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Jane Velez-Mitchell
Casey Anthony Reports for Probation; Conrad Murray Jury Not to Be Sequestered; Missing in Aruba; A Family Divided
Aired August 25, 2011 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY DIAZ, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, Casey Anthony reports for probation. She`s checked in, but where will she go? And is she getting special treatment?
Then, explosive new claims from a missing Utah mother`s father-in-law. He says he had a very sexual relationship with Susan Powell. I`ll talk to her dad and get his reaction.
And will the Michael Jackson manslaughter trial be the most publicized in history? Dr. Conrad Murray`s lawyers think so, and they want the jury sequestered. What the judge said may shock you.
Plus, cops call him the prime suspect in the disappearance of at woman in Aruba. Who is Gary Giordano? I`ll talk to two people who know him, including Robyn Gardner`s close friend.
ISSUES starts now.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Casey Anthony reported for probation last night.
CASEY ANTHONY, ACQUITTED OF MURDER: I just want to let everyone know that I`m sorry for what I did. Sorry. Sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She has to be here, this facility here in downtown Orlando.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN ANCHOR: She has been ordered back to the city where she is public enemy No. 1.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re going to be treating her just like any other offender.
BELVIN PERRY, JUDGE: I am also well aware of the threats.
CASEY ANTHONY: Can someone let me -- come on!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAZ: Guess who`s back in the penal system? Casey Anthony may have gotten away with murder, but she couldn`t escape justice forever.
Everyone, I`m Juan Carlos Diaz in for Jane Velez-Mitchell, and last night Casey Anthony took her last steps as a free woman. For a year, anyway.
She had until Friday to report for probation, but she chose to check in a little early on Wednesday evening. That`s what we do know. Everything else is being kept strictly under wraps, because the state of Florida does not want this woman to get killed on their watch.
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GRETL PLESSINGER, PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIRECTOR, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: The court made a pretty strong statement, talking about the fact that she`s one of the most hated women in America. We want to make sure that she is treated like other offenders, and that if she violates these court orders, we will immediately notify the court. But we will take security measures in place, as the court has laid out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAZ: So she`ll be under supervised probation for a year, meaning she`ll be done August 24, 2012. That`s a Friday, which is convenient for Casey, because we know how much she likes to party on the weekends, but there is another option. Casey could go on administrative probation, which means she`d serve her probation in a different state. Here`s how that would work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PLESSINGER: If an offender wants to move out of state, they have to let us know. We have to put a packet together, talking about, you know, what their conditions are, what they`re on probation for. Then we send that information to the other state. The other state then has to accept the probation of that offender.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAZ: Now Casey`s lawyer, Jose Baez, says that Casey will likely stay in Florida, but is this just a ruse on his part? With me tonight on the phone, I`m happy to have Gretl Plessinger from the Florida Department of Corrections.
Gretl, thanks for joining us. Give me the latest. Has Casey asked to be transferred to another state? And if she does ask, will your office approve it?
PLESSINGER (via phone): She has not asked to be transferred to another state. If she is asked to be transferred to another state, we`ll have to review it at that time.
Offenders in our system -- we are part of what`s called the interstate compact, and offenders in our system can request transfer out of state. If they request transfer out of state, we`ll put information together and send it to the receiving state. The key is that the receiving state has to accept that offender`s probation.
If that happens, the offender has the court orders that she`s given in Florida, and then she also has to follow court orders from the other state, as well, because it`s based on particular crimes.
DIAZ: Was your office preparing for her to ask to go to another state?
PLESSINGER: No. No. But we have 115,000 offenders, and I think about 6,000 of them are serving their probation out of state.
DIAZ: All right. Well, one of the reasons Casey`s probation was in doubt is because it could be -- it could put her in serious danger. Let`s take a listen to what Judge Belvin Perry weighed his options with.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERRY: I`m also well aware of the threats that have been lodged against Miss Anthony. I would like to call the department of corrections to find out what things can be done, make sure that she is also protected.
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DIAZ: I want to go to Vinnie Politan, who`s HLN`s host of "PRIME NEWS" and "SPECIAL REPORT." Vinnie, I know they`re not giving out her address, but is that enough? How can the state of Florida possibly keep Casey out of the public eye?
VINNIE POLITAN, HLN ANCHOR: That`s going to be difficult. She`s got to go outside at some point to do something, right? And people recognize her. People know who she is. So I believe at some point, people will spot her. The question is can she get in and out of probation without any issues? Can she do everything she needs to do without issues?
