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[tense music plays]
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX
[men speaking indistinctly on radio]
In early 2011, I was a special agent assigned to wiretaps.
[static crackles]
-[man 1] What's happening? -[man 2] What's going on?
[agent] I had this case where a corrupt cop
had been stealing drugs outta evidence
before redistributing them onto the very streets
he's supposed to be keeping them from.
[man 2] The guy wants three more packages.
[man 1] Whoo-hoo! [chuckles]
[agent] But then, right in the middle of the conversation,
they started talking about something else entirely.
[eerie sting]
[man 1] We have this great TV show.
Everything was going great. Then, all of a sudden, boom!
Don't kill the project.
I was like, "Is this some elaborate Hollywood hoax on us?"
[dramatic sting]
I mean, very few cases in my 25 years have had such a strange story behind it.
[frenetic string music plays]
[man 3] The idea of the reality show, P.I. Moms of San Francisco,
was a very ingenious idea.
They are private investigator moms
going undercover on sting operations and making busts,
all in time to get home and help the kids with homework.
Check this out.
Oh my God, this is not happening.
I was like, "Wow! We're gonna be on a billboard."
As a showrunner, I've got tons of great characters.
This is gonna be the easiest show I've ever produced.
Chris, why women? You say they're great multitaskers.
That's correct.
[music becomes tense]
Also, no one really challenges my authority.
[woman] This story was supposed to be about the P.I. Moms,
but by the deeds of a few men, it was gone.
It was taken from us.
[dramatic music plays]
It was constantly one problem and disaster after another.
Who the fuck just completely sabotaged everything?
[people clamoring]
I didn't want this to be like a Real Housewives,
and this has become worse than a Real Housewives.
-[tires skidding] -[car horn blares]
We were all completely unaware what was really going on.
Somebody is blatantly lying on my stage again!
Holy shit.
What is happening here?
[man 4] There was so much lying, cheating, and psychosis.
I mean, it was just crazy town.
[music building]
[Chris] We're talking about the crystal.
He wants the sample.
It was all over the place.
[bell rings]
Methamphetamine, P.I. Moms, police corruption,
wiretapping, potential threats…
-[clapper clacks] -…and reality TV.
[music crescendos, ends]
Time out. Time out.
[electronic whooshing]
[distorted electric guitar note plays]
-[car horns honking] -[siren wailing in distance]
[mellow jazz music plays]
My name is Lucas Platt.
And in 2010, I was living in New York City.
As a reality TV showrunner,
I was just wrapping up the first season of Steven Seagal: Lawman.
-[siren wailing] -[narrator] No scripts, no stunt doubles,
no second chances.
[people clamoring]
[Lucas] At the time, shows like that were big business and huge money spinners,
and everyone wanted the next Keeping Up with the Kardashians
or Real Housewives,
and there seemed to be no end to the reality boom.
For me, though, I just really loved the adrenaline rush
and the quick thinking that you had to do to-- to come up with
a-- a great hour of television.
[music fades]
[laptop chimes]
I was looking for my next job, and I got an email from Lifetime.
They were interested in making a series
about this private investigation firm out in the Bay Area,
with a really interesting twist.
[intriguing music plays]
They are private investigator moms.
Thanks very much for being here. This is fascinating.
First of all, how did you get started in this?
Before becoming a private investigator,
I had worked in the legal world in different capacities.
I had just become a new mom, and I had very small children
and was trying to figure out how I could still have a career,
but also be with my kids.
And that's when it popped up, this job at Butler & Associates.
[dramatic music plays]
[Chris] Who wanted this?
-My name is Chris Butler. -[clapper clacks]
I am the owner of Butler & Associates Private Investigations.
Uh, what we do here is, uh, uncover the truth.
I find each person at this table very valuable.
[Denise] Working for Chris was great. He was very professional.
You know, it seemed like he stumbled upon, like, the secret of investigative work,
of, like, hiring moms.
[woman] Oh, here we go.
[Denise] For me, it was exciting, and every case was different.
