Page 2 - Ison Christopher News Today

Keith morrison: like, for example, this big tantalizing piece of puzzle, right here. what in heavens name might an island in the far off pacific have to do with the shooting of john and susan sutton? coming up, trouble in paradise for a young christopher and his family. he was kidnapped in the middle of night, and he was 17 years old. we knew that christopher sutton had complained that he had been hogtied, beaten-- keith morrison: when "dateline" continues. what does life look like during your p...

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...

But whether he did it or not is up in the air, as far as im concerned. right. and i think that gives a rise to a major reasonable doubt in this case. keith morrison: but remember, garrett kopp, the confessed shooter, testified that he was merely christophers puppet on a string when he killed susan and tried to kill john. how do you get a jury to doubt a statement like that? we now had to go after him with hammer and tongs. keith morrison: oh, and he did. fleisher went after garrett and the cops....

Asked him a certain question. what did the defendant ask you? he asked me if i knew of any hit man that would kill his parents. karen kahgan: what reason or explanation did he give you? he said that his parents were worth about $500,000 to a million dollars. keith morrison: worth a lot more, actually. through his house, insurance, law practice, christopher stood to inherit millions. so was money a motive? or was it the stint at the boot camp in samoa? or both? detective belyeu told the jury he t...

But what youre about to see, as christopher described the program, probably wasnt in the defense strategy. a level two is allowed to go to the bathroom on his own, is allowed to have some more privileges. and then-- keith morrison: something in the memories on that island struck a nerve. bruce fleisher: how were you feeling, physically, during that time? i was what, i was, what they called, in denial. man: do you need a break? yeah. keith morrison: strange. stoic for the rest of his testimony, y...

When he heard what she told police, he said he broke down in tears. not because of what she said, but why she must have said it. as soon as he started reading parts of juliettes statement, yeah, i started crying. and why were you crying? karen kahgan: objection. judge: overruled. i was crying because the woman i was going to be marrying in five weeks had lied to save herself. keith morrison: his were tears of frustration, too, said christopher. how could he defend himself against lies when his p...

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...

Absolutely. keith morrison: susan quit her job to be a full time mom, but susan kept trying to get pregnant, kept suffering through years of failed fertility treatments and miscarriages, and finally adopted a sister for christopher, melissa. she was and always has been a little angel. absolutely. she would probably be upset with me saying this, but she was pretty close to perfect. keith morrison: which seemed to describe the family, too. they told the kids theyd been adopted. didnt seem to worry...

Neither father nor son displayed the slightest emotion. --for an instant. it doesnt make any sense to get on the witness stand and cry in front of the jury. it can cause a mistrial. so i dealt with it. i did what i had to do. keith morrison: so he did it. but was he right about his son? did the state really have the puzzle solved? or had its key witness been forced to lie? coming up. now, it was the defenses turn. and christophers old girlfriend-- one of the prosecutions star witnesses against h...