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Nancy Grace

Prisoner Swipes Country Music Star's Tour Bus; Woman Dies When Parachute Fails to Open

Aired January 26, 2007 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight, a luxury tour bus that normally carries country music star Crystal Gayle is hijacked and turned getaway car for a fugitive prison escapee. He's called a "little Houdini," who has police on the run in six states after stealing the luxury tour bus and an 18-wheeler Wal-Mart van, topping it off with a pit stop at the NASCAR Speedway. Who is this guy? And he has still got the pedal to the metal tonight.
Also tonight, Crystal Gayle is with us live. But the big question is, Where is he?

Also tonight: Murder in the sky at 13,000 feet. A beautiful young skydiver plunges to her death when her parachute and emergency chute both malfunction. Now police suspect a love triangle within the parachute club as motive for murder in the sky.

And tonight, we want justice for a college student, a guy chasing the all-American dream, his life cut short in a hail of bullets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was supposed to be just another jump for three members of a Belgian sky-diving club, one they had done countless times before. But this time, something went terribly wrong. At 13,000 feet, Els Van Doren pulled the cord on her first parachute. It wouldn't open. Neither would her second chute, and she plummeted to her death. Belgian investigators say it wasn't an accident, her fate was sealed before she even left the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Her main parachute and her reserve parachute had been tampered with, the first by binding it and the second by cutting the strings. She died after a spectacular fall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening, everybody. I'm Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. First, country music legend Crystal Gayle and the prison escapee on the run in her tour bus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six o'clock, this guy pulls in, in a Prevost (ph), and wanted to know if we could help him get a generator. So I called some of Tony Stewart's crew to try to verify who he was and what he was. Didn't get a response. He got nervous. He was a little nervous. I asked him a couple more questions, and the answers weren't right.

I walked around back to get the tag number off of it. And as I read the tag number, he said, Oh, I'm going to McDonald's. And I said, You're going to McDonald's in this? Oh, yes. Yes, I always do. And I took the tag number down and walked back. He jumped in the motor home, locked the doors and pulled out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Well, that's one heck of a getaway car, the tour bus of a country music legend, Crystal Gayle. And then he topped it off by swiping an 18-wheeler from Wal-Mart full of $300,000 worth of merchandise. And then there was the pit stop at the NASCAR speedway there in Lakeland Florida. Believe it or not, this guy is still on the run, earning the nickname from police "little Houdini."

And tonight, with us that country music legend. She's the first female country music star to go platinum, a real country queen, Crystal Gayle. Miss Gayle, it is a pleasure to have you with us. I was just at the Grand Ol Opry, and they started singing your songs. They couldn't do them justice. Now, you could have been in that tour bus -- you could have been in there when the guy hijacks it and takes off!

CRYSTAL GAYLE, COUNTRY STAR: Well, that's the thing. I'm glad I wasn't. I might have been really upset if I'd been in it. But you know, it's out of my control. It happened. I'm not -- you know, I'm not going to lose a lot of sleep over it.

GRACE: Miss Gayle, a personal question. How much does a bus like that cost?

GAYLE: Well...

GRACE: Where do you get something like that anyway?

GAYLE: They can range from, oh, gosh, nowadays, from $500,000, I guess, on up.

GRACE: Phew!

GAYLE: That's with the insides and everything all put together, from the staterooms to all the TVs and everything inside.

GRACE: Well, it's not like you picked it up at the used car lot down the street. A stateroom, TVs, living area, kitchen area -- this is the luxury tour bus Miss Gayle travels in all across the country. And believe it or not, it turned getaway vehicle when a fugitive wanted to go visit his mother.

Now, where were you when the tour bus got hijacked?

GAYLE: We were actually in Texas over the weekend. We came in and parked our bus where we normally park it, which is at Prevost (ph), which - - they have a lot of artists keep their buses there. And we were going to actually fly out -- and still we will be flying out next week to the state of Washington. And so we had parked it and actually taken off our gear that we need, all the equipment, the instruments that we would have with us, and so we were lucky in that.

GRACE: Now, you know, it takes quite a spine to steal a country music legend's tour bus. It's not like you're not going to be spotted in it. How long was he in -- where did he go? How long was he in the tour bus?

