Iowa Girl Disappears After Sleepover at Stepdad’s

On Prime Crime. 'Cause first off, big and like, she ain't really missing. Once he really sent in at 10 o'clock in the morning, that's when he hit me. A 10 year old girl vanishes without a trace. There are just an outpour of people that are instantly troubled by her absence. It was something that we had never seen. Can mounting circumstantial evidence crack the case? She's out of your sister. You were the key to fighting your sister. You wanna bring her home? You have passed time, bring, bring home. Hey there, everybody. I'm Jesse Weber and welcome to Prime Crime. This is where we break down the most compelling and memorable true crime cases from across the country. It is a parent's worst nightmare. A child disappears sending their world completely upside down. And on July 10th, 2020, in Davenport, Iowa, that is exactly what happened. A 10 year old girl suddenly goes missing in the middle of the night. 9-1-1-1-2, there's a sort of defeat. My daughter was there the night with her son dead and my son and I went into work and he had just called me that he don't know how long she's been gone. Frantic mom Aisha Langford calls 9-1-1 to report her daughter, Breasia Tarell, has disappeared. She had been spending the night with her half-brother, eight-year-old D.L., and his father, 51-year-old Henry Dinkins, at the apartment of Dinkins' girlfriend, Andrea Culberson. He doesn't know how long she's been gone. Nor was she. Nor was she. Aisha arrives. She saw her name tag on her work uniform. So she was coming from her job to come up and deal with this really troubling phone call that she received from Henry Dinkins. San Breasia's gone. What investigators are first called to the scene, they view this as a missing child. They've got Henry Dinkins and Aisha saying, "We don't know where she is." And through Body One camera, we see these two people outside, kind of yelling at each other, and the officer there trying to keep the piece but also gather information. Here, mom. Yeah. And Henry lives here. Yeah, I guess so. Where are you talking to come from? Okay. What's up, Henry? So this is your girlfriend's address here? This is crazy, man. This is like, you know what I'm saying? Well, she won't be a sterile because. I think the most troubling component to this was the unknown. We quickly learned that she was a small child. She was somewhat hearing impaired and vision impaired. This was one of the first times that Breasia stayed in this location. Where could she have gone if she doesn't know the area? Who have you called? What doors have you knocked on? I don't know these people out here. At first, I was riding around looking. And then my son started riding around looking. Have we called family? I've called everybody. We've been everywhere. Aisha's emotional response, I think, is very typical. My child was under your supervision and she's come up missing. First of all, she would have never woke up at 8 o'clock in the morning. She would have never. I never see you in that. This isn't the time to fight. Exactly. I don't give a fuck about you walking. You lost her though. How did I fuck you? Because you was watching her Hilary. What the fuck do you mean? Hey. I'm gone, sir. Come on, D. Listen to me. I'm gone. Her anger at him for how he's handling this situation, I think, was very, very warranted. As a mother, you're feeling very frantic. Your child's missing. For Hilary, his attitude is kind of like, "Why are you mad at me? I'm trying my best." You guys got to come together right now. This isn't a time to fight about it. Okay. How am I supposed to. What do you want me to do? I got no picture. I got nothing. What am I supposed to do? Right. I get it. Henry, I get it. I get it. Henry. I understand why she's upset. But when I'm trying to help, she can't run away from me. I don't want to deal with the issues. Yes. Mr. Dinkins sets forth the notion that she wandered off. So then, law enforcement familiarized himself with the child. Is this the type of child who is prone to do this? Is this a child who has a tendency to run off? You guys never heard of come down, walk out. There's no force, then, true, or anything like that. Was there any fights or arguments or anything last night? Where was she sleeping at? My bed. So she was sleeping in the bed with her brother? And you guys slept out here? Yes. Miss Langford talked about and relative to Beriesha. That is not my child. My child doesn't wander off in the middle of the night. She's scared of the dark and she won't go out in the dark. Do you know if the door was locked or anything? The door is always locked. It may have been locked last night, and she unlocked it, but was the door locked when you. No, that part I came