The Closer s07e07 Episode Script
A Family Affair
Detective Ortega? Yes.
Yes.
You must be Commander Taylor.
That would be me.
This way.
I want to thank you so much for taking the time to look into this.
Oh, it's a pleasure.
We're always happy to help out our friends in the Phoenix Police Department.
named Sedona Gibson, originally from Phoenix, found dead in a hotel room last week.
Hollywood Division was unable to I.
D.
her body till yesterday, which is why Detective Ortega here only just arrived.
I have concerns about the coroner's ruling.
Hollywood told me I'd be better served by coming downtown.
Did they? All right.
Uh, preliminary autopsy report.
Sedona Gibson.
States cause of death was either accidental or deliberate heroin overdose -- - Overdose.
Yes.
But neither of those things can be true.
Just, uh, out of curiosity, why is the Phoenix P.
D.
interested in this case? Well, they're not.
The victim, Sedona -- she was my daughter.
I'mso sorry, Detective Ortega.
I'm sure that this must be a very difficult time for you and your family.
I understand that you work narcotics for the Phoenix P.
D.
? Yes.
And I appreciate very much the professional courtesy of looking into this matter.
Of course.
Of course.
You have reason to believe that the coroner's investigation was inaccurate? My daughter was a Type-1 Diabetic.
She knew the risks involved with her disease, and she also knew that drug use would severely magnify those risks.
Detective having a good reason not to do something doesn't mean that people won't try it, especially when they're young.
And her tox screen came back positive for heroin and Ambien.
She wasn't a heroin addict.
Please.
There's another explanation.
Has anyone even talked to her asshole husband? Is his name Drew? Yes, Drew.
Drew Gibson.
Hollywood tried tracking him down, Chief.
Said Drew was unreachable at his last-known address.
Do you have some reason to believe that her husband was involved in her death? She didn't do this to herself.
That, I know.
And Drew was not a good man.
How long has it been since you've seen your daughter? Almost two years.
Well, Sedona was 17, a junior in high school, when she met Drew, and -- and he was 23 -- older -- and a very bad influence.
So my husband and I told Sedona that she had to stop seeing him Or leave home.
So she she dropped out of school and came to Los Angeles.
With Drew? Yes, and she married him here.
And, uh, have you spoken with her since? She called a few weeks ago.
But before we had a chance to say much, my husband took the phone away from me and hung up on her.
Do you know why she was calling? No, I I tried to find her, but her number was blocked, and I couldn't legally run her name.
Detective, I-I'm sure that Working in narcotics makes losing a child to drugs that much harder, but It's not unusual for someone in your daughter's profession to make questionable choices like this.
What profession? Um What profession? Hollywood Division claims that your daughter was working as an escort when she died.
I'm sorry.
Detective? Will you excuse us just for a moment, please? Did you bring that poor woman down here so that I'd have to be the one to tell her that her daughter was a prostitute? No.
Of course not.
I thought Hollywood Division told her.
Hollywood Division? They ran a pretty bare-bones investigation, didn't they? Well, a hooker dead from an overdose in a hotel room doesn't usually justify a lot of shoe leather.
Hollywood did their due diligence.
They brushed her off -- just like they did her mother.
They didn't search her residence.
They didn't call anyone -- not her last John or this husband of hers.
They only just I.
D.
'd the body.
Detective Ortega is a fellow law-enforcement officer, so let's humor her a little.
What is Captain Raydor doing here? Well, she finished reviewing the depositions you and your squad gave in the civil suit, and now she has some follow-up questions for Detective Sanchez.
Why?! We've already talked about this Turell Baylor business till we're blue in the face! Actually, that's not true.
Your entire squad has started referring Raydor to their union reps.
Maybe you could convince Sanchez to cooperate a little? Exactly how many people am I supposed to be humoring around here, huh? Detective Ortega.
Captain Raydor.
Do you know how hard it is to do your job while humoring so many difficult people? I might have some idea.
Yeah.
Chief, a, uh, officer from Hollywood Division just dropped this off.
It's the sum total of the evidence they collected from the hotel room where Detective Ortega's daughter was found.
Not much to it, except the, uh, syringe that killed her.
Uh, her heels, coat, andsmall purse.
It's called a clutch.
Small purse -- it's called a clutch.
Yeah.
Okay.
The clutch.
It had $24 in it, a receipt from the taxi the night she died.
No drugs, no phone.
Chief.
Um, Detective Ortega, we are getting a warrant to search your daughter's apartment, and in the meantime, Detective Sanchez is going to the morgue to see if he can expedite the release of your daughter's -- I want to go with him.
Um, I-I don't think that's a very good idea.
Please.
I've waited so long to see my daughter.
Please.
You sure you want to do this, Detective? I could prepare the body in a room.
I could -- It's not my first time in a morgue.
I know what to expect.
Let me.
Please.
There's only one injection site, just one.
She's got needle marks on her stomach and legs, too.
Those are probably from her Insulin injections.
Doctor, if I recall correctly Your autopsy reported nothing that would indicate chronic drug use.
Um, let me see.
DNA's not in yet.
They must have I.
D.
'd her some other way.
But I do have results on a hair-follicle drug test, and she was clean.
So she wasn't a user? Or this was her first time.
Detective Sanchez.
Okay.
Send it over.
We got the warrant to search your daughter's apartment.
Flight back from Vegas.
$100 chips.
A note in a foreign language.
No sign of drug use.
Do you want to look through the purse, ma'am? Yeah.
She has an I.
D.
for Santa Monica Community College.
She's got her G.
E.
D.
up here, too.
Your daughter was very beautiful.
She was, wasn't she? Buzz.
I need you.
Tag this.
Tag this.
Lieutenant Tao, the syringe that we found at the crime scene -- do you have it on your desk? It should have a lot number.
What is it? Six Jackson, Charlie, Bravo, One, "Dash," Nancy Delta, Charlie, Zero-Six-Zero-Three.
All right, thank you.
Is it the same? No, ma'am.
The syringe that we found at the hotel does not seem to have come from the victim's apartment.
I knew it wasn't hers.
I knew it.
So what do we know about the needle that killed her? Other than the fact that it wasn't hers.
Well, there are traces of high-grade heroin found inside.
It's called "China White" on the street.
Yeah, that stuff's rare on the West Coast.
Sedona Gibson had no record and no history of drug abuse.
