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Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace N one one emergency. What's

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Speaker 1: going on there? I walked into my friend's apartment and

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Speaker 1: then there's this blood everywhere, and I just can't shoot

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Speaker 1: on the ground. And I've seen her by me on

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Speaker 1: the ground eye people. Yeah, And then and there's blood

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Speaker 1: all over the wall. I just got from the wall

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Speaker 1: that my daughter said in her apartment and if I

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Speaker 1: heard from her in a couple of days, are you

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Speaker 1: driving over there now? Yes? But when Connie arrives at

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Speaker 1: the apartment, cops won't let her in. I just roam

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Speaker 1: running to try to get into the apartment. Then I think,

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Speaker 1: you can't go let my daughter's apartment and here, don't

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Speaker 1: tell me it's hurt. They go, ma'am, you cannot go in. Tragically,

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Speaker 1: Connie's worst nightmare was now a grim reality. Behind the

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Speaker 1: walls of that apartment lay the blood wrenched bodies of

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Speaker 1: Sydney and Neo, both shot in the head at close range.

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Speaker 1: How did this happen? Friends find a gorgeous young couple

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Speaker 1: shot dead inside a Vegas apartment. I'm talking about Neiha

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Speaker 1: Maiah Neo Kaufman, just twenty in Sydney Land, just twenty

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Speaker 1: one found dead. They have been living there in the

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Speaker 1: apartment for several months together. As of now, no suspects

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Speaker 1: but our two mystery men involved. How were they killed?

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Speaker 1: What could possibly have been the motive? I mean, see Grace,

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Speaker 1: this is crime stories. Thank you for being with us.

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Speaker 1: We want answerers take a listen to this. Neo was

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Speaker 1: a talented basketball player. Sidney worked at the palms at Caesar's.

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Speaker 1: You see some of the candles behind me. Friends and

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Speaker 1: loved ones identified the couple to us. So many tears

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Speaker 1: here tonight. No one was more touched than the victim's

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Speaker 1: young sister. Everybody loved her. She's so nice and so cool,

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Speaker 1: and she's so sweet. She's had the biggest heart ever.

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Speaker 1: Sidney Land was just twenty one years old. Her boyfriend,

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Speaker 1: Neil Kaufman twenty a good hearted, kind hearted kid that

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Speaker 1: was funny, and people gravitated towards him. Well over a

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Speaker 1: hundred friends and loved ones gathered to say goodbye. Just

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Speaker 1: hours ago. The couple was found dead. The door of

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Speaker 1: their apartment opened when a friend walked in. Neil was

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Speaker 1: shot found on the first floor, Sidney was upstairs. Detectives

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Speaker 1: couldn't tell how she died tonight, police saying they believe

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Speaker 1: both were victims of a homicide. Joining you right now,

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Speaker 1: special guest Sidney Land's mother Connie, and an ACE reporter

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Speaker 1: for the Baltimore Post Examiner, Doug Papa. By the way,

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Speaker 1: you were hearing from our friends at Katie and V

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Speaker 1: Channel thirteen in Vegas and our friend Melissa McCartney, a

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Speaker 1: crime watch daily. First to you, Dave Mack, syndicated talk

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Speaker 1: show host. What do we know about the k How

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Speaker 1: were they found and did what was noticed there in

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Speaker 1: the apartment? They shared? The condition of the bodies, Nancy

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Speaker 1: and the condition of the apartment have all played a

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Speaker 1: part of this investigation. Neo was found shot to death

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Speaker 1: in the living room of the apartment, while Sydney was

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Speaker 1: found shot to death in a back bedroom. But the

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Speaker 1: important part of this from an investigation standpoint is the

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Speaker 1: fact that this apartment was very busy. A lot of

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Speaker 1: people were in and out of the apartment, from cigarette

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Speaker 1: butts to drinking glasses. There was a lot of DNA

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Speaker 1: and fingerprints of people other than Sydney and Neo who

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Speaker 1: actually not just had access but invitations to be in

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Speaker 1: that apartment. But again, Neo was found murdered shot to

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Speaker 1: death in the living room. Sydney's body was recovered in

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Speaker 1: the back bedroom. I want to go straight to Sydney's mother,

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Speaker 1: Connie Land. Connie, thank you so much for being with us.

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Speaker 1: You're welcome, Nancy, Connie. I want to go back to

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Speaker 1: the moment you heard there had been some sort of incident.

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Speaker 1: What happened. I'd gotten a phone call from my son Preston,

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Speaker 1: and he said, Mom, have you heard from syd And

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Speaker 1: I go, no, Preston, why And I could just tell

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Speaker 1: in his voice there was something not right, and he

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Speaker 1: was trying to be calm, and he goes, let me

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Speaker 1: call you back, and I just, you know, my warning

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Speaker 1: signs are going off like crazy. And I called him

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Speaker 1: back and I go, Preston, what's going on? And he goes, Mom,

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Speaker 1: I can't talk right now. I got to call you back.

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Speaker 1: And I called him back and I go, Preston, what's

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Speaker 1: going on. He goes, Mom, Lauren and Frankie haven't heard

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Speaker 1: from Sydney. I go, Preston, get over to the apartment quick,

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Speaker 1: get over there. And he called back and it was silence.