down to is. But then let's say the child came out and maybe there was a third party who might have taken that child. It's a very methodical process where they're ruling out one possibility after another. And every time they took steps to explore a possibility, nothing developed. Nothing developed. Nothing developed. Damn. You haven't seen a little like ten-year-old black girl with long dreads walking around anywhere, have you? Oh my god, I'm afraid that she gets down and I'll be on the lookout. Yeah, she will. We'll find her. They were doing a massive canvas in that whole area around that apartment complex. Ideally, you will find somebody who witnessed or observed something and nobody saw anything. She was a very inspirational person within her groups of people. And we saw that around this community from balloon launches to people assembling thousands of flyers. With Breasia nowhere to be found, investigators need to sit down with the last known person who saw her, Henry Dinkins. But now, he's fallen off the map. They have their contact with Officer Berkel. Then, he just leaves and he's just missing. So, law enforcement is inquiring where he's at. Miss Langford keeps calling him. Miss Colberton is calling him. After several stressful hours, police finally catch up with Dinkins and he shows up at the station for questioning. "What type of info? Like what? Like what?" As a prosecutor, my opinion is that the only reason he presented was because he knew that if he didn't go down there, it would be extremely suspicious. I was going to come down, man. It just makes it easier. We just can make contact with you right away. But I was right there with the officer. But then he left. Because she left home. And it made me mad because she was basically blaming it all on me. Up next, the clock is ticking and detectives need to get to the bottom of Beresha Torell's disappearance. Because I've never known Beresha ever leaves. Ever. You know what I'm saying? Never, ever, ever leaves. I never. It was just odd. Hey, everybody, we're going to get back to the Dinkins Prime Crime in just a minute. But before we do, I have to highlight one of our incredible partners who with their support makes this show happen truthfinder.com. I always like talking about them. Why? Because with our content, I really can't think of a better service that can provide actual safety for you guys. I say that because truthfinder is one of the largest public record search services in the entire world. There are whole goals to help people like you learn the facts about the people in their lives. Here's how it works. You go on their website truthfinder.com and you type in a name. Jesse Weber, make it easy. Type in my name. And within minutes, you get access to reports that include information like phone numbers, address as associates, criminal convictions. I don't have any of those, by the way. But you know, it's really, really useful. If you type in an address, it tells you registered sex offenders that may live in that area too. And that's the point. Unless you use truthfinder, you may never know the reality about the people around you. And I tell you this, once you get started, it's kind of addicting. I'm not going to lie. I started searching like everybody I knew, even neighbors. And it's never a bad idea to check out the people in your life and you can easily do that with truthfinder. And right now, you can get 50, 50% off of confidential background reports. Just go to truthfinder.com/LCprimecrime. Anyone you can tickle that would try to take breaks? Why? For what reason? I don't know. I'm asking you. July 10th, 2020, Davenport, Iowa. Invest in. obligators are desperately searching for 10-year-old Bre Asia Torell. Bre Asia and her half-brother D.L. had been staying with the boy's father, Henry Dinkins, at his girlfriend, Andrea Culberson's apartment, when Bre Asia vanished. Bre Asia's mother, Aisha Langford, is in hysterics over her daughter's disappearance. - I don't give a f*** about you walking f***ing lost, or though? - How did that f***ing broken? - Because you was watching her, Henry, what the f*** did you mean? Detectives are questioning the last person believed to see Bre Asia, Henry Dinkins. - This is crazy, man. - Okay, so let's start out with yesterday. - Yesterday, a little big, one of the company name. - Okay, little Dink is my son. - Your son? - I raised Bre Asia. - So f***ing, Bre Asia are kind of what you consider your kids, is that part of the state? - They don't have kids. - Okay. - He's not, you know, what anyone would probably want to recognize as their very active father, you know, a provider. But Henry Dinkins was somebody that has been in their life since Bre Asia was a little child. - Henry Dinkins is somewhat