Her apartment was clean -- no evidence of alcohol, drugs, or related paraphernalia.
And except for Insulin, not even prescriptions.
No Ambien? Showed up on her tox screen.
Chief, working through Sedona's sharps container, I've tested all come back clean for opiates.
Okay, so she wasn't a heroin addict, but she did die of an overdose.
So we have to consider the possibility that someone talked her into trying heroin.
What do we know about her "Date" that night? Well, I looked into the billing on the hotel room, and it turns out it was paid for by a company called Dynamic Goods, which is basically a front for an escort service called Four Aces Models.
"Dynamic Goods" sounds ambiguous enough not to look suspicious on a married man's credit card.
Wait, Lieutenant.
Chief, I'm sorry.
The morgue was one thing, but Detective Ortega -- she shouldn't be here for this.
I can handle it.
Say what you have to say.
Okay.
Four Aces Models -- they cater to a rich clientele.
The rates start at $1,200, and they skyrocket from there.
Now, the fee is all inclusive and covers the hotel room.
The company's based here in Los Angeles and owned by a woman named Linda Prall.
Lieutenant Provenza just picked her up.
She called her attorney the moment he walked through the door, so her lawyer will be joining her.
Is my daughter on that website? I, uh think they must have taken her picture down.
Sedona was in Vegas? Yes, ma'am -- last weekend.
We found that plane ticket along with some $100 casino chips.
Also, there's this note inside.
And I think it's written in Russian, if I'm not mistaken.
Can you translate, Chief? Uh Basically it just says, "You were fantastic.
Thank you.
Demitri Andropov.
" So, uh, she was there on a job.
I'm assuming that's the case, yes.
Would you find out if Agent Howard is in the building? I'd like him to join me in my interview with Linda Prall.
Thank you.
Pardon me, gentlemen.
Mrs.
Prall, I assume you're aware that one of your employees, an escort named Sedona Gibson, was recently found dead in a hotel room paid for by your escort service.
Excuse me.
Mrs.
Prall runs a modeling agency.
Any suggestion to the contrary, and we're gonna walk.
Let's not get off on the wrong foot.
I just have a few questions.
Why is the FBI here? 'Cause if Mrs.
Prall doesn't answer Chief Johnson, I intend to take her into custody.
What charge? How about interstate prostitution? Sedona Gibson.
Worked for you in Los Angeles, but you also booked her to entertain a client in Las Vegas, just a few days before she died.
Four Aces Models has a strict no-sex policy.
Any activity between two consenting adults is a private matter.
Would Demitri Andropov be one of your consenting adults? The FBI will subpoena Mrs.
Prall's business records.
We will find the answers to Chief Johnson's questions, or we can just chat about it in here.
Sedona was a good girl.
It's a shame what happened to her.
How long had she been working for you? Maybe a year? But it was a part-time thing for her.
She was going back to school, getting her life on track.
What can you tell me about Sedona's last date on the night she died? I don't think that's any of your business.
Hey, how big do you want this investigation to be? He was a first-timer.
Didn't really understand how things work.
His name? I don't, um -- I don't remember Offhand.
But you will find out for us.
If we can agree that that information will not be used to prosecute my client.
Wouldn't dream of it.
Any idea why Sedona came to work for you in the first place? Her husband, Drew.
They were struggling, broke.
He was an addict, that sort of thing.
What about Sedona? Did she use? No.
Well, not that I know of.
She was just desperate to be loved, you know? To be needed.
She would have done anything for Drew.
She even made a couple of films a few months back because he wanted her to.
- Pornography? - Adult films.
He talked her into doing them because they raise a models hourly quote.
Made her more valuable.
The thing is, after she did them, the bastard kicked her out.
Do you believe that? Messed her up pretty good.
She told me she was trying to get ahold of her family.
But bad blood there, I guess.
It's not like any of these girls come from happy homes.
So, she was all alone in the world Except for me, andI can only do so much.
Yeah, you're a regular Mother Teresa.
Hey It is an ugly world out there, and I am not the one who mistreated her.
That was her husband, after he kicked her out, coming around again asking for more money.
Where is he now -- Drew? She told me he was crashing with some low-life -- "Blazer," I think.
But I-I don't know.
Jesse Blazer.
A drug dealer in Phoenix.
I arrested him twice.
Hey, why would Drew kill her? The girl was paying him to leave her alone.
Chief, I got an address on Sedona's cell for a Jesse Blazer.
Let's go talk to him.
Uh, Detective Ortega, before you ask, it would not be appropriate for you to join us.
Uh, Agent Howard, would you please follow up with Mrs.
Prall on the identity of Sedona's last John? I don't want her to get busy and forget.
I'll get his name and pay him a visit.
Afternoon.
I'm Deputy Chief Johnson.
L.
A.
P.
D.
Stop, stop! We have a runner! Put your hands in the air! Do it! You -- get your hand off the gun -- now! Chief! Come on! We're done in here! Guys! Lonnie Harris.
Are you Drew Gibson? Are you Drew Gibson?! Did you know Sedona Gibson? Did you know Sedona Gibson?! Knew she was a whore.
Damn it! Thank you.
Everybody okay? Yeah.
I'm good.
Lieutenant? You? Uh, well, I feel terrible about the fish, but, uh, I'll cry later.
Right now, we've got to We've got to find their needles before patrol drags us out of here.
Needles or something that ties them to Sedona's death.
Chief, this is what killed her.
White heroin.
And they got a lot of it.
Burners like these guys -- they usually don't have the dough for top-grade stuff like this.
- Sergeant.
- Detective David Gabriel.
Major Crimes.
The house is secure.
There are no outstanding suspects, and there are officers involved.
Got it.
Uh, Chief Johnson? I have to ask you and your detectives to step outside, please.
Of course, yeah.
W-we'll be right out.
We're leaving right now.
Chief.
Huh? Chief, we got to go.
We got to go.
Chief Johnson.
Detective Gabriel tells me you had a very close call.
Not serious.
Still you must be a little rattled.
Why aren't you downtown? Your interview with the F.
I.
D.
takes place right away.
I never discharged my weapon.
Good.
At least you won't be the subject of another lawsuit.
Day's not over yet.
I need to get back in that house.
F.
I.
D.
has it for 48 hours.
Then it's all yours.
Detective Ortega is waiting in my office to find out if we found her daughter's murderer.
