so you got what I need on the streets of New Orleans Drug Money bought the city's [Music] cops officers became the strong arm of drug lords brutalizing anyone who dared speak out Kim Kim help with police tainted by GRE undercover agents would have to put their lives on the line to bring down the corrupt officers who hid behind a shattered Shi [Music] [Music] in a city of wash and narcotics the drug lords have all the power even over the police corruption in New Orleans grew like cancer eating away at Public Safety and threatening to destroy the city led by easy wealth crooked cops began breaking the laws they were sworn to uphold I'm Jim cstom former head of the FBI's New York office when it became clear that the police could no longer police themselves the FBI had to get involved it was a case where the line between friends and enemies became dangerously [Music] blurred New Orleans 1993 tourists packed the city looking for a good time not all of it legal cocaine was in demand and the dealers cashed [Music] in if was a violent business for protection the drug lords turned to those whose Duty was to Serve and Protect [Music] the officers lined their pockets while enforcing the will of the dealers they controlled Turf likee thugs terrorizing innocent civilians agent Stan Hatton of the FBI's public corruption unit in New Orleans was aware of the growing problem IR intelligence told us that there was a great variety of corruption uh taken place among uh many different officers on the department however uh this the one thing that seemed to be the most pervasive was that officers were out there working with drug dealers on the street we're protecting drug dealers on the street and we're stealing money and drugs from drug dealers on the [Music] street one such drug dealer was Terry Adams known on the streets as [Music] scaboo he was a smalltime operator who was being extorted by Officer Sammy Williams so you got what I need come on now give me what I need but this time the protection Money scaboo Paid Williams wasn't enough on Christmas Eve the officer demanded that scaboo pay him $10,000 cash by 600 p.m. [Music] if scaboo failed to show Williams threatened to beat him and guaranteed him 20 years to life that evening at 5:00 p.m. special agent stanh haton was finishing up some last minute work about to go home he took one last call it was scaboo his time was running out he told Haden that he was being blackmailed but didn't have the $10,000 the corrupt cop was demanding in less than an hour what are the name of the officers when scabo contacted me we realized that that was our best chance to do something about police corruption and I immediately arranged to meet him and and debrief him in person uh there was no way we could get everything together by 6:00 by the time I met with him it was 30 minutes before the deadline yeah I feel pretty good about that um Haden and his partner quickly hashed out a plan I think the best one we've got scabo would meet the officer as arranged but he'd be wearing an FBI wire the agents couldn't arrange $10,000 on such short notice skabo would have to convince the cop to accept smaller payments over several meetings yeah I'm pretty sure okay they could be rough well you know that you worked with them yeah I have assured by hat that he would be under constant surveillance scabo took his position officer Sammy Williams was still on duty when he arrived with a prisoner tuffed in the back seat of his [Music] Cruiser Williams drove scaboo to a deserted spot behind a seafood market he ordered him to throw the $10,000 into the trunk scabo told Williams he only had 3,000 now but would pay the rest later if the cop arrested scaboo he'd never get his pay off agents hoped Williams would agree to meet him again for more of the money he did and the FBI had it all on tape Haden believed this one incident could lay the groundwork for exposing more corruption in the New Orleans Police Department our main objective was to try and create a strategy that would enable us to prosecute as many bad officers as we possibly could in the days that followed agents along with prosecutors from the United States attorney's office began to plan their operation code Nam shattered Shield assistant us attorney Al Winters would advise agents every step of the way on what would be needed to convict the dirty cops we were involved really from day one we met with the case agents on numerous occasions and discussed exactly what we were interested in being developed as far as evidence in in the case as with most corruption cases the FBI's strongest evidence would likely come from wire Taps according to special agent Karen Jenkins an FBI wiretap specialist securing them isn't easy title 3 is a court authorized intercept or wire tap it's very difficult to get one approved it's a lengthy process very timec consuming basically we have to have approval by FBI officials to get one and beyond that we have to have the review and approval by Department of Justice officials finally a federal judge will make the final determination as to whether or not one is authorized after delivering two more payoffs to officer Williams scaboo had won his trust now the FBI seized the opportunity to take the operation to the next phase scaboo would approach Williams with a [Music] proposition the volume of drug business was going to increase and scabo would need more cops to protect it bring if Williams was interested in higher payoffs he would need to hire more dirty cops to handle the expansion Williams took the bait skabo met with him for another recorded payoff in mid January 1994 don't forget now but this time Williams showed up with another officer he turned out to be Len Davis Sammy Williams partner don't forget now it wasn't surprising Davis was known in the projects as a gangster with a [Music] badge it's not very good see if you you can make reviewing the tapes hadn't discovered a problem what both Davis and Williams used the coded language of the drug trade to make charges stick the FBI had to record the officers using language that a jury would understand Haden pressed scaboo to get Williams and Davis to use words like dope so they'd be no doubt at trial but when scaboo told the cop the dope is in Davis suspected something was upell did you say if you're uh if you're in the police business and somebody starts using words that are that overt and that plain that immediately makes you suspicious that this uh person is trying to set you up Davis shoved scaboo into the car and told Williams to drive the agents would be too conspicuous on the deserted streets if they pursued the C now they would put scaboo life at greater risk the only thing they could do was sit patiently and listen to the wire when the car came to a stop Davis's rage [Music] ignited the yell that scabo was never to say the word dope again they immediately took him to a deserted location aggressively searched him you can hear the velcro ripping loose on his clothes and stuff and that was a very tense moment Davis insisted that he wouldn't go to jail for careless he and Williams stripped scaboo looking for a wife scaboo was sure he was going to [Music] die miraculously they never him H he's CLE C he's clean I'm not going to jail [Music] behind their trust was restored you understand me skabo continued his protection deal with Davis and Williams for the next job the cops drove him to a store where a drop off was to take place inside scaboo checked a bag at the counter he passed the ticket to an agent posing as a buyer who then retrieved the bag Williams and Davis watched as each transaction went down they were promised $11,000 for every kilo of cocaine they protected for them the deals meant easy money [Music] Davis and Williams met skabo behind stores and Alleyways for the protection payoffs the FBI recorded every word gradually operation shattered Shield was building a solid case against police corruption the recordings continued into the spring of 1994 once agents were sure Davis and Williams were solidly on board the FBI prepared to expand the investigation with still more cocaine to guard Williams and Davis would need to recruit more dirty cops federal agents H to snare every one of them but agents knew the officers may become suspicious of scaboo rapidly growing drug business they needed to bring in a BigTime dealer someone whose status is a pin would explain the larger shipments you like some sure okay hadn't called on one we're doing down here is FBI agent trained specifically working under represent a drug kingpin from from up in the east coast at that time I was in New York City and I've been contacted uh to come down to just uh be interviewed and go over the actual case a lot of times they'll they'll be looking for a certain person height weight you know color or whatever um to infiltrate or get into a certain group known as JJ the agent would act as scaboo cocaine supplier proposing to use New Orleans as a hub to store and distribute his product Nationwide I was a high level drug dealer um I played that role and I had ties where my operation uh was in both Miami and in New York City with the arrival of J shattered sh was about to grow from a minor drug business to a booming Enterprise Jackson was one of the FBI's best undercover agents he was smart and experienced but his life would be in the hands of the informant scabo who had no training Jackson needed to build complete trust with scaboo or they'd both be dead the informant because he Liv that world is probably the for me anyway the most important because he himself has been there he's been around these people if he's not believable he not going to work and I think uh that was the big thing for me down there was to make sure that uh we were going to be believable Jackson and sko rehearsed their roles again and again preparing for the real test with Davis and Willam we just Jackson federal agent from the north and scabo a Sou who had dealt drugs all his life had to forge common history their story would be that they had met in the Army he going to get after their stint was up they' kept in touch okayed they hashed and rehash details of their friendship habits fake memories that they'd have to know C and when to say them they were dealing with criminals who could run thorough background checks and who were free to use deadly for us we knew that whatever we had we had to keep it simple but we had to make sure that we remembered certain things the biggest thing I thought that helped us was my initials my nickname so no matter how many times they would ask him what's his name he believably said because he only knew JJ in April the FBI was ready to introduce JJ into the operation he arrived at a hotel carrying what was supposed to be a drug payment of $100,000 for the first time Williams and Davis caught a glimpse of the BigTime dealer their perceptions would be critical the first encounter was in the Sheridan Hotel they were going to stand at a distance and just observe it was another test to see if they were willing to do what they were going to do hey I don't know how it's going to work they could arrest me right now and take me off and you know I'm down you know because are supposed to be drug money so uh it was a test scaboo told the cops about JJ and his plan to use New Orleans as a transport hub for his cocaine business Davis and Williams carefully studied JJ's every move Jackson was creating his character Before Their Eyes it would become his full-time identity and it would have to hold up under scrutiny yeah everything depended on what the cops thought they had seen and if they believe the cash exchange was genuine the plan worked the cops were convinced that JJ was the real deal the FBI was now poised to take operation shattered Shield to the next [Music] level by the the spring of 1994 the FBI's operation shattered Shield targeting New Orleans police officers involved in the city's drug trade was in place posing as a drug kingpin named JJ undercover special agent Juan Jackson worked with scaboo the drug dealer turned FBI informant scaboo rented a hotel room for JJ to meet officers Len Davis and Sammy Williams for the first time [Music] what's up man what's up that was Showtime that was a big deal on any first meeting with any bad guys you know a million things are going through your mind I mean are you going to be believable is anything going to happen that's going to change their attitude it's either going to work from here or we're all going to go home playing the street Savvy drug dealer JJ insisted that everyone's stripped to establish trust sure for this first meeting Jackson didn't wear a wire he didn't need to the room had been thoroughly wired by the FBI for audio and video recording then in a bold gamble JJ invited them to search the room because they were cops Davis and Williams knew how to find a room wire any Che that machine but JJ bet his life on the FBI's technicians the cops never found the wires cool JJ was beginning to build trust with the officers but officers are