Death Wish

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2:21I need a 2-5 unit for 30 Paladino Avenue, 30 Paladino Avenue, 1, regardless of the way in a vehicle. A man is found dead inside a car in Manhattan. Registered owner is Jeffrey B. Locker.

2:40Jeffrey Locker was a man who had on the surface the American dream. There is no such thing as failure. There's only learning opportunities and chances to reinvent. He lived in one of the most affluent neighborhoods of suburban New York. Most of the people who lived there are millionaires. He had this Facebook site that had pictures of nothing but the happy, perfect American family. Lois called me and she said, Jeff's been murdered. And I said, no, no, no, this can't be, you know, this just can't be. I mean, he was somebody that was a really kind, generous, loving, integrity-filled person. Jeffrey Locker created a wonderful personal industry for himself as a highly demanded motivational speaker.

3:23I can get everything in this world that I want if I'm willing to help enough other people get exactly what they want first. Jeffrey Locker was found in one of the roughest, most difficult parts of New York City in Harlem. My name is Murray Weiss. I was working at the New York Post as their criminal justice editor on the day Jeffrey Locker was found dead in East Harlem in his car. The initial idea was that it was some type of robbery. But you had the ligatures, you had the stab wounds, the hands tied behind the back. It just seemed like a lot going on for a simple street robbery. And if it's not a simple street robbery, what could it be?

4:06This particular victim was reported missing by his family the night before. He called his home at one point, and he told his wife that he had a flat tire and that some people had come to help him. But then we started looking at the car. It didn't appear to me that he had a flat at all. I'm starting to think that there's something wrong here. We went out to his house. His wife was there. Then we had to tell him, you know, we found her husband's body, where it was, that he had passed away. The reaction of the kids and her, I couldn't put my finger on it right then and there. People handled grief differently, but to me, something was not right.

4:47The initial investigations in any homicide is to canvas to see if anybody saw anything. At first, I seen him circle the block a couple times. You know, I said, what do you want? And then he told me. Do what needs to be done when it needs to be done without taking no for an answer from anyone, especially from yourself. I said, you're out of your mind. You're out of your mind. I mean, every case is different. This pretty much takes the cake. No, completely impossible. You know, I've covered 30-odd thousand homicides. There's never been a story like this one. Never.

5:41Strange that he would end up down there, huh? Absolutely was.

5:50New York City police detective Robert Stewart started noticing all sorts of strange things when Jeffrey Locker was found here, stabbed to death, in front of a Harlem housing project in July 2009. Jeffrey Locker was an upper middle class individual with a nice home in Long Island. Locker was 52, the father of three His Facebook page filled with those images of a tight-knit family And there was a reason it looked like he was a victim of a robbery His ATM card was not amongst his belongings Poor guy comes in from Long Island Next thing you know, he's slumped dead at his steering wheel.

6:44To New York Post reporter Laura Italiano, it fit a pattern every New Yorker has seen before. Jeffrey Locker was in the wrong place at the wrong time and trusted the wrong people. Your typical suburban cautionary tale, you know, lock your doors when you drive through some of these neighborhoods.

7:06But then a witness told police Locker bought condoms in a local store, and detectives suspected he was looking for a prostitute. The double life story is a much better story.

7:21He was respectful and a faithful family man. Steve D 'Annunzio knew Jeff Locker for almost 30 years, and he had news for the reporters and the cops. There was no way Locker was in Harlem to visit a prostitute. Locker was devoted to his wife, Lois. My wife told me this morning I can't even say hello in 15 minutes. One of the last things he said to me when the last time we were together is, Lois is my best friend. Just a few weeks before Jeff was killed, D 'Annunzio was at a family celebration in honor of Lois and Jeff's daughter. It seemed like a gala event. One of the most loving families I ever met.

8:04The police theories were collapsing. Despite what that witness said, police could find no evidence that Locker bought condoms or was looking for sex or drugs. But police did know Jeffrey Locker had no business being in that neighborhood. His business usually took him far from Harlem, closer to Wall Street. Life is all about timing. That's where he became a very successful motivational speaker, specializing in the insurance industry. How do we keep our existing clients knowing we love and appreciate them while we're fishing for new prospects? My image of Jeff is of a well-dressed guy who always, who is success.

