Lorraine Hunter

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Speaker 2 Two childhood classmates reconnect later in life and find love.

Speaker 3 They had a nice personality, just got along with everybody.

Speaker 4 She became everything that he thought he was missing.

Speaker 6 They seemed genuinely happy.

Speaker 2 But gunshots in the dead of night would tear them apart.

Speaker 7 There was blood dripping down through the truck.

Speaker 8 And I knew he was dead.

Speaker 7 I was instant.

Speaker 2 The search for a killer leads investigators down a twisting path of deception.

Speaker 10 There were no suspects.

Speaker 7 We didn't know what was going to happen.

Speaker 2 Until an unlikely witness breaks the case wide open.

Speaker 13 She told us it had been weighing on her conscience that this person had been murdered.

Speaker 2 As a killer is revealed, investigators discover there may be more than one victim.

Speaker 15 He got shot in the back, but he didn't identify who it was that shot him.

Speaker 17 He agreed to kill her.

Speaker 4 Whatever's done in the dark is always going to come to the light.

Speaker 2 November 4th, 2009. Just after sunrise, Supervisor Don Moore is starting his morning routine at a trucking company in Fontana, California.

Speaker 19 It was a normal workday. I came in that morning at 5 o'clock and, as I did every morning, checked on everybody to make sure they were where they were supposed to be.

Speaker 8 He goes on the computer and checks what each driver's doing to make sure that everything's going fine.

Speaker 2 56-year-old Albert Thomas should already be on the move.

Speaker 19 Albert was a dependable, very responsible individual who worked for me, and he was never late.

Speaker 8 That morning, Albert had an early delivery there down the street from where he lived. He didn't make the delivery, which is out of place for Albert.

Speaker 19 When I pulled up Albert's truck and saw the truck hadn't started, that's when I got concerned.

Speaker 2 Don is not the only one concerned.

Speaker 26 The rain hunter called Don Moore at the office, frantically asking Don if he knew where her husband Albert was.

Speaker 9 Don told her that he didn't.

Speaker 15 However, he could track him down because there was a GPS device that was located inside of the truck.

Speaker 8 Don was kind of worried, so he asked me if I would go out there and see if I could find him. So I got in my truck and I bobtailed out there in case his truck was broke down.

Speaker 2 A half hour later, Richard arrives at the GPS location in Merino Valley, California.

Speaker 7 So that's when I seen his truck there.

Speaker 8 So the closer I'm getting, things looked out of place. His driver's side door was wide open.

Speaker 8 I went through the open driver's door and I was thinking

Speaker 8 something was up.

Speaker 8 He was right behind the driver's seat.

Speaker 29 He was on his knees, and

Speaker 8 he was all the way forward, pitched forward, so his back was kind of flat. As soon as I seen him, I knew he was dead.

Speaker 30 Because I don't know

Speaker 8 how you know that, but you know that. That was instant, and that's when I called 911.

Speaker 2 Albert Thomas began life a world away from sunny Southern California.

Speaker 4 My dad was born in Hollandale, Mississippi, September 20th, 1953.

Speaker 3 He had a nice personality. He really did.
You know, just got along with everybody, just all-around nice guy.

Speaker 2 Albert found love early in life when he met Helen Thomas.

Speaker 4 They kind of met riding a school bus together. They dated throughout their high school years.
She got pregnant with me while she was still in high school.

Speaker 4 And then after she had me and she finished school, they married.

Speaker 2 At first, Albert supported his new family with a factory job.

Speaker 20 He had a great work ethic, nose to the grindstone.

Speaker 32 He was the breadwinner, and he did that well.

Speaker 4 After working some years, he decided to go to truck driving school and he did truck driving throughout throughout his life.

Speaker 7 Albert worked for me as a local truck driver.

Speaker 2 He always, you know, was smiled, was dependable, always at work.

Speaker 33 You never had to worry about Albert.

Speaker 4 He wasn't home for weeks at a time, but he was just a good father, great provider.

Speaker 2 While truck driving was profitable, over 20 years on the road eventually cost Albert his marriage.

Speaker 4 Mom and dad eventually separated after being together for a lot of years and naturally

Speaker 4 that was

Speaker 4 painful but understandable.

Speaker 2 After the heartbreak of his divorce Albert happened to run into an old acquaintance, Lorraine Hunter.

Speaker 4 Lorraine became everything that you know he thought that he was missing.

Speaker 2 Albert and Lorraine knew each other from childhood, but they lost touch when Lorraine's family moved to the West Coast.

