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Jane Velez-Mitchell
Missing Mother, 44, Found Murdered in Tennessee
Aired December 12, 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, heartbreak in Tennessee. The search for a missing mother of four who is in the middle after divorce comes to a tragic end. The body of Karen Swift has been found near her home. This more than a month after her abandoned car was found on the side of the road, tires slashed. So what happened to Karen? And do cops have any suspects?
Plus, a serial killer remains at large, roaming free, terrorizing the East Coast tonight. It`s been exactly one year since the body of his victim was first found on Long Island. Mothers of the victims have now converged at the mass burial site where ten sets of human remains have been found. Tonight, is there an 11th victim? I`ll talk to one murdered woman`s distraught sister.
Plus sky-high celebrity entitlement. Superstar Alec Baldwin escalates his war against American Airlines, all because a flight attendant dared to tell him to turn off his cell phone. And he`s not the only star who gets livid when told to play by the rules. What the heck is wrong with them? We`re taking your calls.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: A family frantically searching for a missing mother of four. Karen Swift vanished from her home in Dyersburg, Tennessee.
PRESTON SWIFT, SON OF MURDERED WOMAN: We are very concerned and very worried. And we want her to come home safe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Swift picked up her daughter from a Halloween party in late October and hasn`t been seen since.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s taken a pretty big toll on our family right now. I mean, everybody is trying to hold theirselves together right now, you know. But we just pray for a safe return, really.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I heard that Karen Swift was found at the graveyard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Early this afternoon a body was discovered along this rural road.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whoever done it was sick. That`s all. You just shouldn`t do that to someone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s the understatement of the century.
Breaking news tonight: a family desperate to find their missing mother is dealt the worst possible news. Police say 44-year-old Karen Swift was murdered. Her body found Saturday near a cemetery in a rural part of western Tennessee not far from her home.
Good evening, I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell coming to you live from New York City.
Now, Karen vanished six weeks ago after returning from a Halloween party after midnight. Her car was found later with a flat or slashed tire, depending on who you talk to, along a main highway less than a mile from her home. Karen had just filed for divorce three weeks earlier, and she was still living with her estranged husband.
Police have not named David Swift a suspect. But when a woman vanishes right after filing for divorce, police normally try to rule the husband out first. Shortly after Karen vanished, their son insisted his dad had absolutely nothing to do with his mom`s disappearance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SWIFT: My dad called me concerned. Immediately, he called me back later and told me that they have reported her missing. I never saw any violence. They both cared about each other, and they did, you know, care about us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So the big question: who killed Karen Swift? What are your theories? Give me a call right now: 1-877-JVM-SAYS. That`s 1- 877-586-7297.
Straight out to Natasha Chen, reporter for WREG. Natasha, what are police telling you tonight about this horrific discovery of Karen Swift`s body?
NATASHA CHEN, REPORTER, WREG: Well, Jane, there`s very little that they can actually say. The body is still going through some tests, and we may know more after those tests are done. All they`re saying is that she`s been killed. We don`t have any details on what type of injuries or how she was killed.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, is she very badly decomposed? Not to be gruesome, but clearly, if she was very badly decomposed, that would be harder to determine the cause of death. You might not be able to see, let`s say, something like a knife wound or a gunshot wound.
CHEN: That`s right. She was pretty badly -- yes, she was badly decomposed. And there`s no way to really tell right now how long she was left out there. Like you said, she was discovered in a rural part of the area, and it was about three to four miles from her SUV where that car was discovered early the morning Sunday before Halloween. And so, it`s really hard to say right now. That area has a lot of growth, it`s tough terrain. Search parties had gone out there before, but they didn`t come across the body because it`s kind of a difficult area to search.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And I think as it gets colder, perhaps, some of the foliage falls off, and it`s easier to find someone. What a tragedy. Look at that beautiful woman. Look at that beautiful woman.
CHEN: Yes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Four kids. Four kids. Two adult sons and then two youngsters, missing a mother tonight.
Karen was reported missing Sunday, October 30. Now later that week her car was found with a flat tire or slashed tire less than half a mile from her home in Dyersburg, Tennessee. Her body was found less than three miles from her home. So this is all happening right in the immediate area.
Pat Brown, criminal profiler, what does that tell you, that all of this is so close to where she disappeared from, her home?
