WEBVTT - Episode 6: The Verdict 0:00:15.356 --> 0:00:24.196 Pushkin previously on Deep Cover. 0:00:24.636 --> 0:00:27.796 Now, in a criminal case, the prosecution side of the story, 0:00:27.836 --> 0:00:30.356 they have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. As to 0:00:30.436 --> 0:00:32.836 the defense side of the story, we just have to 0:00:32.916 --> 0:00:36.956 create reasonable doubt. But we did way more than that. 0:00:38.116 --> 0:00:39.556 I felt like I had to go to. 0:00:41.036 --> 0:00:42.876 Trial every day and I feel like I had to 0:00:42.916 --> 0:00:47.276 find truthful, not only for the family, for my mom. 0:00:47.596 --> 0:00:50.636 People don't understand. It's not TV that it's cut and 0:00:50.676 --> 0:00:55.436 everybody's happy. There is a life after a case, and 0:00:55.556 --> 0:00:57.876 people have to live the rest of their lives dealing 0:00:57.916 --> 0:01:02.596 with the murderer, his family, his friends, his associates. 0:01:03.156 --> 0:01:04.476 They're going to have to look. 0:01:04.836 --> 0:01:11.836 Behind their back for the rest of their lives. 0:01:13.436 --> 0:01:16.356 In May of two thousand and eight, the trial for 0:01:16.396 --> 0:01:19.836 the murder of Iran Wood was in full swing and 0:01:19.956 --> 0:01:23.676 Tyrone would Iran's youngest brother. He had a front row 0:01:23.716 --> 0:01:26.996 seat for it all, including a view of the defendant, 0:01:27.476 --> 0:01:28.316 Tom Guybison. 0:01:29.116 --> 0:01:32.796 I had to see this guy, and then you know, 0:01:32.876 --> 0:01:38.116 I'm thinking, I know you did it, and you wanted 0:01:38.116 --> 0:01:42.116 to meet Jamaica one day and that's Beyrd, I mean man. 0:01:42.236 --> 0:01:45.556 Then after that, because I know you did you killed 0:01:45.636 --> 0:01:46.036 my brother. 0:01:47.396 --> 0:01:52.516 So at least Tyrone didn't have to face this alone. 0:01:52.756 --> 0:01:55.116 I always had someone with me, whether it was my brother, 0:01:55.636 --> 0:01:58.916 my uncle, one of my uncle's friends. 0:01:59.076 --> 0:02:02.116 I was never, like ever, completely by myself. 0:02:04.916 --> 0:02:08.476 For years, the story of Iran Wood and his mysterious 0:02:08.596 --> 0:02:12.036 murder had been a largely private affair for the Wood family. 0:02:12.796 --> 0:02:16.556 The grief, the uncertainty, and the hope for justice had 0:02:16.596 --> 0:02:21.316 been theirs alone. But that had changed. Newspapers printed blow 0:02:21.316 --> 0:02:24.516 by blow coverage of the trial for weeks. It was 0:02:24.556 --> 0:02:28.436 a gripping drama playing out in real time. So many 0:02:28.516 --> 0:02:29.996 people were following the story. 0:02:30.036 --> 0:02:30.276 Now. 0:02:31.596 --> 0:02:34.916 One of them was Tyrone's boss. Usually he was a 0:02:34.916 --> 0:02:38.796 man of few words, not the expressive type, but apparently 0:02:39.156 --> 0:02:40.876 he felt compelled to say something. 0:02:42.396 --> 0:02:46.076 He said Wow. I said, wow, what did you say? 0:02:46.116 --> 0:02:46.476 Wild for? 0:02:47.196 --> 0:02:49.916 And him and I are not close, and he said, 0:02:51.236 --> 0:02:54.796 I couldn't believe that you went through that because he 0:02:54.876 --> 0:02:57.996 saw it in he was watching the news and he 0:02:58.476 --> 0:03:00.996 was blown away because he never knew. 0:03:01.556 --> 0:03:03.956 And I tell people all the time, everybody got a story. 0:03:04.716 --> 0:03:06.876 I don't want. Nobody had my story. 0:03:07.596 --> 0:03:13.676 Well of a suddenly being killed, but everybody has the story. 0:03:14.676 --> 0:03:17.916 For the Wood family, this ordeal, which had shaped their 0:03:17.956 --> 0:03:22.436 lives for almost two decades, was maybe, just maybe coming 0:03:22.436 --> 0:03:27.876 to a close. Both sides made their closing arguments, then 0:03:28.196 --> 0:03:31.116 at last it was time for the jury to deliberate. 