Law & Order (1990) s25e03 Episode Script
White Lies
1
In the criminal justice system,
the people are represented
by two separate, yet
equally important groups:
the police, who investigate crime,
and the district attorneys,
who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
People accuse you of being ruthless
in your investment philosophy,
especially considering
I'm the only one keeping
these companies honest.
There's rampant mismanagement and waste
in corporate America
unearned bonuses, excessive salaries.
When I buy a stake in a company,
I become a watchdog.
Some would say a rabid watchdog.
[CHUCKLES] Even better.
But I'm doing it for the little guy
uh, the cops, the teachers, the nurses.
They own publicly traded
stocks in their 401(k)s,
in their IRAs.
I keep the fat cats honest,
make them justify decisions,
their compensation
So you consider yourself
a public servant?
Uh, no, no, no. [CHUCKLES]
I'm a capitalist.
My goal is to make money
for me and for all
the other shareholders
who put their faith in
the hands of executives
running publicly traded companies.
Museum of Natural History.
I believe in growth, prosperity,
pushing for change
in the name of the greater good.
Big party?
[PERSON SCREAMS, TIRES SCREECH]
No, no, no. Oh, my God.
Oh, my God. [BREATHING HEAVILY] No.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
- Vic's Thomas Hardiman, 53.
- What happened?
He was hit by a taxi, 2003 hours.
- Hit-and-run?
- More like hit-and-cry.
The driver was a blubbery mess.
Said there was an altercation.
Vic was shoved in front of the cab.
Did he see who did the shoving?
Nope.
Was there a passenger in the taxi?
A woman.
She was on her phone,
didn't see anything.
Did the driver give a description?
It was dark.
Couldn't even say if
it was a man or woman.
All he said was medium build,
wearing some kind of brown hat.
- Headed east on foot.
- Okay.
Pull all the ARGUS
footage from the area.
And since there was a
struggle, have the MLI check
- for third-party DNA on the vic.
- Mm-hmm.
Vic's got his phone here.
And this is a very fancy wallet,
so I don't think we're
looking at a robbery.
Lives at 1157 57th Street.
That's near Billionaires' Row.
He's got a wedding ring.
Let's go deliver the news.
Till death do us part.
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
It would be helpful
to know where your
husband was this evening,
who he was seeing.
Uh, I wish I could help.
[SNIFFLES] Tom and I
have been separated,
about three months now.
Do you know what he was
doing in the neighborhood
where he was killed West 43rd Street?
Oh. That's by the Harvard Club.
Tom went there most
nights, around 8:00 or so.
And did your husband have any enemies,
anyone who might have threatened him?
Do you know who Tom was, what he did?
Uh, well, his business card
just said that he ran
Broadchurch Investment Fund.
Tom wasn't just any investor.
He was an activist investor.
What does that mean?
He buys a big stake,
tells them not so nicely
what they're doing wrong,
how to run their company.
Used to call those guys
"corporate raiders."
So made money, not friends.
Exactly.
How about recently?
Did he get into it with
anyone in particular?
I have not kept up on his day-to-day.
His girlfriend might know.
His girlfriend?
Some professor up at
Hudson. I don't have a name.
Sometimes it's better not to know.
And what about you?
What were you doing
tonight around 8:00 p.m.?
[SCOFFS SOFTLY] I was at my book club.
It's ten women married to fund managers.
We all have a lot of downtime.
Okay, well, we're
we're gonna ask you
to send us some names.
Of course.
[SIGHS] I can't believe
he's really gone.
If you think of anything else
We looked at the
university's social media.
Tom Hardiman was a guest lecturer
in your class a few months ago,
and I guess you two, uh, hit it off?
I never meant to fall in love.
There's no one like Tom
fearless thinker in an
age of cowardly groupthink.
What's a billionaire investor doing
giving a lecture at a college?
No offense.
I teach Information Asymmetry.
It's how knowledge translates
into economic power.
So how were things between you two?
We made each other very happy.
Did you see Hardiman last night?
No. I was stuck on campus
meeting with students.
You can talk to security.
- Was he receiving any threats?
- Some people hated him
or hated the way that
he challenged them
[CELL PHONE CHIMES, VIBRATES]
Challenged their rigid old-school ways.
He liked to say he could fill
a country with his enemies.
- Got any names?
- No.
He never took them seriously.
We have to get moving.
Okay, well, if you think of anything
Any chance your husband found
out about the relationship?
Of course. I told Marc.
It's why I filed for divorce.
Thanks.
All right, that text I got?
They found third-party
DNA under Hardiman's nails
and on his jacket.
- Any hits in CODIS?
- Nope, but it's male.
I say we talk to the jilted husband.
Ariana told me she was in love.
[SCOFFS] Hell, I was glad she told me.
Truth is freeing.
And if Ariana wants
out, that's her right.
Pretty zen for the guy
who called Tom Hardiman
over a dozen times in the past week.
Look, I wanted to sit down
with the man face-to-face.
That jackass was paying
for her divorce lawyer,
bankrolling her custody fight.
If I'm being ferociously honest
that sounds like motive.
I got nothing to hide.
We met for lunch,
and I told Hardiman exactly
what I thought of him.
Oh, really? How'd that go?
Things get ugly? They
turn physical at all?
They probably would have, but
some nut job beat me to it.
What does that mean?
As Hardiman was heading for the exit,
some guy comes up,
starts grabbing at him, taking swings.
So I just watched and enjoyed the show.
Okay. You got an alibi
for 8:00 p.m. last night?
Yeah. I was leading a seminar
on the Lower East Side
Finding Your Truth.
You should come sometime.
Hey.
So our life-coach husband
was telling the truth.
62 people were learning
to be ferociously honest
for 180 bucks a pop
while Tom Hardiman was getting
pushed in front of a cab.
I bet ferocious honesty kills more
people per year than cigarettes.
Yeah. Yeah, when my wife
and I got back together,
we had one agreement no questions,
no confessions about our time apart.
What you don't know can't hurt you.
And what you don't say can't
be used in a custody battle.
Hey.
So I pulled that video you
asked for from the restaurant.
Take a look.
There's no match in facial rec,
but there was a patch on his jacket.
Okay, let's do a little digging
and see if anyone was trashing Hardiman
- at Mercy Hospital.
- Yeah.
Couple posts on social media here.
#MercyHospital, #TomHardiman.
There's one from Carlos
Guzman, who seems to be a nurse.
This one's a gem from a couple days ago.
"Tom Hardiman has blood on his hands.
Time for retribution."
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
♪
COO said he worked on the fifth floor?
On Mondays, yeah.
He's on the sixth floor
the other four days.
Wait a minute. Is that
our guy right there?
Looks like it.
Hey, Carlos Guzman. NYPD.
We need to talk to you.
He's gonna rabbit.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
[ENGINE REVVING]
All right, all right.
Don't move. Don't move.
[PANTING] Don't look so surprised.
You're coming with us.
I told you, I got nothing
to do with any murder!
Sit down, okay? Sit.
You took swings at Tom Hardiman
outside a midtown bistro,
and two days later, he's dead.
You understand why we have questions?
What's your beef with the guy, anyway?
Why this need for retribution?
- Hardiman's fund, uh
- Broadchurch Investments.
They bought a big-ass stake
in the hospital chain I work for.
No one told us.
It's not like we're
reading financial news.
But all of a sudden, there's
a new head of hospital.
Then half the trauma ward gets fired.
So he downsized.
Must have ticked you off.
What ticked me off?
Empty supply closets, no pain
meds for patients, no ventilators.
The nursing staff couldn't
even get protective gear.
And so you wanted him dead.
[SIGHS] I wanted to expose him.
People need to know the truth.
That's very noble.
But we think there's
something more personal.
And we happen to know
that your mother died
at Mercy Hospital two months
after Hardiman took over.
