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Nancy Grace
Suspect Georgia Professor`s Jeep Located
Aired May 01, 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. Is there a break in the case of a mild-mannered, highly respected university economics professor who reveals another personality, his wife and two male friends found dead, the professor gone, along with his passport, eluding local police and even the feds? Law enforcement in the U.S. and Europe on alert, family and friends fearing Mommy murdered in front of the couple`s two young children.
As we go to air, an anonymous tip and cell pings lead police to the professor`s red Jeep Liberty plummeted down a ravine, the Jeep posed to look like an accidental crash. And an elementary school put on lock-down. But tonight, where is the alleged professor-turned-killer?
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: This is 911, ma`am. Are you OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I`m fine. I`m shaken up. I lost my shoes, and my purse is still there, but...
911 OPERATOR: OK. What`s your name?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is (DELETED)
911 OPERATOR: OK. What does the suspect look like?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s a white male, probably in his 50s. He had a mustache. He had a pistol, like a handgun.
911 OPERATOR: OK. And did you see if he got in a car?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?
911 OPERATOR: Did you see if he got in a car or...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I took off running as soon as I saw him shooting!
911 OPERATOR: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just took off running.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was one woman running down who obviously saw it (INAUDIBLE) and she was screaming, running down the street away, and wouldn`t stop for anybody. She was just screaming, There have been people shot.
911 OPERATOR: Hold on just a minute.
911 OPERATOR: Are you sure you`re OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I`m fine. I mean, I just saw my friends get shot!
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, a 17-year-old high school beauty, a model student, soccer player, vanishes into thin air, spring break, Myrtle Beach, her mother now openly stating she`s given up hope her daughter will be found unharmed, breaking down, saying she`s living a parent`s worst nightmare. As we go to air, grainy surveillance video emerges and is released, the last known sighting of the high school soccer star. But what does it reveal? Tonight, where is 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s not like her. She loves all her clothing, her hair stuff, everything. It`s just not like Brittanee. Something`s wrong and I just don`t know what it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the first time, police have released the last known surveillance images of missing 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel. She can be seen entering the Blue Water Motel around 8:00 o`clock. Just 45 minutes later, she`s seen leaving, the final known image of Brittanee.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s been horrible. They don`t know where she is. I don`t know if she`s alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brittanee`s mom, Dawn Drexel, tells the Associated Press searching for her daughter is a parent`s worst nightmare. And, quote, "There`s a lot of things that don`t add up. I`m scared. There`s the possibility she`s not alive."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All`s I can think about is she could be -- someone could have tooken her, could have took her out of state. She could be laying dead somewhere. It`s tearing me up inside. I`m very, very, very upset.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And the desperate search for 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.
Tonight, in the last hours, hundreds of secret police files just released, FBI lab reports, fingerprint evidence, phone records reams of interviews. Bottom line? Torpedo to the state. Soil samples from the crime scene fail to make a match to 20-plus pairs of shoes taken from tot mom`s car and closet. Plus, the state`s case in turmoil after we learn a cop on tot mom`s case lied. But a new theory emerges tonight after a bullet casing is found near Caylee`s body.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any interest in helping us?
CASEY ANTHONY, CAYLEE`S MOTHER: I`ve had interest in helping law enforcement from the beginning. Unfortunately (INAUDIBLE) I was put in a position where someone was trying to trick...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I don`t want...
(CROSSTALK)
CASEY ANTHONY: And that`s not going to happen.
LEE ANTHONY, CASEY`S BROTHER: And I don`t want you to, you know, feel for any reason that, you know, we`re not on your side about anything because we are, about everything. We`re completely behind you.
CASEY ANTHONY: Oh, I know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just don`t know if I can believe what she`s saying, you know?
LEE ANTHONY: Where are you? We need to meet up. You know, We need to make this happen and...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what did she say?
LEE ANTHONY: I`m in Jacksonville. I said, No, you`re not.
(LAUGHTER)
LEE ANTHONY: You`re -- you know.
CINDY ANTHONY, CASEY`S MOTHER: If you`d have told the truth and not lied about everything...
How come she never got a chance to get the car? It doesn`t make sense.
CASEY ANTHONY: Mom...
CINDY ANTHONY: I trust Casey.
