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tv   Dateline NBC  NBC  November 23, 2015 1:30am-2:30am CST

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people around the world immediately took to social media offering support. >> the world mourns for parents. how millions are coping with the tragedy on-line. >> they are able to share their pain. able to share their solutions. >> i'm here to admit that i am in fact hiv positive. >> charlie sheen's hiv confession. was he blackmailed by his sex partners. >> that's just part of our good week/bad week. >> plus in the kitchen with tv's most beloved mom, family ties meredith baxter. behind the scenes with sister sister mom jacque. >> and baby daddy's melissa peterman with more than a mouthful on her comic roots. >> i was not what you would call popular. went to homecoming all the time as a senior. >> hollywood from the inside out. the insider together with yahoo!. here at the insider we cover the world of celebrity and pop culture. sometimes an event like the one
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ago has such a huge global impact that it crosses the lines into all those worlds. >> yes, it does. events like these see no labels. we are all just human and just trying to make sense of this horrible tragedy as millions of people took to social media's reaction. >> and the outrage, compassion, horror, healing. and of course prayers for paris. we're getting through it all in a digital age. but tonight we're going inside paris picking up the pieces. >> with the notre dame cathedral ringing 129 times in homage to the victims in paris, the world is gripped by the darkness which has fallen over the beloved city of lights. >> what was your reaction when you heard about the reaction. >> welfaris is like a second home. i live ford for years. i have family that lives there.
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i today find out if they were all right. >> face book became a hub for those in a similar situation to those like jane fonda. there was a rarely used feature in which people could check in safe. >> i'm a french illustrator. >> and he is the man who unified the world with the simplistic power of pen. peace for paris combines a peace symbol with the eiffel tower. it quickly went viral. >> kim kardashian, katy perry, pharrell and chris rock were a few celebrities who retweeted the image. >> it is just an iconic image that speaks to everybody. >> our insider, sirius fm and psycho therapist dr. jen manning explains why many feel the need to connect digitally during tragedy. >> social media brings people together because they are able to share their pain. >> the songs for peace sung throughout paris stand in sharp contrast to the horror which unfolded inside the bataclan music hall. this haunting image was taken from the stage just moments
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before gunmen stole the lives of over 80 innocent fans. they were there for the california-based rock band, eagles of death metal. "60 minutes" spoke to one of the survivors. >> they were here to kill as many people as possible. it was going to be a blood bath. hell. >> some survivors hung out of windows in a desperate attempt to escape. there would be no survival for the band's merchandise manager. >> the best man that ever lived, nick alexander. >> in new york his girlfriend comforted at a memorial. while back in paris, survivor isabel's facebook post showing her blood-stained shirt has gone viral. in the post she said in part quote to the 80 people murdered inside that venue, i promise that their last thoughts were not on the animals who caused all this. it was thinking of the people they love. that sentiment makes this halloween performance of eagles of death metal with duran duran
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singing the classic "save a prayer" all the more poignant now. save the prayer for the morning after >> i lived in paris as a student during my college years so this story hit close to home. as we've seen, you don't have to be french or even speak the language to say -- >> yes, we are all paris. in the end, goodness and love prepares. >> love always wins. now having hollywood buzzing in our good week bad week. >> a bad week for charlie sheen. >> i'm here to admit that i am in fact hiv positive. >> diagnosed four years ago, charlie says he came forward under duress of being exposed. he estimates his pay off to secure his secrets are in the $10 million range. >> we are talking about lawsuits filed against you or shake downs? >> we are talking about shake downs. shake downs, yeah. >> are you still paying some of these people? >> not after today i'm not.
