The Brandon Teena Story (1998) - full transcript

[mooing]

[driving noises]

[gunshot]

[gunshot]

[gunshot]

REPORTER: A relative discovered
the murder victims Friday

on this farmstead
south of Humboldt.

The victims were Teena
Brandon of Lincoln,

Phillip Devine of
Fairfield, Iowa,

and Lisa Lambert of Humbolt.

She lived at the farmhouse
with her infant son,



who was not harmed
in the attack.

The official briefing
did not explain

what could have
sparked the slayings

or what the other
two victims were

doing at Lisa Lambert's house.

The county attorney did
reveal one strange detail.

Teena Brandon posed as
a man named Brandon.

[theme music]

DAPHNE: Brandon
was a woman's man.

I mean, every woman's dream.

Every woman's dream.

If, um, Brandon really
was a man, oh, Jesus.

He would have women
after him all the time.

I mean, he knew
how to please you.



He knew how to do
everything right.

-Oh, yeah.

Good kisser.

I can't say so much for lover,
because we didn't really

make love.

You know what I mean?

But yeah, an excellent kisser.

Excellent.

Excellent guy.

Excellent, you know?

Knew exactly how a woman
wanted to be treated, you know?

Knew exactly how I
wanted to be treated.

-I can't remember if it
was a dozen or two dozen

roses sitting there
and it had a card

and it had a little
stuffed cat next to it.

A bottle of perfume.

I'm like, what is
all this stuff?

He's like, well,
will you marry me?

So I probably thought
about it for a minute.

I said, yeah.

And he just starts
jumping up and down,

you know, oh, yeah, yeah.

-And girls would go-- right?

-Right.

-They'd go, oh my God.

The guy's in the
kitchen cooking with me.

I mean, that's
the way Tenna was.

Because the beautiful
thing about Tenna was he

was in touch with his female
side and his male side.

He knew what females
wanted because he

was a female at one time.

And he knew what males wanted
because now he was a male.

It was great.

-I thought Brandon
was attractive

when I thought it was
Brandon until I found out

that Brandon is Teena.

Teena Renae instead
of Tenna Rae Brandon.

When I found all that out, I was
like, oh god, what am I doing?

-People have said, you know,
this person is a female.

This person-- I said, but
we're sleeping together.

That doesn't matter.

You know, here I'm
so naive to anything.

It's like, you know,
what's a strap on?

What's this?

What's that?

I have no idea what you're
talking about, you know?

And like, well,
strap on, you know,

feel-- feel behind the leg.

See if it's strapped on somehow.

I'm like, well, OK.

Whatever, you know?

So I'm like, OK.

You have to take your
pants off this time.

They-- just take them off.

So I thought, well, I'll feel.

So, you know, down his back,
down past, you know, his legs.

Well, there's nothing there.

And I'm thinking, his
hands aren't there

to try to keep it in place.

His hands are up,
you know, by my head,

under my head or whatever.

So I thought, these people.

Just feeding me all this crap.

I'm like, I'm not going
to listen to them.

You know?

So I have no idea-- I no
idea why it worked so well.

GINA: He'd come up with stories,
you know, more sex change

stories and that--
it got to the point

where almost
nothing's been done.

You know, we go from everything
to, you know, half of it,

to now where it's
just barely starting.

And I said, you know, you just
need to be honest with me.

And so he-- he showed me.

And he says, well, but this
is the start of the operation.

The start of what?

He's like, well,
they've sewn me up

and started-- started
me on steroids.

And saying how they've
implanted something

that's going to eventually grow.

-And I'm like, hermaphrodite?

What are you talking about?

I went home and looked
it up in the dictionary.

I had no idea.

What is a
hermaphrodite, you know?

And I'm like, so
what's this mean?

You know?

And it says something about
an animal in the dictionary.

So I was, like,
really freaking out.

I'm dating an animal?

-How could you lie
to me, you know?

Here I've got a
hickey on my neck.

And everybody's just laughing
at me, because you lied to me

and you pretended to
be someone you're not.

I was mad for probably
a good two weeks.

And then I start talking
to him as a she again.

JOANN: Is it true?

Is it true?

Is he a boy?

Is he really a girl?

I was kissing him in
the backseat last night.

Is he a girl?

And Tenna's standing
right next to me.

I said, would you
like to talk to her?

Would you like to
explain what's going on?

(WHISPERING) No, no.

You do it.

Don't tell her.

Don't tell her.

Oh, god, I'll kill
myself if you do.

I'll kill myself.

I believed him.

NARRATOR: Changes I'm
going through in my life

will change me forever.

Soon, I'll have anybody
I want and give them

the love that I have.

But there's one that
won't leave my mind.

Maybe I should walk away
and find someone else

and start over, knowing
the mistakes I've made,

and make them change.

I still love her so,
but I should let her go.

One of these nights, I'll close
my eyes and let everything go.

I'm not as strong as I thought.

I can't fight.

I don't think I
can make it alone.

By Brandon.

-I figured some guy would
find out that she was female,

you know, if he
didn't know right away

and just rape her, you know.

And it was-- what
do I want to say?

I kind of felt like it
would happen, but I didn't.

I was trying to put
the fear of god in her,

you know, more or less, just
to-- because people are cruel.

-Basically, we were
getting worried about Teena

and we couldn't get
any help for her.

And you know, not help to deal
with her being gay or anything

like that, but help to
deal with her, you know,

trying to figure out
herself and stuff.

Maybe she needed
some counseling.

And she had mentioned to us one
time about committing suicide,

so we kind of used that as a
reason of getting her to there.

They took her to
Lincoln General.

And the psychologist
there said that Teena

needed long-term help.

Which I don't know if
that was really the case.

But they did send her
out to the crisis center.

And I don't know.

You know, I wish I really
knew what Teena had told them

or what those doctors
had told Teena.

But basically, she came
out of there saying,

I want a sex change.

And, you know, they told me
I need to do this and that.

And they might
have told her that,

but I don't know if that's
really what she wanted to do.

-I think he had in
his head that he

was going to get a sex
change or something

and he just wanted everybody to
know him as always being a man.

This is a man, you know,
or whatever, you know?

And I think that he wanted
everybody to know that.

So therefore he had to lie.

And then he would
get caught in lies,

so we have to say lie
after lie to cover up lies.

So he was just
living one big lie.

-And he would just scream at
you-- scream at me, saying,

Gina, this isn't a
gay relationship.

I don't know what
you're thinking.

I said, well, what am
I supposed to think?

I mean, I know what
you want to be is male.

I said, but
unfortunately, we have

to deal with what we have now.

And I said, you are female.

And I said, we have
to deal with that.

Because every time
he tried to be

truthful to the kids he
was with, he was put down.

He was called a fag.

Or worse yet, or you're a dyke.

Or you're really a lesbo.

That's what you are.

You're a lesbo.

We don't want to be around you.

Or the girls would just look
at him and call him a freak.

Sometimes Tenna
would buy your love.

And it wasn't through the
forgeries or the stealing,

then it was by doing anything
for you that he could do.

It was always like he was this
little puppy dog following you,

waiting to get
patted on the head.

Oh, good boy.

Good boy.

You did a good job.

-Everything was just
sweet about him, you know?

Everything-- he had-- always
buying stuff for people.

Always.

Like roses and always pizzas.

Movies.

Anything that you would want, he
would buy it for you, you know?

JOANN: He never looked at
it like it was stealing.

He was doing it
to help somebody.

But it always got
him in trouble.

You can give that boy
a checkbook and money.

-The funniest thing
was, he had bought me

an engagement ring
set on that card.

It was the actual gold band
with the-- the other ring

being the diamond solitaire.

You know, at this
time, I've already

figured out this is my card.

He was like, well, I
bought this for you.

I was like, with what?

With my money.

And I said, you
did no such thing.

I said, you're giving me a
ring that I just bought myself.

Am I right?

And he's just like,
well, keep it.

I want you to keep it.

I'm not keeping this.

And so we'd argued
and fought over that.

And I'd-- just take the ring.

And I just threw it at him.

