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Nancy Grace
Oklahoma Man Murders Wife, Goes to Basketball Game
Aired January 14, 2011 - 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, Oklahoma. A frantic 911 call reports a wife and mom viciously attacked, stabbed to death in her own bedroom, Cathy Bartlett found naked from the waist down, her bedroom ransacked. Cops chalk it up to a burglary turned deadly.
Bombshell tonight. Cops find no forced entry, hubby`s stolen computer simply thrown into a nearby lake. Tonight, in a bizarre twist, we learn Cathy discovers husband of 30 years watching porn and confronts him. Did he stab his own wife multiple times in the face, the torso, the genitals, fake a rape and robbery, then head out to watch a basketball game?
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody broke in. They killed her. Oh, God. I`ve been at the basketball game. Oh, God. Please hurry!
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators say Bartlett staged the murder to look like a burglary and rape.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police found Cathy Bartlett dead in their home from numerous stab wounds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Within hours, they say, Reggie Bartlett admitted to killing his wife of 30 years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say Bartlett grabbing (ph) a knife and stabbed his wife repeatedly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then he said he went shopping, then to a basketball game, and then back home to call 911.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bartlett said he was in the computer room looking at porn when his wife, Cathy, came in, confronted him and slapped him in the head. He says that`s when he snapped.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, beautiful brown eyes, shoulder-length hair, gorgeous smile, the world in front of her. A 16-year-old beauty, a straight-A honor student vanishes over Christmas break, Maryland, the search leading investigators to a local dumpster. As her 17th birthday comes and goes, tonight, where is missing girl Phylicia Barnes?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I want you to know about a missing 16-year-old girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My baby is missing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re talking about Phylicia Barnes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s a child.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last seen at her sister`s apartment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let`s look at the timeline.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The timeline is consistent.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sent a text message to her sister.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Between 12:30 and 1:00.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She walked out of her half-sister`s apartment to go to lunch.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`d left to get some food.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She did not go and get anything to eat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The ex-boyfriend, the last person to see her, goes missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Disappeared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This young lady is missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of her money and her credit card that I gave her was left behind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These raise red flags.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not the case of a runaway.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As far as foul play, we can`t rule that out.
GRACE: This girl seemed to vanish into thin air.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Still no word on where she could be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are pleading.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They plead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the public`s help in this case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The police need more help.
GRACE: We are not going to give up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. A frantic 911 call reports a wife and mom viciously attacked, stabbed to death in her own bedroom. Cops chalk it up to a burglary turned deadly, but in a bizarre twist, we learn Cathy Bartlett discovers her husband of 30 years watching on-line porn and confronts him. Did he stab his own wife multiple times, fake a rape and robbery, then head out to watch a basketball game?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He calls 911 to report somebody broke into his house and killed his wife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody broke in. They killed her. Oh, God. I`ve been at the basketball game. Oh, God. Please hurry!
911 OPERATOR: Sir? Sir?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He fed police his fake story that didn`t add up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Documents just released by the Bethany Police Department detail exactly what happened the night of the murder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bartlett allegedly snapped when his wife confronts him about looking at on-line porn.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He told police he grabbed a knife and started stabbing her, then pulled down her pants to make it look like a rape.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then he allegedly went shopping for golf equipment, attended a basketball tournament, and then called 911.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He told police he was a sick individual and was addicted to pornography.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody broke in. They killed her. Oh, God. I`ve been at the basketball game. Oh, God. Please hurry!
911 OPERATOR: Sir? Sir, listen...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I mean, right there, he`s getting his alibi in, Oh, God, she`s dead, oh, God, I was at the basketball game. Oh, God, she`s dead.
Out to Nicole Partin, investigative reporter. What do you know, Nicole?
NICOLE PARTIN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER (via telephone): Good evening, Nancy. It was Saturday around 6:30 PM, January the 8th, when that 911 call comes in from Reginald Bartlett to authorities. And he says, It`s my wife, somebody has came into the home and killed her.
Authorities respond to the Bartlett home, where they find Cathy Bartlett`s body, dead from numerous stab wounds to her face, upper chest, the vaginal area, a gruesome crime scene. Hours later, a complete, very detailed straightforward confession from the killer, her husband, 58-year- old Reginald Bartlett. He details everything to authorities, from how he stabbed her, removed her clothes, continued to stab her, to the whereabouts of the weapon that he used, how he left her dead body, going to a ballgame, coming back and calling 911.
