Adell, what's going on?
Gardener saw a bloody kid all on her own.
Called in at 2:48 p.m.
CAINE: You get an ID?
Not yet. We're door-to-door every house on the block expanding the perimeter.
CAINE: No missing persons? No car accidents?
Nothing in the immediate area.
Okay.
Nothing in the immediate area.
Okay.
What do you got?
POLICEMAN: There's not a scratch on her.
Hi.
( cooing ) Well, the blood had to come from somewhere, didn't it?
Yeah.
My guess is that someone close to this child is either dead...
or dying.
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( crying ) I'm going to go like that. Okay.
All done.
There you go. Hematrace.
( child whimpering ) All right, good job.
You are a good girl.
It's human blood.
Okay, and we know it's not hers, right?
A very good girl.
Okay. You know what...
let's bag the sleeper and get to Megan.
We need DNA and trace on the fabric.
You... are a good girl.
Too much blood for a casual injury.
How far could she have possibly walked?
I don't know. Your average adult has been clocked at two-and-a-half to three miles per hour but to my knowledge, no toddler has ever been road-tested.
But I'll tell you what I'm more interested in is that sunburn on the side of her face.
You have a sunburn on one side of your face it means you've been walking in a straight line, doesn't it?
The gardener said she was headed toward Hibiscus Avenue.
Mm-hmm, Hibiscus... which means she was traveling due north.
Hey, guys.
Hey.
Everybody's talking about the bloody child.
Do we even know where she came from?
That's the question.
This is the answer.
Want a leg or a foot?
Some type of soil. Here.
From any lawn that she crossed?
Well, her feet were soaked with blood.
Well, that narrows it down.
I'm going to go look at this for a little while.
Let me know.
DISPATCHER: Delta 2103, 26 to a vehicle at Calle Ocho and Southwest 27th Avenue.
See complainant in front of bodega.
All right.
( cell phone rings ) Duquesne.
Calleigh, have we gotten anything off Profiler Plus yet?
Amelogenin's up.
We've got two different bleeders: one male, one female.
Make that three.
Another male.
Out of how many samples?
We're three for three, and counting.
Yep, somebody's trading the old for the new.
The soil on the toddler's feet was laced with glyphosate.
That's a heavy-duty grass killer.
They maybe resodding.
So let's look for a location where they're resodding, okay?
Go ahead.
Horatio, we've got four different bleeders and based on the alleles, they're all related to the girl.
DELKO: Horatio, we spotted the house that's being resodded.
Coming up on your right. I'll get fire and rescue.
( car door shuts ) Easy.
This is the place.
( garbled radio dispatch ) Ready?
Yeah.
Detective Sevilla!
Miami-Dade Police!
Go...
Miami-Dade Police Department!
Police Department!
( moaning ) Get me rescue in here!
I have a survivor!
Who did this to you, sir?
My son... needs help...
Listen to me.
Think. Is there anybody else in the house?
Sir? Okay.
( man coughs )
SEVILLA: All clear.
Horatio...
Yeah?
We got another one.
Okay.
( sighs ) All right. Have your guards hang out.
They're going to be here awhile.
Yeah.
( beeping ) What's that?
What?
( beeping grows louder )
The final blood count is five.
Four dead, three kids.
One adult survived.
Any sign of an intruder?
Not at first glance.
Well, the last guy standing is the one I want to talk to.
Actually, he's not standing; he's riding.
That was him.
Where's the little girl?
She's with Social Services till they place her with the family.
If she has any left.
CAINE: Let's start in the back, Eric.
Might take a minute to acclimate yourself.
There's a whole lot of red in there.
Okay?
Okay.
Okay?
Okay.
SEVILLA: Occupants are Jason and Stephanie Caplin.
Dad's an optician at Stonybrook Mall.
Mom's a stay-at-home.
Four kids: the oldest is Luke, he's 16; Timothy's nine and the only other victim found in a separate room.
