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Nancy Grace
Marshals Release More Info on Missing Sex Offender`s Truck
Aired June 18, 2009 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MIKE BROOKS, GUEST HOST: Breaking news in the case of missing 4-year- old, Haylee Donathan. A surveillance camera shows the pickup truck of level 3 sex offender Robbi Potter at a gas station just 150 miles east of Denver. Authorities now releasing even more clues. As we go to air, take a look at this, the U.S. Marshals on the lookout for this unique lightning bolt pattern that`s just been released. Have you seen it?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New surveillance images released. Is there a break in the case in the desperate search for 4-year-old Haylee Donathan? U.S. Marshals say they`ve confirmed a sighting of the vehicle that sex offender fugitive Robbi Potter, mom Candace Watson and Haylee Donathan are believed to be traveling in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As this new surveillance video came out from June the 2nd, it showed the truck that these three are driving in in Colorado. Candace Watson has some friends in the Phoenix, Arizona, area. She lived in Arizona for some time. And they may be headed there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The U.S. Border Patrol has been placed on high alert, not only to the south down in Mexico, which is right next to Arizona, but also up north, towards Canada.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they try to cross the country, we`re going to get them. There`s nowhere they can go that we can`t find them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Haylee Donathan was last seen on May 28th, and the roommate of the little girl`s mother made some stunning claims on HLN`s Nancy Grace.
SAMANTHA COVERT, MOTHER`S BEST FRIEND & ROOMMATE: I had gotten up, and that was the first thing I had seen, was Robbi and Candace and Haylee in her bedroom.
JEAN CASAREZ, GUEST HOST: And where was Haylee?
COVERT: With Robbi and Candace.
CASAREZ: In the bed?
COVERT: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a very dangerous individual, convicted sexual predator. And the sooner we find that little girl, the better off everybody will be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKS: Also tonight, live to Florida as yet another legal battle heats up in the case of little Caylee Anthony. Will the final autopsy report of Casey (SIC) be released? The attorney for George and Cindy Anthony say they want the autopsy sealed until the case goes to trial to spare them the anguish of it, going public just one day after Judge Stan Strickland rules jailhouse video allegedly showing Anthony hyperventilating and asking for sedatives stays sealed from the public.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE ANTHONY, CAYLEE`S GRANDFATHER: If you say "remains" one more time, sir, I`m walking out this door. How dare you say that about my granddaughter? How dare you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An attorney for the Anthonys filed a motion on their behalf to stop the release of the autopsy, but it will be up to a judge on whether that is released or not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They say that the release of this information in the autopsy report would cause great anguish for the Anthony family...
CINDY ANTHONY, CAYLEE`S GRANDMOTHER: The moment I first saw Caylee Marie, in the instant she was placed into my arms, she stole my heart.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... and would cause even more speculation about the cause of Caylee`s death and the condition of her remains.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do not form any judgments because I`ll tell you, you don`t want to be any of our family`s shoes, no matter what it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The media will also have a chance to weigh in on this, saying why they believe this is not being released.
GEORGE ANTHONY: You guys have torn apart my family so much, every single one of you. Every single one of you. You don`t realize what you`ve done to us and you don`t care. You don`t care.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My heart goes out to them, but unfortunately, anguish is not proper grounds for keeping this out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This little child right here, she is the victim in all of this. This little one is not protected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKS: Good evening, I`m Mike Brooks, in for Nancy Grace. Now authorities releasing even more clues in the search for little 4-year-old Haylee Donathan. Tonight, the police and U.S. Marshals need your help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police in northern Ohio say a 4-year-old girl`s in danger, traveling with her mom and mom`s sex offender boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Detectives say a $10,000 reward is being offered for Potter, who`s wanted for parole and probation violations. Investigators confirm his truck was recently spotted on surveillance video in Colorado.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The surveillance footage showing a female believed to be Candace Watson attempting to purchase gas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The latest we know now is that we have this surveillance video. One of the most important clues is that we now have more details on the pickup truck that these three are in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s a 1988 Chevy pickup truck. It`s black. It`s a two-tone black over, like, a green or teal. And one of the things that stands out the most about it is it has, like, a lightning storm design on the back window. ENS-9729. That`s an Ohio plate.
CASAREZ: Do you believe that your daughter was allowing your granddaughter to be in the bed with a tier 3 convicted sexual offender?
MARY WATSON, GRANDMOTHER: No. I don`t believe that.
COVERT: When had I seen them, Haylee noticed that I was up and said, Aunt Sam, and she wanted to go downstairs with me. My youngest daughter had asked Haylee who that was, and Haylee looked at me and shrugged her shoulders. And then I had asked Candace and she said, that`s Robbi.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is a sexual predator. This man is a danger to absolutely anybody that he comes into contact with.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re very concerned about the safety of the little girl.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKS: I`m Mike Brooks, in for Nancy Grace. Want to go straight out to Phil Trexler, reporter with "The Akron Beacon Journal." Phil, thanks for being with us. What`s the latest out of Ohio?
