08x06 - Tourist Trap

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: at one time,

Tourists in south florida were a favorite target for criminals.

Hundreds of visitors were robbed,

Some were assaulted, and eight were m*rder*d.

It was an out-of-town journalist who made an unexpected journey

From tourist to victim to advocate.

In september of ,

Uwe-wilhelm rakebrand and his wife flew from germany

To florida to spend their honeymoon.

They rented a car for the short trip to their hotel.

The two german tourists were less than five minutes

From the airport,

Just time enough to read safety precautions

And a visitors' guide,

When they became the newest victims.

A van pulled behind them and rammed their car.

The couple knew this wasn't an accident,

But a ploy robbers use to get drivers to stop their cars.

They call it "bump and rob,"

But the rakebrands did what they were supposed to do

And did not stop.

Then the gunman pulled alongside and fired a single sh*t.

[ g*nsh*t ]

-Year-old uwe-wilhelm was k*lled instantly.

His -year-old bride, catherine, was unharmed.

By the end of the year,

There were eight tourist murders in south florida.

Hundreds more were robbed and many more seriously injured.

Tourists were easy targets.

Lefebvre: you can't change people's behavior.

The lost tourist looking at street signs,

The holding up of maps,

The camera bags, the luggage in the backseat --

You know, it's not too hard to identify a tourist,

Especially around the airport.

Narrator: and they have what criminals want --

Cameras, jewelry, video equipment, laptop computers,

And they usually carry plenty of cash.

Helga luest covered these tourist crimes

As a journalist for german television.

Luest: I was working on a piece

That was focused on the rash of crime

That had taken place in the united states,

Specifically tourist-directed crime in florida.

And during the course of that, uh, piece,

We talked about safety tips for german tourists

That would be traveling to the united states.

Narrator: helga and her mother

Had scheduled their own florida vacation

Before the crime spree started.

Luest: we decided to keep our plans of flying into miami

And then going on to the florida keys just for four days --

Very brief, um, stay --

But particularly because I had just done this piece

About safety tips

And felt that my awareness was, you know, pretty strong

At that point.

Narrator: their vacation was relaxing and uneventful.

Their return to the airport was not.

They got lost looking for the airport rental-car area.

Helga drove onto a side street to turn around.

She soon realized someone was following her.

The man reached through the window, put the car into park,

Disconnected the horn, and assaulted the two.

Luest: my mother said,

"Take whatever you want, but please don't hurt us."

The passenger from their vehicle said,

"Shut up, bitch. We're going to k*ll you."

Both of the perpetrators were coming --

Taking turns b*ating me through my window,

And, uh, you know, every punch, um, that I took weakened me.

Narrator: the attackers tried desperately

To grab the car keys.

Luest: I was able to get in a good couple blows myself.

Narrator: somehow helga got the car into gear and drove away.

To try to stop her, the attacker bit her arm.

Luest: I hit the driver from their car

With the front of our car.

Narrator: after a short distance,

The man was forced to let go.

Luest: I had tremendous injuries,

Um, to my head, my neck, my back --

Dislocated jaw, loss of feeling in my left side of my face,

Which I've never regained,

Um, and the bite wound was, um, very painful.

Narrator: the bite wound was deep.

It went through the muscle.

Fadel: even animals don't do what he did the way he did it.

Even animals don't do that. There's no need for that.

To punch somebody, almost k*lling, paralyzing her,

And then biting her and destroying her life,

There's no need for that at all.

Narrator: helga described the attackers

As young men approximately years old.

They were driving a large, dark-colored car

With tinted windows.

Lefebvre: most crimes happen and take place

In less than two minutes.

It's a hit, it's a theft, it's an as*ault,

And it happens in a matter of just seconds.

Narrator: so a positive identification of a suspect

Might be difficult.

With no other witnesses or leads,

Police hoped helga's car

Would contain the forensic evidence they needed.

Narrator: in , -year-old helga luest

Barely escaped with her life after a harrowing encounter

With two men who attempted to overpower her.

Two veteran detectives, bassam fadel and laura lefebvre

With the hialeah, florida, robbery squad,

Were assigned to the case.

Fadel: and this particular robbery happened

About blocks north of the airport into hialeah,

Into a mixed residential, commercial neighborhood.

Narrator: that neighborhood surrounds lejeune road,

The only exit or entrance to the airport.

Here, criminals often lie in wait for their victims.

Lefebvre:it's the main artery. It's easy to hide.

It's easy to follow.

One way in and one way out of miami international airport.

They're hunters. They're hunting for victims.

They could have been your family.

They could have been anybody in the community.

I'm sure, as they followed her

And they tailed her and targeted her,

The discussion was how were they gonna do it

And when were they gonna do it, in what manner.

Narrator: at the time, rental cars were easily identified

With stickers of the rental company

And special license plates

Beginning with the letter "y" or "z."

Despite the increase in tourist crimes,

South florida's overall crime rate

Was less than the previous year.

Nevertheless, the press coverage had an impact.

Martinez: miami was being hit with tourist robbery cases

Almost on a daily basis.

