( thunder crashes ) I saw you with him. I know you're lying. You've got it all wrong. I'm telling you. Nothing happened. Nobody cheats on me. ( chokes ) I hate you. How could you do this to me?
WOMAN: His fingerprints were all over that belt. That's the only way it could have happened. I'm with Lizette, all right? We heard from the DA. They called the cops last week on a domestic disturbance. Kimble was just getting warmed up. Believe me. I know the type. Husband was a casino host. Just happens to come home in the middle of a shift? Come on. Oh, look, we've really talked this thing to death, haven't we? Chris, can we please put this to another vote?
The burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt. We don't have that. There was somebody else in the house that day. The cable guy.
Cable guy's got priors. He skipped town. You're still on the cable guy theory? His fingerprints weren't even on the belt. He could have worn gloves. I can't take this anymore! Who keeps shutting this damn window? Lunch will be here soon. Let's take a break.
This guy is driving me nuts. We've got to get Chris Gibbons replaced. Oh, I pointed him in the right direction, but he didn't snap. I'd kill for a candy bar right now. Hey, people. Your lunch is getting cold.
( chattering )
Chris Gibbons, UNLV grad student. The jury's been sequestered two and a half weeks on a murder trial. Twelve strangers... stuck in a room with no exit. It's like Sartre said: "hell is other people."
♪ Who... are you? ♪ ♪ Who, who, who, who? ♪ ♪ 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! ♪
What do you got? My early opinion? Blunt force.
He's got a, uh, medical alert bracelet. Allergy to penicillin. Well... we got 11 potential suspects.
Do you have one with blond hair? Yeah. There's one I know of. Um, Miss Davis-- she's a stripper at The Shimmer.
There's no tag cells, and she's not a natural blonde, and it looks synthetic. Hey, this is Vegas, baby.
"Guilty," "guilty"... "not guilty." 11 "guilty," one "not guilty."
Now that's motive. ( chattering ) Excuse me. May I have your...? Excuse me. May I have your attention, please?
Thank you. I'm Catherine Willows. I'm from the Crime Lab. So it's a mistrial, right? Can we go home? No. I'm sorry. No one is going anywhere.
Ms. Davis. I'll start with you. Will you follow me, please?
( chattering ) Miss Davis, we found a synthetic blond hair on the victim's body. Care to explain? Girl to girl. I'm a dancer. I came off the pole. I teased him a little bit.
I need a release, so why don't you get us out of here, and I'll... ( inaudible dialogue ) Did he take you up on your offer? Well, if you ask me, arguing was his turn-on. Lucky for you. Attempting to influence is a Category D felony. It's up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Am I under arrest?
Woman to woman?
The pole is there for a reason. It's what you hang on to so the creeps don't pull you out of there. Smarten up.
Thanks, man. Stokes. Detective. Hey. Hey. Hey. You've got a minute? Yeah. Sure, what's up? Four years ago, you and Grissom worked a missing persons out in Moapa Valley? She lived on a farm with her husband? Wow. Um... Yeah, I remember. Uh-uh, Rita? Rita Westonson. Found nothing suspicious. Nothing criminal. Figured she wanted to skip town, disappear. Rita's sister is in interrogation. She's claiming Rita was murdered. Faye, it's been four years since your sister went missing. Now, CSI conducted a full investigation-- found nothing suspicious, nothing criminal. Why are you coming forward now? I lied to you back then, and I live with the guilt every day. Miss Minden? It's my duty to advise you of your right to counsel. I don't want an attorney. I admit I withheld information. That's why I'm here. And if I have to go to jail, so be it. I just want to do right by my sister.
Okay. Let's start from the beginning. Your sister disappeared over a weekend... Rita didn't disappear. Her business trip to Fresno got cut short, and she came home early.
Found Aaron, her husband, in the barn with another woman. Rita freaked out and started screaming and saying she was going to leave him. Aaron saw red and lost it. ( blows landing ) ( body thuds ) Now if memory serves, her husband had an alibi? Yeah. He was camping in Red Rock with Harris Mathey. That's his business partner, right? Yeah, but Harris owed Aaron a lot of money. He would have said anything. If that's true, Mr. Mathey is guilty of conspiracy after the fact. He died last month. And he's the only one who knew, besides me. Do you know what Aaron did with Rita's body?
