It's hard to explain how this case made me feel.
It showed me the depths that people can go
to manipulate others.
And it quickly became one of the strangest cases of my career.
A lovely mother and daughter come home
from an evening in Niagara Falls...
What?
What's wrong?
Tell me! What's happening?
It's Bruce. I think he's been attacked.
- Bruce? - No. no. no.
What if they're still inside?
[KERI HARRISON]: It made me sick.
What kind of a person would attack
an elderly gentleman in his own home?
There's all kinds of evil out there.
- Sync and corrections by ByDem - - www.addic7ed.com -
I was the first female investigator
in our homicide unit with Niagara Regional Police.
This case was my first as a lead investigator.
Being a woman adds a little bit of pressure.
I'm not gonna lie. I certainly felt it.
- Hey. - Hey.
You want me to canvass while you check the scene?
It's your call.
The boss wants you as lead. Says you're ready.
I'll be your file manager.
Victim's in the garage.
[KERI HARRISON]: The crime itself occurred
in this cute little house on this quiet street.
Nice place to live, a wonderful community.
Not a lot of crime.
And yet, here we have
an elderly gentleman attacked in his own garage.
It's shocking to see someone die like this.
Do we know who he is?
Bruce Firman, 72.
Cause of death?
Coroner's not here yet.
It looks like a blunt force trauma to the head.
- You saw the pipe wrench. - Yeah.
Whose car is this?
The victim's step-daughter, Elizabeth Gatenby,
visiting from BC. It's a rental.
Well, it's part of the crime scene now so let's impound it,
get a warrant and then start the canvass.
- Will do. - And who found the body?
Elizabeth and her mother. Um, Margaret Benesch.
Bruce's wife. They're at a neighbor.
Were they inside the house when it happened?
Apparently not.
Well, let's make sure. So take them to the station,
test them for blood spatter and I'll talk to them there.
[KERI HARRISON]: Somebody killed this elderly gentleman
in his own home.
And they're still out there.
What has happened here?
Elizabeth had seen Bruce Firman lying on the floor
which is a difficult thing to see.
Margaret was kind of in shock.
There was no blood spatter on either of them.
If they were at the scene, there would have been.
Please have a seat.
Was there anything missing from the house?
We haven't... been inside yet.
We ran next door as soon as I saw what had happened to Bruce.
It was horrible. It could've been us!
[KERI HARRISON]: It's traumatic for anybody
to come home to find a loved one dead.
I felt like Elizabeth was very protective of her mom.
She shielded her mother from seeing the body on the floor.
That's what somebody should do for their mother.
You know, it's that bond between a mother and daughter.
- Was it a robbery? - We don't know yet.
Was the garage door tampered with when you entered?
Is there any other way to get inside the house without breaking in?
There's a key hidden in the flower pot in the back.
Do you think that's how it happened?
Don't worry. We'll figure it out.
I'm very sorry for your loss.
[KERI HARRISON]: The picture that we get of Bruce
is that he's a decent guy,
JUST DOING WHAT HE DID EVERY SINGLE DAY:
coming home, putting his bike away
before he went in to watch the news and then go to bed.
And on this day, he never got into the house.
The fact that the key is there,
well, it either tells us that somebody used the key
to get in and then they went through the trouble
to put it back.
Or the key wasn't in play at all.
We're looking for signs. We're looking for signs
of forced entry, broken window, jimmied door,
but there was none of that in this case.
The house was secure. There weren't signs
of someone ransacking the house or anything like that.
I felt that uh, this was maybe not going to be
an easy case to solve.
- Hi. - There you are!
Find anything?
The key was still in the flower box.
There was a laptop in the kitchen.
Did they find his wallet last night?
Yeah, back pocket. Cash and cards were still inside.
The door to the house was still locked.
No marks.
I don't think this was a robbery.
Look, from the position of the body,
I'm guessing he was standing right inside
the garage door when he was hit.
Yeah, I agree.
Maybe a few steps in.
So the killer was probably already inside.
Bruce might've been targeted.
Has somebody targeted this older gentleman
and why would they want to do this to him?
Because I was the first female investigator
in our homicide unit, I want to show that, you know,
I'm dedicated. I can do this. I wanna do a good job.
In some sense,
you're wanting to prove to the others that...
