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Nancy Grace
Husband of Debra Jeter, Sentenced for Murdering Their Daughter, Speaks Out
Aired June 01, 2010 - 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, live, Hillsboro, Texas -- "I just killed my children." She says it to a 911 dispatch like she`s ordering fries at a McDonald`s drive-through, words that send a chill down your spine, calmly, intentionally spoken words by a mom of two. Police race to one of the most disturbing scenes they`ve ever encountered, finally finding only one child still alive, hanging onto life by a thread, the other dead. This after we learn Mommy lures her two girls to an abandoned Texas ranch by telling them, quote, she had a "surprise." Why? Mommy angry over husband filing for divorce.
Bombshell tonight. Primetime exclusive. For the first time since the deadly attack on his two girls by his own wife, with us live, Daddy. But don`t worry, Mommy, there`s a seat reserved just for you -- in hell!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirty-three-year-old Debra Janelle Jeter committed a horrific crime.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 911 tape reveals (ph) it.
911 OPERATOR: Hill County 911. What`s your emergency?
DEBRA JETER, ADMITTED TO CAPITAL MURDER: I just killed my children.
911 OPERATOR: Excuse me?
DEBRA JETER: I just killed my children.
911 OPERATOR: Where are you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police found Jeter and the body of her 12-year- old daughter, Kelsey, in an abandoned house off of highway 77.
DEBRA JETER: One of them is dead. She`s dead, dead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her then 13-year-old daughter Kiersten was bleeding, barely holding on.
DEBRA JETER: The other one, she wants to be saved. And I -- she needs to be saved
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jeter appeared to panic, rushing the 911 operator to send an ambulance.
DEBRA JETER: One of them`s still alive. Hurry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the while in that abandoned house, the critically injured daughter is begging for help, and Jeter reassures her.
DEBRA JETER: Hold on. They`re coming. Tell them not to shoot me. I don`t have a gun.
911 OPERATOR: OK. She doesn`t want to get shot because she doesn`t have a gun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jeter was supposed to be spending time with her daughters.
911 OPERATOR: What`s your name, darling?
DEBRA JETER: I`m not telling you my name. And I`m not your darling.
911 OPERATOR: What`s your name?
DEBRA JETER: Call them. Have you already called them?
911 OPERATOR: Yes, ma`am, I have.
DEBRA JETER: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now she will spend life in prison after doing the unthinkable during a first-time custody visit while in the midst of divorce.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, a beautiful young mother of two heads to a five- star Cancun resort with "Survivor" reality show hit maker, her husband, and two children, 3 and 5. Mommy reportedly leaves the tots behind to go shopping. Mommy never seen alive again.
Fast forward, Thursday. Mommy`s dead body found in bra and underwear, bruised, battered, thrown down a resort sewer. The last night Mommy actually seen alive, Sunday night, computer records revealing the family hotel door opening, closing 11 times throughout the night. And now we discover Daddy has a mistress, a younger woman?
Breaking as we go to air. In the last 24 hours, an arrest warrant issued after the husband sneaks back into the U.S., no passport, no immigration documents, no permission from Mexican authorities. We confirm Daddy now officially wanted for Mommy`s murder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news. A former "Survivor" producer is now wanted for the murder of his wife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Relatives say this wasn`t a normal family vacation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An arrest warrant has just been issued for Bruce Beresford-Redman for the death of his wife, Monica.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s a former "Survivor" producer. Now he`s the chief suspect in his wife`s murder. Monica`s sister claims in published reports the husband got caught having an affair.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not just a vacation gone wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six days after arriving, there was a fight so loud in the family`s room, the front desk called. The next morning, he reports Monica is missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He told police his wife had gone shopping and never returned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her body is found about 70, 80 yards (INAUDIBLE) in a sewer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has scratches on her neck, signs she was strangled, and an injury to her head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was naked, her clothes placed alongside her body.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mexican prosecutors say they`ve developed a concrete case.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her husband killed her! It`s clear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bruce Beresford-Redman`s lawyer says the warrant is a rush to judgment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was immediately a suspect. Police asked him to stay in the country, took his passport from him. But nonetheless, he made his way back here to LA.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beresford-Redman denies any involvement in his wife`s murder.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. "I just killed my children" -- calmly, intentionally spoken words by a mother of two, like she`s ordering fries at a McDonald`s drive-through.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She had a knife, surrendering to police after killing the youngest, appearing to understand what just happened.
