Shes representing some really hardened criminals. Maybe somebody had a beef with her. It was personal. Reporter the clues . A missing gucci wallet. Mystery strands of hair. It suggested that a female had maybe killed her and shed pulled the hair out. Whodunit . Who came up here and did it . Somebody planned this murder. Somebody wanted her out of the way. I told her, i will make this right. I will make this right for you. Reporter im lester holt. And this is dateline. Heres Dennis Murphy with shining star. 3 f2 dateline en vivo, hasta denise baton rouge, the Louisiana State capitol perched on the banks of the mississippi. Three blocks off the river, on a chilly thursday night, a criminal defense lawyer was working late, drafting a writ for the big murder trial starting monday. When did the killer take her . Sometime after 8 00 was the best guess. The news led next mornings early drive. I hear on a local news station, they interrupt to say that there is a downtown murder in a law office. Reporter attorney prem burns was on her way into work. Which, of course, alerts me. Initially, my my gosh is it an attorney . Reporter the office, now strung with yellow crime scene tape, belonged to an upandcomer named Chiquita Tate. A local woman just a few years out of law school, but already making a name for herself in the competitive, pads and helmets, ae ree arena of litigation and criminal defense. She had recently won a halfmillion dollar jury verdict. Thats pretty good for somebody out such a short time. Reporter chiquita was one of seven, her father, absent, raised by her grandma in a tired neighborhood of boardedup houses. Smart and determined, she rose above her impoverished early years and once her fuse was lit, she became a rocket. She was talented. She had overcome so very much in a short time period. She was the star of her family. Reporter chiquita was the first in her family to go to college. Then she enrolled in hometown southern law school. Got grabbed up by a law firm where she started clerking while studying for the bar. Thats when she met legal assistant Lessie Hookfin. She was just driven, wanting to to get that next ill call it that next high. And law school was that, being a lawyer was that. And she achieved it. Reporter she passed the bar on her first shot . On her first shot. Reporter she eagerly lapped up the hard cases, the kind that made news. Accused killers, druggies, gangbangers. She seemed at ease in the spotlight, happily talking to reporters. Chiquita was enjoying such success, she opened her own firm in a nice building a few blocks from the courts complex. Lessie hookfin went with her. Reporter what areas did she start to stake out for herself . Criminal. She wanted to do criminal so bad. Reporter prem burns watched her in action. Chiquita was one to speak her mind and dress how she wanted in conservative lady lawyer pantsuits one day and stilettos and spiky hair the next. She would walk into a courtroom and she looked like she owned the place. Reporter you could hear her coming before you saw her, huh . You could, you could. And we always joked, because chiquita would wear fourinch heels and just strut in and you knew Chiquita Tate was in the courtroom. Reporter another thing, chiquita was all about family. She hired her sister danita to help in the office. And danita knew better than anyone that harddriving chiquita could be sunny one minute and a gulf coast storm the next. She fired me, like, every week. Reporter she fired you . Yeah, every week, and then, at night reporter you were her office assistant. Yeah, and at night at night she will call me and say well talk, and then shed say, see ya in the mornin. Im, like, i thought i was fired. Reporter in fact, it was a skirmish with chiquita that sparked the interest of a young man named greg harris who, almost literally, bumped into her while they were both cruising around town. Gregs brother mike says it started when greg cut chiquita off. Shes in a corvette. Hes in a mercedes. Shes blowin the horn at him and, you know, oh, you you you dont cut me off. And so they pull up to the red light. And i heard a few smiles went from him, a few smile ts went from from her. And after that, it was all she wrote. Reporter greg harris was doing well as a contractor. The romance blossomed and chiquita moved into gregs home a big step up from the falling down neighborhood of shotgun houses where she grew up. They got married in a small wedding with family in 2008 and a year later chiquita was moving into that nice new office varnishing the bookshelves, proudly hanging out her shingle. Reporter did anybody ever worry about her and her clients . cause there were some tough i reporter hombres that she was defending. There were. But i dont think that it was to the point where either she had to worry or anyone else had to worry. Reporter on february 19, 2009, chiquita was working hard, prepping her defense in a double homicide case. She told lessie she had to work late just a couple of hours but chiquita never returned home that night. Her husband greg called her office repeatedly but got no answer. Around dawn he drove down to the office, troubled, hed say later, to see his wifes hummer parked where she left it. He couldnt get in the locked building, so