And that would piss me off
if I found out that some
suit's budget cuts led to my mom
not getting the care that she needed.
Carlos, where were you
last night around 8:00 p.m.?
At the bedside of a 28-year-old,
who died because we didn't
have a goddamn ventilator!
Ask his wife, his parents
or his two young children.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
We will look into that.
Whoever offed Tom Hardiman saved lives,
did good.
♪
[DOOR CLOSES]
Guzman's alibi checks out.
And he's kind of a hero over at Mercy,
so I think we got to cut him loose
before the nursing
staff storms this place.
Okay. Do it.
These hedge funds are pillaging
our health-care system.
They're also going after newspapers,
toy companies, anything,
as long as there's a
green rainbow at the end.
Maybe we should look
into some of Hardiman's
other investments,
see if there's anyone who
feels as passionately as Guzman.
Well, according to "The
Wall Street Journal,"
Hardiman's latest investment
was WellPoint Therapeutics.
There's a ton of articles
predicting a brutal showdown
between Hardiman and WellPoint's CEO.
I'm looking at Hardiman's calendar.
Last meeting he had on the day
he was killed was at WellPoint.
Let's go.
I was shocked to hear about Tom.
He was such a young man.
You had a meeting with him
on the day he was killed?
Yeah. We met right here.
Anything strange about
the meeting, any arguments?
I'll save you from barking up that tree.
Uh, despite the press hoopla
about a looming showdown between us,
our meeting was cordial.
So don't believe everything you read.
So he wasn't trying to
pillage your company?
[CHUCKLES] No.
Well, he he he bought a 24% stake,
got himself a seat on the board,
had some thoughts he wanted to share,
asked me for a one-on-one
to present his ideas,
- and I agreed.
- And?
And, uh, it was a pleasant,
productive conversation.
Mr. Munson, your conference call
is about to begin.
Ah, yes. Yes, thank you.
Um
I'm sorry. My assistant
will see you out.
Just one last thing for protocol
where were you last night at 8:00 p.m.?
I was at home reading a
bedtime story to my grandkids.
We should all be so blessed.
Okay, thank you.
Munson mentioned that his
meeting was a one-on-one.
But in Hardiman's calendar, he mentions
that he met with someone
else from the company
by the name of Kevin Goodall?
Sure. He's our head of research.
Well, Hardiman wanted it
to be just the two of them,
- but I insisted on attending.
- And why is that?
Norm founded this company 40 years ago.
He devoted his time and
capital into researching cures
for rare diseases,
whereas Tom Hardiman
thank you
is a high-end pickpocket
in a Brioni suit,
trying to tell Norman Munson,
who started as a doctor
and is one of the
pioneers of drug research,
how to run his pharmaceutical business?
[SCOFFS] The arrogance.
So, yeah, I wanted to be there.
Sounds like maybe things
got a little heated.
No.
[CHUCKLES] No.
Norm is a class act.
He refused to take the bait.
Eventually Hardiman backed off,
and the whole thing stayed
pleasantly professional.
Did Hardiman seem
distracted or stressed?
I don't know the guy's baseline.
But the meeting was shorter
than I would have anticipated.
Thought he would've stuck
around and pressed his points.
It took about 30 minutes or so.
Then he ran out of here
like he had a plane to catch.
- What time was that?
- Uh, 6:30.
Do you know where he was going?
No, he wasn't the chatty type.
Okay, well, just so we
can cross you off the list,
where were you last night at 8:00 p.m.?
I was at home with my wife,
telling her what a clown Hardiman is
was.
Just got off the phone
with Goodall's wife.
She confirms he was home at 8:00.
And Munson's family
corroborates his version of events.
Well, I got video of Hardiman
leaving WellPoint at 6:30,
like Goodall said.
Uh, he is pacing.
Looks like he's yelling
at somebody on his phone.
And then he heads off down the street,
and we lose him on the cameras.
And according to his call log,
at 6:38, he called a number registered
to Preston Kane four times.
Who's Preston Kane?
He's the chairman of
WellPoint Therapeutics.
Yes, I got a couple calls,
but I didn't pick up,
and I was out when Tom
appeared on my doorbell cam.
Do you know why he came by?
Hardiman had a one-track mind.
Every call and meeting
was about the same thing
he wanted to fire Norman Munson.
- Why is that?
- Change the company's focus.
Redirect our R&D to big-market,
high-profit therapies.
Well, that sounds like Hardiman's MO.
It is, except the
WellPoint board loves Norm.
Everyone loves Norm,
despite the company's
lackluster financial
results the past few years.
So Hardiman wanted him fired,
but the board wasn't having it?
Mm.
Couple board members were on
the fence, but you're correct.
Hardiman was never gonna
get the votes he needed.
It was driving him crazy.
Why so much love for Norm Munson?
Look, it's not the most
popular concept these days,
but Munson believes there are things
more important than profit.
He believes in a greater good.
Hardiman called you 4 times,
and one of the calls lasted 17 seconds.
Are you sure he didn't reach you?
He left a voicemail
"I finally got what I need.
Norm Munson is a goner."
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
Ryan Elliott?
I'm Detective Riley.
This is Lieutenant Brady. NYPD.
We were told you worked
closely with Tom Hardiman.
[CHUCKLES WRYLY] Yeah,
until he fired me yesterday.
Don't worry.
I was throwing back Patron shots
with a half dozen colleagues
when Hardiman hit the pavement.
You sound really broken up about it.
What can I say? The guy was a prick.
The thing that really
gets to me, though,
is I knew it but tried
to convince myself
that he was actually
a decent human being.
What do you know about
Hardiman's relationship
- with Norman Munson?
- He hated that man.
He spent 50% of his time
trying to fire his ass.
Already had his
successor picked out, too.
Hardiman chose Munson's successor?
And a three-year business plan.
He shared it with the board.
- Munson knew about this?
- [CHUCKLES] He sure did.
But he didn't care.
Told Hardiman to kiss his ass.
Well, apparently,
Hardiman left a voicemail
with WellPoint's chairman of the board.
Preston Kane.
Yeah, something about how he finally had
what he needed to get Munson fired,
like he had some smoking gun.
And 30 minutes or so later, he was dead,
so we think there's some connection.
Whatever Hardiman discovered
might have triggered
someone to kill him.
I wish I could help you, but
[CHUCKLES] I don't know
anything about that.
Sorry.
Okay, well, thank you for your time.
- [ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]
- Well, one thing's clear
Munson lied to us when he told
us that meeting with Hardiman
ended in some sort of
gentlemen's agreement.
Yeah, it sounds like that one-on-one
wasn't quite as friendly
as he suggested, huh?
Yeah, maybe he's not as
warm and cuddly as he looks.
Even a teddy bear is
gonna get its back up
when some young hotshot's
trying to fire him
from his own damn company.
Sounds like motive.
Yeah, but, I mean, what, Munson's 70?
He didn't seem like a killer type to me.
And his family said that he was
home at the time of the murder.
Maybe they're covering for him.
Just pull more video
from the WellPoint offices
and the crime scene.
We just need one shot of Munson,
hopefully wearing a brown hat.
And then we can get
a warrant for his DNA.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
What's going on here?
Sorry, sir. You're gonna step aside.
- This is my company.
- Sir, step aside.
Kevin Goodall, we need to talk.
We found video of you at the crime scene
and your DNA on the victim.
Which means you're
under arrest for murder.
You have the right to remain silent.
- Kevin, what's going on?
- Don't talk to anyone, Norm.
- I don't understand.
- Say nothing to anyone!
♪
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]
I can't wait.
Uh, hey, I got to go.
Yep. See you later.
Mm-hmm.
[CHUCKLES]
- You have no poker face, Nolan.
- [SIGHS]
It's the mystery woman, isn't it?
- [SIGHS]
- You're clearly smitten.
