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tv   Dateline  MSNBC  June 16, 2024 11:00pm-12:00am PDT

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shannon would have been one of those. >> and monique has a keepsake that ensures shannon is with her every day on her finger. >> this is the infamous ring that he had taken from her. >> saying this is the evidence that i have? and i'm guessing you were never separated? >> no. this makes me feel really close to her. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. ccluskd that she met him in a bar. i am andrea canning ten.ands is dateline. >> she said that she met him at a bar. >> she was smitten. she went all out for him. >> she could not see the red flags. >> it was a heartbreaking case.
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>> i didn't realize how much in danger she was. >> one of our friends looked him up. this is not the guy you think he is. >> he kind women to get what he wanted. >> he was good at it. >> he was peaking in her dorm room. spirit lauren kept saying the police will handle it. >> we got the notification on our phones, lockdown. >> he was lying in wait. i said this is not real. >> how do you not recognize this girl needs help. what could scare every parent to see could happen at any campus across the country. hello, and welcome to dateline. college senior lauren mccluskey was known as a star athlete. few knew that off the field, she was trapped in an abusive relationship. she turned to campus police for protection not once but several
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times. most of us would agree it was the right thing to do. why did things turn out so very wrong? here is josh mankiewicz with lauren's promise. >> ♪ >> graduation at the university of utah in salt lake city, home . it time for selfies. smiles. celebration. in may 2019, 8500 graduates and their families packed the university's huge arena. lauren mccluskey should've been here too receiving her degree in cap and gown as happy as her classmates. except, she was not. the story of what happened and why is as sad as it is eye- opening. >> this was not one of those things that it was out of our bones control.
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>> how many times do women have to call for help before the university of utah realizes, you know what? we've got to stop this up. >> what are the two of you thinking at that point? >> i couldn't fathom what happened. >> neither of us slept that night. >> it's a story that could have ended differently. if just one person had stepped up. if one more phone call had been made. 1.connected. instead, the repercussions of a preventable murder would continue for years to come. lauren grew up in a college town of pullman, washington. her parents both professors. from early on, lauren was a girl in motion. her mom, jill. >> she could climb trees when she was two years old. >> she excelled at the hurdles and high jump. a stack of metals tell her story
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which paid off with scholarship money from the university of utah. her dad, matt. >> one of the attractions of the university of utah was that it appeared to be very safe. >> and they actually sell that. salt lake city is one of the safest cities and it's a safe place. >> that's part of the pitch? >> yeah. >> and she headed off to college, lauren was a parents dream. dedicated athlete, studious, not a party here, not a drinker. not active on the dating scene. what were you worried about? >> the only thing i worried about was i wanted to research a safe car. that was my only real worry. >> lauren met alex on day one of her freshman year. >> so, we were roommates our freshman year, august 2015. we became instant friends. >> alex and lauren hung out
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together. attended church together and for the next three years, lauren continued to focus on her studies. track events and her friends. as for boyfriends? not so much. did she have a lot of boyfriends? >> i would say no but she hang out with her friends a lot. >> then september 2018, the start of senior year. lauren and alex went to a bar downtown one night. lauren met someone. his name is shawn fields and he was working security at the bar. he let the two women in and kept an eye on them throughout the evening. as they were leaving, he made contact with lauren. >> she was like, gave him my number. i guess we will see if he contacts me. >> he did. lauren told alex the next morning. >> she said he texted me and were going on a date this afternoon. >> he said he was a part of computer science suit -- he was
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28, little old but not a big deal. more dates followed and lauren told her parents about the man in her life. >> is sounded sold sort of old- fashioned the way he was paying attention to her and asking her out for dinner and doing these things. >> i used to say, she is in love. >> you could hear it in her voice? >> yeah. >> things moved quickly and they were soon exclusive. when did you realize they were boyfriend and girlfriend? >> probably a week after they met. >> he made her feel special. >> that special feeling would not last. >> is lawrence princess charming as he seems? her friend start to worry about her new relationship. >> we noticed she was tired. she seemed stressed. you could tell at least physically in her face that she was going through emotionally a
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lot on her mind. you know, with the relationship. >> before long her friends had a new worry. >> i was told he was going to give her a gun. >> we never thought a gun was necessary. >> when dateline continues. wh if you smoke, it's totally possible. that's what happened to me. (announcer) you can quit. for free help, call 1-800-quit-now.