PHIL TREXLER, "AKRON BEACON JOURNAL" (via telephone): Well, good evening, Mike. The latest tonight is, of course, we talked about the distinctive window decal that the U.S. Marshals office has released to the public. It`s a decal that covers the back window of the pickup truck that Potter -- Robbi Potter is expected to be driving at this time. There was a spotting out there in Colorado about 150 miles east of Denver. This, of course, was in Stratton, Colorado, but the spotting occurred on June the 2nd. So of course, that puts the Marshals office about two weeks behind Robbi Potter and Candace Mary Watson in their search to find Haylee Donathan and bring her back to Ohio safely.
BROOKS: Right now, I want to going to Drew Deserto joining us from Ohio. He`s the assistant chief deputy U.S. Marshal in northern Ohio violent task force. Drew, thanks for being with us again.
DREW DESERTO, ASST. CHIEF DEP. U.S. MARSHAL: Thank you, Mike.
BROOKS: OK. So how did you all develop the information that you sent us today about this lightning storm decal or sticker on the back of this truck?
DESERTO: Well, we were able to get on the Internet, actually, and had some people research some possible designs, and that one that you`re looking at is what we believe is on that truck.
BROOKS: Now, did you -- were you able to see this thing? It looks like on that surveillance from the gas station, you can see a little bit of the top of that -- of his decal. Is that how you kind of pushed it in that direction and said, Hey, this could be the design?
DESERTO: Yes. We did a little video enhancement and some comparisons with the video that we have and research on what`s available out there to purchase, and that`s what we believe is on that truck at this time. And as we said, it`s quite distinctive. If someone sees that design, it`s going to stand out to them. If they see that truck on your show, they see that truck out in the street, hopefully, they`ll call us.
BROOKS: And on that truck -- we can show the truck. That is an extremely distinctive truck. I mean, it`s not -- you know, look at this truck. If you see this rolling down the road and you see that design of that storm decal with the lightning, please notify -- don`t take any action yourself, right, Drew? Call 911 or contact the U.S. Marshals service.
DESERTO: Absolutely. You can call 911, you can call local police department, you can call our hotline, 866-4-WANTED, and we will respond right away. Someone out there has seen that truck. It`s out there. I`m quite astonished that we haven`t gotten that call yet.
BROOKS: Yes, there`s no doubt in my mind. Now, how did you all develop or find this latest video from June 2nd?
DESERTO: Well, we did our investigation and it developed for us, and we were able to confirm that they were definitely at that gas station on June the 2nd. We receive a lot of random tips and a lot of possible sightings, but until we can confirm them, we do our investigation. And this one we were able to confirm, and that`s why we released it to you.
BROOKS: Well, I know the U.S. Marshals service, they usually get the person they`re looking for. And having worked with you guys in the past, you all do one heck of a job. Now, I want to kind of -- run down the timeline for me now, with me, Drew. So May 28th, Potter escapes from the halfway house, right?
DESERTO: Correct.
BROOKS: OK, and then on the 29th, Potter and Candace Watson are -- they go to a Wal-Mart in Ontario, Ohio, and they basically -- Haylee was not with them at the time.
DESERTO: That`s correct. We believe Haylee was supposed to be with someone watching her.
BROOKS: And then they go -- so they go to spend a night at the campground because when we first started on this story, we were talking about them being at a campground in central Ohio. This was the Hickory Grove campground?
DESERTO: Yes. That`s correct.
BROOKS: Any witnesses at all there or somebody who runs the campground, they confirm that they were there?
DESERTO: Yes. We have confirmation that they were there, just the two of them the night of the 29th, and then all three of them on the night of the 30th.
BROOKS: All three of them on the night of the 30th. So apparently, they went and picked up little Haylee and brought Haylee back to the campground.
DESERTO: Yes, that`s correct.
BROOKS: OK. Then on the 31st, that`s when we see the next video surveillance, apparently at the Wal-Mart in Marion, Ohio. Correct?
DESERTO: Yes, sir, that`s correct. That`s where we have the sighting that we believe is Haylee out in the truck.
BROOKS: Oh, OK, so we have a tier 3 sex offender. This guy`s been locked up twice, we know, and has done time, was in a halfway house. So you`ve got a tier 3 sex offender in the truck alone with little 4-year-old Haylee.
DESERTO: Yes. It`s definitely concerning. That and what we heard earlier, or yesterday, from Samantha about -- she saw them sleeping all in a bed together. You know, it`s been some time now, and that`s a concern that we have, and the welfare and the safety of little Haylee is our primary concern and our driving force in this investigation.
