Major Crimes s03e11 Episode Script

Los Angeles finally gets the rain it needs, so naturally, we end up down the drain.
Doesn't bother me.
I'm down here all the time.
You are? After four wives and five divorces down the drain is where I come to visit my money.
- And more than a few of my dreams.
- Your dreams? Well, that explains the darkness.
Lieutenant, over here.
Thank God, the victim.
Fire department paramedics saw that head wound and didn't wanna touch the body.
Maybe she got caught up in one of the flash floods, sir and hit her head getting washed away.
Maybe.
Ah.
Missing a shoe.
We looked around for the shoe, but we haven't found it.
I didn't see any wounds directly associated with a weapon like a knife or a gun or a bat.
Petechia in her eyes, but no ligature around the neck.
You get caught in a flood, sometimes you drown.
Also no ID, but her wallet or purse could be somewhere up the tunnel.
Or washed out to sea and halfway to Hawaii by now.
Now, we need to figure out where she entered the system to begin with.
I can help with that.
This is a map of all the subterranean waterways a.
k.
a.
Drainage pipes and tunnels in Los Angeles.
Looks like a subway map.
You're right.
Certain trains can only take you to certain destinations.
These pipelines work the same way.
Well, we know where she got off the train.
Where did she get on? To land here, she had to have boarded somewhere in downtown Los Angeles.
Culver City or the Palisades.
Uh, that's a lot of places, Tao.
I just eliminated 80 percent of the entry points.
So we only have to concentrate on 20 percent of the second-largest city in the U.
S.
Easy.
Uh, all right, Kendall, you can remove the body after Buzz has finished.
Sykes, get Sanitation to collect all the garbage But, Julio, I want you to personally handle all the debris next to her body.
And let's get patrol down here and around the locations that Mike has spotted on his map.
We need to find that missing shoe, folks.
Hey, before we go to DEFCON 1 there's a good chance this was an accident.
Yes, but it took place on city property which means it's our responsibility until Morales explains what happened.
I can't tell you very much yet.
She's between 20 and 27.
And she's certainly banged up.
Not surprising considering she was tossed around the drain like a rag doll.
I saw somebody else in here who was caught in the L.
A.
River.
Ugh.
Ugly.
So most of the marks on her body are postmortem.
What about the lesion on her forehead? Eh, did some damage, and it could've knocked her unconscious.
But the skull feels intact.
I don't think it was the cause of death, and it doesn't explain the petechia.
Oh.
But this.
Ah, here we go.
She has a broken hyoid bone.
She was struck hard by something under the chin that caused enough swelling to close off her windpipe, and if they get here, x-rays should confirm that.
So you can list her cause of death as homicide? Uh, not yet.
In fact, medically, her physical trauma is consistent with a fall.
If you wanna arrest for murder, it would help if you got him to say he punched her throat.
Captain Raydor here.
Oh.
Oh, good morning.
It's nice to hear from you.
Yes.
Later this week? Well, I will make myself available, yes.
But I will have to just check with my schedule and get back to you.
Me too.
Thank you.
- Sounds exciting.
- It is.
Um, since my divorce became final last week now Judge Richwood is ready to settle the adoption.
I just have to find out when Rusty can make it because he's working such long hours on Mike's show.
Oh, my God.
It's not Mike's show.
Tao is just a consultant.
And have you ever watched Badge of Justice? Yeah, it's horrible.
But good for the kid, he's working.
So I'm assuming there was no baby with this woman when you found her.
Why do you ask that? She gave birth maybe five to eight days ago.
And she had an episiotomy.
So maybe that'll help you identify her.
There are 122 hospitals in L.
A.
County alone.
Considering there are more than 350 babies born in Los Angeles each day That's a lot of mothers to check.
Yeah, and considering our victim's race, height, blood type and the fact that she had an episio - Episiotomy.
- Episiotomy.
