02x03 - m*rder in the Details

[bunniefuu]

An untimely death

rocks a close-knit Texas family.

There's blood on the door
in the bedroom

and the floor is just covered.

I was in shock.
I couldn't believe it.

I remember wailing.

We didn't know how she had died.

The medical examiner made
the manner of death a accident.

And the cause of death
was cocaine toxicity.

This black woman wasn't
just another drug addict

off the street.
She was loved.

I did not in any way believe
these injuries were accidental.

Something else happened
in that apartment.

Exhumation was necessary
to figure out what exactly

happened in this case.

Investigators dig
deep to unravel the mystery.

The medical examiner noticed
that there was a fracture

deeper back into the skull.

And this shows
more extensive trauma.

The knife's got blood on it.

The blade was bent completely,
about 90 degrees.

It was critically important that
we moved as fast as we

possibly could until somebody is
brought to justice.

We were like,
it's about time we get answers.

The truth.

In the heart of
southern Texas lies Victoria,

a bustling city
with small-town charm.

We have just about everything
that you'd want in a city

in terms of leisure, recreation,
that kind of thing.

Um, we are very proud
of our downtown.

It's very historic.

But Victoria,
like many parts of Texas

also has its fair share
of crime.

And on the morning
of March 8, 2006,

two workers at a nearby
apartment complex

receive an unexpected shock.

The previous tenant
hadn't been seen

or heard from in two weeks.

And um, rent had not been paid.

Management assumed that
the tenant had moved on.

Two housekeepers had
entered the apartment.

The apartment was disarrayed.

And as they entered the bedroom,

they saw, laying on the floor

some legs.

They could tell that
it was a deceased body.

And they went
and called the police.

Once on scene,
patrol officers confirm

the identity of the victim
through the apartment manager.

She is the tenant of the unit...



Minutes later, the complex is
crawling with detectives.

As soon as I rounded the
corner into the apartment,

I did notice some blood evidence

both in the kitchen area,
on the counter and the sink.

And also on the floor.

It did appear that,

that there was some
sort of struggle.

Just with the way
the apartment was left

and with the blood splatter
all over the place.

We started working
from the bathroom

and we basically worked
our way to the front.

There's trace blood
evidence in the sink

and there's trace blood evidence
in the bathtub.

It made it apparent to me that
somebody had tried to wash up.

And when
investigators make their way

into the bedroom of the first
floor apartment,

they come upon a horrific sight.

When we walked into the room,

that's when I saw...

a black female

laying on her back

in blood.

She was in heavy
decomposition stages.

She was in a white button-up
shirt and some panties.

I noticed a lot of trauma
to the face

and on and around her head.

And that seemed
to be the, you know,

the decentralized location
for much of the trauma

that she sustained.

The attack that she suffered,

it was incredibly, um, violent.

With her body
being so badly decomposed,

we knew she'd been there for,
you know, several days,

if not a week.

This was someone's life,
someone's loved one

that was, you know,
laying on the floor,

and we didn't have an answer
as far as why.

There's blood on the door
in the bedroom.

The floor is just pretty
much covered.

And the bed looks disheveled.

It's not setting square
on the frames.

And when we pulled back the
mattress, we, we found a knife.

The knife's got blood on it.

What was especially
interesting about it was that

the blade was bent completely,
just about 90 degrees

from its handle.

I remember thinking that it
had to have been, you know,

some pretty good force
to bend that knife.

Because it was bloody
and because it appeared

to have, um, fingerprints on it,

we presumed that,
that was a contributor to, uh,

Ms. Lott's death
or the sole weapon.

Investigators
carefully bag the knife.

And then they come across what
could be another important lead.

We've located some pay stubs
for the victim, Melba Lott,

and some pay stubs belonging to
a-a-a person

by the name of Bruce Hughes.

We also located an ID that
belonged to Bruce Hughes,

so, you know, one of the biggest
questions is, who's Bruce?

But at this particular stage
of the investigation,

we're still trying to figure out

what exactly happened
and how it happened.

As the crime scene
detectives continue

to look for evidence,
they notice something troubling

in the common area
of the apartment complex.

We did find some blood evidence

outside of the apartment.

It leads us upstairs
to the upstairs landing.

