NARRATOR: For
homicide detectives, the clock starts ticking
the moment they are called. Dead center of her
chest, single blade. Stabbed over here. You know, we ain't
down here killing nobody. We getting money, baby. NARRATOR: Their chance
of solving a murder is cut in half-- NARRATOR: If they don't get a
lead within the first 48 hours. Green Impala
occupied-- right there. Get away from the car. [THEME MUSIC] Louisville, Kentucky. The homicide unit is
working a case in progress. Can I talk to you for a
few minutes right back here? We'll just pull right here. NARRATOR: Veteran Sergeant
Denny Butler is canvassing the Portland neighborhood. He meets a potential witness
named Rosemary Stinson. After questioning her,
he gives her a ride home. Is there a lot
of drugs down here? Yeah.
Yeah. What's the drug of choice? Is it still crack? Yeah. How long you been hooked? I've been on it for a
while, but I got locked up for six months, and I just
got out like two months ago, and I shouldn't even-- Got back on it. That's why I'm going in. NARRATOR: Rosemary says
she wants to go to rehab. How many kids you got? Three. You see them much? Girl, get off these drugs. You know? Maybe straighten
your life out where you can be with your kids. All right, bye bye. Bye. NARRATOR: But Rosemary would
never have that opportunity. One month later, 3:51 PM. [PHONE RINGING] NARRATOR: When police
and paramedics arrive, they find a woman lying
in the street with a stab wound to the chest. They rushed her to the
hospital, but she dies. The victin is Rosemary Stinson. We're going to head
down to the scene now, see what's
going on down there. NARRATOR: Lead
Detective Brenda Wescott is an eight year veteran of
the Louisville Metro Police Department. I went straight
to the hospital, and I was there when she died,
and then the hospital staff and I went to notify her family. Welcome. Welcome to homicide, baby. I was actually on
the way home, you know? NARRATOR: Sergeant Brian
Nunn is the newest member of the homicide team. He's been on the
force for 20 years. I just want to take
a peek at the scene. According to the
first guys on scene, all this blood is going
to be associated with her. She's not bleeding a
lot because her heart got hit pretty quick. It's a very clean wound. Dead center of her
chest, a single blade. NARRATOR: 33-year-old
Rosemary Stinson had been trying to get
treatment for her addiction to crack cocaine. She leaves behind
three children. The victim is
Rosemary Stinson, Chris. Oh, really? You famiiliar with her? When you ride the same
neighborhood day after day, you get to know a
lot of the folks that are in that neighborhood. You know, Rosemary spent quite
a bit of time in this area so , a whole of the officers
knew her pretty well. Well, we got
witnesses everywhere, so we'll get to work on that. NARRATOR: Detectives fan
out across the neighborhood. You got a few minutes to talk? Did you see what happened? I didn't see
everything that happened. Did you see any
of what happened? NARRATOR: According
to witnesses, the victim appeared to
be arguing with two men. One of the men fled on a bike. NARRATOR: The victim then
ran out into the street and collapsed. Her attacker ran off. I'm betting he's not far. I'm betting he's not 10
blocks from the murder scene. We're going to take our
witnesses down to the office, see if we can get some more
information on these guys who might be involved. Really appreciate you, OK? All right. NARRATOR: While Detective
Will Brown takes witnesses to headquarters, Wescott and
Nunn wrap up the crime scene. Minutes later, Brown
requests back up. 18 and Main. You hear that? NARRATOR: The witnesses
in Brown's car spotted one of the two men
who fled the murder scene. He's got him down
at gunpoint right now. I'll take care of this. Can you run down there and see
what they got and who he is? I'm going to down there. Supposedly they've got a
possible subject of interest down on the ground at gunpoint. NARRATOR: Minneapolis,
Minnesota, the Falwell
neighborhood, 8:30 PM. [PHONE RINGING] NARRATOR: Police and paramedics
respond to a residential street and find a young man lying
unconscious on the sidewalk surrounded by family members. After 10 minutes in the
ER, he is pronounced dead. We're heading out to
the Fallwell neighborhood in North Minneapolis. A young man was shot
out in the street. NARRATOR: Sergeant
Jerry Wallerich was in the army for 12 years
before joining the police force in 1990. There's been a lot of gang
activity in that area recently. NARRATOR: His partner,
Sergeant Gerhard Weir, is a third generation
