Do NOT Enter The Kill Zone! | TRIPLE EPISODE | The FBI Files

in the United States violent extremists embark on a campaign of Terror nearly two decades before the Oklahoma City bombing bank robberies bombings escalating acts of Destruction [Music] when their agenda turns to murder FBI counter-terrorism experts team up with State Police stop a group of violent radicals before they strike again [Music] [Music] in the 1970s a string of bank robberies and bombings spread fear and destruction along the east coast the FBI faced a new breed of criminal the domestic terrorists I'm Jim calstrom former head of the FBI's New York office for nearly a decade the self-proclaimed revolutionaries operate Underground law enforcement vowed to unearth them once and for all Interstate 80 is an isolated stretch of highway in northern New Jersey December 21st 1981 Trooper Philip Lamonica of the New Jersey State Police makes a routine traffic stop driver seems nervous Lamonica sees that he has a gun any more weapons on you keep staying there don't you move downstairs get a car stay in the closer [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] a passing motorist spots the empty police cruiser and stops checks to make sure everything is all right in the snow he sees the road Trooper bleeding and Motionless uses the police radio go ahead what's your name sir Cooper's on duty at the Blairstown State Police Barracks a surprised to hear a civilian voice on their radio all available Troopers respond to the report of the shooting Charles Koh is a major with the New Jersey State Police virtually every road trooper that was on duty that day responded to the scene but we're all basically Road Troopers to start that's where we started from we all knew the dangers involved and of course you never think it's going to happen to you and you really don't think it's going to happen to Someone Like A Philharmonica The Monaco is a legend in the department arriving at the scene Lieutenant Richard Ryan can't believe he's been shot ignition shot struck Phil in his chest area he was wearing a bulletproof vest but the impact of the shots went in under his armpit and went directly into his heart and basically killed him that one shot investigators find lamonaco's service revolver empty all six rounds fired indicating the trooper had gone down fighting lieutenant John mendries processes the crime scene finding further evidence of the gun battle I obtained pieces of class fragments 12 nine millimeter pull casings at the scene they were in the snow bank and in the general area from the size and number of bullet casings mendries believes the murder weapon is a nine millimeter semi-automatic pistol searches for the gun but it is nowhere to be found tmt's transfer Philip lamonico's body to the hospital 150 police officers go after his killer New Jersey and Pennsylvania State Police stop and question motorists one man remembers seeing two men as they left the scene they were driving a 1977 Chevy Nova with Connecticut license plates police set up checkpoints along the Delaware River [Music] as their search miles of Highway and back roads looking for the killers response was overwhelming people were coming out of the woodwork to help us and offer leads and try to help us find the car find the people responsible for this hours later a Narcotics detective in the state trooper find the Nova the car has been abandoned on a rural road three miles from the crime scene detectives find an empty holster Troopers searched the vehicle for Clues they find several bullet holes in the car's exterior which indicates the English shooting at the passenger investigators suspect it was likely the passenger of the car who murdered Phil lamonaco the driver was in such a hurry to ditch the vehicle he left behind a crucial piece of evidence [Music] Gordon Plain Sight was a Connecticut driver's license in the name of Barry heast bear for now eastbury's name and address are investigators only linked to lamonica's killer [Music] actually left [Music] with another trooper and immediately drove to Connecticut to follow up that lead that night we preceded the address and it was in Downtown New Haven Connecticut the address on the Eastbury driver's license turns out to be a hotel rather than a residence [Music] we met with the FBI later in the morning and they told us that they had been at that same Hotel a few months earlier following a lead up on an individual by the name of Raymond Luke lavaster levasser is one of the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives agents believe he is the leader of a violent radical group called The Sam Melville Jonathan Jackson unit the FBI suspects the group of masterminding a series of bank robberies and bombings now investigators wonder whether the group is also responsible for the murder of Trooper Phil lamonico I'd like to take those prints and see if we can match them up agent send levasser's file to the state lab in New Jersey to compare his fingerprints with those found in the Nova unfortunately none of them matched which we could not believe it just didn't make any sense Ryan takes a closer look at levasse's wandered flyer I reread the flyer and on the bottom of the small print right at the last line it said may be accompanied by Thomas William Manning FBI agents Paul Manning's file [Music] the photo on his wanted poster he's the man they know as Barry Eastbury examiners match Manning's file fingerprints to those lifted from the Nova confirming that Barry Eastbury is an alias for Thomas Manning if Manning is involved in the murder of Philip lomonaco investigators are up against a dangerous fugitive according to FBI Files Manning met levasser in prison where they both served time on drugs weapons and robbery charges the two men formed a radical group called The Melville Jackson unit according to special agent Leonard cross they were well versed in a lot of Guerrilla tactics they studied Guerrilla manuals they studied a lot of the radical left literature from the late 60s the mid 60s and the early 70s the group began a Reign of Terror claiming responsibility for seven bombings in Massachusetts and New York between 1976 and 1979 including the bombing of two courthouses the Middlesex County Courthouse in Lowell Massachusetts and the Suffolk County Courthouse in Boston where 20 people were injured according to their propaganda the Melville Jackson unit targets institutions and businesses to protest government and corporate policies they believe are unfair FBI special agent Ed Peterson is investigating the radical group they view themselves as some champion of the downtrodden the poor actually they never did anything for the poor and you know all they were committed to were acts of violence agents believe the group funds its violent political agenda with bank robberies carefully planned operations that are executed with military precision it was obvious that these people were not your everyday criminals they were an organized criminal group and we're traveling the New England states and committing numerous crimes the most serious obviously the murder of Trooper LaMonica on Christmas Eve 1981 2 000 law enforcement officers from several States attend the funeral of Trooper lamonaco the wave of support overwhelms his wife Donna I was just amazed that all the way up a good half mile from the food that started to park to come to the funeral Phil Lamonica was one of the most respected Troopers in the state of New Jersey he really really was I think one of the main things that made him a great Trooper was he really really loved and respected his job is one of the good ones he was the on a young Troopers he had trained a lot of young Troopers and in the tactics of stopping cars and looking for contrabanding vehicles on the highway superintendent Clinton Pagano makes Donna lamonaco a solemn promise the New Jersey State Police will do everything in their power to bring her husband's Killers to Justice I just could see in his eyes the sincerity and I just knew I just knew he would make sure that from that point is where I grew confidence in knowing they're going to get going whoever they are they're going to be found and they're going to get caught because he promised me at a nearby Municipal Building New Jersey and Pennsylvania State Police worked closely with the FBI to find the men who murdered Trooper LaMonica task force follows up on dozens of leads Firearms investigators ask gun shop owners in the area if anyone has sold nine millimeter ammunition to a man named Barry Eastbury they got a hit right across the river from the shooting three months earlier a Barry easterly not Eastbury had purchased nine millimeter ammunition at a gun shop in Stroudsburg [Music] the name seems too close to be a coincidence these were the bullets used in The Killing three-month time span is an important clue we felt that these people resided in this general area they weren't just passing through we were working very closely with the Pennsylvania State Police at that time we notified them about this fine two days later the Pennsylvania State Police receive an unusual phone call a local landlord calls with a complaint Marshalls Creek Pennsylvania directly across the river in the greater Stroudsburg Area Miller owned several rental properties in the area a dog has been abandoned inside one of his houses he's not seen the tenants for nearly two weeks according to Miller the house was rented by a man named Barry easterly that's what teams Converge on the rented farmhouse search the house from room to room whoever lived there left in a hurry the occupants of the house had abandoned clothing personal photos and even their dog in one room police find Radical literature and a sketch featuring an AK-47 assault rifle uh in the bedroom they find the tools of domestic terrorists how to make bombs bomb making materials police also find nine millimeter bullets the same caliber that killed Trooper Phil lamonaco they believe the rented property is a safe house where Thomas Manning his wife and children lived at the time of the lamonaco shooting investigators find documents that offer fresh insight into the radical group's operations they apparently were planning to pull a bank robbery in Allentown Pennsylvania that's we had those schematics we also found the critique of the bank robbery where several policemen were killed a few years before that and all of these things they had to leave behind because they left in such haste in another bedroom sergeant Tom Evans finds a small phone book we began to write down all the phone numbers were in that book there were no names there were nicknames and there was no area code police also find a photograph of a man they can't identify according to the landlord the man in the picture lived in the Manning's guest room family referred to him as Uncle David investigators wonder if Uncle David was Manning's passenger the night of the shooting and whether he is responsible for the murder of Trooper Philip lamonaco [Music] the search for a cop killer evolves into a Manhunt for a group of domestic terrorists arrayed when an abandoned Pennsylvania farmhouse yields two important Clues a mysterious photograph and a book of telephone numbers dozens of phone numbers are listed Sergeant Evans of the New Jersey State Police notes that none of them have area codes Trooper said to me those look like Boston phone exchanges the next morning we went to Boston we started to run down the phone numbers to see who we could come up with there were at least 100 phone numbers in there one of them had a little note on it said rent telephone number belongs to a company in Boston that rents out Apartments investigators meet with the manager possibly one of you tenants I showed him the picture he said to me Trooper I'm sorry but I hardly ever see these people they just mail in their check it looks like another dead end just give the phone book another look next to the rental Company's phone number someone has written a figure 275 dollars so I said to the guy do you have any apartment buildings or apartments at rent for 275 dollars the manager tells them the company has only one apartment that rents for that amount it is currently vacant and being renovated so we rushed up there and stopped him from repainting the apartment uh Massachusetts State Police got their forensic people in there the apartment has been thoroughly cleaned but investigators find fingerprints in obscure places on a light bulb and behind the toilet in the bathroom the tenant left no forwarding address according to the