trained to sniff out deception you got to think that meeting with two police officers because of the guns you also always have to remember the threat you always have to be conscious of the threat and remember exactly where they are and what they're going to do and where the weapons are with the cops convinced for the moment JJ began to discuss the proposal approved by case agent stanh and he played the role of a BigTime drug dealer from New York who was using New Orleans as a trans shipment Point simply as a storage point where he could bring dope in leave it for a while have it guarded and protected by the officers and then thereafter have it shipped out to other points unknown for their role JJ promised to pay them $5,000 every day the cops guarded the warehouse a real business you know what I'm saying Williams and Davis were enthusiastic about the plan even offering advice you know the cops urged JJ to hire Young Drivers give them company uniforms with name tags and put signs on the sides of the trucks to resemble legitimate companies for the FBI the meeting was Flawless okay the meeting went off without a hitch uh they bought JJ's act uh they believed him completely and they also said the magic word uh cocaine which uh got it clearly established on tape that we were talking about the officers protecting a drug uh operation from that may meeting the plan moved quickly the FBI found a warehouse that met their needs far from public View and rival drug dealers [Music] JJ and scaboo met Davis and Williams for a walkth through JJ and scaboo would meet with ly Davis and Sammy Williams at the warehouse for what we call the pre-deal meet there at that meeting they would discuss when the dope was coming in how long it was going to stay in in town and how much money JJ was going to pay for the officers to guard the dope once inside Davis told JJ that he had half a dozen more officers lined up to guard the cocaine shipments [Music] they would work in 10-hour shift uniform police outside guarding payloads of cocaine inside up to a quar of a million dollars worth in each lad at that June meeting came the first big payments from JJ more than $10,000 man all right everything is going smooth but one aspect of the warehouse plan bothered assistant us attorney Al Winters basically what we told the agents unless we had evidence irrefutable evidence that these people knew they were guarding cocaine we couldn't prosecute her cop because the cops stood guard outside the warehouse they could later claim they didn't know that drugs were inside I think having some sort of video or photog had to find a way prooved Davis's recruit saw the drug get his team mulled over ways to bring the drugs into Plain View we need them to implicate themselves I'll take the officers would have to be recorded seeing and discussing the shipment shipments were delivered to the warehouse one weekend every month according to schedule then in mid July the FBI sent a shipment that the guards didn't expect with one load already in the warehouse an FBI agent dressed as a courier brought another shipment the driver shocked the guard cops by unloading the cocaine in plain sight this was too overt for Len Davis's crew they didn't want to see drugs at all williiam hey Williams get down here they didn't want the vehicles outside the warehouse unloading drugs and stuff where the officers could actually see it quickly get down here the cops called Sammy Williams on a cell phone JJ had given him Williams called JJ and JJ and scaboo raced to the warehouse come here come here JJ responded like a hotheaded drug dealer I was arguing with this guy we were actually screaming at each other what are you doing what you know you know where are you whatever and he's observing this there's a police officer calling Lynn telling him all what's going on and how this doesn't look good to the cops this whole drug operation was starting to look dangerously unprofessional concerned the driver made another call [Music] czy crazy Sammy Williams arrived to straighten out the problem okay okay what I got to deal with JJ explained it was the driver's screw he asked that the cops escort the van to the city limits right away despite the risk the episode worked it showed that the cops knew what was inside the warehouse right what's going on to the edge of town all right and it was all video let him go but the episode raised doubts for the cops either JJ was an amateur or he was part of a stin either way they'd be watching him more closely now shattered Shield wore on into the summer as all of New Orleans baked about 100° out hand in August guarding the warehouse proved hard Duty the cops complained of the wear and tear on their engines from running the air conditioning all day in the heat they wanted a vehicle that was more comfortable that could also endure the long hours perhaps a van the officers asked Len Davis to provide one and Davis brought their request to JJ for the investigation it was a huge break the sweaty cops had just handed the FBI a golden opportunity it was a stroke of luck one day Lynn uh approached me and said that the officers were complaining that uh they're running their cars in air condition and the cars are starting to overheat you know they're burning gas you know on and on and on once we were able to rent the van and and put the listing device inside we were able to hear a lot more conversations thato the FBI quickly filed the paperwork to get Court authorized wire Taps for the van technicians carefully installed state-ofthe-art microphones they had to yield top sound quality for months with no maintenance the van was a perfect trojan horse for getting inside information I picked this out myself new the shiny new van made the office supicious they wondered if anyone could have tampered with it it ain't nothing wrong with it he wanted to know exactly where Davis had gotten the I've never seen this vehicle before because JJ had so completely won Davis's trust Davis told the cops that he himself had rented the van think is it all right he vouched tell it's okay that calmed their fears I picked it out myself what do you think Len Davis didn't want anyone upsetting his flow of payments I ped the FBI would soon learn just how ruthlessly Davis guarded his interests after 3 months of shattered Shield more and more New Orleans cops came under the FBI's investigation Len Davis and undercover agent JJ met often to discuss drug shipments and payoffs for police protection Davis made frequent threats they'll tell you we run this city we do whatever we want to do they let me know that very many times if they feel like they want to shut it down they'll shut it down D like the money JJ knew that as long as the money flowed he would never shut the operation Davis called the shots for the other officers he recruited and set the schedules using his cell phone but he complained about his bill the phone right I'm going to get you a phone so JJ offered Davis a new cell phone free of charge tomorrow get your phone tomorrow you it was one more way the FBI could record the cop's knowing involvement in drug trafficking on me I won't even help the wires the FBI had planted in the warehouse van were paying off one night two guards on the graveyard shift brought prostitutes to the van the wires picked up everything even the cop's sexual indiscretions when Jenkins heard this she immediately phoned JJ the situation was a chance to catch the cops off balance JJ called Davis to complain and to see what they'd get on tape he told Davis he had checked out the warehouse and found that the cops weren't protecting it JJ wasn't paying cops to have sex he ordered Davis to straighten things out Davis arrived in a fury his henchmen were threatening to ruin his whole operation y doing in there open the dooring Lyn was upset Lynn was a businessman through through Lynn wanted it to work exactly one way and he was really upset that I was upset and uh he got up he got up he came out there and and just kicked everybody up you got a problem man JJ's call brought Davis down on him hard to be doing but the episode triggered deep suspicions among the dirty cops they now felt sure that JJ was the prop and believed they could run the operation better themselves JJ they discussed ways to kill JJ their plans alarmed agent Karen Jenkins when I heard those conversations were they were threatening to do harm to our undercoverage agent it sent a chill down my spine it scared me um before I came to New Orleans I had worked with JJ in another office so I knew him personally and I was very concerned despite the threats to his life JJ was Resolute keeping the cops engaged in plans to further expand the operation he promised Davis that the largest shipment would arrived before Christmas after that he would move the deliveries to another part of the city bugging so that's I'm talking about you with that all the time JJ had to draw out more evidence on tape without making Davis suspicious he was very careful he watched everything he paid attention to everything I said there were conversations where we' talk and I'd use the word cocaine he would count the times I use he would tell me Jay you said cocaine five times Jay you said kilos five times so I had to be careful at the same time Pon and his team had to diffuse another plot they over the cops were threatening to kill the criers and steal the cocaine the agents scrambled delivery times and mapped new routes to and from the warehouse to keep the cops off balance a great agent with so many dirty cops the FBI couldn't make a clean sweep from the outside alone agents would need someone powerful in the police force to be a strong Ally despite the danger of leaks they decided to seek help from within the New Orleans Police Department October 1994 brought fresh changes to New Orleans in a new police chief Richard Pennington so how do you like our first Pennington was an outsider from Washington DC hired in the hopes of reform forming the Crescent City's crooked police force just moving in actually why don't you have a have a seat the FBI invited the new chief for a meeting news is not all goodal then Haden introduced JJ he informed Pennington that operation shattered Shield was uncovering corruption deep in the force that he was about to head his cooperation would be critical for the success of operation shattered Shield on the streets of New Orleans Davis and Williams were still on active duty cruising their territory Len Davis had a long list of public complaints against him during their rounds one night that October Davis and Sammy Williams patrolled the desire housing project seeing the pair of cops approach two youths took flight Williams chased one teenager down bludging him and left him bleeding in the [Music] street at that moment Kim Groves the victim's at decided that police had terrorized their neighborhood long enough who's pay the bill the next day Groves a 32-year-old mother of three filed a complaint against Len Davis and his partner she cited the pair for police violence this out an officer alerted Davis about the complaint do you want to know his name O Davis do you know him yeah this is definitely assistant us attorney Mike McMahon saw the report she reported not only Samy Williams who did the actual brutality but Len Davis as well who who had nothing to do with that pistol whipping and at that point Len Davis became um enraged for Davis Grove's complaint came at the worst possible time it would bring unwanted attention just as the new police chief was coming on board I know what I'm going to do I'm going get Len Davis vowed to get revenge you the same day that Kim Groves filed her complaint Richard Pennington was sworn in as New Orleans new chief of police that marked the start of shattered Shield's Final Phase to shift from an FBI effort to a partnership with a city desperate to clean house that very night agent Jenkins recorded several conversations that would show just how rotten some of the city's men and blue had [Music] become the first call was cryptic hours after Pennington was sworn in Len Davis made a call on his cell phone he gave an order to an unknown man I need you to do a 30 for the FBI taped the conversation but because Davis spoke in modified police code agents didn't know what it meant 14 you know yeah you can do it while they attempted to decipher it agents recorded a second more disturbing call this time the unknown man called Davis as they spoke a police dispatcher announced a murder in the desire housing project the victim's name Kim Groves when Davis heard the news he cried Rocka by it was the triumphant Cry of a killer when he later heard it the call shocked assistant us attorney Mike McMahon as soon as he confirmed the name of Kim Groves Davis shut off the radio and then on the um the wiretap conversation over the cell phone just exalted in a primal scream of delight that indeed Kim Groves uh was dead when agents reviewed the tapes and checked the phone records they discovered that the man who spoke to Davis was Paul