In New York City's war on crime,
the worst criminal offenders are pursued
by the detectives of the Major Case Squad.
These are their stories.
Fontayne, you're on.
This guy's corked. You should tell him to go home.
Yeah, you don't shut up, you're going home.
Give a big Xanadu welcome to Fontayne!
Okay, that's it. Good class, everybody.
Amanda, there was a man asking for you this morning.
A fat, disgusting man, Latin.
He said he was a friend from Xanadu.
I don't like these friends coming to my school.
Don't worry about it. If he keeps coming around,
we'll send you to the club in Jersey.
I'm not dancing in Jersey.
If this guy starts making trouble for me...
You'll what?
You open your mouth, you won't be dancing anywhere.
Mom, if I come home this weekend,
do you think you can get off work?
Of course I'm fine, I just haven't been home in a while.
Hey, look, I gotta get back. Love you, too.
Amanda. I want to talk to you. Ow!
Let go. Hey.
Sorry. Hey, will you walk me in?
Sure.
Good night, honey. See you tomorrow.
I am not clipping him. It's not natural.
He's a toy poodle. He was bred to be a toy.
Oh, great. Papillon!
Papillon. Papillon, stop it! Get off...
Oh, my God!
Jeez! There's animals in there eating a dead body.
She was last seen Friday night leaving the strip club.
So what did this girl do to rate a couple of Major Case honchos?
Her club's been getting a shakedown from the Masuccis.
Her Missing Persons report mentioned the day she disappeared,
somebody from Xanadu came looking for her at her dance school.
Yeah, the teacher said it was a guy in a suit,
large build, could've been Hispanic.
Animals were feeding on her when she was found.
Coyotes, judging by the paw prints. The whole muscle was taken.
A different kind of animal did this.
Deep gouges in the skin, lots of bleeding and swelling.
Now, these blisters...
Dead skin doesn't dissipate heat. He gave her a bath, postmortem.
The lividity pattern doesn't match her position.
He kept her long enough for lividity to set before dumping her here.
Her position...
He didn't leave her face up and naked, vulnerable.
Or humiliated with her face down in the mud.
Instead, he dressed her and left her like this, on her side, sheltered.
And with her dignity.
Her mom know if she had a boyfriend?
Mom? She didn't even know about the strip club.
She said she was working in a nice restaurant, with nice people.
I want to know what they did to my baby. Everything.
You told Missing Persons Amanda called you on Friday night.
She would've been at work.
Any special reason she called?
She wanted to come for a visit next week.
I guess she missed me.
Thank you, Mrs. Norman.
The officer will drive you back to New Jersey.
We couldn't afford that dance school,
that's why she had to take a job.
She was so pretty in her ballet shoes.
Bad luck her daughter took a job in a Masucci front.
Maybe she saw something she wasn't supposed to.
It's not reading like a mob thing.
The way the body was posed,
the killer might have a close, emotional connection to her.
The M.E. Have any evidence how close?
No sexual trauma, no semen in or out.
Preliminary cause of death is a subdural hematoma on her left temple.
Kids don't call late at night just to say hi. Something spooked this girl.
This is Kelly Jane. She was the last person to see Amanda on Friday.
They were tight, right, Kelly?
That's right. She was nice.
She says Amanda didn't tell her
who visited her at her dance school.
Are you sure that she didn't meet someone here?
She wouldn't give the creeps here the time of day.
Really? Maybe she was having pay dates.
That's who did this to her.
She was not a whore.
Her wrist, the guy who came to her class,
he did that to her on Friday night.
He caught Amanda outside on her break. He almost took her arm off,
except some other guy helped her back inside.
What was his problem with Amanda?
He thinks we ripped him off.
He came in last month, drunk,
and bragging he was "king of the world. "
Mike set him up in the VIP room,
he started sending in girls, starting with Amanda,
and running up the guy's credit cards.
How much?
140 grand.
For lap dances? How big was this guy's lap?
