11x29 - As the Tide Turns

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: investigators

Described it as a

One-in-a-million chance.

A tiny manufacturing flaw on an

Envelope exposed a m*rder*r who

Was willing to k*ll innocent

Victims to get at the one person

Victims to get at the one person he wanted dead.

He wanted dead.

It was a typical monday morning

At the transamerica title

Insurance company in tempe,

Arizona.

There were only four employees,

All friends, who spent their

Workdays processing paperwork.

-Year-old julie williams had

Been working at transamerica for

Two months.

She had gotten this new job.

Things were going really well

For her.

She was happy.

When I talked to her on the

Phone, she always expressed how

Well things were going and how

She was really starting to feel

A sense of peace and joy in her

Life.

Narrator: on a monday morning

Around : a.m., Julie got a

Drink from the water cooler.

After taking a sip, she said

That her lips and tongue were

Burning and warned her coworkers

Not to drink the water.

She walks down to the

Bathroom.

She goes into the bathroom.

The people are kind of worried

About her.

Narrator: the other employees

Were baffled.

They got some water out of

The water cooler and tasted it.

And it b*rned their mouths, and

They had to spit it out.

Narrator: meanwhile, julie

Never returned from the

Bathroom.

She's in the stall.

They can't open the door

Because, basically, her body is

Against the door.

Somebody has to crawl up over

The stall or underneath the

Stall.

Narrator: they found julie

Unconscious, completely

Unresponsive.

[ Siren wails ]

Paramedics arrive minutes later

And rushed her to the hospital.

She was in a coma.

And by that time, we knew that

That was pretty serious.

And the doctors were telling

Us we needed to get there

Quickly 'cause they really

Weren't sure how bad this was.

Narrator: at first, doctors

Thought julie had suffered a

Massive stroke.

But it was even worse.

Mri tests and the c.a.t.

Scans and things like that were

Showing basically a flat line,

Which meant that she was

Brain-dead, and we couldn't

Understand.

Narrator: doctors told

Julie's three grown daughters

She probably wouldn't survive.

Her heart was fine, her liver

Was fine, her kidneys were fine,

And she could basically go on

Like this for who knows how

Long.

But she was never gonna wake up.

Narrator: the hospital asked

Police to check on

Transamerica's water supply.

When I went into the break

Room, there was an obvious odor

That I could smell.

Narrator: to toxicologists,

This meant only one thing --

Cyanide.

People say, those who can

Smell it -- and it is

Genetically controlled -- that

It smells like bitter almonds.

About % of the population

Can't smell it.

Narrator: as a precaution,

Everything inside the

Water-cooler room was sent for

Testing.

Upon examining all the items

That were in there -- coffee

Cups, the coffee maker itself,

The coffee creamer, you know,

Just everything in there --

There appeared to be a

Crystalline substance in all of

These.

Narrator: investigators

Tested the substance with a

Chemical strip, and it turned

Blue.

What you're producing is

Prussian blue, which is one of

The forms of cyanide.

Narrator: a gas-chromatograph

Test confirmed the findings.

Scientists also found a massive

Amount of cyanide in the office

Coffeepot.

Well, five grams of pure

Cyanide, given as it is in

Total, is enough to k*ll

Probably about people.

Narrator: the water cooler

Alone had grams of pure

Cyanide -- enough to k*ll

People.

But who wanted to k*ll the

Employees of transamerica title

Company, and why?

Narrator: hours after

Julie williams ingested a

Massive amount of cyanide, her

Three daughters made the

Difficult decision to take her

Off life support.

There was nothing medical

Science could do.

That's a difficult decision.

You're not ready to say goodbye

As it is, you know, and now,

Suddenly, you have to make the

Decision to end someone's life.

Narrator: investigators found

The source of the cyanide julie

Had ingested.

It was in the office coffeepot

And water cooler.

It would not have been

Difficult for all four people in

That office to have been k*lled

'Cause cyanide is really a

Strong poison.

I mean, you know, they could

Have d*ed before anyone figured

Out what happened.

