In Miami, when a retired police captain is shot in broad daylight, Miami PD launches a massive investigation that leads them all the way to New Jersey. Then, a young corrections officer and her two-year old son are shot dead in their Miami home, sending investigators on an emotional search for answers. And in New Orleans, when one of their own is executed in cold blood, detectives race to stop the suspect before more blood is shed.
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LearningTranscript
00:00Oh, man, she's mad.
00:21Homicide detectives are skilled at separating their emotions from the cases they were.
00:25But sometimes, a murder can hit close to home.
00:27I heard like five shots.
00:30Blah, blah.
00:31They were shooting at the window.
00:32On the first 48 critical minutes...
00:34It's tragic when it's a child.
00:36A corrections officer and her two-year-old baby shot dead.
00:39All gloves come off for this.
00:41Detectives hunts for leads in a retired police captain's murder.
00:44I can't express to you how important this is to solve this case.
00:48Then...
00:49Oh, my God.
00:50An officer executed in cold blood.
00:53This is gonna haunt me forever.
00:55Could have been one of us.
00:56It's very close to home.
01:00We just got word of a shooting at a boatyard.
01:02And the victim is a former police officer.
01:03We just got word of a shooting at a boatyard, and the victim is a former police officer.
01:04That just hits home.
01:05We just got word of a shooting at a boatyard, and the victim is a former police officer.
01:11That just hits home for us.
01:12The crime scene is at a marina on the Miami River.
01:18And apparently, the victim is at a marina on the Miami River.
01:19And apparently, the victim worked as a security guard there.
01:25We just got word of a security guard there.
01:26We just got word of a shooting at a boatyard.
01:27We just got word of a shooting at a boatyard, and the victim is a former police officer.
01:32That just hits home for us.
01:35We're hearing from units from the hospital that the victim was shot in the head, neck, and
01:37the chest area.
01:38We're hearing from units from the hospital that the victim was shot in the head, neck, and
01:39the chest area.
01:40The victim's name is Robert Yee.
02:1061-year-old Robert Yee was a 25-year veteran of Miami PD.
02:17He retired as a captain in 1995.
02:23It's been quite a while that he's gone, but he was well-liked in the department.
02:27Got to solve it.
02:29Point blank, got to solve it.
02:31It's a brother.
02:34When you arrive on the scene, you have a retired police officer who's the victim of a
02:39vicious homicide.
02:40Shot multiple times.
02:41This guy made it 25 years.
02:43Made it to retirement.
02:44Supposed to be celebrating the afterlife of law enforcement.
02:49And here he is, the victim of a vicious homicide where he's shot multiple times.
02:54It does become personal to you.
02:57No cameras.
02:58No.
02:59Yeah.
03:00You got a place like this and you got millions and millions of dollars of boats in here and
03:04no cameras.
03:05No cameras.
03:08Sanchez speaks with an employee of the marina.
03:12Okay.
03:13What is Bobby doing?
03:14He says that Robert Yee was in charge of security for the marina.
03:20That number one over there is going to be the juice bottle and that's all we got.
03:26Next to the body, CSI collected a juice bottle with gunshot residue on the inside.
03:33Now think about it.
03:34You can see the powder on the inside.
03:37And then the end is electrical tape.
03:40This is his version.
03:41I think of a silencer.
03:43That was probably from the old Cuba days.
03:46Meaning back in the 80s during the cocaine cowboy era.
03:50CSI will process the bottle for latent prints and DNA.
03:56The question is, why would someone want to kill a former police officer who was well liked?
04:01All the witnesses are inside.
04:03I put them on in the area.
04:14Right, so the dealer ended up the car.
04:17I don't memorize that no more.
04:20He says he saw the license plate from the offender's gray Corolla.
04:25Well, it's amazing how much has gone on in such a little bit of time.
04:32And now all we got to do is find that car, find that driver, and we can put this case to us.
04:39This tag belongs on a Greenport Torch.
