08x30 - Flower Power

[bunniefuu]

Did you see her?

She's dead.

She's cut all to hell.

Narrator: two different men call police to report the same

m*rder.

What makes you think that she has been k*lled?

Look at her.

You just have to look at her.

Narrator: apparently, neither one knew that the other had

Called.

The investigation uncovered even more unusual circumstances.

But a few tiny seeds and a discarded candy wrapper were

More than just insignificant clues.

They told a story of revenge.

Like many divorced people, pamela sweeney hoped she'd find

Someone to share her life with.

Construction worker larry fleck was the man she set her sights

On.

We were planning on getting married.

We were talking about probably moving out of minneapolis at one

Time.

I don't know.

We were just having a good time, the two of us.

She was a little kid full of life.

And, uh, I don't know how really to explain it.

She just made the house light up.

Narrator: pamela worked as a secretary for a computer company

Outside minneapolis.

The most important thing in her life was her -year-old son,

Tony.

On the friday before memorial day in , pam told her

Parents she wasn't feeling well and asked if they could take

Care of her son overnight.

She told them she was just going to take a bath and go to bed.

But before she did, she spoke with her boyfriend.

She says, "what time are you getting off tonight?"

I said, "I got to work pretty late."

She goes, "I want you to come over."

I said, "it's gonna be really late."

She says, "I want you to come over tonight."

Narrator: fleck says he arrived at pam's house around

: In the morning.

When he looked into pam's bedroom, he knew something was

Terribly wrong.

I seen the, uh...

Spot of blood up on the headboard.

I went, "oh, my goodness."

And in the bed, she was laying crossways, all wrapped up,

Rolled up in a blanket.

I didn't want to do it, but I took the covers, and I rolled

Them back and there she was laying.

Narrator: fleck ran to a neighbor's house to call police.

Less than two minutes later, as police were on their way, they

Got another telephone call.

This one from one of pam's coworkers, patrick walsh.

This one from one of pam's coworkers, patrick walsh.

We had two males calling in saying that a female they had

Known -- something terrible had happened to her, and they needed

The police.

Narrator: when questioned, both men had unusual stories to

Tell.

Larry fleck said pam invited him and that he ran from her house

Because he thought the k*ller was still inside.

Patrick walsh said he drove by pam's house on his way home from

A local bar.

He said the lights were on, and he wanted to check on her

Because she had been out sick that day at work.

Police now had a dead woman and two men at the house at : in

The morning.

Investigators hoped forensic evidence would sort through what

Was to become a very complicated tale.

Narrator: when pam sweeney was found m*rder*d in her own

Bed, police had to deal with a highly unusual situation.

Two men were at the scene.

They didn't know each other, but both knew the victim.

Everybody's a suspect.

And when they got out there, they had patrick walsh.

He's a suspect.

He's secured, he's handcuffed.

They process the scene.

Larry fleck was at the neighbor's house.

Another officer went there to secure him.

Narrator: pam sweeney had been shot four times, stabbed

Four times, and her clothing had been partially removed.

You go numb.

You just -- you go, "thug."

Like your heart hits the bottom of your stomach and you don't

Know what's -- it's like there's a humming

Going on in your head.

You don't know what's going on around you.

Narrator: pam's parents were asked who they thought might

Have k*lled their daughter, and they had a ready answer.

I thought her ex-husband was the one that done it.

He had -something weapons in the house.

He tried to be a big g*n collector, and he had some big

g*ns.

So we -- the first thing I thought was, "well, since it's

Pam, it's got to be mike."

Narrator: at pam's home, there were no signs of forced

Entry.

And there was another clue that pam knew her k*ller.

We believe after he completed the final blow and she was dead

And he saw the dead body, he, in an act of contrition, covered

The body completely.

It was completely covered.

We think he did that so as not to see what he did, to cover it

Up.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Narrator: the m*rder weapons could not be found in the house.

But as the sun rose, investigators saw a path in the

Dew that had settled on the lawn.

It led to a wooded area behind the house.

The officers got on their hands and knees and went through

That backwoods inch by inch.

Back there was found a knife, which had been stuck into the

Ground right to the handle.

And a small revolver was found lodged under some loose boards

That were laying behind the shed.

Narrator: the knife matched a set of kitchen knives inside the

House.

The p*stol was the same caliber as the one used in the crime.

Both had been wiped clean of blood and fingerprints.

In front of pam's home, investigators found a clue first

Thought to be insignificant.

In patrick walsh's truck, police found a candy wrapper.

The same candy was found in pam sweeney's kitchen.

But this brand of candy had a lot number on the wrapper.

When police compared the lot number on the candy in pam's

House with the wrapper in walsh's truck, it was a match.

So we drew an inference from that that this guy, while he was

There, was calm enough actually to take one of those bags of

Candy out of the drawer and eat it.

Narrator: but this was inconsistent with walsh's story.

He said after he found pam's body, he called police, then ran

Outside to his car to try to get help.

If this were true, would he have stopped on his way out of the

House to grab a piece of candy?