BROOKS: Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASAREZ: You have met Robbi Potter one time. Can you describe for us what that meeting was like?
COVERT: Wasn`t very comfortable. He didn`t make any eye contact with me. I had woke up at our house, at Candace and I -- and our bedrooms are right across from each other. And I had gotten up and that was the first thing I had seen, was Robbi and Candace and Haylee in her bedroom.
CASAREZ: And when was this?
COVERT: This was Thursday the 28th.
CASAREZ: And where was Haylee?
COVERT: In her room, with -- in Candace`s room with Robbi and Candace.
CASAREZ: In the bed?
COVERT: Yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKS: All three in the bed -- Candace Watson, Robbi Potter, the level 3 sex offender, and little 4-year-old Haylee. Just makes me sick.
Let`s go to the attorneys right now. From Orlando, Bill Scheaffer, attorney -- defense attorney and legal analyst for WFTV, joining us from D.C., Chris Amolsch, and from Chicago, Tamara Holder.
OK, Tamara, how are you going to defend this guy once the Marshals lock him up?
TAMARA HOLDER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don`t know if you can defend this guy, but we`ve got to make sure the woman, the mother of this girl, is not also a victim. Everybody`s worried about the little girl, but we don`t know if it`s a kidnapping of her, as well, the mother.
BROOKS: It doesn`t look like a kidnapping to me, Tamara, her driving the truck inside the Wal-Mart? She`s not -- she`s not looking to get help!
HOLDER: Mike, you know better. Mike you know better, that this woman may be a victim of this man`s kidnapping, as well.
BROOKS: Oh, yes!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Arrests have been made in the case as investigators reveal the mother`s boyfriend, Robbi Potter, had help escaping the halfway house. Who allegedly helped him? None other than Haylee`s biological father and her maternal uncle, who`s also a sex offender.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody`s just (INAUDIBLE) and worried to death about them, don`t know if they`re dead or alive, and scared that something`s happened to them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He come over. He used my girlfriend`s phone. He had just escaped from the VOA. With Potter, I didn`t know nothing about him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did the mother`s own brother unknowingly put 4- year-old Haylee`s life in danger? Cyle Watson, Haylee`s uncle, is a registered sex offender housed at the same halfway house as Potter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It appears that Haylee Donathan, with her mother, Candace Watson, 24 years old, and apparently, her mother met this convicted sex offender, Robbi Potter, through Candace`s brother. We understand they are in a relationship that`s fairly new. Last they were heard from was the grandmother heard from Candace on May 31st. And the best we can tell, they went to a camping site in Delaware County.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t know him personally, you know, but I found out a little bit about him the last couple of days, found out that he`s a tier 3 sex offender. You know, he`s known for messing with kids. It`s kind of hard to say what I think, you know, because, honestly, I know what I would do to him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty much all we need is a phone call from the mother, where we can verify that she and her daughter are OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The plate is ENS-9729. It`s an Ohio plate on this truck. We`re working on trying to look through the windshield or the side windows to see if we can get any other confirmation of Haylee. From the footage, we can tell that Candace came out of the passenger side of the truck, which tells us that there is a driver, and we believe that`s still Potter. We believe that they`re all together still. And it brings us a little bit closer. It shows us that -- another area of the country that we`re focusing our attention on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKS: I`m Mike Brooks, in for Nancy Grace. And we`re taking your calls live. I want to hear what you say about this case of this 4-year-old little girl running around the country with her mother and a tier 3 sex offender. Straight out to the line, Brooke from New York.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Mike. How are you?
BROOKS: Good, Brooke.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. I wanted to ask -- I`ve been watching this from the beginning, and I understand that the grandmother had custody for a while, while the mother had problems with methamphetamine, and so on. Is there any way the grandmother`s attorney could call for an emergency hearing and then get granted custody due to the severe circumstances the daughter is in with that sex offender and then the Amber Alert could go out? I mean, it`s been said time and time again that the Amber Alert needs to be rewritten, redone. Well, right now, could the grandmother get custody and an Amber Alert go out for the girl, in addition to all the help that the Marshals are doing?
BROOKS: That`s a great question. Straight out to Mary Watson, grandmother of little Haylee Donathan. Miss Watson, thank you for being with us.
WATSON: Thank you, Mike.
BROOKS: Have you thought -- have you petitioned about to try to get custody of little Haylee, once we get her back?
WATSON: I`m working on that right now. I`m working on that right now.
BROOKS: Now, how long, or how often did you watch Haylee, and was she with you most of the time?
WATSON: Since she`s been back, she`s -- when Candace wasn`t working, she had her. But when she was working, she was either with the sitter or else around my house because she loves her mammaw.
BROOKS: That`s what I used to call my grandmother, mammaw.
