Law & Order (1990) s26e03 Episode Script
Bad News
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.
[INSECTS CHIRPING]
[DISTANT SIREN WAILING]
[OWL HOOTING]
[BRUSH RUSTLING]
Hello?
[BRANCH RUSTLES]
[OWL HOOTING]
[BRANCH SNAPS]
Is someone there?
[OWL HOOTING]
[TENSE MUSIC]
Are you following me?
Shh.
♪
Be quiet
if you know what's good for you.
♪
[GRUNTS]
God damn, you're hot.
You can't do this!
What's that?
I don't know, but it doesn't matter.
[MUFFLED INDISTINCT ARGUING]
- Wait.
- I'm out of here.
♪
[INDISTINCT ARGUING]
[SHOUTING, ARGUING]
[ARGUING CONTINUES]
[SCREAMS]
[BODY THUDS]
[SCREAMS]
♪
That's good. Thank you.
[SIREN WHOOPING]
What's up, partner?
Sorry.
I was asleep when the call came in.
Glad you could make it.
- Partner, huh?
- Mm-hmm.
- So it's official.
- If you'll have me.
What do we got?
Vic is Alexander West.
Watch, wallet, wedding
ring all accounted for.
- Phone?
- Haven't found it yet.
I'm thinking killer
might have snagged it.
So he fell directly on his head,
snapped his neck.
Probably died instantly.
At least he got that.
Hand is bagged.
MLI found skin under his fingernails.
I'm hoping it's the killer.
I'll flag it for the lab.
So the witness said
he heard some yelling.
He looked up, saw a guy get shoved
- off here at about 11:38 p.m.
- He see who did the pushing?
He said he couldn't even tell
if it was a man or a woman,
but given where we are,
safe bet it's a man.
So the witness, his name is Travis Nell.
He's 32.
♪
And just so you know, he's not happy
about being on record for being here,
for obvious reasons.
- Why?
- It's the Ramble.
It's a hookup spot for dudes.
I thought there were apps for that now.
Hey, man, some people like to
keep it anonymous, you know?
Right.
Oh, my bad. Are you
Me? No, I got a wife and three kids.
I learned about the Ramble
from this Al Pacino movie,
"Cruising." You ever seen it?
I have not.
Looks like he had a wife too.
Ah, so much for keeping secrets.
[TENSE MUSIC]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Alex and I have been
married for 32 years.
He was my whole life.
Did your husband mention
where he was going
or who he was with last night?
No. He
he just he said that
he was gonna be home late,
that I shouldn't wait up for him,
so, uh, I went to bed.
What time was that?
Uh, around 10:30?
When I woke up this morning
and I saw he wasn't there,
I knew something was wrong.
I've spent the past hour
calling every hospital
in the city to to see if
[SOMBER MUSIC]
Do you have any idea
why he would be in that area
of the park at 11:30 at night?
Uh, oh oh, it's not what you think.
I know what happens there,
but but Alex isn't gay.
He's the executive editor
of "The New York
Ledger's" news division.
What does that have to do
with where his body was found?
♪
According to Susan
West, her husband learned
about the Ramble early on
in his journalism career.
Same qualities that make it
a good place for anonymous sex
make it good for confidential sources.
She said he's been using that spot
- for that ever since.
- Well, that makes sense.
Or it's a really good
cover story for your wife.
Yeah, she was able to
provide us with a phone.
It wasn't missing from the crime scene,
'cause someone stole it.
He actually left it at home.
He was real Woodward and
Bernstein about all this stuff.
Went out of his way
to protect his sources,
never took his phone to a meeting,
didn't want to be tracked,
never took a direct route,
used burner phones for communication.
Well, that doesn't mean
there won't be anything
- of note on the phone.
- We sent it over to the techs.
They're working to unlock it now.
[MELANCHOLY MUSIC]
♪
DNA.
Did you hear back from Forensics?
Yeah, uh
ran it through the system, but no hits.
Lab says the sample's only
good for comparison matching.
Not enough there to create
an independent profile.
It seems like there's a good chance
that his murder had something
to do with his work, so
Hey, why don't we head
over to "The Ledger"
offices right now.
We can figure out what West was up to.
- Right.
- Cool.
Later.
Hey.
- Hm?
- You good?
Yeah.
Just, uh, adjusting to the change.
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Daniella?
I hear you're the new executive editor.
At least for the time being.
Cynthia Morrow, the paper's owner,
called me this morning
and asked me to cover in Alex's absence.
Did you know Alex West?
Not well, but we've crossed
paths over the years.
He seemed like a good guy.
And he was a damn good journalist.
Well, we have reason to
believe he was possibly
meeting a source last night.
We're wondering if you
might know who that was?
Or what story he might
have been working on?
I don't. Sorry.
I'm still getting up to speed
on the articles he was overseeing.
But you should talk to Mark Lancer.
He's our senior reporter.
He reported directly to Alex.
They had their own
thing. They were tight.
- The guy on the phone?
- Yeah.
- Thank you.
- Mm-hmm.
If Alex was in the Ramble,
then he was definitely
meeting with a source.
It's been his go-to spot
as long as I've known him.
We understand you two were close?
Uh, he taught me everything I know about
what it means to be a reporter.
The man was a legend.
If democracy dies in the
dark, Alex was the light.
Well, he actually did die in the dark,
and we're just trying to figure out why.
I wish I knew what he was investigating,
but I've been buried in my
own workload the past few days.
Um, we're doing a profile, Tanner Hunt.
The Democrat running for
Senate in South Carolina.
Yeah, not familiar.
But based upon what I do know,
it sounds like a long shot.
Yeah, according to the
polls, he actually has a shot.
Crazy, if you think about it.
Ivy League liberal resonating
with Southern voters, huh?
Mm.
He's the new poster boy
for the Democratic Party.
- Right.
- I was up half the night
finishing my profile on him,
much to my wife's chagrin.
Anyone else around here who might know
- who he was meeting with?
- Not likely.
Alex was vigilant about protecting
confidential sources.
Where are you guys at
in your investigation?
Do you have any suspects?
Persons of interest?
We ask the questions
here. We don't answer them.
Sorry.
Force of habit.
That's okay.
Can you think of anyone who
might have wanted to hurt him?
Sure.
I mean, you know,
publishing the truth
earns you a lot of enemies.
Anyone specific come to mind?
Something recent, maybe?
Um,
you know, we were supposed to go
to print soon on an exposé.
Uh, subject is a guy who runs a, um
a taxi fleet out of Queens.
Ah. Yeah.
He went ballistic.
Made all kinds of threats.
This guy Zayne?
- I I believe so.
- Henry Street?
Yeah.
[INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER]
Yo, NYPD man, where's your boss?
Back there.
Zayne Hassim?
- You cops?
- What gave it away?
Want to talk to you
about Alexander West.
[CHUCKLES] Not interested.
Nah, that was a
statement, not a question.
Look, I'm running late
to a couple meetings,
- so if you two wouldn't mind
- Got a listening problem.
That was a statement, not a question.
- Don't touch me.
- Or what?
Hey, hey, hey, hey. Come on, guys.
Let's just do this the easy way.
I couldn't agree more.
Let's talk about this downtown, sir?
[TENSE MUSIC]
I didn't have anything to do
with what happened to that guy.
You got two priors
for aggravated assault,
and you threatened to
kill a man yesterday
that was thrown off a bridge last night.
So you're gonna have to give us
a little something more than that.
- Like what?
- Like what?
For starters, why'd you
refuse to talk to us?
I thought you were there
to talk about all the lies
that reporter was spreading about me.