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>> meanwhile, a good week for david beckham. aka people's sexiest man alive. >> hopefully his reaction to being the sexiest man alive, she was pretty pleased. >> while some on-line thought he was too passed his prime for the title. >> young boys are feignine but i want a man. >> still got it, striking a pose of a different kind. the married father of four is one of the 26 men in the world who received people's top spot honor. >> david beckham joked that he thought he passed the sell by date. but we disagree. we think he is getting better with age. >> debbie, i know you're still stuffed from spending the week in the kitchen with our favorite tv mom. >> a bit after thanksgiving warm-up really. i didn't just get delicious recipes, i got some serious girl talk. i met up with meredith baxter in
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the kitchen. she took me back to the milestone moment when she came out on national television. >> you very publicly came out to matt lauer in 2009. >> yeah. >> why did you -- >> i was setting my hair on fire on national television. the hardest thing i've ever done. >> why did you decide to do it at that time? >> i'm a lesbian. it was later in life recognition of that fact. >> you know, i sort of felt i had to. >> there are people right now sitting at home -- >> what? what? >> just come off of a lesbian cruise and all of my family knew. my manager told me that perez hilton was asking questions. there were pictures. i was in the bathtub the night before knowing i was going on the show in the morning and i was just sobbing. just sobbing. this is the end. this is the end. this is the end. i'm setting myself on fire. that's going to be the end. and nancy said you know what, it would have meant the world to me when i was growing up to see
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someone in those public eye coming out and saying this. so i had to go in and do the thing as a political thing. >> how good did it feel when you walked off the set? >> nancy and i walked out and we went and bought each other rings. >> wow. how did your ex-husband respond to that? >> you really care about that? >> you were married three times before nancy. and you're about to celebrate your second wedding anniversary. >> yes. how did you know nnsyancy was the love of your life? >> you know, she add smile that was amazing. amazing. she was so steady. >> what are we making, by wait? >> okay, this is an indian doll. >> have you always enjoyed making indian food? >> no. my wife went to the doctor and was so happy with her results that i thought, i have to get the cook book and i've been a
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so it was right up my alley. >> in her new lifetime christmas movie, becoming santa premiering next month, meredith is in the kitchen again. this time as mrs. klaus, reuniting with michael gross. >> reuniting with your television husband, michael gross. can't shake him. >> don't want to shake him. he said he is my favorite husband. >> that looks delicious. >> delish. >> coming up, cooking conversation continues with baby daddy momma mrs. peterman. >> and her secret behind the 60-pound weight loss. >> that's next. >> but first, what does it take for the hollywood fountain of youth? we asked stars it reveal their everyday beauty secrets. >> floor to ceiling, tracy looking hot. >> take at least five minutes a week to do something really special for yourself.
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>> eyebrow, do not forget that. >> eye cream. you're never too young for eye cream. tip. rest of the night. >> you know the trick? >> lean forward. booty out. >> now jen has some advice for better skin. >> it's never too early to think about anti-aging. and it doesn't have to be overly complicated. my favorite pick is boots number 7's new protect and perfect intense advance serum. so easy to use right under your daily moisturizer. >> can you get your at target. >> along with age comes lines and wrinklees. krinically proven to reduce both in just four weeks. >> we here at the insider have a special offer for you on our twitter page. >> finally, want to know how devious made ross lin sanchez keeps that killer bod at 42? >> i work out, eat well.
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all right. this is my fiance. >> you have to pack this one a lunch for school? >> she's funny. >> melissa peterman and her reba co-star reba mcentire reuniting on "baby daddy" later this year. >> i love those two together. melissa is funnier in real life. i know it is hard it believe. now it is melissa's turn to join me at hollywood kitchens where we talk about all kinds of things including her dramatic
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weight loss and ultimately finding her recipe for comedy gold. >> you can add blueberries, blackberries, strawberries. sprinkle a little flour on it. >> you know what's missing? >> what? >> have you ever noticed what's missing here? >> butter. >> did i mention that no one perfected this recipe? >> melissa's late mother-in-law butterless raspberry pie. >> this is delicious. >> was the backdrop for the origin of the baby daddy's genius. >> it took me four of them to realize that's not working for you melissa. so i was not what you would call a popular kid. you probably went to homecoming all the time. i was a senior, letting it all out on this segment. oh, god, i'm going to cry. >> hey, reba! can you smell what barbara jean is cooking? >> when you're on reba -- >> yes. >> you went through a dramatic transformation np. >> i did. >> you lost 60 pounds? >> mm-hm.
