WEBVTT - The Hot Seat 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:06.960 I'm Kate Winkler Dawson. I'm a journalist who's spent the 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:09.760 last twenty five years writing about true crime. 0:00:10.039 --> 0:00:13.040 And I'm Paul Hols, a retired cold case investigator who's 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:16.639 worked some of America's most complicated cases and solve them. 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:20.040 Each week, I present Paul with one of history's most 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:21.880 compelling true crimes. 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:24.479 And I weigh in using modern forensic techniques to bring 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:26.280 new insights to old mysteries. 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:31.880 Together, using our individual expertise, we're examining historical true crime 0:00:31.960 --> 0:00:34.600 cases through a twenty first century lens. 0:00:34.840 --> 0:00:38.000 Some are solved and some are cold, very cold. 0:00:38.479 --> 0:00:45.560 This is buried Bones. 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:03.680 Hey Paul, Hey Kate, how are you today? 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:07.600 I'm doing well. I wanted to ask you a question 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:11.480 because you know, you and I come from backgrounds where 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:14.280 sometimes people don't like us for what we do for 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:19.960 a living. Sometimes people don't like journalists, and sometimes people 0:01:20.000 --> 0:01:22.679 don't like you know, a law enforcement even like the 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:25.840 forensic community. Do you think it has made you a 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:30.520 more cautious, paranoid anything like that, like too much over 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:33.400 the top. Do you feel like you look over your 0:01:33.400 --> 0:01:35.320 shoulder every once in a while. Have you ever felt 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:36.119 like that in your career. 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:37.520 Oh yeah, no, for sure. 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:39.880 In fact, there's a couple of times in my career 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:43.120 in which I received death threats. What the very first time, 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:45.200 which is when I first started, I was just a 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:50.320 civilian toxicologist and I testified against a guy. I think 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:53.480 it was a manufacturing a drugs charge and he was 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:54.120 a bad guy. 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:54.640 You know. 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:57.400 He ended up being sentenced and put in Pelican Bay 0:01:57.440 --> 0:02:00.240 in California, which is, you know, for the hardest of 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:03.480 the hardened criminals out there. And then I get my 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:06.920 boss coming up to me handing me a form saying 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:12.000 you need to get DMV confidentiality because she had just 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:15.840 been notified that the guy had threatened to kill the 0:02:15.919 --> 0:02:19.440 chemists that had testified against him. And I was like, 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:23.040 what what am I getting myself into here? 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:23.399 Right? 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:27.560 And then I had an online sleuth type on Golden 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:30.640 State Killer kind of want to do me harm? 0:02:31.040 --> 0:02:33.200 So over the Golden State Killer. 0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:34.840 Yeah yeah. 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:40.400 And there's several other individuals out there that probably have 0:02:40.680 --> 0:02:45.240 some mental health aspects going on that aren't fans of mine, 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:48.760 So you know, you do become a little bit more cautious, 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:53.560 a little bit more paranoid. Fortunately, especially towards the end 0:02:53.560 --> 0:02:57.360 of my career, I had access to resources at the 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:02.200 federal level that could be deployed if there was a need. 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:07.400 Well that was very cryptic, and I know as men 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:10.360 as a scare tactic, but congratulations, I think you did it. 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:11.320 Let's see. 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:13.720 You know, there is a what do you want to 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:16.280 call it? There is possibility do sort of a whack 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:17.120 of moole aspect. 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:20.480 Okay, there you go. I tell my journalism students all 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:23.200 the time. You know, this is a fantastic profession to 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:26.079 be in, and you are doing so much good. If 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:29.800 you are a responsible journalist, a good person who wants 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:31.640 to do the right thing. They're in this business to 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:35.320 do the right thing. To inform the public. It is dangerous. 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:37.960 Oh you know, we are in the public and what 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:41.640 you've done is dangerous too. When you particularly when you're 0:03:41.800 --> 0:03:44.880 dealing with other people's lives and their freedom and everything, 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:48.600 you are in the public eye and you run some 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:52.120 pretty big risks. And so I always say, you'll have 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:54.480 to really think about that. You know, this is something 0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:57.280 that you want to do, because you're going to piss 0:03:57.320 --> 0:03:59.840 people off generally in this business. 