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Cameras followed him as he solved a murder case in which the body was never found. After the service, she told Burnsides friends that she hadnt returned any of their calls because she had been overwhelmed with grief. Why are you doing this to me right now? Lord asked Thompson at one stage during the questioning. He sustained a fatal contact gunshot wound to the right temple. IMDbPro. Skip Hollandsworth specializes in long-form narratives. Lundberg said that there was a gunshot wound to his right temple, a contact wound where the muzzle had been pressed directly against his head, which is common in suicides involving a handgun. The Hephzibah Olivia Lord by Detective Dwayne A. Thompson lasted for hours. Were missing something, he said to her. Brian, we got a problem, Thompson said. Facebook gives people the power. Although Thompson would not consent to my request for an interview, people who have talked to him say he feels that he has done nothing wrong. If he had wanted to go after that girl, he could have made stuff up, trumped up reports, and hidden the Rastegar tape. Leave them blank to get signed up. 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. I loved my boyfriend.. Lord shook her head. During her twenties, she always seemed to be out and about, a regular at trendy nightspots and concerts. Thompson asked if there was any chance that Jaffe had been carrying on a secret relationship with Lord. And youd say, you know, Thats not a toy., Jaffe said that Burnside had pulled out a gun that night. Lord seemed to be trying to control her breathing. The report could be interpreted several ways: Maybe, as Shearin believed, after Burnside had pulled the trigger, some of the gunshot residue had been transferred onto Lord when she held him in the kitchen. She told her parents that Thompson had brutalized her. Whats more, she didnt want him to go to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. I wasnt going to leave him, she said, her voice breaking. Jaffe said he had sped back to Burnsides home, arriving at the same time as the paramedics. 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, said Lundberg, there was no sign of blood spatter on Burnsides right hand or arm. Don't be scared to look at. He wasnt stressed-out, Thompson said. City attorneys are defending him, saying he acted in good faith and without malice. (Jaffe had been drinking Shiner Bock, and Burnside had been having Red Bull mixed with vodka.) City Employees Are Heading for the Exits. I heard what I thought was glass shattering really loud, Lord said. 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. Thompson and Lundberg started talking. Seven minutes is a long time, Thompson told her several times on the video. She was so hysterical he could not understand what she was saying. Self - Detective; 2009-2014 2 eps; Credits. Dwayne Thompson and Kim Sanders are both grizzled veterans of the Dallas police homicide unit. But those mistakes do not amount to malice., Tittle, however, wasted no time going on the attack, telling the jury in his opening statement, There is not and was not a shred of credible evidence to suggest that Olivia Lord had anything to do with Michaels death. As for the question of blood spatter on Lords clothes, however, Quinton did have a definite opinion. She had told Jaffe she had driven past Burnsides house before leaving and had seen crime scene investigation vehicles parked outside. Thompson sat in another chair and asked about Burnside. But as the case made its way through the courts, she maintained her innocenceand claimed Thompson was the one who should go to prison. By the first of June, hed put aside Lords file to work on his other cases. Play Trailer 0:21. 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? It was a stupid fight., Jaffe paused. And if the young man had shot himself, wouldnt the gun have landed closer to his body? He asked her about some of the puzzling physical evidence that had been found at Burnsides home the night of the shooting. Strapped around. Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich said he brought thousands of offenders to justice, bringing closure to victims and their families. For her part, Lord said that she would gladly give up any money in return for Thompsons being sent to prison. There was no sign that he had struggled with an assailantno bruises or scratches on his skin, no scuffed knuckles. The detective told him that he was doing what he could. Its insane, he was overheard saying one afternoon at a restaurant near the police department. All we want is for Olivia to go through a criminal trial, said John Burnside, sitting with Cindi in their East Dallas home. Thompson also had not told the Burnsides that he had misread a crucial piece of evidence. In his lectures, he often told other officers that to find out why a killing had taken place, it was as important to study the life of the victimvictimology, he called itas it was to study the behavior of the criminal. I grabbed him and held him.. He told Thompson that his son had had the most positive personality of anyone he had ever met. They had not laid eyes on each other since he had interrogated her. And in Cleveland, an argument among friends spins out of control when one of them makes a deadly decision. 