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Nancy Grace

Did Lover Drop Dime on Murder-for-Hire Suspect?; Newlywed Bride Under House Arrest; Miley Cyrus Stalker Arrested

Aired August 07, 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 Florida beach beauty marries her dream man and the newlyweds are all set to live happily every after until death does them part. What the 26-year-old beauty didn`t plan on was the hitman she hired to murder her new hubby is a cop. That`s right. The cops sting her on video.

She breaks down in hysterical tears, crying over her dead husband just hours after she has put those special, final touches for his shooting death. She was on the phone with the would-be hitman. We have the video.

Bombshell tonight. We uncover motive. Not only does she convince her husband to transfer ownership of their quarter million-dollar town home to her name only, she goes shopping for the hitman the very next day.

And tonight, we learn the identity of that secret informant who alerts police to the murder plot. Of course, you know it, it`s her lover. Yes. Just six months into the marriage, she gets a lover.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say she thought she`d gotten away with it. Boynton Beach police say 26-year-old Dalia Dippolito tried to pay a hitman $3,000 to kill her husband. Turns out that hitman was an undercover police officer tipped off by a confidential informant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bombshell developments in an alleged murder for hire plot. A lawsuit filed by husband Michael Dippolito claims the informant who tipped off cops to the scheme was actually Dalia Dippolito`s lover.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The report says the two met several times in a parking lot at a CVS and at a gas station. When the officer asked if she was sure she wanted it done, she replied, quote, "I`m not going to change my mind, I`m 5,000 percent sure I want it done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Although they had evidence against her taken days earlier, Boynton Beach police clued Michael in and staged a murder scene at the couple`s town home capturing the grieving wife and then minutes later, flipping the script on her.

GRACE: Problem, ruh-roh, the hitman is the cop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a lawsuit filed by the would-be victim, husband Michael Dippolito claims he signed over ownership of his quarter of a million-dollar town house the same day an informant told cops Dalia Dippolito wanted her husband murdered.

DALIA DIPPOLITO, MURDER-FOR-HIRE SUSPECT: I didn`t do anything, and I didn`t plot anything.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: And tonight, Disney teen superstar Miley Cyrus, AKA Hannah Montana, allegedly stalked by a 53-year-old perv, obsessed with a 16-year- old girl. We have him on video waiting for hours of a single-glimpse of his teenage love object.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Mark McLeod, I`m from -- near Augusta, Georgia. I`m Miley`s number one fan. I`m a little bit nervous. It`s the first time I`ve ever actually been face to face with her. I talk to her a lot, but it`s kind of like I talk and she responds with pictures. That`s the way we communicate.

And I just watch closely, I can tell exactly what she`s doing. I`ve been watching her so long, I watch so closely, I know what kind of mood she`s in, I know almost what she`s thinking about by looking at a picture. Most people say, oh, how can you do that?

It`s not really that hard if you just observe people, their body language and the way they move and the way they act. After you watch that a while, you know exactly what they`re doing, what they`re thinking about.

I`m going to get some flowers, I`m going to ask her to marry me. It`s very strange. I`ve been trying to -- you know, I`ve been to like four or five concerts and for some strange reason, things just didn`t -- you know, things didn`t work out.

But they`re going to work out today. So it`s a pretty exciting day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Some strange reason? Talk about armed security guards, maybe? Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.

A Florida beach beauty marries her dream man and the newlyweds all set to live happily ever after until death does them part. Tonight we learn the identity of the secret informant who alerts police to her murder plot. Of course, it`s her lover. Yes, her love, yes. Just six months into the marriage, she takes a lover.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: OK. She`s walking up. She has gotten a call at the LA Fitness Center to come home immediately. OK. Look at the other cops. This is what I like. They all know. He`s not dead.

"Oh, God. No. No." Look, they`re all looking away and looking at the ground. Uh-oh. Scratching his head. Supposed to be a very painful moment for her. Work it. Work it, cry. OK. It`s about time she should bend over with abdominal pain.

She`s about to collapse out of grief. Look at all the cops just staring at her. Somebody please take her. Take her so we can book her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Did you see all the cops standing around while she breaks down with grief? This is just a few hours after she puts those final special touches on his murder with a hitman. OK. You know, all the police are wired out the yin-yang. They`ve got everything wired, on tape, on surveillance. Some their secret meeting were in the parking lot of the CVS. Hello, surveillance tape.