Hardy Davis had asked Hardy for a 30 a police code normally used to report a homicide but that night Davis used it as an order for the murder of Kim Groves canvasing the projects agents quickly learned that Hardy is a known drug a small gang of th with the help of two accompli Hardy acted quickly coldly and for just $300 as he sped away over a bridge Hardy threw the barrel of the gun into the canal and handed the body of the gun to an accomplice for [Music] safekeeping what's up man when the FBI realized Davis's role in the murder agents grew more concerned for JJ's safety JJ met with Davis soon afterward he looked carefully for signs that Davis was anxious or upset yeah what's up he saw none the murder of Kim Grove seemed to have relaxed Davis yeah look let me call you back JJ still had to play his part the role of a drug lord though uneasy he was careful not to talk about the murder I appreciate for thanks a lot I wanted to ask a lot of questions about it I couldn't only thing i' ask him was there anything different happening since the last time I was here he said no and we went on just like nothing ever happened is he a cold blooded killer that could probably do you in a minute yeah having seen what Davis and his cops could do JJ had every reason to believe that he could be next He was unaware that they were already planning ways to kill him man days after Len Davis ordered the murder of Kim Groves the FBI learned of more threats by Davis's men a New Orleans police officer assisting an operation shattered Shield received an anonymous threat it came with Kim Grove's obituary the message was clear death would come to those who talked P think were in trouble that day Dan Haden learned of still more threats against JJ and the other agents okay agent Jenkins had recorded five cops at the warehouse plotting to kill the couriers and JJ and say oh yeah it's then they would steal the cocaine and sell it themselves Willams and hadon had no choice the FBI had to wrap up the operation before it was too late bottom line is well once we realize that the lives of our Undercover Agy at serious risk uh then we had to react to it we had to do something the FBI needed to move up their plans for the big shipment JJ had promised to Davis a cocaine shipment so large that it would require a half dozen more cops to guard it but hadn't needed a location unfamiliar to the cops a place where the FBI could mobilize quickly he and his team scouted the Marty gr truck stop on Alan Fields Avenue the spot had good Highway accd it also posed little risk to the public in the event of a shootout the cocaine would arrive on an 18-wheeler then be loaded into cars and escorted by the cops out of the city every detail had to be mapped out the plan would require the coordination of 85 agents positioned strategically along the [Music] routes when Davis put out the word about a huge November 18th ship he enticed new recruits as a load of cocaine worth a quarter of a million dollars arrived Davis Williams and their crew stood ready as protection agents posing as drivers move the shipment from the command center Haden and Jenkins kept watch of the whole operation there were hundreds of ways the truck stop scenario could go wrong with the undercover agents lives on the line there was no margin for error the cocaine was divided in two [Music] Locs Williams escorted one Davis followed the other they shephered the couriers to the edge of town shielding them from other drug gangs and from the law to make it easier for our surveillance we had one of the uh Courier cars go to the East and one go to the West because we had two complete surveillance teams operating simultaneously and we didn't want the two to get crossed up with each other the operation went off without a hitch six additional cops were videotaped in the act of drug trafficking the FBI was about to enter the last phase of shattered Shield arresting the corrupt cops who would kill anyone who opposed them oh FBI after the big truck stop operation FBI agents moved quickly on the murder of Kim Groves they searched the house of the Hitman Paul [Music] Hardy there agents found an unauthorized copy of a guide to police codes the same codes that Davis used when he ordered Grove's murder 1079 another search at the home of one of Hardy's accomplices turned up the murder weapon a 9mm handgun the two investigations shattered shield and the murder were closing at the same time for the ring leaders the FBI took no chances agents came to Len Davis's house the next day when he was off duty look I ain't done put your hands on top of your head look I'm a police officer man put your hands on top your head the thug was a batch was arrested on federal drug charges and for the murder of Kim gr for Davis's partner Sammy Williams agents would use a different approach Haden wanted to flip Williams to the prosecution sign at that point it worked and they decided okay let's uh throw another curveball and then let's just bring Juan in so they brought me into the door and I introduced myself especially to Juan Jackson the FBI you could see the the color leave his face his world just can't crashing down Sammy Williams turned government witness his testimony would later prove crucial for getting convictions Haden and his team had no time to lose before news of Davis and Williams arrests could spread they had to deliver the rest of the gang to Justice dozens of armed men in uniform the strategy we were to employ was to arrest Lind Davis on December the 5th and then uh on December the 6th we had all of these officers appear before Federal grand jury and then on December 7th the grand jury ordered all these officers to come to the the FBI office to give handwriting [Music] exemplars Len Davis's recruits arrived at the FBI's office to give handwriting samples for analysis together with 60 fellow [Music] officers since the drug ring involved no written records and so many officers provided writing samples the crooked cops suspected nothing like the other before it the FBI's Roose worked one by one more than a dozen dirty cups of New Orleans were arrested I need your that that was a safe way to do it because obviously all of these officers were armed and they were facing very serious charges and and that was a way to do it to avoid any potential for uh any Bloodshed or any unwanted uh um uh resistance by the officers in court the FBI's recordings built a solid case against the officers are you aware we have hours and the videos and audio tape spoke louder than the code wordss and erased all doubts that jurors might have had agent Karen Jenkins knew the evidence was strong the jury was able to hear for themselves what the officers said they were able to see for themselves what they were doing because of the videos that we had that wasn't me it could have been anybody as prosecutor Al Winters had predicted early in the investigation Davis tried to talk his way out of it all police officers know what that is it's a homicide even after all the safeguards we took Davis's defense at the trial was that he was conducting his own undercover operation that uh it was not really done according to the book but you know he was a a poor uh uh cop and didn't have a lot of training but he was trying to conduct his own undercover operation Davis never admitted any wrongdoing he didn't need to the audio and videotape spoke for themselves faced with a prospect of convicting those sworn to protect them the citizens of the jury listened intently the tapes were were chilling and as those tapes were played uh uh the courtroom was as silent as as a cathedral as the jury reached the verdict yes your honor we have will the defendant please stand the jury deliberated just 15 minutes we the jury find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree and hereby sentenced the defendant Len Davis was sentenced to death for his role in Kim Grove's murder which was later commuted to life in two other trials Davis and his co-conspirators received 18 convictions for drug trafficking 15 officers were headed for [Music] prison because he cooperated with prosecutors Sammy Willams was sentenced to just 5 years fac he would never again wear a badge add that you have irrevocably stained that uniform you once War but I must reluctantly recognize that other crimes can only be solved with cooperation of people like you courot dismissed for The Big Easy 's case brought a long hard look in the mirror you know I think that the City of New Orleans has been very tolerant of all sorts of of um conduct uh which might be considered improper in other parts of the country as part of the culture here and I'm a Louisiana native uh but I think this was a wakeup call to the citizens of New Orleans that there was a serious problem within the NPD and that problem had to be addressed you know you take an oath and I think that when you do that uh there's no excuse uh for anything else I think we helped I I think that uh now their focus is different I think hiring I think pay scale I think everything about what the New Orleans Police Department is about is different under Chief Pennington the New Orleans Police Department revamped its practices and fired more Rogue cops The Big Easy had cleaned house the department and the FBI continue to work together to bring Justice to the city's streets dely Mississippi a quiet southern town with a burning core of corruption in 1987 its secret burst violently to the surface leaving two prominent citizens dead and ripping the top off a grand conspiracy [Applause] [Music] on Mississippi's Gul Coast a judge and his politician wife are murdered in their home the killer left few Clues it looked like a professional hit and the investigation LED nowhere but the FBI refused to give up I'm Jim calom former head of the FBI's New York office until we could prove that federal laws have been broken our hands were tied it would take years to break the conspiracy of silence and reveal the Tangled tale of corruption beluxe Mississippi Monday September 14th 1987 it was a typically warm summer night in this quiet Gul Coast Town the work day was over and most residents had retreated to the Tranquility of their homes on the rocky Co of northern France like most of their neighbors State circuit court judge Vincent Sherry and his wife Margaret were unwinding after a long day 3000 Vincent Sher was a prominent judge in buxy Margaret was making plans to run for mayor both were fixtures at social and Community functions a investig they were a happy couple who had raised three grown [Music] children tomorrow they planned to visit their daughter out of state won't be ready until tomorrow their life together seemed [Music] ideal they were just settling in for the night when an unexpected visitor came to the door what are you doing here look out and brought their perfect world to an end [Music] the sheres were supposed to be with their daughter so no one realized anything was wrong until 2 days later when the judge failed to show up in court on Wednesday September 16th calls to the sher's home went unanswered I'm sorry we can't take your call but leave your message after the beep his colleagues at the court phoned Pete H onine Vincent Sherry's friend and former law partner morning petet but he hadn't seen or heard from the judge either were we supposed to be in court when did he leave I don't know right no wa you let me call him at home and I'll I'll figure out where he is all right after he left a concerned message on the sher's answering machine hatat felt he'd better check on his friend personally I got the machine judge judge it's Pete they're looking for you in court is everything okay on his way out he asked his Junior partner Charles leir to ride with time to SLE I need some help so let's Go's Len I'll give you a call back okay yeah byebye I F if we go together the two of us as they drove leir tried to make conversation finding that the lawyers that seemed distant perhaps concerned about the judge both of the sher's cars stood in the driveway well the car's here I don't like those cars here supposed to be int hant asked leir to go to the house while he asked the neighbor if she'd seen the couple just go ahead air rang the doorbell but no no one [Music] answered he saw that the last two morning newspapers hadn't been picked up I'm a partner the neighbor told haat she hadn't seen the sherries for a couple of days which she thought was odd since both of their cars were in the driveway when leir tried the sher's door he found it unlocked something wasn't right hey Pete Pete I think that's unusual yeah I was uh just knocking on him the door open up Pat concerned by the open door cautiously stepped inside a few steps in he made the gruesome Discovery judge Sher had been gunned down in his own home hey what's wrong they called the police authorities arrived to find the body of Vincent Sherry at the front of the house in the back bedroom they discovered Margaret because the couple was so prominent the murder investigation became top priority detectives