Uh, no comment.
Just give me something
how you met, what she does.
She is a psychiatrist.
Don't say it.
No, I won't.
'Cause I can think of
absolutely no reason
for you to be seeing a psychiatrist.
- How'd the arraignment go?
- Judge Romano granted bail.
- On a murder two charge?
- Yeah.
Defense rattled off Goodall's résumé.
He's got awards from the NIH, CDC,
MD, PhD in pharmacology,
member of the AMA, an
active community member
who has never so much as
gotten a speeding ticket.
Not our first golden-boy murderer.
- Yeah.
- How's our evidence?
Video showing Goodall leaving
WellPoint at 7:30 p.m.,
heading in the direction
of the crime scene,
and then one block away,
putting on a brown hat
that matches the description
from the taxi driver.
Plus, his DNA was a full
match to the third-party DNA
found on the victim.
- Why'd he do it?
- I'm not sure yet.
W-we know Hardiman was
gunning to fire Goodall's boss.
So let's find out what would
have happened to Goodall
- if Hardiman had had his way.
- [CELL PHONE CHIMES, VIBRATES]
Otherwise, your evidence is solid.
I'm not so sure about that.
Defense just filed a
motion to suppress the DNA.
It's a Fourth Amendment violation,
a total invasion of my client's privacy.
Your Honor, the defendant
voluntarily surrendered his DNA
and blood to his employer
without signing or
or demanding any agreement
that his employer keep
- those records confidential.
- Is this true?
Only because the sample was provided
years before standard privacy forms,
before the government
was actively assembling
DNA databases to solve crimes.
Please tell me police
at least had a subpoena.
Yes, they had reason to
believe Goodall was the killer,
so we served the company
with a grand jury subpoena
to produce Goodall's DNA,
which, again, he had voluntarily
provided to the company.
This was not some wild
database goose chase.
It is an incontrovertible
good for medical researchers
to provide their blood and DNA in labs
so that research can
proceed accurately and safely
without any risk of cross-contamination.
But if we violate the
privacy of these doctors
because of a technicality,
you put future life-saving
research at risk
because nobody will sign up
to hand over their DNA for science.
I agree.
Your Honor, w-we could have gotten
a separate warrant t-to collect
the DNA after the arrest.
An arrest based on this
first invasion of privacy
fruit of the poisonous tree.
The DNA is out.
And you won't be getting any
other warrant to get it either.
♪
And Tom Hardiman was
notorious for ousting CEOs
- and installing new ones?
- Correct.
Did he articulate this plan
to members of the WellPoint board?
Brought it up at every meeting,
even called me a few times.
In fact, he had proposed
a specific replacement CEO.
Yes, called him a brilliant shark.
The night Tom Hardiman was killed,
he left you an urgent
voicemail, correct?
And he tried to find you at home.
- Correct.
- Do you know why?
His voicemail suggested
he'd finally found a way
to get rid of Munson.
"I finally got what I need.
Munson's a goner," were his words.
And if Munson was gone,
what would happen to the
defendant, Kevin Goodall?
Objection. Speculative.
Uh, Your Honor, the victim shared
his own WellPoint three-year
business plan with the witness.
Overruled. Mr. Kane, please answer.
Munson hired Goodall right
out of medical school,
treated him like a son.
Hardiman told us the new
CEO would clean house.
And that meant firing Goodall.
Thank you. Nothing further.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Is Kevin Goodall a capable
head of medical research?
He's excellent.
Under his oversight, how many
drugs has WellPoint patented
and brought to market?
Last ten years? Seven.
Are you aware he'd received four offers
from competing firms in the
past year alone for better pay?
I heard about one. The
others don't surprise me.
Kevin is a well-respected researcher.
And we knew he only stayed at WellPoint
out of loyalty to Norm's vision.
Do you have any reason to
believe that Kevin Goodall
- had financial problems?
- No.
Have you ever been to
Kevin Goodall's home?
Yes, once, for dinner.
♪
Is this it, on Central Park West?
Objection. Relevance.
Prosecution put forth a theory
that my client's motive was anxiety
about losing his $600,000-a-year job.
Mr. Kane can rebut that.
I'll allow. Mr. Kane?
Yes, this is Kevin's home.
He purchased it for
$12.7 million in 2019.
Not bad for a medical researcher.
I believe there's family
money there from real estate.
So do you have any reason
to believe that Kevin Goodall
was desperate to keep
his job at WellPoint,
so desperate he would kill for it?
No, not at all.
♪
Defense is right.
If Goodall is that wealthy,
he didn't even need to work.
Why would he stress about
losing his job at WellPoint?
[SIGHS] The motive
still doesn't add up yet.
[LIQUID POURING]
[SIGHS] What are we missing?
This murder was emotional, improvised.
Nobody plans to push
someone in front of a taxi.
So what set it in motion?
[SIGHS]
Maybe something happened
at the WellPoint meeting
between Hardiman, Munson, and Goodall?
Something that rattled Goodall?
Made him angry or
worried enough to kill.
I'm saying nothing.
We just want to know
about the meeting that day,
if anything happened
to upset Kevin Goodall.
Do you know how many hours
of rigorous, meticulous
laboratory oversight
goes into bringing a
life-saving drug to market?
It's not a job. It is
a sacred commitment.
It takes constant vigilance.
Goodall is a great researcher
and a great man.
Mr. Munson has to prepare for a call.
You've got the wrong guy.
♪
Mr. Munson did nothing
wrong in that meeting.
Please stop agitating him.
How do you know he did nothing wrong?
Were you there?
I attend all of Mr. Munson's meetings.
I'm with him the entire workday.
Okay, then why don't you
just tell us what went down?
Did Hardiman threaten Munson?
Did he threaten Goodall?
I can't answer any further questions.
Just so you know, the
DA can subpoena you
to appear in court.
I can't speak.
I'm bound by New York State law.
What law?
HIPAA.
I'm Norman Munson's nurse.
♪
Hmm. Here we go.
Munson's assistant before this,
he spent five years working at the
Flowering Garden Facility in Queens.
What is that?
Memory-care facility.
According to his financials,
Munson made three
large payments this year
to a Dr. Naomi Nezkahmi.
[MUTTERING] Nezkahmi.
She's a neurologist.
♪
That's it.
That's the smoking gun
Hardiman was looking for.
[SIGHS]
Norman Munson has dementia.
Somehow, Hardiman
discovered Munson's dementia
- at that meeting.
- Well, he must have.
It was a pretty late meeting.
In my father's last years,
he struggled to stay sharp.
But after an hour,
especially in the afternoon,
his basic recall always failed.
He could tell you every detail
of what happened in his childhood,
but he would forget what
he had for breakfast.
I remember the shame on his face
when he couldn't find an answer.
It was it was heartbreaking.
So Munson tripped up,
and Hardiman saw it.
And Goodall saw it.
My guess
that's why Goodall was in
the meeting to begin with.
He spends a lot of time with Munson.
He had to know about Munson's decline.
He was guarding the secret,
because if the board found
out about Munson's dementia
Forget about votes. That
would force his dismissal.
So Hardiman was going to
expose Munson's condition,
have him fired.
That still only gets
you halfway to motive.
Why would Goodall kill
to keep Munson as CEO?
You said he was rich, had job options.
I know. I've been digging
into Goodall's life.
He was the furthest
thing from desperate.
He donated lots of money,
tens of thousands to
various schools, hospitals.
Whatever motivated him,
his wife seemed to know.
She vouched for his alibi, right?
Lied to police about
what time he got home.
Yeah, there's no way
she's gonna talk to us.
When Goodall's wife lied,
she waived privilege.
Give it a shot. Track her down.
[ELEVATOR DOORS CLOSING]
Rachel Goodall her housekeeper said
she's been here since 7:00 a.m.?