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at the start of her senior year at the university of utah, lauren mccluskey how hard for a guy named shawn fields, and soon he was her boyfriend. her parents jill and matt heard regular updates by phone. her friends describe lauren is kind of smitten with this new guy. did that come across talking with the two of you? >> a lot of that happiness was there already but she clearly seemed very happy about her relationship with this person. >> lauren's parents hundreds of miles away in washington state knew only what their daughter was telling them. it was different for her good friends at the university. they began noticing that the very independent lauren was now at shawn's back and call. >> every time he would text her, she would stop what she was doing to pick up the phone or text. >> alex said she was put off by shawn's behavior when lauren
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and she went back to the bar where he was working. >> he would say don't forget to pick me up at 2:00 a.m. don't fall asleep. he said it jokingly but i could tell he was serious. >> in other words, pressuring her to pick him up in the middle of the night after his shift ends? >> yes. >> the very next night alex said something made her uncomfortable. >> he was asking where were you? she was with me the entire time. the fact he kept asking was bothering me. >> did you say something to lauren? >> i said it wasn't normal but she thought he would start to trust her. >> he said they were brand-new but he's already possessive? >> yes. >> another friend named diamond was thinking the same thing. diamond new lauren did not have a ton of dating experience. >> she really went all out for him.
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was really interesting, i think, too much time in a. to her it translated as this is a relationship. it's what we do. >> a lot of who are you with, where are you going? did you say to her this is not acceptable behavior for a boyfriend, any man? >> i did. i said i'm coming to usa older friend who has dated quite a few people. presenting him calling you and asking who you are with and wanting pictures of people around you, that's not protection. >> that's not love. >> and it's not. >> and she would say? >> she would say it's fine. he just wants to make sure i am okay. >> carmen said lauren told her about a fight with shawn and he stormed off and lauren found she would be the one to change. >> she clearly said, i don't
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want to upset him again that way. i don't want to see him that mad again. >> a couple weeks into the relationship, shawn was practically living with lauren in the dorm on campus. he made friends with other students and was able to come and go without a key card. lauren's friends thought she was sleep deprived and she seemed sad. >> we noticed she was tired. she seemed stressed. you could tell at least physically in her face that she was going through emotionally a lot on her mind. you know, with the relationship. >> then something more ominous. lauren told her friends at shawn wanted to give her a gun for her protection. >> that immediately, that was a first trigger. >> a trigger because diamond was working for the university housing department. at the time she was lauren's resident assistant living in a nearby building. she endanger that she needed a gun? >> not that i know a. when i
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was with her, we never thought a gun was necessary. >> it's not illegal to have a gun on campus but do a lot of students have a gun? >> not to my knowledge but it still has to be concealed. you have to have a license. you have to go through the necessary channels. from what i was told, he was trying to give her a gun he had. >> and that would've been against the rules? >> yes. >> in something you would've had to report? >> and that's what i did. >> diamonds that you called her superior about what she learned and she wrote an email. the university asked us to make clear that diamond is speaking for herself and what she says is the response from housing officials to her alerts was not proactive. >> it was a lot of, oh, we will have a meeting about a. will talk about it later. or stuff like that were seems like -- >> it's not a big deal. >> yeah. this is not normal and i don't understand why you are not heightened about it. >> it was one of many decisions that university officials would later look back on and regret.