he called 911. Um, my wife, um, she was working late last night but i cant get inside the building. I need a cop over here quick. Reporter greg suddenly spotted a patrol car and flagged it down. An Office Worker let the policeman in the building while greg called his sisterinlaw denita. And he was, like, d, the hummer is still parked here. And they wont let me in the office. Reporter once upstairs, it took only a glance for the Patrol Officer to declare chiquitas office a crime scene, a bad one. The shining starlight of Chiquita Tate had been cruelly extinguished. By whom . And for what reason . When we come back, the first clues. No blood in the elevator, no blood on the lobby. Her left hand was opened. There was a piece of hair in it. I was like, oh, my lord. Wards auto 10 best interiors. The allnew jeep renegade. Take off. And take on anything. Is that a new washing machine . Yeah, its a samsung with activewash. Its got a builtin sink to pretreat and help get stains out. How about this . The samsung washing machine with activewash. Get 10 off select major appliances at lowes so what im saying is, people like options. When you take geico, you can call them anytime you feel like saving money. It dont matter, day or night. 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So he came toward me and grabbed me pretty much to hold me up because i was going down. And thats when he told me she was dead. Reporter chiquitas loved ones were huddled together when veteran homicide detectives Chris Johnson and elvin howard rolled up to the scene. So the responding officers told you, thats the husband over there, but hes on the edge of things for you. You havent approached him yet . Thats thats correct. He was upset to the point where uniform patrol had to put him in the back of the unit. So do you go up at the point . No. At that time, we try to gather as much information as possible. Reporter the detectives began their standard investigative ritual putting together a timeline of the victims last day. Assistant Lessie Hookfin knew some of it. So that thursday, how does that fit in your recollection . What was that day like . Pretty regular day. Reporter chiquita had gone to court and that very day talked to reporters about her latest case. The statute is the question that i would like the Appellate Court to review. Reporter after a quick chat, she headed back to her office where workers were refinishing a bookcase. Lessie left at her regular time, about 5 30. And she remembers being concerned about the smell of varnish. I said, quita, dont stay in here too late, because the smell was just overpowering. She said, less, im not gonna stay in here late. Im just gonna read this. Reporter but she did stay late. Chiquitas husband greg told police his wife called him around 7 00 or so and asked him to please bring her something to eat, so he set out from their home in baker, about 25 minutes away. Then he said he went to mcdonalds in baker and got some hamburgers and fries and brought it to chiquita in her office. Chiquita met him downstairs, according to greg, and let him into the building, because at 5 30 in the evening until 7 30 in the next morning the building is locked. And unless you have a swipe card, you cant get access. Exactly. Reporter greg told the cops he encountered a number of tenants in the building working late that night. He remembered running downstairs on a small errand for his wife. Yeah. Chiquita had a client that was coming over to pick up some money. So he went downstairs to pay this client and pick up some paperwork from this person for chiquita. Reporter greg said chiquita had more work to do and yet another client to see, so he took off for home he said. It was sometime around 8 30. What happened next was a bloody mystery. It would be up to the detectives and also prem burns to figure out. The attorney hearing the awful news on her car radio that morning the one who got such a kick out of chiquita in court was, in fact, a legendary baton rouge prosecutor. My boss, the district attorney, was out there. There were so Many Police Officers there, the crime scene van was there. And so, i went into that and immediately said to my boss, i want this. I want this case. Reporter prem insisted as she always does on viewing the crime scene. As she entered the office she noticed chiquita had been fixing things up. But then, when you proceeded into the next room where her body was, i was like, oh, my lord. She was butchered. She was butchered. She was laying on the floor. She had little slipper socks on her feet, the way all of us would be if we stay after work. Were not going to keep our heels on. She basically had a law book that i think she had been reading that was in her hands at the time the attack began. Reporter chiquita had been stabbed 43 times. The attack was brutal and messy, the bloodstained wall suggesting a fight to the death. Reporter did you have a murder weapon . No, we didnt. Reporter did you get lucky with a footprint or a partial print or anything in blood . Anything like that . No, we did not get lucky with a footprint. Reporter no blood in the elevator, no blood in the lobby, no blood on the buttons. Reporter the killer had improbably vanished without leaving a trail. And at