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Nancy Grace
Restaurant Owner Takes 3 Weeks to Report Missing Wife
Aired September 10, 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, California. The beautiful wife of an LA restaurant owner vanishes without a trace. Cops alerted three weeks later by friends, not the husband of 15 years. Bombshell tonight. Homicide takes over the investigation. And tonight, we learn just days after the wife goes missing, her husband gets a brand-new girlfriend, moves the girlfriend into the family home, people, and gives the girlfriend the missing wife`s job as hostess at the restaurant. Tonight, where is Dawn Viens?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dawn Viens was reportedly last seen leaving her husband`s cafe. She disappeared, but her Jeep remained left behind. Husband David Viens reportedly told friends she took a Louis Vuitton bag with her and walked away following an argument. Homicide detectives are now taking over the investigation into the disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My suspicions are that Dawn is no longer alive and that David knows something about that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dawn`s husband telling a local reporter he has nothing to hide, adding cops have searched his cafe, home and yard, and reportedly claims he was advised by an attorney not to discuss the case because the husband is always considered a suspect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I highly doubt she`s alive. I really don`t believe she`s alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, to Idaho. A bitter divorce and the husband she marries not once but twice sends his wife and mother of two packing. But somehow, the young wife and mother ends up with two bullets to the back of the head right there in the family driveway. Tonight, the husband, a well- known speech and language pathologist, claiming self-defense. That`s right, you heard me. His wife, mother of two, shot twice in the back of the neck and head, and yes, he`s claiming self-defense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Idaho police have arrested and charged 49-year-old Chris Stone (ph) with murder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chris Stone is charged with second-degree murder of his wife, Florence Medrian (ph) Stone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stone allegedly claims he shot his wife in self- defense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The couple was going through a bitter divorce.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police found Florence face down in a pool of blood with two gunshot wounds to the back of the head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A verbal altercation escalated out of control.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stone allegedly told police his wife was over at their house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Collecting the last of her belongings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And while they were loading up her minivan, she attacked him with a steak knife and he shot her in self-defense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stone told investigators, quote, "So I pulled my out gun out of my pocket, pointed it at her head." Investigators say that`s when she reached for a knife, stabbed him in the abdomen. Stone then shot her twice in the neck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: However, when authorities told Stone the evidence didn`t match his story, cops says Stone changed his story, admitting to pulling out his gun before she attacked him. Prosecutors have charged Stone with second-degree murder.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening, I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. The beautiful wife of an LA restaurant owner vanishes without a trace. And tonight, we learn just days after she goes missing, the husband gets a brand-new girlfriend, moves the girlfriend into the family home and gives the girlfriend the missing wife`s job as hostess at his restaurant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriffs say 39-year-old Dawn Viens was last seen leaving her husband`s cafe. She was never seen again. The couple married more than 15 years. Reports say when Dawn vanished, her Jeep was left behind. Reports three weeks after she vanishes, Dawn`s friends call to report her missing, not her husband.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s a huge hurt and a big betrayal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dawn`s husband, David Viens, speaks out to "The Daily Breeze" saying he`s told detectives everything he knows, has nothing to hide, and says he`d put up a cash reward but he`s broke. Since she`s disappeared, husband David Viens`s restaurant has expanded. And while many businesses in the areas reportedly have missing posters up, there`s not one up on her husband`s cafe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To think that somebody could never really look for her, not even put up a missing persons poster in his own restaurant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Homicide detectives have now taken over the investigation. What happened to Dawn Viens?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to find out where Dawn is, you know? And I really -- I highly doubt she`s alive. I really don`t believe she`s alive. I talked to David, and he said that he fired her. He said he was tired of her drinking on the job and he fired her. And I wondered how he fired his wife. I don`t understand how you fire your wife.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Debra Mark, anchor with Talk Radio 790 KABC. Debra, I don`t like it. He doesn`t report her missing. Husband not a suspect. He doesn`t report her missing. Friends report her missing. And who is this person that he moves into his home right after she goes missing, his wife, and then props her up as the hostess at the restaurant? It`s, like, his wife`s gone one day, and the next day, he goes, Here, here`s the menu, you be the hostess. I don`t get it.