- It's a surgical incision to enlarge the opening - I know what it is, thank you very much.
I just can't say it.
So we'll ask about women who had an unpronounceable procedure during childbirth.
I bet you could say it if it was vasectomy.
- Tao.
Tao.
- Uh, nothing on our victim's prints yet.
Also, no infants reported missing or abducted in the past 10 days.
For all we know, the father has it.
For all we know, the father put the mother down the drain.
Yeah, and maybe the kid with her.
This was found 40 feet from the body.
Oh, my God, a baby blanket.
And these stains are blood.
- That's not good.
Could be our victims'.
- Or it could belong to a 5-day-old infant.
Okay, if we are looking at a double homicide involving a newborn we need to find out about it as soon as possible.
I want K-9 units to cover the entire pipeline.
I want every entrance to the L.
A.
Drainage system searched by patrol.
If you need recruits to help, call the Academy.
- System will be searched.
Go ahead and deploy.
We need to comb the beach and the ocean near the drain opening where we found the body.
We need to find that baby.
Sykes.
Please tell me you have something.
I cleaned up the picture Flynn took of our victim and someone from Culver General Hospital recognized her.
Her name is Heather Lawson, age 26.
She gave birth to a boy six days ago.
No father was entered on the birth certificate.
Did you get her address? She was a good tenant.
Heather lived here for, I don't know, close to eight months.
She just took off in the middle of the night without notice.
And she was always standoffish, so Tried to help her some when she was pregnant.
Wouldn't have it.
Do you know if there are family, friends, a boyfriend we might be able to speak to? She kept to herself.
But you might talk to the guy who paid her rent.
- Every month? - No, the entire year's balance up front.
Yeah, I got his information here.
Um Yeah.
Ronald Glover.
And if you people are gonna talk to him, tell him he's not getting his deposit back either.
Mr.
Ronald Glover? Lieutenant Tao, Detective Sanchez, L.
A.
P.
D.
We'd like to have a word with you.
- About? - Heather Lawson, sir.
Heather.
What about her? Like to know why you paid her rent, for a year in advance.
That was part of the deal.
- What deal was that? - Ron, who is it? - Uh, I'll take care of it, honey.
- Ron.
What's going on? Are you the police? Have you found Heather? Do you know where she is? You know Heather Lawson, ma'am? What are you talking about? Of course I know her.
She's having our baby.
- Morning.
- Morning.
You headed to work? Well, if getting a lot of people coffee and telling other people to be quiet when the camera is running is an actual job, then, yes, I am going to work.
Part of the Hollywood glamour machine.
Do you think that Badge of Justice could spare you for a few hours? Judge Richwood said he could finalize the adoption this week.
Oh.
Um - This week? - Yeah.
Okay.
You'll have to finish all of your paperwork by then.
Right, right, right.
- So, what's the matter? - Nothing.
Um No, that's great, that's great.
I just I haven't told my other mom what was happening yet.
Oh.
I see.
I thought you were gonna tell her a couple of months ago.
No? Yeah, I was, but your divorce was still pending.
I thought, "What if things didn't go through?" Or something else happened and I get her all upset over nothing and she ends up high or drunk.
- It wouldn't have been your fault.
- I know but it wouldn't feel that way.
Okay, that's my first coffee order of the day.
Um, let me go and I will ask my boss if I could have some time off later in the week to, uh, change mothers.
Ronald and Sarah Glover hired our victim, Heather Lawson, to be a surrogate.
- Let me guess.
Nine months ago.
- Ten, sir.
And according to the Glovers, they paid Heather $65,000 up front and provided her with an L.
A.
Apartment for her whole pregnancy.
- What a racket.
- Surrogacies are big business, Andy.
Some people would do anything to have a child.
Maybe when Heather had the baby, she also had a change of heart.
Maybe that's why the certificate has Heather as the mother but doesn't have Ronald as the father.
Makes sense.
