10x42 - Enemy Within

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Kansas City police called it the most

bizarre m*rder case they'd ever seen

because the k*ller clearly left a

message and the forensic scientists

found another message at the scene

microscopic in size but unmistakable in

clarity

one Friday afternoon in 2000 some people

returning from lunch heard strange

noises coming from one of the offices

the woman found her boss richard

armitage on the floor behind his desk in

the pool of blood she called for his

partner Richard Buckley to help at this

point

Armand was still alive he was still

fighting for his life she went to the

phone call 9-1-1 she heard some noises

the clapping sound mr. Buckley was

attempting to revive mr. Armitage

Armitage was rushed to the hospital and

went immediately into surgery and

swelling on the brain things did not

look good at all

in fact it's from what we were hearing

from the doctors it was just a matter of

time his kids were all there and I

leaned over his bed and I said if you

want to go go you know you can go uh uh

I let him go

which was very hard Armitage never

regained consciousness we knew that we

were gonna have a homicide on our hands

and it was gonna be pretty difficult to

just solve the autopsy revealed Armitage

had been struck nine times in the head

with a blunt object possibly a hammer it

looked like the person who had done this

was very angry at the time because the

type of wounds that he had to a skull

very deep very open wounds it could have

been either passion it could have been

just straight-out anger we didn't know

at that point Richard Armitage was a

lawyer whose practice was primarily

related to organ transplantation and

donation issues not surprisingly his

heart and other organs were donated to

three different recipients it was very

difficult for the kids very difficult I

think they're proud of their dad and the

fact that even in his death he still

helped somebody else

so they're proud of me he's still around

everyone in Kansas City was shocked at

the sheer brutality of the crime it was

a broad daylight attack in a busy

downtown office building and the victim

was a man who seemed well-liked

well-respected working in a very

esoteric area of law organ transplant

and the mystery was who could have done

this who could have slipped into this

building and done this no one working in

the building saw anyone leave the office

with bloody clothing but forensic

experts say the k*ller might not have

had any blood on him there was no

guarantee that there would be blood on

the assailant of any kind if you're

using a hammer you impact that object

really the energy is dispersed away from

the assailant the person comes in and

commits the beating and leaves and

there's very little evidence if any on

that person no one not friends family or

business associates could name a

potential suspect to find a lawyer slain

in his office in broad daylight was

highly unusual it it was something the

city had not seen before but

investigators discovered Armitage did

other types of legal work besides organ

transplantation law was it possible that

something in his past may have

resurfaced

richard armitage was just 51 years old

when he was found m*rder*d in his office

friends and colleagues couldn't

understand who would have wanted to harm

him rich had children from a previous

marriage then rich and Kathy had a child

not long after getting married and

Nellie you just durable a girl and seem

to be the happy couple and really

enjoying life to the fullest both his

ex-wife and his current wife were ruled

out as suspects since they each had an

alibi for the time of the m*rder we

looked at also some of his friends

particularly one of his best friends

there wasn't a bad word between them

there wasn't any problems between them

investigators knew that whoever k*lled

Richard Armitage was within arm's length

when he struck the fatal blows we

believe that the first blow knocked him

out of his chair and that he did not

have a chance to move again the crime