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:05.280 Now, you know, at any time when you're affecting somebody's emotions, 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:11.640 their livelihood, and sometimes it's just the receiver's perception of 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:15.080 who you are and what you're doing, particularly when it's 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:19.120 you know, kind of from afar. It does elevate the 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:22.120 risk just because you know, ninety nine percent of the 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:25.400 people out there are good people, but the one percent 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:27.440 out there is what you have to be concerned about, 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:31.440 and the point one percent are straight out dangerous. So 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:35.120 you know, it's just something that in these types of 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:38.640 professions you kind of have to accept that these are 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:42.960 the risks. It's sort of that risk versus reward aspect. 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:45.960 You know, pursue your passion, do what you love, but 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:51.040 getting into these fields you most certainly just be aware of, 0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:53.080 you know, some of the aspects. 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:55.760 Well, the main person we're going to be talking about 0:04:55.839 --> 0:05:00.279 in our episode today is an investigative journalist. He was 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:05.279 a reporter for the Arizona Republic. He was investigating had 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:09.320 been investigating for years corruption and organized crime in Arizona, 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:13.279 which sounds like a terrifying beat to be on. He 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:16.600 was really really good that I will say, just as 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:20.440 a preview, put him in some pretty dangerous situations. So, 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:23.880 you know, the murder weapon that we are going to 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:27.120 talk about has never been a weapon we've talked about before. 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:29.200 Oh interesting, I'm curious. 0:05:29.440 --> 0:05:32.400 Yeah, okay, Well let's go ahead and set the scene. 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:37.840 Nineteen seventy six. I was born two years earlier. I 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:41.480 was the prospery two year old when this story took place. 0:05:42.800 --> 0:05:44.240 I'm not going to do the math. How old were 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:45.120 you in seventy six? 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:48.920 I was eight years old. I was living outside of Washington, 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:52.839 d C. I can remember the bi centennial. Yeah, so 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:55.599 I distinctly remember nineteen seventy six. 0:05:56.480 --> 0:05:58.440 Well, I'm thrilled to be doing a story in which 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:01.760 I was born in this time period. I think that's amazing. 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:05.400 It's amazing that we're going to the seventies. Okay, So, 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:09.080 as I said, we are in Phoenix, Arizona. It's June second, 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:12.800 and the main person at the center of the story 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:15.880 is a guy named Don Bowles, and he's forty seven. 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:19.760 He's an investigative reporter for the Arizona Republic, great newspaper. 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:23.920 He is very hard working. He has lots of sources, 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:28.320 really deep sources for all kinds of corruption, mafia. I mean, 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:31.960 he's really digging around for a lot of different bits 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:36.240 of information and I think that he is concerned that 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:39.200 he could possibly be in danger at some point, but 0:06:39.400 --> 0:06:43.080 he's a long term reporter and people like that, the 0:06:43.120 --> 0:06:47.599 investigative journalists, I know, they put their job above their 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:51.120 own safety. I mean clearly, if you are a reporter 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:56.359 who is digging into mafia ties and government corruption, you 0:06:56.480 --> 0:06:59.560 know you are dealing with dangerous people. And he very 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:04.480 strong felt that this was his calling and he wanted 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:06.839 to help protect the people of Arizona and this was 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:07.680 his way to do it. 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:11.559 Yeah, and you know, I've got to think there's got 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:14.600 to be for someone like him. In addition to you know, 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:16.680 the fear of the people you might be pissing off, 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:20.240 is there's an adrenaline rush as well, you know, and 0:07:20.480 --> 0:07:23.640 I think that that's just part of that personality. Not 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:28.120 only is you know, the fact finding and informing the public, 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:30.680 but I think people who get into that line of 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:36.320 work truly enjoy, you know, sort of the discovery of 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:40.080 the information that somebody else is trying to suppress or 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:41.400 cover up or whatever it is. 