Murderous Elements

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>> And John still hadn’t heard what happened to his wife.

>> I remember asking Melissa, “How’s mom doing?” She had been told by the police not to tell me about Susan.

Later on, I was told that she passed away.

Melissa, >> what kind of woman who’s your mom? >> Intelligent, confident.

>> Some you got mommy.

It’s >> the kind of person who’s in their 40s but wants to take violin classes and calculus classes because she just wants to be better.

>> And more than anything, she wanted to be a great mother.

Once the head nurse of a surgical intensive care unit, she gave her career up in the late 70s when she and John adopted their first child, Christopher.

>> That was the happiest day of her life.

It was absolutely the happiest day of her life.

>> Susan’s sister, Mary Marier.

>> I heard her on the telephone.

I could hear her screaming from Florida, you know, how happy she was and how thrilled she was.

>> Almost 7 years later, they adopted Melissa.

>> She loved those children.

>> Hi, Christopher.

and she loved them unconditionally.

>> Now, those children were planning their mother’s funeral while police scoured the crime scene, seeing Susan Sutton’s jewelry and John Sutton’s wallet untouched on a dresser.

>> Take the wallet.

Easy cash at least.

But nothing was taken.

This person had a mission.

>> Miami date detective Rosanna Cordderero hoped John, even with a serious head injury, could help her.

>> He remembered bits and pieces.

He thought he remembered a figure at the door.

He might be a black man or wearing all black clothing.

He was not sure.

>> So with that kind of spotty memory, the information he provided wasn’t very helpful.

>> No, it wasn’t.

>> She thought she’d have more luck with Teddy Monto, John’s law partner.

Teddy told her he was on the phone with John’s wife, Susan, and heard gunfire.

So he raced to the scene, arriving just after police.

I was the one who told him that Susan had died and he was very emotional about it.

>> And then Teddy said something surprising.

>> He was a marksman >> and he’d been shooting a gun earlier that day.

>> He’s a competitive shooter.

That’s something that he did as a hobby.

That raised our eyebrows.

>> Detective Cordderero immediately sent Teddy’s gun in for testing and she pushed him for more information about his late night phone call with Susan.

He was not forthcoming with me.

>> She suspected Teddy was hiding something.

>> He’s asked to submit to a polygraph, which he does, and he fails.

Especially in regards to his relationship with Susan.

>> The interrogation continued until Teddy finally revealed his secret.

>> He did, in fact, confess to having a sexual relationship with Susan.

>> Did that make him a suspect in your mind? >> It did.

Obviously, he has a motive.

A motive at least to kill John.

Maybe not necessarily Susan, but love triangles can drive people to do very extreme behavior.

>> But Teddy’s gun didn’t match the murder weapon, and police were able to confirm he wasn’t in the Sutton home during the shooting.

As for the polygraph, police say he failed because he was covering up the affair, hoping to keep it from John.

>> That was a pretty big surprise.

How did you deal with that betrayal? >> I wasn’t very happy with it.

Very, very upset.

>> Up until that point, John and Teddy had a strong working relationship, and their law firm had just gotten one of their biggest settlements ever, more than a million dollars.

>> They had been very successful in their civil litigation, and along the way had made some enemies.

In fact, John had had death threats against him.

Police investigated every one of them, but they all had alibis.

>> It was that point that I started interviewing some of John’s closest friends.

>> Lee Detective Larry Bellow says there was one name that kept coming up.

>> And they said, “You need to look at Christopher Sutton.

” I said, “Christopher Sutton, the son?” Absolutely.

>> Belleu thought it odd that fingers were being pointed at John and Susan’s son, Christopher, then 25 years old.

For months since the shooting, Christopher had been right by his father’s side.

And when John finally left the hospital, he moved in with his son.

But police were hearing alarming stories about Christopher.

>> That he would like to have his parents dead.

>> He actually choked his mother one time, saying that he could kill her.

>> The son, who once seemed so devoted, was now their prime suspect.

>> I didn’t do it.

I never had anything to do with it.

the Polynesian islands of Samoa in the South Pacific Ocean, nearly 7,000 m from the Miami home where Susan and John Sutton were viciously attacked.

What happened here more than 15 years ago, police say, may hold the clue to solving the case.

>> We learned that Christopher Sutton had been sent away to a uh a behavioral school by his parents.

>> When he was just 16, John and Susan sent their son here.

Christopher, they say, have been getting into lots of trouble.

We were told that there was oppositional defiant disorder or conduct defiant disorder, those sort of things.

>> He was in and out of more than half a dozen schools.

>> I was routinely driving him to school, dropping him off at the front door, and he was routinely going out the back door and doing other things.

>> Skipping school, though, was the least of their problems.

Susan’s sister, Mary.

He and some other kids broke into a teacher’s house and trashed the inside of the house and spray painted the inside of the house.

>> He was arrested.

>> We were sued.

>> $50,000 in damage.

>> Perhaps more.

>> Were you an out of control teenager? >> Out of control? I mean, like I definitely wanted to do my own thing.

I was definitely into body piercings and tattoos, you know, things my parents absolutely hated.

