WEBVTT 1 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:33.320 Welcome back to the Pathway Chili. I'm Robin, I'm. 2 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:38.159 Jules, and I'm Ashley. Let's dive right into this week's case. 3 00:00:40.200 --> 00:00:46.119 September fourth, nineteen ninety three, Plano, Texas. While attending a 4 00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:48.759 soccer game at a park with her family, seven year 5 00:00:48.759 --> 00:00:53.000 old Ashley Estal goes missing. The following day, Ashley is 6 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:56.600 found strangled to death next to a dirt road. The 7 00:00:56.640 --> 00:01:00.679 investigation soon leads to a paroled sex offender named Michael Blair, 8 00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:06.480 who's subsequently convicted of Ashley's murder and sentenced to death. However, 9 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:10.079 the evidence against Blair turns out to be faulty, and 10 00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:14.879 DNA testing eventually exonerates him of the crime, but Ashley's 11 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:16.599 real killer is never found. 12 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:21.000 After that, the path went Chile. So today we're going 13 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:23.280 to be exploring a brutal crime which led to all 14 00:01:23.319 --> 00:01:26.799 sorts of controversy, the nineteen ninety three murder of seven 15 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:30.000 year old Ashley Estelle. I'm sure all of you know 16 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:33.120 that our own Ashley is particularly passionate when it comes 17 00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:36.920 to discussing wrongful convictions. But this story is unique because 18 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:39.959 it shows that even bad people can sometimes be screwed 19 00:01:39.959 --> 00:01:43.560 by the system. In this particular case, a suspect named 20 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:46.280 Michael Blair would be convicted and sentenced to death for 21 00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:49.439 Ashley Estell's murder, and since he was a convicted sex 22 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:52.400 offender who had been paroled after serving less than two 23 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:55.319 years for his other crimes, this led to the passing 24 00:01:55.359 --> 00:01:59.319 of some new legislation called Ashley's Laws, which sought stronger 25 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:03.640 punishment for criminals who harm children. But in an ironic twist, 26 00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:06.560 it would later turn out that this legislation was based 27 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:09.439 around a wrongful conviction, as the man said to death 28 00:02:09.560 --> 00:02:13.199 row for Ashley Estell's murder wound up getting exonerated by 29 00:02:13.319 --> 00:02:17.560 DNA testing. Now, even though he did not actually kill Ashley, 30 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:21.159 Michael Blair was most definitely a dangerous sex offender who 31 00:02:21.159 --> 00:02:23.800 deserved to be locked up. But this story is a 32 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:26.840 case study on the dangers of tunnel vision, as law 33 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:29.919 enforcement was so convinced of his guilt that they likely 34 00:02:29.960 --> 00:02:34.000 ignored other potential leads. As a result, the real killer 35 00:02:34.039 --> 00:02:37.759 of Ashley Estelle has never faced justice. So on this episode, 36 00:02:37.800 --> 00:02:40.479 we're going to explore how things went horribly wrong. 37 00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:45.000 Well, I'm looking forward to hearing more details about this case. First, 38 00:02:45.159 --> 00:02:47.960 how incredibly tragic. You have a little seven year old 39 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:51.479 who is killed, and then you have her family and 40 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:55.840 the community and other people at large who are now 41 00:02:55.879 --> 00:02:58.919 at risk because of this wrongful conviction, right, and more 42 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:02.199 and more grief on top of the already existing pain 43 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:05.159 of losing Ashley in general. So one of the things 44 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:07.520 my students will often say to me is they'll say, hey, 45 00:03:07.639 --> 00:03:10.520 you know who cares when we talk about wrong with convictions. 