And there was just an empowering feeling of knowing
one part of you is taking the kids to school and the daycare,
and the other part's doing undercover work,
investigating fraud, or surveillance on some cheating spouse.
It was pretty cool.
[Chris] My background is in law enforcement,
and it was a very tumultuous ten-year career.
[woman talking indistinctly]
[Chris] I push the envelope.
And that's-- I carry that over into this work. I don't stop.
Testing. Testing.
-Alright, let's go. -Beautiful, let's go.
[woman] My first impression of Chris was definitely like a businessman,
-but I also saw his vision. -[clapper clacks]
And I thought, "Wow, he's got a great idea."
I mean, he's really trying to give mothers an opportunity,
and at that time, I wanted that opportunity as well.
[music ends]
I had just come from the sheriff's office, where I worked 12-hour days, um,
so my kids were in daycare a lot. I wasn't--
I missed a lot of birthday parties, a lot of holidays.
So, with this new job, it was not only more flexible,
I also knew right away that I-- I loved it.
'Cause I was out in the field, I was moving,
and I was working with these amazing, powerful women
with various backgrounds.
[women speaking indistinctly]
[Denise] We obviously had a lot of women in the office.
There was Michelle, Charmagne, and Ami,
but we also had one guy.
-His name was Carl Marino. -[clapper clacks]
He was former law enforcement,
and he had come on board
because there were times where you just needed a male partner
or a male, like, to be in a particular case.
And, you know, initially, we were like, "Wow, he's very attractive."
And, "He kind of looks like a model."
And we started to learn that he was interested in acting
and did some extra roles on TV.
-Find someone else to flirt with. -She's my fucking girlfriend, asshole!
I thought that was interesting. "You got this side thing you do."
Chris definitely gravitated more towards Carl,
and I think a lot of that had to do with his acting.
I mean, Chris was always chasing the limelight,
and we were all aware that he was trying to brand P.I. Moms
and really push both us and him out into the media.
Welcome, Chris Butler and three of his P.I. Moms,
-Denise, Michelle, and Charmagne. -[applause]
Chris, why women?
You say they're great multitaskers. What do you mean?
When I switched to women, specifically P.I. Moms,
it was more of a team mentality.
More nurturing, more-- more caring,
and that translated directly into, uh, happier clients.
[Lucas] After I saw the Dr. Phil clips…
[pleasant music playing]
…I immediately flew out to California to meet Chris and the P.I. Moms.
I just loved the idea
of showing this group of women busting criminals together.
I liked Lucas from the get-go. Like, he seemed to be great.
He seemed to be very interested in doing this show and this story,
but I told him, "I don't want this to be like a Real Housewives."
You… [bleep] …stupid bitch! Get… [bleep]
Reality TV, it shows the worst of people, I feel like.
-I'll… [bleep] …hurt you. Don't do that. -[woman] Stop!
If this show's gonna be about us internally fighting
and all this kind of stuff, like, I really wasn't interested.
[Lucas] The moms were really concerned about the show,
but I reassured them we weren't looking for infighting or drama,
just good cases and personal stories.
When Lucas approached me about the show
and wanting to put me on there as a P.I. Mom,
I just didn't wanna have anything to do with it.
[Lucas] Ami struck me as a person who had been through
some pretty traumatic stuff,
but smart and decisive and-- and just a--
You know, like, a good person who would be really good for TV.
[intriguing jazz music playing]
[Ami] I had a little bit of a rough background,
and Lucas said that we could definitely incorporate my traumas
into the show itself.
And so I decided I wanted to show other women that you can survive,
you can make it, and don't let anyone tell you you can't.
[music ends]
[Lucas] After that initial meeting with the P.I. Moms,
I just thought, "This is a home run."
They're articulate and funny and smart.
We're gonna make a great series.
My name is Theresa Moore-King.
I was the line producer for P.I. Moms.
If there is a problem in the production,
be it people, personnel, schedule, locations, money,
it is my job to fix it.
[producer] So you're the real boss, then?
[laughing]
Okay.
Sure.
-[pops] -[women scream and laugh]
[dramatic music plays]
Lifetime was a thousand percent behind this show.
