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Jane Velez-Mitchell

Cops: Missing Brothers Are Dead; Mother Believes Missing Daughter Still Alive

Aired February 01, 2011 - 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, explosive developments into the baffling disappearance of three adorable little boys. Their own dad has been charged with kidnapping them after he told a slew of conflicting stories that cops don`t believe. Now, he`s speaking up in court, his bitter divorce battle. But in a bizarre display, he`s talking about alimony. What about his missing kids?

Then a desperate mother`s crusade to find her missing daughter. Jessie Foster disappeared five years ago after moving from Canada to Las Vegas. What does this mom think happened to her precious daughter? I will talk to her live tonight.

And head-spinning developments in the murder case of a hot shot former producer of the hit show "Survivor." Stunning new court documents show the wife of Bruce Beresford-Redman was so suspicious of him she actually installed a secret recording device in his car. What does it mean for the case? We`ll tell you.

Plus, brazen bullies attack. A shocking video shows seven bullies pummeling one defenseless 13-year-old boy as he was screams for help. Are children becoming addicted to violence? Or do they just want to be YouTube stars? You`ll hear from the victim, and we`ll take your calls.

ISSUES starts now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF LARRY JOE WEEKS, MORENCI POLICE DEPARTMENT: After making an assessment of where we`re at, it was determined that from this point forward, this is no longer a missing persons case, but a murder investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Fast-breaking news tonight, a horrific development in the heart-breaking case of three missing brothers. Police now believe that the young boys who vanished on Thanksgiving are dead.

We`re talking about 9-year-old Alexander, 7-year-old Andrew and 5- year-old Tanner, last seen with their father, John Skelton. He told police two very bizarre stories about what happened to his precious sons. Neither turned out to be true. This guy is lying.

John is currently facing parental kidnapping charges. Will those charges be upgraded to murder?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WEEKS: John Skelton is the primary suspect in this. When the time is appropriate, charges will be filed, or requested, I should say. I should clarify that, charges will be requested.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The boys spent Thanksgiving with their dad at his Michigan home. When they didn`t return to their mom as planned, she called the cops.

John told cops he was suicidal and was taken to a mental hospital. As soon as he got out, he was arrested for kidnapping.

After all this time, are police any closer to finding out what happened to these beautiful three little boys, innocents? Look at this guy. Can they help give this devastated mother any closure?

Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.

Straight out to Bill Foster, a neighbor and friend of the Skelton family,

Bill, thank you for joining us. I know that this has been gut- wrenching for you since Thanksgiving. You helped search for these precious boys for two, well, since Thanksgiving.

BILL FOSTER, NEIGHBOR (via phone): Yes, we continue to search.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Why do you think police changed their minds and announced that this is now a -- look at these babies -- a murder investigation?

FOSTER: Oh, precious, precious kids, and as Chief Weeks has told us long ago, you know, they had evidence and stuff that, of course, you know, for investigation reasons, we can`t know all of it.

And so, you know, he wanted to clear the air today, because too many people started believing that they may be with somebody or an organization and, you know, a lot of false hope. I mean, how couldn`t you, though, you know? Three precious boys.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And one of the people who believes that they`re still alive, the boy`s mother. Totally understandable. And I just hope she`s not crushed by this news. Of course she is. She had to be sedated and put in a hospital for two days after she found out these boys were missing.

Will John Skelton, her estranged husband, ever reveal what happened, what he did to these boys? He initially told cops he turned his sons over to a pastor`s wife because he planned to commit suicide. Police don`t believe that woman exists. Later, John claimed he gave his sons to somebody from an organization who visited his home on Thanksgiving. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WEEKS: He did disclose the name of an organization. I`ll read this off the sheet so I`ll get it correctly. He called it the United Foster Outreach and Underground Sanctuaries. It`s the organization he claims that he turned the boys over to. It`s just one example of misinformation that I believe that we received from him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Cops say those organizations don`t even exist. After telling that story, John lawyered up and he clammed up.

Now, I`ve got to go to Dr. Judy Kuriansky, clinical psychologist, because I cannot understand how anybody can kill their children, and he is suspected of that. He has not been charged with murder yet.

But -- but you`ve got to hear this, Dr. Judy. His wife said that he was never a violent man, that he was a good dad until recently. That he came home from his trucking assignments and played with the kids and sometimes took them on delivery runs. What turns a normal father into a monster?

DR. JUDY KURIANSKY, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, I wouldn`t quite call that normal, Jane. I`d be very concerned about it. He was saying that he was suicidal. That can also be the flip side of being homicidal.

