48 Hours - 48 Hours: NCIS: The Sting

Episode Date: June 14, 2017

When the investigation of a murdered Navy petty officer goes unsolved for nearly two decades, an NCIS agent goes undercover to turn up the heat on a suspect.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 H with NCIS, I specialized in undercover operations. That was my big concern, that you were going to run to the cops last night

and then come and we're going to get whacked today. It was fascinating to get you out of the office. You have to think on your feet. I like doing it. I kind of developed a particular personality when I was undercover. I like to play a tough guy. I am sort of a tough guy, but I like to play a tough guy. When you're undercover, the tattoos are very helpful because most people don't associate heavily tattooed people with law enforcement. People don't associate heavily tattooed people with law enforcement.

This investigation revolved around the December 1983 murder of a U.S. Navy member by the name of Sonny Groton. My dad, Sonny Groton, was the greatest dad in the world. He really was. Eyes on the deck. Let's move it out. Sonny Groton, a U.S. Navy member, was murdered outside his house in Belfast, Maine. Belfast, Maine? You know, things don't happen in Belfast, Maine. But they do.

And it can happen anywhere. I was a trooper for the state police back in 1983. I got called here 8.45 in the evening. It was just a warm December evening. Back then there was a wood pile, there was no garage there and there was a wood pile there. There was somebody hiding by the wood pile that was piled in the driveway. And for some reason, they shot my dad.

He got out of his vehicle here and didn't even make it to his home and was shot in the walkway. Just the way the whole thing unfolded, it shocked this area. Mr. Grottner was executed. It was, like, totally unreal. Like, this is not happening. I think I had to use every tool in the investigator's toolbox to solve this. It was clear that they laid in wait whoever shot Sonny. He had been paid before coming home, and he had over $900 with him. That money wasn't taken, so this wasn't a robbery. This case went unsolved for 17 years. We had to develop some direct evidence against those that we believe

could be involved. I learned about Dave Truesdale's undercover work and realized that he was pretty good at it. He's worked with ex-cons. He knows what they think. He knows what they act. He can talk like them. I've been around some really bad people in my career all right brother undercover operations can be very dangerous you want my help in your sight best case scenario you blow your line did you know tonight it was going to happen i had no idea worst case scenario you get killed No idea. Worst case scenario, you get killed.

The NCIS mission is global. We're on aircraft carriers. We're in foreign ports. We watch after each other. We take care of each other. NCIS deal with every type of crime. Cyber, fraud, murder. It's counterintelligence, counterterrorism.

Every crime is a tragedy. Call sisters, brothers, husbands. I feel it very personally. We live in dangerous times. And we're never going to get out. NCIS. The cases they can't forget. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island.

It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn, and it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reached the age of 10 that would still have heard it. It just happens to all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones and for almost two years I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn trials I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific Island to the brink of extinction.

Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. But did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by to watch. It was called Candyman. But did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, wherever you get your podcasts. I found an old photo. This must have been back in the day when he first started. They had the black suit and the white cap.

They'd just fold up. A man in uniform. Ooh, very handsome. The years have not diminished Rosalind Groton's affection for her father, Mervyn Sonny Groton. He had the biggest heart and was so giving and so honest and so hardworking and so loving. And I even found his hanky.

He always had white hankies in his pocket. And I'm like, aw. I didn't know that was in there all this time. I would have had it in my pocket, you know? I was like, gee, Dad. Sonny Groton was a machinist mate, chief petty officer in the U.S. Navy. At the time of his death, he had been in the service almost 25 years. He's a lot of medals he got.

The screen and white striped one, that's for Vietnam. He had been working in Newport, Rhode Island at the Naval Education Training Center, helping to train new officers on shipboard equipment and other surface warfare type skills. My dad is right there. That's my dad. It's been 33 years since I was here, so it's changed some since I was here last. That's where the shooter was hiding when Mr. Grotten arrived here. He was shot first in the left hip, and then a second shot ripped through his left upper arm,

went through his torso, out his back, and he fell. The third shot was at exceptionally close range. Roz was actually on the phone with her mother, Norma, who was inside the house when Sonny was gunned down. It sounded like a car or a truck backfiring in the background. And I asked her, I said, what was that? Is Dad home now? Something wrong with the truck? Backfiring or something like that?

