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[dramatic music playing]
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[911 dispatcher] Webster 9-1-1.
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[woman] Someone came in and said
that she had been abducted
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and that she jumped out of a vehicle...
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[911 dispatcher] Okay.
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[woman] ...and that she's bleeding.
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[911 dispatcher] Is she
in the parking lot?
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[woman] She's in the parking lot.
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[911 dispatcher] Webster-based Medic One.
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Need you en route to the Waffle House.
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[police siren wails]
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In May of 1997,
there was a young woman abducted.
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She was in his pickup truck,
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and they were driving north
on Interstate 45 towards Houston.
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And she was able to open the door
on the freeway and jump out.
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[tires squeal]
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[Kathryn] She had scrapes all over.
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She was bleeding.
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Turned out the woman's name
was Sandra Sapaugh.
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The only thing I was thinking was like,
he's gonna kill me.
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I'd rather jump and kill myself
than him doing what he was gonna do.
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So, I jumped.
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[Richard] She became
very severely injured,
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but she survived.
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[Kathryn] She went to the police station.
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Couldn't remember
the license plate number,
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but she described more
of what the inside of the truck look like.
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She also described
the man who had abducted her.
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A receding hairline,
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big bags underneath his eyes,
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and a black cowboy hat.
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That's him.
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[ominous music playing]
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[Richard] The benefit of the case
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with the woman who was able
to get out of the truck is
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she could identify him.
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Having an eyewitness to point out
and say, "This is who abducted me,"
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it was a major breakthrough.
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[reporter] The man is believed
to be driving a pickup truck.
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He's described as white,
in his mid-thirties, with a medium build.
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[Skip] How do we catch him?
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You can easily exit Interstate 45
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at night,
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throw open the back door,
toss your body out.
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The water covers up
your physical evidence.
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And you're gone.
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[Kathryn] Laura Smither and other victims,
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all of them happened
along the same stretch of I-45.
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[Gay] The days
after Laura first went missing,
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police departments on that I-45 corridor
started comparing notes.
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They started collaborating.
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[Skip] One county did a survey
of sex criminals who lived in this area,
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and they came up
with the number of 2,100 men.
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[Kathryn] Near the end of September,
a cop I know,
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Sue Dietrich, went over to talk
to the police chief in Friendswood.
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He started talking about a suspect
in the Laura Smither case.
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I realize that was, in fact, very similar
to the information given by Sandra.
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That guy fits the description.
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[ominous music playing]
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[officer] Number four,
step on the red circle.
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[Kathryn] They brought him in
for an in-person lineup.
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Sandra's eyes locked on him
the minute that he walked in.
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[officer] I want you to repeat after me
in a loud, clear voice.
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"Do not scream."
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Do not scream.
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[officer] "Get in the truck."
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Get in the truck.
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[officer] "I'll kill you, bitch."
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I'll kill you, bitch.
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She said, "It's number four. That's him."
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And it was Bill Reece.
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They got a search warrant for his house.
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And his truck.
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And they found the black cowboy hat
that Sandra had talked about.
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[Richard] They were able to arrest Reece
for her abduction.
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[Lise] William Reece,
he was working in construction
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during the period Laura Smither
and other young women disappeared.
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[Kathryn] He was a sex offender
out of Oklahoma
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who had just gotten out of prison
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after serving time
for two different sexual assaults.
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[Lise] William Reece
had come to Houston to work.
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[Richard] In 1997,
there was a new subdivision
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going in very close
to where Laura Smither lived,
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and William Reece was working
construction at that new subdivision.
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[Kathryn] And it turned out,
at nine o'clock,
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when Laura started off on her jog,
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Bill Reece was being released
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by the foreman on the job that day
because it was gonna rain.
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We don't know what he said
to get her in the truck.
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We don't know if he used a weapon.
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We don't know if he
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tricked her.
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But she was never seen after that.
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[Gay] When Laura was first missing,
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William Lewis Reece was being interviewed
very early on and watched.
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It was really when Sandra Sapaugh
was abducted.
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And I wondered at that time.
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When it was on the same stretch of road.
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Was he involved?
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[Richard] While we were
investigating William Reece in 1997,
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we had to consider he was potentially
a suspect for the Calder Road killings.
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It's extremely rare
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to have two serial killers
in the same close proximity,
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separated by only a few years.
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But at the time Heide Fye, Laura Miller,
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and Jane Doe were discovered...
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William Reece was in prison in Oklahoma,
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so he couldn't have been
responsible for those.
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[reporter 1] The man arrested
for a Webster kidnapping
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and named as the prime suspect
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in the killing of Friendswood's
Laura Smither.
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[reporter 2] Besides the Smither murder,
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police are investigating
whether Reece could also be involved
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with the disappearance
of another local teenager,
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Jessica Cain of Tiki Island.
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[Gay] At the beginning,
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Reece had a very convincing
good-old-boy country act.
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And I've watched the tape.
He was very convincing.
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It sounds bad because they got me set up
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like I'm a serial killer.
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I didn't kill her.
Never seen the girl, never met the girl.
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I've never been with the girl.
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[dramatic music playing]
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[crickets chirping]
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[Richard] With Laura Smither,
she was found deceased.
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There was very little evidence, and...
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then Jessica Cain, she wasn't even found.
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[crickets chirping]
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[no audio]
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[Gay] The district attorney chose
to prosecute for Sandra, not for Laura,
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because he felt that we didn't have
enough evidence for a capital murder case,
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which was very frustrating
to me at the time
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because I thought
we had plenty to prosecute.
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[reporter] William Reece
has not been charged
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in the unsolved Laura Smither case,
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although her parents
are a constant presence
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here at the kidnapping trial.
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[Kathryn] Reece was convicted
for the kidnapping of Sandra Sapaugh
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and sentenced to 60 years.
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[ominous music playing]
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I interviewed Reece when I was
just starting to work on the book.
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- [Kathryn] Did you kill Laura Smither?
- [William] Nope.
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[Kathryn] Huh. So you never
saw Laura that day?
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Like, even just jogging down the street
when you were driving by in your truck?
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[William] No.
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[Kathryn] What about Jessica Cain?
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[William] Who's that?
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[Kathryn] The girl
who disappeared on I-45?
