(intriguing music)
- Buckhead is a very elite area.
As soon as we arrived,
We were all kind of astonished about it
And a little bit shocked.
The body was hog tied.
- The duct tape indicated jealousy, revenge,
Something of a more personal nature.
- My dad loved to laugh and his heart was so big,
He would give you the shirt off his back.
- Why would someone target a beloved community man
And father of two?
- At my father's funeral,
One person came in, she made a scene.
- Shirley informed me that
She was also engaged to bobby jackson.
I have two individuals who are both engaged
To this one man.
- Is this a motive?
Is this what was behind of bobby jackson getting killed?
(dramatic music)
(intense music)
- [narrator] while atlanta's top professionals apply
Their trade in the downtown office towers,
Many choose to live in its posh suburbs,
And one of the most exclusive is buckhead.
- Buckhead in atlanta, georgia
Is probably the premier residential address
In all of southeastern united states.
It is the home of well-kept, manicured lawns,
Fabulous mansions, upscale restaurants,
And high-end shopping.
- Buckhead is a very elite area.
It's where the upper echelon people live.
There's not hardly ever a homicide in buckhead.
- Certain crimes just didn't happen often in buckhead.
(intense music)
- [narrator] any sense that buckhead was a safe haven
Immune to violent crime would be shattered
On April 12th, 2002.
- About 11:30, st. Anne's episcopal church,
A very well known house of worship in buckhead,
A couple was out walking their dog
Right near the playground behind the church.
And they had let him off the leash
And he ran up upon a dead body.
It really startled and shook the couple
And they immediately called 911.
- [narrator] detectives arrive on scene around 11:45 pm.
- So as soon as we arrived,
Everything just seemed out of the ordinary.
We never had a homicide up here.
We were all kind astonished about it, a little bit shocked.
- This type of thing just doesn't happen
In the buckhead community.
- The victim was on church property
And there was a comforter blanket over the victim
And the victim was covered in duct tape.
- Right off the bat,
It was something I've never seen before.
- I was a sergeant in homicide for 12 years.
I've been on the scene of a lot of homicides.
I've never seen a victim duct taped like that.
- It appeared that the individual was a black male
Because you could see a little bit of the skin.
- We did not have any id on this person.
All we had was a body on the ground.
- I called the medical examiner's office
Because I wanted to make sure
That I got all the evidence I could get off this body
Because I've never had anything with duct tape before like this.
So I had a very good chance of getting dna,
Some kind of fiber, some kind of fingerprint off this tape
And I didn't want to get contaminated.
- [narrator] the medical examiner arrives on scene
And attempts to examine the victim
And determine how they died.
- Could not tell because the victim was duct taped
From his head to his toe.
- The body was hog tied,
Which tells me that this individual was hog tied
To keep him from moving, then duct taped.
So right off the bat, I'm thinking,
Was this individual alive when taped?
- [narrator] nothing found on the body
Or at the scene suggests an obvious cause of death.
- There was no blood that you usually find
On a homicide scene.
There was nothing to indicate
That the crime took place there.
- We had tire tracks there,
But I didn't know if it was related to the actual homicide
Or not and the blanket was a white
And blue checkered blanket that was covering the body.
It appeared that that blanket was used to drag
That body on the ground to the fence
Where the body came to a rest.
- What we felt we had was just a body that was dumped there.
- [narrator] investigators begin piecing together a theory
As to how this murder was committed.
- Not one person can hold an individual down
And duct tape them.
So I'm thinking I'm gonna have
More than one person involved in this.
- So at this point,
Police have many questions but very few answers.
They're wondering who the victim is,
They don't know how they were killed,
And they especially don't know where
Or when the victim was killed.
- [narrator] detectives speak to the couple
Who found the body, hoping they might yield more clues.
- The couple out walking their dog,
They didn't see any other people in the the general vicinity
And there was no one leaving the vicinity
Or any vehicles or anything like that.
- The couple tells them had it not been
For their pet off the leash,
They probably would've walked right by the body.
- [narrator] with the crime scene yielding few clues,
Police fan out and expand their search
To the surrounding area despite the late hour.
- I grabbed all the officers there and I said,
We need to walk around and see if we missed anything.