To Hugh Nolan, investigative reporter joining us out of Miami, the plot thickens. We were all wondering what could possibly be the motive. Now, is it true, just 24 hours after she convinces this guy to put his quarter million-dollar town house in her name only, she goes on a shopping spree for a hitman?

HUGH NOLAN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: As a matter of fact, Nancy, it appears to be an even briefer time frame than that. From what we understand, the confidential informant, which is the friend that she confided in. That she had...

GRACE: Friend. Friend. Whoa, whoa. Check Webster`s Dictionary, Hugh Nolan, I think it was her lover.

NOLAN: Well, it`s interesting. You know, the allegation that this is the person who was involved, the allegation comes from attorneys for Michael, who have filed a suit to try to get the property back into his name.

And even they in their public statements have been a little careful to say that they are drawing the conclusion that there in fact was a romantic or sexual relationship.

GRACE: Well, hold on, Hugh Nolan, that`s an excellent point. That`s why you`re the investigative reporter. We`ve got those lawyers with us right now, but first, let`s take a look back at the alleged floor plan of that quarter million-dollar town house, is it really worth killing over?

Now I`ve got a description of it, granite tabletops, stainless steel appliances, tile laid on the diagonal. Super capacity Whirlpool washer and dryer. But murder for this? Yes, it`s a quarter million-dollar luxury pad, but out to Jason Brodie and Josh Friedman, both joining us out of Boca Raton, Florida.

Jason Brodie, Josh Friedman, welcome. And to you first, Jason Brodie. Your filing suggests that the secret informant is a lover. Now, from my understanding, as a lawyer, practicing lawyer, you don`t put anything in a filing that you don`t believe is true.

JASON BRODIE, ATTORNEY FOR MICHAEL DIPPOLITO: Nancy, just to -- good evening to you, first off.

That lawsuit was filed by Sam Caliendo, who is working with us on this case. We`re handling the divorce aspect. What we`ve been told is that there is possibly a lover out there who Michael was not aware of just before he was informed, obviously, of this plot to kill him. But we`re learning of all these facts over the last 48 hours.

GRACE: What facts have you learned over the last 48 hours?

BRODIE: Well, first off, the obvious one, that she had tried to hire somebody to kill him. And then secondly, that there was an informant and she might have had -- there might have been some sort of extramarital affair besides just being a friend with that person.

GRACE: Hold on. Let me look at Mr. Brodie. Some sort of extramarital affair. Please, let`s not put perfume on the pig. I`m reading the filings. It says: "unknown to plaintiff," that`s your client, "during this time, defendant was seeing another man."

BRODIE: Again, like I said -- like I said to you before, that filing is by Sam Caliendo in the divorce pleading, that is not filed that way.

GRACE: You are representing him in what matter, Jason Brodie?

BRODIE: We are representing him in the divorce which encompasses, as you`re aware, Nancy, the marital home.

GRACE: Well, let me go to you, Josh Friedman. Both of these attorneys very well-respected in the Boca Raton area. Mr. Friedman, if you guys are representing him in the divorce, then certainly you know whether he is claiming she was having a sex affair?

JOSH FRIEDMAN, ATTORNEY FOR MICHAEL DIPPOLITO: Good evening, Nancy. What we know is what`s in Mr. Caliendo`s pleading, is that, unbeknownst to him, there was or was not a lover. We do not have any knowledge right now that he knew about any lover or any affair at this current time.

GRACE: OK. I`m holding the document in my hand. He is named as the plaintiff in this formal court filing, it says she is seeing another -- you know what, you guys want to parse words? Fine. I`ve got the formal document filed by his lawyer in court claiming that this confidential informant was her boyfriend. I`m going to go out to Chief Matthew Immler, Boynton Beach Police Department.

Chief, I don`t know if you counted on the C.I., confidential informant, being revealed in this manner. What do you make of it?

CHIEF MATTHEW IMMLER, BOYNTON BEACH POLICE DEPARTMENT: Well, we`re not saying the confidential informant has been revealed or not, obviously we don`t reveal any information about any of our confidential informants. Whatever you have there in the pleadings at this point in our opinion is speculation.