Heather went into labor got herself to the hospital without alerting anyone, had the baby boy.
And was dead a week later.
So, what is the most likely scenario here? The Glovers found out Heather had given birth and murdered her to get the baby.
Their house was fully loaded.
Crib, nursery, closet filled with diapers.
Everything they needed.
Except the baby, which we can't find anywhere.
Well, Tao is supervising the search.
- So we'll find the kid one way or the other.
- Sanchez.
Ma'am, the Glovers are on their way up.
Where would you like them? We met Heather two years ago.
First time we tried to have a baby.
- Met how? - Through Parents and Partners.
It's a surrogacy agency.
They do background checks, screenings, everything.
Heather came highly recommended.
Plus, with her age and her health profile, we thought that she'd be a good fit.
As a surrogate and a donor.
So, Mrs.
Glover, the baby Heather carried wasn't yours? I can't have children.
So, um, with Heather's eggs and Ron's sperm it was the closest we could get to having something of our own.
But, uh, after that first meeting with her Heather decided to be a surrogate for another couple's baby.
That put us back to square one, till last January.
She called out of the blue asking if we were still interested in having a child.
You know, she was willing if we were ready.
Heather called you herself, not through the agency? She kept our phone number from that first meeting and, uh, she suggested that we not go through the agency to save money.
More cash for her, less outlay for us.
Babies on sale.
What could possibly go wrong? Our attorney made sure everything was aboveboard.
And once Heather became pregnant, we saw her several times a month, you know.
We talked all the time.
Everything was going great.
Until she disappeared.
You know, our due date was last week, and our baby was healthy.
Look, that's an e-mail that Heather sent us only 10 days ago.
From the e-mail address, heather.
lawson88@mailchain.
net.
Buzz.
Buzz.
I'm writing it down.
Heather.
Lawson88.
I'll call Mail Chain and ask them for a password.
That was the last that we heard from her.
She stopped checking in with us.
She stopped returning our phone calls.
- And when we drove over to the apartment - Why didn't you file a missing persons report? We thought that we should give Heather a little space to come around before we brought the police in.
It's a delicate issue because Because you thought that dumping the agency was a good idea.
And now, we've lost our son, Ron.
We've lost him.
Was it worth all the money that we saved? Was it? Sounds like they've had this argument a couple of times before.
- I'm sorry.
- Yeah, and like they're gonna have it again too.
There are some Some things that my wife, uh, didn't notice.
Oh, boy, here we go.
Such as? About a month ago, Heather changed in her attitude toward us.
So you were worried she was going to back out of giving you the baby? Yes.
I started paying her extra money every week.
How much? About $10,000, all in.
Look, you need to understand how important this child is to Sarah.
I mean, for me too, but the baby was everything.
Have you? - Do you know where he is? Our baby? - No, I'm sorry.
But, um, you've been very helpful to us.
And as soon as we know something, we'll be in contact.
Oh, um May we stay? Don't make us go home without our son.
Please.
Not without our son.
Except the baby might not belong to the Glovers after all.
They weren't the only couple Heather was writing to.
- What are you talking about, Buzz? - She was sending two other couples updates.
The Hunts and the Maguires.
Plus, she sent them all copies of the same video.
Hey, it's me and baby boy.
We are officially at 38 weeks.
Just got back from the doctor.
She said everything is perfect.
His heart rate is a hundred and fifty beats per minute.
Oh.
And they took this.
This is your son as of an hour ago.
In just two more weeks, he'll be with you both.
Two more weeks.
I'm so happy for you.
- This video was sent to three different couples? - Yeah.
She wasn't a surrogate, she was a scam artist.
And our suspect list just tripled.
Here's more contact e-mails from the Hunts to Ms.
Lawson with flight times and hotel reservations.
Flying in from Houston hub, staying at Regency St.
Clair.
They're checking out today.
We'll have patrol there in three minutes.
We'll be there in 10.
