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Nancy Grace

Glove Reportedly Found in Coleman Family Murder Case

Aired May 18, 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. A quiet, close-knit, upscale Illinois suburb reeling after a beautiful young mom and her two little sons found dead in their white-finished (ph) two-story home, each in their own bedroom reportedly strangled. In a heartbreaking gesture, 31- year-old Sheri Coleman and the two little boys, Garett and Gavin, ages just 9 and 11, laid to rest side by side.

Bombshell. As we go to air, reports a glove, a glove that could crack this case, discovered along I-255 running around St. Louis. It was found within five minutes of the Coleman home where mom and boys lay dead. Cops begging the public for tips on anything unusual the day of the murders before and around 6:50 AM along that same stretch of road. Is the glove, allegedly splotched with red paint, a direct link to a chilling message, an epitaph, scrawled on the wall of the murder scene, reportedly painted in red paint?

Heavy-duty police surveillance of husband-slash-daddy, former Marine Chris Coleman, pulled back. Tonight, he is not named a suspect. And the specter of a mistress rears its ugly head in the midst of a murder investigation involving -- hello! Same old story -- a stripper. Could you surprise me one time? Coleman`s high-profile security job with worldwide televangelist Joyce Meyer the latest casualty. This while police seize security and electronic equipment linked to Coleman`s former job.

Who? Who crept into that family home in the darkened early morning hours to smother and strangle the life out of a stunning young mother and her two little boys, leaving them dead in their own beds?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our investigation to me reveals who`s responsible for these deaths.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But Major Jeff Connor, the head of the major case squad, won`t reveal who he believes killed Sheri Coleman and her two sons, Gavin and Garett. That`s because no official charges are being filed yet. Connor says after a meeting with the Monroe County state`s attorney, the prosecutor decided that any charges will have to wait until results come back from forensic evidence tests.

MAJ. JEFF CONNOR, DEPUTY COMMANDER, MAJOR CASE SQUAD: Sometimes this takes anywhere from four to six to eight weeks. It just depends on the forensics, when the reports come in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was right around 5:43, 5:45 when he left the house. Right around 6:50 is when he called the police. So it was just barely over an hour later when he called police to do a welfare check, just to go by the house and see what was going on because, reportedly, his wife, Sheri, was not answering the phone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this time, we don`t have a warrant that`s been issued by the state`s attorney of Monroe County. There were threats on the walls. There was threats towards the family.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police said that they do have a person of interest and they do have enough evidence. However, they`re not going to reveal who the person of interest is and they`ve handed off the investigation to the Monroe County prosecutors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, to a sleepy suburb, San Bernardino. A mom and her five children head to a local park when two gunmen blast brazenly into the home, right through the front door, force the family down on the living room floor and threaten them. They take the 3-year-old baby boy. They take him! Miracle tonight, 3-year-old baby Briant found alive, wandering the streets all alone at nighttime, Mexicali, Mexico. As we go to air, we have photos of the two suspects in the baby`s cold-hearted kidnap and the photo of a person of interest, a stunning 21-year-old woman. Why?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was the real deal, in that Briant had been abducted from his home. There was no thought of parental abduction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two suspects raided this San Bernardino home, tied up the Rodriguez family and ransacked the home 13 days ago. Rodriguez was kidnapped and taken across the border to Mexico.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A municipal police officer in Mexicali, Mexico, located a 3-year-old boy wandering the streets. When he could not locate the parents of the boy, he delivered the child to the child services agency in town. The boy matched the description of Briant Rodriguez.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rodriguez says he lost the will to live because he thought the worst, but was so happy when he got the phone call telling him his son was alive. Authorities say the men in this surveillance photo are the men who kidnapped the boy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We ultimately were able to identify two suspects as being those who physically abducted Briant Rodriguez. There`s also an individual that we have as a person of interest who we believe may be traveling with these individuals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was not a random abduction, but they won`t release the details.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The search for Briant has a wonderful ending, a son reunited. And he said that the last thing he saw was Briant clutching his mother`s neck. And that kind of says it all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Breaking news in the mystery surrounding 23-year-old mom Stacy Peterson vanishing, upscale Chicago suburbs. Husband-slash-cop Drew Peterson prime suspect in fourth wife`s disappearance. The suspicious bathtub drowning of wife three officially ruled homicide. After months of investigation, a grand jury charges Peterson in the 2004 drowning death of wife three, Kathleen Savio, found dead covered in bruises in a bone-dry bathtub, motive money.