GRACE: I want to go to Ellie Jostad.

Ellie, what can you tell me? What are the updates on the case?

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, as you know, this lawsuit, now what happened is on Friday, just a week ago, she convinces -- Dalia Doppolito convinces her husband to sign over the condo just to her, both of their names had been on deed previously. She told him that he needed to do it to protect his assets.

That night, she allegedly tells this friend, this man she is seeing, whoever this informant is, that she wants her husband killed. The next day she gives him $1,200 to buy a gun and to hire a hitman.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A newlywed in Boynton Beach, Florida, accused of hiring a hitman to kill her husband. They`d only been married six months. But police say Dalia Dippolito unknowingly hired an undercover cop to do the job.

Police then planned this elaborate sting operation, faking her husband`s death, calling her to the staged murder scene. They catch her entire tearful reaction on tape. In the end, she`s arrested and she comes face to face with not only the hitman, but her husband who is alive and well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a lot of sobbing and her arm wavering and trembling, but there was no wetness in her eyes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was emotional, over the top, hysterical, how you would react, right, if you thought someone was dead. Stone cold, expressionless as she stood before a judge. She`s actually at her mom`s house right now. She went straight to her mom`s house. That`s where she`s going to be on house arrest.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She met this undercover officer, she believed was a hitman, in a car, in a parking lot outside of a CVS. And it was during that encounter she was asked numerous times by this undercover, are you sure you want to do this? At one point, she laughed and said, "I will be very happy."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here`s a woman who is saying she`s 5,000 percent sure she wants to pay for her husband to be killed. And then at the scene you have a woman who is sobbing uncontrollably because she has just learned that her husband is dead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She also said: "I`m not going to change my mind. I`m 5,000 percent sure I want it done. When I set my mind to something, I get it done."

GRACE: Now, look at all the cops around there. Scratching his head, looking away. See, they`re all in on it. This is a sting. Look at the one in the middle staring at her. He`s like, oh, yes.

They`re acting like they`re taking her away to console her, they`re taking her away to book her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: We are taking your calls live, and tonight you`ll be surprised to know that the defendant in this case, Dalia Dippolito, age 26, is at home with her mother. That`s right. Judge Booras decided, in his wisdom - - the Honorable Ted Booras, Division W129K, Courtroom Nos. 1 and 2 , Criminal Justice Complex, West Palm Beach, Florida, decided she should be allowed on house arrest.

OK. I wonder what mommy is cooking for dinner tonight. Out to the lines, Debbie in California.

Hi, Debbie.

CALLER: Hi, Nancy. I love that you speak up for people who can`t always speak up for themselves. That`s a wonderful trait you`ve got.

GRACE: Thank you. I appreciate it. And the reason I`m being a little light-hearted in this case is, nobody is dead, nobody is dismembered, a very shrewd police chief, Matthew Immler, managed to nip this in the bud thanks to a confidential informant, not so confidential anymore, and they got the whole thing on video.

And I guarantee you, Debbie in California, and all these phone calls, you know, the assassin would have long phone call conversations with her, I guarantee you she`s not telling me, but that had to be being recorded. So, Debbie, what`s your question tonight?

CALLER: I wanted to know, why is this woman, who is accused of murder, out on bail for only $25,000? I would be scared if I was her husband.

GRACE: Well, you know what, I asked Chief Matthew Immler that last night, and he is a standup guy. He says the judge is in a much better position to make that legal call than him, he defended the judge.

But let`s throw it to the lawyers. Susan Moss, family law attorney, New York; Midwin Charles, defense attorney out of New York; and Daniel Horowitz, famed defense attorney joining us out of San Francisco. Sue Moss?

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: I have no idea. This is crazy. But of course her alleged lover called the cops. On her hit list he`d be next on top. I mean, this woman is sick. Sick, sick, sick.

She`s going to be convicted because the evidence is irrefutable. There is no entrapment and luckily soon we`ll get her out of her mother`s house and back into jail where she belongs.

GRACE: To Daniel Horowitz, I understand the bond was only about $35,000, which means she puts up $3,500, her mommy probably did that for her too. What I want to see is the workout video from LA Fitness. She`s apparently at fitness enthusiast. And so that`s her alibi.