When a man is involved with a very nasty divorce with a wife with lots of hatred, sometimes those men and women even take it out on the children. They want to kill the wife, so to speak, that they end up taking out their anger on the kids.

And I`m going to say something that`s very shocking, and I hope the mom`s not listening now, because I certainly wouldn`t want to upset her. My heart goes out to her, as does everybody`s. But I would suspect there might even have been some child abuse, some perhaps pedophiliac behavior. This is not uncommon in cases like this, especially since the father tried to take the children away to Florida, reportedly, and that also reportedly, one of the kids was hiding behind the mother and didn`t want to go. There was lots of screaming in the house.

So I am a little concerned about that, and it is not unusual that the father would be considered normal, nice to the kids, being a good dad, but there are secrets, as you know, because you wrote the book about secrets can be murder.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Bill Foster, what Dr. -- Dr. Judy is very wise, but I hope in this case she`s wrong. The idea that these poor children, these innocents were not only killed, as the police now believe...

FOSTER: No.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... but something horrible happened to them beforehand. But she -- she knows what she`s talking about. She`s not just talking the hot air. I mean, was this guy ever really normal? I hear he kept to himself; he was a loner.

FOSTER: John -- you know, John was a little different and everything, but one thing I can say is that he was one type that didn`t spank the kids. Him and Jenny were both good parents. It was kind of like the perfect marriage, the perfect family.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, any time I hear the word "perfect," Bill...

FOSTER: John -- John is the one that -- yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Any time I hear the word "perfect," I grab my purse, because it`s always a bad sign.

FOSTER: Well, yes, yes. You`re right, but -- but now as close as I am to the family and everything, I can tell you that`s not the case. You know, John left in September and had other ideas that triggered all this stuff.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What? What other ideas? Why would he suddenly pick up and take the kids to Florida?

FOSTER: I -- well, I -- I really don`t want to go into all the details.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, just give us a hint. Just give us a hint. I mean, this all...

FOSTER: Well, there`s just other people involved.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, so he was having an affair with somebody in Florida?

FOSTER: I -- you know, I`m not going to comment on that out of respect for the family. But John was not perfect, but never would I ever expect John to do this. But like the doctor says, in divorce cases, people do flip. You know, I hope that ain`t the case, but you know, it is what it is.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Steve Kardian, former police detective, if in fact we`re hearing that there was a reason, maybe that reason was a person, why he took to Florida with the three kids back in September when everything started falling apart with this family. I would assume cops have talked to that individual down there in Florida and determined whether she -- and I`m only assuming it`s a she -- was any way shape or involved with these kids` disappearance.

STEVE KARDIAN, FORMER POLICE DETECTIVE: Well, that`s very possible, Jane. And by listening to the tone of the chief of police, we see that he must have some pretty good credible information about these children. He`s even -- even issued a warning to the local farmers to keep an eye out for possible bodies.

And in addition to that, we see often that what goes on behind closed doors is something that we never see, our neighbors never see and our friends never see it.

KURIANSKY: Exactly.

KARDIAN: So it`s a sad situation.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Brandy, Maryland, your question or thought, ma`am?

CALLER: Well, first of all, I think John is more than stupid and sick. I think that whoever that was that was talking about him being -- he`s not perfect, well, he`s a perfect nut. And he`s disposed of these little boys. I believe it in my heart. He`s -- he`s a coward because he wants to kill himself or commit suicide or whatever it was.

FOSTER: He never tried that. No, fake.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. They always say they`re going to -- they`re going to commit suicide, and then somehow the kids end up suffering. In fact, we`re going to talk about that on the other side of the break.

Just yesterday here on ISSUES, we had a mom who, oh, she was going to commit suicide, but she executed her two children at point-blank range. We`re going to talk about that in a second, because it`s part of this phenomenon of parents doing horrific -- don`t have kids if you`re going to do something horrible to them. Don`t be a parent.

Everybody hang right there. We`re taking your calls on these stories tonight: 1-877-JVM-SAYS.

Also, new evidence in the case of a former "Survivor" producer accused of killing his wife on their Mexican vacation. Court documents say she actually installed a secret recording device in his car to catch his cheating.

Plus, more on the missing Skelton brothers` murder investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WEEKS: Any time you have children this old that are not with a caring loved one, I think you assume they`re in some kind of jeopardy. They`re not with their loved ones, so I`m very concerned about them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WEEKS: I can assure you, I feel your pain. The fact is, at this point, I cannot tell the community there`s a specific location where they should be searching.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The case of three precious missing brothers now a grim search for bodies. Michigan police announced just hours ago they now believe the Skelton boys were murdered. Their dad, John Skelton, will he ever reveal what really happened to these boys?

