you're either a cold BL kid or a guy who was just taking care of business which one are you which one do you want the community to see cuz don't let John and I leave here today thinking holy I guess he's just a cold blooded shooter that's all he is I don't know who you're talking about just two days prior Michael thin killed an innocent man to satisfy his own sick desires and now he thinks he can get away with it however detectives are already several steps ahead because all of Michael's crimes were caught on camera we have you right there at the time of the of the shooting we have people saying this loud car sped off and then showing us their their camera showing that exact vehicle I scared what scared you about it I mean one a guy's dead two I did it and locked up on November 20th 2019 at 139 a.m. the Michigan State Police received reports of a man down in the roadway on Cobb and Maple Street streets when responding officers arrived what they found wasn't a drunk man collapsed on the ground but 54-year-old Roosevelt Thompson fighting for his life surrounded by 45 caliber shell casings although paramedics and First Responders tried to resuscitate him his injuries were fatal two gunshot wounds to the head and one in the chest and finding the likely killer proved to be easier than imagined because just days after an investigation was launched cops received an anonymous tip according to this individual the murderer was Michael thigpin a convict who had served time in federal prison because of several firearm related offenses now he allegedly used a 45 caliber pistol to murder an innocent man but why would a convict ruin his chance at a new life by killing someone he wasn't even connected with was there more to the story than met the eye to answer these questions Michael was brought in for an interview on November 22nd just 2 days after the murder the following footage has been provided to us by the Michigan State Police police via foyer request you willing to talk to us this time uh what what about uh you know what there's there's a few different things we need to discuss um if it's something that you're not comfortable talking about or if it's something you don't have an answer to or don't know you simply I mean we're not going to force you to talk you know what I mean so does that sound fair okay um we kind of figuring out you live in G Rapids did you grow up in cazo yeah okay when did you move out uh I got locked up when I was 17 okay and I really haven't been back since okay I was here for about 6 months and I left okay and you might have a kid on the way with a girl that you're seeing down here okay uh run me through your day today before uh coming down here to talk to us um well I went to Secretary of State then I what did I do oh well first I went to my brother's house in Vicksburg then I went to Secretary State and then I went downtown to the plasma soon oh nice what they gave you 50 35 was it 75 or something like that a't bad um and then I left and uh I got called I was going to take a friend cuz the friend's car I had she let me borrow it m um I was going to take her to work but I went to go pick up the girl Deanna the girl you're dating yeah okay to go pick her up and just and you get picked up who's whose car is this that you're talking about uh her name is Tori Rivera Tori Rivera just friend of mine okay if you can call sleeping together as being friends then Tori definitely qualifies as such what Michael likely didn't expect was the fact that this secret relationship would blow up in his face because when cops spoke to Tori she revealed a number of important details firstly their relationship began several months prior to this incident and during this time Michael would often spend his nights at tor's apartment this was also true for the night before the murder on Tuesday November 19th when Michael left tor's apartment at 9:00 p.m. in her blue Ford Escape he only returned nearly 6 hours later on November 20th at 2:45 a.m. timing that coincides exactly with Roosevelt's death secondly just a few days prior Tori returned from work to find her apartment turned upside down just recently her mother had given her two guns a 45 caliber pistol and a 357 revolver both of which which were now missing this is when she began to suspect Michael who was the only person who knew about the presence of these weapons and who did she live she got like kids or husband a daughter she's a daughter but okay she got a husband boyfriend okay and how long you been known her for about few months okay just a few months and she's cool letting you use her car and all that and crash there okay um well it's been about about five months now okay um I guess when was the last time you stayed in Grand Rapids at your house a couple days ago okay what today's Friday what day would that I was there I was like there until like what Thursday okay I stayed there last night and well I was in allagan and then I stayed like I said halfway in Alan half in kou so until Wednesday I guess I would say okay so Wednesday during the what time do you come down KES on Wednesday or this area I didn't wouldn't hear Wednesday oh I'm sorry I thought you just said till Wednesday no I stayed in Grand Rapids till Wednesday then I got picked up around 2:30 from Grand Rapids by Jor 2:30 a.m amm on it will be Thursday morning technically yeah okay I'm not trying to confuse you I just you know sometimes when it's morning hours it's it's confusing all right um now what are you on paper for uh had Federal uh Firearms okay so gun charge okay yeah any types of drugs not that that type thing okay um and Thursday you're in aligan so you weren't in Kazo until what's say Friday no I was I came down here like Thursday uh afternoon okay so it was about what Thursday about what two two 2 am no 2 p.m 2 p.m okay oh yeah because you got picked up at 2:30 a.m. all right before that day on Thursday when was the last time you were in Kazo was it Sunday or something that Sunday Saturday okay and