I don't want it.

I do not want it.

I said, tell you what.

Right now, you know,
engagement's off.

It is off.

-And then single girls--
straight girls-- would be, ah!

I was making out with a girl?

Oh!

And then the phone calls and
the harassment would start.

And that's when
Tenna finally left.

Because too many people found
out that, um, he was a girl.

[music playing]

Falls City is a white community.

We may have had one or
two families in here that

were black, but as far as,
uh, having gay people come in,

you know, Falls City
would, I'm sure,

you know, escort
'em out of town.

-They have barely any jobs.

A lot of 'em are on
welfare and stuff.

You know, I mean,
you know, if you've

got somebody that gots
a job and keeps a job,

you know, especially a girl that
don't get-- end up up pregnant

and end up on welfare
for the rest her life,

you're pretty damn
lucky, you know.

So that's, uh, that's
Fall City for ya.

-I believe this county seems to
have more than it's-- more than

it's share of, uh, violent
crimes for as small an area

as it is.

And I worked in three
other departments,

you know, before
coming back to here.

And I don't believe any of
those places-- which were also

Nebraska-- had near
the domestic violence

that we do down here,
like stabbing calls.

Assault calls.

You know, pretty--
pretty bad vi--

you know, violent
calls in general.

It's-- it's a lot
different than, you know,

what you might think.

[music playing]

LANA TISDEL: We're smiling.

Brandon's looking.

That's his typical
face right there.

His face that I
seen all the time.

He shaved.

Um, He would sit like a man.

And he would talk about women,
like pretty women on TV.

Um, his favorite woman he
thought was really beautiful

was Cher.

He thought she was gorgeous.

I mean, that was
the woman to him.

I don't know.

He'd sit around and talk
about cars, like men do.

Gets really boring, hearing
about-- men talking about cars.

MICHELLE LOTTER: After
she had had sex with him

and she said that
she'd never do it again

because he was so small
and all that stuff.

I was like, don't
let that stop you.

So that-- that's not a big deal.

I was just like, you
need to keep this one.

Because he was-- he'd,
like, I don't know.

He was so nice to her.

He'd like, leave
her notes, you know?

Like little love
letters laying around.

Just-- he was just really nice.

He did everything to please her.

-Brandon was a
very polite person.

Uh, Brandon didn't
talk bad about anybody.

And he was very considerate
to my daughter, Lana.

And he was very clean.

You know, I-- I
did-- I liked him.

He was very appealing
for a young man.

-We went out drinking together.

We talked about women.

We'd ride around, saying,
woo, what about that one?

Mm, what about that one there?

You know, just guy talk.

-The wool was pulled over a
number of people's eye's, you

know.

And she was-- done it well.

And one thing I
noticed, all the girls

saying that she knew
how to treat a girl.

He knew how to treat a girl.

And I presume that the way she--
she would like to be treated,

you know, with flowers
and all this stuff.

And she knew what
a girl would like.

-Found out it was really nice
being treated like a lady

instead of just like
a-- like nothing.

Like dirt.

There-- there was a difference.

It was nice for what it was.

-She was hermaphrodite.

She was born with both sexes.

She had had a partial operation
to get rid of her upper part

and that she was going to get
the lower taken care of later.

First she told me it was
all taken care of, that she

was a full-fledged male,
is what she told me.

That's her exact words.

JOHN LOTTER: You know,
Lana introduced me

to-- you know, and they were
seeing each other, you know,

supposedly dating each other.

And said this is Tenna
Rae Brandon, you know.

Whatever.

You know, as far as
I knew, he was a guy.

You know, I-- at
that time, you know.

I mean, now, I mean,
if-- I'll look, you know.

I'll say, is there an
Adam's apple there?

Or I'll check for things.

But, you know, I mean--
then, I mean, you know,

somebody says this is a guy,
especially somebody that I've,

you know, known for
since she was in diapers.

You know, I'm not
going to sit there

and say, OK, this ain't no guy.

You know, I ain't
looking for it, you know.

-He was just like,
god, I've got to pee.

And I'm like, you
want me to pull over?

No.

He just stood up.

Peed out the window.

While we were moving.

I was like, you're not peeing on
the side of my truck, are you?

No, no, no.

It's OK.

I haven't seen a girl yet
that could pee out my window.

-A lot of people were
upset because she

stealing from people, too.

She was taking checks and
taking money and forging

and, you know, stuff like that.

So a lot of people were
upset with her for that.

-She needed money.

Had no, you know,
source of income and she

was forging checks.

And from my understanding,
it wasn't the first time

she had forged checks.

It, uh, it had happened
up in Lincoln and that's

why the Lincoln personnel
was able to give me

some information about her,
because she had forged checks

up there.

-I was like, well, if he's
not Brandon then who is he?

And she said,
Brandon is not a he.

Brandon is a she.

And Brandon's real
name is Teena Brandon.

And I just kind of
looked and I went, what?

Like, yes, it is a woman.

Not a man.

I was like, there's no way.

I said, that is not a woman.

I said, doesn't even
look like a woman.

-I don't think in the
beginning they realized it,

but after I made the
arrest and charged her

as a female-- girls
down at Fall City,

I informed them that
she was in jail.

And they said, what
do you mean she?

And I said, well,
Brandon is a female.

And they said, no, she's not.

And I said, yes, she is.

And that's when it first
got out down at Fall City

that she was really a female.

And I don't know if they
really believed it or not.

But, uh, well, I would
say, in some sense,

is a lot of people
didn't believe.

But they sure wondered.

And, uh, I don't know.

It just got worse.

NARRATOR: December 21, 1993.

Dear Mom, I do not know if
you know were I'm at now

or what I'm doing.

Well, you can quit guessing,
and let me tell you.

As of right now, I'm in
the Falls City county jail.

I've been here for six days.

I turned myself in.

I'm tired of running from
my problems and people.

I've been so lost
lately I can't even cry.

I was sick last night.

I was throwing up.

I've lost 5 pounds in here,
but I did pull ups and push ups

and tightened up my muscles.

Well, gotta go.

Love you always and
forever, Brandon.

-Lana's father gave
her a-- a check

with his-- just his
signature on it.

She was to go to a beauty
shop and get herself a perm.

Well, Brandon was in jail.

She went ahead and took
the check to Hinky Dinky's

and wrote it out for $250,
which was enough bond

to get Brandon out of jail.

She tried to get
him out of jail,

and she could not do it, because
at that time she was only,

I believe, 18, or she was
not old enough to do it.

So she gave Tom Nissen
the money, and Tom went

and bonded Brandon out.

And they went to
Tom Nissen's house,

and this is where they stayed.

-He wrote this-- I think it
was the night Brandon got out

of jail.

Flashing you is not the
easy-- is not that easy.

I wish you could understand.

I'm not yet comfortable
with myself.

I will never try
to hurt you, and I

want to leave because
I am not wanted here.

And it's the same shit.

And I want to leave so you
have no more hell either.

Just so you are not worried.

I do understand how you
feel and your situation.

I'm so sorry.

I just want it to
be a moment where

I am not pressured and forced.

That scares me and makes
me more uncomfortable.

Sorry.

Love, Brandon.

He wrote this the night I
got Brandon out of jail.

[music playing]

-Leave him there, you know?

Just let him serve his time.

Then he can get the
hell out of here.

I said, what does
he think he's doing,

bringing this shit to a small
town like this, you know?

And he just needs to get
the fuck out of here.

I told her.

I said, something's
going to happen

if he don't get out of here.

I was mad at him,
but I was worried

about what would happen
to him if he stayed there.

-It-- just a big concern was
Brandon's gender, between Lana,

Lana's mom, and Lana's dad.

LINDA GUTIERRES: I was
very upset with it.

I did not want Lana in
the situation with Brandon

any longer.

So I left the bar and went
to Tom Nissen's house.

And Brandon and I went
into the back bedroom.

And I was talking to Brandon.

I says, just prove to me right
now if you are a man or woman.

I says, I don't care.

I says, all I want
to know is the truth.