DEBRA MARK, TALK RADIO 790 KABC: Out of sight, out of mind, I guess. It`s very bizarre. This is a very bizarre case. She has a handful of friends. Allegedly, her friends say that her husband discouraged her from having a lot of friends. They have not heard anything from this woman, nothing.
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Ashley in Florida. Hi, Ashley.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. How are you?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, my question is, has there ever been any domestic violence prior to her missing? I want to know.
GRACE: OK, hold on. You cut out on me. What was your question, Ashley?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my question is, has there been any prior domestic violence? Has he, you know, abused her in the past or was any problems before she...
GRACE: Good question, prior domestic abuse. To Larry Altman, reporter with "The Daily Breeze." He has actually interviewed the husband. What do we know, Larry? Any reports of domestic abuse?
LARRY ALTMAN, "DAILY BREEZE": Don`t know anything about domestic abuse, but he does have a criminal record that includes drug trafficking, gun possession, running a drug ring in Florida.
GRACE: Whoa! Altman! Put him back up. Larry Altman, reporter, "Daily Breeze." Drug ring, Florida? This happened in LA. Tell me about the drug ring. It was pot, right?
ALTMAN: Yes. Back in about 2005, he was arrested in connection with this. The authorities down there said that he was bringing in pounds and pounds of marijuana to Anna Maria (ph) Island.
GRACE: Uh-uh! Uh-uh! And then he suddenly buys a restaurant. You know, not to suggest that this guy would ever launder money -- that`s not what I`m saying. But I am saying, Eleanor Odom, that drug traffickers, drug purveyors in the past, racketeers, mafia, you name it, will create a legitimate business through which they launder their illegal money, hence RICO statutes. What do you think about that, Eleanor?
ELEANOR ODOM, PROSECUTOR: I think you`re exactly right, Nancy, and that`s something a forensic accountant can examine and actually look at the money trail because if you follow the money trail, it may lead right back to that drug trafficking.
GRACE: And I`ll tell you another thing, who would be a very valuable witness, to say (ph), the IRS, would be the wife. Of course, you`ve got that pesky husband/wife privilege thing.
But Debra Mark, again, the husband is not a suspect. He`s not a named suspect tonight. Breaking news for those of you just joining us. Take a look at this woman, Dawn Viens, in her 30s, 5-7, 110 pounds, reddish-blond hair, brown eyes, an absolute beauty, goes missing. Her husband, the restaurant owner in the LA area, immediately moves the new girlfriend into the home, the family home, and props (ph) the girlfriend up as the hostess, the job his wife had the day before.
Back to you, Debra Mark, KABC, Talk Radio 790. Now, how quickly did the husband move the girlfriend into the hostess position at the restaurant?
MARK: It was pretty quick. It was not a long time. And you know, the weird thing about this also is that they were happily married, allegedly. This is what she was telling her friends. She was -- she was concerned, however, because he was arrested in the past and she knew that he, you know, had the drug charges against him. She actually stashed away about 640 bucks, gave it to a friend, because she was worried that he would be arrested again, so she wanted to make sure that she wasn`t left with nothing. Now, she left, never even went to that friend`s house to go and get that money. That money`s still there.
GRACE: I don`t like it. Her friend, Dawn Viens`s friend, Joe Cacace, is with us tonight. He is calling in from Lomita, California. Joe, thank you for being with us. The whole scenario stinks to me. What do you know, Joe?
JOE CACACE, FRIEND OF DAWN VIENS (via telephone): Well, it just -- it just stinks. It does. It stinks. There`s nothing else you can say about it.
GRACE: Tell me the last time you saw her. What did she say?
CACACE: I saw her -- she was walking behind my shop. I was here on a Sunday. We`re both closed on Sunday. She was walking up the alley, said - - you know, I said -- you know, it was weird to see her walking, but She was coming to get her Jeep, which was left here. And I said, What`s going on? She says, No (INAUDIBLE) we`re just fighting. You know, normal thing, we`re fighting again. You know, no big thing. And she kept walking. She didn`t want to stop.
And a couple of friends of mine just came back from a motorcycle ride, and you know, so I thought she might have been embarrassed. She got in her Jeep, drove away kind of quickly. And I thought, Well, that was weird. Then all of a sudden, not even five minutes later, David comes driving in behind her or looking for her in his own vehicle. And very angry look on his face because he missed her. She got away without him, you know?