This was a city that they viewed as a violent city,

And they had no interest in coming back here.

Narrator: european governments discouraged travel to florida,

And hotel reservations dropped by %.

Ending the crime spree was difficult.

Victims were often unwilling to return to florida

For court hearings and trials.

This kept criminals on the streets.

Most of the crimes were bump and rob,

Leaving behind little forensic evidence.

But helga's robbery had been unusually violent.

[ Screams ]

Lefebvre: she had a bite mark located on her upper arm,

And it was rather clear.

I have a sexual battery background

And know that they were developing

Bite mark-comparison techniques.

And the state-of-the-art place to process her

Was the photo lab at the medical examiner's office.

Fadel: she was very sharp to immediately address that

Before the victim left or before that victim sought treatment,

Perhaps sutures or other medical treatment

Which can damage or alter the bite marks

On the victim's arm.

Narrator: helga agreed to have a forensic photographer

Take pictures of the wound.

Lefebvre: it's not enough just to take a photograph.

It has to be measured properly,

It has to be put into perspective,

And it has to be documented properly.

It's important to get it done as quickly as you can.

Things change very rapidly. Skin tends to discolor.

Bruising tends to set in.

Narrator: in every picture, forensic protocol

Requires the use of a ruler to provide scale.

Wolf: it's an "l" ruler.

It has three circles on it.

That allows us to make sure that our camera

Is perpendicular to our subject.

And that will also give us a sense of scale.

But we take the flash, and we hold it off to an angle

Where we can emphasize the surface texture of the skin.

Narrator: and forensic photographers

Take pictures under many different light sources --

Conventional light, ultraviolet, infrared, and fluorescent.

These show detail and texture not revealed by light

In the visible spectrum.

Wolf: many times there's something there

That you can't see with the naked eye.

Narrator: afterwards,

Investigators examined the rental car,

Hoping to find fingerprints.

Lefebvre: but, unfortunately, the weather was against us.

Processing the outside of the vehicle was impossible.

Narrator: the car was wet

Because helga had driven through a thunderstorm

On the way to the airport.

The interior material was textured,

Which yielded no usable prints.

No fingerprints, no witnesses, and no suspects.

Helga and her mother left miami

Not knowing whether the crime would ever be solved.

And maybe it wouldn't have been

Had the perpetrator not left behind

A piece of forensic evidence.

Narrator: three weeks after helga luest's as*ault,

She was asked to return to florida

To look through stacks of mug sh*ts.

She didn't see her attacker.

Then the detectives showed her a photo array of six suspects.

Fadel: helga looked at the lineup,

And then she would look at each picture carefully.

And once she got to his picture, to stanley cornet's picture,

And you see an immediate reaction in her...

Physically, an immediate reaction.

When I saw the defendant's face,

It was a very, very weird mix of emotions.

One of joy because I found him,

And one of complete terror

Because it was the first time I had seen that face

Since it was locked on my arm biting through the muscle.

Narrator: -year-old stanley cornet

Was a factory worker with a long criminal history.

Since the tourist att*cks

Happened in different jurisdictions near the airport,

Police formed a task force to exchange information.

That's how lefebvre first learned about stanley cornet.

He was arrested a few days after helga's att*ck

For a nearly identical crime.

He allegedly stopped an elderly man in a rental car

And robbed him at gunpoint.

But he picked on the wrong man.

The victim's son was a miami policeman

Who lived just across the street.

Lefebvre: he called for his son,

And he came running out of the house.

Well, a struggle ensued,

And the victim tried to hold back the robber

While he was calling for his son.

And the robber, at that time, bit him,

Bit him in the upper arm.

[ Screaming ]

Narrator: the similarities in the crimes were striking.

But despite the identification,

Cornet denied he assaulted helga luest.

Martinez: I had tried a number of these cases previously,

And the issue was always whether the identification

Was enough to pass muster with a jury,

Especially on a case

Where all you have is a single i.d. In a robbery case

Where it took no longer than , seconds.

Narrator: so, investigators wanted to know

If there was any way to tell

Whether cornet was the man who bit helga's arm.

To find out, police went to the same forensic expert

Who matched a bite wound

To the notorious serial k*ller ted bundy.

Souviron: from a bite mark, if it's a good one,

You can actually get a dental profile of the suspect.

For instance, an outline of what his teeth look like

And if there is a gap or crooked teeth or whatever.

Narrator: that profile can exclude a suspect

Or increase the likelihood that he made the bite mark.

Dr. Souviron had the photos of helga's bite wound,

But he needed cornet's dental impression for comparison.

Cornet refused to cooperate.

Souviron: "you're not gonna touch me,"

Basically, is what he said.

Just basically, "[bleep] you, no.

You're not getting anything out of my mouth"...

Except maybe the swear words.

Narrator: they left empty-handed

But returned later with a court order

Specifying the use of force if necessary.

At which time, he reiterated

That he didn't want to cooperate.

He wasn't gonna open his mouth.

Dr. Souviron very casually brought out

What's called a jaw jack for opening the jaws of cadavers

That are in full rigor mortis.