0:03:32.196 --> 0:03:34.756 It would be up to them to pass judgment and 0:03:34.876 --> 0:03:38.996 render a verdict. Turns out things got pretty heated in 0:03:39.036 --> 0:03:42.876 that jury room. The whole process was fraud. But in 0:03:42.916 --> 0:03:46.636 the end they did reach a verdict. It just wasn't 0:03:46.636 --> 0:03:50.236 the verdict that anyone, either the defense or the prosecution, 0:03:51.236 --> 0:04:09.796 ever expected. I'm Jake Halbern and this is Deep Cover, 0:04:09.956 --> 0:04:27.596 Season four, The Nameless Man, Episode six, The Verdict, our 0:04:27.636 --> 0:04:38.876 season finale. There's almost nothing in the public record about 0:04:38.876 --> 0:04:42.556 what the jurors discussed during their deliberations. Some of them 0:04:42.636 --> 0:04:44.916 took notes, but they had to hand them over at 0:04:44.916 --> 0:04:47.556 the end of the trial. One duror talked to a 0:04:47.596 --> 0:04:51.076 newspaper reporter when it was all over, but that was it. 0:04:51.676 --> 0:04:55.396 So their whole decision making process, it's remained a mystery 0:04:55.556 --> 0:04:58.956 to this day. I knew it would be tricky tracking 0:04:58.956 --> 0:05:02.276 down the jurors in this case. For starters, I wasn't 0:05:02.316 --> 0:05:05.556 even sure how many of them were still alive. I mean, 0:05:05.636 --> 0:05:09.836 it had been over fifteen years since the trial Eventually 0:05:09.956 --> 0:05:13.036 I connected with several of the jurors and interviewed two 0:05:13.036 --> 0:05:14.436 of them, starting with this guy. 0:05:15.596 --> 0:05:20.476 Okay, my name is Bob. I'm a Philadelphian and I 0:05:20.596 --> 0:05:23.756 was selected to serve on the jury that heard the 0:05:23.756 --> 0:05:25.516 case of Thomas Guibison. 0:05:26.476 --> 0:05:29.076 To protect his privacy, I'm not going to use Bob's 0:05:29.116 --> 0:05:31.956 last name, but I can tell you Bob is a 0:05:31.996 --> 0:05:35.356 science nerd and that informs his outlook on life. 0:05:35.956 --> 0:05:38.836 Being trained as a scientist, I would say, yeah, logic 0:05:39.036 --> 0:05:43.156 was a big part at or at least seriously questioning things, 0:05:43.916 --> 0:05:48.876 and you know what's proof and what's not proof. You know, 0:05:48.916 --> 0:05:51.596 where is their doubt, what degree of doubt is there 0:05:51.876 --> 0:05:52.476 in things? 0:05:53.276 --> 0:05:56.316 So in many ways, Bob is kind of an ideal juror. 0:05:56.956 --> 0:06:00.756 He's been selected to sit on six juries for this trial. 0:06:01.196 --> 0:06:05.156 Mike Ferrell, the defense lawyer, questioned potential jurors about their 0:06:05.196 --> 0:06:09.276 sense of fairness. He asked Bob point blank if he 0:06:09.316 --> 0:06:12.916 could set aside whatever biases he might have about someone 0:06:13.036 --> 0:06:14.516 being a skinhead. 0:06:15.276 --> 0:06:19.796 And my response was, I wouldn't make any presumption on that. 0:06:20.276 --> 0:06:23.876 I would listen to the testimony and I would decide 0:06:23.876 --> 0:06:28.356 according to this specific facts of the specific case. 0:06:29.676 --> 0:06:31.636 Bob was selected to be on the jury in this 0:06:31.796 --> 0:06:35.316 case along with eleven others, Four of them were black, 0:06:35.716 --> 0:06:41.356 eight of them were white. Tom Guybison was facing four charges, 0:06:41.956 --> 0:06:45.756 a weapon charge, conspiracy to commit murder, murder in the 0:06:45.796 --> 0:06:50.796 first degree, and finally ethnic intimidation. That last one is 0:06:50.836 --> 0:06:55.596 basically what Pennsylvania calls a hate crime. As I see it, 0:06:55.836 --> 0:06:59.236 there were two fundamental questions that the jury was facing. 0:06:59.876 --> 0:07:04.156 Number one, did it really happen? In other words, do 0:07:04.236 --> 0:07:07.796 you believe that years ago Tom Guybison murdered a black 0:07:07.836 --> 0:07:12.116 man in Philadelphia? Then there was the second question, was 0:07:12.156 --> 0:07:16.116 there enough evidence to convict Tom, specifically for the murder 0:07:16.116 --> 0:07:20.196 of Iran Wood. The first question did it really happen? 