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911. What is your emergency?

We've been attacked... stabbed.

Sir, stay calm.What's the address?

We need an ambulance now!

Sir, take a deep breath and tell me your address.

Um, 3756 Wilcom Road.

My wife... Sarah...

There's blood everywhere

My wife's not breathing.She need O2 and compressions.I'm a doctor

I need you to let go of your wife and let us take care of you both

-How badly are you hurt? -Forget about me. Treat her.Help her!

Sir, please, I need your help

Treat her, please.Treat her. No. No

Oh, God.

Sarah...

Prints match the victim's account.

We've got a suspect in custody. His name is Austin Jackson

Just turned 19--he's already got a rap sheet for a stolen car,drugs,

and possession with intent to distribute.

That kid did everything but sign the crime scene and have it notarized

We found a knife with both the victims' blood on it and Austin's prints on it

in the bushes outside the back door

Is that a steak knife?

Yeah. It matches at set from the Towers' kitchen

Our theory is, Austin broke in the backdoor

got caught mid-burglary, attempted to kill all the witnesses

Do the Towers have kids?

Uh, two boys-- 15 and 16.

But luckily they were spending the night at their grandmother's house

Was this random, or did the suspect know these people?

Austin was part of an at-risk teen program

at a community center that Sarah Towers volunteered

These photos are fairly gruesome

He slit her throat open from ear to ear

What about the doctor?

He ended up with multiple stab wounds and a collapsed left lung

And he still managed to call 911?

He's a trained surgeon.He knew not to panic

The evidence against Mr. Jackson is overwhelming

is overwhelming.

-Almost too overwhelming -Well, sometimes things are exactly what they look like

ok, let's arraign Austin Jackson for one count of murder

one count of attempted murder in the commission of a burglary

Mr. Jackson, do you understand the charges against you?

-I didn't kill anybody -Austin, just answer yes or no

Mr. Jackson, do you understand the charges?

Yeah. I understand you want my ass off the street, but I didn't do it

Bailiff, remove the defendant.

I didn't kill anybody!

I didn't kill anybody!

Come on, I didn't kill anybody!Why y'all doing this to me?

-The People request that Mr. Jackson be held without bail -So ordered

Okay, people, let's get this party started

Maureen, where do we stand on the Towers case

Dr. Towers is still hospitalized. He's recovering well from his wounds

Is the accused still on suicide watch?

Yeah, but it's probably just a defense stunt to influence his competency hearing

What do we know about Austin Jackson aside from his rap sheet?

High school dropout,broken home-- according to his latest probation officer

How many probation officers has this young man had?

Two.

One in junior high after a car theft arrest,

which sounds more like a joy ride than anything.

And another his sophomore year of high school for the drug charges

But he hasn't been in trouble for the last three years.

Probation officers and all his high school counselors agree--

Austin's problems began when his family split up

His mother is MIA

His father threw him out of the house last summer

Still, he was staying out of trouble and making a lot of improvement in the youth program

With mitigating circumstances,a jury might have a hard time sentencing him to death

Okay, check with Austin's PD. Let's offer him Life in exchange for a guilty plea

Let's see if we can save the taxpayers a million dollar trial.

I'm deposing Dr. Towers and his family this morning

Danny, I'm going to need you to man a camcorder and take some depositions for me

I'm up for that

Dr. Towers?

You must be the prosecutor

This is my sons--Alex and Jacob

-Hi. I'm Annabeth Chase -I'm Danny Robel.

Hey

We're so sorry for your loss.

We're going to do our best to keep these interviews as brief as possible

But please remember, that you'll be under oath

so everything you say will become part of the official court record

I woke up around midnight. And I knew someone was in the room

Austin Jackson?

Yes. And he was drunk...or on something

And I told him to get out

Then we argued, and he stabbed me

And actually...

I felt the knife before I even saw it

Where were you when he attacked you?