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Speaker 1: She's gone. She's dead, said she and he just goes oh, Mom,

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Speaker 1: she's dead. And I he was on the way over

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Speaker 1: to the apartment, and I mean, I just remember exactly

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Speaker 1: where I was at in my house when the call came.

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Speaker 1: And you know, my first thought is what am I

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Speaker 1: supposed to do? I I'm supposed to be going to

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Speaker 1: a Wench meeting right now when kids are at school,

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Speaker 1: and Steve's the fire station, and you know, just so

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Speaker 1: I called, Steve's the fire station, and thank Heavens, he answered,

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Speaker 1: and I know Sydney's dead. And he's like, what I know, Steve,

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Speaker 1: Sydney's Sydney's dead. And at that point, I'm I didn't

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Speaker 1: I couldn't even think if I'm calling nine one one.

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Speaker 1: I figured somebody had called nine one one. Then I call,

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Speaker 1: and then I'm going one hundred and twenty to the apartment,

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Speaker 1: and you know, Steve would get there and Preston was

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Speaker 1: already on his way. It was terrible. Everything you said

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Speaker 1: is striking me. But you said you knew in that

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Speaker 1: silence the same thing happened to me when I got

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Speaker 1: the call to call my fiance's family any right then

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Speaker 1: that Keith was dead, he was murdered. I didn't know

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Speaker 1: he's murdered, but I knew that he was dead, and

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Speaker 1: when his family picked the phone up, I said, one

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Speaker 1: thing is Keith gone because I just knew it. And

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Speaker 1: I don't know what that is. But you know, take

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Speaker 1: a listen to our friend Adam Herbert's at Fox five Vegas.

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Speaker 1: Somebody went into this complex and tried looking for the couple.

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Speaker 1: They say that they had been missing for at least

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Speaker 1: a few days, and then that's when they went inside

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Speaker 1: the apartment and they found them there. They were dead.

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Speaker 1: Police say it looked like they had been dead for

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Speaker 1: at least twenty four hours, and now they're just trying

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Speaker 1: to figure out who shot them to death. At the

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Speaker 1: very least. Police say they do have a few clues.

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Speaker 1: They say, right now it looks like they may have

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Speaker 1: been murdered by two men, but other than that, they're

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Speaker 1: not really releasing any other suspect description now. Friends and

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Speaker 1: family said the victims are Neo Kaufman, he's just twenty

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Speaker 1: years old, and Sidney Land, who's twenty one. They said

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Speaker 1: Neo was just the kind of guy everybody gravitated to.

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Speaker 1: He was an athlete, he was super funny. They also

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Speaker 1: said Sydney was a woman with a big heart. She

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Speaker 1: loved people, she loved to help people. And now everyone

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Speaker 1: is trying to figure out why, how did this happen

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Speaker 1: and why would anyone want to hurt these two people.

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Speaker 1: There's no good motive for murder ever. To Karen Smith,

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Speaker 1: let's talk about something that may push the case forward

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Speaker 1: with me. Karen Smith for Insect's expert and a founder

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Speaker 1: of Bare Bones Consulting. Karen Smith, you and I've worked

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Speaker 1: a lot together. I want to know what you would do,

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Speaker 1: what should have been done in this crime scene. Well, Nancy,

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Speaker 1: first of all, like to say, Connie, I'd like to

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Speaker 1: give you my deepest heartfelt condolences. Into the crime scene.

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Speaker 1: You know, this is very complex. You have two people

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Speaker 1: inside a place. It's a contained crime scene, which is

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Speaker 1: a good thing. Hopefully it hasn't been trampled by detectives

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Speaker 1: and other onlookers. At that point. The first thing that

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Speaker 1: you want to do is seal off the crime scene.

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Speaker 1: Make sure that nobody goes in and nobody comes out

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Speaker 1: without being put on a log. The second thing that

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Speaker 1: you're going to do is look at the evidence. Put

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Speaker 1: on your tai vex suit. Make sure that you're not

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Speaker 1: going to contaminate the scene yourself. And you go in

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Speaker 1: and you start documenting with photography and video, and as

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Speaker 1: you're doing that, you look at the scene as a whole.

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Speaker 1: You look at where the bodies are positioned. You look

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Speaker 1: at any evidence that maybe in the area, any shell casings,

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Speaker 1: any weapons that are left behind, the positions of those

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Speaker 1: pieces of evidence in relation to the body. You look

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Speaker 1: at who was where inside the apartment or the house.

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Speaker 1: You look at any wounds. You don't touch the body,

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Speaker 1: that's not our jurisdiction, but you can look and you

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Speaker 1: can see. Is there stipling, which is a gunpowder unburned

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Speaker 1: and burned gunpowder residue that that it comes out of

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Speaker 1: a gun. Is there any evidence of that which would

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Speaker 1: mean a close quarter shooting? Is there any evidence of

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Speaker 1: bullet trajectories in the wall? Where's the blood spatter evidence?

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Speaker 1: Where is it located on the wall? Is it on

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Speaker 1: the floor? Is their pooling? Is the blood wet? Is

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Speaker 1: it dry? Have they been there a while? Have they not?

