Close to Home (2005) s02e08 Episode Script
208 - There's Something About Martha
(knocking on door) (phone ringing) (phone continues ringing) REPORTER: Members of the New Victory Church, holding a prayer service here, very upset over the murder of their church leader Jeff Harris, and what looks to be the apparent abduction of his wife Martha Harris.
Everyone assumes she was abducted.
You don't? Always look to the nearest and dearest first.
In this case She's a preacher's wife.
Nobody wants to believe she did it.
Oh, deep in their dark little hearts, they all want to believe she did it.
My dad was a preacher.
Well, then, you should know.
People love to see the righteous fall from grace.
What was that like, being a preacher's kid? Tough, living in the fishbowl.
The worst part was the way certain church ladies would throw themselves at my father.
(sighs): Your mom must have loved that.
My mom divorced that.
Well, like Sister Gertrude used to say to us when we were lining up for the confessional, very good people do very bad things.
Amen, Sister Gertrude.
Meaning we don't want anyone giving Mrs.
Harris a free pass just because she's a preacher's wife.
When she does show up, I want every avenue explored.
she shows up.
Maureen, you're the expert.
Why don't you drop by the crime scene, and while the cops are looking for the missing wife, you can see if it feels like an abduction to you.
Or? Or if she murdered him.
The victim was found face down, single bullet wound in the back of the head from a nine millimeter weapon.
BLACKWELL: Preliminary trajectory report suggest Pastor Harris was on his knees.
Saying his prayers.
Credit card applications, home equity loan.
Money's always tight in a minister's home.
Only one kid? A son, Paul, 22.
That's unusual for a minister's family.
I don't envy him.
At least I had a lot of brothers and sisters I could point the finger at.
DRUMMER: Will you look at this? It's a pizza from De Michael's.
Easy, big fella, that's evidence.
What a waste.
(phone rings) Blackwell.
Thanks.
Cops found her in a motel down in Madison, Indiana.
That's 100 miles away, down by the Ohio River.
The Kentucky state line.
BLACKWELL: ANNABETH: BLACKWELL: State troopers got her back to Indianapolis in record time.
Ed's had her in there for about 20 minutes.
She ask for a lawyer? We offered, she declined.
Seems like she's still sort of in shock.
All right, preacher's kid.
Ready to go? P.
K.
to those who know me.
I don't think I can survive this.
Let's just take things one step at a time.
That's what Jeff always said.
That was his outlook.
And look what he did for that church.
One thing at a time.
Grief or remorse? Can't get a read on her.
You know, I used to love to sing in my father's choir.
You did? Me, too.
I, uh, I sang a solo twice a month.
A solo? Mm-hmm.
Wow.
I was always too shy to take a solo.
Yeah, when it went well, I I felt like I was talking to God, I mean, that's how I saw it.
I know what you mean.
Mrs.
Harris, we were hoping to hear the story from you.
I'm not going to be able to tell you what you want to hear.
We're only interested in the truth.
It's not that simple.
Mrs.
Harris, just tell us what happened.
Can we stop for just a minute? I'd rather I don't want to be a problem.
Uh, could I ask you something? Um, you're a minister's daughter.
I know you'll understand.
Go ahead.
Could I pray? Would you mind? Of course.
Dear Lord, I pray for strength.
I pray for guidance.
I pray for forgiveness for the evil that I have done.
Sounds like remorse to me.
I'd call it a confession.
Blood in the minivan, blood on her blouse, all a match for Pastor Harris.
Question is, does asking God to forgive her constitute a confession? I wish she'd said, "God forgive me for shooting my husband in the back of the head," but it does speak to her state of mind.
Cops found a receipt in the car for De Michael's Pizza.
Puts her back in the house about the time he was killed.
Anybody who's begging God to forgive her is pretty close to giving it up altogether.
Well, let's keep the pressure on her.
Charge her with the murder, and then maybe we can avoid a trial altogether.
But we have no weapon yet, no motive.
An affair, for instance? His or hers? Either.
If it turns out to be that, I think we can get her to the table.
She's a preacher's wife.
She won't want her dirty laundry hanging out for everyone and his brother to see.
Papers on the preacher's desk seem to indicate some financial distress in the Harris household.
MAUREEN: A couple half-filled out credit card applications and one home equity loan.
For how much? The max, 50 grand.
Good, let's see what other doors open up.
And let's do our homework with the members of the church, too.
Preparations for the preacher's memorial service are underway.
Might be a good time to make an appearance at the New Victory Church.
We're on it.
The jury's going to want to know what makes a preacher's wife kill.
is anywhere in this state where my client can get a fair trial, it certainly isn't Indianapolis.
Now in light of the grotesque overexposure in the press The overexposure in the press is the only reason Mr.
Hellman has taken this case.
The prosecution manipulated my client and prevented her from seeking legal counsel in her hour of need by pretending to be spiritually sympathetic.
Just how did we manipulate her? By getting her to pray with you.
How low can you go? That occurred at Mrs.
Harris' request, not ours.
And then to leak her anguish, her private prayer to the gutter press, who portray it as a confession, it's unconscionable.
Our office leaked nothing and he knows it, Your Honor.
Mr.
Hellman, the press coverage in this case strikes me as not sufficient to taint the jury pool.
Your Honor Change of venue is denied.
Well, then I respectfully request that my client be released on suitably modest bail.
Your Honor, Mrs.
Harris has fled this jurisdiction once already.
She will be staying with members of her church, law-abiding people who will hardly be inclined to help her jump bail.
Your Honor, the defendant admits fleeing the scene without reporting the crime to the police, or summoning help for the victim.
Bail is set at $300,000.
Why don't you just make it a million, Your Honor? Obviously my client can't raise that kind of money.
But should she do so, Mr.
Hellman, defendant will also submit to electronic monitoring.
Yes, Your Honor.
(gavel bangs) You did everything you could, Mr.
Hellman.
I appreciate it.
Thank you.
And thanks for thbooks.
I'll see you real soon.
You should occasionally reconsider your world view that every defendant is guilty until proven innocent.
That would make me a defense attorney, Doug.
I'm a prosecutor.
I have another theory.
Somebody leaked, "God forgive me" to the press.
Obviously.
Somebody looking for a smaller, more conservative venue, perhaps something more in tune with his client's religious views.
You certainly have a vivid imagination.
You are worth every penny.
Since I'm doing this pro bono, a penny would actually be a raise.
I'd have to give you a refund.
I appreciate you coming in, Paul.
I know Mr.
Hellman counseled you not to speak to us.
I'm only here to tell you my mother belongs at my father's funeral.
I understand why you'd want her to be there.
There's no way she could have done this.
She's not a violent person.
We've never kept guns in the house.
Really? Why don't you tell me about your parents? Okay.
Financial problems? Were they worried about money? I wouldn't know.
I mean, they never talked about that sort of thing, not in front of me.
Was your father at home much? He was on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
But she wouldn't have killed him for that.
No major problems with their marriage? No serious issues? What marriage doesn't have problems? My mother was in it for the long haul.
She was a lifer.
They both were.
Can she please go to the funeral? I'm sorry.
Not unless she can make bail.
I'm the church secretary.
I know exactly what this man has accomplished.
My own son, Todd, Brother Jeff helped him stop drinking.
Last year, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
I understand.
Brother Jeff helped me come to terms with it, got me through the chemo.
What about financial difficulties? Uh Raising money for the new church was full of challenges, setbacks.