I can just see her up there on the elliptical, headphones, checking the time, is it safe to go home now, is he dead yet? What`s your defense, Daniel Horowitz? I know you`ve got one. Don`t even start up, don`t even tune up with entrapment.

DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, you know, Nancy, it already puzzles me, why would she need to get the property transferred to her, when, if he dies, it would go to her by inheritance? So everybody is making a big fuss about that, and I think that`s a red herring.

GRACE: Put him up there so I look at him actually say that.

HOROWITZ: Hi there, Nancy.

(LAUGHTER)

HOROWITZ: I think it`s a red herring that they transferred the property to her.

GRACE: Twenty-four hours after she convinces him for tax purposes and legal purposes that he -- this is a 26-year-old realtor, that she believes he should put it all in her name, she goes on a shopping spree for a hitman, you don`t see the connection, Horowitz?

HOROWITZ: Well, I think it`s a very "Keystone Kops" kind of case and I bet she has deep emotional...

GRACE: "Keystone Kops."

HOROWITZ: ... mental problems. This is...

GRACE: She has got problems, all right.

HOROWITZ: Yes. She could never have pulled this off.

GRACE: OK. Midwin Charles, I know you`ve got something better than that.

(LAUGHTER)

MIDWIN CHARLES, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, my issue is with this judge who let her just go home for dinner. I just think it`s ridiculous. I mean, I don`t know. Is he like the husband and this alleged lover where he thinks she`s cute? I`m not particularly sure how it is that she could be home tonight having dinner.

GRACE: She`s not that cute, OK? We`ll all be right back. We`re taking your calls live too.

Tonight`s "Case Alert," a Detroit father of three gunned down hours before his 30th birthday. Tonight, his widow and children need donations for the funeral. Tyrone Rayford shot to death Saturday night. Tonight, his widow and children trying to raise $8,000 for the funeral. To donate, send a check to Truth Missionary Baptist Church, 17541 Oakland Avenue, Detroit, Michigan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dippolito was arrested Wednesday after police say she hired a hitman to kill her husband of only six months. Turns out that hired gun was an undercover cop. Boynton P.D. staged an entire crime scene as if Dippolito`s husband had actually been shot dead.

When she was given the news, she sobs in hysterics, later learned at the police station her husband was still alive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Detectives say they received a tip about Dalia`s plan. She had been dealing with an undercover police officer posing as a hitman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Back to the Chief Matthew Immler, the chief of the Boynton Beach Police Department who shrewdly diverted a murder-for-hire plot.

Chief, how do you train someone to pretend to be a killer-for-hire?

IMMLER: Well, actually, the officer that we used has been used in an undercover capacity for quite some time. Although he hasn`t trained as a killer-for-hire, he`s actually very good at working off the cuff and adapting and getting our game plan through. So he`s an expert at it.

GRACE: Hey, Chief, you know, if this goes to trial, you know what you`ve got to be careful for, I`m sure, whenever I would work with undercover cops, they don`t want to come in and testify. It completely blows their cover.

And the defense will keep them on the stand for days on end to make sure everybody in town sees their picture or their drawing. So he may be no good for you undercover after this.

IMMLER: Well, that happens, and that`s something that, you know, we in police work deal with every day. When that happens, the officer goes into a different job, works in a different capacity, and there`s another officer to take his place.

GRACE: Yes. And in a year or two, everybody will forget what he looks like and you can use him again.

To Dr. Lillian Glass, psychologist, body language expert, author of "I Know What You`re Thinking."

Dr. Glass, here`s a question, especially for you, how do you keep up the charade that you`re in love with your husband when you`re planning a hit? I mean, do you still sleep with him, fix his meals, lay out his socks?

LILLIAN GLASS, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, it`s very difficult. I mean, this girl is so out of control. And you really see this in her body language where part of her body is very stiff, it`s not grieving at all. But the other part...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DALIA DIPPOLITO, TRIED TO HIRE HITMAN TO KILLER HUSBAND: No, no. I didn`t do anything, and I didn`t plot anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say she thought she`d gotten away with it. But this after she`s on her way to the Palm Beach County jail after Boynton Beach Police say 26-year-old Dalia Dippolito tried to pay a hitman $3,000 to kill her husband. It turns out that hitman was an undercover police officer, tipped off by a confidential informant. She says she didn`t do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s 10:50, I should have been dead at like 9:00.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dippolito was working out at the LA Fitness Gym when police called her to return to the home. It was taped off and detectives roaming in the property like it was a crime scene.