After nearly two years boasting he`d never be arrested, Peterson just can`t zip it, hitting the airwaves from behind jailhouse walls. In the last hours, Peterson, in full shackles, suddenly stone, cold silent in open court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drew Peterson is pleading not guilty to charges he murdered his third wife, Kathleen Savio. The attorney for the former Illinois cop entered the plea this morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re going to give Drew as vigorous and as zealous a legal defense as anybody has ever gotten in this country. Going to leave no stone unturned, and we`re going to fight every battle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shortly afterward, prosecutors filed a motion asking for a new judge. They`re claiming the current judge is prejudiced against the state.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A motion from the state for a substitution of judges is almost unheard of, extremely rare. So I think it just indicates to us the weakness of the state`s actual position.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Peterson is now being held on $20 million bond, which his attorney is trying to get reduced. But he`ll have to wait a few more days to find out if he`ll be able to get out of jail while he awaits trial.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first argument regarding the bond is going to be that Drew`s proven he`s not a flight risk. He`s been under investigation for 18 months. He`s traveled all over the country. If he was going to flee, he`d be gone by now. You know, we`d have to put together the money. So even if we got bond lowered today, it would be a couple days before he got out of jail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drew! Drew!

(CROSSTALK)

DREW PETERSON, ACCUSED OF MURDERING THIRD WIFE: Look at this spiffy outfit! Look at this bling! Three squares a day and this spiffy outfit, how could I be mad?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do not believe he should be able to get out of jail. While he`s waiting, he should sit there. You know, you went in the media and you made a fool of yourself. So even if you ask for a change of venue, everybody knows who you are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. As we go to air, reports a glove covered in red paint discovered along I-255 running around St. Louis, within five minutes of the Coleman home. Is the glove, allegedly splotched with red paint, a direct link to a chilling epitaph scrawled on the home of the murder scene?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Detectives say that one person is responsible for the brutal murders of an Illinois mother and her two young sons.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe that this was not a random act, that it was actually intended to kill the three members of this family.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The worst staged crime scene I`ve ever seen. This is the kind of scene you see when somebody is trying to say somebody else did it. The open window, number one sign of a staged crime scene. It`s like, Gosh, somebody had to get into my house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say that Sheri Coleman and her 9 and 11- year-old sons, seen here, were strangled in their beds inside of their southwestern Illinois home. Police say the family was targeted and confirm a written threat was left on the wall of the crime scene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were words written on the wall, and the words say, I told you this was going to happen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Number two, scrawl something across the wall that says, See? The bad guy came in here and was really, really angry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The boys` father, Chris Coleman, was not at home during the killings and was fingerprinted under a court order. Prosecutors say they are waiting to file charges until evidence comes back from forensic testing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, the people are all strangled, so there`s no blood in the house, so I can get my house back and it won`t be messed up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Nick Pistor with "The St. Louis Post- Dispatch," joining us from St. Louis. Nick, the glove. What can you tell me about a glove reportedly found along Interstate 255?

NICK PISTOR, "ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH": I can tell you that in the days after the murders, the detectives put on their boots and headed to I- 255, which is close to the Coleman home. There we`ve confirmed tonight and are reporting on our Web site that they found a glove that had what appears to be residue of red spray paint, which is consistent with the message that was scrawled on the wall at the Coleman home.

GRACE: OK, Nick, let me get this straight. You believe the paint to be spray paint?

PISTOR: Yes.

GRACE: OK. That is extremely important because if it is spray paint, if the epitaph, the words to the effect, I told you this would happen, the killer put that on the wall, one of the bedroom walls, we believe, at the murder scene, with spray paint -- you don`t just have that lying around your home, typically. Sounds like the killer would have to go get, purchase spray paint and come back and spray it on the walls or come into the home with it already.

Now, Nick, I want to go back to this glove. Elizabeth, let`s see a map. I-255, the route, the husband, who is not a suspect, took around that morning around 5:00 AM to his workout club -- does it involve this stretch of 255?

PISTOR: Yes. It absolutely does. That stretch is directly on the way there.

GRACE: Nick Pistor, the Gold`s gym where he worked out, it`s about five minutes away from the home. Yes, no.

PISTOR: Police have not confirmed which Gold`s gym it is. There`s one directly in south county, and then there`s one in Fenton (ph), which is also near -- which is close distance of the house.