DEBRA JETER: I just killed my children.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The husband of Janelle Jeter, the mom who called 911 to report she just killed her daughters...
DEBRA JETER: Get an ambulance out here to save the one that didn`t die. Come on. Hurry up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... is speaking out exclusively to Nancy Grace.
DEBRA JETER: She`s still alive for real. She`s asking to be saved, and I couldn`t handle that. And so (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: She thinks she`s in an abandoned house (INAUDIBLE)
DEBRA JETER: It`s been a long time. She might already die because she`s bled out a lot and -- hold on. What, baby?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lee Jeter has just spoken with his estranged wife behind bars for the first time since his wife slit the throats of her 12 and 13-year-old daughters.
911 OPERATOR: Can you tell me what happened?
DEBRA JETER: I don`t want to tell you. I don`t see any lights. They`re not coming.
911 OPERATOR: Well, they`re on their way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did Jeter do it?
911 OPERATOR: Do you have any weapons?
DEBRA JETER: I do. I have a knife.
911 OPERATOR: She has a knife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does she reveal happened at the abandoned farmhouse?
911 OPERATOR: When they get there, I want to you lay the knife down. When you get the door open, I want to you lay the knife down so they can see that you don`t have any weapons.
DEBRA JETER: OK. Oh, my God. She`s dead. Oh, my God!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Joining us tonight is a very special guest, the husband, the father of these two little girls. With us right now is Lee Jeter. He is the husband of Debra Janelle Jeter. Sir, thank you for being with us.
LEE JETER, HUSBAND OF DEBRA JETER: Thank you.
GRACE: And I see that you are positioned in front of the cemetery. I just -- now that I`m a mother of two, I just don`t know how you manage to wake up every day and keep going. How do you do it, for the sake of your one daughter that`s still alive?
LEE JETER: Yes, ma`am. She`s my inspiration to keep going, you know? I got to be strong for her, so...
GRACE: Mr. Jeter...
LEE JETER: ... (INAUDIBLE) to do.
GRACE: ... how did you first learn that something was amiss the day your wife tried to commit murder on your two girls? How did you first learn anything was wrong that day?
LEE JETER: Well, I was standing outside with my cousin, and a police officer pulled up and told me that my oldest daughter was being careflighted to the hospital and told me I need to go to be with her. And -- but they didn`t tell me anything, you know, about my youngest or Janelle.
GRACE: Did they tell you what had happened? They just said, Your daughter is on the way to the hospital, you`ve got to come right now?
LEE JETER: That`s pretty much what they said.
GRACE: When did you learn your other daughter had been murdered by her mom?
LEE JETER: Well -- well, I kind of pieced it together because, you know, usually, if there`s an accident or what have you, they`ll tell you about everyone in the accident. But nobody -- everyone I spoke to, nobody mentioned Kelsey.
GRACE: Oh!
LEE JETER: They just mentioned -- they mentioned that Kiersten was in surgery, and they mentioned that they had Janelle into custody. And I kept asking about Kelsey, but nobody knew, nobody would tell me. And the sheriff`s office kept telling me that the sheriff himself was going to call me, and so I just -- I kind of pieced two and two together. And the surgeon come out, and the first time I found out what had actually happened is the surgeon come out and told me that he had sewn Kiersten`s neck back together and the surgery went well. And he said...
GRACE: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. He sewed her neck back together?
LEE JETER: Yes, or stitched it back -- on the inside because...
GRACE: How bad -- what was the injury?
LEE JETER: She was cut from one side of her neck all the way to the other. And her airway was cut and one of her main arteries were cut, so they had to stitch those back together. And then I guess they glued her neck -- actually, the main cut, they glued it back together.
GRACE: Mr. Jeter, I just -- I don`t understand it. Your wife -- I mean, this was not post-partum depression. I mean, they were 12 and 13.
LEE JETER: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: She was angry that you wanted a divorce.
