The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event
May 13, 1994
Dawn, what a paper you wrote What a
You don't smoke, not you
Detention
Bad attitude Mr Lidvac, dentention
What are you doing in here?
Studying
Detention this afternoon
That took some work
Uh, yeah Sir
- How'd you get it all up there? - Glue stick
Glue Where'd you get that?
This is thethe one who
Suicide He commited suicide
And this is school property
Detention this afternoon
SUICIDE
DAWSON, T
What did Brahman have to say?
- Uh, new info on a case - Which?
Kid named Trevor Dawson
Died in '94, falling from the roof of his high school
- Accident? - Northwest handled it as a suicide
This note was found on Trevor's body
'I want my parents to know that I don't regret what I'm doing
It may seem extreme but it's the best for everyone Trevor Dawson'
Suicide note Sounds straightforward
Well, only now we have the other half
Custodian at Trevor's high school just died Landlord calls the cops
when he finds the guys apartment full of creepy high school memorablilia
- Including this - May 13th, '94
- 'This is TD writing from a scary spot' - It's the same handwriting
'I want you to know that I'm in danger,
if something happens to me today please tell my parents I love them'
This new note ends there
Well, put the two pieces together
Same page, ripped in half
Top of the note, Trevor says he's in danger He knows he's gonna die
What kind of kid was this? He was one of the bad crowd?
No record, no drugs
So why would someone want to kill a high school kid,
no record, no drugs, nothing?
And why would a high school kid, no record, no drug problems wanna kill himself?
So yesterday, I look over and I see a telephone message for Miller
Today, gone Whisked away
It's crazy
'Cause of the content
It says 'Veronica, about Wednesday night'
Veronica?
Wednesday night is the only night Miller can't work, strict rule
I don't know, man
I wanna know
- How you doin'? - What's up?
All right, what do you got?
Well the day he died Trevor Dawson was in afterschool detention
at Westmorland High from 3 to 6
Autopsy puts his death just before 6
What did the other kids in detention say?
Dawn Hill, Borris Lidvac, Raquel Montero,
all of them said Trevor slipped out just before detention's over
A few minutes later they're leavin', he's dead in the parking lot
Worth throwin' into them again,
they're not teenagers anymore, could be more forthcoming
Was there a teacher watching this detention?
Mr Ade Monte Died in a car wreck, 2002
Back in '94 he tells the kids he's steppin' out a couple minutes,
falls asleep in the teacher's lounge instead
Anything helpful on the school security tape?
Tape runs out before Trevor leaves detention
Gives you the chilling glimpse back into high school, though
Pretty much it for the whole tape Sittin', eyeballin' each other
We should visit Trevor's parents,
let them know we're lookin' into this again, and be sensitive
Don't wanna get their hopes up for nothin'
You think the murder angle will het their hopes up?
Well they lose their son either way,
but then being a murder means maybe it ain't their fault
It's his handwriting, it is
'I am in danger'
Does it mean anything to you, Mr and Mrs Dawson?
I don't know who he could be in danger from but I do know that it never made sense to me
That Trevor would kill himself
He never said anything like that?
Well he didn't say too much to us anyway around then
He was in a phase, yeah Moody
Lock himself up in his room But, to go that far,
he would've really had to've been hurtin'
And we would've seen that
What was it like for Trevor at school? Any enemies? / I don't think so
He didn't really have any friends He didn't fit the popular mold
He was the creative type That's why
- Very sensitive - Very / How do you mean?
You know this Kurt Cobain from the band Nirvana?
Killed himself Yeah
After he did, Trevore wouldn't leave his room for a week
A few weeks after that, he died
We tried to be caring about this Cobain thing but
Well I myself didn't totally get it
Trevor's spray painting has left me with a major cleaning job on my hands
Not to mention the landscaping that Trevor set on fire
Flech Kinelli kicked my candle over
It wasn't me, I was making the memorial
- What were you thinking? - Chuck!
Kurt Cobain died, Dad
Is he a friend of yours? What happened?