GRACE: OK, Joe...
(CROSSTALK)
CACACE: ... get her Jeep to get away from him.
GRACE: When she said, We`re arguing again, what did they typically argue about, Joe?
CACACE: You know, it`s really strange. I kind of counseled both of them. They were my friends. And it was -- he always just had a problem with her because she was a very honest and simple person and he was kind of a shady guy and he liked to be in charge of everything, you know, and on top of things. I mean, they just argued because she had her own opinion, you know? And that was it, really. I mean, it was just normal stuff like that.
As far as the abuse went, you know, as you asked earlier, I don`t know of any real abuse going on, domestic violence.
GRACE: OK.
CACACE: Occasionally, things here and there. He cut her hair off one time. He got drunk and snipped a lock of hair off (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: Whoa! Whoa! He got drunk and cut her hair off?
CACACE: Yes.
GRACE: Did you just say that?
CACACE: Yes.
GRACE: OK. Dr. Bethany Marshall, getting drunk and cutting someone`s hair off -- cutting your wife`s hair off is abuse. What about it, Eleanor Odom?
ELEANOR ODOM: It`s exactly abuse. And who knows what kind of emotional abuse or things he said to her leading up to that.
GRACE: Bethany, what about it?
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: Extremely abusive. Not only that, he cut her off from her friends. She had to save up money in case he went to jail. She didn`t have a social life. I think perhaps he was having an affair because he whisked in the other woman awfully quickly.
GRACE: Oh, you think so, Bethany? You think? You think so?
MARSHALL: Yes, I...
GRACE: The day after she goes missing, he moves in the girlfriend into the house and her hostess position at the restaurant?
MARSHALL: He also denigrates her to the community by saying she has a drinking problem after she`s gone missing. Who denigrates...
GRACE: Look, if this...
MARSHALL: ... their wife when ostensibly, they`re grieving?
GRACE: ... lady -- Bethany, if this lady had a drug or alcohol problem, no way could she stash nearly $1,000 with a friend. She`d run right through that for booze or drugs.
MARSHALL: You`re right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... huge hurt and a big betrayal to think that somebody could never really look for her, not even put up a missing persons poster in his own restaurant. My suspicions are that Dawn is no longer alive and that David knows something about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Homicide detectives are now taking over the investigation into the disappearance of 39-year-old California woman Dawn Viens, Dawn reportedly last seen leaving her husband`s restaurant on a Sunday. Friends claim Dawn`s husband, David Viens, told them she took a Louis Vuitton bag and left the restaurant after an argument. Reports her Jeep still remained behind.
So just what happened to Dawn? Friends say it`s unlike her not to contact anyone, Dawn`s husband telling a local reporter he has nothing to hide, adding cops have searched his cafe, home and yard, and reportedly claims he was advised by an attorney not to discuss the case because the husband is always considered a suspect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And again, let me set that record straight tonight. We are not saying the husband is a suspect. He`s not a target. He`s not a defendant. I am saying that I`m extremely disturbed that he never posts a flyer for his missing wife -- all the other businesses in the area, not his restaurant, not him. Also, never put up a reward.
But isn`t it true, Clark Goldband, when asked about putting up a reward, he said he didn`t have the money, but he had the money to go buy an expensive defense attorney.
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, he broke his silence in a newspaper in April and said that he wants her to come home. He wants to post a reward, but he was, quote, "broke." However, he did hire a defense attorney and said that defense attorney advised him not to really speak out on the case because the husband is usually a target in this kind of investigation.
GRACE: What else did he say, Clark?
GOLDBAND: Well, Nancy, he says that she likes to ski and thought that she may come home after ski season, once it warmed up in May, et cetera. However, she didn`t come home, and he says that he`s willing to have her back at any time, and he prays and wants her to come home safe.
GRACE: Didn`t he say something about he hoped she "checks in"?
GOLDBAND: Yes. He wanted her to check in and was hoping, because she enjoys the mountains also, according to that interview, she would check in after ski season had ended.
GRACE: OK. Unleash the lawyers. Eleanor Odom, Mickey Sherman, Peter Odom. Mickey Sherman, he`s got a beautiful, new young wife. How would you feel if she just -- well, it`s been in the last 10 years. That`s new to me. So Sherman, how would you feel if she just disappeared? Would you say, Oh...
