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Jane Velez-Mitchell
Powell Murder-Suicide: House Bombed Intentionally?
Aired February 06, 2012 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, coming you live from New York City.
Grief, outrage and total disbelief tonight as the world learns the husband of missing mom Susan Powell takes the ultimate revenge out on his wife`s family by murdering his own two little boys. Up next, will the secrets of what happened to their missing mom, Susan Powell, be buried forever?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, incomprehensible horror in the case of missing mom Susan Powell. Cops say her husband, Josh Powell, the main suspect in Susan`s disappearance, killed himself and his kids in a gruesome double murder/suicide. Did he plan the deadly explosion that ripped through his home on the kids` visiting day? Was he afraid of what his little boys were beginning to say about the night of mommy`s disappearance? I`ll talk to Susan`s friend and the family`s lawyer live.
And we`re taking your calls.
Then, it`s day one in the retrial of a handsome husband accused of beating his pregnant wife to death. Jason Young claimed he was away on business when Michelle was murdered, but the prosecution says he`s lying. We`ll take you inside the courtroom.
And could this happen to you? We`ll talk to a couple who says fire burst from their faucet. Their children and pets suddenly became sick, and they want answers. I`ll talk to them live, and we`ll see if something called fracking might be to blame.
Plus, I`m taking you on an adventure. What you`re about to see me do will shock you, but I`ve got a good reason. It`s something you have to see tonight to believe.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did Josh Powell kill himself and his two sons to keep a secret?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Allegedly blew up his house, killing himself and his two young sons.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: `Cause it wasn`t right. It wasn`t right at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All three bodies were found together in the middle of the house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only way he could win this game that he was playing was to kill them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is something we believe was done intentionally and done with malice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think this proves it. I think this is his admission of guilt, and he just couldn`t handle it any more.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m feeling so much anger towards Josh right now. So much anger towards him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just knew that if there was anyone in there they didn`t survive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I could understand if he wanted to end his own life but to murder his own children? The one consolation I have right now is that those little boys are with their mother again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hopefully, they`re with their mommy in Heaven now. That is a great way to look at it, that they`re up in heaven with their mommy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight two precious innocent little boys holding an unbearable secret. Did those secrets cost them their lives?
The sons of missing mom, Susan Powell, were just beginning to remember what happened the night she vanished, bud no one could have imagined what would happen next.
Josh Powell, their dad, the sole suspect in their mom`s disappearance, blew his family up in a deliberate gas explosion, a murder/suicide that killed him and his two precious, innocent young boys just yesterday.
Powell`s house exploded on Sunday right after a social worker brought his sons, ages 5 and 7, over for a court-ordered supervised visit. And now we`re hearing those boys not want to go see their dad yesterday. Oh, if we had only listened to the children.
Cops say Powell pulled the boys inside, pushed away the social worker, and then set off the fiery blast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DALE WALDEN, NEIGHBOR: She was dropping the children off for a visitation with their dad. That he got them into the house and slammed the door in her face. And she couldn`t get in and was out and was trying to call 911 when the explosion occurred.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Not only has Susan Powell`s family lost Susan. Now they`ve lost two innocent little boys. Here is Susan`s devastated, completely shattered father.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHUCK COX, SUSAN`S FATHER: That was all taken away, too, by a selfish, cowardly act in my mind, a slaughter of two innocent children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It is the ultimate act of cowardice. He got that right.
Josh Powell lost custody of his boys to Susan`s parents when Powell`s own father, 61-year-old Steve, was arrested for having child porn in their house.
And last week, a judge told Josh he wouldn`t get custody of his kids unless he underwent a psychosexual evaluation. What was going on in that house?
Cops long considered Josh Powell the sole suspect in the 2009 disappearance of his wife. Susan vanished while Josh said he was in a middle-of-the-night camping trip in a blizzard with his two young sons. Nobody believed the story.
Now that the Josh and the boys are gone and Susan is still out there somewhere, will we ever know what happened to her?
I want to hear from you. What do you think about this nightmarish development? Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.
Straight out to my dear friend who I know is heartbroken tonight, Ann Bremner, the attorney for Susan Powell`s parents.