GAYLE: I'm not really sure how long he has had our bus. We just last night got the call. They asked us if our bus was in Florida, if we had it down there for some reason. And I wasn't in it, so I knew we didn't have it down there for any reason, so -- we knew something was not quite right. And we called the place where we keep it, and it was not there. And so I'm not really sure how long he's had it and actually in what shape it's in.

GRACE: Here is what an eyewitness had to say. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy pulls in in a Prevost and wanted to know if we could help him get a generator. He was telling us that Tony Stewart was going to be here in a couple of hours, bringing a smaller truck, and he was going to do a surprise race. So we worked on getting him a generator. And we were kind of checking out what he was saying.

I called -- as I went down to deposit the generator in his motor home, I was asking him some questions that just didn't seem right. So I called some of Tony Stewart's crew to try to verify who he was and what he was. Didn't get a response. He got nervous, said, Well, you know, if you don't trust me, I'll just take this generator and you can put it back on your truck. I said, Not a problem. We loaded the generator up.

But he was a little nervous, so I asked him a couple more questions, and the answers weren't right. So I walked around back to get the tag number off of it. And as I read the tag number, he said, Oh, I'm going to McDonald's. And I said, You're going to McDonald's in this? Oh, yes. Yes, I always do. And I took the tag number down and walked back. He jumped in the motor home, locked the doors and pulled out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: I always go to McDonald's in Crystal Gayle's luxury multi- million-dollar tour bus!

OK, let's go out to Pat Lalama, investigative reporter. You got to give the guy credit for having some guts. He took off in Gayle's tour bus, all right? She's being modest about how much these things cost. Not only that, then he hijacks an 18-wheeler, people, full of $300,000 of Wal-Mart merchandise, drives through a field, jumps -- and he's in full body shackle, Pat Lalama! I'm talking hands, waist, feet. The man is running through the forest. He outsmarts the cops, gets out of the tour bus, into the van, 18-wheeler, stops at a NASCAR -- you take it from the top. You explain it.

PAT LALAMA, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Well, Nancy, wait. You forgot some of the other fun stuff. It was a Wal-Mart truck.

GRACE: First of all, nobody's dead. Nobody's dead. Nobody's dismembered.

LALAMA: Right. Right.

GRACE: PTL (ph), go ahead.

LALAMA: OK. It was a Wal-Mart truck he had stolen before that, a big old Wal-Mart truck. It had a lot -- like, hundreds of thousands of dollars -- I think tens of thousands of dollars worth of stuff in it that he didn't steel. And before that, it was a big old tractor. I mean, and he got stuck in, I think, like some mud near his mother's house. I mean, this guy was determined.

Well, I call him "slippery Sam" because here's what happened. He was coming from Texas to Alabama in a transport van with 10 other prisoners because he was wanted on some other charges. Guess what? It was theft, too, right? And so at a rest stop, when the 10 other guys go do their little thing that guys do at the rest stop, which means go to the bathroom, he slips out from under the sheriffs, and that's when he goes on this little escapade. And then I find out...

GRACE: Wait, wait, wait, wait! Pat...

LALAMA: Yes?

GRACE: ... isn't it true that a motorist or somebody else at the rest stop saw him hobbling across the interstate...

LALAMA: Yes.

GRACE: ... four lanes of interstate in full body shackle?

LALAMA: Right. Right.

GRACE: And goes, Mr. Sheriff, I think you lost something?

LALAMA: Right. And I just want to know -- those sheriffs must have been, like, taking a snooze or something because, first of all, Nancy, how in the world do you hide one of these luxury vans? I've seen these things here in LA, these big old, you know, band buses that come down Sunset Strip. They're beautiful! They stand out like sore thumbs.

GRACE: Look at that. There it is.

LALAMA: Unbelievable! How he's hidden this thing. Now, but guess what? Looking at his criminal record -- and he doesn't seem to be a violent guy, he seems to steal a lot. He has escaped from cops twice before. And one of the times, Nancy -- check this out, in 2005, he escaped to go see his father, who had Alzheimer's, and after he visited his father, he turned himself in. How about that?

GRACE: And his motive for escaping this time?

LALAMA: To see his very sick mother.

GRACE: Isn't it true his mother is dying of cancer?

LALAMA: Well, she was interviewed, and I saw a quote from her. She was sobbing, saying he just came to see his sick mama. Came to see his sick mama. He's a good boy.

GRACE: It's my understanding the mom has colon cancer.

LALAMA: Right.