MICKEY SHERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It`s the ski season.
GRACE: ... she`s gone for ski season?
SHERMAN: It`s the ski season.
GRACE: She`ll check back in in a couple of months.
SHERMAN: Yes, I can understand that. This case (ph) had so many problems, yet nothing is a concrete piece of evidence to say that he did anything. He`s acting totally inappropriate, and clearly, he`s the suspect and person of interest and everything else, even though they deny that he is.
GRACE: You know what? You know who you sound like? You sound like a judge I tried one of my murder cases in front of. And I fought tooth and nail to bring in the fact that the husband would refuse to pay for his wife`s funeral. OK, that judge did not let me let it in, but I thought that spoke volumes.
What about you, Eleanor? Doesn`t that say something to you, that every business owner in the area put out missing persons flyer, except the one, her husband`s restaurant?
ELEANOR ODOM: I know. You`d think he`d be out there holding vigils, saying, Let me find my wife, where is she? And here he comes up with this line, It`s ski season. I certainly hope my husband would go looking for me if I turned up missing.
GRACE: OK, what about it, Peter Odom? You don`t think any of that is admissible at trial, right?
PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think everything here would be admissible at trial. Except, Nancy, unless the police find something concrete, there`s never going to be a trial. Look, all the circumstantial evidence points to the fact that he`s happy she`s gone and all the circumstantial evidence points to the fact that she`s dead. But until the police come up with something concrete, it doesn`t matter.
GRACE: To Paul Penzone, VP, prevention programs, Childhelp.org, former sergeant, Phoenix PD. OK, Paul, how do we solve the case?
PAUL PENZONE, CHILDHELP.ORG: I can`t even get my head around the fact that it took this long to assign homicide investigators because early stages are critical in investigations like this. All the evidence they may have lost may be critical in finding what happened to her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriffs say 39-year-old Dawn Viens was last seen leaving her husband`s cafe. She was never seen again. The couple married more than 15 years. Reports say when Dawn vanished, her Jeep was left behind. Reports three weeks after she vanishes, Dawn`s friends call to report her missing, not her husband.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dawn Viens was reportedly last seen leaving her husband`s cafe. She disappeared, but her Jeep remained left behind. Husband David Viens reportedly told friends she took a Louis Vuitton bag with her and walked away following an argument. But friends, including one recently diagnosed with cancer, become concerned when they don`t hear from Dawn. Since she`s disappeared, husband David Viens`s restaurant has expanded. And while many businesses in the area reportedly have missing posters up, there`s not one up in her husband`s cafe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Marilyn in Michigan. Hi, Marilyn.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy, love your show, your dedication and those beautiful twins.
GRACE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I`d like to know is, was this new girlfriend someone that the wife knew, as well, and was there any indication that she maybe suspected something going on between the two (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: Good question. Out to Debra Mark, Talk Radio 790 KABC. What do you know, Debra? What about this other woman? Who is she?
MARK: You know what? I don`t think that Dawn had any clue about anybody. Again, she was happily married. She told her friends that she was happy. They saw her as a very positive person. And again, the only thing that they have said was that her husband discouraged her from having a lot of friends. So apparently, they were happy, Nancy.
GRACE: OK. What do you know, Larry Altman? Larry joining us from "The Daily Breeze," who actually interviewed the husband. I think I`ve got Larry with me.
ALTMAN: Well -- I`m here.
GRACE: Go ahead, dear.
ALTMAN: I went into his restaurant just the other day to try to talk to him again, and he was in the kitchen. I was cut off at the pass by the girlfriend and was told to leave. He never came out of the kitchen. So I wasn`t able to ask him what he`s thinking these days. But I did talk to him back in April.
GRACE: Tell me what you know about the girlfriend? What do you know about the girlfriend?
ALTMAN: All I know is, you know, she was a nice-looking woman, small. I don`t know much about her at all. But she has -- she is working in there, and in fact, I saw her working in there.
GRACE: To Dr. Jennifer Shu, pediatrician, editor of "Baby and Child Health." Dr. Shu, the fact that no one suspected domestic abuse really doesn`t mean anything because domestic abuse victims very rarely will tell close friends and family what`s happening. I`m not really sure why. They`re embarrassed. They don`t want them to know. If it blows over, they don`t want the family and friends to still have bad feelings toward the husband.
