CSI: Miami

Season 4 - Episode 18 - Double Jeopardy

Written by Brian Davidson
Directed by Scott Lautanen

Since no body was ever recovered, Stephen Rowe is found “not guilty” of stabbing his wife to death, with his new fiancée, Allison Grady, at his side for support.  At the same time, a fisherman discovers the body of Melissa Bowman.  Melissa’s body was found floating in the water with no visible weights to be found.  Alexx’s investigation determines Melissa was stabbed to death and her fingers had been cut off.  Calleigh’s concerned that even with new evidence; Rowe can’t be tried for the same crime twice.   Delko uncovers two dumbbells that had gone missing from Rowe’s house, tying him to the crime.

 Ryan investigates Rowe’s computer and discovers files linking him to white supremacy websites with a special interest in genealogy.  The team discovers that Rowe and Melissa met, fell in love and married quickly.  Rowe discovered after the marriage that Melissa’s mother was African American.  Horatio hopes to retry Rowe with a Federal jury on the grounds of a hate crime.   Calleigh suspects Rowe might have committed another murder prior to the murder of Melissa which sends the team in a new direction with the investigation.  Wolfe finds a link to Debra Massey, another murder victim.  Ethan Gaffney admits he murdered Debra, but swears he didn’t have anything to do with Melissa’s murder; while Melissa’s fingers had been cut off, Debra Massey’s had not – yet the media had mistakenly reported that they were at the time of her murder.  When Damon Sloan, Rowe’s former roommate, reveals that Rowe was hitting up on pretty Theresa Barton at a party, the search for Barton, now missing, is on.

 It is only when Theresa Barton’s body is found that the entire story comes to light.  Furious that he had married a woman with African American blood, Stephen Rowe began plotting her demise shortly after discovering her heritage.  Working with his new girlfriend, the pair decided to do Melissa in and make it look like she was a victim of the same killer who murdered Debra Massey, down to the missing fingers.  Rowe seduced and killed Theresa Barton as a “test murder,” just to make sure that it went according to plan.  Then, when it came time to kill his wife, he couldn’t go through with, so Allison, his new girlfriend committed the murder herself.  Now, they will both be charged with murder – she for the murder of Melissa, and he for the killing of Theresa Barton.