I meant their personal finances.
Uh, well, money was always tight.
Far as I know, they were all right.
Mrs.
Monroe, did you know of any problems in their marriage? What are you insinuating? Just a routine question; I have to ask.
Well, if I did, I sure wouldn't be going around talking about it at a time like this.
So there were problems.
We're all in a tremendous amount of pain here.
I'm pr we're all praying for Martha.
Been going over the Harris' finances.
They were doing okay.
Made more than I did.
Found this in his desk drawer.
Thought you might want to look at it.
"On your special day, I'm sending you some special love.
"Spending time with you "is the most incredible gift I've ever received.
"You are the light of my life.
Signed" "Your love lifts me higher.
Joan.
" That's not his wife's name.
It's his secretary, Joan Monroe.
Just met her.
Look at all the schoolgirl hearts she's drawn there.
And the pressed flower? So over the top.
If the preacher was having an inappropriate relationship I can see how Martha Harris could get that idea.
And look at this.
The Harris' phone records.
The last call made from the Harris' house was to Joan Monroe's.
Preacher and the secretary spent all kinds of time together, raising money, talking on the phone, wife finds out I think you should speak to Joan Monroe again.
And we'll see what Martha Harris makes of this birthday card.
All righty.
What can you tell us about Joan Monroe? Uh, she took over as church secretary when I stepped down last year from the job.
She replaced you.
I'd had my turn.
Have you seen this before? Um, Jeff received literally a hundred cards on his birthday.
This particular one is from Joan Monroe.
ANNABETH: We were wondering if he may have had a special relationship with his secretary.
Special? Especially close.
So this is a fishing trip, hmm? Nice day for it.
You're mistaken.
She was not special to him.
So she wasn't having an affair with your husband? Joan Monroe is a hardworking woman who loves the Lord.
My husband appreciated her dedication.
And I can see that the two of you share a similar dedication to your work, but I really do not want to be thought of as a jealous, suspicious wife, which I've never been.
Nor do I want my husband to be remembered as involved in any way with that woman.
"That woman"? I'm no preacher's kid, but I don't think she much likes Joan Monroe.
Oh, you know, my mother, she would never say anything bad about anybody in the church.
Afraid of the backlash? No, I think she was worried if she started, she wouldn't be able to stop.
(bell dings) (chuckles) Did you miss your dad after he moved out? I didn't have a lot of time for that.
I had to help my mom raise my brothers and sisters.
Yeah.
I missed him.
Mrs.
Monroe.
My partner and I would like a word with you.
Detective.
I'm in a bit of a rush.
There's still a million things yet to do.
Then we'll get right to it.
We believe you were having an inappropriate relationship with Pastor Harris.
Inappropriate? You know, extramarital.
Whatever gave you that idea? We found a birthday card.
There was nothing inappropriate about that birthday card.
I know where you're getting this.
It's her, isn't it? It's Martha.
Poor woman.
She never knew what a truly righteous man she had.
Brother Jeff told me how jealous she was, because we were spending so much time together on the building fund.
We laughed about it.
That's how absurd it was.
I'm sorry, if there's nothing else, I really have to get going.
Let me help you with that.
It's fine, I can manage.
It's no problem.
Oh, it's heavy.
Thank you.
Just put it in the backseat here.
It's better in the trunk, don't you think? No, the backseat's fine, really.
Let's put it in the trunk.
It's full.
I'm sure we can squeeze it in.
Mrs.
Monroe, open the trunk, please.
Now.
All right.
Cleaning out the office? Like I said, lots to do.
She told us everything right there on the street.
On the day Pastor Harris died, the church building fund disappeared.
All $267,000 wiped out.
Gone? Internet scam.
Oldest one in the book.
The Nigerian letter.
VEGA: I got one of those once.
People are still falling for that? We've got Randall looking at the church computer now, so we don't have a full picture yet.
And the bags of shredded documents? Joan Monroe says she didn't want the preacher to be remembered at his funeral as the guy who lost the church building fund.
Shredding documents isn't going to stop anyone from finding out the money's missing.
Maybe she was trying to delay that unpleasant revelation until after his funeral.
Any chance of recovering the funds? Long gone.
International wire transfer to Africa.
Let's say that the preacher and his secretary were having an affair.
That's what it's looking like.
The preacher loses $267,000 of the church's money that the congregation had worked so hard to raise.
Another good reason for his wife to whack him.
On the other hand, if the secretary was involved in losing the church's money My money is still on the missus, not the mistress.
w w~V{ Hey.
Hey.
This is the warrant to search Joan Monroe's house.
I know this money thing has come into the case, but my intuition says it's still about jealousy.
And losing the money? Maybe that led to Martha Harris finding out about the affair.
Well, I just got off the phone with the church deacons, and agreed to share with them what we know about the loss of the building fund.
Can you put together some sort of summary for them? Sure.
I don't think it's going to make them feel any better about their pastor though.
Where you going? To talk to his wife again, see if she knows anything about this missing money.
If your dad lost every penny of his church's money My mom would have skinned him alive.
Mrs.
Harris, were you aware that, the day your husband was killed, he had lost the entire church building fund in an Internet scam? No matter how many times you ask, she is not going to answer that question.
You should know the church is now forced to withdraw its offer to buy the land at the corner of Washington and Central.
And your source is this church secretary, Joan Monroe, right? Funny how that name keeps coming up.
She told us some very interesting things about Pastor Harris.
No doubt.
And did you manage to keep her lawyer out of the room, too? We know that the loss of this money and the preacher's murder are connected.
Well, if you knew it for sure, you wouldn't be baiting my client.
I don't know what that woman told you.
You keep calling her "that woman.
" Let it go.
She's just trying to get a rise out of you.
The Nigerians took the money, not my husband.
I never mentioned Nigerians.
I guess you answered my question after all.
We're searching Mrs.
Monroe's house as we speak.
Hard time believing people fall for this Nigerian Internet scam.
They don't fall for it all at once.
It's one little hook at a time.
Don't forget they were trying to raise money for the new church.
Yeah.
They got greedy.
That's how people usually get scammed.
Look at this.
Power tool case? If you consider a nine millimeter Glock 17 a power tool.
A lot of people would.
It's empty.
The weapon was registered to Joan Monroe.
Anybody else have access to the gun? Her husband died years ago, but her son Todd lives with her-- Ray's trying to locate him now.
You think Joan Monroe did this? Maybe Pastor Harris insisted she take the blame for the Internet scam.
People of faith are particularly vulnerable to these sorts of cons.
Because they're so darn trusting? You sound dubious.
A little.
I mean, just because you go to church doesn't make you some dewy-eyed, innocent babe in the woods.
I know what you mean, but I'm just saying, if you knew which buttons to push, a smart operator can take advantage.
You think that's what happened here? Well, Ed's in with Randal right now looking at all the grisly details.
It was a classic affinity scam.
Affinity? You're a good Christian, I'm a good Christian-- you can trust me.
See, my antennae's up right there.
Most people's would be, but these guys are sophisticated.
They personalize things, like, "Pastor Harris, we've heard about your "church building project.
Here in Nigeria, "we dream of building a hospital for the poor.
Perhaps we can help one another.
" So it's a win-win.
We get our hospital, you get your church.
Mm-hmm.
So what do they want help with? Getting $15 million out of their country.
All they need is an American bank account to deposit the $15 million in.