And then I need each officer to go door to door
And do a canvass and talk to the people who lived there
And see if they heard or saw anything.
- [narrator] the canvass doesn't yield any witnesses
And nobody has surveillance footage of the area.
But when detectives speak with officials from the church
Where the body was found,
They discover something disturbing.
- So I go up there, knock on the door.
It's around midnight and the preacher tells me
That they had a sleepover that night,
And then they told me
That there was a 12-year-old young man that was missing
And that concerned us deeply.
The preacher informed me that the young man had been missing
For about an hour and they're reaching out to the parents
And notifying everybody in the next of kin
To see if they can help find the individual.
- So while all this is going on with the homicide scene,
Now on top of this, you have a missing 12-year-old
From the same location where the body was found.
- [narrator] the fear police now must contend with
Is that the disappearance of the boy
Could be connected to the murder.
- To have this happen in close proximity
And close in time with the discovery of the body,
It would just lead to a lot of concern about the safety
Of the child involved, where they were,
What might have happened to them.
- This is worst case scenario.
I'm thinking this young man, he's playing in the playground
Around 10:30 at night and all of a sudden,
This car backs up and somebody dumps a body out.
And now we have not just a murder,
But somebody might have just kidnapped
This young man as well.
So when you have a kidnapping,
The first 12 to 24 hours were really crucial.
So we had the clothing, the description of the young man.
We have his name.
I get over the radio,
Tell everybody that I have a missing young man
And to notify me immediately
If anybody comes in contact with him.
So we're gonna make sure in the southeast united states
Hears this amber alert 'cause this young man's life
Is in jeopardy.
- [narrator] in addition to the missing boy,
Police still have no clue
Who their murder victim might be or where they were killed
Before being dumped at the church.
- The pressure law enforcement knows is gonna be immense
To figure out exactly what happened
And whether or not these two events are linked.
(dramatic music)
- It's frustrating when you feel like, okay,
Surely, we'll find something.
- It seemed like the individual
Who committed this crime is a professional.
- Why would someone so skilled at the art of murder
Target this victim?
- It was just disbelief.
How could you do that?
(dramatic music)
- [narrator] atlanta detectives investigating
A body found in the posh neighborhood of buckhead
Are wondering if the murder is connected to a missing boy,
Possibly kidnapped from a church sleepover.
- Now, you have a missing 12-year-old boy possibly linked
To a homicide victim.
Family and friends of the missing boy
Start to fear the worst.
They know with each passing hour,
The situation gets even more dire.
- So I'm working a homicide and a possible kidnapping
That also can turn into another murder.
So we do an all points bulletin throughout the whole city
And also around the surrounding counties,
Blasting it out through the entire state,
Trying to tell everybody this is a young man,
12 years of age, to be on the lookout.
- Anyone who's a parent would be horrified
And just overwhelmed with the fact
That their child was missing.
I can only imagine that the discovery
Of the deceased body would only ratchet up
Their very understandable dismay.
- [narrator] investigators continue to scour
The buckhead area for leads
On both the child's disappearance
And the body found at the church.
And after hours of dead ends, they finally catch a break.
- Five hours into this gruesome murder investigation,
All of a sudden, they get surprising news about the status
Of the missing 12-year-old boy.
- So while I'm on a scene around 05:30 in the morning,
I have the preacher approached me from the st. Anne's church
And said that the young boy had been found.
It was a miscommunication that a parent had actually came
And picked their child up
Because the child was having a hard time sleeping
At the church and it was just a big misunderstanding
That the parents didn't tell anyone.
- Once we found out
That the missing 12-year-old was completely unrelated
To the homicide, that was a relief.
- [narrator] while the mystery of what happened
To the missing boy has been solved,
The case of the unidentified murder victim remains.
The body is taken
To the fulton county medical examiner's office,
Where at 8:45 am, the autopsy begins.
- In this case, we didn't know who our victim was
And haven't received any missing person calls
That we could tie to this person.
- There had to be an unwrapping
Of the victim's body in order to try to recover
As much physical evidence as possible.
- There's no way that you could literally duct tape somebody
And not leave a fiber, not leave some dna evidence,
Not some skin cells, fingerprints, and so forth.
