02x02 - The Body Under the Bulldozer

[bunniefuu]

FEMALE NARRATOR:
An eerie chill creeps across

a small Alabama town.

My mother said
there's been an accident.

Daddy's dead.

Not many times in my life have
I seen something that horrific.

NARRATOR: As investigators
work to unravel a grave mystery.

His head had been crushed.

It appeared that the bulldozer
had rolled off a trailer.

The investigator agrees
something's not right.

And they suspect foul play.

NARRATOR: A grieving family
is torn apart.

It looked like brothers
and sisters against each other.

I walked in there
and I fell apart.

Money can lead people
to do very bad things.

NARRATOR: Secrets don't
stay buried for long.

I was fine with the exhumation.

I wanted the truth.

I became consumed with
getting justice for dad.

I had a tray full
of fragments of bone.

It's almost like
a jigsaw puzzle.

NARRATOR: What will it take
for the truth to be unearthed?

People said the case
was unwinnable.

I used hot glue to put those
pieces of bone back together.

And when someone
says you can't do it,

that makes me want to do it.

♪

NARRATOR:
With its rolling farmland

and laid-back
Southern lifestyle,

it's easy to see why people call
Wetumpka, Alabama,

the city of natural beauty.

It's the county seat
there in Elmore County,

but a very rural setting.

Back in 1992,

there were over 400 miles
of dirt road in Elmore County.

NARRATOR:
On February 12, 1992,

the stillness of this rural
community is shattered

when the local sheriff's office
receives an urgent 911 call.

We received a call regarding
a bulldozer accident.

I got to Cliffside Road
where this occurred.

It's a dirt road and
it's been raining off and on,

so it was wet.

There was a dump truck
that was parked on the side

of this dirt road.

A trailer was attached
to the dump truck.

A bulldozer was behind it.

We found his body positioned
underneath the right track

of the bulldozer.

There was a portion of his face,
a portion of his head

that was there.

A portion of his body
and then some of it

to the left side,
was not underneath the track.

Not many times in my life
have I gone out

and seen something
that horrific.

And we really don't know
what's going on.

NARRATOR: At the scene
are a man and woman

who are both visibly shaken.

35-year-old Mark Landers
identifies himself

as the 911 caller
and the landowner.

He says the man under the
bulldozer is his father,

63-year-old Robert Landers.

The woman is
Robert's wife, Lenita.

Mark told the sheriff,
he asked his dad,

Robert Landers, to go up
to assist him in cleaning off

that piece of property
with a bulldozer.

NARRATOR: According to Mark,
after filling the dump truck,

the two men loaded the bulldozer
back on to the trailer.

Mark had to leave because his
son had a basketball game.

When he left, he said his dad
was on the bulldozer.

Robert Landers was going
to tie it down.

But that evening he gets a
call from Lenita Landers

that his father wasn't home.

They got worried and
they went by a couple of places

that he was known to hang out.

And they did not find him there.

So they drove back up to the lot
up there at the site.

And that was about
the 8:30 hour that night.

Mark Landers said he finds the
dump truck where he left it,

still attached to the trailer.

The engine was running.
The headlights were on.

And then he got
to the bulldozer,

and he trips over his father.

Both Mark Landers and
Lenita Landers were very upset.

What Mark had divulged
to us when we arrived was

that it must have been a
horrific accident

where the dad was
on the bulldozer

and it possibly
slid off the trailer.

I've got a distraught son.
I've got a distraught wife.

They're going bananas over
the fact that he's found dead.

And this was the end result
of what happened.

So now our job is to investigate

and obviously find out exactly
what happened.

NARRATOR: As the sheriff
examines the muddy area

around the bulldozer,
something catches his attention.

For the bulldozer to get where
its final resting place was,

you should have seen the
bulldozer tracks.

But the earth wasn't churned up.

There is absolutely no
bulldozer tracks

between where the bulldozer was
and the bulldozer was

on top of Mr. Landers.

I thought that to be odd.

NARRATOR:
These inconsistencies

puzzle investigators,

but the weather takes a turn
for the worst

and forces them to suspend their
operation for the night.

It's cold.
It's windy.

The lighting's terrible.

They did take the body
from the scene to the morgue.

And the sheriff planned
to come back out the next day

to really look at it.

NARRATOR: Robert Landers'
grieving wife and son

leave behind the grisly scene

to break the news
to the rest of the family.