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Out to Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer. The degree of care he took, according to police, to stage the scene -- describe to me what police found when they got there.
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Sure. Well, first of all, her body, Nancy. She was lying face-up. He told police he had pulled her shirt up, up over her breasts. He took her pants off. He took her underwear off. He even took the leg brace off. She had polio as a child. She needs it to walk. He took that off, as well. He dumped a couple drawers out to make it look like there`d been a robbery. He even strew some items around the house.
He took his own computer, as well as the knife, the murder weapon, we believe, and his clothes, and threw them in a nearby lake to make it look like some stranger came in, broke in, robbed her and raped her.
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Rachel in Massachusetts. Hi, Rachel.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Long-time fan. I`m wondering how he made it look like a break-in.
GRACE: Good question. What do we know, Nicole Partin? It was definitely set up to look like the home had been ransacked, that things had been stolen. It was set up to look like she had been attacked in her bedroom, maybe before she was getting ready for bed. Her clothes had been ripped off of her. The room was ransacked. His computer was taken. But here`s the thing. There was no forced entry. That`s one thing he forgot, Nicole Partin.
PARTIN: That`s right, Nancy. He did tell authorities that he had emptied several drawers out on to the floor, making it appear that the house had been burglarized, also removing her clothing, making it look like she had been a victim of a sexual assault, throwing things around on the floor, making it look like vandals had come in looking for things. It was my understanding there was even money laying out on the floor. But again, he forgot this one detail. There was no sign of forced entry.
GRACE: Out to Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst, author of "Dealbreakers." Bethany, from what we learn, she comes in, she finds him engrossed in on-line porn and confronts him. And that angers him to the point that he commits murder?
DR. BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: Nancy, isn`t this a ridiculous story? He did not kill her because she caught him watching on-line porn. He killed her because he wanted her dead. And as you just pointed out, this was so premeditated. He planned it. He staged it. He set up an alibi.
And let`s not forget the vicious attack went on for hours. He initially stabbed her repeatedly, went to the game, and then kept stabbing her, including her genitals, which speaks of outrageous, malicious hate.
GRACE: What do you mean by the fact that he stabbed her in her genitals? Why does that signify anything different than stabbing her in her chest or her arms?
MARSHALL: Well, it`s like he was destroying his (SIC) femininity, striking out at a place where it would really hurt. It`s perverse. Don`t you think it`s perverse to stab somebody in the genitals? It`s perverse anyway to stab somebody. To stab them in their sexual organs, it`s like he`s talking to the police about his own heightened sexuality. And he was a self-admitted pornography addict.
But then he stabs her in the genitals. It`s like only one person can have the sexuality in the relationship, and that`s him. And also, it also to me speaks of an impulse control disorder or explosive personality disorder, somebody who can completely not regulate themselves in any area of their lives.
GRACE: Well, you know, you`re right. Let`s unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, Eleanor Odom, felony prosecutor, death penalty- qualified joining us out of D.C., defense attorney Raymond Giudice, Atlanta, Georgia, Peter Odom, defense attorney, Atlanta.
First to you, Eleanor. You and I both prosecuted a lot of homicides, including stabbing deaths.
ELEANOR ODOM, PROSECUTOR: Oh, yes, Nancy.
GRACE: I don`t believe I recall ever prosecuting a case where either a man or a woman was stabbed in the genitals. I`ve never had a case like that.
ELEANOR ODOM: Neither have I, Nancy. And Dr. Bethany makes a very good point. It is showing his rage and he`s lashing out. But what I think`s interesting is the link between his pornography addiction and where he`s stabbing her. To me, that speaks volumes about this crime.
GRACE: What about it, Peter Odom?
PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: This is not a premeditated act. This is someone who snapped and acted out of rage. Now, maybe the clean-up and the staging of it that came later was planned out, but there`s nothing to suggest that this killing was planned out. I don`t know where anyone gets that.
GRACE: Hold on just a moment. Peter Odom, how long have you been practicing criminal law?
PETER ODOM: Twenty years, Nancy.
GRACE: Right. And you have prosecuted and defended in multiple jurisdictions, correct?
PETER ODOM: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: OK. Isn`t it true, Peter, that in your...
PETER ODOM: I`m being cross-examined.
GRACE: ... your current jurisdiction, isn`t it true that the law reads premeditation can be formed in an instant. Isn`t that true?
PETER ODOM: Yes, but you have to have some evidence of that instant, and you don`t have any of that here.
GRACE: The fact that...
PETER ODOM: It`s not there.