- [narrator] after the medical examiner
Carefully collects the tape for processing,
They examine the body,
Which is hog tied with scraps of white fabric.
- There were a number of beating injuries
To the face of the victim,
Which plays into the perception
That the crime was of a personal nature.
The cause of death determined
By the medical examiner was strangulation
Until it was impossible for the victim to breathe.
It's a horrible way to die.
- The medical examiner told me the time of death
Was between eight and nine o'clock at night.
- [narrator] investigators now know that the victim
Was murdered two to three hours
Before his body was discovered around 10:30 pm.
But one important question remains.
Who is he?
- We did not have any id on this person.
Running the fingerprints was another way to try
To identify your victim.
They'll run them through records,
And if they've been in the system,
Then at least we have a name.
- [narrator] the team enters the prints into the database
And they get a hit.
- We've got the prints back.
It was identified to 45-year-old bobby jackson.
- Mr. Jackson worked as a bus driver
Right there in downtown atlanta.
Mr. Jackson had been fingerprinted
As part of his employment with the marta system.
- We were confused why his body was found in buckhead.
- [narrator] investigators note that bobby's bus route
Didn't take him anywhere near buckhead
And the church where he was found has no record
Of him being a member.
Then they moved to search bobby's home,
Located 12 miles from where his body was found
To see if this could be where the murder had occurred.
- Detective stephens was able to get an address
In southwest atlanta,
And me and him together went to this location.
- Me and sergeant creasy knocked on the door.
A woman answered the door and we come in
And identify ourselves
And tell her bobby jackson had been murdered.
- It was a relative and she was upset,
Wanting to know what happened.
Something you just never get used to doing
Is having to tell a loved one
That their family member has just been murdered.
(tense music)
- They did search the home,
But it did not reveal itself to be the site
Of any kind of violence.
- [narrator] bobby's family member gives police
The insurance card to his car.
She says the vehicle is not parked at the house.
- We were able to get the vehicle information
And put a lookout on it because there was no vehicle
Matched that description nowhere nearby.
- She stated that bobby had been divorced
And he had two beautiful daughters.
- [narrator] bobby's relative gives investigators
Contact information for bobby's ex-wife
And they immediately reach out to her.
- The ex-wife informed us that bobby's from a big family.
He had five brothers and two sisters,
And they're all very tight.
He's an atlanta native, he grew up here his entire life,
Went to high school here and he then got a job
And became a bus driver.
- So my mom calls me and she was like,
"your dad was found dead."
I hung up with my mom
And I just broke down.
I really didn't know how to feel.
- I was devastated because he was gone,
Even though I tried to pick up the phone and call him
Again and he still didn't answer.
And I just cried.
- My relationship with my father was always close.
I was daddy's girl.
We talked on the regular.
My dad loved to laugh and his heart was so big.
He would give you the shirt off his back.
He was there for the important moments.
- He would come by and visit just to see how I was doing
And then we'll go out to eat.
I remember we used to walk to the corner store
And he used to buy me candy.
- The family informed me that bobby had a necklace.
It meant more than him than anything,
And bobby never took that necklace off.
And he had a ring,
A lion's head ring that he never took off.
- [narrator] while the ring and necklace were missing
From bobby's body,
Detectives are reluctant to attribute robbery
As the motive for the murder.
- There were beating type injuries
To the face of bobby jackson,
Which plays into the perception that the crime
Was perhaps something of of a more personal nature
Than it being a random robbery.
- [narrator] investigators ask about the last time
Either daughter spoke with bobby.
- That Friday I was trying to call him to invite him
To my track meet and I thought it was weird
That he never called me back.
- The last time I talked to my father was that Friday.
He was killed that same day.
He told me he was with jessica,
And I was like, well, who is jessica?
And he was like, "oh, that's my girlfriend."
- [narrator] bobby's daughter tells detectives
That the woman's full name is jessica smith.
- I called ms. Smith and I said, I need to speak with you.
It's about bobby jackson.
And she goes, "yeah, I heard."
And she became very emotional and she was crying.
And I said, how do you know bobby jackson?
And she goes, "he was my fiance."
She goes, "and I don't even think
He'd even told his family yet."
I went and picked her up at her apartment,
Which is about 20 miles from
Where we found bobby's body in buckhead,
And brought her to the homicide office where I sat her down
And we did an interview.