Ann, I can`t even imagine, it`s beyond my comprehension when I saw this -- when I heard about this, when I read about it. I felt sick. I felt sick. Can you even characterize how Susan -- Susan -- Susan`s parents, who`ve lost her and then lost their two grandkids, how they`re holding up?
ANN BREMNER, ATTORNEY FOR SUSAN`S PARENTS: Oh, it`s just -- it`s horrific. I mean, words can`t describe obviously what they`re going through. I talked to Chuck yesterday when he found out. And he -- Jane, he didn`t even have words. I mean, it`s unthinkable the fact that they lost Susan and their children.
And this horrible explosion, and those kids running towards their dad that they love and setting them on fire. Nobody should have to go through any of this ever. I think the whole world is outraged.
And Chuck and Judy, it`s just -- there`s just no words. There can never be any words, ever.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: There can never be any words. It really boggles my mind. And my first thought was why? Why did the government force those kids to their deaths?
Cops say Powell poured ten gallons of gas through the house. Even Powell`s family says they had no idea Josh would be capable of something this horrific, but when you think about it, it makes sense. He`s the sole suspect in his wife`s presumed murder.
Listen to this from his brother-in-law.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRK GRAVES, JOSH`S BROTHER-IN-LAW: We`re in shock. We are simply -- it`s beyond belief. We have had suspicions of various things Josh was capable of, but I, for one, didn`t think he was capable of this.
I think this proves it. I think this is his admission of guilt, and he just couldn`t handle it anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, and it was also his way of protecting himself, because these young boys had begun saying, according to his -- their maternal grandparents, what happened the night that their mother vanished. And they began saying, "Mommy is in the trunk" and "Mommy is in the mine."
So clearly, Wendy Murphy, former prosecutor, it doesn`t take Einstein to figure out that the kids were starting to talk and verbalize. They`re now 5 and 7. They`re starting to verbalize what happened that night, and they`re starting to say things that are incriminating their dad.
That dad could have killed himself. He could have committed suicide. He brings those kids to his home, pushes away the social worker, and then kills himself and his two sons.
WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: You know, first of all, the court should never, as you said, Jane, should never have let these kids near him, because men who kill their wives are, generally speaking, extremely dangerous to their children. Duh.
But here`s the thing. I asked the same question: what was going on here? Was this a crisis of conscience? And of course what`s the obvious answer? The answer is, no, this is a selfish, narcissistic killer type of jerk, cowardly jerk who, because the kids were going to rat him out for what they knew, blow them up.
What did he do when his wife got -- whatever she did wrong that he didn`t like? Get rid of her.
I`m wondering, Jane, whether she didn`t confront him on something sexually inappropriate, which is why he had to get rid of her.
This is a guy who was doing something, whatever it was, behind closed doors that was disgusting, probably sexual. The wife was angry. He kills her. The kids start to tell. He blows them up.
A court system in this country that sends children to their death. You know, tens of thousands of children are forced into these kinds of situations, forced to live with or visit with demonstrably dangerous men every single day in this country.
Let this be a lesson to the judge who allowed this to happen. Blood is on that judge`s hands.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The kids didn`t want to go. They didn`t want to go to a house where porn, child porn had been found. That`s why this guy, who just committed murder/suicide, who`s now dead, his father is in jail on child porn charges and is on suicide watch.
Why were these boys sent into that home?
One of the reasons Josh Powell was a prime suspect in his wife`s disappearance is because he said ridiculous, unbelievable things about what he did the night they went camping the middle of the night in a blizzard on a Sunday night when he was due at work Monday morning. Listen to this bizarre interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH POWELL, PRIME SUSPECT IN WIFE`S DISAPPEARANCE: I put my sons above everyone. Everyone. And of course, everyone who knows me knows that. And Susan is -- she`s second, you know? But she`s a high priority.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Travis Mayfield, KOMO 1000 News Radio reporter in Seattle, nobody ever believed this story that they went and did s`mores in the middle of a blizzard. Who takes their tiny children out into blizzard condition to do s`mores on a Sunday night when he`s due at work Monday?
And by the way, he never made it to work because he claimed that he got confused about what day of the week it was. It was an absurd story from the beginning -- Travis.
