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Jane Velez-Mitchell
Hitman for Hire Caught on Tape; New Accusation against George Zimmerman; JVM Most Wanted: Help Find a Killer; Remembering Amy Winehouse
Aired June 27, 2012 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to bring in Jane Velez-Mitchell, and Jane, I know you`re in California. You`ve lived in California for a long time. This is becoming a crisis in California. It`s almost as if so many cities there are having problems with these budgets, benefits and all these things. But then I worry about the folks who aren`t going to have those budgets and they`re going to have to cut.
Do you see this as being a bit of a trend out there?
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Look, this is an extreme example of the crisis that`s happening all across the country. I just finished reading a book by Michael Lewis called "The Big Short." What an eye opener. The fat cats on Wall Street precipitated this crisis by essentially giving loans, mortgages to anybody, regardless of their ability to pay them back. They created the housing bubble. And now we`re paying the price.
So really, the sad part is the little guy is paying the price again, where the big-wigs on Wall Street really never paid the price. Many of them walked away with hundreds of millions of dollars, even though they didn`t care whether people could repay those mortgages, because as soon as they made them and issued that loan, they turned around and sold those mortgages. And they packaged them into bonds, junk bonds that they also sold.
So financial -- the big financial institutions are behind this. They are to blame in my opinion.
And tonight we begin with some breaking news. Incredible twists and turns in what cops believe is a double murder-for-hire case in exclusive Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Real-estate mogul Bob Bashara is locked up behind bars as we speak tonight in a plot that best be described as head-spinning. We`re going to tell you the new developments, and we`re also taking your calls.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight another new stunner in the Michigan murder-for-hire plot. Cops say they`ve got real-estate mogul Bob Bashara on tape, plotting to have his wife`s alleged hitman killed. This is the very same alleged hitman who says it was Bob Bashara who actually hired him to murder his wife. We`ll have the details. And I`m taking your calls.
Plus, George Zimmerman, the bully? New accusations surface about the former Neighborhood Watch volunteer who gunned down Trayvon Martin. A former co-worker now claims Zimmerman hazed and made ethnic jokes about him in 2004, saying it was so bad he filed a formal complaint. Will this impact Zimmerman`s trial for murder?
Plus, in "JVM`s Most Wanted," a beautiful college coed brutally raped and murdered in her apartment. Her killer still on the loose. Tonight, I`m joined by the victim`s mother, who tells me about her caravan to catch a killer and what she`s doing to bring this monster to justice. Join me as we hunt for one of America`s most dangerous fugitives.
And tonight I`ll go one-on-one with the father of the late Amy Winehouse, the gifted "Rehab" singer whose life was shattered by addiction. Her father, Mitch Winehouse, opens up about the tragic series of events leading up to Amy`s untimely death.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Bashara is charged with solicitation to murder. We have evidence that Mr. Bashara did contact at least two people in an attempt to have Mr. Gentz killed in jail.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you kill your wife, Jane?
BOB BASHARA, ACCUSED OF HIRING HITMAN: Absolutely not. I had nothing to do with it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hire someone to kill your wife, Jane?
BASHAR: No, I did not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A shocking discovery here in this alley on Detroit`s East Side. Jane Bashara found dead in her car.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Found strangled in the backseat, trauma to her throat, neck and back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sources tell Action News the keys to her SUV were found on the floor of the vehicle. And the contents of her purse emptied out. Any cash was missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Grosse Pointe man at the center of his wife, Jane`s, murder investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her husband reported her missing later that night.
B. BASHARA: I`ve told you everything I know. I`ve been truthful on everything.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, cops say a real-estate mogul and alleged -- are you sitting down? -- S&M master, tried to hire a hitman to murder his wife`s accused killer. Keep score here. Do cops have the alleged solicitation of murder caught on tape?
Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, coming to you live.
Cops say this man you`re about to see, well-known Michigan real-estate mogul Bob Bashara -- there he is with his wife, who is now dead -- paid $2,000 to a man to kill his wife`s accused murderer. And just hours ago a judge set a staggering $15 million bond for Bob Bashara.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m going to set bond at $15 million cash. No contact with any witnesses. And if he does post his bond, render his passport and driver`s license and have GPS tracking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. But that`s if he gets out. He hasn`t posted bond yet. Again, with a $15 million bond.
This story has more twists and turns than a daytime soap opera. Let`s break it down from the beginning. Bob Bashara and his wife, Jane, were married for 26 years. And five months ago, she was found brutally strangled in her Mercedes SUV, which was dumped in an alley.
