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Nancy Grace
Was Fantasia`s Aspirin OD Faked?/South Carolina Mom Confesses to Killing Toddler Sons
Aired August 17, 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. "American Idol" superstar in the middle of a legal battle royale -- sex tapes, matching tattoos, alleged child neglect, adultery, hateful phone messages and taunts. That`s right, megastar Fantasia goes from rags to riches after America votes her the third season "Idol," and she`s riding high ever since -- chart-topping albums, number one singles, sold-out concerts, a starring role in a Broadway show, even her own reality show. But now a wife and mother claims the "American Idol" stole her husband.
In a bizarre legal twist, the wife now set to sue the other woman/"American Idol" for everything she`s got -- millions! Reports the "American Idol" reads explosive court claims against her and is immediately rushed to the hospital -- 911, Fantasia ODs! (INAUDIBLE) the hospital, report (INAUDIBLE) she actually ODs after the married boyfriend dumps her when his wife sues the "American Idol."
Bombshell tonight. Just hours after leaving the hospital, Fantasia hooks up with the married boyfriend, and it`s all caught on camera! Now the ugly question rear its head. Was it all a fake -- a fake? Did "American Idol" superstar Fantasia stage the whole break-up, the overdose, the ambulance ride complete with red flashing lights just to spice up a new reality show, a show rumored to be canceled, DOA -- dead on arrival -- but now looks like a second season hit? A big fake at the expense of a wife and mother, her little boys, the hospital, the system itself. If so, this "American Idol" is in a heap of trouble!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FANTASIA BARRINO, SINGER: No, I did not break up his home. He`s just a friend. I don`t know if his home -- what happened in his home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Word of Fantasia and a possible overdose.
GRACE: ... "American Idol" ODs...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) individual took a bottle of aspirin and she`s slowly losing consciousness.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe this, you know, couple set her up. Maybe they knew they were fixing to get crazy paid!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bayer aspirin.
911 OPERATOR: Bayer aspirin? Nothing else?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing else.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A sex tape starring "American Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino?
BARRINO: He`s been not with his wife.
And of course, you know, they took the story and they said I was a home wrecker.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "American Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino is accused of filming a sex tape...
BARRINO: No, it`s not true.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... with a married man.
BARRINO: Oh, my God!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you date him?
BARRINO: It was just a friendship.
We`re just friends.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there a sex tape?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To my knowledge, there`s no sex tape, and to Fantasia`s knowledge (INAUDIBLE) there is no sex tape.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, an Indiana nurse and mother makes chicken, fresh veggies, fruit salad and dessert for the husband. A few hours later, he`s dead, found sitting in a back yard lawn chair. Multiple causes of death explored -- heart attack, drugs, alcohol poisoning. Nothing showed up. Was husband Alan Duvall murdered by Oreo pudding, Oreo pudding laced with 80 times the maximum dose of morphine and muscle relaxers? Between Mommy being a TV crime show fanatic and a $100,000 life insurance policy, plus, of course, a secret sex affair with none other than the insurance agent, the cops eying Mommy and her famous Oreo pudding. Tonight, breaking. Killer nurse begs for bond!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... a homemade dirt pudding...
GRACE: ... her famous homemade Oreo pudding...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... morphine and muscle relaxants 80 times the normal amount.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would become his last meal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tami Duvall charged with murder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her estranged husband, Alan Duvall, dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He told them, like, individually, If I die, make sure it`s investigated.
GRACE: There`s a $100,000 life insurance policy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prosecutors say she was having an affair with the insurance salesman.
GRACE: Fourteen minutes before she dials 911, she calls the insurance agent, her boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s facing charges of murder, six counts of insurance fraud and three counts of obstruction of justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. Just hours after she leaves the hospital, Fantasia, "American Idol," hooks up with a married boyfriend, and it`s all caught on camera. And now the ugly question rears its head, was it all a fake?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No home wrecking went on?
BARRINO: Man, listen, I don`t like to share my cookies and I don`t like to share my man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "American Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino is recovering from a medication overdose.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the depression, she became dehydrated and we had to take her to the hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... rushed by ambulance to a North Carolina hospital, overdosed on aspirin and...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I`m interrupting right now on breaking news. We are hearing out of South Carolina -- recall, 6:00 AM, North Edisto River bank, police and emergency dive crews pull up a dark-colored Chrysler sedan, pulling it up out of those murky waters. Trapped inside, 1 and 2-year-old little brothers, still strapped in their carseats.
Just getting the word the sheriff, who joined us last night, at this moment announcing murder charges. Let`s go straight out to Natisha Lance, on the story. Natisha, what happened?
NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Well, Nancy, after extensive questioning with detectives with the Orangeburg County sheriff`s office, Shaquan Duley, the mother of these two toddlers, admitted to them that she suffocated her two children prior to placing the vehicle in the water.
Now, what the sheriff lays out is that she had gotten into an argument with her mother, who she lived with, with her three children. After that time, she went to a motel, stayed with two toddlers. She suffocated the children by placing her hands over their mouth, then placed them in the vehicle, strapped them in their carseats, drove about 12 miles away, came across the boat ramp and placed the vehicle in the car (ph). The children were dead before they got into the water.
GRACE: That, coincidentally, eerily coincidentally, last night was my speculation, that there was a different cause of death other than drowning. What more can you tell us, Natisha Lance? What exactly do we believe the mother said?
LANCE: We believe the mother stated that she had suffocated her children and they were dead when placed in the water. She also informed them that she was unemployed. She was having trouble with her mother at home. There was a control issue going on between the children. Now, the 5-year-old daughter was still at home with the grandmother, it appears, according to the sheriff, but the 5-year-old spent more time with the grandmother and the two toddlers spent more time with the mother. And she was going through a difficult situation at the moment...
GRACE: Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
LANCE: ... because she was not being financially supported.
GRACE: Wait! Wait! A difficult situation? Did you just say that, Natisha Lance, that the killer mom says she was in a difficult situation, so she suffocates the 1 and 2-year-old little boys, straps them in a carseat, puts their dead bodies in carseats and runs it down a boat ramp into the river, the Edisto River?
LANCE: Well, according to the sheriff, the sheriff says that she was basically a good mom, she was just unable financially to support the children. And he said, quote, "Her weakest moment resulted in the death of her children."
GRACE: Well, they may be her weakest moments, but recall the South Carolina jurisdiction does have the death penalty. And right off the top, I can think of several aggravating circumstances that would rise to death penalty status, that being a victim under the age of 12. That`s a common aggravating circumstance in many jurisdictions, as well as a long and premeditated murder. That is because of money. She`s giving them motive all on her own!
Out to Jean Casarez. Refresh everyone`s recollection, Jean Casarez, about how this whole thing went down. I want to see the video, Dana, the video of that Chrysler sedan being pulled up out of the water. Strapped in the back seat, a 1 and 2-year-old little boy!
JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION": That`s right. And the reason it`s being pulled from the water right there is because it drifted away from the boat ramp. And it was just yesterday morning that -- it was early morning hours. A car had drifted on the boat ramp into the river. She walked three fourths of a mile, called 911, said it was an accident.
But Nancy, let`s put this in a nutshell. She has confessed, according to South Carolina law enforcement, that this was a murder, that she suffocated her two children. So taking that car and putting that down the boat ramp into the river, that is consciousness of guilt, when you look at it legally.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Before we take you out to the latest on Fantasia Barrino, who may have defrauded the whole system, Susan Moss, family law attorney, child advocate, New York, Daniel Horowitz, famed attorney out of the San Francisco jurisdiction, Joey Jackson, defense attorney out of the New York jurisdiction.
OK, Sue Moss, what about it?
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Before she confessed to this crime, she tried to hide the evidence! Remember, this boat went in the water with these two kids, and she wasn`t even wet from sweat or anxiety! She certainly wasn`t wet from being in that car in the water! She tried to hide the evidence! That is just absolutely disgraceful! These were her two children! And she deserves nothing less than actually the death penalty!
GRACE: Daniel Horowitz, I know that this is going to be a sensitive topic for you. You`ve got a brand-new baby. Can you imagine a 1-year-old or a 2-year-old up against this killer mom? She suffocated them, by her own admission, Daniel Horowitz, then went through the big scam of pretending there was an accident, that her car went out of control, the sheriff told me last night. And the sheriff also told me he had his suspicions, and he was right. The sheriff was right, Daniel Horowitz!
DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, Nancy, the thought of a little child with such trust in her eyes looking at the mom -- you know, suffocating a child is terrible. But would you rather this mother lied like Casey Anthony and covered it up? She`s truly remorseful.
GRACE: Wait, wait, wait! Put him up! Put him up!
HOROWITZ: She`s truly remorseful.
GRACE: Put him up!
HOROWITZ: She`s truly remorseful, and you know it.
GRACE: So those are my choices, that she murders two children and doesn`t lie about it or that she murders two children and tries to cover up? OK, Jackson, you got a better answer?