Narrator: police questioned

The three remaining employees in

The transamerica office.

One of them, diane harry, made a

Startling admission.

She said that she may have been

The intended target.

Diane said that a few nights

Earlier, she was drinking some

Scotch whiskey at home with her

Husband and it made her ill.

She also told them that there

Was something wrong with the

Teakettle.

She tried to make coffee, and

When she put the creamer in it,

It curdled.

Narrator: investigators

Tested the bottle of scotch from

The harrys' home and confirmed

Their suspicions.

The bottle contained lethal

Amounts of cyanide.

Diane's husband, lewis harry,

Said he thought he knew who was

Responsible.

He said it was roy fitzpatrick,

A -year-old deliveryman.

Roy fitzpatrick was an

Ex-boyfriend of a girl that

Mr. Harry was now befriended.

That's the way he described it.

Narrator: fitzpatrick's

Ex-girlfriend was -year-old

Sharon jones.

Well, I had dated

Mr. Fitzpatrick briefly, and he

Would never accept "no."

He would stalk me, he would

Choke me, and he threatened to

k*ll me if I started dating

Anyone else.

Mr. Harry was very, very

Persistent that I go to get a

Restraining order against

Mr. Fitzpatrick.

He even went with me to the

Courthouse to get it done.

Narrator: sharon jones and

Lewis harry then realized that

The restraining order backfired.

It infuriated fitzpatrick, who

Responded by sending threatening

Letters to lewis harry and his

Wife, diane.

Mr. Harry described the

Content of the letter.

It said that, basically,

Roy fitzpatrick was threatening

Him and his wife, and that they

Were getting increasingly more

Sinister.

Narrator: the letters were

Laced with racial epithets.

This one was sent to

Diane harry.

"I am having a hard time

Overlooking your husband.

I think I will take you away

From him so that he can see how

It feels."

Narrator: and he wrote this

To lewis.

"You won't have to hurt for

Long 'cause your ass is mine!"

Narrator: investigators asked

Roy fitzpatrick if he sent the

Threatening letters.

Initially, he denied it.

A day later, he recontacted

Me and came in and decided he

Wanted to tell me the truth and

Admitted that he had sent

Letters to mr. Harry.

Narrator: but fitzpatrick

Claimed he was angry with

Lewis harry not because of the

Restraining order...

But because he was sexually

Involved with his ex-girlfriend,

Sharon jones.

I met lewis harry in a club.

I was in love with mr. Harry.

He had asked me to marry him.

As soon as the divorce was

Through, he had said that we

Would get married.

Narrator: roy fitzpatrick

Discovered this was all a lie.

Mr. Fitzpatrick followed

Lewis harry home one night from

My condo.

And he called me within minutes

Of mr. Harry leaving, stating

That he was still married, the

Wife was still in the home, and

That he wasn't going through any

Divorce.

Narrator: when police

Confronted lewis harry about the

Affair, he denied it, and

Roy fitzpatrick gave police one

Last piece of information.

He admitted sending lewis and

Diane harry four threatening

Letters, but claimed that the

Three typewritten letters --

The most incriminating -- were

Forgeries.

Investigators noticed that one

Of the typewritten letters was

In an envelope with a

Distinctive flaw.

The spot where the flaps met was

Offset.

They didn't match up the way

They were supposed to.

Apparently, this was a

Manufacturing flaw.

When you've been in the

Business for any length of time,

You know that this is a very

Significant find.

And especially in a m*rder case,

This is going to be a very

Important piece of physical

Evidence.

Narrator: on an envelope

Assembly line, blades slice

Through reams of paper, creating

A form with four flaps.

When the flaps are glued, the

Left and right ones are supposed

To meet in the center of the

Envelope.

In this case, the right flap

Overlapped the left.

These were coming down the

Assembly line.

They were moving further and

Further out of wack the way they

Should be.

Narrator: investigators

Believed if they could find out

Who bought the flawed envelope,

They would find the k*ller.

