Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001) s04e07 Episode Script
Magnificat
In New York City's war on crime, the worst criminal offenders are pursued by the detectives of the Major Case Squad.
These are their stories.
And I'm pleased to announce that the contract for Julius Seven is ours.
Manufacturing this new component will improve the security of our country.
In charge of this project will be Don, With the support and assistance of Paul.
You must feel so disappointed.
Anyway, did you notice that the registration on your car expired last week? I was lucky I didn't get a ticket.
If you come home by 5:00, I'll go to the DMV.
Here, Mom, I did my exercise.
I can't leave early today, I got to Doreen, I got to go.
Mom, I can't find my blue jacket.
Okay.
Honey, you ready to go? It's not gonna fit, Mom.
Too bad you can't sit up front like me.
This is just an exception, Adam.
Why do I have to sit in my car seat? It's no fair.
I wish the world was fair, Billy.
I really do.
You know, you're leaking oil.
You want us to check that for you? No, thanks.
I see you have the boys in the car.
Give it to your brother.
Mom, I should be sitting in the front seat.
People don't always get what they deserve.
Mom! Can you tell him to give me my Adam, put your seatbelt on right.
It's too windy back here.
Mom, you pushed the wrong button Adam! Please.
Got a real mess here.
Three kids dead, the fourth, a little boy, was taken to University Hospital with the mom.
Is there a dad? Paul Whitlock.
Car is registered to him.
He's on his way to the hospital.
The boy and his mother were pulled out of the car? No.
They were found here, unconscious.
They went through the windshield.
It's a miracle the blast didn't kill them all.
Anybody see it happen? No.
This is a quiet road.
Glass is inside the panels.
Windows were open.
That would've reduced the force of the blast in the front.
It's probably why they survived.
These little ones never stood a chance.
Three child seats.
That's a tight fit.
This can't be their usual car.
Pipe bomb under the gas tank.
We'll test a soot sample.
My guess is they packed it with fertilizer.
Well, someone would have had to go underneath the car to plant it.
Do you know where their last stop was? Gas station.
About a half mile away.
Mrs.
Whitlock comes in once a week with her boys.
I talked to her.
She was leaking oil.
I asked her if she wanted us to take a look at it.
Did she usually drive that sedan? No, a minivan.
She pay at the pump? Inside, and she bought ice cream for her boys.
She left the car unattended.
Did anybody go near it? Yeah.
After she paid, this guy came towards it.
Where did he come from? Right over there, the air pump.
It was him and two other guys in a truck.
And they were arguing, but I couldn't understand.
Arguing? In another language? Arabic.
I mean, I recognized it because I hear Mr.
Aziz and his wife talking.
Did Mrs.
Whitlock talk to any of those men? No.
But the guy with the mustache, he looked at her, and he went like this.
And then he started walking towards her, and Mrs.
Whitlock saw him coming.
She got in her car and she took off.
I took Doreen's van because I had to leave early for a meeting and my car was low on gas.
We're very sorry, Mr.
Whitlock.
But otherwise, I take the sedan.
You work at Windale Electronics in Brooklyn.
What exactly do you do? I'm an engineer.
I design components for everything from air purifiers to MRI machines.
Anything controversial? What's my work got to do with this? These men were at the gas station.
They are possibly Middle Eastern.
They may have been following your wife.
Now, we need to know if there's anything you're working on that might make you a target for terrorists.
I invented a new kind of igniter for land mines.
It degrades over time.
The mines become safe after a year.
Are they being used in the Middle East? The army field-tested them for six months.
I don't know where.
Does anybody outside the company know about your project? It's not my project.
I'm not in charge of it.
Well, the gas station attendant said that your wife seemed concerned about these men.
Now, did she ever mention to you about seeing anybody watching the house or following her? No.
She always kept her eyes on the boys.
That's just what I'd tell her.
Just take care of my boys.
Company said that the mines were deployed in Kuwait.
The only mention of the project is in the Kings County Express.
And once it got on the Internet, the whole world could read about it.
We got a hit off the prints on the air-hose.
Tariq Shalaan, Egyptian national.
He came in on a student visa in January of '02.
His visa expired eight months ago.
Good luck finding him.
This antenna is used for tracking illegal cable TV boxes.
One of Shalaan's sponsors, his cousin, he lists his employer as Concordia Cable.
Maybe he knows enough electronics to rig up a bomb.
Which one made the throat-cutting move? The mustache.
Step into him.
Hard.
Please, tell me what you want! We are not terrorists.
We have green cards.
This was on a workbench in a back room.
It is a clock radio.
I am fixing it.
You were seen at a gas station in Staten Island this morning.
Yes, we were lost.
Papa! Please, do not touch her! Let's have a female officer watch these ladies.
Please tell your wife to sit down.
Stay with Mama, okay? There was a woman with four children in a car.
You were seen approaching it.
Yes, to ask for directions.
Somebody saw you do this.
We know what that means.
I was arguing with my cousin.
We were lost.
I did this because I didn't want to argue anymore.
Maybe the bomb was intended for her husband.
No.
I tell you, I wanted to ask for directions.
But I hear her say, "People don't get what they deserve," and I think she was disciplining her boy, so I leave her alone.
That's a nice story, Mr.
Al-Bana, except your employer says you had no business on Staten Island this morning.
My friend and my cousin, we make music at my niece's school this morning.
We are musicians.
She has a paper from the school.
This is my client's application for a visa extension, filed three months before it expired.
And denied.
He shouldn't be here.
It wasn't denied.
His application is still being processed.
Principal at the school confirmed they were there.
We had to take this all the way.
What Doreen Whitlock told her son, "People get what they deserve.
" Now, Paul made a point of telling us that he wasn't put in charge of the land mine project.
Office politics.
It makes some people go postal.
I put Don Mariner in charge.
I made the announcement yesterday morning.
Was there any competition between Mr.
Mariner and Paul Whitlock? Oh, sure.
But there was never any doubt who'd get it.
Except maybe in Paul's mind.
Why? Paul's family obligations kept him from being as effective as he could be.
"Kept"? This wasn't the first time he'd been passed over? He pretty much hit the ceiling here.
It's too bad.
He seemed like a very ambitious guy.
