The Black Box

0:00They told me that this vehicle had gone off the road into this creek bed. She was face up and about ankle deep water. She's got severe injuries to her head. Little did you know the mystery that was about to unfold. I go into the living room and I see blood all over the place. Went into the bathroom, there's more blood. The whole time we're thinking it was a car wreck and now what happened? We're sitting there trying to figure out what really happened to our mom. The rumor mill is in overdrive. In overdrive. There was gossip that there was an affair. I told my brother, this is how people get away with murder.

0:39Sex lies in a Christian bike club. Who would have thought? Exactly. This was just tearing her apart. You really can't make this up. There's no other way to describe a human being like that. Satan spawned.

1:17The slow-moving water, chilled by the December air, trickled over her lifeless body. She was one of my biggest supporters, and she's not here anymore. How this wife, mother and grandmother ended up in this creek would consume her family for years. I'm not going to give up until I find what really happened.

1:47Do you get a lot of car crashes as the coroner? We do. Terry Tinker, the coroner for Chester County, South Carolina, had been called here to the site of a fatal traffic accident. It was right before midnight on December 14, 2016. A husband and wife were in their Jeep when it ran off the road, ending up down by this creek. And when it got to the bottom, the nose of the Jeep was right here. He was told the 53-year-old woman had been ejected. And I saw that lady laying in the creek. I knew who she was. Who was that? Judy Baldwin. Your? My friend. Terry had known Judy or Baldwin most of his life. That must have been just such a shock to the system to see that.

2:34It was. A longtime friend laying in the creek. The coroner noticed some unusual markings on Judy's face. Deep, dark, blackened circles around her eyes. I'm seeing a lot of bulging eyes, what a lot of people call raccoon eyes. How do you get those raccoon eyes? Is there one kind of way? From probably brain injury. Driving the Jeep was Judy's husband, Jamie Baldwin. He suffered minor injuries. Jamie told first responders they were traveling down this dark, rural road when he swerved to avoid hitting a truck. His out-of-control Jeep then careened down a side embankment and crashed into the creek.

3:19He said he was knocked out, and when he came to, Judy's limp body was in the creek a few feet away. He called 911. Do you want to try CPR? I've already tried. You've already tried? Yes, please. Oh, God. No. Jamie had already been taken away in an ambulance when Detective Chris Reynolds with the Chester County Sheriff's Office arrived on the scene. I actually took my flashlight. I looked in. I saw a cloth with blood on it, blood on the seat. The detective saw the Jeep's door open, where Judy apparently had been ejected. What's your first instinct of this scene? It's an accident. Until it's proven something else, it's an accident.

4:08That same night, Judy's two sons, Josh and Chris Orr, each got late-night phone calls. They were only told their mom had been in a car crash and they needed to get to the hospital right away. I was the first one there. And I, you know, run into the emergency side and I was like, you know, where's Judy Orr Baldwin at? And I was like, we don't have a Judy Orr Baldwin. I was like, they've been in a reg. I was like, is Jamie Baldwin here? Josh found his stepdad, Jamie, in a hospital room. And I was like, where's my mom at? He was like, she didn't make it. I was like, what do you mean she didn't make it?

4:42And he said, she's dead. Chris arrived shortly after and got the terrible news. He asked his stepdad what happened. And all he said was, I wish it would have been me. It felt like a dream. I mean, I was like, I cannot believe we're going through this again. Yeah, because your dad died. Tragically. Their dad, Judy's first husband, died in a motorcycle accident 12 years earlier. It just seemed unbelievable to now lose their mom, also in a crash. So here you are having to say goodbye to your other parent, your mom. That's really a hard thing to do, to lose both of your parents at such a young age.

5:26I know nothing's perfect, but our family didn't have any problems, and we were all happy. and, you know, our parents are gone. Around 6.30 that morning, Judy's 23-year-old niece, Jessie McWatters, was sound asleep when her phone rang. Her dad gave her the tragic news that her aunt, known as Little Judy because she was just 4 '11", had been killed. And he said, Little Judy's dead. And I was like, what are you talking about? He said, Little Judy is dead. I just started screaming and crying. And I woke up everybody in the house. When Judy's nephew heard the news, he realized his aunt's beloved Yorkie was all alone.

6:08So early in the morning, he headed over to Judy's house. The whole time I'm thinking, I'm just going to the house to get the dog. Rodney Wright wasn't prepared for what he saw once he walked inside that house. It was a shock. I couldn't believe it. I go into the living room and I see blood all over the place. Blood in the floor. went into the bathroom. There's more blood. I mean, the whole time we're thinking it was a car wreck. And now what happened?

6:39What Jamie says happened to Judy. When I came back in, she was there to fireplace in the floor. And then the clue that baffled the coroner. So this was going to be the key area in the autopsy. Right there.

