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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield
Teen`s Harassment Continues After Suicide; JonBenet Ramsey DNA Evidence to be Retested; CorePower Yoga Founder Dead in Home; Former Wrestler Takes Out Would-Be Robber. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired December 14, 2016 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[20:00:00] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HLN HOST (voice-over): Beautiful on the inside and out, cyber bullies drive this teenage girl to the brink...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They would make dating (ph) Web sites of her.
BANFIELD: ... as she pulls the trigger right in front of her parents and grandparents.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She had the gun pointed at her chest!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She pulled the trigger.
BANFIELD: But the monsters who pushed her over the edge and into the grave are still at it, even after her death.
PATSY RAMSEY, MOTHER OF JONBENET RAMSEY: We have a kidnapping. Hurry, please!
BANFIELD: Twenty years later, it`s a famous cold case that`s got us transfixed.
P. RAMSEY: Hurry! Hurry!
BANFIELD: Who killed JonBenet Ramsey?
P. RAMSEY: I don`t know who it is...
BANFIELD: Now a possible breakthrough. Could new DNA testing on decades- old evidence bring justice at last?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will find you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Untether yourself from the chaos.
BANFIELD: It`s a peaceful and relaxing way of life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let it go.
BANFIELD: So why would anyone murder a famous yoga guru...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m Trevor Tice (ph), founder and CEO of Core Power Yoga.
BANFIELD: ... the multi-millionaire founder of a national yoga school? Police say someone mysteriously killed him while he was inside his
California mansion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) binder with a filing system in it.
BANFIELD: We all use them, but some people hold up the line forever with their coupons.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He grabbed me by the back of the head and smashed my face (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: It happened here, and the result was violent.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything kind of went black for a minute.
BANFIELD: Plus, a WWE smackdown...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) big man from primetime (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: ... that lays a real-life robber flat out. Not another day at the office for celebrity wrestler Matt Gephart (ph) who drops the robber
like he`s hot.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: Good evening. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE. There is a family grieving tonight over the suicide of their
daughter, who was relentlessly and viciously bullied on social media for months until she just couldn`t take it any longer. Eighteen-year-old
Brandy Vela of Texas City, Texas, fatally shot herself with a handgun. She did it in her bedroom and she did it in front of her parents and her
grandparents as they desperately tried to talk her out of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACQUELINE VELA, BRANDY`S SISTER: I heard someone crying, so I run upstairs. And I look in her room, and she`s against the wall and she has
the gun pointed at her chest. And she`s just crying and crying. And I`m, like, Brandy, please, no. Brandy, no. I was in my parents` room and I
just heard the shot. And my dad just yelled, like, Help me, help me, help me!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: As awful as that is, one would think that that would be over, over in the sense that those bullies would slink back into their corners
and let Brandy rest in peace and her family, hopefully, find peace, but that has not been the case.
In the weeks since Brandy`s death, phony Facebook accounts have popped up. One of them reportedly depicts Brandy with guns. Another shows her as a
pig. Brandy was a high school student. She waited tables and she wanted to become a veterinarian, and all that has now been shattered.
Jeffrey Boney joins me live now. He`s the associate editor of the "Houston Forward Times." What is the back story behind this terrible tragedy?
JEFFREY BONEY, "HOUSTON FORWARD TIMES": Well, Ashleigh, for over a year, Brandy was being cyber bullied. Mostly, it was about her weight. It all
started with them starting to use her face on line, her picture. But then it kind of ramped up around April.
They started creating these Facebook profiles, these fake Facebook profiles and social media posts saying that she was trying to solicit sex. And they
would put her phone number on her. So it moved from on line to actually her being phoned and making -- people were making phone calls and harassing
her.
And it got so bad that they reported it to the Texas City school district, as well as to law enforcement officials. But they would always say that
they could not do anything because these people were untraceable.
