03x08 - The Doctor Will See You

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: A doctor...

Brutally m*rder*d
in his own office.

My father was bound and gagged

and on the floor
right in front of the door.

Narrator: His family...
- Oh, my god.

Narrator:
...Shocked beyond belief.

When she said "m*rder,"
I was like, "what?"

Narrator: Horrifying images
of the suspect caught on camera.

I think the surveillance video

was the absolute cornerstone
of this case.

Narrator: But can they
catch him...

John, it's me.

Narrator: ...Before
he escapes justice...

He said,
"I'm gonna k*ll him."

...for good?

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: October 24, 2006.

Chicago, Illinois.


David cornbleet

is an old-school doctor

who works all by himself
in a downtown medical building.

Jocelyn: My father worked
extremely hard

because he looked at it

like he wanted
to make our lives easy.

He was a really good father.

He wanted
to build up his practice

so that we could go to
any college we wanted to.

He was unbelievably generous.

He dedicated his time
to his patients.

He had patients
who had come in

and didn't have
enough money to pay.

And he wouldn't
charge them very much.

Or he wouldn't charge them
anything at all.

Jon: My father's job
was everything to him.

He did everything
out of devotion

and love to medicine.

[ Telephone rings ]

Narrator: Most dermatologists
are booked weeks in advance...

- Hello, Dr. cornbleet.
- ...But David cornbleet always

makes time
for a patient in need.

Today?

It was very common for people

to call last minute
and make appointments.

And he was always happy
to squeeze people in.

Uh, I can see you.

Narrator: No matter
how long his workday,

David cornbleet always calls
his wife, Eileen, by 6:30 p.M,

to let her know
when he'll be home.

[ Telephone rings ]

But by 7:00 P.M.

On October 24, 2006,

there's still no call.

And the doctor
isn't answering his phone.

My father had
a routine and a schedule.

He followed it
methodically every day.

Eileen calls her
daughter, jocelyn,

a lawyer who works in the city.

Dad's not picking up.

Could you please
go over to the office

and check on him?

Jocelyn: I got in my car,

and it takes five, ten minutes
to get to my dad's office.

I was so out of my mind
with worry at that point.

I asked the woman
who was working at the desk

had she seen my father.

Have you seen
my dad leave yet?

And when she said,
"no, I haven't seen him,

which is unusual"

it was like a feeling
of sinking pain in my stomach

because I knew
at that point he was...

he was in his office,
and something was really wrong.

Narrator: Moments later,

jocelyn reaches her dad's office
on the 12th floor,

only to find his door...

Is open.

I knew that if he had
left the office,

it would have been locked.

So I come in
pretty much knowing

that, you know,
something is not right.

I peeked into the main room.

Dad!

My father was bound and gagged

and on the floor
right in front of the door.

I think I was in shock.

I didn't cry.
I didn't feel emotion.

It was just too much
to take in at once.

[ Voice breaking ]
Oh, my god!

It was very shocking
when she saw him.

And obviously,
he was not responsive to her.

She immediately called 911...
- Hello, I need an ambulance...

- ...for emergency services.
- ...At 30 Michigan Avenue.

Narrator:
It's already clear to jocelyn...

There's a lot of blood.

...that he's dead.

[ Sirens wailing ]

I had to call my mom...

Is he breathing?

...which is something
I would not ever wish on anyone,

that you have to tell
your family members

that your father is m*rder*d.

Mom, there's a lot of blood.
I don't...

Is he alive?

No, please, no.

[ Dialing ]

Jon: Hello?

My mom called me

and told me
that my father had d*ed.

Something terrible
has happened.

The first thing that went
through my head was,

"he must have had a stroke
or something like that."

[ Voice breaking ]
He's been m*rder*d.

When she said m*rder,
I was like, "what?"

W-what happened?

I never, in a million years,

would believe
that would have happened.

[ Police radio chatter ]

Narrator: Police arrive
and try to make sense

of the chaotic scene.

Well, this is obviously
not a robbery-gone-bad.

So is this someone
who had some sort of grudge

against the doctor?

Narrator: Whatever happened,

there was clearly a struggle

before the k*ller got control
and tied the doctor up.

What followed was barbaric.

The k*ller tried to cut off
the victims hands

before stabbing him
at least 20 times in the torso.

