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Nancy Grace
Child Neglect Charge Dropped Against Casey Anthony
Aired October 21, 2008 - 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, police desperately searching for a beautiful little 3-year-old Florida girl, Caylee, after her grandparents report her missing, little Caylee now not seen for 18 long weeks, last seen with her mother. So why didn`t Mommy call police?
Bombshell tonight. The state drops charges against tot mom Casey Anthony after a Florida grand jury hands down seven-count indictment on murder one, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter, and of course, lying to police. The state drops a major charge of child neglect. The defense has yet to file motions for a change of venue or even a speedy trial, and not a single move has been made for the defense to test any of the forensic evidence.
More money shows up in mom Casey`s jail account, clearing the way for snacks, make-up, shoes, lingerie, hair and skin care products. Also, tot mom Casey Anthony continues her routine, sleeping, reading, eating, lounging all day long in a private jail cell while the search outside goes on for her little girl. So far, Anthony`s family not making a single visit to the jail. Why? Tonight, where is Caylee?
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CASEY ANTHONY, MOTHER OF MISSING TODDLER: I have no clue where she is.
I`m absolutely petrified.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After indicting tot mom Casey Anthony on capital murder and six other charges, prosecutors have decided to drop the original charge of child neglect that Anthony was arrested on back in July.
CINDY ANTHONY, GRANDMOTHER OF MISSING TODDLER: She`s not -- one thing I know is she loves that child!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The state says that Anthony was initially charged with child neglect on the grounds that Caylee was still alive. However, as the investigation moved forward and evidence was collected, it became obvious that Caylee is now likely dead.
GEORGE ANTHONY, GRANDFATHER OF MISSING TODDLER: My granddaughter is alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meanwhile, Casey Anthony`s defense team has added a high-profile Miami attorney with death penalty experience.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
LEE ANTHONY, UNCLE OF MISSING TODDLER: She said, Lee, do you want to know the truth? I haven`t seen Caylee in 31 days.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, a gorgeous young morning show TV anchor brutally stabbed in her own bed, left for dead. Tonight, as she clings to life, the police investigation in full force. Who attacked 26-year-old anchorwoman Anne Pressly?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Friends described Little Rock, Arkansas, anchorwoman Anne Pressly as a kind person, kind to everyone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tragic. She`s a wonderful person. She has a heart of gold. She`s good to everybody. And she`s touched so many lives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But did she have an enemy who would leave her for dead in her own bed?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Miss Pressly was beaten severely. She also does have some stab wounds, and these injuries are life-threatening.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police want to know whether she was randomly attacked or targeted because of her celebrity status.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Breaking news tonight in the desperate search for a beautiful 3- year-old Florida girl, Caylee. The state drops charges against tot mom Casey Anthony.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CINDY ANTHONY: Caylee`s missing! Caylee`s missing!
CASEY ANTHONY: My daughter`s been missing for the last 31 days.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The state has decided to drop the child neglect charge against tot mom Casey Anthony. Prosecutors say the neglect charge was centered around the theory that Caylee was alive. And based on the evidence, it`s now clear that the toddler is likely dead.
CINDY ANTHONY: I`ve lost my granddaughter, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we`re looking for her.
CINDY ANTHONY: I lost my granddaughter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
LEE ANTHONY: The trunk was open. The windows were rolled down to -- what I assume, ventilate the horrible smell that I had just smelled for the first time. Whatever it was, it was very potent.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators say they will continue to search for little Caylee, who has not been seen since mid-June, while Casey Anthony`s defense team has just added a Miami attorney with death penalty experience, hoping to keep the tot mom away from lethal injection.
CINDY ANTHONY: Are you looking for a live Caylee or a dead Caylee?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re looking for Caylee because we don`t know where Caylee is.
GEORGE ANTHONY: I`m going to stand alongside my daughter, no matter what.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Mark Williams with WNDB Newstalk 1150. Mark, a child neglect count has been dropped. Why?
MARK WILLIAMS, WNDB NEWSTALK 1150: Well, the big reason was, first off, that charge was filed back in July when Casey as first arrested because they were operating -- the state`s attorney`s office -- operating under the premise that the child was alive and well someplace, even though that she had been missing 31 days.
Now, just a couple of weeks ago, if you recall, the grand jury here in Orange County handed up those seven indictments, one of them being first degree murder, which obviously trumps the child neglect charge. Now they`re operating under the premise that little Caylee is now dead, Nancy.
