♪♪
- In season 20,
"snapped" profiled the story of lucille duncan,
A single mother searching for a lasting chance at love.
When she met james pruitt in 2002,
Her prayers were seemingly answered.
- They loved each other.
They would laugh together.
But when james turns up dead amid shocking allegations
Of domestic assault,
Lucille becomes the prime suspect.
- He got shot in the back of the head.
- Their relationship got very toxic.
- Okay.
- As the investigation unfolds,
A harrowing plot involving lucille's older brother
And her oldest son takes shape.
- They were talking about
Tonight's the night that we're going to do it.
- They were saying she knew about it ahead of time,
She planned it, that this was premeditated,
And lucille was charged with murder.
♪♪
- Now serving a life sentence
In the missouri department of corrections,
Lucille breaks her silence and shares her side of the story
For the first time.
- I hate that somebody died...
But I had nothing to do with it.
My brother is incarcerated.
He fully accepts responsibility.
- Lucille's family continues to stand with her
In her fight for freedom.
- My mom has been fighting...
This case for a little over 10 years.
- I hope she gets out.
She deserves to get out.
- But will her pursuit for exoneration be in vain?
- Lucille's a liar.
I will go to my grave thinking that.
- If lucy got outta prison, I'd be devastated.
- I would never,
Never have anyone hurt... [sniffling]
Much less killed.
♪♪
My name's lucille duncan.
I've been locked up 20 years.
I haven't been interviewed before,
And this is a good opportunity
For me to get my story out there.
I have a wonderful attorney,
Who has been...
My advocate for 12 years.
I'm very grateful for that.
I hate that somebody died,
But I had nothing to do with it.
And two wrongs don't make a right.
My brother is incarcerated.
He fully accepts responsibility.
- There are two sides to every story,
And really, we have to look at
What is in the middle of that,
Because that's typically
Where you're going to find the truth.
♪♪
- July 5th, 2003.
Around 7:00 am, dispatchers in boone county, missouri
Receive a 911 call from a concerned resident
On a dead-end road...
- He was leaving for work
At approximately 7:00 in the morning
And discovered in his driveway
A trash bag with, uh, two...
Tank tops and a pair of shorts with a belt
That were covered in blood.
- A deputy is immediately dispatched to the scene.
When he arrives,
He collects the bag of clothes
And begins searching the area.
- According to the first officer who responded to the scene
He was able to see drag marks,
And then, he found some blood droplets,
And followed that trail to its source and found...
The body in the woods.
The body was covered with a blanket
And sticks and brush.
By recovering his wallet,
They were able to determine
That it was the body of james pruitt.
- He had been shot once in the back of the head.
- Investigators contact james pruitt's sister,
Who breaks the news to the rest of his family.
- She said, they found your father, and he's dead.
And I can remember...
Just, I was in shock.
I mean, it was very, very devastating.
- It just broke me. It was almost surreal.
You know, I didn't...
Understand what was going on, you know?
- I never thought my dad would have been murdered.
- Within a couple of hours of finding james pruitt's body,
The sheriff's department pulled his phone records,
Found he had been speaking with an old acquaintance,
And they talk to her, and she says that...
She knew that james pruitt was with lucy duncan that night.
Lucy had been in a relationship
With james pruitt for about a year and a half at the time.
- This would be the first time
Investigators hear the name lucille duncan...
But it wouldn't be the last.
Born in 1966,
Lucille duncan grew up on a farm just outside columbia.
- I was raised with three older brothers.
We all ran around the countryside
Swinging from grapevines, riding horses,
Swimming in ponds or lakes.
We have a very close-knit family.
My parents raised us the way...
I-- I-- they're-- they're amazing.
- Despite her family's support,
Lucille struggled to stay out of trouble as a teenager.
- Lucy got a boyfriend when she was like 17,
And he was on drugs, and she...
Followed him there.
♪♪
- We were living together for five years.
I found out I was pregnant, we got married.
- Lucille worked hard to clean herself up,
And in 1989, she gave birth
To a healthy baby boy named jeremiah.
