(eerie music)
- [police dispatcher] 7-8-25.
- [narrator] a postal worker is shot dead on a highway.
- There was multiple gunshots to the front
Of tony mosby's postal truck.
- [darrell] oh man.
- We had nothing, no suspect information, anything.
- And no indication that that victim was doing anything
But his job, when someone fired shots into his vehicle.
- [narrator] detectives zero in on potential suspects.
- I need you to be honest with me.
I know that she's leaving a lot out.
This is your life on the line.
- [narrator] a mother's tough love breaks down a barrier.
- [mother] I didn't raise you to be no liar.
Tell them the truth.
- [channelle] I'm sorry, momma.
- [christopher] are you a cold-blooded killer?
- No, I'm not a killer.
- [narrator] investigators searching for answers
In the interrogation room.
- I'm so sorry.
(channelle crying)
(clock ticking)
- [narrator] every suspect accused of a crime
Has the right to remain silent.
Many agree to be interrogated anyway,
But they can stop the interview at any moment,
Making it a race against time.
Justice hangs in the balance.
(telephone buttons beeping)
(telephone ringing)
(distant police siren wailing)
- [tv reporter] the driver of a usps box truck
Crashed into the guardrail.
When officers arrived, they say
That driver was already dead.
- We learned that one of our motor vehicle service drivers
Was shot and killed while he was in
The course of his duties on I-30.
We were able to identify the victim as mr. Tony mosby.
He had been with the post office about 14 years.
58 years of age at the time.
- There was multiple gunshots to the front
Of tony mosby's postal truck.
One of the rounds had gone through the windshield
And struck him in the face,
And that was the round that took his life.
(police siren wailing)
When a postal employee is murdered,
We as a federal agency have federal jurisdiction.
We take that very seriously and we pull out all the stops.
- Uncle tony was just a very hard worker.
He was the glue, the backbone of
The mosby side of the family.
- He was a big teddy bear, a hard working,
Very caring and lovable person.
He was always working.
That's one thing he loved doing was working.
- I definitely looked up to, you know, his work ethic,
His drive, and you know, that ambition.
He was really a great man.
- What the police was able to tell us was that, you know,
Uncle tony was just shot and killed and that
They don't know who did it.
I was just in shock.
- I was definitely thinking about who could have done this
To tony because he never really bothered anybody.
- Right now, police have no witnesses,
No surveillance video, no suspect in the death
Of this usps truck driver, and no indication that
That victim was doing anything but his job
When someone fired shots into his vehicle.
- When I arrived at the scene, we had nothing,
No suspect information, anything.
- One of the things that's very important is to establish
A timeline and we gotta start putting the puzzle together
To help lead us to the person that's responsible for this.
- We start canvassing the area and doing everything
That we possibly could to try to find out if there were
Any surveillance video, anything around that could help us
Capture this incident on camera.
- There was a gas station that actually had video
Showing mr. Mosby's vehicle, the truck that he was driving,
Right before it entered the interstate.
That gave us a good idea of when he was getting
On the interstate.
Another critical piece was, there was neighborhoods
Adjoining the interstate that had electric doorbell
That with video and audio what appeared to be four shots.
(gun firing)
- But we still didn't know
Who committed this horrible crime.
It was a lot of pressure.
(dramatic music)
- The united states postal service is now offering $50,000
As a reward for any information about a shooting
That killed one of its employees.
- When $50,000 was placed forward, it made
The world of difference in this case.
- Her relative worked for the postal service,
And I think once they had learned mr. Mosby had died,
It was weighing on her.
- If interviewing and
Interrogating anyone,
You have to make 'em comfortable.
She was very nervous, you know, very scared,
'cause she knew this murder's been on the news.
She know information about it.
- A lot of times, people, they're a little bit
Hesitant to come forward.
When it comes down to these investigations,
They always have a saying, snitches get stitches.
So we wanna make sure that they can talk to us
And come forward about everything.
- At that point we have now
Identified a shooter,
Don ferrell.
- And she said that gun was a revolver,
And so now we have an idea if this projectile comes back
To a gun that is a revolver, now we could say that
This is a possible bullet from the gun
That was used to kill the victim.
- Putting all that together, we had enough to get a warrant.
(muffled police radio chatter)
(helicopter blades whirring)
- Wednesday evening, we had postal inspectors
At the residence of ms. Walker, and as they were
Out on surveillance, they saw mr. Ferrell exit the residence
With a weapon in his hand.
Mr. Ferrell saw the agents and ran back in the house
And we then had a barricade situation.
Dallas county sheriff's office sent their tactical team out
To this residence in hutchins, texas,
And began to establish lines of communication.
Ms. Walker and the rest of the family members
Were able to exit the residence.
Mr. Ferrell stayed behind.
(tense music)
- When I went up into the interview room with her,
My main objective was to build a rapport with her.
- Her boyfriend was now barricaded
Inside that residence.
I know there was some worry for her,
But we wanna make sure that she understands,
When you're not truthful,
It can draw some questions about your involvement as well.
(suspensful music)
- [reporter] the victim, tony mosby, was a us postal worker,
And as such, he was a federal employee.
That means if law enforcement can catch his killer,
That person will likely face
A murder charge in federal court.
(helicopter whirring)
(clock beeping)
(dramatic music)
- My initial approach to her was to let her know
That I'm not gonna lie to you, I'm gonna tell you the truth,
But now I need you to also be honest with me
And tell me what happened.
- Knowing the information that I have that I learned
Up until this point, I know that she's leaving a lot out.
(tense music)
- So when I have her to go through the details,
I just wanted her to actually give me that visual.
You know, I'm talking to her thinking back to
That morning when I was out there on that scene.