GRACE: Mark, when you read the child neglect indictment, does it lay out exactly what they -- what they charge? Did they charge, for instance, that she didn`t report the child missing or that she handed a child over to someone she was not familiar with? Did they lay out the facts of the neglect?
WILLIAMS: Well, if you take a look at Florida law under neglect, it`s -- you neglect a child when you don`t care for their physical wellbeing, you don`t treat them well, you maybe abuse them, things of that nature. And of course, she has told some tall tales about the -- Zenaida Gonzalez, leaving her with Zenaida Gonzalez, which -- nobody by that name exists, that she handed her off to. So in essence, she basically -- they considered her at the time abusing that child.
GRACE: Let`s unleash the lawyers. We are taking your calls live. Joining us tonight, Susan Moss, child advocate out of New York, Raymond Giudice, defense attorney out of Atlanta, Pam Hayes out of New York. What about it, Sue Moss?
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: The concept was that for those 31 days, the fact that she did not call the police constituted neglect. Now the theory is that on day one, this child was killed. So the concept is, you can`t neglect a dead body.
GRACE: What about it, Ray?
RAY GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s right. The language in the first...
GRACE: I think I`ve got Ray Giudice with me. Ray, are you there?
GIUDICE: I am. I`m here.
GRACE: OK. Ray, what do you make of this? What about the theory that child neglect is a lesser charge of murder?
GIUDICE: I don`t believe that. And the facts are that in the indictment for child neglect, the child is presumed alive and seriously injured. Sue is right. It contradicts the superseding indictment that speaks of death in the capital charge, capital murder charge, and in the aggravated manslaughter charge. That`s inconsistent, and the state does not want to give the defense an easy out that some crazy jury may come back and find while the child could still be alive, it`s a neglect case.
GRACE: Pam?
PAM HAYES, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don`t know. It seems pretty clear to me that they`re no longer pursuing the avenue of neglect. I think they`re just going to look at it as a straight murder case.
GRACE: OK. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Orange County officials will not pursue child neglect charges against Casey Anthony because the mother of missing toddler Caylee Anthony is already charged with first degree murder.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The team searching for Caylee is ramping up efforts, meanwhile, to find her. The FBI and thousands of volunteers are expected to be out looking in areas of interest near Orlando International Airport. Now, Caylee Anthony reportedly disappeared back in June, but she was not reported missing until a month later. She was never found, and authorities believe that she is, in fact, dead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is her life like behind bars? If you`re wondering, according to local affiliate WFTV, she spends about 20 hours a day alone in her cell at the Orange County jail. She hasn`t had a single visitor or made any phone calls, aside from her attorneys, and has no pictures on display in her cell, not even a single one of her daughter. It is allowed, though, to post them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Out to Gwyn in Florida. Hi, Gwyn.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: What`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nancy, has anybody even thought about searching someplace other than Orlando? After all, she had an entire month to go someplace and dispose of that body.
GRACE: Yes, and isn`t it true -- to Jessica D`Onofrio with WKMG -- that she told various people that she had gone to Tampa, various places, looking for a job?
JESSICA D`ONOFRIO, WKMG: Yes, Nancy. She said that she traveled elsewhere, outside of Orlando. But investigators have been able to do some pretty good work with her cell phone, and they have been able to pin down the fact that she never left Orlando at any point in time. So she had to be in Orlando during that entire month.
GRACE: So what about it? To Leonard Padilla, bounty hunter helping in the search for Caylee. What about the possibility that any remains of little Caylee is outside the Orlando area? I don`t see it.
LEONARD PADILLA, BOUNTY HUNTER: None. None. None whatsoever. She never left the Orlando area, like the young lady said. And I`ve got to tell you this. If you look at the ping maps that are right now in the possession of the FBI, the marshals and the sheriffs, and Rob Dick, you`ll see she never left the area. She`s never off that cell phone. Almost 800 phone calls between -- in that one period there that everybody`s looking at, and they all are in the Orlando area. Never left the area at all.
GRACE: To Mike Brooks, former fed with the FBI. Mike, I`m thinking about the big development today, that the state has actually dropped a charge, a major charge against tot mom Casey Anthony. You know, the old saying is, You can`t have your cake and eat it, too. It would have been great for the state if child neglect had been a lesser charge of murder. For instance, I charge you with murder...
MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLICE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Right.
GRACE: ... the jury can come back with a manslaughter charge. It`s a lesser included. But their theory that they were proving child neglect on was that she didn`t report her missing, that she fabricated lies about the child to the police. That is inconsistent with murder. So I don`t know if the state is really losing anything by dropping this charge.