contacted the FBI's buuy field office though the FBI would not yet be officially involved they offered the use of their agents and forensic [Music] laboratory inside the police began scouring the crime scene for Clues they conducted blood spatter analysis to determine projectile angles if they could figure F out where the murderer had stood when he fired the shots they might be able to reconstruct the crime okay inspector Robert buris a crime technician with the buuy police department helped process the scene he discovered a possible clue in the den there was blood trailing from his feet actually going down between his legs a little ways uh back to where he was laying there was blood spatter on um a double sliding glass door that was right Beyond his head and F examination in this room I found some um small pieces of foam rubber burus didn't see where the foam rubber could have come from three sh cases want to get those a search of the house led him to one conclusion now this foam rubber had to have been brought into the house We examined every piece of material in this house and every room of the house all pillows mattresses everything else there's no foam rubber tore up in this house it was brought into the house it does have gunshot residue on it and basically about the only way it can get there is for a bullet to be fired through it for burus the significance of the foam rubber was obvious the killer had used a homemade silencer investigators dusted for fingerprints but found none of any value they found nine spent 22 caliber shell casings from a semi-automatic pistol as well as the bullets used to murder the sherff the position of the shells indicated that the shots had been fired in Rapid succession but most striking was how well the killer had covered his tracks nothing at the scene pointed to the Killer's identity so what do you think he did his job well and his mission was clear the lack of evidence in this house such as items stolen uh a struggle occurring the absence of forc Entry uh no rans sacking going on in the house whatsoever a person came there for one thing that was the kill the two sheres special agent Keith Bell from the buuy FBI field office agreed that this was a professional job the sheres had been assassinated the crime scene appeared to be very limited as far as evidence remaining which meant it was well planned well executed and professionally done a uh small caliber weapon had been used uh the uh foam rubber indicated that perhaps a silencer had also been used and the sheres had been shot in the head so uh it it seemed to be a very professional job a multi- agency task force was assembled with special agent Keith Bell among its members investigators would spend days processing the crime scene like they grappled with a single question why had the sher's been murdered that was one of the main questions that being why were both judge Sherry and Margaret Sherry murdered because it was fairly obvious that judge Sherry could have been killed during his morning or afternoon jogs around the neighborhood uh so it was a real mystery why Margaret had been killed investigators believe the answer might lie in the controversy over Buu's future some Civic leaders hope to transform the Sleepy southern town on Mississippi's Gulf Coast into a flashy Resort where casinos would attract tourist dollars but with strip clubs already established in town Margaret Sherry felt luy's small town charms were [Music] threatened and the casinos would attract a criminal element as a candidate for mayor she had made powerful political enemies by trying to keep gambling out agent Bell wondered if Margaret was killed to silence her protests Margaret had been so outspoken politically in the community uh she was known to be anti-gambling and uh if elected mayor in 1989 she had planned to close down the remaining strip clubs in bxi so there was always a possibility that she might have been the target rather than judge [Music] Sher the task force would investigate Margaret's political enemies but first they'd question the sher's friends and neighbors someone in the neighborhood must have seen something now now please I need to but even people who'd known the sheriff for years were reluctant to talk sir I need fearing the Spectre of bel's emerging criminal [Music] Underworld the Sher murders brought a dark cloud over the city of buxi many of the citizens in buxy were uh afraid to openly Express their opinions they saw that Margaret Sherry who had been quite vocal and quite outspoken in political circles had ended up dead as had her prominent husband judge Sherry so many citizens after these murders uh were hesitant even to be interviewed by FBI agents or by local police officers because they basically did not want their names tied into anything to do with this case if people wouldn't talk to the authorities perhaps they would talk to lince Pito the sher's daughter after being not ified of her parents' murders Lynn rushed to buuy from her home in North Carolina determined to find Justice she questioned everyone in the neighborhood one family friend gave her a crucial piece of information he described a suspicious car and driver in the neighborhood on the night of the [Music] murders she took the lead to the police they identifi a man who had seen a suspicious Ford Fairmont driving in front of the Sherry home on Monday night September 14th 1987 investigators tried to determine the identity of the driver based on the witness's description their search came up empty but a few days later not far from the sher's home investigators found an abandoned car a Ford Fairmont a check on the vehicle's identification number showed it had been reported stolen the day before the murders police also learned that the tags on the car were not registered to the car realizing that this vehicle was probably the Killer's getaway car investigators tow it to a police garage to examine it further somewhere in the car they hoped to find a key to the Killer's identity less than a week after the brutal murders of galxy couple Vince and Margaret Sherry investigators receiv received their first promising lead they recovered an abandoned car matching the one Witnesses described seeing the night of the murders after contacting agent keth Bell about the discovery investigators processed the car for Clues inspector Robert burus found something peculiar I was processing this vehicle and one of the things I noted the dome light had been dismantled and the bulb taken out of it in other words if you open the door you ain't got no light both of the sun visors were in the down position whether you're riding around daytime or night time you ain't going to be able to see the people's face in it very well investigators believed more than ever that this was the car used by the sher's killer anything found inside it was labeled packaged and shipped to the FBI labs in Washington DC but FBI lab examiners would find nothing of evidentiary value after agent Bell arrived he examined the license tag more closely he discovered it had its own story to tell it was determined that the tag on the Ford Fairmont had been stolen from an abandoned vehicle in 1984 actually 3 years before these murders occurred so what it meant was someone had removed the license plate likely in 1984 had kept the license plate and then when this major crime in the city of buxy was uh to occur they pulled it off the shelf so to speak with no other solid evidence investigators hoped that following the trail of the stolen tag might lead to the killer it was traced to an apartment complex where the original car had been abandoned 3 years earlier investigators contacted the apartment manager who told them that prior to having the vehicle towed he called a friend to come and strip for parts the manager's friend was a man that agents Knew by name and reputation beloy locksmith Lenny swatman he was the last person to be seen near the car swatman belonged to a Loosely organized group of criminals the FBI was investigating in connection with another case the group was known as the Dixie Mafia FBI agent Keith Bell had connected the car used in the Sherry killings to Lenny swatman now Belle wondered if the Dixie Mafia was linked to the Sherry [Music] murders if swatman had a part in it B believed that other Dixie mafia members couldn't be far behind he began looking into sweatman's Associates what that meant to us immediately uh those of us familiar with the criminal associations on the coast was that if Lenny sweepman was involved in getting the tag for the hit car then quite likely his close personal friend and longtime associate Mike gillich the strip club owner in bxy might also be involved in these murders I'm sorry sometimes you know how it is oh thanks be all right gillich who owned three strip clubs in buuy was well known to local law enforcement he was current under investigation by the FBI in connection with a Dixie Mafia operation known as the Lonely Heart scam see get to [Music] him but special agent Bell needed a thread that connected the two investigations together he started by familiarizing himself with a Lonely Heart scan it was run out of Angola prison in Louisiana by a man named kiry Nicks the incarcerated Kingpin of the Dixie Mafia no the first model Nicks would run ads in gay magazines asking for money to help fictional gay men get out of trouble with the law through the scan Nicks was hoping to generate enough money to solve his own legal problems he was serving a life sentence for murder from his jail Cale at Angola he coordinated what we've been referring to as the homosexual scam which generated hundreds of thousands of dollars from individuals around the country and as well as some people in Canada uh with this money he intended to buy his way out or attempt to buy his way out of his Louisiana prison sentence believing that they were helping gay men out of trouble people who read the magazine ads would wire or mail money to a near by Western Union Nicks would then call his contact on the outside Mike gillich yeah gillich would then dispatch his bagman to retrieve the money right see you L gillich made sure that the scam money was distributed to Dixie mafia members and safely stashed away for kiry Nicks take [Music] care in the coming months investigators devel more evidence in the lonely heart scan but still had no direct link between these conspirators and The sher's Killers a year into the investigation the murder case threatened a stor hi come in as the year stretched to 16 months the sher's daughter Lyn spizo grew increasingly frustrated you said on the phone that you've beening in January 19 89 she hired a private investigator to rev up the inquest into her parents murder he said he could make out the I'll give him a call and I'll be on this case this afternoon the family had wanted very much to have a quick resolution to the case but by early 1989 there' still been no arrest and of course at this point the FBI had not formally uh enter the case how you doing nice to see you thank you for the lack of official FBI involvement hampered B's investigation so when the private investigator paid him a visit Bell welcomed his assistant hoping they could share information the two were old acquaintances from the private investigators days in law enforcement since agent Bell was unable to act officially the private investigator would pursue a lead that looked promising he would interview another Angola inmate the private investigator and Bell hoped the inmate at Angola could finally link the Lonely Heart scam and the Sherry [Music] murders for 16 months he uh met with all the right people and because of his knowledge of the Dixie Mafia uh and from what he had learned from law enforcement authorities on the coast he did go over to Angola and did talk to the right person over there the inmate's name was Bobby Joe Fabian he was another known member of the Dixie Mafia doing time for kidnapping and shooting a State Trooper are you Fabian claimed he had not been involved in the Sherry murders but he had learned that fellow inmate kiry Nicks had been Fabian told the private investigator that Nix had had judge Sherry killed because Sherry had allegedly stolen money from nyx's Lonely Heart scam the gun the that wasn't all he said Nicks had been told of the theft by none other than Pete halat sher's former law partner halat the man who had delivered the eulogy at the sher's funeral was now implicated in their murders Pat officially represented Nicks on legal matters but Fabian said halat's role in The Lonely Heart scan was criminal not legal halat was one of the people receiving money from Nicks for safekeeping through Mike Gill's bagman don't forget to pick up next week at the other place and the ties between the outlaw and the lawyer went deep kiry nix's girlfriend and accomplice Laray sharp worked in halat's office where's he from Fabian said both Laray sharp and Pete halat were stashing money from the scam in a safe deposit box for kirsy Nicks and he said the amount had