10x21 - Writer's Block

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Narrator: a brilliant young
architect mysteriously died just

Before she testified in a
criminal trial.

Her diary contained stories of
sex, betrayal, and intrigue.

Investigators needed to know if
the stories were true.

Investigators needed to know if
the stories were true.

University park, texas, just
outside of dallas, is

Better known as "the bubble."

It's a place of privilege and
prestige -- an address many

Would like to have but few can
afford.

It's kind of the
beverly hills of dallas.

That's the way the park cities
is.

Narrator: nancy dillard lyon
lived most of her life in texas.

She was a harvard-trained
architect and the daughter of a

Wealthy and well-connected
dallas family.

Nancy met her husband richard
while at harvard.

They married and soon had two
children.

They had great energy, great
friendliness.

When we moved in, they gave
gifts of ice cream, and they'd

Bake cookies and bring them over
to us.

My husband, who I've said is
rarely hyperbolic about

Anything, used to say she was
the nicest person in the world.

Narrator: nancy quickly
became the youngest partner in

The history of trammell crow, a
large real estate development

Firm.

But success came at a price.

I think she always had, as
many women did at that time, a

Conflict between the amount of
hours that she wanted to work to

Develop her career and time
spending with her children.

Narrator: nancy was also
experiencing some physical

Ailments.

And on a january night in 1991,
her symptoms included vomiting

And severe stomach pain.

Her husband richard took her to
the hospital emergency room.

Doctors were initially baffled.

She was seen by multiple
consultants -- infectious

Disease, a gastroenterologist, a
pulmonologist, nephrologist,

Because of her multi-organ
failure.

Still, in spite of all the
resuscitation measures, she was

Not recovering.

Narrator: nancy's condition
deteriorated, but she provided

Doctors with a potential clue.

She said she first got sick
several months earlier after

Drinking some wine from a bottle
left on her doorstep.

She thought it was a gift
from a neighbor, or that it was

Just a housewarming gift, so to
speak, from a neighbor.

She drank that wine and
became violently ill later that

Day.

She had nausea, vomiting, and
abdominal pain.

Narrator: but that had been
months earlier and didn't

Explain her illness now.

Even though I had suspected
something foul play but really

Can't -- you couldn't pinpoint
anything.

Narrator: doctors sent
nancy's urine samples for

Testing, but her condition began
to deteriorate.

Her organs failed, and she was
put on life support.

It was clear that she was not
going to recover.

It was clear it was really
beyond -- nobody could really

Understand it.

Narrator: six days later,
nancy dillard lyon was dead.

I didn't quite understand
what it was that had k*lled her.

So there was a great deal of
sadness for what was lost.

Narrator: but doctors were
suspicious, and they weren't the

Only ones.

I was married to a nurse.

She had taken care of
nancy dillard in the trauma

Center.

She said, "she looked like she'd
been poisoned to me."

Narrator: when the daughter
of a wealthy dallas family,

Nancy dillard lyon, died under
mysterious circumstances, her

Doctors made two telephone
calls.

One was to the medical examiner
to suggest a thorough autopsy.

And I told him, "listen, I
have a patient here, and I

Suspect foul play."

Narrator: the other
was to police.

Now, they thought the death
was suspicious, and it needed to

Be investigated.

And it was suspicious, and it
was investigated.

They were absolutely correct.

Narrator: investigators
learned that nancy was about to

Testify at the embezzlement
trial of her former boss from

Trammell crow.

Nancy told friends she was
uncomfortable at the thought of

Testifying against her former
colleague.

Part of that may have resulted
from a threatening letter she

Received.

"Stay out of the bagwell case
or you and your family will face

The wrath of god."

It was a, I guess, kind of a
veiled threat.

No one ever knew where it came
from.

Narrator: at nancy's autopsy,
the pathologist found no signs

Of disease in her internal
organs.

But toxicology tests revealed
some surprising results.

Nancy lyon had been poisoned
with arsenic.

Well, all the specimens
showed significant amounts and

Levels of arsenic.

And what that shows is that the
poison was absorbed through the

G.i. Tract, that it was
distributed through the blood.

Narrator: patients often
don't know they're poisoned,

Since the symptoms are so
common.

You know, people don't think
about a poisoning immediately.

They think it's just some
natural thing, and when you have

Nausea and vomiting, that
certainly is a common symptom.

Most of the poisonings that
you see nowadays are of a much

More sophisticated variety that
are harder to detect initially

Or even after doing tests, so
arsenic was a surprise.

Narrator: the manner of death
was ruled a homicide, but

Questions remained.

Investigators discovered a
receipt among nancy's papers --

A receipt for arsenic.

Nancy's husband richard said she
bought the poison to k*ll a

Colony of fire ants in their
yard.

Fire ants can be a really big
problem and a bad problem,

Especially with individuals who
have really small children.

Fire ants can get all over you
and almost cover parts of your

Body before they even start
biting and stinging.

Narrator: and friends also
revealed nancy had been

Depressed over the past year.

