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Jane Velez-Mitchell
Serial Killer Sought in Philly; Lindsay Lohan Accused of Assault
Aired December 22, 2010 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, fear floods Philadelphia as cops announce, "We`re looking for a serial killer." They say DNA links the same man to three women strangled to death and warn the killer may still be within ten blocks of where these victims were murdered. Who is the Kensington Strangler? And can these three brutal homicides be connected to a slew of vicious sexual attacks in the same area?
And the Lindsay Lohan drama explodes. The furious Betty Ford worker speaks out on camera to TMZ, claiming Lindsay assaulted her, and waving her wrist brace as proof. Now she`s been fired. Is she getting ready to sue the famous Betty Ford Clinic and Lindsay?
Plus a violent past uncovered in the case of missing Las Vegas showgirl Debbie Flores-Narvaez. This gorgeous dancer vanished ten days ago. Today, jaw-dropping new court documents show she`s been in trouble with the law. Why would several people want protective orders against this missing woman? We`ll talk to a close friend.
Then, say it ain`t so. Heidi Montag shows her scars in a new interview, sobbing, "This is not what I signed up for." The blond Barbie`s had over a dozen plastic surgeries. What does she expect? Is this just another desperate attempt to get attention?
ISSUES starts now.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MICHAEL NUTTER, PHILADELPHIA: We are serious about getting this psycho off the streets of Philadelphia. We will not put up and tolerate with this kind of insanity on our streets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, panic erupts in Philadelphia as police hunt down a ruthless serial killer. Breaking news tonight: DNA now links a third woman`s murder to the so-called Kensington Strangler. The nickname comes from the Philly neighborhood where his victims were sexually assaulted and strangled to death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. JOHN CLARK, PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT: And as a result of this being the third murder in a short period of time in the same area, with the same type of victims, we do at this time consider it to be a serial murderer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Police say all three victims were prostitutes with a history of drug abuse. Their battered, partially naked bodies were dumped in vacant lots or abandoned homes. Did their killer also sexually assault and try to strangle three other women in the very same area? Women who survived.
Now, we`ve obtained this extraordinary surveillance video of the suspect in one of those sexual assaults. Look closely. Is this the serial killer walking away? We don`t know.
One of the victims, the surviving victims, also helped cops make this composite sketch of that attacker, alleged attacker. Police don`t know if this is the Kensington Strangler or not. And remember, the person on that video is just accused.
Who is terrorizing women in the City of Brotherly Love, and could there be any link to a string of unsolved murders of women in Atlantic City as well as Long Island? Are there three serial killers on the loose in the northeast of the United States of America?
What`s your theory? Call me, 1-877-JVM-SAYS. That`s 1-877-586-7297.
Straight out to Allison Steele, reporter for "The Philadelphia Inquirer."
Allison, you`ve been all over this story. What is the very latest?
ALLISON STEELE, REPORTER, "THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER" (via phone): I`m sorry?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What is the very latest, Allison?
STEELE: The very latest is that, you know, police yesterday confirmed the suspicions of many of us who have been covering this story, and -- as well as sort of what they had indicated earlier, which was that, in fact, yes, this third victim was killed at the hands of the same person. You know, making it fit the definition in the police`s mind, at least, of a serial killer, someone who has struck three victims -- you know, three victims or more in a brief period of time. In this case, in a very small geographic area.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Are the people there terrified? Because what we understand, and let me expound on that for a second, that people are so terrified that vigilante justice is actually erupting. A rumor spun out of control this week, that a local man, Triz Jeffries...
STEELE: That`s correct.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... was the Kensington Strangler. And apparently, Jeffries freaked out and called the cops when an angry mob showed up at his house.
STEELE: Well, yes. I mean, he saw people in front of his house, and he somehow found out, I guess, what the rumor was that was going around. And he had good reason, I think, to be concerned for his own safety.
And the police, it should be said, have -- have basically cleared Jeffries. They don`t consider him a suspect in this case.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s right. He was actually given a DNA swab. That`s what police gave him. And then they ruled him out as a suspect. Let`s listen to the cops here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COMMISSIONER CHARLES RAMSEY, PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT: He is not a suspect. He is not a person that`s connected with this. Yet we had to come to his house because the crowds gathered outside his home. We don`t need that sort of thing. We can solve this, but we can do so protecting the rights of all people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Curtis, you and your organization, the Guardian Angels, are providing protection, and you are working this case down in Philly. Where did this bizarre rumor about this guy come from that people ended up, like, storming his house?
CURTIS SLIWA, RADIO HOST: We actually received about 200 of these photographs of this young man with his personal information on the side, same that you might get on an I.D. card. And they were passing it out on the corner.