I was drunk. I only remember the first girl,
Fontayne, a brunette.
We can't do anything with stage names,
and since the women all wear wigs...
Amanda. Amanda Norman.
I hired a private detective to find out her name.
My lawyer said if I got her to sign a statement,
the credit card companies might waive the charges.
So you've talked to her? Maybe Friday night outside the club?
Maybe it got a little emotional.
Emotional?
Is she saying I roughed her up?
It's funny you should say that.
Does she look roughed up to you?
Oh, my God. I didn't do that.
Maybe I grabbed her arm, just to talk to her.
Then this guy, a customer, he helped her, he took her inside.
That's it.
That's it? You went home?
Well, we'll verify that with your wife.
I waited in my car until she finished work.
She went into a restaurant across the street.
I was gonna go talk to her,
but then I saw she was sitting with her boyfriend.
What did this boyfriend look like?
I couldn't tell, his back was to the window.
But she was sitting with her head on his shoulder.
She was in that booth, by herself.
This guy sat down at the counter,
I didn't think they knew each other.
And then I went into the kitchen,
'cause Artie messed up an order.
And when I came back, they were sitting together.
You think you could give a description to a sketch artist?
I can try. The guy was pretty ordinary.
And how was he to talk to?
He didn't talk to me. Well, I think he wanted to.
But every time I'd look at him, he'd just smile and look away.
He was a... He was shy.
Right, a shy guy.
Did you see them leave together?
Yeah. He had to help her. She looked drunk or something.
Did she come in drunk?
No.
She just went from zero to stoned in two seconds flat?
Before they left, did either of them get up from the booth?
He did, to get a refill on her iced tea.
More coffee, please.
Excuse me.
He spiked her tea.
MO of a sexual predator.
But the preliminary exam didn't show any signs of a rape.
Maybe they didn't look hard enough.
Well, this port of entry's untouched, same as the other two.
Maybe he brought her home to play pinochle.
Toxicology found high levels of antihistamine in her system,
enough to knock her out.
That's probably what he loaded into her iced tea.
These marks on the bone...
Canine teeth marks.
No, underneath that. There's two straight lines.
Cut marks, from a knife, just about
where the calf muscle joins the Achilles tendon.
And here, another one very faint,
where the muscle attaches behind the knee.
He took the calf muscle and left the rest.
The calf muscle was taken postmortem,
so inflicting pain wasn't the point.
The tox came back positive for chloroform.
He probably kept her drugged
for the three days he had her.
If he hasn't already, he'll probably try again.
Let's get this out. Clinton area and Fort Tryon Park.
You try too hard to get inside his head,
you'll give yourself a migraine.
The waitress said that he was shy.
Maybe he was too shy to initiate a conversation with Amanda.
She might have known him.
That time of night, he could've come out of the club, a customer.
Her friend said Amanda wouldn't give those guys the time of day.
Well, when Mr. Feijo grabbed her,
the guy who helped her out, her white knight, him she might've talked to.
Okay, that's me, so what?
The "so what" is
Amanda Norman was last seen with your little friend here.
We need to know what you two talked about.
Nothing. I asked him if he wanted to buy a dance.
He didn't, so I left.
What about that, what did he say?
He said that I shouldn't put champagne so close to the candle,
the heat makes the bubbles go away.
Look, can I go? I really have to call my babysitter.
Just... Just... This little exchange.
I asked him if he wanted a date after I got off work.
He said that I wasn't his type.
Really? Did he say what his type was?
Someone soft, who wouldn't hustle him
and keep checking their watch.
Okay, Frankie, you can go call your babysitter now.
Thanks.
He was looking for a girlfriend, someone who'd stay.
We should take another look at that head wound.
There are three puncture-type wounds, different depths,
none of which penetrated the skull.
Maybe that's what he wanted to do,
penetrate the skull, but the bleeding stopped him.
Well, nothing bleeds like a head wound.
On the other side of the bone.
The left prefrontal cortex.
