It was palpable when I walked in.
You can feel evil emanating from the scene.
In less than three seconds, three people are shot.
Most homicides occur because one of three reasons --
Sex, drugs, or money.
I've known hundreds of detectives and police officers.
I've never met one like him.
If the eyes are the windows to the soul,
I'm looking into the pit of darkness.
Houston, texas -- america's fourth largest city.
I served as a homicide detective
With houston's finest for over 23 years.
I've investigated over 400 murders
And solved 90% with a confession.
Once I have a suspect in the room,
I don't quit until I get justice for the victims.
I am homicide detective fil waters.
I've talked to suspects who did an evil thing.
But this was one that was gonna be in my mind
For the rest of my career and the rest of my life.
The scene was at immaculate auto sales.
That day, flaco had been working in the shop.
He had to leave for a short time to go pick up a part.
Then he comes back to deliver a receipt.
Flaco ran into this man in the street
And he locked eyes with him.
He said it was a face that he would never forget.
On January 8, 2015, my partner brian harris
And I received a call of a triple shooting
In north houston at immaculate auto sales.
In the distance, we can see
All the red and blue lights of the patrol cars.
Dozens and dozens of patrol cars blocking the main roadway.
And this is a brutal murder scene in midday.
There was such a palpable...
Atmosphere of evil
The minute we walked into the room.
In the far corner is one body,
Tony contreras.
In the center of the room is the second body,
Jesse contreras, tony's brother.
And then there's a third desk that's empty.
Casey contreras
Was sitting at the desk that was unoccupied.
I found out that he had been transported to the hospital
By ambulance.
Casey is tony's son.
We've got two generations here of family members.
There's that thick, coagulated blood.
And any time you see pools of it,
It's not a good sign.
Scenes talk to me.
This person was on a mission.
They were moving and shooting.
Moving and shooting.
Fired six shots.
My belief was that this happened in less than two seconds.
But if there's one thing that stood out
When you walk into that room,
It's a distinct smell of gasoline.
I see puddles of the gasoline.
Maybe someone was gonna burn the place down.
Jesse and tony don't have any wallets.
But the strange thing is that they have cash.
There's cash in their pockets.
Now, this starts wheels not just turning but spinning.
It has the appearance,
To use the vernacular, of a hit.
Where the wallet's missing because
The person who committed this
Needed to take some means of identification
Back to whoever it was that began this "hit."
As we look around,
We notice that there are cameras.
No matter where you go, there are cameras.
And I'm thinking, "here we go.
We're going to see what happened."
Unfortunately, when I try to do a playback with the dvr,
It doesn't work.
So we've turned them over to our forensic video people.
In the meantime, the decision is made at that point
To send flaco down to our sketch artist
And see if he can put together a face of this evildoer.
And so we put out that description
To the patrol officers in the area.
Brian is talking to the family members.
We're starting to get some background on our victims.
I'm ruby cabell.
I'm one of the youngest of nine children.
Tony and jesse were my brothers.
I got a phone call that the boys had been shot
And that casey was at the hospital.
Brian, tony's oldest son, came over and picked me up.
He says, "ruby, you do know that
This could be really bad."
We're approaching the car lot,
And we got real quiet.
You could see all the media,
The lights, and the flashing lights.
Heartbreak and tears for family members
Who gathered outside a used car dealership
After three of their loved ones were shot.
As we drove closer, I saw --
I saw the crime scene -- the yellow tape.
And I just ran out,
Jumped out of the car.
It was moving.
And I ran. I just wanted to see my brothers.
And I was running to the car lot,
And they -- you know, the family stopped me.
They said, "ruby, it's a crime scene.
You can't go."
I just wanted to see my --
I said, "I want to see them."
My sons! No! My god!
Family members were overwhelmed with sadness
As they watched while officers canvassed the scene.
We're just at the beginning stages
Of looking at the lives of our victims.
We'll look at their history, their past,
And dissect who they are.
We grew up in a two-bedroom small house.
We were born at one-year intervals.
So I'm the youngest, and my oldest brother
Is nine years older than me.
When tony walked in the room, everyone knew it, you know?
Because he was going to walk in
And everyone was going to be laughing real soon
Because he was just that way.
He hated to see people who were not happy.
Jesse was my twin brother, so was my best friend.
