Reality Kills | Full Episode

[Music] September 13th 2013 I received the call 3:00 in the morning I was told that we had a female who had stated she had been raped and she had shot and killed her rapist I of course think this is going to probably be a self-defense case she's got a rapist off the street all I thought was I want to shake her hand i'm summer r Benton and I am the lead homicide detective on the Victoria Rickman case just you shot him I shot him all over who was the victim the victim was Will Carter Jr they had been in a relationship it was off and on for a number of years he owned his own business it was doing very very well well he had his own home she she went through some horrible things this man abused her emotionally physically and sexually heartbreaking she's like the other half of me goofy funny she's a great mom just a great friend to be around as soon as I stepped foot in that back bedroom I knew we had a problem problem there didn't appear to be any signs of disarray or a fight nothing looked like what it should have looked like and then when the medical examiner turned him he had three gunshot wounds to the back and then a reality TV show came out yes in shock everybody no one knew that this was being filmed and how would you describe this show just filled with lies she's claiming that she was raped she's claiming rape when you haven't even got on the scene yet to know you haven't even spoke with her you don't even know what's happened yet 4130 show me 26 on Clifton there were so many things that were completely false for some reason this girl she did a tactical reload the fact that she reloaded the gun that wasn't true if you guys can get me every rape case she has ever filed the fact that she had claimed you know that she had been raped by so many men so many times it's too big to email that wasn't true it looks like she was training to kill wow please give me a break it just came across as what's going to make a good TV episode my name is Amanda Clark Palmer I represent Victoria Rickman you knew this was going to happen we're dealing with an investigation that wow was done quickly wasn't done thoroughly she has no scratches no bruising it certainly seems and looks like the TV cameras affected what happened there was no real investigation I think she made a lot of things up on camera if she had been raped that night then this would have been a Justified shooting and I would have written it up as one but this was not a Justified shooting this was cold blooded [Music] murder [Music] 48 Hours reality kills Atlanta police detective summer Benton has a name a job and some would say an attitude made for television tell me about the Hat Squad the Hat Squad um we're very proud of our hats we have summer fedoras we have winter fedoras but you're not allowed to wear Fedora until you've solved your first homicide case in her 16 years on the job detective Benton has been the lead detective on 65 homicide cases but it was the shooting death of Will Carter Jr in the early morning hours of SE September 13 2013 that put the detective in the spotlight as Benton investigated this just isn't adding up video cameras from that reality show inside homicide were rolling the TV Crews were embedded with the Atlanta police department and were following the action that night the shooter was Victoria Rickman a 30-year-old divorced mother she and Will Carter also 30 met through m mutual friends and dated for 3 years they bonded over their kids will had a daughter and Victoria a son who were about the same age he was good around his his daughter and she admired that about him they had a lot of things in common Victoria's friend Britney Morgan says that at one point Victoria a marketing consultant and will a local businessman moved in together and got engaged she wanted to have a family be married again and have that for her and her son but the relationship went off the rails the couple had a lot of arguments and began living apart it was just back and forth back and forth just very toxic and then just after midnight on September 13th 2013 will arrived at the house where she was staying and Victoria told First Responders he raped her Victoria admitted shooting Carter with a 40 caliber semi-automatic that was in her bedroom room sh and Sh and sh she said she shot him to protect herself she fired nine times hitting will every time at first bton says she was giving Victoria the benefit of the doubt but then she called Will's father hi is this um Mr Carter my name is investigator Benton I'm with the city of Atlanta Police Department I've got some really bad news :30 in the morning and the phone rings twice so you know it's not good I'm so sorry sir it was detective Benton and she explained to me that our son had been killed by Victoria Rickman she did say right now this is a self-defense case and can you help me with some details but when she said this was a self-defense case what was your reaction I mean I got puked I mean it's like no it's not either Will's father told Bon that a year earlier the couple was fighting and his son showed up bleeding she hit him in the head with a hammer and she bit him in the back in fact I told will after that incident said if she' had a gun she'd have killed you but