,021 - My name is Aymee Ladan, 25 00:01:09,021 --> 00:01:12,021 and Corey Parker was my best friend. 26 00:01:12,021 --> 00:01:15,021 Corey's one of those people that when she walked into a room, 27 00:01:15,021 --> 00:01:17,021 people took notice. 28 00:01:17,021 --> 00:01:19,021 Most of the people that met her, I think, 29 00:01:19,021 --> 00:01:22,021 felt immediately connected. 30 00:01:23,021 --> 00:01:25,021 I had seen Corey a lot going out, 31 00:01:25,021 --> 00:01:28,021 and we would say hi to each other. 32 00:01:29,021 --> 00:01:31,021 Then one day we just started talking, 33 00:01:32,021 --> 00:01:34,021 and we exchanged phone numbers and we became friends. 34 00:01:37,021 --> 00:01:41,021 We definitely had an immediate connection. 35 00:01:41,021 --> 00:01:44,021 We had a lot in common, we realized right off the bat. 36 00:01:44,021 --> 00:01:47,021 She was very independent; I was independent. 37 00:01:48,021 --> 00:01:50,021 Corey was going to college. 38 00:01:50,021 --> 00:01:53,021 We both liked to go out and have a good time. 39 00:01:53,021 --> 00:01:55,021 She always had a smile on her face, 40 00:01:55,021 --> 00:02:00,021 and she just really--she was a really positive person. 41 00:02:02,021 --> 00:02:08,021 - ♪ 42 00:02:08,021 --> 00:02:09,021 - AYMEE: During Thanksgivings together, 43 00:02:09,021 --> 00:02:12,021 we'd do, uh, orphan parties. 44 00:02:12,021 --> 00:02:14,021 And that's basically people that didn't have family 45 00:02:14,021 --> 00:02:16,021 in the area, we would all get together. 46 00:02:17,021 --> 00:02:20,021 Her family was up in New York. 47 00:02:20,021 --> 00:02:23,021 And I think her plans were to go out the night before, 48 00:02:23,021 --> 00:02:26,021 um, bake some pies, and meeting everybody 49 00:02:26,021 --> 00:02:30,021 the next morning where the orphan party was gonna be. 50 00:02:30,021 --> 00:02:32,021 She really wanted me to stay that night, 51 00:02:32,021 --> 00:02:35,021 but I decided to go to my mom's, um, 52 00:02:35,021 --> 00:02:37,021 a couple hours away. 53 00:02:37,021 --> 00:02:39,021 So I know she went out and met up with 54 00:02:39,021 --> 00:02:40,021 a few of our friends that night. 55 00:02:42,021 --> 00:02:44,021 The last conversation I had with her, 56 00:02:44,021 --> 00:02:46,021 it was just normal chat, you know, 57 00:02:46,021 --> 00:02:48,021 told her to have a good time. 58 00:02:52,021 --> 00:02:53,021 I called her on Thanksgiving Day 59 00:02:54,021 --> 00:02:56,021 and didn't get an answer. 60 00:02:56,021 --> 00:03:00,021 Friday morning, the following day, uh, 61 00:03:00,021 --> 00:03:03,021 her boyfriend David called me. 62 00:03:03,021 --> 00:03:05,021 David was hysterical, he could barely talk. 63 00:03:05,021 --> 00:03:09,021 He said, "Did you hear about Corey? 64 00:03:09,021 --> 00:03:10,021 Do you know what's going on?" 65 00:03:10,021 --> 00:03:12,021 He said, "All I know is there's a lot of blood. 66 00:03:12,021 --> 00:03:15,021 They found Corey and there's a lot a blood." 67 00:03:15,021 --> 00:03:17,021 And I said, "Give me just a minute, I'll call you back." 68 00:03:17,021 --> 00:03:22,021 So, I got off the phone with him and, um, 69 00:03:22,021 --> 00:03:24,021 I called a paramedic friend of mine. 70 00:03:25,021 --> 00:03:28,021 I asked him if he could tell me what happened, he said no, 71 00:03:28,021 --> 00:03:30,021 but she was dead. 72 00:03:33,021 --> 00:03:35,021 I was in shock, I didn't believe it. 73 00:03:35,021 --> 00:03:37,021 I just didn't believe it at all. 74 00:03:37,021 --> 00:03:39,021 I never would have thought in a million years 75 00:03:39,021 --> 00:03:41,021 what happened actually happened. 76 00:03:45,021 --> 00:03:49,021 - ♪ - [seagulls cawing] 77 00:03:49,021 --> 00:03:52,021 - AYMEE: Corey was from Rochester, New York. 78 00:03:52,021 --> 00:03:53,021 When she moved to Jacksonville, 79 00:03:53,021 --> 00:03:56,021 I think she just wanted a complete change of lifestyle. 80 00:03:56,021 --> 00:04:00,021 She was drawn to the beach, but I think it was more so 81 00:04:00,021 --> 00:04:02,021 the peacefulness of the water, 82 00:04:02,021 --> 00:04:06,021 the casualness of beach communities, 83 00:04:06,021 --> 00:04:09,021 more so than the actual sun. 84 00:04:09,021 --> 00:04:11,021 She transferred over to the college up there. 85 00:04:11,021 --> 00:04:14,021 She was definitely dedicated to her education. 86 00:04:14,021 --> 00:04:17,021 Often, we couldn't meet up until later 87 00:04:17,021 --> 00:04:21,021 because she would be doing a study group after getting up 88 00:04:21,021 --> 00:04:25,021 at 6 in the morning, running around, going to work. 89 00:04:26,021 --> 00:04:28,021 Corey worked as a server at Ragtime. 90 00:04:28,021 --> 00:04:31,021 It was convenient, it was a nice environment, 91 00:04:31,021 --> 00:04:32,021 there were cool people that worked there, 92 00:04:32,021 --> 00:04:35,021 and we used to hang out there afterwards. 93 00:04:35,021 --> 00:04:37,021 I think she was really comfortable with being a server. 94 00:04:37,021 --> 00:04:40,021 She made good money because of that. 95 00:04:40,021 --> 00:04:42,021 I think that people automatically felt 96 00:04:42,021 --> 00:04:45,021 connected to her, and-- even acquaintances felt like 97 00:04:45,021 --> 00:04:46,021 they were good friends with her 98 00:04:46,021 --> 00:04:48,021 because of the way she treated people. 99 00:04:51,021 --> 00:04:53,021 - ♪ 100 00:04:53,021 --> 00:04:55,021 - AYMEE: When she met David, it was a little bit different, 101 00:04:55,021 --> 00:04:58,021 there was an instant spark, which was unusual for her. 102 00:04:58,021 --> 00:05:00,021 Often, she had to get to know somebody a little bit before 103 00:05:00,021 --> 00:05:03,021 she felt that intrigued by them. 104 00:05:04,021 --> 00:05:06,021 I remember her telling me he was special, 105 00:05:06,021 --> 00:05:08,021 and she was crazy about him. 106 00:05:08,021 --> 00:05:11,021 And she couldn't wait to tell me about it. 107 00:05:11,021 --> 00:05:15,021 I think at this point in her life she was definitely, um, 108 00:05:15,021 --> 00:05:17,021 looking for something a little bit deeper 109 00:05:17,021 --> 00:05:21,021 than just the appearance. 