WEBVTT 1 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:34.479 Welcome back to the Pathway Chili. I'm Robin, I'm Jules. 2 00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:38.359 And I'm Ashley. Let's dive right into this week's case. 3 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:45.399 July nineteenth, nineteen ninety six, Westwego, Louisiana. After leaving her 4 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:49.000 apartment to walk to a supermarket, fourteen year old Crystal 5 00:00:49.079 --> 00:00:52.719 Champagne fails to return and is found strangled to death 6 00:00:52.759 --> 00:00:56.560 in a wooded area the following evening. When Crystal's twenty 7 00:00:56.600 --> 00:01:00.799 two year old step cousin, Damon Thibodeau, is interrogated by police, 8 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:04.480 he confesses to her murder and is subsequently convicted sentenced 9 00:01:04.519 --> 00:01:08.719 to death. However, Damon maintains that his confession was coerced 10 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:12.000 and none of the physical evidence from the crime matches him. 11 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:16.079 After serving sixteen years, Damon's conviction is vacated and he 12 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:19.519 is released from death row. But Crystal's real killer is 13 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:20.319 never found. 14 00:01:21.239 --> 00:01:25.040 After that, the path went Chile. So today we're going 15 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:27.719 to be exploring a crime which led to a wrongful conviction, 16 00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:32.480 the nineteen ninety six murder of Crystal Champagne. Anyway, Crystal 17 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:34.920 Champagne was a fourteen year old girl who went missing 18 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:38.000 and was found strangled to death and Almost immediately after 19 00:01:38.040 --> 00:01:41.079 the discovery of her body, her step cousin, Damon Thibodeaux, 20 00:01:41.159 --> 00:01:44.920 confessed to the crime. Even though Damon recanted his confession 21 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:47.519 and claimed he had been coerced, he was still charged 22 00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:50.400 and convicted of Crystal's murder and received the death penalty. 23 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:54.040 Damon would spend sixteen years behind bars, but since none 24 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:57.400 of the physical evidence matched him, he was eventually exonerated 25 00:01:57.480 --> 00:02:01.000 before his conviction was overturned and he was released. This 26 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:03.040 story was once featured on an episode of the true 27 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:06.079 crime TV show forty eight Hours, and I decided to 28 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:08.360 cover it on The Trail Went Cold Back in September 29 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:12.080 of twenty twenty one, shortly after learning that Damon Thibodeaux 30 00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:16.280 passed away due to complications from COVID nineteen. Well, it's 31 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:19.240 good that Damon was exonerated before his death. The actual 32 00:02:19.319 --> 00:02:22.439 murder victim in this case, Crystal Champagne, has still never 33 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:25.599 received justice. So on this series of episodes, we're not 34 00:02:25.639 --> 00:02:28.240 only going to explore what went wrong, but also try 35 00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:30.599 to figure out who the real perpetrator might have been. 36 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:33.560 Well, I can already tell you a whole lot of 37 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:35.560 things had to go wrong for it to get to 38 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:39.520 a coerced confession. But then even a bigger sign that 39 00:02:39.560 --> 00:02:42.319 something went wrong is that it actually was his conviction 40 00:02:42.520 --> 00:02:47.240 was vacated, which is very, very difficult to do. If 41 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:51.080 anyone listening has ever explored wrongful convictions, and you look 42 00:02:51.080 --> 00:02:54.080 at the idea that you know, people claim I'm innocent, 43 00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:58.439 there's innocence projects, there's people fighting to free individuals asking 44 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:01.599 for DNA to be tested, to really from prison. It 45 00:03:01.719 --> 00:03:06.000 is nearly impossible to get the court system to reverse 46 00:03:06.039 --> 00:03:09.840 a ruling that they've made right because it's admitting we've 47 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:14.080 made a mistake somewhere. We've allowed someone to be prosecuted 48 00:03:14.120 --> 00:03:17.439 and convicted when their