GRACE: To McGraw Milhaven, KTRS radio. McGraw, what more can you tell me?

MCGRAW MILHAVEN, TALK SHOW HOST, KTRS RADIO: I can tell you that -- you asked me earlier last week if there was surveillance cameras in the Gold`s gym. I went to the Gold`s gym and noticed that they do have cameras up on the ceiling. So there might be actual video of him working out in a Gold`s gym.

GRACE: Tonight, a break in the case. As we go to air, just discovered about five minutes from the Coleman home, a glove, a glove that could crack this case wide open, reportedly covered in paint.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are no longer following him. It was obvious we were following him for about a day. That was just we were concluding the investigation, and we just wanted to know his whereabouts in case we needed to further the investigation with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chris Coleman told some neighbors that he had been receiving threats in the mail. Now, it`s not clear what timeframe those threats started. It`s also not clear what exactly was contained in those threats. But I can tell you this. Law enforcement apparently was told about these threats and they trained a surveillance camera, apparently, on the outside of the home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really smell a skunk. I think the police do, too. And the fact that two little kids lost their life, that just makes it even more outrageous for the community to stand up and make sure that the killer is prosecuted to the full extent!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The person who is strangled might scratch the assailant. So they would look for scratches for sure, beside checking the fingernails of the victim.

GRACE: I understand that at the crime scene inside the home that words were scrawled on the inside of the home. Is that true?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were some messages on the walls inside, but we`re not going to comment on what the content was.

GRACE: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s been some report that certain words were mentioned. And the statement that`s been reported actually isn`t accurate. But there were some...

GRACE: Is it close, Major? Is the statement reported -- what was the statement, Clark?

CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, it said...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Is there a crack in the case? Straight back out to Nick Pistor with "The St. Louis Post-Dispatch." OK, the glove has been found. Our information -- you know, let me go to the source. Joining me right now, Major Jeff Connor. He`s the deputy commander of the major case squad of greater St. Louis. Major Connor, thank you for being with us. I understand there`s a lot you can`t tell me. But is the glove plastic or cloth material?

MAJ. JEFF CONNOR, DEPUTY COMMANDER, MAJOR CASE SQUAD: You know, (INAUDIBLE) we`re just going to maintain the statement that we`re not going to comment on any evidence that may or may not have been collected. With this being such a serious homicide like this, with two small children, we don`t want to do anything that will jeopardize this case in trial stage.

GRACE: Understood, Major. Could you at least tell me if you found an object off 255?

CONNOR: We did. We did collect some evidence on that stretch, and that is part of the items that I commented earlier that is being tested through forensics.

GRACE: OK. Major Connor, which Gold`s gym is it that the husband worked out at?

CONNOR: It was about anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes from his house.

GRACE: OK. Back to Clark Goldband, on the story from the very beginning. Clark, this family, poignantly, was laid to rest side by side with the mommy between the two little boys. I understand that a fight of sorts ensued about the funeral? Where was the funeral going to be? When was the funeral going to be? Where would they be laid to rest? What happened, Clark Goldband?

GOLDBAND: OK, Nancy, here`s what happened. It`s our understanding that Chris Coleman had originally consented to having two services. Sheri Coleman`s family lives a few hours away, and some are senior citizens. They couldn`t travel down. Chris Coleman said, OK, that`s fine. Then, apparently, he backed off, citing the cost of such a move, to send up the three victims a few hours towards Chicago. So Sheri`s family said, You know what? That`s fine. We will pay the money. They said, Let`s go ahead and do it.

Chris Coleman, however, then said, You know what? I changed my mind again. I don`t want to do it. It took a court order from a judge for that service to happen. That`s why there were two separate services. Fast forward a few days, then the three victims are in the ground, laid to rest. However, law enforcement was surveilling from nearby.

GRACE: Goldband, we are seeing video or were seeing video of the husband-slash-daddy-slash former Marine between two people, looking at the coffins as they were lowered into the dirt. Who are those people?

GOLDBAND: It`s our understanding, Nancy, that it is his mother and father. His dad is a pastor at a nearby church.

GRACE: Hold on. Hold on. Take a look at that video. Liz, can you show it to me in full? You see the mommy`s coffin, and beside it on either side, her two little children. Now, that should send a chill down every mother`s spine, the thought that your children will not outlive you.

Straight out to the lawyers. Joining me tonight, prosecutor Eleanor Dixon, defense attorney out of Atlanta Peter Odom, defense attorney out of New York Alex Sanchez.