Brandon unsnapped his
pants and pulled them

down just so far where I could
see there was a hairline.

Some hair.

But Brandon wouldn't do it--
wouldn't continue showing me.

And about that time, Tom
Nissen walked into the bedroom,

and he says, Brandon, just pull
your pants down and show her.

That's all she wants to know.

-Yeah, she didn't like Brandon.

She didn't, and either did
Linda, and either did Melissa.

Only one did was Lana,
because she was just so,

really-- I mean, she-- actually,
she was really brainwashed.

And I think even
still today, she's

probably still
half-assed brainwashed.

I mean, I wouldn't be
surprised if she's still

calling him a he.

He, he.

And knowing damn
well it's a she.

-I-- I don't know what
the big thing was.

But the cops told me and
Brandon, go in the room for me

to find out and all this.

So me and Brandon went in there.

You know, and he unbuttoned
his pants and everything.

I said, Brandon, you
don't have to do that.

I said, I'm not going to look.

I said, I'm going to tell
them what we want them to know

and what we believe.

I walked out there and
they said, so, do you know?

Is he a woman or a man?

And I said, he is a man.

They said, did you see?

And I said, yes, I've
seen it in the flesh.

I said, that is a full man.

Now leave him alone.

-Brandon says, I'd
never hurt Lana.

And-- but yet,
Brandon still didn't

want to reveal the truth.

That's about the only thing
we talked and yelled about.

I even shoved back-- Brandon
back into the dresser,

just pushed him backwards
into the dresser.

And the dresser hit the
window and cracked the window.

But I was only there acting
as a concerned mother.

I wasn't there to cut him
down or do any of that.

I just really wanted the truth.

-My mom was disgusted.

She-- she couldn't believe it.

She kept on wanting me to get
away from him and all this.

Because she said them
kind of people have AIDS.

And I told her no, he
does not have AIDS.

-I think it was just
such a big shock,

you know, finding
out that somebody

that had told us the he was a
man and made everybody believe.

Slept with my best
friend, you know?

Find out that this is a woman.

It's just knowing
that somebody could

get into your mind like
that and I don't know,

just manipulate you like that.

Making you think a
totally different thing

than what's really happening.

You know, nothing that he'd ever
told us was true, obviously.

Everything was a lie.

You just-- it just totally
blew everybody's mind.

[music playing]

[music playing]

-Well, Tom grabbed Brandon.

Tom had his arms under
Brandon like this,

was holding him like this,
with his arms like this.

And then John undid his
pants and pulled them down

to his ankles.

INTERVIEWER: So what did
you-- what did you do?

-Well, the first thing I
did was covered my eyes.

I covered my eyes, and
I kind of turned around.

And John said, well,
you better look,

because if you
don't, we're going

to hold him like this
until you do look.

And so I turned around.

I had my eyes like this,
and I turned around

and I peeked a little bit.

Then I covered 'em and
I turned back around.

SHERIFF LAUX: Tom
held your arms.

Which way was he
standing, beside you,

behind you, or what?

And how'd he hold you.

BRANDON: My arms up.

SHERIFF LAUX: Then
he took and Tom

or, ah, John undone
your pants, right?

He pulled your
pants down how far?

BRANDON: Past my knees.

SHERIFF LAUX: Past your knees.

How far did he pull
your underpants down?

BRANDON: Past my knees.

SHERIFF LAUX: And what did
you have in your underpants?

Nothing in your underpants?

BRANDON: Are you talking about
earlier when I had a sock,

but not when he
pulled my pants down.

I didn't.

SHERIFF LAUX: You
didn't have a sock.

Do you run around
once in a while

with a sock in your pants
to make you look like a boy?

BRANDON: Yeah.

SHERIFF LAUX: All right.

So after he pulled your pants
down and seen you were a girl,

what did he do?

Did he fondle you any?

BRANDON: No.

SHERIFF LAUX: He didn't
fondle you any, huh?

Didn't that kind of amaze you?

After he pulled your pants down
and been wanting to take you

to bed and you told him
no, that you was a boy

and you couldn't do that?

Doesn't that kind of get
your attention somehow,

that he would put his hands in
your pants and play with you

a little bit?

Huh?

BRANDON: I don't
know what he did.

SHERIFF LAUX: I can't believe
that if he pulled your pants

down and you're a female that
he didn't stick his hands in you

or his finger in you.

BRANDON: Well, he didn't.

SHERIFF LAUX: I can't
believe he didn't.

-Tom was pulling down her pants
and he put his finger up there

and said, oh, there's-- you
know, there's something.

You know, there
ain't nothing there.

She's a girl, you know.

And I said, well,
I saw something.

You know, I looked
at Brandon and I

said, what was that I saw?

You know.

Just playing it off, you know.

-So he reached over
and grabbed Brandon.

Grabbed him by the neck
and was holding him.

And he couldn't breathe.

And Brandon kept
on looking to me

and I think was
trying to say help,

but he couldn't get
it out because John

was so tight on his throat.

Well, I got John's
hand, you know,

I was prying his
hand off his throat.

And I got his hand off
his throat, you know,

and Brandon was talking about
his throat and everything,

because I can imagine.

You know, John's hand,
you know, on his throat.

And I asked Brandon,
I said, Brandon,

they say my mom just
want over to the house

and that she wants
me to come home.

But I can come back.

She just wants to talk to me.

I said, is it OK?

I said, If you don't want
me to go, I won't go.

I will stay here with you.

And he said, that's OK.

Just go.

But don't leave me.

Come back.

I said, I will be back.

I said, is it OK if Tom
stays in here with you?

And he said, yeah, that's fine.

Because Tom hasn't really
done anything to him,

except for, you
know, the depantsing.

But I wouldn't think
he was scared of Tom.

I'd think it was more John.

And so I left, but Tom
stayed there with him.

BRANDON: Tom looked
at me and he said,

John and I need to talk to you.

I said, OK, and we
walked to the bathroom.

Walked in the bathroom and John
turned around and held the door

and Tom hit me once.

I fell in the tub.

Stood back up and
he it me again.

This time I fell on the floor.

He kicked me in the ribs I
don't know how many times.

He stepped on my back.

Then he picked me up by my coat
and carried me out to the car

by my coat.

I got in the back seat.

That's when I knew something
was going to happen.

I asked them why.

I did beg with them.

I did plead.

Tom told me, are you
going to make this

easy or are you going
to make this hard?

Then he goes-- in fact,
he said that either you

can get the shit beat out of you
and then have it happen anyway.

SHERIFF LAUX: Have what happen?

BRANDON: When he raped me.

-I mean, you guys can sit
there and shake your fucking

heads no, but I told you.

I told both of you.

Well, not both of you,
because I don't think I

talked to you on the phone.

But Susan, I told
you on the phone,

there's going to be some things
I cannot answer because they

could endanger, or
whatever, my appeal process.

-He wasn't even
on top of her yet.

You know, he was,
uh, doing something

with-- getting
something out of a coat

and stuff, which I found
out later was a rubber.

You know, and, uh, you know.

And then, you know, a little
bit later, he was out of the car

and he came to me,
you know, and said,

well, you know, do you
wanna go back there?

And stuff like that, you know.

And I went back.

You know, it was stupid.

And I went back, you know.

But I didn't have sex with her.

I went back there and I tried,
but I couldn't keep it up.

To drunk.

Thinking of my fiancee
at the time too much.

And I couldn't get it up.

SHERIFF LAUX: So when they
got ready to poke you,

how was you positioned
in the back seat?

BRANDON: On my back.

SHERIFF LAUX: You
was on your back?

Where did they try to
pop it in first at?

BRANDON: My vagina.

SHERIFF LAUX: They tried
sticking it in your vagina,

and you say you
never had sex before.

Is that correct?

BRANDON: Right.

SHERIFF LAUX: And which
one tried doing this first?

BRANDON: Tom.

SHERIFF LAUX: And Tom
couldn't get it in you?

Huh?

BRANDON: He said he
couldn't, but it still hurt.

SHERIFF LAUX: He
said he couldn't you?