And so it got so, so bad that she just couldn`t take it anymore. And as you heard from her sister, Jackie (ph), she had the gun to her chest and in
front of her and her parents and her grandparents, fatally shot herself.
BANFIELD: So Jeffrey, are you saying that they reported this cyber bullying as it was happening. The police knew that it was happening. And
they just couldn`t find the source of it? And then after the actual death, they still can`t find the source of it?
[20:05:08]BONEY: Absolutely. They`ve reported this to the school, to the Texas City school district, to all of the law enforcement officials in
Texas City, and they`re saying that there`s absolutely no way, based off of the app and the information that they`ve been able to gather using
detectives and deputies -- there`s nobody that they can find responsible for the things that drove her to kill herself.
BANFIELD: Ari Zoldan is the CEO of Quantum Network and he`s a technology analyst. He`s also with me live. Ari, please tell me that if someone can
hack the DNC, that someone somewhere can actually find a way to this perpetrator.
ARI ZOLDAN, CEO, QUANTUM NETWORKS: Again, it`s very hard. What`s happening here is that these children are actually outpacing
technologically a lot of the police and a lot of the law enforcement agencies also. They`re getting smarter. They`re getting cunning. And
they`re becoming a lot quicker, too. So they`re able to make these punches and pull back quickly without any trace.
BANFIELD: And I get it that there are apps out there that have the communications puffing into dust afterwards. But there is always a better
mouse trap. Why is there not a mouse trap right now that is in the works to help find who did this?
ZOLDAN: There are. There are thing, but the police department and agencies I don`t feel are doing enough to be able to track down a lot of
these perpetrators. And it`s becoming a regular occurrence these days. You know, used to hear about it, these incidents as, you know, once or
twice a year. It`s now happening almost on a weekly basis. And unfortunately, until the police departments step up and the local agencies
step up and increase their technology efforts, we`re going to see more and more of this.
BANFIELD: So the people who did this to Brandy -- just sickening, person or people, sickening and relentless. I want you to hear from Raul Vela,
who is Brandy`s father, about how this all sort of played out before Brandy took her own life. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAUL VELA, BRANDY`S FATHER: She (INAUDIBLE) look at all the calls that I`m getting. Somebody made a fake Facebook of me and saying all these things
about me. You know, this is something new. This is something we need to figure out and work through and try to find how to be able to stop what
people are doing with social media.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So Ari, the social media continued after Brandy died, in the weeks after she shot herself. These are the posts on the fake Facebook
account that was made. (INAUDIBLE) Brandy Vela to eat more chicken, so Brandy ate the cow and had the chicken for dessert." Notice that it`s the
Rest in Peace Brandy Facebook account.
"My face, when you shoot yourself in front of your family." The next post, again from Rest in Peace Brandy Vela -- "Am I dead?" A stick man shooting
himself in the head. And then this one, again from the Rest in Peace fake Facebook account, "This was the last book I ever read. It was called how
to kill a worthless whore in a thousandth of a second."
Someone out there has such evil in his or her heart to put that together and post it. And it makes me wonder if the police, Ari, aren`t so furious
what`s happened that they would dedicate the resources. Or say someone out there like Anonymous. Anonymous finds good causes, and they jump in en
masse to build that better mouse trap.
Do you think it could be done? Because this person is bold and brazen and sure doesn`t seem to care!
ZOLDAN: Yes, it`s sick. And Ashleigh, they will find them, I guarantee it. I think the police departments have to start thinking like
technologists first, policemen second in order to get these guys. And I think they will because there are digital footprints all over the place.
So you know, they will -- they (INAUDIBLE) to get them.
BANFIELD: God, I hope so. And if they do, former prosecutor Peter Brill is with me. Defense attorney Danny Cevallos is here, as well. And the
question I have is, if they can find this person or persons, as I understand it in Texas, cyber bullying is a misdemeanor. What does that
mean?
DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It means that, depending on the law, whatever Texas provides, if you are -- it`s the same as harassment law. If
you`re harassing someone, it`s a criminal offense, and it`s the same thing on line as it is if you`re calling a phone 500 times...
BANFIELD: Do you go to jail for this, for a misdemeanor resulting in someone`s death?
CEVALLOS: Well, I`m going to give you a lawyer response. What would you want to see them charged with, with a homicide? Would you like them held
liable for that? Because in that case, as much as I deplore what they did, this is not a homicide. You cannot...
PETER BRILL, FORMER PROSECUTOR: This is free speech.
(CROSSTALK)
CEVALLOS: It is. It`s free speech. And beyond that, in Texas, you have to actually intend to aid someone`s suicide, then actually give them that
aid.
BANFIELD: Well, I have seen cases whereby someone has been charged for encouraging someone to take his life. So isn`t that the same here...
BRILL: No.
[20:10:02]BANFIELD: ... pushing someone so far beyond the brink...
BRILL: Ashleigh, this is...
BANFIELD: ... and then the kind of harassment that`s going on afterwards?
BRILL: This is, in two words, this is free speech. This is the price we pay, unfortunately, for a robust, strong 1st Amendment, hate speech,
disgusting speech, reprehensible speech. This is what we have to support if we want to support our Constitution. And as much as we are disgusted by
it, this is what we (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: So I`ll tell you what. I`m going to do my own appeal here. I`m going to repeat the appeal for those who work with Anonymous. You`ve had
missions before. This is a pretty good one. Find this person, and maybe use the same weapon against this person. Let everyone know who this person
is.
And here`s my Facebook post for this person. I tailored it specifically for whomever did this to Brandy. Brandy Vela is a hero. Just so you know,
when she died, she donated all of her organs, so it is possible that a child who lost her eyesight will see again. A father who had a few weeks
to live may instead live through Christmas to be with his kids. And a little brother whose heart was barely beating will have a heart full of
love over the holidays.
What have you done lately, other than hiding behind your cowardly little keyboard? You will live and die as the pathetic loser who bullied someone
to death and beyond. What an accomplishment! I wonder what will be on your tombstone, if anyone pays for one.
We have other news that we`re following tonight, as well. I want to take you to the Dalia Dippolito trial, the second trial. Turns out there`s been
a development there. That murder for hire plot to kill her husband -- well, it`s ended in a mistrial. Yes, trial two is over. Jury couldn`t
reach a unanimous verdict.
The defense argued that police used Dippolito as a pawn for the taping of a TV show, "Cops." You`ve probably seen it. Dippolito`s friend turned
informant testified for the defense that he was coerced into helping the police and that he never believed she would follow through on her threats,
even though she said them on tape.
The state relied on those tapes, all of that video of Dippolito talking to an informant, and to an undercover officer who was posing as the actual
hitman about to have her husband killed. The prosecutors might be hoping that the third time is the charm, and they say they do plan to retry Dalia
Dippolito for the third time.
In Charleston, less than an hour after the prosecution rested its case against Dylann Roof, the defense did the very same thing without Roof
taking the stand, without Roof calling a single witness. As part of their case, the prosecutors presented testimony from survivors, as well as a
2,000-word manifesto that Dylann Roof wrote detailing his white supremacist views. They also showed the jury this chilling video of Dylann Roof firing
a gun, target practice outside of his house.
Nine people were killed when Dylann Roof allegedly opened fire on a bible study group. He`d been sitting with them. All of this at the Mother
Emanuel church. If convicted, Roof could face the death penalty. And the closing arguments will begin tomorrow morning.
It was the morning after Christmas, and at first, JonBenet Ramsey`s parents said they thought their beautiful girl had been abducted.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
PATSY RAMSEY, MOTHER: We have a kidnapping! Hurry please!