To the lines. Anna, Indiana. Hi, Anna.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. How are you?

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a comment and a question.

GRACE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My comment is I find it very strange that he had to call the police after just leaving the house a few minutes before to get a welfare check. Why didn`t he go back himself? That didn`t make any sense to me at all. And about the glove. Can they take fingerprints from inside the glove?

GRACE: Well, rightly so, Major Jeff Connor is not telling us whether the glove is out of cloth material or whether it`s, for instance, a plastic glove that you might wear to wash dishes or a latex glove like you see doctors use. It will make a big difference because off of cloth material, Eleanor Dixon, it`s going to be -- like, you know, a glove you would wear for gardening. It`s going to be a lot more difficult to get any type of a fingerprint. Easier probably to get blood -- excuse me, to get paint. And if a spray paint can was used, you can just imagine it coming down that right index finger.

You might also, Eleanor, be able to tell whether the perpetrator was right-handed or left-handed by the glove, whether the paint was come down that index finger where you spray the spray paint. Yes, no, Eleanor.

ELEANOR DIXON, PROSECUTOR: You`re exactly right, Nancy. Plus, there may be other evidence in the glove, for instance, hair, something like that. So you never know what evidence you`ll get from that piece.

GRACE: Tonight, do we have a break in the murder case of this stunning young mother, just 31, and her two little boys, strangled in their own beds in the darkened early morning hours there in their own home? Tonight, we want justice for Sheri, Garett, and Gavin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They said that the investigation -- that the major case squad can only go so long and that they`ve turned over their work to the prosecutor. And if he`s choosing not to prosecute at this moment, they can`t just be out there and be surveilling everyone that they`re looking at.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What could be the motive? Without knowing who the killer is, we don`t know. If it`s someone close and they want to get these people out of the way, then the motive is to get them out of the way to go on with their life. But we don`t know enough about this crime to say what the motive is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Back to the lawyers. Eleanor Dixon, prosecutor, Atlanta, Peter Odom, veteran defense attorney also out of the Atlanta jurisdiction, and joining us out of New York, renowned defense attorney Alex Sanchez.

Alex Sanchez, somebody made a special trip to buy some spray paint. Think that`s going to be hard to find, Alex?

ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don`t think it`s going to be hard to find, but I`d like to know who that person was that made that special trip to buy that paint. And by the way, you know, regarding this glove on the highway, there`s certainly a lot of refuse on the side of the highway. And unless they can draw a link between that glove and the inside of that house...

GRACE: Good, Alex Sanchez -- Sanchez, please. Put your thinking hat on, OK? The paint on the wall -- I`ll go to you, Odom. The paint on the wall, if this is involved in the murder, will match up to the chemical compounds to the paint on the glove. Hello! You don`t have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out, Odom.

PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, remember this. They haven`t found "the" glove, but they found "a" glove. We don`t know whether this is the glove until the forensic testing is done, until it matches up. This might be nothing. Nancy, I walk my dog around the block and see three or four discarded gloves. It means nothing yet. We have to wait.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re just waiting for an answer. We`re waiting to get a resolution. You know, we always have one question and only one question, and that is, Who did it? That`s the answer we`re looking for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From published reports, he resigned because he broke some type of code with the Joyce Meyers Ministry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What the ministry policy is. We do know that police sources tell us that Chris Coleman had a girlfriend and that at some point he had met up with her while he was doing work for the ministry when they would travel across the country.

He would often just do surveillance work. He would handle the cameras and things like that. They have an extensive compound in south St. Louis County and Jefferson County. He would do all sorts of work for Joyce to keep the place safe.

It`s been very tough on Joyce Meyers. She`s put out statements. She`s put out her condolences to the family. And she said she`s, you know, praying for everyone in the family. So it`s a tough time.

MAJOR JEFF CONNOR, COLUMBIA POLICE DEPARTMENT, ON THE CASE: We`ve developed information that we believe one person is actually involved in this homicide. We believe that this was not a random act, that it was actually intended to kill the three members of this family.

At this time we are not going to release the name of that individual. This is a very serious case. And we don`t want to jump to anything. But to put the public at ease, we don`t feel this was a random act. We feel this family was targeted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheri and the boys were incredible people. You know, they`re the folks that when they walk into a room they bring a smile on everybody`s face. I`d rather have known them in my life and still go through this pain than not have known them at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Joyce Meyers of Worldwide Joyce Meyers Ministries says she`s praying? Good to know. I`m glad she`s praying. Somebody needs to pray. The entire family of her employee found strangled in their own beds. Since then he has quit his job with Joyce Meyers Ministries.

