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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield

Woman Kills Rich Dad, Blames Intruder; Parents of Penn State Student Killed in Fraternity Hazing Speak Out; Death Investigation Underway; Disturbing Discovery. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired May 15, 2017 - 20:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[20:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I heard a gunshot and my dad is screaming. There`s blood everywhere.

JEAN CASAREZ, HLN HOST (voice-over): A daughter`s panicked 911 call moments after finding her father`s body in the bedroom of their waterfront

home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My sister is saying somebody came in the house.

CASAREZ: Police didn`t have to look far for their killer, despite the first story they were told.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody just came in. Who would have came in?

CASAREZ: Investigators say that killer came from inside the family`s home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All I can smell is gunshot powder.

JIM PIAZZA, FATHER: They fed him lethal doses of alcohol and the killed him.

CASAREZ: The family of a Penn State student who died after a night of drinking inside a frat house remain furious.

J. PIAZZA: And then they treated him like road kill, like a rag doll.

CASAREZ: Now that 18 Beta Theta Pi members are charged in connection with his death, what they are learning about their son`s final hours.

EVELYN PIAZZA, MOTHER: This is torture.

CASAREZ: Even more shocking...

J. PIAZZA: No one from Penn State or the fraternity, for that matter, came to the wake or the funeral.

CASAREZ: A beautiful young woman found dead decomposing inside her apartment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I felt lost, you know?

CASAREZ: How she died remains a mystery, but police say the key to her death could lie with her missing car, a Mini-Cooper.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re going to miss her, man.

CASAREZ: This woman took care of patients working as a nurse in a hospital`s intensive care unit. The thing is, investigators say she is a

fake. But it`s not the first time she`s accused of lying to get a nursing position.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Good evening. I`m Jean Casarez, in for Ashleigh Banfield. Thank you so much for joining us tonight. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.

A beautiful home on the water just miles from the prime vacation destination of Charleston, South Carolina. But investigators say life

changed in an instant for the family who lived inside. Just moments after hearing a gunshot, this 911 call was made from inside the house.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: OK, tell me exactly what happened.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know. I just woke up and I heard a gunshot and my dad screaming. There is blood everywhere. I think he`s been shot.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Inside the master bedroom where the family heard the gunshot was the man you`re looking at there, Robert Simpson. Officers say he had been

shot in the chest, and during that 911 call police were led to believe he was the victim of a home invasion.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: How many suspects were involved?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My sister`s saying that somebody came in the house.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CASAREZ: But police quickly realized that that may not be true. A neighbor told police she saw a woman run to the end of the family`s dock

before officers arrived. And what they found led them to one of Robert Simpson`s daughters, one who was being kicked out of the house. Behind

bars right now, Brittany Simpson -- that`s her right there -- you can hear her on the 911 tape trying to convince her sister that an intruder shot

their father.

Dave Priest is the morning show co-host on WRN. He joins us tonight from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Dave, first of all, the victim in this,

Robert Simpson, 66 years old -- I understand that he`s a movie producer. He was a movie producer.

DAVE PRIEST, WRN (via telephone): Yes, he`s worked in movies for years and years, just recently had been working on a Stephen King movie from this

latest Stephen King novel, originally born in London, came to Charleston back in the mid-`70s, so he`s been in the United States for quite some

time. But yes, has been in the movie industry doing various things.

CASAREZ: That`s right, and I think the production that he was currently working on is "Mr. Mercedes," as you say, written by Stephen King. All

right, there are two distinct versions of this story, Dave. First of all, what does Brittany say happened, to the best of her knowledge, the

daughter...

PRIEST: To the best of the daughter, Brittany Simpson, the 31-year-old daughter, she said that she was swimming at the club at 3:30 until 4:45 in

the morning. Surveillance video backs her up. She said she went to the gym after that until about 5:00. Again, surveillance video backs her up.

She says when she got home, the door had been left open, and an intruder was just leaving at the same time when she got home. She chased the

intruder down onto the family dock and could not catch him. That`s when she came running back just at the same time the 911 calls were going in.

And you said, she was trying to tell her sister, who was on the phone with the dispatcher, that there was an intruder in the house. And that`s her

version of it.

[20:05:02]CASAREZ: OK. So what -- from what you just told us right there, what disputes what Brittany has said?

