Video

In 1985, Enrique Elizarbe, a recent immigrant from Peru trying to find a better life, was robbed and beaten to death in the warehouse where he works in northern Virginia. Prince William County detectives talk to a co-worker, Rowland Wheeler, who says he came back from a lunch break, found Elizarbe barely conscious, and tried to render aid. But Wheeler's stories don't make sense, and the detectives suspect Wheeler is not a Good Samaritan but a killer. Forensic teams sweep the warehouse and find evidence implicating Wheeler, including muddy footprints, blood splatter, and a bloody crowbar. The case, however, is somewhat circumstantial and prosecutors decide not to press charges. The case goes cold. In the late 1990s, Prince William County detective Dave Watson is reviewing some of his old unsolved homicides and decides to re-open the Elizarbe case. He wants to re-test some of the forensic evidence, using newer, more sensitive scientific techniques. Three new microscopic tests of the crowbar, the footprints, and boots taken from Rowland Wheeler present a strong case that he was the killer. With modern technology, scientists can find traces of blood on Wheeler's boots, and show with scientific certainty that the footprints were his. As prosecutors gear up for trial, they get a bonus: while waiting in county jail for his trial, Wheeler tells two cellmates precisely how he killed Enrique Elizarbe in 1985. The two accounts are independent, and convincing in their detail.