I really wasn’t doing anything that was horribly wrong.

But Mary says if Christopher didn’t get his way, he could get extremely angry.

>> Christopher had a rifle.

It was not loaded.

He pointed it at Susan and Melissa.

He told him that it was loaded and he was going to shoot them.

>> You threatened your mother at gunpoint.

You threatened to kill her.

>> No.

>> No.

>> No.

>> His parents to me always seemed a little bit harsh on him.

Christopher’s friend Eric Pulk says the Sutton tended to overreact >> and it was rough on him >> perhaps.

But when Christopher was 16, things really escalated.

>> Susan called me and said, “We’ve got a problem.

” >> In Christopher’s room, Susan found a note.

>> It was a plan to kill his parents for the inheritance.

>> I saw it.

I read it.

It was there.

How did he react when this happened? >> It wasn’t his fault.

He was just kidding.

He wasn’t serious.

>> But the Sutton were.

They were frightened and they wanted Christopher out of the house.

>> You got a restraining order against your 16-year-old son.

>> Correct.

>> He was a valued member of our household.

>> Eric invited Christopher to live with his family.

The judge agreed.

He went to school when he was supposed to go to school and he didn’t cause any problems living with us.

>> And then 3 weeks later, >> it was a Friday night, I believe.

>> Two men came to get him.

>> They were trying to wrestle him across my lawn.

>> Christopher was shipped off to Somala, a place called Paradise Cove.

But this was no vacation.

It was a hardcore behavior modification program for troubled boys.

Randy Rogers parents sent him here when he was 17.

>> If he didn’t follow every rule, he says punishments were severe.

>> You would go to like the box for a day.

>> The box? >> Yeah, like the isolation box.

>> In 1998, 48 hours investigating a story of abuse here filmed the isolation box.

But Randy says even worse things went on at Paradise Cove in the early days of the program when Christopher first got there.

>> They would tie them with with duct tape.

They took them to some compound that was in the mountains, left them hog tied there.

A year into Paradise Cove, Christopher sent a video message home to his parents.

>> All right, Mommy.

I wouldn’t tell you.

I don’t feel like you guys love me.

I feel that like I’m just I’ve just been I’ve been stuck here.

Just get me out of your hair.

You guys still dislike me for some reason.

Cuz even though my wishes are to be here, I don’t care.

They don’t come true.

>> John, Susan, and Melissa traveled to Samoa to see for themselves what it was like.

>> Was he happy to see you? >> Absolutely.

Christopher said he tried telling them about abuse.

>> Did I believe it? No.

>> You didn’t believe it? >> I didn’t believe it.

Can’t imagine that that’s what was happening.

>> Christopher was hoping to leave Paradise Cove forever on his 18th birthday, but his father got a court order to keep him there for another year.

>> He was, shall we say, fighting the program.

When you met Christopher, >> Randy says he could only imagine how angry that would have made Christopher.

>> When you learned about the shooting at the Sutton home, what were you thinking? >> I was thinking that Chris might have been behind it.

>> You can understand how he may have wanted to exact revenge >> against his parents for his time at Paradise Cove.

>> Uhhuh.

>> To the point of murder.

In 2000, Paradise Cove with a dwindling enrollment and accusations of abuse shut down.

But whatever happened to Christopher there was a long time ago.

Christopher was now 25.

And as far as John was concerned, a loving son who after the shooting wanted to take care of him.

>> I said, “Don’t live with Christopher.

I think Christopher had something to do with this.

” He was very angry with me about that.

>> I didn’t suspect him.

And of course, I wouldn’t have wanted it to be Christopher.

I mean, that’s the worst thing.

>> But Mary is sure Christopher was behind the shooting of his father and the murder of his mother.

>> Christopher isn’t like you and me.

Christopher is not like other people.

There’s something missing.

The night before the funeral is when I was convinced that Christopher had had something to do with it.

>> She says Christopher talked about what happened.

He sat there and he said, “Oh, Susan was shot more than one time.

” He was describing how the person came in to the house and went down the hallway.

>> So, Christopher was familiar with details about this shooting that had not yet been released.

>> Yes.

The blood drained from my body.

I looked at Christopher and I thought, “You killed her.

You did it.

” But Christopher was nowhere near his parents’ house when they were attacked.

He and his girlfriend were at the movies seen here on the theat’s security cameras.

If Christopher didn’t shoot his parents, who did I cried.

I couldn’t believe it.

You know, I was in shock.

It doesn’t even seem real that it could have even happened.

>> Christopher Sutton says he was horrified when he found out about his mother and father.

>> He started balling his eyes out.

He seemed like he was devastated.

>> Christopher’s then fiance, Juliet Driscoll, says she was reeling herself.

>> I was in shock at that point.

Your entire world just blew up.

>> Juliet met Christopher when she was just 17.

He was 19 and just back from Samoa.

The Sutton, she says, treated her like a daughter.

>> Susan kind of taught me about like makeup and clothes and all that sort of stuff.

You know, John was always just like really supportive of me.

>> John even gave Juliet a job in his law office.

