05x01 - The Last Shop

[bunniefuu]

♪♪

Narrator: a terrifying m*rder...

You could tell that the victim was k*lled

In a very violent, disturbing manner.

Narrator: ...with no clear motive.

Detectives hunt for the one witness that never lies.

It was pertinent that we get in there,

And we view this video.

Narrator: a real-time race...

We feel like we're closing in.

Narrator: ...to track...

This is a dangerous procedure

Because you're going into the unknown.

Hands above your head!

Narrator: ...and catch a k*ller.

♪♪

♪♪

--Captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

Captions paid for by discovery communications

[ Record crackles, music plays ]

♪♪

♪♪ Ooh, money man

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

She's got a great voice.

Oh, yeah. I love her voice.

♪♪ Finding yourself

Narrator: 63 -year-old louise dickey

Has the blues in her soul.

How did I know you were going to say that?

Her favorite pastime -- kicking back and listening to tunes

With her buddy, kevin.

Okay, yeah. Whatever you say, louise.

It's from the album, "between the lines."

Oh, I know the album.

Louise and I had a love for music and a passion for it.

You have this on vinyl?

Oh, my god. Yes.

That is the pride of my collection.

What stood out about louise the most was she's such a character.

-This is amazing. -I got that last year in some...

We'd always have, like, a little game

About what's the best song by an artist, you know.

Oh, that was a great song.

Yeah. It wasn't her best song.

She was one-of-a-kind and gentle and caring to boot.

She was my special music friend.

[ Chuckles lightly ]

♪♪

Narrator: when she's not hanging out at kevin's, louise dickey

Lives on her own in a quiet suburb

In independence, missouri.

Her daughter, miranda rice, lives close by.

Hey, mom! Water is ready.

This is where I get to look like marilyn monroe.

You know it.

You going to help me out...

Louise is cheerful in spite of a run of accidents

That have left her with severe health problems.

Okay. I'm listening.

She had a broken right hip,

A broken wrist, five ribs,

And it was hard for her to stand or do a lot of walking.

-Louise! -We're in the bathroom.

Barbara: okay.

Narrator: louise is an independent woman,

But her injuries force her to rely on family and neighbors

Like barbara morgan.

-Hi, guys. -Hey.

-How you doing? -Good.

She was unable to wash her hair by herself,

So I would go over once,

Sometimes twice a week and help her bathe.

-I picked up your meds. -Aw, thank you.

And I'll leave them right here.

I don't know how I'd manage without both of you.

She was on pain medicines all of the time

To cope with her injuries, but she always...

Happy and cheery.

♪♪

Narrator: march 29, 2016.

I had just got home from work.

[ Cellphone chimes ]

Narrator: it's her mom's neighbor.

I got a text from barb asking if my mom went out of town

And forgot to tell her.

I thought that was a little odd.

It was very unusual for my mom's car to be gone,

So I immediately tried to call my mom.

[ Ringing ]

[ Clicks, beep ]

And it went straight to voicemail.

That kind of alarmed me.

Narrator: miranda heads to her mom's house.

-Thanks for coming. -Yeah. No problem.

She probably just forgot her phone or something.

So I parked in barb's driveway, and barb was already there,

And I walked up to the front door.

Mom?

Mom?

I looked to the right where her couch was

And saw her purse and her two small zip bags

That she usually kept in her purse.

It was empty.

What's going on?

Maybe she just changed her purse.

No, she would never leave without the purse.

She loves that purse.

Louise!

Mom!

I turned around to go down the hallway,

And then it caught my eye that the bathroom door was closed.

The bathroom door had never been shut as long

As I had ever been there helping my mom.

♪♪

I called 911.

[ Ringing ]

♪♪

I knew she was gone,

And I just couldn't believe it.

All of the sudden, time just kind of stopped moving for me.

I was in shock.

Rice: barb and I both went outside after the 911 call,

And that's when the first officer showed up.