- My mom, she's definitely...
A lighthearted person.
Easygoing.
Fun having.
She was a great mom.
- Jeremiah's father is a really good guy,
But he had a drug problem,
And he was in and out of prison.
- Lucille filed for divorce,
And she continued her search for true love,
Leading to the birth of her second son in 1996.
But lucille's relationship with his father was short-lived.
In 2002, lucille finally met the man
That would change her life forever:
Single father james pruitt.
- I always called james, jim.
Some people called him jimmy,
But I always called him jim.
He could be a very handsome and charming man.
- My dad was born and raised in columbia.
He lived here his whole life.
- My mom and dad were high school sweethearts,
You know, even-- maybe even before high school sweethearts.
- Together, the hard-working landscaper
And his high school sweetheart had three children.
- We had a good time growing up.
He was a really, uh, caring person,
Um, loved kids, um, loved to be outdoors,
Just a genuinely good person.
- Unfortunately,
James struggled with addiction,
Which caused a strain on his marriage.
- It started, uh, with alcohol and marijuana
As a younger adult, and then went into cocaine.
My mother and father divorced,
Because my mother didn't want to live that life.
- The divorce was a wakeup call for james,
Who spent the next eight years wrestling with his demons.
- My dad wanted to try to stay clean,
But it was hard for him to stay clean.
♪♪
- I met james when he knocked on my door one day.
A neighbor had sent him to my house.
We were both single,
And she thought that we would be good for one another.
I was in sobriety at that time.
I hadn't used for nine months.
And I was really leery about having a friendship
With somebody that I knew had used.
But I really fell for him.
- I just kind of remember him being introduced as...
The boyfriend.
- He was all smiles at the time.
He was-- he seemed real nice.
He was very charismatic,
But I would say shortly after that
Is when the bad stuff started happening.
- He was good-looking.
And when he wanted to be charming,
He was very charming.
But when he got mad, he was very mad.
♪♪
- More than a year after james and lucille started dating,
James has been murdered.
And investigators have learned
That lucille may have been the last person
To see him alive.
- The detectives asked who we thought might do it,
And I gave them her name.
If someone has hurt him,
That would be who I would point them to
Just because of the relationship,
And how tumultuous it was.
- Coming up,
Investigators discover turmoil
In james and lucille's relationship.
- When he would get high and come down
And didn't have anything, he would get violent.
- My dad was a good man. He wouldn't touch anybody.
- And lucille feels the walls closing in on her.
♪♪
- July 5th, 2003.
Less than 24 hours
Since finding murder victim james pruitt,
Boone county investigators are speaking to his family,
When they learn that he and his 36-year-old girlfriend
Lucille duncan had broken up in may.
- I don't know if my dad and lucy's relationship
Was ever really good.
They both used drugs.
- My father and lucy together were toxic due to alcohol
And drugs, both.
She would get drunk and, like, call my dad
Numerous times on the telephone.
[phone buzzing] like, nonstop call,
All hours of the night.
- We had lived together for about a year,
But because of that lifestyle of drugs and alcohol,
Our relationship had many challenges.
He was very focused on getting high.
When he would get high and come down,
And didn't have anything, he would get violent.
And that's when the abuse started with me.
- Any time you involve drugs or alcohol,
You have the potential for things to become chaotic.
And then if you were talking about using
Or abusing drugs, we see an escalation
Of violence in relationships.
- I remember telling my mom to not let him in again,
To, you know, keep him away.
And she said, okay.
And then the very next day, he was back.
- It's easy to get addicted to the lifestyle,
And also get addicted to being wanted by this person.
♪♪
- I never in my life saw my dad be abusive to anyone.
That just wasn't who he was.
That wasn't his nature.
- My dad was a good man, cared about everybody.
I mean, he'd give you the shirt off his back for you.
He wouldn't touch anybody.
♪♪
- When investigators pulled james's record,
They discovered that lucille had pressed charges
Against james less than 2 months earlier.
