04x05 - Dead Man Walking

[bunniefuu]

[ Siren chirps ]

Narrator: a brutal m*rder...

Just a predatory, evil nature.

Narrator: ...leaves a family devastated.

Seeing my brother be stalked like a piece of prey,

This was a pain that I had never felt before.

Narrator: to find a k*ller,

Detectives must track their victim

Across a city.

Their behavior on video -- I knew they did it.

Narrator: somewhere in 300 hours of video

Is a clue that will solve a m*rder.

It's almost like watching a movie

And all you want to do is shout, "go the other way."

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

Captions paid for by discovery communications

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: wednesday, september 16, 2015,

Rapid city, south dakota.

For 20 years, ed lowry has worked the night shift

On the printing presses at the "rapid city journal."

Martinez: I met ed when I started working in 2008.

Ed put me at ease right away.

He loved to joke.

He loved to see people laugh and smile.

I guess I'll, uh -- I'll see you on sunday.

Don't party too hard.

I will!

We got to be really close.

Narrator: today, ed's in an especially good mood.

He's just been promoted.

♪♪

The 56-year-old is divorced with 2 grown daughters.

He lives alone, but right next door

To his mom and older sister, jamie.

Ed: hi, mom.

Oh, hi, sweetie. How are you?

Not so bad.

How about yourself?

Good. Nice to see you.

My brother ed was my best friend.

We got along so well.

We just did everything together.

My brother was the guy that would give you

The shirt off his back,

And, although it's a cliché, he really was that guy.

I'm going to go and, uh, work on the bike for a while.

-Okay. -I'll see you guys later.

-Catch you later. -Alright.

Narrator: 11:30 p.m.

Ed is heading out to celebrate his promotion.

Martinez: ed always wore a stocking cap,

Loved his cigarettes.

I always remember ed feeling like he was a real ladies' man.

Ed was always a real gentleman.

Narrator: and this night seems full of possibilities.

But three hours later, a patrol cop makes a grim discovery

Off east philadelphia street --

A body in the middle of the parking lot.

[ Police radio chatter ]

Officer: I got a 10-54 here,

Requesting csi and detectives, over.

[ Siren wailing ]

Narrator: detective dan deneire is quickly on the scene.

What have we got here?

Whatever happened, this was no accident.

The victim was lying facedown in an open,

Concrete parking lot.

There was what appeared to be almost scuff marks

On the back of his skull.

He had been stomped on by a boot or a shoe.

We good to turn him over?

We also had lifted up his shirt

And found what appeared to be four stab wounds --

Two in the chest area and two lower down in the abdomen.

Narrator: the body is still warm,

Meaning the attack was recent.

His pants pockets had been turned inside out,

Money and wallet were missing.

Narrator: moments later, detective bloomenrader

Arrives at the gruesome m*rder scene.

Bloomenrader: for a robbery,

The amount of violence seemed unusual.

He'd been very -- very badly beaten.

Narrator: but there is one form of i.d.

Left behind -- a prescription bottle.

Yeah.

Looks like it's lowry, edward.

Narrator: ed lowry's big night out

Has ended in the most horrific way possible.

And without any witnesses, solving this m*rder

Is going to be an uphill battle.

♪♪

I'll never forget the phone call when it happened.

I had just gotten to work, and the phone rang

Very early in the morning, just shortly after 7:00 a.m.

And it was my mom on the caller i.d.

And I thought, "something's not right."

Hi, mom.

Where are you now?

I'm at work.

She said, "I got a problem."

And I said, "what's the matter?"

And she said, "edward was m*rder*d last night."

What?

And it started an emotional roller coaster in me that --

To try to support my mom through that,

To try to support myself and my sisters,

So that we can all come together

As a family to cope with this was...

A pain that I had never felt before.

When I initially found out that my brother was m*rder*d,

I thought it was a bad dream.

When a family member gets m*rder*d,

It's just inconceivable.

♪♪

Narrator: with no cameras covering the crime scene,

Detectives fan out to see

If there's any cctv in the vicinity.

It felt like that lot was probably the only area void

Of surveillance footage in this --

The nearby six blocks.

♪♪

Narrator: they also tried to track ed's movements

Through his bank records.

♪♪

Federal bank -- that's the lot.