Why? Because they claim some corrupt Nigerian officials are going to steal it.
Okay.
And in exchange for doing this good deed? So Pastor Harris gives them the account number and, the next thing you know, it's bye-bye building fund.
So long, farewell, adios.
But why not open up a separate account? Why give up the building account? According to church bylaws, that would have required approval from the deacons.
And he didn't want them to know? Maybe he thought they would nix the deal, too risky.
They'd have been right.
How'd the Nigerians convince them they had $15 million in the first place? Yeah.
This is an attachment to an e-mail dated two days before the pastor was killed.
DRUMMER: That's a lot of money.
Enough to make people do some crazy-ass things.
We've been assuming the loss of the building fund was somehow tied to the murder.
but before that money disappeared, the preacher, Joan Monroe, and maybe even his wife, thought millions of dollars were on the way.
The preacher's end was four and a half mil.
You're saying the preacher was killed by somebody trying to get their hands on that money, even though it never existed? Well, the preacher believed it existed, and he believed it was coming.
And these people believed the preacher, so in their mind It was coming.
Money in the bank.
We've located Joan Monroe's son.
His mama's gun.
Excuse me while I get the extradition ball rolling.
DRUMMER: of the New Victory Church, correct? I played drums in the band there three times a week, that's correct.
So what were you doing in Ohio switching the license plates on your car? I was going to visit a buddy of mine and I noticed my tags were expired, and I was, like, I don't want to get pulled over because I have a lot of parking tickets.
I know it's pretty stupid.
Where'd you get the stolen plates? I had 'em in my garage.
Not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Or that's what he wants you to think.
Let's talk about your mother's gun-- the murder weapon-- which car.
I didn't have anything to do with Pastor Harris's murder.
Your mother know you took off with her gun? She give it to you to get rid of? My mom had nothing to do with it, either.
Then who did? You've already got her.
It was Martha-- she did it.
The preacher's wife.
How do you know that? Because I was sleeping with her.
Talk to me about Todd.
Alcoholic, couldn't hold a job.
Pastor Harris got him into rehab, found him a job in a shoe store and let him play in the church band.
So naturally he killed the man who saved his life.
Some people don't know how to receive.
Something about a serpent's tooth and an ungrateful child? What about the affair? The motel in Madison where Mrs.
Harris was arrested.
Todd said that's where they would meet.
They drive 200 miles round-trip to conduct the affair? I believe it-- she really wanted to make sure no one from her church would find out.
Hotel record-- Todd Monroe, every Thursday around 3:00 p.
m.
, going back at least a couple of months.
Confirms the affair for me.
So Todd Monroe is saying Martha Harris did it.
Is he saying why? He don't want to talk about that.
Yeah, but when we told him we knew everything about the Nigerian scam, he immediately said Mrs.
Harris killed her husband because she was after the $4 1/2 million.
But there never was any money.
That doesn't matter-- they thought there was.
But Todd's the one with the gun in his car.
Isn't he the likely shooter here? I would think so, but we can't place him at the scene.
Now, if Martha's affair with Todd were made public, a much younger man, and when we tell her that Todd is telling us that she killed her husband She'd feel betrayed.
She might even turn on him.
I'm counting on the two of you to make her feel really bad.
HELLMAN: with my client seem to indicate a certain lack of confidence in your case against her.
We've arrested Todd Monroe in connection with Pastor Harris's murder.
As I said.
He told us he and Mrs.
Harris met regularly at a motel in Madison, Indiana.
His story checks out.
If we go to trial, Mrs.
Harris, everyone will hear about the affair.
He told us you killed your husband for the money.
My husband and I didn't have any money.
Mrs.
Harris, Todd Monroe said you killed your husband because you wanted the millions of dollars he was expecting from Nigeria.
Nobody had millions of dollars.
I don't know what Todd is talking about.
He killed my husband Martha, as your attorney, if you have anything to say to these ladies, now would be a good moment.
It wasn't a normal Saturday night.
How so? My husband was very upset about something, and I thought he had found out about me and Todd.
And I said, "Jeff, you have to tell me what's going on.
" He said he had done a stupid, stupid thing.
He had trusted somebody on the Internet and had lost the building fund money.
He said the people in the church would never forgive him.
'd go to prison.
And he told me I should leave him.
And what did you say? wasn't the horrible person, was the horrible person.
was the one having the affair.
You confessed your affair to him? And we talked and prayed and Jeff forgave me.
He just forgave me.
I know this is going to sound strange, but it was the closest we'd been in years.
And then he called Todd.
Could you hear what he said to him? He said, "I know about everything," and to "Come over right now, Todd.
" And when he hung up the phone, he asked me to leave and to come back in a couple hours.
The last thing that my husband ever said to me in this world was to bless me for having the courage to tell the truth.
And when I came home Your husband died when he confronted Todd Monroe over the affair.
This is God's judgment on me.
(exhales) Ladies.
She needs to agree to tell this story to a jury.
And you will dismiss all charges against her.
We will dismiss the charges.
I have to talk about everything? Everything.
How your husband telling you he lost the church's money led you to confess your affair with Todd, which led to the fatal confrontation between the two of them.
And you'll need to tell the jury just how the affair started.
When my son Paul went to college, Jeff threw himself full-time into raising money for the church.
I felt like he was avoiding me.
I was so lonely.
That sounds tough.
And then my husband decided to introduce a more contemporary service to attract new membership, and he told me that nobody really liked the music we had always sung.
So I sang my last solo, the last one that I would ever sing in my life, and who was the only person who came up to me after? Todd Monroe.
He said that I had the most beautiful voice God had ever heard.
It was the kindest thing that anyone had ever said to me.
You need to understand that he was a listener.
I mean, everybody listens to a preacher, but nobody listens to a preacher's wife.
Whenever I was with him, he would always say, "Tell me everything.
" He listened to you.
He listened.
MARTHA: I know about everything," and then he asked Todd to come over and talk.
I left, and when I came back, Jeff was dead.
ANNABETH: We would like to enter into evidence Pastor Harris's phone records.
Last phone call he made was to Joan Monroe's house, where the defendant was residing.
Mrs.
Harris, one last question.
Why didn't you call 911 when you found your husband's body? I felt responsible, and I was scared that everything about the affair would come out.
I didn't know what to do.
And then I kept thinking, if I hadn't been unfaithful (crying softly): Jeff would still be alive.
ANNABETH: No further questions, Your Honor.
I just have a few questions, Mrs.
Harris.
You were at one time the church secretary for New Victory Evangelical, were you not? Uh, briefly last year.
So you have a working knowledge of the church's finances-- bank accounts, passwords, user names? I did.
Your Honor, I would like to read this piece of correspondence from the Southern Guarantee Bank of Costa Rica.
Objection, Your Honor-- we are unaware of any such letter.
That's 'cause it just arrived in the mail.
Counselors, to the bench.
ANNABETH: Are we just supposed to take this at face value, Your Honor? We have no way of authenticating these documents.
I agree, Miss Chase.
This is, uh, quite a development.
I suggest we take a recess and convene in my chambers.
"Dear Mrs.
Harris, "thank you for your recent deposit of $267,000.
38, USD.
" Mrs.
Harris, how much money was in the church building fund when it was wiped out? $267,000.
Did you take that money and place it in an offshore account? I don't even know what an offshore account is.
Well, Southern Guarantee Bank And I'm wondering, Annabeth, how do you explain this post office box she shares with my client? Uh, Mrs.