JOEY JACKSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I certainly think the medical evidence with respect to the intoxication, as well as her admission and her confession, are going to be difficult to overcome. You know, many people think, as defense attorneys, we have to win every case. And sometimes, what we do is we mitigate the damage. And perhaps here, if there`s some negotiation with the prosecution, the penalty in the event that these facts are determined to be true, could be significantly less than if she goes forward with it, and you know, lies.
GRACE: For those of you just joining us. Javon (ph) Duley, dead. Devon (ph) Duley, dead. Their mother, Shaquan Duley, now confesses that she suffocated the two boys and set up a fraud as if they had been drowned in the river by accident. It`s over, lady!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was our early determination that this vehicle entered the Edisto River by either being intentionally placed there or rolling from the secondary highway down to the river.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was our early determination that this vehicle entered the Edisto River by either being intentionally placed there or rolling from the secondary highway down to the river.
The determination -- or the statement was made by the mother that she had suffocated the children, and of course, the children were dead when they was placed into the water.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is Sheriff Larry Williams speaking at a press conference a couple hours ago. Long story short, as we speculated last night, the cause of death was not drowning. This was an elaborate set-up by the mother, Shaquan Duley, to make it look as if her car had gone out of control and plunged into the Edisto River.
That`s not what happened. By her own admission, we learn as we go to air she suffocated the two little boys, strapped them in their carseats and shoved the car in the water. When she actually, quote, "went for help," she was bone dry, bone dry! Couldn`t she have at least splashed water on her face, for Pete`s sake, you know, get the bottom of her pants a little wet? Just try, try and convince me, lady!
We are taking your calls. Out to Carol In New York. Hi, Carol.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I would like to know, if this woman made the statement without a lawyer, are they going to throw out what she said about killing her own children?
GRACE: Good question. We don`t know right now the circumstances under which she made the confession. But let me remind everybody, if you voluntarily make a statement while in police custody, that`s not going to be suppressed.
Remember -- let`s unleash the lawyers again -- Sue Moss, Daniel Horowitz, Joey Jackson. Horowitz, you have to be in custody and under questioning before Miranda applies. If you voluntarily announce that this is what happened, that`s not going to be suppressed.
HOROWITZ: Right. Unless she`s affirmatively saying, I don`t want to talk, and they keep talking to her, it`s going to come in. And I think...
GRACE: Don`t make up facts, Horowitz! Don`t make up facts.
HOROWITZ: I`m not making up facts, Nancy. What I`m saying...
GRACE: Yes, you are!
HOROWITZ: ... is that she probably was distraught, and there`s a lot of mitigation in what she said.
GRACE: Distraught she was caught!
HOROWITZ: If I were her lawyer, I`d want it to come in. Yes. Look, she essentially committed suicide. When you kill your own children...
GRACE: No! No, Daniel!
HOROWITZ: ... you`re killing a part of yourself.
GRACE: Put him up, Dana!
HOROWITZ: And she is mentally disturbed, Nancy.
GRACE: No, Daniel, she didn`t commit suicide. She`s still alive! It`s her two children...
HOROWITZ: It`s a part of herself.
GRACE: ... that are -- no! Just stop! Stop. Let`s take a look at the other murder moms. Take a look at all of these moms who committed murder on their children. Susan Smith there in South Carolina, only about 100 miles away, drove her car into the lake, pushed it into the lake. Andrea Yates, five children drowned to death in the bathtub. Deanna Laney, the rock mom, stoned her kids to death by beating them in the head and face with rocks. Diane Downs actually shot her children. Darlie Routier stabbed her two sons. And of course, we`re all waiting the outcome of the tot mom, Casey Anthony trial. So it`s not uncommon.
For those of you just joining us, in a case we first brought you last night about two little boys who seemingly drowned to death in the Edisto River, North (SIC) Carolina, it`s not so. They didn`t drown to death. Mommy staged an elaborate scene to make it look as if it were an accidental drowning. But the sheriff, the elected sheriff, Larry Williams, is nobody`s fool. He figured it out pretty quickly.
And back to you, Natisha Lance. Was she distraught when she flagged down a passerby for help?
LANCE: She did appear to be somewhat emotional, Nancy, but not crying profusely, as if she couldn`t get to her children. And the other thing, too, that the sheriff is saying is that her emotions may have been running high at that time. She felt like she had no place else to go. And quite frankly, when it comes right down to it, he said that she just did not want to be a mom anymore. She didn`t want the responsibility.
GRACE: Did not want to be a mom anymore, Joey Jackson. Did you hear that? She just didn`t want to be a mom anymore. You know, this morning -- this morning, both the twins wanted me to carry them. I`ve got a broken foot. I carried them one by one so they wouldn`t cry and get upset and throw up all the breakfast I managed to get into them. When do you suddenly decide -- what switch flicks on and you say, Hey, I don`t want to be a mom anymore, Joey Jackson?