what do you what do you do when you're down here Sunday or Saturday um I got see my family and me and her hang out you and Tori or di D okay all right all right um you're certain you weren't here any any day before Thursday yes all right is there any way we can verify that um I live with my sister so I'm always there um oh up in Grand Rapids you what's her name shva Wells how do you spell it s h v o n d a Wells w e l LS shv didn't indeed verify information but not the kind You're Expecting allegedly Michael told her that something had happened and he didn't know what to do about it but because there was an ongoing feud between the two of them she didn't bother to hear him out it was only when shy reached out to Michael's real girlfriend Diana who he was cheating on that she found out he still had guns despite being on federal probation this means that there are now two statements that verify he owned guns and was acting strange so bringing shy up was not a very smart thing to do on Michael's part because in the face of witness statements like this he might as well serve a confession on a silver platter for detectives well I'm here to tell you that uh the people are saying undoubtedly that you were here before Thursday okay who can say that I was well there there's there's nobody but my family that I come down here and see I don't know anybody here sure so sure no and and the thing of that is um it's not necessarily people per se you know I know that you're not you know hang out with a bunch of people know a bunch of people down here but it's 2019 technology uh is kind of one of those things that really helps us out with with different things so yeah you got location services you have cameras you have license plate readers you have uh doorbells with cameras in them all sorts of different things um and and through through those things those are showing that you're down here um that you were down here earlier in the week and I'm just wondering why you're not being truthful about that now was wasn't down here earlier in the week I told you when I got down here Thursday I was in Grand Rapids okay until then okay I mean I think I left what like I said Sunday Saturday sure I was here Sunday or Saturday yep but but you were also here uh Tuesday going into Wednesday as well you may have been back up in gr on Thursday I'm not GNA I'm not going on the days that's all I happens to me all the time it could be today's Friday is it possible that you're confusing Thursday with with the other day because because you were here we have we have you driving your vehicle that you were in today M here um and also you on camera so in that vehicle I'm just wondering are you confused on the dates perhaps is that possibility probably okay right okay basically what John's saying is this and you is it would do you like to go by Mike or Michael either okay Mike mind if I call you Mike okay Mike let me let me tell you this here's what happens couple things that you got to realize technology is a okay there's technology everywhere like like John's saying everything from your cell phone and you got to realize too Mike and I don't know how much they tell you when you're on federal probate probation or parole probation they don't have parole okay when you're on when you're on federal paper okay they do more tracking than they probably let let you know there's more to your phone then you probably realize okay so we get a pretty good idea of your movements anytime we want now it's not like they're sitting there monitoring your movements all the time okay but when you're using that car and you've been in that car for a few days now okay that I can tell you all right and I can show you some video later on if if you want us to to to to show you that all right I'm not denying that over good perfect and and I I I know you're not that's why I just think you're confused on the days okay because I don't think you're sitting here running a game on me I really don't okay I I don't think you're just doing that but we have all this technology okay we have plate readers on the freeway now there's plate readers at inter all kinds of [ __ ] plus your phone all those kinds of things okay so when we start tracking your movements and somebody says hey this Plate Reader was in this area or we had this happen in this area and this is what the Plate Reader told us and that car is loud as [ __ ] too yeah it is an examination of this car which belonged to Tori revealed a dent in the driver's door beneath the handle but oddly enough there was nothing to indicate that the car was used to hit someone due to an absence of major damage and blood stains the only other clue was a bag containing a 45 ACP cartridge which is oddly convenient considering that Michael stole the same caliber pistol from Tori okay so not only can we see it dog we can hear it okay so we know where you've been okay so they start tracking your movements electronically and then when something happens we go backwards and at two or three different locations we've got your car okay we got the plate we got pictures we got all that kind of stuff okay all right so that's why I'm saying don't be afraid to say I I don't know if it's a probation thing or don't be oh yeah I came down here on Monday or I've been here laying with this girl for whatever maybe you don't want to get in trouble with your girl I get it I mean you've been down here let's just just that down here I'm not even I have been down here got very good so you've been down here for how long I I leave every I'm not here like all the time okay I leave and I come back but let's say you've been down here well Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday all this week you've been down here correct uh have I I don't I don't you have I'll just I'll just tell you you have okay if you say so Y and I'm not I'm not being argumentative I'm just telling you you have okay okay technology tells me like I said Technologies if you say you have been okay I I I'll go back