A Teacher’s Murder Stayed Cold for 26 Years (S6, E1) — Killer Cases — Full Episode

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: You had a young teacher murdered in her own condo. [00:00:25] Speaker 2: She was really loved. And so everything about her just said, why was she the one chosen to be murdered? [00:00:33] Speaker 3: It was an absolute whodunit. Nobody had any idea. [00:00:38] Speaker 4: In my 32 years of police work, it's the only case involving a homicide where I had any actual handcuffs. [00:00:47] Speaker 2: It could be someone either in security or law enforcement. [00:00:52] Speaker 3: You wait for technology to catch up, and the technology caught up. [00:00:55] Speaker 4: If you're the bad guys and you left us your DNA, I don't care if it was 1950. We're still coming for you, and we're gonna find you. [00:01:07] Speaker 1: This is what he's gonna tell you. [00:01:16] Speaker 2: You're gonna get out of that situation. And I grabbed the gun. He's trying to find the first place to put a body. No, sir. The only thing they could do was kill it. [00:01:23] Speaker 5: If you want to say anything, we the jury and find the defendant. [00:01:40] Speaker 6: Beaumont sits about an hour and a half east of Houston. [00:01:45] Speaker 4: It's heavy in the oil and gas industry, refineries. [00:01:51] Speaker 3: Beaumont has a history of old oil money. The spindle top oil boom was here. And a lot of the founding families are still in the area. [00:02:02] Speaker 7: Including the Edwards family. They've always been a pillar of the community. Two of the most kind and honest people that have really ever lived here. [00:02:14] Speaker 8: In 1995, Mary and Lum Edwards were the proud parents of a son and identical twin daughters. [00:02:21] Speaker 9: Catherine and her twin sister, Alison, were fantastic people. Full of energy. Very giving. They were wonderful girls. They both went to the same college. [00:02:32] Speaker 7: They were both teachers. [00:02:33] Speaker 4: Back in 1995, 1996, it was a small, comfortable city. Lots of good people with a very low crime rate, which made this crime even more shocking. [00:02:46] Speaker 1: 911, what's your emergency? We've got to go to mom's sister's house. Who's your sister? Catherine Edwards. Catherine Edwards? Yes. How old is she? 31. Yes. She's over there with her. My family's over there, but I don't think she's alive. Why don't you think she's alive? Because my dad was hysterical and he wouldn't tell me. Because my dad was hysterical and he wouldn't tell me. That 911 call tears at your heart, doesn't it? [00:03:05] Speaker 2: That 911 call tears at your heart, doesn't it? What's your emergency? Oh, get me to believe, please. [00:03:08] Speaker 1: What's going on, ma'am? My daughter murdered. Ma'am, I can't understand. Oh, my daughter murdered. What did your daughter do? She's been murdered. Oh, ma'am, I can't understand. Oh, my daughter murdered. Ma'am, I can't understand. Oh, my daughter murdered. What did your daughter do? She's been murdered. I don't know if there is a word to describe the grief that you could hear in those phone [00:03:32] Speaker 8: calls. Ma'am had gone to Catherine's townhouse when she had failed to show up for their weekly family lunch. [00:03:38] Speaker 1: We came over here and found her. She's handcuffed. She's been tortured. Okay, what do you mean she's handcuffed? I'm handcuffed behind her back. Okay. And she's, I think they drowned her. Okay. We found her laying sideways over the bathtub. Does she have a boyfriend, maybe a wife or anything? No, there's none that lives here. Okay, but there was no one else in the house and y'all showed up? No, she lives alone. Okay. We just found her. Okay. Well, they're on their way right this minute. Okay? Okay. All right. [00:04:08] Speaker 2: When you hear that call, you hear, you hear the sheer agony and terror of a mother finding her daughter murdered, half naked, slumped over a bathtub, and in her words, tortured. [00:04:26] Speaker 10: That complainant was very irate. She just advises that her daughter has been mutilated and she is handcuffed. They think that she has been drowned. Go ahead and send out JP, my ID, and get an investigator going. Hear that scene, don't touch anything until we get out there just to get your receipt. We'll see. [00:04:49] Speaker 2: The police arrived. Nothing's disturbing on the first floor. [00:04:54] Speaker 9: There was no indication of break-in on the front door. [00:04:58] Speaker 2: The sliding back door glass door that led out to the back patio is locked. [00:05:04] Speaker 9: But when they went upstairs, it splits. There's a bathroom straight ahead, which is where she was found. She was nude from the waist down and her hands were handcuffed down her back. [00:05:15] Speaker 2: It was Smith & Wesson handcuffs, which