PRIEST: Well, the main information came from a neighbor of theirs, who said that, Hey, I just saw a young woman running from your house down to

the dock and then running back. At first, the neighbor thought it might have been one of the other Simpson sisters, maybe Brooke (ph) Simpson, who

also lives in the house. But when the police got ahold of that information, they realized that Brittany`s story was falling apart very

quickly.

CASAREZ: All right. Now let`s go to the heart of this before we move on to our attorneys. Robert Simpson -- where was he found? How was he found?

What had happened to him?

PRIEST: He was found in his bedroom. He and his wife sleep in separate bedrooms. Apparently, he snored a little bit. They were watching TV that

night. She decided to retire upstairs . He stayed downstairs. The wife, Susan, heard gunshots, ran downstairs, couldn`t get into the room because

it was locked from the inside. And that`s when Brittany came in from the outside. She heard the gunshots and she also saw blood in the area and

assumed that the worst had happened.

CASAREZ: All right. Joining us now, defense attorney Jeff Gold and Danny Cevallos, both joining us. Danny, first of all, you`ve got two distinct

things here. I think the most important thing we haven`t talked about yet. It has to do with the backpack that was actually found, a bookbag that was

actually found in the creek. Remember, this was a waterfront home. This was a million-dollar mansion that this family lived in.

The book bag that was found in the creek that had several things in it, and here`s what it is, two T-shirts, shorts, a .9-millimeter handgun and a

magazine all weighted down with a -- not only a three-pound dumbbell, a pink three-pound dumbbell, a gun case and a holster.

And authorities searched that creek, Danny, shortly after this all happened. They found it hours later. In surveillance video, they say

that`s what she was wearing when she was coming home.

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN/HLN LEGAL ANALYST: It`s a lot of circumstantial evidence. And it doesn`t look good for this defendant, even though a

defense attorney approach will be, Well, those things, they happen to be a coincidence. They don`t necessarily directly tie her.

But you know, look, a smart prosecutor`s going to make the very obvious case that, Look, you got a pink barbell, tie those things to items in the

house, make it clear they belong to or they were under the control of the defendant, and that becomes a strong, strong circumstantial case very

quickly.

CASAREZ: You know, Jeff, let`s listen to a little bit more of this 911 call because Brittany didn`t make the call, but you can hear in the

background her other sister, Brooke, who was also in the home when this all happened -- she`s the one that made the 911 call. Listen to this.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone came in the house?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, in those two back doors.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you know?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) there`s a key in there and someone just came in the back door and (INAUDIBLE) .

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody just came in? Who would have came in?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were changing the lock for safety, someone just came right in and then through back doors.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CASAREZ: So Jeff Gold, Brittany is locked into her story right there from 911 call because she says that someone came in the house. Now, we also do

know that there was a lot of blood, a lot of blood in that home, inside the bedroom, outside of the bedroom. How important is the blood going to be

when they do the forensic processing?

JEFF GOLD, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I suspect there`s going to be blood on those little shorts and T-shirt, and they`re going to have been her

clothes, as suggested.

I mean, circumstantial evidence, as you know, Jean, can be more satisfying than direct evidence sometimes. There`s two ways to prove something

happened. You can go to bed at night and say there`s no snow on the ground. Wake up in the morning, there`s snow. That`s one way, direct

circumstantial evidence. The other way is, I saw it snowing. Either way works.

In this case, it`s my understanding that after confronted with that backpack and all the information that we had from that, that she`s

confessed now.

CASAREZ: Well, if she`s confessed, I would assume her attorney may fight that.

You know, Dave, I want to ask you -- her attorney has said this. He said that she has a disability, but he will not say what that disability is.

Is there any word from her family at all what her emotional state was, how her relationship was with the family? What was happening?

PRIEST: Well, as you mentioned, her attorney has said that she does have a disability, but again, would not disclose exactly what that is.

As far as the relationship with the family is concerned, I know it`s been rocky here over the last two months before this incident happened back on

May 9th. She had been living in the home, which is not unusual for a nearly $2 million home at 31 years old, and she was helping out with

utilities. But she decided to stop that about a month-and-a-half ago, and for some reason, the family wanted to kick her out. They got an eviction

order signed...

