1 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:19,919 Speaker 1: Bodybacks with Joseph Scott Morgan. When most people think about 2 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: going to school, will they I think of its kind 3 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 1: of safe haven, a harbor, if you will, from the 4 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: rest of the world. It's a place where you go, 5 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: hopefully to develop and and learn to begin to prepare 6 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:41,199 Speaker 1: yourself for the world outside of that environment. Back on 7 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: Valentine's Day two thousand eighteen, at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, 8 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: it became a killing ground. Today we're going to talk 9 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: about a place frozen in time, the scene of a 10 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: mass murder. I'm Joseph Scott Morgan, and this is Body 11 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:11,640 Speaker 1: Backs Jackie Howard, executive producer of Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. 12 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:14,959 Speaker 1: I gotta tell you, I think, in all of my years, 13 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: all the cases that I've covered, I've never heard, at 14 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 1: least in my recent memory, of a crime scene that 15 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 1: has been locked down and literally frozen in time like 16 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: this particular scene has been. Over all of these years. 17 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 1: I sit there and I think, you know, what's the 18 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: purpose of this? And it's quite fascinating when you begin 19 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:45,120 Speaker 1: to think about a crime scene that has not been 20 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: touched by anyone since those moments when it was processed 21 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: and then Essentially, locks were put on the door and 22 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: the waiting began. This scene, Joe, as you say, has 23 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:03,440 Speaker 1: not been touched in nearly five years. And that is 24 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: a great discussion and I can't wait to talk to 25 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: you about that. But let's go back and look at 26 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: what happened and discussed the forensics there first. In eighteen, 27 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 1: as you said, nineteen year old Nicholas Cruse opened fire 28 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:20,359 Speaker 1: on the students and staff of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High 29 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 1: School in Parkland, Florida. Seventeen people were killed, seventeen people 30 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 1: were injured, and Cruse was a former student at the school. 31 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:34,919 Speaker 1: He arrived surprisingly by uber. He was dressed in an 32 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: unassuming way when he arrived. Yet his destruction is massive. 33 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: In fact, it was bigger and surpassed the Columbine High 34 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: School massacre. Fifteen people were killed in that Colorado mass shooting. 35 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 1: So when Nicolas Cruise opened fire, he really set it up. 36 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:01,639 Speaker 1: He knew what he was doing. He entered the school 37 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: dressed in a certain way, carrying a backpack, and then 38 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:10,799 Speaker 1: he set off a fire alarm and at that point 39 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: everybody's going to head out into the hallways. He knew 40 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 1: what he was doing. When crews entered this school, he 41 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: was purposed to do this mass shooting, and it's it 42 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:26,519 Speaker 1: appears to be almost as if he was chameleon like. 43 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:29,600 Speaker 1: He blended in with the environment. It was an environment 44 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: that he was familiar with because he had attended school there. 45 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 1: He knew where all the points of access were. He 46 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: knew where stairwells were, for instance, And when he entered 47 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: Building twelve, they referred to it also as Building twelve hundred. 48 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: You can actually hear that in the police transmissions over 49 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: the radio. When he showed up, he showed up with 50 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 1: this what they referred to as a weapon bag. It's 51 00:03:55,880 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: like a gunbag. And he is first witnessed getting access 52 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:06,000 Speaker 1: to the building by kind of a safety patrol person 53 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 1: that's part of the staff. And I don't know at 54 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 1: that moment time they really thought too much of it, 55 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: but he entered through one of the access doors that's 56 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 1: immediately adjacent to an internal stairwell. The first point along 57 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: this the storyline is that he met a student that 58 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:32,680 Speaker 1: is entering the stairwell right after he does, and in 59 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:35,800 Speaker 1: a chilling remark, he looks at this kid because it 60 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 1: was a kid, a teenager looks at him and says, 61 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:44,279 Speaker 1: you better get out of here. Things are about to 62 00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:48,360 Speaker 1: getting messy. And it's at that moment time he unzips 63 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 1: his back and he takes out a Smith and Wesson 64 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:55,360 Speaker 1: m n P, a R fifteen style rifle, and he 65 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 1: begins to assemble it. So he's got this thing disassembled. 66 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:01,560 Speaker 1: It's kind of broken down into its component parts at 67 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: that moment time. But before he goes out the door 68 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:09,840 Speaker 1: and begins to shoot, he takes out what could be 69 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,480 Speaker 1: termed as a tactical vest, but it doesn't have like 70 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: plates in it, like ballistic plates that prevents you from 71 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,039 Speaker 1: being shot or being injured as a result of being shot. 72 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: It's a vest, however, that contains multiple pockets where you 73 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:31,720 Speaker 1: can put magazines in These magazines that feed into the weapon. 74 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: These are not contrary to what you hear people always 75 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:36,919 Speaker 1: use the term clip. There are very few weapons in 76 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 1: the world that actually use clips. Famously them one grand 77 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: from World War Two that used a clip. These are 78 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:47,520 Speaker 1: not clips. These are magazines and they hold multiple rounds. 79 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:52,520 Speaker 1: He had a variety of these. Some had thirty round capacity, 80 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:54,359 Speaker 1: some I think there were a couple that may have 81 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 1: been a forty round capacity and it's a semi automatic weapon, 82 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 1: so that means that every time you pull the trigger, 83 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: and you have to pull it, it's not fully automatic. 