So we knock on the different
apartment doors,

but nobody had seen
anything peculiar.

Detectives leave
their contact information

with several residents,

hoping someone will come forward

with information
about the blood.

It's incredibly suspicious,
but we're talking about

an apartment community.

And lots of foot traffic,
lots of people coming

and going all the time.

It's very difficult to really
try to narrow down your

suspect pool because it could be
just be just about anybody.

While the body is
removed and taken to the morgue,

detectives face the toughest
part of their job...

informing the family
of Melba's tragic death.

Detective Turner was able
to locate Milton Lott,

the brother, and notify him that
we did find Melba deceased.

My dad took the news
really, really hard.

He was devastated.

And I remember just

wailing...

when they told me.

I was in total shock.

I couldn't believe it.

It was hard to believe
she was gone.

While detectives
deliver the tragic news,

Melba's family shares
crucial information

about her background.

My aunt Melba and her siblings,

including my dad,
grew up in Victoria, Texas.

She was the baby of five.

They called her Pebbles,

and she had, like,
a little pigtail

at the top of her hair,
just like Pebbles did.

And that laugh that she had.

Everybody remembered
that wonderful laugh.

Pebbles was highly motivated,

and she was a wonderful person.

She was a beautiful soul.

And I remember
she was a waitress at one

of the local places,
and she would always give us

change from her tips.

And we'd go down the street
to the corner store.

So she was all about family,
all about family.

When Pebbles was 29 years old,

she received news that would
change her life forever.

Pebbles had got out
of a bad relationship

and then found out
she was pregnant.

When Pebbles had her daughter,
I think it really hit her heart,

and she so fell in love with her
baby like any mom would.

Pebble's daughter
gave her motivation.

That was the best time
of her life,

and she was the best mother
that she could be.

She loved her daughter.

The news of her mother's passing

devastates the now 13-year-old.

Her daughter was in Houston
with her father's family

at the time of her death,
but it was hard for her

to process.
It was extremely hard.

She loved her mom just as much
as her mom loved her.

It just, um, it just...

It's hard.

And at that time,
we didn't know how she had died.

Detectives can't make
assumptions or say anything

with certainty unless
and until there's an autopsy

and an investigation.

We wanted to wait until
the official finding

from the medical examiner's
office, but the blood evidence

told a compelling story
about what happened to Melba.

I thought what we're really
looking for is a m*rder suspect.

Coming up.

The medical examiner ruled
those cuts on Melba's head

as skin slippage from the
decomposition of the body.

It was becoming frustrating
because I do not believe

in any way that this was
an accidental death.

Milton called to say they have
to exhume the body

in order to do another exam,
and this is going to help.

I was all fired up.

When they raised that coffin,
we were all on pins and needles.

That was my main objective,

was let's get some justice
for Melba.

On March 9, 2006,

while Melba Lott's family grieves

over their horrific loss,
the medical examiner focuses on

determining the cause
of Melba's death.

The medical examiner does
an external examination.

The problem is decomposition
can obscure numerous things.

The maggots get
into the injuries

and begin opening them up
and making them bigger,

and actually obscuring what
you can even find.

At the time when
we discovered her,

the trauma that the face
sustained was just incredible

because it appeared
she was stabbed.

But the medical examiner ruled
those cuts as skin slippage

from the decomposition
of the body.

There was fractures of the nose,
bruising along the back,

possibly from the blunt force
trauma, maybe from a fall.

There was no other internal
findings that would have been

a direct cause of death.

It was undeterminable
if it was accidental

or if it was
caused intentionally.

The medical examiner was waiting
on the toxicology report

to determine the cause of death.

I was upset.

And it did disturb me
because being at the scene,

seeing what we saw,

we knew that something else
had taken place.

I never considered it as
an accidental death.

But if it wasn't an accident,

who would want to k*ll
a beloved woman like Melba?

Police start by asking Melba's
family if they know anything

about the man whose name
appeared on the pay stubs,

Bruce Hughes.

In 2006, we had a Thanksgiving
at my house.

And so she came,
and she brought Bruce with her.

And she basically just said,
this is my boyfriend, Bruce.

I just remember him
being so strange.

He was very standoffish.
You know what I mean?

Like he didn't want to interact
with the rest of the family.