DR. JENNIFER SHU, PEDIATRICIAN: Exactly. I mean, you`re hitting all the points there, Nancy. And domestic abuse is definitely underreported. So certainly, something could have been going on. There may have been a pattern that we just don`t know about.
GRACE: For those of you just joining us, Dawn Viens, 5-7, 110 pounds, red/blonde hair, brown eyes, goes missing. Friends report her missing, not her husband. And within days of her disappearance, the husband moves the girlfriend not only into the family home but into her job as hostess at his restaurant.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An Idaho man has been charged with murder in the shooting death of his wife who he allegedly claims he shot twice in the back of the head in self-defense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some insight into what may have been going on behind closed doors are these court documents, which show the couple was going through a bitter divorce.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Forty-nine-year-old husband Chris Stone called 911 saying he shot his wife in self-defense after she pulled a knife and stabbed him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nice family guy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When authorities arrive, they found 32-year-old Florence Stone lying face down in a pool of blood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just two houses down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stone was detained and interviewed where authorities say he changed his story. Prosecutors say Stone initially said his wife came at him with a knife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stone then shot her twice in the neck and called law enforcement.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But later admits to pointing the gun and threatening her before she attacked him. The district attorney`s office is not buying Stone`s story.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forty-nine-year-old Chris Stone was arrested, charged with second-degree murder of his wife, Florence Madrinan Stone. These court documents, which show the couple was going through a bitter divorce. According to the documents, Stone`s wife was at the house on Elsie Street collecting the last of her belongings. That`s when a verbal altercation escalated out of control. Stone told investigators, quote, "I lost it when she told me she had only married me for the green card. So I pulled out my gun out of my pocket, pointed it at her head." Investigators say that`s when she reached for a knife, stabbed him in the abdomen. Stone then shot her twice in the neck and then called law enforcement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I want to get this right. To Nate Shelman, host of News Radio 670-KBOI. The wife is shot twice in the back of the neck and head, and he`s saying self-defense. How can that be? If you shoot somebody from behind, how can that be self-defense?
NATE SHELMAN, HOST, NEWSRADIO 670 KBOI: He`s saying self-defense on two different versions, Nancy. First version, he says she stabbed him with a knife, then he shot her with .38 caliber that he drew from his front waistband. Now, he amazingly says this as she had her back to him. So she`s saying -- he`s saying that she stabbed him in reverse.
Version number two that Chris Stone told police says that she says she married him for his green card. He gets upset, pulls a weapon on her, doesn`t fire it, but pulls a weapon. She goes to her car, gets a steak knife, stabs him, that`s when he shoots her.
GRACE: OK. You know, Matt Zarrell, our producer on the story, when stories start changing dramatically, and I don`t mean evidence being added or the witness being questioned and they remember more facts, but changing dramatically, that`s a bad sign.
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yeah, apparently what happened was is that he told this first story, he is arrested immediately on site. Cops go to the scene. They immediately see something`s wrong. The evidence doesn`t match what he`s saying. They arrest him. They take him to the hospital, treat him for his injuries. Now, at the hospital he`s mirandaed, he`s talked to, he gives his first statement. When cops come back and say hey look, we have all this evidence that says your story`s not matching up with the evidence, then he tells this separate second story where he admits that he was one that initiated the confrontation by pulling out the gun and pointing it at her and threatening her.
GRACE: OK. Unleash the lawyers and a special guest joining us tonight, the prosecuting attorney for Canyon County, John Bujak, joining us from Caldwell. John, I have seen cases similar to this. But to claim self-defense when she`s shot twice from behind?
JOHN BUJAK, PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: I know, it`s ridiculous. Of course, I have to be very careful and preface my comments with the fact that Mr. Stone is accused of these crimes, he has not been proven guilty or admitted guilt, but I`m curious. Of course, he`s facing a murder rap here in Canyon County because we have two shots fired from the back of the head. Most self-defense cases you see, you don`t see a defensive wound that looks like that.
GRACE: OK. Eleanor Odom, Peter Odom, Mickey Sherman, what about it, Eleanor?