♪♪

Narrator: detective brice minter from independence pd's

Criminal investigations unit heads up

The homicide investigation.

It was a very horrific crime scene.

There was blood splatter all over the walls.

She had defensive wounds, tears on her shirt,

Cuts on her fingers.

You could tell that the victim was k*lled

In a very violent, disturbing manner,

And my first thought was that this was someone who fought

For her life against someone who overpowered her

And then took her life away.

There is a box cutter knife.

Louise was stabbed 98 times and her throat cut.

Narrator: they bag the evidence and send it to forensics.

Detectives question miranda on the victim's purse.

Rice: I told the police that her purse appeared empty,

And I didn't know where her cellphone

Was because it went straight to voicemail.

Narrator: investigators request records for the missing

Atm cards and put a ping on her cellphone.

And the car keys were gone?

Her car is gone.

My mom's car was a 1998 buick park avenue,

And it was gold in color.

Requesting a bolo...

Narrator: detectives put out a bolo for louise dickey's buick.

♪♪

Two miles away, officer jason harris is out on patrol.

Unit 4-2, copy.

After writing down the license information,

I decided to do proactive

Searching of the vehicle in that area.

♪♪

Narrator: 30 minutes later, officer jason harris spots

A gold buick century on west truman road,



So I looked over my left shoulder,

Read the license plate and viewed that it matched

The one that was provided by dispatch in the bolo.

Visual confirmation on the suspect vehicle.

Over.

[ Siren wails ]

Narrator: while two officers enter the store,

Jason harris and a fellow officer approach the buick.

The level of threat was very high at that point in time.

We don't know if that suspect could still be in the vehicle.

-Clear. -Clear.

Young: the vehicle was empty.

♪♪

Narrator: store employees confirm the buick

Has been there all night.

Detectives hope a different kind of witness

Captured how the car came to be there.

I arrived on scene.

I noticed that there was a camera

That was affixed to the corner of the business

That was right in the same direction of that vehicle.

It was pertinent that we get in there and we view this video.

♪♪

Narrator: 63-year-old louise dickey

Has been brutally m*rder*d in her own home.

I just remember screaming out, "oh, my god!"

At the station, miranda helps the police create a timeline.

We were able to establish more of a timeline

As far as the last time that we knew

That louise dickey was alive,

And that was on the 28th at about 5:30 p.m.

♪♪

Narrator: less than 3 hours later,

And the detectives have located the missing buick

At a grocery store.

-Sergeant young. -Detective minter.

What's more, the store has several surveillance cameras.

They ask to view the footage.

The point of doing this was trying to determine

When the victim's vehicle actually showed up

At the country groceries

And determine who was actually in the vehicle.

Narrator: detectives want to see the surveillance footage

From yesterday when they know louise was alive.

Minter: we cued the video to 17:30

Because that's miranda last spoke to her mother.

Narrator: they discover that the video recording is out by 18 minutes.

The camera is pointed where louise's buick was found.

The space is empty.

Minter: the atmosphere was intense.

♪♪

Narrator: their patience pays off.

You see a tan four-door vehicle pull into the parking lot.

♪♪

Hold it.

The lights.

♪♪

The vehicle on the video surveillance

Is similar to the victim's vehicle

Because of the rounded taillights

And it being a full-size four-door vehicle,

Plus the color.

That's where the victim's car was found, same spot.

We're watching the video monitor

To see who's going to get out of this vehicle.

♪♪

The door swings open.

Then finally this person comes out.

♪♪

Narrator: they watch the figure walk towards the store.

♪♪

Okay. Stop there.

Minter: we can clearly see that this is a caucasian male

Who's probably in his mid-20s with short hair.

Narrator: whoever this is, it's not louise dickey.

Detectives know that louise dickey

Often asks friends and relatives to run errands with her.

She may be inside the buick.

The manager switches to a second exterior camera

Hoping to get a closer look inside the vehicle.

♪♪

Can you play that again?