Yes, Mrs. Goodall is an early bird,
always here at the crack of dawn.
Here we are.
Do you mind?
The kids are fragile.
Leukemia, Batten disease
here for our trials.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
♪
[WHISPERING] Mrs. Goodall is over there.
♪
[SCOFFS] I am not talking to you.
Please leave.
We just have some questions. Please.
I'm not gonna help you with anything.
We can subpoena you.
That is the least of my concerns.
♪
Hi, sweetie. What's your name?
♪
Is this Kevin Goodall's daughter?
She can't speak?
Batten disease.
It's brutal.
It erodes the ability to communicate
on top of the seizures,
the disorientation,
- eventual blindness.
- Oh. They're all kids?
Symptoms present around the age of six.
From that point,
the body essentially
starts to deteriorate.
You're running the trials
for WellPoint, correct?
We're one year in.
How's it going? Are you close to a cure?
We're getting close,
but we're still a few years out.
The survival rate for
Batten is under 2%.
That's why we're
working around the clock.
It's the only chance these kids have.
Thanks.
Goodall didn't kill
Hardiman to save his job.
He killed Hardiman to
save his daughter's life.
So, if Hardiman had been able to install
his new profit-driven CEO at WellPoint,
what would have been his
first order of business?
Eliminate budget waste.
Can you elaborate?
WellPoint spends a fortune on
small-market research into rare diseases.
Hardiman wanted WellPoint
moving to cholesterol,
blood pressure, weight-loss drugs,
products with bigger markets.
So some WellPoint
trials would have ended.
- Immediately.
- Had he done this before
uh, cut drug research mid-trial
in in other firms
that he invested in?
It's how he made his money.
Did Tom Hardiman share
his proposed budget cuts
with the WellPoint board?
Yes.
He gave them a list.
I'm gonna show you what was
previously marked as Exhibit 5.
Was this it?
This was presented in June,
a list of drug research
- he wanted to end at WellPoint.
- Yes.
Is Batten disease included
on Hardiman's cut list?
Among others, yes.
Uh, Your Honor, I'd like
to submit a photograph.
Objection.
This was from a hospital
newsletter, Your Honor.
It's publicly available.
I'll allow it.
[TENSE MUSIC]
This was taken at a
Mt. Hope Hospital event
celebrating the strength and courage
of children fighting Batten disease
and participating in
WellPoint's Phase I trials.
Please, could you
read the caption aloud?
"Dr. Kevin Goodall with his
wife and daughter, Emily
a patient battling Batten disease."
So, if Munson had been removed,
that would have been a
de facto death sentence
- for Kevin Goodall's daughter.
- Objection.
Withdrawn.
No further questions.
Did Tom Hardiman have the power
to fire Norman Munson?
He did not.
Do you have any evidence
that Tom Hardiman,
or anyone for that matter,
had amassed the board
votes to fire Munson?
- It was Tom's plan, but
- Yes or no.
Had he assembled the votes?
Not that I know of.
So the idea of what Munson's
replacement might change
at WellPoint
it's total speculation on
top of complete impossibility,
which means my client had no
reason to kill Mr. Hardiman.
♪
Nothing further.
♪
As distasteful as it might seem,
the only way to win this
is to prove that Hardiman
knew Munson had dementia,
and he was gonna use
that to force him out.
How?
We can't get access to
Munson's medical records,
let alone present them in
court, without violating HIPAA.
We have to call Munson to the stand.
- Based on what?
- Uh, I don't know.
- Hardiman's plans to fire him?
- And then?
[CAR HORN HONKS, DISTANT SIREN WAILING]
I'd find a way to trip him up
and reveal that his mental
acuity is diminished.
That does not feel right,
Nolan, for a lot of reasons.
Look, we can always plead
this to a lesser charge.
[SCOFFS] Sam, he pushed
the man into a moving car.
- That's murder.
- Or manslaughter.
He was acting under extreme
emotional disturbance.
He was panicked at the idea a new CEO
would abandon Batten disease research,
that his daughter's
life was in jeopardy.
Who gave Goodall the right to decide
what company shareholders
can and can't know?
Look what happened to
Biden's inner circle
when the world was questioning
his fitness to serve.
No one thought they had the
right to keep that secret.
Norman Munson is not
a commander in chief.
And by all accounts,
in the small portion
of the world he does control,
he did nothing but good.
You want to humiliate him on the stand
to to help some Wall
Street guys get richer?
Hardiman's fund still owns a 24% stake.
If Munson goes, they'll end research,
medical research to
save children's lives
children we saw, Nolan.
And we're doing this to
to send a devoted doctor
and father to prison for life
to get justice for a corporate raider?
We don't get to rate our
victims or defendants.
But Munson he's a
bystander in all this.
Show me any other way.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
We are prepared to offer murder two.
But we'll recommend 15 to 20 years,
which is a gift for a
charge of this magnitude.
Your case is weak, Nolan.
That's why you're here.
No, we're here because we're offering
a lifeline to your
client and his daughter.
♪
Meaning what?
If you plead this out,
no one will ever find out
about Norman Munson's dementia.
"Dementia"? That's absurd.
WellPoint is going to
continue its research
into Batten disease, find a cure.
And your daughter will live.
This is one of the more brazen threats
I've heard all year.
Take this to verdict, you run two risks.
One, I expose Norman
Munson's cognitive issues,
which means Munson is gone as CEO
before the judge even sends
the jury off to deliberate.
Two, you will face a much
harsher sentence than 15 to 20.
Well, we're not gonna lose,
so we'll see you in court.
♪
- [DOOR OPENS]
- Oh, o-one more thing
I mentioned to Judge Dreben,
I have a scheduling
conflict in the morning,
so we'll be calling Norman
Munson late in the day.
Apologies for any inconvenience.
I hope he's not too tired.
♪
Were you considering retirement?
Not at all.
No. I love working.
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
Do you know of any situation
that could force your termination
uh, for example, if you
were convicted of a crime?
Well, in that case, I'm out.
What if you were caught
deceiving the board or shareholders?
I'd be removed.
What if you were deemed
medically incapable of
fulfilling your duties?
They would have to remove me.
Your Honor, relevance.
We have been at this for an hour,
and the witness has made it clear
he was not about to retire or be fired
from WellPoint Therapeutics,
despite all of Mr.
Price's dire hypotheticals.
I'm getting there, Your Honor.
Defense asks he get there tomorrow.
It's late. Requesting an adjournment.
Continue but swiftly.
So, Mr. Munson, once more
for the record,
you had and have no intention
of abandoning your position
as CEO of WellPoint.
- Correct.
- One more question, and
[CHUCKLES] It's the
easiest one of the day.
Uh
how did you get here today?
What?
How did you get to this courthouse?
Your Honor, relevance?
Overruled.
♪
I don't I don't understand.
You arrived at this
courthouse two hours ago.
And I'm simply asking that
you tell us how you got here.
♪
Uh uh
♪
Um
What's the question?
It's how you got here today.
I'm asking how you got to court today.
♪
Uh
my car.
Really? You you came here by car?
Yes, yes.
A beautiful
blue BMW convertible.
We would ride around with
the top down all summer.
Do you remember that?
♪
Do I remember?
♪
- Mr. Munson.
- Do it. Go, stop it.
Judge, we'd like to meet in chambers.
♪
I understand you've reached
an agreement on a plea.
Yes, Your Honor, the
defendant has agreed
to plea to a charge of
murder in the second degree.
We recommend a 15-year prison term.
Mr. Goodall
do you understand the
terms of this deal?
I do, Your Honor.
♪
[CRYING SOFTLY]
♪
- Kevin!
- Rachel.
Rachel. [GRUNTS]
- I'm sorry.
- Kevin!
There was no other way.
Tell Emily I love her.
He was willing to give up his freedom,
his whole life for his daughter
for the greater good.