E. ODOM: Well, Nancy, clearly not self-defense, and you can tell from the evidence whether or not the stab was from her if she actually stabbed him or perhaps he inflicted that stab wound on himself. And you`re going to be able to do that by the angle of the knife, comparing the knife wound, to the actual knife, those types of things. So that`s something that the cops can look at forensically.
GRACE: Absolutely. And I`m just wondering in his scenario how she would have managed to stab him in the abdomen. And then he reaches for the gun and shoots her twice in the back of the neck.
To Dr. Jennifer Shu joining us out of Atlanta, editor of "Baby and Child Health," Dr. Shu, when Eleanor says it`s like the angle and the trajectory, the wound, in other words, does the stab go from the top of his torso down straight in, up? That would be very, very revealing. Explain.
DR. JENNIFER SHU, EDITOR: Well, basically, you would have to imagine the action of the person doing the stabbing. Is it something that the husband himself could physically do, or is it something that somebody else is going to be doing to him? So they`re going to look at things like blood spatter patterns and the angle and how forceful that stabbing was. And the other thing about the wife is, you know, would she have stabbed him and then turned around and gotten shot? I mean, that is definitely suspicious. If they would want to look at gunshot residue on his hands and the distance of the gun from her body whether she was running away, where the bullets entered and so on.
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Micki in Texas. Hi, Micki.
CALLER: Hi, Nancy. I am such a big, big fan of yours. And --
GRACE: Thank you.
CALLER: And I thank you for all you do.
GRACE: Thank you, Micki in Texas. What do you think about this case?
CALLER: I would like to know, has there been spousal abuse through the marriage?
GRACE: Good question. Out to Nate Shelman with News Radio 670 KBOI, what about it, Nate?
SHELMAN: Nancy, there was an incident April 28th where police did respond to a domestic violence call. Police say a couple -- water was thrown. There wasn`t any evidence to support any physical contact or any battery, and Florence decided not to press charges. She didn`t want her husband, Chris Stone, prosecuted.
GRACE: OK. What do you think about that, Matt Zarrell? Is that factoring in at all?
ZARRELL: Yeah, and one thing that`s interesting is, there`s the whole issue about the children, too because there are two children involved. There`s a 10-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy. They were staying with the grandparents at the time. And I wonder how traumatizing this could be for them considering what`s going on in this case.
GRACE: OK. I want to go back to the lawyers. Peter Odom, Mickey Sherman, Eleanor Odom. Will evidence of any prior domestic abuse come into evidence, Mickey Sherman?
SHERMAN: It might, but it would have been to be something serious, something more than just the talk. The key is who stabbed or shot first. And if it`s not a self-inflicted wound, he shot after he was stabbed, and that`s a legitimate self-defense. It happens in a heartbeat, he whipped around and shot her in the back.
GRACE: Right. OK, Peter Odom, give me what you`ve got?
P. ODOM: Pulling out the gun by him robs him of the self-defense claim. I think it`s a problematic defense. I`m going to try to go somewhere else if I`m his defense attorney.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A sign near the front door reads "welcome to our happy home."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Verbal altercation escalated out of control.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That home was a murder scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It appears to be a domestic situation that`s gone really bad.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An Idaho man has been charged with murder in the shooting death of his wife who he allegedly claims he shot twice in the back of the head in self-defense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He and his wife, they were going through a rough divorce.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bitter divorce.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the police report, Stone claims his wife drove to the house to pick up the last of her things when she said she only married him for his green card, he told cops he threatened to kill her when she pulled a steak knife and stabbed him. That`s when he said he shot her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stunned with the tainted interview where authorities say he changed his story.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now it could turn out to cost Stone his job, his kids and up to 25 years in prison.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: And back to you, Bethany Marshall, hold on, Bethany. I`ve got to clarify something. Nate Shelman, exactly how serious were his injuries to the abdomen?
SHELMAN: I don`t have that information in front of me right now, Nancy.
GRACE: I wonder how long he was in the hospital.
SHLEMAN: He was treated and released that night after he called 911 shortly before 6:00.
GRACE: OK Nate, I think that says it all. Treated and released that night, Dr. Bethany.
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: Well, a lot of times when men commit domestic homicide, they do self-inflict a wound in order to say that it was self-defense. But Nancy, why was he carrying a gun? According to neighbors, he loved to carry guns around the neighborhood. Her back was to him. She fell into the minivan which suggests she was trying to get away.
