The Interrogator (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Bonnie and Clyde - full transcript

The job of a cab driver --

It's a steady job, but there is
that risk involved in it.

I got a call, and they were
like, "hey, a taxi-cab driver

Was shot, and it's your uncle."

Houston had never seen a crime
like this before.

Cab drivers were
the specific targets.

Drivers were very afraid.

They didn't know
if they would be next.

What was amazing to me

Was that they start
dropping these little clues.

And what was revealed
on that video was shocking.



She was either being truthful

Or she's the greatest
actress in the world.

In the interview room,
it's always a chess game,

Because what do you want to do?
You want to checkmate.

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.

This investigation was of such
a magnitude,

We dubbed it
"the wannabe bonnie and clyde."



Sitting here thinking
about it now,

What was incredible
is that this looked like

To be something
that was escalating

Because they're on their track
to be serial killers.

We are firstborn
nigerian-americans.

Uncle blaise came here
in the early '80s.

Blaise had five children.

He would always say family
is his number one

And we have to stick together.

Uncle blaise became
a probation officer,

But he wasn't
financially satisfied,

So he sought the advice
from my father.

My dad said,
"hey, I'm a cab driver.

You can earn cash, tips.
You can make your own schedule."

And so my uncle blaise said,
"okay, let me do that,"

And so he was doing that just to
earn money for his five kids.

At approximately 4:29 a.M.,

A uniformed hpd patrol officer

Notices what appears to be
an abandoned taxi.

He sees smoke coming from the
cab, so he stops to investigate.

As he approaches the cab,

He realizes that the fire
has gone out.

He opens the driver's door...

And he finds a dead body
in the driver's seat.

My partner, brian harris, and I
are notified

By the homicide intake desk.

We are going out there
to meet

Night-shift homicide detectives
who are already on the scene.

Fil and I drove up
to this parking lot,

And in the middle
of the driveway is a cab.

The windows are smoked out,
and inside the cab

Is the body of a male,
large frame,

In the driver's seat,

Shot twice at close range.

The victim is identified

As nigerian immigrant
blaise nwokenaka,

And his family
is notified immediately.

I got a phone call at work.

They were like, "a cab driver
got shot, and it's your uncle."

I was like,
"what are you talking about?"

When I got home,
my father confirmed

That my uncle blaise died.

he never said it, but my dad --

He felt guilty.

And I remember him, um,
being quiet

For, like, a long time

And not talking.

Quiet.

He was just quiet.

Yeah.

I loved him so much.

I was just...Speechless.

At the scene, we have the
conversation with night shift

About how the officer
found the body.

The position his body was in,
he knew what was coming.

Imagine the last couple
of seconds of your life,

You know
you are fighting for your life.

The bullet is fired
at an angle, close.

We recover firearms evidence
in the form of two casings.

Both are.380s --

One unfired bullet

And one bullet
recovered from the interior.

We start to survey the area, and
we're looking for video cameras.

Lo and behold,
on the business building

That's there in the parking lot,
there they are --

Video cameras.

Detective waters located
a maintenance man

Who allowed him
to review those cameras.

I view the dvr, and now we have
blaise's homicide

Unfolding in front of us.

We see blaise's cab pull in.

We see a black female
emerge from the cab,

And she begins to walk
around the parking lot,

Surveilling the parking lot.

She's the countersurveillance
for this operation.

What is priceless is that
she walks past the building

And looks directly
into the video camera.

And we do get some sense of her
shape and her size, her hair.

She comes back to the cab.

She gets into
the passenger's side.

What we do see,
to our amazement...

...Is the moment the second
suspect murders blaise.

After that, we see the female.

She gets into the front seat

And begins to rummage
through the glove box,

And we watch what clearly
is a male suspect

Emerge from the cab.

After that happens, we see
the black female walk off first,

And then we can see
the male set fire to the cab.

And then we see him darting
across the parking lot

In the same direction
as the female.

Crimes
are rarely caught on tape,

And so to have this happen
in this case was a huge boon.

At that point,

We start pulling still shots
off of this video.

While we can't see definition,

We can still see
some pretty good shapes,

And they are distinctive
in the way they look.

The male is slender,
very lean-looking,

The female, a little bigger,
a little wider.

And one thing that's notable
about the way

She's walking past the camera
is she has her arms folded.

Now, this may just be a habit,

But it's something
that we're going to note

Because we hopefully are going
to have something

To compare it to later on.

When we get back to the office,
we contact yellow cab.

Anytime anybody calls in
to the yellow cab dispatch,

It's a recorded system,
and so yellow cab

Provided a copy
of that recording.

The caller on
the dispatch for the yellow cab

Identified herself as shante --

Had a distinctive raspy,
low voice.

