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CSI MIAMI: SLOW BURN (TV)

Summary

One in this series of police dramas which follows the macabre exploits of a team of forensic criminalists in Miami.

In the midst of an attempt by firefighters to put out a fire in the Everglades with a controlled burn, Delko and Dr. Woods arrive to examine a dead body found there by the rescue team. They determine that the victim, identified as Wade Hinkle, was likely shot and dragged to that spot, but before they can determine more the fire unexpectedly rages towards them at incredible speed. Delko manages to save them by wrapping them in a fire blanket; both escape relatively unharmed, except for a temporary impairment of their vision. They were supposed to be on the safe side of the controlled burn and Caine suspects that the fire may have been intentionally started for some sinister purpose. The team traces Hinkle back to a truck in the glades, with ammunition and beer cans strewn about everywhere. They believe Hinkle did not come alone, and discover a dog in the truck as well. Duquesne discovers gunshot residue on a chair Hinkle may have been sitting in, supporting a murder hypothesis.

Caine finds evidence of a second fire apart from the controlled burn, believing that it traveled largely underground along a trail of peat. He and Detective Tripp trace the source of the second fire to a roadside flare, and near it they discover the badly burned and mutilated body of a young woman. Dr. Woods examines her body, but it will take time to identify due to the extensive damage. She determines that the woman was killed by blunt force trauma to the head, and that she has bite marks on her breasts, indicating some kind of sexual predation. Tripp and Delko inspect tire tracks near the location where the victim was found and come to suspect that Rick Cuthbert, one of the park rangers, may have had something to do with the woman’s death, particularly since records show that he has a history of sexual harassment at his previous job. However, Cuthbert provides an alibi for his previous behavior. Caine notices singe marks on his pants and Cuthbert claims that he kicked aside a roadside flare the previous night.

Hinkle’s body is identified by Joshua Keating, his friend who was with him on the night he died. The truck and dog both belong to him. Duquesne notices an injury on Keating’s lip, and he says that he and Hinkle got into an argument the previous night over something trivial. She also notices blood on his vest and asks to examine it; Keating claims it’s from a squirrel he skinned. Delko finds Hinkle’s rifle hidden behind the seat of Keating’s truck. The blood analysis comes back and it belongs to a mountain lion; they are a protected species and thus Keating and Hinkle were poaching. Speedle checks out the tire tracks and they seem to confirm Cuthbert’s story. A second set of tracks proves to be more plausible, and the car is traced to a Dale Stahl, who has often been caught speeding near the Everglades. Dale is taken in for questioning; he claims to have no knowledge of the body or of the second fire. Dale is tested for potassium sulfur residue to check if there are traces of the fire on him or his clothes, but the tests come back negative.

Tripp and Delko inspect Dale’s car, finding a hair possibly belonging to the victim, as well as a club card for a nearby casino with the name “Julie Bryant.” Tripp theorizes that Dale picked her up from the casino, drove her out to the Everglades, sexually assaulted her, and then murdered her and disposed of the body. They confront Dale with this accusation, who claims that the woman he picked up as a hitchhiker was drunk and amorous, and that when he dropped her off she was alive. Caine believes that he is the sexual predator, regularly visiting the casino to pick up women. He reveals that when he was out with Julie, someone approached the car and assaulted it with a baseball bat. Julie went running into the glades chased by the man, while Dale drove away. Caine visits the casino and finds Julie’s boyfriend, Mike Sheridan. They confront him over what happened the previous night and he says he and Julie got into an argument. He claims to be innocent of any crime and to have not been out to the Everglades in years, but Caine notices gunk behind Mike’s ears consistent with algae found in the Everglades. Mike admits that Julie got in a car with another man to make him jealous, and that he went after her and chased her into the glades as Dale reported. However, he notes that it was dark and he did not make it very far before stumbling into a mud hole, abandoning his search, and returning to the casino, expecting Julie to return.

