See production, box office & company info. The lawsuit also claimed that Thompson had permanently damaged Lords reputation in Dallas and caused her to suffer extreme emotional and mental anguish, including depression, insomnia, nightmares, and constant anxiety of the most extreme nature. Lord was asking for monetary damages, and according to courthouse gossip, Tittle was not willing to settle for less than seven figures. The Hephzibah Olivia Lord by Detective Dwayne A. Thompson lasted for hours. West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country, Jimmy Carters Peanut-and-Egg Taco Made Quite the Impression on San Antonians, The Top 50 Texas BBQ Joints: 2021 Edition, The Campaign to Sabotage Texass Public Schools. She works at a clothing shop, making $14 an hour, far less than what she was earning when she was in the mortgage business. Thompson misrepresented any of the facts that were provided by Witness Rastegar and that there were no signs of a criminal offense. Indeed, the report continued, Thompson did have probable cause to arrest Suspect Lord.. This has been kind of a sexy case here: an attractive female shoots the boyfriend, you solve the crime. (2014) Will detectives be able to catch the killers before they strike again? After she graduates, she hopes to go to law school and perhaps someday work for the Innocence Project. Bring on the Shiplap? Lord was 33 years old and worked as a loan officer for a mortgage company. City Employees Are Heading for the Exits. He often said that victimology was the most overlooked part of a homicide investigation even though it could help explain whether a suspect was guilty or innocent. She helped him with his finances, reminding him to pay his bills and to keep his spending in line. When Michael Burnside was found dead in his Dallas home four years ago, detective Dwayne Thompson decided that the victim's girlfriend, Olivia Lord, had pulled the trigger. Thompson asked why there was so little blood on her hands and arms. He was confident and charming, she said. The officer pointed to a woman sitting on a chair in the front yard, her face in her hands. Self - Detective; 2009-2014 2 eps; Credits. If he had wanted to go after that girl, he could have made stuff up, trumped up reports, and hidden the Rastegar tape. | Store As he nodded sympathetically, she again talked about how hurt she had been on her birthday. I want him brought down.. Or maybe the two had struggled for the gun before it went off, leaving residue on both of them. When Quinton studied the gunshot residue report, he concluded that the trace amounts of residue on Lord did not necessarily indicate handling or firing the weapon. But he couldnt say for sure that she didnt fire the Beretta. She needed pills to go to sleep. But she never did: she kept saying that she loved her boyfriend, that they were happy together, and that he had taken his life for reasons she could not imagine. Five years later, Lord clearly remains tormented by that conversation, haunted by the idea that she might have said something that pushed her boyfriend into committing an impulsive act that no one could have imagined him doing. Thompson has still destroyed my life and hes still out there working cases. Thompson returned to headquarters and took the elevator to the homicide offices on the fifth floor. The officer shrugged. After Jaffe went home, the argument escalated. Strapped around his shoulders was a thick brown leather holster that held his department-issued pistol, a 9mm Sig Sauer. She did her own interviews, speaking, for instance, with a firefighter who said he believed he had accidentally kicked the gun away from Burnsides body. But after her arrest, Lord read The Count of Monte Cristo, the Alexandre Dumas novel about a wrongfully imprisoned man who seeks revenge against those responsible for his imprisonment, and she memorized one of the books famous lines: May the god of vengeance now permit me to punish the wicked! That was her goal, she said. A uniformed officer walked over and told Thompson that the house belonged to a man named Michael Burnside, age thirty. Testimony continues Friday, during which Lord may take the witness stand. I had to cover my mouth I was so appalled, Judy Durbin, an accountant who was the foreman of the jury, would later recall. Physical evidence can be more baffling than conclusive. He saw no high-velocity blood spatter. And Im a person who thinks your behavior tonight doesnt add up. He pointed his finger at her. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. Skip Hollandsworth specializes in long-form narratives. But, he added, his friend wasnt the type to get married at any point.. Dwayne Thompson (born October 6, 1950) is an American politician. He also said he had seen Burnside act recklessly with a gun only two or three times over the past fifteen years. Lord was accused of murder countless times, and she always denied it. | Sign In, Verdict Corrections Every day, dozens of times a day, I think about that talk and how I wish I could take it all back, she told me. Dont worry about it. Although the couple appeared to be joking, said Jaffe, you could tell they were serious., At that point, Jaffe said, he decided to leave, and when he returned after getting the frantic phone call from Lord, he found her in the front yard. The day after the shooting, he had checked the records and discovered that there was no seven-minute gap on Lords cellphone between the calls to Jaffe and 911. Its insane, he was overheard saying one afternoon at a restaurant near the police department. I cant undo what hes done.. I believe that with all my heart.. Texas Lege Watch: A House Republican Fights for Chicken Freedom, Texas Monthly Recognized by ASME in the 2023 National Magazine Awards. Videos 1. The case was then sent to the Internal Affairs division for an administrative review. If the review, which is ongoing as of press time, finds that Thompson violated departmental policies, he could be fired, suspended, or demoted. | Privacy Statement. . Your email address will not be published. Testimony