Pam, Florida, your question or thought?

CALLER: Hi, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hi.

CALLER: Hi. First of all, I just want to tell you, you are an angel. You are such an advocate for so many people all over this world, and we need more people like you.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, thank you.

CALLER: I just want to say, I don`t know what`s happening, but I live in Tampa, Florida, where the mother that killed her two children lived, and I don`t know what`s happening to people that -- she was apparently seeing a psychiatrist or somebody, that she was on medication. Didn`t anybody notice these signs that there was something wrong?

And with the father, the same thing. Couldn`t somebody see signs that there was something wrong and keep these children from them?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Absolutely. And you`re referring to a story we covered here on ISSUES yesterday, a mom in Florida who cops say admitted executing her two teenagers. Take a look at this woman. She`s shaking violently.

Julie Schenecker told cops she`d planned to shoot her two kids and then herself, but she ended up just shooting her two kids in the head, killing both of them. Look at what a nut she looks like, shaking violently as she`s led to the police car.

And this guy looks strange, as well. I just don`t understand how these people can look at these people and say, "Oh, yes, they`re fine, they`re normal. They`re OK" when she looks like something out of a horror movie, Dr. Judy.

KURIANSKY: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: How could -- how could -- how could she creep up on society like that and gun down her two kids without somebody saying, "Watch; this woman`s a lunatic"?

KURIANSKY: Yes. And we`re hearing lots of stories of this. There are many cases of it. The "oh, my goodness" of constantly where people think these people are normal, and they`re not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Jane...

KURIANSKY: The most horrific part of that story is that she had been seeing a psychiatrist. Unfortunately, that`s one of the worst kind of cases, because clearly, these people need to be hospitalized. They need to be on medication...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Or they need to be charged with murder.

KURIANSKY: They need to have their kids -- they need to have their kids taken away from them.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. But unfortunately these cases...

DARREN KAVINOKY, ATTORNEY: I know you`ve got that gavel, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Go ahead.

KAVINOKY: And I hate to interrupt, but, look, we don`t lock people up anticipatorily. Until somebody commits a crime, there`s just no cause to get involved in somebody`s life.

KURIANSKY: I understand.

KAVINOKY: Look, when somebody looks right -- let me finish the thought here, please. You know, there`s no question, when turning our attention to this particular case that we`re talking about now. There`s a saying amongst lawyers that criminal cases involve bad people on their best behavior, and family law cases involve good people on their worst.

Here we`ve got somebody that was involved in a family law case. Who knows what happened, whether he snapped, what his thought processes were? I think it`s -- it`s really treading on thin ice to say that -- that because one of the children was hiding behind mom`s skirts, that therefore there might have been abuse in the household. We just don`t make that stuff up.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Darren...

KAVINOKY: It`s completely speculative.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... cops believe this executed his three precious boys and buried them somewhere.

KAVINOKY: I got that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK.

KAVINOKY: I totally got that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me say this.

KAVINOKY: And obviously, they`ve got to have some credible evidence or they wouldn`t be holding the kind of press conferences that they are. But what`s happening is...

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hold on a second. Dr. Judy, quickly.

KURIANSKY: I agree with you. I think that we have to be more vigilant, because this is more prevalent, and we need to protect children.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And here`s my big issue. Here`s where the problem started: marriage and money, OK. The two massive stressors in John Skelton`s life, he lost his job as a trucker; he lost his marriage; and he lost his children. Now, here`s what`s bizarre. Oddly enough...

FOSTER: He didn`t -- he didn`t lose his job.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK.

FOSTER: He quit (ph) his job a day before Thanksgiving.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, this is news, Bill.

FOSTER: See, that`s -- this family -- his family is trying to make him out like a saint, bringing up the mom`s past and all that. And that`s not the truth. That`s not the truth.

I got very good sources that revealed that information to me, that he had quit his job. I mean, he had been having troubles and he about lost his job when he went to Florida over a class reunion in Jacksonville. And then when he come back, he got to keep his job, and he quit before Thanksgiving.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So what you`re telling me, Bill, is that he quits his job.

FOSTER: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: He takes his kids all the way down to Florida at some point...

FOSTER: No, he quit...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: No, I understand. He took his kids down to Florida in September. Then he comes back.

FOSTER: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And then he suddenly quits his job on Thanksgiving.

FOSTER: Yes. The day before -- the day before Thanksgiving.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But his kids disappeared on the Thanksgiving holiday.

FOSTER: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So Steve Kardian, what do you make of that?

KARDIAN: I make of that, Jane, that he had a plan.

FOSTER: He did have a plan.

KARDIAN: That he was going to dispose of those children. He made that decision the day -- or any time before, quit his job because he knew he wasn`t going to be returning. That`s what happened.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Bill Foster, what do you know of this plan of his?

FOSTER: That I -- nobody could tell. I mean, who could think of it? I mean, could -- anybody that knew these three precious boys would have done anything in their power to stop it. I mean, the family, friends, this community. Nobody would have let that happen.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But Bill, if he -- if he didn`t -- if he wanted to be with somebody else in Florida, why didn`t he just allow the divorce? Was the bottom line "If I can`t have custody of my kids, they`re going to -- I`m going to kill them"? Is that your theory?

FOSTER: I was in the court last Friday when it was about some other stuff with John, the contempt of court and everything. And you know, for something like this happening and to see that man finally walk and still in that wheelchair. He comes in there, and he`s more worried about...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Alimony.

FOSTER: ... alimony and paying for her lawyer than -- than his kids.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Alimony. His three kids are missing and the cops think you killed them.

Thank you, fantastic panel. We`re going to stay on top of this story.

A reminder: Nancy Grace now airing from 8 to 10 p.m. Eastern Monday through Sunday. The second hour, "Nancy Grace: America`s Missing," Nancy trying to find 50 people in 50 days. Tonight, where is the McStay family? This family of four vanished nearly a year ago. "Nancy Grace: America`s Missing" airs at 9 p.m. Eastern right here on HLN.

And up next, you won`t believe this bullying case. It`s wild.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re here on the Las Vegas Strip, where you can buy tickets to a show, a five-star dinner, and also a woman. If you`ve ever walked down here at night, you`ve probably heard that sound. It`s like (MAKES SOUND) all these guys up and down the strip with these cards and magazines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, a desperate mother`s crusade to find her 21- year-old daughter who vanished in Las Vegas five years ago.

Glendine Grant believes her beautiful daughter Jessie was the victim of a manipulative recruiter, a guy she knew from high school who lured her into prostitution.

Look at this beautiful girl. Jessie, last seen in north Las Vegas around the end of March in 2006 with a guy Jessie called her boyfriend. Jessie`s mom says it was her pimp.

So are cops all over this case? Especially since Glendine, the mother, knows exactly who these guys are? Wait until you hear what she says about that.

ISSUES reached out to lead detective for comments but did not hear back before deadline.

I am honored to be joined by a heroic and courageous mother who refuses to give up looking for her beautiful, precious daughter, Glendine Grant.

Welcome. I was blown away when I read that you say your heart knows you do not have a dead child. Why do you feel your daughter is alive?

GLENDINE GRANT, MOTHER OF JESSIE: It pulled my heart strings, and it feels absolutely the same as it always has and as it is to my other children. I just feel she`s alive.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What about the police? What are they -- what are they doing for you?

GRANT: They have not really done anything. Jessie is an international endangered missing person. She went missing in Las Vegas, but she`s from Canada. They initially told me that she probably just ran away from her life or that she`s probably dead and buried in the Mojave Desert. They didn`t even entertain the thought that this could be a third option, you know, that maybe perhaps she was taken away.

Since she`s been missing, we have had international trafficking organizations and experts in Canada and the United States tell me that her case is a classic case of modern-day slavery. Classic is what got me.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, we`re putting up shots of an artist rendition of how Jessie might look like today. She would be 27 years old today. As we show you them, tell us about this devastating phone call from your daughter when she told you she was in Las Vegas and planned to stay there for her 21st birthday. What were your fears?

GRANT: Oh, I didn`t like it at all. I didn`t like it, especially because this was the second trip that she`d been taken on, and prior to them taking her to Las Vegas, she had been in Manhattan and had actually been asked if she would consider prostituting. The person that told her, I spent all the money in Atlantic City gambling when we were in New Jersey, and why don`t you prostitute and get us some money to get home?

She phoned me from the lobby of the hotel. She was appalled. But she wasn`t scared of him. They were planning on leaving the next morning. They were coming back. So she went back up to the room and the next day she called.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me jump in here and say where -- where do you think your daughter last was when she disappeared?

GRANT: We know where she was.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Where?