LEE JETER: Yes. She -- I actually spoke with her right after they sentenced her to prison, and -- which was the first time in almost a year. And she told me that she was heartbroken and was hurting that bad, and she felt that if she was hurting so badly, then me and the girls must have been hurting so badly. So she was going to take away all of our pain and...
GRACE: Is it true that she tells you -- and this is your first visit to her behind bars, which has just happened recently -- that she had planned to kill both children and then come after you and kill you, too?
LEE JETER: Yes. Yes, ma`am. Yes, ma`am. She said she was going to kill me in my sleep because...
GRACE: OK. Hold on. We are unleashing the lawyers. With us tonight, our special guest speaking to us exclusively, the father of Kelsey and Kiersten. To have a plan to not only kill both of your children, to murder them ruthlessly because your husband wants a divorce, but then plan to go after him -- Gloria Allred, the last time I looked at the criminal code, when you have a plan that you execute to the letter, you`re not insane.
GLORIA ALLRED, VICTIMS` RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, that`s -- Nancy, right, as usual. That is premeditated murder, plain and simple. And maybe she`s going to try to -- or maybe she would have tried to claim insanity as a defense and she might or might not have been successful with it, but sounds like premeditated murder to me.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Lakesha (ph), Indiana. Hi, Lakesha. Hi, dear. Are you with us? OK, I think Lakesha has on her television. I`m going to go to Cathy in Indiana. Hi, Cathy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello?
GRACE: Hi, dear. You`re on air. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. This is Cathy Lowe (ph). How are you?
GRACE: I`m fine, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is this. How in the world can this -- can they -- I watched you a couple nights ago, and they were saying that this woman could have mental illness, when she could plan this...
GRACE: So your question is, did she have mental illness? You know what? Let`s go to her husband, the husband of Janelle Jeter, Lee Jeter, is joining us tonight. And if you see in the background, you will see that he is positioned at the cemetery where his little girl is buried. Mr. Jeter, I feel -- I believe very firmly that if you had believed your wife had a serious mental illness, you would never have let your two girls go with her.
LEE JETER: No, ma`am. I surely would not have. I mean...
GRACE: So what do you make of all these claims that she must have been crazy?
LEE JETER: If so -- she wasn`t crazy. She was a very intelligent woman -- or still is. I don`t believe she`s crazy at all.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: I need your name.
DEBRA JETER: I won`t say my name.
911 OPERATOR: Hello?
DEBRA JETER: Hello?
911 OPERATOR: Are you still there?
DEBRA JETER: Yes, I`m still here.
911 OPERATOR: 77 toward Milford, right after you cross under the bridge. She`s telling me she`s killed her children.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: "I just killed my children."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Janelle Jeter finally revealing what happened the night she called 911.
911 OPERATOR: Are you in your car?
DEBRA JETER: No, I`m not in my car. I`m in the house, walking around. And one of them`s still alive for real. She`s asking to be saved, and I couldn`t handle that. And so (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: Honor student, Girl Scout, you name it. The mother and dad were splitting up. The father was filing for divorce.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Janelle Jeter tells husband Lee Jeter from jail she still hates him but is sorry for everything that`s happened.
DEBRA JETER: She said please tell you to hurry.
911 OPERATOR: OK. I`ve got -- we`ve got people en route.
GRACE: She knew the location. She was calm, cool, coherent.
DEBRA JETER: Get an ambulance out here to save the one that didn`t die. Come on. Hurry up.
911 OPERATOR: What`s your name?
GRACE: She wouldn`t say her name because she didn`t want it to go over the airwaves.
DEBRA JETER: I won`t tell you my name.
GRACE: She did this so coldly and so calculatedly to her daughters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Janelle Jeter revealing from behind bars why she attacked her own little girl.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: She says to dispatch, "I just killed my children." Liz, rack it back up. I want to get to the part where she refuses -- she has her wits about her -- refuses to give dispatch her name. She doesn`t want that on the record.
With us tonight, speaking for the very first time, the father, the husband, the daddy. Apparently, Mommy lets loose a murderous rage on her own children, luring them to a Texas ranch, isolated, by promising them she had a surprise for them, angry because he wants a divorce.