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>> coming up. >> she had called me and she seemed shocked and scared. >> shawn had a secret. an ugly one. >> did she have any idea what she would find when she started searching? arted searching? is he? claritin clear? yeah. fast relief of allergies with nasal congestion, so you can breathe better. claritin plus decongestant. live claritin clear®.
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josh mankiewicz: by late september 2018, lauren mccluskey's good friends at the university by late september, 2018,
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lauren mccluskey's good friends at the university of utah were increasingly unhappy about her new relationship with shawn fields. >> i would make comments like this guy is literally not good for her. he throws us off. >> you were afraid of him? >> yes. >> physically afraid? >> yes. he was a huge guy. >> when lauren's friends heard he wanted to give her a gun, their concern intensified. >> we would tell her, no, her safety is fine. if anything, he is compromising your safety. >> in early october, lauren made a frightening discovery. >> she called me and she seemed shocked and scared. >> lauren had seen her boyfriend's i.d. and it had his photo with a different name. suspicious. she turned to google.
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did she have any idea what she would find when she started searching? >> no. >> suddenly shawn fields is melvin rowland. it was stunning. most of what she thought she knew about her boyfriend was a lie. from his real name, melvin rowland, to his age, 37. 16 years older and finally this. lauren's boyfriend was a registered sex offender. he had been convicted of sexual for simple abuse and enticing a minor over the internet. you said you've got to break up with this guy and she said i will? >> yeah, she was going to. >> lauren talked with her mom and talked about what she learned about her boyfriend and she wanted to break up with him. >> she asked me advice for the best way to separate from him. >> i'm thinking you said get as far away as you can and make sure you never see him again. >> yes.
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>> that night, roland showed up peering in her window and startling her. when he finally came in, she confronted him about his lies. >> he was that i was set up. they framed me. then she said they needed to break up. every time he said he was going to leave he would force himself upon her. >> he is twice her size. >> may be four or five times her size. he was huge. >> so she could not resist. >> there is no way she could have gotten away. >> he stayed until morning and when he finally did leave, he was driving car. letting him use the car was the price of getting him out the door. >> yes. >> now, how to get the car back? rowland was going to leave it at a distant university parking lot where lauren could pick it up.
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jill didn't like that one bit. that is when she jumped into action. >> i'm worried he is dangerous. >> she call the campus police. >> we can definitely have someone help her read. can you have your daughter give us a call? >> jill had more. >> let me tell you a little bit more. he was lying to her. he's actually a sexual offender. and lied about his age and things like that. he has her he has her car. i'm worried she's going to go there alone and someone's going to hurt her. >> campus police sent an escort with lauren and the car was retreat without a hitch. the dispatcher called jill back. >> she texted me she got the car back. seo thank you so much. i appreciate it. >> no problem. >> they were relieved. >> we were assured they would be on the lookout. we thought the situation was
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very safe. >> they were wrong. and, had they known what lay ahead, they almost certainly would have been on the next plane to salt lake city. >> coming up. >> i'm being blackmailed for money. >> i did not know her but she sounds scared. did she sound scared to the two of you? >> yeah, she does. >> new threats but campus police did not seem overly concerned. >> that cyber extortion is a crime. did campus police taken seriously? ken seriously? ch hospital because he believed no child should die in the dawn of life. in 1984, a patient named stacy arrived, and it began her family's touching story that is still going on today. vicki: childhood cancer, it's just hard. stacey passed on christmas day of 1986.
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i am jessica layton with the top stories. l.a. county first major wildfire has devoured more than 14,000 acres. it comes one day after forcing 1200 to evacuate from the hungry valley recreation area. the fire is only 2% contain.