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:44.800 Yeah. Well, what's interesting about Dawn And I don't know 0:07:44.840 --> 0:07:46.920 if this was his age, if he got tired of 0:07:46.960 --> 0:07:50.160 this beat or what, but he decided he wanted to 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:55.240 switch up concentrations. So very very recently he decided he 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:58.720 wanted to move to more day to day state politics. 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:01.080 There is in the state politics, and he actually had 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:03.920 a desk in the press room at the Arizona State Legislature. 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:07.080 I would think good move for Dawn because it keeps 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:09.880 him out of the crosshairs of danger. You would think 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:12.920 getting away from the organized crime and mafia aspect of 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:15.840 it kind of bad news for us because it's going 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:18.920 to open up his circle even wider, because he's now 0:08:18.960 --> 0:08:23.640 covering all sorts of contentious subjects and people who you know, 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:25.920 are doing really lazy things, and his job is to 0:08:25.920 --> 0:08:26.880 dig up the dirt. 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:30.720 Yeah, well, obviously something bad happens to don. 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:38.880 Yeah, unfortunately. So on June second, he leaves his desk 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:42.479 for a meeting with a source at the Hotel Clarendon 0:08:42.840 --> 0:08:46.880 in downtown Phoenix. You know, he is a reliable guy. 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:50.160 He's married to a woman named Rosalie. It's the second 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:52.520 marriage for both of them. Between the two of them, 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:55.480 they have seven children, four from his previous marriage, two 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:57.800 from hers, and then they have one together. He's a 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:00.680 family man, seems to be a great guy. So eleven 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:04.520 fifteen am on this June second, he goes to the hotel. 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:06.480 He waits in the lobby for a little bit and 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:09.080 then a receptionist calls him to the front desk. He 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:11.720 talks on the phone to someone there for about two minutes. 0:09:12.160 --> 0:09:14.640 She said I have no idea who he was talking to, 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:18.640 but that she could tell from his end of the 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:22.440 conversation that this meeting with the source was being postponed. 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:25.000 He told the other person on the line to just 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:26.880 come down to the State House. You know, he has 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:29.040 that desk at the State House, and that was it. 0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:31.360 So it sounds like it was a meeting involving his 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:36.160 politics beat, not his former mafia you know, corruption beat. 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:40.040 So now this timeline is important. He's in the hotel 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:43.280 for a total of fifteen minutes, so he's parked his car, 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:45.200 He goes to the hotel, he comes back out, he 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:47.560 gets back to his car, which is parked in the 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:51.240 hotel's parking lot. Now we took about witnesses to what's 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:55.040 about to happen. There's a guy named Lan Reid. He's 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:57.880 on a ladder and he's working on an HVAC system 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:01.600 in a neighborhood building at eleven thirty, so fifteen minutes 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:05.920 later from when Dawn had entered the hotel lawn. Here's 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:10.720 a massive explosion, and it is powerful enough to shake 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:13.680 the entire building he's working on in this HVAC system. 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:16.839 He climbs down from you know, whatever floor he's on. 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:20.280 He walks outside and he sees the direction the noise 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:23.760 came from a massive plume of white smoke. It's coming 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:26.440 from the parking lot of the hotel. He hears a 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:30.960 man screaming, and he and other workers start running. Now 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:33.040 I can pause, or I can tell you what more 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:36.160 I know. I told you we've never talked about this weapon. 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:38.720 We haven't had a car explosion before. I don't think, no, 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:39.400 we haven't. 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:43.600 I in my career did not have a bombing. 