11x03 - Just Desserts

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: an ex-convict was suspected of a brutal double

Homicide because his driver's license was found at the scene.

In the past, this might have been enough for a conviction,

But a dish of ice cream pointed investigators in a different

Direction.

On the day before thanksgiving in , a st. Petersburg,

Florida, shop owner noticed a jeep near his store.

It had blood, and it had all kind of things inside.

It had a purse inside of it, and the seat belt was hanging out,

And just a lot of things -- you could tell it wasn't right.

The right-front windshield was shattered, and we found a

Purse with contents and identification and money and so

Forth relating to the female passenger.

Narrator: the jeep belonged to richard and karla van dusen.

Karla's cellphone was found on the front seat.

Just a half mile away, neighbors called police to report two dead

Bodies on the road outside their home.

They were identified as richard and karla van dusen.

Richard was laying facedown in the dirt of the driveway, and

Karla was laying on her side.

Both had been sh*t in the head.

And we later learned, through an autopsy, that karla had also

Been stabbed.

Narrator: richard and karla had been married for three

Years.

They had three grown children from previous marriages.

My son, he said, "they're dead."

And I said, "did they have an accident?"

And I said, "are you sure?" Several times I asked him if he

Was sure.

And then he told me that they had been found and that they had

Been m*rder*d, and I don't even remember after that.

Narrator: investigators had two crime scenes -- the jeep and

The area where the bodies were found.

Based on the evidence and the location of the bodies,

Investigators think that the k*ller was someone the

Van dusens knew.

We felt that there probably was a third party involved in

The vehicle with them.

Richard van dusen is forced out of the car at gunpoint.

We feel that he's certainly k*lled outside of the car.

Karla van dusen is sh*t while seated in the car.

Narrator: it looked like karla saw what was happening,

Turned her head, lifted her left hand, and the b*llet went

Through the windshield, her hand, and into her head.

Later, the k*ller cut her seat belt and removed her body from

The jeep.

Investigators believe the k*ller then drove the jeep a half mile

Away and abandoned it.

On the ground near the jeep police found a florida driver's

License.

It belonged to someone named henry sullivan.

We learned that mr. Sullivan had a comparatively extensive

Criminal arrest record from narcotics to crimes against

Persons -- battery and aggravated battery, probation

Violations.

He had a reasonably extensive record.

Narrator: when police went to henry sullivan's apartment, they

Found a vintage red chevrolet cheyenne pickup truck

Parked outside his apartment.

Incredibly, the truck belonged to the m*rder victims richard

And karla van dusen.

It had been completely restored.

It was a classic truck.

It was a definite eye-catcher, and in fact, what I would

Describe as a one-of-a-kind pickup truck.

Narrator: when questioned, henry sullivan denied any

Involvement in the murders.

With his driver's license found at the crime scene, it looked

Like an open-and-shut case.

But it was just the beginning.

[ Indistinct singing ]

Narrator: friends and family couldn't believe that

Richard and karla van dusen were m*rder*d.

Richard was a copy-machine sales manager who's hobby was

Collecting antique cars.

Karla was a courtroom reporter.

On weekends, she worked as a clown, entertaining sick

Children at local hospitals.

They were pretty well known in the community.

They lived in a small beach town outside of st. Petersburg called

Tierra verde.

Very beautiful sugar-sand beaches.

Narrator: the prime suspect was -year-old henry sullivan.

He couldn't explain why his driver's license was found near

The van dusens' abandoned jeep and insisted he was innocent.

Sullivan said, "I lose my i.d.s all the time.

In fact, I just lost one a couple weeks before you came to

Interview me."

Narrator: the driver's license was dusted for

Fingerprints.

None were found.

Police also looked for fingerprints inside the

Van dusens' jeep, especially on the seat belt.

After having applied an inhydrant to the seat belt and

Allowing it to dry completely, I re-examined that seat belt for

The presence of fingerprints and found none.

Narrator: but the k*ller left behind one piece of evidence --

A .-Millimeter b*llet found on the floor of the victims' jeep.

When investigators searched henry sullivan's apartment, they

Found a .-Millimeter p*stol.

Investigators found that sullivan was in possession of

Two .-Millimeter pistols, and that matched with the m*rder

w*apon that investigators had been looking for.

Narrator: one was inoperable.

The other .-Millimeter handgun was test-fired into a t*nk of

Water.

That b*llet was microscopically compared to the .-Millimeter

Slug found in the van dusens' jeep.

Analyst erica henderson carefully examined the

Distinctive marks called "lans and grooves," made when each

b*llet goes through the barrel of the g*n.

When you look down the barrel of a firearm, you will see the

Ridges and valleys.