WATSON: She`s -- if she`s out there, I want to reach out to her. And Candace, please Candace, and Haylee -- Haylee, if you can hear and see me, have somebody call me and let me know that you`re at least all right. And Candace, please don`t be doing this and turn yourself in so you guys are both safe. We`ll get help or whatever we need to do. Just, please, we need you to call in so you`re safe.
BROOKS: Now, when was the last time you spoke with Candace?
WATSON: Sunday, on the 31st. She was real short and it kind of sounded like her voice was shaky. And she told me, Mom, I just dropped Robbi off in Busiris (ph), and I`ll see you when I get there and hung up.
BROOKS: She said she just dropped Robbi off where?
WATSON: In Busiris, Ohio.
BROOKS: Now, how far is that from where you are?
WATSON: About approximately 25 miles.
BROOKS: I want to go back out to Drew Deserto, assistant chief deputy U.S. Marshal. Drew, have you all looked at any cell records to see if the cell phone has been in use at all?
DESERTO: Mike, you can be confident that we`re doing everything and anything we can do. We have a lot of investigative techniques that we work, and we`re doing all of them on this case. We`ve pulled out all the resources, have a lot of manpower working on this, not just here in Ohio but in several other states throughout the country.
BROOKS: Yes, I know. Look, you know, I was an investigator myself, worked some cases like this before, and there are some things that I want to ask you, but I know you`re not going to answer. And I don`t want to give away any of our tricks of the trade, if you will, for this case, because we want to find these people as soon as possible. Right now, Drew, you have warrants for him for what right now? For Potter.
DESERTO: He has two warrants at this point. He has a federal probation violation warrant. That`s on the original charges of the bank robbery case. And he also has a state parole violation warrant on the original charge as a sex offense case.
BROOKS: That`s right. I forgot he had a bank robbery case. This is a guy who is just a real stellar performer here, isn`t he.
DESERTO: Well, yes, you know, this is definitely one of our most high-profile cases we`re working. And he`s definitely a threat to little Haylee and that is our primary concern. We want to make sure she`s OK.
BROOKS: And any other little -- and any other little girl out there where he`s traveling around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: U.S. Marshals say they`ve confirmed a sighting of the vehicle that sex offender fugitive Robbi Potter, mom Candace Watson, and Haylee Donathan are believed to be traveling in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point, we have no evidence to show that they`re not together. We believe all three of them are still together. We believe they`re still running.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKS: I`m Mike Brooks, in for Nancy Grace. And it doesn`t look like -- contrary to what Miss Holder is saying, it doesn`t look as if Candace Watson is trying to get away.
Back out to our attorneys, to Sue Moss, family attorney and child advocate. Bill Scheaffer, defense attorney and legal analyst with WFTV, Chris Amolsch, defense attorney out of Washington, and Tamara Holder out of Chicago. Sue Moss, she`s not trying to get away.
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Oh, heck no! This mom let her 3- year-old daughter be with her SOB -- sex offender boyfriend -- and perhaps even let her be in the same bed! Unless this mom is the president of the (INAUDIBLE) fan club, she`s going to see real jail time not just for child endangerment, but for any and each and every crime that Robbi has done to this child! And I hope to hell he hasn`t, but I`m afraid for what`s really going on there.
BROOKS: No, you know, I am, too. Chris Amolsch, what kind of time -- oh! What kind of time would they be looking at? And is she going to -- could she possibly be charged with child endangerment?
CHRIS AMOLSCH, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: She could be charged with any number of things. But I`m really concerned because this guy`s done fed time. He`s done state time. You know, the amount of time he`s looking at if he gets caught is enormous. You know, there`s no way he doesn`t know that. You know, this has the real potential of not ending well.
BROOKS: Bill Scheaffer, quickly, should she face charges also?
BILL SCHEAFFER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, the evidence seems to indicate that she`s been a willing participant. And if the evidence bears that out, then yes, she will face charges. And she`s going to have one tough defense to argue that her will was overborne or she was tricked into this situation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I spoke with a woman who actually works here at this Wal-Mart. She said that Candice came in to the store by herself because she was here to return a tent.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators say Candice Watson gets into a pickup truck with Robbi Potter.
NANCY GRACE, HOST (voice-over): The mom is in the Wal-Mart, so that, Litney (ph), she leaves the 4-year-old baby girl alone and defenseless with a convicted sex predator.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re very concerned about the safety of the little girl. Our focus right now is to find Mr. Potter and find Haylee.
Even if we find little Haylee, which we hope to find her soon, if we don`t get Mr. Potter, he`s still a danger to other children out there. So we`re going to continue our search and make sure we get him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police have issues a warrant for Candice Watson`s arrest. They believe they played a role in helping Robbi Potter escape from this half-way house. They arrested Haylee`s father, James Donathan, her uncle, Cyle Watson, and James` Donathan`s girlfriend, Nicole Kirkpatrick.