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>> number one, how did you do it? number two, how did you keep it off? you kept it off -- >> i didn't keep all 60 off. i kept a few for fun. >> you must have had to change a lot of things you ate. >> turns out, i ate some doritos for a palette cleanser. a year after i gave birth to riley. i had the best pregnancy. loved every second of it. but once i did that, i felt super powerful. i should have been the most tired but i felt the most energized. seeing a trainer like four days a week and exercising this time. not just romantically. >> your husband didn't mind. totally fine. talked about it. john stamos -- >> he smiles and you get blinded. >> his teeth aren't just white. they are white and can you see your future in it. you're like oh, my god, i see
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>> i think that john stamos will be afraid when he sees us on the lot next. >> brother, you've been warned. >> we continue with sister sister mom jacque dishing. >> it's awesome. plus the legendary suzanne somers on her recipe for eternal youth and her hey i'm here on the red carpet where our next arrival is... whoa! toenail fungus!? fight it! with jublia. jublia is a prescription medicine used to treat toenail fungus. use jublia as instructed
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a that girls >> this is really cool. how much is it? >> it will go with everything. >> how much is it? >> i can also wear it for school. >> how much is it? >> that is the one and only jacque harry playing mom to the maury twins. i'm old school. >> it wasn't all heart and flowers between jacque and her co-star. now the 227, it is well documented, that the network wanted you for that role really badly and mar la fought against you getting that. why? >> she wanted someone else. but we made up. we've come full circle. >> how did you finally have your moment? woman to woman? >> we had it recently. very recently.
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but i'm not totally blameless. i was a diva. for a minute. for a long minute. >> really? >> nutmeg. i love nutmeg. >> and i found out at hollywood kitchens, this diva can cook. the celebrity chop winner makes a mean sweet potato pie. >> put that in the oven. isn't that pretty? >> and emmy goes to jacque for 227. >> you're still the first american woman to -- >> to win for comedy. >> a role for comedy. you are a trailblazer. >> i didn't always like it. can you believe that? i wanted to be a dramatic actress. i wanted to be viola davis. i was depressed for a while. a lot of people don't know that. >> what? >> you're the first i told that. i wanted to be a serious actress. i thought they were laughing at
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me, casting agents. >> but this three time divorcee isn't laughing. >> jennifer lawrence, you have to find someone, economic status does matter. no shoes, no car, been there done that. >> doesn't happen very often, though, does it? >> no! >> i had so much fun with her. she is hysterical. she will always be sandra to me. >> just like suzanne somers will forever about chrissy snow. >> oh, seriously? i wanted to be chrissy snow. but also, going on to be a model in the sitcom "step by step" remember that? she showed me her recipe for eternal youth. one part protein shake. one part sex. oh, yeah. >> i don't eat chemicals. that's what this is all about. and protein. just two scoops of chocolate powder.
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we will add coconut milk. you will think i'm weird it put heavy cream in there. but i believe in healthy dietary fats. coconut chips. because why not. okay now taste this. >> i have to say -- >> i'm a little bit after messy cook. >> this is like a milk shake. >> i know. i know. >> over last four decades, suzanne somers has written 25 books including her latest "toxic." she and her husband have built a mind blowing $100 million empire with over a thousand product. but none more successful than their 38-year marriage. >> how have you managed to stay together in such a crazy business? >> i don't know. he likes a lot of sex. >> and you do you have a lot of sex? >> we do. we do. >> you're not the only one. it keeps you together. jane fonda just said that sex in her 70s is the best -- >> jane, jane, i've never been with jane.
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but jane -- talks about sex a lot too. but we -- i think the baby boomers are still -- got our stuff. it is still happening. >> what is that about? >> we're both on hormones. >> do you think that's why? >> i do. when you get older you lose your sex hormones. we're hormonally happy in our house. every morning we just rub on our creams and look at each other with that glint in our eyes. >> like a couple of teenagers. >> well, the kids are gone. you've got kids at home. our kids are gone. and we go, what are you in the mood for? >> what's his favorite thing about you, do you think? >> he is very -- i can't say it. >> what is your favorite thing? >> see, that's the key it a 40-year marriage, ladies and gentlemen. >> all those years in catholic school. >> okay. >> before her seven-year run on
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was the beloved chrissy snow on "threes company." >> the hair style, on sunset boulevard, right when i got the part. and there was an outdoor cafe. and this woman was sitting there with an afghan dog. and i looked at the dog, you know -- >> oh my gosh. yes. >> and i went -- that's how i got my hair style. >> that is awesome. >> she is so genuine. >> yeah. >> so funny. i love this woman. i had so much fun with all the tv moms. >> i'm jealous. >> you can go along next time. i'm sure she would love to have you. >> all the reci one, two, three, four can i have a little more? five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten i love you sail the ship chop the tree skip the rope
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monday, on the insider. >> you want to be there the first minute. >> inside the american music awards. on the red carpet, back stage with bieber, j.lo and again stefany. >> and in honor of the sexiest man alive. >> probably something that you have the opportunity. >> and -- >> you look amazing. >> dancing's maks is back. helping a disabled dancer get back on floor. >> amazeingamazing. it's very it's humbling.