My mom and my brother,
and my sister all came

to my condo at midnight.

My sister was hysterical.

She was crying her eyes out.

My mother spoke and said
there's been an accident.

Daddy's dead.

I was sick.

I just knew I was going
to throw up.

I crawled around on my hands
and knees crying.

It was so bad.

When I found out he was dead,
it was like a punch in the gut.

I did fall down into the couch.

It felt like pins and needles
going through my body.

I must have been in shock,
I guess.

NARRATOR: To his family,
Robert was such a

larger-than-life character
who lived life on his terms

and seemed invincible.

My dad was raised on a farm
in Wetumpka

before he went off
into the Navy.

After he left the Navy,
he and my mother eloped.

NARRATOR: Ric was born
a year later in 1951.

And the young family settled
in Robert's hometown in Alabama.

But within just two years,
the couple decided

they were not meant to be.

I was almost ready to turn three

or I might have just turned
three when they got divorced.

He met Lenita in a bar.

He started dating her.

NARRATOR: After
finding new love,

Robert gave marriage
a second chance.

And the couple began expanding
their own family.

He had two daughters
and a son with Lenita.

Mark was the first.
Lisa Marie was the second.

And Victoria was the third.

My father and I
were both very close.

He was very loving.

My father would have done
anything for his kids.

I was his baby girl
and he was definitely

going to make sure that
I was okay no matter what.

My father was hired
by the railroad

where he worked for 34 years.

My fondest memories was
spending time with him at work

in his railroad tower,

watching him talk with
Morse code on a keypad.

I would sit there
and watch him sending

all the messages to all
the engineers on the trains,

and he was very good at it.

He loved the railroad.

He was a hard worker.

I can remember him
working three jobs.

He was gregarious, quick-witted,

just somebody you'd want
to be friends with.

Dad was almost a
mythical creature to me.

My father was my solace.

Now he was dead.

NARRATOR: As the family tends
to their broken hearts,

Sheriff Franklin can't shake
the feeling

that something isn't
quite right.

That night I really didn't
sleep that well as far as

trying to process...
There were no bulldozer tracks.

It's an inconsistency
with what should be found there.

Didn't really feel good
about that.

So the next morning,
the first thing I do is

I go immediately back up
there trying to see exactly

what we've got.

NARRATOR: In the harsh
light of day,

an even deeper mystery emerges.

The setup of the bulldozer
and the chain,

the cheater pipe where
the bulldozer was

and everything is there.

But there's no
chain binders there.

NARRATOR: Chain binders are
crucial to making sure

the bulldozer doesn't
move during transport.

I think anybody
that was gonna get back out

on a US major highway,

they would have probably gone
and gotten some chain binders.

NARRATOR: As the sheriff
continues to examine the site,

he digs up what could
be a crucial clue,

a pair of broken,
bloodied glasses.

Sheriff Franklin keyed in
on the position of the glasses.

Mr. Landers is located
underneath the right track

of the bulldozer.

His glasses are located
underneath the left track.

So that's a huge problem
in and of itself.

If Robert had fallen off
on the one side of the bulldozer

and was dragged underneath
and was dead,

how did his glasses get on the
other side of the bulldozer

under the other track?

NARRATOR: For Sheriff Franklin
all of these inconsistencies

add up to one thing.

It was my conclusion
that we felt like,

hey, this is a staged incident.

We've got a m*rder.

NARRATOR: Coming up.

Investigators dig long and deep
through a web of secrets.

I was convinced that the
injuries that I saw

could be explained
by a bulldozer

rolling over Mr. Landers.
That it was an accident.

It's physically impossible.

Someone would have to
actually maneuver the levers

on the bulldozer.
It has to be operated.

NARRATOR: To unearth
the shocking truth behind

Robert's tragic death...

I wanted to get to the bottom
of what happened.

Things just didn't add up.

It seemed to me
that there was a rush

to get my dad in the ground.

♪

♪

NARRATOR: After closely
examining the scene

of Robert Landers'
horrific death,

Sheriff Franklin is convinced
it wasn't an accident.

It was a m*rder and he's banking
on the autopsy to prove it.

What I had been told was that
this was a man who was run over

by a bulldozer.

It was evident that the
left side of his body,

left lower leg,
the abdomen and chest,

and his head had been crushed.

Even to the point where one
could see horizontal abrasions

on the skin of his body.

