The detective was 47 years old and built like a linebacker at six feet two inches and 230 pounds. Why the bottles of cleaning products and the bloody towels? Jaffe said he had been at the house earlier that evening, helping Burnside install a dishwasher while Lord was painting the doors and baseboards, and that he had left before midnight. I know verbally from him that he owes the government a lot of taxes, Lord replied. Then she looked at Thompson. Who do you fing think you are?. He noticed that there was a chemical odorit smelled like bleach, he would later sayon her clothes. Seven minutes is a long time, Thompson told her several times on the video. It was Burnsides father. She was arrested in 2010 for the . Im willing to accept that Mikey might have totally screwed up. Dwayne Thompson Associate (Antitrust, Competition and Trade) at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer The officer shrugged. I cant say unequivocally whether the young woman did or didnt do the shooting because I wasnt there., At the same time, Mitchell and other prosecutors in the DAs office were not convinced Thompson had committed any serious wrongdoing. On July 15, the Public Integrity Units report landed on the desk of Dallas police chief David Brown. | Privacy Statement. I was leaning over my future husbands body, Lord said. Based on what we see, it looks like you got upset and shot him. Thompson, a 21-year veteran of the Police Department, has been a homicide detective since 2006. Kim Sanders, a more than 30-year veteran of the department who served as a homicide detective, said the interview amounted to intimidation. As one Dallas County prosecutor put it, They can, even for the most well-intentioned of reasons, get too focused on making an arrest at the detriment of the true story., Mitchell began evaluating Thompsons case against Lord. The report could be interpreted several ways: Maybe, as Shearin believed, after Burnside had pulled the trigger, some of the gunshot residue had been transferred onto Lord when she held him in the kitchen. 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. Rastegar again tried to explain what he had heard Lord say that night. Ive never seen anything like it, Sanders said. Lundberg paused again. Toward the end of the year, he finally saw the video recording of Rastegars interview at police headquarters. According to Lord, he became obnoxious and sarcastic, which often happened when he drank. When she flew back to Dallas, she went straight to Shearins office. Tittle then asked about Rastegar. The only thing I can tell you that might make any sense to anybody is that when hes drunk, hes very irrational, she said. Shearin then asked if she was included in Burnsides will or his life insurance policy. Lundberg also took the stand, testifying that he too remained convinced that Lord was guilty of murder. Dwayne Thompson has spent over 18 years with the Dallas Police Department. Or, asked Shearin, did Thompson say that Burnside was stressed about owing money to the IRS? Read the crime and public safety news your neighbors are talking about. She wanted to know why they were there. Who cares? The Dallas Police Department is featured in a national reality TV show on the A&E network called The First 48, (maybe youve seen it if not, watch episodes here) and the detective who interrogated Hephzibah Olivia Lord in a manner that justified Lords civil suit for damages was Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson, who has been seen frequently on this A&E show. Thompson also had not told the Burnsides that he had misread a crucial piece of evidence. He asked Thompson if he had told one of Burnsides friends that this was the case of a lifetimethe kind of case that could make him famous. She had always insisted that she had not fled from the police. He had been a good-looking young man, with a magnificent, wide grin. But those mistakes do not amount to malice., Tittle, however, wasted no time going on the attack, telling the jury in his opening statement, There is not and was not a shred of credible evidence to suggest that Olivia Lord had anything to do with Michaels death. All prosecutors know that almost every murder case contains inconsistent and sometimes contradictory evidence. Im willing to accept that it might have been an accident. It was Lord. And in Cleveland, an argument among friends spins out of control when one of them makes a deadly decision. 