03x13 - Random Sighting

[bunniefuu]

♪♪

Narrator: a gruesome discovery...

Rehak: I could see that there was a body,

A very badly burned body in the trunk.

Oh, my god.

Narrator: ...a young family shattered...

I stayed in louisiana... What am I gonna do?

...waiting on her to come back

So that we can come home together.

♪♪

Narrator ...detectives at their wit's end...

Richardson: it was frustrating.

It was the only thing we had.

...until they discover the one witness that never lies.

Having functioning cameras was just almost too good to be true.

Without the video,

I'm confident this would have never been solved.

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

Captions paid for by discovery communications

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: april 23, 2005, shreveport, louisiana.

Cousins tonya douglas and tosha lampkin

Are staying in town to visit family.

It's been a long drive from their home in houston, texas,

And tonya is ready to call it a night.

Are you hungry?

[ Chuckles ] no, but it seems like you are.

But tosha is too hungry to sleep.

And I told her that I could not make it to go

Because I was tired.

Okay, so if I go get some waffles,

Are you saying you're not gonna have any?

Okay. I'll call if you're going. All right.

I'm like, "well, let me at least call it in,"

So I called the order in for her.

Narrator: a few minutes later, tosha takes off...

Do not fall asleep.

...and tonya gets comfy.

[ Door closes ]

She doesn't wake up until 6:30 a.m.

Douglas: when I woke up, I was looking around like,

"She didn't even wake me up when she got in."

Kind of upset with tosha 'cause that wasn't like her.

Where is she?

[ Siren wailing ]

Narrator: about the same time,

Detective terry richardson is responding to a call.

There's a car on fire on the outskirts of town.

Richardson: when you have a fire,

Especially in a vehicle in a remote area,

That is certainly an overt act by someone

To mask, hide, or disguise what has taken place there.

When I arrived, there was still smoke coming from the car.

It was an intentional fire. This was no accident.

[ Rattling ]

Oh, my god.

Rehak: then I remember looking in,

And I could see that there was a body,

A very badly burned body in the trunk.

This was one of the worst cases I had encountered.

We knew that this was somebody's loved one.

Yeah, I want to get forensics down here.

Think we've got a probable homicide.

Thanks.

[ Police radio chatter ]

Narrator: detectives immediately start looking for clues.

Richardson: there were two noticeable b*llet holes

Near the gas filler cap on the rear fender.

Rehak: we noticed shell casings, spent cartridges on the ground.

Narrator: they're american eagle brand fired from a .38 handgun.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

Once the nissan altima has cooled down,

The medical examiner tries to i.d. The body.

This was an adult victim.

But again, didn't know male, female, or race.

Narrator: it's too badly burned for fingerprint

Or dental identification,

But there is one clue that survived the fire.

As we searched the car, we were able to see a gold tooth

With the letter "t" on it.

Detectives.

♪♪

Narrator: nearby, another potential lead.

Yeah. Can you check that texas plate for me, please?

Detectives immediately run a trace

On the license-plate number.

Uh-huh.

Back at police hq,

The license-plate check turns up a result.

[ Telephone ringing ]

Hello. Sergeant rehak.

Oh, thank you for calling.

The vehicle is a rental out of houston, texas,

And the renters are tonya douglas and tosha lampkin.

Got an address?

David motel off i-75.

Let's go.

Rehak: it's a single-story, older hotel.

It's, uh...low rent.

Tonya: oh, where have you been?

I've been so wor--

Good morning. Uh, tonya douglas?

I was very confused at first to why they were there.

The detectives just told me

That the car was on the side of the road.

Now, when did you last use it?

Last night.

My cousin tosha went to the waffle house.

Where's tosha now?

She's -- she's gone missing.

Rehak: we asked several questions about tosha's characteristics.

Does she have any tattoos, scars,

Anything unique about her -- teeth, hair?

She's got a gold tooth with the letter "t" written on it.

Narrator: detectives are now certain

Tosha lampkin is the body in the trunk.

We feel strongly, at this point at least,

In our heart, that that's who this is.

Can you tell me what's going on?

Unfortunately, we found the vehicle this morning,

And, um, it had been burned out.

Um...

We did find a body inside.

[ Sobbing ] no, it can't be her!

No!

And I just...

Started jumping up and down and just being ballistic.

It can't be my cousin!

What am I gonna do?

Tosha's my cousin,

And we grew to be more friends

And then like sisters.

And she was absolutely beautiful,

Absolutely beautiful, inside and out.

Tosha became a mother at 17 years old.

She absolutely did everything that she should do

For her child and loved him no matter what.