And she says, oh, I got to go. So she hung up really quick. And it wasn't very long after that, my grandmother called me, hysterical on the phone. And she said, Rozzy, you've got to come over. Your dad's been shot. And I'm like, oh my God. But who would want Sonny dead? When Sonny was away in Newport working for the Navy, his wife, Norma, had sort of taken on a different lifestyle, taken advantage of the freedom that she had. We started to pick up information that she may have been involved in extramarital affairs. She was involved in drug use and some drug sales and was living a life that was very much different than the one that Sonny may have known about her.

She was kind of like, well, it's a awful thing to say, but it's true, kind of a Jekyll and Hyde type of a person. She could be fine one minute, and then the next minute you want to duck because something's going to go flying and you're going to get hit. next minute you want to duck because something's going to go flying and you're going to get hit. My dad was such a nice person that he would be helping everyone else in any spare moment that he had. And it would piss my mother off to no end because she was a selfish person and he was a giving person. They were brought up two totally different ways. Roz remembers a childhood when her mother was already starting to pull away from her

father. In the sixth grade, I had a lead in Cinderella. I was so excited. I mean, who wouldn't be excited about being Cinderella, right? Well, my mother pulls in with a station wagon, which is, come on, get in, let's go. We're leaving. We're going to California. And she had left dad again.

There was always a man involved. There were several. I mean, we were supposed to call them Uncle Whoever, or they didn't have a name. I couldn't recall exactly how many. But after decades of forgiving his wife, Sonny told Roz he was fed up. He's like, I can't do this anymore. He had had enough. And that was in November.

He died in December. And I'm like, oh, my God. After, you know, thinking about it later, that was just so messed up and so wrong. Right from the start, cops focused on Norma. I was confident that when our detectives showed up, that they were going to go in there and within a half an hour, they're going to be lugging her out in handcuffs. And when it didn't happen, I was shocked.

They got to a certain point in the case, but sufficient evidence just didn't exist to charge anybody responsible in the case. 17 years passed before a newly formed NCIS cold case squad made Sonny's murder a priority. They started with their prime suspect. Norma Small had been interviewed a total of 11 times. Norma, hi. I'm John Dyer. I'm with the Maine State Police. And she had not admitted any culpability in the murder. I really came to the conclusion that interviewing Norma again without any new information would probably be fruitless.

It was time for a new approach. Undercover operations are valuable in a variety of different ways. In the Sunny Groton case, it was immensely valuable. There was no other way that you could use traditional methods to go after her. This is Special Agent David Truesdale. I'm waiting to make an undercover contact with a white female known as Norma Groton, aka Norma Small. This was a very unique role that I had to play.

I took from my past all the other roles that I played as kind of a tough guy and went up against somebody who at the time probably could have been my mother. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all.

I'm Marsha Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop. Now, through dramatic interviews and access, I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informants Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus

in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, and listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge? Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly? Introducing the best idea yet. A brand new podcast from Wondery and T-Boy about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with and the bolder risk takers who brought them to life. Like, did you know that Super Mario,

the best-selling video game character of all time, only exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye? Or Jack, that the idea for the McDonald's Happy Meal first came from a mom in Guatemala? From Pez dispensers to Levi's 501s to Air Jordans, discover the surprising stories of the most viral products. Plus, we guarantee that after listening, you're going to dominate your next dinner party. So follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus.

It's just the best idea yet. For us, cold cases present an investigator challenge. They haven't been solved before. We may have a little bit of competitiveness and a desire to see the case resolved. No murder should go unsolved. During the investigation, the state police interviewed a lot of people, friends of Norma. Norma also made comments to people about how Sunny would be worth a lot more dead than alive. She would receive insurance money. She also had told people that she dreaded when Sonny came home and was kind of happy when he left for the week.

We always thought that there was some financial motivation to this. So as part of the investigation, we took a look at her finances and what exactly did she receive when Sonny died. There was a death benefit from the Navy. She received the real estate that she owned with Sonny. And she received a monthly payment from the VA that over 15 or 17 years had amounted to almost $100,000. Norma was interviewed quite a few times. One of the things that she was asked to do is take a polygraph. I'll go with you and just take the stupid lie detector test because you didn't do

anything wrong. So what are you afraid of? She wasn't guilty of anything, so why not take it? She wouldn't take the polygraph. That's kind of a red flag. They found Sonny Groton laying on the ground. Police were convinced that Norma was involved and may have even hired a hitman, a notorious local outlaw named Joel Fuller. I've been around some really bad people in my career. Joel is a personification of evil. When you look at him, you get chills. And I think a lot of others felt like that too. Fuller got on investigators' radar after his friend, Larry Phillips, came forward to police,