Harris, is this document accurate? That's my signature, but I didn't sign that.
I can see how this must be very upsetting to everyone, but I have to tell you, I'm not upset, I'm relieved.
You're relieved? The money's been found The church can get the money back.
It's what Jeff would have wanted.
But everyone thinks you took it.
God's grace is like that sometimes.
It doesn't matter.
As long as the church gets the money back.
In light of these revelations, do the people wish to amend their case against Todd Monroe? Your Honor, we need time to investigate and authenticate these documents.
You have 36 hours, Ms.
Chase.
At that time, I'll hear from counsel again and if not satisfied, I will entertain a motion to amend i can dismss the charge against mr.
not going to think she stole the building fund and then killed her husband to keep him quiet.
If we can link Todd Monroe to the offshore accounts The whole point of an offshore account is to put it out of reach of U.
S.
authority.
If Todd Monroe managed to steal the church building fund It would have to be done electronically, and there's nothing like that on his computer.
What about his mom's computer? Nothing of his there, either.
Go over everything again-- his car, his laundry, his drum set.
If you come up blank, we're going to have to make a deal.
There's nothing here that wasn't here before.
It's Joe who gave up the sauce, but he's sure loving the lattes.
That's what they say.
Go on the wagon, you get hooked on caffeine.
What's with the receipts? Chocolate donuts tax deductible or something? I wish.
Here's another one.
"Greenville, Ohio.
" That's where he was picked up, remember? When was he picked up? The exact day? I don't know.
This is dated two months ago, and it's for 30 bucks.
Who spends 30 bucks on coffee? Somebody buying computer time, maybe? Internet cafe? Our boy drives out of state to go online.
If we're lucky.
Greenville.
That's an hour plus.
Depends who's driving.
The coffee shop owner recognized him.
Said he came in every couple of days, sat at the same station.
Since 9-11, they back up everything their customers do online.
These are messages and e-mail attachments from the Nigerians.
We've seen all these before.
You have, except they ain't from Nigeria.
I don't understand.
Well, tracking Todd Monroe's online trail, we came to a remote storage service where he kept hundreds of documents from various Nigerian e-mail scams.
This folder is documents he collected by responding to actual scammers online.
And this folder is the same content, but with key details altered, like Pastor Harris' name, the church, et cetera.
So the money didn't disappear to Nigeria? He just bounced it around different proxy servers to make it look that way.
You're saying he created this whole thing? There never were any Nigerians.
It was Todd all along.
(sighs) Because he knew Pastor Harris personally, Todd Monroe was able to tailor these documents to an extraordinary degree.
For instance? For instance, in this e-mail he claimed a child in his fictitious Nigerian church was healed from cancer after intensive prayer.
To which Pastor Harris responded, "This is a miracle.
"Just this past week, "my secretary Joan Monroe's breast cancer "went into remission.
God answers all our prayers.
" He played on his own mother's cancer? It's all part of the affinity scam, building trust through a common set of beliefs.
In this way he was able to advance his purpose with surprising speed.
And his goal? To acquire the building fund.
Hmm.
What's this? Photocopies of Martha Harris' birth certificate, driver's license, Social Security Card, credit cards, bank statements, everything you need to steal her identity.
And why would he need Martha Harris' identity? To set up an offshore account.
Whose idea was it to open a post office box together? Mrs.
Harris'.
She wanted a way to communicate with me without using the phone.
In the time you spent with her, did Martha Harris ever mention the Nigerian scam? She talked about it constantly.
Her husband had gotten one of those letters, and he thought the whole thing was for real.
She couldn't believe how gullible he was.
So she knew it was a scam? She said she'd seen a whole about it.
But then she got this idea to steal the church building fund.
She wanted to pretend to be a Nigerian scammer, so that when she took the church building fund, everyone, including Pastor Harris, would think the Nigerians were the ones that took it, which is exactly what happened.
And did Mrs.
Harris ever ask you if you would help her with all this? She said I'd get half the building fund.
Is that why you continued to see her? Yes.
You used her.
You took advantage of her loniness.
I'm not proud of it.
Did she instruct you on how to alter the Nigerian documents? She did.
Did you steal her identity? No, she gave me all her info.
She asked me to open an account in her name.
She came up with everything.
And did Mrs.
Harris ever speak to you about why she wanted to steal the money? She wanted to get back at my mom and Brother Jeff.
Tell us what you mean by that.
She was convinced they were seeing each other.
Your mother, Joan Monroe and Pastor Harris having an affair.
And were they? No, but you couldn't tell her that.
She knew if she took that money, my mom and Brother Jeff would get blamed for the whole thing.
How did the nine-millimeter pistol that killed Pastor Jeff Harris come to be in your car? Mrs.
Harris and I would drive separately down to Madison to meet.
She didn't like being in the car by herself, so she asked me to get her some protection.
So you stole your mom's gun? I borrowed my mom's pistol and I gave it to Mrs.
Harris.
The night Brother Jeff was killed, she brought it back to me, said she didn't want it anymore.
Said it made her nervous.
Next thing I know, I'm arrested for murder.
So you hear that Pastor Harris has been killed, and that his wife's missing.
The same woman who brought back the gun to you.
And what do you do? Call the police? No.
Why not? Because I was afraid my mom would get blamed.
Really? That's touching.
Where were you the morning after Pastor Harris was killed? In church, getting ready to play in the band.
Isn't it true you went to church that morning to avoid suspicion? No.
And didn't you flee two days later when Martha Harris was arrested, because you were concerned she'd identify you? No.
And didn't you steal a license plate in Ohio to avoid getting caught? No.
And weren't you taking the murder weapon with you in order to dispose of it as far from the crime scene as possible? No.
No? No further questions, Your Honor.
Todd Monroe came up with a brilliant plan.
He saw that if he spread the poisoned promise of nonexistent millions-- remember, these people were already engaged in raising money to build a church-- he could exploit them, and he did.
He played his pastor, the pastor's wife, even his own mother.
And when Pastor Harris called on that fatal night, and said "I know everything," Todd Monroe assumed the pastor was talking about the money he'd just stolen, $267,000; the building fund.
Todd Monroe was going to hang onto that money.
He'd gone to a lot of trouble to get it.
He had to shut Pastor Harris up.
So he shot him.
Todd Monroe held Pastor Harris in the highest regard.
This was the man that had saved him from the ravages of alcohol.
In his care, Todd Monroe was learning to believe in himself again.
But it was this very vulnerability that Martha Harris exploited.
She hatched the plan to take the money.
It was her jealousy, a jealousy so blind that it assumed an affair where there was none.
Ladies and gentlemen, Martha Harris had come undone.
And my client was unlucky enough to be there to catch her when she fell.
And the prosecution knows all this.
In fact, until recently, they had been building a case against her.
No wonder.
After all, there's an offshore account with all the money from the church building fund with her name on it.
Follow the money, ladies and gentlemen.
It leads to Mrs.
Harris, not Todd Monroe.
Todd Monroe killed Pastor Harris? Doesn't add up.
on the count of murder, the jury finds the defendant guilty.
(gavel bangs) (knocking) I came by to thank you and Miss Chase, but she'd already gone.
Oh, she has a little girl.
She's gone home.
And what about you? You're here so late.
Well, I don't have a child and I'm not married.
I imagine it would be difficult to have a family and do what you do.
Part of the job.
Yeah, I gave my whole life to the church.
