From damning recordings to unexpected DNA evidence, these crucial pieces of evidence left no room for doubt. Join us as we examine the most definitive smoking guns that sealed the fate of infamous defendants in history's most notorious trials. Which piece of evidence do you think was most compelling in securing justice?
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00:00The gloves didn't fit. Remember these words, if it doesn't fit, you must acquit.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at various pieces of evidence that definitively
00:11ended a criminal case, either for or against their infamous defendants.
00:15I think he realized the jig was up. He never thought that he left physical evidence.
00:23The Smoking Gun Tape, Richard Nixon's Impeachment.
00:25I was advised that there was a possibility of CIA involvement in some way.
00:31It was certainly not my intent, nor my wish, that the investigation of the Watergate break-in
00:36or of related acts be impeded in any way.
00:39While not a criminal trial in the traditional sense, Nixon's infamous impeachment process
00:44was made possible thanks to the White House tapes. Like, it's literally called the Smoking Gun Tape.
00:49How could we not include it? It was discovered during the Watergate investigation that Nixon
00:53had installed a secret recording system in the Oval Office, automatically capturing conversations
00:58between him and his aides. When Senate investigators demanded the tapes, Nixon refused, citing executive
01:04privilege. The tapes were eventually subpoenaed, and one clearly showed Nixon attempting to block
01:10the FBI's investigation into the case. Therefore, Nixon was directly implicated in obstructing justice
01:16and lost all remaining political support, resulting in his infamous resignation.
01:20Early, Senate Republican Whip Griffin of Michigan suggested the President resign.
01:25Where both the national interest and his own interest will best be served by resigning.
01:32The Rope Hair, the West Memphis Three.
01:35New evidence released today claims testing unavailable in 1993 shows no DNA from the three
01:41imprisoned defendants was found in the bodies of the murdered boys.
01:44A highly controversial case, the West Memphis Three were convicted of murdering three Arkansas
01:49boys in 1993, despite a significant lack of evidence. Today, it's remembered as one of the
01:55best examples of the satanic panic. In 2007, investigators tested a hair that was found in the rope used to
02:02tie one of the victims. It matched none of the West Memphis Three, but Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of one
02:08of the victims. Another hair, found on a tree stump nearby, was consistent with Hobbs' friend David
02:13Jacoby. This new DNA evidence greatly undermined the prosecution, and when paired with evidence of
02:19jury misconduct and new statements from key witnesses, it helped exonerate the convicted. All three were
02:24released on Alfred, please, in 2011.
02:27And I did not want to take the deal from the get-go. However, they're trying to kill Damien, and
02:35sometimes you just gotta bite the gun to save somebody.
02:39The Voice Recordings, Clifford Irving.
02:41Many of you probably didn't know he lived here, but a lot of you will remember the huge scandal he was
02:46best known for. By the 1970s, Howard Hughes was a recluse, and writer Clifford Irving saw an
02:52opportunity. He claimed Hughes had asked him to ghostwrite his official autobiography,
02:56even producing letters and voice recordings as proof of his correspondence with the famous
03:01aviator. Irving planned to publish the book, falsely assuming that Hughes would stay silent.
03:06Well, he didn't. Hughes got wind of the news, and in January 1972, shocked the world by holding a
03:13telephone press conference. Investigators compared his voice to earlier recordings and confirmed its
03:18authenticity. Meanwhile, forensic analysis exposed Irving's recordings as fake, proving beyond doubt
03:24that Howard Hughes had never collaborated with him. The hoax unraveled, and Irving was sentenced to
03:29two and a half years in prison.
03:30Do you owe anybody any money at this point?
03:32Yes, I owe a total of about just under $1 million to the IRS, to McGraw-Hill, and to my various attorneys.
03:43Marked bills and fingerprints. Machine Gun Kelly.
03:46We repeat the message to the abductors of little Cheryl Vito. Your message has been received.
03:51We will repeat this every 15 minutes until we receive further instructions.
03:56In 1933, famous gangster Machine Gun Kelly kidnapped oil tycoon Charles F. Urschel and held him ransom at
04:03his in-law's farmhouse for $200,000. After his release, Urschel helped the FBI track his captors by
04:09recalling key details, like the presence of mosquitoes and the repeating sound of a nearby
04:13oil pump. His meticulous observations led federal agents to Paradise, Texas, and they were even able
04:19to pinpoint the exact farmhouse that held Urschel using the sound of the oil pump. Urschel's fingerprints
04:24were found at the property, linking Kelly to the crime. To make matters worse, Kelly's accomplice was
04:30also caught with some marked ransom bills. With overwhelming proof of his involvement, Kelly was
04:35convicted and spent the rest of his life in prison. You're the tough man in the crowd?