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[WOLF HOWLS]
In the criminal justice system,
the people are represented
by two separate, yet
equally important groups:
the police, who investigate crime,
and the district attorneys,
who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
People accuse you of being ruthless
in your investment philosophy,
especially considering
I'm the only one keeping
these companies honest.
There's rampant mismanagement and waste
in corporate America
unearned bonuses, excessive salaries.
When I buy a stake in a company,
I become a watchdog.
Some would say a rabid watchdog.
[CHUCKLES] Even better.
But I'm doing it for the little guy
uh, the cops, the teachers, the nurses.
They own publicly traded
stocks in their 401(k)s,
in their IRAs.
I keep the fat cats honest,
make them justify decisions,
their compensation
So you consider yourself
a public servant?
Uh, no, no, no. [CHUCKLES]
I'm a capitalist.
My goal is to make money
for me and for all
the other shareholders
who put their faith in
the hands of executives
running publicly traded companies.
Museum of Natural History.
I believe in growth, prosperity,
pushing for change
in the name of the greater good.
Big party?
[PERSON SCREAMS, TIRES SCREECH]
No, no, no. Oh, my God.
Oh, my God. [BREATHING HEAVILY] No.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
- Vic's Thomas Hardiman, 53.
- What happened?
He was hit by a taxi, 2003 hours.
- Hit-and-run?
- More like hit-and-cry.
The driver was a blubbery mess.
Said there was an altercation.
Vic was shoved in front of the cab.
Did he see who did the shoving?
Nope.
Was there a passenger in the taxi?
A woman.
She was on her phone,
didn't see anything.
Did the driver give a description?
It was dark.
Couldn't even say if
it was a man or woman.
All he said was medium build,
wearing some kind of brown hat.
- Headed east on foot.
- Okay.
Pull all the ARGUS
footage from the area.
And since there was a
struggle, have the MLI check
- for third-party DNA on the vic.
- Mm-hmm.
Vic's got his phone here.
And this is a very fancy wallet,
so I don't think we're
looking at a robbery.
Lives at 1157 57th Street.
That's near Billionaires' Row.
He's got a wedding ring.
Let's go deliver the news.
Till death do us part.
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
It would be helpful
to know where your
husband was this evening,
who he was seeing.
Uh, I wish I could help.
[SNIFFLES] Tom and I
have been separated,
about three months now.
Do you know what he was
doing in the neighborhood
where he was killed West 43rd Street?
Oh. That's by the Harvard Club.
Tom went there most
nights, around 8:00 or so.
And did your husband have any enemies,
anyone who might have threatened him?
Do you know who Tom was, what he did?
Uh, well, his business card
just said that he ran
Broadchurch Investment Fund.
Tom wasn't just any investor.
He was an activist investor.
What does that mean?
He buys a big stake,
tells them not so nicely
what they're doing wrong,
how to run their company.
Used to call those guys
"corporate raiders."
So made money, not friends.
Exactly.
How about recently?
Did he get into it with
anyone in particular?
I have not kept up on his day-to-day.
His girlfriend might know.
His girlfriend?
Some professor up at
Hudson. I don't have a name.
Sometimes it's better not to know.
And what about you?
What were you doing
tonight around 8:00 p.m.?
[SCOFFS SOFTLY] I was at my book club.
It's ten women married to fund managers.
We all have a lot of downtime.
Okay, well, we're
we're gonna ask you
to send us some names.
Of course.
[SIGHS] I can't believe
he's really gone.
If you think of anything else
We looked at the
university's social media.
Tom Hardiman was a guest lecturer
in your class a few months ago,
and I guess you two, uh, hit it off?
I never meant to fall in love.
There's no one like Tom
fearless thinker in an
age of cowardly groupthink.
What's a billionaire investor doing
giving a lecture at a college?
No offense.
I teach Information Asymmetry.
It's how knowledge translates
into economic power.
So how were things between you two?
We made each other very happy.
Did you see Hardiman last night?
No. I was stuck on campus
meeting with students.
You can talk to security.
- Was he receiving any threats?
- Some people hated him
or hated the way that
he challenged them
[CELL PHONE CHIMES, VIBRATES]
Challenged their rigid old-school ways.
He liked to say he could fill
a country with his enemies.
- Got any names?
- No.
He never took them seriously.
We have to get moving.
Okay, well, if you think of anything
Any chance your husband found
out about the relationship?
Of course. I told Marc.
It's why I filed for divorce.
Thanks.
All right, that text I got?
They found third-party
DNA under Hardiman's nails
and on his jacket.
- Any hits in CODIS?
- Nope, but it's male.
I say we talk to the jilted husband.
Ariana told me she was in love.
[SCOFFS] Hell, I was glad she told me.
Truth is freeing.
And if Ariana wants
out, that's her right.
Pretty zen for the guy
who called Tom Hardiman
over a dozen times in the past week.
Look, I wanted to sit down
with the man face-to-face.
That jackass was paying
for her divorce lawyer,
bankrolling her custody fight.
If I'm being ferociously honest
that sounds like motive.
I got nothing to hide.
We met for lunch,
and I told Hardiman exactly
what I thought of him.
Oh, really? How'd that go?
Things get ugly? They
turn physical at all?
They probably would have, but
some nut job beat me to it.
What does that mean?
As Hardiman was heading for the exit,
some guy comes up,
starts grabbing at him, taking swings.
So I just watched and enjoyed the show.
Okay. You got an alibi
for 8:00 p.m. last night?
Yeah. I was leading a seminar
on the Lower East Side
Finding Your Truth.
You should come sometime.
Hey.
So our life-coach husband
was telling the truth.
62 people were learning
to be ferociously honest
for 180 bucks a pop
while Tom Hardiman was getting
pushed in front of a cab.
I bet ferocious honesty kills more
people per year than cigarettes.
Yeah. Yeah, when my wife
and I got back together,
we had one agreement no questions,
no confessions about our time apart.
What you don't know can't hurt you.
And what you don't say can't
be used in a custody battle.
Hey.
So I pulled that video you
asked for from the restaurant.
Take a look.
There's no match in facial rec,
but there was a patch on his jacket.
Okay, let's do a little digging
and see if anyone was trashing Hardiman
- at Mercy Hospital.
- Yeah.
Couple posts on social media here.
#MercyHospital, #TomHardiman.
There's one from Carlos
Guzman, who seems to be a nurse.
This one's a gem from a couple days ago.
"Tom Hardiman has blood on his hands.
Time for retribution."
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
♪
COO said he worked on the fifth floor?
On Mondays, yeah.
He's on the sixth floor
the other four days.
Wait a minute. Is that
our guy right there?
Looks like it.
Hey, Carlos Guzman. NYPD.
We need to talk to you.
He's gonna rabbit.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
[ENGINE REVVING]
All right, all right.
Don't move. Don't move.
[PANTING] Don't look so surprised.
You're coming with us.
I told you, I got nothing
to do with any murder!
Sit down, okay? Sit.
You took swings at Tom Hardiman
outside a midtown bistro,
and two days later, he's dead.
You understand why we have questions?
What's your beef with the guy, anyway?
Why this need for retribution?
- Hardiman's fund, uh
- Broadchurch Investments.
They bought a big-ass stake
in the hospital chain I work for.
No one told us.
It's not like we're
reading financial news.
But all of a sudden, there's
a new head of hospital.
Then half the trauma ward gets fired.
So he downsized.
Must have ticked you off.
What ticked me off?
Empty supply closets, no pain
meds for patients, no ventilators.
The nursing staff couldn't
even get protective gear.
And so you wanted him dead.
[SIGHS] I wanted to expose him.
People need to know the truth.
That's very noble.
But we think there's
something more personal.
And we happen to know
that your mother died
at Mercy Hospital two months
after Hardiman took over.
