♪ ♪
(door creaking) Did he come?
It's time.
Fighting is escalating here in Afghanistan.
The U.S. suffered three casualties today.
♪ ♪
James, James, James.
Settle down. Settle down.
(James panting) It's the governor.
The Defense Department has yet to name today's casualties, but at this time we can confirm they come from 22nd Infantry Division.
I understand.
Hello?
If you answer that, I will kill you.
It's the State's Attorney's Office.
He has other investigators.
I know. I don't start for a week.
I mean... must be important.
It's Delko.
MAN: The S.A. needs you in as soon as possible.
I'll make coffee.
Yeah, um...
all right.
This aired last night, and the governor caught it on TV.
Mrs. Russo, as we count down the hours till Dr. James Bradstone's execution, we're revisiting his trial from 15 years ago.
Now, you were an eyewitness?
I was right over there, in my kitchen.
I looked out the window.
I was able to see into their bedroom.
Dr. Bradstone stabbed his wife, again and again and again.
You were making tea there in your kitchen?
Mm-hmm.
But you can't see the Bradstones' bedroom from there; there are trees.
The prosecutor told me the same thing.
Let me understand this... the prosecutor told you to say you saw the Bradstone murders from your living room, when actually you were there in your kitchen?
The defense attorney is now challenging the validity of the witness's initial statement, and alleging prosecutorial misconduct.
Bradstone's the "Killer Doc."
He killed his wife and daughter.
Yes, and left his seven-year-old son for dead.
I remember the case, gentlemen.
He's been on death row for 15 years.
He has exhausted his appeals.
We were minutes away from giving this bastard what he deserves, the governor grants him a stay.
Yes, but you were the prosecutor.
Was there misconduct?
(chuckling): What?
Of course not.
She was a solid witness for us at the time.
She made our case.
But after this interview, she seems...
confused, at best.
The governor's threatening to overturn the conviction. And we have 24 hours to prove that what Ms. Russo saw was accurate.
Or a killer walks free.
Nice going.
♪ Yeah! ♪ Captioning sponsored by\h CBS and C.S.I. PRODUCTIONS
♪ We don't get fooled again ♪ ♪ Don't get fooled again ♪ ♪ No, no! ♪
♪ ♪
Eric, why don't you start by telling us about the victims. Sure.
Got, uh, Sarah Bradstone.
She's, a mother, wife, former nurse, a PTA president.
She was 28.
Come on, you guys! (loud rumbling) DELKO: You got her daughter, Caitlin Bradstone-- \h she was five.
And their son, Todd, seven.
(whooshing and rumbling) He survived.
DUQUESNE: You were the first responder 15 years ago.
Did Todd see anything? No.
He was knocked unconscious before he could see his attacker.
He was stabbed several times.
They revived him at the hospital.
(heavy breathing) Eric, what kind of physical evidence do we have to support the eyewitness testimony?
Got the murder weapon.
JAMES: I know the kids are sleeping. I know that! I know...
Come here.
(squishing) (gasps) (groans)
DELKO: Her blood and his prints.
We've also got a blood pool in the bedroom.
Which is the exact location where the eyewitness, Mrs. Russo, said that she saw the murder take place from her window.
Now, he must have stood \h over her while she bled out, because had a void \h on either side of her body.
The killer must have gone down the hallway at that point to the little girl's room.
His own children.
This guy is a psychopath.
We found a blood trail of partial footprints that led from Sarah's body to the master bathroom.
Now, James Bradstone claimed that the intruder broke in through the bathroom window and committed the murder.
But he was lying, 'cause the lab \h was able to show that the window was broken \h from the inside.
Bradstone also transferred trace amounts of the victim's blood onto the glass, which indicated that it happened after the murders.
I'm telling you, capital punishment was made for this guy.
I was working a late shift on E.R.
I came home, I fell asleep on the couch right in the living room.
I woke up...
to my wife screaming.
(woman screaming) There was a man \h with a black mask.