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- Why do you think people look at you?
- [William] I don't give a damn.
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I mean, I got everything I need
to prove that I'm innocent.
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Nothing links me to anything.
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He just denied and denied.
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[Kathryn] So what do you think
happened here?
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[William] I really don't care.
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[tape machine clicks]
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I walked out of there
believing he had killed both of them.
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But I didn't have anything
on my tape recorder that proved it.
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[reporter 1] Since 1983, Galveston County
has an unusually large number
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of mysterious disappearances.
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All involve young women,
many only teenagers.
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All have either disappeared
or turned up dead.
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[reporter 2] Police are afraid
those responsible may still be out there.
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[ominous music playing]
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How did we get all these
sick bastards in one spot?
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I don't know. I don't get it.
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I don't get it.
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[dramatic music playing]
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[insects chirping]
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[Kathryn] As time passed
and no evidence materialized,
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the Calder Road killings,
they were frozen cold.
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In the '90s, the detectives
never gave up on Abel.
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But there was no evidence
that Abel had done anything.
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[Kathryn] At one point, Tim decided
that Robert wasn't guilty.
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[Skip] Tim Miller,
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the most adamant Abel-hater
in all of that part of Texas,
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a man who wanted to kill Abel,
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realized that he had gone way too far.
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And at some point, he called Abel
and said, "I'm sorry."
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I just had the opportunity
to hug his neck and say,
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"Robert, please forgive me."
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And we cried together and stuff.
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[Skip] But it wasn't enough.
It was too late.
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Abel knew that he'd never be thought of
as anything but a serial killer
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for the rest of his life.
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In League City, he continued
to be a suspect until he died.
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He drove his golf cart
right up on the tracks,
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just as a train was getting there.
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We'll probably never know
if it was suicide or an accident.
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Totally destroyed his life until
he couldn't stand what they did anymore.
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Couldn't deal with it.
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Waste of time and another wasted life.
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There are a lot of victims here.
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[somber music playing]
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[insects chirping]
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[ominous music playing]
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- [man] What's your name?
- Clyde Hedrick.
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[man] Clyde, tell me
about your decorations.
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00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:14,585
[Clyde] We just do it for the kids.
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Put the little tombstone things out here.
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You know, give them an idea of a grave.
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00:13:21,801 --> 00:13:22,885
[Tim] Clyde Hedrick.
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00:13:23,469 --> 00:13:28,891
He was on my radar the minute
they told me early on about Ellen Beason.
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00:13:30,142 --> 00:13:33,354
But then this Robert Abel
is a person of interest and everything.
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00:13:35,272 --> 00:13:36,272
Waste of time.
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And then it went back to the same person
I was looking at in the very beginning.
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00:13:51,372 --> 00:13:55,876
[Kevin] After the trial for tampering
with the body of Ellen Beason,
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00:13:57,127 --> 00:13:59,505
he got into trouble
with the law time and again.
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00:14:04,552 --> 00:14:08,138
[Lise] Clyde Hedrick, he had already
done time in prison in Florida.
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00:14:09,849 --> 00:14:13,561
The file that the Galveston County
DA's office has on Clyde Hedrick
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00:14:13,644 --> 00:14:15,688
is pretty thick.
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00:14:16,564 --> 00:14:19,525
He was accused by various
ex-wives and ex-girlfriends
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00:14:19,608 --> 00:14:23,279
of beating them, cocaine, arson.
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00:14:27,658 --> 00:14:29,660
[dramatic music playing]
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00:14:36,625 --> 00:14:39,211
[Tim] Clyde Hedrick
knew everything about this area.
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00:14:40,170 --> 00:14:46,093
Clyde worked for a contractor
that was right here on Calder.
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00:14:46,802 --> 00:14:48,637
We did get information.
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00:14:49,305 --> 00:14:53,017
This is one of the spots Clyde would dump
some of his building materials.
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00:14:55,102 --> 00:14:56,395
Right beside Laura's body,
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00:14:56,478 --> 00:14:59,690
there was some old shingles
and some old rotten wood
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00:14:59,773 --> 00:15:02,693
that was apparently
taken off somebody's house.
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00:15:05,863 --> 00:15:07,448
That's the business he was in.
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00:15:14,955 --> 00:15:19,293
Tim Miller contacted myself
and a sheriff's department detective
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00:15:19,376 --> 00:15:20,502
and asked to meet with us.
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00:15:21,295 --> 00:15:23,839
He and I went to Tim's office
and sat down with him,
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00:15:23,923 --> 00:15:24,923
and Tim asked for help.
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00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:28,928
[Kevin] Tim Miller was suspicious
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00:15:29,011 --> 00:15:32,431
of Clyde Hedrick's involvement
in his daughter's murder.
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00:15:33,641 --> 00:15:37,311
For years, I think police who knew
about the Ellen Beason case
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00:15:37,394 --> 00:15:41,398
were very skeptical of the statements
that were given by Clyde Hedrick.
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00:15:41,482 --> 00:15:43,817
He was always the focus,
and it was always thought
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00:15:43,901 --> 00:15:48,739
that he was far more involved in that
than we were able to convict him for.
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00:15:49,573 --> 00:15:52,201
[Richard] Myself
and several other investigators
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00:15:52,284 --> 00:15:54,328
formed an ad hoc task force.
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00:15:55,537 --> 00:15:58,457
We had the idea if we reopen
the Ellen Beason case,
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00:15:59,416 --> 00:16:03,003
maybe that would bring in some more
information and possible tips
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00:16:03,087 --> 00:16:05,089
to the other unsolved cases.
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00:16:06,966 --> 00:16:09,843
If we were gonna hold somebody
accountable for her murder,
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00:16:10,970 --> 00:16:12,513
it is evidence that we had to have.
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00:16:14,515 --> 00:16:19,061
In March of 2012,
we exhumed Ellen Beason's body,
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00:16:20,187 --> 00:16:22,439
and it was a very difficult decision.
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00:16:22,523 --> 00:16:26,151
I can't imagine having that
be my loved one.
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00:16:32,616 --> 00:16:34,743
[Hanson] Clyde, why don't you
have a seat right here.