She discovered her husband was
having an affair, and the couple

Briefly separated.

Richard had met another
woman, and she felt he was going

Through a midlife crisis.

So she said, at first, her take
was, "hey, I'm going to stay

Patient.

I'm going to get some
counseling," because she was

Just devastated, really.

I wouldn't discount a woman
making herself ill or even

Taking something to make herself
ill to get the attention of her

Husband.

Narrator: yet, medical
experts were skeptical that

Nancy committed su1c1de.

I don't believe that for a
minute.

I mean, you've got someone who's
dying a very, I would consider,

Hideous death, certainly capable
at any time of voicing that she

Had taken the poison, because
the symptoms are both painful

And you certainly are
deteriorating with this.

Absolutely ludicrous.

She had two children she loved
very dearly as a mother.

She was young.

She had everything to live for.

It is absolutely ludicrous to
believe that somebody would

Poison themselves with arsenic.

Narrator: also among nancy's
papers was a diary, and it

Contained a blockbuster
revelation.

She accused her older brother
bill of sexual abuse when they

Were younger.

Nancy said she feared her
brother and questioned his

Ability to control himself.

"Sex, sick sex," the notation
read.

"With me? My girls?"
Nancy's brother angrily denied

The allegation but couldn't
explain why she had written this

In her diary.

Her family strongly suspected
richard was the k*ller, since

They knew he was having an
affair with another woman.

I did not poison my wife,
nancy dillard lyon, nor did I

Have anything to do with her
tragic death.

Narrator: so there was no
shortage of suspects.

Who sent the wine to nancy's
home?

Who sent the threatening letter?

Why did nancy accuse her brother
of sexual abuse, and would he

k*ll to keep her quiet?

And was nancy planning to
divorce her husband?

In the event that this case
becomes a m*rder charge, this

Will be an honest-to-goodness,
perry mason-style whodunit.

Narrator: investigators had
plenty of suspects but little

Evidence in the poisoning death
of nancy lyon.

The only thing they knew was
that nancy didn't k*ll herself.

No way you would do it.

It's too painful.

It's too drawn-out.

It's a horrible way to die, and
you're very aware and very

Conscious up until the very end
of it.

There's no way you would k*ll
yourself that way.

Narrator: when a person
ingests arsenic, the poison

Attaches itself to the hair
follicles.

As the hair grows, the poison
residue remains on the hair

Shaft and becomes a permanent
record.

So scientists cut nancy's hair
into 7-millimeter pieces.

Each piece corresponded to a


Each piece was placed in a
separate vial and then exposed

To radiation in a nuclear
reactor.

The sample can by analyzed
as-is in most cases, just simply

Weighed in to a radiation dial.

Most other methods require
dissolution of the sample.

Narrator: when scientists
examined the hair with gamma-ray

Spectrophotometry, they
discovered a startling piece of

Information.

Nancy had ingested small doses
of arsenic every week starting

Four months before her death.

The dose of arsenic increased
four weeks before her death.

The highest amount of arsenic
was in nancy's system two weeks

Before her death.

Her levels were anywhere from


Levels were, so it was a very
significant level, and it was

Lethal.

Narrator: the forensic tests
showed the poisoning started

When nancy's husband richard
moved back home after the

Separation.

But richard wasn't the only
person in nancy's life who had

Both motive and access.

Nancy's handwritten diary
alleged her brother bill had

Sexually abused her as a child.

Investigators wanted to know
whether this was a possible

Motive.

To see if these entries were
written by nancy, investigators

Sent the diary to a forensic
document examiner,

Hartford kittel.

Handwriting examination is
based upon two distinct facts.

No two people write exactly
alike.

Within the writing of a single
individual, there's normal

Variation.

It's this normal variation that
we associate or we don't

Associate with the questioned
writing.

Narrator: surprisingly, nancy
and richard's handwriting looked

Strikingly similar.

Friends said this was
intentional.

While in college, nancy had
written some of richard's

Research papers, and she
mimicked his writing.

The similarities in these two
writers was significant.

But they weren't able to
completely make their

Handwriting look the same
because they had two different

Minds that were picturing things
a little differently.

But they tried to make them look
the same.

Narrator: kittel first looked
at known handwriting samples

From both nancy and richard.

Despite their similarities,
there were differences.

She used her ampersands quite
extensively through her writing,

So every 5th, 6th line will have
an ampersand on it in her known

Handwriting.

Whereas richard always used the
"a-n-d" for the verbiage "and."

Kittel also noticed that
nancy and richard made their

Capital "i"s differently.

Richard just used one
downstroke, like a one, whereas

Nancy used a downstroke, like
the one, and then a cross at the

Top and the bottom.

She was willing to take a lot
more time in executing them than

Richard was.

Narrator: their lowercase
"f"s were different, as well.

Richard used a clockwise
motion, coming down from the top

Of the "f" down to the bottom.

He'd swing off in a clockwise
motion to finish off the lower

Loop of the "f," whereas nancy
always came down and went

Counterclockwise to finish off
the "f."

