Three cases from The First 48 archive where confrontations went from heated to deadly in the blink of an eye. In Tulsa, an encounter on the street escalates into gunfire, leaving a mother dead. Then, in Dallas, a case of brutal overkill takes detectives by surprise. And in Mobile, a security guard at a bar becomes a target for revenge.
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00:00this program documents actual homicide investigations criminal charges are
00:10often dropped or reduced and all suspects shown are presumed innocent unless proven guilty
00:15she's like i'm afraid you're dying and then he shoots her when emotions run high anything can
00:26happen if someone's got a short fuse even a smallish spark can set off a firestorm knives dashes beat up
00:36smothered on the first 48 critical minutes and he came back about 45 seconds later a shooting
00:43turns a night out into a nightmare anytime you shoot somebody like that you just got no regard
00:49for nobody a grizzly scene leaves detectives stunned did he slit his throat just about
00:55incapitated yeah yeah and a late night stop with friends turns deadly what is going on
01:03looks like they're arguing with each other now
01:25what's the emergency we have a gunshot outside our store i'm not sure exactly what's going on
01:44police and ems rush to the scene and find a young woman shot in the parking lot dead
01:55actually toby
02:0732 year old ashley toby a single mom loved to sing and was studying to become a dental hygienist
02:15she leaves behind her mother and an 11 year old son
02:23looks like a chest shotgun blast to the chest
02:27you can kind of see pellets that's brutal you got a hole or there's that right here under this
02:36coming near ashley's body the team finds a spent shotgun shell
02:44got a purse
02:45what is that there was another lady in the car the ladies downtown yeah
02:57oh so we have a witch let's check and see if they got video here
03:05you got two copies yeah yeah we'll take it appreciate it
03:15let's take a look at this video call came in at 4 a.m let's go 10 minutes before that
03:25dark color sedan looks like a mitsubishi guant
03:43victim's in a white car right yeah
03:45someone's getting out of the victim's car getting into the black car looks like they plan to meet there yeah
04:01both cars are leaving
04:08that's our victim
04:09what is going on looks like they're arguing with each other now
04:25unbelievable you just don't kill somebody like that
04:34rewind that back and see if we can't see the shooter better
04:39you just don't kill somebody like that
04:45he got his punisher shirt on
04:52when someone is that heated they're not acting rationally i've had cases where people have done
04:56things in front of hundreds of people you know i don't care who sees me i even had cases where
05:02they've even announced i don't even care if i get caught i don't even care about going to jail
05:07so it shows you the level of violence it shows you the level of rage it shows you that they're not
05:12able to process things uh the way a normal rational person does
05:24victim or this girl had to know him they planned to meet him there let's talk to this girl yeah
05:29she says she was hanging out with ashley and another girl named kayla
05:47okay was like we're gonna go meet up with someone and we're gonna get them out
05:55at that point we and ashley look at each other and we're like i have a really really bad feeling
05:59about this kay was like we need to leave now we were almost gonna be picking up the stock
06:06she says kayla insisted they make a pit stop at the convenience store what happened
06:14we pulled in kayla was she was like a dozen right people right there it was a four-door black car
06:22kayla said i'm walking over to that car and i asked her they're leaving my phone
06:26because kayla had my phone on the evening she was like can't believe you don't trust me like that
06:31she says kayla took her phone and got into the black car the black car starts to pull away
06:39ashley was like oh hell no they ain't stealing your phone and she goes and she pulls up right in front
06:46of them like kind of blocking them and she jumps out of the car and she's like give me that phone and
06:54uh but he had some type of shotgun drawn she was like i'm afraid of your gun you know like and then he shoots her
07:09eyes and feathers out of her coat
07:12she goes and she goes i got hit and i said where she said my chest
07:23i was a camera baby so i was glad you didn't kill you
07:30you did what you could
07:37now let's go back to him
07:38have you ever seen this guy before
07:48but kayla's the person who got this individual there oh for sure where's she lay her head i don't know
07:59but um i can look at my new phone
08:03i probably have something she says she's been using another phone to locate the phone that
08:08kayla took
08:14witness says she has to find a phone app she's pinging her right now to get a location
08:19find the phone find kayla since kayla got in the car with the shooter if we find her we'll find him
08:25her phone's pinging the app located the phone at an apartment complex in midtown tulsa so the cell
08:33phone app did give us a location for the stolen phone we've got patrol officers over there looking for
08:40the galant and anyone matching our suspect description