MARY WATSON, GRANDMOTHER OF MISSING 4-YR-OLD HAYLEE DONATHAN: The last thing she said to me that she dropped him off (INAUDIBLE) then she would talk to me right when she got home and then the phone hung up.
GRACE: You say she sounded afraid. Why do you say that?
WATSON: Just the tone in her voice. And she was real short with me. And she`s not like that.
JAMES DONATHAN, MISSING GIRL HAYLEE`S FATHER: You`ve got to realize, most of her life, I was locked up. And then when I got home, I was with her for like 10 days. Then they come back and rearrested me and sent me back off for six months. And I`m still trying to be a part of her life through all this.
So after that six months, then I got out and then I was seeing her pretty much every day. And it wasn`t until me and her mom split up two months ago that everything slowed down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE BROOKS, GUEST HOST: I`m Mike Brooks in for Nancy Grace.
I want to go straight back to Phil Trexler, reporter for the "Akron Beacon Journal."
Phil, there have been three other people locked up in this case. It`s amazing to me. Number one, Cyle Watson, who is Haylee`s uncle. He`s a convicted sex offender. James Donathan, Haylee`s dad. And Nicole Kirkpatrick, dad`s girlfriend.
What`s the status of them right now?
PHIL TREXLER, REPORTER, AKRON BEACON JOURNAL (via phone): Well, all three of them, Mike, made their initial court appearances today. They waived their preliminary hearing and the case is now going to be bound over to a county grand jury for consideration of felony charges and additional charges on top of what they`re already facing.
BROOKS: I want to go back out to Tamara Holder. Tamara, they`re apparently complicit in the escape of Robbi Potter. What kind of time could they be looking at now? What charges, possibly?
TAMARA HOLDER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, it depends on what they know. I mean, did they just help him escape or did they help him to create this conspiracy to kidnap the woman. I believe that the mother was kidnapped, and the daughter, and aid in their taking off, down the road.
BROOKS: The mother.
HOLDER: Or whatever. But.
BROOKS: The mother was kidnapped. Wait a minute. OK, so they`re all laying in the bed together.
HOLDER: Mike, listen!
BROOKS: The roommates.
HOLDER: Mike, you are an.
BROOKS: The roommate says they`re all laying in there together and then she even comes home one day and Robbi Potter`s kicked back, laying in the bed. So you`re going to tell me.
HOLDER: Correct.
BROOKS: . Candice and Potter, went to work and just comes back? Come on, she`s not -- she`s nuts.
HOLDER: No.
BROOKS: No, no. The victim in this.
HOLDER: Mike.
BROOKS: . is little 4-year-old Haylee.
I want to go right now to Bethany Marshal.
HOLDER: Mike, you don`t that. Mike, you do not know that this was a victim.
BROOKS: Bethany.
HOLDER: That she`s the only victim.
BROOKS: Excuse me, you`re not Bethany. Bethany, sex offenders, what is their recidivism rate? This guy just got -- you know he escaped from a halfway house and he`s been locked up two other times with children, 7 and 9.
What`s the possibility that he`s going to offend again?
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST, AUTHOR OF "DEALBREAKERS": The possibility is so high. And unlike serial killers who will kill a few people and then they`ll go underground for a year and then they`ll pop back up, sex offenders, they escalate sequentially. So it`s more and more and more throughout the life span.
I think that it is unlikely that Candice was kidnapped. I believe that Potter groomed her from behind bars. Because we know that sex offenders don`t just groom the child, they groom the entire family, and she probably has the profile of women who fall in love with men who are in jail.
I mean, think of Scott Peterson and all the women who are sending him letters. There are women who love jailbirds. Often, these women have abuse histories themselves, so they fuse and confuse abuse, power, and love. Those states are confused.
They think that because the guy is in jail and has no money and resources that the guy will likely be more dependent upon them. Probably, Potter convinced her that he was picked on and abused by the system and look how soon he got the whole family into bed. It is tragic and sad.
BROOKS: Pat Brown, criminal profiler and author of "Killing for Sport" out of Washington, D.C., weigh in.
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER, AUTHOR OF "KILLING FOR SPORT": OK. I`m going to make you sort of mad here. I think it`s very possible that Candice does like the jailbirds, as Bethany said. I think she`s got a whole jailbird family around her -- you know the father of her child and her brother. She`s used to being around those kind of folks.
And I think she may indeed have fallen for this guy, but she also may have believed, because her brother said this, and of course the brother is a lying piece of work, but anyway, the brother said, I thought when he was in jail that he had done a statutory rape thing and said the girl was older. And she may have been believed that, too.
So he -- so Candice may have gotten a story that he was unfairly in jail, she may have hooked up with him and gone off with him, but it`s possible she found out later that that wasn`t true or he did kidnap her after the fact. So that may be why she hasn`t called home.