7:07Just a few hours after Judy Orr Baldwin was found dead at the scene of a car crash, her nephew was stunned to find blood in her house, a lot of it. He had no idea what was going on. It was so confusing. Stuff just didn't add up. Turns out there was an explanation. Judy's husband told investigators there had actually been two accidents that night. Judy had taken a terrible fall at home, the reason for all that blood. They were on their way to the hospital when they crashed. I was in complete shock that she was gone. Now Judy's family, including her niece, was grieving. She was the bright light in a dark room.

7:51She really was. Was Judy a romantic? Did she believe in true love? She did believe in true love just because she had experienced it. Todd was her one true love. Todd was her first husband who died in that motorcycle crash. I think after he passed, she was kind of longing for that love. And she wanted to be loved like that again. Was Judy lonely? She was lonely. She wanted somebody for sure. So Judy's family was happy when she started dating Jamie Baldwin. a former police officer and 911 operator. The couple had a whirlwind romance, and after just eight months, they married in 2012. How did you feel that your mom was with a former police officer?

8:36Safe, you know, protected somebody that would help her if she was in need, you know, somebody that had her back. Did they seem happy? Oh, yeah, that was extremely happy. And, you know, her being happy, I'm extremely happy. Detective Chris Reynolds, who knew Judy personally, was looking into her death as part of a routine investigation. I knew Miss Judy for a very long time, ever since I was a child. Did you like her? Oh, yes. Everybody liked her or loved her. The detective had never met Judy's husband, but wanted more details on what happened that night. So about a week after her death, he asked Jamie to come down to the sheriff's office.

9:13Why do you bring him in even though you believe that this is an accident? We're crossing our T's and dark in our eyes. I want to make sure I have everything covered. I mean, she was just one of those people that as soon as you met her, you were a friend of her, you loved her, that spiral. She was just bigger than life. Jamie said he had mostly recovered from his minor injuries. Emotionally, though, he said he had a lot of healing to do. That's got a million times. Why did you just take me? Why did you have to take a woman right now? She didn't think I could have done this. That hurt.

9:57Oh, God. Jamie said the night Judy died, he and his wife were decorating their Christmas tree. He then briefly stepped outside to put some tools away in his shed. When I came back in, she was there at the fireplace in the floor. I don't know if she decided to fix something on the tree. I don't know. I was in the shop. and I never even asked her what she was doing. Jamie said he assumed Judy fell off the ladder and hit her head on the mantle. On the floor were two stocking holders. One of them was broken. I got her up. I got her in the bathroom. And I cleaned her up. And it was a bleeding valve.

10:37Jamie told the detective he grabbed a washcloth from the bathroom and put pressure on her wound. But the bleeding didn't stop. He thought Judy needed stitches. I was like, I gotta take you to the hospital. And she looked up at me. She said, I am not going to Chester. She hated Chester Hospital. Although Chester Hospital was a few minutes from their house, he said the couple got into their Jeep and started driving to a bigger hospital 30 minutes away. I asked her, I said, how you feeling? She said, my head's hurt. I said, it's going to be okay. We're going to get a stature. And she looked up at me.

11:12She said, I love you. I said, I love you too. And I looked up. I'm pretty sure it was a truck. It was like three-quarters of the way in our lane. And, I mean, if I wouldn't have swerved to the right and missed it, we'd have hit head off. And that's when he said they went flying down that embankment, ending up in the creek. Jamie said the impact of the crash knocked him out. We hit something. and then it was a big, just gigantic, just like a stop. I reached out for Judy. She ain't there. And I finally found her. She's laying here in the creek. After about an hour, the interview was finished. Jamie's story seemed to match what the seasoned detective had seen for himself, like that bloody washcloth in the Jeep and when he went to the house the night of the accident.

12:09I see blood around the mantel and blood on the floor. And I did see the ladder leaned up toward the Christmas tree at the time. Does the blood look consistent with a possible fall from the ladder? Yes. It's an accident. As of right now, it's an accident. While Detective Reynolds was continuing his investigation, the coroner was still trying to figure out what caused Judy's death. He wanted to know more about the large wound on her forehead. There was no damage to her legs, to her arms. All of it was concentrated around her head. So this was going to be the key area in the autopsy. This was the key thing right there.

12:47He concluded Judy died from a skull fracture caused by some sort of blunt force trauma to her head. And those raccoon eyes were the result of a large amount of blood accumulated in her skull. But the coroner struggled to figure out what caused that fracture. I need to know what do you think she fell against, what was told by Mr. Baldwin. She struck her head on the mantle. She might have fallen on the stocking holder. But all this stuff's got to be added up. He had to determine if the fatal injury happened during that fall at her house or during the car accident. Even though Judy had two autopsies before she was buried, the coroner couldn't reach a conclusion.

