- 5 weeks ago
These tragic cases forever altered our legal landscape. Join us as we explore the heartbreaking true crimes that inspired new laws and protections. From Amber Hagerman's case leading to the Amber Alert system to George Floyd's death prompting police reform, these stories show how tragedy can lead to meaningful change.
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00:00We could not conceive how they could let a probable premeditated murderer,
00:05probable premeditated murderer, walk the streets.
00:09Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're doing a deep dive into the most influential crimes in the history of law.
00:15We're talking about privacy and our children are using social media to torment each other to death
00:20so that they can have likes and thumbs up on Facebook.
00:24Bentley's Law.
00:25I made a promise to my kids and my grandson and to other people
00:32that I was going to do what I can to stop people from driving under the influence.
00:37In 2021, Missouri residents Bentley and Mason Newton were orphaned in a drunk driving incident.
00:43Both of their parents and brother tragically lost their lives, all because of someone else's poor decisions.
00:49This led their grandmother, Cecilia Williams, to work hard to write a new legislation titled Bentley and Mason's Law.
00:55The trauma is unending, as there is no justice because their loved ones will never be coming back.
01:02But this provides a sense of financial restitution and holds the offender accountable.
01:08This was introduced in Missouri in 2022 and has since been introduced to over a dozen more states.
01:14It requires drunk drivers responsible for orphaning children to pay child support to their victims.
01:19This will hold until the child turns 18.
01:22It was first passed fully in Tennessee in 2022, where it will hopefully discourage perilous driving.
01:28It covers under the influence.
01:30It covers, it's more than just drunken driving.
01:33What's the difference in drinking and driving and killing somebody and drinking and boating and killing somebody?
01:40We had encouraged him and all of our other lawyers to leave the country.
01:45Everyone else had left, but Sergei refused to leave.
01:48He said, I've not done anything wrong.
01:51The police have.
01:52According to the Corruption Perceptions Index, Russia is one of the most corrupt countries in Europe.
01:57The lawyer tasked with solving this issue in the 2000s was Sergei Magnitsky.
02:02When he discovered an immense corruption scheme, he was arrested by the officials he had accused in 2008.
02:07After 11 months in prison, he was severely abused and likely died because of the prison officials' neglect.
02:14Earlier this year, charges were also dropped against the prison doctor who treated Magnitsky.
02:19His death has made him a symbol for the struggle against state corruption in Russia and soured the country's relations with the U.S.
02:26This led to the Magnitsky Act in America, which sanctioned all officials responsible for the crime.
02:32Numerous other countries have introduced similar laws, such as Latvia, Lithuania, the U.K., Canada, and Australia.
02:40It was a bill, and now it's a law, that essentially allows us to say,
02:45if you're a human rights abuser or you're massively corrupt, then our country is closed to you.
02:51And by the way, everything you have here has been confiscated.
02:53And more than that, it is a crime to do business with you.
02:56Kelsey Smith.
02:57Kelsey's mom says in their case, it was a battle with the cell phone company.
03:01We could not get them to understand this was an emergency.
03:04This was life-threatening.
03:05On June 2, 2007, Kansas local Kelsey Smith vanished entirely,
03:10then was found to have been murdered four days later.
03:13She would have been found a lot quicker if Verizon Wireless had immediately handed law enforcement her cell phone records.
03:19It took four days, which became a huge scandal.
03:22How many of you have ever used a cell phone to locate a person?
03:27And quite a few hands went up, and I said, I'm going to sound a little arrogant right now, but you're welcome.
03:33This eventually led to Congress passing the Kelsey Smith Act in 2021,
03:37which requires cell phone companies to comply with law enforcement in missing persons cases.
03:41The legislation was first introduced in Kansas in 2009, though, and has been passed in at least 29 other states by 2021.
03:50And we're hopeful that the foundation will build on Kelsey's passion for life, and that'll be her legacy.
03:57Carrie's Law.
03:58Carrie's Law, named after Carrie Dunn, who tragically passed away in a hotel room after her nine-year-old daughter couldn't dial out directly to reach 911.
04:06In Texas, in 2013, Carrie Hunt was fatally attacked by her distant husband.
04:13Horrifyingly, their young daughter witnessed the crime, but was unable to get through to emergency services.
04:18She called 911 four times in total, but they didn't make it through.
04:23Gonzalez explains, due to the tedious process of finding where the call came from, a lot of time is wasted.
04:29After that happens, we need to get a hold of management and figure out where the actual call actually came from.
04:38By that time, we've lost a lot of time.
04:40This was because the hotel phone needed you to dial 9 before making an outside call.
04:45Carrie's father, Hank, worked hard to implement a law making this illegal.
04:49This became known as Carrie's Law in honor of his daughter, and was introduced nationwide in February 2018.
04:55The Hunt family was also awarded over $40 million in June 2018 for the hotel's failure.
05:02Carrie's Law would make dialing 911 a certainty to get an emergency dispatcher,
05:06because right now, if you walk into any multi-telephone line, hotel, office, or school and hit 911,
05:12you may or may not get the help you need.
05:15The Karen Act.
05:16You call the police on me, they come, and they assault me or some altercation happens,
05:20and that I choose to sue the police department or sue you, you could be liable for at least $1,000.
05:28Most internet denizens are familiar with the Karen meme.
05:32It's essentially a label for middle-aged women who become irritable in public.
05:36This inspired the name for the Karen Act, which stands for Caution Against Racially Exploitative
05:41Non-Emergencies.
05:42It makes it illegal for someone to make a phone call to emergency services based on racial prejudice.
05:48Walton has asked the Board of Supervisors to redirect SFPD funding to the black community,
05:54an act that he said should be viewed as reparations.
05:57The law was first introduced by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2020 and passed unanimously.
06:02It was later introduced across the whole of California by Rob Bonta.
06:06Other states have also made similar laws, like Oregon, New York, and New Jersey.
06:11We want to make sure that people don't continue to weaponize emergency costs to law enforcement.
06:17Susie Lampleau.
06:18We had a photograph taken together, and it was the last time we ever did.
06:24And she almost like a ghost behind me, really, holding me, and I always feel that that's probably what she is.
06:31In 1986, British estate agent Susie Lampleau was reported missing in London.
06:37By 1993, the case to find her had gone cold, and she was officially declared dead.
06:42The case was reopened in 1999, but there's still no concrete answer as to what happened to her.
06:48Brings back a lot of emotion, really.
06:53It's a mystery.
06:54Absolute mystery.
06:55The same year she went missing, the Susie Lampleau Trust was established by Susie's parents, Paul and Diana.
07:01They currently run the UK National Stalking Helpline, and have made immeasurable contributions to raising awareness for personal safety.
07:09For instance, they campaigned to introduce the Protection from Harassment Act in 1997, which aims to protect victims of stalking and harassment.
07:17The fact is that personal safety has become something which many people recognize, and I'm proud of that.
07:33I'm proud of what we have achieved in that way.
07:36Sophie Elliott.
07:37Many times she would say to me, he's doing my head in, Mum, and I'd say, well, it's doing mine in, too, because I couldn't understand where he was coming from.
07:43In 2008, Elliott was murdered by her ex-partner in Dunedin, New Zealand.
07:48It led to a major controversy surrounding the criminal's use of the provocation defense.
