Mom! Mom!
The dirt burned my hand!
( siren blipping ) What's HazMat doing here?
Kid's playing tag, takes a header in the dirt ends up with first-degree on his hands. Wait. We got a call about a dead body.
Yeah, I'm getting there. So, HazMat arrives figuring some sort of chemical spill. Starts removing the toxic soil, and bam a shovel slams into a shoulder blade.
SIDLE: Clothing's been reduced to shreds. Epidermal tissue. is virtually gone. The body's desiccated.
GRISSOM: Viscous fluid the consistency of dishwashing soap.
HazMat guy was right.
Killer doused the body in lye. Must have thought it would destroy the body. Yeah, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
Without the wait. Captioning sponsored by CBS CBS PRODUCTIONS ♪ Who... are you? ♪
♪ Who, who, who, who? ♪ ♪ I really wanna know ♪ ♪ Who... are you? ♪ ♪ Oh-oh-oh ♪ ♪ Who... ♪ ♪ Come on, tell me who are you, you, you ♪ ♪ Oh, you! ♪
( dispatcher speaking in distance ) Ma'am, I'm sorry, but I need to neutralize the soil. If you touch the soil you're going to contaminate my crime scene but I'll let you know when I'm finished. Okay.
What'd you get?
Vic's wallet, what's left of it. It's a Nevada license. Bob Martin. 31. He lived downtown. There's 20 bucks in the flap. Rules out robbery.
Look at this.
Looks like a paint fleck or metal chip, maybe.
What'd the Ranger say?
Nobody saw anything suspicious. Park closes up at 10:00 p.m. No security, minimal lighting. Basically, a pretty good place to dump a body.
You found this guy in the park? Actually, HazMat found him.
Well, that explains the postmortem scar tissue. Lye had a field day on his flesh.
( sizzling ) Time of death? Approximately 24 hours ago.
Tell me about the car. Car?
What car?
Comminuted fractures of the proximal tib-fib. Both legs. Bumper hits right below the knees. Sure sign he was hit by a car.
Look at all the bruising.
If he was struck and killed, ecchymosis would be nonexistent. Which suggests he survived the impact. Usual injuries. Ruptured patellar tendon laceration of the saphenous vein and multiple incised wounds containing slivers of glass which I will send over to Trace and bruises: legs, arms and chest. What I didn't find was arterial lacerations or underlying vessel damage. Confirms death wasn't immediate? Correct. Victim was like a leaky water balloon. Heart slowly pumped blood right out of his body and based on the coloration of the bruises trauma was sustained approximately 48 hours before death.
Three days ago, this man was injured. He bled out until he died yesterday.
We didn't find any blood.
Lockwood?
Hey, Stokes.
Who called it in?
BLM chopper pilot. They always buzz Diablo Canyon looking for hikers in distress. Or worse. He see anyone else in the vicinity? No, just the vic: Stacy Warner, 26. Las Vegas resident.
I scanned for a Missing Persons on her. Nothing.
No tire treads.
Whose are these?
Paramedics and mine. Same path. Walked straight in, straight out.
Engagement ring, no wedding band.
Orbital bone looks fractured.
Could have lost her footing and hit her head. Could've.
Hold that for me?
Down feather.
But she's not wearing a jacket.
Shine that right here.
Grissom should enjoy this.
Hey, Lockwood you got any food in your vehicle? Hamburger, anything like that?
Gum, sugar-free.
No, gum'll kill him.
I'll stop at the first place I see pick up some jerky.
Will you get me a sample of the ground underneath the body? Soon as the Coroner moves her.
Good.
( sighs ) Bob is dead? His body was found at Sunset Park. His license gave this address.
Are you his domestic partner? We're roommates.
I got divorced last year. And about six months ago, Bob's wife kicked him out. He needed a place to crash and I needed help with the mortgage.
He's two months late on the rent. How do I go about collecting under the circumstances?
Look, we were roommates. We weren't really friends. When was the last time you saw him? We both work at the Tangiers. He managed the restaurant, and I work in maintenance. Last Monday we drove in together. But you didn't drive home together? Mondays? No.
After shift, he'd walk over to the university. He's an amateur photographer.
Take the bus home. But he didn't come home Monday night... I didn't think much of it. He's always going back and forth with Charlotte. His wife.
