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