It's one of his rock stars, killed himself
The one who wears all the layers of clothes
Oh, great, that's great
- Why are you acting out? - I'm not
You risked getting expelled for a guy
who wears makeup, gets high on drugs and takes his own life
This is your hero? Huh?
- I mean I know you don't like sports - Please
If you're using drugs, let's just deal with it
It's the music, OK?
It's his songs, it's not drugs Mom
The first time I ever heard his music is the first time I felt I wasn't alone
You are not alone, Trevor
It's on his senior page
Kurt Cobain
Trevor Dawson Falling from heaven KC 2/20/67-5/4/94
- Can we uh, take this? - Yeah
You know I was big on Led Zeppelin but I never would've offed myself for him
You see what I mean?
So you never bought that it's pushing Trevor over the edge?
After he died, our phone bill came back
and there was page after page of him calling some teen hotline
Crisis hotline kind of thing?
That was the one thing that made us think maybe he was really havin' dark thoughts
But it was too late by then, obviously
The teen hotline Trevor called wasn't just for suicidal kids
It was for any kind of crisis
So he could've talked about what he was in danger from?
Possible but they can't give out transcripts
Protecting caller privacy
I got the call logs from the months before Trevor's death Look at this
- One of the volunteers is names Dawn H - Like Dawn Hill
Is this the same girl who was in detention with Trevor the day he died?
- I bet they're one, the same - I wonder if that's a coincedence
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Yes That was me
I talked to Trevor Dawson on the teen hotline Once
You were trained to talk to kids who were suicidal?
Kids in any kind of crisis
Pretty coincedental ou and Trevor winding up in detention together
- The one time I ever got detention - Was the day Trevor died / Yeah
So you two knew each other?
Not really Teen hotline was anonymous,
first name basis only, very strict rules about that
But you knew he was the same Trevor that day in detention?
I figured it out But I don't think he knew I was the same Dawn
Trevor wrote a note that day Said he was in danger
Danger? Really?
He didn't talk about that?
You mean on the teen hotline?
Not that I should tell you, but no
- What about in detention? - We didn't talk
- Nobody said anything? - Nothing of substance
It wasn't like 'The Breakfast Club' it was like high school
What is that?
College book It has like every college and what you need to get in
Can I see it? What do you need? Money?
Grades Activities Good SAT scores, arts, leadership stuff
SAT scores are racist Did you know that?
I got a 1420 / And I got an 1180 so I guess there goes that theory
No way, this place has classes on Japanese poetry
- Then you should apply - It's 20,000 a year to go there
Well maybe if you'd done better on your SATs you could get a scholarship
- at whatever - Yeah, whatever
You guys, please don't talk You know the rules
I had those loafers when I was in like, the second grade / Girls
You have a little lipstick, like all over your face
No! Does that mean I'm not pretty?
Does this mean I'm cut from the dance squad?
Mr Monte, if you had to choose which one of us could be your kid,
- would you choose me or Dawn? - Mr Lidvac, silence
- He didn't want to hurt your feelings - Hah
You know what you need, Dawn?
To get high
Come over to my place,
I can have my mom call your mom and say it's OK for you to sleep over
- She'll do it - Why must you do this every time?
I'm going to the teacher's lounge to get an aspirin While I'm gone,
do me a favor and just consider why it is you insist on being cruel to one another
Because it's high school and we hate ourselves
Mr Dawson, the corner
You know you're being recorded, so behave
So, the detention monitor
- He made Trevor sit in the corner? - Yeah
I think so
That's what you said
Well, then yes If I remember correctly
Why does that mean something?
Thanks for your time, Dawn
The Trevor Dawson on this tape is not sitting in the corner where Dawn said he was
If he moved after ten minutes, this tape won't show it
- This tape runs for three hours - Sort of
Take a look
See here? This girl's got her hands folded
- What happened there? - It's a cut
- What do you mean? - This tape runs on a loop
First ten minutes over and over
How'd this get missed in '94?
It's good work Well orchestrated
Well orchestrated meaning they sit still on purpose?
