2:00

for the lights to go off, and

2:04

I don't think she had a fighting chance. The

2:07

nature of this crime was a very personal crime.

2:10

Did he pop her in the mouth first and then... The

2:13

head blown. There's

2:16

no other motivation for this murder but

2:19

to kill Dana Clare Edwards. It

2:23

just was hard not to like her. Everybody

2:25

liked her. Dana was my little

2:27

sister. She was so full of

2:29

energy from such a young age through

2:32

her entire life. She had

2:34

beautiful, great eyes. And when

2:36

she smiled, her eyes smiled. She

2:39

loved people. She was happy. And

2:41

then it was cut

2:43

off. It was stopped. She

2:46

was lying face down on the floor.

2:50

I just wanted to see her green eyes.

2:55

The pieces didn't fit for me. A

2:59

strangulation just seemed so deep and

3:01

so personal. It

3:04

had to have been someone who knew her very well. The

3:07

first people you go to in a murder are

3:09

friends and acquaintances and lovers. A

3:12

wonderful girl. Full of energy, full

3:14

of light. Thomas Ford was Dana

3:16

Clare's boyfriend for a number of years. Thomas

3:19

Ford became a suspect very early on. Sorry

3:21

I had to ask you these hard questions.

3:25

When she was dating Thomas, after they'd gotten

3:27

serious, she really had thought that they would

3:29

get married and have a family. Dana

3:32

Clare Edwards and Thomas Ford broke up in the

3:34

fall of 2008. Common

3:38

Sense says Thomas Ford was the most

3:40

logical suspect because he had just broken

3:42

up with Dana Clare. But Common Sense

3:45

isn't evidence. Evidence was lost.

3:47

The fingernail clippings of the right hand. Lost

3:49

underwear. If

3:51

they're that sloppy about what they lose, how

3:54

sloppy are they about what they bring to the jury? From

3:56

the beginning of working on this case, I did not

3:58

doubt that John Thomas was the one. takes

6:00

a lot to get defense attorney Dick

6:02

DeGaren away from his cattle and

6:05

into a courtroom. He's

6:08

one of the most famous defense lawyers

6:10

in Texas. He can pick and choose

6:12

his cases, and he's chosen

6:14

the case of Thomas Ford. Look

6:18

very carefully at the evidence and you'll find that

6:21

the Thomas Ford is not just here. Thomas

6:23

Ford is 43 years old, from

6:25

one of the best families in one

6:28

of the best neighborhoods of San Antonio.

6:31

He's charged with killing his

6:33

former girlfriend, Dana Claire

6:35

Edwards. I'm

6:38

worried that an innocent man could be

6:40

convicted. DeGaren

6:42

will do battle with three

6:44

of San Antonio's top prosecutors,

6:46

led by Katherine Babbitt. And

6:49

you guys are going against Dick

6:51

DeGaren. Her co-counsel, Kirsta Melton. I

6:53

am rock solid in the truth.

6:55

Kathy Cunningham knew well what

6:57

they were up against. The

7:00

Fords had everything they could want. We

7:02

objected and she continued. The best attorney,

7:05

a lot of money. So we were behind the eight ball.

7:07

And even if we lost it, we were going to fight

7:09

as hard as we could for Dana and for the Edwards.

7:18

January 2nd, 2009. Dana

7:21

Claire's body was found face

7:23

down in her condo. You

7:26

try to think, well, what could have

7:28

happened? You

7:31

can never imagine that someone would murder your

7:34

child. We thought Dana was in the cypus

7:36

place in the world. Deborah

7:41

and Daryl Edwards raised Dana

7:43

Claire in the Tony San

7:45

Antonio neighborhood called Alamo Heights.

7:47

Dana didn't look down on

7:50

anyone whether it was the poorest

7:52

person or the richest person. We

7:55

weren't cheerleading together. We really

7:57

bonded over that. Close

8:00

friend Cornelia. So What? Ski.