rights were not met, when the 49 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:21.639 evidence wasn't there, and or when they're innocent. And so 50 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:25.759 the fact that not only did Damian confess, which shows 51 00:03:25.800 --> 00:03:28.599 a lot of problems in our system, but also the 52 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:33.599 charge was vacated, the conviction was vacated, speaks volumes. This 53 00:03:33.639 --> 00:03:36.840 man was on death row. So for him to get 54 00:03:36.919 --> 00:03:40.280 vacated from death row, you have to be able to 55 00:03:40.360 --> 00:03:44.919 prove beyond a reasonable doubt and more that he's innocent, 56 00:03:45.080 --> 00:03:48.319 or that there's proof that his rights were not met 57 00:03:48.360 --> 00:03:52.080 and that something went wrong in the prosecution of this individual. 58 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:54.759 So if you look at this one, I love it 59 00:03:54.759 --> 00:03:57.400 because I remember when I first started dating Rebel. I said, oh, 60 00:03:57.439 --> 00:03:58.840 you know, one of the things I love to look 61 00:03:58.840 --> 00:04:02.120 at is wrongful conviction. And he said, oh, that stuff's 62 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:04.360 so bizarre to me, Like, who would falsely confess to 63 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:07.759 something they didn't do? And I have never been more 64 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:11.879 excited in my life to teach somebody I love about something. 65 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:14.400 You guys know me, and you can imagine, I'm like, Okay, 66 00:04:14.439 --> 00:04:17.079 here we go. We're watching this documentary. In this documentary, 67 00:04:17.079 --> 00:04:19.360 I'm going to teach you about this and that false 68 00:04:19.399 --> 00:04:22.519 confessions are not as abnormal as you would think, because 69 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:27.480 we train officers to use something called the read techniques. 70 00:04:28.120 --> 00:04:32.199 And when you combine the actual types of questions and 71 00:04:32.519 --> 00:04:37.079 scenarios they present to people being interrogated, and you add 72 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:42.600 other elements like age, background, intellect, and ability those kinds 73 00:04:42.600 --> 00:04:46.519 of things, it's actually not that crazy to be able 74 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:50.120 to convince somebody that they could have done a certain crime. 75 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:53.839 And so I cannot wait to hear what happens in 76 00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:58.079 that interrogation room. What Damon eventually says occurs. Because keep 77 00:04:58.079 --> 00:05:02.199 in mind, the police who trust and we expect to 78 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:06.120 bring justice to a scenario. If they believe somebody is guilty, 79 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:10.079 they will go in with that assumption and do things 80 00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:13.399 like present false evidence, convince the person they failed to 81 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:16.839 polygraph when maybe they didn't discuss how you know there's 82 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:19.399 someone in another room as an eyewitness when there's not 83 00:05:20.040 --> 00:05:22.800 so when you have tons and tons of information like 84 00:05:22.839 --> 00:05:27.079 that being piled on you, long interrogations, best of luck. 85 00:05:27.160 --> 00:05:29.480 I would never want to be sitting in an interrogation 86 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:34.079 room without an attorney because it's not it's not out 87 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:36.560 of the question that someone who's innocent would confess to 88 00:05:36.600 --> 00:05:37.399 something they didn't do. 89 00:05:38.839 --> 00:05:40.519 Yeah, as we're going to talk about, this is going 90 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:43.079 to be one of the weakest murder cases you've ever seen, 91 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:45.560 which led to a conviction and someone being sent to 92 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:47.800 death row. And in spite of this, it still took 93 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:51.120 sixteen years to overturn his conviction, even though the only 94 00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:55.079 evidence against him was a false confession. But like your 95 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:58.079 example you just mentioned with rebel, false confessions still have 96 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:00.279 a lot of weight for people because even if there's 97 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:04.040 no other evidence against this defendant, juries still will convict 98 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:06.639 because they hold a mentality like why would you