And all of a sudden, I looked at it this past Sunday and I said, "Now wait a second. There`s no logo from the local sheriff`s department or the prosecutor`s office or the police department. It`s got to be bogus information." So I tried to grab as many of the fliers that were being passed out. Unfortunately, some were being put up next to the sketch.
And Jane, I must tell you, the similarity is striking. So naturally, a lot of the people are bent out of shape, immediately took off in the direction of this guy`s address, probably were looking to bum rush him, were outside and were giving him all kinds of grief.
And that`s why the police chief, Ramsey, had to make a special issue of announcing to the people of Philadelphia and surrounding areas, "Leave this young man alone. He has absolutely jack diddly-squat nothing to do with this case."
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. I mean, this could have been a tragedy, a bigger tragedy, if an innocent man had become the victim of mob rule. And somebody who might have had it out for him for whoever knows what reason, starts putting his name and face on these fliers that you mention and saying, "Hey, this is the Kensington Strangler," and this poor guy was literally surrounded in his home. That`s how scared people are.
Now I want you to take a very close look at this key surveillance footage. Could this man you`re looking at -- this is first the sketch, but then we`re also going to show you the footage -- could this man be the Kensington Strangler?
Investigators say this man choked and beat a woman in an alley on December 6. He appears to be the same guy, this composite sketch, and the surveillance video, which we`ll show you in a second. Check this -- oh, there it is. Take a look at this.
Now again, this is just accusation. We`re going to go tight on this guy`s face. Maybe he`s the wrong person. This is cops accusing him. But cops are saying this is the guy who tried to choke and sexually assault a woman, and they`re saying that he matches a composite sketch that some of the other victims gave and that he could be the Kensington Strangler.
Let`s listen to what cops had to say about this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. JOHN DARBY, SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT: She accompanies him to an alley in the 1800 block of Sergeant Street, again, depicted there, where, again, there`s choking that goes on. This male punches her in the face, hits her in the side of the head a glancing blow with a brick, and actually produces a pair of scissors that he tries to stab her with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Now, the woman wrestles the scissors away from this man, and she runs for her life.
Pat Brown, criminal profiler, this is the suspect. The video that we saw this man walking away, that`s the suspect in this case. There is a fear, or a prediction that maybe this person is the person responsible for the murders of three women. Could this be the Kensington Strangler, Pat?
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, it could be. And it`s a good thing that they`ve got some kind of information to go on, because oftentimes, we have a serial killer out there, and we haven`t got a clue what he looks like or where he`s even at.
We know from the behaviors of him that he`s a very local guy, especially when he`s approached on foot. So we don`t even know if he has a car. So he`s very, very local. And a lot of these women probably do know who he is, but they just don`t recognize that he`s the serial killer, because they probably have maybe talked to him before and they didn`t think anything was wrong with him, or even went with him before and came back alive. So they say, "Well, he didn`t do anything to me."
So they need to take a really good look at this and think about who is circling around that particular area so they can get that information in to the police.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Steve Kardian, you`re a former police detective. What`s so tantalizing and frustrating about that video is that you can kind of see him, but you can`t really get the features. Can they do something with that videotape to enhance it so that you can really see the features of this individual?
STEVE KARDIAN, FORMER POLICE DETECTIVE: Yes. Electronically, if it`s not -- if it`s not a good videotape to begin with, it`s like blowing up a one megapixel camera. No, they can`t. It depends on the capability of the camera. They can do things to enhance that picture. They will. But they`re within limitations, depending upon how -- how good that quality is.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Robin Sax, former sex crimes prosecutor, they`ve taken three women who were murdered and sexually assaulted. They`ve connected the DNA found on those three women to one individual. Then there are three other women who -- a man -- the cops say possibly that man -- tried to choke and sexually assault. And those three women survived.
But they haven`t connected the deaths to the assaults. Are we connecting too many dots here or should we not assume?
ROBIN SAX, FORMER SEX CRIMES PROSECUTOR: I think we have to all be very careful in terms of drawing broad strokes on anything right now, just because who knows, really, if we`re talking about one case, or not the same case. But we can look at this as an opportunity.
First of all, what we can look at this as the opportunity to recognize, is that predators prey on imperfect victims. So when we have these three victims who were murdered, who were prostitutes, a lot of people kind of write those victims off as throwaways.
Bu the fact is, is that people who are preying on women are going to look for women who have inherent problems. So prostitutes deserve the same rights as any other citizen, but really, we discount their credibility right from -- from the go, because of their chosen profession.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I don`t care about their chosen profession. Police still need to make it a top priority. As long as somebody can play God, some monster out there, and say, "Oh, I`m going to decide this person doesn`t have a right to live," any woman walking down the street alone at night by herself is in danger of some monster on a mission. We`ve got to make it a priority. It doesn`t matter what a woman does for a living, we have to keep her safe.