46 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:13.080 He was a bad guy, he got locked up, he 47 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:16.240 was going to be locked up anyway. Who cares? And 48 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:19.159 I have to very quickly rewind and say, listen, you care. 49 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:23.960 Whether you know it or not, you care because twofold one. 50 00:03:24.520 --> 00:03:27.919 You want our system to work efficiently and properly, because 51 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:30.280 if it doesn't work in this case, then it's not 52 00:03:30.360 --> 00:03:32.800 working in other cases. And there's a potential that someone 53 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:37.680 who like you, right, like one of us, ends up 54 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:40.439 on the other side and they are not given their 55 00:03:40.439 --> 00:03:44.560 constitutional rights and protected by a justice system. Whether they 56 00:03:44.599 --> 00:03:47.800 are quote bad or not, that is their right. And 57 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:50.439 so you want to make sure that everyone in our 58 00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:53.080 system is given their rights so that you are one day, 59 00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:56.199 someone you care about is one day, and because if 60 00:03:56.199 --> 00:04:00.000 they're not, their conviction can be overturned when they actually 61 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:02.520 did do something wrong. So you want to make sure 62 00:04:02.520 --> 00:04:06.280 our system's always working the way it should. But also, 63 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:09.919 if they lock Michael Blair up and he's a quote 64 00:04:09.960 --> 00:04:14.680 bad guy and he's off the streets, that's fine. But remember, 65 00:04:14.759 --> 00:04:16.839 if Michael Blair is locked up for this crime, somebody 66 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:20.000 else is not. And so I tell them you've allowed 67 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:23.040 a dangerous offender, someone who could kill a seven year 68 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:25.879 old baby and hurt her. I'm sure I'm going to 69 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:28.879 learn more details of how if you are going to 70 00:04:28.920 --> 00:04:31.360 be okay with Michael Blair being locked up, then you're 71 00:04:31.399 --> 00:04:34.040 saying you're okay with the real perpetrator walking. And I 72 00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:36.319 don't think a single person when they stop and pause 73 00:04:36.360 --> 00:04:39.879 and think of it from that perspective, can say who cares? 74 00:04:40.279 --> 00:04:44.199 So I'm so interested in hearing more about how this 75 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:47.959 tunnel vision begins and about poor Ashley and her family, 76 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:51.319 so sad that they lost their child, had to go 77 00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:55.759 through a court process, are convinced by everyone involved, I'm 78 00:04:55.800 --> 00:04:57.720 sure that the right person has been caught, and then 79 00:04:57.800 --> 00:05:00.920 all of the sudden it unravels and their grief comes 80 00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:06.800 twentyfold again because it starts all over with nobody being 81 00:05:06.839 --> 00:05:07.639 held accountable. 82 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:10.680 And this is a particularly interesting case because if you 83 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:13.920 go back into the perspective of it being nineteen ninety three, 84 00:05:14.199 --> 00:05:17.120 like if you were following this trial live as it happened, 85 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:20.120 you would probably automatically assume that Michael Blair was the 86 00:05:20.199 --> 00:05:22.920 right guy because he was a sex offender. But it 87 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:25.240 would later turn out that lot of the evidence used 88 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:27.959 to convict him turned out to be junk science by 89 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:31.439 today's standards. So I'm sure that many of the people 90 00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:35.199 in law enforcement and the victims' families pretty much assumed 91 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:36.720 that they had done it right and that they were 92 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:39.600 getting a dangerous offender off the street. But you can 93 00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:41.519 find out though, that, like I said in the intro, 94 00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:44.199 if you have tunnel vision, you might wind up pointing 95 00:05:44.199 --> 00:05:47.360 towards the wrong men, and that ignoring other potential leads. 96 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:53.680 So our story begins in nineteen ninety three in play Though, Texas, 97 00:05:53.720 --> 00:05:57.600 a large suburb located twenty miles north of downtown Dallas. 