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Nancy Grace
Casey Anthony Attorney Asks for Public Defender
Aired April 17, 2009 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight in the desperate search for a 2-year-old Florida girl, Caylee. Six months of searching culminates when skeletal remains found in a heavily wooded area just 15 houses from the Anthony home confirmed to be Caylee, manner of death homicide. A utility meter reader stumbles on a tiny human skeleton, including a skull covered in light-colored hair, the killer duct-taping and placing a heart-shaped sticker directly over the mouth, then triple-bagging little Caylee like she`s trash.
Bombshell tonight. Inside tot mom`s murder investigation, after learning police spend hundreds of hours creating a high-tech analysis of tot mom`s sleep pattern, checking her every movement, based on over 4,000 cell calls and texts in the hours and days after Caylee goes missing, and police painstakingly chart tot mom`s social life, every single sleepover, beer party, poker night, bar hopping and one-night stand when Caylee disappeared. Why? To pinpoint the day of Caylee`s murder and to ID just how long chloroform was the baby-sitter.
And we learn tonight, do those same cell records show tot mom circled and circled and circled until she found just the right place to dump her car? But now police hone in on one particular episode of smash TV hit "One Tree Hill" airing March 2008. Why? The show plot was about a nanny, a nanny who kidnaps a little child from the mommy. Get this. The nanny on the TV show looks exactly like the one tot mom describes kidnapping Caylee. And police discover tot mom Googled and pulled up that very same episode just before Caylee goes missing.
We also learn tonight tot mom`s lawyers now say the taxpayers will pay for her defense. This after the family has raked in around a quarter million dollars. And she says she`s broke? Tot mom`s defense brings in a death penalty expert from California who is under bar investigation, just like tot mom`s lead defense attorney. All this after a stunning about- face, the state bringing down the hammer, announcing they will seek the death penalty.
And tonight, blood relatives, former friends recount to police their take on the mom`s guilt. It`s all on video. We have the video. The "For sale" signs planted near the spot where Caylee`s skeleton hidden -- they`re gone. More raw footage of grandparents George and Cindy Anthony being questioned under oath.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEE ANTHONY, CASEY`S BROTHER: Casey has been steadfast in telling me that Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez is the person that took Caylee.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jose Baez is still keeping a lot of things close to the vest, still claiming that Zanny the nanny was the person involved. Again, nobody else charged. We don`t know where this case is going. I know the state has a pretty good case against Casey Anthony.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cindy`s probably as delusional as Casey is.
CINDY ANTHONY, CASEY`S MOTHER: Where did she get the Fernandez? Where did you get the Fernandez? Why don`t you tell the camera and all the viewers out there where Fernandez came from. It`s not on her DMV record. That`s part of our homework, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Casey, your daughter...
CINDY ANTHONY: What`s your date of birth...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma`am, please!
CINDY ANTHONY: 10-1-1970?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brad, for God`s sake! This is outrageous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cindy Anthony is not mentally stable, and George is starting to come apart at the seams and he`s trying to keep everybody together.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometime during the time she was missing, before the remains were found, did you...
GEORGE ANTHONY, CASEY`S FATHER: You know something? If you say "the remains" one more time, sir, I`m walking out this door.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Breaking news, Tracy, California. The search for 8-year-old Sandra Cantu comes to an end, her body folded into a suitcase in a nearby irrigation pond. Prime suspect 28-year-old female Sunday school teacher Melissa Huckaby now charged with sex assault and murder of the 8-year-old. Huckaby under suicide watch after swallowing X-acto knife blades. Well, that didn`t work.
She swears to family and friends she`s innocent, then changes her story to claim accident. Well, was the alleged rape an accident, too? Tonight, the Sunday school teacher wants the 8-year-old girl`s body exhumed, that`s right, pulled out of the mausoleum. And she`s gone to the judge to make the demand. This Sunday school teacher better start praying!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More details emerge in the case of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, whose body was found stuffed inside a black suitcase in an irrigation pond just two miles from her home. An attorney representing Huckaby is trying to get Sandra`s body removed from its final resting place so they can conduct a second autopsy. Presiding judge William Murray, Jr. (ph), refused to grant the request, saying the defense must present their motion to the judge assigned to the case. The defense may have to wait until Huckaby`s court appearance next week.