Sure enough, $200 was withdrawn close to the crime scene

At 11:39 p.m.,

Just three hours before ed's body was found.

Could this be the k*ller's doing?

Bloomenrader rushes over to the bank

To check out the camera covering the atm.

♪♪

Okay.

Footage-wise, it would have been around 11:40 p.m.

That's when the money was withdrawn.

♪♪

Well, I didn't know if I was going to be looking at ed

Or someone else, who could be the k*ller.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: at 11:39 p.m.,

A figure approaches,

But it's not the k*ller.

In his glasses and signature head scarf,

It's ed lowry himself.

♪♪

♪♪

While the machine processes his transaction,

Ed looks to his left,

As if he's heard something off-camera.

♪♪

Ed pulls out his money and counts it.

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♪♪

He even takes the time to neatly fold his receipt.

Ed then heads off in the direction of main street.

In less than three hours, he'll be found dead.

Finding it on video at the atm was the start of our timeline.

It was the first definite point where we could say,

"We know he's here"

And we're able to follow up with video in that general direction.

Narrator: bloomenrader carries on,

Watching for signs of someone lurking.

♪♪

But it doesn't appear ed is being tailed.

The search is now on for more cctv footage.

A few blocks from the atm,

Deneire spots a camera above an electronics store.

The store manager pulls up the file for when ed left the atm.

♪♪

The footage shows a mostly empty parking lot

And occasional passing vehicles.

♪♪

♪♪

Then, at 12:02 a.m.,

Detectives see an approaching shadow.

Narrator: in rapid city, south dakota,

Detectives working the ed lowry m*rder case

Still don't know how he ended up dead

In the middle of a parking lot at 3:00 a.m.

It was t*rture not knowing

If we're going to have closure,

If we're ever going to find out who did it.

What happened, why they did it?

Narrator: investigators have found video of ed

At an atm at 11:39.

Now they need a nearby surveillance camera

To tell them what happened next.

♪♪

♪♪

At 12:02 a.m.,

A dark figure crosses the parking lot.

♪♪

Deneire notices periodic flashes

Towards the top of the figure's head.

♪♪

The man is wearing glasses and a leather jacket,

Just like ed.

That's him.

Narrator: his pace is casual but direct,

A man who knows where he's headed.

So far, there's no sign of trouble.

But everything rests on finding the next step in ed's journey.

And in the direction ed was walking, right next door,

There's a car wash that also has surveillance.

♪♪

The manager cues it to 12:03 a.m. And hits play.

♪♪

At 12:04, two minutes after he crossed

The parking lot next door, ed shows up again.

It helps that we're getting him on camera,

And so we know where he is.

♪♪

Oop, wait a minute.

Um, could you wind that back a bit?

As ed crosses the car wash...

...he collects something off the ground...

...and carries it out of frame.

Strange, indeed.

You think he's doing a deal or something?

Though ed lowry has a spotless record,

The team has to consider the possibility

He was involved with something sketchy on the side.

♪♪

♪♪

But there aren't any answers yet, just more questions.

In the aftermath of the m*rder,

Investigators collect hundreds of hours

Of cctv footage from main street

Where ed was last headed,

But the trail goes cold

Until detective harris decides on a different tack,

To search through footage from the back streets instead.

Okay, so on the main drag, I couldn't find him.

He just vanished, right? -Uh-huh.

So I took a look at this back alley here

And, um, just take a look.

Surveillance showing an auto-parts store,

Half a mile from where ed was last seen,

Has caught something.

Seven minutes after the car-wash footage,

At 12:11 a.m., Ed lowry appears again.

Bloomenrader: when you watch that much video,

You kind of become familiar with watching ed move

And he had this distinctive gait

And you could pick that up.

Narrator: but then,

Investigators notice something else.

Whatever he picked up at the car wash is now gone.

If a meeting took place, they missed it.

But there is a potential new lead

Near the end of ed's journey --

A motel called the south dakota rose inn.

Excuse me.

Uh, does the camera work outside?

It's just a four-minute walk from the m*rder scene.

♪♪

There are four cameras recording.

♪♪

Wait. Is that him?

Something on the bottom-left screen catches their attention.

At 1:42 a.m.,

A dark figure walks through the parking lot.

Detective deneire and I saw a suspect walking from the area

Where ed's body was found.