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Speaker 1: Are they closed? Are they unclosed? Is there any evidence

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Speaker 1: on that clothing? You look for fingerprints on doors, on windows?

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Speaker 1: Is their force entry? These are just some of the

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Speaker 1: very basic things that you do when you first go

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Speaker 1: into a crime scene. This is not something that's going

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Speaker 1: to be done in four hours. I would be surprised

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Speaker 1: if they weren't there for two or three days. Nancy,

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Speaker 1: what happened to Sydney Land and Neo Kaufman Crime stories

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Speaker 1: with Nancy Grace, Niamiah Kaufman and Sydney And we're inside

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Speaker 1: of an apartment in our southwest part of the valley

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Speaker 1: when an unknown person entered the apartment and both of

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Speaker 1: them were executed inside the apartment. They were both shot

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Speaker 1: and killed inside the apartment. From there, we have followed

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Speaker 1: dozens and dozens of leads in this investigation. There. Originally

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Speaker 1: we've had a person that we have exhausted all leads

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Speaker 1: on that we believe as a person of interest in

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Speaker 1: that case. At the same time, we have followed up

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Speaker 1: on other leads to make sure that we're checking any

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Speaker 1: possible motives or any possible suspects. So, since that has occurred,

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Speaker 1: like I said, there's been dozens and dozens of leads

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Speaker 1: that we have followed. All of those have brought us

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Speaker 1: back to the same point that we were two years ago.

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Speaker 1: We do not know who committed this murder. That was

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Speaker 1: a press conference with Metro Homicide talking about how Sydney

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Speaker 1: and Nia were executed inside there. Apart that they followed

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Speaker 1: dozens of leads, but right now those leads have been exhausted.

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Speaker 1: But now take a list to our Familysts and McCarty

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Speaker 1: which stood out to you when walking through that crime scene.

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Speaker 1: Many things stood out. The lack of fourth century, whoever

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Speaker 1: was in the apartment with them appeared to be someone

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Speaker 1: that they trusted, and there was something else about the

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Speaker 1: circumstances surrounding their desks. Something that makes this murder an

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Speaker 1: investigative nightmare was their DNA found. There were several items

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Speaker 1: that contained DNA evidence. Now, the problem is these people

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Speaker 1: had a lot of friends, a lot of associates, a

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Speaker 1: lot of people that hung out at the apartment complex

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Speaker 1: with them. So sorting through all the details of what

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Speaker 1: was relevant and what's not hasn't been a challenge. You know.

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Speaker 1: Straight back to that with me, forensics expert at Bare

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Speaker 1: Bones Consulting, Karen Smith, You've got a beautiful young girl

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Speaker 1: and her boyfriend dead, shot dead and I heard them

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Speaker 1: use the phrase execution, So I do not believe this

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Speaker 1: was a homicide suicide absolutely not, because both were victims

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Speaker 1: of homicide. But you just heard the detective state that

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Speaker 1: there was no forced entry and that the investigation was

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Speaker 1: tough because there was so much DNA from different people

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Speaker 1: having been there earlier at a party the day before. Right,

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Speaker 1: And that's typical, Nancy, that's that's not a typical of

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Speaker 1: a crime scene. You know, we have cups and cigarette

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Speaker 1: butts and cans and bottles and all that. This is

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Speaker 1: stuff that we deal with all the time. You don't

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Speaker 1: exclude anyone, you don't exclude any DNA. And when you

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Speaker 1: have if it's execution style, you're right, this was not

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Speaker 1: a murder suicide. You know, that would bring me back

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Speaker 1: to the bullet trajectories. That would bring me back to

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Speaker 1: the medical examiner and their findings. What did they find?

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Speaker 1: Where were they shot? Was there any stipling on the wound?

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Speaker 1: Was there any stipling on the clothing? Where did it happen?

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Speaker 1: And where were the casings? If a semi automatic was used,

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Speaker 1: were the casings ejected? Where were they? You know, revolvers

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Speaker 1: a little difficult, they don't eject casing, So that's a

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Speaker 1: different story. Right. However, when you have the projectile, where

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Speaker 1: they recovered. Can they throw those projectiles into the nive

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Speaker 1: AND database, which is the National Integrated Ballistics Network and

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Speaker 1: do a mat on just one moment, I want to

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Speaker 1: follow up with what you're saying. Joining me Doug Papa,

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Speaker 1: reporter with the Baltimore Post Examiner and Sydney's mom, Connie

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Speaker 1: Land to Doug Papa, do we know whether the ballistics

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Speaker 1: have been traced? We don't know that. I believe I

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Speaker 1: know the caliber of the weapon, but I'm not going

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Speaker 1: to say it protect the integrity of the investigation. But no,

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Speaker 1: we don't know anything. Oh you know what, I think

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Speaker 1: that's not gonna have at the integrity investigation. What do

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Speaker 1: you know the caliber? I believe the caliber was a

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Speaker 1: forty five caliber. Okay, so this is how that goes

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Speaker 1: down to Daryl Cohen, were now defense attorney joining me

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Speaker 1: out of the Atlanta jurisdiction. You can find him at