I can do this.
Um, isn't that your job, Harrison?
Very funny, Gamble. Sit down.
Congratulations.
OK, so here's what we know so far.
Bruce Firman, 72, retired real estate agent,
returned home after his nightly bike ride at around
8 pm. Bludgeoned to death upon entry.
Bruce had the same routine every night.
Gone at seven on the bike, back at eight.
Neighbors say you could set a watch to him.
So what are we thinking? Robbery?
Sounds like an easy mark.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking too but
there were no signs of forced entry. His wallet was untouched.
There was nothing missing from the house.
There's a laptop in the kitchen
and the hidden key was still there.
So it's a targeted attack.
It sure looks that way.
Someone was waiting for Bruce inside the house.
What do we know about him?
Uh, Bruce was living in the house
with his common-law wife, Margaret Benesch.
She has a daughter, Elizabeth Gatenby. She lives in B.C.,
but she's in town visiting. They found the body...
after having dinner in Niagara.
How do we know they weren't in the house?
Forensic tests found no blood spatter on either of them.
So, it's unlikely.
And we'll be checking their alibi.
Did you pull up his record?
Yeah. No criminal record, no previous calls to that address.
But... Bruce and Margaret were suing each other.
Court records go back months.
Looks like they were on the outs.
[KERI HARRISON]: Margaret's withholding important information here.
And I wondered why.
Firman had two sons and a daughter
from a previous marriage. Have they been notified?
They're all out of town.
One of the sons is close by.
I'll go.
No! I'll take care of it.
[KERI HARRISON]: Don Firman, he had a close
relationship with his dad.
He knew that it wasn't a good situation
between Margaret and Bruce.
He knew something bad was gonna happen.
Their relationship had fallen apart months ago.
- What happened? - He met someone else.
He was up front about it with her, though.
Told her he wanted out of the relationship.
Then why were they still living together?
Dad was scared if he moved out, she'd change the locks
and he'd never see any of his things again.
They were suing each other over the house, everything inside it,
spousal support. It was ugly.
I mean, he wanted out, but she wanted everything.
Did Margaret ever threaten your father?
You kidding?
After the last court hearing? She was so furious,
when they got home, she threw an ashtray at his head.
Said she'd kill him before she ever paid him a dime.
His dad actually said to him
"if something happens to me,
you need to look at Margaret."
When Don talked about Margaret,
he talked about her as a cruel woman.
She was so furious, when they got home,
she threw an ashtray at his head.
Said she'd kill him before she ever paid him a dime.
[KERI HARRISON]: I knew there was more to
this story than what she was telling me.
[MARGARET]: Yes, we had our problems, we fought.
I couldn't wait to get out of the relationship.
But I wouldn't kill him.
You threatened to.
I said a lot of things I didn't mean.
And he deserved to hear every one of them.
Bruce Firman was a cheat, a liar and a con artist.
He started off so charming and romantic.
And then he turned on me.
And all he wanted was my money, my things.
He didn't care about me.
Is that what happened? The money ran out?
He met some woman in the neighborhood
and then he decided to leave.
But he wanted me to pay him first.
He said he owned half the house.
He didn't?
No! I paid for it in full.
But he made me put his name on the deed.
Said it would prove I trusted him.
I can see he made you pretty angry.
Well, I wasn't gonna let him get away with it.
I was going to drag through the courts.
Not kill him.
That woman he was seeing... she could have him.
Do you know her name?
Of course! Joan.
She lives three blocks away.
Where do you think he was going every night on his "bike ride"?
Ask her if you want to know what happened.
Better still, ask the ex-wives. There were eight of them.
[KERI HARRISON]: What? I don't know anybody
who had eight wives.
Margaret's anger towards Bruce bordered on hatred.
Maybe he was walking away
from every relationship with a significant amount of assets.
Is he lovin' 'em and leavin' 'em and takin' half of their stuff.
Bruce and I had a real connection.
At my age, that isn't easy to come by.
So when he left,
I got depressed.
I couldn't understand it.
As I've gotten older, I've come to appreciate
the importance of having someone there for you.
For a while, I thought I'd found that with Bruce.
But I guess he didn't.
Why not?
He said he didn't feel the spark anymore.
And he met someone else.
Why did he leave?