and look at the records here before too long but the bottom line is you have been down here and there's no sense us sitting here playing cat and mouse on that all right so when we're down here technology puts you down here you're like yeah I've probably been down here maybe not all week but I've been down here the most of the week okay agreed past couple weeks yeah past couple weeks you've been down here correct good thank you I appreciate because that that's that's what it's showing me right okay and I like I said I was in Grand Rapids so I've been in Grand Rapids I've been in alligan I've been man in C you you've been down here for a couple weeks there's there's breaks where you go places I'm not I'm not saying you don't okay but what we do is this so now we've got all this technology all right and then we'll have an incident let's say for example oh I'm just going to use an example here I'm not accusing you this okay something gets stolen all right so what we do is we go back we start looking at technology all right we look at different video cameras we look at plate readers we look at ring doorbells we look at all those kind of things and let's say we see something on there where man something's loud as [ __ ] there's a loud car on there it's an interesting color by the way and man we got a Plate Reader two miles away that says it was this so we R ratchet that up we figure out who's in that car boom then we go to we we we're we can get up on your cell phone pretty good okay so now we can tell from all those different bits of Technology hell it ain't even us it's easy I mean [ __ ] it's not even fun anymore because we don't even get to do any cool work no more we don't get to surveil anybody we don't get to do all the cool detective [ __ ] right we just sit here like a bunch of office people okay and get soft clerical clerical good way to put yeah clerical so once that happens then all of a sudden we go and boom we draw a beat on you okay and oh jeez this guy was here wonder what his story is okay then we go okay yeah we work other stuff there's a lot of [ __ ] going on in the city then man something else happens and so then by the time it ends there's two or three things that we start putting together one of the many pieces of technology that this detective loves is cameras in the aftermath of the shooting several locals came forward providing footage from their ring doorbell cameras which captured the very same Ford Escape that Michael was driving at the crime scene and if you thought this was incriminating it only gets better from here as the detective is about to release a motherload of evidence so here it is I'm lay this out to you we have a thing called shot tracker as well okay I don't know what that is nobody does okay I hope I've been telling you some [ __ ] about technology that I probably should be keeping it myself but I I think it's exciting I'm old and technolog is kind of cool okay we have a thing called shot tracker so what we do is this it monitors where shots go off okay and it's done by cell phone and through satellites so we can pinpoint when shots go off and it literally puts it on a map for us okay okay so we start monitoring shots for example uh up off a Ravine Road we get a group of shots like four to six shots okay looks like maybe it's being fired into some water or something from best we can tell from the echo patterns and all those kind of things okay so boom we put all that together they look at the map we look at prate Raiders we look at technology and then finally we pull up your cell phone and we can say bam this guy was this guy was right there at that time okay okay so that's that's that's one thing I want to ask you about okay so it obviously you were in the area maybe you heard him maybe you saw it I don't know I'm not accusing you of it okay well like uh when I'm I when I when I had the car I'm ride around pretty much everywhere do you yeah you remember being up in that area I mean I don't know what day it was but it probably was probably was did you see or hear anything right around that time cuz you're you're you're we got your plate we got your cell phone we got all that [ __ ] with the echo pattern and I mean it's you're close dog you you very well could have seen it or heard it I have the music up loud okay did it sound like a backfire maybe to you or something like that I can't really hear you know the car is loud man gotta yeah okay so we got that one so you always play and and that damn car's loud too okay so your car sounds like a backfire a lot of damn times right okay so we got that one okay so now you keep going on and you get a uh you get other incidents that happened in the area uh the other night over on uh Amsterdam Amsterdam boom shot patterns again five to six shots okay boom boom boom shows up on our big technological Center all this CSI [ __ ] okay so once again they put all that together what's there again plate Raider mile less than a mile away on the North side got a ring doorbell in that on that street and we got your cell phone door that has a a camera I thought I was that didn't know what that was damn I like this guy I knew there's a reason I liked you he's he not a technology guy I love it I'm not either but that's why I'm telling youall it's cuz I think it's pretty cool and it's amazing and Technology does a lie you know John might John might have an agenda he might not like you okay technology doesn't care who you are okay so that's what I'm saying once again Amsterdam so we got a place over I think it was Ravine Road up up by some water okay boom boom got a bunch of shots there boom boom boom now we're down on Amsterdam same thing same information it tells us that's when we start looking for you that's when we start piecing things together because we want to say [ __ ] is it this guy or is he what what can this guy tell us that's where we're at can you tell me no and I'll tell you I'll be honest with just just don't don't don't [ __ ] me too much because