That was my job.
Do you regret it? Was it worth it? Yes, it was.
Please tell Miss Chase I came by.
I will.
CBS and WARNER BROS.
TELEVISION
Everyone assumes she was abducted.
You don't? Always look to the nearest and dearest first.
In this case She's a preacher's wife.
Nobody wants to believe she did it.
Oh, deep in their dark little hearts, they all want to believe she did it.
My dad was a preacher.
Well, then, you should know.
People love to see the righteous fall from grace.
What was that like, being a preacher's kid? Tough, living in the fishbowl.
The worst part was the way certain church ladies would throw themselves at my father.
(sighs): Your mom must have loved that.
My mom divorced that.
Well, like Sister Gertrude used to say to us when we were lining up for the confessional, very good people do very bad things.
Amen, Sister Gertrude.
Meaning we don't want anyone giving Mrs.
Harris a free pass just because she's a preacher's wife.
When she does show up, I want every avenue explored.
she shows up.
Maureen, you're the expert.
Why don't you drop by the crime scene, and while the cops are looking for the missing wife, you can see if it feels like an abduction to you.
Or? Or if she murdered him.
The victim was found face down, single bullet wound in the back of the head from a nine millimeter weapon.
BLACKWELL: Preliminary trajectory report suggest Pastor Harris was on his knees.
Saying his prayers.
Credit card applications, home equity loan.
Money's always tight in a minister's home.
Only one kid? A son, Paul, 22.
That's unusual for a minister's family.
I don't envy him.
At least I had a lot of brothers and sisters I could point the finger at.
DRUMMER: Will you look at this? It's a pizza from De Michael's.
Easy, big fella, that's evidence.
What a waste.
(phone rings) Blackwell.
Thanks.
Cops found her in a motel down in Madison, Indiana.
That's 100 miles away, down by the Ohio River.
The Kentucky state line.
BLACKWELL: ANNABETH: BLACKWELL: State troopers got her back to Indianapolis in record time.
Ed's had her in there for about 20 minutes.
She ask for a lawyer? We offered, she declined.
Seems like she's still sort of in shock.
All right, preacher's kid.
Ready to go? P.
K.
to those who know me.
I don't think I can survive this.
Let's just take things one step at a time.
That's what Jeff always said.
That was his outlook.
And look what he did for that church.
One thing at a time.
Grief or remorse? Can't get a read on her.
You know, I used to love to sing in my father's choir.
You did? Me, too.
I, uh, I sang a solo twice a month.
A solo? Mm-hmm.
Wow.
I was always too shy to take a solo.
Yeah, when it went well, I I felt like I was talking to God, I mean, that's how I saw it.
I know what you mean.
Mrs.
Harris, we were hoping to hear the story from you.
I'm not going to be able to tell you what you want to hear.
We're only interested in the truth.
It's not that simple.
Mrs.
Harris, just tell us what happened.
Can we stop for just a minute? I'd rather I don't want to be a problem.
Uh, could I ask you something? Um, you're a minister's daughter.
I know you'll understand.
Go ahead.
Could I pray? Would you mind? Of course.
Dear Lord, I pray for strength.
I pray for guidance.
I pray for forgiveness for the evil that I have done.
Sounds like remorse to me.
I'd call it a confession.
Blood in the minivan, blood on her blouse, all a match for Pastor Harris.
Question is, does asking God to forgive her constitute a confession? I wish she'd said, "God forgive me for shooting my husband in the back of the head," but it does speak to her state of mind.
Cops found a receipt in the car for De Michael's Pizza.
Puts her back in the house about the time he was killed.
Anybody who's begging God to forgive her is pretty close to giving it up altogether.
Well, let's keep the pressure on her.
Charge her with the murder, and then maybe we can avoid a trial altogether.
But we have no weapon yet, no motive.
An affair, for instance? His or hers? Either.
If it turns out to be that, I think we can get her to the table.
She's a preacher's wife.
She won't want her dirty laundry hanging out for everyone and his brother to see.
Papers on the preacher's desk seem to indicate some financial distress in the Harris household.
MAUREEN: A couple half-filled out credit card applications and one home equity loan.
For how much? The max, 50 grand.
Good, let's see what other doors open up.
And let's do our homework with the members of the church, too.
Preparations for the preacher's memorial service are underway.
Might be a good time to make an appearance at the New Victory Church.
We're on it.
The jury's going to want to know what makes a preacher's wife kill.
is anywhere in this state where my client can get a fair trial, it certainly isn't Indianapolis.
Now in light of the grotesque overexposure in the press The overexposure in the press is the only reason Mr.
Hellman has taken this case.
The prosecution manipulated my client and prevented her from seeking legal counsel in her hour of need by pretending to be spiritually sympathetic.
Just how did we manipulate her? By getting her to pray with you.
How low can you go? That occurred at Mrs.
Harris' request, not ours.
And then to leak her anguish, her private prayer to the gutter press, who portray it as a confession, it's unconscionable.
Our office leaked nothing and he knows it, Your Honor.
Mr.
Hellman, the press coverage in this case strikes me as not sufficient to taint the jury pool.
Your Honor Change of venue is denied.
Well, then I respectfully request that my client be released on suitably modest bail.
Your Honor, Mrs.
Harris has fled this jurisdiction once already.
She will be staying with members of her church, law-abiding people who will hardly be inclined to help her jump bail.
Your Honor, the defendant admits fleeing the scene without reporting the crime to the police, or summoning help for the victim.
Bail is set at $300,000.
Why don't you just make it a million, Your Honor? Obviously my client can't raise that kind of money.
But should she do so, Mr.
Hellman, defendant will also submit to electronic monitoring.
Yes, Your Honor.
(gavel bangs) You did everything you could, Mr.
Hellman.
I appreciate it.
Thank you.
And thanks for thbooks.
I'll see you real soon.
You should occasionally reconsider your world view that every defendant is guilty until proven innocent.
That would make me a defense attorney, Doug.
I'm a prosecutor.
I have another theory.
Somebody leaked, "God forgive me" to the press.
Obviously.
Somebody looking for a smaller, more conservative venue, perhaps something more in tune with his client's religious views.
You certainly have a vivid imagination.
You are worth every penny.
Since I'm doing this pro bono, a penny would actually be a raise.
I'd have to give you a refund.
I appreciate you coming in, Paul.
I know Mr.
Hellman counseled you not to speak to us.
I'm only here to tell you my mother belongs at my father's funeral.
I understand why you'd want her to be there.
There's no way she could have done this.
She's not a violent person.
We've never kept guns in the house.
Really? Why don't you tell me about your parents? Okay.
Financial problems? Were they worried about money? I wouldn't know.
I mean, they never talked about that sort of thing, not in front of me.
Was your father at home much? He was on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
But she wouldn't have killed him for that.
No major problems with their marriage? No serious issues? What marriage doesn't have problems? My mother was in it for the long haul.
She was a lifer.
They both were.
Can she please go to the funeral? I'm sorry.
Not unless she can make bail.
I'm the church secretary.
I know exactly what this man has accomplished.
My own son, Todd, Brother Jeff helped him stop drinking.
Last year, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
I understand.
Brother Jeff helped me come to terms with it, got me through the chemo.
What about financial difficulties? Uh Raising money for the new church was full of challenges, setbacks.
I meant their personal finances.
Uh, well, money was always tight.
Far as I know, they were all right.
Mrs.