84 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:09,640 Speaker 1: You have to engage that trigger in order for it 85 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: to fire. It automatically ejects around and then seeds a 86 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 1: new round into the chamber. So he assembles this thing 87 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:23,159 Speaker 1: and then exits in in another kind of moment in 88 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,680 Speaker 1: time that you see, it's this frozen segment that door 89 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,480 Speaker 1: opens and he goes into what would be termed as 90 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 1: a tactical stance where he's kind of leaned forward into 91 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:37,800 Speaker 1: the weapon and he is now moving down the hallway, 92 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: and it's at that point in time he begins to 93 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 1: fire rounds. And that's like within i don't know, probably 94 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,720 Speaker 1: a minute after he has arrived through those doors. Now 95 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:52,239 Speaker 1: this has happened very quickly. Can you imagine engaging with somebody, 96 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:57,359 Speaker 1: talking to them, warning them, then assembling a weapon, putting 97 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:01,000 Speaker 1: on a tactical vest, and eggs out the door, and 98 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:04,880 Speaker 1: all of a sudden you're popping off rounds. And some 99 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 1: people have stated that he had pulled the fire alarm 100 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: and then started firing. That's not what happened. He started 101 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 1: firing and then after about forty five seconds, the fire 102 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 1: alarm is engaged, and people believe the investigators believed that 103 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: this was kind of like drawing the students out because 104 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 1: we can all identify with this, can't we, You know, 105 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: like fire drills that we went through in school. What 106 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 1: do they do? They tell you to line up at 107 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: the door, We're gonna march you out of the building 108 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 1: and we're gonna go out onto the playground or the 109 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: adjacent grounds. Said that we're clear of the building. That's actually, 110 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:47,560 Speaker 1: I think probably what his purpose was. And when you 111 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:52,560 Speaker 1: get people contained in this small space in the hallways, 112 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 1: there's not too many places you can go. Do we know, Joe, 113 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 1: whether or not Cruis actually pulled the fire alarm or 114 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:07,160 Speaker 1: if the fire suppression system was triggered by the smoke 115 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: that would have come from these rounds being fired. The 116 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 1: authorities have stated on several occasions that they believed that 117 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 1: he initiated a fire alarm. It was at that point 118 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: in time that these children were drawn out into the 119 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,920 Speaker 1: hallway and these rounds are continuing to be fired. Now 120 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 1: this creates a panic at this point in time because 121 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: you've got the fire alarm going off and many people 122 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:34,200 Speaker 1: can identify with that sound. I mean, it just rings 123 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:36,320 Speaker 1: in your ears. It's meant to do that because it's 124 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:40,760 Speaker 1: trying to get your attention that there's danger, and it 125 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:46,440 Speaker 1: was initiated and the people flood the hallway and then 126 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: the rounds are being popped off and suddenly they have 127 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:53,160 Speaker 1: an awareness that there's gunfire and they fled back into 128 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:57,640 Speaker 1: the classrooms. So you've got this kind of panicked environment 129 00:08:57,679 --> 00:09:02,439 Speaker 1: that's going on, and it kind of from a psychological standpoints, 130 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: kind of fascinating because you know, if you get people 131 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:10,640 Speaker 1: in fear many times like this, they're easily controlled. I 132 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:14,440 Speaker 1: think about gunfire. People are terrified at that moment time, 133 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 1: so they're gonna, you know, kind of clutch together, if 134 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:21,200 Speaker 1: you will. And one of the first rooms that crews 135 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:25,320 Speaker 1: fired into, no one was actually hit, but he fired 136 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:29,880 Speaker 1: through the glass window of the door. It was at 137 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:31,840 Speaker 1: that point in time that people knew that there was 138 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:36,240 Speaker 1: something horrible afoot. I think the size of the building 139 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:41,720 Speaker 1: would make for a forensic nightmare on top of the 140 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: already nightmarish scene of seeing bodies and blood and dispelled 141 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:51,040 Speaker 1: brass and so many things. This was a three story 142 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:59,640 Speaker 1: building which normally contained about nine students thirty classrooms, what 143 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:02,560 Speaker 1: kind of a scene would have greeted them? What would 144 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:06,000 Speaker 1: they have seen. Over the course of my career, I 145 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:10,800 Speaker 1: worked several mass fatality events. And there's a way that 146 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:13,360 Speaker 1: you go about this, and you have to purpose yourself 147 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:17,640 Speaker 1: in it. It's not like a single investigator goes out 148 00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:21,520 Speaker 1: to the scene and directs maybe a crime scene photographer, 149 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:25,400 Speaker 1: maybe a crime scene investigator that would collect physical evidence 150 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:28,319 Speaker 1: at the scene and document it and pull measurements and 151 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:31,840 Speaker 1: all that. No, that's that's not the way it happens. 152 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 1: You have to call in when you have all of 153 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:38,840 Speaker 1: these elements to the crime scene, which the building itself 154 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: is going to be the primary scene, and then for 155 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:48,120 Speaker 1: that building, you will have individual spots that have to 156 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:50,760 Speaker 1: be focused on. And the only way you can accomplish 157 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: that is to form up into teams. And generally there 158 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:58,480 Speaker 1: three person teams or maybe four person teams, and you'll 159 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:02,920 Speaker 1: have a primary lead detective, you'll have a crime scene 160 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 1: investigator as I mentioned, and you'll have a photographer, and 161 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:10,600 Speaker 1: then you might have what's referred to as a scribe, 162 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:14,240 Speaker 1: which is an individual that is literally taking notes. They'll 163 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 1: take measurements many times along with the crime scene investigator 164 00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:21,160 Speaker 1: who is separate from the detective so that all of 165 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:26,679 Speaker 1: this data can be compiled, because as you mentioned, it's overwhelming. 