07x02 - Forever Hold Your Peace

[bunniefuu]

[suspenseful music]

REPORTER: --that's when this
man, Achim Joseph Marino--

NARRATOR: In 1998, Achim
Marino came forward

and confessed to the r*pe and
m*rder of a restaurant worker.

I did this awful crime.

And I was alone.

NARRATOR: But this
man, Chris Ochoa,

had already confessed
to that crime

and was serving a life sentence.

I pleaded guilty and confessed.

NARRATOR: One of them was lying.

To find out who and why,
scientists look once

more at the forensic evidence.

[theme music]

[somber music]

NARRATOR: Austin, Texas,
the state's capital city.


DePriest lived here

with her husband Todd and


She was so very friendly and,
and very open, uh, to anyone.

She, she just, she
just loved people.

She was just, like,
a people person.

NARRATOR: Nancy was a waitress
at a Pizza Hut restaurant.

On October 24, 1988, she
arrived for work at 7:00 AM.

[metal door slamming]

Her job was to get
the pizza dough ready,

for lunch, before the rest
of the employees arrived.

The manager of the
restaurant called

several times that morning
to make sure everything

was all right.

But there was no answer.

[suspenseful music]

When he stopped by the
restaurant around 9:30,

he found Nancy slumped
under the bathroom sink,

nude and barely alive.

She had been shot in
the back of the head.

[emergency siren]

Nancy was rushed to
the nearest hospital.

JEANETTE POPP: My son-in-law
said, "Mom, there's,

there's been a robbery.

They shot Nancy."

I said, "Todd, how,
how bad is she hurt?"

He broke down.

And he said, "Mom,
she's on life support."

NARRATOR: Nancy died later
that day without regaining

consciousness.

I began to scream.

I, I was, I was
totally hysterical.

NARRATOR: The m*rder occurred
before the restaurant opened.

So there were no
witnesses to the crime.

The Austin Police Department
found no signs of forced entry

at the restaurant.

The motive appeared to
be robbery since money

was missing from the safe.

On the floor of the
bathroom, police

found a .22 caliber shell
casing from the m*rder w*apon.

And Nancy's autopsy revealed
she had been sexually assaulted.

Two weeks later,
investigators got

their first break in the case.

Two employees from another
Pizza Hut restaurant,




went to the restaurant where
Nancy had been m*rder*d.

CHRIS OCHOA: So we order a beer.

And he toasted to
the memory of Nancy.

To Nancy DePriest.

We won't forget you.

CHRIS OCHOA: To me, I
found it kind of strange.

NARRATOR: Nancy's co-workers
quickly informed authorities.

Ochoa and Danziger who were
later questioned by police.

And he started
grilling me about what

I know about this
m*rder and this r*pe.

And I told them, "Nothing."

We went round and round
for a couple hours.

I don't recall how many hours.

But he said, at one point,
he said, "You know what?

We know you're not
capable of this.

But we know you know, you
know, you know something."

[mysterious music]

NARRATOR: Detective Hector
Polanco, at the time

a 12-year veteran of the force,
took over the interrogation.

CHRIS OCHOA: At one
point, he showed me

pictures of death row.

He showed them to me.

He said, "This is where you
will live the, until you die."

[sighs] So I still
kept on saying,

"I don't know anything."

NARRATOR: Richard Danziger and
his girlfriend, Donna Angstadt,

were also questioned.

They were absolutely
horrible to me.

One time, Hector, Hector Polanco
pounded his fist on the table.

And I thought he was
coming across to grab me.

I came up out of my chair
and hit the wall behind me.

It scared me so bad.

NARRATOR: Donna
said she and Richard

were together, in
Donna's apartment,

at the time of the m*rder.

I took a lie detector test.

And they told me I flunked it.

NARRATOR: Two days later, Chris
Ochoa confessed to the r*pe

and m*rder of Nancy DePriest.

CHRIS OCHOA: I did it.

I pleaded guilty.

And it was, I can't describe it.

NARRATOR: He also revealed that
his friend, Richard Danziger,

was his accomplice.

[clang]

Ochoa said he and Danziger
entered the restaurant

with keys the two had obtained.

[suspenseful music]

They found Nancy alone
preparing pizza dough.

[muffled screams]

NARRATOR: After ordering her to
remove the money from the safe,

Ochoa said he and
Danziger bound,

gagged, r*ped, and shot her.

[g*nsh*t]

Ochoa said he was the one
who pulled the trigger.