Maybe he still is.
Maybe he figured once the family goes, the obligations would go with them.
Paul? You're in the hospital.
There was an explosion.
Only you and Adam survived.
Is he hurt? Is he I'm making sure he's well cared for.
There's no need for you to see him.
The older boys were being home-schooled.
Rosary beads.
The kids could be home-schooled for religious reasons.
I don't see any other signs of devotion.
Must be the older boy's.
Handwriting's poor, the spacing's uneven.
Oh, give the poor kid a break.
That chair, was that like that when you got here? Yeah.
Somebody here has a brown thumb.
The leaves are thriving, but the flowers aren't.
Getting too much nitrogen.
Get this to the lab.
We need to know what kind of fertilizer's in here.
They found perlite and potting soil, but no fertilizer.
You guys broom up in here? No.
There are streaks from bristles in the top layer of the oil.
Someone swept the whole garage.
What time did you guys punch in here yesterday? Around 1:00.
The bomb went off at 11:00.
Whitlock was called by 11:30.
No one was here until 1:00.
Whitlock could've came here and cleaned up all the evidence of the bomb.
So much for rushing to his wife's bedside.
The bomb used an electronic timer found in common household appliances.
The pipe was packed with a kilo of nitrogen-rich fertilizer.
Any match to what's in the flowerpot? The sample was too degraded.
The family cat started using it as a litter box.
Family annihilator.
Whitlock, he fits part of that profile.
He's white.
He's in his 30s.
He's invested in his family.
Sole breadwinner.
If he felt they were holding him back, he'd take it out on them.
Unless he sees his demotion as a failure to them.
Whitlock had to set the timer before he left for work.
And he had to know his family'd be on the road at 11:00.
Well, this may be how he knew.
I'm looking at two incoming calls from Whitlock's office, one to the home at 10:20 and one to Doreen's cell at 10:57, just before the bomb went off.
The first call could've been him sending her on an errand.
And the second was to make sure they were on the road.
Paul called you that morning.
Do you remember what you talked about? He reminded me to renew my car registration.
He's so good about those things.
He gave you his car with an empty gas tank.
Is that He do that often? It was an important meeting.
So when he called you, did he ask you to go to the gas station right away? No, I always do the errands before quiet time.
I sit on Adam's bed in the boys' room and read stories to Adam and Billy while Pete and Theo sleep.
So, your schedule.
You take the kids, you give the kids their lessons and you take them out on errands.
And then it's quiet time.
Paul know this is your schedule every morning? Yes, he's the one who designed it.
Ever get a babysitter sometimes, when you run errands? Oh, no.
Paul thinks it's a waste of money.
Doreen, everything all right? I specified no visitors.
We're just trying to find out who hurt your family, Mr.
Whitlock.
That's your job.
Mine's to make sure my wife and son get better.
Hey, you know, you're right.
We'll leave you alone.
I just Prayer card, who gave you that? My mother.
Paul and Doreen had a rosary like that in their home.
Is that yours? Yes.
I stayed a couple of weeks with them.
To give Doreen a hand? So I thought, but she and Paul do such a wonderful job themselves.
Is that why you left there? Doreen and Paul wanted to turn the guest room into a room for Adam, so I went back to Rochester.
Sounded to us like Adam was still sharing a room with his brothers.
Maybe Paul and Doreen didn't want you to see them fighting.
No, they Paul never loses his temper.
He provides structure and stability for Doreen.
You mean he's controlling? No.
Doreen needs guidance.
She was a lost kid.
Motherhood's changed her.
What kind of structure does Paul provide for his sons? He spends all his time with them.
In the morning, he has a special routine for Adam and Billy.
Routine? He does exercises with them.
Stretching, lifting weights.
I saw the weights in the garage.
Is that where they exercise? Yes.
Before Paul goes to work.
I wonder if Adam saw his dad stretching under the car.
The nurse didn't take your temperature.
She took it.
It was normal.
She just forgot to write it down.
You have a fever.
The nurse said it was normal.
Feel your head.
It's burning.
Feel it.
I'm right, aren't I? Paul Admit it, I'm right.
You have a fever.
Yes, you're right.
What I have to put up with around here! We did jumping jacks and push-ups.
Did your dad check his car? Maybe look underneath? No.
He said he was out of gas, so he'd have to take Mom's car anyway.
What about when he called before you left.
Did you hear what they were talking about? No.
But then Mom zoomed out the window, and then she said she'd buy us ice cream.
Zooming? That's what me and my brothers call it when Mom stares at something.
You mean when she was staring out the window at the chair that was turned over in the backyard? I don't know.
She just zooms.
She just zooms.
Was your mom sad that morning? Adam, when you were driving from the gas station, did your mom say anything to you? She got mad at me for playing with the windows, but then she said What'd she say, Adam? She said that even though most people think horseshoe crabs are crabs, they're actually arthropods and that they're even older than dinosaurs.
Wow.
She say anything else? That's a really cool dinosaur.
Did you do this today? Nice.
Hey, do you think we could keep this? Will you hang it up? Yeah, we will hang it up.
Hey, thanks.
So, it's not the husband.
It's Doreen.
And her son's trying to protect her.
He knows that he shouldn't tell us what she said.
I can't imagine her last words to her kids before she blew them up.
Didn't someone tell me the husband swept up evidence of the bomb? The case against him makes more sense.
He has the know-how.
Anybody can build a pipe bomb.
She was distracted, she was staring out of windows.
You know, she was buying her kids ice cream out of the blue.
You know, taken together, those could be warning signs.
You're talking about a mother planning a murder so heinous as to be incomprehensible.
A murder-suicide.
If her son hadn't opened the car window, she would've died along with her children.
Mothers don't just go into a homicidal spiral.
A grand jury will want to know why.
I'd like to give them an answer.
"Why" is good.
"How" is better.
Put some meat on the plate.
Did you see what the kid wrote on the dinosaur drawing? "Andy looked for his friends, but they weren't there.
" The loneliest kid in the world.
Look at the boy's writing on this.
He shows signs of dysgraphia.
You know, a learning disability, right? But on this, he wrote within the lines, his spacing is more even.
He might've been diagnosed and gotten help.
