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Nancy Grace

No Cause of Death Yet on Jessie Davis

Aired June 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, breaking news. A young Ohio mom, nine months pregnant, just weeks from giving birth to her second child, vanishes from her own home, her 2-year-old son found home alone in dirty diapers by grandmother, possibly alone for days. The toddler tells police, "Mommy was crying," "Mommy broke the table," "Mommy is in the rug."
Headlines tonight. All eyes on the medical examiner`s office. The autopsy is done, and now we wait on an official cause of death on Jessie and her unborn baby girl, Chloe. Is Jessie`s body too decomposed to determine a cause of death? And will that affect a potential trial?

And tonight, more light shed on the timeline surrounding Jessie`s death as the district attorney`s office weighs preliminary hearing versus secret grand jury indictment. And tonight, Jessie`s family plans a funeral. When will Jessie`s body be brought home?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When Jessie first met Bobby, she was under the impression that he was a divorced man with children. That, you know, scenario played out for several years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So even once -- because at the time, as I understand it, he and his wife, Kelly Cutts, were separated when they first met and then got back together. So even after they got back together, Jessie Davis was still under the impression that this was a divorced man who, you know, wasn`t back with his wife.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. I believe that it was around the time that little Blake was born that the whole truth began to emerge to Jessie and to her family that, in fact, Bobby Cutts was still married to his wife, Kelly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, a major superstar WWE wrestler, Chris Benoit, his wife and 7-year-old son all found dead in their upscale home in a gated community, Atlanta suburbs. The wrestling star and his entire family wiped out? What role, if any, did anabolic steroids play in the crime?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Autopsies were performed on all three subjects. We are now looking at this case and ruling it as a double homicide/suicide.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... cops saying in a press conference just a couple of hours ago that they found the wrestler hanging by a pulley (INAUDIBLE) his own home gym. And they also found Bibles beside the bodies of his wife and 7-year-old son.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight.

Before we head live to Ohio, I have breaking news of my own. When I lost my fiance to violent crime so many years ago, wife, much less mother, did not seem part of God`s plan for me. My life for 20 years has been representing crime victims in and out of court. I`m happy to report the plan for my life has made a U-turn. This past April, I married David, and tonight announce that we are expecting twins. So to all of you who think there may be no light at the end of the tunnel, there is. And I have wedding photos to share at the end of the show. So thank you for sharing my joy.

And now to Ohio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ;

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was Bobby Cutts, Jr.`s, first court appearance since he was charged with the murder of his former girlfriend, Jessie Davis, and her unborn child. She was nine months pregnant. A friend of Cutts`s, Myisha Ferrell, was charged with obstruction of justice. Both Cutts and Ferrell were arrested after investigators found Davis`s badly decomposed body in a park on Saturday. And while Cutts has maintained his innocence, a source close to the investigation tells CNN Cutts was the one who led investigators to Davis`s body. Cutts`s attorney would not comment on the nature of their relationship. Investigators only say that Ferrell is a high school friend of Cutts`s and that she`s unemployed. Authorities searched her home on Saturday night, but still have not revealed what they found.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where was Bobby Cutts at the time Jessie Davis was murdered? Reports say Cutts, charged with murdering Jessie and her unborn baby, was more than an hour late for a coaching meeting around the time investigators believe Jessie was killed. Cutts was due at the meeting at 9:00 AM but didn`t show up until an hour-and-a-half later. Autopsy results revealing Jessie`s cause of death are expected soon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The condition of the body is such that finding the cause of death is extremely difficult for them. They`re still conducting tests. They are not putting a timeframe on this. And there`s no cause, you know, pending. Nothing (INAUDIBLE) right now. This could take a week or more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And now all the headlines tonight. The very latest in the case of 26-year-old Jessie Marie Davis, as you know, her body found over the weekend, still carrying unborn baby girl baby Chloe.

Out to Phil Trexler with "The Akron Beacon-Journal." The autopsy is done. Why don`t we have a cause of death?

PHIL TREXLER, "AKRON BEACON-JOURNAL": Well, Nancy, I`m being told in conversations with the medical examiner`s office this afternoon that tests are still being done and the body of Jessie Marie Davis is unfortunately badly decomposed. The person I spoke to used words such as extensive and advanced decomposition. And it`s certainly presenting a challenge to the office there.

GRACE: Tell me something, Phil -- Phil joining us tonight again from "The Akron Beacon-Journal." Have we learned whether Jessie was buried? Was she left out in the open? I`ve had a lot of -- well, some homicides where the body was simply covered in leaves or greenery. What do we know? Have we learned anything about how she was left there in the national park?