TRAVIS MAYFIELD, KOMO 1000 NEWS RADIO REPORTER: That`s right, Jane, but unfortunately, investigators always told us they never had enough evidence to actually charge him in this.
But as you pointed out, now that the kids are reportedly talking, the family was, we were told, has been told that an arrest could have been coming very soon. So you know, the pieces were definitely closing in all around him, by all accounts.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, on the other side of this break, we`re going to talk to a friend of Susan Powell`s, who is obviously devastated. We`re all devastated. Who wants this kind of an end to a story we`ve been covering for two years here?
We`re taking your calls, also, and we`re going to get to Michelle in Michigan on the other side. 1-877-JVM-SAYS.
Also ahead, flames shooting out of a faucet, and children mysteriously sick? What the heck is going on? I`m going to talk to the couple who has fire water, literally, in a moment.
But first, more of Josh Powell`s tragic double murder/suicide.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAVES: I think this proves it. I think this is his admission of guilt, and he just couldn`t handle it any more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J. POWELL: A lot of times, I just go camping with my boys, you know, not anything big. I just go overnight, and you know, we do s`mores and stuff like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That was the infamous interview that Josh Powell gave to a local reporter after his wife vanished, saying well, we went out in a blizzard, me and my kids, and we did s`mores. And it became sort of the metaphor for how unbelievable his story was.
And now, more unbelievable horror: an explosion that he set off that literally rocked the entire neighborhood, killing him and killing his precious 5- and 7-year-old sons, who didn`t want to go -- they were forced to go by court order -- to their dad`s house.
Listen to Josh Powell`s neighbor describe the carnage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALDEN: I was in my living room, just watching the pregame, and there was a big explosion. It shook the house. I just knew that if there was anyone in there, they didn`t survive. You could tell that instantly from what we saw.
I can`t imagine anyone killing their children. I just -- that`s beyond anything I can imagine someone doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It was an act of cowardice, because the kids were starting to talk and say what they knew about what happened that night, saying, "Mommy`s in the trunk." One of the boys, the little one, drew a drawing of mommy in the trunk of the car, because it only showed the two boys and daddy.
And his grandparents asked, "Well, where`s Mommy?"
"Mommy`s in the trunk."
What does that tell you about what happened that night?
JoVannah Owings, my condolences, my dear. We`ve talked to you numerous times. You are a friend of Susan Powell`s. How are you coping? What was your reaction when you heard this incomprehensible news?
JOVANNAH OWINGS, FRIEND OF SUSAN J. POWELL: I -- I didn`t believe it. I still am wondering if I -- if I believe it. It`s just -- it`s devastating. And it`s so -- it`s so hurtful. And as a mother, I don`t know how anybody could possibly hurt their children like that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now do you believe he killed his wife? You were there having dinner with them that night...
OWINGS: I was.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... in the hours before she disappeared. And I`ve talked to you numerous times and you`ve said, "Well, I don`t know. He didn`t seem to be abusive." I mean, now do you think maybe he`s responsible for killing his wife?
OWINGS: I think he`s -- I think he`s capable of doing it. I still don`t know if he did or not. But if he did, I think he had to have told someone else where he put her. And I`m sure a member of his family knows.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Ann Bremner, criminal defense attorney, the kids are talking about she`s with the mines looking for crystals. Tell us.
BREMNER: Exactly. And they were saying things from early on, actually, Jane, "Mommy is in a mine," and then more recently, saying, "Go to the mine. You`ll find Mommy." The picture of the trunk that was told to the other lawyer, the family law lawyer, Steve Downey, in this case.
The fact is they were saying all kinds of things about what happened with their mom, and there`s all kinds of circumstantial evidence in this case that Josh Powell killed Susan. I`m firmly convinced of that, as are Chuck and Judy.
And the fact is he moved away from that house right away when she was missing. He moved to Puyallup. He never helped the police, ever. And he ridiculed her. He and his father came out and tried to expose her personal journals, talked about sexual relationships with her that were completely false. And I could go on and on.
The fact is, we especially know now that he killed her from what he did yesterday.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`re going to go to the phone lines now. Michelle in Michigan. Your question or thought, Michelle?