BRANDON: He said he
couldn't get it in,

but all I know is it hurt.

I couldn't tell the difference.

Whatever he was doing, it hurt.

-I did ejaculate in--
in-- in the rubber because

of the-- going up and down
and the rubbing, you know.

When I did get it up, trying to
proceed to put it-- you know,

have sex with her.

But, uh, every
time it'd go down.

And because of that, you
know, I, you know, ejaculated.

And I said, fuck it,
and got up, you know?

SHERIFF LAUX: The first one
was Tom, is that correct?

BRANDON: Yes, sir.

SHERIFF LAUX: Then Tom
got out and what'd he do?

BRANDON: He got in the
passenger seat in front.

SHERIFF LAUX: Then
what happened?

BRANDON: John got out
of the driver's seat

and went to the passenger
side and got in the back seat.

SHERIFF LAUX: And
then when John got

in the back seat, what'd he do?

BRANDON: He did
everything that Tom did.

SHERIFF LAUX: All right.

After he got his pants down,
he got a spread of you,

or had you spread out and
he got a spread of you then.

Then what happened?

BRANDON: When he finished,
he got out of the car

and got back in
the driver's door.

SHERIFF LAUX: Well,
how did-- let's

back up here for a second.

First of all, you
didn't say anything

about him getting it up.

Did he have are hard on when
he got back there, or what?

BRANDON: I don't know.

I didn't look.

SHERIFF LAUX: You didn't look.

Well, did he take a little
time working it up, or what?

Did you work it up for him?

BRANDON: No, I didn't.

SHERIFF LAUX: You didn't
work it up for him?

BRANDON: No.

SHERIFF LAUX: Then do you think
he had it worked up on his own,

or what?

BRANDON: I guess so.

I don't know.

SHERIFF LAUX: And you
never had any sex before?

BRANDON: No.

SHERIFF LAUX: How old are you?

BRANDON: 21.

SHERIFF LAUX: And
if you're 21, you

think you'd have-- you'd
have trouble getting it in?

-You know, she was
very, very quiet.

She didn't say nothing.

You know, she said
ouch a few times.

You know?

You know, that's it.

You know?

BRANDON: Tom said, nobody will
hear about this, all right?

I said, yeah.

Tom said, get out of the car.

Walked to the back.

That's when he badly
attacked me again.

Never hit me in the face
this time or in the head.

He just hit me in
the gut or the back.

I think he hit me about
three times and the rest

of the time he used
his knee into my gut.

Then Tom goes, we're done.

Get in the car.

So I had to sit back in
the front seat with them.

He goes, we're still friends?

SHERIFF LAUX: Then
what'd you say?

BRANDON: I said, yeah.

Then we went back to Falls City.

Went to Tom's house.

-I felt ashamed.

I felt ashamed
that-- that someone

would make alleged
charges against me

that I had
participated in a rape.

-Her biggest fear--

-Was rape.

---was to be touched by a man,
to possibly be raped by a man,

because she was a man.

The very thought of a
man touching her body

erotically made her
vomit and terrified her.

Absolutely terrified her.

She said, I would be
just sick if a man

kissed me or touched me.

And it happened.

-Well, I opened the
door and it was Brandon.

And he was out of breath.

He was cold.

He had a big, old, fat lip.

It was bloody and yucky
and he had no shoes on.

No shoes at all.

He had one shirt on.

And he usually wears two.

He wears a t-shirt
and a shirt over it.

And the only shirt he
had on was the shirt

he wears over the t-shirt.

And his pants were
all dirty and he

was just-- he can't
hardly breathe.

And I asked him what happened.

And that's when
he said, you know,

they beat the shit out of me.

I said, who.

And he said, Tom.

And then later on, after
it got easier for him,

he said Tom beat the shit out
of him and John raped him.

And he said, well,
they both raped me,

but Tom is the only one that
beat the shit out of me.

-Brandon did not want to,
uh, turn it into the cops

or anything.

And I told Brandon, I says,
I-- I-- I don't care, you know,

what you do with your life
or what you want to be.

It's your business.

I don't care.

I says, but nobody, Brandon,
nobody deserves to be raped.

Well, I didn't-- not raped, but
kidnapped and taken out there

and beaten.

Because I didn't know at that
time that Brandon was actually

raped.

SHERIFF LAUX: No, what
I'm saying is this.

I think you misunderstood
my question.

Did they do it one time to you
and then the other guy do it

one time and quit,
or did the one guy

do it and then the
other guy do it

and then the other guy
come back and do it again

and the other guy come
back and do it again?

BRANDON: They each did it once.

SHERIFF LAUX: They
each did it once.

Do you want to file
charges against these guys?

BRANDON: Yes.

SHERIFF LAUX: Do you want to
sign a complaint against them?

BRANDON: Yes.

SHERIFF LAUX: Will you
testify in court against them?

BRANDON: Yes, sir.

-I confronted them.

And, uh, I told them what
Brandon's accusations were.

And they were trying to tell
me it was a bunch of bull.

And then when I brought
up the DLSes, well,

it's been reported, and
if you guys did anything,

you better get rid
of your evidence.

I did say that.

And Tom went to the kitchen, got
a pan of soapy water and a rag,

and came back into the room on
the north side of the living

room and washed up a little spot
on the floor and on the wall.

But I went there because
I didn't believe Brandon.

And then when I saw Tom do
that, I knew for sure then

that they were responsible
for doing all this.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN: Let's
talk about the assault

of Teena Brandon.

Did you physically assault
Teena Brandon in your home

on December 25?

TOM NISSEN: No.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN:
Did you punch her?

TOM NISSEN: Yeah.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN:
Did you kick her?

TOM NISSEN: Not that I recall.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN: When
you were out in the country

with Teena Brandon before
you sexually assaulted her,

did you punch and kick her?

TOM NISSEN: Yes.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN: Did
you hit her about the face?

TOM NISSEN: Excuse me,
I did not kick her.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN: I'm sorry.

Did you beat-- did you
beat her about the face?

TOM NISSEN: I punched her, yes.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN: Did you
then sexually assault her?

TOM NISSEN: Yes.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN: Did
you-- did you then beat her

after you sexually
assaulted her?

TOM NISSEN: I beat her, yes.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN:
Why did you hit her?

TOM NISSEN: Because I was upset.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN: Oh, I see.

You had just sexually
assaulted her.

Raped her.

And you were upset.

So you-- then you kneed
her in the stomach

and threw her to the ground.

TOM NISSEN: Yes.

-You know, they're
like-- they were

the lower echelon in prison.

When they get out, they got
a grudge against everybody.

And when they get a chance
to strike out at somebody,

to even up the odds, you know?

I mean, it's-- it's-- you
can see it right with John.

He was, I mean, you
know, pushed around.

Picked on.

You know, I mean, sexually
assaulted, you know.

I mean, when-- it-- when you got
out of prison and all that shit

had happened to you-- I mean,
any human being, you know.

The first time
somebody, you know,

tries to intimidate you or--
or scare you or take something

from you, and you're
out on the streets

where you get something
to equal up the odds,

you're not going to let
it happen, you know.

Unless you enjoy that, you know.

I mean, and I don't
know anybody that

enjoys getting something
took from them.

And you could just see
it with John, you know.

He had a chance
to be the bulldog.

He had a chance to
be the intimidator.

You know, it's my turn now.

-Where was the law?

What was the law doing?

If she identified her
rapist, why didn't they

go to the hospital from there?

Why didn't they
pick them-- it's not

like nobody knew who
Nissen and Lotter were.

It's not like, well,
where are they?

We can't find them right now.

Oh, they're hiding.

I mean, they were there.

-Because I knew that if I took
the polygraph that they would

know that Tom had went
back there and had sex

and then I went back there and
tried to have sex, you know?

Even though I knew that
it was, as far as I knew,

consensual, I knew that Keith
Hays, just being the person

he is-- no, no, no.

He'd be like, that's all I need.

And I'd go back to
prison because they

wouldn't give a
fuck what I said.

-You know, both of
'em being in prison,

both of 'em realizing
they were going back,

and rape carries 50 years.