It controls behavior, judgment.
Any previous homicides with a wound like this?
No, not in New York County.
I'll check the other boroughs and emergency rooms.
You wouldn't believe what gets written off as accidental.
It's four hours just to get there,
it's the same weather as we get here,
it's wall-to-wall cars, and what's the point of living in the city
if you don't stay here to enjoy it.
I like the weekends, when the city gets empty.
You get the whole place to yourself.
Anyway, my friend bagged out,
so I have an extra ticket to this concert tonight, all different artists.
What kind of music do you like?
I guess old country western.
My parents always listened to it. I grew up a...
I'm gonna get a protein bar and then I'm gonna have to get going.
Oh, okay.
She was found wandering around Canarsie yesterday morning
in a negligee and no ID.
She was incoherent, couldn't give officers a name.
We're canvassing the neighborhood
for any wits who might have seen her.
They do a rape kit on her?
Yeah, it came up negative.
Hospital ran a tox.
She came up positive for some kind of
antihistamine and chloroform.
Any other injuries?
No, just an old bruise on her right knee.
Hi. I'm Detective Goren, this is Detective Eames.
We're here to help you.
Help...
"Help me. " Is that what you said?
I'm cold.
You cold? We can take care of that.
Doctor, her speech, her comprehension,
what are the chances she'll recover?
With the level of brain damage she suffered,
language and memory deficits are typically permanent.
You took a photo of the injury.
I'm no forensic expert,
but my guess is it was done with a common household drill.
The injury penetrated the dural membrane.
Bad as that sounds, it's not what caused
the damage to her frontal lobe.
We did a spinal tap. We found her spinal fluid was hypotonic.
It was diluted?
With hot water.
There was slight scalding on the brain tissue.
He drilled a hole in her skull and poured hot water on her brain.
A homemade lobotomy.
He wanted someone who wouldn't be in a hurry to leave, someone who'd stay.
A living doll.
There are 10,000 apartments within minutes of where she was found.
She could've escaped from any one of them.
Probably while he was out, maybe at work.
The tox report said that she was doped with chloroform.
Chloroform has to be administered at least every six hours.
She was coming out of a stupor when she was found.
I don't see restraint marks on this girl.
There aren't any.
You'd expect that he'd keep her tied up, or at least gagged.
But instead, he used something
that he thought was more reliable.
Drugs and a lobotomy.
Somebody made her.
Claire and I went to the gym after work Friday.
We were supposed to go to a concert later, but...
Ms. Gillespie, you're not responsible
for what happened to Claire.
Does this look like somebody she might know?
Maybe he works in the building or the gym.
I've never seen him before.
Why don't you tell us about Claire's routine?
She gets in at 9:00, goes to the gym on her lunch hour.
That's like church for her.
Even when she banged up her right knee on the treadmill last week,
she still went every day.
You said last Friday she went after work.
Sometimes she goes twice a day. It depends.
On what? She cheat on her diet?
I always see her eat healthy.
Maybe a secret binger.
Homeopathic pills.
For sensitivity to caffeine. She drink coffee or soda?
Just sports drinks and herbal tea.
Secret binge...
Chocolate has caffeine.
Is there a store nearby?
You know, the kind that sells champagne truffles?
You know, I've been told, when they boil
the filling of these champagne truffles,
the heat makes the champagne bubbles go away. Is that true?
Yes, it is.
Our niece told us about your place.
She comes here all the time.
Her name's Claire, she works across the street. No, I...
She's a brunette, got long hair.
Oh, sure, sure, she was in last Monday. Well, she's in every week.
For a pound of the cappuccino truffles. Thank you.
You can actually watch them make the chocolates.
Isn't that great?
You know, I'd bet that Willy Wonka works here.
That's what I want, I want one of those fresh ones.
You know, I heard that,
you know, chocolate can be an aphrodisiac.
It's been a little slow at home lately,
maybe I should have another one...
Looks yummy.
Are those champagne truffles?