04:46So, more than likely the offender stole the tag, put it on whatever car he's driving, and that's when he committed the crime.
05:01I'm thinking that this offender definitely pre-planned this.
05:08He shoots Bobby Yee in broad daylight.
05:11Clearly he was very determined to kill Yee.
05:14Someone goes through an entire career, spends 25, 30 odd years at the police department.
05:27Goes unscathed, retires, is trying to enjoy his life with his family and so forth.
05:32Gets a little job on the side, trying to make ends meet, and this happened.
05:37It just pisses me off.
06:05DNA will take maybe three to six months.
06:08And unfortunately, that's the timeline we have to deal with.
06:26Did Robert ever have any problems with the customers?
06:29I don't know if he had problems with the customers, with any customer's precision.
06:33You know, he was a very proper guy.
06:36The problem there is that there are people that are doing things illegal, and I don't know who they are.
06:45He says a year ago, the marina was raided by federal agents who made several arrests.
06:52The co-worker claims that many of the boat workers thought Yee was behind it.
06:58What were his exact words?
07:01People here are thinking he's a federal agent.
07:05Tell them to be careful.
07:08I talked to Robert.
07:09I told Robert, the rumors are they're gonna kill you.
07:12What did he tell you?
07:14Don't worry, I'm doing what I need to do.
07:21I wish we had more solid leads, but we gotta work with what we got.
07:38You know, we definitely owe it to this victim to work our butts off.
07:43After nearly five months, Sanchez finally gets the DNA results from the Miami-Dade crime lab.
08:08They have a match for the DNA found on the juice bottle that was used as a silencer.
08:25This is my suspect.
08:27He's been in New Jersey for the past eight years.
08:30But the only connection to Florida that we've found so far is that he came through here from Cuba.
08:3733-year-old Rafael Towirac has been in jail in New Jersey for the past month for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend.
08:46We're getting our preparations together.
08:50We're gonna fly out to New Jersey and have a little chat.
09:05Let's see, 10 day forecast.
09:07Yep, it's a good 28 degrees out there.
09:11Oh, my God.
09:24This weather sucks.
09:28I don't even know where I'm going.
09:44That evening, Sanchez and Arosticky go to speak with the suspect's girlfriend, Tanya.
09:51Yes.
09:52Our suspect basically got arrested because he assaulted her.
09:56So I think she might be motivated to try to help us.
10:07Tanya?
10:08Yes.
10:09Thank you, sir.
10:27I'm glad we found her.
10:30She was very critical.
10:32She was able to corroborate what we already suspected was that he did travel to Miami in a silver Toyota, exactly the one that our killer used.
10:44And that to me is the most crucial information that I can think of aside from his DNA being on the bottle.
10:51Our next step is to talk to Rafael.
11:00Mr. Rafael, doida.
11:03Si.
11:04Mr. Rafael, doida.
11:16Si.
11:17Sri Mffat confuse in Miami.
11:18is the cause of Mach��.
11:22From America.
11:24He's from Korea.
11:26Today.
11:27Mr. ese.
11:28We've been on Miami to honor Medicaid.
11:30Mr. farmers.
11:31He hasn't been in Miami since he emigrated despite her birth era.
11:37spaghetti filled with no, don't worry.
11:41No.
11:43No but don't worry about us,��s and Gaffa.
11:44Rafael claims he hasn't been in Miami
11:46since he emigrated from Cuba 10 years ago.
12:14After speaking with Rafael for over two hours they hit a dead end.
12:35I'll take any day if I can't get a full confession.
12:39I'd rather have a full denial.
12:42The case is not done.
12:48I still need to find the why.
12:50It's going to be very important.
12:52Somebody wanted our victim dead.
13:12Police and paramedics respond.
13:22They find the house riddled with bullet holes.
13:32And a young woman and a two-year-old baby shot dead.
13:42Just start getting to the Christmas spirit.
13:52Now I'm here en route to the scene of a double murder.
14:00This one's going to be rough.