07:52This is when someone argues they lost control before committing the crime, for example, due to emotional factors.
07:59And while it's only been trialed, Elliott says the outcome of the pilot program was successful, and she wants to see it rolled out to more schools in the future.
08:07This led to the crime's Provocation Repeal Amendment Act bill, which abolished the defense of provocation in New Zealand.
08:14It won with 116 votes, and only five opposed it.
08:19Elliott's killer was then sentenced to life imprisonment, as the judge believed it was a deliberate murder.
08:24We've achieved what I wanted to achieve, and that was when my daughter was murdered, and I realized that her relationship had been an abusive one.
08:33What I wanted to do was go and talk to young girls at girls' schools and tell them about Sophie's relationship and the things that we missed in that relationship.
08:44Jennifer Doulos.
08:45Officers made it clear Jennifer was not just missing.
08:49She was murdered.
08:51Basically, here's a fact.
08:53Photos killed Jennifer.
08:55Oh, no.
08:56Okay?
08:57This is a fact.
08:58In May 2019, New Yorker Jennifer Doulos disappeared in Connecticut.
09:03The primary suspects became her estranged husband and his partner.
09:07The former took his own life in 2020, and the latter was convicted in 2024.
09:12Doulos and her husband were in the middle of a challenging divorce, which authorities believe motivated the crime.
09:18As family and friends started to get concerned, they knew they needed to reach out to police.
09:22No one could get a hold of her, which was very unusual to them.
09:25Jennifer was missing.
09:26The incident led the Connecticut State Senate to pass the bill Jennifer's Law, which adds coercive control to the definition of domestic violence.
09:34This includes behavior such as stalking and isolating them from support networks, friends, or family.
09:40Both California and Hawaii have also created similar bills, but it's far from being a nationwide law.
09:46Tonight, Jennifer Doulos' family thanking the jury and saying her grace, goodness, and light live on through her children.
09:54Kaylee Anthony.
09:54I definitely think it's needed.
09:56If you don't report your child missing, I think you have something to do with them being missing.
10:02The young child, Kaylee Anthony, was reported missing on July 15, 2008 by her grandmother, Cindy.
10:07The case became highly publicized due to the lack of consistency in her mother, Casey's accounts.
10:13She gave a variety of explanations about her daughter's disappearance and even called the police to say a nanny had kidnapped Kaylee.
10:19Eventually, they found the child's remains wrapped in a blanket near the Anthony home.
10:23Finally, after analyzing the hair samples and rug from inside Casey's car, the results are in.
10:32Police believe they have enough evidence that suggests there was a decomposing body inside Casey's car.
10:40While they didn't find Casey guilty of murder, the incident led to Kaylee's law, which makes it a felony for parents not to report a missing child.
10:48In the end, they found Casey guilty of providing false information to law enforcement on four counts.
10:54Though it's too late for Kaylee, this is in hopes to protect other children.
11:00I don't want to have any Kaylee Anthony situations in Oklahoma.
11:04Ashanti Billy.
11:05It's chilling.
11:06You see a car pull up, someone gets out, walks over to the dumpster, and appears to throw something in.
11:12The person hurries back to the car and drives away.
11:15Well, this dumpster here on the video, it's the same one police found Billy's cell phone in.
11:20In 2017, 19-year-old Billy never showed up to her first shift at a new job in Virginia.
11:2611 days later, they found her corpse 350 miles away in North Carolina.
11:31They were unable to issue an amber alert as she was too old, but she was too young for a silver alert.
11:37This led to them deciding to create a new alert system for adults between 18 and 64 called the Ashanti Alert.
11:43I do know this, that if you are a parent and you have someone that's disappeared,
11:52I sure as heck would like to be able to call upon the resources that are provided under Amber Alert.
11:58In 2018, this was signed into national law.
12:01This allows them to create a nationwide communications network,
12:04making it possible to locate missing persons who aren't covered by the silver and amber alerts.
12:09Now there's a statewide Ashanti Alert in operation.
12:12A federal Ashanti Alert also passed, but that one isn't running yet.
12:16It's almost 10 months in.
12:18So many people have still, you know, came up missing since the alert has been actually signed into a federal law.
12:25Sky's Law.
12:26I am here today pleading with you.
12:28I beg of you, keep him away from me and our family.
12:32He has ruined our lives with his actions.
12:34His history should speak for itself.
12:37No course or counselor is going to change who he is.
12:41On New Year's Eve in Australia 2009, a toddler named Sky Sassine died in an appalling car crash.
12:47It was caused by a driver trying to escape police who crashed into the family's car.
12:51The pursuing police were also criticized for their reckless driving.
12:55The culprit was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 19 years in jail.
12:59In sentencing today, the judge said Nagati, he was well aware to at least the possibility of maiming or killing others.
13:07For 15 minutes, he sped up to 100 kilometers above the limit.
13:11The case inspired the introduction of Sky's Law in 2010, which makes it a criminal offense to evade a police pursuit.
13:17They began enforcing the law relatively quickly, convicting approximately 445 people in the first two years it was introduced.
13:26The case triggered the introduction of Sky's Law and sentences of up to three years for drivers who knowingly lead police on dangerous pursuits.
13:34The Dangerous Dogs Act.
13:36John tells me Precious is half pit bull.
13:38If true, she could fall within legal limits.
13:41How do people respond when they see you coming with a dog normally?
13:43They generally get out of the way.
13:45In 1991, the UK fell victim to 11 violent dog attacks in one year.
13:51Multiple victims lost their lives or were severely impaired, with numerous children being attacked.
13:57So they introduced the Dangerous Dogs Act, which sought to get rid of fighting dogs in the UK.
14:02There's a good reason Inspector O'Hara is so committed to removing potentially dangerous dogs from our streets.
14:09The whole side of her face had been opened up.
14:12It was just horrendous.
14:13While it sounds good in theory, it's been criticised for a lack of effectiveness in practice.
14:19It focused more on the breed of dog, which the British Veterinary Association strongly opposes.
14:24They claimed the problem lies with the owners, not the breeds.
14:28This means it's been one of the most controversial UK laws since its adoption.
14:32At the same time, the act has offered very little public protection.
14:37Attacks have gone up by 115% in the last 15 years.
14:42And this demonstrates very clearly that an act designed to protect the public from dog attacks isn't working.
14:47Julie Hogg.
14:49Headlines on the hour and an update on the murder of Julie Hogg, whose body was discovered hidden beneath her bath.
14:55Police have now arrested and charged a local man, Billy Dunlop.
15:00William Dunlop is famous for being the first criminal to be charged twice with the same offence.
15:05In 1989, he strangled a woman named Julie Hogg in County Durham, the UK.
15:10Dunlop faced two trials during the 90s, but was not convicted either time.
15:14Nine days after Julie Hogg's body was found by her mother, Billy Dunlop was charged with murder.
15:21He was remanded to Durham Prison.
15:24When we went to see him in prison, he said he didn't do it, and I believed him, and so did his mother.
15:30Despite this, Dunlop managed to get himself locked away for a different crime.
15:34During his stay, he bragged to a guard about killing Hogg, but being immune to prosecution.
15:39Well, Hogg's parents worked hard to change the law so that he could be prosecuted again.