were common for police officers to carry. It sets off two red flags. One is that this person came ready to do something. They were ready to subdue her. And second, it set off kind of a scare because it could be someone either in security or law enforcement. [00:05:33] Speaker 9: And there's a bedroom to the right, which is where she had been sleeping. [00:05:38] Speaker 2: Bedroom was disheveled up around the bedspread, the comforter, the sheets. Everything just looked like there had been some kind of struggle on top of that bed. There was semen found on the comforter, and that's what ended up being tested along with swabs from her body. [00:05:58] Speaker 9: Any murder scene is usually bad, but this one is exceptionally bad. You had a young teacher murdered in her own condo. The community is outraged, scared. There's an emotional aspect of it. You need to find somebody fast. [00:06:12] Speaker 8: Detectives wanted to know if Katherine, an elementary school fifth-grade teacher, had anyone or anything in her background that would offer a clue. [00:06:22] Speaker 2: There was not one bad thing we could find someone who could say about her. She was just a joy to be around. She was a nice woman. She was extremely kind. And she just recently got into a Bible study group that she was really loved. And so everything about her just said, why was she the one chosen to be murdered? In the first week or two, they were concentrating on, you know, ex-boyfriend. He was a suspect from the start, and they were just sure it was going to be him. He was considered abusive verbally. They had just recently broke up. [00:07:03] Speaker 8: But the ex-boyfriend's DNA was not a match, and he had an alibi. [00:07:08] Speaker 9: He really went through the ringer, but he didn't have anything to do with it. [00:07:12] Speaker 2: She kept a journal, which was good because they were able to get a lot of names out of that journal. [00:07:17] Speaker 6: Other people that she had dated were interviewed, and everybody voluntarily gave a sample. There were sex offenders that were approached and gave samples. That DNA was entered into CODIS, and there was never any hits, meaning that person had never been arrested, never been to prison. So we didn't have anybody that had a criminal record. I think this case probably had more DNA collected and tested in it than any other case in the history of Beaumont PD. [00:07:43] Speaker 8: And then police had to come to terms with the use of the handcuffs in the crime. [00:07:48] Speaker 4: In my, you know, 32 years of police work, it's the only case involving a homicide where I had any actual handcuffs. I've had bindings before, ropes, different things like that, but I'd never seen a pair of handcuffs used before, and haven't since, for that matter. We believe that maybe this is some policeman that she knew that she allowed to come in the house. Is this someone that could have been at the crime scene with us that day? People don't have handcuffs, especially, you know, a pair of Smith & Wesson brand handcuffs. They're sort of expensive. It's not just an item that you would have for no reason. [00:08:28] Speaker 3: Everybody was looking over their shoulders, wondering, you know, could it possibly be? Could it possibly be? I think it made it more difficult for the detectives because you never knew who to share details with. [00:08:39] Speaker 9: The Beaumont Police Department had all the law enforcement turning their handcuffs. They looked at prior misbehaviors by law enforcement individuals, and they went and checked them and had them do DNA samples. And, of course, those were negative. [00:08:53] Speaker 8: As the years went by, through presidents, wars, hurricanes, the case files sat on the shelf. [00:09:00] Speaker 2: It just went totally cold. They had no more ideas, no more suspects. They just didn't have anything. [00:09:07] Speaker 3: It was an absolute whodunit. This was a complete whodunit. Nobody had done it. Nobody had any idea. [00:09:14] Speaker 4: For something as old as it was, there were still so many people that remembered everything about it. She was a special person to a lot of people. Ultimately, our thoughts were reprocessing of the evidence using modern DNA technology. If you're the bad guys and you left us your DNA, I don't care if it was 1950, we're still coming for you. And we're going to find you. And we're going to find you. [00:09:46] Speaker 11: The Lone Ranger. [00:09:51] Speaker 8: The legends of the Texas Rangers, masked and otherwise, have long been part of American folklore. And Wheaties present Joel McRae in Tales of the Texas Rangers. Fame for their 10-gallon hats and bringing law and order to the Wild West. [00:10:09] Speaker 1: Make up the most famous and oldest law enforcement body in North America. [00:10:16] Speaker 8: But in the 