13:26So her death certificate read, pending investigation. Jesse becomes suspicious about her aunt's death and takes matters into her own hands. You decided to record the call. I did record it. And then, was someone in this family harboring a secret? An eye-popping story. Sex lies in a Christian bike club. Exactly.

14:04It appeared Judy or Baldwin had been involved in two accidents on the same night. Most people, including Detective Reynolds, seemed to agree. Sadly, it looked like Judy was the victim of bad luck.

14:20One person, however, wasn't buying it, Judy's niece. When she thought about what happened, it seemed suspicious. I had a very weird feeling in my stomach. Although Jamie had an explanation for why he took his wife to that faraway hospital, it didn't make sense to Jesse. I'm like, why would you not go to Chester Hospital? It's so close to the house if she just bumped her head, you know. And why did Jamie take a dark, rural back road to the hospital when he could have taken a much faster nearby highway. Do you think that was odd? That was super odd to me. So Jessie decided to take a bold step. She put her amateur detective hat on and called Jamie.

15:01You decided to record the call that you had with Jamie. I did record it. What in your gut was telling you to record this call? I'm not sure what exactly told me to do it. I'm surprised I did it because I was in such shock, but I knew in my heart that something else had happened, and I wanted to hear what he had to say. Hey, Jessie. Hey, Jamie. She asked Jamie how he got knocked out when the Jeep crashed. What'd you hit your head on? Uh, coming to Ronald Barr. What's like right here at the door on the back? But Jessie was most concerned about her aunt's final moments. I just don't want her to suffer.

15:43She didn't suffer, Jessie. She did. You know how much me and her loved each other? Yes, sir. And we had an awesome, awesome life together. Yes, sir. How would you describe his demeanor? I would simply say he had zero remorse. He was talking just how we're talking. No emotion, really. She's in heaven. We both know she's in heaven. Yeah. So, that's good news. One thing that struck me was he said, That's the good news. Yeah. Which seemed a little, like the language was a little odd. Yeah, it didn't make any sense to me either. And it was just like an eerie feeling. Like kind of, why would you say that in this phone call?

16:29Jessie couldn't get the phone call out of her head. I sat there and I replayed that recording so many times. Are you expressing your concerns to Judy's sons, your cousins? I let them listen to the phone call. And I told him, I was like, y 'all, this just isn't sitting right with me. After Judy's son started to think about it, they too had serious doubts. We're sitting there trying to figure out what really happened to our mom. Yeah, because nobody would tell us anything. But soon, one of Judy's friends would tell the brothers more than they ever wanted to know. Kay Black and Judy were nearly inseparable and shared their most personal secrets with each other.

17:07You said you were like sisters. We were. I miss her a lot. A whole lot. Kay and her husband Randall considered themselves Judy and Jamie's best friends. The four belonged to a biker group called the Carolina Thunder Christian Motorcycle Club, helping Hans and Harleys. They spent nearly every weekend with the couple. And Kay knew something about Judy and Jamie that almost no one else did. Talking with Judy, I knew their marriage wasn't like he was making everybody believe. You'll find out. Jamie told others, including Detective Reynolds, in that interview, he had a strong, happy marriage. Is there anything that I need to know about that may come up in the future?

17:54Like what? I mean, just anything that I need to know about. Nothing. Nothing. Okay. Nothing. We had a great life. We did. We never got an argument. Everybody has disagreements. Please, they talk to my friends. You'll find out.

18:24Kay says a few months before her death, Judy confided in her that her marriage was on the rocks. She thought something was going on with Jamie and another woman, a single mom named Terry King, who also happened to be the bike club's treasurer. She started having her suspicions. What is she thinking? She was thinking Jamie and Terry were having an affair. The club treasurer and Jamie. Jamie. If one went to smoke, they would look at the other one and say, come on, let's go smoke. Judy didn't like that. Little things like that Judy had started picking up on. Yeah, we'd seen a lot of touchy-feely stuff that didn't quite look right.

19:06And Judy would ask me about it. And I'd say, maybe, maybe not. Nobody knows for sure, but everybody's talking about it. So Judy decided to find out for herself. She even confronted Terry. And what did Terry say? Terry said, we're not doing anything. She confronted Jamie, and he told her the same thing. She said, but Kay, they're so calm about it. She said, I know they're doing something. Within about a week of Judy's death, Kay sat Judy's sons down and told them everything. As they absorbed it all, they remembered something strange. Terry King was at the hospital the night their mom died. In fact, she got there before they did.