8:02

And I just I Mister Smith's Er

8:04

allies. She is a positive energy and

8:07

a positive spirit. When she

8:09

was is always full of

8:11

lies and love and trainers

8:13

older brother Dj the ultimate

8:15

you know American girl. She

8:19

loved horses and she loved

8:21

Dogs, Dogs, Cats dogs. any

8:24

sign that last season she

8:26

was constantly. Bring in a mall. But

8:31

he was gripped a Jack

8:33

Russell terrier mostly who was

8:35

her favorite. She rescued him

8:37

and he became her constant

8:40

companion. For it was always kind

8:42

of her of mainland on baby and

8:44

he's a special little critter. Dana.

8:49

Went to medical school but had

8:51

to drop out after seriously injuring

8:53

her back in a car accident.

8:56

She worked in the family construction

8:58

business near her childhood home in

9:00

Alamo Heights. When.

9:04

Dana Clear was murdered. Of course

9:06

Thomas Ford for ex boyfriend was

9:09

a logical suspect, but most people

9:11

say he's not an obvious suspect.

9:13

What? what kind the guy is

9:15

he? he's a really nice, decent

9:17

nice guy at a great up

9:20

Ray. Popular

9:26

in high school. And

9:29

lot of friends. Dana.

9:35

Clarence Thomas began dating and two

9:37

thousand and six. And seemed

9:39

a healthy you know, kind of solid

9:41

relations said. We

9:44

did like Thomas very much. Darryl.

9:46

And Deborah Edwards treated Thomas like

9:49

family fun person. The they were

9:51

by was other ranch a lot

9:53

of times. like

9:56

dana claire thomas ford work for

9:58

his family's company Also

10:00

in construction. From the beginning, I

10:02

didn't see it as a match, as

10:05

a good match. But DJ and his

10:07

girlfriend, Tammy Trasher, thought that even

10:09

though Dana and Thomas had some

10:11

things in common, they were still

10:14

an odd couple. They seemed too

10:16

different. She wanted to settle down.

10:21

He was more in the single mindset.

10:25

In October of 2008, after a

10:28

two and a half year relationship,

10:30

Dana Claire broke up with Thomas.

10:35

But the two moved in the

10:37

same social circles and remained friends.

10:41

Then, just before Christmas, Thomas asked

10:43

Dana Claire over to his house.

10:47

Her mother says he told Dana he

10:49

was having a hard time with the breakup.

10:52

She told me that it had been a

10:54

really hard meeting, but he was going

10:57

on and on and crying. And she was worried.

10:59

And she said, finally, I just had to leave

11:01

mother. If

11:04

Dana Claire was worried about Thomas,

11:06

she was looking forward to her

11:08

own future. She

11:12

got ready for New Year's Eve in Alamo

11:14

Heights and said goodbye to her parents, who

11:16

were going to the family ranch. I went

11:19

in and told her, I said, we're going

11:21

to go to the ranch day early. And

11:23

she said, let me walk you to your car, mom. Gave

11:25

me a big hug and a kiss, stood at the car

11:27

door and said, y'all have fun. I'll

11:29

call you. Dana

11:33

Claire rang in 2009 at this party. Thomas

11:38

was also there. She

11:40

went home shortly after midnight. Happy

11:43

New Year. The

11:46

next day, New Year's Day, her

11:49

parents expected to hear from Dana.

11:55

The Edwards called their daughter dozens

11:57

of times. But

12:00

of course, she never

12:03

answered. In

12:12

an unsuspecting small town, a funeral

12:14

home was hiding a very dark secret.

12:17

When we figured out what was going

12:19

on, it was truly a house of

12:21

horse. I'm a victim specialist with the

12:24

FBI. And I said, what

12:26

do you mean we're just dismembered and

12:28

sold? From Campside Media and Sony Music

12:30

Entertainment, listen to Cover Up, Body Brokers,

12:33

subscribe on Apple Podcasts to

12:35

binge all episodes, or

12:37

listen weekly wherever you get your

12:39

podcasts. Hi,

12:43

it's me, the Grand Fuba of

12:45

Bahumbug, the OG Green Grump, not

12:47

Grinch. From Wundery, Tis

12:49

the Grinch holiday talk show, is a

12:52

pathetic attempt by the people of Whoville

12:54

to use my situation as a

12:56

teachable moment. So join me, the

12:58

Grinch, along with Cindy Lou Who, and

13:01

of course my dog Max, every

13:04

week for this complete waste of time. Listen

13:07

as I launch a campaign against

13:09

Christmas cheer, grilling celebrity guests, like

13:11

chestnuts on an open fire. They'll

13:14

try to get my heart to grow a few sizes, but

13:16

it's not gonna work, honey. Your family

13:18

will love the show. As you

13:20

know, I'm famously great with kids. Follow

13:22

Tis the Grinch holiday talk show on the Wundery

13:24

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13:26

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early and ad-free right now by joining Wundery Plus.

13:41

I hadn't gotten a call from Dinah on

13:43

New Year's Day. We looked at each

13:45

other and just said we gotta go. Darrell

13:49

and Deborah Edwards drove to their daughter's

13:51

apartment as fast as they could. I

13:59

opened the door and I yelled for it. for Dana and there was no

14:02

sound back and no dogs. The

14:06

apartment was pitch black as they

14:08

went inside. And

14:13

how long were you in the house before you found her?

14:16

Less than five minutes. She

14:19

was lying on the bathroom floor in

14:21

a big pool of blood and

14:24

I felt her leg and

14:26

it was cold. Dana

14:29

Claire's face was covered with a towel.

14:33

It's very hard and

14:35

I kneeled on the floor next to her and

14:38

pushed the towel off of her head and

14:43

looked at her beautiful green eyes. I

14:49

have no idea how long I was there. It was until the

14:51

police made me get up and leave. At

14:55

2.30 a.m. on January 2,

14:58

2009, the police

15:00

arrived and began videotaping the

15:02

scene. Evidence item one, blood.

15:05

Despite blood droplets, rolled

15:08

up carpet and a room in

15:10

disarray, police chief William McManus says

15:13

at first police thought Dana Claire

15:15

had fallen and hit her head

15:17

on the sink. The case

15:19

was considered an accidental death. I believe

15:22

that they felt there was something suspicious

15:24

about it but they

15:26

believed that it was not a homicide. But

15:28

there were a lot of questions. What

15:32

happened to Dana Claire? Where

15:34

was grit? Dana Claire was

15:36

almost never without her dog and he

15:38

was nowhere to be found. Hours

15:42

later on January 2nd, police

15:44

called with the results of

15:46

Dana Claire's autopsy. They

15:49

said homicide and miniature strangle

15:51

action. She had been strangled.

15:54

Yes. The autopsy also

15:56

revealed Dana Claire was hit in

15:58

the head repeatedly. But

16:01

whatever happened here, it did not look

16:03

like a robbery. There was no sign

16:06

of forced entry and nothing

16:08

was taken. When I

16:10

heard, I just knew it had been

16:12

deeply personal, just because the way the

16:15

killing was perpetrated. The news that Dana

16:18

Clare had been murdered came as friends

16:20

had gathered to comfort the Edwards family.

16:23

And one of the people who came

16:25

to the Edwards house was Thomas Ford.

16:28

He gave me a hug and

16:31

he kind of stood around and talked to a few

16:33

people. He wouldn't look at me. He

16:36

wouldn't look me in the eyes. But

16:39

if Ford was avoiding Mrs. Edwards'

16:41

eyes, he was not avoiding the

16:43

police. Thanks for coming in. I

16:45

appreciate that call. Absolutely. He

16:48

agreed to be interviewed by detectives the

16:50

next day without a lawyer. It's been,

16:53

it's been tough. Sure.

16:58

Do you have any idea why somebody would have... No.