confess 99 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:09.040 to a crime that you did not commit, and a 100 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:11.680 lot of these cases, the person who makes the confession 101 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:14.480 recancel immediately. In figure as well, they're going to find 102 00:06:14.519 --> 00:06:16.600 out I'm innocent, this is going to be sorted out 103 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:19.360 and I'll be released. But more often not that doesn't happen, 104 00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:21.439 and it leads to tragic stories like this. 105 00:06:22.439 --> 00:06:24.600 I'm really excited to hear all of your takes today, 106 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:27.240 ash because I truly feel like this is where our 107 00:06:27.240 --> 00:06:30.959 girl shines. Ashley has her PhD in criminology, and when 108 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:33.560 you get going on wrongful convictions, you always bring up 109 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:36.160 the best points, So I can't wait to hear your 110 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:37.040 thoughts on this case. 111 00:06:37.639 --> 00:06:39.839 Well thanks, Jules. Yeah, this is one of those places 112 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:43.439 where I just get excited about criminal justice in general 113 00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:46.079 because we have a ways to go, and these are 114 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:48.240 the cases that kind of highlight where some of those 115 00:06:49.240 --> 00:06:53.439 vulnerabilities in our justice system are. Robin nailed it. Rebel 116 00:06:53.519 --> 00:06:55.199 was not alone when he said, like, no one would 117 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:57.839 falsely confess to something they didn't do. I ask my 118 00:06:57.879 --> 00:07:01.199 students every semester I teach this class, how many of 119 00:07:01.199 --> 00:07:03.800 you think you would ever falsely confess to a crime? 120 00:07:03.879 --> 00:07:04.040 Right? 121 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:06.800 None of them raise their hand. So if by the 122 00:07:06.920 --> 00:07:09.240 end of the class, just like poor Rebel who did 123 00:07:09.240 --> 00:07:11.680 not have to pay for a class on wrong convictions, 124 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:14.399 I just gave it to him. But when by the 125 00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:17.040 end of class, almost all of them will raise their hand, 126 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:21.399 understanding that false confessions are not that abnormal. But jurors 127 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:24.839 don't sit through a college or a university course on 128 00:07:24.920 --> 00:07:28.000 wrongful convictions. They do exactly what Robin said. They do 129 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:31.600 exactly what Rebel did. They do exactly what my students did, 130 00:07:31.639 --> 00:07:35.600 which is when you say, who wouldever falsely confess, the 131 00:07:35.639 --> 00:07:38.920 whole jury says no one. I would never do that, 132 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:41.920 and so it didn't need any other evidence in this 133 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:45.879 case when Damien said, when Damon said I did it, 134 00:07:46.600 --> 00:07:49.000 he was done. He was going to be convicted because 135 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:51.759 that jury believes no one in their right mind would 136 00:07:51.800 --> 00:07:54.920 ever say I did it. Of course, quote everyone who 137 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:58.600 commits a crime is quote innocent in prison, right, And 138 00:07:59.240 --> 00:08:01.079 they just go, hey, if he said he did it, 139 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:02.879 he did it, and let's send him to prison. They 140 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:04.639 sent this man to death row. 141 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:11.000 Our story begins in nineteen ninety six in Westwego, Louisiana, 142 00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:14.560 a suburban community of New Orleans which lies along the 143 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:17.959 west bank of the Mississippi River. Our central figure is 144 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:21.240 fourteen year old Crystal Marie Champagne, who lives at the 145 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:25.720 Tanglewood Apartments with her parents CJ. And Dawn Champagne. At 146 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:29.680 around five fifteen pm on July nineteenth, Crystal left her 147 00:08:29.720 --> 00:08:32.399 apartment in order to walk to a nearby wind Dixie 148 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:36.519 supermarket to purchase some noodles, but after an hour passed, 149 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:38.840 she failed to return and her family went out and 150 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:42.279 started searching for her. Crystal could not be found, so 151 00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:45.840 her mother reported her missing to Jefferson Parish Sheriff's office. 