building supervisor point the guy said to me will you ought to talk to his girlfriend at two o'clock in the morning police interview the suspect's girlfriend you sure anybody that you know although she does not tell investigators who her boyfriend really is she gives them the name of his stepfather [Music] the next morning Lieutenant Evans drives to the suburbs outside Boston to question The suspect's Stepfather [Music] I showed him the picture and he said what is Dicky done now and I said Dickie who he said Dicky Williams called the command post Gabe and Richard Charles Williams's name they ran that name against the fingerprints that we had in Bingo it was him so we had the second person identified Richard Williams was Thomas Manning's passenger The Night Phil Lamonica was murdered the violent radical is now wanted as a cop killer [Music] investigators on the case face an extraordinary challenge finding a group of fugitives who are as elusive as they are dangerous New England authorities in the FBI join ranks to track down Manning levasser and Williams [Music] special agent Ed Peterson is assigned to assist the New Jersey police in The Manhunt it was really important as far as the FBI and all of law enforcement the under a magnifying glass and to look at every possible contact you know to try to think like they would think you know to try and get into that mindset and to understand you know what motivated them and where they would look to go the task force sifts through hundreds of hours of Intelligence on the Melville Jackson unit according to their files fugitives have a history of using different aliases to conceal their identities and various mail drops to hide their locations we knew that we had a tough job [Music] in one place conventional things that fugitives generally do they went to such extremes to hide their identities in 1981 a man walks into the town clerk's office in Brattleboro Vermont with an unusual request he needs a copy of a birth certificate for an infant who died in the early 1950s the clerk becomes suspicious Brattleboro is a small town and she knows the infant's family how you doing sir do you have any idea on you no problem no problem sir I just need to see your ideas police later identify the man as Raymond levasser after finding his fingerprints in an abandoned vehicle nearby they suspect he was trying to establish a new identity by stealing the birth certificate of a dead infant headed out in parking lots white males January 1982. Tom Thomas Manning joins levasser on the FBI's 10 most wanted list authorities turn up the heat of the fugitives [Music] four months later FBI agent John Markey responds to the scene of a bank robbery two Mass gunmen had stolen sixty thousand dollars from a bank in Burlington Vermont according to agent Markey the Precision of the operation points to the Melville Jackson unit all three individuals that went into the bank went in right after an armored car delivery one man stood in the lobby the other two vaulted the counter one of them took the money from the telegraphs the other one took the money that had just been delivered the money in the teller drawers was rigged with die packs they look like a stack of money when you take them out of a bank there's electronic sensor that causes them to activate and then within seven seconds they go off letting off tear gas and a red dye which dies the money they threw about twenty thousand dollars out the window because it had dye packs in it it was apparent to me that we ought to consider Raymond lavaster and Thomas Manning and maybe his associate Richard Williams as possible suspects in that bank robbery two months later three men rob a bank in Syracuse New York netting 195 thousand dollars the mo is nearly identical to the Burlington robbery but with one exception they only took the money that was delivered by the Ahmed car they did not take any of the money out of the teledraws that way they eliminated the possible die packs it was my opinion that we were dealing with the same people who robbed the South Burlington branch and you could account for the change of not taking money from the telegraphs because they would have discussed the die packs in just two months over 235 thousand dollars has been stolen from area Banks authorities are concerned that the Melville Jackson unit is amassing a war chest to finance a new wave of Terror with the threat of more bombings looming investigators make a difficult decision they will try to find the terrorists by looking for their children pictures of the Manning and levasser children are distributed to schools sport clubs and pediatricians in the area because the children were innocent in this they just were living with the parents they were 8 9 10 11 12 year old kids investigators feel they have no choice okay the group is deadly and lives are at stake unfortunately the gamble does not pay off the fugitives have hidden their children well to make matters worse the gang launches a series of new attacks on December 16th police in White Plains New York receive a frantic call an unidentified man has phoned in a bomb threat to a local newspaper according to the caller the bomb has been planted in an office building fortunately dozens of employees had evacuated before the building exploded the blast destroyed nearly every window in the building inside investigators find a communique from a group calling themselves the United Freedom front uff claims responsibility for the bombing agents on the case recognize the uff's distinctive assault rifle logo it is nearly identical to a sketch they found in Manning's safehouse we actually compared those side by side and we decided that the logo looked enough in our opinion that it was them we thought that the United Freedom front who took credit for that bombing was in fact the new name for the people involved on the monarchy killing him that's him that's not all right over the next year the uff claims responsibility for four more bombings on December 14 1983 they called the press to issue a chilling statement intend to destroy the offices of a National Defense Contractor in Queens New York caller indicates that a statement from the group can be found in a Manhattan mailbox the letter denounces U.S involvement in Central America the Caribbean and the Middle East the bomb squad recovers two suitcase bombs before they can detonate finding an intact bomb is an important break for special agent John Markey the materials used in that bomb were very similar to the materials used in the Sam Melville Jonathan Jackson unit bombings in the 70s the elements of the bomb that was similar was the type of clock used that the crystal on top of the clock a hole was melted into the crystal and a brass screw was screwed in to the crystal special agent Leonard cross is familiar with the design he investigated the group's early bombings in the 1970s in February 1984 cross becomes the coordinator of the Task Force Hunting The Killers investigation into the radical group is now in its eighth year the terrorists have stayed a step ahead of authorities by repeatedly assuming new identities cross and the FBI task force decide to take a new approach what we try to do was plot where we knew they had lived safe houses where they had bombed where they had committed bank robberies so we started putting this all up on a map groups activities are concentrated in a four-state area that includes New York Massachusetts Vermont and Connecticut in the spring of 1984. the FBI launches operation Western sweep a mission designed to close in on the dangerous fugitives thank you in 1984 FBI launches operation Western Suite a mission to apprehend three key members of a violent radical group agents believe the group the groups traded numerous acts of domestic terrorism New Jersey State Police suspect one of the terrorists also murdered Trooper Phil lamonaco hundreds of investigators comb areas where the group is known to operate his agents uncover the group's safe houses the FBI deploys SWAT teams to search them [Music] but the fugitives are always one step ahead according to detective Richard Ryan it's frustrating because we couldn't apprehend them but we felt as long as they kept committing crimes they were still out there they hadn't gone into total hiding there was a better chance we could catch them agent John Markey tries to predict when the terrorists will strike again based on the group's unique lifestyle he develops an ingenious Theory they were a series of four bank robberies in 1982 and 1983 in Upper state New York along Interstate 90 between Syracuse and Albany New York Markey divides the total amount of money stolen by the number of days between robberies calculates that the group is operating on a budget of about 737 dollars per day [Music] based on that you could predict when the next robbery would occur I was predicting that the next robbery would be between June 1st and June 14th of 1984. markey's prediction is Right On Target June 9th the gang hits a bank in Norfolk Virginia was familiar three armed men entered the building two of them jumped the counter a subdue Bank Personnel at gunpoint ignoring the cash in the drawers they grab bags of money that have just been delivered by an armored car service do not take any of the money out of the teledross that way they eliminated the possible die packs bait money and sound in the alarm the gang seems to be getting smarter with each new robbery investigators need a lead however small to break the case wide open special agent Ed Peterson no matter how fugitive thinks he or she is no matter how good they think they are at some point and some time they're going to make a careless mistake in the summer of 1984 the fugitives make that crucial mistake on August 4th the owner of a storage facility in Binghamton New York contacts the FBI one of his customers hasn't paid his bill in two years the manager opened the storage unit so he could auction off the contents what he found inside terrified him contents in there included materials on how to make bombs how to handle firearms training research on various corporations and a lot of radical material and a lot of marxist type literature agents find bomb making diagrams in the storage unit they show a timer assembled with brass grooves earlier in the investigation agents found an unexploded bomb with similar brass screws at one of the group's targets the bomb is designed to detonate a massive bundle of dynamite with a single electric charge into design lynx levasser and his gang to bombings all over the Northeast there are hundreds of pieces of evidence in the storage unit investigators follow up on every clue no matter how obscure the magazines taken out of the storage bin in Binghamton New York at first nobody thought there would be of any value but an address label on an old Seed Catalog reveals a new name in the investigation Jack Horning investigators trace the address to Ansonia Connecticut according to neighbors the horning family moved away years earlier the trooper that was assigned to this lead felt again we have another dead end lead however he continued to interview people in the neighborhood and he developed a babysitter who had lived a few houses down and she babysat for the morning children a teenager remembers the Horning's well she tells the trooper that Mrs horning was a normal mom the kids were well behaved I mean the entire time she worked for the Hornings nothing out of the ordinary happened but then she remembers one small incident one day she was out with Mrs horning when they had a motor vehicle accident on a hunch the trooper follows up with the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles unable to find an accident report involving a Mrs Horning one report does match the time and location of the incident it on the action report as a passenger in that vehicle the name the driver gave police at the time was not horning but Hymes this is interesting Judy Himes Connecticut licenses since expired it was traded for a New York license in 1980. later the New York license was turned in for an Ohio license according to DMV records the Ohio license is still current Judy heim's name along with her address in Columbus is forwarded to sergeant Tom Evans I call it Columbus Police Department I said what is at that address and the guy said to me it's a mail drop and mail job man that's them that that's their MO that's what they use they didn't have mail sent to their homes in Columbus the FBI rents a vacant house across the street from the mail drop their agents can monitor the facility