transient. He doesn't really have a home in which he stays impermanently. He spends some time at his girlfriend's apartment, and he also has a trailer close by in Davenport. But we also know he has a criminal history, convicted of sexual assault of a 5-year-old for when he was 17 years old. - When did you pick them up? - Me and I. We're trying to stay cool right now. Me and Aisha, I had seen them, and they said they wanted to come and spend time with me. I picked them up at Aisha's mom's house. - And what car were you in when you picked them up? - I don't know, I think it was the Impala, I don't know. We went to the house, they start cleaning games at the house, and then they took their showers, and then they got in the bed. You know, me and Andrew laid down. I got up, I left, and I came back. I did a look, looked around. I didn't see a brief. I went and looked for a brief. So I only seen a look, didn't get in the bed. - He said he then jumped in the car, kind of expanded his search around the neighborhood. He comes back to the apartment, goes back out, searching. - When I came back, Andrew was up. She was like, what's wrong? And then what'd you tell her? - I didn't tell her nothing. I was just like, man, right now, I'm the first person I'm looking. I shouldn't have said something to her, but I assumed that she knew I'm like, man, something ain't right, you know what I'm saying? I was freaking out a little bit. - If he's saying that he woke up and the child's gone, what is any normal human being going to do? They're gonna call that child's mother right away. What else are they going to do? They're going to call law enforcement right away. So when he's not reaching out, that right there raises a big red flag. - When I came back, I grabbed Dean. I texted my arms like, please miss her. She like, stop playing with me. Stop playing with Andrew. So I'm like, man, no, I'm not playing with him for real. She was like, you're responsible. You're responsible. You know, and it made me feel so bad because I am responsible, you know what I mean? - Mm-hmm. I was like lost. I didn't know what to say to her. I was lost for words. I couldn't even talk to her really. And she was yelling and screaming. First of all, I'm thinking like, she ain't really missing. Once he really said any of that, can nobody find her? That's when he hit me. She's missing. - You now know that everybody knows that you're the last person with her and she's nowhere to be found. - Did you have your phone then when you were looking for her? You know, no. The phone wasn't even up in the office, sir. Finding her was a gift of concern for sure. - Investigators seem to be underwhelmed by Lincoln's story, but his strange reaction to this next question only casts more doubt. - Would you be fine if we downloaded the phone to have the call logs and the text for what reason? - To co-operate everything here, I can just show you my phone. I got you. You want to see I can just show you my phone. I mean, I can just open up my phone and let you go in my phone. But what's the passcode to your phone? Just give me my phone and I'll open it up for you. - He seems to be very concerned about what do you want to look into my cell phone for? Why do you want to find out where the car is that I was driving? He seems to be both willing to give information, deflecting when they get to certain points, but also trying to befriend the officer. - Why do you look into my cell phone? - Well, that's what I asked. - No, I said I will open it for you. - Yeah, I'm not answering. - I'm not gonna give you my passport. - Okay. - Well, you still watch, I don't open it there, bro. - You know, I'm not if you stare into me while I'm trying to get my number. - What I'm doing is I'm making sure that you're not going in and delete anything. That's what my concern is. - Why would I delete something? - You never know with guys. - Trust me, it happens. - It boils down to, is this a man who's had a number of run-ins with the law? It just doesn't trust them, completely understandable, or is he hiding the truth? - I don't understand how I'd ask the physicians with my own kids, man. These are my kids. - We learn through this early season that cell phone data is not an immediate help to us. We don't have any good information on that for those over nine hours and what was going on. - Where is the car currently? - It's reachable, reachable as in, I can get it to you guys at any time. If you want to search the car, I can bring the car to search. - I received a phone call from a patrol officer that had located a vehicle that was known to be driven by Henry Dinkins. That vehicle was located in front of our library. He parked two blocks away from the police station and walked up there and we have parking right in front of the building. That seems like a concerted effort to conceal your vehicle. - And breathing kind of happy is that you just think about my baby. - Yeah. - You know what I'm saying about that? - It's like. It's rough, bro. It's rough. Even though she ain't my biological, but she's still my baby. - What do you think happened? - Big bro, I don't think no. - I'm not really even trying to put a finger on it. - I don't know. - There's a bunch of people right now with the department going out there, we're trying to do it. - I'm pretty glad that they find my baby. You know what I mean? 