03x04 - Martika Ferguson and Tiffiney Crawford

[bunniefuu]

[AUDIO LOGO]

JULIA SHAW: This time
on "K*llers Caught on Camera,"

in Oklahoma, a woman is
found dead in an alley.

- There's blood everywhere.

There's g*nsh*t wound
on the left side of her face.

- The shotgun blew
her wig off her head.

SARAH CRUMPLER: It
was a complete shock.

Who wanted to k*ll her.

JULIA SHAW: They retrace
her final fatal steps.

- The fact that it was
a close-range g*nsh*t

wound indicated to me that the
crime was of the personal type.

JULIA SHAW: And the police
have a prime suspect.

- This is the last time
Martika Ferguson is seen alive.

JULIA SHAW: And 700 miles
east in Alabama, a wife

is found shot in her vehicle.

POLICE OFFICER: Come back
here and stand behind the van.

- She was sitting
in the driver's seat

with the g*n in her left hand.

JULIA SHAW: But was
it a suicide?

POLICE OFFICER:
Is there a pulse?

JULIA SHAW: Or a m*rder?

- Due to the two g*nshots, it's
not a straightforward case.

POLICE OFFICER:
Where's the g*n, Sir?

- It's right here in her hands.

MAN [ON RADIO]: It just
sounds like something

bad is happening to her.

WOMAN: We know what
happened because the video

tells us what happened.

MAN: I heard some g*nshots.

POLICE OFFICER: Drop it!

Whatever it is, drop it!

- That does not prove
that I k*lled my wife.

DETECTIVE: The camera
doesn't lie.

JULIA SHAW: In the US,
Oklahoma, in the northwest,

the city of Enid.


of Oklahoma City,

it's home to about


including 27-year-old
Martika Ferguson and her mom,

Effie Ferguson.

- My daughter's name
is Martika Marie,

and we all called her Tika.

JULIA SHAW: Martika
came into Effie's care

when she was three years
old, along with her siblings.

EFFIE FERGUSON: She was
just a little bitty girl.

And then three years later,
we went on to adopt her and

her sister and brother.

JULIA SHAW: Martika
was a shining light

within the Ferguson family.

EFFIE FERGUSON: She was
always very confident.

This little girl would dance.

She would sing.

It was always so much
fun to be around her.

When she smiled,
your whole heart lit up.

It was adorable.

She was a good girl.

JULIA SHAW: Martika
was two years older

than her sister, Mykalah.

- We had so much fun together.

My sister and I were
like two peas in a pod.

We played in the orchestra
growing up.

My mom had the bright
idea for us

to learn how to fiddle,
which in Oklahoma is

called the hoedown.

When we'd have
family gatherings,

we would get together,
and we'd play.

It was very fun.

JULIA SHAW: Martika
and Mykalah became pregnant

just six months apart.

In 2012, Martika gave
birth to a baby boy.

MYKALAH FERGUSON: It was
just a beautiful thing

to watch her be a mom.

She was such a loving mom.

She loved her son so much.

JULIA SHAW:
But Martika's life took

a difficult turn when she broke
up with the father of her son.

Sarah Crumpler was a close
friend of Martika's.

SARAH CRUMPLER:
When they separated,

she got pretty depressed
and kind of self-medicated

and went to drugs.

Tika never really
wanted the baby around--

all of the nonsense
that she thought

she needed to do
to make herself

feel better, unfortunately.

So she would you
know, either leave

the baby with me
or with her mom

while she went
and did these things.

And that's when she
kind of lost custody.

JULIA SHAW: Effie
took in her son.

But Martika continued
to visit him often.

- She knew that when
she left to her son

here that he was safe.

She didn't really have
to worry about him,

and she always knew
she was welcome.

JULIA SHAW: Sunday,
November 22, 2020.

Martika went to visit
her then eight-year-old

son and her mom, Effie.

EFFIE FERGUSON: It was
always like a party

when Tika was here.

We'd order pizza.

She'd spend the night.

We'd watch movies with her son,
and they would sit and cuddle.

JULIA SHAW: But the following
weekend, Martika's family

started to worry
when she didn't

turn up for a planned visit.

[SOMBER MUSIC]

Early afternoon
on Sunday, November 29,


received a disturbing call.