police officer. We've got multiple witnesses
who hear three shots, see the victim take off running,
and collapse by that truck. NARRATOR: Witnesses saw a gold
sedan drive off immediately after the shooting. Through this, right through,
blasts out, and then burns his arm. It's one bullet right through. Three gun shots [INAUDIBLE]. Three. NARRATOR: The victim is
19-year-old Kyle Parker, who lived in the neighborhood. He was a business major
at Minneapolis Community and Technical College. He leaves behind a
nine-month-old daughter. One hour in, detectives head
to the victim's family home just a few houses down
from the shooting. Please, don't
do this to my son. Please don't do
this [INAUDIBLE].. I begged them. I begged them. Thanks, folks. NARRATOR: Friends and
family gathered at the house are able to provide a lead. The family said Kyle
was out in the street talking to someone in
a gold Buick LeSabre. They said they heard shots
and then a car sped off. All we have is a guy
shot in the street. Nobody saw the shooter, and
all we have is a gold Buick LeSabre. NARRATOR: Weir and Wallerich
head back to the office with little to go on. [PHONE RINGING] Sergeant Weir. OK. NARRATOR: The caller has
information about the shooting. Thank you much. Bye. Said it's all 1-9 kind
of gang related stuff. NARRATOR: According
to the caller, the suspects in the
gold Buick LeSabre may be members of the 1-9 gang. I've worked cases involving
the 1-9 gang members since about 2004. Several of them are currently
locked up for first degree murder. A lot of people in the
community are afraid of them. They shoot a lot of people. They're dangerous. NARRATOR: The caller also said
that the victim's sister may have more information for them. Apparently, she talked
to Kyle out in the street just before he
lost consciousness. There's a possibility that
he told her who did it. NARRATOR: The next
day, Weir and Wallerich head out to speak with
the victim's sister. Can we go inside and
talk for a few minutes? I'm Jerry. I'm very sorry
about your brother. Were you the first one to Kyle
on the scene after he was shot? Yeah. Did Kyle talk to you? Yeah. OK. What did he tell you? [SCREAMING] NARRATOR: The victim's friends
say four men in a green Chevy Impala just pulled up to
the house, brandished a gun, and then drove off. Green 4 door Impala, occupied
by approximately four people. NARRATOR: Wallerich
calls for backup. What's up, Eric? These guys were out front, green
Chevy Impala, all four or five. Occupied by four. Said they got-- Get away from the car! NARRATOR: In the
murder of Kyle Parker, Minneapolis Sergeants Gerhard
Weir and Jerry Wallerich have learned that the
1-9 gang is rumored to be responsible for the shooting. Warrick was speaking
with the victim's sister when a green car drove by
and allegedly flashed a gun. Get away from the car! Walk to my voice. Walk to my voice. Walk over here. Hands behind your back. Where's the gun at in the car? I didn't know there's any gun. I just got picked up. OK, where's the
gun at in the car? Who tucked it? Excuse me, officer, if I knew
where it was, I would tell you. OK. Hang tight in the car. NARRATOR: Police search
the roadside as well. They don't find
the gun anywhere. We can't find
anything on these guys. Maybe it's not the right car. Here you go. Thanks, guys. Bye. You know, we ain't
down here killing nobody. We getting money, baby. We just-- NARRATOR: Wallerich
and Weir return to speak with the victim's
sister, who was with Kyle just before he died. On Tuesday evening
over at your mom's house, can you describe what happened? I came in the house, next
thing I know my little brother said Kyle was shot. I ran outside. You know, I just ran to him. And when you got to your
brother, was he still conscious and talking to you? What did your brother tell
you when you got up to him? NARRATOR: In Louisville,
Detective Brenda Wescott and Sergeant Brian Nunn are
investigating the murder of 33-year-old Rosemary Stinson. Neighbors saw Rosemary
and two men in an argument shortly before she was stabbed. Now, police may have one
of the men in custody. NARRATOR: The witnesses IDed
the man as one of the two who fled the scene. I didn't do nothing. Are you good? I'm good with him. OK. NARRATOR: Nunn recognizes
the potential suspect from his years in patrol. How you been, man?
I ain't seen you in a minute. I'm blessed, man. I hear you, dude. You're looking good. Yeah, that's what's up, man. All right, I'm going to put
them on just for your safety. You cool to just go down
there and talk to me? Yeah.