GEORGE ANTHONY, CAYLEE`S GRANDFATHER: I know my daughter`s not leveling with me. And I know that`s what she`s done in the past.
CASEY ANTHONY: All I want is Caylee home, but I want to be there when she comes home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I got to believe her that she knows everything is OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. As we go to air, is there a break in the case of an alleged mild- mannered professor-turned-killer? An anonymous tip and cell pings lead police to the professor`s red Jeep Liberty, plummeted down a ravine, the Jeep posed to look like an accidental crash.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) shots fired.
911 OPERATOR: Uh-huh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`ve got people injured.
911 OPERATOR: (INAUDIBLE) OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That call for help was echoed more than a dozen times as people in and around the Athens Community Center theater on Saturday afternoon reported the killings, clearly shaken by what they saw.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I took off running as soon as I saw him shooting.
911 OPERATOR: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I took off running.
911 OPERATOR: OK. It`s OK. Just calm down, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As the calls poured in, dispatchers tried to get a description of the shooter.
911 OPERATOR: What did this guy look like?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t know. I didn`t -- I didn`t see him.
911 OPERATOR: OK. You didn`t see him? You just heard the shots?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy Jesus!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He had a pistol, like a handgun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One caller even identifying him by name.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s a professor at the University of Georgia, the economics department. He`s...
911 OPERATOR: Hold on just a moment for me, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George Zinkhan.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Zinkhan`s wife, Marie Bruce, and fellow Town and Gown actors Ben Teague and Tom Tanner died on the scene. While the manhunt began, police surrounded Zinkhan`s home and searched his office but were unable to locate the professor. For those who witnessed the killing, even finding Zinkhan won`t be able to erase the memory of that afternoon.
911 OPERATOR: Are you sure you`re OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, I just saw my friends get shot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Eric Jens, news director at WLBB News Talk 1330. Eric, what happened?
ERIC JENS, WLBB NEWS TALK 1330: Well, basically, it was the middle of the afternoon on Saturday, and we now have three dead people as a result of what, allegedly, George Zinkhan did, the former University of Georgia professor killing his wife and -- whom he thought was having an affair with another man. That man is now dead, as well as the person who apparently tried stepping in the way to kind of resolve the situation. He took a fatal bullet, as well.
GRACE: To Matt Zarrell, is there a break in the case? What can you tell me about this red Jeep Liberty apparently plummeting down a ravine, possibly posed to look like there was an accidental crash?
MATTHEW ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE STAFFER: Well, apparently, a signal from Zinkhan -- one of Zinkhan`s cell phones was emitted, and they were able to find the car through that and an anonymous tip. Now, they went over to the car. The car was in a ravine. They were able to get a tow truck and pull it out. They have investigated. They say they have evidence. They`re investigating leads from that evidence. And they`re also investigating the possibility that it was staged to look like a crash.
GRACE: We are talking about a highly respected economics professor. You`re seeing his Jeep Liberty just being pulled out of the deep ravine about 30 or so miles from the shooting. This throws the case into chaos. Now police are wondering, was this an elaborately staged event, meaning this was a premeditated triple murder?
What can you tell me, Eric Jens, about possible motive for murder? He gunned down his wife and two of her male friends.
JENS: Well, there`s no question that, as a professor and word from the students, he was definitely an intelligent individual, if not somewhat volatile at the same time. As far as motive goes, they think that George Zinkhan thought that his wife was having an affair, Marie Bruce having an affair with Tom Tanner. Of course, none of that`s been proved, and that`s not the key focus at this time.
GRACE: And Eric, I understand that the Jeep Liberty was located by not only cell phone pings which placed him on the phone around the time this vehicle plummets down the ravine, but also an anonymous tip. What can you tell me about the tip?
JENS: Well, we do believe -- or rather, authorities believe that he may not have been acting alone and that somebody may have been helping him here. How much of this is staged, that may come out later, but it certainly seems as if a lot of it is possible. They`ve been getting lots of tips over the course of the last six days, and following up on each and every one of them`s been their task.
GRACE: Let`s unleash the lawyers. Joining me tonight out of LA, Gloria Allred. Also with me tonight, Randy Kessler, defense attorney, Atlanta jurisdiction, and Joe Episcopo out of Tampa, Florida.