GRACE: She needs help to even sit up. When he went to go see the father the last time he broke out of jail, the father was dying of Alzheimer's.

You know, to country music star Crystal Gayle. You know, I'm all about law and order. When I heard this guy was trying to get home to his mother, dying of cancer -- have you heard that part, Miss Gayle?

GAYLE: Yes, I have. And my heart goes out to him.

GRACE: Did it have to go in your tour bus?

GAYLE: You know, it wouldn't have bothered me if he had gone -- you know, it's going on to Florida. You know, I know that -- I really feel for his whole family, you know? I have children of my own. I want them safe. I want them protected. And I feel that for him, too. I want everyone to be safe. I don't want to have any accidents, or anything to happen.

And you know, I know if he does get caught, and when he gets caught, that he will go back to prison, and I'm not sure how long it'll be. But I hope when he does get out, he can be there for his family.

GRACE: Do you have your tour bus back yet?

GAYLE: No. At this moment, we don't know where it's at. Hopefully, it's still in one piece.

GRACE: Well, OK. Aren't you about to leave to go on tour?

GAYLE: We're going to be going on tour, but we're going to be flying.

GRACE: I guess so.

GAYLE: So -- but you know, maybe I could call my sister, Loretta, and she can help me out if I need a bus.

GRACE: I was going to bring that up later, that two -- it's almost too much to believe that not only you -- brown eyes, blue -- there's a whole string of hits by Crystal Gayle. The same family, her sister, is Loretta Lynn. Wait a minute, where's her tour bus?

(LAUGHTER)

GAYLE: Hopefully, it's there.

GRACE: Where do you park that thing when you're not touring? I've seen aerial shots, I believe, of your place and others. And the thing typically will take up the whole back of an estate, they're so big. Where do you put it?

GAYLE: We actually keep our bus at Prevost, which -- you know, they service the bus. And actually, we were getting ready to have some work done on the bus, so we'll just have to have a little bit more work done.

GRACE: Before I ask you another question about your tour bus, what was your favorite, "I'll Get Over You," "Brown Eyes Blue" or "Talking in Your Sleep?"

GAYLE: Oh, my. Now, that's hard because I love all the songwriters.

GRACE: Was "Talking in Your Sleep" about a particular person?

GAYLE: Actually, that song was written and recorded by someone, and their deal fell through, so they said, OK, go ahead and take it and sing it.

GRACE: Well, you know, that's the way it was meant to be because it's your song now.

Let's go out to Dr. Jeff Gardier. Dr. Gardier, what kind of oomph does it take to steal Crystal Gayle's gigantic tour bus? It still hasn't been found yet. Then there was the 18-wheeler. Then he stopped off for -- let's see those photos, Elizabeth, that video of him at the NASCAR speedway, Lakeland, Florida. Jeff, that's to you.

JEFF GARDIER, PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes. Well, let me tell you, I think this is a guy -- certainly, we know that the prisons make arrangements for you to see a dying mother or father. They do that. So this is a guy who has compulsions, Nancy. He's been a thief his whole life, stealing his whole life, and this is part of a personality disorder. And I don't think it's any accident, of course, that he stole Crystal Gayle's bus. He was going to steal something that's high-profile. And then, of course, to take a Kmart truck -- so I think...

GRACE: Wal-Mart!

GARDIER: Wal-Mart. Sorry. All of this speaks to this individual having such compulsions that he just can't help himself. Hey, he could have gotten on a Greyhound or something and gotten to his dying mother. But I do feel for his mother. And to some extent, I do feel for the family. I really do.

GRACE: Back to the lines. Kathy in Florida. Hi, Kathy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Hi, Nancy. This is an honor, to talk to Crystal Gayle. Crystal, was there any personal belongings of yours aboard the bus?

GAYLE: Definitely, there's personal belongings on that bus. You know, that's my home on the road. I really enjoyed busing. I enjoy that better than flying because, you know, I'm that white-knuckle flier. So you know, I'll take the 20-hour bus trip over the plane trip.

GRACE: You know, it's a beautiful tour bus. Out to Jason in Indiana. Hi, Jason.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: Yes, dear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My quick question is -- first of all, you're just as beautiful as Crystal Gayle.

GRACE: That's a compliment. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I hope you are sneaking up on Bill O'Reilly's ratings.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anyway, my quick question is...