what and we're used to that a little bit okay but the bottom line is technology doesn't lie technolog is going to place you at some place okay one time I could excuse twice is statistically it science tells us it it it doesn't happen and then um once again technology okay so we got the we got your road which we're good with may or may not have been there I get it one like I said one time I can excuse okay twice now I'm now I'm a little suspicious okay I'll be honest sweet okay all right obviously you're in the same area where shots are fired twice okay third time 130 what we at John one 130ish a little before 130 little a little a little before 130 we get another series of shots okay I think it was three three shots okay we're in an area of uh cob and Mabel that's on the North side you familiar with that yeah I you drove through there yeah because you we yeah I was just I was just over there this morning yeah tell us tell me what you saw cuz that's the video that I have I have you on the ring doorbell driving through there I have the technology of the shots telling me you're there and I also have your cell phone track because remember I know at 238 you're back up in Alan so at at that 1:30ish you're at Cobin Mabel tell me tell me what you see and what you hear nothing I'm just driving you're just driving you remember what you were looking for what what you were doing no I don't do anything I just like this is what I do I ride around CU it clears my mind that's it that's all I do yeah I drive and then I go were you with anybody when you're driving up there on on Amsterdam and when you're when you're driving there at Cobin Mel are you with anybody no no you're solo okay no I mean I can't no girls with you no are you calling anybody um and and I know you are because that's how we track you through the calls it bounces off towers and plus your mapping so we know all that I don't know who I called at if I was over over there at one or whatever I don't know who I called it might might just be your Google Maps I don't know these these technology guys just feed me information that's that that's all I know so I do know that right around that time the 1:30 time is you're at cob Mabel cob Elizabeth I know earlier probably 12 14 1230 I can't remember mem she's you come off of Elizabeth then go south on the cob also I was you remember you're obviously cing and you also over at one time ear you're also by the polar bear you remember that in that area yeah yeah it's all and and we also have that on camera as well they they got I was over there a couple times I went there and bought a couple different Red Bulls that night from The Polar Bear yeah okay you know what time that was nope I I what you what are you doing cruising the block I just ride like I said I ride around cuz I got nothing else to do it is important to translate Michael speak here from nothing else to do to I was itching to shoot someone and riding around to hunt someone down this is because according to the anonymous witness Michael frequently expressed his desire to shoot and kill the next person he sees so much so that he had bought a box of bullets in a magazine for the stolen 45 and would frequently visit Ravine Road to empty bullets into a body of water but fueled by his urges Michael left crucial evidence behind shell casings at the locations where he did his test runs when officers collected these casings and ran forensics on them they were covered with Michael's DNA additionally they were found to be similar to the casings found at the scene of the crime positively linking Michael to the crime even Michael's girlfriend Diana admitted that while she was on the phone with him 4 hours before the shooting he continuously expressed his desire to shoot the next person he saw in the face of this irrefutable evidence it isn't going to take long before Michael begins to crack this is why I'm over here CU nobody over here all right time so now so kind of established that you're in that area you're riding around you just like to ride you clear your head ain't nothing legal with that is it right okay so here's what we do a lot of Technology I'm throwing at you okay it's amazing so we'd get all this technology and then we go to the scene like kamu Township Police is up on Amsterdam okay um the other place up by the water that that's that's where we we know we can Target where those shots were so we can go right there okay so we do that and guess what we recover at at at those places probably some shells exactly shell casings what we call shell casing you know what I mean just the remainder little part of the of the bullet ping comes popping popping out of a gun okay and so we we recover those and at that point we start tracking that okay every shell casing is traceable or trackable okay if you got hit by the fed you probably know more about that [ __ ] than I do them folks are there they're some Wizards with science right they are you got to admit so they can track it they can tell where those bullets were bought okay and then they we match up where those bullets were bought for example in this case on target okay so we know where those were purchased make sense so far you you tracking me okay so we find those so we' got the the the bullets that came back to On Target and then we also take DNA samples okay now sometimes it's a crap shoot because we don't know who the hell touched it but in this case remember we've been putting together for days now all this stuff and we're we've now drawn a beat on you haven't we we know we same car same phone same location okay I'm just I'm just I said for example On Target right okay so and I'll have to confirm where where they came from I can I can narrow that down for you um so and then we take and if anybody's ever touch those bullets we can get contact DNA contact DNA for example is if I take John's glasses and do that guess what I know what that is gotcha yeah you you're a smart man so then we get DNA off those shell casings okay and then