And for the most part, John and Susan financially supported her and Christopher.

>> They only wanted what was best for us.

Who could have done this? Was it random? Wasn’t it random? >> Who did you think had done it? >> I had no idea.

>> I said, “Christopher, can I speak to you for a moment?” I He said, “Absolutely.

” >> Detective Rosanna Cordderero met Christopher at the crime scene shortly after he’d been told about the shooting.

I remember he had a couple of tears come down his face.

>> But before she could even offer condolences, he said something to her that just didn’t seem right.

>> He said to me, “We had dinner here at the house, but we left around 9:00 and we went to the movies.

Do you want my ticket stubs?” >> So, he was offering you an alibi? >> Yes.

That’s really weird.

It’s unusual.

>> You offered up an alibi before she even asked for one.

>> Absolutely.

>> Why? because of Teddy’s interrogation.

>> Teddy Monto, the man who was secretly having an affair with Susan, had already told Christopher about his police interrogation.

Christopher says he assumed he was next.

So, he told Cordiero where he was during the shooting.

>> And I recovered the surveillance tape of Christopher walking out of the movie theater.

>> Here he is with Juliet leaving the theater a little before midnight.

But something caught Cordderero’s eye.

The first thing he does as he’s walking out, he’s not even out of the theater, is he gets on his cell phone.

>> Lee Detective Larry Bellow ordered Christopher’s phone records.

We saw a particular number that came up several times.

>> 331 times to be exact.

In the weeks leading up to and right after the murder, >> we identified that number as belonging to a individual by the name of Garrett Cobb.

A man named Garrett Cobb had been arrested less than 24 hours after the shooting for assaulting someone with a gun in another part of Miami.

He was now out on bail.

Detective Belleu immediately called the arresting officer.

>> Now, please tell me you still have that gun.

>> He did, >> and it turned out to be a match.

>> It was the same gun used in the Sutton shooting.

21-year-old Garrett Cobb was brought in for questioning.

>> I had to get something out of him.

Denial.

Denial, denial.

>> It was a tense interrogation.

>> He continued to deny.

Deny.

>> After 6 hours of questioning, >> he finally broke.

>> Garrett Cobb confessed.

>> What was the plan? >> Go in that room.

>> He said, “Look, you’re going to have to protect me.

I did it, but I did it because Christopher threatened to kill me and my son.

” >> Who did he want you to shoot? Garrett? Garrett told police the plan to kill the Sutton was all Christopher’s idea.

>> Who got you the gun to use? >> Yes.

>> He actually drew a sketch as to how he got in the house.

>> Spying glass door on the back patio.

>> Was that door unlocked when you got there? >> Yep.

>> Did Chris tell you he left it unlocked? >> Yep.

>> Garrett went straight to the bedrooms where he said Christopher told him he’d find the Sutton.

>> Shot John Sutton.

shot Susan Sutton.

>> Do you recall how many times you shot her? >> No, sir.

>> Garrett says Susan was under the covers when he fired.

>> There was actually bullet holes through the comforter.

So, what he told me matched.

I knew he had had done this.

>> Garrett Cobb was arrested.

>> I did not have enough for a warrant for Christopher.

>> Police needed more than Garrett’s word that Christopher put him up to it.

The next person I knew that probably had direct knowledge of all this was his fiance.

>> Juliet Driscoll was brought in for questioning.

>> I knew nothing.

I knew absolutely nothing.

>> She denied knowledge of anything.

>> The fact that people could even think that I would know something like that.

>> And she continued to deny for hours, 13 hours, none of which was taped by police.

>> Like that I would let something like that happen to John and Susan.

She says police yelled and threatened her with arrest.

>> No, she was never under arrest.

I I never threatened her with that.

>> But Juliet says she felt pressured and told them what she did know, that Christopher had a deep seat of resentment towards his parents for sending him to Samoa.

>> He believed that he was entitled to have whatever he wanted.

If he wanted this car, he should be able to have this car.

if he wanted the condo, he should be able to have the condo because I deserve this.

They sent me to Samoa.

They deserve to pay for what they did.

>> And for the most part, the Sutton did pay.

>> They paid rent.

They paid car payments.

They paid bills.

They took us on vacations.

>> But he wanted more.

>> But he wanted more.

He said he could find somebody to kill his parents.

>> That he could find a hitman to take out his parents >> and it would be easy.

I listened to it for six years.

He said it for years and years and years.

>> Did he talk to you about what your lives would be like after his parents were gone when he would inherit the estate? >> Mhm.

>> What did he say? >> Things would be good cuz we wouldn’t have to worry about money.

>> Juliet says she never told anyone because she didn’t believe Christopher was serious.

>> It was like the boy who cried wolf.

You know, you hear something so many times and you just you you don’t think about it.

>> And then shortly before the murder, >> there was a fight.

>> Over what? >> It was over a bill not being paid.

>> Susan Sutton refused to pay Christopher’s car insurance bill.

>> The only times he would really like get like really angry would be when they wouldn’t give him what he wanted.

>> Juliet told police Christopher was furious.