08:47then how else i walk her black galant ears oh really were you the driver of the black car
08:59all right
09:04all right bud she's coming down
09:13she says her friend wanted a
09:28ride to the convenience store to meet kayla what was he wearing when you picked him up like a black
09:33long sleeve shirt any logo on the shirt remember it like white in the middle
09:38she says they waited at the convenience store for kayla to arrive the white car pulls up kayla got
09:53out of the car got into my car and then as i was going to pull out the white car pulled out right in
10:00front of me so i was just like man what is this and that's when ty had gotten out of the car i heard her
10:08say that kayla had taken a phone and then she's like do you think i'm scared you don't scare me and then
10:17was just like bam he just shot her
10:22i was just like what would you do that for like oh it'll be okay he was like it was a birdshot she
10:29should just go to the hospital and have have him taken out
10:35as soon as we got back to the apartment like it was all over the news that the girl was deceased
10:39so once you learned that she was dead what happened after that they left i think by that point ty and
10:45kayla because they left together yeah you know where they would have gone
10:59no
11:04ty rutledge
11:11he's got a pretty lengthy criminal history it's three pages
11:1523 year old ty rutledge has multiple prior convictions including drug possession burglary
11:24and assault with a deadly weapon we definitely need to find ty
11:29patrol radios in from the apartment complex that they have been searching
11:42who do you have do you know
11:43you don't need to come down here
12:00you know where the guns are a few officers stopped are looking for guns
12:04don't like snowy
12:15how many have you been out of prison
12:17since june 1st of last year
12:21and what were you there for seven counts of secondary burglary one dope one coat and a
12:27and be with the dangerous
12:32you understand what's going on no
12:38we are currently under arrest the murder of ashley kobe
12:45if you wish to make a statement regarding the homicide
12:49i don't even know who that is
12:51i would like a lawyer to be present
13:00just hang out here for a second okay
13:08guns found
13:12right where they found him all right here we got
13:15right gun and do get the punisher sure
13:24so we don't have any outstanding evidence i think we got what we needed
13:29out there really wasn't any uh extenuating circumstances of why she needed to be killed
13:34and i'm sure once ty uh realizes the gravity of the situation it'll be devastating
13:52we were notified uh ty relish killed himself in a tulsa county jail which i'm not sure is the best
14:12result for for a murder case without a trial i can see the victim's family would be a little bit upset
14:18very often families feel some sort of relief knowing that the the killer of their loved one
14:27is now in prison forever so i don't know how the family's going to handle that
14:36dallas texas 11 30 a.m
14:41a woman concerned about her friend goes to check in on him
14:44inside she makes a shocking discovery
14:51police and paramedics rush to the apartment and find her friend face down in a pool of blood
15:00what's up guys where is this uh right here
15:14no pants no pants no pants shirt
15:27the base looks like he's been beaten to death with heavy face
15:31the victim is 52 year old william dale martin
15:45known as dale to his friends and family
15:49he was on disability and lived by himself
15:51he leaves behind his mother two sisters and two brothers
16:00we need to take this cushion top they remove a bloody pillow covering dale's head
16:05did he sluice throw it just about decapitated yeah yeah
16:24it's not a clean cut
16:26i'd say from one of these sharks yeah you know just stepping down with it
16:32this guy probably cut himself so some of his blood's gonna be for my suspect
16:43this blood is is not fresh i mean this is a couple days dale may have been dead for as long as two days
16:51so some scenes are so brutal some scenes the level of violence exceeds other things that you've already seen
16:59people think that homicide investigators going to homicide scenes looking at
17:03the gory associated with a homicide but it's not we look at the science associated with it
17:09that this is not a random killer they had some type of relationship with each other
17:13it's up close and personal so you just got to find out
17:17who's up close and personal with with the victim
17:26csu processes the scene for any fingerprints and dna left behind by the killer
17:36he had a pillow resting on the back of his head a lot of times indicates you know someone that
17:42they cares cover them up so you don't have to see them it seems to me more of a crime of passion
17:52two hours in lopez meets with dale's mother i'm sorry for your loss
18:00i'm gonna be in charge of this case
18:02and basically i need to know everything about his friends
18:08he had somebody over here she says a few weeks ago dale suspected a friend of stealing his wallet
18:15and they'll get it to go to the fair his people was gone
18:21and i cannot think of that guy's name
18:27now i have to ask you some personal questions is he gay he was gay okay let me give you my card okay
18:36i'll be in touch with you
18:49and i'll be in touch with you
18:54Norval has no cuts or bruises on his hands.