8:46Insurance executive Robert Miller says Locker seemed to know how to encourage insurance salesmen, who he says frequently feel underappreciated. Be a giver. Be a resource. Help people first. He was very self-confident. He had a good presence. In the early 90s, Al Brodbeck hired Locker as his personal business coach. He'd go over various activities, what he felt I was doing right, what I could do better at. A few years later, Brodbeck didn't need Locker anymore, and he lost sight of the man who seemed for so long to be a rising star.

9:29But Locker still had that house in this expensive suburb on New York's Long Island when NYPD detectives went to tell Locker's family he was dead. It's never easy to tell somebody they just lost a family member, but it's part of the job. Detectives Kevin Flynn and Jeff Hirschman brace themselves for what is almost always a highly emotional, traumatic meeting. But they needn't have bothered. They don't think Mrs. Locker got very emotional. Nor did the kids when the detectives watched her break the news to them. They didn't seem to take it as a shock. I remember the daughter saying that she's going back to bed.

10:22It was like we were telling them something they already knew. And when we walked out the door, Jeff looked at me and I looked at Jeff. I said, are we in Bizarro World? Unless this is the way to handle grief, which could very well be possible. I'm not making any judgments. That was weird. It was just weird. They told other detectives about their visit with the Lockers, but the case started moving quickly. Surveillance cameras caught pictures of a man entering Locker's car around the time police believe Locker was killed and leaving shortly after. And then police heard from Locker's Bank about that missing ATM card.

11:03We received at least five different locations in which someone accessed the victim's ATM card. Whoever it was got$1 ,100. And it was all caught on security cameras. The police quickly got these videos from corner stores and small businesses all over the neighborhood. At each location, it was the same individual using the ATM card. We had stills made of the pictures, and eventually somebody said, no, that's Kenneth Minor. Kenneth Minor. That's correct. They hauled in Kenneth Minor. It was not his first brush with the law. He had a record of drug violations and a robbery, a sad profile that fits many murderers.

11:56But Kenneth Miner had a story unlike any other murder suspect. Nobody wanted to believe me. It all started when he met Locker on a street corner in Harlem. What did he say? He said that he was looking for a gun. A gun? Yeah. I asked him, what do you want it for? And he was quiet for a second. And then he told me, I want you to shoot me. He said it just like that? Just like that.

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14:49They came in all gung-ho, murder-one, robbery. We got you. You just killed this rich man. And I just sat there with a smirk on my face like, you know, you have no idea. You know, this is not what happened. For more than 10 hours, Kenneth Miner sat in the interrogation room telling police essentially nothing. I mean, how do I broach the situation? How do I even start to open up and tell them? Who would believe the story? He wanted to explain that Jeffrey Locker had asked, in fact, practically begged, to be killed. Finally, he found what he thought were the right words. This was a Kevorkian. He had said that this male wanted to do a Kevorkian.

15:35Detective Robert Stewart was one of the detectives talking to Minor. A Kevorkian? A Kevorkian. Like Dr. Kevorkian? Yes. The suicide doctor? Exactly. I said, do you know what that means? He said, yeah, suicide. I said, okay, there you go. Now have a seat. He was ready to tell his story. It began on that street corner in Harlem. I had a real drinking problem, and I needed to make a couple extra dollars, so I was buying drugs and reselling them at a higher price. And then Mr. Locker pulled up. Locker got out of his car. You could tell by his body language that he wanted something, but he didn't know how to act for it.

16:13So I approached him. What do you want? Locker, he says, wanted someone to get him a gun. That's when I told him to get out of here. Get away from me. You've got to be police. Get out of here. He jumped in the car and he left. And then what happened? He came back, which impressed me. So at that point, Kenneth says he leans into the car. And Jeffrey Locker tells him, I want you to shoot me. I want you to shoot me, to kill me. He said that? Yeah. Jeffrey Locker says to Kenneth Minor, shoot me? Mm-hmm. So... I mean, in your 37 years as a detective, have you ever had anybody say something quite like that?