He knew his father had just received a million dollar plus legal settlement.

>> And with that information, I had enough at that point to get a warrant for Christopher’s son.

>> But Christopher was nowhere to be found.

>> I got a call from one of the detectives.

>> I’d like to come by and talk to you.

>> She said, “Don’t let anybody in the house.

>> Don’t answer the door till I get there.

>> Don’t pick up the phone.

” >> He must have been like, “What the heck? >> I’m coming over to see you.

Stay where you are.

” Did I think Christopher would come back to try to finish it off? Yeah.

Detective Cordderero was dreading what she was about to do.

Tell John Sutton his son was behind the shooting.

>> I know.

I told him that what I’m about to say is going to be hard for you to accept, but trust me, every road leads back to Christopher.

>> I was just at that point so shell shocked.

>> For almost 2 weeks, Christopher was on the run before police found him.

>> Cops arrested 25-year-old Christopher Sutton.

>> John Sutton didn’t want to believe it, but what he was hearing was starting to make sense.

when I was told that Garrett was the shooter.

And of course, I put that together.

Garrett and Christopher were like twins.

>> But I don’t know if you could actually prove this case to a jury without having Garrett cop.

>> But if prosecutors Kathleen Hog and Karen Kagan wanted Garrett to testify, it was going to cost them.

The death penalty was taken off the table.

Garrett would get a deal.

Just 30 years for shooting John and Susan.

Garrett Cop is a a drug addict, a little thug.

>> Christopher’s attorney, Bruce Flecher.

>> He needed a way out to help himself and he told the detectives about Chris Sutton.

He basically uh kept his ass out of the electric chair.

>> Garrett is now saying that Christopher promised him $100,000 to kill the Sutton.

>> Did you ask Garrick Cop to kill your parents? >> Absolutely not.

So Garrick Cop is a liar.

>> Absolutely.

>> I believe we can win this case.

>> He’s about to get his opportunity.

>> All right.

>> As the trial begins, John Sutton sits far from his son.

>> Miss Kagan, opening statement.

You may proceed.

>> Prosecutors immediately tell the jury how close Christopher was to admitted hitman Garrick Cobb.

>> They were friends for years.

Over the years, they were dope smoking buddies.

>> Christopher did nothing but sell drugs the whole time he got back from Samoa all the time, taking money from his father.

>> The plan was for Garrett Cop to go in the Sutton’s home and do the shooting and then he would get paid when the defendant got his money.

>> Uh yeah, you can bring Mr.

Cop back out.

>> In Shackles, Garrett Cobb takes the stand.

>> Where was Mr.

Sutton when you shot at him initially? on the bed.

>> Who was the person with whom you were in a plan to shoot John and Susan Sutton? >> Chris.

Chris Sutton.

>> Christopher’s defense needs to prove Garrett is lying.

They zero in on the tough interrogation by police.

>> They got aggressive with you, didn’t they? >> Somewhat.

Got pushy a little bit.

Leaned up against me.

>> Yeah, like this.

>> Yeah, >> that’s what they’re saying.

Garrett.

Garrett.

Something like that.

>> You need to tell us something, Garrett, cuz they’re going to fry your ass in the electric chair.

>> Excuse me.

>> Garrett would have said Mother Teresa did it to get himself a deal.

To get himself out of the death penalty, to get him out get himself out of that situation.

>> Sir, you can come forward, please.

>> But incredibly, it wasn’t the first time prosecutors say Christopher had tried to execute such a plan.

>> Would you tell the members of the jury uh your first and last name? >> Jose Pon.

P O N.

Jose Pion is an ex-con with a murder conviction on his juvenile rap sheet.

Pion met Christopher in 1999 about a year after he returned from Samoa.

>> He asked me if I knew of any hitman that would uh kill his parents.

>> Was he joking or did he seem serious? >> He seemed serious.

Uh he said that his parents were um worth about $500,000 to a million dollars and they had some property and um life insurance.

I mean like I don’t know where I mean like I don’t know where he came up with that stuff.

>> He’s a liar too.

>> Yeah.

About the about that.

Absolutely.

>> Then Detective Bellow tells the jury about what he believes is a defining moment in the case.

After arresting Christopher, he showed him Juliet’s statement incriminating him.

>> Well, I showed him the comments about we’re going to be better off after they’re gone.

At that point, he almost immediately dropped his head to the table, started crying, and said, “I’m >> to the detective.

” Christopher’s reaction appeared to be an admission of guilt.

But Christopher says he only cried because he believed police were setting him up.

>> You know, they forced somebody to lie.

It’s it’s it’s it’s hard to swallow.

>> Mr.

Driscoll, if you’ll come forward, stand in front of >> But would the woman who once planned to marry Christopher now offer testimony that could put him away for life? And what did he express to you was his opinion about his mother? >> She was a [ __ ] because he felt that she wouldn’t give him what he wanted and what he deserved >> and that being money.

>> Yes.

>> And she tells the jury how angry he was about Samoa.

>> He would say they deserve to die.

>> Good afternoon, Mr.

Driscoll.