Narrator: there's something different about him.

Whoever it is doesn't have ed's distinctive walk.

He could be a key witness...

Or it could be the k*ller.

The motel workers recognize him as a regular.

The management was able to identify as scott kosha.

Narrator: background checks reveal kosha is well-known

To the rapid city police department.

[ Siren wailing ]

Finally, they could be closing in on their k*ller.

When you got the suspects on video, you feel that,

"Alright, I'm going to get ya."

Narrator: the vital questions now are,

Where does kosha go next,

And is he involved in ed lowry's death?

Narrator: in the hunt for ed lowry's k*ller,

Detectives finally have a suspect.

Scott kosha, a known criminal,

Has been caught on camera at 1:42 a.m.,

Just yards from the m*rder scene

Near the time of the k*lling.

Harris: once we were able to identify scott

As being the subject we saw in the video

We saw from the south dakota rose,

A quick search in our systems showed that he was in jail.

Narrator: kosha was arrested for another crime

Days after the m*rder.

Where were you that night?

Kosha claims he got to the motel around 1:40 a.m.

And he didn't leave again until the next day.

You got the security tapes, right?

Narrator: they know ed was likely attacked

Between 2:00 and 2:20 a.m.,

So if kosha is telling the truth, he's in the clear.

But no one's taking this known criminal at his word.

Okay.

They search his possessions for any ties to the m*rder.

-Uh, cellphone? -Yep.

-Wallet? -Mm-hmm.

Uh, a pair of pants?

Narrator: and, ominously, a pair of boots.

Look at that.

Let's have a look.

The shoes in scott's property looked like they could

Possibly be the source of the mark on ed's face.

What is this? What does that look like to you?

There was a foreign substance on there that was dark in color.

I couldn't tell what it was, but I was concerned

That it might be ed's blood.

Narrator: the boots are shipped off to the crime lab.

Back at the police station,

Interior footage from the dakota rose inn has arrived.

Detectives watch to see if scott kosha's alibi stands up.

At 1:42, someone walks into frame.

It's scott kosha.

Bloomenrader: we reviewed video and, as things pieced together,

We were able to determine that scott was in his room

At the time of ed's m*rder.

Narrator: and his boots are a dead end, too.

Bloomenrader: our forensic examiner

Was able to look at the shoes

And test them and determine there was no blood on the shoes.

It was very clear that scott kosha

Was not a suspect in ed's m*rder.

Narrator: compounding the lack of leads,

Closer analysis of the car-wash footage reveals

That the item ed picked up wasn't part of a nefarious plot.

It was just a piece of lost clothing.

Seems ed truly was the good samaritan

Everyone described.

Solving his m*rder is getting harder by the day.

It's like you're in limbo.

It's like your life can't go forwards.

It's like you're just stuck in a hole.

I was feeling under pressure to produce a suspect

And I was becoming somewhat concerned

About the outcome of this case.

Narrator: desperate to find ed on cctv again,

Detectives try a different approach.

They know ed went out to celebrate his promotion,

So they checked the footage

They've already got for ed's next likely stop.

Not far from the auto-parts store

And the crime scene is dean "o"s casino.

Harris cues up their footage, starting at 12:11 a.m.

When ed was last seen walking behind the auto-parts store.

♪♪

♪♪

At 12:27 a.m.,

A man enters frame, wearing a bandana and leather jacket.

♪♪

It's ed lowry.

♪♪

Harris: he sat at a table by himself.

He didn't gamble or play any of the machines.

Narrator: he sits and drinks beer for 20 minutes.

He had two or three beers inside there

Before paying his tab and then walking out the door.

♪♪

Narrator: it's 12:48 a.m. When ed leaves dean "o"s.

Detectives keep watching.

But no one follows him out.

♪♪

Since his body wasn't discovered until 3:00 a.m.,

Investigators theorize that ed visited

Another watering hole after dean "o"s.

The next bar along his route is the east north street casino.

Detectives haven't yet got their cctv,

So they head over to get the footage

And talk to the bartender.

Barkeep told us she didn't remember seeing ed that night,

Even though she knew him as a regular.

Narrator: to be certain, deneire still wants to trawl

Through all their footage.

Let's take a look at this.

