10x29 - Moss, Not Grass

[bunniefuu]

NARRATOR: Are blades of
grass like a fingerprint

or a snowflake, each one
different in some way?

Police in the Bahamas thought
all grass was pretty much

the same, until a forensic
botanist showed them

that some grass is
better than others.

[theme music]

Just 120 miles off
the coast of Florida

are the Bahamas, a
group of islands that

are one of the world's
premier tourist destinations.

It's particularly
popular with golfers,

since the tropical climate
means they can play year-round.

But in the fall of 1999,
the weather turned deadly.

The islands were battered
by a tropical storm.

The next morning, the
groundskeeper of the Emerald

Golf Course found more than
downed trees and water damage.

-We found out that there was a
female body on the golf course.

She appeared to have
been there overnight.

And it had been
raining for some time.

NARRATOR: The victim's
throat had been slit,

and a $1 bill had been
carefully placed on her body.

CARLSON SHURLAND: To me, that
sent a very profound message.

Because she was laying
out there naked.

Her throat was slashed--
that's very graphic.

And the only thing that was sort
of sitting there speaking to us

was a $1 bill.

NARRATOR: A few yards
away, investigators

found the victim's
clothing, a woman's ring,

and a used a condom.

-There was the indication that
there was an attempt, at least

an attempt, for the most
part, of a sexual as*ault.

NARRATOR: Police couldn't
find the m*rder w*apon,

even though they
searched the entire golf

course with a metal detector.

The victim was identified as


A recent high school graduate,
who lived with her family

just six miles away
from the golf course.

-She was loving, kind.

She never give me one
hard word one day yet.

She was a beautiful person.

Not a day goes by
that I don't miss her.

NARRATOR: Samantha's
mother told investigators

that Samantha left
home the night before

with her friend,
Marjorie Saunders.

The two went to a
local nightclub.

-I took her up
there where I work.

She reached there-- the minute
she reached there, a gentleman

was there saying,
Samantha, how you doing?

Would you like to have a drink?

And she say, oh, yes, you know.

And they sit down and they talk.

NARRATOR: Marjorie and Samantha
met two men that night.

Around midnight,
Samantha said she

was leaving with them
to go to another bar.

MARJORIE SAUNDERS:
She likes to party.

Samantha likes to party.

And she think it was a
little too early to go home.

She wanted to go Freeport,
or different discos

and finish enjoying her night.

NARRATOR: Marjorie said
she tried to stop her.

-So I said, Samantha, come.
Let me take you back home.

She said, I'm going.

So two guys, they left,
one holding each hand,

and took her away.

NARRATOR: Marjorie
told police she

thought the two
men were sailors.

If true, this was potentially
bad news for investigators.

Ships come and go from
the island port quickly,

and the sailors could
be long gone by now.

And on an island where tourism
is the main source of revenue,

the pressure to solve
the m*rder was enormous.

-A young, attractive,
Bohemian lady

laying on a golf course
with her throat slashed.

Something is definitely
wrong about that.

NARRATOR: The brutal
m*rder of Samantha Forbes

shocked residents in the
resort town of Freeport

in the Bahamas.

Marjorie Saunders
was with Samantha

on the night she was
k*lled, and blames herself

for not doing more
to prevent it.

MARJORIE SAUNDERS: She caught
a ride with two total strangers

that I even didn't know.

I feel like the whole world
came crashing down on me.

And from Samantha's death,
upwards to this day,

my life hasn't been the same.

NARRATOR: The storm
that hit the Bahamas

on the night of
Samantha's m*rder

complicated the investigation.

-We had a watery environment,
because it rained.

So certainly,
evidence would be lost

or destroyed just
simply by the water.

NARRATOR: Potential
fingerprints, hair,

and clothing fibers, to
the extent they existed,

were all washed away from
Samantha's body in the storm.

And the rains also removed
any biological evidence

that may have been on
the condom found nearby.

When Samantha's
m*rder was reported

in the local newspaper,
a bartender on the island

called with some
additional information.

She said, Samantha came into
her bar with the two sailors.

And at one point, she got into
an argument with one of them.

-They exchanged some
harsh words, I understand.

NARRATOR: The bartender said
one of Samantha's friends,

Keith Lotmore, stepped
in to break it up.

-It appears that Keith Lotmore,
because he knew Samantha,

tried to calm her down.

And told her not to worry about
that man, to leave him alone

and not to answer him.

And apparently she
stopped arguing with him.

NARRATOR: After
the sailors left,

Lotmore and his
friend, Dominique Moss,

joined Samantha for a drink.

-Mr. Lotmore knew Samantha.

There was conversation that
went on and he invited,

or she asked for a ride home.

NARRATOR: And
witnesses saw Samantha

leave the bar with both men.

-Whenever a victim is
seen leaving with anyone

and those persons,
or that person,

is the last person to
be seen with the victim,

automatically they will
be a prime suspect.