Something in the house helped you confirm that? There might be some needles with the lot number that matches what we found in our victim's arm.
How badly do you want the needles? If I were to find them or something else that would help you make your case, perhaps you could convince Detective Sanchez to allow me to interview him -- You're blackmailing me? You have the idea -- yes.
Find the needles.
We'll talk.
Excuse me.
Sorry.
Thank you.
Hi.
Hey.
- How are you? - Fine.
Careful.
I smell like a fish tank.
You smell great.
And alive.
I hope I brought the right dress.
I'm sure it's fine.
Thank you.
What's going on? I don't have time to sort through this now.
I don't -- what'd you find out about Sedona's last John? You sure you want to do this? I do.
I do.
Let's keep going.
Okay.
Sedona's last John is a guy named Spencer Pittman.
He's married, he's got a kid.
He said he booked Sedona for that night but then got cold feet and never showed up.
Pulled a late night at work instead.
Did you confirm his story? Yeah, yeah, with three of his coworkers.
Okay.
Let me put this dress on before something else happens.
There you are.
I-I have something for you.
Evening, Agent Howard.
Captain.
Don't be here all night.
Okay.
You found their needles? With their Ambien -- yes.
Oh, Sedona's tox screen came back positive for -- For Ambien.
And judging by the envelope I found them in, I am pretty sure that these are not part of an actual prescription.
So I've kept up my end of the bargain, and now I'd like to speak to Detective Sanchez.
We're still on his F.
I.
D.
interview.
All right, well, I'll wait for him in your conference room.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
It should take about an hour to process this envelope for prints.
But these needles that Captain Raydor found -- they have the same lot supply number as the one that killed Sedona Gibson.
It was Drew.
I was right.
He murdered my daughter.
Look, we know Drew Gibson was involved in some way, but there's still no definitive proof of homicide.
I mean, Sedona could have invited her husband to that hotel room.
How else would he have known that she was there alone? Detective, the Commander's right.
We don't have enough evidence yet to close this case.
Excuse me.
Hollywood ran a DNA test on Sedona Gibson before they I.
D.
'd her.
And the results came back, and we've got a definite hit on her father.
Arrested on a embezzlement charge in '92.
But he didn't live in Phoenix.
In fact, till recently, he was a resident right here in L.
A.
Until recently? Yeah.
Sedona's father died six months ago.
A guy named Randolph Pittman.
Detective Ortega? Who's Randolph Pittman? Randolph Pittman? I don't know.
Why? According to Sedona's DNA test, he was her father.
Oh, I see.
Sedona was adopted.
When she was three months old.
It's something I never think about outside a doctor's office.
Is it I-is it relevant somehow? It wasn't information that I was trying to withhold -- Okay.
Mrs.
Prall told me that Sedona was looking for her family.
I assumed she was talking about you, but she knew where you were -- she called you recently.
Randolph Pittman.
The name of Sedona's last John.
His last was Pittman, too, wasn't it? Yeah.
Spencer.
Pittman.
So, Sedona was looking for her biologic family.
Looks like she found them.
Okay, uh, Lieutenant, find out what you can about Spencer Pittman, and bring him in as soon as possible, please.
So, later you were in the car with Chief Johnson and Detective Gabriel when the three of you took Turell Baylor to his house.
Was there any conversation on the way to the suspect's home? - Yes.
The Chief offered Baylor an opportunity to revoke his immunity deal and confess to the Shootin' Newton murders.
What'd Turell say? About revoking his immunity agreement -- he said no.
Do you think the Chief would have let him out of the car if he'd said yes? When you arrived at Mr.
Baylor's house, did you have any reason to believe that he was in danger? It's a bad neighborhood.
Anything can happen.
Yes.
But was there any sign of a specific threat towards Mr.
Baylor, for example, gang members hanging around? If they were gang members, they would have been 110 Crips, like Baylor.
And nobody had a problem dropping off Mr.
Baylor with potential Crips there? I did not have a problem with it.
Do you remember if Detective Gabriel voiced any concern? - No.
- No, he didn't voice a concern, or, no, you don't remember? Do you want to know what I remember, Captain? Yes.
I remember Turell Baylor murdered a 74-year-old man and shot his 8-year-old grandson in the head.
I'm foggy on the rest.
Sorry.
Oh, hey, Chief.
Spencer Pittman is in 1.
I read him his rights, and I told him that we were looking into Four Aces Models.
But his alibi is rock solid on the night of the murder.
He never set foot in that hotel room.
Now, I did go through his finances, and I found a cash withdrawal for $50,000 from one of his personal accounts 10 days ago.
And according to F.
I.
D.
, the net weight of the uncut heroin collected at your shootout today would have cost the dealers approximately -- wait for it -- $50,000.
Do we know if he has a motive? Well, Spencer's father was a pretty successful investment broker.
When he died, he was worth over $100 million.
Here's a copy of his father's last will and testament, which states that his assets are to be divided evenly among his kids, which, before Sedona showed up, consisted of Spencer Pittman and his older brother, Bennett.
I knew Sedona's birth father lived in L.
A.
county, and I told her that.
But I don't know how she followed through on something like this.
Medical issues have made it much easier to open adoption records.
Let's say your daughter found out who her birth family was and knew that she was in line to inherit tens of millions Approximately $33 million.
Well, there's Spencer's motive.
He didn't want to pay up.
Oh.
And get this.
Pittman's got a prescription for Ambien.
All right, all right.
So wait a minute.
How you gonna turn $50,000 and an envelope of Ambien into a murder charge? Your suspect wasn't anywhere near the scene, and his alleged accomplice is dead.
Well, I'll ask Mr.
Pittman some questions and see what he has to say.
H-how did it go with Captain Raydor? Chief Do you really think that we had anything to do with Turell Baylor getting killed? We didn't.
He showed up here looking for protection because his own gang was shooting at him.
So it didn't matter where we let him go -- Baylor was a dead man.
Well, I don't know about that.
Julio, I don't -- I don't know.
There are gaps in the record -- Gaps? Chief Let me fill in a gap for you.
Turell Baylor committed a double homicide because he didn't want to pay for a beer.
So let's say that we let him go and somehow he doesn't get offed by his friends.
And a day, week, month later, we're kneeling over someone else that Turell Baylor's shot to death and explaining to family members why we let a confessed murderer out on the street.
And we'd probably get sued for that, too.
