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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield
Dad`s Ex Charged in 2-Year-Old`s Murder; Mom of Three Gunned Down in Front of Kids; Murder Suspect Attacks Inmate, Chews Own Arm; Terrifying Attack; Brutal Double Murder; Horrifying Death; Movie Inspiration?. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired April 05, 2017 - 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): Mystery in the heartland.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope that the family is staying really strong.
BANFIELD: A daddy makes a quick trip to the store and returns to a world upside-down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was a wonderful, wonderful little girl.
BANFIELD: What happened to his 2-year-old angel?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lindsey screamed my name, and from there, it just wasn`t good.
BANFIELD: And why was his beautiful fiancee hauled in and charged?
A routine trip to drop the kids at day care.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The suspect walked up and shot the victim.
BANFIELD: Ends with no escape when police say an ex-boyfriend drives up, takes aim and fires.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lady was already dead inside the car.
BANFIELD: Her babies are forced to watch from the back seat of the car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He murdered the mother of two children in front of the children.
BANFIELD: They were the all-American family.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was just that loving, kind, gracious young man (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: A beautiful family, dad playing in the NFL.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: Now their son is accused of executing both, and practicing the murder for months.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She reminded me of sunshine because she had blond hair and blue eyes.
BANFIELD: Horror down the street.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A young beautiful woman burnt to death alive in her - - in the shed.
BANFIELD: A grisly and inexplicable death.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People heard her screaming for help, and nobody (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: But how was she unable to escape when her tiny home had no door?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think somebody tied her up. How could she not get out? There`s no door.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wrong way on Grant. He`s headed east in the westbound lane.
BANFIELD: Like a scene out of "Fast and Furious."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speed still up to -- getting up to 40 and 50.
BANFIELD: A violent kidnapper bolts from a traffic stop.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s crashing (ph) out, crashing out.
BANFIELD: But this is what happens when you try to ram the police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your hands up!
BANFIELD: And look who`s back in court. Markeith Loyd has a complaint for the judge. And it turns out he has one last eye to see what`s coming his
way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Hello, everyone. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.
Why does it seem that everything bad happens when you just step out for a quick trip to the store? One moment life is normal, the next it is turned
completely upside down. There is no doubt in my mind tonight that Nick Russom is asking that very question. Nick stepped out to the store with
one of his daughters and left his fiancee and one of his kids at home safe and sound, or so he thought.
When Nick got home, one of those family members was dead, and it would not be long before another family member would be hauled away in cuffs and
charged with murdering his 2-year-old daughter, Presley.
There are so many mysterious questions about this tonight, but we do know this. Presley stopped breathing. Police were called, and she was rushed
to the hospital, where soon after, she was pronounced dead. When police started asking questions, they learned that Nick`s fiancee, Lindsey
Thomasson, was watching over both of their daughters, as well as a daughter from another relationship, and that was little Presley. When he got home,
he said he knew something was wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK RUSSOM, PRESLEY PORTING`S FATHER: I had to go get some stuff from the stores and we played for a little bit. And then I put Presley to bed and I
asked Lindsey to go get Presley up from nap because I had a snack for her, and that`s when Lindsey screamed my name, and from there, it just wasn`t
good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Something didn`t sit right with the police so they kept asking questions. And it took two months, but that fiancee, Lindsey Thomasson,
was arrested and that fiancee was charged with the first-degree murder of little Presley.
To be clear here, Nick Russom is not a suspect and he hasn`t been charged with anything in this case. But to be less clear, police are not saying
anything about how little Presley was murdered, and it is very curious.
Joining me now from Kansas City, investigative reporter Nan Yates. Nan, why is this such a mystery? Normally, when there`s a crime that`s
committed and someone`s arrested on first-degree murder charges, we at least know why they think someone was murdered.
NAN YATES, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Thanks for having me here tonight, Ashleigh. Basically, this is what I`m hearing from my sources. The police
here, the detectives, everyone on this case, since this dealt with such a traumatic event and such a tragic event for a child, they really wanted to
make sure all the I`s were dotted and the T`s were crossed, and they wanted a very thorough investigation. They wanted these charges to stick, and
they very well might, from what I understand.