Both on 'em being
ex-felons, they

were going to get
some time out of that.

And they figured, you
know, just-- you know,

if we can shut her
up, you know, if we

can take care of the one
that's pressing charges,

we ain't going back.

So that-- that's exactly
why they had to do that.

You know, I can see that.

-Well, they were
just alleged charges.

So I wasn't real worried.

They-- they were
just alleged charges.

No charges were filed
or nothing like that.

-When I woke up
that next morning,

my-- Lester looked at me and
said my boyfriend was a faggot.

And I asked him how he
could've been a faggot.

Because Brandon was
actually a she, and Tom,

you know-- and Tom raped a girl.

Wasn't a boy.

And Lester looked and me
and says Tom's a faggot

and he just ought to come
out and tell me that.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN:
After this sexual assault,

didn't you get some, uh,
some teasing, Mr. Nissen?

Didn't some people, uh--
didn't Melissa Wisdom

tell you people were
calling you a pervert?

Do you remember that?

TOM NISSEN: No.

ATTORNEY MIKE
FABIAN: Well, you'd

just had sex, forcible
sex, with a woman who

was dressing as a man.

How did you feel about that?

TOM NISSEN: I didn't feel
very good about it at all.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN:
You got angry about that.

TOM NISSEN: Angry about what?

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN:
Angry about Teena Brandon.

You're the one that was
interested in finding out

whether Teena Brandon
was a man or a woman.

TOM NISSEN: Along with
a lot of other people.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN:
But you're the only one

that pulled her pants down.

TOM NISSEN: As far
as I know, yes.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN:
And as far as you

know, you're the
only one that raped

Teena Brandon on that night?

TOM NISSEN: Yes.

-Well, you know, I've pondered
that for quite a while

since all this has happened.

And you know, you have
a-- you have a girl.

You have a person that
first says she's a boy,

then turns out to be a girl,
uh, who has-- has, uh, you know,

done some forgeries of their
friends' checkbooks and stuff.

And they've been in trouble
with the law before.

And then all of a sudden
comes up and says,

this guy and this guy raped me.

Well, if we did that in
society, we'd have half--

we'd have a lot
of men locked up.

SHERIFF LAUX: Why do you run
around with girls instead

of, uh, guys, being
you're a girl yourself?

BRANDON: Why do I what?

SHERIFF LAUX: Why
do you run around

with girls instead of guys,
being as you're a girl

yourself?

Why do you make girls
think you're a guy?

BRANDON: I haven't
the slightest idea.

SHERIFF LAUX: You haven't
the slightest idea?

You go around
kissing other girls?

BRANDON: The ones that I
know that know about me.

SHERIFF LAUX: The ones-- the
girls that don't know about you

thinks you're a guy.

Do you kiss them?

BRANDON: What does
this have to do

with what happened last night?

SHERIFF LAUX: Because I'm
trying to get some answers

so I know exactly
what's going on.

Now, do you want to answer
that question for me or not?

BRANDON: I don't
see why I have to.

SHERIFF LAUX: Huh?

BRANDON: I don't
see why I have to.

SHERIFF LAUX: The
only thing is if it

goes to court, that
answer-- that question's

going to come up in court.

And I'm gonna want an answer
for it before it goes to court.

See what I'm saying?

BRANDON: Because I have
a sexual identity crisis.

SHERIFF LAUX: You what?

BRANDON: I have a
sexual identity crisis.

SHERIFF LAUX: You
wanna explain that?

BRANDON: I don't know if
I can even talk about it.

-That day that I took-- after
the rape, I took Lana and--

and, uh, Brandon up to
the Sheriff's office.

And they wanted to
talk to me first.

And they called me back there.

And, of course, I was saying,
he, and I said, I mean, she.

And Laux says, oh,
just call it "it."

-Sheriff Laux was like,
this is my job and I'll do

and I don't need your help.

And I'm like, well,
evidently you do,

because these two guys
have not been arrested

and she's given you their names.

And here she's scared
to death, you know?

And I told him that
they had threatened her.

And he hung up on me.

[music playing]

-It's my understanding
that they were having,

uh, some difficulty in regard
to corroboration of her story

and also regard to actual
cooperation, uh, from her

and also some of the
other potential witnesses.

-Teena Brandon was a liar.

Now, I mean, you
can't believe a liar.

I mean, you'd have
to check it out first

before it ever took
place and that.

And, like, when she was raped
and all this kind of crap,

Lisa had to take her to
the hospital and all this

and force her to do this to
prove that she was raped.

And I think the law had-- I
mean, they can't jump in and go

because, well, nowadays
you can sue on a nickel.

And then, so, I think they
handled it fairly well, now,

myself.

I mean, you know, for what
they had to work with.

Now, if they was work-- working
with somebody that was honest,

and that-- and done
the same thing,

then I'd of thought
it was a rotten deal.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH:
So throughout the time

that you had the occasion
to interview Teena Brandon,

was she consistent
in her story to you?

DEPUTY SHERIFF TOM
OLBERDING: Yes, sir.

ATTORNEY JIM
ELWORTH: Did you ever

note any signs of
deception in the story

that she was relating to you?

DEPUTY SHERIFF TOM
OLBERDING: I never, no.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH:
And did you believe her?

DEPUTY SHERIFF TOM
OLBERDING: Yes.

-Well, she seemed so
different after the rape.

I mean, it was almost like
she was-- they'd already

killed everything that
was, you know, happy.

And she was just
really different.

There was just
something different

in her voice and stuff.

And it's got to be really
traumatic to go through.

I can't even imagine.

And she had made
the statement that--

and she was-- not give you
the sat-- she didn't even

cry when she told her sister
while this was going on

because she wouldn't give
them the satisfaction.

-She was more
intimidated by everybody.

She-- I don't know.

She was kind of scared.

Real quiet.

Brandon was never quiet.

Um, kept a lot to herself.

Did a lot of cleaning.

-I don't think anybody
really cared about her.

They just wanted her out.

Away.

I particularly didn't care what
happened to her at that point.

I was pretty mad at her myself.

I didn't want her to be beat.

If I'd been there, I
would have stopped that.

But I wanted her to
go back to Lincoln.

I wanted her away.

[driving sounds]

[gunshot]

[gunshot]

[gunshot]

ANNA MAE LAMBERT:
And I knocked again.

And when I knocked the
second time, I said,

I could hear Tanner.

I could hear the baby crying
then, in the background.

And I thought, well,
that's strange,

that she's not getting up
to take care of the baby.

I knocked two or three times.

And then I decided,
I'm just going on in.

And soon-- of course, as soon as
I stepped into the living room,

then I-- well, and
at first, I think

denied there was anything wrong.

I just seen this negro sitting
on the floor with the coffee

table over his lap-- lap.

And I thought, this is strange.

But yet, you know-- and I knew
then there was something wrong,

but yet I was just telling
myself, you know, there wasn't.

And I just walked right
on through the house.

The baby was just screaming.

And so I just walked
right on in there

and walked straight
to his crib--

didn't look at anything
else-- and picked him up.

And when I turned to leave,
then I looked over to the bed.

Course, I could tell
when I went in, then,

there was something
wrong in there.

Because I just
looked across the bed

and seen Lisa on the far
side next to the window,

and I knew-- I could tell
by looking there was nothing

I could do to help her anymore.

That I needed to help Tanner
and to get help there.

To get law people there.

REPORTER: Sheriff deputies were
called to the house around 9

o'clock Friday
morning, where they

found the bodies of 21-year-old
Teena Brandon of Lincoln,

22-year-old Philip
Devine of Iowa,

and 23-year-old Lisa
Lambert of Humboldt.

While two of the shooting
victims were from out of town,

friends of Humboldt
victim Lisa Lambert

say the news of her death
was especially hard to take.

-She never did
anything to anybody.

She never had enemies.

It's a total shock.

And nothing ever like that
happens here in Humboldt.

REPORTER: Police report
Lisa's nine-month-old son, who

was found in the home, was
the only one to escape injury.