98 00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:01.560 Our central figure is seven years old Ashley nicol Estelle, 99 00:06:01.959 --> 00:06:05.079 who lives with her parents, Dick and Diana Estelle, and 100 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:09.199 her twelve year old brother Brett. Ashley was originally born 101 00:06:09.240 --> 00:06:12.439 in Des Moines, Iowa, before the family moved to Texas 102 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:17.240 in nineteen ninety eight. On Saturday, September fourth, which happened 103 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:20.360 to be Labor Day weekend, the Estelle family went to 104 00:06:20.360 --> 00:06:23.920 Carpenter Park for a soccer tournament as Brett would be 105 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:27.480 playing in one of the games. At around eleven twenty, 106 00:06:27.720 --> 00:06:30.879 while her parents were watching the game, Ashley went off 107 00:06:30.920 --> 00:06:33.399 alone to play on a swing set of a playground 108 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:37.800 which was located a few yards away. Her family soon 109 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:41.160 noticed that Ashley was no longer there, and after being 110 00:06:41.240 --> 00:06:44.160 unable to find her, they reported Ashley missing to the 111 00:06:44.199 --> 00:06:48.920 Plano Police department at twelve fifteen pm. Even though a 112 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:51.519 large crowd of over one thousand people were in the 113 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:54.879 park to watch the tournament, it seemed like Ashley had 114 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:59.600 vanished without anybody seeing anything. As a result, a massive 115 00:06:59.639 --> 00:07:02.959 search effort was launched to find Ashley, which involved law 116 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:07.480 enforcement and thousands of volunteers. While there would be tragic 117 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:11.279 news around noon the following day, as Ashley's body was 118 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:14.360 discovered in a ditch next to an isolated dirt road 119 00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:18.839 located six miles from Carpenter Park. Even though the police 120 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:22.800 never publicly disclosed if Ashley had been sexually assaulted. Her 121 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:26.480 body was partially clothed. The cause of death was determined 122 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:30.160 to be strangulation with a rope or wire. Since Ashley's 123 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:33.199 own fingernail marks were found on her neck, it seemed 124 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:35.759 likely that she had struggled and made an attempt to 125 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:39.360 free herself from the item used to strangle her. The 126 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:42.959 crime had a devastating impact on the community, as Plano 127 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:45.680 was known for having the lowest crime rate in the state, 128 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:51.160 but it wasn't long before investigators turned up a promising suspect. 129 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:53.879 So I have to put myself, as a mom in 130 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:59.000 this position, and I can't even fathom the emotions that 131 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:03.759 would come with something like this. It's so normal for 132 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:06.959 what happened that day. We're at a soccer game and 133 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:10.800 we're watching big brother play. There's a little park right 134 00:08:10.839 --> 00:08:14.120 there on the athletic field right where you can go 135 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:16.519 over and play. They have that at almost every single 136 00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:20.240 little league baseball park and soccer field in America. Right 137 00:08:20.279 --> 00:08:22.360 there's a little jungle gym off the side that littles 138 00:08:22.360 --> 00:08:25.639 can go play on. And so any parent would say, sure, 139 00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:30.319 we're at an athletic complex. Look at all these families around. Sure, 140 00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:32.559 you can go play over there, Ashley while we finish 141 00:08:32.679 --> 00:08:36.120 watching Brett. And then all of a sudden, that feeling 142 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:38.879 that you get when you can't locate your child or 143 00:08:38.919 --> 00:08:41.759 put eyes on your child hits and something that should 144 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:48.720 have been so normal becomes absolutely devastating when you describe 145 00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:51.879 the fact that this baby just disappears in the midst 146 00:08:51.919 --> 00:08:55.320 of such a busy location and then is found the 147 00:08:55.320 --> 00:08:59.919 way she is, specifically with those mail marks in her neck, 148 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:03.600 which means that angel was sitting there fighting an adult 149 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:08.200 who's hurting