Why does anyone leave a relationship?
I think he'd just had enough. Moved on.
There's nothing malicious about it.
He was honest about it. He told me what had happened
and that he wanted out. And so we moved on.
Were there ever any issues with money?
No. We took good care of each other.
[KERI HARRISON]: I didn't get that love 'em and leave 'em
and take everything sense from him.
The women had nothing but nice things to say about him
and it just so happened that the relationships didn't work out.
We went and met Bruce's girlfriend, Joan.
Can you tell me about Bruce?
What can I tell you?
He was a wonderful man.
So kind. We'd just started seeing each other.
You really loved him.
[KERI HARRISON]: Joan was the woman that he was seeing
at the time of his death.
My impression was that she was smitten with Bruce.
He saw you that night, didn't he?
Every night. He used to come over,
we ate dinner together and then he'd leave.
Did anything seem strange or off?
No. It was like every other night.
How did you two meet?
I was walking the dog in the park
four years ago. Just like that.
We became best of friends.
Confidantes.
And then, when things started to get difficult with Margaret,
we became something other.
Did he ever talk to you about Margaret?
All the time.
He was frightened of her, Detective.
To sleep, he'd prop up a chair against
the bedroom door just in case.
When I think of what that poor man must've gone through.
You can call me... every day if you like.
[KERI HARRISON]: Joan was the total opposite of Margaret.
It seemed pretty clear she didn't have any reason
to kill Bruce.
We checked the laptop. It belongs to Elizabeth.
- Find anything? - Nothing much.
What about Bruce's real estate clients?
Everyone we spoke to seemed happy with him.
Besides, he hasn't worked as an agent in years.
Bruce seemed to leave things off amicably.
Except with Margaret.
That fits with the case files.
Bruce's lawyer sent them in. It's a lot to go through,
but they definitely were not amicable.
In the end, it seems like he was just trying to get back
a few things that he paid for. She wouldn't accept.
Margaret made it sound like he was trying
to take everything from her.
- Where you going? - To check on their alibi.
We don't even know for sure they were actually in Niagara
the night Bruce was killed.
[KERI HARRISON]: You look at Margaret and she's a petite,
older lady.
So you kind of wonder how could she have done this,
but definitely wondering if she had something to do with it.
I do remember her.
They sat right over there. The mom was facing outside.
I'll have a tea.
Coffee for me and a tea for my mother, please.
OK.
Do you remember all your tables that well?
No, they were just...
the daughter needed a lot of attention.
Oh, and by the way, um, about the water for the tea,
is it freshly boiled or is it from a spout?
It's from the machine.
Oh, well, that's not acceptable.
The water needs to be freshly boiled
before you put a tea bag in it.
She wanted the water freshly boiled
instead of from a machine. Something like that.
Do you remember what time they were here?
They left around... 7:45 pm?
Thank you.
We clearly know that they were in Niagara Falls...
but we also needed to look at how long it would take
to get back to St. Catharines.
So I timed the drive from the restaurant to Bruce's home.
And we did the drive a few times actually.
We wanted to make sure that the time line we were looking at
was accurate.
There is no way that Elizabeth and Margaret could have been
in St. Catharines at the time of the homicide.
It was impossible.
At this point, the investigation is not really progressing.
We don't have a strong suspect.
Margaret has a solid alibi.
She couldn't have been at the scene.
But something still wasn't sitting right with me.
Where do we go from here?
I want to bring Elizabeth in.
Why lean on her?
It isn't gonna look great, a family member with a solid alibi?
Something isn't right about it.
I thought several witnesses saw them there.
Well, that's just it. Everyone I spoke to in Niagara remembered them.
Even though they were strangers.
Especially Elizabeth.
They all said she needed a lot of attention.
Attention.
Yeah, it's like... it's like she was putting on a show.
Well, that's not acceptable. The water needs to be
freshly boiled before you put a tea bag in it.
It's like she wanted to be remembered.
[KERI HARRISON]: You can't always explain the hunch,
but you can never discount it.
I think you have to trust your gut.
So we brought her in.
Detective Sergeant Gamble was a former polygraph analyst.
You're in from BC, right?
I run a youth center there.
[KERI HARRISON]: Good at reading people.
That must be demanding.
It's a 24h a day, that's for sure.