with video cameras the mail drop is a 24 7 operation so this was going to be difficult to surveil November 3rd three and a half weeks into the Stakeout a woman arrives at the mail drop investigators visually identify her as the wife of Raymond levasser 10 to 12 years at any law enforcement agency had any of these people actually incite under surveillance so you can imagine how the adrenaline was pumping the fugitive's wife his law enforcement's only linked to the terrorists rather than making an arrest agents follow her hoping she will lead them to her husband in 1984 the FBI and a multi-state task force Trail a group of domestic terrorists the violent radicals are suspected of a series of bank robberies and bombings and the murder of a New Jersey State Police Trooper investigators tracked the group from a safe house in Connecticut to a mail drop in Columbus Ohio after nearly a decade their only lead to the terrorists location is the wife of gang leader Ray levasser agent's follower as she leaves the mail drop they know that like the rest of the group the vassar's wife is skilled at covering her tracks into spotting a tail you're careful to keep their distance using aerial surveillance as a backup in case she slips away detective Richard Ryan she was on and off the highway numerous times stopping starting looking around taking local roads back onto the Interstate back off so it was a difficult surveillance two and a half hours later the target stops at a house in Deerfield Ohio once she arrived the house a surveillance was set up in the area from different locations as best as they could it was a very rural area there were farmers Fields corn fields things of that nature New Jersey state trooper Richard Tau watches the house from a distance [Music] approximately 20 minutes later a male subject left the house and got in his car and left the area the male subject is Richard Williams the man wanted for the murder of New Jersey state trooper Philip lamonaco FBI agents follow Williams to a safe house in Cleveland they now have two houses under surveillance 60 miles apart in one location we had the suspected murderer of true or Philip Lamonica and the second location we had top 10 FBI fugitive Ray levosser surveillance has continued through the night and into the morning around 9 40 a.m the levassers leave their house [Music] the SWAT team moves in the arrest Ray lavasser along with his wife [Music] call then immediately went out to Ohio up to Cleveland and then the Foster was in custody so now a decision was made to raid the Cleveland Ohio house in Cleveland agents and police surround the home of Richard Williams [Music] the suspected murderer and terrorist gives up without a fight after years of work the task forces captured two of the group's three key men in less than an hour we had Ray Lewis and his wife we had Vicki Williams the only remaining fugitives that we had was Tom Manning and his wife agents questioned Richard Williams about Thomas Manning's location Williams stalls for hours with every passing moment the fugitives have more time to escape finally Williams breaks down and reveals the addresses of three safe houses located in Jefferson Ohio one of them belongs to Thomas Manning proceeded to that location and conducted a very extensive search Williams stall tactics have given the Mannings enough time to flee but not enough time to cover their tracks inside their safe house investigators find handguns fake IDs and 32 thousand dollars in cash they also find a thousand page record of the group's activities in one room agents find a police scanner tuned to a frequency used by the FBI in another room they find explosives and bomb making supplies they also find a bomb kit that contains distinctive brass screws that match unexploded bombs recovered in 1976 and 1983. they recover a nine millimeter semi-automatic pistol at the FBI forensics lab technicians analyze the gun they compare the bullet that killed Trooper Philip lamonaco to bullets fired from the nine millimeter handgun we were able to determine that that was the weapon that was used to kill Phil LaMonica although they have finally found the murder weapon tracing the owner of the gun will be difficult serial number has been filed off technicians use a chemical solution to raise the number it is barely legible beneath surface of the metal agents trace the nine millimeter to a gun shop in Norfolk Virginia there it was purchased by a woman named Deborah Ann Fury had listed an address in Virginia Beach investigators check out the location turns out to be another mail drop the surveillance team waits to see who will collect the mail when a woman arrives and opens the Box agents identify her Deborah Ann Fury is in reality Thomas Manning's wife FBI has finally found a link to the last member of the radical terrorist group in Ohio the FBI and police have arrested key members of a violent radical group charged with robbery and domestic terrorism one of them Richard Williams is suspected of killing a police officer two of the group's members Thomas Manning and his wife are still at Large [Music] it has been five months since Manning and his family fled their safe house in the rural town of Deerfield yeah he traces a gun found in the safe house to an address in Virginia Beach Virginia turns out the address is another mail drop after weeks of surveillance agents spot the fugitive's wife picking up the mail Christmas [Music] special agent Leonard cross he knew she had a scanner and should be scanning for police radio frequencies as well as FBI frequencies we had special radios that were all encrypted that could not be picked up and the surveillance at this point took us North Manning's wife leads investigators to a safe house in Norfolk about 20 miles away they do not want to arrest her until they can be sure her husband is at home [Music] an hour later investigate his follower to a nearby shopping center as an arrest team takes her into custody second team moves in on the safe house Manning is now outside unaware he's being watched [Music] he had no weapons the decision was made so no one would get hurt this would be the time to make the arrest Thomas Manning the last of the terrorists is arrested in his own backyard in 1987 Thomas Manning and Richard Williams stand trial in Somerville New Jersey Donna lamonico the Widow of Trooper Phil lamonaco attends the trial it was very important for me to be a ble to be upon I wanted to make sure they were the two that killed Phil the two self-proclaimed revolutionaries are sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Trooper Philip lomonaco they receive additional sentences for their roles in a series of bank robberies and bombings starting in 1975. trials the wife of Thomas Manning is found guilty of conspiracy and sentenced to 15 years Raymond lavasa receives 45 years in prison for his role in the group's terrorist activities his wife is released after spending several months in custody [Music] straight that he individuals Manny Williams they were nothing but criminals these guys want to call themselves as Freedom Fighters irrevolutionaries at the end of the day they were criminals and that's the bottom line I mean when you commit bank robberies when you set off bonds when you kill a police officer who's only out there doing his job they they were nothing more than criminals after the trials members of the New Jersey State Police visit Phil lamonico's grave for the very first time we went as a group to his gravesite we felt that we had the respect of Phil he would know that we had done our best two decades after Philip lamonico's death people still leave flowers and flags on the side of the New Jersey highway he protected in Washington D.C a notorious drug gang threatens an entire neighborhood Witnesses are intimidated or killed even as the police in the FBI build a case against the killers the body count continues to climb drug sales skyrocketed as a neighborhood becomes a virtual war zone now the FBI must find the key to destroying a deadly gang known throughout the city as the K Street crew [Music] [Applause] [Music] in the 1990s the War on Drugs was in full swing the front lines were often America's inner cities where gangs used violence and murder to rule their Empires I'm Jim calstrom former head of the FBI's New York office when gang violence exploded in Washington DC the Metro Police and the FBI fought back using high-tech surveillance and tough new laws they set out to destroy the gangs from the inside out [Music] [Music] Washington D.C in the city of monuments and museums lies the heart of American Justice Supreme Court the Department of Justice the Federal Bureau of Investigation [Music] but even our nation's capital is not immune to crime March 22nd 1991. 20 year old Wendy York returns home after running errands she shares an apartment with her cousins to Rita and Theresa Lucas Teresa is in the living room lying on the couch her face is covered with blood oh my God Wendy runs from the apartment and calls 9-1-1 an emergency dispatcher directs units to the scene [Music] Metro Police arrive at the apartment within minutes Teresa Lucas has been shot through the head [Music] in a back bedroom they find another body yeah and a child the second victim is Teresa's sister terita she has also been shot in the head her child is unharmed [Music] [Applause] [Music] police discover another baby terrified but also unharmed it's Teresa's child seems both children have been alone with the bodies for hours [Music] oh a short time later the victim's mother arrives at the apartment Renee Brown finds the building surrounded by police my mind was racing and I was trying to get in the police were holding me back they said you came in and I said this is my house I have to go in that was the most horrific day of my life I will never forget it they were very devoted and dedicated mothers they love their kids and and they didn't deserve to die crime scene investigators processed the apartment they find no signs of forced entry nothing in the apartment appears to be disturbed no valuables have been taken there is nothing that suggests a motive for the brutal slang detectives suspect the victims knew their killer detectives ask Renee Brown to check the apartment [Music] grieving mother is willing to do anything she can to help Renee notices something missing from Theresa's bedroom the first thing I noticed from off the ball the frame is found but a photo of Theresa's boyfriend Sam Carson is gone then I said I wonder where that picture is and we looked in the trash in the back and it was nowhere in the trash so I said Whoever has that picture is the murderer contact Sam Carson to ask him a few questions guys being in the apartment the night the two women were murdered although Carson is a likely suspect police have no physical evidence to tie him to the murders where were you last night detectives interview people in the neighborhood although gunshots were fired in the Lucas apartment neighbors claim they heard nothing you happen to know the women no no two young women have died and yet nobody is willing to talk about it [Music] the double homicide catches the attention of law enforcement across the district including the FBI special agent Vince lissey is shocked by the brutality of her crime agent Lizzie often Works undercover and must protect his identity he was horrific the police had very few leads to go on they struggled and struggled with the investigation for some time but there were no real witnesses to it Without A Witness police cannot identify a suspect ful without a motive they cannot catch the Lucas girls killer and without evidence the double homicide will become a statistic yet another unsolved murder [Music] relax the epicenter of that violence is Greenleaf Gardens a housing project on K Street a drug trade has reduced the neighborhood to chaos according to detective Steve kirschner crack cocaine hit this city hard in 85-86 along with that came a lot of violence the homicides rate went sky-high I believe it started out mostly from jealousy who was making the most money they were kidnappings assaults just led to a very violent there buyers many of them from the suburbs made the dealers on K Street rich [Music] the area provided few economic opportunities so the lure of easy money proved a powerful recruiting tool it was a huge Money Maker forum and it was pretty hard to tell a 14 or 15 year old kid Hey listen go to school do all the right things whenever they can go out on the street sell crack and make a thousand dollars a day