Monroe, did you know of any problems in their marriage? What are you insinuating? Just a routine question; I have to ask.
Well, if I did, I sure wouldn't be going around talking about it at a time like this.
So there were problems.
We're all in a tremendous amount of pain here.
I'm pr we're all praying for Martha.
Been going over the Harris' finances.
They were doing okay.
Made more than I did.
Found this in his desk drawer.
Thought you might want to look at it.
"On your special day, I'm sending you some special love.
"Spending time with you "is the most incredible gift I've ever received.
"You are the light of my life.
Signed" "Your love lifts me higher.
Joan.
" That's not his wife's name.
It's his secretary, Joan Monroe.
Just met her.
Look at all the schoolgirl hearts she's drawn there.
And the pressed flower? So over the top.
If the preacher was having an inappropriate relationship I can see how Martha Harris could get that idea.
And look at this.
The Harris' phone records.
The last call made from the Harris' house was to Joan Monroe's.
Preacher and the secretary spent all kinds of time together, raising money, talking on the phone, wife finds out I think you should speak to Joan Monroe again.
And we'll see what Martha Harris makes of this birthday card.
All righty.
What can you tell us about Joan Monroe? Uh, she took over as church secretary when I stepped down last year from the job.
She replaced you.
I'd had my turn.
Have you seen this before? Um, Jeff received literally a hundred cards on his birthday.
This particular one is from Joan Monroe.
ANNABETH: We were wondering if he may have had a special relationship with his secretary.
Special? Especially close.
So this is a fishing trip, hmm? Nice day for it.
You're mistaken.
She was not special to him.
So she wasn't having an affair with your husband? Joan Monroe is a hardworking woman who loves the Lord.
My husband appreciated her dedication.
And I can see that the two of you share a similar dedication to your work, but I really do not want to be thought of as a jealous, suspicious wife, which I've never been.
Nor do I want my husband to be remembered as involved in any way with that woman.
"That woman"? I'm no preacher's kid, but I don't think she much likes Joan Monroe.
Oh, you know, my mother, she would never say anything bad about anybody in the church.
Afraid of the backlash? No, I think she was worried if she started, she wouldn't be able to stop.
(bell dings) (chuckles) Did you miss your dad after he moved out? I didn't have a lot of time for that.
I had to help my mom raise my brothers and sisters.
Yeah.
I missed him.
Mrs.
Monroe.
My partner and I would like a word with you.
Detective.
I'm in a bit of a rush.
There's still a million things yet to do.
Then we'll get right to it.
We believe you were having an inappropriate relationship with Pastor Harris.
Inappropriate? You know, extramarital.
Whatever gave you that idea? We found a birthday card.
There was nothing inappropriate about that birthday card.
I know where you're getting this.
It's her, isn't it? It's Martha.
Poor woman.
She never knew what a truly righteous man she had.
Brother Jeff told me how jealous she was, because we were spending so much time together on the building fund.
We laughed about it.
That's how absurd it was.
I'm sorry, if there's nothing else, I really have to get going.
Let me help you with that.
It's fine, I can manage.
It's no problem.
Oh, it's heavy.
Thank you.
Just put it in the backseat here.
It's better in the trunk, don't you think? No, the backseat's fine, really.
Let's put it in the trunk.
It's full.
I'm sure we can squeeze it in.
Mrs.
Monroe, open the trunk, please.
Now.
All right.
Cleaning out the office? Like I said, lots to do.
She told us everything right there on the street.
On the day Pastor Harris died, the church building fund disappeared.
All $267,000 wiped out.
Gone? Internet scam.
Oldest one in the book.
The Nigerian letter.
VEGA: I got one of those once.
People are still falling for that? We've got Randall looking at the church computer now, so we don't have a full picture yet.
And the bags of shredded documents? Joan Monroe says she didn't want the preacher to be remembered at his funeral as the guy who lost the church building fund.
Shredding documents isn't going to stop anyone from finding out the money's missing.
Maybe she was trying to delay that unpleasant revelation until after his funeral.
Any chance of recovering the funds? Long gone.
International wire transfer to Africa.
Let's say that the preacher and his secretary were having an affair.
That's what it's looking like.
The preacher loses $267,000 of the church's money that the congregation had worked so hard to raise.
Another good reason for his wife to whack him.
On the other hand, if the secretary was involved in losing the church's money My money is still on the missus, not the mistress.
w w~V{ Hey.
Hey.
This is the warrant to search Joan Monroe's house.
I know this money thing has come into the case, but my intuition says it's still about jealousy.
And losing the money? Maybe that led to Martha Harris finding out about the affair.
Well, I just got off the phone with the church deacons, and agreed to share with them what we know about the loss of the building fund.
Can you put together some sort of summary for them? Sure.
I don't think it's going to make them feel any better about their pastor though.
Where you going? To talk to his wife again, see if she knows anything about this missing money.
If your dad lost every penny of his church's money My mom would have skinned him alive.
Mrs.
Harris, were you aware that, the day your husband was killed, he had lost the entire church building fund in an Internet scam? No matter how many times you ask, she is not going to answer that question.
You should know the church is now forced to withdraw its offer to buy the land at the corner of Washington and Central.
And your source is this church secretary, Joan Monroe, right? Funny how that name keeps coming up.
She told us some very interesting things about Pastor Harris.
No doubt.
And did you manage to keep her lawyer out of the room, too? We know that the loss of this money and the preacher's murder are connected.
Well, if you knew it for sure, you wouldn't be baiting my client.
I don't know what that woman told you.
You keep calling her "that woman.
" Let it go.
She's just trying to get a rise out of you.
The Nigerians took the money, not my husband.
I never mentioned Nigerians.
I guess you answered my question after all.
We're searching Mrs.
Monroe's house as we speak.
Hard time believing people fall for this Nigerian Internet scam.
They don't fall for it all at once.
It's one little hook at a time.
Don't forget they were trying to raise money for the new church.
Yeah.
They got greedy.
That's how people usually get scammed.
Look at this.
Power tool case? If you consider a nine millimeter Glock 17 a power tool.
A lot of people would.
It's empty.
The weapon was registered to Joan Monroe.
Anybody else have access to the gun? Her husband died years ago, but her son Todd lives with her-- Ray's trying to locate him now.
You think Joan Monroe did this? Maybe Pastor Harris insisted she take the blame for the Internet scam.
People of faith are particularly vulnerable to these sorts of cons.
Because they're so darn trusting? You sound dubious.
A little.
I mean, just because you go to church doesn't make you some dewy-eyed, innocent babe in the woods.
I know what you mean, but I'm just saying, if you knew which buttons to push, a smart operator can take advantage.
You think that's what happened here? Well, Ed's in with Randal right now looking at all the grisly details.
It was a classic affinity scam.
Affinity? You're a good Christian, I'm a good Christian-- you can trust me.
See, my antennae's up right there.
Most people's would be, but these guys are sophisticated.
They personalize things, like, "Pastor Harris, we've heard about your "church building project.
Here in Nigeria, "we dream of building a hospital for the poor.
Perhaps we can help one another.
" So it's a win-win.
We get our hospital, you get your church.
Mm-hmm.
So what do they want help with? Getting $15 million out of their country.
All they need is an American bank account to deposit the $15 million in.
Why? Because they claim some corrupt Nigerian officials are going to steal it.
Okay.
And in exchange for doing this good deed? So Pastor Harris gives them the account number and, the next thing you know, it's bye-bye building fund.