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. I had the impression that she told me that [Burnside] had nothing to do with it and she did it. But he refused to say, like he had said on his porch, that he had definitely heard Lord confess to the shooting. And whats really frightening is that Thompson could come back after me, plant some new fake evidence, and arrest me for murder again. (The autopsy report revealed that he had at least a .17 blood alcohol level when he diedtwice the legal limit to drive a vehicle.) Veteran Dallas police homicide detective Dwayne Thompson is on desk duty pending an internal investigation. The First 48 (2004- ) Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson hunts for a band of carjacking killers that are terrorizing a neighborhood. Thompson had also told him that he believed there was blood spatter from the gunshot on Lords clothes, which meant that she could not have been in the bathroom at the time of the shooting, despite what Lord had said in her interview. But the man I loved is gone forever. Then Shearin got his big break. A lab technician had been unable to find any fingerprints on the Beretta because the gun had been covered in blood. She grew up in the Dallas area and after graduating from high school, she went straight to work, leasing apartments for a large real estate company and later selling cosmetics at Neiman Marcus in NorthPark Center. Burnside died from a gun shot wound from a 9 mm Beretta handgun. Or maybe in the midst of the argument, Burnside had pulled the Beretta out of the kitchen drawer for a second time, handed it to Lord, and said, in an effort to be dramatic, If you hate me so much, then just shoot me. And she did. She needed pills to go to sleep. Police questioned Lord at the police station and then released her. But as the case made its way through the courts, she maintained her innocenceand claimed Thompson was the one who should go to prison. A 9mm Beretta was also on the floor about five feet from where Burnsides body had been. 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. Thompson returned to headquarters and took the elevator to the homicide offices on the fifth floor. Theres no way my son shot himself,John said. Thompson started his career in law enforcement as a corrections officer in a maximum-security prison in South Carolina. Shearin ordered Lords cellphone records and received more good news: there was no seven-minute gap in her calls. Tired of fighting, she stopped talking to Burnside and went into the bathroom to take off her makeup. A Shooting on Spring Grove Ave: When Michael Burnside was found dead in his Dallas home in 2010, detective Dwayne Thompson decided that the victim's girlfriend had pulled the trigger. As for the question of blood spatter on Lords clothes, however, Quinton did have a definite opinion. He walked into the kitchen and nodded at Dale Lundberg, a detective who was on call that night to work as Thompsons backup. . | Sign In, Verdict Corrections 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. IMDbPro. 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. And now you have this thing where he was spending a lot of money on his friend, but he didnt spend near as much money on your birthday. He was the life of the party.. The detective was 47 years old and built like a linebacker at six feet two inches and 230 pounds. And now that he had a witness who was going to provide bombshell testimony about what had really happened that night, he was ready to go to trial. Shearin paid a visit to Reade Quinton, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Burnside, to ask him why, just prior to Lords arrest, he had changed his ruling about the cause of death from pending to homicide. Quinton replied that Thompson had informed him about the statement made by Rastegar. He allowed a few seconds to pass. Dallas homicide Detective Dwayne Thompson sits at his desk in 2010, looking over material he collected in the death of a 42-year-old mother who was shot in front of her home. 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. City attorneys are defending him, saying he acted in good faith and without malice. Maybe, Jaffe speculated, when Burnside and Lord had started arguing, he had declared that he was never going to marry her, which sent Lord into a tailspin and led her to grab the gun. Was it possible that he thought he was about to lose the woman he loved?. She liked pampering him, waiting on him hand and foot so that he could focus on building his company. For more information, see Michael Lowes Things to Know if You are Being Investigated for a Crime in Texas and our blog postSalinas 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.. In the taped interrogation, the detective asks Lord some general questions about what happened on the night that her boyfriend died then Thompson changed things up. He had on a dark fedora, a dark suit, a white shirt with a tie, and dress shoes. 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. Yes. There was no question in her mind, she said, that she and Burnside would soon get married. Yes you did! I know that he could get dramatic and a little crazy when he drank. Scattered around the floor were a few bottles of household cleaning products. He also had run up some debt: he owed a rental car company money for crashing one of its vehicles, and he had received letters from the IRS demanding that he pay more than $50,000 in back taxes. 