Out to Lee Jeter, who, coincidentally, everyone, is taking your calls live. You visited her recently. What did she say? How did she act?
LEE JETER: She acted pretty much normal, like she used to.
GRACE: Wait. Wa-wait. I don`t want to interrupt you, Mr. Jeter, but that one thing you just said -- Raymond Giudice, Atlanta, Daniel Horowitz, San Francisco. She acted normal, like she used to. I guess the two of you want to tell me you can turn insanity on like it`s cold and hot water?
RAYMOND GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Not really. She was...
GRACE: Go ahead, hit me, Ray! Go ahead.
GIUDICE: She was found competent to stand trial. And as Gloria pointed out, there was clearly premeditation. However, some weakness in the case -- because they give the death penalty out in Texas like candy -- led the district attorney not to seek the death penalty in this case. And maybe, just maybe, it was a glimmer of a reasonable mental health defense.
GRACE: Daniel Horowitz, this was more than likely pity on the one little girl that managed to live. But now people are throwing around the fact that she had post-partum depression. No! The children were 12 and 13. That she was -- obviously had a psychotic break. No! Her husband said she had her wits about her.
DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, first of all, Lee, I`m sorry for what you`ve been through. But I think, Nancy, Lee will agree with me that she was a good mother, a loving wife for so many years. And we have to say, What happened to break her down to go from a loving wife to this horrific killer? And it doesn`t just happen for no reason.
GRACE: Daniel Horowitz, you know what?
HOROWITZ: Something bad...
GRACE: Just stop!
HOROWITZ: ... emotionally went on with her. I mean, you have to have compassion.
GRACE: No! I`m not hearing you say she`s a loving wife and a good mother.
HOROWITZ: She was. Ask Lee.
GRACE: To Lee Jeter. None of that matters now, Mr. Jeter, because no one can bring back Kelsey. I don`t care how good of a mother she was in the past. And I don`t even know if that`s true. Is it true?
LEE JETER: Yes, she was actually very protective over the kids, and she was a good mother. That`s...
GRACE: Then you believe all this was because you wanted a divorce?
LEE JETER: Yes. Well, that`s what she said. She said that, you know, like I said, that she was heartbroken because we were getting a divorce. And she had told the kids if she couldn`t have me and the kids, then nobody else could.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Mommy lures her two girls to an abandoned Texas ranch by telling them, quote, she had a "surprise."
911 OPERATOR: Hill County 911. What`s your emergency?
DEBRA JETER: I just killed my children.
911 OPERATOR: She thinks she`s in an abandoned house (INAUDIBLE)
DEBRA JETER: It`s been a long time. She might already die because she`s bled out a lot.
GRACE: Words that send a chill down your spine!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: Hill County 911. What`s your emergency?
DEBRA JETER: I just killed my children.
911 OPERATOR: Excuse me?
DEBRA JETER: I just killed my children.
911 OPERATOR: Where are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Janelle Jeter tells husband Lee Jeter from jail she still hates him but is sorry for everything that`s happened.
DEBRA JETER: One of them is dead. She`s dead, dead. But the other one, she wants to be saved. And I -- she needs to be saved and I don`t see any lights. Tell them to get out here.
911 OPERATOR: Honey, they`re coming. They`re coming.
Do you have any weapons?
DEBRA JETER: I do. I have a knife.
911 OPERATOR: She has a knife.
DEBRA JETER: Should I throw it away?
911 OPERATOR: No, ma`am. Just put it -- she`s got a knife.
DEBRA JETER: Please hurry.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Tell her we`re on our way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Joining us tonight, a very special guest, the father of the two little girls. With us, Lee Jeter. Mr. Jeter, you state when you just saw her recently behind bars, she acted normal. What did she talk about?
LEE JETER: Basically, her feelings of that night, and you know, like I said, she said she was heartbroken and hurt and -- you know, like, she told me she still hated me in part, and of course, I also told her the same. She didn`t really want to talk about Kelsey very much, but...
GRACE: Your dead daughter?
LEE JETER: Yes, ma`am. But she did, you know, tell me that she was hurt.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Hill county 911. What`s your emergency?
DEBRA JETER, ATTACKED 2 YOUNG DAUGHTERS WITH A KNIFE, CONVICTED OF MURDER: I just killed my children.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Excuse me?