BROOKS: Back out to Bethany Marshall. Bethany, sex offenders, they`re very charismatic. I mean they can get -- they can convince people. What`s in the mind and the personality of a sex offender?
MARSHALL: Well, I think, first of all, about what Pat Brown said. I think it`s important to note that Candice Watson`s aunt told this -- told Candice that he was a tier 3 sex offender and Candice did not want to believe it. And that`s probably the cold tone of voice she had with her mother, as she was disconnecting from her family so that she could take off with this predator.
But these guys, if he`s what`s called a regressed pedophile, he probably has same-age mates that he`s sexually attracted to, but then under times of stress, he regresses back to wanting to be with children. But I`m sure he works and worked and worked and worked this mother a million times to get this little girl into bed.
BROOKS: Yes. And they haven`t even known each other that long.
Clark Goldband, our producer in the NANCY GRACE show. How long do we think they`ve known each other?
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, our understanding of this situation, Mike, is that they possibly have only known each other for just a few days. Apparently, according to the roommate who was on our program last night, it may have been the first time Potter was over at the household.
BROOKS: Back out to the lines, Sherry from California. Thanks for staying with us.
SHERRY, CALLER FROM CALIFORNIA: Hi. I`d like -- hi, I`d like to ask a question. I would like to know, if everybody has seen these people, if they`ve seen them at a camp site, they`ve seen her in at a Wal-Mart, they`ve seen her at gas station, why has nobody stopped that vehicle or tracked that vehicle with cops on the way?
Why is everybody letting it just disappear into the night? And that truck cannot be running for 24 hours a day. They have to be stopping some place to sleep.
BROOKS: Drew Deserto, assistant chief deputy, U.S. Marshal working on the case, have you gotten leads of people even having any sightings of this truck yet?
DREW DESERTO, ASST. CHIEF DEP. U.S. MARSHAL, NORTHERN OHIO VIOLENT FUGITIVE TASK FORCE: We`ve got a lot of leads over -- as I stated before, several hundred tips we`re following up on. At this point we haven`t been able to confirm any since June 2nd. We`ve had a few, some we`re following up on still to see if we can confirm, but since June 2nd, nothing.
BROOKS: Back out to the lines, Natasha from New Jersey. Thanks for staying with us.
NATASHA, CALLER FROM NEW JERSEY: Hi, how are you?
BROOKS: Good, thanks.
NATASHA: I love Nancy Grace and I love you, Mike. Thank you so much for covering for her.
I have a couple of comments. One of the things that I`ve observed is that every time we`ve seen the mother, Candice, we`ve not seen the little girl. So could it be that if this was a case of -- you know, if she was manipulated into thinking that, you know, he was legitimate or whatever and then when she went off with him, all of a sudden he became his true self and, you know, kind of -- is now using the little girl as a pawn in making her do things like going into Wal-Mart, you know, filling up the gas tank so that he`s not seen.
BROOKS: Yes. Pat Brown, what do you think?
BROWN: As I was saying, Mike, it may be that she left willing with him in the beginning, thinking she was going to go off with this fun guy who is just not such a bad guy after all, and then after they got on to the road, he may have turned on her, abusing her, basically have kidnapped her at that point and say, look, if you don`t do what I say, I`ll hurt your daughter.
That`s one possibility.
BROOKS: Yes.
BROWN: Of course, there is the other possibility she just likes the guy and she doesn`t care if he`s a sex offender.
BROOKS: You know I`m thinking it`s that possibility.
BROWN: We don`t know.
BROOKS: Because there are many times that she could have escaped. When she was at Wal-Mart twice, the gas station.
BROWN: But her daughter was in the vehicle. Her daughter was in the vehicle. So it`s possible he threatened her and said, look, you do anything, I`ll hurt your daughter, and by that time she was willing to go along because she was afraid. So I don`t know which way to go with this.
BROOKS: Yes.
BROWN: I know that she -- she made a terrible mistake going off with this particular guy, but we`ll find out.
BROOKS: Back out to the lines. Patricia in New Jersey.
PATRICIA, CALLER FROM NEW JERSEY: Yes. I`d like to know where they`re getting the funds to live on the road like this.
BROOKS: That`s a good thing. That`s a good idea. They`re talking about them possibly running out of money, Patricia. You know, because it takes money to put in gas, it takes money to get food. We don`t know. And I`m sure that`s one of the investigative leads that everyone`s looking into.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF TIM MCCLARAN, CRESTLINE POLICE DEPT. (via phone): Originally, we thought she was going to the Delaware area, which is about 70 miles south of Crestline, but we have traced her activities out to Stratton, Colorado, at this point. We think she`s headed for possibly Phoenix, Arizona area.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She asked me, yes, this is Orange County Utilities emergency dispatch. We found a human skull.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god.