[20:05:24]BANFIELD: So do we have any details at all, Nan, about how this little girl died? I mean, it`s one thing to say that she stopped
breathing. That happens to a lot of children and it doesn`t end up in first-degree murder charges for someone who lives with that child. Do we
know anything about what happened to this little girl leading up to her being pronounced dead?
YATES: Ashleigh, Gardner, Kansas -- you have to kind of understand this. Gardner, Kansas, is a small, close-knit community. It`s a suburb of Kansas
City, Missouri, here. And it`s -- you know, I know many people who live there. I know -- I`ve talked to them this afternoon. It`s my
understanding some sources are saying that they have heard that the little girl`s skull was crushed. I can`t confirm that with the police.
BANFIELD: Dear God.
YATES: They`re not -- they`re remaining very tight-lipped. They`ve very hush-hush about this whole case. Obviously, it`s a 2-year-old child.
BANFIELD: So Nan, she was 2 years old, but there was also another 2-year- old and a 1-year-old. There were three children in that house. And if I know the timeline correctly, Nick stepped out to the store and he took one
of the children with him. I think it was the 1-year-old that he took with him. And he left behind a child that the two of them share, and he left
behind Presley, who is his child with another woman. Is that correct?
YATES: That`s what I understand, yes.
BANFIELD: So where are the remaining daughters tonight? Where are they living?
YATES: They -- apparently, Nick, the father, has lost custody of those children, from what we understand. Where they are, we`re not -- they`re
not saying. So we don`t know where they are. And...
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: ... that he would have lost custody, but he`s not charged with anything and we`re not even being told he`s suspected of anything.
One thing that is odd, and maybe, Nan, you know why this is, but there is a Web page, a Gofundme page, in which he`s saying, I have lost my car, my
home, my job, my daughters. But I don`t understand how that`s possible. This happened two months ago, and he`s not behind bars. It`s a now ex-
fiancee because they are no longer planning to get married after all of this has happened. Why is he in such a dire state?
YATES: From what I understand, from my sources telling me this afternoon, this is still a criminal -- an ongoing criminal investigation in which he
is involved, albeit, he`s not implicated in this case so far. But you know, understood from -- he`s a construction worker, from what I
understand, and the union is saying, you know, This looks really bad, we`re going to hold off on giving you any jobs, you know, and that sort of thing.
So it`s almost -- if it`s not guilt by association, then it`s -- it just looks bad and...
BANFIELD: It is odd. I`m not going to lie. It all sounds very strange.
I want to bring in Martin Porting. Martin is Presley Porting`s grandfather. Martin, I am so sorry for your loss, that you have been
catapulted into this terrible tragedy of no doing of your own.
Are you being told by then authorities anything more than the rest of us are being told? Specifically, how did your granddaughter die?
MARTIN PORTING, VICTIM`S GRANDFATHER (via telephone): First of all, thank you very much for having me tonight on behalf of the family. We want to
keep the story out there, of course. We don`t want this to be quietly prosecuted, what happened to my granddaughter, you know, we want everybody
to know. And we still have unanswered questions.
But first of all, I`d like to say that my daughter, Stephanie Porting, who is Presley`s mother, from birth until late November had physical and legal
custody of Presley. My daughter was struggling and still is struggling with addiction issues in regards to opiates, and she was actually in an
inpatient treatment facility that she checked herself into and had handed Presley over physically to Nick, asking him, Would you please care for our
daughter while I seek help?
So Stephanie and Presley were inseparable up to just as recent as last November, late November. Presley really didn`t know her father, and so
there was an adjustment period, as you can probably imagine for Presley. But given the circumstances, my daughter thought that that was the best
course of action to take while she sought treatment. Being a father, Stephanie and I were at odds, as you can imagine. I was frustrated...
[20:10:14]BANFIELD: About the arrangement, about leaving -- about leaving this little baby with her dad. I can understand why that might create some
consternation.
But I am curious, Martin, about what are the police telling you? This horrifying tragedy has happened. A fiancee of Presley`s father has now
been arrested for first-degree. I mean, this is not an accidental death, they`re suggesting. They`re saying it was a planned, premeditated,
horrifying death of a 2-year-old baby girl. Are they sharing information with your side of the family?