243
00:16:35,494 --> 00:16:37,871
I've never seen a Dr Pepper can like that.
244
00:16:37,955 --> 00:16:39,707
[Clyde] Yeah, it just pops on.
245
00:16:39,790 --> 00:16:42,751
I only got half a jaw from the cancer.
246
00:16:45,087 --> 00:16:47,506
I'm Ted Tommy Hanson
with Galveston Sheriff's Office,
247
00:16:47,589 --> 00:16:51,260
Agent Rennison with the FBI,
and you're Clyde Edwin Hedrick, right?
248
00:16:51,343 --> 00:16:52,343
- Yes.
- Okay.
249
00:16:54,304 --> 00:16:57,099
Let's start with Ellen Beason.
250
00:16:57,182 --> 00:16:58,308
Who's that?
251
00:16:59,268 --> 00:17:00,811
[Richard] When we were driving over,
252
00:17:00,894 --> 00:17:03,939
I said, "When's the last time
you carried a body around?"
253
00:17:04,023 --> 00:17:05,482
And you said: "I never did that."
254
00:17:05,566 --> 00:17:07,693
- Oh, and that's her?
- [Richard] That's her.
255
00:17:08,193 --> 00:17:10,320
Back in 1985 when this happened,
256
00:17:10,988 --> 00:17:13,991
the medical examiner's office didn't have
certain equipment they have today.
257
00:17:14,074 --> 00:17:15,074
[Clyde] Right.
258
00:17:16,285 --> 00:17:17,828
[Richard] We exhumed her body.
259
00:17:21,373 --> 00:17:22,791
That means we dug it up.
260
00:17:23,459 --> 00:17:27,546
And she has a massive skull fracture.
261
00:17:27,629 --> 00:17:29,882
And I don't mean a little hairline crack.
262
00:17:31,508 --> 00:17:36,346
We're talking a massive skull fracture
that would absolutely cause death.
263
00:17:39,850 --> 00:17:41,351
I don't see how that's possible.
264
00:17:41,435 --> 00:17:42,644
[Richard] Well, it's possible.
265
00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:47,232
We had forensic anthropologist
take a look at the remains.
266
00:17:47,816 --> 00:17:50,194
And according to
the medical professionals,
267
00:17:50,277 --> 00:17:54,281
that could only have been done
through homicide.
268
00:17:55,741 --> 00:17:58,660
I'm not trying to see
if she got a skull fracture.
269
00:17:58,744 --> 00:18:01,205
I'm trying to see how
she got the skull fracture.
270
00:18:01,830 --> 00:18:04,708
The only way I could possibly think of
is that maybe that's what...
271
00:18:04,792 --> 00:18:07,544
When she went swimming
and then she was not swimming,
272
00:18:07,628 --> 00:18:09,630
but there's nothing in there that...
273
00:18:09,713 --> 00:18:11,924
You know, I was in that water,
you know, years.
274
00:18:12,007 --> 00:18:14,259
There's no way she dove in
and hit her head.
275
00:18:14,343 --> 00:18:17,179
There's no way in hell
that she had skull fractures.
276
00:18:17,763 --> 00:18:20,099
I don't like seeing someone
get away with murder.
277
00:18:20,682 --> 00:18:21,850
That's just not right.
278
00:18:23,936 --> 00:18:26,688
A judge of your character
is how you own up to your responsibilities
279
00:18:26,772 --> 00:18:29,650
when you make mistakes,
and you're failing miserably, Clyde.
280
00:18:30,484 --> 00:18:32,277
I can put my hand on a stack of bibles,
281
00:18:32,361 --> 00:18:36,907
and I know I've never, ever hurt
anybody as far as death-wise.
282
00:18:39,034 --> 00:18:40,953
Definitive. That happened.
283
00:18:44,540 --> 00:18:45,707
Complete puzzle to me.
284
00:18:46,750 --> 00:18:51,213
I think he felt this was behind him,
and perhaps he'd gotten away with it.
285
00:18:53,507 --> 00:18:58,887
[Kevin] The force needed to cause
that fracture was a great powerful force,
286
00:18:58,971 --> 00:19:03,392
a force that wasn't an accident,
but that was intended to take a life.
287
00:19:04,601 --> 00:19:08,188
[Richard] That, along with other things,
gave us enough evidence
288
00:19:08,272 --> 00:19:10,983
to charge Clyde
for the murder of Ellen Beason.
289
00:19:22,202 --> 00:19:23,287
[director] Is that him?
290
00:19:25,038 --> 00:19:28,167
[Tim] Oh, yeah. That's him.
Yeah, that's him. That's him.
291
00:19:29,126 --> 00:19:30,794
I mean, the list goes on and on.
292
00:19:34,006 --> 00:19:37,301
It's sickening looking through shit.
I mean, it truly is.
293
00:19:38,302 --> 00:19:40,304
[Kevin] An additional piece
of evidence we had
294
00:19:40,387 --> 00:19:43,182
was some statements that Hedrick had made
295
00:19:43,265 --> 00:19:47,019
to other inmates in the county jail
while he was awaiting trial.
296
00:19:47,102 --> 00:19:51,607
We typically call them jailhouse snitches,
jailhouse informants.
297
00:19:51,690 --> 00:19:54,693
Hedrick spoke about the Ellen Beason case
298
00:19:54,776 --> 00:19:57,487
and made admissions to other murders.
299
00:19:58,488 --> 00:20:02,159
One of those, he included
the name of Laura Miller.
300
00:20:03,827 --> 00:20:05,707
[reporter] Tucked away
in the prosecution's case
301
00:20:05,746 --> 00:20:07,789
involving Beason is a document titled,
302
00:20:07,873 --> 00:20:11,793
"Notice of Intent to Use Evidence
of Other Crimes, Wrongs, or Acts."
303
00:20:11,877 --> 00:20:14,338
In this document, prosecutors write,
304
00:20:14,421 --> 00:20:16,632
"Defendant had sex with Laura Miller
305
00:20:16,715 --> 00:20:18,926
and then intentionally
and knowingly killed her."
306
00:20:20,010 --> 00:20:21,553
Prosecutors have indicated
307
00:20:21,637 --> 00:20:24,890
Clyde Hedrick was also involved
in the Killing Fields murders
308
00:20:24,973 --> 00:20:27,476
in the mid '80s,
and have never been solved.
