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Jane Velez-Mitchell
Cops Search for Driver of White Pickup; Verdict Watch in John Edwards Trial
Aired May 30, 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: Now here`s what`s happening. Jane Velez Mitchell coming to you live from New York City.
Police zero in on a suspicious white pickup truck in the disappearance of beautiful young co-ed Mickey Shunick, who cops fear has been abducted. Is the driver of this truck, caught on surveillance video, the key to this case? The missing woman`s father joins me live next.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, the urgent search for missing Louisiana college student Mickey Shunick takes an ominous turn as officials tell volunteer searchers just stop looking. Do they know something we don`t? Her dad joins me tonight.
This as cops hunt for a mystery driver caught on surveillance video. Is this unidentified vehicle now the focus of the investigation?
And new claims of flirting, cliques and even matching clothes inside the John Edwards jury. After eight days the whole country is wondering, when will the decision finally come down to the one-time presidential candidate with the stunning fall from grace?
Plus, it`s a 21st Century version of the Hatfields and the McCoys. A Minnesota family says they`re being terrorized by the neighbor from hell. They accuse their neighbor of verbal threats, terrorizing signs, obscene gestures, all in front of the couple`s three young kids. Can you relate? We`re taking your nasty neighbor calls tonight.
And one of America`s most notorious killers back in the news. One of Charlie Manson`s followers caught on tape talking with his lawyer. Now cops will finally hear what they said. Will this tape hold the key to a slew of unsolved murders?
Plus, a new Bill claims to reveal the secret to slim. We`ll tell you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was either a crime of opportunity or someone just made a mistake, and they`re scared and trying to cover their tracks.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Critical breaks in the case of missing co-ed Mickey Shunick.
BRETTLY WILSON, FRIEND OF MICKEY SHUNICK: We just want her back. We want her safe. We want our friend.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She left here at this house around 2 in the morning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was Mickey`s family who confirmed the bike is hers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the first time in days the Shunick family and investigators have something to go on.
TOM SHUNICK, FATHER (via phone): I`m as sure as I can be that it`s Mickey. I mean, that`s her. I can just tell by her posture on that bike.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Her bike discovered submerged under water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I believe thoroughly is that the bike was dumped beneath the bridge and was not thrown from the bridge.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know that I`ll never look at a missing person`s case the same way ever again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The rim was dented, with the tire dislodged from the rim itself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think even if someone had a gun to her back, she would run. She would have -- you know, she would have fought.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, new developments in the disappearance of Mickey Shunick. Police now taking direct aim at a white pickup truck that was seen in surveillance video right around the time this beautiful, petite co-ed vanished while biking home in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Police have now accounted for and eliminated the other two vehicles seen in the footage, but they are still on the hunt for the driver of this, this newer model white four-door Chevy Z-71 pickup truck. Is the person at the wheel either Mickey`s kidnapper or a key witness?
She vanished 11 days ago, biking from a friend`s house at about 2 in the morning. The family believes this surveillance footage that you`ve been seeing shows Mickey on her bicycle.
The last image of her just before she vanished. What happened to her? Her frantic family wants to find out. They are doing everything they can.
A key break came just this past Saturday when fishermen discovered Mickey`s bike under a bridge. It was sticking up out of the river about 25 miles from where she was last seen. It was a bridge connected to Interstate 10, the back wheel of her bike, badly damaged. Does her bicycle hold the key, as well, to what happened to her?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe currently that the bike was dumped beneath the bridge and was not thrown from the bridge. A lot of things come into play, obviously, the amount of traffic. The I-10 is very heavily traveled and there is no shoulder on that particular bridge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I-10 connects Lafayette with several large port cities to the east. Could a predator have used the massive artery as a getaway, taking Mickey with him?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With an exit off of I-10 under the bridge. That`s how probably the bridge got thrown into the water and this person or persons who had basically, what seems like to me, kidnapped Mickey got back on I-10 and headed -- the bridge is eastbound.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Give me a call. What are your theories, your thoughts? 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297. We want to help this family. The devastated Shunick family.
