WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:02.160 The first clue was not found in a court room 2 00:00:02.439 --> 00:00:04.960 or buried in an old case file. It was found 3 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:07.799 in an apartment where police had expected to find a suspect. 4 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:12.720 On December eighth, twenty twenty two, officers in Montgomery County, Maryland, 5 00:00:12.919 --> 00:00:15.800 were responding to a shooting at a convenience store. A 6 00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:19.000 sixty one year old cashier identified in the supplied case 7 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:22.320 information as Ilu, had been fatally shot during an altercation 8 00:00:22.519 --> 00:00:26.960 inside the store. Investigators initially had a straightforward question who 9 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:30.359 had walked into the store, confronted the cashier and opened fire. 10 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:34.079 Surveillance footage quickly gave them an answer. The footage reportedly 11 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:36.679 showed a man leaving the store after the shooting. A 12 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:39.799 witness who had been nearby described seeing the suspect carrying 13 00:00:39.799 --> 00:00:42.840 a firearm and a bottle of sweet tea. She contacted 14 00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:45.840 nine one one and provided police with a description while 15 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:48.880 the details were still fresh in her mind. The investigation 16 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:53.560 led officers toward a nearby apartment complex. There, investigators obtained 17 00:00:53.560 --> 00:00:57.079 information identifying the suspected shooter as thirty one year old 18 00:00:57.159 --> 00:01:00.000 Tory More. But Moore's connection to the shooting was only 19 00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:03.159 the beginning of what police were about to uncover. According 20 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:06.400 to the supplied information, Moore had already been causing problems 21 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:09.920 at the convenience store. The store manager had reportedly contacted 22 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:13.319 police several times about his escalating behavior. There had been 23 00:01:13.400 --> 00:01:17.040 previous confrontations involving employees, and on the day of the shooting, 24 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:21.920 surveillance footage allegedly captured another dispute. The disagreement reportedly began 25 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:25.000 over a bottle of sweet tea and other merchandise. The 26 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:29.560 situation escalated, Objects were thrown, and the cashier eventually confronted 27 00:01:29.560 --> 00:01:31.799 More with a bar in an attempt to make him leave. 28 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:36.280 Then the firearm appeared. Investigators believed More fired several rounds, 29 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:40.120 fatally striking Elu. By itself, that case was already serious, 30 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:43.959 but when officers went to Moore's apartment, something immediately changed 31 00:01:43.959 --> 00:01:47.439 the direction of the investigation. There was a strong odor inside. 32 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:50.760 Investigators followed it. Near the side of Moore's bed, they 33 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:54.439 discovered human remains. The condition of the remains reportedly made 34 00:01:54.439 --> 00:01:57.400 it difficult at first to determine the person's identity or 35 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:00.680 even their sex, and more was still there. Discovery raised 36 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:03.599 an immediate question, who was the person inside the apartment? 37 00:02:03.959 --> 00:02:07.719 Investigators initially wondered whether the remains could belong to Moore's mother. 38 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:11.680 Moore himself reportedly asked about contacting his mother, adding to 39 00:02:11.719 --> 00:02:15.280 the uncertainty surrounding the identity of the deceased person, but 40 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:18.319 the answer would eventually be far more personal. The remains 41 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:22.080 were identified as Denise Middleton. Denise was twenty six years old. 42 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:24.800 She had been in an on and off relationship with Moore, 43 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:28.240 and according to the supplied information, she was approximately eight 44 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:30.560 and a half months pregnant with a baby the couple 45 00:02:30.599 --> 00:02:33.680 plan to name Ezekiel. Her life had already been difficult. 46 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:36.719 Denise had struggled with homelessness and had been involved in 47 00:02:36.759 --> 00:02:41.000 a program intended to help her regain stability. Investigators reportedly 48 00:02:41.080 --> 00:02:43.639 learned that Moore had encouraged her to leave that program. 