GRACE: ... he stabbed her, Raymond Giudice, many, many times, all right -- if it had been one stab wound, maybe. But the fact that he stabbed over and over and over, all throughout her body, says that it was quite a long attack. It was much more than an instant.
RAYMOND GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The premeditation was formed when he wrapped his hand around the handle of that knife. However, Peter is right. There`s overwhelming evidence, unfortunately, and the only defense the defense counsel can mount...
GRACE: Put up the lawyers!
GIUDICE: ... to our obligation...
GRACE: Put up the lawyers!
GIUDICE: Let me just say, it`s the only thing...
GRACE: Let me just give all of you...
GIUDICE: ... you can do.
GRACE: ... a little tutorial. "I`m mad" is not a defense. He got caught red-handed...
GIUDICE: That`s all you can do.
GRACE: ... with on-line porn! Yes, it may be all you can do...
GIUDICE: You`ve got to -- it`s all you can do, but...
GRACE: ... but it`s not a defense!
GIUDICE: ... that`s all we can do, Nancy. You`ve got to -- you asked us what we can do. We do the best we can with the facts, and the facts are bad, Nancy.
GRACE: Oh, wah-wah! Take it home and cry to mommy, Giudice!
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bethany police say Bartlett called 911, saying he came home to find his wife dead following a burglary. Police found Cathy Bartlett dead in their home from numerous stab wounds. After three hours of questioning, they say Reginald confessed to the killing.
In a police affidavit, he stated Cathy came into the computer room, where he had been looking at pornography, and began yelling at him about a bank statement and thought he was ordering pornography. Reginald stated Cathy had slapped him on the side of the head, at which time he snapped. He added he grabbed a knife and began stabbing her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Let`s put the lawyers back up. I`m not quite through with you. I`ve got Eleanor Odom, felony prosecutor, death penalty-qualified, joining us out of D.C., Raymond Giudice, defense attorney, Atlanta, Peter Odom joining us out of Atlanta.
OK, you two defense attorneys are trying to sell me the bill of goods that he was so mad when he got caught red-handed on line with pornography that he was in a crazy haze of anger and rage. How do you reconcile that, Giudice, with him going shopping for golf equipment within the next hour and going to a local basketball game, acting like nothing`s wrong?
GIUDICE: Nancy, there`s evidence that there had been an ongoing confrontation verbally and somewhat physically between the wife and husband for many weeks and months. I would reverse this, make this...
GRACE: Put him back up!
GIUDICE: ... a battered husband syndrome case.
GRACE: I actually want to see him!
GIUDICE: Put me on there. I want to talk to her because I want -- listen...
GRACE: No, no! I need to clarify. So I`m mad so I stabbed you in the genitals, that defense is out. Now we`ve got a battered male defense? OK, yes. I`m making a flow chart.
GIUDICE: Listen, I never put that -- your psychotherapist put up that defense. That`s not my defense. I`m trying to get this guy off...
GRACE: Well, you said it!
GIUDICE: ... the death penalty and save his life from going to Old Sparky, and you`ve got 57 ways, while we don`t know what we`re talking about.
GRACE: Yes.
GIUDICE: But I can tell you something. One day, if you ever step up and defend somebody in a capital case...
GRACE: Yes, well.
GIUDICE: ... you`ll find out how hard it is and you`ll understand, with our oath that we defense lawyers take to try to protect people, accused citizens in capital cases, and that`s what Peter was talking about.
GRACE: OK. You`re right. If you`re trying to whine to me about how hard it is to defend a cold-blooded killer, yes, you know what? Here`s your box of hankies. Catch! All right? Because I don`t need them. I`m not buying into that sob story you just gave me.
But I will go to Peter Odom, since he`s the first one that brought it up, about this red-hot anger, about getting caught on line with porn. I see you backing away from the camera. That`s OK with me. So he`s so angry that then within 50, 60 minutes, he can then assemble himself, go shopping for golf equipment and go to a local basketball game, and everything`s okey-dokey-artichokey, no problem? Not mad anymore!
PETER ODOM: He calmed down.
GRACE: He calmed down. Yes, I heard your voice crack.
PETER ODOM: Maybe he was (INAUDIBLE) he snapped. He snapped...
GRACE: Your voice cracked. He calmed down!
PETER ODOM: ... and he killed his wife and then he...
GRACE: I think that`s how that came out.
PETER ODOM: ... and then he calmed down.
GRACE: He calmed down. Eleanor...
PETER ODOM: And he realized...
GRACE: ... please help me.