You mean that you were
employing unlicensed drivers
and forging official reports to cover up
- the accidents they caused.
- Fake news.
I really hate when people say that.
It's true.
Alex West had documents,
videos,
and on-the-record sources.
Yeah, looks like real news to me.
All of my guys were licensed.
But some of them ran
into immigration problems,
- which voided those licenses.
- Okay, I get that.
'Cause it's not fair.
So you just let the guys keep driving?
This is a sanctuary city.
And they're as good a driver today
as they were yesterday, so
So you broke the law,
and Alex West was publishing an article
to expose that fact.
And that would've been
very bad for you, right?
A taxi medallion used to be
worth over a million dollars.
Now, a thousand, tops.
There's the Ubers and the Lyfts.
Now these self-driving
cars are coming in.
Taxi business can't take any more blows.
Makes sense to me,
'cause a man's gotta do
what a man's gotta do
to protect his business.
So you kill West to kill the story
- and protect your business.
- I wasn't protecting anybody. I
[HUFFS]
Yellow cabs have been
a pillar of this city
for over a hundred years.
If West was a real New
Yorker, he would never publish
that trash, true or not.
Unfortunately for you, that's
not how journalism works, sir.
Look, I admit I threatened the guy, okay?
But that's it.
I didn't follow through on it.
Where were you last
night around 11:30 p.m.?
At the Jersey Shore with my family.
Cape May. Drove back this morning.
Would you be willing to
voluntarily submit to a DNA test?
[SIGHS]
All right, thank you.
Lou, Hassim's alibi checks out.
And his DNA wasn't a match.
So where does that leave us?
We know anyone else pissed
enough at our vic to kill him?
Well, maybe the, uh,
techs finally got done
unlocking West's phone.
Got 26 missed calls from the
same number oven seven days.
Got a name?
Peter Glazer.
- The op-ed guy?
- Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I'm more of a sports
guy than editorials, so.
He just writes all of
these contrarian articles
like he's trying to rile up
as many people as possible.
Well, the day of the murder,
West finally picked up his phone call.
They talked for two minutes,
and then he blocked his number.
So do we know what was
going on with these guys?
Not exactly, but I'm guessing
it has something to do with the fact
that Glazer just got fired.
But West ran the news division.
That wouldn't have been his call.
Oh, you tell that to Peter Glazer.
Posted this last week.
"That man stabbed me in the back.
I plan to do the same to him one day."
I really will never understand
people's urge to tell
on themselves in public.
Go talk to the guy.
I didn't kill him.
We've seen your posts.
I stand by every negative
thing I said about that man.
- So you didn't like him?
- Correct.
And why is that?
Because he was a little baby.
Didn't want anyone to speak their mind,
unless, of course, it
confirmed his point of view.
Ah, so you blame him
for getting you fired?
Is that what you're saying?
I criticized a few articles
Alex published for
being liberally biased,
and he threw a temper tantrum.
Demanded I be fired.
And he got his wish.
And that pissed you off.
Of course, it did.
I was just doing what
I was supposed to do,
what I was getting paid
to do speak my mind.
But, you know, that scares
people like Alex West.
The point is, I refused to conform
to his liberal politics,
and he got me fired.
- So you returned the favor?
- Oh, please.
I didn't kill Alex.
Truth is, I owe the
man a debt of gratitude.
For what, getting you fired?
I have a lot of fans,
and one of them is a
guy named Mason Croft.
You just name-drop a billionaire to me?
Yeah.
He loved that I was
an independent thinker.
So he made me editor-in-chief
of "The Nation Tonight."
That's why I was calling Alex.
That's why you called him 26 times.
I wanted him to know
that I landed on my feet,
that I was now in charge
of one of the highest rated
news shows in the country.
- You called him to gloat?
- Damn right.
Would you be willing
to submit to a DNA test?
Not without a warrant.
I know better than to trust
the NYPD with my personal data.
But there's no way I
could've murdered Alex.
The night he was killed, I
was flying back to New York
on Mason Croft's GV.
You can check.
We will.
Uh, I do think that I can
be of some assistance to you,
though, now that I'm on the
news side of the business.
Um, according to my sources,
the night Alex was killed,
he had dinner with "The Ledger's" owner,
Cynthia Morrow.
How does that qualify as news?
Glazer's alibi checks out.
On the night of the murder,
he was on Mason Croft's private jet
as they returned from
a weekend in Macau.
Billionaire's a nice
friend to have, I guess.
He was also telling the
truth about Morrow and West
getting into a nasty argument
the night of the murder.
Check this out.
[TENSE MUSIC]
Do we know what they were arguing about?
The audio is too cluttered
to pick up the conversation.
And this later.
Just watch.
♪
She got pushy.
My client had nothing to do with
what happened to Alex West.
What were you and West arguing about
the day he was murdered?
It was nothing serious.
Sure looked serious.
Ms. Morrow has said all she
has to say on the matter,
so unless you're gonna
charge her with something,
we're done here.
Okay.
If that's what you want, we'll go.
And we are going to call
a press conference stating
that Ms. Morrow here
is a person of interest
in the murder of one
of her top employees,
and she's refusing to
cooperate in our investigation.
I think that's something
your competitors are
gonna have a lot of fun with.
Are you attempting to blackmail
my client with bad press?
I told Alex that he had to reduce
newsroom personnel by 40%.
We need to cut costs.
In case you haven't noticed,
news isn't very profitable these days.
I'm not sure it should be.
I'm not sure my investors would agree.
Okay, so you told Alex
you had to cut costs,
and then what happened?
I told him the new plan
was to double down on AI,
have it originate most of our articles,
and then he and the other staffers
would edit what it wrote.
And I'm assuming that made him upset.
More like furious.
Said it would be the
death of real journalism.
I don't necessarily disagree,
but I'm not running a charity.
And this death is going
to happen no matter what.
Okay, then why are you the
one getting in his face?
Why are you grabbing him?
Because he was making a scene,
and I didn't want
anyone to overhear what
we were discussing.
I'm sure it would be
embarrassing if people
found out that your
newspaper was using robots
to give them their daily news.
We live in strange times.
- Are we done here now?
- No.
Where'd you go after the dinner?
I got into a car and went home.
She was telling the truth.
So I got this from a street
cam across from the restaurant.
Cynthia Morrow got
in a car headed south.
Alex West walked north on foot.
Spoke to the car service.
Driver said he took her all
the way to a country house
in Connecticut.
There's no way she made it
back into the city in time
to commit the murder.
Can you run that back a little bit?
Sure.
[KEYBOARD CLACKING]
There.
Do you think that person could
have been following our guy?
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Let me pull up some
other cams from the area.
[KEYBOARD CLACKING]
Okay, that's a block and a half later.
♪
[KEYBOARD CLACKING]
That's five blocks north.
Okay, well, someone's
definitely tailing West.
♪
Can you run that through facial rec?
No need. That's Tanner Hunt,
the guy running for
Senate in South Carolina.
That's the guy "The Ledger" was
gonna publish a profile on?
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Mr. Hunt?
Oh, sorry, gentlemen.
No time for press
questions this morning.
We're on a tight schedule.
We're not reporters.
Detective Calvino,
Detective Walker, NYPD.
Love to ask you some
questions about Alexander West.
You got a sec?
Why don't you load in the bags.
I can handle this.
What can I do for you, detectives?
Why don't you start off by explaining
what you were doing
stalking Alexander West
- the night of his murder?
- Oh.
I wasn't stalking him. I just
wanted to speak to him, that's all.
And why didn't you just speak to him?
Well, I was waiting till we
were somewhere more private.
I caught up to him a
little while after that,
just outside Central Park. We chatted.
- I went back to my hotel.
- Right.
What'd you guys chat about?
"The Ledger" was doing a profile on me.
West kept delaying it.
I wanted to see why, make sure
there were no surprises coming.
Worried about skeletons in your closet?
Yeah, well, we all have them.
Really?
- Yeah, just being honest.
- Wow.
That's an honest politician.
Got my vote, Tanner.
I just wanted reassurance
that "The Ledger"
wasn't looking to bury me.
And what did West say?
Oh. He was great.
He said I had nothing to worry about.
said that the article was
gonna be complementary.
Actually, he used the word "glowing."
[CHUCKLES]
He said he was literally on his way
to meet with the reporter
who interviewed me,
go over a couple of things,
and then send him to print.
He was meeting with the reporter?
- Mm-hmm.
- That night?
Mm-hmm.
Do you have a name for this reporter?
Come on, Tanner.
I told you.
I was home that night writing.
- You can ask my wife.
- Oh, we did.
Sometimes wives lie to
protect their husbands.
Yeah, we have a witness
who says West was on his way
to the park to meet up with you.
That's weird. I don't know
why Alex would say that.
I-I mean,
I-I really don't know
why he would say that.
I think you do.
- I think you do.
- Ah.
- Damn it.
- Let me help you out here.
- You need that?
- Thank you.
Yeah.
You always wear makeup on your hands?
Let me see that.
Or is it just when you
push someone off a bridge?
That's not
I scratched it the other day replacing,
um, an ink cartridge
in one of our printers.
Okay, right. Yeah,
'cause that happens a lot.
Would you submit to a DNA test?
♪
I think I need a lawyer.
♪
I think you do too. Come on.
♪
Well, Mark Lancer's DNA
was a match to the skin
found under West's fingernails.
Police also found video
that shows Lancer leaving
his apartment building
through a back exit
about an hour before West was killed
which, not only shows
that he had opportunity
to commit the murder, but
that he lied to detectives.
Motive? From what I understand,
Lancer and Alex West
weren't just colleagues,
they were close friends.
West had just come back from dinner with
"The Ledger's" owner,
where he was ordered
to fire 40% of his staff.
So we're assuming West told
Lancer he was on his way out.
Lancer got upset. They argued,
and he pushed him off the bridge.
I know journalists are
fighting for their lives, but
why were they meeting in a
remote section of the park?
West could've told Lancer he
was getting fired anywhere.
They worked together, saw each
other every day at the office.
We're not entirely sure.
We do know that it was
West's preferred spot
for covert communication.
Maybe he wanted to deliver
the message somewhere private?
He was under a strict
order from his boss
to keep the papers planned
use of AI confidential.
The fact that he lied about his alibi
shows consciousness of
guilt and proves he wasn't
at home when West was killed.
But it doesn't prove he was in the park.
Make sure you can place him at the scene
at the time of the murder.
[ELEVATOR CHIMES]
We appreciate you coming in.
I know you have a lot
going on right now.
[SIGHS]
We just need to go over your testimony.
Yeah, so, uh, in the
statement you gave to police,
you said that West told you that he was
on his way to meet Mark Lancer
and then headed into the park.
That's right.
It's important that we make
it crystal clear for the jury
that West specifically
said Lancer's name
and that this conversation was roughly
15 minutes before he was killed.
- Well, he did, and it was.
- All right, perfect.
So when I ask about your
conversation with Alex West
Mr. Price, I'm gonna
stop you right there.
I won't be testifying.
[TENSE MUSIC]
Tanner Hunt is refusing to testify.
He's worried that any association
with the murder trial could
derail his Senate campaign.
He's a witness, not a defendant.
And a witness for the
prosecution, no less.
He'd be helping us get justice.
We said the same thing,
but he's convinced
that conservative media
will somehow find a way
to use it to smear him.
Well, "The Nation Tonight"
has already aired a piece
about his connection to the case,
claiming that Hunt's team
was paying "The Ledger"
- for favorable coverage.
- Yeah, I saw that.
They cited "unsubstantiated rumors".
Somehow those qualify as news now.
Unfortunately, Hunt's testimony
is our best shot at placing
Lancer in the park that night.
Then we have to call him.
I sympathize with his situation.
Obviously, I'm no stranger
to the campaign trail.
I know how brutal it is out there.
But we're talking about a murder here.
Well, I can issue a subpoena,
but I'm not sure how effective
it'll be if he is hostile.
I'll reach out to his campaign manager,
make it clear that going to
prison for contempt of court
and obstruction of justice will
do a hell of a lot more damage
than any lies the conservative
press can come up with.
Mr. Hunt, where exactly
did your meeting with
Mr. West take place that night?
Just outside Central Park.
The 77th Street entrance.
And to be clear, he told you that
he was going at that very moment
- to meet up with someone?
- Yes.
Not just someone.
He told me the person's name.
- Mark Lancer.
- What time was this?
Around 11:15.
23 minutes later, Alex West was dead.
Thank you. Nothing further.
Mr. Hunt, did you actually see
Mr. Lancer at the park that evening?
No.
So you can't say with any
certainty that he was there?
- No.
- But you were.
Excuse me?
Did you push Alex West off that bridge?
Objection, Your Honor.
It's a perfectly reasonable question.
Detectives initially spoke
to Mr. Hunt as a suspect.
Overruled. Witness will answer.
For God's sake, no. I didn't push him.
But you did follow him that night.
I just wanted to speak
to him. In private.
Because he was about to
publish an exposé on you,
and you were scared.
You knew that he could
destroy your career.
That certainly sounds like motive to me.
It wasn't an exposé.
It was a profile.
And Mr. West assured me it
was going to be positive.
Oh.
Well, I guess we'll just
take your word for it.
And we all know how
trustworthy politicians are.
Nothing further.
Redirect, Your Honor.
Where were you at 11:38 p.m.
when Alex West was killed?
In an Uber on my way back to my hotel.
- And police verified this?
- Yes.
The driver had a dash cam.
All right. Thank you.
So on the night of Alex West's murder,
you instructed him to fire 40%
of "The Ledger's" newsroom staff.
It broke my heart and Alex's, but yes.
Mark Lancer on the chopping block?
Mark was our most senior reporter
and therefore the highest paid.
Unfortunately, that put
him at the top of the list.
So after that dinner,
Alex West had to deliver
the news to the defendant
that he was being fired.
Yes.
How long have you known the defendant?
I don't know. At least 15 years.
Would you describe
him as having a temper?
He's a hothead.
A lot of reporters are.
I guess the job requires a
certain kind of temperament.
So it's reasonable to say
that he would react poorly
- to finding out that he
- Objection.
Calls for speculation.
Withdrawn. Nothing further.
Ms. Morrow, did Alex West tell you
he was going to fire
Mark Lancer that evening?
No. But I made it clear to him
that he had to be fired, and soon.
Were you aware that five
days prior to your dinner,
Mark Lancer informed Mr.
West that he had accepted
a job offer at a nonprofit dedicated
to protecting the First Amendment?
No.
So you were unaware that he'd already
submitted his resignation.
He was planning to leave
at the end of the month.
Yes, I
this is the first I'm hearing of it.
So to be clear, Alex West couldn't
have fired him that evening,
because he'd already quit.
Nothing further.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
So we now know that West
wasn't meeting Lancer
that night to fire him, so we think
that there's a chance that they were
meeting a source that night.
So that person could
potentially be a key witness.
Or might've have even seen the murder.
I went through Alex's electronic devices
after I got your call.