And it's very hard for me to talk about jesse.
I turned to jesse for advice way more than he turned to me
Because he just understood how the world worked,
Even though he never graduated from high school.
There was a large segment of the neighborhood
We grew up in that was underserved by car salesmen
Because they didn't have credit.
My brothers jesse and tony
Took people that no one else would cater to,
And they sold them cars and gave them a second chance
Or maybe a third chance.
Casey is tony's son. Jesse had baby twins.
He had this young, innocent demeanor
And this smile that would light up a room.
We knew that casey had been transported by ambulance
To ben taub, which is the major trauma center in houston, texas.
We were hopeful that we were gonna be able
To talk to him at some point in time.
Casey could provide all the answers.
But we're concerned. Will casey be able to talk?
So we really focus with flaco
On the description of this black male
As having a baseball hat on and work-type jacket.
And they're literally searching for this person.
And lo and behold,
They bring somebody back.
He's wearing a ball cap, got a jacket on.
My gut was telling me he's the guy.
In the work-type jacket, dark skin, ball cap --
It's got to be him.
A methodical attack is how officers
Describe this triple shooting that took place
Inside a family-owned used-car dealership.
The unthinkable happened on January 8th.
My two brothers were murdered and casey was shot.
While tony and jesse contreras
Are pronounced dead at the scene,
We have casey contreras at the hospital
Fighting for his life.
Casey could be the key.
But when will we be able to speak to casey?
We're still at the crime scene.
We have a possible potential suspect.
Wanted flaco to look at him.
We were hoping the witness can identify that person
And say "yes, that's the man."
That told me he would be positive
When he actually saw the real killer.
We're trying to get a feel for what has happened,
What happened to the contreras family.
Now casey was able to respond to touch.
He wasn't able to talk because he was intubated.
The security is very, very tight.
He's registered under a fake name.
They won't let anybody in there
Because they don't know who's done this.
This looks like a planned execution for unknown reasons.
Casey's clearly going to be a key witness.
We were hopeful that his survivability would allow us
To be able to talk to him.
We get the call that casey --
His condition has turned for the worse.
Casey never regained consciousness.
We thought he would, but he never did.
He was just an innocent young person who was going to --
Who was just beginning his life.
Casey had let the family know,
"anything happens to me," he said, "donate my organs."
Casey gave a piece of himself to others
So that they could live.
Now we've got a triple homicide.
We had received information from the family
That tony and jesse
Had been involved in the federal criminal justice system
Based on some involvement
That they had in marijuana transportation.
My brothers had naively agreed to let someone use
One of their warehouses they owned.
They readily admitted their guilt
And accepted their punishment.
Were the brothers being targeted
Because of their past criminal activity?
We're peeling the onion on our three victims.
I mean, man, it is looking like we are on the right path.
This was a targeted hit.
Narcotics division volunteers to send their dog.
They're going through all the cars.
They're going through the office.
At this point, pick your federal acronym --
Hidta in d.E.A., fbi.
We've got them all in here.
And the long and short of it is
We find nothing
Connecting them to any kind of narcotic drug activity.
Nothing, zero, zip, nada.
My cellphone is ringing.
It's an fbi agent that I know.
The d.O.J. Was concerned that perhaps
That this was a revenge-type killing, sending a message
To joey contreras
That all of his family members would be targeted.
I was a federal prosecutor.
I had a protective detail live at my house
And drive me everywhere because of threats.
The last major prosecution I did was a huge one.
It was a racketeering case that targeted the texas mexican mafia
In which they were charged with two dozen murders, racketeering,
And drug trafficking.
Does it have anything to do with joey and what he does
As an assistant u.S. Attorney?
There's a possibility that joey's life may be in danger.
We're concerned.
So it is most important that we meet directly with him
To give him what we have at this point.
I dreaded going to the dealership.
I remember putting my hand out to shake fil's hand,
And him kind of pushing past my hand
And put it his arms around me and embracing me.
I don't know if he could sense the brokenness in me.
But I remember the sincerity,
And I'll never forget that moment
For as long as I live.
In regards to joey contreras, was this payback?
We didn't know.
The only thing we have is this video that doesn't work.
48 hours later,
Our forensic video people have done their job.
Finally we get to see the video.
And what we see on that video is incredible.
