Serial Killer Documentary - 16 Years Later - The Cigarette Butt That Exposed a Killer

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Yeah, I'll have to get my schedule from him tomorrow.
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Just give him a call.
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I'm sure he'll answer, hopefully.
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Yeah, maybe.
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Maybe.
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Your life would be so much easier if you got
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a car.
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Yeah, someday.
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Just knowing those final moments that she had were so
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horrific was hard to deal with.
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I couldn't imagine who could take her life. I just couldn't.
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You don't want to be outsmarted by someone that commits
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a crime like this.
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I kept praying that I would get some good leads
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that would lead me to that killer. I spent 11
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1⁄2 years in homicide. And when you have a case
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that's not solved, it just eats at you. And I've
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got this little girl's picture right up in front of me,
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staring at me every day. Get the guy that killed me.
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Get the guy that killed me. She's telling me, you know,
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let's get the guy that killed me. And I want to.
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I want to solve this case.
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After a 31-year career, including the last 11 chasing the
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person who killed 18-year-old Lisa Summers, Detective Earl Cooper is retiring.
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For Cooper, not being able to catch Lisa's murderer is
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his lone regret.
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That was a 911 call that came in. First thing
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I came upon was a bicycle. And then I seen
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a backpack that had been spilled, stuff had been spilled
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out of that backpack. And then I walked over towards
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where the body was lying, and I noticed a bra
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and some clothes were laying off of the body, and
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the body appeared to be a white female. I could
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tell by the way the body looked bike was and
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the way the backpack was that she had been dragged
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to that location. I could tell by the clothing and
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the way the body was that she had fought back
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because the way the clothes were torn off of her
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and the position of her body looked like she had
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been sexually assaulted. I also saw a cigarette butt that
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was fairly close to the body. I didn't know at
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that point whether she smoked or whatever, but I figured
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that that was evidence that we needed to gather. So
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I made sure that nobody else entered that scene until
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my technician gets there.
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The body had no clothes on it, and you could
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tell that it had been there for a little bit
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due to the condition of the body, for the coloring
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of it and the way the skin looks.
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CSI collects the clothing, the cigarette butt, blood, and semen residue.
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hoping it will reveal who did this to Lisa Summers
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and why.
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The street officer had told me that the two guys
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that found the body were still on the scene. So
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where were you guys coming from when you discovered the body?
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We were coming from his house.
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It's on 34th, and we were coming over on the 38th.
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David said we should go across the field.
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That's when we found the body. What did you do then?
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I went to a restaurant and called you guys.
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Fifteen years after Lisa's murder, the killer is still on
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the loose.
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Cold cases can be very frustrating. It's not that the
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original investigators did a poor job. It's that cases are
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what they are. If the evidence is not there or
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the right people to speak to are not there or
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not listed or unknown, the case is always going to
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be a cold case.
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Sometimes time and technology can fill in the gap. So
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Indianapolis police start reviewing its unsolved murders. Detective Bill Rogers
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is assigned to Lisa Summers' cold case.
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A lot of times, it's a personal issue. You don't
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want to be out-thought or out-smarted by someone that commits
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a crime like this. And I made it my mission
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to catch the killer.
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Rogers joins forces with the Indianapolis deputy prosecuting attorney, Denise Robinson.
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Cold cases present, I think, some unique challenges for prosecutors.
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Part of it is making sure that you have witnesses
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who are not only available but have some recollection of
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the events. We have some DNA testing we can do
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now that we couldn't do years ago. But other than that,
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it's putting together a puzzle where sometimes you don't have
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all the pieces to the puzzle.
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To know what pieces he's working with, Detective Rogers counts
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on the original lead investigator, now retired Earl Cooper.
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Lisa's mother's name was Dorothy Summers, and they lived in
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an apartment complex not too far from where the homicide
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actually occurred.
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I'm sorry to have to inform you of this, but
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we found your daughter's body this morning.
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It appears to be a homicide.
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I'm sorry.
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No.
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I can't believe it. She was such a good girl.
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Dorothy reported Lisa missing four or five days before this incident.
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It's just the two of us.
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She helped me.
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An infant when her father walked out, Lisa had to
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grow up fast to help her ailing mother.
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Lisa was a person.
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Of little means that was doing the best she could
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do in life. She was supporting her mother and trying
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to advance her education to make some type of better
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life for herself. This case became personal for the fact that,
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in my opinion, Lisa was a true victim. She was
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doing the best that she could do with her limited
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skills and work opportunities.
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Lisa and her mother, as long as I had known them,
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were always just the two of them. Hey.
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How are you feeling?
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Okay.
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Thank you.
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You all right?
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Yeah. Good.
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Oh, I'm fine.
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All right.
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Well, let's take your medicine. All right.
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You want to take two of these.
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All right. Okay.
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All right.
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They were two peas in a pod. I know that
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she and her mother had a very special bond. They
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had a very simple life, but they had each other,
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and that really seemed to be an awful lot to
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them and all that they really needed.
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Lisa's mother depends on her daughter to pay the rent.
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She and her mother had this paper route. When Lisa's
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mother was unable to do the route, Lisa was right
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there to take over.
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She really wanted to take care of her mother.
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Everybody agrees she's the perfect daughter.
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I couldn't imagine who could take her life. I just couldn't.
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The news of Lisa's murder devastates her best friends, Billy
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Hicks and Julie Williams.
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Like a lot of teenage girls, we all have dreams.
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And we would, you know, talk about, you know, how
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the future would be.
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So, we were driving over here, we were talking about something.
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About what?
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We need to make a pledge.
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We need to always live in the same neighborhood and
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have parties every weekend.
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And when we have kids, they'll always play together and
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do stuff.
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Friends forever.
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Friends forever.
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These dreams are all shattered when they hear the news
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of Lisa's murder.
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I was taking my driver's ed class. Kids around me
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were talking about a classmate who had been murdered.
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Learning that Lisa was not only dead, but that she
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was murdered, that someone had taken her life in a
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very violent fashion, was definitely the hardest thing I've ever
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had to live through. Just knowing those final moments that
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she had were so horrific.
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Believe she's gone. Millie and Julie wait for the day
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Lisa's killer is brought to justice.
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Like, best friend, you know?
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Somebody murdered her. And not only did they murder her,
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but they just left her in this field.
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You know, out in nowhere.
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She wanted to better herself, further her education, so she
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could provide more for her mom.
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She showed initiative. In fact, the night that she was abducted,
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she had her school books with her. So I think
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she was certainly making an effort.
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I couldn't understand why somebody would do that to him. Just,
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there was no reason.
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Cold cases are no different than any other cases. They
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just need that one bit of information that either leads
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to the right person or that one small piece of
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evidence that can link someone to the crime scene.