DIPPOLITO: No. No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here`s a woman who`s saying she`s 5,000 percent sure she wants to pay for her husband to be killed. And then at the scene you have a woman who is sobbing uncontrollably because she`s just learned that her husband is dead.

DIPPOLITO: No. Oh, my god.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just divorce me and take everything. I mean that`s the best way, right? I mean, I don`t understand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mrs. Dippolito?

DIPPOLITO: Yes?

(CROSSTALK)

DIPPOLITO: Oh, no. No. No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: OK, Meryl Streep, watch out. Here`s an Oscar-winning performance. All the cops standing by. They`ve got the yellow crime scene tape up. They claim they saw -- witness saw an assailant running from the home. She`s just come from her workout there on the elliptical at LA Fitness, and the cops are drinking it all in. Oh, scratching the ear. Yes, we feel bad for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you want to help your husband, you need to go with us and tell us everything you know about who he knows, who he`s connected to.

DIPPOLITO: Please, please.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Back to Chief Matthew Immler with the Boynton Beach Police Department.

Chief, could you just tell me -- I don`t think this is revealing anything about your investigation that you want to keep secret right now. When you take her away to console her and get her story, what happens on the way to the police station?

CHIEF MATTHEW IMMLER, BOYNTON BEACH POLICE DEPT., ON THE CASE (via phone): Well, essentially during the ride to the police station we tried not to engage her too much.

GRACE: Right.

IMMLER: We just wanted her to kind of drink it all in, what had happened. Come to the realization that the plot that she put in motion had succeeded and once we got her to the station, it was very important for us at that time that she reacted to question that`s we had planned to ask her.

GRACE: Exactly. Because then you`ve got witnesses. Did you get those reactions on video at the police station?

IMMLER: Oh, we certainly did.

GRACE: Oh, good guy, Chief! You got your bases covered on this one because, you know, if you don`t have it on video, audio and video, the defense at trial will say, that`s not what happened. We didn`t say that. You didn`t give us a waiver. We don`t understand English. I mean you`ll hear the whole kit `n` caboodle.

So, Chief, on the way to the police station, she thinks her husband`s been knocked off. Was she crying and carrying on the backseat? What`s she doing in the backseat?

IMMLER: She was somewhat subdued. She was crying and essentially just making the types of noises you would think, you know, how could this happen, that sort of thing. But she was very subdued.

GRACE: Oh! All those noises?

IMMLER: Yes, pretty much more of the same that you saw in the film.

GRACE: So you get her to the police station, you take her into a room. Does she know she`s being videoed?

IMMLER: No, she does not.

GRACE: OK. Which is totally constitutional. So when do you break it to her that the bad news that her husband is alive?

IMMLER: Well, we actually didn`t break it to her. What we did is when we moved her from the room that she was in back to the cell block, or our booking area, the husband was standing in the detective room, which is kind of a wide open space. And as she exited the room, she could see him standing there, very much alive.

GRACE: Chief, what did she do?

IMMLER: She was, to say the least, very surprised.

GRACE: Did she really start crying for real?

IMMLER: No. She was pretty much at that point at a loss for words and...

GRACE: She was like, ruh-roh.

IMMLER: That`s it.

GRACE: Chief, when you have her sitting in there before she realizes her plot failed, her husband survived the hit, what kind of questions were you asking her? Did she come up with the whole alibi, what happened that morning, that she -- did she give you her whole story?

IMMLER: Actually, what we had done is we had asked her to retrace her steps and go back. Again, without revealing too much of what we already had on tape with her, we wanted to ensure that the -- essentially the intent element of the crime was being met. And we felt that by having her go back and -- essentially retrace her footsteps, that would play to that element.

GRACE: We`re taking your calls live. Out to Patty in Wisconsin. Hi, Patty.

PATTY, CALLER FROM WISCONSIN: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: How are you, dear? What`s your question?

PATTY: I`m great, how are you?