But it will probably
take a long time

for this quiet town
in southeast Nebraska

to heal its wounds following
a New Year's tragedy, which

could leave a lasting scar
on this close-knit community.

DEPUTY SHERIFF JON
LARSON: I walked in

and seen one male individual,
uh, partially of the couch,

partially on the floor.

walked to a bedroom, seen
two female individuals,

uh, in a bed.

All three were deceased.

In my opinion, all
three were executed.

And, uh, it's one of those
things where the only thing,

I think, that kept the child
from being killed was its age,

because it couldn't
say, you did it.

You did it.

And I think that's the
only thing that, uh,

kept the child alive.

And the fact that
they ran out of ammo.

-I pulled up into
the driveway there

and they said, just go on.

Larson got out and come
around my side of the door

and he says, leave.

I says, I am not leaving.

I says, what the
hell is going on?

He says, there's been a
triple homicide down there.

He says, and I didn't
know how to tell you.

I says, you've got to
tell me straight out.

I says, where's Tanner?

He's all right.

But he says, your
daughter's gone.

He says, now, will
you please leave.

I says, OK.

So then I-- I just backed out
and I took off back home then.

-I do know that when
I touched her head--

because I couldn't-- you know,
I just wanted to hold her

so much-- that I couldn't touch
her head anywhere that there

wasn't bumps on it.

So I-- I-- her--

I mean, there wasn't
a space on her head

that didn't have a bump on
top of her head or anything.

That I did look and
I could see that.

And she still had bruises
that you could see.

-I said, leave me alone.

I want to go to the bar.

So I drove back and
went to the bar.

And we sat there
and we drank-- I

drank three or four beers then.

And I said, now I'm going
to go to the Steener.

And the police met
his garage there.

I says, that clutch just
ain't working just right yet.

I said, I want to see what I
screwed up on her and that.

Because I didn't know that
much about a hydraulic clutch.

And so then I pulled over there.

I said, I'll be home.

I says, give me two hours.

I'll be home.

-But I am grateful for as much
as I've known Tenna and loved

Tenna that it was over quickly.

What hurts me is the rape.

And the non-action.

And at Christmas time.

I mean, when the whole world
is talking about peace, love,

fellowship.

-This is when we get the news.

-Yeah.

You have the murder.

You have the rape.

She had to be raped on Christmas
Eve and murdered New Year's

Eve.

REPORTER: This
afternoon, authorities

revealed that John Lotter and
Marvin Nissen of Falls City

are being held in connection
with the three deaths.

The two men were already
in custody yesterday

afternoon on an arrest
warrant for the kidnapping

and sexual assault of shooting
victim Teena Brandon back

on Christmas day.

A Falls City woman who
dated Teena Brandon

under the assumption
that she was

a he told 1011 news why she
believes the two suspects

assaulted Teena.

-They said that the only
reason why they depantsed

him is because of me,
because they seen I

was going down
because of all of it

and that they did it to
show me that it was a female

and for me to just turn
around and walk away.

REPORTER: Lana
says she knows both

of the men charged
in the assault.

Her sister Leslie lost her
boyfriend, Phillip Devine,

in the tragic shooting also.

Devine, pictured
here in the middle,

was in town for the week
visiting Leslie's family

and had gone over to
the farmhouse following

an argument between
the two, placing him

in the wrong place
at the wrong time.

MICHELLE LOTTER:
Sometime during that day,

I had heard that John was
arrested for the murders.

So I went up to the courthouse
to find out what was going on

and found a cop
and he said that he

was arrested for
rape, not murder.

How did I hear
anybody was murdered?

-By nightfall, we
already knew that, uh,

John had stolen a gun.

And we'd also
recovered that gun.

But we'd already made
the arrest by that time.

But we'd arrested them for the
sexual assaults at that time.

And, uh, of course,
then he went ahead

and-- Nissen went
ahead and said,

yes, well, he was out there
and killed those three people.

Well, that kind of gives you an
indication, but, uh, but as far

as a warrant, no.

You don't need one.

They did good.

DEPUTY SHERIFF TOM
OLBERDING: So I

believed I had probable
cause to arrest him

for the sexual assault.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN:
And when-- when

did you make that
determination, officer?

DEPUTY SHERIFF TOM OLBERDING:
I made the determination

after probably interviewing
Mr. Nissen and Mr. Lotter.

But--

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN:
That was on December 28?

DEPUTY SHERIFF TOM
OLBERDING: Yeah.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN: And at
that time, on December 28,

you remember the Falls-- or
the Richardson County Sheriff's

Office, right?

DEPUTY SHERIFF TOM
OLBERDING: Yes, it was.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN:
And on that date, you

were empowered to arrest
for felony offenses

within the confines of
Richards-- Richardson County?

DEPUTY SHERIFF TOM
OLBERDING: Yes, I was.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN: And did
you place either individual

under arrest on that date?

DEPUTY SHERIFF TOM OLBERDING:
I was advised not to.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN: And who
advised you not to do that?

DEPUTY SHERIFF TOM
OLBERDING: Mr. Laux

advised that we should prepare
the reports as normal protocol

and send them to
the county attorney.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN: Based
on the fact that you did not

make arrests, he was
the man in charge?

The one responsible for
making that decision?

DEPUTY SHERIFF TOM
OLBERDING: He's my boss.

I've gotta do what he says.

Yes.

-But the county attorney
says that officials continued

to move forward with
their investigation

into the alleged rape and
kidnapping of Teena Brandon

despite inconsistencies
in her story.

-The people responsible
for these homicides

is not the sheriff's department
or the police department.

It's the defendants
that are in court today.

REPORTER: If convicted on three
counts of first degree murder.

Both John Lotter and Tom Nissen
could face the death penalty.

Friends of shooting
victim Teena Brandon,

pictured here on the left,
say the woman's portrayal

of yourself as a man may have
played a role in the murders.

The sister of accused
murderer John Lotter

says her brother
became angry when

he learned that Teena
was really a female.

-I don't think they went
down there to do it.

They went to scare him.

And something happened.

[music playing]

REPORTER: Prosecutors
wasted little time

at the Richardson County
courthouse in Falls City.

They were brief
and to the point.

They told the jury that
Nissen and John Lotter planned

and carried out the murders so
that Teena Brandon could not

testify that they had raped her.

Now, the defense
attorney for Nissen

contends that it could have
been Lotter, and not Nissen,

that was the trigger man.

And he told the jury that Nissen
should be considered innocent

until otherwise proven.

-Well, I believe had I
not met Brandon or Lotter,

I would haven't been
in no mess at all.

INTERVIEWER: Say that you'd
met Brandon and not Lotter?

-They're gutless.

They're cowardly
people to begin with.

You know, they prey on people.

You know, they go up.

They use weapons
against unarmed people.

They shoot a woman
sitting on a bed.

Uh, you know, her only
difference is a blanket.

They shoot another
woman in the face

while she's holding a baby.

They shoot a man sitting down.

I mean, those are
acts of cowards.

Those are gutless cowards.

And, uh, you know, so I
don't think there's anything,

you know-- you know,
they're nothing.

They're just--
they're just punks.

-Uh, Tom was quiet.

And, uh, and I've never
seen Tom rowdy or anything.

Tom seemed like a-- a nice kid.

I knew he was having problems.

He was married.

And then he was also
seeing my sister, Melissa.

And I knew he was having
problems with the wife.

But Tom just seemed
to be OK, you know?

He didn't seem to
be a pushy guy.

He just-- he was just
another polite one.

-Some people get mad and go
punch holes through walls.

I get mad and I
might burn myself

with a cigarette or
something minor like that,

that just kind of snaps me
back in reality and, you know,

makes me realize that, uh, hey,
you need to get control of this

then, because you don't want
to lash out at somebody else

because of what's
going on inside of you.

ATTORNEY JIM
ELWORTH: Mr. Nissen,

did you ever say it was
more than just getting

rid-- you know, rid
of a couple of dikes?

Or, you know, just getting
rid of a couple of lesbians

and some goddamn nigger?

Did you ever say that?