49 00:02:43.800 --> 00:02:47.159 The relationship that followed was unstable, with the two moving 50 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:51.159 between different places and states and repeatedly arguing. Then came 51 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:54.159 the final known footage of Denise. She was seen entering 52 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:57.280 an elevator with Moore. She appeared frightened, and she would 53 00:02:57.319 --> 00:03:00.599 never be seen alive again. For investigators, the shooting at 54 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:04.120 the convenience store had suddenly become connected to something much larger. 55 00:03:04.439 --> 00:03:06.919 They were no longer dealing with a single violent incident. 56 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:10.039 They were trying to understand how Denise had died, how 57 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:12.759 long her remains had been inside the apartment, and what 58 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:15.680 had happened between her and More before that elevator ride 59 00:03:15.719 --> 00:03:18.680 became the last known image of her life. Those questions 60 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:22.479 would become central to the investigation. The questions surrounding Denise 61 00:03:22.520 --> 00:03:26.159 became even more difficult when investigators began comparing what they 62 00:03:26.199 --> 00:03:28.840 knew about her relationship with More against the account More 63 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:32.120 gave them. More reportedly described their relationship in a way 64 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:35.120 that placed much of the conflict on Denise. He spoke 65 00:03:35.159 --> 00:03:39.840 about arguments, disagreements, and incidents between them, portraying himself as 66 00:03:39.879 --> 00:03:42.639 someone who had been caught in escalating situations rather than 67 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:46.199 someone responsible for creating them. But investigators had another source 68 00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:49.599 of information. They had the footage, and they had Denise's absence. 69 00:03:49.960 --> 00:03:53.240 According to the supplied case information, Denise had been struggling 70 00:03:53.240 --> 00:03:56.080 with homelessness when she entered a program designed to help 71 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:58.560 her get back on her feet. She was pregnant and 72 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:01.439 trying to establish some of stability before the birth of 73 00:04:01.479 --> 00:04:05.360 her child. Instead, More allegedly convinced her to leave the program, 74 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:08.240 and the couple continued moving from place to place. The 75 00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:12.960 relationship became increasingly unstable. There were arguments, there was reportedly 76 00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:16.560 at least one physical confrontation. Moore later described one of 77 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:20.120 those incidents during questioning, presenting his own interpretation of what 78 00:04:20.199 --> 00:04:23.319 had happened. But there was something investigators could not overlook. 79 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:25.759 Denise was not there to tell them her side. She 80 00:04:25.800 --> 00:04:28.040 could not explain what happened during the final days of 81 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:31.000 her life, She could not correct Moore's version of events, 82 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:33.480 and she could not explain why she had ultimately ended 83 00:04:33.560 --> 00:04:37.040 up inside his apartment. That left investigators with a difficult 84 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:40.480 task reconstructing a relationship from the statements of the person 85 00:04:40.519 --> 00:04:43.600 accused of killing her and from whatever physical and digital 86 00:04:43.639 --> 00:04:47.360 evidence remained behind. The apartment itself became an important part 87 00:04:47.399 --> 00:04:51.360 of that reconstruction. According to the supplied information, Denise's remains 88 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:54.360 had been inside the apartment while Moore continued living there. 89 00:04:54.759 --> 00:04:59.199 Investigators also reportedly found evidence connected to the broader investigation, 90 00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:03.079 including forensic material and DNA that they believed could link 91 00:05:03.160 --> 00:05:06.279 more to the shooting at the convenience store. Meanwhile, Moore 92 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:10.920 continued talking during questioning, investigators discussed the store shooting with him. 93 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:13.959 He reportedly argued that the cashier had confronted him and 94 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:16.920 that the situation had escalated after the employee struck him 95 00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:20.160 with a bar, but investigators did not accept that explanation 96 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:23.639 as a justification for what happened. Surveillance footage had captured 97 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:27.600 the encounter. That footage gave investigators something extremely important in 98 00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:30.160 a case like this, a record that did not depend 99 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:33.319 entirely on someone's memory. It could show what happened inside 100 00:05:33.319 --> 00:05:36.800 the store, how the confrontation developed, and what more did afterward. 