10x16 - Deadly Valentine

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Narrator: a beautiful home,

An affluent woman,

A vicious m*rder.

While her husband mourned,

Investigators searched for
clues.

A greetings card..

An exotic dancer..

And an operating room schedule
showed investigators

A side of medicine they
haven't seen before.

It was valentine's day, 2001,
and susan hamilton had a busy

Day planned.

Her husband, dr. John hamilton,
was an obstetrician.

Susan ran his medical clinic.

Susan hamilton was the
proverbial trophy wife.

By all accounts, she was a star
and he was, indeed, a very

Fortunate man to have her.

Narrator: but susan never
left the house that day.

Dr. Hamilton was performing
surgery all morning.

When he finished, he stopped
home on his way to his office to

Give susan some flowers for
valentine's day.

Once there, he found the
back door wide open.

Upstairs in the master bathroom
was his wife, unconscious.

I think my wife is dead.

What's the problem there?

My wife's bleeding all over
the place.

Narrator: dr. Hamilton tried
to revive her, but it was too

Late.

In this case, the attacker
was in complete control.

It's unfortunate, but I don't
think mrs. Hamilton really stood

A chance.

Narrator: the k*ller
apparently escaped through the

Hamiltons' back door.

None of the neighbors saw anyone
leaving the home.

We were suspicious of the
fact that maybe a burglar could

Have came in and possibly
att*cked this woman -- trying to

Steal some jewelry or trying to
steal some of the valuables from

That home -- and she possibly
surprised them.

This was a prominent part of
oklahoma city -- bigger homes,

Wealthier people, affluent
folks -- you know, the kind that

Go to the country club.

Narrator: and police had
another possible lead.

As an obstetrician/gynecologist,
dr. Hamilton performed abortions

At his own clinic, the one his
wife susan ran.

Dr. And mrs. Hamilton had been
targeted by antiabortion

Protesters.

They'd even made up wanted
posters, I believe --

"Wanted for m*rder,
john hamilton."

You know, that sort of thing.

Narrator: and both
dr. Hamilton and his wife were

Unapologetic about their work.

Here in the bible belt,
that's not something that

Citizens typically embrace.

We know it goes on.

It does happen.

But to be openly doing something
like that and have a clinic that

Does those kind of procedures,
didn't sit well with a lot of

People.

Narrator: at the police
station, dr. Hamilton was

Grief stricken.

Please help me.

Please help me.

Please, please, please, please.

Narrator: investigators hoped
forensic evidence at the scene

Could tell them more.

Narrator: susan and
john hamilton had been married

For 15 years, the second
marriage for both.

Everyone loved dr. Hamilton.

His wife -- beautiful woman,
wore her age incredibly well.

Country club set?

Absolutely.

She looked like she would hang
out with that kind of affluent

Crowd.

Everyone said they were just
wonderful people and very much

In love.

Narrator: at susan's autopsy,
the medical examiner found no

Signs of sexual as*ault.

She had been strangled with some
neckties.

Then, the perpetrator drove her
head onto the floor many times.

Death was caused by repeated
blows to her head with a blunt

Object.

The wound to her forehead or
the left side of her head was

Substantial and massive.

I think that w*apon has to be a
w*apon of opportunity.

It has to be something that was
in that environment that was

Accessible to that person.

Narrator: in a search for
suspects, investigators learned

That an antiabortion group
planned a demonstration in front

Of the hamilton's home.

We were able to determine
that the house had been

Picketed, as well as a permit to
picket that residence had been

Obtained within a month of the
time of this homicide.

Narrator: at the crime scene,
investigators found no evidence

Of a break-in.

But they did find a potential
clue.

On the kitchen counter, they
found the valentine's day card

John purchased for his wife.

And the card read...

Narrator: the card susan gave
to her husband had an entirely

Different message.

One of the captions she had
written herself said,

"Obviously, I bought this card
before last monday."

Then as you open the card and
begin to read the inside of it,

She had written, "I bought this
card two weeks ago, so they

Don't seem as appropriate now.

I love you."

Signed susan hamilton.

Narrator: police wanted to
know what had happened two weeks

Earlier.

Dr. Hamilton said they had a
fight about money.

But investigators found evidence
there was more to it than that.

There was accusations that he
was having an affair with one of

His clients, who was a topless
dancer.

This came from phone calls that
susan hamilton had gotten

Ahold of.

Narrator: susan discovered
her husband called the dancer

More than 60 times.

This was nuclear in her eyes.

She even moved out for a night,
went to stay with her friend.

Dr. Hamilton had been to her
club.

She had done a table dance for
him for about $100, possibly on

More than one occasion.

Narrator: dr. Hamilton denied
the two were having an affair.

But with so many calls, susan
was skeptical.

It was not even the fact that
he had done it, that he had

Actually been chasing this girl
a little bit.

What was important was that
susan hamilton believed he had

Done it.

One week before the
valentine's day m*rder,

Susan hamilton had made
dr. Hamilton write a letter to

This dancer refusing to be her
doctor any further.