That's why the tape works
So the kids were in on faking the tape
Which means they were all in on faking their alibi
The loop tape makes it look like they were all sitting in detention, quietly studying
Not pushing Trevor Dawson off the roof
Looks like those kids in detention cooperated to make the fake the security tape
Conspiracy to keep anyone from seeing the hours before Trevor Dawson died
Why would those kids wanna kill Trevor?
Well kids in detention are usually troubled types
Who knows what's brewin' in the hormone addled brain
Take a look at their files
One of them has a record
Borris Lidvac
Assortmnt of drug related charges
Plus 9 months for DVD piracy
The kid's got technical know-how, let's see if he'll own up to makin' this tape
Hey, Vi Hi
I know, I know, I'm sorry How'd it go?
Borris Lidvac?
Philly PD
She's gonna be all over the manager about this
Your boss know you got a record, Borris?
Yeah Must disclose
Here at the Dunkin glaze we don't discriminate
What about a murder charge?
- That something that'll get you fired? - I'm guessin
Then maybe you feel like tellin' us the truth about Trevor Dawson?
Kid did himself, didn't he? Jumped off the roof
Oh, we got another idea We think you,
Raquel Montero and Dawn Hill used detention as an alibi so you could off Trevor
Whoa, I encourage you to not let your imagination spin out of control
I knew the kid from detention
Didn't have some murderous relationship with him
You were the only one in that room
who knew how to mess around with electronics, make that tape
The reason that keeps popping in our head
is you didn't want anyone to know you were throwin' Trevor off the roof
- I made the tape to cover my ass - For what?
Trevor and I snuck out of detention to pilfer sulphuric acid from the chem classroom
Why'd you need sulphuric acid?
I was gonna make extasy
You're a model citizen there, Borris
Well I didn't have a lot of follow throughs back then,
so I never did it, rest assured, but that's why I made the tape
Why'd the girls go along with it?
Raquel did whatever Trevor did
and Dawn didn't really know what was going on
All these labels are like scientific and I can't read any of them
Dawn, do you know the chemical formula for sulphuric acid? / Can you find it?
How are you guys sure Monte is passed out? / I cannot get caught
Relax, Hill
Look at this
Yes, dude, take that
Are you out of your mind?
- Uh, yeah cause I need a ciggy - Put it out
You're gonna get us caught
Keep it down, Montero
You know what they're sayin' about your hero, Trev?
What?
That Courtney did it to him because he wanted a divorce
She's crazy
I love her She's like ' You're never leaving me'
I'm just really freaked out about what we're doing I know it's scary
Like if you just like moved on from me or what?
There's nothing to move on from
You are such a liar Seriously!
I held you in my arms and we listened to Kurt and you, you cried
That's the day he died, Raquel
I can't believe I ever told you to hang on like I cared if you lived or died
I take it back
You're a crazy bitch
Raquel Montero was a crazy bitch
She got a thing for Trevor?
Thought she was the Courtney to his Kurt
Where'd you all go after the science room?
We went our seperate ways a little before 6
when we knew Monte'd come back and check on us
How'd you know he'd do that?
That was his detention routine
Excuse himself, booze up, snooze, wake up at 6
Where'd Trevor go?
I left campus to stow the pilfered materials away in my house
When I came back to detention, Trevor was already dead
Do you think he could've been with Raquel while you were at home?
She was pretty good at being where he was, any given time
You know what they say about Courtney
Hello, there
Are you two from the neighborhood?
Raquel Montero?
You remember a kid named Trevor Dawson?
I'm in the middle of work here
And we're in the middle of a murder investigation
I thought Trevor committed suicide
We know about the tape, Raquel
We know you ??? stay in detention that day
which means you have no alibi for when Trevor died
Nothing like cops yelling at you to make you feel 16 again
The way we hear it you were obsessed with Trevor
Thought you were the 'Courtney to his Kurt'
Who told you that?
It was Borris Lidvac, wasn't it?
I can feel it pretty bad at that age
Gettin' rejected by a boy you like
And when the boy you like would rather kill himself than kiss you?
That feels bad, too
So what did you do?
Wrote in my journal and cried I never pushed anybody
So you weren't afraid of Trevor moving on then?