152 00:08:46.279 --> 00:08:48.600 Over the course of the next twenty four hours, a 153 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:51.720 number of people canvass the area with missing persons, flyers 154 00:08:51.720 --> 00:08:55.039 for Crystal, and witnesses would recall having seen her at 155 00:08:55.039 --> 00:08:58.679 the Winn Dixie supermarket on the night she disappeared. Finally, 156 00:08:58.759 --> 00:09:00.919 at around seven forty p m. On the evening of 157 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:05.159 July twentieth, a family friend and neighbor named Stacy Mulansen 158 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:08.639 called the police from a payphone in the unincorporated community 159 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:11.279 of Bridge City to inform them that Crystal had been 160 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:14.799 found dead. Stacy claimed that she and her boyfriend John 161 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:17.879 Tomlinson had shown Crystal's flyer to a pair of women 162 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:21.200 at a convenience store in Bridge City who told them 163 00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:24.720 they were called seeing a girl matching Crystal's description walking 164 00:09:24.759 --> 00:09:27.799 down the levee next to the Mississippi River the previous evening. 165 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:31.440 When Stacy and John went to the area, they soon 166 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:35.240 discovered Cristel's body in a wooded area underneath the Huey 167 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:39.120 Pea Long Bridge, the location which was about five miles 168 00:09:39.159 --> 00:09:42.360 from Cristel's apartment, and an autopsy would reveal that she'd 169 00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:45.039 been strangled to death and beaten with a blunt object, 170 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:47.960 as she had a fractured skull and a missing tooth, 171 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:51.120 as well as hemorrhaging to her right eye and forehead. 172 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:54.480 A red industrial wire which had likely been used to 173 00:09:54.519 --> 00:09:58.639 strangle Crystal, was found tied to a nearby tree. Since 174 00:09:58.679 --> 00:10:00.799 her shirt was pulled off over her breath, and her 175 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:04.039 shorts and underwear were pulled down, it appeared that Crystal 176 00:10:04.039 --> 00:10:06.960 had also been the victim of a sexual assault. It 177 00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:09.879 would later be estimated that Crystal had been dead around 178 00:10:09.879 --> 00:10:13.360 twenty four hours before she was found, placing her approximate 179 00:10:13.399 --> 00:10:16.159 time of death sometime between seven and eight pm on 180 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:19.120 July nineteen Okay. 181 00:10:18.840 --> 00:10:22.159 Can you rewind and tell me you guys said that 182 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:26.679 someone calls from a payphone saying that she's dead, But 183 00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:29.879 really the only information they have is that they had 184 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:33.279 seen this woman walking and they knew it was her 185 00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:36.240 because of a flyer or they're the ones who actually 186 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:36.960 found her body. 187 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:39.320 Yeah, nobody called from a payphone. It was Stacy who 188 00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:41.279 called the police from a payphone. She said that she 189 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:43.399 had spoken to two people at a woman at a 190 00:10:43.399 --> 00:10:45.440 convenience store who said that they had seen a girl 191 00:10:45.480 --> 00:10:49.559 matching Crystal's description walking down next to the Mississippi River 192 00:10:49.720 --> 00:10:52.799 the previous evening. So that's what prompted Stacy and her 193 00:10:52.840 --> 00:10:55.120 boyfriend John to go check this area out, and that's 194 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:56.519 when they found her body in the woods. 195 00:10:57.159 --> 00:11:00.320 Okay, okay, okay. So when they find her body, clearly 196 00:11:00.440 --> 00:11:04.039 she's been a victim of a horrific attack. It appears 197 00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:08.720 she's been sexually abused, but the violence and the intimate violence, right, 198 00:11:08.840 --> 00:11:13.120 She's not shot, she's bludgeoned to death. Clearly, she's been strangled. 