Narrator: and the media had
their own suspicions about

Dr. Hamilton.

It started when reporters heard
the tape of dr. Hamilton's 911

Call.

Listen, I'm a doctor.

I've been trying cpr.

Send somebody quick.

Is she not breathing?

No, she's not breathing.

I don't get pulse, please.

If you listen to it over and
over again, it sounds strange --

The things he's saying, the
order in which he says them.

He's gonna -- it just --
it sounds weird.

Narrator: so the local tv
station, kwtv, sent the tape to

A company specializing in
computer voice stress analysis.

The test charted the
microtremors in dr. Hamilton's

Voice.

It showed "no excessive blood
flow" impacting dr. Hamilton's

Voice.

On this, I'm very confident
that this doctor is not

Stressed to the degree that I
would think he would be under

Those circumstances, which makes
me feel very confident that he

Rehearsed this before he made
his call.

The analysis couldn't say,
yes, he did, or no, he

Didn't, but it certainly gave an
insight into maybe there was

Something more to the story that
we didn't know.

Please, please.

Narrator: and homicide
investigators started to

Question dr. Hamilton's unusual
behavior captured on videotape

Just after the m*rder.

He seemed to be out of
control with emotions, one way

Or another.

He would get upset and start
moving back and forth.

He would start crying, he'd
stop.

And that was one of the concerns
that I had.

It was almost like he was
acting.

Narrator: but dr. Hamilton
had an alibi for the time of the

m*rder.

He was in surgery all morning
with plenty of witnesses.

Obviously, a doctor couldn't be
in two places at the same time.

Or could he?

She was strangled.

She was found naked.

Topless dancers, abortions --
you start hearing all that mixed

Together, it made for a lot of
talk in this town.

Narrator: to analyze the
forensic evidence from

Susan hamilton's m*rder,
homicide investigators asked

Blood spatter expert
ross gardner for his opinion.

This case is like many in
the sense that what the suspect

Says ultimately is gonna be
tested against the crime scene.

Narrator: when emergency
workers arrived, dr. Hamilton

Was covered in his wife's blood.

Dr. Hamilton's presence in
the crime scene, the fact that

He's bloody, is completely
expected.

He's come home.

He's found his wife dead.

He's cradled her.

He's taken action.

Narrator: but not all the
blood on dr. Hamilton's shirt

Could be explained away.

Dr. Hamilton's claims
presented some major

Contradictions.

I don't expect to find spatter.

The spatter I observed were
present on the front of his

Shirt below his neck, on both
sleeves at the cuff, and these

Suggested that his arms and his
body had been in close proximity

To a spatter event.

Narrator: on dr. Hamilton's
shoes were tiny blood droplets

Almost invisible to the naked
eye.

These were suspicious -- not
only the shape, but the angle at

Which the blood landed on the
shoes.

There was some coming down on
the toe from above 40, 50

Degrees.

There was no possible way that
someone had lifted

Mrs. Hamilton's head, dropped
her down, created additional

Spatter, and, somehow,
dr. Hamilton's shoes were

Exposed to that.

You couldn't explain it from
that.

Narrator: the blood on
dr. Hamilton's shoes was the

Result medium velocity impact
spatter, the kind caused as a

Result of a beating.

Tom bevel, a blood spatter
expert hired by dr. Hamilton,

Agreed with gardner's
assessment.

The spatter places the shoe
within an area capable of

Receiving spatter, and the
spatter is being generated by

Some impact into a blood source,
which, in this case, is

Mrs. Hamilton.

Narrator: and blood spatter
found four inches up inside his

Right shirt cuff was most
telling.

It was direct spatter, meaning
the blood landed directly on the

Shirt.

For spatter to get up inside the
cuff meant it had to be

Traveling at some speed.

For it to get on the inside,
the blood has to be coming at an

Angle capable of missing the
wrist and the edge of the cuff

And the outside, and going on
the inside of it.

That puts very limited positions
with which that could have

Occurred.

The only way that could have
happened is from somebody...

Using their hand to either hold
a w*apon or something like that

And beat --
beat susan hamilton.

And the blood droplets come
spewing off that would be driven

Up in that angle.

Narrator: scientist performed
dna testing on each and every

Blood stain on dr. Hamilton's
shirt and shoes.

It was all susan's blood.

Luminol tests revealed even more
of susan's blood on the inside

Of dr. Hamilton's car.

There was blood found on the
steering wheel.

There blood found on the seat --
the driver's side left edge of

The seat -- and also some hair
and tissue found on the floor of

The vehicle on the driver's
side.

Narrator: investigators
discovered what may have been

The m*rder w*apon.

The hamiltons' maid said that a
marble figurine from the

Bathroom was missing.

And communication records
indicated dr. Hamilton was not

In the hospital in between his
two operations on the morning of

The m*rder.

He started getting pages from
that hospital to get there now

Because that second patient had
already been put under

Anesthesiology.

Narrator: the blood spatter
evidence proved he was home.

Dr. John hamilton was arrested
and charged with m*rder.