What do I care?
As long as the rent's paid.
Photo Department kept a log. Bob Martin reserved a darkroom on Mondays from 10:00 to 11:00 p.m. He was logged in Monday night. Good. We got a bus to catch.
He left these photos behind. They're all of the same woman.
I bet it's his wife.
Silver flecks... like the one you found at the body.
I got a piece of plastic.
Looks like a headlight cover, maybe.
This could be our crime scene.
( tires screech ) Assuming this was a hit-and-run how does a guy with two broken legs end up on the other side of town buried in a park, covered in lye?
What are you looking for?
No sign of blood. No evidence of a cleanup.
If this is our crime scene then somewhere between here and Sunset Park Bob Martin lost eight to ten pints of blood.
Where is it?
So do want to tell me about the silver flecks I found? Paint chips?
Aluminum and melamine in the color coat indicate that it's car paint.
Factory job.
Uh, body shop paint contains styrene, not melamine.
Mm, what type of car?
Trick question. Paint won't tell me that. But I do have an answer.
It's not technically part of my job description but as you know, I'm always eager to expand my responsibilities. Take a look down the scope.
GRISSOM: Looks like some sort of insignia.
Crosshairs. That's the plastic you collected at the accident site.
Now that mark is only found on the S-class Mercedes.
It's all about branding. Now knowing that the headlight came from a Mercedes I was able to compare the infrared spectra with the paint spectra supplied by the manufacturer. Check this out.
SANDERS: Your vehicle was painted Sarasota Silver. Also, only available on the S-series '99 models. I checked with the Mercedes state rep. Five were sold in Nevada. Sara's tracking down the owners. You've, uh, already shared this information with Sara? Yeah, an hour ago. And she was way more fascinated than you are. Well, I'm somewhat fascinated by the fact that I'm your boss, but you talked to her first. Well, you were at dinner.
I've been in the lab all day, Greg.
I've been looking for you.
Well, it's hard to see me if you and Greg are out ahead of me. Oh, uh, sorry about that but Brass got me a list of those Mercedes owners. One moved to Los Angeles, three are over 50. My guess, they would have stopped and rendered aid. Brass is checking them out which leaves a Ben Weston, 25. Leased the vehicle last week.
You found my car?
Why? Is your car missing?
Yeah, isn't that why you guys are here?
I filed a police report a couple days ago.
God, I love that car.
Hocked my future on it.
Tell me it hasn't been stripped. You wouldn't happen to have a copy of that police report, would you?
I'm a lawyer.
Here you go.
Thanks.
Sarasota Silver, S-series, stolen Monday night. Yeah, I stopped for take-out after work. When I came out, it was gone.
Don't most of these luxury vehicles have security systems?
What's with all the questions?
We're investigating a possible hit-and-run.
You think the bastard that stole my car hit someone?
GRISSOM: Ignacias High, Nevada State University... Are you a local? Yeah. Great town. I studied my ass off in law school.
Passed the bar first time. Good for you. Let me guess-- criminal defense? Everyone deserves representation. Yes, they do. Would you happen to remember what clothes you were wearing yesterday? A blue pinstripe, a light blue oxford gray tie-- a gift from my girlfriend. First week as an associate-- firm like this you tend to pay attention to wardrobe. SIDLE: Mr. Weston, we'd like to take a look at those clothes. Really?
Well, you need a warrant.
But I'm a nice guy.
I picked them up at lunch.
Downstairs-- one-hour dry cleaning.
Nice suit. Thank you. I just bought it.
I hope you didn't just buy the shirt. Oh, come on.
I've been meaning to change dry cleaners.
Well, maybe you shouldn't have gotten lye on it. Lye is an alkali and when it's mixed with water, it eats right through fabric.
Mr. Weston... you mind taking off your shirt?
Excuse me? Lye can burn through fabric. It can also burn through skin. I have my limits.
You want me to strip, you're going to need a warrant.
But since there's no basis for your request you can forget about it.
MAN: She drowned.
This is the girl I found in the desert.
I am aware of that. She drowned.
It's not possible, Dave-o. She was found in Diablo Canyon-- miles from the nearest water source.
Lake Mead's got to be 20 miles away. Desert, no desert-- I don't care. She drowned.
Look, if it's any consolation she dry-drowned.