And that would piss me off
if I found out that some
suit's budget cuts led to my mom
not getting the care that she needed.
Carlos, where were you
last night around 8:00 p.m.?
At the bedside of a 28-year-old,
who died because we didn't
have a goddamn ventilator!
Ask his wife, his parents
or his two young children.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
We will look into that.
Whoever offed Tom Hardiman saved lives,
did good.
♪
[DOOR CLOSES]
Guzman's alibi checks out.
And he's kind of a hero over at Mercy,
so I think we got to cut him loose
before the nursing
staff storms this place.
Okay. Do it.
These hedge funds are pillaging
our health-care system.
They're also going after newspapers,
toy companies, anything,
as long as there's a
green rainbow at the end.
Maybe we should look
into some of Hardiman's
other investments,
see if there's anyone who
feels as passionately as Guzman.
Well, according to "The
Wall Street Journal,"
Hardiman's latest investment
was WellPoint Therapeutics.
There's a ton of articles
predicting a brutal showdown
between Hardiman and WellPoint's CEO.
I'm looking at Hardiman's calendar.
Last meeting he had on the day
he was killed was at WellPoint.
Let's go.
I was shocked to hear about Tom.
He was such a young man.
You had a meeting with him
on the day he was killed?
Yeah. We met right here.
Anything strange about
the meeting, any arguments?
I'll save you from barking up that tree.
Uh, despite the press hoopla
about a looming showdown between us,
our meeting was cordial.
So don't believe everything you read.
So he wasn't trying to
pillage your company?
[CHUCKLES] No.
Well, he he he bought a 24% stake,
got himself a seat on the board,
had some thoughts he wanted to share,
asked me for a one-on-one
to present his ideas,
- and I agreed.
- And?
And, uh, it was a pleasant,
productive conversation.
Mr. Munson, your conference call
is about to begin.
Ah, yes. Yes, thank you.
Um
I'm sorry. My assistant
will see you out.
Just one last thing for protocol
where were you last night at 8:00 p.m.?
I was at home reading a
bedtime story to my grandkids.
We should all be so blessed.
Okay, thank you.
Munson mentioned that his
meeting was a one-on-one.
But in Hardiman's calendar, he mentions
that he met with someone
else from the company
by the name of Kevin Goodall?
Sure. He's our head of research.
Well, Hardiman wanted it
to be just the two of them,
- but I insisted on attending.
- And why is that?
Norm founded this company 40 years ago.
He devoted his time and
capital into researching cures
for rare diseases,
whereas Tom Hardiman
thank you
is a high-end pickpocket
in a Brioni suit,
trying to tell Norman Munson,
who started as a doctor
and is one of the
pioneers of drug research,
how to run his pharmaceutical business?
[SCOFFS] The arrogance.
So, yeah, I wanted to be there.
Sounds like maybe things
got a little heated.
No.
[CHUCKLES] No.
Norm is a class act.
He refused to take the bait.
Eventually Hardiman backed off,
and the whole thing stayed
pleasantly professional.
Did Hardiman seem
distracted or stressed?
I don't know the guy's baseline.
But the meeting was shorter
than I would have anticipated.
Thought he would've stuck
around and pressed his points.
It took about 30 minutes or so.
Then he ran out of here
like he had a plane to catch.
- What time was that?
- Uh, 6:30.
Do you know where he was going?
No, he wasn't the chatty type.
Okay, well, just so we
can cross you off the list,
where were you last night at 8:00 p.m.?
I was at home with my wife,
telling her what a clown Hardiman is
was.
Just got off the phone
with Goodall's wife.
She confirms he was home at 8:00.
And Munson's family
corroborates his version of events.
Well, I got video of Hardiman
leaving WellPoint at 6:30,
like Goodall said.
Uh, he is pacing.
Looks like he's yelling
at somebody on his phone.
And then he heads off down the street,
and we lose him on the cameras.
And according to his call log,
at 6:38, he called a number registered
to Preston Kane four times.
Who's Preston Kane?
He's the chairman of
WellPoint Therapeutics.
Yes, I got a couple calls,
but I didn't pick up,
and I was out when Tom
appeared on my doorbell cam.
Do you know why he came by?
Hardiman had a one-track mind.
Every call and meeting
was about the same thing
he wanted to fire Norman Munson.
- Why is that?
- Change the company's focus.
Redirect our R&D to big-market,
high-profit therapies.
Well, that sounds like Hardiman's MO.
It is, except the
WellPoint board loves Norm.
Everyone loves Norm,
despite the company's
lackluster financial
results the past few years.
So Hardiman wanted him fired,
but the board wasn't having it?
Mm.
Couple board members were on
the fence, but you're correct.
Hardiman was never gonna
get the votes he needed.
It was driving him crazy.
Why so much love for Norm Munson?
Look, it's not the most
popular concept these days,
but Munson believes there are things
more important than profit.
He believes in a greater good.
Hardiman called you 4 times,
and one of the calls lasted 17 seconds.
Are you sure he didn't reach you?
He left a voicemail
"I finally got what I need.
Norm Munson is a goner."
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
Ryan Elliott?
I'm Detective Riley.
This is Lieutenant Brady. NYPD.
We were told you worked
closely with Tom Hardiman.
[CHUCKLES WRYLY] Yeah,
until he fired me yesterday.
Don't worry.
I was throwing back Patron shots
with a half dozen colleagues
when Hardiman hit the pavement.
You sound really broken up about it.
What can I say? The guy was a prick.
The thing that really
gets to me, though,
is I knew it but tried
to convince myself
that he was actually
a decent human being.
What do you know about
Hardiman's relationship
- with Norman Munson?
- He hated that man.
He spent 50% of his time
trying to fire his ass.
Already had his
successor picked out, too.
Hardiman chose Munson's successor?
And a three-year business plan.
He shared it with the board.
- Munson knew about this?
- [CHUCKLES] He sure did.
But he didn't care.
Told Hardiman to kiss his ass.
Well, apparently,
Hardiman left a voicemail
with WellPoint's chairman of the board.
Preston Kane.
Yeah, something about how he finally had
what he needed to get Munson fired,
like he had some smoking gun.
And 30 minutes or so later, he was dead,
so we think there's some connection.
Whatever Hardiman discovered
might have triggered
someone to kill him.
I wish I could help you, but
[CHUCKLES] I don't know
anything about that.
Sorry.
Okay, well, thank you for your time.
- [ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]
- Well, one thing's clear
Munson lied to us when he told
us that meeting with Hardiman
ended in some sort of
gentlemen's agreement.
Yeah, it sounds like that one-on-one
wasn't quite as friendly
as he suggested, huh?
Yeah, maybe he's not as
warm and cuddly as he looks.
Even a teddy bear is
gonna get its back up
when some young hotshot's
trying to fire him
from his own damn company.
Sounds like motive.
Yeah, but, I mean, what, Munson's 70?
He didn't seem like a killer type to me.
And his family said that he was
home at the time of the murder.
Maybe they're covering for him.
Just pull more video
from the WellPoint offices
and the crime scene.
We just need one shot of Munson,
hopefully wearing a brown hat.
And then we can get
a warrant for his DNA.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
What's going on here?
Sorry, sir. You're gonna step aside.
- This is my company.
- Sir, step aside.
Kevin Goodall, we need to talk.
We found video of you at the crime scene
and your DNA on the victim.
Which means you're
under arrest for murder.
You have the right to remain silent.
- Kevin, what's going on?
- Don't talk to anyone, Norm.
- I don't understand.
- Say nothing to anyone!
♪
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]
I can't wait.
Uh, hey, I got to go.
Yep. See you later.
Mm-hmm.
[CHUCKLES]
- You have no poker face, Nolan.
- [SIGHS]
It's the mystery woman, isn't it?
- [SIGHS]
- You're clearly smitten.
Uh, no comment.