saying Fuller bragged about a murder and even showed him the creek where he threw the murder weapon. Joel proceeded to tell Larry that he used the rifle in the brook to kill Sonny Groton. He did take a polygraph test and he did pass, so we felt pretty comfortable that Larry was telling the truth. Joel Fuller is a highly talented, smart individual with no scruples. No one knows Fuller better than former Sheriff John Ford. I really got to know Joel Fuller when I was a game warden because of the fact that he was one of the lawbreakers. The lawbreaker and the lawman developed an unusual friendship. He called himself the deer hunter and he called me the other side.

People look at it and they say, well, you're in law enforcement. Why have you got this relationship? I guess my philosophy is that I've learned a lot about him. I've learned a lot about what his lifestyle was like. This is the deer antlers that he calved, and this is actually him. And what he learned was that Fuller was unusually smart and talented. The talent that he's got from his paintings is just unbelievable. He tells about how he shot over 50 deer a year,

and John Boyer, I hope you like this painting. Yes, it's me with the light and it looks like him. Fuller went to prison just two years after Sonny's death for killing two drug dealers in an unrelated case. No question about it, there's probably no other person that's as cold-blooded as what he is, from shooting deer to shooting people. And he was in prison when NCIS came up with their sting operation, a plan to make the connection between Norma and Joel Fuller. What we came up with is, what if? What if Joel Fuller had a buddy in prison that he served time with,

but was now out and was able to make contact with Norma and ask her some questions. That buddy was Agent Truesdale, who would try to get Norma to confess to the plot. I was probably at the time one of the most experienced undercover special agents in NCIS. Norma had moved to Kansas City years earlier, and despite years of living off Sonny's death benefits from the Navy,

she had fallen on hard times and was working as a cleaning lady at this motel. That's where Dave Truesdale met her for his undercover sting. In this undercover operation, I identified myself as Tony. My name's Tony. I'm a friend of Joel Fuller. He sent me out here to talk with you. Listen, the police have come back talking to Joel, and he's scared. I explained to her that Joel had received information that somebody was cooperating in the investigation,

and he believed that it was her. And he wanted me to come out here. I owe Joe some favors from the penitentiary. And he's heard that somebody's cooperating in the case. Sure ain't me, honey. No, sir. No. Okay.

Well, Joe really didn't think it was you. No, no way. Okay. But I don't know who it could be. And right away, she said, I'm not cooperating with the police. I didn't tell them anything. Obviously, I'm not here to hurt you because I'm sitting here talking to you. No.

But I got to go back. And I don't want to hurt Joel or anybody else. But, you know, I ain't talking to nobody. Uh-uh. I ain't pulling the plug on nobody. All right. And I expect the same. They tried to tell me that he was implicating May. What they're doing, they're lying, trying to get some info, but it didn't work.

Okay. It didn't work with May. So you didn't tell them nothing? No, sir. Right then, we knew that we were on to something. We suspected that she was involved from the very beginning, but we knew now. For the first time after 11 police interviews and after 17 years, inside this car, Truesdale began to win Norma's trust, and she offered new information, a new name,

and a new twist to the case. Big tall fella, What is his name? Um, the big guy. Tall guy. Boyd. Boyd Smith. He was a friend of the family. He was the only other one that knew. Almost simultaneously, we look at each other when she says Boyd Smith's name, and we kind of with a puzzled look on her face, like, who is this guy?

This was a 20-year-old homicide. The worst crime you can commit. It had languished. Nothing had been resolved. But now, investigators had a new name. Boyd. Boyd Smith. I had no idea who Boyd Smith was. So then I had to suddenly start rolling on Boyd Smith and trying to dig and find out what the relationship was. Find a pen, because I need that boy's name. What's his name? Boyd Smith. He was a friend of the family. Turns out Boyd Smith is a former boyfriend of one of the Groton children, and from time to time actually lived in the home with Norma and her children and her daughter.

What did you tell him? I was going to hire him. Okay. That's what I thought the plan was. Okay. Norma's plan was to hire her daughter's former boyfriend to kill her husband. I couldn't believe that this person that I had had a relationship with a year before that was capable of even thinking about doing something like that.