It was just a beautiful relationship.

They had their own communication thing going on,

And it was just amazing to see her as a mother.

Narrator: now 13-year-old marcus will have to face

The rest of his life without his mom.

Detectives now need to establish tosha's timeline...

Listen, I got to go. ...and start with a visit

To the motel office.

Thanks. I'm detective richardson.

This is detective rehak. Do you keep phone records?

Yeah, we do.

Can we have a look? Sure.

This is last night? Yep.

Rehak: we were able to confirm there was a call made from the room

To the waffle house, you know, a short distance away.

Narrator: now attention turns to the motel guests.

Rehak: maybe she was abducted at the hotel or taken from the hotel

By somebody who was already there.

♪♪

Richardson: we had detectives who went door to door,

Talking to everyone who would answer their door.

No? This young lady went missing late last night.

Wondering if you saw anything. Nope.

Or anything like that yesterday?

Nothing, eh?

Thanks very much for your time.

Narrator: no one seems to have seen or heard anything,

So detectives search for another kind of witness,

One that never hides the truth.

Rehak: I remember looking up, and there was a camera mounted

On the side of the building.

Narrator: in total, there are four surveillance cameras

Covering the parking lot and lobby.

Having functioning cameras was just almost too good to be true.

Narrator: these cameras have seen a lot

And will reveal the secret of tosha's fiery death.

Narrator: 30-year-old tosha lampkin

Has been brutally m*rder*d,

And detectives have just caught their first break.

Surveillance cameras cover the lobby

And parking lot of her motel.

The motel uses a standard,

Low-grade dvr surveillance system.

It was a split-screen, four independent channels,

One channel for each camera.

Narrator: before the detectives watch the previous night's video,

They check to make sure the time code is accurate.

It's not.

It's an hour and 12 minutes slow.

[ Clicking ]

They cue the video to 10:00 p.m.,

The time tonya claims she and tosha checked in.

Camera four gives detectives a clear view of the office.

Minutes pass...

...and it remains empty.

Then, at 10:09...

...two women enter the frame.

♪♪

Richardson: I'd say that's tosha. You agree?

Rehak: I think so.

Narrator: both tonya and tosha appear relaxed

As they sign the guest book.

Detectives inspect every frame of the video,

Looking for anyone or anything suspicious.

We didn't see any other people in the background

That may have been looking at them or near them.

Narrator: next, detectives select camera two,

Which covers the area where the cousins' room is located.

They skip forward to 3:27 a.m.,

The time tonya claims tosha left to get takeout.

There -- it looks like a figure walking past the light.

Narrator: the footage shows a person walking away

From where tosha and tonya's room is located

Before disappearing.

Yeah. Rewind.

Unfortunately, the picture's too grainy for detectives

To be sure it's tosha.

Could be anyone.

Six minutes later, car headlights are seen first

On camera three, then on camera two.

Let's see that again. Stop there.

Look it. Same chassis.

It's the right color.

Narrator: the vehicle caught on video is one detectives have seen before.

It's the burnt-out nissan altima where tosha was later found.

Detectives assume that's her behind the wheel.

Richardson: we can't see which direction it turns

As it exits the property, but we surmise

That she was in route to the waffle house

To retrieve the food they had ordered.

Narrator: all officers know for certain is that tosha left the motel

At 3:51 a.m. Alone.

Now, they must establish if she ever made it

To the waffle house just over a mile away.

Just trying to follow up on a lead.

Do you have any receipts from last night at all?

If tosha did pick up her food,

Then her name should be on one of these receipts.

♪♪

Yeah, she was here.

Richardson: that receipt did have the name

"Tosha" handwritten on it.

Narrator: detectives now know tosha made it to the restaurant.

Is this where she first crossed paths with her k*ller?

We were very hopeful that, when we got to the waffle house,

We'd find video cameras.

Uh, do you have any surveillance here?

No.

Um, there were no cameras to help.

Narrator: so detectives search for eyewitnesses instead.

Do you -- do you recognize this girl?

Richardson: there was another employee who remembers a female

Fitting tosha's description.

Narrator: according to this witness,

Tosha didn't speak to any of the other customers

And left as soon as her food was ready.

All right. Thank you very much.

So we were confident she made it there

And was by herself and left.

Narrator: but what happens afterwards remains a mystery.

♪♪

Out of leads, detective richardson

Brings tonya in for further questioning.

In most cases, the victim is known by the perpetrator,

So we were looking for any reason,

Why would somebody do such a thing?

Did you have an argument with someone?

Tell me about her boyfriend.

What do you want to know?

What's he like?