GRACE: Good.

PATTY: I love this video. I hardly ever see anything really humorous on your show. But this has got me.

GRACE: Yes. You know...

PATTY: I wish we had this...

GRACE: We don`t usually have cause to celebrate when (INAUDIBLE) crime and justice, but this really takes the cake. All right? So I`m just glad that that call from the confidential informant, the secret informant, landed in the right place and didn`t get lost in some, you know, call waiting message answering service.

What`s your question, dear?

PATTY: Well, my question is, one, a lot of these tapes you see where they catch them in these stings, they all say they found this, you know, a friend of a friend. Where do these people find all this statement? This lady says she found him in a CVS parking lot. That`s my one question. It`s ridiculous, what, do hitmen hang around in drugstore parking lots?

GRACE: So, are you saying that you believe she found the hitman in a CVS parking lot?

PATTY: They said that she met him in a...

GRACE: OK. Got it. I think what they mean is they rendezvoused in the parking lot. But let me make sure about that. What about it Hugh Nolan? Investigative reporter joining us out of Miami. Where does the CVS Pharmacy fit into this whole thing?

HUGH NOLAN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well, you`re correct, Nancy. As a matter of fact is that the person who eventually became the confidential informant, learned of the plot on Friday, went to the police on Friday. By Saturday, they had set this up with this undercover detective posing as a hitman contacted by the confidential informant.

Of course, Dalia herself did not have any idea that this was an undercover officer, but this meeting was arranged in those circumstances.

GRACE: Got it. And you know, this is a phenomena, an unusual phenomena. Of course there are several famous black widows, a few of them are Lynn Turner, who allegedly tried to poison her husband and boyfriend with antifreeze in the Jell-O. Of course you can`t ever forget about Pam Smart, who conspired with a 15-year-old lover to have her husband killed.

Margaret Rudin, she dyed her hair and traveled across the country to avoid police. Then we`ve got Stacey Castor, poisoned second husband, attempted murder on daughter. There`s Sheila Labarre, murdered two boyfriends. Janet Mercereau, shot sleeping husband in the head.

But it is a phenomena. It`s very unusual. Out to you Lou Palumbo, private investigator. You don`t see black widows that often.

LOU PALUMBO, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR, FMR. NASSAU COUNTY POLICE INVESTIGATOR: Fortunately, not. You know they`re more of an anomaly in our culture than anything else. But one thing I just wanted to speak to very quickly was this release to her mother, this -- this is a little bit of an issue.

You know, if I were the judge, I would have had an immediate psychiatric evaluation made of this young lady. It`s quite apparent she has a high level of dysfunction and there`s a potential suicide here.

Why he would have allowed her to go to her mother, where it would have been much easier for her, or still is easy for her, to do that, is a little bit perplexing. I would have put her in protective custody at least.

GRACE: You know, Lou, I don`t see suicide here. I think she`s too into herself to commit suicide and she obviously pulled it over on the judge as well. I mean she needs to be behind bars with one of those metal commodes to share with the other inmates. But she`s at home with her mommy who`s probably cooking her a nice Friday night meal.

We`re taking your calls live. As we go to break, happy birthday to Texas friend of the show, a devoted crusader, victim`s right advocate, Andy Kahn.

Happy birthday, Andy, and keep the faith.

Everybody, are you guilty of being our show`s number one fan? Plead your case. Send us your story as to why that fan is you. We`re looking for stand-out stories. And if your e-mail or iReport makes air, you win an autographed copy of my new book, "The Eleventh Victim"

Not going to tell you who did it. And a chance to fly to New York and come to the show live here on the set and meet the crew. Get busy with your video cam and e-mails. Go to CNN.com/Nancygrace.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK MCLEOD, MILEY CYRUS STALKER: My name is Mark McLeod, I`m from -- near Augusta, Georgia. I`m Miley`s number one fan. So, yes, I`m -- I know a lot about Miley.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What are some facts you can tell me?

MCLEOD: Miley has like one of the most open minds of anybody I`ve ever met. She`s probably -- she`s beyond ingenious. From all the things that she knows. I know a lot of things, but she knows more than I know. Thought I knew a lot of things, until I met her and she knows more than I do.

