Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Shattered Souls: Kim Dorsey

Episode Date: January 10, 2022

Join veteran forensic investigator Karen Smith on the Shattered Souls podcast! Who killed Kim Dorsey? As Karen and her co-workers forensically reconstructed the crime scene, the homicide detectives ran down lead after lead until they found the suspect and arrested him. Who was he and how did the crime really happen? What was the suspect’s story when he took the stand at the trial? Interviews with Detective Kim Long, Prosecutor London Kite, Detective Larry Kuczkowski and Sergeant Karen Dukes.Subscribe to the Shattered Souls podcast and catch up on all of Season 1 available now:Apple PodcastiHeartSpotifyMusic: The New Real by Sam Johnson at www.samjohnsonlive.com Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. But it doesn't matter how you feel This is the new real This is the new real This is Shattered Souls. I'm your host, Karen Smith. This podcast contains graphic language and is not suitable for children. This is the new real Welcome back. This is Episode 12. When we left off, I was in the middle of reconstructing the homicide of Kim Dorsey

after she was found by her husband, Derek, when he came home from his overnight shift as a firefighter. Jack, what's up? We said Andy was fat. How did she hurt herself? I don't know. his overnight shift as a firefighter. Okay, sir, tell me exactly what happened. I don't know. She tried to commit suicide. Send rescue 50. Are you with her right now? Yes, I am. Okay, how old is she? I don't know. She's 24. That doesn't make a difference. Send rescue.

Okay, sir, we are sending... Why? Sir, we are sending rescue. Is she awake? No, she's not. I think she's dead. Derek Dorsey had been quickly eliminated as a suspect since he had a rock-solid alibi at the fire station overnight. The homicide detectives ran down three other possible suspect leads, and they also had alibis during the time of Kim's murder. The detectives went back to Derek to find out if he could provide any further information. Detective Larry Koskowski. But once we started going down associates and individuals, we were able to determine that it was probably somebody else

that came to the home and did it. We felt confident, though, that whoever did it actually knew the Dorseys or had some connection to them. It wasn't just a random act. Based on the interview with Derek and some of the individuals that him and his wife both used in their businesses, we felt that there was an individual that we kind of honed in on that could definitely be responsible for this. Sergeant Karen Dukes.

They really started talking to Derek Dorsey about who he thought might have done it, who would have access to the house, who would know where that hidden key was by the front door. Detective Kim Long, two other junior detectives, and I were going into our fourth day at the scene. Kim Long had reconstructed three bullet defects in the kitchen ceiling, showing that the origin of those shots was right in front of a nightstand between the bed and the wall, where a saturation stain was on the carpet and an open gun box remained in the upper drawer. We determined that Kim Dorsey had fired that gun toward the kitchen.

The pink-handled revolver had been found just under the foot of the bed before it was collected. The revolver cylinder held five bullets, so it was empty. We knew the flight path, but we didn't know why Kim Dorsey would have fired toward the kitchen. We made the supposition that the suspect had zip-tied Kim to the nightstand after rendering her either semi-conscious or unconscious with a punch or a strike to her nose or eye, which was evidenced by an impact pattern on a mirror and a wall by the bathroom door. She regained consciousness at some point and fired all five rounds toward the kitchen before she got up and left that part of the bedroom and made it across the room over to a window where she was trying to escape.

I had reconstructed the bloodstains showing the heinousness of the attack evidenced by numerous cast-off events, impacts, saturations, transfer stains, and Kim's movement across the room. Kim Dorsey had been bludgeoned by the bottom half of a pool cue that was broken into three pieces and then stabbed in the neck with a kitchen knife that was also left at the scene. We now had much of the story about what happened to Kim based was also left at the scene. We now had much of the story about what happened to Kim based on the evidence at the scene. What we didn't have was a suspect, but the homicide detectives were about to zero in on one man whose name was provided by Derek Dorsey. There were definitely multiple people, and along with, eventually, with Lance. Lance had come out to the fire station,

