the gold coast. the sun, the sea, and this million dollar home, a mystery. he was talking on the telephone when he heard a loud bang. a woman, murdered. her husband went blind. are you bleeding? do you see any blood? i m bleeding all over, yes. okay. i can t see. but who? everyone is somewhat of a suspect. and why? what brings someone to make a decision they are going to do this. was it love? what we learned was that she was having an affair with the sun. was that money? nobody knows what happened except for him and garrett. what was the truth, hidden here on this tropical paradise? it was an assassination, a hit, no question. it was august, hot in coral gables. the air was short sticking thick as night fell. the small debris pushed the palms. and the artificial pool of attorney john sutton house was a party already known early. it was susan sutton s birthday attending their son, his girlfriend, and john s law partner. melissa,
This. Was it love . What we learned was he was having an affair. Was it money . Nobody really knows what happened except for him and garrett. Or was the truth hidden here on this tropical paradise. It was an assassination, a hit. No question. Reporter it was august hot in coral gables. The air was shirtsticking thick as night fell. The small, damp breeze pushed weakly at limp palm fronds. In the artificial kula john suttons house, an intimate party was winding down early. It was susan suttons birthday, attending his son, girlfriend and johns law partner. Daughter melissa, just off to college in north florida couldnt be there. So she phoned her mother to say, she missed her. Were you two close . Extremely. Thats my best friend. Reporter i was going to ask how old your mom was . 57. No, you cant put that on. She was a nice 45. Lets put it, leave it at that. Reporter the guests laughed. The law partner went home. Son christopher and his girlfriend went to a movie. John settled in to watch
Moment at least 11 shot. On the righthand side, youre looking at some of the live pictures coming out of a chopper cam that has been monitoring what is at the scene from a very high level. That is what we know at the moment. At least 11 shot and three dead. More shortly. We have been getting most of our information based on that the officials have been very careful as they normally are in these situations to provide information from eyewitnesss. Wed like to go to another one that was there today at the garlic festival in gilroy, california. And her name is ariel la duron. She is an eyewitness of what happened. Can you hear me . Yes, i can hear. You ariel la, where were y youing and what did you see that happened. At the beginning we were standing right next to the right corner of the stage and the band didnt understand that they needed to like close understand that they needed to close down. They begged for one more song. We decided to just leave. As soon as we talked, i dont know, 30
Welcome back to dateline extra. Im craig melvin. Detectives were convinced garrett kopp was involved in the family shooting, and they didnt think he acted alone. But with no evidence tying chris to the crime, they needed a confession to connect chris to the case. Could they get garrett to come clean . Returning to our story, here is Keith Morrison. Detectives Larry Bellevue and art manning had a theory to explain the shooting of john sutton and the murder of his wife susan which was that Christopher Sutton hired his dopesmoking buddy, garrett kopp to kill his parents. It was really just a theory. While the case against kopp was fairly strong, remember the murder weapon was found in his possession. The evidence against christopher was circumstantial. Little more than guilt by association. The samoa boot camp may have given christopher a motive. But. I certainly needed more than that to make the arrest. I decided it was time to act. We are going to need a confession, i believe. Given wha
Reporter and mostly, they it was an assassination, a waited with everyone else, to hit. No question. See if john sutton would survive the attack, to see if they would ever be able to ask him, what happened. And until now all they heard from sutton was this. Are you bleeding . Do you see any blood . I am bleeding all over, yes. I cant see. Reporter i cant see. Reporter it was august hot in coral gables. It was almost a week after the the air was shirtsticking thick shooting. As night fell. When sutton was awakened from a the small, damp breeze pushed medically induced coma. Weakly at limp palm fronds. He was going to live. In the artificial kula john suttons house, an intimate but he was going to live with the scars of the shooting. Party was winding down early. He had lost an eye, but worse, far worse was the news the it was susan suttons birthday, doctors gave him. Attending his son, girlfriend he would never see again. And johns law partner. He was blind in both eyes. Daughter meliss