Meanwhile, the ex-husband of Melissa Huckaby is trying to get custody of their 5-year-old daughter, saying he saw Huckaby suffer from mental health problems but never thought she was capable of violence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The image of Melissa Huckaby is hanging over the community, the 28-year-old Sunday school teacher accused of kidnapping, rape by instrument and murder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The hurt from this event will never go away. But I know in my heart Sandra`s now dancing, playing and singing in heaven.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Also tonight, on the lookout. A BMW hit-and-run claims the lives of five victims, including a 2-month-old baby boy, 9 and 6-year-old little girls, all killed instantly. The BMW jumps the median, kills five innocents and leaves them there to die. Well, tonight we want justice! Help us find the BMW killer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police are making significant progress in finding out who caused the Easter Sunday crash that killed five people, including three young children. The deadly hit-and-run took the lives of a family of four, as well as a 6-year-old girl in another car hit in the crash.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators say the driver of the BMW sped off, and still no one knows who that driver is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police have updated the description of the BMW they are looking for after taking several pieces of the suspect`s car from the crash site to a BMW dealership.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were able to narrow the scope of the search to a 1995 to 1999 740, or possibly a 750 series BMW.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They also know the car`s color is cashmere beige. It will have damage from the crash on the front driver`s side and undercarriage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is helping Fulton County authorities by researching tag numbers of cars fitting the suspect`s vehicle description, while local police say they are focusing their search on neighborhoods around the crash site.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Police hone in on one particular episode of smash TV hit "One Tree Hill." It aired March 2008. Why? The show plot was about a nanny who kidnaps a little child from the mommy. Well, the nanny on the TV show looks exactly like the nanny tot mom describes who kidnapped Caylee. And get this. Tot mom Googled and pulled up that episode, that TV episode, just before Caylee goes missing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNIE DOWNING, CASEY`S FORMER BEST FRIEND: If Casey harmed Caylee, she didn`t do it alone. I know that for sure. Casey`s not that smart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If this were about whether she was a good mother or a bad mother, she`d be convicted. This is a homicide case. There is still no eyewitness. There is still no forensic proof. There is still no confession.
DOWNING: She`s just, like, I just want to go. I need to get away. I need to -- you know, I feel like I`m having a breakdown. I just -- I can`t.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s been absolutely no word on her reaction. Jose Baez wouldn`t comment and no one from the jail would comment. Baez would just make those comments saying that she was aware that the possibility was on the table and that she knew that there were forces, quote, "out to get her."
GEORGE ANTHONY: I don`t appreciate you giving me the finger as you`re putting your...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir -- come on. I`m pushing...
GEORGE ANTHONY: Yes, you are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... my glasses up. I don`t...
GEORGE ANTHONY: No, you`ve done it three or four times, sir. I don`t appreciate that (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I will continue -- I push -- my glasses slide down on up my face. I wouldn`t sit here and shoot a bird at you. I`m sorry. I will be very careful to use my pinky so there`s no question.
CINDY ANTHONY: He`s shaking his head when he asks me a question, and I`m answering it, and then he cuts me off. That`s exactly what the sheriff`s department did to my daughter. They never let her speak. You guys are doing the same thing to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Out to Nikki Pierce with WDBO radio. Nikki, police honing in on one particular episode of a TV hit "One Tree Hill." Why?
NIKKI PIERCE, WDBO: That`s exactly right, Nancy, and they have been taking a look at this episode for a while. During the time in mid-March when all of those Internet searches were done on Casey`s computer about chloroform, how to make chloroform, the household ingredients involved in chloroform, neck breaking, missing children Web sites, right in the middle of all of that was a search for "One Tree Hill" 100th episode.
GRACE: And you are seeing that episode Nikki Pierce is talking about, the 100th episode, "One Tree Hill." The actress playing a nanny takes the child. Forensics on Anthony`s computer showed someone searched this very episode. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dan was here. I saw him earlier.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) I`m sorry. I`m so sorry. Hey, I should have went with him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) taking another look around back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jamie! Jamie!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You like that, Jamie? This`ll be fun. I`m going to go get the hair dye, and then you`re going to have...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: There you see the nanny, just as tot mom describes, the long brown straight hair, washing the child`s hair, dyeing it to make it look another color so the child couldn`t be found.
Very quickly, back out to Mark Williams, anchor and reporter joining us in Orlando. Remember right after little Caylee goes missing, the grandparents, I`m sure at tot mom`s urging, state they think maybe Caylee`s hair had been dyed.
MARK WILLIAMS, ANCHOR/REPORTER: That, and you hit it right on the head. That was one of the theories that they had. Also, if you remember, Nancy, George Anthony told media when this thing was at its height last August that somebody was holding Caylee, and that obviously didn`t turn out to be true whatsoever. They found her body December 11th in a wooded area.