14:02No one likes when a baby's killed.
14:12We're trying to get a clear picture, get an indication of what actually happened.
14:28The baby is what gets me.
14:50The two victims are 24-year-old Sierra Lee, a corrections officer for the state of Florida, and her two-year-old son, Devin Franklin.
15:10He was Sierra's only child.
15:20The baby's mother was the state correction officer.
15:24So all gloves come off for this.
15:26She's on our team.
15:28I've always had a lot of respect for people that work in correction facilities with prisoners.
15:35I've worked cases where officers have been killed when they wasn't working.
15:38When an officer's on duty, you understand the dangers.
15:40When an officer's on duty, there are a lot of questions.
15:43It's heartbreaking.
15:44But at some point, you've got to put your detective hat back on, and you've got to be professional, and you've got to do your job.
15:51It's tragic when it's a child, especially a child who's in bed in his home where he's supposed to be safe.
16:07Ruggiero and Detective Orlando Silva head in to interview the baby's father, Andrew Franklin.
16:14He was in the house at the time of the shooting.
16:20Andrew explains that Sierra was asleep, and their son, Devin, was laying in between them.
16:49I kind of pushed her over, grabbed my son and kind of like, you know, fell off the bed.
16:53And then, I just heard, blah, blah, blah, shooting the whole apartment up.
16:58I had my son.
17:01You know, my son got shot.
17:05I got shot.
17:06I take on Sierra.
17:10She was, like, trying to gasp with them.
17:12Ah, man.
17:14I'm a father.
17:15I couldn't even imagine myself sitting where you're sitting right now.
17:29We have the job to find out who did this.
17:33But we need help.
17:36Did you have a problem today when you went out?
17:38Not at all.
17:39I don't have no problem with nobody.
17:41How about your girl?
17:42Not at all.
17:44I just feel like a dream.
17:47I don't think he knows who the shooter was, and I don't think he was the intended target.
18:00Good.
18:01Detectives turned to Sierra's cousin, who was also in the house during the shooting.
18:10Who do you think the intended target in that house was?
18:15I remember my brother, he dealing drugs, so it got to be Chuck.
18:22He says that his brother, Chuck Boyd, who owns the house, must have been the target.
18:27Chuck got beat with somebody by drugs or money or whatnot, and they came and shot our house
18:32up because of what he doing.
18:35How deep is Chuck in the game?
18:37Would you say he's a big-timer?
18:39Yeah.
18:40All right.
18:41Give me a minute, okay?
18:42All right.
18:47Chuck Boyd.
18:48Let's look him up.
18:57He's got a couple convictions here for sale of narcotics.
19:01Chuck is supposed to be running drugs where the murder occurred, where the baby was killed.
19:12This was in the home where the victim was killed, but it was in the room of Chuck Boyd.
19:27In the 50s.
19:28During the search of the home and in his room, we find all this money, plus a large amount
19:34of narcotics, cocaine, crack, and heroin.
19:38Homicide.
19:39Two hours later.
19:40The gang investigators from Miami-Dade has located Chuck for us.
19:55He should know who's trying to kill him.
19:57We'll find out real soon because he's on his way in.
20:04Have a seat in here.
20:13How are you doing, sir?
20:14When was the last time you was at the house?
20:15I don't stay there.
20:16Nothing in there belongs to you?
20:17That's where I put my clothes in.
20:18Why did all this heat come to your house?
20:19Why did all this heat come to your house?
20:42You scared of them?
20:51For what?
20:52You sure you're facing anywhere in Miami right now?
20:55Who'd live up for me?
20:57You trying to find out?
20:58Yeah, I'm trying to find out, too.
20:59So let's take a guess, what do we think, what's the word in the street right now?
21:13Man, I got as light as I do, man.
21:21All right.
21:23This guy's a character.
21:31He wants to save his own skin.
21:33That's all he's doing.
21:35One way or another, with or without his help, we're going to solve this case.