21st century, Rangers like Brendan Bess became better known in Texas for cracking difficult, cold cases. [00:10:24] Speaker 4: It's a different way of police work. Being able to bring answers to a family is very rewarding. And it is absolutely a driving force in anyone that works cold cases to be able to give answers to those loved ones. [00:10:40] Speaker 8: The family of Catherine Edwards had gone 25 years without answers when Ranger Bess took on the case. Her parents had passed away without ever knowing who killed their daughter. [00:10:52] Speaker 4: It's one of those that just really tugs at your heart. It was important to everyone in Beaumont, of course. It was important to Beaumont PD and the Texas Rangers. [00:11:02] Speaker 8: And in April of 2020, Ranger Bess teamed up with a husband-wife detective team from the Beaumont Police Department. Tina and Aaron Llewellyn to take on Catherine's case. [00:11:13] Speaker 6: I don't believe that anybody should be buried in a filing cabinet. And I just don't think that cases should be forgotten and just forgotten over time. So we worked our normal, you know, eight to five job during the day and then came home and worked on it until the wee hours of the morning. [00:11:31] Speaker 3: You wait for technology to catch up. And the technology caught up. [00:11:35] Speaker 8: The detective sent the DNA collected from the crime scene 25 years earlier to a private lab that specializes in what's called forensic genetic genealogy. [00:11:47] Speaker 4: They're building their own database of people who voluntarily want to give their DNA to help solve crimes. [00:11:54] Speaker 6: They created a profile on it and entered it into a computer program known as GEDmatch. And from there, that gave us distant relatives that were related to our suspect. [00:12:04] Speaker 8: And one name kept popping up, a woman who lived in Louisiana, Shira LaPointe. [00:12:11] Speaker 5: I got a phone call from Detective Aaron Llewellyn telling me that they were looking for, working a cold case, looking for the perpetrator and that my father-in-law's kit was one of the highest matches that they were looking at. And that my father-in-law definitely was related to a murderer. [00:12:37] Speaker 8: Shira had been researching her own family tree as a hobby, but now it became much more serious. [00:12:44] Speaker 5: I agreed to do whatever I could to help them out. [00:12:49] Speaker 4: Crazy. Absolutely insane. One of the persons that helped solve the crime is a, you know, 164th cousin to our suspect. [00:12:58] Speaker 5: I can tell you that when we finished building this tree, we had 7,409 people in this family tree. We were able to get it down to two possible brothers. And that's when they realized that one of them did have a criminal background. [00:13:13] Speaker 2: His name was Clayton Foreman. He had lived in Beaumont. He had married here. He had gone to high school in Beaumont, the same high school that Catherine and her sister went to. [00:13:26] Speaker 6: He was a year or two older than them. Catherine and Allison were both very good friends with his first wife. And in fact, they were both bridesmaids in his first wedding. I ran his name through a database that I had access to. And that's when I discovered that he had a sexual assault in the early eighties. And when I started reviewing that case file, I saw many similarities between the Catherine Edwards case and his sexual assault back in 1981. [00:13:49] Speaker 3: He was convicted of aggravated assault on a plea bargain and got three years probation. It was infuriating to hear how that case was handled. [00:14:01] Speaker 6: He had not been arrested for a crime that mandated DNA collection. So he would not have been an assistant. [00:14:08] Speaker 8: Foreman was found living in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, working as an Uber driver and a debt collector. [00:14:15] Speaker 4: The next step, we reach out through the FBI, through the sheriff's office where Foreman was. Reached out to them for assistance to help us in doing what we call a trash run. Items that a person discards into their trash, puts on the curb. They had no right to privacy to those products, that junk that they throw away. [00:14:37] Speaker 6: There was hair, there was prescription bottles, plastic ware like a fork and knife kind of in the spoon. [00:14:44] Speaker 3: They actually wanted the spoons, Dairy Queen plastic spoons. And they were able to get a single male profile from one of the spoons. I do remember the lab tech telling Lou, my husband, it was a match, go get his ass. [00:15:01] Speaker 12: Just a few more minutes here, Mr. Foreman, they're finished, finishing up. And he'll be right in. All right, sir. [00:15:08] Speaker 8: Foreman had been brought in by the local police on a ruse. [00:15:12] Speaker 