He's okay, I guess. I don't really know him.

Narrator: when tosha visited shreveport,

She would see boyfriend donald brompton.

Douglas: donald was a person that tosha had met years ago.

And when me and tosha would make trips out there,

That's who she would see.

Did tosha see her boyfriend the night she went missing?

No, but she made a call to him that night.

What about after she left the motel?

Could they have hooked up without you knowing?

I don't know. I told you, I was sleeping.

Richardson: did tosha meet with him?

We don't know at this point. Tonya was unsure.

Narrator: while headquarters tries to track down donald brompton,

Detectives return to the david motel

Surveillance video...

...to see if tosha made it back

After her trip to the waffle house.

♪♪

They rewind the tape to the moment

Tosha drove off...

...and continue to watch every angle, every frame.

For the next 17 minutes, there's no movement

Of any kind on any of the cameras...

...until, at 4:08 a.m.,

A dark-colored sedan enters the parking lot.

Go back.

Pause.

That's her car.

It's a gray nissan altima just like tosha's.

It looks like she's returned.

But as investigators are about to discover,

This time, she's not alone.

Narrator: tosha lampkin has been captured on surveillance video

Returning to the david motel

A little before 4:00 in the morning.

Tosha returns to the david motel with the food.

Narrator: what happens next sends

A chill down investigators' spines.

Yeah. Stop there.

A small red car pulls into the driveway shortly after her.

You can't really see who.

Now play from there.

You can see brake lights come on.

Narrator: the red car stops right behind tosha's vehicle,

Blocking her in.

Look at that.

Detectives catch a glimpse of movement.

A dark shape is visible

In close proximity to tosha's car.

Want to see it again?

♪♪

Could this be tosha's boyfriend?

When we first saw, we didn't know,

Was this donald at that point?

It was frustrating.

But then, also, it was the only thing we had.

Narrator: at this distance, in the middle of the night,

It's impossible to make an i.d.

The taillights tell the police,

Whoever it is, he's not alone.

Richardson: someone is still in the red car

With their foot on the brake pedal,

So we know there are at least two people there.

Narrator: detectives continue to watch.

The seconds roll by.

Couple minutes later, we see the same red car leave,

And then almost immediately comes tosha's car.

Narrator: police cannot tell if tosha's in the car...

Or if she's alone.

Go back.

[ Rewinding ]

Go frame by frame.

The drivers of this red car have now become

The prime suspects in tosha's m*rder.

Detectives need to establish if donald is one of them.

Pause.

But there's a problem.

Richardson: we were unable to clearly see the drivers of the vehicle.

We were unable to clearly read a license-plate number

Or even a license-plate state.

Narrator: nor can they even determine the make and model.

We sent that footage to a local vendor

To try to enhance it as best we could.

Narrator: meantime, tosha's local boyfriend

Donald brompton's been tracked down

And hauled into the station.

When we interviewed donald, we ran him through the computer.

He did show to have an active warrant.

So what's your relationship with ms. Lampkin?

We asked for a statement of how well he knew tosha.

We hung out, you know, went to clubs, that sort of thing.

But, uh, you're more than just friends.

[ Sighs ]

Narrator: brompton reluctantly admits to the relationship.

How long have you been seeing tosha?

I ain't seen -- I guess a little over a year off and on.

He denies seeing tosha on the night she was m*rder*d,

But they were in touch.

He said he did receive a phone call,

But it was too late in the evening,

And they were not gonna go out that night.

Narrator: he even has an alibi.

I was at home.

Is there anyone that can verify that you were home?

Yes, my girlfriend.

How would your girlfriend feel if she found out about tosha?

[ Sighs ]

I guess she wouldn't like it too much?

Yeah.

Narrator: brompton's alibi only raises more suspicion.

No.

Could this be the reason that tosha was k*lled?

Could she have threatened donald,

"I'm gonna tell this other girl about us"?

What kind of car do you drive?

A ford crown victoria.

Color?

Silver.

Narrator: brompton's car doesn't match the one

Seen on the surveillance video...

...but he could have borrowed the red vehicle

For a secret rendezvous.

Police take brompton into custody

On his previous warrant and follow up on his alibi.

Can you tell me anything about your relationship with mr. Brompton?

Yeah. Well, he's my partner. We have a son together.

Richardson: we look at everybody as a person of interest

Until they're ruled out.

So you saying you were with mr. Brompton all night?

He never went out anywhere?

No, we were at home together, putting our son to sleep.

Everything they said matched.

Thank you very much.

Narrator: with his alibi checking out,

Brompton is off the hook... For now.

Back at the sheriff's office, the autopsy report comes in.