Afraid for him
Afraid of that bitch Dawn Hill pulverizing his heart
Dawn Hill?
Dawn Hill was Trevor's secret girlfriend in 1994
Oh, yes, you heard me Secret
- Hey, don't be so loud! - Yeah
You're gonna wake up Monte
and then we're all gonna have detention until we're like dead
- Think he bothers ??? - Definitely
Principal Wallas made me take down Kurt so I put this up instead
- See how beautiful you are? - Oh, my God
Take that down People will see it
- Why does that matter? - You know why
I can't remember
It has to be just us
Hello? Yeah I know, too
And you won't tell
I'm blocking all of this out, believe me
I don't wanna live a lie anymore
Being with you is the most real thing I've ever felt and I'm psyched about it
What's between you and me is a secret
Drama~
Yes!
I told you Reith Tyson had a gun
Yes, you did
My Dad's got a gun but it's like, old from Spain
I'm taking it
What?
What's between you and me is a secret / Dawn I
And it needs to stay that way or we're dead
You're dead
Why would Dawn want a gun?
I don't know But girlfriend was worked up
None of Dawn's friends knew she and Trevor were together?
No That was her whole thing, reputation, reputation, reputation
You think she would kill to protect her reputation?
It's what you live and die by in high school
Excuse me, please
- Hi, can I help you? - Hi, uh, yeah
Trevor was pushed, not shot
Holding a gun on a guy is one way to get him off the roof
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
It's one thing when a 17 year old keeps her boyfriend a secret from her friends,
but a 30 year old keepin' it from the cops? / I'm 28
Oh, you're too old to not know what you're dealing with Dawn
Lying to the police in a murder investigation
- You push him, Dawn? - No
Maybe it just was an impulse
Kid pissin' you off, thought the world's gonna know about you two,
maybe you're just worried it gets out
Don't talk about it like that, alright?
Like what? / Like it didn't mean anything when it meant everything
What was a girl like you doin' with a gun?
I never used that gun
Not even when to protect your reputation?
I didn't care about my reputation, I wasn't ashamed of Trevor
I loved him, he's the one that thought I should have a gun
OK, Dawn, why is that?
I told him something that put him in danger
I didn't mean to but I had to tell somebody
What?
What was happening to me
Tell us
We met on the teen hotline in March
We talked once and then everyday after that he'd call at the same time and I'd answer
I miss his voice
I listened to it
You're right He had a great voice
You know that song, 'Jesus Don't Want Me For A Sun Beam'?
It's kind of what it's like
That's how you feel? Tell me
It's like about how like
like even God wouldn't want you in heaven, you know
- Like nobody thinks anything of you - I do
You don't know me though
Believe me, you wouldn't
In English class, freshman year,
Miss Kapechi read some of these poems that were supposed to be anonymous,
about walking in the parking lot and running your hands along the fence,
your fingers going numb and just wishing that the rest of you would go numb, too
I knew it was yours because I saw the drawings in the margins
and that's what you drew all over your desk
When you sat behind me
Dawn Hill?
- You're Dawn Hill from my high school? - Yeah
And I think you're a really great artist and writer, Trevor
and I thought you could even go to art college
God I'm hangin' up
Please, don't
You of all people, I mean you're like
You don't understand
You think I'm different from you But I'm not
- I think those things, too - No
About not being able to go on another day
But you're Dawn Hill
You're gonna have some perfect life
Will you please just listen to me
and don't hate me for what I'm telling you
Yeah
I'm scared To go home
I'm scared because my step-father is someone who
I don't know what's wrong with him
What, Dawn?
I'm afraid I'll never be able to say
'I love you' to anybody
Because that's what he says to me
And he smells horrible
Like, so drunk
and when my Mom washes my night gown she goes,
'Have you been drinking?'
And I just want to say to her
'It's your husband
He's been in my bed'
Dawn
Yeah
Do you hate me?
No I wanna see you In person
That's why you had the gun Your step-dad
But I couldn't even bring it into the house
Did your father know about Trevor?
My step-dad didn't want me to have boys in my life,
he was very possessive
So they never met?
