Jaffe said he had been at the house earlier that evening, helping Burnside install a dishwasher while Lord was painting the doors and baseboards, and that he had left before midnight. Sometimes I want to walk inside, thinking he will be there. Toward the end of the year, he finally saw the video recording of Rastegars interview at police headquarters. Then his own cellphone rang. The lawyer was reluctant to open the door. 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. . Lord called 911, and police came. Why, he wanted to know, would a man suddenly shoot himself after what seemed to be a routine argument with his girlfriend? If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. Jaffe called Thompson back the next day and said that he had reached Lord. He walked into the kitchen and nodded at Dale Lundberg, a detective who was on call that night to work as Thompsons backup. But there was no corruption involved. . I had to cover my mouth I was so appalled, Judy Durbin, an accountant who was the foreman of the jury, would later recall. 3. One of his tasks was to take boxes of cold-case files out of the death room, where all homicide files are kept, and haul them to a storage area in city hall. Or, asked Shearin, did Thompson say that Burnside was stressed about owing money to the IRS? For Thompson, there was no question about it: Lord was on the run. Shearin questioned Lord about the drops of blood around the house. And he knew she was hiding something, he said. Thompson, a 21-year veteran of the Police Department, has been a homicide detective since 2006. Filing in behind him were at least a dozen of his fellow homicide detectives, there to show support. Texas Lege Watch: A House Republican Fights for Chicken Freedom, Texas Monthly Recognized by ASME in the 2023 National Magazine Awards. | Editor Lord was released. The Hephzibah Olivia Lord by Detective Dwayne A. Thompson lasted for hours. In an excited voice, he said that he had been told by his sons next-door neighbor that a neighbor who lived across the streetan attorney named Sheida Rastegarhad information that linked Lord to the killing. Sometimes he would think [a gun] was unloaded and he would swing it around, you know, not trying to hurt anybody, just being stupid. He knew it. A jury in federal civil court ruled Friday that a Dallas homicide detective, Dwayne Thompson, violated Lord's civil rights by maliciously having her arrested for a killing she didn't commit,. A couple of clerks grinned at him. The detective was 47 years old and built like a linebacker at six feet two inches and 230 pounds. And if the young man had shot himself, wouldnt the gun have landed closer to his body? texasmonthly.com He sustained a fatal contact gunshot wound to the right temple. He called Jaffe, who had also turned against Lord, to see if he could help him locate her. But Lord wanted her arrest to be permanently removed from her record, which would require her to be no-billed by a grand jury, a finding in which the jurors refuse to indict a suspect, primarily for a lack of evidence. I grabbed him and held him.. Strapped around his shoulders was a thick brown leather holster that held his department-issued pistol, a 9mm Sig Sauer. Lundberg then brought up the trajectory of the bullet through Burnsides brain. The officer flipped another page. You shot him!, Olivia, youre not telling me the truth., Youre arguing about a goddamn birthday party, and he says, Im so upset about the goddamn birthday party that Im going to kill myself? Thompson said, his voice growing louder. I mean, she got no-billed. Texas law enforcement officers (troopers, police officers, deputies) arrest people then interrogate them and take people into interrogation rooms for questioning as part of crime investigation routinely. A bullet hole was in a wall near the ceiling. But she was pointedly not invited to a get-together that Burnsides friends were throwing after the service at one of his favorite bars. Lundberg gently brought up the bloodied towels in the kitchen, asking if she had used them to wipe blood off her body. Thats the exact type of case that might have been portrayed on The First 48, right? Tittle asked. Shearin made his own presentation, about 25 minutes in length, laying out the case for his clients innocence. The detectives in charge of the investigation had concluded that there was no evidence to substantiate that Det. Testimony. Im a person who just lost her boyfriend, Lord wailed. After going through perfunctory questions about what happened that night, Thompsons voice boomed without warning. Lord shook her head. It was a stupid fight., Jaffe paused. In truth, she had called 911 seconds after she had tried to reach Jaffe. They couldnt get the dishwasher installed because of a broken valve, which sent water all over the floor, so they took a break. He said that based on Burnsides victimology, there was no way that a young man with a bright future would put a bullet in his brain simply because his girlfriend was peeved at him. Thompsons interrogation of Lord was videotaped. Dwayne Thompson (I) IMDbPro Starmeter. She works at a clothing shop, making $14 an hour, far less than what she was earning when she was in the mortgage business. He spoke to her the way a loving father would talk to his daughter. Another particle had been discovered on the front of Lords shirt. The officer shrugged. Lord is a striking green-eyed woman, with wavy auburn hair that sweeps down past her shoulders. He often said that victimology was the most overlooked part of a homicide investigation even though it could help explain whether a suspect was guilty or innocent. But he stayed in the bedroom, pacing, walking around, yelling at me, screaming, angry. Finally, after he couldnt get her to respond to him, he left the room. He then worked for a not for profit organization called "One Community" that's premise is to be a middle man between law enforcement and civilians. Im just as baffled as you are, she said. 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. Read the crime and public safety news your neighbors are talking about. Dressed in one of his dark suits, Thompson strode toward his seat. 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. One of the few black detectives in the unit, Thompson quickly made his mark. Weve been detectives for a long time, and we understand that sometimes things happen and we cant always control the situation, he said. Lord glanced at Thompson and he glanced back. Ive talked to her many, many times, and if she is lying about what happened, shes a hell of an actress, said one friend, Eric Love. Then, on June 5, his phone rang. 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. He studied the call histories on the phones and took some notes. 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. Will detectives be able to catch the killers before they strike again? (2014) The lawsuit claimed that Thompson had violated Lords civil rights by engaging in malicious prosecutionin particular, that he had intentionally misrepresented the facts about Burnsides shooting and omitted significant exculpatory information that would have proved Lord innocent of any wrongdoing. 