309
00:20:28,518 --> 00:20:31,521
Without ever reaching out
to Tim Miller, her father,
310
00:20:31,605 --> 00:20:34,524
I had now filed a document
311
00:20:34,608 --> 00:20:39,154
that said I knew a man had murdered
and potentially raped his daughter.
312
00:20:39,738 --> 00:20:40,822
I regret that.
313
00:20:41,448 --> 00:20:47,913
It was the way that I met Tim Miller,
which is not a great way to meet someone.
314
00:20:48,914 --> 00:20:50,832
[director] How did you
find out about that?
315
00:20:50,916 --> 00:20:55,087
Well, I read it in court reports.
316
00:20:56,129 --> 00:20:57,464
Taunting and bragging.
317
00:20:59,216 --> 00:21:02,511
His own admission when he was in jail.
318
00:21:05,472 --> 00:21:07,808
How he had sex with Laura
before he killed her.
319
00:21:10,018 --> 00:21:11,436
How he killed Heide.
320
00:21:17,192 --> 00:21:19,072
[Kevin] I received
a phone call from Tim Miller,
321
00:21:19,152 --> 00:21:23,490
and I went further and explained to him
the source of that information,
322
00:21:23,573 --> 00:21:26,785
and why it wasn't necessarily
a break in the case.
323
00:21:27,411 --> 00:21:30,872
Texas law states
that a person cannot be convicted
324
00:21:30,956 --> 00:21:33,000
on the basis of jailhouse informants,
325
00:21:33,083 --> 00:21:36,128
but the defendant's involvement
has to be corroborated.
326
00:21:38,255 --> 00:21:39,298
[exhales]
327
00:21:43,218 --> 00:21:46,680
[Tim] I talked to one of the guys
328
00:21:46,763 --> 00:21:51,518
that was in jail with Clyde
when Clyde actually told them
329
00:21:51,601 --> 00:21:55,856
that he had sex with Laura
before he murdered her.
330
00:21:58,358 --> 00:21:59,735
Pretty painful conversation.
331
00:21:59,818 --> 00:22:01,570
[somber music playing]
332
00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,578
You know, I was just hoping to get that
333
00:22:10,620 --> 00:22:13,290
one little piece of evidence,
334
00:22:13,373 --> 00:22:16,460
but I think anything I would've found
and turned over to the police,
335
00:22:16,543 --> 00:22:18,420
it would just be probably lost.
336
00:22:21,548 --> 00:22:26,678
[Kevin] I know that Tim wants the killer
of his daughter brought to justice.
337
00:22:26,762 --> 00:22:29,931
I want that. I think everybody wants that.
338
00:22:31,266 --> 00:22:34,603
[reporter] We asked Hedrick
if he had anything to say about Laura.
339
00:22:34,686 --> 00:22:37,314
"They're trying to pin me
for the Killing Fields murders."
340
00:22:37,397 --> 00:22:39,358
"I didn't kill her.
I didn't even know her."
341
00:22:39,441 --> 00:22:42,319
The criminal justice system
is just a long,
342
00:22:43,987 --> 00:22:46,573
brutal system for victims
343
00:22:47,324 --> 00:22:49,368
and for families of victims.
344
00:22:50,494 --> 00:22:52,120
But he fights every single day.
345
00:22:54,373 --> 00:22:56,253
[Tim] I filed a wrongful death suit
against him.
346
00:22:57,959 --> 00:23:00,462
And I'll fight till my dying breath.
347
00:23:02,881 --> 00:23:04,883
[dramatic music playing]
348
00:23:10,347 --> 00:23:13,141
[reporter] Clyde Hedrick sat quietly
as prosecutors told the jury
349
00:23:13,225 --> 00:23:17,396
he is the man who killed and then tried
to hide the body of Ellen Rae Beason.
350
00:23:19,398 --> 00:23:21,274
The 29-year-old woman,
351
00:23:21,983 --> 00:23:24,444
left discarded under a couch...
352
00:23:27,239 --> 00:23:28,615
and forgotten about.
353
00:23:28,698 --> 00:23:30,742
[dramatic music playing]
354
00:23:36,748 --> 00:23:39,793
[Richard] Some of Heide's family
was at the trial.
355
00:23:40,669 --> 00:23:41,753
Tim Miller was there.
356
00:23:43,171 --> 00:23:45,549
I had heart palpitations,
a lot of anxieties.
357
00:23:46,216 --> 00:23:48,844
Difficult being there,
but it'd be harder not to be there.
358
00:23:50,387 --> 00:23:53,140
[Kevin] I ended up cross-examining
the medical examiner.
359
00:23:53,974 --> 00:23:55,534
From all of the photographs that we had
360
00:23:55,559 --> 00:23:58,395
of his very initial examination
of Ellen Beason,
361
00:23:58,478 --> 00:24:00,522
there were only two of the skull,
362
00:24:01,690 --> 00:24:04,359
neither showing the area
where the fracture was.
363
00:24:04,443 --> 00:24:05,861
I argued to the jury,
364
00:24:05,944 --> 00:24:09,573
the medical examiner,
in an attempt to protect his reputation,
365
00:24:09,656 --> 00:24:11,616
hid or destroyed evidence from the state.
366
00:24:13,743 --> 00:24:15,829
We tried Clyde Hedrick for murder.
367
00:24:15,912 --> 00:24:18,039
The jury found him guilty of manslaughter.
368
00:24:21,126 --> 00:24:25,380
[Richard] So after Clyde was convicted,
there was sentencing portion of the trial.
369
00:24:25,464 --> 00:24:27,424
A former family member testified.
370
00:24:28,967 --> 00:24:31,094
I was called in
371
00:24:31,178 --> 00:24:34,306
as a witness for the sentencing phase.
372
00:24:35,348 --> 00:24:40,812
The district attorney,
Kevin Petroff, wanted the jury
373
00:24:40,896 --> 00:24:42,689
to hear what I had to say.
374
00:24:43,940 --> 00:24:48,069
To really show
what kind of person Clyde Hedrick is.
375
00:24:49,112 --> 00:24:54,117
I told them what had happened,
and that things progressively got worse.