These ridges and valleys, once a b*llet is fired, will be

Imparted on the b*llet, so the b*llet will also have these

Ridges and valleys.

Narrator: the test b*llet and the one from the crime scene

Were turned repeatedly as henderson checked and rechecked

The markings.

You just work the evidence.

I try to have tunnel vision, because I don't want anybody

Ever to come around and say, "you have a biased opinion."

Narrator: but the result showed that henry sullivan's g*n

Was not the m*rder w*apon.

Crime-scene analysts then turn their attention to the

Van dusens' classic red pickup truck found behind

Henry sullivan's apartment.

As they examine the vehicle, there was another bizarre

Incident in this already unusual investigation.

We are approached by a white male subject who identifies

Himself as william deparvine, who announces himself to us as

The owner of the truck and said that he had purchased it the day

Previous.

Narrator: deparvine lived in the same apartment building as

Henry sullivan, and he said he bought the truck from the

Van dusens just the day before.

He said the van dusens placed an ad for the truck in the

Local newspaper.

Deparvine went to look at the truck, bought it, and said the

Van dusens later delivered it to his apartment.

He said he paid them $, for it, and when they left, he never

Saw them again.

His approach to us was very up front and forward.

He was quite conversational and he didn't appear to be defensive

Or belligerent or anything of the sort.

Narrator: most of deparvine's story could be corroborated, but

There were several discrepancies.

What's he doing with a bill of sale for $, when

Van dusen's telling a co-worker the day before he's found a

Buyer for $,?

Now, that just tells us there's something not right here.

Narrator: deparvine said the van dusens left his apartment

Around :, but karla van dusen called her

Mother at : p.m. With information that contradicted

That.

The night that they were k*lled, I got a phone call from

Karla, and she was very excited.

She said, "yeah, I'm in the car.

I'm driving behind rick and the guy that bought the truck,

'Cause he knows where to get the paperwork done tonight."

Narrator: although karla never mentioned the buyer's

Name, the call placed the buyer, presumably deparvine, in the

Pickup truck with richard van dusen an hour after

Deparvine said they left his apartment.

It just kind of went through my mind as to what is the hurry

That you have to go out at night to get this paperwork done.

Narrator: deparvine denied he was the man in the pickup truck

With richard van dusen.

[ Telephone rings ] homicide.

King speaking.

Narrator: a background check revealed this wasn't deparvine's

First brush with the law.

We found that mr. Deparvine had an extensive felony arrest

Record and that he had just been released from prison and was on

Probation.

Narrator: deparvine had just served nine years on a

Weapons-possession charge, and henry sullivan was still a

Suspect.

We still have the henry sullivan angle, and also,

We don't lose sight of the fact that there may be an unknown

Perpetrator involved in this crime.

There may be something else completely unrelated to the sale

Of the pickup involved.

Narrator: based on dna testing and blood-spatter

Analysis, investigators believe richard van dusen was pulled

From his jeep and sh*t outside the vehicle.

His wife, karla, was sitting in the passenger seat and was sh*t

Through the windshield.

But on the steering wheel, investigators found blood which

Did not come from karla or richard.

The samples that were tested from the steering wheel were

Consistent with being human blood.

Those samples were tested to develop a dna profile.

Narrator: perhaps the k*ller nicked his hand while cutting

The seat belt to removed karla's body, and the blood dripped onto

The steering wheel while he drove the jeep to the dump site.

Investigators asked their initial suspect, henry sullivan,

For a dna sample.

Testing showed it was not his blood in the car.

Sullivan wasn't involved in crime, so the mystery was how

Did his card get there?

Narrator: and investigators soon had another theory for how

It got there.

Henry sullivan had a brother who was stopped for a traffic

Violation on the night of the murders.

He told police that night that his name was henry.

We have another person using henry sullivan's name and date

Of birth.

Could he be the k*ller and the one that's dropped the driver's

License at the scene where the vehicle was found?

Justine sullivan had a warrant in existence for his

Arrest wholly unrelated to any of the matters pertaining to

This case.

In an attempt to evade that, he gave his brother's name.

Our curiosity was piqued to the point that we thought perhaps

Justin sullivan was using henry's identification and it

Could have conceivably been that justin dropped the i.d. Card at

The scene of the crime.

Narrator: but like his brother, justin denied any

Involvement in the murders.

He said he had an alibi -- that he was with friends at a

Nightclub, which they corroborated.

Then, investigators asked their third suspect,

William deparvine, for a dna sample.

He said no.

We don't have any probable cause at this point in time in

The investigation to indicate that mr. Deparvine is involved

In the m*rder, therefore, we don't have enough information to

Draw a search warrant.

Narrator: without a warrant, police couldn't get a genetic

Sample directly from deparvine, but there were other ways.