PETER ODOM: ... how much trouble he was going to be in.
GRACE: Please tell me that I`m not the crazy one on the screen tonight. Throw me a bone.
ELEANOR ODOM: Nancy, you`re not crazy.
GRACE: OK.
ELEANOR ODOM: You know how these defense attorneys are. But here`s one thing I think we need to -- they`ve overlooked. Where was the knife? He grabbed a knife? It just happened to be sitting around? I suggest that maybe that knife was somewhere else. He had to go get that knife, and that shows you premeditation.
GRACE: Hold on. Eleanor, El, El! Look at the screen. Give me that picture again, of him -- right there! Is that not one of the creepiest perp shots you`ve ever seen? Please, please show that to the jury. That`s probably -- if you really look in his glasses, he`s probably looking at porn right there.
To Dr. Howard Oliver, former deputy medical examiner, forensic pathologist, joining us out of LA tonight. What is it like? What did she suffer? I`m talking about a woman that contracted polio as a youth, fought it, had multiple surgeries, still had a brace on her leg. What did she go through there on her bedroom floor as her husband`s ripping her clothes off, stabbing her and she can`t fight back?
HOWARD OLIVER, FMR. DPTY. MEDICAL EXAMINER: Well, it`s a terrifying way to die. You know, hopefully, the first wound would have caused her demise because each subsequent wound, if she was alive, would be just horribly terrifying. You see people that are killed in this manner with defense wounds of -- through their hands. Their hands are just shredded because they`ll try to grab the knife or whatever they can do to protect the center of their body, but they`ll give up their hands, their arms, anything to protect themselves. It`s just -- it would just be horrible -- it would be a horrible way to die.
GRACE: Ellie, in light of so many, many stab wounds this woman suffered, obviously, the prosecutors should seek the death penalty. I don`t know if they`ll get it or not. But in that jurisdiction, I know the method of DP is the injection. But they`ve got their bases covered. They say if lethal injection is deemed unconstitutional, then you get what, the electric chair?
JOSTAD: Right. If it`s unconstitutional, then it goes to the electric chair. If for some reason injection and electrocution both deemed unconstitutional, then you have the option of the firing squad in Oklahoma.
GRACE: OK. So he`ll have a choice. Lethal injection, electric chair, and then if that`s deemed unconstitutional, he can always opt for the firing squad.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody broke in. They killed her. Oh, God. I`ve been at the basketball game. Oh, God. Please hurry!
911 OPERATOR: OK, sir. Sir, listen...
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Officers get a call from 58-year-old Reginald Bartlett, a water supervisor of the city of Bethany for more than 20 years, and a friend to several officers. But officers say the house was too clean. Only two drawers were pulled out. And within hours, they say, Reggie Bartlett admitted to killing his wife of nearly 30 years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Barbara in California. Hi, Barbara.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. How are you?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did he have a history of mental illness or psychotic episodes?
GRACE: Good question. What do we know about his history, Nicole Partin?
PARTIN: There`s no known evidence of any type of history of any kind of domestic disputes, any kind of mental illness. We know that he worked at the water treatment center, where he had been an employee for 20 or so years. We know that Cathy was a retired social worker, where she also had worked for 20- something years.
But going back to this moment of rage that many are calling it -- in his statement to authorities, he plainly explains to them, I stabbed her multiple times, I stopped stabbing her, removed her clothing, and continued to stab at her again. There were scratch marks on him. When police questioned, first he said, I received those at work. Then he admits, I guess I received those while my wife fought for her life.
GRACE: OK. Put the lawyers back up, Eleanor Odom, Raymond Giudice, Peter Odom. And while they`re sitting there, Nicole, could you please read from that investigative report about the stabbing, then taking the clothes off, then stabbing again? Go ahead, Nicole.
PARTIN: Sure. He says that she came to him, he grabbed the knife and he began stabbing her. He added he pulled up her shirt and bra and began stabbing her again.
GRACE: Peter Odom?
PETER ODOM: Yes, Nancy?
GRACE: The mad defense?
PETER ODOM: Yes. I mean, he was absolutely outraged. And I mean, Nancy, what else are you going to go with in this case? The man -- the man is going to be defended, and the trick here for the defense lawyer -- and he`s going to get a defense lawyer because that`s what our country provides to people...
GRACE: Oh, here we go.
PETER ODOM: ... is to try to keep him alive...
GRACE: All right...
PETER ODOM: ... to try and not let Oklahoma kill him.
GRACE: OK, Raymond?