0:07:20.756 --> 0:07:24.556 Hinged on the testimony of the prosecution's three star witnesses. 0:07:25.196 --> 0:07:27.836 There were the two ex girlfriends, both of whom claimed 0:07:27.836 --> 0:07:31.196 that Tom had confessed to them, and then there was 0:07:31.236 --> 0:07:37.996 Craig Peterson, who said that he was the accomplice. Bob 0:07:38.076 --> 0:07:42.236 listened to the witnesses testimonies with rapt attention. He found 0:07:42.276 --> 0:07:43.876 the ex girlfriends believable. 0:07:44.556 --> 0:07:49.036 I don't remember anything specifically about their testimony that I 0:07:49.156 --> 0:07:52.236 thought that that doesn't ring true. Or I really have 0:07:52.396 --> 0:07:55.876 doubts about that. I thought they made credible witnesses. 0:07:56.916 --> 0:08:00.036 And he felt the same way about Craig. Thought he 0:08:00.076 --> 0:08:03.756 seemed credible. But here's the thing, says Bob. 0:08:04.356 --> 0:08:07.276 Somebody can be credible about something that happened twenty years 0:08:07.276 --> 0:08:09.836 ago and not remember it completely correct. 0:08:10.476 --> 0:08:13.956 Bob said, case in point was the very conversation that 0:08:14.036 --> 0:08:15.036 he and I were having. 0:08:15.916 --> 0:08:19.756 Now, I'm trying to remember fifteen years ago what I 0:08:19.836 --> 0:08:22.716 experienced on a trial. I can't remember a lot of it. 0:08:23.916 --> 0:08:27.476 Bob told me some things he remembered very well, specific 0:08:27.516 --> 0:08:31.556 moments in the trial, feelings, he had parts of conversations 0:08:31.556 --> 0:08:35.836 that took place, but other details escaped him, or maybe 0:08:35.876 --> 0:08:38.436 he recalled them hazily, not in the way that he 0:08:38.476 --> 0:08:43.116 could trust. And this, right here was the problem for Bob. 0:08:43.516 --> 0:08:46.476 He told me it was entirely possible that Craig was 0:08:46.516 --> 0:08:51.436 telling the truth, but that Craig's memory was imperfect. And 0:08:51.956 --> 0:08:55.916 that's a big thing, because Craig's confession, with all of 0:08:55.956 --> 0:09:00.356 its specific details, is what connected Tom Guybison to the 0:09:00.436 --> 0:09:01.796 murder of iron Wood. 0:09:02.796 --> 0:09:07.276 I definitely did have some doubts, yeah, absolutely, but I 0:09:07.356 --> 0:09:09.116 wanted to discuss them. I wanted to hear what other 0:09:09.236 --> 0:09:11.596 people had to say because they might alleviate my doubts. 0:09:12.916 --> 0:09:16.876 So when the jury gathered behind closed doors, Bob expressed 0:09:16.956 --> 0:09:19.876 his doubts. He just laid them all out. 0:09:20.116 --> 0:09:22.596 They might have even killed someone, but it might not 0:09:22.676 --> 0:09:25.676 have been on that day and at that time, because 0:09:25.716 --> 0:09:29.156 there was you know, there was there were possible recollection issues, 0:09:29.236 --> 0:09:33.076 and that I thought that the location description, the date 0:09:33.316 --> 0:09:35.556 and the dayton time that they came to the city 0:09:36.636 --> 0:09:39.596 were wobbly, and the description of how they got where 0:09:39.596 --> 0:09:40.316 they got. 0:09:40.516 --> 0:09:45.996 When you start voicing your doubts to your fellow jurors, 0:09:46.596 --> 0:09:47.996 what do they say back? 0:09:48.196 --> 0:09:51.556 Various jurors, you know, are quiet, Some of them just 0:09:51.676 --> 0:09:54.796 take it in. A couple of other people started to 0:09:54.836 --> 0:09:59.156 say the same thing. Is this timeline, you know, something 0:09:59.156 --> 0:10:02.156 we can rely on, and the location something we can 0:10:02.196 --> 0:10:04.436 rely on. Do we really know that that's where they 0:10:04.516 --> 0:10:08.356 wound up and