From the blood spatter patterns,
it seems the assailant

shed his own blood
in the process.

They were pretty confident

that there were
two different bloods there.

It had to have been
an agonizing death.

The person was very angry...

...and wanted to personally
deliver the message

in the most vicious way
that he could.

Narrator: And one puzzling
piece of evidence

hints he planned
his att*ck in advance.

Murray: Packaging for a rope,
that's not something

that's normally found
at a dermatologist's office.

There's no need
for that to be there.

Narrator:
While crime-scene techs

continue processing the office
for clues,

homicide detectives dig deeper
into the doctor's personal life.

I'm sorry to have to ask
these difficult questions.

The police asked if my father
had had any affairs,

if there was anybody
that we knew

that might be likely to do this.

Or anybody that might have
held a grievance against him?

- No.
- Like what?

They did ask
whether my father used dr*gs,

whether he had
extra-curricular activities

in terms of soliciting people
for prostitution...

Absolutely not.

...whether his business
was doing well.

Jon: Did he owe anybody
any money?

Did anybody owe him
a lot of money?

Could your father have been
having an affair?

I knew that he loved his family
more than anything.

I knew that he had never
hurt anybody in his entire life.

The idea that other people
might think this

about my father
was so devastating to us.

I'm sorry
for your loss.

Narrator:
As the evening wears on,

detectives are at a loss.

There's no smoking g*n,

no obvious motive,
and no witness to the m*rder.

There aren't
any security cameras

in the doctor's office
or in the corridor.

But downstairs...

Investigators are in luck.

There are six cameras covering

the ground floor of the building

and crucially,

one by the elevators
and another in the lobby.

No one can get
to Dr. cornbleet's office

without passing both
these cameras,

which means whoever k*lled
Dr. cornbleet

has to be on tape.

Narrator: Chicago police know

that Dr. David cornbleet's
k*ller

couldn't have gotten
to his office

without passing at least two
of these security cameras.

One of the first acts
that the police did was,

you know, collect
any surveillance

from within the building

because it noted every person
who walked in and out.

Narrator: But the video
is recorded off-site.

And investigators won't be able
to see it till morning.

Shortly after the doctor's body
is discovered,

detective march asks
the security guard

whether she saw anyone
suspicious that evening.

There was one man,

seemed to be
covering his face.

That's what
caught my eye.

Really?
Could you describe him?

Maybe 6 feet, white...

She says he was
around 6 feet tall,

white, and in his 20s
with light hair and a hat.

And he left the building
around 5:30 P.M.

A psychotherapist from the floor
above Dr. cornbleet's

tells a similar story.

She was already on an elevator,
heading to the lobby.

It got to the 12th floor

and the suspect got
on the elevator.

He kept hiding his face
in his shirt.

- Really?
- Yeah.

He appeared, to her,
to be in an agitated state.

Narrator: Investigators
now have a suspect.

But so far,
there's no way to find him.

Thank you so much.
You have a good night.

You, too.

A tense night goes by

with a savage k*ller
on the loose.

The following morning,

detectives finally dive into
the building's cctv footage.

What do you got?

All those cameras
are a potential goldmine.

Based on Dr. cornbleet's
patient notes for the day,

they know he was
still alive at 4:45

and likely dead an hour later.

Police fast-forward the video
covering the lobby to 4:40

and start scouring
the screen for clues.

The first video is
a security camera perched

above a stairwell,
inside the building.

Narrator: At 4:42 P.M.,
two men and a woman exit

through the revolving door

while a man in orange
sits on the steps

with his back to the camera.

He seems to be on the phone.

As another woman makes her way
out of the building,

he flips through a paper.

He's definitely not
the white man

both eyewitnesses identified.

But at this point,

everyone has to be
considered a suspect.

The minutes tick by as the man
in orange continues

to loiter in the lobby
on his phone.

Otherwise, the foyer is empty.

Police keep waiting
for the 20-something white man

in the hat to appear.

And one minute
and 20 seconds later...

...there he is,

white, male, young,

in a hat,
and hiding his face.

Whoever this is
makes a quick turn

toward the elevators.

Murray: We can see a man
walking through

with a bag draped
over his shoulder.

And he moves quickly
to the left,

out of the view of the camera.