He was stabbing her.
We fought.
I managed to pull the knife \h out of his hand.
And then he ran.
Sarah was already gone.
Sarah.
No.
(murmurs): No, Sarah. Please...
(heavy breathing) Caitlin? Caitlin?
Caitlin, wake up, baby.
Wake up, baby.
Wake up, baby. Wake up.
Todd? Todd!
Todd!
Todd?
Come on.
Okay. Come on.
Todd?
Somebody took my family.
Took them!
Sir, I believe that God let me live so I could help you to find him.
Who do you think he was?
Lieutenant, James told the police he was stealing pills from his hospital and selling them.
Yes, I read the report, gentlemen.
So apparently, you're a drug dealer.
I wanted to stop.
And some of my customers, they were resentful.
And I think one of them broke in and did this, because they knew there weren't any drugs.
I mean, I gave the whole list to your cops 15 years ago.
I'm going to need to see that list.
Mr. Newhouse, we know that the doctor was selling prescription pills.
We have you on a list of buyers.
Am I the only one?
Well, let's see, two on the list have died, two don't match the physical description of the attacker, and one has an alibi.
So that leaves you.
You really think I chopped up a woman and two kids over a couple of pills?
So you admit to buying the pills? Look, I-I went through this-- all of this-- with the police back then, all right?
They, they cleared me as a suspect, so...
Do us a favor, tell us again.
Okay.
Uh, I worked the E.R. night shift with James.
I developed an affection for painkillers.
When I lost my medical license...
I got the pills off James.
But I didn't break into his house, and I didn't kill anybody.
Where were you at the time of the murders?
That's not in your little file there?
Mr. Newhouse... just humor us.
I was at a meeting.
What meeting?
You know, a meeting trying to deal with my addiction.
That's very convenient.
Those meetings are anonymous.
There's no list for us to check.
That's not my problem.
You're right, it's our problem.
WOLFE: Tell you what.
You can leave, Donald, but be smart.
Don't leave town.
Okay.
RUSSO: I was standing \h in my living room.
Through the window, I saw \h into the Bradstones' bedroom.
James Bradstone was stabbing \h his wife again and again.
Here you go.
Thank you.
Miss... Mrs. Russo, I need to clear something up from your news interview.
Were you in the kitchen or the living room when you saw the murder happen?
James Bradstone killed his wife.
I don't see what difference it makes.
It matters to a lot of people, starting with the governor, prosecutor, Bradstone, and his only surviving son.
I need to know.
(garbled police radio transmissions) Now, you're sure that you were standing here, looking out this window when you saw Dr. Bradstone kill his wife?
RUSSO: Yes.
Hold on a second.
Mrs. Russo, there's an unobstructed view of the Bradstones' bedroom from the living room.
Don't you think you witnessed the murder from over there?
But I... If you were to remember you were in the living room, it would help us in holding Mr. Bradstone responsible for these horrible murders.
(garbled radio transmission) Yes, I suppose I could have been in my living room.
I was in my kitchen, but it doesn't change what I saw.
I trusted that young officer.
He wouldn't have let me do something wrong.
Oh, Delko...
uh, we need to talk about Louise Russo's statement.
Yeah, I already know.
She told you she was in the kitchen when she saw the murders.
Yeah, that's what I want to talk to you about.
Look, I have a copy of Mrs. Russo's statement right here, the same one that Talbot sent to the defense during the trial.
At first glance, it looks fine...
but when I looked at the original, I could see that "kitchen" was erased and replaced with "living room."
You took the report.
I suppose I could have been in my living room.
Officer Cardoza.
Let's see, um, so...
you'll write down that Mrs. Russo witnessed the murder from her living room.
Yeah, but, you know, she really didn't say that.
Ah, this is your first homicide, isn't it?
Yeah. Then, benefit from my years of experience and trust me.
I mean, you have grandparents, right?
So, she's a little confused?
But you believe she saw it happen, right?
She saw it happen, yes.