Police responded to the scene.

The person who
made the 911 call

ushered them towards
the body in the back alley.

Enid police Lieutenant
Casey von Schriltz

was in charge of the case.

- The body was found behind
a residence in an alleyway.

The deceased was a woman.

She had some sort
of injury to her face.

In the area, near the body
was a pair of pants.

JULIA SHAW: Police officers
also found a wig nearby.

CASEY VON SCHRILTZ: The wig and
the additional pair of pants

were definitely unusual.

It indicated to me also that
the suspect may have left

some of those items behind.

JULIA SHAW: Police
gathered information

from local residents
to try and piece together

what had happened.

They used a drone to get
a complete picture

of the crime scene.

The police also reached
out to the community

in search
of surveillance cameras.

- Our task at that
moment was to determine

who this victim was and--

and who is responsible.

JULIA SHAW: Witnesses had seen
the victim in the area before,

but nobody knew her name.

- As of this point, we had
not had anybody come forward

that had reported anyone
of this description missing.

JULIA SHAW: Sean Hill is
the assistant district attorney

in Garfield County, Oklahoma.

- Someone here working
at the courthouse

recognized her
as Martika Ferguson.

- The next step from
there was to reach out

to the family of--
of Ms. Ferguson to enable

us to help identify her.

- It was on November 29.

About 10 o'clock at night,
the police came to my house,

and they showed me
a picture and asked

me if that was my daughter.

And I looked, and you know,
I knew Tika's face so well.

And I was like, yes, it's her.

CASEY VON SCHRILTZ: The process
of making a death notification

and speaking to the family of
the victim is often difficult.

There's often a lot
of emotion involved.

EFFIE FERGUSON: I was
just thinking, oh my god!

This is my daughter, and she's
laying in this alley.

And the shotgun blew her wig
off her head 2 feet away.

And you could see
that in the picture.

And so I just was
like, horrified.

But I had no idea that
anybody would feel

that hate enough to k*ll her.

JULIA SHAW: News
of Martika's death reached

extended family and friends.

SARAH CRUMPLER: Her mom
called me and was crying.

And I said, oh,
no, what's wrong?

And she said, Tika is gone.

My baby's gone.

And she was m*rder*d,
is what she said.

"She was m*rder*d."

I asked her, where's the baby?

Is he OK?

She said, oh, yeah.

He was here.

And I kind of just went over
there and checked on him

and just hugged him
as tight as I could.

MYKALAH FERGUSON: She said they
found her dead in the alley,

and I couldn't stop screaming.

And I screamed, and I
screamed, and I went outside,

and I looked up, and I
screamed some more.

And I literally felt my heart
break because that broke me.

I woke up the next day
thinking it couldn't be real.

It couldn't be real.

And then it was real.

And life after that
was never the same.

SARAH CRUMPLER: It
was a complete shock.

Who wanted to k*ll her?

You know, she didn't do
anything wrong to anybody.

It was very
devastating and very

surprising for that to happen.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

JULIA SHAW: The police needed
to find Martika's k*ller.

CASEY VON SCHRILTZ: Now that
we have the victim identified,

we're able to go back and
locate her known associates,

people that she may
have had interactions

within the recent
past, and track down

her activities
to develop suspects

and-- and leads
to follow up on.

JULIA SHAW:
Detectives discovered

that Martika had been living
with an older man who was

brought in for an interview.

Initially, they didn't tell
him that Martika was dead.

Almost an hour later,
they decided to break

the news of Martika's death.

The exchange revealed
a specific interviewing style.

- From a policing
standpoint, this is called

strategic use of evidence.

It's a very extreme
form of it where

you just slam down a picture.

And what they're trying
to see is whether or not

he shifts his strategy
in relation to the new evidence

that they're presenting to him.

It's designed to catch liars.

And so the idea is that
someone who's telling a lie

and doesn't have all the
evidence that the police do,

might tell a story that
doesn't accommodate

all of the facts of the case.

And someone who has
guilty knowledge,

they're likely
to change their story.

And clearly, he doesn't.

And instead he is genuinely
sad about the image.

CASEY VON SCHRILTZ:
His initial reaction

was that of shock
and surprise that we

were advising him that Ms.
Ferguson was, in fact deceased.