Yeah. All right. I've known the
guy 18, 1-9 years, when I used to ride in some of
our public housing complexes. Not a bad guy, just has made
some pretty terrible decisions in his life. So I guess we'll find
out in the next few hours if he made another
bad one today. NARRATOR: Back at homicide,
Wescott prepares to interview the potential suspect, Corey. We've got several witnesses
that saw an arguement just a few minutes before
my victim was found on the sidewalk. Hey, Corey. Hey. My name's Brenda, and this
is regarding the stabbing of Rosemary Stinson. How long have you known her? About eight years. Eight years? Take me through
what happened today. I was walking with Rosemary.
She says, Corey-- NARRATOR: Corey
says this afternoon he went to see Rosemary. She and her friend, Mary
Perry, were hanging out in the backyard of a
man named Rob Thomas. Who was saying he stabbed me? Mary Perry. Rosemary was alive, breathing,
not harmed, no nothing. NARRATOR: According to Corey,
Rosemary was sitting nearby at the picnic table
in Rob's backyard. Talking about Rob? Yeah. I was like, just go. NARRATOR: Corey claims he
told Mary Perry to flee. Rob picked up a wooden
plank and chased after her. NARRATOR: Mary Perry
was able to escape. I was like, man,
what you on, man? He was like, well,
you can get it too. Dude chased me with two sticks. I said, why are you doing that? He said, because they live. Something like that, you
know, something crazy. He was kind of drunk. Rosemary's standing up,
like, Corey, what's wrong? I was like, just go. Just go. I grab my bike-- NARRATOR: Corey says he jumped
on his bike and sped off. Several minutes later,
he returned to the area to check on her. They was like, don't
you know Rosemary's dead? I was like, what? NARRATOR: The neighbors told him
she had been stabbed to death. Well, his stories
are really convincing. What's more important
is his story is matching the statements
given by other witnesses. So really at this
point, it's looking like Corey's more
of a key witness and Rob T may be our killer. Here he is. Robert Thomas, 59
years old, Vietnam vet. Look, he's on probation from
'06, where he severely beat a man, and he's got a previous
conviction for cocaine also. You want me to do a
six pack, photo pack? Yeah, let's do
a six pack on him. Well, here's what I want to do. I want to make sure, again. Robert Thomas is a
pretty common name, and I want to make sure that
I'm looking at the right Robert Thomas, OK? There it is. OK. What number is he?
- Five. Number five. I'm glad Corey is
doing the right thing. He's been in a lot of
trouble over the years, but I didn't think
he was a killer. We'll do this for Rosemary.
We'll take care of her. It's all we can do
for her now, OK? Hang in there with me, buddy. [CRYING] Damn, man, this is crazy. I swear to God, man. Bless his heart. We've got to find both
of these individuals. Make sure Mary's OK. We need Mary and we need Rob. The big guys know to
be looking for Mary. I mean, everybody
down there knows her. OK. NARRATOR: Police look
for Rob at his apartment. Police officer, is
there anybody inside? NARRATOR: But he's not home. Half a block away,
they spot Mary Perry. I want to make sure
you're all right. NARRATOR: Mary's wounds
aren't life threatening. NARRATOR: In the stabbing
death of Rosemary Stinson, Louisville Detective
Brenda Wescott has a suspect,
59-year-old Rob Thomas. Now, police have tracked down
another woman he allegedly stabbed just before
the murder, Mary Perry. I'm Brenda Wescott. How long have you
known Rosemary? I've been knowing
Rosemary for some years. Me and her go way
back from the streets. OK. We've talked a whole
bunch of people, and here's what I
want to do, Mary. I can from the beginning
because it started with me. Yes, ma'am. I walked on down to
the house in the back of the yard at the table. We was out sitting
there drinking. And him-- NARRATOR: Mary says that earlier
today she had been hanging out with Rob and some other friends. She went inside Rob's
house to smoke crack. Rob and the others
stayed outside. I was on the couch in
his house and was smoking, and he came in, picked
up the scissors, and just started stabbing
me with them for no reason. He had me down like this and had
the scissors in me like that. I'm like, Rob T.,
what's wrong with you? He said, it's time
for you to die today. He said, it's death time. I'm like, Rob T.,
that's not you. I'm saying, me and you
are better than that. I thought you was my friend. I don't know how I talked
him into getting off of me. He finally get off of me
and I hurry on and got on out the door. NARRATOR: She says that