GRACE: I don't think he feels threatened. But thank you, Jason, go ahead.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My quick question is -- you know, I worked security for, you know, major stars at the RCA Dome in Minneapolis. And my question is -- There's always usually a security person either outside the door or on the bus while the star is off, you know? And I'm curious to know what kind of security that she had, or if there was any security involved at all?

GRACE: OK. What about it, Miss Gayle?

GAYLE: Well, the security at my house -- the bus was not at my house, it was at the place where I keep it, and a lot of artists keep their buses at this particular place. And there's security there. There's the fence around it. There's the gates. And you know, we're just going to have to ask them a little bit what happened.

GRACE: Let's unleash the lawyers tonight. Joining us, defense attorneys Greg McKeithen and Penny Douglass Furr, both veteran trial lawyers. Out to you, Greg McKeithen. What's he looking at?

GREG MCKEITHEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: There are issues here, Nancy. Certainly, his prior history could be a factor. However, we must look beyond that and determine, based upon the evidence, based on the facts at hand...

GRACE: Just give me a number, Greg.

MCKEITHEN: It could be very small. It could just depend.

GRACE: Penny Douglass Furr, I think this guy's looking at stacked sentencing, at least 40 years. That's a long prison term.

PENNY DOUGLASS FURR, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It could go up to 40 years, Nancy. But you've got to give the man -- he has chutzpah, and he's trying to get to his sick mother. If I'm the defense lawyer, I'm going to cry that all the way to the judge and the jury.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: That's right, you are hearing the voice of country music legend Crystal Gayle, tonight crying victim, the luxury tour bus normally carrying the country music star hijacked and turned getaway car by an escapee. Police are calling him "little Houdini" tonight. He's got cops in six states on the run, and he's still got the pedal to the metal and he's going in class. That tour bus is still missing.

Welcome back, everybody. I'm Nancy Grace. And with me tonight, a living legend, country music star Crystal Gayle. Miss Gayle, have you ever been a crime victim before?

GAYLE: Oh, yes. Little things, from, you know, my billfold being taken, you know? But you know, you set yourself up for that when you leave your purse open.

GRACE: Yes. And what were your immediate thoughts when you heard somebody had taken off with your tour bus?

GAYLE: It was really hard to believe. You know, that's a pretty big vehicle to just steal. So you know, I was sort of in shock in the beginning and -- but you know, I got questions from my son saying, Why aren't you upset? You know, hey, I cannot control it. I'm not going to let it take me there. It's happened. So hopefully, we'll find it.

GRACE: Miss Gayle, I'm just glad you and your voicebox are alive and well, OK? That's what country music fans all over the world are thinking tonight.

To you, Mike Brooks. This guy's still got the pedal to the metal. Last time, he was on the lam two years. Thoughts?

MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLICE, SERVED ON FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: I'll tell you what, Nancy, first of all, I don't know who was watching this guy. It must have been Barney Fyfe (ph) from Texas because with (INAUDIBLE) with having two other escapes, how did they -- they should have been with this guy and had an eye on them all the time they were at the rest stop. It's ridiculous!

Secondly, I wouldn't be surprised, Nancy, if this guy didn't go ahead and get rid of this bus, since it's so noticeable, go ahead and steal another vehicle and try to make his way back up to Tennessee. Now, the Tennessee authorities have said if he does turn himself in in Tennessee, that they would keep him in Tennessee long enough for him to go see his sick mother.

GRACE: To Miss Crystal Gayle. Miss Gayle, again, we're happy tonight that you're still with us, that you were not on that tour bus when the guy took off in it. And I want to thank you...

GAYLE: Thank you.

GRACE: ... from a country music fan of yours -- for being with us tonight.

GAYLE: Oh, my pleasure. Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The formation broke apart at 4,000 feet, allowing each diver to open their main chute. The head of the club says one of the group then saw Van Doren desperately pulling on her reserve. The death plunge ended in a garden close to the drop zone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My neighbor was standing in her garden, and all of a sudden, something fell from the sky and she went looking. She sees something lying in the bushes. Turns out it's the woman whose parachute didn't open.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Tonight: Murder at 13,000 feet. It's called murder in the sky. And is the motive a love triangle? Pat Lalama, what happened?

LALAMA: Well, first, I want to tell you I'm going to go register the following title with the Writers Guild, "Air Affair: Broken Hearts, Broken Strings." What do you think?

GRACE: Like it.