- The last time...
He assaulted me, broke my nose,
Um, and vandalized my car,
Physically restrained me.
Put me in his truck, and took me to
Cooper county where he strangled me
Until I lost consciousness.
When I came to,
He told me he was gonna kill me
And throw me in the river.
But to really hurt me,
He was gonna kill my children.
- He said he was gonna kill her whole family,
And that's when she had hysterics,
And that's when she finally got away from him.
- When he left for work the next day,
I called my mother,
And she rented a u-haul and got me out of there.
- She had reported him to the sheriff's department.
- He was arrested and pled guilty
To assaulting lucille duncan.
- Investigators learned that the assault against lucille
Wasn't james's first offense.
- In 2002, mr. Pruitt pled guilty to, uh,
Committing domestic assault against another victim.
He received a sentence of six months
In the county jail.
However, the sentence was not executed.
He was placed upon probation.
The assault against lucille revoked his initial probation,
Which then triggered the six month sentence
Plus an additional 90 days
For the assault upon lucille duncan.
He was due to be sentenced and taken into custody
On July the 11th.
- As investigators continue interviewing witnesses,
They learn that james had plans with lucille
The previous evening.
- They were able to talk to people who knew james pruitt.
Four people identified james as being with lucille
And two unknown males on the 4th.
- Investigators immediately switch gears and track down
Lucille duncan at her friend's house
On July 5th.
- I was physically ill.
I wasn't sure what was happening.
- Investigators don't initially tell lucille
That james has been murdered.
Instead, they ask her about the last time she saw him.
Lucille tells investigators that on July 4th,
James had requested to see her before his sentencing hearing.
- I wanted us to end amicably,
So when he asked me
For an opportunity to say goodbye to me and my children,
I said yes.
My brother is a marine.
He's, uh, four years older than me.
I knew jim would not hurt me in front of my brother.
- So, miss duncan, her son jeremiah robertson,
Her brother gerald duncan, and james pruitt
Had gone to the river.
- We had picked up the fireworks and the fast food
And we were driving out to the river,
And it was miles from anywhere.
- James and I, um, took the blanket
We had brought with us and sat on the edge of the river.
And we're talking.
Gerald and jeremiah were shooting fireworks.
They were talking and having a good time.
I told them afterwards, we packed everything up,
We got back in my car.
- After nearly an hour of questioning,
Investigators finally confront lucille about james's murder.
- I remember them saying that jim was dead.
And I was like, no, he's not.
I could not accept that he was dead,
But some things are seared into my brain,
And there was no way I could forget it.
I know what happened.
♪♪
- It's been less than 24 hours since boone county authorities
Discovered the body of 44-year-old james pruitt
Dumped in the woods, and investigators suspect
His ex-girlfriend, 16-year-old lucille duncan,
Knows something about it.
- She said she had no knowledge of it at all.
- Lucille admits that james had been abusive,
But still denies knowing anything about his death.
Lucille continues to stonewall investigators,
So they confront her about additional suspects
Who might have had a motive.
Investigators hope that lucille will break when she learns
That jeremiah is in custody, but she remains resolute.
- They told me that I was being detained
Because jim was dead and I was a suspect.
I started thinking about my son
Because he was there.
What were they gonna do to him?
- I don't remember much of the day before,
Day of, day after.
There are flashes.
I remember pretty clearly
Several cop cars pulling up to my house
And then asking me to come with them.
I-I pretty much knew what it was for.
But it didn't feel very real.
I figured...
Oh...
Well, my family's in trouble.
- When investigators sit down with jeremiah,
They immediately put pressure on the teenager.
- The first time I was being interrogated
They said my mom and my uncle alan
Both said that I did it
And that I would be spending the rest of my life in prison
If I didn't tell them what happened,
And even though I knew that they wouldn't say that,
Because that's not what happened,
Something in my mind triggered.
- The frightened 14-year-old reveals more details
About the family's trip to the river with james pruitt.