Minter: we needed to try to determine

Whether louise was in this vehicle or not.

♪♪

We could clearly see that the passenger's seat

Was kind of reclined back,

And there was no other occupant inside that vehicle.

Narrator: louise dickey is not in the car.

The detectives switch to an interior camera.

♪♪

Given the violent m*rder scene,

Detectives expect the perpetrator

To have bloodstained clothes.

Minter: you can clearly see that he has blond short hair,

Wearing a bright red t-shirt,

A black jacket and tan carhartt overalls.

Narrator: there's no sign of any blood.

Minter: we're trying to zoom in on the subject's face to see

If we can identify this individual.

Narrator: he appears to be known by other customers

And is trying to call someone.

He heads to the back of the store.

They switch to the second interior camera.

It's located directly above the store's atm machine.

He is getting into his wallet.

It appears that he's trying to utilize an atm debit card

Or some type of credit card.

It doesn't look like he gets any type of currency at all.

Narrator: he could just be checking his bank balance.

His demeanor just didn't strike us as being someone

Who just committed a heinous m*rder.

Narrator: still on his cellphone,

The subject walks out of the store.

He heads back to the buick and gets in.

They expect him to drive away.

What's he doing?

But 19 seconds later,

The driver's side door swings open,

And the subject gets out.

He's coming back?

Young: the subject's behavior was quite suspicious.

It was important for us to identify this man

And talk to him.

Narrator: he walks to the back of the store

And starts talking to a store employee.

It's a short conversation, and you see the subject

Then pat the employee on the back.

Narrator: he then leaves the store again.

♪♪

Detectives hope that the employee in the footage

May be able to help i.d. The man.

This person here, is he working today?

Yeah. Yeah. He's downstairs.

It's often common that the store employees

Will know their customers,

So our hope was that the store employee

Actually knew who the subject was.

Did you see this gentleman in the store yesterday?

Narrator: he's shown an image of the subject.

No, sorry. I can't help you.

You don't remember having a conversation with him?

Although he had worked at that store for a while,

Young: he didn't recognize the subject

And he didn't recall the actual conversation they had.

I'm sorry, no.

I wish I could be more help.

Okay.

Narrator: as they are about to leave, detective young spots

A distinctive looking blond-haired male

Leaving the store.

Thanks.

Thanks, guys.

This man had a close-cropped blond haircut,

White male, approximately same build and same height

As the subject we were looking for.

He left the store at quite a quick pace.

He then went to the west side of the store

And started walking down truman road.

Narrator: detectives are hot on his heel.

Our assumption at that point is that he possibly be

The perpetrator of this crime.

Narrator: as detectives close in, they can't believe their luck.

The man they've been looking for could be a few steps away.

♪♪

Narrator: march 29, 2016.

Four hours after louise dickey's body was discovered,

Detectives are pursuing a man that could be her k*ller.

Stop!

Hands up.

They ask him where he was the previous day at 5:30 p.m.

-I was at chelsea's. -Restaurant?

Yeah, the restaurant.

Can you call there and confirm with the manager?

Narrator: as they check his alibi,

Police run the man's details through the database.



He has no previous convictions.

Story checks out. Listen...

He's telling the truth.

-Sorry for the inconvenience. -Thanks for everything, sir.

-Have a good night. -Just have a good night.

It's a case of mistaken identity.

Detectives return to the country grocery

And pick up with the surveillance video.

At 18:26, you can see the blond-haired male subject

Coming from the tan four-door vehicle

From the west portion of the parking lot.

♪♪

There he is.

Narrator: he appears to wave his arm like a signal...

And suddenly a second vehicle comes into view.

You see a black or a dark gray four-door vehicle pull up,

And then the subject gets into the right front

Passenger's side of the vehicle.

Narrator: the man doesn't return to the buick.

Minter: and then they proceed out of the parking lot,

And they go east on truman road.

Narrator: detectives believe the vehicle is a ford focus.

Play that back again for me.