But on cross-examination, Juliet says she only told the police incriminating information about Christopher after they threatened her with arrest.

>> She was threatened with a death penalty.

She was threatened with going down.

But she’s a liar, too.

In in part, yeah.

>> But Juliet says everything she told the police was in the end true.

She insists though that she never knew Christopher would actually try and kill his parents.

I did not know at all that he was behind this.

No, >> you didn’t believe he was going to do it, did you? >> And then in a moment, the defense team was hoping for Juliet, a prosecution witness, raised doubt about Christopher’s guilt before the jury.

>> I’m still confused about the whole matter.

I don’t know if he did it or not.

Nobody knows what really happened except for him and Garrett.

>> But by now, John Sutton has a pretty good idea.

After hearing the evidence, he’s convinced his son is responsible and he takes the stand.

>> That I had two bullets go in here and two which went out over here.

>> Prosecutors asked John about his troubled relationship with his son after Samoa.

>> Did your son ever complain to you about money? >> Yeah.

>> And the complaints continued after the shooting, too.

Coming home from the hospital, John says Christopher wanted control over the finances.

>> I didn’t want him in the bank account.

>> A father helping prosecutors convict his own son, the boy he had raised for 25 years.

>> Do you still love Christopher? I would have to say that I do not.

And it’s hard.

I can’t connect the dots between what he was doing at age five and what happened after age 13.

>> Your father told me that he no longer loves you.

I can’t control how he feels.

>> How does it make you feel? >> It hurts.

I mean, it definitely hurts that he no longer loves me.

I I’ve always considered him my father and you know, like, you know, and that and I always will.

Now it’s up to Christopher to convince the jury of that love and his innocence.

>> Do you swear for me that the evidence you’re about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? >> I do.

>> It’s the moment Christopher Sutton has been waiting for.

>> I think anyone who is innocent or wrongfully accused would would want to get up there and and speak their mind.

It’s my word against Garrett’s word.

It’s what it all boils down to.

>> He paints Garrick Cop as an insatiable drug fiend.

>> Constant constant drug habit.

I mean, I did drugs all day.

>> Christopher claims Garrett broke into his parents’ home in a desperate bid to steal marijuana.

All day long, a hopped up Garrett had been calling him for drugs.

>> I I kind of told him, “No, no, no, no.

” Christopher says he kept drugs boxed up in the closet of his old bedroom where his mother often slept and Garrett knew it.

>> How much marijuana did you store in these boxes in in the top box? About 2 lb.

And what was the value of that? >> 7,000 bucks.

>> Once inside, Christopher claims Garrett panicked when he saw John and Susan awake and shot them.

Is it possible that this was a robbery gone bad? >> No.

No.

>> It was an assassination.

>> But Christopher says he had no reason to want his parents dead.

He got over his anger about being sent to Samoa long ago.

>> When I more matured and realized it wasn’t something they did to me maliciously, they did what they thought was in my best interest.

>> He even tells the jury Paradise Cove turned out to be good for him.

You benefited from the program? >> Yes.

>> But then in an unexpected moment, he becomes highly emotional when discussing his alleged mistreatment there.

>> How were you feeling physically during that time? >> I was what I was what they called in denial.

>> You need a break? >> Yeah.

Ladies and gentlemen, >> Christopher’s surprising breakdown on the stand is evidence.

Prosecutors say that he’s still haunted by his experience.

>> His only emotional reaction was about himself, was not about what had happened to his parents.

Hopefully that made an impact on the jury.

>> Not a tear for his mother.

Not a tear.

>> Every one of those bullets was Christopher saying to his parents, “I hate you.

I hate you.

I hate you.

You owe me.

>> He’s greedy and he’s lazy and he believes that he’s entitled.

>> Is there enough evidence in this case to convict my client of this crime? And the answer is no.

Because what is the evidence? Forced statements.

Cop statement is a total lie.

He’s the killer.

>> It’s now up to the jury.

>> All right, everyone.

Uh we understand the jury has reached a verdict.

>> After a day and a half of deliberations, >> we the jury find the defendant Christopher Patrick Sutton guilty of first-degree murder is charged.

>> You were stunned at the verdict.

>> Absolutely.

I definitely thought I was going to be acquitted.

>> Before sentencing, an emotional John Sutton addresses the court.

>> Regardless of the result, this is a bad case.

I lost Susan.

I lost Christopher long before that.

I lost my eyesight.

>> He doesn’t ask for leniency.

A few feet away, another father sat grieving his loss.

Garrett’s dad, Mitchell.

And you question yourself as to you’re a father of a murderer.

I thought I taught him right from wrong.

I’m just sorry it happened to the hands of my son.

Christopher is sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.

His sister Melissa says she’ll never speak to him again.

You know, my parents were the best parents.

And the fact that one child did something awful does not mean that they didn’t like love him unconditionally.

They did everything they could to give him every opportunity that he deserved and and he just didn’t take advantage of it.

But the whole trial kind of opened the wound back up.

you know, the loss of my mom, the blindness of my dad, and the loss of my brother.