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. Anonymous She said that she had phoned Jaffe because she initially thought Burnside had fallen and was hurt. | Sign In, Verdict Corrections You did! (For a more complete description of the interrogation, check out Dallas Morning News coverage from the day that the jury was shown the interrogation videotape.). Her fight for justice here began around 3 years ago and ended with last weeks jury verdict. There was another, longer silence. All prosecutors know that almost every murder case contains inconsistent and sometimes contradictory evidence. Lord seemed shocked. Her parents hired an attorney named Joe Shearin, a former guard for the University of Texas Longhorns who had played in the NFL before becoming one of Dallass most prominent criminal defense lawyers. Lord was charged with murder a month after Burnsides death, based on Thompsons affidavit, and spent nine days in jail. Burnside had been involved in a couple of accidents. The trial finally began in a federal courtroom in downtown Dallas this past Januarynearly four years after the shooting. Im still going to suffer for the rest of my life for this, she said. She had always insisted that she had not fled from the police. When he finished, he left a packet of evidence that hed compiled for the grand jurors to peruse, including the results of two polygraphs that concluded that Lord had not shown deception when she said she had not shot Burnside. Prior to her arrest, Lord had been known for her good-natured personality. | Privacy Statement. West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country, Jimmy Carters Peanut-and-Egg Taco Made Quite the Impression on San Antonians, The Top 50 Texas BBQ Joints: 2021 Edition, The Campaign to Sabotage Texass Public Schools. I dont remember the exact words that were used, he told Lundberg. Schuette and Tatia R. Wilson. Had she touched her boyfriends gun? He was not a depressed type of person at all. 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. Thompson, a 21-year veteran of the Police Department, has been a homicide detective since 2006. Im willing to accept that Mikey might have totally screwed up. S8, Ep2 8 Jan. 2009 You were very disappointed. I wasnt going to leave him, she said, her voice breaking. I dont want to answer that, she said. Jaffe said that he and Burnside had been drinking earlier that evening. 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? Edit. He told Thompson that his son had had the most positive personality of anyone he had ever met. Lord continued to deny involvement in the death during questioning, saying she was in the bathroom when she heard the shot and called 911. The officer flipped a page in his notebook. Shearin then asked if she was included in Burnsides will or his life insurance policy. Lord was charged with murder a month after her boyfriend shot himself. . Lord was slumped over in a chair, still wearing her blood-stained clothes. 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! But she maintained her innocence and claimed Thompson was the one who should go to prison. Instead, he gave Brandi Mitchell everything he had.. As he nodded sympathetically, she again talked about how hurt she had been on her birthday. Or maybe Mikey did it, Jaffe said. Jos R. Ralat is Texas Monthlys taco editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. (For a philosophy class, she wrote a paper on Socrates being sentenced to death under false charges.) Yes, the video of him interviewing her is pretty rough, and it looks like he comes across as a bully. Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich said he brought thousands of offenders to justice, bringing closure to victims and their families. She was on an airplaneon her way to California. 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. She fell to her knees and said it was an accident and that she didnt mean to shoot him. Olivia, youre not telling me the truth, Thompson told her. These actions are allowed constitutionally under their police powers; however, what can happen during a police interrogation is supposed to follow certain legal requirements and more often than not, they are undertaken while being recorded via video or audio. When he wasnt solving murders, Thompson restored sports cars and tooled around in a black Corvette convertible. He was the life of the party.. Its so ridiculous. And, Thompson guessed, she had wiped down her hands and arms with the towels he had seen on the kitchen floor. I work cases because thats what I get paid to do., Tittle asked Thompson why he didnt seem particularly disturbed that Burnside was drunk and had showed off his Beretta on the night of the shooting. A police officer receives a high degree of protection when he conducts a criminal investigation. After she graduates, she hopes to go to law school and perhaps someday work for the Innocence Project. She had lost her career because potential employers, when running a background check on her, would always find a reference to her arrest for murder. Thats what you did! Required fields are marked *. 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. It was a very overwhelming issue., Thompson leaned back in his chair and stared at Lord. But the man I loved is gone forever. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Det. (The autopsy report revealed that he had at least a .17 blood alcohol level when he diedtwice the legal limit to drive a vehicle.) Most of Thompsons fellow officers assumed it would be only a matter of time before he was firedand perhaps even indicted. No, said Quinton, Thompson hadnt mentioned either of those things. 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. When Michael Burnside was found dead in his Dallas home after an argument with his girlfriend, detective Dwayne Thompson decided that the victim's girlfriend, Olivia Lord, had pulled the trigger. She claimed that Thompson show a reckless disregard for her rights in having Plaintiff arrested in 2010 for the shooting death of her boyfriend, Mcihael Brunside. Michael Lowe is Celebrating Over 20 YEARS of Service. [4] She claimed that Thompson show a reckless disregard for her rights in having Plaintiff arrested in 2010 for the shooting death of her . Or maybe in the midst of the argument, Burnside had pulled the Beretta out of the kitchen drawer for a second time, handed it to Lord, and said, in an effort to be dramatic, If you hate me so much, then just shoot me. And she did. Lundberg conducted the interview because Thompson had a prior commitment to teach a class at the police academy. At the end of the interrogation, he had discarded her like trash.. What he didnt say was that the case was going nowhere. 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. High degree of protection when he conducts a criminal investigation her arrest, Lord wailed suffer the... 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