He drove her out to the river, about a half mile from his farm, and, um, set her on fire. She burned all night, and then in the morning, he dumped her ashes in the water.
Miss Minden... how did you come across this information?
You were the other woman.
Hey, Sara. Any jurors have blood on their hands? WILLOWS: Mr. Jervis. Why are your fingers bloodied? You ever been on a jury before? How many grad students does it take to screw in a lightbulb? I can't take this anymore!
It's the worst experience of my life. Would you hold your hands up for me, please? The case was a lock anyway. I mean, Kimble obviously had... Mr. Jervis. I need to remind you that you're still under judge's orders not to discuss the case. That's great. This guy's dead, and I still can't go home? Let me tell you something. From the very beginning, day one day after day, this guy is the only holdout. Do you want to know what my boss calls me? Mr. Replaceable. I had to get back to work. ( yelling ) I lost my temper. You sure it's lost?
Homicide just called. They're reopening the Rita Westonson case based on new information from the eyewitness? File's thinner than I remembered. You think we missed something? We figured she skipped town, wanting to disappear. At the time, that was a reasonable conclusion based on the evidence. Does the witness seem credible to you? Well, if she's lying, she's obstructing justice and wasting my time, but if she's telling the truth, we may have closed the investigation early. At the time, you were a Level Two, I believe. So closing the case would have been my decision. Yeah, it would have. I'm checking out her story. I'll see if it holds up. Let me know. Mm-hmm.
ROBBINS: Blunt-force trauma didn't kill him.
But this might have. Hives? Whoo. Severe allergic reaction. Cause of death: anaphylactic shock. Outer skin becomes irritated, the eyes inflamed, throat closes... ( gasping, choking ) He was allergic to penicillin, but that's not the kind of thing you can just easily slip someone. No, but you can inject it.
Puncture wound is consistent with a hypodermic needle. He wore a Medic Alert bracelet.
Everyone hated him, and everyone knew how to kill him.
( bird screeching ) FAYE: Haven't been back here since that night.
Sometimes it feels like yesterday; sometimes it feels like it never happened.
Funny, the things you remember. ( birds chirping )
Who could've imagined? ( Faye sighs ) This is it. This is the spot under the tree.
You sure? Yes. This is where Aaron burned her body.
I remember the... yucca plant was flowering.
Right here? Yes.
What are you doing? Well, if Rita's body was incinerated here, the gasoline fumes would have settled into the soil... ...and trace amounts of hydrocarbon would still be detectable. Good.
♪ ♪ ( beeps )
Mr. Dorsey. I just analyzed your dirt. Where there's smoke, there's fire, and where there's no smoke... There are no hydrocarbons. Damn. There's no evidence of gasoline whatsoever. Where's Hodges? Conference in San Francisco. Total boondoggle. Three days of sourdough and seafood.
By the way... ...I heard the rumor, and I'm sorry. What rumor? Everybody on the day shift says that you deserved that promotion. You ask me, Grissom only gave Sara a higher evaluation because of their history. He gave Sara...? Hey. You get anything? Well, science seems to have trumped the eyewitness. That story doesn't hold up. I may know why. I ran a background. Faye had two sisters-- Rita, older and Terry, younger. Now get this-- a couple weeks ago Terry and Aaron... got engaged.
Hey, Gil.
So tox came back on Chris Gibbons. He may have been allergic to penicillin but didn't have any in his system. We sent a sample of his pants to Trace. The area around the injection mark... Epinephrine. So maybe Mr. Gibbons had an allergic reaction to something else. Such as...? I don't know, but if Gibbons knew he was severely allergic, I bet he carried one of those auto-injector pens. So we're looking for a used hypodermic. And another allergy. I'm not the allergy ace. I'm trying to get out in the field, and you're multitasking me in the lab. Rick, I'm the one that actually put you on a case, not just talk about it. You're also the one who took me off the case.
You know what? You started, and you gave me six strong innings, and I brought in the closer. What's wrong with that? So what am I, fish or fowl? Fish-- that's a good place to start. I need you to check the victim's blood for shellfish, egg whites, nuts and soy. The biggies. Got to start somewhere.
♪ ♪
( whirring )
That was Catherine. What are we looking for? Nuts. Specifically those that begin with a "P."