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Chasing that elusive, overlooked lead after 15 years, every discovery
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needs to be reexamined, starting with the death threat.
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Whenever there's a threat to kill that's been made in
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the police document, they need to investigate that to determine
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if that was a viable threat. That's certainly something that
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I would demand they do as a prosecutor.
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You missed a spot. What is your problem?
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You know what my problem is.
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No, I don't know what your problem is.
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My boyfriend. What are you talking about? You were all
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over him. You were flirting with him.
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I was being nice to him because he's a customer.
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Well, maybe you should stop doing that.
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Next time I see you with him, I'm going.
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To kill you.
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You're crazy.
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This little girl actually made a threat that she was
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going to kill her.
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By December 2004, 15 years after the murder of 18-year-old
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Lisa Summers, the case remains open. Now assigned to the
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Indianapolis PD Cold Case Unit, Detective Bill Rogers starts by
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revisiting the original investigation. There, he learns Lisa got a
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death threat only days before she's killed.
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There was some talk that Lisa had a few squabbles
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with a female employee at the fast food restaurant. She
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and Lisa were dating the same 18-year-old boy at the
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same time.
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Alex, how well did you know Lisa?
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We knew each other pretty well.
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Did you have a pretty good relationship?
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Yeah, we were friends until she started flirting with my boyfriend,
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so I was pretty angry.
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I had to bring everybody in that had heard that,
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that had talked about it, to see how much, how
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real that threat was.
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We had several folks say that they saw you, heard
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you threaten her.
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I really didn't mean it.
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I wasn't being serious.
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But now here, Elisa's dead, so I just wanted to.
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No, I promise I would never kill her.
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And through talking to all these people, I determined that threat.
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Was a petty thing.
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I couldn't get anything positive out of that to make
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a suspect out of her.
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That was an 18-year-old squabble between two girls that later
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never panned out.
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Detective Rogers moves on to Cooper's next report. Two days
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after the co-worker is cleared, two potential witnesses come forward.
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They might have seen the killer.
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I received a phone call from a lady that stated
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that her daughter and her daughter's friend were broke down.
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They noticed a guy go by them. The one big
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thing they noticed about the guy was that he had
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a limp. They gave me a description of this guy.
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They thought he was somewhere between six foot, six foot
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two and 150 to 160 pounds. Longish, dirty brown hair.
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Shortly after they seen a young woman come by riding
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a bicycle, and she appeared to have a fast food
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restaurant shirt on. They said she was probably about 18
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years old. They said when the girl caught up to
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the guy walking, he said something to her. And from
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that point, they started talking, and they disappeared over the
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other side of 465. When the girls gave me a
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description of the guy they'd seen with a lamp, it
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reminded me of one of the two guys that had
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found the body had a bad limp.
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Cooper interviews the man with a limp, David Ashworth, about
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the night of Lisa's murder.
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We brought you in to ask you a few questions.
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All right, what do you need to know? Tell me
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about that night. Um, I was hanging out with a buddy, Jim,
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We were hanging around, and he dropped me off at
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a bar at 34th Street. At what time did he
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drop you off?
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11 or 10.
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We were just hanging out.
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I didn't really check my watch a lot.
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And you said about 12.30 you guys left the bar?
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Mm-hmm.
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And where did you go then?
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I went home and was there the rest of the night.
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Who was at your house?
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Anybody? My wife, Diane.
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Ashworth, are you willing to take a polygraph?
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Sure.
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00:16:00.590 --> 00:16:01.190
No problem.
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00:16:01.269 --> 00:16:03.570
I don't got anything to hide. He, in fact, did
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flunk the polygraph test. The thing with the polygraph test
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00:16:07.470 --> 00:16:10.309
is that the polygraph tests are not admissible in court.
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00:16:14.750 --> 00:16:17.529
I knew at that point he was married. I had
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00:16:17.570 --> 00:16:20.850
his address. I had his wife's name. I went to her,
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personally went to her house and talked to her.
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Mrs. Ashworth?
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00:16:24.970 --> 00:16:25.789
Yes.
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I'm Detective Cooper. Do you mind if I ask you
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00:16:27.509 --> 00:16:28.929
a few questions about your husband, David?
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00:16:30.100 --> 00:16:30.480
I guess.
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00:16:30.789 --> 00:16:33.399
Could you tell me what time he returned home on
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June the 15th?
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00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:38.539
June the 15th. about 12, 12.30 that night.
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Are you sure about that?
275
00:16:40.950 --> 00:16:43.710
Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was around 12, 12.30.
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00:16:43.710 --> 00:16:47.289
Lisa would usually ride her bicycle home every night when
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she got off around 12.30.
278
00:16:50.990 --> 00:16:54.590
Lisa Summers' time card showed her clocking out at the
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00:16:54.610 --> 00:16:58.169
fast food restaurant at approximately 12.24 a.m.
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Is everything okay?
281
00:17:00.090 --> 00:17:05.369
So despite failing the polygraph, David Ashworth has a solid alibi.
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00:17:05.869 --> 00:17:08.450
David Ashworth at that point could not have been involved
283
00:17:08.509 --> 00:17:08.670
in it.
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Thank you so much.
285
00:17:09.750 --> 00:17:20.299
Thank you. With Ashworth cleared as a suspect, Detective Rogers
286
00:17:20.339 --> 00:17:25.539
starts digging for possible motives behind the murder. He wonders,
287
00:17:26.019 --> 00:17:28.660
why would anyone want to kill Lisa Summers?
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00:17:30.009 --> 00:17:33.470
Lisa was what we call a true victim. Lisa wasn't
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00:17:33.509 --> 00:17:36.839
out slinging dope and selling stolen guns and doing robberies
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00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:39.640
and things of that nature. Lisa did not deserve this
291
00:17:39.720 --> 00:17:40.279
by any means.
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00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:45.920
Best friends Billy and Julie ask the same question. Why Lisa?
293
00:17:46.579 --> 00:17:58.230
I thought we were going to go to the dance. No,
294
00:17:58.289 --> 00:17:59.210
I said we were going to hang out.
295
00:17:59.430 --> 00:17:59.710
Yeah.
296
00:17:59.849 --> 00:18:01.049
I'm not dancing.
297
00:18:01.170 --> 00:18:02.410
Okay, why don't we go to Russell's?
298
00:18:03.029 --> 00:18:03.150
Yeah.
299
00:18:03.190 --> 00:18:03.970
Let's go to Russell's.
300
00:18:03.990 --> 00:18:05.990
No, no way. He looks so cute. I am not
301
00:18:06.019 --> 00:18:08.779
going there. Why not? No.
302
00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:11.299
No. Come on.
303
00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:12.359
We just stayed home.
304
00:18:13.140 --> 00:18:14.019
So boring.
305
00:18:14.059 --> 00:18:14.900
You are so mean.