we have the feds process that because you're on federal paper so we get a upgrade to process those and lo and behold guess what I'm on there yeah all right can you give me any explanation why your DNA is on those shell casings because I shot the gun probably thank you we got shell casings at the water spot that got your DNA on them and we got shell casings on the Amsterdam Amsterdam sorry thank you John did you shoot into the woods or just in the air no I shot in the woods it was in the water what what what kind of gun we talking about just so I know you're not bullshitting me um we know we know we we it was a 45 thank you thank you very good fair enough Michael in all his glory has just admitted to firing the same gun the same ammunition and leaving behind the same bullet casings as those found at the crime scene but this is only the tip of the iceberg labeled Michael's confession as he will slowly begin to divulge even more incriminating information in some questions we ask you Mike um we probably already know the answer to where we may know the answer to we're just looking to see how truthfully you're willing to be with us all right so that way we can we can say one way or the other yeah the guy you know what he's out having a good time he popped off some rounds big deal all right but if you know like Gary said if if we're sitting here we don't want to play cat Mouse games we don't want to [ __ ] you and we don't want you to do the same to us right um so you know obviously those casings they match up each each casing in addition to you know the science talking about they're unique so if I take my gun and I shoot a bullet um the casing and stop me if you already know this uh each casing is unique just as unique as someone's fingerprints are the ejector puts a little Mark on it some scientists that are smarter than than myself look at it and they're able to say okay yep this came from this exact type of gun and and they can match those up so they can say okay these casings match up with these ones or just match up with these ones okay so let's talk about the casings that are found again later that night okay from that same gun tell me about that I yeah I don't know about that one I didn't I didn't no I didn't have the gun though anymore then I did yeah you did what happened to it what tell me what happened I got I sold it tell us about that not going to tell you who I did it to but why not because why would I do that I could get them in trouble I'm not well I think you need to worry about Mike right now all right let's not worry about someone else getting someone else in trouble let's let's focus on this um I can't I'm just not going to do that so okay it's it's not likely that you sold that gun okay because you're I mean well it may be gone now it may be gone now all right Mike I'm not going to doubt you on that but but the the chances of you selling it between 10 and one o'clock uh how's that not pro prob well because your car that very loud vehicle there's more than just one loud vehicle yeah but but it's yours and like Gary said I'd be more than happy to show you a video of it it shows you right there right at the scene where those last casings are found from that same gun with your DNA with your DNA at the time before the shooting what's the point of the questions then oh because I'm trying trying to get a little rationalization here Mike I'm just trying to get a little rationalization all right you know me I me yeah I know what rationalization is I mean you're trying to understand what yeah what happen absolutely trying to figure out there reasons why things happen there's always two sides SE story and we just want to get your side of it okay that's all there's no side because like I said I don't there's very few people that I know over there so why would I have a reason to do something to whatever happened to anybody over there I don't know I I can't answer that question I'm not kind of I'm not stupid no you're not stupid at all understand why I'm here like questioning me if something didn't happen sure and you watch the news you know what happened right actually didn't watch new okay um but I mean it it's it's not a coincidence that the same casings are found at all these places that match up with the same gun and your vehicle is seen and heard uh at all these places uh and described by people because there are some crackheads that are out walking that time of the night uh in addition to crackheads prostitutes whoever that are out Milling around I mean it is the north side at you know it's not even 2:00 in the morning polar bear still open people are still Milling around in addition to these cameras all right so uh the odds of you selling the gun within that short amount of time someone else being in your exact vehicle and then that being used right there there's no reason why I would do something when I don't know anybody there's not there's very few people that I know over there so why would I have a reason to do something to somebody this investigation conclusively shows and we can't go backwards all right we we we know we wish we could we've all done things in our Liv that's out of character for us or we got caught up in a bad situation that's kind of what we're trying to tell you things happen on the north side of kamazo okay there was a homicide there the week before okay so we know how dangerous it can be any City not just kazou but any city has its problems okay so when you're riding around bad [ __ ] can happen and this guy that Happ this happened to he's not exactly the same we know that okay so it's you got to make a decision here today Mike okay yeah I'm kind of hit here in terms of being there doing this doing that I'm already in trouble for this I get it but man you got to make a risk it's a it's a business decision for you right here Mike do you sit here and ride this out and let technology and science speak for you and Witnesses and plate readers and all those kind of things tell your story or you try