15:44This succeeded, and in 2006, he was jailed for life.
15:48She had an 800-year-old law changed, but also, she didn't stop.
15:55She's gone around to police conferences all over the country,
15:58trying to explain what it's like to be a victim and relatives of the victim.
16:04Jay Cook and Tanya Van Kylenborg.
16:06A four-jurisdiction investigation was underway in Washington State and British Columbia
16:11to solve the brutal November 1987 murders of young Canadian couple Tanya Van Kylenborg and Jay Cook.
16:19In 1987, Canadian couple Jay Cook and Tanya Van Kylenborg were on holiday to Seattle, Washington.
16:25They never returned, and a few days after the family reported them missing,
16:29their bodies were discovered in Washington.
16:31The killer left their gloves at the crime scene as a taunt for the police.
16:35Well, they still managed to find his DNA despite that.
16:38Detectives say they collected Talbot's DNA from the crime scene,
16:42uploaded it to a free online database of DNA samples,
16:45and then started building a family tree based on genetic matches.
16:49Decades later, in 2018, they used genetic genealogy and snapshot DNA phenotyping to finally catch the killer.
16:56In 2019, he was found guilty and given two life sentences.
16:59This made him one of the first criminals in history to be caught using genetic genealogy.
17:05I was hit by the enormity of what this meant.
17:09My work was going to lead to someone spending the rest of their life in prison.
17:14So, I actually started crying.
17:20Stephen Lawrence
17:20The Lawrence case tested the assumption by successive governments since the 60s
17:25that good race relations would follow firm immigration controls.
17:29In 1993, a teenage Londoner named Stephen Lawrence was murdered while waiting for the bus.
17:35It became an historic case as it was racially motivated.
17:38So, in its aftermath, there was a nationwide discussion about attitudes towards racism and the police.
17:44It led to the groundbreaking McPherson inquiry in 1999,
17:47which discussed institutional racism in depth.
17:50Them times I was really angry because all the stories that you've heard of what happened to young black men,
17:56and then you begin to think about, had he been white?
17:59They would have surrounded a black community.
18:01They would have arrested as many black boys as they could,
18:05and they would not stop until they get the killer.
18:07And how it had influenced Lawrence's death.
18:09The McPherson principle arose out of the inquiry,
18:12which states that all complaints of racist incidents should be recorded and investigated
18:16when someone involved views them as racist.
18:19It was an amazing step in the right direction,
18:21but institutionalized racism still exists.
18:24In 2020, black people were nearly nine times more likely than white people to be stopped and searched by police.
18:31The McPherson report ruled that the Mets were guilty of institutional racism
18:35and made 70 recommendations for change.
18:39Work with us in making these changes happen.
18:42Sarah Everard.
18:42You must know more about where she is or how I can find her.
18:46I'm sorry, I don't know.
18:47I know you know.
18:49I don't know.
18:50If they've taken her to the sand, then they've taken her.
18:53In March 2021, Sarah Everard was horrifically abducted and murdered in South London.
18:59The culprit was an off-duty police officer, Wayne Cousins.
19:02The criminal was arrested a week later and charged with kidnapping and murder.
19:06This led to widespread debate about the role of the police in British society.
19:10A police inquiry was commissioned, which tried to determine how Cousins was allowed to become a police officer.
19:16In court today, Cousins sat throughout with his head down, unwilling to make eye contact.
19:22But Sarah Everard's sister and father demanded he looked at them
19:25when they emotionally read out how what he'd done had impacted them.
19:29In 2024, they determined Cousins had a history of sexual offenses,
19:34which they had failed to discover during the vetting process.
19:37While the inquiry is a step in the right direction, there are still major issues that need addressing,
19:42causing millions of women to live in fear.
19:45If you talk to his friends, you know, the investigation talked to colleagues and friends, as you can imagine.
19:52Nobody saw this.
19:53That's a really important point.
19:54Nobody saw this.
19:55Nobody would raise the red flag.
19:57Jyoti Singh.
19:58We are now, in fact, getting breaking news from the Delhi High Court
20:03that the death sentence has been upheld by the Delhi High Court.
20:08This is the infamous Nirbhaya case.
20:10The 2012 Nirbhaya case in Delhi was an extremely despicable crime.
20:15Jyoti Singh and her friend Avnindra Pratap Pandey were violently abused on a private bus.
20:20The driver and five others on the bus were responsible.
20:23They started harassing the pair, and it devolved into one of the most disgusting events imaginable.
20:28She was found with numerous bite marks all over her body.
20:32The torture went on for more than 30 minutes,
20:35after which the attackers threw both the victims out of the moving bus.
20:39After, they were thrown from the bus, where they were found and taken to the hospital,
20:43where Singh died 11 days later.
20:45It motivated mass protests around India,
20:48which in turn led to the creation of a judicial committee in 2012.
20:51This serves to take public recommendations about dealing with sex offenders.
20:56They reviewed over 80,000 suggestions,
20:58leading to the Criminal Law Amendment Act in 2013.
21:15Jennifer Levin
21:16Robert Chambers Jr., also known as the Preppy Killer,
21:33became infamous in 1986 after fatally strangling Jennifer Levin in Central Park, New York.
21:38Chambers used the rough sex defense during his trial, which was highly controversial.
21:42He claimed Levin had assaulted him, and he'd killed her by accident when trying to push her away.
21:48Did you think about Jennifer Levin?
21:51Every day.
21:52As the afternoon passed, the interview would go on for four tense hours.
21:57And every day I know that I'm in prison.
21:59I'm in prison because somebody died, and I am responsible for that.
22:02Chambers eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was given a 5- to 15-year sentence.
22:07The case highlighted how controversial using rough sex defenses was,
22:11and increased public awareness of such nefarious tactics.
22:15Chambers later pleaded guilty to selling narcotics, getting a 19-year sentence.
22:19He was nonetheless released in 2023, remaining under supervision until 2028.
22:25When they passed that law, you know, I think there was this moment for Ellen Levin to say that,
22:31you know, she was going to take something and make something out of this loss for her daughter.
22:36Skylar Neese.
22:36What did you say when you brought her to jail?
22:38Home sweet home.
22:40And then we shut the door with a big old grin on my face.
22:43In West Virginia in July 2012, teenager Skylar Neese vanished from her home during the night.
22:48Her body wouldn't be found until January 2013, all the way in Pennsylvania.
22:53The culprits were two of her best friends, who confessed to the crime after the body was found.
22:58What did those girls say about what they were doing,
23:01who they might have been hanging out with, and what your daughter's mood was?
23:05The only thing they told us was that they just went riding around their local town here,
23:11and that Skylar was in a pretty good mood.
23:15Controversially, they couldn't issue an Amber Alert for her disappearance as she didn't meet all four criteria needed.
23:21This led to Skylar's Law, a bill passed in West Virginia that alters the criteria for an Amber Alert.
23:26It allows them to instantly start making public announcements about disappearances,
23:31rather than needing to wait 48 hours.
23:33It was unanimously passed and was signed into law in 2013.
23:38Even after all this time, the family says there's still no relief from the pain.
23:42But they hope that Skylar can be remembered for the person that she was,
23:46and not the tragic circumstances of her passing.
23:49Sarah Payne.
23:49West Sussex became the location of the gruesome murder of Sarah Payne in July 2000.
