The day after the verdict, Thompson was placed on desk duty. "You look at that. She was arrested in 2010 for the . "When I work my cases, I don't have a dog in the fight," said Thompson, a homicide detective since 2006. When she flew back to Dallas, she went straight to Shearins office. In an excited voice, he said that he had been told by his sons next-door neighbor that a neighbor who lived across the streetan attorney named Sheida Rastegarhad information that linked Lord to the killing. Strapped around. According to Lord, he became obnoxious and sarcastic, which often happened when he drank. 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. Which brings us to the story this week here in Dallas of Hephzibah Olivia Lord, who sued and won a civil lawsuit against a Dallas police detective for false arrest, reportedly in large part because the jury found that the detective had acted with malice (a legal term here) during his interrogation of Lord after she was arrested on a charge of murdering her boyfriend. Come on., Lord closed her eyes when I asked her about those detractors who continue to believe shes hiding something. The jurors, however, werent buying any of it. 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. Ive never seen anything like it, Sanders said. It was a stupid fight., Jaffe paused. Burnsides parents say that they still cannot believe that their son took his own life. DallasJustice.com, Law offices of Michael Lowe, For a more complete description of the interrogation, check out Dallas Morning News coverage from the day that the jury was shown the interrogation videotape, Kim Sanders explained that the Lord interrogation was intimidation, Sanders also pointed out Thompsons failure to read Ms. Lord her Miranda rights, Michael Lowes Things to Know if You are Being Investigated for a Crime in Texas, Salinas v. Texas: Your Silence During Police Interrogation Does Not Get 5th Amendment Protection, Can Be Used Against You As Evidence Of Guilt To The Jury. At the least, she said, she wanted to make sure his actions were publicly documented so that he could never do to someone else what he had done to her. Why did you wait seven minutes before calling 911? he yelled. Dwayne Thompson (I) IMDbPro Starmeter. Then Tittle fired back. But she maintained her innocence, claiming that he committed suicide. That doesnt mean they kill themselves.. Read the crime and public safety news your neighbors are talking about. But Love also acknowledges that he is bewildered at the idea of Burnside shooting himself. Theres no way my son shot himself,John said. Thompson has still destroyed my life and hes still out there working cases. Because that is the only thing that makes sense.. Brian, we got a problem, Thompson said. I know that he could get dramatic and a little crazy when he drank. There hasnt been one bit of evidence in this case that has caused you to pause in your opinion that she murdered Michael?. Join Facebook to connect with Dwayne Thompson and others you may know. But as the case made its way through the courts, she maintained her innocenceand claimed Thompson was the one who should go to prison. Wearing a black dress and black heels, Lord came into the courtroom, followed by her friends and family. She was Miss Right as far as he was concerned, Jaffe replied. And thats hurtful. Lundberg then brought up the trajectory of the bullet through Burnsides brain. She was wearing a blue T-shirt and gray sweatpants, her knees stained with blood. Nor did Burnsides parents invite her to the reception. The officer shrugged. Then Shearin got his big break. What this trial is about is whether this detective had probable cause to believe that she did it. Then Schuette began listing all the reasons that would make a detective like Thompson believe Lord had killed her boyfriend. Shearin called a friend in the homicide unit to ask about Thompson, whom he had never met. He eventually learned about my arrest, and he was so bothered by what he read that he never called me again. Rastegar ran outside and asked her what had happened. If he had wanted to go after that girl, he could have made stuff up, trumped up reports, and hidden the Rastegar tape. Do I want to know an answer? Lord continued to deny involvement in the death during questioning, saying she was in the bathroom when she heard the shot and called 911. When Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson checks out a missing persons apartment and finds it covered in blood, he's launched into one of the strangest cases in his career--a case that he must solve without the victim's body. Lord was accused of murder countless times, and she always denied it. He was wearing a T-shirt, khaki shorts, and sandals. Trailer 0:21. Chip Gaines Bought Larry McMurtrys Historic Texas Bookstore. I mean, she got no-billed. Every time she tried to answer a question, she said, he cut her off and called her a liar. And, yes, she said, she had grown irritated when she heard Burnside and Jaffe talking about the birthday party. Thompson started his career in law enforcement as a corrections officer in a maximum-security prison in South Carolina. When Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson checks out a missing persons apartment and finds it covered in blood, he's launched into one of the strangest cases in his career--a case that he must solve without the victim's body. There was something else that didnt seem right: drops of blood leading into another room. And who knows? Strapped around his shoulders was a thick brown leather holster that held his department-issued pistol, a 9mm Sig Sauer. Im just as baffled as you are, she said. He was not a depressed type of person at all. 