166 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 1: I remember on any number of cases where I've walked 167 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:34,960 Speaker 1: in and I've got multiple deaths at a scene where 168 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:37,439 Speaker 1: somebody has just gone in and just you know, wiped out. 169 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:39,319 Speaker 1: I remember one case in particular where I had a 170 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:44,199 Speaker 1: family of nine that were completely decimated and it was 171 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:48,600 Speaker 1: a very tiny, tiny house maybe a thousand to eleven 172 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:52,080 Speaker 1: square feet, had three bedrooms in it, and there were 173 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:55,720 Speaker 1: dead bodies everywhere. There was blood everywhere. You have to 174 00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:58,400 Speaker 1: be very aware of your surroundings. You have to be 175 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:01,240 Speaker 1: very familiar with the people that you're working with. It's 176 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:04,840 Speaker 1: not a good idea to pair or group individuals that 177 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:08,440 Speaker 1: have never worked together before at all, because everybody, like 178 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:11,640 Speaker 1: in every area of life, have their own tendencies that 179 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:14,720 Speaker 1: are on strengths, they're own weaknesses. So you have to 180 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:18,240 Speaker 1: be really solid when you go into this environment so 181 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:21,079 Speaker 1: that everything is documented. Keep in mind. One of the 182 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:24,920 Speaker 1: way is that I like to describe crime scene investigators 183 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:29,720 Speaker 1: and detectives. I described them as historians and people kind 184 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:32,560 Speaker 1: of scoff at that. Sometimes I'll mention that to my students, 185 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:36,320 Speaker 1: But you are a historian because there's no one else 186 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:40,200 Speaker 1: in this environment that is going to go back and 187 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:44,480 Speaker 1: specifically document these events that occurred on that date, on 188 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:48,880 Speaker 1: that that February day, and that it will be studied 189 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:53,800 Speaker 1: for years and years and years to come. Okay, And 190 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:56,040 Speaker 1: you look back in the historical record and you can 191 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:58,439 Speaker 1: see this, and there's been an actually kind of a 192 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 1: neat evolution with crime scene investigation over the years relative 193 00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:07,800 Speaker 1: to this. In the early years, you could see, you know, 194 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 1: how vague and non specific many crime scene reports are. 195 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 1: I remember years ago I was given the report that 196 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 1: was generated from bodying Clyde's deaths in North Louisiana. Actually 197 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 1: they were handed to me by the corner of that 198 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:26,440 Speaker 1: particular parish at that time, and I remember reading over 199 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 1: that and thinking it was really neat reading the clothing 200 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:33,880 Speaker 1: descriptions and some of the injuries that were documented, but 201 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:37,560 Speaker 1: it lacked a lot of specificity. That's not the case today. 202 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 1: There are a lot of specifics that go into this, 203 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:43,679 Speaker 1: and I think that when you look back at this historically, 204 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:47,400 Speaker 1: it's something that is fantastic that it has been documented. 205 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:53,560 Speaker 1: But also the most important thing is that it memorializes 206 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:57,880 Speaker 1: the dead and what occurred that day, and it's not 207 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:00,240 Speaker 1: something that's just you know, they just kind of side 208 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:02,880 Speaker 1: and then vanished and there's no record of it. It's 209 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:06,800 Speaker 1: something solid that you can kind of look at scientifically 210 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:10,800 Speaker 1: and analytically and go back and begin to understand the 211 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:13,960 Speaker 1: measure of a good report, the measure of a great 212 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:18,280 Speaker 1: documentation on any case like this, is that with measurements 213 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:20,840 Speaker 1: and photographs, I want to be able to take a 214 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:24,200 Speaker 1: case file and go back out to the scene, and 215 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:27,600 Speaker 1: when I begin to read that and look at the environment, 216 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:30,360 Speaker 1: I can go back in time to that day and 217 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: I can see precisely where everything is. And there have 218 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:36,360 Speaker 1: been many cases where we've had to go out and 219 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:42,560 Speaker 1: reconstruct crime scenes, and it's those reconstructions are completely dependent 220 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:46,080 Speaker 1: upon what you did at that one moment. Tom as 221 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: an investigator, Well, that is certainly going to come in 222 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 1: handy with what we're going to talk about in just 223 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 1: a minute, Joe. But there's one more point that I 224 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:57,520 Speaker 1: want to bring up about this case. Investigators tell us 225 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:00,600 Speaker 1: and what we see from the surveillance video from the 226 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:06,840 Speaker 1: school and other things, this attack only lasted six minutes, 227 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: I mean, and that is, from the beginning when he 228 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:14,080 Speaker 1: walks in the school till he exits the actual shootings themselves. 229 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:19,280 Speaker 1: We're done in less than four minutes. When you think 230 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:29,720 Speaker 1: about the horror that befell the staff and these children, 231 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:34,840 Speaker 1: these lives that had been lived up to this point 232 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:41,000 Speaker 1: are completely changed and altered in almost the twinkling of 233 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:46,880 Speaker 1: an eye. That these kids are gone or these kids 234 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:51,880 Speaker 1: are so damaged now, not just physically but emotionally that 235 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:58,280 Speaker 1: the course of their lives have been changed. And then 236 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:01,360 Speaker 1: you kind of extend that out par fully to everybody 237 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 1: they're connected to in their circle. That's a moment time 238 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:06,720 Speaker 1: that will last forever and ever. And the fact that 239 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:11,880 Speaker 1: he was able to perpetrate this crime, and he, I 240 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:14,560 Speaker 1: mean Nicholas Cruz, he was able to perpetrate this This 241 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:18,200 Speaker 1: goes to a big issue. When you begin to kind 242 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:20,520 Speaker 1: of put together the facts around the caation, you think 243 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:23,200 Speaker 1: about how much thought went into this, how much time 244 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: would it take to execute this And