You put it in the jaw and you ratchet on this thing,

And it'll open any --

It'll break your jaw if you try to resist hard enough.

When stanley was shown the jaw jack,

Stanley decided he wanted to cooperate

And supply us with dental impressions.

And, so, we obtained our dental impressions

From stanley cornet.

Narrator: from those impressions,

Dr. Souviron made these plaster models

Which allowed him to duplicate the bite patterns.

Souviron: test bites are made

Either in wax or in styrofoam

To be able to analyze the patterns

That these teeth are gonna leave.

Narrator: for further evaluation,

The biting edges of the plaster teeth are blackened

And the pattern copied onto a clear acetate

For easy comparison with the photographs.

Odontologists use a number of different techniques

Because there's no way to accurately estimate

The elasticity of the victim's skin.

Souviron: the teeth have variables.

The skin has variables.

And when this lady was bitten, she didn't just sit there

And let this man, you know, bite her as hard as he could.

We're showing this as a dynamic bite

With movement going on.

And teeth numbers and made the marks

That these arrows pointed to.

And then as the bite moved, the th tooth made that mark.

Narrator: there is no such thing as a bite-impression match.

All experts can say is whether a bite wound

Is consistent with a person's teeth.

Even if they are, it's still not % certain.

But with the model, wax impression,

Acetates, and precision photographs,

Dr. Souviron zeroed in on three lower teeth in the bite mark,

Which were slightly crooked and overlapping.

And there was a deep mark made by an upper tooth.

Even to untrained eyes, it looked like cornet's teeth

Caused the bite wound in the photographs.

Dr. Souviron was confident in his assessment.

Souviron: his teeth were consistent with that bite,

And there was nothing there that could exclude him.

Narrator: stanley cornet was charged with attempted robbery

And aggravated battery.

But cornet said he was innocent and that he had an alibi.

A jury would have to decide which side they believed --

The alibi or the bite impression evidence.

The ironic situation of having done a news piece

About safety tips

And then going to florida

And becoming part of the crime statistics.

Even when you think you have all the tools

At your disposal to keep yourself safe,

If you're at the wrong place at the wrong time,

Anything can happen.

Narrator: as the trial approached

For the brutal as*ault of helga luest,

Stanley cornet claimed he had an alibi,

That he had been at work at the time of the crime.

His work record showed

That he was, indeed, at work that day.

But cornet's co-workers said

He didn't always punch the time clock

When leaving for a break,

And he worked just minutes away

From where helga was att*cked.

Lefebvre: his supervisor remembers that day in particular

And remembered he left and never came back.

He was soon after let go out of that job

Because of that, so that melted that alibi.

It's incredible

That an individual would punch a time card,

Go to work -- like we all do in the morning --

And he would leave during his break

And go commit a violent crime against a tourist.

But that's precisely what stanley cornet did.

Narrator: through various legal tactics,

Cornet kept delaying his trial.

Lefebvre: if my victim doesn't want to cooperate,

Then I have no case.

And that's what these criminals count on.

That's why they target the tourists.

And, in this case, they picked the wrong tourist,

And stanley cornet was relying on wearing helga luest down

To the point where she just gave up.

He underestimated helga luest. She wasn't gonna wear down.

She came back for every trial date.

Every appointment, she flew back for.

Narrator: at the trial, helga again identified cornet

As the man who att*cked her.

Luest: facing stanley cornet in court

Was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

Through all of my testimony,

The defendant had a smirk on his face.

So, I tried really hard not to focus on him

And to focus on the prosecutor

And the jury and the judge

And the people that were there to embrace justice.

Narrator: the clarity of the bite impression photographs

Taken by a qualified forensic photographer,

Alongside the cast of cornet's teeth,

Were what ultimately convinced the jury.

Stanley cornet was found guilty of attempted robbery

And aggravated battery.

Because he was a repeat offender,

He was sentenced to life in prison.

I tell the detectives, if you have a bite mark case,

You don't tell the defendant that you have a bite

Because they certainly can alter their teeth.

It happened to me two weeks ago where the defendant,

When I saw him,

Had had all of his upper and lower front teeth pulled

While he was in prison.

He told me he had a toothache, and they pulled his teeth.

As a prosecutor at the time, if it was somewhat new to me,

Imagine how new it was to a jury.

They had certainly never heard of anything

Remotely similar to bite mark evidence.

The bite mark evidence, I think, sealed this case.

It put the final nail in stanley cornet's coffin

As far as the jury is concerned, I think.

It was our strongest piece of evidence.

Narrator: cornet's accomplice in the crime

Was never identified.

By the end of , the crimes against vacation travelers

In south florida stopped.

Why?

Police increased their surveillance

Of the rental car areas.

Rental agencies removed their stickers from the cars

And ended the practice of identifiable license plates.

After her ordeal, helga formed an advocacy group

For victims of crime called "witness justice."

Lefebvre: she can meet them on a totally different level

Than a police officer can, and she can advocate for them.

She can be their voice

When sometimes they can't find their voice.

Maybe it'll be the helgas of this world

That make more victims come back to court

And get more convictions.