JETER: I just killed my children.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Where are you?
JETER: I`m in the abandoned house on Highway 77 right after you go underneath the highway. One of them is still alive. Hurry.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Under what highway? You`re on highway 77 where?
JETER: I`m on highway 77 right after you go under 35, going towards Milford. Get an ambulance out here to save the one that didn`t die. Come on. Hurry up.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: What is your name?
JETER: Call them. Have you already called them?
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Yes, ma`am, I have.
JETER: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: I need your name.
JETER: I don`t want to say my name.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Hello?
JETER: Hello.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Are you still there?
JETER: Yes, I`m still here.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: 77 toward Milford right after you cross under the bridge. She`s telling me she`s killed her children.
Are you in your car?
JETER: No, I`m not in my car. I`m in the house walking around. And one of them is still alive. For real. She is asking to be saved and I couldn`t handle that. And so now --
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: She said she`s in an abandoned house at that location.
JETER: It`s been a long time. She may already die because she`s bled out a lot and -- hold on. What baby? She said please tell you to hurry.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: OK, well, I`ve got -- we`ve got people in route. Get an ambulance because one of them is still alive, she said.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: We are taking your calls live and joining us tonight the husband of that woman, the woman that calls 911, calls the dispatch officer a bitch, refuses to give her own name so it would not be on a recording. This after she kills one daughter in an isolated Texas ranch, attempting to kill the other.
With me live, Lee Jeter, Janelle Jeter`s husband. Motive, he was seeking divorce.
Mr. Jeter, you stated that you spent time with her but she wouldn`t talk about Kelsey, your daughter, just 12 years old, dead. And I don`t know if you know, I`m a new mother. My children are 2 1/2. I`ve got twins. And I can`t even imagine --
LEE JETER, HUSBAND OF WOMAN WHO ATTACKED 2 YOUNG DAUGHTERS WITH A KNIFE, CONVICTED OF MURDER: Congratulations.
GRACE: Thank you -- sinking all your love, all your hopes, all your dreams into your girls every single day and then discovering the unthinkable had happened, that one had been murdered, one -- the other`s neck slit open by their own mother.
When you tried to bring up Kelsey`s name to her, what would she do?
L. JETER: She just didn`t want to talk about it. She would speak of something else. She mainly wanted to talk about why she did it and her feelings. And --
GRACE: And about how she was angry at you?
L. JETER: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: OK. Dr. Leslie Austin, psychotherapist, New York, so even now instead of talking about -- I mean, I feel like all day long I am out there with the twins, worried about the twins, talking about the twins, or dreaming about the twins, and thinking I hear them all night long whether I do or I don`t.
But she finally sees her husband, the father of these girls -- she finally sees him after slitting their throats, and she talks about how she is angry at him?
Help me, Leslie.
DR. LESLIE AUSTIN, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, this is somebody with severe sociopathic tendencies. It`s not mental illness --
GRACE: No, what -- break it down.
AUSTIN: It`s not mental illness.
GRACE: You know, I`m a J.D. I`m not a PhD like you. What do you mean?
AUSTIN: She has no empathy or compassion for anyone else. She can only deal --
GRACE: That`s not insanity.
AUSTIN: -- with her own -- of course it`s not insanity. There is no insanity here nor mental illness. There`s very distorted, twisted thinking in a woman who is full of rage trying to get control of every event in her life because she was losing control.
She was losing her husband and her children and this is just simply an act of out-of-control rage. Very violent. Very, very twisted thinking. Not mental illness in any way. Totally self-involved.
GRACE: To Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session."
Jean, not only you a lawyer, but you have covered so many cases. What`s your take on this, Jean?
JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": You know, my take on this is that it`s so similar to other cases in Texas, Nancy. In Texas. Andrea Yates, I mean others.
I think what`s fascinating about this is the 911 call and the premeditation and the saneness. I mean she was so specific in everything. She knew exactly how to take law enforcement to this abandoned house that she drove around and finally found herself. So I don`t think the defense had any way that they could go the route of insanity here.
GRACE: And did at any point she try to claim incompetence?