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. Mikey said, Im not going to cheat on you in Vegas. People drink all the time who own guns, Thompson said. When Thompson took the stand, he seemed utterly likable as he described his history as a detective. He said that he couldnt handle disappointing me on top of all the financial stress and tax problems that he was enduring.. A couple of clerks grinned at him. But, he added, his friend wasnt the type to get married at any point.. Then Tittle fired back. She explained that after she had found Burnside, her calls to 911 kept getting dropped due to a weak signal on her cellphone. Some are arguing that Lord has won this jury verdict because Detective Thompson used a controversial form of interrogation method called the Reid method of questioning. Lord glanced at Thompson and he glanced back. Every day, dozens of times a day, I think about that talk and how I wish I could take it all back, she told me. Shearin then asked if she was included in Burnsides will or his life insurance policy. Home I wasnt going to leave him., She then told me something she had not mentioned before. In early May, word spread that the departments Public Integrity Unit had launched an investigation of Thompsons work on the Lord case. Lord was charged with murder a month after her boyfriend shot himself. According to Lord, he became obnoxious and sarcastic, which often happened when he drank. 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. (2014) Ill tell you this about Mikey: his motto was I love my life. Every time something worked out, hed be like, I love my life. In fact, Jaffe said, Burnside had used that very phrase that evening because his company was about to bill $70,000 for work it had done in a single week. For someone to say Dwayne maliciously would go after Miss Lord and try to set her up, I would say, You have the wrong guy, said Andrea Handley, one of the offices senior prosecutors. She cooked, she cleaned, he was happy.. I cant say any more, but its insane.. We loved our life together.. Join Facebook to connect with Dwayne Thompson and others you may know. 3. Chip Gaines Bought Larry McMurtrys Historic Texas Bookstore. Sometimes he would think [a gun] was unloaded and he would swing it around, you know, not trying to hurt anybody, just being stupid. That doesnt mean they kill themselves.. And Im a person who thinks your behavior tonight doesnt add up. He pointed his finger at her. Yes you did! No, said Quinton, Thompson hadnt mentioned either of those things. Wearing a black dress and black heels, Lord came into the courtroom, followed by her friends and family. I dont remember the exact words that were used, he told Lundberg. Yes you did!. "You look at that. Although she had her own apartment, she was planning to move in with him as soon as he finished remodeling the house. Thompson said he had heard that Burnside was making money. Individuals have a right to counsel when they are being questioned, this is part of the Miranda warning. Thompson returned to headquarters and took the elevator to the homicide offices on the fifth floor. Then Shearin got his big break. Im a person who just lost her boyfriend, Lord wailed. He had been a good-looking young man, with a magnificent, wide grin. Come on., Lord closed her eyes when I asked her about those detractors who continue to believe shes hiding something. I know that he could get dramatic and a little crazy when he drank. And now that he had a witness who was going to provide bombshell testimony about what had really happened that night, he was ready to go to trial. I cant undo what hes done.. I was leaning over my future husbands body, Lord said. He stabbed the photo of the victim with his index finger. The Dallas City Council on Wednesday approved a settlement of more than $1 million to a . Thompson, a 21-year veteran of the Police Department, has been a homicide detective since 2006. On May 9, 2010, plaintiff Hephzibah Olivia Lord, 36, who works in mortgaging, was alone with her boyfriend at his home, in Dallas. Do I want to know an answer? Lord could hardly look at him. Okay, fine. Mitchell eventually told Shearin that she was willing to dismiss the charges against Lord. 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. An officer came over to Thompsons cubicle and handed him Lords and Jaffes cellphones. Nor did Burnsides parents invite her to the reception. (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. He asked Thompson if he had told one of Burnsides friends that this was the case of a lifetimethe kind of case that could make him famous. 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. The arrest was based upon Thompsons affidavit. . As Lord hugged Tittle and members of her family, Thompson stood at the defense table, his mouth open. . A 9mm Beretta was also on the floor about five feet from where Burnsides body had been. His voice got even softer. Thats Olivia Lord, he told Thompson. He walked into the kitchen and nodded at Dale Lundberg, a detective who was on call that night to work as Thompsons backup. Required fields are marked *. 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. She grew up in the Dallas area and after graduating from high school, she went straight to work, leasing apartments for a large real estate company and later selling cosmetics at Neiman Marcus in NorthPark Center. Chasing a trail of clues, Thompson and the Dallas homicide team are always one step behind their suspect. Her father, who lived in Californiahe and Lords mother had divorced when she was a childflew in to be with her. When Shearin asked if he had told anyone that there was blood spatter on Lords clothing, he replied, I may have said it, but I dont know whether I said it or not. Shearin then asked about the trajectory of the bullet through Burnsides skull. 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. Texas Lege Watch: A House Republican Fights for Chicken Freedom, Texas Monthly Recognized by ASME in the 2023 National Magazine Awards.