Just give me something
how you met, what she does.
She is a psychiatrist.
Don't say it.
No, I won't.
'Cause I can think of
absolutely no reason
for you to be seeing a psychiatrist.
- How'd the arraignment go?
- Judge Romano granted bail.
- On a murder two charge?
- Yeah.
Defense rattled off Goodall's résumé.
He's got awards from the NIH, CDC,
MD, PhD in pharmacology,
member of the AMA, an
active community member
who has never so much as
gotten a speeding ticket.
Not our first golden-boy murderer.
- Yeah.
- How's our evidence?
Video showing Goodall leaving
WellPoint at 7:30 p.m.,
heading in the direction
of the crime scene,
and then one block away,
putting on a brown hat
that matches the description
from the taxi driver.
Plus, his DNA was a full
match to the third-party DNA
found on the victim.
- Why'd he do it?
- I'm not sure yet.
W-we know Hardiman was
gunning to fire Goodall's boss.
So let's find out what would
have happened to Goodall
- if Hardiman had had his way.
- [CELL PHONE CHIMES, VIBRATES]
Otherwise, your evidence is solid.
I'm not so sure about that.
Defense just filed a
motion to suppress the DNA.
It's a Fourth Amendment violation,
a total invasion of my client's privacy.
Your Honor, the defendant
voluntarily surrendered his DNA
and blood to his employer
without signing or
or demanding any agreement
that his employer keep
- those records confidential.
- Is this true?
Only because the sample was provided
years before standard privacy forms,
before the government
was actively assembling
DNA databases to solve crimes.
Please tell me police
at least had a subpoena.
Yes, they had reason to
believe Goodall was the killer,
so we served the company
with a grand jury subpoena
to produce Goodall's DNA,
which, again, he had voluntarily
provided to the company.
This was not some wild
database goose chase.
It is an incontrovertible
good for medical researchers
to provide their blood and DNA in labs
so that research can
proceed accurately and safely
without any risk of cross-contamination.
But if we violate the
privacy of these doctors
because of a technicality,
you put future life-saving
research at risk
because nobody will sign up
to hand over their DNA for science.
I agree.
Your Honor, w-we could have gotten
a separate warrant t-to collect
the DNA after the arrest.
An arrest based on this
first invasion of privacy
fruit of the poisonous tree.
The DNA is out.
And you won't be getting any
other warrant to get it either.
♪
And Tom Hardiman was
notorious for ousting CEOs
- and installing new ones?
- Correct.
Did he articulate this plan
to members of the WellPoint board?
Brought it up at every meeting,
even called me a few times.
In fact, he had proposed
a specific replacement CEO.
Yes, called him a brilliant shark.
The night Tom Hardiman was killed,
he left you an urgent
voicemail, correct?
And he tried to find you at home.
- Correct.
- Do you know why?
His voicemail suggested
he'd finally found a way
to get rid of Munson.
"I finally got what I need.
Munson's a goner," were his words.
And if Munson was gone,
what would happen to the
defendant, Kevin Goodall?
Objection. Speculative.
Uh, Your Honor, the victim shared
his own WellPoint three-year
business plan with the witness.
Overruled. Mr. Kane, please answer.
Munson hired Goodall right
out of medical school,
treated him like a son.
Hardiman told us the new
CEO would clean house.
And that meant firing Goodall.
Thank you. Nothing further.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Is Kevin Goodall a capable
head of medical research?
He's excellent.
Under his oversight, how many
drugs has WellPoint patented
and brought to market?
Last ten years? Seven.
Are you aware he'd received four offers
from competing firms in the
past year alone for better pay?
I heard about one. The
others don't surprise me.
Kevin is a well-respected researcher.
And we knew he only stayed at WellPoint
out of loyalty to Norm's vision.
Do you have any reason to
believe that Kevin Goodall
- had financial problems?
- No.
Have you ever been to
Kevin Goodall's home?
Yes, once, for dinner.
♪
Is this it, on Central Park West?
Objection. Relevance.
Prosecution put forth a theory
that my client's motive was anxiety
about losing his $600,000-a-year job.
Mr. Kane can rebut that.
I'll allow. Mr. Kane?
Yes, this is Kevin's home.
He purchased it for
$12.7 million in 2019.
Not bad for a medical researcher.
I believe there's family
money there from real estate.
So do you have any reason
to believe that Kevin Goodall
was desperate to keep
his job at WellPoint,
so desperate he would kill for it?
No, not at all.
♪
Defense is right.
If Goodall is that wealthy,
he didn't even need to work.
Why would he stress about
losing his job at WellPoint?
[SIGHS] The motive
still doesn't add up yet.
[LIQUID POURING]
[SIGHS] What are we missing?
This murder was emotional, improvised.
Nobody plans to push
someone in front of a taxi.
So what set it in motion?
[SIGHS]
Maybe something happened
at the WellPoint meeting
between Hardiman, Munson, and Goodall?
Something that rattled Goodall?
Made him angry or
worried enough to kill.
I'm saying nothing.
We just want to know
about the meeting that day,
if anything happened
to upset Kevin Goodall.
Do you know how many hours
of rigorous, meticulous
laboratory oversight
goes into bringing a
life-saving drug to market?
It's not a job. It is
a sacred commitment.
It takes constant vigilance.
Goodall is a great researcher
and a great man.
Mr. Munson has to prepare for a call.
You've got the wrong guy.
♪
Mr. Munson did nothing
wrong in that meeting.
Please stop agitating him.
How do you know he did nothing wrong?
Were you there?
I attend all of Mr. Munson's meetings.
I'm with him the entire workday.
Okay, then why don't you
just tell us what went down?
Did Hardiman threaten Munson?
Did he threaten Goodall?
I can't answer any further questions.
Just so you know, the
DA can subpoena you
to appear in court.
I can't speak.
I'm bound by New York State law.
What law?
HIPAA.
I'm Norman Munson's nurse.
♪
Hmm. Here we go.
Munson's assistant before this,
he spent five years working at the
Flowering Garden Facility in Queens.
What is that?
Memory-care facility.
According to his financials,
Munson made three
large payments this year
to a Dr. Naomi Nezkahmi.
[MUTTERING] Nezkahmi.
She's a neurologist.
♪
That's it.
That's the smoking gun
Hardiman was looking for.
[SIGHS]
Norman Munson has dementia.
Somehow, Hardiman
discovered Munson's dementia
- at that meeting.
- Well, he must have.
It was a pretty late meeting.
In my father's last years,
he struggled to stay sharp.
But after an hour,
especially in the afternoon,
his basic recall always failed.
He could tell you every detail
of what happened in his childhood,
but he would forget what
he had for breakfast.
I remember the shame on his face
when he couldn't find an answer.
It was it was heartbreaking.
So Munson tripped up,
and Hardiman saw it.
And Goodall saw it.
My guess
that's why Goodall was in
the meeting to begin with.
He spends a lot of time with Munson.
He had to know about Munson's decline.
He was guarding the secret,
because if the board found
out about Munson's dementia
Forget about votes. That
would force his dismissal.
So Hardiman was going to
expose Munson's condition,
have him fired.
That still only gets
you halfway to motive.
Why would Goodall kill
to keep Munson as CEO?
You said he was rich, had job options.
I know. I've been digging
into Goodall's life.
He was the furthest
thing from desperate.
He donated lots of money,
tens of thousands to
various schools, hospitals.
Whatever motivated him,
his wife seemed to know.
She vouched for his alibi, right?
Lied to police about
what time he got home.
Yeah, there's no way
she's gonna talk to us.
When Goodall's wife lied,
she waived privilege.
Give it a shot. Track her down.
[ELEVATOR DOORS CLOSING]
Rachel Goodall her housekeeper said
she's been here since 7:00 a.m.?
Yes, Mrs. Goodall is an early bird,
always here at the crack of dawn.