Narrator: He seems familiar
with the building's layout,

knowing to make that turn the
second he gets through the door.

Play that again.

There's no outward signs

of agitation
or anything of that.

He just appears to be walking
to where elevators are.

Narrator: Nothing looks
out of the ordinary...

Oh, wait a minute.
Rewind that.

...until investigators catch
the tiniest detail.

Just before the man
enters the building...

...he takes something white
out of his pocket.

Did you see that?

He's using a handkerchief
to open the door.

He could be
afraid of germs.

Or he's making sure
not to leave fingerprints,

in which case,
this could be the lead-up

to Dr. cornbleet's m*rder.

But who this is is a mystery.

All the time, he's looking down
toward the ground.

So the camera does not
pick up his face.

Narrator: Six seconds later...

...the second camera picks
him up by the elevators.

The second video shows him

pressing a button and standing
as the far away from the camera

as possible.

Narrator: Again,
he's used his handkerchief.

Araya: He looks very calm,
very focused,

very mission oriented.

He knows where he's going.

He's not wandering around.

He knows exactly
what he's doing.

Narrator: 13 seconds later,
someone gets off the elevator,

and the man in the red hat
gets on.

It's 4:42 and 50 seconds.

Murray: Again,
away from the security camera,

you don't get a very good look
at his face.


without any sign of the suspect.

Detectives watch
every second of the tape,

waiting for him to reappear.

He can't leave the building
without passing the cameras.

Then, at 5:28,
a strange sighting.

Two people emerge
from one of the far elevators

and walk down the hallway.

A second later...

A third figure emerges
from another elevator,

hiding his face.

Police wonder,

"is this the same man
who went it?"

It's got to be
the same guy.

Murray: He's definitely
more in a rush

or more in a hurry to get away
from the elevator

and get out of the building.

He's now not wearing
the red baseball cap.

It looks like he's got
a dark-colored,

maybe a dark blue or a black,
woolen cap on,

a cap without a brim.

Narrator: Still,
he resembles the man

who passed the camera


And clearly,
he's acting strange.

He's using his jacket
to cover his face.

Murray: He's holding
an item of clothing.

He's holding it near his face.

Freeze that sh*t.

Narrator: That's when detectives
spot something

even more sinister.

Murray: The hooded sweatshirt,

it appears to have bloodstains

on different parts of it.

Narrator: 11 seconds later,
on the lobby camera...

The man makes a quick exit.

He's still holding that article
of clothing up to his face.

The bag that he initially
carried into the building

is more obvious now.

Narrator: The blood...

The wardrobe change...

The handkerchief...

It all points to this
mystery man as the k*ller.

Police ask jocelyn
and jon for help.

Jocelyn: When I saw the video,

it's a mixture
of anger and sadness.

That likely was going
to be the individual

who k*lled my dad.

You recognize
this man?

No.

I had absolutely no idea
who it was

and why this individual was
somehow linked to my father.

Narrator: Taking a new tact...

Find anything?

Detectives dig
into cornbleet's records.

Murray: It's possible
that there was a patient

who might have some reason
to be dissatisfied

with Dr. cornbleet
and want to cause him harm.

Jocelyn: My dad had kept
meticulous notes

as to every patient he saw.

Check these people.

Every patient had a card.

And it was alphabetically stored
in his file cabinet.

And so there were
thousands and thousands

and thousands of patients.

What they started to do was
focus on the patients

that had seen my father
most recently.

Narrator: The doctor saw
two white men in their 20s

the day of his m*rder.

The first was Sammy jessen.

According to his records,

he'd been coming to the office

once every two weeks
for the past year for eczema

then, suddenly, took a break.

Yesterday was
his first appointment

in almost three months.

Officers promptly
pay him a visit.

Hey,
are you Sammy jessen?

Yeah.

He matches
the suspect's description

and confirms he saw the doctor
yesterday afternoon.

Notice anything
out of the ordinary

when you were
at the office?

No.

Where did you go
afterwards?

I met up with my girlfriend
at a bar downtown.

It was, uh...
The brick tavern.

How you doin'?

Investigators head off to check

Sammy's alibi for
the afternoon of the m*rder...

Do you have
closed-circuit TV here?

...and they're in luck.

There are cameras covering
the bar area and entrance.

We're gonna need
to look at the tapes.