♪ ♪
Take me out to the ball game. Buy me some peanuts.
There's peanut skins under Mr. Durham's seat.
That's very interesting.
There's peanut shells under Mr. Gibbon's seat. Mr. Gibbons couldn't eat peanuts. What are they doing under his seat? Let's ask Mr. Durham. Just 'cause he's allergic doesn't mean I can't have them. Chris Gibbons died from a severe allergic reaction. You were the only guy in the jury room who was eating peanuts. You might have killed him. I was only messing with his head.
What are you trying to do, kill me? I'm allergic!
You're a hypochondriac. Does that look like hypochondria to you? Look, I didn't know that just by touching a shell it would send him into some kind of fit. ( gasping ) ( coughing )
I apologized. None of the other jurors mentioned anything about Chris throwing a fit. Hey, look, it wasn't that big of a deal. I mean, we went back to work, deliberated for a couple hours... the guy was fine.
STOKES: You withheld information. No, it's not like that. You don't understand. They why didn't you tell us about your younger sister? Because I knew it would come to this. I was dumped by Aaron for my younger sister. I was hurt and angry and jealous, and I wanted to get back at him, so I falsely accused him of killing Rita. I am not jealous of Terry. I'm scared for her.
I don't want her to end up like Rita.
Did your relationship with Aaron end amicably? It ended. After the night he killed Rita, I saw him a handful of times. I want nothing to do with him. So why not warn Terry? Tell her what you told us. Because she's in love with him. If I told her what Aaron did to Rita, she'd run right to him. "Crazy Faye always causing trouble." Aaron would like nothing more than to drive a wedge between me and my sister. I've seen what he's capable of.
That night he made me help him.
Her eyes were still opened.
It was muddy? Yeah. Okay, was it raining? No, not that night. It was a wet winter. Say you believe me.
One auto-injector... used. That's substantiates Bob Durham's story that Gibbons had a reaction to peanut shells. What do you want to bet he only brought one of these with him. Well, he was sequestered. He couldn't exactly go out and get another one. Ah, he was later held defenseless against the attack of the killer peanut. I guess it's possible. We're not finding anything in Chris Gibbon's chili. No peanuts, no shells, no skins.
What about peanut butter?
In an individually wrapped tube? That could belong to any of the jurors.
This looks like peanut butter right here. Someone was doing more than just flicking peanut shells.
If Gibbons had that severe a reaction to peanut shells, imagine what eating peanut butter would do to him. Yeah, that's more than just messing with a guy's head. That's murder.
Hey, defense motioned for a mistrial. Suspicion of jury tampering. Based on peanut butter in the chili? How does a juror benefit from Gibbons' death? I don't know. Lone hold out, now they get to go home? That's nuts. The risk isn't worth the reward. Well, Warrick's still working on that print. Good. What are you working on?
( birds chirping )
( saw buzzing )
( buzzing )
So the soil doesn't support the eye witness testimony. No. So I stuck a moisture testing probe into the ground at the burn site, registered 18%. Now anything over 10% is indicative of full saturation over the last couple of years. The river might have washed away all trace of hydrocarbons. Exactly, but before it washed away, some of the hydrocarbons could have seeped into the ground into the tree's roots. Roots carry nutrients to the tree. Some of the hydrocarbons could have hitched a ride. Oaks don't bear fruit, but this one bears witness. Every year, a branch grows a new ring composed of alike, dark band. Counting from the outside in, going back four years-- one, two, three, four... The ring from four years ago is thinner and distorted. Yeah, the same distortion is present in ring four of every branch. And distortion could mean evidence of a toxic event. I'm thinking the burning of gasoline under the tree.
How are you going to prove it? Saw dust.
( buzzing )
Nick, I think you're going to like this.
STOKES: Affirmative for hydrocarbons. Now we're talking. Nick, no offense, but proving the boss wrong is not the quickest path to career advancement. The trial lasted four weeks. They've been locked in deliberations for two and a half. Sequestered? Well, it's a high-profile case. Judge Slater limited contact, censored newspapers, no television, shuttle between here and their hotel. That's a juror's life. What about the food, how does that work? This case, uh, jurors had breakfast and dinner at the hotel. Lunch, I brought in a menu, they order... Gee, let me guess. For the 17th day in a row, you're going to order chili. Oh, now you're criticizing my food choices. Chris Gibbons had chili the day he died. Yeah, the guy had food allergies. We had one place we ordered from. He had chili every day. Did jurors have access to these vending machines? Uh, yeah, that's why they're here. It's their nickel. I mean, they got to have something. They're away from their families. I have all their cell phone... Well, almost all of them. Caught a guy double packing. ( beeping ) Can't anybody make a battery that lasts more than a couple of hours?