Straight out to Mickey`s father, Tom Shunick. Mr. Shunick, again, our hearts go out to you. We want to be helpful keeping your daughter`s face out there. I know that this is crushing for her family and friends. Popular, popular girl, doing very well in school, with her life ahead of her, didn`t have anything to drink that night, according to her friends, was drinking water and was simply biking home, which should be a right of a citizen in this country. A female should be able to get on her bike and this is a travesty, and I know all of our viewers want to help you figure out what has happened.
Mr. Shunick, have the police told you anything? For example, we understand they have told the volunteer searchers back off, don`t continue searching. Do you know why they said that, sir?
SHUNICK (via phone): No, they didn`t say that. They just took a day off. The Texas EquuSearch, you know, people have all been out all day long in this 94-, 95-degree heat. And they just took a day off. They`ll start back up tomorrow, tomorrow morning.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, good.
SHUNICK: That was just a foot search.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, we were under the impression -- maybe it was the wording, that essentially, the volunteers...
SHUNICK: I heard that a lot, but that`s what it was. Everybody -- a lot of people were under that impression, but they, in effect -- I mean, they just took a day off. And it was a foot search and not the search.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I`ll tell you what. Texas EquuSearch does an incredible job, and you`re fortunate to have them on your team.
SHUNICK: They`re amazing.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: They really are. We`re a friend of Tim Miller. He`s an amazing guy, and he had his own tragedy involving his own child. So it`s a cause he holds dear.
SHUNICK: I know.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Here`s the thing. Whoever dumped Mickey`s bike under that bridge, did they get on Interstate 10 and head East? That is one of the crucial questions.
Now, there are nearly 100 traffic cameras along I-10 in Lafayette, but get this. This is a horror. They`re live cameras for traffic. They don`t record. They`re just to observe the traffic patterns. All right?
Now, Lafayette is connected by I-10 to several small and mid-sized cities to the east. Baton Rouge and then all the way to Jacksonville, Florida.
I want to go out to Bill Warner, private investigator. If this major highway runs the width of the entire southern U.S. and was used as a getaway for a possible kidnapper, how do police proceed?
Because I can tell you that we called Baton Rouge P.D., the first big city to the east. And they said they were aware of this case, but they would not give us any information of what they might have done to try to find Mickey, referring us back to Lafayette P.D. -- Bill.
BILL WARNER, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Yes. I`m here. Yes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.
WARNER: I think they really need to expand this -- this search for Mickey into Florida, because from the point where that -- that bike was found under the bridge, it`s only, like under four hours and you`re in Pensacola, Florida. I mean, it`s just a quick shot one way. You`re through four different states. You need to expand this search beyond Louisiana.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, why do you say Florida? I mean, we`ve got all these other cities between Lafayette and Jacksonville, Florida. Do you think that this individual, if there is this individual in this white pickup truck driving with Mickey, that he would go all the way to Florida? And if so, why?
WARNER: Well, I`m aware that there`s a lot of construction work along the Gulf Coast. And a lot of people that live in Florida work over in Louisiana, Mississippi. And they work during the week, and they come back on the weekends.
Mickey was basically, I feel, kidnapped on a Saturday night, a weekend. They need -- they need to look into this.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Police want to talk to the driver of a newer model white Chevy Z-71 pickup truck seen on this surveillance video.
Now, Holly Hughes, former prosecutor, how do cops go about finding this truck? Obviously, it`s great that they have a white Chevy pickup truck. Can they go through registration and get the thousands and try to whittle it down?
HOLLY HUGHES, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well, they can, but that`s not going to be near as effective as what we are doing right now, Jane. Putting it out there in the media. They`re also going to visit all the local businesses, see if that truck pulled in and check credit-card receipts for the same time stamp that`s on the video.