GRANT: She was on the phone with her sister at the home she shared with this person in North Las Vegas. She was planning a trip back to Canada for her stepsister`s wedding. We talked on the phone several times that day, planned to talk the next day, and we never heard back from Jessie.

A couple of days later, we got a envelope from the mail from her car insurance company with a one-month insurance card in it for the month of April of 2006. And so we know for a fact that Jessie...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`re not going to let your story go away. We`re going to stay on top of it. Thank you so much.

Up...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Head-spinning developments in the murder case of a hot shot former producer of the hit show "Survivor". Stunning new court documents show the wife of Bruce Beresford Redman was so suspicious of him she actually installed a secret recording device in his car. What does it mean for the case? We`ll tell you.

Plus brazen bullies attack. A shocking video shows seven bullies pummeling one defenseless 13-year-old boy as he screams for help. Are our children becoming addicted to violence or do they just want to be YouTube stars? You`ll hear from the victim and we`ll take your calls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you believe your son is innocent and has been wrongly accused?

DAVID BERESFORD-REDMAN, BRUCE`S FATHER: I know my son is innocent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But other people have other ideas. Tonight mind- blowing new details in the murder of hot shot reality show producer`s wife. Mexican prosecutors claim that former "Survivor" producer -- that`s right, the famous "Survivor" show, this guy was one of the producers -- Bruce Beresford-Redman lured his wife Monica to Mexico only to kill her.

This is what cops are saying, and they also believe that Beresford- Redman beat and strangled Monica in their Cancun hotel room and then dumped her body in a hotel sewer. Why? Because they say Monica found out her husband, this guy, was cheating and she wanted a divorce. Monica Burgos even hid a tape recorder in her husband`s car to catch him in the act.

Monica was at the exclusive Mexican hotel with her husband and their two young children supposedly to try and fix their marriage. But Mexican prosecutors say little did she know that Bruce was allegedly plotting her murder all along.

Monica`s sisters have appeared right here on ISSUES and they say they have been living a nightmare ever since their sister was murdered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEAN BURGOS, MONICA`S SISTER: You know, I am suffering; I am traumatized, but right now I really can -- really go deep inside and expose everything that I`m really feeling and grieve the loss of my sister and all the horrible things that happened to her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Bruce Beresford-Redman has been locked up in California since November and despite all the evidence against him, insists he`s innocent. You want to have your lawyer come on any time? That lawyer is invited on.

Now Mexican authorities are trying to get this creep -- I`m even calling him a freak -- back to Mexico to put him on trial for his wife`s murder. You know what I say? You can have him. Take him, Mexico.

What do you think? Give me a call. 1-877-JVM-SAYS.

Straight out to Maxine Page, senior editor with RadarOnline; what else do these extradition documents uncover because I was reading (ph) through them -- some pretty racy stuff in there?

MAXINE PAGE, SENIOR EDITOR, RADARONLINE: That`s some explosive accusation. That`s one accusation that apparently Monica discovered that Bruce had been ringing sex lines, he was out of work at the time, apparently very bored, hanging around at home. At one time she claims that he spent $9,000 on a day-long sex session on the phone. This is like corroborated by two different witnesses.

In addition she discovered that he bought a very expensive watch for his alleged mistress. It also details different e-mails that she found between Bruce and his alleged mistress, where he`s begging the mistress to be with him, saying he no longer wants to be with his wife.

This was at the same time he was telling his wife he was no longer having an affair and he wants to be with her.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: After Monica was found dead in Mexico, Bruce left the country and returned to Los Angeles with his kids and without his passport which had been taken from him. He wasn`t supposed to leave the country. For six long months, Monica`s family had to cope with the fact that Bruce was a free man walking the streets of Los Angeles, like absolutely nothing was wrong and even going to court to get custody of their kids.

Check this out from RadarOnline.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bruce, do you feel today was a victory?

BRUCE BERESFORD-REDMAN: I`m sorry. I`m not going to have any comment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok. Significant that you`re able to keep the children all the time that there won`t be any overnights for the sisters. Is that significant to you?

BERESFORD-REDMAN: We really have no comment at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Darren Kavinoky, all of this happened last spring. He was arrested months ago. Why hasn`t he been extradited back to Mexico to face these charges?

DARREN KAVINOKY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, the fight is on, obviously. I know his team of attorneys and he`s got a very able and dedicated group of very well-experienced lawyers who are fighting to keep him from going back.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: There he is with his kids right there. Look at him. He was there with his kids in June. He had the kids.

KAVINOKY: Yes. Indeed.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The family of the victim didn`t have the kids, they were furious. How is that allowed to happen?