I'm not saying 245 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: any walk around stop watch, but the efficiency and tom 246 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:35,320 Speaker 1: that short amount of time goes to efficiency. The efficiency 247 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:40,800 Speaker 1: that he executed this with is quite striking. That it 248 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:45,600 Speaker 1: could all occur and then not just that, but the 249 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:49,240 Speaker 1: fact that he was able to almost literally dump everything 250 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:51,640 Speaker 1: that he had. Remember we talked about earlier on that 251 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:55,120 Speaker 1: that gun bag and the tack vest that he had, 252 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:59,720 Speaker 1: and of course the weapon. You dump that and you 253 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:04,280 Speaker 1: exit out away from where the police are congregating, and 254 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:08,600 Speaker 1: you make your way out into the children that are 255 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 1: now just absolutely fleeing for their lives, and you begin 256 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:16,879 Speaker 1: to blend in. At that moment time he's like a 257 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:20,920 Speaker 1: fanom he he can't be seen. One of the more 258 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:24,639 Speaker 1: striking things about this, you know, we talked about the 259 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,960 Speaker 1: fire alarm and all of this. He went to I 260 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: think it was the third floor teacher's lounge that was 261 00:17:31,119 --> 00:17:33,640 Speaker 1: up there. You know, we're talking about Florida. So they've 262 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:38,399 Speaker 1: got hurricane proof glass in these in these buildings that 263 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:42,399 Speaker 1: is the external window. Is the way he had the 264 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:45,880 Speaker 1: setup that he had for this rifle that he was using. 265 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:49,120 Speaker 1: He actually had what's called the deployable bipod, which are 266 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:53,080 Speaker 1: two little legs that can drop down and extent on 267 00:17:53,119 --> 00:17:55,720 Speaker 1: the front of this weapon, and it gives you stability. 268 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:58,639 Speaker 1: You think about an old fashioned machine gun, you know, 269 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,119 Speaker 1: like you see in World War two pictures where you 270 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:02,600 Speaker 1: know it takes a team of guys to put the 271 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:04,919 Speaker 1: thing up on a tripod. Well, this is a bipod, 272 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:07,719 Speaker 1: and it gives you the ability to steady the weapon. 273 00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:11,280 Speaker 1: He tried to fire through the glass with his high 274 00:18:11,359 --> 00:18:16,640 Speaker 1: velocity rounds, and he would have been targeting the police officers. 275 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:21,080 Speaker 1: These defects in the window were actually pointed toward where 276 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:24,280 Speaker 1: the cops were egressing on the building. He was going 277 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:26,880 Speaker 1: to mow down every everybody that was going to approach, 278 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:29,560 Speaker 1: so he's drawing them in again. This is I think 279 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,080 Speaker 1: it goes to kind of this idea that he had 280 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:35,800 Speaker 1: form and function right, that I'm going to take as 281 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:38,040 Speaker 1: many people as I can't. It was only the fact 282 00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 1: that that glass was made the way it was, that 283 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,720 Speaker 1: it was resistant at least to a certain point ballistically, 284 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 1: that saved more people's lives. It's at that point that 285 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:51,240 Speaker 1: he fled out another stairwell and made his way into 286 00:18:51,240 --> 00:19:12,520 Speaker 1: the crowd and disappard. You have to think a little 287 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 1: bit about Nicholas Cruise's home environment, because you know, he's 288 00:19:17,359 --> 00:19:21,159 Speaker 1: got all of this gear at his house, He's living 289 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:26,480 Speaker 1: with people that have essentially adopted him. He's got a 290 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:29,919 Speaker 1: gun bag, he's got a rifle. He's got on a 291 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:33,800 Speaker 1: soul vest and all of the magazines and ammunition that 292 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 1: goes along with it. Joe, you said that Nicholas Cruise 293 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:41,639 Speaker 1: intended and planned and did in fact blend in with 294 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:46,000 Speaker 1: the students to make his escape, which again sets up planning, 295 00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: but actually how deep because we all we all know 296 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:51,119 Speaker 1: what teenagers dress like. They wear hoodies and T shirts 297 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:55,040 Speaker 1: and jeans. Is that what he did? One interesting little 298 00:19:55,080 --> 00:20:00,360 Speaker 1: side note about Nicholas Cruise was that he was had 299 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:04,440 Speaker 1: been at least involved in the junior RTC program at 300 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:07,200 Speaker 1: the high school. He was part of the rifle team 301 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:09,280 Speaker 1: and you call the rifle team, but they used pellet 302 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 1: guns and they would do practice and they be in 303 00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:15,760 Speaker 1: competitions and all those sorts of things. So he actually 304 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:19,439 Speaker 1: had clothing that married up with the clothing that you 305 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:23,080 Speaker 1: see the kids were that are in RTC. And it's 306 00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:26,720 Speaker 1: not a common military uniform that you might think of 307 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:29,119 Speaker 1: like camos or anything like that. It was actually kind 308 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:31,399 Speaker 1: of a maroon pullover that had a crest on it 309 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:35,200 Speaker 1: and just pair kind of nondescript slacks and lasap shoes. 310 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:40,560 Speaker 1: He did actually blend in very well. So after Cruise 311 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:43,040 Speaker 1: left the building, he went to a couple of fast 312 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:46,640 Speaker 1: food restaurants, was on his way to the mall, and 313 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:49,720 Speaker 1: that's where police arrested him. They stopped him in a 314 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:53,480 Speaker 1: neighborhood of the Wyndham Lakes neighborhood of Coral Springs, and 315 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:56,320 Speaker 1: that's where he was arrested. Did he have with him 316 00:20:56,359 --> 00:20:59,320 Speaker 1: at the time the backpack that he took into the 317 00:20:59,359 --> 00:21:02,920 Speaker 1: school carrying the guns? Were police able to recover that? Yeah, 318 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:05,800 Speaker 1: they were able to recover everything, you know, including the weapon. 319 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:08,600 Speaker 1: Where was it? Did he hide it? Did he drop everything? 