NARRATOR: Based solely
on his external examination,

Dr. Lauridson rules the manner
of death accidental.

I was convinced that the
injuries that I saw

could be explained
by a bulldozer

rolling over Mr. Landers.

NARRATOR: The finding is
a blow to Franklin's theory

that Robert Landers
was m*rder*d,

but he's not giving up just yet.

So we call upon the
Alabama Bureau of Investigation.

They obviously
had enough manpower.

The ABI came out
the following day.

And uh, that started
an onslaught of a

much larger investigation
that needed to be done.

NARRATOR: Despite law
enforcement's quick response,

Franklin is reluctant
to share his suspicions

with the Landers' family.

Nevertheless,
Robert's youngest daughter

can't shake the feeling
that something is off.

The determination was that
my dad had died from injuries

from being crushed
by a bulldozer,

but that was based on
the visible injuries.

I wanted a full autopsy
on my dad,

but because everyone else
in the family agreed that

there was no need
for an autopsy,

they didn't do it.

Let's just go ahead
and plan the funeral

for my dad.

It seemed to me that
there was a rush

to get my dad in the ground.

NARRATOR: So Robert Landers
is buried three days

after his horrific death.

I've never been
to a funeral where

the complete building was full.

Everything outside,

everybody was standing
room only.

I walked in there
and I fell apart.

I grabbed a handful
of tissue paper

and held on to it for dear life

and just stood next
to dad's coffin...

Crying my eyes out.

NARRATOR: At the same time,

Sheriff Franklin
and the ABI agents

return to Cliffside Road
with one goal in mind.

We go immediately
back up there to try

and determine whether it
would have been a homicide

versus an accident.

And there was a bulldozer operator.

And I asked him
could he come and look

and see what he thought.

NARRATOR: They recreate the
sequence of events

by reloading the bulldozer
onto the trailer

and then having the operator
drive it off the ramp.

Alarm bells immediately go off.

In the reenactment,
the ground churned up.

And that's just not what we got
at the original scene.

Somebody would have
had to take a rake or boot,

or something to just, you know,

erase everything
that had gone on.

NARRATOR: That's not all
detectives glean from the test.

Also to move a bulldozer
off a trailer,

the bulldozer blade
has to be up.

So someone would have to be
in the seat of the bulldozer

and actually maneuver the levers
to get it off the trailer.

How did the blade get down

and Mr. Landers
be under the bulldozer?

NARRATOR: The answer could lie
in one of the photos taken

at the crime scene,
which reveals a chilling clue.

On the bottom of his shoe
there appears to be blood,

which means that at one point,
Mr. Landers stepped in blood.

Which suggests to them
that there was something

that occurred prior to the
bulldozer crushing Mr. Landers.

This was a sheriff
who had a hunch

and things just didn't add up.

And Sheriff Franklin
wouldn't let it go.

NARRATOR: They hope this new
information will be enough

for the medical examiner to take
a second look at the case.

So they came to me, and I said,

they've got a problem.
Can I help?

After this additional evaluation
with a forensic engineer

we were reevaluating
the situation.

And it was clear to me that
there were unexplained facts

in this case.

And so it was important that,
that body be exhumed.

With the ABI's reenactment,
they decided that they would

get an exhumation order.

At the time,

exhuming a body
was very unusual.

It didn't happen every day.

NARRATOR: Law enforcement
argues that digging up

Robert's remains could be
the only way to prove

a m*rder took place.

As they await a court order,

investigators learn more about
who Robert really was.

We come to find out
they were really well-respected

people in Eulmore County.

My father was great.

His personality was
very outgoing.

He was as kind to anyone you
could ever meet.

He loved everybody.

He would give you the shirt
off his back.

NARRATOR: But when
investigators dig deeper,

they unearth a crack
in the heart of the family.

He was having an affair.

And everyone knew that Robert
was having an affair.

As far as my parents
go over the years,

after we grew up,
there was no affection.

They fought all the time.

They really didn't
do anything together.

Not a good situation at all.

So it opens up more
information to look at.

The sheriff's department
interviewed the mistress

of Robert Landers.

NARRATOR: She appears
devastated by his death.

Then she says something that
really gets their attention.

She said that night she
remembered Lenita and Mark

coming by and looking
for Robert Landers.

NARRATOR: If Lenita knew
about Robert's affair,

was she jealous enough
to k*ll him?