they could buy all the things that they didn't have before because they live in an impoverished home over there with millions of dollars in Easy profits at stake competition between dealers grew fierce [Music] sales turf the neighborhood was a powder cake according to Metro homicide detective Tony brigadini area was deadly numbers that we have compiled over the years of the investigation showed that this was probably one of the most deadly areas in the District of Columbia it's very close to some of the government buildings in Southwest Washington which was interesting in that there's an incredible amount of crime going on in a small area so close to a downtown business district the FBI and D.C metro police form the Safe Streets task force their job is to clean up a neighborhood that has become a war zone [Music] agents canvassed the streets looking for information on the gangs [Music] residents are too afraid to talk or even be seen speaking with investigators if you walk up to somebody's door and you knock on their door and ask to speak to them in about three minutes everybody in that neighborhood is going to know that the police are there frustrated by the lack of cooperation agents try a different approach sometimes we follow people to work we try to get them away from a neighborhood we try to do whatever we can until the people in the neighborhood don't know their Witnesses slowly the residents open up they talk about drug dealers who have taken over the neighborhood K Street crew the gang is led by Vincent Hill a ruthless sociopath who seems to thrive on violence [Music] if somebody came up and irritated him for any reason whatsoever he had no problem grabbing a baseball bat a hammer anything he could and hit them with it kills money and his brutality make him the most powerful man in the neighborhood according to Metro detective Neil trugman he compared himself to a big time mob figure there was no fear according to FBI sources Vincent Hill runs the K Street crew with an iron fist still gang members respect him Vincent Hill had a reputation for being a bully but at the same time others looked up to him because they saw that he had money he had nice clothes he had fancy cars while he's manipulating them into selling drugs they would see him beat somebody up for not giving him enough money so all of these things kind of led the others to look to him as somebody that you didn't want to mess with you didn't want to challenge but at the same time he was a way that they could make money the distribution of crack cocaine carries severe penalties a conviction could get Vincent Hill and his crew off the streets permanently agents launch an investigation into the gang's crack dealing but Hill's group is already one step ahead before the FBI can bust the K Street crew on cocaine charges the gang suddenly shifts to selling marijuana they realized when they were selling crack cocaine you're looking at stiff time selling marijuana was a misdemeanor more than likely he wouldn't get any time for foreign the demand is huge buyers pour in from the suburbs the gang maintains its profits minimizing the risk of jail time it just took off like a rocket if everybody was making money uh you know people were making three four five thousand dollars a day just by selling marijuana thwarted by the gang's move the task force regroups as the dealers grow even bolder [Music] three for twenty three for twenty and then when they finally got close enough to realize you're a cop they would run the dealers simply abandoned their stashes until the cops leave minutes later the dealers returned to the exact same spot with a new stash and set up shop again as business expands the violence escalates sometimes involving innocent victims [Music] foreign [Music] on August 29 1992 Travis Ross and two friends are mistaken for rival drug dealers Ross is killed instantly both of his friends are critically wounded police interview the survivors they say they have no idea who shot them or why [Music] their reluctance to answer questions is understandable okay contact with the Manchester police believe the K Street crew has already murdered a dozen people who cooperated with authorities what they don't know is how the gang is able to identify these potential Witnesses in 1995 Bruce Spencer is shot five times at point-blank range by a K Street crew member somehow he survives is willing to identify the man who shot him task force immediately places Spencer in protective custody he's registered at a DC Hospital under the name John Doe [Music] while Spencer recuperates agent lissy and other investigators scour Greenleaf Gardens looking for the men who tried to kill him on K Street agent lissian detective trugman find themselves face to face with Vincent Hill the gang's notorious leader to look all your Witnesses are going to die everyone even your buddy who's in the hospital under the name John Doe in room and he told me exactly what room it was I shook my head as if I didn't know what he's talking about but I knew exactly what he was talking about they wanted to let us know it was their business to locate Witnesses and silence them investigators are even more determined to protect their Witness foreign but word of Hill's threat reaches Spencer fearing for his life the witness refuses to help investigators everybody's working out almost not the task force is frustrated having lost another battle in their war against the K Street crew in the 1990s Greenleaf Gardens in the southwest section of Washington DC is a neighborhood Under Siege a gang calling itself the K Street crew has claimed the housing project as its base of operations and turned it into a Killing Zone Metro Police working closely with the FBI struggle to link the gang to a rash of killings investigators know it will take more than individual murder convictions to stop the widespread violence [Music] strategy that will take down the entire gang The Joint Task Force decides to use Rico a federal racketeering statute that will allow them to prosecute the K Street crew as a single corrupt organization that sells drugs and commits murder to protect their interests homicide detectives re-examined dozens of cold cases cases that were once attributed to the random violence of the projects they search for anything that will link the K Street crew to murder according to detective Tony brigadini some of the cases that we were investigating were eight years old 10 years old we would have to go back and research case jackets try to find evidence that had been collected eight or ten years earlier try to locate crime scene photographs things of that nature yeah I do and here it is see this car is that the same so in trying to build a strong case we were dealing with with very little information in the meantime agents launch a covert surveillance operation to gather evidence on the gang's growing drug business special agent Vince lissey we wanted to show the conspiratorial nature of these guys how they operated on the street how they took turns selling drugs who supplied who and we thought that if we could have Undercovers introduced to the group that we could accomplish this FBI agents set up a Stakeout in an apartment overlooking K Street the landlord offers it to them free of charge like most of the residents of Greenleaf Gardens he's sick of the drugs and the violence we've got some camera equipment video and still photos and we would sit up there and watch them and try to get the people on K Street's patterns down we would see Vincent Hill out there and see how he operated investigators watched the area for weeks [Music] once they've established the gang's patterns they develop a plan most of the drug transactions on K Street are conducted with buyers and cars to get closer to the dealers they'll need a vehicle [Music] we decided the best approach was to use a pickup truck we got the oldest dirtiest pickup truck the FBI had we bought some toolbox put toolboxes on the back of the truck to make it look like a construction truck the truck is rigged with surveillance cameras and microphones Metro investigators Joe Abdallah Jim Scheider are recruited from another Precinct as Outsiders they will not be recognized by gang members they will pose as construction workers to make drug buys Metro investigator Joe Abdallah so me and Jimmy had it pre-range if I was in any trouble I felt my my safety was in Jeopardy I was going to run for that truck and depending on the situation Jimmy's going to take off with me jumping in the back of that truck or he would get out with his firearm the main target of the surveillance operation is Vincent Hill the undercover officers expect they will have to make several buys before they can make contact with the gang leader five cars carrying two-man teams form a perimeter around the neighborhood they stand by on their radio's awaiting lissy's orders we had all this in place we had the car situated throughout the neighborhood and we said okay let's go let's try it as the officers attempt their first undercover by Jim Schneider knows he is heading into dangerous territory as soon as we turn the corner my heart started racing we knew that uh there's no turning back at that point Abdallah and Scheider looked for a dealer any dealer to buy from then on a street corner they spot Vincent hill flanked by his lieutenants [Music] the K Street crew is out in force back [Music] Abdallah doesn't think twice gets out of the truck and I'd ask if I could get two bags for 40 which meant two bags of marijuana which were fifty dollars but if could I get them for forty dollars a piece an individual to my left side ran to go get him from a stash which was on a fence line and Vincent Hill said no you'll take two for 50. the money down and then I walked away the surveillance team documents the entire transaction they now have the leader of the K Street crew on videotape personally selling marijuana to undercover officers Joe bought convinced the hill the first time and we said wow this is too easy within 30 seconds the deal was done Jim and Joe rolled back to the office and we were just amazed [Music] task force has been prepared to wait weeks even months to make contact with Hill but it happened in less than a minute the FBI presses their advantage over the next six months they continue to buy marijuana directly from Hill gradually increasing the quantity each time the sailors carefully photographed through the undercover buys investigators discover that Hill controls everything that happens on the Block this becomes clear when Abdallah and Scheider try to make a purchase from someone other than Hill and we were getting ready to make a purchase and there was someone hollering down the street when we looked back it was Vincent Hill who went back down into the block met with Vincent Hill and bought from him and I think he had that kind of power in that block for months the buys go on like clockwork Abdallah is doing more than making purchases he's building a relationship slowly he gains Hills trust and tries to get information I try to get any conversations I could from him and there were times when I try and draw a conversation from him where he would say look if the police come in the block I have a place to run to you don't so tell me what you need let's get it over with and there were also times when I had a conversation with him about setting up weight purchases or no more than the 20 bag what we would call wholesale quantities like quarter pounds Abdallah begins buying in bulk moving from ounces to pounds he tells Hill he is selling marijuana at the construction site where he works there were occasions when he would actually front me drugs which would mean he'd give them to me for free for payment at a later date we had that kind of trust and he even gave me good advice on when buying the weight he would Supply me with the smaller 20 bags he gave me packages of those at some points and he would tell me how to juggle it or I mean break it down and sell it in the quantities to my friends and he gave me helpful hints on how to do that for six months the operation runs smoothly then a routine buy puts everyone on guard at one point when I made a buy from him I got back into the truck and Jimmy was driving and I was in the passenger seat and Jimmy said hey he's he's waving at you and he was mostly like to roll the window down so I rode the window down he said hey look these guys over here they're saying that your buddy is a police officer he said I know you're okay but he said those guys over there will kill you it threw us