when she got outside, Corey and Rosemary were there. Rob came outside and
called Rosemary over. I knowed something
ain't right with him because he's telling
her to come on with him. I'm like, Rosemary, don't go. Don't go. Come on, go with me. Go with me. But she was like hesitating,
you know what I'm saying. And he picked up a stick, Rob
T. started running after me. So Corey would tell
me, go on and run. Run. So I just take off
running and leave. NARRATOR: Mary claims that was
the last time she saw Rosemary. I'm so sorry that you
lost your friend today. I swear to God-- I mean, I-- I swear to God it
could have been me. You can look at
it one or two ways. Either you've had a bad day
or you're damn lucky today. You right. Yes, ma'am. She describes
the same scenario that Corey described earlier. One of the big questions that
we have to answer in a murder is a why. That's the big thing that
we don't have right now is why did this happen. Those are just some questions
we'll have to answer when we get Mr. Rob T. NARRATOR: The next
day, police get a tip that Rob is hanging around
outside a nearby hospital. I'm pulling in to
the emergency room now. See if I can catch him. NARRATOR: Detectives
spot Rob at a gazebo. NARRATOR: In the Minneapolis
shooting of Kyle Parker, Sergeants Gerhard Weir
and Jerry Wallerich are talking to the victim's
sister, who spoke with Kyle just before he died. Was he referring
that's who shot him or? NARRATOR: Kyle's
friends claim that Chris is a member of the 1-9
gang, who are rumored to be responsible for the shooting. Who's Kyle been into it with? Was he into it with
Fat Chris, do you know? No. NARRATOR: Kyle's
sister says she doesn't know why Fat Chris or the
1-9s would want to shoot him. This concludes the statement. Feel positive [INAUDIBLE]
from the victim himself that she heard it from. A dying declaration
is pretty huge. NARRATOR: Back at headquarters,
Weir looks up Fat Chris in Minneapolis's gang database. Christopher Bahtuoh. This is Fat Chris. NARRATOR: 19-year-old
Christopher Bahtuoh has a pending weapons charge. The car is huge because the
car given by the witnesses, the suspect vehicle description,
matches a car registered to Fat Chris. So we look for Chris. NARRATOR: The next day, Sergeant
Alan Kramer and the Violent Criminal Apprehension
Team or VCAT head out to look for Fat Chris
and his gold Buick LeSabre. They hit the addresses of
his friends and family. We're with the Police
Department of Minneapolis. Where do you think he's at? What's your gut telling you? Could be a hotel. Yeah. NARRATOR: As the
first 48 ticks away, Fat Chris is
nowhere to be found. In the first 48, Sergeants
Gerhard Weir and Jerry Wallerich responded to
the murder of Kyle Parker. An informant said Kyle
was shot by the 1-9 gang. Kyle's sister said before he
died Kyle told her the shooter was Fat Chris of the 1-9s. Police searched for Fat Chris
and his gold Buick LeSabre, but were not able to find him. The next day. We received information
about an address on him in Bloomington and I sent
a couple of my officers down there, and they discovered
the suspect's vehicle parked down there. There's a good chance
our suspect is down here. NARRATOR: In the Minneapolis
shooting of Kyle Parker, Sergeants Gerhard Weir
and Jerry Wallerich have a suspect,
Fat Chris Bahtuoh. Now, VCAT has tracked down
his gold Buick LeSabre. That's it. NARRATOR: The mother of Fat
Chris's girlfriend lives in the apartment complex. Somebody's inside. It's open. NARRATOR: Neither Fat Chris
nor his girlfriend are there. The mother says the couple
was staying with them while their own apartment
was being painted. She says they left in her
daughter's car three days ago, and she hasn't heard
from them since. We'll keep looking for them. We'll keep the pressure on. There's no statute of
limitations for murder. He'll resurface some time. We'll find him. We got a call from
Chris's attorney yesterday saying he would
deliver him into custody. All our work is
finally paying off. NARRATOR: Fat Chris comes
forward with his attorney. Have a seat. Make yourself at home. Hopefully, Chris talks. We know he was there. We just need to
hear his side of it. Was he just the driver? Was he the driver
and the shooter? OK. It's frustrating. I was hoping he would talk. I believe there were other 1-9
gang members also involved. NARRATOR: Without
Fat Chris talking, the motive remains unclear. We don't know whether or not
Kyle had some type of problem with the 1-9 gang. We're going to ask the
County attorney's office to charge Christopher Bahtuoh
with the murder of Kyle Parker and let a jury decide
whether or not he's guilty. Ready?