GRACE: Very quickly, Ellie Jostad, what was the description tot mom gave of the kidnapping nanny?
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, in her original police report, she said this nanny was 5-7, 25 years old, about 140 pounds. She was from New York. Her birthday`s in September.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE ANTHONY: I think every family has a little dysfunction through it every once in a while. I mean, I don`t think everyone`s perfect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are some serious issues about manic behavior that we see in her.
CASEY ANTHONY, CAYLEE`S MOTHER: Can someone let me -- come on!
GEORGE ANTHONY: You are the boss through this whole thing, OK?
CASEY ANTHONY: Well, no, I`m not anymore, Dad. I haven`t been since I got here.
GEORGE ANTHONY: Oh, yes. Oh, yes, you are.
CINDY ANTHONY: You`re blaming me that you`re sitting in the jail? Blame yourself for telling lies.
GEORGE ANTHONY: The person who was in the back of my granddaughter`s (SIC) car is not my granddaughter!
Once you smell that smell, you just -- you never get over it.
CINDY ANTHONY: Maybe someone put a body in the car after it was towed to the tow yard.
I think she fabricated the stories because she didn`t have Caylee with her, and she knew if she came home without Caylee, there`d be a red flag.
CASEY ANTHONY: Do you understand how I feel?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was there a time where you followed or chased after your daughter in a car?
GEORGE ANTHONY: I thought I had, but I was mistaken about the time.
CASEY ANTHONY: Do you really understand how I feel in this?
CINDY ANTHONY: I did not believe that Caylee Marie was missing until July 15th.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
CINDY ANTHONY: If I would have thought that Caylee Marie was missing before July 15th, I would have called 911 before July 15th.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is the date of that posting?
CINDY ANTHONY: July the 3rd.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is the title of the posting?
CINDY ANTHONY: "My Caylee is missing."
DOWNING: She just was, like, I just want to go -- I need to get away. I need to -- you know, I feel like I`m having a breakdown. I just -- I can`t. What specifically triggered it? I asked her. She didn`t say anything. She -- just basically that she needed to get away for a little bit. And I was, like, well, you know, What about Caylee? And she goes, Oh, my mom will take her. I know she`ll take her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So she was actually wanting to...
DOWNING: To physically go -- she wanted to go to, like, an institution. Like, she said, I just...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She wanted to commit herself or...
DOWNING: Kind of. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did she say to make you think that?
DOWNING: I was, like, Well, where are you going to go? Are you going to go to the beach for the weekend? Like, What are you going to do? I mean, this completely caught me off guard. She basically said she needed help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: In a bizarre twist, police are honing in on one particular episode of a TV smash hit, "One Tree Hill." Why? In this episode, a nanny -- there you see the nanny -- takes a little boy, kidnaps him from the mommy. Kicker, police discover on tot mom`s computer, she Googled and pulled up, apparently watching this episode shortly before Caylee goes missing. You`re seeing the 100th episode of "One Tree Hill," where the actress Torrey DeVitto plays the nanny, takes the child. Forensics show this episode was pulled up.
Very quickly, back out to Nikki Pierce with WDBO. So what are the circumstances in a nutshell around the nanny taking the baby in this show that tot mom watched?
PIERCE: Well, the nanny took the child and they hid in a motel. And the nanny was saying, I`m going to be your new mommy, and so on. And also, there was a dyeing of the hair. The little boy was getting his hair dyed by the nanny and saying that he was going to be hidden and get a new identity, and so on. And early on in this investigation, if you`ll recall, there was a mentioning of the hair dyeing, Caylee could have possibly had her hair dyed when they thought she was missing.
GRACE: To Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer. Now, the description that grandparents George and Cindy Anthony give of nanny Zenaida Gonzalez clearly come from tot mom, since they had never seen the mysterious nanny. What was their description, and what was tot mom`s full description of the kidnapping nanny? Did it match this episode of "One Tree Hill" nanny?
JOSTAD: It does. It does. It`s 5-7 -- this actress is also 5-7 -- about 130, 140 pounds, 25 years old. Casey describes her hair as curly in her police report, but apparently, she later tells Cindy that she used a straightening iron to straighten her hair. That also matches the description of the actress. Perfect white teeth. On a scale from 1 to 10, she`s a 10.
GRACE: OK. Take a look at the nanny in the episode.