306
00:18:14.920 --> 00:18:16.420
She was kind of the good girl of the group
307
00:18:16.440 --> 00:18:19.359
because she was the girl that wore the pretty dresses
308
00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:22.759
and she was the girly girl. And, you know, when
309
00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:26.440
we were teenagers, we were smoking and she hated that.
310
00:18:26.910 --> 00:18:29.630
She absolutely would not let you smoke around her.
311
00:18:30.230 --> 00:18:33.259
Lisa did not take risks. She was the cautious one.
312
00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:36.400
She was always in my ear trying to tell me
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00:18:36.440 --> 00:18:42.079
to not do something or think first. And I definitely
314
00:18:42.140 --> 00:18:46.039
was not a cautious teenager. I was a run and go,
315
00:18:46.140 --> 00:18:49.900
think about the consequences later. She wasn't getting into cars
316
00:18:49.940 --> 00:18:53.369
with people she didn't know. She wasn't, it wasn't her.
317
00:18:53.809 --> 00:18:55.730
There was a whole lot of, why wasn't it me?
318
00:18:56.660 --> 00:18:57.519
Why wouldn't it mean?
319
00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:03.430
After one month on the case, Detective Rogers can find
320
00:19:03.549 --> 00:19:07.609
nothing that Detective Cooper overlooked. But he still has more
321
00:19:07.690 --> 00:19:12.150
files to review. Cooper reported that seven months after Lisa
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00:19:12.170 --> 00:19:15.680
Summers' murder, two men in the county jail come forward,
323
00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:18.069
saying they know who did it.
324
00:19:19.480 --> 00:19:23.170
Investigators got word from one of these men that he
325
00:19:23.210 --> 00:19:26.190
had information. Matter of fact, he had knowledge, personal knowledge,
326
00:19:26.230 --> 00:19:27.529
of who killed Lisa Summers.
327
00:19:29.069 --> 00:19:33.599
The informers, behind bars for rape and robbery, say another
328
00:19:33.700 --> 00:19:37.640
inmate named Kevin Johnson confessed to them about Lisa's slaying.
329
00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:42.900
They were going to snitch on their friend and place
330
00:19:42.940 --> 00:19:46.079
all the blame on him. They made statements to me
331
00:19:46.119 --> 00:19:48.640
that he carried a gun. They made statements that he'd
332
00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:49.700
raped people before.
333
00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:55.519
To identify the new suspect, Kevin Johnson, Cooper brings in
334
00:19:55.579 --> 00:19:58.220
the two witnesses who saw Lisa with the limping man
335
00:19:58.289 --> 00:19:59.349
the night she went missing.
336
00:19:59.369 --> 00:20:02.230
I have some mug shots here I want you guys
337
00:20:02.269 --> 00:20:03.990
to take a look at and see if any of
338
00:20:04.049 --> 00:20:07.650
these resemble the suspect that you saw that night.
339
00:20:13.009 --> 00:20:14.849
The suspect. Him.
340
00:20:15.710 --> 00:20:16.190
You think so?
341
00:20:16.250 --> 00:20:17.410
That looks like him.
342
00:20:18.609 --> 00:20:20.750
Yeah, I think that's definitely the guy that we saw.
343
00:20:22.170 --> 00:20:23.809
So if I were to ask you guys to testify
344
00:20:23.849 --> 00:20:26.119
in court, are you 100% sure.
345
00:20:26.019 --> 00:20:26.599
This is the guy?
346
00:20:27.150 --> 00:20:30.000
No, not 100% sure it looks like him, but.
347
00:20:32.819 --> 00:20:35.839
When my witness makes a statement to me that, yes,
348
00:20:35.900 --> 00:20:38.039
he looks like him, but I can't say for sure
349
00:20:38.099 --> 00:20:40.500
that that's him, it sort of fizzles out. You can't
350
00:20:40.539 --> 00:20:41.619
go anyplace else with it.
351
00:20:42.740 --> 00:20:47.660
Needing absolute certainty, Cooper presses the jailhouse snitches for details
352
00:20:47.720 --> 00:20:48.279
of the crime.
353
00:20:49.140 --> 00:20:51.680
They were admitting that they were present at the crime scene,
354
00:20:52.220 --> 00:20:55.119
and by indicating that a third person had been involved
355
00:20:55.180 --> 00:20:59.089
in actually killing Lisa, they were trying to work a
356
00:20:59.130 --> 00:21:01.529
deal with the state to lessen their charges.
357
00:21:03.009 --> 00:21:06.150
The police don't always put out 100% of their knowledge
358
00:21:06.170 --> 00:21:08.880
of a case to the public. And that's done because
359
00:21:08.980 --> 00:21:12.809
oftentimes only the killer and the police know very intimate
360
00:21:12.910 --> 00:21:16.450
facts about that case. That way, when a suspect is
361
00:21:16.549 --> 00:21:20.789
found and he or she confesses, we know that confession
362
00:21:20.809 --> 00:21:22.809
to be true if they give intimate knowledge of the
363
00:21:22.849 --> 00:21:24.559
scene that no one else could possibly know.
364
00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:29.400
We told you we were part of it. There was
365
00:21:29.500 --> 00:21:33.519
things that I knew that if they were involved, they
366
00:21:33.559 --> 00:21:34.539
should be able to tell me.
367
00:21:34.819 --> 00:21:35.980
All right, stop wasting our time.
368
00:21:36.940 --> 00:21:39.009
Tell us what we need to know. Where was the
369
00:21:39.049 --> 00:21:41.430
body dropped? Tell us what kind of clothes she was wearing.
370
00:21:44.269 --> 00:21:47.529
You're telling us only things that the public already knows.
371
00:21:48.970 --> 00:21:51.710
Cooper realizes the men have an ulterior motive.
372
00:21:53.430 --> 00:21:56.789
They were just trying to get their times cut from
373
00:21:56.829 --> 00:21:58.990
the sentence they had received in prison.
374
00:21:59.970 --> 00:22:04.339
For the Indianapolis detectives, another promising lead dries up, and
375
00:22:04.380 --> 00:22:15.029
Lisa Summers' case goes cold. In July 2006, seven years
376
00:22:15.109 --> 00:22:19.950
after 18-year-old Lisa Summers' murder, her mother passes away before
377
00:22:20.130 --> 00:22:22.170
anyone is brought to justice for the crime.
378
00:22:24.349 --> 00:22:28.259
When I discovered that Lisa's mother, Dorothy, was no longer alive,
379
00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:33.000
I became very emotional, almost enraged, and knowing that, you know,
380
00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:37.400
Dorothy went to her grave not seeing the man that
381
00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:39.299
murdered her daughter go behind bars.
382
00:22:40.789 --> 00:22:44.269
Investigators are equally troubled that after all this time, Lisa's
383
00:22:44.309 --> 00:22:45.930
killer still walks free.