Delko runs ballistics on Hinkle’s rifle and concludes that Hinkle was killed with his own gun. Duquesne finds the prospect of suicide unlikely, and an analysis confirms that the rifle was some distance away from Hinkle when it was used to shoot him. They interrogate Keating, who denies having shot Hinkle. He claims that the poaching was Hinkle’s idea and that he opposed it, leading to their argument. He also claims to have left Hinkle there alone, but they point out they discovered Hinkle’s rifle in his truck. Delko and Duquesne believe that one of Keating and Hinkle’s hunting friends is the murderer, but Keating refuses to reveal any further information. Speedle recovers Mike’s clothes from the hotel cleaners, discovering singe marks on his pants. Caine discovers that Mike and Julie have been the subject of a number of domestic disturbance calls, and that Julie had to be hospitalized recently for injuries she sustained from Mike. Caine recognizes their relationship as abusive and takes Mike into the Everglades to continue questioning him. Mike admits that while searching for Julie he lit a road flare to help him see, but dropped it by accident when he tripped, forcing him to retreat from the sparking flames. However, when Mike sees a photograph of the burned woman, he tells them that she is not Julie, and that he has no idea who the woman is. Caine and Tripp wonder if Mike is lying and make it a priority to properly establish the identity of the deceased woman.

Dr. Woods is able to get a bone sample from the woman’s injury, discovering a distinctive marking imprinted into the injury on her skull. Caine conducts a more thorough investigation of Dale’s car, discovering traces of bloodstains on the car door. Meanwhile, Duquesne finds scratch marks on the butt of Hinkle’s rifle; Delko did not spot them earlier due to his impaired eyesight. Duquesne now theorizes that during Hinkle and Keating’s argument, Keating’s dog ran around excited and accidentally fired off Hinkle’s rifle, killing him. Keating confirms their theory, explaining that he was unwilling to implicate his dog in the murder and that it was an accident. Keating is let off, and his dog is to be returned to him. At last, Dr. Woods identifies the body of the deceased woman as being Sandy Willis, a young woman listed as a missing person three years ago. The mark on her skull is identified as coming from a large ring worn by Dale. Caine confronts him over this, reconstructing the crime: Dale picked up Sandy and sexually assaulted and murdered her by beating her to death. He then dragged her body into the glades and went to the casino to pick up Julie, who was attempting to flee Mike. Mike then followed them and drove Julie into the glades as Dale drove away. In light of all the evidence, Dale is to be sent to prison. Mike is still under arrest for starting the fire, and Julie turns up alive and well, asking to see him. Caine tries to convince her that Mike is abusive and that she should leave him, but she does not listen. The episode ends as Caine carries out the difficult task of calling Sandy’s mother and informing her of her daughter’s death. Commercials deleted.

(This is the second of two programs on this asset. For synopsis and credits of the first, "Witness to Murder," see B:88554).

Details

  • NETWORK: CBS
  • DATE: February 9, 2004 10:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:44:19
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: 111318
  • GENRE: Drama, police/private detective
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/private detective
  • SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 2002-2012
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Jonathan Littman … Executive Producer
  • Jerry Bruckheimer … Executive Producer
  • Ann Donahue … Executive Producer, Created by
  • Anthony E. Zuiker … Executive Producer, Created by
  • Carol Mendelsohn … Executive Producer, Created by
  • Danny Cannon … Co-Executive Producer
  • Shane Brennan … Supervising Producer, Writer
  • Joe Chappelle … Producer, Director
  • Bruce Golin … Producer
  • Steven Maeda … Producer
  • Elizabeth Devine … Producer
  • Scott Shiffman … Producer
  • Gina Lamar … Co-Producer
  • Sunil Nayar … Co-Producer
  • Scott Lautanen … Associate Producer
  • Jonathan Glassner … Consulting Producer
  • Don Tardino … Line Producer
  • Michael Ostrowski … Writer
  • Kevin Kiner … Music by
  • Jeff Cardoni … Music by
  • Who, The … Theme Music by
  • David Caruso … Cast, Lieutenant Horatio Caine
  • Emily Procter … Cast, Calleigh Duquesne
  • Adam Rodriguez … Cast, Eric Delko
  • Khandi Alexander … Cast, Dr. Alexx Woods
  • Rory Cochrane … Cast, Tim Speedle
  • Sofia Milos … Cast, Detective Yelina Salas
  • Rex Linn … Cast, Detective Frank Tripp
  • Doug Hutchison … Cast, Dale Stahl
  • Harold Sylvester … Cast, Joshua Keating
  • Joe Flanigan … Cast, Mike Sheridan
  • Keith Diamond … Cast, Rick Cuthbert
  • Boti Bliss … Cast, Maxine Valera
  • Melinda Page Hamilton … Cast, Julie Bryant
  • Michael Edward Rose … Cast, Arthur Arturo
  • Greg Travis … Cast, Wade Hinkle
  • G. Paul Davis … Cast, Card Dealer