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, that`s why the police obviously are starting with the husband, because that`s kind of Ground Zero. He was the last one to see her. We don`t know that -- whether she left the house alive or not. They`re going to be interviewing him and see if any evidence matches him or it matches somebody else.
Now that they have the body, which is really a helpful thing, sad as it is, they will be able to find out. They`re saying it`s a homicide, so they must know something. For example, she could have a higher bone that was broken, like somebody strangled her. She could have fractures on her skull from being beaten. There could be something that gives some idea. And they be able to determine if it is something else, like a rape, for example. A sexual homicide. They may have more information. And if that`s true and there`s DNA that doesn`t match the husband, then he`s out of the picture.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Police are not calling David Swift, the husband, a suspect in this murder`s wife [SIC].
Now, back in November I talked to their son. I interviewed him. And I asked him point blank whether his parents` divorce was contentious. Listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SWIFT (via phone): I didn`t see any ugly, ugly divorce at all coming out of it. They were both being very cooperative and trying to get through it as quick as possible for us and for the little girls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let`s go to Vicky Zeigler, family attorney. We see in the divorce papers that were filed on October 10 nothing out of ordinary. The couple had sorted out already the custody and the child support. They were planning to share custody with the two young daughters living primarily with Karen.
But hypothetically speaking, would you agree that it`s not a great idea when you are divorcing someone to live in the same house with them during the course of the divorce?
VICKY ZEIGLER, FAMILY ATTORNEY: Yes, Jane. I mean, listen, there`s enough acrimony as it is when one person wants out of the marriage, and apparently, it`s Karen Swift. She`s the one that filed for divorce first. Apparently, it`s been reported that Mr. Swift did not want the divorce. So that`s the first problem.
The second one is, when you live with children and you`re sleeping in a separate bedroom, it really isn`t healthy for the children. I know in bad economic times, some people can`t move out and create their second household, but it doesn`t help.
I mean, think about it. When people are happily married, they think about who`s going to make dinner and who`s going to go to the grocery store. When you`re not happy and you want out of the marriage, you know, sitting down at the dinner table can`t be that comfortable. Also, who`s doing whose laundry? Where are you going? And keeping tabs on the other one.
So it is not the best scenario for two people that are actually getting divorced, to actually remain in the same home. But again, we don`t know their financial circumstances to actually point fingers.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right. And we are -- again, Karen`s husband is not considered a suspect. And we`re going to read his statement in a second.
But if we don`t get to examine these situations and learn something from them, hypothetically, then we really are doing the viewers a disservice. And I think it would be fair -- you`re an expert -- to say, "Hey, unless absolutely there`s no other alternative, don`t live with your husband during the divorce. Not a good idea."
Now I want to go to Bill Warner, who`s a private investigator, who has a totally different theory on this case, one that has actually nothing to do with any family member.
Bill Warner, you find it very significant that Karen`s body was found near a cemetery. Why is that?
BILL WARNER, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR (via phone): Well it wasn`t found near. It was found next to. There`s a little dirt road off of this Harness Road that leads up to the Bledsoe Cemetery. The little dirt road separates where the body was found and where the headstones are. It`s within 30, 40 feet.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, that`s near. Just so you know, it`s near. So...
WARNER: ... Harness Road. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) The problem I have, is that I was aware earlier in the year in -- from January through March, that there, supposed serial killer in the Memphis Tennessee area who killed four women and dumped in or near their bodies, in a cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee, the Mount Carmel Cemetery. I find this a little disturbing, being only maybe an hour and a half way from Dyersburg.
And there`s a history of this. Going back to the mid-1980s, with the Green River Killer. That`s Gary Ridgeway. He dumped three or four of his victims in the Mountain View Cemetery in King County, Washington. So I don`t know if we have some kind of a copycat killer or what`s going on, but the cemetery thing is bizarre. I did my homework. I looked at all the different roads, around this Harness Road in that area. There are many, many, many dirt roads. Many, many. Why did he choose the road next to the cemetery? Bizarre.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I agree with you. It could be something connected to those other cases. By the way, I have no independent confirmation. We`re going to have to research that and get back to you, viewers, and do an update on this as to this purported serial killer in the Memphis area.
But also there are -- I just -- I`m not disputing you, Bill. I`m just saying.