They`ll try and narrow it down that way, because quite frankly, they just don`t have the manpower and resources to look through 32,000 registered white pickups. They`re depending on the public. They`re depending on people who were in the area.
And they will check all the surveillance cameras from local businesses to see if there`s a different angle. Can they get a partial license plate? If they get a partial license plate, that will narrow it down.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And remember, there was a woman who said in the same area somebody had the same exact -- she described a white, middle-aged man in the same exact kind of pickup truck, trying to pick her up, using very sexual language, offering to pay her for sex.
HUGHES: Right.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So, my gosh, Joe Gomez, senior investigative reporter, KTRH News Radio, that to me dovetails: this pickup truck and then this experience this girl in this area had not so long ago.
JOE GOMEZ, SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, KTRH: Yes, I mean, it`s hard not to, you know, connect the dots here, Jane. It sounds to me like there might be a sexual predator lurking out there in Lafayette, and the guy reportedly even admitted to this woman that he likes to drive around looking for girls and that she was, you know, even on a bicycle. Maybe this guy now finally snapped.
You know, it`s also interesting that Bloomington police in Indiana also had a case where a young college co-ed went missing after coming home from a night on the town, as well. So they`re investigating to see if those two cases might be connected, Jane.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like maybe a drunk driver or someone who was speeding hit her or cut her off or saw her and was able to get her off her bike somehow or, you know? It seemed like a good idea at the time, and when they sobered up or whatever was, the next day they freaked out and didn`t know what to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Charlie Shunick, the sister of missing sister Mickey Shunick is hoping that somehow this was just a terrible accident and that accounts for Mickey`s bike being damaged.
Now, obviously, authorities are going over that bike with a fine- toothed comb. They`re taking whatever they can. If there`s paint on it from another vehicle, that would indicate that it was a car accident. There could be fingerprints; there could be DNA. We don`t have that information back yet, unfortunately.
Straight out to the phone lines. Cynthia, North Carolina, your question or thought?
CALLER: Yes, Jane. Hi, I love you. I just wanted to let you know that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you.
CALLER: Also, why did that -- her friend let her leave at 2 o`clock in the morning all by herself, being a girl and everything? Why didn`t she just sleep there?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, first I want to go to Dr. Robi Ludwig, psychotherapist, because Brettly, her very dear friend, is hysterical, sobbing and crying. He feels -- I feel bad for him because he is just obviously wracked over the fact that he was the last person to see her.
But apparently Mickey enjoys riding. She actually has, I believe, a tattoo of a little bicycle. I mean, she`s an avid cyclist.
ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: I read that, that she had a tattoo on her ankle or somewhere.
Listen, you know, when you`re friends with somebody you don`t think they`re going to be in danger, especially if they`re not drinking, if they tend to live a healthy lifestyle. I imagine Mickey probably went home a lot via her bicycle late at night, and nothing ever happened. So we can`t blame the friend. The friend just assumed that she was -- she was safe. There was no reason to assume anything other than that, and of course, that`s not the case.
I think what we need to blame are, you know, the people who are out committing these crimes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Exactly.
LUDWIG: But to blame a friend, you know, it`s just unfortunate timing.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`ll tell you what upsets me is the fact that there are all these cameras. We have tons of cameras along the I-10, the very interstate that authorities fear she may have been taken on.
And remember, it goes through Baton Rouge. Baton Rouge has the distinction of being one of the top ten cities in the U.S. when it comes to human trafficking. Teenage girls are often the victim of human trafficking. And that would be, in a sense, a good scenario, in the sense that she would still be alive. That`s what we want to do is find Mickey alive.
But what absolutely infuriates me, Bill Warner, private investigator, is that we talked to transportation officials. There are cameras all the way up and down the I-10, but none of them, to our understanding, record.
So even if this had been caught, this vehicle had been seen, it wouldn`t have been recorded, and they say it`s because there are constitutional issues. I don`t really get it, because in New York City there`s cameras all over the place for terrorism reasons. I think, you know, killers, domestic criminals -- let`s put it that way -- are domestic terrorists.