Here's a couple of phone numbers for the Maguires.
- Julio.
- I'll see if they come back to an address.
We'll find them, captain.
Mr.
Maguire? L.
A.
P.
D.
May we speak to you and your wife for a minute, please, sir? I don't have a wife.
I have a husband, and he's at his office.
- What's this about? - Heather Lawson.
Could you call your husband for us? We'd like to have a word with you both.
- Got some lungs on him, doesn't he? - He does.
What's going on? What are you all doing with our bags? - Anthony and Gina Hunt? - Why were y'all in our room? Lieutenants Flynn and Provenza.
That's a nice blanket, ma'am.
Did it come in a two-pack? I don't know what's going on, but we got a plane to catch.
You're gonna miss your plane.
Would you mind telling us where you got the baby? - Anthony.
- Does the name Heather Lawson ring any bells? - No.
No, no, this is my baby, not hers.
- I don't know who you think you are.
- There's no way I'm gonna let you take our son.
- We're not.
We're going to take all three of you.
It's okay.
No, no, it's okay, honey.
Come on.
Hey, come on.
What a surprise.
What a surprise.
I haven't seen you in weeks.
I'm sorry.
Uh, this new job is sometimes, like, 14 hours a day.
No, no, no, your life has to go on.
So how's it going? Uh Getting used to it, you know? The bell goes off and you go to the kitchen, then the bell goes off and I attend Bible study.
The good thing about it, once you get over the unfairness of being here in the first place is that, uh, it all becomes routine.
And I find that the structure helps me.
It really does.
Maybe I should've been in the Army.
Do you think? - Something wrong? - No, no, no, no.
Um Well, it depends on how you look at things.
Um Listen, Mom, I only have a few minutes because I gotta get back to work.
Uh, but I promised Sharon that I would talk to you before we made anything official.
Made what official? Look, Mom I need some structure in my life too, okay? And by structure I mean some legal next of kin.
Um By structure, I mean family.
People who are going to be there for me no matter what because that's what real families do for each other, okay? - Okay.
- So Sharon is going to adopt me.
I'm gonna keep my name.
I'm gonna keep my No.
Rusty, no.
You cannot just erase me.
- I'm not erasing you, Mom.
- Rusty, you haven't thought it through.
I'm explaining myself, Mom.
I am telling you the truth.
Which is more than you ever did for me.
My whole life, you've lied to me over and over again, and I am still here.
I'm still calling you Mom.
I'm visiting you.
But legally, legally, things are going to change, and that is it.
Whose idea was it? Was this your idea? Or Captain Raydor's? Since you're so interested in explaining yourself and telling me the truth.
It was Sharon's idea.
But I agree with it, a hundred percent.
I made my decision.
So don't make me feel bad about it because it won't work.
And this is how you sound when you're happy? Really? I am just trying to make the best out of a bad situation.
Okay, I'll do that too, but I want you to think of something while you're sitting there and you're judging me.
All mothers make mistakes.
I know.
But your mistakes were against the law.
I'll see you when I can.
You take care.
And thank you for not trying to manipulate me, Mom.
I appreciate that.
Whatever happens whatever you sign I will always be your mother.
But who the hell is the father? I mean, this baby can't belong to all three of these couples.
That is exactly what we want to talk to you about, chief.
Yes? How long? That's not gonna stop him from crying.
What are you talking about? Kids love jangling keys.
- Yeah, but not when he's hungry.
- I have had very good luck with the key thing.
Oh, please.
Okay, it's room temperature.
Here you go.
Ain't that much better than those jingling keys? Andy, I had no idea you were so good with babies.
- Yeah, well, I'm full of surprises.
- Well, you're full of something.
DCFS is coming to collect the baby and place it in emergency foster care until we can determine where it belongs, which is not my office.
It shouldn't come down to foster care, chief.
As you pointed out, Heather was scamming multiple couples.