24:0117 days after her disappearance, they found her body in a field.
24:05It turns out she had been abducted by a man named Roy Whiting,
24:08who was given a life sentence for the crime in 2001.
24:11A warrant was issued. He was brought from prison to Bognor Police Station.
24:17He's a local man, and I can confirm that it's the same man that we've arrested on two previous occasions.
24:24The parents had believed the killer was someone with a history of abuse, which was ultimately the truth.
24:29The incident led to a campaign for Sarah's Law,
24:32which allows parents to find out if an offender lives in their neighborhood.
24:36Her parents believed they would have never lost their daughter if such a law had existed in 2000.
24:40The man who murdered Sarah Payne is behind bars,
24:43but that will never stop her family fighting to prevent it happening to anyone else.
24:48Veronica Guerin.
24:50A tenacious investigative reporter,
24:52Veronica Guerin was one of the most well-respected journalists in Ireland during the 1990s.
24:57I'm not the only crime reporter that, you know, does this,
25:00and I think that the regrettable thing is that we're all probably targets, unfortunately.
25:05Known for building strong relationships with her sources,
25:08Guerin doggedly pursued her stories,
25:11occasionally putting her own safety on the line to secure interviews.
25:14She also did not shy away from contentious topics.
25:18Ultimately, her work covering organized crime led to her death
25:21when a South Dublin drug cartel ordered a hit on her in 1996.
25:26Following her murder,
25:27the Irish Parliament enacted the Proceeds of Crime Act
25:30and the Criminal Assets Bureau Act.
25:32That seminal moment in which Veronica was shot,
25:35I think, woke people up.
25:37It was a shock to the system,
25:39to everybody in the country,
25:40that, you know,
25:41these people are gaining the ascendancy in our society,
25:44and we have to stop them.
25:46These two acts enabled the government to seize assets
25:49bought with money acquired through criminal activity
25:51and led to the formation of the Criminal Assets Bureau.
25:55Carl Stark.
25:56After her son was murdered in the parking lot just outside of her home,
26:00Anita Waring Kennedy pushed to see a change in the law.
26:03We want everyone to know that he never had an enemy
26:06and had the purest heart.
26:08On August 18, 2015,
26:11two men targeted Carl Stark,
26:13who had autism,
26:14while he was shopping at a store near his home.
26:16When Stark left,
26:17the men followed him,
26:18later killing him during a failed attempt to steal his car.
26:22The loss our family has suffered doesn't make sense.
26:26It is something that you never expect to happen.
26:28In 2016,
26:30Carl's Law was officially enacted in the state of Florida.
26:34The law permits the reclassification of criminal offenses
26:37when the victim involved has a mental or physical disability,
26:40thereby allowing officials to hand down harsher punishments.
26:45Andrew Harper.
26:46On August 15, 2019,
26:48police officer Andrew Harper responded to a burglary in progress.
26:52The teenagers had that night gone to steal this quad bike.
26:56The bike's owner watched on as the theft unfolded.
26:59While attempting to catch one of the suspects on foot,
27:02Harper got caught in a tow strap hanging from the back of the getaway vehicle.
27:06Harper was dragged for a mile before becoming disentangled from the strap.
27:10He was pronounced dead moments later.
27:13His death received national attention and resulted in significant public outcry.
27:17Their case for murder was that the teenagers knew the officer was behind the car
27:22and had intended to kill him.
27:25But the jury wasn't convinced and convicted on manslaughter instead.
27:30Harper's widow launched a campaign to make life sentences mandatory
27:33for those found guilty of the manslaughter of emergency service workers
27:37during the commission of a crime.
27:39As part of the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act,
27:42Harper's Law received royal assent in 2022.
27:45Tracy Thurman
27:47After months of horrific abuse and unrelenting harassment,
27:51Tracy Thurman was attacked by her husband in front of her home.
27:54A police officer was on the scene,
27:56but despite the brutality of the attack,
27:59the officer failed to intervene.
28:01In fact, Thurman's husband went after her two more times during the incident,
28:05inflicting even further injury before the officer finally arrested him.
28:09It took Thurman eight months to recover,
28:18and she was left with partial paralysis.
28:21In a landmark lawsuit,
28:22she sued the town and the police department for violating her civil rights.
28:26The case brought about significant change to domestic violence laws across the United States,
28:31including the Family Violence Prevention and Response Act in Connecticut,
28:35which makes arrests in domestic violence cases mandatory.
28:38The case forced police departments nationwide to reassess their policies toward spousal abuse
28:43and protect women when threatened by their husbands.
28:47Drew Shadeen
28:48On Saturday, November 22, 2003,
28:51Drew Shadeen wrapped up her shift at the local mall,
28:54did a little shopping, and then headed to her car.
28:56Drew had been talking on the phone from roughly 5 p.m. to 5.04 p.m. to her boyfriend,
29:02and that phone call was interrupted,
29:05and she abruptly hung up.
29:07Prior to doing so, she said something along the lines of,
29:10OK, OK.
29:11It appeared to be a typical day for Shadeen,
29:13but her friends and family began to worry when she later failed to show up at her other job.
29:17She was found dead the next week.
29:20Her murderer was identified as Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.,
29:23a convicted sex offender recently released from prison.
29:26Rodriguez was classified as a Level 3 sex offender at the time,
29:30which indicated that he was highly likely to re-offend.
29:34Following Shadeen's murder,
29:35legislation was passed in 2006
29:37that established the Drew Shadeen National Sex Offender Public Website.
29:41NSOPW is the only federal website
29:44that searches public sex offender registries in all 50 states,
29:48the District of Columbia,
29:49the five principal U.S. territories,
29:52and participating federally recognized Indian tribes.
29:55The registry allows users to access information about sex offenders nationwide.
30:00The Manson Family Murders
30:02While almost everyone is familiar with the infamous Manson Family Murders,
30:06few people realize how the cult's crimes affected the legal process.
30:10They were average American kids, and that's what was so shocking.
30:15You would never dream that these people would be mass murderers,
30:18so it shocked the entire country.
30:19Following Sharon Tate's murder,
30:21her mother, Doris Tate, became an activist who fought for victims' rights.
30:25She joined the Victim Offender Reconciliation and Justice for Homicide Victims group.
30:30She was also instrumental in getting the Victims' Rights Bill passed in 1982.
30:35Victims in every state are now allowed to give victim impact statements against violent attackers,
30:40either written or verbal, during the legal process.
30:43And Doris Tate, who has become an internationally recognized champion of victims' rights,
30:48didn't confine her anger to our interview.
30:51Doris Tate was even the first person to make a victim impact statement
30:55when her words were read aloud at a parole hearing for a Manson Family cult member in 1976.
31:02Caden Mancuso
31:03Jeffrey Mancuso had a history of explosive anger and mental health issues.
31:07He disfigured a man in a fight in 2012 and mistreated animals in front of his family.
31:13But, despite such violent tendencies,
31:16he was awarded unsupervised visitation with his daughter Caden.
31:19I still don't feel like it's real.
31:20I still feel like I'm going to wake up from this awful nightmare.
31:23And I just, but I know that I'm not.
31:25Her mother fought to keep Caden safe by seeking restraining orders, but it was no use.