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by -- so before we go, continuing to top the box office worldwide. just grossed $550 million. >> that is crazy. but did you know that bond's iconic vodka martini was not his first cocktail of choice? no. daniel craig revealing the drink that didn't make the cut on jimmy kimmel this week. here it is in case you missed it. >> what would you like? >> a robitussin and tonic straight up. white russian with two splenda, sweet pickles and mr. pick. strawberry daiquiri, sorbet and two umbrellas. waiting with make that three umbrellas. and one of those little yellow swords. >> how about a shirley temple.
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can you imagine bond from long island?
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>> long island -- murder is so personal. she knew who was in the room
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she trusted that person. and the saddest thing is that the last person you look at in this world is not your loved ones -- it's your killer. >> gosh, i miss her so much. >> tough. tenacious. as feisty as her name, hard-driving defense attorney chiquita tate. >> she would walk into a courtroom and she looked like she owned the place. >> she loved defending those clients. she loved law. >> she'd stayed late at work to read up on a murder case. but the next murder police wound up investigating was hers. >> she's representing some really hardened criminals. maybe somebody had a beef with her. >> it was personal. >> the clues? a missing gucci wallet. mystery strands of hair. >> it suggested that a female had maybe killed her and she'd
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>> whodunit? who came up here and did it? >> somebody planned this murder. >> somebody wanted her out of the way. >> i told her, "i will make this right. i will make this right for you." >> i'm lester holt. and this is "dateline." here's dennis murphy with -- "shining star." >> reporter: cajun country is where the dreadful thing happened. baton rouge, the louisiana state capitol perched on the banks of the mississippi. three blocks off the river, on a chilly thursday night, a criminal defense lawyer was working late, drafting a writ for the big murder trial starting monday. when did the killer take her? sometime after 8:00 was the best guess. the news led next morning's early drive. >> i hear on a local news
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station, they interrupt to say that there is a downtown murder in a law office. >> reporter: attorney prem burns was on her way into work. >> which, of course, alerts me. initially, my -- my gosh -- is it an attorney? >> reporter: the office, now strung with yellow crime scene tape, belonged to an up-and-comer named chiquita tate. a local woman just a few years out of law school, but already making a name for herself in the competitive, pads and helmets, arena of litigation and criminal defense. >> she had recently won a half-million dollar jury verdict. that's pretty good for somebody out such a short time. >> reporter: chiquita was one of seven, her father, absent, raised by her grandma in a tired neighborhood of boarded-up houses. smart and determined, she rose above her impoverished early years and once her fuse was lit, she became a rocket. >> she was talented.
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she had overcome so very much in a short time period. she was the star of her family. >> reporter: chiquita was the first in her family to go to college. then she enrolled in hometown southern law school. got grabbed up by a law firm where she started clerking while studying for the bar. that's when she met legal assistant lessie hookfin. >> she was just driven, wanting to -- to get that next -- i'll call it that next high. and law school was that, being a lawyer was that. and she achieved it. >> reporter: she passed the bar on her first shot? >> on her first shot. >> reporter: she eagerly lapped up the hard cases, the kind that made news. accused killers, druggies, gang-bangers. she seemed at ease in the spotlight, happily talking to reporters. >> chiquita was enjoying such success, she opened her own firm
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from the courts complex. lessie hookfin went with her. >> reporter: what areas did she start to stake out for herself? >> criminal. she wanted to do criminal so bad. >> reporter: prem burns watched her in action. chiquita was one to speak her mind and dress how she wanted in conservative lady lawyer pantsuits one day and stilettos and spiky hair the next. >> she would walk into a courtroom and she looked like she owned the place. >> reporter: you could hear her coming before you saw her, huh? >> you could, you could. and we always joked, because chiquita would wear four-inch heels and just strut in and you knew chiquita tate was in the courtroom. >> reporter: another thing, chiquita was all about family. she hired her sister denita to help in the office. and denita knew better than anyone that hard-driving chiquita could be sunny one minute and a gulf coast storm the next. >> she fired me, like, every week. >> reporter: she fired you? >> yeah, every week, and then, at night-- >> reporter: you were her office assistant.