Narrator: police were

Investigating the cyanide death

Of -year-old julie williams

And the attempted poisoning of

Her coworker diane harry.

The prime suspect in the case,

Roy fitzpatrick, admitted

Sending diane harry and her

Husband, lewis, four threatening

Letters.

But fitzpatrick denied sending

The three most incriminating

Ones.

I was skeptical.

He said that he had done the

First four.

He'd given me something, but now

He was just, you know, taking

Away the last three letters.

It just caused more doubt and

Created some more issues that we

Were gonna have to try to verify

Or confirm or not confirm.

Narrator: but if fitzpatrick

Didn't send these three

Typewritten letters, who did?

On a hunch, investigators got a

Warrant to search lewis harry's

Office.

He worked in the

Physical-education department of

A local community college.

It was interesting that they

Went to mr. Harry's workplace,

And they took this big shelf

That was in his office.

It's, like, five or six feet

Long.

That ended up going out to their

Expert out at asu --

Arizona state university.

Narrator: also in

Lewis harry's wastepaper basket

They found a receipt from

Chemonics, a local chemical

Company.

The label had warning

Information with regard to the

Use of cyanide.

Narrator: but the receipt was

Signed by someone who identified

Himself as charles holly.

He told the clerk he needed the

Cyanide for a college chemistry

Class.

Forensic document examiner

Bill flynn was asked to compare

This signature to lewis harry's

Known signature.

The second letter in the name

"Holly" is an ovate, round

Letter.

It is also an ovate, round

Letter in "harry," and there's a

Very distinctive style that he

Used to move from the "h" into

The next ovate letter.

Narrator: both last names

Ended with a "y," and flynn

Discovered that they were

Virtually identical, as were the

H's at the beginning of each

Name.

For instance, the right side

Of the "h" in "holly" is made

With that rightward-curving,

Clockwise-rotation circular

Movement on the "h," which we

Saw is the characteristic that's

Replicated in harry's own name.

Narrator: investigators went

To the chemonics company and

Showed the sales clerk a photo

Lineup.

The clerk identified lewis harry

As the man who purchased the

Cyanide.

And so she sold him the

Cyanide under the

Phoenix college account, and he

Signed a different name to the

Receipt.

Narrator: in lewis harry's

Office, investigators found an

Open box of envelopes.

When they looked at the ones

Left in the box, they found that

Three of them had the same

Defect as the one with the

Threatening letter.

In fact, it was a progressive

And linear defect, meaning that

You could see the progression --

How the defect had enlarged --

As the envelopes had moved down

The manufacturing line.

Normally, the people in

Postproduction and in

Quality control would have

Culled those out rather than put

Them into the box.

I was actually just amazed

That something like that would

Occur.

It was probably one in a

Million that this would have

Happened.

Narrator: this proved that

Lewis harry sent himself at

Least one of the threatening

Letters, perhaps more.

And on the shelf in his office,

Scientists found trace amounts

Of cyanide.

But how did lewis harry gain

Access to his wife's office

Building to poison the water?

A keycard system is used to

Gain access on weekends.

You had to use a card to scan in

To get into the door.

Narrator: the office security

System revealed someone entered

The transamerica office on the

Weekend before the poisoning.

The card that had been used

Was diane harry's.

It had been used at : on

That saturday.

Narrator: but diane insisted

She hadn't gone into the office

That weekend.

The information raised a

Question.

Number one, who used the card?

And it obviously made sense that

If someone used the card that

Knew her, that person would also

Have access to the keys to the

Office.

Narrator: no one reported

Seeing a woman enter the

Building that weekend.

But a workman recalled seeing a

Man enter.

The subject who had been

There as a workman, an outside

Contractor, that had been there

Waiting to get inside the

Building 'cause it was locked.

And he said it was sometime

Between : and : that an

African-american subject pulled

Up in a blue sports car, got

Out, was not very congenial,

Opened the door for him.

He wasn't able to actually

Identify him or pick him out of

A lineup, but he remembered that

The car had a tennis racket in

The backseat.