Gaps? Chief, no gaps.
Uh, Chief, I just got this back from latent prints.
- Drew Gibson's paws are all over it.
- Thanks.
Anyone else? No.
Uh, Lieutenant You sure you don't want to go home? And do what? Get drunk? Not tonight.
Right.
O-okay.
My wife cannot find out about this.
This conversation is 100% confidential, sir.
It's so embarrassing.
Hiring a prostitute.
I've never done anything like this before.
You won't be putting my name in the papers, will you? Oh, believe me, we don't write the news around here.
Just a few follow-up questions on what you've already told the FBI.
We know you didn't show up for that prostitute.
Did you? What was her name? Sedona? Was that what she called herself? I guess, yeah.
These names Look, that night, I don't know, I justI couldn't go through with it.
Well, it would have been a little bit weird.
Right? Sedona being your half-sister and all.
Okay, wait.
I can explain.
This is not what it looks like.
What does it look like? I don't know -- like I had some kind of sick situation going on with her.
I I was trying to help her.
She needed help.
He's gonna explain his way out of this, and we have nothing to hold him on.
Is that what the money was for? The $50,000 in cash you withdrew from your bank account 10 days ago? What does this have to do with Four Aces Models? I thought -- Was the money for her, Mr.
Pittman? Look -- she had problems.
Obviously.
I know it sounds terrible, but I didn't want "Sedona" to embarrass my family, in which she most decidedly did not belong.
So, yes the money was for her.
That's Not what Sedona's husband is telling us.
What? What? That's right.
Mr.
Gibson is painting very different picture of what happened here.
So, um, if you'll excuse us for a moment, I'm just gonna run what you told us by Mr.
Gibson, and, uh, we'll see how reacts.
Excuse me.
Stay here.
Oh, for heaven's sake, Detective.
I'm sorry, Chief.
I was trying to -- No, no, no, no.
It's fantastic.
I just need a -- a moment to think about how this all plays out.
What was that? Drew Gibson is dead.
Yeah, Pittman doesn't know that.
Okay, but if you say something Pittman knows isn't true -- I'll just say that's what Sedona's dead husband told me.
I am so sorry, uh, Mr.
Pittman, but Mr.
Gibson insists that you gave him $50,000 to get rid of Sedona.
What? That's -- why would I do that? I don't know.
He said you paid him to kill her.
The man is a lunatic, and, by the way, a junkie.
How'd you know he was a junkie? Perhaps I should ask for a lawyer.
If you want to wait for an attorney, that's fine.
I'd be happy to talk to Mr.
Gibson.
But you should know that the first person I send to the D.
A.
gets a deal, and the second gets the death penalty.
The death penalty? Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
- This can be explained.
- Then hurry it up! I gave Drew money.
But I just asked him to get the girl to go back to Arizona or wherever it was she was from.
That's it.
What was the hotel room for? She had stopped returning his calls, so I arranged the appointment so that Drew could speak to his wife.
D-do you have a prescription for Ambien? Along with 50 million other people -- yes.
Not Drew Gibson.
And yet we found some in his house in this envelope.
He says that you gave him this to knock Sedona out first.
He could have gotten Ambien from anywhere.
That's true.
But there's two sets of fingerprints on that envelope.
One set.
One set only.
Some of them belong to Mr.
Gibson, and the others don't show up in our system.
So, with that in mind would you please come with me, sir? Where are we going? To roll your prints.
See if they match the unidentified ones on this envelope.
What if -- what if I don't want my fingerprints taken? I have the right to refuse, don't I? Up to the time I arrest you for murder.
You want me to do that now? You people.
All right, all right.
Fine.
I gave Drew the Ambien.
But I didn't give him the heroin, and I didn't tell him to kill anybody.
How do you know that Sedona died of a heroin overdose? We didn't tell him that.
Did we, Detective? Too many lies, Mr.
Pittman.
At least Mr.
Gibson told us the truth and expressed some regret.
I think the two of you need to sit down and talk for a moment.
I just need him to physically identify you and confirm that you're the one who paid him.
Wait! Wait! Look -- look, you don't understand.
Thishooker showed up out of the blue and told me she was my sister.
Now, it's no surprise that my father screwed around with the maids, but why should my brother and I have to pay for it? This little bitch didn't deserve one penny of my father's estate.
And that's exactly what she wanted -- her share.
I refuse to let trash like that drag my family through the gutter and then pay her for the insult.
I had an obligation to protect us from being robbed and disgraced -- something I'm certain a judge will understand.
What a judge will understand depends on who I send to the D.
A.
first.
Fine.
I went to Sedona's loser husband, and I asked him to get rid of her.
And I paid him $50,000 to make sure she never came near my house again.
Is that good enough To get me out of here and into the D.
A.
's office? No, you want more? You want more.
Fine! I paid Drew to kill the woman that was threatening my family.
Is that good enough? May I go now while you deal with the Drew Gibsons of the world? Actually, sir, we already dealt with Mr.
Gibson.
Drew Gibson was shot dead earlier today.
You're under arrest for the murder of Sedona Gibson.
What?! You've been lying to me this whole time? Get rid of him, Detective.
Let's go.
You're in way over your heads.
You have no idea! You're never gonna get away with this -- ever! I have a question for you, sir.
Who the hell this? You shut up.
Did Sedona ever once actually ask you for any money? No.
But she was a whore.
What else could she possibly have wanted? Chief Johnson, I want to thank you for seeing this through.
Absolutely.
I just wish it had been a happier ending.
I feel like I know my daughter again.
I thought about coming out here so many times, just to find her.
But I never did.
I let her down.
I let her down.
But you came through for her at the end.
We never would have been -- But it's only the end because I wasn't here.
Because I gave up on her.
Because my poor baby I let her down.
I let her down.
I let her down.
I let her down.
Captain, this really isn't a good time.
Okay.
After you dropped Turell Baylor off at his house and before you drove away, Detective Gabriel said something to you, and it was important, because Detective Sanchez refuses to repeat it.
The Baylor family's attorney knows about this conversation, and I still don't.
After we let Turell go and before we drove away Detective Gabriel asked me if I thought we should stick around.
I see.
You told him to go.
I did.
Well, that's the lawsuit, isn't it? Detective Gabriel asked you the $20 million question, but the thing is, how does the plaintiff's attorney know how you answered it? What are you thinking? Somewhere in your division, Chief Johnson you have a leak.