♪♪

The footage is too grainy to read a license plate,

But detectives need something to identify the vehicle.

We assumed that when we were able to locate the ford focus,

We could possibly locate the subject who had arrived

In the victim's vehicle at the country grocery store.

Narrator: detectives switch to the second camera

Facing the gas pumps.

♪♪

The dark-colored vehicle passes right through frame.

Stop.

Can you zoom in?

Minter: you could tell that the driver of this vehicle

Was definitely smaller in stature.

Narrator: leading detectives to believe it's a woman.

Advancing frame by frame, detectives gather clues.

It's missing a driver front hubcap.

♪♪

Okay. Play on.

Hold it.

And the other one.

We could also see that it missing

The right front passenger hubcap.

We needed to question anyone that was operating

The gray four-door ford focus with the two missing hubcaps.

Narrator: they issue a bolo for the vehicle.

Back at independence police department...

Take a look at this.

...louise's bank card transactions are in.

Minter: those records indicated that the day that her daughter

Had last spoken to her on the 28th,

She used her atm debit card at walgreens at 17:11.

Narrator: detectives know that all walgreens stores

Have surveillance and head straight there.

♪♪

They request to cue up the exterior camera

To just before the time of louise dickey's card transaction

Just 23 minutes before the final phone call with her daughter.

The timings are relevant in this situation

Because, again, we're establishing a timeline.

Narrator: at 5:07 p.m., A car enters the top right

Of frame and parks.

I could tell that it was a buick from the rounded-off taillights.

Narrator: two people exit the vehicle,

But it's hard to identify them at this distance,

So they switch to the camera

Covering the store entrance for a closer look.

♪♪

In front is a man,

And the police have seen him before.

This individual with the red t-shirt with the short, blond,

Cropped hair definitely resembled the same subject

That we had video surveillance of at country grocery.

Narrator: he is in different clothes,

But detectives are convinced.

Behind him is a smaller figure, an older woman

Dressed in a dark t-shirt with a distinctive white logo.

Police know who this is, too.

Minter: we were able to determine that that was truly

In fact our victim, louise dickey.

Narrator: they track the pair to the checkout,

Where a black-and-white camera records transactions.

At 17:10:56, louise can be seen at the two.

The male subject comes into view.

She's placing items up on the counter.

She's paying for these items.

It doesn't appear based on the video that she is under duress.

Narrator: they switch back to the camera at the entrance.

Minter: louise dickey and this unknown male subject

Leave the walgreens store.

It appears that it's on a voluntary basis.

He's carrying the grocery items.

They then get into the tan buick

And they depart from the walgreens parking lot together.

Narrator: detectives need to identify the blond-haired man in the footage.

Minter: watching the video surveillance at walgreens

Was definitely a turning point in the investigation.

We were able to determine that the same subject

That we had seen from country grocery driving her car

Was the same person that accompanied her at walgreens,

And this is, you know, minutes before her m*rder.

Narrator: louise's daughter, miranda,

Is still at the police station.

When he came in and said we had surveillance,

It was a big relief.

I felt happy to have it and hoped

That that would get this person off the streets.

Maybe you can tell me if you recognize who's in them.

The still photo I saw was very grainy,

But you could tell it was a blond,

Not tall, like, average-height male.

Take your time.

Narrator: miranda can't i.d. Him.

We couldn't identify him 100%,

And so there were still questions.

Narrator: without a positive i.d.,

The investigation is at risk of hitting a dead-end.

I don't think I'll get any sleep that night,

And I know I asked detective minter

To please call me any time of day with any kind of news.

♪♪

Narrator: seven hours into the investigation,

And it's louise's bank records that again

Help police figure out where to turn next.

Her bank card was used at 2:02 a.m.

On the day her body was found.

Her atm debit card was utilized at quiktrip

In kansas city, missouri 4 to 6 miles from where

The crime scene occurred at.

Narrator: someone tries to withdraw $300

And then tries again for $100 just a minute later.