Speaker 4 She had spent the majority of her childhood growing up in California.

Speaker 18 She was quiet, you know, reserved, kind of went with the flow.

Speaker 6 She would mingle, but she was still kind of quiet.

Speaker 3 She did have an eye for men.

Speaker 2 Throughout her 20s, Lorraine bounced from relationship to relationship in search of love.

Speaker 2 Though she never really found it, she was blessed with two sons along the way.

Speaker 29 Radel

Speaker 26 is Lorraine Hunter's oldest son, and

Speaker 14 she also has another son by the name of Tremaine.

Speaker 2 At age 31, the single mother's long quest for love finally came to an end when she met 39-year-old Alan Brown.

Speaker 11 Alan was a truck driver, and he made good money.

Speaker 30 Alan was described as a calm, collected person.

Speaker 2 Over the course of 10 years, Lorraine and Alan had their ups and downs.

Speaker 30 Lorraine complained often about how they were struggling financially.

Speaker 2 During a break in the relationship, Lorraine had a fling that led to a pregnancy.

Speaker 3 Brianna was born July 22nd, 1993 in LA.

Speaker 3 Lorraine was, she was very, very protective of Brianna.

Speaker 2 As they always did, Lorraine and Alan found their way back to each other, and Alan helped raise Brianna as his own.

Speaker 28 Lorraine Hunter and Alan Brown were raising three children, Radel, Tremaine, and then Brianna, who was just a baby.

Speaker 2 Tragically, just three years later, their life together was cut short.

Speaker 32 In March of 1996, Alan Brown was shot to death.

Speaker 32 And they were never able to apprehend or identify a suspect.

Speaker 7 He had gotten killed during a carjacking.

Speaker 3 When things started going bad for Lorraine, she was still trying to give her kids the world, you know, as best as she could.

Speaker 2 With her two sons now grown and out of the home, Lorraine found herself raising Brianna without the support of a partner. Lorraine gratefully accepted help from friends.

Speaker 3 She never had a job. She basically had nothing.

Speaker 32 My parents talked it over and, you know, came to decision they would help out.

Speaker 5 They moved in with my parents.

Speaker 3 She was good at cooking and sewing and baking. She used to make cakes for my dad.

Speaker 5 He loved.

Speaker 1 She was able to help out.

Speaker 3 She picked up really quick. She was smart.

Speaker 2 Three years after Alan's death, a trip back home to Mississippi changed everything.

Speaker 2 It was there that Lorraine reconnected with Albert Thomas for the first time in decades.

Speaker 5 She was gone, you know, a couple weeks.

Speaker 3 And when she came back, she basically had a beautiful ring. And she was engaged to Albert.

Speaker 11 She had him relocate and come to California.

Speaker 3 Once Albert moved to California, life seemed really, really good for them.

Speaker 6 You know, they seemed genuinely happy.

Speaker 2 Albert strived to give his new family a happy life.

Speaker 22 They got married in a small chapel in Marina Valley.

Speaker 36 He looked after them. He worked hard.

Speaker 36 He worked two jobs so that they could have money.

Speaker 4 He worked. She didn't.
He had a good heart. He was a loving father.
He was a good provider.

Speaker 2 Albert grew to love Lorraine's daughter Brianna as if she were his own.

Speaker 31 He gave her the world.

Speaker 3 He took excellent care of her.

Speaker 6 Brianna never wanted for anything.

Speaker 2 A shared new beginning promised a happy and prosperous future.

Speaker 2 But on November 4th, 2009, after more than 10 years together, tragedy strikes Lorraine and Albert's life when 911 dispatchers receive a frantic early morning call.

Speaker 8 I called them and said that somebody's been killed. They were out there pretty quick.

Speaker 8 A lot of people started showing up and they started taping off the area.

Speaker 2 First responders quickly secure the scene.

Speaker 8 I was shook up. It's a memory that will never go away.
It's a part where you have an ache in your heart about it because

Speaker 8 it was a good friend that somebody did this to.

Speaker 16 I'll never forget it.

Speaker 2 Coming up, a gruesome crime scene offers offers few answers.

Speaker 17 There was quite a lot of blood.

Speaker 36 There was a blood trail coming out of the door of the truck.

Speaker 2 And investigators pieced together a helpless victim's horrifying final moments.

Speaker 32 He was shot to death in a kneeling position.

Speaker 7 It was an execution.

Speaker 2 In the early hours of November 4th, 2009, first responders cordon off the scene of a brutal homicide in a Merino Valley, California parking lot.