Suddenly, this investigation
Has been brought a new breath of life.
Three members of the contreras family are executed
At immaculate auto sales.
Now we see the video.
Incredible what it reveals.
And I'm like, "holy crap."
It shows a young black male
Wearing a jacket and a ball cap,
Dark glasses, carrying a duffel-type bag,
Calmly walking into the brothers' store,
Speaking on a cellphone.
The brothers don't even pay any attention to him.
Casey is sitting at his desk conducting business,
And then we see jesse, who actually walks up
To the bulletin board,
Posting something, and then he sits down.
And he's waiting for the right time to strike.
The suspect puts the phone in the backpack.
He draws a weapon.
Shoots casey first one time
And then starts to peel through the office area
Consistently moving and shooting.
In less than three seconds,
Three people are shot.
And just like that, two brothers deceased,
Casey shot in the head.
He puts the gun in the backpack
And draws a gasoline can.
He starts to dump gasoline all over casey.
Casey is moving in the chair back and forth
While this animal tries to ignite a fire.
He's gonna light it, going to light it,
Going to light it knowing casey is still alive.
As a prosecutor, you're thinking
It's really great evidence for your case,
But it's also horrific to watch three people be executed.
As the killer runs out the front of the store,
Flaco is now coming in the rear of the business.
Flaco is stunned.
"I can't believe what I'm seeing here."
The minute he steps out the door,
We now see our suspect,
Who is walking back to the business.
The only reason he would be returning
Would be to burn that business down
To destroy any evidence.
Flaco spoils that plan.
But flaco locked eyes with him.
30 seconds sooner, flaco would be dead too.
There is no doubt now what we're seeing here,
That the video is going to be the key to solving this case.
The problem is that the video can't name that person for us.
Could this really be a hit?
Well, we still couldn't rule it out.
Was it somebody in a cartel or a gang that hires out
One local gang member to carry this out?
Who is this person that we're dealing with?
We're checking out every avenue that we can find.
And right now, we're coming up with goose eggs.
And fil's the one that has to make those phone calls
To joey and the other family members
To tell them "we don't have any news for you."
He said, "joey, I'm going to catch this man.
And when I put handcuffs on him,
You'll be the first person I call."
I believed in my heart of hearts
We were going to solve it.
I get a phone call from a female caller.
She wanted to talk to me about, in her words,
What happened at immaculate auto sales.
You could have knocked me out of my chair with a feather.
Most homicides occur because one of three reasons --
Sex, drugs, or money.
There's nothing better than a woman scorned.
Four months after the murders,
I get a phone call from arion stewart.
She wanted to talk to me about, in her words,
What happened at immaculate auto sales.
I called arion immediately.
What I did not want happening here is her changing her mind.
Arion tells me about her ex-boyfriend.
His name is james tinsley.
James called her around February, March --
A month, month and a half after the murders.
James tinsley tells arion to look up immaculate on her phone,
And she immediately asked him, "did you do this?"
To which he responds, "yes."
In 2013, james and arion had purchased
A 2003 model mitsubishi galant, silver in color.
Seven months later, james and arion split up.
And james quits making car payments.
The car had broken down
And went to joe's garage for repairs.
Well, when joe's garage had fixed the vehicle,
They told arion and james tinsley
That it was $200 in repairs to get the car back,
And they didn't have the money.
When immaculate found out, they paid the $200.
He just had to make good on his payments,
And he'd get his car back.
James didn't do that.
At some point, james tinsley drove by
And saw that his car was for sale on the lot.
And he got very mad.
It was trash.
Hamburger wrappers, you know,
Hats, clothes, shoes, stuff like that.
But nothing that's really, really important.
Why he thought they would keep his personal items
In the car for several months, I don't know,
But I think that's what ticked him off
More than having the car repossessed.
And his anger only increased
When he was forced to ride the bus.
I remember casey saying, "hey, man," he goes,
"I've got a real bad feeling about this guy that came in."
"you know, the way he was talking to dad
And talking to everybody."
And I was like, "casey, you know how people are.
Man, you got to ignore him."
But he didn't give me a name.
James says he went in, shot them in the head,
And all he got out of it was 100 bucks.
I said, "fil, why on earth --
Why isn't she coming forward sooner?"
He said, "look, man, she's scared.
She was afraid of him."
