The First 48: Secrets and Lies (S17, E5) | Full Episode | A&E

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(male narrator) A woman found executed. Why? Why? I can't deal with a bunch of question, man. (narrator) A neighborhood ruled by a code of silence. (Walker) I can't stand this guy. You're gonna tell me you don't think he killed her? - Get on the ground. - On the ground. (narrator) Detectives fear the killer may walk free. (Brown) When do we as a society say, "Enough's enough"? (Leatherman) Get your hands up! Open the driver side door! (narrator) And the clock is ticking. [dramatic music] For Homicide detectives, their chance of solving a murder is cut in half if they don't get a lead within the first 48 hours. [eerie music] ♪ ♪ [telephone rings] [woman crying] (Patty) No! (Schilling) I was taking today off. Yeah, it's opening morning of deer hunting season. I was gonna take my oldest. I woke him up at 3:30 and told him, "Sorry, buddy. I got to go to work." (narrator) Corporal Nathan Schilling has been with Tulsa PD for 14 years. This is his 13th homicide case as lead. [dog barking] [indistinct chatter] ♪ ♪ Hey, Sarge. What do we got? [sighs] ♪ ♪ (man) Know her name? (Walker) Leslie Griffin. (Schilling) Leslie Griffin? Yes. [somber music] (narrator) 31-year-old Leslie Louise Griffin was known as Bella. She moved from Cleveland, Texas, to Tulsa 17 years ago with her mother. She worked as a cashier but struggled with drug addiction and recently became homeless. ♪ ♪ (man) A friend of hers. (Schilling) We need her in a car and to take her downtown. (man) OK. [eerie music] ♪ ♪ We have brain material here. Contact. (narrator) The gunshot is a contact wound. The shooter placed the gun directly to the victim's temple. [camera shutter clicking] (Schilling) You guys find any casings? - There's one. - Just that one live one. (man) .45. [dog barking] Looks like somebody has gone through her purse. [dog barking] These two gentlemen... ♪ ♪ (Schilling) How you guys doing? (man) OK. (Schilling) What do you recall from tonight? (man) I was awake in the living room, and I thought I had heard a shot right around 1:30. I looked outside all the windows, and I didn't see anybody walking away or... I didn't even see her laying there, 'cause the way the bush was blocking it, didn't see anything. (Schilling) Mm-kay, and then you went to bed, huh? (man) Yeah. Can I talk to you for a second over here? OK. [camera shutter clicks] (Schilling) You know who this girl is? (man) I don't think I've really seen that one. Across the street, there's always hookers hanging out. Like, I know they sell drugs out of there. I've seen that other one that was hanging-- they were talking to her earlier, that Patty girl; she's been over here for years. And I heard a commotion... (narrator) Two hours after the shot, he heard Patty shouting outside. (man) It sounded like she was arguing with somebody. She was just upset. She was about right there by that bush. And then the guy was there. What guy? It was a bearded guy. The guy is named Louis. And he walked off. I know he lives in those apartments over there. ♪ ♪ (Schilling) You guys canvass that apartment building, and you find Louis, thumbs-up. OK. [dog barking] [suspenseful music] - We have Louis. - We've got Louis. Hi, Louis. How are you? I'm trying to be all right. You're trying to be all right? I'll tell you what, I mean, you're obviously upset, right? - Yes, sir. - Yeah, OK. They'll run you downtown, and we'll talk to you down there. Yes, sir. (Schilling) I don't know if this guy has anything to do with it. It's been two hours since the shot was fired. (man) Would you say it's a suspicious death? Oh, absolutely. Yeah, it's a murder. (Schilling) We'll take Louis and the 911 caller, Patty, back. [percussive music] ♪ ♪ You doing OK, Louis? [sniffles] They're saying that's Bella. Here name is Bella. Mm-kay, well, tell me-- I'll tell you what I heard from what happened. I got off work at 11:00 last night. I'd come home, and I'm laying in bed. Apparently, it's about 3:30 this morning. I hear this just beating on my door. I said, "Who is it?" And he says, "It's Todd. "And I need a ride. I got $50. It's an emergency." I said, "Man, I don't have a vehicle. You know that. Go the [bleep] away." Well, I was kind of irritated, so I opened my door, and I hear her outside just hysterical. - You hear Patty screaming? - I heard her screaming. And I know her voice. And I ran over there. [foreboding