I believe it was the Wednesday before that weekend, and had borrowed some money from Derek. At that time, Lance, either at that conversation or later in the week, he had told Derek that he was going to go out and work on a shrimp boat, try to make some money doing that. So that was the last story that Derek had as far as where Lance was headed. Lance Kirkpatrick. Lance had lived at the Dorsey home for a short period of

time while he worked for Derek Dorsey at his part-time contracting company. Karen Dukes. Lance may have done some side work for him and part of his payment was that they allowed him to live in their home for a brief amount of time while he was doing some odd-man jobs for him. But at a certain point, I think they either had to kick him out or they forced him to leave. He didn't leave on very good terms. Derek was adamant that Lance would never do such a thing. He was a friend, and Derek didn't think that Lance would have any motive to kill Kim Dorsey. Prosecutor London Kite. What was interesting about Lance Kirkpatrick is that he had developed a relationship with both Miss Dorothy, who wasn't very keen on them, I guess. But the husband really did not suspect him at all, mainly because the husband told the detectives that he was supposed to be on a shrimp boat. Initially, we thought that he had an alibi until they started digging a little bit deeper and found out that that was absolutely not true. One very important clue was found by Karen Dukes, an overturned statue by the front door.

The very first thing that I noticed as I was walking up that front sidewalk was a concrete, a very small concrete statue near the front door that was tipped over. You know, as you're walking up, you know, you're looking at the doorframe to see if there's any signs of forced entry. Someone kicked the door in or how did they gain entry? And for some reason, that statue being tipped over, the first thing I thought is someone hid the spare key to the front door under that statue and it was tipped over because someone knew that there was a key there or had been searching right around the front door and found it there. That's honestly what I thought. Lance Kirkpatrick would have known about this key since he had lived at the house. The detectives now had to find Lance

and find out if he had an alibi for the morning of the murder. Let's go back to the scene for just a moment. The Dorsey house was located in a gated development that required a code for entry. It was secure, a low crime area. Their house was located on a corner lot on a cul-de-sac not far from the entrance to the development. There were cameras positioned at that entrance. The homicide detectives went in and reviewed that video footage. As the homicide detectives chased down Lance Kirkpatrick, we continued our work at the house.

At that point, the reconstruction was just about done, and Kim Long and the others had completed a diagram of the entire house, but there were still plenty of other areas that needed to be searched and documented. The other two junior detectives had processed and collected a lot of items in the kitchen and upstairs in the loft, but there was still plenty of work to do. I went upstairs for the first time on that fourth day to do a walkthrough with one of the others, and Kim Long focused on the kitchen. One thing that crime scene detectives do on a regular basis is go through garbage for any evidence. The Dorseys had a trash compactor in the kitchen just below the sink. Luckily for us, it hadn't been activated for several days. This is Detective Kim Long. I looked in the trash can and there were like the treats that she had bought for the dog and they were still in there. I think the unopened bags were

still in there and underneath all that was the cigarette butt and it was our understanding Kim didn't smoke and neither did her husband. So why would a cigarette butt be in the trash can? You know who did smoke? Lance Kirkpatrick. Marlboros. The same brand. Kim Long packaged that cigarette butt for DNA analysis. There were still various items sitting in that kitchen sink,

including several remote controls and Kim Dorsey's cell phone. Whoever put them in there had done it with the purpose of destroying evidence, but why the television and stereo remote controls? I went into the living room and looked at the DVD player. That same greasy substance from the side table and the bedposts was on the buttons. At that point, Larry Kaskowski came back into the scene along with Derek Dorsey, and I told him about it. I processed the buttons for DNA and latent prints, and we had Derek Dorsey turn that system on. Instantly, a video began playing on the television. It was pornography. Derek Dorsey was stunned and said that it certainly was not his. Larry Kaskowski questioned him right there in the living room,

and Derek was adamant that it did not belong in that video player. So we ejected the DVD, and more of that greasy substance was on the disc, so it was collected for processing. Detective Kim Long. There was some information about the DVD player. There was a DVD of pornography. I want to say that when we were looking at the DVD player,

there seemed to be like some almost kind of like greasy smears kind of on it. When that was coupled with the cigarette butt left in the trash, it seemed like the suspect was not only comfortable enough to smoke in the house, but also sat down to watch porn after the murder and brought that disc with him to the house. What the hell kind of a twisted person does that? Derek excused himself at that point and left Larry Kaskowski, me and the others, to do a final walkthrough of the scene to make sure that everything had been documented and to give Larry the sequence of events for when he got in the box with Lance Kirkpatrick.