Hey, I confiscated his primary at the beginning of deliberations, but I don't do cavity searches. ( chuckling ) How do you burn out your cell phone battery when you're not allowed to use your phone? They don't make cell phones like they used to. That's true, actually. Now they make them better. Did you know that this one takes pictures? And having met your fellow jurors, I think you really captured them. Okay, let's start with the misdemeanor. Cell phones and cameras or cell phones withcameras are prohibited in the jury room. Somebody must have told you that. See, after a while they're family. I-I thought I could throw a scrapbook together for everyone for after the trial. Oh, and-and when where you planning on handing that out? At Mr. Gibbons' funeral?
I guess you would consider the folks at the credit company family, too. What? Yeah, according to them, uh, you got a little bit of a gambling jones, hmm? $25,000 in markers all over town. So what's your game, dice, cards, sports book? Or all of the above? Let's just say it was a bad month. Not that bad. $30,000 deposit two days ago. All right, now the questions get hard. I mean, you can't be getting rich on jury duty, 40 bucks a day.
Or can you? Look, I'm self-employed, which means I've been unemployed for the last six and a half weeks. You just made $30,000. To deliver the jury? No. My story. To a tabloid. Hey... it's one of those cases-- high-profile, jurors at each other's throats. ( indistinct shouting )
Why should the guy that killed his wife be the only one to make a buck?
Can I help you? I'm Detective Artan. This is Nick Stokes from the Crime Lab. Terry Minden? Honey, who is it? It's the police.
I remember you. You were here about Rita. Yeah. You were here about Rita. Yeah. You found her. No, no, not exactly, but we have a potential new lead. And we have a warrant.
I'm an attorney. You want a sample of gasoline? Uh, yes, ma'am-- eight ounces from Mr. Westonson's pump. Why? This is about Rita. I have a right to know. Warrant was issued by Judge Brenner. I'll make a call. Say hello for me.
Four years ago, you tore this place apart. That was okay with me. Now you come back with no answers, and you're looking at me with that same face. I'm going to tell you the same thing I said before. I had nothing to do with Rita's disappearance. Fuel pump's behind the barn, right? Yeah. Help yourself.
What are you looking at?
I was standing right here four years ago asking myself the same question. You know, Aaron Westonson's right about one thing. Back then Grissom and I processed every inch of that house and this barn and found no signs of a struggle. Aaron versus Rita? He's twice her size. Yeah, it would've been over before it started.
Okay, fill her up. I think it's diesel. Why is it red? It's an EPA requirement. Farm's don't have to pay taxes on fuel, so refineries, they mark their agricultural diesel by dying it red.
I'm getting married in five days. Not if you can't explain to me how your fingerprints ended up on this peanut butter tube.
We found it in the jury room.
I just wanted to go home, have my fittings. I spent my bridal shower with 11 strangers. My sister filled in for me. I'll never get to experience that. Mr. Gibbons will never get to experience the rest of his life.
We were on a break, and the lunch order came. Hey. What did you order? Don't worry, I'll pass it out.
I got the peanut butter out of the vending machine a couple days ago. I wanted to stuff it down the guy's throat, but I didn't. So you decided to put it in his chili instead?
Great, food's here. I'm starving. Where's mine?
But at the last minute, I couldn't do that.
Oh!
Oh, I'm so sorry. No, that's okay, I'll take yours. You can reorder.
Then I cleaned up and I walked out. You had to know it was going to kill him. No, I didn't know it was going to be lethal. When Bob was flicking peanut shells at him, it's not like he choked up.
I swear, I didn't know it was going to kill him. I just thought that it would get him replaced with one of the alternates who would vote guilty. Well, Miss Newsome, you are officially off of jury duty.