- Jeremiah's testimony in his initial interviews was that
On the drive home, gerald duncan pulled out a gun
And shot james pruitt in the back of the head,
Killing him.
Jeremiah reported that lucille was shot,
Uh, jerked the vehicle, swerved it,
And that gerald alan told her to continue on.
She went to the end of the road, until it hit gravel and grass
And parked the car.
At that point, um, jeremiah got out of the vehicle.
Lucille got out of the vehicle.
She shielded jeremiah from the view of jim's body
When gerald alan pulled jim pruitt's body
Out of the vehicle.
Gerald placed the body on the blanket
And drug it out into the woods.
A little bit later, his uncle, gerald,
Had asked him to help take apart the weapon.
Once it was dismantled and wiped clean,
They went and disposed of the weapon parts
In various locations, uh, throughout columbia.
- While jeremiah doesn't implicate his mother
In the shooting,
Investigators are certain of one thing...
- His mother was involved and had knowledge of the murder
Of james pruitt.
- But jeremiah swears his mother didn't instigate the crime.
- She was more freaked out than I was,
And I was 14.
Someone that knows something is gonna happen
Is not gonna be that freaked out about it.
She was borderline hysterical.
She didn't do anything.
- My brother spontaneously did this.
Jeremiah and I were there. That was it.
- My sister has been done really bad.
She's totally innocent.
It's like my dad said, he was very traditional,
He said, you look out for your little sister.
You make sure she doesn't get hurt.
Anybody messes with her, you know, you take care of it.
♪♪
- Investigators in boone county, missouri
Have just learned that james pruitt was murdered
By the brother of his ex-girlfriend,
Lucille duncan...
After lucille's son, jeremiah robertson, comes clean
About their fourth of July outing at the river.
- I don't know how this happened, um,
Except that my brother went into military mode.
He didn't think about it.
- If gerald perceives you as a threat,
A threat to his family, a threat to his baby sister,
A threat to his young nephew, that could be enough
To make him make that decision to neutralize you as a threat.
- Jeremiah's statement immediately led them
To her vehicle, which had a lot of blood in it.
Law enforcement with the help of jeremiah
Was able to recover parts of the firearm
That was used in the murder of james pruitt.
That gun was the same gun that was registered
To gerald duncan.
- After collecting the physical evidence,
Investigators bring lucille in for a second interview
And confront her with her son's confession.
- Still, lucille refuses to implicate herself.
- Even without an admission of guilt,
Investigators have enough to place lucille
Under arrest for murder.
- Lucille was originally charged
With murder in the second degree,
Because there wasn't any other evidence
Against lucille duncan
Saying she knew about it ahead of time,
She planned it,
That this was premeditated.
- Authorities also charge jeremiah robertson
With two counts of tampering with physical evidence.
- I had to spend some time in jjc and jail.
- The police officers called the day
That they arrested lucy, and I wasn't really shocked.
Um, I was hurt.
- I always thought my dad would leave lucy
Or lucy would leave my dad.
I never thought my dad was in danger,
But who thinks that their dad's
Going to be murdered, you know?
- While lucille and her family await trial,
Investigators continue building their case.
And in the fall of 2003, prosecutors approach
Lucille's brother with a tempting offer.
- I was charged with first-degree murder
Like we conspired to do this.
They came at me with a deal that said if I would lie,
I mean, cooperate with the prosecution,
That they would give me something in the 20s.
- At a court hearing, gerald says
When james asked lucille
To meet on the fourth of July,
Gerald didn't hesitate when lucille asked him
To accompany her.
- I think he wanted to kill my sister,
You know, that's why he wanted to meet with her alone,
And, uh, she was smart enough to bring me along.
When I'd go out to the country,
I'd usually take a gun with me.
My sister had told me that he threatened her kids,
And then threatened our whole family.
So, I just had it on my person,
'cause I can carry it safely.
- When they arrived at the river,
Gerald says that james and lucille
Initially seemed friendly.
- But then, after a while,
I heard him yelling at her,
He said if I'm gonna go to prison,
I'm gonna do something about it.