19:24Well, thank you very much.
19:40Looking for a guy named Alan, homeless guy maybe.
19:44Lopez speaks with a patrol officer that works the area.
19:49She says she is familiar with Alan.
19:53Alan LeCuin.
20:09Lopez asks patrol to search the victim's neighborhood.
20:12All right, thanks.
20:14Bye.
20:15I think the guy that did it knew him, I mean, just because of the way he was dressed.
20:23He was underwear and a t-shirt.
20:28That's some rage, though, to almost cut his head off like that, some serious rage.
20:34Then...
20:35Alan was found just one block from the crime scene.
20:39Yeah, this is Lopez.
20:40Look at his hands and see his hands, the palms of his hands, fingers, anything like that, or
20:44cut.
20:45Is he willing to come down and talk to us?
20:46Awesome.
20:47Bring him back.
20:48Thanks.
20:49Thanks.
20:50How you doin'?
20:51How you doin'?
20:52You have him?
20:53Yes, sir.
20:54I'm Detective Lopez.
20:55I'm Detective Lopez.
20:56Who are you late-handed?
20:57I'm Detective Lopez.
20:58Who are you looking ahead of me?
20:59I'm Detective Lopez.
21:00Who are you looking ahead?
21:01talk to us? Awesome. Bring him back. Hey, thanks.
21:17Hey, you have him? Yes, sir. I'm Detective Lopez.
21:25Who are you laying here tonight? Right there across from CVS. I got a little area where I
21:30stay at. What about the cold weather and stuff? That's why me and Dale got real close, you
21:34know? When it gets real cold, you know, sometimes he would let me stay there. He was real touchy.
21:40I just told my girl that he didn't even do something about this dude, because if I do
21:44it, he's going to buy me in jail, you know? I'm Irish. I got a temper.
21:55There was a lot of hate, and it's killing.
22:00Did you see what I'm saying? You all right?
22:09I can already picture probably what happened.
22:12What do you think happened?
22:15Knobs, gashes, beat up, smothered.
22:21This guy, I mean, he wasn't beyond, beyond what it takes to kill somebody.
22:33No one's the truth, okay?
22:35No, it's not me.
22:39It's because I was over at my friend's place the whole night.
22:42Alan claims he stayed with his friend, Jeffrey, last night.
22:45Where were you at Sunday?
22:46Right there at my area, where I'm over there.
22:51I'm going to ask you for permission to take some of your DNA.
22:58Yeah.
22:58He's confident enough to give us the nail scrapings and the, and the buccal swab and all that.
23:10With no evidence linking Alan to the murder, Lopez releases him.
23:15I feel like all the leads we had just melted away.
23:20Physical evidence is going to have to make this case.
23:24In the heat of the moment, you're acting in haste.
23:27You're acting irrationally.
23:28You're in a rage.
23:30And what's clear is that you're not thinking clearly.
23:32So whether you think that you're going to clean up a crime scene,
23:35or you're going to do something to throw law enforcement off,
23:37more than likely you're going to make a mistake.
23:40From an investigative standpoint,
23:41you just got to find out what the mistake is that that person made.
23:44Lopez and Detective Esteban Montenegro return to Dale's friend, Norval.
24:02I'm sorry to bother you all so early.