reached six figures thanks to Fabian the link between the murders and the Lonely Heart scam had been made and not only had Fabian given investigators a possible motive for The Killing he was also able to supply the name of the alleged Hitman an xcon named John Ransom who was believed to be living in Georgia but tracking down Ransom would take time anytime law enforcement uh people get together and start talking about notorious Dixie mafia members John Ransom comes up quite early in the conversation he's a longtime alleged Hitman for the Dixie Mafia this is the in August of 1989 2 years after the Sherry murders agent Bell now had enough evidence to Warrant a full FBI investigation into the killings accompanied by the sher's daughter ly Pito he approached the United States Attorney and the FBI with a demand to officially open the case so with the tying in of the scam to the murders we knew we had some federal violations involved we have wire fraud we had male fraud and we perhaps had a Hitman traveling from Georgia to Mississippi to kill the sheres uh it was decided to open an official FBI investigation and join with local authorities in the investigation my my calling and my Joy by now however suspect Pete halat judge Sherry's former law partner had been elected mayor of buuy with a key suspect in such a high position investigators encountered new roadblocks it became very difficult for the FBI to share all of its information with the local authorities we are not uh saying that the local police were corrupt what we are saying is that mayor halat put his own people in as director of Public Safety and as police chief so we were somewhat circumspect on what we we shared uh with local authorities during that time perioden any in August of 1989 as investigators attempted to unravel the truth about the sher's murders informant Bobby Joe Fabian made a surprise move he told his St story about the Sherry murders to the TV news Fabian hoped that by bringing attention to himself kiry Nicks would be less likely to have him killed for cooperating with authorities sorry along with the report the station broadcast a mug shot of John Ransom the alleged Hitman in the Sherry case when Charles leir pet halat's Junior Partners saw the photo it's surprised him he recalled seeing Ransom outside the Sher halat Law Offices a few weeks before the [Music] murders hello leir shared his information with the task force I'm Char um saw the TV major Randy cook of the Harrison County Sheriff's Department took leir's statement leir said the reason he remembered Ransom was Ransom stepped off of a curve and came up to him and asked him where it's vent Sherry's offic at when leir was interviewed he recalled there was something unusual about the way Ransom stepped off of the curve Ransom had a prosthesis on one [Music] leg investigators learned that Ransom was now in a Georgia prison serving time for another murder when questioned about the Sherry murders he refused to [Music] cooperate as cook further questioned leir about the day he and halat had found the bodies an important detail emerged leir remembered that halat had walked into the sher's living room seen judge Sherry's body and said Vince and Margaret are are dead cook relayed this to agent Bell what was interesting was that Margaret's body was in the far back bedroom of the residence and according to Chuck leir Pete halat did not have time other than to briefly enter the front of the house and would have no way of knowing that Margaret's body was also in the very back bedroom [Music] in October of 1989 2 years after the murders agent Bell knew halat was involved but he still lacked enough evidence for an arrest even so he felt it was time to confront mayor halat Mr it would be a quiet warning man to man and I let mayor halat know that I thought his knowledge of the Sherry murders was much greater than what he had shared with law enforcement authorities up to that point and I recall also telling him that the FBI would continue working on this case until it was totally solved uh my recollection is he smiled and did not have much else to say as a lawyer halad knew Bell would need more concrete evidence in order to secure a conviction what he likely didn't realize was that the depth of Bell's commitment to bring him to [Music] Justice 3 years had passed since Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife Margaret were murdered in their buuy Mississippi home FBI special agent Keith Bell had connected the killings to members of the Dixie Mafia and to judge Sherry's friend and one-time law partner Pete halat the alleged trigger man John Ransom was refusing to talk in January of 1990 agent Bell and major Randy cook of the Harrison County Sheriff's Department drove to the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary to question another possible accomplish this is special a man named Bill rhs rhs unnown associate of John Ransom was willing to cooperate he told them that in early 19 1987 Ransom had contacted him about driving the getaway car in a crime to take place in Southern Mississippi who else was in the car Ransom had said a judge would be murdered and that the pay was $10,000 Ransom there were certain promises made the roads that by Ransom that I know certain people in buuy that if you'll help me on this and you'll have the Run of buuy anytime you want it so in March of 1987 rhs went to buuy and met with Ransom and a man named Pete it was Pete who specifically asked rhs and Ransom to do the hit Road said he also met with Mike gillich the buuy strip club owner who would Supply the money once the hit was done but 5 months later before they could do the job rhs was arrested on an unrelated bankrupt re charge and Ransom got cold feet afraid roads would turn on him the information helped the case inch forward but agent Bell and officer cook still felt that Ransom held the missing pieces another year would pass without much progress and then get it all laid baby Anga prison in late 1990 the investigators went to the Bostic correctional institute in Georgia where Ransom was serving time finally Ransom agreed to talk he admitted that he delivered a 22 caliber pistol to Laray sharp kiry nix's girlfriend but Ransom insisted that he did not do the [Music] job based on what Ransom said Lay's involvement was starting to look bigger than simply stashing scam money in a safe deposit box I finished finished thank you through his contact with sharp Nicks learned that the investigation was heating up he worried that his girlfriend might talk so he tried to head off the problem by putting out a contract on her life FBI but in late 1990 agent Bell arrested her for her participation in the murders inadvertently saving her from nix's gunman during a polygraph test sharp denied her involvement in the Lonely Heart scam and the Sherry murders is weapon but the machine called her Bluff when Bell and his team added her statements to their existing stacks of evidence they were ready to bring indictments against several key players no Mike gillich John Ransom lay sharp and kiry nicks were charged as conspirators in the Sherry murders notably missing from the list was Pete halat okay the case against halette would have to wait until they had enough evidence for a murder conviction for now the FBI would look to convict the others on conspiracy to commit murder guess we got a game plan done yeah so many of the questions came up why didn't y'all indict Pete hoette early on when you indicted everybody else well at the time we didn't have the hard evidence that you would have to have to arrest a mayor and prosecute him the conspiracy trial produced several key witnesses that would help investigators piece together the complex scheme Mr G people Robbie Gant Gill's bagman for the Lonely Heart scam testified for the prosecution his testimony helped prosecutors link the Sher Mur to the [Music] SC all four defendants were found guilty Nix was given 15 years in addition to the life sentence he was already serving for murder gillich also received a 15-year prison term Ransom got 10 years and L Ray sharp one I P you for get your hands with these conspirators Behind Bars and the Lonely Heart scam no longer operational Bell moved on to his next objective we decided not to end the Sher investigation after the 1991 initial convictions because at that time we had not proven who had actually uh shot the sheres and also Pete halat had not been indicted or convicted at that point and we all felt strongly that Pete halad had played a ma major role in the scam and in the murder plot so we were determined to continue the investigation to see if we could get enough evidence to indict and convict Mr halad and the actual shooter in Late July of 1992 agent Bell got the break he was looking for following the conspiracy trial Mike gillich was desperate to find a way out of prison he contacted one of his associates in buuy and asked him to approach Robbie Gant with an offer we'll see you soon okay well whatever you say Gant told agent Bell about it and the associate had offered Robbie Gant $220,000 if Gant would recant his testimony against gillich and sign a FAL affidavit stating that he had been threatened by me to testify against gillich uh to testify falsely against [Music] gillich Gant agreed to wear a wire and get the offer from gillet's accomplice on [Music] tape Gant met with him in Mississippi this time gant's tape was rolling when Gill's associate reiterated the bribe Gant accepted as Bel had instructed [Music] Grand now B had the evidence he needed to turn up the heat on gillich just the man who could tell the story from the inside [Music] by 1993 6 years after the double murder of Vince and Margaret Sherry FBI agent Keith Bell had put four members of the Dixie Mafia behind bars but he still had no formal murder convictions against those involved and mayor Pete halat the suspected Mastermind of the case was still free and running the city of beloy in fact the year before mayor halat had broken ground on the city's first big casino to victory for our town and our [Music] people the Press still hounded halad about his involvement in the Sherry murders but he remained adamant about his innocence Bell continued to work his plan he used the bribe Robert Gant had recorded on tape to level another charge against Mike gillich already in jail what you do it now Bell indicted Gill for witness bribery and witness tampering for trying to buy off Gant and that did the trick I do something no doubt the most important uh turning point was in October of 1993 when Mike gillich finally decided to cooperate and tell the story of this whole C case from an Insider's point of view and that's what really uh allowed us to bring final resolution to this investigation after the years of painstaking work Bel had spent on the case it was a satisfying moment finally it seemed his patience and Ingenuity were paying off gillich was in no hurry to acrew more jail time Bill's Relentless pressure had persuad waited him to cut a deal before the bribery trial even began the Dixie Mafia member would tell what he knew about the murderers Mr Gill maybe now bill could get the convictions he knew were long overdue gillich but for a career criminal like Mike gillich adjusting to life on the right side of the law wasn't easy at first he tried to Bluff his way [Music] out of course it always takes some time a period of weeks to develop some degree of uh trust and to be able to uh communicate with someone like this who for the first time has decided to leave his lifelong role as a criminal and start cooperating with the FBI when deception didn't work gillich had no alternative he had to tell the truth now for the first time B heard the story from an inside source gillit knew all the details Mike was a Center Point Mike knew kiry Nicks Mike knew Pete halette for years and in fact when kiry Nicks was looking for an attorney over on the coast area to represent him on various matters Mike gillich introduced Nicks into Pete halad he confirmed that Pete halat was indeed behind the plan to murder the sheres and that the plot grew directly out of the Lonely Heart scam of Angola Prison inmate kiry Nicks some months before the sher's deaths halad had closed the safe deposit box he and nyx's girlfriend Laray sharp had access to effectively cut off her access to the money he then transferred the money into a box only he and judge Sher could use motivated by greed he stole $100,000 cash from there as nix's trusted accomplice Pat could blame the theft on Judge Sher next he went to Mike gillich with news of the theft Mr gillich stated that Pete halad approached Mr gillich himself in late 1986 and told Mr gillich that much of the money was missing supposedly around $100,000 and Mr Alat blamed judge Sherry for taking the money uh mrat knew that kiry Nicks would be very Furious about this [Music] all right I can already started dead I ought to kill on this man I'll take care of him dead it is not known who ordered Margaret's death but as a fierce opponent of