110 00:05:21,021 --> 00:05:26,021 Not only was he good-looking, he also could handle 111 00:05:26,021 --> 00:05:29,021 everything that she threw at him. 112 00:05:30,021 --> 00:05:33,021 He was about five years older than her, 113 00:05:33,021 --> 00:05:36,021 and I think she was really grateful to have finally found 114 00:05:36,021 --> 00:05:38,021 somebody that could connect with her 115 00:05:38,021 --> 00:05:41,021 on the same level intellectually. 116 00:05:41,021 --> 00:05:45,021 I remember thinking they were super cute together. 117 00:05:46,021 --> 00:05:48,021 From the time they met, I believe until... 118 00:05:48,021 --> 00:05:50,021 two days before this happened, 119 00:05:50,021 --> 00:05:54,021 they were together, you know, every night. 120 00:06:02,021 --> 00:06:03,021 When I got to the police station, 121 00:06:04,021 --> 00:06:07,021 there was probably... 50 of her friends 122 00:06:07,021 --> 00:06:08,021 standing out in the waiting area. 123 00:06:08,021 --> 00:06:12,021 Luckily, one of the detectives came out and got me right away. 124 00:06:12,021 --> 00:06:18,021 She asked me a lot of questions: um, obviously my alibi, 125 00:06:18,021 --> 00:06:21,021 where I was, told me to be careful, 126 00:06:21,021 --> 00:06:23,021 that every person was a suspect at that point. 127 00:06:23,021 --> 00:06:25,021 There were some questions like: 128 00:06:25,021 --> 00:06:29,021 "Do you know of anybody that might be upset with Corey? 129 00:06:30,021 --> 00:06:32,021 Do you know about an argument she may have had this week?" 130 00:06:32,021 --> 00:06:36,021 Um, "What do you know about her current boyfriend?" 131 00:06:37,021 --> 00:06:40,021 I felt so useless because I had no information. 132 00:06:40,021 --> 00:06:42,021 She didn't have any enemies that I was aware of. 133 00:06:43,021 --> 00:06:46,021 My biggest fear was, if this happened to Corey, 134 00:06:46,021 --> 00:06:47,021 this could happen to me, 135 00:06:47,021 --> 00:06:50,021 this could happen to anyone else in our group. 136 00:06:53,021 --> 00:06:56,021 - ♪ 137 00:06:56,021 --> 00:06:58,021 - My name is Eddie Bounds, I was the on-call detective 138 00:06:58,021 --> 00:07:00,021 with the Jacksonville Beach Police Department 139 00:07:00,021 --> 00:07:03,021 during the Corey Parker homicide. 140 00:07:05,021 --> 00:07:08,021 We were preparing Thanksgiving dinner all that day with family. 141 00:07:08,021 --> 00:07:13,021 Um, early in the evening hours, I received a call 142 00:07:13,021 --> 00:07:15,021 from the Jacksonville Beach Police Department dispatch, 143 00:07:15,021 --> 00:07:17,021 alerting me that there was a death scene 144 00:07:17,021 --> 00:07:20,021 that I was being called to on 4th Street North. 145 00:07:25,021 --> 00:07:27,021 Initially, Corey didn't show up for work, 146 00:07:27,021 --> 00:07:31,021 and the, uh, Ragtime management became concerned 147 00:07:31,021 --> 00:07:35,021 and sent one of their employees to her residence 148 00:07:35,021 --> 00:07:37,021 to see what the problem was. 149 00:07:39,021 --> 00:07:42,021 The employee walked around the residence and found 150 00:07:42,021 --> 00:07:44,021 her bedroom window actually ajar 151 00:07:45,021 --> 00:07:48,021 and had to move the blinds aside to look into-- 152 00:07:48,021 --> 00:07:49,021 to call out for Corey. 153 00:07:49,021 --> 00:07:53,021 And when he did that, he looked down. 154 00:07:53,021 --> 00:07:56,021 What he--he saw, was-- was Corey's body. 155 00:07:58,021 --> 00:08:02,021 - [police siren blaring] 156 00:08:02,021 --> 00:08:04,021 - EDDIE: I live about a quarter of a mile away. 157 00:08:04,021 --> 00:08:06,021 I responded quickly... 158 00:08:08,021 --> 00:08:12,021 and spoke with Officer O'Neal, um, the senior officer on scene. 159 00:08:14,021 --> 00:08:18,021 We walked through the residence to the point of entry and exit, 160 00:08:18,021 --> 00:08:20,021 which was the kitchen window. 161 00:08:21,021 --> 00:08:25,021 You could see four fingerprints on the wall-- 162 00:08:25,021 --> 00:08:27,021 bloody fingerprints. 163 00:08:28,021 --> 00:08:29,021 You could tell there were no ridges. 164 00:08:29,021 --> 00:08:32,021 Um, having seen scenes like that before, 165 00:08:32,021 --> 00:08:35,021 I knew there was gonna be gloves, uh, involved. 166 00:08:37,021 --> 00:08:39,021 I worked my way around the living room and then 167 00:08:39,021 --> 00:08:42,021 into the hallway and positioned myself outside 168 00:08:42,021 --> 00:08:46,021 of Corey's bedroom until my eyes could adjust to the darkness. 169 00:08:47,021 --> 00:08:49,021 After standing in the hallway outside of her bedroom 170 00:08:49,021 --> 00:08:50,021 for several seconds, 171 00:08:50,021 --> 00:08:54,021 I could make out Corey's outline of her body. 172 00:08:54,021 --> 00:08:57,021 Um, I could see that she was laying on her bed. 173 00:08:58,021 --> 00:09:01,021 I've been to a lot of bad scenes in my career. 174 00:09:01,021 --> 00:09:04,021 I've been to a lot of classes that prepared you 175 00:09:04,021 --> 00:09:06,021 for these types of scenes, 176 00:09:06,021 --> 00:09:07,021 but nothing prepared me for what I saw 177 00:09:07,021 --> 00:09:09,021 when I walked into Corey's bedroom. 178 00:09:13,021 --> 00:09:17,021 It was surreal, um, the amount of injuries 179 00:09:17,021 --> 00:09:19,021 that she had sustained. 180 00:09:19,021 --> 00:09:20,021 It was such a vicious attack. 181 00:09:20,021 --> 00:09:23,021 Brutal beyond-- beyond explanation. 182 00:09:23,021 --> 00:09:27,021 You can--you can say and tell somebody, 183 00:09:27,021 --> 00:09:30,021 but to--to be there, to see it, 184 00:09:30,021 --> 00:09:32,021 to see what-- what she had sustained. 185 00:09:33,021 --> 00:09:39,021 Once I'd realized how-- how vast the scene was, 186 00:09:39,021 --> 00:09:41,021 I knew that we were gonna need everybody available 187 00:09:41,021 --> 00:09:42,021 to respond to this scene, 188 00:09:42,021 --> 00:09:47,021 um, and--and to conduct a thorough investigation. 189 00:09:47,021 --> 00:09:49,021 I called my wife immediately to tell her 190 00:09:49,021 --> 00:09:50,021 that I wouldn't be there for dinner. 191 00:09:54,021 --> 00:09:57,021 It appeared to me on first sight that she had been positioned 192 00:09:57,021 --> 00:09:59,021 in that, that--that corner of the bedroom, 193 00:09:59,021 --> 00:10:03,021 with her legs spread and her arms wide. 194 00:10:03,021 --> 00:10:05,021 She was nude, and her panties were rolled up 195 00:10:05,021 --> 00:10:07,021 off of her body and at her feet. 196 00:10:07,021 --> 00:10:13,021 Um, the way she was displayed by the--the suspect, 197 00:10:13,021 --> 00:10:18,021 um, to me, it had sexual, uh, tones all throughout. 