- [narrator] jessica says she's a county worker
Who's been in a relationship with bobby
For the past seven months.
- She told me that her and bobby had been dating
And that he had recently just proposed to her
And that they were engaged.
- Jessica smith displayed the ring
That she said bobby jackson had given her.
- I asked her when was the last time she saw bobby jackson.
Jessica tells me the day of bobby's death,
He picked her up from work, they went to a local restaurant,
Then they go to her apartment
And she said he left her apartment in his car around 6:45
That night to go home.
Bobby jackson's time of death
Was between eight and nine o'clock at night.
So the fact is, is that jessica smith's telling me
That she was the last person to see bobby jackson alive.
- There's been many homicides
Where there are jealous lovers involved.
It certainly made us think that she could be
Involved in this homicide.
(dramatic music)
- [narrator] investigators have just discovered
That atlanta bus driver, and now murder victim,
Bobby jackson's fiance, jessica smith,
Was the last person to see him alive.
- Ms. Smith, she told me that he left her apartment
Around 6:45 that night to go home.
- [narrator] the team subpoenas
Jessica's and bobby's phone records
To see if they were together when he was killed
Between 8:00 and 9:00 pm,
But it will take days for the records to come in.
In the meantime,
Investigators reach out to bobby's employers,
The metropolitan atlanta rapid transit authority.
- So we're trying to figure out who would have a motive
To kill bobby jackson.
So I'm wondering if something happened at his job.
So I then go and speak to his supervisor at marta.
- For us, bobby jackson's murder, it was a gut punch.
He never spoke about anybody who was an enemy.
I could not think of anybody who would do him harm.
He didn't deserve what happened to him.
He just didn't.
- So I'm right back to square one.
There's a lot of pressure put on us
Because this sort of thing doesn't happen in buckhead.
- [narrator] the pressure is somewhat relieved
When four days after bobby's body was found,
Detectives get word of a break in the case.
- Detective stephens received a call from cobb county saying
That jackson's vehicle had been recovered.
- Bobby had a 280zx.
And the car turned up at 285 westbound
Onto an 85 southbound ramp,
Which is about 22 miles from
Where we found bobby's body in buckhead
And which is about 12 miles from where bobby jackson lived.
It was left there abandoned.
And so we had the car impounded and taken to the gbi crime lab.
- We had hopes that we can find some evidence inside
Of the vehicle that would help solve this case.
- So did the individual kill bobby
And put bobby in the back of the car,
Or was bobby driving that car and somebody carjacked him?
Number one thing I'm looking for is fingerprints.
Now we had a lead.
- [narrator] lab techs pore over bobby's car,
Searching for clues in his murder.
- Unfortunately, after the vehicle was processed,
There was no evidence found.
No fingerprints, no blood, no tape.
- We think, okay, we at least would find
Bobby jackson's fingerprints in the car.
But this individual wiped down the entire car.
- [bob] it's frustrating when we feel like,
Okay, now we got the vehicle.
Surely we'll find something.
But there was nothing that would aid us into investigation.
- [narrator] with bobby's car yielding no evidence,
The team hopes the duct tape wrapped around
The body will produce a forensic lead.
- Five days into this gruesome murder
And the investigation,
The gbi comes back with the duct tape results
And there are no fingerprints, no dna, no hair fibers,
Nothing that would link a killer to this body.
- I was totally devastated by this
Because I was really expecting to be able
To get something off this duct tape.
The person who committed this crime is somebody
That knows what they're doing.
We were dealing with an expert.
- Just made us feel we were lost
And having to start again.
- [narrator] while awaiting the cell data
From bobby's and jessica's phones,
Investigators spend the next several days
Speaking to everyone in bobby's circle about
Who may have had motive to kill him.
- So the biggest question right now
For law enforcement is why would someone who appears to be
So skilled at the art of murder target
A beloved community man and father of two?
- [narrator] 10 days after bobby jackson was found,
His family and friends join to lay him to rest.
- It was real hard.
When they close the casket,
That's your last time actually seeing that person.
You really know that's the end.
- My whole family was there.
They rallied.
And my aunt moody,
She delivered the eulogy that was just so powerful.