'Cause there's only one way that that is possible.
You don't want this guy to get away with it.
Do you?
(murmurs): Okay.
Look, at the time, I was doing what I thought was right.
James Bradstone murdered his family.
DELKO: Now he may just walk away because the key witness was coerced.
Eric.
What are you working on?
We got a problem with Mrs. Russo's statement.
The reporter got it right. Mrs. Russo's saying that now she was in her kitchen when she saw the murders.
That's impossible, because the tree blocks her view completely from that room.
Well, if we can't explain this, the governor is going to overturn the conviction.
Gentlemen, need I remind you, there is another witness.
I'll take it from here.
(sighs) My parents fought sometimes, but to believe my dad could...
He's written me thousands of letters saying he's innocent.
My grandparents told me not to answer.
I guess they thought it'd help me forget.
Todd, in your statement you mentioned that you heard a train.
I know that there are no tracks there.
I... I was seven.
Maybe it was a truck.
All I know is, it was loud.
In the midst of all that noise, Todd, you heard your mother.
Didn't you?
She was screaming.
(Sarah screaming) I was in bed.
I got up and went to the hall.
Todd... go on.
I have this image in my head of that day... of someone-- I don't know who-- on top of my mother, hurting her.
But... that wasn't...
that wasn't in your statement, son.
The cops said it was my dad, or I imagined it.
You got a kid talking about trains where there are no tracks.
There's not a lot of credibility there.
Did you ever tell anybody else?
I tried to, but no one listened.
Okay, but Todd, I'm listening.
Are you telling me there's a chance that someone other than my dad did this?
You know what?
We need to find out, don't we?
So Horatio thinks that Todd Bradstone might have walked in on his mother being sexually assaulted.
Well, we just pulled all the clothes from that night, 'cause we're gonna through 'em and look for evidence.
There was nothing in the M.E.'s report to suggest that she was sexually assaulted.
Let's, uh... let's check anyway.
Sure.
I think I got something.
What is it?
Well, the sample is really small, but...
it could be semen.
Whoa, 15 years later? Is that still viable?
Normally, you know, heat and moisture and sunlight would degrade the sample, but it's been sitting in refrigerated storage.
(scoffs) It's a good thing we checked the clothes, huh?
That was a long time ago.
We didn't have CSIs to collect all the evidence.
I'm not to blame for everything that went wrong on this case.
Your words, not mine.
Bradstone is guilty.
That I'm sure of.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Mr. Newhouse, have a seat.
Okay, I'm very busy.
You guys drag me down here twice in one day?
Why don't you explain to me how your semen ended up on the clothes Sarah was wearing the night she was murdered?
Excuse me?
Did you kill her?
No, James Bradstone killed her. I think we all know that.
Their son Todd Bradstone said that he saw a man on top of his mother the day she was murdered, hurting her.
Come on, how old was he?
Kids get confused.
Were you having an affair?
We were having fun.
She was hot.
Her husband was ignoring her.
Yeah...
I was there that night.
(Sarah laughs) (door closes) JAMES: Honey, I'm home.
(whispering): He's home early.
Yeah, from who knows where.
He needs to know, Donald, today.
Are you crazy?
No, not like this.
You get downstairs and you stall him.
What are you going to do, climb out the bathroom window?
Uh, yeah.
Go on, get down there, go!
I heard screaming coming from downstairs, and I went out through the bathroom window.
It was stuck.
I had to kick it out.
You were there when it happened.
Yeah, but that's all I know.
I got right out of there.
Why didn't you come forward?
You already had a witness.
Besides, I didn't really see anything.
I think there's more to it than that.
I'm going to have you go with Officer Johnson.
Ryan, hey.
I need you to go to the crime scene.
Hey, did she get her hearing checked out yet?
WOLFE: I told her she's a liability until she...
I can hear you both clear as a bell.
You heard that? Well, yeah.
I went to the doctor.
I, uh, got this little hearing aid.
SIMMONS (chuckles): Check it out.