What it means to me, Joe, is that if somebody knew where the vehicle was, if they knew his plan, then he has an accomplice, not necessarily in the murders but in helping him elude the feds.
JOE EPISCOPO, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I don`t know. It seems to me like he`s either insane or he`s committed a crime of passion, and that usually doesn`t involve other people. And again, why would you stage a crash? It doesn`t seem to make any sense as far as him getting away.
GRACE: Well, let me try explain it to you, Episcopo. He tries to stage a crash to make it look like he may be dead to get the feds off his tail. What about it, Gloria? Is it that difficult?
GLORIA ALLRED, VICTIMS` RIGHTS ATTORNEY: No. Absolutely right. And if this person, in fact, has staged other things, as well -- in other words, secreted money elsewhere, has a plan to go elsewhere -- it`s going to cut against any kind of manslaughter or crime of passion theory.
GRACE: Listen, this guy thought to take his passport. This was not a crime of passion.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: 911.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma`am. This is (DELETED) on Prince Avenue (INAUDIBLE) happy if we had an eyewitness. I have one here now.
911 OPERATOR: (INAUDIBLE) Huddle House?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma`am. On Prince Avenue.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Hold on just a minute, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
911 OPERATOR: Does he have any information on what happened or who it was?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She said saw the whole thing. She can identify the shooter.
911 OPERATOR: OK. And what -- can she tell me what it looked like?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ll let you talk to her.
911 OPERATOR: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello?
911 OPERATOR: Hey. This is 911, ma`am. Are you OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I`m fine. I`m shaken up. I lost my shoes, and my purse is still there, but...
911 OPERATOR: OK. What`s your name?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is (DELETED)
911 OPERATOR: OK. What does the suspect look like?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s a white male, probably in his 50s. He had a mustache. He had a pistol, like a handgun.
911 OPERATOR: OK. And did you see if he got in a car?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?
911 OPERATOR: Did you see if he got in a car or...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I took off running as soon as I saw him shooting!
911 OPERATOR: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just took off running.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Highly respected economics professor now turned killer? That`s the theory cops are working under after this professor allegedly unleashes a hail of bullets on his wife and two of her male friends. Now his car, his Jeep Liberty, could be a break in the case. It is currently being pulled out of the deep ravine -- you`re seeing the video right there -- apparently posed to look like an accidental crash.
Was there evidence in that Jeep Liberty? Where is the professor now? He left with his passport. Is he already out of the country? And did he murder his wife and her two male friends in front of his own two children? The big question tonight, Does he have an accomplice that would know his whereabouts?
Straight back to Eric Jens with WLBB News Talk 1330. I understand a school, an elementary school, was put under lock-down?
JENS: Yes. The elementary school in the area was taking precautions, as just about everybody else once news of this started to spread. And you know, basically, right now, we`ve got several hundred involved in the search surrounding the area where the vehicle was located. From the air to ground, they`ve got vehicles and they`re going, you know, basically door to door. Don`t necessarily know that he`s in that area, but they`re taking that precaution.
GRACE: Out to Dr. Jeff Gardere, psychologist and author of many publications and books, including "Love Prescription." Dr. Gardere, I don`t get it. Tell me something new. Tell me something I haven`t heard. Another man killing his wife because he thinks she had an affair -- hasn`t he ever heard of divorce court?
JEFF GARDERE, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, this is a guy, even though he was a very respected professor, was known by others as being very cold and nasty, very cold-hearted.
GRACE: Why do you say that, because of his student reviews? Of course, they think he`s cold and nasty. He probably flunked some of them.
GARDERE: Well, we`re hearing this from many people who know him, not just these students but perhaps people who lived in the area which the family was in.
GRACE: OK, that`s putting a new light on it, Dr. Gardere. Explain.
GARDERE: Well, because what we`re seeing here is if this is a person who is very anti-social, then you cannot put it past him, even though he`s very respected, to be so jealous that he would plan on taking out the person whom he believed was having an affair with his wife, who he may have seen as a piece of property or who was the only person who was his link to the world because he was such an isolated individual, Nancy.