BROOKS: No, I don`t think they`re losing anything at all, Nancy. Everything at the time it was perceived -- you know, even though it was all a lie, that`s all they had to go on at that particular time. And they were just -- they were going on the fact that she possibly, possibly could still be alive. So no, they`re not losing anything. And keep in mind, she still has the fraud charges, you know, that are pending against her, too. I don`t think they`re going to drop those.
GRACE: You know, another thing -- back to you, Mike Brooks. I`m going back to Padilla in a moment. Brooks, have you noticed that when criminals are on the run, they always stay pretty much in the same area? I mean, you stake out their mom or their girlfriend`s house, boom, there they are. I just don`t see Casey Anthony leaving the area. And if you notice - - take a look at the Scott Peterson case. That`s an easy case to use.
BROOKS: Oh, yes. Absolutely.
GRACE: People go where they are familiar. He was a fisherman, he dumped a body in San Francisco Bay. Very, very simple equation.
BROOKS: Right. He went from his house to the golf course to San Francisco Bay, and then he went down to Fresno, where he was having his affair.
GRACE: And this is the area that she`s familiar with.
BROOKS: Absolutely. She`s very familiar with it. And they don`t leave very -- don`t leave far from home. And also, escapees, what do they do? They usually run back to Mama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once a party girl, now Casey Anthony is a lonely girl behind bars. As mentioned, her family has not visited or called her since she went back in jail. She`s basically alone 20 hours a day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Casey`s allowed to hang pictures in her jail cell, but there`s not one single photo of Caylee on the walls in her cell. And also, new revelation, prosecutors are dropping the child neglect charges against her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
LEE ANTHONY: Casey began to break down and cry. And she said, Lee, do you want to know the truth? I haven`t seen Caylee in 31 days.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TONY LAZZARO (ph), CASEY`S FORMER BOYFRIEND: I would just wake up in the middle of the night and see that she was sweaty in bed. She was having a nightmare or something.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
LEE ANTHONY: That`s when she opened up to me and said, Mom has thrown it in my face many times before that I`m an unfit mother, and you know, maybe she`s right. Maybe I am. (INAUDIBLE) Well, maybe this should have been done a long time ago.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you cause any injury to your child, Caylee?
CASEY ANTHONY: No, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hurt Caylee or leave her somewhere and you`re worried that if we find that out that people are going to look at you in the wrong way?
CASEY ANTHONY: No, sir.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s alone about 20 hours a day in her cell. She eats alone there. Today, it was corn flakes for breakfast, turkey hot dogs and beans for lunch, Salisbury steak, gravy and potatoes for dinner. She does get dessert three times a day, if she wants. She can have photographs on her shelf in her cell, but we are told there are no photographs, not even of Caylee. No one in her family has asked to visit her over the last week. She`s made no phone calls. It`s no party here for Casey.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. The big news today, the state has dropped one of its major charges against tot mom Casey Anthony, that charge of child neglect. I`ve got it right here in my hands, the indictment. And this indictment on child neglect,remember, came down before the evidence showed a dead body had been in her car. And it charges her with failing to care, supervise, maintain the health of the little girl. Now, clearly, they believe that this is not consistent with a murder one charge. This charge supposes that little Caylee is still alive.
Now, we`ve also learned today that the tot mom has a huge array of things she can order behind bars. In fact, her account has been doubled. And now she can order all types of things. She can order underwear. She can order shrimp. She can order Cajun chicken. She can order crabmeat. She can order mascara, eyeliner, mouthwash, cocoa butter lotion, hair, skin products, chili, sports bras, playing cards, tennis shoes.
What`s with that, Drew Petrimoulx?
DREW PETRIMOULX, WDBO: Well, I mean, now she`s got finally money in her account. She got $50 from her dad and another $50 from one of her bondsmen, so she does have money in her account. And these are the three pages right here, as you can see, and these is just a bunch of items. She can get everything from mayonnaise to lipstick, underwear to makeup. So I mean, she can buy once a week pretty much a ton of things imaginable.
GRACE: What about it, Sue Moss?
MOSS: Yes, there`s no recession in that jail. That looks like a variety of things that she can get for pretty -- pretty fair prices, and with $100 in her account, boy, she can go to town.
GRACE: To Mark Williams with WNDB. I understand that while behind bars, no visitors whatsoever. She had been spending up to six hours a day at her attorney`s office. Now he visits for less than an hour. What was she doing hole up in his conference room for six hours a day?