198 00:10:19,021 --> 00:10:21,021 A lot of the injuries were postmortem. 199 00:10:22,021 --> 00:10:25,021 There was cuts on her body with no blood, 200 00:10:25,021 --> 00:10:28,021 meaning that whoever killed her, stayed with her 201 00:10:29,021 --> 00:10:32,021 for a period of time after she quit bleeding 202 00:10:32,021 --> 00:10:37,021 and then took the time to not leave out of the least path 203 00:10:37,021 --> 00:10:39,021 of resistance, which would've been the front door. 204 00:10:39,021 --> 00:10:41,021 He went back out through a small kitchen window. 205 00:10:42,021 --> 00:10:45,021 So, it was all a preplanned event, in my mind. 206 00:10:45,021 --> 00:10:49,021 It wasn't a--an accidental, walked in on burglary. 207 00:10:49,021 --> 00:10:53,021 Somebody really wanted to show whoever found Corey 208 00:10:53,021 --> 00:10:54,021 that he was angry. 209 00:10:57,021 --> 00:10:59,021 My first thought, personally, 210 00:10:59,021 --> 00:11:01,021 was that it was a relationship gone bad. 211 00:11:01,021 --> 00:11:02,021 It was gonna be somebody that-- 212 00:11:02,021 --> 00:11:04,021 that had a connection with Corey-- 213 00:11:04,021 --> 00:11:06,021 a personal connection. 214 00:11:06,021 --> 00:11:10,021 In instances like this where it is just a frenzy of stab wounds, 215 00:11:10,021 --> 00:11:12,021 it is common for the suspect's hand to come in contact 216 00:11:12,021 --> 00:11:14,021 with the blade and get cut. 217 00:11:14,021 --> 00:11:17,021 Until FDLE had gathered all of that evidence, 218 00:11:18,021 --> 00:11:22,021 we weren't sure if we were gonna have the suspect's DNA. 219 00:11:24,021 --> 00:11:26,021 Time was going to transpire between what we had on scene 220 00:11:26,021 --> 00:11:28,021 and what was going to be discovered later 221 00:11:28,021 --> 00:11:30,021 through laboratory results. 222 00:11:31,021 --> 00:11:33,021 There was a lot of legwork involved, a lot of interviewing; 223 00:11:33,021 --> 00:11:35,021 repeatedly canvassing the neighborhood. 224 00:11:35,021 --> 00:11:40,021 And Ragtime was a--was a business with over 50 employees. 225 00:11:40,021 --> 00:11:42,021 So, we had our work cut out for us. 226 00:11:49,021 --> 00:11:53,021 - ♪ 227 00:11:53,021 --> 00:11:55,021 - EDDIE: At the ME's office, you turn off all the lights, 228 00:11:55,021 --> 00:11:56,021 and they turn on a-- an alternate light source. 229 00:11:57,021 --> 00:12:03,021 It's a--kind of a bluish black light, um, that makes fibers 230 00:12:03,021 --> 00:12:06,021 and any kind of microscopic evidence glow. 231 00:12:08,021 --> 00:12:12,021 I was hoping that whatever he had been wearing, 232 00:12:12,021 --> 00:12:16,021 his hair, sweat, blood, something, 233 00:12:16,021 --> 00:12:19,021 had transferred from his body onto hers. 234 00:12:19,021 --> 00:12:21,021 And when they turned that alternate light source on, 235 00:12:22,021 --> 00:12:24,021 it emitted everything from fibers to blood. 236 00:12:24,021 --> 00:12:28,021 There seemed to be so much evidence glowing from the body. 237 00:12:28,021 --> 00:12:29,021 To me, it was hope. 238 00:12:29,021 --> 00:12:32,021 It was hope in the case that something on her body 239 00:12:32,021 --> 00:12:34,021 that was being recovered would relate back to a suspect. 240 00:12:37,021 --> 00:12:43,021 When Corey's panties were unrolled, pulled apart, 241 00:12:43,021 --> 00:12:48,021 there was a forcibly removed hair follicle found inside. 242 00:12:48,021 --> 00:12:50,021 When I say forcibly removed-- 243 00:12:50,021 --> 00:12:52,021 when you lose your hair naturally, it falls off, 244 00:12:52,021 --> 00:12:55,021 or it falls out, but during a struggle, 245 00:12:55,021 --> 00:12:57,021 when hair is forcibly removed from your hair, 246 00:12:57,021 --> 00:12:58,021 it pulls the follicle, 247 00:12:58,021 --> 00:13:02,021 which has the bulb of DNA attached. 248 00:13:02,021 --> 00:13:04,021 It was a new sign of life in the investigation, 249 00:13:04,021 --> 00:13:08,021 knowing that when we found whoever was responsible, 250 00:13:08,021 --> 00:13:09,021 that hair had to have come from them. 251 00:13:09,021 --> 00:13:13,021 He would have to explain why and how his hair 252 00:13:13,021 --> 00:13:14,021 got into her apartment, 253 00:13:14,021 --> 00:13:17,021 rolled up in her panties and covered in blood. 254 00:13:21,021 --> 00:13:24,021 - ♪ 255 00:13:24,021 --> 00:13:25,021 - My name is Paul Pinkham. 256 00:13:25,021 --> 00:13:28,021 I was an investigative reporter at "The Florida Times Union" 257 00:13:28,021 --> 00:13:30,021 in Jacksonville. 258 00:13:30,021 --> 00:13:35,021 Corey's murder dominated, um, conversations, 259 00:13:35,021 --> 00:13:37,021 news coverage, everything. 260 00:13:37,021 --> 00:13:38,021 People were starting to lock doors. 261 00:13:38,021 --> 00:13:41,021 Women would go out in groups together at night 262 00:13:41,021 --> 00:13:44,021 instead of alone. 263 00:13:44,021 --> 00:13:47,021 Because somebody was out there that did this, 264 00:13:47,021 --> 00:13:50,021 and nobody knew really if it would happen again 265 00:13:50,021 --> 00:13:52,021 to somebody else. 266 00:13:58,021 --> 00:14:00,021 Even with all the other potentialities 267 00:14:00,021 --> 00:14:05,021 that police had to look at, uh, they kept going back to the fact 268 00:14:05,021 --> 00:14:08,021 that this was a crime of intense passion. 269 00:14:08,021 --> 00:14:10,021 The obvious thing to do would be to look at the people 270 00:14:11,021 --> 00:14:16,021 closest to her first as potential, um, suspects 271 00:14:16,021 --> 00:14:18,021 or persons of interest. 272 00:14:18,021 --> 00:14:22,021 Corey was in a relationship with a--a man named David. 273 00:14:22,021 --> 00:14:24,021 He obviously was one of the first people 274 00:14:24,021 --> 00:14:27,021 that police wanted to talk to. 275 00:14:27,021 --> 00:14:28,021 Fortunately for David, he had a solid alibi. 276 00:14:29,021 --> 00:14:33,021 He was out of town visiting family for Thanksgiving. 277 00:14:33,021 --> 00:14:38,021 Police then turn to, um, Corey's circle of friends 278 00:14:38,021 --> 00:14:39,021 and coworkers. 