- According to gerald, that's when lucille
Began packing up and ordered everyone
Back in the car.
Gerald says that as they were driving,
James suddenly made a chilling statement.
- He said, I'm going to get your family.
So, I shot him.
I couldn't take it anymore.
He stated flat out he was going to kill her family,
Which I'm part of, so, it's my family too.
It was a very real threat.
It wasn't planned ahead of time.
It was a spontaneous event by one actor,
Which would be me.
- Gerald refuses to implicate his sister
In a pre-meditated crime,
Leading the prosecution to rescind the deal
For a reduced sentence.
- I said, well, I'm not gonna do that,
'cause she's innocent.
- Coming up...
As prosecutors prepare for trial,
Jeremiah's story begins to change.
- I was on about 12 different medications
At the time.
I was definitely in a fog.
- They released him on house arrest.
And that's when they started
Grooming him for his testimony.
- He was a 14-year-old child
And under significant pressure at the time.
- And lucille recounts james's final moments.
- I could only think of getting jim the help he needed.
I didn't know what to do.
I was in shock.
♪♪
- Following the arrests of lucille duncan,
Gerald duncan, and jeremiah robertson
For the murder of lucille's ex-boyfriend james pruitt,
Prosecutors decide to offer jeremiah
A plea deal.
- Jeremiah was told that he was going to be
Charged with second-degree murder,
Just like me, for being there.
Unless he would give them what they wanted.
Which was a statement saying
That I planned this.
- I was 14, but when I got certified as an adult,
They did threaten me with life in prison.
- He was a 14-year-old child,
And under significant pressure at the time.
This is very atypical.
Uh, what happens is that usually
Children in similar situations,
Would be placed in a supportive environment
And questions will be asked in a non-threatening manner,
That our answers will be more reliable.
- I wrote to jeremiah, and I told him
This was not the right way to do this
And that he needed to just go ahead
And testify against me.
Even though it wasn't true.
Otherwise, he would go to prison for something
He had nothing to do with either.
There was no point in both of us going.
I was 36 years old, he was 14.
I had made so many bad relationship choices in my life.
I didn't want it to be his burden.
So, I told him to go ahead and do it.
- He would plead to tampering with evidence
And then the state would not recommend
That he receive any sentence.
That he be placed on probation.
It's after that, then the story changes.
Lucille's charge was then enhanced
A few months prior to her trial
To murder in the first degree.
- On February 24th, 2004,
The trial of lucille duncan begins
In the boone county courthouse in columbia, missouri.
Jeremiah robertson is the state's star witness.
- He didn't look at me, but I looked at him,
And my heart just went out to him.
To be so young, to have his whole life ahead of him
And to have witnessed something so traumatic.
I could do nothing but support him
In what he was doing.
- Jeremiah's seen a lot of stuff
That no kid should ever have to see,
And I feel bad for jeremiah.
- According to the teen's testimony,
The plot to murder james pruitt had commenced
On the afternoon of July 4th.
- His mother and gerald, the brother,
Were in the bedroom, and he was there,
And they were all talking about tonight's the night
That we're going to do it.
- Jeremiah testifies that on the drive home,
His mother made a stunning command.
- According to jeremiah's testimony,
She said, do it.
- That's when gerald pulled the gun out and shot him.
- He stated that his mother was completely involved
In the planning of the murder
And that he was not coerced
Into making that statement.
- On cross, however, the defense argues otherwise.
- When you certify a 14-year-old as an adult
And tell them if they don't testify
And give them what they want,
That they're gonna be sent to prison
For second degree murder?
I'd say that's pressure.
- I was on about 12 different medications at the time.
For add, adhd, bipolar, uh, manic depression.
I was definitely in a fog, uh, zombified if you will.
- What these medications do is compromise
One's ability to think rationally,
And sometimes they get confused,
Sometimes, uh, they may not be coherent.
So, all of these factors may have compromised
His ability to provide a competent testimony.
- Following jeremiah's testimony,
Lucille takes the stand in her own defense.
