10x08 - Army Of Evidence

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: a mother of two was
found dead in her bedroom.

A p*stol in her hand and a
su1c1de note all point to a

Self-inflicted wound.

But a customer in a bar, a
jacket on a doorknob, and a

Saliva test raised some
interesting questions.

Fort lewis in washington state
is one of the largest military

Facilities in the united states.


Based there, part of a

Self-contained city that is home
to thousands of military

Families.

Corporal chris davis, a
communications specialist, loved

Military life.

His wife, dorothy, did not.

The couple had been married 10
years and had two daughters,

Ages 5 and 2.

My sister was kind of getting
depressed off and on.

She'd had some down times.

I knew that dorothy was on
medication and that she was on

An antidepressant.

Narrator: on the night of
march 13, 1991, corporal davis

Was having drinks with friends
at a bar near the base.

He stepped out to the lobby to
call his wife around 8:00 p.m.,

And she sounded despondent, so
he left his friends and went

Home.

When he entered their bedroom,
he found a horrifying sight.

Dorothy was dead, a .22-caliber
p*stol in her hand.

Mrs. Davis is lying on their
bed with the covers up to her

Abdomen.

She appears to have a g*nsh*t
wound to her right temple.

Narrator: police video taken
at the scene indicated there

Was no forced entry into the
house.

The davis' children were asleep
in their bedroom.

Whatever happened didn't awaken
them.

There was no evidence of an
argument or an altercation.

Dorothy herself had no signs
of physical trauma or any type

Of defense wounds.

What it looked like is that
dorothy was literally lying in

Bed as if she were sleeping.

Narrator: in the bedroom,
investigators found a bottle of

Antidepressants and three sealed
envelopes.

One was addressed to her
husband, chris.

"My darling love, as...said
many times, it's the coward's

Way out.

So I'm a coward, for I could see
no other way out.

I ask god to forgive me."

Narrator: the second note was
also addressed to chris, and the

Third was to her sister.

"Dear patty, I'm sorry!

By the time you get this, I'll
be gone.

I didn't know what else to do."

She could see no other way
out.

She acknowledged the
difficulties in her marriage and

How she felt that her husband no
longer loved her.

I can remember when they came
and brought me the letter that

My sister had written to me, and
it was very hard to read.

It was very upsetting, and at
that time, I couldn't understand

Why something like that would be
written.

Yes, these letters were
written by dorothy.

Yes, her fingerprints were on
it.

Narrator: further evidence of
su1c1de seemed plain enough.

The g*n in dorothy's hand was
gripped firmly, a phenomenon

Called "cadaveric spasm."

What happens here is that the
cells become rigid immediately

At the time of death because of
supposedly emotional stress or

Strenuous physical activity
right at the moment of death.

Cadaveric spasm is something
that cannot be simulated.

It cannot be replicated.

It cannot be duplicated.

It is either present or it's not
present.

If it is present, that means
that the g*n had to have been in

The victim's hand at the time of
her death.

Narrator: at dorothy's
autopsy, the medical examiner

Found evidence of a contact
wound to her head consistent

With a self-inflicted injury.

There was no exit wound.

The .22-caliber round was still
in her skull.

Toxicology tests found nothing
unusual in dorothy's system, but

The coroner did find something
else.

The autopsy confirmed that
she was 2 to 3 weeks pregnant,

And she had told some family and
some friends that she was

Pregnant.

Narrator: the coroner ruled
dorothy's death a su1c1de.

She was just 33 years old.

I just kept saying, "there's
just no way she'd hurt that

Baby.

She wouldn't sh**t herself.

She wouldn't do this."

I had those thoughts in my mind
at times.

It's like, "there's no way.

There's no way she'd harm
herself and do this."

She loved those girls.

They were her life.

Narrator: and that's where
the story might have ended had

It not been for a witness who
came forward with an interesting

Tale about a jacket.

Narrator: the military
community at fort lewis in

Washington state reacted to
dorothy davis' su1c1de with

Shock and grief.

The coroner ruled dorothy's
death a su1c1de, but many were

Skeptical...

Including a woman who was with
corporal davis the night dorothy

Died.

The witness said that chris left
the bar to call dorothy from a

Pay phone in the lobby.

She said she, too, went out to
the lobby a short time later,

And chris davis wasn't there.

He returned 20 minutes later.

The witness told us at this
point that corporal davis was

Red-faced, appeared to be out of
breath.

He was no longer wearing a
jacket he was wearing earlier.

Narrator: so where was chris'
jacket?

Investigators saw it in the
photos taken of the scene the

Night of dorothy's death,
hanging on the doorknob of the

Couple's bedroom.

I thought, "oh, my god,
look -- here's the maroon

Jacket, but it's important --
it's not thrown.

It's not dropped."

And the person who comes in, who
finds their wife lying there,

Perhaps mortally wounded, is not
gonna take his jacket off and

Nice and neat hang it up on the
doorknob.

