Summary: Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson and the homicide team investigate the brutal double murders of two friends shot and burned beyond recognition in the trunk of a car. He was so compelling in front of the cameracajoling witnesses to open up and then lashing out at a suspectthat he looked like a television actor playing a detective. He then asked them to ride down to Dallas police headquarters in separate squad cars to give their statements. He walked into the kitchen and nodded at Dale Lundberg, a detective who was on call that night to work as Thompsons backup. If he had wanted to go after that girl, he could have made stuff up, trumped up reports, and hidden the Rastegar tape. It found that two particles characteristic of primer gunshot residue had been discovered on the back of Burnsides right hand and that one particle characteristic of primer gunshot residue had been discovered on the back of Lords left hand. City attorneys are defending him, saying he acted in good faith and without malice. If the detectives thought they had noticed the smell of chemicals on her, it must have come from the paint thinner and the floor stripper that she and Burnside had been using that day. And then Thompson pounced. He is one of the most popular detectives in the Dallas Police Departmenta charismatic man, big and boisterous, with a powerful deep voice, says Craig Miller, a former deputy police chief who served as Thompsons lieutenant in the homicide unit in 2010. I cant say unequivocally whether the young woman did or didnt do the shooting because I wasnt there., At the same time, Mitchell and other prosecutors in the DAs office were not convinced Thompson had committed any serious wrongdoing. He was simply doing his job, he tells his friends, hunting for answers about a mysterious death. Can you possibly understand how I feel?. But Love also acknowledges that he is bewildered at the idea of Burnside shooting himself. He noticed that there was a chemical odorit smelled like bleach, he would later sayon her clothes. Mimi Swartz is a staff writer based in Houston. Lundberg gently brought up the bloodied towels in the kitchen, asking if she had used them to wipe blood off her body. Just because the words were less strong doesnt mean they were any less true.. Or he mistakenly pulled the trigger thinking the Beretta was unloaded., Jaffe shook his head. Basically she said, I know the kind of stuff that goes on in Vegas, Jaffe told Thompson. Shearin got Lord out of jail on bail. Thompson left the room, walked down the hall, and opened the door to another interview room. As Tatia Wilson, one of the City of Dallas attorneys representing Thompson, explained to the jury in her opening statement, Sometimes homicide detectives may make mistakes in their evaluation of the evidence. They too had been talking to Thompson and they were furious. For more information, see Michael Lowes Things to Know if You are Being Investigated for a Crime in Texas and our blog postSalinas v. Texas: Your Silence During Police Interrogation Does Not Get 5th Amendment Protection, Can Be Used Against You As Evidence Of Guilt To The Jury.. Dressed in one of his dark suits, Thompson strode toward his seat. Im not even sure the word accident was used. He said he later surmised that Lord had shot Burnside because he had heard a story going around the neighborhood that Burnside had been shot in the back of the head, which would suggest he had been murdered. But Sunday night, the deadly virus claimed his life. He said when he came up to Lord in the yard, she fell to her knees and said something to the effect of Hes dying. Rastegar told Lundberg, I got the impression she was trying to tell me it was accidental. But he stayed in the bedroom, pacing, walking around, yelling at me, screaming, angry. Finally, after he couldnt get her to respond to him, he left the room. Self - Detective; 2009-2014 2 eps; Credits. During her twenties, she always seemed to be out and about, a regular at trendy nightspots and concerts. I wondered about the story Jaffe had told Thompson about finding her in the front yard, desperately saying, I wasnt going to leave him. Both have worked numerous murders and each has been featured on the popular A&E reality television show, He was wearing a T-shirt, khaki shorts, and sandals. They make honest, reasonable mistakes. When Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson checks out a missing persons apartment and finds it covered in blood, he's launched into one of the strangest cases in his career--a case that he must solve without the victim's body. Lundberg also took the stand, testifying that he too remained convinced that Lord was guilty of murder. Thompson asked why there was so little blood on her hands and arms. IMDbPro. He told Lundberg that he wasnt sure this was a suicide. Nearly a year after the shooting, a grand jury met and heard the evidence. They can try too