Dwight Smith Wanted For Murdering Friend of 20 Years

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Murder charges could be the first strike on Smith's clean record.

Dwight Smith was a licensed real estate broker in Manhattan and a graduate of Lafayette College, a prestigious school in Easton, Penn.  Few people knew him better than his longtime friend Dougal Mills. When Dougal asked Dwight to borrow some money -- maybe as much as $100,000 -- to invest in real estate, Smith agreed.   Unfortunately, their business relationship soon turned sour.

Smith became increasingly impatient that Mills wasn't paying him back, apparently feeling that he was being disrespected.

Around 9 a.m. on May 17, 2007, New York City police say Smith and three associates went to the Bronx building where Dougal's brother Gary lived with his girlfriend.

Just as Smith came out of the Jamaican restaurant on the building's first floor, cops say Smith and three other suspects took Gary by gunpoint to his apartment. There, he was held hostage, along with his girlfriend -- who was six months pregnant at the time -- and a friend from California, who was staying at the apartment. All three victims were tied up, and Gary was forced to call his brother.

Victim Arrives To Find Gunman Waiting

When Dougal arrived at Gary's apartment around 2:30 that afternoon, cops say he was confronted by Smith, and quickly shot and killed in the stairwell between the first and second floors.

Dougal's brother, his pregnant girlfriend, and his friend heard the gunshots from inside the apartment. Fearing for their lives, and with their hands tied behind their backs, they jumped out of a third-floor window.

Miraculously, all three survived and managed to make it to a nearby laundromat, where they waited for police to arrive.  Three months later, Gary's girlfriend gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

Three of the suspects were arrested soon after the crime, but Smith -- the alleged mastermind -- had managed to stay on the run for nearly a year before an AMW tipster let cops know where he was staying.

Before this incident, cops say Smith had no criminal record.

AMW Capture #1000

NYC Realtor Becomes AMW's 1,000th Direct Capture

On May 2, 2008, America's Most Wanted announced that fugitive realtor Dwight Smith -- who is accused of murdering a longtime friend over a real estate deal -- became the 1,000th person to be apprehended as a direct result of AMW viewer tips. Even before the arrest, it was clear that the takedown would become a part of television history.

In the warm evening air, the America's Most Wanted team could feel that something special was about to happen.

In the heart of Washington, D.C., it began like any other night in the Crime Center, the high-tech base of operations for the AMW Hotline. But from the outset, April 19, 2008, was designed to be a special night, and deep inside, we could feel the excitement. It was the night of the "50 States/50 Fugitives" show -- one wanted fugitive from every state in the union, profiled in just an hour. Inevitably, one of those fugitives was to become AMW Direct Result Capture #1,000. 

To prepare for the big night, the U.S. Marshals Service deployed their mobile command center -- a massive command post built inside a custom RV -- for the first time ever. From inside the truck, the Marshals could quickly deploy any of their  96 regional task forces, or law enforcement allies overseas, to track down leads from tipsters in a matter of minutes.

It didn't take long to get the precious lead we were hoping for.

Three hours before the airing of the show, a AMW tipster checked AMW.com, and called to say he knew exactly where New York's fugitive, Dwight Smith, had been hiding. 

He told the hotline operator he would provide an exact address in Richmond, Va., but as John Walsh has promised so many times on AMW, tipsters can remain anonymous. The AMW Hotline Specialist assured the man his identity would be held in the strictest confidence. 

He, in turn, gave the operator the address where Smith was staying, and more than enough information about Smith to make the operator believe she had to contact the case's detective right away. 

NYPD Detective Mike DePaolis was with AMW correspondent Jon Leiberman in Washington when he took the call. 

"She said, 'This is a great tip on Dwight Smith,'" the investigator recalls. "And I thought, 'I can't believe it, the show hasn't even aired!  I really hope this is the one.'"

The detective had been hunting Dwight Smith for nearly a year.  And, the detective believed, Smith was a cold-blooded killer who cared only about one thing: money.