musical flourish] And the dude who knocked on my door knows I do not have a vehicle. OK, when he said, "It's Todd," you knew exactly who it was. Yeah. He's a very dark black man. And he's missing teeth. He does stay behind that yellow house with her. - Patty. - Mm-hmm. They are homeless. She's a prostitute, and he's a crackhead. Mm-kay, is he, like, her pimp or... I'm not 100% on that, but it is what it is as far as I know. OK, so you said he lives behind a yellow house. Behind that is a shed. And that's, as far as I know, where they stay at. Who all is supposed to be living there? Just those two. I didn't even know Bella. How old's Todd? He's probably got to be early 40s. - OK. - He rides a bike. A 20-inch little kid's bike. OK. You ever seen him with a gun? No. OK. Well, just hang tight for me, Louis, and I'll be back, OK? (Schilling) Well, why is it an emergency for Todd? (Brown) Fled the scene right before police get there. Doesn't look good for Todd. Okeydoke, Patty. What do you know? What have you seen and heard tonight? I didn't hear nothing. The only thing I seen... this black dude on 10th and Saint Louis. I said, "Hey, what's going on?" You know, "What you doing?" He was leaning over her. And she had some belongings. He was digging. You saw him digging where? He was like this. And he was scrumming like this. And then he went, and he said, "Does anybody have a phone?" I said, "I do," and I started running down there. I said, "What's going on? What happened?" So when I look, I said, "I know who she is." "I know who she is. That's my friend. "That's Bella. "That's who I sleep with in that little shed behind the yellow house." Yeah. Because me and-- we look after-- Do you know who this guy was that asked you to-- No. Does he live in the neighborhood? I have seen him around. (Brown) Black guy? He's a black guy and got a bicycle, but it was, like, more for like a... maybe a 12-year-old boy. Anybody else staying in the shack with you guys with you-- or the shed with you? No. Bella? OK. Who is Todd? I never was in there with Todd. I didn't ask you that. - I just-- - The question is, who is Todd? [suspenseful music] ♪ ♪ (Brown) Do you know Todd I'm talking about? I've seen him around. Did you see him tonight? Mm-mm. OK, was Todd the black guy you saw bent over-- I don't know who-- I couldn't tell who it was. But you do know Todd? - I know of him. - You know of him. So if I showed you a picture, you'd be able to say, "Yeah, that's the guy I know as Todd"? [suspenseful music] ♪ ♪ I told you guys what information I have. I don't know any more. I did the best I could to help. - OK, but-- - I was asked to call the cops. - I did. - Patty, but-- But I'm getting pressure and whatever, like I know all the answer. And I don't--I can't deal with a bunch of question, man. Patty, do you want to find out what happened to Bella? - Yeah. - Bear with me. But why do I have to be-- Bear with me, Patty. ♪ ♪ (Schilling) Todd's maybe their pimp. So they get in an argument, pulls the trigger, and then a couple hours later, no one's found her yet. He goes back, grabs the money out of her purse. Patty shows up, sees him, and then he takes off. ♪ ♪ (narrator) Detectives search the database for men named Todd matching Louis and Patty's description. There he is right there, brother. That is the mother[bleep] right there. On my children, that is Todd. Got him. ♪ ♪ (Walker) Lincoln Todd Newton. (Schilling) He's got quite a record. Spent 16 years in prison. (Walker) Did you bring your overnight bag? (Schilling) No, I brought a bottle of water. (Walker) Ration it 'cause it's gonna be a long day for you. [laughs] [dramatic music] (narrator) The team heads back into the neighborhood to look for their potential suspect, Todd. (Schilling) They lived together in that shack. Tulsa Police. Seen him today. (man) You recognize this guy? (Schilling) We checked two shelters, and he has not been to either of them probably a week almost. [bluesy guitar music] ♪ ♪ [sighs] (narrator) As the search continues... (Schilling) All right. (narrator) Schilling locates the victim's mother. (Schilling) She needs to know, and I'd rather her hear it from us. Yeah. [solemn music] ♪ ♪ [somber music] ♪ ♪ She kind of expected it. ♪ ♪ She really hasn't had any contact for two years. The last time she saw her picture on the jail website, she thought, "It's not a matter of if. It's when is she gonna die." ♪ ♪ (narrator) 15 hours in... [walkie-talkie