Let`s unleash the lawyers. Former prosecutor Holly Hughes, Atlanta, famed defense attorney Daniel Horowitz out of San Francisco, and Elizabeth Kelly (ph), defense attorney out of New York, also knows her way around the courtroom. Holly Hughes, state`s exhibit number one.
HOLLY HUGHES, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Nancy, this girl just keeps leaving so much evidence, it`s unbelievable. I wish I was prosecuting this case. Between all the forensics that they`re going link to her computer, her house, the bed set that they collected from the scene, the stickers, the duct tape -- it just goes on and on. It gets better and better. This case is a prosecutor`s dream. She could not have left more evidence in her wake.
GRACE: You know, by the time it`s over, Daniel Horowitz, if I was prosecuting that case, the jury would know the theme song to "One Tree Hill."
DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, Nancy, it bothers me that she was looking for that show. I mean, if she`d already seen it, she wouldn`t have to search for it. Did somebody tell her about it? I hate to talk about another perpetrator, but was there somebody else involved?
GRACE: Somebody else that was using her computer, that pulled this up...
HOROWITZ: No, telling her about the show, telling her about that show, saying, Look up this show...
GRACE: Maybe she saw it, since all she did was lay on the sofa and eat potato chips at her parents` house.
HOROWITZ: Maybe. But I have a lot of questions. I also want to make sure...
GRACE: I`m sure you do.
HOROWITZ: ... that the dating of that computer search is correct. Just because...
GRACE: OK, Elizabeth Kelly, try to give me a different defense than Daniel Horowitz.
ELIZABETH KELLY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, as you said before, it just gets better and better for the prosecution. Maybe that`s why they have finally put the death penalty on the table, to force her to take a plea.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEE ANTHONY: ... of Caylee -- I do not know with 100 percent...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Objection. Certify.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I spotted right then and there she was pregnant, but she was telling everybody she had female problems and she wasn`t pregnant. I know a woman that`s pregnant. She was pregnant.
RICK PLESEA, CASEY`S UNCLE: She looks like she`s pregnant. Come on. And Cindy goes, Oh, no. No, she`s not. She`s just putting on weight. I said, Cindy, I said, I`ve seen a lot of pregnant girls, I said, but I`m not an expert, but man, I said, she looks pregnant. Cindy says, Casey told us that she`d have to have sex first in order to have a baby and that she did not have sex with anyone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We also learn tonight that the defense plans on charging the taxpayer for tot mom`s defense.
Mike Brooks, Headline News, expert former fed with the FBI -- Mike, how many times have you seen it, the taxpayer sucked dry in your homicide investigations?
MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLICE, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Oh, all the time. You know, they come in and say, Oh, I don`t have any money. So then the public -- they assign a public defender. And that`s what it is, it`s a public defender and that`s who`s paying for it, the public, Nancy. In a case like this, where they`re going to have to now with the death penalty back on the table, it`s going to cost the taxpayers millions, if it already hadn`t.
GRACE: Well, I don`t think you can put a price tag on the life of little Caylee or justice for her.
BROOKS: No. Absolutely not.
GRACE: But Leonard Padilla, I mean, to our knowledge, over a quarter of a million dollars has already been funneled to somebody in the Anthony family.
LEONARD PADILLA, BOUNTY HUNTER: There`s -- you know, the numbers are up there, a quarter million dollars that went to the Anthonys for pictures and volumes of clippings and things like that. But Mike Brooks is absolutely correct. Before this is over, it is going to be scandalous as to the amount of money spent. And somewhere in those deep recesses of Jose Baez`s head is the fact that if it costs that much money, and it`s forecasted it`s going to cost that much money, maybe he can cut a better deal.
GRACE: There you see how much is being paid for the tot mom defense in capital cases. That`s what is paid when the state pays the bill. But how much has the Anthony family already made off Caylee`s death?
Straight to Beatty Cohan, psychotherapist and author. What do you make of the family already raking in over a quarter million dollars, then trying to claim indigence, poor-mouthing?
BEATTY COHAN, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Nancy, I think they are really enjoying the circus. As I was saying to one of the guests before the show began today, they found a way to get on Oprah and on the NANCY GRACE show, and most of us are still scrambling to try and find our way as experts into the media.
I think this whole thing is an absolute circus. And the parents, as I see it, they are enabling the situation today, as they probably did with their daughter as she was growing up, when I understand that she had so many significant problems.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE ANTHONY, CASEY ANTHONY`S FATHER: Stealing, taking money from my wife`s purse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. You started.