PORTING: I have been in constant contact, as well as my daughter has been in contact with the detectives in charge of this investigation. We have no
doubt or have no reason to believe at this point that they have not done a very exhaustive and accurate investigation of this case. And this is where
it has led us to the arrest...
BANFIELD: Do you know about what Nan was reporting, Martin? Have the police told you the same thing that Nan has been hearing from sources, that
little Presley died from blunt force trauma, from what Nan described...
PORTING: Yes.
BANFIELD: ... as a crushed skull? You have heard that, as well?
PORTING: Yes, she -- the cause of death is blunt force trauma to the head. And Nick, his fiancee, the two little girls that they had together and
Presley were the only members of the household. So there was a limited number of people that were in and around my granddaughter...
BANFIELD: Well, Martin, I...
PORTING: ... at the time of her death.
BANFIELD: I so hope that you get the answers that you deserve and I so hope that your family gets the peace that you deserve after this tragedy.
And certainly, I hope that justice comes, as well, certainly for little Presley. And I thank you for being with us tonight. My thanks to Nan
Yates, as well, investigative reporter.
You might remember this moment from one of accused cop-killer Markeith Loyd`s many unconventional court appearances.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARKEITH LOYD, ACCUSED COP KILLER: They beat me in my eye with a pistol, with a gun, and they knocked my eyeball out. I`m losing my eye. I can`t
open my mouth and eat. I don`t know what`s going on, sir.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: As it turns out, he may not have been exaggerating because we`ve just obtained an e-mail sent to the Orlando police chief, John Mena, the
day after Loyd`s arrest. And in the e-mail, another officer states that a doctor said that Markeith Loyd will be permanently blind in that left eye
after a surgery was performed. He also suffered facial fractures, all apparently as a result of his, quote, "response to resistance," end quote.
The so-called bystander effect, you know, witnesses just standing around, watching something happen and not getting involved, not sort of stopping
what`s happening. It certainly takes on extra meaning in this next story, a woman really violently attacked during an attempted robbery at a gas
station, a convenience store in Rockford, Illinois. The security video shows the man tackling the woman to the floor.
And she`s surrounded by people in there. Look at them. They turn around and take a look and just keep looking. She is pinned to the ground, and
it`s as though this is some kind of entertainment! The victim herself posted this on line and said what really bothers her is not so much the
fact that she was robbed, but that nobody stepped in. They just let the whole thing play out, stood around!
She said that attacker only fled right there after the gas station manager threatened him with a taser. Police say the man was trying to steal the
ring right off of the woman`s finger.
A mother of two gunned down driving her kids to day care. All the while, those kids are in the back seat watching it happen. Tonight, breaking news
on the search, the manhunt for her accused killer.
Also, for the first time, police are releasing their deadly encounter with a suspected truck thief who tried to back right over them. And let me give
you this hint. It did not play out well for him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hands up!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hands up!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hands up!
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:18:44]BANFIELD: When Rashanda Franklin left home yesterday and strapped her two little kids into the back of her SUV to head for day care,
she had no idea this would be her last trip. She certainly had no idea that she`d be dead just minutes later and that those two little kids would
witness something from the back seat that will forever haunt them, her murder in the front seat.
Rashanda likely knew something was wrong when she saw her ex-boyfriend driving up beside her. Her mom says that Lawyer McBride had been stalking
her for two months since they broke up. So Rashanda tried to drive off to avoid him. It didn`t work. Her car was blocked at a stop sign, and things
went from bad to worse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. FELIX TAN, RICHMOND POLICE DEPARTMENT: Our communications center received calls of a possible disturbance in the area of 29th Street and
(INAUDIBLE) Avenue. But when our officers were on their way to the call, they then received more calls of a possible shot fired also within the same
vicinity. And when the officers arrived, they found a silver vehicle that was stopped near the intersection of 29th and (INAUDIBLE) Avenue. And
inside the vehicle in the driver`s seat was a woman that appeared to have had a -- been suffering from a gunshot wound.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:20:02]BANFIELD: What follows was captured on surveillance video. Suspect is seen approaching and then getting out of his car, walking up to
Rashanda`s car. At one point, you even see her backing up, trying to back away. Short argument follows, and within seconds, the suspect shoots her,
a single fatal shot right in front of those two little kids in the back seat. He gets back into his Mercedes, drives off, leaves the young mom
dead at the wheel.