It does suggest maybe we need
to look a little closer

at Lenita Landers.

NARRATOR: Investigators
uncover more about

Robert and Lenita's relationship
from those who know them best.

Each one of us was called in
to be interrogated by the ABI.

I said, my dad,
he was always very good to me.

Always very loving to me,
but my mother, Lenita

was not loving.

She was very cold-hearted.

Lenita hated me.

Uh, she didn't want me
around at all.

I lived in a very
dysfunctional family.

My mom had already been
convicted of fraud.

I want to say that was
in the late 50s.

Lenita's records show,
Lenita served time

in Tutwiler Prison
for setting up frauds

and schemes to defraud,

which adds another layer
to this case.

Her past and being
convicted of a felony,

of setting up fraudulent
insurance schemes

makes her words less credible.

If you're a thief,
you're a liar.

And a liar is a thief.

I told the police that my gut
feeling instantly said

that it was not an accident.
It was definitely m*rder.

This demonstrates a possible
motive of an estranged wife

to hurt a husband who is
obviously having an open

and notorious affair
with his mistress.

♪

♪

NARRATOR: Three weeks after
Robert Landers is found dead,

investigators are sharpening
their focus on his wife.

That's when they
suddenly get the news

they've been waiting for.

The exhumation order was
actually granted for the body

of Mr. Landers to be looked
at a second time.

Investigators agreed
something's not right.

They suspect foul play.

NARRATOR: County officials
aren't the only ones

searching for answers.

A lot of people believe
when you exhume a body that

you're disturbing their peace.

Well, I believe that my dad
was not at peace.

I was fine with the exhumation.
I wanted the truth.

And I wanted to get to the
bottom of what happened.

I was glad that the
investigation was going

to those lengths
to get forensic evidence.

NARRATOR:
As the crypt is raised up,

investigators are relieved
to see that the casket is

still in pristine condition,

but what's inside
could be a different story.

The casket is delivered to
the medical examiner's office.

His remains were in an advanced
state of decomposition.

Actually, more than I would have
expected in three weeks.

He notices the same injuries
he saw before,

the horizontal, cleat marks
going up the body,

however, what caught his eye
was on the left temple

was a vertical injury,
which is not consistent

with the horizontal track marks.

NARRATOR: Lauridson notes an
area of distinct hemorrhaging

that's different
from the other head injuries.

If a person is injured,
and by that I mean

tissue is torn,
blood vessels are torn.

And if the person is alive
when that happens,

the blood then comes out of
those torn blood vessels

and seeps into
the damaged tissues.

And we see that as hemorrhaged.

It certainly was suspicious.

Which means when
he was hit in the head,

Robert Landers was still alive.

What was unclear in my mind,
could that have just been

that he happened to a fallen

in the process of being run over
by the bulldozer.

NARRATOR: Dr. Lauridson
closely examines his skull.

I had a tray full of 30
or so fragments of bone,

all of which came
from the skull.

It's almost like
a jigsaw puzzle.

I used hot glue to put those
pieces of bone back together.

NARRATOR: With Landers'
skull now intact,

Dr. Lauridson makes
a telling discovery.

I could see
two fracture patterns.

One fracture pattern is
consistent with there

being pressure pushing
down on the skull like this,

and then in this one area,
right over the left temple,

there is a different pattern.

It is focal right here.
The bone is crushed.

And there are fractures that
radiate downward and outward

from that area.

It's as if you were to take a
hammer and strike a vase.

That's gonna break the vase
right where the hammer strikes.

This skull fracture
was totally different

from the pressing skull
fractures from the bulldozer.

NARRATOR: The fracture also
lines up with Robert Landers'

bent glasses found at the scene.

They actually
took those glasses,

Mr. Landers' glasses
and set them on his skull.

And at the exact place
of the hemorrhage

and exact place
of the little fractures,

there is an indentation
on the frame of those glasses.

You've gotta remember,
the glasses were not found upon

the head or the face
of Mr. Landers.

If he had been struck
right there

and he had glasses on
at the same time,

it makes a lot of sense that the
glasses would have come off

at the same time.

It was clear that
what caused this injury

was not the bulldozer
running over him.

Robert Landers was struck
in the head enough

to knock him down
and likely k*ll him.

And then he was run over
by a bulldozer.

It would appear he did not fall.

It was no accident.
He was placed there.

Someone staged that
bulldozer on Mr. Landers.