We're looking at at least three potential fathers in this building.
Four, actually.
Mr.
And Mr.
Maguire had their semen samples combined.
- So either one could be our baby's father.
- Oh, my God.
Who are we gonna get to play Solomon, Judge Judy or Dr.
Phil? This is a media nightmare.
Surrogate mother murdered, a baby with four dads.
But this boy can only have one biological father.
We're getting a blood sample from the hospital.
And getting swabs from the suspects shouldn't be an issue.
Which is how you can help us, chief.
Ah.
You want me to expedite the DNA test? The results take 48 hours.
I cannot change the timeframe, sorry.
But you can bump us to the top of the list.
I do not want this child in emergency care one minute longer than it needs to be.
Okay.
I'll see what I can do.
God almighty, you couldn't put that damn phone on vibrate? That ringer is so loud, you're gonna scare the little guy.
Finally, Tao.
- Did you find something? - Heather Lawson's missing shoe.
From where it was located, between a cement pylon and an iron ladder we may have found where she entered the drain system.
The northeast corner of Holmes and Bigelow, downtown Los Angeles.
A few blocks from the Regency St.
Clair, where you picked up Anthony and Gina Hunt.
Yes, and the baby they were about to leave town with.
And the shoe isn't the only thing we found.
We also located a 2003 Honda Accord registered to Heather Lawson in the hotel parking lot.
Hard to drive home after you're dead.
So, what do we know about Anthony and Gina Hunt? Other than we caught them with the missing baby and a blanket that matches the one we found near Heather's body? They're from Texas, ma'am.
Neither have a criminal record, but they do have money.
Mr.
Hunt is in the oil business.
Four days ago, he went to a Los Angeles branch of his bank and withdrew $20,000 in cash.
And they don't have that money anymore.
Okay, the Glovers gave Heather cash too, so where did all that money go? It wasn't on Heather's body, it wasn't in her apartment.
She sold her surrogacy services several times over.
So why can't we find the money that she got for selling her child? Where is our baby boy? Mrs.
Hunt, the baby is receiving excellent care.
I promise you.
Did Heather call you? Tell you we took the baby from her? We had a contract.
We honored it.
She want more money? I already paid her.
- Twenty thousand dollars in cash, yes? - Yes.
On top of the 65,000 we paid her for the surrogacy.
Well, do you wanna tell us what the extra 20 grand was for exactly? Was Heather extorting you, Mr.
Hunt? Did she threaten to walk off with the baby? Legally, she could have.
Did you know that? She could've changed her mind, and we would've had to share custody.
So when she asked for the $20,000, I agreed to pay her because when Heather showed up with our son, she was acting crazy.
- We just wanted her gone.
- What do you mean, acting crazy? Well, she kept looking out the window, checking her messages.
And then her doctor called our hotel room looking for her.
I don't know.
She just was acting panicked.
Doctor called the hotel room.
That's odd, isn't it? Why would that have happened? Either the doctor's involved or someone else was tracking her.
Who knows what other scams Heather was up to? Let's get on to the hard part.
That was the last time you saw Heather? Yes.
Now, look, we cooperated with you.
How about you tell us what the hell is going on here? Well, okay.
Yesterday morning, we found Heather Lawson dead in a storm drain.
Her body was placed in the storm drain just two blocks from your hotel where we also found her parked car.
Now, with her body, there was a bloodstained baby blanket which is an exact match to the blanket the baby was wrapped in when we found you.
The baby was in that when she gave him to us.
That's not our blanket.
Just look, unless you guys have hard evidence that my wife and I did something wrong I want you to return our son to us and I want you to let us go.
Mr.
Hunt, we would love to return the baby to you.
But you see, we're not sure that he is your son.
You were not the only couple that Heather sold her surrogacy services to.
- Oh, my God.
- What? To determine paternity, we need a DNA sample.