So I found that
was very strange.

You're her boyfriend.
You're at a family event.

She thought enough of you to
bring you to a family event,

and you don't want
to participate?

But she seemed very happy.

She was giddy, and she would
giggle like a high school girl.

They weren't together long,
so we didn't really know

a lot about him.

At this point,
it's extremely important

to speak with Bruce.

That way, we can either rule
him out as a suspect

or continue to collect our
evidence to get a case.

So I asked
Melba's brother, Milton,

where can I contact Bruce?

But he didn't have any phone
numbers or addresses of

where he could possibly be.

But luckily, the pay stub found

in Melba's apartment provides
detectives with a clue.

I did learn that Bruce was
employed by a company called

Lighthouse for the Blind.

We contacted his
employment company

that we found on the stub.

They gave us the information
that he was a reliable employee.

They said he continued
to show up for work until

about the middle of February.

On-duty staff said he suddenly
stopped being this reliable,

trustworthy person that people
can count on

to just being vanished
from the face of the Earth,

and that Bruce abandoned
his final paycheck

and they were still holding it.

It really struck me as
suspicious because it's strange

for somebody to not go
and claim their paycheck.

We're just trying to find out,
you know, where he's at

because there's
still a possibility

he was another victim.

It was also possible that
Bruce had something to do

with her death.

He was a person of interest.

I wanted to find out who he was
and why he wasn't around.

As detectives
continue their search for Bruce,

they stay in close touch
with Melba's family,

hoping to glean any details that
could help them solve the case.

That's when Melba's brother,
Milton, remembers a strange

phone call he received a week
before Melba's death.

He received a call from her
phone, but it wasn't Melba.

He told us he tried
calling Melba's phone

and never got a returned call
back from her.

But one time, a male by the name

of Albert Williams
returned Milton's call

using Melba's phone.

And Milton knew Albert due
to them being family friends,

but thought it was odd
that he had Melba's phone.

And so Milton asked him,
where's Melba?

Why do you have her phone?

Albert told him
that he found the phone

on the side of the road.

According to Melba's brother,

Albert simply returned the phone
and vanished.

That was on March 1st,

just a week before
Melba was found m*rder*d.

The coincidences
of Melba is now deceased

and him having the phone
really piqued suspicion.

We needed to know,
why did Albert have the phone?

And how did he get the phone?

And when was the last time
that he saw Melba?

Investigators in Victoria, Texas

believe Melba Lott's death was
not due to natural causes

as the medical examiner speculates,

and continue to work the case
as a homicide.

They learned that a man
by the name of Albert Williams

was in possession
of Melba Lott's cell phone

in the days before
her body was found.

Detectives' suspicions
are raised.

Could Albert be responsible
for Melba's horrific death?

Two days after we'd found Melba,

we had started our investigation
to contact Albert Williams.

It led us to a location
in San Antonio,

which was a location that we'd
found for Albert Williams.

Albert had indicated to us
that he had known Melba Lott

for many years and that he was,
in fact, a family friend.

He just happened to find her
phone on the street.

It seems kind of odd,
but there was really

no other explanation.

His name never came up
while we were at the scene

or with anybody else.

At this particular time,
nothing really stood out to me

that would lead me to believe
that, that Albert would want

to harm Melba.

So could it have been a
coincidence that he just found

the phone on the street?

Sure, but we still want
to keep an eye on him.

Even though
detectives still have questions

about Albert's story,

they have no evidence linking
him to the crime,

and release him.

At the same time,
Melba's family lay their

beloved Pebbles to rest.

It was such a sad occasion.

We're in tears.
We're, you know, crying.

Pebbles was greatly missed.

Several people spoke about her

in loving ways

and joyous memories.

And the last person to speak
at the service was her daughter.

Melba's daughter is
a happy, healthy 13-year-old

who's been living
with her father's family.

But her mother will always
be her North Star.

Her daughter,
this, this child got up

and she said, I'm not sad

and I'm not going to cry because
I know this isn't good-bye.

It's just, see you later, Mom.

I'm gonna see you later.

It was wonderful.

She loved her mom.

She uplifted us all.

It was the most moving thing.

I know she knew
her mother loved her.