GRACE: Let`s go back to the lawyers. Joining us tonight, Gloria Allred, LA, Joe Episcopo, Tampa, Florida, Randy Kessler, Atlanta, Georgia. Kessler, I didn`t get to you regarding a possible accomplice. We know the cops found the Jeep Liberty because of an anonymous tip. I don`t know how anonymous it really is. I mean, who`s out in a ravine in the middle of nowhere to see the Jeep Liberty and doesn`t want their name associated with police? When I call 911, which is every time I see a fender bender or something unusual, I don`t try to hide who I am. So why hide your identity, Kessler?
RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I have no idea why they would hide their identity. Maybe it was somebody having an affair that they didn`t want known. Somebody was in that location. They didn`t want anybody to know that they saw. But anybody who sees a car in a ravine is going to call in. So maybe there was only one person. But that doesn`t mean there was an accomplice. I also don`t get why the fact that he may have staged a car wreck means that it was premeditated. I mean, if he was trying to plan an accident to look like his own death, there would be a body. There`s no body. It just doesn`t make sense.
GRACE: Whoa! Whoa! Hello? Kessler...
KESSLER: I`m here. I`m here.
GRACE: ... they already found the bodies...
KESSLER: No, his body.
GRACE: ... the three dead bodies.
KESSLER: Right.
GRACE: So he stages an accident, a crash. Of course, his body`s not going to be in it.
KESSLER: Right.
GRACE: It`s to throw police off the trail.
KESSLER: And how is that going to help say that he`s innocent or it`s not him? It`s not -- what does staging an accident do? And how does that make it premeditated?
GRACE: OK, you know what?
KESSLER: This is textbook -- this is textbook passion murder, voluntary manslaughter. He approached his wife. He approached the people. He heard something, went back, got the gun, immediately shot them. The textbook definition in Georgia is someone who causes the death of another that would otherwise be murder, but it`s the result of sudden, violent...
GRACE: Kessler!
KESSLER: ... and irresistible...
GRACE: Kessler!
KESSLER: ... passion.
GRACE: Kessler, you`re going straight into the commercial break. Can I just throw one fact in there you`re conveniently leaving out? He took his passport with him. That sounds like a plan, Kessler. Do you have an excuse for that?
KESSLER: Who knows when he was planning on leaving? But no, that is a bad fact, you`re right. There are a lot of bad facts here. But the question is murder one or voluntary manslaughter? That could save him the death penalty.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: How many people are hurt?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, there are -- how many people hurt, two? Three? Three.
911 OPERATOR: All right. What did the person look like that was shot -- that did do the shooting? I`m sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s a professor at University of Georgia in the economics department. He`s...
911 OPERATOR: Hold on just a moment for me, OK?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The search going through all of this wooded area, even locking down an elementary school. Matt Zarrell, very quickly, explain to me the lockdown of the school and the search through dense forest area.
ZARRELL: Well, we know that they have hundreds of federal agents out there. Local law enforcement and the FBI are all out there. They`ve got helicopters, ATVs. They continue to search. It`s about a 200-acre radius that they`re looking around. They put the school on lockdown immediately after finding the car. They want to make sure that the kids are safe. Also, at the University of Georgia campus, soldiers continue to be -- officers continue to be out carrying AR-15s just for precautions.
GRACE: To Michael Sapraicone (ph), former NYPD, president of Squad Security, Michael, explain the significance of a possible accomplice and why there is no way this is heat of passion, a crime on the spur of the moment.
MICHAEL SAPRAICONE, SQUAD SECURITY: Well, I certainly agree with you. I mean, the involuntary manslaughter is crazy.
GRACE: Ridiculous!
SAPRAICONE: I`m not really sure what the gun laws are in Georgia, but unless this was a guy who carried a gun all the time and legally did, he just happens to have a gun when he goes to the barbecue with his two children in the car. So that`s a big concern. I think that kind of throws the involuntary thing out the window.
Is there an accomplice? I don`t know if there`s an accomplice on the homicide, but very possibly on staging the crime scene there. What good is staging the crime scene? Yes, to throw the police off. We would hope that the FBI and the locals, though, aren`t thrown off by this little scene.
GRACE: And to Dr. David Posey joining us out of LA, with Glen Oaks Pathology. Dr. Posey, how can you tell from a body whether the gun was fired at point-blank range?
