Keith Morrison

That would be R. Rex Paris, big-time civil attorney, local legend, powerful man.

Paris had deep pockets and a reputation for hardball tactics and multimillion dollar settlements.

And he told the O'Keeffe's he was the man to help them get justice for Michel.

I met Mr. Paris in 2009 at his sprawling Lancaster office.

He'd redone what had been a furniture megastore.

Above the main entrance, four-foot-high letters spelled out his name.

Inside, everything big and sleek.

There was the Eternal Fountain.

And over there, a room holding boxes of evidence for his army of attorneys.

With our Rex Parris in their corner, before the year was out, the O'Keeffe's filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Palmdale for the lack of security cameras and against the private All Valley Security Company hired to patrol the Park and Ride lot.

The O'Keefe's told me there was no going back now.

But you were afraid that people would think that you were greedy or something?

But Paris was into the investigation now, like a detective on steroids.

And unlike the police, he kept in constant touch with the O'Keeffe's.

That's not cheap.

Oh, they were all in now.

Another spring had come to the high desert.

Temperatures climbed into the 80s.

Clumps of sage bloomed around the park and ride.

And the O'Keeffe's turned up the heat a little more.