Dry-drowned?
Happens in about ten percent of all cases. When dry-drowning occurs the larynx closes involuntarily preventing air and water from entering the lungs resulting in hypoxia-- a reduced concentration of oxygen in the blood. Thus, water's kept out of the lungs-- dry-drowning.
In wet drowning, hypoxia also occurs but the larynx relaxes and water floods the lungs.
Still, the question remains, how does a girl drown in the middle of the desert? She doesn't.
She was engaged. The guy never filed a missing persons on her.
I didn't file a missing persons report on Stacy because she wasn't missing.
As far as I knew, she was on a solo trek up in Diablo working toward her NESTFs. NESTFs?
Sorry. National Extreme Sports Trainer Finals. I took mine last week. Did it in three days total. So, I didn't expect her back for at least two more days. Okay.
You mind if I have a look around?
No, go ahead.
Thanks.
Detective.
You see that?
Mr. Hudson... you own this house with Stacy Warner, is that right? That's right.
Any idea how this blood got there?
No.
Stacy had a head trauma wound. You wouldn't know anything about that either, would you? I'd never hurt Stacy. No?
How do you explain the domestic disturbance call to this address two weeks ago? We told the officers then it was nothing.
I don't know... the neighbor who filed the complaint said you were really yelling at Stacy.
Said it sounded abusive. HUDSON: We're sports trainers. We say some crazy things to get each other to do one more lap in the pool, one more crunch.
Are you a liar?!
Or are you going to give me more?! Are you weak? Are you worthless?!
Can you account for your whereabouts this week? Big Sky Triathlon in Montana.
You want to see a picture of me crossing the finish line? No. No.
We got what we need.
BRASS: So I sent out some bulletins. Got a hit on Weston's missing Mercedes.
Sullivan called it in. He's a typical tow guy. I'll run him.
MAN: Yeah, I got a call.
"You want a wrecked S-class?"
( chuckles ) You betcha. The parts alone are worth four or five times the Blue Book value of the car. I asked where do I pick it up. That's all I asked.
You didn't ask his name?
Someone throws you 300 thou in used parts the only response is "thank you very much." So where is the vehicle now?
Look around.
You work fast.
Hey, I called it in. What more do you want?
Aristotle said something about the whole being more than the sum of its parts. Of course, he never worked in a chop shop.
We want all of the parts.
Affirmative for blood-- passenger side.
Well, that's just a trace amount. Where's the rest of it?
Want to pass me the luminol?
Well, you do know how to light up a room.
Location of the blood on the seats and the dash indicates that the victim was inside the vehicle. Maybe the driver hit Bob Martin stopped and put him in the front seat. Okay.
Where'd they go? Well, not to the emergency room. Not to Sunset Park for 48 hours. I'll swab the rest of the car-- bring the samples to Greg and have him run it against Bob Martin's DNA.
If you find any blood that isn't his then... Maybe it belongs to an injured joyrider and we have a new suspect.
The one day I'm due in court and you pull a drowning in the desert.
How'd it go? Oh, it went great.
The judge recessed right before my testimony.
I'm on call. Catherine's on call.
You're making progress. The blood from the poolside matches the female victim. Yeah, the problem is the small amount of blood found in her own home isn't enough to prove anything, you know? People bump their heads and scrape their knees all the time. Yeah. That musclehead boyfriend-- he's a little shady. He's hiding something. I can feel it. Are you able to prove that he drowned her in their swimming pool?
Four samples: one from their swimming pool one from their bathroom, one from Lake Mead and one from Clark County Reservoir but none are consistent with the water I recovered from her stomach. What else did you collect from the scene? Some rocks from under her body and a goose feather.
Goose feather?
This looks like basalt rock.
Didn't it say somewhere in here that she found her at 1,500 feet? The desert, yeah. Well, you can only find this rock at high altitudes like 4,000 feet.
Really?
Mm-hmm. You sure?
Yeah. I went on this field trip up at Table Mountain in my senior year-- "Rocks for Jocks." Don't ask me why I remember any of this.
Hey, that helps. I think I'm going to head out there. You want to roll?
You're on call at court, right.
All that blood belonged to the victim.
Look at this.
Visible blood drops under the passenger seat.
That's a strange place for blood.
Radiated spatter.
