As he nodded sympathetically, she again talked about how hurt she had been on her birthday. Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. Lord was accused of murder countless times, and she always denied it. I wasnt going to leave him. Why did you let my son bleed to death on his own kitchen floor? But she maintained her innocence and claimed Thompson was the one who should go to prison. And Im a person who thinks your behavior tonight doesnt add up. He pointed his finger at her. I know verbally from him that he owes the government a lot of taxes, Lord replied. Lord told her friends and family that Burnside definitely liked to have a good time. She had started dating Burnside, the co-owner of a company that retrofitted homes to make them energy-efficient, about a year earlier. He was not a depressed type of person at all. According to Lord, he became obnoxious and sarcastic, which often happened when he drank. Thats Olivia Lord, he told Thompson. Thompson misrepresented any of the facts that were provided by Witness Rastegar and that there were no signs of a criminal offense. Indeed, the report continued, Thompson did have probable cause to arrest Suspect Lord.. At the end of the interrogation, he had discarded her like trash.. Skip Hollandsworth specializes in long-form narratives. Will detectives be able to catch the killers before they strike again? He asked her again about what she was doing during that seven-minute gap between phone calls in the house that night. Then, on June 5, his phone rang. Stars Eric Barnes Monica Cordova Rick Duggan See production, box office & company info Watch on A&E Go to aetv.com More watch options Do I feel an overwhelming feeling of guilt because I may have provoked something? (2014) You realize, dont you, that if I didnt have money from my family to fight back, I could have been wrongfully convicted, fighting this from prison. Anonymous Thompson is the one whos gotten away with the crime., Lord told me that she was not surprised to hear that the police departments Public Integrity Unit had ignored the civil jurys verdict and cleared Thompson. Was there a chance he was involved in the shooting? City attorneys are defending him, saying he acted in good faith and without malice. Thompson misrepresented any facts or falsified any government documents. They also declared that there was no evidence that Det. Outcome: Plaintiff's verdict for $800,000.00. . Thompson told Rastegar to go to the station and make an official recorded statement, which Thompson later used to obtain an arrest warrant charging Lord with murder. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. Shearin went to see Brandi Mitchell, a prosecutor with the Dallas County district attorneys office who was in charge of the Burnside case, and claimed that Thompson had perjured himself. He called the tone and line of questioning a formula for a false confession. And Sanders questioned why Thompson did not read Lord her right to remain silent after the point in which he clearly considered her a murder suspect during the interview. The detective was 47 years old and built like a linebacker at six feet two inches and 230 pounds. The day after the shooting, he had checked the records and discovered that there was no seven-minute gap on Lords cellphone between the calls to Jaffe and 911. He called Jaffe, who had also turned against Lord, to see if he could help him locate her. That wont be possible, said Thompson. Your email address will not be published. I dont want to answer that, she said. Chasing a trail of clues, Thompson and the Dallas homicide team are always one step behind their suspect. But after her arrest, Lord read The Count of Monte Cristo, the Alexandre Dumas novel about a wrongfully imprisoned man who seeks revenge against those responsible for his imprisonment, and she memorized one of the books famous lines: May the god of vengeance now permit me to punish the wicked! That was her goal, she said. However, Lord wasnt done with the situation and after she was released, she filed her civil lawsuit for damages. She cooked, she cleaned, he was happy.. It was so hard for us to believe that she was doing this, said Jaffe. Why try to make money off Michaels death?. When Quinton studied the gunshot residue report, he concluded that the trace amounts of residue on Lord did not necessarily indicate handling or firing the weapon. But he couldnt say for sure that she didnt fire the Beretta. She wanted to know why they were there. Will detectives be able to catch the killers before they strike again? Or maybe Mikey did it, Jaffe said. Comments are moderated and these will not be published. Why, for instance, were there bottles of cleaning products scattered on the kitchen floor? Home Lord was accused of murder countless times, and she always denied it. Yes you did! Wearing a black dress and black heels, Lord came into the courtroom, followed by her friends and family. He was so compelling in front of the cameracajoling witnesses to open up and then lashing out at a suspectthat he looked like a television actor playing a detective. Thompson asked if there was any chance that Jaffe had been carrying on a secret relationship with Lord. | Recent Lawyer Listings Her voice shook when she spoke. If I had killed Michael, then doesnt it make sense that I would have walked away after I had gotten no-billed by the grand jury? The Hephzibah Olivia Lord by Detective Dwayne A. Thompson lasted for hours. But what did you actually tell Michael during the argument? I cant undo what hes done.. I mean, she got no-billed. The