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:48.840 I reviewed a case that had happened in my jurisdiction 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:52.440 like a couple of years before I started, which was 0:10:53.080 --> 0:10:56.200 a bombing a car, a vehicle bombing that resulted in 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:59.240 the death of an individual. And of course I've through 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:05.160 my friend pathology studies have seen what happens to the 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:11.400 human body as a result of bombings, including during the 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:15.400 early days post ninet eleven, attending some of the law 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:20.640 enforcement based training provided by the FEDS in terms of 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:24.960 the various bombings that had occurred across the world and 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:30.319 seeing the devastation that bombs can do to not only property, 0:11:30.400 --> 0:11:32.400 but to the people that are impacted. 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:37.800 Well, this is very graphic what happens with Don. He unfortunately, 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:40.960 I will say, does not die immediately, and there are 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:44.120 some heroes in this story. What it sounds like happened 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:46.120 is he was just starting to pull his car out 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:49.680 from the parking space when part of it, the right 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:53.560 part under his seat, seemed to have exploded. I have 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:57.440 photos of the interior and exterior of the car. Don 0:11:57.520 --> 0:11:59.400 is not in it. We don't see any of that. 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:02.160 I can so tell you what state Dawn was found 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:04.120 in and what they were trying to do to save him. 0:12:04.200 --> 0:12:05.800 So do you want to see the photo? What do 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:06.679 you want to see? Oh? 0:12:06.760 --> 0:12:08.760 Yeah, no, I definitely want to see the photo. This 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:09.640 is the crime scene. 0:12:09.840 --> 0:12:11.280 Some may if you need me to zoom in on 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:11.840 any of this. 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:14.640 Okay, So I'm taking a look at the photo of 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:18.600 the driver's side of a light colored four door Sedan 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:20.439 vintage nineteen seventies. 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:21.760 I mean, this is. 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:26.760 Looking very much like a dots in import vehicle. I 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:28.360 can't say it for sure if it's a dots and 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:35.479 from this photo and the driver's door is open, the 0:12:35.520 --> 0:12:40.080 hood of the vehicle is slightly bent up. 0:12:40.760 --> 0:12:44.080 But from this photo I can't really discern much more. 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:49.120 What I think what I am surprised by is I 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:53.520 was expecting the vehicle to be much more damaged externally 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:54.360 than what I'm seeing. 0:12:54.760 --> 0:12:56.880 Let me show you a couple more angles, and then 0:12:56.920 --> 0:12:58.240 there's an internal one. 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:02.720 So the top phot is showing basically that almost the 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:05.520 same view of the car from the driver's side, with 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:11.200 the driver's side door open, I can see three plane 0:13:11.520 --> 0:13:19.840 closed investigators, one which is crouched down at the front 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:23.440 of the car by the front bumper with a device 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:27.640 that probably is a mirror on a handle, looking at 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:31.800 the undercarriage of the vehicle. There is some debris that's 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:35.400 on the ground on the driver side, and the hood 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:39.719 itself is showing I would almost call it like an 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:45.640 it's been uplifted from probably the blast internally, but it 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:49.920 still looks like it's engaged. It's not like it's flipped open. 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:58.080 Maybe the front driver's side tire might be flat, but 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:00.880 I can't tell from that photo. And then the bottom photo. 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:05.760 The car has obviously been transported. The previous two photos 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:09.439 were black and white. Now this photo is color, and 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:11.960 it appears that this car has been put I don't 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:15.200 know if that would be the investigating agency's impound yard 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:19.080 or if this is just a junk yard ank junk yard, 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:23.960 but it's showing the kind of the left front of 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:26.360 the car. So I can now see the front of 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:28.600 the car. I can almost make out that it's a 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:30.440 dots and but I'm not entirely sure about that. 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:33.560 Yeah, no, it's a dots and I say it. Here's 0:14:33.680 --> 0:14:38.000 the big photo, I think now now right underneath him. 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:42.720 Yeah, now this is the critical photo. So now I'm 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:47.680 seeing a photo of the inside driver's front seat, shows 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:51.400 the steering wheel, the front dash. There is a massive 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:57.640 hole that is directly under where the front seat cushion 0:14:58.120 --> 0:15:01.400 should have been, but that is completely gone in this photograph. 