her. I cannot even put into words how 150 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:11.159 that makes my heart feel. It's devastating. The fact that 151 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:15.200 this community realizes that not only has this child been killed, 152 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:18.720 but she's also been most likely sexually assaulted, and she's 153 00:09:18.759 --> 00:09:22.600 also been physically abused in a torturous way before she's killed, 154 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:27.879 absolutely horrifying. And all these parents are sitting there thinking 155 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:30.759 the same thing. It could have been our children. We 156 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:33.720 also let our kids go play at the playground. We 157 00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:36.639 also let our child go up to the concession stand. 158 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:39.919 We also let the kids go under the bleachers and play. 159 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:45.039 It's just normal. And this family, that normal day turned 160 00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:49.279 out to be the most horrific that anyone could ever imagine. 161 00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:51.679 Yeah, these are the worst cold cases I can think of, 162 00:09:51.720 --> 00:09:54.639 involving missing and murdered children, where they just go missing 163 00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:57.720 from public places where there are a lot of people around, 164 00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:00.639 and their parents or guardians just take their off them 165 00:10:00.679 --> 00:10:02.840 for like a few minutes or so, thinking well, there's 166 00:10:02.840 --> 00:10:05.440 so much people here, there's no way that she could 167 00:10:05.480 --> 00:10:08.600 be abducted without anyone seeing anything. Yet in this case, 168 00:10:08.679 --> 00:10:11.960 that's exactly what happened, and it still blows my mind 169 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:14.399 that this person was able to get away with it, 170 00:10:14.519 --> 00:10:17.799 getting Ashley out of the area without any witnesses seeing anything. 171 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:21.480 So in September the tenth, some evidence technicians from the 172 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:24.720 Plano Police Department were working at the location where Ashley's 173 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:27.320 body was found when they happened to notice a vehicle 174 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:30.759 driving through the area which passed by the scene several times. 175 00:10:31.240 --> 00:10:33.679 They finally decided to follow the vehicle and pull it 176 00:10:33.720 --> 00:10:36.799 over for a traffic stop. The driver turned out to 177 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:39.639 be Michael Blair, a twenty three year old carpet cleaner 178 00:10:39.639 --> 00:10:42.559 who was originally born in Thailand and had a criminal record. 179 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:46.120 In November of nineteen eighty eight, Blair had broken into 180 00:10:46.120 --> 00:10:49.559 a Dallas apartment and attempted to sexually assault an eleven 181 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:52.120 year old girl while she was sleeping, but he fled 182 00:10:52.120 --> 00:10:54.840 the scene after she put up a struggle. Well, one 183 00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:57.960 week later he actually returned to the same apartment, and 184 00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:01.039 this time he attempted to kidnap the girl by reaching 185 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:03.320 in through the bedroom window and trying to pull her 186 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:05.960 out of bed. Blair wound up were seeing a ten 187 00:11:06.039 --> 00:11:09.080 year prison sense for burglary and indecency with a child, 188 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:12.879 but was paroled in nineteen ninety after serving only eighteen months. 189 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:17.399 Now, I'm mad, okay, so you haven't even told me 190 00:11:17.799 --> 00:11:19.840 some of the things that are happening with Blair. But 191 00:11:19.960 --> 00:11:25.559 Blair has this history of trying to assault children, to 192 00:11:25.720 --> 00:11:30.759 kidnap children, and he only serves eighteen months. To me, 193 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:35.039 when you are an adult and you have some kind 194 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:39.559 of affinity for children, you have a history of taking 195 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:44.039 a child. It is such a deep crime against humanity, 196 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:47.360 and when it shows such a sickness of that person, 197 00:11:47.879 --> 00:11:52.879 how they get such short sentences blows my mind. I 198 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:55.360 think that you have to really step back