TREXLER: From my observations and from speaking to people connected with this case, she was not placed in a shallow grave. There was no digging. There was no burying. She was placed in a remote area of the park, in the open. And she was there, obviously, for several -- eight, nine, ten days. And that`s the result of the decomposition.

GRACE: To Dr. Andrea Macari. Andrea, I was going to come to you later on in the show, but I`m just trying to imagine killing -- maybe in a fit of rage, I don`t know -- killing your loved one, the mother of your child -- she`s two weeks away from giving birth to baby Chloe -- killing and then leaving the body out in the open in a national park, where there are animals, where there are predators, bugs, the elements, the rain, the heat. I don`t get it.

ANDREA MACARI, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, Nancy, there must be something very threatening about a pregnant woman because we know that the rates of homicide -- leading cause of death in pregnant women. And the incidence of injuries even greater. About 26 percent of pregnant women are injured by their partners. We also know that women are greater (ph) to hurt a pregnant woman. Men have increased chances of hurting a pregnant women. Pregnant women are very, very vulnerable. It`s a very sad state of affairs.

GRACE: But Andrea, the additional aspect of leaving the body out in the open -- I mean, my God, if you would drive by a person that had died in a car accident or from some type of a fluke and you see this, would you just keep going and leave the body lying there? Say somebody has a heart attack at a local mall and you find him in a corridor, would you just leave them there? No! You`d at least call 911. What is the additional mental or psychological element it requires to leave someone`s body out in the open, in the elements like that?

MACARI: Well, I think it just shows an utter disrespect for women. I think that there`s a great (INAUDIBLE) misogyny going on in America. It`s our nation`s dirty little secret, and I think it`s cases like this that bring it to the forefront.

GRACE: I want to go back to Phil Trexler with "The Akron Beacon- Journal." So is it your understanding at this juncture, Phil, that the body is so decomposed that the coroner cannot determine cause of death.

TREXLER: Well, no cause of death has been determined as of yet. (INAUDIBLE) there`s more testing that needs to be done.

GRACE: But wait a minute. The autopsy`s done.

TREXLER: Well, there`s still some toxicology testing that`s going to be done, some tissue sampling that`s going to be tested. They`re not done. They have not reached a conclusion on her cause of death. They`re hopeful that they will. They`re hopeful that he body can be released to the family by Friday, and they`re hopeful that they can establish a cause of death.

GRACE: I spoke very briefly with Jessie`s mom tonight, Patty Porter, who`s been with us on many nights. She`s just exhausted.

Out to Ed Esposito. He is joining us from WAKR 1590 AM. Her voice sounded as tired as anybody I`ve ever spoken to, out of all the cases I`ve tried. She`s just exhausted. They`ve been trying to plan the funeral today. But when is the body going to come home, Ed Esposito?

ED ESPOSITO, WAKR 1590: That`s a great question, Nancy, and nobody can imagine what this family is going through. But as Phil pointed out, the issue is, until they get these toxicology reports, they don`t have a cause of death. It`s going to be very difficult when they go into this preliminary hearing or taking information before the grand jury, the prosecutors, unless they have more evidence, evidence we`re clearly not seeing right now.

GRACE: I don`t get it, Mike Brooks. Why -- I know that toxicology reports are SOP, standard operating procedure. But why can`t they give Jessie to her family? Haven`t they been through enough? I mean, why -- they`ve gotten tissue. They`ve gotten blood samples. They`ve gotten everything they can from soft tissue. Why can`t they give the body over? And what difference does it make if she had taken a sleeping pill or if she had had a beer? Or what do we care?

MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLICE, SERVED ON FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: No, it doesn`t make a difference, Nancy. And I -- most likely, the body will be turned over by Friday. Cause of death -- from his statements, from the statements of Myisha Ferrell, from the evidence that`s there on the scene, they should be able to determine cause of death. You know, they`re doing it the right way, though. They`re not giving out any information whatsoever. I tell you, if I was an investigator on this case, I`d be very proud of everyone involved because they`re holding everything very close to the vest. For us in the media, we want to know, and everybody else wants to know. But I think you`ll probably see the body released by Friday. They`re probably taking bone...

GRACE: Friday? Hello? Check. Reality check. Last I looked, today is Tuesday. Why? Why does the body -- why does Jessie and baby Chloe have to sit in a drawer at the medical examiner`s office until Friday? Why can`t they put her to rest?

BROOKS: I know, Nancy...

GRACE: The grave that she deserves.