What is going on? Would you mind swabbing the inside of your cheek? We paid half of all our savings to Heather, plus all her bills for most of her pregnancy.
We received weekly updates.
Phone calls, e-mails.
And now you're telling us that it may not be our baby? - Who did she end up selling the baby to? - Why do you think she was selling? She started demanding more money from us, that's why.
We didn't know we were in an auction situation.
And we were having a hard time coming up with the cash.
- How much money? - A lot.
And this was after we gave her a car to use.
Thank you.
Hopefully, this will help.
An apartment from one couple, car from another.
- What else did she get? - Murdered, for one thing.
So the car she was driving came from you? And she didn't drive it.
Two weeks after lending her the car, we get this traffic camera ticket from Palm Springs with a picture of some guy we'd never even seen before running a red light.
When we asked Heather about it, she said it was her ex-boyfriend, Tom.
And then she asked us for more money again.
- We heard the word "boyfriend.
" We need information.
- Abracadabra.
- Okay.
Heather extorts three couples for thousands in extra cash.
Maybe this so-called ex can help us find it.
Buzz, is there anything from someone named Tom in the e-mail account Heather used? Uh, no, captain.
Everything in this account is to or from the three couples - and about their adoption stuff.
- It's illegal to tape anyone.
I thought we'd have a better chance of taking custody from her if we submitted DNA proof that one of us was the father.
Plus, we were pretty sure that she'd already had the baby.
How did you know that? Four days ago, we got this really weird phone call from Heather's doctor at the house asking us how the baby was feeling.
When I told him we didn't have the baby yet, he just hung up on us.
He hung up.
He said "he.
" In the videos that Heather sent to all three couples she referred to her doctor as a she.
Also, that's two out of three couples who got a call from a doctor the day Heather died.
Let's get a warrant for those phone records and the ones from the hotel.
Find out where that call came from.
Heather wasn't working alone, and she wasn't getting a call from her doctor.
It was from a phone belonging to this guy, Thomas Barnes.
You mean, the victim's ex, Tom.
Who looks just like this guy in a photo, running a red light, driving the Maguires' car.
According to his phone records, Tom not only called two of our couples he also called Heather Okay, guess what.
He's got a criminal record.
He was arrested eight years ago for grand theft.
He got probation and was released.
Imagine my surprise.
Captain.
If this creep knew enough to call two of our couples one of them in their own hotel room Yes, he must be deeply involved in this scam.
We've got three couples, we've got three full payments to carry a baby to term.
Numerous bribes, that's close to a quarter of a million dollars.
- Which is about what it takes to raise a child.
- But where is that money? We need to put a want out on Thomas Barnes.
And, oh, my God.
We need his DNA too.
It's all very dry and formal and legalistic, I know.
But what all those forms actually say underneath the fine print is that I'm really lucky to have you in my life.
Lucky? The last couple of days, I've been thinking about what it takes to add a child to a family in this day and age, and I got an extra one without even having to ask.
And sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve it.
What you did to deserve it? Sharon, I have been mostly nothing but trouble since I first got here.
You can't actually believe that.
All right, I'm not gonna try and explain it.
Just trust me.
It is a miracle to have you, and I am thankful for it every day.
What? Look.
Here it is.
Sharon, one day, I promise you one day, I will give you a reason to be proud of me.
- I promise.
- Oh, my God, Rusty.
I am already so proud of you.
Yes, Mike? Thomas Barnes has been apprehended and is on his way here right now.
We pinged his cell phone and he was at a casino in Fresno.
- There are casinos in Fresno? - Eleven.
Mr.
Barnes was about that many margaritas in when the state troopers picked him up playing blackjack.
He had about $12,000 on his person.
According to other pit bosses, he was down about 8 grand.
He started out with $20,000.
In his pocket.
And his checking account, $208,000.
Well, he also rented a trailer and hauled all of Heather's furniture up to Fresno.
Including a crib and a baby swing.