beeps] (Schilling) Go ahead. (narrator) Detectives find Todd. [engine revving] [dramatic music] - Over there? - Yeah. Hop up in front. Put your seat belt on for me, man. I don't drive that crazy, but just in case I get that urge. [eerie music] ♪ ♪ (Schilling) Where were you at last night, Todd? You know? (Schilling) Anything interesting happen? (Todd) Yeah, a friend of mine, a real close friend of mine, I seen her on the ground. I just tried to wake her up. You know what I'm saying? And, you know, I love her, so, you know, I was trying to help her. (Schilling) What time do you think you got out that area last night? (Todd) When I left the bar to come down, it was like 12:20. Back and forth to QuikTrip. Drunk, like, maybe three or four beers. On the steps right there, the little white steps on 10th Street. (Schilling) So when you were drinking out there, you said your friend. Who's your friend that died last night? She died? I didn't know she died. I just said she wouldn't wake up. I didn't know she was dead. Is she dead? Bella? Bella? [sobbing] (Brown) So how far do you think you were sitting when you were sitting on the steps from that intersection where Bella was laying? 50 feet? And you didn't hear a gunshot? No, sir. I didn't hear none of that. (Schilling) Did you go through her purse at all? I grabbed a book of rolling papers. Rolled me a cigarette. You know, I grabbed some papers. I still got the papers. [foreboding music] ♪ ♪ (Schilling) You know we've been talking to different people tonight. There's a witness that sees you run up to some apartment building right afterwards. I hear this just beating on my door. It's--nah. (Brown) Do you know anybody north of 10th Street in those apartments back there? A white dude. Tall, skinny white dude. - What's the white dude's name? - I don't know his name. I might have went down there. I'm trying to think. (Todd) I might have went and knock on his door and asked him for a ride. ♪ ♪ It's possible that she gets shot when he goes back to the QuikTrip, is why he doesn't hear the shot. (Schilling) I don't feel one, miniscule amount that he is the shooter. Could he have been there when something happened and ran off and then comes back to check on her? That's still a possibility. ♪ ♪ (Walker) How you doing? (Walker) Let me just ask you straight up, did you kill this old lady? - Come on, man. - No, no, I'm asking you. Please, man. You're insulting me. I'm not insulting you. I'm asking you a question. (Todd) That's an insult. That's my friend, man. I don't play with guns. I ain't no killer. I don't hurt girls, man. That's an insult to my integrity in my hood, man. I don't do that, man. - Well, you're a liar. - I don't hurt girls. You're a liar. You've lied today. I've been on drugs. I've been drinking all night. [groans] [door rattles and slams] I can't stand this guy. You're gonna tell me you don't think he killed her? He doesn't have money for a gun. Right now, we got nothing to dispute his story. (Schilling) I'm not feeling Todd. I don't feel him as a killer. We're gonna take Todd back to the shelter. We know where to find him if we do get anything else. We'll wrap it up, come back in tomorrow, go back to the neighborhood, see if we can drum up any more leads. [birds chirping] [ambient percussive music] ♪ ♪ (narrator) The next day... (Frazier) What do you want Jamaica for? (narrator) Schilling gets a new source in the neighborhood. (Schilling) Got a phone call from a canine officer. Someone in the neighborhood flagged him down saying, "Man, you need to look at Jamaica on this." (Frazier) Back--I don't know, what, three, four years ago-- I was in undercover doing dope buys and stuff like that, and Jamaica ripped me off twice. He's always in people's ear trying to get over on somebody. He knows everybody on the street. [eerie music] [door clicks open] ♪ ♪ You kind of have an idea what this is about? It's Bella's murder. Yeah. [suspenseful music] [suspenseful music] Do you know Bella? You seen her in the area? (Jamaica) Yeah. ♪ ♪ Is she into it with anybody? (Jamaica) Don't nobody bother Bella. All of us that be in that area, we... [bleep], man, please. We've been knowing each other for years, getting high in the same houses and everything. What about Todd? Would Todd have done something like this? I doubt it. What about some of the dealers? Um... ♪ ♪ Who lives in these apartments over here across the street? Never, ever, ever is it any good. Would Bella get from K? Yeah. So