We went back upstairs and processed a few other items in the loft, and after nearly five full days of work, we released the scene and gave the house back to Derek Dorsey. In the meantime, the homicide detectives had found a friend of Lance Kirkpatrick's, we'll call him Mike, who said that Lance admitted to the murder to him during a conversation the day after the crime. Mike said that Lance told him that he had gone to the Dorsey house to get some of his belongings and had gotten into an argument with Kim Dorsey. He admitted to beating her, saying, quote, I broke a pool stick on the bitch, and to stabbing her in the neck. Mike also said that Lance had a bad injury to the knuckle of his hand.

Lance also told him that he thought he hadn't cleaned the scene up very well, so he went back to the house after the murder and put those items into the kitchen sink. He also realized that he had left his cell phone behind and he took that with him. There's no way Mike could have known this information unless he spoke directly with Lance Kirkpatrick, Kim Dorsey's killer. The detectives found out through other acquaintances that Lance Kirkpatrick owed a drug debt to a dealer and had borrowed a female friend's car, a Toyota RAV4. The video surveillance at the complex showed that same RAV4 leaving the housing development shortly after the murder and that car was found abandoned on the north side of town.

They tracked down the man who had supposedly been driving it last, who was a drug dealer named T. And he said that he had been with Lance Kirkpatrick on a trip to Fort Myers to purchase pills the day after the murder. Prosecutor London Kite. Liz Kirkpatrick was hopelessly addicted to drugs, which turned out to be the motivation behind the murder. When we started to look further behind what he was doing, it was actually a drug debt that made him decide that he was going to come over and steal from the doorways like he had done before. Mike told the detectives where to find Lance, an apartment complex on the south side. And on November 6, 2012, nine days after the murder, they brought him downtown for questioning. The interview of Lance, once we took him into custody,

ended abruptly when he asked for an attorney. Of course course he lawyered up. He was guilty as homemade sin of this horrible crime. And while he was in the box, they made him take his shirt off. Lance Kirkpatrick had scratches all over his body from Kim Dorsey's fingernails. Lance was booked on first-degree murder, sexual battery using a firearm, and burglary. The prosecution would file an indictment to seek the death penalty. As the court case went forward, the DNA analysis results started to trickle in. A sexual assault kit was done during the autopsy, and swabs from

that came back. Swabs from the broken pool cue. Both of them showed a match to Lance Kirkpatrick with a one in 190 quintillion chance of it belonging to anyone but him. The zip ties had Lance Kirkpatrick's DNA on them. The cigarette butt from the garbage belonged to Lance Kirkpatrick, and his DNA was embedded in the fingernail clippings from Kim Dorsey. We had the suspect in the story, but our work wasn't done. If you're like me, it's been a challenge to keep food choices new and exciting, and I have found a perfect way to get fresh, delicious meals delivered right to my door by HelloFresh. I had the chance to try HelloFresh, and right now my wife and I are trying

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and some of the other evidence that was collected prior to my involvement. I met her at the property facility and we pulled Kim's grey t-shirt from storage. It was blood-soaked on the left side, but there were still several patterns of interest on the front and on the right side. Several areas of impact were present on the shoulder and back, which would be expected in a blunt force trauma event, but one pattern piqued my curiosity, and I pointed it out. She asked what I was seeing, and I told her that this particular pattern was deposited after the shirt was saturated with blood. Kim was injured pretty badly before this

transfer stain was left on top of it, and London Kite asked me if I could tell what caused it, and I said, yeah, the pool cue. The pattern was really distinct. I measured the width at 30 millimeters or just over an inch at the narrowest part. The pattern widened toward the end and had a round base. There was no doubt about it. Lance Kirkpatrick slammed that pool cue down on her right side after it had been bloodied by striking her in another area of her body, likely on her head. The blood from the pool cue transferred onto the fabric, leaving that impression on her shirt. And London said, so that would be on her right side, correct? And I nodded.

