Population Zero Page #2

where Dwayne Nelson will

soon be moved to the Courthouse

to attend a preliminary hearing

in a case that is being dubbed

"the Yellowstone murders."

A bizarre triple homicide,

where the murderer immediately

turned himself in

and confessed.

I just really can't understand

how a man could commit

all these horrific crimes,

you know.

And then just talk about it

like he's, uh...

Reciting the details of

a traffic violation.

If you could say

something to Dwayne Nelson,

and you had that opportunity,

what would you say to him?

If I could

say anything

to Dwayne,

I would say that i

want my son back.

I would say that

I want Cody back.

Out of the way.

He's never offered

me an apology.

He's never taken any

responsibility for his actions.

What will I have to say to him?

Nothing.

We're live now.

He will pay for the murders

of these boys.

And he will understand

what it feels like

to have something

taken away from you.

If I could even just...

Understand why

this person did this,

then I could maybe

move better to forgiveness,

but...

Because it's just so...

Senseless and random.

It shook my faith

for a very long time.

Cheyenne Police

spent three months

looking for a motive.

They found none.

With Dwayne's confession,

they were certain

of a conviction.

There were still questions

that needed answering.

I canceled my flight home

and headed to

Cheyenne, Wyoming,

where the hearing

took place years ago.

I think the only

regret I have is...

Is maybe the, uh...

The over-confidence

that we were...

That it was a done thing.

A surefire

win for us.

But I, uh...

I honestly didn't think

that it would go through.

I wouldn't call it arrogant,

but certainly,

it seemed like

an easy case to me.

You wanna take

your feelings out of it,

but we're talking about

a confessed murderer here.

One who showed

no remorse, no regret.

We had murder weapon.

We had fingerprints.

Security footage,

and a population

screaming for justice.

And who wanted him

put away for life.

And at that time, there was

no doubt in my mind we were

gonna do just that.

The fact that

I got the Nelson case

was a surprise.

My first, uh...

Murder trial.

And I knew it was

gonna be a big deal.

Uh...

And it was a big deal.

Dwayne's case was very unique.

Okay?

What you had here was

a classic plea pardon case.

There was no logic

to his motivation.

Absolutely none.

Which set it up

for an insanity plea.

I wanted to change

the location of the trial.

I wanted to, uh...

Make sure that we had

an impartial jury.

He wouldn't stand for it.

The loophole was

brought up to me

almost exactly 24 hours

before we went to the hearing.

So we looked at it.

We looked at it,

we danced around it,

it was a conversation.

And, uh...

And then we looked into

the legalities of it.

Then we ran with it.

Will the defendant

please rise.

Based on Federal and

District Law,

the Constitution and with no

legal precedent to draw from,

I have no choice but to

side with the defense.

Mr. Nelson, you are free to go.

The murder trial

in Cheyenne this morning

has taken yet another

unexpected turn.

During today's

preliminary hearing,

confessed murderer,

Dwayne Nelson,

was acquitted of all charges

due to what can only be

described as

a flaw in the system.

...an unusual case.

And families are

understandably shocked

with the Judge's decision.

Imagine a murderer

being allowed to

walk the streets as a free man.

That's exactly what took

place here today.

I remember there was

absolute confusion

and shock.

All hell broke loose.

Right? It was...

Insanity.

We weren't prepared for that.

I wasn't prepared for that.

This guy should have been

put away for life.

It was so far beyond logic.

So far beyond reason.

It was... it was...

Beyond justice.

And the worst part

was feeling the shift.

You know, 'cause it

was like Dwayne

was no longer the bad guy.

I was.

And it was

the assistants that came in

and gave us the news initially.

So they could be the recipients

of all of our grief and all

of our anger at that moment.

And then the head team came in

and explained to us

what had happened.

The loophole

in the law changed everything.

And unless we could prove

that the murders

were premeditated,

or that a felony was committed

leading up to the murders,

this crime could not

and cannot be tried.

You need a motive.

We need motive

to move the trail,

to get him out from under

the protection of

that goddamn loophole.

We had

covered all the bases.

We had looked for

any connection

between Dwayne Nelson

and his murder victims.

But there wasn't any.

Dwayne was from North Dakota,

and the boys were

from Rapid City.

So, as Dwayne confessed,

it was an isolated incident.

There was no motive.

We were all regular...

People who didn't

even understand

half of the system

to begin with.

And once we began

with the whole

State line, Federal,

the State...

I think we just assumed

that they would work it out.

I don't think anyone

really understood

the ramifications of this.

I think there was a feeling,

certainly in me,

and I know in a few

of the others, was that

this was just maybe

the first step

in crossing this huge hurdle,

and that we would

stick with it,

and there would be appeals,

and everyone would throw

their weight behind this.

And as the weeks,

and eventually months, passed,

and we realized,

"No. No, this isn't...

This isn't changing.

This really is not changing

in our favor."

There was an incredible

amount of anger.

I don't feel guilty for

adhering to the Constitution.

I don't feel guilty

doing what's right

according to the law.

Right? I don't feel guilty

for letting a man walk

because the Constitution

says that he should.

I'm doing my job.

The Court did their job.

We all did our job on this.

He walks.

He's supposed to walk.

Right?

Simple.

The f*** are we on?

Left on the main street.

Daniel Matcek was

a local Yellowstone

newspaper reporter.

He covered the hearings

and spent a lot of time

researching the murders.

It's a small town,

and I've lived here

my whole life.

And nothing like this has

ever happened before.

So I have a responsibility

to tell the story.

I actually call my article

"The Inconceivable Truth".

It's so funny that it

became a constitutional debate.

Three boys were shot

and killed.

In cold blood.

This is not

a constitutional issue.

It became

a constitutional issue

because Dwayne made it

a constitutional issue.

There's three dead boys,

and no one went to jail for it.

No one was punished for it.

What did he do?

Six months for illegal

possession of a firearm

in a National Park?

It's a joke.

That is a joke

to those families.

I am still angry.

I'm still in shock.

I still feel completely

betrayed by a system that

not only did I think

that was on my side,

but I was assured

it was on my side.

Who came up

with the loophole defense?

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes