Return to Transcripts main page

Jane Velez-Mitchell

Did Husband Kill Beloved Teacher?; Pregnant Suspect Found Beating Stomach

Aired March 17, 2014 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... got to see the real Raymond Wingfield (ph). It was all about him. He was just cold-blooded.

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Tonight, a mind-bending twist in a horrifying gruesome mystery. A husband frantically calls 911, saying his wife had a medical emergency, and he was performing CPR on her. He begged for help to save his wife`s life. But when cops raced to the couple`s home, they found her dead from a gunshot wound to the head. So what really happened in that couple`s bedroom that night?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A special needs teacher and actress at the Stage Door Theater was found dead, shot in the head inside her home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police determined that the actual victim had suffered a gunshot wound to the head.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They discovered the female lying on the floor, partially clothed and deceased.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Completely shocking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don`t know a motive of why Mr. Politte would kill his wife.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And they looked like a perfect couple. Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, coming to you live.

Beautiful young special ed teacher Stephanie Politte seemed to have it all. Politte was beautiful. She was a popular teacher and an actress in local community theater, living just outside Houston with her husband, David.

But then last week, David calls 911 to report his wife`s experiencing a medical emergency. Help, my wife`s spitting blood! Then when cops arrive, they look around at the grisly scene and quickly conclude, "Hey, mister, this is no medical emergency. This is murder." They turned to the distraught husband and they say, "We think you`re the killer. We think you executed your wife with a bullet to the head."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. RUSSELL TERRY, MISSOURI CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT: There was a medical call. And once officers arrived on the scene, they were met by the husband, who advised them that the victim was throwing up blood. And shortly thereafter, they discovered the female lying on the floor, partially clothed and deceased.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Stephanie was only partially clothed, lying on the floor of her bedroom, a gun near her lifeless body. Daniel was arrested at the scene and charged with murder, and non-negligent homicide. We`re going to find out tonight what the heck does that mean.

And new outrage, as well, tonight. Cops say this man is a cold- blooded killer, so why did they let him go free on a $125,000 surety bond? So if he shows up at his scheduled hearings, he won`t even have to pay that money, the bail money. Why is he out at all?

Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.

Straight into the Lion`s Den. Jon Leiberman, HLN contributor and author of "Whitey on Trial." Jon, one thing that has stumped cops, motive. So what are you learning tonight?

JON LEIBERMAN, HLN CONTRIBUTOR: Jane, here`s what my sources are telling me. This investigation is going in a few different directions.

No. 1, the suspect has lawyered up, so he`s not talking. Right now, police are interviewing friends of the couple. They`re interviewing neighbors. They want to know what the past history of this relationship is like. They`re also going through social media accounts. They`re going through laptops, phone records. They`re also looking at financial records. And they`re looking for motive. Was there a money problem in this family? Were there allegations of infidelity? Had this couple been fighting? Had there been previous calls to 911? These are all of the avenues that police are investigating right now.

But again, I can tell you that he`s lawyered up, No. 1. And No. 2, police sources are saying that this was a gunshot wound at very close range, almost like an execution-style killing. That`s what I`m being told.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I know. It`s unbelievable. Talk about the war on women. It seems totally insane for Daniel to shoot his wife, Stephanie, and then call 911 and say, "Oh, you know, I`ve got a medical emergency. My wife, I`m trying to save her life -- she`s vomiting blood. I`m doing CPR."

Well, of course, it didn`t take cops long on the scene to determine that Stephanie had been shot in the head, execution style.

Straight out to Dr. Lawrence Kobilinsky, famed forensic scientist. Dr. Kobi, is it possible to disguise a gunshot wound if the scene is incredibly bloody? I mean, why on earth would he assume that they wouldn`t figure that out lickety-split?

DR. LAWRENCE KOBILINSKY, FORENSIC SCIENTIST: There`s no way of disguising this kind of trauma to the body. Autopsy will reveal exactly the distance of the muzzle to the head. And they will determine whether it was a contact or close-in shot.

They will also determine whether there`s gunshot residue on the hands of the defendant, as compared to the hands of the victim.

And finally, the gun is the key to everything. Because they will swab the gun down, they will do DNA testing, and they will determine whose DNA is on the trigger of that gun.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Lisa Bloom, I think I heard you sighing in disgust. I mean, talk about the war on women. We cover this so many times. Generally, though, it`s when a woman has had enough, when she says, "I`m not buying your act anymore," and we`re going to get to possible reasons why in a second. That is the danger zone.