279 00:14:41,021 --> 00:14:45,021 - ♪ 280 00:14:45,021 --> 00:14:48,021 - PAUL: Her friend Tiffany was the last known person 281 00:14:48,021 --> 00:14:51,021 to see Corey alive, other than the killer. 282 00:14:52,021 --> 00:14:55,021 She at the outset talked to them fairly willingly. 283 00:14:55,021 --> 00:14:58,021 She remembered Corey leaving to go home, and, um, 284 00:14:58,021 --> 00:14:59,021 she remembered going by the apartment or calling 285 00:14:59,021 --> 00:15:02,021 at some later point in the evening. 286 00:15:02,021 --> 00:15:04,021 In the course of that conversation, 287 00:15:04,021 --> 00:15:08,021 Tiffany essentially talked herself into being a suspect 288 00:15:08,021 --> 00:15:11,021 by revealing things that she knew that had not been 289 00:15:11,021 --> 00:15:14,021 revealed to the public-- 290 00:15:14,021 --> 00:15:18,021 such as the incredible number of stab wounds, 291 00:15:18,021 --> 00:15:20,021 the blood, how Corey's body was posed. 292 00:15:23,021 --> 00:15:25,021 Tiffany was able to explain how she knew so much 293 00:15:25,021 --> 00:15:27,021 about the crime scene, 294 00:15:27,021 --> 00:15:29,021 and it was because she was dating somebody 295 00:15:29,021 --> 00:15:33,021 with the fire rescue who showed up at the initial call-out 296 00:15:33,021 --> 00:15:35,021 and told her what he saw. 297 00:15:35,021 --> 00:15:39,021 The police moved on from Tiffany and, you know, 298 00:15:39,021 --> 00:15:41,021 decided they needed to focus elsewhere. 299 00:15:44,021 --> 00:15:48,021 - ♪ 300 00:15:48,021 --> 00:15:49,021 - PAUL: They went back to Ragtime and they talked 301 00:15:49,021 --> 00:15:53,021 to Corey's coworkers. 302 00:15:53,021 --> 00:15:56,021 A couple of them mentioned a-- a dishwasher at the restaurant 303 00:15:56,021 --> 00:16:02,021 named Eric, who they all said was just infatuated with Corey 304 00:16:02,021 --> 00:16:05,021 to the point where it was probably unhealthy. 305 00:16:07,021 --> 00:16:11,021 It wasn't in Corey's nature to be mean to anyone. 306 00:16:11,021 --> 00:16:16,021 So, she would rebuff Eric's advances as gently as she could. 307 00:16:17,021 --> 00:16:21,021 But on his side of the equation, he was infatuated with her, 308 00:16:21,021 --> 00:16:25,021 and, you know, continued to make advances. 309 00:16:25,021 --> 00:16:29,021 It was a bit delusional from everyone else's perspective. 310 00:16:33,021 --> 00:16:36,021 One night, Eric decides, "Well, maybe I can win her 311 00:16:36,021 --> 00:16:38,021 if I just fix her dinner and then invite her over." 312 00:16:38,021 --> 00:16:42,021 So, he goes to great lengths to fix this really nice, 313 00:16:42,021 --> 00:16:46,021 romantic kind of dinner, and then calls Corey, 314 00:16:46,021 --> 00:16:48,021 but she's got other plans, obviously, 315 00:16:48,021 --> 00:16:49,021 she's out with her boyfriend. 316 00:16:50,021 --> 00:16:52,021 Eric was hurt by that. 317 00:16:56,021 --> 00:16:59,021 So, police bring Eric in for questioning, 318 00:16:59,021 --> 00:17:01,021 and he thinks he can help because he was Corey's man 319 00:17:01,021 --> 00:17:04,021 in his mind, you know. 320 00:17:04,021 --> 00:17:08,021 So, he doesn't really shy away from anything they ask. 321 00:17:08,021 --> 00:17:09,021 He told the police that he loved Corey, 322 00:17:09,021 --> 00:17:12,021 he'd never hurt Corey. 323 00:17:12,021 --> 00:17:16,021 It quickly became clear to the police that this was 324 00:17:16,021 --> 00:17:19,021 way more than just a guy having a crush on a girl. 325 00:17:21,021 --> 00:17:23,021 Eric talked at great length about his sexual fantasies-- 326 00:17:24,021 --> 00:17:25,021 violent fantasies about Corey. 327 00:17:26,021 --> 00:17:29,021 And it was almost as if he had created 328 00:17:29,021 --> 00:17:33,021 a relationship with her that existed solely in his mind, 329 00:17:33,021 --> 00:17:39,021 but was as real to him as... reality is to the rest of us. 330 00:17:41,021 --> 00:17:44,021 At some point, their conversation took a--a dark turn 331 00:17:44,021 --> 00:17:49,021 into...how he would've killed her 332 00:17:49,021 --> 00:17:51,021 if he had been the one to have killed her. 333 00:17:51,021 --> 00:17:53,021 All kinds of radar went up at that point. 334 00:17:57,021 --> 00:18:01,021 One of Eric's fantasies involved sneaking into Corey's apartment 335 00:18:01,021 --> 00:18:05,021 at night and waiting for her, 336 00:18:05,021 --> 00:18:08,021 and then ultimately stabbing her...multiple times. 337 00:18:08,021 --> 00:18:13,021 - ♪ 338 00:18:13,021 --> 00:18:15,021 - PAUL: Certainly, as Eric talked, 339 00:18:15,021 --> 00:18:19,021 um, the investigators got very, very, very excited 340 00:18:19,021 --> 00:18:24,021 that this--this may finally be our guy. 341 00:18:24,021 --> 00:18:27,021 Really, the last step now would be to get Eric's DNA 342 00:18:27,021 --> 00:18:30,021 and wrap the case up. 343 00:18:30,021 --> 00:18:33,021 Which is exactly what they did. 344 00:18:33,021 --> 00:18:35,021 That takes time to run through the lab. 345 00:18:35,021 --> 00:18:38,021 The police had to let Eric go 346 00:18:38,021 --> 00:18:40,021 'cause they did not have enough to arrest him. 347 00:18:42,021 --> 00:18:44,021 His DNA sample had come back, 348 00:18:44,021 --> 00:18:48,021 and did not match anything at the crime scene. 349 00:18:48,021 --> 00:18:50,021 So, they had to go back to square one. 350 00:18:50,021 --> 00:18:56,021 - ♪ 351 00:18:58,021 --> 00:19:02,021 - PAUL: The beach was blanketed with these reward posters. 352 00:19:02,021 --> 00:19:06,021 They were on every telephone pole, every tree. 353 00:19:06,021 --> 00:19:08,021 You couldn't really go anywhere without seeing it. 354 00:19:08,021 --> 00:19:11,021 And the hope was that something would shake loose. 355 00:19:17,021 --> 00:19:21,021 Four, maybe five months after the--the posters went up, 356 00:19:21,021 --> 00:19:22,021 there was a group of people 357 00:19:22,021 --> 00:19:24,021 ,who were sitting out on the dock 358 00:19:24,021 --> 00:19:27,021 and they were talking about the reward, and one of 'em said, 359 00:19:27,021 --> 00:19:30,021 "You remember that guy we worked with? 360 00:19:30,021 --> 00:19:32,021 "He was acting really strange around that time, 361 00:19:32,021 --> 00:19:33,021 "and he lived near that girl. 362 00:19:33,021 --> 00:19:37,021 You know, I wonder if he had something to do with it." 363 00:19:37,021 --> 00:19:39,021 One of 'em calls the cops up. 364 00:19:39,021 --> 00:19:43,021 They gave 'em a name, the name was, uh, Robert Denney. 