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Nancy Grace
Reports Evidence Shows Clean-up of Missing Maine Toddler`s Blood; Woman Strangled Inside Own Car
Aired January 31, 2012 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, live Maine. 8:00 PM, Daddy puts his 20-month-old baby girl to bed. 9:00 AM, she`s gone, snatched from her own home. Just hours before she disappears, Mommy secretly goes to court, fighting for full custody. It`s confirmed blood found in the basement of Daddy`s home is that of toddler girl Ayla.
Bombshell tonight. That blood found in Daddy`s basement bedroom -- do forensics prove Ayla`s blood actually part of a clean-up? Did somebody try to wipe the little girl`s blood away? As Mommy and Daddy now appear to be friendly again, investigators say they have grave doubts -- quote, "grave doubts" -- Ayla was ever kidnapped. And they say no sign of forced entry. As a matter of fact, we confirm Ayla`s window can`t even be opened from the outside. Tonight, we learn the police timeline in flux. Who can even confirm Ayla really put to bed the night before she goes missing? Tonight, where is baby Ayla?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m ready to go knocking at people`s doors myself because I want to know what happened to my daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have seized hundreds of items of potential evidence from inside that home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened that night?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m not going to answer any questions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s not one piece of evidence at this point that leads us to believe that an abduction took place.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can tell you this, it`s a very small house. It`s a one-story house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Blood was found in the basement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can confirm some of the blood was Ayla`s.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then he took a lie detector test and smoked it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there was something solid that I knew, I mean, I would be sharing that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His sister and his girlfriend, who were all home that night, are not being completely honest.
GRACE: I mean, the story just keeps changing as to how Ayla was found missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Found nothing yet to back up the story of an abduction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ll go out there and speculate, and -- which is what a lot of people have done.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Waiting for the truth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, I`m not -- I`m not here to answer any questions. You know, I`m just here to show my support.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are they making all these public proclamations? Why? To put heat on the father.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That was me with Dan Abrams talking about baby Ayla on ABC`s "Good Morning America."
And tonight, in the last hours, wife and Jane Bashara laid to rest as residents of one of America`s wealthiest towns pour into a local funeral home, Jane`s body found heavily bruised, fingernails missing, dressed in black slacks, green shirt, bedroom shoes, the body wedged down between the front and back seat of a 2004 Mercedes SUV.
Tonight, an alleged girlfriend emerges as Jane`s husband, the president of the local Rotary Club, says he`s innocent and goes to the funeral.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A shocking discovery.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This horrific murder mystery unfolds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jane Bashara.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mother of two found strangled in her car.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trauma to her throat, neck and back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A couple of Jane Bashara`s fingernails were broken.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone did this to my wife.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s no indication this was a random act.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to know what happened to my sister.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her husband reported her missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s just unthinkable that this happened to her and what she had to suffer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police named him as a person of interest in the investigation.
GRACE: Somewhere in the middle of talking to the cops, he decided he needed a lawyer, and a lawyer showed up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. That`s fine. I mean, whether he chooses to have a lawyer or not have a lawyer doesn`t change...
GRACE: Hey, I`m all for lawyers!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why would a thief leave behind a Mercedes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The keys were on the driver`s side floor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re told Bashara did voluntarily take the polygraph test.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Continues to cooperate with our investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re hoping that the person will cooperate more with the authorities by saying, You`re not a suspect. You`re not a suspect. You`re just a person of interest.
GRACE: And I`m telling you that it hurts to name somebody a suspect and retract it. Rights do attach.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bob, can you tell us about the polygraph? Bob?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reports that he failed a polygraph.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My brother, he is incapable of this act.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bob, can you talk to us about the polygraph?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m just so upset about it!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. Blood found in Daddy`s basement bedroom. Do forensics prove baby Ayla`s blood actually part of a clean-up? Did someone try to wipe away baby Ayla`s blood?
We are there in Maine with the latest. Joining us, Bonnie Druker there at state police HQ. Bonnie, what do we know about Ayla`s blood in the basement?
BONNIE DRUKER, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: OK. Here we are at police headquarters, Nancy, and we are hearing reports that there was a clean-up of the blood. Of course, we have asked police this, and they will not confirm that.