There's always someone in crisis.
Always someone who needs help. But we do what we can.
I was interested in what he felt she was all about.
Is she trustworthy? Is she telling the truth?
I can't imagine it was easy getting time off
for a trip out here.
But still, you made that happen.
My mother needed me.
Enough for you to drop everything and...
get on a bus for what? Three days?
I was um, a tough kid to handle.
I got into drugs young.
It was really rough on my mom.
I got clean a few years ago now, but uh,
I'm trying to make it up to her.
That's why I came. I need her to know that I'm here for her
when she needs me.
But still, it must've been pretty important for you
to get away from the youth center,
spend three days on a bus.
Elizabeth, if there's something you're not telling us, anything.
My mother is a strong woman.
But this whole situation
with Bruce, it was just too much for her.
She couldn't cope.
She tried to kill herself.
Have you ever tried to kill yourself, Detective?
No.
Me neither.
But can you imagine?
The desperation you must feel?
I was scared!
I got here as quickly as I could before anything worse could happen.
[KERI HARRISON]: She was very upset, almost distraught.
But something still wasn't sitting right with me.
And, I, I can't tell you exactly what it is.
But Gamble was the guy with the experience.
His opinion mattered a lot.
As far as I can tell, she's being truthful. She's being
a good daughter and trying to make up
for what she put her mother through when she was young.
And she's got a rock-solid alibi.
And the fact that Margaret attempted suicide also tells me
she's got nothing to do with this.
Inward violence.
Exactly. She's more likely to kill herself than anyone else.
I'm sorry. I know it's not what you want to hear, but here's
my advice.
Get them on your side. They're the victims.
And you're gonna need their trust to solve this case.
Good luck.
[KERI HARRISON]: Being a lead investigator, you really do need
to trust your basic instincts.
There was just something that still troubled me about Elizabeth.
[HARRISON]: How are you holding up?
[MARGARET]: It's been hard.
I still haven't been in the garage.
Thank God for Elizabeth!
She really cares about you.
She's come so far.
So far?
She had addiction problems. She had it tough growing up.
But she's turned her life around and uh,
she's learned from her mistakes.
Ah! My angel. Angel.
Is that my laptop?
Yeah. I thought you might want it back.
Thank you.
The house must seem a lot quieter now that Bruce is gone.
I guess we didn't interact much.
He spent most of his time in the basement,
with the door locked. Watching television.
Mmmm. That's uncomfortable. Living that way.
I tried playing mediator. I tried to get them to agree
on how to move on with their lives.
But it was impossible.
He was so bull-headed.
That must've been frustrating.
Try travelling three days on a bus to find that out.
Now that's frustrating.
Ah, I get antsy spending an hour on the bus,
so I can't imagine what three days must be like.
It's not great, but you get used to it.
Mmm.
Did you make any friends along the way?
Well, there was this um, young cowboy.
I think he got on in Calgary.
He sat with me the whole way here.
This cowboy have a name?
Dell.
Last name?
Ah, I don't remember. I belong to an anonymous group,
I don't really do last names.
What else can you tell me about Dell?
How old was he?
Uh, he was eighteen, I think.
I remember he needed a bath.
He had this big cowboy hat on with metal studs in it.
What did you talk about?
Well, you know, we covered a lotta ground.
It seemed like he was having a bit of a tough time.
He sounded a lot like me at his age.
Mmm.
Did you tell him about Bruce?
I might've told him a little bit about
some of the troubles Bruce was causing.
All the arguments over money with Mom.
You have any idea where I can find Dell?
Why are you asking so many questions about this kid?
He has nothing to do with this.
Of course. I'm just gathering information.
Any idea where he is?
No! [LAUGHING]
[KERI HARRISON]: According to Elizabeth, Dell was
a young kid that had fallen on some hard times.
He fit that mold of the kind of person that could take advantage
of a vulnerable senior.
What's this? Is this Dell?
The one and only.
[KERI HARRISON]: Suddenly, when we saw the hat
on the video, you know, from the bus terminal,
we were thrilled because "There he is! There's Dell!"
Dell and Elizabeth left in the rental car together.
I certainly was very surprised by that.
We pull any prints off the vehicle?
Yeah. Several. It's a rental.
A rental we now know Dell's been inside of.