BROOKS: It`s very, very distressing. It`s distressing to me, also. But they want to make sure that they cross all the T`s and dot all the I`s. And you know, both the Stark County sheriff`s office and FBI -- they want to make sure that they have a rock solid case against this rogue cop.

GRACE: You know, Susan Moss, I don`t know how people can sleep at night, knowing that their beloved, their loved one, is in a drawer over at the medical examiner`s office. I think just out of respect for the family -- the autopsy is done. They`re just waiting on toxicology report. Why don`t they let her go home?

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Well, the reason is because in this case, justice has to come first. And I think Mom Patty would understand that. And I`m so thankful that Mom Patty has agreed to be in the courtroom throughout these proceedings because she puts a face to this crime. She puts a face on the families of victims of domestic violence everywhere. There`s been a lot of publicity in this case, but there are so many hundreds of other victims of domestic violence, and Patty stands up for them, as well.

GRACE: Out to the lines. Cathy in Michigan. Hi, Cathy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Love you, and congratulations!

GRACE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m wondering what kind of long-term effect this is going to have on Blake, having seen his mother murdered in front of him.

GRACE: Cathy, another thing we reported last night, that they have given little Blake -- he`s 2 years old and apparently was there at the time his mom was murdered. And this is the defendant`s biological son, left there in the home for, we believe, about two days, until the grandmother came home and found him there. Horrible! And I don`t know why there hasn`t been a charge of endangerment to a child`s life with Blake as the victim.

But long story short, Cathy in Michigan, they have given him an old cell phone, and he keeps calling his mother, you know, trying to talk to her on the telephone.

Andrea Macari, clinical psychologist -- Dr. Macari, how long -- I was asked today, shouldn`t they take the phone away from the little boy? Isn`t this damaging him? I would think it would damage him if you took the phone away from him.

MACARI: I think it`s fine for him to have the phone, but I think what your viewers need to know, that no matter what tragic or horrific events you experience in your life, you are not damned for eternity. So even Blake, who lost his mother in this horrific, horrific accident, it doesn`t -- I`m getting choked up just talking about it because I think this is such a sick, sick case, that this is what`s going on in this world. But even him, despite this tragedy, will have a good future.

GRACE: Well, my concern also, Dr. Macari, is that, apparently, he witnessed the murder of his mother. And the other night, I was asking the mom, Patty Porter, if the baby had said anything else, and she said, He has, but I can`t comment on it. He saw what happened! What will that do to him?

MACARI: Nancy, you know, often, you know, With a Ph.D. after my name, I like to think of myself as having all the answers, but cases like this tell me and reminds me that we don`t always know. We don`t always know.

GRACE: You`re right. Out to the lines. Nicole in Texas. Hi, Nicole.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. How`re you doing?

GRACE: I`m good, dear.

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Thank you. What`s your question, Nicole?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a question. One of the other callers, she kind of answered it for me, though. With him leaving Blake at home alone for that long period of time, would they possibly bring him up later on charges of endangering the life of a minor?

GRACE: Let`s unleash the lawyers. You`ve already met Susan Moss out of New York. Tonight, also With us also out of the Atlanta jurisdiction, Ray Giudice, a veteran trial lawyer, and Kevin Mincey out of Philadelphia. Ray, what`s the hold-up? Will there be child endangerment charges? And if not, why not?

RAY GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I think there might be. When this case gets presented to the government, which I think they will do rather than go to a probable cause hearing, you`re going to see a lot of charges. I think you`ll see an aggravated assault charge. I believe you`ll see a kidnapping charge. I believe you`ll see the endangerment of a child charge, in addition to the two homicide charges. What the police charge is not what`s really all that important. What comes out of the grand jury in the form of an indictment is the important charging document.

GRACE: Kevin Mincey, why does Giudice say what the police charge him with at this juncture is not what governs?

KEVIN MINCEY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, police can go ahead and charge him with whatever they want to, but in the end, it falls on the prosecutor to be able to prove what they allege happened. And so it`s going to come down to whatever comes out of that grand jury. Whatever they`re able to prove is going to be on the indictment. So it doesn`t matter what the police end up charging him with.

GRACE: Joining us tonight, Dr. Michael Hunter, medical examiner out of Florida, an expert in his field. Dr. Hunter, I want to talk about the fact that we still don`t have a cause of death. Now, talk to me tonight. If the body is too decomposed, which it`s out in the elements, according to Phil Trexler`s knowledge as of tonight -- can they establish a cause of death? And how -- let`s go through asphyxiation, blunt force, stabbing, gunshots. Explain.