- I hope the family would be able to remember the person
Who was bobby jackson and not remember the pain of the loss.
- [narrator] but one mourner at the service causes a stir
Among bobby's loved ones.
- At my father's funeral,
One person came in crying and she made a scene.
She cried harder than me and my sister cried
And she gave us a hug
And was like, "oh, baby, it's gonna be okay.
Everything's gonna be fine."
But I don't know if that was just her way.
- [narrator] bobby's family reaches out to investigators
And tells them about the antic of the woman at the funeral,
Whose name is shirley lyons.
- Then the question immediately became,
Who is shirley lyons?
- I found shirley lyons' phone number
And she lived in zebulon, georgia in pike county.
- [narrator] pike county is a rural suburb
An hour south of atlanta,
Known for its fishing and hunting.
- I called shirley lyons.
She got very emotional on the phone.
She cried and and was like, "he was my love of my life
And we were gonna have a future together."
And she informed me
That she was also engaged to bobby jackson.
That shocked me and sergeant creasy
And I'm thinking, what is going on here?
Bobby jackson had another girl,
Jessica smith, that said that she was engaged to him,
And now shirley lyons is telling me
That she's engaged to him.
So we're thinking, do I have a love triangle here?
What's going on?
(suspenseful music)
- Executing the search warrant,
We start looking for evidence.
- I look up and then right there in front of me
Was the biggest clue I was gonna have.
I have goosebumps just talking about it right now.
- That just tied everything together.
That was a eureka moment.
(dramatic music)
(intense music)
- [narrator] atlanta detectives investigating the brutal
And puzzling murder of marta bus driver, bobby jackson,
Have just discovered that at the time of his death,
Bobby had two fiancees, jessica smith and shirley lyons.
- You start thinking then
Could it be a jealous lover situation
To where you're seeing two different
Women at the same time?
Then what's the chance of one found out?
Did they know you were seeing them both at the same time?
And did you have a falling out with one?
Is this a motive?
Is this what was behind of bobby jackson getting killed?
- [narrator] detectives are still waiting on bobby
And jessica's phone records to verify her story,
That they weren't together at the time of bobby's death.
So they bring shirley lyons in for questioning.
- During the interview,
Ms. Lyons, she cried and got very emotional
And she began to tell me about her relationship
With bobby jackson.
She revealed that she had been dating bobby jackson
For a long time and that he was the love of her life.
And she showed me her hand with a ring on it.
I'm thinking, okay, I have a motive.
Possible murder of passion is what I'm thinking right now.
I'm not 100% sure,
But now our investigation starts
To go in a different direction.
So I ask her about a jessica smith and she goes,
"yes, she was a girl who was trying to come in between us,
And you might wanna look at her further in this homicide
Because I'm telling you,
Something's not right about jessica smith."
- [narrator] detective stephens asks shirley where she was
Between 8:00 and 9:00 pm when the autopsy
Showed bobby was killed.
- During her interview,
She tells me that she was with bobby
The night he had been murdered in zebulon, georgia,
South of atlanta.
She said that bobby came down there to give her money
For her electric bill and she informed me
That the night of his homicide,
Bobby jackson had left her house about 6:45,
7 o'clock at night.
Jessica smith also told me
That bobby jackson had left her apartment around 6:45
That night to go home.
So I have two women who are telling me
That they were with bobby jackson at 6:45,
7 o'clock at night.
I got to figure out who's telling me the truth.
- [narrator] finally, two weeks into the investigation,
Detectives get word that the phone records are in
For bobby jackson and jessica smith.
- The time of death was between eight
And nine o'clock at night.
So I look at the phone records
And the pinging of the towers from jessica smith.
I was able to verify ms. Smith's story.
- [narrator] when checking bobby's phone records,
Investigators see that bobby was with jessica
At the time she said.
- I could see exactly what time bobby left her apartment
And I now know he's headed south
Toward shirley lyons' place in zebulon.
Bobby jackson's cell phone is still pinging
Down in zebulon, georgia around eight or nine o'clock
At shirley lyons' house.
And the medical examiner's office
Telling us that bobby jackson died
Between eight and nine as well,
We now say, okay, this is where our crime scene is gonna be,
In zebulon, georgia at shirley lyons' house.