off a little bit and then when we started to leave the guys that he was pointing to had like hoods over their faces and put their heads away from us it does not appear to Abdallah and Scheider that Hill suspects they are cops so they continue the operation a week later the two detectives pull into K Street Vincent Hill is there Hill was cold to me didn't want anything to do with me he said he didn't know where they sold marijuana didn't know what I was talking about and it was it was very confusing because even when he was angry and sold he was just in a hurry he said what do you need hurry up and get out of here but on this day he's like I don't have anything I don't know what you're talking about you can go somewhere else Bill sends them to another dealer down the block that night Abdallah meets the dealer in an abandoned house [Music] the officer prepares for a confrontation the gentleman walked into a vacant house called me in safe up here [Music] the gentleman tried to give me like a sandwich baggie full of lawnmower clippings it wasn't real marijuana so it was that point we knew something was wrong Abdallah knows that cover is blown with backup cars at least two minutes away he slowly talks his way out of the building [Music] the undercover operation is over after six months of drug buys the task force still does not have enough evidence to put Vincent Hill and his gang in prison once and for all had we charge him with the drug conspiracy alone it might have gotten them 10 years maybe five years and what's even worse they would have been held accountable for all the violent crimes they've committed so we still needed to investigate the murders and the robberies and the kidnappings and all the violent crimes that were associated with that group investigators still have a lot of work to do in the meantime the streets Rage with violence in Washington D.C a lengthy undercover operation has begun to produce results investigators have videotaped the infamous K Street crew selling drugs but now they must find evidence of the gang's more violent activities [Music] in 1995 A Brave Young woman steps forward so what would you like Chrissy Gladden is 19 years old as a single mother she is worried about her neighborhood we know you're scared Chrissy tells police that Jerome Martin and Antonio Knight are responsible for a drive-by shooting she overheard Martin talking about it although she doesn't know the victim's name her description of the crime leads investigators to an unsolved murder six months earlier Travis Ross had been killed in a drive-by shooting near K Street [Music] his friends were critically wounded Chrissy wants to testify against the gang she knows they are the reason her neighborhood is so dangerous [Music] still she's afraid she tells investigators that if she speaks out against the K Street crew they will kill her Chrissy Gladden and two other women finally agree to testify but only if the FBI places them in the witness protection program special agent Vince lissey finally convinced Chrissy as well as these other female witnesses that we would work with them we would try to keep them safe and make sure nothing happened to them we stressed upon them not to tell people where they lived not to take people to their new apartments Chrissy's cooperation pays off crew members Jerome Martin and Antonio Knight are indicted for murder [Music] lissy believes they have enough evidence to get a conviction even though one witness is recanted two others including Chrissy are still willing to testify it's not a big deal the week before the trial of Jerome Martin we're constantly reinterviewing Witnesses talking to them getting them ready to testify we want them to know what questions they're going to be asked if they take the standard to testify and the week before we had Christian the U.S attorney's office we got it ready and she pretty much knew what was going to be expected of her she wasn't an eyewitness to the murder but she did fill in certain gaps four days before the start of the murder trial Vince lissey receives a call from one of the witnesses I'll set it up she was frantic screaming crying tell me they killed Christy they killed Chrissy Chris he's dead and I couldn't believe it and then whenever I realized machine was taught in the body was punch him in the stomach agent Lizzy drives over to the Southwest District [Music] at the crime scene Metro Police tell him what happened according to Witnesses Chrissy attended a party on 37th street at the home of Antonio Knight's girlfriend as she left the party two gunmen appeared and opened fire [Music] he survived Chrissy was already dead not surprisingly investigators are unable to find a single witness willing to identify Chrissy's killers [Music] the message from the K Street crew is clear talking to the police is a death sentence Chrissy thought that everything was fine she trusted her friends she trusted the people in that neighborhood thought she could go back there nothing was going to happen [Music] that was probably the worst I've ever felt in this job it's hard it's hard to keep going sometimes when that happens still the task force pursues their case against Jerome Martin and Antonio Knight the trial is a disaster in case it lingered in the system so long in DC we said we got to go and we went forward with it and we did the best we could some witnesses were just physically unable to testify they were just distraught but you know we went forward and we lost Jerome Martin and Antonio Knight are acquitted due to lack of evidence to the K Street crew Witnesses like Chrissy Gladden are a minor inconvenience it's really something to see these guys go free at that point they won the battle they were happy they won the battle and I told myself you can't sit back and let them continue to win these battles Chrissy gladden's death and the acquittal of Martin and Knight are major blows to the investigation the task force refuses to give up somehow they will find a way to bring the K Street crew to Justice in Washington D.C the K Street crew is terrorizing a neighborhood with drugs and violence investigators spent months working with 19 year old witness Chrissy Gladden who agreed to testify against them on October 5th she was gunned down outside a party [Music] even without Witnesses detective Steve kerstner is determined to find her killers we stayed on it trying to find a break in that case and we did everything we could we printed up Flyers off the reward uh it really crushed the investigators on the case special events it's horrible it's just you know party says what more can I do that's it you want to wave the white flag but the other part of you says wait a minute I'm not going to give up you know I'm not going to give in to their ways of Justice it's not the way it's supposed to be [Music] less than a month later the FBI and D.C police get an unexpected break in the case Robert Butchie Smith a senior K Street crew member who's arrested for drug dealing in an effort to get Smith to talk about the gang the FBI tells him he faces Federal racketeering charges put slime in here they're building a Ricoh case that will tie the gang's drug business to a series of murders [Music] tactic works Smith finally agrees to talk tell us what you know Smith reveals that the gang uses private investigators to identify people willing to testify against us they also use the Freedom of Information Act to obtain court documents to Target potential Witnesses Smith gives investigators leads on several unsolved kidnapping shootings and murders according to Metro detective Tony brigadina into the house very specific protected information of the crimes and the business dealings that the members of the K Street crew participated in his house Smith specifically mentions a triple homicide that his nephew William Sweeney told him about all this money Sweeney Along With Sam Carson and James Montgomery are fellow members of the K Street crew Smith said Sweeney and Carson were in Las Vegas when Ryan Pierce another drug dealer one big at the tables the two men decided to Rob Pierce when he returned to DC on November 17 1996 Sweeney Carson and James Montgomery waited outside his home Pierce arrived late that night along with three friends the K Street crew made their move [Music] off we go get over here Pierce told the gunman he had already put his winnings in the bank there was no cash in the house Sweeney killed both men one woman tried to flee he was shot to death another woman managed to hide until the killers left right [Music] according to Butchie Smith the K Street crew usually kills people in response to a threat but Pierce's murder was different this time it was all about greed my nephew Sweeney investigators hope that Smith's inside information is the break they need to finally bring down the Gang at that point then we knew okay now we can start to get the framework of an indictment ready so that we could go and start to prepare charges against these guys for crimes other than the drugs Smith agrees to become an FBI informant in exchange for a reduced sentence it's a risky decision I'm dead I'm done if anyone finds out he's talking to authorities Vincent Hill will have him killed technicians analyze a single fingerprint found on a screen door at the murder scene it matches Sweeney's Prince corroborating butchy's story what also helped us was we got William Sweeney's cellular telephone records and some of the people working the case began to go and investigate that and they contacted the cell phone company and found out that the cell phone was used near the scene of the triple murder at the time of the murder the investigators moved quickly to neutralize Sweeney in April 1997 he is arrested on unrelated charges while awaiting trial in jail Sweeney receives a copy of his own arrest warrant from his attorney an unnamed source is listed as an informant against him two months later just when it looks like the task force is about to put an end to the gang's operation Robert Butchie Smith is gunned down in broad daylight the FBI informant has been shot a total of 13 times mostly in the head but she got killed brought back all these uh feelings and the memories and you know it's hard it's hard to keep going sometimes when that happens much like Chrissy's murder we there were no leads there were although many people were out on the street and saw it that day nobody would come forward nobody talked Butchie Smith's murder threatens to unravel the case against the K Street crew investigators have lost their only informant the brutal killing scares away other potential Witnesses after butchy's murder all right we sat around looking at each other like what do we do now where do we go from here it really took a lot of the wind out of our cell we ain't stopping we had to figure out how we can continue with the investigation where were we going to go we thought okay we can follow up with the leads but what you gave us but still we needed somebody on the inside and we no longer had put you to give it to us who had to gather around and tell ourselves we can't let this get us down We Can't Stop in 1997 the FBI's case against the Notorious K Street crew was in trouble only informant had been murdered gunned down in Cold Blood other potential Witnesses are terrified they'll meet the same fate before he was killed FBI informant Butchie Smith told investigators that James Montgomery was one of the men responsible for a triple homicide [Music] Montgomery is arrested and brought in for questioning Mr Montgomery interesting you got like special agent Vince lissy pressures the suspect to talk about the triple homicide and the rest of the gang's crimes Montgomery is already facing a long prison term for the murders in the end he decides to cooperate Montgomery admits his role in the triple homicide he also confesses to seven murders including that of cooperating witness Chrissy Gladden lissy presses for more leads on crimes committed by the Gang Montgomery reveals that crew member Sam Carson killed informant Butchie Smith then he drops a bombshell told me do you remember when the two girls got killed and I asked him which two girls and he said the ones back in the early 90s I knew exactly what he meant Montgomery is referring to the unsolved murders of Teresa and terida Lucas and he began to tell me about it and I just couldn't believe it according to Montgomery Sam Carson had stashed a bag of guns at the home of his girlfriend Teresa Lucas when he asked her to return the gun Teresa claimed she didn't have them she didn't