04:41You've got a tough name, Kelly. Why don't you shoot it out?
04:45Because I knew you'd kill me.
04:46Phone calls to Amber Frye, Scott Peterson.
04:49Amber is a true hero, and she took many risks for justice in this case.
04:56In 2003, the remains of Lacey Peterson were found near San Francisco Bay, a year after her husband
05:02Scott reported her missing. Scott was later arrested and sentenced to life in prison for her murder.
05:07While the case mostly relied on circumstantial evidence, the most damning proof came from phone
05:12calls with his mistress, Amber Frye. Scott told Amber that he was a widower, before Lacey was even
05:17reported missing. She then worked with police and recorded their calls, during which he repeatedly
05:22lied, once claiming to be in Paris while actually attending a vigil for Lacey. He also never once
05:28expressed concern for his missing wife. Yesterday, we told you that Scott Peterson was
05:33re-sentenced to life without parole for the murders of his wife Lacey and their unborn son.
05:38Now his sister is speaking out, saying she couldn't be more pleased.
05:42These deceptive conversations made Scott appear detached and manipulative,
05:46significantly swaying public opinion and the jury against him.
05:50I wish he would take just a fraction of pain away and just be honest and, you know, say,
06:00you know, you did it.
06:01Fiber evidence, Wayne Williams.
06:03Fibers on the body consistent with what we found on other victims.
06:06The fibers we recovered are green and a very unusual shape. I saw green carpet in Williams' home.
06:11But you don't know if it's a match?
06:13No, sir. There were dog hairs on the victim. I found dog hairs in the suspect's vehicle
06:17and his family owns a dog. I own a dog. Agent?
06:20While Wayne Williams was officially convicted of murdering two men,
06:24he remains the prime suspect in the Atlanta murders of the late 70s and early 80s,
06:28which resulted in 30 deaths. Many witnesses reported seeing Williams with many of the victims,
06:34but the smoking gun came in the form of fiber evidence. Investigators found fibers from Williams'
06:39home, clothes, car, and even his dog on many victims, all but linking him to their deaths.
06:44Prosecutors used these fibers to link Williams to at least some of the famous killings,
06:49and he was ultimately found guilty of murdering two men, Nathaniel Cater and Jimmy Payne.
06:54Perhaps most damning of all, the Atlanta murders stopped once Williams was imprisoned.
06:58From those few thin threads, Peterson would begin to build a case to try to catch a killer.
07:05DNA
07:05Gary Ridgway
07:07The Green River killer had been active since 1982, and since 1982, police have largely focused
07:32on one man, Gary Ridgway. He was the immediate primary suspect, and was even arrested in the
07:38early 80s, resulting in police taking a cheek swab for DNA analysis. However, they were never
07:43able to definitively link Ridgway to any of the murders. It wasn't until 2001 that the case against
07:49him was reopened thanks to enormous advances in DNA technology. Investigators were able to test
07:55biological evidence left on several victims, and they were a complete match to Ridgway. Ridgway was
08:00finally arrested after many decades, and the conclusive DNA evidence helped put him away
08:05for life.
08:06We begin tonight with the man who terrorized Washington for years. The Green River killer
08:10pleaded guilty to the murders of dozens of women in King County, leaving several families grieving
08:16throughout the state.
08:18Floppy disk metadata. Dennis Rader.
08:20We could tell that it was somehow affiliated with Christ Lutheran Church and the Park City
08:24Community Public Library. And the next thing we looked at was statistics, and it shows here there was
08:30last saved by Dennis.
08:32BTK committed one of the all-time dumbest blunders in criminal history, resulting in his infamous
08:37downfall. Real name Dennis Rader, BTK killed at least 10 people in the greater Kansas area between
08:431974 and 1991. In the early 2000s, after a long silence, BTK started communicating with the police
08:51and boasting about his unsolved murders. He asked them whether they could trace a floppy disk if he sent
08:56one, and they said no. Well, that was a lie, and investigators quickly used metadata embedded
09:01within the floppy disk to identify Rader. They also collected DNA from Rader's daughter, and found a
09:07familial match with DNA taken from one of BTK's victims. The evidence was simply unbeatable, and Rader
09:13was given 10 life sentences. A very unusual rope, John Jubert.