Within moments, witnesses surround the vehicle and rush those two little kids across the street -- look at that -- away from the bloodbath.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is really tugging at all of our hearts is there`s two children in the back seat of this vehicle, and it appears that the
children witnessed this crime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Tonight, after a short manhunt for an armed and dangerous suspect, that ex-boyfriend, Lawyer McBride, was captured and Lawyer McBride
was arrested.
I want to start with Lieutenant Felix Tan from the Richmond, Police Department. Lieutenant Tan, how`d you catch him?
TAN: Well, it`s a combination of a lot of things. The members of the public actually stepped forward because of how this all came about. You
know, it`s never OK to kill anybody, obviously, but when you have two young children who just witnessed their mother get murdered in front of them, I
think that really shocks everybody.
And we`ve received a ton of tips within the past, you know, 28 hours. And with that information that our detectives were able to put together, along
with surveillance footage and just good investigative work, they were able to locate him in Sacramento, California, today.
BANFIELD: Lieutenant, I don`t know if you know the answer to this, but every time I watch the video, I can`t help thinking about the kids in the
back seat. Do you have any idea how long they were in the back seat before those good Samaritans came and rescued them and rushed them off across the
street?
TAN: Well, it was about a minute or so. What happened was the -- our officers actually arrived on scene, and it turns out that we probably
missed the suspect within maybe 30 seconds. And our officers arrived and saw those young children screaming and crying for their mother. That was -
- that was a hard one.
BANFIELD: Yes, I think it`s a hard one for everyone. I think you`ve worked in the business a while, so have we, and we were all pretty
astounded by this one. Did he say anything when you took him in? Did that suspect say anything?
TAN: He did not talk to our investigators, but on his way out of the jail and into the bus that we were loading him up to head toward county jail, we
had local reporters here asking him questions, and he claimed that he didn`t kill anybody.
BANFIELD: And that`s the last of that probably until he lawyers up, and ultimately, there will be an adjudication of some sort. Witnesses -- of
course, Lieutenant, we have two very young children who are witnesses, and apparently, he is known to them. They recognized him. What about grown-up
witnesses? Were you able to ascertain whether you can haul anybody into court to finger that man and say, I saw that man, I saw him do it?
TAN: Yes. That is definitely part of the prosecution`s angle and -- to bring anybody and everybody in to identify him as being the perpetrator and
also bring with them their knowledge of the history of his violence.
BANFIELD: Well, to that history, I want to bring in Filipa Ioannou. She`s a reporter with "The San Francisco Chronicle." Filipa, you know a little
bit about the background of this now defendant. What have we learned?
FILIPA IOANNOU, "SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE" (via telephone): So from speaking with the family and with neighbors, we know that Lawyer McBride
had been stalking Rashanda Franklin for quite some time. He had showed up at the home of her mother, where she had been staying for about the past
month, the night before her murder. And he was banging on the door and yelling. Neighbors said that he maybe got into an altercation, yelling at
police who were summoned to the scene. So we know that it had been a problem that had been going on for a few weeks.
BANFIELD: Do we know if he has a criminal record or any violence in his past?
[20:25:04]IOANNOU: I`m not aware about it at this time. I know that police have said that there have been past incidents with relations with
both Franklin and McBride as far as domestic violence-related calls for service, but the specifics we don`t yet know.
BANFIELD: And then I`m sure the detail wasn`t lost on you, Filipa, that he was driving a pretty fancy car. I think it was a 2007 Mercedes that was
the car -- that was the car that pulled up. That was the getaway car, and this is the image of the car. Apparently, it had paper license plates, as
well, which makes me wonder if it wasn`t somewhat new. Do we know about the socioeconomic standing of this man and of this family?