first glance, hadnt taken anything either. Had the office been trashed . Had anybody been looking through files or Something Like that . No. No. We didnt see that. She had expensive jewelry still on her on her hands. She had earrings in her ear. So it it def so this is starting to tell you some stuff about the nature of this killing, huh . Thats correct. Reporter it didnt look like a robbery. However, as crime scene techs processed the scene, the investigators realized chiquitas wallet was missing from her purse. And there, in the victims hand, what looked like a major clue. And her left hand was opened, there was a piece of hair in it. Not actually, 91 strands of hair in it. And her right arm was over her head and she just she just died like that. Reporter had she pulled it from her killers head . The hair was long. Had the killer been a woman . What were your theories . What did you think . I actually, uh, did not come to any conclusions because i couldnt think of a soul who wouldve wanted her dead. Reporter chiquitas fatherinlaw, silver ray harris, admired her courage, but wondered about the kind of clients who came with her line of work. Bein a criminal lawyer, thats what you deal with, criminals. So you have to accept a degree of bad people. They come lookin for for the toughest of the tough, huh . Thats what i hear. That she would shed if you went to her, shed try to help you. Could have been an unhappy client. Could well have been someone who didnt like the results that they got from her. Could have been. Or could have been a member of the victims family. Reporter the list of potential suspects could be as long as her client list. Yet, chiquitas brotherinlaw says he cant understand how anyone could do such a thing. Heartless. Completely. To do her that way. When i get on my knees at night, i pray hell get justice. Reporter police were confident they would get their man or woman. And something up a street pole gave them hope. Outside chiquitas office were City Surveillance cameras and traffic cams. Did one of several cameras see someone enter after greg left . There may not have been a trail of blood, but with a little luck, those cameras just might give them a portrait of their killer, or killers, suitable for framing. Coming up she sees the wallet on the side of the road. The missing wallet and that mystery clump of hair. What might it reveal . If youre in a fight and pull someones hair out, youre going to find root hairs. So the scenario that occurs to me is that this is a woman thats in this assault. Exactly. Reporter when dateline continues. Proven to treat toenail fungus. Use jublia as instructed by your doctor. 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So you could get really lucky maybe. Yeah, hopefully. And get the perpetrator coming or going. Thats correct. Reporter this camera, about a block away from chiquitas office, was working fine. It showed a quiet street the night of the killing. Normal activity. What they really wanted was the shot from this camera, which swept right pass chiquitas office door. But bad luck. A recent storm had knocked it out. The camera in front of the office was not working properly on that particular night. Reporter so no picture of a suspect. This wasnt going to be an openshut solve. But there was evidence to work with. The crime scene technician had taken scrapings from under chiquitas fingernails and sent them off for lab analysis. Had she scratched dna material from her killer . Theyd have to wait on findings. And likewise the clump of hair found in chiquitas hand. Did it contain dna identifying the killer . If youre in a fight and and pull someones hair out yeah. Youre gonna find root hairs, hair balls. Reporter but, the lab work was back on the hair sample. There were no roots on those strands. But the hair had come from a womans hair extension or a weave. So the scenario that occurs to me is that this is a woman thats in this assault exactly. Two women are fighting and shes gotten a bit of this weave and yanked it exactly. Reporter the theory of two women in a death struggle didnt make sense to the cops. The attack seemed too violent, too overwhelming. But with homicides, you never know. In the early hours of the investigation though, they did catch a major break. A report had come into dispatch. A woman driving through a highcrime area known as gardere lane called police to say shed found a wallet. And it belonged to Chiquita Tate. Shes driving down gardere lane and she sees the wallet on the side of the road. Reporter amazingly enough, the finder of the wallet knew chiquita. The young attorney had given a speech at her Daughters School and made quite an impression. That prompted her to call the police and advise us that she she located this wallet. Reporter and unexpectedly for a wallet taken from a victims purse and then tossed, chiquitas id and her credit cards were all inside, which got investigators thinking. Maybe the killer planted the wallet there, hoping some street person would find it and stumble right into a homicide investigation. When you take a nice gucci wallet, loaded with credit cards, to gardere lane and leave it in the streets, somebodys going to pick it up and start going to the mall, spending some of those credit cards