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. Shearin went to see Brandi Mitchell, a prosecutor with the Dallas County district attorneys office who was in charge of the Burnside case, and claimed that Thompson had perjured himself. Seriously, does anyone believe this story that Olivia tells about being in the bathroom and hearing something that sounded like glass breaking in the kitchen? After the First 48 (2008- ) More at IMDbPro. Jaffe told him that Mikey was a good ol boy who liked hunting and fishing. Thompson is the one whos gotten away with the crime., Lord told me that she was not surprised to hear that the police departments Public Integrity Unit had ignored the civil jurys verdict and cleared Thompson. Every time she tried to answer a question, she said, he cut her off and called her a liar. He was convinced Thompson had misled him, and on September 22, Quinton changed the cause of Burnsides death to undetermined. Quintons new ruling was definitely a boost for Lords case, but it was hardly enough to guarantee an acquittal. They began talking about planning a surprise birthday party in a few weeks for one of their friends and flying to Las Vegas later that summer to attend a bachelor party for another. The First 48 (2004- ) In Dallas, when a good Samaritan is gunned down trying . Add a bio, trivia, and more. A bullet hole was in a wall near the ceiling. The judge ruled that there had been probable cause to arrest Lord, though the testimony in the examining trial did little to prove or disprove Lords guilt. Lets solve some murders, my brothers, he would cheerfully bellow as he barreled into the office at the beginning of his shifts. Burnsides family and friends were caught off guard by the lawsuit. But as the case made its way through the courts, she maintained her innocenceand claimed Thompson was the one who should go to prison. She said that she had phoned Jaffe because she initially thought Burnside had fallen and was hurt. Both have worked numerous murders and each has been featured on the popular A&E reality television show, I did start dating a guy not long ago, she said after the waiter left. Chasing a trail of clues, Thompson and the Dallas homicide team are always one step behind their suspect. That wont be possible, said Thompson. 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. Was she Miss Right or Miss Right Now? Thompson asked. Thompson asked why there was so little blood on her hands and arms. They too had been talking to Thompson and they were furious. Testimony continues Friday, during which Lord may take the witness stand. And thats hurtful. Tittle said that Thompson told one of Burnsides friends within 12 hours of the death that he would bet his career that Lord killed Burnside. Do I feel an overwhelming feeling of guilt because I may have provoked something? Lundberg walked into the interview room, pulled his chair close to Lord, and played the role of the good cop. But Lord insisted he had a good heart. Brian, we got a problem, Thompson said. But Sunday night, the deadly virus claimed his life. I wondered about the story Jaffe had told Thompson about finding her in the front yard, desperately saying, I wasnt going to leave him. Shearin called a friend in the homicide unit to ask about Thompson, whom he had never met. Contact info; Agent info; Help contribute to IMDb. As for Burnsides relationship with Lord, Jaffe said, It was one of those old-school-type things. See production, box office & company info. When Shearin asked if he had told anyone that there was blood spatter on Lords clothing, he replied, I may have said it, but I dont know whether I said it or not. Shearin then asked about the trajectory of the bullet through Burnsides skull. Mimi Swartz is a staff writer based in Houston. Whats more, she didnt want him to go to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. Thompson said he had heard that Burnside was making money. The jury watched it. Chasing a trail of clues, Thompson and the Dallas homicide team are always one step behind their suspect. When he finished, he left a packet of evidence that hed compiled for the grand jurors to peruse, including the results of two polygraphs that concluded that Lord had not shown deception when she said she had not shot Burnside. Jaffe said that he and Burnside had been drinking earlier that evening. Sometimes I want to walk inside, thinking he will be there. Shearin got Lord out of jail on bail. How Florence ButtNot Her SonLaunched the H-E-B Empire. In Texas, both federal and state laws exist to protect people like Hephzibal Olivia Lord from being overwhelmed and mistreated by police during criminal investigations. The towels had been on the floor to soak up the water that had spilled when the dishwasher valve broke. Lord explained again and again that while she was in the bathroom, her boyfriend shot himself (they had been fighting, he was drunk). I think Michael might have gotten the impression that I was going to leave him, she said. She helped him with his finances, reminding him to pay his bills and to keep his spending in line. texasmonthly.com Home She was so hysterical he could not understand what she was saying. After going through perfunctory questions about what happened that night, Thompsons voice boomed without warning. But there was no corruption involved. Then U.S. district judge Barbara Lynn gaveled the court to order. He said that Michael had called earlier in the week, telling his mother, Cindi, that he was looking forward to coming over to their home for lunch on May 9, which was Mothers Day. 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