WARNER: OK, go ahead.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But also people do have a tendency, killers, to copy cat. And if they heard about it or read about it in the news, they might say, "Hmm, if I do this, then people will think it`s that mystery serial killer."
Now, there`s other possibilities. We heard about a dispute with a neighbor, somebody who had purportedly poisoned dogs. Now, cops have said that has absolutely nothing to do with it. But let`s-- let`s say this: we don`t know what happened.
But on the other side of the break, we`re going to take your calls and we`re going to read a statement from Karen`s husband that was just released through his attorney. That`s right, he has lawyered up at this point.
It took six weeks to find the body of this beautiful missing mother of four, Karen Swift. Did her divorce that she was currently undergoing, as she lived with her soon-to-be-ex-husband, under the same roof, did that have anything to do with what happened to her? We`re taking your calls: 1- 877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s having to look if their eyes. He`s having to dry their tears. And he doesn`t know -- he doesn`t have anything he can reassure them with any honesty. He doesn`t know where she is. If she`s OK, if she`s not OK. If she`s coming back, if she`s not coming back. He is just left in limbo.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hard to think that something like that could happen just right down the road.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I heard that Karen Swift was found at the graveyard up here. Whoever done it is sick, that`s how I think.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: For weeks, police in rural Tennessee did extensive frantic searches on the ground and in the air. We`re talking horses, helicopters. They found nothing until this past weekend. Was Karen`s body there for weeks, possibly just covered in thick brush that, now that it`s getting colder, has dropped off and we`re starting to see what`s underneath the leaves?
Michelle Sigona, investigative reporter, you`ve got some new information for us.
MICHELLE SIGONA, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: I do. That`s right, Jane. About 30 minutes ago I spoke with the sheriff there in the county. And what he told me was that a tip led them to this place where Karen Swift`s body was found. This is not something that they stumbled across. This was not a search that had been taking place in the area but a tip, in fact, led them to that area.
They did recovery her body. That`s when they took her to the Memphis medical examiner`s office, where she is now. They may release the cause of death at some point. As we know right now that they are investigating this case as a homicide.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Michelle, I want to jump in and ask you, what is the significance of the tip? That would mean that somebody else, aside from whoever is responsible...
SIGONA: That would mean someone came forward to them with information or they interviewed with someone that gave them a nugget of information.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: No, but what I mean is, doesn`t it imply that -- generally, it`s not the killer themselves that calls in the tip and says, "Hey, here..."
SIGONA: Generally not.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Usually, it`s somebody who might know...
SIGONA: Yes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: No, but what I mean is, doesn`t it imply that -- generally, it`s not the killer themselves, that calls in the tip and says, "Hey, here" -- usually, it`s somebody who might know...
SIGONA: Generally not, exactly.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So an accomplice...
SIGONA: Someone that helped out, possibly someone that has information. It`s really hard it tell. Maybe someone that learned something about this a little bit later on. But that`s extremely important.
Also I want to close in on this time line a little bit.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And we`re going to get to that. Let me -- let me -- hold on a second, because I want to dive into that. First we`re going to go to the phones. Kia in Massachusetts. Your question or thought, Kia.
CALLER: I was wondering what the police did in between the 30th when she went missing and now when they found her body? Were there searches in that area or the police just wait around for another tip?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Natasha Chen, the police searched a lot, a lot.
CHEN: They did.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Helicopters, horses, et cetera. But I want to ask you, did they issue a search warrant on the house or did the husband allow them into the house to search the house?
CHEN: I can`t quite remember if they approached the husband about searching the house. I do know that the place where the body was found is a place that they actually searched before. But because of the terrain, its being tough and there`s a lot of growth in that area, it was tough to perhaps see the body there, which is why they may have missed it the first time.
I do know that when our crews went to Karen Swift`s house to talk to David Swift, that he had no comment and tried to ask us to leave the property.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, Karen`s husband has just released this statement through his lawyer. Quite, "At this point in time, it is very emotional for Mr. Swift and the family. They`re asking for at least for this period of time, to have some privacy. It`s time for grieving, and it`s time for mourning."
But the weird thing about this time line is that woman who`s now dead, picks up her daughter at a Halloween party at 1:30 in the morning, because the daughter had reportedly wanted to go home. Reports are she goes bed with the daughter but gets up in the pre-dawn hours and vanishes.