LISA BLOOM, LEGAL ANALYST, AVVO.COM: Absolutely. And if they`re charging him with non-negligent homicide, that means it`s an intentional killing. And murder would be an intentional killing with premeditation. And premeditation can be formed in an instant. It can be performed when he decided to pick up that gun, point it at her and shoot her. And it certainly sounds as though that`s what happened.

I can only imagine what he was thinking, calling the police and pretending like he had nothing to do with this.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, it never -- you know, it boggles my mind. I think people watch a lot of television shows, and they see fictional characters doing things and getting away with them. And they think they can do the same thing. I`m sure this was something on some TV show.

Of course, we don`t want to convict him. He deserves his day in court.

Stephanie had a very full life. She was a special needs teacher at a school that described her as, quote, "a brilliant, loving, talented individual who made a difference in the lives of many children and many families."

She was beautiful. She was popular. She was an actress with local theater companies. They seemed like the perfect couple. Nobody saw this coming, in fact.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Completely shocking. Just was home all day yesterday. Didn`t see a thing. And like I said, we never have anything ever happen in the neighborhood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, Wendy Walsh, psychologist, host of Investigation Discovery network`s "Happily Never After," wow, well, you know this story. There were no prior domestic violence calls to the home is what we`re learning right now.

David reportedly was unemployed, OK? And this is what -- he belonged to a gun dealer Facebook group, but this is really what -- he claimed to enjoy multi-player online role-playing games. So when you put all that together, what do you come up with?

WENDY WALSH, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, you come up with somebody who is fear-based, perhaps, who needs to exert their manhood with a group of other mostly men with guns. Who thinks of video games -- the video games, for sure, Jane, would have given him good hand-eye coordination.

But I wanted to address something else that you mentioned earlier, which is why would he call 911 pretending he didn`t do it? Well, he may not have actually pretended he didn`t do it. Sometimes what can happen is, in a moment of passion, if you will, in a negative passion when he shoots the gun, then he sees her blooding, and all of a sudden, he actually realizes what he`s done and what`s going on. And he doesn`t want her to die, so that`s why he calls 911. So I think he could have actually hoped to save her at that moment, didn`t realize how bad it was.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, but Christopher Chestnut, attorney. You shoot somebody in the head. It`s an execution. To me, that is perhaps the most violent crime of all. It`s not like a struggle. It has to be to a certain degree, I would think, deliberate.

Again, he deserves his day in court. But assuming cops are right for a second, that is a deliberate act. It is an execution.

And we don`t know all the facts yet. But I would say that this is consistent with someone who plays a video game. Their reality is distorted. He`s playing video games all day; he`s unemployed. He can kill people all day long, and they play again tomorrow. The same character comes back. I think he had a jolt of reality when he called 911. I think that may explain why he called 911.

But again, it`s early in the case. And maybe there are some other factors to play in here. But all arrows point to, he definitely murdered his wife.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let`s go out to the phone lines. Debbie, New York, what do you have to say? Debbie, New York.

CALLER: Hi, Jane, how are you?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hey. Good, thanks.

CALLER: Jane, this is similar to another case where they were roleplaying, and I think it got out of hand. And he shot his wife. It was something very similar to this.

But my question is, to you and the panel, is when the EMT came in and they realized that she was shot, and the police came, didn`t anybody ask him -- didn`t they look for a gun? And...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, the gun was right there. The gun was right there next to her. But I think what you said before was fascinating. I`ll toss it to Areva Martin.

She`s an actress. She`s in the bedroom partially clothed. The gun is right there. And I see a defense already. OK? "Oh, we were roleplaying. She`s an actress. She liked to play games. We were roleplaying in the bedroom with a gun. I didn`t realize it was loaded, boom."

AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY: You know, but one problem with that argument, Jane, is she didn`t call -- the husband didn`t call the police and report that an accident occurred, that he accidentally shot his wife while they were roleplaying. That`s not what this call -- at least what`s being reported, that`s not what the call said. He didn`t give that information to the police, apparently. Apparently the police had to arrive, and then they had to do their own investigation to determine that he, indeed, had shot his wife.

So I think that argument would carry more weight if this guy called and said, "You know what? I`m in a state of panic, because my wife and I were playing a game, and I accidentally shot her." I don`t think that`s the case here.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Look, Casey Anthony, Jodi Arias, how many people have said one thing and then changed their story while -- after they get lawyered up and they`re in jail.