>> Do you think about your family >> all the time? Absolutely.

You know, >> I remember all the good times.

I remember all the bad times, too.

I mean, like, it hurts me to to to hear them, you know, think that I had anything to do with this.

It’s It’s unfortunate.

>> As for their father, John’s focus right now is getting his eyesight back.

At Scapens’s Eye Research Institute in Massachusetts, work on optic nerve regeneration is promising.

>> Put your chin down a little more.

>> And at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.

>> Here we go.

And I’m looking right at your optic nerve.

>> Dr.

Joseph Rizzo is ready to start discussing electronic technology implanting a device around the back of the eye.

>> Our job is to try to make you as functional as you can be.

While he waits for a breakthrough, John Sutton remarkably continues to practice law.

He memorizes his briefs ex >> and with the help of an aid, he’s winning cases much like he used to.

And he has a new love interest.

The world of darkness he now lives in is slowly brightening with each passing day.

>> It’s really almost like I’m another person.

There’s so many changes in my life.

It would be completely understandable if you felt sorry for yourself sometimes.

Do you? >> Doesn’t do any good.

I don’t believe in feeling sorry for myself because then you’re just wallowing in disaster.

I just decided that I wasn’t going to sit around for the rest of my life and get bored.

So, I have done everything that I can possibly do without hesitation.

Heat.

Heat.

This is a murder case that began with a nightmare and a woman who had visions of violence.

To me, it was a dream.

But I woke up and it just startled me.

I usually have very strange dreams.

When I wake up in the morning, I remember bits and pieces and within half an hour it’s completely gone.

I said, “I’m worried about Kelly.

I think Kelly’s hurt.

>> Kelly Brennan was a nurse at one of the local hospitals.

Well thought of at the hospital.

Kelly was beautiful.

When she came in the room, it was like glamorous.

She was patient oriented, wasn’t afraid to take charge.

We called her the sergeant.

>> Tell me what happened.

What did you dream about, Kelly? Everything was black and she was arguing with somebody and I saw the sign for Mark’s Landing.

>> On February 15th, 2010, Kelly Brennan went missing.

>> She didn’t show up for work.

There was like a unsettling panic that we didn’t know what what happened to Kelly.

>> Something was not right.

It was not adding up.

And that’s why we called the police.

>> 911.

What’s the problem there? >> I think there’s been a murder.

We sent people down to start to look at Mark’s landing and in that area to see if they could find Kelly and actually put a aviation unit up in the air.

Helicopter had had spotted what they believed to be a a person laying in the wooded area.

Shortly later, we were able to uh identify that it was Kelly Brennan.

>> If you follow me, Peter, right back in here toward the scrub.

>> Wow.

Back in the bush.

>> And this is where Kelly ended her life.

>> Right here.

Most of the injuries are are directed direct at her head.

So there’s a frenzied attack with many blows being struck.

There’s a lot of anger and rage in that once the body’s found and it’s where she says it is.

>> Mark’s landing.

I said, “I can see Mark’s landing.

” >> Of course, then she becomes your prime suspect.

>> In the dream is just like I told them.

She was arguing with somebody.

>> My name is Todd Deritany.

I was a criminal defense lawyer.

And one day, Sheila Trot came into my office and told me that she was accused of murder.

Sheila was trying to convey to me that she didn’t commit any murder and that she merely had a dream, a vision about this that came to her, like she was clairvoyant.

>> If it hadn’t been for me, they wouldn’t have gone to Mark’s Landing looking for her.

I told the truth, and I’m continuing to tell the truth.

I did not kill Kelly Brennan.

You don’t believe that she has some supernatural ability that all these facts came to her in a dream? >> No, I don’t think she’s clairvoyant.

I think she’s a killer.

>> I’m Peter Vans.

Tonight on 48 hours, a vision of murder.

It’s hard to imagine this picturesque seashore marks landing on Florida’s space coast as a beachside grave.

>> Is this the spot where Kelly Brennan was lying on the ground? >> He noticed her legs sticking out from the bushes a little bit and kind of the lower part of her torso.

It was on the morning of February 16th, 2010 that chopper pilot John Copala of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Department spotted a body.

>> We landed.

I got out of the helicopter, ran over to her.

I saw a lot of trauma to her head.

It’s It’s a very sad moment to see somebody dead like that.

It was 46-year-old Kelly Brennan who had vanished from her home in Indie Atlantic less than 24 hours earlier.

>> There was no saving Kelly Brennan.

>> No, unfortunately, no.

There was no saving her.

>> She was so alive.

She was always, you know, running around doing things and then to know that she was dead.

It was just a total shock.

>> Lou Ervy and Kelly were close friends and nurses at a local hospital.

They often kayaked together.

>> When you think about Kelly Brennan, what do you miss the most? >> Her friendship.

Working with her was good because she is a good nurse.

She knew her stuff and but also just as a friend.

>> Kelly was committed to her patients.

Even after she was diagnosed with an incurable disease, multiple sclerosis, >> it would flare up at times and she would just keep working and and work right through it, which was another thing I admired about her.