Well, I got up.I was fighting him off

Standing up or sitting?

Yeah, I stood up.We were face-to-face...

grappling, and he stabbed me here... here...and here

Where was your wife during all of this?

Sarah takes sleeping pills.

And so, she was out of it,she was sound asleep

Um...

See, and when he stabbed me,I fell down on my knees

And so, by the time I got to Sarah...

he had already...

He cut her throat

It... it was horrific

I'm so sorry

I hate Austin

Is there anything else you want to say?

I wish he was dead

You're absolutely certain that the man who attacked you

and killed your wife was Austin Jackson?

Yes

Without a doubt

You know, Sarah...

she was never very good with boundaries, and she was always bringing her work home with her

She'd invite Austin

over the house on the weekend because she thought

it was good for him to be in a stable family environment

until he started stealing things, showing up high

And so, we finally had to tell him that we didn't want him around

How did he react?

He was livid.

When was this?

The weekend before he broke into our house and attacked us

They were all arguing in the kitchen

so Mom and Dad just told Austin to get out and stay out.

And that's when Austin just went kind of haywire

Like, he started crying and saying he didn't do it

It was freaky.

But I never thought that Austin would come back with a knife

I'm sorry about your mom

He slit her throat

Sarah was the only person who gave me the benefit of the doubt

She believed in me when no one else did

Pushed for me to finish high school

She did more for me than my own mother

I'd kill myself before I'd kill her

Then how did your fingerprints get on the knife?

Don't answer that

I don't know

Mr. Jackson, we are prepared to take the death penalty off of the table in exchange for a confession

-How many years are we looking at? -It depends upon what he tells us

Okay, I'll confess

Austin

I confess to being in my apartment the night that Sarah was murdered

I confess to being nowhere near their house when it happened

I confess to never stealing anything from that family

I confess to being a screwup when I was a kid,

but I didn't kill Sarah, and I didn't stab the doctor!

How long have you and Austin lived together?

I just split the rent with him. We're not gay or freaky or anything

Would you answer my question, please?

Since fall semester started.I go to community college

I'm sort of on academic probation though

Were you at home 12:30 the night of the sixth?

You mean the night of the stabbing? Yeah, I was here and Austin was, too.

All night long?

Yeah.

-You sure about that? -I would've heard him if he went anywhere

I sleep on the couch.

He would've had to walk by me.He was here. We were watching TV

You willing to testify to that?

Sure. Why not?

You know what the penalty for perjury is?

Yeah. What?

Now I'm gonna talk to your neighbors.

I'm gonna ask you one more time.

Austin was home all night.

I was the trauma surgeon on duty the night Lee Towers came into the ER

I was shocked to see these terrible stab wounds.

Dr. Towers' assailant has been charged with felony murder,

and I'll ask for the maximum sentence,

but to get it, I need to convince a jury that this was a vicious crime

Lee had already lost three pints of blood.

Another few minutes, he would've suffered massive heart failure or bled to death

-Would you be willing to testify to this? -Absolutely

Lee Towers is an outstanding member of this medical staff.I trust him with my life

Thank you, Doctor.We'll be in touch

Excuse me.I couldn't help overhearing

Do you mind if we talk somewhere private?

Well, none of his neighbors saw Austin leave the apartment that night

Dr. Towers called 911 at...

12:21 in the morning, and not too many people are awake at that hour

Still...

If Austin has an alibi, that means Dr. Towers is lying.

I'm checking out the roommate's story. And from what I can tell so far

I have no reason not to believe him

Well, I think a jury would take the word of a respected physician

over the word of a high school dropout's roommate any day.

I'm a trauma nurse in the E.R.

We see a lot of stab victims

Maybe I shouldn't be telling you this, but it's been weighing on my mind all week

I'm listening

Knife wounds are messy...

especially when the assailant attacks in rage

They're not precise

Dr. Towers' wounds were

I don't understand

He was stabbed twice in the abdomen