Narrator: kittel concluded
richard wrote the diary entries

About nancy's brother bill.

Absolutely.

Certain that he had written
that.

100% Certain.

Yes.

Narrator: prosecutors now
believed richard lyon had forged

Nancy's diary to cover up the
m*rder.

It never crossed his mind he
was going to be caught.

He thought he had it aced, and
he certainly didn't think it'd

Be his own handwriting.

No one granted him the power
of god to take her life.

She was slowly poisoned to
death, probably one of the most

Hideous things that you can do
to someone.

This wasn't done in a moment of
passion or anger of picking up a

w*apon that was handy to him.

This was done with slow
premeditation and over a period

Of time.

And it's a hideous, hideous way
to m*rder somebody.

Narrator: richard lyon
insisted he had nothing to do

With the poisoning death of his
wife nancy.

As proof, he offered a receipt
for arsenic that he said nancy

Had signed.

Prosecutors asked forensic
experts whether this was, in

Fact, nancy's signature.

I wasn't able to reach a
conclusion as to authorship.

Narrator: but the owner of
the company listed on the

Receipt told prosecutors all
they needed to know.

"Did you sell her these
chemicals?"

"No, I didn't."

"Is this a receipt?

Do you sell chemicals?"
"No, I don't."

"Is this your receipt from your
business?"

"No, it's a forgery.

It's not mine."

Narrator: investigators also
discovered that arsenic was not

Shipped to the lyons' home, but
to a post-office box richard

Opened.

There was no reason in the
world to have a post-office box

Set up at preston center for him
to get this arsenic.

If everything is completely
legitimate, why aren't you

Having it delivered at home or
where you work?

It's because it's nefarious
reasons of having it delivered

To a post-office box.

Narrator: in the hospital
before she died, nancy lyon told

Her doctor about a suspicious
incident that occurred several

Months earlier.

She said one time, when they
were separated, they had gone to

The movies together.

And richard had gone and got her
a drink.

And when he brought it to her
and she drank some of it and she

Said it tasted awful and she
looked in there, there was a

White powder on the top of the
drink.

Narrator: nancy said she
became violently ill later that

Night, and she told her doctor
something else.

"My husband, he's been giving
me these capsules for the last

Several months, and he says,
'nancy, go take these.

These are like vitamins.

These are good for you.'"

Narrator: police confiscated
every pill in the lyons' home

And sent them for forensic
testing.

Two pills tested positive for
barium carbonate, a toxic

Chemical used in the production
of glass.

Despite her suspicions, nancy
never directly accused richard

Of poisoning her.

Nobody wants to believe that
they're married to somebody that

Can m*rder.

I mean, because then what are
you saying about yourself?

And it's kind of outside the

Realm of most people's reality
that someone would poison you.

And I don't think she wanted to
believe it, and I think that she

Was embarrassed or ashamed to
say anything about it.

Narrator: prosecutors believe
the motive was money and the

Desire to live with his
girlfriend.

He didn't want her, but he
wanted the family affiliations

And the alliances.

I think that it was partly
money, and it was partly just

The position that he wanted.

And he couldn't have either one
with just a divorce.

Narrator: prosecutors believe
richard first tried to k*ll

Nancy by putting barium
carbonate in her vitamin pills

And may have put it in nancy's
soda at the movies.

When that didn't work, he used
arsenic.

Forensic testing showed nancy
started ingesting arsenic in

September around the time she
and richard reconciled.

The fatal dose was administered
two days before nancy was

Admitted to the hospital where
she died.

To hide his involvement, richard
created the fake invoice for the

Arsenic, and forensic analysis
proved that it was richard who

Wrote the sex-related entries in
nancy's diary, implicating her

Brother as a possible suspect.

I think it was calculating.

He thought himself as a ladies'
man.

I think he was a cold-blooded
k*ller, and he did it in the

Most dispiteous way possible,
slowly ingesting arsenic to his

Wife.

Narrator: when he went on
trial for m*rder, richard lyon

Pled not guilty.

But the forensic handwriting
analysis, the timeline of the

Poisonings captured in nancy's

Hair, and the discovery of
poison in vitamin pills found in

The home were difficult to
deflect.

Richard's girlfriend even
testified, claiming richard lied

By telling her that nancy had a
rare and fatal blood disease.

Any time that you catch a
defendant or any witness in a

Lie, and that was a pretty big
one and I don't think a

Coincidence, that she was going
to die from a fatal blood

Disease.

I think that those things
immediately begin to color their

View of him.

And he was a liar -- he would
lie.

Narrator: it took a jury less
than three hours to convict

Richard lyon of first-degree
m*rder.

He was sentenced to life in
prison.

I've worked lots of cases
like this and the question was

Always why not just a divorce.

They may be intelligent, but
they're criminally stupid.

And for good reason, and thank
god they are, because we

Couldn't catch them.

It was hard for me to believe
that he had actually k*lled his

Wife, and it had just finally
broken down based on the shape

Of an "f" and an "l" and an
"r," and just scratchings on a

Piece of paper.