Her son told me, well, Karen must have gotten up and driven somewhere. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SWIFT: My mom and my little sister went to sleep. They both got in their pajamas, went to sleep. And then a little while later, my little sister fell asleep. And she -- she actually remembers my mom picking her up and putting her in my little sister`s bed. So she obviously was going somewhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Joey Jackson, criminal defense attorney, what woman leaves her kids and drives off at 4:30 in the morning? Meanwhile the husband, by the way, still living in the house with her, according to published reports. So presumably he`s the last adult to have seen her alive.
JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, Jane, it is -- it is very suspicious. You know, I think it`s going to have to be determined by who lured her out, if anyone. And if they did lure her out, what was the basis of it and, you know, what would she have a reason to be out at that time?
Now, you suggested earlier, Jane, regarding the body and the recovery of it, it`s horrific news, of course, but in recovering the body, I think there could be a treasure trove of information, not only on the body itself, scientifically, DNA, perhaps matching somebody to it, but also the surrounding area. You know that the police are going to do extensive work and all types of scientists and the autopsies that are going to be conducted, and they`ll be able to determine, you know, perhaps, what the cause of death was, what, if anybody, who might have been involved. And I think that that will be significant in bringing this case to a close.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It sure will.
Let`s go to the phone lines again. Michelle, California, your question or thought, Michelle?
CALLER: I just wanted to say, I really like your show, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you.
CALLER: And this really hits close to home. Three weeks ago, an acquaintance in our town, same thing: going through a divorce. And the husband strangled her and then committed suicide. So I totally believe it`s the husband. Who leaves their kids like that.?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let`s -- it`s an odd situation. We want to reemphasize that husband is not considered, and you`re looking at him right there. They make a beautiful couple. They were in the process of getting divorced. They were reportedly living together through the divorced. They have four kids: two adult boys and two younger girls. And he is not considered a suspect at all. This is according to police. They have not named any suspects.
But we are going to analyze this further, because we`ve got a private investigator on the line, who again has a totally different theory, involving a serial killer from Memphis. You won`t believe these developments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SWIFT: My dad called me concerned, immediately. He called me back later and told me that they had reported her missing. I never saw any violence. They both cared about each other, and they did, you know, care about us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Who killed a beautiful missing mother of four, Karen Swift? The night she vanished, Karen left urgent voice mails and texts for friends. Listen to what that friend told Nancy Grace.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She called me at 11:38, at 11:39. At 11:40, she sent me a text that said, "Jenny, call me, please." And I had went to bed at 11 p.m.
NANCY GRACE, HLN HOST: Did she...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was normal for her to text me. She did that a lot. But for her to call me three times in a row and then, when I didn`t respond, for her to then text me, that was -- that was -- I felt like she was upset about something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Family attorney, Vickie Zeigler, does that raise eyebrows in your mind?
ZEIGLER: It definitely does. Maybe she was out of the house and she could speak freely, and she needed to talk to a friend. She was at a party. So, you know, that to me, perhaps has a question that she really needed an SOS. She needed a friend. There was something going on that she needed to talk to. Unfortunately, she was not able to speak to that friend.
And there are a couple of the things, Jane, that are so troubling to me. And this young boy, Preston, their oldest son, said, you know, he never saw any problems. Well, guess what? Your viewers need to understand, that when people go through a divorce, the attorneys and the litigants know what`s going on. Hopefully, the children really don`t know what`s going on.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.
ZEIGLER: More importantly, we don`t know. Was there a big life insurance policy here? You know, another question, you know, that`s been raised.
And the last thing is, I think Mr. Swift lawyered up 24 or 48 hours after his wife went missing. That strikes me as a little odd, especially if you love your wife, even though she wants a divorce, and you`re trying to make it work.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I don`t know. Listen, if I were in his situation, I would get a lawyer immediately. Because we all know that police look at the immediate intimate partner first because of the statistics regarding intimate partner violence and statistically what happens.
Now, Michelle Sigona, what I`m interested in, is I`ve heard some reports say she had a flat fire. Other reports say her tires were slashed. What do you know?