if K is selling some bad dope, is she gonna get pissed? Is she gonna make a stink about it? What kind of a guy is K? [foreboding music] (Brown) So if he's selling her bogus dope and she's raising a stink with him out there in the street, gee, that's nothing. "[bleep] you, bitch," and pull the trigger. [indistinct chatter] ♪ ♪ (Schilling) Stephen Scyffore, 24 years old, robbery, dangerous drugs, weapon. It seems like to me that he'd be more fitting than some crackhead. He is probably the closest thing we have to a suspect. [tense music] [clock ticking rapidly] (narrator) In the first 48, the Tulsa Homicide team responded to the murder of 31-year-old Leslie "Bella" Griffin, shot point-blank, discovered that her friend, Todd, fled the scene, and learned that she had fought with her dealer, Stephen K. Scyffore. [tense bass music] (man) We're at 11th and Saint Louis. (man) If we went way back there, maybe, but I can't tell as of right now. (Schilling) We've got a search warrant for K's apartment. He's been selling drugs, and narcotics officers have been looking at him. Reference that. (man) 10-4. (Schilling) We've got an informant that told us that he's got guns in the house, so we're gonna wait for him to go mobile. We'll take him down, and then we'll serve the warrant on the apartment. If we find a .45 out of there on a drug warrant, I will be ecstatic. (man) 10-4. And then we wait. [laughs] (man) But we're not gonna gamble. We're just gonna sit. [sighs] (man) He's out. OK, he's actually in the car. (man) Booyah. (man) Northbound on Saint Louis. [dramatic music] [indistinct radio chatter] Get your hands up! Open up your driver side door! Open the driver side door! (man) Let me see both your hands up. Turn around. You got any weapons on you we need to know about? Sit right here. (narrator) Stephen Scyffore is taken to Homicide. [foreboding music] (man) OK, Jim, if you just want to hold it right there... [knocking on door] (man) Tulsa Police! Search warrant! - Come on out. - On the ground. - Get on the ground! - On the ground. - On the ground. - Police! Search warrant! ♪ ♪ (man) Clear. Help this fella right here. (Leatherman) Hope we find drugs and guns and people can start going to jail. - And hopefully we... - Find the murder weapon. Connect that, yeah, to the murder. [tense music] (Brown) Yeah, no, there's roaches everywhere. ♪ ♪ (Leatherman) Not finding any guns. ♪ ♪ (White) Dude. Oh, my gosh, dude. I thought I felt roaches crawling up my legs. It was brutal. (man) There's roaches boiling out of there, dude. [sighs] Found a lot of rounds in there, not<i> the</i> that we're looking for. - Anything else? - Nope. E.B.K. That's your nickname? What's it stand for? All right, man, have a seat. [sighs] Sit tight. We found a couple 20 rocks, what appears to be crack. [door clicks open] Doing good, sir, and how are you? All right. You know why we were there this morning. (Schilling) Yeah. And there's a lot of stuff going out in that neighborhood, and we're just trying to figure some of that stuff out. The morning Bella got killed, I-- So you knew her too? [suspenseful music] I agree. (Schilling) Was she getting from you? That last Friday night or Saturday morning? Mm-mm. What do you think happened? (Brown) I agree. And some of those shady characters, as you say, is even throwing down your name. (Brown) No? (Brown) Let me talk to Detective Schilling for a minute. Like, right now? I was afraid of that. (Schilling) I mean, he's been through the system enough that he knows that he's not supposed to talk to us about anything. It doesn't get us any closer to proving him one way or the other, but I'm still feeling he's good for it. Right now, he's gonna get charged with possession with intent for having the cocaine. [eerie music] [knocking] (Leatherman) I need to talk to you. Have a good day. (man) Tulsa Police. (man) If you knew something and you thought it would help solve a murder, would you tell me? ♪ ♪ Area sucks, man. Nobody wants to talk. It's like it's ran by Al-Qaeda. [foreboding music] (Schilling) Bella was laying on the ground for two hours before someone finally bothered to call the police. I'm a Christian man, and I believe that there are people out there that know right from wrong, and, you know, I just pray that someone in this neighborhood on this block will do the right thing. ♪ ♪ (narrator) Two days later, detectives finally get a break in the case. (Brown) We got word that there's a potential