Victoria called police and told them will had tried to force her to have sex and that she used a hammer to fight him off will was arrested for sexual battery and simple assault two weeks later she's standing in her driveway with Will so I said you don't can't ever come over here again she just snapped she got furious with me and she said you can't tell me what to do she said I have a gun I know how to use it it's like whoa eventually Victoria declined to press charges and the case against will was dismissed no no no no no no no no no no no no no you were not coming in my house and then in May 2013 4 months before Victoria shop will Tor I didn't tell you to be here get the out of here dude I'm scared of you there was this incident captured by Victoria on her cell phone as she tried to enter Will's house all you are is a toxic Web of Lies stop it I'm going to call the police this time Victoria was the one arrested and charged with battery those charges were pending at the time of Will's death Benton took into account what Mr Carter had told her and then the medical examiner discovered that will had three bullets to his back after that Benton no longer believed this was self-defense what we truly believe happened is that he was standing and he was not facing her at the time this animation shows what police suspect may have happened we believe he was standing next to the bed facing the window when he was shot in the back three times which then one of those shots filled his lungs with blood which caused him to cough causing the blood spray pattern on the wall next to the window and then we believe he fell back onto the bed as he's lying on the bed she is then finishing him off firing more shots into his chest and his head to Benton this was straight up murder there were no signs that she had tried to scratch him her nails were pristine he had no scratches on his body I do not believe she was raped Victoria was given a rape exam it showed she had intercourse but there were no signs of internal injuries hospital records noted bruising on Victoria's arm and leg but that's not what Benton told a prosecutor on that TV reality show any indication from the hospital of any injury to her at all there's nothing she has no scratches no bruising Bye by midday on September 13th 2013 only hours after the shooting Benton arrested Victoria Rickman I advise her that she's being arrested for murder and she simply says Okay that was it no screaming up and down I'm innocent I didn't do this while Victoria appeared stoic back at the Carter home in Marietta Georgia William Carter senior and his wife Caro were shattered they consoled each other and wondered as they had many times before about Will's Fatal Attraction to Victoria it's as if nobody could have done anything he wouldn't listen to anybody about this his biggest flaw was that he couldn't see the evil in her but if Victoria had personal demons so did Will years earlier will had been arrested several times for property damage and drug use Will Carter admits his son had been a drug addict back then like what kind of drugs I don't know you name it the doctor said it was more than something like marijuana it was dangerous after 10 years of drug use will went into a rehab facility he actually overcame his uh addiction and started his own business I was extremely proud of Will and he never gave up he didn't give up on anything or anyone what Drew will to someone like Victoria my sister who's a u psychologist said will that Victoria was his last addiction I don't think he realized how dangerous she was but Victorian says will was still the dangerous one and only 4 months before the shooting Victoria reported to police that will had beaten her and she had documented it with these photographs I think the constant abuse that she was going through she just could not take it anymore Victoria went to court for restraining order but the office was closed a deputy sheriff working there spotted her bruises later for her own protection he gave her a gun he encouraged her to use that gun when it came to Will [Music] Carter after Victoria rickman's 2013 arrest for the murder of Will Carter Jr she was dened denied bail and held at the decab County jail in decar Georgia do you think you should be on trial at all for anything to be honest no I don't really think I've done anything illegal jail officials would not let us interview Victoria face to face everything was done for a TV show and there was no real investigation but we spoke to her via an inmate video calling system I'm innocent of the charges that are alleged against Victoria stuck to the story she told [Music] police that she was fighting off will who had raped and beaten her unfortunately I've been humiliated dehumanized by the system publicly without my consent did you think your life was at risk of course no doubt in my mind Victoria says that night will was behaving erratically he had relapse and was intoxic and it was a very very very scary situ but no one will ever know if that's true because detective Benton never requested a toxicology report she says she didn't know it was her responsibility because this was her first homicide case in De Cab County which had a different set of procedures I had no idea that you