In the city of Los Angeles,
the people are represented
by two separate yet equally important groups...
The police, who investigate crime,
and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
And guess what.
This will definitely be on the test.
This is a prokaryotic cell,
which lacks both a nucleus
and membrane-bound organelles,
as opposed to...
The eukaryotic cell,
including mitochondria,
golgi apparatus, lysosomes, peroxisomes,
secretory vacuoles.
Moving on.
- [Coughing]
[Sobbing]
Aah! Uhh!
[Sobbing]
I-I cut my foot.
- Oh, let me look at it.
That's nothin'.
- No, no! No!
Leave me alone!
I don't wanna do this anymore!
No! Please!
[Barking]
- Woman found her at 6:20 this morning.
Watch out. - Ugh.
Thought I'd been everywhere in L.A.
- Good morning. - Says you.
What do you have, nishizawa?
- Female, late teens.
No I.D.
Petechial hemorrhaging.
Suggests death by strangulation.
And there's two sets of bruises around her neck.
May be two different pairs of hands.
- Somebody had a party.
- And there's bruising.
Possible rape.
And what party would be complete
without a little torture?
First degree burns. Hot wax.
There's residue.
Jasmine-scented.
- Tattoo.
Kappa Kappa Rho.
Sorority.
Adriano_CSI www.addic7ed.com
I can't believe this. Beth was so sweet.
she was on of our first picks during rush week.
- Beth have a boyfriend?
- No. She studied all the time.
She was premed.
- When was the last time you saw her?
- Last night, around...8:00?
She was going to the library.
I gotta go talk to the girls.
I'm the house mother. They're really upset.
- Thanks for your help.
- Sounds like Beth fit better in a convent
than a sorority.
- Oh, you don't buy any of it?
- Kids have to blow off steam.
Except karina, of course.
- I just grounded her.
For the rest of her life.
- Hmm.
Look what they're wearing in the convent these days.
- I knew L.A. was wrong for her.
- Did Beth ever mention a boyfriend?
- No. She would have told me if she was dating.
- Are you saying another student did this?
- We don't know what happened yet, sir.
- But if you could remember anything--
change in attitude, a problem with anyone.
- Last month, she...
De-friended me on Facebook.
- Our daughter was very innocent.
- The officer outside can take you
to talk to somebody at victims' assistance.
- Yeah.
- Again, we are very sorry for your loss.
- Thank you.
[Sniffles]
- Well, the story's consistent.
Beth was a bookworm.
No dating, no partying.
- Except for that new thong.
- That could have been a gift
from one of her sorority sisters.
Most girls her age wear them.
- Not my daughter.
Coroner confirms vaginal bruising.
Possible rape, but no semen.
There was a piece of glass in Beth's right foot.
The lab found crack cocaine residue on it.
Could be a crack pipe.
Preliminary tox indicates
Beth had a couple of drinks, period.
- So maybe a crack pipe belonging to the suspect.
- Check this.
At 4:20 on the afternoon that she was killed,
Beth got a text from silvie Lester:
"We r on,"
with three exclamation points.
- It was about getting together at the library to study.
- Three exclamation points.
You must really like studying.
- With her, yeah.
She was so smart.
We were both premed. Beth was a real brainiac.
Uh, drawing it helps me remember.
That's my shoulder.
And that's mine too.
- Yeah, you're really good,Sylvie.
Anyway, you and Beth...
Besides anatomy, you ever talk about boyfriends?
- We didn't have that kind of friendship.
- When were you at the library until?
- We worked until 11:00.
I was beat. I went home to sleep.
- And what about Beth?
- She said she needed to chill.
She went over to the pool for a swim.
It's really sad.
I really liked her.
[Horn blows]
- I wasn't on last night.
- I notice you need to swipe a card to get in.
So I guess there was a record of who was swimming last night.
- Yeah, sure is.
All right, Beth Garrett wasn't here last night.