365 00:19:43,021 --> 00:19:46,021 He had worked with them at the BBQ restaurant. 366 00:19:46,021 --> 00:19:48,021 Ironically, I believe he was a dishwasher as well. 367 00:19:52,021 --> 00:19:56,021 Police went and talked to Robert's boss. 368 00:19:56,021 --> 00:20:01,021 Robert was 17 at the time Corey was murdered. 369 00:20:01,021 --> 00:20:04,021 He lived in an upstairs apartment that had a balcony 370 00:20:04,021 --> 00:20:07,021 that overlooked her downstairs apartment. 371 00:20:07,021 --> 00:20:10,021 Robert had told them about this girl that lived 372 00:20:10,021 --> 00:20:13,021 in the apartments across the way from his, 373 00:20:13,021 --> 00:20:16,021 and that he used to masturbate while watching her. 374 00:20:16,021 --> 00:20:18,021 That got their attention, uh, big time. 375 00:20:19,021 --> 00:20:23,021 All of a sudden, Robert Denney became their focus. 376 00:20:23,021 --> 00:20:26,021 I mean, they're back in the game, so to speak. 377 00:20:26,021 --> 00:20:29,021 He was the creepy neighbor that we all fear. 378 00:20:32,021 --> 00:20:36,021 - ♪ 379 00:20:36,021 --> 00:20:39,021 - I am Detective Sergeant William W. Carlyle. 380 00:20:39,021 --> 00:20:41,021 I was the supervisor in charge of the investigative section 381 00:20:41,021 --> 00:20:44,021 and in charge of this case. 382 00:20:52,021 --> 00:20:55,021 - ♪ 383 00:20:55,021 --> 00:20:58,021 - WILLIAM: We got a tip from these three people, 384 00:20:58,021 --> 00:21:00,021 they said at the time he was just acting 385 00:21:00,021 --> 00:21:02,021 really, really, really strange. 386 00:21:02,021 --> 00:21:04,021 They'd been working with him for some period of time 387 00:21:04,021 --> 00:21:06,021 and all of a sudden right after 388 00:21:06,021 --> 00:21:08,021 the, uh, the victim was discovered, 389 00:21:08,021 --> 00:21:12,021 he's gotta get out of town, he's crying, he's hysterical. 390 00:21:18,021 --> 00:21:20,021 We don't know where Robert's at, at this point, 391 00:21:20,021 --> 00:21:22,021 so, we have to contact the sister, uh, 392 00:21:22,021 --> 00:21:26,021 who lived in Atlantic Beach, and talk to her. 393 00:21:26,021 --> 00:21:29,021 And, uh, then she gave us additional information, 394 00:21:29,021 --> 00:21:31,021 which gave us reason for concern. 395 00:21:35,021 --> 00:21:38,021 Robert had been staying with her for a period of time, 396 00:21:38,021 --> 00:21:43,021 and he had, in her statements, become "a night creeper." 397 00:21:43,021 --> 00:21:45,021 Meaning he had a lot of pornography. 398 00:21:45,021 --> 00:21:48,021 He would stand outside, you know, her bedroom window 399 00:21:48,021 --> 00:21:52,021 at night, and try to peep in at her. 400 00:21:52,021 --> 00:21:53,021 She was spooked by it, 401 00:21:53,021 --> 00:21:55,021 so, she-- she forced him out of the house. 402 00:22:00,021 --> 00:22:03,021 On top of that, the sister had revealed 403 00:22:03,021 --> 00:22:06,021 that, uh, his brother was serving time in El Paso, Texas, 404 00:22:06,021 --> 00:22:10,021 for another murder where he, in fact, had killed a girl 405 00:22:10,021 --> 00:22:12,021 and stabbed her 97 times. 406 00:22:14,021 --> 00:22:17,021 You have a brother that stabbed a woman 97 times, 407 00:22:17,021 --> 00:22:20,021 you have a victim next door to Robert that was-- 408 00:22:20,021 --> 00:22:23,021 been stabbed 101 times. 409 00:22:23,021 --> 00:22:24,021 You're looking at it like, 410 00:22:24,021 --> 00:22:27,021 "Yeah, this is a good, solid lead." 411 00:22:27,021 --> 00:22:27,021 We asked her, we said, "Well, where's Robert at?" 412 00:22:28,021 --> 00:22:31,021 'Cause we had no--no clue. 413 00:22:31,021 --> 00:22:33,021 She didn't know exactly, but she knew that, um, 414 00:22:33,021 --> 00:22:36,021 he had sent her an email and the lab was able 415 00:22:36,021 --> 00:22:40,021 to trace that email to a residence in Easton, Maryland. 416 00:22:46,021 --> 00:22:47,021 The first thing we did, 417 00:22:47,021 --> 00:22:48,021 once we got all this information, 418 00:22:48,021 --> 00:22:53,021 we jumped on the phone to, um, speak with the Easton, Maryland 419 00:22:53,021 --> 00:22:54,021 police department. 420 00:22:55,021 --> 00:22:58,021 We related to them, "Look, Robert doesn't know us. 421 00:22:58,021 --> 00:23:01,021 "Let's call him in to the police department 422 00:23:01,021 --> 00:23:04,021 "and approach him about potentially being a suspect 423 00:23:04,021 --> 00:23:09,021 in a crime that had occurred up there in Easton." 424 00:23:09,021 --> 00:23:12,021 We came up with this ruse that, "Look, the police chief's son 425 00:23:13,021 --> 00:23:14,021 "was the victim of a battery, 426 00:23:14,021 --> 00:23:17,021 and you generally match the description of this suspect." 427 00:23:25,021 --> 00:23:25,021 When we conducted the interview, 428 00:23:26,021 --> 00:23:28,021 we were gonna take him out into the garage 429 00:23:29,021 --> 00:23:30,021 for a--for a smoke at the police department 430 00:23:30,021 --> 00:23:33,021 and hopefully he'd leave the butt in the ashtray. 431 00:23:33,021 --> 00:23:37,021 We also gave him a bottle of water to drink from. 432 00:23:37,021 --> 00:23:39,021 And, uh, hopefully, at some point, 433 00:23:39,021 --> 00:23:42,021 he'd take a--a sip, and we'd have his DNA. 434 00:23:43,021 --> 00:23:47,021 He put the cigarette butt behind his ear 435 00:23:47,021 --> 00:23:48,021 after he smoked it. 436 00:23:48,021 --> 00:23:50,021 He didn't put it in the ashtray. 437 00:23:50,021 --> 00:23:51,021 He never opened the water bottle. 438 00:23:59,021 --> 00:24:00,021 As a last resort, 439 00:24:00,021 --> 00:24:01,021 I put together three different letters, 440 00:24:01,021 --> 00:24:03,021 saying, "Hey, you know, we've approached you 441 00:24:03,021 --> 00:24:06,021 "for a DNA sample, although you are not interested 442 00:24:06,021 --> 00:24:09,021 "in giving that DNA sample at this time, 443 00:24:09,021 --> 00:24:11,021 "we need to record that we've asked you for it. 444 00:24:11,021 --> 00:24:13,021 "Would you sign this and then, 445 00:24:13,021 --> 00:24:18,021 put these in these envelopes and lick 'em and seal 'em?" 446 00:24:18,021 --> 00:24:21,021 He looked at the detectives that were in the room, 447 00:24:21,021 --> 00:24:24,021 and he basically said, "Look, y'all have tried three times now 448 00:24:24,021 --> 00:24:26,021 "to get my saliva on something. 