WARNER: Well, I agree. But -- yes, I agree, but that happens all the time. I travel I-10 myself a lot. What you`ll find at all the rest areas are heavily cameraed. So they need to look at these rest areas from the Lafayette area all the way out to Pensacola, and you just don`t know. You might pick up something. There`s all kind of stuff.
You need to expand this. You need to look at -- you need to look at what happened in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where the -- the woman who disappeared, the soldier. She was at a bar right along 275. I mean, come on.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Our hearts go out to the Shunick family. We are going to stay on this story. We will not forget about your daughter. We want to find her.
Mr. Shunick, thank you for joining us, and we are going to stay on top of this story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: John Edwards!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We know the judge has admonished the jurors twice now to only discuss the case when they`re alone together in the jury room.
JOHN EDWARDS, ON TRIAL FOR CAMPAIGN FINANCE CHARGES: Thank you for asking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have all recently worn the same clothes.
MARCIA CLARK, FORMER PROSECUTOR: There have been reports that they have been discussing the case in separate little factions outside the courtroom.
EDWARDS: God bless you. Thank you for being here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`re on verdict watch in the John Edwards trial. And we`ve got to ask: are the alternate jurors trying to upstage the entire thing? What the heck is taking so long?
It`s eight days and counting for the regular jurors who are trying to decide whether the senator funneled nearly a million bucks worth of campaign money to keep his affair with then-pregnant mistress Rielle Hunter secret during his quest for the presidency. What is going on with this jury?
Yesterday after privately meeting with lawyers about a, quote unquote, "juror issue," the judge scolded the group not to talk about the case outside the jury room.
We`re now hearing claims of bizarre antics among the four female alternates. They`re allegedly giggling, showing up in matching clothing. One even reportedly nodded in agreement during defense closing arguments and repeatedly smiled at the defendant, John Edwards, smiles that he reportedly returned.
Famous prosecutor Marcia Clark told Anderson Cooper she has never seen anything like it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLARK: I`m not that surprised it`s taking a long time. What I am surprised at, Anderson, are the junior hijinks with the clothing and, you know, matching clothes for a number of days.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Have you ever seen that for a jury?
CLARK: Really? No!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And when she says no, you know that`s a big deal.
Just hours ago the judge told the alternates they`re now on standby.
Straight out to Holly Hughes, criminal defense attorney, and more importantly, former prosecutor. These four alternates are all women. We all know John Edwards is one thing. He`s a pretty boy; he`s an attractive man. Could they just be smitten with them?
HUGHES: Absolutely. And let`s face it: they are bored stiff, Jane. These four alternates -- seriously! They don`t get to deliberate. Think about this.
You`re on a trial. You sit through jury selection. You have to sit through all the evidence, pay very close attention, take notes, work very hard. And then, when it comes time to deliberate, they go, "Oops, not you. You four have to go sit somewhere else. You can`t deliberate. You can`t discuss the case. Don`t talk about it."
They are going absolutely stir crazy, so yes, they are acting silly. They`re like, "We`re forced to spend all this time together. We`re not allowed to talk about the case. We`re not allowed to talk about what happened in court. What are we going to do? Oh, I don`t know. Let`s wear matching outfits."
Seriously, you know, I don`t blame them. They`re not hurting anybody. They`re just -- it`s a way to pass the time.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, but let me tell you something. There`s nothing that drives a reporter crazier than verdict watch. I`ve been on several myself, and they are absolutely nerve-racking.
HUGHES: Oh, yes. Try being a prosecutor, Jane! Try being...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I once dropped my cell phone into a Port-a-Potty during the verdict watch, I was so frazzled all of the time. And let me tell you something. The longer it takes the more nerve-racking it is.
HUGHES: Absolutely.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And so, yes, they`re bored. But other people are -- everybody`s -- forget their holidays. Forget everything. These reporters have to standing by waiting. So I don`t necessarily feel sorry for the alternates. Yes, there were 31 witnesses; 17 days of testimony.