6: I'm like a missing purse. And him being an Uber driver and one of his clients claimed her purse was missing. [00:15:18] Speaker 12: Hey, how's it going? How are you? Mr. Foreman, right? Yes, sir. Okay. [00:15:24] Speaker 4: I think we'll, uh, we'll introduce ourselves. Detective Aaron Llewellyn with the Vermont Police Department. Brandon Vettis with the Texas Rangers out of Liberty. We're here about a crime and we'll get into that. We'll talk to you about that and what we're here for. But we want you to know that, uh, as a matter of fact, why don't we trade seats right here. The strategy was get him to talking, get him comfortable, make sure that he understood that he could leave at any time. [00:15:53] Speaker 12: Grab that door and open it. Grab it and open it. Okay. You should close it. So you see the door's not locked. Oh, yes, sir. [00:16:02] Speaker 2: Just to show that you could leave at any moment. If he's in custody, it's not a voluntary statement, then we got a problem. [00:16:10] Speaker 4: You're not under arrest. You're not in trouble. Nothing. Okay. Would you like to stay and talk to us? I understand you don't know what it's about, but are you okay with us talking to you at least for right now? You can talk to him, yes, sir. Great, great. Okay. So what we're, what we're here about is we're full case investigators. So the crime that we're looking at is the murder of Mary Catherine Edwards. Today is April the 29th, 2021. Tell us your whole name is Edward Clayton Bernard Barman. He'd been able to live all these years a free man. He'd lived 30 years and never got caught. Were you aware of the crime even? No. You didn't know the crime occurred? No, sir. Okay. You didn't know that Catherine Edwards was murdered? No, sir. This was a, you know, me, the dumb old country boy with the cowboy hat on. It's there just asking questions of him, playing that role of, you know, Clayton Foreman thinks he's smarter than I am. Okay. These are dumb questions. I'm sorry. I'm going to ask you, you know, um, never obviously had sex with her. No. Never. Never. Did you ever go in her house at all? Any house that she ever lived in? No. Okay. Okay. And so where she was the address where she was killed. What is that? One zero zero five apartment off of Manion Drive. [00:17:45] Speaker 12: Does that ring a bell with you at all? Um, I don't know where that's at. [00:17:49] Speaker 4: Everything was a no, a no, a no, a no. And we knew the answers were yes. I mean, we knew the answers were, yeah, your DNA is there. Yes. We, we know you were there. We know that she was in your wedding. Yeah. You do remember who I'm talking about though, right? Your twins, uh, Catherine and Allison. They were, I think they were bridesmaids from Mike's life. That's right. They were friends with her. Um, do you remember what she looks like? [00:18:15] Speaker 12: Yeah, I guess that's right. Yeah. That's her? I guess. Come here, sister. [00:18:23] Speaker 4: Okay. Well, is there anything? I mean, looking in her picture, does that dog any memories for you? From the wedding? Yeah. Well, that's it. That's what else. Have you ever seen her case? You know, a lot of these cases get highlighted on TV shows. Yeah, I didn't see it. So, he knew. He knew what we were there for. He just didn't know what we had. My next question to you would be, like, who do you think could do something like this? Who would have killed her? But you didn't even know. I wouldn't know. Until we told you today that she was not with us anymore. Right. I have no idea. Because your only contact was at the wedding. That's true. Yeah, for sure on that. You never went into her house, for sure on that. As far as you remember, you don't even remember the house or seeing the house or anything like that. I don't even know where they lived. Okay. [00:19:16] Speaker 8: Ranger Bess was essentially getting Foreman to rule out any other explanation for his DNA being found on Catherine or in her home. [00:19:25] Speaker 2: Peter said, yeah, we had a relationship. I came over to her house. We had sex. And it was consensual. Well, then, you know, you don't have this ah-ha moment because you still got ex-boyfriend as a suspect. Did he come over afterwards and kill her? You know, there's all kinds of things that could have happened. [00:19:41] Speaker 4: Never went to her house. 