Kansas City police called it the most
bizarre m*rder case they'd ever seen
because the k*ller clearly left a
message and the forensic scientists
found another message at the scene
microscopic in size but unmistakable in
clarity
one Friday afternoon in 2000 some people
returning from lunch heard strange
noises coming from one of the offices
the woman found her boss richard
armitage on the floor behind his desk in
the pool of blood she called for his
partner Richard Buckley to help at this
point
Armand was still alive he was still
fighting for his life she went to the
phone call 9-1-1 she heard some noises
the clapping sound mr. Buckley was
attempting to revive mr. Armitage
Armitage was rushed to the hospital and
went immediately into surgery and
swelling on the brain things did not
look good at all
in fact it's from what we were hearing
from the doctors it was just a matter of
time his kids were all there and I
leaned over his bed and I said if you
want to go go you know you can go uh uh
I let him go
which was very hard Armitage never
regained consciousness we knew that we
were gonna have a homicide on our hands
and it was gonna be pretty difficult to
just solve the autopsy revealed Armitage
had been struck nine times in the head
with a blunt object possibly a hammer it
looked like the person who had done this
was very angry at the time because the
type of wounds that he had to a skull
very deep very open wounds it could have
been either passion it could have been
just straight-out anger we didn't know
at that point Richard Armitage was a
lawyer whose practice was primarily
related to organ transplantation and
donation issues not surprisingly his
heart and other organs were donated to
three different recipients it was very
difficult for the kids very difficult I
think they're proud of their dad and the
fact that even in his death he still
helped somebody else
so they're proud of me he's still around
everyone in Kansas City was shocked at
the sheer brutality of the crime it was
a broad daylight attack in a busy
downtown office building and the victim
was a man who seemed well-liked
well-respected working in a very
esoteric area of law organ transplant
and the mystery was who could have done
this who could have slipped into this
building and done this no one working in
the building saw anyone leave the office
with bloody clothing but forensic
experts say the k*ller might not have
had any blood on him there was no
guarantee that there would be blood on
the assailant of any kind if you're
using a hammer you impact that object
really the energy is dispersed away from
the assailant the person comes in and
commits the beating and leaves and
there's very little evidence if any on
that person no one not friends family or
business associates could name a
potential suspect to find a lawyer slain
in his office in broad daylight was
highly unusual it it was something the
city had not seen before but
investigators discovered Armitage did
other types of legal work besides organ
transplantation law was it possible that
something in his past may have
resurfaced
richard armitage was just 51 years old
when he was found m*rder*d in his office
friends and colleagues couldn't
understand who would have wanted to harm
him rich had children from a previous
marriage then rich and Kathy had a child
not long after getting married and
Nellie you just durable a girl and seem
to be the happy couple and really
enjoying life to the fullest both his
ex-wife and his current wife were ruled
out as suspects since they each had an
alibi for the time of the m*rder we
looked at also some of his friends
particularly one of his best friends
there wasn't a bad word between them
there wasn't any problems between them
investigators knew that whoever k*lled
Richard Armitage was within arm's length
when he struck the fatal blows we
believe that the first blow knocked him
out of his chair and that he did not
have a chance to move again the crime
scene tells us that all the blows were
probably delivered while Armitage was
laying on the floor on his side and
there were no defensive wounds there was
no sign really of a struggle
because his shoes were sitting neatly
beside his desk it was clear Richard
wasn't expecting anyone we had learned
that whenever richard armitage would go
into his office said his desk he'd take
his shoes off so he was very comfortable
when he was att*cked he had his shoes
off didn't have his shoes on he'd never
moved from that desk he'd never gone
anywhere blood spatter patterns clearly
indicated Armitage his back was turned
when the attack began he seemed like he
was very comfortable at his desk just
kicked back working on things I think
they said he was ordering perfume for
his wife for Mother's Day and then came
in and was completely surprised by the
attack apparently detectives checked his
appointment calendar no meetings were
scheduled for that day phone records
showed that Armitage completed his last
call at 2:01 p.m. his secretary and law
partner found his body at 2:30 when
police arrived the blood had started to
clot which meant the m*rder occurred
closer to 2 o'clock he lay there for a
period of time normal healthy
individuals who are not taking any
coagulants normally will clot or begin
to clot within 3 to 15 minutes Armitage
is partner Richard Buckley said he was
at lunch at the time so did his