Our toddler, Erin the only surviving child is 17 months.
And Max... six weeks.
Not a very long time down with us, angel.
And back up you go.
Neighbors say nice family nice kids, never any problems.
Mom was tired because of new baby.
Front and sliding glass doors were both open.
No signs of forced entry, though.
Nothing else suspicious on the outside perimeter of the house, either.
Okay, so everything we need is right here and we have a happy All-American family shotgunned to death in their home.
Except the dad and the toddler.
Right, but if the toddler belonged home.
what was the dad doing here?
Along with two kids who should've been in school.
Alexx, do we have a time of death?
Between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
Was everyone home for lunch and they got surprised by someone?
Someone they knew.
What we do know is that mom is the only one not shot in the back, right?
Mom's wound is consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot.
We have spatter on that muzzle, Calleigh?
Yeah.
And a number four buck that's a hell of a recoil.
So it could've bounced out of someone's hand and made the three feet, right?
Yeah, it could've come out of dad's grip or come out of mom's.
All right, let's GSR everybody and start with mom.
Well, if we're looking at murder-suicide she was the last to die.
Right. So we need a timeline.
Who was shot when.
Let's work on that.
The blood will give us that but it's going to take a while.
Take all the time you need.
Let's alert the neighbors they're going to have company for a while.
You bet.
The wound area's wide.
From a pellet pattern, right?
Enough distance from the shooter to the victim for the pellets to spread.
No defensive posture.
That's because he was taken by surprise.
Probably because of these.
Liver temp is 99.
If he died four hours ago with his mother and brothers his fever was 103.
So he was home sick.
When you're ready to snap one more tug on your sleeve is all it takes.
Okay.
This is the only unmade bed in the house.
Yeah, kids are cleaning their rooms.
Mom and dad lived like this.
Mom was, anyway.
Dad's getting his needs met somehow.
Everything in here is washed and pressed.
There's a crib in the room.
Yeah, nobody's getting any sleep.
( slight chuckle )
It's no excuse.
Baby's first jewelry was an amulet?
Oh, you can get them at any corner botanica.
Not exactly the place you'd shop for a newborn.
They're actually supposed to ward off evil spirits.
Hmm.
So is this.
Paroxetine HCL.
It's an antidepressant.
Bottle's full.
It was filled three weeks ago.
Hey.
Thanks.
Tell Horatio I'll call as soon as I get something.
I'm sure I'll be seeing you again.
I don't see blood or any sign of struggle in here.
No, not physical anyway.
This place isn't a mess it's downright filthy.
Kids will pick up after themselves but they will not clean.
Empty fridge... overflowing garbage.
They obviously live on fast food.
Looks like somebody didn't eat their lunch today.
Got a couple of burgers...
Half-eaten fry.
Wouldn't have lasted ten minutes in my house.
Well, mom did give up the fight.
Who's been taking care of the family?
Sick kid, teenager's out of school early Dad picks up lunch for everyone?
I got a point on the timeline if not the start.
We isolated specific bleeders on parts of the sleeper but, um, on the feet, it wasn't extreme amount of everyone's blood.
( toddler crying ) Okay, so the toddler was here, veered away from the mother around the father sharp right to the brother and the infant.
But here, the blood from the brother pooled around the toddler's foot.
Okay, that means the toddler was over Luke when he bled out.
This victim, this room temperature probably didn't take but a few minutes.
CAINE: Hmm, so she was inside within minutes of the killing but she's the only family member not shot.
Why? Why was she spared?
She's the only girl.
She was hiding.
Maybe she was just lucky.
Mom normally drives the wagon but it hasn't been used in a while.
Was that door closed?
Yeah, the garage door was down.
So dad goes to work, like normal.
At 11:45, he gets a call from mom and then he leaves upset, right?
So dad's out of surgery?
Not yet.
So dad leaves his keys in the ignition but remembers to close the garage door.