And you're correct.
I can confirm that he and Lancer were,
in fact, meeting a source.
We need that person's name.
Unfortunately, I have spoken to them,
and they don't wish to come forward.
Do they have information that
might be helpful to our case?
I can't confirm or deny.
Then we need to speak to them.
I tried to convince them,
out of respect for Alex,
but they want to remain confidential.
And as a news organization,
I have to honor that.
New York's shield laws
protecting journalists
in this matter are ironclad.
You can't legally compel us
to disclose this person's name.
We are trying to get
justice for someone you knew,
someone you respected.
You know who would support
this decision more than anyone?
Alex West.
The moment a source
believes we are going
to hand their privileged information
to police or prosecutors,
they will stop talking.
I'm not giving you the name.
♪
Have you tried figuring out who
this source is a different way?
We went through West's
texts, emails, phone logs.
Nothing. West was a pro.
He was very careful about the way
he communicated with sources.
You just need the name
of this person, right?
We just need to know who
to serve with this subpoena.
Why?
Well, the shield laws in question
here don't apply if
the news organization
is the one suspected
of committing the crime.
Which would be helpful if
"The Ledger" was responsible
for murdering Alex West.
Or, potentially,
if they're guilty of
committing a different crime.
"The Nation Tonight" ran
another piece yesterday
insinuating that "The
Ledger" was accepting bribes
from Tanner Hunt's campaign in exchange
for favorable coverage.
Are you suggesting
what do we accuse them of, fraud?
I'm suggesting we investigate
"The Nation Tonight's" allegation.
Knowing that it is
almost certainly untrue,
that, in reality, it's just Peter Glazer
abusing his new
position to exact revenge
from his former employer.
It's a credible basis to
secure a search warrant
and the name we need.
I'm not so sure about this.
This is a perfectly legal approach.
Legal?
Maybe.
But
it is definitely not ethical.
You're using fake news
as a pretext to circumvent
the First Amendment.
To get justice for a good man,
a good journalist.
A man who cared deeply
about protecting his sources.
It's not a perfect solution.
But it is good.
And right now,
I am willing to live with good.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
- What is going on?
- Listen up.
We're here to collect any and all files
and devices with any work product
relating to Tanner Hunt.
We're also gonna need all your laptops,
your tablets, and your burner phones.
What? We just talked about this.
We are not required to disclose.
The judge says you are, ma'am.
Call our lawyers.
- We're going to fight this.
- Oh, you do what you gotta do.
We're still gonna need
your laptops, tablets,
and your burner phones.
You realize you are participating
in the end of independent
journalism, right?
You do realize Alex
West was murdered, right?
♪
All right, let's move.
♪
Mr. Rex, you currently
work for Tanner Hunt.
- Is that correct?
- Yes.
I help run his Senate campaign.
And on the night of August 24th,
did you meet with Alexander West
and the defendant in Central Park?
- Yes.
- What was the purpose of that meeting?
It was a private matter.
Your Honor?
The witness will answer
the question, please.
[SIGHS] I was there to tell
them something about my boss.
And what was that?
10 years ago, when he was in college,
a classmate accused
him of sexual assault.
How is this not already
public knowledge?
No charges were ever filed,
and the campaign has
worked hard to bury it.
I can imagine, if that were to get out,
it would almost certainly
tank his political future.
Exactly.
But I guess my conscience
got the best of me.
I thought it was something
the public should know
before deciding whether
or not to vote for him.
And "The Ledger" was
already doing a profile,
so I contacted Lancer.
And how did he and Alex West
react when you told them?
West didn't think it was relevant,
given how long ago it happened.
And without the woman coming
forward, it wasn't newsworthy.
I gave them her name.
I thought they should at
least reach out to her,
but he didn't seem interested.
And what about the defendant?
He agreed with me.
He thought it was extremely relevant.
He and West started to
argue. It got intense.
That's when I took off. I didn't
see what happened after that.
But when you left, Mark
Lancer was with Alex West,
and they were fighting?
- Just verbally, but yeah.
- What time was this?
- Around 11:30.
- Thank you.
Nothing further.
[CHUCKLES]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
If what you're saying is true,
why didn't you come forward sooner?
I was supposed to be an off-the-record,
confidential source.
Do you know what this is
going to do to my career?
You didn't come forward about a murder
because you worried about yourself?
I was protecting myself.
I know that sounds selfish,
but I don't know why I
should be the one to suffer
because other people did bad things.
If you were a a confidential source,
how did the prosecution
know to call you here today?
- I have no idea.
- Okay.
Well, this sounds awfully convenient.
I mean, the perfect
witness, the perfect time.
If I didn't have more
respect for the DA's office,
I'd be convinced your testimony
was a complete and utter fabrication.
- Objection.
- Sustained.
No more questions for this witness.
The prosecution rests, Your Honor.
Ms. Grassley, you may
call your first witness.
Yeah.
♪
The defense calls Mark
Lancer to the stand.
♪
You lied about being
in the park that night.
I did.
And I know how it looks, but I was just
trying to protect my source.
That source claims you and
Alex West were fighting.
We had a disagreement about what to
do with the information that he gave us.
But I didn't kill Alex.
He was alive and well when I left him.
I don't know what happened after that,
so admitting that I was there
wouldn't have helped anything.
But now you look guilty
of your friend's murder.
If that's the price I
have to pay, then so be it.
But I'm only guilty
of trying to preserve
a sacred institution.
One that keeps us all safe.
Thank you.
No further questions.
Uh, I'm curious about the argument
you were in with Alex West that night.
It was a professional
disagreement, and they happen.
But why would the executive
editor of "The New York Ledger"
not want to investigate a
credible accusation of rape
against a prominent political
figure like Tanner Hunt?
He felt the need to protect Hunt.
Why?
Because he's liberal.
The news is supposed to be unbiased.
The reporting of the news
is supposed to be unbiased,
but people aren't.
That must have infuriated you.
To see your mentor compromise
his values like that?
Like I said, we argued,
but at the end of the
day, he's in charge.
Oh, so so you're willing
to fall on your sword
and potentially go to
prison for life to protect
the journalistic integrity
of confidential sources,
but when your boss decided to set fire
to the foundational tenet
of unbiased reporting,
you just shrugged and walked away?
Objection, Your Honor,
asked and answered.
Overruled.
Answer the question.
It was Alex's call to make.
So on some level, you
must've agreed with him.
- No, no, absolutely not.
- I mean, he has a point.
An accusation of sexual
assault could ruin Hunt's life,
whether it turned out to be true or not.
As a journalist, it is our job
to determine whether
something is true or not.
Because the public deserves the truth?
Yes. The unbiased, unfiltered truth.
Even if it doesn't net the outcome
that you desire in the long run?
It is not for us to decide.
♪
You make a commitment
to report the facts.
It is the guiding light
that we stake everything on.
Without the truth, all is lost.
Then admit the truth in this case,
that you pushed Alexander
West off of that bridge.
You couldn't stomach that
he was gonna compromise
"The Ledger's" integrity.
And in that moment, you took action,
and you did what you needed to do
to protect the truth.
♪
I didn't mean to.
♪
I lost my temper, and
♪
Yes,
I killed him.
♪
I'm sorry.
♪
[SNIFFLES]
♪
Congratulations.
On what?
I know.
Tough case.
It turns out Mark Lancer might just be
the last noble journalist out there,
and we just sent him away for life.
Noble or not, he killed someone.
He did.
But at least he believed in
something bigger than himself,
something sacred.
Unlike us, I suppose.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
♪
Good night, Nolan.