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night she will call me and say "we'll talk," and then she'd say, "see ya in the mornin'." i'm, like, "i thought i was fired." >> reporter: in fact, it was a skirmish with chiquita that sparked the interest of a young man named greg harris who, almost literally, bumped into her while they were both cruising around town. greg's brother mike says it started when greg cut chiquita off. >> she's in a corvette. he's in a mercedes. she's blowin' the horn at him and, you know, "oh, you -- you -- you don't cut me off." and so they pull up to the red light. and i heard a few smiles went from him, a few smiles went from her. and after that, it was all she wrote. >> reporter: greg harris was doing well as a contractor. the romance blossomed and chiquita moved into greg's home a big step up from the falling down neighborhood of shotgun houses where she grew up. they got married in a small wedding with family in 2008 and a year later chiquita was moving
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proudly hanging out her shingle. >> reporter: did anybody ever worry about her and her clients? 'cause there were some tough -- >> i -- >> reporter: -- hombres that she was defending. >> there were. but i don't think that it was to the point where either she had to worry or anyone else had to worry. >> reporter: on february 19, 2009, chiquita was working hard, prepping her defense in a double homicide case. she told lessie she had to work late just a couple of hours, but chiquita never returned home that night. her husband greg called her office repeatedly but got no answer. around dawn he drove down to the office, troubled, he'd say later, to see his wife's hummer parked where she left it. he couldn't get in the locked building, so he called 911. >> um, my wife, um, she was working late last night, but i cant get inside the building. i need a cop over here quick. >> reporter: greg suddenly spotted a patrol car and flagged it down. an office worker let the policeman in the building while
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denita. >> and he was, like, "d, the hummer is still parked here. and they won't let me in the office." >> reporter: once upstairs, it took only a glance for the patrol officer to declare chiquita's office a crime scene, a bad one. the shining starlight of chiquita tate had been cruelly extinguished. by whom? and for what reason? >> when we come back, the first clues. >> no blood in the elevator, no blood on the lobby. her left hand was opened. there was a piece of hair in it. i was like, "oh, my lord." (gasps) can we keep him? -please? mom, can we keep him? ahh! (both) pleaaaase? new pet? get scrubbing bubbles. kill 99.9% of germs, and destroy dirt and grime. you only need scrubbing bubbles
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>> reporter: as the sun was coming up over the mississippi that cold february morning, the family and friends of chiquita tate were converging on the street below her office. >> so i tried to run in the office, and the police grabbed me. they was, like, "ma'am, you can't go in there." i say, "that's my sister in there." >> reporter: just like denita, chiquita's legal assistant lessie hookfin was stopped on the street outside by an officer. >> and he saw me coming.
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because i was going down. and that's when he told me she was dead. >> reporter: chiquita's loved ones were huddled together when veteran homicide detectives chris johnson and elvin howard rolled up to the scene. >> so the responding officers told you, "that's the husband over there," but he's on the edge of things for you. you haven't approached him yet?" >> that's -- that's correct. >> he was upset to the point where uniform patrol had to put him in the back of the unit. >> so do you go up at the point? >> no. at that time, we try to gather as much information as possible. >> reporter: the detectives began their standard investigative ritual -- putting together a timeline of the victim's last day. assistant lessie hookfin knew some of it. >> so that thursday, how does that fit in your recollection? what was that day like? >> pretty regular day. >> reporter: chiquita had gone to court and that very day talked to reporters about her latest case. >> the statute is the question that i would like the appellate
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>> reporter: after a quick chat, she headed back to her office where workers were refinishing a bookcase. lessie left at her regular time, about 5:30. and she remembers being concerned about the smell of varnish . >> i said, "quita, don't stay in here too late," because the smell was just overpowering. she said, "less, i'm not gonna stay in here late. i'm just gonna read this." >> reporter: but she did stay late. chiquita's husband greg told police his wife called him around 7:00 or so and asked him to please bring her something to eat, so he set out from their home in baker, about 25 minutes away. >> then he said he went to mcdonald's in baker and got some hamburgers and fries and brought it to chiquita in her office. chiquita met him downstairs, according to greg, and let him into the building, because at 5:30 in the evening until 7:30 in the next morning the building is locked. >> and unless you have a swipe card, you can't get access. >> exactly. >> reporter: greg told the cops he encountered a number of tenants in the building working late that night.