And here's the gun safe.
What is it?
It's ammonia.
Females don't usually suicide by shotgun, too messy.
Well, did you see the house?
I think there was a bigger concern than mess.
Okay, Speed, how long do you think you're going to be here?
All night.
All night. Okay, keep me posted.
( sighs )
Alexx?
Luke, 16 years old.
Shot twice: once in the shoulder once at the base of the skull.
Two wounds.
Maybe he was on the move.
Running only gave the buckshot pattern room to expand.
Enough to hit the baby.
Newborn-- a few pellets was all it took.
People really don't chew especially hungry teens.
And the infamous half-eaten bag of french fries.
So...
Luke brings home lunch but doesn't get to eat because the killing has started.
Something else.
He had an acute gastric ulcer.
And he bit his nails.
The enamel on the dentition was worn down to the second layer.
A 16-year-old stress case.
16 going on 40.
What about the mother's reach?
27 inches.
Shotgun muzzle is 24.5.
She could have absolutely reached that trigger.
No gunshot residue on her hands.
Not unusual with a long barrel.
Dad and Luke?
There's too much blood on both of them to tell.
What about the mother's wound?
One shot, close contact, pellets were a compact mass...
Pushed by pressurized gas cloud into the brain turning the medulla to pulp.
So she died instantly.
And the nine-year-old's wound was immediately fatal as well.
One shot, dead center, severed his spinal cord.
( phone ringing ) Horatio.
Okay.
Jason Caplin just got out of surgery.
Buckshot penetrated his kidney.
We removed it.
Packed and ligated the renal artery.
Sutured his multiple splenic lacerations.
He's got some will to live.
SEVILLA: Did he say anything about his family?
Just that he thought he heard the baby screaming.
Okay if I talk to him?
He's slightly altered because of the inhaled anesthetic, but... you can try.
Mr. Caplin?
I'm Detective Sevilla.
I was at your house yesterday.
Do you have any idea who did this to you?
I don't know.
I... I saw my son; he was... he was hurt.
Did you see anyone else?
An intruder, maybe?
I felt this... this heat on my back.
I heard the baby cry...
I don't know.
That's okay.
Tell me, Mr. Caplin, what were you doing home from work?
My wife had called.
She was upset...
You're never here! I can't do this alone!
We're both tired.
You don't know what tired is!
Make him stop!
You've got to do something to make him stop, or I...
Or what?
Mr. Caplin?
Did your wife threaten to hurt yourself or the children?
No.
She... she loved them.
Hey.
Dad's clothes-- blood's starting to smell.
All right.
Come on in here.
Is he talking?
He's not winning any spelling bees but he was lucid.
Okay, now, he claims his wife called him at the office and he came home.
Did he say why?
She was upset, baby wouldn't stop crying.
Now, it sounded like U-turns from office to home were not unusual.
Okay, did he say he saw who shot him?
No.
Now, he remembers coming in seeing his son covered in blood and then the next thing you know he felt a hot pain in his back.
Okay, in all your years, did you ever hear of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the back?
Most people can't pull off shots to the front without a fifth of scotch and a very nimble big toe.
Okay, so hormonal depression and long arms could get us there.
Okay.
What do you got?
Some hairs from the master bedroom.
Long, dark.
Mom's a blonde.
Well, in, uh, in your spare time, maybe.
Now, how are the crime scene sketches coming?
Marking evidence as it rolls in.
Mm-hmm.
Megan ran the hairs from the master bed.
Mmm, not mom but a female relative.
The sister was so broken up.
Or maybe mom had more than hormones and kids to worry about, huh?
SEVILLA: Did you know your sister was seeing a psychiatrist?
Yeah. Yeah, she was having a rough time.
Not sleeping and, uh, th-the baby...
The... the baby cried a lot; colic.
And she, uh...
Here.
Thank you.
She... she was having a hard time.
Can you be more specific?
