have been brought in or taken out there. that s correct. in his defense case, kohler called just a couple of witnesses, none particularly useful. your general strategy to the jury in the court is what? you don t have enough evidence. it s a tragic event, but you don t enough evidence because i know i don t have the burden. the burden is on the prosecutor. so kohler jabbed away at the prosecution s key witnesses, particularly detective mclaughlin. kohler, for instance, wondered if mac had exhaustively run down all those leads on cindy as a possible runaway. they have had numerous, by their own testimony, numerous calls about her that they didn t follow up. and your mission as a defense lawyer is to plant that seed of doubt? that s right. and kohler hoped he d raised sufficient doubt as he rested his case. to the news reporters on at least one score card, it looked as though the defense had a good shot. as you went into closing arguments, what was the betting in the c
at the cindy case as something other than a possible runaway. the detective, danielle davis began piecing together a time line of cindy s last weekend home. chasing down old witnesses. but after that flurry of fresh energy came a new setback. detective davis left the department. once again, the cindy cold case file would be passed on to a new set of investigative eyes. in may of 1995, an eastpointe cop named derek mclaughlin, mac to one and all, got promoted to the detective division s youth bureau, handling 40 to 50 juvenile cases a month. my chief came down and threw this box on my desk. he says this is an old file, he says it s still an open case. he says, i want you to solve it. solve it? solve it. mac stayed late that night, reading the yellowing case files. in cindy s old snapshots, in her diary, she looked and sounded to him like a happy, normal kid, not a potential runaway.
arabia. demonstrators damaged the saudi embassy in tehran and the iranian foreign ministry summoned the saudi envoy to signal their anger with the executions. and a saddened to a search in eastern pennsylvania, the body of a 5-year-old boy with autism found in a canal. jayliel vega batista dis appeared from a party barefoot and without a coat. now back to our msnbc special. he had to keep on coming. there were years of frustrations, but detective derek mclaughlin had finally taken down cindy zarzycki s killer. how did you take the verdict? i was real happy. was it a high five moment? more than high five. mac and i gave each other a big hug after that. but to jen and mac, this odd couple interrogation team, the conviction was only half the battle.
courtroom top secret. they cleared out the courtroom, told us all to leave and i just happened to notice that the judge said to one of the bailiffs, you need to make sure that the entire back room is cleared out, nobody can be in my chambers, nobody can overhear this. and then i put two and two together. amber hunt figured it out and would later be the first to report that an 11th hour plea deal had been in the works. lawyers from both sides and the zarzycki family were summoned to judge s chambers. we want to talk to you. he wants to make an agreement. ream told his lawyer he didn t murder cindy, but he could reveal where she was buried in exchange for a reduced charge and a lesser sentence. he doesn t tell me where it is, but he tells me that he knows. defense attorney kohler then asked mclaughlin for help. i said you ve got to work the deal, though. the defense lawyer needed mac as a negotiating ally to prod eric smith, the elected county
you don t know if anybody has been in there or had not been in there. you weren t there all that time? no, sir. you don t know what would have been brought in or taken out there. that s correct. in his defense case, kohler called just a couple of witnesses, none particularly useful. your general strategy to the jury in the court is what? you don t have enough evidence. it s a tragic event, but you don t enough evidence because i know i don t have the burden. the burden is on the prosecutor. so kohler jabbed away at the prosecution s key witnesses, particularly detective mclaughlin. kohler, for instance, wondered if mac had exhaustively run down all those leads on cindy as a possible runaway. they have had numerous, by their own testimony, numerous calls about her that they didn t follow up. and your mission as a defense lawyer is to plant that seed of doubt? that s right. and kohler hoped he d raised sufficient doubt as he rested his case. to the news reporters