17:01

...one had hurt her? No. I have

17:03

no idea. And the detective questioned Ford

17:06

about this New Year's party. He

17:08

and Dana both attended just hours

17:10

before she was killed. Ford

17:14

said he left the party before

17:16

midnight and went to sleep shortly

17:18

after that. You go home, change.

17:21

And within two minutes you're out, watch

17:23

a little TV and went to bed. But

17:27

within a few days, police found

17:29

evidence that made them doubt Ford's

17:31

story. This

17:34

dark and grainy surveillance tape from

17:36

a camera across the street from

17:38

Dana Clare's condo complex. What do

17:40

you think you can tell from

17:43

that tape? You could at least

17:45

tell it was a white SUV,

17:49

the type that Thomas was driving. That

17:53

white SUV entered and left the

17:55

complex twice, between 11.20 and midnight.

18:01

Then, a few minutes later,

18:03

someone is seen walking into the

18:05

complex. Police

18:07

thought that figure was Thomas Ford,

18:09

wearing the same clothes he wore

18:11

to the party. Do

18:14

you remember what you were wearing tonight? Jeans,

18:18

a red shirt and a

18:21

tan vest. Investigators

18:24

asked Ford for those clothes in the

18:26

weeks after the murder, but he refused

18:28

to turn them over and

18:30

then promptly hired a lawyer. Two

18:36

weeks into the investigation, the

18:38

battered remains of Dana Clare's

18:40

dog, Grit, were found, near

18:43

the almost dam, almost

18:46

two miles from her house. That

18:50

dog was Dana's dog. That

18:52

was her baby. Prosecutor Kathy Cunningham

18:54

believes that Grit was murdered and

18:56

the only person who could have

18:59

killed him was Thomas

19:01

Ford. Killing the dog, he did

19:03

not like that dog because that dog was probably more

19:05

important to her than he ever would

19:07

be. But

19:12

as the murder investigation dragged on for most

19:14

of 2009, Thomas Ford remained a free man,

19:20

was found on the towel that

19:22

covered Dana Clare's face. Police

19:26

arrested Ford and charged him

19:28

with murder. From the beginning,

19:30

I did not doubt that John Thomas Ford was guilty.

19:33

But when Katherine Babbitt got the

19:35

case, she and her two colleagues

19:37

knew proving Ford guilty

19:40

would be difficult, to put

19:42

it mildly. Every aspect of our case,

19:44

we had a problem. The biggest

19:47

problem? Lost evidence and

19:49

plenty of it. There's

19:52

lost fingernail clippings taken from Dana

19:54

Clare. They lost the underwear

19:57

she was wearing when she was killed.

22:00

But they are taking a risk. What made

22:02

me nervous about that is that he looked like the

22:04

guy next door, he acted like the

22:06

guy next door, and he teared

22:08

up at the appropriate time. But

22:12

it was part of their strategy. We

22:15

needed to start with him a liar,

22:17

and we built from there. Ford

22:20

says he was home by midnight. Once you get

22:22

home from the party, you went straight home? Yeah.

22:26

Two prosecution witnesses cast doubt

22:28

on that. Dana

22:30

Clare's close friend Melissa

22:32

Fetterspill and Allen Tarver,

22:35

Thomas Ford's lifelong friend. So I've known

22:37

him, I think it's probably second grade.

22:41

On New Year's Eve 2008, Melissa

22:43

and Allen were with Ford

22:45

at that party where Dana

22:47

Clare was last seen alive.

22:50

I'm the one eating. They

22:53

were playing a game called Apples

22:55

to Apples. It's for ages 6

22:57

to 12. It's

23:01

a word association game that involves

23:03

a lot of what is supposed

23:05

to be good nature teasing. The

23:08

game turned to the word marriage,

23:10

and Melissa made some jokes at

23:12

Ford's expense. He had only recently

23:14

split up with Dana Clare, and

23:16

Melissa says he got

23:18

upset. He turned to me and said

23:21

he didn't think that was funny at all.

23:24

But defense attorney Dick DeGaren is

23:26

quick to point out that detail

23:28

was not in Melissa's account to

23:31

police just days after the murder.