PETER ODOM: And that`s a noble cause.
GIUDICE: Yes. One thing I would throw in that I just learned is he worked in a water treatment plant exposed to highly toxic and corrosive chemicals for over 20 years.
GRACE: Yes, you mean like fluoride?
GIUDICE: I would have him tested physically and mentally, as the caller points out, to look to see if these corrosive and poisonous chemicals have had any deteriorating effect on his neurological system, his mind, his thought processes.
GRACE: OK, now, Ray, let me...
GIUDICE: You got to do something.
GRACE: ... get this straight. You did get your JD, not your master`s in creative writing, correct?
GIUDICE: Well, you know what? Part of being a good defense lawyer is being creative to save somebody`s life from the death penalty. You don`t have to be so creative on the other side of the aisle. It`s not so hard.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Where is missing girl, Phylicia Barnes?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A straight "A" student --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was visiting her father in Baltimore.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s a country girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When she left the apartment where she was staying --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To go to lunch --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She knows nothing about city life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vanished.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She may have been abducted.
GRACE: She`s absolutely beautiful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Phylicia`s picture on every television screen.
GRACE: 5`8," 120 pounds, brown eyes, brown shoulder length hair.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police investigators are now re-interviewing the last few people who saw her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police went building to building handing out flyers and knocking on doors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looking for this lady right here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re still going to continue to look.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was protected and safe here at home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will be here until she comes home.
JANICE SALLIS, PHYLICIA BARNES` MOTHER: I want my daughter back. She doesn`t belong to whoever she`s with. She doesn`t belong with them. They are not her friends, they are not her family, they don`t care anything about her. If they did, she wouldn`t be where she`s at.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Tonight, we are discussing a beautiful young girl, her 17th birthday just came and passed. Her mother reaching out tonight to find Phylicia.
Straight out to you, Jean Casarez with "In Session."
What`s the latest?
JEAN CASAREZ, HLN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Baltimore police, Maryland State Police, the FBI, they are urgently trying to find this beautiful young girl, and Nancy, they are now looking in a dumpster at the apartment complex.
GRACE: Tell me what you know about the search, Jean.
CASAREZ: Well, the search is one of the last people to have been in that apartment, and remember, they said there were 20 people going in and out of that apartment during the time that Phylicia was there. 12 of them, they believe, are persons of interest. They have executed some search warrants, but a backpack from one of those 12 went into that dumpster and they searched the dumpster to see if there was anything of forensic value.
GRACE: OK. Explain to me about the backpack.
CASAREZ: The backpack, they found in the dumpster, it appears as though there may not have been anything of forensic value, but authorities are not saying all that they know. But they`re doing anything they can to find any clue of where she was, because she left her debit card and merely took a cell phone that hasn`t worked, been on since she disappeared.
GRACE: OK. To Natasha Lance, our producer on the story.
Natasha, what can you tell me, what are cops` theory right now about the day she went missing?
NATASHA LANCE, HLN PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, what police are telling us right now is that Phylicia communicated through text messages with her half sister about 12:30 in the afternoon, then the ex-boyfriend of the half sister was moving out of the apartment. He says he saw Phylicia on the couch at about 1:30, she said that she was going to take a nap and then go get something to eat. Apparently when he came back to the apartment at about 5:10 p.m., Phylicia was not there. The door was unlocked and the music in the apartment was turned up extremely loud.
GRACE: What else can you add to that, Jean Casarez?
CASAREZ: Let`s look the other way. This is what the half sister has been saying. She`s saying that when she left for work, her half sister, Phylicia, was asleep at 11:45. They spoke around 11:38, saying that they were going to try to make a hair appointment and get some beauty supplies together, and then another half sister was supposed to pick her up at about 1:30, 1:45. She kept calling, but no answer from Phylicia and so then it was found out, well, Phylicia may be sleeping on the couch. So the last person to really ever see her, that half sister when she left for work at 8:45, but then the ex-boyfriend says she was asleep on the couch.
GRACE: We are taking your calls, but first, to Janice Sallis. This is Phylicia`s mother, joining us live tonight in the search for her little girl.
Ms. Sallis, what about that story rings true or false to you?
SALLIS: All of it. Because she wasn`t visiting her father in Baltimore and she didn`t leave his house to go and get something to eat, and that`s what was said. The whole thing smells fishy because she wouldn`t get dressed just to go on the couch to lay down to go to sleep. She`s not going to leave if she knows that somebody is coming to get her. She`s not going to leave. She`s going to wait for her ride. And she`s definitely not going to get dressed and then lie down on the couch and go to sleep.