CALLER: Well, first of all, my heart goes out to Susan Powell`s family, and I am -- I`m sick about this. As much as I hate to say it, I do believe the system failed once again, and guess who gets hurt? Guess who gets killed? Guess who gets taken? Beautiful children once again. I`ve watched it, because I`ve seen it in my own neighborhood. We`ve tried to do things. We`ve tried to help.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Michelle, I couldn`t agree with you more. It makes me sick.
Vikki Ziegler, family law attorney, why, why, why? There was porn in that house. They`ve established it. He was a sole suspect. Why deliver these innocents to him?
VIKKI ZIEGLER, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Jane, this is devastating, sitting here hoping. You know, you`re a family law practitioner, hoping that the laws are really protecting the children and what is in their best interests.
But the courts have to listen to the children. If they`re afraid, you`re 5 and 7 years old. They have an inkling. They know something is wrong. People have to listen. They have to take heed to what they`re saying. And if the children`s welfare is at stake, don`t let them go see this parent, even on a supervised basis. Go back to the courts, and tell the courts that they`ve done something wrong. This is a travesty. He...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me tell you something. They could have met in neutral territory. How about a park?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: More on the Powell case in a moment, but first, we need a break. Here`s your "Viral Video of the Day."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(DOG PANTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVEN POWELL, FATHER-IN-LAW OF SUSAN POWELL: That she initiated the relationship that we had; that it was, you know, very sexually charged. There were some -- definitely some things that were probably inappropriate for a married woman and her father-in-law.
I will say that, you know, it probably developed into, you know, maybe an obsession.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On your part?
S. POWELL: On my part. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That is the very disturbed, in my opinion, father-in- law of the missing woman, Susan Powell, the father of Josh Powell, the grandfather of the two kids. This guy that you just heard from owned the home that blew up, and his son murdered the two kids and killed himself.
Meanwhile, that guy you just heard from is behind bars on suicide watch. He was arrested because they found, cops say, that he was taking pictures of little girls on the toilet, and he had child porn on his computer.
So I`ve got to ask you, Vikki Ziegler, family law attorney, like father like son?
ZIEGLER: Absolutely. I mean, that`s why this judge ordered a psychosexual evaluation to make sure that there was no concern whatsoever as it related to his sexual proclivity.
And with that evaluation was a lie detector test. Perhaps Josh Powell did not want to actually undertake that. That could have been part and parcel. I`m telling you, Jane, if he was charged, these children may be alive, because there could would have been no supervised visitation. Everything would have been stopped pending the criminal investigation.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wendy Murphy, former prosecutor, how on earth can you say, "Oh, well, you`re sick enough that we want you to have a psychosexual investigation"? Meanwhile, the kids are going to be showing up, and we`re going to allow them into your house a couple of times a week for a four- hour visit, when there`s some lady bringing them in. She physically can`t fight a male who would be intent on something like this?
MURPHY: You know, Jane, there is no excuse. I wish I could say it`s a rare event. The family court system in this country is a mess. Abusive men are far more likely to win custody over protective mothers than are non-abusive men. And you know why? Because the abusive ones, especially with the help of jerk fathers, make up stories about the mothers, like the junk we just heard from that nitwit. They make crazy claims: the mother`s crazy. The mother is poisoning the well. Parental alienation syndrome.
Let me be very clear here. If I were practicing regularly in family court, I would be in jail, because I have seen judges do this too often. "Oh, the guy seems nice. OK, he`s a little abusive to the mother, but he`s a good father. I`m going to send the kids over."
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hey...
MURPHY: And guess what happens time and again?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hey, take a look at the case of missing Michelle Parker. Ever since Michelle vanished, this "People`s Court" case, her kids have been in the custody of her ex, Dale Smith. He`s a person of interest in her disappearance and has shown a proclivity towards violence. Check this out from ABC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Smith, do you have anything to say about this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the way into Wednesday`s emergency custody hearing, Smith shoved our photographer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m not saying Dale Smith is capable of doing what Josh Powell did, but people are questioning a system that allows men who are suspects in their wives` disappearance or their girlfriend`s disappearance to maintain full custody of their kids.
Ann Bremner, ten seconds.
BREMNER: Well, it`s an outrage. I mean, the whole system is out of order, Jane.