This was cold and calculated.

Of the m*rder cases
that I have covered,

this was one chilling case.

NARRATOR: There's still one
thing missing from the scene.

The m*rder weapon
wasn't anywhere to be found.

♪

♪

NARRATOR: After
Robert Landers' body is exhumed

and reexamined,
investigators confirm

their suspicions that
his death is a homicide.

A number of us thought
that the chain binders

most definitely could have been
an object that was used

to end his life.

NARRATOR: They pick up a chain
binder from the hardware store

and compare it
to the fracture pattern.

It's a perfect match.

It was clear I needed
to change the cause of death

and manner of death

to homicide.

NARRATOR: Investigators are
now on the hunt

for Robert Landers' k*ller.

His wife, Lenita,
is high atop their list

of potential suspects.

We have known facts that Lenita

had a past of
setting up fraud schemes.

We now start to doubt anything
that comes out of her mouth.

NARRATOR: Because she said she
was home alone

at the time
her husband was k*lled,

there's not way
to confirm her alibi.

Now with keen eyes on Lenita,

investigators subpoena
her financial records.

Bank records, mortgage
records, promissory notes,

anything out there
regarding money.

And that's when we said,
hey, wait a minute.

We got a problem.

There was a life insurance
policy of one million dollars

that had been taken out
on Mr. Landers

about six months
before his death.

NARRATOR: To their disbelief,
Lenita isn't the beneficiary.

It's someone else
very close to Robert.

The beneficiary of the policy
would have been his son,

Mark Landers.

NARRATOR: A father listing
his son on an insurance policy

doesn't prove m*rder,
but law enforcement

is determined to prove
or disprove Mark's involvement

starting with his alibi and
right away they have a problem.

The only witnesses of
Mr. Landers under the bulldozer

were Mark Landers
and Lenita Landers.

So we'd never ruled
on the actual time

Mr. Landers was m*rder*d.

NARRATOR: Suspicions heat up
and deputies again talk to Mark

who appears to be the go-getter
of the Landers clan.

He's smart.
He's ambitious.

Mark Landers owned Mark Landers
Construction Company.

The company's sole purpose was
to build large houses

for professional people,
doctors, lawyers.

So Mark had several houses
he was building.

NARRATOR: Mark tells police
it was his father's idea

to make him beneficiary
of the life insurance policy

for tax reasons.

But when investigators attempt
to confirm his story,

they quickly discover that
there's a seething resentment

simmering between the siblings.

In talking to Victoria and Ric,

they painted a much different
picture of Mark.

Mark flattered dad
to make him think

that he was really
doing a wise thing

as an investment
by buying this insurance policy.

I think dad felt like
he was doing something uh,

to protect the family.

And so dad let Mark buy

a $1 million
life insurance policy on him.

It took him pretty much a year
to get my dad to finally

agree to the insurance policy.

Mark could turn on the charm
if he wanted to.

He could do it.

NARRATOR: Why would Mark,
the big businessman in town

suddenly be desperate enough
to m*rder his own father

for money?

His sister, Victoria
is pretty sure she knows why.

Mark was a showboat.

He wanted everybody
to know what he had.

Most people like that,
you would think would be humble.

He was never humbled.

He was all,
look at what I've got.

His whole thing was
he did live beyond his means.

His bank account was overdrawn.

He was behind in car payments,
house payments

and who knows what else.

I told the police
he would start a home

and he wouldn't finish it,
but he got the money.

He stole from his own customers.

NARRATOR: And that's just the
tip of the iceberg.

According to Victoria,
Mark's shady tendencies

run in the family.

In my opinion,
my mother taught my brother

everything, to cheat
and lie, and steal.

Whatever it took
to get what they wanted.

NARRATOR: But when
investigators press Victoria,

they learn that she and Ric
might have other reasons

to speak out
against their brother.

The only person
that existed in my house

to my mother was my brother.

My father didn't exist.
We did not exist.

But Mark was her baby.

My mother was going to make sure
he was spoiled rotten, you know.

I mean, every dime that family
made, she spent on him.

NARRATOR: But just because
Mark was spoiled

and had a plausible motive
and opportunity

to m*rder his father,

it's not an easy theory
to swallow.

How can anyone
k*ll their father?

It takes a warped person
to do that.

NARRATOR: Still,
Victoria and Ric are convinced

beyond a shadow of a doubt.