She's like the Bionic Woman now. Exactly.
I was cleared for work, so watch what you say.
This place is exactly how it was at the time of the murders.
Well, Todd Bradstone owns it, used to live in it.
I'm not sure why he hangs on to the place.
Who'd buy it?
It's eerie.
Donald Newhouse says he broke the bathroom window.
Calleigh wants us to luminol it for the presence of blood.
All right.
There was definitely blood here.
Yeah, it says that there were tiny droplets of the victim's blood on the broken glass. Right.
But the prosecution believed that James Bradstone transferred that blood there when he kicked the window out, then he lied about an intruder doing it.
So, if Donald Newhouse broke the window, that means he's responsible for the presence of the victim's blood.
Newhouse said that he was gone before the murders happened.
So, how'd the blood get on him, then?
That's a good question.
Hold on.
I got a blood trail here.
BOA VISTA: Yeah, that's documented in this file as well-- leading right to where Sarah Bradstone was murdered.
James Bradstone wasn't standing over Sarah as she died.
No.
Donald Newhouse was.
I should have told you before, Donald.
I don't like liars.
What are you talking about?
You killed her. You killed Sarah.
Blood proves it.
DUQUESNE: You left a blood trail from Sarah Bradstone's body to the bathroom window that you kicked out.
Her blood, your footprints.
She wasn't downstairs arguing with her husband.
She was bleeding out at your feet.
I'm sorry.
Are you admitting to killing Sarah?
Sarah and I-- we were... we were together that night. I...
And as I was...
sneaking out, I, uh, realized that I...
I left my wallet in the bedroom, and...
before I could get back in, the yelling from downstairs, it came up into the bedroom.
And then, I heard the door slam, and then...
...it was quiet again.
(whooshing and rumbling) Oh, God.
(whimpers) (wheezing) (straining): Help me.
I'm so sorry.
(panting): I'm sorry.
So, you let her die, but you grabbed your wallet.
Well, I wasn't going to leave it there.
'Cause that would have made you a suspect.
DUQUESNE: Listen, you were in the house.
You have opportunity. You were having an affair.
That's motive. I have to be honest with you.
I think you look good for this.
We're going to hold you.
I'm going to have Eric show Donald's picture to Mrs. Russo.
Maybe she can I.D. him as the killer.
DELKO: Mrs. Russo.
Hi.
You guys again.
I'm on my walk.
Yeah, this will just take a second, okay?
Um, could you, uh...
could you tell us if that might have been the man you saw attacking Sarah Bradstone?
Hold on a sec.
I need my readers.
Hmm. Now, maybe from a distance, I could have confused them.
Is that what you think might have happened?
Nope. Not him.
You sure?
I told you 15 years ago, young man, and I'm telling you again.
I saw James Bradstone kill his wife.
How many more times do I have to tell you?
Thank you, Mrs. Russo.
We'll need you to testify at a hearing later today, okay?
Of course you do.
Our office will call you to set it up.
RUSSO: That's good!
Yeah, well, we're running out of time to prove it.
Got her?
Yeah. All right.
Mrs. Russo.
This is Delko. I need a BOLO out on a black Prius.
Mrs. Russo? Mrs. Russo? No plates. Suspect vehicle was involved in a hit-and-run.
It's heading south on Pine.
Okay.
Hey.
Mrs. Russo?
Come on, breathe.
PILOT: I've got the suspect vehicle-- black Prius, no plates-- \h in sight.
Pine and Sonora.
(sirens blaring) TRIPP: Out of the car, driver, right now!
Let me see your hands!
What's your problem? Ow! It was an accident.
It was a hit-and-run, genius.
I got scared.
I have two DUIs on my record, so I took off.
No, you didn't.
You didn't even apply the brakes. I saw you!
You just ran her down.
Look, it happened too fast.
One minute, the street's clear.
The next minute, she's on the hood of my car.
This was no accident.
You got a map in here with the victim's name and address on it. What the hell do you have...?