And the fact is in this case, you had probable cause to get search warrants from the West Valley police on murder. They knew he was violent. They knew he`d killed Susan as probable cause, didn`t have anything to do with sex...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Got to leave it right there. We`ve going to have more on this tomorrow. Ann, come back.
Unbelievable murder, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The evidence supports that this defendant, Jennifer Trayers is guilty of murder in the first degree. She wants a discount from you for the murder of her husband.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does that show someone who is a cold-blooded calculated murderer or does that show someone who is in a total, uncontrollable rage? She is not thinking about what she is doing who is still stabbing after their husband is dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We are on verdict watch as we speak. Will the jilted wife in a deadly love triangle be convicted of her husband`s murder? Right now, jurors deciding the fate of Jennifer Trayers; she is the one with the gray hair and the glasses, accused of stabbing her navy doctor husband in the heart and neck ten times in a jealous rage over his beautiful, younger blonde mistress, seen on the other side of the screen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIELLE ROBINS, MISTRESS OF MURDER VICTIM: He definitely said that there were issues and that he had been unhappy for a long time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The defense specifically appealed to female jurors during closing arguments, considering how many women have called into the show saying they were cheated on and could have killed their husbands, the defense might have a good strategy.
Straight out to my producer, Selin Darkalstanian, who had a front row seat on this trial; you are there. What`s it like as these deliberations drag on?
SELIN DARKALSTANIAN, PRODUCER, ISSUES: Jane, we are going into the 12th hour of deliberations and I feel a sense of conflict amongst the jurors. I watched them come out of break and some of them looked really frustrated. They were looking up, they were pacing the hallways during their 15-minute break from court and we still do not have a verdict.
I just got off the phone with the PIO of this court and said tomorrow there is no court this courtroom is dark, so the jury has chosen to come back on Wednesday at 9 a.m. to continue deliberation. And it seems like they are conflicted because they are not coming up with a verdict and we are going into day three now.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The wife says she told her husband she wanted to kill herself and he only laughed at her and mocked her. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNIFER TRAYERS, ON TRIAL FOR MURDER OF HUSBAND: Kind of like, "Are you kidding me?" Then he started laughing at me. Just like "are you joking", like he didn`t think I was serious.
Then he told me that that knife was not sharp enough. I couldn`t believe what I was hearing. I`m like, "Are you kidding me?" What -- I`m expecting him to stop me and not want -- I just couldn`t believe what I was hearing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Some cynics say she let her hair go gray for the trial and put her hair in a bun a la Casey Anthony. But being mocked, when she was trying to commit suicide, only infuriated and humiliated her further. The big question: are the women on the jury going to sympathize with her because she was cheated on? And obviously there is some kind of disagreement in that jury box right now. We`re going to stay on top of that story.
But next, another shocking, shocking murder case -- it is the opposite, male to female.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think my sister`s dead. Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meredith, listen to me, please. Are you with the patient now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, and her daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. How old is the patient?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s blood everywhere. She is 28, 29. Michelle? She`s cold.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Turning now to that different murder trial filled with secrets. A pregnant mom left to die in her bed as her innocent two- year-old daughter tracked bloody footprints all over their home. Imagine that. Who could have been beaten to death, Michelle Young? Why? Why? Who had the motive to beat her to death in her own bedroom?
This was personal, people. Prosecutors say it was her philandering husband, Jason, who happens to be very handsome and likes to party, or did before he was locked up. The jury in his 2010 trial was deadlocked, 8-4 in favor of acquittal. His second murder trial started today in Raleigh, North Carolina. There he is.
Prosecutors say Jason was unhappy and overwhelmed with family life, especially because a second child was on the way that was going to weigh him down. Again, he liked to party. Jason took the stand in his first trial and testified in his own defense that he was away on a business trip in Virginia and asleep in his hotel room when this vicious, brutal beating of his wife occurred.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you kill your wife, Michelle?
JASON YOUNG, ON TRIAL FOR MURDER OF WIFE: No, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you there when it happened?
YOUNG: No, sir.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Prosecutors argued that he left his hotel just after midnight, drove, I think it`s about three-hour drive to his home in Raleigh, murdered his wife by beating her, bashing her ten times and then drove back and pretended to be asleep in the hotel. Will the state be able to convince the jury the second time around?