Perhaps the most bizarre incident in the case was that

Walsh's car was stuck in a ditch next to pam's driveway.

Walsh said he accidentally drove into the ditch when going for

Help.

Both patrick walsh and pam's boyfriend, fleck, had what

Appeared to be bloodstains on their trousers, and they both

Had plausible explanations.

Both men said they were close to pam's body when each discovered

She was dead.

But walsh's clothing held a possible clue.

During the time that patrick walsh was being

Processed at the jail, they, of course, removed all of his

Clothing and his shoes and socks.

We, on the back of his shirt, located a leaf, and in his

Shoes, we located a number of different types of vegetation.

Narrator: investigators wondered whether this vegetation

Was enough to identify a k*ller.

Narrator: while investigating the m*rder of -year-old

Pamela sweeney, police had three suspects -- pam's ex-husband,

Her boyfriend, and her coworker.

Police learned that pam's ex-husband was with friends on

The night of the m*rder and was eliminated as a suspect.

Pam's boyfriend also denied any involvement.

They asked questions like how long I knew her, if I always

Come over there that time of night, why so late in the

Evening I show up at this person's house.

And basically asked me if I did it, and I said, "no.

I'm in love with this person.

Why would anybody want to do something like that to someone?"

Narrator: when patrick walsh's name came up as

A suspect in pam's m*rder, her family and friends said they

Weren't surprised.

He did harass her on the job.

He harassed her on the telephone for six months, night or day.

She did call the police, but there was nothing they could do.

Narrator: her pastor, thomas braun, got a call from

Her a few months before the m*rder.

There was great amount of fear in her voice.

She was beyond herself.

She couldn't think straight.

Emotionally, physically, she was a wreck.

Narrator: walsh was married and worked as a supervisor in

The same company as pam.

She told friends that walsh asked her out on numerous

Occasions and wouldn't take no for an answer.

He also stopped by her home unannounced and performed

Various household chores without being asked in an attempt to win

Her affections.

He had been stalking her for months, obsessed with her

Physically in his mind and his entire being.

She never talked to me about it.

She never said, "somebody was taunting her or following her

Or things like that."

She never said a word to me.

Narrator: pam did, however, go to the police, but they told

Her walsh hadn't broken the law, and there was nothing they could

Do.

In their search for evidence, investigators focused on the

Vegetation found on walsh's clothes and shoes.

Walsh said it probably got there when he walked across pam's

Front lawn towards his car.

This gave police an idea.

We did something I had never done before.

We contacted the university of minnesota, and we asked for a

Taxonomist, a forensic taxonomist.

Narrator: a taxonomist is an expert in living organisms.

Dr. Anita cholewa examined the various bits of leaves, grass,

And other vegetation from walsh's clothing.

There was lawn grass.

There was crabgrass.

And the oddball things -- there was some seeds of quack grass.

Narrator: quack grass is a common weed, and it rarely

Produces seed since people usually mow it before it gets to

The flowering stage.

This meant that the quack-grass seeds on walsh's clothing were

Rare and unusual.

Dr. Cholewa also discovered another species on walsh's

Clothes -- seeds from an aspen tree, which are called bracts.

Aspen is fairly common in minnesota, but it's not the sort

Of thing that you'd see in someone's backyard.

Narrator: the combination of an aspen seed and quack grass

Told dr. Cholewa that patrick walsh had been in a

Wooded area with high weeds.

Dr. Cholewa didn't find any quack grass or aspen bracts

Around walsh's home.

Dr. Cholewa discovered an area behind pamela's shed that was

Untended and overgrown.

There was a lot of quack grass in there.

A number of other things, too, but the quack grass was -- and

It had clearly been flowering and fruiting in that woodlot.

Narrator: she also found numerous aspen bracts.

The area dr. Cholewa identified was the exact spot where

Investigators found the m*rder weapons.

She was convinced the specimens on walsh's clothing were

Relatively fresh.

It wouldn't have attached itself to him for long periods

Of time.

It had to be something real recent in order to still be

Attached to his pants and stuck in his shoes.

Narrator: but this was far from conclusive evidence.

So police turned to a more traditional crime scene.

They analyzed the blood spatter at the crime scene.

Walsh said he briefly shook pam's body to see if she was

Alive before he ran from her room, but the blood on his

Clothing told a different story.

The staining was consistent with him coming in contact with

A large amount of her blood on his pants leg and stains

Consistent with spatter being found on him, which would

Indicate that he had been in close proximity when she was

Being stabbed.

Narrator: and the size and shape of the spatter indicated

The blood hit walsh's pants from a blood-covered object that

Had been in motion.

Investigators found similar blood spatter on the ceiling

Above the bed.

These were perfectly circular, indicating the blood went

Straight up from the impact site.

The blood spatters give a fairly good idea of where she

May have been and also the nature of the attack and how

Violent it was, how brutal it was, and how the knife was

Wielded.

I could look at the bloodstain patterns on the walls

And determine the site where this impact took place.