Yes.
You must be Commander Taylor.
That would be me.
This way.
I want to thank you so much for taking the time to look into this.
Oh, it's a pleasure.
We're always happy to help out our friends in the Phoenix Police Department.
named Sedona Gibson, originally from Phoenix, found dead in a hotel room last week.
Hollywood Division was unable to I.
D.
her body till yesterday, which is why Detective Ortega here only just arrived.
I have concerns about the coroner's ruling.
Hollywood told me I'd be better served by coming downtown.
Did they? All right.
Uh, preliminary autopsy report.
Sedona Gibson.
States cause of death was either accidental or deliberate heroin overdose -- - Overdose.
Yes.
But neither of those things can be true.
Just, uh, out of curiosity, why is the Phoenix P.
D.
interested in this case? Well, they're not.
The victim, Sedona -- she was my daughter.
I'mso sorry, Detective Ortega.
I'm sure that this must be a very difficult time for you and your family.
I understand that you work narcotics for the Phoenix P.
D.
? Yes.
And I appreciate very much the professional courtesy of looking into this matter.
Of course.
Of course.
You have reason to believe that the coroner's investigation was inaccurate? My daughter was a Type-1 Diabetic.
She knew the risks involved with her disease, and she also knew that drug use would severely magnify those risks.
Detective having a good reason not to do something doesn't mean that people won't try it, especially when they're young.
And her tox screen came back positive for heroin and Ambien.
She wasn't a heroin addict.
Please.
There's another explanation.
Has anyone even talked to her asshole husband? Is his name Drew? Yes, Drew.
Drew Gibson.
Hollywood tried tracking him down, Chief.
Said Drew was unreachable at his last-known address.
Do you have some reason to believe that her husband was involved in her death? She didn't do this to herself.
That, I know.
And Drew was not a good man.
How long has it been since you've seen your daughter? Almost two years.
Well, Sedona was 17, a junior in high school, when she met Drew, and -- and he was 23 -- older -- and a very bad influence.
So my husband and I told Sedona that she had to stop seeing him Or leave home.
So she she dropped out of school and came to Los Angeles.
With Drew? Yes, and she married him here.
And, uh, have you spoken with her since? She called a few weeks ago.
But before we had a chance to say much, my husband took the phone away from me and hung up on her.
Do you know why she was calling? No, I I tried to find her, but her number was blocked, and I couldn't legally run her name.
Detective, I-I'm sure that Working in narcotics makes losing a child to drugs that much harder, but It's not unusual for someone in your daughter's profession to make questionable choices like this.
What profession? Um What profession? Hollywood Division claims that your daughter was working as an escort when she died.
I'm sorry.
Detective? Will you excuse us just for a moment, please? Did you bring that poor woman down here so that I'd have to be the one to tell her that her daughter was a prostitute? No.
Of course not.
I thought Hollywood Division told her.
Hollywood Division? They ran a pretty bare-bones investigation, didn't they? Well, a hooker dead from an overdose in a hotel room doesn't usually justify a lot of shoe leather.
Hollywood did their due diligence.
They brushed her off -- just like they did her mother.
They didn't search her residence.
They didn't call anyone -- not her last John or this husband of hers.
They only just I.
D.
'd the body.
Detective Ortega is a fellow law-enforcement officer, so let's humor her a little.
What is Captain Raydor doing here? Well, she finished reviewing the depositions you and your squad gave in the civil suit, and now she has some follow-up questions for Detective Sanchez.
Why?! We've already talked about this Turell Baylor business till we're blue in the face! Actually, that's not true.
Your entire squad has started referring Raydor to their union reps.
Maybe you could convince Sanchez to cooperate a little? Exactly how many people am I supposed to be humoring around here, huh? Detective Ortega.
Captain Raydor.
Do you know how hard it is to do your job while humoring so many difficult people? I might have some idea.
Yeah.
Chief, a, uh, officer from Hollywood Division just dropped this off.
It's the sum total of the evidence they collected from the hotel room where Detective Ortega's daughter was found.
Not much to it, except the, uh, syringe that killed her.
Uh, her heels, coat, andsmall purse.
It's called a clutch.
Small purse -- it's called a clutch.
Yeah.
Okay.
The clutch.
It had $24 in it, a receipt from the taxi the night she died.
No drugs, no phone.
Chief.
Um, Detective Ortega, we are getting a warrant to search your daughter's apartment, and in the meantime, Detective Sanchez is going to the morgue to see if he can expedite the release of your daughter's -- I want to go with him.
Um, I-I don't think that's a very good idea.
Please.
I've waited so long to see my daughter.
Please.
You sure you want to do this, Detective? I could prepare the body in a room.
I could -- It's not my first time in a morgue.
I know what to expect.
Let me.
Please.
There's only one injection site, just one.
She's got needle marks on her stomach and legs, too.
Those are probably from her Insulin injections.
Doctor, if I recall correctly Your autopsy reported nothing that would indicate chronic drug use.
Um, let me see.
DNA's not in yet.
They must have I.
D.
'd her some other way.
But I do have results on a hair-follicle drug test, and she was clean.
So she wasn't a user? Or this was her first time.
Detective Sanchez.
Okay.
Send it over.
We got the warrant to search your daughter's apartment.
Flight back from Vegas.
$100 chips.
A note in a foreign language.
No sign of drug use.
Do you want to look through the purse, ma'am? Yeah.
She has an I.
D.
for Santa Monica Community College.
She's got her G.
E.
D.
up here, too.
Your daughter was very beautiful.
She was, wasn't she? Buzz.
I need you.
Tag this.
Tag this.
Lieutenant Tao, the syringe that we found at the crime scene -- do you have it on your desk? It should have a lot number.
What is it? Six Jackson, Charlie, Bravo, One, "Dash," Nancy Delta, Charlie, Zero-Six-Zero-Three.
All right, thank you.
Is it the same? No, ma'am.
The syringe that we found at the hotel does not seem to have come from the victim's apartment.
I knew it wasn't hers.
I knew it.
So what do we know about the needle that killed her? Other than the fact that it wasn't hers.
Well, there are traces of high-grade heroin found inside.
It's called "China White" on the street.
Yeah, that stuff's rare on the West Coast.
Sedona Gibson had no record and no history of drug abuse.
Her apartment was clean -- no evidence of alcohol, drugs, or related paraphernalia.