Speaker 2 56-year-old Albert Thomas has been found shot dead in the cab of his semi-truck.

Speaker 7 The scene is secured by patrol officers. The only people that went into the truck initially was the first responding officer who determined that he was deceased.

Speaker 7 A deceased body cannot be removed by anybody except for the coroner.

Speaker 10 Can't even be touched.

Speaker 2 The coroner is dispatched to the scene while police begin to process the surrounding area.

Speaker 7 Patrol officers start fanning out, looking to identify things that would be of evidentiary value, and they're marking those before the coroner gets there.

Speaker 27 There are dozens of shoe prints in the dirt field in and around the area of the truck.

Speaker 10 The Sheriff's Department went about the business of trying to photograph those shoe prints.

Speaker 12 for the potential of hopefully cross-referencing the patterns on the bottom of the shoes with with a potential suspect at a later time.

Speaker 17 On the outside of the truck, there was quite a lot of blood dripping out of the cab onto

Speaker 22 the running board of the truck on the outside.

Speaker 7 There was blood coming down the fuel tank from the inside.

Speaker 21 When I got there, the police was everywhere.

Speaker 19 They had their motor home out there.

Speaker 21 There was a lot of police department.

Speaker 20 Fire department was there.

Speaker 12 It was all taped off once the coroner arrives then entry was made into the vehicle he was actually found right behind both of the seats albert was wearing a red jumpsuit i believe it had a stripe but he was found on all fours with his head tucked inside of a small closet that was inside of the truck The thing that really stands out about that crime scene is the way in which he died.

Speaker 37 He was shot to death.

Speaker 32 And he was shot to death in a kneeling position.

Speaker 7 It was an execution.

Speaker 2 After the body is transported to the morgue, investigators pick over the truck interior with a fine-toothed comb.

Speaker 35 There were some personal belongings that were on the floor in and around where his body was found.

Speaker 38 There were no shell casings found.

Speaker 7 So this is one of those things as an investigator that you're thinking is murder shell casings.

Speaker 17 There's one of two things happen.

Speaker 36 The most common, it's the gun was a revolver, and revolvers don't eject the casings. And the other thing that could happen is that they pick them up and take him with them.

Speaker 2 While the search for a murder weapon continues, detectives turn their attention to Albert's co-workers to learn more about their victim.

Speaker 19 I told them who I was, and then they brought me into the motorhome with Richard, and then that's when I started talking to the police department.

Speaker 8 Both me and him had to talk with the detectives, and they had to obviously roll me out as a suspect, I guess. So they took pictures of my shoes and all this stuff.

Speaker 8 They asked questions on everything that

Speaker 8 happened that morning.

Speaker 33 They were just asking, you know, did he work for me, why Albert's truck was there.

Speaker 7 He routinely parked his truck in this big dirt lot because it was only a couple blocks from where he lived. You could almost actually see his truck from the balcony of his apartment.

Speaker 2 Detectives asked Albert's coworker, Richard, if anything seemed out of place in Albert's cab when he discovered his body.

Speaker 8 I did notice in the truck, because Albert kept his truck nice and neat on the inside,

Speaker 8 it was a mess.

Speaker 8 Didn't look like he kept it, he kept it immaculate, so somebody did that.

Speaker 40 It wasn't him.

Speaker 7 The first thing you think is robbery, and the way he was found could have definitely been a robbery.

Speaker 2 But a careful examination of the truck cab's contents doesn't reveal anything to support that theory.

Speaker 38 Nothing notable is missing from the truck.

Speaker 7 As far as the robbery, which you're thinking at the beginning, that sort of drifted away pretty quick.

Speaker 2 If Albert wasn't the victim of a robbery or hijacking, was his execution-style murder something more personal?

Speaker 2 His co-workers say it's highly unlikely.

Speaker 19 I couldn't understand why anybody would do this to this man.

Speaker 19 He was just too easygoing and too caring for somebody to want to do that.

Speaker 2 Riverside County homicide detective Ken Patterson visits Albert's wife, Lorraine, at their apartment not far from the crime scene.

Speaker 7 I didn't go in, and I never do go in and say, hey, your husband's dead. That's not how you make notification.

Speaker 7 So I just started querying her as to her relationship to Albert.

Speaker 2 Also at the apartment is Lorraine's 16-year-old daughter, Brianna.

Speaker 28 Ken noted that when he interacted with both Lorraine and Brianna, that they both appeared to be really upset, really emotional.