911 OPERATOR: Explain to me what`s going on, OK?
P. RAMSEY: There -- we have a -- there`s a note left and our daughter`s gone!
911 OPERATOR: A note was left and your daughter`s gone?
P. RAMSEY: Yes!
911 OPERATOR: How old is your daughter?
P. RAMSEY: She`s 6 years old. She`s blond, 6 years old.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Just hours after that phone call to 911, JonBenet`s brutal murder came to light when she was discovered in the basement. Twenty years
have passed, and yet DNA evidence may just bring a new hope for a breakthrough in this cold case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:18:24]BANFIELD: JonBenet Ramsey -- that is a name that certainly evokes a lot of imagery. She was so beautiful and innocent, that little
girl. I think many of us remember her because she was a pageant star. That was odd for someone who was 6 years old. But those pictures -- wow,
do they endure.
She was so brutally killed, too. And here we are, 20 years later, and the mystery surrounding JonBenet`s death seems to grow. And it sure does
endure, as well.
It was Christmas night, 1996, JonBenet vanished from her beautiful home in Boulder, Colorado. It would be hours later that she was instead found dead
in the basement. She`d been strangled. Someone killed JonBenet Ramsey, but no one has been brought to justice.
The next morning, as the family was planning to fly to Michigan for what they called a second Christmas, JonBenet`s mother, Patty Ramsey, found a
three-page ransom note. She said she found it on the steps in her house. Patsy say she ran upstairs, JonBenet was not in her bed, and then Patsy
made this chilling 911 call.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: 911 emergency.
P. RAMSEY: Police! 755 15th Street!
911 OPERATOR: What`s going on there, ma`am?
P. RAMSEY: We have a kidnapping! Hurry please!
911 OPERATOR: Explain to me what`s going on, OK?
P. RAMSEY: There -- we have a -- there`s a note left and our daughter`s gone!
911 OPERATOR: A note was left and your daughter`s gone?
P. RAMSEY: Yes!
911 OPERATOR: How old is your daughter?
P. RAMSEY: She`s 6 years old. She`s blond, 6 years old.
911 OPERATOR: How long ago was this?
P. RAMSEY: I don`t know! I just got the note and my daughter`s gone.
[20:20:00]911 OPERATOR: Does it say who took her?
P. RAMSEY: What?
911 OPERATOR: Does it say who took her?
P. RAMSEY: I don`t know! There`s a -- there`s a ransom note here!
911 OPERATOR: It`s a ransom note?
P. RAMSEY: It says "SBTC victory." Please!
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So it`s been two decades, and you might think there have been so many retrospective pieces. Everyone`s hashing out the case again. But as
it turns out, this case is gathering some brand-new urgency because the Boulder police are actually planning brand-new DNA tests on some very key
evidence, and the focus is on the testing of JonBenet`s underwear and the longjohns that she was wearing when they found her body.
Bobby Brown is a private investigator on the JonBenet case. He joins me live from Denver. Joseph Scott Morgan is a professor of forensics at
Jacksonville State University. He joins me from Atlanta. And Dr. William Morrone is a medical examiner, forensic pathologist and toxicologist, and
he joins me live from Madison Heights, Michigan.
Gentlemen, thank you all for taking the time to talk to me about this because this case, as it turns out 20 years later, is still very much
active. What possibly could new DNA tests reveal? The science existed back then. Has it refined itself so much more, Bobby Brown, that we could
find a new result?
BOBBY BROWN, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR ON JONBENET RAMSEY CASE: Well, obviously, I think that it would depend on the actual evidence that was
collected. There`s -- and that`s the problem, that herein lies that -- the actual crime scene was so contaminated, and then the evidence had gone from
the police department to the district attorney`s office and back. So there`s a problem with contamination.
There`s a problem with -- legally, with the chain of evidence. So unfortunately, right now, other than what they are releasing, we really
don`t know what is available that can now be tested and if, in fact, that could be of a benefit.