GRACE: So this story is ringing false to you. What was her relationship with the half sister?
SALLIS: Actually, she didn`t know of them until two years ago. I encouraged her to go on Facebook to look for them because she hadn`t heard from that side of her family, from her father, in over eight years. And I as a mother didn`t want my daughter not knowing who her other side of her DNA is. I didn`t want her going from man to man looking for her father in relationships so I encouraged her to look for her half sisters online and maybe she could find her father that way because she hadn`t heard from him in over eight years.
GRACE: And when she was going to visit the half sister, what were her feelings? Was she apprehensive, upbeat, enthusiastic?
SALLIS: She was enthusiastic. I guess because she was allowed so much freedom there that she was not allowed at home so she was anxious to go.
GRACE: What do you mean by that?
SALLIS: Her half sister, the oldest half sister and I had numerous of conversations before she was allowed to go up there. She knows how protective I was as her mother. She wasn`t allowed to have a boyfriend. She wasn`t allowed to have a boyfriend. She didn`t have men, we didn`t have men coming in and out of our environment.
When I got there Thursday night, searching for her, I found out that there was a listing of 20 different guys going in and out, I found out through her sister, when I approached her, how I didn`t appreciate it that I find out that since she`s been here, you`ve allowed her to drink alcohol, you`ve allowed her to smoke marijuana, and her half sister said it only happened one time and it allowed her to open up to me. So you have to get her drunk to open up to you. She`s 16 years old. She can`t handle alcohol. She`s too young for all of this action, all of that activity. So when I found out about all of that when I got there, I was -- I was stunned. I was devastated.
GRACE: So this was nothing like the way your daughter had been raised.
SALLIS: Absolutely not. The way I found out that she was missing, I was at work. And I`m a private duty nurse, and I take care of sickly children. And I had a very, very bad gut feeling and I didn`t know where it was coming from.
Approximately between 8p and 9p, I called Phylicia to see if she could cheer me up. The call went straight to voice mail, and five minutes later, I called her phone again and it went straight to voice mail. I called her half sister`s number and I said where is she at, and she said we can`t find her, she`s missing. I said what do you mean you can`t find her, she`s missing. And I didn`t even get a call. I had to call. That to me there raised a red flag.
GRACE: Out to Marc Klaas, president, founder of Klaas Kids Foundation.
What do we do now, Marc?
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, Nancy, they have to look at these 20 guys. I think we have to listen very carefully to what mom says and I`m so sorry about what you`re going through right now, but they have to look at these 20 guys. They have to look at the neighborhood offenders. They have to look at all of the characters that are out there because what it looks like right now is that this girl pulled a Chandra Levy, walked outside the door and completely disappeared off the face of the earth. I suspect that this crime will probably be solved close to home.
GRACE: Tip line, 855-223-0033. There is a reward. Where is Phylicia?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Phylicia Barnes --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The teen disappeared during a visit with relatives in northwest Baltimore.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She comes up missing. It`s devastating.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every hour that passes, we get more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is unlike any missing person case that we`ve had.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looking for this lady right here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 16-year-old Phylicia Simone Barnes.
GRACE: She leaves the home of her half sister.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She sent a text message to her sister.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police were told she left to get some food.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To go get a bite to eat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Several hours later, her cell phone went dead.
SALLIS: I called again. It went straight to voice mail.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s not her character at all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was the last time anyone saw her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We suspect some type of foul play.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The investigation has turned up clues she may have been abducted.
GRACE: This girl seemed to vanish into thin air.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Despite an exhaustive search.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We continue to look.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s really no physical evidence that we have to help.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s the mystery.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s a picture of 16-year-old Phylicia Barnes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re hoping to see her --
GRACE: Take a look at Phylicia.
SALLIS: I just want my baby back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bring her back, please.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Out to the lines, to Katie in Illinois. Hi, Katie.
KATIE, ILLINOIS RESIDENT (via telephone): Hi, Nancy. Thank you for taking my call.
GRACE: Thank you for calling in, dear. What`s your question?
KATIE: Could one of these guys have been her secret boyfriend?
GRACE: You know, to Janice Sallis, this is Phylicia`s mother, she had never even been here before. I don`t know that she could have had a secret boyfriend, but I did want to ask you, who are all these guys?
I mean, I think I`ve pretty much confirmed nobody is selling dope out of the apartment. There`s no illegal activity going on. But was this like a party house?