to get out in front of this and saying you know what man it's a bad thing that happened but this is why it happened and it wasn't wasn't what I wanted to have happen that's what you got to decide what is it one way or the other I didn't I don't know who the you're talking about okay all right I let me I I'll give you a little background here okay because here's what you got to decide you got to decide right now here today whether you're just some kind of coldblooded guy who shoots somebody or was there a reason that I have a bee for this man that I have a conflict with this man that he tried to do something to me which one is it are you the kind of guy who's just a cold blooded shooter or are you the guy who there's a reason there's a reason we've all done [ __ ] out of character we've all had situations happen to us some random so that's not you you're not this guy are you so then then you must be this guy cuz don't let John and I leave here today thinking holy [ __ ] I guess he's just a cold blooded shooter that's all he is okay which guy are you are you the cold blooded shooter I would have something like this would have happened before wouldn't it not necessarily no no absolutely not it doesn't doesn't happen at all there's a first time for everything absolutely so which one are you are you this guy over here cuz the investigation conclusively shows that we don't have any choice you're this guy over here who just I just feel like doing what I'm going to do this feels good to me where man this [ __ ] happened it was dicey I can't believe I survived this this is what happened which guy are you neither of them neither you got to be one of the other because because we have you there okay I you can then you can try to ride this out and let Science and Technology Witnesses tell your story or you can or you can get on your own bus and stand up for yourself be your own Advocate let us try to help you let us try to follow up things for you there's nobody that can tell you that I was there when that happened because I wasn't there when that Happ we absolutely have you all day long and it's it's not just people science science like said science got to do it cuz I was I was I wasn't right there you were but that's I was right there when that happened no you know how we could easily dispel it who is it you sold the gun to I'm not they would they they would have had to have used it in such a short amount of amount of time soon where do you remember selling that you'll tell us who is where do you remember sell it to I'm not going to tell you it's not that Michael doesn't want to tell them who he sold it to but more so that he can't this is because the gun disappeared right after the murder almost as if it vanished Into Thin Air with no leads to follow it was almost certain that Michael disposed of it but where exactly it is is something that detectives need to find out in order to build the case against Michael even more what is it that led up to this what did this man do prior to you having to shoot him I didn't shoot him so that's that's that well he didn't shoot himself I didn't shoot him so I mean did you see the girl that that was with him just probably a minute or two before did you see that girl I don't know did you see the tall guy when you were leaving the scene did did you see the tall guy in the in the tan jacket did you see him you keep saying leaving the scene but whatever well when you were driving away when you're driving away sorry driving away leing the scenes when you're you're in the area driving there's no just I can't I can't I can't make that up I can't change that I mean right I mean I mean if you say like if you said I was there I was near it I you're not going to dispute most likely was near it abely if you got GPS evidence it show I was near it I was near it but did I see what happened no I didn't so the and here's I guess here's the fear here's what you got to work on too and I know I appreciate the fact that maybe you sold this gun to somebody yeah I think it's gone I think it's I mean [ __ ] happened however many days ago it's got a body on it it's gone now guarantee it's gone but here's the fear let's say I'm not going to talk okay then somebody's probably going to wrap this murder around you because we're at 70 90% of everything else we're good with we know you're there we know all the other stuff we got all the shots we're good Bo boom boom boom here so now we're at that little little tiny bit there where you sold the gun to somebody and with and you're in that area and that man still gets shot there's got to be an explanation because that ain't going to fly you're still going to get hit for it so you need to come up with an explanation as to why that happened and or who you sold that gun to because that's the person if you truly didn't do it man I do not want this on you that'd be horrible I wouldn't be able to sleep neither would John y we're Fair men we want we want to be able to advocate for you if somebody if you made the mistake of being on fedal papers and had a gun and sold to somebody Big Damn deal you can live with that but man if there's a body on that damn gun because you sold it to somebody else and you're afraid to Sayo then that's on you so what's one of two things either help us find the man who shot him or tell us why the hell it happened cuz it's one of the two I can't tell you why it happened cuz I didn't you did I mean either you did or that man did and you were right there when it happened that I can't that's science is there any were you drinking or high that night no I don't smoke or you don't smoke because all right so you're clear-minded so so you have a very good recollection of this so what was it that happened man it's just no one's going to like we don't believe for a second and no reasonable people are going to believe that that you sold that gun in that amount of time and how that's not how's that not possible well it's it's okay I apologize it's not just that one fact it's