corruption she posed a threat to the underworld forces hoping to control buuy with Margaret dead halette could be free to run the town I got gillet said that he and halette planned the murders Ransom and rhs provided the murder weapon but when they passed on doing the hit gillich found a replacement a Texas based Petty criminal named Thomas holcom hope he knows what he's doing you's got so too hope know hul would be paid $220,000 to murder judge Sher and his wife gillich had also helped provide the car with the help of locksmith Linny swatman [Music] [Music] away from me I didn't do [Music] anything in October of 1996 agents arrested Hitman Thomas Hulk in Texas on murder charges that same month also saw the arrest that agent Bell had anticipated and worked nine years to achieve an innocent man and you're going to put the Cs on me let me read you your rights the arrest of Pete halat for the murders of the sheries you can anything you say can will be [Music] helped kiry Nick and Laray sharp were indicted on 52 counts including fraud money laundering and [Music] murder alette was tried and convicted in the summer of 1997 a full decade after the crimes were committed he was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison also tried and convicted were kiry Nicks and Thomas Hulk The Hitman both were sentenced to life Laray sharp nix's girlfriend got five years I think a lot of citizens in bxy now realize that there are a lot of dedicated professional law enforcement people who will do everything they can to uh protect the community and work hard to solve Major Crimes uh perhaps the uh Legacy you might say of the case for the criminal element is that they realize after seeing this case that they can commit a crime one day and think they're getting away with it a year later but it could come back uh 10 years later and get them while the Sherry's killers were finally brought to Justice Margaret Sherry's dream of a buuy free of gambling was never realized instead baluy has become a resort Town filled with casinos and neon lights [Music] the Sleepy southern town is gone forever along with the woman who lost her life trying to save [Music] it organized crime tore through the suburbs of Chicago leaving violence and corruption in its prominent officials were seduced by greed and power doing whatever was necessary to protect their interests bu everyone was on the T FBI SE fall on the FBI to weed out the corruption and to find the killer of an innocent woman [Applause] [Music] Willow Springs Illinois seemed like any other quiet Midwestern Community but it was really one of the most corrupt places in the nation this tiny village nestled just outside of Chicago was in The Hip Pocket of organized crime I'm Jim cstom former head of the FBI's New York office it was only a matter of time before corruption led to assassination and conspiracy to end it required a federal sting operation of astounding complexity the bank of a sanitary canal in a remote Industrial Area became the sight of a gruesome crime the killers were quick and third nearby two police officers were out on night Patrol when they heard the shots fir they became alarmed one of the officers drove towards the canal to investigate he found nothing as he searched the desolate area hey chief on the scene was Willow Springs Illinois police chief Michael I heard it earlier myself and I've already checked the area so he too I got a cover the following day a prominent local attorney called police to report that his wife was [Music] missing Mr Master we'd like to ask a few questions about your wife Lieutenant Howard Van the Cook County Sheriff's department and his partner responded to the call attorney Alan Masters said that his wife Diane had been out the night before with colleagues and friends from a local College where she worked after the meeting some of the board members would go to a bar she never came home there was no sign of her yellow c meeting usually start I believe it he said he made calls trying to locate her until 2 in the morning but finally gave up for the officers the information offered little insight excuse me a [Music] minute asking questions about Lieutenant James keing of the Cook County Sheriff's Department joined the officers sit down sir we were just asking Master's questions about his wife's disapp he asked Masters if he could have a look around the house happy to Sure Master agreed he had nothing to hide the officers continued their questioning anything else you can tell us as far as I as reluctantly Masters offered some new information somebody somebody works for the college he suspected that his wife Diane had been having an affair no idea maybe the two lovers had run off off together I don't know who he is or what he looks like I just have my suspicions excuse me guys I think we need to wrap this up Lieutenant vanck wanted to investigate further and look around the house himself sir I think we need to take another look around in here husbands are always suspects when their wives disaar there's nothing sir we need to look around it's time to go something's missing let's go now but Lieutenant keting intervened he would is two investigators always check out the scene in his mind everything is checked out let's go now vanck was upset he didn't know why keing would undermine his investigation outside keing confronted Lieutenant van telling him to back off NOA of as far as he was concerned Masters was not a suspect but vanik didn't buy it and he let keing know do you it's my case just as the two men were about to explode Willow Spring police chief Michael Corbett arrived at the scene come on easy come on guys supp be on the same side come on man Kon would have the final word vny you're off the case forget it you're off the case man you got that the question still remained where was Diane Masters her disappearance grabb the media's attention and Diane if you would please come she had been very active in the local community Diane had worked hard to help open a shelter for battered women she was also involved in local politics and sat on the board of the morine Valley Community College present Diane with his plaque to show she did not appear to have any enemies the hard work in her dedication and opening this crisis center something that is needed desperately in this community but investigators began covering other [Applause] details it was reported by Diane's friends that her husband was controlling and abuses Happ sooner or later and that Diane was planning to file for divorce you know you knew assistant us attorney Tom scorza followed the case we were pretty certain that what had happened here was that Diane and Allen in a regular had a regular marital dispute sort of ordinary dispute but that it had escalated uh into something much worse go ahead and send him in scor's investigation soon revealed that Allan Masters was more than just a bad husband hey how you doing it was rumored that Allan Masters had bribed local officials and police officers to secure favorable outcomes for his clients how it go very well very well nothing to worry about this corruption extended right to the top of law enforcement allegedly Masters frequently Enlisted the help of Chief Corb I don't hear about this anym it [Music] be it was also rumored that Masters in Chief Corp were involved in safeguarding some of the Chicago mobs beding and prostitution Rings which were run out of show clubs throughout Suburban Cook [Music] County but investigators were focused only on Diane's disappearance with no no evidence and few leads that investigation sto unaware of Alan Masters or his wife's disappearance the FBI had already begun an independent investigation into the mob controlled rackets of the Chicago area how are us attorney David stetler worked with the FBI to help unravel the prostitution operation okay thanks at that time there were a number of topless bottomless joints that one could go to and many of them were undercover fronts for prostitution so you could go in uh you could watch the naked girls dancing on the stage and for a price you could Retreat to the back either to a booth or a back room and engage in one form of sexual activity or another with the dancers the club Owners knew that their customers would spend more on drinks and prostitutes if they could use their credit cards to see the patrons were reluctant they did not want bills arriving at their homes or businesses with charges incurred from nightclubs with CD names the club Owners found credit card transaction companies that were willing to process the charges using false but respectable business names special agent Ivan Harris of the FBI's Chicago Field office was assigned to help bring down the illegal businesses the scam uh was using various companies in order to launder credit cards uh through their business to make it appear that businessmen were actually uh eating at a restaurant or using Limousine Service uh to incur the charges when in fact uh there were charges for prostitution Larry Wright was one of the credit card transaction company owners Wright would pick up the week's transactions from the clubs and process them through his company National Credit Service or NCS one of his clients was a club owner named Joseph Maron whose Club was a front for a mob controlled prostitution house Wright wanted to expand his own operations [Music] he approached Marin about setting up an illegal betting Club she's not had a chance to really interview Marin was willing to help out the man who made him money right would first need to pay protection money to local police in order not to be exposed and arrested you you feel pretty confident Marin was the man who could arrange that protection more than willing to pay he's a really good guy Marin arranged the meeting at the Willow Springs Police Department I trust him completely it was to take place with police chief Michael [Music] Corbett it was believed that Corbett had been handpicked by the Chicago mob boss to oversee and protect their interests in and around Willow Springs the worri on the street of course was that no one could do anything in will Springs without the permission of the chief of police Mike Corbett the message also was from virtually anyone you would talk to that he was so powerful that he was so well connected that nothing could ever be done about him I just want to make sure I don't get any unexpected bus Corbett agreed to help Larry Wright set up the new betting operation for a price not quite yet in return Corbett assured him he wouldn't get any heat from his off all right Larry Wright was well on his [Music] way he returned to his office at National Credit Service operated out of a nondescript Office Park location Wright worked with two other staff members went great but these were not ordinary [Music] employees NCS was not just a credit card transaction service for illegal activities it was a front for the [Music] FBI Larry Wright was actually undercover special agent Larry [Music] Damron and he and the FBI were using NCS to work their way into the heart of the corruption in Willow [Music] Springs one problem while local investigators struggle to unravel The Disappearance of a prominent attorney's wife the FBI had set up an undercover operation in the town of Willow Springs just outside of Chicago their target organized crime and the corrupt police who protected them from prosecution the undercover work was often painstaking and frustrating FBI special agent Larry Damron explains the difficulties inherent in undercover work during the course of the undercover operation you try to immerse yourself in what you're doing and you and you try to assume that role because it's necessary for you to do that in order to uh accomplish anything often times you'll hear people make comments or you'll see people do things that uh in any other circumstance they would be arrested for immediately and so what you have to remember is you're in a role and you play that role out Dam had heard stories about how the mob resolve problems getting in the TR I'm not getting in the they were Swift and violent and their signature was unmistakable EXC two bullets in the head there was no room for mistakes Victor spilatro a player in Chicago's organized crime approached Damron at NCA Victor himself wielded little power his brothers held tremendous influence within the mob's hierarchy Damron was starting to move into the center of the violent Chicago Underworld the spos were one of the best known names uh of mobsters in Chicago the uh older brother uh Tony was the boss in Las Vegas he represented the Chicago outfit uh for the their interest in Las Vegas um had been a prominent figure and had been widely um uh mentioned in the paper as having been involved in murders and extortions and things like that agent Damron quickly developed a reputation as an effective businessman and laundering money for Mob operations well we got everything back here you need you come come on back sure everything's all right spilatro knew of NC's activities with the