A parent might take their kid's learning disability as a personal failure.
Especially if they're home-schooled.
So Adam's got sloppy handwriting.
That's not a learning disability.
Well, we talked to the teacher who Sorry.
Who tested him, and she said that she recommended a special school.
I did my research.
Adam doesn't belong there.
This is something we can correct at home.
Have you noticed, Mr.
Whitlock, your wife's moods? Your son did.
You really think that I would leave my kids alone with a woman I thought could harm them? Hey, look There's nothing wrong with my wife.
There was nothing wrong with my family.
Excuse me.
One more thing.
The morning of the explosion, you have trouble getting from your office to the hospital? You know, maybe traffic? No, why? You were notified at 11:30, and it looks like the timestamp on the hospital forms you signed says why were you late? It's a straight shot across the Verrazano from the office.
Verrazano, there was a hang-up, a car with a flat tire.
That's it.
Timestamp? Nice bluff.
Better than his alibi.
No, he first went home.
Cleaned the garage.
Because he knew that it was probably Doreen who was responsible the minute he got the call.
He decides to cover for her.
Me, I'd want to tear her eyes out.
Yeah, or his own.
I mean, he'd be furious, he'd be terrified, he'd be grieving.
Instead, he has no affect at all.
Their youngest, he was, what, 18 months? Excuse me.
This breast pump, it's for Mrs.
Whitlock? She's still lactating? Yes.
Poor thing was still nursing her three-year-old.
You mean 18-month-old? No, she wasn't nursing the little one.
She said after her C-section, her hands shook so bad she couldn't hold him.
Shaky hands.
A C-section wouldn't do that.
But postpartum depression would.
I wanted her to continue therapy, but she said money was a problem.
She couldn't afford you? Her husband.
She said he gave her an allowance and kept records of her expenses.
He wouldn't approve of her therapy.
He didn't want outsiders butting in.
What about medications, anti-depressants? Did you prescribe any? Yes, of course.
And I would hope she'd still be taking them.
Well, there's one way to find out.
You didn't follow up with her? This was June last year.
I called her after she missed her appointment.
She said her husband found a house and they had to move right away.
Extension 3272, please.
Yes, in ICU.
Packing and moving with a newborn, after a C-section, with three other kids? Sounds like torture.
Yes, this is Detective Eames.
I've a question about Mrs.
Whitlock's medication.
Did he say why? Hold on, please.
Whitlock checked Doreen out this morning, against medical advice.
I want you people off my property.
Your wife had postpartum depression.
She never got treatment, she never took her medication, she's suicidal.
Everything, everything I do is for my family.
I can take care of Doreen here.
You have any other theories, talk to my lawyer.
I don't know about you, but that guy's starting to stick in my craw.
This place, this dead-end street.
Houses that sit empty all day.
You can hear a blade of grass fall over.
She was kept cooped up in there.
Four little boys.
No breaks, no one to help.
All according to his design.
Maybe he plans on punishing her according to his design.
We need to get a squad car.
Let him know that we're watching.
You can't make it upstairs, so you'll sleep here.
No, Paul, please! Oh, yes.
I can't.
No! Yes.
You can.
You will.
There's no arrest warrant, no evidence against her.
So, why the squad car outside her house? The detectives believe Mrs.
Whitlock is in danger.
From whom? From her husband.
He's been nothing but supportive.
I want the dogs called off, Mr.
Carver.
I decide when they go back to the kennel, Mr.
Milner.
Thank you.
What's your problem with Mr.
Whitlock? You have nothing to justify this surveillance.
No prior domestic dispute calls, no medical evidence of abuse.
Doreen killed those kids.
He knows it.
You want Mrs.
Whitlock out of that house? Bring me enough evidence for an arrest warrant.
What about the fertilizer? The plastic pipe? The timer? She might've paid cash for those.
Except Whitlock kept a tight leash on her spending.
Maybe she got her house guest to chip in.
I may have last month's card statement, if I didn't pay it.
Oh, here.
You mind? When you lived with them, did Doreen ever borrow your card or ask for money? No.
Paul and Doreen didn't want to spoil the boys.
They were such high-quality children.
"High-quality children.
" Paul say that? Yes.
This was her room.
Yes.
I bet she's had this picture since she was a little girl.
First thing she saw in the morning.
Last thing she saw at night.
She wanted to be a good mother.
Ms.
Colson, there's a credit here from Greenblatt Appliances near where Doreen lives for $49.
95.
Did you charge something and then return it? No, I'm sure I didn't.
Let me get my glasses.
Maybe Doreen borrowed her mother's credit card after all.
To buy an appliance.
Maybe one with a timer.
It was for a propane space heater.
One of the clerks took the return.
The unit didn't work.
Does this come with a timer? Yeah.
You want to see it? You still have it? The manufacturer wouldn't take it back since the consumer opened it up.
They used the wrong screwdriver, I could tell.
The screws were all frayed.
It was the heat exchanger that was broken.
If it was used in this condition, it would leak carbon monoxide, isn't that right? Hey, you got a call.
That's right.
I got to take this.
If Doreen used this in the boys' room during their quiet time, it would've leaked enough carbon monoxide to kill them in less than an hour.
But she returned it.
She changed her mind.
Maybe she was afraid that it would be discovered later that she tampered with it.
Maybe it was important to her not to have it look like a murder-suicide.
Right now it looks like a suicide attempt.
Grounds for involuntary commitment.
That'll get her out of that house.
My client isn't suicidal.
She's no danger to anybody.
Found the space heater, Doreen.
The one that you tampered with.
You left marks on the screws when you took it apart.
What space heater? What are they talking about? When did you start having those terrible thoughts? Was it when you couldn't nurse little Theo? You must regret not being able to offer him that gift.
Yes.
But you could have.
If you'd gone to therapy and taken your medication.
I didn't want to depend on pills.
Pills don't make you a good mother.
Paul tell you that? You know, keep trying, apply yourself, because That's what a good mother does.
Yes, but I couldn't do it.
There was something wrong with me.
When Adam was diagnosed with a learning disability, was that your fault, too? Something wrong with your teaching? I wanted to help him.
But I Four boys in seven years.
Always one in diapers.