witness that we just brought in. He's sitting on something. So we'll go see exactly what this young fellow knows. ♪ ♪ (Brown) Go back to last Friday night, Saturday morning. (Brown) Are you aware of what happened? [distorted voice] OK, did you know that girl? (Brown) And this is the girl that I'm talking about, OK? Well, crap like this happens every day. And you have the opportunity to do the right thing or keep your mouth shut and let stuff like this go on and happen. So when do we as a society sit there and say, "Dude, enough's enough"? (Leatherman) Just do the right thing, man, seriously. [tense music] (Brown) What were they doing? [ominous music] Where did he go after that? (Brown) So this is around 1:30? (Brown) Without a doubt in your mind, Todd was there when this gal got shot? [dramatic music] (Schilling) It's time for Todd to come clean. I want to know what happened on that corner. ♪ ♪ - Anyone home? Nobody? - Nobody's home. ♪ ♪ [horn honks] (Schilling) Todd. - Yes, sir. - How you doing, Todd? I'm doing all right. How are you doing? Hey, grab your bag. (Todd) Can't nobody put me there, because I wasn't there. (Schilling) You're there, and you saw it happen. (Todd) No I'm not. You can't place me at a place where I'm not there. - But I can. - If I seen-- You say you cared about her. Bella wasn't my ho. If she was my ho, I would have been there. I wasn't with the bitch when she got shot, straight up. I wasn't with the bitch when she got killed. It is what it is, man. I ain't trying to... I ain't trying to hide [bleep], man. A mother[bleep] can tell you anything about me, but until you ask me... (Schilling) Why the [bleep] do you think I'm talking to you? I don't give a [bleep]. (Ritter) Listen to me, man. You need to get in front of this. When the person who pulled the trigger gets arrested, if you don't get out in front of this, you're just as culpable. [suspenseful music] (Ritter) This is just an opportunity for you to get out in front of this. [suspenseful music] ♪ ♪ (Schilling) Who were you on the corner with? I wasn't on the corner with nobody. What was she arguing with him about? I'm gonna tell you again, I don't know. I'm done, man. Straight up, I'm done. (Schilling) We'd like him, as a witness, give us an idea of what happened firsthand, but Todd spent 16 years in prison. He cares more about his reputation on the streets. [foreboding music] (Ritter) I heard that F-bomb. You're gonna have to do some repenting tonight. (Schilling) You're gonna need to cut that. It was worthless, is what it was. You got to get on their level. (man) It's up to you, man. I don't... That's why I cuss. [laughter] (Schilling) We could probably pick up Todd later and get a charge on him as an accessory, but based off of what the witness has said, we need to have Scyffore arrested for the murder. [eerie music] I would hesitate to write an arrest warrant. ♪ ♪ I think you're close. My question is, what else do I need? To me, that's a confession. (Walker) Corroboration. And I think we can get somewhere else. There's somebody else out there that...we can get this. (Leatherman) At what point, though... At some point it's-- - It is what it is? - Yeah. (Walker) I don't think we're gonna have to have much else, but I think we can find that other piece that's gonna send it over the 50 percentile. It's there; it's just a matter of we've got to get out there. I mean, maybe it takes another canvass of the whole neighborhood. [tense instrumental music] (Brown) So what do you think about taking another run at Louis? Maybe he's heard something new? Come on, Nate. Let's go. Cheer up a little bit. Holy crap. ♪ ♪ [knocking on door] - How are you doing? - Louis, how are you, sir? I'm good. ♪ ♪ (Schilling) You know, we talked before, and it was a pretty emotional night. Having had some time to decompress, anything else you remember, anything different about what happened? (Louis) Ain't nothing really changed, nothing that's come into my head that was left out of my statement. What about earlier in the night? I come home from work. You didn't go out at all? Not really. You say, "Not really." I mean-- Honestly, I cannot remember. I don't know if I went down the street to my buddy's house. - Who's your buddy? - K. I go down there mainly to drink. Because my old lady don't like to watch me drink. And what else does K do? K does a lot of other things. He sells a lot of things. Have you been hanging out with K since then? I've talked to