'Cause. - We need her home. - Mm-hmm. - Definitely. - We don't need her. - Coming up, authority speak with another key witness, D.L. Berejia's half-brother. - Oh, come on, let's bleach it online. Did you ask him about that? - So all the creatures come step me. - Why were you afraid of your dad? - 'Cause he's me. Could do lots of things. - Could he be the key to cracking this whole case? - Hey everybody, we're gonna get back to the Dinkins episode of Prime Crime and Just a Minute. But before we do, I have to highlight our incredible partner and sponsor of this episode, Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. Look, getting injured, it is scary, it can be a complicated process. And many times, if you're gonna take on big insurance companies that sometimes lowball offers, you need a big firm. Enter Morgan and Morgan. And what's really great about them is that they're all about fighting for the compensation you deserve, even if that means having to go to trial. I mean, they don't settle for lowball insurance offers. They've won verdicts at trial in the millions. And one of the best things about Morgan and Morgan is how easy they make it for their clients. 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July, 2020, Davenport, Iowa. 10-year-old Berejia Torel disappears from a sleepover with her half-brother, DL, at the apartment, his father, 51-year-old Henry Dinkins, shared with his then-girlfriend, Andrea Colberson. After the girl's mother calls police to report her missing, authorities set their sights on Dinkins, and they feel he knows more than he's letting on. So investigators need to speak with someone else who was there the night Berejia disappeared, DL. - You're daddy picked you up last night. - And then what happened when dad got there? He told me to burst my keys, and then my sister came, he said, she don't mind if he comes. - Did she want to go with him? - I'm fine. - My Nana is over, don't go, and she went. - Where'd you go right after daddy picked you up? - We wanted to go get him some cigarettes and then we went to the bathroom. D.L. he's very energetic. He has a wonderful mind and he remembers things. From talking to his mom we know that he really idolized his father, but D.L. also understands that his sister is missing and he is hurt by that. What'd you guys do last night? Played again and where were you playing that at? In the living room? Okay, who was in the living room with you? Where was your daddy? In the room with Brie. What was he doing in the room with Brie? Was he sleeping? No. Was the door open? Yeah. Were you said that he was playing with her and not you? Yep, we met. One of the things that I noted was the fact that his father was in the bedroom sitting with his sister rather than spending time with him in the living room. I really felt that the observation of had a lot of significance to what was going on. What'd you do after that? We ate dinner and then we went to bed and then I woke up and did she was gone? Did you go looking for her? I didn't even then wake up back when they hit me up close. Did your daddy drive you anywhere? If you want a couple places, if you want to go fishing with a couple people this morning? Yeah. Were you there? Yeah. I was in the car. Did you actually see your daddy with fishables? Or did he tell you he went fishing? He told me. To explain to a little kid that's got a million questions, probably about where we going, where we going, what we doing. If your Henry Dinkins and you know that you're going back to a body of water, that's at least a logical thing. But you know DL never talks about seeing fishing poles, never talks about going fishing. It just totally was going fishing. That's when DL shares a shocking detail that sends detectives into a tailspin. Did you see your dad get anything out of the car? He grabbed some bleach and what I saw on his trunk, he pulled it out. It was a knife. And then he washed it off, washed off with what the, oh, some bleach and a wrap. When detectives find the motorhome and search it, they do find a squirt bottle of cleaner that contains bleach. They find a machete and that seems to bolster the