The couple`s handyman, Joseph Gentz, confessed to Jane`s murder. But he later told cops Mr. Bashara hired him to murder Mrs. Bashara and even forced him to kill her at gunpoint.
Here`s where it gets really tricky. Bob Bashara is not charged with his wife`s murder. Instead, he is charged with trying to hire a hitman to kill the already imprisoned alleged hitman handyman so that the handyman wouldn`t testify against him. Does it make sense? It`s complicated, but it`s fascinating.
Cops say Bob Bashara tried to hire two different men to wipe out the handyman. Investigators say they got one of these individuals to wear a wire. And they caught Bob on tape, hiring what he thought was a hitman but was really an informant. Published reports claim Bob even signed a receipt for $2,000 for this job.
Here`s Bob Bashara himself on ABC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
B. BASHARA: To know that I could spend the rest of my life in jail for a crime I didn`t commit, is a very scary thing. We had a good relationship. We cared for each other.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What do you think of this alleged hit on a self- confessed alleged hitman? Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.
Straight out to George Hunter, crime reporter for "The Detroit News." You`re all over this story. What do we know about how this went down? How cops allegedly got an informant to wear a wire while talking to Bob Bashara.
GEORGE HUNTER, CRIME REPORTER, "THE DETROIT NEWS": Well, Prosecutor Worthy wouldn`t go into great detail about how this happened, but apparently, he`s not the only one. There was a second guy that he tried to contract. She wouldn`t disclose anything as far as the details, how -- how it was set up and all that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What`s the reaction in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and in Detroit?
HUNTER: It`s Grosse Pointe Park, which is not quite as ritzy as Grosse Pointe proper. But still, it`s a tight-knit community, upscale community. And, you know, people -- I get mixed reactions from folks. Some people aren`t surprised, and others say he was a pillar of the community, he was the head of the Rotary Club, church usher. So, you know, you get some who say they`re not surprised at all. And some that are completely surprised by it.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, here`s something that`s going to surprise just about anybody. Unless they were there in the alleged dungeon.
Bob Bashara is accused of living a double life including having a mistress. That`s not really the shocking part. But also allegedly participating in S&M role-play by actually having a nickname "Master Bob."
Listen to this about these allegations of a sex dungeon from "Dateline."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANK WINCHESTER, REPORTER, WDIV: People say, "I don`t know Bob Bashara as `Grosse Pointe Bob.` I know Bob Bashara as `Master Bob`."
One of the neighbors said, "Well, I do notice from time to time men and women dressed in leather from head to toe, wearing masks, carrying whips."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whips, clogs, canes, props. Very, very dominant. When I say he is "Master Bob," I believe he believes that with every fiber of his being.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, my gosh. Master Bob. And this scandal has rocked the exclusive enclave of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, which is close enough and, of course, known for its old automotive fortunes.
I got to bring in a shrink on this one. Robi Ludwig, psychotherapist and, appropriately enough, the author of "Til Death Do Us Part." Bob Bashara is an alleged S&M master, and now he`s also accused of trying to mastermind this very intricate plot. What do you make of it?
ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, interesting, Jane. He is sadistic. And this is a person who likes playing God and likes the idea of eliminating somebody who betrays him, angers him, might put him in some kind of danger. I also wonder if he was abusive during his marriage and maybe his wife got to a point -- no, no -- his wife got to a point where maybe she wanted to leave him, take his money. That threatened him in some way. So that`s my thought about this guy.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.
LUDWIG: If he likes you, you can live. If he doesn`t like you, you get punished by Master Bob.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Of course, he says there is no Master Bob, that he`s just good old-fashioned Bob, and he denies all of this.
Prosecutors say handyman Joe Gentz, however, was not the only one in Bob Bashara`s crosshairs. Cops say his long-time alleged mistress, Rachel Gillette, and another unnamed woman fear they could be in danger because of what they allegedly know about the death of Bob`s wife. Listen to this from ABC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was happy that he was in jail. But shocked when I told her why he was in jail. She`s almost certain that he has to be behind the murder of his wife.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, Mike Brooks, HLN law enforcement analyst, the alleged mistress has filed a personal protective order and is now in hiding. I think she claimed at one point that he had violated said protective order. And not only that, but there are claims that Bob has gone through her trash and banged on her door late at night. What do you make of it, Mike Brooks?
MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: You know, I think protective orders aren`t worth the paper they`re written on for the most part, Jane. But this -- but this current reason he`s locked up, that Master Bob, he`s master of his own cell right now, in jail for 15 million bucks -- bond.