384
00:22:46.920 --> 00:22:50.680
Because you have all the work of previous investigators to
385
00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:55.539
draw from, you have new technology to draw from, and
386
00:22:55.579 --> 00:22:59.339
you've got your input into this case, it's frustrating the
387
00:22:59.380 --> 00:23:00.900
fact that you get the same dead end.
388
00:23:02.119 --> 00:23:05.869
That same frustration has dogged Detective Earl Cooper well into
389
00:23:05.930 --> 00:23:06.710
his retirement.
390
00:23:08.309 --> 00:23:12.019
I wanted to solve that case. because I had three
391
00:23:12.059 --> 00:23:15.789
kids of my own. I had a daughter that was
392
00:23:15.849 --> 00:23:18.829
almost the same age as Lisa, and I would want
393
00:23:19.230 --> 00:23:23.089
somebody to work that case until they found the killer
394
00:23:23.109 --> 00:23:26.190
of my daughter. So I kept her picture on my desk,
395
00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:30.559
hoping and praying that I would get some good leads
396
00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:32.420
that would lead me to that killer.
397
00:23:33.740 --> 00:23:37.619
But after years of chasing dead-end leads, Cooper's no closer
398
00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:40.799
to catching the man who raped and murdered Lisa Summers.
399
00:23:41.980 --> 00:23:45.269
She was 18 years old. This little girl had just
400
00:23:45.329 --> 00:23:48.369
started her life. She was a good kid. She was
401
00:23:48.430 --> 00:23:49.670
trying to better herself.
402
00:23:51.470 --> 00:23:54.450
Knowing where Lisa was heading in life and what her
403
00:23:54.529 --> 00:23:58.470
ambition and drive was, it made it very tragic.
404
00:23:58.490 --> 00:24:00.930
So what do you guys want to do this weekend?
405
00:24:00.950 --> 00:24:01.930
I want to go to the dance.
406
00:24:02.630 --> 00:24:03.470
No, I'm not tan.
407
00:24:04.549 --> 00:24:06.529
What do you want to do? I'll be home with
408
00:24:06.549 --> 00:24:07.470
my mom.
409
00:24:08.529 --> 00:24:11.670
We were like the Three Musketeers. We really thoroughly enjoyed
410
00:24:12.269 --> 00:24:13.710
being together, all three of us.
411
00:24:14.839 --> 00:24:19.440
Look at Tommy. Oh, he's so cute. Adorable.
412
00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:23.279
What is she doing with Tommy?
413
00:24:23.619 --> 00:24:24.160
I don't know.
414
00:24:24.180 --> 00:24:25.599
I think they're together, though.
415
00:24:26.450 --> 00:24:30.720
We were typical girls growing up. We would talk about
416
00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:33.599
boys and call them on the phone, you know, typical
417
00:24:33.799 --> 00:24:35.339
teenage kind of things.
418
00:24:37.700 --> 00:24:43.250
The longer time goes, the more questions you have. The
419
00:24:43.289 --> 00:24:45.769
more you wonder, are they getting close? Do they have
420
00:24:45.849 --> 00:24:51.809
anybody in mind? Is anyone even thinking about this poor
421
00:24:51.829 --> 00:24:52.910
girl that was killed?
422
00:24:55.849 --> 00:25:00.369
Almost two years after Lisa's murder, when all seems hopeless,
423
00:25:00.579 --> 00:25:04.200
a woman named Charlotte Ledbetter comes forward with new information
424
00:25:04.259 --> 00:25:06.539
about one of the men who found Lisa's body.
425
00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:12.740
I have some information on David Ashworth that you might
426
00:25:12.759 --> 00:25:14.920
be interested in. He was just like a friend of
427
00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:16.880
a friend, and I was definitely friends with his ex-wife,
428
00:25:16.920 --> 00:25:19.019
so I just really thought that I should share it
429
00:25:19.059 --> 00:25:19.400
with you.
430
00:25:19.700 --> 00:25:22.210
The first time I met David Ashworth was at the
431
00:25:22.289 --> 00:25:23.869
bar at the time around our neighborhood.
432
00:25:24.980 --> 00:25:26.380
Thanks for meeting us out, guys.
433
00:25:26.420 --> 00:25:27.740
Yeah, we haven't seen you in so long.
434
00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:28.279
I know.
435
00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:30.240
You never come anymore.
436
00:25:31.559 --> 00:25:35.059
He was very abusive towards her. He'd go out and
437
00:25:35.079 --> 00:25:36.720
get drunk, and then come home and beat her up.
438
00:25:36.779 --> 00:25:38.180
She'd come to the bar, and you could tell she
439
00:25:38.200 --> 00:25:40.000
had extra makeup on.
440
00:25:40.599 --> 00:25:43.940
Let's go. Let's go. Get me another one.
441
00:25:44.740 --> 00:25:45.380
OK, let's just go.
442
00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:45.920
Come on.
443
00:25:46.680 --> 00:25:49.160
He just was always hitting on women, and trying to
444
00:25:49.180 --> 00:25:50.519
get them to go home with him and stuff, and
445
00:25:50.619 --> 00:25:54.019
buying their drinks. He thought he was God's gift to women,
446
00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:56.579
but he really wasn't. He was like real thin and
447
00:25:56.740 --> 00:25:59.250
skinny and not very attractive, I didn't think.
448
00:26:00.769 --> 00:26:04.250
Charlotte tells Cooper about a ride she gave Ashworth early
449
00:26:04.349 --> 00:26:04.829
one morning.
450
00:26:07.609 --> 00:26:13.009
She stated that her boyfriend was working at a construction site.
451
00:26:13.109 --> 00:26:15.470
She had taken him to work and dropped him off.
452
00:26:16.049 --> 00:26:19.279
And as she was coming back up towards 34th Street,
453
00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:21.140
she actually seen David Ashworth.
454
00:26:22.839 --> 00:26:23.400
I thought it was.
455
00:26:23.319 --> 00:26:25.420
David Ashworth because he was limping, and not too many
456
00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:27.460
people in our neighborhood have a limp. So when I
457
00:26:27.500 --> 00:26:29.640
got up to him, I pulled over, and it was David.
458
00:26:29.980 --> 00:26:30.339
Hey!
459
00:26:31.680 --> 00:26:33.619
David? What are you doing?
460
00:26:33.640 --> 00:26:34.359
Do you need a ride?
461
00:26:35.099 --> 00:26:37.240
No, I'll walk. Thank you.
462
00:26:38.099 --> 00:26:39.539
I'll give you a ride. It's not a big deal.
463
00:26:51.059 --> 00:26:55.880
What happened to you? Got in a fight.
464
00:26:56.359 --> 00:26:59.700
Passed out in a port-a-john. Passed out in a port-a-john.