Yes, and butter cream.
Can I try some filling?
That's okay, just put some on my finger.
That is so delicious. Thank you.
The shy guy. Shy as a kid in short pants.
He likes to watch and watch and watch.
Maybe he's picking up pointers.
After work, he walked around for an hour,
then it was back to the park for some more girl watching.
Two hours later, he drove home to Canarsie,
eight blocks from where the girl was found wandering.
Now you have my attention.
Well, the neighbors don't remember
ever seeing Tagman with the girls,
or ever seeing him with a girlfriend.
We got a unit sitting on him. But we need paper.
We gotta look at his car and his apartment.
Not on this evidence.
John Tagman.
That sound like a common name to you?
Common enough.
Better we don't ask.
Tagman, John.
Here, there's a John Tagman
with an outstanding warrant from Virginia,
for burglary, Caucasian, 6 feet, brown hair and eyes.
For all we know, our Tagman could be a Virginia transplant.
I'll call it in to the warrant squad.
Don't move! Don't move!
You John Tagman? Yes.
We have a warrant for your arrest from Virginia.
I've never been to Virginia. What are you...
I'm about to execute a search warrant on Tagman's place.
You're welcome to join me.
He has anatomy books.
And these, cranial surgery, dissections.
Looks like Tagman went over the place with a toothbrush,
probably right after the girl escaped.
Been drinking.
And plans to keep drinking.
No frozen dinners, just cups of ice.
Eames...
Well, well, the smoking drill.
Bit's missing. Looks like the motor's been cleaned.
Not enough.
Tagman, John.
Here, that's me.
Come on, you're being released.
They got you mixed up with somebody else.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Oh, you found his porn stash.
It's not what you'd expect.
No bondage, no violent fantasies.
He saved those for real life.
Okay, everybody, Mr. Tagman just got kicked.
We need to cease and desist.
Now.
We don't have him.
Eames, you and your partner, come on.
An arrest you knew was false on its face...
The Tagman on the warrant had a phony social security and multiple DOBs.
It could've been the same guy.
Don't push it, Detective.
The lab found a bone chip in the drill housing. There was no DNA.
They can't even tell if it was animal or human.
As far as his car, he probably had it detailed.
If these belong to Mr. Tagman, see that he gets them back today.
Oh, no, I bought these. Tagman has the same ones.
Nothing explicit. They're almost adolescent.
Well, maybe that's the way in. A big brother.
You know, I'm gonna need a meal voucher.
You know, to offer our apologies.
Take it easy with that.
Mr. Tagman? I'm Detective Goren.
Hey, they are so sorry about this mix-up.
It's okay. It was a mistake.
Well, least you can do is let the Department buy us lunch.
I got a meal voucher.
I don't know...
Come on. Come on, come on, come on.
There's a couple of places around the corner. They look pretty good.
Every Sunday, I'd ride all the way through Canarsie.
All the way to the beach.
It was easier being a kid back then.
You're not from here, are you?
Lake George.
My parents live there. They're elderly. They...
Thank you.
Yeah, now I know why you brought us here.
She's cute. You ever ask her out?
No.
Is that more your type?
No, I don't have a type.
Word of advice, John. Women respond to confidence.
When I was a kid at that beach,
I used to watch guys try to pick up girls,
what worked, what didn't work.
It helped?
Eventually.
This chili is hot. Maybe I should get you a beer.
No, thank you.
I thought you liked beer. You had empties all over your place.
Drinking, it's a recent thing?
I guess so. I wasn't paying attention.
You ever ask yourself why you drink?
Yes.
And?
I don't think it's possible for a person to understand himself.
Yeah, yeah, I get that.
You've done things that you don't understand.
Just make sure that every item on the list is here.
Check it off.
"Get Hooked on a Book. "
Bookmark design, John Tagman, first prize.
How old were you?
Fourth grade.
This is what I was talking about, John.
You know, you bring a woman here,
she gets one look at this and your grammar-school prize.