Should be no problem for a good mother.
You always wanted to be a good mother, isn't that right? You used to pray to Mother Mary to bless you with children, so that you'd be a good mother when you grew up.
But it was always just out of your reach, no matter how hard you tried.
And that's when you started to have those thoughts.
That maybe they'd be better off without you, these high-quality children.
But you couldn't leave them behind.
You couldn't do that to Paul.
Is that when you thought of the space heater? You know, put it in the boys' room during their quiet time? That it would be a peaceful way to go.
You got everything together, but then you realized people would know you killed your children.
It'd make Paul look bad.
So that time, you stopped.
I thought I thought that would You thought that those thoughts would That they would go away? That's part of your disease.
Every imperfect thing, even the chair that was overturned in your backyard, is a reminder to you that you're not a good mother, that you were a disappointment.
I tried.
I tried, I tried, but I couldn't.
I just wanted them to go to heaven.
I'd be a better mother in heaven, I would.
I told Adam he'd see.
I told him it'll be worth it when we get there.
My client will submit to a psychiatric exam, then we can discuss a plea agreement.
I won't play games, Mr.
Milner.
If my detectives hadn't found that space heater Oh, please.
She made no effort to hide it.
She left it in plain sight in the garage.
The garage? No.
See, she returned it to the store.
That's where we found it.
Sorry, no.
She told me she left it in the garage.
I'll be in touch, Mr.
Carver.
Whitlock.
He returned it.
He found it in the garage.
He's an engineer, he would've figured out what she'd done.
He returned it and didn't say a word to his wife.
No, that's the point.
He had to know that she was planning on hurting someone, or at least herself.
He did nothing.
You can't be sure what he did or didn't know.
We can't? We'll ask him.
This is a two-way mirror, isn't it? This is where you interrogate people.
Does it make you uncomfortable? You know, a smart guy like you? We need some information on Doreen.
Social security number, previous residences, employment This says "Pre-Arraignment Report.
" What's going on? Your wife's being charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
She gave us this statement this morning.
Okay.
So what happens next to her? Oh, well, maybe you don't understand.
Your wife just confessed to killing your three boys.
I can read.
See? There it is.
Did you ever hear of the word "affect?" You know what it means? I guess you're gonna tell me.
It's a psychological term for a feeling or emotion.
And we've been noticing that you don't have any affect.
You're not angry at Doreen, you're not grieving over your family.
I handle things my way.
And you don't feel responsible? You know, just a little bit? For this? Doreen's taken full responsibility.
She would, she would.
But when she was diagnosed with depression, wasn't it you who didn't want her getting any therapy or taking any pills? She wasn't depressed.
She just needed to focus on the kids.
I told her that if she home-schooled them, it would improve her state of mind.
Spending more time with the kids? That's your idea of therapy? So, sending Doreen's mother away when she needed help with the kids, that was your idea? All that religious crap.
Doreen and I don't believe in it.
You don't believe in it.
I mean, Doreen, she believes.
But, you know, what you believe, that's what matters.
What you decide.
And you decided that it would be better for Doreen to stay in that little house, home-schooling four kids by herself Doreen wanted a family as much as I did.
Even when she had postpartum depression, you kept pushing her to have more kids.
You know, I'm thinking, a smart guy like you, you know, you'd see it coming.
You'd know she was about to, you know, crash and burn.
How could I have foreseen this? You think I'm some kind of mind-reader? I'm an engineer.
When you found it in the garage, you opened it up to see what was wrong.
I didn't We found your fingerprints inside, along with Doreen's.
You know, being an engineer, you would've figured out that she tampered with it to leak carbon monoxide.
You know, that it was a killing machine.
Not to kill you, which she wouldn't dare.
But to kill herself, maybe? I didn't know what she was gonna do before she did it.
So that's why you returned it, and you didn't say anything to her? But you knew she might hurt herself.
You ever think she might hurt the children? Never my children.
But you knew she was gonna kill herself.
Yes.
And so what? "So what?" So what if I knew? I didn't kill our kids.
I didn't build a bomb.
I see why you're not angry at her.
Because she's a reflection of everything that you've done to her.
I did nothing but help her.
No, you terrorized her! You got kicked around at work, you came home, and you crushed her.
I never laid a hand on her.
You didn't have to! All she wanted to be was a good mother.
But you designed a trap for her that she was bound to fail! And when she was at the edge of that precipice, you did nothing.
You let her fall.
No! I gave Doreen everything she needed! She just never made the effort! And when I saw this, I decided whatever Doreen wants to do, I didn't care.
But I never thought she'd take my boys away from me, not for a minute! It's not my fault she did! It's not my fault she's evil! Now see? Now that, that's affect.
"So what?" A jury will love that.
What jury? I didn't hear a chargeable offense in there.
Well, you heard him admit that he knew that she was a threat to herself.
You heard him say that he didn't care.
But he didn't aid or cause her suicide attempt.
He made her He made her feel guilty about her son's learning disability.
That does not constitute a crime.
No, but it makes me wish he was driving that car.
He could have prevented this crime, but he won't take responsibility for that! Mr.
Carver! Isn't there something in this book that can make him take responsibility for that? There wasn't when I checked this morning.
I'm sorry, Detective.
Please send Mr.
Whitlock home.
Home.
So he can start designing his son's new life.
I got them ice cream sandwiches.
That's what they like the best.
Then I started the car and got back on the road.
Adam was playing with the windows.
I started to scold him, but then I stopped.
I told him we were taking the hard way to heaven, but it would be worth it when we got there.
Then all of a sudden, I couldn't hear.
And I'm so sorry.
Oh, I'm so sorry, my babies.
I would never hurt my babies.
Mr.
Carver, are the People satisfied? Yes, Your Honor, we are.
Then in accordance with the plea agreement, I sentence the defendant to a term no less than 25 years, to be served at a facility to be determined by the Department of Correction.
We're adjourned.
I noticed Doreen's vision of heaven doesn't include her husband.
He doesn't have the stomach for the sentencing.
He might have a date in Family Court.
He filed for divorce yesterday.
Must be in a hurry to rebuild his family.
Well, it won't include Adam.
Who's that? Friend of his.