Lucille testifies that while she sat with james
By the river on the fourth of July,
He began to threaten her.
- He told me that he wanted me
To drop charges.
And I told him this was the only way I saw
To really get him the help he needed.
And he got so angry.
He started threatening me,
Told me he had somebody to kill me
If he went to prison,
And he would kill the rest of my family
After his release.
At that point, I told my brother
And my son that we were done.
I didn't wanna stay there any longer.
- We were driving back into town
When there was a loud bang,
And I screamed.
I was like, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.
And james had slumped forward.
At that moment, I could only think
Of getting jim the help he needed.
My brother said we would be arrested
In the parking lot of the hospital.
I didn't know what to do.
I was in shock.
I never thought of, um, covering up a crime.
I never-- I wasn't thinking at all.
- Unfortunately for the defense, gerald duncan is unable
To back up lucille's claims at her trial.
- He was not going to testify because of his right to--
To not incriminate himself.
- I knew that I wasn't guilty.
I didn't think that I was going to get convicted of murder.
But yet, I knew that I was in trouble.
♪♪
- On February 26th, 2004,
Lucille duncan awaits her verdict
In the murder of james pruitt.
- Her story through the whole trial,
From beginning to the end,
Was she had no part in this.
Lucille's a liar. That's what I think.
I will go to my grave thinking that.
- Holly was there with some of her family.
I mouthed, and I said, I--
I had nothing to do with this.
She said, you were there, and you're going down.
And I understood
Where she was coming from,
But I also wanted her to know
I would never,
Never have anyone hurt,
Much less killed.
- After three hours of deliberation, however,
The jury disagrees.
- I went to jury trial,
Was found guilty,
And had been enhanced
From second-degree to first-degree murder.
- Under missouri law,
Lucille is automatically sentenced
To life without the possibility of parole.
- She is being treated more harshly, really,
Based on what I think society perceives
As what a mother should be.
The ideal mother doesn't do drugs,
The ideal mother doesn't put their child in harm's way
Or in a situation where you have to make that decision.
The ideal mother would've left jim
At the first instance of abuse,
And those are not the decisions that she made.
And unfortunately, she is being held accountable
To a level, um, at which her own abuser
Was not held accountable to.
- Ten days after his sister's conviction,
Gerald duncan pleads guilty
To second-degree murder.
- I ended up taking a plea,
Because if my sister went to a jury trial
And got life without
Just for being there--
She didn't shoot him. I did.
I figured I didn't have a chance.
And I was sentenced 30 to life.
- I don't know if I believe lucy
When she says it wasn't premeditated.
I've asked myself that a lot over the past twenty years
And I don't think, uh, I-- I will ever know.
I don't think anyone will ever know the truth except
For lucy and gerald
And my dad, and maybe jeremiah.
- Three years after the trial,
Jeremiah robertson recants his testimony
Against his mother in a sworn affidavit.
- I'm sorry that his family had to go through this.
Nobody planned for this.
My mom has been fighting this case
For a little over ten years.
She was dead set on an appeal
And knew that it was gonna work,
And it didn't.
And then another appeal, and then another appeal.
And that's where we are now, again.
- My attorney continues to fight for me.
We're getting ready to file at western district.
I'm hoping that this time they'll see
That I've been wrongly sentenced
And that I'm wrongly incarcerated.
- If lucy got outta prison, I'd be devastated.
I don't think I could ever forgive her
For, you know, what she did.
- I hope she gets out.
She deserves to get out.
- Being here in prison is hard,
But I have made the best of it.
I attend college, rockhurst university,
And I'll have my associates in the fall of 2024,
And I plan to continue my college education.
I would like to be a journalist
And help other women
To not come to prison.
You can leave out of here a better person
And offer the community something.
There's so much hurt in the world.
There's so many lives
That need to be changed for the better.
I wanna be a part of that.
Um, my sentence currently doesn't allow for that,
But I believe that god is faithful,
And I will be released,
And I will go out there and do good.
♪♪