23:33

The once total detective carry-on about

23:35

the party was that everything was

23:37

fine. It wasn't at the

23:40

perfect opportunity. DeGaren wants jurors to

23:42

believe Melissa is lying. I'm not

23:44

trying to leave a false impression

23:46

of what I thought. I'm not

23:48

objective of non-responsibility. Am

23:50

I being too rough on you? Objectively. When

23:54

the game ended, Ford got up

23:56

and left before midnight. Remember

23:59

He told police. These he went

24:01

straight home Network shows Miles

24:03

of A Prosecutors think they

24:05

can prove that is a

24:07

lie. Shortly after midnight, the

24:09

party broke up. Dana Clear

24:11

went home and so did

24:13

Allen and Melissa. But. Minutes

24:16

later Allen and Melissa drove

24:18

past Ford's house to return

24:20

of beer cooler he had

24:22

left behind me to face.

24:25

With, they did not see his Chevy

24:27

Tahoe in the driveway where he usually

24:29

part and they also didn't see it

24:31

in the church parking lot where Ford

24:33

would sometimes park. He looks to the

24:35

right in the parking lot, thrive through

24:37

the parking. Lot and there's no toss out there. Tarver.

24:42

Ask for it. about that. After Ford

24:44

became a suspect, he told me that

24:46

he couldn't really remember for a party

24:48

voting harken back somewhere. Start

24:52

sort of well enough. that's not

24:54

what I saw. Since you ever

24:56

talk to him again, I do

24:58

not listen. You

25:02

didn't look after their parking lot

25:04

it is this dark corners, wait

25:06

in line, shady batteries so very

25:09

well could have been there since.

25:12

After a day and a half, Smoker?

25:15

Yes. Allen got so confused

25:17

I think he questioned himself and

25:19

so what Started out as a

25:21

fairly solid witness. Is

25:24

now saying well, maybe I

25:26

didn't assess. It's one

25:28

thing to attack Allen Tarver. But.

25:30

Now De Guerin has to somehow

25:33

cast doubt. On. A grieving

25:35

mother story. Since.

25:37

One in say towns for

25:39

you could hear a pin

25:41

drop when Deborah Edwards described

25:43

sitting on the floor next

25:45

to her daughter's body. So

25:48

I suspect. That some.

25:51

Insists. On

25:53

slipped and Monday we'd. Be

25:56

guaranteed Mrs. Edwards on the stand

25:58

for almost two days. Asking

26:04

her about every one of

26:06

those messages she sent to

26:08

Ford and his family. How

26:10

is So Co Versions? Isn't

26:12

that? Yes, it is. Evil

26:15

and your souls the same. Was

26:18

descending. Turn

26:22

sixteen sixteen Suicide. Me

26:24

a car has such as I said that now I

26:26

was upset. Twenty seven, Forty eight

26:28

That it was irrelevant. A nine

26:31

thirty was it hard to keep

26:33

your composure though. I have prayed

26:35

for price when I paid for

26:37

justice. But. The cross

26:40

examination is tough. Remember

26:42

in her loss for

26:44

the role players I.

26:47

Also saw. It

26:52

isn't. As

26:57

tough as he's been, De

26:59

Guerin has yet to put

27:01

on the heart of his

27:03

case. It is the police

27:05

investigation and all the mistakes.

27:07

Starting with the first mistake,

27:09

calling Dana Claire's death accidental,

27:11

was in the parents and

27:13

do something more than just

27:15

somebody it over not as

27:17

a time, no sir. And

27:20

he goes through every single

27:22

piece of mishandle evidence, the

27:24

last fingernail clippings, the last

27:26

surveillance, Tape. So last underwear

27:28

and that towel with Thomas'

27:30

dna on it. Police left

27:32

it at the crime scene

27:35

for roughly one week. How

27:37

do you trust? Evidence has

27:39

gathered Bob these bumbling crime

27:41

scene people that lose F

27:43

Investigators did find that Dna

27:46

on the towel, but De

27:48

Guerin says it proves nothing.