that they killed you know, Aron Wood, 0:10:09.116 --> 0:10:09.516 I don't know. 0:10:14.556 --> 0:10:17.356 Back in two thousand and six, when the Philly PD 0:10:17.716 --> 0:10:21.276 first started searching for a potential victim, they looked at 0:10:21.356 --> 0:10:25.236 all the unsolved murders. From January through May of nineteen 0:10:25.276 --> 0:10:29.196 eighty nine, there were thirty seven of them. Then they 0:10:29.276 --> 0:10:33.036 narrowed down the pool of possibilities by considering several key 0:10:33.116 --> 0:10:37.596 details that Craig remembered. These details included the general location 0:10:37.756 --> 0:10:40.636 of the crime, the type of weapon, and the nature 0:10:40.716 --> 0:10:44.276 of the wound a single shot to the head. They 0:10:44.316 --> 0:10:49.516 found just one match around wood. But this is the 0:10:49.596 --> 0:10:53.116 thing about reasonable doubt. All it takes is a juror 0:10:53.236 --> 0:10:57.396 questioning a single fact, like, for example, what if Tom 0:10:57.436 --> 0:11:01.116 fired his gone twice, not once, because there was in 0:11:01.156 --> 0:11:04.356 fact another cold case victim from the spring of eighty 0:11:04.476 --> 0:11:08.036 nine who died of two gunshot wounds. The defense brought 0:11:08.076 --> 0:11:12.916 this other victim up during the trial. So if you 0:11:13.036 --> 0:11:15.916 find Craig credible, like so many of the jurors did, 0:11:16.236 --> 0:11:19.516 it seems very reasonable to assume that he'd correctly remember 0:11:19.596 --> 0:11:22.876 how many times Tom's gun went off. Craig had been 0:11:22.916 --> 0:11:27.036 consistent about this. But the key is if God to 0:11:27.116 --> 0:11:31.956 have faith in Craig's memory, enough faith that reasonable doubt 0:11:32.236 --> 0:11:38.236 doesn't creep in. Bob says as he continued to think 0:11:38.236 --> 0:11:42.236 it through, he became increasingly convinced that at the very 0:11:42.316 --> 0:11:46.556 least Tom and Craig had conspired to commit murder. He 0:11:46.636 --> 0:11:49.556 was just having his doubts about the particulars of whom 0:11:49.596 --> 0:11:52.396 they might have killed, and so too were some of 0:11:52.396 --> 0:11:56.316 his fellow jurors, says Bob. So they decided to send 0:11:56.356 --> 0:11:59.516 a note to the judge with a question. They actually 0:11:59.516 --> 0:12:02.676 did this a few times. And here's what Bob was 0:12:02.796 --> 0:12:03.876 really struggling with. 0:12:04.996 --> 0:12:07.516 If we convict somebody a murder, so we have to 0:12:07.516 --> 0:12:11.756 convict him of murdering a specific That's now that sounds 0:12:11.756 --> 0:12:14.316 like a weird question to ask, right, But that's where 0:12:14.316 --> 0:12:17.516 we got to in the discussions, Like we even believed 0:12:17.556 --> 0:12:19.316 they came here to kill somebody, and they might have 0:12:19.396 --> 0:12:22.356 killed somebody, we're just not convinced that's who they killed. 0:12:22.356 --> 0:12:25.196 If they did kill somebody, and what did the judge say? 0:12:26.316 --> 0:12:30.676 The judge essentially, you know, stated the law as the law. 0:12:30.916 --> 0:12:33.996 But the bottom line was, if you convict someone of 0:12:33.996 --> 0:12:37.636 a murder, it must be a specific person that they killed. 0:12:37.636 --> 0:12:38.876 It you have to convict them of. 0:12:39.236 --> 0:12:41.716 Let me ask you a question. If the judge had 0:12:41.716 --> 0:12:45.476 come back and told you you can, you can make 0:12:45.476 --> 0:12:49.396 a murder conviction even if you don't think it was would. 0:12:50.596 --> 0:12:54.636 Yes, how would you what I have voted? I believe 0:12:54.636 --> 0:12:56.956 I would have voted guilty on that. 0:13:04.076 --> 0:13:07.236 By the third day of deliberations, the mood in the 0:13:07.316 --> 0:13:08.676 jury room was tense. 