376
00:24:56,620 --> 00:25:02,417
There were times that I would fall asleep
watching TV in the living room.
377
00:25:04,961 --> 00:25:06,713
And I could feel somebody...
378
00:25:08,632 --> 00:25:09,716
touching me.
379
00:25:12,969 --> 00:25:15,639
It was just... It was so hard to wake up.
380
00:25:16,223 --> 00:25:18,934
And I was just so tired.
381
00:25:23,647 --> 00:25:27,400
He would make me, like,
a glass of Kool-Aid or something.
382
00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:30,153
I don't like Kool-Aid.
383
00:25:31,821 --> 00:25:34,032
But if he made you something,
384
00:25:35,033 --> 00:25:36,033
you take it.
385
00:25:39,037 --> 00:25:42,249
One morning, I woke up
and I had to go straight to the bathroom.
386
00:25:43,875 --> 00:25:47,087
I would be sore in places
that I shouldn't be.
387
00:25:48,922 --> 00:25:50,882
[Kevin] You could tell on some level
388
00:25:50,966 --> 00:25:54,719
that she was reliving it
as she was describing it to the jury.
389
00:25:55,804 --> 00:25:59,766
It was very strong.
It was difficult to listen to.
390
00:25:59,849 --> 00:26:01,476
For the Ellen Beason case,
391
00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:04,396
the jury deliberated
fairly quickly and came back
392
00:26:04,479 --> 00:26:06,648
with the maximum sentence
of 20 years in prison.
393
00:26:06,731 --> 00:26:08,733
[dramatic music playing]
394
00:26:17,450 --> 00:26:19,286
Somebody finally listened.
395
00:26:25,625 --> 00:26:26,835
[sighs]
396
00:26:40,265 --> 00:26:42,767
[dramatic music playing]
397
00:26:54,195 --> 00:26:57,616
[Nina] The Ellen Beason trial,
that was very eye-opening to me.
398
00:26:58,533 --> 00:27:02,746
The autopsy decision
being grossly incorrect...
399
00:27:04,748 --> 00:27:08,335
just brought to light
some of the same frustrations we've had
400
00:27:08,418 --> 00:27:11,421
in our case with my aunt Heide.
401
00:27:12,088 --> 00:27:16,509
The medical examiner,
he did not preserve her clothing.
402
00:27:16,593 --> 00:27:19,763
He did not preserve fingernails.
403
00:27:19,846 --> 00:27:25,977
He did not preserve items
that could potentially contain
404
00:27:27,354 --> 00:27:28,980
physical forensic evidence
405
00:27:29,064 --> 00:27:32,025
that a lot of juries want
406
00:27:32,108 --> 00:27:34,361
in a case to get convictions.
407
00:27:35,945 --> 00:27:38,907
In most of these cases,
they've lost a lot of the evidence.
408
00:27:39,741 --> 00:27:43,328
The shirt that was found
near Laura's body was gone.
409
00:27:44,704 --> 00:27:45,997
There could be DNA.
410
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:49,626
But if they never find the shirt,
we'll never know.
411
00:27:53,046 --> 00:27:57,258
[Lise] There's just not enough resources
for cold cases in America in general.
412
00:27:57,967 --> 00:28:00,136
There's still a lot of cases
that get forgotten,
413
00:28:01,554 --> 00:28:02,889
and that don't get solved.
414
00:28:04,182 --> 00:28:07,102
And that is allowing
serial killers to go free.
415
00:28:10,814 --> 00:28:12,357
[Kathryn] These cases were old.
416
00:28:13,566 --> 00:28:16,528
The world might have forgotten about it,
but those families didn't.
417
00:28:18,655 --> 00:28:21,533
[Nina] It just brought to light
the fact that
418
00:28:21,616 --> 00:28:24,327
we're gonna have to dive into this deeper.
419
00:28:25,495 --> 00:28:29,582
It would really, really be nice
to get some closure for these families.
420
00:28:29,666 --> 00:28:32,377
Anything I can do to help
these people, I'm gonna try my hardest.
421
00:28:38,466 --> 00:28:41,010
When I first started working
the Calder Road case,
422
00:28:41,636 --> 00:28:44,723
it was somewhat difficult because
I didn't have access to all of the files
423
00:28:44,806 --> 00:28:46,307
at League City Police Department.
424
00:28:46,391 --> 00:28:48,143
I just wanted to read as much as I could
425
00:28:48,226 --> 00:28:52,272
and see if a new set of fresh eyes could
maybe find something others didn't see.
426
00:28:53,314 --> 00:28:55,900
The benefit of working cold cases is
427
00:28:56,776 --> 00:28:58,361
technology improves over time.
428
00:28:59,863 --> 00:29:05,410
The end of 2017, we decided
to try to use forensic genealogy
429
00:29:05,493 --> 00:29:07,912
to identify the two women,
430
00:29:07,996 --> 00:29:12,584
and had a hard time convincing
League City that it was a good technique.
431
00:29:12,667 --> 00:29:14,187
[Kathryn] It could answer the question
432
00:29:14,252 --> 00:29:16,755
that has been
hanging around since the 1980s.
433
00:29:16,838 --> 00:29:18,214
Who were these women?
434
00:29:19,507 --> 00:29:22,594
[Richard] Jane and Janet Doe
were unidentified
435
00:29:22,677 --> 00:29:24,679
throughout the course
of the investigation.
436
00:29:24,763 --> 00:29:27,807
League City,
they were a little resistant at first.
437
00:29:27,891 --> 00:29:31,519
But in January of 2019,
438
00:29:31,603 --> 00:29:33,188
on my birthday,
439
00:29:33,980 --> 00:29:37,358
we were able to extract a DNA profile
440
00:29:37,442 --> 00:29:39,778
and put it into those databases.
441
00:29:39,861 --> 00:29:42,155
We were able to identify these two women.
442
00:29:43,239 --> 00:29:45,116
First was Janet Doe.
443
00:29:46,367 --> 00:29:48,036
Donna Gonsulin Prudhomme.
444
00:29:49,829 --> 00:29:53,500
We were able to identify her
after 30-plus years.