Where do you keep 'em?

Narrator: They start the tape
at 4:30 P.M.

And the footage will reveal

whether Sammy is
telling the truth.

♪♪

Narrator: This man is now
the prime suspect

in the brutal slaying
of Dr. David cornbleet.

Police wonder if he
is patient Sammy jessen...

Met up with my girlfriend
at a bar.

Who says he was in this bar
at the time of the m*rder.

Security footage will decide
if that's true.

They start the tape
at 4:30 P.M.

At 5:06 P.M.,

their eyes are drawn
to the entrance

as a young couple enters.

Okay, run it there.

It's difficult to I.D. Them
from the high angle.

But as they approach
the camera,

their faces are clear.

It's him.

It's Sammy jessen
and his girlfriend

right at the time
of the m*rder.

His alibi is airtight.

There were two white males
Dr. cornbleet saw

the afternoon he was m*rder*d.

With their first patient
ruled out,

detectives move on
to the second.

The last name listed
in Dr. cornbleet's

appointment book is James read,

a new patient whose
first appointment

was for 4:45 P.M.,

just three hours before
Dr. cornbleet was found dead.

♪♪

Jocelyn:
Based on that information,
they were able to deduce

that the last patient
that my dad had seen

was an individual
who lived in Lincoln park.

Narrator: The address on file
takes investigators

to one of Chicago's most
respectable old neighborhoods.

Even if read isn't the k*ller,

he may be a valuable witness.

Yes.

Good morning, ma'am.

Is there a James read
residing here?

No, no.

Narrator: The homeowner says
there's no one by that name

at this address...
Or in the neighborhood.

He provided a name
and an address

that didn't match anyone
who lived at that address.

Narrator: Suspicion
surrounding James read

is growing by the minute.

It appears that this might
be the person

who perpetrated the m*rder
on Dr. cornbleet.



police are chasing a ghost

who may already be


♪♪

Reporter: What you're looking at
is a man investigators say

is about to become a m*rder*r.

Narrator: Desperate for leads,
police go public with the video.

Reporter: Jon cornbleet says
it was a vicious att*ck.

His father, he says,
was stabbed.

Murray: The shocking manner
in which he was m*rder*d,

this caught the attention
of everyone in Chicago.

Narrator:
But even with the story
all over the news...

Reporter 2: Later found
stabbed to death inside.

...detectives are no closer
to I.D.'Ing the k*ller.

I thought that this figure
was out on TV,

that somebody
would have recognized him.

I was angry that nobody
had come forward.

Narrator:
Jon and his sister take matters
into their own hands,

creating a MySpace page

dedicated to solving
their father's m*rder

and offering a $25,000 reward.

We all started using that page,
between us,

to contact other friends,

ask them,
"can you share this?

Can you share this?"
And people did.

People were
incredibly sympathetic.

♪♪

Narrator: But despite
the extra publicity...

It doesn't lead
to a breakthrough.

Desperate to keep
the case alive,

investigators review
the crime-scene evidence.

One strange detail sticks out...

that rope packaging
near the doctor's body.

That's something that stands out
as not an item

that's commonly found
in Dr. cornbleet's office.

Narrator: Maybe somehow,
this piece of evidence

can lead them back
to the k*ller.

Detectives start with a visit

to the manufacturer's website.

This looks the same.

We need to contact
all the stores that sell this.

Turns out,

the rope is exclusive
to home depot.

There are 10 home depots
in Chicago alone,

and they all carry
that particular rope.

Detectives focus on the store

nearest to
Dr. cornbleet's office.

To determine how many people

have bought
this particular item,

you'd go to the store to see
when these purchases were made.

Narrator: They get
some good news.

Home depot's computer system
records the date and time

of every purchase.

And they've got an extensive
surveillance system.

Need to take a look
at the footage.

How can we
make that happen?

Yeah, it'll take us
a little while.

But, uh...
I can make that happen.

Shortly after,

the footage arrives
on the detectives' desk.

At the home depot closest
to downtown Chicago,

there were 25 rope purchases

in the days
leading up to the m*rder.

So it's a process
of elimination.

The first customer
is a middle-aged woman.

The second customer
is a 70-year-old man,

then a third...

A fourth.

Customer after customer
buys this ordinary rope.

Track them anyway.

