Page 8 - Christopher Sutton News Today

With susan and john sutton. i said, "look, susan really cared about you. she basically thought of you as a daughter. this woman didnt deserve to die like this. john doesnt certainly, you know, deserve to be blind the rest of his life. and i know for a fact garrett did this under the direction of christopher." finally, she started crying, and i go, "i think i may have her." keith morrison: with the tears came a story, what christopher had said to her that just might nail him for murder. the paren...

What pain? with advil liqui-gels ♪ happiness is powerful flea and tick protection from nexgard. a delicious chew that protects for an entire month. ask your vet for more information. reported side effects include vomiting and itching. nexgard. the vets #1 choice. keith morrison: summertime in miami. pounding heat, unavoidable sun. unavoidable except, of course, inside. bailiff: all rise, please. keith morrison: and six years inside a cell in the county jail had produced a doughy christopher su...

The behavior of guilty men. garrett kopp and christopher sutton while ripping up bloody carpets actually called detectives to tell them they found new evidence at the crime scene. a bullet casing under the carpet. >> helpful handy man. by the way, i found another casing. i mean, come on. >> an indication maybe they didnt do it. >> i didnt think so. >> reporter: thats what any good defense attorney is going to point out. >> sure, sure. the casing was underneath something. i dont know how we misse...

I think that showed his honesty as a witness. i cried when i got off the plane. keith morrison: when court resumed, christopher told the jury that, while he was initially upset about being sent to samoa, he got over it, made the best of it. and when his parents and melissa came to visit, they all had a wonderful time together. hardly a dysfunctional family in the story the photos told. bruce fleisher: well, were you happy to be with your parents? i was very, very happy to see my parents. you kno...

You know, we locked eyes, but i have nothing to say to him. keith morrison: melissas sat with their father-- their father-- front row seat. prosecutor karen kahgan told the jury a horror story, the states version of what happened the night of the murder. the man for whom the gunman had signed on to commit a double murder. a man who was intimately familiar with john and susan sutton. that man? their son, christopher sutton. keith morrison: then, graphic evidence. a crime scene soaked in blood and...

His client and a blind father, a survivor of christopher suttons alleged plot to kill this parents. the fact that john sutton survived and was blind, to me, was the greatest prejudice in the case. and there he was, right behind the bar the whole time. the jury would hear something bad, and theyd look over at john sutton. they had to be thinking, "this poor man. look what he has to go through life with." keith morrison: for the victim, fleisher knew, he must display only sympathy. so instead, hed...

Or so he thought. he was banking like getting out when he turned 18. but we also learned that john sutton, being a lawyer, had an order signed by a judge that said when you turn 18, if you havent completed the course, youre going to stay, which infuriated christopher sutton. why did you decide to keep him there when he turned 18? we had concerns that he wasnt ready to return. he had not, quote, "graduated the program." how did he feel about that? he was quite upset. he wanted to come home. he wa...

Sutton confronted the killer the day he entered a plea. >> during the next days, months, years, 20 years, 30 years, i want you to think about what you planned and what you did that night, you can be assured that with my blindness, every minute of every day, that i will not forget you. >> all rise, please. >> reporter: with that the murder trial of christopher sutton could begin. now, florida law again, now prosecutors could use the sworn testimony in court of both of the girlfriend and the hit m...

Keith morrison: but christopher would not break so easily. and paradise cove was no paradise. in fact, there were many reports of physical abuse and restraints used on those who were uncooperative, something christopher learned when he first arrived. we knew that christopher sutton had complainted that he had been hog tied, beaten-- keith morrison: when his family was allowed to visit him about a year later, there did seem to be a distinct change, huge improvement. they found the buff, cleaned u...

"i knew it is going to happen. i just didnt know when." at that point, he immediately began to sob, put his head on the table, and said im [bleep]-ed.-ed. keith morrison: but did that mean he was guilty? or merely that he understood the police believed he was guilty? he made comments like, "theres no magical way i can tell you where to go to find the truth." keith morrison: christopher sutton and garrett kopp were charged with first degree murder, a possible death penalty case. both pleaded not ...