BANFIELD: I want to ask you all, if I can, specific questions about some of the evidence that was so key in this case, specifically the blanket that
she was found wrapped in. Joseph, the blanket seems to be critical. It came from her bedroom, and it came from the bed that was unmade next to a
bed that was made.
Why is there such significance to that particular blanket, in your opinion?
JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, CERTIFIED DEATH INVESTIGATOR: Well, you know, as with every forensic case, Ashleigh, the idea here is connectivity. If we look
back to what Lacard (ph) said over 100 years ago, every contact leaves a trace. And this idea is that whose hands did this thing pass through?
And this is compelling relative to this idea of putting an individual in the location with this little girl, in her room, if she had been in her
room, and then the blanket and her being found in the same location together in this kind of sequestered area in this massive house down in the
basement, where essentially, nothing could be heard. Nothing could be seen. They didn`t find the body for an extended period of time, but yet
this blanket is there with the body.
BANFIELD: So Dr. Morrone, let me ask you a little bit about the forensic injuries to JonBenet. People know by now that she had quite a significant
skull fracture. There was actually a hole in her skull. I`m not going to show you that picture, but I do have sort of a replica of what the injury
looked like. We`re showing that to the audience right now.
There`s been a lot of talk that the hole and the formation, the placement of where that is, matches up with a baton-like flashlight that was found in
the home. Is there something to this injury that gives you a clue or drives you any closer to any particular suspects?
DR. WILLIAM MORRONE, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Well, if you look at how that appeared, when I look at a skull -- if I show you a skull this way, the
fracture or the (INAUDIBLE) fracture with a depression was on the right side. The only way you can have an injury on the right side, if somebody`s
facing you, is you either have to be left-handed or with the baton or with some linear object, you backhand the skull to create that.
And the pattern is that the fracture runs the length, so that shows you that the blunt force trauma was not around hammerhead (ph). It was a
baton-like object, like I held up an air freshener can.
[20:15:08]And the fact that the depression -- we call that a commonuted (ph) fracture -- was down into the brain, is part of the brain trauma
below, shows that it was hard enough to crack it and depress it. And that created the bleed that was a subdural hematoma in the brain below where the
fracture was.
BANFIELD: I want to move on to another piece of evidence that people may not know about. (INAUDIBLE) obscure part of the case, but it was a pair of
boots, Bobby, that were never found. What is the significance of the boots that are mysteriously gone?
BROWN: Well, the significance would be they -- Patsy reportedly owned a pair of beaver hair boots. On the night that this all occurred, they --
Patsy, John and JonBenet, they had gone to a party, a Christmas party at Fleet White`s (ph) residence. And Patsy was wearing those beaver hair
boots to that party.
Obviously, when they went home, at some point, the boots were taken off. Whatever happened to them remains a question. However, under a piece of
the duct tape, there was a hair that supposedly was identified by an FBI analysis and that it was a beaver hair.
So it would be extremely important to know if, in fact, that those boots, the boots that Patsy owned that had beaver hair, if, in fact, that hair was
from her boots. And where are they?
BANFIELD: (INAUDIBLE) is extraordinarily fascinating. I know that anybody who does a cross-examination would say, If you`re wearing a pair of boots
like that that night, those hairs are all over the house and could easily have transferred. I can see both sides of that coin, which is part of the
problem when it comes to this case.
Everybody zeros in on a particular part of evidence, and then sometimes to the exclusion of all else. And that`s why the three of you are very
valuable tonight because when JonBenet`s body was found, it was pretty obvious that that little 6-year-old had been tortured.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN RAMSEY, FATHER: I took the duct tape off immediately and then tried to untie her hands, but the knot was way too tight. I couldn`t get it -- I
couldn`t get it loose. I couldn`t do anything but scream.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Twenty years later, the JonBenet Ramsey murder mystery remains a very active case. In addition to the new DNA testing, the brutality of the
crime has always, always been a key piece of this puzzle. Because what it boils down to investigators have said, as JonBenet was killed, she was
tortured.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The assailants placed a tightly applied ligature around her neck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Slowly torturing her. And then when they are through, they pulled that cord very hard and strangled her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Joining me still, Bobby Brown, Joseph Scott Morgan, and Dr. William Morrone. Bobby, if I could just ask you, this notion of the
torture, I think many people got that, clear as day, when they saw that garrote with her hair entangled in it. Was there any other evidence that
indicated this was intentional torture or that this was a byproduct of a vicious crime?