IOANNOU: We don`t. You know, I know that the neighborhood where she was shot is a pretty high-end kind of low-crime neighborhood, and a lot of the
neighbors in the area were really shocked to see that kind of violence. One of the witnesses says that he thought it was an ordinary car accident
until he saw all the blood and heard the screams. So the area in which she was killed was pretty affluent. I`m not really informed of the
socioeconomic status of her of McBride.
BANFIELD: Lieutenant Tan, real quickly, where are those children tonight?
TAN: They are with their family members and surrounded by everybody that cares for them. So they are in good hands right now.
BANFIELD: I want to bring in Danny Cevallos and Hunter Shkolnik real quickly. Look, we are aware that Rashanda had taken out restraining orders
before, just not against him. And I think so many people look at a story like this and say, Oh, if only. But the reality is, even if you have a
restraining order, what`s it really worth?
DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN/HLN LEGAL ANALYST: It`s worth nothing because in many cases, police can`t get there until hours later, minutes later. You heard
in this case they were there 30 seconds later. Even that isn`t enough. You can never prevent completely acts of violence like this, no matter how
much court paper you generate.
BANFIELD: Yes. And speaking of paper, Hunter, that`s what I keep hearing. Look, a TRO is great, restraining order is great, but it`s really only
worth the paper it`s written on because it doesn`t actually put up a physical barrier between you and people like this.
HUNTER SHKOLNIK, ATTORNEY: Well, I agree with you under certain circumstances, but here you had some type of altercation the night before
that was reported to the police. If there was an order of protection in place, maybe he would have been in custody that evening. We don`t know the
details of that now, but certainly, if there was an order of protection, maybe someone should have taken him in when he was pounding on the door of
that house.
BANFIELD: It`s just -- it`s such a tragic story, and I think we can all agree that the worst part of this, notwithstanding poor Rashanda Franklin,
is those two kids and what they witnessed and what -- they sat for one minute back of that car and had to process, their own mother slumped over
dead, having seen the man who did it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who slowly walked away from the scene.
BANFIELD: It`s just unbearable.
We got some new bodycam video tonight showing two officers in Oklahoma shooting and killing a guy who stole a truck and then tried to run over
them. And police say it all started with a simple traffic stop and then a high-speed chase. March 4th is when they determined that the driver was
actually wanted on a kidnapping warrant. So I want to warn you that some of the video you`re about to see could be disturbing for some viewers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your hands up! Get your hands up!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hands up!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hands up!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hands up!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your hands up! Hands up!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired! Shots fired!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hands up!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hands up!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your hands up!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hands up!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cover me! Cover me!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch the car!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody else in the car?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cover me! Cover! Clear, clear!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Both the officer and the trooper are on administrative leave while the shooting is being investigated. The DA will determine if, in
fact, the shooting that you just witnessed was, in fact, justified.
The man who allegedly gunned down a young lawyer in broad daylight in Atlanta apparently continuing the violence even behind bars tonight. It
was just last night we told you about the shooting of Trinh Huynh. It happened on the streets of Atlanta during morning rush, this suspect seen
on video calmly walking along the street just before the shooting.
[20:30:00] . And then a second video showing him running away. Raylon Browning was brought to jail yesterday about 5:30 p.m. and here is where
things get strange. Just over an hour later, officers noticed him attacking another inmate, punching him in the face. This is according to incident
reports that we obtained from the jail.
They actually had to use a taser to get him to stop but it doesn`t even end there. Police say later they discovered last night he was chewing on his
own arm and spitting out blood. He had to be taken to the hospital. He is due for his first court appearance tomorrow. Clearly, mental stability will
work its way into this case in one form of another.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: We told you the other day about a woman almost abducted by two masked men as she took her children out of the car at her Texas home.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Her fiancee apparently stopped the kidnapping from happening by firing shots and the suspects fled. But when the deputies arrived on the
scene, they arrested that fiance, Jeremiah Morin. He`s now been released from custody after accusations that he recklessly shot at those masked men
as they fled and now the couple is mad and they are talking about it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t understand why he`s here being detained and the two suspects are still at large.