He had punched her. He had choked her
He had threatened her life with a knife.
He even threatened her when she was pregnant.
And five days after that,
James contacted arion again.
Wanted to apologize for the threats
And wanted to show his good intentions
By bringing some diapers for their 1-year-old daughter.
It was clear that the offer of diapers was the lure.
And he grabs their child and takes off with the baby.
It was the last straw.
The point of no return for arion,
Where she knew that she needed to go to the police.
Arion reports this kidnapping.
She's told unfortunately after she makes the report that
Because james is the father of this child,
There's not a whole lot the police can do.
Second phone call she makes is to me.
Is it enough to get a warrant for james tinsley?
We call our go-to d.A.
It's not enough.
"you got to give us more than scorned women."
So we take the photo array to flaco,
And he's looking at it.
His hands are shaking.
And I can see where his eyes are going.
And who does he pick? James tinsley.
I obtain a warrant for james on the harassment on arion.
We've located him now at intercontinental airport
Working at a restaurant.
Child is nowhere to be found.
Now he's in the fishbowl, and he's sitting in there
Just exactly as I want him to be.
But will he talk to me?
Four months after three members of the contreras family
Are executed, I have my suspect.
James tinsley knows we're here to talk about arion,
About this harassment report that she's made,
And he's confident enough in himself
That he's going to be able to explain all of that away.
I want to establish a really good relationship here
With james.
So want to lower his anxiety.
We begin with talking about his relationship with arion.
Then fil starts asking about the car.
You get a lie.
Watching what he's saying,
We have inappropriate emoting in an amusing way.
And when we get to the car dealership,
It is almost constant.
That was casey contreras,
The first person that he shot.
If the eyes are the windows to the soul,
I'm looking into the pit of darkness.
I'm starting to know the changes in the smiles and the laughter.
I know that I'm now starting to push the buttons that I want.
James is now becoming a little suspicious of fil.
You see a shift in his seat, a deep gasp,
Especially when fil totally confronts him.
I looked him dead in the eye and I said, "correct."
Now I can tell you what,
That one word turned up the heat.
What does tinsley do? He's mad at this point.
And he says, I thought we were here talking about arion.
Not -- are you crazy? You think I'm a murderer?"
Not denying the murder at that particular point in time.
He's mad because he thinks he's been had.
"you're not looking at him."
He's talking in the third person, right?
I am pushing, pushing, pushing,
And I'm starting to see his body respond
To his denials.
You would think that if it wasn't him,
"let me see the video."
He didn't ask that.
James looks like a caged animal.
He is wanting to leave,
And he finally says "I'm out of here."
He has lost everything we talked about
For probably 30 minutes
About the whole reason we're sitting in this room.
No matter what he said, we had him.
We had him.
And there is more evidence tying him to the capital murders.
The bus records show that james tinsley boards a bus
Within minutes of the murder at the murder location.
And the defendant's cellphone records
Put him in the area within minutes after the murder.
The sister answers the door.
Lo and behold, there's james' and arion's daughter.
She seems to be in great health, in good shape.
In the end, we're able to call arion
And give her her daughter.
So they were reunited together.
I was at home.
The phone rang.
"do you remember the promise I made to you?"
I knew I'd hear what he was going to say.
You can clearly hear over the phone...
Were sobs.
But they weren't sobs of sadness.
They were sobs of relief.
He said, "I have arrested the man
Who killed your brothers and nephew."
James tinsley was in court Wednesday morning
Facing capital murder charges.
The verdict was guilty,
Guilty of capital murder.
Automatic life without parole.
I was just shaking.
The greatest feeling was to see him March out of that courtroom
Dressed in his little nice clothes
And turn back around in an orange jump suit.
That's the first time that you let
Your guard down as a person
And you can actually feel it along with them.
And so you feel the relief that they feel,
And you feel good that they're gonna get justice.
And you're just so thankful at that point
That they at least have that, that they have closure.
I think about my brothers and casey every single day.
There's not ever been a day that I don't think about them.
This was a book that was given to us,
To the family at the funeral home
With pictures of jesse and tony and casey.
Just celebrating their life.
We have a lifetime of memories.
"from darkness, light. From light, truth.
From truth, justice.
With deep gratitude, from the contreras family."
And as a result of this horrible act,
The contreras family welcomed me.