And you know what? As I said last night, I -- I was speculating, but it -- we found out it was true. There was some electronic surveillance that got him on audio and video paying, soliciting and paying someone to take Joe Gentz out in prison.
So, what does Joe Gentz know? You know, if he`s going to hire somebody to take out Joe Gentz, do you think he hired Joe Gentz to take out his wife? Maybe that`s what he doesn`t want Joe Gentz saying, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, listen, Bob Bashara`s lawyers point out that it would be an incredible feat to have somebody break in and murder an inmate. His lawyer says it`s like, quote, "something out of `Mission: Impossible`" to try to get into the Wayne County jail to carry out a hit. It just doesn`t make sense.
And of course, we all know "Mission: Impossible." In fact, if you`re one of those who doesn`t, check out this clip from Paramount Pictures.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: So what happens now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your mission. Should you choose to accept it...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Tanya Acker, attorney, he has a point. It is kind of "Mission: Impossible" to hire somebody to get into that jail and -- with all the surveillance and not to mention the bars -- kill somebody. How would you even escape?
TANYA ACKER, ATTORNEY: Well, fair enough. But by the same token, we don`t really know what the alleged nature of the murder for hire plot was. I mean, perhaps Mr. Bashara, Master Bob, thought that he was going to bribe somebody. Maybe he thought he was bribing somebody who was already on the inside. Maybe he befriended someone who was friendly with another inmate.
I mean, you never know how this plot could have taken place. It doesn`t necessarily involve somebody tunneling into the building or burrowing through cement in order to get in. There are lots of ways the alleged plot really could have gone down.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) B. BASHARA: Bob Bashara wants to find out who killed his wife. Wants to find out what happened and the truth. I am cooperating fully and will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I have no idea if he is responsible for anything that he`s accused of, but I always wonder about people who speak about themselves in the third person. Very strange.
Bashara`s lawyers maintain he`s innocent and in fact, this is all a set up. His lawyers are calling this a charade. And they even claim to know who`s behind it. Listen to this from ABC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We think we have figured out who that person is who set him up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, so we`re wondering who would want to set up Bob Bashara, what the motive would be.
I want to go out to a caller. Paul, Michigan, you`ve contacted us claiming that you went to school at one point with Bob Bashara?
CALLER: Well, I was in high school in Detroit. And he was in a group of people that kind of were tangentially related. We all hung out with each other. He was kind of on the periphery. So I knew him. I knew a lot of people who knew him. I knew a lot of women who knew him. And he was just a strange bird.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, what do you mean by that?
CALLER: Well, he was a real hostile person. He was moody. He was really mean to women, at least at the high school, college level. But you know, he was basically just a nasty person. He hit women. He was mean to women.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow.
CALLER: He was real hostile to men that differed from his opinion of things.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well -- well...
CALLER: He tried -- he tried to be an athlete but never was. So he was just an irascible person.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, sir, thank you for calling, Paul, Michigan. Obviously, we have no way of independently confirming any of that.
Now, we reached out to Bob Bashara`s attorney. We did not hear back. But he is invited on our show any time. Or if Bob Bashara makes his $15 million bail, he`s invited on our show any time. We want to be fair. And we want to get all sides to this story.
Bashara has been anything but camera shy during this month. So we`ve actually heard from him. Some people are wondering about his sincerity, but you be the judge. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
B. BASHARA: This is an unconceivable tragedy. We have cooperated with law-enforcement agencies and will continue to do so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Psychotherapist, Robi Ludwig, again, he`s not here to tell his side of the story. But what do you make of that color, if in fact, what he said, which we cannot confirm, is true?
LUDWIG: OK. So if it`s true, it sounds like he`s a misogynist, someone who really hates women, is angry with women. I wonder if he`s a batterer. Sometimes people who are batterers are highly sensitive to other people`s opinion of them. That could trigger the "Master Bob" kind of mentality of "I will punish anyone who doesn`t treat me well and make me feel good about myself."
Sounds like he has an anger management problem, a mood disorder. So clearly, this a man with a bunch of issues. And you can certainly see where this story would unravel in the way that it has if these things are true.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow.
Let`s go out to the phone lines again. Kim, Oklahoma, your question or thought, Kim.
CALLER: Hi, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hi.
CALLER: My thought is that the first time I saw this story months ago when it first broke, I noticed when he was talking to the news crews that he waited a moment -- if you watch the whole clip, he waits a moment and then he pulls out, like an afterthought, "Oh, I better get my hanky and dab my eyes." And it didn`t seem genuine.