101 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:39.959 The sweet tea was also an oddly important detail. The 102 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:41.839 same type of drink that had been at the center 103 00:05:41.879 --> 00:05:45.199 of the confrontation at the store reportedly became something more 104 00:05:45.240 --> 00:05:48.839 asked for after his arrest. Two investigators. The coincidence was 105 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:51.759 difficult to ignore, but the store shooting was no longer 106 00:05:51.800 --> 00:05:54.399 the only question. There was Denise, and there was her 107 00:05:54.519 --> 00:05:58.000 unborn child. As investigators worked to establish what had happened 108 00:05:58.040 --> 00:06:00.439 to her, they also had to examine the circuit stances 109 00:06:00.519 --> 00:06:03.480 leading up to her death. The relationship between Denise and 110 00:06:03.560 --> 00:06:06.040 Moore was not simply a matter of two people who 111 00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:09.279 had recently met, they had a history together, and, according 112 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:13.920 to the supplied information, that history included repeated arguments, instability, 113 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:16.600 and attempts by Denise to find a safer and more 114 00:06:16.600 --> 00:06:20.079 stable life. Then at some point that life ended. The 115 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:23.240 last known footage showed Denise entering the elevator with Moore. 116 00:06:23.560 --> 00:06:27.120 She was heavily pregnant, she appeared afraid, and whatever happened 117 00:06:27.160 --> 00:06:30.079 after those elevator doors closed would have to be reconstructed 118 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:32.959 from evidence left behind by someone who could still speak, 119 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:36.160 but whose version of events investigators had reason to question. 120 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:40.120 That evidence would become increasingly important because the investigation was 121 00:06:40.199 --> 00:06:42.759 no longer based on a single witness or a single 122 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:46.519 piece of footage. Investigators were assembling different fragments of the 123 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:49.759 same story and asking whether those fragments could fit together. 124 00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:52.439 At the center of it all was Moore's explanation of 125 00:06:52.439 --> 00:06:56.399 what had happened with Denise. During questioning, he reportedly acknowledged 126 00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:58.920 that the two had been together and that their relationship 127 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:03.519 had become complicated. He described arguments and physical confrontations, but 128 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:07.079 his account placed emphasis on circumstances that he believed explained 129 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:11.279 his actions. Investigators, however, were looking at the situation from 130 00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:14.839 another angle. They had found Denise's remains inside the apartment, 131 00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:17.600 they knew she had been pregnant, and they had information 132 00:07:17.720 --> 00:07:20.120 suggesting that she had been frightened during the final known 133 00:07:20.199 --> 00:07:23.439 encounter captured on video. The question was no longer simply 134 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:26.040 whether More in Denise had argued. The question was what 135 00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:29.759 happened after those arguments ended. More reportedly told investigators that 136 00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:33.120 Denise was still alive when he last left her. That statement, 137 00:07:33.319 --> 00:07:36.680 if accurately represented in the supplied case material, became one 138 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:39.879 of the most important claims to test against the physical evidence, 139 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:43.519 because once investigators know a person is dead, the timeline 140 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:46.759 becomes everything. When was the victim last seen alive, who 141 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:49.079 was with her, where did she go, how long could 142 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:52.000 she have remained alive, and what evidence could establish what 143 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:55.319 happened during the missing period. For Denise, that period was 144 00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:58.879 particularly significant because she had no opportunity to describe what 145 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:02.759 happened herself. Investigators therefore had to rely on the apartment, 146 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:07.279 surveillance footage, forensic evidence, and the statements surrounding the relationship. 