Let's go. We'll just walk you over there. Kyle was like old for his age. He was an old soul. That was my baby. And we did a big birthday
party for his daughter. She's walking now. Kyle would love seeing that. He will never see her walk. He will never see her
talk or go to prom or go to her wedding or none of that
and that's just so unfair. It's crazy how in the
matter of five minutes your whole life can change. Lord Jesus, I'm struggling
to be all right, because that's what he want me to do. But I miss him so much. I miss him so much. NARRATOR: In the stabbing
death of Rosemary Stinson, Louisville Detective
Brenda Wescott has a suspect,
59-year-old Rob Thomas. Detectives Chris Middleton
and Kyle Willett have just spotted him outside a hospital. What I want you to do right
now is ride downtown with me. You got any problem doing that?
- No. OK. Mr. Thomas, you OK? Everything's all right with you? OK. There's no sense in
being mean to him or being overbearing to him. We don't know the
whole story yet. We've got a 60-year-old man
that was involved in something. You know, this may be a chance
to get it off his chest. Mr. Thomas, I think you have
an idea why we're sitting down here. Yeah. OK. I'm interested to hear
your side of the events. I want to hear your
side of the events. But before I do that, I do
have to read you your rights. Number one, you have the
right to remain silent. NARRATOR: Middleton reads
Rob his Miranda rights. Mr. Thomas, if you'd like
to speak to me right now, sign right here for me. Do you want tell
me what happened? NARRATOR: In the murder
of Rosemary Stinson, Louisville Detective
Chris Middleton is questioning their
suspect, Rob Thomas. And that's your choice? Yeah. You know, I'm not doing this
to be mean to you or anything, OK. but I think you've
got a right to know. You're going to be charged with
the murder of Rosemary Stenson. You're also going to be charged
with a criminal attempted murder of Mary Perry, when you
stabbed her with the scissors. NARRATOR: Unprompted,
Rob begins to talk. NARRATOR: He admits that he did
have a run in with Mary Perry that day. NARRATOR: Rob also
claims he doesn't know what happened to Rosemary. I know. She was stabbed when she took
off running down the street. You're in a bad situation. We both agree on that. I agree. I don't know the
reasons why this happened. I know the outcome of it, and
I know that there's lady dead and you've been identified
as the person that caused her death. But what I don't know right
now is why she's dead. There's always reasons
for everything. Believe it or not,
sometimes people have a good reason why
they killed another person. If you want to talk
to me, feel free to. I'm going to put
refused on here, OK? As far as him
requesting an attorney, I guess to some degree
it's always a letdown, but we have so many
good witnesses. As far as his motive
for this, I suspect it's a little drug induced. NARRATOR: With 20 hours
left in the first 48, they closed the case. In the first 48,
Detective Brenda Wescott responded to the murder
of Rosemary Stinson. A witness said Rosemary
and another woman were stabbed by Rob Thomas. Rob denied having
stabbed either woman. Wescott heads out to meet with
Rosemarie's family to tell them they've made an arrest. Rosemary has a
very large family that loves her very much. She was actually
adopted as a child, but she's still in contact
with her biological family. We had a lot of
witnesses come forward. It's very unusual and, I
think it speaks to Rosemary, how special she was. Rosemary was just a
lovable, caring person. She would do anything for her. No matter how
much we loved her, she got into trouble sometimes. She did some drugs and drank
some, and we didn't like it, but we couldn't stop her. How long you been hooked? I've been on it for a while,
but I got locked up for six months and I just got out. I shouldn't even-- Got back on it. That's why I'm going in. She was trying to get help. It just kept drawing
her back, that's all. NARRATOR: Wescott arrives at
Rosemarie's birthmothers home. She was my little sister. She was my baby sister. When she come here Sunday, she
said, Mom, I need to get help. I want help. We was trying to
get her at Tembrook but their beds were full, and
that's what she was waiting on. The day she was killed,
they called to accept her. To accept her in there. How many kids you got? Three. You see them much? Maybe straighten
your life out where you can be with your kids. Yep. She was really a beautiful,
beautiful person inside. Yes, she was. All right, bye bye. Bye.