Women can be harsh.
Yeah, they never give you a chance.
I guess you've gotten used to being by yourself, huh?
Is that what you're saying?
You don't really get used to it.
No, you... No, you don't really ever get used to it.
Chili made me thirsty.
Think I can get a glass of water?
Sure.
What are you... Please, that's private.
Hey, don't be embarrassed. Come on, it's classy stuff.
It's...
None of that pneumatic grinding.
It celebrates intimacy. Is that what you like, John?
Cuddling, holding her close to you?
I don't know. I'd appreciate it if you turned that off.
Okay. Whoops.
Something wrong with your DVD. Let me scan back.
All right. Yeah, see that stutter right there?
Now that happens when you freeze-frame too often on the same spot.
You like the legs, right? Back of the legs, that muscle right there.
Especially in runners, dancers...
I really have to do my errands now.
Okay, I still need you to sign off on that receipt.
You know, John, with all our complaining,
it's women who are vulnerable.
I was just thinking about that girl they found,
last Monday, a few blocks from here. Hole in her head?
Did you hear about that?
Yeah, that was just terrible.
She's brain damaged.
You know, never be normal again.
She can't even remember her own name.
People do terrible things.
How was your play date? Did Johnny share his toys?
He's fixated on women's calves. And he keeps souvenirs.
You saw me check his fridge.
If he kept Amanda Norman's body part to moon over, it's gone now.
He wouldn't have gotten rid of it.
It's too important. And he wouldn't let it go bad,
he'd keep it refrigerated.
The cups of ice.
He kept staring at the bodega across the street.
Talk about your frozen treats. I'll call CSU.
The DNA matched. It's definitely Amanda Norman's.
Bad news is, Tagman's fingerprints aren't on the packaging.
But they are on the outside of the freezer.
Which only proves he's been in that bodega.
This report says "partial calf muscle. "
Didn't he take the whole muscle?
The muscle had been cleaned.
A portion of it had been sliced off.
It's possible that Tagman may have eaten it.
It just gets worse with this guy.
I'd like to see it get much worse for him.
Any other evidence? Just this.
The lab determined the head wounds on both girls
were made with the same drill bit.
We're short one piece of direct evidence connecting Mr. Tagman to either girl.
You bring me that piece, I'll close the book on Mr. Tagman for good.
Close the book?
I'm charging him with murder one, I intend to seek the death penalty.
Well, this isn't murder one.
Kidnap, torture, murder.
His crime meets all the requirements.
Well, the first requirement is that he have the intent to cause death.
The jury can infer his intent from the holes he drilled in Ms. Norman's skull.
The only intent that he had was to keep these women alive,
as companions.
His lawyer is free to make that argument.
Come on, the jury won't care. They'll convict on emotion!
His acts were monstrous, but nobody knows it better than him.
Look, what I saw was a man that was disgusted,
horrified with himself.
He belongs in prison, for life, no parole.
But not on death row.
All I need from you is the evidence to convict Mr. Tagman.
So how do you suggest we get that evidence?
Try one of your tricks.
I'm with Carver on this.
The guy doesn't deserve our mercy.
Step into him.
Of all the people to go to bat for.
I know, I know. It's not the popular choice.
I'll say.
John. You remember Detective Eames, don't you?
All my client's been told
is that he's charged with kidnap and aggravated assault.
John, have you ever heard of the law of unintended consequences?
Well, this is one of those consequences.
After you were picked up on a mistaken identity,
your name and address were entered in the system.
Turns out you fit the geographic profile of the suspect
who attacked the girl who was found in your neighborhood.
Claire Massey.
She worked a block from where you work.
She bought chocolates from your store once a week.
A coincidence.
You ever see her in your store, John?
Say hello to her?
Don't answer their questions.
John, I know you want to be truthful.
I remember seeing her. She was watching us make chocolates.
No, see, it turns out a couple of your co-workers saw you talking to her
on the very Friday Claire disappeared.