What do you think? Blood pooled onto the floormat.
As more drops splashed down the impact projected the blood drops upward.
Okay.
But where did it fall from? Greg said you guys are processing an S-class.
Yeah, what's left of it. Now, that's a crime.
Oh, this would have broken my ex's heart.
Every weekend the guy'd be test-driving another Mercedes.
I'd get myself all dressed up make the dealer believe we could actually afford it. Damn.
Except if this car was stolen the ignition lock would be punched, right?
Huh?
Anyway, I got to go. Warrick and I are due in court. Later.
We... we would have caught that.
We were distracted by what we were looking for.
Yeah.
So how did the thief turn the engine over without breaking that lock?
Maybe there is no thief.
WESTON: All right, you got me. I ran into the Chinese restaurant. I wasn't in there more than two minutes but I left my keys in the car.
You left an $80,000 Mercedes idling. Yeah.
Stupid, right?
That's why I didn't say anything. Besides, if my insurance finds out it's contributory negligence. Let's just cut to the chase. I told you everything. Chinese restaurant near my house. I couldn't find a parking spot. Parked in the handicapped zone, left the motor running. I wasn't in there more than a minute. Take off your shirt, please. You're going to need a warrant, like I said. But you don't have basis. Actually, the issuing judge disagrees.
I can call Judge Scott, contest your grounds. But you won't. You want to refuse? One of us will remove it for you.
Yeah, all right.
Here you go.
Look, no chemical burns.
You satisfied?
The warrant is for the whole shirt.
Yeah.
You don't have to be a scientist to know where that came from.
( tires screeching ) We got enough for a hit-and-run. All right, hold on.
It's not what you think.
I called in my order.
I looked down to put away my phone.
( bang ) I hit something.
I stopped. I looked around. I couldn't see anything.
I figured it must have been a dog and it ran off. So I drove to the restaurant and that's when my car was stolen.
It was a rough night.
Look, my car was stolen.
What happened next, I don't know.
Save it.
You're under arrest.
All right.
I hate lawyers.
We need a warrant for his house.
We need to find something we can use to keep that creep off the street.
( panting ) I'm all for retracing the girl's steps but it wouldn't hurt to bring in some cadets.
If it was a little kid or a mass casualty maybe we'd get that kind of manpower but hey, exercise is good for us, right?
Air feels thin to me.
Check it out.
Let's go.
You said the vic was wearing light layers of clothing, right? Yeah, several layers, tempered cotton.
This is a men's extra large.
This is too big for her.
Goose down like I found on her body.
What's this?
Ah. Property of Mr. Muscles.
You want to run it?
Well, maybe he left a day later than he said for his little marathon, you know?
Followed her out here, started arguing with her no neighbors around to call the cops.
( shrieks ) She manages to fight her way free finds higher ground, he follows her, takes her down.
So then what? He drowns her with canteen water?
I'm going to let you run that by the DA.
You should try describing a scuba diver up in a tree, man.
This is nothing.
No, the evidence tells a story.
So why'd a cagey guy like our suspect leave his jacket up here?
Everybody thinks they have a plan till things start to go wrong.
I gave Stacy my jacket the morning she left for Diablo for night layering. Extreme hikers can't carry bedrolls. That's what makes it extreme. And she just left your jacket wedged under some rocks.
Maybe. I don't know.
Look, I gave it to her to take care of her.
I loved Stacy.
Then help us out here, man.
I've got prior disturbance calls her blood in the pool her body drowned in the middle of the desert with your jacket nearby your map.
That's my trail map. I'd like it back.
No. No, it's evidence now. You can put a request in for it when we complete our investigation, okay?
Am I free to go?
You're not under arrest.
I'm getting this to QD.
He doesn't want me to have this map and I want to know why.
( sighs ) He made bail. Yeah, that figures. Oh, I almost forgot.
Here's a warrant to search your premises.
We'd like to start in your garage.
Yeah.
Look, I'm filing a complaint with your supervisor. You're harassing me.
If you're a lawyer you should know the legal definition of harassment.
Investigating a crime doesn't quite fit the criteria. However, a false accusation of harassment within earshot of my colleagues could be construed as slander. I know the law, too and I've actually been in a courtroom.
This was parked in the driveway, wasn't it? Now that's a crime?