They knew the possibilities were endless.
You know, it could break off into New York or into Chicago or into Atlanta.
You know, those were all opportunities.
But the spark of that had to be with this show in San Francisco.
[clapper clacks]
For a reality show, this was a pretty big-scale production.
There were three camera crews, multiple locations,
and just a lot of different elements.
I think our budget was about four million for eight episodes,
which is obviously a healthy budget,
but only if you're getting all the things you need to make a show happen.
-[cymbal crashes] -[music ends]
[Lucas] Before we started shooting, I went to Butler's offices,
and there was a guy at the front desk, this guy Carl Marino.
I think he was manning the phones while everybody else was at lunch,
and, uh, he just kind of grabbed me and told me that he really felt strongly
-that he should be, um… -[intriguing music playing]
…one of the main characters in the series.
Carl's argument was that because of the work that he had done
on this series Trauma…
Premature ventricular contractions, probably too much green tea.
[Lucas] …that that fan base, particularly women,
would tune in to see the P.I. Moms series because of him.
It just felt like egotism run amok.
I explained to him that the show is called P.I. Moms,
and he's not a mom.
"I'm so sorry, but the network has already decided
that it's gonna be Chris and the moms,
and that was that."
So I thought, "Okay."
"He's out of the picture. We're good to go."
-[lights clunking] -[dramatic music plays]
That first day of shooting, it was very exhilarating.
They showcased us training, they showcased us doing certain cases.
And I was thinking, "Hopefully, this will inspire other women."
"Hey, you can do this job too," you know?
"We're ordinary people doing this cool thing,
and you can do it too."
[Ami] I was having so much fun. I loved production. We were a family.
I'd say we were like the Charlie's Angels
because we were so different, yet so powerful.
[music crescendos]
[music ends]
At that point, I just thought, "I've got tons of great characters."
"This is gonna be the easiest show I've ever produced."
[producer] And, was it?
[chuckles]
[Pete] I feel this is the point in the story
where everything takes a left turn.
-[chuckles] -[intriguing music plays]
I'm a journalist, and one day, I got a really interesting pitch.
A Beverly Hills publicist emailed me and said,
"Hey, you might not know this,
but there's a group of private eye investigators
who are also sort of soccer moms."
"They're filming for a new reality series for Lifetime Television."
"Would you like to ride along on an investigation
on a day off from filming?"
-And I really smelled a great story here. -[music ends]
[Denise] It was your typical infidelity case.
The client believed that her fiancé was cheating on her.
And so she wanted to make sure before she got married,
"Is this guy for real?"
[intriguing music plays]
[Pete] So I got in the minivan with the P.I. Moms.
Denise is slouched down in the passenger seat
with the video camera shooting.
As a huge fan of detective stories, I had butterflies.
[Denise] It's an exciting job, so…
You know, and I was hoping that would come through in the article.
Oh! Oh, look!
Here he comes.
[Peter] Within just a few minutes,
the fiancé came roaring up the driveway and took off.
Charmagne hit the gas hard.
[tires skidding]
-[engine revving] -The chase was on.
The guy pulled into a nice lunch spot.
[Denise] Look! Look, look!
But he's got a young brunette in the passenger seat.
They stopped right in front of our car with Denise filming on video.
[Denise] We have a cheater, people.
And then, boom… case closed.
[chuckles softly]
[typing on keyboard]
[Peter] I'm not a reality show watcher,
but this one felt like it would make for a gripping show.
These were likable moms. Butler was an interesting character.
I felt like this idea can't miss.
And then, all of a sudden, an email comes in…
-[computer chimes] -[dramatic sting]
…that completely changes my perspective on the story.
[intriguing music plays]
It's from somebody named Ronald Rutherford.
"I'm writing this as a courtesy to you."
"It'd be a mistake to publish the article on the P.I. Moms and Chris Butler."
-"Chris totally played you." -[dramatic sting]
"The case that you sat in on was totally scripted."
"All the participants were employees or paid actors."
"I'm not sure what your intentions are with the article,
but I hope that publishing it is not in your plans."
"Thanks. A concerned citizen."