David is charged with murder and non-negligent homicide. Cops say this guy is a cold-blooded killer who shot his wife in the head and left the gun right near her body. So why isn`t he behind bars right now as we`re speaking? He was let go on $125,000 bond.

And, you know, Lisa Bloom, he didn`t even have to pay a dime to get out, especially when cops admit they don`t have a motive. You know, presumably, if -- and I say a big if. I don`t want to convict him, if he killed his wife as alleged, perhaps he`d have a reason to kill somebody else. I mean, you could raise the possibility perhaps he`s jealous: she met somebody in a play; she was doing a sex scene with somebody in a play, and he was jealous. The possibilities are endless.

BLOOM: Well, that`s insane. Somebody who`s accused of murder, who`s accused of shooting his wife, being able to get out like that on a surety bond, as you say, without even putting up any of his own money? I mean, the whole idea of bail is to be sure he`s going to show up for court proceedings. Who has more of a motivation to flee than somebody accused of murder? So that doesn`t make any sense to me at all.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I would think, Jon Leiberman, they`re going to have to go -- we reached out to some of the theater companies that she worked with, and tried to get a comment. We did not get a comment.

But I would wonder, the first thing I would wonder if I was a detective, was she involved in a scene -- I know a lot of actors and actresses, and they`re always doing sex scenes or love scenes, and they`ve got to make out with somebody. I mean, that could arouse suspicion and jealousy.

LEIBERMAN: Absolutely. And that is one thing that they`re doing. That`s one avenue that they`re exploring. They`re going to talk to everybody that she`s ever worked with. They`re going to talk to neighbors. They`re going to talk to friends of this couple, because now they have a mystery to solve.

And I agree with Lisa, I mean, look, the point of bail is to make sure that somebody shows up and doesn`t flee. And who would have a better reason to flee than somebody looking at potentially spending their life behind bars?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And it may boil down to jealousy. She seemed to have it all. She was very popular, very loved by her students and their parents. She was popular in the theater group that she was in. He, unemployed, playing video games. It could be as simple as that, but we don`t know. He or his attorney are invited on any time, considering he`s out on bail.

Next, the pregnant woman accused of trying to drown her children by driving her SUV into the ocean is in more trouble tonight. And what she`s accused of doing is so shocking, that it`s hard to even tell you about it. But we will, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder. Which you have no bond. You`re also charged with three counts of child abuse causing great bodily harm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the mom took her vehicle and accelerated towards the water. She put her family and herself in danger.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need a wellness check.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She thinks there`s demons in the house?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The two in the back seat was crying with their arms out saying, "Our mommy`s trying to kill us. Please help."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three counts of attempted first-degree murder. In which you have no bond. You`re also charged with three counts of child abuse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re saying, "Help."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unbelievable. Tonight, shocking new developments in the case of that pregnant mom accused of trying to murder her own three children by driving them into the ocean. This unforgettable, gut-wrenching video of the alleged murder-suicide attempt captured the nation. Well, now, the story`s getting even worse.

Her own attorney revealed at a hearing today that Ebony Wilkerson -- you`re looking at her here, who is seven months pregnant, was discovered in jail, punching herself in the stomach. Again, she`s seven months pregnant. She was moved to a mental hospital. Shouldn`t this woman be on 24-hour watch? Was she trying to kill her unborn child?

Her three kids, ages 3, 9 and 10, told police that, as Mommy drove toward the waves, she locked the car doors and put the windows up. She told them to close their eyes and go to sleep. Rescuers say Wilkerson tried to fight them off as they struggled to save her children from drowning. She tried to stop them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She has a kid on her lap, fighting her for the steering wheel. And the two in the back seat was crying with their arms out saying, "Our mommy`s trying to kill us. Please help."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ironically, Wilkerson may try to use this punching of the unborn child incident to plead insanity. Is this the latest disturbing episode? Yes, it is. Is it another sign that she`s mentally ill? I don`t know. Or is she just an evil mom, hell-bent on killing her own kids?

Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS.

Straight out to Mark Starling, reporter/anchor for News 96.5. Mark, what happened in court today?

MARK STARLING, REPORTER/ANCHOR, NEWS 96.5 (via phone): Jane, originally today`s court date was supposedly to get a lower bond amount set for Ebony Wilkerson. And right now her bond is set at $1.2 million.