Back out to you, Nick Pistor, "St. Louis Post-Dispatch," which policy did he violate in order to get fired or leave or resign?

NICK PISTOR, REPORTER, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, COVERING STORY: We don`t know what policy it was. We know that -- we`re not even sure what exactly all the policies are for the international televangelist, Joyce Meyer, but we do know he traveled extensively with her and that at some points he would meet up with a woman who police sources say is his girlfriend.

GRACE: OK. Is that the, as you say, exotic dancer?

PISTOR: Yes.

GRACE: OK. Speaking of the exotic dancer-slash-stripper, Pistor, is this a woman that actually knew his wife way back when?

PISTOR: Yes. She went to high school with his wife.

GRACE: Repeat.

PISTOR: She went to high school with -- or she went to high school with Sheri Coleman.

GRACE: The stripper-slash-mistress goes to high school with dead victim?

PISTOR: Yes.

GRACE: Dr. Janet Taylor, I think it`s time we called in a shrink. Help me out, Dr. Taylor.

DR. JANET TAYLOR, PSYCHIATRIST: You know, it`s hard to understand. I mean we don`t know what the ministry policy is. But theoretically, it could be, if you work for a minister and you are having an alleged affair and your kids and family turn up missing, that possibly breaks...

GRACE: Missing?

TAYLOR: I mean dead.

GRACE: Dead.

TAYLOR: Then that would violate the policy.

GRACE: Now, where was the woman, McGraw Milhaven, KTRS Radio, joining us out of St. Louis? Where did the -- where`s the stripper hail from?

MCGRAW MILHAVEN, TALK SHOW HOST, KTRS RADIO, COVERING STORY: Nancy, you`re missing the whole point. This show is a joke. You are a joke. You are protecting the prosecutor. The cops have already said they have the evidence. They`ve already said they have the person. Every other person would have been charged.

Why aren`t you asking the question, why isn`t the prosecutor bringing charges against whoever the cops believe did this? You`re missing the whole point, Nancy.

GRACE: OK, McGraw Milhaven...

MILHAVEN: I`m embarrassed to be on this show. Yes?

GRACE: Well, sir, you`re off. Cut his mike.

MILHAVEN: Thank you.

GRACE: To you, Nick Pistor -- in fact, I`ll go to the prosecutor on this.

Eleanor Dixon, there are many reasons, if someone understood complex felony prosecutions, why a prosecutor would wait for a formal charge? Explain.

ELEANOR DIXON, PROSECUTOR: Exactly, Nancy. You don`t want to rush to an indictment. You want to wait until you have every piece of evidence, all the lab tests back. If the prosecution would race to indictment, then we`d hear everybody screaming hey, they haven`t done their homework, they haven`t looked at all the evidence.

But here they`re taking their time as you should because when you indict a case you want to be ready to go to trial.

GRACE: Back to Peter Odom and Alex Sanchez. Peter Odom, why the delay? If cops do know who they believe the perpetrator is, and I asked this last week directly to Major Connor, what`s the holdup?

PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They don`t have enough evidence to go to grand jury yet or if they do have enough evidence to go to grand jury they don`t have enough for a conviction.

And no good prosecutor would bring the charge unless they thought they could get a conviction by the higher standard of beyond a reasonable doubt. They`re still looking.

GRACE: To John Lucich out of New York, former investigator, author of "Cyber Lies." You`re a former felony investigator. I am a former felony prosecutor of many, many years who specialized in murders.

Mr. Lucich, why, could you think of a reason the prosecution is waiting to make a formal charge?

JOHN LUCICH, INVESTIGATOR, AUTHOR OF "CYBER LIES": Look, this is for Sue. The handwriting is on the wall, and now he`s going to fall. There`s no doubt about it. Where do these cops looking? They go looking along the path the husband takes to go to the gym. They find the glove.

Exactly something they thought they were looking for, they found. They`re just waiting for the forensic evidence. The cops, there`s no doubt in my mind, know this guy did it. They gave it off to the prosecutor and said we`re done, you do your job.

But if he`s not confident with everything until it comes back from the forensic lab. So I think it`s on them. They`re waiting -- I leave that decision up to them. But there`s no doubt in my mind this husband`s going to go down on this one.