G. ANTHONY: $20, $40, maybe more than that at a time.
SHIRLEY PLEASEA: Maybe three or four months, there was $354 missing out of my bank account.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An intense fight right before Casey left with Caylee in mid June was over money that Casey had stolen from her own grandparents, from an account dedicated to paying for assisted living expenses. Tensions had been building over this house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you tell Cindy what happened?
PLESEA: Yes. I told Cindy that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How`d she take it?
PLESEA: She didn`t blame me. She was sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was she upset?
PLESEA: She says mom, we`ll pay you back. I said no, don`t pay me back, but if the bank wants to arrest her they`re going to. I would have pressed charges but for Caylee`s sake and for Cindy`s sake I didn`t want to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She said I`ve stolen money from you, you know, I`ve been untrustworthy.
G. ANTHONY: The deposit slips that she had -- she forged a deposit slip for $4,400.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With her mother`s name on it?
G. ANTHONY: Yes, with our account.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You also now would have an understanding that your daughter had taken money from your mother, is that right?
CINDY ANTHONY, CASEY ANTHONY`S MOTHER: Correct.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when was that, and how much was that?
C. ANTHONY: I believe there was a $27 or 47 something one time, and 200 and some dollars one time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that she actually took money from your grandmother -- I`m sorry, from your mother, her grandmother, by writing a bad check. Is that your understanding?
C. ANTHONY: Correct.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did Casey ever take money from you by using your credit cards without your permission?
C. ANTHONY: It`s not relevant to this case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s not. I just want you.
C. ANTHONY: I`m not answering the question.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Straight back out to Ellie Jostad. We also learned that based on cell phone pings, it appears that tot mom circled and circled and circled and finally dumped her car at the Amscot parking lot, a perfect spot, to my understanding, for it to get stolen.
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Well, we learned that investigators put together a map that shows -- if you mark the location where the.
GRACE: Let`s see the map.
JOSTAD: When you mark the location where the Anthony home is, you`ll see that she traveled south of her parents` house, then back up north, then over to the east, then she heads west, and then a little bit further north before she ends up at the Amscot.
GRACE: What is she doing, Mike Brooks?
MIKE BROOKS, FMR. DC POLICE DETECTIVE SERVED ON FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: Who knows? But I tell you what, they`ve got such a good solid case with this -- you look at that map, Nancy, it`s all the cell towers, they can put together that timeline minute by minute by minute.
They know when she was sleeping and know when she was up. But you know, was she making up a story? Oh, yes. You know, I mean, she`s the biggest storyteller I`ve ever seen.
GRACE: But this driving and circling and circling before she finally abandons the car at Amscot I think is significant.
I want to go back out to Mark Williams, anchor and reporter, joining us from Orlando. Also, we learn that the defense is bringing in another death-qualified lawyer out of California. But he`s got his own problems. He`s under bar investigation just like her lead attorney is.
MARK WILLIAMS, NEWS DIRECTOR, WNDB NEWSTALK 1150: $170,000 that was, how shall we say, was questioned out of Todd Miscalusa`s office in San Diego. He`s a -- he`s a wiz when it comes to cross-examining technical witnesses but by the same token he`s had some money problems in his office.
I saw a headline about this guy that says the Madoff of attorneys. He`s.
GRACE: Ouch.
WILLIAMS: He`s under investigation -- yes.
GRACE: Well, Mark Williams, the two of us should know by now don`t believe everything you read.
WILLIAMS: So true.
GRACE: And very quickly back to Nikki Pierce, WDBO. The "for sale" sign has come down at spot where little Caylee`s body was hidden. Has the area been sold? Is it going to be a park or a memorial park? You know Padilla offered to put up I think $50,000 to buy the area and turn it into a park.
NIKKI PIERCE, REPORTER, WDBO RADIO: The real estate agent will not say a word. The real estate agent is staying mum. We know that the sale signs came down. We know that there was someone who`s sympathetic to the Anthony family that was taking a look at that area, that was trying to buy it so they could make sure that a Caylee memorial was not put there. But we don`t know who bought it. We don`t know what`s happening right now, Nancy.
GRACE: Very quickly, I want to take you to Tracy, California and the latest in the case on 8-year-old Sandra Cantu. Believe it or not, the Sunday school teacher, alleged killer, wants the child`s body exhumed, pulled out of the mausoleum?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sandra`s smile could light up a room. Her infectious laugh could get you out of your gloom. Her long sun-kissed hair shined ever so brightly. Sandra told her mom, "I love you" nightly. She had the biggest heart, full of love, and she was eager to share that love.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Jennifer Wadsworth with the "Tracy Press." She interviewed Huckaby before her arrest.
