Michael Lowe is Celebrating Over 20 YEARS of Service. Thompson started his career in law enforcement as a corrections officer in a maximum-security prison in South Carolina. Tittle then had the jurors watch Thompsons interview with Lord and Lundbergs interview with Rastegar. He asked her about some of the puzzling physical evidence that had been found at Burnsides home the night of the shooting. He called Jaffe, who had also turned against Lord, to see if he could help him locate her. I wasnt going to leave him., She then told me something she had not mentioned before. Im innocent.. Then Tittle fired back. [4] A couple of clerks grinned at him. She helped him with his finances, reminding him to pay his bills and to keep his spending in line. Videos 1. A citizen filing a lawsuit for false arrest must prove that the officer acted with malice, which is difficult to do. 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. Shearin made his own presentation, about 25 minutes in length, laying out the case for his clients innocence. Thompson picked up his cellphone and called Burnsides father, John, a successful Dallas business analyst. Lundberg paused again. Alternative . After going through perfunctory questions about what happened that night, Thompsons voice boomed without warning. In fact, when Tittle asked Thompson, Is it still your belief that Olivia Lord murdered Michael Burnside? the detective didnt hesitate. Im devastated., Thompson bore down. I know verbally from him that he owes the government a lot of taxes, Lord replied. He was the life of the party.. The officer shrugged. Why did you let my son bleed to death on his own kitchen floor? . Lord told her friends and family that Burnside definitely liked to have a good time. Personal details. Chasing a trail of clues, Thompson and the Dallas homicide team are always one step behind their suspect. Hephzibah Olivia Lord, age 36, sued Dallas homicide detective Dwayne Thompson on civil rights violation theories under 42 U.S.C. Then she looked at Thompson. Several months later, when he called Lord to refinance his home, their other relationships had ended. Strapped around his shoulders was a thick brown leather holster that held his department-issued pistol, a 9mm Sig Sauer. Comments are welcomed here and I will respond to you -- but please, no requests for personal legal advice here and nothing that's promoting your business or product. Lord was charged with murder a month after her boyfriend shot himself. Instead, he gave Brandi Mitchell everything he had.. Lord was accused of murder countless times, and she always denied it. Can you possibly understand how I feel?. Im still going to suffer for the rest of my life for this, she said. And whats really frightening is that Thompson could come back after me, plant some new fake evidence, and arrest me for murder again. The Dallas City Council on Wednesday approved a settlement of more than $1 million to a . Thompson asked why there was so little blood on her hands and arms. Shearin ordered Lords cellphone records and received more good news: there was no seven-minute gap in her calls. The detective told him that he was doing what he could. In truth, she had called 911 seconds after she had tried to reach Jaffe. Filing in behind him were at least a dozen of his fellow homicide detectives, there to show support. Thompsons interrogation of Lord was videotaped. There were too many unanswered questions, he said. Nevertheless, as far as Thompson was concerned, that did not eliminate her as a suspect. Lord called 911, and police came. After the First 48 (2008- ) More at IMDbPro. But Lord insisted he had a good heart. 1983 claiming that she was wrongfully arrested for a killing that she did not commit, which landed her in jail for nine days. A few days after the funeral, Lord called Burnsides brother to ask if she could retrieve some of her belongings from the house. Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson hunts for a band of carjacking killers that are terrorizing a neighborhood. Basing an opinion on over 30 years with the Dallas Police Department, Kim Sanders explained that the Lord interrogation was intimidation, not questioning, and as Thompson handled the questioning it was a textbook example of how police can get false confessions. No, she said again. | Sign In, Verdict Corrections Why the bottles of cleaning products and the bloody towels? Rastegar ran outside and asked her what had happened. 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. He wasnt stressed-out, Thompson said. Thompson testified that Lord had little blood on her hands and that she smelled of cleaning solution, which led him to believe she had washed her hands. 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. Im a person who just lost her boyfriend, Lord wailed. Seven minutes is a long time, Thompson told her several times on the video. They can try too hard to make the existing evidence fit their theory as to who is guilty. Nearly a year after the shooting, a grand jury met and heard the evidence. As the interview continued, however, Rastegar said that he wasnt certain what he had heard. The judge ruled that there had been probable cause to arrest Lord, though the testimony in the examining trial did little to prove or disprove Lords guilt. Summary: Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson and the homicide team investigate the brutal double murders of two friends shot and burned beyond recognition in the trunk of a car. We loved our life together.. He also had the medical examiner testify about what Thompson supposedly told him about the blood spatter on Lords clothes. Thompson stormed out of the room and asked Lundberg to see what he could get out of Lord. Lord could hardly look at him. Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson and the homicide team investigate the brutal double murders of two friends shot and burned beyond recognition in the trunk of a car. According to Lord, he became obnoxious and sarcastic, which often happened when he drank. According to Thompson, Rastegar said he had been in bed during the early morning hours of May 9 when he heard screaming in Burnsides front yard. It was Lundberg, who had gone to Parkland to examine Burnsides body. It was Burnsides father. (2014) Thompson formed his hand into the shape of a gun and pointed at his jawline, aiming upward at a 70-degree angle, which infuriated Shearin, who accused Thompson of wildly exaggerating the location and angle of the shot. Burnside had been involved in a couple of accidents. Weve been detectives for a long time, and we understand that sometimes things happen and we cant always control the situation, he said. But Lords attorney, Don Tittle, said the detective was wrong that police records show she called 911 immediately after trying to reach the friend. Every time she tried to answer a question, she said, he cut her off and called her a liar. I had the impression that she told me that [Burnside] had nothing to do with it and she did it. But he refused to say, like he had said on his porch, that he had definitely heard Lord confess to the shooting. They returned a unanimous verdict in favor of Lord, and ultimately the city had to pay her $1.2 million, which reportedly was the largest judgement of its kind in Dallas. . Whats more, he said, Thompson had left out of the affidavit the fact that Burnside, who was right-handed, had been shot at point-blank range in his right temple, which would give a judge another reason to believe he had committed suicide. She told Thompson that she too had been drinking that night, a mix of vodka and sweet tea. But, he added, his friend wasnt the type to get married at any point.. Dwayne Thompson has spent over 18 years with the Dallas Police Department. But, Jaffe added, Burnside didnt wave the gun around. Between sobs, Lord begged to be taken to Parkland to be with her boyfriend. On May 9, 2010, plaintiff Hephzibah Olivia Lord, 36, who works in mortgaging, was alone with her boyfriend at his home, in Dallas. Not only that, Sanders also pointed out Thompsons failure to read Ms. Lord her Miranda rights including specifically her right to remain silent after it was clear that Thompson considered Lord to be a suspect in a crime. The lawsuit also claimed that Thompson had permanently damaged Lords reputation in Dallas and caused her to suffer extreme emotional and mental anguish, including depression, insomnia, nightmares, and constant anxiety of the most extreme nature. Lord was asking for monetary damages, and according to courthouse gossip, Tittle was not willing to settle for less than seven figures. No, said Lord. 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. Why, for instance, were there bottles of cleaning products scattered on the kitchen floor? By then, a couple of those friends had talked to Thompson, and he had made it clear to them just what he thought of Lord: he said he would stake his career on his belief that she had killed him. Dwayne Thompson (I) IMDbPro Starmeter. In Texas, both federal and state laws exist to protect people like Hephzibal Olivia Lord from being overwhelmed and mistreated by police during criminal investigations. Thompson returned to headquarters and took the elevator to the homicide offices on the fifth floor. S8, Ep2 8 Jan. 2009 I dont work cases for the sexiness of them, Thompson snapped. She identified herself as Olivia Lord, Burnsides girlfriend, and said she had just found Burnside lying on the kitchen floor with a gunshot wound to his head. Dressed in one of his dark suits, Thompson strode toward his seat. How Florence ButtNot Her SonLaunched the H-E-B Empire. That she didnt mean to do it.. He told Lundberg that he wasnt sure this was a suicide. He then asked them to ride down to Dallas police headquarters in separate squad cars to give their statements. Bring on the Shiplap? The detective was 47 years old and built like a linebacker at six feet two inches and 230 pounds. We were joking around about somethingI dont remember whatand I said, Hey, wheres your Beretta? And he opened up [a kitchen drawer] and said, Its right here.. But Detective Dwayne Thompson testified Tuesday that nothing he has heard since his civil trial began last week has changed his opinion that Lord intentionally killed Burnside. In a typical suicide, he said, when someone shoots himself in the temple, he points the gun straight at his head and the bullet travels through the brain and