And if you watch the whole clip of it, a second before that he stops, pulls out his hanky and dabs his eyes and puts it back. To me, right away I thought it was ingenuous when I saw it.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Mike Brooks, HLN law-enforcement analyst, we don`t want to convict him. We want to be fair here. But how many different people have we had on this show, crying about their spouses who have disappeared, who end up being essentially implicated? Hypothetically speaking, this -- this crying on camera means absolutely nothing.
BROOKS: Well, Jane, you know, I was one of the ones in the very beginning that said where`s the tears he was wiping? There weren`t any tears. There weren`t any tears. I said that right from the beginning. I went, are you kidding me? He`s not going to win an Academy Award for this performance.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
B. BASHARA: This is an unconceivable tragedy. We have cooperated with law-enforcement agencies and will continue to do so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, Bob`s children have stood by him. Here`s his daughter telling ABC News she is absolutely convinced he`s totally innocent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you believe there`s any chance that your father could be capable of murdering your mother?
JESSICA BASHARA, DAUGHTER: No. Not at all. Without a doubt in my mind. I know he did not do it. There`s no way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why are you so sure? How can you be so sure?
J. BASHARA: I just know how my mom felt about him. There was never any even hint towards violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tanya Acker, attorney, cops say Bob Bashara actually gave a receipt after paying $2,000 to -- it turns out it`s sort of a finder`s fee we`re hearing now -- to somebody who would hook up with somebody inside the jail to allegedly hit the handyman hitman. Really, in a way, is anybody that dumb to sign a receipt when they`re hiring a hitman?
ACKER: You know, you`ve got to think, Jane, that the prosecutors aren`t simply making this up. I mean, I know that Master Bob`s lawyers have a theory about a set up and all that good stuff. But at the end of the day, if there`s a piece of paper that he signed and that a third-party witness can testify about, that`s really going to be damning evidence.
But to your point, I`ve got to worry about a guy who`s a real-estate mogul, who`s going out, executing receipts for killing people. I mean, something about that doesn`t exactly add up. But there must be some piece of paper there that says something.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ironically the story of the hitman from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, is not new. At least not to Hollywood. The movie "Grosse Pointe Blank" starred John Cusack as a professional assassin from that very exclusive Michigan town.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dear Pointe High alumni, can you believe it`s been ten years since you left Grosse Pointe?
JOHN CUSACK, ACTOR: Don`t tease me. You know what I do for a living.
GRAPHIC: His ten year high school reunion.
CUSACK: I went to college with those people. What am I going to say? I killed the president of Paraguay. How have you been?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I love John Cusack.
Let`s go to the phone lines. Lynn, Tennessee, your question or thought.
CALLER: Hi, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hi.
CALLER: I love you and (UNINTELLIGIBLE). But my question and my comment really is, you know, from the time that his wife was murdered, he has not shed one real tear. He might have been the one doing it, because I never seen a tear come out of his eyes. He never acted like a grieving husband.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, George Hunter, crime reporter for "The Detroit News," this handyman, isn`t he claiming that he was forced to kill this wife, Jane Bashara, at the point of a gun? What`s that all about?
HUNTER: That`s what he is claiming. And he says that he didn`t want to do it and at the last minute Bob forced him to and told him, "You`re going to go through with this" and held a gun and had him in the garage, and he strangled her to death allegedly.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Incredible. We`re going to stay on top of this story.
Meantime, stunning new developments on the alleged soccer mom madam. She finally made bail after four months locked up on Riker`s Island. But check out the crushing media who showed up for Anna Gristina`s release last night. Look at that. They were all so -- wow.
Her husband, her 9-year-old son, who handed her a dozen roses. There she is.
Prosecutors say they`ve got video and audio that prove she was running a million-dollar prostitution ring. She claims it was a legitimate dating service. And she`s claimed that she has refused to cave in to pressures from the powers that be to hand over names of powerful men she allegedly set up with prostitutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, SUSPECT IN TRAYVON MARTIN SHOOTING: Each time it felt like my head was going to explode.
He said, "You`re going to die tonight, (EXPLETIVE DELETED)."
SYBRINA FULTON, MOTHER OF TRAYVON: Our son was not committing any crimes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace!
BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR TRAYVON`S FAMILY: His credibility is the most important thing in this entire case.