JACKSON: Well, I certainly understand that parents suffer frustrations. Kids are frustrating. Life is frustrating. The economy is frustrating. But I don`t know when a person makes that assessment. You know, there are many ways to deal with things in life. And unfortunately, this isn`t the best of them. I think she needs to potentially cut a deal, mitigate the...
GRACE: No deal, Jackson! No deal!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The determination -- or the statement was made by the mother that she had suffocated the children, and of course, the children were dead when they was placed into the water.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... illicit adulterous affair...
BARRINO: I`m going to get out there and have a good time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "American Idol" winner Fantasia is accused of having an affair with a married man...
BARRINO: Got a lot to do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... and filming a sex tape with him.
BARRINO: They`re wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fantasia Barrino is recovering from a medication overdose.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) individual took a bottle of aspirin, and she`s slowly losing consciousness.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Documents say that Barrino treated the man to a lavish lifestyle, flying him around the country.
BARRINO: I have to commit myself to this role.
911 OPERATOR: Right now, is she awake?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Halfway, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The complaint then alleges at one point, Fantasia told the wife, quote, "He don`t want you."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fantasia said she loved the defendant husband.
BARRINO: It was a fight. Even after you win, it`s a fight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. And now, in a stunning twist with the "American Idol" story, was it all a big scam, a scam on us, a scam on the ambulance drivers, a scam on the hospital, the nurses, the emergency training (ph) techs? Everybody got scammed? Is that the deal? Was it even a fake overdose, all in an effort to boost her sagging reality show, a reality series that was scheduled for just one season? It was DOA -- dead on arrival -- but now suddenly, new life has been pumped into her reality show, "Fantasia for Real."
Straight out to Alexis Tereszcuk. What is this about her leaving the hospital and rushing straight to a park to snuggle up and have a heart-to- heart talk with the married boyfriend, caught on camera?
ALEXIS TERESZCUK, RADARONLINE.COM: She did. A mere 24 hours after she allegedly attempted suicide by overdosing on aspirin, she was in the park. She called the married boyfriend. She begged him to come back to her. They`ve been dating for a little over a year now, and he just broke up with her a few weeks ago. He said he was sick of her drama.
GRACE: Wait, wait, wait, wait! Tereszcuk, you just said over a year because this is August -- over a year ago, he was still at home and happy with his wife. That says to me she was guilty of alienation of affection. If there`s an overlap between the girlfriend and the wife, you have alienation. And in that jurisdiction, you can sue. They just handed down a $9 million verdict against the other woman.
TERESZCUK: Absolutely. I don`t know that Fantasia has $9 million, but she`s got a lot of money, and this woman is claiming...
GRACE: You are seeing the photos, Alexis...
TERESZCUK: ... that they`ve been together...
GRACE: ... that -- we got these from Splash News. But Radaronline is reporting right now new material. What`s the latest, Alexis?
TERESZCUK: Well, the story is, is that Fantasia and Antwaun are so in love, even after all of this drama, they are going to be together and they`re going to get married. That`s the plan. As soon as his divorce is finalized...
GRACE: Really?
TERESZCUK: ... they want to...
GRACE: Good because then the wife -- then the wife can attach all his assets, too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARRINO: If you got a man in the house, get with your man. Get with your man!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": "American Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Accused of having an affair with a married man.
CASAREZ: Antwaun Cook.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Details are spelled out in court documents.
FANTASIA BARRINO, "AMERICAN IDOL" WINNER: This is it. Shut down the lights for me.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Fantasia --
CASAREZ: Antwaun Cook.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: -- filming a sex tape.
BARRINO: Put it up.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: That`s according to the man`s wife who was seeking child custody.
CASAREZ: Paula Cook.
BARRINO: I`m going to get out there and have a good time.
CASAREZ: Wife is alleging that the husband had an affair. Alleging that he had that affair with "American Idol" winner --
BARRINO: Catch a little beat (ph) for me sometime?
CASAREZ: Fantasia Barrino.
BARRINO: Who came out to have a good time tonight?
CASAREZ: Elicit adulteress affairs.
BARRINO: And be baby mom.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Was it all a big fraud? The OD on aspirin. The ambulance ride. The meeting in the park.
You are looking at the photos right now. Now, if this wasn`t planned, I don`t know what is. Take a look. Fantasia Barrino leaves a hospital and demands a heart-to-heart with her married boyfriend.
If this is a big fraud, Fantasia -- "American Idol" is in a heap of legal trouble.