24:05Lopez asks Norval if he knows anyone else that hung out with Dale.
24:09You know what I did this morning?
24:11Norval tells them to talk with his cousin.
24:14Kino, who was also friends with Dale.
24:17So tell me about Kino.
24:19He's my cousin.
24:21I don't know him no more.
24:23According to Norval,
24:24Kino developed a serious drug habit
24:26since moving from Puerto Rico seven months ago.
24:29There's something wrong.
24:30Yeah.
24:30Yeah.
24:31Norval says that Kino has become violent and unpredictable.
24:35One time, I went to Dale's house.
24:39And he was telling me that Kino stole his wallet.
24:44Did him and Dale have anything going on?
24:46I don't know, but I think so.
24:47Because Dale, he was telling me that, you know,
24:49that Kino is staying naked.
24:50Is Kino staying here with y'all?
24:54Norval's wife says Kino is staying with a young couple
24:57at another apartment complex.
24:59If y'all hear from him or see him,
25:03will you call me and let me know?
25:04Yeah.
25:16Leonidas Quinones,
25:18a.k.a. Kino,
25:20is 40 years old.
25:22He moved to Texas from Puerto Rico seven months ago.
25:25He has no criminal history in the United States.
25:36The next morning,
25:37Lopez and Montenegro head out to the apartment
25:40where Kino may be staying.
25:46Detective Lopez from Dale's homicide.
25:49I need to talk to Kino.
25:51I know he's in the house.
25:52He's not in my house, actually.
25:56Where are you going?
25:58He's right there.
25:59Right there.
26:11My hat's right there.
26:12She's wearing a hat.
26:13She's wearing a hat.
26:14Yes.
26:14Thank you, Leon.
26:22How are you doing?
26:22Take your hands.
26:23Give your back.
26:23Okay.
26:25We're going to go to the office to talk to you, okay?
26:30And we're going to go back.
26:32Okay, thank you.
26:37Okay, thank you.
26:45Unless he has open swords all in his hands.
26:48Does he?
26:50He has, like, a cut.
26:52And he has the blood on it.
26:54The scrape on it.
26:55He has actual blood on it.
26:56He has actual blood on it?
26:57He has actual blood on it?
26:58Mm-hmm.
27:05How are you?
27:06Good.
27:07Good.
27:10This is what I want to say.
27:12Do you know Teo?
27:13Do you know Teo?
27:14For my cousin.
27:16For my cousin.
27:18Well, you know Teo...
27:20You know what?
27:21He killed me.
27:22What?
27:23How is he?
27:24What?
27:25I'm not sure.
27:26I'm not sure.
27:27What?
27:28I'm not sure.
27:29I'm not sure.
27:30I'm not sure.
27:31I'm not sure.
27:32I'm not sure.
27:33What is happening?
27:34What happened to Normandy?
27:44This is mechanical.
27:46What?
27:48This is mechanical.
27:59I know you were your friend with him.
28:01What did we do together?
28:04Nothing.
28:07Did you take your clothes off there?
28:09No, I didn't.
28:11You were with two fingers.
28:14We know what's going on there.
28:16But I need you to tell me the truth.
28:19Yeah, but...
28:20No, I don't know.
28:21You know, you know.
28:23What?
28:25One time I tried to decide.
28:28Oh, you're going to take your clothes off, you mean what else?
28:32Then, I took him, then he said, come here and said, no, no.
28:38Esperate.
28:40Really bad my time?
28:42Because then I saw him.
28:45Yo lo vio.
28:48Ya te lo mató.
28:50Y lo mataron feo.
28:51SÃ.
28:55¿Tú lo hiciste?
28:57No, yo...
28:59Yo necesito un abogado o algo asÃ.
29:06Si quieres uno se puede cargarlo.
29:08Es un concepto que como...
29:10Ya veo que la cosa está...
29:13Sabe que es más en serio.
29:15¿Qué es lo que está haciendo?
29:20Keno admitió a estar en el departamento de la casa.
29:22Él fue tan lejos de admitir que...
29:24...le tomó su衣 y estaba en la cama con Dale.