[music fades]
It was just wild,
because I had never suspected that this had been staged at all.
[intriguing string music plays]
I was angry that I had been exploited like this,
and that I had been played for a chump.
But I also thought if Chris Butler was willing to do this to a local magazine
and go to such elaborate lengths,
what's to stop them from doing it for this reality show?
I needed to talk to whoever was running the whole P.I. Moms show.
Because, after all,
everybody wonders how fake reality television is.
[computer chimes]
[Lucas] Oh, shit.
We've got a big problem.
[talking indistinctly]
If somebody decided to publish a story about how this show was fake,
that would just ruin us.
I explained to him that what we were doing was 100% real,
and I was very clear that all the cases were legitimate.
[Peter] He told me that they were doing backflips trying to make a reality show
about real cases and-- and real people.
I appreciated that he was being transparent with me,
and I believed him.
[music ends]
The first email comes in to Diablo magazine…
[Lucas] Pete told me about this Ronald Rutherford character,
and at that point, then I did get worried,
because it was very clear that someone's trying to ruin the series.
Ugh.
[bell ringing]
There was a certain irony to suggesting that we had fake cases,
because, at that point, part of the problem with the TV show
was there weren't that many cases to begin with.
[ominous music plays]
[Flitter] Lucas told me that Chris had over-promised
how many cases he was actually working on.
-So I was brought on to find cases… -[clapper clacks]
…that the P.I. Moms could sleuth out.
Yeah, in effect, I was drumming up business for Chris.
[laughs]
On top of that, as we started shooting, I really saw Chris as the weak link.
[GPS voice] Approaching left turn.
[Chris] But I wanna go right.
[Denise] That's okay. It'll reset.
I couldn't tell if, you know, he was the type of person
who played everything really close to the vest, or shy,
or what it was,
but I was concerned
because quiet, inarticulate, awkward characters in reality TV
are death.
[women] Oh!
Did I just hear that?
[Lucas] But I knew we were gonna be able to overcome it,
because the moms, they were big characters,
and their stories were so rich,
and I knew that if we focused on them, not him,
we could make something great.
-Nice to meet you. -Yeah.
-Wanna see what I worked up for you? -Yes.
[Lucas] One scene we shot, Ami wanted to get a tattoo.
It was a way of her kind of working through personal trauma.
[gentle, poignant music playing]
[Ami] I thought, "I wanna take this opportunity
to tell my story on camera."
[producer] Ami interview, take one, mark.
[Ami] I sat down, and Lucas said,
"Tell me about your son."
[sighs]
When my son was 13 months old,
I trusted somebody being around my child,
but my son was attacked,
which caused brain damage,
and, a few years later, my son ultimately died.
He was a special boy.
[breathes uneasily]
[delicate piano music plays]
That was the first time
that I had really talked about it with anybody, including my family.
It was so difficult, and it took everything in me.
[Denise] Prior to the show, I didn't know that about her.
It was very emotional,
because, to me, Ami was just such a tough woman.
When I heard that story, I thought to myself,
"Wow, something that big and that serious?"
"That was really cool that the show wanted to take something like that on."
[train horn blares]
[Lucas] After we filmed that scene, we started to really ramp up shooting.
[intriguing music plays]
[Flitter] "The Unlicensed P.I." was one of our show ideas.
The P.I. Moms, they were going to sting an actual unlicensed private investigator
by setting him up with a pretend case,
and then bust him,
like, "Hey, you're not supposed to do this without a license."
The network, me, the producers, we all were very excited about it.
So then that way, if he makes a left and goes west, you can follow him.
-And I'll have a chance to get behind you. -All right.
[Ami] Lucas and the crew had already filmed
all of our hard work, uh, Denise researching,
Michelle preparing and making contact with him.
-So all we needed was the final sting… -[computer chimes]
…to close out that case
and have a great episode for the P.I. Moms show.
[suspenseful music plays]
On the day of the final scene, Michelle and I were supposed to meet
the unlicensed private investigator in Walnut Creek.
[Lucas] I was in my production office, waiting to hear back from my producers.