DR. DAVID M. POSEY, ME AND FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Weapons, when they go off, spew out different particles. If it`s real close, you`ll have actual powder being deposited on the body. If it`s back, say, a few inches, up to about 18, some say up to 24 inches, you have a fine little stippling which can`t be washed off the body. So you can get an estimate of the range. Beyond about 24 inches, we call it range indeterminate. So a close-range, near-contact shot, there`ll be powder that actually can be smudged off. A little bit further back, you get the stippling. You can`t wash that off because there`s little fine grains of lead and so forth that actually penetrate into the skin. And beyond that range, indeterminate.
GRACE: And what would a closer-range shooting mean to you, Dr. Jeff Gardere?
GARDERE: Someone who had predetermined what they were going to do. They were absolutely exact in what they wanted to do.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAWN DREXEL, MOTHER OF MISSING TEEN, BRITTANEE DREXEL: It`s been horrible because I don`t know where she is. I don`t know if she`s alive. I don`t know if somebody maybe pick her up and she`s somewhere where she is not familiar.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brittanee disappeared a spring break trip to Myrtle Beach, a trip her mother did not want her to go on.
DREXEL: She could be laying dead somewhere.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police stay the investigation is active and ongoing and continue to interview Brittanee`s friends and acquaintances, doing everything they can to find out what happened to the teen beauty.
DREXEL: I would probably hold her, hug her, kiss her. You know, I just want her to know that, you know, we`re not mad at her. We just want her to come home.
The last time I heard from her, I was actually -- she`s a very avid soccer player. She`s played soccer for about 10 years. And I was behind her soccer cleats. And I had called her and I had spoke with her, you know, about what kind of cleats she wanted, what her size was, because I was getting them in the men`s department.
So I had spoke with her, her younger sister was with me. And we had, you know, texted her a picture message, she said she liked them. And when I spoke with Brittanee, I asked her what she was doing. And she says, oh, mom, I`m at the beach.
And it was an 80-degree day in Rochester so, of course, you know, I thought that maybe she was at the beach in Rochester with one of her girlfriends that she said she was staying overnight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Straight out to Ernst Lamothe with the "Democrat and Chronicle." Ernst, what can you tell us?
ERNST LAMOTHE, REPORTER, DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE, COVERING STORY: Myrtle Beach Police today are actually in Georgetown County, which is about 40 minutes away from Myrtle Beach. They`re following up on a tip, even looking at worst-case scenarios such as checking the river.
GRACE: With me right now, special guest, Dawn Drexel. This is Brittanee`s mother. She said she is living every parent`s worst nightmare.
Miss Drexel, thank you for being with us. What did you think when you first saw, when police showed you this surveillance video of Brittanee?
(ON THE PHONE)
DREXEL: They had spoken with me prior. You`re talking about the one that was just released yesterday, correct?
GRACE: Yes.
DREXEL: OK. We had -- they wanted -- well, what they wanted me to do was to take a look to see first of all if it was Brittanee. Because we wanted to see if she had walk into the motel and then her -- the first one that they showed to me was the back of her. So I really didn`t recognize her. When I saw her profile, then it was confirmed.
GRACE: So this is definitely Brittanee Drexel.
DREXEL: As far as we can tell, yes.
GRACE: Now you said "which video?" Is there more surveillance video?
DREXEL: They`re looking into leads that they do have. And, you know, where people have last seen her or spotted her, or they think they have spotted her. And you know a lot of the stores and things do have cameras so I`m pretty sure they`re probably looking at that also.
GRACE: Miss Drexel, you are now in Myrtle Beach trying to find your daughter. What are you doing?
DREXEL: We`re going to all the businesses and restaurants on Ocean Boulevard. We`ve been going in and speaking with some of the workers that work in some of the hotels. And we`ve been hanging posters, and I`ve been in -- you know, I`m -- the TV with the media.
I`ve been making phone calls. I`ve been speaking with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Everyone has been very cooperative with us here, and they -- you know, they`ve offered us some places to stay and things so it has been great -- you know, it`s been really great that they`re offering this to us.