and think 199 00:11:55.360 --> 00:11:58.879 about these offenders, that this is not hey, I was 200 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:02.320 pursuing an another forty year old you know, or another 201 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:05.440 twenty five year old, and I missed some signals and 202 00:12:05.480 --> 00:12:08.279 I didn't get You know, it's equally horrible. Do not 203 00:12:08.279 --> 00:12:13.159 get me wrong, But when they are seeking out a 204 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:19.559 innocent child that should not have any attraction or value 205 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:22.840 in any kind of relational way to them, there's got 206 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:27.080 to be something so mentally off that I don't understand. 207 00:12:27.159 --> 00:12:29.519 How did he only serve eighteen months? 208 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:32.120 Well, we'll talk more about this later on in the episode, 209 00:12:32.120 --> 00:12:35.559 but the State of Texas was undergoing a major overcrowding 210 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:39.279 problem in their prison population at that time, which meant 211 00:12:39.320 --> 00:12:41.360 that a number of violent offenders who should have been 212 00:12:41.399 --> 00:12:44.159 locked up wound up being let go much earlier than 213 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:46.399 they should have. Though to this day, I don't know 214 00:12:46.440 --> 00:12:49.960 why they decided to select Blair, because obviously, a guy 215 00:12:49.960 --> 00:12:52.600 who returns to the same bedroom and tries to abduct 216 00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:55.360 the same child twice in the same week is not 217 00:12:55.440 --> 00:12:58.000 someone that you want out in society. But I know 218 00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:00.879 that the parole board would receive a major back once 219 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:03.799 it came out that Blair was now a suspect in 220 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:05.399 the murder of a seven year old girl. 221 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:09.399 And let's not forget the impact that something like that 222 00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:12.320 would have on that little girl in her family, because 223 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:14.919 the first time that it happens, I'm sure that her 224 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:17.720 parents were telling her, this is so awful and this 225 00:13:17.720 --> 00:13:20.320 shouldn't have happened to you, but this is never going 226 00:13:20.360 --> 00:13:23.399 to happen again. And then when he returns to the 227 00:13:23.399 --> 00:13:25.399 scene of the crime and tries to take her for 228 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:29.200 that second time, I cannot imagine the trauma and the 229 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:33.240 impact on that entire family. And then it's made worse 230 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:36.679 by this light sentence of eighteen months. I'm sure that 231 00:13:36.679 --> 00:13:39.600 they were in fear of him coming back and trying 232 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:45.080 a third time. Anyway, Blair instantly captured the police's attention 233 00:13:45.480 --> 00:13:48.519 during his traffic stop, as he had a flyer and 234 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:53.360 newspaper clipping about Ashley's case inside his vehicle. Blair claimed 235 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:56.519 that he'd volunteered to participate in the search for Ashley 236 00:13:56.559 --> 00:13:59.720 on the morning of September fifth. He said he had 237 00:13:59.720 --> 00:14:02.799 a fascination with cases in which children went missing or 238 00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:05.879 were murdered, which is why he felt compelled to visit 239 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:10.279 the location where Ashley's body was found. Blair was subsequently 240 00:14:10.360 --> 00:14:13.720 taken to the police station for questioning. He gave him 241 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:16.360 consent to search his vehicle and Some of the items 242 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:20.799 they found included a stuffed toy bunny, a knife, a blanket, 243 00:14:20.919 --> 00:14:25.240 and three hares. Blair was interrogated for ten hours, but 244 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:29.240 denied any involvement in Nashy's murder since there was no 245 00:14:29.320 --> 00:14:32.759 evidence to implicate him at this point, Blair was eventually 246 00:14:32.840 --> 00:14:35.759 allowed to leave, though the police kept him under twenty 247 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:39.639 four hour surveillance and started building a case against him. 248 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:42.840 At the time, Blair was sharing an apartment with his boss, 249 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:45.840 but he wound up getting kicked out for unknown reasons 250 