SIGONA: I asked the sheriff about that, as well, this evening, Jane. And what he said was that her front tire, just one tire was flat. But he could not tell me if it was slashed or if it was something that maybe happened accidentally or intentionally. But that vehicle is at the crime lab right now, and they`re still going through it to try to determine, if they can determine, how in fact that happened.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Becky, Massachusetts. Your question or thought, Becky.
CALLER: Hi, my name is Becky. I love your show.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thanks.
CALLER: I watch you every single night. What is your theory on this case?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: On this case, I`m not going to say, because just because something looks one way, I don`t have all the facts. And that brings me to Bill Warner, who says that this body being found adjacent to a cemetery, Bill, makes you think it could be connected to a serial killer in Memphis. Quickly, your thoughts?
WARNER: Well, I`m very concerned about that. It seemed to be like a signature. There`s a problem in Memphis. There is somebody who has been killing women in Memphis. There`s been four women. They`ve been found, the bodies found in or near a cemetery. Now we have Karen Swift, her body found next to a cemetery. It`s a signature. Very concerning.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Bill Warner, thank you.
Thank you, panel.
Up next, another serial killer on Long Island.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She just stood there staring at me, yelling, "Help me, help me."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think she was the victim of a serial killer?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was targeting a specific group of women from a specific Web site.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there are any more bodies out there, we want to find them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her last phone call was to 23 minutes to 911.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was her gut. "Get away from me, get away from me". And she was running and knocking on neighbors` door.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Please, he is trying to kill me."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight a prolific serial killer continues to roam free along the East Coast of the United States. But now the mothers of the women murdered by the still unidentified sicko have had enough.
Good evening, everyone. Jane Velez-Mitchell back with you live with you back from New York City. On Long Island, just a little while ago, the victim`s families banded together to demand answers bearing crosses. Just hours ago, the mothers converged on the very beach where the bodies of their loved ones were found in what essentially amounts to a large mass grave.
The moms and sisters of these murdered women don`t think cops have done enough. Not near enough. And their number one question is obvious, who is this serial killer?
It has now been exactly one year since the first body was discovered. He is believed to be a client of women who advertise on Craigslist, which several of the victim`s did. He was last pinpointed in August of 2009 in busy Times Square where he made a sadistic call to the sister of one of his victims, taunting her about how he murdered her loved one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LYNN BARTHELEMY, VICTIM`S MOTHER: At that point it was five days when the first call came in and the caller ID, Melissa. And she answers and she is all excited and there is a guy on the other end. We didn`t know what he did to her, if she was still alive. He wouldn`t say, you know, if he wanted money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The moms disagree with cops who say the disappearance of another prostitute, Shannon Gilbert, is not connected to the serial killer. Listen to the cops.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD DORMER, SUFFOLK COUNTY POLICE COMMISSIONER: This may be just a young lady, ran into the brush, in a hysterical state, and fell down and you know, expired for some reason.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Really? That doesn`t make a lot of sense to me. The day after A&E aired a special about this Long Island serial killer, cops discovered Shannon`s belongings just a few miles from where the other women`s bodies were found. So how can cops say there is no connection?
I want to hear your theories. Call me right now, 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1- 877-586-7297.
Straight out to Lorraine Ela, the mother of Megan Waterman; and Melissa Cann, sister of Maureen Barns, whose bodies were found on the Long Island beach.
First of all, my hearts go out to you; my condolences. I know that you have been through a hellish experience, and it continues to be hellish because you don`t have the answers you are seeking. Tonight we are here trying to help you get those answers and keep pressure on the police to solve this case.
Lorraine, what was it like emotionally for you to be standing there -- and we`ll show the crosses that you were holding today, on essentially, the one-year anniversary when the first body was found, not having the answers. What ran through your heart?
LORRAINE ELA, MOTHER OF MEGAN WATER: It is very devastating to go back to the area where my daughter was found.
VELEZ-MITCHELL\: Why?
ELA: Just knowing that she was murdered -- Sorry, that she was murdered.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: How would you rate how the cops have handled this Lorraine?
ELA: Well, in the beginning, I didn`t think they were really doing their jobs, but this past couple weeks, I have to actually give them credit. This has been a huge, huge case for Suffolk County. It`s overwhelming for them. They have never had a case like this. They`ve never had to deal with something like this.