JEREMIAH MORIN, ACCUSED FOR RECKLESS SHOOTING: Tattoos. Didn`t care about how did the suspects look.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: And you heard that key element, those two suspects caught on tape trying to kidnap her, still at large.
A mom and a dad, beautiful family, brutally murdered
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: While their children supposedly slept just down the hall. But police say the couple`s teenage son may have been plotting their killings
and may have even practiced.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: If you have a teenage son, you know that it`s hard to keep track of him at all times. He could be doing just about anything when he`s out
with his friends, or anything, you know, when they`re locked behind the bedroom door. But the last thing that you would expect is that he`s
practicing to kill you.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Court documents say that is what 16-year-old Antonio Armstrong Jr. was doing. And that as his parents slept inside the family home one
night, police say he actually did it. He shot both of those parents in the head. A beautiful family ripped apart. Now, he is charged in the deaths of
his parents, Dawn and Antonio.
And by the way, if you recognize Antonio, it`s because he played for the NFL`s Miami Dolphins in the San Francisco 49ers. He was also a motivational
speaker. He even had his own talk show, Strong Talk, on You Tube.
ANTONIO ARMSTRONG, AMERICAN FOOTBALL PLAYER: Hello, everyone, Antonio Armstrong here. Thank you so much for visiting my channel. The sole purpose
of Strong Talk is to motivate you, life and all of its trials, tribulations, happiness and sadness has come to push you the same way
weights do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Well, no longer is he a motivational speaker and his young son is actually in some very serious trouble because capital murder is about as
serious as it gets. I want to start with Jeffrey Boney, an associate editor for the Houston Forward Times. Jeffrey, what happened here? What
made them arrest that 17-year-old son?
(START VIDEO CLIP)
JEFFREY BONEY, ASSOCIATE EDITOR FOR THE HOUSTON FORWARD TIMES: Thank you, Ashleigh. According to prosecutors, Antonio Armstrong Jr. goes by the
nickname of A.J., allegedly shot both of his parents as they slept. Now, police say that there were no signs of an intruder. There was no sign of a
break-in. But in their search of the house, police found things like a cracked pipe as well as a pillow and a comforter set with bullet holes
consistent with a 22-caliber gun in A.J.`s room.
Prosecutors also found gasoline and rubbing alcohol in a bottle in A.J.`s room and say that A.J. actually started a fire or tried to start a fire
outside his parents` bedroom, which he said was an accident. So when officers arrived on the scene, A.J., he was the one who deactivated the
alarm. He led them in the front door. And they found several things in the house that were consistent with something that was tied to him.
BANFIELD: Such a beautiful family. I mean, these pictures, they look like they are straight out of a GQ magazine. They are just the all-American
beautiful people and it is hard to believe that a young son could do this. There is this curious detail about the comforter and the pillow
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Found in A.J.`s room, that it was riddled with bullets. Is that why the police think he was actually practicing?
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BONEY: Yeah, they believe he was practicing in preparation to actually carry out this crime. However, there were a lot of other things, Ashleigh,
that also were taken into consideration. The fact that he -- when he was talking to the police said that he did not see any intruders, that he was
hiding in the house but yet, when they came on the scene and things start picking up, he started saying that there were intruders in the house.
Also, they claim that he left a note on the kitchen counter to make police think an intruder broke in. The note that says, I`ve been watching for a
long time, get me. And then the report noted also that the gun was still warm, had recently been fired.
[20:40:00] but there was no DNA or fingerprint evidence present on the gun.
BANFIELD: So if there was an intruder
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: There is no sign of intrusion. There is a note left on the kitchen counter saying, I`ve been watching for a long time, get me. A warm
gun, no fingerprints. A failed fire that started outside of their bedroom. And as I understand it, A.J. was asked what is this match doing here and he
said, I accidentally dropped a match, but no other explanation.
Danny Cevallos and Hunter Scholnik, I want to bring you in to this conversation. I don`t need to tell you that Texas is really serious about
its capital murders. But this young man was only 16. I think he`s 17 now. If this is capital murder
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: The number one penalty for that is death penalty, and that will not happen to him.