have to specially request a victim's tox and blood alcohol so even though they had taken his blood and held on to it at some point they then disposed of it so it was destroyed the blood was destroyed for my understanding it was but Victoria does not believe that was a casual oversight she thinks it was something far more Sinister I think that did not she was that to my defense and to my Inn she's extremely good trying to play the victim Benton may not have believed Victoria but there was that one law enforcement officer Cobb County deputy sheriff Rick price who did months earlier price had spotted a black eye and bruises on Victoria that time he met her at the courthouse Rick price gave Victoria a gun it was one of Price's personal guns and the deputy even brought Victoria to a gun range to practice says Atlanta police detective Kevin Leon Packer and lo and behold she's used that very gun to shoot and kill Will Carter and right after the shooting Rick price was the first one she called he told her to call 911 when the phone records came back we found out that just before she called 911 Victoria called Rick and it was about a two-minute phone call Benton believes price was just one more male caught in Victoria's web she was extremely good at getting the men to give her whatever she wanted Victoria Rickman was a very skilled manipulator so this is your house yes and who is this down here this is Spencer it's actually Victoria's dog Andrew scar is a lifelong friend of Victoria this is the back bedroom and this was where Victoria stayed yes he owns the house where the shooting occurred early that evening Victoria told Andrew she wanted to be alone and asked him to stay at his mother's house after he left Victoria spoke on the phone with Will police don't know what was said but sometime after midnight will showed up when you're in here you know that something happened between 12 20 and about 2:15 in the morning what do you believe happened in here oh I believe her story 100% did Victoria Rickman shoot will In Cold Blood did she plan to kill him that night did she invite him over to kill him she didn't invite him over she didn't want him over there she didn't plan to kill him and she didn't murder him I 100% believe she shot him in self-defense defense attorney Amanda Clark Palmer says Victoria killed Will Carter after he raped her because he was still close enough to be a threat do you think there's about this amount distance for those shots they would have been somewhere within 6 in to 2 feet of each other Clark Palmer demonstrated what she believes happened in this KingSize four poster bed that is similar to Victoria's and the gun's over here right she insists the first shots were to Will's chest not his back as the police believe so he gets the two shots to his chest and then um turns he stands up and he coughs and um gets the blood spatter on the wall and then gets the shots in the back and then kind of sits down and falls back and as he's falling back she's still shooting and so she shoots him two more times in the head correct he gets the he gets the shot through the nose that goes through the nose chin shoulder arm and then the shot to the head is the last shot probably was it stressful highly traumatic situation the shots happened I mean within a matter of seconds Bam Bam Bam Bam Bam right after it was let me shoot until I think the threat is over while Clark Palmer was trying to make sense of the murder scene investigators were taking a second look at all the evidence no one had been able to crack the secret code on Victoria's cell phone but a few months before the trial investigators made a crucial Discovery and came across a piece of paper that said phone code and it had a four-digit code on it and the investigator punched it into the phone and poof it opened right up the phone spit out more than 66,000 texts some 4,000 Pages worth sent and received received by Victoria so this was like a motherload of information it absolutely it was a motherload these 3 years and 10 months have passed and we've had no trial Paul Rickman Victoria's father has patiently stood by his daughter for nearly 4 years waiting for this day all August 22nd 2017 the day her trial for murder begins I'm hoping that we get through with this and have it over and have her home Victoria Rickman faces life in prison for shooting her on again off again boyfriend Will Carter Jr we miss him every single day it's a big hole in our heart will Carter's parents attend the trial to stand witness for the type of person will was everything we've done is to get his reputation back and to be able to tell his story ladies and gentlemen of the jury good afternoon Sheila Ross who has a reputation is one of the most successful prosecutors in Georgia lays out the case against Victoria Rickman the evidence will show that she did not shoot William Carter Jr out of fear but rather anger he and this defendant were involved in what could only be described as an on again off again toxic relationship very Jerry springl why are you naked why are you taking pictures of me Ross plays for the jury that cell phone video made by Victoria during the contentious visit to Will's house in May 2013 no no no no no no no no no no you were not coming in my