hard to make the existing evidence fit their theory as to who is guilty. One of the few black detectives in the unit, Thompson quickly made his mark. Shearin called a friend in the homicide unit to ask about Thompson, whom he had never met. Shearin was outraged. But the man I loved is gone forever. No, Lord said. I wasnt going to leave him., She then told me something she had not mentioned before. He allowed a few seconds to pass. Lord claimed that Burnside, who was intoxicated, shot himself.Thompson rejected the theory that Burnside committed suicide and investigated the death as murder. She had then grabbed the bottles of cleaning products from under the sink to wash away the blood and the gunpowder residue, which would account for the chemical odor he thought he had smelled on her. The officer flipped another page. Thompsons interrogation of Lord was videotaped. Only Burnside and Lord were in the apartment where they lived at the time. A police officer receives a high degree of protection when he conducts a criminal investigation. You did! Thompson picked up his cellphone and called Burnsides father, John, a successful Dallas business analyst. He asked her why, after finding Burnside on the floor, she had first called Jaffe but then waited seven minutes before calling 911. Thompson told Rastegar to go to the station and make an official recorded statement, which Thompson later used to obtain an arrest warrant charging Lord with murder. Was there a chance he was involved in the shooting? Because that is the only thing that makes sense.. Then she looked at Thompson. Seriously, does anyone believe this story that Olivia tells about being in the bathroom and hearing something that sounded like glass breaking in the kitchen? Still, Thompson had only a theory. But when she realized how serious his injury wasI think I saw a spot on his head, she saidshe called 911 several times. The towels had been on the floor to soak up the water that had spilled when the dishwasher valve broke. Mitchell realized that the evidence against Lord was weak, but she wasnt prepared to say that Lord was innocent. Nor did Burnsides parents invite her to the reception. Dwayne Thompson has spent over 18 years with the Dallas Police Department. What he didnt say was that the case was going nowhere. Maybe, Jaffe speculated, when Burnside and Lord had started arguing, he had declared that he was never going to marry her, which sent Lord into a tailspin and led her to grab the gun. He asked her about some of the puzzling physical evidence that had been found at Burnsides home the night of the shooting. If I discover anything that substantiates what I believe, Im going to charge you with murder., He glared at her for a moment. Shearin questioned Lord about the drops of blood around the house. Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson and the homicide team investigate the brutal double murders of two friends shot and burned beyond recognition in the trunk of a car. Kim Sanders, a more than 30-year veteran of the department who served as a homicide detective, said the interview amounted to intimidation. Jaffe called Thompson back the next day and said that he had reached Lord. Sometimes he would think [a gun] was unloaded and he would swing it around, you know, not trying to hurt anybody, just being stupid. Finally, after Thompson barked at him, he stepped onto the front porch and told a flabbergasting story. He is a Democrat representing District 96 in the Tennessee House of Representatives . A light drizzle was falling in the early morning hours of May 9, 2010, when detective Dwayne Thompsonpulled up in front of a modest home on Spring Grove Avenue, in a tree-lined neighborhood in North Dallas. When Quinton studied the gunshot residue report, he concluded that the trace amounts of residue on Lord did not necessarily indicate handling or firing the weapon. But he couldnt say for sure that she didnt fire the Beretta. For several seconds, the courtroom was quiet except for Lords muffled sobs. He wasnt stressed-out, Thompson said. The report could be interpreted several ways: Maybe, as Shearin believed, after Burnside had pulled the trigger, some of the gunshot residue had been transferred onto Lord when she held him in the kitchen. Why, he wanted to know, would a man suddenly shoot himself after what seemed to be a routine argument with his girlfriend? Shearin made his own presentation, about 25 minutes in length, laying out the case for his clients innocence. The officer shrugged. Thompson started his career in law enforcement as a corrections officer in a maximum-security prison in South Carolina. He also said he had seen Burnside act recklessly with a gun only two or three times over the past fifteen years. Im willing to accept that Mikey might have totally screwed up. You did! (For a more complete description of the interrogation, check out Dallas Morning News coverage from the day that the