And I think it`s very, very possible to do, but she can`t lead the life that she was leading for those 31 days.
DIAZ: Is it a -- is it a positive indication that it can happen, that she can stay out of the public eye for the next year with the fact that she`s already reported to her probation officer, and we have not seen any video of that?
POLITAN: Absolutely. Absolutely. And then obviously during the course of the year, there`s lots of visits. And there`s a possibility that someone could say something that`s not supposed to say something, or she could go to the probation office and guess what? Who`s in the probation office? A bunch of law-abiding officers, but there`s also a whole bunch of criminals that are there. So some of them might be willing to, you know, tell folks in the media for a price that they saw Casey Anthony.
DIAZ: Great point, great point. Here`s something else I want to know. Where was Zenaida Gonzalez? Not the fictional Zanny the nanny. I`m talking about the real Zenaida Gonzalez. She`s suing Casey for using her name, and she says ruining her reputation.
The lawyers scheduled a deposition with Casey on October 8, but everyone assumed it wouldn`t happen, because Casey was out of the state and in hiding. Now, they`ve already deposed Casey`s parents, including this very heated exchange with Cindy Anthony. Check this out.
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CINDY ANTHONY, MOTHER OF CASEY: No, because I didn`t know her name was Zenaida Gonzalez, or I would have cleared her name.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let`s not play games.
CINDY ANTHONY: I said "Zanny" on there. I didn`t say Zenaida. What`s "C" (ph) stand for? You slandered me on TV.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop, stop.
CINDY ANTHONY: And you perjured yourself with this, because she`s not Fernandez.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAZ: So now that Casey is forced to be in Florida, will she be deposed on camera? Gretl, I want to go back to you. If Casey doesn`t show up for the deposition, is that a violation of her probation?
PLESSINGER: Her probation says that she has to live within the laws of the state of Florida, so if she were to be deposed, we would -- we would have to talk to the court, and if she doesn`t show up for -- for that, we would have to get direction from the court.
DIAZ: Gretl, in all honesty, are you guys having a tough time weighing the two sides of we want to treat her like everybody else, but we do understand that this is an extreme circumstance?
PLESSINGER: Absolutely. And it`s not only about offender Anthony`s safety, but certainly a consideration is also safety of our staff. And we need to make sure that our staff, as they`re going out to see offenders in their residences, including offender Anthony, that they are safe, as well.
DIAZ: Have you received any threats at all?
PLESSINGER: The department has not received any threats, to my knowledge. We have been getting lots of e-mails today, and I haven`t seen all of those.
DIAZ: And what is the general nature of the e-mails?
PLESSINGER: I believe that somewhere along the line, people believed that she was going to be doing school online, but she has not requested that of our office. So there were -- there were issues -- people were concerned with that, allowing her to have -- to go to school instead of have a job. She has not requested that. If she does request that of her probation officer, we`ll have to look at that at that time.
DIAZ: But if she doesn`t request school, doesn`t she have to get a job?
PLESSINGER: Her -- condition number seven of her probation says that you will work diligently at a lawful occupation. Her probation officer explained that to her, and we expect her to follow -- follow the rules of her supervision. Now, she is -- she is a unique case, so we`ll certainly have to take safety into everything we do with her.
DIAZ: So that being said, that`s the big question. How does somebody who`s so revered [SIC] -- or so hated in the public eye get a job like anyone else?
PLESSINGER: She`s going to have to explore the options within the confines that she has. You know, her probation officer will work with her on that. You know, there might be options for home employment or, you know, some -- you know, another type of business where she -- she isn`t readily seen by the public. We`ll just have to look at that as we go.
DIAZ: Gretl, great job, by the way.
And I want to talk about the court orders. There are 13 strict rules that Casey has to follow. And here`s a few of them. Rule No. 1 is that she must make full and truthful monthly reports. Now, that truthful part might be hard for Casey.
Rule No. six says no drugs and no booze. Will that be a problem for Casey? Remember the first thing she did when she got out of jail was drink a Corona on the plane. And rule No. seven is that she must hold down a job. And we just talked about that. You know, apparently, she wanted to go to school. But she -- now we`re learning that she`s not. Instead, she has to get a job. This is very, very unusual.
When we come back, more on Casey Anthony. This is a very unique case. We have some very big experts weighing in on this. The future of Casey Anthony, coming up next right here on ISSUES.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASEY ANTHONY: I just want to let everyone know that I`m sorry for what I did. I take complete and full responsibility for my actions, and I`d like to sincerely apologize to Amy. I wish I would have been a better friend.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PLESSINGER (on camera): Our goal is to treat her like every other offender we have in our system. What we do is we supervise based on those court orders. And that`s what we will do in this case.