Speaker 7 I started talking to her. When's the last time you saw him?

Speaker 7 What was he wearing?

Speaker 28 She told Ken Patterson that the last time that she saw Albert was the night before.

Speaker 14 on November 3rd, 2009.

Speaker 7 Albert held two jobs, she told me. He was a truck driver and he worked at an auto parts store.
A truck driver was his main job. He would leave early in the morning to do local jobs.

Speaker 2 Detective Patterson tactfully briefs Lorraine on the situation.

Speaker 7 I did tell her that his truck had been found and that we did find a deceased body inside the truck.

Speaker 7 But I did tell her that I could not at that point in time say that it was Albert because the autopsy hadn't been performed, but I was pretty sure that's who it was.

Speaker 2 The news brings Lorraine to tears.

Speaker 7 She did cry. She explains, I've been trying to call Albert.
I didn't know where he was. I called his company.
I asked them where Albert was. They couldn't tell me.

Speaker 38 Ken also asked some basic questions to try to get any other information that could be pertinent to the investigation.

Speaker 7 We just covered all the basics, and then I departed and told her that I would be back.

Speaker 2 Police hope legwork on the streets will provide answers.

Speaker 7 Patrol officers start fanning out in the neighborhood and seeing if there's any witnesses, looking for any type of surveillance cameras or any cameras that might have saw something.

Speaker 30 The Sheriff's Department talked to neighbors and people who worked in the area to see if anyone saw anything on the night of November 3rd, 2009 or the morning of November 4th, 2009.

Speaker 7 We were at knocking doors talking to witnesses. We were on foot covering, you know, miles and miles around the area to see if we could find any evidence to try and figure out exactly what happened.

Speaker 16 Unfortunately, they weren't able to find any witnesses who saw anything.

Speaker 2 After hitting dead end after dead end, police reach out to the public.

Speaker 32 They didn't have any suspects in custody. They put out their phone number and the WeTIP hotline in order to try to generate some kind of response from the public.

Speaker 32 But at the time, it was very threadbare information.

Speaker 7 This isn't a case that was solved in 48 hours. This isn't a case that was solved in a week.
There was no evidence.

Speaker 2 Coming up, another brutal murder conjures up familiar circumstances.

Speaker 16 He got shot in the back, but he didn't identify who it was that shot him.

Speaker 2 And detectives uncover a startling provision with a big payout.

Speaker 12 If the insured was murdered, the proceeds from that policy upon his death would double.

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Speaker 2 Homicide detectives in Riverside County, California, are determined to solve the execution-style murder of 56-year-old truck driver Albert Thomas.

Speaker 32 Essentially, all we knew at the time was there had been a homicide, and God knows what had happened to the poor guy.

Speaker 2 The ME's post-mortem exam tells police more about the crime and the type of weapon used.

Speaker 12 Bullet fragments from a.38-caliber revolver were found in his body.

Speaker 10 When he performed the autopsy, he opined that Albert had been shot twice in the back of the head and then also twice in the back.

Speaker 2 If a gun is located, ballistics can connect the bullet fragments to that weapon. Nothing in the autopsy report indicates Albert fought his killer.

Speaker 32 It leaves kind of a raw taste in your mouth when you hear about someone being shot in the back and not being given an opportunity to at least beg for their life or try to shield themselves.

Speaker 2 With still no clear direction on a suspect, detectives dig deeper into the victim's personal life.

Speaker 10 Investigator Patterson was talking to family members of Albert, trying to wrap his head around, you know, information about Albert, who he was, and any other information that might be pertinent to the investigation.

Speaker 2 Albert's close-knit Mississippi family is still reeling from the news of his death.

Speaker 4 I can remember just trying to run away thinking, I'm not hearing this.

Speaker 22 This isn't happening.

Speaker 31 And I remember looking at my husband and just shaking my head because I could not believe that my father was gone.

Speaker 35 Katina Thomas revealed to Investigator Patterson that she was aware that Lorraine Hunter's first husband had been murdered back in 1996.

Speaker 10 And so from there, Investigator Patterson obtained reports related to that murder investigation and began the process of trying to connect the dots.

Speaker 32 In March of 1996, Alan Brown, truck driver, was shot to death in the city of Englewood.

Speaker 28 On that day, Alan and Lorraine were visiting a niece.

Speaker 12 They left the residence there in Englewood and then went to Alan's vehicle.

Speaker 10 Lorraine indicated that she told Alan that there was a clicking sound or some sort of sound that was coming from the hood.