As the family
continues to grieve,

it's more important than ever
for investigators to find Bruce.

Once again,
they turn to the payroll company

and discover Bruce's emergency
contacts are located in Houston.

I spoke to his mother,
who had not seen him,

nor could she offer us
any assistance in locating him.

His mother said nobody
had seen him around

since beginning of March.

According to
the police timeline,

Melba was found deceased
on March 8th,

but police believe
she was most likely m*rder*d

in late February,

a few days prior to Bruce Hughes
falling off the grid.

We are pursuing any leads.

We are asking
for the public's help.

All in an effort
to identify who's responsible

for k*lling her,
but the days wore on

and we were in no
better position in terms

of finding Bruce.

I'm thinking, where could he be?

Why won't he come talk to us,

if he doesn't have
anything to hide?

If Melba was m*rder*d, Bruce
was the best potential suspect.

We established tip lines
hoping to discover new leads

concerning his whereabouts.

Just as investigators accelerate

their search for Bruce Hughes,
on April 6th,

the results for the
toxicology report come back,

and they threaten to upend
the entire case.

So Melba Lott was found to
have cocaine in her system.

The medical examiner
believed the cause of death

was cocaine toxicity,

but she also put a contributing
factor of blunt force injuries

of the face from a fall.

And then she made the manner
of death an accident.

It was becoming frustrating
because I do not believe

in any way that this was
an accidental death.

The medical examiner
in Victoria, Texas

has just ruled
that Melba Lott's death

was caused by an accidental
cocaine overdose.

And when investigators inform
her family of the decision,

they learned that Melba had a
history of drug abuse.

I remember she was
in high school.

She was dating someone that
really wasn't good for her.

It was a tumultuous relationship,

and he wasn't
the best of people.

I think it started off
with marijuana.

Then it graduated
to the next illicit drug

and then the next one.

And it just,

it just became a part of her life.

It's to watch somebody change
in so many ways negatively and

feeling hopeless and helpless.

It was very heart wrenching.

She went to several
different rehabs.

She tried to kick those habits,

but it always
got the best of her.

But this black woman wasn't
just another drug addict

off the street.

She was loved.

I never believed
that it was a drug overdose.

I believe that, yes,
she consumed several drugs,

but I never believed that was
the sole reason she died.

The investigators
are just as stunned

as Melba's family.

It came as a complete surprise.

I just could not come to grips
with that, that ruling.

I thought it was contrary to any
of the evidence that was there.

The evidence told a
very specific story.

An accidental death was not it.

That's a big frustration.

We all had our gut instincts
that there was something else

that happened in that apartment.

This didn't feel like
an accident to me.

But then,
a few days later, on April 10th,

investigators get an unexpected
call from a man who identifies

himself as Melba's upstairs
neighbor, Stanford Harvey.

He tells police

he wasn't home when detectives
were canvassing the building,

but is willing
to help however he can.

So I transported him
to the police department,

where I spoke to him
in the interview.

It turns out
Stanford is a long-time friend

of Melba's.

Stanford told me that
they were family friends

since they were babies.

They went to
elementary school together.

They hung out a lot.

With formalities out of the way,

detectives waste no time
getting to the point.

I did ask him if he knew Bruce.

He said that he had seen
Bruce around the area about

two days after we'd found Melba.

Stanford said,
you know that Bruce was

into some bad stuff.
And that's all he would say.

Stanford did not claim to have
known Bruce Hughes very well.

We really wanted to find out
where Mr. Hughes was

and certainly talk to him.

But Mr. Hughes was nowhere
to be found.

Determined to get
answers for the family,

investigators begin working
their informants

in Victoria's seedy underbelly.

We continue to work as
aggressively as we can,

and I found myself
at a local motel,

interviewing front desk staff

to learn anything
I could about Mr. Hughes

and circulated
a photograph of him.

The staff that were
there, um, knew him.

Turner also
gets a lead on the crowd

Hughes hangs with,
including a familiar name.

Additionally, I learned
that he is also a friend

of Mr. Stanford Harvey.

The staff at the motel indicated
that they were the closest

of friends and
would often be seen together.

Now, earlier conversations
with Mr. Harvey

were quite the contrary.

He'd indicated that he doesn't
know the man very well.