And there seemed to be a lot of just kind of -- a lot of things that were not clear to both the defense and the prosecution. You know, again, that surfacing today about her punching herself in the stomach. That just kind of surfaced up today. So that`s kind of been a new angle for us.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What did they say about that, Mark? Mark -- Mark, what did they say about that? That`s what we want to talk about. That`s the big news.

The big news is that this woman, who tried to kill her three kids by driving into the ocean, allegedly, purportedly -- we know she drove into the ocean; she`s accused of attempted murder, three counts, on her kids -- is punching herself in the stomach when she`s seven months` pregnant. That`s huge. What did anybody, the defense or the prosecution, say about that before she was whisked off to a mental hospital?

STARLING: Well, the prosecution`s big thing was, you know, this was obviously -- the prosecution was looking at it like it`s a tactic. And, you know, there are certain ramifications, and that they -- that Wilkerson must be in visual eyesight of her -- of the corrections officers at all times. The big question was that they sent her to Halifax Medical Center to the psychiatric ward. Would they be able to keep line of sight on her at all times? Would she be able to participate in the groupings? Because as you know, those groupings sometimes in the men`s psychiatric units are private.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hold on, Mark. Mark, Mark, Mark. When she was in jail, was she on 24-hour watch? When she did this, was she supposed to be watched 24 hours? In other words, did somebody look away for a second, and she starts punching herself? Because I understand she was also naked when this happened, when they discovered her?

STARLING: That`s the details that I`ve heard this afternoon. You know, I was kind of scanning back through the hearing audio. And it was kind of unclear whether or not she was being watched. She was supposed to be watched. There`s no question about that. You know, I don`t think that`s ever been a question since the start of this thing, that this woman was obviously mental.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, wait a second. Hold on one minute. Hold on one second. Because we want to get to that. Is she mental or not? She`s charged with three counts of attempted murder of her own children, and it seemed to me when the cops were announcing that, that they didn`t think that she was insane.

Hours before Ebony Wilkerson drove her van into the surf, her own sister called 911, saying the pregnant mother was hearing demons and talking to Jesus. Listen to the 911 call.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her husband beat on her. She came down from South Carolina to my house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t understand why you need a well-being -- I don`t understand why you need a well-being check.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because she`s like having psychosis or something, or postpartum.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. After that 911 call, police actually pulled Ebony over and questioned her. And she told them she was headed to a domestic violence shelter, fearful of her allegedly abusive husband. By the way, the husband says, "It`s all a lie. I didn`t abuse her at all. She`s mental."

OK. So -- but she wasn`t crazy enough when they pulled her over before she drove her kids into the ocean to be held on a -- what they call Baker Act. You know, when you`re able to be held on an involuntary hold.

So I want to go to Areva Martin, attorney. You just heard that there was a reference in court today that maybe she`s going to use this horrific hitting her own womb incident as a ploy, as a strategy, perhaps, to convince the jury or the courts that she`s insane, and she shouldn`t have to go to jail for attempted murder.

MARTIN: Jane, she doesn`t have to use the hitting of her stomach. Obviously, we`re watching this woman`s life play out in this video. Something is terribly wrong with this woman. Either it`s domestic violence; it`s postpartum depression, which her sister alluded to.

But no mother of three drives their children into an ocean unless there`s something really going on with them mentally. There`s no indication that this woman didn`t love her kids, that she otherwise didn`t try to provide for them. She was trying to escape a very violent situation.

I`m really annoyed by the story, because it`s framed as if somehow she`s a criminal. She`s a victim herself.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hold on a second.

MARTIN: The kids are victims, but she`s also a victim.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me bring this factor in. I mean, if this was the only thing in her life, but Ebony Wilkerson caused a deadly car wreck back in 2007 that left a young mother dead. She clipped the back of a van, sending it flying into a concrete wall. Wilkerson lost her license for a year and had to do 132 years of community service.

This is the woman who was killed. I spoke exclusively to her widower, her husband. OK. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What would you say to Ebony Wilkerson if you could say anything to her, if you could talk to her directly?

DOUG KRANE, WIFE WAS KILLED IN CRASH WITH EBONY WILKERSON: What comes around goes around. And if you do something wrong, and you try to lie about it, and not take responsibility, then obviously someday soon, you will get what you deserve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So I want to go back to Areva. You`re saying this woman is a victim. But boy, she has a track record of doing really, really dangerous things behind a vehicle -- behind a wheel.