27:50

Because. ford spent plenty of time

27:53

in that apartment he was in

27:55

the condo shedding his dna all

27:57

over the place just 10 days

28:00

before she was found. DeGaren is

28:02

having a field day. We object

28:04

to that agreement, not a responsive.

28:07

Prosecutors are worried. We

28:09

knew that Dick DeGaren would come

28:11

in and try to confuse the

28:13

issue. Krista Milton should know. When

28:15

she was in law school, one

28:17

of her professors was Dick DeGaren.

28:20

I took advanced criminal defense. Did

28:22

you do well in class? I got the highest grade in

28:25

the class when I took it. I mean, was that strange

28:27

for you to be up against one of your

28:30

former students? No, it was kind of flattering, frankly.

28:33

But DeGaren now has to consider... The

28:35

real defense in this case is alibi.

28:38

Did he teach her too well? And

28:41

prosecutors are about to reveal their

28:43

most damning piece of evidence. They

28:46

say it's more powerful than the DNA,

28:48

more important than the surveillance video.

28:51

They say they can put

28:53

Thomas Ford at the scene

28:55

of the murder. We realized, oh,

28:58

my gosh, we know exactly where

29:00

he's gonna be. No,

29:14

I want y'all to know that I

29:17

will do everything to help out. Thomas

29:20

Ford, who didn't say a word

29:22

during his trial, was

29:25

about to learn why suspects get the

29:27

warning. Anybody else use your phone that night?

29:30

Nah, that would have been impossible. Anything

29:32

you say can and will be used

29:34

against you in court. Once you

29:36

get home from the party,

29:38

you went straight home? Yeah. Prosecutors

29:40

used almost everything he told police

29:42

against him. I guess straight home.

29:45

They argue the interrogation locks Ford

29:47

into a story that

29:49

is a lie. I was

29:51

home, I was asleep, I didn't

29:53

leave the bed until 7 a.m. the next day. They

29:56

say these surveillance images prove he wasn't

29:58

sleeping. He was driving

30:01

his SUV to Dana Clare's

30:03

house. If

30:05

you just looked at that tape, not

30:07

knowing anything, and you saw a white

30:09

SUV come in, two minutes later, come

30:11

out, head south. Come

30:13

back, come in, come out,

30:16

head north. Your

30:18

first bet is, what's that guy doing? I

30:20

mean, are they casing the joint? What's going on here?

30:24

When you put that with the time he

30:26

says he left the party, that's

30:28

when you sort of start to build that

30:30

timeline. It's

30:33

a very common vehicle. But

30:35

Ford's attorney, Dick DeGaron, says,

30:38

as blurry as these pictures are,

30:40

nobody can tell anything about that car.

30:43

You cannot identify this as being

30:46

Thomas Ford's car. Prosecutors

30:48

knew they needed more than that

30:50

surveillance tape to make their case,

30:53

and they think they found it. Just

30:56

before trial, in a pile

30:58

of Ford's cell phone records, which

31:00

police subpoenaed, but never

31:03

fully analyzed. When we did that,

31:05

I still have chills thinking about it. Kathy

31:07

Cunningham realized what she was looking

31:09

at could change everything. Cell

31:12

records have the latitude and longitude

31:14

for the towers the phone is

31:16

using. Prosecutors

31:18

used Google Maps to locate the

31:21

towers and believed they could now

31:23

say where Ford went and

31:25

when. They

31:28

called an AT&T engineer named

31:30

Ken Dahl. If you tell somebody

31:33

that you were home all night long and

31:35

you really weren't, then if you took your

31:37

cell phone with you, I'm reliable

31:40

to find that out. Dahl created

31:42

this map showing the towers that

31:44

picked up Ford's cell phone signals

31:46

throughout the night. He

31:49

tracked the defendant's activities from

31:51

830 that evening until 9am

31:53

the next morning. Remember

31:55

Ford told police he went home from the

31:58

party, was in bed before midnight. and

32:00

turned his phone off. But

32:02

the records seem to tell a

32:04

different story. At 1145,

32:07

he received a call that went straight

32:09

to voicemail. Prosecutors say

32:11

the signal should have bounced off

32:13

this tower that serves Ford's home.