Narrator: to their surprise, at 1:03 a.m.,

Ed walks in, orders a drink,

And chats with the very same bartender

Who couldn't recall seeing him.

I don't understand. She said she didn't talk to him.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: he then heads towards a table,

Just yards from the bar.

The team checks the entire night's footage to see

If this is where ed met his k*ller.

But, once again, he's alone...

...seemingly overlooked by everyone,

Including the bartender.

The last person to see him

Didn't even remember that he was in there.

That was kind of sad.

♪♪

Narrator: at 1:52 a.m.,

Ed returns his empty bottle to the bar...

...then exits into the night.

And that's when the sadness of it really hit me, because I knew

I was watching this man's last moments on earth.

Narrator: hot on ed's trail,

Harris pulls footage from a business

Three doors down from the casino,

On the route to where ed's body was found --

The ranch house motel.

If the motel cameras were switched on,

They could reveal what happened to ed

In the final yards of his fatal journey.

The camera shows the alley next to the motel.

At 1:53 a.m.,

A man walks through the top left of the screen.

There you are.

With his distinctive walk, it's definitely ed lowry...

...captured in the minutes before his death,

Just yards from where it happened.

The entire investigation now hinges on what happens next.

Guys.

Narrator: hundreds of hours of cctv

Has revealed ed lowry's final journey from an atm

To a couple of bars to the apparent start of his walk home.

Now a newly identified clip marks

A stunning turn in the investigation.

At 1:53, two minutes after leaving the casino,

Ed strolls past the ranch house motel, smoking a cigarette.

Man: and there he goes. Yeah.

You're right. Headed home, right?

But watch this.

♪♪

Turns out, ed isn't the only one on the street just then.

♪♪

We see three individuals who are walking east

And, therefore, had just passed mr. Lowry.

And then they go out of the camera view.

Narrator: detectives zero in on these new players.

♪♪

♪♪

Instinct tells them to keep watching.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Deneire: several seconds later, they are seen coming back,

Following in the direction of mr. Lowry.

♪♪

When I watched those guys make that u-turn and follow ed,

Like it was a predatory stalking turn, I knew this was them.

Narrator: the three men are clearly on ed's tail,

Now on the other side of the street.

♪♪

♪♪

Desperate for another view of this pursuit,

Detectives visit a pawn store

That lies on ed's journey

From the casino to the m*rder scene...

...and watch the video starting at 1:55.

♪♪

♪♪

The top part of the screen is completely blurred out

By street lights.

But it's possible to make out ed's legs heading west.

Detectives keep the footage running.

♪♪

Moments later, the three men appear.

Bloomenrader has a sickening realization.

You got any other cameras?

Alright, can we take a look, please?

These predators are already planning an ambush.

I could distinctly tell that these three suspects

Were turning down an alley

That comes out right across from where ed's body was found.

♪♪

Narrator: the three suspects have veered away,

But not because they've lost interest.

Harris: they're going to stalk ed.

They're kind of moving down the alleyway

And taking their sweater off

And putting the bandana over their face,

The hood of their sweatshirt up.

♪♪

Narrator: now new footage from the business

Closest to the crime scene,

The castle inn, could reveal ed's last moments.

-Okay. So... -What we got?

♪♪

Narrator: at 1:58 a.m.,

Less than an hour before his body is discovered

Just 200 yards away, ed walks past...

♪♪

♪♪

...oblivious that just yards behind him,

Now in fast pursuit, are three masked men.

Bloomenrader: it's like watching a movie.

I know the ending and all you want to do is shout at ed,

"Go the other way," something.

♪♪

Ed went in, the suspects go in.

In that blank space, ed's being beaten and m*rder*d.

[ Men scuffling, laughing ]

♪♪

Narrator: detectives watch

The rest of the castle inn footage.

♪♪

They don't have to wait long before seeing the men again,

But their behavior has changed and their hoods are down.

They look relaxed as they cross the street,

Away from the m*rder scene.

They're going that way.

They're going to pass kenny's body shop.

They go back to the footage

Showing the auto-parts store ed passed earlier.

♪♪

♪♪

At 2:02 a.m.,

The three suspects appear in the frame.

Bloomenrader: as the suspects come up herman street,

Two of them can be seen jumping around, waving their arms.

♪♪

It looked like they were celebrating that just happened.

Their behavior on video -- I knew they did it.