Shante was calling to request
a cab

To meet her at a gas station

In the 1900 block
of dairy ashford.

So we go to the gas station,
and we find the pay phone

Where shante
makes her phone call.

We're hopeful there's going
to be video at that gas station.

To our disappointment,
upon our arrival,

There are actually no video
cameras in existence

At that gas station.

The only leads we had was a
yellow cab recording of shante.

People underestimate
the power of women.

How threatening would it be
if somebody is a cab driver,

And they already know that
they are picking up a female

Versus picking up a male?

She's not a threat.

If I was a cab driver
at 2:00 in the morning

In the west end of houston

Picking up a female,
that's a no-brainer.

That's amazing money.
That's a safe cab ride.

When we get back to the office,
we have the conversation

With night shift,
and, man, I can't believe it.

They said that a second cabby
is discovered murdered,

Killed two days prior.

Well, this is huge.
These two suspects --

They are on their way
to being serial killers.

In October 2010, we have
a serious situation.

The cab was burned out,

And the cab driver
was found dead inside.

On the video,
we see our suspects

Carrying out what appears
to be a planned event.

The only lead is
a recording of a woman

Calling the victim to his death.

But, to my amazement, a second
cabby was discovered murdered,

Shot twice at close range
two days prior.

We were thinking
it's got to be connected.

This was a body
that was discovered

By somebody
just merely doing their job,

Checking the drainage pipes,

And while he's doing his duty,

He stumbles
across a man in a ditch,

Tossed away as if it was
a piece of garbage.

The victim was found
in north houston.

He's been shot
once in the rib-cage area

And once in the head.

You had matted grass
that led down to the body.

There's drag marks
on the back of the skin.

That tells me that more
than one person was involved.

There's no way
that this was one person

Who could have carried
this size man.

Not only that,
you see, actually, tire tracks

That lead to the embankment.

The victim in that case
is identified by a passport

That he has on his person
as mohammed el sayed.

He is a cab driver.

But now where's the cab?

A cab driver named raef barakat
calls in.

Raef tells us he's the owner
of the cab itself.

Raef has loaned the cab
to mohammed el sayed,

And there came a point in time

Where mohammed was supposed
to return it to raef.

That didn't happen.

So there were alarm bells
that went off for raef.

Raef's next step
is to report his cab missing,

Along with mohammed el sayed.

We have two squads
working on this.

There is no way that brian and I

Can do everything
that needs to be done.

Mohammed had been a student.

He had several children, and he
was trying to provide for them.

Mohammed el sayed
was an american-born egyptian.

He was an instructor, a teacher,
in arabic to u.S. Military.

He was hardworking.

He was living
the american dream.

Every yellow cab
is equipped with gps systems.

The cab is found
on the west side of houston,

A recovered cab
on the same street

Where blaise's cab shows up.

These two cabs are dropped
on the same street

Within two days of one another.
This is not a coincidence.

There's blood
inside raef's yellow cab,

And, very quickly,
it is clearly established

That the murder scene
isn't that embankment

But is indeed inside
that yellow cab.

His wallet was missing,

So it was the first sign
that robbery is the motive.

We recovered a fingerprint
off of the door.

But the fingerprint
by itself is not sufficient

Because hundreds of people
ride in cabs every day,

And so those prints
could be from just anybody.

Firearms evidence recovered
from the cab

Is one spent casing,.380,

And we also find a live round
inside the cab, also a.380.

From the other murder scene,

We also had a.380 from a shell
casing that was left.

Now the mystery --
can we find that gun?

We find the gun,

We find the murderers.

At that point,
we contact yellow cab.

We want to find out
if there are any dispatch calls

Involving this particular cab.

And, lo and behold,
what we find --

Shante's made another call.

We have shante, same voice.

She's making the phone call

That calls not only blaise's cab

But called mohammed, as well.

We find this phone call
from shante

Comes from a gas station

In the 12700 block
of whittington.

Well, that just happens
to be

Probably less than half a mile

From the other phone call

In the 1900 block
of south dairy ashford.

So the immediate revelation
there is

They live in this area.

But we're still
in search of videos.

Been to one gas station,
and that was a bust completely,

But we go to
the second gas station,

And that's where we hit
pay dirt on the videos.

There we see near the time
that the phone call is made,

There's a black female.

And we also see a skinny,
thin male with her.

We've got to determine
whether or not the images

On the video are shante.

We have got homicide detectives
that go there,

Interview the manager,

And they have not
a great photo of shante.

The manager --
he says, "you know what?

I think that woman is here.
I think she lives here.

And you know what's interesting
about that woman?

She didn't pay me her rent.

And I told her about it.