0:13:09.676 --> 0:13:12.516 I was tired. I was thinking about this all the time, 0:13:12.596 --> 0:13:15.956 even when I wasn't in there. It's difficult to be 0:13:15.996 --> 0:13:18.956 put in this situation, to know there was a victim, 0:13:19.396 --> 0:13:21.796 even the idea that you know, the family, you know, 0:13:22.436 --> 0:13:25.276 might be looking foreclosure on this and want somebody that's 0:13:25.396 --> 0:13:28.316 you know, guilty of it. But I haven't been given 0:13:29.436 --> 0:13:31.476 the evidence to be able to do that. 0:13:33.236 --> 0:13:35.916 Bob says from the start of the trial, he was 0:13:35.916 --> 0:13:39.436 determined to hear all the evidence, all the testimony, and 0:13:39.516 --> 0:13:42.556 keep an open mind, to focus on the facts, to 0:13:42.596 --> 0:13:46.516 avoid making leaps of logic, and when necessary, to question 0:13:46.556 --> 0:13:50.276 his own thinking. And now his doubts took cold. 0:13:51.276 --> 0:13:53.796 I teared up when I was talking to the other drawers. 0:13:54.236 --> 0:13:57.196 I was, you know, we were kind of wrung out. 0:13:57.676 --> 0:14:01.196 He kept asking himself, Am I seeing it the right way? 0:14:01.316 --> 0:14:04.396 Is there something I'm missing? Is it a moral failing 0:14:04.436 --> 0:14:06.476 of mind that I'm not willing to make the jump 0:14:07.636 --> 0:14:09.916 because I think it's shaky, Or am I on the 0:14:09.996 --> 0:14:13.676 right moral side of the question because I actually have doubts. 0:14:13.676 --> 0:14:16.476 In a series of doubts and I, you know, I 0:14:16.876 --> 0:14:19.676 can't make the leap that does that make me weak? 0:14:20.196 --> 0:14:22.956 I don't know. All I can do is be true 0:14:22.996 --> 0:14:24.636 to myself. I'm getting emotional now. 0:14:26.636 --> 0:14:30.116 Well, all these years later, it's still yeah. 0:14:30.156 --> 0:14:31.076 It was really hard. 0:14:41.796 --> 0:14:45.476 As deliberations wore on, it seemed like the jury was 0:14:45.516 --> 0:14:49.036 starting to unravel. If there is any hope of a resolution, 0:14:49.836 --> 0:14:52.676 it fell upon this person. I'd like to think of 0:14:52.756 --> 0:14:56.876 myself as even keeled, and I think that's that's probably 0:14:56.916 --> 0:15:01.356 why I took a lead role on the jury. This 0:15:01.476 --> 0:15:04.316 is the jury's foreman. I'm not using his real name. 0:15:04.596 --> 0:15:07.796 We decided to call him Nick in our interview as 0:15:07.876 --> 0:15:10.876 foreman Nick. He's the guy who had to read the verdict, 0:15:11.316 --> 0:15:14.716 but the foreman. He's also like a team manager. And 0:15:14.796 --> 0:15:17.956 at this point three days in, seemed like the team 0:15:18.356 --> 0:15:19.356 had hit a brick wall. 0:15:20.316 --> 0:15:24.236 Pressure was growing within the group to come to a conclusion. 0:15:27.436 --> 0:15:30.036 There was a feeling of we don't have more to 0:15:30.116 --> 0:15:30.516 go on. 0:15:31.396 --> 0:15:34.476 At this point, They've been over the testimony again and again, 0:15:35.116 --> 0:15:38.276 they'd asked for guidance from the judge, and now they 0:15:38.276 --> 0:15:41.836 had to start making choices based on my conversations with 0:15:41.876 --> 0:15:45.276 the jurors and news coverage from the time. It seems 0:15:45.316 --> 0:15:49.236 like the jury divided into three camps. First, there was 0:15:49.276 --> 0:15:53.156 the guilty camp. They were convinced by the prosecution's argument 0:15:53.956 --> 0:15:57.516 and we're basically ready to convict Tom Gobison on all counts, 0:15:57.796 --> 0:16:02.116 including the murder of iron Wood. According to Nick, the foreman, 0:16:02.516 --> 0:16:07.316 this camp included the majority of jurors, including himself. Then 0:16:07.556 --> 0:16:09.956 there was what I call the on the fence camp, 0:16:10.236 --> 0:16:14.196 which included Bob. They thought there'd probably been a murder, 0:16:14.516 --> 0:16:17.036 but had doubts that the victim was a Ron Wood. 