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DIAZ: Of course, people don`t want to see Casey Anthony receive any special treatment. Let me back go out to my very special panel. I want to start with Florida prosecutor Stacey Honowitz.
Stacey, do you think they can possibly treat Casey Anthony like any other average person on probation?
STACEY HONOWITZ, FLORIDA PROSECUTOR: Well, they`re going to treat her the same way they treat everybody else, because if she willfully violates her probation, they`re going to submit a warrant to the court, and they`re going to have the court have her arrested and answer to those charges.
As far as all the other things, such as, does she have to get a job? Well, certainly, the situation is unique. She`s not going to walk into Gap or Burger King or any of those places and be able to get a job. She`s not going to have any privacy, and her safety is going to be of concern,. And these places aren`t going to want to hire her.
So certainly, when there are special circumstances, you have to go before the court, and the court has to make a decision as to whether or not that special condition can be waived or can be changed.
And in this case she`s probably going to have to work from home, online, be gainfully employed, but there are situations where younger people who are in school that are not employed have to go to school. So she might be treated differently because of that. So that might be one unique circumstance.
The other thing is if the cameras will spot her, will they follow her? Will they be chasing her? Are they going to camp out for this whole year to try and see her go into a probation office? Is she going to try to transfer? Many probationers go before the court and have to ask permission, and the judge will decide.
They will try the best they can. They will try to treat her the same way as every other probationer is treated. We all know. We`ve all watched. She`s in a fishbowl, and so her circumstances just might prove to be different.
DIAZ: Well, there`s one probation rule that caught my eye. Casey cannot carry a firearm. Remember, Casey is the most hated person in America. If there was anybody who needed to carry a weapon, it would be her.
Attorney Mark Nejame. Mark, what`s your take? Will she have to stay behind closed doors her entire year for her own safety?
MARK NEJAME, ATTORNEY: Well, I think it`s likely that she`ll do her best to do so.
And first of all, to the firearm issue, she`s a convicted felon now. So as a convicted felon she`s not allowed to have firearms anyway. You`re not allowed to have a firearm as a probationer. So she`s not going to be able to protect herself in any way, shape, or form in that regard.
The fact of the matter is, is that they may require her to make some good-faith attempts to seek employment. Send out some letters or otherwise. But, you know, it`s not realistic that she`s going to have anybody that wants to hire her.
And if they do want to hire her, you know, it`s possible she does have 6 percent of the population that doesn`t think she`s the most hated person. So if somebody who owns a business in that 6 percent wants to send a letter to probation, saying, "We`re happy to hire her," there may be a quandary, because then you purely deal -- then you purely deal with the issue of safety, if she shows up anywhere. Are the employees around her at risk? Is the employer at risk? And is she at risk?
DIAZ: And Mark, but any person -- and you bring up some very valid points. But the question I have, do you think anybody in their right mind that has any business savvy at all would want to put their business at risk?
NEJAME: Well, you qualified it by saying in their right mind. We have a segment of people who are clearly not in their right mind, so the answer is there are some people who would.
DIAZ: That`s a great point.
Now, it`s interesting about the probation ruling.
HONOWITZ: And brings publicity to their business.
DIAZ: And that`s a very -- Stacey, you bring up a great point. Because expand on that, Stacey. There might be people who want to use her for her name?
HONOWITZ: Yes, absolutely. We`ve talked about this case for such a long time. You`ve heard people say that they might have wanted to sit on a jury, because later on they`re going to write a book. And there might be some 15 minutes of fame in there. We certainly saw people trying to get on camera, saying, "Will you marry me, Casey?" I mean, just really, you know, to kind of get people`s juices flowing and going, getting them crazy.
And so there might be somebody out there to think this might be a great way for me to get on the tube. I`m going to hire her. See what comes my way, get the publicity. And then if I get enough -- I don`t want to say the word -- but if I get enough you know what from enough people, I`ve got my 15 minutes, and now I can walk away from it. So you just never know. I mean, this -- this brings out strange bedfellows when things like this happen.
DIAZ: Stacey Honowitz, great points.
What`s interesting about -- go ahead. Go ahead.
NEJAME: I was going to say, I just think that what`s likely going to happen, though, is her counsel is going to show that she`s involved in some money-making home enterprise. She`s writing a book. She`s preparing script for, you know, a documentary, whatever it might be, to show that that`s really the only gainful employment that she could, in fact, have at this time. And people are allowed to be self-employed.