when you when when you add everything up okay that that your vehicle so okay you sold it that's fine the fact that you sold it in a few hours after you last shot it okay and then your car is also there at the time of the shooting it's right there it no it's can't that's not even possible for it to be right there it is no not we see your vehicle literally we see your vehicle on cob cob goes north and south we see your vehicle on Cobb all right you know where the man was killed at you know where you drove at all right C okay you saw me on cob I've been there like for the past few day I've been there several times no I'm explaining to you how how unrationed somebody to you need somebody to and I'm I look like the best subject so I mean we don't want just a subject we don't we don't like to just not I've never met you before I don't have a vendetta against you Mike I mean you of course I'm not saying you do but I'm I'm just going with the facts that this case is need you need somebody for this to go on and I look like the best possible subject so this is what you're going to build with all the evidence in the investigation has conclusively led us to you there is no one right there is no one else that did this murder okay I mean no one else that shot the guy all right but Mike what you're leaving out is probably your best your best option okay because it's not a a matter of whether or not it happened it's why it happened what led up to it I know about this dude I know the dude they got killed I know what he was into and and I I I find it hard to believe that that something didn't happen how many you know how many people you drove by that night that you didn't shoot right a lot exactly hundreds if not thousands of people okay so that's why I don't think it's completely random that this happened to this man there is something that led up to this there was something that he did that that made this sequence of events happen okay and that that is your best thing that you have for yourself right now and if if you want to sit there and and and let what we have tell the story for you you I can I can tell you right now else I can say I yeah there is you you can say why it happened you can say what led up to it what happened um because I did it so I mean whatever well it's not it's not a whatever Mike I mean it has can't actually it doesn't it doesn't it here's here's what we're asking you to do okay and like I said you're you're you're a smart man all right we know there's always reasons why [ __ ] happens we're okay with that right we've both been doing this a long time so you've got to kind of make it once again it's it's it's a decision it's a business decision for you you've admitted to firing a gun up on Ravine Road okay the four casings up there at least that we have we've got uh five or six casings from Amsterdam you've admitted to firing at then okay I'm good with that all right now we're down here on and you didn't hurt nobody up there and we're not saying that you were just driving around that that night looking for just the next person you saw to shoot we're not saying that that's crazy thousand people out there you could you could have shot a thousand people okay but unfortunately something happened with this man okay this man wasn't like I said he's not a pillar of community okay he has done some [ __ ] and he was in some [ __ ] that night with a bunch of people we've been looking at all kinds of [ __ ] okay because we know that what this man's into okay he pisses off a lot of people so the fact that he would have come at you or piss you off or something I'm good with it I just need an explanation my guess is my guess is this man pissed was in your ass cuz what he does is he'll flag people down and then he just tries to get right right in your damn car that's what he does all the damn time and ends up stealing [ __ ] from people okay so my guess is you not being from here some dude Flags you sees you a couple times a Flags you calls you over did that man try to get in your car he did didn't he he did yeah I I don't doubt that he did either and that's what he does and by the way he's also been drinking he's got a beer and he's high you're obviously not drinking you're not high you're of sound mind and judgment when this dude Flags you down tries getting in your ride I get it again it's it's back to that thing where this isn't just a random thing where you just picked him out of the crowd out of out of nobody right the amount of cases that that Gary and I have investigated over the years I I can't think of one maybe Dalton other than that maybe one case out of thousands and thousands that are random they happen for no reason if you know what I mean there's always a reason and there's always two sides so that man tried to get in your car yes or no for the next several minutes Michael Falls silent before he begins to reveal everything down to the smallest details of what happened that night so he's pulling on the door you think he's trying to get in so how how how many times do you shoot him I don't know twice three times twice or three times do do you think did you at the time know know you hit him I mean you see him fall no I didn't I I started driving when start so so is the window down or you fire through your window the window is down okay so the window's down he's pulling on it you're like this which which what hand are you so you're well I can use both hands you can use both hands yeah me too so John um so you go you're like this with a gun the 45 and you shoot him three times two two times three times I know if I hit him or and then you then you drive off okay thank you thank you Mike appreciate it I didn't I didn't want to leave here today thinking you're some kind of maniac who just wanted to kill the next person he saw right that's not you is it no sorry that happened to you did you now let me ask you this Mike given the circumstances obviously dude tries you feel like you're about to get jacked all right so you shoot