12x18 - Shattered Innocence

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: there was a break-in

And a m*rder

It looked like an execution

My first thought was, "this was a hit."

Narrator: until a closer look the forensic evidence revealed

The truth

That was definitely a staged scene

One of the best defense lawyers in san antonio, texas, was

Leslie vaughn.

Leslie was a workaholic, and if you know anything about guys

Who try to reach that status of perfectionism, leslie was a

Perfectionist.

He really was.

Narrator: not surprisingly, as a defense attorney, vaughn's

Practice also included problem clients.

He did have clients involved in the drug trade.

He did have clients that identified themselves with

Different organized-crime groups.

Narrator: on the night of november , , leslie's wife

Was working the night shift as a nurse at the local hospital.

Leslie and his two sons were home that night.

Around : a.m., -Year-old brian said he heard a loud bang

Coming from his father's bedroom.

[ g*n fires ] when he tried to get in, he

Discovered the door was locked.

He hears some more alarming noises in the nature of gurgling

Or breathing.

He can't get into his dad's room, and that concerns him.

Narrator: in a panic, brian called .

Narrator: in a panic, brian called .

After the call, brian took his -year-old brother to his

Neighbors' house.

He indicated there might have been maybe somebody in the

House.

That's why he was getting his brother out, to make sure that

His brother didn't get hurt.

[ Siren wailing ] narrator: when paramedics

Arrived, they broke down the bedroom door and found

Leslie vaughn dead.

There was a single g*nsh*t wound to his head.

There was a large limestone rock on the bedroom floor and a

Broken window, the k*ller's apparent point of entry.

The french doors open to a balcony, and one of the doors

Had a very large, gaping hole in it.

Someone had thrown a rock through the doors, and the size

Of the breakout in the glass could accommodate a grown

Person walking in and out through that opening.

So right off the bat, I was pretty sure that we were dealing

With the m*rder scene.

Narrator: there was a spent shell casing on the floor.

And the spent b*llet was found in the pillow under vaughn's

Head.

The b*llet had six grooves with a right twist, which would

Commonly indicate a smith & wesson semiautomatic

-Millimeter handgun.

Narrator: but the motive for the m*rder was unclear.

The television was on.

There was a remote control still intact.

There was no indications of drawers open.

Of course, somebody ransacked, was searching for something,

Whether it be jewelry, money.

So there was no indications at all of a burglary.

Narrator: leslie vaughn was just years old.

My first thought was, "this was a hit."

Narrator: just a day earlier, a federal prosecutor overheard

Vaughn say he feared he would be targeted for v*olence.

That's sometimes the risk you take when you lose a case for a

Client who happens to be a drug dealer.

What went through my mind is, is that rumors were that maybe

It was a client, a disgruntled client, somebody who's mad at

Him.

Narrator: homicide detective alfred damiani broke the news to

Leslie's wife, madeline.

I've made lots of those notifications, and after the

Initial gasp and shock, then it's, "how?

How did it happen?" And she never, ever asked that.

Narrator: and they found another surprise on the

Call.

Narrator: at leslie vaughn's funeral, prosecutors and

Law enforcement came together with drug dealers and felons to

Mourn his death.

You had these grown men that by society standards, they're

Thugs, but they were actually reduced to tears because

Leslie vaughn was in that box, about to be put in the ground.

Narrator: in a search for the k*ller, the vaughn family told

Police they were getting harassing telephone calls in the

Weeks leading up to the m*rder.

The family had been receiving calls that you'd pick the phone

Up, nobody would say anything.

They were basically just dead air.

Narrator: unfortunately, phone records couldn't determine

The origin of the calls.

For investigators, their first task was to eliminate the

Victim's wife, madeline, as a possible suspect.

Hospital records confirmed she was working on the night of the

m*rder and had never left the premises.

Madeline was grieving.

She was stunned.

She was in shock.

She was all of the things that you would expect her to be.

And remember I showed you the pictures of leslie and madeline,

And they looked real happy.

Does that look like a picture of somebody knocking each other

Out?

That's what I saw.

Narrator: on the night of the m*rder, as a matter of routine,

Police swabbed brian vaughn's hands for g*nsh*t residue, since

He was in the house when the crime occurred.

These are the small, microscopic particles that are

Left behind when a g*n is fired.

If a person fired a w*apon within a -hour period, it is

Very likely that I will be able to find g*nsh*t residue.

Narrator: but under the scanning electron microscope,

Magnified up to , times, the tests on brian's hands were

Negative.

Investigators suspected the k*ller somehow climbed up to a

Second-floor balcony, broke through the french doors, and

Then sh*t vaughn in the head with a -millimeter g*n.

The balcony was about feet from the ground.

This is a balcony without access to the ground level.

There's no stairway.

There's no other way to access this balcony except through

Those doors.