Narrator: was it possible
that chris davis never called

His wife, but used those 20
minutes to drive home, k*ll

Dorothy, then return to the bar
to establish his alibi?

A police re-creation showed it
was possible.

Average time, 17 minutes.

So even though we were locked
into that 20 minutes by our

Witness, we felt pretty
comfortable it was still

Possible for him to have gone
off, committed that crime,

Staged the scene, and got back
to the nco club within that time

Frame.

Narrator: but if this were
true, what about the su1c1de

Notes?

Was it possible they had been
forged?

Investigators sent these notes
to forensic document examiner

Sandra homewood to see if the
handwriting matched dorothy's

Known handwriting samples.

The su1c1de notes were copied
onto yellow paper.

The known samples were on green
paper.

The writer had a very
distinctive capital "d."

She had a backwards lower-case
"f," wherein the lower staff of

The "f" went in a clockwise
motion instead of a

Counterclockwise motion as we're
taught.

There were numerous letters in
and of themselves that were

Consistent between the known and
questioned writing, and there

Were no differences that would
suggest that it was written by a

Different writer.

Narrator: sandra homewood
concluded that dorothy had

Indeed written the notes.

When the lab report came back
and said that dorothy had

Actually authored all of the
letters, we pretty much

Concluded at that time, the
investigators did, that perhaps

What they were looking at is in
fact a su1c1de since there was

No indication that anybody else
had written the letters and then

Dropped them off like a staged
scene.

Narrator: but in the
aftermath of dorothy's death,

Her husband chris appeared to be
anything but grief-stricken.

Within weeks of dorothy's
death, chris davis actually

Moved a person into the house
who was there ostensibly to act

As a nanny or to take care of
his children.

Narrator: everyone on base
knew this woman was more than a

Nanny.

She had been having an affair
with corporal davis for more

Than a year.

People knew we were
romantically involved.

They knew that because he was
very affectionate out in public,

Something I wasn't getting
from my husband at the time --

No affection, no nothing.

Apparently chris had got over
his grief from his wife's

su1c1de quite quickly.

Narrator: this, however, did
not implicate chris in his

Wife's death.

In fact, chris' infidelity may
have caused dorothy's

Depression.

Myself and everybody else, we
believed she actually took her

Own life with her own hand.

We believed it.

I did not see v*olence in
chris ever once with my sister

Or the family.

I knew that he was not honest
and that he was an adulterer and

That he was a thief, but I never
really thought that he would

Ever physically hurt her.

Narrator: investigators
weren't so sure.

We really started to paint a
different picture --

A disturbing picture in that...

Maybe what we have here is not a
su1c1de.

Maybe what we have here is a
m*rder.

Narrator: as investigators
looked into the death of


Heard reports that her husband

Chris ran the household with an
iron fist and wasn't the easiest

Man to get along with.

I don't know what drives him.

I think what drives him is he
has to be in control.

If he's not in control,
look out.

Narrator: and investigators
learned something else that was

Suspicious.

Three years earlier,
dorothy davis had another brush

With death.

It was a night when chris left
their house with their infant

Daughter.

They went out for a short drive
because the baby was having

Trouble sleeping.

[ Engine turns over ]
after they left, dorothy awoke

To find their home full of
smoke.

There was a fire burning in the
living room.

For some unexplained reason, the
smoke detectors hadn't sounded.

The police came.

The fire crew came.

They took the television set
out.

They saw that there was an
electrical malfunction in the

Television set, and the case was
closed.

Narrator: in light of
dorothy's death, this fire three

Years earlier looked suspicious.

Things made me go, "hmm."

We would call that where I come
from, this is a clue.

Things like this don't happen to
a person twice in the same

Manner.

This -- this was a clue.

Narrator: now corporal davis
was officially a suspect, and

The manner of his wife's death
changed from su1c1de to

Undetermined.

For his new girlfriend, barbara,
life with corporal davis

Suddenly took a turn for the
worse.

And that's when everything
started changing.

I couldn't use the phone.

I wasn't allowed to go grocery
shopping, wasn't allowed to have

Money.

I was, like, imprisoned in the
house.

Narrator: but the forensic
evidence still pointed to

su1c1de...

Until steve chandler
re-interviewed the officers who

First responded to the 911 call
on the night of dorothy's death.

What I found out was somewhat
of a shock.

He describes that dorothy was
holding the p*stol with all four

Fingers around the butt of the
p*stol.

When I asked him, "if all four
fingers were around the butt,

How did she fire the g*n?"
To which he responded, " I don't

Know."

Narrator: and if there was
foul play, why had dorothy

Written the su1c1de notes?

They clearly indicated dorothy's
desire to end her own life.

Her sister did some detective
work on her own and found the

Answer.

I found out from the
therapist that she had been

Seeing that she instructed her
to write everything down and her

Feelings.