465
00:26:59.769 --> 00:27:01.140
He was really sort of banged up.
466
00:27:01.180 --> 00:27:02.930
He had a lot of scratches on him, and he
467
00:27:02.970 --> 00:27:04.450
was just really dirty, you know?
468
00:27:04.490 --> 00:27:05.609
What was his demeanor?
469
00:27:06.789 --> 00:27:07.930
Um, sketchy, you know?
470
00:27:07.950 --> 00:27:08.089
Really?
471
00:27:08.250 --> 00:27:09.289
Yeah, and I mean, it was.
472
00:27:09.309 --> 00:27:09.950
Seemed nervous, or.
473
00:27:10.730 --> 00:27:12.549
Um, he seemed like he'd had a really long night,
474
00:27:12.650 --> 00:27:13.009
you know?
475
00:27:13.029 --> 00:27:15.569
Can you drop me off before the house? I don't
476
00:27:15.589 --> 00:27:16.730
want to see me coming home.
477
00:27:21.190 --> 00:27:24.009
I thought that was kind of strange. And then after that,
478
00:27:24.069 --> 00:27:25.890
I dropped him off and he went in the back door.
479
00:27:27.029 --> 00:27:30.109
Over the next few days, David changes his story about
480
00:27:30.150 --> 00:27:32.630
that night every time Charlotte talks to him.
481
00:27:33.650 --> 00:27:37.920
Another story was that he had been arrested, actually been
482
00:27:37.940 --> 00:27:40.500
arrested that night. Another story was that he fell in
483
00:27:40.519 --> 00:27:42.640
some bushes and got cut up. He was trying to
484
00:27:42.680 --> 00:27:44.599
explain to her why he was in the condition he
485
00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:48.839
was in. So why haven't you come here sooner and
486
00:27:48.880 --> 00:27:49.420
let me know this?
487
00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:53.799
I wouldn't want to, you know, give someone this information
488
00:27:53.839 --> 00:27:55.599
that would put him in jail, like, in case he,
489
00:27:55.980 --> 00:27:56.859
you know, hadn't done it.
490
00:27:59.269 --> 00:28:01.809
When a suspect gives different stories, gives some reason to
491
00:28:01.849 --> 00:28:04.329
believe that they're not telling the truth. Now, in this case,
492
00:28:04.369 --> 00:28:06.599
the detective had to look closely at whether he was
493
00:28:07.079 --> 00:28:11.000
lying for simply because of intoxication or was lying because
494
00:28:11.039 --> 00:28:11.579
of something else.
495
00:28:13.230 --> 00:28:17.059
If Charlotte's account is true, then David's story about staying
496
00:28:17.180 --> 00:28:20.079
out all night contradicts his wife's alibi that he came
497
00:28:20.140 --> 00:28:22.980
home around midnight the night Lisa Summers was murdered.
498
00:28:26.049 --> 00:28:29.849
Lisa, we know, was last seen around 12.30 in the morning.
499
00:28:30.430 --> 00:28:33.910
Charlotte Ledbetter picks David Ashworth up sometime after 6 in
500
00:28:33.950 --> 00:28:37.849
the morning. Those six hours, five and a half, six hours,
501
00:28:37.930 --> 00:28:40.470
were completely unaccounted for. There was a big question mark
502
00:28:40.519 --> 00:28:42.660
as to what he was doing during that time period.
503
00:28:45.380 --> 00:28:48.240
To find answers, the investigators look at the man with
504
00:28:48.380 --> 00:28:50.380
Ashworth the day they find Lisa's body.
505
00:28:54.200 --> 00:28:54.859
Hey, what are you.
506
00:28:54.789 --> 00:28:55.720
Guys up to today?
507
00:28:55.990 --> 00:28:59.630
At that point, I had no idea whether the friend
508
00:28:59.650 --> 00:29:01.569
was involved in this in any way, but I knew
509
00:29:01.630 --> 00:29:03.329
that he was with him when he found the body,
510
00:29:03.369 --> 00:29:06.369
so I had to put the heat on both of
511
00:29:06.430 --> 00:29:09.329
those guys to try to catch them in mistakes that
512
00:29:09.369 --> 00:29:13.970
I could use against them. The first thing he mentioned
513
00:29:13.990 --> 00:29:17.380
to me that David normally wasn't a morning person, but
514
00:29:17.430 --> 00:29:20.940
David actually had called him that morning and suggested they
515
00:29:20.980 --> 00:29:24.000
go up and watch some of the airplanes take off.
516
00:29:26.220 --> 00:29:30.579
As they were walking on 34th Street, David made reference to,
517
00:29:30.599 --> 00:29:36.789
let's cut through the field. And that was unusual because
518
00:29:37.069 --> 00:29:40.529
half a block down the road, there is a driveway.
519
00:29:41.549 --> 00:29:44.849
It's almost like David Ashworth is leading his friend to
520
00:29:44.890 --> 00:29:49.009
the body. But Cooper has no evidence, and Ashworth still
521
00:29:49.069 --> 00:29:53.789
has an alibi witness, his wife. It's her word against
522
00:29:53.849 --> 00:29:54.710
Charlotte Ledbetter's.
523
00:29:56.019 --> 00:29:59.099
A lot of times when you're working a case and
524
00:29:59.440 --> 00:30:02.240
the developments and the leads run out and the case
525
00:30:02.279 --> 00:30:06.349
turns cold, you're waiting for the liars that are involved
526
00:30:06.369 --> 00:30:09.309
in your case to change their loyalties. And a lot
527
00:30:09.329 --> 00:30:11.069
of times they do and they'll come forth.
528
00:30:12.049 --> 00:30:12.869
Detective Cooper.
529
00:30:12.869 --> 00:30:22.450
16 years after the murder of teenager Lisa Summers, cold
530
00:30:22.490 --> 00:30:28.480
case detectives re-examine witness statements. One witness, Charlotte Ledbetter, points
531
00:30:28.539 --> 00:30:33.500
to David Ashworth. Detective Rogers double-checks his alibi in the
532
00:30:33.539 --> 00:30:34.180
case file.
533
00:30:35.329 --> 00:30:39.849
The original investigators, Detective Earl Coop, talked to David's wife.
534
00:30:40.650 --> 00:30:43.430
She gave them an alibi or a story that David
535
00:30:43.470 --> 00:30:45.589
had been home with her all night in bed with
536
00:30:45.650 --> 00:30:47.930
her and that he'd never left the entire night.
537
00:30:49.150 --> 00:30:51.009
But later, she changes her story.
538
00:30:53.500 --> 00:30:54.220
Detective Cooper.
539
00:30:54.279 --> 00:30:57.920
After three years on the case, Detective Cooper learns that
540
00:30:58.089 --> 00:31:01.690
Ashworth and his wife divorce, and she moves out of state.