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Speaker 1: Darryl Cohen dot TV. I remember the very first time,

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Speaker 1: and I hate to tell you of the year. I

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Speaker 1: guess it was about nineteen eighty seven. I was at

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Speaker 1: the crime lab and the head of the Ballistics division

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Speaker 1: was showing me and I did it with him. How

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Speaker 1: you match up bullets easy. You get your non bullet, Okay,

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Speaker 1: you get another bullet, same caliber and what you think

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Speaker 1: maybe the murder weapon, and you fire a bullet with

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Speaker 1: the murder weapon into a mattress or into a drum

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Speaker 1: of water. Then you take the non bullet taken out

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Speaker 1: of the victim, put it under a microscope, and you

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Speaker 1: compare it to the one you just shot with the

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Speaker 1: possible murder weapon. Bullets have what we call striations or

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Speaker 1: marks on them. It's unique to each gun, like a

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Speaker 1: fingerprint because when that gun is manufactured and the iron,

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Speaker 1: the metal cools from the heat, it dries in its

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Speaker 1: own unique pattern inside the barrel. And as a bullet

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Speaker 1: is hurdling down the barrel, it hits the inside of

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Speaker 1: the barrel and it gets markings markings from one gun

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Speaker 1: on a bullet or unlike any other markings from any

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Speaker 1: other weapon period, it's a fingerprint. So Daryl Cohen, that's

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Speaker 1: why I'm so interested if they did exactly what Karen

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Speaker 1: Smith was just talking about, got the bullet and added

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Speaker 1: it into the ballistics database. It's like a fingerprint database

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Speaker 1: or a DNA database. There is a gun database. To Daryl,

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Speaker 1: it doesn't make any sense unless they did it. That

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Speaker 1: was Kelly Fight, wasn't it back in those days? Nancy?

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Speaker 1: It sure was. And guess what the other day, I

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Speaker 1: was driving along and I stopped and spoke to a

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Speaker 1: cop and he says, uh, you know my dad. I'm like, okay,

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Speaker 1: did I put him in jail? And he goes to

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Speaker 1: know it was Kelly Fight? I mean, revered ballistics supervisor.

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Speaker 1: But long story short, that is critical what Karen Smith

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Speaker 1: just said. You have to do that because that gives

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Speaker 1: you the forensic evidence that you need. As a basic

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Speaker 1: you can't go forward without a base. You can't go

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Speaker 1: forward with a structure unless there's a basement, well, a

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Speaker 1: ground floor, and that's your ground floor. Yeah, that's a

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Speaker 1: good way to put it to Doctor Brian Russell, psychologists,

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Speaker 1: host of Fatal Vows, a hit series on Investigation Discovery,

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Speaker 1: author of Stop Moaning, Start Owning on Amazon, Doctor Brian,

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Speaker 1: I got something else, and this is for you. Neighbors

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Speaker 1: at the apartment complex where Sydney and Neo lived say

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Speaker 1: that they were very quiet, very polite, that there had

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Speaker 1: never been any trouble, no arguments, no police calls, no

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Speaker 1: throwing of dishes, nothing like that. No even parking infraction.

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Speaker 1: They kept to themselves, and the neighbors say they didn't

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Speaker 1: witness anyone enter or leaving the home, but critically, there

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Speaker 1: was no sign of a forced entry. You know, it's

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Speaker 1: hard for me to believe that this couple goes from

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Speaker 1: zero to one twenty mph over night. The neighbors say, quiet,

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Speaker 1: chat to themselves, no problems, Doctor Brian Russell, what does

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Speaker 1: that mean to you? Well, a couple of things. One is, yes,

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Speaker 1: I think if this had been the culmination of you

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Speaker 1: a havoc in the marriage, Yes, there probably would have

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Speaker 1: been a gradually escalating pattern that would have been observed

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Speaker 1: by other people. Now, one thing that I'll just add

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Speaker 1: to that, though, is you and I have discussed many

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Speaker 1: cases over the years where someone has been caught having

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Speaker 1: committed a murder and people go around and interview the neighbors,

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Speaker 1: and the neighbors say, I never saw anything that gave

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Speaker 1: me any idea I was living next to a monster.

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Speaker 1: And all that says is how little we tend to

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Speaker 1: know the people living right around us. So, you know,

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Speaker 1: while I do put some stock in what the neighbors say,

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Speaker 1: I have to take it with a little bit of

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Speaker 1: a grain of salt because of that. Yeah, see, can

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Speaker 1: I make a couple of corrections that are here? Absolutely Okay.

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Speaker 1: Neil and Sidney had moved into the apartment approximately one

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Speaker 1: month before they were killed. I was told by the

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Speaker 1: police that it was a hangout place, that the neighbors

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Speaker 1: were not happy because kids were coming and going, and

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Speaker 1: they were playing music and you know, and it was

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Speaker 1: kind of a hangout spot. But they hadn't been there

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Speaker 1: a very long time. What I was told by the

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Speaker 1: detectives is, you know, and again I don't know if

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Speaker 1: the detectives are misleading or providing information that's accurate or not,

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Speaker 1: but there was actually a neighbor that was a retired

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Speaker 1: police officer I think from Detroit area that lived directly

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Speaker 1: across the apartment from the apartment complex. What I was

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Speaker 1: told is he was a night owl. They were night owls,

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Speaker 1: or she was a night owl. He said. It was

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Speaker 1: very frustrating because the couple did not come forward when

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Speaker 1: we were scouring asking questions. We had to track them down.