Ten o'clock, nothing.
Eleven o'clock, nothing.
[line ringing]
Noon, nothing.
[Flitter] Lucas was just pacing back and forth.
And I was kind of just looking around, going, "What is going on?"
We were like, "Oh no, he's not gonna show up."
And so the production crew asked Michelle to call him one more time.
[line ringing]
[suspenseful music building]
And, finally, he actually answered…
[line ringing]
-[dramatic sting] -[music ends]
…and told Michelle, "I'm not coming. I've been tipped off."
[eerie music plays]
My initial thought was, "Who the fuck just completely sabotaged everything?"
[music ends]
[Lucas] I was just…
[ominous music plays]
…livid.
But I wasn't just gonna kinda let it go.
I thought, first, we needed to figure out who's the tipster.
Maybe that's who was sending
the crazy Ronald Rutherford emails to Pete.
[tense music playing]
So I called the unlicensed P.I.,
and I said, "Listen, you're right, you were going to be filmed,
but if you don't mind, call the guy who called you,
and let us hear the voice."
And he did.
[music ends]
[line ringing]
He dialed the phone…
[line ringing]
…it rang a few times…
[line ringing]
…and, finally, phone connected.
[suspenseful music building]
-[music crescendos] -[line connects]
[man] Hello?
[intriguing string music plays]
I couldn't fucking believe it. Ronald Rutherford was Carl Marino.
[Ami] I felt rage.
Like, in my mind, I was thinking, "You're a fucking idiot."
"Why would you fucking do this?"
[Flitter] It didn't make sense.
He was sabotaging the show and sabotaging the shoot,
yet he wanted to be on camera.
I think he was completely naive
to think that he was gonna get a spot on the show.
[tense music plays]
[Lucas] At that point, I had a come-to-Jesus with Chris,
and I told him, I said, "Listen, if you wanna have a show at all,
you're gonna have to fire Carl and just get rid of him."
Chris's reaction was, "Don't worry about it,"
like it was some minor infraction.
I was gobsmacked.
It's kind of surprising that Chris isn't beating the fuck out of Carl.
I mean, it was just…
[chuckles in disbelief] It was insane.
The only explanation I could come up with was they were lovers.
Why else wouldn't somebody fire this-- this person
who was behaving so badly?
[ominous music plays]
After that conversation with Chris,
I talked to the network about how to handle Carl,
and they decided they were going to send him a cease-and-desist letter.
[Theresa] Carl was given notice,
"You have to stop talking about the show."
"You can't ruin our cases." "You're not-- You're not a part of it."
Our hope was that it would stop.
So the good side is that the network took care of it.
[laptop chimes]
The bad side is that now they're eagle eyes on the show.
Way more stress on Lucas to get things going.
So after the production found out that Carl was interfering with cases,
something was off with Chris.
[Chris] Sit down. Would you put your camera down and sit down?
It felt like he wasn't connected to any of us.
We didn't understand when he was there and wasn't there,
and it just seemed like he was doing his own thing.
[women conversing and laughing]
[ominous piano music plays]
Clearly, he had other things that were happening
that were taking precedence.
[music fades]
[Peter] After our initial meeting, Lucas told me,
"I know who sent you that email."
"Carl Marino who has been sabotaging the cases."
[intriguing music plays]
Lucas said Carl was out of the picture.
[computer chimes]
But, apparently, he still had more secrets to tell me.
[music intensifies]
"I am hesitant to tell you this,
but Mr. Butler is involved
in some serious criminal activity right now."
"Butler is selling large amounts of marijuana,
along with other drugs, prescription Xanax, and steroids
that has been confiscated by the Contra Costa County Task Force."
"You see, the commander of the task force
is taking the drugs from raids
and giving them to Chris to move,
and then he gives them to, well, me."
[music softens]
"I have not sold any and don't want to."
"I am not a drug dealer and do not want anything to do with this."
This was just mind-blowing, mind-melting information.
You know, this all started with me being invited
to write a fluffy lifestyle piece about a reality show.