When the DNA results
came back from the lab,

police had even more
proof that Ochoa

and Danziger were the K*llers.

[trumpet music]

Chris Ochoa not only confessed
to the r*pe and m*rder of Nancy

DePriest, he became the state's
star witness against his friend

and co-worker Richard Danziger.

Nancy's family was relieved that
the case was concluded quickly.

JEANETTE POPP: Not
so much satisfaction,

I didn't, I didn't feel that.

I guess relief that
they weren't going to be

able to do it to someone else.

NARRATOR: Bolstering
Ochoa's confession

was the DNA evidence.

A blood sample,
from Chris Ochoa,

matched the DNA from semen
on the victim's vaginal swab.

DR. EDWARD BLAKE: I
examined a vaginal swab

specimen from Nancy DePriest.

DNA was extracted from
spermatozoa on that swab.

And then, DNA typing
was done using

a single gene that we
had available at that

point and time.

And the result was obtained
from that gene that

was, actually, compatible
with Chris Ochoa and about



NARRATOR: Statistically, there
were 3 million other Texans

who might have shared
the same genetic marker.

But this wasn't the
only forensic evidence.

A brown hair, found in
the restaurant bathroom,

was microscopically
similar to Danziger's.

Richard Danziger
plead not guilty

and insisted he was innocent.

But the strength of
Ochoa's confession

and the forensic
evidence were too great.

The jury deliberated
just 7 and 1/2 minutes

and found Richard
Danziger guilty

of aggravated sexual
as*ault. He was

sentenced to life in prison.

[mysterious music]

In return for his
testimony, Chris Ochoa

avoided the death penalty.

But he was sentenced
to life in prison.

There were nights that I would
sit in my bed, crying to God,

"Why?

Why?"

I was, I would ask
Him, "I'm tired, God.

I'm tired."

I was very tired.

And at some point, I
wanted to end it all.

NARRATOR: Life in
prison was even

harder for Richard Danziger.

[metal door slamming]

[mysterious music]

After three years
behind bars, Danziger

was assaulted by
another inmate, who

mistook him for someone else.

Danziger was kicked in the
head with steel-tipped boots.

He survived but suffered
permanent brain damage.

It's just what's happened
to him is horrible.

He's going to need care
for the rest of his life.

NARRATOR: But the story
doesn't end there.

Eight years later, Austin
police received a letter

from Achim Marino, who was
serving three life sentences,

in another Texas prison,
for a string of robberies

and sexual assaults.

Marino claimed that he
was the one who r*ped

and m*rder*d Nancy DePriest.

[suspenseful music]

[muted a*t*matic g*nshots]

Marino claimed he had undergone
a spiritual awakening,

while incarcerated, and wanted
to set the record straight.

I did this awful crime.

And I was alone.

[metal door slamming]

[crescendoing music]

[bass drum beat]

[intriguing music]

NARRATOR: Marino
said the El Paso

Police Department had the g*n
he used to k*ll Nancy DePriest.

They had taken it when he was
arrested on an as*ault charge.

Homicide Detective Manuel
Fuentes was assigned

to investigate Marino's story.

I got a call from the El
Paso Police Department.

And the detective
there said, "You're

not going to believe this.

But that g*n is,
hasn't been destroyed.

We still have it
in, in evidence."

NARRATOR: Scientists
compared Marino's

.22 caliber handgun
to the b*llet

removed from Nancy DePriest.

The ballistic examination
did not reveal a match.

It appeared there wasn't
much more to investigate.

Two years later, Achim
Marino tried once again.

I want to thank Speaker
Laney for your friendship--

NARRATOR: This time,
he sent a letter

to then Governor George
W. Bush with a copy

to the prosecutor's office.

I told him that basically
the same thing, that I had,

uh, that, that I had committed a
m*rder in '88 at the Pizza Hut,

and that, uh, there was
two innocent men, who I

did not know, locked up for it.

NARRATOR: This time,
Detective Fuentes

visited Chris Ochoa in prison.

Once again, Ochoa
repeated what he

had been saying for


and Danziger had acted alone.

And I told him,
"Oh, yeah, yeah.

You're right.

I did it."

I said, "You know what?

Just let me do my time."

And he said as far
as he knew, there

wasn't a third person involved.

It was just him and Richard
that k*lled Nancy DePriest.

NARRATOR: So there
was little more

authorities could do, especially
since Ochoa's DNA matched

semen found at the crime scene.