I`m sure in the beginning when they started finding all these bodies, I`m sure the first thing was, where do we begin on this. And to this day, they are still -- everyday, what do we do now? What do we do now?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I understand what you`re saying, but in fact they did have to deal with a similar case at one point. There was another serial killer. We`re going to play some video of him in a moment, Joel Rifkin who did a very similar pattern and he`s now behind bars. And believe it or not this other serial killer who also targeted women who were sex workers became infamous for 17 grisly murders in the same area, the same Long Island area. Watch this from A&E and YouTube.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over a four-year, this sadistic killer patronized hundreds of New York City prostitutes. He strangled 17 of them with his bare hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why those 17 beats me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So that is the previous serial killer who worked in and around Long Island. Joel Rifkin has now actually had the audacity to weigh in on this case, telling "The Daily News" that women who work in the sex trade are obvious targets for serial killers because "they can be gone six or eight months and nobody is looking".
Some of the women in this current mystery placed ads on Craigslist which didn`t exist when Joel Rifkin was hunting for his victims. So my issue right now is, is there a Craigslist connection.
Pat Brown, do you think cops have been able to effectively use Craigslist to at least narrow the focus on this guy? I mean if he is a client who used Craigslist wouldn`t they be able to track him through e- mail exchanges?
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, you know you would think so, Jane. But obviously they are not getting anywhere there. So it`s really questionable how he actually answered those ads.
I think what happened in this case is we have a long history here of this man killing. And I don`t believe Craigslist was around for the earlier homicides. So he may have been in New York City and other places picking up the women, bringing them out; and then gone on to Craigslist later when he found that as a new tool.
But he is on Long Island some place. And they got an area; at least they can search him.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Melissa Cann, you are the sister of Megan Brainard Barnes who was slain. She worked in this same line of work. Do you feel that cops would have given this more attention had the women not been involved in the sex trade?
MELISSA CANN, SISTER OF MAUREEN BRAINARD BARNES: Yes. Maureen Brainard Barnes -- her name was.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, Maureen.
CANN: In the beginning, I think that they would have. It was hard to get them interested in her missing persons case.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, what are you going through right now as you held this memorial on the one-year anniversary of the first body being found, as you held some of those crosses and joined with the other mothers and sisters of those who have lost loved ones. What is in your heart? Tell our viewers.
CANN: It just doesn`t seem real until we are actually in Long Island and see where the girls were, you know, found. That`s when it is actually real and it hits you and it`s so much emotions. It`s sorrow, it`s loss. It`s words that you can`t describe.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m so sorry. I`m so sorry that you are going through this. And we hope that by to doing this story, somebody who knows -- somebody out there has to know something. I mean this is going on about 60 miles from where I`m sitting right now. He was in Times Square which is a five-minute cab ride from where I am right now. Somebody has to know something.
Let`s go back to the police investigation. Listen to what Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer says about what they just recently found on the beach.
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DORMER: Sometime after the pocketbook was found, a pair of jeans, a pair shoes were found. We believe that they may belong to Shannon Gilbert.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: He is talking about prostitute Shannon Gilbert, the woman who triggered this whole case when she ran screaming for help at about 4:45 in the morning to a home of a Long Island man who turned away for a moment to try to help her and then when he turned back, she had vanished. Listen to him.
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GUS COLLETTI, VICTIM ASKED FOR HIS HELP: I haven`t slept in two nights. I could have saved that girl if I had known something was going to happen. I could kept her from getting out of here. That weighs heavily on your mind.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: So that was in May of 2010. Shannon Gilbert disappears without a trace. Then just six days ago, Pat Brown, criminal investigator, Shannon`s pocketbook with her ID is found on the beach about seven miles from the beach where these ten other bodies were found.
So Pat Brown, how is it possible for police to say that Shannon Gilbert`s disappearance could be some kind of accidental drowning when she fits the profile perfectly. She is a sex worker who was spotted terrified begging for help, running from a man, and then disappears and her belongings show up right near these women who were murdered who were in the same sex trade.
BROWN: Yes. I`m finding that a little hard to believe this is just a coincidence. I don`t know why they are saying these couldn`t be connected. I mean one thing we do know, that person who did all the rest of them, he is a sexual sadist. There`s no question in my mind. This is a man who took these women and one guy who was dressed as female, back to his home and did something to them.