credibility of DL's memory. Do you know where he went fishing? Do you think he could take me that way? I don't remember that way. What if I drove you down that way? That's a long way. That's okay. I don't remember. It was a place where he got stuck. He got stuck. His car didn't have a push. Was it by the river or by a creek water? This has got to be red flags just flapping in the air for investigators to say he must have stabbed her to death. And he must have dumped her body by somebody of water. Detective Obert and Detective Hamas loaded him up in a car with Miss Langford. And they said, let's go for a drive. I could not believe the child's like, oh, yeah, this business here. Yeah, we passed by this fast food place. Oh, yeah, no backup. No, we turned here. As investigators continue to search for Brieja, the pain of her disappearance is felt most by her friends and family. There's behind the scenes type stuff, okay? We're doing search warrants. We're doing painting the phones. Okay, obviously, 108 talking. Everybody is working on it, okay? It does it end. Okay. I can't go to sleep with that. I'm like, what the f***? She's 9/30 and she's nowhere. In this moment, you see the breakdown of this mother who was completely torn by the fact that she will not be able to see her daughter before she lays her head down at night. We're not stopping looking for your baby, okay? I can't go to sleep when I'm knowing she's okay. I have not heard from her. I don't want to hear anything. Why, my baby? Why? Over a period of time, it starts to set in that this might not be a missing child case. And so investigators have to reposition the way they're thinking. The case goes from where could a breeze of gong to where is her body? Detectives still need more evidence to tie dinkins to Bereasia's disappearance. Nearly two weeks after DL's sister went missing, investigators meet with the eight-year-old once again. So you know you're safe from your daddy, right? Yes. Do you know that everyone just wants to find where Bereasia is, right? Including you, right? Yeah, let's talk about after dinner. What happened after dinner? You had a little bed. So you locked the front door before you went to bed? Yep. So then what happened? I woke up. He kicked me. Oh, and then I know that Tom and Bruce walking down the stairs. Was it light outside or dark outside? Light. And how do you know it was hidden brief? Because I heard brief voice. Where were you when you heard her voice? In the bedroom and the bed. And why were you peeking? Was there something going on that you were doing? You don't make sure she wasn't doing anything with my sister. Was he doing anything to your sister? No. We now have an eyewitness to Mr. Dinkins being responsible for removing Bereasia from the apartment, which would counter Mr. Dinkins' statements to law enforcement. Did your dad tell you not to say anything about something? Uh-huh. Can you tell me what your dad didn't want you to say? He's nothing. Why do you get mad at me? I'm not. Well, you are. Did your daddy say anything about the trailer? He told me, don't tell you what the trailer is at. Why did he not want us to know about it? Because he was afraid. He said, "If you tell anybody about the trailer, I want to tell you what." They started pulling video surveillance footage. We are able to start to put together a timeline. He leaves at 3.30. He stopped at the quick shop to get gas in the early morning hours. The parks at the furthest gas pump. We see him go in to the convenience store. And he kept looking back out into the parking lot as if he's monitoring what's going on in the car. He arrives back at the apartment right after sunrise. He gathers DL and he leaves. Who had invented it? You tell me. A place where he got stuck, there was dirt, and he had a goon. He talks about some fishermen had helped push him out of the mud. When we find the location of Henry Dickens Motorhome, it is by Credit Island Park. It has a causeway that goes out to the island. There is also an overflow lagoon area. Where's the first place you guys went? I went to Google for her and then I'm in the evening. Where did you go look for her? Aren't we where? Why don't you want to tell me where he took you? We get limited phone ping from the Comanche Iowa cell phone tower. In relation to Davenport, Iowa, it's in a whole 'nother county. Keep in mind during that time, as when Henry Dickens was out looking everywhere for her. I've seen you places with your dad so I kind of know where you went. Do you remember your dad taking you to any type of store? With that cell phone hitting there, that took law enforcement. To the store where we got video, we have him buying Clorox at the Clinton wall mart. He gets there a little before 7 a.m. in the