19:43Why are you here before us? I mean, this is our mom, our flesh and blood. Yeah, we talking about 1 or 2 o 'clock in the morning. And there was another, even more awkward story Kay felt she needed to share with Judy's sons. I don't want to tell you all this, but I'm going to tell you. She said your mom, she said that Jamie's been trying to get your mom to have a threesome with him and Terry. What? Yeah. Yeah. This is not something your mom wanted? No. No. When she told me that, it blew my mind. Or something that you want to think about. No, I don't want to think about either. Sex lies in a Christian bike club.

20:12Exactly. Who would have thought? Exactly. Soon after Kay opened up to Judy's family, she called Detective Chris Reynolds. I said, Chris, I have some texts from Judy. I said, and I think you need to say them because she tells in there that she suspected Jamie and Terry. He said, I'll get back with you, Kay. I said, okay, and I never heard from him again. The brothers and Jesse also felt they weren't getting anywhere with the detective. We gotta find somebody to help us and we gotta, you know, get some answers. I'm like, why? Why is nobody doing anything? Just didn't make sense. But soon, it would all start to make sense with some bombshell news.

20:58A disturbing revelation about Jamie's alleged girlfriend. And important evidence. What happened to the blood at Judy's house? What we found out was that Terry went to the house and cleaned it up.

21:25Two months had passed since Judy's death, and her family was questioning Jamie's story about what happened. Then they heard something stunning about Terry King and Jamie. They moved in together. So what are you guys thinking? He's moving in quickly with her. Yeah. That's when we're thinking, okay, the police is going to hit on this. I mean, somebody's looking into this. The brothers had been pushing the Chester County Prosecutor's Office to look deeper into their mom's death. In fact, Deputy Prosecutor Candace Lively was keeping tabs on the sheriff's investigation. We were just being told through the sheriff's office that they were doing what they were supposed to do.

22:05Turns out, they weren't. The prosecutor would learn there were serious problems with the sheriff's investigation. They're basically saying, we got this, we don't need your help right now. Exactly, and we were hearing from the family that people hadn't been interviewed yet. They were concerned that evidence hadn't been collected. Chris Reynolds said that he truly believed it was an accident, and so he just didn't feel that need to investigate this as a crime, a potential crime. Right. And that is something that, with his experience, he should have known that you don't make those kind of assumptions up front.

22:44When someone dies, you treat it as it's a murder until you know otherwise. We asked Detective Reynolds about how he handled the investigation. Did you collect Jamie's clothes? Did you take Judy's clothes? Did you take her cell phone? Did you take Jamie's cell phone? No, ma 'am. Why not? We didn't collect anything at the house. That was just a judgment call. Some considered that a questionable call because there was something else. Early in the investigation, the coroner told the detective he thought Judy's death looked suspicious, that it might even be a homicide. Wouldn't you, as just being overly cautious as a detective, say, we should do a little more here.

23:31We should get evidence. And even if it's not a murder, at least we have it. We did our job. I agree 100%. We don't need it, maybe. But let's get it. I agree 100%. And those photos the detective took inside Judy's house? This is how a number of them came out. Some of them were so blurry and bad. Yeah, the camera we had wasn't good at the time. But I mean, even if a camera's not that great, you could still take still shots. I struggle with that camera that we have. He also failed to collect critical forensic evidence. Did you say to your supervisor, I think we should have someone come in and look at this blood?

24:08No, I didn't. Do you think you should have done that? Absolutely. I've never denied that. Reynolds never sealed the house after he photographed it so anyone could go in. And someone did. Terry King. Remember, she was in Jamie's hospital room the night in question. What happened to the blood evidence at Judy's house? Well, according to what we found out in our investigation was that Terry left the hospital and she went back to the house and cleaned it up. With permission from Detective Reynolds? Yes. Not only did he give her permission to clean it up, he offered help. I gave her a number to a company.

24:45They specialize in crime scenes and disaster restorations. I said, somebody has to clean it up. So you're giving her advice about how to clean up a potential crime scene. No, she asked. She asked for help. And that's with anybody else in the case. If they ask, you know, advice on how to, she just asked the question. Right, but you're giving her advice on how to clean up a potential crime scene. Yeah, but at the time, the crime scene, we were done with. So she's literally erasing the crime scene. And that's exactly what happened. Whether she was intentionally erasing a crime scene or not. Exactly.

25:22Is this the most bungled evidence collection, handling of a scene that you've ever seen? Yes, and I think bungled might be being a little nice because there was no evidence collection. Even though there was a lack of evidence, the prosecutor spoke to the coroner about Judy's severe head injuries and came to the conclusion this was no accident, but a murder. At some point, I'm going to have to look at this family and possibly tell them that we're not going to have what we need to get justice for your family member. Judy's family was losing hope. And weeks are going by. Months are going by. Then, a breakthrough.