So we wanted to take the
opportunity to re-interview him

and see if he would tell us a
different story this time.

It was that he did in fact
confirm that yes, he knows him.

That he and Mr. Hughes are good
friends, Stanford said.

The first time we tried
to interview him,

he was dope sick that day,

but this time he made no attempt
to conceal himself.

Stanford does tell me
on that interview that,

you know, that Bruce comes
and drops off some drugs,

and then he's back to Houston.

But Stanford didn't know when
he would be back in town.

He's already been untruthful
and lied to us once.

At this point,

I can't prove his involvement
in this case,

but I am deeply suspicious
of his motives.

Stanford Harvey is quickly
proven to be somebody

that we really need
to keep an eye on.

Investigators are
growing frustrated,

but just as the
oppressive summer heat

begins to tighten its grip on Victoria,

they receive yet another tip
about Melba's death.

The first part of May,

we received a call
from an informant,

and she said that she knew what
happened to Melba Lott.

What if this person is
in fact the person that's going

to blow this case wide open?

On May 5th of 2006,

two months after
Melba Lott was found dead,

detectives in Victoria, Texas

receive a tip that could
blow the case wide open.

We got a call from an informant.

She was in a cell

at the Victoria County
Sheriff's Office.

Amd she informed us
another inmate,

Amanda Walters,

knew what happened
to Melba that night.

Detectives speak to Amanda.

And what she
reveals is shocking.

Amanda said she was with
Bruce Hughes and Stanford Harvey

the night of the m*rder.

Melba had received
an IRS refund check,

and they went over there
to rob Melba.

She started to fight back and...

they ended up k*lling her.

Amanda said the motive
was certainly money,

and they baited her into all
three people being there

by offering her narcotics.

But with Melba's
death ruled as a drug overdose,

detectives are unable
to process arrest warrants

for Amanda Walters, Bruce Hughes
and Stanford Harvey.

Because the medical examiner's
office had ruled this

an accidental death,
we no longer had the scientific

and medical community supporting
and backing our observations.

It really crippled
the investigation.

Melba's case
appears to be in jeopardy

until August of 2006,

five months after her death,

when a new detective
joins the investigation.

I was moved to the
investigation unit,

specializing in family violence
and murders.

My first impression
when I heard about this case

and saw the crime scene photos
was, you know, oh my God,

there was blood everywhere.

I knew this wasn't
an accidental overdose.

And so from that day on,

that was my main objective,

was let's get some justice
for Melba.

And one of the main hurdles that
we knew we were going to have

to cross was getting
the death certificate changed.

At this time, there was a new
medical examiner.

When we talked about him
changing the death certificate,

he said that he wanted more
evidence in the case.

Detectives Clemons and Turner

circled back
to the evidence room.

I found out that nothing
had been submitted

for any kind of testing
because the medical examiner

ruled it as a cocaine overdose.

So I signed all of the paperwork
to get it submitted for testing.

As the lab results trickle in,

they reveal a key piece
of evidence.

There was a bloody fingerprint
found on a knife.

And Bruce Hughes was a positive
match on the thumbprint.

I can't even tell you
how excited I was.

I got chills.

I-I, tears of joy.

And I called the medical
examiner and I was like,

is this enough?

And he was like,
yes, Amanda, this is enough.

The medical examiner realized
that an exhumation was necessary

to figure out what exactly
happened in this case.

But there's one
more blessing they need

before moving forward.

I knew that I needed to go
talk to Milton Lott,

who is Melba's brother.

And I said, I don't believe it
was a cocaine overdose.

And I don't think you do either.

And I really want to fight
to solve this case.

And he just started crying,
which made me cry.

I promised him that I would be
as respectful with his sister

as I could be.

It was a very emotional day
for us.

Milton called to say they have
to exhume the body

in order to do another exam.

And, you know, we're gonna get
the people that did this,

and this is going to help.
And I was all fired up.

We were like, it's about time.

It's about time, we get answers.

The truth.

The exhumation
of Melba Lott's remains

took place on February 8, 2008,

nearly two years to the date of
Melba's body being discovered.

We all met at the cemetery.

The sun's barely starting
to come up.

You know, fog lingering close to
the ground with the morning dew.

When they raised that coffin,

we were all kind of like
on pins and needles.