This was right on the bed where she was found, and it indicated

That's exactly where she was att*cked on the bed.

Narrator: she was stabbed in the bedroom, but shot elsewhere.

There was a blood trail leading to the bedroom from the foyer,

And b*ll*ts were found in the floor.

This was where pam sweeney was shot.

We believe she was probably shot first in the lower levels

Of the house and dragged or carried upstairs and then

Stabbed in her bedroom.

And died, most likely, from the s*ab wounds, not the g*nsh*t

Wounds.

Narrator: the bloodstain on walsh's pants was consistent

With carrying a bleeding person.

The forensic evidence also explained why patrick walsh

Called police to report the m*rder.

Patrick walsh, in a panic, attempting to leave the scene of

This k*lling, got in his pickup truck, miscalculated the

Driveway, and drove into the ditch.

It's now : in the morning, he had just m*rder*d a young woman,

And his pickup truck is hopelessly stuck in a ditch.

What do you do?

Narrator: a week before her death, pam sweeney told her

Family she couldn't find a set of house keys and was

Considering changing her locks.

On the day of her m*rder, the keys resurfaced.

In the front seat of patrick walsh's black pickup

Truck, lo and behold was pamela sweeney's stolen keys.

There was a direct connection.

He never really explained how it got there.

Narrator: police believe walsh stole the keys while he

And pam were at work.

Proof, they said, that he planned the attack.

About a week before the k*lling, he had called up an

Ex-girlfriend and wanted to get his .-Caliber handgun

Returned.

He had loaned it to her earlier.

He wanted it back.

He claimed it was for an elk-hunting trip he was going to

Make, but that was, we found out later, not planned for eight

Months down the road.

So we believe he was actively engaged in planning this well

Before the day of the k*lling.

Narrator: inside walsh's home, police found a number of

.-Caliber shells.

Those were sent to the fbi laboratory for neutron

Activation analysis.

They were able to identify that the lead compositions in

The lead fragments that we found in miss sweeney's skull matched

The lead compositions that were in the shells found in

Mr. Walsh's apartment.

Narrator: a few years earlier, walsh was allegedly

Involved in eight as*ault cases with other women and was a

Suspect in a previous m*rder.

Prosecutors believe when pam sweeney rejected walsh's

Advances, he sought revenge.

Our belief was that that just infuriated him.

I think he took the view in his sick, twisted, psychotic mind,

"How dare you reject me when I have been doing all of these

Overtly kind acts for you?

How dare you?" Narrator: the evidence

Suggests walsh entered pam's home around : p.m. While pam

Was asleep, but she must have heard someone inside and made

Her way to the hallway, where she confronted walsh.

There was an argument.

What's obvious is that you need to go.

You keep rejecting me.

Narrator: walsh fired twice into the floor, possibly to

Scare her.

The next four sh*ts hit pamela sweeney.

[ g*nshots ] walsh carried her to the

Bedroom, then stabbed her to death, causing the blood spatter

On the ceiling and on his clothes.

Then covered the body -- a telltale clue that the k*ller

Was someone pam knew.

The evidence suggests walsh stayed long enough to have a can

Of soda and grab a piece of candy.

And when he went to his car, he left the candy wrapper on the

Seat beside him.

But he accidentally drove his car into a ravine on the side of

The driveway and couldn't get it out.

Walsh then went back inside the house in the basement to look

For something to get his car free.

Then a surprise...

Pam? Pam?

Narrator: pam's boyfriend, larry fleck, arrived after work.

When fleck discovered the m*rder, he ran to a neighbor's

Home for help.

Walsh had to act quickly.

He tried again to move his car but couldn't.

So he had to remove the evidence.

The botanical evidence on his pants proved walsh ran into the

High grass and woods behind pam's home to dump the m*rder

Weapons.

When he returned and knowing police would find his car, walsh

Had no choice but to call police himself to make it appear as if

He, too, had driven by and found pam dead.

It was clear to me that the suspect had been in that

Woodlot.

I don't see how he could have acquired that material any other

Way, based on what the investigating officers knew of

Where he had been at the time of the crime and the previous

Hours.

I guess the irony of it is in going to that location and

Picking up those soil samples and seeds from the local trees,

He did put himself right at the very spot where he was trying to

Hide evidence that he didn't want to be connected to.

I think that's fairly significant.

Narrator: seven months after pamela sweeney's death,

Patrick walsh went to trial for first-degree m*rder.

The sheer volume of forensic evidence against him was

Overwhelming.

It's amazing when you're prosecuting a first-degree

m*rder case and you have , puzzles and you're convinced

That you have the right person -- it is amazing how

Those pieces of the puzzle start to fall together, fitting

Perfectly.

Narrator: patrick walsh was found guilty and sentenced to

Life in prison.

Patrick walsh is a psychopath and perhaps the most dangerous

Man I have ever seen.

I favor the death penalty, but then again, from what I hear

What's happening to him once in a while in prison, I think he's

Probably got a harder time right now being alive than being dead.