Smith's Arrest Gives Family A Semblance Of Closure

Dwight Smith was a licensed real estate broker in Manhattan and a graduate of Lafayette College, a prestigious school in Easton, Penn.  Few people knew him better than his longtime friend Dougal Mills. When Dougal asked Dwight to borrow some money -- as much as $100,000 -- to invest in real estate, Smith agreed. Unfortunately, their business relationship soon turned sour.

Smith became increasingly impatient that Mills wasn't paying him back, apparently feeling that he was being disrespected.

Then, around 9 a.m. on May 17, 2007, New York City police say Smith and three associates went to the Bronx building where Dougal's brother Gary lived with his girlfriend.

Just as Smith came out of the Jamaican restaurant on the building's first floor, cops say Smith and three other suspects took Gary to his apartment at gunpoint.

There, he was held hostage, along with his pregnant girlfriend and a friend from California, who was staying at the apartment. All three victims were tied up, and Gary was forced to call his brother.

When Dougal arrived at Gary's apartment at around 2:30 p.m., cops say he was confronted by Smith, and quickly shot and killed in the stairwell between the first and second floors. Dougal's brother, his pregnant girlfriend, and his friend heard the gunshots from inside the apartment.

Fearing for their lives, and with their hands tied behind their backs, they jumped out of a third-floor window.  Miraculously, all three survived and managed to make it to a nearby laundromat, where they waited for police to arrive. Three months later, Gary's girlfriend gave birth to a healthy baby boy.  But by then, they all needed justice.

And Justice is exactly what Detective DePaolis was hoping for when he got the call from our hotline: someone had seen Dwight Smith on AMW.com, and wanted him to get locked up before the show aired.

The detective hurried to the Crime Center and conferenced with the U.S. Marshals. 

"We're jumping on this tip right away," U.S. Marshals Service Senior Inspector Mark Shealey told DePaolis.  "The clock is ticking and we don't want to take any chances."

Immediately, Shealey's task force in the Richmond, Va. area began doing their research and digital investigation. They wanted to find out who lived at the address the tipster had given, and for how long they'd been there.

They also wanted to survey the premises and see what kind of activity was going on at the home.

The tension was building at the AMW crime center, when at 9 p.m., the show aired.  Right after Dwight Smith's photo was flashed nationwide, the tipster called back and spoke to Detective DePaolis. 

"He's still at the house," the tipster said. "I am 100% sure. Please grab him."

"We're working on it," the detective said.

Then, a short time later, there was shouting from outside of the U.S Marshals' mobile command center.

"We got him!" Shealey shouted.  Detective DePaolis and his partner came rushing out to hear the news. The Deputy U.S. Marshal from Richmond was on speaker phone, explaining how the takedown went down.

See the detectives learn the news.

He said task force members saw Smith inside the house, and shined a flashlight in the window to get a good look at him. They then went into the house, and this elusive fugitive gave it up.

"I'm Dwight Smith", the man told the task force.

But the celebration was far from over.

"I can't believe it," DePaolis said.

"Congrats on 1,000, boys," said AMW Executive Producer Lance Heflin. 

But now, the victim's family needed to know they could rest a little bit easier. For 21 seasons, AMW has continued to be successful because viewers have had the courage to make a phone call that can change lives. 

The lives a capture  most often changes are the lives of the victims and their families.

A few days later in New York, AMW correspondent Jon Leiberman and producer Matt Jablow were able to meet with and embrace Gary Mills. Gary expressed relief at the capture, and expressed gratitude to the anonymous tipster who changed his life. 

"I want to thank that person," Gary said, "and I would love to meet that person some day."

And as for Dwight Smith, "I hope he gets life," Gary said, "because he took my brother's life.  He took my whole life, my family's life, everybody's life around us. So, his life has got to be taken, just as somebody else's was taken."

For AMW, the 1000th Direct Result Capture marks yet another milestone of putting scores of bad guys behind bars.