And this indicates to me
that that type of reaction

that we got out of him
appeared to be genuine

and made him less
of a suspect in our minds.

JULIA SHAW: With Martika's
housemate ruled out

as a suspect, the police were
reliant on any video recordings

from the night
before she was found.

After an extensive search
near the scene of the crime,

the police recovered hours
of video surveillance footage.

Suddenly, there
was a breakthrough.

- In this particular case.

There were quite
a few different homes

in that immediate vicinity
that captured relevant video.

JULIA SHAW: At 9:08 PM
on Saturday, November 28,

a woman is captured
walking away from

the house where Martika lived.

CASEY VON SCHRILTZ: I
was able to identify

Ms. Ferguson within the video
footage, based on the fact

that this individual bore
a striking resemblance

to Ms. Ferguson.

You can see in this video
that Ms. Ferguson's clothing

is the same as what is
ultimately found on her body.

You can see that it appears Ms.
Ferguson's smoking a cigarette.

She doesn't appear to be
nervous or hurried.

There's no indication
that there's

anything wrong at this moment.

JULIA SHAW: Two minutes later,
at 10 past 9:00, Martika

was no longer walking alone.

CASEY VON SCHRILTZ:
Ms. Ferguson

is seen coming back the other
direction with a male subject.

In this frame, here you can
see that the man that Martika

is walking with appears to be
wearing a cowboy-style hat,

which is distinctive.

JULIA SHAW: Police also got
footage from surveillance

cameras on a nearby church.

It picked up Martika
in the male figure walking

through the neighborhood.

CASEY VON SCHRILTZ:
Here, you can

see that the male subject
is walking with a little bit

of an unusual gait.

He also appears
to be holding on

to something at his waistline.

JULIA SHAW: And then
another breakthrough--

the man walked right under
a high-definition camera,

well lit by the street light.

CASEY VON SCHRILTZ: In this
frame of the video from

the church, you can
see the emblem clearly

on the back of the jacket
with the eagle

and the words "Live to Ride."

It doesn't appear
he's making any effort

to conceal his identity.

JULIA SHAW: Police
continued checking

through
the surveillance cameras

to track the route taken by
Martika and the unknown male.

At 17 minutes past


captured entering the alleyway
where Martika's body was found.

CASEY VON SCHRILTZ: This alley
that they're walking down

is in between rows of
residences that's dark and not

easily viewable to the public.

It is not a very safe
area for Ms. Ferguson

to be walking
into with this man.

This is the last time Martika
Ferguson is seen alive.

SEAN HILL: They're
walking very casually.

It doesn't seem like there's
any argument going on,

and they're not
moving quickly, or

it just looks like they're
on a walk together.

CASEY VON SCHRILTZ: It
was definitely surprising

that we knew that Ms.
Ferguson had been k*lled

subsequent to these videos,
and it appeared in the videos

that this person
that she was with

was not, at that time of the
video, threatening in any way.

JULIA SHAW: Neighbors were
oblivious to the couple

walking close by.

But at 20 minutes past


[g*nsh*t]

CASEY VON SCHRILTZ: That
audio of the g*nsh*t

is instrumental in not
only pinpointing

the exact time
of the crime but also is

audio that we can track
back through our other video

surveillance, and it helps
us do a match-up of times

and sequence of events.

JULIA SHAW: A further
review of the cameras led

to another major discovery--

in a backyard next to the
alleyway, a flash of light

consistent with a firearm.

CASEY VON SCHRILTZ:
The muzzle flash

was able to confirm
with us that that was

the location of the homicide.

This is an important
video, because we

were able to use
this to solidify

when exactly
the homicide occurred

and where it had occurred.

JULIA SHAW: The autopsy report
revealed how Martika had been

k*lled and the weapon used.

- The wound that had
caused Ms. Ferguson's death

was from a shotgun to the face.

And the shotgun pellets and
contents of the shotgun shell

were contained
within her skull.

And the fact that it was
a close-range g*nsh*t

wound indicated to me
that the crime was

more than likely
of the personal type,

was less likely that it was
between complete strangers.

- Choosing to use
a sawed-off shotgun

to me speaks of two things.

One, you don't have
a handgun available,

otherwise you just
use that because it's

easier, easier to hide.

