This meant that the hit and run vehicle would have had right front end damage. From Kirk's head injuries, police determined that he was riding the bike with the traffic on the right side of the road when he was hit from behind. NARRATOR: This trail of vehicle parts led north along the street, indicating the direction of the driver. Someone left the bar, ran this guy over, either knew it or didn't know it- regardless- and left, because they were drunk and didn't want to get caught by the police. CHRISTENSEN: The first thing that ran through my mind was the driver of this vehicle was obviously drunk. NARRATOR: Near Kirk's bicycle, police found a trail of plastic and glass fragments, a small convex mirror, some paint chips, and an antenna. He was a night person, so that was his thing, you know? He'd ride his bike at night or wherever he wanted to do. It didn't faze him, really, what time it was. KIMBERLY LAVERTY: I think maybe that was how maybe he did relieve his stress. NARRATOR: Kirk's family told police he often rode his bicycle at night. The vehicle parts, the mangled up bicycle, the person lying in a pool of blood, would lead any reasonable officer to believe that this guy got hit by a vehicle, and then that vehicle then left. CHRISTENSEN: What we saw is definitely evidence of a crime. At the accident scene, police found a damaged bicycle near Kirk's body. At the time of his death, he had been caring for his mother. He was an unemployed Navy veteran whose 28-year-old wife died of cancer just a few years earlier. NARRATOR: Kirk's death was the final act in a series of tragedies. KIMBERLY LAVERTY: When my brother passed away, it affected our whole family. He was pronounced dead before police could find out what had happened. NARRATOR: Hudson never regained consciousness. KIMBERLY LAVERTY: When I went into the room and I saw him laying there, and his injuries, he just didn't hardly look like the same person. NARRATOR: The victim, 33-year-old Kirk Hudson, was rushed to the local hospital. He was doing all he could to just suck in air at that time- major head trauma. CHRISTENSEN: He was what I call circling the drain. When Christensen got there, the man was alive, but just barely. NARRATOR: He told Christensen that a man was badly hurt a couple of blocks away. CHRISTENSEN: I was actually eating dinner in my car, relaxing with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, when a frantic citizen came up and pulled up next to me. Things had been quiet, and Christensen thought it was going to remain so. On a cold February night in 1995, Todd Christensen, a Kalamazoo, Michigan policeman, was on duty in his patrol car. And he left behind a piece of forensic evidence that microscopically told a story more graphic than any eyewitness could ever have told. NARRATOR: A hit and run driver left the scene of the crime, but he took something with him.
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