want them around her children so she threw them away [Music] Carson was Furious he decided to confront Teresa one final time [Music] Carson hit his handgun in the bathroom [Music] [Music] he tried to calm Teresa's fears by showing her he was unarmed he began again to ask her where's my gun and he where did you put him nobody I want him right now [Music] The Dance Factory I get up went back to the bathroom retrieved his gun killed her Sam walked into the bedroom and his Torito was waking up and starting to sit up in bed he shot and killed her according to Montgomery Carson got rid of any evidence that linked him to the crime scene took his time when he was satisfied that he had removed any photos wiped all his fingerprints he walked from the apartment got in the car and left investigators asked Montgomery how the crew had discovered the identities of two undercover police officers Joe Abdallah and Jim Scheider [Music] Montgomery admits that someone from the other side of town recognized them as law enforcement and told Vincent Hill oh there was this girl although Hill didn't believe it at first he soon became suspicious according to investigator Joe Abdallah on a subsequent buy we made after that day they followed us in the truck as we left and followed us back to the FBI building where it was our our meeting spot after the buys took place and that's the date they quit selling to us lissy isn't taking any chances with this Witness he decides to move Montgomery out of state for his own protection in the fall of 1997 Montgomery pleads guilty to seven murders as part of the plea agreement the court seals details of his sentence and whereabouts put your hands on your head now police arrest Sam Carson and charge him with the murder of Teresa and terida Lucas William Sweeney already in jail on unrelated charges is indicted for the Triple homicide [Music] [Applause] if Montgomery safely Hitler law enforcement begins to dismantle the K Street Cruise infrastructure Jerome Martin Sean Coats and gang leader Vincent Hill are arrested in the summer of 1998. [Music] Federal indictment charges the gang with 13 murders 87 counts of racketeering drug distribution kidnappings and robberies the federal judge permits recorded testimony from Chrissy Gladden Robert Butchie Smith to be introduced to trial even in death the gang's victims point a finger at their killers 2001 every gang member charged with murder is convicted they receive life sentences without the possibility of parole gang members not accused of murder plead guilty to charges ranging from kidnapping to drug trafficking there's no doubt in my mind that if these guys stayed on the street they would have continued doing what they were doing that was their life they knew how to sell drugs how to rob people how to kill people thanks to the tireless efforts of both the FBI and D.C metro police K Street is now a safer place to live a string of vicious bank robberies grows more violent with every hole then ends in a deadly shootout [Music] with a dangerous man on the Run police conduct an all-out search for a fugitive so desperate he will stop at nothing to make his Escape all right [Music] two armed bank robbers hit a Seattle Bank taking over 150 thousand dollars but before they can escape police confront them and the pair splits up as authorities search block by block they learned one was a career criminal with a long history of violence I'm Jim calstrom former head of the FBI's New York office the suspect was smart and desperate to stay free agents chased him through the Caribbean and across cyberspace determined to put an end to his career [Music] one of the FBI's primary responsibilities is investigating bank robberies [Music] and they see more of these crimes in Seattle than just about any other place in the country the FBI office there investigates every bank robbery in the state of Washington special agent Mike Adams runs Seattle's robbery division over the last five or six years we've averaged 300 bank robberies a year primarily here in the Seattle or King County Area bank robberies are a big problem here in this area the FBI cites a high rate of drug addiction and the fact that Washington has a relatively large number of Bank branches is reasons for this the Seattle agents see two basic types of Bank heists most are one-on-one robberies when someone approaches a teller with a note and a quiet demand for cash not necessarily a robber who cares to draw attention to him or herself by being extremely vocal or attempting to take over the banking operations the other kind of robbery is more rare and more dangerous the Takeover a takeover robbery is where we have one or more robbers who enter a bank and attempt to take over the banking operations through various means either ordering people to the floor or ordering the bank employees away from the teller counters more often than not in a takeover style bank robbery the bank robber or robbers are armed with firearms so those are considered very violent as opposed to a one-on-one style bank robbery agents note that whenever takeover Bandits get away with it they will usually rob again becoming Bolder and more violent with each new attempt on May 17 2000 one particularly vicious string of takeover style robberies begins at a downtown Seattle Bank hurry up working quickly they disappear in minutes with thousands of dollars in cash a week later thieves hit another area Bank brandishing bigger guns intensifying their assault on unsuspecting patrons and employees two weeks later robbers strike again with even more aggression since takeover robberies are rare agents believe that crimes were all perpetrated by the same Bandits we did see bank robberies that did appear to be similar in nature in terms of the level of violence in terms of large amounts of money certainly a robbery of that nature is going to pique our attention because of the significant level of violence yet each time the robbers escaped cleanly and stolen getaway cars leaving no eyewitnesses who can ID them the FBI is facing a pair of seasoned criminals who grow more aggressive with each attack [Music] recognizing a pattern of behavior authorities feel these violent robbers will turn deadly six days later on the morning of June 22nd 2000 their worst fears are realized two men head down Aurora Avenue then turn into the parking lot of Wells Fargo Bank [Music] the people inside have no idea what's coming [Music] up the gunman Corral the customers and employees but they miss one the robbers are organized one stands guard while the other finds a teller who can access the vault [Music] the manager connects with police emergency a dispatcher puts out an urgent call about armed robbers still inside the bank poor received Seattle officer Wesley Buxton responds was a bank robbery in progress [Music] that's a little bit of an unusual call we usually get Bank alarms as opposed to bank robbery in progress oh Buxton races to the bank I said hurry up come on hurry up inside the Vault the thief takes all the Cash's two backpacks can hold [Music] up the teller follows orders hoping the gunman won't kill him Buxton kills his siren as he approaches the bank seen a um there was a motorcycle sitting out in front of the bank I believe was up on the sidewalk you really couldn't see in the bank following procedure the officer finds cover and waits for backup Officer Rick sprecker arrives and gets into position the bandits emerge unaware of the officers [Music] they cannot get the motorcycle started [Applause] for a minute in time I guess trying to figure out why the motorcycle would it start and then they jumped off the motorcycle and they started running away from it one suspect trips I had my gun on him and told him stay down Buxton stays with the first gunman officer sprecker orders the second to stop but the man disappears then officer Buxton is suddenly faced with the unthinkable it seemed like slow motion I've heard the tape recording of it and the shots were fired in quick succession a bad time it seemed like they were even maybe one or two seconds between the actual shots [Music] sprecker returns fire finally stopping the gunman officers contain one suspect the other is gone sprecker's call brings an intense law enforcement response [Music] emergency medical technicians work to stabilize officer Buxton quickly breeds detectives he got shot six times the man who shot the officer is dead the hunt for the escaped suspect begins immediately a dispatcher broadcasts a description of the fleeing gunman on all police channels FBI agents rushed to the bank among them agent Mike Adams on my way to the bank I did hear an officer was shot and was down was obviously a very violent takeover style robbery Adams recognizes that these initial reports are similar to the three earlier robberies and that the violence has escalated even further with one armed gunman still on the loose authorities quickly moved to contain the situation there were several people bystanders who were beginning to gather around so Seattle Police immediately took control of the scene because of the imminent danger and Potential Threat that still existed [Music] the Seattle Police Department directs their homicide unit to the scene including detective Paul seguro anytime there's officer involved shooting where a Seattle police officer fires a weapon we are called to investigate all law enforcement agencies begin working together to develop a plan to find the escaped gunman Seattle Police form an emergency command post to coordinate their assignment let's wrap it up right now take off all right members of our SWAT team had already started a search of the inner perimeter area moving toward the general direction of the fleeing suspect SWAT methodically searches every hiding space they are careful knowing that the gunman is desperate and could be anywhere concern for public safety law enforcement swarms the area roads are blocked traffic detective Sergeant David Ritter the bank robbery and subsequent police shooting led to a tremendous police presence in the area we had dogs we had the King County helicopter um the special weapons team the SWAT team goes door to door warning everyone in the business district anybody in here with me downstairs businesses were shut down we closed all the local businesses for the safety of the people because the suspect was still at large okay you got it right just do that please thank you after treating gunshot wounds in officer buxton's left arm and right shoulder the emergency medical technicians take him to the hospital both wounds the bullet went in and out so it was just a matter of clearing cleaning it up make sure there wasn't anything that would cause any kind of infection special agent Adams searches the downed bank robber for Clues I pulled out his identification which said his name was Daniel delphierro he was not someone known to the FBI at that time but nonetheless certainly a name for us to conduct further follow-up investigation investigators locate the 380 semi-automatic handgun used to shoot Buxton in a belt pack they find a 38 revolver agents also recovered two backpacks full of cash a lot of the money in there was still in shrink wrap delivered from the Federal Reserve Bank later the money found in both backpacks came up to well over a hundred and fifty one thousand dollars that is a lot of money much more than is typically taken during a bank robbery police run the plates of the motorcycle and learn it will not help them ID the Escape suspect the bike was stolen FBI agents interview Bank employees and customers searching for clues that might help them locate the second gun but the robbers never used any names and no one saw their faces an evidence technician recovers a footprint left on the teller counter but it is the only physical evidence investigators find at the scene The Heist was clean local police pull up the record of the Dead robber Daniel Del Fierro he was fresh out of prison having served time for manslaughter and assault the police continue to hunt down Del fierro's accomplice within hours of the robbery they'd pick up his Trail detectives respond to a nearby junkyard where officers have recovered evidence tracking finding the items running he's motorcycle he had he had off it's sort of like the trail they left behind continues running probably another 50 feet and then took off his jacket [Music] family fans and barbed wire on top of that there's also a handgun a 45 caliber semi-automatic pistol covered close to the jacket investigators suspect that the gunman was covering his Trail