Speaker 7 She did get out to check the oil because something was wrong and this is when he was shot.

Speaker 6 She heard a pop and she turned around and he was on the ground but there was no one else around.

Speaker 10 When police arrived, Alan told police that he got shot in the back, but he didn't identify who it was that shot him.

Speaker 40 Alan was then taken to the hospital and treated for a few days for his shotgun wound to the back, but he subsequently died in the hospital.

Speaker 2 As he digs deeper into the case file, Detective Patterson uncovers one interesting detail.

Speaker 14 After Alan Brown's murder, Lorraine Hunter collected approximately $312,000 in life insurance proceeds.

Speaker 2 The investigation into Alan Brown's death proved inconclusive at the time.

Speaker 7 Just from the information that I obtained, it looked like a solvable case, but it wasn't. It was left open.

Speaker 2 The circumstances surrounding Alan's death raise suspicions for the family of Lorraine's second husband, Albert.

Speaker 7 When I spoke with Mr. Thomas's sister and daughter from Mississippi, they told me that they suspected Lorraine had killed her first husband.

Speaker 2 Detective Patterson goes straight to Albert's workplace to inquire about Albert's life insurance.

Speaker 7 Albert Thomas's boss confirmed to me that Mr.

Speaker 16 Thomas actually had life insurance policies.

Speaker 11 That life insurance policy on its face was worth approximately $225,000.

Speaker 30 But there is a contingency to the life insurance policy that noted that if the insured Albert Thomas was murdered, the proceeds from that policy upon his death would double.

Speaker 2 The existence of this hefty insurance payout is particularly surprising news.

Speaker 41 Detective Patterson, when he talked to Lorraine the first time, she told him that she wasn't aware of any life insurance policies.

Speaker 7 Okay, so I have $450,000 worth of life insurance, but yet

Speaker 7 Lorraine Hunter says he has no life insurance.

Speaker 2 But according to Don Moore, insurance money was very much on Lorraine's mind in the hours after Albert's murder.

Speaker 7 I'm told by Albert Thomas' boss that he had spoken to Albert's wife, told her that morning that, yes, there was life insurance policies.

Speaker 20 And the fact she was calling out life insurance so quickly just stunned me.

Speaker 19 I mean, personally myself, that's the last thing I'm thinking about.

Speaker 2 Detective Patterson puts the insurance question to Lorraine a second time.

Speaker 10 We're going back to Lorraine's house.

Speaker 7 I actually asked her again. I said, do you recall any life insurance policies that Albert had?

Speaker 7 And I told her that I had talked to his boss. She said, oh, yes.
It wasn't a defensive thing. It wasn't you're accusing me of anything.
It was just, oh, yes. Okay, I recall now.

Speaker 2 An absent-minded omission doesn't make Lorraine a murderer.

Speaker 7 I told her I would be getting back in touch with her.

Speaker 7 We always explain that, you know, the investigation is ongoing because we're going to try to figure out what happened. happened.

Speaker 2 Investigators dig deeper into Albert and Lorraine's assets.

Speaker 32 They had life insurance policies in addition to the one that he already had through his trucking company. And the entire amount, I believe, summed up to just over a million dollars.

Speaker 7 It appeared to me she obviously kept that from me. So now red flags are starting to go up.

Speaker 36 So this made Detective Patterson suspicious. So he put a hole in the death certificate for the coroner's office.

Speaker 41 So she wasn't able to collect any of the insurance policies without the death certificate.

Speaker 7 I go back to Lorraine and I want to see if she wants to voluntarily take a polygraph test. She agreed to it, said fine and dandy, set up a date and time, which was the following day.
I show up.

Speaker 7 She's not there.

Speaker 7 Doesn't answer the door, doesn't answer her phone. Obvious she's avoiding this.
She's avoiding me. I can't get a hold of her for a week.

Speaker 7 I get a letter in the mail from an attorney saying he's her attorney and to leave her alone and to quit contacting her. I'm like, hmm, okay.

Speaker 2 As much as Detective Patterson hates to admit it, the investigation has hit a roadblock.

Speaker 9 Because there were no witnesses and because there was no physical evidence that could support further investigation of a suspect, the case was suspended.

Speaker 11 It was still being actively worked by the Sheriff's Department.

Speaker 10 However, there were no suspects.

Speaker 38 In so many words, the case went cold.

Speaker 2 For now, Riverside County Homicides caseload pushes Albert Thomas's murder to the back burner.