Second, maybe the reason
you don't have a handgun

could also be that you're
not allowed to buy one.

And so that's because of your
criminal record, for example.

You don't have access
to anything else,

and this is the only
thing you've got.

JULIA SHAW: The police had
identified a potential suspect

in the surveillance
footage wearing

a distinctive hat and jacket.

But Martika's k*ller was
still at large and unknown.

A $1,000 reward was
offered for any information

leading to an arrest.

Martika's mom, Effie,
went on the news

to appeal for information.

- A mother is
found shot to death

in an alley over the weekend.

EFFIE FERGUSON: Go ahead
and turn yourself in.

You did it.

Let us know why, and then
pay for what you did.

I pray a lot.

And I prayed the police
would find whoever shot her

and get them.

JULIA SHAW:
As the police continued

to search through
hours of footage,

they uncovered
another vital clue.

After the g*nsh*t
went off at 9:20 PM,

a figure could be seen walking
away from the crime scene.

CASEY VON SCHRILTZ: He casually
gets onto his motorcycle

and appears to be
in no particular hurry

as he rides away.

This distinguishing
feature of the motorcycle--

it has handlebars
above head level,

commonly known
as a hanger-style handlebars.

JULIA SHAW: At 9:45 PM, just


k*lled, the same man
was captured on camera,

arriving at Walmart
and shopping for groceries.

CASEY VON SCHRILTZ: You
can see the male subject

riding his motorcycle actually
into the vestibule area

of the store.

The video showed
the male subject

was wearing the same
leather jacket as seen

in the video surveillance.

JULIA SHAW: The prime suspect
had been caught on camera

multiple times, but the police
still needed to track him down.

On December 1, two days after
Martika's body had been found,

police got a name.

CASEY VON SCHRILTZ: We received
a tip on one of our tip lines

from a citizen
that an individual

by the name of Shane
Perosi had spoke

about k*lling Ms. Ferguson.

When the tipster
called, he had mentioned

that Mr. Perosi had made
the threat to a woman,

that she should
watch out because she

would end up just like Tika.

JULIA SHAW: 30-year-old
Shane Perosi

lived very close to where
Martika's body had been found.

- Shane Perosi
was known to have

a extensive criminal history.

That history included
crimes of violence

both against citizens
as well as police officers.

JULIA SHAW: The SWAT team
and police surrounded

Shane Perosi's residence.

Three people were detained,
including Shane Perosi.

Inside the property,
investigators

uncovered key evidence.

CASEY VON SCHRILTZ: We were
able to locate the jacket seen

in the surveillance
video inside the garage

of the residence, along
with the motorcycle seen

in the surveillance video.

Upon search of the residence,
we were able to locate

a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun
hidden inside of a headboard

in the upstairs bedroom.

JULIA SHAW: They also
recovered to Shane

Perosi's own doorbell footage.

It showed him wearing
the same jacket

seen on the man with Martika
on the night of her death.

CASEY VON SCHRILTZ: From
an investigator's point

of view, all this
evidence and information

being located inside
Mr Perosi's residence,

it becomes very
obvious that that he

is in fact our guy that's
responsible for this crime.

JULIA SHAW: Shane
Perosi was arrested

and taken into custody, accused
of Martika Ferguson's m*rder.

- They found him
in three days--

three days.

SARAH CRUMPLER: I was ready
for justice to be served.

I felt like if they arrested
someone, they knew who it was.

And I was very glad they
caught him as fast as they did.

JULIA SHAW: During
his interview,

Shane Perosi was confronted
with the evidence.

CASEY VON SCHRILTZ: When
shown photographs and

confronted with that
evidence, he became silent

and didn't speak much.

JULIA SHAW: The demeanor
here, it's of someone who

is guilty and has been caught.

And the more
evidence the police

officer puts on the table,
the more he realizes that.

And you can just see
his heart sinking,

realizing the implications
of what he's done.

Some of the time he
doesn't say anything.

And so on a verbal transcript,
you wouldn't have any response,

but you can clearly
see his little nods

as he accepts that
that's his jacket,

and that he is behaving in a
way that is clear to the police

officer that he's
confirming what

the police officer is saying.

And that's why
it's so important

to also see video
footage of interviews

and not just read
the transcripts.