ZIMMERMAN: I didn`t think I hit him, because he sat up and he said, "Oh, you got me. You got it, you got me, you got it," something like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, disturbing new accusations against George Zimmerman years before he shot and killed unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. Did George Zimmerman bully a co-worker, with racial slurs, no less?
Zimmerman worked at CarMax in 2008, and now a former co-worker of his has come forward, saying that he was constantly humiliated by George.
This was Zimmerman`s company headshot when he worked at CarMax. His former co-worker went so far as to file a formal complaint against George Zimmerman, stating, quote, "I feel harassed and abused by other employees led by, but not limited to, George Zimmerman" and that George Zimmerman was, quote, "referring to me as an (EXPLETIVE DELETED) moron."
Straight to attorney Tanya Acker. This is a bombshell. How might it impact George Zimmerman`s case?
ACKER: Well, Jane, this is going to have a huge impact on the case if it gets in. Because really, at the heart of the Trayvon Martin matter is whether or not George Zimmerman was chasing this kid, whether or not he was bullying this kid, whether or not he pursued this kid to the point of a deadly confrontation.
And this sort of evidence that suggests that perhaps he`s got a history of bullying, he`s got a history of taunting people, could be really damaging.
Now, you know, the problem is, is that it may want necessarily come in. You can`t always admit evidence of prior bad acts. But in a case like this, where George Zimmerman is almost definitely going to have to take the stand in order to tell his story, the prosecution is going to have a perfect opportunity to impeach him.
They`re going to ask him about his history with people. They`re going to ask him about whether or not he was chasing Trayvon. They`re going to ask him about whether or not he used racial slurs.
And this evidence, this prior bad act evidence could possibly come in to impeach him to prove perhaps he wasn`t telling the truth.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, George Zimmerman`s former co-worker is an Arab- American. And he says George`s bullying had a racial component to it. Remember Sanford cops questioned Zimmerman as to whether he was a racist. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trayvon Benjamin Martin, he was born in 1995, February the 5th. He was 17 years old. In his possession we found a can of ice tea and a bag of Skittles and about $40 in cash. Not the goon --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got any problems with black people?
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, CHARGED WITH MURDER OF TRAYVON MARTIN: No, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. I had to ask.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: In the letter of complaint, George`s co-worker said Zimmerman was, quote, "impersonating me in a terrorist character" -- or a terrorist character. And then he made fun of his Middle Eastern accent. But he also says George wasn`t so much a racist as somebody who was just desperate to ingratiate himself with others and would use whatever it took.
Robi Ludwig, given the underpinnings of the Trayvon Martin incident --
ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Yes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: -- what do you make of this possible racial angle?
LUDWIG: Well, I`ve mentioned this before on set with you. I really think Zimmerman is paranoid. And when someone is a bit paranoid, anybody who is considered an outsider, from another group, is suspect. So perhaps there was a component where he wanted to ingratiate himself to other co- workers, but I think it underlined the real truth. That he sees people from other groups that are not part of his group as being threatening in some way. And so he goes on the counterattack.
I don`t know if it`s so much out-and-out bullying where he`s just, you know, showing his dominance just to show his dominance.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I got to tell you, there`s going to be a bond hearing for George Zimmerman on Friday. We`re going to be all over it on this show. We`re going to bring you the very latest. He doesn`t want to wear jail garb. He wants to wear civilian clothes. It`s going to be quite a stunner.
So make sure stick with us on this show 7:00 p.m. Eastern we`ll bring you the very latest.
Now this --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So she will continue to drive and give what few details she has about the killer to jog a memory, make a connection and catch a killer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some detective or some detective`s family member, you know, is going to hear and say, God, that sounds like the case.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maggie Zingman`s in downtown Colorado Springs. It`s her latest stop in a journey for justice that`s taken her 13,000 miles.
MAGGIE ZINGMAN, MOTHER OF BRITTANY PHILLIPS: If I see people looking, I try to catch them. But it`s about me trying to find my daughter`s killer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her car tells the story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight in "JVM`s Most Wanted", we are hunting down a killer, a sexual predator who brutally raped and murdered beautiful 19- year-old college student Brittany Phillips. Look at that angel. She was raped and suffocated in her second floor apartment in south Tulsa, Oklahoma on September 27, 2004.
The killer either broke in through the French doors or he just somehow got access to her apartment. He has never been captured. And the police have no suspects whatsoever.
Brit`s devastated mother found out about this murder when a sheriff came to her door and simply uttered these horrifying words, "Are you Maggie Zimmerman (SIC)? You need to call Tulsa police. Your daughter has been murdered." Imagine -- imagine being told you have lost your precious daughter in that callous manner.