32:16

But it didn't. According to prosecutors,

32:18

it bounced off this tower that

32:21

serves Dana Clare's apartment in Gallery

32:23

Court. It showed that

32:25

his phone was near her apartment. Correct.

32:28

That 1145 call is key to this case because

32:33

minutes before that call, the

32:35

white SUV entered, then left

32:38

the conduct complex. And

32:40

then this blurry figure is seen

32:42

walking in. Prosecutors

32:44

believe Ford parked nearby and

32:47

entered the complex to

32:49

lay in wait. So you

32:52

now know that the person that

32:54

is walking into Gallery Court

32:57

is John Thomas Ford.

33:00

One hour later, Dana Clare's

33:02

car arrives. And then

33:05

a half hour after that, a text

33:07

goes to Thomas Ford's phone. Once

33:10

again, say prosecutors, the signal bounces

33:12

off the cell tower that serves

33:14

Dana Clare's condo. That

33:17

means they say Ford's own cell

33:19

phone records place him near

33:21

Dana Clare's condo for 90 minutes.

33:25

How long do you think it took to kill her? I think it took

33:27

15 to 20 minutes. Prosecutors

33:34

say the cell phone records even

33:36

provide evidence about what happened to

33:38

Dana Clare's dog, Grit. At

33:41

1.32 a.m., Ford's phone is

33:44

registering with this tower. It

33:47

serves the area where Grit's

33:49

body was found, the dam

33:51

near Dana Clare's condo. What

33:54

would be the only reason it's hanging there the almost dam?

33:58

That device would have had to have been. Nearly

34:00

almost them. prosecutors believe it was

34:02

Ford who brought grit their but

34:05

how did he get their. The.

34:07

Same camera that showed a figure walking

34:10

into the condo complex. Shows.

34:12

No one walking out before

34:14

that one. Thirty two Call.

34:18

Prosecutors. Have a series. They

34:20

say Ford did not walk out

34:22

the entrance that he came out

34:24

of the condo and jumped over.

34:27

this was carrying grits body. Then

34:29

they think he drove to the

34:31

damn disposed of grit and returned

34:33

here. Jumping. Back

34:35

over the wall, And. Say

34:37

about how ridiculous that is.

34:39

Thomas weighed two hundred fifty

34:41

pounds. at least when this

34:43

happens, even someone in good

34:45

physical condition would have a

34:47

tough time getting over that.

34:49

I was maybe he wasn't

34:51

as the almost damn while

34:53

his phone sir was. Historical

34:57

cell phone tower usage is

34:59

due to it's junk science

35:01

voodoo yes be defenses found

35:04

experts who insists his is

35:06

not possible to pinpoint the

35:08

phone's location based on what

35:10

Powers used for. De Guerin

35:13

has to get ten dollars

35:15

to concede as the cell

35:17

phone records and be unreliable.

35:19

You can answer to the

35:21

surface that it was actually

35:24

in that sense as and.

35:26

You have a very extremely high

35:28

degree of accuracy on that. We

35:30

make multi billion dollar decisions based

35:33

on what does to those service

35:35

prosecutors argued years can't believe Thomas

35:37

Ford or they can believe the

35:39

cell phone records. But. They

35:42

can not believe both. He

35:44

had an alibi a cell phone

35:46

records pierce the alibi. It's.

35:50

Been a tough for weeks of trial.

35:52

to guarantee last word to the

35:54

jury to say his mom approved

35:57

the evidence leaves much more than

35:59

just reasonable to

38:00

confuse one juror. We have to convince all 12. I

38:04

was optimistic going into it, and

38:07

I believe that there were jurors who were on

38:09

the fence. According to the

38:11

jurors, DeGaron was right. I just

38:13

wasn't convinced that he was guilty.