Unleash the lawyers. Sue Moss, Daniel Horowitz, Joey Jackson.
Does the name Jennifer Wilbanks ring a bell to any of you lawyers? Remember, the runaway bride who lied to cops, who lied about her physical condition and claimed that she was sexually molested by -- I believe she said four Hispanic men and a single Hispanic woman?
Please. Long story short, she ran away from the wedding. That`s what happened. And she was prosecuted for fraud.
What about it, Horowitz?
DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, she was given probation and psychological treatment.
GRACE: So?
HOROWITZ: So it`s fraud but this is not a fraud. She went in for a medical treatment. She got medical treatment. She -- was distraught. Look at her life. It`s falling apart. That man has complete control over her.
If he says that she knew --
GRACE: Put him up.
HOROWITZ: -- that he was married, then the lawsuit of the wife succeeds. Her life is falling apart. Give her a break.
GRACE: Her life is falling apart.
HOROWITZ: Yes.
GRACE: She`s got a hit reality show. We were just showing you video of the VH-1 "Fantasia for Real" at VH1.com. She`s got chart-topping best sellers. She`s got money to roll around in. She lives in a fancy mansion.
Doesn`t she have enough? Why does she need --
HOROWITZ: No. Her life is a mess.
GRACE: No, it`s not. Dr. Leslie Austin, why does she need somebody else`s husband? There`s plenty of men. Just look around. They`re everywhere.
DR. LESLIE AUSTIN, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Nancy, there`s a country song called "Don`t Get Above Your Raisin`" by Ricky Scaggs she used to sing. And this is a person who`d gotten to sudden fame and sudden money and can`t handle it.
She doesn`t have the background. She doesn`t have people around her to keep the level. And she`s making really stupid mistakes.
GRACE: You know, Dr. Leslie, I very rarely disagree with you. The sudden rise into money or fame, I don`t care. You know you are not supposed to break up a home. You know when children are involved.
AUSTIN: Absolutely.
GRACE: And then my whole point is to put this fraud, to fake everybody out, the ambulance riders, the EMTs, the people at the hospital. Come on. OD`ing on aspirin?
With me, Dr. Joshua Perper. Come on, Dr. Perper. Be honest. How many aspirin do you have to take to keel over? It`s got to be a couple of bottles. People take too many aspirin all the time and nobody has to go to the hospital. The most they get is heartburn.
DR. JOSHUA PERPER, MEDICAL EXAMINER, AUTHOR OF "WHEN TO CALL THE DOCTOR": Well, a bottle would be enough with -- 50 tablets would be enough to kill someone. But the question is -- at the hospital she must have had a blood analysis. In other words, if there was aspirin in the blood, they would have found it. And if the toxicological analysis was negative, then what she did was fake.
GRACE: To fake out the public for the sake of a reality TV show. Is that what we`re down now?
Out to the lines, Stephanie in New Jersey. Hi, Stephanie.
STEPHANIE, CALLER FROM NEW JERSEY: Hi, Nancy. I would like to know if there`s been a sex tape at all, is it possible that they`re not going to be able to prove this affair?
GRACE: I don`t know, Stephanie. I think -- show me this shot, Dana, of the boyfriend, Antwaun Cook`s name tattooed on Fantasia`s shoulder. And back it up with that jetski photo? All the expensive trips all over the world. The lavish lifestyle she`s paying for for him.
You know, I`m not a shrink but, Jean Casarez, I think that`s pretty good evidence in court.
CASAREZ: And she -- he had the key to her home. And I`m not going to say it again, Nancy. But in the complaint, there`s a statement that she allegedly made to the wife talking about your husband. If you want to keep a husband next time, all of that, they don`t need it on tape.
GRACE: To Alan Duke, entertainment editor, CNN Wire. So was the whole park thing a set up for the sake of the reality show? And the ugly question rears its head, was the whole thing a fake? The whole thing at the expense of the two little boys and the mommy?
ALAN DUKE, ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR, CNN WIRE: Well, there`s no question that the meeting in the park was in essence set up because the camera was there. And that`s the way reality shows as unreal as they can be are.
But her reality show actually had been renewed already before this ever unfolded. We know Fantasia is a good actress. She`s played on Broadway and in other productions. But she already had a lot of drama in her life.
I watched the whole season, believe it or not, last year and it had a lot of drama in it without this.
GRACE: Whoa. Alan. Alan. Alan. You are sucked into this whole thing, too.
DUKE: Yes?
GRACE: It`s like "The Hills." It`s not real, Alan. It`s pretend. OK?
DUKE: Well, reality shows are not real. We know that. But there`s enough real drama in her life for her to not need to fake a suicide so I -- that`s hard for me to understand.