DR. MICHAEL HUNTER, MEDICAL EXAMINER: Yes, well, you know, I think we were led to believe that the victim had been buried, and that would have retarded the decomposition process. A victim who`s out in the elements, has direct sunlight, all that heat affecting the body is going to greatly - - and I mean greatly -- accelerate the decomposition process. So because of that and the fact that you may have scavenging animals associated with that body, I don`t think you can necessarily rule out a penetrating injury to this body. Can you rule out a gunshot wound or a perforating injury like a stab wound? I don`t think this is going to be possible because of that type of decomposition.

GRACE: Well, wait a minute. Hold on. Hold on. If there was a gunshot wound, we would possibly have the gunshot -- have the bullet still in the body, or at least one of the bones nicked. If there had been -- example, in the O.J. Simpson case, apparently, the back of the -- the inside of the back neck bone was nicked with the knife. The knife went through her neck. So you could see that neck. If there`s anything left of the hyloid, maybe we could see a fracture of that to show strangulation. I mean, there are ways to determine, even with decomposition, the cause of death.

HUNTER: And that may play into why we see this delay. The delay may not be because of toxicology. The delay may be more in trying to identify skeletal injuries. They may be bringing an anthropologist in to look at the skeletal system, see if there are those types of findings. Is there a nick to the bone that could represent maybe a stab wound? Is there injury elsewhere on the skeleton that could represent (INAUDIBLE) a gunshot wound? So...

GRACE: Well, Dr. Hunter, you`re giving me the first reason that I can understand as to why they would delay handing this body over to the family.

Out to the lines. Kim in Ohio. Hi, Kim.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: What`s your question, dear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, if they can`t find the cause of death, will Bobby Cutts still be charged with murder?

GRACE: Mike Brooks?

BROOKS: Absolutely, he will. I can guarantee they`re just -- that`s not a question at all. And hopefully, Bobby Cutts is having -- is having a very, very lengthy discussion with the prosecutors and the FBI as we speak, telling them exactly what happened to save himself from the death penalty.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cutts`s attorney would not comment on the nature of their relationship. Investigators only say that Ferrell is a high school friend of Cutts`s and that she`s unemployed. Authorities searched her home on Saturday night, but still have not revealed what they found. Davis`s mother said her daughter did not know Ferrell. She also says Cutts is not the man she thought she knew.

PATTY PORTER, MOTHER OF JESSIE DAVIS: We knew Bobby Cutts up to a certain day in this, and from that day on, we did not know him at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Tonight, the mom, Patty Porter, Waiting on her daughter`s body to come home, and that of the unborn granddaughter, baby Chloe.

Back to Phil Trexler with "The Akron Beacon-Journal." We learned a little bit more about the timeline, as well. Explain.

TREXLER: Yes. Today "The Canton Repository" reported that Bobby Cutts was late for a job interview on the Thursday morning. He was supposed to be there at 9:00, didn`t show up until 10:30. That`s an unexplained absence there. And also -- it`s also been reported that he had a 2:00 AM phone call to a woman he`s supposed to be having an affair with. So again...

GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute! Another woman? He`s got all these children by three different women, and he`s out trying to pick somebody up the night he`s supposed to have visitation? Am I crazy? Did I just hear that, Phil Trexler?

TREXLER: That`s what "The Canton Repository" is reporting, that there is, in fact, another woman on his list, and he tried to reach her at 2:00 AM the night Jessie is believed to have been killed.

GRACE: Ed Esposito with WAKR 1590 AM, so how will this affect the timeline? We`ve got him leaving Champs sports bar and restaurant around 12:30 AM after apparently flirting with a couple of women there. That`s no felony. Now we`ve got this phone call at 2:00 AM, and he`s late to a meeting the next morning. What does it say to you, Ed?

ESPOSITO: Well, it says to me he`s got a lot of time he`s got to explain. That 2:00 o`clock phone call, too, by the way, Nancy, was from a woman, according to "The Repository," who`s married to another man. So she was reluctant to come in and actually talk about this. But they do have this phone call from her, and they`re trying to figure out where Bobby Cutts was up until 9:00 o`clock in the morning.

GRACE: Hey, lady, get ready. You`re going to be a witness.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

PORTER: We`re trying to get her boyfriend on the phone because he got -- he had to have dropped the baby off yesterday because he had...

911 OPERATOR: OK, dropped what baby off?

PORTER: The 2-year-old. He`s been here -- he`s by himself, and my daughter`s gone.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

GRACE: Welcome back, everybody. The family of Jessie Marie Davis now waiting for Jessie to come home from the medical examiner`s office.