Last time she used the pool was Tuesday,
7:28 A.M.
And before that,
Monday at 10:14 A.M.
- And... - hold on.
Look at this.
We have a Jesse Beckman.
Entering at 10:15 A.M. right behind Beth.
And again on Tuesday, he swiped in at 7:29.
Right behind Beth Garrett.
- Never go swimming without a buddy.
- I didn't know Beth garret.
She was a freshman.
I'm a senior.
- Constitutional law nowak and rotunda.
- Mm-hmm. I plan on going to law school.
- Oh, so you know all about res ipsa loquitur.
"The thing speaks for itself."
- You implying that I had something to do
with killing that girl?
- Well, you did go to the pool five times
in the last two weeks.
- I like to swim.
- At the same time as Beth Garrett?
- You ever hear of coincidence?
- One time is coincidence.
Five times is res ipsa loquitur.
- I wasn't stalking her. Okay?
I've got a girlfriend.
- Let me guess. Her name isSylvie.
Were you cheating on sylvie with Beth?
- I don't have to-- - don't start, Jesse.
You might feel safe in your dorm room
with your college books and your mint "snus."
But we come from the real world where lying to the police
has consequences.
- Okay.
Okay.
Sylvie was acting weird.
I thought she was seeing someone else.
So I went to the pool to talk to Beth aboutSylvie.
I didn't tell you guys straight off
because I don't think law schools appreciate
applicants whose name shows up in a murder case.
- All the same, where were you last night.
- At the basketball game on campus.
Here is my ticket stub.
I did not kill Beth, okay?
- Jesse Beckman, Mr. darden.
He has the season ticket next to you.
Was he at the game last night?
- Are you kidding?
Arizona?
You'd have to be crazy or dead
to have tickets and not go.
- It was a hell of a game.
- Uh, yeah, if you like blowouts.
Bad for Arizona, good for me.
The crowd emptied out at halftime.
I moved down to the third row behind the visitor's bench.
- Was Jesse there for the whole game?
- Uh, actually, I saw him on the lower level too.
At the end of the game.
- Third row, close enough to hear the Arizona coach
curse out Watson. What did he say again?
- Ah, you name it. Heh.
I wouldn't use that language in front of women and kids.
- [Chuckles]
- Ah, I need another cup of Joe.
- Late night studying?
- [Chuckles]
I'm on what they call an extended leave from the college.
Think I got, uh, chronic fatigue syndrome.
Okay to go?
- Sure, Roger. We'll get back to you.
S.O.B.'S lying.
The Arizona coach got booted from the game
a minute before the half.
- Yeah, Roger's covering for Jesse.
- Worse--nishizawa did say there were two sets of hands
on Beth's neck.
- 35 years.
Wow, that's what I call a real fan.
Thank--thank you, Mrs. Lyle.
The lady who sits on the other side of Jesse
thinks he and Roger are buddies.
She said they both left just before the half.
- You know, Roger popped up on our files.
He got bonded by a security company.
He work a graveyard shift as a guard.
Tuesday night, he was guarding an empty house
in runyon canyon.
Nobody lives here.
Word is, the owner's trying to unload it.
This broker hired us about three months ago.
Transients were using it as party central.
- Smells like an ashtray.
- An ashtray somebody puked in.
- Broken crack pipe.
This could be Beth's blood on it.
- Ohh. Hey, Rick.
Come in here.
Condoms, candles. Baggie.
Some nasty stuff
I don't even want to speculate about.
- Little punks.
- Well, they had an excuse.
The devil made 'em do it.
SID found Beth's blood in the den
and on the floor near a broken crack pipe.
- Suspect leave any calling card?
So far, SID identified blood samples
from 23 different people.
Who lived in this place? Dracula?
And Caligula.
They found semen from 19 individuals
and prints from assorted bangers, dope heads,
and prostitutes.