Minter: these transactions raised red flags.

The transactions were declined.

If it were in fact our victim, louise dickey,

She would obviously know her pin number.

Narrator: detectives suspect the person who k*lled louise dickey

Is trying to use her atm cards.

Quiktrip have phenomenal video that is high-resolution quality,

And we were very confident we would be able

To definitely determine who our suspect was.

♪♪

Narrator: march 30, 2016.

Detectives have discovered that someone tried

To use louise dickey's debit card

At a quiktrip 15 hours before her body was found.

They ask the manager to cue the footage

To the exact time the card was used.

Two minutes after 2:00.

Standing at the atm machine is a blond cropped-haired male.

His back is to the camera,

But police know who it is.

Minter: this subject is undoubtedly the person that we're looking at

In the country grocery video.

He's trying to enter her pin number again.

Narrator: he is trying to withdraw money from louise dickey's account

At the exact times as on her bank statements.

Minter: we have this person utilizing the victim's atm debit card.

We have him in her vehicle.

We have him with her prior to her death,

And so we definitely construed this person

As our primary suspect.

Narrator: detectives need a clearer image

To have any chance of identifying him.

They track him back through the store,

Hoping for a clearer angle.

♪♪

There you go.

Detectives finally get a close look at the man

They believe m*rder*d louise dickey,

But have no clue who he is.

They hope his next move might offer a clue.

♪♪

He walks towards a vehicle with its headlights on,

Suggesting there is someone already in the car.

It's the same ford focus from the country grocery store.

Minter: we can see from the video

That this definitely resembles our suspect vehicle

Because it is missing the driver front hubcap.

Narrator: detectives believe the passenger

Is the person who picked him up earlier.

We feel like we're closing in.

Narrator: they now have a clear image of their crime suspect

And hope someone might recognize him.

They start with louise dickey's best friend and neighbor,

Barbara morgan.

Young: we showed the surveillance video

To barbara morgan.

It's my nephew, cory.

Narrator: it's an unexpected twist.

She confirmed that the male subject with louise dickey

In the surveillance footage was her nephew, cory king.

Narrator: barbara quickly becomes a key witness,

And police make the interview formal.

♪♪

Barbara told us that corey would help louise around the house,

That they often would run errands together,

And they would even shop together sometimes.

Narrator: and there's more.

Young: barbara informed investigators that cory king

Had a substance abuse problem for several years.

We consider that the motive for him

To harm louise dickey could have been money-motivated.

Narrator: miranda gets an update on the investigation.

There's no easy way to tell you this.

I remember feeling sad that it was barb's family member,

And I knew he would come over

And help her out once in a while.

Young: and I think it was difficult for miranda to hear that

Because basically it was her mother's compassion,

Her mother's love for mankind that eventually got her k*lled.

♪♪

Narrator: louise dickey's cellphone

Responds to the ping detectives requested 15 hours earlier.

It's registering at the ameristar casino,



We immediately dispatched detectives to that location.

Narrator: if they hurry, they might just catch cory.

♪♪

They check the parking lot.

-Any luck? -Nothing yet. Keep looking.

Narrator: then they move inside.

♪♪

-Clear. -Clear.

There was no sign of the ford focus or cory king

At that location.

We had missed him.

It seemed like he already left that grounds of that business.

Narrator: undeterred, detectives request the casino's

Surveillance footage from the last few hours.

Young: we decided to focus on the camera

That overlooked the atms.

♪♪

♪♪

At approximately 3:20, we see cory king come into frame.

♪♪

Narrator: he's talking to somebody, but whoever it is,

They're just out of view of the camera.

♪♪

♪♪

Young: we see a female enter the frame.

Narrator: detectives believe this must be the other person

Seen in the ford focus.

Cory attempts to withdraw money

Using louise's stolen debit card again without success.

At approximately 4:08 in the morning,

We see cory king exit the ameristar casino

Out the front entrance.

Narrator: the gray ford focus signals right.