I have goosebumps just talking about it right now.
- [narrator] with bobby jackson's phone data placing him
At shirley lyons' home at the time he was killed,
Police get a warrant the same day
To search shirley's property to look for duct tape
Or other evidence that could link her to the murder.
- The investigators from atlanta police found
That shirley lyons had a large piece of property
Of approximately 30 acres or so.
- Detective stephens and I, we drove down there
And executed a search warrant at shirley lyons' residence.
- Ms. Shirley lyons is still at work.
So we get to her house and we force entry into her house.
- Once we entered the house, we started looking for evidence
And right away we were able to find
What looked like blood on a carpet in her house.
(tense music)
- And then I look up
And then right there in front of me was the biggest clue
I was gonna have, and I just got so excited.
I see the curtains with the same pattern
That actually matched a blanket
That was covering bobby jackson's body.
- That just tied everything together
And made us know exactly where this crime occurred,
And that shirley lyons was involved.
That was a eureka moment.
(dramatic music)
- [narrator] atlanta pd detectives searching the home
Of shirley lyons, prime suspect in the murder
Of marta bus driver, bobby jackson,
Have just found evidence linking her to the victim's body.
- The pattern of the curtain actually matched the blanket
That was found at the scene on bobby jackson.
- I said, I need those curtains.
- It did not take long at all for us to start now finding
That the crime actually occurred,
Or started at this residence.
While we're still conducting the search,
Shirley lyons actually pulls up to her house.
- She asked me, "what are you doing?"
I said, I have a search warrant for your house.
And she says, "you won't find anything here."
- Detective stephens response to her was,
"we already have."
- I said we found blood.
We also found the drapes that matched the quilt
That bobby jackson's body was covered with.
And then at that time, shirley lyons started to cry
And she looked at me straight in the face,
She goes, "I didn't mean for them to kill him."
I said, what do you mean 'them'?
She goes, "I paid somebody
To come down here to beat up bobby."
I stopped her right there and I read her miranda rights.
- [narrator] detectives transport shirley
To the pike county sheriff's office
To record her full statement.
- Shirley lyons tells me
That she knows an individual from her old neighborhood
By the name of new york.
- Shirley lyons said that she didn't kill bobby jackson.
The plan of hers was to get bobby jackson
Roughed up a little bit,
Just beat up some because he was seeing this other woman.
- She tells me that on Friday, April 12th,
She had new york hide in the closet knowing
That bobby was gonna come down
And then that's when new york steps out of the closet.
He starts hitting bobby with a gun
And puts bobby on the ground.
- And then she states that they got
In bobby's car and drove away.
- You're wondering, is she just trying
To distance herself from this murder?
- [narrator] suspecting shirley's not being truthful,
Detective stephens ratchets up the pressure.
- So she was adamant, "I'd had nothing to do with it."
- [narrator] shirley tells detectives
That she has the real name of the man she knows as new york.
- [narrator] investigators learn his name is keith lee turner
And he's been an acquaintance of shirley's for years.
- We put the name keith turner into our system
And try to find anything, report, previous arrest,
Anything that might have a picture of this suspect.
- Keith turner had a previous conviction
For selling drugs.
- So we find a picture of our suspect
And shirley lyons looks and says, "that's him.
That's new york."
- We come up with several names
That this individual had and where he lived at.
- So we get a search warrant and an arrest warrant for him.
- [narrator] shirley lyons is arrested
And held while investigators drive to the address listed
For keith turner.
- It's a rooming house.
So we knock on the door and a female answers the door.
I said, do you know where this individual is?
And she goes, "yeah, he's headed down to a local restaurant
To get something to eat to come back."
- So we immediately jump in the cars
And start driving down the road,
And we hadn't been driving 30 seconds
When we see him walking.
- So when we stepped out, I said, come here,
Put your hands on the car,
Already knowing it was him.
We handcuffed and put him in the back of the car.
- [narrator] before taking him in for questioning,
Police search turner's room
For any evidence linking him to the murder.
- We were able to find pieces of evidence
That was taken from bobby's body.
Bobby had a necklace.
It meant more to him than anything,
And we was able to find that necklace,
A ring and several other things.