I do believe that my brother
k*lled my father.

And Lenita was complicit

in the planning and execution
of that crime.

NARRATOR:
To test their theory,

police hatch an unlikely plan
to try to amass evidence

against their only viable
suspects, Mark and Lenita.

The ABI came to me
and asked me would I consider

doing a setup to try to get a
confession from my brother.

So I said yes, I'll do it.

♪

♪

NARRATOR: Victoria Gulsby is
convinced her own brother

and mother are behind the death
of her father, Robert Landers.

And she's willing to wear a wire
to prove it.

I didn't think
it was going to work,

but I was certainly ready
and willing to try,

because my father
deserved justice.

NARRATOR:
With investigators hiding out

in an upstairs bedroom,

Victoria makes her move.

I invited Mark over.

When Mark got
to my condo that day,

we both sat on the couch
and I tried to convince him

that I understood
why he k*lled my dad.

I tried to make him think
that my dad was a*usive.

Although, none of that was true.

He just shakes his head
and leaves.

I definitely think that he knows
that I'm working with the ABI.

I think he was watching
my house the whole time.

He knew that they were upstairs,
so he was not going to confess.

NARRATOR: Mark storms out
leaving his sister in terror.

I'm so scared he's going
to k*ll me after that.

I would sleep on the couch
and watch all the door handles

of my condo every night
just to see if anybody

was turning the door knobs
and trying to get in.

The ABI wanted
to keep the wire on

and try to do
another setup again,

and I finally just told them,
it's not gonna work.

He will never admit guilt.
He's not that kind of person.

I know him better than y'all do.

He will never admit guilt.

NARRATOR: Detectives are at
another frustrating standstill.

And over the next three years,
the case freezes over.

Still, after all
that she's been through,

Victoria decides to give it
one last shot.

By 1995, the investigation
has gone nowhere.

So I decided to write a letter
to Greg Biggs,

the attorney general's office,

telling him that we were never
going to get anything done.

This investigation was
at a standstill.

Please help.

And I took the case.

And I said, I'll do it.

Suddenly the case was back on.

And he took it and ran with it.

NARRATOR: Greg Biggs
immediately zeroes in

on Mark's million dollar payout

from his father's
life insurance policy.

He has a hunch the company's
records could be a goldmine.

Before they hand over
a million dollars,

they're gonna make him sit
for a deposition.

He raised his hand,
put under oath

and was given a statement,
which was not very smart

because he's talking.

And that usually,
that's how you catch

the accused by his own words.

NARRATOR: Biggs' own
investigation strips away

Mark's shady business practices
on the record.

We learned in the deposition,
Mark had been employed

by insurance companies.

He worked there
for several years.

While he was there,
he schemed on a lot of cases

to commit fraud
with car accidents.

They would get
the cars totaled out,

salvage the car
and they would get the money

off of the insurance claim.

They did this many times.

NARRATOR: After confirming
new information,

the case heats up.

That gives him distinct
knowledge of the insurance world

of how to successfully file
an insurance claim

and collect the money.

So he's got a history.
He's smart.

He understands the system.
He understands law.

He understands insurance.

NARRATOR:
The deposition also reveals that

Victoria and Ric were right.

Mark was swimming in debt.

He needs money.

And his construction company's
going under.

He's bouncing checks.

He's paying $5,000 a month
to carry that insurance

on Mr. Robert Landers.

But it then got to the point
where there was no money,

so time to cash it in.

He got like one million,
three hundred thousand dollars.

NARRATOR: While the
circumstantial evidence

against Mark is overwhelming,
Greg Biggs can't find any proof

Lenita was in on the m*rder.

Her past,
and being convicted of a felony

of setting up
fraudulent insurance schemes

makes her words less credible.

It doesn't prove anything
one way or another.

NARRATOR: But Greg Biggs has
enough to charge Mark Landers

for m*rder.

And I talked to my supervisor

and I said, let's go for it.

Let's do it.

My argument to the judge was
what greater motive can there be

to k*ll his father
and stage this as

an accidental bulldozer case?

Robert Landers was
k*lled in 1992.

And it took until 1996
for Greg Biggs to lead the team,

get him arrested.

I'm coming home from work one
day and my phone's blowing up.

And I was almost
at the door of my house,

and everybody was telling me,
go in the house,

turn on the TV, turn on the TV.

I immediately walk in
and turn on the TV

and they've arrested him.