LALAMA: OK, good. Anyway, here's the -- it's not really anything to laugh about. It's one of the most heinous cases I've heard about. Here's the story. There is a man named Marcel, and he's apparently a Dutch guy. Marcel has a girlfriend. She's also a skydiver. The girlfriend, the 22- year-old, Els Clottemans, finds out that Els Van Doren, another member of the skydiving club -- a married woman, by the way, a mother of two -- is also having an affair with Marcel. So the cops think that the first Els clipped the strings and sabotaged her so she'd fall 13,000 feet and die.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both her main parachute and here reserve parachute have been tampered with, the first by binding it and the second by cutting the strings. She died after a spectacular fall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, CNN ANCHOR, NANCY GRACE: Was it murder at 13,000 feet? Many people are calling it murder in the sky. Police now believe motive was a love triangle. Back to you, Pat Lalama. You were saying that this may be over a guy, Marcel, that was within the parachute club?

PAT LALAMA, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Yeah, Nancy, as a matter of fact they were all in the same club and here's what really is so amazing to think about. Imagine this. They all do the jump together. You know how they do, they hold -- I would never do it, but they're all holding hands. Marcel and the defendant, the suspect, break away, and there goes the (INAUDIBLE), the married woman who he was having the affair with, tumbling down. And what's really sickening, she has a video camera on top of her head gear. You actually can see her struggling to try to make it. I mean, I can't imagine anything more horrendous. And the suspect, apparently there was a case where she once tried to run a previous boyfriend down and now cops say that they believe she tried to commit suicide. What they're looking for to really get the case penned in is some DNA evidence that they can find. They're looking for a piece of ribbon somewhere on the ground that may help them further determine. But they pretty much believe it was her.

GRACE: To Dr. Jeff Guardier, author and psychologist, tried to run down a previous boyfriend? And they were all up in the air together? All three of them, and the rest of the parachute club? What does it say to you?

DR. JEFF GUARDIER: It sells to me that this woman, LC, if she is guilty of this is someone who is obsessive, someone who probably has issues, of course, with control, hostility, anger, and certainly someone who has depression. I wouldn't doubt if this woman has received some psychiatric treatment in the past, or whether she is on some sort of medication. That being said, Nancy --

GRACE: Why do you always make excuses for people?

GUARDIER: No excuse.

GRACE: You've never even met this woman and you're talking about she's being depressed.

GUARDIER: That being said, Nancy, I do not believe this woman is psychotic or can use this as a defense if she's charged.

GRACE: She should be depressed. Her friend is dead and she witnessed it. Apparently this woman fell at 130 mph. To Dr. Jonathan Arden, medical examiner. Would it be an immediate death? Would she have any suffering?

DR. JONATHAN ARDEN: Well, she would have the time period of, during the fall, going down and knowing what was going on. I think the emotional suffering of struggling, trying to get the chute out, realizing what your condition is and what's about to happen, that's your suffering. Once you hit the ground, this is a virtually immediate death because of the severity of the blunt impact injuries. As you say, she reaches terminal velocity, which is under 30, as much as 160 miles an hour ideally. And she's going that fast. She's hitting what is essentially an immovable object. There's probably no appreciable padding or anything to cushion the blow. And then depending on how she lands, flat, upright, head first whatever, will dictate the nature of the specifics of the impact injuries Which can be devastating and destructive to her tissue, broken bones, soft tissue injuries, disruption of the head and the brain. There's almost no end of the type of compressive or almost crushing type of injuries that she would suffer. But that's going to happen immediately. And the impact is not going to be the suffering here.

GRACE: You mean the suffering would be her coming down from the sky? Knowing she's about to die?

ARDEN: Oh, yes. Absolutely.

GRACE: Oh, man. Joining us right now, very special guest, Chuck Owen is with us. Mr. Owen is an FAA, certified senior parachute rigger. What is that, Chuck?

CHUCK OWEN, FAA-CERTIFIED SENIOR PARACHUTE RIGGER: That means I'm one of the people who's gone through enough training to prove to the United States government that I can be trusted to pack a reserve parachute and maintain a harness system.

GRACE: All the evidence apparently is pointing to a parachute expert. Why? Can you show us?

OWEN: Yeah. They say that the first malfunction with the main was actually caused by a piece of ribbon that was tied in it somehow. Here we go. Here we have the rig. So, to initiate the opening sequence, someone would actually pull this small chute out. And it would open the main container, just like that. And it would start to pull the main parachute out. Now, what has to happen in order for the parachute to deploy properly is these lines have to un-stow one by one out of the rubber bands that are holding them. If someone were to somehow.