And except for Insulin, not even prescriptions.
No Ambien? Showed up on her tox screen.
Chief, working through Sedona's sharps container, I've tested all come back clean for opiates.
Okay, so she wasn't a heroin addict, but she did die of an overdose.
So we have to consider the possibility that someone talked her into trying heroin.
What do we know about her "Date" that night? Well, I looked into the billing on the hotel room, and it turns out it was paid for by a company called Dynamic Goods, which is basically a front for an escort service called Four Aces Models.
"Dynamic Goods" sounds ambiguous enough not to look suspicious on a married man's credit card.
Wait, Lieutenant.
Chief, I'm sorry.
The morgue was one thing, but Detective Ortega -- she shouldn't be here for this.
I can handle it.
Say what you have to say.
Okay.
Four Aces Models -- they cater to a rich clientele.
The rates start at $1,200, and they skyrocket from there.
Now, the fee is all inclusive and covers the hotel room.
The company's based here in Los Angeles and owned by a woman named Linda Prall.
Lieutenant Provenza just picked her up.
She called her attorney the moment he walked through the door, so her lawyer will be joining her.
Is my daughter on that website? I, uh think they must have taken her picture down.
Sedona was in Vegas? Yes, ma'am -- last weekend.
We found that plane ticket along with some $100 casino chips.
Also, there's this note inside.
And I think it's written in Russian, if I'm not mistaken.
Can you translate, Chief? Uh Basically it just says, "You were fantastic.
Thank you.
Demitri Andropov.
" So, uh, she was there on a job.
I'm assuming that's the case, yes.
Would you find out if Agent Howard is in the building? I'd like him to join me in my interview with Linda Prall.
Thank you.
Pardon me, gentlemen.
Mrs.
Prall, I assume you're aware that one of your employees, an escort named Sedona Gibson, was recently found dead in a hotel room paid for by your escort service.
Excuse me.
Mrs.
Prall runs a modeling agency.
Any suggestion to the contrary, and we're gonna walk.
Let's not get off on the wrong foot.
I just have a few questions.
Why is the FBI here? 'Cause if Mrs.
Prall doesn't answer Chief Johnson, I intend to take her into custody.
What charge? How about interstate prostitution? Sedona Gibson.
Worked for you in Los Angeles, but you also booked her to entertain a client in Las Vegas, just a few days before she died.
Four Aces Models has a strict no-sex policy.
Any activity between two consenting adults is a private matter.
Would Demitri Andropov be one of your consenting adults? The FBI will subpoena Mrs.
Prall's business records.
We will find the answers to Chief Johnson's questions, or we can just chat about it in here.
Sedona was a good girl.
It's a shame what happened to her.
How long had she been working for you? Maybe a year? But it was a part-time thing for her.
She was going back to school, getting her life on track.
What can you tell me about Sedona's last date on the night she died? I don't think that's any of your business.
Hey, how big do you want this investigation to be? He was a first-timer.
Didn't really understand how things work.
His name? I don't, um -- I don't remember Offhand.
But you will find out for us.
If we can agree that that information will not be used to prosecute my client.
Wouldn't dream of it.
Any idea why Sedona came to work for you in the first place? Her husband, Drew.
They were struggling, broke.
He was an addict, that sort of thing.
What about Sedona? Did she use? No.
Well, not that I know of.
She was just desperate to be loved, you know? To be needed.
She would have done anything for Drew.
She even made a couple of films a few months back because he wanted her to.
- Pornography? - Adult films.
He talked her into doing them because they raise a models hourly quote.
Made her more valuable.
The thing is, after she did them, the bastard kicked her out.
Do you believe that? Messed her up pretty good.
She told me she was trying to get ahold of her family.
But bad blood there, I guess.
It's not like any of these girls come from happy homes.
So, she was all alone in the world Except for me, andI can only do so much.
Yeah, you're a regular Mother Teresa.
Hey It is an ugly world out there, and I am not the one who mistreated her.
That was her husband, after he kicked her out, coming around again asking for more money.
Where is he now -- Drew? She told me he was crashing with some low-life -- "Blazer," I think.
But I-I don't know.
Jesse Blazer.
A drug dealer in Phoenix.
I arrested him twice.
Hey, why would Drew kill her? The girl was paying him to leave her alone.
Chief, I got an address on Sedona's cell for a Jesse Blazer.
Let's go talk to him.
Uh, Detective Ortega, before you ask, it would not be appropriate for you to join us.
Uh, Agent Howard, would you please follow up with Mrs.
Prall on the identity of Sedona's last John? I don't want her to get busy and forget.
I'll get his name and pay him a visit.
Afternoon.
I'm Deputy Chief Johnson.
L.
A.
P.
D.
Stop, stop! We have a runner! Put your hands in the air! Do it! You -- get your hand off the gun -- now! Chief! Come on! We're done in here! Guys! Lonnie Harris.
Are you Drew Gibson? Are you Drew Gibson?! Did you know Sedona Gibson? Did you know Sedona Gibson?! Knew she was a whore.
Damn it! Thank you.
Everybody okay? Yeah.
I'm good.
Lieutenant? You? Uh, well, I feel terrible about the fish, but, uh, I'll cry later.
Right now, we've got to We've got to find their needles before patrol drags us out of here.
Needles or something that ties them to Sedona's death.
Chief, this is what killed her.
White heroin.
And they got a lot of it.
Burners like these guys -- they usually don't have the dough for top-grade stuff like this.
- Sergeant.
- Detective David Gabriel.
Major Crimes.
The house is secure.
There are no outstanding suspects, and there are officers involved.
Got it.
Uh, Chief Johnson? I have to ask you and your detectives to step outside, please.
Of course, yeah.
W-we'll be right out.
We're leaving right now.
Chief.
Huh? Chief, we got to go.
We got to go.
Chief Johnson.
Detective Gabriel tells me you had a very close call.
Not serious.
Still you must be a little rattled.
Why aren't you downtown? Your interview with the F.
I.
D.
takes place right away.
I never discharged my weapon.
Good.
At least you won't be the subject of another lawsuit.
Day's not over yet.
I need to get back in that house.
F.
I.
D.
has it for 48 hours.
Then it's all yours.
Detective Ortega is waiting in my office to find out if we found her daughter's murderer.
Something in the house helped you confirm that? There might be some needles with the lot number that matches what we found in our victim's arm.