GRACE: Miss Drexel, you stated that you are giving up hope that Brittanee is safe and sound. Why?
DREXEL: I just have a gut feeling that -- because the story -- the stories don`t match. Things aren`t making a sense to me as far as Brittanee`s luggage and she doesn`t have anything. She has -- I`m thinking, no money on her. I believe she only went down there with $100. Thing just don`t add up to me. I can`t make sense of it.
GRACE: Miss Drexel, when you say the stories don`t match, which stories don`t match?
DREXEL: It was -- the stories that -- I mean, you know, like when this all happened and we were -- I was told like three or four different things from the kids that were down there with her. It just wasn`t jiving with me. You know what I mean?
GRACE: What were the different stories you were told? What were the different stories?
DREXEL: It was just certain time frames, where -- when she went missing. And I really can`t discuss a lot of it, only due to the fact, you know, that -- you know this is being, you know, investigated. But I`ve been told that they have been really cooperative with the Myrtle Beach Police Department.
GRACE: With me is Dawn Drexel, the mother of missing high school junior, a model student, a fantastic soccer player, down in Myrtle Beach on spring break, Brittanee Drexel.
Miss Drexel, I`m especially concerned about the stories from the guy, the friend from Rochester who was not a suspect, not a person of interest, who saw her last. What were the differences in his various stories?
DREXEL: Just like what he was telling me as far as when he last saw her, who she was with -- you know that she may have been upset that night. It was just that -- when he was telling me just wasn`t -- it was something different each time as far as the times were concerned.
GRACE: You know, interesting, Miss Drexel, he has done so many interviews with cops and they keep going back to him. What do you make of that?
DREXEL: I don`t know. I mean, in my heart, I just feel like, you know, there is something, there`s -- something is being hidden and I don`t know why.
GRACE: Back to Ernst Lamothe with the "Democrat and Chronicle." What is leading police to Georgetown, South Carolina?
LAMOTHE: Well, they`re being vague exactly on what tips they`re getting but they said they`ve been getting tips throughout this week and they`re deciding to comb the area, looking at every unturned stone, hoping that possibly they`ve been searching Myrtle Beach that probably they might have gone a little further in that direction and Georgetown County may be where she is.
GRACE: And to Gloria Allred, what do you advise for the mom? You`re a victims` rights advocate.
GLORIA ALLRED, VICTIM`S RIGHTS ADVOCATE: I would advise the mom to definitely get support, to get with a counselor, to be close with her friends, but not to provide any information we provide to her to her friends. She`s got to be in a confidential situation. But she does need the support of others in a crisis like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DREXEL: If Brittanee saw us, if Brittanee saw us on TV, Brittanee would have called somebody. She hasn`t contacted anyone. If anyone has seen her, maybe they know any information.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE ANTHONY, CASEY ANTHONY`S FATHER: I don`t appreciate you giving me the finger as you`re putting your foot down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir -- oh, come on.
ANTHONY: Yes, sir, you are. You`ve done it three or four times. I don`t appreciate that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That I will continue, I push my glasses that slide down up on my face. I wouldn`t sit here and shoot a bird, I`m sorry.
(CROSSTALK)
I will be very careful to use my pinky so there`s no question.
ANTHONY: Am I upset, sir? You`re darn right I`m upset being here because I think this is uncalled for. I`m going to discuss the last day of my granddaughter. The last thought I had over her, the last time I saw her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did not ask you when you last saw her.
ANTHONY: Yes, you did. Yes, you did. You asked me what`s the last thing that I -- don`t do that to me, sir. I haven`t heard my granddaughter`s voice since June 16th, 2008. Don`t ask me that again because I will walk out of here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
ANTHONY: Do not do that to me again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, I don`t want to make it harder.
ANTHONY: Yes, you are. Yes, you are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there any other person besides your daughter that has told you that they have met or seen Zanny?
CINDY ANTHONY, CASEY ANTHONY`S MOTHER: No, but Caylee talked about Zanny`s dog.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. We`ll get to that in a second.
C. ANTHONY: She`s another person, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I appreciate it.
C. ANTHONY: Well, if there`s a dog that belongs to Zanny, then there must be a Zanny.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fair enough. Fair enough so.