GRACE: To Nick Pistor, "St. Louis Post-Dispatch." You know what crossed my mind when they were -- the cops were asking the public, did anybody see anything along this stretch of road? We`re going to be out there looking on x date at x time.

I was wondering if they were trying to set up the killer to go and try to retrieve whatever had been discarded along the road.

PISTOR: I don`t know if it was a setup, but they were saying they were wanting to interview anyone who knew the family, or knew them well, to try to learn more about the victims, about their lives, about what was happening in their lives.

GRACE: Everybody, you`re used to a lot of bad news on every headline. Tonight some good news. A little boy we told you about, his family was forced face down, tied up, threatened in their own home on a Sunday afternoon. The 3-year-old boy taken from the mother.

He`s been found alive, Mexicali, Mexico, wandering the streets alone. Now let`s find the coldhearted kidnapper. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The two suspects that we believe are directly involved with the abduction of Briant Rodriguez from his home are as follows. Suspect number one, Liberato Vega, a Hispanic male, 30 years of age, 5`9" to -- 5`9" with a weight of 130. We believe Liberato Vega is going to be our first and primary suspect.

Suspect number two, we believe participated with Vega is Israel Ledesma Marino, also a Hispanic male, 28 years of age, 5`6", with a weight of 150. The associated person that we believe possibly traveling with these two individuals is Claudia Acosta-Serrano, a 21-year-old female, and as we understand it the girlfriend of Mr. Vega.

We don`t know if her participation in the kidnap is directly or indirect, but we would certainly like to speak with her. And with that, as we fear that these three individuals have possibly fled to Mexico.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Out to Andrew Mollenbeck with KNX Radio joining us out of L.A. Andrew, these guys, both of them, have extensive rap sheets in this country. They are not American citizens. They`ve been deported. Why were they back and it made it possible for them to kidnap this little boy?

ANDREW MOLLENBECK, REPORTER, KNX RADIO, COVERING STORY: Yes, absolutely, this shocking and really aggravating news that we learned today that both of these primary suspects investigators say are in the country illegally. Not only that, they`ve been deported several different times, and they`ve had many run-ins with the law here in Southern California.

And again, as you heard them say there, the fear is now that they have left California and maybe have gone back into Mexico.

GRACE: Well, obviously, I think they`re in Mexico, Andrew Mollenbeck, because the little boy was found in Mexicali.

MOLLENBECK: That would make sense.

GRACE: Somebody had taken him. Who? Out to Jodi Miller with the San Bernardino Sheriff`s Office. Jodi, who is this woman? Who is the woman that`s now believed to be riding along with them?

(ON THE PHONE)

JODI MILLER, SAN BERNARDINO SHERIFF`S OFFICE, ON THE CASE: The female in this case is Claudia Acosta-Serrano. She has not been identified as being directly connected to the kidnapping. However, she is a person of interest that investigators are very eager to speak to.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Mexico. They came across the border and watched the mother and the son reunited. And he said that the last thing he saw was Briant clutching his mother`s neck. And that kind of says it all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our investigators went on scene working with the central station deputies and their detectives. We quickly determined that this was the real deal and that Briant had been abducted from his home. There was no -- there was no thought of parental abduction or family issues that we knew of at that time, and it was the real deal.

We immediately launched a full-scale 24-hour-a-day search for Briant and his abductors. We activated a command post. And in that transition we coordinated with the California Highway Patrol to initiate an Amber Alert.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Back to Andrew Mollenbeck, KNX Radio, joining us out of L.A. Andrew, I want to understand the circumstances surrounding how he was found. I understand he was all alone wandering the streets at night in Mexicali?

MOLLENBECK: Yes, this is Thursday night. He`s found in Mexicali. And police there sort of turned him over to child services. He had a different haircut than when he left. Of course, he had shoulder-length hair as you`ve seen in the pictures when they put up those pictures to look for him.

Well, investigators found him, and the hair had been cut off. So immediately they didn`t know who he was. They turned him over to child services in Mexico, and eventually they realized that it was Briant Rodriguez.

GRACE: To Jodi Miller with San Bernardino`s Sheriff`s Office, what was his condition again, Miss Miller?

MILLER: He was -- Briant was clearly fatigued. He seemed to be very tired when he was returned here to San Bernardino. He was taken to a local area hospital for a full medical evaluation.