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stereophonics dominated the tony's taking home five awards including best new play. it earned 13 nominations, the most a play has ever received. ea ca. college senior lauren mccluskey yf welcome back to dateline. i am andrea canning. college senior lauren mccluskey was stunned to learn her boyfriend lied about his name, age, and criminal past. he was not shawn fields but melvin rowland. once convicted of luring an under aged girl online and attempted sex abuse. lauren quickly ended the relationship but was about to discover the real terror is just beginning. back to josh mankiewicz with lauren's promise. after lauren mccluskey got her car back from her ex- boyfriend, her parents exhaled. he believed the university of utah police who now knew lauren
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had broken up with a registered sex offender would keep an eye out for melvin rowland. lauren hoped rowland was out of her life. a flurry of texts suggested otherwise. messages to lauren from people who identify themselves as rowland's friends. >> why did you do this to the big guy? he really loves you. >> the messages seem to be anonymous but they wondered if it was rowland disguising his number. a text told a dramatic story. rowland was in an accident then at the hospital then he died. lauren blocked all the numbers and called her mom. >> we talked about it. he could not have died in a car accident because it would've been reported. if there was a fatal accident. >> lauren so social media post from rowland so she knew he was not dead. then she received this text. will you come to funeral?
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lauren answered i know he is alive. please leave me alone and do not text this number. i got police involved. she did and told the campus police dispatcher her fears. >> i got a text about, asking if i wanted to go to his funeral. i think they are trying to lure me somewhere. >> what did they do about it? >> initially when she told them about the harassment, they told her there was not much they could do. >> not much because the cops said the text weren't threatening violence. they asked lauren to call back if the situation escalated, and it did. the very next day she received an email saying explicit photos taken during their relationship would be posted on social media unless lauren paid to keep them secret. she called campus police again. >> university police and security, can i help you? >> i'm dealing with a situation
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where i am being blackmailed for money. so, a photo of me in my ex- boyfriend, they are threatening to send it out to everyone. and he's asking for $1000. >> i did not know her but she sounded scared. did she sound scared to the two of you? >> she does. >> she sounds like she's worried this guy is out there and nobody is looking for him and nobody is taking her seriously. that's what i hear in her voice. >> absolutely. >> lauren was scared enough to pay the $1000 and then went to the campus police office to file a report in person. alex went with her. what you are describing, that kind of cyber extortion, that's a crime. the campus police did they understand that and take it seriously? >> they kept saying it's a scam. >> police seem to think
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rowland's phone was hectic at the photos in both lauren and her ex-boyfriend might be targets of a scam. the campus police, they are both being victimized. it's a scam using his phone number and her photo. but this is not him victimizing her. >> yes. >> however, alex said lauren was, certain rowland was behind it all. the day, lauren told campus police about the frightening time she caught rowland peaking through her window. did they seem concerned? this is a boyfriend/girlfriend thing? >> i figured they thought we were overreacting in a way. >> lauren was embarrassed by the photos and deeply concerned about them getting out. she shared them with campus police and hope for an immediate arrest. the campus police promised an update in three days. maybe -- lauren called the much
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larger salt lake city police department. >> i was just concerned because i wasn't sure how long they were going to take -- >> the salt lake city police followed the usual procedure and referred lauren back to the campus cops who had jurisdiction. >> what is your emergency? >> she's got a case number pending. she's receiving additional blackmail threats. >> during the following days, lauren called campus police repeatedly. one officer gave her his personal cell number and they exchanged 16 calls and texts. lauren was still getting more harassing text and still waiting for that promised update. and the police response would be what? >> for the most part, we will get back to you later. detectives should be contacting you soon. >> by now, lauren was worn out. diamond saw her around that time. >> not even making eye contact i could tell something was up
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but i was like, i haven't seen you in a while and i hope everything is okay. >> everything was not okay. 10 days after the breakup, lauren received a particularly chilling text. what did you tell the cops it said? we know everything. rowland was tech savvy and had he found a way to hacker messages? lauren called salt lake city police a second time. >> i'm worried because i have been working with the campus police and last saturday, i reported and i haven't gotten an update. >> okay. >> but summa contacted me today. someone who is harassing me and said that they know everything about the police. >> once again the city pd bounced her back to campus police. a small force with 30 officers responsible for more than 30,000 students. on a big public campus. that day, lauren did get a hold
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of the campus police detective assigned to her case. alex listened in. and a sense of urgency in the with the detective is talking? >> no. i remember he said send me an email with all the information later on, when you can. the detective even said it was a scan that someone is trying to scare you. >> the ideas it's not something to worry about. it was monday, october 22. another text. this one claiming to be from a campus cop asking lauren to meet him again, it was phony. the real police told her to just not answer it. rowland is impersonating a police officer. the police responses, just don't text him back? >> yes. >> don't text him back and don't go to where he says. that was it. >> not we will go there and find him?