KARDIAN (?): Absolutely.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Everybody hang tight. We`re just getting started, and we`re taking your calls: 1-877-JVM-SAYS.
Fast-breaking twists and turns in the mysterious disappearance of a Las Vegas showgirl. Now we`ve discovered that she has her own troubled past.
And more on the terrifying hunt for Philly Strangler in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLARK: They found the decedent, Elaine Goldberg, a 21-year-old female, unclothed from the waist down. She had been beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled.
Police found decedent Nicole Piacentini, a 35-year-old female. She also was partially unclothed from the waist down. She had also been beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled to death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Three women, sexually assaulted and strangled to death in the very same Philadelphia neighborhood, in just the last few weeks. The best lead police have is this composite sketch and the surveillance footage of a sexual assault suspect. The woman who was attacked survived, and got away.
Take a close look. Who is this man? Is this the Kensington Strangler?
Linda, Oregon, your question or thought, ma`am?
CALLER: Hi.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hi.
CALLER: Well, you know, I was -- first of all, thank you for taking my call.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You`re welcome.
CALLER: But I also -- the same thing happened on the West Coast. Same M.O., same everything. And it kind of startled me because of the way some of these bodies have been disposed of.
But it came on NBC on "Dateline" about two weeks ago. And the only way that they found out about them was through forensics, and there was one particular deal. But all of these women were prostitutes. All of them were nude.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Linda, what`s the sad thing about this is, is that it`s happening all over the country.
Here`s my big issue. Could we have a northeast serial killer on our hands? The Kensington Strangler murders have a lot in common with cold cases on Long Island and in Atlantic City. Earlier this month, the bodies of four women were dumped on a Long Island beach. The victims haven`t been identified. Cops suspect they may have been escorts.
In 2006, the bodies of four prostitutes were found in a ditch behind seedy motels in Atlantic City. Now we have three prostitutes dead in nearby Philadelphia.
Curtis Sliwa, you know this area like the back of your hand. Could this be the work of one serial killer targeting women that fit a certain profile?
SLIWA: Probably not likely. I think the Atlantic City murders and the murders that you saw that took place out at Suffolk County, at least where the bodies were left, are more similar, because in Atlantic City, which we were directly involved with, the remains of the women were facing in the direction, the head in the direction of the Atlantic City casinos.
And in Suffolk County, apparently, although they couldn`t be identified because of the decomposition, some of those victims were also pointing in a certain direction.
I think what you have in Kensington, you have a very populated area. Jane, just for your listeners, they need to know that it`s like "Dawn of the Dead" morning, noon and night. It`s like zombies roaming about, dope fiends for (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for meth, for crack, for coke, for heroin. And it`s nonstop.
And it`s not an area where there`s a lot of isolated, out-of-sight, out-of-mind locations. So I think a lot of the street people may have seen what had transpired, or at least know. But they abide by this dumb code of snitches get stitches and end up in ditches.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right.
SLIWA: I`m not going to talk to the police. I`m not going to talk to any investigators. And I think that`s hampering the investigation.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hold on. Robin Sax, former sex crimes prosecutor, is that really true? Because there was a case out in L.A. where three homeless men actually snitched and helped police break a big case involving a well-known chef who was accused.
SAX: That`s exactly right. We`ve actually had kind of the opposite in Los Angeles, where you did have some people on the street actually help things out.
But I think the point that I was trying to make before that didn`t come out so eloquently is that prostitutes are victims everywhere. And we must be very careful not to assume that it`s the work of the same person, just because that the target is prostitutes or escorts of that sort.
What we need to look at is the things like the forensics and the DNA and recognize that our women are in danger on those streets. Particularly people who have professions that seem unsavory to others.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, and let`s face it, Pat Brown, we never know...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... what Robin said?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, go ahead.
KARDIAN: Yes. All the -- all the victims in common have one thing in common, and that`s vulnerability. Whether they`re a soft target, whether they`re a prostitute or whether they`re a drug addict, they all share that one commonality of vulnerability. Just to add to that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me just say this, though. In one of these cases that we were covering, another serial killer, there are so many -- there are so many of them that are targeting women it`s hard to keep up, but the woman who was lured into this woman`s car, not one of these three cases, she wasn`t a prostitute. She was just walking home, and the guy lured her in. And he said, basically, "I`ll give you a ride."
So we can`t always assume that, even if most of the people who were targeted are prostitutes, they all are. Frankly, that`s why I say, any woman walking alone at night is not safe as long as we don`t prioritize finding these sickos who somehow decide that they want to play God and they are going to target prostitutes for whatever reason.
And Pat Brown, what is the reason from a psychological standpoint?