00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:50.480 and moved into a motel. On September fourteenth, investigators showed 251 00:14:50.519 --> 00:14:53.840 up at Blair's motel room door, where he was arrested 252 00:14:53.879 --> 00:14:57.000 and charged with capital murder. It was announced that the 253 00:14:57.039 --> 00:14:59.759 hair fiber evidence were used to link Blair to the 254 00:14:59.799 --> 00:15:04.360 c If convicted, Blair would face the death penalty, so 255 00:15:04.440 --> 00:15:06.480 he was offered a deal in which he could plead 256 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:10.799 guilty and be sentenced to life imprisonment. Will Blair maintained 257 00:15:10.840 --> 00:15:12.600 his innocence and turned the deal down. 258 00:15:14.039 --> 00:15:18.240 Okay, that speaks volumes when you have somebody who has 259 00:15:18.279 --> 00:15:21.440 a criminal record, who knows that he hasn't gotten away 260 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:24.120 with crimes before, and he knows how the system works, 261 00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:27.360 and he knows that his life is about to be 262 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:30.600 on the line, and he says, I am not pleading 263 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:34.679 guilty to that. Yes, I've done some horrible things. Yes 264 00:15:34.919 --> 00:15:38.720 I've committed crimes, and yes, my car that you searched 265 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:42.559 is clearly a prep kit for louring children. You have 266 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:44.960 a stuffed tweet bunny, which gives me the chills and 267 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:48.320 makes me so furious. You have a knife, a blanket, 268 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:51.399 and then there are some hairs there. It shows that 269 00:15:51.480 --> 00:15:55.559 he had intent to hurt someone else, or he had 270 00:15:55.639 --> 00:15:59.000 this prepared just in case he had an opportunity. But 271 00:15:59.720 --> 00:16:02.840 in his case, when he's held to the fire and 272 00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:06.120 they say, look, you're under arrest for capital murder, he 273 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:09.679 knows exactly what's come in his way. And they say, 274 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:12.039 if you had plead guilty, we'll go ahead and reduce 275 00:16:12.039 --> 00:16:15.240 it to a life sentence. If not, eh, we're going 276 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:18.200 after you for the death penalty. He says, no deal. 277 00:16:18.759 --> 00:16:22.720 To me, that's pretty powerful. Doesn't mean that everyone who 278 00:16:22.759 --> 00:16:27.120 does that is innocent, but it definitely for a seasoned 279 00:16:27.159 --> 00:16:30.360 criminal to know that he is not going to get 280 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:32.600 away with crimes he's committed because he's been caught before. 281 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:34.559 He says no deal. 282 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:39.200 Well. Due to the massive publicity surrounding the case, Blair's 283 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:41.440 trial would have to be moved to the city of Midland. 284 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:44.840 It finally began in September of nineteen ninety four and 285 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:49.000 was prosecuted by the Collin County District Attorney's Office. They 286 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:51.879 produced numerous experts who would testify above the hair and 287 00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:56.679 fiber evidence, including a forensic analyst named Charles Lynch. Lynch 288 00:16:56.720 --> 00:16:58.960 testified that the three hairs which have been found in 289 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:04.160 Blair's car had quote unquote same microscopic characteristics as Ashley's hair. 290 00:17:04.920 --> 00:17:08.039 In addition, two hairs have been found on Ashley's body, and, 291 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:11.640 as offensive as this sounds today, Lynch openly described them 292 00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:15.839 as being of quote unquote mongoloid racial origin, which seemed 293 00:17:15.880 --> 00:17:19.279 consistent with Blair since he was born in Thailand. A 294 00:17:19.319 --> 00:17:21.920 connection was also made between the fibers of the stuffed 295 00:17:21.960 --> 00:17:25.400 body from Blair's vehicle and some fibers from Ashley's body, 296 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:29.559 which Lynch described as only having quote unquote subtle differences. 