I find all of this mildly interesting.
But none of it amounts to evidence that Tom Barnes murdered Heather Lawson.
He was in Fresno with money we know Heather had when she left the Hunts' hotel room.
Plus, he called two of our three couples to find out which one had the kid.
He knew their names and numbers.
He also knew enough to impersonate Heather's doctor.
Here's what the attorney will say: Heather gave Mr.
Barnes the money, headed back to the hotel for her car.
Got caught in rain, slipped, hit her head.
And ended up being swept into the drainage system where her body was battered to death.
Dr.
Morales won't be able to disagree.
And you have a lot other suspects who are part of a financial scam.
No one is disagreeing with you, Andrea.
Our evidence is purely circumstantial.
But Thomas Barnes doesn't know that.
It doesn't matter what we say to him, only what he says to us.
Hello, Tom.
Do you know why we sent the state troopers to find you? - I'm assuming it's about Heather.
- No wonder this guy was down 8 grand.
I haven't seen her in a week, I tried calling, but couldn't reach her.
That's interesting.
According to your phone records five days ago, you reached her 14 times.
And we assume that that's about the pregnancy scam.
What pregnancy scam? Oh, the one where you and Heather sold her as a surrogate mother to three different couples at the same time.
The one where you ended up with over $200,000 in your checking account.
That pregnancy scam.
And we have proof that you called at least two of the couples impersonating Heather's doctor.
Okay.
Look.
I'll give the money back.
What's the big deal? Oh.
Oh, well, this is the big deal.
Mr.
Barnes, we found Heather's body in a storm drain a couple of days ago.
She'd been badly beaten by someone.
And all of our evidence suggests that someone was you.
What is she talking about? We don't have evidence.
And she wasn't badly beaten.
Most of those bruises were postmortem.
She's dead? No, I don't believe it.
The Hunts gave Heather $20,000, and we know that you stole that money.
They kept a record of the serial numbers on each and every one of those hundred-dollar bills.
And then we found some of that money on you.
May I see a copy of that list, please? Uh, that's just something I threw together myself.
Which brings us to Heather being beaten to death.
- But not by me.
No, no, I did not do that.
- While she was dying, you wrapped a blanket around her head to muffle her screams - No.
while you pushed her down the drain.
- Your fingerprints are all over the baby blanket.
And your DNA? Well, it's already been tested.
It all comes back to you.
The blanket could contain his DNA.
And that would mean what? As evidence of murder? The Shroud of Turin has more credibility than the blanket.
And fingerprints? The blanket won't have fingerprints.
We're about to arrest you for murder in the first degree with robbery as a special circumstance.
Special circumstance.
That means that there's an IV in the arm somewhere down the road.
So if you have another explanation for why your fingerprints were all over this baby blanket, then this would be a good time to tell us.
Yeah, if it was just a robbery, then we'll get you an attorney and be on our way.
No, no, no, wait, it was not a robbery, okay? I didn't rob her.
Look, the money, it was supposed to be ours.
Okay? And the baby, we were gonna take him with us You were gonna take the baby? Why? Was there another couple you were gonna hand it off to in Fresno? No.
Look, Heather and I wanted the baby.
Okay? He was He Are you saying the baby was yours? Yes.
Yes, okay, that's what I'm saying.
I am his father.
Me.
- She wanted to give his baby to someone else.
- Sounds like motive to me.
- For all the other couples you have too.
- All Heather and I were trying to do was start our own family.
Everything was going like I planned.
Heather went to the hospital.
She had the baby without telling anyone while I was packing up the apartment.
And then that night, the last night before we were supposed to leave, I just I held him.
My son.
I was adopted.
It was the very first time I'd ever looked into eyes that were related to mine by blood.
I had no idea that it was gonna feel like that.
And he just slept.
You know, he just slept in my arms.
He was the most perfect thing that had ever happened to me in my whole life.