scene tells us that all the blows were

probably delivered while Armitage was

laying on the floor on his side and

there were no defensive wounds there was

no sign really of a struggle

because his shoes were sitting neatly

beside his desk it was clear Richard

wasn't expecting anyone we had learned

that whenever richard armitage would go

into his office said his desk he'd take

his shoes off so he was very comfortable

when he was att*cked he had his shoes

off didn't have his shoes on he'd never

moved from that desk he'd never gone

anywhere blood spatter patterns clearly

indicated Armitage his back was turned

when the attack began he seemed like he

was very comfortable at his desk just

kicked back working on things I think

they said he was ordering perfume for

his wife for Mother's Day and then came

in and was completely surprised by the

attack apparently detectives checked his

appointment calendar no meetings were

scheduled for that day phone records

showed that Armitage completed his last

call at 2:01 p.m. his secretary and law

partner found his body at 2:30 when

police arrived the blood had started to

clot which meant the m*rder occurred

closer to 2 o'clock he lay there for a

period of time normal healthy

individuals who are not taking any

coagulants normally will clot or begin

to clot within 3 to 15 minutes Armitage

is partner Richard Buckley said he was

at lunch at the time so did his

secretary

and there was no one else in the office

the only three people in the law firm

were Richard Buckley Richard Armitage

and secretary they were the only office

on this floor this was a very big floor

the rest of the floor was vacant they

really didn't know if it had been

someone who had just come in off the

street if it was a matter of a former

disgruntled client if it was someone

from his personal life in addition to

his organ donation clients Armitage did

collection work collection work has kind

of a seedy reputation sometimes but he

was doing collection work for like

dentists and doctors and I think some

apartment complexes when debts weren't

paid

Armitage would send the necessary legal

documents to the people who owed his

clients money those tactics sometimes

made people angry we came up with one

name one person who was particularly I

guess pretty volatile on the phone

pretty angry on the phone with him had

even threatened him a couple of times

office records identified the man as

Luke Campbell's we've got to looking

into him I did find out where he was he

then performed a search warrant at his

house and which we then we found a

bloody shirt and then we found some

bloody pants and we thought well this

might be our person the clothing was

sent for DNA testing but the blood

belonged to Campbell and not Richard

Armitage that didn't necessarily exclude

him as a suspect

it would not be outside of the realm of

possibilities that there was no blood on

the attacker and that comes back to the

physics involved when you're impacting a

bloody object if you're using a hammer

you impact that object

the energy is dispersed away from the

assailants when investigators looked at

security camera video tapes to see if Lu

Campbell had entered Armitage his office

building on the day of the m*rder they

found a big surprise

Kansas City police screamed the video

tapes from security cameras in the lobby

of Richard Armitage his office building

they expected to see Lu Campbell who had

threatened Armitage over a legal dispute

but instead they saw Armitage his law

partner Richard Buckley walking through

the lobby at a different time than he

first claimed he had told us earlier

that he'd left for lunch at

approximately 150 in the afternoon he

was leaving and about on the tape I

believe it was 206 you can make out the

fact that he'd a briefcase over shoulder

Buckley's explanation was simple but he

was mistaken about the time he left for

lunch but police realized this time

difference meant Buckley and Armitage

were in the office alone for

approximately five minutes before

Buckley left for lunch could that be

enough time for him to have att*cked mr.