Children's rights attorney.
Specializes in custody cases.
Hmm.
Thank you.
These are their stories.
And I'm pleased to announce that the contract for Julius Seven is ours.
Manufacturing this new component will improve the security of our country.
In charge of this project will be Don, With the support and assistance of Paul.
You must feel so disappointed.
Anyway, did you notice that the registration on your car expired last week? I was lucky I didn't get a ticket.
If you come home by 5:00, I'll go to the DMV.
Here, Mom, I did my exercise.
I can't leave early today, I got to Doreen, I got to go.
Mom, I can't find my blue jacket.
Okay.
Honey, you ready to go? It's not gonna fit, Mom.
Too bad you can't sit up front like me.
This is just an exception, Adam.
Why do I have to sit in my car seat? It's no fair.
I wish the world was fair, Billy.
I really do.
You know, you're leaking oil.
You want us to check that for you? No, thanks.
I see you have the boys in the car.
Give it to your brother.
Mom, I should be sitting in the front seat.
People don't always get what they deserve.
Mom! Can you tell him to give me my Adam, put your seatbelt on right.
It's too windy back here.
Mom, you pushed the wrong button Adam! Please.
Got a real mess here.
Three kids dead, the fourth, a little boy, was taken to University Hospital with the mom.
Is there a dad? Paul Whitlock.
Car is registered to him.
He's on his way to the hospital.
The boy and his mother were pulled out of the car? No.
They were found here, unconscious.
They went through the windshield.
It's a miracle the blast didn't kill them all.
Anybody see it happen? No.
This is a quiet road.
Glass is inside the panels.
Windows were open.
That would've reduced the force of the blast in the front.
It's probably why they survived.
These little ones never stood a chance.
Three child seats.
That's a tight fit.
This can't be their usual car.
Pipe bomb under the gas tank.
We'll test a soot sample.
My guess is they packed it with fertilizer.
Well, someone would have had to go underneath the car to plant it.
Do you know where their last stop was? Gas station.
About a half mile away.
Mrs.
Whitlock comes in once a week with her boys.
I talked to her.
She was leaking oil.
I asked her if she wanted us to take a look at it.
Did she usually drive that sedan? No, a minivan.
She pay at the pump? Inside, and she bought ice cream for her boys.
She left the car unattended.
Did anybody go near it? Yeah.
After she paid, this guy came towards it.
Where did he come from? Right over there, the air pump.
It was him and two other guys in a truck.
And they were arguing, but I couldn't understand.
Arguing? In another language? Arabic.
I mean, I recognized it because I hear Mr.
Aziz and his wife talking.
Did Mrs.
Whitlock talk to any of those men? No.
But the guy with the mustache, he looked at her, and he went like this.
And then he started walking towards her, and Mrs.
Whitlock saw him coming.
She got in her car and she took off.
I took Doreen's van because I had to leave early for a meeting and my car was low on gas.
We're very sorry, Mr.
Whitlock.
But otherwise, I take the sedan.
You work at Windale Electronics in Brooklyn.
What exactly do you do? I'm an engineer.
I design components for everything from air purifiers to MRI machines.
Anything controversial? What's my work got to do with this? These men were at the gas station.
They are possibly Middle Eastern.
They may have been following your wife.
Now, we need to know if there's anything you're working on that might make you a target for terrorists.
I invented a new kind of igniter for land mines.
It degrades over time.
The mines become safe after a year.
Are they being used in the Middle East? The army field-tested them for six months.
I don't know where.
Does anybody outside the company know about your project? It's not my project.
I'm not in charge of it.
Well, the gas station attendant said that your wife seemed concerned about these men.
Now, did she ever mention to you about seeing anybody watching the house or following her? No.
She always kept her eyes on the boys.
That's just what I'd tell her.
Just take care of my boys.
Company said that the mines were deployed in Kuwait.
The only mention of the project is in the Kings County Express.
And once it got on the Internet, the whole world could read about it.
We got a hit off the prints on the air-hose.
Tariq Shalaan, Egyptian national.
He came in on a student visa in January of '02.
His visa expired eight months ago.
Good luck finding him.
This antenna is used for tracking illegal cable TV boxes.
One of Shalaan's sponsors, his cousin, he lists his employer as Concordia Cable.
Maybe he knows enough electronics to rig up a bomb.
Which one made the throat-cutting move? The mustache.
Step into him.
Hard.
Please, tell me what you want! We are not terrorists.
We have green cards.
This was on a workbench in a back room.
It is a clock radio.
I am fixing it.
You were seen at a gas station in Staten Island this morning.
Yes, we were lost.
Papa! Please, do not touch her! Let's have a female officer watch these ladies.
Please tell your wife to sit down.
Stay with Mama, okay? There was a woman with four children in a car.
You were seen approaching it.
Yes, to ask for directions.
Somebody saw you do this.
We know what that means.
I was arguing with my cousin.
We were lost.
I did this because I didn't want to argue anymore.
Maybe the bomb was intended for her husband.
No.
I tell you, I wanted to ask for directions.
But I hear her say, "People don't get what they deserve," and I think she was disciplining her boy, so I leave her alone.
That's a nice story, Mr.
Al-Bana, except your employer says you had no business on Staten Island this morning.
My friend and my cousin, we make music at my niece's school this morning.
We are musicians.
She has a paper from the school.
This is my client's application for a visa extension, filed three months before it expired.
And denied.
He shouldn't be here.
It wasn't denied.
His application is still being processed.
Principal at the school confirmed they were there.
We had to take this all the way.
What Doreen Whitlock told her son, "People get what they deserve.
" Now, Paul made a point of telling us that he wasn't put in charge of the land mine project.
Office politics.
It makes some people go postal.
I put Don Mariner in charge.
I made the announcement yesterday morning.
Was there any competition between Mr.
Mariner and Paul Whitlock? Oh, sure.
But there was never any doubt who'd get it.
Except maybe in Paul's mind.
Why? Paul's family obligations kept him from being as effective as he could be.
"Kept"? This wasn't the first time he'd been passed over? He pretty much hit the ceiling here.
It's too bad.
He seemed like a very ambitious guy.
Maybe he still is.
Maybe he figured once the family goes, the obligations would go with them.