WILLIAMS: Well, that`s something that Mr. Baez has to talk about, but of course, he won`t since it`s attorney-client privilege. But is she was spending six hours a day, almost 30 hours a week, if not more, in her attorney`s office in nearby Kissimmee. Now she`s down to an hour a day. Last night, for example, attorney Baez stopped by the jail shortly after 10:00 o`clock, signed in. An hour later -- 58 minutes later, as a matter of fact, man, he`s on the road back to Kissimmee, to the house, because he just wanted to talk to her.
GRACE: To Jessica D`Onofrio with WKMG. This is quite the facility that she is in. I understand they have television. She has free time, spends her whole day lounging, reading, eating and sleeping.
D`ONOFRIO: She does, Nancy. But I want to go back to her visitors. One of the visitors that she saw over the weekend is Lenamon, and Terry Lenamon is a very high-profile defense attorney in south Florida who`s very experienced with death penalty cases. He visited with her over the weekend, and he is going to be joining the defense team. He`s going to help out there because Casey`s attorney, Jose Baez, isn`t qualified to defend her in a capital murder case. And since Terry Lenamon has this experience, he`s now joined the team.
GRACE: We also learned that Tim Miller of Texas Equusearch is headed back to the area to search for little Caylee`s remains. To Tim Miller. He`s joining us right now from Raleigh, North Carolina. Tim, what changed your decision? You packed up and left after no cooperation from the Anthony family. Why are you coming back, and not only that, bringing volunteers along with you?
TIM MILLER, TEXAS EQUUSEARCH: Well, Nancy, you know what? We made a commitment to Caylee in the very beginning. So many members of the community joined in on that search and actually became members of that search. And we`re going to live up to that commitment to Caylee and now to that community. You know, this is not about the Anthony family. You know, all the other stuff, we don`t have anything to do with. Our main focus is on Caylee.
And you know what, Nancy? Everything is working out for the best in our search right now. The water`s going down. It`s cooler now, so the searchers can, you know search, longer and harder. The vegetation is starting to leave us.
And I anticipate several thousand searchers. Nobody has lost interest. I think the conditions are ripe for finding that little body. And that little body is out there, and Nancy, we`re going to continue that search. We could have jeopardized...
GRACE: Tim, where are you starting your search?
MILLER: Well, I`m actually getting into town on the 4th and...
GRACE: Where? Where?
MILLER: Well, in Orlando. But I`m spending time with John Allen (ph). With all of the calls that came in with positive sightings of a white car with a black bra on it, we`re going to go ahead and prioritize these sightings. And of course, we`re going to continue doing the three areas that we was really focused in, where the cell tower activity was. And this search is going to go on until we find Caylee.
GRACE: And back out to Leonard Padilla, bounty hunter and now joining in the search for Caylee. We`ve now got up to three people stating that they observed mom Casey Anthony in this area, one of them -- well, actually, two of them, with a shovel and a bag. The driver and his passenger observed that. Is that where the searches will start?
PADILLA: The situation is such that I do not presume to in any way question what Tim is saying as far as where he is going to lead the search, and the search parties, too. He`s the one who`s going to decide...
GRACE: I take it that`s a yes?
PADILLA: Whatever Tim says, that`s what we`re going to do. I`m not going to get in his way, believe me. He`s the leader.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CINDY ANTHONY: My daughter from day one has gotten -- you know, she has been a victim just as much as Caylee has.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Casey Anthony, high-spirited party girl living the "Sex and the City" lifestyle with more than one man on the hook at one time, is now one of the loneliest women in central Florida. Accused of murdering her daughter, Caylee, to free herself of maternal encumbrances, she now finds herself not only childless but friendless. She can see out through a glass wall, but then everybody else can see in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one has privacy in jail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Today, the state drops a charge against mom Casey Anthony, the charge of child neglect. We learn how Casey Anthony is spending her time behind bars as the search gears up outside prison walls for her little girl.
To Dr. Lawrence Kobilinsky, forensic scientist from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He is a consultant on the Anthony defense team. Now that you are part of the team, do you plan to travel and look at the evidence, Koby (ph)? I mean, no move has been -- move has been made yet for them to look at the evidence.
LARRY KOBILINSKY, FORENSIC SCIENTIST: Well, certainly I -- I`m guessing that I will have the opportunity to do that. But let me say this. The answer depends on defense strategy. They may decide to test certain things, they may decide to challenge the state`s evidence, on the other hand. So we have to see.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Investigators today in Arkansas are looking for a motive in the brutal beating of a popular TV anchorwoman there. KATV`s Anne Pressly is in critical but stable condition after being beaten and stabbed at her home in Little Rock.