They`re going to have a lot to prove, but know that she can`t go on the outside, that would seem to be a logical play that her defense team would likely make.
DIAZ: Mark, you make a good point. If you ask me, you know, Jose Baez knows that there could potentially be a huge payday, more money than she -- than she`d ever make working at a local business anywhere in Florida. The huge payday could be if she cut a book deal or some kind of interview deal, so they want to keep her out of the public eye as much as possible. Some very interesting points between Stacey and Mark right there.
What`s interesting about the probation ruling is that the court of appeals had some harsh words for Casey and her legal team. They said Casey Anthony "may not, under these circumstances, take advantage of the administrative error of the Department of Corrections." And then it goes a step further: "Casey Anthony and her lawyers were well aware that her probationary placement was not to begin until her release from confinement."
Stacey Honowitz, you know things in and out of the court system. Was this ruling expected? And has it rocked the legal community down in Florida?
HONOWITZ: Well, I don`t think it`s rocked the legal community. I think Mark and I have been saying all along, and it`s kind of difficult not to interpret those words "upon release" in any other fashion.
And the fact of the matter is Jose Baez and his team, like the court said, and Casey Anthony knew that that`s specifically what Judge Strickland`s order was. And so probation was not performed.
They had a piece of paper that said she completed probation. That was from the department of corrections, because they went in under this order, mistakenly thinking that she was going to do probation while she was incarcerated. I don`t think it`s a big shock. I don`t think it`s rocked the world. And I think that they are harsh words, and they`re words to any other lawyer to say you knew what was going on. Don`t try to hide behind a scrivener`s error.
DIAZ: Stacey Honowitz, Mark Nejame, thank you so much for joining us. I really appreciate your help.
All right. Will jurors in the Michael Jackson manslaughter trial be sequestered? The judge makes his decision.
Plus, new video shows Robyn Gardner at a bar right before she vanished. You don`t want to miss that. Coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL JACKSON, POP STAR: I`ll be performing the songs my fans want to hear. This is it. I mean, this is really it. This is the final -- this is the final curtain call.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAZ: Today the judge in the Michael Jackson manslaughter trial slams the door on the defense`s request to sequester the jury.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDWARD CHERNOFF, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We can trust jurors to be good human beings, but we cannot necessarily assume they`re not going to be looking at television or looking at the Internet and all the other things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAZ: Well, despite arguments from Dr. Conrad Murray`s defense team, the judge ruled that having the jury sequestered is cruel and will not be allowed.
Michael Jackson`s private doctor, Conrad Murray, is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the King of Pop`s death in 2009. The medical examiners say Jackson died from a prescription drug overdose, including the medical-grade sedative Propofol.
The judge says opening statements are slated to start December 27, and the trial could last anywhere between 20 and 30 court days.
From the defense filing, it sounds like they are worried about the Casey Anthony effect. We all know the wall-to-wall media coverage of Casey Anthony and the public pandemonium it caused.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let him go. Let him go. Let him go! Let him go!
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DIAZ: But do they really have anything to worry about?
Susan Constantine, jury consultant. Susan, do you agree with the judge`s decision to not have the jury sequestered?
SUSAN CONSTANTINE, JURY CONSULTANT: Completely and fully agree, yes, I do. Because you know, there`s really no reason to keep these juror sequestered. And the judge was right. It`s cruel and inhumane to hold these jurors captive by the court for that length of time.
DIAZ: But also, doesn`t money come into play here as far as the cost?
CONSTANTINE: It does. In fact, you know, Belvin Perry, you know, I was here during the entire trial for Casey Anthony. And the one thing that the judge wanted to do is to keep on key. Because the point is that every day it went longer, every delay we had. That was one more day he had to pay for jurors to be in sequestration.
Not only that, imagine the amount of money that the citizens and their taxpayers had to pay just for that trial, and I believe that this judge is not going to tolerate it.
DIAZ: Well, the man who managed Michael Jackson during the height of his clear, and just recently returned to Michael`s side, died yesterday. Frank Dileo stood by Michael during controversy, even almost 30 years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANK DILEO, MICHAEL JACKSON`S MANAGER: "I have never taken hormones to maintain my high voice. No, I have never had my cheekbones altered in any way. No, I have never had cosmetic surgery on my eyes. Yes, one day in the future I plan to get married and have a family."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAZ: That`s Frank speaking for Michael Jackson. Frank was with Michael at the hospital, and even broke the news to his kids that their dad had died.