After I started asking her about Boyd, she said, I didn't hire Joel, I hired Boyd. What's the deal with Boyd? He was the one that was supposed to do the back. Okay. Did he get cold feet? I mean, is he a chicken? Yeah, kind of, I guess.

I don't know what his problem was. Boyd Smith lived in a house in the woods in Belfast, Maine. We went to his house. He completely disavowed any knowledge of the homicide. We went back and forth, back and forth. Ultimately, he admitted that Norma came to him and asked him several times to kill her husband. So Truesdale, acting as tough guy Tony, was eager for more.

He set up a second meeting with Boyd. He agreed to meet us. He said, hey, I get off work at noon for lunch. Gave us directions to a cemetery, which was kind of unusual. And he'd meet us at the cemetery. Hey. It's a good place, because we were looking around, trying to make sure there's no cops,

because that was my big concern, that you were going to run to the cops last night and then come and we're going to get whacked today. We weren't sure initially whether Boyd had actually participated in the killing. What was the actual agreement with you and Norma? How did that all come about? Norma wanted her husband gone.

I mean, that was the bottom line. She was always bitching and raring about it and this and that. And she asked me if I would do it. Actually, she asked me several times. You know, and I thought about it and thought about it and thought about it and thought about it and told her, I said, I got cold feet. I said, no way. Can't do it.

Boyd said he waited at the corner of the house. He tried to imagine shooting Sonny or killing him. And he got physically sick, started vomiting, and he realized he just couldn't do it. He chickened out, couldn't kill him. She was angry, and she insisted that he find somebody else. And then she said, well, can you put me in contact with him? And then you put her in contact with Joel? My mother had asked him if he knew anybody else that could do it, and he was like, oh,

yeah, Joel Fuller, he'll do anything for money, including killing somebody. Boyd went down to Rowley's and found Joel Fuller, and he put Joel in touch with Norma. Boyd's admission was enough to arrest him, so Dean Jackson and an NCIS agent sat him down for a formal interrogation with camera rolling. They needed Boyd to come clean and tell them who killed Sonny Groton.

Noma's version of this is, of course, she's trying to wash her hands of it. She says, I got Boyd to do it, and he got Joel. That's what he told me. Well, she's lying because I didn't tell her that I got Joel. I may have suggested that, well, okay, you know, try to get a hold of Joel Fuller or try to get a hold of, or maybe he knows somebody. So you knew who Joel was? Oh, I had heard about Joel. Everybody in Wallow County has heard about Joel. What did you hear about him? That he was told, he was available, he was in the drug scene, that he was, in that case, do anything for money.

I didn't know Joel back then. I did not put Norma and Joel in touch with each other. That is the truth. That contradicts what he told Agent Truesdale, that he was the one who put Joel Fuller in touch with Norma. She said, you made the arrangements. You told her you made the arrangements. Well, what's your story?

I told you my story. It doesn't work. Dean Jackson needed Boyd to admit he was the go-between. So after hours of an aggressive interrogation, he tries a different approach. Boyd, come here. Listen to me. You listen to me right now. This is your time to tell the truth.

You're going down the drain right now. You're done, man. This is almost looking like you're the man that pulled the trigger. Jackson could sense Boyd was about to break. It's all right. Come on, tell us. Get this off your chest. Come on, boy.

I'm looking for somebody. Yeah. I know his address. I know his name. That's just too wild. Do you really know your parents? Do you really know your spouse? Do you really know your children?

It kind of makes you almost paranoid. Do you know anybody? It's scary. I'm going to go. Once Boyd Smith had confirmed to investigators that Norma was the force behind Sonny's killing, even if Joe Fuller pulled the trigger, police had her in their sights. And she stood, I'd like to see her dead. I thought she was just yanking my chain. Okay. When did you realize she wasn just yanking my chain. Okay.

When did you realize she wasn't? When she offered me money. After 18 years, 13 interrogations, and four undercover stings, Norma was arrested. Norma has been arrested, and she's on her way in right now. Mm-hmm. Are you going to sit down and talk to her just like we're talking to you? Norma, hi. I'm John Dyer. I'm with the Maine State Police.

This is Ken Knight. I'm with NCIS. Yeah, whatever that is. Criminal Investigative Service. My sister called me because she was living in Kansas at the time and said, Mom's been arrested. And I'm like, what? And it's like, oh my God. For the murder of Dad. And I'm like, what? And it's like, oh, my God, for the murder of Dad.