Here`s what I blame: the 45 pages of jury instructions, often vague. I read a couple of paragraphs, and my head hit the table, it was so obtuse.
Now, there are reports that there are cliques emerging amongst the jurors. When these packs form among jurors, that can also be a huge problem, right, Holly?
HUGHES: Absolutely. Because what you don`t want is you don`t want personal friendships and relationships that are forming to sway their verdict. You don`t want them to be like, "Well, hey, I`ve become friends with this person, so I`m just going to vote the way they`re voting." That is very dangerous.
But you run the risk again, when you spend that much time together, that people are going to form the friendships, and it is very disconcerting, like you said, to be given 45 pages of instructions. So -- yes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. Five seconds, split decision? Guilty, innocent, hung jury. Tell me. Five seconds.
HUGHES: I think they`re going to hang.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You think they`re going to hang.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s been a nightmare. They told us they feel like prisoners in their own backyard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what happened to us just about every day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Being scared for yourself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The terrorizing doesn`t stop there. The banners hanging from this garage may make you think twice.
GREG HOFFMAN, TERRORIZED BY NEIGHBOR: That`s the way we learned to live. And that`s the way we learned to raise the kids who have had to move down into the back of the house because the girls were afraid of being in front.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Several of the estimated 50 times Christensen posted (inaudible) at mother Kim Hoffman`s struggle with alcohol.
KIM HOFFMAN, TERRORIZED BY NEIGHBOR: It`s tough. It`s not something that you ever want thrown back into your face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Imagine you live across the street from the world`s nastiest neighbor. That`s the nightmare one family says they`ve been living for five long years now.
It all happened on this street in Minnesota; a beautiful city, White Bear Lake. It seems to be a nice, quiet cul-de-sac until you meet what some are calling the nuisance next door; her name, Lori Christensen. And look at her from the "Today" show.
Kim and Greg Hoffman say they were mercilessly taunted when a neighbor put up huge signs facing their home. Signs like, well, one said "I saw mommy kissing a breathalyzer," mocking Kim who happens to be a recovering alcoholic. This neighbor also pretended to drink from oversized bottles. There`s a big giant bottle there and she`s guzzling from it.
It got so bad the Hoffman family says they were forced to videotape her from across the street. The Hoffmans say this neighbor terrorized their young children. Listen to this from the "Today" show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
K. HOFFMAN: It started with the obscenities, just really went crazy and started calling me names and swearing at me, very loud. A lot of people in the neighborhood could hear it.
G. HOFFMAN: Many people say, "Oh we`ve got a neighbor just like that." And I`ve said, "No, you don`t. This is different."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The Hoffmans say the neighbor continued her unending assault even after being arrested and slapped with several restraining orders. Cops say she violated probation numerous times but tonight we have breaking news.
In court just a few hours ago, Lori Christensen was sentenced to 90 days in a workhouse as she has been barred from coming within one mile of her own home.
By the way, are you watching? Our viewers, have you had a nightmare neighbor? Call me, 1-877-JVM-SAYS. 1-877-586-7297.
Joining me tonight, Kim and Greg Hoffman, who are hoping to put this nightmare behind them. Kim, let me start with you. What have you been through? Give me a sense of what this experience with this woman you describe as a nightmare neighbor, a neighbor from hell has been like? Give us some stories.
K. Hoffman (via telephone): Well, you know, it`s just been, as you said, a nightmare. I`ve gone through her following me. Our daughters really have had just a difficult time with the whole thing of being intimidated and watched constantly.
You know, as you stated I`m a recovering alcoholic and they`ve had to deal with her taunts, her signs constantly being posted in regards to that, really just anything that you could think of as the most vicious types of harassment are the types of things that we`ve had to endure.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, we have a little bit on who this so-called neighbor from hell is. At first glance she doesn`t really strike me as such a terror. She`s 49 years old. Lori Christensen works as an executive assistant in some sort of government job, we`re told. She`s a single mother with one daughter. She has not returned our calls and neither has her attorney. They`re invited on any time.