Send them all in, see if we can get an ID.
Send this out to every hotel and motel in the area.
Dell's from out of town. He's gotta stay somewhere.
[KERI HARRISON]: Elizabeth wasn't telling me everything.
We needed to find Dell.
Elizabeth and this young man named Dell got into a vehicle
together.
We knew that he was coming to St. Catharines to look for work,
so we began checking every motel in the area.
It's the off season.
You tend to remember your customers' faces better.
Especially a kid in a cowboy hat.
Was he with a woman?
Nah. He was with some guy.
Actually, they both looked like teenagers.
[KERI HARRISON]: So, two young men were staying in this room,
but at this point, they have left, checked out.
What did the other guy look like?
Big fella. Had a baby face.
Any names?
I'd have to check the receipts.
It's been a couple of days. The room's been cleaned out.
They left a lotta stuff behind, though.
You still have it?
Could be with housekeeping.
Thanks.
Would you mind getting those receipts while I do this?
Sure.
[KERI HARRISON]: The containers were exactly the same
as in Bruce Firman's house. What the hell was goin' on here?
Found it. Here.
The room was paid for by an Elizabeth Gatenby.
[KERI HARRISON]: So she clearly rented a room in her own name,
using her own credit card.
I was thinking "OK, we got ya!"
I told you, Detective, I don't know much about Dell.
We just sat together on the bus. That's all.
He was coming looking for work, he seemed friendly, we got chatting.
He seemed like a really good kid,
just needed a little help, that's all.
Do you know where he went after the bus station?
The QE motel.
- How do you know? - Cause I drove him.
You drove him.
Yeah, he needed a ride.
I paid for his motel room, too.
Poor kid didn't have a credit card, so I got him checked into his room.
Brought him some food, too.
[KERI HARRISON]: Elizabeth, very calmly and clearly,
told me, yes, she did rent that motel room for Dell.
And I was kind of shocked at that.
And you didn't think any of this was worth telling me.
Look. Dell had just gotten clean.
He was looking for a fresh start.
All right? So I just didn't want to get him mixed up in all of this.
So you lied.
No! I was just trying to help.
Where's Dell now?
I don't know.
I work for a youth center. That's what I do.
I see kids like Dell all the time.
Kids who are running from something
and need a fresh start.
If I can help, I do.
So I did.
[KERI HARRISON]: Her whole life was this youth center
that she runs and I thought, maybe she's not only
talking the talk, but she's walking the walk, too.
Yeah, well sometimes kids like Dell hurt the people that help them.
If you hear from Dell, let me know right away.
[KERI HARRISON]: Elizabeth is very convincing.
You know, this is kind of her mission in life
right now, is to help young people who are down and out.
She was just carrying on in her role.
Maybe she was a nice person.
Or maybe she was lying.
Harrison!
The prints came back from the rental.
And?
Only one hit, but it's a good one.
Tommy Nicol!
Male teenager. And look where he's from.
Kimberly, BC. That's just east of where Elizabeth lives.
It doesn't look much like Dell.
Could be the other guy from the hotel room.
[KERI HARRISON]: It was really a turning point for the case.
Not only did we get a print, but we ran it
through the fingerprint identification system
and we got a hit.
Tommy Nicol.
So why'd you bring me here?
To St. Catharines?
You mean, why did we bring you back?
Never been here before.
[KERI HARRISON]: He denied ever being in St. Catharines,
which was good for our investigation
because we have his fingerprint on the rental car.
So, we clearly know he was lying.
We know that's not true, Tommy.
We have your fingerprints.
How old are you? Seventeen?
Eighteen in a few weeks.
Well, that's pretty close.
Especially for a judge deciding whether or not
to try you as an adult.
There's a big difference.
Telling the truth now could go a long way.
Were you robbing the old man and then he came home and found you?
Were you alone?
Was it Dell's idea to kill him?
Dell?
Remember the kid you were with at the motel?
Pfft.
The one with the cowboy hat?
That's not his name.
No? What is it?
Byron.
Byron who?
Byron Gatenby.
Dell was actually Elizabeth's son.
Unbelievable. This was becoming one
of the strangest cases of my career.
Him and I, we uh...
we killed that old man.
[KERI HARRISON]: Tommy identified Dell as Byron Gatenby,
Elizabeth's son.