GRACE: To Alexis Tereszcuk, RadarOnline.com. What more can you tell me, Alexis? Was it a big fake? The whole thing? The OD on aspirin?
And another, it was her manager that found her. Her manager that made the call. Her manager that gave the spin to all of the cameras that day.
ALEXIS TERESZCUK, REPORTER, RADAROLINE.COM: He has been very involved in everything from day one. We hate to say that she tried to commit suicide for ratings. But she has been very knowledgeable of this relationship. She knew that he was married. She`s been taunting the wife for months on end.
It hasn`t been just -- she`s claimed that she read the documents just that day and that`s when she tried to commit suicide. But she`s known about the relationship. She`s been calling this woman. She`s been saying mean things to her. She knows clearly about the children.
This could not have been a blindside for Fantasia.
GRACE: To Joey Jackson, defense attorney, New York. So back to Stephanie in New Jersey`s question. Do I really need to see the sex tape - -
JOEY JACKSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, first --
GRACE: -- to know they had an affair? Come on.
(LAUGHTER)
JACKSON: Listen, you don`t. But first of all, shouldn`t Cook bear any responsibility in this? It`s not like she waved a magic wand and said come with me.
GRACE: Yes.
JACKSON: He`s a married man. If it was a marriage built on a solid foundation, he would say --
GRACE: Listen, Joey Jackson.
JACKSON: -- I don`t care who you are. I`m not going with you.
GRACE: Joey Jackson.
JACKSON: Yes?
GRACE: Like I`ve always said, just because it`s a dog doesn`t mean you have to feed it. All right? No -- no, he`s not escaping responsibility. It`s just that when you talk about legal suits, lawsuits, for everything Fantasia Barrino has got, it`s not going to be against him. It`s going to be against her for alienation of affections.
JACKSON: But alienation of what affection? The fact is, is that it has to be a foundation built upon love. That`s one of the elements of alienation of affection.
GRACE: Put him up.
JACKSON: And I don`t know that you could establish that. Because this guy was out there.
GRACE: Put him up. You know what? You can say that all you want to but they have little children to prove that something happened.
JACKSON: Of course.
GRACE: There were at least two minutes they were in love.
JACKSON: Yes.
GRACE: And they are formally and legally married.
JACKSON: But what about this --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: So you`re saying there`s no love.
JACKSON: People fall out of love all the time, Nancy. What about the timing element? They have children and then this guy goes and cavorts? Who else -- who knows who else he was cavorting but --
GRACE: You don`t --
JACKSON: And furthermore --
GRACE: -- fall out of love. You decide to leave the commitment. You can`t be in a marriage or relationship --
JACKSON: That`s what Cook should have done.
GRACE: -- for years and years and just fall out -- it doesn`t work.
JACKSON: That`s what Cook should have done.
GRACE: You know what? I`m going to let you have a little quick shrink session with Dr. Leslie Austin.
Everyone, as we go to break, we are taking your calls. But I want to thank you for all of your help and all of your support in the new book "Death on the D-List". It`s on the stands right now. My proceeds going to Wesley Glen, a home for the handicapped.
And tonight what star should play the role of heroin Hailey Dean. To vote or order the book, go to CNN.com/NancyGrace and win an autographed copy of "Death on the D-List" and come meet all of us here on the set.
Tonight`s winner, Ohio`s Sean. Her vote, Hillary Swank.
And a big thank you to my friend and colleague, Robin Meade, who had me on this morning to talk about "Death on the D-List."
Thank you, friend.
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BARRINO: That`s what I`m talking about.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: It was at this house that Tami Duvall called 911 to report that she found her estranged husband Allan Duvall dead.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police initially ruled the death of Allan Duvall as accidental from alcohol poisoning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like a perfect murder or so she thought.
CASAREZ: But then the toxicology report came back. And that`s when it all changed.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: They discovered the presence of morphine and a muscle relaxer in his body each exceeding 80 times the maximum dose. She slipped them into a homemade dirt pudding.
CASAREZ: It`s dirt pudding because it has Oreos mixed in it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The medicine was snuck into the Oreo.
GRACE: Death by Oreo pudding? I`ve never heard anything like it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean the way to a man`s heart is through food.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He told them, like, individually if I die, make sure it`s investigated.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: In addition to murder, Tami Duvall faces six counts of insurance fraud and two counts of obstruction of justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve heard stories since we moved in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He told them -- like individually if I die, make sure it`s investigated.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s really friendly to my kids. She`s really friendly to us. Definitely doesn`t look good.