Speaker 4 It's agonizing. You're in Mississippi.
You talk to a detective and they tell you, you know, they're going to keep you posted. And they do as much as they can.

Speaker 4 And you call every day starting out and then every week. And then eventually you're not able to get anyone on the phone.
You want to just not have hope anymore.

Speaker 4 But I chose to believe that the people responsible for his death would eventually be brought to justice.

Speaker 2 Then, on October 6th, 2011, almost two years into the investigation of Albert's death, a surprise twist brings new life to the case.

Speaker 2 Riverside County deputies respond to a shoplifting call involving a teenage girl.

Speaker 17 She had been arrested on a misdemeanor shoplifting charge.

Speaker 36 She asked if she could speak to a detective.

Speaker 11 She indicated to the arresting officer for her shoplifting that she had information about Albert Thomas's death.

Speaker 2 Coming up, an unexpected confession brings detectives within striking distance.

Speaker 36 She admitted to being present when Albert was shot.

Speaker 2 And lifting a veil of lies puts an informant in jeopardy.

Speaker 7 Well, the only reason that this could be happening is somebody's a snitch and you're the one.

Speaker 2 October 6th, 2011, nearly two years after the unsolved murder of California trucker Albert Thomas.

Speaker 2 Riverside County deputies responding to a routine shoplifting call are surprised when the teen girl they take into custody makes an unusual request.

Speaker 11 She asks specifically to speak with the detective that was involved in Albert Thomas' death.

Speaker 2 Detective Ken Patterson takes a seat in an interview room opposite the girl, Shanice Hunter.

Speaker 7 I told her I was the primary investigator, and I was the one investigating Albert's death, and she just, she came out with it.

Speaker 27 Shanice told us that it had been weighing on her conscience for almost two years, the fact that this person had been murdered and that she knew exactly who was responsible for it.

Speaker 26 She said that the thing that prevented her from saying something sooner is the fact that she didn't want to be disloyal to her family.

Speaker 22 Lorraine was her aunt and Brianna was her cousin.

Speaker 36 She was torn between the family bond and the fact that what happened to Albert shouldn't have happened.

Speaker 7 She tells me that Lorraine and Brianna both were involved in Albert's death.

Speaker 7 The day before Mr. Thomas was killed, she actually walked into Lorraine's apartment and

Speaker 7 Brianna was sitting inside the apartment holding a revolver. She knew that it startled them when she walked in.
They pretty much tell her to leave.

Speaker 40 She said that she overheard Brianna say something to the effect of,

Speaker 40 Are you sure we have to do this to her mother, Lorraine?

Speaker 40 And Shanice said at that time, Lorraine told her daughter Brianna, Yes, he's going to leave us and we don't have any money.

Speaker 2 According to Shanice, later that night, Lorraine, Brianna, and Albert went on a family walk.

Speaker 7 They'd always exercise. They'd go walk together.
He had a walking stick and Shanice said the three of them left with the walking stick. Several hours pass.
All of a sudden she gets a phone call.

Speaker 7 It's Brianna telling her, hey, go get mom's car keys, get the car, and freaking come over across from the school and pick us up.

Speaker 11 Shanice then described how she drove both Lorraine and Brianna back to Lorraine's apartment. And once they got there, Lorraine instructed Brianna to take off her clothes.

Speaker 11 And then Lorraine took those clothes, washed them, and then instructed Brianna to take them out to the trash dumpster outside, indicating to both of them that it would be okay because the trash collection was going to happen the next day.

Speaker 2 Shanice's interview has broken the case wide open.

Speaker 2 But to secure an arrest warrant and a conviction, investigators will need more.

Speaker 7 I need to get one of them to admit to it is what i need to happen i had investigators go to uh brianna's school in san bernardino to wait to pick her up and i had shanice agree to wear a wire and go in to talk to lorraine as this is happening

Speaker 7 so i'm in marino valley with shanice and lorraine Investigators are picking up Brianna and San Bernardino all at the same time because we needed it to be coordinated.

Speaker 7 So Shanice goes in and tells Lorraine, hey, they're arresting Brianna for killing Albert.

Speaker 7 And basically what Lorraine tells Shanice is, well, the only reason that this could be happening is somebody is a freaking snitch and you're the one. So she's like, we're leaving.

Speaker 2 As detectives apprehensively monitor the conversation, officers are ready to swoop in.

Speaker 7 This could be a situation that could be bad because we really suspect that Lorraine killed Albert. And so Lorraine and Shanice are now leaving.
They They basically come down the stairs.