We were looking for him to either eat something, drink

Something and discard it, chew gum and discard it, or even spit

So that we could swab that up.

Narrator: a team of detectives was assigned to

Follow deparvine everywhere he went, hoping to somehow get his

Dna sample.

When someone's out on foot in a mall, we work in pairs of two,

So therefore, if you've got people, you've really only got a

Team of following a person, and you need at least to

People to follow somebody so that they don't know they're

Being followed.

Narrator: deparvine had earned a law degree while he was

In prison, and he was very careful, either because he was

Disciplined, or he knew he was being followed.

Mr. Deparvine is an intelligent individual.

He's not your average type of criminal.

He led a very monotonous, very bland type of lifestyle.

He would get up in the morning, he would go to work, and he

Would come back home and stay inside his little apartment and

Go to sleep.

Narrator: deparvine was a construction worker, and he had

No social life to speak of.

For months, the surveillance continued with no luck.

But deparvine made a mistake during the christmas shopping

Season.

He stopped at an ice cream store and bought a dessert known as a

Blizzard.

My partner at the time and I watched him eat the blizzard and

Felt that the way he was slowly eating the blizzard and taking

The spoon and raking it across his teeth, that that spoon would

Possibly give us some dna from mr. Deparvine.

Narrator: deparvine discarded the cup and the spoon, and

Investigators immediately retrieved the spoon from the

Trash.

Technology has become incredibly sensitive and

Incredibly powerful, and there is the ability to obtain dna

From the smallest piece of evidence in a very reproducible,

Very reliable manner.

Narrator: on the spoon, scientists found saliva.

They extracted dna and compared it to the blood found on the

Steering wheel of the van dusens' jeep.

The results left no doubt.

The dna profile that was developed from the steering

Wheel was matched to the dna profile that was obtained for

William deparvine -- his known standard.

Narrator: william deparvine was arrested and charged with

First-degree m*rder, yet he continued to maintain his

Innocence.

He claimed his neighbor, henry sullivan, was the culprit

And that the driver's license proved it.

A jury would have to decide.

Narrator: william deparvine admitted that he was with karla

And richard van dusen on the night they were m*rder*d.

Deparvine says he bought the couple's truck, and after he

Paid for it, he never saw them again.

But prosecutors didn't believe that.

They say the van dusens delivered the car, but deparvine

Didn't have the money, so he asked the van dusens to follow

Him to his friend's home to get the money.

Phone records indicate karla called her mother at : to say

She was driving behind the man who bought their truck.

Although no one knows why, they apparently left the pickup truck

At one location and all three got into the jeep on their

Way to get the money.

As deparvine led the van dusens to the deserted

Road, they may have realized that there was no friend, that

There was no money, and that this was a setup.

Deparvine used a .-Millimeter w*apon to order richard out of

The jeep and sh*t him.

He sh*t karla through the windshield.

The b*llet passed through her left hand as she tried to

Protect herself.

Then deparvine cut karla's seat belt to remove her body from

The jeep, and in doing so, accidentally cut his hand.

His blood dripped onto the steering wheel as he drove the

Jeep back to the pickup truck.

Before he abandoned the jeep, he planted henry sullivan's

Driver's license, which he may have stolen, since sullivan

Lived in the same apartment building as he did.

To cover his tracks, deparvine forged the bill of sale for the

Truck in the amount of $,, half of what the van dusens

Were asking for it.

Where he disposed of the m*rder w*apon remains a mystery.

He was on a work release when he k*lled karla and rick.

I had been told that federal investigators had deemed him to

Be a psychopath, a sociopath, and I was told by one of the

Prosecutors that they did not think this whole crime happened

Because he wanted that truck.

It happened because he was looking for somebody to k*ll.

Narrator: at the trial, deparvine insisted he was

Innocent and took the stand in his own defense.

As soon as mr. Deparvine took the stand, then prosecution

Turned very aggressive and went after mr. Deparvine and

Basically started to pull apart all of the alibis.

Narrator: deparvine told a series of stories trying to

Explain what happened, but none of them matched the physical

Evidence.

The point where I made up my mind that he must be guilty was

After I heard his complete testimony and decided that all

Of the alibis that he was coming up with were just beyond

Belief.

Narrator: the jury took three hours to find deparvine guilty,

And he was sentenced to death.

In the end, some saliva on a plastic spoon and a small nick

On his hand told investigators how he committed the crime and

How he k*lled two innocent people who were just trying to

Sell their truck and be on their way.

I was never really into

Forensic science or even gave it

Any thought, but since that time

Has happened, I have become

Hooked on court tv, and I've

Learned a lot about the way the

Law works and about the way

Forensics play into a case where

There's no eyewitness,

Especially.