Out to Diane in Pennsylvania. Hi, Diane.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nancy, how are you?

GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I just wanted to know, if Bobby Cutts confesses to the murder and he does not, you know, get the death penalty, can the family do anything about that? Can they change that ruling?

GRACE: You mean if a jury doesn`t hand it down or if the DA decides not to seek it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the DA does not decide to seek it.

GRACE: No. They can appeal to the district attorney`s office, but there is really no recourse for them. But Diane, I spoke to the family, and they said publicly the other night they`re not interested in revenge, they`re interested in justice, which makes me have the interpretation they`re not dead set on the death penalty. That may change, though, by the time of trial, Diane.

We`ll all be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... are learning more about the man accused of killing a pregnant Ohio woman. Bobby Cutts Jr. is now jailed on a $5 million bond. He is a married Canton police officer, father of three. But the mother of victim Jessie Davis says she feels now like she never knew him at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were reports today in the Canton Repository that Bobby was late for a job interview with the school district. It happened Thursday morning at 9:00. He was supposed to be there, didn`t show up until 10:30 according to the Repository. And the timeframe between 12:30 a.m. Thursday and 10:30 a.m. Thursday, a kind blank right now in terms of what we know in the public.

OPERATOR: How many people are in the house?

PATTY PORTER, JESSIE DAVIS` MOTHER: Oh, there are just two neighbors.

OPERATOR: OK. We need to get everybody out of the house.

PORTER: OK.

OPERATOR: OK. Don`t let anybody touch anything or disturb anything.

PORTER: Just go out, OK.

OPERATOR: OK. I want everybody to go outside.

PORTER: OK. We`re going.

OPERATOR: OK. Don`t touch the doors. Don`t touch anything.

PORTER: Don`t touch anything.

OPERATOR: OK. Has anybody been in contact with the father recently?

PORTER: No.

OPERATOR: No?

PORTER: He was supposed to have had him all day yesterday. That`s why we didn`t talk to her. And then he was supposed to have brought him home last night.

OPERATOR: OK. OK. But you`re sure that the baby is OK?

PORTER: Yes, he`s OK.

OPERATOR: OK. Was he crying when you there?

PORTER: No...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: The autopsy is complete. Now the family of 26-year-old Jessie Marie Davis is awaiting the return of her body. But still we do not have a cause of death. Also tonight new light shed on a possible timeline. Also, is the body so decomposed that a cause of death cannot be established? Will that affect a potential trial?

Out to you, Mike Brooks, former fed with the FBI, the cell phone calls, it`s now becoming apparent that police had them earlier and they were just faking us out. Why?

MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I wouldn`t say they were faking us out, Nancy. I think they wanted to go ahead, make an analysis of all of the calls and then work on their own timeline. Let him go ahead and dig his own ditch. Because, you know, as he was going along, they were putting a little pressure on him.

I think they were calling him a person of interest, which I can`t stand to begin with. I would call it "suspect light." Or they weren`t calling him a suspect because they wanted to see what he was going to do, how he was going to act, what kind of moves he was going to make, because I guarantee you, Nancy, they had someone on him. He was under surveillance the whole time while they were doing all of the analysis of the cell phone calls.

And they would bring him back in, I`m hearing from a source, and talk to him. They talked to him three or four times. They didn`t have to ask him for a polygraph because they had all of the evidence they needed.

GRACE: Another thing, out to the lawyers, let`s unchain them. Susan Moss, Ray Giudice, Kevin Mincey, another issue is whether they were surveilling him the whole time. What about the possibility -- they know he`s a cop, he may get wise between all his various visits and shenanigans with all these women, that he was being followed. Doubtful, but maybe. What about, Ray Giudice, the constitutionality of a GPS tracker stuck on his car?

RAY GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I think they can do that. I think the other thing they can do, as Mike alluded to, is reverse his cell phone that he may have been dragging around on the date in question, and to find out where his pings were.

Did those pings put him in the geographic region of the victim`s home or as an alibi, did they put him somewhere else geographically? I think Mike has nailed this. These officers and investigators, with the help of the FBI, I think did a pretty thorough job on this fellow.

GRACE: What about the constitutionality, Kevin Mincey, of a GPS tracker stuck up under your back tire?

KEVIN MINCEY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think it`s the equivalent of just following somebody behind in a car. It`s not that they can see what he is doing or able to look inside of buildings that he goes into, so it`s not like they are violating his privacy rights.