CEVALLOS: Not to a juvenile. That`s a Supreme Court case. But, the problem is, will he be charged as an adult?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CEVALLOS: I can imagine that will be certain. His defense attorney will try to get it back down in juvenile court, but this is one of those cases that
belongs in adult court. He`s gonna end up doing adult crime even if he does not receive the death penalty.
BANFIELD: So, Hunter, how hard is it? I mean, when you`re looking at a 16- year-old and his lawyer will do everything he can for him to get him back down into juvy, does it matter how horrifying the crime was and how
connected those victims? This is his mother and father.
SHKOLNIK: I don`t think it makes a difference.
BANFIELD: Really?
SHKOLNIK: . one bit who the people are. There is a heinous nature to this crime. There is something evil going on in that house either with the child
or the whole atmosphere possibly. But they are dealing with a 16-year-old that committed premeditated murder, practiced to get the crime right, and
then attempts to burn the house or the family. He didn`t do it.
BANFIELD: And his sister. By the way, his sister is sleeping.
CEVALLOS: And his sister is sleeping in the other room.
BANFIELD: Allegedly. I mean, he is charged at this point, this case is going forward, the details are not good, but he has the right to every
defense.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: It is so tragic when you see what looks like such a beautiful happy family, so completely desecrated. And imagine that sister being
effectively the only person now left behind in this family if he ends up behind bars for life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: A fire investigation has now turned into a homicide after crews found a woman`s charred body inside
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: What could only be described as a very tiny little home. Neighbors said they could hear her screaming as the flames grew but if it
was such a small home, why couldn`t she get out? Plus, customs officials say catch me if you can, you bet we can. They say a passenger tried to
smuggle drugs into the U.S. and may have been inspired by a really popular movie to do it. Get where I`m coming from?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: One of the best things about living in America is we all have a shot at the American dream. Good job, nice home, picket fence. An American
justice goes hand and hand with that to make sure that nobody comes in and wrecks that dream. And we`re always told that justice is blind.
So it really shouldn`t matter if you`re down on your luck. And that nice home ends up being more like a shack. And that picket fence, more like
chain link. We all deserve a fair shake.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: And so did Danielle Karlen, which is why her neighbors are so upset tonight. By all accounts, Danielle was not living the dream. At 23,
she was living in a shack that didn`t even have a door, but Danielle did not deserve to die the way she did.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A young beautiful woman burnt to death alive in a shed.
BANFIELD: That`s what happened to Danielle. She burned to death in her shack. The neighbors said they could even hear her screaming, but for some
reason, she could not escape that shed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can`t get it out of my head. I keep hearing her scream all the time and let me out, let me out. And just keeps going over and over
in my head. I can`t get it out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can just picture her trying to get out and the fire burned her body alive. It`s terrible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It makes no sense because there was no door.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A tarp where the door was. There was no door. I think somebody tied her up. How could she not get out? There was no door.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: And that`s where the mystery begins tonight. If there was no door on Danielle`s shack, why could she not get out? There is a man that the
neighbors think might know the answer.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know she broke up with her boyfriend that morning and she was in the shed most of the day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Michael Christian is Primetime Justice producer. He has been working on this story. Do they think it was the boyfriend?
[20:50:00] Do they have any suspects?
MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, PRIMETIME JUSTICE PRODUCER: The police have said nothing, Ashleigh. They don`t have any suspects. They`re investigating.
The Fire Department is investigating.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIAN: But neighbors have some suspicions and some of the neighbors have said that they think it might have been her boyfriend. They`re not
giving any proof of that. It`s just their suspicions.
BANFIELD: And what about this idea that this little shed was so small and without a door, with a tarp or a blanket covering the door? How on earth
would she be screaming let me out, let me out? What do the neighbors think was wrong? Why could she not get out?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIAN: Yeah, it makes no sense. At least one of the neighbors is theorizing she must have been tied up or somehow detained in there because
it literally just had a blanket for a front door. But again, we don`t have proof of that.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIAN: That`s just a theory.
BANFIELD: So at this point, no suspects, but, you know, are the police doing everything they can?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: I talk about American justice. I talk about the fair shake. She live in a shed in a really tough area of town. Are they treating it
seriously?