199 00:11:13.399 --> 00:11:18.320 Her tooth's missing, her skulls fractured. So it's someone with 200 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:21.879 either who is desperate to make sure that she can't 201 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:24.799 tell anyone what happened or there's a lot of anger 202 00:11:24.840 --> 00:11:29.039 and rage and power struggle there. It's a very disturbing 203 00:11:29.159 --> 00:11:32.799 scene that they stumbled upon when they find Crystal's body. 204 00:11:33.879 --> 00:11:35.440 And as we're going to talk about, even though her 205 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:37.559 shirt was pulled up and her shorts and underwear were 206 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:41.080 pulled down, she was not actually penetrated or raped. And 207 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:43.279 it makes you wonder was someone planning to do so 208 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:46.240 and maybe just couldn't get aroused or something like that. 209 00:11:46.360 --> 00:11:48.480 So it just caused them to get really irate and 210 00:11:48.519 --> 00:11:51.159 take out their aggression, and that's why they killed Crystal 211 00:11:51.159 --> 00:11:52.320 in such your brutal fashion. 212 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:57.840 How far was this location on the Mississippi from the 213 00:11:57.879 --> 00:11:58.600 wind Dixie. 214 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:02.559 I'm not entirely sure, Like I only know that it 215 00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:05.480 was five miles from her apartment, so I'm assuming that 216 00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:08.039 it was probably close to five miles from the wind 217 00:12:08.039 --> 00:12:11.240 Dixie because she was only planning to walk there from 218 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:13.360 her place. So I have a feeling that she might 219 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:16.200 have accepted a ride for someone or was abducted, and 220 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:18.759 that they drove her down to this location and disposed 221 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:19.360 of her body. 222 00:12:20.039 --> 00:12:22.399 Was it a common location that people would walk, like 223 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:25.440 somebody said they saw somebody matching her description walking in 224 00:12:25.480 --> 00:12:27.080 that area. 225 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:29.399 I think so, yeah. I mean, I guess it's just 226 00:12:29.480 --> 00:12:32.159 like a place maybe where tourists would go or something 227 00:12:32.200 --> 00:12:34.879 like that, just because it was near the river. It's 228 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:37.399 kind of a thing here where it's like it's possible 229 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:40.360 that the witness was mistaken, maybe just saw another girl 230 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:43.240 matching that description or something like that down the river, 231 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:44.879 and they just found it and it was just luck 232 00:12:44.919 --> 00:12:48.759 that Crystal was murdered at this place. So, before Crystal's 233 00:12:48.759 --> 00:12:51.960 body was found, investigators from the Jefferson Pair ofsh Sheriff's 234 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:54.399 Office had already been interviewing a number of her friends 235 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:57.399 and family members, including her twenty two year old step cousin, 236 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:00.799 Damon Thibodeau, whose mother was once married to Cristel's uncle. 237 00:13:01.480 --> 00:13:04.639 Damon had lived in Midland, Texas, but weeks earlier, after 238 00:13:04.679 --> 00:13:07.559 traveling to New Orleans to attend his sister's wedding, he 239 00:13:07.639 --> 00:13:09.679 decided that he wanted to remain in the area to 240 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:12.480 be closer to his family. He moved in with his 241 00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:15.080 mother and got a job as an offshore deckhand on 242 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:18.879 a Mississippi River barge. Even though the Champagne family didn't 243 00:13:18.919 --> 00:13:21.919 know Damon all that well. They quickly befriended him, and 244 00:13:21.960 --> 00:13:24.399 on the night before Cristal went missing, he went out 245 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:27.600 drinking with down In CJ and stayed over at their apartment. 