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Speaker 1: She said that she had heard pounding on the door,

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Speaker 1: she heard arguing, she heard one gun shot, the second

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Speaker 1: gun shot, and scuffling. The detective told me It would

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Speaker 1: have only taken one thing for her to move the

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Speaker 1: blinds and she would have seen what was happening. She

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Speaker 1: was laying on the couch, heard it, she said. The

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Speaker 1: detective said. She went into her husband said was that

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Speaker 1: gun shots? He said yes, and they went to bed.

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Speaker 1: He said, Connie, if they had called nine one one,

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Speaker 1: it would have completely changed this entire investigation because kind

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Speaker 1: of what we know is they were they were dead

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Speaker 1: about thirty six hours before they were before the nine

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Speaker 1: one one call was called in. But we've also been

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Speaker 1: told that people went back to the apartment prior to

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Speaker 1: the police arriving, So that complicates the situation quite a bit.

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Speaker 1: Crime stories with Nancy Grace, you know, I didn't really

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Speaker 1: equit being a hangout place or having a party a

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Speaker 1: couple of days before as being any sort of trouble.

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Speaker 1: But I want you to take a listen to this

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Speaker 1: from CWD. When cops arrive at her apartment, it's a

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Speaker 1: chaotic scene of blood and confusing evidence. I mean, you know,

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Speaker 1: when I refer to DNA, I mean there's cigarette butts everywhere,

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Speaker 1: and the ash trace full of stuff, There's drink cups everywhere,

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Speaker 1: and so you talk about DNA being in the apartment.

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Speaker 1: There's there's all kinds of stuff, you know, so who

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Speaker 1: knows what was supposed to be there and what wasn't

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Speaker 1: supposed to be there. Detectives say the couple hung out

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Speaker 1: with a shady cast of characters who regularly partied at

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Speaker 1: Sydney's place. There had been a gathering the night before.

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Speaker 1: Cops quickly see surveillance video trained on doorways of the

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Speaker 1: apartment complex. It was of no use. We went and

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Speaker 1: reviewed hours and hours of footage looking. Unfortunately, there was

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Speaker 1: nobody that we identified through the surveillance footage as a

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Speaker 1: person of interest. To Baltimore Post Examiner reporter Doug Papa,

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Speaker 1: joining me, that's hard for me to believe that they've

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Speaker 1: got surveillance video of a party that was held the

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Speaker 1: night before the shootings and they can't make anybody out.

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Speaker 1: I know there was surveillance cameras on the it's a

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Speaker 1: gated apartment complex, of the cars going in and out,

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Speaker 1: and from what I understand, they reviewed that and they couldn't.

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Speaker 1: It didn't lead to anything. But I want to interject

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Speaker 1: something here, nancf I made I spoke to a Las

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Speaker 1: Vegas sitting judge in just Escort. I interviewed her last year.

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Speaker 1: She told me that the voice you just heard on

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Speaker 1: that crime Watch daily AT's detective Jared Grimmin. She told

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Speaker 1: me that Detective Grimmat told her three and four weeks

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Speaker 1: after the murder he was releasing all the confidential details

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Speaker 1: to her about the homicide. He told her two convicted

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Speaker 1: felons and the daughter of a retired Las Vegas Metropoulm

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Speaker 1: Police Department police officer were the ones who executed Sidney

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Speaker 1: and Neo. This case is a lot more complex, I

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Speaker 1: think even that you know, and I've been I did

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Speaker 1: several numerous stories on this for the Baltimore Post Examiner. Now,

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Speaker 1: this judge says the reason why Sidney and Neo were

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Speaker 1: murdered because it wasn't supposed to be them. She says,

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Speaker 1: the wrong people were murdered that day. It was supposed

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Speaker 1: to be her and her daughter because she was outed

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Speaker 1: by Las Vegas Metropoum Police Apartment vice detectives who she's

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Speaker 1: been given information to for a year prior to the

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Speaker 1: murder about unlicensed club operated by pimps who were protected

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Speaker 1: by the police because the police were getting payoffs. Now

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Speaker 1: there's been a federal FBI investigation going on in Las

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Speaker 1: Vegas since twenty fourteen, she alleges, and this is a

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Speaker 1: recorded interview with the sitting judge who gave me this information,

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Speaker 1: and I published stories about this. She says that eight

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Speaker 1: hours before the murders happened. She said, the murders happened

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Speaker 1: at twelve thirty in the morning on the morning of

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Speaker 1: the twenty sixth, and I'm assuming that information came from

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Speaker 1: the police who was giving up the information. Eight hours

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Speaker 1: prior to that, her and her daughter are outed by

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Speaker 1: vice detectives to another Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department police

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Speaker 1: officer and his daughter who was an alleged prostitute, and

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Speaker 1: she says that the reason why the murders happened was

