here s what s happening. irene is now a tropical storm but continues to churn through new england. at least 18 deaths are blamed on irene. more than 5 million people are without power. president obama and local officials warn it could be several days before some people get that back. flooding remains a threat it areas even after the storm passed. travellers face days of delays a while airports reopen. now back to red-hot cold case 7 37. it s taken a novice prosecutor and a veteran investigator to jump-start the katrina montgomery case. in november 1992, the 20-year-old vanished after going to a party with a gang of skinheads. three of them are now under suspicion, justin merriman, ryan bush, larry nicassio.
ex-girlfriend of the youngest suspect, larry nicassio. she believes nicassio was involved somehow, but did not kill katrina. and just like the first girlfriend, she s also agreed to cooperate. we couldn t break through to larry, so we asked brandy, would you like to talk to him? she said, absolutely. i told him. told him what? he was angry that she had shared what had happened. she tells nicassio she s talked to the cops. watch as she tries to get him to confess his involvement, and he, angry, resists. you don t know what they have on you, larry. they might have lied to you. i don t care anymore. i don t care! you care what happens to me? i do. and that s why i did that. because i do care about you. now she tries another tactic. she tells nicassio that she is not the main suspect in the murder of katrina montgomery,
close, but we moved him in time before anything could happen to him. in the nick of time the witness intimidation scheme is shut down. merrimon s mother, beverly sue merrimon pleads guilty to conspiracy to intimidate witnesses, and that charge is added to her son s case as well. the puzzle is finally complete. after four and a half years making a case they go to trial. now, i will tell you when we purr proceed to the indictment, our he gave us more evidence. he had went out and tried to kill the witnesses. it s hard to say i m innocent, but i want all these people dead anyway. both rooen bush and larry testified for the prosecution. as part of a deal larry pleaded guilty to being accessory to murder after the fact. he served a three-year sentence and was released. ryan bush was never charged with a crime. on february 13th, 2001, justin merrimon was convicted of the rape and murder of katrina
where the merrimons lived. when did you clean up blood? when up in the morning. even more important, she implicated her own mother. was your mother already in the process of cleaning the blood when you woke up? yes. amber tells them her mother was with her cleaning up the blood on the stairs. investigators used larry s last meeting with justin merrimon to get the message across. yourhe sister are in trouble. you can t break. my mom s involved in this. this cold case, this forgotten murder looks like it s solved. time to move. justin merrimon is charged with the rape and murder of katrina montgomery. it was a done deal. i mean, the whole murder case. not so fast. all that compelling evidence is just talk from informants. witnesses, criminals who want to make deals. their evidence in court will only be as good as their
from prison in february of 1992. nine months later, katrina montgomery was dead. did something in their emerging relationship provide a motive for murder? still, investigators needed more to prove a case against merriman. it was time, they decided, to try another ruse. they arrange for a lie, a false rumor to get to merriman. what lie? that the young skinhead, larry nicassio, is talking and might be implicating justin merriman. you put a lot of pressure on people, they make mistakes, they make statements. and they re always going to create the impression that it s just a matter of time that we re coming. it s inevitable, you really can t stop it. pretty much defenseless here. it s just going to happen. we can drop off the car. how did they get the message out? once again, they dream up a sting. in the local jail, they find a gang member who offers to help in exchange for shortening his sentence. this man agrees to meet merriman here in this car to tell him that nicassio is talk