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:06.680 The floorboard itself has been blasted through with the edges, 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:10.440 showing that the force came from underneath the vehicle to 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:14.760 the inside of the vehicle. You know, there's been This 0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:18.880 photo is showing that there has been processing of the vehicle. 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:24.280 So the kind of the dash components have been removed. 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:28.160 I can see where the various electrical sockets have been 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:32.400 individually unplugged, so this must have been that item must 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:36.240 have been collected during the processing of the vehicle. Obviously, 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:41.640 Don sitting in this seat with this explosion going off, 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:48.200 would have suffered immense lower body injuries, and that potentially 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:51.240 could account for why he survived for a period of time, 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:55.920 as the sea cushion itself would have received the initial 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:59.920 blunt of the blast, but that would not have prevented 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:05.320 Don from sustaining significant injuries from such a large blast. 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:09.440 You know, the percussive forces from an explosion can also 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:15.440 damage the internal organs. And you know, I would not 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:22.680 be surprised that not only were Don's legs and you know, 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:26.000 lower part of his body be you know, completely mangled, 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:30.440 if not somewhat severed from his body, but he may 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:36.040 have also suffered from various blast injuries to his upper 0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:37.920 body and internal organs. 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:42.160 Well, let me tell you about the injuries. Because these workers, 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:46.760 including the man who you know initially heard the blast lawn, 0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:50.120 are trying to save his life. They run over they 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:53.200 find him lying face down halfway out of the car 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:57.080 with extensive of course injuries. His legs are basically destroyed. 0:16:57.360 --> 0:17:00.760 As you had predicted. Blond ties his bell around one 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:03.800 of Don's legs at the thigh sinching in as tight 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:06.359 as he can to make a tourniquet. He yells for 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:08.040 someone else to give him another belt. He does the 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:10.560 same thing with Don's other leg. I mean, Don is 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:14.840 gravely injured. There's blood spurting from his leg. Why this 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:19.760 is important that somebody responds this quickly to Don. Don dies, 0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:23.359 We know that Lawn becomes a witness because Don is 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:26.520 trying to say some things before he dies. So he 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:30.600 says a name, John Adamson. The firefighters in the emergency 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:34.159 personnel arrive at the scene within four minutes of the explosion, 0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:37.480 and he's rushed to a nearby hospital. He's still conscious. 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:40.760 He keeps saying, over ago, over again, this name John Adamson. 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:44.159 And then emergency personnel hear him say that he's an 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:48.800 investigative reporter working on a mafia story. He repeats to 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:51.080 them the word mafia, and then he says the word 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:56.000 m prize E M p R. He's unconscious after that, 0:17:56.119 --> 0:17:58.560 and then that's it. The final words we're working with 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:03.880 here are John Adamson in Mafia. An imprise sounds cryptic. 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:07.080 Some of it is, And this is a man who 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:11.199 is very much trying to tell people who might be 0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:12.680 responsible for his murder. 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:14.359 Yeah, it's a dying declaration. 0:18:15.000 --> 0:18:18.159 Yeah, you know, so there's in some ways there's a 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:22.200 level of veracity given to this type of statement because 0:18:22.240 --> 0:18:28.159 this person doesn't have jeopardy or consequences moving forward, so 0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:31.240 there's no reason to lie. So now, I mean, this 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:35.440 is golden for the investigators. There's a name, the fact 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:38.919 that it's associated with the mafia, which is, you know, 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:41.800 something they probably would have figured out just looking at 0:18:41.800 --> 0:18:47.280 the victimology of Don. But then this word emprise. I 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:48.280 don't know that word. 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:52.080 Some of this is confusing what he says, and you know, 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:55.119 and then part of it is Don doesn't know maybe 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:59.080 who did this. Yeah, a family friend picks up the 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:02.320 youngest kids and brings them to the hospital, but the 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:04.200 police say get them out of here, and they're under 0:19:04.240 --> 0:19:07.040 police protection from then on twenty four hour police protection, 0:19:07.480 --> 0:19:10.680 which doesn't surprise you, I'm assuming considering this is does 0:19:10.720 --> 0:19:12.600 this feel like a mob hit? I mean, is this 0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:15.160 like a signature mob hit mafia? 