the dude so that so that way it doesn't happen did you think at all not I know I'm on federal paper but let me just get out in front of this did I cross your mind at all or were you too scared well sure I know I know scared what were you scared most I mean what scared you about it I mean one a guy is dead two I did it and I'm going to be locked up forever do you know how' you know he was dead I mean I saw the news later well I didn't see the news I saw like on the um on Facebook yeah yeah when you when you shot them did you get blood on you I don't know I don't think so I mean that you noticed what were you wearing the same clothes you have on now no what were you wearing uh I had this on just that pullover on and where and so you were in a car you had the pullover on I'll tell you what would help go a long way cuz we can tell distances and all those kind of things where's that gun at if you really want to get out from underneath this and get get your life together and have a chance at this and then you got it's all going to be based on cooperation from this point forward well I threw it out took the clip and I threw that and I threw the gun out where like on the down the highway going down the highway what what Highway 131 you know by where not exactly not exactly driving and threw it out driving it what direction you going going north where'd you get that gun uh that's old been around for a couple years yeah tor's gun oh tor's Mom's gun no I didn't get it from her even while confessing Michael still finds a way to lie he did steal it from tor's apartment if the dozens of witness statements to prove this weren't enough do you ever see tor's mom's gun uh I saw one of them I know she had like a um what is it uh like a flare gun and I saw a revolver mhm hey Mike can you do this for us let's just run one version okay and I don't need to know what I I know you shot when was anybody with you when you shot the gun up on Ravine into into the water no no was anybody with you when you shot the gun up on Amsterdam the night of the murder no okay and was anybody with you when you shot that man at cin mael at 1:30 in the morning no let me ask you this was that girl with him who was there a girl with him when he flagged you down I don't I don't remember anybody like I said this this was all happened do you remember what he was wearing no no it it happened quick so I don't it happened quick have you ever seen him before no I no okay so I don't know just tell me what happens tell me give me one quick rundown of what happened so like I said you already pretty much know what happened driving flagged me down I roll the window down turned like he's saying something I turned on the music and he starts grabbing on the the handle yep so I started shooting okay did you did you all I mean there obviously some type of dialogue does he say anything like hey bro give me a ride give me a rock give me a beer anything like that I like I said I couldn't make I would okay all right did you say anything to him like hey what the hell you doing or I was like what in my mind I didn't say it out loud I was like what yeah okay you where do you think you hit him when you shot him I don't know probably in the body okay did you get out of your car at all after the shooting no like I said I just spit it off okay if you're in your car and he's and I I'm him okay so you're driving your car just like you are I come up and so that's I'm grabbing now on this window right or the door trying to get in and you got it down show me what happens so show me how you do it am I like how am where am I right here yeah I'm here I'm pulling on it yep okay and then what what happens where's your gun at I I reached it was on the C okay and I reached over and I grabbed it so how far away am I when when when I get shot right there so I'm right here I'm you're I'm right in your wheelhouse did he fall down right away or no um no no okay he's still grabbing he's still grabbing after you shoot yeah after like the the first okay so the first round hit first round goes out second by the time he's or by the first one or two he's done grabbing isn't he yeah okay and where is he now he's he's stumbling around yeah okay and what do you do I pull off you pull off okay thank you I appreciate it where do you go after that Mike I got on the highway Northbound 131 okay and go where to okay so you you pitch it somewhere and and do you really pitch it or no yeah where do you stay that night bro in allig and at at uh Tor okay thank you she might she might she done let me ask you this can I and here's here's what happens a lot of times when scary [ __ ] happens in their life people reach out to people that are close to them and they tell them okay or they say something have you told anybody to this point what happened my sister your sister I mean she don't know exactly what happened but I told her yeah you told her that you Shadow Man Down in kamazo have you told anybody else your sister that's the one in Grand Rapids that you stay with okay you told her you Shadow Mana kamazo can you tell anybody else uh not no I can't recall if I did no I don't think I did about Tori did I tell her um no I didn't tell her no because you get you go there right after happens you're probably you're probably amped up like holy [ __ ] what just happened because you ain't never done nothing like this before you didn't mean for it to happen but it did and but you guys didn't have a con you and Tor didn't have a conversation about it at all no I didn't and didn't really come up okay shortly after this Michael's interview concludes while Roosevelt was the one to flag Michael down it did not change the fact that Michael was the one who was itching to shoot someone habits that he clearly did not overcome Even after spending time in federal prison and 3 years later on February 7th 2022 34-year-old Michael thigpin was convicted of the premeditated first-degree murder of Roosevelt Thompson consequently he was sentenced to life in prison