So he took the spoils from the homicide
And brought it with him.
- [narrator] while investigators recover bobby's valuables,
They don't find duct tape
Or any other evidence tying turner to the crime scene.
Turner is taken to headquarters for questioning.
- I said, shirley lyons told me what happened,
That she only paid you to come down there to beat up bobby
And that you went overboard with it.
And he goes, "that's so far from the truth."
He goes, "that's not what happened at all.
You think I would come all the way down to zebulon, georgia
Just to beat somebody up?" he goes, "no."
(dramatic music)
- [narrator] keith turner just told atlanta detectives
That shirley lyons hired him to kill her fiance,
Atlanta bus driver, bobby jackson.
- He says, "she was gonna pay me $2,000 to come down here
And kill bobby jackson."
Shirley was the mastermind behind this whole thing.
When shirley lyons said
That she paid new york $300 to beat up bobby,
That was not the truth.
- Mr. Turner then informed me
That shirley actually produced a gun for this murder.
- Turner tells police that he waited in the closet
For bobby jackson to come in the house.
That's when he jumped out and surprised him.
- And she says, "kill him."
And then he didn't want to do it right there.
So he started beating bobby with a gun.
- And then she goes, "you know what?
Hog tie him."
- "so that's when I tie him up there
And I put a noose around his neck.
That way if he straightens his legs out,
He's gonna suffocate."
- Shirley lyons took the pistol,
Held mr. Jackson at bay on the ground.
Then they began to duct tape him.
- [narrator] the medical examiner had determined
At autopsy that bobby died by strangulation from being bound.
Turner tells detectives that he and shirley
Carried bobby to his car
And placed him in the rear hatch.
- [narrator] turner says his choice
Of dumping the body in buckhead,
56 miles from shirley's house, was purely by accident.
- Keith turner left bobby jackson's car
By the side of the interstate.
- He wiped down the entire car.
- He says he discarded
Or threw away the gun that was used
During the commission of the crime.
- [narrator] police search the woods
Where turner says he threw the gun,
But it is never recovered.
- Everything about this crime betrayed a completely wanton
And indifferent attitude towards human life.
Its every intention was for bobby jackson to not be alive
At the end of the actions taken by these suspects.
- [narrator] atlanta police charge shirley lyons
And keith turner with the murder of bobby jackson.
- Motive of shirley lyons was that it was revenge, jealousy,
Hatred of bobby jackson for his rejection of her.
She would have known
Of jessica smith's engagement from bobby jackson.
- When I found out that shirley had been arrested,
It was just disbelief
'cause it's like, how could you do that?
You really contemplated killing somebody
Because they didn't wanna be with you anymore?
- The hardest part for us was shirley
And that funeral service, because she was the culprit.
- [narrator] in February of 2004,
Almost two years since bobby jackson's murder,
A jury is seated to hear the case
Of the state of georgia versus shirley lyons.
Shirley has pled not guilty
And claims she only hired keith turner
To beat up bobby jackson, not kill him.
- There was a plea bargain made with keith turner.
Keith turner was sentenced to life in prison
Under a condition of having to testify for the state
At the trial.
- [narrator] bobby's daughters and his extended family
Attend the four-day trial.
- I still see the images,
The image of my father's head wrapped in duct tape
And just hearing the details of what happened to my dad.
And so a part of me wish I never sat through that
Because I always wanna remember my father as he was,
Not how he died.
- It's like now when I see duct tape,
It's kind of like it always make me go back to that image.
Gray duct tape.
- [narrator] after a short deliberation,
The jury comes to a decision.
- Shirley lyons was found
Guilty of the murder of bobby jackson.
They sentence her to life in prison
Without the possibility of parole.
- It was a relief to know that these two individuals
Were behind bars and justice was served.
- [narrator] while satisfied with the verdict,
It's little consolation for all life's moments
Bobby's daughters have not been able to share
With their beloved father.
- I always wanted my dad to walk me down the aisle.
He missed that opportunity.
He missed two granddaughters and a grandson.
He's missing just being there at our milestones.
- I graduated high school, and I graduated college,
And I have two beautiful kids
That my dad has not been able to see.
What's left is memories
And the love that you still have for your father in your heart.
So I still remember who he is.