147 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:10.839 At the same time, the convenience store investigation was developing 148 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:15.319 its own evidentiary trail. Police reportedly recovered shell casings from 149 00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:18.519 the scene and examined them alongside evidence connected to more 150 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:22.959 Investigators also discussed DNA evidence, including what they described as 151 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:27.079 touch DNA, which can sometimes provide identifying information from material 152 00:08:27.160 --> 00:08:30.600 left behind through physical contact. The significance of that evidence 153 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:33.440 depended on what was actually recovered, where it was recovered, 154 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:36.960 and how it compared with known samples, but investigators appeared 155 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:40.279 confident that the forensic work could strengthen their case. That 156 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:43.519 mattered because Moore had continued to characterize the store incident 157 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:46.559 as something that happened because another man had confronted him, 158 00:08:46.679 --> 00:08:50.440 investigators saw the events differently. The surveillance footage provided a 159 00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:53.679 record of the confrontation, and according to the supplied information, 160 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:57.559 officers believed it contradicted more suggestion that he had simply 161 00:08:57.559 --> 00:09:00.759 been defending himself. But even as the evidence surrounding the 162 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:04.919 store's shooting became clearer, Denise's death remained the more haunting mystery. 163 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:07.879 Why was she inside Moore's apartment, why had she remained 164 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:10.519 there while he continued living in the same space, and 165 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:13.039 what happened between the last footage of Denise and the 166 00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:17.480 moment investigators discovered her remains. There was another heartbreaking detail 167 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:20.639 investigators had to confront. Denise had been preparing for the 168 00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:23.440 arrival of her son. She reportedly wanted to build a 169 00:09:23.480 --> 00:09:25.639 family and had been looking toward a future that would 170 00:09:25.639 --> 00:09:30.039 include her child. Instead, investigators were now reconstructing the final 171 00:09:30.120 --> 00:09:33.080 days of a woman who had disappeared from that future entirely. 172 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:36.360 The apartment had become a crime scene, the convenience store 173 00:09:36.360 --> 00:09:39.039 had become another and more stood at the intersection of 174 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:43.159 both investigations. For detectives, the challenge was no longer simply 175 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:46.679 identifying the suspect. They needed to establish what could be proven, 176 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:50.960 separate evidence from Moore's explanations, and determine exactly how Denise's 177 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:54.720 final hours unfolded. Because somewhere between the elevator footage and 178 00:09:54.759 --> 00:09:57.720 the discovery inside that apartment was the missing sequence of 179 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:00.279 events that could explain how a woman so clear close 180 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:02.919 to giving birth ended up becoming the second victim in 181 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:05.679 an investigation that had begun with a bottle of sweet 182 00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:08.799 tea and a gunshot, and that missing sequence became the 183 00:10:08.840 --> 00:10:12.519 focus of the investigator's attention. The more they examined Moore's account, 184 00:10:12.759 --> 00:10:15.720 the more important the timeline became. His statements could be 185 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:19.759 compared against surveillance footage, physical evidence, and the circumstances in 186 00:10:19.799 --> 00:10:23.080 which Denise was found. Every detail mattered because a single 187 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:26.720 contradiction could change how investigators understood the final days of 188 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:31.000 her life. More reportedly continued to describe the relationship as complicated. 189 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:34.000 He spoke about arguments and incidents in which he claimed 190 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.799 Denise had confronted him or attempted to create a scene. 191 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:40.799 Investigators listened, but they were not simply accepting his interpretation. 192 00:10:41.240 --> 00:10:43.879 Their job was to determine what could actually be supported. 193 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:47.519 That distinction mattered. A person's explanation of a violent event 194 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:50.360 is not the same thing as proof of what happened, 195 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:52.639 and in this case, there was a woman who could 196 00:10:52.759 --> 00:10:55.919 never provide her own account. According to the supplied information, 197 00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:59.200 Denise had been struggling to find stability before her death. 198 00:10:59.480 --> 00:11:02.399 Her pregnant and seat made that situation even more urgent. 