I hope not
Trevor talked about it sometimes
What do you mean?
He thought he could reason with my step-father
A sweet naive kid sitting down with a monster
I thought I'd made him happy
Give him a reason to live, but
Trevor's parents never knew about me either
They never knew that somebody loved him
Dawn's step-father is Phillip Hill
Owns half the commercial real estate in Roxborough
You get anything from DHS?
If he was abusing his step-daughter,
no one who could've helped her knew about it
Thought I might've had too much time on my hands,
flippin' through this thing but look at this
'Falling from heaven' What's that?
Not sure But check this out
Raquel's page, senior message
'But beautiful we three are' Gibberish
Now look at Borris Lidvac's page
'Goodbye forever bloody'
Put it all together starting with Borris, you got
Goodbye forever/ bloody but beautiful/
we three are/ falling from heaven
The three of them Falling
Bloody but beautiful Talkin' about death
These three? It's suicide
They're predicting it We three are falling from heaven
- It's a pact - Trevor, Borris, Raquel
Trevor's the only one who took the plunge
You three all go up on the roof, let Trevor jump and then call psych?
I wasn't there, man
What'd you have that made you want in on the suicide pact?
I was depressed
What? You don't remember high school?
Talk to me about the pact, Borris
Why'd you put it in the yearbook?
- So we wouldn't back out - Didn't work though
I didn't have the stones
Kept thinkin' about my Mom seein' me
with my eyes glazed over and my head cracked open
I got caught up
Suicide, it seemed romantic, I guess
So you backed out of the plan And Trevor didn't / Not exactly
That's what happened Trevor was commited to it, I wasn't
What do you mean, Raquel?
I should say first, I'm not guilty of anything
- Uh-huh - The suicide pact was in the winter
By the time spring came, Trevor had met Dawn
- And the plan changed - Keep goin'
The lovebirds made a pact Brought us in on it
What kind of pact?
It wasn't to kill ourselves
It was to kill him
I feel sick
- Me, too - Yeah, me too
It's OK, baby
He's gonna be gone
After tonight, your step-father's gonna be gone
What if he grabs the gun?
The first thing I do when I go in there,
is point it at his face and tell him this is what happens
- when you're not worthy of life - Here, gloves
You guys, you don't have to do this
All I have is just one more year and if I can just make it to college
Yeah but what if he visits you, Dawn?
And it won't stop
Well, what if something goes wrong?
I'll let'em know
Just in case something happens to us,
if your step-father hurts us or if we get arrested
'This is TD writing from a scary spot
I want you to know that I'm in danger
If something happens to me today,
please tell my parents I love them
I want my parents to know that I don't regret what I'm doing
It may seem extreme but it's best for everyone Trevor Dawson'
You know with my Mom?
Yeah I can drink, I can toke up in front of her,
but sometimes I feel like if I were to put a gun to my head,
and she couldn't care about that either
I'm willing to take whatever consequences there are, Dawn
Me too, baby
- Let's do our fingerprints - You're burning them off?
Yeah Maybe we should just wear gloves, man
That's what professionals do
You guys, I don't have my inhaler,
you know I seriously can't even breathe right now
What you want me to go to the crime scene and just pass out?
- I can't go - Stay with Dawn
OK I just I mean I really shouldn't go
Whatever! It's time Trevor
I love you
I faked my asthma attack
I didn't like, wanna be like dead or ???
I wanted to live
So that was the note everyon thought was Trevor's suicide note?
It was in case something went wrong with the plan
So you and Dawn stayed back?
Borris and Trevor took the gun and went to kill Dawn's step-dad
But Phillip Hill is alive
And that was the last time I saw Trevor
This kid, Trevor Dawson was pushed from the roof of his high school
I'm not talkin' to you without my lawyer
He was your step-daughter's boyfriend
You got the wrong kid
Dawn didn't do the boyfriend thing
Focused on academics
Oh, I'm sure that's why she didn't do the boyfriend thing
I don't know what you mean
He knew your secret, Phil
What you were doin' to that girl
And now I know
It'd be a lot harder to pick me off
Lawyer
What is this?