Now, they also -- there have been reports out there that Ayla is dead, and according to police here, they are saying that is inaccurate, irresponsible and unattributed. They don`t know what happened to Ayla. They`re trying to get to the bottom of this. Of course, Nancy, the longer this investigation goes, the less hope there is.
GRACE: I was asking you specifically about the blood. I don`t need anybody`s ripe (ph) speculation. I don`t care what people think. I want to hear about the evidence, Bonnie! I want to hear about the blood!
I know it`s Ayla`s blood. Maine State Police have already confirmed that to me. My concern is it`s also somebody else`s blood mixed in. But what I want to know right now -- according to multiple reports, Bonnie Druker, the blood is not just spatter, it`s evidence of a clean-up. In other words, if you take a washrag and you dip it in paint and you run it along the wall, you can tell you`ve used a washrag. You can tell. The mark you leave indicates what you`ve done.
Was her blood part of a clean-up? That`s my question!
DRUKER: Yes, Nancy. We understand, according to reports, that her blood was part of the clean-up, and there is a possibility that there was someone else`s blood, as well, a part of that clean-up. Police are not confirming that, Nancy.
GRACE: Joining us there outside State Police headquarters, Bonnie Druker.
Everyone, the turn of events in the search for baby Ayla has made a hairpin turn, as a matter of fact, in the last 24 hours. We learn baby Ayla`s blood found in the basement of the home. We also learn more about that basement itself. It`s largely an unfinished area, but it is primarily -- in fact, all of it is serving as Ayla`s father`s bedroom. The whole area is his bedroom. That is where the blood was found.
Back to Bonnie Druker, standing with us at State Police HQ. Bonnie, where in the basement was the blood? And what have you learned from investigating around the outside of the home?
DRUKER: Well, Nancy, it is a very, very small home, and the blood was found in the basement. That`s all the police are saying at this point. It was...
GRACE: OK, Bonnie...
DRUKER: ... found in the basement.
GRACE: ... let me just ask you some direct questions to try to get some answers here. Number one, could you identify which window was Ayla`s bedroom window?
DRUKER: We could not identify that.
GRACE: Could you see the sides of the home? Did you see the sides of the home?
DRUKER: Yes, we saw the sides of the home.
GRACE: OK. How high up off the ground were the windows?
DRUKER: About five feet.
GRACE: About five feet. So for someone to get in a window like that, you`d basically have to use a ladder to get in. Did you notice any sources of light? Were there security lights on the outside of the home, by chance?
DRUKER: Oh, no, absolutely not, Nancy. No.
GRACE: OK.
DRUKER: No security lights.
GRACE: And on the sides and to the back of the home, is that where people park cars?
DRUKER: Yes.
GRACE: Would people normally be walking around on the sides and the back? So that would not be unusual.
I`m hearing in my ear, now joining us along with Bonnie Druker is spokesman for the Maine State Police Stephen McCausland. Mr. McCausland, thank you for being with us. I guess I should say Officer. You say that there has been a lot of inaccurate reporting, that nobody within the Maine State Police is saying that Ayla is dead. Explain, sir.
STEPHEN MCCAUSLAND, MAINE STATE POLICE: Just what you said, Nancy. That is not terminology we`ve used. There was an unfortunate report out of a Boston TV station last night. We quickly clarified that with our own news release, saying that was inaccurate, irresponsible, and unattributable. And we stand by that.
Our hope from day one is that we`ll be able to locate baby Ayla safe and return her home. Obviously, as the days grow to weeks, and now, obviously, now in our seventh week, our concern grows, but our hope is still there.
GRACE: You know, Stephen, that is our prayer, as well, that baby Ayla come home alive. Officer McCausland, let me ask you -- you`re standing there in the snow. Do you recall the temperature outside the night baby Ayla goes missing? The original theory was that maybe she had walked outside and wandered off on her own. I find that extremely implausible.
MCCAUSLAND: This was on the night of December 16th into the morning of December 17th. I don`t remember the temperatures, but in Maine, we`ve had a fairly mild winter up here. But obviously, the little girl did not wander out of that home. We dispelled that rumor on week two. And obviously, in the last few days, we`ve obviously stated up front we have serious doubts that an abduction ever took place.
GRACE: Well, we happen to have the temperature. It was about 32 degrees the night that she goes missing. And I know for Maine residents, that`s a balmy, sunny day. But for most of us, we wouldn`t imagine wandering outside in our pajamas and getting lost the way many people attributed to Ayla.