297 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:32.759 But it's worth noting that all the testimony from Lynch 298 00:17:32.759 --> 00:17:35.960 and the other experts was carefully worded, as none of 299 00:17:35.960 --> 00:17:39.160 them explicitly stated that the hair or fiber evidence was 300 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:43.119 a positive match to Blair. There was also controversy over 301 00:17:43.160 --> 00:17:45.680 a clump of hairs that were rendered in evidence, as 302 00:17:45.720 --> 00:17:48.279 they had been found during a search of Jack Carter Park, 303 00:17:48.559 --> 00:17:52.559 which was located two miles away from Carpenter Park. Once again, 304 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:55.400 there was expert testimony that the clump of hairs was 305 00:17:55.640 --> 00:17:59.839 microscopically similar to hairs belonging to both Blair and Ashley, 306 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:03.240 but the defense argued that these hairs were irrelevant since 307 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:05.759 there was no evidence that either the defendant or the 308 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:08.440 victim had ever been in Jack Carter Park. 309 00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:13.559 Very interesting. This is very difficult when you're looking at 310 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:17.400 this evidence because as a juror and as a community, 311 00:18:17.480 --> 00:18:20.720 if you were to hear that these hairs were similar, 312 00:18:21.079 --> 00:18:24.759 that they had the same characteristics, if the fibers were 313 00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:29.240 all but subtly different, you would think with pretty strong 314 00:18:29.319 --> 00:18:34.039 confidence that this is a match. But back then, especially 315 00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:40.319 your hair evidence was incredibly subjective and questionable because they're 316 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:43.279 not looking at DNA when they look at hair, they're 317 00:18:43.319 --> 00:18:46.839 looking under a microscope. Is it dyed? Is it worn? 318 00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:50.759 Is it the right color? Is the shaft, the way 319 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:54.039 that the hair is broken similar those kinds of things. 320 00:18:54.039 --> 00:18:58.880 They're looking for physical similarities, but they're not able back 321 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:02.480 in the nineties to do DNA testing on hairs that 322 00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:05.599 don't have a root. And so if you're just comparing 323 00:19:05.720 --> 00:19:09.799 at the time the shaft of that hair for color 324 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:14.960 and possible ethnic origin, which is also subjective where and 325 00:19:15.079 --> 00:19:19.559 tear age of the hair, it's a guessing game in 326 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:21.720 all honesty. Today we look at that as a form 327 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:25.640 of junk science in many cases, because I might see 328 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:29.000 it very differently than you see it. And so at 329 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:32.799 that level, without performing mitochondrial DNA on a shaft of 330 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:37.000 hair that doesn't have a root attached to it, it 331 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:40.079 would be very difficult to actually say those hairs were 332 00:19:40.119 --> 00:19:45.559 a match. However, any juror listening would be quite convinced 333 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:48.920 and quite impacted by this testimony, even if they were 334 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:50.319 careful in their wording. 335 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:53.599 How do they find that clump of hair, Robin? Did 336 00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:56.920 they Does somebody just happen upon it or were they 337 00:19:56.960 --> 00:20:00.559 searching just another park because it had no connection to 338 00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:03.200 the crime insofar as we know, and just somebody comes 339 00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:05.279 up with this clump of hair and they're like, this 340 00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:08.559 is similar microscopically, like how did it even get introduced. 341 00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:11.119 It's so weird to me because they don't really go 342 00:20:11.160 --> 00:20:14.160 into details in any of the sources I found. I'm 343 00:20:14.200 --> 00:20:17.240 guessing that when Ashley was missing, they thought, well, she 344 00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:20.240 went missing from Carpenter Park. Let's go searching in the 345 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:23.279 park that's near it, about two miles away, and then 346 00:20:23.319 --> 00:20:25.319 they just say that they found those clump of hairs there. 347 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:28.000 But why did they choose those particular hairs? I mean, 348 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:31.680 it's a large public place, there's probably hairs around everywhere. 