Paul? You're in the hospital.
There was an explosion.
Only you and Adam survived.
Is he hurt? Is he I'm making sure he's well cared for.
There's no need for you to see him.
The older boys were being home-schooled.
Rosary beads.
The kids could be home-schooled for religious reasons.
I don't see any other signs of devotion.
Must be the older boy's.
Handwriting's poor, the spacing's uneven.
Oh, give the poor kid a break.
That chair, was that like that when you got here? Yeah.
Somebody here has a brown thumb.
The leaves are thriving, but the flowers aren't.
Getting too much nitrogen.
Get this to the lab.
We need to know what kind of fertilizer's in here.
They found perlite and potting soil, but no fertilizer.
You guys broom up in here? No.
There are streaks from bristles in the top layer of the oil.
Someone swept the whole garage.
What time did you guys punch in here yesterday? Around 1:00.
The bomb went off at 11:00.
Whitlock was called by 11:30.
No one was here until 1:00.
Whitlock could've came here and cleaned up all the evidence of the bomb.
So much for rushing to his wife's bedside.
The bomb used an electronic timer found in common household appliances.
The pipe was packed with a kilo of nitrogen-rich fertilizer.
Any match to what's in the flowerpot? The sample was too degraded.
The family cat started using it as a litter box.
Family annihilator.
Whitlock, he fits part of that profile.
He's white.
He's in his 30s.
He's invested in his family.
Sole breadwinner.
If he felt they were holding him back, he'd take it out on them.
Unless he sees his demotion as a failure to them.
Whitlock had to set the timer before he left for work.
And he had to know his family'd be on the road at 11:00.
Well, this may be how he knew.
I'm looking at two incoming calls from Whitlock's office, one to the home at 10:20 and one to Doreen's cell at 10:57, just before the bomb went off.
The first call could've been him sending her on an errand.
And the second was to make sure they were on the road.
Paul called you that morning.
Do you remember what you talked about? He reminded me to renew my car registration.
He's so good about those things.
He gave you his car with an empty gas tank.
Is that He do that often? It was an important meeting.
So when he called you, did he ask you to go to the gas station right away? No, I always do the errands before quiet time.
I sit on Adam's bed in the boys' room and read stories to Adam and Billy while Pete and Theo sleep.
So, your schedule.
You take the kids, you give the kids their lessons and you take them out on errands.
And then it's quiet time.
Paul know this is your schedule every morning? Yes, he's the one who designed it.
Ever get a babysitter sometimes, when you run errands? Oh, no.
Paul thinks it's a waste of money.
Doreen, everything all right? I specified no visitors.
We're just trying to find out who hurt your family, Mr.
Whitlock.
That's your job.
Mine's to make sure my wife and son get better.
Hey, you know, you're right.
We'll leave you alone.
I just Prayer card, who gave you that? My mother.
Paul and Doreen had a rosary like that in their home.
Is that yours? Yes.
I stayed a couple of weeks with them.
To give Doreen a hand? So I thought, but she and Paul do such a wonderful job themselves.
Is that why you left there? Doreen and Paul wanted to turn the guest room into a room for Adam, so I went back to Rochester.
Sounded to us like Adam was still sharing a room with his brothers.
Maybe Paul and Doreen didn't want you to see them fighting.
No, they Paul never loses his temper.
He provides structure and stability for Doreen.
You mean he's controlling? No.
Doreen needs guidance.
She was a lost kid.
Motherhood's changed her.
What kind of structure does Paul provide for his sons? He spends all his time with them.
In the morning, he has a special routine for Adam and Billy.
Routine? He does exercises with them.
Stretching, lifting weights.
I saw the weights in the garage.
Is that where they exercise? Yes.
Before Paul goes to work.
I wonder if Adam saw his dad stretching under the car.
The nurse didn't take your temperature.
She took it.
It was normal.
She just forgot to write it down.
You have a fever.
The nurse said it was normal.
Feel your head.
It's burning.
Feel it.
I'm right, aren't I? Paul Admit it, I'm right.
You have a fever.
Yes, you're right.
What I have to put up with around here! We did jumping jacks and push-ups.
Did your dad check his car? Maybe look underneath? No.
He said he was out of gas, so he'd have to take Mom's car anyway.
What about when he called before you left.
Did you hear what they were talking about? No.
But then Mom zoomed out the window, and then she said she'd buy us ice cream.
Zooming? That's what me and my brothers call it when Mom stares at something.
You mean when she was staring out the window at the chair that was turned over in the backyard? I don't know.
She just zooms.
She just zooms.
Was your mom sad that morning? Adam, when you were driving from the gas station, did your mom say anything to you? She got mad at me for playing with the windows, but then she said What'd she say, Adam? She said that even though most people think horseshoe crabs are crabs, they're actually arthropods and that they're even older than dinosaurs.
Wow.
She say anything else? That's a really cool dinosaur.
Did you do this today? Nice.
Hey, do you think we could keep this? Will you hang it up? Yeah, we will hang it up.
Hey, thanks.
So, it's not the husband.
It's Doreen.
And her son's trying to protect her.
He knows that he shouldn't tell us what she said.
I can't imagine her last words to her kids before she blew them up.
Didn't someone tell me the husband swept up evidence of the bomb? The case against him makes more sense.
He has the know-how.
Anybody can build a pipe bomb.
She was distracted, she was staring out of windows.
You know, she was buying her kids ice cream out of the blue.
You know, taken together, those could be warning signs.
You're talking about a mother planning a murder so heinous as to be incomprehensible.
A murder-suicide.
If her son hadn't opened the car window, she would've died along with her children.
Mothers don't just go into a homicidal spiral.
A grand jury will want to know why.
I'd like to give them an answer.
"Why" is good.
"How" is better.
Put some meat on the plate.
Did you see what the kid wrote on the dinosaur drawing? "Andy looked for his friends, but they weren't there.
" The loneliest kid in the world.
Look at the boy's writing on this.
He shows signs of dysgraphia.
You know, a learning disability, right? But on this, he wrote within the lines, his spacing is more even.
He might've been diagnosed and gotten help.
A parent might take their kid's learning disability as a personal failure.