Armitage yes and done when he done and

then try to get away yes

Buckley denied he had anything to do

with the m*rder and police found no

blood or anything suspicious in

Buckley's briefcase

Buckley said when he left for lunch

Armitage was on the telephone

he said he walked through the lobby went

to a fast-food restaurant then bought

some items at an office supply store the

receipt showed he was there at 2:22

Buckley said he then returned to the

office had a cigarette outside and when

he saw his secretary they both went back

into the office together at

approximately 2:30

that's when they found Richards body his

story seemed to hold up especially when

police recalled his appearance just

minutes after the body was found Richard

Buckley when we first contacted him he

had no blood on him it didn't appear

that he had been in a fight it didn't

appear that anything had happened but

when police looked into Buckley's

background they found some disturbing

information Armitage

handled the organ transplant side of the

business and did very well

Buckley handled civil cases and was

doing poorly Richard Buckley was a very

bad lawyer he spent a lot of money on on

witnesses he spent a lot of money on

things he probably didn't even spend

money on and then when he got to trial

for whatever reason he just he just

couldn't win a case financial records

indicated that Buckley had amassed a

debt of more than a quarter million

dollars Richard told me about Buckley's

debt he would rob Peter to pay Paul and

he would borrow $10,000 to do to go to

Colorado to do a deposition and then

he'd lose the case and then he put a lot

of money in some of these cases and he'd

lose them Armitage was apparently no

longer willing to cover Buckley's debts

and his accountant said he was thinking

of dissolving the partnership this would

have left Richard Buckley with no income

and as Armitage is law partner Buckley

was the beneficiary of a 150 thousand

dollar life insurance payment in the

event of Armitage is death a clear

motive for m*rder

so despite the fact that Buckley's

clothing looked clean investigators sent

his shirt jeans and sneakers to the

forensic lab for testing and almost

immediately forensic analysts saw

something nearly invisible to the naked

eye I was very surprised when I pulled

out the shirt that was the first thing

that I pulled out to look at and I knew

immediately that this was high-velocity

blood spatter there wasn't very much

there though I could see it very clearly

this kind of high-velocity spatter can

only be created when the person wearing

the clothes is in close proximity to a

blood source being struck with a great

deal of force these small blood droplets

are actually embedded between the fibers

indicating that they've been forcefully

driven in as opposed to a light transfer

of blood which will only be visible on

the tops of the fiber bundles altogether

there were 61 specks of blood on

Buckley's clothing each no bigger than a

pinpoint DNA testing proved the blood

richard armitage --is when confronted

with this evidence buckley claimed he

got the blood on his clothes when he

tried to revive Armitage pacifically

when he clapped his hands to see if

Armitage was conscious was this a

plausible explanation forensic experts

were ready to put it to the test

Richard Buckley denied k*lling his law

partner Richard Armitage despite the

fact his partner's blood was found on

his clothing Buckley said the blood

spatter got onto his clothes when he

tried to determine if Armitage was

conscious the defense came up with the

possibility that clapping would cause

this fine mist or spatter that if he had

gotten his hands body with Armitage his

blood and then was clapping that that

would have caused it to see if this was

possible forensic experts conducted an

experiment first an individual

simulating Richard Buckley got down into

a kneeling position as he would have

been over Armitage his body instead of

blood

they used strings to show where the

blood on Buckley's hands would have gone

had he clapped them and we would follow

the path of these strings to see what

areas were exposed could possibly have

received blood and compare that to what

areas did actually have blood almost

immediately the experiment showed that

any blood on Buckley's hands would not

create blood spatter on his clothing in

the places where it was later found

as you can see in a kneeling position

with his legs behind him it would have

been impossible for the blood on his

hands to have gotten onto his shoes even

in a squatting position it wouldn't have

been possible there were small spatters

of blood that were within the side

crevices recessed areas of the athletic

shoes that someone clapping unless

they've got their hands right down on

the floor it just didn't make any sense

and in the opinion of all the forensic

experts at Buckley clapped his hands it

would not have created blood spatter on

the back of his shirt it's not going to

happen any other time it's not going to

happen when he pulls him out from the

desk it's not going to happen when he's

trying to give him CPR

it's not going to happen when he's

clapping his hands it's not going to

happen it's going to happen when he's

there only an object dripping in blood

and swung over your shoulder would

produce better like this on the back of

his shirt in a downward direction now we

know why what he's telling us is not

adding up

so now we know that he's giving us a

story he's giving us a very good story

he's thought about this but now we know

that there are holes in his story we

know why there's holes in his story that

was our big breakthrough them based on

the forensic evidence prosecutors

believe Buckley planned to k*ll Richard

Armitage when he learned Armitage plan

to dissolve their partnership they

believe Buckley brought the w*apon to

work hidden in his briefcase after the

secretary left for lunch and Armitage

finished his telephone call at 2:01

Buckley entered Armitage his office and

beat him to death

the repeated blows caused the blood

spatter on his shirt and shoes but

perhaps most important on the back of

his shirt virtually invisible to the

naked eye

he put the w*apon in his briefcase

perhaps in some type of bag to contain

the blood and left the office to get rid

of it the surveillance camera shows he

left at 206 police believe he disposed

of the m*rder w*apon and established an

alibi by purchasing some things at the

office supply store at 2:22

then return to the office building in

time to go back inside with his

secretary

around 2:30

before buckley started CPR he clapped

his hands loud enough for his secretary

to hear claiming he just wanted to get a

reaction but more likely to make sure he

had a plausible explanation for any

blood spatter on his clothing once she

had a full understanding of forensic

evidence of blood spatter where this was

going how it was pointing size cast-off

etc his story did not fit in the path

that the forensic evidence had already

provided and the forensic evidence was a

fact it was nothing you couldn't dispute

Richard Buckley was convicted of first

degree m*rder and sentenced to life in

prison without parole

my saddest thing that I have to say for

him is you did it out of greed and

jealousy and I said the impact that you

have on my kids my family it can never

be replaced never ever ever be replaced

the damage that he had done he

has to be the most shallow hollow

individual

I have ever known

a bizarre case with an unlikely suspect

but an unassailable conviction I did not

k*ll Richard Armitage I think that

Richard Buckley's inner volcano exploded

and Richard Armitage happened to be the

one that they caught the brunt of it no

matter how hard you try you can't beat

physical evidence because most the time

you don't realize physical evidence is

there he didn't even realize that he had

blood on his clothing

that was his demise