continues Friday, during which Lord may take the witness stand. Finally, after Thompson barked at him, he stepped onto the front porch and told a flabbergasting story. Thats what you did! A citizen filing a lawsuit for false arrest must prove that the officer acted with malice, which is difficult to do. But when she realized how serious his injury wasI think I saw a spot on his head, she saidshe called 911 several times. Then his own cellphone rang. After telling Lord and Jaffe that he was sorry for their loss, Thompson asked them to sign releases agreeing to gunshot residue testsroutine procedure, he assured them. The Dallas City Council on Wednesday approved a settlement of more than $1 million to a . Yes. Chip Gaines Bought Larry McMurtrys Historic Texas Bookstore. Thompson said he had heard that Burnside was making money. Then Jaffe added one more detail. Thompson also had not told the Burnsides that he had misread a crucial piece of evidence. Jaffe said that he and Burnside had been drinking earlier that evening. But Love also acknowledges that he is bewildered at the idea of Burnside shooting himself. He called the tone and line of questioning a formula for a false confession. And Sanders questioned why Thompson did not read Lord her right to remain silent after the point in which he clearly considered her a murder suspect during the interview. And whats really frightening is that Thompson could come back after me, plant some new fake evidence, and arrest me for murder again. Did she, in fact, tell him that she was leaving him? He calmly explained that his ferocious questioning of Lord after the shooting was nothing more than a technique used by detectives in police departments around the countrythe direct method, he called itin which a suspect is openly accused of a crime to see how he or she reacts. Trailer 0:21. Had she washed up with towels before the paramedics and police arrived? And youd say, you know, Thats not a toy., Jaffe said that Burnside had pulled out a gun that night. Most of Thompsons fellow officers assumed it would be only a matter of time before he was firedand perhaps even indicted. She glanced around the dining room. We were joking around about somethingI dont remember whatand I said, Hey, wheres your Beretta? And he opened up [a kitchen drawer] and said, Its right here.. She certainly had not used them to wash herself off, she said. No, she said again. I was leaning over my future husbands body, Lord said. She was so in love with him that she was always able to forgive him when he screwed uplike the night of her birthday, when he got rip-roaring drunk, staggered around the restaurant, and didnt even pay for dinner. But Lords attorney, Don Tittle, said the detective was wrong that police records show she called 911 immediately after trying to reach the friend. Tired of fighting, she stopped talking to Burnside and went into the bathroom to take off her makeup. Merritt had an uncanny knack for catching killers. For someone to say Dwayne maliciously would go after Miss Lord and try to set her up, I would say, You have the wrong guy, said Andrea Handley, one of the offices senior prosecutors. Im not even sure the word accident was used. He said he later surmised that Lord had shot Burnside because he had heard a story going around the neighborhood that Burnside had been shot in the back of the head, which would suggest he had been murdered. Instead, he gave Brandi Mitchell everything he had.. She liked pampering him, waiting on him hand and foot so that he could focus on building his company. Ive talked to her many, many times, and if she is lying about what happened, shes a hell of an actress, said one friend, Eric Love. But Detective Dwayne Thompson testified Tuesday that nothing he has heard since his civil trial began last week has changed his opinion that Lord intentionally killed Burnside. There was no sign that he had struggled with an assailantno bruises or scratches on his skin, no scuffed knuckles. But Detective Thompson couldnt or wouldnt accept that. Tittle said that Thompson allowed a screenplay [of the shooting] in his mind to take over. And thats a dangerous, dangerous thing if youre a homicide detective with the Dallas Police Department., Lord took the stand and was overcome with emotion as she described her love for Burnside. Why, he wanted to know, would a man suddenly shoot himself after what seemed to be a routine argument with his girlfriend? He first worked in patrol, where he was assigned to some of the citys tougher neighborhoods, and then spent ten years as a detective in the robbery and property crimes division before being promoted to homicide, in 2007. Join Facebook to connect with Dwayne Thompson and others you may know. You think they are going to accept this bullshit you are giving me?, For the next hour, Thompson continued to berate Lord, trying to get her to crack. Then, on June 5, his phone rang. I hope you die in jail and burn in hell!. A few days after the funeral, Lord called Burnsides brother to ask if she could retrieve some of her belongings from the house. She added a detail about their relationship that she hadnt told Thompson, saying that she had been disappointed that Burnside hadnt proposed to her the previous Christmas. Lord was accused of murder countless times, and she always denied it. Lundberg also took the stand, testifying that he too remained convinced that Lord was guilty of murder. After the service, she told Burnsides friends that she hadnt returned any of their calls because she had been overwhelmed with grief. Im devastated., Thompson bore down. No, said Quinton, Thompson hadnt mentioned either of those things. Had struggled with an assailantno bruises or scratches on his head, she called... She didnt fire the Beretta Thompson said he had struggled with an assailantno bruises or scratches on his head she. Burnsides brother to ask if she could retrieve some of her belongings from the.... The killers before they strike again [ of the facts that were provided by Rastegar. 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