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GRACE: We are taking your calls tonight. Begging to get out of jail. This after evidence shows that her husband was found dead in a lawn chair in the backyard. Why? Because 80 times the amount of morphine and muscle relaxer painkiller was in his system.
Straight out to Gage Lutes, news director, WBIW 1340AM. She wants bond? She wants to get out of jail and work at a children`s hospital? Over my dead body.
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GAGE LUTES, NEWS DIRECTOR, WBIW 1340 AM: Yes, well, that`s right. Well -- she appeared for her initial hearing last Tuesday on the 10th. And she asked the court if she could get on bond so she could return back to the children`s hospital, saying that she loved her job.
GRACE: She loved her job. What exactly was her job, Gage Lutes?
LUTES: Well, I know that she`s just a registered nurse and mainly her primary work was at the nursing home that she works at.
GRACE: Hey, hey, hey. Don`t insult all the registered nurses. I think she was like a certified -- it wasn`t an RN. It was --
LUTES: It`s a CNA.
GRACE: Yes. Yes, yes. Certified nurse --
LUTES: Certified nursing assistant.
GRACE: Yes. Exactly.
Everybody, she apparently lured the husband over, tried to get him to believe he was coming over to repair the air conditioner. She also dangled the promise of getting back together in a -- let me just say -- romantic way to lure him back to the home.
He ends up dead in the backyard in a lawn chair. OD`d. Many causes of death were explored. For those of you just joining us, heart attack, alcohol poisoning. Turned out, it was murder by Oreo pudding.
Out to Jean Casarez. What more can you tell me, Jean?
CASAREZ: It was morphine and muscle relaxants. You know, Nancy, this case took a long time for prosecutors to bring charges but it follows a pattern because what happened was once Mr. Duvall was found dead, she went to authorities and said that he drank himself to death.
And his alcohol level was .4. So they accepted that. It was ruled as an accidental death. But then people started coming forward including her ex-husband, her daughter, son-in-law, cousin, said to authorities, wait a minute. No, we think she poisoned him.
So then they did advanced toxicology tests that can be very specific, very sophisticated to an outside lab. Takes a long time. And that`s when she found levels over 80 percent of the normal levels for morphine and muscle relaxants.
GRACE: What do you mean by a special test?
Dr. Joshua Perper, what test would they have to send out for that they couldn`t do themselves?
PERPER: Well, it depends on the sophistication of the local lab.
GRACE: Right.
PERPER: In that particular case, they did only alcohol but in my office and in many other medical examiner`s offices throughout the country, they would have discovered the (INAUDIBLE), the muscle relaxant, and morphine on the initial screening because they -- the nature of the initial test is sufficient to detect them.
And in this particular case unfortunately the initial test was done in a very primitive way, in other words, minimal.
GRACE: So they had to send it out for more testing.
Back out to Jean Casarez. Jean, to me, the nail in her coffin is this. All of the phone calls she made before she called 911 including one to her insurance agent boyfriend.
CASAREZ: Right. She came home early in the morning from an early morning call to a patient. She said she saw her ex-husband out on the porch dead and so she called 911.
GRACE: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Jean, how long had he been out there?
CASAREZ: Well, that`s a good question. He spent the night out there, Nancy. How long was he dead? That would be forensic testing will have to determine that.
GRACE: OK. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You`re telling me -- I thought -- I misunderstood the timeline, Jean. Because I thought he ate the Oreo pudding for dinner as desert with the chicken and the veggies and the fruit salad and the dessert.
Then she sat there and watched him die as she watched -- I think it was "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," while he sat on the porch and died in a lawn chair.
Now I found out she tried to find out -- she leaves him out there overnight?
CASAREZ: It was an early morning call to a patient. She got back about 6:00 in the morning, discovered him dead. She said she called 911 immediately but there`s a 14-minute gap.
She called the insurance salesman -- life insurance salesman that had gotten that policy for her a month ago, the one she was having an affair with, and she called a girlfriend and then called 911.
GRACE: And he`s sitting out there --
CASAREZ: And never -- and never tried to perform -- you know, resuscitation efforts. Never tried to do that.
GRACE: So she looks on as he`s catching the morning dew after a night in a lawn chair dead on her deck in the backyard.
Samantha in Indiana. Hi, Samantha.
SAMANTHA, CALLER FROM INDIANA: Hi, Nancy. You know I just think this woman is disgusting. And I wanted to know, has anyone looked into her history to see if there are any patients or past boyfriends who maybe died --
GRACE: You know what?
SAMANTHA: -- and had a strange death because she could be a serial killer.
GRACE: Samantha, I am -- Samantha, I`m so glad you brought that up, Samantha in Indiana, because I learned as we go to air that she went from one job to the next job to the next job, in all of these health care facilities.