The police are trying to figure out if she was the random victim of a home invasion or targeted because of her job.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were at dinner last night, and she was so happy. It`s just a great time in her life, with this movie she`s doing. The morning show now that she loves doing that and she`s so happy, and dinner last night was wonderful, and to think that she went home and this happened, it`s just tragic.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The 26-year-old was found by her mother, unresponsive and bleeding from severe wounds.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Little Rock police spokesperson, Sergeant Cassandra Davis, says Pressly`s mother called her around 4:30 for her morning wakeup call and couldn`t reach her, so she came over and found her lying in bed, bleeding.
Investigators say it doesn`t look like anyone forced their way inside Pressly`s home. Although they are purse is missing, they aren`t sure if this a random burglary or if the person targeted Pressly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: In the wee morning hours, this beautiful young anchor there in Little Rock, Arkansas apparently bludgeoned and stabbed in her own bed.
Tonight, she is clinging to life, as the investigation is in high gear.
Joining me right now, a reporter from -- KARN News Radio and former co-worker and friend of Anne Pressly, Dana Bradley is with us.
Welcome, Miss Bradley. What happened?
DANA BRADLEY, KARN NEWSRADIO, FORMER CO-WORKER OF ANNE PRESSLY: Well, Nancy, it all started off with the early morning routine. Ann`s mother routinely calls to wake her up in the morning and makes sure she gets up and get ready to report to work.
And her calls went unanswered Monday morning. And about 4:30 she got worried so went over to Anne`s house and entered the house and she noticed that -- she saw her daughter laying in bed, bleeding from severe wounds, unresponsive.
She called the 9-1-1. Police arrived to the scene and initial investigation stated that Anne was stabbed and suffering from severe blunt force trauma. Now after the investigation continued, they did notice no stabbing was involved. There was no knife or any -- sharp object used. It was just blunt force trauma and -- to her upper body and her head.
Anne is now in stable but critical condition. She is doing a lot better. And initial investigation states that Little Rock police found that there was no forced entry into the home. Her purse was missing, so they think that robbery could be the motive, but. I mean, everything is all under investigation right now and they`re just trying to put the pieces together.
GRACE: Do we know, Dana Bradley, what type of lock she had on her door? The fact that there was no forced entry, you know -- immediately visible doesn`t necessarily mean there was no forced entry.
BRADLEY: Well, that`s correct. I have not found out what type of lock she had on the door. That question actually was not asked by the Little Rock Police Department. But they did notice that she has two Cocker Spaniel dogs. And her dogs were out.
They usually stay in the house at night, but for some reason her neighbors returned the dogs and her dogs were not in the house, so -- and you know all of that is still under investigation and the Little Rock Police Department has not confirmed as far as what type of lock she had or how or when the dogs were released.
GRACE: But they say no forced entry.
BRADLEY: No. At first sight right now, they don`t see any forced entry into her home.
GRACE: What is her condition tonight?
BRADLEY: She is still -- she is upgrade from last night, she`s critical but is stable. She is improving.
GRACE: What were her injuries? What are they?
BRADLEY: Well, just blunt force trauma to the head and the upper body. And they don`t know -- there was an object used. Little Rock Police say there was an object used, they don`t know what the object is, they have not recovered the object yet, and this is the last time I spoke with Little Rock Police, this is what they were telling me.
So we don`t know. I mean we don`t know what the object was. And some of her injuries, she had to undergo surgery and brain surgery and a lot of different things like that. And you know, you just hear these initial reports, you talk to her family and her friends and you just hear -- you know hear about her condition, but everybody is just keeping her in their prayers and praying that she recovers wholeheartedly.
GRACE: Out to Gerard Matthews, the associate editor with the "Arkansas Times."
Welcome, Gerard. Gerard, what can you tell us about the neighborhood?
GERARD MATTHEWS, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, ARKANSAS TIMES, COVERING STORY: The neighborhood -- she lived in a neighborhood, it`s called the Heights in Little Rock. It`s very near the Little Rock Country Club, it`s a very nice neighborhood. There`s lots of nice houses. You know people walking their dogs up and down the street, you know, at all hours of the day.
You know, you asked about, you know, the no forced entry. I mean it`s possible -- although I would think it unlikely -- that she just didn`t lock her door.
GRACE: Would that -- is that true to form? Would she normally not lock her door?