him twice since then. You asked him about Bella? I've asked him, like, you know, "What happened?" And I never got a real response. But I know for fact because I've heard it come out of his mouth that Bella did owe him money. When did you hear him say that? Maybe a week or two before she was found out there. I mean, how does that come up in conversation between you and him? Todd and Jamaica are in there. And K is telling them, "Come back when you got money." "Patty" and "Bella" come out of his mouth. "That they owe me money, but they still-- when they have it, they come spend their money with me." Wouldn't you think that's pretty important? The circle of people here that we keep talking about, you know all of them. You know who Jamaica is. You know who Todd is. You know who K is. You know who Bella is. You know who Patty is. You know all these people-- I'm trying my best to tell you everything I know. (Brown) I got to call bull[bleep]. (Louis) OK, I don't... - Bull[bleep]. - Know what happened to her. - Bull[bleep]. - How would I know? See, I try to find the best in people, and then I get lied to, and I get walked on, and then I deal with these guys that have been around and seen it a lot more and seen people like me get fed a line of BS when it is-- and they're sitting on the outside watching and just watching me eat it up. [inhales and exhales] I do know one thing that I was--I did not tell you at first. [suspenseful music] ♪ ♪ (Brown) He showed it to you? (Schilling) If I found out later that you knew something else, I will arrest you, and I will charge you with accessory after the fact. - You understand me, right? - Yes. - Crystal clear. - Yes. [dramatic music] ♪ ♪ The warrant's filed. Now we just have to find him. [man speaking indistinctly] (Schilling) He's out on bond, and a CI says he's left town. If he did something, victimized someone else, then I think that would be on me. [dog barking] [suspenseful music] ♪ ♪ (Leatherman) Let's go. [dramatic music] ♪ ♪ [dog barking] ♪ ♪ Get up. [barking continues] How you doing? (Schilling) You're under arrest for first-degree murder. [tense music] ♪ ♪ (Schilling) Just emotionless, expressionless. ♪ ♪ He's already said he wanted an attorney last week, so that's still gonna stand true today. - We'll transport him... - All right. - When you guys are ready. - Thank you, sir. Thank you for your help. A stone's throw from where she's shot dead, we catch him. You get excited. This is what you build up for. This is what you look forward to. But it's kind of anticlimactic. I mean, yeah, you catch the bad guy. You lock him up, and in a perfect world, they'll go to jail for the rest of their lives, but it doesn't bring people back. It doesn't make the hurt any less for the families. [somber music] [knocking on door] - Hi. - Hi, Connie. (Sutton) Come on in. (Schilling) Thanks for seeing us so late. (Sutton) You're most welcome. (Schilling) We just wanted to come by so we could tell you in person we've made in arrest in Bella's death--Leslie's death. There is a man who lived across the street from where she was killed right there on Saint Louis. His name is Stephen Scyffore. Why? Why? Why did he do it? (Schilling) I don't know why. He declined to speak to us. This is just the first step. And now it's gonna be a court process, and that can take some time. (Sutton) And I want to be there. I want to be in the courtroom. And I want to let him know that he took my baby. She was somebody. [sobbing] I just hope that-- that he doesn't ever get out or hurt anyone else. (Schilling) I'm gonna do my best. (Sutton) Thank you. Oh, you're welcome. Thank you. - Thank you. - [whispers indistinctly]
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Channel: A&E
Views: 371,573
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Keywords: a&e, aetv, a&e tv, ae, a&e television, a&e shows, a and e, 48 hours, crime, true crime, crime investigation, solving crime, police, detectives, attorneys, after the first 48, police procedure, first 48, first 48 hours, the first 48 hours, 1st 48, dion graham, execution, killed, murder, murdered, full episode, full episodes, watch full episodes, Tulsa, woman killed, killer, Season 17, Episode 5, The First 48, watch The First 48, stream The First 48, a and e full episodes
Id: B6NbpQut4Gg
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Length: 43min 9sec (2589 seconds)
Published: Tue Mar 05 2024
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