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he remembered running downstairs on a small errand for his wife. >> yeah. chiquita had a client that was coming over to pick up some money. so he went downstairs to pay this client and pick up some paperwork from this person for chiquita. >> reporter: greg said chiquita had more work to do and yet another client to see, so he took off for home he said. it was sometime around 8:30. what happened next was a bloody mystery. it would be up to the detectives and also prem burns to figure out. the attorney hearing the awful news on her car radio that morning -- the one who got such a kick out of chiquita in court was, in fact, a legendary baton rouge prosecutor. >> my boss, the district attorney, was out there. there were so many police officers there, the crime scene van was there.
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immediately said to my boss, "i want this. i want this case." >> reporter: prem insisted -- as she always does -- on viewing the crime scene. as she entered the office she noticed chiquita had been fixing things up. >> but then, when you proceeded into the next room where her body was, i was like, "oh, my lord." she was butchered. she was butchered. she was laying on the floor. she had little slipper socks on her feet, the way all of us would be if we stay after work. we're not going to keep our heels on. she basically had a law book that i think she had been reading that was in her hands at the time the attack began. >> reporter: chiquita had been stabbed 43 times. the attack was brutal and messy, the bloodstained wall suggesting a fight to the death. >> did you have a murder weapon? >> no, we didn't. >> reporter: did you get lucky with a footprint or a partial print or anything in blood? anything like that? >> no, we did not get lucky with a footprint. >> no blood in the elevator, no blood in the lobby, no blood on the buttons. >> reporter: the killer had improbably vanished without
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and at first glance, hadn't taken anything either. >> had the office been trashed? had anybody been looking through files or something like that? >> no. >> no. >> we didn't see that. >> she had expensive jewelry still on her -- on her hands. she had earrings in her ear. so it -- it def -- >> so this is starting to tell you some stuff about the nature of this killing, huh? >> that's correct. >> reporter: it didn't look like a robbery. however, as crime scene techs processed the scene, the investigators realized chiquita's wallet was missing from her purse. and there, in the victim's hand, what looked like a major clue. >> and her left hand was opened, there was a piece of hair in it. not -- actually, 91 strands of hair in it. and her right arm was over her head and she just -- she just died like that. >> reporter: had she pulled it from her killer's head? the hair was long. had the killer been a woman? >> what were your theories? what did you think? >> i actually, uh, did not come to any conclusions because i
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would've wanted her dead. >> reporter: chiquita's father-in-law, silver ray harris, admired her courage, but wondered about the kind of clients who came with her line of work. >> bein' a criminal lawyer, that's what you deal with, criminals. so you have to accept a degree of bad people. they come lookin' for -- >> for the toughest of the tough, huh? >> that's what i hear. that she would -- she'd -- if you went to her, she'd try to help you. >> could have been an unhappy client. >> could well have been -- >> someone who didn't like the results that they got from her. >> could have been. or could have been a member of the victim's family. >> reporter: the list of potential suspects could be as long as her client list. yet, chiquita's brother-in-law says he can't understand how anyone could do such a thing. >> heartless. completely. to do her that way. when i get on my knees at night, i pray he'll get justice. >> reporter: police were confident they would get their man or woman. and something up a street pole
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outside chiquita's office were city surveillance cameras and traffic cams. did one of several cameras see someone enter after greg left? there may not have been a trail of blood, but with a little luck, those cameras just might give them a portrait of their killer, or killers, suitable for framing. coming up -- >> she sees the wallet on the side of the road. >> the missing wallet and that mystery clump of hair. what might it reveal? >> if you're in a fight and pull someone's hair out, you're going to find root hairs. >> so the scenario that occurs to me is that this is a woman cooking thanksgiving dinner for your family can be stressful. we'll show you some gadgets you might want to get your hands on to help you out. and there's a neeatment if you're looking to lose weight fast. we'll tell you how you can make
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>> reporter: chiquita tate's vicious killing -- stabbed and slashed dozens of times -- had shaken her friends and family to their very roots. and as an officer of the courts, it was also an attack on baton rouge's criminal justice system
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johnson and howard to find the killer. >> you're looking at the poles around here. what was that, chris? >> yeah, the crime cameras. we know that most of baton rouge has crime cameras and there are several locations. and across from the office there is a crime camera right there on the pole. >> we also have the traffic cameras that are on each signal light. >> there are some right there. >> yes, that's correct. >> so you could get really lucky maybe. >> yeah, hopefully. >> and get the perpetrator coming or going. >> that's correct. >> reporter: this camera, about a block away from chiquita's office, was working fine. it showed a quiet street the night of the killing. normal activity. what they really wanted was the shot from this camera, which swept right pass chiquita's office door. but bad luck. a recent storm had knocked it out. >> the camera in front of the office was not working properly on that particular night. >> reporter: so no picture of a suspect. this wasn't going to be an open-shut solve. but there was evidence to work with.