Speaker 7 There's nothing else really said, and we arrested her because we couldn't let her get anywhere else because we didn't know what was going to happen.

Speaker 2 Lorraine is transported to Merino Valley Police Headquarters, unaware that detectives have already begun questioning her 18-year-old daughter, Brianna.

Speaker 7 I first spoke with Brianna, and Brianna ultimately admits that her mom shot Albert.

Speaker 11 She said she saw her mother point it at Albert's back and then fire the weapon twice.

Speaker 2 Detectives confront Lorraine with Brianna's accusation.

Speaker 7 She's told that she can save her daughter if she admits to shooting Albert.

Speaker 7 I told Lorraine I knew that she's the one that killed him, but she never admitted to it to me, never tried to save her daughter. Nothing.

Speaker 10 Lorraine could have cared less.

Speaker 7 After interviews at the Marino Valley Police Department, I ultimately arrested them for the murder of Albert.

Speaker 11 Both of them were charged with first-degree murder, also conspiracy to commit murder, and then Lorraine was charged with the special circumstances alleging that the murder was committed while lying in wait, and then also that she did it for financial gain.

Speaker 2 Finally, Detective Patterson can make a few long-awaited phone calls.

Speaker 4 Before he even said his name, I recognized his voice, Detective Ken Patterson. He said, I'm calling you to notify you that an arrest has been made in the case of Albert Thomas.

Speaker 31 And I fell to my knees and I cried. But when he told me it was Lorraine, I thought to myself,

Speaker 31 oh my gosh.

Speaker 4 And then he said, and Breonna Hunter.

Speaker 5 And I thought, oh my Lord.

Speaker 2 Even though charges have been filed, police must work to gather more evidence against Lorraine and Brianna.

Speaker 11 Shanice was interviewed several times after Lorraine and Brianna were arrested for Albert's murder.

Speaker 38 And during the course of those interviews, Shanice revealed to my investigator, Paul Edwards, that...

Speaker 26 Lorraine Hunter obtained the gun from a friend of hers who went to church with Lorraine and then kept the possession of it for at least a couple of months and then later returned it.

Speaker 2 Investigators quickly obtain a search warrant for the friend's apartment.

Speaker 24 Upon the execution of that search warrant, a.38 caliber revolver was found hidden in a drawer in the bedroom.

Speaker 22 I booked it into evidence in the DA's office and they did the send it to DOJ for ballistics.

Speaker 2 The results confirm the bullet fragments found during Albert's autopsy are a match.

Speaker 23 The gun I've recovered was the gun that was used to kill Albert Thomas.

Speaker 2 Coming up, a complete picture of the crime emerges.

Speaker 4 Whatever's done in the dark is always going to come to the light.

Speaker 2 And a calculating killer plots to up the body count.

Speaker 28 She wanted her dead, and she was willing to pay money to do it.

Speaker 2 Prosecutors preparing to try Lorraine Hunter for the brutal execution-style slaying of her husband, Albert, are counting on Lorraine's daughter and accomplice, Brianna, for answers.

Speaker 35 Although we had worked up the case and there was a lot of evidence implicating both Brianna and Lorraine, of course we wanted to know more details.

Speaker 2 But before they can reach an agreement with Brianna's lawyer, there is yet another stunning development in the case.

Speaker 22 There were several letters we intercepted from Lorraine to Brianna. I mean, in the letters that she sent to Brianna, she was trying to dissuade Brianna from testifying against her.

Speaker 2 In the lead-up to trial, Lorraine's cellmate comes forward with more shocking information.

Speaker 2 She tells authorities Lorraine is trying to hire an assassin to keep the prosecution's other witness, her own niece, silent for good.

Speaker 2 That's when police launch a plot of their own.

Speaker 36 The deputy sent an undercover deputy

Speaker 22 to have a meeting with Lorraine in the jail, and he pretended to be a hit man.

Speaker 11 This undercover officer had several conversations that were recorded with Lorraine Hunter, where Lorraine Hunter, in fact, confirmed that she wanted her niece, Shanice, dead and that she was willing to pay money to do it.

Speaker 11 She felt that if Shanice was eliminated as a witness, her and her daughter would walk free.

Speaker 17 He agreed to kill Shanice for Lorraine.

Speaker 10 The undercover officer told Lorraine that he would need more information about Shanice, namely address and pictures.

Speaker 13 From there, Lorraine Hunter

Speaker 11 started calling several family members, asking them to send her pictures of Shanice.