And that's what I believe that
was from.

I don't believe she ever had any
intention of ever harming or

Hurting herself.

She apparently was adamant
about documenting her daily

Activities, her feelings and
whatnot, in personal diaries

That she kept up.

These diaries were obtained and
reviewed, and they indicated a

Long history of depression.

Narrator: to find out whether
dorothy had truly meant to k*ll

Herself when writing the notes,
investigators sent them to

Fingerprint expert bill thomas
for examination.

Thomas sprayed the notes with
ninhydrin, a chemical which

Reacts with the amino acid in
perspiration.

We place those letters and
envelopes into a humidifying

Chamber, and under those
conditions, the latent prints

Will actually develop pretty
much like a photograph on

Photograph paper.

Narrator: the ninhydrin
revealed that dorothy wasn't

Perspiring excessively when she
wrote the notes, something that

Usually occurs when someone
intends to end their own life.

...and told him that they
needed to take another look at

This case because there was
something wrong.

Narrator: but perhaps the
most definitive proof would come

From the envelope flaps.

Who had licked them -- dorothy
or chris?

Narrator: investigators
wanted to know who had licked

And closed the envelopes that
held dorothy davis' su1c1de

Notes.

To find out, scientists needed
dorothy's dna for comparison.

Unfortunately, he body had
already been cremated.

So they had to reconstruct her
dna profile by analyzing the dna

From both her parents and her
two children.

Her dna type was determined
by cross-referencing the

Possible types she could have
received from both the mother

And the father and looking at
the resulting types that she

Donated to both of her children.

Narrator: chris' dna profile
was on file as part of his

Military records.

Scientists cut a small piece of
envelope flap, put it into a

Solution which dissolved
everything but the human cells,

And performed a pcr dna test.

The results --
the dna test revealed chris had

Licked the envelope flap.

He placed that letter in that
envelope and sealed it himself.

That is the only reason his
saliva was on those envelopes.

Dorothy had no intention on
committing su1c1de...

That those letters were a cry
for help, and that chris used

Those letters to pad his scheme
to m*rder his wife for financial

Gain.

Forensics was the only thing
that we had to tie chris davis

To the su1c1de notes.

Finding his dna on that envelope
flap -- that's the icing on the

Cake.

This was one solid piece of
evidence that he could not

Explain away.

Narrator: one year after
dorothy davis' death, her

Husband, chris, was arrested and
charged with her m*rder.

When I heard chris was
arrested, it was like, "yay.

Thank you, lord.

Thank you."

You know, it was...

I was excited but also sad and
hurt, but also overjoyed and

Overwhelmed and...they finally
got him.

Narrator: prosecutors believe
that chris davis tried to k*ll

Dorothy three years earlier by
disconnecting the smoke

Detectors and setting the house
on fire before leaving with his

Daughter for a car ride.

That attempt failed.

Then chris found dorothy's
journal and the su1c1de notes

She had written earlier.

This provided his cover story.

He has su1c1de notes.

What better way to mislead
investigators than su1c1de notes

Obviously authored by the
victim?

Narrator: on the night of the
m*rder, chris went to the

Noncommissioned officers club
to establish an alibi.

After a while, he said he was
going out to the lobby to call

His wife.

Instead, he got into his truck
and raced home.

Dorothy was most likely asleep
when chris got into position to

sh**t her in the right temple
at just the right angle.

[ g*nsh*t ]
however, when he planted the g*n

In her hand, he forgot to
position her index finger on the

Trigger.

Chris staged the scene with a
true-crime book and the

Container of antidepressants.

The most crucial part of his
plan was planting the su1c1de

Notes dorothy had written months
earlier.

Meanwhile, at the nco club,
chris' friend noticed he wasn't

Using the telephone in the lobby
as would later claim.

And when chris returned, his
friends noticed he wasn't

Wearing the jacket he had on

Earlier.

He had left it by mistake in his
bedroom, captured on film for

All to see.

Chris davis ignored dorothy's
cries for help, the ones

Articulated so clearly in her
notes and diary.

Instead, he used them against
her.

If he had simply destroyed
those letters, then they would

Not have been there for us to
examine.

If he hadn't have licked that
envelope, if chris had not have

Done that, he would have walked
free.

Narrator: chris davis was
found guilty of his wife's

m*rder.

He was dishonorably discharged
from the army and sentenced to

Life in prison.

Chris is cold-blooded.

He's sick, he's demented.

If he says he's not, he's a
blatant liar.

I've seen it firsthand how
sick, evil this man can be.

I saw it.

Chris was very, very
money-hungry in that what he was

Looking at by the death of
dorothy was freedom.

He didn't have to worry about
child support.

He got rid of his wife and he
got a cool $150,000.

Without that forensic

Evidence, chris would be a free

Man today, and there would be no

Justice for dorothy.