Mr. Harry had a tennis racket.

He played tennis all the time.

Narrator: lewis harry was

Arrested and charged with the

m*rder of julie williams and the

Attempted m*rder of his wife,

Diane.

But why did he do it?

Narrator: about a year after

Julie williams' m*rder,

-Year-old lewis harry went on

Trial for m*rder and the

Attempted m*rder of his wife,

Diane.

Prosecutors believe lewis was

Unhappy in his marriage to

Diane, whom he had been married

To for less than three years.

Then, one night in a bar, he met

Sharon jones, a student at the

Community college where he

Worked.

Initially, he misled sharon by

Telling her he was separated.

It became serious very

Quickly -- within three to four

Weeks.

Narrator: lewis proposed

Marriage to sharon while still

Living with his wife, diane.

Sharon's ex-boyfriend,

Roy fitzpatrick, learned about a

Relationship with lewis harry,

Grew angry, then mailed the

Threatening letters to lewis and

His wife.

Ironically, they weren't

Fighting over me.

I could see that then.

I told them both.

I said, "you know what?

This isn't because you want me.

It's because of your egos."

Narrator: these letters gave

Lewis what he believed to be the

Perfect alibi.

He'd k*ll his wife with cyanide,

Pin the m*rder on

Roy fitzpatrick, then he'd be

Free to marry sharon.

He typed three more letters even

More incriminating than the

Originals and mailed them to

Himself.

But lewis used an envelope with

A significant manufacturing flaw

That tied him to those letters.

Lewis bought the cyanide in a

Local supply store using an

Alias, but forensic handwriting

Analysis concluded that lewis

Signed the receipt.

Lewis tried k*lling his wife by

Putting cyanide in her alcoholic

Beverage, but she stopped

Drinking it because of its foul

Odor.

He also put cyanide in her

Teakettle.

This too was unsuccessful.

So that's when lewis decided to

Use his wife's security pass

To put cyanide in the office

Water cooler and coffeepot.

On monday morning,

Julie williams was the first one

To drink from the water cooler,

And she ingested a massive dose

Of cyanide.

She was an innocent victim of a

Marriage gone horribly wrong.

And really glad that he'll

Never be able to hurt anybody

Else again, and really grateful

For a system that protects its

Members from people who cannot

Control their own actions or who

Make bad choices in their life.

Narrator: at the trial,

Lewis' wife and his girlfriend

Sat together.

Neither one thought he was

Capable of m*rder.

Two girls would sit back

There, the two ladies, look at

Me, give me dirty looks, and

They were supporters of

Lewis harry.

Narrator: prosecutors

Presented what they believed to

Be a possible financial motive,

As well.

Diane harry had the

Life-insurance policy for

$,, And he was the

Beneficiary.

If she d*ed, he was the

Beneficiary.

He would have gotten that money.

Narrator: lewis harry was

Tried and convicted of

First-degree m*rder and four

Counts of attempted m*rder.

He was sentenced to life in

Prison.

After almost two decades, his

Girlfriend is finally convinced

Of his guilt.

Mr. Harry did a very

Horrendous thing.

I tried to forgive him, and I

Can't.

I still can't forgive him.

Diane harry's brother went

Into her attic, found more

Cyanide.

I think it was only at that time

That she realized that he had

Been trying to k*ll her.

Narrator: lewis harry is now

In the arizona state prison

Complex.

During a recent telephone

Interview, he still maintains

Interview, he still maintains his innocence.

His innocence.

Investigators believe the

Evidence proves the exact

Opposite.

The handwriting, the flawed

Envelopes, the eyewitness, and

Cyanide particles in his office

All indicate that lewis harry

Was prepared to do anything to

End his marriage, even if it

Meant k*lling others to do it.

It would have been much more

Difficult to obtain a conviction

Without the evidence of the

Matching envelopes and without

The handwriting comparison.

It was like, you know, a work

Of art.

It started, it grew, and then

It came to a completion.

There was nothing they could

Dispute.

I don't care what defense they

Brought up.