We are taking your calls. But first, I want to go to John DePetro, WPRO host joining us. John, I noticed that the mom and dad seem to be very friendly now. Let`s see some shots of them recently in public, Liz. I would find it very difficult not to take a swing at him. What`s with that, John?
JOHN DEPETRO, WPRO: It`s hard to believe, Nancy, because Trista Reynolds has every reason to be upset. You have the husband -- the father, not the husband but the father, Justin DiPietro, evasive with the truth, not answering questions. It was very surprising for her to embrace him, almost try to put the whole thing past. People were very shocked by that. But she`s very clear. Trista says she wants the truth to come out.
GRACE: Well, I know that`s what she`s saying, but if you take a look at them together, they actually look like a couple.
Wendy Walsh, psychologist, co-host, "The Doctors," if you could weigh in quickly before we have to go to break. You know, I know she may be staying on friendly terms with him to advance the investigation, but that was a heck of an act.
WENDY WALSH, PSYCHOLOGIST: It was a heck of an act. But you`ve got to remember, Nancy, this is a very emotionally confusing time for both of them, and people tend to reach out even to killers at a time when they`re - - when they`re confused. And she`s going through a lot, so who knows what...
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Raymond Giudice, defense attorney, Randy Kessler, defense attorney joining us out of the Atlanta jurisdiction. Giudice, I want you to take a listen in a moment to what the daddy had to say. He basically says, you know, I`m not saying -- I ain`t saying nothing about nothing. And he shows up in the T-shirt with Ayla on the front of it. But what we know is that when he was shown the crime scene photos of the blood in the basement, he gets up from the table, literally, and runs out of the police station, Ray. Thoughts?
RAYMOND GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Look, I`m not -- here`s my thought. He should have an attorney who would not have put him in that position...
GRACE: Is that all you think about?
GIUDICE: ... both of those positions. Yes, it is what I think about because under the constitutional way our system works, I defend people who are in trouble. So that`s all I think about.
GRACE: Yes. OK. Great, great, great, great. OK. I was trying to get more at the truth.
Back to Stephen McCausland joining us there at police headquarters -- Stephen McCausland, Maine State Police spokesperson. Stephen, since the daddy ran out of the police station, has he given a comment on the crime scene photos of Ayla`s blood in the basement?
MCCAUSLAND: We`ve talked to Justin on a number of occasions. When we`ve called him, he`s talked to us, and we hope that dialogue will continue.
GRACE: Mr. McCausland, why do you, if you do believe, the blood indicates there was a clean-up?
MCCAUSLAND: I`ve never said that, Nancy. You`re the one that`s saying that. All we`ve confirmed is that there was blood found in the basement and that blood is Ayla`s.
GRACE: Well, Stephen, are we wrong in saying it is indicative of a clean-up?
MCCAUSLAND: Again, that is terminology we have never talked about.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maine State Police found blood.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Blood in DiPietro`s house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ve been in the house. I can tell you this. It`s a very small house. It`s a one-story house. Here`s the set-up. You have Justin, who lives in the basement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The basement is basically one giant room. I can confirm that there was blood in the basement and the blood was Ayla`s.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened that night...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was not any kind of a stranger abduction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The story doesn`t pass the straight face test.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blood was discovered from luminol.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blood that was found in the basement.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope it was not Ayla`s blood!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the quantity involved, we do find that very troubling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They bring in the luminol light. They shine it, and they find, what, massive amounts of blood?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you really want to know what my reaction is?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Isn`t enough enough?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You really want to know?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Haven`t we all suffered enough, including Ayla?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He did not invite me down to the basement.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) on the blood (INAUDIBLE) house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, I`m not -- I`m not here to answer any questions. You know, I`m just here to show my support for...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For Ayla.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... the community that`s supporting Ayla.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Why not? Why not answer any questions? Joining me is Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation. He faced a similar situation when his daughter, Polly, went missing. And he didn`t just answer the questions, he did backflips to make police move on from him as a suspect, the father, to the real perpetrator in that case.
Why, Marc? Why? You just spoke to Ayla`s father. Why is he so adamantly not answering questions?