Miss Wadsworth, she`s standing by at the Cantu home, what can you tell me about the Sunday school teacher wanting the child`s body exhumed from the mausoleum?
JENNIFER WADSWORTH, REPORTER, TRACY PRESS, INTERVIEWED FEM. SUN SCHOOL MOM BEFORE HER ARREST: I was really surprised to hear that this morning when I came to work. I guess yesterday while thousands of people came out to mourn for Sandra that her defense met with the judge in court and they asked for them to dig up Sandra`s body.
So I was really surprised to hear that. I think a lot of people were appalled.
GRACE: Now you spoke with Huckaby before her arrest. If she hadn`t yakked so much to the media she may not have been a suspect. What did she tell you?
WADSWORTH: She didn`t say that much to me except to explain how she -- she said somebody had taken her suitcase and she was just going through that with me step by step, talking about how it was taken from her driveway.
Then I asked her about her hospital stay. She said she was admitted for internal bleeding. I asked her if she tried to kill herself. She said she didn`t want to talk about it. She didn`t say no. She just felt uncomfortable and didn`t want to talk about it.
And.
GRACE: So.
WADSWORTH: I started to talk about the whole -- yes?
GRACE: Excuse me. Sergeant Tony Sheneman is now there on the scene there at the Cantu home. He`s the PIO with the Tracy Police Department.
Sergeant Sheneman, thank you for being with us. Sergeant, if Huckaby had not yakked so much and given inconsistent stories to the media, would she have ever become a target? Or were guys already honing in on her?
SGT. TONY SHENEMAN, PIO, TRACY POLICE DEPT. ON THE CASE: Nancy, regardless of the stories that were printed in the press and the interviews that she gave to all the outlets, she was going to be arrested soon anyway.
GRACE: Sergeant, have other parents come forward to say their children have been abused or part of some type of child pornography?
SHENEMAN: No. We asked to alleviate the fears of the community and to address some concerns that our investigators had that something like that might come up. So we put that out to the public. We`ve received no calls. There was no indication that anyone else was inappropriately contacted by Miss Huckaby.
GRACE: Sergeant Sheneman, I would just like to congratulate you on all your hard work and the Tracy Police Department`s work on this case. I know it`s very difficult dealing with the death of a child in a case.
To Sebastian Kunz with KNEW Radio. Sebastian, the judge initially had said no to taking the child`s body out of the mausoleum. Why?
SEBASTIAN KUNZ, REPORTER, KNEW RADIO, COVERING STORY: Well, the reason, ultimately, Nancy, is that the judge who made this ruling this week is not the ultimate judge who`s actually assigned to the case. That judge is actually away on vacation, and actually, upon his return there`s a chance that he may be sort of recusing himself because there`s some sort of a conflict potentially with the prosecutor in the Huckaby case.
GRACE: And very quickly to the lawyers, Holly Hughes, Elizabeth DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: , and Daniel Horowitz.
But first, Dr. Zhongxue Hua, what is involved in exhuming a body?
DR. ZHONGXUE HUA, MEDICAL EXAMINER, UNION COUNTY, NEW JERSEY: It`s a fairly common practice, especially for defense side. I mean, if you don`t have a chance to examine the body at first hand, you`re always required to examine second.
GRACE: Well, let me just stop you right there one second.
Holly Hughes, they`ve known for some time now that the child is dead. They`ve had the body. Why wait until it`s buried and then exhume it? They`ve had their chance.
HOLLY HUGHES, PROSECUTOR: Exactly, Nancy. And unless they can show some legal cause, they have the opportunity to review the reports that the medical examiner already filled out, go over any physical evidence that would have been taken from the body and preserved. So they had their shot, and this is nothing more than theatrics, Nancy, and it`s pathetic.
GRACE: Everyone, as we go to break, a very special birthday to the number one fan of our show, my father, Matt Grace. He`s a Navy veteran. He served time in the World War. Giving up a college basketball scholarship to serve our country.
A railroad man for 40-plus years, he and my mom put us all through college, put braces on our teeth, took us to Sunday school, and taught us to dance.
Happy birthday, Daddy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Straight out to Kathy Smith. This is Delisia Carter`s mother.
Miss Smith, first I want to give you our heartfelt sympathy for all that you have gone through. Tell me, what are police telling you about the search for the BMW killer?
KATHY SMITH, MOTHER OF DELISIA CARTER, DIED IN HIT-RUN WITH HUSBAND & TWO CHILDREN: They`re telling me that they are looking for it. I haven`t spoken with an officer since Monday.