- Any match for Roger darden or Jesse Beckman?
- Well, Jesse's prints weren't in the database,
but we got a hit on Roger on a baggie found in the mattress.
It had traces of the drug salvia.
All the thrills of an acid trip in five minutes.
- So I bonged some salvia in the haunted mansion.
Big deal.
- Not to mention, last I checked,
smoking salvia's perfectly legal.
- What about your basketball buddy Jesse?
He ever come up there to keep you company?
- We're not that close.
- Maybe he needed a place to bring a girl
so his girlfriendSylvie wouldn't fine out about it.
- Nope. Fail. Didn't happen.
- Roger, our lab found Beth's blood
up at the mansion.
We know Jesse was following her.
We know he sits next to you at the games.
You're a smart guy.
Ask your ula legal clinic lawyer here...
It does not look good for you.
- Look, the night you guys are asking about,
I drove down Franklin to get a sandwich.
So if someone broke into the mansion,
I must have missed it.
- Thanks, Roger.
You admitted operating your vehicle
while under the influence of a drug.
Since you got a dui four years ago,
we can impound and search your vehicle.
- This car made that mansion
look like Martha Stewart's powder room.
No trace of your victim... No hair fibers, no blood.
- Cup from the basketball arena.
[Sniffs]
Tobacco and mint.
Maybe from that "snus" crap Jesse puts under his lip.
You think that's enough to get a warrant
to search his dorm room?
- Judge lorenzo?
Thinks all college kids should be in jail.
- This box of candles found in your room
matches the candle found in the mansion
and the wax on Beth's body.
[Door opens]
- We have your prints now, Jesse.
It's only a matter of time before they're matched up
to the ones in the mansion and inside Roger's car.
- Okay. [Clears throat]
Okay, look, I was at the mansion.
But like a week before Beth was killed.
I went up there with Roger to trip,
and that's when I brought the candles.
- Very romantic.
The two of you...
- No...There was no electricity in the place.
I left the candles there.
Somebody else must have used them on Beth.
- See, we have competing stories of our own.
My partner seems to think that you brought Beth up there
to play haunted house.
Maybe Beth threatened to tellSylvie
you were cheating on her.
You panicked.
Lost your temper.
- No, no. That never happened.
- My partner thinks you went up there with Beth,
Roger joined in for three-way Patty-cakes.
Maybe it was too much for Beth.
She screamed rape. Roger killed her.
- Ah...
You don't need law school to see how this lays out.
It's you or Roger.
[Door opens]
- Mr. Gregory's here from the ula legal clinic.
- Jesse, I'm representing you now.
Interview's over.
- One more thing, Jesse.
We have no favorites between you and Roger.
First one to speak up gets the deal.
- [Sighs]
- You spend 50 grand to send your kid to college.
You send them off with love and advice.
- And then you keep your fingers crossed.
- That was the legal clinic.
Sylvie got the lawyer for Jesse and for Roger.
- Very nice of her. One big happy family.
- Son of a bitch.
- See if nishizawa can confirm it.
- Assuming this sketch is to scale...
The thumb-to-index spread...
Matches the spread of the imprint on the neck.
Now, the hand that made these marks
didn't necessarily kill her.
It's the hand that grabbed her
at the base of the neck that did.
- So what are these bruises about?
- Erotic asphyxia.
Squeezing here during sex
reduces the flow of oxygen in your blood to the brain,
causing lightheadedness
and heightened pleasure at the moment or orgasm.
Now, the bruises indicate that pressure was applied
repeatedly over time.
- Could the same hand have caused the strangulation marks?
- Impossible to say definitely.
- You think a freshman premed would know?
- I gave this to Jesse.
He wanted it. It's a sketch of my hand.
- Life-size and true to life, right?
- Yes, except for the skin, of course.
Why?
- This is a photograph of the marks on Beth's neck.
I understand this is hard for you to look at.
- It's okay.