29:28Creo que hay mucho más que lo que está diciendo.
29:32Yo realmente necesito fortalecer este caso...
29:34...y con el DNA, con los evidencias de la sangre que tenemos.
29:45No se sabe lo que estaba en la cabeza.
29:56O lo que estaba pensando.
29:58Es muy personal, la forma que lo hizo.
29:59No se sabe lo que estaba en la cama.
30:01No se sabe lo que estaba en la cama.
30:03No se sabe lo que estaba en la cama.
30:30God, oh my God.
30:34Police and paramedics rush to the scene
30:36and find a man inside the doorway of the club,
30:42riddled with bullets, dead.
30:49When you talk about a bouncer,
30:51that job is extremely dangerous
30:53because think about it,
30:54when you take action,
30:55you're taking action with somebody
30:56that's probably intoxicated.
30:59So you're always encountering somebody
31:02that's in a volatile situation.
31:04I have seen cases where things get heated fast
31:06because somebody feels disrespected
31:08and they feel like they have to save face,
31:10especially if it happens in front of a group of people.
31:14Any identification on him?
31:16Okay.
31:17All right.
31:17Okay.
31:19Our victim is Jeremy Smith.
31:22Raised in Mobile,
31:2440-year-old Jeremy Smith left high school
31:26to join the Junior Officers Training Corps.
31:28and had a passion for fixing cars.
31:32He'd been working as a security guard at the club
31:34for the past year.
31:36Jeremy leaves behind a loving family.
31:43Jeremy was shot seven times, point blank.
31:48That tile there,
31:49does it look like he stood over him
31:51and maybe shot?
31:53Yeah, that's like it's shot down.
31:58The team finds several bullet fragments,
32:00but no casings.
32:04Is there any witnesses to it?
32:06Oh, yeah.
32:07One of the abortions.
32:19Corporal Nick Cropot speaks to the bartender.
32:22The gentleman that shot Jeremy.
32:25He was just too intoxicated.
32:27Just kind of being rude
32:28and just a little obnoxious, maybe.
32:31He was at my bar
32:32and went over there
32:33and poured a beer out on the floor.
32:37So Jeremy went over there
32:38and asked him to leave.
32:41And dude didn't want to leave.
32:42And so Jeremy just reached around
32:46and got him in a chokehold.
32:49And then it stops
32:50and the man says something
32:52and goes outside
32:54and then comes back in.
32:57And then you just hear all the shots.
33:00Was he outside before you come back in?
33:0245 seconds.
33:04Do you know this person?
33:06I've seen him before.
33:09Just crack him for me.
33:10I would say they're in the mid-30s.
33:13Short, stocky.
33:15Is he black or white?
33:17Black.
33:19Oh, we appreciate it, okay?
33:20All right.
33:22The team discovers the shooting
33:24may have been caught
33:25in the club's surveillance cameras.
33:28So this is the front door here.
33:30That's our victim
33:31checking people at the door.
33:33They start the video
33:34minutes before Jeremy was shot.
33:37He's got stocky.
33:38She's in the shot.
33:40Yeah, him right there.
33:44That might be him
33:45sitting here at the bar.
33:51She said he was over
33:52at the pool table.
33:56He's maybe talking
33:58to somebody over there.
34:01And he poured a beer out
34:02on the floor.
34:03There you go.
34:08Jeremy went over to him.
34:11They had words with each other.
34:12He was trying to make them leave.
34:16And they struggled for a bit.
34:19And then they got left.
34:24There we go.
34:25That's him walking out, Matt.
34:26And then he came back.
34:30About 45 seconds later.
34:35There he goes.
34:36Coming back.
34:38Yeah.
34:38Yeah, that's him.
34:40With a gun in his hand.
34:46Wow.
34:47I stood in the doorway
34:48and just shot him.
34:56That's him.
34:57I have seen cases
34:58where people go from 0 to 60
35:00in no time flat.
35:02One of the things
35:02that we argue about
35:03in this country,
35:04certainly we don't want to,
35:06we understand everybody's rights
35:08to bear arms,
35:09but when you make weapons
35:10that easily available,
35:12things that they typically
35:13will walk away from,
35:14they won't now.