199 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:05.159 She was approaching the end of her pregnancy, and the 200 00:11:05.240 --> 00:11:08.799 future she had been preparing for was close enough to imagine. Instead, 201 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:11.840 her remains were discovered beside the bed where Moore had 202 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:16.080 continued living. The investigator's discovery also raised questions about time. 203 00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:18.600 How long had Denise been there, what had more done 204 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:22.039 during that period, who, if anyone, knew that she was missing, 205 00:11:22.360 --> 00:11:25.480 and why had nobody intervened before police entered the apartment 206 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:29.279 because of an entirely different investigation. Those questions gave the 207 00:11:29.320 --> 00:11:32.639 case an unsettling dimension. The shooting at the convenience store 208 00:11:32.679 --> 00:11:36.399 had effectively exposed something investigators might otherwise have taken much 209 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:39.279 longer to discover. If Moore had not allegedly shot eye 210 00:11:39.320 --> 00:11:41.759 Lou on December eighth, police might not have had an 211 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:45.399 immediate reason to identify him, locate his apartment, and enter 212 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:48.440 the place where Denise was found. One violent incident had 213 00:11:48.519 --> 00:11:52.720 led investigators directly to another. The investigation also revealed how 214 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:55.879 many warning signs had surrounded Moore before the shooting. The 215 00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:59.960 store manager had reportedly contacted police multiple times about his behavior. 216 00:12:00.360 --> 00:12:04.519 Employees had allegedly experienced confrontations with him before December eighth. 217 00:12:04.919 --> 00:12:08.200 Yet those earlier incidents had not prevented the confrontation that 218 00:12:08.360 --> 00:12:12.279 ultimately ended with Ailu's death. Now investigators had to reconstruct 219 00:12:12.279 --> 00:12:15.480 what had gone wrong at the convenience store. Surveillance footage 220 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:19.120 offered a relatively clear sequence. Moore entered the business, took 221 00:12:19.159 --> 00:12:21.720 a bottle of sweet Tea and became involved in a 222 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:25.759 dispute with the cashier. The confrontation escalated and Alieu was 223 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:29.399 fatally shot. Afterward, More reportedly walked away from the store. 224 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:33.279 A witness saw him. Police received a description. Surveillance footage 225 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:36.320 helped establish where he went, and that trail brought officers 226 00:12:36.360 --> 00:12:41.039 to his apartment. Inside. However, the investigation changed forever. The 227 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:44.360 remains discovered there belonged to Denise Middleton. She was not 228 00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:47.159 simply another name connected to Moore. She was the woman 229 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:49.840 who had been carrying his child, the woman whose final 230 00:12:49.879 --> 00:12:53.320 known image showed her entering an elevator with him. For investigators, 231 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:57.120 the contrast was difficult to ignore. The footage showed Denise alive, 232 00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:00.440 the apartment showed what happened afterward, but the exact chain 233 00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:03.440 of events between those two points still had to be established, 234 00:13:03.720 --> 00:13:05.960 and Moore's own words would become part of that effort. 235 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:10.639 Investigators continued questioning him, testing his explanations, and looking for 236 00:13:10.679 --> 00:13:14.480 details that could be independently verified. Because the central question 237 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:17.799 was no longer whether Denise had died. That was already known. 238 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:21.080 The question was how her final hours unfolded, and whether 239 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:24.519 the evidence could establish Moore's responsibility for her death beyond 240 00:13:24.559 --> 00:13:28.519 his competing explanations. That distinction would become critical as the 241 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:32.440 case moved forward. As investigators continued working through the evidence, 242 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:35.360 they were left with two separate crime scenes that appeared 243 00:13:35.399 --> 00:13:38.279 to be connected by the same man. At the convenience store, 244 00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:42.480 there was surveillance footage, eyewitness information, and forensic evidence surrounding 245 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:45.799 the death of Ilieu. Inside the apartment, there were Denise's 246 00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:49.320 remains and the complicated history between her and Moore. The 247 00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:52.679 challenge was proving exactly what happened in each location. For 248 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:57.279 Ilu's death, the sequence appeared comparatively straightforward. A dispute began 249 00:13:57.320 --> 00:14:00.600 inside the store, More reportedly became involved in an argument 250 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:04.559 with the cashier. The confrontation escalated, and Moore fired the weapon, 251 00:14:04.840 --> 00:14:08.200 but Moore's explanation reportedly attempted to place the shooting in 252 00:14:08.279 --> 00:14:12.159 the context of a confrontation. Investigators did not appear persuaded. 