I've seen human dissections at the med school.
- Fair enough.
You see this mark here?
- You mean on the superior carotid triangle?
- I mean, right here.
The coroner took measurements and determined
that this mark is a perfect match
for the hand in your sketch.
- Your hand,Sylvie.
Now, that's not what killed Beth.
See, those marks here in what I believe
you call the inferior carotid triangle?
Those are the strangulation marks.
- The coroner also found that those marks match your hand.
- No. No.
She was alive the last time I saw Beth.
She was alive.
- But you were with her in the mansion in runyon canyon.
Now, you may not have killed her.
But you have to explain these marks.
- Beth, uh...
Beth wanted to party.
She wanted to try salvia.
We went up there with Jesse and Roger,
and then it got crazy.
- Explain it.
- Beth started making out with Roger.
She wanted to try things like the choking thing,
but she didn't trust Roger to do it,
so she asked me to while she was having sex with Roger.
Then Jesse started kissing her.
I got mad at Jesse and Beth freaked out.
She ran outside. I...T ried to find her.
But she was hiding.
It got really late. I had an early class.
I left.
Those guys said that they would keep looking for her.
I don't know what they did to her.
I...
I think I should talk to a lawyer.
- All right,Sylvie.
But right now, we have to put you under arrest
and take you down to the office for a booking.
- Turn around, put your hands behind your back.
[Handcuffs snap]
- Oh, my God. You won't believe this.
The cops are busting some student.
Get ready to go viral.
"I tried to find her, but she's hiding."
"Those guys said they'd keep looking for her.
I don't know what they did to her."
- Whose statement is that? - His girlfriendSylvie.
She implicated him and his buddy Roger
for the murder.
- No way. - Yes way.
She said when she left your little orgy
Beth was still alive,
and you and Roger were in the house.
- That's crazy. Why would I kill Beth?
- Maybe it had something to do
with the fact that you tried to rape her.
- I--
- "then Jesse started kissing her.
I got mad at Jesse and Beth freaked out."
-Sylvie told me to make out with Beth.
- Your girlfriend told you to have sex with her friend?
- The whole thing wasSylvie's idea.
She brought Beth to the mansion and she...
She told me and Roger what to do.
- She was like...
The queen bee mistress of darkness, you know?
She would hold Beth's arms
and tell me and Jesse what to do.
- Two big guys taking orders from a little girl?
- Normally, I call the shots.
But, hey, I can roll with anything.
- Including rape, apparently.
- No, no. Beth was into it.
It wasSylvie choking her that freaked her out.
- She got mad atSylvie and ran outside.
- What'd you do about that?
- Well, we looked for her.
Sylvie said she had to leave,
so...Me and Jesse waited around
in case Beth came back.
She never did.
- MaybeSylvie put her in her car.
I--I don't know.
- Spit it out.
- The next day,
sylvie said she would destroy me
if I told anyone.
She said no way was I gonna mess up med school for her.
- They could have coordinated their stories
to put all the weight onSylvie.
- They both gave the same blow by blow.
Right down to who put what, where, when.
Too many details for those two to remember.
Unless it was true.
- Yeah, but how can we make a jury believe
that this girl from fond du lac, Wisconsin
with a 3.8 gpa
is a sexual sadist?
- There's something cold about her.
She talked about the murder with all the emotion
of somebody dissecting a frog.
- Well, she's a med student. She has problems with empathy.
I've had plenty of doctors with lousy bedside manner.
- And you throw in the kinky sex...
- You say kinky, I say experimentation.
That's what kids do in college.
It doesn't necessarily peg them as deviants.
- Or maybe what bothers you is that some 100-pound girl
is bossing those big, bad boys around.
- [Scoffs] - Look, I'm just saying...
That I want our case to be based on facts,
not perception.
- Yeah, well, bring me facts.
- How could she be mixed up in this?
She's gonna be a doctor, for God's sakes.