exits in a line roughly parallel to the floor. He knew it. Then Shearin got his big break. "When I work my cases, I don't have a dog in the fight," said Thompson, a homicide detective since 2006. Thompson misrepresented any facts or falsified any government documents. They also declared that there was no evidence that Det. What this trial is about is whether this detective had probable cause to believe that she did it. Then Schuette began listing all the reasons that would make a detective like Thompson believe Lord had killed her boyfriend. If he had wanted to go after that girl, he could have made stuff up, trumped up reports, and hidden the Rastegar tape. Self - Detective; 2009-2014 2 eps; Credits. Or he mistakenly pulled the trigger thinking the Beretta was unloaded., Jaffe shook his head. | Editor And the bullet had exited toward the top of the left side of Burnsides head. Testimony continues Friday, during which Lord may take the witness stand. For her part, Lord said that she would gladly give up any money in return for Thompsons being sent to prison. In August, three months after the shooting, Shearin requested an examining trial, a legal procedure in which a police officer must appear in a magistrates court to lay out the probable cause for the arrest of a suspect in a felony case. Compared with Thompson, Lundberg was a quiet man who wore glasses and spoke slowly. When he wasnt solving murders, Thompson restored sports cars and tooled around in a black Corvette convertible. 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. Finally, after Thompson barked at him, he stepped onto the front porch and told a flabbergasting story. The arrest affidavit had never mentioned that Rastegar had backed off during his interview. By that time, Lord was working as a loan officer, and although they were both romantically involved with other people, they were clearly attracted to each other. 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. The jury determined Friday that Dallas homicide Detective Dwayne Thompson showed a reckless disregard for the civil rights of 36-year-old Hephzibah Olivia Lord. Another particle had been discovered on the front of Lords shirt. All we want is for Olivia to go through a criminal trial, said John Burnside, sitting with Cindi in their East Dallas home. Who do you think you are? The trial finally began in a federal courtroom in downtown Dallas this past Januarynearly four years after the shooting. For the rest of the month, Burnsides father regularly called Thompson to get updates on the investigation. Detective Dwayne Thompson quietly retired from Dallas PD. On August 6 Brown signed the report, and Thompson was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing. Thompson studied Lord and Jaffe for a moment, then walked over to them. Its terrifying., Lords claim of innocence has been bolstered by Rastegar, who told me that he never said to Thompson or Lundberg, not even on his front porch, that he had heard her confess to shooting Burnside. A police officer receives a high degree of protection when he conducts a criminal investigation. 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 solve without the victim's body. Chasing a trail of clues, Thompson and the Dallas homicide 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. The way Lord had described it, she and Burnside were deeply in love, and they had been talking about marriage. But, said Lundberg, there was no sign of blood spatter on Burnsides right hand or arm. Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson and the homicide team investigate the brutal double murders of two friends shot and burned beyond recognition in the trunk of a car. And now you have this thing where he was spending a lot of money on his friend, but he didnt spend near as much money on your birthday. You [expletive] shot him! Comments are moderated and these will not be published. Burnsides father showed up to let her in, and when Lord tried to tell him she had not murdered his son, he cut her off. According to news reports and witness testimony of what happened in that interrogation room, Thompson suddenly became aggressive in his questioning, yelling accusations at a weeping Lord, things like You shot him! I grabbed him and held him.. I cant say unequivocally whether the young woman did or didnt do the shooting because I wasnt there., At the same time, Mitchell and other prosecutors in the DAs office were not convinced Thompson had committed any serious wrongdoing. In 2008, when the producers of The First 48, a reality series on the A&E network about homicide detectives in big-city police departments, came to Dallas to film some episodes, they were riveted by Thompson. (As he said in one interview for The First 48, Bringing stuff back to life is whats up, Jack.) He taught classes at the Dallas Police Academy, and a private training agency hired him to lead seminars on detective work around the country. Im innocent, Lord kept saying. All prosecutors know that almost every murder case contains inconsistent and sometimes contradictory evidence. But we at least have the right to know that. Contact info; Agent info; Help contribute to IMDb. 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