253 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:15.080 They had the surveillance footage, and that footage allowed them 254 00:14:15.159 --> 00:14:18.279 to compare Moore's account against what actually happened inside the store. 255 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:22.039 It also helped establish his movements afterward. That evidence became 256 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:25.480 especially important because the investigation had begun with a witness 257 00:14:25.480 --> 00:14:28.000 who did not know More personally. She simply saw a 258 00:14:28.039 --> 00:14:30.559 man leaving the store. She remembered what he looked like. 259 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:34.440 She called police, and that description helped give investigators their 260 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:37.840 first path toward identifying him. Then came the apartment. The 261 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:41.480 discovery of Denise meant investigators had to go backward in time. 262 00:14:41.720 --> 00:14:45.000 They had to understand the relationship, the movements of both people, 263 00:14:45.240 --> 00:14:48.840 and the circumstances surrounding Denise's final days. According to the 264 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:52.639 supplied information, Moore and Denise had moved between different locations 265 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:57.200 and states. Their relationship was unstable, and their arguments sometimes 266 00:14:57.200 --> 00:15:01.039 became physical. More reportedly described one confrontation in which he 267 00:15:01.080 --> 00:15:03.480 claimed Denise had pushed or struck him, and that he 268 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:06.679 was attempting to restrain her, but investigators had reason to 269 00:15:06.759 --> 00:15:10.240 question whether that account represented the complete story. The final 270 00:15:10.279 --> 00:15:13.799 known footage of Denise became particularly significant. She was seen 271 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:17.480 accompanying More toward the apartment. She appeared frightened. There was 272 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:20.279 no indication from that footage that she was willingly walking 273 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:23.399 into a situation that would end her life, but appearance 274 00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:27.360 alone could not establish what happened afterward. Investigators needed evidence. 275 00:15:27.720 --> 00:15:31.919 They examined the apartment, They reviewed available video, They questioned more, 276 00:15:32.240 --> 00:15:35.240 They considered forensic findings, and they attempted to build a 277 00:15:35.240 --> 00:15:39.440 timeline that could survive scrutiny. Meanwhile, the pregnancy added another 278 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:42.840 layer to the investigation. Denise was reportedly about eight and 279 00:15:42.919 --> 00:15:46.080 a half months pregnant, The child was expected soon, and 280 00:15:46.120 --> 00:15:49.480 the couple had reportedly discussed naming him Ezekiel. That meant 281 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:52.759 the loss extended beyond Denise herself. There was a child 282 00:15:52.759 --> 00:15:55.120 who would never be born into the future she had 283 00:15:55.159 --> 00:15:58.480 been preparing for. For detectives and those who knew Denise, 284 00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:02.399 that reality made the case especially difficult to process. Yet 285 00:16:02.440 --> 00:16:06.159 investigations cannot be solved by emotion alone. The evidence had 286 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:09.120 to establish what happened. That was why more statements mattered 287 00:16:09.159 --> 00:16:14.000 so much. Investigators reportedly tried different approaches during questioning. Rather 288 00:16:14.039 --> 00:16:17.440 than immediately confronting him with every piece of evidence, they 289 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:20.200 sometimes allowed him to explain events in his own words. 290 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:23.600 He continued talking about the store incident and his relationship 291 00:16:23.639 --> 00:16:28.759 with Denise. At times, investigators reportedly appeared sympathetic, even suggesting 292 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:32.240 explanations that might make more and more comfortable discussing what happened. 293 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:36.200 But behind those conversations was a simple investigative strategy. They 294 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:39.759 were listening for inconsistencies, they were comparing his words against 295 00:16:39.799 --> 00:16:41.960 what they already knew, and they were waiting to see 296 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:45.320 whether more would provide information that only someone involved could 297 00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:47.840 reasonably know. The case had started with a shooting at 298 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:51.240 a convenience store, but by this point investigators were trying 299 00:16:51.240 --> 00:16:54.519 to reconstruct the life and death of Denise Middleton, a 300 00:16:54.519 --> 00:16:57.360 pregnant twenty six year old whose final known moments had 301 00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:00.360 been captured on video, and somewhere within that time line 302 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:03.120 was the answer to the question that mattered most, what 303 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:06.480 happened after the elevator doors closed. The elevator footage could 304 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:08.799 show where Denise was going, but it could not show 305 00:17:08.839 --> 00:17:11.200 what happened after the doors opened. That gap in the 306 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:14.559 timeline became one of the most important pieces of the investigation. 