Susan, could he have been a valuable witness in this trial?
CONSTANTINE: I think he would have been a valuable witness, to really see what a -- you know, to share with the jurors from the insider`s point of view, living the life along with him from day to day certainly would have had a tremendous impact on that jury pool.
DIAZ: Susan, thanks so much for joining us. I really appreciate it.
Don`t forget HLN is the place to be for the Conrad Murray trial. Keep it right here for the best coverage. Jury selection begins September 8. You don`t want to miss it.
Next, cops call Gary Giordano the prime suspect in the disappearance of a woman in Aruba. I`ll talk to two people who know him very well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A new witness reportedly says that he was on the beach that afternoon when Robyn Gardner and Gary were supposedly snorkeling. He says he saw the couple, but never saw them go into the water.
RICHARD FORESTER, ROBYN GARDNER`S BOYFRIEND: All I want to do doesn`t matter. I just want to find her and I want justice to be served.
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: These things really mean little except for, as was pointed out, the time frame. What she was wearing, who she was with, when it happened, where she was going. And this was the last time she was seen.
SAVIDGE: They`ve searched a vast area. So far no sign of Robyn, no clues even as to what may have happened to Robyn Gardner.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLOS DIAZ, HLN GUEST HOST: Belligerent, that`s how Aruban officials are describing Gary Giordano`s attitude as he sits in jail as the prime suspect in the disappearance of American tourist Robyn Gardner. The clock is ticking for Aruban officials to find enough evidence to charge Giordano with a crime. If they don`t, he could walk free next week.
Tonight on ISSUES two people who have personal stories to tell about Gary Giordano and one of them is also a close friend of Robyn Gardner`s.
New photos of Robyn and Giordano taken on the day she vanished are going viral. A worker took the photos as the pair left a beach restaurant. Some say Gardner appeared drunk and woozy. Others say she seemed fine, but what happened after these photos were taken?
According to ABC News, Giordano says that even though she was groggy from vodka and sleeping pills, she went swimming and was swept away, but there`s no hard evidence that either of them went into the water. Not only are we hearing that Robyn wasn`t the snorkeling type, we`re also hearing that Giordano wouldn`t go swimming because of his toupee. So which is it?
Straight out to our first guest. One of Robyn`s friends Lianne Delawter. Lianne, thank you so much for being here, I really appreciate it.
You know Robyn. You`ve known her for about eight years. You`ve also met Gary Giordano. What do you think happened here?
LIANNE DELAWTER, FRIEND OF ROBYN GARDNER: I don`t know. Only Gary really knows that, but I know that it didn`t involved snorkeling.
DIAZ: But, you know -- I mean and I`m sure you`ve talked about this on show after show after show, and you`ve been through this. What I want to get to is, when you`re not on camera, when you`re talking to your friends, what do you say to them, hey, this is what I think happened?
DELAWTER: You know there could be so many things and obviously Gary is the only person that knows. There are so many theories. Do I believe that in one instant that she could still alive? Absolutely I do, but only Gary can tell us that.
DIAZ: Do you think Gary killed her?
DELAWTER: I don`t know.
DIAZ: Well, it looks like Gary Giordano had financial problems way before the Aruba trip. Court documents indicate Giordano asked the judge to lower his child support payments, but the judge said no and it doesn`t stop there. There are new reports that Giordano allegedly tried to scam a company out of $5 million before the Aruba trip.
Joining me right now is Attorney Tom Murphy who represented the company Giordano sued. Thanks for being here.
Tell us about your experience with Gary Giordano.
TOM MURPHY, ATTORNEY FOR COMPANY SUED BY GARY GIORDANO: I represented a company that was sued by Gary Giordano for an alleged breach of contract. I investigated the allegation very thoroughly and learned from what I had uncovered that the contract -- alleged contract was a complete fabrication made up by Gary Giordano. That the signature that was alleged to be my company`s executive, who allegedly signed it, was a forgery. I found another contract that he had forged that was involved in the case.
He made it up from scratch. He pursued the claim against my client without -- without any foundation for it. There was no corroboration by witnesses or documents. He just lied. He perjured himself, and it was a complete fabrication. It was a remarkable, remarkable scenario.
DIAZ: From this instance of knowing Giordano, would you classify him as a good person?
MURPHY: Well, my interaction with him on my professional level made my conclude and tell the court where I practice that he was a perjurer. That`s what I think of him.