I want everyone who buys a rope
followed up on.

Investigators roll through
a dozen more transactions

without seeing their suspect.

But their luck is about to turn.

He's the same height and build
as their suspect.

And he's buying
that very same rope.

♪♪

Narrator: Detectives working
the David cornbleet m*rder

are now intently focused
on footage of a young man

buying rope at a home depot.

But will it be enough
to hang him with?

Murray: The same type of rope,
same type of packaging.

His height, weight, and hair
was similar to the person

seen leaving the elevator.

Switch the camera.

Jon: We thought there's
pretty strong probability

that the person in the video
was responsible for the m*rder.

Narrator: Detectives watch
as the man removes his wallet.

If he pays with a credit card,

they'll be able
to trace his identity.

But he pays with cash.

Still,
there are other camera angles.

Maybe one of them
picked up a clue.

Detectives rewind the footage

to the first time
he appears on camera.

Let's see
all the footage.

They isolate three
critical clips.

The first shows the suspect
entering the store.

A second camera
spots him checking out.

And a third shows him
leaving the building.

But still, there is no way
of knowing who this man is.

But jon cornbleet isn't about
to sit on his hands.

We felt like the video was
probably our best lead.

And we paid to have it
enhanced by an FBI group.

Narrator: The video
is much clearer.

He uploads to
the family MySpace page.

Enhancing the footage was
definitely a very smart idea,

helping us to attract
more attention.

Narrator: All they can
do now is wait.

Two days later,
a man walks into Chicago P.D.

And announces he knows
who the man in the video is...

Because it's him.

Listen, I-i just want
to clear my name.

He recognized himself,

but swears he knows nothing
about the m*rder.

I was just trying
to buy some rope.

Police ask the man
for a DNA sample

to compare against
the k*ller's blood

left at the crime scene.

What...
whatever I can do to help.

He doesn't hesitate.


if the individual is innocent,

wants to clear his name, and
wants the spotlight to go away,

he'll give consent
to be swabbed.

And when the results
come in...

...there's no match.

[ Sighs ] Thank you.

Jocelyn: It's just
heart-wrenching,

the amount of hours
that the police and my brother

and my family went through
analyzing this video

and disseminating it to people
to try to get information.

And he was cleared.

And he wasn't the person
who did it.

You're back
to where you started.

Narrator: Six months
after the m*rder,

despite an avalanche
of publicity,

Chicago P.D. Is no closer
to finding the doctor's k*ller.

That's when an e-mail lands

in jon cornbleet's inbox...

...with an ominous
subject line.

Jon: It said that
this person was a marine.

He believes he knows
what happened in this case

and can help me
and wants to get in touch

with the investigators
to solve the crime.

I knew that this was
very legitimate.

I had said to him,
"here's my cell phone number.

Please call me anytime.

I would like to speak to you."

[ Cellphone ringing ]

Hello,
jon cornbleet.

It's me,
the guy who e-mailed you.

Can you talk?

He informed my brother
that he had had a meeting

with one of his friends
named Michael.

Narrator: Michael's roommate
was manic and antisocial

and would often stay awake
for days on end.

Then, Michael
dropped a bombshell.

He told the marine
his roommate may have

m*rder*d Dr. cornbleet.

Michael had been
suspicious of him for a while

but was too scared
to come forward.

Jon: When his friend
came back from serving,

he wanted to confess to him

and wanted to get it
off his chest.

He's convinced his roommate
is the k*ller.

His roommate said that
this doctor had caused him

irreparable harm
to his health.

And that he wanted to seek
some sort of revenge

against him at some point.

He said,
"he's a doctor...

...and I am
going to k*ll him."

Narrator: Six months after
Dr. David cornbleet's m*rder...

It's me.

...a tipster reveals
some shocking information.

He says he has
a friend in New York

who can identify
the man on tape

as his old roommate.

Days before the m*rder,
my friend's roommate left town

without saying
where he was going.

He returned
several days later,

packed his suitcase,
and then left for good.

About two weeks after,

my friend heard
about Dr. cornbleet's m*rder.

And he's convinced
his roommate is the k*ller.

Jon: What's his name?

His name...

Is hans Peterson.

The marine had informed us

that hans Peterson had been
living in New York

at the time of the m*rder

and had seen my dad

probably four years prior
to the m*rder.