09:24I had never seen anyone like this. None of the other examiners in the laboratory
09:28who deal with ropes on a daily basis over a number of years had ever seen a rope like this.
09:33American serial killer John Jubert was executed in 1996 at the age of 33 for murdering three boys.
09:40His first victim, Danny Eberle, was found bound with very distinctive multi-strand rope,
09:45commonly used in military or industrial settings, and not found in everyday hardware stores.
09:50It also had a unique twisted pattern that made it easy to identify and trace.
09:54FBI profilers suspected that the killer had military experience owing to the precision of the bindings,
10:00and a tip eventually led police to Jubert, an Air Force radar technician stationed in Omaha.
10:05A search of his belongings uncovered rope identical in composition and structure to that used on
10:10Eberle. Forensic analysis later confirmed an exact match, helping secure Jubert's conviction
10:15and eventual execution.
10:17I found that they were identical in all respects, microscopically, instrumentally, chemical tests,
10:22there were no differences between the two ropes.
10:24Fingerprints, Richard Ramirez.
10:26It is a 1976 Toyota station wagon, orange in color, license number 482 RTS.
10:34The Night Stalker terrorized California in the mid-1980s, breaking into homes and murdering
10:39at least 14 people. On the night of August 24, 1985, a teenager named James Romero was working
10:45on his bike when he saw Ramirez outside his house. Ramirez fled the scene in a panic, but
10:50Romero noted his orange Toyota and the car's license plate. Later that night, Ramirez broke into the
10:56home of Bill Karnes and Inez Erickson, assaulting Erickson and shooting Karnes. The orange Toyota
11:02was later found abandoned in Koreatown, and police were able to lift Ramirez's fingerprints from the
11:07rear-view mirror. This print definitively linked Ramirez to the vehicle seen fleeing multiple crime
11:12scenes, including the most recent attack on Karnes and Erickson.
11:16And they were able to pull a latent fingerprint off the rear-view mirror, where apparently the
11:22suspect had reached up and adjusted.
11:24Audio Recordings.
11:25Depp v. Heard. The defamation case between Hollywood actors and former partners Johnny
11:29Depp and Amber Heard centered around a 2018 opinion piece published in The Washington Post.
11:34He decided to sue his ex-wife personally over an article she wrote for The Washington Post,
11:41and this time he was taking the fight back home.
11:44In the article, Heard asserted that she had been a victim of domestic violence during their
11:48marriage. However, Depp sued her, insisting that he was the one subjected to violence at her
11:53hands. So much of the case was put to the jury as being whether or not Johnny Depp would be the
11:59sort of person or is the sort of person that would ever lay a finger against another woman.
12:04A crucial moment during the trial was the playing of an audio recording where the couple argued
12:09about a past physical altercation that left Depp's finger injured. On the tape, Heard appears to
12:14acknowledge hitting Depp and berates him for complaining about it.
12:18But you're fine. I did not hurt you. I did not punch you. I was hitting you.
12:22This incriminating tape likely influenced the jury's decision to hold Heard liable for defaming Depp
12:27quote, with actual malice.
12:29Terry Sanderson's post-incident travel. Gwyneth Paltrow's ski crash trial.
12:33In 2023, actress and lifestyle entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow faced a civil lawsuit from retired Utah
12:40Dr. Terry Sanderson.
12:41Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow in court being sued, accused of violently crashing into
12:47a man during a family ski trip in Park City, Utah.
12:49Sanderson alleged that in 2016, Paltrow collided with him on a ski slope, resulting in permanent
12:55traumatic brain injury and severe emotional distress, among other things.
12:59Paltrow's legal team challenged Sanderson's claims by presenting evidence of the numerous
13:03vacations he took after the supposed incident, as well as social media posts depicting him in good
13:09spirits. You posted a lot on social media? Relative to other people, it didn't seem like
13:14I did. Very little. All of these pictures are from your personal Facebook after the collision.
13:20Although Sanderson maintained that these trips were part of his recovery, the jury disagreed
13:25with him. They ultimately found him responsible for the accident and awarded Paltrow the requested
13:30$1 in damages. I believe she thinks she has the truth. I believe she thinks that.
13:36Um, um, but I know. I absolutely know. And I said I would not bring any falsehoods. I'm going to tell
13:45the truth, and I did.