And just a really good person. She doesn`t act phony like everybody else. And she hasn`t let stardom get to her head. She`s just like a regular person just like anybody else which is very rare for somebody that`s as successful. That it doesn`t -- go to their head at some point in time, they start, you know, think they`re above everybody or something like that.

She`s not like that at all. She`s still the same as she was before she got famous. I love everybody out there, and I love Miley. Nobody really knows, but now you know. And now it`s on tape. And now everybody knows.

But I talk to her a lot, but it`s -- you know, it`s kind of like -- I talk and she responds with pictures. That`s the way we communicate.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How do you...

MCLEOD: I`m on her Web site. I kind of like -- I talk -- I kind of -- you know, e-mail her, and then she would put pictures back up if she likes what I said.

(LAUGHTER)

If she doesn`t like what I said, all I have to do is look at the pictures. That`s how we communicate. I talk, she does the visual. I just watch closely and I can tell exactly what she`s thinking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And I can tell what she is think? I can even tell what kind of mood she`s in by looking at her picture? Only I have the super human power?

OK. Tom O`Neal, senior editor, "In Touch Weekly," help me, please. What is a 53-year-old -- let me put it euphemistically -- perv doing, chasing after a 16-year-old little girl?

TOM O`NEIL, SENIOR EDITOR IN TOUCH WEEKLY, COVERING STORY: They`re engaged to be married, Nancy.

GRACE: According to him.

O`NEIL: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And not only that, Billy Cyrus approves and says you`re the one we`ve been praying for her.

GRACE: What happened?

O`NEIL: This is the second time he`s been arrested. It happened this week. Tuesday he was arrested on attempted stalking charges after he was seen hovering around the set of her movie being filmed on an island off Georgia.

Back in June he was there the first time, and he was -- got -- he crossed over the security boundaries, they confronted him. They got into a screaming match. He had to be hauled away in handcuffs.

The first arrest was for disorderly conduct, the latest was for attempted stalking and he`s now in custody.

GRACE: To Scott Hudson, investigative reporter at WGAC 580 Newsradio. Scott, it`s not really difficult to get on to Tybee Island. I mean anybody can drive over there. So explain to me how his first charge, I guess, it would have been a criminal trespass on to the set.

Why wasn`t he dealt with as a stalker then? Why was he free to continue stalking her?

SCOTT HUDSON, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, WGAC 580 NEWSRADIO (via phone): Well, Nancy, at that point the police there did not realize that they were dealing with a stalker. They thought they were dealing with someone who was just really being disorderly.

It wasn`t until after they let him free, due to jail overcrowding in that area, that they learned from L.A. authorities and then saw that videotape from New York that they realized that he had a problem.

GRACE: And, Scott, this video from New York, caught by the "New York Daily News," what was he doing there? Waiting in line for what?

HUDSON: It was a book signing, and that -- according to the videotape, that was his first actually face-to-face encounter with Miss Cyrus.

GRACE: OK. Got it. Out to the lawyers, Susan Moss, Midwin Charles, Daniel Horowitz.

Daniel, the kicker is, I mean, we may be laughing -- being amused at, you know, nearly 54-year-old guy chasing after a 16-year-old girl, but here`s the problem. When he does meet her one-on-one alone somewhere and she rejects him, then it turns ugly. Then she`s really in danger.

DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right. I mean, the whole idea of a book signing, you know, sometimes you`ll have security at book signings. Should have reason...

GRACE: Don`t blame the book signing, OK?

HOROWITZ: Well, I`m not. Actually, Nancy, since you said he`s her number one fan and he was on the air, does he get a free book? But putting that aside, there`s a real mental health issue here. And treating him with a criminal system, I don`t think addresses the issue. He needs help. He needs institutional help. He needs to be put away...

GRACE: OK, thanks.

HOROWITZ: ... to make sure he`s not a danger.

GRACE: Sue Moss, I think he needs jail time. I think he needs a padded cell with a straight jacket that wraps his arms around himself instead of around Miley Cyrus, the little girl.

SUSAN MOSS, CHILD ADVOCATE, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Amen. He`s 53 going after a 16-year-old Miley? Who`s he going to go after next, Barney? I mean come on. This guy is sick. But his -- what, his prescription has got to be jail.