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION (via telephone): Well, I think there`s two things going on here. First of all, he`s got no duty or obligation to answer public questions. He does have a duty and an obligation to answer law enforcement questions.
And I think the big question here is if Justin knew that there was amounts of -- copious amounts of Ayla`s blood in the basement, did he share that information with law enforcement, and was he able to explain it?
Now, I`d also like to address something. When you`re confronted with evidence but not proof that your loved one is dead, you`re going to react viscerally. I did. I`ve seen others do it. And I understand that Justin has done it, as well. When they told me that I had to get used to the idea that Polly was dead, I became very confrontational. And in fact, I started throwing furniture in the police chief`s office.
Much more recently, I`ve seen a family that was confronted with the same kind of information, and they retreated very quickly and started to get very angry and really broke down their relationship with law enforcement, although it was later repaired.
So the idea that Justin reacted in any particular way to this information that there was luminol and blood -- luminol discovered blood in the basement, I think unless you`ve been there, it`s really hard to judge that reaction, and I think we need to withhold that for the moment. And I`m not trying to defend this guy in any way. I think he`s handling himself pitifully, and I suspect that he probably does know much more than he`s telling in this case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to know what happened to my daughter, and I want to know where she is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Bombshell tonight. Not only is baby Ayla`s blood found in the basement of her father, which is essentially his bedroom, now suggestions that blood is, in fact, part of a clean-up. Does the evidence show the blood was wiped away? Did someone actually try to move baby Ayla`s blood or remove it?
Joining me, along with Bonnie Druker, Stephen McCausland joining us, spokesman for the Maine State Police. Mr. McCausland, again, thank you for being with us.
I understand what Marc Klaas is saying. I recall the first time I saw my fiance`s bloody clothes, I had a very disturbing reaction. I understand that.
But I want to go back to the forensics and not put all my eggs in one basket, and that is the demeanor of the father, who is not named a suspect at this time. Mr. McCausland, as to the blood in the basement, when I asked you was I wrong in reporting that it looked as if it had been wiped away, there was a smear mark of some form, maybe even picked up by luminol, is that inaccurate?
MCCAUSLAND: Nancy, I addressed this question both yesterday in our interview and today. We`ve confirmed there`s blood and we`ve confirmed it`s Ayla`s. We have not gotten into any more details...
GRACE: OK.
MCCAUSLAND: ... and I`m not going to tonight as well. There are some things I can talk about, and there are some things I can`t, and I`m sure you understand that.
GRACE: I do. I do, Stephen. With us, Ken Altshuler, WGAN "Morning News With Ken and Mike." Ken, I`m very disturbed about the timeline itself. We are getting conflicting reports. All along, we have been presented with a timeline that established baby Ayla put to bed the night before she goes missing around 8:00 PM. Did anybody other than the father or people in that home corroborate the jumping-off point, that she was, in fact, alive and spotted the night before?
KEN ALTSHULER, WGAN "MORNING NEWS WITH KEN AND MIKE" (via telephone): Nancy, you`re very right to be dubious. The last time we know that maybe she was around, Ayla had a doctor`s appointment for her broken arm on December 8th, and Justin DiPietro canceled the doctor`s appointment. Nobody has reported seeing her after that date.
GRACE: Stephen McCausland, I want to ask you also about the three people there in the home. The timeline that we have been presented starts with the evening before that she`s reported missing, that around 8:00 PM, she`s put to bed by her father. And I`m just wondering, Mr. McCausland, did anyone else corroborate that, or is he the only one establishing that timeline? When did anyone outside of that home last see baby Ayla alive?
MCCAUSLAND: Good questions, an most of those are investigative details we`re not going to get into. We`re going under the premise that little Ayla was there that night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Jane Bashara found dead in her car.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just an incredible shock. I feel sick.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Trying to solve a murder mystery. Just two strangled Jane Bashara and left her body in the backseat of a Mercedes.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Bashara`s SUV was towed to the Medical Examiner`s Office with her body still inside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve made some, I think, major significant investigative progress.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A couple of Jane Bashara`s fingernails were broken. Tom Bashara told police he last talked to his wife around 4:30 on the day she disappeared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the guy is not telling everything he knows.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Investigators armed with a search warrant scour the Bashara home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Determination for cause of death.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fantastic lady. You know, loving, generous, kind, well liked by everybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HLN HOST: We are getting breaking news right now out of Gross Pointe. The body of Jane Bashara, mom and wife, married over 20 years, found wedged in between the front and backseat of her 2004 Mercedes SUV.