Never referred to Lisa
Lambert and Teena Brandon

as dikes or lesbians?

TOM NISSEN: I
believe at one time

I referred to Teena
Brandon as a lesbian, yes.

MICHAEL J. HALL: Nissen
told me he did it.

He says how he did it.

He said he pulled the trigger.

He stabbed her.

He said, uh, he
killed both the girls.

And he said Lotter
killed DeVine.

And he said if it was
him, at that moment,

if he was thinking right, he
said if two people walked in,

he said by rights, only one
person should've walked out.

That's the way he thought.

That's the way he said
it should have been.

He said if he had a chance
to do it all over again,

he would do it.

He said this time, he
wouldn't get caught.

TOM NISSEN: I took
a step over, which

would have put me directly
in front of Brandon.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH:
Why did you do that?

TOM NISSEN: At that point I
asked John Lotter for the knife

or if he still had the knife.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH: How
did he respond to you?

TOM NISSEN: He
handed me the knife.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH: Why
did you want the knife?

TOM NISSEN: To
stab Teena Brandon.

ATTORNEY JIM
ELWORTH: Why were you

looking to stab
her at that time?

TOM NISSEN: To make
sure she was dead.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH: Did
you have some impression

that she wasn't yet dead.

TOM NISSEN: Yes.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH:
What was that?

TOM NISSEN: She was twitching.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH:
Can you tell me

what you did to ensure
that she was dead?

TOM NISSEN: I took the knife
out of John Lotter's hand

and opened it.

I reached down with my
left hand and grabbed

Teena Brandon's right shoulder.

And I pulled her towards
me at the same time

I was pushing the
knife towards her.

And I stabbed her.

-I think-- I think there's
people in this world,

and I don't want to say
especially here in the Midwest,

but certainly where
I'm from, I've

seen it time and time again.

They don't view people--
they don't view homosexuals,

they don't view people that
are different from them--

they don't view
them as being equal.

You know, they think it's OK.

Well, yeah, I can
shoot her, you know.

She's-- she's a lesbian.

She's a cross-dresser.

She's a dyke.

She's-- she's less than human.

And they, uh, they rationalize
their actions by that.

I've seen it before.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH: Look at
what they did to these people.

Teena Brandon-- the gun
to Teena Brandon's chin

was so close that
the powder burned.

The unspent powder burned.

Then, of course,
she was stabbed.

Look at the manner.

These are executions.

These are assassinations.

And they tell you a lot about
the intent of the people

when they walked in that door.

These aren't wild shots
that happened to hit someone

or-- or spraying bullets
around the place.

These were calculated
executions.

And this Lisa Lambert
fared no better.

Uh, Lisa Lambert
also [inaudible].

And Lisa Lambert's life--
we'll see in the item here

in exhibit 105, close
enough to her eye

that the powder
also burned her eye.

That was the last thing Lisa
Lambert saw before she died.

Executions.

That's the only way to
describe these killings.

And then Phillip DeVine.

Consider Phillip DeVine.

If you can imagine the
terror of Philip DeVine

sitting in at room,
this young amputee,

sitting in that other room
listening to two people die

and knowing-- he had to
know-- he was-- he was next.

He knew it.

And this defendant goes to
that other room, herds Phillip

DeVine into the
living room, and then

he, too, gets a
bullet to the head.

And we'll have as well as
one to the face [inaudible].

-Well, it should
be short and sweet.

There's, like-- talked
to one guy and he says,

they should get a hold of
Old Sparky right off the bat.

Because no matter what
in the world-- I mean,

it won't bring none of 'em
back or anything like that.

But what-- why put
up with not it?

Like, I talked to one guy.

He says, Donny's the
one who's on the farm.

He says, he had a not-- he
had a pig that was not it.

He knocked it in the head.

Because all it's going
to do is cost you money.

He says, and they're
animals and that.

He done that.

He says, why in the hell don't--
why don't they just have that

done?

Because, he says, beyond
a shadow of a doubt,

they're guilty as hell.

He says, so why do they
need all these appeals?

I says, that's the law.

[music playing]

-I'm James J. And
I'm from Minneapolis.

And the reason I'm
here is because I

happen to be transgendered also.

And crimes of violence
against anyone is wrong.

It's not just transgendered
or transsexual individuals.

And I'm here to protest
the fact that someone

who wasn't doing
any harm to anyone

has been so badly treated
by being raped and murdered.

-I'm glad that they're showing
some support for Teena.

You know, she needed that.

I don't think she
thought that she had it

from too many people.

REPORTER: But not
everyone in Falls City

is in favor of
the demonstration.

-I think it's a bunch of shit.

REPORTER: Why?

-Because if God
would've wanted gays

he wouldn't have put
women on the earth.

-Everyone who fucks with
gender has some kind of brush

with this kind of violence, this
kind of, um-- like, everyone's

got their war stories.

I've been you know, held
at knife point twice.

I've been raped once.

And um, and so I moved to San
Francisco and then Seattle.

And-- and that's a lot easier.

And you forget about this stuff.

-You know, I'm verbal.

I've always-- I'm a verbal--
more of a verbal person,

you know?

I'll tell somebody,
hey, fuck-- you know.

And even say, sometimes,
I'll kill you.

I mean, I don't know.

In my lifetime,
I've probably said

I'll kill you probably
a million times.

But did I carry it out?

No.

You know, and that's the
whole thing, you know.

There's knowing that it's,
you know, what you're saying

is one thing.

But doing the
other thing-- and I

know the difference
between both, you know.

And I'm not-- just
because I say something

I ain't gonna carry it out.

If I did, there'd
be a lot of people--

there'd be a lot of people dead.

That's, uh, you know.

And believe me, there's been
people that's done, you know,

a lot more to me than-- than
Teena Brandon would ever

have done.

So it's just ridiculous.

-Uh, around Falls City, John
was noted as a trouble maker.

You know, always getting
in trouble and taking cars.

So-- so most of the
people with hiring

wouldn't do nothing
with him, you know.

And, uh, there was a
few that, you know,

would try to give him
a job or something.

But they didn't have
the big money to help,

you know, to keep him going.

So, you know, he couldn't
have done well around here.

If he'd went
somewhere else, maybe.

But, uh, staying here, you know,
the stigma was already there,

you know.

John's a trouble maker.

-In my reviewing the docket
documents for the-- this court

hearing, he always went
back to Falls City.

He stole cars in Buffalo County
in the western part of Nebraska

to get back to Falls City.

He had a one track mind, and
it was to be in Falls City.

When he got out
of prison, he went

to Falls City and the night
before the court hearing,

we were able to interview John.

And I said to him,
John, why did you

keep coming back to Falls City?

If-- he had told us how the
people weren't very nice to

him and he couldn't get jobs.

And he said, I wanted
to be with my mom.

This is at 24.

He's still saying this.

-I just, uh, I told him
that if he had done anything

that he could tell me the truth.

I thought, I'd like to
know the truth because, uh,

that-- you know, I didn't
want to have to find it out

from someone else
or-- and I said--

told him that no
matter what he'd done,

that I would still love
him and that I would still

come to see him and
stick behind him.

But I wished that he
would tell me the truth.

And he said that--
he told me, he

said that he hadn't
done anything.

Well, like I-- I've
said, I'm not sure

whether he's blocked it
out, if he did do it,

or whether he
didn't do anything.

But he doesn't come
up with anything

to show any place
else he's been.

That's what's--
that's the worst part.

-I mean, I hate the idea
of-- of copping deals.

I hate it.

I hate it with a passion.

But I also know that in
order to get the bigger fish,

you sometimes have to do it,
as distasteful as it may be.

And the only way we were
going to get Nissen to squeal

like the pig he is is
to offer him a deal

and spare his tail
from the chair.

And Nissen was a coward.

We knew that.

That's how we played it.

We played him for the
gutless coward that he is.

And he sang like a canary.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN: In
terms of killing people,

you're telling us you
didn't kill anybody?

TOM NISSEN: Correct.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN: Just
like you didn't sexually

assault Teena Brandon?

