Detective

In the early 90s, Garry lost a case due to an error in evidence processing. It was heart-wrenching to watch a guilty killer walk free but despite their frustration, the victim’s family thanked Garry for how he handled their case. Garry not only saw the people of Charlotte as citizens, he saw them as family. He learned how to talk to the people of the city, how to be a community member first and a detective second. He uses his unique Garry flair to ‘get in the door’ to talk with people – either families of suspects, victims or key witnesses. Rebounding from his loss in court, Garry had a case where 5 children lost their mother, grandmother, uncle and aunt to murder in less than 30 days. Garry took it on himself to take care of the children and make sure they found a safe home.

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Charlotte was reeling, serial killer Henry Louis Wallace had killed 9 young women and the Charlotte P.D. was struggling to provide answers to the community. They put Garry, against his will, in front of a microphone – expecting him to take the fall. Dee Sumpter, a notorious critic of the Charlotte P.D. at the time even said “the victims weren’t prominent people – they weren’t special and they were black.” However, Garry turned to his family and the values they instilled in him. In true McFadden fashion, Garry returned to Charlotte and answered the call. Garry gave the community the answers they were looking for and even received an award from Dee Sumpter’s advocacy group, Mothers of Murdered Offspring, for how he handled the case. After connecting with the community on a larger scale – Garry then has a very personal conversation with a killer – revealing in incredible detail the road that led him from child abuse to homelessness and eventually…to murder.

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The crack epidemic swept through Charlotte in the late 80s and 90s, bringing gang violence and turf wars with it. The Charlotte P.D. was working day and night, covering 388 cases between only six detectives. Despite the lack of sleep, Garry turned to the community for answers. Connecting and teaching the Charlotte youth about the dangers of joining a gang instead of just locking up everyone he could. He not only ingratiated himself with the inner city youth, but also with the families of victims to gang violence – who saw the good work he was doing and began to trust him. However, just as the tide was changing, a vicious serial killer Henry Louis Wallace came to town and changed the city of Charlotte forever.

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Garry went to college and studied physical education, when he and three friends decided they wanted to apply to be police officers. The first few years as a uniformed officer included a shooting he was involved in. Garry had to learn to be a cop the hard way – by making rookie mistakes. Ultimately, when faced with tough situations he was able to learn from his mistakes and become a better policeman. Garry will talk about taking the leap from rookie to homicide detective. At the time there were 40 or so applicants and he was the only one selected. He went on to be the only African American detective out of six on the homicide unit. His first notable homicide case is discussed in this episode.

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Get a sneak peek at Season 2 with Detective Gary McFadden. New episodes start Tuesday, June 7.

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Kenda talks about the day he decided to retire and the best day he had on the job.

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What is it like being married to someone who is married to the job?, with special guest: Mrs. Kathy Kenda.

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What makes a great detective? Kenda describes what it takes to do the job.

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Kenda describes how a case goes cold, and what can be done about it.

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Kenda describes revenge killings and how they can lead to charges of first degree murder.

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