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. Thompson just happened to be standing at the detectives desk, and he was more than happy to talk to Shearin. Hephzibah Olivia Lord, distraught and sobbing, sat across from Detective Dwayne A. Thompson in the Dallas Police Departments interview room several hours after her boyfriend had died from a gunshot wound to the head. Her father, who lived in Californiahe and Lords mother had divorced when she was a childflew in to be with her. She had told Jaffe she had driven past Burnsides house before leaving and had seen crime scene investigation vehicles parked outside. She said Burnside had been drinking heavily, and at some point, in the midst of the fight, he had walked into the kitchen and shot himself. She also said that when he got angry, he could be a little scary and that he threw stuff in the house. She would usually ignore him when he got into one of his moods, but this time it had only made him angrier. He called Jaffe, who had also turned against Lord, to see if he could help him locate her. Burnside died from a gun shot wound from a 9 mm Beretta handgun. Lord seemed shocked. Then Jaffe added one more detail. Lets make a bad thing right. His fellow detectives nicknamed him D-Train. But she was pointedly not invited to a get-together that Burnsides friends were throwing after the service at one of his favorite bars. He also had the medical examiner testify about what Thompson supposedly told him about the blood spatter on Lords clothes. I dont remember the exact words that were used, he told Lundberg. You shot him!, Olivia, youre not telling me the truth., Youre arguing about a goddamn birthday party, and he says, Im so upset about the goddamn birthday party that Im going to kill myself? Thompson said, his voice growing louder. Thompson did his best to defend himself. There were too many unanswered questions, he said. 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. He is a Democrat representing District 96 in the Tennessee House of Representatives . According to Thompson, Rastegar said he had been in bed during the early morning hours of May 9 when he heard screaming in Burnsides front yard. Tittle next called to the stand a retired Dallas homicide detective named Kim Sanders, who said that Thompsons interrogation of Lord was outlandish and that he left out key evidence in his arrest warrant. Physical evidence can be more baffling than conclusive. IMDbPro. After being honorably discharged, in 1991, while stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, he joined the Dallas police. On May 9, 2010, plaintiff Hephzibah Olivia Lord, 36, who works in mortgaging, was alone with her boyfriend at his home, in Dallas. The trial finally began in a federal courtroom in downtown Dallas this past Januarynearly four years after the shooting. An officer came over to Thompsons cubicle and handed him Lords and Jaffes cellphones. (The autopsy report revealed that he had at least a .17 blood alcohol level when he diedtwice the legal limit to drive a vehicle.) 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. "It was a good experience," Thompson says, "It kind of launched me into police work." Anonymous Was she Miss Right or Miss Right Now? Thompson asked. But Sunday night, the deadly virus claimed his life. Or, asked Shearin, did Thompson say that Burnside was stressed about owing money to the IRS? Basing an opinion on over 30 years with the Dallas Police Department, Kim Sanders explained that the Lord interrogation was intimidation, not questioning, and as Thompson handled the questioning it was a textbook example of how police can get false confessions. But Lords attorney, Don Tittle, said the detective was wrong that police records show she called 911 immediately after trying to reach the friend. | Editor 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. Its insane, he was overheard saying one afternoon at a restaurant near the police department. The arrest was based upon Thompsons affidavit. Skip Hollandsworth specializes in long-form narratives. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); With more than 150 jury trials under his belt, Michael Lowe has strong and varied courtroom experience. Filing in behind him were at least a dozen of his fellow homicide detectives, there to show support. All prosecutors know that almost every murder case contains inconsistent and sometimes contradictory evidence. I dont want to answer that, she said. In 2008, when the producers of The First 48, a reality series on the A&E network about homicide detectives in big-city police departments, came to Dallas to film some episodes, they were riveted by Thompson. In truth, she had called 911 seconds after she had tried to reach Jaffe. (2014) Prior to her arrest, Lord had been known for her good-natured personality. I believe that with all my heart.. But when she realized how serious his injury wasI think I saw a spot on his head, she saidshe called 911 several times. Videos 1. Dwayne Thompson (born October 6, 1950) is an American politician. Or maybe, as Thompson theorized, Lord had missed some of the residue on her hand and her shirt when she cleaned herself up after pulling the trigger. How Florence ButtNot Her SonLaunched the H-E-B Empire. As Lord hugged Tittle and members of her family, Thompson stood at the defense table, his mouth open. Lundberg said that there was a gunshot wound to his right temple, a contact wound where the muzzle had been pressed directly against his head, which is common in suicides involving a handgun. Hephzibah Olivia Lord, age 36, sued Dallas homicide detective Dwayne Thompson on civil rights violation theories under 42 U.S.C. Will detectives be able to catch the killers before they strike again? The Dallas City Council on Wednesday approved a settlement of more than $1 million to a . [4] 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. Or he mistakenly pulled the trigger thinking the Beretta was unloaded., Jaffe shook his head. The way Lord had described it, she and Burnside were deeply in love, and they had been talking about marriage. She called Thompsons interrogation of her a mental rape and characterized her days in jail as torture. Even now, she said, she felt like an outcast, afraid to go out in public. In this interrogation method, its deemed acceptable to manipulate through accusations of guilt through an aggressive protocol of nine steps. Then his own cellphone rang. There was no question in her mind, she said, that she and Burnside would soon get married. Still, Thompson had only a theory. He said that Lundberg had told him that Rastegar had wavered a little bit in his statement but that Lundberg had also let him know that the gist was the same and nothing substantively had changed from what he had already written in his affidavit. It found that two particles characteristic of primer gunshot residue had been discovered on the back of Burnsides right hand and that one particle characteristic of primer gunshot residue had been discovered on the back of Lords left hand. 4. 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. The lawyer was reluctant to open the door. He was confident and charming, she said. She was so hysterical he could not understand what she was saying. You realize, dont you, that if I didnt have money from my family to fight back, I could have been wrongfully convicted, fighting this from prison. Sometimes he would think [a gun] was unloaded and he would swing it around, you know, not trying to hurt anybody, just being stupid. I went into the kitchen and he was on the floor and there was blood. However, the police may or may not let the person know about this right (remember the experts concerns that Thompson had not told Lord about her right to a lawyer). But there was no corruption involved. Facebook gives people the power. Lord said that she and Burnside had gotten into an argumentsomething about a birthday party. Thompson picked up his cellphone and called Burnsides father, John, a successful Dallas business analyst. Summary: Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson and the homicide team investigate the brutal double murders of two friends shot and burned beyond recognition in the trunk of a car. Then she looked at Thompson. She told her parents that Thompson had brutalized her. Thompson returned to headquarters and took the elevator to the homicide offices on the fifth floor. We understand that people get upset, get scared, get angryand when all those emotions are happening at once, people do things., He paused and kept his eyes on Lord. The Hephzibah Olivia Lord by Detective Dwayne A. Thompson lasted for hours. Look at it! A light drizzle was falling in the early morning hours of May 9, 2010, when detective Dwayne Thompsonpulled up in front of a modest home on Spring Grove Avenue, in a tree-lined neighborhood in North Dallas. Thompson testified that Lord had little blood on her hands and that she smelled of cleaning solution, which led him to believe she had washed her hands. That she didnt mean to do it.. Basically she said, I know the kind of stuff that goes on in Vegas, Jaffe told Thompson. Yes. Mikey said, Im not going to cheat on you in Vegas. | Sign In, Verdict Corrections Thompson looked at his notebook, where he had written down the calls Lord had made on her cellphone. Lord told her friends and family that Burnside definitely liked to have a good time. Case Style: Hephzibah Olivia Lord v. Dwayne Thompson, Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (Dallas County), Defendant's Attorney: James Carroll Butt, J.G. 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