541
00:31:02.549 --> 00:31:06.549
Her new husband in Tennessee calls me, said, hey, she's
542
00:31:06.589 --> 00:31:09.890
got some stuff that she needs to tell you. She
543
00:31:09.990 --> 00:31:13.990
now doesn't have a threat from David. Now that liar
544
00:31:14.569 --> 00:31:16.089
can come forth and tell the truth.
545
00:31:16.309 --> 00:31:16.710
Really?
546
00:31:17.390 --> 00:31:19.789
Yeah, he came home around 7 the next morning.
547
00:31:23.420 --> 00:31:27.259
She did, in fact, lie for him out of fear,
548
00:31:28.859 --> 00:31:31.690
and he did, in fact, come home about 6.30 or
549
00:31:31.690 --> 00:31:32.849
7 o'clock in the morning.
550
00:31:33.089 --> 00:31:40.049
What happened to you? David, what happened?
551
00:31:40.230 --> 00:31:41.049
I fell in a bush.
552
00:31:41.410 --> 00:31:42.410
You fell in a bush?
553
00:31:42.430 --> 00:31:43.640
There's scratches all over your.
554
00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:45.279
Hey, mind your own business.
555
00:31:45.299 --> 00:31:48.720
She was very suspicious of why he was all scratched up.
556
00:31:48.980 --> 00:31:49.559
Get away from me.
557
00:31:50.740 --> 00:31:51.119
Let's go.
558
00:31:52.109 --> 00:31:53.990
I thought that was going to break my case. I
559
00:31:54.079 --> 00:31:57.460
knew David Ashworth had lied to me in several statements.
560
00:31:58.279 --> 00:32:03.480
What Charlotte Ledbetter had told me proved to be true.
561
00:32:04.079 --> 00:32:08.299
Detective Cooper has two witnesses refuting the suspect's version of events.
562
00:32:09.880 --> 00:32:13.069
But to build a solid case, he needs physical evidence
563
00:32:13.109 --> 00:32:17.970
to put David Ashworth at the crime scene. So Cooper
564
00:32:18.029 --> 00:32:20.869
turns to a relatively new and unproven technology.
565
00:32:22.880 --> 00:32:26.940
Part of that investigation by Detective Cooper was he asked
566
00:32:27.019 --> 00:32:31.400
David to consent to a blood draw and a saliva draw,
567
00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:35.339
which David Ashworth readily agreed to do. And then those
568
00:32:35.380 --> 00:32:37.569
were turned in to the crime lab for further analysis.
569
00:32:38.589 --> 00:32:42.630
Ashworth's DNA gets compared to evidence from Lisa Summers' crime scene.
570
00:32:44.680 --> 00:32:48.039
I had physical evidence that was found in that field.
571
00:32:48.279 --> 00:32:50.579
There was a cigarette butt that we found. There was
572
00:32:50.680 --> 00:32:55.910
also semen that was found. I presented that to the
573
00:32:55.950 --> 00:32:59.150
crime lab for the technician to do a DNA test.
574
00:33:00.190 --> 00:33:03.589
DNA testing was in its very early forms. It was
575
00:33:03.630 --> 00:33:06.210
very expensive to do, and it was very difficult to
576
00:33:06.259 --> 00:33:07.190
get good results.
577
00:33:10.240 --> 00:33:10.700
Hey, man.
578
00:33:10.980 --> 00:33:11.400
How's it going?
579
00:33:11.460 --> 00:33:11.839
Hey, hey.
580
00:33:11.880 --> 00:33:12.319
How you doing?
581
00:33:12.799 --> 00:33:14.180
Test results came back inconclusive.
582
00:33:15.930 --> 00:33:20.990
I checked everything, everything that was submitted, and she laid
583
00:33:21.029 --> 00:33:23.549
out there for four or five days, so we just
584
00:33:23.569 --> 00:33:24.430
couldn't get a good sample.
585
00:33:24.809 --> 00:33:26.029
That's the news I was looking for.
586
00:33:26.349 --> 00:33:29.230
We just did not have enough to prove beyond a
587
00:33:29.250 --> 00:33:33.490
reasonable doubt at that point that David Ashworth was the
588
00:33:33.519 --> 00:33:37.940
killer of Lisa Summers. I had sat down a couple
589
00:33:37.980 --> 00:33:40.460
times and presented what I had to the prosecutor's office,
590
00:33:40.700 --> 00:33:43.099
but you have to be able to take that case
591
00:33:43.160 --> 00:33:46.380
into court You have to be able to win that
592
00:33:46.440 --> 00:33:49.829
case because there's double jeopardy. You can't try that person again.
593
00:33:50.650 --> 00:33:53.210
So it's better to set it on the side and
594
00:33:53.269 --> 00:33:56.690
hope down the road that it develops into something rather
595
00:33:56.730 --> 00:34:00.910
than take it to court and lose it and that killer.
596
00:34:00.750 --> 00:34:01.190
Is a winner.
597
00:34:03.069 --> 00:34:05.390
So I set it aside with regret.
598
00:34:05.869 --> 00:34:06.690
I set it aside.
599
00:34:11.760 --> 00:34:15.539
Lisa's best friends, Billy and Julie, fear Lisa's case will
600
00:34:15.639 --> 00:34:16.699
never get solved.
601
00:34:18.059 --> 00:34:20.179
You know, I don't want to say I gave up
602
00:34:20.239 --> 00:34:23.510
that they would find someone. I just came to terms
603
00:34:23.630 --> 00:34:26.409
with the longer it was, the less of a chance
604
00:34:27.269 --> 00:34:29.809
that they were going to arrest anyone for it.
605
00:34:33.489 --> 00:34:36.519
As the years went on, I'd get on the computer,
606
00:34:36.559 --> 00:34:38.460
and I'd do a search and see if there was
607
00:34:38.519 --> 00:34:41.289
any information. Maybe they did find out who did it,
608
00:34:41.329 --> 00:34:44.610
and I just missed it in the newspaper or whatnot.
609
00:34:44.809 --> 00:34:47.530
It was really frustrating not having that closure.
610
00:34:48.829 --> 00:34:56.179
Lisa's memory comes back to me all the time. Graduation, proms, dances,
611
00:34:57.039 --> 00:35:00.000
parties for our children that Billy and I have. Just
612
00:35:00.079 --> 00:35:04.599
girls' night out is something that every time it happens,
613
00:35:04.659 --> 00:35:05.130
we miss her.
614
00:35:05.780 --> 00:35:06.980
She should be there with us.
615
00:35:08.500 --> 00:35:10.780
It was a three musketeers. It wasn't supposed to be
616
00:35:10.820 --> 00:35:13.280
just a duo. There were supposed to be three.