Here we are.
Do you mind?
The kids are fragile.
Leukemia, Batten disease
here for our trials.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
♪
[WHISPERING] Mrs. Goodall is over there.
♪
[SCOFFS] I am not talking to you.
Please leave.
We just have some questions. Please.
I'm not gonna help you with anything.
We can subpoena you.
That is the least of my concerns.
♪
Hi, sweetie. What's your name?
♪
Is this Kevin Goodall's daughter?
She can't speak?
Batten disease.
It's brutal.
It erodes the ability to communicate
on top of the seizures,
the disorientation,
- eventual blindness.
- Oh. They're all kids?
Symptoms present around the age of six.
From that point,
the body essentially
starts to deteriorate.
You're running the trials
for WellPoint, correct?
We're one year in.
How's it going? Are you close to a cure?
We're getting close,
but we're still a few years out.
The survival rate for
Batten is under 2%.
That's why we're
working around the clock.
It's the only chance these kids have.
Thanks.
Goodall didn't kill
Hardiman to save his job.
He killed Hardiman to
save his daughter's life.
So, if Hardiman had been able to install
his new profit-driven CEO at WellPoint,
what would have been his
first order of business?
Eliminate budget waste.
Can you elaborate?
WellPoint spends a fortune on
small-market research into rare diseases.
Hardiman wanted WellPoint
moving to cholesterol,
blood pressure, weight-loss drugs,
products with bigger markets.
So some WellPoint
trials would have ended.
- Immediately.
- Had he done this before
uh, cut drug research mid-trial
in in other firms
that he invested in?
It's how he made his money.
Did Tom Hardiman share
his proposed budget cuts
with the WellPoint board?
Yes.
He gave them a list.
I'm gonna show you what was
previously marked as Exhibit 5.
Was this it?
This was presented in June,
a list of drug research
- he wanted to end at WellPoint.
- Yes.
Is Batten disease included
on Hardiman's cut list?
Among others, yes.
Uh, Your Honor, I'd like
to submit a photograph.
Objection.
This was from a hospital
newsletter, Your Honor.
It's publicly available.
I'll allow it.
[TENSE MUSIC]
This was taken at a
Mt. Hope Hospital event
celebrating the strength and courage
of children fighting Batten disease
and participating in
WellPoint's Phase I trials.
Please, could you
read the caption aloud?
"Dr. Kevin Goodall with his
wife and daughter, Emily
a patient battling Batten disease."
So, if Munson had been removed,
that would have been a
de facto death sentence
- for Kevin Goodall's daughter.
- Objection.
Withdrawn.
No further questions.
Did Tom Hardiman have the power
to fire Norman Munson?
He did not.
Do you have any evidence
that Tom Hardiman,
or anyone for that matter,
had amassed the board
votes to fire Munson?
- It was Tom's plan, but
- Yes or no.
Had he assembled the votes?
Not that I know of.
So the idea of what Munson's
replacement might change
at WellPoint
it's total speculation on
top of complete impossibility,
which means my client had no
reason to kill Mr. Hardiman.
♪
Nothing further.
♪
As distasteful as it might seem,
the only way to win this
is to prove that Hardiman
knew Munson had dementia,
and he was gonna use
that to force him out.
How?
We can't get access to
Munson's medical records,
let alone present them in
court, without violating HIPAA.
We have to call Munson to the stand.
- Based on what?
- Uh, I don't know.
- Hardiman's plans to fire him?
- And then?
[CAR HORN HONKS, DISTANT SIREN WAILING]
I'd find a way to trip him up
and reveal that his mental
acuity is diminished.
That does not feel right,
Nolan, for a lot of reasons.
Look, we can always plead
this to a lesser charge.
[SCOFFS] Sam, he pushed
the man into a moving car.
- That's murder.
- Or manslaughter.
He was acting under extreme
emotional disturbance.
He was panicked at the idea a new CEO
would abandon Batten disease research,
that his daughter's
life was in jeopardy.
Who gave Goodall the right to decide
what company shareholders
can and can't know?
Look what happened to
Biden's inner circle
when the world was questioning
his fitness to serve.
No one thought they had the
right to keep that secret.
Norman Munson is not
a commander in chief.
And by all accounts,
in the small portion
of the world he does control,
he did nothing but good.
You want to humiliate him on the stand
to to help some Wall
Street guys get richer?
Hardiman's fund still owns a 24% stake.
If Munson goes, they'll end research,
medical research to
save children's lives
children we saw, Nolan.
And we're doing this to
to send a devoted doctor
and father to prison for life
to get justice for a corporate raider?
We don't get to rate our
victims or defendants.
But Munson he's a
bystander in all this.
Show me any other way.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
We are prepared to offer murder two.
But we'll recommend 15 to 20 years,
which is a gift for a
charge of this magnitude.
Your case is weak, Nolan.
That's why you're here.
No, we're here because we're offering
a lifeline to your
client and his daughter.
♪
Meaning what?
If you plead this out,
no one will ever find out
about Norman Munson's dementia.
"Dementia"? That's absurd.
WellPoint is going to
continue its research
into Batten disease, find a cure.
And your daughter will live.
This is one of the more brazen threats
I've heard all year.
Take this to verdict, you run two risks.
One, I expose Norman
Munson's cognitive issues,
which means Munson is gone as CEO
before the judge even sends
the jury off to deliberate.
Two, you will face a much
harsher sentence than 15 to 20.
Well, we're not gonna lose,
so we'll see you in court.
♪
- [DOOR OPENS]
- Oh, o-one more thing
I mentioned to Judge Dreben,
I have a scheduling
conflict in the morning,
so we'll be calling Norman
Munson late in the day.
Apologies for any inconvenience.
I hope he's not too tired.
♪
Were you considering retirement?
Not at all.
No. I love working.
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
Do you know of any situation
that could force your termination
uh, for example, if you
were convicted of a crime?
Well, in that case, I'm out.
What if you were caught
deceiving the board or shareholders?
I'd be removed.
What if you were deemed
medically incapable of
fulfilling your duties?
They would have to remove me.
Your Honor, relevance.
We have been at this for an hour,
and the witness has made it clear
he was not about to retire or be fired
from WellPoint Therapeutics,
despite all of Mr.
Price's dire hypotheticals.
I'm getting there, Your Honor.
Defense asks he get there tomorrow.
It's late. Requesting an adjournment.
Continue but swiftly.
So, Mr. Munson, once more
for the record,
you had and have no intention
of abandoning your position
as CEO of WellPoint.
- Correct.
- One more question, and
[CHUCKLES] It's the
easiest one of the day.
Uh
how did you get here today?
What?
How did you get to this courthouse?
Your Honor, relevance?
Overruled.
♪
I don't I don't understand.
You arrived at this
courthouse two hours ago.
And I'm simply asking that
you tell us how you got here.
♪
Uh uh
♪
Um
What's the question?
It's how you got here today.
I'm asking how you got to court today.
♪
Uh
my car.
Really? You you came here by car?
Yes, yes.
A beautiful
blue BMW convertible.
We would ride around with
the top down all summer.
Do you remember that?
♪
Do I remember?
♪
- Mr. Munson.
- Do it. Go, stop it.
Judge, we'd like to meet in chambers.
♪
I understand you've reached
an agreement on a plea.
Yes, Your Honor, the
defendant has agreed
to plea to a charge of
murder in the second degree.
We recommend a 15-year prison term.
Mr. Goodall
do you understand the
terms of this deal?
I do, Your Honor.
♪
[CRYING SOFTLY]
♪
- Kevin!
- Rachel.
Rachel. [GRUNTS]
- I'm sorry.
- Kevin!
There was no other way.
Tell Emily I love her.
He was willing to give up his freedom,
his whole life for his daughter
for the greater good.
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[WOLF HOWLS]