Especially if they're home-schooled.
So Adam's got sloppy handwriting.
That's not a learning disability.
Well, we talked to the teacher who Sorry.
Who tested him, and she said that she recommended a special school.
I did my research.
Adam doesn't belong there.
This is something we can correct at home.
Have you noticed, Mr.
Whitlock, your wife's moods? Your son did.
You really think that I would leave my kids alone with a woman I thought could harm them? Hey, look There's nothing wrong with my wife.
There was nothing wrong with my family.
Excuse me.
One more thing.
The morning of the explosion, you have trouble getting from your office to the hospital? You know, maybe traffic? No, why? You were notified at 11:30, and it looks like the timestamp on the hospital forms you signed says why were you late? It's a straight shot across the Verrazano from the office.
Verrazano, there was a hang-up, a car with a flat tire.
That's it.
Timestamp? Nice bluff.
Better than his alibi.
No, he first went home.
Cleaned the garage.
Because he knew that it was probably Doreen who was responsible the minute he got the call.
He decides to cover for her.
Me, I'd want to tear her eyes out.
Yeah, or his own.
I mean, he'd be furious, he'd be terrified, he'd be grieving.
Instead, he has no affect at all.
Their youngest, he was, what, 18 months? Excuse me.
This breast pump, it's for Mrs.
Whitlock? She's still lactating? Yes.
Poor thing was still nursing her three-year-old.
You mean 18-month-old? No, she wasn't nursing the little one.
She said after her C-section, her hands shook so bad she couldn't hold him.
Shaky hands.
A C-section wouldn't do that.
But postpartum depression would.
I wanted her to continue therapy, but she said money was a problem.
She couldn't afford you? Her husband.
She said he gave her an allowance and kept records of her expenses.
He wouldn't approve of her therapy.
He didn't want outsiders butting in.
What about medications, anti-depressants? Did you prescribe any? Yes, of course.
And I would hope she'd still be taking them.
Well, there's one way to find out.
You didn't follow up with her? This was June last year.
I called her after she missed her appointment.
She said her husband found a house and they had to move right away.
Extension 3272, please.
Yes, in ICU.
Packing and moving with a newborn, after a C-section, with three other kids? Sounds like torture.
Yes, this is Detective Eames.
I've a question about Mrs.
Whitlock's medication.
Did he say why? Hold on, please.
Whitlock checked Doreen out this morning, against medical advice.
I want you people off my property.
Your wife had postpartum depression.
She never got treatment, she never took her medication, she's suicidal.
Everything, everything I do is for my family.
I can take care of Doreen here.
You have any other theories, talk to my lawyer.
I don't know about you, but that guy's starting to stick in my craw.
This place, this dead-end street.
Houses that sit empty all day.
You can hear a blade of grass fall over.
She was kept cooped up in there.
Four little boys.
No breaks, no one to help.
All according to his design.
Maybe he plans on punishing her according to his design.
We need to get a squad car.
Let him know that we're watching.
You can't make it upstairs, so you'll sleep here.
No, Paul, please! Oh, yes.
I can't.
No! Yes.
You can.
You will.
There's no arrest warrant, no evidence against her.
So, why the squad car outside her house? The detectives believe Mrs.
Whitlock is in danger.
From whom? From her husband.
He's been nothing but supportive.
I want the dogs called off, Mr.
Carver.
I decide when they go back to the kennel, Mr.
Milner.
Thank you.
What's your problem with Mr.
Whitlock? You have nothing to justify this surveillance.
No prior domestic dispute calls, no medical evidence of abuse.
Doreen killed those kids.
He knows it.
You want Mrs.
Whitlock out of that house? Bring me enough evidence for an arrest warrant.
What about the fertilizer? The plastic pipe? The timer? She might've paid cash for those.
Except Whitlock kept a tight leash on her spending.
Maybe she got her house guest to chip in.
I may have last month's card statement, if I didn't pay it.
Oh, here.
You mind? When you lived with them, did Doreen ever borrow your card or ask for money? No.
Paul and Doreen didn't want to spoil the boys.
They were such high-quality children.
"High-quality children.
" Paul say that? Yes.
This was her room.
Yes.
I bet she's had this picture since she was a little girl.
First thing she saw in the morning.
Last thing she saw at night.
She wanted to be a good mother.
Ms.
Colson, there's a credit here from Greenblatt Appliances near where Doreen lives for $49.
95.
Did you charge something and then return it? No, I'm sure I didn't.
Let me get my glasses.
Maybe Doreen borrowed her mother's credit card after all.
To buy an appliance.
Maybe one with a timer.
It was for a propane space heater.
One of the clerks took the return.
The unit didn't work.
Does this come with a timer? Yeah.
You want to see it? You still have it? The manufacturer wouldn't take it back since the consumer opened it up.
They used the wrong screwdriver, I could tell.
The screws were all frayed.
It was the heat exchanger that was broken.
If it was used in this condition, it would leak carbon monoxide, isn't that right? Hey, you got a call.
That's right.
I got to take this.
If Doreen used this in the boys' room during their quiet time, it would've leaked enough carbon monoxide to kill them in less than an hour.
But she returned it.
She changed her mind.
Maybe she was afraid that it would be discovered later that she tampered with it.
Maybe it was important to her not to have it look like a murder-suicide.
Right now it looks like a suicide attempt.
Grounds for involuntary commitment.
That'll get her out of that house.
My client isn't suicidal.
She's no danger to anybody.
Found the space heater, Doreen.
The one that you tampered with.
You left marks on the screws when you took it apart.
What space heater? What are they talking about? When did you start having those terrible thoughts? Was it when you couldn't nurse little Theo? You must regret not being able to offer him that gift.
Yes.
But you could have.
If you'd gone to therapy and taken your medication.
I didn't want to depend on pills.
Pills don't make you a good mother.
Paul tell you that? You know, keep trying, apply yourself, because That's what a good mother does.
Yes, but I couldn't do it.
There was something wrong with me.
When Adam was diagnosed with a learning disability, was that your fault, too? Something wrong with your teaching? I wanted to help him.
But I Four boys in seven years.
Always one in diapers.
Should be no problem for a good mother.