0:16:18.156 --> 0:16:21.276 And finally there was the holdout. He was a camp 0:16:21.316 --> 0:16:25.476 unto himself, one guy, and apparently he wanted to acquit 0:16:25.476 --> 0:16:28.876 Tom Gybison on all counts. He made this plane from 0:16:28.916 --> 0:16:32.556 the very start, and after making his case, he refused 0:16:32.556 --> 0:16:36.476 to discuss the matter any further, just stop talking. And 0:16:36.556 --> 0:16:40.596 now three days into deliberations, patience was wearing thin. 0:16:41.716 --> 0:16:45.996 There was a sense Tuesday morning that we were out 0:16:46.036 --> 0:16:50.036 of time. Essentially, there was no more persuasion to happen. 0:16:50.196 --> 0:16:53.276 We'd all, you know, made our cases based on notes, 0:16:53.316 --> 0:16:57.596 based on recollection, based on feelings, and the holdout was 0:16:57.636 --> 0:16:58.276 not budgeing. 0:16:58.996 --> 0:17:00.716 How do you navigate out of that situation. 0:17:03.556 --> 0:17:06.116 So we negotiated. 0:17:06.156 --> 0:17:09.516 Just to be clear here, when he says they negotiated, 0:17:10.076 --> 0:17:14.156 he's talking about the charges brought against Tom, like, could 0:17:14.156 --> 0:17:18.036 they reach a compromise. As the foreman of the jury, 0:17:18.276 --> 0:17:20.956 Nick was in a tricky spot because he thought what 0:17:21.036 --> 0:17:25.676 the prosecution argued was in fact true. He found Craig believable, 0:17:26.076 --> 0:17:30.836 he found Craig's detailed memories credible. But as foreman, he 0:17:30.956 --> 0:17:34.796 was also trying to build consensus and avoid a hung jury. 0:17:35.596 --> 0:17:38.516 It's a tough situation, right, because if you come back 0:17:38.516 --> 0:17:42.516 with a hung jury, there's a chance that this guy 0:17:42.596 --> 0:17:44.316 ends up serving no time at all if the case 0:17:44.396 --> 0:17:45.156 is not retried. 0:17:46.956 --> 0:17:52.796 Yeah, that's exactly what the conversation was, and I think 0:17:53.116 --> 0:18:00.316 enough people felt strongly that he should go to to 0:18:00.396 --> 0:18:03.236 prison for some of this. 0:18:05.196 --> 0:18:09.076 Ultimately, after three days of deliberations, the jury sent word 0:18:09.876 --> 0:18:12.836 they were done. All that was left to do was 0:18:12.916 --> 0:18:17.036 file back into the courtroom and tell everyone what they decided. 0:18:18.356 --> 0:18:42.476 That's after the break. Mike Ferrell, the defense lawyer, remembers 0:18:42.516 --> 0:18:45.756 getting the call that the jury had reached a verdict. 0:18:46.396 --> 0:18:48.876 In the life of the trial lawyer, there is no 0:18:49.116 --> 0:18:53.676 time that in any way comes close to the apprehension 0:18:53.956 --> 0:18:56.636 when you know the jury has a verdict but you 0:18:56.676 --> 0:18:58.076 haven't heard it yet. 0:18:59.036 --> 0:19:03.116 With growing anticipation, he made his way back to the courtroom. 0:19:03.756 --> 0:19:09.396 I remember distinctly having to get on an elevator, hide 0:19:09.556 --> 0:19:12.836 up an elevator multiple floors. 0:19:13.956 --> 0:19:17.956 In the courtroom, everyone was there, the prosecutor, Roger King, 0:19:18.556 --> 0:19:22.836 members of iron Woods family, the jury, the press, and 0:19:22.916 --> 0:19:28.036 of course Tom Guybison. The judge called the room to attention. 0:19:29.356 --> 0:19:32.396 Nick the foreman of the jury, rose to his feet 0:19:33.036 --> 0:19:34.516 and prepared to read the verdict. 0:19:36.196 --> 0:19:40.996 It's incredibly surreal standing in a room with someone who's 0:19:41.036 --> 0:19:47.596 being accused of, you know, cold blooded murder, you know, 0:19:47.676 --> 0:19:50.836 believing that he did it, being convinced I should say 0:19:50.836 --> 0:19:54.196 that that he was the one who did these things, 0:19:56.116 --> 0:19:58.436 and knowing that he's going to look me directly in 0:19:58.476 --> 0:20:02.316 the eye. It was just incredibly surreal, and I just 0:20:02.356 --> 0:20:05.556 took a breath and reminded myself this was real life, 0:20:06.276 --> 0:20:11.036 and then read the read the results. 