GRACE: But, Susan Moss, if that was used, if that technique was used, which is becoming very attractive to police, we`ll hear about it at trial, the defense will try to get that suppressed.

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTY. & CHILD ADVOCATE: Well, they will try to get it suppressed, but they will fail. You do not have a constitutional right not to be followed and this is the technological equivalent of that.

GRACE: Joining us tonight is a very special guest that I know personally. It is Thelma Soares. This is the mother, you all remember, Lori Hacking. Lori was pregnant at the time she was killed by her husband, Mark Hacking.

Ms. Soares, thank you for being with us.

THELMA SOARES, LORI HACKING`S MOTHER: Hi, Nancy. It`s good to speak with you again. And congratulations on that good news, that`s great.

GRACE: Ms. Soares, thank you. I never thought I would be so lucky, and I`m just truly blessed.

SOARES: Yes, you are.

GRACE: When you heard the news about Jessie Marie Davis, she was just two weeks away from giving birth. Now I know that Lori was a little earlier in her pregnancy. What was your thought regarding her mom, Patty Porter, and family?

SOARES: Well, I just relived that awful time when I was going through what they were. I immediately relived those first few hours. You are just desperate. And as I heard some of the playback you played on your program earlier, I recognized the desperation in her mother`s voice.

That`s exactly how I felt as I was driving from my home up to Salt Lake. I shouldn`t have been driving, actually. I was crying, I was desperate, and I shouldn`t have been on the freeway, but I was.

And my heart just went out to her and to all of their family. Nothing I can say or anyone else can say will ease this debilitating anguish that her parents and her family are feeling right now. No one understands that except -- you know, the depth of that sorrow, except someone who has been through that.

GRACE: Ms. Soares, is there actually a relief when you find the body of your loved one?

SOARES: Yes. For me, even though it meant acknowledging Lori`s death, it was easier knowing what had happened than it was not knowing where she was or who she was with. Because thinking that someone might be torturing her was just despair beyond description. It was easier for me to actually know, even though it meant acknowledging her death.

GRACE: Thelma, when you look back, as the evidence started to mount against Mark Hacking -- I remember it very well. I remember covering it with Larry King. Did you -- how hard was it to accept a person you knew and loved could do such a thing?

SOARES: Oh, there just aren`t words to express that. That was awful. It was -- even when we found out that he had not been accepted to North Carolina and that he hadn`t even graduated here from the University of Utah, I still could not accept the fact that he had anything to do with Lori`s death.

That came as a real double whammy when we found out the truth about that. That just left everyone stunned speechless.

GRACE: What is the name and Web site for your foundation?

SOARES: Oh, well, I don`t really have a foundation. It`s just...

GRACE: It`s at a school, right?

SOARES: It`s -- Lori`s scholarship. If they go to the University of Utah Web site, they yes. And I -- just remember Lori, I can get into my computer -- you know, on rememberlori.com. But you can get it from the University of Utah Web site.

GRACE: And I just want you to know that we do very much remember Lori. Out to the lines, Laura in Michigan, hi, Laura.

CALLER: Hi, Nancy, love your show. Congratulations.

GRACE: Thank you.

CALLER: I`d like to know why the FAA would not let Equasearch put that drone up?

GRACE: Oh, OK. I`ve got that one, we asked the same thing, because of a nearby airport. Apparently they couldn`t get their schedule straight, Laura. You would think that in a case like this they could, but that was the excuse they gave. Pretty flimsy.

Out to Tammy in Ohio. Hi, Tammy.

CALLER: Hi. Hey, I just had a question, the 2-year-old little boy who always said mommy did this, mommy was wrapped in the rug. Why did he never mention daddy?

GRACE: Actually, I believe, Phil Trexler, back me up on this, that he may have, but Patty Porter would not release that on the air.

PHIL TREXLER, AKRON BEACON JOURNAL: Yes. Exactly, as we said yesterday, that little Blake has talked to social workers from children`s services and he has obviously made some statement that we don`t know.

GRACE: And very quickly, Courtney in Texas, hi, Courtney.

CALLER: Nancy, I`m expecting my twins in 10 days. So congratulations to you.

GRACE: Bless you.

CALLER: I wanted to know, what do you think the chances are that the Cutts family might try get custody of this young boy and then how do you think that would play out if they do?

GRACE: Very quickly, Ed Esposito (ph), are they making moves to get custody? I haven`t heard a word about it.

ED ESPOSITO, WAKR 1590 AM: I haven`t heard a word about that, Nancy. I don`t think there is any move toward that whatsoever. It would be very, very doubtful for that to happen. It looks like little Blake is going to be with the Porters.