GRACE: Do you believe police will be able to identify the hit and run?
SMITH: Yes, I do. I hope so.
GRACE: Tell me about little Delisia. She`s absolutely beautiful.
SMITH: Thank you. She was so vibrant and so full of energy. A motivator. Excellent speaker. She was perfectly happy. Her life had just become perfect in the last eight months. Now she`s gone.
GRACE: To Eric Jens with WLBB Newstalk 1330. The BMW jumps the median, claims the lives of five innocents, including three children, and keeps on going. What evidence do police have?
ERIC JENS, NEWS DIRECTOR, WLBB NEWSTALK 1330, COVERING STORY: Well, Nancy, we actually have parts of the BMW involved in this wreck. From that we can get a basic description of what kind of vehicle they`ll be looking for.
We also know that based on that, that that vehicle probably did not get very far, was not in good condition to drive any distance. They`re looking for it starting in the local area, figure it`s probably holed up in somebody`s garage right now, and that somebody is quite likely very scared at this moment.
GRACE: To Beatty Cohan, a psychotherapist and author, what mindset does it take to jump the median, mow down two vehicles, killing five people, a sixth victim is hanging on to life, and keep going? You don`t even stop to see if they`re dead or alive.
BEATTY COHAN, PSYCHOTHERAPIST, AUTHOR OF "FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE, FOREVER": You know, Nancy, one of the words that we don`t use in my field is evil. Somebody -- this person was evil, was irresponsible. You can say that there was fear and there was shock. And perhaps you could talk about post- traumatic stress disorder.
But the fact is, is that what kind of a human being would engage in that kind of irresponsible and despicable behavior?
GRACE: Let`s talk about the vehicle. Mike Brooks, what do we know about the vehicle?
BROOKS: We know, Nancy, it was a BMW. Either a 740 or 750 series between 1995 and 1999. I have a 1998 BMW 740IL. So what they were able to do -- apparently there were some pieces of the car that was there. They went to the dealership, to a BMW dealer, and that`s how they were able to narrow down the make, model, and year of the car.
Also, I`m sure it left behind some paint. They know it`s an unusual color because don`t see too many 7 series BMWs with that color. You see mostly silver and blue and white. But that champagne cream or beige color.
GRACE: Cashmere beige.
BROOKS: Cashmere beige. You don`t see too many vehicles with that color. But I guarantee you, Nancy, that car did not get too far. I know Camp Creek Parkway very well. And one of the other things they`re going to be looking at on either end of Camp Creek Parkway, there are a number of shopping centers. They`re going to go back, take a look at the surveillance video.
GRACE: Right.
BROOKS: . and see if they saw anything fitting this description. But it`s going to be up to the citizens to help to find this killer.
GRACE: We believe it was a female passenger. A cashmere beige 740 or 750 series BMW, possibly `95 to `99 model. Significant damage to driver`s side of the car. May be leaking oil. That`s what we know about the BMW killer.
I want to tell you about the victims in this case. Robert Carter, 39, killed. Delisia Carter, 38, killed. Her mother with us now. Kayla Carter, 9 years old, killed. Ethan Carter, 2 months old, killed. 6-year- old daughter Morgan Johnson, in the Volkswagen, killed. Mom Tracy Johnson, 43, seriously injured.
Now somebody`s got to tell her when she wakes up her 6-year-old daughter is dead.
With me, the mother of Delisia Carter, age 38, the grandmother of Kayla and Ethan, is Kathy Smith. The little boy was just 2 months old, Miss Smith?
SMITH: Yes. Yes, ma`am. Two months.
GRACE: When did you learn of the crash?
SMITH: 10:00 p.m. on Sunday night.
GRACE: I want to go back to Eric Jens with WLBB Newstalk 1330. Eric Jens, police meticulously combed the highway, and they found bits and pieces of this vehicle. They couldn`t even tell what it was. They had to take it to a car dealer and find out what kind of car it was, the color.
They`ve already done a significant amount of discovery on this vehicle. What needs to be done now? Where are they headed?
JENS: Well, the main focus, of course, is on getting answers to those unanswered questions. And those answers lie with whoever was driving that BMW. They`ve continued to work with other authorities. They`re still receiving tips from potential witnesses.
GRACE: Right.
JENS: But right now the major break is going to come in locating that vehicle driver.
GRACE: To Dr. Zhongxue Hua, medical examiner out of Union County, New Jersey, at this point would there be any way to show whether drugs or alcohol were involved?