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Speaker 1: a direct result of her and her daughter being outed

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Speaker 1: by the vice detectives eight hours prior. Now that bothers

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Speaker 1: me because two things. Number One, this is a sitting judge,

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Speaker 1: a Las Vegas Townsenjig, a sitting judge on the court

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Speaker 1: who gave me this hour and a half interview in

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Speaker 1: April of last year, so she's got credibility. And another thing,

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Speaker 1: Connie made a complaint against Detective Grimmat for leasing information

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Speaker 1: to judge to Biason, and she says to me on

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Speaker 1: the recording, and I got the recordings and some of

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Speaker 1: them like the snippets of the courtings and some of

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Speaker 1: my stories. She says. Three or four weeks after the murders,

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Speaker 1: Detective Grimm was given all the confidential details about Dan

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Speaker 1: evidence and she says that he told her the d

404
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Speaker 1: in evidence and everything is the three suspects, Like I said,

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Speaker 1: there's a Shane Valentine, convicted felon, a Dominique Thompson, a

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Speaker 1: convicted felon both of our pimps, and the daughter of

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Speaker 1: a step daughter excuse me of a now retired Las

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Speaker 1: Vegas Metron Police department. She told me on tape several

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Speaker 1: times and an emails that Detective Grimma told her those

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Speaker 1: were the ones that committed the murder. This case is

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Speaker 1: surrounds surrounded by corruption and misconduct. Is this a case

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Speaker 1: I'll mistaken identity and all those murky details, One thing

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Speaker 1: is emerging a potential suspect. Listen and everything looked like

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Speaker 1: Saint Valentine may have been our guy and was revenge

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Speaker 1: his motive. Cops say Valentine had a beef with Neo

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Speaker 1: and had taken action before Shane Valentine actually went over

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Speaker 1: to Neio's mother's house, fired around into the window, broke

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Speaker 1: out a couple of windows, and rammed his car into

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Speaker 1: the parking garage store as he threatened to cause harm

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Speaker 1: to Neo and his family. The incident happened three weeks

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Speaker 1: before the murders. Then damning evidence from the bloody night

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Speaker 1: of the shooting surfaces. They could pinions his cell phone

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Speaker 1: in the tower in that area about the time of

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Speaker 1: the murder, and then he was in California the next morning.

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Speaker 1: Cops kept an eye on Valentine but couldn't directly link

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Speaker 1: him through DNA to the shootings. Although it appears that

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Speaker 1: he may not have been the shooter, the possibility remains

428
00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:14,520
Speaker 1: that he was aware of what was going to happen,

429
00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:32,040
Speaker 1: or what was happened immediately thereafter. I'm stories with Nancy Grace.

430
00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:40,680
Speaker 1: Friends find a gorgeous young couple shot dead inside a

431
00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:45,760
Speaker 1: Vegas apartment. I'm talking about Nihemiah Neo Kaufman, just twenty

432
00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:49,600
Speaker 1: in Sydney, Land just twenty one, found dead. They have

433
00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:52,439
Speaker 1: been living there in the apartment for several months together.

434
00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:58,800
Speaker 1: As of now, no suspects, but our two mystery men involved,

435
00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:04,199
Speaker 1: how were they killed? What could possibly have been the motive?

436
00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:06,920
Speaker 1: I mean to see grace this it's crime stories. Thank

437
00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:11,800
Speaker 1: you for being with us. We want answerers take a

438
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:15,760
Speaker 1: listen to this from CWD. And everything looked like Sane

439
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:19,920
Speaker 1: Valentine may have been our guy and was revenge his motive.

440
00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:24,400
Speaker 1: Cops say Valentine had a beef with Neo and had

441
00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:28,600
Speaker 1: taken action before Shane. Valentine actually went over to Neo's

442
00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:32,399
Speaker 1: mother's house, fired around into the window, broke out a

443
00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:34,760
Speaker 1: couple of windows, and rammed his car into the parking

444
00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:37,480
Speaker 1: garage door as he threatened to cause harm to Neio

445
00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:42,960
Speaker 1: and his family. The incident happened three weeks before the murders. Then,

446
00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:47,400
Speaker 1: damning evidence from the bloody night of the shooting surfaces.

447
00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:50,159
Speaker 1: They could pinions his cell phone in the tower in

448
00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:53,480
Speaker 1: that area about the time of the murder, and then

449
00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:57,480
Speaker 1: he was in California the next morning. Cops kept an

450
00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:01,479
Speaker 1: eye on Valentine but couldn't directly link him through DNA

451
00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:04,679
Speaker 1: to the shootings. Although it appears that he may not

452
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:07,720
Speaker 1: have been the shooter, the possibility remains that he was

453
00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:10,159
Speaker 1: aware of what was going to happen or what was

454
00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:14,399
Speaker 1: happened immediately thereafter straight out to Connie Land. This is

455
00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:18,520
Speaker 1: Sydney's mother. Now, to me, if we know for a fact,

456
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:23,320
Speaker 1: this guy, Shane Valentine rammed his car into your daughter's

457
00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:28,199
Speaker 1: place just before the shooting, that does not sound like