But listen to this strange tidbit from the "Today" show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Neither she nor her attorney would comment for our story though in February she had this to say to a local television station.
LORI CHRISTENSEN, NEIGHBOR TERRORIZING THE HOFFMANS: I had a psychological evaluation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok.
CHRISTENSEN: They said that if I were to have been a man that this would not have been happening. But because I`m a single female, I have a very good job, I have the biggest house in the neighborhood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I mean, I do not understand what planet is this woman living on? Let me ask that question.
Greg Hoffman, what I hear is this all started over some nail polish and one kid happened to have nail polish go on the other kid and the parents -- what happened? How did this all start?
G. HOFFMAN: Well, it did start with the nail polish, but it is not anything that kids don`t do. But we are in agreement with Miss Christensen that if the kids did something, that rather than us as parents taking care of it, if it did involve our kids, that we would go to the other parent and let them know what had occurred.
And again, for Kim and I, it was an incident that kid`s doing. They get nail polish and they get paid and everything else. But we just thought it was -- you know, that we should let her know what went on.
And when Kim went to let Lori know that she went ballistic on her. I was in the backyard and I could hear the obscenities from the backyard. She was cussing and swearing at her, telling her to get her fat a- out of her yard, and you know, telling her how to be a mother and take care of your own kids and don`t worry about mine. And get your ass on -- you know, your rear end out.
And this was -- and that`s when I came to the front yard. And when I came to the front yard, Lori was half way across the yard screaming at Kim. And then she proceeded to start screaming at me, and I just said, "You know, Lori, you`ve tried to intimidate everybody in this neighborhood, but I`m not going to let you intimidate us."
And Kim and I turned around and walked home with our kid, and that was when --
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And ever since then that`s it. That`s it. In other words, it was in your opinion it was war after that. Well, look -- go ahead, I`m sorry, sir.
G. HOFFMAN: No, at that point it wasn`t war. At that point because we never -- at that point it was, we have to be able to trust who our kids are with. And Kim and I sat down and discussed this and we knew it was going to be difficult especially for my older daughter who is good friends with her daughter. But we couldn`t trust our daughters being over there by themselves with Miss Christensen being there. Because with that barrage of obscenities that she didn`t hesitate to attack my wife with -- there were kids around. Our kids were around when this was going on.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right. Ok. So, I want to get to the heart of this. So essentially this woman, in her mind -- and by the way, her lawyer we`ve reached out numerous times and they`re invited on many times -- she may have felt -- I mean just trying to play shrink here for a second. She may have felt rejected and judged and then she decides she`s going to retaliate and then this feud evolves.
I`m not in any way, shape or form condoning her behavior. To me, it seems outrageous. These signs -- I know she`s still facing some charges. She`s violated probation but she`s in a work house, but apparently she faces more charges and she`s going to face what -- aggravated stalking and all sorts of other things. But my point is I`m trying to understand it from a psychological perspective.
Dr. Robi Ludwig, do you think this is her retaliation for feeling judged herself?
DR. ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, I mean, it certainly could be, but I would wonder if this woman has a mood disorder and is manic. If you look at some of her behavior, it really looks over the top. Somebody who is manic sometimes can be overly stimulated. We don`t know what this family means to her. So, yes, I do think perhaps she feels judged by them in some way.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Annoying neighbors, family feuds -- they`re common, especially on TV. Remember the Osbournes and they got into a spat with their neighbors. Watch this from MTV.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHARON OSBOURNE, TV HOST: Weren`t you the one that wanted to beat us up? Come over. Come on. Come on, big boys. You sat there saying you were going to kill my husband and fight him to the death?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Except your husband. So far, he`s been very cool and very nice. You, you`ve been very difficult.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Esme Murphy, reporter WCCO, Minnesota -- have you ever seen anything like this?
