Disgraced Page #7

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and him to go to heaven.

[crying]

I had to tell Valorie

and Wynn, that they had

found a body.

I thought Patrick would still

be alive, that we still

could have a chance that that he

would have been found somewhere.

[crying]

All of us, we just broke down.

[Perry] Due to the sun baking

the skin, the color of the skin

was like a chameleon,

it just blended in

with the terrain out there.

So, it had been

very hard to see.

[Fuller] He definitely was in

latter stages of decomposition

and there wasn't a whole

lot of him, actually left.

[Brian] They were able to

match his dental records

and that was how Patrick ended.

[crying]

His life ended.

[crying]

[Stanton] Everyone associated

with the Baylor basketball

program and our university

is grieving.

We all share in the family's

agony over these past

several weeks and the horror.

His friend has been

charged with murder.

I can tell you that Coach Bliss

feels a deep sense of sorrow

and despair that something so

unreasonable may have happened.

Here at Baylor University,

a committee is now looking

into allegations the school may

have given Patrick Dennehy money

that was in violation

of NCAA rules.

Today, the questions

aren't about Pat

and they aren't about Dotson,

they're about me, my coaches

and our basketball program.

Ah, there's been allegations

that we haven't followed

the rules.

We follow the rules, however

difficult they may be

for 30 years.

But, I believe that the

Board of Inquiry will again,

find that a lot of the things

that have been mentioned

and reported are in fact,

not quite as they have

been portrayed.

This is an internal

Baylor committee

and the people on the committee

work for Baylor,

Underwood being a primary one.

Our committee's responsibility

is limited to issues

concerning compliance

with NCAA regulations.

I believe that the appointment

of this investigative committee

is as a result of reports

in the media, yes.

This investigation occurs

independent of the

athletic department,

for obvious reasons.

[reporter]

Yes, our committee

answers and reports

to the president

of the university.

Coach Bliss tells me

that he meets with the

Baylor Internal Investigation

Committee on a daily basis.

[Sayman] I was at the

Ferrell Center and Coach Bliss

was walking down towards me and

I said, "Coach, I'm sorry that

you're going through all

the things that you are."

And he said, "Ah, thanks, Matt"

and he took me into his office.

And I remember going in there

thinking he's going to explain

everything to me and we're

going to walk out of here

and we're going to be good.

And he started to tell me

about this story of why,

of how Patrick was paying for

school and how he had gone

into their apartment and found

drugs and rolled up money.

And how all these things,

none of it was his fault.

At some point, Coach had

just come back from

meeting with the lawyers and

he seemed very flustered.

It was just the four coaches in

the coach's locker room

and I remember Coach saying,

"If somebody would just

say that they paid Dennehy's

tuition I'd buy him

a Cadillac, sh*t, I'd buy

them four Cadillacs."

And he kind of starts telling

the story about maybe Pat being

a dealer and I remember telling

him, we can't operate like that

and that's when, he was like,

"Well, do you want

to get fired?"

And I said, "No, I do not."

Abar was balking at him.

Abar was fearful and honestly

wasn't compliant.

[Abar] I remember coming back

to my office and I found a

copy of his contract on my desk

with the portion highlighted

that he had the authority to

hire and fire the assistants.

And at that point,

I understood

what a reality this

was becoming.

He's backed into the

ultimate corner.

We're talking about a murder;

we're talking about a

young man who's dead.

We're talking about family,

grieving, very publicly upset

and now this bizarre cover-up

that he's being asked

to participate in.

He didn't want to do it and he

knows that if he says anything

about it, it will be his word

against Bliss' and a powerful,

well-respected head coach.

[Abar] This could seriously

alter the murder investigation

to a crime.

This was going to result in

everybody being put on a

witness stand under oath and

being asked these questions.

And once that happens,

once this begins, those lies,

because the trial is so far off,

will be truth by the time

that we get to trial.

I'd be lying if I said that I

wasn't kind of motivated

in a fashion, by that,

to do what I did.

I went and I picked up a

$25 recorder and I actually

wired myself up.

I put the mini-cassette in my

beltline and then I took the mic

and I ran it up through my shirt

to the side of my pants,

close to my arm.

So, you really couldn't tell if

I pulled my shirt out a little

bit from my belt, you really

couldn't tell that the

mic was there.

And then I would check myself in

the mirror to see if the mic

was concealed, or it doesn't

look that weird and when

I felt like it was good and

in place, I left the house.

low dramatic music

The first day I recorded

with Coach Bliss,

Coach Bliss is at the board.

He writes, "reasonable doubt."

[Bliss] [on recording]

Reasonable doubt is...

[Abar] And he underlines it.

[recording playback]

[recording playback]

[recording playback]

[recording playback]

Nobody can say that

we paid his tuition

because he's dead.

Okay, so you guys

paid his tuition.

I remember sitting there,

getting upset, ah,

but wanting to make sure I

maintained my composure.

I remember getting nervous

because I realized

the damning things that he was

saying are now recorded.

Coach Bliss wanted R.T. Guinn,

Ellis Kidd and Harvey Thomas

to tell stories about Patrick.

[recording playback]

[recording playback]

[recording playback]

[recording playback]

[recording playback]

I mean, he's dead serious.

And you're sitting there

and it's hard not to laugh

sometimes about it.

And when I tell you I have

mixed emotions, it's like,

because some of it is like

so absurd, it's hilarious.

It's like, okay.

And then, at other times you

start thinking about

how chilling it all is...

and sad and...

you know, Patrick's body

had just been found.

I asked him, you know, well do

you think that Harvey is going

to go along with this plan?

[recording playback]

[recording playback]

Harvey Thomas was one of the

key elements of the story

from the very beginning

because who was this guy?

Was he threatening them?

No, this guy's fine.

He's a good guy.

There are no threats.

This is a red herring

you're chasing.

So, when you finally hear

the tapes, Bliss is saying,

Harvey will lie.

He'll... you know, he'll lie

when it doesn't even matter

because we lied for him.

We stood up for Harvey.

We did it for Harvey, so Harvey

will do anything for us,

including lie for us.

Because we did it for him,

we lied for him.

That's what he's saying.

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