GRACE: And very quickly, when we come back, a World Wrestling superstar and his entire family wiped out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fayette County officials revealed some of the circumstances surrounding the death of the Benoit family and why they called them "bizarre." Investigators say that they believe Chris Benoit sometime Friday night strangled his wife and then early Saturday morning asphyxiated his young song and then perhaps late Saturday night went into the basement where his weight room was and hung himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: A World Wrestling Entertainment superstar wiped out, along with his entire family. Out to Alex Marvez with the South Florida Sun- Sentinel. What happened?

ALEX MARVEZ, SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL: Nancy, just a terrible scene today painted by the Fayette County district attorney, Scott Ballard. Talking about Nancy Benoit, Chris`s wife, be -- having her hands and legs tied together and then being strangled with a cord. Chris Benoit then waiting to go ahead and asphyxiate his son Daniel sometime on Saturday morning before believed hanging himself Saturday night.

I mean, it`s a gruesome scene. I mean, Daniel Benoit was found dead in his own bed in the upstairs bedroom. A Bible was placed next to their bodies by Chris Benoit, who then hung himself using some of the weight equipment in his own basement. Nancy, it is a situation that has rocked the pro wrestling world.

GRACE: Well, has anybody thought of steroids?

MARVEZ: Well, I mean, you can say -- there were steroids found inside Chris Benoit`s house. I mean, the World Wrestling Entertainment is claiming that Chris Benoit passed a steroid test in April, and they are saying that those steroids weren`t necessarily in his body at the time that was happening.

You can take a look at the physique of a Chris Benoit, I think, and make your own determinations. This is a guy who is about 5`10". He is a rock solid individual, carrying about 220 pounds on his frame. The `roid rage connection, though, Nancy, I have a little bit of a problem with, because to me, this was a cold, meticulated (ph) act. This was not `roid rage incident of someone just snapping. This is someone who killed his wife at one time, waits for several hours, kills his son and then goes ahead and kills himself later that night.

GRACE: What you`re seeing is a tribute to Chris Benoit by the WWE. It aired on USA Network Monday night. To Scott Ballard, the elected district attorney in Fayette County.

Scott, it`s great to talk to you again. I`m a little twisted up here as to why we are having a tribute to a guy that murdered his wife. Apparently there were bruises on her back and in her front where she was kneed down before she was strangled, and his 7-year-old child, before he hung himself on his own weights. The glamorization of that kind of person, I don`t get it, Scott.

SCOTT BALLARD, FAYETTE COUNTY, GA., D.A.: Yes, if he did this, and all indications right now -- we don`t have another suspect, if he did it, it was horrendous. To walk in that little boy`s room and see pictures of his daddy on the wall, to see the toy wrestlers on the shelves, to see miniature wrestling championship belts on his chair, it was clear that this boy trusted and idolized his daddy. And if he killed him, it`s horrific.

GRACE: And I know, Alex Marvez, who is an expert, says this guy didn`t use steroids to just to look at him. But none of the guys I work with look like that. OK? The whole steroid thing, why would he have all of those steroids if he wasn`t taking them?

BALLARD: Yes, I mean, there were steroids found in the building. We have got to wait for the toxicology results to come back before we know what was in his body.

GRACE: But, Scott -- with us, the elected district attorney there in Fayette Country, Georgia, Scott, are you planning any charges against anyone or is this contained, is this a murder-suicide?

BALLARD: At the moment that is how we`re viewing it, as a murder- suicide. And of course, as we get additional investigation going and as we get more information in, if there`s anything that points to another party`s involvement, we`ll follow it because our primary concern of course is the safety of the people in the community and if there`s a killer at large, we want to know it. But all of the evidence right now suggests that right now that there is no killer at large.

GRACE: Back to Alex Marvez with the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Alex, what tipped everybody off that there was something amiss?

MARVEZ: Well, Chris Benoit is a guy who never missed shows. I mean, he was one of the most well-respected performers in the wrestling industry. And then he doesn`t show up for Saturday night`s show. In fact, he had sent some text messages to a fellow co-worker -- very alarming text messages. And you know, that co-worker went ahead, alerted a WWE official.

When Chris Benoit did not show up for a Sunday night pay-per-view event in Houston, Texas, WWE officials called the police in Fayette County. The police came over and they found the murder scene.

And, Nancy, I just want to add real quick that I truly believe the WWE regrets doing that tribute show last night because I don`t think that they had everything -- all of the knowledge that they now have.