morning. I'm just making sure I get this right. You saw your sister. You were the key to finding your sister. You want to bring her home? Yeah, past time. Bring her home. When we return, what really happened to Breasia Torell? They've got to figure out where her body is because her body will give them all of the information as to what happened to her. What she murdered because it's been an accident. I know I blamed me because I took that water watch on. I know my baby mama is like very angry. I never seen her this mad at me, ever. But she got reasons. Iowa investigators suspect sex offender Henry Dickens had something to do with the July 2020 disappearance of 10-year-old Breasia Torell, his son, D.L.'s half-sister. But a discovery eight months into the investigation will change everything. The Dan Port Police Department was contacted by the Clinton County Sheriff's Department in regarding to the discovery of human remains near Dewitt. In March of 2021, a group of fishermen stumbled across a skull. There were but in so much overgrowth that no one could barely even see the pond yet alone a body. But after the winter, that's when it's where her horrific discovery was made. And autopsy on the remains was conducted. We've received confirmation. that the remains are those of Beriesha Terrell. -DL had talked about how his father had gone to an area where it was wooded and there was water. There's a place called Kunal Implement that's out by the area of this pond and that child described it, and he was right on the money. -She shot in her the lower part of her jaw and then a bullet traveled down a couple of her vertebrae in her spine. And then a bullet went through her right shoulder and then another bullet likely grazed off of it. And then you can picture what you think a monster looks like because a monster shot this little girl in the face. -After they found her body, Miss Lankford said that she went out there. And she just felt the presence of her daughter putting her arms around her and saying, "Mommy, you found me. I'm here. Everything's OK now." -Now, detectives need to put the rest of the pieces of the puzzle together. -We had surveillance of him at different locations in his car, one of which was the Quick Stop Gas Station. And that puts him in a certain location with Beriesha because they believe her to be inside the car at the time. -Almost simultaneously, investigators get another huge break. -We got a phone call for you. It's an information that you want to escape with us. Tell me everything that you can possibly remember. My buddy was asked me that because I was over at his house last night. I said, "You know what? We heard about them. I've done that body up there with her." I said, "The last fall, I'm going to get in with her today." I said, "I'm full, but blackmailed out of the ditch there." And the point is, of course, it will work. -Launforceman does find one witness. They believe can place Henry Dingen's in the area of the murder. -What color was the car? -The most positive was room. I can guarantee it was in a belt. So I got on the floor laying there with about a half mile around the corner, and blackmailed him down the road in front of me, and weighed his arms. He said he was stuck in the ditch and asked if I could pull him out. So he got in my truck and found about another half mile. And there I see this car in the ditch. And it was towards the south end of that pond. Just trunk was facing you, so you just a little bit off the edge of the ditch. -That was a critical piece of evidence because we had the chunks of mud that got caught up underneath the undercarriage of the vehicle that later then identified as being inclusive to soil samples that were collected from that area after her body was discovered. -I just put her on and backed up to my full amount. I asked him what the hell he was doing up here. And I said, "Meet her on the turn." -Was there someone else in the truck? -No. This morning, Henry Earl Denkins was charged in the death of 11-year-old Breesha Terrell. Murder first degree, kidnapping first degree. -All the evidence seems to add up to the chilling conclusion that Henry Denkins killed Breesha Terrell. But why? -There was the belief that she was sexually abused, and that's why she was murdered. But the sex abuse offense was not charged because of the state of decomposition. There was no ability to be able to recover any type of DNA evidence. -In August 2023, Henry Denkins is set to go to trial in front of a jury. But instead, he makes a surprising move. -We were in there early that morning and waiting for the clerks to, you know, call in all the jurors. One of the court attendants comes up. She said, "Miss Cunningham, defense counsel needs to talk to you." "Mr. Freese