CSI: NY

Thank you. Merry Christmas.

So you had to pick the biggest one, huh?

It's a Taylor family tradition.

Every Christmas we visit all the tree lots

looking for that one.

And then the day after New Year's,

when everybody puts their trees out by the curb,

my dad would drive us around the neighborhood

to see if we could find a bigger one than ours.

And? 17 Taylor Christmases,

never once did we find a tree that beat us.

Oh, you must be very proud.

You know, we can rest here, if we're getting tired.

Oh, this is nothing.

When I was in college,

I used to haul my tree up ten flights of steps

all the way to my apartment

in the Bronx. Uphill both ways,

in the snow, with no shoes...

As a matter of fact, yes.

Whoa, you weren't kidding when you said it was going to be big.

Oh, that's all Mac's idea.

Yeah, well, nothing's too big for a child

who's had a parent killed in the line of duty.

So what's the latest on Santa and the elves?

Oh, well, it's all set, ready to go.

You guys are the best.

Can I buy you a cup of coffee?

Actually, we gotta run.

We're working the day tour in the morning.

Back in at 6:00. Well, then...

Merry Christmas.

Thank you so much.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas. See you soon? Yeah.

Okay, bye, guys. Bye.

That felt really good.

Yeah, it did.

You know, there is nothing like Christmas in New York City.

He's not exactly dressed for the weather.

Looks like somebody tried to help him stay warm

with a few third-degree burns.

Witnesses heard what they thought were gunshots.

They look into the alley and see our boy here on fire.

Shots turned out to be the sound

of these paint cans exploding.

Looks like he was beaten.

There's nothing on him.

Not even loose change.

I'm thinking our vic's wallet

and jewelry were on someone's Christmas list.

Along with his life.

* Out here in the fields *

* I fight for my meals *

* I get my back into my living *

* Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. *

This is some sort of oil or lubricant.

Internal damage to the airway.

His lungs were filled with blood when he died.

Must have been a serious punch

to break these lenses like this.

Ooh.

And break these ribs.

This guy suffered severe blunt-force trauma.

Thinking some type of weapon like a pipe or a bat.

It's hard to believe the glasses weren't knocked off

with a blow like that.

Turpentine and mineral oil--

the perfect storm of accelerant and fuel.

But it doesn't explain the burns on our vic's body.

And I'm getting a significant reading

of 800 parts per million for gasoline,

and it's all over his body.

This is interesting.

Looks like this cigarette started the fire.

So our perp, uh, beats and robs this guy,

then lights him on fire and takes off.

That's a killer without a conscience.

And probably a long criminal history.

Let's hope this cigarette butt is in the giving spirit.

No!

What are we talking about?

We're talking about that guy you torched in an alley

off of 74th and Amsterdam.

I wasn't in no alley and I didn't torch nobody, man.

Your DNA was on a cigarette butt that ignited the fire.

I ain't capable of that kind of violence.

Robbery.

Burglary. Assault.

You got a résumé

for that kind of violence.

This is a step up for you.

Take a look.

Look, man,

I don't know nothing about that.

That's not going to cut it.

What were you doing there?

Look, you want to spend your Christmas

in a six-by-four cell?

Then start talking.

Okay.

I was over there doing a stickup.

Some fat dude dressed up

like Santa Claus and another guy playing the sax.

That's it. So you were jacking Santa Claus?

Thank you so much.

Thank you. Merry Christmas.

I would have heard about that.

There were no robberies reported over there last night.

They ain't the kind to report it, man.

Neither one of these dudes is legit.

Merry Christmas. Thank you so much.

Don't even try it, punk.

So you were stealing stolen money.

They were out there scamming Christmas shoppers, man.

Thank you. Merry Christmas.

Thank you. Merry Christmas.

I'm about to make my move

when this car comes out of the alley and runs over my foot.

Ho, ho, ho!

I heard some gunplay coming from the alley.

That's why I split out of there.

Well, did you get a look at the person

who was behind the wheel of that car?

No, man. It happened too fast.

Ooh, so, some mysterious car comes out of an alley,

runs over your foot,

and you go ahead and finish the robbery anyway?

Nothing got broke.

Gee, a criminal with perseverance.

I love that.

Yeah, well, I got a girl

and she's got a big Christmas list,

and there was a lot of loot in that bucket, so...

Were you wearing those shoes

last night?

Yeah. Why?

Oh, man, come on.

These are my favorite shoes.

I got the autopsy report.

Our vic is James Manning.

Sid printed him, ran his ten card.

Couple of arrests for drug possession.

Nothing in the last few years.

Only next of kin is a fiancée.

She's coming in

to make a positive I.D. on the body.

Take a look at this.

X-ray confirmed broken ribs.

No human being

is strong enough to inflict this kind of damage.

Agreed. CT scan shows

severe trauma to both sides of the thoracic cage.

Those ribs were shattered.

And one of them ruptured the right ventricle of the heart

and punctured the right lung.

And check out the humerus bones:

both are crushed

in the same place.

So, he's lying supine with his arms at his side.

To be on his back like that

he was either unconscious or incapacitated.

Mm-hmm. Tox screen confirms that.

That's a serious dose of heroin in his system.

Definitely enough to knock him out.

Mm-hmm.

And here's something else we found.

Track marks on his arm and a scar on his hand.

The unusual thing

is this, though.

Track marks are well healed.

Probably years old.

And... there's only one fresh injection point--

The thigh.

Mm-hmm. Not a great place to find a vein

close to the surface of the skin.

An experienced addict would know that.

Subdermal bruising with a distinct linear pattern.

And just like the burns on the chest,

they were inflicted right where you found him.

At the scene.

These are crash injuries.

The lubricant on the glasses,

the trail of gasoline to the body.

James Manning was run over by a car.

The fire caused by a broken fuel line.

There was no tearing of the skin,

no evidence of dragging.

There's nothing to suggest that the car was going

more than five miles per hour.

Right.

So whoever ran him over

did it slowly and deliberately.

That car is our murder weapon.

That's the victim, but who's the other guy?

They're both James Manning.

The moment I saw him,