I`m very delighted to have with me "In Session" correspondent, my good buddy, Beth Karas. Oh my gosh, I mean what is going on? I know intimate partner violence is a huge problem in this country, where the leading cause of death of pregnant women is murder at the hands of the men who impregnated her. And this would appear to be Exhibit A.
This guy, they say, was party animal, liked to get drunk and didn`t want to be weighed down.
BETH KARAS, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": Already on the first day of this second trial, the jury has heard how horrible the relationship was. They fought all the time. In fact, they didn`t get along more than they got along. She got pregnant. They got married when she got pregnant. That is their first child, Cassidy who is two years old and hiding under the covers when aunt, Michelle the victim`s sister, found her dead the following morning.
There is going to be compelling evidence coming up by the state. You stay tuned in the days to come because they have got some good evidence at the hotel.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: This is horrific. Look at this innocent child who -- she was walking around in the blood. That`s what absolutely blows my mind, that this little baby, the callousness of it, if he did it, to murder his wife, beat her to death and then leave their toddler child alone to walk around in the blood until the sister comes.
Jason claims on the night of the murder, he was at a hotel three hours from the home in Hillsville, Virginia, but prosecutors say he left the hotel around midnight, drove home, murdered his wife and then drove back to the hotel.
Now, a gas station clerk testified she sold Jason gas early in the morning of the murder, about 40 miles from Raleigh. Here`s surveillance photos of Jason checking into the hotel. Maintenance worker there say they found a rock in his hotel room door which he could have used to prevent his key card from registering his comings and goings.
This seems to me, Wendy Murphy, former prosecutor, to be very, very good evidence, something right up there with like, for example, Joran Van Der Sloot going in and out of the hotel room where he murdered Stephany Flores.
WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yes, I mean hotels. Come on, especially these days, they`re equipped with so many security devices from the key card to video cameras and so forth. This guy is an idiot, frankly, if he thought this was going to be a good alibi.
You know, I do think it`s interesting that there was a vote almost in favor of acquittal the first time out. All I can think of is that they intentionally picked jurors who were idiots or, you know, had IQs below 72.
You know, I know that his defense was something like, well, I doesn`t have any injuries on me and if anybody would have been wasn`t like that we have been covered in injuries from her beating back at me in self-defense. But the fact is he clearly did it while she was asleep. I mean, she was in the bedroom. He did it at 3:00 in the morning, presumably. Nobody fights back if you hit them in the head with a bat while they are sound asleep.
I think this guy is cooked. I don`t understand that first verdict or the hung jury the first time out. That makes no sense to me at all.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let`s listen to more of the 911 call from Michelle`s sister, who discovered Michelle dead in her bed. Remember, Michelle is about five months pregnant when she is murdered. And listen to the heart-wrenching words of the two-year-old baby. I can tell you, I can tell you this is the 911 call you are about to hear, but the little baby has said, "Mommy`s got boo-boos." Can you imagine that?
Listen to the 911 call.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s cold.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s cold.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her body is stiff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. Then don`t try. If she`s cold, then there`s --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- there`s probably nothing much you can do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Should I not touch anything?
(END AUDIO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Listen, common sense, who else has a motive to murder this pregnant woman?
I`m going to go to the phone lines now. Crystal, Iowa, your question or thought Crystal?
CRYSTAL, IOWA (via telephone): Yes. I was just wondering like, was he abusive towards her before like this murder happened? And so --
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Excellent question.
CRYSTAL: -- and it`s like, who leaves a two-year-old home alone?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Beth Karas?
KARAS: They fought a lot. They fought all the time. He did not like Michelle`s mother, for example, but I`m not aware of there being a lot of physical abuse but they did not get along.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I want to know about his desire to party and all of that stuff, because we hear this all the time.
Remember, Scott Peterson, oh, he didn`t want to be weighed down. He was having an affair with Amber Frey. It wasn`t her fault. She didn`t know he was married because he lied to her. But these guys who want to go out there and party have a single life. This guy was a salesman.
That was Scott Peterson who is on death row right now.