NARRATOR: Lotmore
worked as a barber.

Moss was an electrician.

In separate interrogations,
they both told the same story.

They said they had given
Samantha a ride home.

And after dropping her
off, returned to the bar

to pick up some food.

The restaurant
employees confirmed

that they did, in fact,
return afterwards.

-He went into the
restaurant barefoot,

I guess looking for the food
that he had ordered earlier

for himself and had forgotten
to take it away when he left.

NARRATOR: Police
inspected Lotmore's car

and found no blood or any
other evidence of v*olence.

And they also examined the
clothing Lotmore was wearing

on the night
Samantha was k*lled.

Investigators found no blood
or any signs of a struggle.

Police then asked Dominique
Moss for his clothes.

-When the police went to
retrieve the clothing that he

was wearing on that
particular morning,

he told the police
that he did not

know-- he didn't even
remember what he was wearing.

NARRATOR: So the
clothing appeared

to be another dead end.

With the help of Samantha's
friend, Marjorie,

police tracked down the two
sailors who were with Samantha

earlier on the night
she was k*lled.

They admitted they had argued
with Samantha at the second bar

they went to, but said they
left immediately afterwards

and went back to their ship.

Their alibi checked out.

NARRATOR: For now, the mystery
surrounding the two sailors

had been solved.

But there were still
more questions to answer.

Solving the m*rder
of Samantha Forbes

had turned out to be
far more difficult

than investigators
ever imagined.

The rains had washed away
potential forensic evidence.

And her body was found on
an exclusive golf course

surrounded by large
expensive homes.

-It was very shocking
to know that something

like that had taken
place overnight.

And the-- the
subdivision is a fairly

upscale quiet subdivision.

And to learn that something
like that had literally happened

in their backyards was really
troubling for some residents.

NARRATOR: Keith
Lotmore said he gave

Samantha a ride home that night.

But Samantha's family
said she never came home.

Police found no forensic
evidence or anything suspicious

in Lotmore's car
or on his clothing.

And then, investigators
remembered something.

During Samantha's autopsy,
the medical examiner

noticed some botanical
evidence on her body,

most likely from the golf
course where her body was found.

ELBURT FERFUSON: We had
minute, tiny particles

of fragments of grass.

And these I would
describe in terms of size

as less than a millimeter.

NARRATOR: And investigators
found the same particles

on Lotmore's shoes and socks.

-On those two items
we discovered,

lo and behold, grass particles.

NARRATOR: Investigators needed
to know whether there was

any way to tell if the grass
came from the same location.

Under a high-powered microscope,
Ferguson analyzed the grass

from Lotmore's shoes and
from Samantha's body.

He soon realized this
wasn't typical grass.

It was unusually thin, and had
other unique characteristics.

-So when you look at them
under the stereoscope,

they have a defined
venation, striations

on the surface
that were parallel.

And seeing those on the various
items of evidence, certainly

pricked our curiosity.

I felt that this was my
only physical evidence,

so I needed to have
the grass botanically

classified and identified.

NARRATOR: To do that, Ferguson
asked Dr. Jane Bock, one

of the world's most
respected forensic botanists,

to conduct an analysis.

She had a difficult task.

Worldwide, there
are almost 9,000

different species of grass.

In the Bahamas alone,
there are dozens.

Under a microscope, Dr.
Bock compared grass samples

from the crime scene and
from Lotmore's shoes.

-One of the finest
grasses I've ever seen.

It doesn't even approach
a millimeter in diameter.

It's tiny, fine, fine grass.

I've never seen
grass that fine here

in Colorado, where I
spend a lot of time.

Or in Arizona, where I
also spend a lot of time.

NARRATOR: Eventually,
Dr. Bock was

able to identify the grass
as a type of Bermuda grass.

But it wasn't the usual
type of Bermuda grass.

-If you look under
the microscope

and you have three or
four kinds of grass, even

different strains of Bermuda
grass, this one is outstanding.

NARRATOR: It was a variety known
as Almond Bermuda, an unusually

thin grass that thrives
in subtropical climates.

DR. JANE BOCK:
Almond Bermuda grass

is outstanding
because it's so fine.

And it responds
well to rain, and it

turns green upon being wet.

And it turns brown in a
hurry if there's a drought.

NARRATOR: Investigators thought
this was interesting, but not

enough to make
their entire case.

But then, they learned
something surprising.

Almond Bermuda grass is
primarily used on golf courses.

And of the three golf
courses on the Grand Island

of the Bahamas, only one,
the Emerald Golf Course

where Samantha Forbes'
body had been found,

used Almond Bermuda grass.

-The groundsman,
the information he

give us was that this
particular strain of grass

was unique to his
tees and fairways,

and this was his
baby, so to speak.

It was unique to him.

And no other golf
course would-- would

have had that particular strain.

NARRATOR: The groundskeeper
planted Almond Bermuda grass,

even though he knew
it wasn't durable

and didn't do well on resort
courses with lots of play.