Maggie buried her daughter on October 4th, Brittany`s birthday. Maggie Zingman now travels the nation in a caravan to catch a killer. Take a look at it. She`s relentless. She`s on a mission. And she explains why. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZINGMAN: In murders like this when they go unsolved a lot of times it is somebody who moves around. It`s somebody who is seeking victims in different places.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Straight out to a very, very courageous woman, Brittany`s mother, Maggie Zingman. Dr. Zingman, thank you for joining us. We want to help catch your daughter`s murderer. How frustrating is it to be at this year after year and have no suspect description, no ID, no nothing? I looked at your case and was like, oh my gosh, they don`t seem to have anything, Maggie.
ZINGMAN: Well, we do have leads, but yes, it is frustrating. You know, when I first was told she was murdered and when I finally got to accept that, you know, and I was told that we had DNA I thought it would be solved within a year or two. And now we`re heading towards the eighth anniversary. And it`s hard, but like any mother would, I`m not going to stop until, you know, we do find her killer.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Does the pain remain as intense as when you first learned of this horror?
ZINGMAN: It does, but it doesn`t. Somebody once said early on that it would become different. And I didn`t know what they meant. And it`s that you learn to carry it in different ways. Because I go on these caravans, because I believe her memory`s making a difference that I`m doing things in honor of her. And I guess that makes it easier.
But just listening to you all do some of those news stories, you know, I could feel the tears welling up again. So you just never know. But you learn to walk with it because you have no choice.
Well, Tulsa police believe they have the killer`s DNA from the crime scene. But they`ve compared it to thousands and thousands of samples and have not been able to find a match.
I want to go out to Jon Leiberman, investigative reporter who`s been working on this case who brought us this story, and we thank you for that, Jon. Maggie`s been pushing for more DNA and arrest laws. Critics say well, it`s not fair to take a swab from somebody who`s just been arrested and not convicted. But boy, there`s been several cases that had been solved because of those kinds of swabs.
Now, as far as this case goes, how would anybody have known that a beautiful young co-ed lived in that apartment to break into that apartment? Doesn`t this have to be somebody who has some connection to Brittany?
JON LEIBERMAN, HLN CONTRIBUTOR: There are so many different ways that this could have happened. Maybe somebody worked for the electric company or the cable company and knew by the name and the date of birth that a young woman lived in this apartment. Maybe they were casing it out for days or weeks knowing what time she came home.
But the one thing is certain, police will solve this case. They have DNA. What this case need, what we`re doing tonight, is national exposure because police need a name. They have the DNA, they need a name. Who was seen in that apartment complex? Who didn`t belong there?
And it`s very true as Dr. Zingman said, that this person could be transient. This location is close to I-40, a major highway. This person could have jumped right on the highway and been off.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, you could help us, possibly -- you at home, find Brittany`s killer. Tulsa police have put together a profile of the man they believe killed Brittany. Cops believe the killer is somebody who may have started behaving very differently immediately after the time of this murder.
So think back to September 2004 if you live in the Tulsa area. Was there somebody who left the area? Did they have an extreme change in behavior? Did they regularly travel on the highways I-44, I-35, I-40? If you know something, please call Tulsa police.
I want to go straight out to Detective Vic Regalado, you`re the lead detective. Do you have any leads, sir?
VIC REGALADO, LEAD DETECTIVE IN BRITTANY PHILLIPS CASE: No. We`re currently taking leads as that come in. And, again, I think you mentioned earlier, we have obtained DNA samples from close to 2,000 if not over of potential viable suspects in this case just within a square mile of where Brittany lived. We`ve obtained close to 250 samples of viable suspects.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What about fingerprints? What about fingerprints?
REGALADO: We have DNA right now.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So no fingerprints?
REGALADO: We were not able to recover any fingerprints. No, ma`am.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh my gosh. Now, surveillance video, this was eight years ago. This is why I say every single apartment complex in America needs to have surveillance video. It`s so cheap. Was there no surveillance video?
REGALADO: There was not any surveillance video. Nor were we able to obtain any from any convenience stores in the area. You know, and we didn`t recover fingerprints, but, again, we recovered DNA, which is a whole lot better than a single fingerprint.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.
REGALADO: The main problem is that we haven`t -- especially in the state of Oklahoma, we only obtain DNA from convicted felons who enter into the prison system. So you`re talking about thousands of viable suspects that are slipping through the system that we`re not able to get a hold of their DNA.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I agree. If you get arrested, you should have to give your DNA. And if you`re acquitted, so what, you know? I mean it`s just your DNA. If you did nothing wrong, why should you be worried about giving your DNA?