MATTHEWS: Well, no, I`m not saying that she wouldn`t. I`m just saying it`s a really nice neighborhood, a lot of people here, just very trusting and open. And, you know, I mean, when you get an initial report that, you know, a young woman was -- her house was broken into and there was no forced entry, I mean, it just sort of raises questions.
Of course, that`s speculation but.
GRACE: Yes, no forced entry. That could mean anything. That could mean somebody got in through a window that wasn`t locked.
MATTHEWS: Right.
GRACE: And closed the window back.
MATTHEWS: Right.
GRACE: What was the weather the evening of the break in?
MATTHEWS: It was great weather. I mean I think it was a -- you know, very tempered outside, if I remember correctly.
GRACE: So there`d be no indication if a window had been entered.
Out to Mike Brooks, formerly fed with the FBI, what do you think?
MIKE BROOKS, FMR. DC POLICE DETECTIVE SERVED ON FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: Well, Nancy, you know, it doesn`t sound to me like a random act of violence. This sounds maybe -- possibly, again, this is all speculation, because we don`t know -- she may have known someone who came to the house and let them in.
And I find it interesting about -- the point about the dogs, the dogs were let out. Otherwise they would have been in the home at, you know, that early in the morning. You know, so there`s a lot of things you can look at, Nancy.
They say it`s a robbery right now, but we really don`t know the motive. If it was a robbery, I think there would probably be more missing than just the purse.
So are we looking at a possible stalking case, someone who had known her or someone who had wanted to know her, was it love-obsessed, some who she had rejected, an ex boyfriend? These are all things that law enforcement are looking at.
And also, were there any anonymous letters that ever came to KATV, or any anonymous letters that ever came to her house from strangers? You know, I -- back when I was in D.C., I actually arrested a stalker who was stalking a reporter at a local news station who is now a reporter for CNN, and this person kept showing up at the station, would stand outside with signs that said "marry me so-and-so," and then finally they showed up at her house and that`s when we went ahead and took some action.
And that`s when they wanted -- the station wanted us to take some action.
GRACE: To Dr. Patricia Saunders, clinical psychologist -- we are taking your calls live, everybody -- we are talking about a gorgeous, young morning show TV anchor -- there she is -- Anne Pressly in Little Rock, Arkansas. Her mom wakes her up every morning to go to work, really early, around 4:30, a.m., couldn`t get her on the phone, went over and found her daughter bludgeoned nearly to death.
No forced entry obvious. Only her purse missing. The home apparently not ransacked, the TV, the computer, everything intact. Only thing missing was her purse.
Out to Dr. Patricia Saunders, the first thing that strikes me is the mode of the attack. When you have multiple hits, such as multiple stab wounds that shows a certain rage that screams to me, not random.
PATRICIA SAUNDERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes, I couldn`t agree with you more, Nancy. There is too much passion in this for it to be a random home invasion and robbery.
Somebody had to repeatedly hit her and hit her hard enough to make her insensate. Either the person knew her, the person was on drugs or high, or it was a stalker turned to homicide because he couldn`t be with her.
GRACE: The weather that night, the low 50s and very calm, that means that if a window had been left raised and left open for any period of time, there would not have been any indication of that. We don`t know exactly how the intruder got in, but we do know that all was taken was a purse.
Back to Dr. Patricia Saunders, clinical psychologist, if this were the work of a stalker, you know, very often stalkers start off by loving you. They want to marry you. They want to romance you. Then when you don`t respond or you respond negatively, all that love turns into rage.
SAUNDERS: That`s right, Nancy. Those kind of stalkers usually have a delusional system. These are people who may well be psychotic. And they`re unpredictable, and the rage can turn into homicide in far too many cases.
The non-psychotic stalker is more someone who that the victim knows, a spurned boyfriend, an ex, and there is nothing that we know about in this lady`s history.
GRACE: Out to the lines, Dana in Washington. Hi, Dana.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy, how are you?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I am a victim of an attack years ago, and it was due to an ex-boyfriend.
GRACE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I`m just kind of wondering, have they checked with her ex-boyfriends, her past, someone that, obviously, she (INAUDIBLE)?
GRACE: Excellent question. What about it, Gerard Matthews?
MATTHEWS: Well, you know, from what I know, she actually, you know -- is attractive, beautiful and talented. She was -- didn`t really date much. Dana might be able to speak to that more than I could. But, you know, she -- you know, from all accounts was just, you know, very reserved and very sweet girl. And I don`t know of any boyfriend. But.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Arkansas anchorwoman Anne Pressly as a kind person, kind to everyone. But did she have an enemy who would leave her for dead in her own bed?