617
00:35:17.260 --> 00:35:22.070
Then 15 years after Lisa's murder, Billy has a vivid dream.
618
00:35:25.929 --> 00:35:28.969
I was walking with a tray of food, and she
619
00:35:29.010 --> 00:35:30.590
was sitting across the way.
620
00:35:31.530 --> 00:35:33.269
Lisa, I thought you were dead.
621
00:35:34.239 --> 00:35:35.019
Well, no, silly.
622
00:35:35.079 --> 00:35:36.340
I'm sitting right here, aren't I?
623
00:35:37.679 --> 00:35:40.960
And I had considered, after that dream, calling the sheriff's
624
00:35:41.019 --> 00:35:44.030
office to see if any information had come up, if
625
00:35:44.110 --> 00:35:46.389
anybody had taken responsibility.
626
00:35:47.809 --> 00:35:50.869
If Billie called, she would have learned that she isn't alone.
627
00:35:51.489 --> 00:35:54.610
Detective Rogers is also haunted by thoughts of Lisa.
628
00:35:55.570 --> 00:35:58.119
It was then that I started to go through evidence
629
00:35:58.139 --> 00:36:04.269
that was collected originally at the crime scene. And I
630
00:36:04.389 --> 00:36:06.809
noticed a couple of items that had not been submitted
631
00:36:07.030 --> 00:36:14.289
for testing, specifically her bra. Thank goodness that the original
632
00:36:14.309 --> 00:36:18.590
investigators and the crime lab personnel knew to package this
633
00:36:18.670 --> 00:36:21.610
evidence and secure this evidence in a way that someday
634
00:36:21.650 --> 00:36:25.340
will be able to be looked at again. OK. All right.
635
00:36:25.550 --> 00:36:27.639
Well, let's send it to the lab, and maybe we'll
636
00:36:27.820 --> 00:36:28.500
come up with something.
637
00:36:28.739 --> 00:36:29.519
All right.
638
00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:35.219
DNA had come a long way from 1989. It took
639
00:36:35.260 --> 00:36:41.889
a much, much smaller sample of skin tissue, saliva, blood samples,
640
00:36:42.510 --> 00:36:44.369
things of that nature to be tested.
641
00:36:45.409 --> 00:36:48.150
Two weeks later, Detective Rogers gets a call from the
642
00:36:48.190 --> 00:36:52.650
crime lab. The DNA results are the last chance to
643
00:36:52.769 --> 00:36:56.719
nail Lisa Summers' killer. Is the answer worth the wait?
644
00:36:56.739 --> 00:37:02.780
Hey. So guess what?
645
00:37:03.530 --> 00:37:03.739
What?
646
00:37:03.969 --> 00:37:04.300
Tell me.
647
00:37:04.340 --> 00:37:06.179
Don't keep me waiting.
648
00:37:06.199 --> 00:37:07.280
We got a hit on.
649
00:37:07.280 --> 00:37:11.159
David Ashworth leaving a blood sample in the inside portion
650
00:37:11.179 --> 00:37:11.820
of Lisa.
651
00:37:11.579 --> 00:37:12.179
Summers' bra.
652
00:37:12.480 --> 00:37:16.579
More than 16 years after 18-year-old Lisa Summers is murdered,
653
00:37:17.079 --> 00:37:19.539
her cold case is finally solved.
654
00:37:20.780 --> 00:37:23.480
Of course, I was ecstatic. I was very happy.
655
00:37:25.070 --> 00:37:29.409
The Indianapolis Crime Lab finds DNA consistent with David Ashworth's
656
00:37:29.530 --> 00:37:33.409
on a microscopic blood stain on Lisa's bra and on
657
00:37:33.429 --> 00:37:34.329
the cigarette butt.
658
00:37:35.469 --> 00:37:38.949
Bill Rogers had called me and said, we resubmitted your
659
00:37:39.030 --> 00:37:44.300
evidence for DNA testing. And he said, we got two hits.
660
00:37:45.159 --> 00:37:47.260
And guess who we got the two hits on? I said,
661
00:37:47.320 --> 00:37:48.079
David Ashworth.
662
00:37:49.739 --> 00:37:50.280
He said, yeah.
663
00:37:51.440 --> 00:37:55.619
He said, David Ashworth is our killer. I was happily
664
00:37:55.719 --> 00:38:00.230
stunned because that was what I wanted out of this case.
665
00:38:01.210 --> 00:38:05.929
I wanted to put this case to rest. I wanted
666
00:38:05.969 --> 00:38:08.690
to let that family know that I never forgot about them.
667
00:38:12.750 --> 00:38:16.449
DNA, while it doesn't tell us who committed a crime necessarily,
668
00:38:16.989 --> 00:38:19.380
it can tell us who was present at a particular
669
00:38:19.409 --> 00:38:24.139
crime scene. So DNA in a case like this certainly
670
00:38:24.260 --> 00:38:28.000
links David Ashworth to a crime scene that he didn't
671
00:38:28.019 --> 00:38:28.760
want to be linked to.
672
00:38:30.280 --> 00:38:33.519
When I got the results that David Ashworth had left
673
00:38:33.619 --> 00:38:37.369
a DNA sample, i.e. a microscopic blood drop on the
674
00:38:37.469 --> 00:38:41.130
inside of Lisa Summers' bra, I still wanted to interview
675
00:38:41.230 --> 00:38:44.889
him and talk to him about those specific things.
676
00:38:46.989 --> 00:38:51.730
Problem is, David Ashworth left Indiana years ago, so Detective
677
00:38:51.789 --> 00:38:53.550
Rogers has to track him down.
678
00:38:56.989 --> 00:39:01.010
I flew to Lakeland, Florida. I had done some investigation
679
00:39:01.030 --> 00:39:03.010
and found that David was living down there. He was
680
00:39:03.050 --> 00:39:06.820
working for an irrigation company. I contacted the Polk County
681
00:39:06.840 --> 00:39:10.539
Sheriff's Department, their homicide unit, and asked for some help
682
00:39:10.599 --> 00:39:11.980
in going out to pick up David.
683
00:39:14.320 --> 00:39:15.139
Are you David Ashworth?
684
00:39:16.900 --> 00:39:17.119
Yeah.
685
00:39:17.519 --> 00:39:18.519
I'm Detective Rogers.
686
00:39:18.639 --> 00:39:19.840
This is Detective Johnson.
687
00:39:20.480 --> 00:39:23.219
Just about that girl from Indianapolis. And I said, as
688
00:39:23.260 --> 00:39:24.119
a matter of fact, it is.
689
00:39:25.050 --> 00:39:25.210
Mr.
690
00:39:25.269 --> 00:39:27.230
Ashworth, you want to come with us downtown? Tell us
691
00:39:27.289 --> 00:39:28.869
about it? Tell us what you know?