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>> no. >> in the end, it was rowland who found lauren . here he is and campus security cameras loitering in lauren's residence that evening at 6:00. he is waiting for her. holding a black bag and pacing. two hours later the camera shows him leaving lauren's residence heading out to confront her as she returns home from an evening class. at that moment, lauren was talking with her mom on the phone. >> she sounded positive and telling me she was going to go home and finish an assignment when she went inside. >> what happens next? >> i hear her yell no, no, no. she must've gotten tackled because i hear some noise and the phone fell to the ground.
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and then, kept calling for her and she did not answer. >> what happened after that would be almost more than lauren's family and friends could be are. >> the abrupt ending to lauren's call triggers their worst fears. and, a campuswide lockdown as university cops race against time to save her. >> coming up. >> i thought she was abducted. i knew her life was in danger at that time. >> my daughter just called us and it sounds like she was attacked. >> and attack the some say campus police could have prevented. >> the university of utah was not equipped with detectives that have the know-how and knowledge to investigate a case like this. this. e only topicalr with 4 powerful pain-fighting ingredients that start working on contact to target tough pain at the source. for up to 8 hours of powerful relief. new advil targeted relief.
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josh mankiewicz: jill omccluskey's phone. conversation with her daughter had been suddenly interrupted. jill mccluskey's phone conversation with her daughter was suddenly interrupted. lauren cried out. there was a noise. then chill hundreds of miles away was listening to her child being attacked. >> i thought she was abducted. i thought it was him. i knew her life was in danger at that time. >> she was talking about melvin rowland, formally known as shawn fields , the ex-boyfriend lauren had caught in a series
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of lies. from the family home in washington state, matt called 911. >> my daughter is at the university of utah, and she just called us. it looks like she was being attacked or it sounds like she was being attacked >> at the newspaper, courtney was on -- she heard the police scanner. >> i started hearing about a possible kidnapping on campus. >> she drove to the campus of found a parking lot cordoned off with students of their windows. >> i talked to a couple who had no idea what was going on but seeing police dogs and police officers running past their doors and they were scared. >> shots fired. >> the university sent an alert to students, shooting on campus, it said. secure in place. then, hours later, confirmation of the worst news possible.
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>> they said a student had been killed on campus. >> the university released photos of melvin rowland , and the victim was not named. lauren's friends knew. >> i said, it has to be lauren. >> it was. after all the calls to police, all the steps she took to protect herself, all the advice and concern of her parents, lauren mccluskey had been murdered. she had been shot multiple times. her body left in the backseat of a car in the campus parking lot. >> it was almost like being hit with a heavy object. i couldn't really fathom what had happened. >> then it's -- even now, doesn't seem real. >> they were sobbing. i and my head said this is not real. this is not happening. >> diamond blamed herself.