Police want to know whether she was randomly attacked or targeted because of her celebrity status. She also had a small part in a new Oliver Stone movie, it`s entitled "W."
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Pressly`s mother called her around 4:30 for her morning wakeup call and couldn`t reach her, so she came over and found her lying in bed bleeding.
Investigators say it doesn`t look like anyone forced their way inside Pressly`s home. Although her purse is missing they aren`t sure if this is a random robbery, or if the person targeted Pressly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) so real. It`s hard to understand, because she is such a wonderful person that something like this could happen to somebody so great.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are talking with neighbors, friends and co- workers to see if there was a person who had an unusual interest in Miss Pressly, whether good or bad.
We do not have any suspects at this time. In talking with the neighbors, no one has been able to provide us information as to seeing or heard anything overnight.
Heard from the mother. Apparently there is a routine for the mother to notify Miss Pressly in the morning, routine wake-up call. When the mother was not able to reach Miss Pressly, she did drive to the residence. She went into the residence -- the rear of the residence, and then she did find her daughter inside.
Miss Pressly was beaten severely. She also does have some stab wounds and these injuries are life-threatening.
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GRACE: A beautiful young TV morning news anchor has been brutally beaten in her own bed, lying there in her own home, discovered by her mother.
We are taking your calls live. Joining me right now, a special guest, Officer Michelle Hill. Michelle is the PIO, the public information officer, at the Little Rock Police Department.
Officer, thank you for being with us.
OFFICER MICHELLE HILL, PIO, LITTLE ROCK POLICE DEPT., ON THE CASE: Thanks, Nancy. You get me choked up when you air those little clips from our friends. First, I want to start off my thoughts and prayers go out to Anne and her family and the KATV family. This has really rocked our community here. She is a dear friend of ours.
GRACE: You know she`s apparently just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. A lovely young lady.
Could you tell me if there are any suspects or motives at this time?
HILL: You know, at this time, the detectives have worked around the clock, you know, and they`re the best in the world in our eyes. And most of the information that they have, crime scene has gathered information, detectives are still interviewing people, and will continue to. We don`t have a whole lot to go on right now.
And that`s why we need your help.
GRACE: Very quickly, Officer, what do we know about the time line? I know she had dinner with a friend that evening?
HILL: All that still is -- it`s in the investigation case, I can`t really release any of that.
GRACE: OK. Let me then go quickly back to Dana Bradley with KARN.
HILL: Sure.
GRACE: I understand she had dinner with a friend and co-worker around 9:30 to 10:30. That was the last known contact with Pressly.
BRADLEY: Yes, Nancy. Sunday evening they had a surprise birthday party for a fellow co-worker at KATV, and a lot of people were at this party, the KATV president, general manager, Dale Nicholson was there, the reporters were there, reporter and friend of Anne, Mallory Harting, which is one of the young ladies you all spoke with, she was also there.
So they all saw her Sunday night there at that party.
GRACE: To Lawrence Kobilinsky, forensic scientists, what tests need to be done inside the home, in crime scene?
LAWRENCE KOBILINSKY, FORENSIC SCIENTIST: Well, the first thing, Nancy, is that the crime scene unit needs to find point of entry and point of egress. They have to go in and look for trace evidence, they`ll dust for fingerprints, they`ll take an alternate light source, and run it around the room and see if there is any kind of evidence that could help with the case.
They`ll have to go through her computer records, her cell phone records, her mail. They will have to trace her steps for the last few days, find out who she spoke to, find out friends, people that know something about her. All of that is going to help the detectives solve the case.
GRACE: Kobe, you`re absolutely correct. We just showed you a list of items seized from the homes, including bloody sheets, cushions, bedding, also her computer for them to search her recent e-mails.
This is not the first time an anchor has been attacked. Of course, we all know about the 1995 attack on Jodi Huisentruit, Kathryn Dettman, Jennifer Servo, and here are the similarities. A morning anchorwoman abducted at her own home. Contents of the purse found near her car, here the purse is missing.
With Kathryn Dettman, also a reporter, that was in Waco, Texas, she had been stalked by a neighbor, and in that case, again, no sign of breaking and entering. She had actually left her door cracked for cats.
And, of course, Jennifer Servo, that was in Abilene Texas. She was bludgeoned in her own apartment, as well, no forced entry, no murder weapon ever found. So they`re extremely similar.
Let`s go out to the lawyers, to Susan Moss, Ray Giudice, Pam Hayes. First let`s take calls, to Barbie in Florida. Hi, Barbie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.
GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was there any signs of sexual assault for, like, DNA evidence or anything?
GRACE: I do not believe there was an assault, a sexual assault, Gerard?
MATTHEWS: There were no signs that we know of right off the -- just - - as the investigation stands that there was any.
GRACE: OK.
MATTHEWS: . sign of rape or anything like that.
GRACE: Which suggests even more a targeted attack. If there`s no robbery, there is no rape, other than the -- pocket book, of course.
To Sonia in Florida, hi, Sonia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, how are you?
GRACE: I`m good, dear, what`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good. My question is, is it possible that they took her purse and make it look like a robbery and maybe it was someone that she knew.
GRACE: Let`s go out to the lawyers. Susan Moss, Ray Giudice, Pam Hayes -- Ray, we have seen this scenario on many occasions. What`s your take?
RAY GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, I do agree with Mike. I don`t think this is random. That violence, and Dr. Saunders talked about it, it`s so -- a thief would just take the purse, take the TV, flee, take her car or maybe take her with it.
But the violence in the home bespeaks of something more angry.
GRACE: Pam?
PAM HAYES, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I tend to agree. It`s just seemingly, you know, unmitigated violence just for a purse. There could have been a number of other things.
GRACE: I agree. Ridiculous.
HAYES: . that should have been missing if it was really a home invasion or, you know, just a robbery. And I just would be curious to match up that case in Texas to the Arkansas case to see what the real similarities are like, because it could be.
GRACE: Right.
HAYES: . some person who is doing it so you need to look at that ties.
GRACE: Excellent thought. To Susan Moss -- Susan, also she was still in bed, obviously, still asleep. They didn`t have to fight her to get her pocket book.
SUSAN MOSS, CHILD ADVOCATE, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: There is a lot to be said that she was found in that bed. And what the evidence shows is that bloodied pillows, bloodied sheets, bloody bed. So she was not out, she was not standing up, she was not fighting.
This was targeted.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love her. He just -- she`s just been raised right and trained right and just got good manners. Never saw her with a bad crowd. First-class girl.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s strong and she`ll be OK. And there`s so many people praying and that`s what the family is just asking for prayers right now. They need so much prayer.
And we believe she`ll pull through because she`s strong and she`s wonderful and she`s helped so many people and touched so many lives. She`ll continue to after she`s better.
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GRACE: A beautiful young anchorwoman out of Arkansas found bludgeoned in her own home. So brutally attacked police initially thought she was stabbed.
Out to the lines, to Britney, hi, dear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.
GRACE: What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was just curious if they checked in with any of her co-workers. Was she fighting with them? Were they angry with her for maybe a certain story that she did that they want?
GRACE: Excellent question.
Dana Bradley with KARN, what do you think?
BRADLEY: Well, Nancy, they did interview her friends and her co- workers and her family members as well. As far as right now, nobody says that they had any problem, that she had any problems with anybody.
GRACE: Right.
BRADLEY: Any ongoing problem.
GRACE: So they`ve all been cooperative.
Back to Mike Brooks, what scenarios or motives are investigators looking at right now?
BROOKS: Well, Nancy, we know there`s -- we know that robbery`s the motive. And the other one that I`m thinking of, as I said earlier, is the stalking motive. I mean everything kind of leads to that right now.
But again, you start at the -- you start at the inner circle with her friends, family, relatives, work their way out.
GRACE: Robbery.
BROOKS: . cell phones.
GRACE: Robbery. You know.
BROOKS: Robbery.
GRACE: No, think about it. If this were a stalker he would take her pocketbook just to get stuff out of it, just to have her driver`s license or her lipstick.
BROOKS: Absolutely.
GRACE: Why didn`t he take her television, her VCR, her DVD player, her computer?
BROOKS: Or her jewelry, absolutely, her iPod, everything else. I totally agree with you, Nancy, and that`s why, you know, you start with the inner circle, as I said, work your way out. Telephones, cell phones, computers, all these kind of things can lead to a lot of evidence and hopefully find out who did this.
GRACE: Everyone, let`s stop and remember Army Private First Class John Bishop, 22, Gaylord, Michigan, killed Iraq. Awarded the Expert Infantry Badge and Army Good Conduct medal. Loved adventure, snowmobiling, skydiving, fishing.
Remembered as the glue that held everyone together. Leaves behind parents John and Gay, two brothers also serving in the military, two sisters, and new bride Diane.
John Bishop, American hero.
Thanks to our guests, but especially to you for being with us. I`ll see you tomorrow night 8 o`clock sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
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