- Hal...
- They're accusing sylvie of murder.
What am I supposed to do, roll over?
- If you want to help your daughter, Mr. Lester,
I suggest you calm down.
- Ma'am...
We don't know what to think.
Sylvie never missed a day of school.
When she wasn't studying, she was working with
learning disabled kids.
I don't understand.
What happened?
- It's better if you hear it fromSylvie's lawyer.
- Is it that awful?
[Whispering] Oh, it is, isn't it?
Oh, no.
- DidSylvie mention having any friends on campus?
- Did you talk to Melanie Patterson?
She's a freshman too.
They were friends in high school.
She knowsSylvie's a good person.
Talk to her.
- In high school,Sylvie was a total geek.
But when we got here,
she went, like, weird.
Well...She tried to kiss me.
- That was shocking to you.
- Coming from her, yeah.
I think she got hurt that I turned her down.
- She said something?
- It's what she did.
We pledged Alpha chi together.
The upper-class girls made the pledges get naked
and paddle each other's butts.
I figuredSylvie and I were friends,
so she wouldn't hurt me.
- And then she punished you?
- Oh, my God.
I almost passed out from the pain.
I haven't talked to her since.
It's sad.
When we first got here, we didn't know anybody,
so she'd come and sleep over and we'd play with my dog.
Just like when we were little kids.
- You have a dog?
Do you ever take it up to that dog park
off Mulholland?
- Yes,Sylvie and I went there all the time.
- Your honor, the people have presented evidence
that the defendant was familiar with the park
where the body was found.
That she has a history of sadistic behavior.
That she instigated a sex and drug party
the night of the murder.
That she repeatedly choked the victim
for erotic pleasure.
We've also heard testimony
that when the victim ran away,
the defendant pursued her in the dark.
A half an hour later, reappeared alone
and quickly got in her car
and inexplicably drove away.
- It's not inexplicable, your honor.
She had an early class.
- Your honor, the people have shown cause
to proceed to trial.
- Your honor... look at her.
She sold girl scout cookies for crying out loud.
- That's your argument?
- The people's case
rests on the testimony of two compromised witnesses
who sexually abused the victim
and had the means and opportunity to kill her.
- Your honor,Sylvie Lester may have sold cookies,
but she's also a perverse sadist
who killed Beth Garrett because Beth defied her
and threatened to expose her.
- All right, Mr. Decker.
The court finds the people have indeed shown probable cause
to proceed to trial.
- [Sighs]
Is this your son?
- He was eight then.
He's 11 now.
- He's beautiful.
- And a handful.
- WhenSylvie was eight,
I found her in her room, crying.
"Do I have to grow up, mommy?"
[Laughs]
Most little girls can't wait to get older.
ButSylvie looked at me and said,
"when I grow up..."
[Crying]
"I'll have to leave you and daddy."
[Crying]
[Sighs]
In here, you know who your baby is.
And you know when they're hurting or sad.
Or afraid.
And you know what they're capable of.
And that girl Mr. Decker described in court
was not mySylvie.
[Receding footsteps]
- Hey.
Does it bother anybody
that the only evidence we have that Beth was inSylvie's car
is a few hairs on the front seat?
Which you'd expect,
since Beth drove to the house withSylvie.
- Well,Sylvie's premed. She'd know about DNA.
- Maybe she wrapped the body up.
- And there's no evidence that sylvie was at the dump site.
There's no dirt on her shoes, nothing on her clothes.
It's worth another look.
- Oh, you're kidding.
- No.
And, dad, dollars to donuts...
Your daughter wears a thong.
- [Clears throat]
- Unlike the marks from the erotic asphyxiation,
the strangulation marks occurred during a struggle.
The killer was trying to hold on.
And there are way too many bruises
to assign to a set of hands.
Are you having doubts?
- Not us, our boss.
She had a heart-to-heart with the killer's mom.