307 00:17:14.920 --> 00:17:18.000 By then, detectives knew that Denise had entered the apartment 308 00:17:18.039 --> 00:17:20.640 with Moore. They knew she was later found dead inside. 309 00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:23.759 They also knew that Moore had remained in the apartment afterward. 310 00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:27.119 What they did not have was a complete, independently verified 311 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:30.400 account of the events that connected those moments. More statements 312 00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:34.240 therefore came under increasing scrutiny. He reportedly maintained that there 313 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:37.279 had been conflict between him and Denise, and he attempted 314 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:40.119 to describe their relationship as a series of arguments in 315 00:17:40.119 --> 00:17:43.160 which both sides played a role. But investigators were not 316 00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:46.200 interested in simply deciding who had won an argument. They 317 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:49.400 were trying to determine how Denise died. The difference was enormous. 318 00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:53.400 A disagreement could explain tension, it could not, by itself, 319 00:17:53.559 --> 00:17:56.400 explain to death, and it could not explain why Denise's 320 00:17:56.440 --> 00:18:00.119 remains were discovered inside the apartment. Investigators also had had 321 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:03.039 to consider the possibility that some details of Moore's account 322 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:06.440 were designed to shift responsibility away from himself. That is 323 00:18:06.440 --> 00:18:10.160 why they continued comparing his statements with physical and digital evidence, 324 00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:13.839 rather than relying on his explanation alone. The apartment provided 325 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:17.279 another important piece of the puzzle. According to the supplied information, 326 00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:20.680 Moore had been living there without functioning heat because utility 327 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:24.559 bills had reportedly gone unpaid for months. When police arrived, 328 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:28.839 Moore appeared more concerned about the cold, his clothing, his belongings, 329 00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:31.160 and even the money in his possession than about the 330 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:34.480 discovery inside the bedroom. That behavior did not prove what 331 00:18:34.519 --> 00:18:37.519 had happened to Denise, but investigators could not ignore it. 332 00:18:37.880 --> 00:18:40.759 Neither could they ignore the fact that More reportedly asked 333 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:44.119 police to count his money multiple times while the investigation 334 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:47.680 around him was unfolding. His behavior after the discovery became 335 00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:52.160 part of the overall picture investigators were documenting. Still, detectives 336 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:56.000 had to remain focused on evidence. The forensic investigation continued. 337 00:18:56.279 --> 00:19:00.519 According to the supplied information, investigators examined shell cases and 338 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:03.960 other evidence from the convenience store. DNA evidence was also 339 00:19:04.039 --> 00:19:08.279 discussed during questioning, including what investigators described as touch DNA. 340 00:19:08.680 --> 00:19:12.240 That evidence was potentially important because physical material left behind 341 00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:15.319 at a crime scene can sometimes establish a connection between 342 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:18.960 a person and a location or object, But investigators still 343 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:22.200 had to determine exactly what the evidence demonstrated. They could 344 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:25.839 not simply assume that every forensic finding proved the entire case. 345 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:29.279 The same principle applied to Denise's death. The fact that 346 00:19:29.319 --> 00:19:32.599 she was found in Moore's apartment was significant, but investigators 347 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:35.680 still needed to establish the circumstances of her death and 348 00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:39.359 determine what evidence connected more directly to it. Meanwhile, the 349 00:19:39.400 --> 00:19:42.680 store manager's earlier warnings took on a different meaning. Before 350 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:46.119 December eighth, Moore had reportedly been known to employees. His 351 00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:50.680 behavior had allegedly escalated over time, with confrontations and disturbances 352 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:54.720 inside the store. The manager had reportedly contacted police repeatedly. 