246 00:13:28.279 --> 00:13:30.399 Damon was still there when Crystal left to go to 247 00:13:30.440 --> 00:13:33.320 the supermarket the following day, and she had even asked 248 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:35.840 him for a ride, but he declined because he was 249 00:13:35.879 --> 00:13:39.840 busy fixing a watch. Damon actively participated in the search 250 00:13:39.879 --> 00:13:42.600 effort for Crystal before he returned to his mother's house 251 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:46.120 on the evening of July the twentieth. Shortly after he arrived, 252 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:49.200 investigators showed up there in order to question Damon, and 253 00:13:49.240 --> 00:13:51.600 he agreed to accompany them to the police station for 254 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:56.159 an interview. However, shortly after the questioning started, investigators were 255 00:13:56.159 --> 00:13:59.159 informed that Crystal's body had been found, and they started 256 00:13:59.159 --> 00:14:01.519 focusing on Day as a potential suspect. 257 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:05.840 It's really interesting because she asked him for a ride 258 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:08.759 and he said, no, I'm busy fixing a watch. And 259 00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:11.679 if you thought there was some bizarre dynamic going on, 260 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:15.600 because it's a step cousin, right, and he was once 261 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:20.960 associated to her by Crystel's uncle. If there was something 262 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:24.360 odd or some sexual frustration going on. If she had 263 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:27.080 asked for him to do anything with her, it almost 264 00:14:27.080 --> 00:14:29.240 seems like he would jump and say, well, yes, of 265 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:31.360 course I'll take you to work, right, of course, I'll 266 00:14:31.399 --> 00:14:33.679 go with you there, or maybe he wouldn't leave her alone, 267 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:36.120 or he'd follow her. The fact that he's like, god, 268 00:14:36.200 --> 00:14:38.879 now this watch, I gotta work on this watch. It's 269 00:14:38.919 --> 00:14:43.000 so nonchalant of like not even interested right in engaging 270 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:44.919 with her in a place outside of the home. So 271 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:48.440 that's an interesting little quirk to me when you talk 272 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:52.000 about someone who's going to bludgeon potentially attempt to sexually 273 00:14:52.039 --> 00:14:55.000 assault somebody. He had chances where he could be isolated 274 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:56.879 alone with her and he turned those down. 275 00:14:57.720 --> 00:14:59.919 It's a good point because if he was a predator 276 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:03.879 who was seeking this opportunity to like predate on her 277 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:07.519 and potentially try to sexually assault her, then what a 278 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:10.159 great opportunity that would be. So the fact that, like 279 00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:12.559 you said, he passes it up and he's so nonchalant 280 00:15:12.600 --> 00:15:15.840 about it, it does seem to speak to his innocence. 281 00:15:17.159 --> 00:15:18.759 Yeah, and that is one of the reasons where I 282 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:20.919 am kind of surprised that the police focused on him 283 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:24.000 so quickly as a suspect, because in addition to that point, 284 00:15:24.039 --> 00:15:26.159 when you look at the timeline, you're gonna find out 285 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:28.960 he really didn't have much of an opportunity to do 286 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:31.879 this because his whereabouts are pretty well accounted for the 287 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:34.639 entire night. So it really doesn't make much sense for 288 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:36.240 her to ask him for a ride, for him to 289 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:38.240 say no, I'm going to stay here, fix my watch, 290 00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:40.919 and then a short time later like leave and go 291 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:45.159 after her and then abductor and murder her. So it 292 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:47.679 still makes me wonder, like why they felt that Damon 293 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:49.039 would be a likely suspect. 294 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:54.279 All right, get ready to get pretty pissed off, Ashley, 295 00:15:54.919 --> 00:15:59.159 let's do it. So even though Damon had two previous 296 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:02.639 marijuana possess charges on his record, he didn't have any 297 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:06.039 known history of violence, and Crystal's family would later say 298 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:08.519 that they never saw any warning signs of him being 299 00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:11.919 inappropriate with her. But in spite of this, police would 300 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:16.360 spend the nine hours interrogating Damon without any legal counsel present. 