13:46Handwriting analysis. The Lindbergh Kidnapping Trial. The 1935 trial of Bruno Richard Hauptmann for the
13:53kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby was one of the first cases hailed as the trial of the century.
13:58Despite the media attention, the police investigation quickly stalled.
14:02Hauptmann had been arrested after a significant portion of the ransom money was traced to him.
14:06However, he claimed that the money belonged to a former business partner who owed him a debt.
14:11Recent transactions are dominated by $10 and $20 gold certificates. Gold certificates are
14:17discovered in his home and in his pockets. Perhaps the most damning evidence against Hauptmann
14:22was handwriting analysis that seemed to suggest Hauptmann had written the ransom note. During the trial,
14:27eight handwriting experts took to the stand to testify to that. Despite the evidence against
14:32him being largely circumstantial, Hauptmann was convicted and sentenced to death.
14:37Hauptmann is found guilty and sentenced to death.
14:41Since then, some have raised doubts about his guilt.
14:44A pajama top. The United States vs. Jeffrey R. McDonald.
14:48In February 1970, U.S. Army Captain Jeffrey R. McDonald reported the murders of his pregnant wife
14:54and two daughters by four intruders. It was Jeffrey McDonald who made the 911 call. He later claimed
15:00his family was attacked by four intruders. Despite evidence implicating McDonald, the Army dismissed the
15:06case, but it was later reopened in civilian court. The prosecution focused on McDonald's pajama top,
15:12which he claimed to have used as a defense, bearing 48 holes allegedly from an ice pick.
15:17Jeffrey McDonald has always maintained his innocence, although his case has had more time in court than
15:22just about any other criminal case in American history. No new evidence, including DNA, has
15:27validated his claim. However, investigators found the holes too neat to have occurred during motion,
15:33suggesting that the cloth was stationary, likely covering his wife's body when the punctures occurred.
15:38They demonstrated that if the pajama was folded correctly, the 48 holes could have been made by
15:4321 thrusts, the exact number of wounds on McDonald's wife.
15:47The FBI had also found that there was no evidence of a break-in, and all the weapons in the assault
15:54had come from the house. Consequently, McDonald was convicted of the murders. Video of Gage Grosskreutz
16:01holding a gun. The trial of Kyle Rittenhouse. The Kyle Rittenhouse case was a highly controversial one
16:07that ignited intense political debates. In August 2021, Rittenhouse shot three men during a protest
16:13against police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In court today, jurors for the first time hearing
16:18from the man who was shot by Kyle Rittenhouse and survived. Two of the men died, while the third,
16:24Gage Grosskreutz, sustained severe injuries. Rittenhouse argued that he was safeguarding
16:29local businesses from violence and only fired in self-defense after the men drew their guns on him.
16:34When Grosskreutz took the stand at trial, he was confronted with footage showing him pointing
16:38his gun at Rittenhouse. What was going through your mind? That I was going to die? Although
16:44Grosskreutz admitted to being armed, he insisted that he had no intention of shooting Rittenhouse.
16:49Nevertheless, the jury sided with the defendant's self-defense plea and acquitted him of all charges.
16:56We the jury find the defendant, Kyle H. Rittenhouse, not guilty.
17:00Kyle Rittenhouse trembling with emotion as the court clerk read the jury's verdict.
17:05For years, Alex Jones spread falsehoods about the tragic Sandy Hook shooting,
17:13suggesting that it was staged and accusing victims and their families of being actors.
17:18As a result, many affected families sued Jones for defamation and won.
17:22Robert Parker weeps in a Connecticut courtroom after a jury ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay
17:28him $120 million in damages for repeatedly claiming that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax.
17:37During his deposition, Jones had claimed that he couldn't find any text messages on his phone about the incident.
17:42However, at trial, it was revealed that Jones' own lawyers had accidentally sent two years' worth of text messages
17:49related to Sandy Hook to the lawyer representing one of the victim's parents.
17:52As of two days ago, it fell free and clear into my possession.
17:56And that is how I know you lied to me when you said you didn't have a text message about Sandy Hook.
18:01Did you know that?
18:02Needless to say, this came as a rude shock to him.
18:05In the end, Jones was ordered to pay the family nearly $50 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
18:12After a resounding rebuke, the Infowars host was ordered to pay an additional $45.2 million in punitive damages
18:19to the parents of a Sandy Hook shooting victim.
18:22Falsified documents.
18:24The United States v. Holmes.
18:25Through her company Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes promised to revolutionize blood testing by using just a few drops of blood to detect several ailments.