What? What do you got?
Gold bar?
Who hired you to kill Louise Russo?
Um, I want to see a lawyer.
Yeah.
You're going to see your lawyer at the police station.
Let's go.
Cuff him.
Walter's still tracking down the gold bars.
Frank, does Phillip Hale have a record?
No, he's clean, but I pulled up his Social Security number to find out where he works.
And what'd you get?
Well, when he's not running over old ladies, he's a... a caddie at the Forty Palms Country Club.
Isn't the Forty Palms near the hospital James Bradstone used to work at?
Yeah.
Maybe that's where they crossed paths.
They sent me a members list that goes back 15 years.
Is Bradstone a member? He's not.
However... look who is.
Thank you.
Where'd you get the gold bars from, Donald?
What gold bars?
Gold bars you used to pay off Phillip Hale.
Who?
Donald, you hired Phillip Hale to kill Louise Russo.
This is... this is crazy.
Phillip was a caddie at Forty Palms.
You are a member there.
My Forty Palms membership, it lapsed like a decade ago.
And I don't know any Phillip Hale!
You know what I think? I think you knew that we were gonna show Mrs. Russo your photograph and she was gonna I.D. you as the killer.
Which was really stupid, Donald, 'cause she never even pointed the finger at you.
I wouldn't kill anyone.
Not this Louise woman.
And especially not Sarah.
You don't understand.
Understand what?
I loved Sarah.
And she loved me.
You told me earlier that you were just having a good time.
It was more than that.
We were making plans to...
...to be together, and I think that...
James found out, and that's why he killed her.
So, you loved her, but you didn't help her?
I know.
I'm a coward.
You think I don't know that?
I would never hurt her.
I'm sorry, but your word just doesn't mean very much right now.
CAINE: So, did we track down the serial numbers on the gold bars, Walter?
Yes, sir, we did. They were stolen from a bank's safety deposit box up in Orlando.
A man named Robert Sage was convicted of the heist 15 years ago, but they never recovered all the gold.
Is Sage still in prison? No.
He was released two weeks ago.
He must have gotten out and dug up his stash.
Okay, let's get after him, then.
Yeah, there's an APB out on him, but no luck so far.
Walter, let me ask you a question.
Why would Sage give Hale his gold?
Aha.
You know, I thought the same thing, so I made a couple calls, and get this-- Sage was tried in federal court here in Miami.
While awaiting trial, he was housed in the same cell block as James Bradstone.
They've exchanged letters ever since.
Well, that's the answer, isn't it?
I don't know him.
CAINE: But you do know Robert Sage, James.
You two were in the same cell block together.
Yeah, well, faces and names tend to blur in here.
Sage hired Hale to kill Louise Russo.
Louise is dead?
You recommended that somebody be recruited from Forty Palms, which gave us Newhouse, your former drug client.
So tell me...
did Phillip Hale tell you about this deal I made with him?
Or did Robert Sage?
Yeah. I didn't think so.
You can't prove any of this.
James, did you know your wife was having an affair?
An affair?
Wait. When?
A witness came forward to tell me that he was with her the night of the murders.
Well, who?
Who?! Maybe I can identify him.
Come on, he's got to be the killer. Who was it?
You already know who he is.
You knew about the affair, and you killed her for it.
(sighs) (laughs) You're trying to rattle me?
It ain't gonna work.
I am so close.
You think so?
So, you found my wife's boyfriend.
He's got to be a suspect.
And you lost your eyewitness.
(laughs) You're making this case better for me than any defense attorney could.
Matter of fact, you're making it real hard for the governor not to just let me out of here.
Thanks.
James...
I'm not finished yet.
CAINE: What was the strength of this case in the first place?
Mrs. Russo's testimony.
We know that she couldn't have seen the murder from her kitchen.
But we now know there was a second witness.
Bradstone's son was there, right?
Yeah, he didn't see anything.
No, but what did he say in his testimony?
He said that he heard the train, and then he heard the screams.