BROWN: Well, they`re available. That`s it. And I think you made a very good point: anybody out there is vulnerable. Prostitutes extremely vulnerable, drug addicts, hitchhikers, joggers, all extremely vulnerable. What this guy looks for is people he`s simply -- they`re available for him to grab. He`s an opportunist.
And I want to point out that every major city has serial killers running around it. They`re not -- even if we don`t know they`re there, if you go back and look in history, you`ll find a lot of unsolved crimes in each city. You`ll have -- they usually take more down time in between their crimes, so they aren`t linked together.
In this particular crime, when they had that first prostitute who was half naked and raped, and murdered in an alley, that was already a serial killer crime. And when they had the second woman that already linked it together, why didn`t they announce it in November?
I`ll tell you why, because the FBI does a silly, silly thing. It says you have to have three people before you can call them a serial killer. I mean, really, come on now. You`re raping and murdering women, you`re a serial killer. You just haven`t gotten to the next one yet. They just haven`t linked you to something else.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And I do believe -- I agree with everything you`ve said, except that I do believe there`s a psychological motive of somebody who has -- basically associates sexuality with deviance and feels that somehow they`re on a sick mission to...
BROWN: No, no mission. No, no, Jane. No mission. They could care less about that. They just want to -- they just want to kill people. That`s the thrill to them. It`s the power and control. And these women are available.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I don`t know that we can assume that. We`ll agree to...
BROWN: They`re not cleaning up the streets.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... disagree. Now, I`m not saying -- I`m saying they`re sick.
OK. The latest on the Las Vegas showgirl who`s missing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL LOHAN, FATHER: Why would Lindsay call the police in to investigate this if Lindsay pushed the woman? The fact is this: Lindsay came into the house. She did not refuse a breathalyzer. She took it. She never -- never tested positive.
But I will tell you this: this is absolutely ludicrous. I can`t believe that these lies are being hurled around like this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, new drama in the wake of Lindsay Lohan`s alleged attack on a Betty Ford Center staffer.
Lindsay and two other rehab patients went out and then allegedly tried to sneak back after curfew. That no-no reportedly sparked a huge blowout with a staffer who talked to TMZ.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAWN HOLLAND, ALLEGEDLY HAD CONFRONTATION WITH LINDSAY LOHAN: Tried to snatch the phone from out of my arm. She just grabbed my wrist and snatched it down and twisted my arm and my hand to get the phone out of my arm. And swore a few choice words at me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: After Dawn Holland went public, she was reportedly fired. Tonight, she is firing back and threatening to sue for wrongful termination.
Straight out to Jim Moret, chief correspondent for "Inside Edition."
Jim, great to see you. How is this all going to impact Lindsay Lohan`s attempt to redeem herself?
JIM MORET, CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, "INSIDE EDITION": Well, there was the issue of her refusing initially to take a breathalyzer test. That could be construed as a violation of probation, because the judge made it very clear that a refusal to take a test is the same as a bad test.
Now, Lindsay did take a breathalyzer within 12 hours or some type of alcohol test and passed.
But also, there`s the issue of the potential assault. If Lindsay is found guilty of criminal assault, that could also violate her probation and could land her in jail for six months.
But we really have to wait to see how all this comes out, because the investigation is continuing. And Michael Lohan is right, you know. It`s really upsetting when you have somebody who goes in for treatment, and then somebody in that treatment center comes out and sells their story about you. And I think that a lot of people are very easily jumping to conclusions, and it`s hard to tell exactly what happened. But clearly, it`s a she said/she said at this point.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And this woman, Dawn Holland, her lawyer claims Dawn was, quote, "interrogated and threatened with her livelihood unless she conformed to the immoral and unethical requests of the clinic in an attempt -- their attempting to cover up their own unlawful conduct."
No comment from the Betty Ford Clinic.
But is she basically saying, hey, she was fired because she refused to go easy on Lindsay, because she`s a superstar?
MORET: I think she was fired because she went public. Let`s face it: if you go into a treatment center, or you run a treatment center, and you`re asking people to basically go in, and say they surrender, they surrender to the treatment, they acknowledge they have a problem, you sure don`t want them, whether they`re celebrity or otherwise, fearing that employees from that center will talk about them. And I think that`s why she was fired.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, how is this going to affect Lindsay`s image? Obviously, she`s trying to get her career back on track. She`s had a lot of problems, a lot of drama, a lot of excuses. Does it really matter at the end of the day who`s right and who`s wrong here?
MORET: Look, if Lindsay passes an alcohol test, she was out getting her hair done. And I asked her father today when I talked to him, who gets their hair done at night?
He said, "Look, they have classes until 7 or so at night. She goes out to a place at 9 p.m., gets her hair done, comes back. She admits she was late. She missed curfew. It was a violation."