- [Chuckles] I never knew arleen to be such a softie.
- Well, humor her, for our sakes.
- I didn't find five dog hairs.
Three in her throat, two in her lungs.
Black hairs and white hairs.
I estimate she breathed them in
while she was being strangled.
- Well, she was dumped at a dog park.
- I assume she was already dead
and stopped breathing by then.
- If she'd been strangled outside the house...
- She would have breathed in other materials--
pollen, dirt-- besides the dog hairs.
- Well, there were no dog hairs inSylvie's car,
the mansion, Roger's car...
She was in another car.
- The killer's car.
The actual killer.
- The one who's out there right now,
walking a black and white dog.
- Five dogs hairs? - Most likely from a Terrier.
- She had been running around the Canyon.
L.A.'s a dog town.
I mean, dozens of people walk their dogs up there.
- We think she came in contact with an unknown suspect.
Maybe he gave her a ride.
Killed her in the car.
He has a dog.
She inhaled hairs from the dog.
- Well, this evidence is vapor.
Trial begins tomorrow.
- You'd go to trial when there's doubt?
- There's no doubt here.
- Play it out.
Check the dog park.
- Her parents were in the courtroom.
And they were upset.
But in 25 years, she's gonna come out of jail,
and they'll still have a daughter.
What do we have? Nothing.
- That girls sits there stone-faced.
I want to see her
when the jury says she's guilty.
I want to see a tear...
Anything to show she feels remorse.
- I don't care about her remorse.
I just want a guilty verdict.
We're counting on you, Mr. Decker.
- We'll do everything we can.
- Thank you.
- I need to work on my opening.
- Three good cops think we're jumping the gun.
- I don't answer to them.
The evidence, the facts,
they point toSylvie.
Not perception.
Facts.
- Do you know how many people have terriers?
They were the "it" dog a couple of years back.
- Well, if you see anyone with a black and white one,
I'd appreciate it if you'd call the number there.
- I've got nothing. - Same here.
- All right...
You take north, I'll take South.
- I saw the flyer and thought,
better safe.
It's so horrible what happened.
- Now, in your message, you said you saw someone
with a black and white terrier?
- Yes. I mean no.
He has two scotties.
One black, one white.
He uses them to hit on women in the park.
He hasn't been around since that poor girl was found.
- Do you know his name? - No.
- How about a description?
- Average.
He thought he was some sort of stud.
He was on a reality show.
The bachelorette or the other one.
It was probably bogus.
- You know, I used to eat fish tacos
every night while on trial.
- Well, I'm not superstitious.
- Well, neither am I.
I just like fish tacos.
You hungry?
- You said you wanted to talk.
- I'd prefer if you didn't put me on the stand tomorrow.
- Do you have a credible lead besides five dog hairs?
- I'm just not convinced she did it.
We both have daughters.
And with that comes an expectation
of how "good girls" should behave.
- Well, you're not gonna be asked your opinion
about her guilt.
- Her lawyer, citron,
he's a lot smarter than he lets on.
- Yeah, well, I can handle him.
- I'm not sure I can...
Without perjuring myself.
- Rick...
I know you well enough to know
that you would never do that.
And you know me well enough to know
that I would never ask you to.
- I'll see you tomorrow.
- We questioned Jesse Beckman and Roger darden separately
on several occasions, and their accounts
were consistent with the facts.
In my opinion, they told the truth.
- Thank you.
- When you first talked to Beckman and darden,
they lied.
Isn't that true?
- Yes.
- So when, in your opinion,
did they start telling the truth?
- When we confronted them
withSylvie's statement.
- And you decided they were telling the truth
when they contradicted her account.
Isn't that right? - That's not the reason.
- Come on, detective.
You made a decision based on your own morality.
Beckman and darden, they were just acting like
horny college boys.
ButSylvie exploring her sexuality, that's--
well, it's unladylike.
It's immoral.