BROWN: Well, what you have to ask is that, you know, okay, we are looking at a kidnapping, you know, was it an intruder, what, you know, exactly how
did this happen?
Well, the important thing about, you know, the means that she was killed, the garrote, you know, as an investigator, it`s important for me to look
at, you know, all right, at what point did you determine that, you know, if you`re kidnapping her, at what point did you decide I`m going to kill her,
but not only am I going to kill her, but I`m going to torture her.
You know, did that go towards that type of strangulation? It can go with a sex crime. You know, that is common. But this had gone beyond that, and it
was, you know, as opposed to just strangling her to twist that and twist the garrote and twist it and literally squeeze the life.
BANFIELD: Right.
BROWN: . out of this little girl.
BANFIELD: Right. It just seems so out of place. And Joseph Scott Morgan, there is this notion as well for those who have not seen the autopsy
photographs, and I don`t recommend it, it is very disturbing, she had two markings from the ligatures, two, and that tells a story about the way she
was strangled. What is it?
MORGAN: Well, with markings that are there on the neck, what this implies is that this garrote, this ligature, was in placed and it was readjusted a
couple of times. So let`s keep in mind, Ashleigh, that as we pointed out, this garrote was literally twisted.
What`s really striking about this case is the fact that this knot that`s involved with this garrote that you find in place is very, very complex.
[20:35:00] This is something that would have taken an extended period of time to have facilitated, time that would have been spent with the body.
And based upon the fact that she has got this deep tissue hemorrhage that`s going on and dwelling underline this ligature, she`s alive while this is
going on, to the point where she was killed.
Dr. Morrone pointed out a moment ago that she has got this depressed skull fracture. That`s merely the coup de grace that finally finished her off.
But this choking event went on for a while. You couple that along with this extensive -- extensive kidnapping note that`s there.
This person or persons that was involved in this would have had to have been with this body and this child for an extended period of time, and had
time with her in a sequestered area.
BANFIELD: So, actually, that`s a great point because the time line of all of this is very mysterious. At the same time, forensically speaking may be
not so much. Dr. Morrone, the notion of these three sort of attacks, there is the strangulation that did not result in death, and as we just heard,
Joseph Scott Morgan said the ligature was moved.
And then a re-strangulation where she was still alive because there is this blood pooling as I understand it. And then this third attack, this assault
with some kind of a weapon, the head injury that she sustained. Help me understand when this child died in that time line of injuries?
MORRONE: Well, the previous gentleman hit exactly on what happened in the strangulation. I believe the first strangulation was an upward
strangulation. That`s why the mark is so low. And the second strangulation that was an adjustment is from an upward, which would have a taller person,
an adult, then pulling the deceased backwards.
The second strangulation is more midline where you have thinner muscles and a more fatal effect. And the furrow in the neck created by the garrote
shows the vitality of the subject at the time of the assault. So she was awake, and it was very terrible.
But in a time line, I would say that if she was being strangled, we may have an option that the head wound was first because of accumulated blood.
And if that`s true, the head wound could have been an accident and not part of the assault.
Whereas it`s impossible to have an accidental strangulation. I would like to inject that to say that if the head wound was after the strangulation,
it might have much less blood. And the hematoma may not have accumulated whereas if it was before. That`s how we collected so much damage up there.
But a two-stage strangulation, upward and then backward.