MARTIN: But Jane, that proves my point even more so. She has a history of unstable conduct. And that car accident has no relationship to her incident with the kids in the car driving into the ocean. This is a mother in distress. This is a mother that needs psychiatric help. Those kids need to be protected, first and foremost. But this woman needs help.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Does anybody think that there`s a connection, anybody on our panel, between her killing somebody, essentially, in a car accident years ago, and driving her kids into the ocean? Nobody? Everybody thinks that`s totally irrelevant?

BLOOM: No. Jane, I think it might be relevant. But I`m going to take Areva`s side, as well. She may have posttraumatic stress from that incident.

This is clearly a woman who is not...

(CROSSTALK)

BLOOM: Her sister is using the word "psychosis." She`s obviously not a therapist. The psychosis probably is what`s going on. She clearly had a break. She`s punching her stomach. She`s driving her kids into the ocean. She does not want to be a mother. This is a woman who has serious mental illness problems.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wendy Walsh, quickly. Wendy.

WALSH: Yes. I want people to understand what pregnancy psychosis is. Here`s a woman who showed the symptoms: unstable behavior; she was hallucinating. And with each pregnancy, the likelihood that psychosis will get greater, gets greater, because your brain gets depleted, your brain gets depleted from the EPA, et cetera so -- and the DHA. So this woman has probably pregnancy psychosis, and shouldn`t have spent one night in jail. Just to protect that unborn child, she should have been in a psych ward from the beginning.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, we`re going to take a short break. We`re going to have more on this. The phone lines are lighting up.

Also, in a couple of minutes we`re going to take you to breaking news. Chris Brown. You will not believe it. He`s been ordered to jail for at least a month after being kicked out of rehab. And this is a blockbuster, because this is one of the first times in recent history that any superstar has actually been forced to jail. OK? And it`s an unbelievable story. We`re going to tell you about it on the other side.

But first on this woman who drove into the ocean with her kids.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say they did respond. And evaluated her for about 30 minutes but said there was no legal right to detain her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The children weren`t in crisis. The woman said, "I`m going to a shelter." And she showed nothing; there was no display that she was a danger to herself or anyone at that time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She had this look on her face -- I can`t describe it. It was just an awful blank look, like spaced-out look.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ebony Wilkerson drove her own kids into the ocean in a van, and she ended up with attempted murder, three counts. And now we`ve learned she`s been punching herself in the stomach, even though she`s seven months` pregnant.

So is she another Andrea Yates? Andrea Yates, of course, the most infamous case of a mom who actually did drown her kids. She killed her five kids in the bathtub. Just a horrifying story. She was ultimately found not guilty by reason of insanity and put in a mental institution. And it`s believed Yates suffered from postpartum psychosis and was hearing commands from the devil.

Now Wilkerson apparently told her sister she was seeing demons and talking to Jesus right before driving her kids into the ocean.

But I want to go to Dr. Lawrence Kobilinsky, forensic scientist. Now, she punched herself in the stomach. She`s seven months pregnant, but she did appear in court today looking OK. But if she miscarries, let`s say in a couple of days, could she, first of all, could that happen down the road? And do you think she could end up being charged with something like murder?

KOBILINSKY: I think she`s quite dangerous to herself. I don`t whether it was a strategy that she used. But everything that I`ve seen leads me to believe that she`s totally irrational. And probably not responsible for her behavior.

This is a woman that is really not in control of what she is doing. And I think the best place for her is in a psychiatric institution where she can be helped.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. But Christopher Chestnut, briefly, she is charged with three counts of attempted murder for trying to drive her kids into the ocean. If this miscarriage occurs, if she miscarries, could she be charged with something else?

CHRISTOPHER CHESTNUT, ATTORNEY: I mean she could. But I think this raises two issues. One is she even competent to stand trial after this incident today. And moreover, what was her mental state at the time she drove into the ocean. This would be a tough case for prosecutors that charged very aggressively.

I think she`s going to be found not guilty by reason of insanity. She`s had a lot of psychologically traumatizing incidents in her life.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. We`ll keep you posted on this one.