Murray: Detective march checked
all of the names of patients

Dr. cornbleet had in the past

and found hans Peterson
on the list.

Narrator: Sure enough,

he only saw the doctor once,

in 2002, for acne.

The doctor prescribed
the drug Accutane...

And it should
do the trick for you.

And never treated him again.

- Okay.
- Thanks, doc.

Narrator:
So why would Peterson travel
to Chicago from New York

to k*ll a doctor he hadn't seen
in almost 5 years?

Police dig into Peterson's past

and turn up some
compelling evidence.

Murray: Hans Peterson
had some websites

where he put down his opinions
of Dr. cornbleet

and said he was
an unethical old man

who should not be
treating other people.

Hans Peterson had been

prescribed Accutane
by my father.

He had taken one pill.

And after taking
that one pill,

he claimed that he had
tinnitus in his ears.

He claimed that he entered
into a state of depression

that he couldn't
get himself out of.

And he also claimed that
because of taking a single pill,

that he was impotent.

♪♪

Police get a search warrant

for Peterson's former apartment,

looking for anything
that might have his DNA on it.

Murray:
When Chicago police detectives
came to New York.

They learned
that he was a smoker.

Narrator:
After an extensive search,

they manage to find
an old cigarette butt,

a tiny clue...

...with huge significance.

Murray: The crime scene
was a DNA match...

To hans Peterson.

Narrator:
After months of frustration,

they finally know who butchered
David cornbleet and why.

Jon: He k*lled my father
out of anger

because he felt that he had
given him a drug

that he shouldn't have taken

and that, basically,
he came up with an excuse

that this drug destroyed
everything in his life.

Now they need to find
their elusive suspect.

They get the marine to
e-mail hans Peterson directly,

pretending to be
his former roommate.

Days go by...

Nothing.

Then, a week
after the marine made contact,

Peterson responds.

Oh, great, thanks.

Jocelyn: They were immediately
gonna arrest this individual.

We would be able to move on
and have a trial

and get justice,
and unfortunately,

hans Peterson
had left the country.

Narrator: Peterson has
dual citizenship.

We just got Peterson's address.

And he's fled to
the French-Caribbean island

of Saint Martin.

Araya: He determined that there
would be no death penalty

in a foreign country,
such as France.

He was willing
to take his chances

with a more
liberal country's laws

than that
of the United States.

Narrator: Chicago P.D. Issues
an international arrest warrant.

To their surprise, Peterson
quickly turns himself in

to authorities on Saint Martin.

And tells police
what really happened.

He ruined my life.

Still vengeful
after all those years...

Peterson packed a bag
with a Kn*fe, a rope,

and a change of clothes.

He got what was coming.

Peterson tells police

he never planned
to k*ll the doctor.

[ Glass shatters ]

[ Scuffling ]

He just wanted
to cut off his hands

so he could never
practice again.

I just wanted to stop him
from making the same mistakes.

But when cornbleet
fought back...

Peterson lost control.

I had a headache
for years.

The ringing in my ears
wouldn't stop...

[ echoing ]
Wouldn't stop.

Narrator:
Despite Peterson's confession,

the French government refuses

to extradite him to the U.S.

Instead, he's transferred
to the island of Guadeloupe

for trial.

Jocelyn: Hans Peterson
had no remorse.

He seemed incredibly
proud of himself.

He believes, in some ways,
that he's a savior.

Narrator: On November 25, 2011,

hans Peterson is found
guilty of m*rder

with acts of barbarity

and sentenced
to the harshest penalty

under French law...
life in prison

with the possibility
of parole in 22 years.

I think in my father's case,
surveillance video

was the absolute cornerstone
of this case.

We were able
to take that video

and send it across the country
and get information.

And if it hadn't been for that,

there's no way we would have

received the e-mail
from the marine

that led to capturing
hans Peterson.

Narrator: Justice may be served.

But for the family,
the pain lives on.

Jon: It affects my life
every day.

I mean, I got married
a couple years ago.

My wife will never
meet my father.

I just recently had a child.

My child will never
meet my father.

There's an empty space there now
without him.

You feel anger...
an immense amount of anger,

that's indescribable,

that this person could
ruin your life in a day.

It ruined all of our lives.

It changed all of us forever.