445
00:29:55,335 --> 00:29:56,795
And then the next day,
446
00:29:58,004 --> 00:30:01,132
we were able to identify
Jane Doe as Audrey Lee Cook.
447
00:30:03,843 --> 00:30:07,305
We sort of had assumed
maybe these women were transient people,
448
00:30:07,388 --> 00:30:09,015
and the opposite was true.
449
00:30:09,808 --> 00:30:11,851
Donna Gonsulin Prudhomme
450
00:30:12,435 --> 00:30:15,438
had come here like a lot of other people
we've been talking about
451
00:30:16,439 --> 00:30:18,775
because Houston was a boomtown,
there was work.
452
00:30:19,692 --> 00:30:22,779
[Kathryn] Audrey Lee Cook,
she was a mechanic,
453
00:30:24,030 --> 00:30:26,950
and her family had been looking
for her for a long time.
454
00:30:29,494 --> 00:30:31,496
[dramatic music playing]
455
00:30:45,343 --> 00:30:50,431
[Tim] After Donna Prudhomme
was positively ID'd, and Audrey,
456
00:30:50,515 --> 00:30:55,770
I said, "We can get somebody indicted
and convicted on these girls."
457
00:30:58,147 --> 00:31:02,443
What we're hoping for is somebody
who knew either one of these girls
458
00:31:02,527 --> 00:31:06,948
to provide some information, anything,
even if you don't think it's a big deal.
459
00:31:08,199 --> 00:31:09,701
We wanna know everything about them.
460
00:31:13,121 --> 00:31:14,914
[Tim] Families that go through this...
461
00:31:15,748 --> 00:31:17,834
When do we give up? We never give up.
462
00:31:27,927 --> 00:31:28,928
Hey, Lee. Tim.
463
00:31:29,429 --> 00:31:30,989
[Lee on phone]
Tim, how's it going, man?
464
00:31:31,014 --> 00:31:33,016
[Tim]
Well, I'm all right, you know.
465
00:31:33,558 --> 00:31:36,686
We're gonna get four girls up
on these digital billboards.
466
00:31:37,937 --> 00:31:39,856
Hopefully we'll get more information,
467
00:31:39,939 --> 00:31:42,609
some calls coming in,
some possible leads and stuff.
468
00:31:43,109 --> 00:31:45,862
[Lee] You need to send me
exactly what you want to say on it,
469
00:31:45,945 --> 00:31:48,656
and then we rotate them on the digital.
470
00:31:48,740 --> 00:31:49,866
[Tim] Okay.
471
00:31:55,496 --> 00:31:56,539
[man] Yes, sir.
472
00:31:56,623 --> 00:31:58,750
Hey, I'm gonna text you
this license plate number.
473
00:31:58,833 --> 00:31:59,833
Thanks.
474
00:32:01,878 --> 00:32:05,048
I had a lot of plans,
and I had a lot of goals in my life.
475
00:32:07,342 --> 00:32:09,677
I know God
had different plans for Tim Miller.
476
00:32:10,637 --> 00:32:13,848
And I'm not gonna say I like them.
I'm not gonna say I still like them today.
477
00:32:19,020 --> 00:32:21,147
[Kathryn] I mean,
he's getting up there in years.
478
00:32:21,230 --> 00:32:22,148
We both are.
479
00:32:22,231 --> 00:32:23,066
[laughs]
480
00:32:23,149 --> 00:32:26,819
And I've seen him out on searches.
And I know he's in a lot of pain.
481
00:32:27,695 --> 00:32:31,991
And he gets right down in that hole
and starts digging with everybody else.
482
00:32:33,618 --> 00:32:35,328
[Richard] Tim is very tenacious.
483
00:32:35,411 --> 00:32:38,039
He won't give up,
and he doesn't like to lose.
484
00:32:38,122 --> 00:32:39,290
He's good.
485
00:32:42,877 --> 00:32:45,880
Tim Miller is one of the loudest voices
for these victims.
486
00:32:45,964 --> 00:32:48,841
He keeps asking for someone
to be held accountable.
487
00:32:52,804 --> 00:32:54,806
[phone line ringing]
488
00:32:56,099 --> 00:32:59,143
Are we gonna use ATVs out there?
It's a big-ass area.
489
00:32:59,227 --> 00:33:00,395
What's your schedule?
490
00:33:00,979 --> 00:33:03,940
He keeps insisting
that they should find out who did this.
491
00:33:04,983 --> 00:33:08,361
[Marla] Clyde, he would talk
about past women
492
00:33:08,444 --> 00:33:11,447
and what they used to do together.
493
00:33:11,990 --> 00:33:14,909
And then that's when
Mother would get upset,
494
00:33:15,702 --> 00:33:17,704
and they would get into arguments.
495
00:33:18,454 --> 00:33:20,415
The first time that I met Tim,
496
00:33:20,498 --> 00:33:22,083
it was at the trial.
497
00:33:22,166 --> 00:33:24,377
It was right after I testified,
498
00:33:24,460 --> 00:33:26,963
and he wanted to talk to me
about his daughter,
499
00:33:28,339 --> 00:33:29,382
Laura Miller,
500
00:33:30,550 --> 00:33:32,051
who Clyde knew.
501
00:33:33,386 --> 00:33:36,723
Just... lived on the same street as them.
502
00:33:38,391 --> 00:33:40,351
[Tim] This is Abel's stuff.
503
00:33:41,394 --> 00:33:42,937
That was that fence line.
504
00:33:44,772 --> 00:33:47,817
[Marla] But after he told me
about his daughter...
505
00:33:49,444 --> 00:33:50,445
the age,
506
00:33:51,070 --> 00:33:54,741
just all the connections,
all the similarities,
507
00:33:55,700 --> 00:33:57,368
it just made sense.
508
00:33:57,452 --> 00:33:59,245
It made sense.
509
00:33:59,328 --> 00:34:02,040
Can you print that out and mark the fence?
510
00:34:02,123 --> 00:34:03,124
[woman] Yeah.
511
00:34:04,125 --> 00:34:06,252
[Tim] Let's go to the Killing Fields.
512
00:34:08,046 --> 00:34:11,841
[Marla] Tim had asked me
if I would go out to Calder Road.
513
00:34:13,676 --> 00:34:15,678
See if I had been out there before.