DIAZ: All right. Let`s go to the phone lines right now. A lot of people are sounding off about this case. Let`s go to Frank in New Hampshire. Frank, thanks for joining us. What are your thoughts?
FRANK, NEW HAMPSHIRE (via telephone): I was just wondering about the photograph, the last photograph, and I wonder who would take a picture of someone from behind that they don`t even know?
DIAZ: Well, we`ve talked about that. The people from the restaurant took the picture, because they wanted to see her tattoos. They wanted to show -- one worker wanted to show a loved one the tattoos she had. So that`s the reason they were taken from behind.
Listen to how Aruba`s top prosecutor describes Giordano`s behavior on NBC`s "Today" show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is his demeanor? Is he remorseful? Is he sad? Neutral?
TACO STEIN, SOLICITOR GENERAL, ARUBA: I think belligerent would be a better word. He is not sad, he is not remorseful, because he`s said nothing has happened so why should he be remorseful?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAZ: Interesting. He said that she washed out to sea. That`s something that happened.
Florida prosecutor Stacey Honowitz, technically Giordano could be freed next week if prosecutors don`t convince a judge that he should remain behind bars or charged with the crime. Now, there`s no body and there`s a lot of circumstantial evidence so far, so what are their options?
STACEY HONOWITZ, FLORIDA PROSECUTOR: Well, we all know that you don`t have to prosecute a homicide -- you don`t have to have a body. It happens all the time. But certainly the prosecutors last week convinced them that there was some ongoing investigation, something new was brewing in order to keep the additional, I believe, 16 days that he was allowed to stay in custody.
So we`re just waiting to see what they do have to present to the court because certainly they have to have something to keep him behind bars. We`re hearing all this circumstantial evidence, we`re hearing about conflicting stories, he back pedals, he`s belligerent. He tried to cash the insurance policy two days after she went missing. I mean there`s a lot of things that don`t, you know, say he killed her, but certainly enough circumstantial evidence to keep the reasonable suspicion that he`s the person of interest.
Now, we`re going to have to wait and see because they`re not letting everything out right now. We`re going to have to wait and see what`s coming down the pike that they are going to present to the court to try to keep him there.
DIAZ: I want to talk about that insurance policy first and foremost. The news that Gary Giordano is indeed the beneficiary of the $1.5 million travel insurance policy he took out on Gardner is not sitting well with Gardner`s boyfriend, Richard Forester. He was here on ISSUES last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FORESTER: I hear about a $1.5 million policy and now I hear that he`s the beneficiary. Well, sir, that`s odd. That`s suspicious.
I`m hearing all these things about him, but I don`t know what to make of it. I`m not an attorney. I`ve never been in this position and I don`t want to be in this position, but I am for some strange reason. I`m in this club that nobody wants to be in and I didn`t ask to be in. But I`m doing what I have to do.
And all I want to do doesn`t matter. I just want to find her. And I want justice to be served.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAZ: Lianne, ABC News is reporting that Giordano named -- that Gardner named Giordano the beneficiary. Do you have any idea why your friend would name him as the beneficiary?
DELAWTER: She wouldn`t. She wouldn`t willingly have ever done that. And I don`t think -- she would have never willingly have signed an insurance policy. She had to have been duped in some manner. Maybe he told her it was just for luggage or something and she signed it. But she wouldn`t have signed a life insurance policy.
DIAZ: So you`re saying basically he stuck a piece of paper in her face, said sign it, and she signed it.
DELAWTER: I`m sure that he did. He said, "Hey, look, I`m signing one, too. I`ve got one." You know, "Just sign here." He probably just explained it away like he explained away a lot of things.
DIAZ: We`ve heard from a lot of women who say a lot of different things about Gary Giordano; that he could be aggressive. Let`s listen to this woman who dated him a few times.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was erratic. He was a little violent. Like one time I happened to touch his hair by accident, and he like literally yanked my arm really hard. And that was like really scary. And he was, let`s say quite physically aggressive, inappropriately. Apparently he has cameras in his house where he videotapes people and has cameras all around his home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAZ: Lianne, you`ve met Gary Giordano. What is your first impression of him?
DELAWTER: I have only -- I never met Gary with Robyn. I only met him through other social situations, and there was never -- what I vaguely remember, there was never any situations like that.
DIAZ: Would you describe him as somebody who is hot-headed?
DELAWTER: No, because I never saw that. Would I describe him as somebody maybe narcissistic? Yes.