GRACE: Wait a minute, up in the air, you have to yank out --

OWEN: No, this is an automatic process. Once you throw out this pilot (ph) chute, it's about 120-mile-an-hour wind and the process is automatic from that point. What they're saying is that someone took a piece of ribbon and actually tied these together. So they were bound --

GRACE: What are those?

OWEN: These are the suspension lines. These are --

GRACE: That goes from the balloon up top down to you?

OWEN: Correct.

GRACE: So they couldn't -- I don't understand.

OWEN: So let's say there's 120-mile-an-hour wind pulling up you know, with force on this. But these lines are bound. So you can pull and pull and pull and nothing's going to happen.

GRACE: So, the perpetrator tied the wires, or the lines --

OWEN: The lines.

GRACE: The lines together so the parachute up top couldn't expand?

OWEN: Correct. It couldn't fully inflate. If your parachute's not fully inflating, it's obviously it's not going to be something that can fly effectively.

GRACE: Out to the line, Deana in Arizona, hi, Deana.

CALLER: Hi, Nancy. My question is, is there not a supervisor that has to check to make sure that they're packed correctly, even if somebody had already messed with it, don't they have to recheck it before they go up?

GRACE: Good question. What about it, Chuck Owen?

OWEN: Well, absolutely -- the only person who can pack a reserve parachute is an FAA certified senior parachute rigger or master rigger, I'm sorry. As far as checking the equipment every time, there's only an outside check that's done every single time. Let's say you packed your main parachute and went home and came back the next day, you're only going to open the superficial parts to make sure that everything looks just like you left it the day before and that it's ready to go on a jump. You're not actually going to open the parachute and repack it every time.

GRACE: To Mike Brooks, former DC cop, former Fed with the FBI, I keep comparing it, since I've never parachuted, to diving, scuba diving. And when you re-look at your tanks, you know, later in the day, you jiggle them and test them. But you don't look within the machinery to make sure it's still working.

MIKE BROOKS, FMR DC POLICE, SERVED ON FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: No, you don't, Nancy. You know, this is -- that little ribbon they were talking about, some people say it's looking for like a needle in a haystack. You look at the Pan Am 103, the Lockerby case, that was a 75 square mile crime scene where they found two little pieces of key evidence. There's a possibility they can still find that yellow ribbon. But you're right Nancy. It's just like scuba diving. You come in. You rely on somebody else to do it. You look, make sure -- it's just like Chuck said, make sure that everything looks in place and go ahead and use it. But this woman had to think this out, took some time and she had a plan. She carried out that plan and now a woman's dead.

GRACE: Let's take a look at the legal implications. Joining us is Dick Atkins. He's an international attorney. Dick, thank you for being with us. We need some illumination tonight. How does the legal system work there in Belgium? Is it a trial by jury?

DICK ATKINS: It usually, in Belgium, it's not a trial by jury unless it's a very serious case, such as a homicide case. In that case, it is in a special court, and there can be a jury trial. Not at this stage, but later on.

GRACE: Well, in our system, the entire burden is on the prosecution. And according to Pat Lalama and Mike Brooks, they're looking for a piece of ribbon about this big. They may never find it. So if the burden's on the prosecution, I assume that's the way it works in Belgium?

ATKINS: It is. But they don't use the term beyond a reasonable doubt, so it's a slightly easier burden. They tend to have many more confessions, because many people go in without an attorney and many people during this investigative stage, before they're actually charged, don't have an attorney. And they often make confessions.

GRACE: Well, frankly, finding that piece of ribbon, just a few inches long, is like finding a needle in a haystack. It's trial 101, motive evidence. Motive evidence, while the state typically does not have to show motive evidence, that's what they've got here, a love triangle.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KATHLEEN KENNEDY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kathleen Kennedy with your primetime news break.

That landmark settlement between State Farm insurance and thousands of hurricane Katrina victims in Mississippi didn't last long. A Federal judge rejected it Friday. State Farm would have paid at least $50 million to homeowners whose claims were denied, but didn't sue the company.

Six girls in a rural Tennessee high school are charged with conspiracy to commit homicide. Police say the girls posted messages on myspace about killing people and had a list with 300 names on it, including fellow students and celebrities, including Tom Cruise and Oprah, even the Energizer bunny.