0:20:12.596 --> 0:20:15.956 The charges were read aloud one final time before the 0:20:16.036 --> 0:20:17.396 jury delivered their verdict. 0:20:18.236 --> 0:20:23.156 The court officer then reads the charge to the first charge, 0:20:23.236 --> 0:20:25.116 the murder of our Wood. How do you find the 0:20:25.156 --> 0:20:29.916 defendant and the jury says not guilty, and that not 0:20:30.476 --> 0:20:34.516 is a you know, a glorious moment in the life of. 0:20:34.476 --> 0:20:35.076 A trial, or. 0:20:37.156 --> 0:20:38.996 What goes through your mind at that moment when you 0:20:38.996 --> 0:20:39.396 hear that. 0:20:41.236 --> 0:20:43.996 Justice has been done. 0:20:44.236 --> 0:20:47.196 The jury acquitted him a first degree murder and of 0:20:47.236 --> 0:20:51.156 ethnic intimidation too. But there was more to the verdict. 0:20:51.716 --> 0:20:54.916 The jury did find Tom Guybison guilty on the two 0:20:54.996 --> 0:20:59.916 lesser charges, conspiracy to commit murder and carrying a firearm 0:20:59.916 --> 0:21:03.276 without a license, crimes that could land time in prison 0:21:03.356 --> 0:21:08.636 for years. That was the compromise, the deal the jury 0:21:08.676 --> 0:21:15.236 had struck uck. When this hit the papers, the Philadelphia 0:21:15.316 --> 0:21:20.156 Daily News called it a bizarre split verdict. The reporter 0:21:20.356 --> 0:21:24.956 described the scene in the courtroom after the verdict was announced, quote, 0:21:25.636 --> 0:21:30.076 A tense Guybison appeared angry, his hands tightly clenched on 0:21:30.116 --> 0:21:34.676 the desk. His attorney, Mike Ferrell, acknowledged the partial win 0:21:35.196 --> 0:21:39.236 by playfully poking Guybison in the bicep above the hitler 0:21:39.276 --> 0:21:43.356 and swastika tattoo hidden by his white, long sleeved shirt. 0:21:50.196 --> 0:21:53.076 For the members of the Wood family, several of whom 0:21:53.116 --> 0:21:55.956 were present, the verdict made no sense. 0:21:56.796 --> 0:21:59.076 We were in quote the first work. 0:21:59.196 --> 0:22:01.676 I guess come to minds what my uncle said, because 0:22:01.716 --> 0:22:03.476 I was basically speechless. 0:22:03.916 --> 0:22:05.076 Uh, he said, travesty. 0:22:06.236 --> 0:22:10.876 That's Tyrone Wood, Iran's youngest brother. Much like Nick, the 0:22:10.916 --> 0:22:15.316 foreman of the jury, Tyrone believed Greig's testimony, believed in 0:22:15.356 --> 0:22:18.436 the integrity of his memory, and felt that there should 0:22:18.436 --> 0:22:19.516 have been a murder conviction. 0:22:20.276 --> 0:22:24.676 Murder is murder. The guy that drove him testified that 0:22:25.796 --> 0:22:29.796 he done it. He did it, We drove I drove him. 0:22:29.796 --> 0:22:32.836 There he shot the black man. 0:22:34.116 --> 0:22:37.996 At some point, according to a press account, Roger King, 0:22:38.116 --> 0:22:41.276 the prosecutor, gathered members of the Wood family into his 0:22:41.396 --> 0:22:44.596 side room and told them, don't try to make any 0:22:44.596 --> 0:22:47.996 sense out of it now. There is an impossible task. 0:22:48.876 --> 0:22:51.836 It had been almost twenty years since Iran Wood had died, 0:22:52.396 --> 0:22:55.196 and during this time, this is what the Wood family 0:22:55.236 --> 0:22:58.636 had tried to do. Makes sense out of it, understand 0:22:58.756 --> 0:23:02.436 how and why Iran had died, and hope for closure. 0:23:03.556 --> 0:23:06.436 Roger King told the family that the verdict was likely 0:23:06.436 --> 0:23:10.716 a compromise within the jury, which of course was true. 0:23:11.036 --> 0:23:14.916 Nick the foreman, had tried to build consensus. 