Thank you, Dr. Zingman, we really -- our thoughts are with you and we want to do everything we can. We do get tips on the basis of these stories and we will be communicating with you. Bless you.
ZINGMAN: Thanks.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`ve got some outrageous video, outrageous, to show you of a purse snatching outside Fort Lauderdale. Speaking of surveillance video, this is a perfect example. This 64-year-old woman carries groceries through the lobby of her condo. She barely notices the man walking towards her until he grabs her. Look at that. Snatches her purse, throws her to the ground.
Because of surveillance video, cameras caught this thief sprinting out the door. The woman was bruised but otherwise ok. The suspect has not been caught yet. But at least they have video surveillance. Everybody in every single condo in America needs to demand video surveillance.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s about getting back to basics. And even the salt is different. Look at this. Pink Himalayan sea salt, coarse granulated crystal. Look how beautiful this is.
We sometimes forget that what we`re eating is really an art form. And when you`re here at the co-op, you get to experience food as sort of an artistic experience, an adventure in health. It`s not just a chore to go shopping.
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AMY WINEHOUSE, SINGER: I don`t really care enough what people think of me to conform to anything.
MITCH WINEHOUSE, FATHER OF Amy WINEHOUSE: We`re devastated -- I`ve been banging on for the last three years about the fact she hadn`t taken any drugs for three years. Well, alcohol is a different issue. How do you control somebody else`s addictions?
I think she was a strong young lady that had a weakness.
AMY WINEHOUSE: Although I guess it`s a weakness, isn`t it? A weakness.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, a superstar`s life cut short. Now singer Amy Winehouse`s father is courageously opening up about the death of his beloved and supremely talented daughter.
The soulful singer and six-time Grammy winner, Amy Winehouse, tragically died of accidental alcohol poisoning at the young age of 27. Fans converged on her London home to grieve for the woman who wowed the whole world with super hits like "Back to Black" from Island Records.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Amy`s father`s got a must-read new book called "Amy, My Daughter" and I urge everyone who`s a parent to check this out. Joining me now I`m very privileged to have with me onset the man who was so close to Amy that she had "daddy`s girl" tattooed on her arm to honor her father, Mitch Winehouse. Thank you so much.
Your book -- extraordinary. I`m in the process of reading it. First of all, I would like to say that I admire you for your ability to be so brave and to talk about not only her achievements, but her struggles particularly with hard drugs. What would you say to parents who might be in the same situation that you were in? What advice, what can we learn from this tragedy?
M. WINEHOUSE: That`s a very good question, Jane. I`m not sure because I`m not qualified to give any advice. And the thing is we sought the best advice that we could get in the UK. I sat with six of the most eminent clinical psychologists in the UK and in fact they were arguing in front of me about what we should do.
So, really, if they couldn`t give me -- I mean, the thing is you`ve got to follow your heart. You really have to follow your heart. Some will say tough love. Some say soft love. And somewhere in the middle you will find the correct approach -- the approach that`s right for your daughter and right for your family.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: As long as the word love is in there somewhere, I suppose that`s the main point.
M. WINEHOUSE: That`s exactly right.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Of course a song that really made Amy a superstar is "Rehab" from Republic Records.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: If you listen to those lyrics closely, you hear Amy singing "my daddy thinks I`m fine", but Mitch, there was a moment where you describe -- actually, it`s on page 86 that a doctor tells you Amy had, quote, "just taken drugs, probably crack cocaine" and you go on to say "Words cannot describe the depths to which I plummeted. I had to sit down before I fell. This was a bombshell. Amy had always been dead against hard drugs. Why had that changed?"
So why had that changed? Was her meteoric rise to superstardom part of it? Because that often is.
M. Winehouse: No, I don`t think so. I think it was partly to do with my mother`s passing, May 2006. And she was most vulnerable. She was -- as we all were, but she was extra devastated, so close to my mom. And at that point, Blake, her future husband, re-emerged. And Blake with a woman who was vulnerable, that is not a good mix. That can only end one way, and that`s disaster.
And he took the blame. He said that he introduced Amy to Class A drugs. "She took to it like a duck to water. Great words to say about your wife." That`s what he said -- quotes. So whether she would have found her another way to Class A drugs or not, I can`t say. But he stood up and said he is responsible for that.