Because, you know, baby blues are one thing but postpartum psychosis, that's quite another.
My sister was depressed.
She wasn't crazy.
She had medication that she wasn't taking.
She was worried about what it would do to the baby.
She was nursing.
Have you seen that before?
Yeah.
I gave that to her.
It's a charm to make her feel better.
How about your brother-in-law?
Did you help him feel better?
We have evidence that you were in their bed recently.
All I wanted was my sister's happiness.
Well, that goal can get you into trouble.
Where were you yesterday morning?
In Buffalo, on business.
If you don't believe me, call the airline.
Still doesn't explain your little trick between the sheets.
I held my sister when she couldn't stop crying.
When she couldn't get out of bed much less the house.
And that's a hell of a lot more than he did.
And that's your brother-in-law you're talking about.
Yeah, Jason.
He hid at work day and night leaving her alone with four kids.
Well, sounds like it was too much for her.
It was too much for anyone.
My sister loved those kids.
Yeah, they drove her nuts.
Okay, yeah, she was a wreck but there is no way in hell that she killed them.
Excuse me.
I fumed the shotgun but there were no usable prints on it.
Okay.
So who do we think was feeding the infant?
Timmy's prints were on the bottle.
Right, so the nine-year-old is parenting the baby while the mother is doing what?
I don't know, maybe she was opening the gun safe.
Hers were the only prints on it.
Mm-hmm, so then why didn't she kill the toddler?
Couldn't find her?
I mean, she's a woman who can't function.
If you can't function you can't keep track of your children.
Hmm, that's true.
You know, plenty of times my parents wanted me gone but they still fell short of taking me out.
Yeah, how short?
This short, or miles away?
What does Delko stand for anyways?
Delektorsky.
My dad's Russian, my mom's Cuban.
Yeah?
Yeah.
You got any brothers or sisters?
Three sisters. Why?
They're all older, right?
I mean, you're the baby.
Maybe.
So you think the little girl was the favorite and that's why she made it?
Who knows.
That's what we're here to find out.
Let's find out.
It must have run away 'cause this is where the toddler hid.
They don't have a dog.
Well, if they did, it didn't last.
But I guess we know how the toddler did.
I moved the pellets from the shotgun shells but I left all the powder in so it should give us a good kick.
Okay.
And usually suicides...
lean forward to get a better shot.
Right, which would create spatter directly above, right?
But in this case, the blood is back here.
So she needs to be back.
That's good.
Be about here.
Yeah.
Be about here.
Yeah.
Are you clear?
Mm-hmm.
All right, here we go.
There you have it.
You used boiled noodles, huh?
For brain spatter it was either that or oysters.
Yeah.
So she's either the most relaxed suicide on record...
Or she was taking a nap.
Blood on the blanket from the doghouse proves that the toddler was there after someone was injured.
Right, but her feet were drenched with the blood from all five victims, though.
Not until after she was hiding in the backyard.
The transfer from the blanket came from one bleeder: the mom.
And there's no chance she walked outside by herself?
No.
I scraped every inch of that blanket.
It was loaded with her saliva and epithelials.
But no trace chemicals or soil from the backyard.
11 feet, four inches from the doghouse to the closest doorway.
Someone had to have carried her.
So who had glyphosate and soil on their shoes?
That's what we need to find out, gentlemen.
Let's do that.
Okay, here we go.
Luke has traces of glyphosate and soil on his shoes so does dad.
No one else.
Either one of them could've been out back doing yard work.
Mm-hmm, which means whoever carried the toddler into the yard did so with mom's blood, right?
Right. So, her wound was instantly fatal.
Mm-hmm.
Which means someone was still standing after she died, doesn't it?
And that means that this is not a murder-suicide.
It's a murder, isn't it?
Now, there are only two family members left capable of doing this.
And that's Luke and dad.
You think the kid could've done this?
I don't know.
He's a 16-year-old kid with an ulcer.