0:19:15.200 --> 0:19:18.440 Well, I think that you know, this is where obviously 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:18.920 this is a. 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:24.320 Very unusual type of crime, but it does happen, and 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:30.040 it does happen without some sort of organized crime aspect 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:34.040 to it. This is where now it gets into, in part, 0:19:34.200 --> 0:19:37.280 the physical evidence investigation. You know, what is the level 0:19:37.280 --> 0:19:42.640 of sophistication of this bomb. Obviously nineteen seventy six, most 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:47.640 certainly using radio triggers, there could have been a remote 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:51.840 detonation of this bomb once the offender saw that Don 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:55.000 was in fact in the car, but most likely this 0:19:55.080 --> 0:19:57.800 bomb was placed after Don went into the hotel. It 0:19:57.960 --> 0:20:00.919 was only in the hotel for fifteen minutes. They linked 0:20:00.960 --> 0:20:04.880 it to the electrical system for when Don started the vehicle. 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:08.359 Now there's the electrical signal that is triggering the detonation 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:11.919 of this this bomb. What's the chemistry of the bomb? 0:20:12.040 --> 0:20:14.399 You know, what are the components of the bomb? Is 0:20:14.440 --> 0:20:17.760 this looking like something that is showing a level sophistication 0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:25.119 where now you're dealing with a highly sophisticated, knowledgeable bomb 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:28.520 making individual. Does it look like it could be state sponsored? 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:32.399 Does it look like it's juvenile? You know, is this 0:20:32.720 --> 0:20:37.360 merely a pipe bomb that they were able to put 0:20:37.440 --> 0:20:40.919 an electrical detonation device on and they bought all the 0:20:40.920 --> 0:20:44.360 components from a hardware store, you know. So that's that's 0:20:44.440 --> 0:20:46.919 all part of the assessment of who the offender might be, 0:20:47.240 --> 0:20:50.960 and that's through the crime scene evidence. 0:20:54.119 --> 0:20:55.959 Well, let me get to the bomb part. I'm going 0:20:56.000 --> 0:20:58.360 to skip down because you just asked about the device 0:20:58.960 --> 0:21:02.040 and I was wondering how professional this setup is because 0:21:02.080 --> 0:21:05.880 I am clueless. So this is what they said. So 0:21:06.000 --> 0:21:08.600 the first law enforcement officers on the scene are from 0:21:08.640 --> 0:21:12.679 the bomb and arson unit, not the homicide investigators, so 0:21:12.840 --> 0:21:15.720 they are assessing, which is well, I mean, but that's good, right, 0:21:15.800 --> 0:21:18.879 because there's nobody there to muck up the bomb scene. 0:21:19.200 --> 0:21:23.680 No homicide investigators are staying two hundred yards away from 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:27.640 this until your bomb guys clear it. There's no way 0:21:27.680 --> 0:21:31.359 in hell, as an investigator, you're going anywhere near this. 0:21:31.880 --> 0:21:34.800 You know, some of the tactics of bombers, and we 0:21:34.880 --> 0:21:38.440 see this, you know over in the terrorist organizations, is 0:21:38.680 --> 0:21:40.840 they will have a bombing and then all the first 0:21:40.880 --> 0:21:43.760 responders respond, and then they have a second bombing to 0:21:43.840 --> 0:21:47.600 kill all the first responders. So the proper way to 0:21:47.680 --> 0:21:50.439 handle this type of thing is to get your bomb 0:21:50.640 --> 0:21:55.000 arson guys to clear this scene, and they're trained to 0:21:55.080 --> 0:21:59.720 be able to do that without contaminating the homicide evidence 0:22:00.160 --> 0:22:01.600 side aspect too much. 0:22:02.119 --> 0:22:05.560 Well, the way that this all unfolds, you know, is 0:22:05.600 --> 0:22:08.199 so mysterious. It's to me very cloak and dagger. But 0:22:08.280 --> 0:22:11.600 let me tell you about this device. Okay, So the 0:22:11.760 --> 0:22:14.239 bomb and arson guys get there, and this is what 0:22:14.240 --> 0:22:17.000 they figure out. The bomb under the driver's side of 0:22:17.080 --> 0:22:20.359 Don's door had been made with six sticks of dynamite, 0:22:20.800 --> 0:22:23.320 and you're right, it had a remote control. It was 0:22:23.359 --> 0:22:25.920 attached to the bottom of the car under the driver's 0:22:25.920 --> 0:22:29.720 seat with a magnet. Now, they miscalculated Don was six 0:22:29.760 --> 0:22:32.959 foot two, and so I don't think they realized that 0:22:33.000 --> 0:22:36.400 he pushed his seat back, so they made an estimation 0:22:36.480 --> 0:22:38.800 of where he would be sitting. That's why he put 0:22:38.800 --> 0:22:41.520 his seat back or his seat was back, and they 0:22:41.520 --> 0:22:44.280 didn't know this, I guess. And they figured out that 0:22:44.320 --> 0:22:47.320 this is why it hit his legs more than anything else. 0:22:47.800 --> 0:22:51.120 Had he been more forward, he would have been killed instantly, 0:22:51.240 --> 0:22:54.280 is what they're saying. So I don't see an assessment 0:22:54.280 --> 0:22:57.040 of whether or not this is considered professional. Six sticks 0:22:57.080 --> 0:23:00.399 of dynamite with a remote control in the seven What 0:23:00.400 --> 0:23:02.760 do you think about that? Does that signal anything to you? 0:23:03.560 --> 0:23:07.160 That's showing a level of sophistication in my estimation. Now, 0:23:07.600 --> 0:23:11.560 the positioning of the bomb underneath on you know, the 0:23:11.600 --> 0:23:14.760 offender not taking into account his height or the exact 0:23:14.800 --> 0:23:16.600 position of a seat. I don't think that that's a 0:23:16.640 --> 0:23:20.840 factor at all. They're attaching this bomb using a magnet. 0:23:21.520 --> 0:23:24.720 You think about being underneath the vehicle, You're just kind 0:23:24.720 --> 0:23:28.400 of going with six sticks of dynamite. I just need 0:23:28.440 --> 0:23:30.840 to get this under the driver's side and this is 0:23:30.920 --> 0:23:34.520 going to kill Dawn. Now, you know, with the forces 0:23:34.560 --> 0:23:37.919