Now I'm being brought into this, what sounds like,
very dangerous conspiracy involving stolen drugs
and dirty cops who are putting them back out on the street
after they've already been confiscated.
[dramatic music plays]
Suddenly, this was a much bigger issue than I felt I could share with Lucas.
I mean, this wasn't just a staged case for a reality television show.
This was serious criminal activity.
[keyboard clacking]
So I continued to correspond with Carl
and said to him, "You need to go to the police."
But he wasn't sure who he could trust and asked me for my help.
[dramatic music continues]
[Daryl] My phone rang,
and it was a journalist by the name of Peter Crooks.
-And he begins to tell me about a case… -[clapper clacks]
…that potentially involved police corruption,
and that we needed to speak
to an individual by the name of Carl Marino.
[music ends]
I arranged for him to meet me at our DA's office after hours.
And I said, "Carl, tell me, why are we here?"
[frenetic jazz music plays]
Then, he starts talking about Chris Butler, police corruption,
drug dealers, a reality TV series,
the Dr. Phil show, Peter Crooks,
P.I. Moms, marijuana, methamphetamine.
It was all over the place.
-I stopped him, and I said, "Time out." -[music ends]
And I remember shaking my head.
I said, "Maybe it's 'cause I'm older…"
[snapping fingers] "…my synapses aren't firing like everybody else's."
But, at the time, I didn't really understand anything,
but that changed.
-[thuds heavily] -[intriguing music plays]
A pound of weed, plop, right on top of the table.
Carl told me Chris had given him the weed to sell,
and he couldn't get out of it.
It was obvious there was something to the story that he was telling me,
because I do have the marijuana in front of me.
At that point, I knew I had a job to do.
[music fades]
My perception of reality TV is,
I don't believe it's-- it's real life.
I'm mostly interested in true crime.
[ominous music plays]
Using Carl, we were asked
to help build a case against Chris Butler and this corrupt cop.
So we came up with a plan to try and get Chris to mention drugs.
And then we met Carl, and we wired him up.
You're comfortable? Everything's all right?
[Carl] Yeah, I'm a little nervous, but we do undercover stings,
so it's kind of the same feeling.
It's a little different when I'm doing it with my boss.
-[Robert] That'll do it. Good luck, buddy. -[Carl] Thanks.
[Robert] The device that Carl had
broadcast on a frequency that was on my police radio,
so I could turn the channel and listen to what was going on.
[Chris] What's happening?
[Carl] I sold the one package that I had.
[Chris] Whoo-hoo!
[Carl] And the guy wants three more packages.
[Chris] Tell him yeah.
[Robert] As soon as I heard that,
I knew this was gonna end with somebody going to jail.
[dramatic sting]
But very few cases in my 25 years were like this.
[Chris] The guy ID'd your voice. Dude, I don't know.
I felt like just fucking shooting myself.
You've got to let this go with the network,
because the network are ready to pull the plug.
I'm gonna lose my fucking show.
Then, I'll close my business and will have nothing left.
I don't have a career.
I don't have movie-star good looks. I look like this.
I was like, "This is weird."
To me, they're more interested in Carl ruining the TV show
than the drugs.
[Chris] I understand why you did it, because if I was in the same position,
I probably would've done the same fucking thing,
but maybe I'd have thought it out a little better.
Don't kill the project!
[music ends]
[siren wailing]
[intriguing piano music plays]
So, initially, when we were doing the first operation or two, uh,
we obviously didn't tell them, but we were looking at the TV show
just to see everything that was going on.
I noticed there were a lot of, uh, police cars.
And I thought that was strange for being such a really calm, sleepy town.
[Ami] It was odd to have the local police department show up
while we were filming.
They were just sitting there watching.
You got this feeling in the air
of, like, something's not right with this entire production at this point.
What is happening here?
At that point, I felt like we were barely holding things together.
[tense music playing]
But we had this one case that was our chance to save the series.
The East Bay couple is convinced that its teenage daughter is in danger.
The 15-year-old is classified as a runaway.
-[dramatic music playing] -A real girl really missing.
This case really felt big.
[newscaster] The parents woke up Monday to find her gone,
they say, with no warning, no provocation,
taking only a laptop, a few clothes, $20, and a backpack.