I think someone could have scaled that balcony.

I would say that someone who did that would have to be pretty fit

And in pretty good shape.

I don't think it would have been an easy thing to do,

Necessarily, but it could be done.

Narrator: but when investigators looked at the dirt

Below the balcony, they couldn't find any evidence of a ladder or

Even any foot impressions, despite three days of constant

Rain.

How did this person get up here?

How did this person climb up here and get up to the second

Floor of this wooden deck and gain entry to this residence?

If the ground had been disturbed by heavy footprints or

A ladder or some sort of equipment, it should have shown

Up in the soil.

Narrator: and investigators felt it would have been

Impossible to throw the rock from the yard.

It weighed close to pounds.

That person would have to be very strong to be able to throw

That rock from the bottom floor and to make it go right through

That glass.

We found no evidence that there was any activity, anybody

Walking around back there -- absolutely no evidence of it.

Narrator: and investigators found another inconsistency.

There was broken glass all over the bedroom floor and all over

Leslie vaughn's body, as well.

The rock that was thrown through that window didn't even

Faze him and didn't even wake him up.

The obvious conclusion that you have to draw from that is,

Is that the guy was probably dead already.

Narrator: toxicology tests found no dr*gs or alcohol in

Leslie vaughn's system.

So there was no evidence he was unconscious before he was

k*lled.

Next, investigators sent the rock to the forensic lab for

Testing.

I talked to a scientist and asked him if there was a process

Which he planned to use to attempt to raise these latent

Prints.

Narrator: the process is called superglue fuming.

Heated superglue produces fumes that adhere to a fingerprint,

And the adhesion is greater than fingerprint powder.

You want to preserve anything that is on that rock, as far as

Latent prints or fingerprints.

You want to make sure that there's no way by using a brush

That it's gonna come off.

Narrator: unfortunately, the surface of the rock was too

Jagged.

The test was unsuccessful.

Then, investigators found an inconsistency in brian vaughn's

Story.

Brian called to report the sh**ting at : a.m.

But brian took his brother to his neighbors' house minutes

Earlier, at :.

Brian told the floyds that he had already placed a call

And that he was going back to the house to wait for the

Police.

When I asked both mr. And mrs. Floyd what time it

Was, they both told me it was exactly : a.m., According to

This clock that they had in the bedroom.

Brian arrived at the floyds' house at : a.m.

Did not call until :.

Narrator: what was brian doing for these minutes?

Narrator: there were only three people in the house on the

Night of leslie vaughn's m*rder -- the victim and his two

Sons.

A background check revealed -year-old brian had a previous

Arrest.

He got into an argument with one of the security guards there

At the bowling alley, who actually was an off-duty

Bexar county sheriff's deputy.

And in that altercation, he ended up striking this deputy

And in fact fleeing, like evading, from the scene.

Those were pending charges at the time that leslie was

m*rder*d.

Narrator: investigators also learned that brian's car caught

On fire three months before his father's m*rder.

The origin was suspicious.

There was an emergency call that the vehicle was totaled and

Had to be put out.

There's some question as to whether or not brian was

Responsible for starting that fire or being there when the

Fire started.

Narrator: whether leslie vaughn suspected this or

Not is unclear.

But he offered to buy brian a used car to replace the one

Ruined in the fire.

Apparently, brian wanted a new one.

A car salesman told police he witnessed a heated argument

Between the two on the afternoon of the m*rder.

His academic grades were poor, which is the reason why

His father wouldn't buy him the car in the first place.

Narrator: according to brian's younger brother, chris,

The argument continued when they got home up until the early

Evening hours of the night of the m*rder.

According to chris, brian retaliated by threatening to

Quit his high school basketball team, relinquishing any chance

Of a college scholarship.

In chris' statement, he said that it was a heated exchange

Between him and his father in brian vaughn's bedroom and that

This scene occurred about : at night.

Narrator: investigators dusted the entire bedroom for

Fingerprints and found no foreign prints, only those of

Family members.

But on the french door with the broken window, investigators

Found only one set of prints -- brian's.

To have your own prints in your own house is not that

Significant, but given the fact that we have this story about

What happens -- and the door is really clean otherwise -- it's

Just one more piece to the puzzle.

Narrator: investigators found shards of glass in the hallway

Outside the bedroom, leading towards the bathroom.

It was easy to see it was from the k*ller.

There's some trace evidence, some transfer blood and tissue,

To a wall right next to the door that exits the bedroom, and

That's significant.

We followed the glass shards to the bathroom, and then inside

Of the bathroom, we found an additional glass shard.

And then we found two black hairs in the sink area.

Narrator: all of the hairs from that bathroom were sent to

The forensic lab for analysis.

These hairs had a very clumped and very dense

Pigmentation pattern.

They were short.

They were semicircular.