Straight out to the Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session." What do we know?
JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": Nancy, we are getting this breaking news, working to confirm, but there has actually been an arrest in this case happening at this moment, but let`s take you back to this very fresh case.
A business executive, mother of two, was found strangled to death in her Mercedes in an alleyway on the east side of Detroit, Michigan. And, Nancy, the last time she was seen was on the afternoon around 4:00 p.m. She left a business meeting.
Her husband has been designated the person of interest, and this is an all- American family, Nancy. He is a former president of the rotary club in Gross Pointe Park, Michigan.
GRACE: Known as Big Bob in his neighborhood, he was also known as the mayor of Middlesex. They lived around a street called Middlesex in a very, very upscale neighborhood. Neighbors, relatives, friends, businesses -- business acquaintances pour into a local funeral home to say good-bye to mom, wife, business executive, Jane Bashara.
The circumstances surrounding the discovery of her body very unusual. Tonight an alleged girlfriend emerges.
To Clark Goldband, on the story. Clark, what do we know? Go through the timeline of Jane`s disappearance. Pick it up from where Jean left off.
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: OK, Nancy. Jane was last seen leaving a meeting downtown in an energy company around 4:00 p.m., and according to reports the husband told law enforcement he spoke to her sometime in the afternoon with the plan to meet at home at about 8:00 at night.
Also according to reports, Jane speaks to her daughter on the phone and law enforcement believes she arrives home after that meeting, but what happens next? Between about 5:00 and 8:00 p.m. when the husband arrives home is a mystery. The husband says he comes in to find the television set turned on. He finds his wife`s work ID at home, but no sign of his wife. The car is gone. Her cell phone is gone. And her purse is gone.
GRACE: OK. But what`s so amazing to me is he claims a couple of different things who was at home. It`s my understanding he claims he was working on a piece of real estate property. He was there. But also, she had to have come home, Clark, because she had on work clothes, but her bedroom shoes. No shoes, but her bedroom shoes were there.
GOLDBAND: That`s right, Nancy. We`ve just learned from reports that slippers were reportedly found in her luxury Mercedes SUV on the floor. She was not wearing them.
GRACE: Back to the lawyers. Raymond Giudice, Randy Kessler.
Ray, the reality is that someone may not be talking within that home for fear that they will be implicated, but by remaining quiet, to me, they get deeper and deeper in the story.
RAY GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You`re correct. There`s possible obstruction or perjury charges down the road or a conspiracy to either harm the child or cover up what happened to the child. You are right.
GRACE: What about it, Kessler?
RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, the first to talk usually gets the best deal, so someone is not very culpable or has a very minor possible charge they ought to come forward. You know, they -- that`s what happens. You have three or four defendants, and the last hold-out always gets the stiffest sentence.
GRACE: OK. Randy, back it up. Slow it down. I think what you just said should be reiterated. Who speaks first to cops going to get the best deal. And right now we believe that there in the police station is an alleged accomplice. My bet is the girlfriend. Anybody want to jump in on that? What about it, Kessler and Giudice?
KESSLER: You know, she`s got motives just like -- you`ve got to look at who had an interest,, and the two obvious choices are the husband and the girlfriend who would have stepped into mom`s shoes or the wife`s shoes presumably, or that might have been her intention. Who knows what the truth is, but that`s the suspicion?
GRACE: To Dr. Bill Lloyd, board certified surgeon and pathologist.
Dr. Lloyd, the condition of the body, very, very unusual. We find a lot of bruising to the back. Some of the fingernails actually removed. Her body is wedged between the front and the back seats of the car. She`s wearing no shoes, but we find on the floor of the car the Mercedes SUV, her bedroom shoes.
DR. BILL LLOYD, BOARD CERTIFIED SURGEON AND PATHOLOGIST: Good evening, Nancy. Remember, never touch the body. Never touch the body in a crime scene where a murder has occurred. It`s going to be very important for the investigators not only to identify the cause, the manner, the mechanism of death, but that postmortem interval. All night long you`ve been talking about timeline. They need to know when this woman was murdered and they`ll find out if they don`t disturb the body and allow the medical examiner to perform a complete examination.
