WEBVTT - Cougars on Cocaine Alley - MIM B1

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<v Speaker 1>Murder in Miami is a production of iHeartRadio. Here're some

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<v Speaker 1>additional interviews that provides some interesting context into the violent

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<v Speaker 1>and bizarre world of early eighties Miami, with some surprising overlap.

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<v Speaker 1>Starting with a story from retired Miami Dade detective Jeff Lewis,

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<v Speaker 1>and you said, when you finally got into that house,

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<v Speaker 1>they had two cougars in the.

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<v Speaker 2>Back In the backyard, they had two live cougars.

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<v Speaker 3>It scared the hell out of us.

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<v Speaker 2>We didn't know what to do with them. A couple

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<v Speaker 2>of days later, we learned that cougar's had escaped the

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<v Speaker 2>backyard and that residence and the police had to be called.

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<v Speaker 2>I guess they were legal to have. I'm not real

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<v Speaker 2>sure how that worked out, but they did end up

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<v Speaker 2>escaping and got caught.

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<v Speaker 3>But yes, they were live cougars.

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<v Speaker 2>It was the whole case.

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<v Speaker 3>I could write a book about that case alone.

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<v Speaker 4>Speechless. I mean, you're watchdog, but to think of two

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<v Speaker 4>live cougars patrolling the backyard, that's horrifying.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, and the detectives that went, you know, because you

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<v Speaker 3>surround the house before you enter it, and that's you know,

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<v Speaker 3>they were they went back there and they were it

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<v Speaker 3>was funny because the one of the detectives got you know,

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<v Speaker 3>we got onto the radio to advise and listen, I'm

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<v Speaker 3>I'm advising everyone that we have our cougar in the backyard.

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<v Speaker 3>And the dispatcher heard that and she got on the

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<v Speaker 3>radio and she says, QSK with the VEN number. She

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<v Speaker 3>thought he saw about a car, a cougar car, and

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<v Speaker 3>was going to get the VEN number to run it

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<v Speaker 3>see if it was stolen. And then we had a clarific.

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<v Speaker 3>I know it's a cougar, a cat lion, and.

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<v Speaker 4>That cougartail actually ties in with a childhood story from

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<v Speaker 4>current Miami Dade Police cold case Detective David Denmark.

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<v Speaker 5>And I can attest to that because I would believe

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<v Speaker 5>I was in middle school and during those days you

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<v Speaker 5>had to pick up your report card when it was

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<v Speaker 5>the end of the year before summer started. You actually

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<v Speaker 5>had to appear and sign for it and accept it.

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<v Speaker 5>And when we were growing up, when I say we

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<v Speaker 5>as friends of mine, we would all bicycle to school

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<v Speaker 5>and we would notice the area changing and actually we

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<v Speaker 5>called it Cocaine Alley, which was between is off one

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<v Speaker 5>hundred and twenty seventh Avenue and southwest to sixth Street

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<v Speaker 5>and Bird Road, which is four two street. So that

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<v Speaker 5>area grew really quickly with huge homes, gated windows, and

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<v Speaker 5>driveways that we never saw in our neighborhoods, which was

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<v Speaker 5>only a quarter mile away. So it was just something

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<v Speaker 5>different and really affected us as kids because we weren't

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<v Speaker 5>afraid to drive through there. It was kind of entertaining

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<v Speaker 5>because one of those houses had two pumas in front

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<v Speaker 5>and cages, and we were just in all about that. So,

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<v Speaker 5>you know, we didn't have a problem driving it down

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<v Speaker 5>those neighborhoods, but we definitely saw a change, a huge

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<v Speaker 5>change go up rather quickly. We figured it was all

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<v Speaker 5>you know, that's why we call it Cocaine Alley because

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<v Speaker 5>we figured it was drug money that was purchasing and

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<v Speaker 5>building those homes.

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<v Speaker 4>I was going to say, I've mentioned this to you,

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<v Speaker 4>but Jeff told me a story about responding to a

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<v Speaker 4>house that had to pumas in the same house.

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<v Speaker 5>Yeah, absolutely, especially if it was in that area that

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<v Speaker 5>was known for a lot of the narcotics investigations and stuff.

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<v Speaker 5>Was that whole area there. But another little story is

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<v Speaker 5>during the time that we went to go pick up

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<v Speaker 5>our report cards, the evergrade started right around one hundred

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<v Speaker 5>and twenty seventh Avenue and went west and our church,

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<v Speaker 5>our local church was on the corner of Bird Road

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<v Speaker 5>and one hundred and twenty seventh Avenue, and they a

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<v Speaker 5>lot that was next to the church, and there would

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<v Speaker 5>always be cars parked there and they always had for

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<v Speaker 5>sale signs on them. And the day we would pick

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<v Speaker 5>up our report cards, we drove by there on our

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<v Speaker 5>bicycles and we smelled something awful. You know, we know

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<v Speaker 5>what roadkill smells like, but this was bigger than that,

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<v Speaker 5>because it engulfed the entire area, and we started looking

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<v Speaker 5>around the cars, just being nosy, and we came across

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<v Speaker 5>one where there was something dripping out of the trunk,

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<v Speaker 5>which ended up being maggots, And there was a huge,

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<v Speaker 5>very large, stained brownish reddish stain underneath the trunk of

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<v Speaker 5>that car, so we knew something was in that trunk. Well,

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<v Speaker 5>we flagged down a local police officer Miami Dade, and

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<v Speaker 5>he stopped, cleared us out and told us to step back,

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<v Speaker 5>and roped off the scene and homicide responded. You know,

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<v Speaker 5>the guys when the cool looking glasses and the dress

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<v Speaker 5>pants and the dress shoes showed up and they popped

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<v Speaker 5>that trunk, and indeed there was a body located that

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<v Speaker 5>was bound and gagged. So that's you know, that brings

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<v Speaker 5>it home to me again. I was born and raised

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<v Speaker 5>here in Miami. So when we saw that and figured,

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<v Speaker 5>you know, everything was going down and that was all

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<v Speaker 5>during the eighties, we knew times were changing.

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