house 4 months before the couple's fatal encounter Tori I didn't tell you to be here get the out of here dude I'm scared of you all you are is a toxic Web of Lies stop it you'll hear a lot out of her mouth that she's an abused woman that she has PTSD that she has been raped you'll hear the tears and you'll see the tears so just be ready for it but we're going to ask that you look past that and we're going to ask that you render a verdict that speaks the truth of what happened to William Carter Jr that night which is nothing short of murder thank you may I proceed Victoria's defense attorney Amanda Clark Palmer paints a very different view of the case this case is about domestic violence he abused her physically verbally and emotionally she felt like he was going to do something terrible to her based on the way he was acting and based on the fact that he said I'm going to kill you the defense attorney never shows the footage from inside homicide to the jury fearing it will give them the wrong idea about Victoria detective Benton didn't come alone but she tells them all about it in her opening detective Benton was the star and she's kind of like narrating what she's doing to the cameras I just did the initial walkthrough no one asks Victoria who's just been raped who's just shot and killed William Carter defending herself if she's okay being on TV they just come over and start filming everything that's going on from the looks of things it doesn't appear there was a struggle and what happens next was a rush to judgment in this case and we got a lot of shell casings the police show up they collect evidence they're not as meticulous as I think they should have been it looks like she was training to kill wow she was justified in defending herself she was in fear for her life and she's not guilty on the second day of testimony prosecutor rot calls detective Benton to the stand Did You observe any forced entry into the home no I did not were there any injuries to her face no there were not was her bra torn in any way no it was not did you look for signs of a struggle I did I was unable to find that there were any signs of a struggle but the defense challenges that assertion and we can see the lamp on top of the nightstand right yes ma'am dare to say this lamp has been knocked over yes it definitely looks like a struggle occurred there and we also see the sound machine hanging down between the nightstand and the bed right correct it's not a neat and orderly room did you find a firearm there we did detective Benton is questioned closely about the gun used by Victoria what type of firearm was it it was a 40 caliber semi-automatic detective Benton believed the gun could hold only 12 bullets at the scene she found nine shell casings four bullets left in the gun that adds up to 13 so Benton concluded that Victoria had to have reloaded and shared her thoughts with the cameras the gun doesn't hold 13 for some reason this girl she did a tactical reload wrong the capacity of the gun is 13 could not be clearer to anybody who knows anything about Firearms I'm extremely proficient with a firearm the issue is crucial because bent says if Victoria reloaded she canot claim self-defense detective Benton thought that that was indicative of premeditation murder you recognize now that the maximum capacity of this weapon is 13 right no I realized that you didn't write that in your report no I did not weren't you wrong about the reloading no I was not at this moment you have no evidence she reloaded no you just can't say that you made a mistake I don't believe I did did it ever occur to you that you might be putting wrong information and affecting potential jurors who see this show no that means she had to switch magazines this was a brand spanking new show four 5 6 7 8 I didn't know if that part was going to air or what was going to air I didn't see it until it aired the same day everybody else saw it and did you then say wish I hadn't done that no what your reaction to that it was incredibly unfair to Victoria as unfair as parade in a rape victim before television cameras says Victoria's lawyer and then there's the information Benton says she got from the Cobb County District Attorney's office that aired on inside homicide they stated that she has got such a long list of rape claims against so many men that it's too big to email they'll have to physically bring it to me well that wasn't true you know everybody makes mistakes I'm not saying we didn't make any mistakes I'm not saying cop County didn't make any mistakes you know we're all human still detective Benton does not believe the misinformation from the show will affect the trial I think we have smart people out there and smart jurors out there it doesn't matter what they may or may not have seen on television or on a television show you swear following Benton to the stand is her colleague detective Kevin Leon Packer I've developed another uh type of expertise that involves uh the analysis of cell phone records Leon packer formed the forensic examination of Victoria's cell phone the detective zeros in on the night of September 12th 2013 just a few hours before the alleged murder there were several threads of communication with call records and text messages between