[20:10:15]CASAREZ: OK.

PRIEST: ... about a week ago...

CASAREZ: They wanted to kick her out.

PRIEST: Yes.

CASAREZ: Why did they want to kick her out? She was paying for the utilities.

PRIEST: Well, she stopped paying for the utilities about a month-and-a- half ago. I`m not sure...

CASAREZ: When they said, You`re going to leave.

PRIEST: What`s that?

CASAREZ: When they said, you`re going to leave. So she stopped paying for the utilities. What happened with the neighbor, Dave? A neighbor took out

a restraining order on her?

PRIEST: Yes, the same neighbor that had spotted somebody going to the dock and back actually was up bright and early that morning to watch the

sunrise. But yes, she actually had a restraining order against her because Brittany had been trespassing on her property several times.

CASAREZ: You know, Danny, that just doesn`t make sense to me. You don`t - - you don`t take out a restraining order on somebody just for the heck of it. And her attorney says she has a disability. Well, Danny, how did she

get the gun? We don`t know the answer, but I`ve got to pose the question. How did she get a gun if the family believes that she emotionally had

issues?

CEVALLOS: It`s strikingly easy in the United States to obtain a firearm even if you may have a disability. We don`t know what that disability is.

It may not be a disqualifying type disability. There are very strict rules about what disqualifies someone from gun ownership.

But even if she was disqualified, there`s other ways. There`s strawman purchasers. There`s other ways to obtain firearms. And unfortunately, too

many of them get into the hands of people that shouldn`t have them, as we can obviously see in a case like this where someone may have used a

firearm, may not have been someone who should have one.

CASAREZ: Dave Priest, what we understand was a black Smith and Wesson Shield .9-millimeter handgun and magazine with live ammunition, four live

rounds, were found in the bookbag which had the weight which was at the bottom of the creek. Do we know anything about the gun and how she got it,

allegedly how she got it?

PRIEST: (INAUDIBLE) here in the Charleston area, there is actually a gun, .9-millimeter Smith and Wesson that used to be kept in a bedroom. Brittany

had been using that as a storage room. That gun was missing, so (INAUDIBLE) the gun that was found at the bottom of the Hobtob (ph) creek

kind of matched the description of that. You can kind of put two and two together.

CASAREZ: So Jeff Gold, it looks like, just very quickly, that this was a gun that was in the family, and it was just sort of lying around, if you

believe that story.

GOLD: Right. I think it`s going to turn out to be Dad`s gun. I don`t think this is going to be a whodunnit, it`s going to be why? The

disability is going to be key. This is someone who killed their own father in their own house. And I think the lawyer knows that very well, by

stressing the disability at this point, that`s where this case is going somewhere to maybe make it a manslaughter, as opposed to a murder.

CASAREZ: Sentencing, right.

GOLDMAN: Nobody exactly knows what happened between the two, and that`s where this case is going to go.

CASAREZ: All right. We are also following tonight -- we do have some breaking news tonight. It is in Boise, Idaho. An Amber Alert issued for

two girls police say are in danger. They were last seen with their father. Investigators say Joshua Dundon checked Jaylynn and Madison out of their

elementary school on Wednesday. He apparently told witnesses he was taking the 5 and 7-year-old camping.

Well, when they didn`t return, Boise police were called. Investigators say Dundon`s truck was found burned in Nevada about six hours from their homes.

Witnesses also say they saw a man walking away from the truck and talking with a woman who they could not see but could hear. Police are not

releasing any information about her at this point of time.

But look at these pictures right here. This is Madison and Jaylynn Dundon, their father Joshua. Officers say they might be traveling with a yellow

pitbull. That`s their father right there. If you see any of the Dundons, an Amber Alert has been issued. Call police immediately.

And coming up, the parents of a Penn State student who died after a night of binge drinking at a fraternity party speak out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM PIAZZA, FATHER: They killed him. They fed him lethal doses of alcohol and they killed him, and then they treated him like road kill, like a rag

doll.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Now they want to use their son`s death as a way to make changes on campus.