GRACE: George and Cindy Anthony fighting tooth and nail to keep the autopsy report a secret. Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Anthonys now are claiming that they would suffer anguish.
CINDY ANTHONY, CAYLEE ANTHONY`S GRANDMOTHER: That was a painful time in my life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first time I saw it, I didn`t even think it was real. You know? And I looked at it and I examined it, and I saw the duct tape and I saw the eye sockets and I realized what it was and I went, oh, (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
C. ANTHONY: That was a cruel thing in my life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The autopsy report, it will eventually be a public record. It has to be used at the trial.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you talk at all to your granddaughter during those 31 days, on the phone or text or anything like that?
GEORGE ANTHONY, GRANDFATHER OF CAYLEE ANTHOYN: Well, number one, is my granddaughter`s only -- she was only 2 years old at the time, she doesn`t text.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
G. ANTHONY: I haven`t talked to my granddaughter -- I have not heard any granddaughter`s voice since June 16th of 2008. Do not ask me that again, sir, because I will walk out of here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
G. ANTHONY: Do not do that again to me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, I don`t want to make it hard on you.
G. ANTHONY: Yes, you are. Yes, you are.
CASEY ANTHONY, MOTHER OF CAYLEE ANTHONY: I need to be looked at as a victim. I`m as much as a victim as the rest of you. And it hasn`t been portrayed that way and it probably won`t be but I know that. At least there are other people that know that and understand that.
LT. TAMMY UNSER, ORANGE COUNTY CORRECTIONS: She walked into the medical clinic and immediately looked at the TV which is on Channel 9 broadcasting the breaking news and she collapsed into the chair and started to -- to what appeared to be hyperventilating.
She lost her breath. We told her a couple of times to take some deep breaths. She was -- got real shallow breathing. Her hands started to sweat. She started rubbing them profusely.
She was in waist chains and handcuffs and kept said the waist chains are getting tighter and tighter and please loosen, and we told her we couldn`t because we knew they weren`t tight when she sat down in the chair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKS: I`m Mike Brooks in for Nancy Grace.
Well, tomorrow, another hearing in the Casey Anthony case, in this saga.
Straight out to Drew Petrimoulx, reporter with WDBO in Orlando. What`s the latest?
DREW PETRIMOULX, REPORTER, WDBO RADIO: Tomorrow we will hear arguments regarding the autopsy report on Caylee Anthony. Attorney for Caylee Anthony`s grandparents, George and Cindy say basically they don`t want the media to get a hold of this autopsy report and pick it apart leading up to trial.
They don`t want the trial to start that would be released but they don`t want to have to go through the anguish, as they say, of having the media pick it apart. The media will also be there to argue that look, this is public record and it should be released.
BROOKS: Want to go out to Dr. Marty Makary. He`s a physician and professor of public health at Johns Hopkins.
Doctor, this final report, now -- it`s not going to have too much information that`s different on cause of death from the initial report from the medical examiner, because we know that the cause of death is undetermined at this time.
How detailed is this going to be? And I don`t think there`s going to be any pictures involved in this report, is there?
DR. MARTY MAKARY, PHYSICIAN, PROF. OF PUBLIC HEALTH, JOHNS HOPKINS: Well, you`re exactly right, Mike, in the sense that the final conclusion of the report is that it was a homicide of undetermined cause. But the report can have a lot of detail. It can have a lot of detail that can be graphic, that could provide -- create a lot of anguish.
And it could get -- imagine a report that would describe, say, a broken or cracked femur or a fragment of a rib or a ruptured eye. Those are the sort of details that families really have a tough time with when they`re going through the natural grieving process.
BROOKS: I want straight out -- I want to go back to the attorneys. Bill Sheaffer, defense attorney and legal analyst for WFTV, Sue Moss, family attorney and child advocate, Chris Amolsch and Tamara Holder.
You know, I`m kind of torn in this -- in releasing of this autopsy. You know, yes, it could lead more -- give more anguish to the family, but then on the other hand, do we really need to know this right now? Just wait for it to come to trial?
Chris, what do you think about this?
CHRISTOPHER AMOLSCH, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think the judge isn`t going to seal the autopsy results because of the anguish it`s going to cause the grandparents. I think the public interest in knowing what happened is going to override that. He might do it to protect the fairness of the trial, but he`s not going to do it for the grandparents.
BROOKS: Sue Moss?
SUSAN MOSS, CHILD ADVOCATE, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: The Anthonys have been on television every chance they get, now they want confidentiality? What, the cat got their autopsy? This is just ridiculousness. There`s been so much media, put everything out there so that we don`t have any false information and that`s the best thing for justice.
BROOKS: Bill, you`re down in that area. You know? And what`s the thought of the general public? Do they really want to know all the gory details of the autopsy report?