320 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:11,520 Speaker 1: I mean, I guess if I had shot a lot 321 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:14,120 Speaker 1: of people, I wouldn't want my weapon to be recovered, 322 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:16,280 Speaker 1: so I would have tried to hide it. No, he 323 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:19,240 Speaker 1: just he dropped it right there because he knew, you know, 324 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:22,760 Speaker 1: after he had attempted to fire through that window, he 325 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:25,879 Speaker 1: knew the game was up at that point in time. Okay, 326 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:28,679 Speaker 1: he had already been spotted going into the school. People 327 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:32,520 Speaker 1: could easily identify him. I think he was lucid enough 328 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:37,359 Speaker 1: to understand that. And I also think that, you know, 329 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:40,480 Speaker 1: if he has seen outside the grounds of that school 330 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: carrying that weapon and being dressed like he set up 331 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:48,360 Speaker 1: to go and assault a position in the military, he's 332 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:50,280 Speaker 1: going to have eyes on him, and he didn't. He 333 00:21:50,359 --> 00:21:54,159 Speaker 1: just literally dropped it right there and in its pristine state, 334 00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:59,440 Speaker 1: and pristine meaning from an investigative standpoint, from a forensic standpoint, 335 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:03,800 Speaker 1: it tracks his movement. Okay, we know where he dropped it, 336 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 1: we know where he dropped the vest, and you go 337 00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 1: back and you can analyze that and that goes back 338 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:11,280 Speaker 1: to the movement. And they've they've spent a lot of time, 339 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:15,000 Speaker 1: the investigators have over the years going back and kind 340 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:17,560 Speaker 1: of tracking his his movement with every single shot that 341 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:24,159 Speaker 1: he took. I cannot imagine, thankfully, but I cannot imagine 342 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:29,400 Speaker 1: that as these nine odd students and teachers poured out 343 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:34,280 Speaker 1: into the hallway, the image of seeing this guy holding 344 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 1: a gun coming towards you, pointing it at you. How 345 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:42,400 Speaker 1: frightening that would have been. Yeah, it would have been terrifying. 346 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,880 Speaker 1: I think for a moment, and many of us can 347 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:49,919 Speaker 1: identify on a certain level where you're thinking, you have 348 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:51,720 Speaker 1: an event that occurs in your life and you're sitting 349 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:54,800 Speaker 1: and thinking, this can't really be happening. I'm having a 350 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:58,960 Speaker 1: visual hallucination here or something. This can't be accurate, and 351 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:03,040 Speaker 1: then all of a sudden, maybe you see a muzzle flash, 352 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: which is the little flame that shoots out of the weapon. 353 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:07,680 Speaker 1: You hear the report because you see the flash before 354 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,639 Speaker 1: you hear the report. Remember we're talking about something that 355 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:14,119 Speaker 1: is going faster than speed of sound. And then you 356 00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:16,520 Speaker 1: hear the crack of the weapon and you look next 357 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:19,719 Speaker 1: to you and somebody that maybe you started off school 358 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:22,800 Speaker 1: with an elementary school, is lying dead on the floor 359 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:25,119 Speaker 1: next to you, or is bleeding out, or is moaning 360 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:27,719 Speaker 1: in pain because they've been shown a leg and suddenly 361 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:30,280 Speaker 1: it becomes real, and that's when the adrenaline starts to 362 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:35,399 Speaker 1: flow and panic sets in. It would have absolutely been horrendous. 363 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:38,440 Speaker 1: And going back we were talking about the fire alarms 364 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 1: and systems and all that sort of thing, there would 365 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:45,439 Speaker 1: have been smoke, that smoke that is actually initiated and 366 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,840 Speaker 1: generated from that weapon being fired, and it has a 367 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:51,360 Speaker 1: very distinctive odor to it for those that have never 368 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 1: smelt gun smoke, literally, the burning of that powder has 369 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,280 Speaker 1: a very distinctive smell. So that would have filled the 370 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:02,479 Speaker 1: environment as well. So you're being impacted by sight, by smell, 371 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:07,639 Speaker 1: by sound, everything, you're being assaulted by screams, as well, 372 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:10,320 Speaker 1: and it would have been just a complete horror show. 373 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:14,320 Speaker 1: You mentioned to me before we started our conversation off 374 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:20,200 Speaker 1: air something called the big Black Gun theory, and as 375 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:22,920 Speaker 1: long as I have been doing this, it is something 376 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:27,560 Speaker 1: that I had never heard of before. It made perfect 377 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 1: sense when you explained it to me, but I had 378 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:34,600 Speaker 1: never heard of it. What is the Big Black Gun theory? 379 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,360 Speaker 1: The bb G Big Black Gun theory has been something 380 00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 1: that's kind of been kicked around for years, and this 381 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:43,720 Speaker 1: idea that when you see a platform like this weapon, 382 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:48,000 Speaker 1: it immediately draws the eye and people understand it. They 383 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:51,080 Speaker 1: look at it and they say, well, that's a weapon 384 00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:53,439 Speaker 1: that I've seen in movies, are seen on the news, 385 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:57,760 Speaker 1: and it's scary, all right. The reason that comes into 386 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:00,720 Speaker 1: play in this particular cases, you know, we've talked about 387 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,439 Speaker 1: it before with with Nicholas Cruz, how he's kind of 388 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:08,240 Speaker 1: a chameleon that he blended in in this environment and 389 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:13,399 Speaker 1: he knew probably that if he presents with this weapon 390 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:15,880 Speaker 1: when he initially makes his way, you know, think about 391 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:19,920 Speaker 1: that first person that saw him, the safety monitor that's 392 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:23,159 Speaker 1: kind of riding around in this golf cart. If that 393 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:27,240 Speaker 1: person at that moment time saw him as a military says, 394 00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:29,600 Speaker 1: I'll kit it out. That means with the tax best 395 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:32,639 Speaker 1: on and the weapon, you know, worn on his chest, 396 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:35,480 Speaker 1: that would have raised the alarm at that moment time 397 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:37,240 Speaker 1: you know, oh my god, we've got an active shooter 398 00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:40,679 Speaker 1: before he ever pops off around. But in this case, 399 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:44,359 Speaker 1: like he had awareness of that, but yet he wanted 400 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:47,000 Speaker 1: the power of that weapon because it is powerful weapon. 