Well, can you leave the door
open?

I mean, I feel like I'm in a
cage.

I'm sorry, but...

Well, I tried to explain to
you that they're assessing

Cases.

That's why I was hoping there
was someplace else you could

Put me.

This is just -- I'm sorry.

I am so distraught.

I need -- I just -- I want to
talk to somebody.

I'll go nuts sitting in here.

That's the whole purpose of
you being here, okay?

Narrator: the stage was set
for one of the most publicized

Trials in oklahoma history.

Interest of this case was the
stature of john and

Susan hamilton and the m*rder
occurring on valentine's day.

Valentine's day's a day for
love.

This wasn't a very loving scene
that I saw that day.

Narrator: so what really
happened between

Dr. John hamilton and his wife,
susan, in the days and weeks

Leading up to susan's m*rder?

Prosecutors learned that
dr. Hamilton was making

Financial payments to others
without susan's knowledge.

He had been sliding money to
one of his children by a

Previous marriage.

Well, she found out he lied to
her about that, and she

Absolutely went ballistic about
that -- told him if he ever did

It again, she'd leave him.

There was no question who
wore the pants in the family,

And it was not john.

She was a very
black-and-white person.

You, uh...

You lie to her, and you're done.

Narrator: and susan suspected
there was more going on between

Her husband and the exotic
dancer than he admitted.

My thinking is susan, at this
point, says, "you have broken my

Trust, and it's over."

The stripper actually told me
that she really believed that

John hamilton was trying to work
up the nerve to ask her out on a

Date.

There wasn't any relationship
there, but she knows men pretty

Well.

And he was trying to work up the
courage to even get to first

Base.

And he wasn't even off home
plate yet.

Narrator: on the morning of
valentine's day, prosecutors

Believe the couple exchanged
cards, and they argued about

Susan's not-so-veiled message
inside.

I don't believe I'd have ever
wanted to get this from my wife

For valentine's day.

It wasn't one of the more
cheerful ones that you'd want.

Forcing an exchange of
thoughts about one another...

Thoughts that maybe would have
been better aired with a

Counselor in the room.

Narrator: the evidence
suggests dr. Hamilton went to

The hospital, performed one
operation, then returned home,

Possibly with an attempt toward
reconciliation.

Prosecutors say the couple
argued once again.

I don't want you throwing
this in my face!

Narrator: in anger, hamilton
took several neckties from his

Closet and strangled her.

Once unconscious, he hit her
head on the floor and struck her

With a blunt object.

This created the medium-velocity
blood spatter found on his shoes

And on the inside of his shirt
cuff.

[ Pager beeps ]
before he could clean up, the

Hospital paged him for his next
surgery.

So he took his bloody trousers
and the m*rder w*apon and left

For the hospital, leaving the
back door open.

That's how susan's blood and
hair got inside his car.

How dr. Hamilton disposed of the
m*rder w*apon and bloody

Trousers remains a mystery.

At the hospital, dr. Hamilton
scrubbed up for his second

Operation, washing away the
forensic evidence.

But he was still wearing the
shoes covered with his wife's

Blood.

His ability to perform the
operation didn't surprise

Prosecutors.

My wife happens to be a
surgeon.

You revert to something you've
done a thousand times.

I'm not sure I'd have wanted
him performing surgery on me.

It's disturbing.

It's frightening and creepy.

] Narrator: when dr. Hamilton

Went home, he called 911 but
delivered a performance that

Didn't fool the forensic-speech
experts.

Dr. Hamilton probably believed
that performing cpr would cover

Any blood evidence of the
m*rder.

But he was wrong.

He made some major mistakes,
knowing what is available

Through science today -- way
beyond anything I had any

Knowledge of how sophisticated
science is.

Narrator: at dr. Hamilton's
trial, in a devastating blow,

Tom bevel, the blood spatter
expert hired by the defense,

Testified that he concurred with
the prosecution's expert.

This is dr. Hamilton's
witness there to help him get

Off the m*rder charge.

It was absolutely a
"perry mason" moment, and you

Could turn and look at the
jurors and see them all go,

"Oh."

In my opinion, when you look
at this case in its totality --

In other words, look at all the
physical evidence and look at

All the statements -- I am
certainly well beyond any

Reasonable doubt that
dr. Hamilton is the person that

Has done this.

Narrator: john hamilton was
found guilty of his wife's

m*rder...

And sentenced to life in prison
with no possibility of parole.

We all felt sorry for him
because, you know, his

Situation, but, to us, the
evidence was so overwhelming and

It just seemed to show on his
face that he was guilty.

John will rot in jail.

John will have to pay for this
at a higher level than what he's

Already paid.

Meaning?

Going to hell.

The forensic findings, I
thought, were powerful.

That's the glorious thing about
this case.

There was absolutely no doubt in
my head.

He is the k*ller.

He's made his own bed.

That's one of the interesting
things about forensic pathology

And forensics.

It's a study of human nature.

That's the dark side to it.

It's really unfortunate, but we

Can be pretty mean and nasty.