♪
[WOLF HOWLS]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
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.
[INSECTS CHIRPING]
[DISTANT SIREN WAILING]
[OWL HOOTING]
[BRUSH RUSTLING]
Hello?
[BRANCH RUSTLES]
[OWL HOOTING]
[BRANCH SNAPS]
Is someone there?
[OWL HOOTING]
[TENSE MUSIC]
Are you following me?
Shh.
♪
Be quiet
if you know what's good for you.
♪
[GRUNTS]
God damn, you're hot.
You can't do this!
What's that?
I don't know, but it doesn't matter.
[MUFFLED INDISTINCT ARGUING]
- Wait.
- I'm out of here.
♪
[INDISTINCT ARGUING]
[SHOUTING, ARGUING]
[ARGUING CONTINUES]
[SCREAMS]
[BODY THUDS]
[SCREAMS]
♪
That's good. Thank you.
[SIREN WHOOPING]
What's up, partner?
Sorry.
I was asleep when the call came in.
Glad you could make it.
- Partner, huh?
- Mm-hmm.
- So it's official.
- If you'll have me.
What do we got?
Vic is Alexander West.
Watch, wallet, wedding
ring all accounted for.
- Phone?
- Haven't found it yet.
I'm thinking killer
might have snagged it.
So he fell directly on his head,
snapped his neck.
Probably died instantly.
At least he got that.
Hand is bagged.
MLI found skin under his fingernails.
I'm hoping it's the killer.
I'll flag it for the lab.
So the witness said
he heard some yelling.
He looked up, saw a guy get shoved
- off here at about 11:38 p.m.
- He see who did the pushing?
He said he couldn't even tell
if it was a man or a woman,
but given where we are,
safe bet it's a man.
So the witness, his name is Travis Nell.
He's 32.
♪
And just so you know, he's not happy
about being on record for being here,
for obvious reasons.
- Why?
- It's the Ramble.
It's a hookup spot for dudes.
I thought there were apps for that now.
Hey, man, some people like to
keep it anonymous, you know?
Right.
Oh, my bad. Are you
Me? No, I got a wife and three kids.
I learned about the Ramble
from this Al Pacino movie,
"Cruising." You ever seen it?
I have not.
Looks like he had a wife too.
Ah, so much for keeping secrets.
[TENSE MUSIC]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Alex and I have been
married for 32 years.
He was my whole life.
Did your husband mention
where he was going
or who he was with last night?
No. He
he just he said that
he was gonna be home late,
that I shouldn't wait up for him,
so, uh, I went to bed.
What time was that?
Uh, around 10:30?
When I woke up this morning
and I saw he wasn't there,
I knew something was wrong.
I've spent the past hour
calling every hospital
in the city to to see if
[SOMBER MUSIC]
Do you have any idea
why he would be in that area
of the park at 11:30 at night?
Uh, oh oh, it's not what you think.
I know what happens there,
but but Alex isn't gay.
He's the executive editor
of "The New York
Ledger's" news division.
What does that have to do
with where his body was found?
♪
According to Susan
West, her husband learned
about the Ramble early on
in his journalism career.
Same qualities that make it
a good place for anonymous sex
make it good for confidential sources.
She said he's been using that spot
- for that ever since.
- Well, that makes sense.
Or it's a really good
cover story for your wife.
Yeah, she was able to
provide us with a phone.
It wasn't missing from the crime scene,
'cause someone stole it.
He actually left it at home.
He was real Woodward and
Bernstein about all this stuff.
Went out of his way
to protect his sources,
never took his phone to a meeting,
didn't want to be tracked,
never took a direct route,
used burner phones for communication.
Well, that doesn't mean
there won't be anything
- of note on the phone.
- We sent it over to the techs.
They're working to unlock it now.
[MELANCHOLY MUSIC]
♪
DNA.
Did you hear back from Forensics?
Yeah, uh
ran it through the system, but no hits.
Lab says the sample's only
good for comparison matching.
Not enough there to create
an independent profile.
It seems like there's a good chance
that his murder had something
to do with his work, so
Hey, why don't we head
over to "The Ledger"
offices right now.
We can figure out what West was up to.
- Right.
- Cool.
Later.
Hey.
- Hm?
- You good?
Yeah.
Just, uh, adjusting to the change.
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Daniella?
I hear you're the new executive editor.
At least for the time being.
Cynthia Morrow, the paper's owner,
called me this morning
and asked me to cover in Alex's absence.
Did you know Alex West?
Not well, but we've crossed
paths over the years.
He seemed like a good guy.
And he was a damn good journalist.
Well, we have reason to
believe he was possibly
meeting a source last night.
We're wondering if you
might know who that was?
Or what story he might
have been working on?
I don't. Sorry.
I'm still getting up to speed
on the articles he was overseeing.
But you should talk to Mark Lancer.
He's our senior reporter.
He reported directly to Alex.
They had their own
thing. They were tight.
- The guy on the phone?
- Yeah.
- Thank you.
- Mm-hmm.
If Alex was in the Ramble,
then he was definitely
meeting with a source.
It's been his go-to spot
as long as I've known him.
We understand you two were close?
Uh, he taught me everything I know about
what it means to be a reporter.
The man was a legend.
If democracy dies in the
dark, Alex was the light.
Well, he actually did die in the dark,
and we're just trying to figure out why.
I wish I knew what he was investigating,
but I've been buried in my
own workload the past few days.
Um, we're doing a profile, Tanner Hunt.
The Democrat running for
Senate in South Carolina.
Yeah, not familiar.
But based upon what I do know,
it sounds like a long shot.
Yeah, according to the
polls, he actually has a shot.
Crazy, if you think about it.
Ivy League liberal resonating
with Southern voters, huh?
Mm.
He's the new poster boy
for the Democratic Party.
- Right.
- I was up half the night
finishing my profile on him,
much to my wife's chagrin.
Anyone else around here who might know
- who he was meeting with?
- Not likely.
Alex was vigilant about protecting
confidential sources.
Where are you guys at
in your investigation?
Do you have any suspects?
Persons of interest?
We ask the questions
here. We don't answer them.
Sorry.
Force of habit.
That's okay.
Can you think of anyone who
might have wanted to hurt him?
Sure.
I mean, you know,
publishing the truth
earns you a lot of enemies.
Anyone specific come to mind?
Something recent, maybe?
Um,
you know, we were supposed to go
to print soon on an exposé.
Uh, subject is a guy who runs a, um
a taxi fleet out of Queens.
Ah. Yeah.
He went ballistic.
Made all kinds of threats.
This guy Zayne?
- I I believe so.
- Henry Street?
Yeah.
[INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER]
Yo, NYPD man, where's your boss?
Back there.
Zayne Hassim?
- You cops?
- What gave it away?
Want to talk to you
about Alexander West.
[CHUCKLES] Not interested.
Nah, that was a
statement, not a question.
Look, I'm running late
to a couple meetings,
- so if you two wouldn't mind
- Got a listening problem.
That was a statement, not a question.
- Don't touch me.
- Or what?
Hey, hey, hey, hey. Come on, guys.
Let's just do this the easy way.
I couldn't agree more.
Let's talk about this downtown, sir?
[TENSE MUSIC]
I didn't have anything to do
with what happened to that guy.
You got two priors
for aggravated assault,
and you threatened to
kill a man yesterday
that was thrown off a bridge last night.
So you're gonna have to give us
a little something more than that.
- Like what?
- Like what?
For starters, why'd you
refuse to talk to us?
I thought you were there
to talk about all the lies
that reporter was spreading about me.