And she looked at me and said, did I said, no, I didn't. I continued my analysis with the pillows that had been on the side of the bed in front of the nightstand. A couple of them were underneath Kim Dorsey's body at some point, and I documented impact spatter on two of them, and a third that had an unusual stain in the center that luminized under ultraviolet light. It had the hallmarks of a semen stain. So I collected a sample, and that was sent off to the lab. There was nothing left for me to do with the evidence at that point.

We had to wait for the laboratory to complete their analysis, which would take some time. Everything was repackaged and sealed. Our reports were submitted, and we all crossed our fingers and waited. About a year after the murder, Detective Kim Long had to go back to the Dorsey house for yet another look at those bullet trajectories. It seemed as if Lance Kirkpatrick was going to say he was using self-defense when Kim Dorsey attacked him first. Kim Long had to show once again the fact that all of the shots originated from one single area. This is Kim Long. I actually had to go back to the house

before trial. The reason they wanted me to do this, and part of my testimony is he finally came back and said she was trying to shoot me. So I was fighting with her while she had the gun. And as I was fighting with her and I had her arm and I had, you know, and I was trying to move her arm away from me. So we were struggling. She was firing the gun off because she was trying to shoot me. And I was trying to protect myself. So it was self-defense. You are not going to get those type of groupies if you're struggling with somebody and you're firing a gun.

You're going to have bullet defects all over the place. You're not going to have two of them in a door frame that are, what, maybe six inches apart, if even that, one hit and then one light below it, and then you're not going to have those three that were in the wall that were like basically linear, boom, boom, boom. The fact that she could show that the bullets were fired in an immediate, rapid, successive manner and not during a struggle became a crucial part of London Kite's prosecution.

The trial began two and a half years later with jury selection on April 6, 2015. After three days of questions, dismissals, and approvals, 12 people were chosen to weigh the facts and determine the fate of Lance Kirkpatrick. I had retired from the sheriff's office at that point, and I was living in Gainesville, about an hour and a half away. Early in the morning of April 9th, I made the drive up State Road 301 to the courthouse. I walked up the marble steps, past the contradiction of well-dressed attorneys and homeless people, and I was used to strolling right into the building in my uniform, but now that I was retired, I had to go through the metal detector like everyone else.

At the security checkpoint, my briefcase slid down the x-ray conveyor belt, and I entered the 70-foot-tall rotunda past the massive staircase and took the elevator to the sixth floor. I paced the hallway outside of courtroom 605, making small talk with some of my former co-workers who were waiting for their trials. Reporters and photojournalists set up news cameras and milled outside the courtroom door, which remained auto-locked. I reviewed my report over and over again, reading every detail, every letter, designator, and description. The 10 pages of questions that London Kite emailed me were clipped on top. And I sat on a bench and five hours went by.

And the bailiff poked his head out of the door and called my name. After an introduction, the judge designated me as an expert witness and there were no objections from the defense council. London smiled at me and she worked her way through the initial questions by introducing some of the photographs taken by the initial two investigators building on their testimony from earlier in the day. After laying the foundation regarding how I was called to the scene, she and I spent four hours going over every aspect of the scene and my part of the reconstruction. I explained the sequence of events, starting with the impact pattern on the mirror,

the cast-off on the upper walls and ceiling, Kim Dorsey's movement to the window, and her attempted escape, all the way through to her final resting place on the floor. After my testimony, the defense attorney stood and told the judge they had no questions for me at all. London Kite. The forensics and what you guys were able to say forensically, I think, was so important. That's why I'm so glad you guys were involved as early as you were. I know it wasn't as early as you would like to have been, but it was crucial that we get her story forensically. I didn't hear about the injuries to Lance Kirkpatrick's hand and the scratches on his body until after the trial was over. I also didn't know about his

admission to his friend Mike that he broke the pool cue on her body and that he waited for the sixth shot from that revolver while he ducked down in the kitchen before he returned to the bedroom and yanked Kim down onto the bedpost away from the window when he heard it open. All of that testimony was given to the jury, along with Kim Long's reconstruction, Larry Kaskowski's homicide investigation, the medical examiner's findings, and numerous other witnesses who explained Lance's drug debt and how he came to borrow the Toyota RAV4 seen leaving the complex. A cellular data specialist would testify that