said Mr. Denkins wants to weigh jury trial." And I said, "What?" -Every person facing a criminal charge has to be right to be tried by a jury of their peers. But that right can also be waived and they can ask for a bench trial. The jury would probably hear that sex off-under status and not think of anything else. With the case now being decided by the judge, the trial of Henry Denkins begins. -It was a normal evening. When Ms. Culperson went to sleep, she knew that Mr. Denkins was there in the living room on the couch. At 3 a.m. in the morning, she woke up. Mr. Denkins wasn't there and reagent wasn't there. Now at 3.38 a.m., she heard Mr. Denkins very quietly come up into the apartment. He collected something from the closet and then he leaves. Somewhere around 5.45, Mr. Denkins returns to the apartment. Whereas for Asia, there's no reaction. -There was so much detail in this investigation and everything was about timelines and videos and stuff. I said, "What we've got to do is we've got to make everything very visual." -The evidence in this case is overwhelming. And the conclusions are clear. The child was taken from that apartment by a man who was not a father. She was sexually assaulted and then that child was murdered. And based on all of this, the state is asking you to find Mr. Denkins guilty of murder and kidnapping in the first degree. The state calls Andrea Culberson, Denkins' former live-in girlfriend to the stand. She was there the night Brie Asia disappeared. After you fell asleep, was there any point in the night that you woke up? -It was like at 3 o'clock in the morning and I kind of glanced over. So I saw that she was not there. What did you do next? First thing I did was try to call him. It rang and it went to Post-Mail. And then like a half hour later, I keyed, and it heard someone softly coming up to stairs. When I saw me, I don't know, a whole different outfit. I was like, "What's going on? Where are you going? What's going on?" And he was like, "I'll be back." And it just seemed weird to me. -And was Mr. Denkins offering any explanation at all? No. What went through your mind? And besides my stomach ripping it pieces, a lot of things, fear, anger, confusion. Then, the prosecution's star witness takes the stand. Brie Asia's half-brother, D.L., who's now 11 years old. He recounts accompanying his father the morning Brie Asia disappeared. Henry came back and got you and you guys went out to the Maroon and Paula. Since you've gotten to that vehicle, where do you go? Walmart. When Henry got back to the Impala, did he have anything with him? Bleach. So, after you left Walmart, is that when you went to the Sturt Road? Yes. Did anybody get out of the car at that time? Henry. What did you see him do? We're bleach, by some bushes. The prosecution was able to cherry-pick some consistent statements to say this was what happened. This is what he saw. Henry Denkins was trying to destroy evidence. But during cross-examination, D.L. drops a bombshell. What do you recall us doing there at a location where Brie Asia was killed? Yes. You didn't testify to that today, right? Yes. Because that's not true, right? If you say it's not true. I'm asking you. I guess. Either you were there when she was killed or you weren't. I said, I guess. I don't accept that answer, sir. I was there. Damn. Your testimony today is you saw Henry Denkins shoot your sister. Yes. For the defense, D.L. goes up there and says, I saw Henry Denkins shoot Brie Asia, where it was completely impossible based on the investigation. Not help but offense. Isn't it true that you only come up with this story after you heard someone else talk about it? No. You didn't overhear police or your mom talking about how Brie Asia was killed and come up with this story. I talk about what I saw and I would they talk about what I saw, okay, not that. My perception was that the child got mad and said that because he was angry at defense. And I think everybody in the courtroom who was watching it, nobody believed that the child saw that. You're angry at your father, right? Yes. And you're angry at your father because you think he heard your sister, right? Yes. And you're here today to offer testimony to make sure that he is held accountable for doing that, right? Yes. And you're going to say whatever you need to say to make sure that happens, aren't you? Yes. Denkins defense focused on the lack of physical evidence tying him to the crime. Moving on to the RV that was found there, was Brie Asia Terrell's DNA located anywhere that you tested? Yes. There was one item where when I compared Ms. Terrell, her DNA did match and this was a pair of underwear from inside a plastic bag, blood and semen were not detected on that item. Other than that