Do we know exactly what facilities or what kind of health care facilities they were? Tell me in my ear, Dana, if you know.
And in the meantime, to Paul Penzone, how are we going to prove this? That now I learn she actually had to put her head on the pillow and go to sleep with him dead in a lawn chair. In the backyard. In the dark.
PAUL PENZONE, DIRECT OF PREVENTION PROGRAMS, CHILDHELP.ORG, FMR. SERGEANT, PHOENIX PD: Yes, this is -- I mean it`s so stereotypical of the murder for financial benefit with this. But there was so many obvious signs.
I`m having a difficulty understanding how investigators early on didn`t recognize that this was going to be a murder investigation. I mean even something as simple as he`s having a meal and she makes some statements to the effect that he wants to commit suicide. He`s taking morphine, he`s taking a considerable amount of alcohol, he`s taking muscle relaxants.
No one in that circumstance is going to have an appetite to eat anything and if you were considering suicide that`s the last thing on your mind. So there were a lot of obvious signs early and I`m just grateful that they were able to come in the outcome to identify that she was responsible for this.
GRACE: Hey, Jean Casarez, listen to all of these places she worked. Let me see. Feb, 2004 Indiana Masonic Home as a nurse assistant. July 2004, Four Seasons Retirement, nurse assistant. September 2004, fired from Four Season Retirement Center. October hired at Willow Crossing Nursing Home.
December 2004 hired from Indiana Masonic Home. October 2005 Lutheran Community Home. June 2006 fired. December 2006 fired from Willow Crossing.
I mean, it goes on and on and on.
CASAREZ: I know --
GRACE: She goes in and out of these jobs. I will be very curious to find if any -- find out if any patients suffered.
CASAREZ: I know exactly what you`re thinking as you reel that off. Now her attorney has entered a not-guilty plea in court. We want everybody to know that.
But, Nancy, in 2004 a man came forward saying that she, Duvall and her daughter prepared a Thanksgiving meal for him. And guess what? There was pudding. He said he took one bite, the bitterness and the dizziness overcame him. He thought he was going to die.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police initially ruled the death of Alan Duvall as accidental from alcohol poisoning, but became suspicious after toxicology report showed he had more than 80 times the maximum dose for both drugs in his system.
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GRACE: I wrote the prologue to "Death on the D-List" before I finished "Eleventh Victim." It was an idea I had and I know this is crazy, but a lot of the ideas I have for "Death on the D-List" came to me in my sleep.
The title for "Death on the D-List" -- I was racking my mind for just the right title -- came to me one night in the complete dark. And I got it, "Death on the d-List." And that was it.
There are carryover characters to be looking for from "Eleventh Victim" that pop up again in "Death on the D-List." First of all of course, Hailey Dean herself. Her doorman in New York, Ricky.
Also Lieutenant Caulker, who stalked Hailey Dean and wrongfully arrested her for the murder of two of her patients in "Eleventh Victim", reappears in a very dynamic manner.
And, of course, what book would be complete without a drunk photographer? Frank LaGrange Haddon III reappears in "Death on the D-List" in a big way.
There`s a talk show in the book. It`s a daytime talk show. And the star of the talk show is named Harry Dodd. And he is actually modeled after Fred Willard`s role in "For Your Consideration."
Hailey Dean, the star of "Death on the D-List", is not autobiographical. She is a much better person and a much braver person than I could ever be.
I always wanted to name a little girl Hailey after Halley`s Comet. I never thought I could have a little girl. So instead I became this wonderful brave person that grew into Hailey Dean.
I`m thinking back to all those years that I practiced law and prosecuted violent felonies. A lot of those characters that I met in that 10-year parade in the courthouse come to life on the pages of this book.
For a summer read, I would pick a book that I stayed up until about 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning so I could read it. So I could find out what happened at the end. To me that`s a great summer read.
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GRACE: Everybody, let`s stop and remember Army Staff Sergeant Christopher Dill, 32, Tonawanda, New York, killed Iraq. Also served Desert Storm. Awarded two Bronze Stars, Purple Heart.
A firefighter, followed in his father`s footsteps. Over 800 firefighters attended his funeral where he was laid to rest with full military and fire department honors. Loved Fantasy Football, Texas Hold `Em, time with nephews.
Leaves behind grieving parents William and Marcia, sisters Dawn and Marylee. Widow Dawn Marie.
Christopher Dill, American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you for inviting us into your homes. And a special good night from Florida and Georgia friends David and Shenice, winners of the Chris Evert Charities Auction.
Everybody, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
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