But yes, you know, of course her image matters. Because people who hire her want to know that she`s insurable. They want to know that she`s responsible. They want to know that she`s in recovery. So I think she`s going to fiercely guard her image.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m rooting for her. I hope she stays sober. Thank you, Jim. Got to leave it right there.
A surprising twist in the case of a missing Las Vegas showgirl.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: A violent past uncovered in the case of missing Las Vegas showgirl Debbie Flores Narvaez. This gorgeous dancer vanished ten days ago.
Today jaw-dropping new court documents show she`s been in trouble with the law. Why would several people want protective orders against this missing woman? We`ll talk to a close friend.
Then, say it isn`t so. Heidi Montag shows her scars in a new interview sobbing, this is not what I signed up for. The blond Barbie`s had over a dozen plastic surgeries. What does she expect? Is this just another desperate attempt to get attention?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CELESTE FLORES-NARVAEZ, DEBBIE`S SISTER: I don`t want to start thinking other thoughts. I have to keep my focus that she is ok. And that`s starting to become a little more difficult as time passes by.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, stunning jaw-dropping developments in the search for a missing Las Vegas showgirl, Debbie Flores Narvaez has been missing for ten days.
And now new revelations about Debbie`s own past are surfacing, including money problems and harassment allegations against Debbie herself. Could this new information have anything to do with Debbie`s disappearance?
Police are now calling Debbie`s ex-boyfriend, Jason Griffith, a person of interest because he was the last person to see Debbie. And cops do not believe Debbie had contact with anyone else after visiting Griffith on the day she disappeared.
Debbie and her ex definitely have a messy past. Cops charge Griffith beat Debbie back in October while she was allegedly pregnant with his child.
This beautiful Vegas showgirl had a solo in the top-rated Luxor show "Fantasy" and her family says she would never voluntarily walk away from that hit show.
Here is Debbie on an audition tape we found on YouTube dancing to the tune of James Capra Jr.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(AUDITION TAPE OF DEBBIE FLORES-NARVAEZ)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Friends describe Debbie as very private about her personal life; rarely sharing any intimate details, particularly about her love life. And now that we know cops are investigating the possibility of foul play, does that change anything?
Give me a call, 1-877-JVM-SAYS. 1-877-586-7297.
Straight out to radio host, Chet Buchanan with 98.5 KLUC, you`re in Las Vegas. You`ve been talking to cops all over this story. What do you know tonight?
CHET BUCHANAN, RADIO HOST, 98.5 KLUC LAS VEGAS: Well, again, with torrential rains and floodwaters hitting the Las Vegas valley, what has floated up, these new reports of disorderly conduct and harassment charges against Debbie Narvaez. We don`t know if they involved her ex-boyfriend Griffith or not. But it certainly is another surprise twist in this case as we move forward.
And in addition to that, liens and judgments against her totaling tens of thousands of dollars. I don`t know what it all means. I don`t know if it has anything to do with this story at hand, but these things certainly, with all the people that say what a wonderful person she was and what a great person, reliable and responsible and all these things, it has to be a shock not only to her family but to her friends, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And obviously we discuss facts in this case not to in any way cast dispersions on the missing woman. She`s the victim here. We want to find her. It`s precisely because we want to find her that we want to leave no stone unturned.
ABC, as you just mentioned Chet, uncovered that Debbie has thousands of dollars in liens on her. ABC got a-hold of court documents that indicate Debbie`s been arrested for disorderly conduct and accused of harassment. They report four people -- four people sought protective orders against Debbie and three of them obtained those protective orders.
Now, that`s not easy to do. A person has to offer proof of a really good reason this person is making them feel threatened. Again, it`s not our intention to embarrass Debbie or her family. We`re only mentioning this because the most important thing is to find her, and this information could be crucial.
Former sex crimes prosecutor, Robin Sax, what do you make of the missing woman being hit with three protective orders? And we understand most of them are from men.
ROBIN SAX, FORMER SEX CRIMES PROSECUTOR: Protective orders are probably the single best clue in terms of looking at a person`s past in terms of a motive, a history, and being able to piece together a story. Disorderly conduct on the other hand is very vague. Who knows, that could be prostitution. That could be --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s go into the protective order.
SAX: But the restraining order actually can show that Debbie may have had a proclivity for violence. It may show and identify the people who have been involved and who have felt threats and fear from her and maybe the beginning of a lead to see where and who may have had a motive to retaliate against her for her prior behavior to them.