secretary
and there was no one else in the office
the only three people in the law firm
were Richard Buckley Richard Armitage
and secretary they were the only office
on this floor this was a very big floor
the rest of the floor was vacant they
really didn't know if it had been
someone who had just come in off the
street if it was a matter of a former
disgruntled client if it was someone
from his personal life in addition to
his organ donation clients Armitage did
collection work collection work has kind
of a seedy reputation sometimes but he
was doing collection work for like
dentists and doctors and I think some
apartment complexes when debts weren't
paid
Armitage would send the necessary legal
documents to the people who owed his
clients money those tactics sometimes
made people angry we came up with one
name one person who was particularly I
guess pretty volatile on the phone
pretty angry on the phone with him had
even threatened him a couple of times
office records identified the man as
Luke Campbell's we've got to looking
into him I did find out where he was he
then performed a search warrant at his
house and which we then we found a
bloody shirt and then we found some
bloody pants and we thought well this
might be our person the clothing was
sent for DNA testing but the blood
belonged to Campbell and not Richard
Armitage that didn't necessarily exclude
him as a suspect
it would not be outside of the realm of
possibilities that there was no blood on
the attacker and that comes back to the
physics involved when you're impacting a
bloody object if you're using a hammer
you impact that object
the energy is dispersed away from the
assailants when investigators looked at
security camera video tapes to see if Lu
Campbell had entered Armitage his office
building on the day of the m*rder they
found a big surprise
Kansas City police screamed the video
tapes from security cameras in the lobby
of Richard Armitage his office building
they expected to see Lu Campbell who had
threatened Armitage over a legal dispute
but instead they saw Armitage his law
partner Richard Buckley walking through
the lobby at a different time than he
first claimed he had told us earlier
that he'd left for lunch at
approximately 150 in the afternoon he
was leaving and about on the tape I
believe it was 206 you can make out the
fact that he'd a briefcase over shoulder
Buckley's explanation was simple but he
was mistaken about the time he left for
lunch but police realized this time
difference meant Buckley and Armitage
were in the office alone for
approximately five minutes before
Buckley left for lunch could that be
enough time for him to have att*cked mr.
Armitage yes and done when he done and
then try to get away yes
Buckley denied he had anything to do
with the m*rder and police found no
blood or anything suspicious in
Buckley's briefcase
Buckley said when he left for lunch
Armitage was on the telephone
he said he walked through the lobby went
to a fast-food restaurant then bought
some items at an office supply store the
receipt showed he was there at 2:22
Buckley said he then returned to the
office had a cigarette outside and when
he saw his secretary they both went back
into the office together at
approximately 2:30
that's when they found Richards body his
story seemed to hold up especially when
police recalled his appearance just
minutes after the body was found Richard
Buckley when we first contacted him he
had no blood on him it didn't appear
that he had been in a fight it didn't
appear that anything had happened but
when police looked into Buckley's
background they found some disturbing
information Armitage
handled the organ transplant side of the
business and did very well
Buckley handled civil cases and was
doing poorly Richard Buckley was a very
bad lawyer he spent a lot of money on on
witnesses he spent a lot of money on
things he probably didn't even spend
money on and then when he got to trial
for whatever reason he just he just
couldn't win a case financial records
indicated that Buckley had amassed a
debt of more than a quarter million
dollars Richard told me about Buckley's
debt he would rob Peter to pay Paul and
he would borrow $10,000 to do to go to
Colorado to do a deposition and then
he'd lose the case and then he put a lot
of money in some of these cases and he'd
lose them Armitage was apparently no
longer willing to cover Buckley's debts
and his accountant said he was thinking
of dissolving the partnership this would
have left Richard Buckley with no income
and as Armitage is law partner Buckley
was the beneficiary of a 150 thousand
dollar life insurance payment in the
event of Armitage is death a clear
motive for m*rder
so despite the fact that Buckley's
clothing looked clean investigators sent
his shirt jeans and sneakers to the
forensic lab for testing and almost
immediately forensic analysts saw
something nearly invisible to the naked
eye I was very surprised when I pulled
out the shirt that was the first thing
that I pulled out to look at and I knew
immediately that this was high-velocity
blood spatter there wasn't very much
there though I could see it very clearly
this kind of high-velocity spatter can
only be created when the person wearing
the clothes is in close proximity to a
blood source being struck with a great
deal of force these small blood droplets