GRACE: Well, Dr. Lloyd, you are right on because what we have learned is that when they towed her Mercedes SUV away from this alley there at Seven Mile, they left the body in it. They towed the car with the body in it. All the way to -- right there. The body is in the car.
Run it again, Liz. When you see that car being towed, her body is still in the car.
To Lisa Lockwood, former police detective, author of "Undercover Angel." Why would they put the SUV up on the tow truck and take it all through town with the body still wedged in the back?
LISA LOCKWOOD, FORMER POLICE DETECTIVE, AUTHOR OF "UNDERCOVER ANGEL": Every piece of evidence in that vehicle is crucial, so to take that vehicle and put it in a controlled environment where evidence can be collected in a place where they`re able to analyze it in a setting, like I said, that`s not outdoors, no elements can get to the vehicle, and no other hands can partake in it.
GRACE: Back to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session," evidence of a girlfriend has emerged, but also we`re hearing reports that that evening he, her husband, Big Bob, was spotted downtown with the wife. Now dead.
CASAREZ: That`s what a story is that they saw each other the afternoon after her meeting, and that`s where the timeline comes in, and that`s where cell phones become important and cell phone pings because where was he at 5:00, 6:00, 7:00, 8:00?
You know, Nancy, local reports are saying that a lie detector test that he took Friday night, that he failed, he did not pass.
GRACE: To Mark Smith, polygraph expert, VP at NJpolygraphists.
Mark, thanks for being with us. Mark, what can you tell us about him failing the polygraph?
MARK SMITH, POLYGRAPH EXPERT, VP OF NEW JERSEY POLYGRAPHISTS: Well, it`s not good news, obviously. It would have been beneficial to the case if he had told the truth after his test, but apparently he didn`t make any additional statements, but you certainly have a reason why there aren`t any other suspects right there.
GRACE: The tip line, everyone, 313-822-7400. Interestingly, the husband has not posted a reward for tips in the murder of his wife.
Everyone, the "Family Album" back showcasing your photos from iReport. Ohio friends, the Thomases. Matt, a cop, and Jordan, a full-time student, loves the Buckeyes and the Yankees, but most of all, time with their 2- year-old son, Brody.
Let`s see your family photos. Go to hlnTV.com/Nancy Grace and click on "Nancy`s Family Album."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What happened to Jane Bashara and who may have killed her?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Jean Bashara`s SUV was towed to the medical examiner`s office with her body still inside.
GRACE: No forced entry into the car. We have no sex attack. We have no robbery, which means it is not random.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Bashara was wearing black stretch pants, a greenish blouse, a bra and panties. Authorities also found what were described as house shoes on the floor of the Mercedes.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Bob Bashara walked out of the Gross Pointe Park Police Department after spending about an hour with detectives.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police named him as a person of interest in the investigation of his wife`s murder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They said start closest to the home and then spread out.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Bob, can you tell us about the polygraph? Bob?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: No response.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If anyone knows anything, come forward and cooperate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Just this afternoon the funeral occurs in an upscale area of Gross Pointe, one of the wealthiest cities in the United States. Family, friends, neighbors, relatives, business acquaintance is pouring into the funeral home, and notably president is her husband, Big Bob, now under suspicion, he has not been named a suspect. He has not been named a person of interest.
Her 2004 Mercedes SUV actually towed away with the body still wedged between the front and backseats. There on the floor of the SUV were her bedroom shoes. Why so important? It shows she went home after a business meeting that afternoon. The meeting ended around 4:00. She`s got about a 10-mile drive home. Traffic, give it 30 minutes.
Somewhere between that time and around 8:00 p.m. that evening she is murdered in the home. Why else would she have had on bedroom shoes and not work shoes?
To Jean Casarez, a couple of conflicting stories floating around about where the husband was that evening.
CASAREZ: Right. You know, Nancy, we covered this story from the moment it broke, and the information just keeps coming in, keeps adding up. Now he is saying -- and he was spotted at a bar that night. He was also spotted at some rental properties that he owned, the bar being one of them. So there was he at a certain point of time. We don`t know exactly what, but we`re getting more information, Nancy, that someone may have come into the police department very early this morning saying they had information.
Police right now are continuing to try to verify that information. Was this an accomplice as you`re saying? I think that`s speculative at this point, but this case continues to grow.