C. ANTHONY: OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Mark Williams, anchor and reporter. What`s the latest in all the discovery just released?
MARK WILLIAMS, NEWS DIRECTOR, WNDB NEWSTALK 1150: Nancy, hundreds of documents released today by the state reveals that the actions of Orange County Sheriff`s Deputy Richard Cain may have prevented the discovery of little Caylee`s body a lot sooner than December of 2008.
Also, another bombshell was dropped today. The FBI in a report said they found a bullet casing at the scene of the crime. They did not say where it was found or what this -- how it relates to the case, but the prosecution just earlier this week said they put an FBI marksman firearms expert on their witness list for whenever this trial comes to fruition.
GRACE: Jean Casarez joining us, legal correspondent with "In Session," formerly Court TV. Jean, may have affected the time of the discovery of her body? That is complete BS, Mark Williams. It totally changed the case because one cop lied.
He said he went out there. That he looked in the bag. That he knew nothing was in the bag. That`s not true. He lied, Jean Casarez. The body would have been found much sooner and maybe, just maybe we could have gotten more forensic evidence from the body, Jean.
JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": And I think, Nancy, what came out from this discovery is now we know the reason why he was terminated. He is appealing that but its failure to investigate. And because there were those inconsistencies, as investigators say, lies, because the death could not be determined, toxicology from the torso could not be determined, the internal organs could not be examined, this is very, very huge, investigators say, for reasons that are not good for prosecutors.
GRACE: Jean Casarez, what did he originally say he did when he answered the meter reader`s call?
CASAREZ: He originally said that he went out there and he lifted up a bag that was very dense and heavy. And there was some debris, some leaves that fell out. But then in a second interview, he admitted he did not lift up a bag at all.
And what Roy Kronk is saying is that Deputy Richard Cain nearly went down the embankment, looked, walked back up and said this has already been searched and there is no need to search any further. And Roy Kronk said that he did not give him respect.
GRACE: So bottom line, Jean Casarez, he didn`t fully investigate. He saw the bag with her body in it and he didn`t investigate, and he didn`t tell the truth when he was asked about what he did.
CASAREZ: He saw a bag. Roy Kronk saw a white and maybe some silver. He - - at the end, Roy Kronk said he can`t be sure it`s the same bag that found the remains on December 11th but it was a bag and it was silver metallic.
GRACE: To Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer, that`s just the tip of the iceberg today. The reality is there is a torpedo to the state`s case. In addition to a lying cop, as detectives put it, soil samples on over 20 pair of tot mom shoes taken from the car and her bedroom closet, do not match the soil at the scene where the body is found.
What does it mean? If anything?
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Right, Nancy. What they did is they did mineral testing on this soil that was on those 22 pairs of shoes. They also checked soil that was in the trunk of her car. And soil that was on that shovel that she borrowed from her neighbor, Brian Burner.
They were not able to make a match between the soil on those items and the soil at the crime scene. However, they did point out that we don`t have back yet, or at least it hasn`t been released publicly, the testing on that plant material found on some of those pairs of shoes. So it is possible that could prove -- or that could, you know, bring more evidence to light.
GRACE: OK. So the soil samples were a bust for the state.
Let`s unleash the lawyers. Gloria Allred, L.A., Joe Episcopo, Tampa, Randy Kessler , Atlanta.
Joe Episcopo, can you name me one murder case that you`ve seen where there is a conviction, where there was a soil sample match?
JOE EPISCOPO, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No.
GRACE: OK. Kessler?
RANDY KESSLER, DEFFENSE ATTORNEY: No. But I don`t think it was a torpedo, I think it`s like fishing net.
GRACE: I don`t think that`s what I asked you.
KESSLER: No.
GRACE: The question was, yes, no.
KESSLER: No.
GRACE: And Gloria Allred, how significant is it that the shoes, the platform shoes, the bedroom shoes, the fuzzy slippers, the galoshes, that the shoes in her closet don`t match the soil where the body is found? Does that mean anything to the prosecution?
ALLRED: Well, it`s not good for the prosecution but it`s not over until it`s over. And it may be that the plant material will come back and provide a match. Or maybe it won`t and also it will be experts, who will testify that, in fact, soil samples may have changed over the time and that may be the reason that there is not a match.