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>> i really hated myself. i'm sorry. [ crying ] because i felt like i did not do as much and i did not know what to tell her parents or our friends. i could have helped her. >> do you have a badge? >> no. >> you are not a police officer. that was someone else's duty. >> i don't know why they didn't do it then. >> i have seen police moving around. they have been running and somehow -- some have guns drawn. >> melvin rowland was spotted near a church. >> the doors were locked when police got there. when they open them, he had died by suicide. >> a key fact about melvin rowland emerge. not only was he registered sex offender, he was on parole. campus police finally learned
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that minutes after he murdered lauren. >> they missed that mark. >> debbie is a former investigative reporter and spokesman for the fbi office. she now jose talk show on news radio. >> parole is an extension of person. parolees don't enjoy the same freedoms you and i do walking on the streets. they are supervised by the prison system, and they are supposed to play by the rules went out on parole. >> which means there might've been an opportunity to have melvin rowland pulled off the university of utah campus and into custody. that would've meant he would've been locked up and not able to hurt lauren mccluskey or anyone else. except, campus police never checked his parole status. never knew he could be in violation by having a gun or social media account. he spent more than 10 years of his life in prison, parole three times and twice returned
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for violations. during one parole hearing in 2012 which was recorded, rowland was frank about what had been his approach to women to show he had changed his ways. >> every female that i came across dating or met on the internet, i would say, used my manipulation tactics to get women. >> by making one full call, university police could've learned so much more about rowland and plenty of time to act on that information. >> in this case, the university of utah was not equipped with detectives they have the know- how and knowledge to investigate a case like this. >> apparently, checking parole status was not part of campus police protocol. the university police department was kind of not set up to deal with the modern age. >> the exact sense i got and they didn't seem to have a culture of knowledge of how to
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investigate crimes that are happening against women at the university. things like extortion. sextortion, social media extortion. date. >> at a news conference three days after lauren's murder, campus police chief faced reporters and defended his force. >> we did believe that rowland and/or his associates both were threatening her financially and her reputation but there's no indication from lauren to us at any point in the investigation that he was threatening physical harm. >> pacing a pr nightmare, the university of utah commissioned a review of the case and how it was handled. that review would reveal how profoundly the system and her own university failed lauren mccluskey. >> coming up. >> we know mistakes were made. we own the fact that mistakes were made. >> tough questions for the
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school. >> how could campus police department not check if the guy was on parole? >> i don't know the answer to that. >> parents deserve to know that the university do the best job they can to protect their students. r students. l like i was losing interest in the things i love. then i found a chance to let in the lyte.” discover caplyta. unlike some medicines that only treat bipolar i, caplyta is proven to deliver significant symptom relief from both bipolar i & ii depression. and in clinical trials, movement disorders and weight gain were not common. caplyta can cause serious side effects. call your doctor about sudden mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts right away. anti-depressants may increase these risks in young adults. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. caplyta is not approved for dementia-related psychosis. report fever, confusion, or stiff muscles, which may be life threatening, or uncontrolled muscle movements which may be permanent. common side effects include sleepiness,
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ng] for free help, welcome back. despite repeatedly calling campus police for help, university of utah senior lauren welcome back.
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despite repeatedly calling campus police for help, university of utah senior lauren mccluskey was gunned down by her ex-boyfriend melvin rowland. now, instead of asking the tough questions, authorities had to answer them starting with the most crucial, could her death have been prevented? here is josh mankiewicz with the conclusion. lauren mccluskey's murder in 2018 exposed the university of utah to serious criticism. asl news radio host debbie. >> lauren mccluskey did absolutely everything right. law enforcement did not do everything right. they dropped the ball and now a young, budding trakstar has paid the price with her life. >> two months after the murder came the results of that review the university had asked for. its conclusion? there were shortcomings
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systemically and individually that contributed to lauren's death. there were 30 recommendations for change. then, university president ruth watkins said this. >> the report does not offer reason to believe this could've been prevented. >> that made me sick to my stomach and i could not believe that she said that. >> i haven't talked to a single person who agrees with that statement. >> it was hard to reconcile those words with the review's on findings that there were serious problems with campus safety procedures. we wanted to speak with the administration and the campus police. instead, we were offered an interview with barbara snyder, then vice president of student affairs. >> her death was a tragedy that affected all of us and in difficult ways. we know mistakes were made and we own the fact mistakes were made. >> the university was not
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prepared for this and everybody was sort of slow to get out of their chair and realize how serious this was. maybe did not realize that until she was dead. >> i'm not sure any institution can fully prepare for a sociopath coming on your campus and targeting one of their students. >> i don't think there's anything you could do from preventing a homicidal maniac from killing someone. if that happened in a vacuum, but it did not. you know about him and who he was. you didn't know everything but you knew what she was telling you. you, i don't mean you specifically, but you as a representative of the university, you did not do anything. >> it's a harsh critique and yours to make. >> the report recognized the campus police did some things well like helping lauren retrieve her car. the review was critical of an understaffed campus police force that was not trained to recognize ordeal with relationship violence.