GRACE: OK. Paul Penzone, VP of prevention programs, childhelp.org, former sergeant of police at the Phoenix PD, Paul, it stinks. I don`t like it. I don`t believe it.
PENZONE: In every aspect, I try in my mind`s eye to try to figure out how he could justify any type of self-defense, and there`s nothing in there. If in fact he is threatened and he feels there`s a danger when she`s fleeing, he shoots her twice in the back of the head. That`s not that you`re in danger at the time, everything that precipitated it when he pulled the gun out and actually initiated the threat which was a second story, that means that he aggravated the circumstances and actually committed a crime against her. Her defense would have been self-defense at that point. So as long as investigators did their job very thoroughly out there, I can`t imagine a way that he`s going to find a way to get out of this.
GRACE: Special guest joining us tonight, prosecuting attorney Canyon County, John Bujak. John, again, thank you for being with us. How serious are the husband`s injuries?
BUJAK: You know, they`re not very serious. And the reason I say that is, he was transported to hospital after calling law enforcement and took him to jail that same night. So it wasn`t something that required a considerable amount of medical attention, a fairly superficial wound, and he found himself in jail shortly thereafter.
GRACE: OK. We are taking your calls. I want to go back out to Nate Shelman joining us from 670 KBOI. I want to go through that incident, that prior domestic abuse claim. What exactly was the nature of that?
SHELMAN: Well, they were going -- they`ve had their brush-ups. These two have been married in a sense twice, Nancy. They were married, and then they divorced and remarried in 2005. As far as April 28th, I don`t really know much of it mostly because no information is being released saying that the domestic violence call or the domestic dispute, whatever you want to call it, contains information directly related to the current shooting case.
GRACE: For those of you just joining us, this young lady, Florence Stone, found face down in a pool of blood in the back of her own minivan. Police called to the scene find two gunshot wounds to the back of Florence`s head. She was in the middle of a bitter divorce dispute. She was at her husband`s house when this happened. You know, Dr. Bethany, isn`t it true that in most domestic cases the most dangerous period is when the woman is trying to leave?
MARSHALL: The woman is at the greatest risk for homicide as she is trying to leave the relationship. You`re absolutely correct. And she tried to leave once. And he wouldn`t let her go, and they remarried. And this time she didn`t get away either, did she?
GRACE: I want to go back to Matt Zarrell. Why did she marry this guy twice?
ZARRELL: And one thing that I have determined is she got remarried in `05. The divorce was filed in May. The divorce was still pending. They were battling. There was a prenuptial agreement, apparently as part of the divorce. But the agreement did not reveal any major assets for either side, just that each side would keep their own assets at the end of the marriage, but there was a pending court hearing within a couple weeks of this murder.
GRACE: OK, wait a minute. They had so much money they needed a prenup?
ZARRELL: Well, we`re trying to figure out exactly how much money there was. There was only a little bit of property. And what happened was is that they each agreed that each side would take the property that they owned when they got into the marriage.
GRACE: OK. Back to the lawyers. Mickey Sherman, Peter Odom, Eleanor Odom, to you, Mickey and Peter, the two of you have handled plenty of divorce cases. I`ve had many criminal attorneys, criminal defense attorneys, who have handled everything from murder to drug trafficking tell me that rather defend a serial killer than get caught in the middle of a divorce case because those are the people that drive by your house and shoot into the living room window trying to get the lawyer. What about it, Mickey?
SHERMAN: I`d rather dig ditches before handling a divorce case, period, or anything, or shove excrement. It`s the worst because you`re catching people at the worst moment in their lives. The most sane, intelligent, rational people become absolute lunatics. They can be a Harvard professor and they will act like a total moron when they`re going through the stress of divorce. And that`s when people get shot. And that`s when people get killed.
GRACE: To Nate Shelman, what about children?
SHELMAN: They have two kids currently staying with Chris Stone`s grandparents right now. And what I haven`t heard brought up, Nancy, is that these two also were employed by the same school system. He was a speech pathologist in the Caldwell, Idaho, school system since 2004. She was an intensive behavioral intervention specialist since 2005. These two would go to school to school whenever they were needed. In a sense they kind of worked together.