DIAZ: Expand on that very quickly. What do you mean? What`s your example?
DELAWTER: The guy that could be really charming, but you can always tell that there`s like a dark edge to it.
DIAZ: All right. Well, Lianne, thank you so much for joining us. I really appreciate it.
DELAWTER: Thank you.
DIAZ: Thomas Murphy, I appreciate your time as well. Stacey Honowitz, stick around.
MURPHY: Thank you.
DIAZ: We`ll have you for the next segment. We`re going to stay on this story.
The search for Susan Powell takes a very strange turn. Her father-in- law now says he had a very sexual relationship with her. We`ll find out what her dad has to say about these disturbing claims, coming up next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHUCK COX, FATHER OF SUSAN POWELL: If you want to accuse my daughter of being promiscuous and everything else --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Susan had a very troubled childhood, she was suicidal, she told Josh -- and it`s in her journals --
COX: No, no, no, no.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is about Susan.
JOSH POWELL, HUSBAND OF SUSAN POWELL: I don`t know where she`s at. I don`t even know where to start looking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Susan had a very troubled childhood, she was suicidal. She told Josh and it`s in her journals --
COX: No, no.
POWELL: The confrontations are escalating.
COX: You want to accuse my daughter of being promiscuous and everything else --
POWELL: The tendency that he has -- Mr. Cox has -- to bottle up his rage and explode in anger.
COX: You come out against my family.
POWELL: He made I would say a veiled threat.
I -- I didn`t do anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAZ: Tonight, the mystery of a woman`s disappearance takes a jaw- dropping turn.
I`m Carlos Diaz in for Jane Velez-Mitchell.
No one following the Susan Powell case saw this one coming: new allegations that the Utah mom was having an affair with her father-in-law. Listen to this staggering claim on "Good Morning America".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE POWELL, SUSAN POWELL`S FATHER-IN-LAW: Susan was very, very sexual with me. She was very flirtatious. We interacted in a lot of sexual ways, because Susan enjoys doing that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think a part of you started falling in love with Susan?
S. POWELL: That`s pretty likely, yes. Yes, I would say so, and there`s no question in my mind that the feelings were mutual.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAZ: That is Susan`s father-in-law. Now, Josh says his dad is lying. In just a moment I`m going to get the reaction from Susan`s father. The two families have become bitterly divided over her case. A judge has even ordered Chuck and Susan`s husband, Josh, to stay away from each other.
Police have called Josh a person of interest, but not named him a suspect. He`s taken a lot of heat for his bizarre behavior the night Susan vanished in 2009. He said he took his sons, ages 4 and 2, camping after midnight in freezing cold temperatures.
Here`s Josh on ABC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you kill your wife?
J. POWELL: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you have anything to do with the disappearance of your wife?
J. POWELL: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nothing?
J. POWELL: Nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you still love her?
J. POWELL: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAZ: Straight out to Chuck Cox, Susan`s father -- Chuck, first off, I want to say thank you for coming on because I know that you have been dealing with this now for almost two years. And I can`t even put myself in your position. So thank you for coming on and talking to us, first and foremost.
COX: Very good.
DIAZ: Give me your reaction to these unreal claims, these unbelievable claims that Susan, your daughter, had an inappropriate sexual relationship with her father-in-law?
COX: Absolutely not. There`s no way this is true. This is a clear attack upon my daughter.
DIAZ: When you heard that this morning on "Good Morning America" what was your initial reaction?
COX: I couldn`t believe that Steve Powell would be making these type of allegations as if -- I could not believe he would make these accusations. Susan is not here to protect herself or to deny them. He knows that. This is the one person he can attack who can`t defend herself.
DIAZ: Well, Steve Powell`s estranged daughter says Susan rejected her dad`s unwanted sexual advances. Susan`s good friend Kirsi Hellewell, told me the same story on Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRSI HELLEWELL, SUSAN POWELL`S BEST FRIEND: One of the reasons that Susan and Josh moved to Utah, I found out a few months after they moved here, she told me was to get away from the father-in-law, Steve Powell, because he had made these advances to her. And after they had lived here for a year or two, he sent her a packet of pictures in the mail of her favorite actor. So she opened the pictures and she started flipping through them and her first thought was, maybe he`s changed. This was actually nice of him to do this. And in the middle of the pictures were some naked pictures of men.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAZ: Chuck, do you believe Steve Powell had anything to do with your daughter`s disappearance?
COX: I don`t know who had to do with that disappearance. I know Josh knows more than he`s saying. He needs to contact the West Valley City Police.
