Law & Order

In the criminal justice system,

the people are represented

by two separate, yet equally important groups

the police, who investigate crime,

and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders.

These are their stories.

Yo.

Yo.

Hey!

Yo, what you running for?

Hey!

Early bird runner found him laying here.

Approximate time of death?

MLIs put it somewhere between 2:00 and 4:00 AM.

Witnesses? None so far.

Yeah, nobody sees nothing, huh?

Eh.

Blunt force trauma?

That'd be my guess.

ID?

Derek Stanton.

Still got his cash.

Any indication that the body was moved here?

The way the blood has pooled and the spatter

on the pavement, I think it all happened right here.

My boy had quite the rap sheet.

Just got out of Fishkill nine months ago.

What was he in for?

Selling marijuana.

Served four years.

Four years for selling weed?

Crazy.

Times have changed.

Surveillance footage from the park near the crime scene

shows a guy wailing on Stanton.

But it doesn't capture the whole thing.

Damn.

Do we have any better video than this?

It's the only video we got.

There weren't many cameras in the area.

I can't even make out his face or even a skin color.

But it's clear that the assailant and Stanton

are about the same size, so we're looking for a guy

who's about 6 feet tall.

What else do we know?

Well, the ME thinks that the perp

might have been wearing a ring with some kind of stone in it.

So did we run the vic's body for DNA?

Yeah, they took samples,

but the backlog's a few weeks out minimum.

All right, well, just keep digging in.

You know, given this guy's history,

it could be related to drugs

or maybe even his time in Fishkill or both.

Hey, I found something interesting

on the vic's phone.

Past week, Stanton made 28 calls

to a man named Jordan Spall, but he never answered.

So the vic's calling Spall, Spall's not picking up.

There's got to be a good reason.

Did Spall ever serve time?

Sure did.

Armed assault, sentenced to five years at Fishkill.

Got out a few months ago.

He's probably still on parole.

Jordan Spall hasn't missed an appointment,

hasn't failed a urine test, hasn't re-offended,

at least not yet.

You know, since we're here,

would you mind seeing what you could find out

about our vic, Derek Stanton?

He's a Fishkill alum.

According to Stanton's chart, he was a model parolee, too.

Was he a model prisoner?

Looks like Stanton was disciplined

a few times for fighting.

20 bucks says he was scrapping with Spall.

As a matter of fact.

Where's Spall living now?

Is that him?

Looks like it.

Jordan Spall, I'd like to have a word with you.

Jordan.

Hey!

I've got this side. 27 Squad to Central.

10-85.

Black male, 30s, blue jeans, green hoodie

under a black jacket.

In pursuit, Cherry Street flea market.

NYPD.

Police, police. It's OK. It's OK.

Watch yourself. Watch yourself.

Spall!

It's... it's the shoes. Sorry.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Watch out!

Oh, my God!

Watch out!

Give me your hands. Stay down. Stay down.

Usain Bolt.

I didn't have anything to do with killing Derek Stanton.

So why'd you run when you saw us then?

‘cos I had weed on me.

Bro, having weed on you this day and age?

You're not gonna get in trouble for that.

But beating Derek Stanton to death,

that'll get your ass locked back up in genpop.

What?

I didn't even know Derek was dead.

Oh, we'd like to believe you, Jordan.

We really would.

Unfortunately, we're homicide detectives,

so we don't believe anybody.

So help us out.

Where were you this morning between 2:00 AM and 4:00 AM?

In my bed at the halfway house, sleeping.

You could check with the tight-ass supervisor.

Dude watches like a hawk.

Why was Stanton calling you so much?

Don't know, don't care.

I didn't like the dude, so I ignored his calls.

Jordan, come on.

Either we tell your PO how cooperative you were, or...

Or we tell her something else.

All right.

I heard Derek was reaching out to a bunch of ex-cons,

trying to put together a crew, make some money.

Doing what?

Word is, they was meeting at a pizza place

near the projects on Pitt Street.

That's all I know.

Window was busted when I got here this morning.

What time was that?

6:00 AM.

Derek was supposed to be here.

I thought maybe it was a robbery,

but nothing's missing.

So you work here? Assistant manager.

Where were you late last night?

In my room. Can anyone verify that?

I live in a group home. You can check.

There's lots of cameras.

Why was Derek here so early?

Gotten the lease to this pizzeria,

and he was working around the clock

to get it off the ground.

Grand opening's tomorrow.

Well, it was supposed to be anyway.

How'd you know Derek?

Fishkill.

What were you in for?

Heroin.

Picked the wrong time to be an addict, you know?

Nowadays, they bend over backwards to get you help.

Back then, we were hardened criminals, man.

We heard Derek had been meeting

with a bunch of ex-cons. You know anything about that?

Just trying to put together a team to open more pizzerias.

Wanted to help.

Was going to give us a piece of the action, too.

That's it?

There was nothing else going on?

He was just trying to help a bunch of ex-cons out.

Sounds like a good dude.

He was.

You know anybody who didn't feel that way?

Anybody who might have wanted him dead?

Last few months, he's been all about making amends.

Kept his nose real clean.

Spent a lot of time with his daughter, too.

Sonya, Lena,

I am terribly sorry that we have some very bad news.

Your father and your ex-husband

was found murdered.

I c.. I can't believe that he's gone.

I just got him back.

He spent all those years in prison over weed.

He finally gets out, and then this?

If you don't mind my asking, why have you moved here?

Does it have anything to do with your father?

Was he violent to either one of you?

No.

Never.

No, Derek wasn't about any of that.

He had his issues, sure, but...

he never raised his voice or his hands to either one of us.

So why are you here?

Who are you afraid of?

My husband, William.

He's got a temper.

And when Derek got out of prison, things just got worse.

We just.. needed to get away for a little while

until things calmed down.

Did your husband and Derek, they ever argue or fight?

Yes.