jury was shown the interrogation videotape.). These actions are allowed constitutionally under their police powers; however, what can happen during a police interrogation is supposed to follow certain legal requirements and more often than not, they are undertaken while being recorded via video or audio. She had always insisted that she had not fled from the police. In this interrogation method, its deemed acceptable to manipulate through accusations of guilt through an aggressive protocol of nine steps. He had on a dark fedora, a dark suit, a white shirt with a tie, and dress shoes. On the floor was a pool of blood along with bloody towels. They couldnt get the dishwasher installed because of a broken valve, which sent water all over the floor, so they took a break. You [expletive] shot him! He eventually learned about my arrest, and he was so bothered by what he read that he never called me again. Texas law enforcement officers (troopers, police officers, deputies) arrest people then interrogate them and take people into interrogation rooms for questioning as part of crime investigation routinely. Hed been as tall as Thompson, with a lean, athletic build. In his free time, he read Civil War history and played Internet chess. It was now 5:44 a.m. The only thing I can tell you that might make any sense to anybody is that when hes drunk, hes very irrational, she said. He told the jurors that he didnt believe that Lord had shot Burnside. On May 14, five days after the shooting, Lord finally left her mothers house to attend Burnsides funeral with her family and friends. Lord told her friends and family that Burnside definitely liked to have a good time. The trial finally began in a federal courtroom in downtown Dallas this past Januarynearly four years after the shooting. A Dallas County grand jury declined to indict Hephzibah Olivia Lord on a murder charge in connection with the 2010 death of Michael Burnside in his home. document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. Although Thompson would not consent to my request for an interview, people who have talked to him say he feels that he has done nothing wrong. (Thompson still hadnt told anyone outside his office about the discrepancy.) Comments are welcomed here and I will respond to you -- but please, no requests for personal legal advice here and nothing that's promoting your business or product. "When I work my cases, I don't have a dog in the fight," said Thompson, a homicide detective since 2006. Or maybe in the midst of the argument, Burnside had pulled the Beretta out of the kitchen drawer for a second time, handed it to Lord, and said, in an effort to be dramatic, If you hate me so much, then just shoot me. And she did. You realize, dont you, that if I didnt have money from my family to fight back, I could have been wrongfully convicted, fighting this from prison. He saw no high-velocity blood spatter. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. Okay, fine. I had to cover my mouth I was so appalled, Judy Durbin, an accountant who was the foreman of the jury, would later recall. Perhaps sensing that the jury had turned against the detective, Jason Schuette, another attorney for the City of Dallas, resorted to a surprise tactic in his final arguments. You fing shot him! he bellowed, nearly coming out of his chair. The way Lord had described it, she and Burnside were deeply in love, and they had been talking about marriage. Dont worry about it. Although the couple appeared to be joking, said Jaffe, you could tell they were serious., At that point, Jaffe said, he decided to leave, and when he returned after getting the frantic phone call from Lord, he found her in the front yard. Lord shook her head. During the lengthy interrogation, Thompson repeatedly accused Lord of murdering Michael Burnside, who died in May 2010 from a gunshot wound to the head from his 9 mm Beretta handgun while drunk on vodka and Red Bull. | Privacy Statement. The lawyer was reluctant to open the door. The Reid method has been challenged as being primed for pushing people to give false confessions and many argue that it should not be used by law enforcement agencies. Did she, in fact, tell him that she was leaving him? The officer flipped a page in his notebook. You think they are going to accept this bullshit you are giving me?, For the next hour, Thompson continued to berate Lord, trying to get her to crack. When the paramedics arrived, Burnside had faint vital signs, but he died shortly after reaching the emergency room at Parkland Memorial Hospital. In fact, when Tittle asked Thompson, Is it still your belief that Olivia Lord murdered Michael Burnside? the detective didnt hesitate. We report on vital issues from politics to education and are the indispensable authority on the Texas scene, covering everything from music to cultural events with insightful recommendations. 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