Evidence of a depraved personality
capable even of murder.
Isn't that why you believed them and not her?
- No, I based my decision on my years
as an investigator and a prosecutor.
- Well, speaking of your experience,
given thatSylvie is not a professional killer,
did you find it unusual
that there was no trace
that she had transported Beth's body in her car?
There's no blood, no fluids.
Nothing in the trunk or the backseat.
- They may very well have been traces.
We just didn't find them.
- Finally, detective...
Having failed
to find any direct evidence
my client killed Beth Garrett,
are you satisfied
that you've investigated every lead,
every alternate theory of this crime?
- No.
I don't ever consider a case closed
until there's been a confession
or a finding of guilt.
Only a jury can close a case.
- No further questions.
- Redirect, Mr. Decker.
- No, your honor.
- You're excused, detective.
- This guy with the scotties-- Trevor Cannon.
On probation for assault.
Seems after he got throw off of that dating show,
he beat up some citizen in a bar.
[Dog barking]
- Quiet!
I got tired of driving up to that dog park.
Found a place here in Burbank.
My dogs don't know the difference.
- I wouldn't be so sure. Scotties are very intelligent.
- The victim had dog hairs on her.
Could we take some hair samples from your dogs,
just for elimination purposes?
- My dogs wouldn't like that.
- Oh, we can take it off the carpet.
- I don't want you in my house.
- Oh, you have some hair right here.
[Cops chuckling]
I think you just violated your probation, Mr. Cannon.
Please turn around and put your hands behind your back.
[Cuffs snapping]
- Jesse was the first boy
I had an actual relationship with.
I didn't have a boyfriend in high school.
I had sex twice.
It was quick and not any fun.
Jesse and I wanted to try things together,
like the choking thing.
I told Beth about it
and she said she wanted to try it.
It wasn't a lifestyle.
We were just curious.
Jesse got his friend Roger.
And we all met up at the mansion.
- What happened there?
- The boys were acting all awkward.
So I had to tell them what to do.
What Beth wanted.
Roger was having sex with her.
And I'd squeeze her neck...
Let go, and do it again.
And then she... Started coughing.
She ran out,
and Roger got mad, 'cause he wasn't finished.
So he went and got her
and she'd cut her foot.
- What did you do? [Phone buzzing]
- I told her I was sorry.
Roger wanted to keep having sex with her.
But Beth wasn't into it anymore
so she ran and got her stuff
and she left.
We all went to look for her, but she had disappeared.
- The cops have a suspect.
- And you left? - Mm-hmm.
I thought I'd find her walking home.
When I didn't, I assumed she'd gone back to the house
and the guys would take her home.
I liked Beth.
We were both gonna be doctors.
Thought we'd be friends for life.
I would never, ever hurt her.
- Thank you,Sylvie.
- But, in fact, Ms. Lester,
you did hurt Beth, didn't you?
You gave her first degree burns with hot wax.
You choked her hard enough to leave bruises
on her neck.
- Y-yes, we got carried away.
- No, you got carried away.
When she cut her foot,
what did you do?
- I tried to stop the bleeding?
- How? Did you remove the piece of glass?
Did you clean out the wound?
- No.
- Did you insist on driving her to the hospital
so she could get stitches? - I was going to.
- But you didn't.
And you say that you want to be a doctor.
But I'm sorry, maybe your compassion
doesn't extend to playthings.
Because that's what Beth was to you, wasn't she?
A plaything?
- No, we were friends.
- I was home by myself.
- Mm, another lonely night in lonely town, huh?
- I get plenty of action.
- This assault two years ago,
you got angry when a woman made a joke
about your getting tossed off that dating show.
You beat up her boyfriend.
- I was minding my own business.
They got in my face. - They made fun of you.
- They were lookin' for a fight.
- Hmm.
You got dumped after the third episode, right?
Getting shot down by a girl
in front of 11 million people.
- Ouch.