So she could be a righteous victim where the protective orders are still providing very valuable clues in this investigation.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s talk about the ex-boyfriend now. Here`s what we know about the ex-boyfriend, Jason Griffith. Cops say he`s cooperating, that he was the last person to se Debbie ten days ago. The cops are calling him a person of interest because he was the last person to see Debbie.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. ROB LUNDQUIST, LAS VEGAS METRO PD: Any investigations involving missing persons, anybody that has knowledge of that we`re going to consider those people of interest that we want to have a conversation with, and glean some information from.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`re delighted to have with us tonight Merriliz Monzon, a friend of the missing woman. Merriliz, thank you for joining us.
You heard her apparently talking to this ex three days before she vanished. What was the gist of that conversation?
MERRILIZ MONZON, DEBBIE`S FRIEND: Yes. Correct. Debbie is actually a very bright person, lively person. And in the midst of our last conversation, her ex did call her. And I could tell she was a little bit shaken up. She said it was a little rough getting over him but she was moving on. And she was happy to tell me that it was over officially October 22nd.
And so despite all of what`s been going on, I do want to stress and emphasize that our focus is really finding Debbie and making sure that she`s safe.
And Debbie does keep her private life private. And I respect that. I do as well. And it`s something that she chooses. And she`s overcome a lot. And I`m very proud to know her and see her succeed. And so --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I understand. And I said, again, we`re not stating this new information to in any way embarrass. The most important thing is to find her. And sometimes you have to look at unpleasant facts to find her.
Are you in any way surprised about these protective orders? Did you know anything about that?
MONZON: I didn`t know anything about that, no.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So it surprises you?
MONZON: It surprises me. And it doesn`t -- Debbie, like I said, she`s been through a lot. And seeing her rise above it, it doesn`t change how she lived her life. So I haven`t known anything about that, no.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know what the saying is, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
Listen to what former Las Vegas insider, Rachel Uchitel, told us right here on ISSUES just last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RACHEL UCHITEL, FORMER LAS VEGAS INSIDER: In Las Vegas, more than anywhere else, relationships fall apart because of jealousy. It is the biggest thing that happens there. The whole place is based on sex and lies and drugs.
And my theory is that there is another woman involved. And I believe that to find out what`s going on, and where she is, you need to look at who has been intimate with this guy Jason recently.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Merriliz, didn`t your friend Debbie tell you that she thought her boyfriend had cheated on her?
MONZON: Ok. In the sense of Las Vegas, the city is not based on sex and drugs and lies. I have a family here and we love it here. And there`s a lot of beautiful people and beautiful things that come out of this city. That needs to be stated.
And yes, Debbie did tell me that she was getting over this relationship. And it officially ended. And she knew of someone else. But the point that she was making across, that she felt strongly about when I last saw her was that she was moving on. And it was healthy for her to get over this relationship.
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Why was she talking to you three days before she disappeared? I`m trying to nail that down. The relationship ended in October. But I understand you said a couple of days before she disappeared she was on the phone with the ex. What was the nature of the conversation? Didn`t she say something like, don`t leave, respect me?
MONZON: Well, in the nature of all break-ups, I`m sure people can relate that a break-up is hard and difficult. Keeping in touch, and just getting over that process is totally normal.
And she was healing. And I was there for her. She definitely was going through a little bit of a rough time. And she just -- I was there to comfort her. And that is the basis of that conversation.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Who broke up with who?
(CROSSTALK)
MONZON: I think they were just trying to patch things up.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Who broke up with who?
MONZON: I don`t know the -- I think she ended it. She did tell me that it`s been over since October 22nd. She said that they`re no longer together.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And one, do you have any idea why she would have gone over to his house on the day she disappeared to speak to him?
MONZON: I have no clue. I just know that she and him were just discussing their patching up.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You say patching up, not making up? Not getting back together, but just patching up differences?
MONZON: Possibly. I have no information regarding that. I know that she was getting over him --
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me go back to Chet for a second because there was a big fight that they had, and he ended up arrested. Tell us about that. And when that happened in relation to all this -- the break up, et cetera, et cetera.
(CROSSTALK)
BUCHANAN: Well, apparently the fight started when --
MONZON: She never went into detail about that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Chet, go ahead.
BUCHANAN: Well, but the report -- the reports state that -- that -- that Debbie had gone over to a previous girlfriend of Blue Griffith`s house. And that`s he caught them together. A fight ensued then which ended up with Blue taking her iPhone and throwing it 100 feet, elbowing her in the face, kicking her, beating her, pulling her hair out, all while she was pregnant with his baby.
So that`s a pretty -- that doesn`t sound like they were patching things up necessarily. Maybe that was the impetus for the end of the relationship. But it sounds -- it sounds pretty violent and pretty rough.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. I have to wonder if Debbie had some trouble letting go, and if that had anything to do with these protective orders and her talking to her ex-boyfriend.
Pat Brown, ten seconds. Give us ten seconds.