And that`s what sexual sadists do; they like to keep them for a while and unfortunately torture these poor women and then kill them. And then he put them in a vehicle and drove them down the highway and dumped their bodies, all on the one side of the road; my belief, the same side of the road he lives on. This girl was riding down that same road. I can`t believe it isn`t connected. But they could be right, it could be a coincidence.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I doubt it.
BROWN: I doubt it too but you never know.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The question is why are they saying that? Is it a strategy?
BROWN: Maybe.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you panel.
Up next, Alec Baldwin, the superstar, behaving badly.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: As a recovering alcoholic, I gave up alcohol 16 years ago and I became what is known as a teetotaler. I drink a lot of tea. When I want something to drink at work, I go get some green tea, which is filled with antioxidants. Do you know that it takes well over an hour to walk off one can of sugary soda? But green tea it has zero calories. So it is health in a cup.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Alec Baldwin apologized to himself on SNL this weekend after getting kicked off that American Airlines flight last week.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Baldwin was turning off his devices and, he just got a little angry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He didn`t want to get off the phone. He snuck into the bathroom and became a little bit irate and they had to remove him from the flight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At first I thought it was a joke. If I know my brother Alec, and he was upset to the point where he went into the bathroom, he was probably losing the game.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Alec Baldwin goes berserk, and guess what? He isn`t saying sorry.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell us what happened?
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: There he is being hounded by the media on the way out.
Ok. He reportedly threw a temper tantrum on a flight when a crew member, told him, turn off your phone, sir. American Airlines says he made a scene spewing obscenities and slamming the bathroom door so hard it shocked the people in the cockpit.
Can we blame him? He was dealing with super, super important business, a game called "Words with Friends". As if that isn`t enough he is now mocking the airline in a guest spot on "Saturday Night Live".
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SETH MYERS, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": Let me get this straight, you, Captain Rogers, want to apologize to Alec Baldwin.
ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: Yes. Mr. Baldwin is an American treasure and I`m ashamed at the way he was treated. What harm would it do to let him keep playing his game? Not any game, mind you, but a word game for smart people.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: I have to say, Alec Baldwin is one very funny guy. Is that why he gets away with it?
Joining me now, Howard Bragman of reputation.com; Howard, my dear buddy, it seems like this should be a career ender but it is turning out to be some kind of a career enhancer, turning into some kind of legend.
HOWARD BRAGMAN, REPUTATION.COM: Well, let me tell you, in the world of we live in, controversy or not, career enders any more. I call them Viagra for careers or yeast for careers. They make careers rise and they keep it going.
Alec Baldwin has played this one mostly kind of well, by making fun of himself, by issuing an apology. So it is anything but a career ender. And the only place where it does hurt his career Alex has talked often about public service, possibly being mayor.
When you show such disregard for the little people, i.e. the flight attendants and the other employees and the other airline passengers, it hurts your ability to be respected as somebody who`s going to be a leader of all the people, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, calling it a Greyhound Bus experience and Greyhound got upset. And I think the flight attendants are banning together saying, we don`t want you on our planes any more.
Listen, I have been a big fan of Alec Baldwin for many reasons; but this whole comment about the gym teacher too, calling the flight attendant 1950s gym teacher. But I remember that other incident and I wonder does Alec need to go to some anger management and get a tennis racket and hit some pillows, which I`ve done, believe it or not? Remember this voice mail from TMZ.com he left for his daughter a few years ago?
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BALDWIN: You are a rude thoughtless little pig. I don`t give a damn that you`re 12 years old or 11 years old, or that you`re a child. You have humiliated me for the last time with this phone.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: See, that`s Rob Shuter, from naughty but nice, that is why I have a slight problem with it because it is a pattern, a pattern of anger out of control.
ROB SHUTER, NAUGHTY BUT NICE COLUMNIST, POPEATER: I think you raise a really good point here, Jane. I think, where does this hurt Alec is that it brought up his past behavior. When Alex left that voice mail for his daughter, I don`t think you could ever have imagined a father being so upset by his actions. At the time he talked about quitting acting, quitting "30 Rock", never acting again. He didn`t do that thankfully.