Lance Kirkpatrick's cell phone pinged off of the towers adjacent to the housing development at the time of the murder. The jury listened to the defense witnesses testify, and there was one in particular that would put this case to bed for good. Lance Kirkpatrick. This is London Kite. I was prepared for it because I knew from the jail calls that his defense had more from an ID defense, meaning that he was going to say that wash off what he might have touched. And then, but he didn't do anything with her body, which I thought was interesting because his DNA was found on swabs that were taken from her body. So I think initially he thought, you know,

I'm going to just run an ID defense, which I knew from the jail calls. And so the moment he switched his defense to self-defense, that meant for me and Lisa least, that I had to prepare for a cross-examination of him. Kim Dorsey was probably the most injured victim I've ever seen. She was beaten. She was stabbed. She was raped. So all those things I knew from the outset that he would have to admit, that he would have to say, I did it, but I did it because, and I knew that would be a tough sell on the jury. After London had Lance Kirkpatrick dead to rights and against the ropes, cowering on the witness stand, she pulled Kim Dorsey's gray t-shirt from the evidence table

and placed it on the banister close to his face. She pointed at the bloodstains and tapped on the cellophane display. States Exhibit 565, I want you to take a good look, she said. I know, he said, and turned his head to avoid looking at it. Do you see that pattern, that linear mark across her stomach? That's consistent with that pool cue you admit to wielding at her she snapped yes ma'am so you're saying that you didn't do what's on this exhibit and Lance Kirkpatrick said the only thing I can think that how that happened is when we fell to the floor I probably had the pool stick in my hand and when I pressed it down like to get up or whatever, it could have easily left that print on there. You're now saying that this,

that breaking her ribs was an accident? And he said, it happened when I tackled her. That's the only thing I can think because I never hit her in the side. You realize that if you do admit to wielding that thing like you actually did that day, striking her over and over, beating her to the point that her ribs were broken. That's pretty damaging to your position, right?

So this was all an accident. And he said, it was horrible, but I didn't swing at her ribs. I didn't swing at her body like that. I was swinging overhead while trying to get the gun from her. And that's the only time I was swinging the pool stick. And London walked over to the evidence table again, and she removed the three pieces of the pool cue, which were mounted together in cellophane and foam board. There were two-inch gaps between each piece to show that they

fit together, but it left room for the jurors to see Kim's blood and hair still embedded in the broken shards. States Exhibit 491. Look at it, she demanded. I've seen it, he replied. Oh, you've seen it? Do you recognize it? Yes. You never explained how this pool cue ended up in three different pieces when you were just hitting her by accident. I don't know how it came to be in all those pieces, he said and lowered his head. Is it because you can't admit to the amount of force that you were using on her body as you

hit her over and over, she asked, and he interrupted. I told you I don't know the amount of force, and she countered. You used enough force to break that weapon into three pieces, didn't you? Yes, ma'am, I did. Did you break it on her head or did you break it on her body? And at that moment, the courtroom went so silent that you could have heard a pin drop. London Kite gave him no respite, and she went back to the evidence table again. I'm going to show you what's been admitted into evidence as States Exhibit 419. You can see the blood on this knife, right? Yes, ma'am. Can't you see this kind of goopy stuff

that's right here next to the blade? Yes, ma'am. Did you cut something beforehand? Did you make yourself a sandwich? No, ma'am. What did you do to get that stuff on there? You didn't get this knife from the knife block, did you? You went to the dishwasher, correct? I remember, I remember getting it from the knife block. You see that debris on that knife besides Kim Dorsey's blood, correct? Yes, I see it. And you knew when you stabbed Kim Dorsey in the neck that she would never walk this earth again. You knew that she was dead. I didn't know she was dead until after I checked. But you stabbed her in the neck all the way to the bone, didn't you?