DNA that was discovered in that plastic bag, Ms. Terrell's DNA is found nowhere on the items that you tested, right? I did not have any support for inclusion for Ms. Terrell. As far as blood evidence within the car and blood evidence on any of those things, no we didn't find it. Would you like to have more physical evidence? Absolutely. On Mr. Dinkin's person, no DNA of Mr. Torell was located. Correct. Correct. And on any clothing that was taken from Mr. Dinkin's, there was no DNA from Mr. Torell, correct? Mr. Torell was excluded from the one scene that I sent on for DNA testing that is correct. When they found her skeletal remains and the clothing, there was an area on her little black shorts to show discoloration as if Clorox was poured there. Clorox or bleach destroys DNA. You tie that into DL's testimony into the fact that he traveled 30 some miles away to buy Clorox. That tells its own story. The problem is we can't come out definitively say that it was bleach because it had been out in the elements. It didn't make sense, leasing an offense's eyes, how could this man be so sophisticated to basically hoodwink law enforcement and there'd be no forensics found? I always cut right to the chase every item that you tested. There was no bleach found on any of it, correct? Correct. I think that with standing a foot of snow and a couple rainstorms, I think that is more than enough to remove any sort of resemblance of bleach. They want you to decide this case on a motion. I want you to decide the case with cameras, media in the courtroom, all the officers sitting here rather than this circumstantial evidence case that they want you to believe. Are you totally convinced that Henry Dinkins committed these crimes? Are you firmly and fully satisfied that the evidence that's been presented before you is enough to say that Henry Dinkins committed these crimes? For the defense, it came down to the precision of cleaning probably not just one, but multiple crime scenes that no evidence could be found in this short window of Henry supposedly driving from place to place, grabbing his sundial and driving around some more as he destroyed evidence. This is not a food done it. This is who proved it. The reasonable doubt is all over this case and there's only one verdict here. Surprisingly, the defense calls no witnesses and Dinkins exercises his right not to testify. They made it very, very clear that they were not trying to put forward an alternate theory in this case. They were merely saying the prosecution didn't prove the case. Nearly two weeks after the trial, the judge issues his verdict, guilty on all counts. When the judge rendered the verdict, it was obviously the best serving of justice for one of the most horrible things that human beings will probably observe. I was happy for Aisha to be able to have the closure that she had been waiting for. Mr. Dinkins, it's unconscionable that you would take such actions to murder a 10-year-old child who was entrusted to your care. It's very clear to this court that you have no conscience or remorse for your actions. This history coupled with the horrific nature of the visa fences against his own child's sister requires that this defendant be removed from society for the protection of society. Is the judgment and sentence of this court that you be committed to the custody of the Iowa Department corrections for the rest of your natural life without the possibility of parole? Closure doesn't exist here in this case. Justice doesn't exist here in this case. You didn't just take away my baby's life, you took away everything from me. My family sent a security life's health and potential. He took my baby girl from me and just gunned her down like she was nothing and left her and never said a word at all. Aisha, the damage to her soul, the damage to both of the boys, the damage to the grandmother's soul, they'll never overcome it, the question being, how do they adjust? And the real worry is D.L. I mean my gosh, an eight-year-old child, this child has lost his sister and his father murdered her. How does a child come to terms with that? I thought hearing you get a life sentence with no possibility of a role will help me sleep in my home and it just doesn't. Whatever you get won't be enough because he's understanding and forgiveness will never come. Now at the time of this recording, we have reached the three-year anniversary of the day that Reasia Torelle was finally found. This case is just another example of a life cut way too short and a reminder of the dangers that children constantly face in this world. That's all we have for you here on Prime Prime, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Jesse Weber and until next time, stay safe. [Music] (upbeat music)