How badly do you want the needles? If I were to find them or something else that would help you make your case, perhaps you could convince Detective Sanchez to allow me to interview him -- You're blackmailing me? You have the idea -- yes.
Find the needles.
We'll talk.
Excuse me.
Sorry.
Thank you.
Hi.
Hey.
- How are you? - Fine.
Careful.
I smell like a fish tank.
You smell great.
And alive.
I hope I brought the right dress.
I'm sure it's fine.
Thank you.
What's going on? I don't have time to sort through this now.
I don't -- what'd you find out about Sedona's last John? You sure you want to do this? I do.
I do.
Let's keep going.
Okay.
Sedona's last John is a guy named Spencer Pittman.
He's married, he's got a kid.
He said he booked Sedona for that night but then got cold feet and never showed up.
Pulled a late night at work instead.
Did you confirm his story? Yeah, yeah, with three of his coworkers.
Okay.
Let me put this dress on before something else happens.
There you are.
I-I have something for you.
Evening, Agent Howard.
Captain.
Don't be here all night.
Okay.
You found their needles? With their Ambien -- yes.
Oh, Sedona's tox screen came back positive for -- For Ambien.
And judging by the envelope I found them in, I am pretty sure that these are not part of an actual prescription.
So I've kept up my end of the bargain, and now I'd like to speak to Detective Sanchez.
We're still on his F.
I.
D.
interview.
All right, well, I'll wait for him in your conference room.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
It should take about an hour to process this envelope for prints.
But these needles that Captain Raydor found -- they have the same lot supply number as the one that killed Sedona Gibson.
It was Drew.
I was right.
He murdered my daughter.
Look, we know Drew Gibson was involved in some way, but there's still no definitive proof of homicide.
I mean, Sedona could have invited her husband to that hotel room.
How else would he have known that she was there alone? Detective, the Commander's right.
We don't have enough evidence yet to close this case.
Excuse me.
Hollywood ran a DNA test on Sedona Gibson before they I.
D.
'd her.
And the results came back, and we've got a definite hit on her father.
Arrested on a embezzlement charge in '92.
But he didn't live in Phoenix.
In fact, till recently, he was a resident right here in L.
A.
Until recently? Yeah.
Sedona's father died six months ago.
A guy named Randolph Pittman.
Detective Ortega? Who's Randolph Pittman? Randolph Pittman? I don't know.
Why? According to Sedona's DNA test, he was her father.
Oh, I see.
Sedona was adopted.
When she was three months old.
It's something I never think about outside a doctor's office.
Is it I-is it relevant somehow? It wasn't information that I was trying to withhold -- Okay.
Mrs.
Prall told me that Sedona was looking for her family.
I assumed she was talking about you, but she knew where you were -- she called you recently.
Randolph Pittman.
The name of Sedona's last John.
His last was Pittman, too, wasn't it? Yeah.
Spencer.
Pittman.
So, Sedona was looking for her biologic family.
Looks like she found them.
Okay, uh, Lieutenant, find out what you can about Spencer Pittman, and bring him in as soon as possible, please.
So, later you were in the car with Chief Johnson and Detective Gabriel when the three of you took Turell Baylor to his house.
Was there any conversation on the way to the suspect's home? - Yes.
The Chief offered Baylor an opportunity to revoke his immunity deal and confess to the Shootin' Newton murders.
What'd Turell say? About revoking his immunity agreement -- he said no.
Do you think the Chief would have let him out of the car if he'd said yes? When you arrived at Mr.
Baylor's house, did you have any reason to believe that he was in danger? It's a bad neighborhood.
Anything can happen.
Yes.
But was there any sign of a specific threat towards Mr.
Baylor, for example, gang members hanging around? If they were gang members, they would have been 110 Crips, like Baylor.
And nobody had a problem dropping off Mr.
Baylor with potential Crips there? I did not have a problem with it.
Do you remember if Detective Gabriel voiced any concern? - No.
- No, he didn't voice a concern, or, no, you don't remember? Do you want to know what I remember, Captain? Yes.
I remember Turell Baylor murdered a 74-year-old man and shot his 8-year-old grandson in the head.
I'm foggy on the rest.
Sorry.
Oh, hey, Chief.
Spencer Pittman is in 1.
I read him his rights, and I told him that we were looking into Four Aces Models.
But his alibi is rock solid on the night of the murder.
He never set foot in that hotel room.
Now, I did go through his finances, and I found a cash withdrawal for $50,000 from one of his personal accounts 10 days ago.
And according to F.
I.
D.
, the net weight of the uncut heroin collected at your shootout today would have cost the dealers approximately -- wait for it -- $50,000.
Do we know if he has a motive? Well, Spencer's father was a pretty successful investment broker.
When he died, he was worth over $100 million.
Here's a copy of his father's last will and testament, which states that his assets are to be divided evenly among his kids, which, before Sedona showed up, consisted of Spencer Pittman and his older brother, Bennett.
I knew Sedona's birth father lived in L.
A.
county, and I told her that.
But I don't know how she followed through on something like this.
Medical issues have made it much easier to open adoption records.
Let's say your daughter found out who her birth family was and knew that she was in line to inherit tens of millions Approximately $33 million.
Well, there's Spencer's motive.
He didn't want to pay up.
Oh.
And get this.
Pittman's got a prescription for Ambien.
All right, all right.
So wait a minute.
How you gonna turn $50,000 and an envelope of Ambien into a murder charge? Your suspect wasn't anywhere near the scene, and his alleged accomplice is dead.
Well, I'll ask Mr.
Pittman some questions and see what he has to say.
H-how did it go with Captain Raydor? Chief Do you really think that we had anything to do with Turell Baylor getting killed? We didn't.
He showed up here looking for protection because his own gang was shooting at him.
So it didn't matter where we let him go -- Baylor was a dead man.
Well, I don't know about that.
Julio, I don't -- I don't know.
There are gaps in the record -- Gaps? Chief Let me fill in a gap for you.
Turell Baylor committed a double homicide because he didn't want to pay for a beer.
So let's say that we let him go and somehow he doesn't get offed by his friends.
And a day, week, month later, we're kneeling over someone else that Turell Baylor's shot to death and explaining to family members why we let a confessed murderer out on the street.
And we'd probably get sued for that, too.
Gaps? Chief, no gaps.