Narrator: investigators believe

They've seen ed lowry's K*llers.

Now they've got to find them.

♪♪

Narrator: after trawling through surveillance footage

For clues on ed lowry's m*rder,

Rapid city police have zeroed in on three suspects

Seen celebrating just minutes after the crime.

Their behavior on video -- I knew they did it.

Narrator: but the footage is too grainy

To make any i.d.s.

Investigators have a hunch that the men might spend

The cash they stole from ed,

So they sift through footage from 24-hour stores in the area.

-Check this out. -Okay.

It's a convenience store, right?

-Mm-hmm. -Alright.

♪♪

Narrator: at 2:06 a.m.,

Three young men are seen approaching

The corner pantry convenience store.

It's their suspects and they're still celebrating.

Two of them stay outside

And the subject in the blue shirt goes in.

The two suspects who remain outside --

They were passing back a wallet, back and forth to each other.

Looking through it, opening it.

It was unusual.

It was not their wallet.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: inside, the third man buys candy

With the stolen cash.

♪♪

♪♪

And at 2:08 a.m.,

They head off without an apparent care in the world.

When you've identified these guys as the guys

Who probably just k*lled ed,

It just shows their lack of remorse

Or their lack of being in touch with other human beings.

Just a predatory, evil nature.

Narrator: detectives are able to identify the suspects

As hunter highpipe,

Gabe heikkinen, and ranon bissonette.

Ranon was well-known to the patrol officers on the streets.

He had some issues with law enforcement

And others around the neighborhood.

Narrator: bissonette and highpipe

Both have criminal records for theft and as*ault.

And, by chance, both are in the county jail on separate charges.

Well, let's go talk to them.

But bissonette won't talk.

And neither will highpipe.

Without a confession, detectives must build

A step-by-step video timeline

Of the night's events to prove their suspects' guilt.

They put the finished timeline before the d.a.

♪♪

It was terribly exciting to have the whole case come together

In a way that I knew I could sell to 12 jurors.

I knew we had our bad guys.

Nothing was able to tell the story

In a way that brought us to the point

That we could indict the case like that video.

Narrator: but as the d.a. Approves arrest warrants,

Gabe heikkinen commits suicide.

Investigators need someone to flip and highpipe

Is looking like the weaker link.

We really believe

That ranon bissonette was the stabber,

So I made the decision to approach hunter highpipe

And offer him a deal.

Narrator: but only if he talks.

Detective: what happened that night?

A year and a half after ed lowry's m*rder,

Hunter highpipe finally confesses.

This is what happened.

Highpipe says he, heikkinen,

And bissonette cross paths with ed on the street

In moments not caught on camera.

They had bumped into him and sized him up

To see how good of a candidate he was to rob.

Was he going to fight back?

And when they felt his wallet, they could feel that the --

That $200 cash

That he had taken out of the atm was there.

And hunter highpipe told us that,

"We knew we were going to rob him."

Narrator: they then turn and follow ed into the darkness.

The moment where you can see the three suspects turn around

And follow ed lowry became so much more poignant.

To be able to see that with your own eyes

And know that two minutes from then, his life was taken.

Seeing my brother edward be stalked like a piece of prey

In a pack of wild animals --

I felt anger and rage.

Why would you do this to him?

Narrator: highpipe claimed they didn't mean to k*ll ed.

Harris: how could you not think you were going to k*ll someone

When you stab them four times or stomp on their head?

Narrator: as the suspects kick the life out of ed,

Bissonette seals his fate,

Stabbing him four times in the chest and stomach,

All for $200.

♪♪

High on the thrill, they waste no time

Spending their blood money,

Providing police with the critical images

That will seal their fate.

On june 2, 2017, hunter highpipe and ranon bissonette

Plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter.

Bissonette is given 100 years in prison.

Highpipe gets 50.

An impossible case solved through cctv.

Deneire: surveillance footage was immeasurable in its value

And it tells the whole story.

Bloomenrader: if we didn't have surveillance video,

These three men would have gotten away with this crime.

♪♪

Heath: losing my brother this way to a senseless m*rder

Has left a void.

I try to reflect and remember the happy times.

Jamie: his smile was so sincere and it was so pure

And it came from his heart.

That's what I miss most about my brother ed.