KAVINOKY: Well, until this matter is sorted out in court, now obviously you have to put this in context in terms of the time that this was going on, he`s still a person who`s simply accused of crime. He has not been convicted of the crime yet. So he`s the biological father. There would certainly be cause for him to have custody of the kids.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well cops say the evidence against Bruce is overwhelming. Bruce and his wife Monica were seen and heard allegedly arguing at the hotel several times. And the night Monica vanished, the hotel says the key card to their room was used at least nine times between midnight and 7:00 a.m. The cops say Bruce couldn`t explain scrapes to his leg, neck and finger. And Monica`s body was found in the sewer and cops found blood spatter in their hotel room allegedly.

Mexican prosecutors say Bruce came up with some really inane excuses to explain loud noises coming from their hotel room. He said the kids were playing games that included stomping on the floor and the bed.

Alison Triessl you`re an attorney for the family and the victim, do you believe the evidence against him is overwhelming or not?

ALISON TRIESSL, ATTORNEY FOR MONICA`S FAMILY (via telephone): Yes, we do. There`s an abundance of evidence and we`re actually quite pleased with the thorough job that the Mexican authorities have done in this case.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But you`re not pleased with how long it`s been taking to get him back there. He`s still not back there. What`s the hold up?

TRIESSL: Yes. It`s been a long struggle. But we`re so thankful to the U.S. government that they are honoring the United States-Mexican treaty and that the process is moving. For many months there was a stalemate essentially and that was the most difficult. But now we see that things are moving forward and we understand that he may fight extradition, but as long as he remains in custody and we believe he will eventually be extradited, we will be at every hearing to make sure that justice is served.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Here`s my big issue tonight.

KAVINOKY: You know Jane it`s going to be --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Go ahead. Go ahead.

KAVINOKY: No, it`s just going to be so interesting to see how this plays out. For example you mentioned the recordings that were taken in his car where his wife was concerned about his having an affair and obviously we`re dealing with the Mexican justice system.

Generally speaking, while a person`s admissions can be used against them when they`re surreptitiously recorded, it becomes a very thorny legal issue to get sorted out. So it`s just going to be very interesting to see whether or not all the evidence that you referenced at the beginning of this segment will actually be admitted against him in court.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, it could be -- it`s harder --

TRIESSL: Jane, may I interject?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Sure. Sure.

TRIESSL: We believe that there`s an abundance of evidence that the Mexican authorities gathered while conducting their investigation in Mexico. So some statements that were taken here, while important, certainly will not make or break the case. The case is extremely strong against him.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sharon, Iowa, your question or thought, ma`am?

SHARON, IOWA (via telephone): I was just wondering since this happened in Mexico and he is to go -- they`re trying to get him to go back to Mexico to be tried and they found him guilty. What kind of sentence would he have -- would he get? And if it`s like a 20-year sentence --

(CROSSTALK)

TRIESSL: The maximum he could receive in Mexico is 40 years, they do not have the death penalty.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now I want to go to my big issue tonight. And I have to ask this with all due respect to the victim; this is not blaming the victim in any way, shape or form. But I do have to ask. Was Monica Beresford-Redman playing a somewhat dangerous game?

According to these extradition documents, she was trying to prove her husband`s infidelity even going as far as installing an audio recording device in her husband`s car. Two months before Monica was murdered she reportedly heard him call his alleged mistress ten times. And when confronted, Bruce allegedly told Monica that the woman was just a friend. Well, of course that`s the oldest excuse in the book.

Right before they went to Mexico, Monica proceeded to withdraw all their money and change the locks. Now, this woman is an innocent victim, but Maxine Page, senior editor of RadarOnline, you cover so many wild stories in Hollywood, could this be a cautionary tale? If you decide to leave your husband for whatever reason and you go so far as to affect the bank accounts and change the locks, I would say don`t, under any circumstances, go somewhere where you could be vulnerable.

PAGE: I totally agree with you but I mean in her defense, he was her husband that she was with for years. She had two children with him. Just because he was cheating didn`t make him in her eyes a murderer.

TRIESSL: Right.

PAGE: I mean this is a guy she loved and thought she knew.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Alison, I`ll give you the last word.

TRIESSL: May I say he -- thank you Jane.

She never and nobody ever suspected that he would ((INAUDIBLE) -- she is a mother, she is a wife and she wanted the marriage to work. And so, what a horrible tragedy.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s so awful and we want justice for her. Thank you Alison and the rest of the panel.