ESME MURPHY, REPORTER WCCO, MINNESOTA: I don`t think anybody`s ever seen anything like this, Jane. I do want to give you a little clue though about this woman`s background.
She`s taunting her neighbor, Kim Hoffman as a recovering alcoholic, singing songs like "What do you do with a drunken mother", to Kim Hoffman`s young children, ages 8, 9 and 15. Guess what? Lori Christensen had a DWI back in 1989. I think that`s an interesting clue into her background.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, listen, as a recovering alcoholic with 17 years of sobriety myself I would say that usually there`s something else behind behavior like this and that it`s very sad.
Kim, I`m going to give you the last 20 seconds. I wish you the best. Courage, Kim.
K. HOFFMAN: Yes. Yes. And I appreciate that very much, and you know, it has been a trying time for my family and for myself. And right now we`re hoping that we can find some peace and move on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Most women, myself especially, we worry about this, the old flab factor under the arms. There is a solution. You can do it at work.
Fitness magician, Tom, please help.
TOM HOLLAND, FITNESS EXPERT: So simple. A tricep dip off your desk. So you`re just going to go backwards to the desk with your hands --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.
HOLLAND: -- exactly. And now just bend your elbows --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Where are my feet?
HOLLAND: Perfect -- a little bit out in front of you.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok.
HOLLAND: And just kind of fall backwards and squeeze back up you`re working that tricep and that muscle you pointed out right in the back of your arms. You`re really going to tone it up; you`ve got great arms for summer.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. And all of this takes a couple of minutes a day --
HOLLAND: A couple of minutes Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: -- and you can scatter it through the day. Scatter it.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: More breaking news in a second, but first your viral video of the day.
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(VIRAL VIDEO OF THE DAY)
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DEBRA TATE, SISTER OF MANSON VICTIM, SHARON TATE: I think that he needs to look into our eyes, victims` eyes and see the pain that he`s caused. I think that that is something that is essential to his coming to peace, perhaps, before he passes. As you said, this is probably going to be his last parole hearing.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Uncovering secrets in the infamous Charles Manson cult murders; could Manson and his followers have committed more murders than we even know about? Cops could find out very soon. Charles Manson stunned the nation in 1969 when he and his cult followers went on a murderous two-day rampage. No one had ever heard of such horrific crimes before.
They stormed the home of director Roman Polanski and his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate in the dead of night. They slaughtered Sharon Tate and four others and then they killed two other people the next night somewhere else. Manson and his followers wrote the words "pigs" and "helter-skelter" in blood on the walls of Sharon Tate`s home.
Listen to this from Biography and YouTube.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it was months before the crimes were corrected. When they were, a small bizarre character named Charles Manson was charged with provoking his apparently fanatic followers to commit the crimes. And a national obsession to understand these people began.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Charlie Manson`s right hand man, his lieutenant, was Charles "Tex" Watson, who is currently serving a life sentence for the Sharon Tate murders. Now, audiotapes between Watson and his lawyer, who is now deceased, made back in the `70s will finally be released to the LAPD. Cops want to know what Watson said about Manson and if this group committed other murders.
Manson was denied parole again last month. And his next parole hearing won`t be until he`s 92. But he hasn`t exactly been the model prisoner. Watch this from YouTube.
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CHARLES MANSON, IN PRISON FOR SHARON TATE MURDERS: Do you feel blame? Are you mad? Do you feel like (inaudible)
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: One of the creepiest, most frightening human beings in American history.
Straight out to senior investigative reporter, Joe Gomez with KTRH News Radio; why is this such a big deal, Joe?
JOE GOMEZ, KTRH NEWS RADIO: Well, Jane, what`s on these tapes could once again shock the nation once we find out what Tex Watson told his attorney behind closed doors. I mean this could hold the key to solving dozens of unsolved murders all across California.