GRACE: To Dr. Zhongxue Hua, medical examiner, Union County, New Jersey. Dr. Hua, what type of an examination would they typically put this little boy through?

DR. ZHONGXUE HUA, UNION COUNTY, NJ, MEDICAL EXAMINER: Two phases. First is, go through the physical injuries or not. I mean here apparently the boy has no physical injuries. Second thing is may do a psychological evaluation, whether the kids have any stress in separation, any mental issues that later on can help the kids go through the transition, reunite the family and (INAUDIBLE).

GRACE: Eleanor Dixon, you specialize in crimes on children. How do you go about interviewing this little boy? And my big question tonight is how do I get these two back in U.S. custody to prosecute them?

DIXON: Two things, Nancy. You do a forensic interview with the child. It`s an interview, not therapy, in order to get the information. They`re trained people to speak with children. It preserves the integrity or the integritus, as we say, of the interview. Also, they can extradite the people from Mexico.

GRACE: And also, Eleanor, of course, they have to do a physical exam of the little boy and somehow make sure he has not been sexually assaulted.

DIXON: And the sad thing with that, Nancy, is with sexual assaults often times you cannot tell. If there`s a touching, for example, you`re not going to have physical evidence of that.

GRACE: Kathy in Florida, hi, dear, what`s your question?

KATHY, CALLER FROM FLORIDA: Hi, friend. How are you tonight?

GRACE: I`m good.

KATHY: Hey, we should call you "Amazing Grace."

GRACE: You know, Kathy, I appreciate that.

KATHY: You`re one...

GRACE: Thank you very much, dear. What is your question, love?

KATHY: My question is anybody in this little boy`s family recognize these photographs of these people?

GRACE: Good question. Andrew Mollenbeck, how about it?

MOLLENBECK: Well, when these two guys entered the house, the family said they had never seen them before. What`s interesting at this point is investigators have not released any motive in this case but they say they do believe they know why this family was targeted and that`s going to be what we look for in the next couple of days.

GRACE: You know, back to Peter Odom and Alex Sanchez, I believe the two of you, when this child was first taken, tried to suggest this family was involved in drugs. That ringing a bell, Sanchez?

ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes. And to tell you the truth, Nancy, I am still suspicious of this entire event involving the invasion and the kidnapping of this child. And the police, the fact that the police are not revealing exactly what they know about this makes me even more suspicious.

And if this case goes to trial, by the way, the defense -- you can be certain the defense attorneys are going to bring up or try to bring up the issue of drugs or drug activity in connection with this family if it exists.

GRACE: That`s right. Try to drag the victims through the mud. Good strategy, Alex. I`ve never heard that one before.

Peter Odom, in a nutshell, how do we get these guys back in the country?

ODOM: Well, they`re going to have to deport them if they are -- if they`re Mexican citizens. They`re going to have to be deported. The Mexican government will cooperate with that, but it will have to be between the Mexican government and the United States government. Unfortunately, it`s a long process.

GRACE: And very quickly, Dr. Taylor, what is this woman, this gorgeous woman, Claudia Acosta-Serrano, what is she riding along, what is she, the wheel girl for these two idiots?

TAYLOR: Hey, you know, that was her boyfriend. But if you think about it, it may have been her who potentially kept this little boy safe in the sense of if someone was going to happen to him it might have been her who really took care of him. So we`ll have to wait and see.

GRACE: Yes, we will. I predict somebody`s rolling over at trial. Very quickly, switching gears, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dressed in a blue prison jumpsuit, the normally talkative Drew Peterson made his way into the Will County courthouse this morning without a word.

The 55-year-old ex-officer, turned murder suspect, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges in the 2004 drowning death of his ex-wife, Kathleen Savio. Her death was originally ruled an accident, but the case was reopened and her body exhumed after Peterson`s fourth wife, Stacy, vanished in 2007.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really believe what it was was money. There was a lot of money being handled after the divorce. And I think having my aunt out of the way would definitely have been a lot easier for him to make what he wanted to happen.

And the fact that he had this new girlfriend, you know, he tried to move on with his wife, and what better way to do that than take the one that`s bothering you out of the picture?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My aunt deserves justice. She deserved justice five years ago, and she deserves to be listened to before she was murdered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Huh. Found drowned to death in a bone-dry bathtub, covered in bruises. Drew Peterson bragging nearly two years he`d never be arrested. Today in court he went stone cold silent.

Out to Kathy Chaney with the "Chicago Defender," what happened in court?