And I'm like, holy crap. As agents began interrogating Norma, they had one overriding question. Why? It's just a question that we want to clear up of what was going on in your life, what was going on in Sonny's life, what led up to this? How did it get this bad? Was it just an overreaction to an emotional situation that you later regretted? I just got tired of the bulls**t.

What kind of bulls**t, though, I guess, is what we're looking at? Oh, just picky, aggravating things. I couldn't understand why, because Dad was always such a nice person. He never raised his voice. He never raisedating things. I couldn't understand why, because Dad was always such a nice person. He never raised his voice. He never raised a hand. It's not like he was abusive or being mean. Anytime she wanted anything, she got it. Let's go through what led up to that.

Who did you approach? What took place? What did you say? Boy. Boy? And what did you say to Boyd? And I asked him if he would. And again, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but he would do what? If he would take care of my husband's father. And by take care, what do you mean? Take him out. Are you saying kill your husband? Is that...? Yeah. Okay. When the homicide occurred, it was clear that it was because Sunny was getting ready to retire from the Navy and was going to be moving back home to Maine and would be there all the time,

and that the lifestyle that she had developed, whether it was the running around or the involvement in drugs and the social life that she seemed to like, that wasn't going to happen anymore. So she had him killed. My feelings on Norma were kind of disbelief. When we tried to discuss with her the motive for doing this, what you and I would normally deal with through a divorce, a breakup, she dealt with through murder. And what were you offering Boyd to do that?

Do I have to tell you that? No, already later. Yeah. Ten. Ten thousand? Okay. The information that we developed was she offered $10,000 to kill Sonny Brown. There was enough unaccountable cash from her bank accounts to indicate that she could have paid somebody. It was money she'd gotten from her husband's pension.

Do you think that you were necessarily entitled to those benefits, having been the one responsible for setting up Mervyn's death? Do you honestly think you're entitled to those money? How come? Because if I didn't, I wouldn't have nothing to live on. I tried working, and that took too much out of me. The best way to describe Norma is just cold. Your creator has given you forgiveness for the death of Mervyn. Is that what you're saying? You have been forgiven.

I'm right at ease. I mean, I have no, no quimps. No guilt. No, no, nothing. No ill feelings. No, no. I mean, in your mind, you know that you made a mistake, but you have no guilt about it. No. I mean, in your mind, you know that you made a mistake, but you have no guilt about it? No.

Any of your children ever suspect anything? No. They never brought this up that they thought that you might be responsible for Sonny's death or anything? No. They showed us part of her interrogation, and they asked her, well, how do you think your children are going to feel about this? Do you think the kids will have the same peace of mind, or how do you explain this to them now?

They'll understand. And she just nonchalantly says, oh, they'll understand. And I'm, like, totally appalled and about ready to lose my lunch, to say the least. I couldn't believe it. We're just looking at each other, my brother and me, and it's like, who is this woman? But there was one big problem with Norma's confession. She insisted she never had any contact with Joel Fuller. Even if you didn't really have a personal relationship or know Joel,

isn't it true that Boyd had let you know that Joel was going to be the trigger man? No. Why would he say something like that? I don't know. That's what I'm wondering. Yeah, I don't know. Is he lying about that? Yeah, he must be because I had no contact with Joel whatsoever.

Even without every link of the murder chain established, in 2002, Norma Small, Boyd Smith, and Joel Fuller each went on trial separately for the murder of Sonny Groton. And when the jury came back, shock. I mean, just total disbelief. I grew up in a military family. Anytime that I see a military member hurt by somebody, it does push me to resolve that incident.

And investigators were near the finish line in the Sonny Groton murder, bringing the three accused conspirators to trial. And though everyone believed Joe Fuller was the trigger man... He always signs a letter, a friend from the other side. Former sheriff and unlikely pen pal John Ford had some doubts. John, listen to my words. If I am lying to you when I tell you that I did not kill Sonny Groton, may the Lord strike my mom and sister's owner dead right now, and they both live in hell every single day for eternity. Joel denies he did it, and all you can do is just look at all the evidence

and make your own determination. I think the strongest piece of evidence is the detail that Joel gave Larry Phillips. Remember, Larry Phillips was Fuller's friend who went to police after Fuller bragged about the murder and showed him the weapon. That is information that nobody should know except for the shooter. Norma had said that Boyd Smith was the only other one that knew.