case was then sent to the Internal Affairs division for an administrative review. If the review, which is ongoing as of press time, finds that Thompson violated departmental policies, he could be fired, suspended, or demoted. Tittle then asked about Rastegar. I asked Lord if she had said anything to Burnside that night that would have led him to believe that the relationship was over. As the interview continued, however, Rastegar said that he wasnt certain what he had heard. But I dont know how to do it. A retired Dallas police officer acting as an expert witness for Lord told the jury there was no evidence that Lord shot Burnside. They had not laid eyes on each other since he had interrogated her. The Reid method has been challenged as being primed for pushing people to give false confessions and many argue that it should not be used by law enforcement agencies. Seriously, does anyone believe this story that Olivia tells about being in the bathroom and hearing something that sounded like glass breaking in the kitchen? If the detectives thought they had noticed the smell of chemicals on her, it must have come from the paint thinner and the floor stripper that she and Burnside had been using that day. Then Shearin got his big break. She said that he was a big drinker and that he could sometimes be reckless. Jaffe said that he and Burnside had been drinking earlier that evening. The detective was 47 years old and built like a linebacker at six feet two inches and 230 pounds. She did her own interviews, speaking, for instance, with a firefighter who said he believed he had accidentally kicked the gun away from Burnsides body. | Store According to Jaffe, Lord overheard the conversation and started to get upset. She told Burnside she was hurt that he would go to the trouble of organizing a friends birthday party when he had done next to nothing for her own birthday a few months earlier. Yes. Then Jaffe added one more detail. Jaffe told him that Mikey was a good ol boy who liked hunting and fishing. When Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson checks out a missing persons apartment and finds it covered in blood, he's launched into one of the strangest cases in his career--a case that he must s Read allWhen Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson checks out a missing persons apartment and finds it covered in blood, he's launched into one of the strangest cases in his career--a case that he must solve without the victim's body. Another detective, Dwayne Thompson, charged into the interrogation room. But Detective Thompson couldnt or wouldnt accept that. Tittle said that Thompson allowed a screenplay [of the shooting] in his mind to take over. And thats a dangerous, dangerous thing if youre a homicide detective with the Dallas Police Department., Lord took the stand and was overcome with emotion as she described her love for Burnside. He saw no high-velocity blood spatter. Jaffe was sitting in a plastic chair next to a small table pushed against a wall. Lord explained again and again that while she was in the bathroom, her boyfriend shot himself (they had been fighting, he was drunk). | Link Errors Im trying to figure out how to move on with my life, she said recently, sitting at a back table at an Italian restaurant in North Dallas. Individuals have a right to counsel when they are being questioned, this is part of the Miranda warning. It was Burnsides father. He spoke to her the way a loving father would talk to his daughter. Description: Hephzibah Olivia Lord, age 36, sued Dallas homicide detective Dwayne Thompson on civil rights violation theories under 42 U.S.C. Maybe he got dramatic and put the gun to his own head and said to Olivia, To hell with all this, Im just going to end it now. And then, accidentally, he pulled the trigger. Had she washed up with towels before the paramedics and police arrived? A citizen filing a lawsuit for false arrest must prove that the officer acted with malice, which is difficult to do. Was it possible that he thought he was about to lose the woman he loved?. Whats more, she didnt want him to go to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. A Dallas County grand jury declined to indict Hephzibah Olivia Lord on a murder charge in connection with the 2010 death of Michael Burnside in his home. Thompson, Andie - Thony, Steve > Thompson, Dorothya - Thompson, Elexus > Thompson, Dwanna - Thompson, Dweese > Thompson, Dwayne 1-25 of 112 Contacts Contact Name Lets solve some murders, my brothers, he would cheerfully bellow as he barreled into the office at the beginning of his shifts. I grabbed him and held him.. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); With more than 150 jury trials under his belt, Michael Lowe has strong and varied courtroom experience. And the bullet had exited toward the top of the left side of Burnsides head. Thompson said he had heard that Burnside was making money. But she maintained her innocence, claiming that he committed suicide. For more information, see Michael Lowes Things to Know if You are Being Investigated for a Crime in Texas and our blog postSalinas v. Texas: Your Silence During Police Interrogation Does Not Get 5th Amendment Protection, Can Be Used Against You As Evidence Of Guilt To The Jury.. See production, box office & company info. She was so in love with him that she was always able to forgive him when he screwed uplike the night of her birthday, when he got rip-roaring drunk, staggered around the restaurant, and didnt even pay for dinner. 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