35:15Because now I have a weapon
35:17and it gives me the confidence
35:19that I don't necessarily need
35:20to de-escalate this situation
35:22or walk away.
35:28Anybody know
35:29who the suspect is?
35:30He had been at the bar,
35:32she said.
35:35The bartender
35:36gives detectives
35:37a credit card receipt
35:38signed by the suspect.
35:41On the receipt,
35:42it's showing a name
35:44of Dwayne Wheat.
35:47Dwayne Wheat.
35:4935-year-old Dwayne Wheat
35:51has prior convictions,
35:53including second-degree forgery
35:55and misdemeanor
35:56third-degree assault.
36:04Before heading back
36:05to homicide.
36:07It's the worst point
36:07I would job, man.
36:08Death notification.
36:10Nettles
36:10and Detective Glenn Barton
36:12need to notify
36:13Jeremy's family.
36:21We're with the police department,
36:22okay?
36:22Okay, come on.
36:23Yes, ma'am.
36:25Detectives speak with Jeremy's
36:26grandmother,
36:27who raised him as her son.
36:29So sad, so sad.
36:38She's mad at all.
36:40And she didn't let me forget
36:41that that was her son.
36:43Obviously,
36:44they're warning answers.
36:45I'm creating a photo lineup.
36:54Hopefully, the witness
36:56can pick him out.
36:58Ready, ready, ready.
36:59Here you go.
37:01Corporal Jeff Booth
37:02and Detective Jermaine Rogers
37:03head out to show the lineup
37:05to the bartender
37:06who witnessed the shooting.
37:07Sure.
37:17Yes, sir.
37:18Yes, sir.
37:23with Dwayne positively ID'd going through some records we've got here in our database
37:44the team searches for his last known address we're gonna take a trip over there in person
37:51throw the vests on anytime you shoot somebody like that in front of a camera you've just got no regard
38:04to nobody not even yourself
38:06a woman answers the door
38:33the woman says Dwayne and his girlfriend moved out several months ago I'm looking her up metro right
38:44now Barton finds Dwayne's girlfriend in the database
38:50really do appreciate you coming out talking to us Dwayne's girlfriend arrives at homicide whatever
39:00you heard she says some friends told her Dwayne had been involved in a shooting at shotgun willies what was
39:12the last time you talked to the wine
39:22did he say anything other than that
39:32you just assumed that he was talking about the police
39:38did he have a gun at that point
39:44after he showed up and then he left had you talked to him again at all
39:49okay so we've actually got him on video
39:55this was a security guard that was working doing his job that night that was shot I'm trying to understand why did it happen we're trying to get up some type of explanation for the guy's family you know why did this happen to their son
40:13it's wrong it's wrong it is it is it is it is and I'll tell you this before leaving here today I know it's a difficult spot for you
40:20she's as confused as we are the goal is to get him to tell us why it happened
40:5010 hours in, Dwayne's mother brings him to homicide.
41:01I'm going to check for you.
41:04I'm on this table.
41:06You doing all right?
41:08You're a little tired.
41:10I certainly appreciate you coming down to speak with us.
41:14But man, just to be straight up with you, there was cameras at the place.
41:19They captured everything.
41:21So we know what happened.
41:24But we know that there's reasons why people do certain things.
41:28And that's what we want to talk to you about.
41:33Wake up for me.
41:35We want to talk to you more about the reason.
41:38Do you feel like you're in a position where you can talk to us about that?
41:42No, I talk to him a lot, you man.
41:44Okay.
41:49Jeremy was at the club that night trying to make a living and died for doing his job.
41:59It's just sad.
42:00I think the reality of the situation hits some people later.
42:13And when the reality sinks in is that I cannot live the rest of my life like this.
42:18And I don't want to be incarcerated.
42:20I don't think it has very little to do with what they've done.
42:22I think it has more to do with the consequences.
42:26If you talk to people afterwards, they'll tell you, I wish I can have them 30 seconds back
42:31again.
42:32But they just let their emotions get the best of them.