0:23:15.516 --> 0:23:21.156 I thought it was the best we could do, and 0:23:21.676 --> 0:23:24.476 that did not feel great. There was no way to 0:23:24.556 --> 0:23:32.436 feel one hundred percent about it. When you're you're negotiating 0:23:32.476 --> 0:23:38.396 on something you believed to be. 0:23:37.076 --> 0:23:41.436 True, Does that mean that you feel that basically like 0:23:42.756 --> 0:23:45.156 he got off. He got away with murder in the 0:23:45.196 --> 0:23:47.076 sense that he got off on a murder charge that 0:23:47.196 --> 0:23:48.756 you felt he deserved. 0:23:50.156 --> 0:23:52.996 To be convicted of. That's correct. 0:23:56.636 --> 0:23:59.796 Long after I talked with Nick, his words lingered in 0:23:59.836 --> 0:24:03.996 my mind. You're negotiating on something that you believed to 0:24:04.036 --> 0:24:08.116 be true. But how do you barter with the truth, 0:24:09.116 --> 0:24:11.356 Because at the end of the day, the truth is 0:24:11.396 --> 0:24:15.756 supposed to be singular, non negotiable. But it seemed like 0:24:15.916 --> 0:24:19.876 in this case, perhaps the truth and justice, or at 0:24:19.916 --> 0:24:23.396 least the justice that was possible, were two separate things, 0:24:24.476 --> 0:24:28.116 and so a deal was struck, a compromise. But the 0:24:28.156 --> 0:24:30.676 cost for Nick and the other members of the jury 0:24:30.756 --> 0:24:34.116 too was a claim to the truth as they saw it. 0:24:36.476 --> 0:24:39.716 This moment had been years in the making. The whole 0:24:39.756 --> 0:24:43.236 investigation began back in two thousand and four when two 0:24:43.276 --> 0:24:47.116 federal agents, Scott Duffy and Terry Mortimer, set out to 0:24:47.156 --> 0:24:51.036 solve this case. For them, this was a divine quest 0:24:51.116 --> 0:24:54.716 to find a nameless man the victim, and they believed 0:24:54.716 --> 0:24:58.156 they'd found him. For the Wood family, this was a 0:24:58.236 --> 0:25:02.916 quest for another nameless man, the murderer, and they believed 0:25:02.916 --> 0:25:06.716 they'd found him. But in the end, some on the 0:25:06.796 --> 0:25:10.876 jury didn't see it that way, and this left everyone 0:25:10.956 --> 0:25:16.476 wondering what did it all mean? For those involved, the agents, 0:25:16.916 --> 0:25:21.116 the jurors, and especially the Wood family, the question lingered, 0:25:21.756 --> 0:25:25.276 and they each, in their own way, searched for an answer. 0:25:26.876 --> 0:25:31.236 Scott Duffy, the FBI agent, remained unshaken in his belief 0:25:31.476 --> 0:25:32.916 that they had solved this crime. 0:25:33.876 --> 0:25:37.196 I felt so strongly that we had the right person 0:25:39.636 --> 0:25:45.636 and the right victim connected. But that's what happens in 0:25:45.676 --> 0:25:49.636 a case where I have to accept whatever the jury delivers. 0:25:49.716 --> 0:25:52.996 It doesn't tell me if I did enough or didn't 0:25:52.996 --> 0:25:55.676 do enough. I don't go down that rabbit hole. 0:25:55.716 --> 0:25:56.156 I can't. 0:25:57.396 --> 0:25:58.996 I can what if everything to death. 0:26:00.316 --> 0:26:02.556 Scott says that he felt a sense of relief when 0:26:02.556 --> 0:26:06.316 it was all over, a sense of vindication that justice 0:26:06.556 --> 0:26:09.956 was in fact served because Tom had found guilty on 0:26:10.036 --> 0:26:13.956 some counts and he'd been sent to prison. I asked 0:26:13.996 --> 0:26:18.076 Scott how he felt now about Craig Peterson and whether 0:26:18.076 --> 0:26:22.556 he thinks Craig got the justice he deserved. I mean, 0:26:22.556 --> 0:26:24.516 he may not have pulled the trigger, but if he 0:26:24.636 --> 0:26:28.596 is to be believed, he conspired to murder an innocent man, 0:26:29.636 --> 0:26:33.676 and he walked away Scott free. How do you. 0:26:35.116 --> 0:26:35.756 Process that? 0:26:36.796 --> 0:26:41.596 I process it in a way that what's the alternative? 0:26:42.436 --> 0:26:47.196 If we did not give Craig what I think was 0:26:47.276 --> 0:26:53.436