Dna did confirm this was tosha lampkin.

Narrator: and there's a horrifying revelation.

There was smoke in tosha's lungs,

Meaning she was alive when the car was set on fire.

To learn that she had been burned alive made me mad,

To be honest with you.

Why make her suffer like that?

Narrator: investigators are more determined than ever

To bring the young mother's K*llers to justice,

But the trail has gone cold.

Two days go by, and the family

Still can't accept tosha's not coming home.

I've never allowed my mind to accept that

Tosha was in the back of that car.

I stayed in louisiana, waiting on her to come back,

So that we can come home together.

[ Siren wails in distance ]

Let's see what we got.

Narrator: two days after the m*rder,

The enhanced stills come back

From the motel surveillance video.

Can we zoom in on the license plate?

Still can't read it.

It's disappointing not to get the license plate,

But there may be other ways to i.d. The vehicle.

See that in the rear dash? What do you think that is?

It's hard to tell.

Parking sticker?

Could be a sticker.

Okay. Let's see what else we got.

Look at the missing trim.

There was a piece of body trim that was missing.

Narrator: detectives now know they are searching

For a red vehicle with trim

Missing from the driver's side door

And what they believe to be a sticker on the rear window.

They release the cctv images to local media

In the hope the public can identify it...

[ Telephone ringing ]

...and it turns out someone can.

[ Ringing continues ]

Narrator: detectives working the tosha lampkin m*rder case

Have released cctv images of the suspects' red vehicle,

And within two hours of the images going public,

Detectives get the call they've been hoping for.

Hello? Sergeant rehak.

One very important phone call came in.

A lady called and said, "that is my daughter's car."

What's your daughter's name, ma'am?"

When we learned the car belonged to laquetta,

A young lady, we immediately set out

To her apartment complex.

As I rounded the corner, I could see it's the car.

Oh, this is the car. I'm sure of it.

I knew that from the body trim missing.

And at that point, I realized the white object

On the rear window was actually a white towel.

Narrator: now to figure out how much laquetta knows.

Are you laquetta stafford?

Yes.

Is that your car?

Can you tell me, does the name tosha lampkin

Mean anything to you? No.

Who is she?

Richardson: we did go over that with her,

And we felt confident that she had

No connection whatsoever with tosha lampkin.

Narrator: but they still need to establish her whereabouts

That night and those of her car.

Um...

Laquetta tells detectives

She was at her friend granada's apartment.

We learned that granada's brother was staying with her.

His name was dwight.

Throughout the evening, dwight kept pestering laquetta.

Can I please borrow the car tonight?

You don't give up, do you? No.

Okay.

Eventually, just before midnight,

She let him use it.

Here. And take the keys. Needs gas.

Be back in a couple hours.

He was only supposed to be gone a short time,

But he was gone way beyond that.

Bacon: hey. This is dwight. Talk to you later.

[ Beep ]

Dwight, where are you and where is my car?

Call me.

Then, he finally showed up with the car.

It was, I believe, around 5:00 or 6:00.

And where's granada's apartment?

Just off old minden road.

Narrator: the location raises a red flag.

It's on the same road as the waffle house.

Certainly, things seemed to be falling into place

At this point -- the location of the apartment,

The location of the waffle house restaurant,

The fact that we were told dwight

Was driving the red car that night.

Narrator: if laquetta is telling the truth,

Dwight bacon just became

The prime suspect in tosha's m*rder.

But before they head out to find him,

They try to get as much information

From laquetta as possible.

Richardson: we wanted to ask, is there anything different

About your car

When this man borrowed it and when he brought it back --

Any damage, any smells,

Anything in there that was not there before?

This was in the backseat.

She did point out a pink contact-lens case

That had the name "rebecca" written on it.

Do you know anyone named rebecca?

No.

She did not know anybody named rebecca,

And she did not wear contacts.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

Narrator: officers now suspect there's a second victim...

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

...and release a picture of the case to the media.

♪♪

While they wait for answers,

They bring dwight bacon in for questioning.

He did, without hesitation,

Tell us he did borrow the red car.

He told us he had it all night long.

He told us that he had taken the car

To shreveport to another hotel,

Stayed the night there with a young lady.

Narrator: he claims he never went to the david motel

And insists no one else drove the red toyota,

But there's hard evidence that proves otherwise.

Richardson: and it was at that point we showed him

The surveillance footage from the david motel.

Narrator: it's a trap, and dwight has walked right into it.

Richardson: he didn't have a good answer

As to why it's at the david motel,

Which is nowhere near his hotel.

Narrator: detectives think he's lying.