TOM NISSEN: That was a lie.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN:
That was a lie.

This is the truth?

TOM NISSEN: Yes.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN:
How are we to tell

the difference, Mr. Nissen?

TOM NISSEN: I guess you're
talking about yourself.

ATTORNEY MIKE FABIAN:
Oh, it's up to us?

Any suggestions?

TOM NISSEN: No.

KATE BORNSTEIN: Being
in the corporation

and the reality of hate
crime comes back, you

know, and especially today
when, um, Nissen took the stand,

you know, and he
started describing,

in this awful monotone and this
awful, like, dead voice, um,

yeah, well, we-- you know,
we planned to kill her.

And who's we?

Me and John Lotter.

And then he, you know, I--
he said this thing, you know,

like they said, well, what other
ways would you try to kill her,

when you thought to kill her?

And he said, well, we
came up with this one

idea of chopping off
her hands and her head.

And then he described
the axe that he got.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH: What
took place at that point?

TOM NISSEN: I moved away
from the bed a little bit.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH: And?

TOM NISSEN: And John
Lotter raised his arm

with the pistol in his
hand and shot Lisa Lambert.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH:
Did you see on

which part of her
anatomy she was shot?

TOM NISSEN: Yes.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH: Where?

TOM NISSEN: In the stomach area.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH:
And what was her reaction

as she was shot?

TOM NISSEN: She
jumped and screamed.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH:
She was screaming again?

TOM NISSEN: Yes.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH:
Where-- where was the baby?

TOM NISSEN: Sitting
right next to her.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH:
Can you describe

what happened next, please?

TOM NISSEN: I saw John
Lotter raise his hand

with the pistol in his hand.

And the pistol fired and
Lisa Lambert was hit.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH:
Did you see where?

TOM NISSEN: Yes.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH:
Where was that?

TOM NISSEN: In her eye.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH:
What happened?

What did you do?

TOM NISSEN: Her head jerked
back, and she went limp.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH: What was
done to Phillip at that point?

TOM NISSEN: I told
Phillip to sit down.

ATTORNEY JIM
ELWORTH: Did he sit?

TOM NISSEN: Yes.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH: Where?

TOM NISSEN: On the couch.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH: And
what happened at that time?

TOM NISSEN: Then I moved
back towards John Lotter.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH:
What'd you observe?

TOM NISSEN: John Lotter
raised the pistol.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH:
Did the pistol fire?

TOM NISSEN: Yes.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH:
Are you aware of

whether it hit
anything or anyone?

TOM NISSEN: It looked
like it hit Phil.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH: Why do you
say it looked like it him him?

What did you notice?

TOM NISSEN: He slumped
back into the couch.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH:
Was there a second shot

fired at that time?

TOM NISSEN: Yes.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH: By who?

TOM NISSEN: By John Lotter.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH: And where
did it strike, if you know?

TOM NISSEN: It
appeared to hit Phil.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH:
Do you know where?

TOM NISSEN: No.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH: And
what was the reaction of Phil

at that point?

TOM NISSEN: Phil slid
down a couch a little bit.

ATTORNEY JIM ELWORTH:
Where did he come to rest?

TOM NISSEN: He was still
leaning against the couch.

-I don't-- I just can't see
him there with a little baby

and the baby's
mother and, you know,

telling Tom to get the
baby away and then shooting

the baby's mother.

I just-- I don't see it like--
I-- I don't understand that.

And I can't see him doing that.

-We got the right two people.

And I'd say it's real close.

I'd say what probably
needs to testified

to in court would
be about as close

as you're going to
get to what happened.

Because the
investigators and-- there

was things that he said that
only the person or persons

who were there would know.

And, uh, so there's
no doubt in my mind,

the right two people are
in jail for the murders.

ATTORNEY JIM
ELWORTH: John Lotter

can only be described
with one word.

That words is evil.

Evil to put a bullet
in someone's head

because she had the
audacity to tell on him.

To talk about--
to make a record.

How dare she make a record.

So he puts a bullet in her head.

And it's evil that shot
Lisa Lambert and evil

that shot Phillip DeVine
as he begged for his life.

That's what we're
dealing with here.

You can bet we're
dealing with evil.

But the evil is on trial.

Nissen's trial is done.

Nissen's not on trial.

This is evil, and this is
guilty of several charges.

-What did we end up with?

Five people's lives
completely ruined.

Three of 'em's dead.

Two of 'em's in
the penitentiary.

And sad mothers.

And I remember the day when
the sentences come down.

And I commented that this
is a day that mothers cry.

And they were.

All the mothers were crying.

And what you do?

There's nothing you can do.

How do you teach people
not to kill each other?

I don't know.

REPORTER: Lotter,
do you have anything

to say to Lisa's family?

-Same thing I've been
saying all the time.

I'm innocent.

I'll prove it.

REPORTER: What do you
think of Marvin Nissen?

-He's a little fucking liar.

-If he-- if he did do
it, then I definitely

wouldn't want him on
the streets again.

Um, I-- and unless they
can prove that he didn't, I

suppose I would want him
to never have parole.

And, uh, as far as the
death penalty, well,

if that's what he gets, then
that's-- we'll just have

to live with it.

-Elated, tired,
excited that it's over

and the verdict came
back the way it did.

I feel sorry for
his mother and all

that he's put her through
and for the family.

I'm just tired and
glad it's over.

My daughter got justice.

REPORTER: Is this
closure for you?

Yes and no.

It's not ever going
to be total closure.

This is something
I'm never going

to really-- the pain's
not going to go anywhere.

She was my baby.

And somebody cut
her life short just

because he didn't
like her believing

that she was doing
anything else.

That's not right.

REPORTER: Do you believe he
should get the death penalty?

-Oh, yes.

Very much so.

That's what I want.

I would never be satisfied
with him just in prison.

I want him dead.

-I don't know.

I-- I personally
don't want to see

him get death row because
I don't want him to die.

I just can't accept
the fact to have

my 24-year-old brother die.

I'm going to start crying.

JUDGE: It is the
judgment of this court

that the defendant,
John L. Lotter,

is hereby sentenced to the
penalty of death for the murder

and the first degree
murder of Teena Brandon,

that the defendant,
John L. Lotter,

is hereby sentenced to
the penalty of death

for the murder in the first
degree of Lisa Lambert,

and that the defendant,
John L. Lotter,

is hereby sentenced to
the penalty of death

for the murder in the first
degree of Phillip DeVine.

REPORTER: Were the actions
what happened today?

-Well, I-- I think he
got what he deserved.

I mean, at least he had a
fair trial and a decision.

He never gave them a fair trial.

He was judge and
jury and killed them.

So I think he got
what he deserved.

I think he's evil.

-I don't think
justice is served, uh,

by putting one person
on the death row

and letting another one live.

Even-- even though
it's without parole,

I think we as a culture haven't
come to terms with our own

responsibility for
helping kids like this,

having seen how John
was as a child and--

CLARENCE ROBINSON: What's what's
in that, uh, talking the judges

were doing?

MARY ANN GREENE: Right.

-They-- you know, the
psychiatrist, the psychologist,

said that John is operating
at about a 9 or 10 year old.

Do you electrocute 9 and 10
year olds in this state now?

-I think the justice
system has taken way too

long for what it's
supposed to be.

Because the criminal is
protected more than what

me and you are.

If you ain't a
hardened criminal,

you're-- you're nobody.

That's the way it seems.

I know it ain't right
to think that way,

but that's the way I feel.

REPORTER: Is this one
step closer to, um,

helping you and your family?

-Yes.

It'll never be the same.

-You know, you think-- if you
think back to the little house

south of Humboldt and
the three people died

in there some night,
think of the fear

and what's going on that
night to those three people.

When you're watching your
friend getting killed,

you know, and know your next.

What's that like?

And you got a baby
right there, and you're

afraid the baby's gonna die.

What kind of fear is that?

You know.

But yet way down
the road somewhere,

there's always a
chance they can get off

on some judge's decision
that we did something wrong.

But, uh, in my opinion,
we did nothing wrong.

[music playing]