Jim, could you get this car moved for us?
Unless the keys are in the ignition hand them over.
It's a rental. You're not on my policy.
I'm a safe driver.
It smells like bleach to me. I'll check for blood.
Why would he leave his car outside with the sprinklers on instead of putting it in here? Maybe the garage was full.
MAN: What exactly do you want me to look for?
STOKES: Alterations, erasures, paper content. The guy was really nervous about me having these maps. Okay, I'll test the components in the inks and then bombard the paper with different wavelengths of light. We'll see what's up. Sounds good, man.
Thanks, man. You bet.
Hey, Grissom... Keep me posted. I will.
Did you take a look at that maggot from the desert yet? Yes.
And?
Well, it belongs to the family of sarcophagids. That's as far as I got.
You mind taking another look for me?
Your maggot never developed, Nick.
It never will. Why?
It happens to Sarcophagids when they're exposed to freezing temperatures before they're allowed to pupate. So, my maggot was stunted? Probably by frozen air. Yeah, but we found the vic in the desert.
Well, maybe it was a very cold night. Mucho frio.
Muchas gracias.
Come on in, Greg.
Hey.
So I heard about your cold maggot.
News travels fast.
I was thinking-- most people figure Las Vegas means The Strip. But it really means "the meadows."
I'm trying to calculate barometric pressures here, G.
Well, my point is Nevada is a basin-and-range state. Down in the desert basin, hardly any rain. But up in the mountain ranges it's 40 inches a year. That's more than Seattle more than San Francisco. more than... Yeah, yeah, I see where you're going. Last week in Vegas-- perfect weather. Warm, steady barometric pressure, but... out in Diablo, two days before I found Stacy Warner's body... The mountain shadow effect.
That's what meteorologists call it.
Right.
This is Ecklie's Mercedes?
Well, actually, I sold it to him-- five years ago.
It was in much better condition back then.
Hey.
So I checked with Auto Detail.
Uh, obviously, if you fill a car up with enough water or, in our case, blood it's going to leak through the bottom.
Dicing wounds with glass were limited to the upper torso, right?
Top of the head, face, top of shoulders and forearms. Which would be consistent with a head-on crash. The head of the victim crashed into the passenger side of the windshield.
Well, this isn't the same model or year but it's close enough.
Okay, I'm thinking that the car clipped the victim here and he was catapulted... and he was positioned something like this.
( glass shattering ) So now he's bleeding and his blood is dripping onto the mat.
The victim bled out for two days.
Yeah, but he could have been conscious, right?
Until he lost a third of his circulating blood volume? Then the hypovolemic shock would have set in after approximately 12 hours. So it's possible that he was wedged into the windshield of Ben Weston's Mercedes which was parked in Ben Weston's garage. We know where Bob Martin was.
Where was Ben Weston?
My guess... At work, making a good impression.
Sometimes I'm glad I only deal with dead people.
You know... the tow truck driver said Weston's Mercedes was totaled.
But the only damage would have been to the bumper and the windshield.
He's lying.
Maybe it wasn't totaled. I don't remember. I was only interested in the parts.
You don't know who phoned it in?
It was a guy.
What else can I tell you?
Mr. Sullivan, in '96 you were arrested for vandalism, right?
I was 18. It was a prank. I hoisted the principal's station wagon onto the roof of the gym. St. Ignacias High School, right?
GRISSOM: It's funny, but the registered owner of the Mercedes also went to St. Ignacious. You were in the same class.
Ben Weston.
That might ring a bell. So what? He's been arrested on a hit-and-run. He's also under suspicion for murder. That makes you an accomplice after the fact. Twenty to life.
Okay, look, all I did was take his call, take his car. I don't even like the guy. In high school, he's the one who turned me in.
He said he wanted to make it up to me.
Just remind yourself that usually I bring the case home.
If that garage floor stain started out as blood the bleach just degraded it.
There's nothing for me to work with. Sorry. There goes the slam dunk.
Blood in the garage would have conclusively linked victim to killer.
So is this his rental car?
Sunset Park is two miles from Ben Weston's house. I was thinking maybe he used this car to transport the body to the dump site. So we should be able to find some of the vic's blood or hair or fibers from his clothes. No visible trace of any kind.
Except for this.
