LA Forensics: Where There's Smoke...

J. Kristopher as Kacey Ephriam

As the Pacific Division detectives approached Kacey Ephriam's door, Barron noticed a blue Buick Electra with a strip of duct tape holding up the rearview mirror parked out front. Duct tape, Barron thought, exactly what had been used to bind Lon Kim's hands and feet and to gag his mouth.

Kacey answered the detectives' knock. It wasn't a police reality show. There was no SWAT team, no helicopters, no battering rams. Just a squad of well-dressed detectives. They told Kacey they had a search warrant and he let them inside.

Barron casually asked Kacey who owned the Buick. Kacey said it was his.

"Is it okay if we look through your car?" Barron asked.

Kacey said it was fine with him as he handed the detective the keys. Barron stepped outside and popped open the Buick's trunk. The first thing he spotted was a roll of duct tape. He poked around for another minute then closed the trunk lid. He'd already seen enough to know he was going to impound the car and tow it to SID.

If the forensic specialists could match the duct tape in the trunk to the tape found on Lon Kim's body, the detectives would have their first solid piece of evidence implicating Kacey in the murder plot. If the detectives got really lucky, the forensic team might find additional evidence inside the car, or outside, like tires that matched the tracks left at the crime scene.

Barron tried not to let his excitement show.

"Inside, I'm doing somersaults," he admits.

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