Miss rickman's phone and other individuals Leon Packer says Will's text to Victoria reveal he was Furious because she had called the mother of his child will text Victor Toria that he's breaking up with her Liam Packer reads the text in court you are too dangerous to be around never contact me or the mother of my child again why are you taking pictures of me and in the text will also says he's going to follow up on criminal charges against Victoria in that incident captured on this cell phone video I'm going to need you to get out of here Victoria may have feared an assault conviction would affect custody of her son she begins sending texts to her friend deputy sheriff Rick price sounding more and more desperate about will he wants me put away now my only hope is to change his mind I think that what the evidence has shown what the text messages have shown is that she made a decision um when she called Will Carter that night to kill him but the texts are not the only surprised detective Leon Packer finds inside Victoria's phone I was dumbfounded that was like wow she will go to any links to prove her [Music] story she's just the best person I really know the best friend I've ever had and it's hard to see me to see her go through this Britney Morgan has always believed Victoria rickman's claim of self-defense as her closest friend she had seen the bruises and hoped to be in court every day to support Victoria I need her to be able to know that I'm there I'm there for her he Britney how are you fine how you do but she and Victoria's Father Paul it's a say a situation there's no way you can put it in words and Victoria's lifelong friend Andrew scar is it's devastating it's devastating are barred from sitting in at her trial until after they testify she's not a cold blooded killer before court begins Victoria's attorney wants to ensure Victoria puts her best face forward in every possible way she doesn't deserve to be in jail back on the stand detective Leon Packer details his forensic analysis of Victoria's cell phone remember that photo of bruises to Victoria's right arm the morning of the shooting it turns out detective Leon Packer found these selfies in her phone I looked at the metadata on the photos to see when were these photos taken and that's when I found they were 24 hours before the murder ever occurred this is her whole defense this is her whole assertion of self-defense of justification for shooting and killing will and those bruises existed before he ever showed up at her house that night there was some evidence indicate that maybe the injuries she had she actually had 24 hours before isn't that really damaging for your case not at all not really damaging she had other bruises that were notated you know on her body in the medical records State calls rck price the cob County deputy sheriff who gave Victoria the gun she used to kill Will Carter is now an instructor at Dobbin Air Force Base he testifies he met Victoria at the courthouse where he worked four months before the shooting she told me that um her ex had uh beaten her and she needed a protective order I could see the brues on her arms I could also see that she had the outline of black eyes prosecutor Sheila Ross suggests price had romantic feelings for for Victoria I was interested in Victoria um but we never developed past uh just good friends did you ever have sexual relations with her then no did you ever tell anyone that you did I I've told people all sorts of things that had nothing to do with reality price was fired 5 days after the shooting for not cooperating with the investig we going to call Dr John lockd halfway through the second week of trial the defense begins its case Victoria's lawyer calls to the stand Will Carter psychiatrist Dr John Lockridge when is the last time you saw Will Carter Jr who makes a startling Revelation he says that on September 10th 2013 just 3 days before Will's death will reported having Del Illusions he said he thought he was famous he was on TV he was talking to and through the TV Lockridge testifies that will had been taking an anticho drug to help him sleep better but because detective benon never ordered a toxicology report no one will ever know what drugs will had in his system when he was shot Victoria claims that will had stopped taking his prescribed medications and have gone back to illegal drugs it's a reason why he went crazy and raped me like for in there and was going to murder me also testifying for the defense a former Chief medical examiner for the state of Georgia Dr Chris Lee Sperry bolsters the defense theory that Victoria fired the first shots into Will's chest not his back as the prosecution contends he is turned somewhat towards um the lady with the gun the person with with the weapon he could be twisted towards her you know leaned over so he gets the two shots to his chest um Britney Morgan and now it's time for Victoria's friends who have been waiting to tell the jury what they saw in the year and the months before the shooting the bruising was It was kind of almost look like fingerprints on the side I've seen bruises on their arm I've seen a black eye I have seen a mark above her eye right about here and where did she have the bruises on her body on arrest on