CHRISTIAN: They are. They are calling it a suspicious death. And as I said, it is under investigation not only by the local county sheriff`s department
but also by the Fire Department. So it`s certainly being looked into, but right now it is under investigation.
BANFIELD: So one of the tragic parts of this is that those neighbors that we heard, one of them is in a wheelchair, and he was so poignant how tragic
he found this especially since he wanted to help. He was there and he tells how he tried -- he tried to get to her but just couldn`t. Have a listen.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wanted to. My feet don`t work like that. I couldn`t get there in time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: There is another neighbor who said that she could hear the screams as well and that no one could do anything about it. This is Dana
Demmitt, have a listen.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
DANA DEMMITT, DANIELLE`S NEIGHBOR: She screamed. She was screaming. People heard her screaming for help. And nobody could do anything, that poor baby.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Danny Cevallos, the investigators are hearing from those neighbors, there might have been a boyfriend. How seriously do they take
that?
CEVALLOS: That`s one of the first place that investigators look, is someone a paramour? Someone who may have been -- most of these crimes statistically
end up being someone that the victim knows.
BANFIELD: Yeah.
CEVALLOS: So, this is the first place they have to look. And if he didn`t do anything, they could exclude him and move on to the next person.
BANFIELD: And, Hunter, in this kind of community, sort of a homeless community. Are they likely to find that person? Is this the kind of thing
where police think what am I going to do? I don`t have an address for this one.
SHKOLNIK: The first and most important part about this is she broke up with this boyfriend that morning, is what we`re hearing the reports of.
BANFIELD: Yeah.
SHKOLNIK: And the question is, is he in that neighborhood? Is he a transient? Does he live in another part of this community? It`s gonna be a
hard job for this police department.
BANFIELD: Such an awful way to die and such a sad, sad story for 23-year- old Danielle Karlen tonight. I want to give you an update on case of a northern California man who was accused of murdering his wife and dumping
her body in a lake.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Over the weekend, divers were back at it looking for her and they found something. They found remains. They found a human leg attached to a
cinder block and more. More believed to be parts, body parts of Bridget Jacobs. Philip Jacobs entered a not guilty plea in court. Bridget`s father
had reported her missing more than two weeks ago.
Jacobs told police that he and Bridget had been in an argument, that she fell down the stairs at their home. He apparently admitted that he kept the
body in her house for four days before deciding to actually tie her to the cinder block and throw her into that lake, Whiskeytown Lake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: A passenger at JFK did not quite make it through security like he planned.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Why the customs officials say it was so like that movie "Catch Me If You Can" but they did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Remember that great movie "Catch Me If You Can"? Leonardo DiCaprio posing as an airline pilot in one of the best true crime stories
of American con artistry.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
LEONARDO DICAPRIO, ACTOR: I would like to cash this check here and then I would like to take you out for a steak dinner.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you a real live pilot?
DICAPRIO: Sure I am, little lady.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (inaudible).
DICAPRIO: Been awhile since I`ve done this. Which one is the jump seat again?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Leo, you might just have quite an admirer out there because custom officials think that a suspected drug smuggler may have been
inspired by that movie.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: The agents say they caught a Jamaican citizen arriving at JFK from Kingston dressed in a pilot uniform and trying to get 5 pounds of
cocaine through customs in this suitcase. Apparently, the cocaine was pretty badly hidden, the bottom of the suitcase was unusually heavy.
Investigators say they also found two fake Delta airline badges in his bag. He is now facing federal drug smuggling charges. In case you are wondering,
custom officials say the street value of that cocaine is about $85,000.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: You might be able to get a steak dinner out of some pretty girl but custom agents aren`t wowed by pilot`s uniforms last time I checked,
right?
CEVALLOS: No, they don`t find that nearly as amusing.
SHKOLNIK: Especially fake pilots who have bulge in their luggage.
BANFIELD: Yeah, no kidding. Hunter Shkolnik and Danny Cevallos, thank you so much for tonight. Thank you, everyone, for watching. We`ll see you back
here tomorrow night at 8:00 for PRIMETIME JUSTICE. Stay tuned.
[21:00:00] "FORENSIC FILES" is coming up next.
END