21:53This group has the history of going up to all the drug holes and taxing them.
22:03They're ripping up the holes.
22:05Possibly they're trying to collect taxes from Chuck and Chuck ain't going to do it.
22:09It's getting really nasty.
22:17Has it been 48 hours?
22:19It's been about an hour.
22:20It just feels like one long day.
22:24There's not only a clock on the wall, but there's an internal clock as well.
22:28If you have somebody that would normally kill a law enforcement officer,
22:31but also kill a child, you got a dangerous person on the street.
22:35That clock becomes very, very loud when you're an investigator,
22:39and it's something that you can't tune out.
22:41So there's a lot of pressure to get this person off the street.
22:44Go ahead and give us the information you got.
22:53It's very pleasant, very memorable.
23:03His house had been shot up days before the murder of Sierra Lee and her son.
23:09He believed Chuck Boyd was behind the shooting of his house.
23:13Awesome, thank you.
23:14All right.
23:15That's beautiful.
23:16That's tight work.
23:17Real tight work.
23:18All right.
23:19Come together.
23:20Then, five days before Christmas,
23:55A Crimestoppers tip leads them to a reluctant witness.
24:00How you doing?
24:12This is it right here. This is going to break the case wide open.
24:18All right.
24:25Look at those pictures. Take a look. See that little boy?
24:33He was shot on an assault rifle.
24:37In life, we all got choices.
24:40You got to make yours.
24:42Just kidding.
24:45What happened?
24:50Please do the right thing for you.
24:51Look at that baby.
24:54Let's let it out.
25:05Who was talking about that?
25:09The witness had overheard a man talking about the murder.
25:14The same man identified days earlier by a CI.
25:17Who else was shooting?
25:20There was one.
25:22I don't know.
25:30What was viratial?
25:32I don't know.
25:34Glad you decided to do the right thing.
25:37I'm going to take a look.
25:38You need something?
25:39You need some water or something?
25:41I'm going to come.
25:41I'm trying to get a picture of this Varey guy.
25:5324-year-old Tavares Varey Williams has previous convictions for aggravated battery,
25:59carrying a concealed firearm, and grand theft auto.
26:02We were getting to the point where we didn't think anybody would come forward.
26:05Ruggiero draws up arrest warrants for both men.
26:16Hopefully this will bring a little peace to the streets, if not closure.
26:19That's him over there.
26:33U.S. Marshals take one of the men into custody.
26:40Sergeant Irvin's Ford will interview the man.
26:43Where are you staying right now?
26:54I'm just going to different houses.
26:57Why do you stay at different houses?
26:59Because somebody shut up our house.
27:03Who shut your house?
27:05I don't know.
27:07Let me ask you.
27:08Do you know Chucky?
27:10What?
27:11Chug Boy.
27:11Chug Boy.
27:13I'm going to show you a picture right quick.
27:43You're being charged of two counts of first-degree murder.
27:54Right this way, son.
27:56Hope you remember those names forever.
27:58Sierra Lee and Devon Franklin.
28:00Three months later,
28:17three months later,
28:29Ruggiero gets unexpected news from the state attorney's office.
28:36Unfortunately, our witnesses have become unavailable and uncooperative.
28:41All charges against the first man are dropped.
28:44Luckily, we were able to tie Ruggiero Williams to the scene with physical evidence.
28:49So we have a solid case against him.
28:51So we have a solid case against him.
28:51No one is going to do one person.
28:51Oh, you're going to do one person.
29:16Yeah!
29:16I received a call from the dispatcher that there's a homicide involving a Hanno worker.
29:45Hanno is the Housing Authority of New Orleans, and they're a police force that's assigned
29:51to the housing development within the New Orleans area.
29:55They're separate from NOPD, but an officer and an officer, we're all family.
30:15Oh, man, this is bad.
30:20Who found him?
30:22What's the officer's name?
30:28James, bitch.
30:3145-year-old officer James Bennett served with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office for 13
30:37years before joining the Hanno Police Department two years ago.