He chose it because
it tends to do well

on courses that
get a lot of rain.

When analyzed, the grass samples
from the Emerald Golf Course,

Samantha's body, and Keith
Lotmore's shoes were identical.

DR. JANE BOCK: I think the
chance that Keith Lotmore could

have gotten that grass from
somewhere else is slim to none.

It wasn't that there was a
single blade and I said, aha!

I had dozens and
dozens of specimens.

And I had, of course,
collected stuff

from where Samantha's body was
found and it was a tight fit.

NARRATOR: When confronted
with the botanical evidence,

Keith Lotmore admitted
he was on the golf course

that night with Samantha Forbes,
but insisted that Dominique

Moss was the one who had
r*ped and k*lled her.

Not surprisingly, Moss
denied it and pointed

the finger at Lotmore.

So police arrested both men
and charged them with m*rder.

But they still
weren't sure which

man was telling the truth.

Grass clippings found on Keith
Lotmore's shoes and socks

placed him at the
very location where

Samantha's body was discovered.

When confronted
with this evidence,

Lotmore admitted there
was more to what happened

that night than he
had told them earlier.

Lotmore said, he helped
Samantha end her argument

with the two sailors in the bar.

Afterwards, he and his
friend, Dominique Moss,

joined Samantha for a drink.

Lotmore said, Samantha
later accepted a ride home.

Along the way,
Dominique Moss, who

was sitting beside
Samantha, had been

making unwanted
advances towards her.

Moss suggested they stop the
car along the golf course

so he and Samantha could go
for a walk on the course alone.

An idea that Samantha
wanted no part of.

As soon as the car
stopped, Samantha

got out and made a run for it.

She ran across the golf
course with Moss in pursuit.

Lotmore said he ran
down the fairway

to try to stop Moss, which
is how he got the grass

clippings on his
shoes and socks.

But Moss had a knife
and he threatened

to k*ll Lotmore
if he intervened.

So Lotmore said he backed off.

Moss sexually
assaulted Samantha.

Then k*lled her with his knife.

Afterwards, he left the
$1 bill on her body.

-Dominique Moss is the
coldest son-of-a-bitch

I ever met in my life.

-The grass that was found on
Keith Lotmore's tennis shoes

and socks substantiated
Keith Lotmore's story

that, yes, I was there.

Yes, I went behind
Dominique Moss

to try to stop him
from hurting Samantha.

But I was not
successful in doing so.

NARRATOR: Forensic scientists
analyzed Lotmore's clothing

more carefully and confirmed
there was no blood spatter,

grass, or grass stains
on his pants or shirt.

This confirmed his story
that he wasn't near Samantha

during the as*ault
or the m*rder.

DR. JANE BOCK: I found
the grass on Keith's shoes

and on his socks.

But not on his shorts and not
on his shirt, which indicated

to the prosecution, and
to the defense both,

that, in fact, he
had not r*ped her.

And he had probably
not been on the ground

and slit her throat, either.

-Lotmore was standing.

He was never kneeling down.

NARRATOR: Not surprisingly,
Dominique Moss

denied he was the k*ller
and blamed Lotmore.

Nevertheless, both men went on
trial for Samantha's m*rder.

And it was Moss'
girlfriend who delivered

the most damaging testimony.

She said she washed
Moss' clothes

on the night of the m*rder.

And did so for a reason.

-Dominique's girlfriend
was very powerful.

Her evidence was very powerful
against-- against Dominique.

She talked about him
coming home drunk.

She talked about blood
being on his warm-up suit.

She talked about him saying
that someone got k*lled.

-She was able to tell
us Dominique Moss

was acting strangely
when he came home.

She was able to tell us
that, in her estimation,

he was intoxicated.

She was able also to tell
us that he said to her,

the girl is dead.

NARRATOR: Dominique Moss
was convicted of the r*pe

and m*rder of Samantha
Forbes and sentenced

to 25 years in prison.

Based on the forensic
evidence, the jury

concluded Keith Lotmore was
not an active participant

in the r*pe and m*rder,
although he was present.

So the jury convicted
him only of manslaughter.

And he was sentenced to
three years in prison.

Samantha's family
has tried to move on.

They say they're grateful for
the seemingly insignificant

clue, the tiny
grass shavings which

brought her k*ller to justice.

LILLA FORBES: Though
he k*lled my baby,

but I don't got no hard
feelings against him,

because the law-- I
believe, the prosecutor

did what she's supposed to do.

-The strain of grass that was
used on that particular golf

course was extremely rare.

Extremely rare.

It is not something
that you see every day.

-I believe that forensic
evidence was very important

in this case, in the sense of
linking victim and-- victim

and suspect together, and at a
specific geographic location.

-Fortunately, they
were in an environment

where trace evidence
became available

through those minute
particles of grass.

That's what stands
out in my mind.

Grass.
The grass was greener.