local nightclubs they were under his control really appreciate what you're doing good everything's going good with the business yes it's going great that's great he told Damron he would have to pay him a cut to stay in business I'm glad you appreciate what we do for you okay well that's really good Damron had no objection this is really really well the level that we had there is we were paying protection to a fairly important um aspect of the mob the spilatro family and so that gave us a little bit of uh status if you will but we had absolutely no Authority or anything like that in the mob we were just workers and our value was we made them money agent Damron traveled to a remote hotel where he met with FBI special agent Gordon Brooks who oversaw the undercover operation to ensure the damron's real identity was not compromised the two met infrequently to exchange information that's some great Brooks vigilantly kept tabs on Damron the investigation was as dangerous as it was complex not to worry about things the agent cautiously moved forward he wanted to continue expanding the FBI's undercover operations going on he used every opportunity he could to sell the idea of opening more Bing and prostitution houses throughout suburban Chicago was all right even with a go-ahead from spilatro Damron would still need permission and protection from the police a little trou the future the future he met with nightclub owner Joseph Mar to hash out the details of the new clubs and secure police protection how you doing but there was a problem look look I got some upsetting news what's up their protector Chief Corp been REM by the Willow Spring City Council Under Suspicion of corruption Marin knew another high-ranking law enforcement official who could provide the same protection as Corbett Lieutenant James keting Cook County's vice squad supervisor tell you what now he deals with me US attorney Tom scorza was not surprised by the development King's reputation was well known you you feel pretty confident about this guy Jim keading was a lieutenant in the Cook County Sheriff's Police Department but if anything the rank understated his influence he was a very well-connected officer in a very corrupt Department uh he had connections with people of higher rank who were also corrupt so he was a key figure with Corbett out of the picture the FBI shifted their focus to keing tell I really appreciate Damron met with him at a restaurant outside of Willow Springs allows me to really concentrate on my job heting said he'd have no problem helping Damron expand his operations some good people working with one thing we need to understand is if there's a situation that comes up but any move Damron made would have to be approved by him make decision when something go down he warned Damron to play it straight with him and his people don't have any problem with me or my people he told us that the one thing that he wouldn't tolerate was if someone double crossed him and he said if if that happened that we' they'd find us with our legs on one of the streets in the area and our head on another Street in area as instructed by the FBI Damron proposed another operation a club that would be a front for prostitution to hold on to this he gave the lieutenant the first of many payments to ensure police protection looks like a bonus for the guys before he left keing said he knew someone who might be able to help him ring are a lawyer named Alan Master hold on this and I really app though he had no direct dealings with Alan Masters Damron had heard the name mentioned by Chief corpit well I knew that Masters was a well-known attorney on the south side of Chicago that he had a tremendous reputation for being able to get things done particularly in the in the local court system and the U the Scuttle butt was that that he wasn't reluctant to pay bribes or to deal with people however he needed to Damron continued his meetings with his case supervisor special agent Gordon Brooks Damron needed to know everything he could about Alan Masters and his relationship with keing and Corbett now you're in with Corb dirty the FBI and US attorneys quickly established a hierarchy within this ring of corruption okay you're making your way up to keing right I want you to Corbett was the king in will of Springs but anytime he had to do something that involved the broader Cook County he needed to get the permission of keading and keing always had to with the ultimate fixer Alan Masters to make sure everything could be handled at the court level can maybe get Masters interested as the extent of Alan Master's criminal activity became clearer the FBI began looking closer at his possible role in his wife's disappearance the two distinct cases were beginning to overlap and damron's objectives were broadening authorities going through counties he was a suspect in The Disappearance of his wife uh he was thought that if we could develop a relationship ship with him there might be something there uh that would come come to light and uh and might be of some benefit to that investigation that's our our little girl Damron learned that Allan Masters allegedly made payoffs to several area judges in exchange for favorable decisions now we need to have that hearing on the Sanderson case needs to go our way we have an understanding on that judge agents speculated that Diane might have witnessed her husband's illegal activity and threatened to expose him think we can come terms to with that right this way sir now trying to elicit information about Diane's disappearance Damron continued his efforts to make inroads into the corruption around Willow Springs he met with keing several weeks later to follow up on his plan to open a show club a good manager lined up I've got a again mentioned that his friend take care of that he's a real fixer Damron took the opportunity to bring up Alan's wife heting said little last but then added an unusual comment the same plan we had with the other one probably heard we talked uh about Master's wife uh turning up missing and keing said well she turned up missing like the day before the divorce was going to be filed that was convenient wasn't it it was convenient and chuckle about what a what a good circumstance that was Damron was cautious not to probe too far fearing that keting might grow suspicious you've known this fell for a long time know for while I've worked with him before sure he can do as the meeting ended keing handed over Alan master's phone number saying the lawyer was expecting his won be implicated just need to make lined up I'm going with the same he proceeded to set up the meeting with Alan Masters hello Mr Ms how are you this is Larry Wright speaking the attorney agreed to help push through all the necessary permits and legal documents which meant bribing officials and securing protection yeah we've been working uh pretty hard on it for a while now well some I think be suggested they get together talking about uh the meeting was set for the following week Monday December 13th okay I I'll look forward to meeting you then I think we can maybe do some business okay thanks bye before the meeting would take place however a police officer on routine Patrol near the sanitary Canal area in Willow Springs noticed something unusual tire tracks led directly into the canal he immediately called for assistance little did he know that the lid was about to come off the underworld World in Willow Springs find these trucks out here in Mar while the FBI continued their undercover operation in the Chicago suburb of Willow Springs an officer out on routine patrol made an alarming Discovery tire tracks leading directly into the sanitary canalri police officers and a dive team responded to the site overseeing the investigation was James Ross an honest cop appointed by city council to replace Michael Corbett as the police chief in Willow Springs though Corbett had been ousted from the Department his legacy of corruption [Music] remained below the surface divers found a virtual underwater parking lot 82 cars lined the bottom of the polluted canal us attorney Tom scorza believed he knew why the cars were there and who could make a profit by allowing them to be dumped without a police [Music] investigation those are known as uh Insurance give UPS people who want to collect money on their car when the car is not worth very much anymore will find a way of uh losing the car and then reporting it stolen and collect the insurance my belief was that Corbett had been the approver of all of The Dumping of the cars in the W Springs Canal By Night Time a third car had been dredged up a yellow Cadillac the license plate on the vehicle DGM 19 was well known in Willow Springs it was the tag registered to Diane Masters Lieutenant Keon the Cook County Sheriff's Department arrived at the scene Chief Ross was surprised that keing a Vice Cop had been notified he asked keing why he was there keing had no response officers continued examining the cabin when they cried open the trunk they discovered a decomposed [Music] immediately ordered that the car and the body be taken back to a City Garage where they could be thoroughly examined for Clues the decision not to use the police garage was well reasoned Chief Ross knew this case potentially had far-reaching implications and he couldn't trust his own officers the fewer people nosing around the better [Music] State Police began to scour the car in the body for evidence they found 22 caliber shell casings in the [Music] trunk the keys were still in the [Music] ignition eerily the watch on the deceased body and the dashboard clock had stopped at exactly the the same time 150 they removed the body for further forensic investigation the forensic team examining the body found the skull had been crushed they also discovered two Bullet Hole entries in the left cheekbone the bullet fragments inside the skull were removed and sent off to the FBI lab for ballistic evaluation [Music] dental records confirmed what everyone believed the body found in the trunk was Diane [Music] Masters the 9-month investigation into Diane's disappearance was now a homicide investigation come on here Chief Ross called in Cook County detective John re to work the homicide he was to team up with the FBI who was now taking over the murder investigation detective Reed was not to trust even his closest friends in the department he was told that through the FBI undercover operation run out of NCS Law Enforcement Officers were being investigated for corruption the only man in the department and some had ties to alen Masters who is now a firm suspect in Diane's murder those all right we were just talking about the as agent Harris and detective Reed initiated their murder investigation agent D continued his undercover uh today to set up a time and place for our meeting he called alen Masters to confirm their meeting to set up the show club I'm jammed I expect to be in court all day tomorrow I'm sorry M was evasive and seemed distracted too that's okay with you maybe we can maybe we can work something out then just yeah give me some time he canceled the meeting okay thanks Mr Damron immediately called keing with the conversation being recorded by the FBI he hoped keing would explain why Masters was being invasive no I was wondering if you had any information on that as I said he's uh pretty bus bus he uh how about if you give me a call in 3 or 4 weeks but ke was cryptic maybe we work something out then he instructed Damron not to bother Masters he had too many problems to deal with okay fine all [Music] right the new show club would have to [Music] wait what do you got for me here here the transs Damron met with agent Brooks Masters and keing both appeared nervous since Diane's body had been discovered but that was hardly enough evidence to prosecute either of them for murder really perhaps Damron had overlooked something he handed over his tape recorded conversations with keing this is going to nail him we're going to get him can you play that again please M over the next several months the US attorney's office the Cook County Sheriff's department and the FBI began the process of merging the various investigations all right well between theming Cook County Lieutenant James keing and for Willow Springs police chief Michael cor if that's the case and if we can put if we it would fall on prosecutors to begin constructing a case proving that the three men and all of their activities represented an ongoing organized criminal Enterprise we can get the RICO prosecution happening that's and what we had to do in order to prosecute Masters and Corbett and keing for a collection of their activities including the homicide we had to show that they made up a criminal organization a mini Mafia appreciate you meeting with us tonight Mrs cap staff um well if you guys don't detective Reed an agent Harris's First Step was to question Diane's friends who had been with her on the night she disappeared you said that you uh followed her home that night one of Diane's colleagues