CASAREZ: Not that I know of. No, not at all. With that 911 tape, Nancy, I don`t think --
GRACE: There was no way.
Back out to the father, Lee Jeter.
Lee, so while you finally see her after all this time behind bars, what does she have to say about your little girl that lived?
L. JETER: Well, she said she was proud that she`s doing good and of course she had told her she was sorry and wanted her to know that she didn`t want her dead, didn`t hate her, and she`s real happy that she`s been able to move on. And --
GRACE: How is she doing? Is she, quote, "moving on"? Because I know how close I am to my brother and sister. I know that the first thing Lucy says in the morning is where is John David and the reverse.
So how is your daughter doing after the murder of her sister?
L. JETER: You know, naturally she misses her but she`s actually doing really well. She completed the whole school year. She is doing real good. She`s always got a smile on her face. She`s living life. She said she wasn`t going to let this ruin her life and I believe she meant it.
GRACE: I pray -- I pray. Out to the lines to Chris in California. Hi, Chris.
CHRIS, CALLER FROM CALIFORNIA: Hi, Nancy. First, I want to say my prayers go out to Mr. Jeter and his daughter, but I have a question. If they were going through a divorce and I don`t know if there was any kind of custody thing going on, if there was and this was premeditated, who would allow this woman to have these children in order to do this? Do you know what I mean? I hope I make sense.
GRACE: Do you mean why did he let her go with the children to start with?
CHRIS: Right, either him --
GRACE: OK.
CHRIS: Himself or did the courts award it?
GRACE: Well, at the time -- you know, Mr. Jeter, you explain it. Why did you decide to let her see the children that day? In fact, one of them even posted it on Yahoo! on their -- excuse me, Facebook. They said, yay, I get to see mom tomorrow.
What was your thinking about letting the mom be with them?
L. JETER: Well, the day before we had actually had a hearing on a protective order or a restraining order I had filed and during that hearing she was awarded visitation.
GRACE: So the judge ordered it.
L. JETER: And the very next day -- yes, ma`am, which, you know, I agreed to it because no one on earth would ever think that the mother would do this to her children. And she seemed normal and so the very next day was her first visitation and so I had to let them go. I didn`t want to but --
GRACE: Mr. Jeter, did you have any clue that she would react this way? Any clue of any mental disturbance at all?
L. JETER: No, ma`am. You know she had mood swings and attitude problem but nothing like this. If I`d have even had a glimpse of a clue, then they wouldn`t have went (sic). They would have had to put me in jail.
GRACE: I believe it.
L. JETER: And she was always protective. She was always protective over the kids.
GRACE: So you had no --
L. JETER: And she loved her kids.
GRACE: No signal, no warning this was going to happen.
Back to the lines, Santoya, North Carolina. Hi, dear.
SANTOYA, CALLER FROM NORTH CAROLINA: Hi, Nancy. I would like to offer my condolences to the father and to say I am so sorry this happened to him. And I`m usually against the death penalty but I`m disgusted that it`s not going to be considered in this case. I don`t see why not.
And I would want to know, due to the fact they`re still married, would he be allowed to have -- need his testimony at trial? I believe he needs to have a chance to speak out.
GRACE: Well, first of all, let me ask you this, Mr. Jeter, was the death penalty ever considered?
L. JETER: Yes, ma`am. Yes. It was a possibility.
GRACE: Why was it not sought? Why was it not sought?
L. JETER: Well, she agreed to a plea bargaining. She said that was the last decent thing she could do for her daughter and -- so she took the plea bargain so she didn`t have to go to trial.
GRACE: Everyone, we are heading to break. We are still taking your calls live tonight. The Race Across America 2010 fundraising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. The Georgia Chain Gang making the 3,000- mile bike ride from San Diego to Annapolis starting June 12. Goal, $160,000 for research, education, patient services.
The so-called Chain Gang riding on behalf of their crew chief Warren Bruno, a 7-year-old Brennan Simkins (ph) bravely battling leukemia two years.
To donate go to GAchaingang.org. Let`s win the fight against leukemia.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Can you tell me what happened?
J. JETER: I don`t want to tell you. I don`t see any lights. They`re not coming.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Well, they`re on their way. My partner is getting them to you just as quickly as she can.