BANFIELD: It`s also mystifying and fascinating at the same time. I mean, Lord knows that we are getting better and better as crime fighters
forensically speaking that smoking gun getting smaller and smaller. So it will be critical to see what this new DNA test can tell us. Thank you so
much to all three of you for your insight and I dare say you`ll probably be invited back when we get the results of whatever is being tested. Thanks so
much.
MORRONE: Thank you. Good night.
BROWN: Thank you for having me.
MORGAN: Thank you, Ashleigh.
BANFIELD: A mysterious death as a millionaire yoga entrepreneur is very strangely found dead in his very expensive San Diego mansion. Police are
now investigating what they call suspicious circumstances.
[20:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: He seemed to have pretty much everything going for him. Trevor Tice founded the CorePower Yoga chain, and he made millions of dollars with
an I.T. company before that. So he lived in a San Diego mansion, beautiful mansion, and at 48 years old, he pretty much already accomplished a
lifetime of successes.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
TREVOR TICE, COREPOWER YOGA FOUNDER: Welcome to CorePower Yoga. My name is Trevor. It`s also here that we become present. So take a moment to
consciously untether yourself from the chaos, the stress of your everyday life. Let it go. Ground yourself in the present moment. Beautiful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: But now, Trevor Tice is at the center of a very strange mystery, because he was found dead in his beautiful mansion, and he was discovered
by someone who had come to check on him. Police are calling the circumstances of his death suspicious.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HOLDEN, LIEUTENANT, SAN DIEGO POLICE DEPARTMENT: Out of an abundance of caution, we`re conducting an investigation to the circumstances
surrounding the death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Joining me now, live, Denver Talk Radio host Randy Corporon. Randy, what happened here? This is very odd.
RANDY CORPORON, DENVER TALK SHOW HOST: Yeah, it still remains a mystery, Ashleigh. A worker who was coming to the house which was undergoing
renovation found glass and blood on the floor. Neighbors wondered why the dogs hadn`t been out all weekend and the car was in the driveway. And so
they called the Welfare Check, the police came over, and now we have homicide detectives.
BANFIELD: At this point, do they have anything to go on? Do they have any suspects? Do they have any forensics? Have they been able to find any leads
in this?
[20:45:00] CORPORON: You know, so far, they`re being close lipped about it if they do. And this one hits kind of home does (ph) because he started
CorePower Yoga just a few blocks from where I`m sitting right now.
BANFIELD: And he was extremely successful. I`m told he had 150 studios in 20 different states, that he had himself said he wanted to be the Starbucks
of yoga and may well have been on his way to doing that which, you know, I think a lot of people would say did he have some financial enemies? Did he
have any competition? I mean, are the police looking at that stuff?
CORPORON: So far they`re just simply keeping their mouths shut. And that always makes you wonder.
BANFIELD: And Randy, what about what you just said that there was blood on the floor, broken glass. Do we know how he died?
CORPORON: The autopsy is happening today, and unusually in a case like this, they`re saying that results may be released or the cause of death at
least may be known by tomorrow.
BANFIELD: Terry Tice is Trevor Tice`s father, and he`s joining me live now from (inaudible) Utah. Mr. Tice, thank you for being with me. I`m so sorry
for what you`re going through. Do you have any information? Are the police telling you anything about what happened to your son?
TERRY TICE, FATHER OF TREVOR TICE: At this point, no. It`s still uncertain, but it`s -- my guess that we`re simply looking at a very unfortunate
accident. I think the whole crime scene investigation scenario is sort of overblown at this stage.
And just a matter of Trevor`s high profile and the fact that he was living in an exclusive area, and -- but I think that in the end, nothing untoward
has taken place, and I think that will probably be born out.
BANFIELD: So Mr. Tice, I certainly hope that`s the case, but police are loathe to say things like suspicious circumstance if the forensics
immediately point to what you`re maybe suggesting which is just an unfortunate accident. Do you think that there is anyone in your son`s past,
exes or business enemies or any kind of person that needs to be questioned?