692
00:39:28.889 --> 00:39:29.949
I already gave you that.
693
00:39:30.039 --> 00:39:32.280
My side of the story 16 years ago, but whatever.
694
00:39:32.380 --> 00:39:34.400
We take them into the Polk County Sheriff's Department. We
695
00:39:34.420 --> 00:39:36.840
chit-chat for a bit. I wanted to ask them some
696
00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:40.599
very specific questions, and primarily... How close were you to
697
00:39:40.619 --> 00:39:40.960
the body?
698
00:39:42.400 --> 00:39:43.699
I never got closer than 10 or 15 feet.
699
00:39:45.019 --> 00:39:45.219
Right.
700
00:39:45.440 --> 00:39:48.300
Is there any reason why your blood would be found
701
00:39:48.440 --> 00:39:49.179
at the crime scene?
702
00:39:49.400 --> 00:39:50.889
No, I couldn't stand the smell.
703
00:39:50.969 --> 00:39:51.889
I didn't want to look at her.
704
00:39:51.909 --> 00:39:53.090
I certainly didn't touch anything.
705
00:39:53.769 --> 00:39:57.269
I slid over the documentation I had from the DNA lab,
706
00:39:57.570 --> 00:40:00.630
which stated that David's DNA was the major contributor for
707
00:40:00.650 --> 00:40:03.460
the sample found on the bra and the cigarette butt.
708
00:40:03.780 --> 00:40:05.500
I can tell you that your test is wrong because
709
00:40:05.539 --> 00:40:07.360
it wasn't me.
710
00:40:07.719 --> 00:40:09.380
And that was pretty much the end of the interview.
711
00:40:10.420 --> 00:40:14.829
Although he denies his involvement... The DNA evidence is overwhelming.
712
00:40:16.409 --> 00:40:19.989
Nearly two years after Lisa Summers' cold case is reopened,
713
00:40:20.449 --> 00:40:23.340
David Ashworth is finally charged with her murder.
714
00:40:24.699 --> 00:40:27.420
Part of the challenge in the case was making sure
715
00:40:27.460 --> 00:40:30.380
these witnesses stayed on board. I wouldn't say that all
716
00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:33.760
of them were necessarily cooperative. I needed to have Ashworth's friend.
717
00:40:34.139 --> 00:40:38.579
I needed David Ashworth's wife. I needed Charlotte Ledbetter. and
718
00:40:38.599 --> 00:40:41.179
the DNA evidence. And in this case, it was making
719
00:40:41.239 --> 00:40:43.300
sure that they'd all be in the courtroom when the
720
00:40:43.360 --> 00:40:44.420
time came to testify.
721
00:40:45.760 --> 00:40:49.550
At the trial, prosecutors present their version of what happened
722
00:40:49.570 --> 00:40:51.449
the night Lisa Summers is murdered.
723
00:40:51.469 --> 00:40:53.050
I've seen you around town.
724
00:40:53.150 --> 00:40:54.869
You're pretty cute. Thanks.
725
00:40:54.889 --> 00:40:55.949
A lot of people tell you that?
726
00:40:55.969 --> 00:40:57.570
I don't know.
727
00:40:57.949 --> 00:40:58.409
You don't know?
728
00:40:59.289 --> 00:41:02.449
Come on, beautiful girl like you? You don't keep your
729
00:41:02.530 --> 00:41:02.929
eyes open?
730
00:41:04.500 --> 00:41:05.840
I bet she didn't think this was going to be
731
00:41:05.860 --> 00:41:07.659
your lucky night to walk home with a guy like me.
732
00:41:07.840 --> 00:41:11.550
He's probably drunk, or at least he's been drinking, and
733
00:41:11.860 --> 00:41:14.849
I think that she declined his advances. She didn't want
734
00:41:14.869 --> 00:41:18.789
to have anything to do with him. And at that point,
735
00:41:19.349 --> 00:41:24.269
he pulled her into the field. She's resisting him. She's
736
00:41:24.329 --> 00:41:26.110
fighting back. She's clawing him, and.
737
00:41:26.539 --> 00:41:26.900
Shut up.
738
00:41:27.119 --> 00:41:28.250
Stop it!
739
00:41:28.300 --> 00:41:29.139
I said shut up!
740
00:41:31.219 --> 00:41:31.869
He strangles her.
741
00:41:48.440 --> 00:41:53.820
The trial in March 2008 lasts three days. Lisa's neighbor,
742
00:41:53.880 --> 00:41:55.219
Donna Cruz, attends.
743
00:41:56.219 --> 00:41:59.610
I had tears in my eyes, and I even said
744
00:41:59.639 --> 00:42:02.989
a little prayer in Thanksgiving, just that I know Lisa
745
00:42:03.070 --> 00:42:05.369
and Dorothy were together, and I wanted to be there
746
00:42:05.409 --> 00:42:08.670
for Lisa, and I wanted to be there for Dorothy,
747
00:42:08.769 --> 00:42:11.710
Lisa's mother, because I, too, have a daughter, and I
748
00:42:11.710 --> 00:42:13.369
want to be there for her. You know, you never
749
00:42:13.429 --> 00:42:16.650
want any harm to come to your children. And I
750
00:42:16.710 --> 00:42:19.250
wanted to be there for all mothers. I felt like
751
00:42:19.650 --> 00:42:22.070
justice needed to be served here to someone who had
752
00:42:22.110 --> 00:42:23.500
taken a human life.
753
00:42:24.599 --> 00:42:27.940
The jury deliberates less than an hour and returns with
754
00:42:28.000 --> 00:42:33.019
a verdict of guilty. David Ashworth is sentenced to 60
755
00:42:33.019 --> 00:42:33.920
years in prison.
756
00:42:34.880 --> 00:42:38.820
I was overjoyed that we've solved another one. We've taken
757
00:42:38.880 --> 00:42:40.159
another bad guy off the street.
758
00:42:41.949 --> 00:42:45.110
For Lisa's friends, there's just one thing left to do.
759
00:42:46.329 --> 00:42:48.469
During all the years that it was a cold case,
760
00:42:49.570 --> 00:42:52.090
I only went out to the cemetery a couple of times.
761
00:42:55.820 --> 00:42:59.079
There's something there that says Lisa was a part of
762
00:42:59.119 --> 00:42:59.659
this world.
763
00:43:00.639 --> 00:43:02.019
Somebody cared about her.
764
00:43:03.219 --> 00:43:07.699
It's a bittersweet thing for me because this was, you know,
765
00:43:07.739 --> 00:43:08.579
my best friend.
766
00:43:09.059 --> 00:43:11.960
We'll never forget her. That's the only way to keep
767
00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:14.679
her alive is to keep the stories and the memories going.
768
00:43:16.019 --> 00:43:18.500
Lisa will always be loved and she'll always be missed.