It would take one more year
before one of these men

finally changed his story.

[suspenseful music]

NARRATOR: For almost


continued to maintain that
he and Richard Danziger

were responsible for the r*pe
and m*rder of Nancy DePriest.

But one year after Achim
Marino wrote a letter

to the governor's office saying
he m*rder*d Nancy DePriest,

Chris Ochoa changed his story.

INTERVIEWER: Did you
k*ll Nancy DePriest?

Uh, no, ma'am.

[metal door slamming]

Just tell me you did it.

Look me in the face
and tell me you did it.

NARRATOR: Ochoa now
claimed that his confession

had been coerced.

He said he was
physically assaulted,

threatened, and denied
access to an attorney

during police questioning.

And a female detective
and Hispanic detective, she

come in.

And I asked her, you know,
uh, "Can I have an attorney?"

And she got real
upset and said, "You

can't have one until
you're officially charged."

NARRATOR: In search for help,
Ochoa contacted the Wisconsin

Innocence Project, a group
that investigates cases

in which they believe
an innocent person

has been wrongfully convicted.

CHRIS OCHOA: And I told
them, "Please help me.

I don't know who
else to turn to."

You know, I think one
of the, my closing lines

was that I told them, "I've
lost faith in the system.

But I haven't lost
faith in myself."

NARRATOR: But the founder of the
Innocence Project, John Pray,

wasn't sure what to think.

We called up Chris' attorney to
get his side of things and see.

Sometimes the attorneys
say, I, yeah, I

am concerned about this case.

And he may be innocent.

Uh, unfortunately, in this case,
we got the complete opposite.

The, Chris' attorney told
us that we are totally

wasting our time on this case.

He is very guilty.

NARRATOR: And if Chris Ochoa
was innocent, why did DNA tests

place him at the
scene of the crime?


tests could only

analyze one gene from Nancy
DePriest's vaginal swab,

the gene called DQ alpha.

But by the year 2000, the
accuracy of DNA testing

had advanced to a level where


The DNA testing
that I'm doing today

is more complicated,
harder to interpret,

um, more discriminating.

NARRATOR: The Wisconsin
Innocence Project

asked local prosecutors
to send Nancy DePriest's

forensic samples for
more sophisticated DNA

testing, which they did.


DePriest's m*rder,

Karen Scalise compared
Chris Ochoa's blood DNA

to the vaginal swab taken
from the crime scene.

I sort of went, "Oh, my
God," and just immediately

double-checked it to myself.

NARRATOR: Just to make sure,
additional DNA testing was also

done by Ed Blake, who had
performed the original DNA

test a decade earlier.

When that work was
done, uh, ultimately,

Chris Ochoa, uh,
Richard Danziger,

and Nancy DePriest's
husband were all eliminated,

uh, as the source
of the spermatozoa

from Nancy DePriest.

[mysterious music]

NARRATOR: But there was still
the issue of Marino's g*n.

Detective Fuentes
decided to send it

to another lab, the Southwest
Institute in Dallas,

for more tests.

The shell casing,
without a doubt, uh,

matched the g*n that we
got from Achim Marino.

And this was the
shell casing that

was found inside the Pizza Hut.

So now we had DNA.

And we had a b*llet,
or a shell casing,

that was ejected
at the crime scene,

that matched the, the g*n
that we got from Achim Marino.

[mysterious music]

NARRATOR: As a last
step, prosecutors

compared Achim Marino's
DNA to the semen

from Nancy DePriest's
vaginal swab.

It matched just as
Marino said it would.

Everybody says they're
innocent in prison.

But, yeah, some of
us are actually are.

[mysterious music]

NARRATOR: Achim
Marino's confession

includes a chilling account
of what happened the day

Nancy DePriest was m*rder*d.

But it also answered
many questions.

--that day.

ACHIM MARINO: I
was wearing a, uh,

workman's uniform with
a false name on it.

And I'd knocked on
the, uh, side door.

And Ms. DePriest came up
and unlocked the door just

before the restaurant opened.

NARRATOR: Once inside,
Marino held Nancy at gunpoint

and demanded the
restaurant's money.

[gloomy music]

Hey.

Get under the sink.

Get under there.

ACHIM MARINO: Then, we
went to the restroom

where I disrobed her, then
assaulted her one time.

But after that, I told her that
I was going to handcuff her

to the, uh, the plumbing
underneath the sink,

and leave her there.

[gloomy music]

She got underneath the sink.