JULIA SHAW: As the police
continued to press him,

Shane began to give
more information about

the night Martika was k*lled.

- Mr. Perosi ultimately
told us that he

had caught Ms.
Ferguson in his garage,

and he believed that that
she was stealing from him.

EFFIE FERGUSON:
He thought she may

have Stole something from him.

But if she would have said,
Mom, I need to pay him back,

she knows I would
have helped her,

but he didn't
give her a chance.

JULIA SHAW: The idea
that a motive for m*rder

could be something as banal
as thinking that someone

is stealing small
things from you,

it feels like
insufficient reason

to k*ll somebody because it is.

But if you look at research on
m*rder, the banality of m*rder

is much more common.

So people typically k*ll
people over small, irrational

perceived slights rather
than over these big reasons.

So this is actually more
normal than it is abnormal,

even though it's
obviously completely

an escalation
beyond what anyone

would consider reasonable.

SEAN HILL: He was hiding
that sawed-off shotgun

in those jeans and tucked
up against his body

to prevent Martika
from seeing it.

Ultimately, because he had
prior felony convictions,

he wasn't lawfully
in possession of that firearm.

The fact that he had possession
of it and it led to her death,

he was guilty of m*rder.

JULIA SHAW: In court,
Effie presented

Shane Perosi with a letter
from Martika's son.

EFFIE FERGUSON: I
looked him in the eye,

and I held that paper up.

And I said, Shane,
have you seen this?

Have you read what you caused
an eight-year-old boy to feel

hate for the first time?

I called his name loudly.

And I said, have you read this?

And he said, yes, I've read it.

JULIA SHAW: Shane
Perosi was convicted

of second-degree m*rder.

He was sentenced to life
without the possibility

of parole.

CASEY VON SCHRILTZ: The video
evidence gathered in this case

was instrumental
in getting a conviction

and a sentence for Mr. Perosi.

EFFIE FERGUSON: I
look out that window,

and that's where Tika used
to come up to the house.

And I could see her coming.

And I still watch for her.

Sometimes somebody will
look like her, and I'm like,

oh, I wish that was you.

- To know that she left
something in this world behind,

that's an image of her.

I still get glimpses of her,
and it makes me really happy.

[AUDIO LOGO]

JULIA SHAW: Martika Ferguson
was shot dead in an alleyway,

helpless when faced with
Shane Perosi's shotgun.

In the United States,
there's been a big increase

in female g*n ownership.

- The perceived threat
is coming from men.

And we say "perceived,"
but there is actually--

there's an actual threat.

If I am walking down
a street at night

and I see someone approaching
me who might look like a male,

it's likely that I'll cross
the street to protect myself.

The risk is pervasive.

It's always there.

And it's quite
difficult to quantify,

but it is something that most
women feel and understand.

JULIA SHAW: In our next
case, a woman

who purchased a g*n
for protection

ends up dead in suspicious
circumstances.

[LIGHT MUSIC]

In Alabama, between
Huntsville and Birmingham

is Cullman County.

AVA GLASS: Cullman's is
the kind of place where

people go to raise a family.

It's considered sort of a safe,
lovely community where

you can get a bit of space.

You can have a bit of land.

It's not crowded at all.

JULIA SHAW: It was home to


AVA GLASS: Tiffiney was
popular and well-liked.

She was described by friends
as having a beautiful soul,

as being a kind person
and someone you could rely on.

JULIA SHAW: Growing
up, Tiffiney's ambition

was always to help others.

AVA GLASS: Tiffiney
went to college.

She got a bachelor's degree in
education and became a teacher.

She seemed to have a sort of a
natural affinity with children.

JULIA SHAW:
Tiffiney was already

married when she met and fell
in love with Jason Crawford,

a divorcée and a father.

- I think Tiffiney saw in him
somebody with whom she could

start a family of her own.

Jason Crawford was
drawn to her because she

was so striking and outgoing.

JULIA SHAW: After Tiffiney
divorced her first husband,

she married Jason in 2011.

They had two children together.

AVA GLASS: She wanted
to be a mother,

and this meant a huge amount
to her to have this family

and to be able to raise
them with someone she loved.

That's what she'd wanted.