TICE: Trevor was basically a friend of everyone that he met. And I can`t imagine that there was anyone holding any sort of serious grudge that would
move them toward any kind of behavior that would cause his death.
BANFIELD: Our thoughts go out to you and your family as you cope with this loss. And then also this mystery. I do hope for all your sake that the
answers come soon. I thank you for helping share a little bit more about your son with us.
TICE: He was an amazing individual, and he had a huge impact on any number of people. He was capable and gregarious, generous, warm hearted. And he
built CorePower Yoga basically on the overriding notion that he wanted to empower other people and lead the way for a better life and healthier
existence for a lot of people.
BANFIELD: Terry, thank you so much for being with us tonight. And like I said, our thoughts go out to you all. We are going to take you to a
situation you don`t often see. You might see it on television.
Former WWE superstar using some pretty good moves that he learned in the ring to do something in a very real life situation because he`s facing down
a would-be robber and there`s a gun involved. And that guy is 6`7" versus a gun. How do you think it turned out?
[20:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: I`m going to take you to Coral Springs, Florida, and before I do that, I want to show you a guy who would be really scary if you came up
close and personal with him. Shad Gaspard. Ever seen him? WWE star. Take a look at this, in the jeans. Ouch! Oh! Eeeh! Yeah. That`s not the kind of
guy you should mess with.
So it`s a little weird that in a convenience store in Coral Springs, some guy walks in with the blue shirt, and also comes up against Mr. Gaspard,
all 6`7" in the pink shirt, and asks him to buy him a beer. And Shad says no, that`s not what we do. And then he shows Shad a gun. So this is what
Shad does to him.
Out the door with you. He got the gun away from him and then out in the parking lot. WWE coming. Ready? Ready? Oh! Down goes Felix, because that`s
Jason Felix who now is charged with armed robbery. And guys, when it`s all on video, as interesting and as entertaining it is to see him do that, he
actually probably saved the day.
DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yeah, I probably would have gone -- me personally, I would have gone with the DDT to the double ring and then the
Superfly Snuka right.
(CROSSTALK)
CEVALLOS: That would have been my choice.
(CROSSTALK)
CEVALLOS: Overall, a solid six.
JOEY JACKSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Sometimes you eat the bear, other times the bear eats you. We know what happened in that case.
BANFIELD: We do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s all staged, though.
BANFIELD: I see it really comes in with (inaudible). Okay, so now, coupons, you use them? Coupons?
JACKSON: Every day.
BANFIELD: I like coupons.
JACKSON: Twice on Sunday.
BANFIELD: You like them, but you hate it when the person in front of you is using them, right? So this is what happened in Memphis, Tennessee. That man
there was not happy with the lady in the spotlight, because it took her 20 minutes to check out.
And then that happened. Wow. Big attack. But watch the video a few more times and see what she does with the drink that is in front of her as she`s
leaving. Look at that. Oh, snap. I think she threw the drink on that man.
CEVALLOS: But there`s only one problem, Ashleigh, and that is her story is that she was attacked by him. She spilled her drink accidentally. And he
just happened upon the accidental spilling to just beat her senseless. Is that what you see happening?
BANFIELD: Apparently Meagan Wilson (ph) was confronted with video after she had told everyone, my drink went everywhere after I came to, and it looks
like the video doesn`t quite bear out. But just you know what? Beware of extreme couponers, okay? Thank you, everyone. I`m flooded at times. Real
quickly.
JACKSON: All right.
(CROSSTALK)
JACKSON: Focus in on this. Here we go.
BANFIELD: All the way.
JACKSON: Okay?
BANFIELD: Thanks, guys. Thanks everyone for watching. It has been great to have you here. We`ll see you back here tomorrow night 8:00 for PRIMETIME
JUSTICE. In the meantime, "FORENSIC FILES" starts right after the break.
[21:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