But this guy is a salesman. Supposedly according to friends, he wanted to live the college life. He liked to drink. Why do they feel the need, if in fact he did murder her, to murder? Why, Wendy Murphy, can`t they just go for a divorce, which is exactly what Sharon Rocha, Scott Peterson`s mother-in-law said to Scott.
MURPHY: Yes, well two things. It is expensive to get divorced when you have to then pay for the upkeep of a child. And there was money on the flipside if he could collect on the insurance.
Those two things are powerful, powerful motives. If ever things happen that make people crazy there`s almost always money somewhere behind the story, Jane that appears to be what is driving, aside from his selfish and narcissistic and violent ways and wanted to live a free life, he wanted cash.
Yes well, thank you so much, fantastic panel.
Now we`re going to lighten it up a little bit.
Coming up, there`s not many, I have to say this about myself, TV hosts who are willing to go out there and dumpster dive and eat garbage. But you know they named the show after me today and they said, in return, you`re going to go out and have to eat a little bit garbage. So I said yes, my pleasure. In fact I whipped up a gorgeous meal.
In seriousness, I am out there eating garbage and I`m going to tell you why and why it is actually a very, very important issue. You will not believe this and I promise you, coming up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Look at all this bread, man. Whoa. Holy. I hit the mother lode, beginner`s luck. I hit the mother lode. Look at this bread. Look.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It looks like sliced bagels.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: My gosh, sliced bagels.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fracking is an explosive topic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There we go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Many are also worried about the possibility of pollution from chemically-treated water used to break up rock and free- trapped gas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go. Wow. Fourth of July.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Look at that. It is something straight out of a horror movie. Imagine turning on your kitchen faucet and the water pouring out catches fire. This is exactly what happened. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There we go. There you go. Wow. Fourth of July.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow is right. The video you`re looking at is from a Pennsylvania family`s home and they have joined us here tonight. How could this happen to an ordinary American family in an ordinary American kitchen? There`s one scary theory and we have heard reports of similar claims from all over the United States in areas were companies are drilling for natural gas in a process called hydraulic fracturing or fracking.
Basically, and this is very basic, they pump pressurized water, sand and toxic chemicals underground to increase the flow of natural gas to the surface. But is this process that the industry insists is safe responsible for flaming water and people getting sick and animals dying? What do you think?
I`m taking your calls on this because it is happening all over the United States, in most states at this point. 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586- 7297.
Straight out to my very special guest, Jodie Simmons and Jason Lamphere and they live in the home where the faucet was spewing fire. First of all, Jodie, we will start with you. You say they first started fracking near your house back in 2007. So, how long before you noticed the flames coming out of your faucet? I mean describe what we are seeing here.
JODIE SIMMONS, HAD HEALTH ISSUES DUE TO FRACKING: Well, it was about back in February, it was February 20th when he noticed our water had changed color. And then we had called the EP, in which the EP had come out and she was testing it, she decided to take a bottle of water out and light it on fire to see if it would hold a flame. And of course, it did. That is when we decided -- you know, we definitely had a problem.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And did the water smell funny at all?
SIMMONS: Oh, it had a horrible odor.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It had a horrible odor.
SIMMONS: Almost smelled like a cross between what would you say, honey, rotten eggs and --
JASON LAMPHERE, HAD HEALTH ISSUES DUE TO FRACKING: It had a terrible sulfur smell to it.
SIMMONS: Sulfur smell. Horrible.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And how far -- are you saying the fracking was going on from your house?
SIMMON: About a half mile.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. And had this ever happened before the fracking?
SIMMONS: No. We never had no problems before the fracking. We never had no discoloration in our water, no problems with our water, no nothing.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well --
SIMMONS: And when it started to come out --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s take a look at Jodie lighting her water on fire again and then we are going to analyze. Check it out. Bizarre.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There we go. There you go. Wow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Coming out again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fourth of July.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jason, what happened in terms of health impact on you, your kids and your animals?
LAMPHERE: Well, I haven`t really had any impacts but Jodie and my boy, they have had rashes and our daughter, she has had nose bleeds. Our animals, we really didn`t notice it, anything in the get go. I started hauling water from my parents place, which was four or five miles away, to our place to feed the animals, because I didn`t trust the water after we noticed it turned color and fizzing and the water was burping.