458
00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:31,480
Speaker 1: mistaken identity to me. No, it's not as far as

459
00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:34,440
Speaker 1: as far as the shooting on October eighth. What's interesting

460
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:38,920
Speaker 1: about that cases Shane went over, you know, I guess

461
00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:41,120
Speaker 1: Shane went over told Neo to come out of the

462
00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:43,640
Speaker 1: house that he was a dead man. It was eleven

463
00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:48,560
Speaker 1: thirty in the morning on a Saturday, great weather, and

464
00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:54,600
Speaker 1: when Shane was one that threatened him when he shot

465
00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:57,480
Speaker 1: into the house. The problem with this case started before

466
00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:01,080
Speaker 1: the murders happened, because the day of October eighth, the

467
00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:04,480
Speaker 1: police and the detectives and the CSAs that were investigating

468
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:08,240
Speaker 1: the crime scene, they retrieved the rock that was thrown

469
00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:11,800
Speaker 1: through the window, They retrieved the plastic from where he

470
00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:14,280
Speaker 1: ran his car in to the closed garudge door, but

471
00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:17,320
Speaker 1: they never retrieved the bullet that they knew was shot

472
00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:21,120
Speaker 1: into the house. It wasn't until after the murders happened.

473
00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:24,440
Speaker 1: When my detective went into evidence to try to match

474
00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:29,200
Speaker 1: the ballistics, he realized that the bullet from the shooting

475
00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:33,440
Speaker 1: on October eighth, we're not We're not in evidence. My

476
00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:36,520
Speaker 1: homicide detective had to go back to the Kaufman home

477
00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:40,040
Speaker 1: after the homicide three weeks later and retrieved the bullets

478
00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:43,280
Speaker 1: out of the home but one bullet, two bullets, I'm

479
00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:45,400
Speaker 1: not sure how many, but the bullets out of the home,

480
00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:49,640
Speaker 1: and they closed The police department closed the case down

481
00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:54,239
Speaker 1: my understanding, less than a week after the shooting on

482
00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:58,000
Speaker 1: October eighth, due to insufficient evidence. I'm not quite sure

483
00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:00,960
Speaker 1: how that is. They never even treat the bullet too.

484
00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:06,040
Speaker 1: Daryl Cohen, you have prosecuted and defended countless murders. It

485
00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:09,240
Speaker 1: seems to me there's a clear pattern. I do not

486
00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:13,880
Speaker 1: think it was mistaken identity, because you've got this one

487
00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:19,120
Speaker 1: person ramming his car into the home a home, throwing

488
00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:23,480
Speaker 1: a rock through a window, threatening the boyfriend, Neo Kaufman,

489
00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:27,680
Speaker 1: and then Neo Kaufman is Sydneyland end up dead. Nancy.

490
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:30,360
Speaker 1: I don't see this as a mistaken identity. There was

491
00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:36,280
Speaker 1: absolutely no evidence of forced entry. That tells me everything

492
00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:40,400
Speaker 1: when you just mentioned the car all the rest of it.

493
00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:44,200
Speaker 1: That tells me they're targeted. And the question becomes why

494
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:48,440
Speaker 1: are they targeted and who did the targeting. That's where

495
00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:50,960
Speaker 1: they need to look. They need to look at everything.

496
00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:54,800
Speaker 1: What type of business were these two young people in,

497
00:30:55,400 --> 00:31:00,920
Speaker 1: monkey business, straight business or other business there? They've got

498
00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:04,960
Speaker 1: to expand this investigation not contracted. Take a list to

499
00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:08,520
Speaker 1: our friends at Katie Invasion All thirteen in Vegas homicide

500
00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:11,880
Speaker 1: here has gotten so many tips and they're asking for

501
00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:16,400
Speaker 1: new leads. It's really crazy when people say you just

502
00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:20,400
Speaker 1: need to move on. More than a year later, Connie Land, undeterred,

503
00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:24,960
Speaker 1: standing alongside Metro, determined to get justice for her daughter.

504
00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:29,120
Speaker 1: They've messed with the wrong mother. Police notifying the public

505
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:33,080
Speaker 1: that Shane Valentine, seen here allegedly trying to break into

506
00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:36,760
Speaker 1: a home, is no longer a person of interest, currently

507
00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:39,960
Speaker 1: in custody on a separate case. Police believe he's not

508
00:31:40,120 --> 00:31:45,680
Speaker 1: involved despite his alleged violent acts against the Kaufman's. Guess

509
00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:47,120
Speaker 1: what we get to do. We get to go look

510
00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:49,840
Speaker 1: at other avenues and look at new evidence. The killer

511
00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:53,000
Speaker 1: or killers believed to have been let inside the apartment.

512
00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:57,800
Speaker 1: Lieutenant Dan McGrath saying today Sidney was likely not the target.

513
00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:02,240
Speaker 1: I never thought that she was ever involved in any way.