J. JETER: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: How many children do you have?
J. JETER: Two.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: She speaks to dispatch like she`s ordering fries at a McDonald`s drive-through.
To our producer, Clark Goldband, how did the 12-year-old die exactly?
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Nancy, she had her throat slit but it was a horrific way to die. Law enforcement tells us that first the 13-year-old had her throat slit and then screamed to her 12- year-old sister Kelsey to flee the scene.
But the mom apparently caught up with the 12-year-old, tried to slice her throat but the 13-year-old girl who survived threw her body in front of her mom and her sister and was stabbed multiple times all over.
She survived, her 12-year-old sister, Kelsey, did not.
GRACE: She was trying to protect her sister?
GOLDBAND: Right, until the very end, according to law enforcement.
To Dr. Howard Oliver, former deputy medical examiner, joining us out of L.A..
Dr. Oliver, what time of a death would that have been for the 12-year- old?
HOWARD OLIVER, FMR. DEPUTY MEDICAL EXAMINER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: It would be a horrible type of death because it would take you several minutes, probably five minutes, to exsanguinate, that is to bleed to death. She would be aware the whole time that she was dying.
GRACE: Everyone, we are taking your calls but very quickly we are switching gears to another story. The hit-maker producer of the "Survivor" series now officially named in the death of his wife.
Out to Mary Margaret, senior news editor, Radaronline.com. An official warrant has issued?
MARY MARGARET, SR. NEWS EDITOR, RADARONLINE.COM: Yes. An official warrant -- arrest warrant has been issued for him. We talked to the attorney general today and they confirmed that the extradition process will begin tomorrow.
GRACE: With us right now a very special guest, Carla Burgos. This is Monica Beresford-Redman`s sister.
Miss Burgos, thank you for being with us. Miss Burgos, it has been quite a fight for your family fighting on your sister`s behalf. What is your response to the warrant finally issuing?
CARLA BURGOS, SISTER OF MARRIED WOMAN MONICA BERESFORD-REDMAN: Well, we feel really relieved now, you know, that things -- the tide is changing for us, you know, because it was a lot of work and a lot of pain all this time.
GRACE: How are her children? Where are they?
BURGOS: Well, they`re staying in the house with his parents and him right now.
GRACE: So he`s got the children?
BURGOS: For now, yes.
GRACE: With us, Alison Triessl, attorney for Monica Beresford- Redman`s family. The Burgos family.
Alison, I don`t understand. The mom is murdered in such a brutal manner and basically -- although I try to put it euphemistically -- thrown down -- her half naked body thrown down a sewer in Mexico with all of the human waste. He leaves the mother of his children there according to police and he has the children.
I don`t understand it, Alison.
ALISON TRIESSL, ATTORNEY FOR MONICA BERESFORD-REDMAN`S FAMILY: Well, I mean, to say it`s bothersome to us is not -- it barely scratches the surface. Of course it`s horrible and of course Gianni and Carla are fighting for custody. Of course they -- these children need to be loved and cared for and these sisters want to give them all the love that the sister cannot --
GRACE: Alison, hold on. I want our viewers to know. Top left corner, you are seeing the murder suspect pushing his daughter. That`s from Hollywood.TV.
With us the family attorney, Alison Triessl, and Monica Beresford- Redman`s sister, Carla Burgos who has fought nonstop since she learned of her sister`s murder.
To Rupa Mikkilineni. Rupa, what in the hey is going on? I thought he was basically under house arrest with Mexican authorities in Mexico. Now I find out he`s living life regularly in L.A.?
RUPA MIKKILINENI, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: That`s right, Nancy. We spoke with the attorney general in Mexico today. And it looks like he was -- he is actually allowed. He wasn`t being detained. He was asked to remain in Mexico until the investigation was complete.
He didn`t listen to the request of the attorney general and authorities and went ahead and left the country without his passport, made it back to L.A. last weekend to spend time with his children according to his attorney.
GRACE: Sgt. Scott Haines, how did he get across the border? No passport, nothing. He just, what, walks across?