Sheila Trot, the woman at the center of this murder, says Kelly Brennan was her friend as well.

What is it about her that you liked? >> We had the type of friendship where we wouldn’t see each other for four or five years and then something would bring us together.

She hosted parties.

She liked to be the center of attention.

Kelly was a great girl.

There was nothing that she did to deserve that at all.

>> So, how did it come to this? Sheila Trot, suspected of brutally murdering her friend and dumping her body right here among these bushes.

Well, it’s a complicated tale of secrets, lies, and intrigue.

A story that begins with an eerie dream and ends like a Shakespearean tragedy.

>> Does this case have an affair? >> Yes.

>> Sex? >> Sure.

>> Jealousy on both sides.

Major Todd Goodyear is the lead investigator >> and a nightmare and visions and who knows what.

Clairvoyance.

>> Of course, that’s our our suspect saying that she’s clairvoyant.

For us, that’s somebody that’s trying to live with what they’ve done.

>> I woke up and it just startled me and I said, “I’m worried about Kelly.

I think Kelly’s hurt.

” >> In this dream, was Kelly Brennan dead? >> Did you see her bloodied? >> No.

Mm-m.

>> Did you see her body at Mark’s Landing? >> Uh-uh.

No.

>> You did not kill Kelly.

>> No.

No.

I would never have hurt Kelly.

No, I never would have hurt Kelly.

>> But to truly understand just how strange this story is, you have to go back in time 20 years.

Kelly Brennan, a nursing student, and Sheila Trot were friends.

Sheila was working three jobs to put her husband Daniel through flight school.

>> Dan was an upwardly mobile kind of guy.

Liked limelight a little bit.

Some of the things we heard was he a little narcissistic.

One of those people that liked to believe he had a little more power than a little more status.

>> She was head over heels.

>> Allison Bartlett remembers when her best friend Sheila fell for the tall, handsome, aspiring pilot.

I never heard or saw that spark in her that I did when she talked about Dan and sent photos of Dan and I could see that they were going to be getting married.

>> And what did she tell you about his personality? >> Fun.

Like the same things that she did.

I think in a lot of ways she found a soulmate.

>> At least she thought she did.

>> At least she thought she did.

Sheila and Dan were married on August 26th, 1989.

The couple had two sons, Kraton and Graham.

Sheila became a real estate agent, and Daniel Trot achieved his dream of becoming an airline pilot.

In 2002, his political career also took off when he was elected mayor of their small town in the Atlantic.

Based on your investigation, were Dan and Sheila Trot considered a power couple in Indantic? >> I think within town because of his status as being, you know, formerly in the political circles there and her being a real estate agent and being fairly wellto-d do, I think they were in that social circle to where they would be well known throughout the community.

From the outside, Sheila and Dan seemed to have the perfect life, but images can be deceiving.

What did you see in his behavior? What happened? >> He began having affairs.

I would notice his ring was on the counter.

He wasn’t wearing his ring.

And then when I would say, “Look at we need to talk.

What’s going on?” He would swear and cuss at me.

>> That’s Sheila’s story.

48 hours reached out to Dan Trot about these allegations, but he refused to comment.

By January 2009, Sheila had had enough.

>> So, you asked for the divorce.

Oh, absolutely.

Yes.

I said, “I’m done.

” >> While her marriage was crumbling, Sheila and Kelly met for a girl’s night out.

And it wasn’t long before Sheila realized that Kelly’s six-year marriage to restaurant manager Gino Row was on the rocks, too.

>> She had made a point of saying that she wouldn’t care if Gino had an affair, which I thought was a really strange thing to say.

Dan Trot moved out and joined a cycling group where Kelly Brennan was a member.

And soon they were going out on more than long bike rides.

>> Dan and Kelly were both lying to everybody, saying that they weren’t having an affair.

And while this whole thing was going on, I was having my problems with Dan.

He was just being very belligerent.

>> Sheila’s mother repeated to investigators her daughter’s claims of other affairs.

But Major Goodyear says it was Dan’s admitted relationship with Kelly that led to murder.

>> She’s going to lose Dan.

I’m going to kill the thing that he now loves.

Or I’m going to take that away and I’m going to hurt him as bad as he’s hurt me.

And then you get the third thing.

If I can’t have him, nobody’s going to have him.

>> You’ve been portrayed as being obsessed with Dan.

You laugh.

You you that you’re saying that’s not true.

>> Oh, no.

He would I’m sure he wishes I was obsessed with him.

No, absolutely not.

You couldn’t bear the thought of losing him.

You couldn’t bear the thought of him with another woman.

>> Oh, no.

Well, the fact that I set him up with Kelly would, you know, that would be a little different, but uh >> with Kelly Brennan.

>> Yes, absolutely.

>> You set them up? >> Yes, absolutely.

>> Wait a second.

>> Yeah, she was my ticket out of a bad marriage.

>> But police aren’t buying one word of Sheila’s story, and they want to question her about Kelly Brennan’s murder.

God’s honest truth.

If I was going to kill anybody for any reason, it would have been him.

That’s the place.

That’s the place that she loves.