353 00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:58.079 Those earlier complaints did not predict exactly what would happen 354 00:19:58.119 --> 00:20:00.839 on December eighth, But after I louw We killed, they 355 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:03.880 became part of the history investigators had to examine. There 356 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:06.880 was now a documented pattern of conflict surrounding more in 357 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:09.440 the store, and there was a second death connected to 358 00:20:09.480 --> 00:20:13.119 his apartment. The investigation had moved far beyond the original 359 00:20:13.160 --> 00:20:15.799 question of who shot a cashier. It had become an 360 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:19.400 attempt to reconstruct two tragedies and determine whether they were 361 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:23.000 part of a larger pattern. For Denise's family, however, the 362 00:20:23.079 --> 00:20:26.279 investigation carried a different weight. They were not simply waiting 363 00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:29.200 for detectives to identify a suspect. They were waiting for 364 00:20:29.240 --> 00:20:31.559 answers about a woman who had been preparing to become 365 00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:34.400 a mother, and the closer investigators came to the end 366 00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:37.680 of the timeline, the fewer unanswered moments remained between the 367 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:40.720 last image of Denise alive and the discovery that she 368 00:20:40.759 --> 00:20:43.599 would never walk out of that apartment again. The remaining 369 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:47.480 questions could not be answered by the apartment alone. Investigators 370 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:50.440 needed to establish a sequence that connected the evidence to 371 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:53.359 the people involved. They needed to know what happened to Denise, 372 00:20:53.559 --> 00:20:55.759 when it happened, and what role Moore played in the 373 00:20:55.799 --> 00:20:58.440 events leading to her death. That meant going back through 374 00:20:58.440 --> 00:21:02.079 the relationship. According to the information provided, Denise had been 375 00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:05.640 trying to rebuild her life while dealing with homelessness and pregnancy. 376 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:09.279 The program assisting her offered some structure, but more reportedly 377 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:12.640 encouraged her to leave. After that, the couple moved between 378 00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:17.119 different places, and their relationship continued to deteriorate. Arguments became 379 00:21:17.160 --> 00:21:19.680 part of their lives. Moore later described some of those 380 00:21:19.720 --> 00:21:24.200 conflicts during questioning. He reportedly presented certain encounters as situations 381 00:21:24.200 --> 00:21:27.000 in which Denise was aggressive toward him or attempting to 382 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:30.039 make him look like the aggressor, but investigators had something 383 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:33.480 more could not control. The final surveillance footage it showed 384 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:37.400 Denise shortly before her death, and investigators reportedly believed her 385 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:41.039 behavior was significant. She appeared frightened as she accompanied more 386 00:21:41.079 --> 00:21:45.000 toward the apartment. That did not by itself establish exactly 387 00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:48.039 what happened inside, but it created a stark contrast with 388 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:52.000 the way More described their relationship. For detectives, that contrast 389 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:56.000 demanded further examination. They also had to consider the circumstances 390 00:21:56.039 --> 00:21:59.759 surrounding Denise's pregnancy. She was reportedly approximately eight and a 391 00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:03.200 half months pregnant, The baby was expected soon, and the 392 00:22:03.240 --> 00:22:06.720 couple had reportedly discussed the name Ezekiel. The future Denise 393 00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:10.960 had been preparing for was therefore extremely close. Instead, investigators 394 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:14.119 were examining the circumstances of her death. The tragedy was 395 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:16.920 compounded by the fact that the investigation had not begun 396 00:22:17.079 --> 00:22:20.960 because anyone had reported Denise missing. It began with another killing. 397 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:23.839 I Lou's death at the convenience store brought police to More, 398 00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:27.400 Moore brought investigators to the apartment, and the apartment brought 399 00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:30.799 Denise's death into the case. That chain of events was crucial. 400 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:34.279 Had the shooting not occurred, investigators might not have had 401 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:37.720