301 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:20.120 So at one point, Damon agreed to take a polygraph test, 302 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:22.879 but he was informed that the results showed signs of deception. 303 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:26.120 Damon provided the names of all the people that he'd 304 00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:29.039 been with during the previous twenty four hours and said 305 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:32.559 they could function as his alibi witnesses, but the detectives 306 00:16:32.600 --> 00:16:35.559 lied to him by stating that these witnesses had already 307 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:39.919 disputed his alibi. They told Damon they had evidence he 308 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:43.120 killed Crystal, and even planted the idea into his head 309 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:45.759 that he may have blacked out and committed the crime 310 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:50.519 without even remembering it. The interrogation continued on until the 311 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:53.720 early morning hours of July twenty first, and at four 312 00:16:53.799 --> 00:16:58.039 twenty one am, Damon finally confessed to Crystal's murder, stating quote, 313 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:00.399 I didn't know that I had done it, but I'd 314 00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:03.320 done it. He claimed that he'd picked up Crystal in 315 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:06.119 his car after she left the supermarket and proceeded to 316 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:09.720 drive her to the levee under the Hueyplong Bridge. They 317 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:12.839 began to have sex until Crystal yelled out, ouch it hurts, 318 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:16.200 take it easy. When she resisted, Damon said it caused 319 00:17:16.279 --> 00:17:18.480 him to snap, and he proceeded to rape and beat 320 00:17:18.519 --> 00:17:22.240 Crystal before strangling her to death. Afterward, he returned to 321 00:17:22.279 --> 00:17:25.200 Crystal's apartment and assisted with the search effort for her. 322 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:31.319 Okay, here it goes ready, ye ready, okay, all right, 323 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:35.119 let's start with this. If you picture yourself in a 324 00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:39.279 tiny bathroom for nine hours at one time. Okay, we're 325 00:17:39.319 --> 00:17:43.079 talking like, I don't know, six by four for nine hours, 326 00:17:43.400 --> 00:17:48.279 where you have someone telling you, listen, damon, I know 327 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:51.440 what you did. You're not getting out of here. There's 328 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:52.799 only one way you're getting out of here, right, So 329 00:17:52.920 --> 00:17:55.599 tell us the truth. And you proceed to tell them 330 00:17:55.599 --> 00:17:57.759 the truth a million times. 331 00:17:58.039 --> 00:17:58.200 Right. 332 00:17:58.519 --> 00:18:01.319 I was with my friends. They back me up. I 333 00:18:01.319 --> 00:18:04.240 don't even know what you're talking about. This poor girl 334 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:07.960 that I'm associated with somehow is dead and I didn't 335 00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:11.200 do it. I was fixing my watch. I was then 336 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:13.559 hanging out with my friends. My friends can tell you that. 337 00:18:14.119 --> 00:18:16.960 So you're continuing to repeat the truth, and every time 338 00:18:17.079 --> 00:18:20.759 you repeat the truth, you're making the people in this tiny, 339 00:18:20.839 --> 00:18:24.480 tiny place more and more frustrated with you, and they're 340 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:27.559 telling you you're wrong. And then they amp it up 341 00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:29.799 by telling you, oh, those witnesses that are going to 342 00:18:29.880 --> 00:18:33.640 have your back, your friends. Unfortunately for you, they've already 343 00:18:33.640 --> 00:18:35.880 flipped on you and turned on you. So psychologically you 344 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:39.000 start thinking, what in the heck is happening? Right, I'm 345 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:41.480 just gonna stick with my story, and you know what, 346 00:18:41.559 --> 00:18:44.599 I'll take a polygraph test whatever, I'll take a polygraph 347 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:48.359 and that'll prove that I'm telling the truth. And I'm 348 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:51.599 assuming they lied to him that he failed the polygraph. 349 00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:52.279 Is that correct? 