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Absolutely, Jane. If you look back at her Facebook page, for a year she`s been putting little sad faces on it, and saying, "Love is difficult, men are liars." And this was all during the time she was with this Griffith guy. I think she has a very difficult time letting go and she`s very confrontational as well. So that`s the problem.
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Up next, Casey Anthony, outrageous.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Heidi Montag`s surgery nightmare in a moment.
But first, "Top of the Block" tonight.
Casey Anthony`s lawyers don`t want the jury to hear about Casey`s sexual relationships or her alleged lies or her alleged habit of stealing. Her dream team just filed a flurry of motions to prevent any of that from coming up at her murder trial.
But prosecutors argue, hey, Casey was off partying with boyfriends after her daughter disappeared even as she neglected to report the child missing. The defense calls that irrelevant and scandalous. Scandalous, yes; irrelevant, that I`m not so sure.
That is tonight`s "Top of the Block".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEIDI MONTAG, REALITY TV STAR: -- black market anyone could do it, you know. So for me, I really do want 800 ccs. I really don`t want to engage this, the first time I got them, I thought they would be bigger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That was Heidi Montag talking to Radar Online right before she went under the knife, infamously getting ten major plastic surgery procedures in one day.
Tonight, Heidi says she regrets all of her crazy upgrades, like getting enormous breast implants, getting her ears pinned, getting her back scooped. What is that anyway?
Heidi squeezed some tears out of that frozen face to say she feels trapped in her brand-new Barbie body. The reality star tells "Life & Style" she`s covered now in ugly scars, bumps and bruises that have left her feeling like Edward Scissorhands. Heidi even likens her celebrity plastic surgeon to Dr. Frankenstein saying she looks worse than most car crash victims.
It`s a terribly tasteless comment given that her plastic surgeon recently died in a car crash. Heidi was just 19 when she moved from a small town in Colorado to the Hollywood hills. And look at how different she looks here. I think she looked much better before. As her fame grew and so did her insecurities.
Check this out. As a post-surgery, Heidi reveals her new face to her mom on MTV`s "The Hills".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MONTAG: I actually wanted bigger ones but they couldn`t fit in.
DARLENE EGELHOFF, HEIDI MONTAG`S MOTHER: It sounds to me like you want to look like Barbie.
MONTAG: I do want to look like Barbie.
EGELHOFF: Why would you want to look like Barbie? To everybody else who saw you, you were Heidi. Nobody in the world could have looked like Heidi Montag.
MONTAG: Are you telling me you don`t think I look good?
EGELHOFF: Maybe you should rephrase the question.
MONTAG: No. Do I look good?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. What would Freud say about that interaction? Let`s not forget, Heidi is one half of Speidi. Spencer`s in there, too. Perhaps the -- perhaps the world`s most hated reality couple.
Are these two infamous for their pathetic publicity stunts? I mean, we`re talking fake weddings, fake divorces, even a fake sex tape. I don`t recommend a sex tape. But if you`re going to do it, don`t fake it.
Now, straight out to my expert panel; Jared Shapiro, executive editor of "Life & Style Weekly", Jared, is this just another desperate attempt to extend her 15 minutes?
JARED SHAPIRO, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "LIFE & STYLE WEEKLY": No. I mean, these scars are real. The plastic surgery was real. I think she was out to look like Barbie. She looked like Barbie in her mind for a few weeks. The surgery settled in. She looked in the mirror one day, woke up and realized she had scars all over her body.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, yes. I mean, I thought she was very pretty beforehand. And I can`t imagine why somebody who`s that pretty would want to even do all this at that age. Full disclosure here, I`ve had a face lift. Most people my age on TV have. I shouldn`t speak for the rest of them.
But anyway, it was one simple procedure.
Heidi`s face was such a mess after surgery, she couldn`t even chew. Watch this from MTV`s "The Hills."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MONTAG: I have a very sore jaw.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How is that burger? Do you want me to put it in a blender for you?
MONTAG: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Enough. You`ve gone too far.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That is -- is so pathetic. She can`t even chew. Let`s bring in noted plastic surgeon, Dr. Anthony Youn. Doctor, the bottom line here, is it unwise to have ten plastic surgery procedures in one day?
DR. TONY YOUN, PLASTIC SURGEON: Yes. And especially somebody as beautiful as she was before her surgeries; I mean, she`s 23 years old. It`s ridiculous for any plastic surgeon to have done what they did to her.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But why would -- why would this doctor who`s now dead and can`t defend himself -- he had a terrible car accident and so we don`t want to attack somebody who can`t defend themselves. But why would a doctor agree to do ten plastic surgeries in one day on somebody like this?
YOUN: Well -- and it`s not fair for us to really -- I mean, we don`t know what happened in that situation, but it`s definitely possible a plastic surgeon can be blinded by the publicity. I mean, you get on TV, you get in the magazines, the next thing you know you`re waiting room is full.