You always wanted to be a good mother, isn't that right? You used to pray to Mother Mary to bless you with children, so that you'd be a good mother when you grew up.
But it was always just out of your reach, no matter how hard you tried.
And that's when you started to have those thoughts.
That maybe they'd be better off without you, these high-quality children.
But you couldn't leave them behind.
You couldn't do that to Paul.
Is that when you thought of the space heater? You know, put it in the boys' room during their quiet time? That it would be a peaceful way to go.
You got everything together, but then you realized people would know you killed your children.
It'd make Paul look bad.
So that time, you stopped.
I thought I thought that would You thought that those thoughts would That they would go away? That's part of your disease.
Every imperfect thing, even the chair that was overturned in your backyard, is a reminder to you that you're not a good mother, that you were a disappointment.
I tried.
I tried, I tried, but I couldn't.
I just wanted them to go to heaven.
I'd be a better mother in heaven, I would.
I told Adam he'd see.
I told him it'll be worth it when we get there.
My client will submit to a psychiatric exam, then we can discuss a plea agreement.
I won't play games, Mr.
Milner.
If my detectives hadn't found that space heater Oh, please.
She made no effort to hide it.
She left it in plain sight in the garage.
The garage? No.
See, she returned it to the store.
That's where we found it.
Sorry, no.
She told me she left it in the garage.
I'll be in touch, Mr.
Carver.
Whitlock.
He returned it.
He found it in the garage.
He's an engineer, he would've figured out what she'd done.
He returned it and didn't say a word to his wife.
No, that's the point.
He had to know that she was planning on hurting someone, or at least herself.
He did nothing.
You can't be sure what he did or didn't know.
We can't? We'll ask him.
This is a two-way mirror, isn't it? This is where you interrogate people.
Does it make you uncomfortable? You know, a smart guy like you? We need some information on Doreen.
Social security number, previous residences, employment This says "Pre-Arraignment Report.
" What's going on? Your wife's being charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
She gave us this statement this morning.
Okay.
So what happens next to her? Oh, well, maybe you don't understand.
Your wife just confessed to killing your three boys.
I can read.
See? There it is.
Did you ever hear of the word "affect?" You know what it means? I guess you're gonna tell me.
It's a psychological term for a feeling or emotion.
And we've been noticing that you don't have any affect.
You're not angry at Doreen, you're not grieving over your family.
I handle things my way.
And you don't feel responsible? You know, just a little bit? For this? Doreen's taken full responsibility.
She would, she would.
But when she was diagnosed with depression, wasn't it you who didn't want her getting any therapy or taking any pills? She wasn't depressed.
She just needed to focus on the kids.
I told her that if she home-schooled them, it would improve her state of mind.
Spending more time with the kids? That's your idea of therapy? So, sending Doreen's mother away when she needed help with the kids, that was your idea? All that religious crap.
Doreen and I don't believe in it.
You don't believe in it.
I mean, Doreen, she believes.
But, you know, what you believe, that's what matters.
What you decide.
And you decided that it would be better for Doreen to stay in that little house, home-schooling four kids by herself Doreen wanted a family as much as I did.
Even when she had postpartum depression, you kept pushing her to have more kids.
You know, I'm thinking, a smart guy like you, you know, you'd see it coming.
You'd know she was about to, you know, crash and burn.
How could I have foreseen this? You think I'm some kind of mind-reader? I'm an engineer.
When you found it in the garage, you opened it up to see what was wrong.
I didn't We found your fingerprints inside, along with Doreen's.
You know, being an engineer, you would've figured out that she tampered with it to leak carbon monoxide.
You know, that it was a killing machine.
Not to kill you, which she wouldn't dare.
But to kill herself, maybe? I didn't know what she was gonna do before she did it.
So that's why you returned it, and you didn't say anything to her? But you knew she might hurt herself.
You ever think she might hurt the children? Never my children.
But you knew she was gonna kill herself.
Yes.
And so what? "So what?" So what if I knew? I didn't kill our kids.
I didn't build a bomb.
I see why you're not angry at her.
Because she's a reflection of everything that you've done to her.
I did nothing but help her.
No, you terrorized her! You got kicked around at work, you came home, and you crushed her.
I never laid a hand on her.
You didn't have to! All she wanted to be was a good mother.
But you designed a trap for her that she was bound to fail! And when she was at the edge of that precipice, you did nothing.
You let her fall.
No! I gave Doreen everything she needed! She just never made the effort! And when I saw this, I decided whatever Doreen wants to do, I didn't care.
But I never thought she'd take my boys away from me, not for a minute! It's not my fault she did! It's not my fault she's evil! Now see? Now that, that's affect.
"So what?" A jury will love that.
What jury? I didn't hear a chargeable offense in there.
Well, you heard him admit that he knew that she was a threat to herself.
You heard him say that he didn't care.
But he didn't aid or cause her suicide attempt.
He made her He made her feel guilty about her son's learning disability.
That does not constitute a crime.
No, but it makes me wish he was driving that car.
He could have prevented this crime, but he won't take responsibility for that! Mr.
Carver! Isn't there something in this book that can make him take responsibility for that? There wasn't when I checked this morning.
I'm sorry, Detective.
Please send Mr.
Whitlock home.
Home.
So he can start designing his son's new life.
I got them ice cream sandwiches.
That's what they like the best.
Then I started the car and got back on the road.
Adam was playing with the windows.
I started to scold him, but then I stopped.
I told him we were taking the hard way to heaven, but it would be worth it when we got there.
Then all of a sudden, I couldn't hear.
And I'm so sorry.
Oh, I'm so sorry, my babies.
I would never hurt my babies.
Mr.
Carver, are the People satisfied? Yes, Your Honor, we are.
Then in accordance with the plea agreement, I sentence the defendant to a term no less than 25 years, to be served at a facility to be determined by the Department of Correction.
We're adjourned.
I noticed Doreen's vision of heaven doesn't include her husband.
He doesn't have the stomach for the sentencing.
He might have a date in Family Court.
He filed for divorce yesterday.
Must be in a hurry to rebuild his family.
Well, it won't include Adam.
Who's that? Friend of his.
Children's rights attorney.
Specializes in custody cases.
Hmm.
Thank you.