100% on that. Yes, sir. Never had sex with her. 100% on that. Yes, sir. Our strategy was to try to get as many denials as we could get. I've been talking a lot. I've been asking a lot of questions. We want to give you a chance to say anything that you might want to say or tell us, hey, have you thought of this? So, we'll give you the floor. I don't know anything. Okay. No. [00:20:05] Speaker ?: Nothing at all. [00:20:06] Speaker 4: Nothing you would lead us to. No, you know, people to look at. Yeah. Well, and this happened 26 years ago. I think I were living in Houston at that time. And what do your friends call you? Clay. Clay. Do you mind if I call you Clay? Nothing. All right. Clay, I'm a label with you. Okay. Right here and down. I want you to hear me real close. All right, sir. It was a very easy, relaxed, laid-back interview until he was confronted with the fact that we had his DNA. I'm no scientist, man. But what I do know is about DNA and about how DNA works in placing someone in a crime scene. And what I'm going to tell you right now is your DNA was on Katherine's bed and was inside Katherine. [00:21:00] Speaker ?: Okay. [00:21:01] Speaker 4: I mean, I don't know how it got there, but if you were to say it was there. There's only one way for it to get there. Okay. And that's by you putting it there. And it's semen and sperm and it's yours. Okay. Do you understand that? Do you understand the implications of that? The day that you died, the night that she died, your DNA is in her and your DNA is on her bedspread. Your DNA is in her vagina and your DNA is in her rectum. [00:21:36] Speaker ?: And you're sitting here telling me, do you understand the DNA? [00:21:37] Speaker 4: Yes, sir. Do you understand that? Yes, sir. Do you understand that? Yes, sir. There's nobody else's DNA that was inside her and there's nobody else's DNA that was on that comfort on that bed. And the only way for that to have gotten there would have been for you putting it there. Now, I don't want you to say anything right this second. I want you to think about the next words that come out of your mouth. I want you to think very quickly about that. You're a smart guy. There's no doubt about it. I really felt that he was going to confess in the end. When he was confronted with the fact that we had his DNA that he would confess. What I ask you is, now, to be honest with us completely and tell us. [00:22:22] Speaker 12: How did that happen? I'm not going to say anything. If I need an attorney now, I see. You probably need one or you do need one. If you're saying I did that, then I find an attorney to talk to you. [00:22:39] Speaker 4: That's up to you. If you want an attorney, you can get an attorney. That's absolutely fine. It is. We don't hold that against you. Anything like that. You're here voluntarily. You get to walk out of that door right now. You do. Or whenever you want to. You can walk up there right now. We're giving you that shot to tell us your side. But if you want to not talk and if you want an attorney, we're good with that too. That's up to you though. I understand. [00:23:05] Speaker 12: That's the right I'll do. [00:23:09] Speaker 4: He was allowed to get up and walk out of the room. Now, he didn't know that 20 feet away, all those police officers were just waiting on him to arrest him. [00:23:18] Speaker 2: You can hear as they walk out the door. You hear them. It's not like two or three steps when you hear Brandon Best telling. They arrested him using the cuffs that he used on Catherine Edwards. [00:23:32] Speaker 4: That was a very rewarding feeling. Hey, just so you know, these are the handcuffs that you put on Catherine the day you killed her. [00:23:41] Speaker 11: It took nearly 30 years, but today the family of Mary Catherine Edwards faced her accused killer. If convicted, he's facing life in prison. [00:23:59] Speaker 3: People that knew him watched the trial. They said he was such a nice guy. He absolutely was a devil in disguise. Good morning. [00:24:11] Speaker 2: Good morning. This is not going to be easy for a lot of people, but it's been a long time coming. It's going to take a little bit of work to get through thinking about that, because what happens over 29 years? Memories fade. Witnesses have died. Matter of fact, you're going to find out that Mary Catherine Edwards' mom and dad and brother passed before they could actually get to see this day. You're going to hear 911 calls. You're going to hear the emotion. You're going to hear how Catherine's mother tells the 911 operator that her daughter has been tortured. [00:24:51] Speaker 1: We came over here and found her. She's handcuffed. She's been tortured. Oh, Jesus. [00:24:59] Speaker 2: So hearing their voice, we've got two deceased people crying out in agony over their deceased daughter. It kind of gets the jury into the story. Clayton Foreman denies ever having any contact with her other than when she was in his wedding years before his wife. So there's no reason for his DNA to be on Mary Catherine Edwards. I'm confident that when you look at everything that we're going to show you, you're going to find out that Clayton Foreman, you're going to find out. You're going to be sexually assaulted. [00:25:36] Speaker ?: Killed. Mary Catherine Edwards. [00:25:38] Speaker 13: Mr. Burbank. [00:25:39] Speaker ?: Do you want to make an opening statement at this time? [00:25:40] Speaker 2: No, your honor. Defense reserves are right. [00:25:42] Speaker ?: Okay, sir. Thank you. [00:25:44] Speaker 14: Thank you very much. [00:25:45] Speaker 8: But prosecutors knew that Foreman in jailhouse phone calls had been telling friends that he was confident he could beat the charge. [00:25:59] Speaker 12: Like I said, I'm pumped up about it right now. My plan is to get to acquittal. Yeah. Because we have things to do. Screw this place. They call to Allison. [00:26:09] Speaker 9: Are you related to Mary Catherine Edwards? [00:26:14] Speaker 15: Yes, she was my twin sister. [00:26:16] Speaker 8: Allison described the horrifying discovery her parents made at Catherine's home. [00:26:22] Speaker 15: So I called and my dad answered the phone and he was frantic and he said, your sister's dead. [00:26:35] Speaker 16: Your sister's dead. [00:26:36] Speaker ?: Your sister's dead. [00:26:36] Speaker 16: I'm sorry. [00:26:37] Speaker ?: I remember we just cried. [00:26:38] Speaker 16: We just sat in my living room and cried and cried and cried. And forever I didn't know. I didn't know what happened to her. It was just that she was gone was all I knew. [00:26:58] Speaker 9: When you talked to your dad, when your dad told you about his daughter, had you ever heard your dad like that? Never in my life. [00:27:05] Speaker 16: And I can still hear it. Oh no, it was horrible. They were never the same. I think they died a little bit too and she did. But they were never the same. That's what a sherman. [00:27:22] Speaker 8: In his jailhouse phone calls with friends, Foreman said his lawyer was going to give Allison a hard time going into Catherine's background in dating. [00:27:30] Speaker 12: My friend told me a long time ago because she had multiple men she was with. Multiple men. More than ten. She's a Scottish and they might have to be like she's... Right. And she's really alive. So I'm sure some of this is going to come out. [00:27:47] Speaker 14: Catherine dated several people, correct? Correct. When did David come into the picture? [00:28:00] Speaker 15: David was her college boyfriend. [00:28:03] Speaker 14: And in fact, would you agree with me, at times it got a little bit scary between her and David. At times. It was physical violence. [00:28:17] Speaker 15: I wouldn't... No, I'm not going to say there was physical violence. He did not hit her. No. There was one incident. [00:28:26] Speaker 14: Was that when he strangled? A child in Illinois? [00:28:30] Speaker 15: I don't remember saying that. I don't remember that she... I remember they had a heated fight one time and that he was kind of on top of her. Pushed her down. Yeah. But he wasn't a violent guy. [00:28:45] Speaker 14: And just prior to Catherine's passing, did you and Catherine have a conversation that she was getting back with David? [00:28:55] Speaker 15: No. We had a conversation that they were breaking up for good. And that's why they had a really heated argument the Thursday night before she died. And it was it. That was it. They were done. Forever. [00:29:09] Speaker 2: You know, he was ruled out with DNA. He was ruled out with an alibi. He, this poor guy, just his life was ruined because of it. He talks about he had to get counseling, everything because of the way this affected his life. [00:29:20] Speaker 8: But Clayton Foreman continued to tell friends he might soon be a free man. Yeah. [00:29:26] Speaker 12: I'm ready to go. I'm ready to hear that. Not guilty, Murray. Can you state your name for the record, please? Charles Minor Harvey, M.D. [00:29:31] Speaker 2: Dr. Harvey had conducted the autopsy on Catherine Edwards back in 1995. [00:29:46] Speaker 7: He was very old and physically could not make the trip. We had to cure the permission from the court for him to testify via Zoom. The prosecution needed the doctor to prove the element of homicide. Probably the most important witness if you really get down to it. [00:30:07] Speaker 2: Is it possible that while someone was trying to drown them, they asphyxiated them by holding them down and caused that type of death? Yeah, by pressing on them so that she couldn't breathe, yes. And what was the manner of death, in your opinion? In a manner that I think it was a homicide. [00:30:28] Speaker 9: Could you tell the court your name? [00:30:29] Speaker 16: Um, Paula. [00:30:31] Speaker 9: Back on July 2nd of 1981, how old were you? [00:30:37] Speaker 16: I was 19. Okay. [00:30:39] Speaker 8: As the prosecution prepared to close out its case, there was a surprise witness. The woman who Clayton Foreman had raped and sodomized years before the murder of Catherine Edwards. [00:30:51] Speaker 7: She stood in the place of Catherine. They even look a little alike. [00:30:55] Speaker 2: We have somebody else that he did this to. And it was pretty similar. [00:30:59] Speaker 9: And do you see that person here in the courtroom here today? Yes, sir. Would you please point to him and identify an article of clothing on him? That's my gray shirt. So clear. This man right here? [00:31:14] Speaker 16: Yes, sir. Okay. [00:31:17] Speaker 9: You're going to let the witness identify the defendant playing a foreman? The record shall subshow. You sure it's him? [00:31:25] Speaker 16: Yes, sir. Even though 40 years have passed? [00:31:27] Speaker 9: Yes. [00:31:28] Speaker 16: Yes. Yes. [00:31:30] Speaker 2: And that was probably the bravest thing I've ever seen in my life. Because she went through horrendous sexual assault. And that hurt her. It hurt me just to listen to her. [00:31:40] Speaker 9: Did the defendant claim to be a policeman? He did. Okay. So did you get into his car? I did. Okay. At some point did you realize you weren't going to your house? Yes. What were your feelings at that particular time? [00:31:55] Speaker 16: Just scared. Scared. Confused. [00:31:59] Speaker 9: This is 40 something years ago and you're still shaking. Where did he drive you? [00:32:09] Speaker 16: I don't know. [00:32:11] Speaker 9: Was it a road or was it in the middle of a field? [00:32:14] Speaker 16: It was a field. [00:32:16] Speaker 9: At that point did the defendant's demeanor start changing? [00:32:20] Speaker 16: Yes. [00:32:21] Speaker 9: How so? [00:32:23] Speaker 16: He's me. [00:32:26] Speaker 9: Did you start crying? [00:32:27] Speaker 16: Yes, I did. [00:32:29] Speaker 9: Did he tell you anything when you started crying? [00:32:31] Speaker 16: Yeah, to stop and to shut up. To shut up? To stop. [00:32:35] Speaker 9: And he told you to shut up. Is that correct? Yes. Did he say anything about what he wanted you to do? [00:32:43] Speaker 16: He just told me to get in the back, the back seat. [00:32:48] Speaker 9: Did he say if you go along with this? Do you remember that? I don't. I don't. Did you get into the back? [00:32:57] Speaker 16: I did. [00:32:59] Speaker 9: When he got in the back, what did he do? [00:33:04] Speaker 16: Well, first he tied my hands back. [00:33:11] Speaker 9: He tied your hands behind your back? Yes. Do you remember what he tied your hands behind your back with? Like a belt. A belt? Did he threaten to cut your throat if you didn't? [00:33:27] Speaker 16: Yes. [00:33:28] Speaker 9: That man right there threatened to cut your throat if he didn't comply? [00:33:31] Speaker 16: Yes. [00:33:33] Speaker 9: So did you comply? [00:33:36] Speaker 16: I did. [00:33:37] Speaker 9: Were you crying? I was. Were you terrified? I was. What's the first thing he made you do to him? I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Hold on. [00:33:56] Speaker 15: I'm sorry. [00:34:00] Speaker 13: We're going to take it just as sharp. [00:34:01] Speaker ?: No, I'm fine. [00:34:01] Speaker 7: In terms of the most gut-wrenching testimony that the jury heard, I would say she's pretty much at the top of the list. Well, you're doing great. [00:34:12] Speaker 1: Thanks. [00:34:13] Speaker 13: You're the greatest person I know. I don't know. [00:34:19] Speaker 8: At the time, she had gone along with the plea bargain that avoided the trial and kept forming out of the news and out of prison. She said she's carried that guilt for a long time. [00:34:31] Speaker 9: You came here today to tell this jury what happened to you 42, 43 years ago, right? Yes. Who did you do that for? [00:34:43] Speaker 16: For Catherine. [00:34:45] Speaker 13: That's the worst. [00:34:48] Speaker 8: The defense chose not to challenge her account of what Foreman did to her. [00:34:53] Speaker 7: If I were in Mr. Burbank's shoes, I don't know that I would want to push the envelope there. You can do a lot more harm than good for your case. [00:35:04] Speaker 9: She was amazingly courageous, and if nothing else, I mean, this case allowed her to have her day, and she was absolutely outstanding. [00:35:23] Speaker ?: She didn't die of natural causes. [00:35:24] Speaker 2: She died because that man intentionally put her over a tub, mashed her down, held her down, was trying to drown her, and ended up asphyxiating her. Can you imagine finding your daughter that way? You need to really hear any more. I mean, it's his stuff inside of her. We know that. It's not anybody else's. And it wasn't done voluntarily. You know that, because he killed her when he did it. You know that, because his stuff's in her, she's found dead, tucked behind her back. Mary Catherine Edwards was led down by people ignoring the evidence. And I'm asking you, don't make the same mistake. Don't ignore the evidence. [00:36:19] Speaker 13: The evidence is there. It's clear. It's not predictable. It's simple. Paul, Clayton, and our