So long, farewell, adios.
But why not open up a separate account? Why give up the building account? According to church bylaws, that would have required approval from the deacons.
And he didn't want them to know? Maybe he thought they would nix the deal, too risky.
They'd have been right.
How'd the Nigerians convince them they had $15 million in the first place? Yeah.
This is an attachment to an e-mail dated two days before the pastor was killed.
DRUMMER: That's a lot of money.
Enough to make people do some crazy-ass things.
We've been assuming the loss of the building fund was somehow tied to the murder.
but before that money disappeared, the preacher, Joan Monroe, and maybe even his wife, thought millions of dollars were on the way.
The preacher's end was four and a half mil.
You're saying the preacher was killed by somebody trying to get their hands on that money, even though it never existed? Well, the preacher believed it existed, and he believed it was coming.
And these people believed the preacher, so in their mind It was coming.
Money in the bank.
We've located Joan Monroe's son.
His mama's gun.
Excuse me while I get the extradition ball rolling.
DRUMMER: of the New Victory Church, correct? I played drums in the band there three times a week, that's correct.
So what were you doing in Ohio switching the license plates on your car? I was going to visit a buddy of mine and I noticed my tags were expired, and I was, like, I don't want to get pulled over because I have a lot of parking tickets.
I know it's pretty stupid.
Where'd you get the stolen plates? I had 'em in my garage.
Not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Or that's what he wants you to think.
Let's talk about your mother's gun-- the murder weapon-- which car.
I didn't have anything to do with Pastor Harris's murder.
Your mother know you took off with her gun? She give it to you to get rid of? My mom had nothing to do with it, either.
Then who did? You've already got her.
It was Martha-- she did it.
The preacher's wife.
How do you know that? Because I was sleeping with her.
Talk to me about Todd.
Alcoholic, couldn't hold a job.
Pastor Harris got him into rehab, found him a job in a shoe store and let him play in the church band.
So naturally he killed the man who saved his life.
Some people don't know how to receive.
Something about a serpent's tooth and an ungrateful child? What about the affair? The motel in Madison where Mrs.
Harris was arrested.
Todd said that's where they would meet.
They drive 200 miles round-trip to conduct the affair? I believe it-- she really wanted to make sure no one from her church would find out.
Hotel record-- Todd Monroe, every Thursday around 3:00 p.
m.
, going back at least a couple of months.
Confirms the affair for me.
So Todd Monroe is saying Martha Harris did it.
Is he saying why? He don't want to talk about that.
Yeah, but when we told him we knew everything about the Nigerian scam, he immediately said Mrs.
Harris killed her husband because she was after the $4 1/2 million.
But there never was any money.
That doesn't matter-- they thought there was.
But Todd's the one with the gun in his car.
Isn't he the likely shooter here? I would think so, but we can't place him at the scene.
Now, if Martha's affair with Todd were made public, a much younger man, and when we tell her that Todd is telling us that she killed her husband She'd feel betrayed.
She might even turn on him.
I'm counting on the two of you to make her feel really bad.
HELLMAN: with my client seem to indicate a certain lack of confidence in your case against her.
We've arrested Todd Monroe in connection with Pastor Harris's murder.
As I said.
He told us he and Mrs.
Harris met regularly at a motel in Madison, Indiana.
His story checks out.
If we go to trial, Mrs.
Harris, everyone will hear about the affair.
He told us you killed your husband for the money.
My husband and I didn't have any money.
Mrs.
Harris, Todd Monroe said you killed your husband because you wanted the millions of dollars he was expecting from Nigeria.
Nobody had millions of dollars.
I don't know what Todd is talking about.
He killed my husband Martha, as your attorney, if you have anything to say to these ladies, now would be a good moment.
It wasn't a normal Saturday night.
How so? My husband was very upset about something, and I thought he had found out about me and Todd.
And I said, "Jeff, you have to tell me what's going on.
" He said he had done a stupid, stupid thing.
He had trusted somebody on the Internet and had lost the building fund money.
He said the people in the church would never forgive him.
'd go to prison.
And he told me I should leave him.
And what did you say? wasn't the horrible person, was the horrible person.
was the one having the affair.
You confessed your affair to him? And we talked and prayed and Jeff forgave me.
He just forgave me.
I know this is going to sound strange, but it was the closest we'd been in years.
And then he called Todd.
Could you hear what he said to him? He said, "I know about everything," and to "Come over right now, Todd.
" And when he hung up the phone, he asked me to leave and to come back in a couple hours.
The last thing that my husband ever said to me in this world was to bless me for having the courage to tell the truth.
And when I came home Your husband died when he confronted Todd Monroe over the affair.
This is God's judgment on me.
(exhales) Ladies.
She needs to agree to tell this story to a jury.
And you will dismiss all charges against her.
We will dismiss the charges.
I have to talk about everything? Everything.
How your husband telling you he lost the church's money led you to confess your affair with Todd, which led to the fatal confrontation between the two of them.
And you'll need to tell the jury just how the affair started.
When my son Paul went to college, Jeff threw himself full-time into raising money for the church.
I felt like he was avoiding me.
I was so lonely.
That sounds tough.
And then my husband decided to introduce a more contemporary service to attract new membership, and he told me that nobody really liked the music we had always sung.
So I sang my last solo, the last one that I would ever sing in my life, and who was the only person who came up to me after? Todd Monroe.
He said that I had the most beautiful voice God had ever heard.
It was the kindest thing that anyone had ever said to me.
You need to understand that he was a listener.
I mean, everybody listens to a preacher, but nobody listens to a preacher's wife.
Whenever I was with him, he would always say, "Tell me everything.
" He listened to you.
He listened.
MARTHA: I know about everything," and then he asked Todd to come over and talk.
I left, and when I came back, Jeff was dead.
ANNABETH: We would like to enter into evidence Pastor Harris's phone records.
Last phone call he made was to Joan Monroe's house, where the defendant was residing.
Mrs.
Harris, one last question.
Why didn't you call 911 when you found your husband's body? I felt responsible, and I was scared that everything about the affair would come out.
I didn't know what to do.
And then I kept thinking, if I hadn't been unfaithful (crying softly): Jeff would still be alive.
ANNABETH: No further questions, Your Honor.
I just have a few questions, Mrs.
Harris.
You were at one time the church secretary for New Victory Evangelical, were you not? Uh, briefly last year.
So you have a working knowledge of the church's finances-- bank accounts, passwords, user names? I did.
Your Honor, I would like to read this piece of correspondence from the Southern Guarantee Bank of Costa Rica.
Objection, Your Honor-- we are unaware of any such letter.
That's 'cause it just arrived in the mail.
Counselors, to the bench.
ANNABETH: Are we just supposed to take this at face value, Your Honor? We have no way of authenticating these documents.
I agree, Miss Chase.
This is, uh, quite a development.
I suggest we take a recess and convene in my chambers.
"Dear Mrs.
Harris, "thank you for your recent deposit of $267,000.
38, USD.
" Mrs.
Harris, how much money was in the church building fund when it was wiped out? $267,000.
Did you take that money and place it in an offshore account? I don't even know what an offshore account is.
Well, Southern Guarantee Bank And I'm wondering, Annabeth, how do you explain this post office box she shares with my client? Uh, Mrs.
Harris, is this document accurate? That's my signature, but I didn't sign that.
I can see how this must be very upsetting to everyone, but I have to tell you, I'm not upset, I'm relieved.
You're relieved? The money's been found The church can get the money back.
It's what Jeff would have wanted.
But everyone thinks you took it.
God's grace is like that sometimes.
It doesn't matter.
As long as the church gets the money back.
In light of these revelations, do the people wish to amend their case against Todd Monroe? Your Honor, we need time to investigate and authenticate these documents.
You have 36 hours, Ms.
Chase.
At that time, I'll hear from counsel again and if not satisfied, I will entertain a motion to amend i can dismss the charge against mr.
not going to think she stole the building fund and then killed her husband to keep him quiet.
If we can link Todd Monroe to the offshore accounts The whole point of an offshore account is to put it out of reach of U.
S.
authority.
If Todd Monroe managed to steal the church building fund It would have to be done electronically, and there's nothing like that on his computer.
What about his mom's computer? Nothing of his there, either.
Go over everything again-- his car, his laundry, his drum set.
If you come up blank, we're going to have to make a deal.
There's nothing here that wasn't here before.
It's Joe who gave up the sauce, but he's sure loving the lattes.
That's what they say.
Go on the wagon, you get hooked on caffeine.
What's with the receipts? Chocolate donuts tax deductible or something? I wish.
Here's another one.
"Greenville, Ohio.
" That's where he was picked up, remember? When was he picked up? The exact day? I don't know.
This is dated two months ago, and it's for 30 bucks.
Who spends 30 bucks on coffee? Somebody buying computer time, maybe? Internet cafe? Our boy drives out of state to go online.
If we're lucky.
Greenville.
That's an hour plus.
Depends who's driving.
The coffee shop owner recognized him.
Said he came in every couple of days, sat at the same station.
Since 9-11, they back up everything their customers do online.
These are messages and e-mail attachments from the Nigerians.
We've seen all these before.
You have, except they ain't from Nigeria.
I don't understand.
Well, tracking Todd Monroe's online trail, we came to a remote storage service where he kept hundreds of documents from various Nigerian e-mail scams.
This folder is documents he collected by responding to actual scammers online.
And this folder is the same content, but with key details altered, like Pastor Harris' name, the church, et cetera.
So the money didn't disappear to Nigeria? He just bounced it around different proxy servers to make it look that way.
You're saying he created this whole thing? There never were any Nigerians.
It was Todd all along.
(sighs) Because he knew Pastor Harris personally, Todd Monroe was able to tailor these documents to an extraordinary degree.
For instance? For instance, in this e-mail he claimed a child in his fictitious Nigerian church was healed from cancer after intensive prayer.
To which Pastor Harris responded, "This is a miracle.
"Just this past week, "my secretary Joan Monroe's breast cancer "went into remission.
God answers all our prayers.
" He played on his own mother's cancer? It's all part of the affinity scam, building trust through a common set of beliefs.
In this way he was able to advance his purpose with surprising speed.
And his goal? To acquire the building fund.
Hmm.
What's this? Photocopies of Martha Harris' birth certificate, driver's license, Social Security Card, credit cards, bank statements, everything you need to steal her identity.
And why would he need Martha Harris' identity? To set up an offshore account.
Whose idea was it to open a post office box together? Mrs.
Harris'.
She wanted a way to communicate with me without using the phone.
In the time you spent with her, did Martha Harris ever mention the Nigerian scam? She talked about it constantly.
Her husband had gotten one of those letters, and he thought the whole thing was for real.
She couldn't believe how gullible he was.
So she knew it was a scam? She said she'd seen a whole about it.
But then she got this idea to steal the church building fund.
She wanted to pretend to be a Nigerian scammer, so that when she took the church building fund, everyone, including Pastor Harris, would think the Nigerians were the ones that took it, which is exactly what happened.
And did Mrs.
Harris ever ask you if you would help her with all this? She said I'd get half the building fund.
Is that why you continued to see her? Yes.
You used her.
You took advantage of her loniness.
I'm not proud of it.
Did she instruct you on how to alter the Nigerian documents? She did.
Did you steal her identity? No, she gave me all her info.
She asked me to open an account in her name.
She came up with everything.
And did Mrs.
Harris ever speak to you about why she wanted to steal the money? She wanted to get back at my mom and Brother Jeff.
Tell us what you mean by that.
She was convinced they were seeing each other.
Your mother, Joan Monroe and Pastor Harris having an affair.
And were they? No, but you couldn't tell her that.
She knew if she took that money, my mom and Brother Jeff would get blamed for the whole thing.
How did the nine-millimeter pistol that killed Pastor Jeff Harris come to be in your car? Mrs.
Harris and I would drive separately down to Madison to meet.
She didn't like being in the car by herself, so she asked me to get her some protection.
So you stole your mom's gun? I borrowed my mom's pistol and I gave it to Mrs.
Harris.
The night Brother Jeff was killed, she brought it back to me, said she didn't want it anymore.
Said it made her nervous.
Next thing I know, I'm arrested for murder.
So you hear that Pastor Harris has been killed, and that his wife's missing.
The same woman who brought back the gun to you.
And what do you do? Call the police? No.
Why not? Because I was afraid my mom would get blamed.
Really? That's touching.
Where were you the morning after Pastor Harris was killed? In church, getting ready to play in the band.
Isn't it true you went to church that morning to avoid suspicion? No.
And didn't you flee two days later when Martha Harris was arrested, because you were concerned she'd identify you? No.
And didn't you steal a license plate in Ohio to avoid getting caught? No.
And weren't you taking the murder weapon with you in order to dispose of it as far from the crime scene as possible? No.
No? No further questions, Your Honor.
Todd Monroe came up with a brilliant plan.
He saw that if he spread the poisoned promise of nonexistent millions-- remember, these people were already engaged in raising money to build a church-- he could exploit them, and he did.
He played his pastor, the pastor's wife, even his own mother.
And when Pastor Harris called on that fatal night, and said "I know everything," Todd Monroe assumed the pastor was talking about the money he'd just stolen, $267,000; the building fund.
Todd Monroe was going to hang onto that money.
He'd gone to a lot of trouble to get it.
He had to shut Pastor Harris up.
So he shot him.
Todd Monroe held Pastor Harris in the highest regard.
This was the man that had saved him from the ravages of alcohol.
In his care, Todd Monroe was learning to believe in himself again.
But it was this very vulnerability that Martha Harris exploited.
She hatched the plan to take the money.
It was her jealousy, a jealousy so blind that it assumed an affair where there was none.
Ladies and gentlemen, Martha Harris had come undone.
And my client was unlucky enough to be there to catch her when she fell.
And the prosecution knows all this.
In fact, until recently, they had been building a case against her.
No wonder.
After all, there's an offshore account with all the money from the church building fund with her name on it.
Follow the money, ladies and gentlemen.
It leads to Mrs.
Harris, not Todd Monroe.
Todd Monroe killed Pastor Harris? Doesn't add up.
on the count of murder, the jury finds the defendant guilty.
(gavel bangs) (knocking) I came by to thank you and Miss Chase, but she'd already gone.
Oh, she has a little girl.
She's gone home.
And what about you? You're here so late.
Well, I don't have a child and I'm not married.
I imagine it would be difficult to have a family and do what you do.
Part of the job.
Yeah, I gave my whole life to the church.
That was my job.
Do you regret it? Was it worth it? Yes, it was.
Please tell Miss Chase I came by.
I will.
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