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I read that some of the animals have died out in the field.
LAMPHERE: Well, we had had animals die beforehand but we didn`t know why and we are not, you know, I`m not sure if that had anything to do with it or not.
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We are going to -- stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Back in a minute but first, you deserve a laugh break. So do I.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(BABY LAUGHING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: More fracking tomorrow but now it`s time for "Jane`s Adventures". Fasten your seatbelts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Garbage, garbage everywhere. Here is a garbage can. There is a trash can over there. America is just flooded with garbage. And, we had another problem too. We have a lot of people who don`t have enough to eat, who don`t have money to feed their families.
How can we take a look at both of those issues and come up with some - - imagine this, solutions. I am here on a rainy street, Upper West Side, with Janet. Janet is what they call a "freegan (ph)" and that`s a nice word for dumpster diver.
Janet, you are going to show me the ropes. You`re going to show me how to go into America`s garbage. We`re going to tell the people at home how to go into the garbage and come out with something that if they are in dire straits they can use to feed their families or to feed the homeless around that they have compassion for. What`s going on?
JANET KALISH, FREEGAN: Well, I am a freegan. Freegans are trying to find a better alternative to the current system that we are living in. One way is by dumpster diving.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tell us about yourself and how you got into this?
KALISH: I am, a high school Spanish teacher. And I have always been disgusted by waste and it is always seemed like an unfair world in which some people have and some people have nothing.
It is sort of easy that these bags are clear. We can kind of get a glance before we rip in.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok.
KALISH: See if there is something that --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ooh, I got bread.
KALISH: There you go.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I got bread. Look at this. Look at all this bread, man. Whoa. Holy. I hit the mother lode; beginner`s luck. I hit the mother lode. Look at this bread. Look.
KALISH: Looks like sliced bagels.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh my gosh. Sliced bagels.
KALISH: We are very careful usually not to rip right in.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sorry, I made a mistake already.
KALISH: It`s not too big a deal because it`s in a dumpster.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Look at this. Look at this. Look at all this bread. Look at all this bread. Look at all this bread. Oh my gosh.
KALISH: My suspicion is that they sliced it extra fine in a way that makes it less retrievable. But it could be that they --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What do you mean they sliced it extra fine and they get less retrievable?
KALISH: What I mean is that I think sometimes stores don`t want people rescuing their food. Sometimes they make it in a way that is not that easy to get.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So they know about you guys?
KALISH: Yes, many stores have a lot of people. Not just us. But there are a lot of people.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I am going to do something, right now. Hey. Pretty darn good. It`s not even stale. Look at that. Really good food. And I just ate it right out of the garbage.
You saw it here first. This food is totally edible. I`m telling you, not even stale. Mm, that is good food. There`s nothing wrong with it. I`m telling you, I am eating it. I`m not gagging. It`s fine. All this food is going to waste. Look at it.
Every five seconds I read somewhere a child dies of malnutrition somewhere in the world. This is, I can`t believe the, and guess what? Underneath it there is more. There`s another one. There is another one right underneath it.
I think there is something wrong with the world where this much food is just thrown away -- something wrong. Something wrong with that.
How do we stop it? I mean, how do we -- how do we -- what do you do with this? First of all this is heavy. What are you going to do with this?
KALISH: Well, unfortunately, bread is like the most common thing that we find.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.
KALISH: And it is overwhelming the quantity. This is just tip of the iceberg.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Here is more of my dumpster diving adventure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KALISH: This is all -- peel off the edge. And -- this is very nice call -- cauliflower. This is clearly not bad in any way. This kind of thing we can salvage.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. So you`re going to take that. What are you going to do with that?
KALISH: Stir fry.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Stir fry. I like that. Stir fry, that`s good. Ok. Huh.
KALISH: And there is a lot of good --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Look at that. Yes. Ok.
Whole cucumber. A whole cucumber. That`s good. That`s fresh.
KALISH: Good, quality food.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. Come one. Check it out.
That`s really good. I am not grossing you out. It`s fine. There`s nothing wrong with it. It doesn`t taste funny at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We are keeping this freegan conversation going. Live chat on Facebook right after the show so join us on Facebook.
"NANCY GRACE" up next.
END