They contained overall characteristics that followed

And fell into the footsteps of what one would conclude as being

A negroid hair.

Narrator: finally, investigators listened to the

Entire conversation between brian and the operator on

The night of the m*rder.

Brian said his father's bedroom door was locked.

But he told the operator one small detail that only the

k*ller would know...

There is no way that brian vaughn would have known

That his dad had been sh*t if the door was locked and he could

Not gain entry.

The biggest evidence against brian vaughn was brian vaughn.

Okay?

He was his worst evidence.

Narrator: investigators suspected that brian used a

-Millimeter g*n from his father's own collection.

We believe, from talking to his friends and his office

Manager, that he would have had a g*n in his night-side table.

And on the night of the m*rder, no g*n was found there.

We understood that he has had -millimeter g*ns in the past,

As well, and leslie was k*lled with a -millimeter.

The g*n was, in this case, though, never found.

Was never found.

Narrator: finally, investigators interviewed the

Only other person inside the house at the time of the m*rder,

Brian's younger brother, chris.

We asked chris, "would brian k*ll your dad?"

And chris answered, "I don't know."

We asked him, "could brian k*ll your dad?"

"I don't know.

He's very athletic, but I don't know if he could."

"Would he k*ll your dad?" "I don't know."

Which is an unusual response, as opposed to "no, he wouldn't do

It.

No, he couldn't do it.

No, he would never do it."

Narrator: brian vaughn was arrested and charged with his

Father's m*rder.

But would the jury convict on so little evidence?

Narrator: three months before leslie vaughn's m*rder,

Prosecutors believe that his son brian may have set fire to his

Car as a ploy to get a new one.

But his father refused, offering to buy him a used car instead.

Apparently, they fought about this and other issues, like his

Grades in school and how he was jeopardizing his chances for an

Athletic scholarship to college.

According to chris vaughn, the two argued until close to :

On the night of the m*rder.

Prosecutors believe brian waited until his father went to sleep,

Then woke his little brother and took him to the neighbors'

House.

He told his neighbors that he heard a noise from his father's

Bedroom and that it might have been a g*nsh*t.

He said he already called .

But that was a lie.

Prosecutors believe he used the time to return home and sh**t

His father in the head.

[ g*n fires ] to create the illusion this was

Committed by an intruder, brian went out on the balcony and

Threw the rock through the window.

The glass landed on top of his father's body, proof that this

Happened after he was dead.

The evidence suggests brian locked the bedroom door and

Tracked shards of glass through the hallway on his way to the

Bathroom to clean up.

Where he disposed of the m*rder w*apon and his bloody clothing

Is unknown.

Twenty-two minutes after taking his brother to the neighbors',

Brian finally called .

The call was full of inconsistencies.

The call was full of inconsistencies.

In january of , brian vaughn went on trial for the m*rder of

His father, and he was tried as an adult.

I don't think that you can be in your right mind to pull off

Something as horrendous as that was if you were in your right

Mind.

That's all I'm gonna say.

And that's what I feel.

You cannot tell me that he was in his right mind if he pulled

That trigger.

Narrator: the defense said an intruder committed the m*rder.

But the lack of mud on the balcony outside the bedroom made

It clear that the sh**t came from inside the house.

And brian's fingerprints were the only ones on the broken

French door.

Brian also lied about the call and clearly knew

Information only the k*ller would know.

The jury found brian vaughn guilty.

We, the jury, assess the punishment of the defendant,

Brian vaughn, as confinement for years.

Narrator: he'll be eligible for parole in .

If leslie vaughn was here, he would have asked the prosecutors

To go lenient on his son.

I believe that.

All fathers would.

We could not fathom our children doing something as horrendous as

That to us, period.

He got a g*n, he snuck up on his dad while his dad was

Sleeping, he put it to the back of his dad's head, and he blew

His brains out, basically.

Yeah, I think he belongs in the penitentiary.

He was really a star athlete, and this is a kid that probably

Would have figured out a way to do well enough in school to

Graduate from high school and probably would have had a

College career playing basketball and probably would

Have had the time of his life.

And instead, he's spending his life in jail.

Narrator: few people can imagine a child k*lling a

Parent, but the evidence at the scene and evidence missing from

The scene clearly showed what happened.

This is such an unusual case, in that forensics played a big

Role in this, but not in the normal sense.

The lack of it in some ways was kind of compelling.

It is something that he probably just thought of either

Days before or that night, just planned it.

But he slipped, and he wasn't able to cover his tracks.

He provided all the necessary pieces to convict him.

And, in fact, he provided evidence that was so strong, you

Could not find him not guilty.

It takes days and weeks of investigation, okay?

It takes lives that you destroy, and you don't realize that when

You're pulling the trigger, 'cause once you pull that

Trigger, you can't take that b*llet back.