Not on purpose, no. Oh, so that was another accident. I was trying to get her off when we were fighting, when we were wrestling over the knife, and when I got the knife, I was just flailing my arm, he said. And there was no other cut on her, right? In this knife-wielding fight that you're talking about, there's not another cut on her other than to her neck. No, ma'am, not to my knowledge. So you're saying the knife accidentally landed there? Yes, ma'am. All the way to the bone? Yes, ma'am. London walked over to the laptop computer and she changed the photograph on the computer screen to the first one from her opening statement,

showing Kim Dorsey's position on the bedroom floor. States Exhibit 102, this is how you left Kim Dorsey, right? Yes ma'am. The woman who opened her home to you, this is how you left her? Yes ma'am. With the pieces of the weapons you used on her demise gathered all around her. Yes, ma'am. Fait accompli, London Kite, Madam Prosecutor. Just brilliant. There was no redirect from the defense, and both sides rested. The jurors were released to deliberate a week's worth of testimony, over 3,000 photographs, and several dozen pieces of evidence. Everyone was expecting a long process because of the volume of information they needed to sort through, and the jurors left and went into deliberation at 4.50 p.m.

They emerged less than two hours later. Lance Kirkpatrick was brought back into the courtroom and stood motionless as the court clerk read the verdict. The state of Florida v. Lance Kirkpatrick, the jury advises and recommends to the court that it imposes life in prison without the possibility of parole. One month later, the judge upheld that verdict. My name is Derek Dorsey, and I was Kim Dorsey's husband. I reached out to Derek Dorsey because I wanted to hear details about Kim Dorsey's life. Reading court transcripts and talking to other people didn't tell me anything about her. And if you've listened to this podcast, you know I am not a broad brush kind of gal.

I like details. And Derek provided them and he was very candid. And I wanted to give him the ending to season one. And this is our conversation. Derek, what's your fondest memory of Kim? I'm trying to narrow it down to one. I guess probably the fondest memories when we went out to pick out her first fur baby. And I just saw it in her eyes. This is something

that would give her unconditional love and that she could love back. And just seeing that look in her eye, that's what really sticks. What kind of a fur baby was it? A miniature schnauzer. And his name was Dexter. And we went up to Orange Park. We'd been searching and everything else. And the moment they started playing together, I knew we were taking him home. He was the first of what would soon be three. What were the other names?

Gracie and Duncan. What's your biggest regret? Besides going to work that day? Um, I don't know. You always wish you'd hugged one more time. You always wish you would have watched one more episode of Little House on the Prairie, even though it was the 20th time for the same episode. It's just the little things.

You think back. There's a lot of self-loathing because you just wish you wouldn't have wasted so much time. I'm going to ask you a couple more questions. They're not that difficult. That was the hardest one. Okay. How do you feel the justice system worked for you and for Kim? In my eyes, there is no justice system. I mean, justice refers to actually giving some type of accountability for what someone does. And even in my wildest imagination of dark rooms and having this individual in front of me, there is no justice. Because nothing's going to bring her back. Nothing will give her life any more meaning. Something like this happens to you.

The word justice just doesn't apply. So there's never any such thing as closure, ever? No. Grief has a beginning, but it has no end. You have been through the justice system. You've been through this tragic event. And a lot of folks who listen to these podcasts, they don't understand. They try to, but it's very difficult for them to comprehend

what you and the other families of victims have been through. So what kind of closing thoughts would you give to them? Don't try to do this by yourself. Get some professional help. This is not a road you want to walk alone. No matter how well you think you're doing, you're a poor judgment about the progress that you've made. I was fortunate enough. I met somebody that saw I was struggling, and she actually had me go to somebody that actually changed me.

I doubt I would be here without her. I mean, you've listened to it, so you know that Kim's case hit a lot of us sideways. Well, it's funny because I used to think to myself, and I used to ask this question to Tracy many times. Yeah, I hope that son of a bitch is, I hope he goes to bed every night thinking about what he did. I hope he is tore up.