401 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:50,080 Speaker 1: I mean it's used you know, bio military or platform 402 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:53,760 Speaker 1: similar to that, not that specific weapon, but it's firing 403 00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 1: ammunition that's very similar to what our military uses. And 404 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:03,080 Speaker 1: he knew he was going to descend on all of 405 00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:06,840 Speaker 1: these students with and the faculty with at that moment time. 406 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,680 Speaker 1: So he had to keep it hidden because with the 407 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:12,440 Speaker 1: big black gun theory, if people see you with that, 408 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:14,159 Speaker 1: you're going to scare the hell out of them, you know, 409 00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:17,000 Speaker 1: when they see it, And so he had to keep 410 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:20,840 Speaker 1: it considering I don't think so. No, the purpose is 411 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:25,199 Speaker 1: not to scare people, Jackie. Not to scare people. He 412 00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:29,399 Speaker 1: wanted to eradicate people. That's what this was all about. 413 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:31,600 Speaker 1: And he wanted to make sure that he could insert 414 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:37,800 Speaker 1: himself into that environment as passively as possible, go into 415 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:41,840 Speaker 1: that stairwell where he would be concealed and get all 416 00:26:41,880 --> 00:27:04,399 Speaker 1: of this equipment together and then he'll followed after. On 417 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:06,960 Speaker 1: all the crime scenes I've ever been on death scenes. 418 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:09,119 Speaker 1: With a few exceptions, there's been a few that we 419 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:12,520 Speaker 1: have kind of held for I don't know, I can 420 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:16,280 Speaker 1: think of maybe one or two for a two week period, Okay. 421 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:23,080 Speaker 1: Never Never, in my experience, my individual a little slice 422 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:27,440 Speaker 1: of the pie. Have I seen been a party two 423 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:31,520 Speaker 1: or heard of a scene like this that is this 424 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:37,639 Speaker 1: large being frozen in time for allow these many years, 425 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:41,720 Speaker 1: and no one and I mean no one has been 426 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:45,320 Speaker 1: through there. It really creates an environment that I think, 427 00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:48,679 Speaker 1: in this particular case, where juror members can actually go 428 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:52,080 Speaker 1: back and begin to experience and get a taste for 429 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:56,240 Speaker 1: what actually occurred on that date. The idea of going 430 00:27:56,359 --> 00:28:01,720 Speaker 1: back to this scene five years later and things are, 431 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 1: as you said, frozen in time. But Joe, we know 432 00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:14,000 Speaker 1: the importance of forensics being unchanged. As forensic evidence is 433 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:20,320 Speaker 1: collected now it is placed inside a bag of some kind. 434 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:24,639 Speaker 1: Usually depending on the investigator, A lot say they like 435 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:28,440 Speaker 1: paper because it doesn't leave any other kind of residue 436 00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:31,040 Speaker 1: at all, the same plastic because it preserves it better. 437 00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:33,479 Speaker 1: I'm not a I'm not an investigator. I don't know, 438 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:36,240 Speaker 1: but I do know that the evidence that has collected 439 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:41,360 Speaker 1: as is sealed. How do you seal a building? I 440 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:43,960 Speaker 1: got to be a little clear about this because in 441 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:48,000 Speaker 1: the immediate when the teams went into this high school 442 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:52,640 Speaker 1: and began to work this scene, evidence was collected, you know, 443 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:56,280 Speaker 1: like the spent casings that would have been ejecting out 444 00:28:56,280 --> 00:29:00,720 Speaker 1: of the port and striking the ground and bouncing all 445 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:05,120 Speaker 1: over the place. If there were projectiles that could be recovered, 446 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:10,560 Speaker 1: they were recovered. Okay, that's important for everybody to understand. 447 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:13,080 Speaker 1: But you know, there's a there's a bigger thing at 448 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:16,560 Speaker 1: play here. When you have, like, for instance, large pools 449 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:20,840 Speaker 1: of blood. There's nothing you can do, okay, to collect 450 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:23,040 Speaker 1: a large pool of blood. The blood is going to 451 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:27,480 Speaker 1: be there, unless, of course, you have staff that comes in, 452 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:30,400 Speaker 1: you know, afterwards, and begins to clean this and this 453 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 1: does happen. That's, you know, where this whole industry is 454 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:36,360 Speaker 1: kind of rising up crime scene clean up companies and whatnot. 455 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:43,200 Speaker 1: But I find it compelling in this particular case that 456 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:46,120 Speaker 1: it was at that moment time that after that initial 457 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:49,640 Speaker 1: processing of the scene with the photographs and measurements and 458 00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:55,240 Speaker 1: the collecting of spent brass um, the authorities, and probably 459 00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:59,800 Speaker 1: at the behest of the d A, made this incre 460 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:03,880 Speaker 1: doable decision that we're gonna lock this thing down. We're 461 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 1: gonna lock it down, we're gonna put up offense around 462 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:10,760 Speaker 1: this place, we're gonna seal it up. There's only gonna 463 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:13,000 Speaker 1: be one person or maybe a couple of people that 464 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:17,200 Speaker 1: actually have keys to this place where folks can actually 465 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:21,960 Speaker 1: go in and have access to it. And that's that's 466 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:25,880 Speaker 1: quite interesting, you know, because um, there's still evidence there, 467 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:28,240 Speaker 1: but it's not evidence in the classic sense like we 468 00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:33,760 Speaker 1: think of um where we're collecting uh, you know, first off, 469 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:37,840 Speaker 1: we're collecting remains. We're collecting tufts of hair, which is 470 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:40,040 Speaker 1: kind of fascinating because one of the people that was 471 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:42,000 Speaker 1: out of the scene actually saw a tuft of hair 472 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:44,600 Speaker 1: that was still on the floor adjacent to a large 473 00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:48,600 Speaker 1: pool of blood. That some items are still left behind. 474 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:52,600 Speaker 1: And I think that when you begin to think this 475 00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:55,320 Speaker 1: out and you think, well, why in the world would 476 00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:58,440 Speaker 1: they want to do? Though you read my mind, I 477 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:01,040 Speaker 1: was just waiting for a great point to jump in 478 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:04,800 Speaker 1: and say I don't understand why why would you want 479 00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:10,440 Speaker 1: to do this Because they had a suspect that they 480 00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:16,040 Speaker 1: caught that day, the day of the event, that had survived. 