♪♪

But doesn't make the turn.

Detectives wonder what's happening inside the vehicle.

Finally the car pulls away turning left

On north ameristar drive.

Young: he was a very dangerous person.

We had concerns that he may harm other people

Or that he may flee the state.

Narrator: detectives' prime suspect, cory king, is on the run,

And they are tracking him

Using louise dickey's stolen cellphone.

Young: we were notified from the cellphone carrier

That the pings from louise dickey's

Cellphone had terminated,

And we were no longer able to ping that phone.

Narrator: but they're under intense pressure to catch

The k*ller before he crosses state lines.

The independence police department

Put out a crime bulletin

To all the area agencies that included the name cory king

And the vehicle that we suspected

That they were riding around in.

Narrator: detectives receive louise dickey's cell records.

At the same time, the suspect is seen

On the country store surveillance,

There are multiple outgoing calls all to the same number.

When this four-door gray vehicle shows up to the parking lot,

We're assuming that the phone calls

That this individual is making

Is to this person to get a ride to get out of the area.

Narrator: detectives believe this is the cell

Of the ford focus driver and could lead them to cory.

Let's get a warrant to ping her phone.

♪♪

Detectives get the call they've been waiting for.

It's at 350 highway and westridge.

A ping comes through on the driver's cell,

And local officers have a car under surveillance.

Young: they found a vehicle in the area

That matched the vehicle we were looking for.

It was a ford focus.

It was missing the two front hubcaps on the wheels.

The detectives approached on foot with g*ns drawn.

Police. Hands where I can see them.

-What's going on? -You're under arrest.

Cory king, you're under arrest! Hands over your head now!

-Don't move! Don't move! -Slow down! Stand down!

-Against the wall. -Stay there.

Narrator: approximately 24 hours after the start of the investigation,

The prime suspect is in custody.

♪♪

Young: cory immediately tried to deny everything.

Narrator: but he's soon caught in a lie.

It was on the news?

Mmm.

No.

We didn't report anything to the news,

Give any of that information, so we could cory king out

And basically tell him that he's lying.

Narrator: pressed by detectives,

Cory finally reveals what really happened.

Louise dickey and cory king drove to walgreens

To buy some groceries.

They then traveled back together to louise's house.

Cory king stated that he had gotten into a verbal dispute

With louise dickey after the shopping they had done together.

Narrator: he asked louise if he could stay over.

-You can't stay. -Why not?

Because I just -- I'm not comfortable with it.

He felt angry

That she didn't trust him.

As she was going into the bathroom,

He retrieved a box cutting knife and came up behind her.

♪♪

Louise was stabbed 98 times

And her throat cut.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: in march 2016, cory king

Is charged with first-degree m*rder.

Young: cory king eventually plead guilty

To first-degree m*rder and armed criminal action.

He was sentenced to life without parole.

Narrator: barbara morgan never imagined her nephew

Was capable of such an act,

And is devastated at the loss of her best friend.

Young: surveillance footage played an enormous role

In this investigation.

It allowed us to track cory's movements

Both after he committed the crime

And before he committed the crime.

I don't personally believe that we could have caught cory king

Without the surveillance video.

Narrator: there's no evidence to suggest

That the woman seen with him played any part in the crime.

She is released without charge.

Three years later, louise dickey's friends

And family still keep their homes full of music.

If I'd have known, I sure would have spent more time with her.

I wouldn't have tried --

And end any conversations soon, you know, which sometimes I did.

Said, "oh, louise, I've got some stuff to do.

I better get going."

She'd say, "okay. That's fine."

Now I wish -- I would have kept talking.

I would have -- I wish I'd have let her kept going.

Rice: I just think about her singing.

Anytime I'm walking into, like, a baseball game

Or in a mall parking lot where there's a long way to walk,

She would just be belting out a song,

And even though I was embarrassed at the time...

I miss that now.

I'd do anything to hear her voice again.

♪♪