I hope this is scarred him for life. And she just looked at me and just shook her head. She went there. She's already convinced himself he's the victim. He doesn't go to bed. He is in his own little world. And this isn't even up on the phone history. And that was also sort of tough.

Here I am going, yeah, you know, you've got to be losing sleep over this this has got a head not eating and everything else and no he is convincing himself that somehow some way he got railroaded and that he is the victim that was a tough a tough one but i believe it now i honestly did he actually reached out to me and wrote me a letter and And it just gave you cliff notes. It was pretty much, listen, in order for you to get on with your life, you just need to forgive. Well, and I showed it to two. Yeah, it pisses me off. But go ahead.

Well, I shared it with two people. One person that actually deals with inmates and, you know, even Tracy, it was a form letter. It was one of those almost almost like an AA 12-step, you have to, you know, men bridges make amends, and you could have plugged anybody into that particular letter. So I wouldn't be surprised

if it's something he just got off the internet and inserted Derek, and inserted Kim, and that's just absolutely disgusting. And then here you are, and I realize family's family, but at what point does your mom and your family just get up and walk out of the room? How can you sit down there and look at the autopsy photos and see him trip over his own life on the stand and still stand behind him?

You can't stand behind somebody who does something that hurts because that's not, oh, I'm not a drug. I had a tough life. That's evil. If you want to get something off your chest, if you have a message, please feel free to send it. I do want to address one thing. There's a lot of people saying that she suffered from depression. I believe some of it was just working from home. Here I am. I'm busy, I've got the fire department, I have my construction company, and pretty much she has no outside activity. And I think that's what led to some of the depression, is because you need human interaction. But I mean, the mental health issue, that's one thing that rubbed me wrong. It's just the fact that I think

she was working from home, and that just leads you to be depressed over the period. Everything that I put out on the podcast, I had read in the court transcripts. I had read all of the reports and read all of your statements and other people's statements. So it's not always exactly the truth. Regardless of what comes out in court, there may be some hindsight that comes forward. There may be some other thoughts that come out later on. She was on meds for depression, correct? Yes. But even looking back now, you think that a contributing factor to that was the fact that she was just isolated. Absolutely. I know that. I know that was the fact. We had discussions about it, but it wouldn't have been for her to put in a 10-hour day.

I do want to say one thing as far as the detectives, and I can't say enough about London's height. I used to say I could do any job. I could go in there and I can't say enough about London's height. I used to say I could do any job. I could go in there and I could make it my own. That is one job I have not walked. Just like you. You have to walk. You have to tread.

You have to swim through pain and just evil. I don't know how they do it. Honest to God, I mean, here's London, brilliant at what she does. And I know she could go in the private sector. The sky would be the limit. But she chooses to stay and help. I agree with you there. She's brilliant. Yep.

What do you want people to know about Kim Dorsey? That she was more than just a fireman's wife. Every headline, every news outlet, everything referred to her as the fireman's wife. That wasn't who she was. She was a smart, beautiful, educated, hardworking fighter.

And I just hate the fact that because the fireman's wife gets a little bit more coverage or it's a little bit better headlocked. That that's pretty much the only way they refer to her. I did not define who she was. She had her own identity. I'll give you a prime example of just the type of individual that she was.

When she worked for the engineering firm, she went there and she decided she wanted to start her own construction company. So she left there. And after everything happened in the funeral, she had a group of people. And they were pretty close in that she worked for. But she hadn't seen them in several years since she left the company. And lo and behold, at the funeral, the bosses she hadn't seen in five years flew her whole team in to the funeral.

So she made that type of impact on people. She was only there two or three years, and in that time, she had bonded with them enough to where they came in from out of town, and her whole team flew in for the funeral. People that hadn't seen her in five years. Well, thank you so much for opening your heart and giving us some more perspective.

I know I appreciate it, and I'm sure everybody else does, too. Thanks, Derek. Have a great week, okay? Take it easy. Bye-bye. This is the new real. Opening music by Sam Johnson at SamJohnsonLive.com. Underscore music by Kevin MacLeod at Incompetech.com. All rights reserved by Angel Heart Productions. This is an iHeart Podcast.