Genevie cap staff had actually followed Diane home that evening after a board meeting and so I just wanted to see so I followed her cap staff claimed everyone on the Marine Community College Board who worked with Diane suspected that she was having an affair with an economics professor she admitted that she wanted to see if the two were going to rendevu she followed Diane to her street when Diane turned to go home cap staff continued [Music] on is there anything else that you can tell further questioning revealed that all of the community college board members including Diane were given a $100,000 life insurance policy as part of their employment benefits $100,000 right right but that only covers the policy specifically stated that proceeds would be paid if a board member died while traveling to and from board meeting the policy was void when the board member entered their home that's all but app Alan Masters claimed Diane never arrived home that night he was therefore eligible to collect the insurance money several months before Diane's body was discovered in the trunk of her car Masters filed a claim with the insurance [Applause] company after filling out all the paperwork he sent it off though Diane's fate at that time was unclear Masters had a judge declare her legally dead as a result he was about to receive [Music] $100,000 Alan Masters was fast becoming the FBI's prime suspect in the murder of his wife Diane shortly after her body was discovered investigators learned that he had filed a claim with his wife's insurance company within a few months two checks appeared in the amount of $50,000 each if federal agents and prosecutors could prove Masters was responsible for his wife's death and that he profited from it it would be one more element that showed that he and his accomplices were involved in an ongoing criminal Enterprise homicide in a federal racketeering case carries much more jail time than a state charge as the investigation began to take on a clearer Focus FBI agents working the undercover case received bad news listen we're going to have to move rather quickly on the Washington Post had gotten word of the operation listen we're having a bit of a problem we got we're almost at the point where we can really make some impact the post gave the FBI 3 weeks to wrap it up before running the story we have have to be closed is that right yeah something like that agents had no choice but to quickly bring their undercover operations to a close here so please do me a favor for us attorney David Stettler the timing couldn't have been better all right once the project had run its course and the bulk of the information anybody was ever going to get had been retrieved and to make the operation go on go on longer would have resulted in additional evidence but it also would have resulted in the evidence that had been gathered become more and more stale we need agents had meticulously pieced together the web of corruption that extended to the nightclubs under mob control now it was time to shut them [Music] down go FBI open the door open the door the FBI hit all of the clubs on the same with massive Force several hundred officers and agents raided over a dozen clubs throughout cook count including those in will Springs stay right here go on right here tight hands behind your back inside the clubs federal agents were able to collect volumes of incriminating evidence [Music] 55 people were indicted including club owner Joseph Marin Tony spilatro and his brother Victor they were prosecuted in both the state and federal courts for extortion prostitution bribery and racketeering several deputies from the Cook County Sheriff's department and officers from the Willow Springs Police Department were also indicted and convicted for protecting these businesses you Mo a little faster after 3 years of undercover work the sting operation was now officially closed name for undercover special agent Larry Damron it was finally time to leave the role of Larry Wright I would say the Finish was Elation and disappointment at the same time disappointment that there were so many opportunities out there to to identify other criminal activity we knew that uh that it was a good job that we had gathered tremendous amounts of evidence and that we had a a real insight into uh some of the criminal activity that was taking place that we hadn't had before Alan Master local authorities the FBI and prosecutors could now Focus exclusively on the Dian Master murder investigation she said he hit her they continued questioning her friends and Associates including the man with whom she was allegedly having an affair there were other things that Happ economics professor Jim Celia he was he was not he was not uh he confirmed that he and Diane had a relationship he also claimed that Masters had abused Diane physically mentally and emotionally time when we were at one of our she lived in fear of her husband couple glasses of wine together and Dian and I di had told him she planned to file for divorce those gelc also had reason to fear Alan Masters one night Celiac and Diane had met for drinks at a local bar he recalled that Diane called home to check on her daughter instead of getting the babysitter on the phone Alan unexpectedly answered Alan he suspected she was with with her lover um I didn't know you were he was and began to th I was call to check on Andre he vowed to destroy [Music] her what's wrong Celiac said Diane returned from the phone call and was very [Music] upset he went to the bar for more drinks there a man suddenly confronted him and began firing off a series of questions oh yes I did the man never identified himself 10 12 years what's your name he asked Celiac's name where he worked CNC ciac though the man said little else Celiac felt he had just received a threat stay away from Diane [Music] andak would later recognize the man as Lieutenant James keing he didn't tell he said that on the night of Diane's disappearance she had called him and warned him not to meet her for drinks so this was an unusual move on her part they usually got together after her college board meetings up with what was the tone of voice lately she had been troubled by Alan's behavior that they were go on to another restaurant ciac took her advice and canel their plan always met at the same place he never saw Diane again meeting always as a matter of fact they're on the way now agent Harrison detective Reed continued to develop Witnesses hey come by they discovered that Masters had hired a private investigator to keep T from died that his wife Dian we subsequently developed a cooperating individual named Ted nakaza who was a private investigator with Allan Masters Masters had requested Ted nakaza to place a bug on his home telephone number because he suspected his wife Diane was having an affair I got a few tapes hey what do you guys got for me myaza told investigators the bug was successful and exposing Dian and Celiac's Affair good news Ted ner played back a telephone conversation caption on tape where Diane was talking in highly sexual way with the boyfriend Jim Celiac um according to Nika after playing the tape Allan Masters declared his intention to kill Diane and to get keing to make it look like an accident Allan Masters wanted his wife murdered and he had the resources to get away with [Music] it we got to stay cool the FBI and local authorities contined to uncover evidence against Alan Masters and his associates that pointed towards a conspiracy to murder Allen's wife Diane through a private investigator hired by Alan Masters Diane's Affair had been exposed his wife was Che Allen's rage was out of control yes but investigators had no hard evidence to charge him with murder how he was going to do this after an exhaustive 5year investigation that was about to change Ed to have Diane killed they uncovered a Cook County Sheriff's deputy who was willing to talk anent Harris Deputy Jack Bachman had startling information ke brought me into bman had been too afraid of the consequences of coming forward on his own he say any more he claimed that he had been approached to kill Diane the offer had come through Lieutenant James ke Bachman had a series of conversations with keading and ultimately keading asked Bachman if Bachman would be interested in the job of actually stalking and killing Diane Masters really Bachman said keing offered him $25,000 to carry out the hit and uh Michael Corbett the chief of police had already agreed to dispose of the body trustworthy and over brings help buman declined the offer no sir I'm sorry I can't get involved in anything like that no no sir through keing Masters had clearly solicited about this this meeting we just had in [Music] uh well no but he did offer me this was one of the final pieces prosecutor scorza needed to bring an indictment he said he wanted to eliminate her I said what do you mean by what we were able to show is that when Alan messes decided to kill his wife he simply was able to turn to the two police officers that he'd already been working with on corrupt activities and criminal activities and that made the homicide and the planning of it and the solicitation of it it made it an activity of the criminal Enterprise any additional details the pieces had finally come together and Diane investigators put together a likely scenario of Diane Masters murder said she she heard something Alan Masters had found a Hitman to kill Diane and her boyfriend when they met for the usual drinks after her college board meeting however Diane didn't meet with Celiac that evening you're home late tonight the meeting ran [Music] late Furious Masters took matters into his own hands Alan masses was at home babysitting there young daughter he was setting up his alide by making longdistance calls all night to prove that he was home he never expected his wife to walk in the door she did she began the process of getting undressed and he hit her with a blunt instrument two blows to the Head Masters then called Chief Corbett who came with an unknown accomplice to dispose of the body they dumped Diane's body in the trunk of her Cadillac Corbett then drove away with the accomplice following him Masters remained at home with his daughter they drove to the remote sanitary [Music] Canal Diane's watch was reset to throw investigators off the trail should her body ever be found finish they then fired Two Shots into her head they wanted it to look like a mob hit they also reset the dashboard clock to 150 Alan Masters made sure that he was on the phone at the time to corroborate his Alibi Corbett and the accomplice dumped the Cadillac into the canal in June of 1988 6 years after Diane's murder investigators brought charges against the three conspirators I know my right former police chief Michael Corbett was the first arrested on federal charges of racketeering bribery and conspiracy to solicit and cover up the murder of Diane Masters special agent Ivan Harris tried to elicit a confession Mike Corbett subsequently confessed that he was in fact the person that had put uh Diane Master's car in the canal uh he disavowed any knowledge knowing that she was in the trunk of the car at that time Cook County Lieutenant James Keon is arrested next on the same federal charges he too denied involvement in Diane's M you have FBI and finally Alan Masters in addition to racketeering and bribery the indictment against Alan Masters charged that he planned solicited and aided and abetted the murder of his wife or any question if you wish one prosecutors would not have enough hard evidence to charge any of the conspirators with the actual murder of Diane prosecutor Tom scorza was able to successfully tie all of their criminal activities together for the jury Masters was convicted on all counts collecting the $100,000 insurance money after having his wife murdered also made him guilty of male fraud he received a total of 40 years effectively to the end of his life former Chief Michael Corbett received 20 years James keing was convicted and sentenced to over 30 years the M case was special in my experience because there was no one single piece of evidence proving guilt what there were were a thousand little pieces that made a mosaic that was made the case intriguing it made it very difficult to present it made it a challenge to present to the jury but it made a terrific story because in the end the jury could see how one little plate piece from over here and one little piece from over there made a picture and the picture was a plot among three fellows who had been involved in a lot of criminal activity to do their ultimate criminal act murder Diane Masters watch [Music] yourself the undercover of investigation that agent Damron oversaw and the work of several other FBI agents exposed to deeply rooted corruption throughout Cook County and brought it to its ultimate Demise by weeding out these pockets of corruption the people living in the suburbs of Chicago no longer have to live with the lawlessness that threaten to destroy the community [Music]