GRACE: Midwin Charles, what about it? I mean claiming that she responds with e-mails by posting pictures?

MIDWIN CHARLES, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: See, that`s what I`m talking about. This is a guy who believes he`s having conversations with her through photographs. Clearly he needs assistance. He`s got a mental issue and it needs to be addressed. I don`t know whether throwing him in the jail and locking the key is the right answer.

GRACE: Well, at least it would keep him away from Miley Cyrus.

Out to the lines, Debra, Oklahoma. Hi, Debra.

DEBRA, CALLER FROM OKLAHOMA: Hey, how are you?

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

DEBRA: I want to know how did they find out she was being stalked about this guy?

GRACE: Well, to my understand he tried to get back on to the set, Tom O`Neil?

O`NEIL: He was hovering around the set on Sunday, asking people where`s Miley, he was knocking on doors. They got suspicious. They went after him. He escaped. He went all the way -- 180 miles back home before they nabbed him on Tuesday.

GRACE: OK, Tom, this is what I don`t get. You know I can hardly cash a check for groceries at the grocery store without all sorts of I.D. How does he get on to a closed set? How would he know how to go about doing that?

O`NEIL: He didn`t quite get on to the set. He -- they kept intercepting him while he was on the edges trying to break through.

GRACE: And what about it, Scott Hudson? What happened at Tybee Island?

HUDSON: Well, as far as we know, he began acting disruptive. He was making some inappropriate comments to other young females that were there. The police saw that, when they tried to intercept him, he ended up...

GRACE: Got it.

HUDSON: ... getting loud and ended up head butting a police officer as far as we know.

GRACE: Well, right there it would have been an assault on an officer. That requires at least one overnight behind bars.

Everybody, quick break. But now, "CNN HEROES."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Heroes.

DERRICK TABB, CHAMPIONING CHILDREN: Music has always been with me. I love it play it. I keep drumsticks in my hand. The musical legacy in New Orleans was really dying fast. Life after Katrina was really hard for kids. The violence, the drug life. I`m just tired of it.

My aim is to get kids off the streets.

My name is Derrick Tabb and I started a free music education program for the kids of New Orleans.

Let`s go. Horns up.

We do more than just teach music. We offer transportation. We offer instruments. I feed you so you`re not hungry. Right? Give you tutoring. You don`t have no excuse why you`re not here. You don`t have to have any experience. We meet five days a week year-round. You`re constantly learning something new. And that`s what keeps the kids coming back every day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was getting in trouble. Now when I`m here, I practice. When I`m at home, I practice. He just turned my life.

TABB: I love seeing kids happy, just having fun. Teaching these kids this culture. I see that I`m giving life, a whole different life of music.

(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 important, the people who touched our lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ohio police made a shocking discovery. After responding to a tip they arrived at a local home where they say they found six children, a loaded gun and a full meth lab inside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The latest here in Akron is that the six children are in a foster family setting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A woman dragging her child through a store in Georgia. There it is. The kid`s -- you know, we don`t know a lot of the back story. You figure the kid was having some kind of tantrum. That`s how mom handled it. And result here, she`s charged with felony child cruelty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The body of the boy found in a New York canal on Monday has been positively identified this afternoon as that of 8-year-old Robert Manwill. Preliminary results and the autopsy give us reason to believe that 8-year-old Robert Manwill`s death was not an accident.

GRACE: Who killed this child and disposed of his body in this waterway?

DIPPOLITO: No, no!

GRACE: Here, little girl. You`re going to need these at the big house. All that sobbing and crying and carrying on, it`s all on video. We`re just seeing a portion of what the Boynton Beach PD has against this woman.

26-year-old newlywed who allegedly plan today rub out her husband, problem, ruh-roh. The hitman is a cop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Let`s stop and remember Army Sergeant Chester Wayne Hosford, 35, Hastings, Minnesota. Also served Marines and National Guard. Trained police forces. Would give you the shirt off his back. Loved cookouts, watching movies. His large collection of music. Leaves behind three siblings and a 12-year-old son.

Chester Wayne Hosford, American hero.

Thank you to our guests and a special goodnight tonight from the New York control room. Night, Rosie, aka, evil. Norm, Brett, Stacy, I see you hiding.

Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END