[Ami] It was kind of like a do-or-die situation at that point,
and Lucas was like, "You're gonna do this."
"You're gonna find her and you're gonna save the show."
[Theresa] Our resources that were spent were big.
There were helicopters in the air trying to find out where she was.
[siren wailing]
[Lucas] In terms of the TV part of things,
it's great to have lots of leads and follow them
and have lots of story to tell,
but, ultimately, of course, what you really wanna do
is find the girl and get her back to her family.
[newscaster] Her parents have shared what they know with detectives.
Now, they wait.
[music fades]
-[phone ringing] -[sighs]
[Lucas] The next thing I know, I got a call.
And they say, "You're not gonna fucking believe this."
-[mysterious music playing] -"Carl… has found the missing girl."
[dramatic string music plays]
-Once again, he's fucking things up. -[elevator dings]
[Theresa] We were angry.
One of my producers, I thought I had to go give her a sedative,
because she wanted to murder him.
[Lucas] It turned out that Chris had initially assigned Carl
to look for the missing girl before handing it over to the P.I. Moms,
but that Carl was still pursuing the case on his own.
And I thought that he was basically trying to set things up
so that he would be filmed finding her
and reuniting her with her family.
Carl called the police, but he didn't let the P.I. Moms take over.
The producers told us to meet at a certain place,
because we believed that the girl could be at this location.
[music ends]
[Ami] The first thing I wanted to do was find Carl,
confront him, and just, like, have it out with him.
[tense music plays]
[siren wails]
-[Lucas] When I got down there, it was… -[people shouting indistinctly]
…a clusterfuck of the highest order.
-[dramatic music plays] -[sirens wailing]
There were red and blue flashing lights everywhere.
People were screaming at each other, and the crew was yelling,
and the missing girl wasn't even there.
But, lo and behold, there was Carl, like, in the middle of all of that.
He was determined, come hell or high water,
to have his 15 minutes of fame.
In my mind, I was thinking, "You're so selfish,"
because Carl knew where she was
and didn't share it with anybody until it would benefit him.
[people shouting]
I mean, how fucking dumb are you to think they're really gonna push us out,
and then you're gonna be the star of the show?
Who the fuck do you think you are?
[Denise] I didn't want this to be like a Real Housewives,
and this has become worse than a Real Housewives.
[music fading]
Crazy chaos and people fighting.
How did we get to this place?
[suspenseful music plays]
[Lucas] Almost immediately, the network called me for a crisis call.
At that point, they had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the show,
and they were furious.
We were told that if anything else went south,
they would pull the plug.
[Chris] Now, what we're talking about is the crystal.
We're ready now.
He wants the sample, right?
[Carl] If he likes it, he'll buy it today.
[Robert] Right after the missing juvenile case,
we heard Chris mention that he had three pounds of methamphetamine for sale.
That pushed it over the edge for us.
We knew then that this needed to stop.
[music intensifies]
[Robert] The next thing we needed to do
was arrange a-- a buy between the corrupt cop, Chris, and Carl.
We met with Carl, we wired him up,
provided him with $10,000 cash,
and instructed him to go to the P.I. firm to meet Chris.
[music ends]
[Carl] What's up?
[Chris] Okay, come on back here. Let's see that salad.
Holy… [bleep] This is a lot!
[tense music plays]
[Robert] That moment when Chris took the money from Carl
and was counting it out…
[Chris] One pound, one ounce.
…and the methamphetamine was essentially given to Carl…
[Chris] Let me get rid of this as quick as I can.
[music intensifies]
Once that happens, it's game over.
-We got you. -[music fades]
[theme music plays]
[newscaster] A private investigator,
connected to a police corruption scandal, cut a deal.
[reporter] Think you did anything wrong?
[newscaster] Facing seven felony charges,
a lot of damning evidence, and a possible life sentence,
Chris Butler decided to take a plea deal.
-Holy shit! What just happened? -[ominous music plays]
Chris just got arrested for selling drugs.
[chuckling in disbelief] I was just…
I was floored.