449 00:24:26,021 --> 00:24:29,021 "Is there anything else I can do for you? 450 00:24:29,021 --> 00:24:32,021 If not, we're done here." 451 00:24:32,021 --> 00:24:35,021 Basically, at that point, we had to let him go. 452 00:24:41,021 --> 00:24:45,021 We decided to set up surveillance on him 453 00:24:45,021 --> 00:24:48,021 to, uh, try and get a covert sample. 454 00:24:49,021 --> 00:24:52,021 We knew that he worked at a local computer store. 455 00:24:52,021 --> 00:24:54,021 We noticed that he would come out, um, 456 00:24:54,021 --> 00:24:58,021 about every 40 to 45 minutes and take a cigarette break. 457 00:24:58,021 --> 00:25:02,021 We were gonna sit outside and get a DNA sample. 458 00:25:03,021 --> 00:25:05,021 Well, he initially started doing the same thing, 459 00:25:05,021 --> 00:25:07,021 when he would smoke the cigarette, 460 00:25:07,021 --> 00:25:09,021 he'd put the butt behind his ear and go back inside. 461 00:25:13,021 --> 00:25:17,021 The next day, we set up, um, surveillance on him again. 462 00:25:17,021 --> 00:25:19,021 And, uh, lo and behold, 463 00:25:20,021 --> 00:25:21,021 he walks outside to smoke a cigarette, 464 00:25:21,021 --> 00:25:24,021 and out of the clear blue sky, he, um, 465 00:25:24,021 --> 00:25:26,021 he starts spitting on the ground. 466 00:25:30,021 --> 00:25:31,021 I scurried up there with my little swabs, 467 00:25:31,021 --> 00:25:36,021 and I could clearly see where the spit was resting 468 00:25:36,021 --> 00:25:37,021 on top of the rainwater. 469 00:25:38,021 --> 00:25:39,021 I scooped that up, and, uh, 470 00:25:39,021 --> 00:25:42,021 we drove that to the, uh, FBI crime laboratory. 471 00:25:44,021 --> 00:25:48,021 - ♪ 472 00:25:48,021 --> 00:25:51,021 - WILLIAM: Two weeks later, the analyst from the FBI 473 00:25:51,021 --> 00:25:55,021 called me and told me that, uh, it was a match. 474 00:25:55,021 --> 00:25:59,021 That it was definitely, uh, Robert Denney. 475 00:26:01,021 --> 00:26:03,021 We were ecstatic, we were jumping up and down 476 00:26:03,021 --> 00:26:05,021 in the Detective Division. 477 00:26:06,021 --> 00:26:08,021 We jump on the phone with the prosecutor, 478 00:26:09,021 --> 00:26:10,021 and it was Angela Corey. 479 00:26:10,021 --> 00:26:14,021 And we tell Angela, "Look, you know, we--we got a match. 480 00:26:14,021 --> 00:26:17,021 And, uh, we wanna go get this guy." 481 00:26:17,021 --> 00:26:18,021 She's like, "I'm not gonna give you a warrant right now. 482 00:26:18,021 --> 00:26:23,021 "I want you to get a denial from him that he knew Corey 483 00:26:23,021 --> 00:26:25,021 "or had ever been in her apartment, 484 00:26:25,021 --> 00:26:27,021 "because the DNA evidence was only as good as your ability 485 00:26:27,021 --> 00:26:32,021 to prove it should or should not have been there." 486 00:26:32,021 --> 00:26:35,021 All he really had to do was come back, you know, later on, 487 00:26:36,021 --> 00:26:37,021 with a good defense attorney and say, 488 00:26:37,021 --> 00:26:39,021 "I helped her carry her groceries in 489 00:26:39,021 --> 00:26:42,021 and that's how my DNA got in her apartment." 490 00:26:42,021 --> 00:26:45,021 So, it was critical that we get the denial. 491 00:26:50,021 --> 00:26:52,021 We felt like he was pretty savvy, 492 00:26:52,021 --> 00:26:55,021 and that he would be, you know, smart enough to put together 493 00:26:55,021 --> 00:26:57,021 that we were there to trap him. 494 00:26:58,021 --> 00:27:00,021 So, we formulated a plan. 495 00:27:01,021 --> 00:27:03,021 A detective was gonna tell him, 496 00:27:04,021 --> 00:27:06,021 "Look, we've already found our suspect, 497 00:27:06,021 --> 00:27:08,021 "and it's not you. 498 00:27:08,021 --> 00:27:11,021 But we have to ask you a few questions." 499 00:27:31,021 --> 00:27:33,021 - We had our denial. 500 00:27:35,021 --> 00:27:37,021 - [police siren blaring] 501 00:27:37,021 --> 00:27:40,021 - WILLIAM: We knew at that point he could not explain 502 00:27:40,021 --> 00:27:43,021 how his DNA got into her apartment, 503 00:27:43,021 --> 00:27:45,021 so, uh, we called back Jacksonville, 504 00:27:45,021 --> 00:27:47,021 Angela had already typed up the warrant. 505 00:27:50,021 --> 00:27:53,021 We got the Easton PD to go with us over to the house 506 00:27:53,021 --> 00:27:55,021 and, uh, walked in and arrested him. 507 00:27:55,021 --> 00:27:59,021 You could just see the blood, um, 508 00:27:59,021 --> 00:28:00,021 drain from Robert Denney's face, 509 00:28:00,021 --> 00:28:04,021 and he was just white as a ghost. 510 00:28:08,021 --> 00:28:12,021 - ♪ 511 00:28:12,021 --> 00:28:14,021 - I'm Angela Corey. 512 00:28:14,021 --> 00:28:16,021 I was the lead prosecutor on the case 513 00:28:16,021 --> 00:28:19,021 of the State of Florida versus Robert Denney. 514 00:28:19,021 --> 00:28:20,021 You know, I prosecuted for 35 years 515 00:28:20,021 --> 00:28:25,021 and my specialty, uh, so to speak, was homicides. 516 00:28:27,021 --> 00:28:29,021 I kept pictures of my victims up all over my office. 517 00:28:30,021 --> 00:28:35,021 Because you--you can't forget about something this important, 518 00:28:35,021 --> 00:28:38,021 and you can't forget what her loved ones are going through. 519 00:28:41,021 --> 00:28:44,021 Just, looking at her beautiful face. 520 00:28:44,021 --> 00:28:47,021 Obviously, the name Corey is special to me, 521 00:28:47,021 --> 00:28:49,021 it's my family name, my last name. 522 00:28:49,021 --> 00:28:53,021 And so, there was just this drive to solve this case. 523 00:28:55,021 --> 00:28:59,021 It was a very exciting moment to--to see that 524 00:28:59,021 --> 00:29:02,021 we're going to be able to put Robert Denney in handcuffs 525 00:29:02,021 --> 00:29:05,021 and bring him to justice. 526 00:29:05,021 --> 00:29:08,021 You know, that finally, we were gonna have 527 00:29:08,021 --> 00:29:11,021 Corey Parker's murderer in custody. 