An arctic blast is moving through the northeast from Maine to Pennsylvania. Temperatures have dropped to the teens and single digits. Some areas of northern Pennsylvania are seeing lows of minus 10 degrees.

In Erie, Pennsylvania, one person is dead after a massive chain reaction crash during a snowstorm Thursday. The 50-car pileup shut down interstate 90 for nearly 15 hours. I'm Kathleen Kennedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANDY ARNOLD: No one can ever know the impact that it's had on our family. Nicholas was just a light. He was the guy that would step up and do anything for anybody. At any time they needed a friend he was always there. When you see the word friend in the dictionary, there's a picture of Nick. And he would go to any lengths for a friend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: That is Candy Arnold. She is with us live tonight. She is a mother suffering. Not only did she lose her son, really, the all-American dream, you know what he wanted? He wanted to go to school and he wanted to play football. He was not only an athlete, but a scholar. He managed to land a four-year scholarship and played his heart out, a star on the field and off. His life cut short in a hail of bullets. But that's not the end of it. Still, no justice. Oh, yes, people, police believe they know who the killer is, but he is walking free tonight and that is wrong. Mike Brooks, what happened?

MIKE BROOKS: Nancy, it sounds like the detectives screwed up royally.

GRACE: Mm-hmm.

BROOKS: I tell you what, have you been -- having been in law enforcement and been a detective myself I can tell you, once you have mirandized someone and start asking accusatory questions and they say, I want a lawyer. Once they lawyer up, that's it Nancy. You don't go back. You don't hound them. You don't hound the person again and again and again. Once they lawyer up, that's it. You're done.

GRACE: But in this case, there's got to be another way to prove it. Look, I'm going to translate that cop talk you just heard. They gave the perpetrator in this case, gave a confession. He stated his car was the getaway car. He was there in the car. This is the alleged killer. And he's walking free, because his confession was thrown out of evidence. But Mike Brooks, there's got to be more than one way to skin a cat.

BROOKS: There's got to be. In fact, the family is hoping that someone out there has some information, can provide a tip for law enforcement. But Nancy, they're talking about filing to recharge the guy. I want to know what other kind of evidence, is there any kind of forensic evidence from the shell casings on the scene? There were 15 rounds that were shot in this particular case, with this SKS, this AK-47 type rifle. There's got to be some other kind of forensic evidence or are they just resting the whole case on this statement?

GRACE: Let's go out to Nicholas Arnold's mother. She is with us tonight, Candy Arnold. Ms. Arnold, it's a real pleasure to have you on with us and I want to help you in any way that we can. Do you recall the moment that you learned about the shooting?

ARNOLD: Yes, Nancy I do.

GRACE: What happened?

ARNOLD: It was Sunday morning, the 6th of February 2005, Super Bowl Sunday which is a day we always celebrated as a family because we love football. About 7:30 in the morning, there was a knock on the door and there was the police. And they stated that they'd come to give us some information on Nick and we figured, oh, college kid, something happened. They got into some little mischief or whatever. But looking at the face of the police officer that came to give us the information, I didn't think that was the case and that's when he let us know that Nicholas had been killed in a drive-by shooting.

GRACE: When you learned that the suspect who had allegedly given a confession was walking free, what was your response?

ARNOLD: I just couldn't understand how something like that could happen. I didn't understand how the judicial system worked and how, when somebody gave a confession it could just be kind of thrown out. He confessed to doing this and all of a sudden, somebody says, oh, well, no. He should - if he didn't want to talk, if he wanted a lawyer, he should have just shut up and not said another word. But he chose to keep talking is the way I see it.

GRACE: That's a really interesting point in the law. Let's go out to lawyers Greg McCethan (ph) and Penny Douglass Furr. To you Greg McCethan, you were a prosecutor before, you became a defense lawyer and we all know that the law laid down by the U.S. Supreme Court is this. Yes, once someone asks for a lawyer, all questioning must stop until the lawyer gets there. But if the suspect against talking again voluntarily, then police could take down that statement Greg.

GREG McCETHAN: Nancy, you have to be careful in this arena. Remember, once he has invoked his right to have counsel present, that must be honored. However, if there is an occasion that he later changes his mind, that must be evaluated by the court and keep in mind, statements must be freely and voluntarily given. There can be no evidence that law enforcement has given the suspect any slightest hope of benefit or the remotest (INAUDIBLE) in taking the statement.