[Denise] I was at home when I learned that Chris Butler had been arrested.
[sputtering] I couldn't believe that that was happening.
Chris was my friend,
and so seeing him on TV in, like, the jumpsuits and stuff,
it was, like-- it was very sad, it was very scary.
[man speaking indistinctly over phone]
[Lucas] I got a phone call that Chris Butler had been arrested,
and that was it.
The network was like, "You know what, fuck it."
"We're done."
[music fades]
I gathered everybody back at the production office,
the crew, the moms,
and I… I broke the news.
[morose music plays]
I was crying through that whole speech.
I just felt terrible
that, you know, I put them through everything that I put them through…
for nothing.
[Denise] Chris and Carl just took it away from everybody.
They put their desires above everybody else's,
and, like, so many people were affected by that show.
And I know for a lot of people, they're like, "It's just a show."
But it was a show that we were really passionate about,
sharing our stories
and empowering other women to do this kind of work.
And then it was gone. It was taken away from us.
[talking indistinctly]
[Ami] When our show was canceled,
that opportunity that I had of me sharing my story was taken away.
-[inaudible] -[tattoo machine buzzing]
So that was another reason why I was so disappointed,
was because I opened up, and I shared so much for the first time,
and who knows who I could have touched
if my story got out, and I shared all of this with the world.
[Ami talking indistinctly]
He doesn't realize what he took personally from me.
[sighs deeply]
[reporter] Chris, got any reality TV ideas?
[Chris] Sorry, excuse me.
[intriguing music plays]
After the damning information came out about Chris Butler,
I worked straight through a weekend
and wrote a 10,000-word piece.
The news coverage was instant,
and it gave Carl the dynamite to blow up the building.
I've always been that type of person who's always wanted to-- to, uh,
you know, to serve, to help people.
I had no idea what it was,
how I was gonna do it, when I was gonna do it.
Knowing where the drugs came from, I knew something had to be done.
[Lucas] I was just like, "Oh, now, I get it."
"Now, I understand."
I thought they were lovers,
and then, I finally saw all the leverage that Carl had over Chris
because of the illegal activity.
Ah my God, I get it.
[Ami] Despite everything Carl did,
he was basically hailed as a hero
because he rolled on them and then went undercover,
and that was Carl's big moment.
If you had not stepped forward, who knows how far this would've gone?
Maybe it would've turned into a murder case.
But the moms, we were just all attacked and made fun of and embarrassed.
You say these women had visions of being on the red carpet with the Kardashians?
I think everybody involved here
had visions that they were gonna be on, you know, Access Hollywood every night
and making a million dollars.
[Flitter] The P.I. Moms took a lot of that heat
because of the fact that their name was the show.
It wasn't the Chris Butler show. And it wasn't the Carl Marino show.
It was the P.I. Moms show.
So I think there may have been an assumption
that the P.I. Moms were involved in the whole setup,
and that couldn't have been further from the truth.
[music fades]
People were calling us frauds and fake, and drug dealers, and all sorts of things,
and we didn't get to say anything about it.
[tense music plays]
But Carl's 15 minutes of fame seemed to continue on
when he became a regular on some TV show.
Yes, this is Lt. Kenda from Colorado Springs Police Department.
I'm working a homicide…
-[intriguing music plays] -[Lucas] Having made a lot of reality TV,
there is a certain type of person
who has some kind of emotional hole
in the center of their psyche,
and they really feel
that, like, the adulation of fans is gonna fill that hole.
And I think that maybe that's what happened with Carl.
You would hope somebody in your group, the success that he had with that show,
you'd want to cheer them on,
but the fact of how he got there,
can't do it. [chuckles]
Can't do it.
-[producer] Was he any good in it? -No.
[chuckles]
He ruined us and became the center of attention.
He got what he wanted.
[music fades]
[producer] Let's hold for two minutes. I'm just gonna pop out.
Everyone stay there.
-Please do not bring Carl in here. -[man] No!
[all chuckling and laughing]
I will sock that motherfucker. [chuckles]
[mellow jazz music plays]
[music fades]