They said on Friday around noon,
you were putting out a fresh batch of truffles,
Claire came in and you talked to her.
No, that's not right.
I saw her the Monday before.
I don't know why they're lying about Friday.
John, they described the girl as a brunette in a skirt,
with a bruise on her knee, her left knee.
Your witnesses said the girl had a bruise on her left knee.
Isn't Ms. Massey's bruise on her right knee?
Is that what you saw, John? A bruise on her right knee?
When did you see this bruise?
Was it Monday when she came in the store, is that when it was?
Yes, that's when I saw it.
Sounds like your witnesses saw the wrong girl on Friday.
Sounds more like your client saw the wrong girl on Monday.
This is a picture of Claire Massey in the emergency room,
and that's a bruise on her left knee.
No, that can't be true.
It was on the other knee, the right knee. I saw it.
Well, that's what it looks like, John.
Looks like a bruise on her left knee.
The writing on that medical equipment. It's backwards.
This photo's been printed backwards.
He's right. It's been reversed.
Well, I guess the bruise is on her right knee, after all.
So let's get this straight. She came into your store on Monday
and you saw this bruise on her knee.
Yes. Got him.
The witnesses must've seen the wrong girl after all.
By the way, John, the bruise on Claire's knee? She didn't have it Monday.
She got it falling off her treadmill.
On Wednesday.
The only way you could've seen that bruise is when you brought her home
on Friday night and took her clothes off.
And since the same drill that was used on Claire
was also used on Amanda Norman,
the DA will be adding a new charge to your indictment for murder.
It's been so nice doing business with you.
Good work.
What's he doing?
John.
What is he doing?
My client is done talking.
Don't be scared.
You've done evil things, but you're not evil.
You know, when the heart stops beating
and the blood settles in the body, it makes these marks.
And that's how we can tell what position a body was in after death.
This is the pattern that Amanda had on her body.
Don't respond to this.
You lied next to her.
You held her cuddled in your arms.
And you just held her for hours.
No.
You bathed her. You dressed her.
You left her like this, so her body could be found
and her family could bury her.
You didn't want to hurt these girls. Detective...
In a minute.
Now, whatever you meant or didn't mean,
they're now going to convict you of murder.
Don't let him scare you.
If they had the evidence, he wouldn't be here talking to you.
Make no mistake my meaning for being here, okay?
Do not. Now, maybe he's right.
Maybe you'll walk out of here a free man, but you won't be free.
Because you want what you want.
Someone who won't leave, who won't judge you.
Someone who will surrender herself to you. A girlfriend.
Well, this need, it won't stop.
Now, you know that about yourself, don't you?
I don't... No. No. I'm not like that.
John, your loneliness is so deep,
you can't help but do this again.
Hurt other women.
Commit ever more depraved acts.
You ate Amanda's flesh.
Yeah, you cooked it with potatoes and onions.
Because you needed to be connected to her, to be close to her.
That's what your life is always going to be like.
You are always going to be looking for that connection.
Each day worse than the last.
I know that you want to stop.
I know you want to be a good person.
I can see it, because you have remorse.
That's why you drink.
John, take responsibility.
Mr. Tagman, don't answer him.
This will never stop until you take responsibility.
Detective, the interview's over.
She can't even remember
her own name, John. Detective...
Can't remember.
How many more?
I don't know why I do this.
I want to know why. I don't want... I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. I... I just wanted someone.
Oh, God.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't...
What is wrong with me? Oh, God.
A heartfelt confession. So much for the death penalty.
I think Tagman's ready to take a plea, Counselor.
You should get in there.
I hear he volunteered to be a guinea pig
for a study of the criminal brain.
Someone should study how one man can shed so many crocodile tears.
Well, he's in prison for life, no parole.
He's not going to hurt anyone else.
Yeah. When? All right, thank you.
Mr. Tagman was beaten to death
by another inmate this morning at Sing Sing.
He was in the laundry working when he was attacked.
I guess now everybody has what they want.