JULIA SHAW: In her spare
time, Tiffiney set up

a group to help other mothers.

AVA GLASS: This was a group
called Mothers Helping Mothers.

She set it up online, and it
grew very quickly to the point

where it had thousands
of followers.

- It doesn't matter
your background.

We wanna be there
to love and support you.

And so we have moms
that are teen moms

on up to grandmothers.

It really does not matter.

You can ask all
sorts of questions,

and we're there to support you.

JULIA SHAW: From the outside,
life in the Crawford home

appeared good.

But after six years
together, the relationship

had become strained.

AVA GLASS: There was
already considerable tension

between the two
of them-- tension

they'd hid from many people.

Tiffiney wasn't
as happy as she seemed.

[SOMBER MUSIC]

JULIA SHAW: Tuesday,
May 2, 2017.

Cullman County Sheriff's Office
received a disturbing call.

Police responded to the scene.

Jason Crawford directed
them to his wife's van.

- The Cullman County
Sheriff's Department

found her slumped
over in the van

as she appeared to be
shot in the head.

When one of the deputies was
assessing Tiffiney's wrist

for a pulse, there was
a p*stol in her hand,

and it immediately fell
to the floorboard of the van.

[THUD]

JULIA SHAW: Emergency Medical
Services arrived quickly.

JOE PARRISH: EMS
removed her from the van

and performed
life-saving measures.

So, in my experience,
when somebody's

been shot in the head
with a g*n,

they usually don't have
a chance of making it.

When deputies were speaking
with Jason at the scene,

he appeared to be upset,
and he was asking if Tiffiney

was OK if she was alive.

MEDIC: Pulse is fading.

JULIA SHAW: Tiffiney
was declared dead.

Jason's mother, Rhonda,
who lived next door,

was on hand to comfort her son.

But her presence compromised
the police investigation.

Investigators began documenting
the scene to try and find out

what led to Tiffiney's death.

Tiffany's body was
taken for an autopsy.

JOE PARRISH: An autopsy
is not standard procedure

for a suicide.

But when foul
play is suspected,

one could be ordered.

JULIA SHAW: Jason's mother
worked at the Sheriff's Office,

so the case was handed over to
the investigator, Joe Parrish,

at the Alabama State
Bureau of investigations.

- Due to the possible
conflict and

Rhonda Crawford working
at the Sheriff's Office,

the State Bureau
of Investigation

was requested to conduct
the investigation.

JULIA SHAW: But when Joe
began his investigation,

Tiffiney's white van had
already been released

to Jason and his family.

- I had to go
to the district attorney

and ascertain if we
could get the van back.

JULIA SHAW: When investigators
finally got the van,

it was spotless.

- All the blood was cleaned up.

You could still
smell the blood,

but there were some
items of evidence

that we did take
out of the van,

such as a right-handed
Kydex paddle holster that

fit a revolver,
and notebook that

had some handwritten notes,
and some other documentation

that Tiffiney Crawford
had written down.

JULIA SHAW: The g*n was found
in Tiffiney's left hand.

Her holster was right-handed.

The autopsy on her
suspicious suicide

also came up with
a surprise conclusion.

The preliminary report
concluded that Tiffiney's death

was a homicide
because there wasn't one,

but two g*nsh*t
wounds to her head.

- Due to the two
g*nshots, it's not

a straightforward
case of suicide,

so there had to be
a further investigation.

JULIA SHAW: Case agent Joe
Parrish brought Jason Crawford

in for an interview.

He began by discussing
the state of their marriage.

JOE PARRISH: The way
Jason portrayed Tiffiney,

that she could have
committed suicide, plus she

was seeing a counselor
recently, drinking excessively,

and just her mental
state at the time

that he portrayed
she could have

been a suicide-risk person.

JULIA SHAW: The day
Tiffiney died,

Jason had found some
messages that she

had sent to her counselor.

Tiffiney's messages
to her counselor

also revealed that she'd
been seeing another man.

JOE PARRISH: Jason
Crawford discovered

that Tiffiney was
having an affair

because he found some messages
she had left on the computer.

As an investigator,
if it's determined

that people are having marital
problems or having an affair,

that could be an issue.

JULIA SHAW: Larissa Johnson
is a forensic psychologist

specializing in trauma therapy.