Byron was in Whistler.
We picked him up and brought him back.
Just to look at Byron, he's not a big guy.
He seems pretty meek and mild. Just doesn't fit the character
of someone who could kill somebody.
I hate flying. It terrifies me.
Is that why you took a bus to kill Bruce?
You're gonna tell us, Byron.
And you know how I know that?
When I met you, I thought I was gonna meet a killer,
but you're not a killer.
A killer wouldn't leave that much proof around. There was
the surveillance video from the bus depot.
Fingerprints in the rental car.
There was Tommy's confession.
And there was the receipt from the motel
that was paid for by your mom.
I met your mom. You know that?
I got to know her, actually.
I think she did what she thought she had to do.
I think she thought she had two choices:
she could either sit back and watch your grandma get destroyed
by Bruce
or do what she thought was right.
And you know, she wasn't good at sitting back.
She has nothing to do with this.
Yeah, good. Then you're gonna have to tell us who does, Byron.
[KERI HARRISON]: It was hard to believe
that an 18-year-old kid is gonna come up with this whole plan
on his own just to help his grandmother.
It certainly looked like Elizabeth was pulling the strings.
But I needed to get more evidence.
You're not gonna believe this.
I got the receipts from the bus company.
Elizabeth used her credit card to buy three tickets
from BC to St. Catharines, two of them under the name Dell.
One from Whistler.
The other one from Kimberly.
It's where Byron and Tommy are from.
Yeah.
[KERI HARRISON]: Elizabeth made it all happen.
But she clearly was not at the scene of the murder.
For us to get a first-degree murder conviction,
Byron had to come clean and tell the truth.
We needed him to testify against his mother.
Who killed Bruce Firman?
Me and Tommy. We killed Bruce.
Why? Did your mother put you up to it?
No, it was my idea. All of it.
I saw Bruce was hurting Grandma, so I decided to do something about it.
I'm sorry, Byron. I know that that's just not true.
I already know that your mother was involved in this.
You see, Byron?
Your mother used her credit card to purchase your ticket.
And Tommy's too.
[SIGH]
I'm going to hell for this.
My mom told me to kill Bruce
and she paid me.
She got our bus tickets. Put me in the hotel.
Tommy too.
She told us to wait until the right time. And then one night, she...
she called me.
And she said that she was having dinner with Grandma.
Me and Tommy drove to Grandma's house.
How'd you get in?
Hidden key in the back.
Went inside the garage and waited.
When Bruce walked in, Tommy just...
whacked him in the face with a pipe wrench.
And I was supposed to strangle him
with a guitar string I brought.
But... But I just started kicking him.
- Why? - I don't know.
Felt good?
As I'm kicking him,
he just rolled over and looked me straight in the eye.
I just froze.
Tommy just started yelling "Finish him! Toast him!"
And I couldn't so Tommy hit him in the head until it was done.
[KERI HARRISON]: While her son was killing Mr. Firman,
Elizabeth was sitting in this restaurant in Niagara Falls
with her mom, complaining about the tea, making a scene.
She was concerned with covering her tracks.
And she let her son take the fall.
I told her that Bruce wouldn't be bothering Grandma anymore.
She kissed me and she paid me 400 bucks.
- Did your grandmother see you? - No.
I'm going to hell for this, aren't I?
[KERI HARRISON]: Byron said his mother paid him to kill Bruce.
[SOBBING]
It was unbelievable.
I don't know that I could ever understand
how a mother could ask that of her son.
- Hello. - We found him.
Byron. We interviewed him. He confessed.
We know you planned the murder.
We know you paid him, too. Four hundred dollars.
Elizabeth Gatenby, you're under arrest
for the murder of Bruce Firman.
You destroyed his life.
Byron did what he did because he loves his grandmother.
No, he did it because of you!
Because he looked up to you for the right thing to do.
And you manipulated him.
You tapped into his weaknesses until you succeeded
in turning your own son into a murderer.
How do you even call yourself a mother?
[KERI HARRISON]: Elizabeth never confesses to the murder.
From that point on, she really never says anything to us again.
I had closed my first case as a lead,
but I felt terribly sorry for Bruce's family.
For Mr. Firman to meet his end this way
is... is really tragic.
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