31:30On August 6th, 2018, after a scheduled visitation with her father,
31:34Caden Mancuso was found dead in her father's home.
31:38Caden's grieving mother and stepfather fought to change custody laws.
31:41And in 2024, Caden's law was signed by the Pennsylvania governor.
31:46Most of the times, parents can put their child's needs first,
31:49but sometimes that child's safety needs to be prioritized.
31:52Caden's law is Pennsylvania's efforts to make sure tragedy never happens again.
31:57The law strengthens existing safety conditions and restrictions
32:00to help prevent abuse in court-ordered visitation cases
32:03and increases the factors judges must consider before granting custody.
32:08The Dunblane Massacre
32:09On March 13th, 1996, a local shopkeeper walked into Dunblane Primary School
32:15in Dunblane, Scotland, and opened fire.
32:17That will go down in history as one of the worst massacres ever.
32:21Nobody had planned for anything like this in Dunblane.
32:24In under five minutes, he killed 17 people
32:27and injured 15 others before taking his own life.
32:30The attack remains the deadliest mass shooting in UK history.
32:34In the wake of the Dunblane Massacre,
32:36grieving parents and activists called for significant gun reform.
32:40After intense public debate,
32:42private ownership of most handguns and semi-automatic weapons
32:45was banned the following year.
32:47They just showed people how you can recover
32:48and you can make changes to the law for other people.
32:54And I just thought that they showed tremendous courage
32:55the people who were behind that campaign.
32:57Parliament also enacted mandatory registration for shotgun owners.
33:01In the decades since the Dunblane Massacre,
33:04there have been no other mass school shootings in the UK.
33:07Helen McCourt
33:08On February 9th, 1988, Helen McCourt headed home after work.
33:13She had plans with her boyfriend
33:14and was anxious to prepare for her date.
33:17She never made it home.
33:18We started ringing around hospitals, our friends.
33:25I thought, oh my God, something's happened.
33:28That's when I went into panic.
33:29As evidence surfaced, it became clear Helen had met with foul play.
33:34Although her body was never found,
33:36authorities were able to gather enough evidence
33:38to convict local pub owner Ian Sims.
33:41McCourt and Sims had argued shortly before her disappearance.
33:44Helen's mother advocated for new legislation
33:46concerning convicted killers who withhold information about their victims.
33:50You want this for a change in the law to deny parole
33:53to killers who don't disclose the location of their victims' bodies.
33:57Under Helen's law,
33:59offenders who conceal information about their victims face longer prison terms.
34:03The law received royal assent in 2020.
34:06Sims was released before the law was passed
34:09and later died without ever disclosing the location of Helen's remains.
34:14The Mississippi Burning Murders
34:15In June 1964, during the height of the Civil Rights Movement,
34:19a major initiative was underway to register black voters in the southern United States.
34:24For trying to exercise rights,
34:27for trying to help others exercise rights,
34:31people pay with their lives.
34:35It was called Freedom Summer,
34:37and in Philadelphia, Mississippi,
34:39the Ku Klux Klan was not happy about it.
34:41They launched their own campaign,
34:43one of terror and intimidation to counter the initiative.
34:47Three activists,
34:48James Cheney,
34:49Andrew Goodman,
34:50and Michael Schwerner went missing
34:51and were later found dead.
34:54The murders ignited national outrage.
34:57Ultimately,
34:5719 people were charged in connection with the crime,
35:00including the local sheriff.
35:02The FBI arrested 21 Klansmen,
35:05charging 19 of them for conspiracy to injure,
35:08oppress, threaten,
35:09and intimidate the civil rights workers.
35:11The events sparked landmark federal legislation
35:14prohibiting racial discrimination in voting,
35:16the Voting Rights Act,
35:18which was signed into law on August 6, 1965.
35:23Claire Wood
35:24Around the world,
35:25many women have lost their lives
35:27at the hands of their partners or ex-partners.
35:29On International Women's Day in 2014,
35:32a law was implemented in England and Wales
35:34that could significantly reduce the frequency
35:36of such tragic incidents.
35:38I see no reason
35:39why that information shouldn't be passed on
35:42so you can make an educated assessment
35:45of your predicament
35:47and will I stay or will I go?
35:49Claire's law,
35:50also known as the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme,
35:53grants a person the opportunity
35:54to find out if their partner
35:56has a history of violent behavior.
35:58The law takes its name from Claire Wood,
36:00an English woman who was murdered
36:02by her ex-boyfriend, George Appleton.
36:04This young lady said,
36:05sorry to troll you, Mr. Brown,
36:07you deserve better than this.
36:08We've just found your daughter's body.
36:10Appleton had served prison time
36:12for violence towards women,
36:13a record that was unknown to Wood at the time.
36:16Today, other parts of the UK,
36:18Australia, and Canada
36:20have all adopted Claire's law.
36:22Daniel Morcom
36:23On December 7, 2003,
36:25Daniel Morcom was last seen
36:27waiting for a bus
36:28somewhere in Queensland, Australia.
36:30According to reports,
36:32when the bus finally came,
36:33it failed to stop and pick him up
36:35because the driver was running late.
36:36Ultimately, for Daniel,
36:38the difference between life and death
36:40came down to just three minutes,
36:43a tiny moment in time,
36:45but as it so tragically turned out,
36:47certainly long enough
36:48for evil to strike.
36:50Morcom was apparently abducted
36:51shortly after by Brett Peter Cowan,
36:53a known predator,
36:55and he was declared missing
36:56until eight years later
36:57when his remains were found.
36:59In 2014,
37:00Cowan was arrested
37:01and sentenced to prison for life.
37:03And then you heard those
37:05three words,
37:07guilty,
37:08guilty,
37:09guilty.
37:10I muttered under my breath,
37:11yes.
37:12I wanted to scream out,
37:13but I just knew I couldn't do that.
37:15As a result of the case,
37:16Australia implemented
37:17the No Child Left Behind policy,
37:19which mandates bus drivers
37:21to always stop
37:22and pick up children,
37:23even if they can't pay the fare.
37:26Lee Rigby
37:26Lee Rigby was a British Army soldier
37:29who lost his life
37:30in an attack
37:30on May 22, 2013.
37:33Rigby's assailants,
37:34Michael Adabalajo
37:35and Michael Adabawale,
37:37claimed to have carried out
37:38the attack in retaliation
37:39for the victims
37:40of British military action
37:41in Islamic countries.
37:43A terrible murder
37:44has occurred.
37:45We've launched an investigation
37:46led by the counter-terrorist command,
37:48and we've made two arrests
37:50in relation to that awful crime.
37:52The two men waited at the scene
37:53until police arrived,
37:55at which time
37:56they were subdued and arrested.
37:57It's believed that Adabalajo
37:59and Adabawale
38:00had been radicalized
38:01to commit such a crime
38:02in the preceding years.
38:03British converts to Islam
38:05had gloried in Lee Rigby's
38:07barbaric murder,
38:08according to the judge.
38:10It was a crime
38:10that had appalled the nation.
38:13Three protesters
38:14were arrested
38:15outside the Old Bailey
38:16as the men were sentenced.
38:18In a bid to prevent
38:19further instances of this,
38:21then-British Prime Minister
38:22Theresa May
38:22introduced the
38:23Counter-Terrorism
38:24and Security Act
38:25in 2015.