- How do you live that down?
- It was worth the paycheck.
- I downloaded the episode.
Did you ever watch it? [Laughing]
The look on your face.
- Forget it. - "Dumped"!
[Cops laughing] - Forget it!
- It's priceless. Here!
- I said forget it already!
- You don't like people laughing at you.
Do you, Trevor?
- You lied to the police about where you were that night.
You lied about your relationship with Beth.
You lied about your sex games.
How do you explain all of these lies?
- I was afraid of what other people would think of me.
Just like what you think now.
That I'm some weirdo.
- Is that why you told Jesse that you would destroy him
if he said anything to anybody?
Because you didn't want it
ending up on the Internet, did you?
Where everyone could see it!
Your parents, the medical school--
- no, I didn't!
- Is that why you ran after her when she ran away?
So you can calm her down
and talk her out of filing a complaint
against you with the school?
- She wouldn't do that.
- Is that what she told you when you found her?
- I didn't find her!
- Oh, come on,Sylvie!
She ran out half-dressed,
limping with a cut in her foot,
and you couldn't catch up to her?
- No, it was dark.
- But you could hear her crying, couldn't you?
She accused you of hurting her.
Using her.
She blamed you.
- That's not true. That is not true!
- So you wrapped your hands around her neck,
lower this time,
around the inferior carotid triangle,
just to shut her up!
But you didn't let go.
Until she was dead.
Isn't that what you did?
- No.
I didn't kill Beth.
- We just have a couple more things to go over.
And then you can go home.
- What do you have on him?
- Black and white terriers, a prior for assault,
and he stopped going to the dog park right after the murder.
Mr. Cannon's got a real problem with women.
- Maybe we should make a call to judge barber.
- No, jeopardy's attached.
Case goes to the jury tomorrow,
and if we pull it now and we're wrong,
we can't retrySylvie.
So unless we hear a confession...
We're not doing anything.
- Our experts examined your cell phone records.
They noticed that the night the girl was killed,
your phone was pinging off towers in the Hollywood hills.
- You told us you were home in Burbank all night.
- Right.
But I ran an errand for my mom.
She lives off Franklin.
I went over the hill and brought her groceries.
- That's nice.
What time was that?
- Around 10:00.
- And you were there 10, 15 minutes?
- No, I, uh...
Helped her with some laundry.
Folding it and such.
- [Snickers]
- There's nothing funny about it.
- No, course there isn't.
-Sylvie's lawyer wants to meet up
and talk about a deal.
She's ready to take a plea.
- Jane Cannon?
That's your mother?
Get a lot of calls from her.
- What can I tell you?
She's my mother.
- What should I tell him?
- You get groceries, you're doing laundry?
- Bird in hand, counselor?
- Is she elderly?
- No. - Disabled?
- There's nothing wrong with her.
Why don't you just call her?
She'll tell you I was at her place that night.
- Call the lawyer.
Tell him to meet us in my office in ten minutes.
- The road from your place to your mom's place
goes right past runyon canyon.
- So? - So that's the same path
the girl would have used to get back to her campus.
You picked her up didn't you?
- The lab's gonna match the dog hairs, Trevor.
They'll find traces of the girl in your car.
- Let me step this out for you, Trevor.
There's you... With a bellyful of rage
from your mom yanking on your leash
every time she wants something done...
And there's this half-naked college girl
in the seat next to you, crying.
Maybe you put your hand out on her knee
to comfort her.
But she took it the wrong way.
She ordered you to stop the car and let her out.
She demanded it.
Just like mom.
Always demanding.
What kind of a man takes that from a woman?
What kind of a man doesn't fight back?
Do I have it right, Trevor?
You fought back.
- I couldn't stop myself.
- The state has dropped all charges
againstSylvie Lester.
I want to thank you for your time and effort.
You're dismissed.
Ms. Lester, you're free to go.
Court is adjourned.