Now, just moments ago -- this is breaking news-- a judge ordered Chris Brown, you`re in jail for at least a month until your next hearing. Has the pop superstar finally run out of his "get out of jail" free power and privilege cards?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS BROWN, SINGER: I was wrong for what I did. And I would definitely say that it`s not something that I would pass or look over. It`s something that`s really, really touchy. And like I said, I`m really sorry for what went down and what happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: I am very sad and very ashamed of what I`ve done.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why is Chris Brown such a magnet for trouble?

BROWN: What I did was unacceptable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chris Brown --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chris Brown --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chris Brown --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chris Brown doesn`t get --

(MUSIC)

BROWN: I`m totally ashamed of what I did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight breaking news just in, a major smack-down for superstar Chris Brown. Just moments ago a judge ordered Chris be held in jail, behind bars for at least a month until his next court hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES R. BRANDLIN, SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE: (inaudible) I have concerns about the defendant`s ability, or inability to stay out of trouble pending the formal hearing. So with regards to your request that the defendant be released to a different programs, that request is respectfully (ph) denied. The defendant is remanded, no bail, pending the hearing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. Look at his expression. No bail, remanded pending the hearing. That`s at the end of April.

Up until now, the infamous rapper, who is, by the way, reportedly worth a quarter of a billion dollars, hasn`t really had any punishment for his actions. It all started with Rihanna -- you remember the famous or infamous photo. He`s still on probation for severely beating his superstar ex-girlfriend to a pulp five years ago. And, you know, that`s a glossy image of it -- it`s really bad when you see the real photo.

Chris pled guilty and was lucky enough to get probation. But then he was arrested again just last fall for allegedly punching a guy in the face. So his hot-shot attorney, Mark Geragos, who we all love, stepped in and got him into rehab to help with his anger management. So he was lucky again.

But then he was kicked out of rehab back in November for throwing a rock at his mother`s car after a family therapy session. So he checked into a different rehab and actually finished the nine day stint. So far, so good.

Then the judge said, wait a second, you`re not done yet, go back for another month. Well, Chris then allegedly broke the rules and he just got kicked out of that rehab on Friday.

So the judge said to him today just a little while ago, "Hey, Chris Brown, you`re out of luck. You are doing at least a month in jail behind bars until your next hearing. We`ve reached out to Chris Brown`s camp and have not heard back.

Straight out to the "Lion`s Den" -- Kendra G, wow -- all I can say is, wow. Here he is. We`ll show him in court with jail house orange. He`s worth a quarter of a billion dollars. He`s a Grammy-winning music mogul. And look -- you know, he looks like an average defendant behind bars here. It`s a shocker.

KENDRA G, ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: It is a shocker. You know what makes it even worse? Did you know that Rihanna his ex-girlfriend and Drake are probably somewhere making passionate love, drinking champagne and laughing at this? It breaks my heart on one end.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know.

G: You know, at one end I feel ok, Chris Brown, go to jail. This will teach you a lesson. On the other hand, like another black guy in jail, so talented, you know. But he does belong in jail, because I`m hoping this will finally teach him that he just cannot go crazy. I`m still mad at him for throwing that rock at his mama`s car. He should have gotten smacked in the face for that one. But, you know, it`s a sad situation, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It is a sad situation. I`ve always rooted for him. But, you know, at a certain point I`m also happy the judges in L.A. are finally cracking down on somebody. We`re going to get to that in a second.

G: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now what did he do wrong? We`ll get to that as well. Chris is a very talented guy. I mean he`s a Grammy-winning music legend.

(MUSIC)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This is a guy who should be on top of the world. This has to be super embarrassing for him. Here`s what he got kicked out for, Jawn Murray, editor in chief alwaysalist.com, refusing to take a drug test which his attorney pointed out he later took and the result was negative. Touching elbows with a female patient, physical contact with female patients prohibited for Chris Brown. Apparently I think it`s not -- well, you`re not supposed to be doing that kind of stuff in rehab. And apparently he made a provocative comment during a group therapy session saying, quote, "I am good with guns and knives," end quote.

Well, that could sound like a threat possibly, Jawn Murray.

JAWN MURRAY, EDITOR IN CHIEF ALWAYSALIST.COM: It sounds like a lot of things. I mean look, the fascination with the women in the rehab we shouldn`t be shocked by that. We talked about on this very show how he made confessions of him losing his virginity at eight years old. The guy loves sex.

But Chris is the poster child for one of the things that we haven`t dealt with in the African-American community which is mental illness. It`s been four years since the Rihanna incident and we`re just finding out that he has bipolar disorder, has post-traumatic stress disorder and several other conditions and then he stopped medicating but not according to what the mental illness treatment should.