They couldn't guarantee us
what kind of condition

that the coffin was going
to be in.

The coffin,
over the course of two years,

had been infiltrated
by Mother Nature.

It had filled
with clay and water.

So once we got the casket out
of the ground,

we escorted the casket back to

Travis County
Medical Examiner's Office.

The medical examiner performed
an autopsy that same day.

She was wrapped
in a blue body bag.

She was partially skeletonized.

The medical examiner noticed
that there was fractures

that went deeper into the base
of the orbital plates

with a portion of one bone
even going deeper back

into the skull.

The initial medical examiner's
autopsy findings made note

of there being fractures
of the nose,

but she didn't go
into the orbital plate fractures

that showed more extensive
injuries than just a superficial

nose fracture.

The fact that there was a
bloody, bent knife at the scene

shows that there was someone
trying to stab her in the head

with a certain amount of force,
and it bent the knife.

The markings on her bones
were ruled as consistent

with a penetrating weapon.

At that point,

Melba's death certificate was
amended to homicide.

When my dad told us that she
was stabbed to death, um,

there was a lot of cussing
from him and a lot of crying.

It was overwhelming.

It was a horrific m*rder.

No one deserves
to go through the things

that she went through.

No one.

With the new findings,

detectives secure
arrest warrants

on capital m*rder charges
for Bruce Hughes,

Amanda Walters

and Stanford Harvey.

Amanda and Stanford
are quickly apprehended.

The only suspect remaining is
the elusive Bruce Hughes.

The last thing we wanted was
for Bruce to receive information

that his two co-defendants
had been arrested,

perhaps prompting him
to flee even further

from the jurisdiction.

So it was critically important
that we moved as fast as

we possibly could
to locate Bruce.

At this point in the case,

we had two of our
three suspects in custody,

Amanda Walters
and Stanford Harvey.

Bruce was still outstanding.

Investigators receive a tip

that Bruce has fled to Houston,

so they put local law
enforcement on alert.

And a few days later,
on March 17, 2008,

they get the call
they've been waiting for.

I got a call from HPD.

They were able
to arrest Bruce Hughes.

We were so excited that we now
had our third person in custody.

Once we arrived
at the sheriff's office,

we asked him, you know,
do you want to talk to us?

Bruce did confirm he did,
in fact,

have a relationship with Melba.

He kind of painted it as a
Valentine's Day gone wrong.

He said she became combative.

And that basically
it was self-defense.

There was no way after looking
at that crime scene that

that was self-defense.

In February of 2009,

three years after
Melba Lott's tragic m*rder.

The trial against
Bruce Hughes commences.

Seeing Bruce in court,

if looks could k*ll,
he would have been dead.

All I could do was just
stare at him with hate.

The state put on an amazing case

of the evidence that was found

by the fingerprint on the knife
that belonged to Bruce Hughes.

So he really didn't have a good
case of self-defense in this.

The jury
deliberation in the case

against Bruce Hughes
lasts multiple days.

When the verdict came in
on the Bruce Hughes case,

we were kind of sitting
on pins and needles.

Bruce Hughes was found guilty
of capital m*rder...

...and sentenced to the rest
of his life in jail.

When the jury came back
with the guilty verdict,

we were ecstatic.
It was an amazing feeling.

You know, now one down,
two to go.

In separate trials,

Amanda Jo Walters is
convicted of m*rder

and receives 20 years in prison.

Stanford Harvey is convicted
on a lesser charge

of aggravated as*ault.

He is sentenced
to 45 years in prison.

It was a breath of fresh air.

It was the final chapter
and closing of the book

on Melba Lott's story.

And we wouldn't have been able
to solve this case

and get the justice for Melba
that she needed,

that her family needed,
without the exhumation process.

It was a relief when they
all got convicted,

because they brutally
m*rder*d my aunt.

My aunt Pebbles' legacy
is her daughter.

And what an incredible young
lady she's grown up to be.

I'm so grateful that they got
justice for my aunt Pebbles.

It was a wonderful thing.

This black woman got justice.

She wasn't just somebody else
off the street.

She was my aunt
and she was Milton's sister.

And she was a mother.

And she was a person.

And she was loved.

That's the Pebbles
that I remember.