GRACE: And in fact, the person at the police station right now says they`ve got, quote, "firsthand knowledge of the Bashara murder."
To Clark Goldband, the conflicting stories about where the husband was at the time she was murdered, what do you know?
GOLDBAND: Yes, Nancy. There`s one other report from a local station that he was seen downtown with his wife sometime after she left work. Now the exact time of that is not clear. However, it is important to note that this is the first we`re hearing of this, that this may advance the timeline further.
GRACE: Clark, Clark, why did you leave out the husband allegedly health the -- there`s a lot of allegedly in this sentence. Helping the alleged girlfriend buy an alleged house. I guess I can confirm it`s a house. What do you know about that? Why did you leave that out of your summary?
GOLDBAND: Nancy, according to the "Detroit News," they are reporting that he has a girlfriend, as you said, allegedly, and she works at a local university and, in fact, according to this report, she listed him as her emergency contact at work.
GRACE: What about him trying to help her buy a house? That`s what I asked you. Was he --
GOLDBAND: Yes.
GRACE: -- trying to help her buy a house? Yes? No?
GOLDBAND: According to this report, he sure was. However --
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Ray Giudice, Randy Kessler. I want to see them. First I want to go to you, Giudice. What are you going to tell me if this is true? That`s just a friend? How many friend girls have you helped buy a house?
GIUDICE: None and never will.
GRACE: I assume your wife is watching tonight.
GIUDICE: That`s right. You`re right.
GRACE: What about you, Kessler?
KESSLER: Not in a million years. Why would I do that?
GRACE: Good answer. Good answer. So where is this taking me, Giudice?
GIUDICE: And Nancy, real quick, here`s what I think. By the nature of her injuries it shows a tremendous defense of struggle on her point. She was not caught off guard, hit on the head -- back of the head with a pipe. She knew who her murderer was.
GRACE: OK. I agree with you. And a lot of those wounds, as you say, in my mind are defensive. Several of her fingernails actually gone according to reports.
GIUDICE: Right.
GRACE: Now he is claiming no girlfriend. I think that`s the least of his troubles right now. Repeat, he is not a suspect. He has not been named a person of interest, but we`re also told that the informant, the person there at the police station right now is a male, so that rules out any alleged girlfriend.
OK, Clark. What can you tell me about this guy? I know he was called the mayor of Sherwood. Why? He was the president of the rotary club. What did he actually do for a living? Who brought home the money? That`s what I`m trying to find out.
GOLDBAND: He is known to his friends also, Nancy, as Big Bob, and even has a license plate, B-O-B-B for Bob, Big Bob. He apparently owns some sort of a janitorial and cleaning supply business in addition to owning some of these rental properties that Jean just spoke about. He`s very active in the community. He fundraises food, clothes, a lot of charity work for kids. Everybody says he has a great personality.
GRACE: Did I miss in here -- did you say who brought home the paycheck? Did you tell me that and I missed it?
GOLDBAND: Well, he does bring home a paycheck, but, Nancy, his wife was a high ranking executive, so --
GRACE: So what does he do for a living?
GOLDBAND: Yes. He owns a janitorial and custodial supply company.
GRACE: OK. Right, right. OK, you know another thing, Clark, he is not a suspect. Is a person of interest. But where does that really leave me, Jean? Why are they calling him a person of interest, but they won`t go so far as to say he is a suspect?
CASAREZ: You know, the modern terminology, person of interest, constitutional rights attach when someone is a suspect, but, Nancy, I`ll tell you who brought in the paycheck. It wasn`t him, and I`ll tell you why. He is $18,000 in arrears in taxes for some of those rental properties according to local reports.
GRACE: OK. Ouch. That hurts. And the location where he allegedly was at the time his wife was being murdered is one of his rental properties, the Hard Luck Bar and Lounge. Now, that`s certainly quite a coincidence that he`s at the Hard Luck Bar and Lounge.
So, Clark Goldband, you`re telling me he`s got his janitorial service, but he is $18,000 in debt with the tax man. That`s a man you don`t want to mess with.
GOLDBAND: That`s right. And Nancy, you know those fees keep increasing under interest and penalties.
GRACE: Kelly, Ohio. Hi, what`s your question?
