DKB

Question 1

Please introduce yourself to the court?

Answer 1

I am Detective Kit Bahmani.

Question 2

Please tell the court about your professional background?

Answer 2

I started out as a Santa Ivo Police Department beat cop in 2010 before being promoted to Sgt. in 2014. I did some work with the SWAT unit before becoming a detective in February of 2021.

Question 3

What training did you undergo to become a detective?

Answer 3

I completed standard training at Santa Ivo Police Academy. We were rigorously instructed on evidence collection, how to analyze crime scenes, and more. I also obtained a bachelor’s degree in criminology and a master’s degree in forensic science from SIU/Santa Ivo University.

Question 4

How did you get involved with the Miller Tower Heist Investigation?

Answer 4

The night of October 31st, 911 received an emergency call from someone within Miller Tower. The call cut before we could learn anything––myself, along with other patrol units responded to the call.

Question 5

Can you walk me through the events of that night?

Answer 5

Yes I can.

Question 6

What happened when you arrived at Miller Tower?

Answer 6

Security brought my team and me up to the 40th floor. I have a diagram of the 40th floor of Miller Tower that would help me lay out each event.

Question 7

Your Honor, may my witness step down from the stand and make use of the demonstrative that was previously marked as exhibit 3 and has been entered into evidence?

Answer 7

(demo) We got off the elevators located in the entryway. We were then approached by an individual who identified themselves as Cyprus Cosmos. Cosmos told us that someone had broken into the security vault and that a security guard had been assaulted and was lying in the vault unconscious.

Question 8

What did you do after learning this information?

Answer 8

I attempted to contact paramedics but couldn’t get a hold of them. I later learned this was due to a military-grade signal jammer deployed in the security office. After being unable to contact paramedics, I dispatched a group of officers to follow Cosmos to the vault and one of my best officers to return to the lobby to contact paramedics.

Question 9

Why didn’t you go to the vault?

Answer 9

(demo) As a detective, I am trained in crime-scene preservation. My first duty was to go to the Cocktail room and enforce this. Ultimately, the guests were not permitted to leave the building, so they would not interfere with the active crime scene. After this, I made my way to the security vault.

Question 10

What did you find at the vault?

Answer 10

(demo) When I arrived at the vault, I found the security guard, whose name I learned was Emory Sands, unconscious on the floor. I then returned to the lobby and brought paramedics up to the 40th floor to evaluate Ms. Sands.

Question 11

What did you do after securing assistance for Ms. Sands?

Answer 11

Our forensics team arrived and I oversaw the collecting of evidence. Blood was found in several locations, of particular note on the door leading from the roof into the internal stairwell, in the vault, and in the hallway between the vault and the rooftop stairs.

Question 12

Your honor, may my witness return to the stand?

Were there any other pieces of evidence collected that night?

Answer 12

Yes. The forensics team collected a distinct wolf mask in the alleyway next to Miller Tower. In addition to that, we recovered a key card from the stairwell leading to the roof from the 40th floor. Once all pieces of evidence were secured, they were sealed, marked, and sent to the forensic lab for examination. presented with mask)

Question 13

Did your investigation end there?

Answer 13

No. After my team had spoken to many of the guests at the party, I personally interviewed those that had any relevant information regarding the case. Following the gala, I analyzed the security footage from the 40th floor of Miller Tower on October 31st.

Question 14

Was there anything significant that you observed in the footage?

Answer 14

Yes, there was–it would be easiest to explain using the diagram of the 40th floor.

Question 15

Your honor, may the witness make use of the demonstrative again?

Answer 15

(demo) The suspects landed on the roof of Miller Tower via helicopter and entered the floor by the stairwell connecting the 40th floor to the roof. They immediately walked towards the security office. There is no camera inside the security office, but the suspects entered the room and approximately 1 minute later left dragging Ms. Sands, who appeared to be unconscious.

Question 16

Where did the suspects take Emory Sands?

Answer 16

(demo) They dragged her from the security office to the vault. Once outside the vault, they used her keycard to access the vault’s security panel. It took all three suspects working together to lift Ms. Sands’ thumb up to the fingerprint scanner and then force her left eye open to meet the requirements of the vault’s biometric scanner. After the vault door opened, they entered, all three suspects helped to drag Ms. Sands’ unmoving body in with them.

Question 17

What did the suspects do once they were in the vault?

Answer 17

(demo) They began to clear out all the valuable items from the vault using Emory Sands keys. Initially, Ms. Sands remained unconscious. Two of the suspects removed a cart loaded with items from the vault up to the freight elevator, while one suspect remained in the vault. During this process, Ms. Sands appears to have woken up and began to move towards the remaining suspect. The suspect and Ms. Sands then engaged in a confrontation over a gun that had been in the suspect’s waist band. As a result, the suspect attacked Ms. Sands quite viciously. The other two suspects join in. Even when Ms. Sands stops moving, all suspects, but specifically the suspect in the wolf mask, kicked and punched her repeatedly. Eventually, the suspects did move away from Ms. Sands.

Question 18

What did the suspects do next?

Answer 18

Once they stopped beating Ms. Sands, the suspects returned to emptying out the valuables from the vault using a cart to transport them up the waiting helicopter using the roof-access-only freight elevator. Notably, the suspect wearing a wolf mask attempted to close the vault door, but wasn’t able to close it. Ultimately, one of the suspects got on the helicopter, while the other two went back to the 40th floor and entered the event hall, where they joined the other masked guests.

Question 19

Thank you. Your honor, may my witness return to the stand?

Detective Bahmani, did you have any interaction with the defendant following the heist?

Answer 19

Yes. I brought the defendant, Poe Cameron, in for our first interview on November 21st. (Pos ID Cameron)

Question 20

You said this was the first interview, were there any more?

Answer 20

I brought in Poe Cameron for a second interview in early December.

Question 21

What prompted this second interview?

Answer 21

Poe was stopped on their way to Canada, while in possession of a significant amount of cash. We arrested them and took them into custody. As part of the booking process the Defendant’s phone was secured. After a search warrant was secured a forensic examination was undertaken on the phone. Ultimately I received a certified text message report from Midlands Wireless. (admit text messages into evidence)

Question 22

I’m going to direct you to the first texts sent on September 12th, 2022, about 6 weeks before the heist. Would you please read the texts sent that day?

Answer 22

It says: “Hey. That big job you mentioned. Any way I can still get in on that? I could use the money.” Later that same day, they say: “I’m sure. Getting a 9-5 hasn’t worked out. I’d rather get in on your big paydays.”

Question 23

I’m going to take you forward to the texts sent by Poe Cameron on December 1st and 2nd, a month after the heist. What do those texts say?

Answer 23

“Really? You pull me into this job and now you ghost?… and then…”So much for family first”

Question 24

Did you obtain any other search warrants in this case?

Answer 24

Yes, I obtained a search warrant for Poe’s apartment. While carrying out this warrant, I found two things of significance: a receipt and a ring.

Question 25

What was significant about the ring?

Answer 25

When I compared the photos I had of Emory Sands and her injuries, the patterns on the ring perfectly matched the patterns left on Emory’s body from when she was continuously beaten. During our second interview, Poe admitted that the ring was theirs.

Question 26

What was significant about the receipt?

Answer 26

The receipt was for the a wolf mask that Poe purchased 3 weeks before the heist. This quite distinct wolf mask matched the one worn by the suspect who viciously attacked Ms. Sands in the vault during the Miller Tower heist. This same mask was recovered on the ground where Jun Cage saw Poe Cameron drop something while exiting the tower.