Steve and Josh were very close. I think that Josh may have shared some information with Steve Powell. I don`t know if he had any involvement directly.
DIAZ: When they talk about your behavior, your aggressive behavior, is that behavior a result of your daughter being missing?
COX: It`s aggressive behavior is I want to hold my grandchildren. I asked to see my grandchildren, and they keep me from doing that. I`ve asked Josh several times to just go to the West Valley City Police and tell what he knows, so that they can move beyond him, if that`s what the truth, and so they can continue to look for my daughter. And he --
DIAZ: And when you say this, what does he say to you?
COX: He says nothing. He doesn`t say -- he doesn`t say that I haven`t had anything to do with her being missing or anything. He just turns away. He cannot answer anything. And basically the last time I asked to talk with the kids, well -- and I asked why, he said, no, I couldn`t give my grandchildren a hug. I asked him why, that`s what he considered as aggressive behavior, because I didn`t accept his word that, no, for no reason.
That`s the whole aggressiveness that`s there. Of course, with Steve, he`s attacking my daughter`s reputation and with no reason.
DIAZ: We`ll be right back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J. POWELL: What I don`t support is the idea that people come into my neighborhood and make allegations which are unfounded against me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAZ: The latest bombshell in Susan Powell`s disappearance that the Utah mom had an affair with her father-in-law. I`m here with Susan`s father, Chuck Cox, who says those allegations are totally false.
Chuck, Susan`s father-in-law has suggested that Susan was taken from a Christmas party. What are your thoughts about that?
COX: Boy I never heard that one. Taken from a Christmas party, no, I never heard that at all. Last person to see her was Joshua Powell. He claims that she was getting ready for bed about 12:00 or 12:30 when he decided to take off on his camping trip. So, no, I never heard that.
DIAZ: All right. Well, Steve Powell admits he`s written songs about his daughter-in-law Susan. He said, the song, "You were My First Love" was inspired by a photo of Susan and her newborn son.
Let`s take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(STEVE POWELL SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAZ: Chuck As far as you know, have these recent revelations about Steve Powell prompted police to take a closer look at him?
COX: I don`t know what the police are doing regarding Steven Powell.
DIAZ: What steps would you like to see be done?
COX: Well, I`d like to know what contact he and Steve and Joshua had before my daughter went missing, and just the normal things to find out if they have anything you know, if Steve`s involved in any way. But again, I don`t know. Whatever the police think is appropriate would be great. I wouldn`t know where to start, really, I`m not part of the investigation.
DIAZ: Well, Josh claims his wife ran off with another man. He describes her as erratic, depressed even suicidal. Here`s Josh on ABC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J. POWELL: Susan was very emotionally-abused as a child. Her mother had some very -- she has a very angry personality. Her father is very manipulative.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAZ: Chuck, what`s your response to that?
COX: Susan`s mother and Josh didn`t get along, because she didn`t like the way he treated her. So I guess that`s a mother-in-law issue with Josh. She was never abused as a child. There`s no evidence whatsoever of that. And as far as being emotional or got upset, the only person she ever got upset with was Josh, like when he wouldn`t let her buy socks or shoes for the boys. Or when he wouldn`t let her buy food for the family.
The issues that Josh came up with that were really inappropriate for the family and detrimental to the family. The only person she got upset with was Josh himself. She would stand up to him and he did not like that.
DIAZ: Chuck Cox, I just want to say thank you again for joining us. I really can`t imagine what you`ve been through these past two years, I hope the outcome is what you have been praying for, for the last two years. Thanks for joining us, Chuck.
COX: Thank you.
DIAZ: Stay with us, more ISSUES coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEA GIGLIO, STATEN ISLAND RESIDENT: Anybody that stoops that low, you know --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re glad they`re busted.
GIGLIO: You`re right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAZ: A good humor man is headed to the slammer. That`s right, Louie Scala, Jr. was busted in Staten Island, New York for turning his Lickety- Split Ice Cream truck into a drug ring on wheels. Now he`s copped a plea deal admitting he`s guilty of using the truck to sell customers a taste of his hard-core drugs.
Cops say this ice cream man raked in more than $1 million peddling the powerful painkiller Oxycontin. And he`s just one of nearly 30 people accused of conspiracy in this ruthless scheme. Maybe he`ll see some of his buddies while he spends the next three and a half years in prison.
I`m Carlos Diaz, in for Jane Velez-Mitchell. Thanks for joining us.
"NANCY GRACE" is coming up next.
END