Dawn wants to know what happened that night
What do you know about that?
Those were my friends
Come on Dawn Do you have any idea what those boys did to me?
What they were going to do to me?
I gave them the alarm code
Trevor was at your house the night he died, Phillip
And you went without a scratch
Never called the cops either
Maybe becayse whatever Trevor did to you,
it wasn't as bad as what you did to him
It was for my family, what I did
How does that work?
Not calling the police
Because I didn't want it to get back to my family
Have their hearts broken
The lies those punks were spewing about us
You're a parent man
Somebody's dad
You're supposed to love them and protect them
and give a crap if they live or die or if they're hurting
Your kids didn't ask to me born
You did it to them
You brought 'em here and now you don't care if they fail!
You ignore them!
You raped them!
They need you, man
You're supposed to care! And you don't!
Stop it man, stop! Stop! Please!
I don't wanna do this
Get away from me! I'm doin' it!
Look, I love your step-daughter more than anything in the whole world
And that's why I'm taking here away from you
Because that's what you do for someone you love
You pretect them from pain!
Can't do this man, it's messed up
Let's go
Not cool, man
That kid was a maniac, Dawn
And you did the right thing
And stayed with me
Because we're family
You sure you didn't find those kids at the high school later, Phil?
I was tied up till the housekeeper came
Dawn You didn't see the boys after they came back from your house?
Borris He said Trevor had jumped
So Borris was the last to see
I want you to know,
I don't blame you Dawn for tellin' those boys what you did
You were young
And you took that away from me
Goodbye, Phillip
Don't think you can walk out of here and relax, Phil
You'll see me again I promise
- We didn't hurt Phillip Hill - I don't care about that guy, Borris
We want to know what happened between you and Trevor
After he didn't let you kill Phillip
Even though we backed out I think it messed with his head
- How close we came - Why do you think that?
He got all quiet
Thinkin' about his own parents
Rage he had about them
But that was you
You were talking about you
I mean you're the one who's mother wouldn't care if you put a gun to your head
But Trevor was gonna go off with Dawn
I mean he had plans His parents cared
But you had no one
And the only plan you had was a suicide pact with a kid who was gonna leave you
because he'd found a way to be happy
Which I never did, FYI
Trevor said hang in there
You'll find a way
But I can't
It should've been me
Who died up there
Is that what you thought?
That's the truth
It was supposed to be me
Hey, Borris!
Stop, man
We gotta go back to the pact
This is so screwed up
We didn't do anything, man
We have nothing to run from
I gotta get out
I gotta get out of my life
You know what I mean
Yeah, but I'm over that
I don't wanna be like some screwed up guy
with like death everywhere, you know?
I thought you were depressed
I'm gonna go get my car right now with Dawn
and I wanna hold her and I wanna talk to her all night
And I know you think that's gay but I just wanna be here
You know, I just wanna like, I don't know Love somebody
I want things, man
Like life things
If I jumped off this roof right now
and I was lying dead down there with blood all over me
Man, I think about my mom
- She wouldn't care - Don't say that
She wouldn't She hates me
Well then she's a bitch man! Because you are a good guy!
- I'm such a screw up! - No you're not! You're smart!
- You gotta endure, man - No
You gotta hang in there
- Nobody wants me around, man - That's not true man,
I know what you're thinking but it's not the case
Yes It is / No it's not! Hey, stop man!
What are you trying to Stop!
* 'Landslide' by Dixie Chicks *
* I took my love and I took it down *
* Climbed a mountain then I turned around *
* And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills *
* Well the landslide brought me down *
INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER * Oh, mirror in the sky *
INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER * What is love? *
* Can the child within my heart rise above *
* Can I sail through the changing ocean tides *
* Can I handle the seasons of my life *
* Well, I've been afraid of changin' *
* 'Cause I built my life around you *
* But time makes you bolder *
* Children get older *
* I'm getting older too *
* Well, I've been afraid of changin' *
* 'Cause I built my life around you *
* But time makes you bolder *
* Children get older *
* I'm getting older too *
* I took my love and I took it down *