- He met Tiffiney
as the other man

and entered into this
relationship,

potentially hoping
that this was going

to be his forever future.

And then the woman
that he was with

had an extramarital affair.

And so you could think like,
what does that say about Jason?

He might be thinking, what
does that say about me?

Is it that when I go
into these relationships

that women take me for a fool?

Why am I being used?

Why am I being
taken advantage of?

Why can't I just be
loved and respected?

And maybe he didn't want
to be disrespected anymore.

JULIA SHAW: Jason
explained what happened

when Tiffiney arrived home.

LARISSA JOHNSON:
If you are cheated on,

anger is not a wrong emotion,
nor is it a bad emotion.

You might feel as the man
that someone has essentially

insulted your relationship,
disrespected your union,

and disrespected you
as a man of the household.

And that might be in the heat
of the moment, kind

of pushing forward, aggressive
and then violent and then

fatal behaviors.

- During an interview, Jason
made his finger like a g*n.

And he said, I heard a shot,
a scream, and another shot.

But it's the motion
of his finger,

and it is so consistent
the whole time

he was describing it.

It's not like he
took his knuckle

and did that on the table
to make that sound.

He actually pointed
his finger like--

like a-- like a g*n.

He would had a g*n in his
hand and made the sound.

It could be that
subconsciously,

Jason was remembering
that night

that he had a g*n in his hand.

So he was describing a shot,
a scream, and the second shot.

When Jason said that Tiffiney
was right-handed, not

left-handed, I
thought that was odd

because she shot herself
in the left side of the head

using her non-dominant hand.

JULIA SHAW: 19 days later,
Jason was brought in again,

this time for a polygraph test.

JOE PARRISH: A polygraph test--

some people call it
a lie detector test.

And that's not what
it actually is.

It measures
people's stress when

they're answering
certain questions,

and it could indicate
there's a problem

in that particular area.

During the polygraph
examination,

the examiner asked Jason
Crawford if he k*lled

his wife, Tiffiney Crawford.

And it did show stress
under that question.

It was a very erratic response.

Jason's response
to he had failed

a polygraph test was that, no,
he wasn't lying about anything.

Jason stormed out
of the Sheriff's Office.

Jason's reaction
was very angry,

and it looked like it was
a different person than who

I'd interviewed initially.

JULIA SHAW: A whole year passed
before the final autopsy report

and ballistics tests came in.

- It takes a while to get it
because they do toxicology.

They do the firearms
testing and toolmarks.

And they test all
the organs to determine

a definitive cause of death.

The medical examiner
concluded there was

lack of gunpowder on Tiffiney.

So in order not to have the
gunpowder present on your skin,

the g*n would have
to be an 8 to 12 inches

away from the target area.

The reason it's a problem
for Jason's story

immediately is because he said
that the van door was closed.

There wouldn't be a lot
of room to move the g*n out.

If the door was closed
and Tiffiney shot herself,

there should have been
some blood on the door.

There wasn't blood
blowback on the door.

All that indicated
that Tiffiney

couldn't have shot herself.

So at that time,
the chief suspect

would be Jason Crawford,
Tiffiney's husband.

JULIA SHAW: On May 21, 2018,
Jason Crawford was arrested

but later released on bond.

Due to COVID restrictions
and other factors,

the trial was delayed.

Five years after
Tiffiney had been k*lled,

court proceedings
began in November 2022.

In court, the defense
team argued that Tiffiney

had taken her own life.

But when the jury
listened to the 911 call

and watched the body
cam footage,

they realized there was a major
inconsistency between the two

pieces of evidence.

In the 911 call, Jason said
the g*n was laying beside her,

but the body cam footage
showed otherwise.

This inconsistency
was the key factor

which led the jury to find
Jason guilty of m*rder.

He was sentenced
to 99 years in prison.

Under Alabama law, he'll
be eligible for parole

in 15 years.

- I do think about it often.

It was a complex case.

I'm sorry for the families.

Just this one
incident, you know,

you've had families that are
broken apart because of it.

AVA GLASS: Tiffiney will always
be remembered as somebody

who was dedicated to her
family, who loved teaching,

and who just wanted
to help other people.

That will be her legacy.

[SOFT MUSIC]