But so far, they don't have any proof.

But the parking-lot surveillance video

Is not the only one in this case.

The video police are about to discover will solve it.

Narrator: detectives investigating tosha lampkin's m*rder

Are closing in on prime suspect dwight bacon.

Following the media appeal,

A lead on the pink contact-lens case

Comes through to the sheriff's office.

[ Telephone ringing ]

Detective malcolm laing answers the call.

Detective laing.

It's from a young woman named rebecca.

She claims to be the owner.

Rebecca contacted us.

And once we were able to interview her in person,

We were able to verify it was, in fact, her contact case.

Narrator: she's got a horrifying tale to tell.

When did this happen?



Two hours before tosha is abducted.

Laing: rebecca arrived back at her apartment,

And when she looked up,

She saw a black male standing at the doorway.

Get out! Get out!

She was terrified and basically ran screaming

Where she beat on the lobby door

Until the security guard came to the door.

Narrator: the assailant managed to steal rebecca's bag

With her pink contact-lens case inside.

She didn't get a good look,

But officers are hopeful he's a match for dwight bacon.

There's no cameras overlooking the scene,

But police are about to discover another place that does.

I was able to learn that dwight bacon had actually pawned

A .380-caliber handgun the month before.

Narrator: the same caliber as the shells found at the crime scene.

On the off chance that it may be the same handgun,

I went to the pawn shop

To see if the firearm was still there...

...and learned that he had came and paid his fees

And recovered the firearm from the pawn shop.

Narrator: the g*n was picked up at 8:58 a.m.

On april 22nd,

Less than 24 hours before tosha was m*rder*d.

And there should be a surefire way

To prove it was dwight.

Do those cameras work? Yes.

I'm gonna need to see the footage.

The manager cues the video

To a few minutes before the time of the transaction

And hits play.

At 8:31 a.m., A man enters the store

Wearing jeans and a tank top.

Unaware he's being recorded,

The man walks right into the camera's view.

This could be the proof detectives need

To finally nail their suspect.

At one point, you'll see him turn and look to his right,

Where he's almost looking at the camera.

Stop there.

Narrator: the figure buying the m*rder weapon

Is an african-american male

With the same build as dwight bacon.

He also purchased a 50-round box of american eagle ammunition,

Which was important because american eagle

Was the brand of cartridge cases found back at the scene,

So it made it a real strong possibility

That was going to be the handgun involved in the crime.

[ Police radio chatter ]

Narrator: officers execute a search warrant

On the apartment dwight shares with his sister.

Laing: once we make sure the residence is safe,

Then we basically set up and search very methodically.

I was hoping to find both the weapon and the ammunition

If at all possible.

Narrator: they find what they are looking for in dwight's bedroom.

When you open the box and find what is most likely the weapon

Used in the crime, that's like winning a prize.

Narrator: with the evidence against him stacking up,

Dwight eventually crumbles.

It was at that point that he began to change

Some of the initial story he told us

And that he was, in fact, at the david motel.

Narrator: dwight claims that he was driving laquetta's red car

In the early hours of april 23rd,

And he wasn't alone.

He was with a school friend named brandon davis.

Brandon davis is a known criminal

Only recently released from jail following a robbery conviction.

[ Car alarm chirps ]

Dwight claims they saw tosha at the waffle house...

...followed her back to the motel...

...blocked her car...

...and abducted her together.

One drove the red car. The other had a g*n on tosha.

They then drove to a remote location



Get out! Get out!

Get out! Get out!

This was a very, very evil deed.

[ Screams ]

They forced her into the trunk of the car.

[ Indistinct shouting ]

[ Whimpers ]

[ Screams ]

Narrator: investigators believe that brandon davis

Then fired two shots at the gas tank.

[ g*nshots ]

And while she was still alive, set that car on fire.

When they tell us

And we learn that they hear tosha screaming...

...that they hear her screaming about her son

And they just leave her to die like that,

I just see great cowardice on their part.

[ Camera shutter clicking ]

Narrator: brandon davis is immediately arrested

And brought in for questioning.

Dwight bacon and brandon davis are convicted of

The highest charge, first-degree m*rder,

And sentenced to life in prison.

Richardson: without the video from the david motel...

...i'm confident this would have never been solved.

Narrator: tosha's family still struggles

To come to terms with this senseless loss.

To hear someone begging for their life in a trunk

While you're burning them alive, and they're telling you

That they want to live for their child...

Was the roughest thing that I had to hear.

Narrator: but tosha's spirit lives on through her son, marcus.

Every time I kiss or hug him, I get to feel a part of tosha.