our arms and the second occasion on our throat Cobb County Police Lieutenant Robbie Ray says he too saw bruises on Victoria a year earlier she had some bruising on her left upper forearm and on her left bicep she said her ribs were sore Victoria Rickman decides Ides not to take the [Music] stand but in her closing argument Clark pommer makes sure jurors hear what Victoria's voice sounded like the day of the shooting I don't know how help that is not the voice of a killer imagine how powerless she felt when William Carter who was taller than her heavier than her and stronger than her was raping her [Music] she finished him off with a shot to the head that is cold blooded murder no more after two weeks of testimony prosecutor Sheila Ross is ready for closing arguments and she holds nothing back and if he in fact was raping her and she shot him good ridd the world could use one less rapist but that's not what happened Victoria Rickman is not guilty defense attorney Amanda Clark Palmer argues there is no way Victoria could have planned to kill will because she had no idea he was coming over that night there is zero proof that Victoria Rickman invited Will Carter to her house and once more Clark Palmer slams the behavior of detective summer Benton she wanted to know what's the capacity of the gun and she got it wrong she says that Benton's investigative work was shoddy and biased from the start against Victoria she was trying to make good TV and she didn't want to do anything or take any steps in her investigation that would contradict her theory that VI Toria Rickman was guilty ladies and gentlemen the jury you were considering the case of the state of Georgia closing arguments end late on the Friday before Labor Day weekend but judge JP Boule orders jurors to begin deliberating you may now retire to the jury room but did not begin your deliberations until anybody started standing around thinking you know we're going to be here for hours and they said we've got a verdict sir have you reached your verdict we have your honor the jury returns with a verdict in less than an hour coun the judge has the lawyers look at the jury form to make sure it's proper and the lawyers clearly see the verdict it was a very simple verdict form him it just had the four counts it said um she was guilty on each and every count we saw you whisper something to Victoria I just said to her I'm sorry yeah was that hard it was extremely hard state of Georgia vers the next moments make it official count one Malice m we the jury find the defendant Victoria Rickman [Music] guilty I think that their verdict the swiftness in which they rendered their verdict speaks for itself was that your verdict in the Jury Room yes sir when the verdict was read there was a huge rainbow that came over Atlanta to me that was will he was finally at [Music] peace for detective baton the verdict is gratifying the gun doesn't hold 13 for some reason this girl she did a tactical reload all along she has stuck to her conviction that Victoria reloaded the gun but after speaking to her superiors she's reconsidered I probably wouldn't have made that grand of a statement but you know it doesn't matter this case is not about me this case is about William Carter Jr and the fact that what happened in that [Music] bedroom all right here for the C count 5 Weeks Later everyone is back in court for sentencing there's no doubt Victoria will get life in prison the most she can hope for is the possibility of parole thank you for the time to speak and clarify the facts of this case Victoria Rickman who did not testify on her own behalf addresses the court I'm a mother who has been stolen from her son's life I a battered woman I am a victim who continues to suffer the nightmares and symptoms of PTSD caused for being forced to defend myself in years of abuse so I ask you your honor for turn me to my son in my life give me back my voice and my dignity Victoria offers no apology M Rickman please stand and the judge offers no mercy this court sentences you to life without the possibility of [Music] parole two days after the sentencing hearing will would have turned 35 years old Will's mother says her son's death death is a loss for everyone but especially for his young daughter she's a good student she's got a beautiful heart never see a graduate and never you know be at her wedding but his memories is what's important and that's what I want to be able to carry on and be grateful that I had this young man in my life morning on man come on Loki let's go and the memories of will are everywhere Loki is connection with will in a way will love his dog he's almost 13 Way Beyond his normal lifespan there's Loki she's swimming Loki gives me a lot of comfort because I know how close will was to Loki and he's we still have that connection with our son of something here on Earth we're going to be okay we're going to make it through this [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: 48 Hours

Views: 1,019,644

Keywords: 48 hours, cbs news, Victoria Rickman, true crime, full episode, Will Carter Jr., self-defense, Atlanta, Inside Homicide, summer benton, shooting death

Id: EGs_NJ0jxHs

Length: 41min 33sec (2493 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 13 2024