But I think Boyd's personality, I don't think he has the guts to shoot somebody in that manner. It looked like an execution. Somebody's lying in wait, he backs in, he gets out of his vehicle, he's walking to his home, and somebody shoots him. Execution style. I mean, that's an up-close-and-personal thing. It makes more sense that Joel would be capable of something like that.

Joel was an avid hunter. He's used to shooting. He's used to killing things. He has done other murders in kind of the same manner. Boyd, I just don't see that killer instinct in him. Joel Fuller's trial was tough for the prosecution. Some of our key witnesses were a bit frazzled. Testimony was probably not as strong as I hoped it would be. There were some decisions made regarding admissibility of some evidence.

Fuller told John Ford the testimony of Larry Phillips, the prosecution's key witness was weak. He says, my attorney made Larry look so bad that the jury, they knew that he wasn't telling the truth. Larry Phillips did a terrible job testifying. I think he was intimidated by Joel, and he had smoked some pot before he came in to testify to try to relax himself, and he was just a mess by the time he got up on the stand. Fuller was brought from his jail cell to court, but did not testify. The evidence was there. All the testimony was there. But the jury saw no direct link between Fuller and Sonny Grotten. He was acquitted.

And when the jury came back and found Joel not guilty, shock. I mean, just total disbelief. Fuller remains in prison, serving a life sentence for those two other murder convictions. I have a tendency to believe that he really didn't do it. He claims that Boyd Smith is the murderer. Boyd's role is that of a middleman. Boyd does not deny his role as the middleman. We felt that he committed a conspiracy to commit murder.

Because this case was as old as it was, the statute of limitations on conspiracy to commit murder had run, and the only choice that the AG had to charge him with was murder. Boyd's trial was interesting. He confessed during the undercover. And then you put her in contact with Joe? Mm-hmm. He confessed during the post-arrest interrogation.

Sorry, you want to tell us? Get this off your chest. And he actually testified on the stand to what he did. He confessed on the stand. So you have three confessions. The jury had sent out a question to the effect, can we convict Boyd of anything else except for murder, like solicitation or some other crime?

And, of course, the judge said, no, the charge is murder. His defense was that he removed himself from the conspiracy before the crime was actually committed. I think the jury felt a little sorry for him. That's what it seemed. He was acquitted. A few months later, on July 29, 2002, Norma Small went on trial for the murder of her husband. Norma Small went on trial for the murder of her husband. We gained Boyd Smith's cooperation in the trial of Norma Small. Norma was charged with murder and receiving the death benefits that resulted from Sonny's death. Boyd's testimony was critical in that case.

My name's Tony. As was Dave Truesdale's undercover sting. There's probably not a day that goes by that she doesn't think about Tony, whoever the heck he was, that undercover guy. Norma would have seen me in the gallery. Norma took the stand and said she had nothing to do with Sonny's death. Incredibly, she said she had just told investigators what they wanted to hear. I don't want to put the word in your mouth, but he would do what? If he would take care of my husband's father.

She got up on the stand and testified, and I think the jury could see that she wasn't really being truthful, especially when they heard Norma's own incriminating words on tape. I just got tired of the bulls**t. You're saying kill your husband? Is that? Yeah. Okay. You know that you made a mistake, but you have no guilt about it? No.

Norma was convicted on both charges. Anything you'd like to say? No comment. I was in court when Norma was found guilty. It was a sense of relief. She received a total of 70 years in state prison. It was a sense of relief. She received a total of 70 years in state prison. She was the one, the only one out of all three,

that was found guilty. I think justice was served. You have the person that started this whole thing. If it hadn't have been for this one person, Sonny would not have been murdered. Homicide is the ultimate crime. There's nothing else above homicide. And when you resolve something like that, it's a tremendous feeling of success.

My dad, Sonny Groton, was the greatest dad in the world. I could just use just about every good adjective that there was known in the dictionary to describe him. Anytime you needed anything, he was right there. He was just super wonderful, he really was. My dad has been six feet under since 1983. And she's still living, she's still breathing, she's watching TV, she's eating food,

and my tax dollars are paying for her medicine, and it really pisses me off. Because it shouldn't be like that. I believe in an eye for an eye, I'm sorry. But when you do something like that, the same thing should be done to you Just let it be over. It's not really over until she's gone. I think that's the biggest part is It's not gonna be over

Until she's gone The whole chapter the whole book And I want it to be over. Oh, Daddy, I love you.