So this mountain shadow effect-- the barometric pressure spikes down the temperature strikes down... Right. Humidity spikes up.
Moisture in the air condenses. ( thunder crashing ) The mountains get a flash flood.
I checked with the National Weather Service. This area got three inches of rain in 20 minutes the night Stacy died.
So, she was up here hiking when the weather changed.
( thunder rumbling ) ( wind whistling ) Takes one to the head... on to the basalt rock.
She's trying to clear the cobwebs when the rain hit. ( thunder rumbling )
But it was too late.
She drowns in the floodwater.
Body gets carried to the base of the canyon.
A couple hours worth of sun water dries up.
No evidence of the storm anywhere except on the vic who carried traced amounts of basalt rock with her and rainwater in her throat.
( phone ringing ) Stokes. The map has definitely been tampered with. You sure about that? Positive. Chemical tag in the ink tells the tale.
Then I shot the maps with 300 nanometers just to be sure. I need you to get those results to me. Thought you would. I have a messenger on call.
Are you telling me Stacy's death was an accident?
An accident of nature, yeah.
But you still had a hand in her death just the same, didn't you, Mr. Hudson?
What are you talking about?
Why don't you take a break.
Come on over here for a sec.
You altered the map.
You used the same color ink as the printer but the chemical tags in the ink are different.
This is magic marker.
And when you shine ultraviolet light on it like this... you can see exactly what you did.
You made this look like an impenetrable ridge-- no way out, when it's actually a meadow.
If she had a good map she might have been able to find her way out of the highlands by nightfall.
I didn't want her to die.
I didn't. Then why did you alter the map?
We competed.
I'd just run the trail in three days. I didn't want her to beat my time.
Am I being charged with murder?
No.
You altered the map but you didn't make it rain.
What you did isn't a crime... but it is criminal, isn't it?
Oh, come on.
Your entire case is circumstantial. Your physical evidence is pathetic. You've got, what, a wrecked car-- a white powder in a rental-- and a bleached-out stain in my garage. If that's all you've got you won't even get a filing.
My cell phone.
Yeah.
Mitchell Sullivan found it in your car at his chop shop. I hope he didn't make any long-distance calls.
Thanks.
It's evidence. Yeah.
Hey, now it's a party.
And I brought the music.
You'll be happy to know that there were no long-distanced calls made on your cell phone. But there was one call made-- to 911 at 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning while your car was still in your possession. ( tape recorder clicking ) MAN: 911. What's your emergency?
( man gasping ): Please help me.
I need help... I can't hear you. You'll have to speak up.
Help... Sir, our system is not compatible with your cellular phone. Where are you calling from?
I'm in a garage.
Sir, can you see a street sign?
It's dark... Explain it to me, Ben.
How does a lawyer rationalize something like this?
SIDLE: You know the law. You hit a guy. It was an accident. Nothing criminal.
But you let it escalate to first-degree murder.
I spoke with your senior partner. It was your first day on the job. Big firm. Big welcome.
How many drinks did you have that night?
GRISSOM: Let me guess.
You wanted the alcohol to wear off before you called it in, right?
So you decided to wait it out. Have a cup of coffee, sober up and then call the cops.
But unfortunately, Bob Martin woke up.
Help me.
Please, help... help me... So what do you do now, hmm?
Can't walk into the emergency room and say, "Hey, this guy was bleeding to death in my garage while I was eating mu shu pork." ( door opening ) Sara, there's someone here to see you. Not right now. You'll want to talk to him. It's relevant.
I sacrificed to get where I am.
My whole life was leading up to last Monday.
Yeah. It's tough, huh?
Fifteen years to build your dream and a 15-second phone call destroys it.
Where did you find this?
Packing up Bob's stuff. Found it on his dresser.
Thought you'd want to see it.
Thanks.
When a driver hits a pedestrian the presumption is the driver is negligent. When a driver's been drinking and he hits a pedestrian it's no longer negligence, it's reckless homicide. But when a pedestrian intentionally throws himself in front of a moving vehicle then the driver's no longer responsible. Legally, he's off the hook.
This suicide letter was written by Bob Martin to his wife Charlotte.
When you hit him Monday night it wasn't an accident.
You were off the hook.
Until you let him die.
Captioning sponsored by CBS, CBS PRODUCTIONS Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org l phone.