You mean that you were
employing unlicensed drivers
and forging official reports to cover up
- the accidents they caused.
- Fake news.
I really hate when people say that.
It's true.
Alex West had documents,
videos,
and on-the-record sources.
Yeah, looks like real news to me.
All of my guys were licensed.
But some of them ran
into immigration problems,
- which voided those licenses.
- Okay, I get that.
'Cause it's not fair.
So you just let the guys keep driving?
This is a sanctuary city.
And they're as good a driver today
as they were yesterday, so
So you broke the law,
and Alex West was publishing an article
to expose that fact.
And that would've been
very bad for you, right?
A taxi medallion used to be
worth over a million dollars.
Now, a thousand, tops.
There's the Ubers and the Lyfts.
Now these self-driving
cars are coming in.
Taxi business can't take any more blows.
Makes sense to me,
'cause a man's gotta do
what a man's gotta do
to protect his business.
So you kill West to kill the story
- and protect your business.
- I wasn't protecting anybody. I
[HUFFS]
Yellow cabs have been
a pillar of this city
for over a hundred years.
If West was a real New
Yorker, he would never publish
that trash, true or not.
Unfortunately for you, that's
not how journalism works, sir.
Look, I admit I threatened the guy, okay?
But that's it.
I didn't follow through on it.
Where were you last
night around 11:30 p.m.?
At the Jersey Shore with my family.
Cape May. Drove back this morning.
Would you be willing to
voluntarily submit to a DNA test?
[SIGHS]
All right, thank you.
Lou, Hassim's alibi checks out.
And his DNA wasn't a match.
So where does that leave us?
We know anyone else pissed
enough at our vic to kill him?
Well, maybe the, uh,
techs finally got done
unlocking West's phone.
Got 26 missed calls from the
same number oven seven days.
Got a name?
Peter Glazer.
- The op-ed guy?
- Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I'm more of a sports
guy than editorials, so.
He just writes all of
these contrarian articles
like he's trying to rile up
as many people as possible.
Well, the day of the murder,
West finally picked up his phone call.
They talked for two minutes,
and then he blocked his number.
So do we know what was
going on with these guys?
Not exactly, but I'm guessing
it has something to do with the fact
that Glazer just got fired.
But West ran the news division.
That wouldn't have been his call.
Oh, you tell that to Peter Glazer.
Posted this last week.
"That man stabbed me in the back.
I plan to do the same to him one day."
I really will never understand
people's urge to tell
on themselves in public.
Go talk to the guy.
I didn't kill him.
We've seen your posts.
I stand by every negative
thing I said about that man.
- So you didn't like him?
- Correct.
And why is that?
Because he was a little baby.
Didn't want anyone to speak their mind,
unless, of course, it
confirmed his point of view.
Ah, so you blame him
for getting you fired?
Is that what you're saying?
I criticized a few articles
Alex published for
being liberally biased,
and he threw a temper tantrum.
Demanded I be fired.
And he got his wish.
And that pissed you off.
Of course, it did.
I was just doing what
I was supposed to do,
what I was getting paid
to do speak my mind.
But, you know, that scares
people like Alex West.
The point is, I refused to conform
to his liberal politics,
and he got me fired.
- So you returned the favor?
- Oh, please.
I didn't kill Alex.
Truth is, I owe the
man a debt of gratitude.
For what, getting you fired?
I have a lot of fans,
and one of them is a
guy named Mason Croft.
You just name-drop a billionaire to me?
Yeah.
He loved that I was
an independent thinker.
So he made me editor-in-chief
of "The Nation Tonight."
That's why I was calling Alex.
That's why you called him 26 times.
I wanted him to know
that I landed on my feet,
that I was now in charge
of one of the highest rated
news shows in the country.
- You called him to gloat?
- Damn right.
Would you be willing
to submit to a DNA test?
Not without a warrant.
I know better than to trust
the NYPD with my personal data.
But there's no way I
could've murdered Alex.
The night he was killed, I
was flying back to New York
on Mason Croft's GV.
You can check.
We will.
Uh, I do think that I can
be of some assistance to you,
though, now that I'm on the
news side of the business.
Um, according to my sources,
the night Alex was killed,
he had dinner with "The Ledger's" owner,
Cynthia Morrow.
How does that qualify as news?
Glazer's alibi checks out.
On the night of the murder,
he was on Mason Croft's private jet
as they returned from
a weekend in Macau.
Billionaire's a nice
friend to have, I guess.
He was also telling the
truth about Morrow and West
getting into a nasty argument
the night of the murder.
Check this out.
[TENSE MUSIC]
Do we know what they were arguing about?
The audio is too cluttered
to pick up the conversation.
And this later.
Just watch.
♪
She got pushy.
My client had nothing to do with
what happened to Alex West.
What were you and West arguing about
the day he was murdered?
It was nothing serious.
Sure looked serious.
Ms. Morrow has said all she
has to say on the matter,
so unless you're gonna
charge her with something,
we're done here.
Okay.
If that's what you want, we'll go.
And we are going to call
a press conference stating
that Ms. Morrow here
is a person of interest
in the murder of one
of her top employees,
and she's refusing to
cooperate in our investigation.
I think that's something
your competitors are
gonna have a lot of fun with.
Are you attempting to blackmail
my client with bad press?
I told Alex that he had to reduce
newsroom personnel by 40%.
We need to cut costs.
In case you haven't noticed,
news isn't very profitable these days.
I'm not sure it should be.
I'm not sure my investors would agree.
Okay, so you told Alex
you had to cut costs,
and then what happened?
I told him the new plan
was to double down on AI,
have it originate most of our articles,
and then he and the other staffers
would edit what it wrote.
And I'm assuming that made him upset.
More like furious.
Said it would be the
death of real journalism.
I don't necessarily disagree,
but I'm not running a charity.
And this death is going
to happen no matter what.
Okay, then why are you the
one getting in his face?
Why are you grabbing him?
Because he was making a scene,
and I didn't want
anyone to overhear what
we were discussing.
I'm sure it would be
embarrassing if people
found out that your
newspaper was using robots
to give them their daily news.
We live in strange times.
- Are we done here now?
- No.
Where'd you go after the dinner?
I got into a car and went home.
She was telling the truth.
So I got this from a street
cam across from the restaurant.
Cynthia Morrow got
in a car headed south.
Alex West walked north on foot.
Spoke to the car service.
Driver said he took her all
the way to a country house
in Connecticut.
There's no way she made it
back into the city in time
to commit the murder.
Can you run that back a little bit?
Sure.
[KEYBOARD CLACKING]
There.
Do you think that person could
have been following our guy?
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Let me pull up some
other cams from the area.
[KEYBOARD CLACKING]
Okay, that's a block and a half later.
♪
[KEYBOARD CLACKING]
That's five blocks north.
Okay, well, someone's
definitely tailing West.
♪
Can you run that through facial rec?
No need. That's Tanner Hunt,
the guy running for
Senate in South Carolina.
That's the guy "The Ledger" was
gonna publish a profile on?
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Mr. Hunt?
Oh, sorry, gentlemen.
No time for press
questions this morning.
We're on a tight schedule.
We're not reporters.
Detective Calvino,
Detective Walker, NYPD.
Love to ask you some
questions about Alexander West.
You got a sec?
Why don't you load in the bags.
I can handle this.
What can I do for you, detectives?
Why don't you start off by explaining
what you were doing
stalking Alexander West
- the night of his murder?
- Oh.
I wasn't stalking him. I just
wanted to speak to him, that's all.
And why didn't you just speak to him?
Well, I was waiting till we
were somewhere more private.