481 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:21,000 Speaker 1: Many times when you have events that occur like this, 482 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:23,560 Speaker 1: you'll have a shooter that will take their own life 483 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:25,719 Speaker 1: or will be taken out by the police. Not in 484 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:31,120 Speaker 1: this case. Nicholas Cruz was arrested, I mean, and they 485 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:34,240 Speaker 1: processed him, and it was so well documented the media, 486 00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:37,120 Speaker 1: and you know, we had first court appearances images from that, 487 00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:39,760 Speaker 1: we had all all manner of things that kind of 488 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:43,720 Speaker 1: we saw where this was going. To their credit, the 489 00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:46,880 Speaker 1: prosecutors and and you know, probably the state a g 490 00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:49,720 Speaker 1: and all of the investigators that were involved, they came 491 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:52,200 Speaker 1: to conclusion, we need to lock this thing down because 492 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:58,440 Speaker 1: at some point in time, unless something odd happens, this 493 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:00,840 Speaker 1: is going to go to trial. And it turned out 494 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:04,080 Speaker 1: that it did. It did go to trial. They had 495 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:08,320 Speaker 1: this thing sealed up to the point where you were 496 00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:12,640 Speaker 1: going to be able to witness the tryers of fact, 497 00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:15,560 Speaker 1: you know, those individuals that are sitting in that jury box. 498 00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:18,360 Speaker 1: They were going to be able to go back and 499 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:23,480 Speaker 1: look at this from an evidentiary standpoint, from an event standpoint, 500 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:27,600 Speaker 1: and maybe from I don't know, maybe from a history standpoint, 501 00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:30,160 Speaker 1: maybe some of these people on the jury didn't really 502 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:33,600 Speaker 1: have a full awareness of what had happened because they 503 00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:36,240 Speaker 1: were selected for the jury. Maybe maybe they didn't know 504 00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:41,680 Speaker 1: the extent. But when those jury members are eventually taken 505 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:44,400 Speaker 1: back out there, I can tell you this, it hit 506 00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:47,000 Speaker 1: them full force in their chest. Okay, So I've got 507 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:49,520 Speaker 1: to go back to my original question, how did they 508 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:53,640 Speaker 1: do this? We're not talking something being you know, hermetically sealed. 509 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:56,640 Speaker 1: They didn't seal every crack and and lock every door. 510 00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:02,640 Speaker 1: They locked access from the outside. Is that all they did? 511 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:06,160 Speaker 1: They locked access from the outside. You know, obviously the 512 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:09,960 Speaker 1: doors and everything we're sealed, But then you've got this 513 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:13,560 Speaker 1: fencing that goes up around it. My suspicion is my 514 00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:15,960 Speaker 1: suspicion is, and I can't necessarily confirm this right now, 515 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:18,800 Speaker 1: but is that there were probably cameras trained on this 516 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:21,480 Speaker 1: as well to document all the comings and goings over 517 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:24,120 Speaker 1: all these years. Anybody that might have access, and I 518 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:26,320 Speaker 1: can tell you that probably defense would want to know 519 00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:30,440 Speaker 1: that information. They would want to be able to and this. Yeah, 520 00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:32,400 Speaker 1: what's really interesting is that one of the things we 521 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:36,320 Speaker 1: talked about um in forensics is chain of custody. You 522 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:38,520 Speaker 1: talked about the bagging of evidence and all these sorts 523 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:41,200 Speaker 1: of things. When evidence is handed off, you have to 524 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:43,440 Speaker 1: be able to account for it and track it because 525 00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:46,280 Speaker 1: if you don't, if anything enters that chain and breaks 526 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:49,400 Speaker 1: that chain at any point in time, not in every case, 527 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:52,440 Speaker 1: but in many cases, that evidence becomes invalidated because you 528 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:56,200 Speaker 1: can't attest to the security of that evidence. It's one 529 00:33:56,240 --> 00:34:00,600 Speaker 1: thing to have bagged evidence that goes from the detective 530 00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:04,479 Speaker 1: to the evidence custodian at the state crime lab and 531 00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:07,320 Speaker 1: it's passed onto the scientists who tested. That's one thing. 532 00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:11,719 Speaker 1: Right now, we're talking about the security of a structure. 533 00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:15,279 Speaker 1: Just imagine that, if you will, the security of a 534 00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:19,600 Speaker 1: structure where it has to be accounted for from beginning 535 00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:24,360 Speaker 1: to end. Because this is this building. The structure actually 536 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:29,680 Speaker 1: is a big part of the case itself, the case 537 00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:35,080 Speaker 1: in total, because you're using this environment, which in a 538 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:37,640 Speaker 1: weird way, the whole building becomes a piece of evidence. 539 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:39,680 Speaker 1: It's kind of odd when you think about it, that 540 00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:42,680 Speaker 1: you're going to walk through a piece of evidence. Isn't 541 00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:44,640 Speaker 1: that interesting? You know, when you think about it from 542 00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:47,400 Speaker 1: the perspective of the courts. You're gonna walk through a 543 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:51,120 Speaker 1: piece of evidence that has already essentially been processed and documented. 544 00:34:51,680 --> 00:34:54,920 Speaker 1: Now we're going to go back and enter this environment 545 00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:57,680 Speaker 1: that has been sealed for all of this period of time, 546 00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:02,480 Speaker 1: and we're going to give you the timeline that we 547 00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:05,000 Speaker 1: have put forward as to how this thing went down. 548 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:07,799 Speaker 1: And it's really hard for the defense, I think, in 549 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:11,800 Speaker 1: this case, to deny that it happened in any other manner. 550 00:35:12,719 --> 00:35:16,640 Speaker 1: They have to go through and see marked by Tom. 551 00:35:16,840 --> 00:35:19,400 Speaker 1: And they have this thing marked by Tom of his 552 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:22,440 Speaker 1: movements all the way from when he first got out 553 00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:25,840 Speaker 1: of that uber to the moment Tom he exited out 554 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:28,200 Speaker 1: of the structure. I'm still trying to wrap my mind 555 00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:30,880 Speaker 1: around this a little bit so that I understand the 556 00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:36,640 Speaker 1: point of sealing the building keeping everyone out is not 557 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:43,719 Speaker 1: necessarily to preserve whatever evidence there is, as you talked 558 00:35:43,719 --> 00:35:46,280 Speaker 1: about the blood was going to be remaining, the tuft 559 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:51,080 Speaker 1: of hair. It's not necessarily to preserve that evidence for 560 00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:57,200 Speaker 1: future collection, because after this period of time, it's gonna 561 00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:02,840 Speaker 1: degrade and be contaminated by dust, by settling from the building, 562 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:06,239 Speaker 1: by rodents, by insects that may have been able to 563 00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:10,400 Speaker 1: get inside the building. So the preservation is for an 564 00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:14,880 Speaker 1: entirely different reason. Yeah, it is. It tells a story. 