38:15

Some jurors went into the jury

38:17

room unconvinced. You were

38:19

one of the not-kilties, and

38:21

you were one of the not-kilties. Just couldn't say

38:24

that he was guilty beyond reasonable doubt

38:27

at that point. I needed to

38:29

sleep on it. The

38:31

jurors were at an impasse and were dismissed

38:33

for the night. When

38:36

they came back the next morning, they

38:39

sent out a note asking

38:41

to review the cell phone evidence.

38:46

Is that a good thing for you? A

38:48

bad thing? Our first thought was they're

38:50

right where they need to be. Now

38:53

just stay there. That's what we said to

38:55

you today. Shortly

38:58

after that request, the jurors took a vote.

39:01

After eight hours of deliberating, it

39:04

wasn't easy, but they had a

39:06

verdict. This

39:10

is A.M.A.M.A's verdict. Mr.

39:13

Ford, would you please stand? We

39:18

the jury signed the defendant, John

39:20

Thomas Ford, guilty of murder as

39:22

charged in the indictment. Ford

39:26

is convicted. It's

39:30

what Dana Clare's family and the

39:32

prosecutors have spent more than three

39:34

years fighting for. And

39:40

now that we gave each

39:42

one of the prosecutors a kiss... Thank

39:47

you so much. And

39:49

I meant the last minute. He

39:53

said, thank

39:55

you for giving me back my life.

40:00

So when you talk about doing

40:02

this kind of job, that's

40:04

really what it boils down to, is

40:07

you're giving that family back, hopefully, some

40:10

peace and some peace of mind.

40:14

But it wasn't completely over. Later

40:17

that day, the jury had to

40:19

recommend Thomas Ford's sentence. Think about

40:21

the pressure she felt around her

40:24

neck as a ligature began to

40:26

tighten. Prosecutor

40:28

Kirsten Melton reminds the jurors

40:32

of why they just convicted Ford.

40:35

Honor your verdict. Stand for what

40:37

was right. And

40:41

that you all have reached a verdict. Jury

40:43

didn't take long to decide on a sentence.

40:46

We assess his punishment at confinement

40:48

for a term of 40 years

40:50

and we assess him. 40

40:53

years. If

40:55

he lives long enough, Ford could be in

40:57

his 80s in the time he gets

41:00

out. The

41:07

outcome of this trial is an especially

41:09

sweet victor. Mr.

41:12

Ford, would you please stand. We

41:17

the jury signed the defendant, John Thomas

41:19

Ford, guilty of murder as charged

41:22

in the indictment. Ford

41:26

is convicted. It's

41:29

what Dana Claire's family and the

41:32

prosecutors have spent more than three

41:34

years fighting for. And

41:40

now that we gave each

41:42

one of the prosecutors a kiss, he

41:46

said, thank you for giving me back my

41:48

life. And

41:59

so when you And

44:00

following their deaths, Dana-Claire's

44:02

brother, DJ, found a way

44:05

to memorialize them both.

44:07

I didn't want it to be down.

44:10

I didn't want it to be depressing. And

44:12

then he said, you said puppies. Puppies?

44:15

Puppies. You said puppies.

44:18

Puppies from the local animal

44:21

shelter were available for adoption

44:24

at Dana-Claire's memorial. There were all

44:26

these sweet little homeless,

44:28

helpless pets. She

44:30

would have loved it. Almost 500 people

44:33

walked past these puppies. Everybody's

44:36

playing, handing them off. And

44:38

every one of them had been adopted. It

44:43

was important to give them what

44:45

Dana would have wanted to give them. Love

44:48

and life and homes.

44:51

Just what Dana-Claire had done years

44:53

earlier when she found

44:55

grit. I know that she was happy

44:57

when she was looking down on us and seeing

45:00

those sweet little animals being offered

45:02

a second chance. It

45:05

was very special. So, Dana. If

45:29

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