KELLY, CALLER FROM OHIO: Hi, Nancy, I love your show. I love your twins. I just have one question. When he was being questioned by the cops, why did he wait to get a lawyer? Does he have something that he is hiding from the cops that he doesn`t want them to know?
GRACE: What about it, Clark? What happened? Wasn`t he in the middle of talking to cops and then in comes a lawyer right in the middle of the whole thing?
GOLDBAND: That`s right, Nancy. Previously to that, the day before, he spoke to law enforcement for about an hour and a half, according to reports, and it was the next day when police searched the home that he sat down and spoke with them for about four hours and as you said, at some point during that questioning, an attorney was seen walking into the police station.
GRACE: Right. I researched the attorney. He is noted for personal injury work, and he does criminal law.
Out to the lines, Virginia in Texas. Hi, dear, what`s your question?
VIRGINIA, CALLER FROM TEXAS: Hello, lovely lady.
GRACE: Thank you.
VIRGINIA: Well, my question is since she has broken fingernails and body bruises, obviously, she put up a fight. Were there any marks on her husband, any injury? That`s my question.
GRACE: Good question. Jean Casarez, any injuries to him that we know of?
CASAREZ: Not that we know of. Not that we know of, but interestingly, he wore his dark glasses when doing an interview with local television reporters?
GRACE: And let me guess, long sleeves and a coat.
CASAREZ: Yes, you`re right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: As highly trained police dogs search outside the home, officers snap photos and remove computers from inside the home.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: It is not believed this crime is random, and the family will continue searching for answers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My heart is broken for them. I can`t, I just can`t, I can`t process this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A shocking discovery here in this alley.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Jane Bashara was found strangled.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: In Gross Pointe Park, wife and mother was strangled to death.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Strangled in the backseat of her Mercedes-Benz.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Her husband --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Who`s also being called the only current person of interest in his wife Jane`s homicide.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Reported her missing the night before when she didn`t come home.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Jane Bashara`s fingernails were broken. At the medical examiner`s office, a pathologist noted that there was --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Trauma to the throat, neck, back.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police believe that Bashara made it home from work that night. And what happened in the hours after?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We now understand the male at police HQ right now is an accomplice. That is what we are being told. That`s what we`re trying to confirm right now.
You know, Clark Goldband, I noticed when he was explaining to the media what happened, he said that he would call people and on the phone, and go yes, yes, Jane is missing, and you know what? He started giving alibis, and she must have been carjacked, she must have been kidnapped, all and notifying people that she was gone.
GOLDBAND: Nancy, according to a report, a friend of Jane`s was called at about 9:30, so that`s about an hour and a half after he allegedly got back to the home and didn`t see her, and stated to this friend not only was the TV on, but her work ID was in the home and her cell phone and purse was missing. The friend said he definitely brought that up in the conversation, and also said her car was gone.
GRACE: Well, Kessler and Giudice, first to you, Ray. Remember what Shakespeare says. Me thinks thou dos protest too much.
GIUDICE: Well, I would tell you that if there was ever a trial in this case, those words are going to come back potentially to be very important in a timeline, which all prosecutors and former prosecutors like yourself love to set up.
GRACE: Well, you know, Kessler, the way Giudice says it, he sounds like he`s a law professor sitting at the top of Harvard Law School. Bottom line, he talked too much.
KESSLER: There are thousands of possibilities. There could be someone that this guy owed money that was avenging a death. There could be people that were -- you know, there are thousands possibilities. We`ve got explore them all.
GRACE: Sounds like a mystery novel to me.
Tip line, 313-822-7400. Husband has posted no reward at this time.
Let`s stop and remember Army Sergeant Jan Michael Argonish, 26, (INAUDIBLE), Pennsylvania, killed Afghanistan. Two Bronze Stars, Purple Heart, National Defense Service medal, Volunteer Firefighter and corrections officer loved outdoors, motorcycles, ATVing with his son and fiance. Country music, classic cars. He leaves behind grieving parents, Nancy and Michael, brother Nicholas, sister Elizabeth, fiance Talia, and son Jacob.
Jan Michael Argonish, American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you. And happy birthday to our show`s number one friend, Linda and Millow. Here`s her favorite childhood photo. Loves the outdoors, reading, gardening, sound of the wind in the trees, and her late cat Ben.
Happy birthday, Linda.
Everyone, see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