former responsible for it. That woman, Jim Woodward James, 1995. Thank you. Mr. Burbank, on behalf of the defense, when you were executive. Please, the court counsel. [00:36:42] Speaker 14: This is kind of a unique trial, though. Because it spans over 29 years, there are no winners in this case. And I want to tell you my condolences to the family, too, because it's very hard. Because you would think, after almost three decades, that this would be put to rest. And that they could carry out with the life. And I would imagine that this has opened up all the world. Yes, his DNA showed up. And yes, they took that DNA. And I want to say by luck, but probably good investigative skills, that they came up with a possible suspect. Yeah, they matched. Don't be kidding around that. Ms. Ramsey. I mean, it's traumatic. But there again. Listen to what she said. Okay? I don't want anybody. [00:37:56] Speaker ?: I'm here. [00:37:56] Speaker 14: I don't cry. I'm here to tell you that. Her perception of sexually assaulted, I'm not going to challenge, because that's hers. And it's terrible. And you saw how she acted. [00:38:07] Speaker 2: My face immediately got red. How did he word that? Her perception of being sexually assaulted. It insulted me and it insulted her. [00:38:16] Speaker 14: You may not like him because of what people said. I hope that is not an easy decision because, as I said, both sides, it's very painful. [00:38:28] Speaker ?: And it isn't. [00:38:29] Speaker 14: But you all have been called upon to make sure you value or you judge the credibility of the witnesses. That you will cry, as I say, to the law. In this case, I submit to you, they have not met their murder of birth from the honor of a reasonable battle. Thank you all very much for your time. [00:38:55] Speaker 9: We have all, myself included, have been waiting 29 years holding up for it to bring justice to this family, to us. You will be the last voice that will speak for Catherine. Make it worthy of her. You are the voice of this family, our friends, our students, and parents. Today, you all can choose to be the champions of them. Or we can just fail them once again. And you can do it with one word. And you come back guilty. [00:39:32] Speaker 13: At this time, please bring the jury. Has reached a verdict in this case. [00:39:37] Speaker ?: Is that so, sir? Yes, sir. [00:39:39] Speaker 7: I don't think they were out longer than an hour. If you would be so kind, pass the documents to the bailiff. [00:39:46] Speaker ?: Thank you. [00:39:47] Speaker 5: I was sitting in there holding hands with Tina, holding hands with a student of Catherine that she had taught in second grade. You know, we're squeezing hands. I don't think they were out. [00:40:00] Speaker 13: In cause number 21, that's 38410. The state of Texas versus Clayton Bernard Foreman. We, the jury, find the defendant. Guilty of the offense of capital murder as charged in the indictment. [00:40:20] Speaker 9: I don't think I've ever felt this good about a verdict. [00:40:24] Speaker 5: There was just this huge relief and tears, tears just flowing out of, I think, everyone in that courtroom other than Clayton Bernard Foreman. He showed no remorse, absolutely no remorse, no emotion. [00:40:42] Speaker 8: Under Texas law, the brutality of the murder alone is not enough to impose the death penalty. [00:40:49] Speaker 7: And specifically, it has to be that we have to prove a future danger. Although we definitely have our suspicions, we didn't have any direct proof that Clayton Foreman continued to engage in these kind of crimes after Catherine Edwards. [00:41:11] Speaker 13: Clayton Bernard Foreman, the only option is life in prison. And there is parole, which I believe is 40 years. [00:41:22] Speaker 4: He's not going to live to see that day. I'm extremely happy that he will be spending the remainder of his days in a Texas prison system that has no air conditioner. [00:41:34] Speaker 8: And Foreman became convinced that it was Texas Ranger Brendan Bess who was responsible for all of his problems. [00:41:42] Speaker 4: He's a bi-all human being. Do I plan on, at some point in time, going back to see him? Absolutely. I believe there's more there. Figuring out what makes his clock tick will potentially lead us to other victims. [00:42:09] Speaker 6: I think you're going to see more and more of these cases get solved on a much more frequent basis. And those people that did something really bad are going to get that mysterious knock on the door one day. [00:42:20] Speaker 3: No other case will ever be this case. Nothing will be Catherine again. [00:42:27] Speaker 5: I mean, everywhere you turn, she touched so many people's lives. [00:42:32] Speaker 2: I was so satisfied that after all these years, we got to get them some kind of justice. [00:42:38] Speaker 1: I'm sorry.