by leaving behind evidence in any clothing that would later identify him but just as the suspect's trail appears to be getting cold it heats up again I'll be right there investigators head to a nearby apartment building responding to a call made by the building's manager he's after finding fresh blood outside an apartment usual went upstairs to my apartment and noticed the blood on the stairwell [Music] if it is the gunman's blood he could still be in the building armed and desperate police call for squat we'll get you to a safe spot and a nearby team arrives immediately with a dangerous and Elusive gunman still on the loose police hope they now have him cornered following a Seattle bank robbery in June 2000 the gun battle leaves one police officer injured and one supper dead a second armed suspect flees on foot and disappeared [Music] police follow a blood trail to a nearby apartment building thanking the gunman might be holed up there a SWAT team checks the place one hallway one apartment at a Time come on [Music] but they find nothing once the building is cleared investigators secure a sample of the blood for later testing [Music] authorities pour every resource into the intense manner according to detective Sergeant David Ritter because of the seriousness of the robbery ever available Buffs that we could find was involved in this hunt for the second suspect police are cautious knowing from experience that someone willing to shoot a cop is far more dangerous than the average Criminal FBI agents approach residents asking them what they've seen and warning them about The Fugitive the suspect was obviously very dangerous and and in the immediate area we're afraid tactical officers continue to check buildings alleys any place the suspect could hide yeah clear let's go next one they instruct every business in a 15 block area to shut down and lock up okay thanks in no time authorities seal off one of Seattle's busiest shopping districts bringing the entire area to a standstill investigators have identified the suspect kill during the shootout as Danny Del Fierro he is the investigator's best lead for locating the second robber King County Deputy prosecutor Steve Fogg so we got an immediate warrant for his residence his car to try to locate whatever information we could about him and through that who he might have done the crime with at Del fiero's home investigators meet a woman who had lived with him she says she knows nothing about the robbery but helps them compile a list of her housemates Associates [Music] investigators then searched Del fierro's home but find nothing that can help them identify the Escape suspect [Music] across town officers respond to a call from a man who claims he was the target of an attempted carjacking it is just North of the building where the blood was found Paul's looking for work and you know the driver explains that minutes earlier he was leaving his apartment he saw this guy jump out in front of him to slam both of his hands down on the hood and force him to stop the guy said hey I've been in a fight and I need you to help me look I need your cards The Man became more aggressive put his hand into the car I tried to grab the keys and tried to take the car himself when it became apparent that that was not going to work he became quite vicious you know within you know a matter of seconds the owner of the car was able to fight him off push him out the door knob and then just jet off as fast as he could and he reported what had happened to a police officer yeah the guy was like police are convinced the carjacker is the robber they're pursuing the victim gives them a detailed description of his assailant and the direction he was going [Music] we got the description out immediately and then the media was helpful and they got it out to the public as fast as we had it for three hours investigators find no sign of the fugitive until a 9-1-1 operator gets a call my wife a man reports that he and his wife had been held hostage that afternoon the Intruder had fled but they think he was the bank robber they heard about on the news the one about rob the bank investigate his race to a residence north of the carjacking attempt a couple explains what happened three hours earlier the woman was leaving her house when she saw a man in her truck [Music] he was calm and told her he'd been in a fight and needed her help she didn't fall for it at this point the police in that media were sort of circling the area she went up to the helicopters and said no I think actually they're looking for you and again the personality changed just like that the woman is not somebody who's just gonna roll over for this guy he tried to fight back he grabbed a knife let her know that he was capable of using it he signaled to her that his own Survival was at stating he was going to be as brutal as he had to be where's the team tell me right now where's the tape do you have any rope don't move as he searched for something with which to tie her up her husband came home honey hey where are you hey I'm home honey what's going on my husband Dan tried to intervene on behalf of his wife and uh this guy punched him stop moving stop moving give me your hands give me your hands at this point they were just doing what they needed to do to survive and so they said I think I think it felt like if they were tied up at least they wouldn't be shot or anything like that the couple could hear the assailant making calls on his cell phone in another room [Music] then he calmly got a beer from the refrigerator and began watching accounts of his own robbery on television he seemed transfixed by live images of the extensive man out [Music] and he sort of ran out the door and that was the last they ever saw by the time police respond it's clear the suspect has slipped through their Dragnet once we interviewed the people in the house then it was pretty obvious that he had gotten away the Intensive search ended when it was obvious that he had fled the scene and he had had some help from somebody else probably a car so they the actual physical search of the area was pretty much stopped at that time investigators processed the entire house collecting fingerprints and blood samples they hope the evidence will help them identify a dangerous criminal [Music] who will do anything to escape the law [Music] armed bank robber is on the Run following a deadly shootout in which police kill his partner during his flight The Fugitive assaults a couple then holds them hostage in their Seattle home while he waits for a getaway driver to help him Escape FBI special agent Gary shainline knows this fugitive is especially dangerous the nature of the act itself of bank robbery is very violent but in trying to affect an escape his partner and he were involved in the shooting of a police officer and also the taking hostage of innocent citizens so the stakes in this particular case were definitely higher detective Paul seguro begins canvassing the neighbors of the slain robber Danny Del Fierro one man tells seguro he had seen television reports about The Stolen motorcycle used in the robbery and he recognized it back in the green truck he saw Del Frio with the motorcycle prior to the bank robbery taking place the man tells the girl he saw the bike on a tow truck and this individual had seen another individual inside the truck the truck real the day before seguro thinks the tow truck driver might be the second robber he asks the neighbor if he knows who he is [Music] the man says he had never seen him before [Music] the owners of the bank that was robbed tried to help according to FBI special agent Mike Adams all right that very day the bank came to us and wanted to offer reward for information that would lead to the the identity arrest and eventual conviction of the person or persons responsible for that arms bank robbery agents hope the large reward will make people more willing to talk myself other FBI agents spent many long hours attempting to gather as much information as we could investigators track down every possible lead trying to get more information on Del fiero's known associates both to several different addresses and locations in our attempt to interview different people who we thought might be able to lead to the identity as well as the location of the second suspect on this Bank every lead becomes a dead end investigators finally get a break when officers begin processing the evidence left behind by the fleeing robber inside the jacket was this piece of paper that had a photocopy of a driver's license that belonged to a young 16 year old girl and then a lot of information about who she was police begin looking for the young woman they called the best number they had for her which was her dad and her dad said wow she's at the movies um football United so she came and talked to the police and she said that as soon as her dad came into the movie that she immediately knew what it was about basically the reason why I asked this because they show her the photocopied license and asked how the bank robbers got it because I really would hate to see it she told us that she was approached by a person she went to high school with the person she went to high school with said I have an individual that has large sums of money he needs ID and Social Security numbers in return you'll get a couple thousand dollars if you let us use your ID and social security number the young woman explains the information was to be used to set up bank accounts to launder stolen money she gives detectives the name of her high school friend the middleman for the ID fraud [Music] detectives Tracked Down The Man and try to get him to cooperate he contacted him early morning hours we locked in to talk to us at first but then as we started talking we finally started to tell us about who it was that asked him to obtain the identification Social Security numbers his name is Alice stop Aristotle he tells detectives the man's name is Aristotle Marr we didn't thought that it's very possible that Aristotle Mars the person we're looking for because he was obviously looking for a way to launder money in the hopes of getting legitimate funds in return investigators are convinced they're on the right track when the middleman tells investigators that Mar owns a towing service okay police conduct a background check DMV records reveal that there is a tow truck registered to Mar and that it matches the one described by Del fiero's neighbor [Music] investigators return to Del fiero's home to ask his old roommate if she knows Aristotle Mar she says Marin Del Fierro had been friends since childhood now his name has come up in two different sources or two different ways during an investigation so now we started to focus on Aristotle Mars being the second suspect involved in the bank robbery authorities check Mars police record it's clean except for one assault charge he received as a minor tax records show mar runs a successful towing business and already owns property worth four hundred thousand dollars police are surprised to learn he was a star athlete in high school graduating six years earlier with a 4.0 grade point average the first thing everybody said about it was how smart he was and you could see he had a lot of potential in life [Music] directly into the greed that motivated these crimes Steve Fox penis the cell phone records of Marin Del Fiera he discovers calls made between the two suspects prior to the robbery circumstantial evidence that they were possibly in the planning stages Danny delfier and air solomona were talking you know you know police then ask witnesses to confirm Mars identity to do this they create a photo montage it's typically what happens is you have six photos and the person who's the suspect is one of here the police believe that they're a 12-person montage they really went the extra mile just to make absolutely certain that we had the right guy authorities show the photo montage to the woman who was assaulted and held hostage in her home and she didn't have any hesitation at all she picked out Mr Marr immediately later her husband in the carjacking victim would also pick out Mar as their attacker so with that I take them together with all the circumstantial evidence we weren't quite confident that aristotlemar was the guy we were looking for let's go it's already secure an arrest warrant for Mar and a search warrant for his home knowing Mars volatile Tendencies police prepare for what could be of violent confrontation [Music] on June 22nd 2000 a pair of alleged serial bank robbers hit another Seattle Bank during the shootout with police one Bandit is killed and the other is scarce the dead robber is Daniel delphierro authorities Believe The Fugitive is Aristotle Mars fearing a violent confrontation police prepare to serve arrest in search warrants with the help of a Tactical Unit with the team are homicide detectives Paul seguro and David Ritter multiple Seattle Police units to assist us in securing the premise room by room SWAT searches the house they find no sign of Mars homicide detective Paul Segura once the home secured myself and the rest of the homicide unit went in and started searching through the home something real quick they look for any evidence that can tie Mart of the robbery or provide a clue to his whereabouts in a hidden storage area they find remnants of an arsenal look at that there it is detectives recover empty containers for various types of handguns although they do find a few weapons most of the guns are gone there was different types of ammunition for long gun shotguns there was ammunition for handguns detectives begin looking at the bullets more closely and uncover an important piece of evidence we found ammunition that Matt em in authorities also discover another lead documents that show frequent travel to and from Jamaica by Mar and several Associates also [Music] also small photographs and templates for the making of what appeared to be false identification investigators suspect that Mar may have plans to flee the country under a false name during the search at Mars home authorities discover a second house on the property gents immediately file a search warrant for the place and set up surveillance while they wait for the warrant to be processed for a week authorities watch people come and go but see no sign of the robbery suspect when a judge finally issues the warrant SWAT goes in what they find spends the investigation in another Direction building is a storage unit for stolen goods we found numerous boxes brand new appliances riding lawnmowers that were brand new refrigerators a numerous Silver phones and just all kinds of items that were still intact brand new still in the box investigators find packing lists still attached to the items indicating they came from local home improvement stores was obvious to ask that Aristotle Morrow was involved in a bigger criminal Enterprise than just bank robberies the items were large there were appliances there were pallets of Windows big thing stuff that somebody doesn't go in and shoplifted I mean these were these were big items and showed that there had to be some pretty sophisticated means to obtain this property it was obvious that we needed help from our burglary and theft people they coordinated the recovery of the property the burglary and theft division work with representatives from the local stores to identify more than one hundred thousand dollars worth of stolen goods Representatives provided a big large movie ban and all the items that were identified as being stolen or suspicious were then loaded and property [Music] investigators suspect that Mar must have had help obtaining and selling the items [Music] stolen property was sent [Music] was sent this was some indications some receipts shipping receipts Etc that showed a large amount of household goods going to Jamaica authorities intensify their search for the alleged crime ringleader Aristotle Mar Seattle FBI's fugitive task force takes the lead special agent Gary shainline well we started with the Fundamentals by contacting his family and Associates in the hopes of you know finding that person that could give us the information that would lead to uh you know Swift apprehension but every person agent's interview claims no knowledge of Mars whereabouts [Music] within weeks the search for Mar begins to take its toll on The Fugitive in an unexpected bold move a group of mar supporters including his lawyer holds a press conference proclaiming his innocence they charge police if falsely accused him because of his association with Daniel Del Fierro agents speak with lawyers about arranging surrender but instead hear a Preposterous claim we try to have him turn himself in in a safe manner in in a controlled environment and they said that he was you know afraid that he was going to be you know killed by the local police Mar remains a fugitive the FBI takes a new approach they seek the help of a national television crime show advertising a 25 000 reward for information leading to Mars arrest the tips pour in one caller claims he's been in contact with Mara through a popular web-based instant messaging system agent subpoena the internet provider for details on the instant messaging account and receive transcripts of the online conversations through the content of the dialogue on the instant messaging communication is logical to aristotlemar the company provides agents with the address of the computer used [Music] we approached it with a belief that it was possible that Mark could be there at that time open up armed with a search warrant they confront a man who they recognize as a known associative Mark sure yeah he says Mar isn't there agents conduct a thorough search for any evidence that could prove The Fugitive had been in the apartment but they find nothing agents confiscate the computer in question they eventually determined that Mar had probably never used the computer that it had been the associate pretending to be more on the instant messaging system investigators latest lead is a dead end that search really didn't glean any further information regarding Aristotle's whereabouts the FBI continues surveillance at the houses of family and friends but soon realized Mar may never return you know unlike your your garden variety bank robber Aristotle Mar did have some financial means yeah he had owned property at a rental house and I'm sure that those assets and those means you know helped him in his fugitive status an informant calls the FBI with a tip that appears to support what agents already fear confidential Source indicated that he had fled under an alias that he had not just crossed the state line but actually had fled the country and that he had fled to Jamaica if Marr has indeed left the country under another name he might be impossible to find the FBI is now facing their toughest obstacle in a case that appears impossible to crack [Music] the FBI continues to hunt for bank robbery suspect Aristotle Marr they believe he fled to Jamaica under an assumed name episode but the FBI cannot simply go after according to special agent Gary shainline we don't have any you know police Authority in other countries [Music] there are FBI representatives and there's a U.S Marshals in Jamaica that liaise with Jamaican authorities and I was providing them with all the information that we were gleaning from our investigation here giving them names and points of contact possible locations that were worthy of Investigation in Jamaica in the pursuit of mar [Music] investigating Mars whereabouts in Jamaica is difficult he's well connected on the island and has a lot of money to help him disappear we're confident that through those resources that he was able to maintain a low profile and and have different places to go to to uh to hide himself performance report occasional sightings of The Fugitive but he eludes capture agents believe he is moving from house to house under cover of night supported by a loyal group of Associates [Music] following the leads from agents in the United States authorities in Jamaica relentlessly pursue The Fugitive they contact every known associate of Aristotle Mar they are uncooperative but authorities keep them under surveillance in Aristotle never clear that they were not going to go away until Mr Mar returned to the United States and answered to these charges in Seattle King County Deputy prosecutor Steve Fogg decides to file several charges against The Fugitive based on the abundance of circumstantial evidence already in hand we charged him with an array of counts that reflected the of this crime spread you charged him with robbery in the first degree with the firearm enhancement because he was armed when that happened we charged him as an accomplice with Dan shooting of Officer Buxton we charge him with the temporary too which is a formal way of saying attempted carjacking [Music] and then kidnappings because they were essentially kidnapped and held hostage in their own basement [Music] Steve Fogg also suspects Mar is involved in an international theft ring but decides not to press charges mom was already looking at so much time that the amount of guy who's looking at you know 30 40 50 years in prison so we did not charge Mr Moore for that authorities intensify their search for Mar Seattle homicide detective David Ritter we kept the pressure up give me a break I mean they felt our presence he made several complaints that we were harassing them but we weren't we were conducting an investigation a very violent crime and we wanted to solve it we wanted him in custody situation probably too hot for him he didn't he wasn't having much fun anymore after seven months the constant pressure pays off on February 7 2001 Aristotle Marsh shocks police walking into the King County jail with his lawyer go up to the counter put your hands where I could see them Seattle police detective Paul seguro had chased Mar from the beginning Sergeant Christopher Tebow down at the watch desk Aristotle Marge has turned himself in I was surprised that Aristotle Moore had actually took upon himself to turn himself in tried to talk to aristotlemar interview him about the robberies where he'd been he did not wish to talk about any aspects of the investigation at all authorities believe he has come back to take the pressure off his associates and because he is sure the charges will never stick he was quite confident in fact probably cocky that this would be a case that he could be in court he could come back beat this case um and and kill two birds with one stone at his arraignment Marr pleads not guilty to all charges one advantage that Mr Moore had by fleeing was he could sit back and develop and I had knelt that he'd have an explanation for all the evidence and we would have a real fight on our hands at trial Mars defense team knows that lab examiners have found his fingerprints on items dropped outside the bank including the motorcycle helmet and a pair of gloves they explained the prince by claiming Mar lent the items to Daniel Del Fierro who suspect killed in the shootout what Mr Mar didn't know about but we of course knew about was this Blood Trail that had been left I knew that the next step was to get an immediate sample of his blood and I knew that that would definitely be the Silver Bullet if we were able to develop DNA information from the blood trail that was left a judge orders Mar to submit the samples which DNA experts compare to blood found at the apartment complex and inside the kidnap couple's house and truck The Examiner reports a match at that point any concern we had about the outcome of that case definitely lifted because uh you know it was clear that taken together with all the other evidence that we already had that you know this is a rock solid case Mar decides not to risk a jury trial and changes his plea to guilty he is sentenced to 23 years in prison with no chance of parole Seattle police officer Wesley Buxton shot during his confrontation with Mar and Del Fierro is relieved that Mar finally got what he deserved we saw also that feels that criminals should get much more than they actually get as far as the demands of justice but I was fairly satisfied with the sentence special agent Mike Adams given the high number of bank robberies we have every year on average well over 300 bank robberies here in the state of Washington it's a good feeling when we can bring about or at least help bring about a successful conclusion to such a high profile bank robbery investigation in the end it was the combined efforts of the Seattle Police Department and the FBI that finally put Aristotle Mar out of business

Channel: The FBI Files

Views: 340,181

Keywords: Assault, Associat, Bank robbery, Crime documentary, Criminal organizations, FBI agents, FBI procedures, Fingerprinting, Gang activity, Home, Incriminating evidence, Law enforcement, Montego Bay, Police investigation, Robbery, Safe Streets Task Force, Seattle, Suspect, The FBI Files, Unsolved cases, Viewer discretion advised

Id: P_f501SxyZk

Length: 147min 34sec (8854 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 09 2023