I killed him. No, she didn't. Greg, she told Warrick she put peanut butter in the chili. I don't care if Mr. Peanut was taking a bath in the vic's lunch. It's not what killed him. Be specific, Greg. I got the detailed results back from the assay test. The level of immunoglobulin E was insufficient to cause a lethal reaction.
Well, that does go along with what the bride-to-be said about the victim. That he had a dermatological response to the allergen and not a respiratory one. GRISSOM: Did the assay test show any other food allergies? No, uh-uh. So the cause of death is still anaphylactic shock. Okay, what caused it? And who?
I got your page. Who shot your dog? Trace tech. He analyzed the fuel from Aaron's pump. Confirmed it's diesel. The hydrocarbons found in the tree were from unleaded gasoline. Means the fuel on Aaron's farm was not used to cremate Rita's body. Maybe it pumped unleaded four years ago. Converted to diesel at some point since. Ah, I thought the same thing myself, so I called the NDEP. Mm-hmm. E Permit for Aaron's fuel tank was specifically for diesel. Where does that leave us?
NDEP's database for Clark County. Now, the red dots represent the areas of permitted fuel tanks. Isolate Moapa. Yeah.
Aaron's farm's located at the cross streets of White Oak and Stansberry.
The burn spot is a half mile east along the river. Mm-hmm.
Only two permitted fuel tanks up in that area. The one on the left is Aaron's. We can exclude that one. Who owns the other one?
Faye Minden.
ROBBINS: We've ruled out food allergy as the cause of death. If it was an environmental agent, I expect one of the other jurors had a reaction as well. His body reacted to something. It's why I'm reexamining the exposed areas of his body-- face and the neck.
Look at this.
Apis Mellifera Linnaeus.
We're looking for another body.
Greg ran the assay test for bee venom on Chris Gibbons. IG levels were spiked. Was Gibbons even aware that he had a bee allergy? Brass finally tracked down his allergist. Gibbons was allergic to a lot of things.
The killer, I presume.
Or what's left of him. ( buzzing )
( gasping ) He had an immediate reaction to a bee sting. Lost consciousness, fell forward, hit his head on the table. You know how Gervis was complaining that it was too hot. He said he opened the window. I can't take this anymore! Who keeps shutting this damn window?! Well, that explains it. It was an outside job.
Okay, good. Thank you.
Hey. Heard you were over at Aaron's farm. Yep. I bet that shook him up. Thank you for pushing forward with the investigation. And we continue to push forward. We need to take a sample of fuel from your pump. Yeah. Yeah, you wouldn't mind, would you, Faye? My pump? Yeah. Well, what'd he say? Didn't I tell you he'd turn on me? Oh, he didn't say anything. Just want to take a look. My trees are Douglas firs. The... the needles grow in spirals around the twigs. It's amazing. Any time you guys want, you come back here, take your pick. Free of charge. The pump on Aaron's farm is diesel. Your sister was cremated with unleaded.
You know what? Thinking back now, I-I remember Aaron's pump was empty, and, uh, he insisted we drive over here. He used mine. Sorry for the confusion.
Excuse me. Please say you believe me.
♪ ♪
I believe you, Faye.
You see, blood evidence doesn't disappear over time. Your sister was murdered... by you.
Faye? Faye, you in here?
STOKES: Unleaded gasoline, barrels for incineration, cast off on the walls. DNA consistent with Rita Westonson. Then he killed Rita to be with Aaron. And a couple of weeks ago, hears he's getting engaged to her younger sister Terry. They couldn't handle it, man. She just freaked. So she tried to pin Rita's murder on Aaron. Four years ago when I decided to close the case, did you agree with my decision? Well, you were following protocol. And now? Now I'd fight you on it, yeah.
Why? Rita Westonson was a dependable, predictable girl. We never answered the question why she just woke up one morning and walked away from the rest of her life. It happens. And that's what the evidence was telling us. Well, that's what the physical evidence was telling us. We should have dug deeper. You can't just ignore the human element, Grissom. I agree, Nick. But when you start to have feelings for the people involved, you risk your objectivity. So what? You know, I'm always getting criticized for empathizing with the victims and their families, but that's who I am. That's how I do my job. And as far as the promotion goes, it's all good, man. I can live without it. I'm not you.
Good. We certainly don't need another me around here.
( keyboard clacking )