She's getting close
to getting evicted."

But then, all of a sudden,
she shows up with the money

To pay the rent

After blaise has been killed.

So the manager directs them
to a lady identified

As crystal jones.

Based on the information
that we received

From the apartment complex,

We had just enough to get
a probable-cause warrant.

Once that warrant is signed,

We set up surveillance
on the apartment...

...And here comes our target.

Our hearts are pounding.

Is this our shante?

In October 2010,

We have a double homicide
involving cab drivers.

Within 48 hours, you've got
two cab drivers that are dead.

Houston had never seen
a crime like this before.

The yellow cab drivers
were very afraid.

They didn't know
if they would be next.

And what we're looking for now
is clearly a male and a female.

We dubbed it
"the wannabe bonnie and clyde."

Both victims had been
called into service

By the same raspy-voiced female
named shante.

Thanks to shante, we'd been led
to ashton park apartments.

The manager believes that shante

Is a woman living
on the property,

A lady identified
as crystal jones.

We set up surveillance
on the apartment,

And, lo and behold,
here comes crystal jones.

The person that we're looking at
has wild hair,

Same kind of body type
that we saw on the video.

Detectives bring crystal jones

To the homicide division,

Where I place her
in an interview room.

Is this woman
I'm about to interview --

Is she the one responsible
for a double homicide?

It's not hard to notice
that the voice of shante

Is not the voice
of crystal jones.

As she speaks, I'm not hearing
that raspy voice.

I'm not hearing that tone that
she used with the word "shante."

At that point,

I show crystal
the picture of our shante.

She was fairly positive that
this was her sister franchesca.

Crystal dropped her off at
a hotel with a man that night.

She tells us about
franchesca's boyfriend,

Black male, 5'10",
thin to average build.

The way she described him,
baggy t-shirts

And the way
he wore his clothes,

Quite similar to the description
that we saw on the video tape,

So we needed to find franchesca,
and, more importantly,

We also needed
to find her boyfriend.

Crystal tells us franchesca

Is going to be with
her boyfriend at the suites.

It's an area known
for high crime,

High prostitution,
high-risk lifestyles.

Crystal wants her sister
out of there,

So another set of detectives --
they gather them up

And bring them back
to the police department

So they could have
a conversation with them.

We have got homicide detectives
that are helping us out

And interviewing people.

It is clear to me based
on her demeanor,

Her voice, her appearance,

Franchesca's not shante.

I am evaluating these interviews

That were conducted
by other detectives,

Because I have
a prime responsibility

In this investigation.

Arthur appears to be
a little bulkier

Than what the figure
on our video shows to be.

His hairstyle
is a little bit different.

Arthur appears to be calm.
He's answering the questions.

He's not having
to stop and think.

My assessment is we can
eliminate franchesca and arthur.

They're not
our bonnie and clyde.

As the fire goes out on our lead
on franchesca,

Our firearms examiner comes
downstairs and reignites it.

The information from
the firearms examiner --

This is the clue
that blows this case wide open.

In October of 2010,
the city of houston is on edge

As a result of the killing
of two cab drivers.

As we are busy eliminating
suspects from our investigation,

Our firearms examiner
informs us

That she's identified
the murder weapon specific

To a cobra fs380.

The fs380 would explain
the live rounds

That we're finding
at these two scenes

Because these weapons
are known to malfunction.

A.380 cobra,

Which is a fairly unique gun.

So detective waters
took that information,

And he went back
and looked through

The houston police department
offense report system.

In a city of over 2.5 million
people,

A metropolitan area
of over 6 million people,

We have one report

With a cobra.380.

And this report comes in about
a month before our homicides.

A man named curtis henderson
had his cobra.380 stolen,

And so a detective
talks to curtis henderson.

Curtis henderson had allowed
chaz blackshear and a young lady

By the name of danielle
to stay with him,

And when they left
his apartment,

He noticed
that his gun was missing.

That's the first light bulb
that goes off.

We've got a transient couple

Living with this man.

Chaz blackshear --
he had a rap sheet.

He had convictions
for drugs and guns,

And the information
included fingerprints.

So, immediately,
with that information,

Fil calls the fingerprint lab.

"I want you
to make a direct comparison

Between the fingerprint
recovered off that cab

And chaz blackshear."

And the fingerprint on the cab
comes back to chaz blackshear.

And that's when
the floodlights come on.

We now believe that
we have our wannabe clyde,

And bonnie may have just told us
where clyde and her are staying.

Shante alluded to
the ashton park apartments,

But we got a problem.

These apartments where they're
allowed to lay their heads --

Of course,
they're not on the lease.

We have the general location,

But we don't know
what apartment number.