But I think that what this incident has done has brought back these parts of his past that he really, really regrets. Which is why making a little joke of this on SNL might have been the best move he could have made. I`m sure Alec is hoping that SNL is the period at the end of the sentence and tomorrow we will move on with something else.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me say this, I do have to say that other people, other than celebrities do lose it at the airport. Flying creates frustration. Case in point, this lady, missed her flight, from YouTube.com. Check this out.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Howard? Howard? Did you see this lady? She is out of control.
BRAGMAN: You know what, Jane? I travel about a hundred thousand miles year, I see all sorts of outrageous behaviors. And as you probably remember --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not a case about football. It`s not a case about universities. It`s a case about children who have had their innocence stolen from them, and a culture that did nothing to stop it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don`t think it would be beyond the realm of possibility that there are other victims that exist here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He also began to coerce this child then 10 to satisfy his own perverse sexual impulse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His wife and entire family are devastated by what`s going on and especially with the new allegations.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Expect explosive testimony tomorrow and we`ll bring it to you right here on ISSUES as Jerry Sandusky comes face to face with his accusers in court. As many as ten men are expected to testify against the former Penn State assistant football coach.
Straight out to Mike Galanos who is live at Penn State; Mike what can we expect tomorrow?
MIKE GALANOS, HLN CORRESPONDENT: Jane, it`s going to be riveting inside the courtroom right behind as these victims testify and tell their story as they look out in the courtroom and see Jerry Sandusky. They may also see neighbors and friends as there was a lottery draw, Jane. 1,400 people wanted in. 100 members of this tight-knit community are going to be in there and that`s another thing a victim`s going to have to deal with.
Seeing a friend who did not know what was going on in this then child`s life. And you know the media is out here, Jane. You`ve been to big trials, big court proceedings; we`re all roped off in our own little area. It has that big trial feel.
Let`s keep in mind, what is a victim going through now, hours, hours before they testify?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s going to be amazing. And really insightful and we`re all over it.
Now on to another scandal brewing; two former youth basketball players told ESPN Robert Bobby Dodd a former president of the Amateur Athletic Union sexually assaulted them back in the 1980s. Listen to one of the accusers on ESPN.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was dead asleep. And I don`t remember anything but waking up and he has, he`s trying to put his hands in my boxer shorts. And I jumped up straight out of the bed. He`s not there. But he`s laying on the floor next to me down by the bed. You know, of course I was freaked out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How did he get in the room?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had a key. He always somehow had a key to whatever room I was in.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Straight to the Ron Sachs, spokesperson for the Amateur Athletic Union. The AAU did its own investigation on Dodd. Tell us what you did and what you found briefly, sir.
RON SACHS, SPOKESPERSON, AMATEUR ATHLETIC UNION: Well in stark contrast to the Penn State, Syracuse and Citadel situations, to its credit the AAU immediately took these allegations that came in the form of a very brief, succinct, anonymous emails and voice mail messages with no contact or return phone number and immediately seized upon their responsibility to make protection not of AAU but of the children in their care and sporting events across the country, our overarching priority.
They began an investigation with our compliance office, their general counsel. They hired a private investigator and the officers flew in to Orlando to the AAU headquarters and confronted their long time president Bobby Dodd with these allegations. He confirmed that he had received similar phone calls. He denied the allegations. Despite those denials, the AAU acted directly to remove him from his position.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I want to commend you for how you handled it. And we`re seeing a mushrooming scandal from one institution involving sports to another. And would only all of them have handled it the same way maybe we wouldn`t be here right now.
More in a moment.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Do you think celebrities have the sense of entitlement that the rules don`t apply to them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They do have a sense of entitlement. It`s everyone else`s fault because wherever they go, they are getting their butts kissed. They have freebies everywhere, free lunches all the time.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Bling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Celebrities consider themselves above a lot of other people, and sometimes it gets a little out of hand.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Do you resent them for that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I don`t resent them for that. I think we made them that way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s always been a hothead.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Do you side with the flight attendants or with Alec Baldwin?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think with the flight attendants on that one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the way he handled it after the fact is funny. I don`t think the original incident was funny all. And like he said, I would not have wanted to be on that plane with him. He just keeps getting himself in trouble and he still ends up being a wonderful success. What can you say? It seems to work for him.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Alec, we love to hate you or maybe we hate to love you.
"NANCY GRACE" next.
END