GRACE: Well, you know, Leonard Padilla, bounty hunter and is going under oath in this case, I don`t think it helps the state obviously that they didn`t get a match. But I don`t think that it is going to preclude a conviction in this case.
LEONARD PADILLA, BOUNTY HUNTER, WILL BE DEPOSED IN TOT MOM CIVIL SUIT: No. It`s not going to hurt them. But the biggest thing that we`re having a problem with is nobody is reading those reports, word by word, line by line.
Cain was taken to an area about 80 feet from where the body was found. Kronk did not have him in the area. And if you read it, word by word, you`ll see the differences in Kronk`s statements to law enforcement.
The soil samples aren`t going to hurt anybody. She probably left the shoes she wore that day over at Lazzaro`s house.
GRACE: And very quickly, Jean Casarez, a bullet casing was found as well.
CASAREZ: That`s right.
GRACE: Do you think it`s connected to the case?
CASAREZ: Well, it was important enough for the prosecution to put on their witness list, a tool and dye expert from the FBI. So obviously they`re taking into consideration.
GRACE: Right now, a very special happy 93rd birthday to Matilda Walker. Isn`t she beautiful? Mother of three, five grandchildren, four great grandchildren. She`s a beauty to me.
Happy birthday, Miss Matilda. And now, "CNN HEROES."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Heroes.
DOC HENDLEY, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: Approximately one billion people lack access to clean water. It`s killing more children than AIDS and malaria combined. And yet all that can be prevented. I used the only resource I have which is tending bar to try to do something about the problem.
Here you go, sir.
The regulars especially, sit on the same stool, drink the same drink, pay the same tab every day. I felt like they really do want to be a part of something. They just were waiting for somebody to bring that something to them.
My name is Doc Hendley. I used to be a bartender and now I provide clean water to people in need.
I got on the ground in Darfur. I have to get my field training. The security issue was not a deterrent for me. I wanted to go where the greatest need was. That`s where my heart is. I`ve seen this people live in conflicts and bullets whizzing by their ears, yet their biggest concern was this huge loss of life because of the unclean water. That`s when water changed from being my passion to being the burden of mine.
Whether we`re filtering water or filling a well, we want to train and educate people that already on the ground enabling locals to fix their own water needs. Doing work like that you`ve created ownership. That is going to change lives as well as bringing in that clean water.
My joy is the only thing that helps lift the burden. You can be just a regular anybody and you really, really can change the world. I am the walking proof of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: CNN Heroes is sponsored by.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: What a week in America`s courtrooms. Take a look at the stories and more importantly the people who touched our lives.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: The defense attorney takes it upon himself to give an in-depth interview on camera. First of all, claiming cutting edge science at Oakridge Laboratories is actually junk science that proved the dead body was in his client`s car.
WILLIAMS: Baez says that is not conclusive, that`s not positive. It`s not conclusive whatsoever. He says this scientific research is not ready for primetime.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A 24-year-old California mother faces murder charges in the alleged suffocating death of her 18-month-old daughter. But her mother claims she died accidentally. Barker initially told police daughter Emma was abducted.
GRACE: You are seeing a shot right there of the mom. Mom Stacy Barker, 24. Held on $1 million bond. And this is what I don`t understand -- right now, she is charged with a lesser offense of murder 2.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breaking developments in the case of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu. The judge of Sunday school teacher Melissa Huckaby`s murder trial ruled the autopsy report on Sandra Cantu will remain sealed to prevent public outrage.
GRACE: With us the mother of 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel. She goes away to Myrtle Beach on spring break and she has not been seen since. What can you tell me about the last time you heard from her, what did she say, what did she text?
DREXEL: I told her, I said I love you, Britney. And she said I love you, mom. And then we hung up the phone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: Let`s stop and remember, Army Specialist Stephen Zapasnik, just 19, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, killed, Iraq. Remembered for honesty, faith in God. Kindness. Loved making his brother laugh. Leaves behind parents, Chris and Gary, brother, Christopher, sister Ashley.
Stephen Zapasnik, American hero.
Thank you to our guests but especially to you for being with us. A special good night tonight from the New York control room. Good night, Rosie -- evil -- Liz, Brett, bad Dick.
I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