And in Kansas, a toddler is fighting for her life after she was critically injured at a traveling carnival.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:18:58]CASAREZ: The parents of a Penn State student who died after participating in a hazing ritual involving large quantities of alcohol now

say the students charged in the case murdered their son. Timothy Piazza died following his first night of pledging at Beta Theta Pi. Despite the

fraternity`s claim of being alcohol and hazing-free, brothers are accused of forcing him to drink dangerous amounts of alcohol.

According to authorities, Piazza fell down a flight of stairs twice, and security video shows him falling several times onto the floor. But instead

of calling for help, some members of the frat allegedly stepped over him. They did a Google search on his condition and head injury and even fought

over what to do.

When they did finally decide to call 911, they were too late. Piazza died two days later.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J. PIAZZA: I remember I think I held his hand and we were telling him we love him and whatnot, but he was in -- he was certainly not visibly with

us, but we did see a tear come to his eye and roll down his cheek. And I`m not sure if I want to know that he heard us or not because if he heard us,

then he knew he was dying and he would think that he let us down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:20:16]CASAREZ: What has enraged the Piazzas even more was that no one did anything for their son. According to court documents, when fraternity

brothers finally realized that something was wrong, very wrong, they waited 42 minutes before calling authorities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J. PIAZZA: They killed him. They fed him lethal doses of alcohol, and they killed him. And then treated him like road kill, like a rag doll.

They slapped him around. They threw water on him. One kid punched his -- his area that it was clearly visible.

E. PIAZZA: They said the spleen was shattered.

J. PIAZZA: It was chilling. As parent, it was chilling. In my mind, it was murder. They let him suffer for 12 hours. They let him die a very

slow death. It`s not any way anybody should ever be treated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: The family now says it wants a change in the wake of their son`s death, calling for the university and the fraternities to take steps to

curb binge drinking and enforce the rules on alcohol consumption at social events.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J. PIAZZA: Tim Piazza is not just our son. He really represents every son and daughter of every family that is looking to go to college and

potentially participate in Greek life in the future. We need to make these changes for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: CNN correspondent Sara Ganim joins us now with more on her interview with Timothy Piazza`s family. Sara, first of all, the family sat

down and spoke with you, and I think from what we just heard, they want to make a difference. They want changes to be made. You sat with them. You

spoke with them for a long time. What really stands out to you as the headline, of (ph) factually speaking what they said to you?

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Jean, what they really want to see is change come from this. It`s all they have left of

their son is the memory of him and what that may -- how that may impact other people`s lives. And they said that to me repeatedly is, at this

point, all they can hope for is that what happened to their son -- his story may stop this from happening to another person, may save a life down

the road.

And they told me that they`ve heard stories already across the country on college campuses of kids who were in situations that maybe, you know, there

was a little too much alcohol, and someone put a stop to it knowing what happened to Tim Piazza.

CASAREZ: Sara, when he was finally taken to the hospital via 911 emergency ambulance, did any of the fraternity brothers go with him to the hospital?

GANIM: Nobody went with him to the hospital, is what the family told me. Not only that, but they say that no one reached out. No one told them. No

one told even the brother, who was also a Penn State -- is also a Penn State student who was on campus that day. No one from the fraternity

reached out to the family and said, He`s on his way to the hospital. Here`s where you can find him. Here`s how you can go be with him.

It was the brother who realized through a friend that his brother didn`t come home, never returned to his apartment. And he had the thought to call

the hospital just in case, and that`s how they found out what happened. The brother found his brother at the hospital already unconscious, about to

be flown via helicopter to another hospital for surgery. That`s how the family found out the situation and how dire it was for Tim Piazza.

CASAREZ: And Sara, ultimately, at the funeral, did the fraternity brothers, any of them, go to the funeral? Did anyone from Penn State

University officially go to the funeral?

GANIM: The family told us that no, they didn`t. And Penn State later confirmed that a representative from the school could not attend. No one

from the fraternity attended, according to the family.

And the father, Jim Piazza -- he confronted the university president, Eric Barron (ph), about this. He said when he met with him, he slid the funeral

booklet across the table and gave it to the Penn State University president and said, Here, I think you might want to see this because no one was able

to attend my son`s funeral. And he says that, you know, the president sort of just took a deep breath and didn`t really have a response.

Now, from that meeting, there were some changes that came, but that was because the father actually initiated that meeting and asked for changes to

Greek life at Penn State.