I caught up to him a
little while after that,
just outside Central Park. We chatted.
- I went back to my hotel.
- Right.
What'd you guys chat about?
"The Ledger" was doing a profile on me.
West kept delaying it.
I wanted to see why, make sure
there were no surprises coming.
Worried about skeletons in your closet?
Yeah, well, we all have them.
Really?
- Yeah, just being honest.
- Wow.
That's an honest politician.
Got my vote, Tanner.
I just wanted reassurance
that "The Ledger"
wasn't looking to bury me.
And what did West say?
Oh. He was great.
He said I had nothing to worry about.
said that the article was
gonna be complementary.
Actually, he used the word "glowing."
[CHUCKLES]
He said he was literally on his way
to meet with the reporter
who interviewed me,
go over a couple of things,
and then send him to print.
He was meeting with the reporter?
- Mm-hmm.
- That night?
Mm-hmm.
Do you have a name for this reporter?
Come on, Tanner.
I told you.
I was home that night writing.
- You can ask my wife.
- Oh, we did.
Sometimes wives lie to
protect their husbands.
Yeah, we have a witness
who says West was on his way
to the park to meet up with you.
That's weird. I don't know
why Alex would say that.
I-I mean,
I-I really don't know
why he would say that.
I think you do.
- I think you do.
- Ah.
- Damn it.
- Let me help you out here.
- You need that?
- Thank you.
Yeah.
You always wear makeup on your hands?
Let me see that.
Or is it just when you
push someone off a bridge?
That's not
I scratched it the other day replacing,
um, an ink cartridge
in one of our printers.
Okay, right. Yeah,
'cause that happens a lot.
Would you submit to a DNA test?
♪
I think I need a lawyer.
♪
I think you do too. Come on.
♪
Well, Mark Lancer's DNA
was a match to the skin
found under West's fingernails.
Police also found video
that shows Lancer leaving
his apartment building
through a back exit
about an hour before West was killed
which, not only shows
that he had opportunity
to commit the murder, but
that he lied to detectives.
Motive? From what I understand,
Lancer and Alex West
weren't just colleagues,
they were close friends.
West had just come back from dinner with
"The Ledger's" owner,
where he was ordered
to fire 40% of his staff.
So we're assuming West told
Lancer he was on his way out.
Lancer got upset. They argued,
and he pushed him off the bridge.
I know journalists are
fighting for their lives, but
why were they meeting in a
remote section of the park?
West could've told Lancer he
was getting fired anywhere.
They worked together, saw each
other every day at the office.
We're not entirely sure.
We do know that it was
West's preferred spot
for covert communication.
Maybe he wanted to deliver
the message somewhere private?
He was under a strict
order from his boss
to keep the papers planned
use of AI confidential.
The fact that he lied about his alibi
shows consciousness of
guilt and proves he wasn't
at home when West was killed.
But it doesn't prove he was in the park.
Make sure you can place him at the scene
at the time of the murder.
[ELEVATOR CHIMES]
We appreciate you coming in.
I know you have a lot
going on right now.
[SIGHS]
We just need to go over your testimony.
Yeah, so, uh, in the
statement you gave to police,
you said that West told you that he was
on his way to meet Mark Lancer
and then headed into the park.
That's right.
It's important that we make
it crystal clear for the jury
that West specifically
said Lancer's name
and that this conversation was roughly
15 minutes before he was killed.
- Well, he did, and it was.
- All right, perfect.
So when I ask about your
conversation with Alex West
Mr. Price, I'm gonna
stop you right there.
I won't be testifying.
[TENSE MUSIC]
Tanner Hunt is refusing to testify.
He's worried that any association
with the murder trial could
derail his Senate campaign.
He's a witness, not a defendant.
And a witness for the
prosecution, no less.
He'd be helping us get justice.
We said the same thing,
but he's convinced
that conservative media
will somehow find a way
to use it to smear him.
Well, "The Nation Tonight"
has already aired a piece
about his connection to the case,
claiming that Hunt's team
was paying "The Ledger"
- for favorable coverage.
- Yeah, I saw that.
They cited "unsubstantiated rumors".
Somehow those qualify as news now.
Unfortunately, Hunt's testimony
is our best shot at placing
Lancer in the park that night.
Then we have to call him.
I sympathize with his situation.
Obviously, I'm no stranger
to the campaign trail.
I know how brutal it is out there.
But we're talking about a murder here.
Well, I can issue a subpoena,
but I'm not sure how effective
it'll be if he is hostile.
I'll reach out to his campaign manager,
make it clear that going to
prison for contempt of court
and obstruction of justice will
do a hell of a lot more damage
than any lies the conservative
press can come up with.
Mr. Hunt, where exactly
did your meeting with
Mr. West take place that night?
Just outside Central Park.
The 77th Street entrance.
And to be clear, he told you that
he was going at that very moment
- to meet up with someone?
- Yes.
Not just someone.
He told me the person's name.
- Mark Lancer.
- What time was this?
Around 11:15.
23 minutes later, Alex West was dead.
Thank you. Nothing further.
Mr. Hunt, did you actually see
Mr. Lancer at the park that evening?
No.
So you can't say with any
certainty that he was there?
- No.
- But you were.
Excuse me?
Did you push Alex West off that bridge?
Objection, Your Honor.
It's a perfectly reasonable question.
Detectives initially spoke
to Mr. Hunt as a suspect.
Overruled. Witness will answer.
For God's sake, no. I didn't push him.
But you did follow him that night.
I just wanted to speak
to him. In private.
Because he was about to
publish an exposé on you,
and you were scared.
You knew that he could
destroy your career.
That certainly sounds like motive to me.
It wasn't an exposé.
It was a profile.
And Mr. West assured me it
was going to be positive.
Oh.
Well, I guess we'll just
take your word for it.
And we all know how
trustworthy politicians are.
Nothing further.
Redirect, Your Honor.
Where were you at 11:38 p.m.
when Alex West was killed?
In an Uber on my way back to my hotel.
- And police verified this?
- Yes.
The driver had a dash cam.
All right. Thank you.
So on the night of Alex West's murder,
you instructed him to fire 40%
of "The Ledger's" newsroom staff.
It broke my heart and Alex's, but yes.
Mark Lancer on the chopping block?
Mark was our most senior reporter
and therefore the highest paid.
Unfortunately, that put
him at the top of the list.
So after that dinner,
Alex West had to deliver
the news to the defendant
that he was being fired.
Yes.
How long have you known the defendant?
I don't know. At least 15 years.
Would you describe
him as having a temper?
He's a hothead.
A lot of reporters are.
I guess the job requires a
certain kind of temperament.
So it's reasonable to say
that he would react poorly
- to finding out that he
- Objection.
Calls for speculation.
Withdrawn. Nothing further.
Ms. Morrow, did Alex West tell you
he was going to fire
Mark Lancer that evening?
No. But I made it clear to him
that he had to be fired, and soon.
Were you aware that five
days prior to your dinner,
Mark Lancer informed Mr.
West that he had accepted
a job offer at a nonprofit dedicated
to protecting the First Amendment?
No.
So you were unaware that he'd already
submitted his resignation.
He was planning to leave
at the end of the month.
Yes, I
this is the first I'm hearing of it.
So to be clear, Alex West couldn't
have fired him that evening,
because he'd already quit.
Nothing further.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
So we now know that West
wasn't meeting Lancer
that night to fire him, so we think
that there's a chance that they were
meeting a source that night.
So that person could
potentially be a key witness.
Or might've have even seen the murder.
I went through Alex's electronic devices
after I got your call.
And you're correct.