Chris needed mental help a long time ago. He`s unwell. So yes, he broke the law. He should be in jail. But we need to heal this guy, and use him as an example of how we can help other young black men.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well yes. And there`s a controversy, however, as to whether he`s truly unwell or if he`s one of these entitled celebrities because Chris Brown has used apologies and rationalization in the past to explain his rage issues. And of course, it always does go back to childhood -- always.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: As many of you know, I grew up in a home where there was domestic violence. And I saw firsthand what uncontrolled rage could do.

What I did was unacceptable, 100 percent. I can only ask and pray that you forgive me, please.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, when Lindsay Lohan violated her probation, you remember she turned on the tears in court. She wept in front of the judge. She avoided jail time by checking herself back into rehab.

Back out to the "Lion`s Den" -- look, Wendy Walsh, I don`t like jails. I think everybody should get treatment because anybody who does anything wrong is sick, in my opinion. But we`ve seen too many celebrities like Lindsay, Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, never face any consequences where people are doing things for less serious offenses. So I`m torn.

On the one hand, I do want Chris Brown, a very talented man, to get help. But on the other hand, I`m glad that celebrities are finally not getting away with it.

WENDY WALSH, PSYCHOLOGIST: I agree with you, Jane. I mean there is a double standard certainly with the celebrated people. And think of what good prison did to Robert Downey Jr. I mean he might not be alive today were it not for that. But I think Chris Brown -- I don`t think substance abuse is his biggest problem. And I think these -- I know there`s a part of my heart that just goes out to him.

I mean, I do believe he needs these boundaries. I do believe that the judge is doing the right thing. But I still feel so sad for him because I know how much pain he must be in. And I have those two minds as well.

LISA BLOOM, LEGAL ANALYST, AVO.COM: Jane --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But -- yes, Lisa, why can`t he stop himself? Why can he not say something about guns? Why can he not throw a rock at his mother`s car? Why can he not allegedly punch a guy in D.C.?

BLOOM: There`s bumper stickers on police cars here in L.A. that say there`s no excuse for domestic violence. Can we stop making excuses for this guy who punched his girlfriend in the face, who choked her almost to the point where she went unconscious because that`s what she alleged in the police affidavit? He should have gone --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We saw the picture. I mean the picture -

BLOOM: He should have gone to jail for a year when that happened. But instead, he got a pass. He got to be on probation. Probation means you have to follow all the rules. You have to dot every I, you have to cross every T. He got a chance, he didn`t avail himself of it and you know what, he should be in jail.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, we`re going to show you on the other side, the photo again, of Rihanna. Ok? And if we can -- I`d love to get that photo. Or you can see it on our Facebook page. We`ve already shown it to you a couple of times. But it bears repeating.

There. And that`s a pasteurized version. I mean her face is all cut up. This isn`t just, you know, an argument or slap. That`s a beating. That`s a pummeling. And there are consequences for behavior like that.

All right. We`re going to take a break. We`ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: I wish I had the chance to live those few moments again. But unfortunately, I can`t. I cannot go into what happened and most importantly, I`m not going to sit here and make any excuses.

I take great pride in me being able to exercise self-control and what I did was inexcusable. I am very sad and very ashamed of what I have done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sounds sincere, but then he got into trouble again and again and can`t seem to stay out of trouble in rehab. Now Chris` lawyer, Mark Geragos, asked can`t the singer just go into another rehab program instead of jail? The answer from the judge -- nope.

Back out to the "Lion`s Den" -- Kendra G, first of all I`m wondering, you know, there`s always the jail overcrowding issue. You know, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan have gone to jail, and had the book thrown at them and they were whisked out hours later. Could that happen here?

G: Oh, yes. It`s going to happen there. He won`t be in jail for long. I think he`ll be out -- I mean his hearing comes back on April 23rd. But I hope this time does teach him a lesson that what he did was wrong. And I`m just hoping that he gets it together because I don`t want to see Chris Brown in jail anymore but he does belong there right now. He truly does.

I do.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jawn Murray, you know, could actually spending a month in jail save his life on some level?