BILL SHEAFFER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, WFTV LEGAL ANALYST: The public wants the autopsy released, absolutely. And a good point`s been made here, which is, look, we have had descriptions of what`s contained in the autopsy. It`s not going to contain any pictures.
The grandparents really don`t have standing to argue that this shouldn`t be released. There`s no legal basis. Anguish is not a legal basis to stop the publication of this public record. And if the Anthonys are so traumatized by this, quit going on national TV and talking about and don`t watch television or don`t read about it. That solves that problem.
BROOKS: Yes, you know, I have to agree with you. Look, you know, if you`re under that much grief and anguish, you know, why go on national TV all the time and just bring it up again?
Tamara Holder, what say you?
HOLDER: I say that these autopsy results stay out. The judge needs to seal them. Maybe the grandparents don`t legally have standing, but, you know, the judge needs to protect the fairness of Casey Anthony`s trial.
Whether you think she`s guilty or not, she needs a fair trial. And that is what is important here. And the judge must seal whatever it is to keep this fair trial.
BROOKS: I want to go out to Ellie Jostad, producer for the NANCY GRACE show.
Ellie, yesterday, Judge Strickland decided and he ordered that the controversial jailhouse video be sealed. Why did he decide that?
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Well -- sorry, Judge Strickland decided that the release of that tape, it could be considered highly inflammatory and that in order to preserve Casey Anthony`s right to a fair trial, he decided to seal that tape for now.
However, that does not mean it will necessarily be excluded from coming into court. We expect that there could be a motion to suppress now that the judge has sealed it.
BROOKS: You know, I think that there is no expectation of privacy in jail, but there`s some people that saying oh well, they lured her there, they didn`t need to do this because they had a strong enough case.
Bill Sheaffer, what do you feel about this? As an attorney.
SHEAFFER: I absolutely believe that it was fair play on the part of the police to record her reaction to the ostensible finding of the child`s remains. Because remember, it wasn`t reported that these were the remains, it was -- of her daughter but they were possibly the remains.
And her reaction was in stark contrast to the first time she was told that they thought they found the child`s remains because there was no reaction. Why was there a reaction? The prosecution is going to argue is because the killer placed the body there and knew that it was the body of the daughter, and she, in fact, is the killer.
BROOKS: That`s exactly right. Because she came out, looked up at the TV when they were searching the one area, and thought they had bones, turned around, went right back into her cell.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROOKS: I`m Mike Brooks in for Nancy Grace.
I want to go straight out to Leonard Padilla, bounty hunter. And he will be involved and has been involved in this case.
Leonard, quickly. We don`t have much time. You`ve been around the family a lot. Do you think this is going to cause them any more anguish?
LEONARD PADILLA, BOUNTY HUNTER, WILL BE DEPOSED IN TOT MOM CIVIL SUIT: No, no, absolutely not. Cindy and George are just being dramatic about the whole thing. The people of Orlando and Florida are much more intelligent than George and Cindy want to give them credit for.
There`s not going to be any tampering or any misguidance or the thoughts of any jury that`s selected anywhere in Florida, much less Orlando. And the thing about it is what they don`t want is for anybody to say gee, the airways in the body were still expelling and something in the tape or the hair particles have certain chemicals in them and things of that nature. Or like the doctor said, there might be broken bones or a punctured eye or something like that.
BROOKS: Yes.
PADILLA: That`s what they`re afraid of.
BROOKS: Want to go to Natisha Lance, producer for the NANCY GRACE SHOW.
Natisha, realistically, when is this expected to go to trial?
NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Realistically, Mike, it`s hard to say at this point. Even the defense is saying that they don`t think it`s supposed to go to trial in October when it`s scheduled to go, but as of right now it is scheduled for October but we`ll have to wait and see.
BROOKS: Straight out to the lines, Rosemary from Kentucky.
ROSEMARY, CALLER FROM KENTUCKY: Hi.
BROOKS: Hi.
ROSEMARY: I like to just make a comment as a grandmother, too. if I thought my daughter had killed my grandchildren, I would definitely want to know about the autopsy. And I would want to know because I wouldn`t think my daughter wouldn`t do that. And most of all, they`ve been on the airways everywhere pleading their case. Why stop now?
BROOKS: Yes, you know what? You know what, Rosemary, you know, I have to agree with you. You know I think it would maybe give them more anguish, but if they`re that broken up, stay off the TV and, you know, give your little granddaughter a proper burial.
But tonight, let`s stop to remember Marine Corporal Daniel Geary, 22, Rome, New York, killed in Afghanistan on a second tour. Loved his family, bowling, volunteering in the community service events. He leaves behind parents, Agnes and Michael, fiance Rachel, four sisters, two brothers.
Daniel Geary, a true American hero.
Thank you to all our guests, but our biggest thanks to you for being with us and inviting us into your home tonight. Join us tomorrow night 8:00 p.m. sharp Eastern. Until then, stay safe.
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