So that way I'll know how the shooting actually took place.
- I know that she knows more.
I'm still trying to get her to come forth
With more information, more details,
So that way I can match what I have at the scene.
(dramatic music)
- I explained it to her mother how serious this was.
(clock ticking)
So I allowed her mother to go into the interview room.
It was a risky move.
I didn't want her to shut down on me.
(channelle crying)
(indistinct radio chatter) (tense music)
(channelle crying)
- One thing, I commend this mother here,
Even though she know how bad it is.
She reminds me of the parenting that I grew up on,
That old school parenting where hey, no matter how bad
It seemed, always tell the truth.
(channelle weeping)
- Once the mother came out, I just felt good
That it was time to go back in there.
All right.
(channelle sniffling)
- [christopher] mmm-hmm.
(channelle crying)
- Became very emotional,
I mean, this is his girlfriend.
They're expecting a child together.
It must have been hard to give up this information.
- I feel that mom's conversation with her really helped her
Understand the seriousness of this investigation.
So that's why she gave me the information she's given me
And pretty much corroborated what,
Everything that I already had received.
- Do I believe she left out some important details?
Yes, because she did not wanna put her boyfriend in jail,
But he knew where to push her to make her tell the truth.
- [reporter] investigators made an arrest last night.
- [newscaster] donnie ferrell, the 25 year old,
Was reportedly the passenger in a car
That was driving erratically on I-30
Near downtown dallas early Monday morning.
(dramatic music)
- We already had an idea of what our challenges was.
We know that he will deny he had any involvement,
But also he didn't know what we knew already.
- It's all about that approach.
So that way they'll know me,
Not just a guy with a gun and badge.
Walking into that room, knowing that everything
Is at stake, it's game time.
(metal door ratcheting)
- Law enforcement was able to track down the suspect.
- [news anchor] in the murder of tony mosby.
- [correspondent] police arrested 25 year old
Donnie ferrell after a lengthy standoff.
- I was just so relieved.
You know, he was finally off the street
And then it was just so angry.
He didn't hurt your family.
He wasn't, you know, breaking into your home.
Why would you need to do something like this?
(metal door ratcheting)
- [christopher] hey, what's up, man?
- So the biggest thing, when I walked into that room,
I wanted make him feel comfortable.
So my goal was to build a relationship with him,
Build my rapport with him.
- I felt like he was reserved, that I wanted to get across
To him to let him know, even though
You are arrested right now, I'm human.
Let's talk and we'll move forward.
- He kept using the term, he was faded, meaning that
He was under the influence.
He was trying to make me believe that he was so drunk
Or he just don't remember anything.
I knew that that wasn't truthful.
- Yeah, man.
I wanted him to continue to talk to me.
So I wanted to continue to drill those things into him.
Hey, don't lie to me.
Tell me the truth.
This is your life on the line.
- So at this point I believe that he wasn't
Taking me serious where he, I kept saying I know,
But he was at a point in time, okay, if you know, prove it.
Had his arms folded, had a frown on his face.
He's sizing me up, I'm sizing him up.
I didn't think that he believed that 'cause I kept
Telling him, I know, I know that you shot,
So I started digging a little deeper to give him
Some more information to let him know, I know what happened.
(tense music)
- At any moment he could ask for his attorney.
So I wanted to make sure to keep him talking to me.
- There were times that detective walton would exit,
Come out to us, and we would just discuss things
On the checklist, things that we wanted
To make sure were answered.
What we wanted to do was to get mr. Ferrell to the point of
Fully describing how he shot at mr. Mosby.
- When detective walton had him demonstrate how he shot,
That can show his intent because you have to aim
Exactly in the direction of that truck to hit that driver.
- Last one, telling him it's not believable
And it was a risky move because at any moment
He could have asked for his attorney.
(tense music)
- Based on his demeanor, and based on the way he was acting
Inside the room, I knew that he
Was getting ready to be honest.
You've come this far, don't hold back now.
- I wanna get a true and complete understanding
Knowing that I have witnesses saying this, I have evidence
That's saying this, but you're saying something else.
That's a problem.
- Now we're at the point where I felt
Like he's giving me everything.
- [christopher] well...
- We set the foundation where he could talk,
Made him comfortable, and that way he felt he,
As if he could talk to me.
- He finally sank over in his chair and you
Saw his shoulders drop and his head drop,
And it seemed like the full acceptance was finally there.
He realized the show was over.
There wasn't any more denial,
There wasn't any more covering it up.
(tense music)
(date rattling)
- I honestly think that his ego got the best of him
That night that led up to the victim's death.
Once you pull that trigger, you have to take ownership
Knowing that that bullet can come out that gun
And if it hits someone, it can kill somebody.
- Ms. Walker, for her involvement in this,
She was charged with a single count of accessory
After the fact and received four years of federal probation.
This type of crime is the perfect example of
What a senseless murder would be defined as.
Even if there was a traffic altercation in some way,
No one deserves to be shot at.
It seemed like this was a situation, just a wrong place
And the wrong time, and that's what's
So unfortunate in this case.
- When it comes down to homicide,
It takes a special person mentally to do this job.
You think about bringing some kind of closure to the family,
But not saying they're gonna get closure because you talking
About you taking a piece of their heart away
When their loved one had passed away.
- Do I feel as if justice was served?
I don't.
He only got 30 years in prison.
He'll still get to walk free on this earth
Where my uncle couldn't anymore
'cause he took his life away.
- I was very appreciative of the officers
And the detective of all the hard work
And the jobs that they did.
I was happy that person was finally off of the street.
I miss tony very much.
There's really never not a time I'm not thinking about him
Because he was really a great man and is very well missed,
And it just hurts, man.
(somber music)