349 00:20:31.720 --> 00:20:33.640 Did they just think, well, that looks kind of similar 350 00:20:33.640 --> 00:20:36.720 to Ashley's let's collect it as evidence. But there really 351 00:20:36.759 --> 00:20:38.839 isn't anything at all to show that it has any 352 00:20:38.839 --> 00:20:42.440 connection to the case. And Ashley is right, Like from 353 00:20:42.440 --> 00:20:45.240 today's perspective, if you look at the evidence and some 354 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:48.400 of Charles Lynch's testimony, you're rolling your eyes because he's 355 00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:51.839 being so vague and non definitive about whether this hair 356 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:54.279 is a match. But you can totally understand how a 357 00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:57.480 juror from Texas in nineteen ninety four is going to 358 00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:00.200 see the testimony from this guy and think, well, he's 359 00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:02.599 an expert, he must know what he's talking about, and 360 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:05.240 then think that all this Hair evidence is totally convincing. 361 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:10.559 The prosecution also produced three eye witnesses who testified that 362 00:21:10.599 --> 00:21:13.960 they'd seen Blair in Carpenter Park on the day Ashley 363 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:18.880 went missing. However, the defense questioned the reliability of their testimony, 364 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:22.079 as none of the witnesses were asked to identify Blair 365 00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:25.240 from a photo lineup until after he was publicly named 366 00:21:25.240 --> 00:21:29.720 a surprime suspect. In fact, two of the witnesses admitted 367 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:33.519 that they had already seen Blair's photo on television beforehand, 368 00:21:34.440 --> 00:21:37.279 and even though these witnesses claimed they saw Blair and 369 00:21:37.319 --> 00:21:41.680 Carpenter Park, the state was unable to produce anyone who 370 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:45.839 saw him together with Ashley. Blair's alibi was that he 371 00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:49.240 was sleeping inside his apartment during the time period Ashley 372 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:52.680 was abducted. Blair and his roommate, who also happened to 373 00:21:52.680 --> 00:21:56.400 be his employer, had both spent the entire night doing 374 00:21:56.440 --> 00:21:59.359 a carpet cleaning job, and they did not arrive home 375 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:03.480 until six. The roommate claimed that his ex wife showed 376 00:22:03.559 --> 00:22:06.119 up at the apartment to drop off their kids, and 377 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:09.079 when they left together at ten thirty am, Blair was 378 00:22:09.079 --> 00:22:12.160 sleeping on the couch by the time they returned at 379 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:15.000 four thirty pm, he claimed Blair was still asleep on 380 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:18.160 the couch. Well, this did not prove Blair couldn't have 381 00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:22.279 committed the crime. A forensic pathologist testified that, based on 382 00:22:22.359 --> 00:22:26.559 the decomposition on Ashley's body, he believed the perpetrator kept 383 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:29.319 her summer overnight and did not dump her body by 384 00:22:29.319 --> 00:22:31.319 the road until the morning she was found. 385 00:22:32.920 --> 00:22:37.319 Okay, clarify that for me. Is the forensic pathologist saying 386 00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:40.559 that Blair still could be a suspect because maybe he 387 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:42.920 grabbed her, let's say, at six o'clock that night and 388 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:45.359 kept her overnight. Or is he saying that the night 389 00:22:45.480 --> 00:22:49.599 prior when Blair's working is when she was likely killed 390 00:22:49.640 --> 00:22:51.720 and then held overnight. 391 00:22:52.519 --> 00:22:54.640 This was a defense witness, so he's trying to imply 392 00:22:54.759 --> 00:22:57.759 that Ashley was still alive when Blair was out on 393 00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:00.519 his carpet cleaning job, and that she was not killed 394 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:02.559 until the following day and then her body was dumped. 395 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:05.440 And of course this is when Blair's whereabouts are pretty 396 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:08.079 well accounted for, and he supposedly in his apartment with 397 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:11.200 his roommate sleeping, which obviously means he couldn't have held 398 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:12.519 Ashley captive overnight. 399 00:23:13.640 --> 00:23:16.119 Very interesting, okay, And like you said, the eyewitnesses had 400 00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:18.160 already seen him on the news. They had already seen 401 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:21.839