565 00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:18,759 Speaker 1: Let's go to blood specifically. Blood is not a standalone substance. 566 00:36:18,920 --> 00:36:22,799 Speaker 1: It has multiple components. One of the chief components is 567 00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:25,480 Speaker 1: that it's got you know, water in it. There is 568 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:28,760 Speaker 1: water that is in dwelling in the components of blood. 569 00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:31,520 Speaker 1: And once that blood is outside of the body and 570 00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:34,160 Speaker 1: it's on an open surface like this, and we're talking 571 00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:36,520 Speaker 1: about it, I don't want to use it. I love Florida. 572 00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:39,879 Speaker 1: I don't want to use the word hostile necessarily. But 573 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:43,799 Speaker 1: let's face it, environmentally, it's very very hot, right, and 574 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:47,680 Speaker 1: we all know that he causes things to degrade significantly. 575 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:50,800 Speaker 1: So the pools of blood that would have been left behind, 576 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:54,319 Speaker 1: for instance, are not there necessarily to be tested. What 577 00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:57,960 Speaker 1: remained of the blood, those components are simply there as 578 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:01,000 Speaker 1: an illustration of what it occurred heard at that environment, 579 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:05,279 Speaker 1: and it can be implied at least as the jurors 580 00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:07,479 Speaker 1: and the court members of the court are walking through, 581 00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:10,600 Speaker 1: they can see these spots and how would they have looked? Well, 582 00:37:10,640 --> 00:37:16,000 Speaker 1: since the water essentially is all gone, the other substances contained, 583 00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:18,680 Speaker 1: you know, we have serum and we have red blood 584 00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:23,480 Speaker 1: cells and whatnot. Those components now have become dried, and 585 00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:26,680 Speaker 1: many people can identify with dried blood. If you've injured 586 00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:28,319 Speaker 1: yourself at some point in time, you know that it 587 00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:30,800 Speaker 1: has and maybe you didn't clean up the blood afterwards. 588 00:37:31,239 --> 00:37:33,440 Speaker 1: You can see that it changes color. It doesn't look 589 00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:36,480 Speaker 1: like that vibrant red you know from an amating injury. 590 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:40,000 Speaker 1: And in this particular case and what people have reported, 591 00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:42,960 Speaker 1: I urge anybody that's within the sound of my voice 592 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:45,000 Speaker 1: to go and listen to what these reporters had to 593 00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:48,400 Speaker 1: say that walk through this environment. The blood is essentially 594 00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:53,720 Speaker 1: brown now and has begun to flake. And that's very common, 595 00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:56,160 Speaker 1: and we see this a lot at crime scenes, particularly 596 00:37:56,160 --> 00:38:00,839 Speaker 1: where there has been a homicide and the body has 597 00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:04,279 Speaker 1: been taken off from that location and disposed of in 598 00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:06,440 Speaker 1: another location. We go back and we find blood that 599 00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:09,640 Speaker 1: gives us an indication that's something violent happened. Well, there 600 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:11,200 Speaker 1: was a lot of violence here. There was a lot 601 00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:13,920 Speaker 1: of blood, But all of that collection of blood is 602 00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:17,200 Speaker 1: going to be brown, cracked, flaked, It will be peeling up. 603 00:38:17,239 --> 00:38:19,640 Speaker 1: It almost looks like old dried paint and it's very 604 00:38:19,719 --> 00:38:23,520 Speaker 1: very fragile. There's another component to this as well. You 605 00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:28,120 Speaker 1: got bullet strikes where you have these areas, say, for instance, 606 00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:31,520 Speaker 1: in the floor, that are notched out, and you can 607 00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:34,800 Speaker 1: see those. You can see where the bullets actually struck 608 00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:38,600 Speaker 1: and maybe ricocheted off of the floor. You can see 609 00:38:39,239 --> 00:38:43,640 Speaker 1: a defect in a wall or a door where a 610 00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:48,279 Speaker 1: projectile actually either embedded itself or passed through it. That's 611 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:51,360 Speaker 1: not something that you would normally see in a school 612 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:54,440 Speaker 1: when you walk through, but it marks that moment in 613 00:38:54,480 --> 00:38:58,000 Speaker 1: time when all of this happened, and you begin to 614 00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:00,879 Speaker 1: get an appreciation I think if you're the person that's 615 00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:03,279 Speaker 1: task with judging all of this, because that's what the 616 00:39:03,360 --> 00:39:07,799 Speaker 1: jurors do, right, you're given a sense of of that 617 00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:10,400 Speaker 1: time and place when this occurred. You know that there's 618 00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:15,480 Speaker 1: been a certain level of violence here. And uh, for me, 619 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:18,880 Speaker 1: one thing that really tugs at your heart strings in 620 00:39:18,920 --> 00:39:22,160 Speaker 1: this not that there's not so much other but this 621 00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:25,200 Speaker 1: occurred on Valentine's Day. One of the stories that is 622 00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:27,759 Speaker 1: kind of, you know, put out there is that one 623 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:30,040 Speaker 1: of the things that one of these reporters a pool 624 00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:32,560 Speaker 1: report I think it is with the AP actually noticed 625 00:39:33,560 --> 00:39:38,080 Speaker 1: is that he saw a teddy bear laying on the 626 00:39:38,120 --> 00:39:41,360 Speaker 1: floor and it had a heart, and you know, you 627 00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:45,520 Speaker 1: can imagine a youngster that receives some little token of 628 00:39:45,520 --> 00:39:48,480 Speaker 1: of love and affection from somebody that's interested in I'm 629 00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:51,640 Speaker 1: on Valentine's Day and now they're fleeting for their life 630 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:55,040 Speaker 1: and suddenly that that teddy bear is not as important, 631 00:39:55,040 --> 00:39:56,799 Speaker 1: they drop it and they leave it there, and the 632 00:39:56,840 --> 00:40:00,120 Speaker 1: investigators didn't remove that. They talk about how there's m 633 00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:05,600 Speaker 1: unopened Valentine's cards lying about one of the things part 634 00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:08,000 Speaker 1: of the flowers. There were roses in a lot of 635 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:11,960 Speaker 1: these places, and they're wilted and kind of you know, 636 00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:14,759 Speaker 1: drooping down and dried petals are falling off and the 637 00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:18,760 Speaker 1: sort of thing. It's quite amazing that they were able 638 00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:22,360 Speaker 1: to lock this down and keep it sealed up so that, 639 00:40:22,680 --> 00:40:25,200 Speaker 1: you know that the jurors could go back and revisit 640 00:40:25,239 --> 00:40:31,000 Speaker 1: the horror that took place there. Um, Joseph's got Morgan 641 00:40:31,400 --> 00:40:33,440 Speaker 1: and this is body backs