38:27The bill requires
38:28internet providers
38:29to keep records
38:29of users
38:30who access
38:31certain IP addresses.
38:33Andrew Bagby
38:33and Zachary Turner
38:34The 2008 documentary
38:36Dear Zachary,
38:37a letter to a son
38:38about his father,
38:39detailed the tragic case
38:41of Andrew Bagby
38:42and Zachary Turner.
38:43Bagby was an
38:44American medical student
38:45schooling in Canada
38:46when he met
38:46Shirley Turner.
38:47I was excited
38:48at the thought
38:48that maybe he had
38:49found somebody
38:50that he, you know,
38:52could really be happy with.
38:56But it turned out that way.
38:58Their relationship
38:58produced one child,
39:00Zachary,
39:01who Bagby never got to see
39:02as he was murdered
39:03by Turner
39:03months before the boy
39:04was born.
39:06While out on bail,
39:07Turner gave birth
39:07to Zachary
39:08and remained
39:09in custody of him.
39:10However,
39:11before she could
39:12stand trial
39:12for Bagby's murder,
39:13she took her own life
39:14and that of her son.
39:16After the documentary
39:17was released,
39:18Canadian Parliament
39:19passed Zachary's bill,
39:20which would deny
39:21bail to people
39:22on the grounds
39:22that doing so
39:23will protect
39:24their children.
39:25It doesn't bring
39:26either of them back,
39:27but it's the best
39:28we can get.
39:30We hope it will save lives.
39:32We'll never know for sure.
39:34The Chicago Tylenol
39:35Poisonings
39:35You most likely
39:37won't buy a bottle
39:38of over-the-counter drugs
39:39if its seal is broken.
39:40That level of assurance
39:41is only possible today
39:43because of the
39:44Chicago Tylenol incident.
39:46Back in 1982,
39:47several bottles
39:48of Tylenol
39:49were tampered
39:49and laced
39:50with potassium cyanide.
39:52The bottles
39:52were labeled
39:53extra-strength Tylenol,
39:5550 capsule size,
39:56lot number MC-2880,
39:59expiration date
40:00April 1987.
40:02As a result,
40:03seven people
40:04who consumed
40:04the lethal capsules
40:05in the Chicago
40:06metropolitan area
40:07lost their lives.
40:08This led to
40:09a nationwide recall
40:10of all Tylenol products
40:12by its manufacturer
40:13Johnson & Johnson.
40:14The company
40:15also worked
40:15with the FDA
40:16to introduce
40:17sealed bottles,
40:18which has now
40:18become the industry standard.
40:20When you opened
40:21a bottle of Tylenol
40:22in the early 1980s,
40:23or any product
40:24for that matter,
40:25you didn't see
40:26this protective seal.
40:27Now,
40:28it's the law.
40:29In 1983,
40:30it became
40:31a federal crime
40:32to tamper
40:32with consumer goods
40:33after U.S. Congress
40:34passed the federal
40:35anti-tampering bill.
40:37Amanda Todd
40:38In September
40:39of 2012,
40:40a video was
40:41uploaded on YouTube
40:42in which a girl
40:43shared the story
40:44of her mental health
40:45issues using
40:45a set of flashcards.
40:47About a month later,
40:48the clip began
40:49gaining traction
40:50after it was reported
40:51that the girl,
40:52Amanda Todd
40:52from Canada,
40:53had taken her own life.
40:54Because she's just
40:55had so much going on,
40:57she just had enough,
40:58I guess.
40:58We now know
40:59that her death
41:00was the culmination
41:01of a three-year nightmare.
41:02According to reports,
41:04this was largely
41:04as a result
41:05of being harassed
41:06and blackmailed
41:06by a man online.
41:08Todd's senseless death
41:09sparked national discussions
41:10on cyberstalking
41:11and mental health.
41:13This led Canadian politicians
41:14to pass Bill C-13,
41:16which makes it a crime
41:17to distribute private images
41:19of another person
41:19without their consent.
41:21Our purpose
41:21is to prevent harm.
41:23And we believe
41:24that all of these provisions
41:26are necessary.
41:27It also includes provisions
41:28that could help
41:29law enforcement investigate
41:31and prosecute
41:31such cases.
41:33George Floyd
41:34The 2020 murder
41:36of George Floyd
41:36by police officers
41:37in Minneapolis, Minnesota
41:39sparked protests
41:40across the United States
41:41and around the world.
41:42Polls suggest
41:43that between 15
41:44and 26 million people
41:46in the U.S. alone
41:47attended at least
41:49one protest or rally
41:50in June of 2020,
41:52which is estimated
41:52to be one of the largest
41:53protest movements
41:54in U.S. history.
41:56In addition to demanding
41:57justice for Floyd,
41:58many demonstrators
41:59also called
42:00for broad police reform
42:01and an end
42:02to police brutality.
42:03Although the George Floyd
42:05Justice in Policing Act
42:06passed the House
42:07of Representatives,
42:08it faced opposition
42:09in the Senate
42:09and negotiations collapsed.
42:11However,
42:12in response to the incident,
42:14Presidents Donald Trump
42:15and Joe Biden
42:15both signed executive orders
42:17that address police training
42:18and accountability.
42:20In addition,
42:21more than 20 states
42:22in the U.S.
42:23and the District of Columbia
42:24enacted laws
42:25around police reform
42:26aimed at preventing
42:27such tragic violence
42:28from happening again.
42:30Son of Sam
42:31There have been various
42:32Son of Sam type laws
42:33introduced over the years,
42:35but the general goal
42:36is always the same,
42:37to prevent criminals
42:38from profiting
42:39from their crimes
42:40after conviction.
42:41The detectives
42:41of the Brooklyn Omega Squad,
42:43part of that 300 cop
42:4444 killer manhunt,
42:46captured the man
42:47they say is Son of Sam.
42:49This goes back
42:50to the fear
42:50that David Berkowitz,
42:51the notorious Son of Sam,
42:53would seek a book
42:54or movie deal
42:55while in prison
42:55to tell his story.
42:56I believe that I was
42:57a demon possessed.
42:58Different states
42:59have drafted
43:00their own version
43:00of this law,
43:01only for some of them
43:02to be struck down
43:03as unconstitutional.
43:05In New York state,
43:06victims and their families
43:08will receive notification
43:09if the criminal
43:10earns more than $10,000
43:11from telling their story.
43:13It's a delicate balance
43:14between freedom of speech
43:15and profiting from tragedy.
43:17Sylvia Likens
43:18If you see a child
43:20being maltreated,
43:21you generally have
43:22only a moral obligation
43:24to inform the authorities.
43:25I was told today
43:25by Sylvia's sister
43:26that people heard
43:28that girl screaming
43:29from four houses away
43:30and did nothing.
43:31However,
43:32in the state of Indiana,
43:34turning a blind eye
43:34could result in you
43:35being charged with a crime.
43:37Referred to as
43:38the mandated reporter law,
43:40this was enacted
43:40largely due to the murder
43:42of Sylvia Likens.
43:43Likens and her sister
43:44had been left in the care
43:45of Gertrude Banaszewski
43:47while their parents
43:48traveled with a carnival.