HUA: It`s unlikely. It`s very unlikely at this time.
GRACE: If they found the perpetrator, is it too late to determine if there were drugs and alcohol in their bloodstream?
HUA: Yes. Most of the material would have been heavily metabolized, been excreted from the body already.
GRACE: Dr. Hua, do you believe that Tracy Johnson, a survivor, although she`s seriously injured, will be able to remember what happened?
HUA: It`s unlikely. Lots of people at the time of trauma, loss of memory in and around that area would be lost.
GRACE: And Dr. Hua, the Carters` vehicle exploded. Do the effects of a fire make it more difficult to determine what happened?
HUA: Make it more difficult. But the problem -- the good thing is when the two car crashed lots of debris flying around. Certainly you can use the debris to give identification of the car.
GRACE: Daniel Horowitz, what`s your defense?
DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I would look to mechanical failure. Just because there`s an accident and then you run.
GRACE: Mechanical failure?
HOROWITZ: . doesn`t mean that you`re at fault. Yes. Maybe the car, the BMW, had mechanical failure. That caused the accident.
GRACE: Then why did they keep going? It wasn`t -- to Elizabeth Kelly, that`s not going to work.
HOROWITZ: I`ll tell you why. They`re afraid.
GRACE: Because the car kept going enough for them to run and flee the scene.
ELIZABETH KELLY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You`re right about that. And the longer this woman waits, the worse it`s going to be for her. And the doctor is right. All of the blood -- or all of the drugs, all of the alcohol may be metabolized out of her system. But if this woman does have a history of drug or alcohol abuse, woe to her.
GRACE: Everybody, very quickly, "CNN HEROES."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is "CNN Heroes."
ERIKA VOHMAN, DEFENDING THE PLANET: People throughout Central America were living in extreme poverty. They often don`t have enough food. There`s days when people just have one meal if they`re lucky. It was devastating so I decided to go back to school so I could help people produce enough food without destroying the environment.
I came across the Maya nut tree. It provided stable food for the Maya civilization. For some reason, people have stopped eating this food which one of the most nutritious food we can get. And it`s free. You just collect it off the ground and they don`t eat it because they don`t know.
I`m Erika Vohman and I teach people about the lost indigenous Maya Nut for food and for rain forest conservation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Through translator): We didn`t know what to do with it. Now we`ve going to bring it to fight.
VOHMAN: Our workshops are just for women. So they can acquire the skills and knowledge to feed their families and better their lives. It`s fun. We`re having an impact on the environment. We`re having an economic impact and also motivating reforestation. It`s really amazing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: What a week in America`s courtrooms. Take a look at the stories and more important the people who touched our lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSE BAEZ, CASEY ANTHONY`S ATTORNEY: If they think that this is going to make her plea, they`re sadly mistaken. They`ve been trying to intimidate Casey Anthony from day one, and it didn`t work then, it`s not going to work now.
GRACE: In a stunning about-face, the state of Florida announces, as we go to air, the state will seek the death penalty against tot mom Casey Anthony in the murder of 2-year-old Caylee, her own little girl.
KATHI BELICH, REPORTER, CNN AFFILIATE WFTV, COVERING STORY: The duct tape, the heart sticker, other evidence that seems to tie the crime scene to the Anthony home, stronger evidence that shows more premeditation and it shows more cruelty. It shows more calculatedness on the part of the killer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: March 27th of 2009. Crime of murder in violation of Section (INAUDIBLE) of the Penal Code Felony. Committed by Melissa Huckaby, through at the time and place last before said (INAUDIBLE).
GRACE: Here is Sandra Cantu in the last hours of her life. And now, a female 28-year-old Sunday school teacher, charged not only with her murder, but sex assault.
BAEZ: She was fully aware that this was a strong possibility. She`s aware of the forces that are out to get her.
GRACE: It`s not all about dark forces swirling around the jailhouse out to get her. It is about justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Let`s stop and remember Army Sergeant First Class Miguel Wilson, 36, Bonham, Texas, killed, Iraq, on a seconds tour. Gave his life saving a fellow soldier from drowning. Awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon. Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
Loved sports and being a father figure to younger soldiers. Leaves behind grieving mom, Wanda, widow, Caroline, and three beautiful children.
Miguel Wilson, American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you and a special happy birthday to veteran defense attorney Joe Lawless. Happy birthday, friend. And a special good night, tonight, from the New York control room. Good night, Liz, Brett, everybody.
Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. Until then, good night, friend.
END