MURRAY: Absolutely. But he needs the mental help, Jane. We know he`s mentally ill now. He needs to deal with that. If a 19-year-old boy who made a mistake can`t be rehabbed and people who kill young black boys can be free in America, we`re living in a crazy society.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, I`m torn, because I wish there were no prisons. I think there are many people doing time for non-violent drug offenses that are in the minority community, and we need to make sure that those people are not unfairly punished. By the same token, if somebody punches somebody out, and I said the same thing about Lindsay Lohan doing the high-speed chase up the Pacific Coast Highway, anybody else would have been behind bars, in my opinion after that scene chasing a woman is in the Santa Monica police station. You know what I`m talking about, that incident.

So I just want to see if we`re going to give people`s second chances, let`s give it to everybody, not just certain privileged people. So again, I don`t know. I`m very back and forth. I`m torn. I want him to get help. But I also feel like these celebrities, in general, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, this guy, you know, Chris Brown, they can`t -- it`s accountability. Otherwise our criminal justice system becomes a joke.

All right. Mick Jagger is devastated after the mysterious death of his longtime girlfriend. And you will not believe how she was found dead. It involved a doorknob and a scarf. It`s a shocking development.

And we`re going to tell you on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`ve gone so Dollywood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight a horrifying mystery shocking the rock music and fashion world. Legend Mick Jagger`s stunning long-time lover found hanging by a scarf from a doorknob. Jagger himself half the way around the world on a tour in Australia when he learned his girlfriend has suddenly died in her massive apartment in one of the coolest areas in Manhattan.

Jagger`s girlfriend, the famous model turned fashion designer L`Wren Scott reportedly sent her assistant a text at 8:30 this morning saying come by her apartment. When the assistant got there a couple of hours later, she found L`Wren`s body in the living room hanging from a doorknob by a scarf.

The medical examiner has not yet determined cause of death but cops said they did not find a suicide note. Nobody who knew this star of the fashion world saw this coming, including her rocker boyfriend who is completely shocked and devastated by the news.

Straight out to E News correspondent, Alicia Quarles -- you were at L`Wren`s apartment today. What is the latest?

ALICIA QUARLES, E NEWS CORRESPONDENT: The latest is that everyone is just shocked. Nobody saw this coming. Nobody knew that she was suffering from depression, if she was, in fact, suffering. We don`t know.

I`ve been getting statements in all day. Famed photographer Bruce Weber who had discovered her as a model just sent me a statement saying, he called her "pretty legs" and he knew from the moment that he met her that she was special.

But I was talking to people that had seen her recently. Nobody saw any signs of depression or sadness. Even at the scene, investigators were coming out and nobody could figure out why this happened.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I mean a lot of people are wondering how do you kill yourself from a doorknob when you`re 6`3" and a doorknob goes up to here? Have people been talking about that?

QUARLES: People have absolutely been talking about that for the simple fact that you`re right, she was 6`3". Bruce called her pretty legs. She was known for those legs and that height. And the fact -- you know nobody saw her being depressed.

The police are saying it`s an apparent suicide. It hasn`t been 100 percent confirmed yet. You know there`s been some that reports her business was in trouble. However she had just campaigned with Banana Republican. She owned the apartment outright. So there are more questions right now than answers.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well this is a very fancy apartment. You could take your car, I hear, into the apartment and it`s got an elevator that takes your car up. Do you know how expensive that`s got to be in Manhattan? Oh, my God.

QUARLES: It`s an incredibly expensive apartment and just being there, I know other celebrities that live there who I won`t out, you know, but it`s very expensive real estate. We`re hearing that she owned it outright. It`s in a great area. This is just a very sad and shocking day.

She was supposed to show at London`s fashion week recently. She canceled it saying there were production concerns. All of her shows were very elaborate and over the top, so nobody questioned it when she canceled her show. She seemed like the same and happy L`Wren most people saw and knew always.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, I just saw the building and I know that building from walking the highline. You look up at it and it`s one of the most incredible architectural treasures. But we don`t know that it`s a suicide. I mean the cops have said they don`t think it`s foul play.

You know, we don`t that she necessarily texted. A text was sent from her phone.

QUARLES: We don`t know for sure that it`s a suicide. But cops are saying an apparent suicide right now. I saw investigators leaving the scene, droves of them, and I also saw the medical examiner leaving the scene. So there`s been a whole lot of people over there in traffic. And again at this point there`s just more answers -- more questions than answers.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Alicia, we`ve got to leave it right there. But so great having you on. Thank you for coming on.

QUARLES: Hope next time better circumstances.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Nancy next.

END