GRACE: Penny, let's break it down. What are some other ways police can prove this case and why are they sitting on their thumbs?

PENNY DOUGLASS FURR, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, first and foremost, I think that we need to also point out that he asked for an attorney nine different times. And.

GRACE: I believe that's what I asked you Penny, but thank you, go ahead.

FURR: I just wanted to point that out, but they can get evidence. They can get forensic evidence. Once you have the confession, you don't just stop. I mean look at Cooley (ph) and Jessica Lunsford (ph). His statement was thrown out. However, they had so much evidence that it was irrelevant. They can still win the case. They can do that here. They can go to witnesses. They can find a gun. They can get forensic testimony or forensic evidence from the bullets, from the gun.

GRACE: You brought up a really good point Penny. I get where you're going and very quickly, let's follow up on Penny and Greg's suggestion. To you Mike Brooks, a lot of people don't understand that a bullet is like a fingerprint because when a bullet, metal, hurls down the barrel of a gun, that barrel has cooled as it was being created and it has deformities in the barrel and when the bullet flies, high velocity down that barrel, the bullet itself is permanently marked, unlike any other bullet. I don't understand why they're not making more of a push for forensic evidence. I'm talking ballistics, Brooks.

BROOKS: Absolutely, Nancy. You have lands and grooves in a rifle barrel, such as an SKS. The other thing, you also have shell casings that were left at the scene, because once the round is ejected out, the shell casing will lie on the ground until technicians picked it up. And Nancy, there should be, I mean, usually in cases like this, there are usually fingerprints because somebody had to put that bullet into a magazine. Do they have the fingerprint evidence to match it?

GRACE: Very quickly, let's go to Jennifer in Washington. Hi, Jennifer.

CALLER: Hi, Nancy. I was wondering, is the alleged suspect involved in any other criminal activity?

GRACE: Good question. Out to candy Arnold. Miss Arnold, did he have a rap sheet? I understand that he was a gang member. I'm not sure about that.

ARNOLD: Yes, he did. Yes, he did. He had just been arrested a couple of days before, or detained a couple days before the shooting on weapons charges.

GRACE: And there he was, out on the streets again. Tipline, everybody, 520-882-7463.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: What a week in America's courtrooms. Take a look at the stories, and more important, the people who touched all of our lives. Anna Nicole Smith, she should be her very own classy law school, unpaid legal bills, eviction threats, a courtroom showdown, a paternity of her new baby girl. Larry, show up for the test with the baby. Anna Nicole, don't think so.

How could a sex offender enroll himself in Arizona elementary schools passing himself off as a 12-year-old boy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lady that was working there that noticed some discrepancies in the paperwork.

GRACE: Paperwork, shmakerwork. Can't you just look at the guy and tell he's not 12?

Donald Trump does legal battle again, this time with a bunch of millionaires down in Florida who told Trump, he's flying his flag too high. P.S., is that the American flag?

DONALD TRUMP: It's absolutely unbelievable to me. They're fining me $1,250 a day. I don't think anybody ever been fined or made to pay for flying the American flag. This is an absolute disgrace.

GRACE: Is baby Trenton Duckett being held outside U.S. borders? Police now chasing leads the child may have been shipped off to South Korea. Police are looking into whether there was a handoff or some kind of conspiracy and trying to see if anybody on any of those flights had any connection to Melinda Duckett. It's a big job, 12,000 names at the very least.

41-year-old Michael Devlin, charged with snatching two little Missouri boys, straight off the street, holding them captive, one for years, is giving jail house interviews to the media. Is it true he actually tried to complain that it was noisy in the jail?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I guess he's right next to where they process the inmates.

GRACE: Oh, boo-hoo.

Tonight, let's stop our legal discussion to remember Marine Lance Corporal Brent Beeler, 22, Jackson, Michigan, killed Iraq, wanted to enlist since high school. He's a member of what locals call Michigan's band of brothers. He loved his pickup, listening to Hank Williams Jr., water skiing, snowmobiling. Known as Bayou Beeler, he leaves behind a sister Andrea and love parents. Brent Beeler, American hero.

Thank you to our guests but especially to you. Nancy Grace signing off for tonight.

A special good night from the New York control room. Night, Liz! See you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. Until then, good night, friend.

END