I shot her in the back of
the head one time with a .22,

uh, firearm.

[g*nsh*t]

NARRATOR: But he made
the mistake of leaving

the shell casing behind.

I was looking for that shell.

But I couldn't find it anywhere.

After that, I went back and
got my bag, packed my stuff up.

And I left.

NARRATOR: Marino
says Nancy reminded

him of a female guard
he knew from prison,

a woman he detested.

[chatter]

When I came out,
not only did I intend

to k*ll a whole bunch
of Blacks and Mexicans,

but I, I told myself
the first White

woman I ran across
that looked like her,

I was going to blow
her brains out.

And that's exactly what I did.

[g*nsh*t]

[somber music]

NARRATOR: But the
bigger question

is why Chris Ochoa
would repeated confess

to a crime he didn't commit.

ACHIM MARINO: You'd have
to be a psychologist.

I'm not.

It's hard for me
to, to conceive.

I, it's, in fact, when I first
met Mr. Ochoa's attorneys for,

and, and, uh, Mr. Danziger's,
uh, attorneys when they first

brought me back, the first
thing I asked them was, "What

in a world made Ochoa confess?"

Most people will
come and tell me,

"I would have never
confessed to it."

You know what?

Don't tell me that.

Because you weren't
sitting in that chair.

NARRATOR: Ochoa said he was
threatened with the death

penalty unless he
confessed, a technique most

law enforcement interrogation
experts say is improper.

The law, fortunately
or unfortunately,

allows police officers to lie to
individuals being interrogated.

What they can't say is,
if you don't confess to me,

you're going to get
the death penalty,

if they knew that to be a lie.

Or, if you do confess
to me, uh, I'll,

I'll make sure you don't,
you don't go to prison

or you don't get
charged on this crime.

So they can lie
about the evidence.

And they can lie about
other circumstances

having to do with
the interrogation.

But they can't tell lies
that could be regarded

as promises or threats.

[metal door slamming]

NARRATOR: Ochoa said his
confession included details

of the crime because
police showed

him pictures of the crime
scene before his confession.

What about this?

Why'd you do that?

I'm not--

Off the top of my
head, I can't think

of a circumstance in which
it would be appropriate.

Because it contaminates
the suspect.

And it means that
if they are innocent

and made the false
confession, you'll never know.

--to do that.

NARRATOR: Ochoa also says he
was threatened physically.

He looked me up and down,
and said, "You're young.

You're, you're
never been in jail.

You're going to be fresh meat.

And they're going to have you.

I'll put you in cell
where they'll have you."

And to me, in my mind,
that triggered off,

well, they're going to r*pe me.

NARRATOR: Experts say
the way to prevent

police-induced false
confessions is to videotape

the entire interrogation.

If I knew--

NARRATOR: If a
suspect later alleges

police misconduct in
the interrogation room,

the videotape can be evaluated.

Look at the pictures.

If Chris' confession had been
videotaped from start to end,

there is no way that
this would have happened.

First of all, the
police officers,

undoubtedly, would not
have acted as they did.

It would have been a
deterrent to their misconduct.

NARRATOR: Currently,
only two states

require all suspect
interrogations

to be videotaped--
Alaska and Minnesota.

The Austin Police Department
changed its policy,

and now videotapes
the interrogations

in all homicide cases.

[inaudible]

[chatter]

NARRATOR: After 12 years in
prison, on January 16, 2001,

Chris Ochoa was a free man.

[chatter]

Two months later, Richard
Danziger was released

to the care of his family.

[mysterious music]

Because of the brain
damage he sustained

as a result of the prison
fight, Richard Danziger

will require specialized care
for the rest of his life.

I, sometimes I
think about Richard.

And he, you know,
I, I feel very bad.

I mean, because I was, I
didn't have the courage

to face up whatever
might come to me so

that he wouldn't go to prison.

[trumpet music]

NARRATOR: The officers involved
in Chris Ochoa's interrogation

have all refused to comment.

I was a little
kid, they told me

that police officers were
there to take care of you,

to protect you.

I thought that they
couldn't do no wrong.

I thought they were honest.

But I see that they,
not all of them are.

[somber music]

I lost my child.

I loved her so much.

I miss her every day still.

For 13 years, I
miss her every day.

And Chris lost 12 years,
his youth, his whole youth.

Richard Danziger is brain
damaged from a beating

he received in prison.

He's still serving
that life sentence.

He'll serve it out.

[theme music]