Page 12 - Assistant Da News Today

It had been six months since denita smiths murder. and sitting on the desk of assistant d.a. david saacks was a series of phone recordings that shannon crawley and her family insisted were jermeir stroud copping to the crime and trying to cover it up. >> i got away with it once. ill get away with it again. just keep your [ bleep ] mouth shut. >> this is wrong. i didnt do anything. >> you know ill find you. >> reporter: police were not present when shannon recorded the calls, but they were able t...

Doesnt have a deep voice. >> doesnt have, exactly. he disguised his voice. >> reporter: you think he can disguise his voice that well? >> yeah. >> apparently, he can. >> well, he did it. he did it. >> reporter: youre convinced that was jermeir. >> oh, it was jermeir. >> reporter: so whose voice would ultimately ring true? a three-year investigation was now in the hands of 12 people. two families now waited anxiously inside the durham county courthouse. as did assistant d.a. david saacks. >> im n...

>> reporter: word of shannons reported rape traveled quickly to durham, where detective shawn pate and assistant d.a. saacks were now preparing for her trial. they wondered if shannon was certain the attacker was jermeir. >> i asked her, "well, how did he know you were going to be walking a dog at 3:00 in the morning?" and i guess he just stalked the house and saw his opportunity. so for four hours he raped her. so if it was 3:00, then when does the sun start to come up? four hours. you know, yo...

Assistant d.a. maryclaire flynn. >> he said, "i wanna send you these text messages. if you could, please just take a look at them." and i said, "sure, i will." and it was just utterly shocking. >> reporter: she checked with her colleague katie rayburn and they agreed those text messages warranted further investigation. >> i couldnt believe what was in them. i had to read them a couple of times to really sort of take it all in. >> reporter: clearly, its black and white for you that you know this ...

>> reporter: murder investigations are of course based on more than just witness statements. the csi team rushed over to todd and rachels house and assistant d.a., lisette suder, joined them as they searched and documented the interior of a house that was strangly chaotic. >> reporter: what did it look like? >> the house is well-manicured. minus the fact that theres this yellow crime scene tape up. and then you walk through that and you walk into the doors and the house is in complete disarray. ...

To durham, where detective shawn pate and assistant d.a. saacks were now preparing for her trial. they wondered if shannon was certain the attacker was jermeir. >> i asked her, "well, how did he know you were going to be walking a dog at 3:00 in the morning?" and i guess he just stalked the house and saw his opportunity. so for four hours he raped her. so if it was 3:00, then when does the sun start to come up? four hours. you know, youre looking at 7:00. >> reporter: it would have been daylight...

This little smirky look on her face. shes very cocky, like she knew she was going to get off. no remorse. she didnt feel she had done anything. >> they had only been engaged for two months. >> reporter: assistant d.a. david saacks, an experienced, savvy prosecutor, would now square off against a younger court-appointed defense attorney named scott holmes. >> its important, i think, to try to see the world, try to see the world from the eyes of shannon on the days that led up to and the day that ...

A series of phone recordings that shannon crawley and her family insisted were jermeir stroud copping to the crime and trying to cover it up. >> i got away with it once. ill get away with it again. just keep your [ bleep ] mouth shut. >> this is wrong. i didnt do anything. >> you know ill find you. >> reporter: police were not present when shannon recorded the calls, but they were able to trace where they originated from, a payphone, so there was no way to confirm jermeir had made them. assistan...

Shannon as the driver. then they showed him a picture of shannons burgundy ford explorer. >> he was very positive about the vehicle. he said, "yep, thats the vehicle that i saw." >> reporter: and that wasnt the only thing the witness noticed, says assistant d.a. david saacks. >> he remembers a patch or some kind of something, you know, on the shirt. >> reporter: a patch like on the uniform shannon wore as a 911 dispatcher. and there was more. investigators discovered shannon clocked in at about ...

One big conspiracy? >> i hate to make it sound like that. >> it sounds like it. it sounds like it. >> reporter: assistant d.a. david saacks says the rape was properly investigated and seemed to be nothing more than a hoax. which also, for him, finally answered that lingering question of who was stalking whom. >> everything was pointing to her and the only thing that was pointing to jermeir was that he was in this affair with shannon. i do not believe he was involved in the murder. i do not think...