528 00:29:11,021 --> 00:29:13,021 The best part of all of it 529 00:29:13,021 --> 00:29:15,021 was being able to call the victim's family 530 00:29:15,021 --> 00:29:16,021 and let them know. 531 00:29:22,021 --> 00:29:24,021 Once they arrested Robert Denney, 532 00:29:24,021 --> 00:29:28,021 he was no longer the cocky, "I'm smarter than you" person 533 00:29:28,021 --> 00:29:31,021 that he had shown himself to be. 534 00:29:31,021 --> 00:29:34,021 He started sobbing like a little boy. 535 00:29:34,021 --> 00:29:38,021 He couldn't catch his breath. He was hyperventilating. 536 00:29:38,021 --> 00:29:43,021 And, I think he knew at that point that we had gotten him. 537 00:29:43,021 --> 00:29:47,021 He just didn't give any statements that would help us. 538 00:30:38,021 --> 00:30:43,021 - ANGELA: I'm not sure that it was as real an emotion. 539 00:30:43,021 --> 00:30:45,021 There was absolutely no remorse. 540 00:30:46,021 --> 00:30:48,021 And it was just sort of a back and forth 541 00:30:48,021 --> 00:30:50,021 and, "He couldn't have done it." 542 00:30:50,021 --> 00:30:54,021 And then, our detectives brought up his brother, 543 00:30:54,021 --> 00:30:57,021 who was in prison for, ironically enough, 544 00:30:57,021 --> 00:30:58,021 stabbing a woman to death. 545 00:31:11,021 --> 00:31:13,021 - He stabbed Corey Parker more times than his brother 546 00:31:13,021 --> 00:31:15,021 stabbed the young woman in Texas. 547 00:31:22,021 --> 00:31:26,021 - Everything we asked him, he denied. 548 00:31:26,021 --> 00:31:28,021 Denied, denied, denied. 549 00:31:30,021 --> 00:31:31,021 When you looked at all of the evidence, 550 00:31:31,021 --> 00:31:34,021 along with his DNA, 551 00:31:34,021 --> 00:31:38,021 he was the only viable suspect 552 00:31:38,021 --> 00:31:41,021 to be the person who murdered Corey Parker. 553 00:31:48,021 --> 00:31:50,021 Robert Denney had not lived in the apartment 554 00:31:50,021 --> 00:31:52,021 directly across from Corey Parker 555 00:31:52,021 --> 00:31:54,021 for very long, so he had to have developed 556 00:31:55,021 --> 00:31:58,021 this interest in her suddenly. 557 00:31:58,021 --> 00:32:00,021 And then again, it could've just been 558 00:32:00,021 --> 00:32:03,021 that he saw her come home late that night 559 00:32:03,021 --> 00:32:05,021 and the idea occurred to him. 560 00:32:08,021 --> 00:32:13,021 Really, it's inexplicable how he focused on her and chose her 561 00:32:13,021 --> 00:32:15,021 as his murder victim, 562 00:32:15,021 --> 00:32:18,021 because he was in contact with a lot of other women. 563 00:32:19,021 --> 00:32:20,021 Whether it was an obsession, a rage, 564 00:32:20,021 --> 00:32:25,021 or just an "I can get away with murder," 565 00:32:25,021 --> 00:32:27,021 I'm not sure we'll ever know, 566 00:32:27,021 --> 00:32:29,021 but I will always be grateful we don't necessarily 567 00:32:29,021 --> 00:32:31,021 have to prove motive in Florida. 568 00:32:31,021 --> 00:32:33,021 We just had to prove premeditation. 569 00:32:35,021 --> 00:32:40,021 - ♪ 570 00:32:40,021 --> 00:32:42,021 - ANGELA: My theory tends to be that he waited until after 571 00:32:42,021 --> 00:32:46,021 all the lights were out, and went in through that window, 572 00:32:46,021 --> 00:32:48,021 and it was the same way he exited. 573 00:32:50,021 --> 00:32:51,021 We feel like she was asleep under the covers 574 00:32:51,021 --> 00:32:54,021 and he crawled up on top of her, 575 00:32:54,021 --> 00:32:57,021 and she began fighting immediately. 576 00:32:58,021 --> 00:33:02,021 And never got off the bed once he started stabbing her. 577 00:33:04,021 --> 00:33:06,021 You can tell by the way the blood was spattered 578 00:33:06,021 --> 00:33:08,021 on the walls where she was found 579 00:33:08,021 --> 00:33:10,021 that she fought as hard as she could. 580 00:33:18,021 --> 00:33:20,021 One of the most stunning aspects of this case 581 00:33:21,021 --> 00:33:23,021 and one that has always haunted us was that 582 00:33:24,021 --> 00:33:26,021 most of the wounds were postmortem. 583 00:33:27,021 --> 00:33:31,021 And, uh, the medical examiner believed that the killer 584 00:33:31,021 --> 00:33:33,021 just played with her afterwards. 585 00:33:35,021 --> 00:33:39,021 A continuous, um, desecration 586 00:33:39,021 --> 00:33:41,021 of this beautiful woman's body, 587 00:33:41,021 --> 00:33:45,021 and that was just stunning to us. 588 00:33:45,021 --> 00:33:47,021 I've described it before as every woman's nightmare-- 589 00:33:48,021 --> 00:33:50,021 being killed, um, when you're in the sanctity 590 00:33:51,021 --> 00:33:53,021 of your own home, your own bed. 591 00:33:56,021 --> 00:33:57,021 He had to have planned this. 592 00:33:57,021 --> 00:34:00,021 There was no trace of blood between Corey Parker's bedroom 593 00:34:00,021 --> 00:34:03,021 and the lip of the kitchen sink. 594 00:34:03,021 --> 00:34:06,021 He had to plan very carefully with that amount of blood 595 00:34:06,021 --> 00:34:10,021 to not get a single bloody footprint anywhere. 596 00:34:11,021 --> 00:34:13,021 He said he had never been in there. 597 00:34:14,021 --> 00:34:18,021 We knew it was a lie, the DNA told us it was a lie, 598 00:34:18,021 --> 00:34:21,021 and it was the evidence we needed to prosecute him. 599 00:34:21,021 --> 00:34:23,021 We knew already that we were going to be able to take 600 00:34:23,021 --> 00:34:26,021 Robert Denney to a grand jury. 601 00:34:26,021 --> 00:34:29,021 We felt certain we could get an indictment. 602 00:34:29,021 --> 00:34:31,021 And then, of course, the excitement wears off 603 00:34:31,021 --> 00:34:33,021 when he fights extradition and then, 604 00:34:33,021 --> 00:34:37,021 begin the five-year battle to get him to trial. 605 00:34:40,021 --> 00:34:45,021 - ♪ 606 00:34:45,021 --> 00:34:47,021 - AYMEE: When I first found out there had been an arrest 607 00:34:47,021 --> 00:34:49,021 and it was her neighbor, 608 00:34:49,021 --> 00:34:52,021 I asked probably 30 times in a row, 609 00:34:52,021 --> 00:34:55,021 "Are you 100% sure? Is this the person? 610 00:34:55,021 --> 00:34:58,021 Is there any doubt whatsoever?" 611 00:34:58,021 --> 00:35:02,021 - We're so determined to seek justice for the victim, 612 00:35:02,021 --> 00:35:06,021 it's very difficult when there's not an immediate arrest. 613 00:35:06,021 --> 00:35:09,021 But because of the evolving nature of DNA 614 00:35:09,021 --> 00:35:14,021 and the numerous testing requests made by the defense, 615 00:35:14,021 --> 00:35:17,021 there was a lot of back and forth for years. 