16:53No. No. This was the first. Do you remember how he said, I want somebody to shoot me? I mean, do you remember what tone of voice he had? It was a quiet, like it was eerie. Eerie? Yeah, it was, I thought he was pulling my chain, but it got my attention. Miner says he wasn't interested in shooting Locker just yet, but he thought he might make some money if he could sell Locker a gun. So he tells him to give me$60 and your phone number, and I'll go see if I can find somebody to help me. He came up with the$60 pretty quickly. Yeah. There you go. Kenneth Miner tells him, I'll call you. Kenneth Miner knew just where to go to spend his newfound money.

17:42He headed straight for an acquaintance's apartment. And by all accounts, Kenneth Miner buys crack, gets high. Were you able to get him a gun? No. He says that he calls Jeffrey Locker. I told him that it don't look good right now, and, um, well, let's meet up and I'll tell you face-to-face. I don't want to say it over the phone. I wasn't all the way sure of his intentions. I wanted to see, you know, see if I could finagle a few more dollars without having this turn bad. On the way out of the apartment, he says he ripped a section of phone wire from the wall. I was a little paranoid at the time, and, um, A couple people saw me use that, use the phone.

18:21I was drinking heavily. I might have done a few drugs, so I wasn't thinking clearly. Seemed like a good idea at the time. It seemed like a perfect idea at the time. To take the phone wire. Looks like I wasn't here.

18:40Miner got back into Locker's car. At first, I was just trying to explain to him about not being successful and getting what he wanted. And then, hold on, he took a phone call. Oh, my peoples are calling me. Who was calling? I think it was his wife. He was like, I got a flat tire. It's being taken care of. Some guys were helping him. I found it kind of amusing that he was lying. Minor was starting to worry about what Jeffrey Locker would ask him to do now that he could not get him a gun. That's when he said it again, I want you to kill me. I said, why don't you just go and jump in the river? It's right there.

19:19And what did he say? I need it to look like a robbery. And he explained to me why. Miner says Locker wanted his family to collect millions of dollars from his life insurance policies. If he committed suicide, there would be no payout. So it had to look like he was murdered. Locker apparently believed he was worth more dead than alive.

20:10done. Did he seem scared? No. Sad? Maybe a little sad, maybe a little sad because I knew you know that he loved his children you know what I mean? He kind of reached me in that car just talking to me you know just like you know I'm just I'm just like you just I'm a different side of the train tracks. Did he show you a picture of his kids? Yep. What'd you think? I don't know. There was no talking him off the ledge at that point. Minor says Locker promised if he helped him, he could clean out his bank account. So Locker gave Minor his ATM card and the pin. I still know the number. What was the number?

20:571322. But according to Minor, killing Jeffrey Locker was not easy. He couldn't find a so he tried to strangle Locker with that phone wire. But that didn't work either. The wire popped. The wire broke? Yeah. So, Miner says Locker told him to take a knife out of the glove compartment and hold it against the steering wheel. He says that Jeffrey Locker then lunges forward four times into the knife. then Jeffrey Locker tells him move it to the right side where my heart is so then Kenneth Minor said that he moves the knife to the right side and he lunges forward into the knife two more times so wait a minute he's lunging forward?

21:51into a knife this is Kenneth Minor's story

21:57was he still alive when you left the car? Yeah, very much so. Still breathing? Yeah. Normally, or? It was gurgled, but he also turned and looked at me. He just had a smirk on his face. I think I said something to him. You got what you wanted. You happy now?

22:25There was a unanimous guffaw over this story. New York Post reporter Laura Italiano says Miner seemed like just another killer concocting an impossible story to beat the rap. His tale was good for a laugh, but not much else. And after he told it, Miner was charged with murder. Defendants will say the darndest things when they're trying to save their necks. The guy from Long Island comes into the ghetto shopping for his own murderer. Who's ever heard of this? And the police, who thought they'd heard everything, were about to learn that's exactly what Jeffrey Locker was doing. He had tried this before.

23:11He did. So as crazy as this story is sounding to you, it didn't get any less crazy. It just started to make sense.

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