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did no one understand the extortion and looking in the window and harassing tax that that's part and parcel of relationship violence released a potential for it? >> obviously it was not put together in a way that would've made a difference that would've possibly prevented this. >> even though they knew he was a registered sex offender, campus police never checked his parole status. how could they not check to see whether he was on parole? >> i don't know why that did not happen. >> each one of these things is taken as its own separate incident and no one put them together into a threat that was growing. >> hindsight is always 2020. it's a correct assessment that all the pieces of the puzzle were never put together. >> at all levels of university life, lauren mccluskey's death
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had a profound effect. sometimes institutional. sometimes personal. >> there are no words to express how sorry i am at the loss of this person. no words. there's nothing i can say to apologize significantly, to have meaning. but, we are truly sorry. >> do you want to take a minute? >> i want people to know how hard it's been. i wish people could understand. >> i'm sure this is the thing -- >> since our story aired in june 2019, much has happened. the university police chief retired in october of that year. the officer assigned to investigate lauren's extortion claims was later found to have inappropriately shown of the explosive photos involved to his colleagues without a work- related reason. by the time that was learned, that officer had already left the force. others were fired.
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>> university of utah president says she's re-signing. >> then the university of utah president ruth watkins who shockingly said the death could not of been prevented stepped down in the spring of 2021. questions of how her case was handled never went away. the university says it has implemented the recommendations in the review to improve student safety and gone further, pointing a chief safety officer overhauling the school's safety apparatus, adding specialized employees like social workers who can deal with relationship violence. in october 2020, the university settled a lawsuit brought by lauren's parents, agreeing to pay them $10.5 million. >> the university acknowledges and deeply regrets that it did not -- >> at the time the president deeply acknowledged the university did not handle their
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case as it should have. >> as a result we failed lauren and her family. >> lauren's parents say their goal was always to get the university of utah to start thinking differently about student safety, hoping other parents will not suffer as they have. >> the parents deserve to know that the university did the best job they can to protect their student and that's not only increasing a budget or hiring a person but a cultural change where, in fact, they really embrace what went wrong and embrace responsibility. >> under the settlements, the university paid another $3 million directly to the lauren mccluskey foundation which funds campus safety efforts across the nation. >> remember lauren. >> they pledged their settlement money to the foundation which also champions a pledge called lauren's
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promise. 11 words that professors, students, and law enforcement officers at more than 300 campuses so far have endorsed. it reads, i will listen and believe you if someone is threatening you. >> there is nothing that i can do for lauren except to honor her memory. and, maybe, prevent other parents from going through this. >> colleges look at this case and made some changes then maybe -- >> that is what my great hope is is that it will lead to some very common sense, much-needed changes at colleges. >> a big price to pay. >> too big of a price. >> atwood should've been lauren's graduation, other students look to the future. it did not stop her family and friends from thinking about the past.
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>> i would love to hear her voice again. i would love to hear her laugh. >> i tell people i won the kid lottery. >> she was such a part of our lives. i would talk to her at least every day. >> she was a genuine person. she was super fun. she lived to be with people and engage. it was amazing. >> that is all for this edition of dateline. i am andrea canning. thank you for watching. woman: vanessa was a good soldier. andrea canning: did she go into the army to help people? i am andrea canning and this is dateline. >> vanessa was a good soldier. >> dicicco in the army to help people? >> yes. >> they notified she was missing. >>

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