And the next morning, Heather said that she had one more doctor's appointment.
She took him with her, and I waited, and I waited, and she Never came back.
So then you started calling the couples that you had scammed and found her at the hotel.
She made me wait in the car two blocks away, okay? It was raining really hard and she showed up soaking wet.
I asked her where the baby was and she said She said that she didn't want any baby of hers to ever have someone like me as a father because I was unreliable.
And she tossed a bag of money in the back of the car like she was paying me off.
So I started for the hotel, and she grabbed me and she just started punching me, like, over and over again.
I was just trying to defend myself.
She slipped on the pavement and her head hit the car door.
But look, I tried to stop the bleeding with that blanket.
I did not beat her.
Honest.
Her head, it didn't look that bad.
I don't know what happened.
You don't know what happened? Oh.
What happened was you punched Heather in the throat which caused her windpipe to swell up which caused her to suffocate to death while you stood there and watched.
Okay, look, listen, okay? None of that was on purpose.
But dragging her body to the entry of the drain was on purpose.
Stuffing her down it was on purpose.
Leaving her there.
That was on purpose.
And ending up with all of the money I bet that was on purpose too.
So it wasn't an accident.
But without intent, I can't go beyond top-shelf manslaughter.
Sounds a little flimsy.
I will do something separate on the extortion charges.
- The time will add up.
- Yeah, yeah, fine.
But do us a favor, though.
Start at murder two for this dirtbag and get him to surrender his parental rights to the boy as you work your way down.
The baby deserves a family.
But which family? That is the question.
Tom Barnes signed away his paternal rights and Heather Lawson's parents are dead so as of right now, her baby is an orphan.
Chief, there are three couples in this building right now who desperately want that child.
We just can't hand them off to one of them now.
No, but under the circumstances, DCFS told us that they will agree to fast-track one of these couples through fostering and into adoption.
Giving the baby a shot at a permanent home is better than dumping him in the system, I agree.
But what if all three of these couples want him? The L.
A.
P.
D.
Can't be dragged into a lawsuit over this.
It won't, chief, trust me.
The perfect couple for this child is waiting in our conference room.
So have you come to a decision? Um, well, none of us want to see this child end up in foster care.
Good.
We realize, to solve this problem, some of us have to start over.
Dan and I decided early on that we wanted our child to be related to at least one of us by blood.
It may sound selfish, but without that, there are There are places that we travel where, in an emergency, we could be locked out of our child's hospital room.
Well, my wife and I, we love this little boy.
We cared for him.
And we, um We're very very fortunate to have had that time.
But God has blessed us with the resources to start over.
And we want our son to have a happy birth story.
Well, luckily, there's another couple here who, um, well It's the right thing to do, and we all agreed.
Mr.
And Mrs.
Glover.
I honestly never knew people could be so kind.
And we wanna do all we can to bring this boy up in a way that shows we deserve the trust that you put in us today.
And we will.
We will make you proud of the way this boy grows up.
Thank you.
Russell Thomas Beck.
You are here today by your own free will with the understanding that Sharon O'Dwyer Raydor will, at the end of these proceedings, legally be your parent through adoption.
Is that correct? - Yes, sir.
- Sharon O'Dwyer Raydor.
You are here with the understanding that at the end of these proceedings you will legally be the parent of Russell Thomas Beck through adoption.
- Is that correct? - Yes, sir.
Yes, Your Honor.
Thank you.
This document that I'm placing before you once it's signed, will make this adoption legal and binding.
Now, I know that both of you have had a chance to look it over.
Do either of you have any questions? No, Your Honor.
No, Your Honor.
No questions.
Good.
Then all this court and the state of California need are both of your signatures.
Sharon, Rusty the adoption process is now complete.
As of this moment, you are official and legally a family.
Congratulations and thanks for asking me to do the honors.
- Congratulations.
- Thanks.
Thanks, Buzz.
Thank you.
Thank you.