GRACE: To Peter Odom, we were talking earlier about how vicious and how angry, how poisonous divorce cases become to the point where attorneys won`t touch the case. They`re afraid the divorce clients will come by and shoot them one night because they`re so angry. And that has actually happened.
P. ODOM: Nancy, the divorce court is a very scary place compared to the criminal court. I completely agree with Mickey Sherman on this one. And I`m happy to be in criminal court even doing a homicide case.
GRACE: To Eleanor Odom, Eleanor, what about the fact that these two are highly educated, obviously one, the husband, a renowned speech pathologist in the school system. Everybody knew him. Everybody liked him. And now you find his wife face down dead in the minivan with two shots to the back of the neck and head.
E. ODOM: Well, Nancy, domestic violence cuts across all socioeconomic classes. You can`t say it`s just going to happen in this scenario or just happens to the poor class or the upper class. It happens to everyone. And I think that they`ll be able to use some of these prior incidents of abuse in a criminal prosecution for murder.
GRACE: And to John Bujak, our special guest joining us out of Caldwell, Idaho, prosecuting the case for Canyon County, he`s still sticking with self-defense, right?
BUJAK: As far as we know, that`s still his story. Law enforcement officers have interviewed him. That`s what he told them. Preliminary hearing`s in another week, and we`ll see what comes out at that time.
GRACE: Right now, everyone, we are taking your calls. But now "CNN Heroes."
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GUADALUPE ARIZPE DE LA VEGA, MEDICAL MARVEL: Juarez was a very nice place. And now nobody can go out. In one weekend, 51 were killed. In this moment of crisis, people have to have a secure place where healing goes on.
My name is Guadalupe Arizpe De La Vega. I started the Hospital De La Familia, and it`s in downtown Juarez.
I go to Juarez sometimes five times in a week. We have been working there for 37 years with the community. Every day we have from 800 to 1,000 people. Some of them can pay, some of them cannot pay, but we don`t turn anybody away.
I want the violence to stop. Everybody is affected. People have been paralyzed by the fear.
Our hospital has not been touched. Our doctors have not been kidnapped. This is a miracle, of God, believe me. And everybody knows that`s a place for healing, for loving, for empowering people.
I believe that health is the most important of human rights. Life is all about empowering people, and it`s very important to have an institution giving them hope for the future.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: What a week in America`s courtrooms. Take a look at the stories, and, more important, the people who touched our lives.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirty-six-year-old Adam Longoria --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charged this morning with the capital murder of --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 14-year-old girl had been burned beyond recognition.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charged with criminal sodomy.
GRACE: In a bizarre twist, Longoria in court, turns on the little cheerleader`s family. Kansas has the DP, the death penalty, death by needle. That`s lethal injection, Longoria.
We are getting information right now that the body of Stacy Wilson has been discovered. A body was located inside her vehicle, a silver Chrysler Sebring.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twenty-two-year-old Michael O`Connor (ph) reportedly claims his wife Jessica Bega (ph) told friends and family she had terminal cancer and had just months to live.
GRACE: Hundreds rallied together for this gorgeous 23-year-old bride, her dream wedding.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Only to find out she allegedly made it all up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have never felt so angry in my entire life. There were people that gave everything at the last minute to make this happen. And it`s disgusting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A former bodyguard is claiming in a lawsuit that Spears sexually harassed him.
GRACE: Either the allegations are true or he is an opportunist trying to make a quick buck.
Britney, if you are walking around the house without your clothes on, if you have another bodyguard, please put on some pants.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: Let`s stop and remember army sergeant Brad Wentz, Gladwin, Michigan, killed in Iraq, awarded the bronze star, purple heart, global war on terrorism medal, national defense medal. Loved hockey, hunting, motorcycling, snowmobiling. Leaves behind parents Chris and Shelly, stepmother Christine, sister Randy, widow and high school sweetheart Tami, daughter, Jerzey. Brad Wentz, American hero.
Thanks to our guests. Our biggest thank you is to you for being with us, and a special good night from the New York control room. Good night, Liz, Brett, Rosie. Where is Squeaky? There she is. And good night from South Carolina and Tennessee friends Martha and Kathy. Aren`t they beautiful? And a special thank you tonight to my friend and colleague reporting on the Joran van der Sloot case in Peru, Jean Casarez, I love you. Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
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