[20:25:00]CASAREZ: You know, Sara, we want everybody to see this timeline. We haven`t had this before, so we want to show everybody a timeline of what

exactly, according to official records, took place.

9:00 PM, he arrives at the fraternity house. 9:21, he can be seen drinking a lot. 10:40, Piazza is visibly intoxicated and then he falls down the

stairs and he lies on his stomach, by the way. At 10:47, he`s carried upstairs by four fraternity brothers. 11:14, a brother says they should

call 911. 11:53 PM, another brother texts, Timothy Piazza might actually be a problem.

After that, 3:22 AM, Piazza falls on his -- he hits his head on the hardwood floor. 4:49, Piazza hits his head several more times. 10:00 AM,

Piazza found on his back with blood on his face. And then, finally, 10:48 AM -- that`s about 12 hours, by the way, according to this timeline when he

first fell down the stairs -- frat brother final calls 911.

Now, joining us tonight exclusively is Bill Brennan. He is the attorney for one of the fraternity brothers charged in Timothy Piazza`s death. He

joins us from Philadelphia.

Thank you very much for joining us. And I know that you are charged with one of the young men (INAUDIBLE) charged with a misdemeanor because many

are charged with manslaughter in this. But I first want to ask you -- you client actually left. He wasn`t there until the morning hours. He had

been the social director, I understand. Why did he leave, Bill?

WILLIAM J. BRENNAN, ATTORNEY FOR CHARGED FRAT MEMBER: Well, Jean, thank you for having me. I really don`t want to comment on the facts of case too

specifically for several reasons. It would be imprudent, and I`ve yet to see discovery because in our commonwealth, discovery need not be provided

at this early stage.

But it is my clear understanding that my client left the fraternity house well in advance of most of that timeline. So I believe that you are

correct on that point. And I do not believe that my client was in a leadership position officially at the fraternity at that point.

But be that as it may. I don`t want to split hairs here. This is an unspeakable tragedy. My client and his family offer their sincere and

heartfelt condolences to the memory of Tim Piazza and to his family. And I can tell you they are heart-broken, that the Piazza family are in their

thoughts and prayers.

And to the degree that it`s been reported that no one has extended condolences, I can tell you I did it last week on the steps of the

courthouse in Bellefont (ph), Pennsylvania, and I do it on behalf of the Young (ph) family tonight. I offer the most sincere and heartfelt

condolences to the memory of Tim Piazza and to the Piazza family.

CASAREZ: You know, there are many, many young men that are charged here, many with very serious crimes, manslaughter, reckless endangerment --

recklessly knowing that that could or should die in this process. I mean, there`s going to be a lot of convictions here. I mean, is this how it is

on that campus? What have you learned?

BRENNAN: Well, I don`t know. I don`t want to speak for anyone but Joe and (ph) Jr., my client. He is charged with a lone single count of recklessly

endangering another person. It`s a misdemeanor of the second degree.

But I can tell you there`s a young man who has lost his life here, and my firm and I personally am handling this as serious as if it was a first

degree felony. We are sobered by the tragedy that occurred here. And the other 17 or so individuals all have individual lawyers, and the campus and

the university has their own lawyer. That`s way above my pay grade.

I`m here for Joey Ems, who has one single misdemeanor count, and I firmly believe, after speaking to the prosecutors, that he was not at that frat

house for most of that timeline.

CASAREZ: But he was there for some of it, and he actually even allegedly slapped Mr. Piazza, slapped him when he was basically unconscious. Why did

he slap him?

BRENNAN: Well, again, it would be foolish and imprudent for me to comment on the facts, but I can assure you, because I think I heard you mention

there will be many convictions here -- again, my only concern is my individual client. And it`s important to remember, as tragic and

unspeakable as this terrible tragedy is, my client, as well as all these people that -- I`m only speaking for my client -- he is presumed innocent,

much like if you or I were accused of a crime. So he enjoys the presumption...

CASAREZ: Mr. Brennan...

BRENNAN: ... of innocence...