So it`s possible that maybe he succumbed to that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, my big issue tonight, is Heidi Montag an addict? Is she addicted to plastic surgery? Just months ago, Heidi claimed she wanted even more surgery, she wanted H size boobs. I didn`t even know they had H size boobs. Now she`s changing her tunes.
Listen to this from ABC`s celebrity plastic surgery gone too far.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MONTAG: I don`t want to do that to my body again. I don`t want to get any more botox or anymore surgery or anymore lip injections. I think that I`m fine the way that I am.
Yes, I feel stuck with them now. I really do. I really -- you know, sometimes I want to -- I wish I could go back to the original Heidi with nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s classic addiction. You crave, you feel remorse and then you think about doing it all over again. Do you see her, Michelle Golland, as a plastic surgery addict?
MICHELLE GOLAND, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, I definitely think there are issues going on, Jane. And the thing about an addiction of this sort, it`s a behavioral process where she is wanting some sort of relief.
She is having anxiety, and she believes that having plastic surgery or fixing whatever flaw she has decided is going to make her feel better, is going to make her feel whole and complete. And as we see, that clearly is not what happens.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. You know they say happiness is an inside job. It is definitely not a boob job.
GOLLAND: Absolutely. Absolutely.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Everybody stay right where you are. On the other side of the break, we`re going to talk to Lisa Bloom and get her analysis.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MONTAG: I expect to have the best life in the world because every year gets better. Every year we`re more in love.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s not just Heidi who`s plastic surgery obsessed. A new show on E! Follows brides competing for a whole new face and body. Check this out from E!`s "Bridal Plasty". Say that three times.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It hurts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it does hurt, huh?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It hurts so bad. It`s just like someone like hit me in the face with a hammer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Truthfully, by the time you have your wedding and get married, it should be exquisite.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really? Ok.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I`m going to take a little peek. You look really good. I mean, you know, everything`s fine. We`ll take the splint off probably three or four days.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am, like, so confident that I`m going to love my nose. And I can`t wait to have this off and see what it looks like.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s going to be good. It`s going to be so good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Lisa bloom, you and I are both feminists. What is going on with these pretty women disfiguring themselves in the name of beauty?
LISA BLOOM, BLOOMFIRM.COM: You know, Jane, I think that we`ve all fallen prey to the same syndrome as Heidi, and that is defining her by her looks. Look at how her mother even talks to her. Do you think you look better then? Do you think you look better now?
How about if we ask her questions about her achievements and her contributions instead of what she looks like. Why are her looks her defining characteristics? And sadly for so many young women like on "Bridal Plasty", it`s all about what they look like.
I`d ask young women to spend less time looking in the mirror and more time looking outward at the world and consider what your contribution can be and stop defining us merely by what we look like or the size of our nose or the size of our boobs. It`s so 1950s. We have to get past that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, it`s true. In this post-feminist era, a lot of women, I think, are going backwards. But what I find just so bizarre about this, Lisa, is that these are attractive women. These are not women who might be critiqued for their looks at all.
BLOOM: Right.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: They`re pretty to begin with which tells me this is an internal issue of some kind of self-esteem, Lisa.
BLOOM: But it`s external also because we as a culture still define women by what they look like, and especially young women, it becomes their entire identity. And we all have to fight this. We have to buck the trend.
We`ve come so far in a generation in education and employment and sports. We`ve made so many achievements, and yet we`ve gone backwards about three giant steps in terms of appearance.
Our mothers didn`t spend this much time looking in the mirror, coloring their hair, fixing wrinkles, getting plastic surgery. Most of that was unheard of a generation ago.
(CROSSTALK)
BLOOM: My mother wore lipstick when she went out and that was about it. Why are we spending so much time and money, and even putting our health in jeopardy as Heidi now realizes making these crazy steps just for what we look like? I mean --
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s a high-def world.
Linda, New York, your question or thought.
LINDA, NEW YORK (via telephone): Oh, yes. I think Heidi -- she`s such a beautiful girl before she did this. She needs psychological help. I think she suffers from that dysmorphia -- the body, you know.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Body dysmorphia --
LINDA: Yes. Because whatever she does, she will not be happy. And she`s beautiful before all those surgeries.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Michelle Golland --
GOLLAND: Yes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Explain briefly what is body dysmorphia?
GOLLAND: Body dysmorphia is when your view of yourself, usually it`s a particular body part, does not match what others see. So your ears, you absolutely think they are huge. But everyone else can see that they are normal size and trying to convince you is absolutely impossible. Or it`s about your nose or it`s about your lips or your chin.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Nobody can compete with what nature creates. Celebrate yourself.
Thank you, fabulous panel.
END