616 00:35:17,021 --> 00:35:19,021 We never gave up hope. 617 00:35:27,021 --> 00:35:29,021 - AYMEE: The moment I think everything actually hit me, 618 00:35:29,021 --> 00:35:34,021 it was in court and... 619 00:35:34,021 --> 00:35:38,021 seeing the killer 20 feet from me, 620 00:35:38,021 --> 00:35:43,021 and the way he just... 621 00:35:43,021 --> 00:35:46,021 glanced around the room at everybody, 622 00:35:46,021 --> 00:35:50,021 as if this was just--[sighs]-- a bothersome day for him. 623 00:35:50,021 --> 00:35:55,021 I didn't realize how angry I was until I saw 624 00:35:55,021 --> 00:35:59,021 how little he cared about what he did. 625 00:35:59,021 --> 00:36:03,021 - PAUL: The State laid out a very methodical timeline 626 00:36:03,021 --> 00:36:06,021 of what happened from day one in this case. 627 00:36:06,021 --> 00:36:08,021 - We knew that you know, the defense attorneys 628 00:36:08,021 --> 00:36:12,021 that he was gonna get were some of the best in the nation. 629 00:36:12,021 --> 00:36:16,021 And so, you know, you--you got a lot of Is to dot 630 00:36:16,021 --> 00:36:18,021 and Ts to cross. 631 00:36:18,021 --> 00:36:21,021 - Our approach was really to leave the jury 632 00:36:21,021 --> 00:36:23,021 with the impression that Robert Denney 633 00:36:23,021 --> 00:36:25,021 is the only person who could have 634 00:36:25,021 --> 00:36:28,021 committed this murder. 635 00:36:28,021 --> 00:36:30,021 - PAUL: The image that the State created was someone that was 636 00:36:31,021 --> 00:36:35,021 so obsessed and someone that knew he couldn't have 637 00:36:35,021 --> 00:36:39,021 what he wanted, and so, he took it away. 638 00:36:39,021 --> 00:36:40,021 He took her life. 639 00:36:48,021 --> 00:36:50,021 - EDDIE: We don't know whether Robert Denney 640 00:36:50,021 --> 00:36:52,021 was inside the apartment when she got home, 641 00:36:52,021 --> 00:36:54,021 or whether he came into the apartment 642 00:36:54,021 --> 00:36:55,021 after she got home. 643 00:36:55,021 --> 00:36:59,021 But we do know that-- that when Robert Denney 644 00:36:59,021 --> 00:37:02,021 attacked Corey Parker inside of her bedroom, 645 00:37:02,021 --> 00:37:03,021 she--she put up a fight. 646 00:37:03,021 --> 00:37:07,021 A fight that allowed us to have the evidence in the end. 647 00:37:07,021 --> 00:37:11,021 - In essence, Corey Parker solved her own murder. 648 00:37:11,021 --> 00:37:14,021 We put it together based on the physical evidence, 649 00:37:14,021 --> 00:37:16,021 but because she's the one that grabbed the hairs 650 00:37:16,021 --> 00:37:18,021 that we were able to get. 651 00:37:18,021 --> 00:37:20,021 - The only way his blood could've gotten on the lip 652 00:37:20,021 --> 00:37:23,021 of the kitchen sink and his hair could have gotten 653 00:37:23,021 --> 00:37:28,021 on her dead, bloody body was if he was the killer. 654 00:37:28,021 --> 00:37:29,021 And, oh, by the way, 655 00:37:29,021 --> 00:37:32,021 he lied and said he had never been in there. 656 00:37:32,021 --> 00:37:35,021 - WILLIAM: The defense came up with the story in trial about 657 00:37:35,021 --> 00:37:40,021 how Robert Denney had a cat and that the cat went next door 658 00:37:40,021 --> 00:37:42,021 into Corey's apartment after she was killed 659 00:37:42,021 --> 00:37:46,021 and it drug the evidence in. 660 00:37:46,021 --> 00:37:48,021 - There was no evidence the cat had walked on Corey's bed, 661 00:37:48,021 --> 00:37:51,021 which was completely bloody. 662 00:37:51,021 --> 00:37:54,021 So, how could the cat have deposited Robert Denney's DNA? 663 00:37:58,021 --> 00:38:02,021 Once we rested our case after the three-week trial, 664 00:38:02,021 --> 00:38:05,021 our prosecution team felt pretty good. 665 00:38:05,021 --> 00:38:09,021 But when the verdict came back 45 minutes later, 666 00:38:09,021 --> 00:38:12,021 you just get this moment of panic, this "What if?" 667 00:38:13,021 --> 00:38:15,021 - PAUL: That's an awful quick, quick verdict. 668 00:38:15,021 --> 00:38:20,021 I quickly run down the hall and get to the courtroom in time 669 00:38:20,021 --> 00:38:21,021 to see the jury come out and... 670 00:38:21,021 --> 00:38:23,021 everybody's on pins and needles. 671 00:38:26,021 --> 00:38:27,021 - They came back with a solid guilty verdict. 672 00:38:30,021 --> 00:38:32,021 - ANGELA: All I cared about was the fact that 673 00:38:32,021 --> 00:38:37,021 Corey Parker's mother and father and sister were on the front row 674 00:38:37,021 --> 00:38:39,021 of that court room to hear 675 00:38:39,021 --> 00:38:41,021 that Robert Denney had been found guilty. 676 00:38:43,021 --> 00:38:47,021 - AYMEE: He just tried so hard to pretend that he was 677 00:38:47,021 --> 00:38:50,021 this poor guy that everybody was pointing fingers at, 678 00:38:50,021 --> 00:38:54,021 trying to win over the jury, 679 00:38:54,021 --> 00:38:58,021 and...you know, they could see through him. 680 00:38:58,021 --> 00:38:59,021 - Because it was first-degree murder and he was 681 00:38:59,021 --> 00:39:01,021 a juvenile at the time, um, the only sentence 682 00:39:02,021 --> 00:39:04,021 he could get was life. 683 00:39:04,021 --> 00:39:08,021 So, you know the--the jury verdict really was 684 00:39:08,021 --> 00:39:10,021 the end of the story. 685 00:39:10,021 --> 00:39:15,021 - ♪ 686 00:39:15,021 --> 00:39:16,021 - EDDIE: There was nothing taken, 687 00:39:16,021 --> 00:39:18,021 there was nothing gained. 688 00:39:18,021 --> 00:39:20,021 There was nothing you can put in your hand and say, 689 00:39:20,021 --> 00:39:22,021 "Corey Parker was killed because of this reason." 690 00:39:22,021 --> 00:39:26,021 Corey just happened to live next door to a monster. 691 00:39:26,021 --> 00:39:29,021 In my 35-plus years as a law enforcement officer, 692 00:39:29,021 --> 00:39:32,021 it was one case that I took home, 693 00:39:32,021 --> 00:39:34,021 and still take home. 694 00:39:34,021 --> 00:39:36,021 - AYMEE: She meant so much to so many people. 695 00:39:36,021 --> 00:39:37,021 I think about her all the time, 696 00:39:38,021 --> 00:39:40,021 and I think that's the only way I can keep her memories alive, 697 00:39:40,021 --> 00:39:44,021 is try to go back in my mind and remember 698 00:39:44,021 --> 00:39:46,021 where we were at then and where we might be today. 699 00:39:46,021 --> 00:39:49,021 I know we'd be friends, so-- 700 00:39:56,021 --> 00:40:01,021 - ♪ 701 00:40:04,021 --> 00:40:07,021 ♪♪