514
00:34:16,345 --> 00:34:17,847
You know, maybe, maybe not.
515
00:34:22,351 --> 00:34:24,729
[Tim] Right around here,
they had that gate.
516
00:34:27,607 --> 00:34:29,025
[Marla] I need to remember
517
00:34:29,734 --> 00:34:32,236
if this was the same place Clyde took me.
518
00:34:36,407 --> 00:34:37,533
[Tim] How old were you then?
519
00:34:38,534 --> 00:34:40,828
- [scoffs] Teenager.
- [Tim] Twelve, thirteen?
520
00:34:42,914 --> 00:34:47,168
[Marla] And so
when we entered this property...
521
00:34:54,175 --> 00:34:56,010
none of it looked familiar
522
00:34:57,720 --> 00:34:59,597
until I hit the tree line,
523
00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:03,226
and there was this big metal pipe thing
524
00:35:03,309 --> 00:35:04,727
coming out of the ground.
525
00:35:06,145 --> 00:35:09,941
It was a trail,
and then there was a little pond.
526
00:35:10,024 --> 00:35:11,859
[ominous music playing]
527
00:35:19,992 --> 00:35:22,286
Something about that metal pipe.
528
00:35:23,204 --> 00:35:25,123
It was like a rush.
529
00:35:25,832 --> 00:35:27,750
It just all came back.
530
00:35:31,921 --> 00:35:33,673
[dramatic music playing]
531
00:35:35,007 --> 00:35:37,552
I didn't know
it was Calder Road at the time,
532
00:35:38,427 --> 00:35:40,596
but I was there.
533
00:35:49,397 --> 00:35:52,650
Clyde had to do a mowing job
534
00:35:54,485 --> 00:35:57,196
on his buddy's property.
535
00:35:58,531 --> 00:35:59,907
It was the same place.
536
00:36:01,742 --> 00:36:02,910
It was Calder Road.
537
00:36:06,122 --> 00:36:08,749
I could see him.
He was doing something with the ground.
538
00:36:10,126 --> 00:36:11,252
He was digging.
539
00:36:13,254 --> 00:36:15,798
I don't know
what Clyde was doing out there,
540
00:36:15,882 --> 00:36:18,551
but I can't believe that's where I was.
541
00:36:18,634 --> 00:36:20,094
It makes sense now.
542
00:36:22,430 --> 00:36:24,307
After the things that I've seen...
543
00:36:24,390 --> 00:36:25,390
[sniffles]
544
00:36:26,184 --> 00:36:28,477
...and heard and have been through,
545
00:36:29,270 --> 00:36:32,648
I was relieved
that he was finally behind bars.
546
00:36:35,026 --> 00:36:38,446
You know, I was really hoping
that he would end up dying behind bars.
547
00:36:42,116 --> 00:36:44,035
[dramatic music playing]
548
00:36:49,207 --> 00:36:52,376
[reporter] Tonight, 67-year-old
Clyde Hedrick is out of prison.
549
00:36:53,252 --> 00:36:57,006
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice
says he was released yesterday
550
00:36:57,089 --> 00:36:58,549
on mandatory supervision.
551
00:37:00,051 --> 00:37:01,260
I could not believe it.
552
00:37:01,886 --> 00:37:04,555
It was like a punch in the stomach.
553
00:37:05,264 --> 00:37:09,018
He was released on parole.
554
00:37:09,101 --> 00:37:11,145
So, he's out today on parole.
555
00:37:15,441 --> 00:37:17,151
[director] How much time did he serve?
556
00:37:17,860 --> 00:37:18,861
Eight years.
557
00:37:23,115 --> 00:37:24,992
[Marla] Clyde got early release
558
00:37:25,076 --> 00:37:29,330
due to a technicality, a Texas law.
559
00:37:29,914 --> 00:37:30,915
I don't know.
560
00:37:33,459 --> 00:37:35,419
[Kevin] There was at least one instance
561
00:37:35,503 --> 00:37:38,005
in which Clyde Hedrick was in prison
that came up
562
00:37:38,089 --> 00:37:41,425
for the possibility of parole,
and we fought that successfully.
563
00:37:42,260 --> 00:37:43,678
But this time was different.
564
00:37:43,761 --> 00:37:45,388
The laws that are in effect
565
00:37:45,471 --> 00:37:48,808
are those that were in effect
at the time of the crime.
566
00:37:48,891 --> 00:37:50,601
This was a mandatory release.
567
00:37:50,685 --> 00:37:53,688
This is not something that
there was a hearing or could be fought.
568
00:37:53,771 --> 00:37:57,525
The way the laws were set up
is he was to be released at that time.
569
00:37:58,776 --> 00:38:01,112
So, there wasn't much to be done about it.
570
00:38:03,155 --> 00:38:06,826
If they would've listened to me
in the beginning,
571
00:38:07,368 --> 00:38:08,786
they would've found Laura.
572
00:38:09,537 --> 00:38:11,455
There would've been probably evidence.
573
00:38:11,539 --> 00:38:14,792
At least they would've been able
to determine a cause of death.
574
00:38:16,002 --> 00:38:17,002
Hmm.
575
00:38:17,586 --> 00:38:20,226
I hate going through this shit.
I'm telling you, I fucking hate it.
576
00:38:20,298 --> 00:38:24,218
There's no reason 30-some years later
I need to even be doing this shit.
577
00:38:26,304 --> 00:38:27,388
Where do you stop?
578
00:38:31,225 --> 00:38:32,935
[somber music playing]
579
00:38:34,770 --> 00:38:38,566
[Kevin] I know that throughout
the course of a criminal justice case,
580
00:38:39,775 --> 00:38:42,987
that victims feel
there's a lot of injustices,
581
00:38:43,070 --> 00:38:44,405
and that's certainly one of them.
582
00:38:46,324 --> 00:38:47,658
It's disheartening for me.
583
00:38:47,742 --> 00:38:52,038
I can't imagine the pain
and frustration that Tim Miller feels.
584
00:38:55,624 --> 00:38:56,792
That Marla feels.
585
00:39:00,588 --> 00:39:01,797
But it is the law.
586
00:39:02,882 --> 00:39:04,675
And so, I understand it.