Now, outrage after a mass slaughter of 100 healthy dogs; you will not believe why the dogs` throats were slit and they were -- it`s just horrific.

And a group of teenagers -- speaking of horrific -- gang up on a 13- year-old boy. Why is this disturbing culture of violence appealing to our children? What do you think? Call me, 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They could have killed that kid, impaling him by the neck on that metal barrier there.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Addiction knocks everybody to their knees. So that`s why I wrote the book to help people realize that they`re being driven into self-destructive behavior.

America is based on the whole notion of pursuit of happiness, but addiction messes with that equation.

Who is behind America`s addiction? To shopping, fast food, prescription drugs, the list goes on and on and on. Find out in my new book "Addict Nation". It`s in stores as of tonight and available online right now as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell and here is my issue.

Any time you see horrific violence towards animals, greed is usually behind it. That`s exactly what happened. First, Outdoor Adventures exploited these dogs by using them in three-hour sled tours. Now new reports claim the Vancouver company executed 100 healthy dogs. Why? Well, reportedly after the Olympics they weren`t bringing in the money anymore so they slit their throats and shot them.

The company says they expected the killings were done in a proper, legal and humane manner and that they had just learned about the horrific way these animals were actually slaughtered. They shouldn`t have killed them in the first place.

These poor animals shouldn`t have been forced in the first place to even do this sledding. Bottom line here: what starts in exploitation ends in exploitation; when animals are mistreated or killed, follow the money.

I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, and that`s my issue.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I tried to get out, tried to leave, tried to escape, tried to get off the tree and run away. But even when I did that, when I got off the tree the first time, they attacked and they caught me again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, police say a pack of teenage thugs violently attacked an innocent young boy on the way home from school. Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(TEENAGERS ATTACKING 13-YEAR OLD BOY)

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: They`re hanging him from the fence. It`s horrific video. For 15 endless minutes, seven bullies punched, kicked, dragged 13- year-old Nadin Khoury kicking and screaming for mercy through the snow. They put him in a tree. They hung his limp body on a fence post.

One boy laughed as he held the camera phone recording the whole attack. Cops say the boys plan to post it all on YouTube. Cops have arrested seven teenagers ages 13 to 17. They were hauled out in handcuffs and thrown in a police wagon and get this they are now facing kidnapping and assault charges.

Don`t get me wrong, this is disgusting, deplorable behavior and the young victim said he is constantly bullied. But instead of locking up these kids and charging them with kidnapping, essentially giving up on them, throwing away the key, making them part of the criminal-making factory that is our prison industrial complex, shouldn`t we as a society look at the ugly truth that, we as a culture, you and me and everybody else, we`re raising a generation of children who are addicted to violence.

This is something I talk about in my new book "Addict Nation: an intervention for America". We have violent imagery constantly saturating teenage brains. They see it on the TV, in the movies and video games. And then, when they emulate that sick behavior, we take them and we throw them behind bars and toss away the key.

Instead: how about we work on preventing this kind of senseless violence by changing our culture? Introducing nonviolent conflict resolution? They could teach that in schools, you know? Along with calculus?

We need to stop glamorizing sick violence on television and look into these kids` homes and find out what the hell is going on in those homes that is leading them to act out in this fashion.

Straight out to New York State Senator Eric Adams; Senator you released a YouTube video detailing how parents should actually spy on their kids. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC ADAMS, NEW YORK STATE SENATOR: Something simple as a baby doll. It could be just a baby doll but also it could be a place where you could secrete or hide drugs.

Run your hands over the pillows and see if you feel anything that`s unusual. A pillow like this with a button is a perfect invitation to hide something. I felt something bumpy, I will reach in, see what it is. This one could be hidden inside a pillow, a gun. Maybe something that you`ll think that can`t be hidden there, but it can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: My God. Is that, senator, what we`ve come to? I mean that`s physical stuff. But beyond the guns and the drugs and all that, what are we going to do about the mentality of violence that seems to have overtaken so many young people.

ADAMS: I believe that for many years I`ve looked in the direction of that we`re focusing our attention on the wrong place instead of focusing our attention on the role of adults and the role of parents.

Historically children have always pushed the envelope and participated in anti-social behavior. But traditionally, adults tell them when they have gone too far. Instead of telling our young adults when they`ve gone too far, I believe we`re too busy trying to be their buddies and their friends and not their parents and not the adults that we`re supposed to be.

We buy violent games. We allow them smoke inside our household. We allow them to listen to music that degrade them and their family members. We need to step up and fill our traditional roles as adults and responsible adults and not our children`s buddies.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Absolutely. I agree with you 100 percent. We as a nation are on violence overload.