Uh, Chief, I just got this back from latent prints.
- Drew Gibson's paws are all over it.
- Thanks.
Anyone else? No.
Uh, Lieutenant You sure you don't want to go home? And do what? Get drunk? Not tonight.
Right.
O-okay.
My wife cannot find out about this.
This conversation is 100% confidential, sir.
It's so embarrassing.
Hiring a prostitute.
I've never done anything like this before.
You won't be putting my name in the papers, will you? Oh, believe me, we don't write the news around here.
Just a few follow-up questions on what you've already told the FBI.
We know you didn't show up for that prostitute.
Did you? What was her name? Sedona? Was that what she called herself? I guess, yeah.
These names Look, that night, I don't know, I justI couldn't go through with it.
Well, it would have been a little bit weird.
Right? Sedona being your half-sister and all.
Okay, wait.
I can explain.
This is not what it looks like.
What does it look like? I don't know -- like I had some kind of sick situation going on with her.
I I was trying to help her.
She needed help.
He's gonna explain his way out of this, and we have nothing to hold him on.
Is that what the money was for? The $50,000 in cash you withdrew from your bank account 10 days ago? What does this have to do with Four Aces Models? I thought -- Was the money for her, Mr.
Pittman? Look -- she had problems.
Obviously.
I know it sounds terrible, but I didn't want "Sedona" to embarrass my family, in which she most decidedly did not belong.
So, yes the money was for her.
That's Not what Sedona's husband is telling us.
What? What? That's right.
Mr.
Gibson is painting very different picture of what happened here.
So, um, if you'll excuse us for a moment, I'm just gonna run what you told us by Mr.
Gibson, and, uh, we'll see how reacts.
Excuse me.
Stay here.
Oh, for heaven's sake, Detective.
I'm sorry, Chief.
I was trying to -- No, no, no, no.
It's fantastic.
I just need a -- a moment to think about how this all plays out.
What was that? Drew Gibson is dead.
Yeah, Pittman doesn't know that.
Okay, but if you say something Pittman knows isn't true -- I'll just say that's what Sedona's dead husband told me.
I am so sorry, uh, Mr.
Pittman, but Mr.
Gibson insists that you gave him $50,000 to get rid of Sedona.
What? That's -- why would I do that? I don't know.
He said you paid him to kill her.
The man is a lunatic, and, by the way, a junkie.
How'd you know he was a junkie? Perhaps I should ask for a lawyer.
If you want to wait for an attorney, that's fine.
I'd be happy to talk to Mr.
Gibson.
But you should know that the first person I send to the D.
A.
gets a deal, and the second gets the death penalty.
The death penalty? Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
- This can be explained.
- Then hurry it up! I gave Drew money.
But I just asked him to get the girl to go back to Arizona or wherever it was she was from.
That's it.
What was the hotel room for? She had stopped returning his calls, so I arranged the appointment so that Drew could speak to his wife.
D-do you have a prescription for Ambien? Along with 50 million other people -- yes.
Not Drew Gibson.
And yet we found some in his house in this envelope.
He says that you gave him this to knock Sedona out first.
He could have gotten Ambien from anywhere.
That's true.
But there's two sets of fingerprints on that envelope.
One set.
One set only.
Some of them belong to Mr.
Gibson, and the others don't show up in our system.
So, with that in mind would you please come with me, sir? Where are we going? To roll your prints.
See if they match the unidentified ones on this envelope.
What if -- what if I don't want my fingerprints taken? I have the right to refuse, don't I? Up to the time I arrest you for murder.
You want me to do that now? You people.
All right, all right.
Fine.
I gave Drew the Ambien.
But I didn't give him the heroin, and I didn't tell him to kill anybody.
How do you know that Sedona died of a heroin overdose? We didn't tell him that.
Did we, Detective? Too many lies, Mr.
Pittman.
At least Mr.
Gibson told us the truth and expressed some regret.
I think the two of you need to sit down and talk for a moment.
I just need him to physically identify you and confirm that you're the one who paid him.
Wait! Wait! Look -- look, you don't understand.
Thishooker showed up out of the blue and told me she was my sister.
Now, it's no surprise that my father screwed around with the maids, but why should my brother and I have to pay for it? This little bitch didn't deserve one penny of my father's estate.
And that's exactly what she wanted -- her share.
I refuse to let trash like that drag my family through the gutter and then pay her for the insult.
I had an obligation to protect us from being robbed and disgraced -- something I'm certain a judge will understand.
What a judge will understand depends on who I send to the D.
A.
first.
Fine.
I went to Sedona's loser husband, and I asked him to get rid of her.
And I paid him $50,000 to make sure she never came near my house again.
Is that good enough To get me out of here and into the D.
A.
's office? No, you want more? You want more.
Fine! I paid Drew to kill the woman that was threatening my family.
Is that good enough? May I go now while you deal with the Drew Gibsons of the world? Actually, sir, we already dealt with Mr.
Gibson.
Drew Gibson was shot dead earlier today.
You're under arrest for the murder of Sedona Gibson.
What?! You've been lying to me this whole time? Get rid of him, Detective.
Let's go.
You're in way over your heads.
You have no idea! You're never gonna get away with this -- ever! I have a question for you, sir.
Who the hell this? You shut up.
Did Sedona ever once actually ask you for any money? No.
But she was a whore.
What else could she possibly have wanted? Chief Johnson, I want to thank you for seeing this through.
Absolutely.
I just wish it had been a happier ending.
I feel like I know my daughter again.
I thought about coming out here so many times, just to find her.
But I never did.
I let her down.
I let her down.
But you came through for her at the end.
We never would have been -- But it's only the end because I wasn't here.
Because I gave up on her.
Because my poor baby I let her down.
I let her down.
I let her down.
I let her down.
Captain, this really isn't a good time.
Okay.
After you dropped Turell Baylor off at his house and before you drove away, Detective Gabriel said something to you, and it was important, because Detective Sanchez refuses to repeat it.
The Baylor family's attorney knows about this conversation, and I still don't.
After we let Turell go and before we drove away Detective Gabriel asked me if I thought we should stick around.
I see.
You told him to go.
I did.
Well, that's the lawsuit, isn't it? Detective Gabriel asked you the $20 million question, but the thing is, how does the plaintiff's attorney know how you answered it? What are you thinking? Somewhere in your division, Chief Johnson you have a leak.