Speaker 11 That investigation was concluded, and our office filed a separate case against Lorraine Hunter for solicitation for murder.

Speaker 2 For a chance at a lesser sentence, Brianna signals she's ready to do business with the state.

Speaker 11 If we find that the information is credible, then we'll consider giving an offer of leniency to that codefendant if they agree to cooperate in the investigation and in the prosecution of the other codependent.

Speaker 12 And that's what happened in this case.

Speaker 11 Brianna's attorney indicated that she was willing to talk to us to fill in all the blanks.

Speaker 38 And what she revealed to us in that interview was powerful.

Speaker 2 Brianna sits down with state attorneys on September 19th, 2013.

Speaker 2 She says in the year leading up to the murder, her mother was obsessed with money.

Speaker 11 According to Brianna, Lorraine was upset and frustrated quite often with Albert because he wasn't making enough money.

Speaker 2 Brianna says that Albert's two jobs and a company insurance package wouldn't assure Lorraine of a bright enough financial future.

Speaker 40 Brianna told us that Lorraine not only had them fill out life insurance applications for several companies, but that she personally witnessed Lorraine forge Albert's signature.

Speaker 2 Brianna reveals her mother had tried to cash in several times.

Speaker 19 She had attempted three other times to try to kill Albert, and it was just the wrong time, too many people around.

Speaker 2 And on November 3rd, 2009, Lorraine finally had the right opportunity.

Speaker 23 She led us through the night in question when Albert was murdered.

Speaker 23 They walked to the truck and Albert told Brianna that he'd bought her a sweatshirt and he was in the truck.

Speaker 36 So they all got in the truck.

Speaker 36 Albert got in the back and he was kneeling on the floor trying to get the sweatshirt out of a small cabinet or closet.

Speaker 17 And at this point, Lorraine was in the passenger seat and Brianna was in the driver's seat.

Speaker 40 And Lorraine managed to get around into the back and was standing behind Albert and she shot him in the back.

Speaker 2 Lorraine's trial begins in June 2017.

Speaker 2 Prosecutors begin their case with a glimpse of Lorraine and Albert's disintegrating marriage.

Speaker 23 That relationship wasn't that good.

Speaker 22 They were married. They slept in separate bedrooms.

Speaker 29 They argued about money a lot.

Speaker 7 Albert had made a decision that he was actually going to leave Lorraine because he couldn't do it anymore. He was working himself to death.

Speaker 2 But the most damning testimony occurs when cooperating witness Brianna takes the stand.

Speaker 32 Most memorable part of the trial was Brianna Hunter and sitting across from her mom, basically less than 15 feet away, and detailing all of what her mother did in trying to eventually kill Albert Thomas.

Speaker 2 The jury announces their verdict on August 21st, 2017.

Speaker 10 The jury rendered a guilty verdict for first-degree murder, a guilty verdict for conspiracy to commit murder, and they also found true both of those special allegations.

Speaker 32 She went on through the penalty phase, and the jury recommended the death penalty. Judge Fisher was supportive of that.
He imposed the death sentence on Lorraine Hunter in December of 2017.

Speaker 2 Brianna's cooperation keeps her from joining Lorraine on death row.

Speaker 32 Brianna Hunter entered the plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. She pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted murder and one count of voluntary manslaughter.

Speaker 22 She received a total sentence of 18 years and nine months.

Speaker 7 I really think that Albert and Brianna had a good relationship, but mom drug her into this. I saw emotions in her.
I mean, tears.

Speaker 2 After more than eight years of grief and anger, Lorraine's conviction gives Albert's family the justice they've prayed for.

Speaker 31 We cried, we were pleased, we were relieved, and that's where closure

Speaker 4 actually came.

Speaker 3 Albert is being remembered as a great man, a great husband, an awesome father, an awesome grandfather, co-worker, friend, just all-around human being.

Speaker 4 I have forgiven Breanna.

Speaker 31 I have forgiven Lorraine.

Speaker 4 I don't want hatred in my heart toward anyone

Speaker 4 because in that case, you're no better than that person that committed the crime.

Speaker 1 In March 2019, California's governor imposed a moratorium on the death penalty, temporarily suspending executions in the state. Brianna will be eligible for parole in December 2024.

Speaker 1 She will be 31 years old. No charges were ever filed in the investigation into Alan Brown's 1996 murder.
The case remains open.

Speaker 2 For more information on Snapped, go to oxygen.com.

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