587
00:39:04,759 --> 00:39:06,218
We have to accept that.
588
00:39:08,637 --> 00:39:10,181
[Marla] Vulnerable women.
589
00:39:11,390 --> 00:39:13,059
The most vulnerable.
590
00:39:13,809 --> 00:39:15,394
That's who he seeks out.
591
00:39:17,104 --> 00:39:19,231
That's the kind of man that they released.
592
00:39:23,778 --> 00:39:26,697
[reporter] This transitional center
is Hedrick's new address.
593
00:39:26,781 --> 00:39:29,367
He's not in prison right now,
and he's free to go.
594
00:39:31,535 --> 00:39:33,204
He's free to go.
595
00:39:33,954 --> 00:39:36,624
[reporter] Miller plans to be
across the street tomorrow morning
596
00:39:36,707 --> 00:39:39,585
to discuss his concerns
with these latest developments.
597
00:39:48,052 --> 00:39:52,473
Clyde Hedrick, right now,
is somewhere in here,
598
00:39:52,556 --> 00:39:53,933
in a halfway house.
599
00:39:55,017 --> 00:40:00,398
I'm gonna introduce several people
who are directly affected by Clyde.
600
00:40:00,940 --> 00:40:04,735
I'm gonna ask Nina Edwards
to come up here and share a few words.
601
00:40:08,239 --> 00:40:09,573
Hi, I'm Nina Edwards.
602
00:40:09,657 --> 00:40:12,201
I'm Heide Fye's niece.
603
00:40:14,161 --> 00:40:17,873
My grandfather spent
endless hours searching for her
604
00:40:18,374 --> 00:40:19,750
and recording notes.
605
00:40:22,461 --> 00:40:24,130
And my grandmother went to her grave
606
00:40:24,213 --> 00:40:26,340
not knowing what happened
to her baby girl.
607
00:40:28,551 --> 00:40:29,760
On behalf of my family,
608
00:40:29,844 --> 00:40:33,347
I thank you for letting me
speak today on behalf of Heide,
609
00:40:33,431 --> 00:40:35,182
who's not able to be with us today.
610
00:40:41,730 --> 00:40:43,149
[director] Put this mic right here.
611
00:40:47,319 --> 00:40:48,612
[Marla clears throat]
612
00:40:48,696 --> 00:40:51,323
I'm here to speak on behalf of myself...
613
00:40:52,867 --> 00:40:55,953
and the victims
who no longer have a voice,
614
00:40:56,704 --> 00:40:59,832
and the victims out there
who haven't found their voice yet.
615
00:41:01,292 --> 00:41:04,753
We had a press conference.
616
00:41:04,837 --> 00:41:08,757
I was talking to the public,
and I was talking to Clyde.
617
00:41:10,259 --> 00:41:14,013
Just because you were not convicted...
618
00:41:16,140 --> 00:41:20,311
of other crimes does not mean
you did not commit them.
619
00:41:23,397 --> 00:41:25,357
Thank you, everyone, for your support.
620
00:41:29,487 --> 00:41:33,199
I need as many people to know as possible
621
00:41:33,282 --> 00:41:34,617
what kind of person
622
00:41:36,243 --> 00:41:40,498
our law has put... back out on the streets.
623
00:41:42,374 --> 00:41:44,376
[dramatic music playing]
624
00:41:46,837 --> 00:41:48,797
I think, as all of us feel here,
625
00:41:50,174 --> 00:41:53,511
in the very beginning
when we begged and asked for help,
626
00:41:54,053 --> 00:41:55,596
we were denied.
627
00:42:00,100 --> 00:42:01,602
None of us are quitting.
628
00:42:01,685 --> 00:42:04,188
In fact, I believe
we're just getting started.
629
00:42:23,123 --> 00:42:24,683
[Tim] I'll never, ever forget this day.
630
00:42:24,708 --> 00:42:27,628
I said, "William, what's going
through your mind?"
631
00:42:27,711 --> 00:42:29,922
"You have any remorse over this?"
632
00:42:30,005 --> 00:42:32,341
Incredibly, he looked right at my eyes.
633
00:42:32,925 --> 00:42:35,177
He said, "Mr. Miller,
you'll never understand this,
634
00:42:35,261 --> 00:42:38,222
but people like me,
we don't have remorse."
635
00:42:38,305 --> 00:42:40,307
[somber music playing]
636
00:42:47,231 --> 00:42:49,316
There were a number of years in there
637
00:42:49,400 --> 00:42:52,528
where we truly didn't think
we'd ever see this day.
638
00:42:53,112 --> 00:42:57,157
[Jan] I am just relieved
that now the official records
639
00:42:57,241 --> 00:43:00,494
will show he was found guilty
640
00:43:00,578 --> 00:43:05,082
and convicted of taking
my daughter away from us.
641
00:43:05,165 --> 00:43:07,167
[dramatic music playing]
642
00:43:20,472 --> 00:43:24,476
[Nina] We just have to wait
for the wheels of justice to turn.
643
00:43:24,977 --> 00:43:29,148
And hopefully, I'm gonna start pedaling
a lot faster than before.
644
00:43:30,608 --> 00:43:32,026
We're never gonna give up.
645
00:43:32,109 --> 00:43:36,739
We're going to pursue this
until my dying day, anyway.
646
00:43:38,907 --> 00:43:42,161
[Richard] We're still getting information
on the Calder Road killings.
647
00:43:42,953 --> 00:43:46,248
If you have information
about any of these four victims,
648
00:43:46,874 --> 00:43:50,085
please reach out to the FBI.
649
00:43:50,169 --> 00:43:51,754
You can remain anonymous.
650
00:43:52,796 --> 00:43:54,882
I retire in about
a year and a half from now.
651
00:43:54,965 --> 00:43:57,051
So I've got some work to do.
[softly chuckles]
652
00:44:09,313 --> 00:44:12,566
I filed a wrongful death suit
to let Clyde Hedrick know that,
653
00:44:13,567 --> 00:44:16,737
"Clyde, I'm still here. I am still here."
654
00:44:28,832 --> 00:44:30,626
[no audio]
655
00:44:39,218 --> 00:44:41,679
[dramatic music playing]