In fact, from what I understand, Vince McMahon himself is going to offer an apology on tonight`s ECW telecast that`s going to be airing, as well as the fact the WWE has removed almost all tribute stuff from their Web site regarding Chris Benoit.

I think that they made a rash reaction not knowing exactly what had happened, went ahead, aired a tribute show. But you`re not going to see any more tributes to Chris Benoit on WWE programming.

GRACE: You know what, Alex Marvez -- Alex joining us from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, I`m really glad to hear that and I want to thank you for sharing that with us.

Everyone, on other note, again, I want to thank you for sharing tonight`s joy in my life. And here are those photos I promised. There I am with my great-grandmother`s Bible coming down the aisle. That was my groom earlier, David, and there we are again just before we dug into a homemade wedding cake.

Tonight, "CNN Heroes."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB NAMENG, "CHAMPIONING CHILDREN": When I look at children, I see them like flowers. Flowers have got the right to blossom. These kids don`t deserve these conditions that they find themselves in in Kliptown. No proper infrastructure, no good sanitation, no school, no facilities around.

We come from very difficult times. Apartheid time, 3,000 people came together in 1955 in Kliptown which led now to the adoption of the Freedom Charter, which forms the constitution of South Africa.

For me, it`s a contradiction because all those things that are written there, I don`t see any of them happening in our community. Young people are bored, hanging around doing nothing. Nobody is talking to these kids. Nobody`s telling them how special they are. Nobody is trying to say to them, let your little light shine.

My name is Bob Nameng and I`m the founder of Soweto Kliptown Youth Foundation. There`s a feeding program where we give our kids meals, three meals a day. There`s educational programs where kids are being given access to computer, library, where kids are learning.

This will improve (INAUDIBLE) vocabulary (INAUDIBLE). So that is good.

What we`re doing is community work to help and make a difference in our own community. I`m a ghetto child. I know life in the ghetto. Children live what they see. So if we live a positive life, then we`re setting a good example to our children.

If people can know that they own this community, lots of things can start moving in a positive way. I believe one day things are going to be OK because after darkness, there`s light.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: To HEADLINE PRIME`s Glenn Beck.

Hi, friend.

GLENN BECK, HOST, "GLENN BECK": Well, before Congress goes on their summer vacation, you know, after a long session of doing very little, if anything, they voted on immigration today. In a bit I`ll tell you how it all played out and how businesses are still trying to skirt the law by hiring cheap foreign labor.

Then, no matter how you feel about the gun issue, I have got a story that is hard to argue with about a quick-thinking Marine who used his side arm to stop a cop killer. It`s a video you can`t miss.

And then, free at last, free at last, thank the god of entertainment, Paris is free at last. All of that and more, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators seal off the home of wrestling superstar Chris Benoit. Deputies discover the bodies of Benoit, his wife Nancy, and his 7-year-old son Daniel inside around 2:30, after Benoit failed to show up for a wrestling event over the weekend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: A WWE superstar found dead in his home, along with his entire family. Out to Mike Brooks, former fed with the FBI, what else do we know about the scene?

BROOKS: Well, Nancy, apparently, you know, with the Bibles, we don`t know a motive at all about this scene, but apparently from what I`m hearing, it was just an unbelievably gruesome scene.

GRACE: Well, didn`t she file for divorce in 2003, citing she was afraid of him?

BROOKS: There were supposedly some filings against her and she also had some history of domestic violence. And I think the other thing he had was also a...

(AUDIO GAP)

GRACE: To Lee Anne in Minnesota. Hi, Leanne.

CALLER: Hi, congrats, Nancy.

GRACE: Thank you.

CALLER: You know, that was my question, did he have any prior domestics against him? Wasn`t there any warning signs?

GRACE: There were, Lee Anne. And didn`t she drop the divorce -- didn`t she drop everything, Mike Brooks?

BROOKS: Yes, Nancy. As a matter of fact -- and you know, we see a lot of cases like that in domestic violence where they file and then they go ahead and drop it and then they wind up like this.

GRACE: I want to thank Mike Brooks and especially Scott Ballard and Alex Marvez and Thelma Soares for being with us. Let`s stop to remember Army Specialist Keith Nepsa, 21, New Philadelphia, Ohio, killed Iraq, reenlisting after serving three years to fulfill a dream, a career in computers, other dream, restoring his `85 Camaro. Best friends plan to restore the car in his honor, remember his big laugh and unique hairstyle, awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. Keith Nepsa, an American hero.

Thanks to you to our guests but especially to for being with us. And again, thank you for sharing my joy. Until tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern, good night.

END