350 00:18:52.519 --> 00:18:52.799 Yes? 351 00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:57.359 Okay, So now you're telling me that I'm a liar. 352 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:01.400 You're telling me that she's dead, and my friends who 353 00:19:01.480 --> 00:19:06.400 I was with already have told you I'm lying. Holy crap. Okay, 354 00:19:07.079 --> 00:19:09.440 now you're telling me that I failed a polygraph test. 355 00:19:09.559 --> 00:19:12.680 What is happening? Because I'm pretty sure I'm telling you 356 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:15.359 the truth. It starts to become like gaslighting, okay, where 357 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:18.839 I all of a sudden start questioning my own mentality, 358 00:19:18.920 --> 00:19:22.359 my own recall, my own memory. Now they're going to 359 00:19:22.440 --> 00:19:24.480 amp up even more. It's not just that we've got 360 00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:27.000 evidence that you actually killed her. We have your physical 361 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:30.400 evidence at the scene. They're allowed to do that. It's 362 00:19:30.519 --> 00:19:33.640 part of the legal doctrine that if they need to 363 00:19:34.200 --> 00:19:37.200 falsify information to get a suspect of talk, they can. 364 00:19:37.559 --> 00:19:41.039 Well they did here, and that's another element that's leaning 365 00:19:41.079 --> 00:19:45.480 poor Damon to go wait what Okay, So he's continuing 366 00:19:45.559 --> 00:19:51.799 to be confused and frustrated and then they're going to say, 367 00:19:53.400 --> 00:19:56.640 you know what, Damon, I know you don't remember doing 368 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:59.200 this because I don't think you would do that, right, 369 00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:01.559 You're a good man. So they're going to build him 370 00:20:01.640 --> 00:20:05.359 up now that they've torn him down. However, Damon, there 371 00:20:05.799 --> 00:20:09.440 we believe that you blacked out and then you did 372 00:20:09.480 --> 00:20:12.319 this crime like you wouldn't do it. You're a good human. 373 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:14.319 We're going to make sure people know you're a good human. 374 00:20:14.680 --> 00:20:16.680 But you got to tell us the truth, Damon, because 375 00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:19.519 we think you blacked out, you don't remember everyone who 376 00:20:19.559 --> 00:20:21.720 knows you saying you did it. We have proof you 377 00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:24.200 did it, and you fail to polygraph, man, like, your 378 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:26.440 only way out is to tell us the truth now, 379 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:28.680 and maybe we can help you, right, maybe we can 380 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:31.119 make this a little bit better on you. So Damon's 381 00:20:31.160 --> 00:20:33.680 doing one of two things, or maybe a combination of both. 382 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:37.240 He's at the point where he's like, holy crap, nine 383 00:20:37.319 --> 00:20:40.200 hours into this, my only way out is going to 384 00:20:40.200 --> 00:20:44.680 be to lie because obviously people will know that this 385 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:46.799 stuff is not true once I get on the other 386 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:51.440 side and away from these people. Or two, he actually 387 00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:54.839 starts to slightly believe what they're saying because I am 388 00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:58.119 a good person. I was with my friends. If my 389 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:00.880 friends are saying that I left or hurt her, and 390 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:02.960 the police are saying there's evidence and that maybe I 391 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:06.759 blacked out, and everybody's saying that, and I failed a polygraph. 392 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:09.319 What if I did do this and just don't remember. 393 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:13.720 And so what starts to happen is he will try 394 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:16.119 to tell a story to the police that satisfy them, 395 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:19.759 whether he's believing it or whether he's making it up. 396 00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:23.960 Then what's going to happen is he's gonna get facts wrong. 397 00:21:24.200 --> 00:21:27.400 She was I don't know. He would make up a 398 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:29.640 fact that doesn't fit the police narrative, and they'd say, ooh, 399 00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:31.720 that's not quite right. Why don't you tell us again? 400 00:21:31.799 --> 00:21:34.039 But this time, what weapon do you think you used 401 00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:37.400