You`ll recall that Tex Watson is Charles Manson`s chief lieutenant and that he confronted actress, Sharon Tate before they murdered her. And he said "I am the devil and I`m here to do the devil`s work."
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, all of these characters are so frightening. I have to tell you, I was on Seattle Drive (ph) going to a party recently in Beverly Hills in the area right -- I drove right past the house which I think has since been destroyed where the Sharon Tate murders occurred. And it creeped me out, so much I almost turned around and didn`t even go to the party because it literally put goose bumps all over my body.
Last month, Charlie Manson granted an interview to "Vanity Fair Spain" magazine. And he sounds as creepy as ever. Listen to this.
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MANSON: I live in the underworld. I don`t tell people what to do. They know what to do. If they don`t know what to do they don`t come around me because I`m very mean. I am very mean. Do you understand what I`m saying when I say mean? .
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dr. Robi Ludwig, have we ever seen such a sick bunch?
LUDWIG: No, I mean, he`s very sick and he`s compelling. And what`s scary about it is that he`s infectious. That he can impact other people to follow him. So that`s what makes him so dangerous. And that`s what makes these people dangerous in prison as well that they still have some degree of power in their own unique way.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Holly Hughes, quickly, ten seconds. Do you think we`ll find any unsolved murders or not?
HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don`t think so. I think he probably talked to his attorney about the charges he was facing at the time. I don`t think we`re going see any bombshells here, unfortunately.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, it could be like Al Capone.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: An adventure to slim next. But first, you deserve a laugh break.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Our show is doing a nightly adventure to slimness, and I`ve been doing it myself now for two weeks. Eight glasses of water a day, an apple a day, and then doing exercises with anything that you have right at the office.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, a movie that might change your whole mindset on food. America, look at this from HBO.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you go with the flow in America today you will end up overweight or obese as two-thirds of Americans do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t want to be fat for the rest of my life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ve got diabetes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sleep apnea.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: High blood pressure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I get dizzy when I get up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything is hurting now.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Eating too much, eating the wrong foods, makes us fat, it makes us sick. We have some scary stats. Obesity-related health care costs nearly $150 billion a year. Somebody who`s obese costs an average of $1,400 more a year.
Listen, John Hoffman, executive producer, I applaud your "Weight of the Nation". Tell us.
JOHN HOFFMAN, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "THE WEIGHT OF THE NATION": Thank you very much, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What`s your main point?
J. HOFFMAN: Well, our main point is that we have to sound a very loud alarm across the nation that this obesity problem has got to be slowed down and eventually reversed. The costs to our health care system are going to destroy health care in America if we don`t solve this problem.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don`t crave broccoli. Our generation has grown up craving a Big Mac.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have built a cheap food model. And that`s the one we`re dealing with right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s so hard to combat against what the TV is telling you to buy your kids.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The kind of food we eat is the kind that`s most profitable.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: You have to check out HBO`s "Weight of the Nation". I`m here with the executive producer, John Hoffman.
It`s been my feeling that fast food -- and I`m not singling out any particular company -- is in general addictive because it`s packed with fat, sugar and salt which we crave naturally.
J. HOFFMAN: That`s right. Our brains are hard wired to crave these foods and we have far too much of it in our food supply. And until we really grapple with this problem of cheap, inexpensive sugars and fats, we`re just not going to solve obesity.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, the government, in my opinion, is to blame because they subsidize the big Agra (ph). And big Agra is producing all the corn that goes into the cheap burgers and that`s why we`re getting fat.
So while I applaud Michelle Obama for saying let`s be healthy, the government is the problem, John.
J. HOFFMAN: I agree. Look, I make an argument that the best way to solve obesity is to move the Iowa caucuses. If we move the Iowa caucuses, then corn and soy can be tackled by presidential candidates and we can grapple with this problem of far too many corn and soy calories in our food supply. Until we move those Iowa caucuses, no one is going to touch it.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Check out WeightoftheNation.hbo.com. It`s a great documentary. Watch it.
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