Maybe he got sick of taking care of everyone.
What do you think?
Why are you looking at the pants and not the shirts?
Shirts are a mess.
Any spatter from a vic's going to be lost among the primary.
But it's hard to get spatter when the shotgun barrel's too long.
Unless we're not looking for spatter.
DUQUESNE: That's transfer.
That's tread...
from the toddler's footies.
The question is: Whose blood is it?
CAINE: Speed.
What have we got?
Results from the transfer stain on Luke's pants.
Mm-hmm.
Mom's blood.
Mm-hmm.
Mom's blood.
CAINE: Instinctively, he picked up the toddler.
Think the killer might still be in the house.
And he did it after mom was mortally wounded.
Okay, so mom and dad aren't doing their jobs the oldest son steps up to the plate...
Luke tries to bring his siblings lunch...
and walks into a massacre.
Once Luke's in the living room, why not save the infant?
The swing and the bassinet were in the room.
I imagine a judgment call.
Who could imagine shooting something so small?
While Luke is busy saving the toddler the killer goes after his next threat: Timmy.
Nine-year-old boy; some threat.
Okay, so Luke comes back in, tries to save the infant.
But he dies trying to get the infant out the front door.
And why does that happen?
Dad was blocking his path.
Yes, but dad's been shot in the back and his wound is not self-inflicted.
Maybe it was the result of a struggle.
Over the only other family member, the infant.
Mm-hmm.
Wait a minute.
Speed...
whose blood did we find on the infant's clothes?
Let's take a look at that.
Show me.
The infant's own Mm-hmm.
of course...
Luke's...
Where's dad's blood?
Mom's blood spatter.
Those are gravitational droplets.
Good morning.
Oh, finally.
You the insurance adjusters?
Oh, hold on. You're, uh...
I'm a Criminalist.
Mr. Caplin, I'm with the MDPD.
This is Detective Sevilla.
Right, right.
Hmm... You're feeling better.
From the hospital.
Well, I spent four days in the hospital flat on my back.
I have staples holding my chest together and they're pulling up the flooring in my house because it's rotted with blood.
Yes, blood.
Blood is why we came today.
We want to talk to you about your blood on your baby.
Mommy.
I... I bled on my baby?
I got shot. I guess my blood must have been everywhere.
Spatter normally travels, but in this case, we found gravitational droplets of blood on your baby's clothes.
And just to be clear, that's a problem.
Right. Because that proves that you were standing over him while you were bleeding.
Luke's body was covering that baby.
He died protecting that child.
And you had, shall we say other instincts.
No!
CAINE: You thought he wouldn't risk the shot if you had the infant in your arms.
CAINE: Reverse the situation and you didn't hesitate.
I never slept.
I-I couldn't think.
I mean, even at work, I could hear them screaming for more.
One morning I woke up and I just knew... I couldn't face them again.
So you shot them in the back.
I tried, I-I... I-I just couldn't.
( knocks twice on car door )
Did he just confess?
He's laying the groundwork for his defense.
Insanity?
Mm-hmm. Two-pronged: I didn't know what I was doing and I certainly didn't know it was wrong.
Just might work.
DUQUESNE: What is it?
It's ammonia.
NH-3.
Ammonia.
Mm-hmm.
Which was on dad's shirt which he used to keep his prints off the gun safe, didn't he?
And then he called his wife from the car.
Mm-hmm.
Phone records confirm he made a call from his cell.
( lock opens )
We can't prove that he told his wife to close the safe.
Yes, but any plan proves premeditation and that means he knew exactly what he was doing.
That's what it means.
What do you have?
Guess what Jason Caplin's claiming?
Postpartum psychosis.
By proxy.
First, he frames his wife for murder and then he co-opts her illness.
What a stellar human being.
Yeah, I guess we just have to hope that the jury doesn't buy his story.
Well, the important thing now....
is that she really knows what happened.
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