I was shocked.

NARRATOR: Mark Landers is
charged with capital m*rder

and faces the death penalty,
but even with a clear motive,

it's still a risky case
to present in a court of law.

People said
the case was unwinnable

because there was a lot
of circumstantial evidence,

but there was
no direct evidence.

There was no confession.

They didn't feel like they
had enough to get a conviction.

And when someone says,
you can't do it.

That makes me want to do it.

♪

♪

NARRATOR: Nearly five years
after the tragic death

of Robert Landers Sr.,

his son, Mark Landers
stands trial for his m*rder.

All the local papers
and the media outlets called

and wanted to know
what was going on.

When I learned the details
of the case,

how Mark was charged with m*rder
and took the time to cover it up

knowing that was
his biological father,

to be in the same room with
someone with that capability

was unnerving.

NARRATOR:
As court proceedings begin,

all eyes are on the divided
Landers family.

You could feel the tension.

And it certainly didn't look
like a family.

It looked like two sides that
didn't like each other.

Brothers and sisters
against each other.

I did agree that Mark was
behind Dad's death

and I became consumed with
getting justice for dad.

NARRATOR: But Robert's wife,
Lenita who was cleared

of any wrongdoing in his death,
came down on a different side.

She's in defense of Mark.

Her mannerisms are very hostile,
very annoyed, very agitated.

NARRATOR: It's unknown what
went down when Robert Landers

was m*rder*d,
but prosecutors stack

a heavy case against Mark.

First, by refuting his testimony
that it was his father

who wanted the million dollar
life insurance policy.

All we know is what Mark said.

All we know is the scene.
All we know is the forensics,

and a whole bunch of motive

that Mark had to collect
a million dollars.

There was an insurance
premium that was coming due

in the amount, right at $30,000.

Mr. Landers was either going
to have to die

or Mark was going to have
to pay a $30,000 premium.

One of those two was
fixin' to take place

and uh, of course,
we know what happened.

NARRATOR: But it's the
findings from the exhumation

that drives the final nail
in the coffin.

I remember testifying
in that trial.

It was uh, an intense trial.

Dr. Lauridson said,
it was a homicide.

That he was hit in the head,

bleeding, but still alive.

We don't know if he was
conscious or unconscious.

His body was taken
and laid on the ground

and then crushed
by the bulldozer.

This case would never come
together without Dr. Lauridson.

The exhumation order
actually being granted

to find out this new
information, that was huge,

and it further advanced the fact
that we've got a homicide,

not an accident.

The perpetrator in this case

was an intelligent,
sophisticated person

who thought that
he could cover it up.

Who thought that he was smarter
than the investigators.

And he wasn't.

NARRATOR:
Near the end of the trial,

Mark takes the stand.

I kind of expected Mark to
kinda look like a person

you could really hate,
but he didn't.

He looked like
the guy next door.

The first thing he did
was try to suggest that there

was something wrong
with the bulldozer.

Basically, he was saying
it was an accident.

That Mark loved his dad and he
would never do anything.

He didn't think it through.
Now why didn't think it through?

I don't know.
You m*rder*d your dad.

You've got blood everywhere,

but he didn't cover it up.

He thought he was covering it
up, but he didn't.

When Greg Biggs did his
closing argument,

the whole building shook.

I mean, I can remember him
saying that's Robert Landers

crying out from the grave
for justice.

NARRATOR:
After a 10-day trial,

it only takes the jury
five hours to deliberate.

He was found guilty of m*rder.

When they read the verdict,
my brother, Mark collapsed

and I believe he never,
ever would have thought

he was going to be found guilty, ever.

And he was shocked.

I felt relieved
when the jury read the verdict.

It wouldn't bring dad back,

but at least he got justice.

The final sentence was
recommended by the jury

as life without parole.

He has to live day in and day
out with this hanging over him.

NARRATOR: Though the law books
are closed on the Landers case,

there are questions that still
hang in the balance.

A lot of people that worked
this case thought that

Lenita knew a lot more
about the m*rder

than what was being
said and told.

But I think that we were able
to bring some closure

to a portion
of the Landers' family,

but for Robert Landers,
the victim,

he's not there
to tell his story.

Somebody's got
to tell his story.

Without a doubt,

my dad's absence is still
a significant factor,

my subconscious.

I felt like yes, yes.

My father can rest now.
He can rest.