43:49Instead of caring for her,
43:51Banaszewski,
43:52along with some of her
43:52children and neighbors,
43:54made Likens' life
43:54a living hell
43:55and caused her eventual death
43:57on October 26th, 1965.
44:00Her parents left her
44:01in the care of
44:01Gertrude Banaszewski.
44:03Just a month later,
44:05she was dead.
44:06Although some neighbors
44:07reported hearing
44:07Likens' scream for help,
44:09not enough was done
44:10to save the girl's life.
44:12Matthew Shepard
44:13and James Byrd Jr.
44:15The two individuals
44:16in our next entry
44:17may not have known each other,
44:18but their place in history
44:19was vital towards
44:21the expanding of
44:21hate crime definition
44:22in the United States.
44:23The Matthew Shepard
44:25and James Byrd Jr.
44:26Hate Crimes Prevention Act
44:27was introduced
44:28and passed
44:29in the fall of 2009
44:30after both men
44:31lost their lives
44:32as a result of
44:33prejudice and bigotry.
44:34This afternoon,
44:35I signed into law
44:36the Matthew Shepard
44:37and James Byrd Jr.
44:39Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
44:42The law
44:43not only made it easier
44:44for federal authorities
44:45to investigate cases
44:46of this nature,
44:47but the act
44:48also expanded wording
44:49to include crimes
44:50perpetrated due to
44:51one's gender
44:51or sexual identity.
44:53It's one of the mysteries
44:53that keeps you going.
44:55I can't ever really know
44:56what he might have been
44:58able to accomplish,
44:59but I have a pretty good idea
45:00of what we can accomplish
45:01in his name.
45:02Although it cannot make up
45:03for the senseless loss
45:04of these two lives,
45:06it has arguably helped
45:07many people seek justice
45:08in the wake of such crimes.
45:10The Port Arthur Massacre.
45:12The town of Port Arthur
45:13in Tasmania, Australia
45:14was the site of one
45:15of the most horrendous crimes
45:17in the country's history.
45:18We went to war for a day.
45:21You never forget it.
45:22And you really never
45:24get completely over it,
45:25but you learn to live with it.
45:27On April 28, 1996,
45:29Martin Bryant claimed
45:30the lives of 35 people
45:31and injured 23 others
45:33using a semi-automatic rifle.
45:35The massacre shocked
45:36the entire nation
45:37and led to a nationwide debate
45:39on gun control laws
45:40in Australia.
45:42In the wake of the tragedy,
45:43the Australian government
45:44moved swiftly
45:45to introduce
45:46the National Firearms Agreement,
45:48or NFA.
45:48You know, we had
45:49the National Firearms Agreement,
45:51as was mentioned
45:52in the package,
45:53come into force
45:5425 years ago.
45:56And, you know,
45:57it's worked.
45:58We haven't seen
45:59an event like that again.
46:01This agreement
46:01significantly restricted
46:03access to automatic
46:04and semi-automatic weapons
46:05and also included
46:07a buyback program
46:08for the newly banned firearms.
46:10Since then,
46:10Australia has seen
46:11a considerable decrease
46:13in gun-related deaths.
46:14Emmett Till.
46:16In 1955,
46:18Emmett Till,
46:18an African-American teenager,
46:20was visiting relatives
46:21in Mississippi
46:22when he was lynched
46:23for allegedly flirting
46:24with a white woman.
46:25Despite overwhelming evidence
46:27of their guilt,
46:28Till's killers
46:28were acquitted
46:29by an all-white jury.
46:31The trial
46:31and subsequent outrage
46:33over the verdict
46:33helped galvanize
46:34the civil rights movement
46:35and led to the passage
46:37of multiple landmark laws.
46:38Rosa Parks said
46:40it was Till's face
46:41she saw
46:41when refusing
46:42to give up her seat
46:43on an Alabama bus.
46:45Martin Luther King Jr.
46:47summoned his memory
46:48during the Montgomery
46:49bus boycott.
46:50In 2008,
46:51the Emmett Till
46:52Unsolved Civil Rights
46:53Crime Act
46:54was enacted,
46:55allowing for the investigation
46:56and prosecution
46:57of racially motivated crimes
46:58that occurred
46:59before 1970.
47:00This was followed
47:01by the Emmett Till
47:02Anti-Lynching Act
47:03in 2022,
47:05which recognizes lynching
47:06as a federal hate crime.
47:07President Biden
47:08signed the first law
47:10that makes lynching
47:10a federal hate crime
47:12passed unanimously
47:13in the Senate this month.
47:15These laws serve
47:16as a commitment
47:16to seek justice
47:17for victims
47:18of racial violence.
47:20Polly Klass
47:20Polly Klass
47:22was taken from her home
47:23during a slumber party
47:24on October 1st, 1993,
47:26and the tragedy
47:27had far-reaching effects
47:29on California legislature.
47:30For starters,
47:31support for
47:32three-strikes laws
47:33earned a lot of traction.
47:34Her kidnapper,
47:35Richard Allen Davis,
47:37had a lengthy criminal record,
47:38though there were
47:39no open warrants
47:40when police initially
47:41stopped him
47:42after being notified
47:43of a suspicious car.
47:44The idea that felony criminals
47:46should serve
47:46automatic life sentences
47:47when they commit
47:48multiple serious crimes
47:49was made easy
47:50by Davis' repugnant
47:52and unrepentant behavior
47:53during the trial.
47:54Furthermore,
47:55California Highway Patrol
47:57expanded access
47:58to their all-points bulletins
47:59to local authorities
48:00in the aftermath
48:01of Polly's death.
48:02Rebecca Schaefer
48:03Living life
48:04in the public eye
48:05isn't easy,
48:06especially when stalkers
48:08and obsessed fans
48:08come into play.
48:10This was unfortunately
48:11what caused the loss
48:12of a young and promising star
48:13in the form of
48:14My Sister Sam actress
48:15Rebecca Schaefer.
48:16Thanks for coming, Brandon.
48:18And Sam said that
48:18you're welcome here
48:19anytime you want.
48:20Robert John Bardo
48:21stalked the actress
48:22for years,
48:23attempting to crash
48:24the set of
48:24My Sister Sam
48:25and even hiring
48:26a private investigator
48:27to find out
48:28where Schaefer lived
48:28via the California
48:29Department of Motor Vehicles.
48:31Bardo eventually
48:32shot Schaefer
48:33at her home,
48:34and her death
48:34prompted lawmakers
48:35to draft stricter
48:36anti-stalking legislation
48:38in its wake.
48:39I couldn't live
48:39with myself
48:40and say she was
48:41a wonderful girl
48:42and we loved her
48:42and we missed her
48:43and not try to affect it.
48:45The Driver's Privacy
48:46Protection Act
48:47was also made into law
48:48after this incident,
48:50making it more difficult
48:51for others to find
48:52personal information
48:53via the DMV.
48:55Johnny Gosch
48:55We're waiting for you
48:56to come home.
48:57We're doing everything
48:58in our power
48:59to get you back.
49:00This cold case
49:01was the subject
49:01of a 2014 documentary
49:03titled
49:04Who Took Johnny?
49:05But it also changed
49:06how police respond
49:07to reports
49:08of missing children.
49:09Johnny Gosch
49:10was taken
49:10during his paper route
49:11in the early morning hours
49:12of September 5th, 1982
49:14and he has not been seen since.