I can confirm that he and Lancer were,
in fact, meeting a source.
We need that person's name.
Unfortunately, I have spoken to them,
and they don't wish to come forward.
Do they have information that
might be helpful to our case?
I can't confirm or deny.
Then we need to speak to them.
I tried to convince them,
out of respect for Alex,
but they want to remain confidential.
And as a news organization,
I have to honor that.
New York's shield laws
protecting journalists
in this matter are ironclad.
You can't legally compel us
to disclose this person's name.
We are trying to get
justice for someone you knew,
someone you respected.
You know who would support
this decision more than anyone?
Alex West.
The moment a source
believes we are going
to hand their privileged information
to police or prosecutors,
they will stop talking.
I'm not giving you the name.
♪
Have you tried figuring out who
this source is a different way?
We went through West's
texts, emails, phone logs.
Nothing. West was a pro.
He was very careful about the way
he communicated with sources.
You just need the name
of this person, right?
We just need to know who
to serve with this subpoena.
Why?
Well, the shield laws in question
here don't apply if
the news organization
is the one suspected
of committing the crime.
Which would be helpful if
"The Ledger" was responsible
for murdering Alex West.
Or, potentially,
if they're guilty of
committing a different crime.
"The Nation Tonight" ran
another piece yesterday
insinuating that "The
Ledger" was accepting bribes
from Tanner Hunt's campaign in exchange
for favorable coverage.
Are you suggesting
what do we accuse them of, fraud?
I'm suggesting we investigate
"The Nation Tonight's" allegation.
Knowing that it is
almost certainly untrue,
that, in reality, it's just Peter Glazer
abusing his new
position to exact revenge
from his former employer.
It's a credible basis to
secure a search warrant
and the name we need.
I'm not so sure about this.
This is a perfectly legal approach.
Legal?
Maybe.
But
it is definitely not ethical.
You're using fake news
as a pretext to circumvent
the First Amendment.
To get justice for a good man,
a good journalist.
A man who cared deeply
about protecting his sources.
It's not a perfect solution.
But it is good.
And right now,
I am willing to live with good.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
- What is going on?
- Listen up.
We're here to collect any and all files
and devices with any work product
relating to Tanner Hunt.
We're also gonna need all your laptops,
your tablets, and your burner phones.
What? We just talked about this.
We are not required to disclose.
The judge says you are, ma'am.
Call our lawyers.
- We're going to fight this.
- Oh, you do what you gotta do.
We're still gonna need
your laptops, tablets,
and your burner phones.
You realize you are participating
in the end of independent
journalism, right?
You do realize Alex
West was murdered, right?
♪
All right, let's move.
♪
Mr. Rex, you currently
work for Tanner Hunt.
- Is that correct?
- Yes.
I help run his Senate campaign.
And on the night of August 24th,
did you meet with Alexander West
and the defendant in Central Park?
- Yes.
- What was the purpose of that meeting?
It was a private matter.
Your Honor?
The witness will answer
the question, please.
[SIGHS] I was there to tell
them something about my boss.
And what was that?
10 years ago, when he was in college,
a classmate accused
him of sexual assault.
How is this not already
public knowledge?
No charges were ever filed,
and the campaign has
worked hard to bury it.
I can imagine, if that were to get out,
it would almost certainly
tank his political future.
Exactly.
But I guess my conscience
got the best of me.
I thought it was something
the public should know
before deciding whether
or not to vote for him.
And "The Ledger" was
already doing a profile,
so I contacted Lancer.
And how did he and Alex West
react when you told them?
West didn't think it was relevant,
given how long ago it happened.
And without the woman coming
forward, it wasn't newsworthy.
I gave them her name.
I thought they should at
least reach out to her,
but he didn't seem interested.
And what about the defendant?
He agreed with me.
He thought it was extremely relevant.
He and West started to
argue. It got intense.
That's when I took off. I didn't
see what happened after that.
But when you left, Mark
Lancer was with Alex West,
and they were fighting?
- Just verbally, but yeah.
- What time was this?
- Around 11:30.
- Thank you.
Nothing further.
[CHUCKLES]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
If what you're saying is true,
why didn't you come forward sooner?
I was supposed to be an off-the-record,
confidential source.
Do you know what this is
going to do to my career?
You didn't come forward about a murder
because you worried about yourself?
I was protecting myself.
I know that sounds selfish,
but I don't know why I
should be the one to suffer
because other people did bad things.
If you were a a confidential source,
how did the prosecution
know to call you here today?
- I have no idea.
- Okay.
Well, this sounds awfully convenient.
I mean, the perfect
witness, the perfect time.
If I didn't have more
respect for the DA's office,
I'd be convinced your testimony
was a complete and utter fabrication.
- Objection.
- Sustained.
No more questions for this witness.
The prosecution rests, Your Honor.
Ms. Grassley, you may
call your first witness.
Yeah.
♪
The defense calls Mark
Lancer to the stand.
♪
You lied about being
in the park that night.
I did.
And I know how it looks, but I was just
trying to protect my source.
That source claims you and
Alex West were fighting.
We had a disagreement about what to
do with the information that he gave us.
But I didn't kill Alex.
He was alive and well when I left him.
I don't know what happened after that,
so admitting that I was there
wouldn't have helped anything.
But now you look guilty
of your friend's murder.
If that's the price I
have to pay, then so be it.
But I'm only guilty
of trying to preserve
a sacred institution.
One that keeps us all safe.
Thank you.
No further questions.
Uh, I'm curious about the argument
you were in with Alex West that night.
It was a professional
disagreement, and they happen.
But why would the executive
editor of "The New York Ledger"
not want to investigate a
credible accusation of rape
against a prominent political
figure like Tanner Hunt?
He felt the need to protect Hunt.
Why?
Because he's liberal.
The news is supposed to be unbiased.
The reporting of the news
is supposed to be unbiased,
but people aren't.
That must have infuriated you.
To see your mentor compromise
his values like that?
Like I said, we argued,
but at the end of the
day, he's in charge.
Oh, so so you're willing
to fall on your sword
and potentially go to
prison for life to protect
the journalistic integrity
of confidential sources,
but when your boss decided to set fire
to the foundational tenet
of unbiased reporting,
you just shrugged and walked away?
Objection, Your Honor,
asked and answered.
Overruled.
Answer the question.
It was Alex's call to make.
So on some level, you
must've agreed with him.
- No, no, absolutely not.
- I mean, he has a point.
An accusation of sexual
assault could ruin Hunt's life,
whether it turned out to be true or not.
As a journalist, it is our job
to determine whether
something is true or not.
Because the public deserves the truth?
Yes. The unbiased, unfiltered truth.
Even if it doesn't net the outcome
that you desire in the long run?
It is not for us to decide.
♪
You make a commitment
to report the facts.
It is the guiding light
that we stake everything on.
Without the truth, all is lost.
Then admit the truth in this case,
that you pushed Alexander
West off of that bridge.
You couldn't stomach that
he was gonna compromise
"The Ledger's" integrity.
And in that moment, you took action,
and you did what you needed to do
to protect the truth.
♪
I didn't mean to.
♪
I lost my temper, and
♪
Yes,
I killed him.
♪
I'm sorry.
♪
[SNIFFLES]
♪
Congratulations.
On what?
I know.
Tough case.
It turns out Mark Lancer might just be
the last noble journalist out there,
and we just sent him away for life.
Noble or not, he killed someone.
He did.
But at least he believed in
something bigger than himself,
something sacred.
Unlike us, I suppose.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
♪
Good night, Nolan.
♪
[WOLF HOWLS]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