You know when I was researching this for my new book, "Addict Nation", I was horrified to come across the statistics that an average American child will see 200,000 acts of violence and 16,000 murders on television before they turn 18. And I don`t even know if that includes the violent imagery that we see on all the popular video games.

Steve Perry, now we`re going to charge these kids who did something awful, but really, we`re going to charge them with kidnapping and then make them part of the criminal-making factory so they can become hardened criminals behind bars and come out and do something even worse? Isn`t that insane Steve?

STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: One of the challenges that I run into as the principal of a high school is I`m not just the principal of the victim, I`m also the principal of the bully. And I have to make sure that both sets of parents and both sets of children understand how we get to this place. We have to come up with better strategies. And we do have to look at ourselves as adults.

Think about it for a second -- the State of the Union address had to be such a big deal that the Democrats and the Republicans sat next to each other. These are all leaders. We have to realize that we are sending out violent images even in the way in which our leaders are communicating with one another.

You talk about something in your book. You call it cyber-sadism, I call it e-gangsters. In that, children make violent -- the Internet makes violence far more accessible. Like the Internet does so many things --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: More on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NADIN KHOURY, BULLYING VICTIM: I haven`t thought about it. But I don`t think that`s the case. I think they bother everybody that`s smaller than them because it`s not only me, they bother anybody else that`s smaller than them. They bother me, my friends, anybody that`s smaller than them; anybody that`s younger than them; anybody they know that`s weaker than the rest of them, they`ll bother them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s the victim and family talking tonight. Six teens arrested for attacking another young boy, dragging him through the snow, throwing him into a tree, hanging him from a fence. What can we do about this culture of violence?

I want to go out to Tina Meier, a brave woman and one of my heroes. Her precious daughter committed suicide after being tormented and bullied on MySpace. Tina, yes, I want punishment. But I also more than anything else want to find out why kids are being so violent and put a stop to it once and for all.

I don`t know that putting a 13-year-old kid away for kidnapping is the answer. Your thoughts, Tina.

TINA MEIER, DAUGHTER COMMITTED SUICIDE (via telephone): I don`t think that that`s the answer. I think that when we in society see something this devastating happening, we all of a sudden look at our own child and think, what would I do if that was my child. We always want somebody to pay.

Obviously these kids, putting them in jail is not going to change the situation. We have to and society knows that there has to be consequences. Again, I don`t think jail is the thing that`s going to fix it. I think the only way that we`re going to start doing this and start making any positive change is we have to start early. We have to start with kids in kindergarten, teaching them empathy, teaching them to be bystanders.

This society we have right now where these kids, again, you gave the statistic, about 16,000 simulated deaths and 200,000 acts of violence. I think that is on the low end. The children that`s playing all of these games, it is nothing to them. They`re disconnected. They don`t see what the big deal is.

We`ve got to get into these schools and do the education and awareness to let them know these things really happen, how bad they hurt.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s going on.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s going on but it`s not going on enough. It`s not going on enough. Please. For the amount of -- for the $60 billion we spend on our criminal justice system locking people up, imagine if any we took $60 billion plus that we spend on incarcerating people and put it in to early childhood education and put it into afterschool programs and put it into gang prevention and put it into group therapy for young kids who are having problems.

We`re not doing that because we`re spending so much money on the reactive justice -- which is actually my big issue, it`s reactive justice. We -- Steve, help me out here because I think we`re back-asswards in this culture.

PERRY: Right. What we can do in our schools is we can have a greater impact on the way in which children interact with one another. We can do teach in school. Of course, you want parents to do their part. I am talking to you as a principal.

As a principal we can set up an environment within which children are empathetic to one another, they know how to speak to one another and they know how to resolve conflicts in a more productive manner.

DR. JUDY KURIANSKY, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: And that`s already happening. I spoke to a 9-year-old girl at the Clark Mills School (ph) and she goes to anti-bullying classes a couple of times a month and they teach positive social learning. And that is teaching empathy. That`s in New Jersey, Ohio started it, Massachusetts is starting it. So Jane --

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But is it in the community where these kids are living -- these kids who did the bullying? We need it to be across the board.

Thank you fantastic panel. I wish -- we`re going to talk about this more, I promise.

Tonight, on "JOY BEHAR", she`s going to talk to the victim of the horrendous attack and the boy`s mom. That`s 10:00 Eastern here on HLN.

Nancy Grace is next.

END