That’s where her heart is right there.

Sheila Trot had a lifelong love affair with the water.

>> Yeah, I should have been born with gills, I suppose.

>> Long before she was accused of murder, she spent carefree summers on this picturesque Canadian island.

>> This is where she learned to swim, and this was her favorite place in the whole world.

>> Margaret Buyers says her daughter doesn’t belong at the center of this murder investigation.

But back with her family in Canada, used to just love to run through these rocks.

If she could see this right now, she would just be in tears.

This is where she belongs.

>> It was Sheila’s love of the water that drew her to live on the Florida coast, where she was a diving instructor and went to college.

Now she swims in a sea of suspicion.

>> I did not kill Kelly Brennan.

She was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.

In fact, Sheila says she orchestrated the relationship between Dan and Kelly one night over dinner to speed up her own divorce.

>> So I said to her, I said, “You know something, Kelly?” I said, “You and Dan would be great for each other.

” And she just perked up and she said, “Really?” And I said, “Yeah.

” I said, “But Kelly, you’re going to have to lose weight.

” >> But prosecutor Samantha Barrett says Sheila is making up the matchmaker story.

Barrett says that Sheila was simmering with anger and jealousy over the relationship.

anger that finally boiled over when she savagely killed Kelly on this lawn right behind me.

>> It was horrific.

She was lying in wait for Kelly when Kelly came out of her house.

I believe once she started the attack and she knew Kelly wasn’t going to be able to fight back, that that’s when the the rage came to the surface.

Authorities begin building a timeline that prosecutor Jim McMaster says started on the night of February 15th, 2010 when Kelly misses an appointment with her personal trainer >> and they couldn’t find her or couldn’t contact her and couldn’t find her.

>> Kelly’s roommate files a missing person’s report two hours later.

>> They checked every police department, every hospital, fire, rescue, highway patrol.

They went to her residence and were clueless as to where Kelly Brennan was.

>> Meanwhile, according to her sons, Graham andraton, Sheila arrives home after a 4-hour trip to Walmart.

She was dizzy, shaking, and acting strangely.

>> So, our rescue was addressing emergency.

>> So, her son’s girlfriend calls 911.

>> The paramedics arrived.

They couldn’t find anything physically wrong with her, so they left.

An hour later, another call to 911.

>> My boyfriend’s mom just had a seizure about an hour ago and they said to call back if she’s been acting weird or anything and she’s acting very strange.

>> She was then transported to the hospital and they ran routine tests and nothing of medical significance was identified.

She was released from the hospital and came home.

When they returned from the hospital in the wee hours of the morning, Sheila begins talking about the dream.

>> She called her younger son Graham into the bedroom.

She told him she had a bad dream.

She kept seeing Kelly’s face in the dark and that she believed that she hurt Kelly.

>> Worried, Sheila’s sons telephone their grandmother.

>> Graham just said to me, “Margaret, we need you.

We need you.

” She drives from her Florida condo to Sheila’s house where she finds her daughter curled up in a fetal position on her bed.

>> She was shaking from head to toe.

And she said, “Call the police.

” I said, “What happened?” She said, “Mom, everything’s black.

Everything’s black and all I can see is Kelly’s face.

” It was Graham that said to me, “Margaret, I think mom’s killed Kelly.

” Fearing her daughter was having a nervous breakdown, Margaret Buyers makes yet another 911 call.

>> Um, we just need a policeman, please.

>> What’s the problem there, please? >> This call would change Sheila’s life forever.

>> I think there’s been a murder.

My daughter I has had a nervous breakdown and she’s saying she’s killed somebody.

>> Your daughter’s telling you she killed somebody? >> Yes.

>> All right.

She Did she didn’t tell you who she’s saying she killed? >> She’s saying she I don’t know.

Kelly.

>> Kelly? Do you did she tell you where this happened? >> Well, she’s it’s down Mark’s Landing.

>> Mark’s Landing.

>> It’s sort of the defendant’s own words through her mother and and through her sons.

I mean, she’s basically confessing to the crime in the 911 call.

>> After that explosive call, officers rush to Sheila Trot’s home and she continues rambling about the dream.

>> She’s making some statements.

I believe I hurt someone.

I keep seeing Kelly’s face to the point that the Indian Atlantic police believe we may have a homicide on our hands.

>> Then detectives put two and two together.

>> Wait a minute.

We had a missing person report last night of Kelly Brennan.

>> And when you make that connection, what are you thinking? >> You’re talking to the killer.

>> That’s when Kelly’s body is spotted from the air and cops on the ground rush to Mark’s Landing.

Detectives have been at this Indie Atlantic home for some time.

All after the body of 46-year-old Kelly Brennan was found 10 miles away in this sandune area.

>> Kelly’s body was found exactly where Sheila dreamt it would be.

And so less than 2 days after Kelly Brennan disappeared, Sheila Trot is arrested for murder.

>> I’m going to be in jail for a very long time.

Okay.

>> Sheil Trot calls her son Kraton.

They’re charging me with first-degree murder, >> she says.

But it’s not true.

I didn’t do it.

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