He`s certainly not responsible for her death. But he is responsible for introducing her to Class A drugs.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And ironically we tried to reach him to get comment because you made these comments in the book.
M. WINEHOUSE: Difficult. He`s in prison.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: He`s in prison so we couldn`t reach him.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: We asked you for fun pictures and videos of your pets and we got some great ones. Send us more, hlntv.com.
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M. WINEHOUSE: She had been on drugs for three years or nigh on three years and the last six weeks of her life, it was two weeks of sobriety, one day of drinking and then three weeks of sobriety and then finally the last two days where she drank a lot of alcohol. But that`s a typical pattern of someone who`s moving towards sobriety. And we were all very, very hopeful.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: That was Mr. Winehouse yesterday on "Good Morning America". And Mitch Winehouse is here tonight with me. His astounding book is called "Amy, My Daughter" and every parent should read this because it`s really incredible honest.
Now, I have to say I`m a recovering alcoholic with 17 years of sobriety. And I just feel we`re both on the same page, we`re just trying to understand addiction and how to work with it and deal with it. You say that she was sort of -- she had gotten off drugs, but she was drinking alcohol occasionally.
A lot of experts say either you`re sober or you are not. I happen to agree with that. And there`s no managing your addiction, that that is really a prescription for disaster. What are your thoughts about that?
M. WINEHOUSE: Well, I agree. But the fact is she did stop taking drugs three years ago and she was moving towards sobriety. She said to me around about April time 2011, "It`s going to be the same as the drugs, dad. It`s going to take me a while." And the last six weeks of her life, five and a half of them were spent sober. She didn`t drink at all. But the last two days, she drank an inordinate amount of alcohol.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And that`s, of course, why she got the alcohol poisoning.
M. WINEHOUSE: Yes. But that was -- she was -- that`s the typical pattern of somebody moving into sobriety.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But there are those who say you can`t manage it this way. In other words, they talk about we thought we could find an easier, softer way but we could not. We stood at the turning point and we had to let go with complete abandon.
M. Winehouse. Well, I agree. Yes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I mean was there a reason very briefly why she chose that path?
M. WINEHOUSE: Which path, you mean to drink?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: No, just like gradual?
M. WINEHOUSE: It was easier for her. And it worked with the drugs. And it was beginning to work with the alcohol. I agree with you if you`re going to be abstinent, you just stop. But she wasn`t at that point where she was ready to just stop. She was with the drugs, but she wasn`t with the alcohol. That`s the bottom line.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I want to thank you so much. You`re extraordinary, your daughter was extraordinary. The world will always love her music.
M. WINEHOUSE: Thank you Jane. I appreciate it.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here at HLN, we`re going to tell you all week about very specific ways you can live better.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s about getting back to basics.
TOM HOLLAND, FITNESS EXPERT: We don`t have to work out for 30 minutes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`re going to take you on a fabulous new adventure that could change your life.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`re on a mission to live better, and now we`re so excited to have "Biggest Loser" contestant Kim Nielsen here tonight. Little did this mom of three and former female total nonstop action wrestler know the biggest match she would ever face would be the battle to lose weight on NBC`s "Biggest Loser".
She started at 252 pounds. She lost an astounding 118 pounds. And now she is down to 134 and svelte and absolutely amazing.
Straight out to Kim Nielsen; Kim you`re an inspiration. We all want to know, how did you do it?
KIM NIELSEN, "BIGGEST LOSER" CONTESTANT: Hi Jane. Thank you so much. I worked very hard to lose that 118 pounds at the ranch. There`s really no secret. It was hard work and exercise and a really strict diet. A calorie count, keeping a food journal and that`s about it.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: How were you able to keep it off? You know, so many people lose weight and then they gain it right back. You look fantastic.
NIELSEN: Thank you so much. I continue to work out at the gym here in Atlanta and I have to eat right. I really have to hold myself accountable and keep myself on the right path.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: How do you feel as a person who has lost, what, 118 pounds -- how did it change your life? Your romantic life? Your day life?
NIELSEN: It`s changed everything about my life. I finally have my body back. I have my health back. You know, my kids have a new mom back. And I mean that just can`t -- there can`t be anything better than that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And it`s an inspiration to your kids?
NIELSEN: Absolutely. I think they have been so proud of me. They tell me all the time and I`m glad to be a good role model for them.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Kids do what you do; they don`t do what you say. And I think it`s so important to acknowledge to parents out there that you have sort of a responsibility to stay in shape for your kids so that they do it too. We love you.
Nancy next.
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