30:41He leaves behind his mother, two siblings, and a son.
31:03Peter Bennett has a single gunshot wound to the left side of his head.
31:10Oh, my God.
31:14It can be difficult to separate your personal feelings.
31:18When you hear the phrase, officers down, your whole world stops.
31:23Every motion that you have comes to the surface.
31:26It's a gut-wrenching experience.
31:29I've had officers die in the line of duty.
31:31I think about it sometimes when I don't want to think about it.
31:34I see the images of that sometimes when I don't want to see the images.
31:38But it's the reality of what we do.
31:41He's gone, mister.
31:44Bennett's service weapon, a .40-caliber Glock, has been stolen.
31:50We got cases.
31:53No.
31:54No cases.
31:59We don't have any leads at this point.
32:01Everything is a mystery.
32:03Could have been one of us riding around.
32:05It's very close to home.
32:10I have one goal right now, and that's to find this killer.
32:20The next morning.
32:27What did the doctor say?
32:29Jenkins has the results of Officer Bennett's autopsy.
32:32The doctor said he was shot at about two feet away with the window in the up position.
32:39And based on the injuries and stippling in the left side of his face,
32:44he had to be looking straight ahead, which indicates that he was ambushed.
32:53Any bullets recovered from his body?
32:55The bullet was kind of deformed.
32:57It was a medium caliber bullet.
32:59Medium calibers consisted with 9mm.
33:05Why would someone want to do this?
33:08Realistically, he was ambushed because he was a police officer.
33:11I think that the tensions are high.
33:15I think there have been a lot of incidents that have happened in our nation
33:18where police officers have certainly abused their level of authority.
33:24And it's been captured on tape.
33:26We have to own that.
33:27It happened.
33:28But for the most part, it's been my experience that the greatest majority of our citizens
33:32understand the complexities of being a police officer, appreciates what we do.
33:36Police departments have to be intentional about establishing respect and understanding
33:40with the communities that we serve.
33:42You have to be intentional about forging those relationships.
33:48With 18 hours left in the first 48,
33:51crime scene techs process Officer Bennett's patrol car.
33:56Our theory is that the perpetrator reached into the officer's car
34:00after he shot him and maybe cut himself.
34:02As day two of the investigation comes to a close, the team has little to go on.
34:04Everyone is taking it kind of hard and kind of personal
34:07because everyone's looking to us for answers,
34:08and people don't find One
34:09for us for wishes during service.
34:18And a bunch of people who
34:30trust me in this manner area.
34:32because everyone's looking to us for answers,
34:34not just his family, but also other police officers.
34:52The next morning.
34:56I had a source.
34:58Sergeant Nicholas Gurnan gets a lead from the community.
35:01Source number one stated that Dang Dang
35:04is the name that's ringing out in the streets of Central City
35:07as a shooting-the-handle officer.
35:15Hangs at Josephine and South Liberty.
35:18They're pretty close to your team.
35:20That's like the next block over.
35:22He's definitely a violent offender.
35:24Nine felony arrests.
35:25To do something like that, this ain't your first rodeo, baby.
35:29Gurnan calls the commander of the 6th District for more information.
35:33You arrested him Sunday.
35:35Just 12 hours after Officer Bennett was killed,
35:38Dang Dang was arrested for attempted murder on an unrelated case.
35:43Please tell me he was arrested with a gun.
35:46He was arrested with a nine millimeter.
35:48All right, brother.
35:49Good news.
35:50The bullet that killed Officer Bennett
35:52was similar in size to a nine millimeter.
35:55That's a nine millimeter.
35:56That's the gun that he threw down.
35:58Got something to work with now.
36:10Ballistics expert Kenneth Leary compares the autopsy bullet
36:14to the test fire from Dang Dang's gun.
36:16Right off the bat, I can tell the right thing is different.
36:26With about a percent certainty, I can tell you that that gun
36:31doesn't have anything to do with this.