18:33The goal is to empower the individual.
18:36We believe strongly that the future of health care is in enabling the individual to have the information that they need to take ownership of their health.
18:44However, these claims were inaccurate, and Holmes attempted to validate them by forging documents to sway investors.
18:51Two particular sets of these documents played pivotal roles in her trial.
18:55The first, a counterfeit endorsement from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, falsely suggested that they had endorsed Theranos' technology.
19:02Remember those logos that Elizabeth Holmes admitted she put on pharmaceutical company lab reports and then sent to prospective business partners like Walgreens?
19:13It was Pfizer and Scheringplow.
19:15Well, it turns out she did more than just add the logos.
19:19The second set of documents presented inflated revenue projections of $40 million through purported contracts with drug companies, which were later proven to be bogus.
19:29These documents were all the jury needed to convict Holmes of fraud and sentence her to over 11 years in prison.
19:35Today, she entered the minimum security federal women's prison camp located in Bryan, Texas.
19:41Kennel Video.
19:42The murder trial of Alec Murdoch.
19:43A member of South Carolina's prominent Murdoch family, Alec Murdoch became the prime suspect after his wife Maggie and their son Paul were killed in June 2021.
19:53For several months, Murdoch claimed that he was not present when the murders took place.
19:57Murdoch claimed he didn't go to the family's kennels that night until he found his wife and son's bodies.
20:03But an unexpected source, his own son Paul, unknowingly helped secure a guilty verdict from beyond the grave.
20:10Moments before his tragic death, Paul made a video in the family's dog kennel, which captured Murdoch's voice, thus shattering his supposed alibi.
20:18Prosecutors playing that video for him again in court.
20:22Can you point out Alec Murdoch, the person whose voice you recognize in this video in this courtroom, please?
20:27Sitting right here in a gray jacket.
20:28Prosecutors presented this incriminating footage in court, following which Murdoch changed his story but still maintained his innocence.
20:35However, the jury was already convinced. They deliberated for less than three hours before returning a guilty verdict.
20:42I sentence you to prison for murdering him for the rest of your natural life. Those sentences will run consecutive.
20:53Bite Marks, Ted Bundy's first murder trial.
20:56Throughout the 1970s, Ted Bundy reigned terror on women in the U.S., claiming the lives of at least 30 individuals.
21:03Although he had killed several victims prior, Bundy's first murder trial was for the 1978 deaths of Margaret Elizabeth Bowman and Lisa Janet Levy, two Florida State University students.
21:14There was no doubt that when he was arrested, he was fearful of what was coming.
21:18We had strong belief that he had committed these sorority sister murders.
21:22Before taking her life, Bundy had bitten deeply into Levy's flesh, leaving a very visible bite mark.
21:29This would become key physical evidence during his trial.
21:31Two forensic odontologists seemingly matched the bite impressions to castings of Bundy's teeth, which they presented to the jury.
21:39Whoever made this mark in the skin, in the flesh, had crooked teeth.
21:44While this evidence was crucial in securing Bundy's conviction, bite mark analysis has since been proven as unreliable and shown to have resulted in several wrongful convictions.
21:53People that were board certified did not agree about what a bite mark was.
22:00If a science isn't a science and it's not reproducible and it's not reliable, courts of law should not allow it in, period.
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22:22Bloodied Gloves
22:25The People v. O.J. Simpson
22:27If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.
22:30Those were the famous words uttered by Johnny Cochran, one of O.J. Simpson's defense lawyers during his 1995 murder trial.
22:37Simpson stood accused of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
22:42At the crime scene, detectives found a pair of bloodied gloves, which they believed Simpson had worn during the murders.
22:48Your Honor, at this time, the people would ask that Mr. Simpson step forward and try on the glove recovered at Bundy as well as the glove recovered at Rockingham.
22:57Lead prosecutor Marsha Clark rejected the idea of Simpson trying on the gloves in court, but her assistant prosecutor, Christopher Darden, proceeded with it, anticipating a, quote, big moment.
23:06His expectations were dashed, however, when the gloves didn't seem to fit Simpson's hands.
23:11The jury later adhered to Cochran's words and infamously acquitted Simpson of the murders.
23:16Back in the courtroom, Simpson smiled and his attorneys were obviously pleased and relieved.
23:22The prosecution team sat stone-faced.
23:24What do you make of this evidence? Let us know in the comments below.
23:27Alec Murdoch's alibi potentially destroyed by his son's own video.
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