514
00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:05,920
Speaker 1: A plea for tips once again, so there's closure for

515
00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:09,160
Speaker 1: a mom and her family too. Daryl Cohen, you have

516
00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:14,040
Speaker 1: prosecuted and defended countless murders. It seems to me there's

517
00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:18,280
Speaker 1: a clear pattern. I do not think it was mistaken identity,

518
00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:23,800
Speaker 1: because you've got this one person ramming his car into

519
00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:27,760
Speaker 1: the home a home, throwing a rock through a window,

520
00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:32,400
Speaker 1: threatening the boyfriend, Neo Kaufman, and then Neo Kaufman is

521
00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:35,680
Speaker 1: sydneyland end up dead? Nancy? I don't see this as

522
00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:41,840
Speaker 1: a mistaken identity. There was absolutely no evidence of forced entry.

523
00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:45,840
Speaker 1: That tells me everything. When you just mentioned the car

524
00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:49,320
Speaker 1: all the rest of it, that tells me they're targeted.

525
00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:53,120
Speaker 1: And the question becomes why are they targeted and who

526
00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:56,720
Speaker 1: did the targeting. That's where they need to look. They

527
00:32:56,720 --> 00:33:00,640
Speaker 1: need to look at everything. What type of business were

528
00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:04,960
Speaker 1: these two young people in, monkey business, straight business or

529
00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:11,320
Speaker 1: other business there? They've got to expand this investigation not contracted.

530
00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:16,360
Speaker 1: You know, when you hear what Sydney's family has been through.

531
00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:19,840
Speaker 1: Take a listen to our friends at Katie Invay, Channel thirteen, Vegas.

532
00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:22,360
Speaker 1: I am standing under one of the billboards where you

533
00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:25,640
Speaker 1: can see Sydney's face flash. There's about seven of them

534
00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:29,000
Speaker 1: across Las Vegas, on the fifteen, two, fifteen, and the

535
00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:32,560
Speaker 1: ninety five. Now this is not cheap, but her mother

536
00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:36,960
Speaker 1: says it's necessary to find her daughter's killers. If you

537
00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:40,120
Speaker 1: live in Las Vegas, you've probably seen her face by

538
00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:44,760
Speaker 1: now on billboards, as you've likely heard Sydney's story as

539
00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:48,400
Speaker 1: told by her mother, Connie Land. We've done news articles,

540
00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:52,800
Speaker 1: we've done press conferences, we've done TV interviews, written articles,

541
00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:56,440
Speaker 1: you name it. Now they're spending hundreds of dollars a

542
00:33:56,520 --> 00:34:00,200
Speaker 1: month on these billboards. How long can you continue to

543
00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:05,000
Speaker 1: pay forty five hundred a month? We just keep working

544
00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:07,800
Speaker 1: hard and do what we can do. And if it's

545
00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:11,759
Speaker 1: three billboards and you know, every other month, and that's

546
00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:14,719
Speaker 1: what we do. Someone had to see something, someone had

547
00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:18,040
Speaker 1: to hear something. Their friends know who did it? Connie

548
00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:22,960
Speaker 1: hope someone will come forward with time to Sydney's mother. Connie,

549
00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:27,720
Speaker 1: you have stood by. You're pumping in about five thousand

550
00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:32,200
Speaker 1: dollars a month from billboards and everything you can think

551
00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:35,799
Speaker 1: of to do to solve this case. What have you

552
00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:38,759
Speaker 1: been through, Nancy, You know better than anybody what we've

553
00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:43,840
Speaker 1: been through. You can't put into words what this is

554
00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:47,480
Speaker 1: done to our family, what this is done to my

555
00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:53,879
Speaker 1: extended family, to my children. There's always first, There will

556
00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:57,480
Speaker 1: always be first in our family. And you know, we

557
00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:00,600
Speaker 1: were given a life sentence when Sydney It was killed,

558
00:35:01,719 --> 00:35:04,160
Speaker 1: and this is something we will have to deal with

559
00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:08,439
Speaker 1: our entire life. I have chosen to be very proactive

560
00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:15,359
Speaker 1: in trying to uncover what truly happened and what has

561
00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:18,399
Speaker 1: gone on in this case, because that's what Sidney would

562
00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:21,319
Speaker 1: expect of me, is she would expect me to fight,

563
00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:23,640
Speaker 1: she would expect me to dig, she would expect me

564
00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:27,520
Speaker 1: to be relentless in trying to get justice for her

565
00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:31,000
Speaker 1: and and for Nehemiah. I mean, everything that I do

566
00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:35,560
Speaker 1: is for both of them, and so that's what I

567
00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:37,759
Speaker 1: get to do, and to me, that's my way of

568
00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:41,279
Speaker 1: honoring her. That creates a sense of healing for me

569
00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:44,279
Speaker 1: to know that I'm doing something. You are hearing the

570
00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:48,080
Speaker 1: voice of Connie Land, that is twenty one year old

571
00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:54,359
Speaker 1: Sidney Land's mother. Doug Papa, Baltimore Post Examiner still on

572
00:35:54,400 --> 00:36:00,000
Speaker 1: the case. We wait as justice unfolds. If you have information,

573
00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:06,279
Speaker 1: please contact Doug pop Up p o p p a

574
00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:13,200
Speaker 1: at Baltimore Post Examiner. Nancy Grace Crime Stories, signing off,

575
00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:14,920
Speaker 1: goodbye friend,