SALLIS: My point exactly. That`s what I want to know. What was it?
GRACE: What does the half sister tell you?
SALLIS: She didn`t tell me anything. She hadn`t told me anything. She hadn`t even called me when my baby came up missing. So she`s not really telling me anything. I don`t know.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Eleanor Odom, Raymond Giudice, Peter Odom.
I got a problem with that, Eleanor, for the half sister, that she was with, not to even stay in contact with the mother? That`s odd.
ELEANOR ODOM, ATTORNEY: I have a huge problem with it, too, Nancy. And I hope that she was cooperating with law enforcement, because there could be an obstruction charge there if she wasn`t doing at least that.
GRACE: I mean, the story`s not really holding together. What about it, Raymond Giudice?
RAYMOND GIUDICE, ATTORNEY: Eleanor`s right. It`s not obstruction of justice if you don`t cooperate with somebody`s family, but it would be if she`s not assisting law enforcement, if she`s asked precise and specific questions.
Now, they have identified 20 people that have been in that apartment, so obviously she`s given some good information. It`s the 21st person that we need to find.
GRACE: Um-hum. Um-hum. Peter?
PETER ODOM, ATTORNEY: I think the sister probably didn`t contact the mother not because she has guilty knowledge, as some have suggested, but because she was embarrassed and she was horrified that her sister had gone disappearing on her watch, so to speak. That`s much more likely.
GRACE: Well, you know, Bethany Marshall, I find it also extremely unusual that the half sister doesn`t even call the mom to tell her, the mom just on a hunch calls her daughter and it goes straight to the voice mail.
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST, AUTHOR OF "DEALBREAKERS": I agree with you, but the half sister may not have called not because she has consciousness of guilt but because she has other unrelated things she`s trying to cover up like illicit drug abuse, having boys over to the apartment, things that she does not want Phylicia`s mother to know.
But what I would not rule out, despite all these 20 guys coming in and out, is strange men in this apartment complex, because we know there is a specific profile to men who target women between the ages of 13 and 18 years old, usually they`re white, male, single, living alone, isolated, and unemployed, and they tend to park themselves near college campuses and near areas where young people live, because there are a lot of comings and goings with young people and that way, they can target their victims.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Lonnie in Nevada.
Hi, Lonnie.
LONNIE, NEVADA RESIDENT (via telephone): Hi, Nancy. Thank you for taking my call.
GRACE: Thank you for calling in.
What`s your question, dear?
LONNIE: My question is, has police used other social networks, for instance, I see you have pictures from Facebook and MySpace of her. Have they used that to see if she knows anybody in the area?
GRACE: Good question. What do we know, Jean Casarez?
CASAREZ: She personally has had no activity on her Facebook page since she went missing so obviously law enforcement is looking at that for any clues they can find.
GRACE: Jean, who were all the people in and out of this apartment? And who was paying for the apartment?
CASAREZ: Well, the half sister, I have to assume, was paying for it. It was her apartment. But who the people were, we don`t know. But 12 out of the 20 were quote, "persons of interest." That law enforcement found some of them to have probable cause so they were able to get search warrants to search their vehicles and even homes.
GRACE: OK. Paul Penzone, weigh in.
PAUL PENZONE, FORMER SERGEANT, PHOENIX PD CHILD ADVOCATE: It`s a high population. The more people that you add, the more likelihood there`s going to be drugs or criminal activity in their history as was just explained.
You have to draw a timeline for every individual in there. They have to be interviewed very much in depth and try to identify whether behavioral patterns prior to this missing girl that shows you that somebody had an interest in her. That there was some out of the ordinary behaviours as to who might be a smaller group that you can really identify with and keep your eye on.
It`s just terrible. It`s tragic. I listened to the mom. My heart goes out to her. Obviously she was very loving and cared a lot about her daughter, and to have to go through this right now is tragic.
GRACE: To the mom, Janice Sallis, Phylicia Barnes` mom, how did the half sister support herself?
SALLIS: She -- I was under the impression that she was a full-time nursing student, full-time employee working as a pharmacist assistant and had her own apartment and that was the influence that I wanted my daughter around, a positive influence. And it turned out to be all deceit, all lies, and she knew if I would have known all of those activities, my daughter would not have been there.
GRACE: So she`s not a full-time student and she`s not a nurse?
SALLIS: No, she`s not a full-time nursing student, as she portrayed to me.
GRACE: Does she work?
SALLIS: Yes, she`s supposed to work at some pharmacist`s. I`m not quite certain.