SGT. SCOTT HAINES, SHERIFF`S OFFICER, SANTA ROSA COUNTY, FL.: Well, it seems that that`s pretty common. That`s been a hot spot anyhow. The borders are not that secure. There`s a lot of various -- he can cross over. And he may have even driven right through a checkpoint. But there`s obviously plenty of people that come across from Mexico into the U.S.
GRACE: Gloria Allred, Ray Giudice, Daniel Horowitz.
Gloria Allred, why isn`t he in custody?
GLORIA ALLRED, VICTIM`S RIGHTS ATTORNEY, CHILD ADVOCATE: Well, he`s not in custody, Nancy, because apparently there was no court order that he remain in Mexico. And he --
GRACE: There was an arrest warrant, Gloria.
ALLRED: And he was also not --
GRACE: An arrest warrant for murder.
ALLRED: Yes, but now there is an arrest warrant and previously there was not an arrest warrant and therefore he left.
GRACE: OK.
ALLRED: It doesn`t make it the right thing to do but apparently it wasn`t illegal.
GRACE: Got it. Ray Giudice, there`s an arrest warrant now. Why isn`t he in custody?
RAY GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Because this is going to have to go to the United States State Department for an extradition hearing. It`s going to be very complicated.
GRACE: OK. Everyone, as we go to break, on a happy note, happy 1st birthday to beautiful crime fighter, little Miley Grace. Loves swimming in the pool with mommy and daddy. Miley`s parents Justin and Destiny. They named her after me.
Happy birthday, beautiful Miley Grace.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Producer for the reality TV show "Survivor" claiming his innocence. His wife killed at a Cancun resort back in April, her body found in a sewer. Now prosecutors say they have a very concrete case against him. And a judge has issued a warrant for his arrest.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Daniel Horowitz, what`s the holdup on the arrest?
DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, first of all, you can`t --
GRACE: It`s your jurisdiction.
HOROWITZ: Well, you can`t trust Mexico. I mean what they say --
GRACE: He`s in L.A.
HOROWITZ: Right, but --
GRACE: Didn`t you see that picture of him swinging the children?
HOROWITZ: Sure, he`s an American and just because a foreign country says send him over to us, we want to lock him up for the rest of his life for murder, doesn`t mean we have to say, great, Mexico, take our guy.
He has a right to a defense in the United States and look at what Mexico thinks they have against him. That`s what we`re going to do.
GRACE: I want to go back to Carla Burgos. This is Monica`s sister.
You and your sister were extremely close.
BURGOS: Yes, we were.
GRACE: You have been fighting ever since this happened for her and the children. What is your hope, Carla? What do you want?
BURGOS: Well, if it`s confirmed that he`s the one, I want him cleaning toilets the rest of his life because, you know, it`s the closest I can get for -- he will never get close to what he did to my sister. Never.
GRACE: Is there any doubt in your mind, Carla, that he is guilty?
TRIESSL: Nancy, if I may, you know, it`s a hard question to --
GRACE: She doesn`t have to answer. That`s fine.
TRIESSL: Yes, it`s a very hard question.
GRACE: I understand.
TRIESSL: -- for her, I mean, obviously.
GRACE: Back to Carla. So I will ask a different question. I understand that.
TRIESSL: Go ahead.
GRACE: Have you gotten to see the children, Carla?
BURGOS: Yes.
GRACE: How are they?
BURGOS: Very sad. Very sad.
GRACE: Is it true that they have been told their mom died in a crash?
BURGOS: Yes, in a crash and hit up her head, and then went to the hospital and nobody knew her. It was like painful steps and I could see her little face, like oh, my god, my mom suffered this and that and that and that and she`s not here and she had all this pain.
GRACE: With us tonight, Carla Burgos and her attorney Alison Triessl, still fighting for their sister, dead in Mexico.
Let`s stop and remember Army Sgt. Michael Scusa, 22, Villa, New Jersey, served Afghanistan, awarded a Bronze Star, Purple Heart, National Defense Service medal. Had a smile that lit up a room.
Loved watching History and Military Channels, fishing, mountains, going to family powwows with his Native American wife. Dreamed of being a helicopter pilot. Leaves behind mother Cindy, two sisters, two brothers, widow Allissa, 1-year-old son Connor.
Michael Scusa, American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you. I`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