49:17At the time
49:18of his disappearance,
49:19policy in Des Moines, Iowa
49:20stated that someone
49:21couldn't be labeled
49:22as a missing person
49:23until 72 hours
49:25had gone by.
49:26The Gosch case
49:27resulted in legislation
49:28that changed all of this,
49:29making it easier
49:30for police to begin
49:31an investigation.
49:33The Johnny Gosch bill
49:34requires authorities
49:35to immediately treat
49:36all missing persons reports
49:37of a child as credible
49:39and to respond accordingly.
49:42Megan Kanka
49:42How well do you
49:44really know your neighbor?
49:45This was the inspiration
49:46behind Megan's Law,
49:48a subsection of laws
49:49that require the public
49:50to be able to access
49:51information of convicted
49:52sex offenders
49:53in their area.
49:53A neighbor who lived
49:55diagonally from my house
49:56was outside
49:58and he lured her
50:00into his home
50:00to see a puppy dog.
50:02The specific case
50:03was that of
50:03seven-year-old Megan Kanka,
50:05whose neighbor,
50:06Jesse Tumendiquas,
50:07lured and assaulted her
50:08before taking her life.
50:10Tumendiquas's criminal history
50:11with little to no rehabilitation
50:13was not available
50:14to Kanka's family.
50:15And as a local assemblyman
50:17by the name of Paul Kramer
50:18was quoted as saying,
50:19quote,
50:20Megan Kanka
50:21would be alive today
50:22had a public registry
50:24been easily accessible
50:25by her family.
50:26I don't think about him at all
50:28and I liked that
50:29and I thought
50:29he took so much from us
50:31that I wasn't
50:32going to let him
50:32take any more.
50:33Ernesto Miranda
50:34You've heard it
50:35a million times
50:37on television
50:37and in movies,
50:38but do you know
50:39the actual origins
50:40behind your Miranda rights?
50:42You're under arrest!
50:43You know the routine.
50:45Very good.
50:45You have the right
50:46to remain silent.
50:47Now what else?
50:47Although Ernesto Miranda
50:49was a criminal
50:49and his second trial
50:51did have the same results
50:52of a conviction,
50:53it's the circumstances
50:54of his arrest
50:55that changed the law.
50:56This was because Miranda
50:57wasn't informed
50:58of his right
50:59to remain silent
51:00so as not
51:00to incriminate himself
51:01and was also,
51:03quote,
51:03refused an opportunity
51:04to consult with his counsel.
51:06Anything you say
51:07can and will be used
51:08against you
51:09in a court of law.
51:11If you cannot afford
51:12to hire a lawyer,
51:13one will be appointed
51:14to represent you
51:15before any questioning
51:16if you wish one.
51:17His confession
51:18was deemed
51:18inadmissible as evidence
51:20and the state of Arizona
51:21had to retry him
51:22with said confession
51:23omitted from the record.
51:24The Supreme Court case
51:26Miranda v. Arizona
51:27now requires
51:28that all arresting officers
51:30inform you
51:30of your right to silence
51:32and an attorney.
51:33The department
51:33was forced to drop
51:34the charges
51:35because you forgot
51:36to read him
51:37his Miranda rights.
51:38Amber Hagerman
51:39Most people are familiar
51:41with Amber Alerts.
51:42They inform us
51:43whenever the case
51:44of a child going missing
51:45is reported in our area.
51:46Confirming the abduction,
51:48Amber Alert,
51:50Holly White,
51:51female,
51:5218 months.
51:53However,
51:53it's vitally important
51:55that we remember
51:55the alert's namesake,
51:57Amber Hagerman.
51:58While riding her bicycle
51:59back in 1996,
52:01Hagerman was taken
52:02and murdered.
52:03Her killer
52:03has never been found.
52:05The case increased demand
52:06for immediate response
52:07to any sort of similar report
52:09involving minors.
52:10And today,
52:11Amber Alerts go out
52:12on radio,
52:13television,
52:14telephone,
52:15internet,
52:16and highway communication devices
52:17in order to maximize
52:19public awareness
52:20and response.
52:20We have an Amber Alert
52:21for 16-year-old
52:23Samantha Renee Wilcox
52:24of Wichita.
52:25There are also related alerts
52:27for missing seniors
52:28called silver alerts
52:29and police
52:30known as blue alerts.
52:32Adam Walsh
52:33The abduction and death
52:35of Adam Walsh
52:36is arguably the most
52:37well-known case
52:37on this list,
52:38thanks largely
52:39to the public presence
52:40of Walsh's father,
52:41John,
52:41as the host
52:42of America's Most Wanted.
52:44For 27 years,
52:46we've been asking
52:47who could take
52:49a six-year-old boy?
52:50Still,
52:51it is impossible
52:52to overstate
52:53how much
52:54the Walsh family
52:54has worked
52:55to help the families
52:56of victims
52:56over the years,
52:57as Adam's case
52:58was responsible
52:59in part
52:59for the establishment
53:00of the National Center
53:02for Missing
53:02and Exploited Children.
53:04Adam's taking
53:04from a Florida mall
53:05was also the impetus
53:06for the Code Adam program
53:08that's used
53:08in retail environments.
53:10An employee
53:10will now page information
53:12over the intercom
53:13to help find a child
53:14that's been reported
53:15as having disappeared.
53:16There were cops
53:17who said,
53:18well,
53:18depending on the age
53:19of the kid,
53:19we're going to wait
53:2024 hours.
53:21If it's over
53:22a certain age,
53:23we're going to wait
53:2348 hours.
53:24The first four hours
53:26are crucial.
53:27Before we continue,
53:28be sure to subscribe
53:29to our channel
53:29and ring the bell
53:30to get notified
53:31about our latest videos.
53:32You have the option
53:33to be notified
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53:35or all of them.
53:36If you're on your phone,
53:37make sure you go
53:38into your settings
53:39and switch on notifications.
53:42Kitty Genovese.
53:44Dialing 911
53:49seems like such
53:50an instinctive act
53:51that it's easy
53:52to forget
53:53this wasn't always
53:54how emergencies
53:55were called into police.
53:56Kitty Genovese
53:57was followed,
53:58assaulted,
53:59and stabbed
53:59by Winston Mosley
54:00while she was returning home
54:02after a late-night shift
54:03working at a bar.
54:04The crime
54:05had multiple witnesses
54:06in the form
54:07of Genovese's neighbors,
54:08but some were reportedly
54:09too scared
54:10to call police,
54:11while others
54:12had difficulty
54:13getting through on a line.
54:14People are looking
54:15out their windows.
54:15They see Kitty Genovese here.
54:18They see her struggle
54:19to her feet.
54:20At the time,
54:21any emergencies
54:22would be called
54:22into the operator,
54:23who would then transfer
54:25the call
54:25to the appropriate authorities
54:26only when they had
54:27the opportunity to do so.
54:29You didn't see anything?
54:30She was lying
54:30in that courtyard all night.
54:32It was dark.
54:33This delayed response
54:35would in part
54:36influence the establishment
54:37of the 911 emergency system
54:39we use today.
54:41What do you think
54:42was the most influential case
54:44in human history?
54:45Let us know
54:45in the comments below.
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