are actually embedded between the fibers
indicating that they've been forcefully
driven in as opposed to a light transfer
of blood which will only be visible on
the tops of the fiber bundles altogether
there were 61 specks of blood on
Buckley's clothing each no bigger than a
pinpoint DNA testing proved the blood
richard armitage --is when confronted
with this evidence buckley claimed he
got the blood on his clothes when he
tried to revive Armitage pacifically
when he clapped his hands to see if
Armitage was conscious was this a
plausible explanation forensic experts
were ready to put it to the test
Richard Buckley denied k*lling his law
partner Richard Armitage despite the
fact his partner's blood was found on
his clothing Buckley said the blood
spatter got onto his clothes when he
tried to determine if Armitage was
conscious the defense came up with the
possibility that clapping would cause
this fine mist or spatter that if he had
gotten his hands body with Armitage his
blood and then was clapping that that
would have caused it to see if this was
possible forensic experts conducted an
experiment first an individual
simulating Richard Buckley got down into
a kneeling position as he would have
been over Armitage his body instead of
blood
they used strings to show where the
blood on Buckley's hands would have gone
had he clapped them and we would follow
the path of these strings to see what
areas were exposed could possibly have
received blood and compare that to what
areas did actually have blood almost
immediately the experiment showed that
any blood on Buckley's hands would not
create blood spatter on his clothing in
the places where it was later found
as you can see in a kneeling position
with his legs behind him it would have
been impossible for the blood on his
hands to have gotten onto his shoes even
in a squatting position it wouldn't have
been possible there were small spatters
of blood that were within the side
crevices recessed areas of the athletic
shoes that someone clapping unless
they've got their hands right down on
the floor it just didn't make any sense
and in the opinion of all the forensic
experts at Buckley clapped his hands it
would not have created blood spatter on
the back of his shirt it's not going to
happen any other time it's not going to
happen when he pulls him out from the
desk it's not going to happen when he's
trying to give him CPR
it's not going to happen when he's
clapping his hands it's not going to
happen it's going to happen when he's
there only an object dripping in blood
and swung over your shoulder would
produce better like this on the back of
his shirt in a downward direction now we
know why what he's telling us is not
adding up
so now we know that he's giving us a
story he's giving us a very good story
he's thought about this but now we know
that there are holes in his story we
know why there's holes in his story that
was our big breakthrough them based on
the forensic evidence prosecutors
believe Buckley planned to k*ll Richard
Armitage when he learned Armitage plan
to dissolve their partnership they
believe Buckley brought the w*apon to
work hidden in his briefcase after the
secretary left for lunch and Armitage
finished his telephone call at 2:01
Buckley entered Armitage his office and
beat him to death
the repeated blows caused the blood
spatter on his shirt and shoes but
perhaps most important on the back of
his shirt virtually invisible to the
naked eye
he put the w*apon in his briefcase
perhaps in some type of bag to contain
the blood and left the office to get rid
of it the surveillance camera shows he
left at 206 police believe he disposed
of the m*rder w*apon and established an
alibi by purchasing some things at the
office supply store at 2:22
then return to the office building in
time to go back inside with his
secretary
around 2:30
before buckley started CPR he clapped
his hands loud enough for his secretary
to hear claiming he just wanted to get a
reaction but more likely to make sure he
had a plausible explanation for any
blood spatter on his clothing once she
had a full understanding of forensic
evidence of blood spatter where this was
going how it was pointing size cast-off
etc his story did not fit in the path
that the forensic evidence had already
provided and the forensic evidence was a
fact it was nothing you couldn't dispute
Richard Buckley was convicted of first
degree m*rder and sentenced to life in
prison without parole
my saddest thing that I have to say for
him is you did it out of greed and
jealousy and I said the impact that you
have on my kids my family it can never
be replaced never ever ever be replaced
the damage that he had done he
has to be the most shallow hollow
individual
I have ever known
a bizarre case with an unlikely suspect
but an unassailable conviction I did not
k*ll Richard Armitage I think that
Richard Buckley's inner volcano exploded
and Richard Armitage happened to be the
one that they caught the brunt of it no
matter how hard you try you can't beat
physical evidence because most the time
you don't realize physical evidence is
there he didn't even realize that he had
blood on his clothing
that was his demise
10x42 - Enemy Within
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Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.
Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.