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the crime scene technician had taken scrapings from under chiquita's fingernails and sent them off for lab analysis. had she scratched dna material from her killer? they'd have to wait on findings. and likewise the clump of hair found in chiquita's hand. did it contain dna identifying the killer? >> if you're in a fight and -- and pull someone's hair out -- >> yeah. >> you're gonna find root hairs, hair balls. >> reporter: but, the lab work was back on the hair sample. there were no roots on those strands. but the hair had come from a woman's hair extension or a weave. >> so the scenario that occurs to me is that this is a woman that's in this assault-- >> exactly. >> -- two women are fighting and she's gotten a bit of this weave and yanked it -- >> exactly. >> reporter: the theory of two women in a death struggle didn't make sense to the cops. the attack seemed too violent, too overwhelming. but with homicides, you never know. in the early hours of the investigation though, they did catch a major break. a report had come into dispatch. a woman driving through a high-crime area known as gardere
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lane called police to say she'd found a wallet. and it belonged to chiquita tate. >> she's driving down gardere lane and she sees the wallet on the side of the road. >> reporter: amazingly enough, the finder of the wallet knew chiquita. the young attorney had given a speech at her daughter's school and made quite an impression. >> that prompted her to call the police and advise us that she -- she located this wallet. >> reporter: and unexpectedly for a wallet taken from a victim's purse and then tossed, chiquita's id and her credit cards were all inside, which got investigators thinking. maybe the killer planted the wallet there, hoping some street person would find it and stumble right into a homicide investigation. >> when you take a nice gucci wallet, loaded with credit cards, to gardere lane and leave it in the streets, somebody's going to pick it up and start going to the mall, spending some of those credit cards. and the first thing that's going
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to happen is that the police are going to have a film of the transaction and go to that person and say, "you killed chiquita tate." >> there's our suspect. >> absolutely. >> reporter: so, this killer unknown started taking on some traits in the detectives' minds. the person was good or lucky enough to get out of the office building without leaving a trail of blood, and after what had to have been a frenzied attack, still had the composure to think up the red herring of the tossed wallet. the killer looked like a cool customer. perhaps a professional? as the cops went down the list of dubious characters on her client roster, they looked closely at two men who had been accused of killing a man and his 17-year old son. possible suspects? >> one of 'em actually was in jail at the time of the -- of the homicide and it just was very unlikely that -- that someone who -- who she worked so hard for would kill her. >> reporter: a few of the people on chiquita's client list were
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others had alibis. but she also had clients who were free to come and go. did one of them have an appointment? >> was there anybody due to come in that evening? >> no. >> far as you recall -- >> not after -- not after hours. >> after hours? >> no. that would've been very unusual. and i would've known. >> reporter: a mystery client with the worst of grudges? a woman unknown? only theories, until the cops play poker with a witness and hit the jackpot when they're only holding a pair of deuces. coming up -- two new clues. a revealing recording and a revealing phone call with a jaw-dropping tip for police. >> this is a voice saying, "i think i know who may have killed chiquita." (laughs)
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