Right. Those are the frightened ramblings of a seven-year-old boy.
We know there are no tracks near there, so, what else sounds like a train?
What about the weather?
Let's check the weather.
All right.
Well, that night, Hurricane Erin was 100 miles off the coast.
What was the wind speed?
It was only a category one, but there were winds of 50 miles per hour reported here in Miami.
50 miles an hour?
You're thinking that the train sound that Todd heard was actually wind?
You know what?
I've got an idea.
DELKO: All right, let's get those fans over here.
All right, I'm in the kitchen.
I'm in position, as well.
All right, the wind would have been coming off of the water, so I had them pointing the wind machines this way, all right?
CAINE: Okay, when you're ready, Eric, crank it up.
Yeah. Set it to 50 miles an hour, all right?
(beeping) (fan engine whirring)
DELKO: You see anything?
Just the trees.
Still no clean line of sight.
CARDOZA: She couldn't have seen the murder from here.
H, I don't think this is working.
Okay, hang on a second, Jesse.
We're getting an effect here-- a wind tunnel effect.
Yeah, you mean the way the wind picks up speed between skyscrapers.
That's exactly right.
It creates a funnel in which the pressure goes up, and if the pressure goes up, the speed increases.
Well, how much more?
CAINE: The wind needs to be the same speed as it was 15 years ago.
Well, that's 75 miles per hour.
Crank it up, Eric.
Hey, crank it up to 75 miles per hour.
Are we good, Jesse?
Yeah, we're good.
(fan slowing to a stop) She was telling the truth.
A wind tunnel?
It blew the trees 45 degrees to the left.
Creating a clear line of sight from the kitchen to the murder scene.
She saw what she said she saw-- James Bradstone killing his wife and daughter.
Wow. So, can you validate these wind patterns?
We got documentation from the Atlantic Weather Service.
It sinks Bradstone.
Whew! So, the governor will accept the inconsistencies in Mrs. Russo's statements as harmless error.
All right, we're good.
I should have never allowed you to get that woman to change her testimony.
Jesse...
You risked my career and your career.
I mean, do you understand, we almost let a killer walk?
You done?
I need to take these to the governor.
So, it's true?
My father really did it?
It's true, son.
Seems like I've wasted a lot of time waiting for an answer I already knew.
So, can I stop being afraid of him now?
You can, Todd.
He's not gonna hurt you anymore.
What a dad, huh?
Do you have a family?
I have a son, Todd.
He's about your age.
He got dealt a bad hand, too.
But you know what?
He rallied.
(sighs) Just the way I think you can, Todd.
You know what I'm going to do tomorrow, Lieutenant?
What's that?
Put this place on the market.
Good for you.
Hey.
You going to the gym? Yeah.
About last night... I know that we keep saying that it's not gonna happen anymore.
Yeah?
But it keeps happening.
That a bad thing?
I don't know that we should talk about it here.
(clears throat) So what, your place or mine?
Hmm.
(buzzer sounding) (door creaks open)
Can you forgive me, son?
MAN: It's time.
You deserve this.
Kyle?
Dad. Hey.
How's it going over there, son?
Well, you know, some days are hard.
You know, the firefights, uh-- it's not like the movies.
This is real.
Um, yesterday, uh, we helped this...
we helped these kids rebuild a school that was destroyed during the fighting.
Dad, you've never seen so many kids so excited to go back to school.
You know, it was cool.
Sounds like it.
So, I... I guess yesterday was a good day.
(indistinct shouting, helicopter whirring) I think maybe I'm doing something important over here.
Hey, Dad, uh, what's the matter?
You look kind of sad.
No, son.
(laughs) No. It's just...
It's just good to see you.
You, too, Dad.
You, too. MAN: Harmon, let's go. We're moving out.
Oh, I got to go, Dad. They're calling me.
You take care of yourself.
I will.
Captioning sponsored by\h CBS and C.S.I. PRODUCTIONS
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH\h access.wgbh.org