36:39All right, thank you.
36:40Oh, man.
36:46I'm not ready to rule Dang Dang out as a suspect.
36:50But right now, unfortunately, all we have is street rumors.
36:55We don't have enough evidence to prove that he actually did it.
36:58A few hours later...
37:05Hello?
37:08Detective Rob Burrell gets a call from the jail
37:10where Dang Dang is being held.
37:15Really?
37:17You said he cut himself?
37:20I appreciate the call.
37:21I really do.
37:21Thanks, man.
37:22All right.
37:23Bye.
37:23Bye.
37:28One of our theories was that in order for the officer's gun
37:40to be missing, someone had to go inside of the car
37:44after the glass was broken.
37:46So I believe that person cut their hand.
37:50Okay.
37:51Let's see.
37:53Jenkins pulls up Dang Dang's booking photos
37:55from his arrest for attempted murder.
38:00Whoa.
38:01He cut his hands
38:02and his forearms
38:05be consistent with being cut with glass.
38:10Left arm.
38:12That's the underneath, right?
38:13Mm-hmm.
38:14Which could make sense.
38:15Hold the glass like this, reach in.
38:17That's the hole in the glass.
38:17Cut your hand.
38:18Reach in there.
38:19Yeah.
38:19I think the scabby was just right, too.
38:21Got a little opening there.
38:22Yeah.
38:23I need to talk if anything fits.
38:24That's what I was going to do.
38:27With only circumstantial evidence against Dang Dang,
38:31Jenkins needs him to talk.
38:33Oh.
38:34I am Travis Ward.
38:36Detective Jenkins.
38:37We are homicide detectives.
38:40We just want to speak to you about some stuff
38:42not related to what you've been arrested before.
38:46Do you want to speak to me?
38:49I will find the people out of the courtroom
38:51not to speak to you all without a body.
38:53Fair enough.
39:03This ain't his first rodeo.
39:05We already knew.
39:06Take his ass right back over there.
39:10Right now, he's being held on attempted murder
39:12and gun charges.
39:13So, he's not going anywhere.
39:16But right now, we don't have anything
39:18to prove that he was involved.
39:21But he was our only lead at this point.
39:24One year after Officer Bennet's murder.
39:37Hey, so what's going on?
39:41Are you kidding me?
39:42I have his gun.
39:45The Hano offers his gun.
40:01Guns change hands a lot in the city.
40:03It's like a tree, a web of how these guns get moved around.
40:06So, just having the gun a year later
40:07is nowhere near enough to book him with a homicide.
40:11The driver is charged with traffic violations.
40:14And the passenger, with the legal possession of a stolen gun,
40:18they're taken to jail.
40:20We don't have anywhere near probable cause for an arrest warrant
40:23on anyone in this case yet.
40:24We need the community's help to solve this investigation.
40:31Think about it.
40:31If this guy would kill an armed police officer
40:34sitting in his car and doing his job,
40:35imagine what he'd do to a regular person out there.
40:37We need someone to come forward to help us solve this case.
40:41No one is safe until we get this guy off the streets.
40:49Why?
40:50Why have to be my son?
40:54Why have to be my son?
40:56Why have to be my son?
40:56It was heartbreaking.
41:05If people have a heart,
41:07come forward and tell us about it,
41:12it's living like a nightmare right now.
41:24¶¶
41:54When I was the chief of police in Memphis Police Department, I lost five officers in the line of duty.
41:59It's one of the most gut-wrenching things that you've ever experienced.
42:03You can't help but say that could've been me.
42:06It does impact morale, because you have to go and you have to talk to officers
42:11and explain to them that you expect them to do the same thing that this officer did when he lost his life.
42:16But here's the thing about being a law enforcement or being a police officer.
42:21When officers experience or witness the death of another officer
42:25and you ask them the next day with what you've witnessed
42:28and what you've seen, do you still have the desire to do this?
42:31The answer is emphatically, yes.
42:34So it is a calling.