GRACE: To Dr. Howard Oliver, Phylicia`s mom is telling us she learned Phylicia`s half sister allowed her to drink alcohol, to try marijuana. She had never done that before. How would that have affected a first-time user?
DR. HOWARD OLIVER, FMR. DEPUTY MEDICAL EXAMINER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Well, marijuana for first-time user would not have an effect. It takes time to learn to smoke marijuana, just like it takes time to learn to smoke cigarettes.
Alcohol, though, is completely different. It crosses your mucosa in your stomach. It goes directly to the blood stream so she would get drunk and she as a first-time user, she certainly couldn`t handle it, and the effects would be very overt.
GRACE: Everyone, please look at this girl. Her 17th birthday has just come and gone.
Phylicia Barnes, 855-223-0033. There is a reward.
And now, CNN Heroes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMY STOKES, CHAMPIONING CHILDREN: Are you going to help me do this other one?
In 2003, my husband and I went to Johannesburg and we adopted our son.
Here you go.
HIV/AIDS has really decimated some of these communities.
Seeing all of the children and so few adults to help them grow up, with none of the adults you care about has ever lived past 35, then why would you think you can? Why would you stay in school? Why would you invest in yourself?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell me something good that happened in school will week.
STOKES: I had to find a way to bring the caring, nurturing effect of other adults for that child to invest in themselves.
I`m Amy Stokes. I use the Internet to create a global village where the mentors and kids can interact face to face on a regular basis.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. How are you?
LESLEY YANIV: How was your day at school? Did you work in the garden?
STOKES: That mentor shows up every week, a relationship starts between one person here and one person there, and then that relationship expands.
My mentor is so good, I like him very much.
Because they want to connect with that special someone, they`re going to learn keyboard skills. The skills that they will need to have jobs and to be able to do whatever they need in the future.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At first I was nervous. OK, I love you.
YANIV: Love you, too. Bye.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s part of my family and also part of my life.
STOKES: It`s a bite-sized opportunity to change the world. And there`s no commute.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: What a week in America`s courtrooms.
Take a look at the stories and, more important, the people who touched our lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Where is 13-year-old cheerleader Hailey Dunn?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The person best to answer that would be Billy or Shawn.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police did indicate to us that Shawn Adkins is a person of interest.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She don`t like Shawn being there.
GRACE: Hailey Dunn`s paternal grandmother, her theory behind this case is that Shawn Adkins raped Hailey Dunn and then killed her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That bothers me a lot.
SHAWN ADKINS, SUSPECT: I would never do that to that little girl.
CONNIE JONES, GRANDMOTHER OF MISSING HAILEY DUNN (via telephone): Hailey told me in the past that he would walk around at night time and the hall light would be on and she could see his shadow at her door just standing there and it scared her.
GRACE: Las Vegas show girl Debby Flores Narvaez` dismembered body was reportedly found in tubs filled with cement.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can`t.
GRACE: Debby`s ex-boyfriend Jason Griffith is now behind bars for her murder.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Strangled her, severed both of her legs.
GRACE: This is Debby`s sister.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would love to go before the judge in the trial and beg for the death penalty, yes. I would love it.
GRACE: I want you to know about a missing 16-year-old girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My baby is missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re talking about Phylicia Barnes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is a child.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last seen at her sister`s apartment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let`s look at the timeline.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The timeline, it`s inconsistent.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You sent a text message to her sister between 12:30 and 1:00.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She walked out of her half sister`s apartment to go to lunch. She left to get some food.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She did not go and get anything to eat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The ex-boyfriend, last person to see her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of her money and her credit cards that I gave her was left at the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Let`s stop and remember Army Captain Michael MacKinnon, 30, Helena, Montana, killed Iraq. A West Point grad on a second tour awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Army Ranger tab. Loved the Montana outdoors, rock climbing, NASCAR, drums, piano, trumpet. Dreamed of a masters degree in teaching at West Point.
Leaves behind grieving father John, sisters Diane, Laura, Gail, widow Bethany, children Madison and Noah. Michael MacKinnon, American hero.
Thanks to our guests, but our biggest thank you is to you for being with us.
And especially tonight from Georgia friend Kelley (ph). Georgia Southwestern State`s athletic director Jaclyn Kaylor, raising funds for muscular dystrophy going behind bars to help Jerry`s kids. Goal? 2,000 bucks.
To help her make bail, and donate, go to the Web site link on the screen you see in front of you.
Let`s help fight muscular dystrophy.
Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