We are enlisting the use
of the marshal service,

And we're going to use their
phone-tracking capabilities.

Obtaining the cellphone number
via the cobra.380 theft report,

Surveillance is set up
on chaz's cellphone.

Once he's speaking on a
cellphone, the u.S. Marshals --

They're able to literally
pinpoint within 30 feet

Where that phone
is coming from.

We find the apartment.

Now we know where he is.

We know that chaz and danielle
are dangerous.

Our plan is this --

The marshal services
make a tactical dynamic entry,

Secure the scene,

And then I'm going to arrest
chaz blackshear, the shooter.

Brian will swoop in
and snatch up danielle.

It's a roll of the dice on her,

On whether or not she's there.

Our entry team approaches
the door.

They move in quickly,
secure the scene.

And we go into
in the apartment.

I take chaz.
I put him in handcuffs,

And I've got him out.

Brian takes danielle.

That female --
black shirt, shorts.

The exact person,
without a doubt,

That we saw on the video.

She's identified
as danielle hudson.

We get downtown.

Our strategy here

Is to play one
against the other.

Brian takes danielle,
places her in an interview room.

I'm going to question chaz.

Chaz's first comment
was that he and danielle

Were going to go out,

And in order to get
to wherever they were going,

He called a cab.

He's already putting himself

In that first cab with mohammed.

Here's the first denial,
when we start talking about

Who made that phone call
to get that cab.

Finally get him
to make an admission

That it was likely danielle

Who had made the call
to summon the cab.

He's picking his hands.
He's looking down. He's into it.

I mean, he -- we're doing
some heavy picking here,

Displaying deception.

So, as I'm speaking with chaz

And continuing to get
his denials minimized,

My thought is after
watching that videotape

Where danielle is there
while he's killing blaise,

His power comes
from danielle.

That's the source
of what he acts out.

I do not know what's going on
with brian and danielle,

But with chaz, our strategy

Is to bring information
into the room from danielle,

Start to break down
the barriers to the denials.

In the interview room,
it's always a chess game.

As I'm talking to chaz,

I'm thinking in my head,

"I've got the move

That's going to make
a checkmate,

And the move is going
to be with his queen."

We now believe that we have

Our wannabe bonnie and clyde,

Who committed two capital
murders in two days.

We placed danielle hudson
and chaz blackshear

In separate interview rooms.

I'm in the interview room
with chaz,

And all I'm getting are
a bunch of denials.

My partner, brian, is two doors
down with danielle.

I'm hopeful that we're getting
what we need from her.

Listening to that voice,

That raspy, low voice...

There was no doubt
it's the same voice

That I heard
on those two recordings.

It was our shante.

We needed a confession
to convince a district attorney

And eventually 12 men
and women on a jury

That there was no doubt
about it,

That we had the right people.

So she affirmed what we,
of course, already knew.

"I was shante. I'm the one
that made the phone calls."

She is the one putting

The mission in motion.

Her way to make herself look
better than she really was

Was to paint the picture of chaz

Being kind of like
a really scary guy.

Danielle said,
"chaz told me

That if the police
ever get on to us,

He will take all the blame."

If I can get
that information to fil,

Perhaps fil can use that
to convince chaz

Now was the time
to tell the truth.

So I had her write that
in a note as a reminder to chaz.

His power comes from...
Danielle.

He's a junkie,
and he needs a fix,

And danielle is the fix.

Chaz is not capable

Of making decisions
on his own without danielle.

Separating danielle,
this was kryptonite to chaz.

So I'm going to introduce

Danielle into the room
on a recorded tape.

I've been dangling the danielle
carrot in front of him now.

He's made a leap
at the carrot.

He's now in a situation
where he has to make choices.

Life's about choices.

Now he's got to make one.

The negotiation was

"you tell the truth,

You'll get to see danielle."

So he was rewarded
for telling the truth.

The way that detective waters
and sergeant harris

Worked the interviews in this
case was absolutely brilliant.

Chaz and danielle chose
to take the pleas that they did

In an effort to avoid
the death penalty.

Ultimately, a plea agreement
was reached

Where chaz blackshear
pled to life without parole

On both capital-murder cases,

And danielle hudson pled
to a lesser sentence

Of 40 years
on the two murder cases.

While danielle may not
have pulled the trigger,

Danielle is just as responsible
as chaz

For the deaths
of mohammed and blaise.

"nwokenaka" translates
to "man in charge."

My uncle blaise was a strong,
hardworking nigerian man.

He was someone that we admired,

And we miss him.

Blaise and mohammed,

Hardworking immigrants
to this country,

Providing better lives
for their families,

And it had an impact
on brian and I.

We're both fathers.

Mohammed and blaise --
fathers as well.