KATHY CHANEY, REPORTER, CHICAGO DEFENDER: Well, they were going to see if they could get his bail reduced. However, they were kind of thrown a monkey wrench up into that. The prosecutor has asked the judge -- well, asked for a new judge based on speculation that there is possibly some type of prejudice there because the judge was the same one back in November who threw out the felony gun charges against Drew because the state`s attorney`s office would not turn over some memos, some internal memos to Drew`s defense team.

GRACE: You know...

CHANEY: So now...

GRACE: Out to you, Eleanor Dixon, I`d move to have the judge thrown off the case, too, because the judge dropped all those felony gun charges against Drew Peterson who`s now charged with murder in wife number three`s death, because the state wouldn`t hand over work products, their personal private work products in preparation for the case.

They don`t have to turn that over. So I`d say to the judge, see you. I don`t want to see anything but your elbows and the back of your head, bye-bye.

DIXON: That`s not so unusual, Nancy. You want a judge who is unbiased, who`s fair and balanced. And that`s what you need to have, especially in a case this high profile.

GRACE: You know, out to the other lawyers, Peter Odom, Alex Sanchez. His defense attorney appeared on various morning shows stating that his cracking inappropriate jokes was his way of coping.

You know, that lawyer, it sounds to me like he`s bringing a knife to a gunfight because that`s not going to work with a jury. He`s got to come up with something better than that, Sanchez.

SANCHEZ: Yes, except that is probably not going to come before any jury because that attorney before this trial...

GRACE: Oh really?

SANCHEZ: ... before this trial takes place.

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: It`s been on every national television.

SANCHEZ: No, he`s going to ask the judge to bar that from ever coming before the jury for their consideration. It`s irrelevant.

GRACE: So you don`t want to answer it. You just want to hope it gets swept under the rug. OK. That`s the best strategy you got, I understand.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Out to Michael Lisak, Kathleen Savio`s nephew. Mr. Lisak, what do you make of Peterson pleading not guilty in court today and cracking inappropriate jokes?

(ON THE PHONE)

MICHAEL LISAK, KATHLEEN SAVIO`S NEPHEW: I find it expected. We expected him to make that not guilty plea. As far as cracking jokes, it`s him continuing with behavior he showed us throughout the year and a half.

GRACE: To a special guest joining us tonight, Andrew Abood. He`s co- counsel for Drew Peterson. Mr. Abood, thank you for being with us.

ANDREW ABOOD, CO-COUNSEL FOR DREW PETERSON: Good evening, Nancy.

GRACE: Hello, you want bail reduced, why? Do you think that would be fair?

ABOOD: I think under these facts and circumstances there`s not a single case in Little County with a bail this high. We`ve got certainly unusual facts and circumstances, and when you look at all the factors that -- on which bail is supposed to be set, bail should be much...

GRACE: OK.

ABOOD: ... significantly lower in this case.

GRACE: Andrew Abood, very quickly, it`s our understanding that the missing wife number four, Stacy Peterson, told her priest that your client murdered wife number three. How do you plan to keep that out of evidence?

ABOOD: Well, it`s hearsay, number one, and number two, I think that the credibility and liability of that statement will be substantially challenged.

GRACE: OK.

ABOOD: Given all the factors that the preacher came forward many, many months later.

GRACE: Very quickly, to Derek Armstrong, author of "Drew Peterson Exposed." He interviewed Drew Peterson.

Derek Armstrong, did Drew Peterson fail to pass polygraph questions about the death of this woman, Kathleen Savio?

(ON THE PHONE)

DREW PETERSON, AUTHOR, DREW PETERSON EXPOSED, INTERVIEWED DREW PETERSON: On the polygraph, Nancy, he actually passed most of the questions, although there were wiggle room in the questions, he could have convinced himself in his own mind that he was telling the truth and somehow passed. It`s a measure of truthfulness, not of the truth.

GRACE: Derek Armstrong`s book, "Drew Peterson Exposed." Derek joining us out of Toronto.

Everyone, let`s stop and remember Army Special Stephen Okray, 21, St. Claire Shores, Michigan, killed Iraq. Huge heart. Loved hunting, fishing, cars and motorcycles. Camping trip with brother and father. His loved risky stunts. His brother remembers him as the family "Evil Knievel." Leaves behind parents Harry and Marybeth, brother Jeff.

Stephen Okray, American hero.

Thanks to our guests, but especially you to you for being with us. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END