[20:30:00] CASAREZ: I want you to listen to the brother of the victim. He spoke out today to our Sara Ganim. Listen to what he says.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PIAZZA, TIMOTHY PIAZZA`S BROTHER: When I walked into the room, it looked like he was hit by a car. It was bad. But I got to see him. I got to

say good-bye.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Now, when you hear that he looked like he had been hit by a car, right? And you`re looking at reckless behavior at that point, we don`t know

when he -- when he looked like that but obviously he wasn`t doing well for 12 hours, I mean, isn`t that obvious knowledge there in someone that they

knew or should have known, serious or bodily injury would happen?

BRENNAN: Well, I don`t know what you`re asking about. I can only speak to may client`s situation and I can tell you that to hear the brother talk

about that, it breaks my heart. And it certainly has a tremendous affect on me as an individual, as a man, as a father, but as a lawyer, my client is

presumed innocent and there is no rush to judgment.

You yourself as a lawyer know this and it`s -- this is a situation where about 18 people have been charged with crimes and this will shake out and

there may or may not be criminal activity here. I don`t know. With respect to Joey Ems, my clear understanding having not seen discovery yet but

having spoken to the prosecutors is that Joey Ems was long gone from that fraternity house for most of your timeline.

CASAREZ: Sara Ganim, we understand that there was a house advisor who is the person, you know, like in a sorority you have a house mother, this was

an advisor that lived in the house and was actually there that night. He hasn`t been charged, Sara?

GANIM: He has not been charged. The indictment only names him once. It only mentioned him once, and that`s in the context of the fraternity brothers

debating what to do. And at one point, there is a conversation in the middle of the night whether or not they should wake up this athletic

trainer for the football team who also was the person who lived in the house, the adult who lived in the house.

That`s not the case on all Penn State fraternities, that an adult would be there, but it was the case in this fraternity. The grand jury found that he

didn`t -- he wasn`t awoken during the night and they charged him with nothing. He hasn`t commented on this other than to say he`s not going to be

speaking about it. But there has been no implication by prosecutors that he did anything wrong that night.

CASAREZ: You know, Jeff Gold, I would say he was sleeping. He shouldn`t have been sleeping. He`s there. He`s the adviser, he should be awake when

this is happening.

GOLD: This is a horrific case, Jean. I mean, and you know, not only that, it`s on tape. We reason we know the timeline is because they have a

security camera that you can actually see this minute by minute. The torture that happened. This isn`t hazing, it`s torture. It`s a horrific

case.

And I think this case is going to be one that changes our system in America frankly because of this kind of a tape. You, Sara, and I were in this same

place four years ago and it took four years for the administration of Penn State to be prosecuted and convicted of what happened. Can you imagine what

is going to happen now? This can`t happen in America anymore.

CASAREZ: I agree. Danny Cevallos, last word.

CEVALLOS: Well, I`m going to have to take a slight defense attack here because the rest of us don`t appear to be doing that. We haven`t seen the

video yet. It is going to be difficult for the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt each and every element of each and every of these

sometimes 50 counts.

And it raises the question, I mean, they have to demonstrate a duty as to each of these fraternity brothers as to this individual. The mere fact that

they may have walked by the body, does that rise to the level of reckless endangerment of another person? Does laying your hands on someone

automatically constitute involuntarily manslaughter?

The prosecution has a very high burden to meet. As Attorney Brennan correctly pointed out, there is a presumption of innocence and the criminal

standard is the highest beyond a reasonable doubt. They are going to have to prove that as to each of the almost innumerable counts against each and

every one of these defendants.

CASAREZ: Really good points, Danny. There are an immense amount of counts. All right. We will follow this case.

CEVALLOS: That you believe.

CASAREZ: You can believe that. Going on a mysterious death in South Florida, a beautiful girl found dead in her apartment with few clues as to

what happened or who might have done it.

[20:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CASAREZ: When a mother hadn`t heard from her daughter for a few days, she called police to do a welfare check since she lived out of state. But when

officers arrived at Michelle Aranda`s apartment, first they noticed the foul smell. And inside, they found the 28-year-old`s decomposing body. As

the medical examiner works to determine a cause of death, investigators say one piece of evidence is missing.

Aranda`s car is not at the apartment complex and police are on the lookout. It is a black mini cooper tag EAC Z50. Michelle worked as an environmental

solution specialist at West Management in Miami, but she grew up in Texas, El Paso. Her friends and family are rocked by her death.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

IVAN JUAREZ, VICTIM`S FORMER ROOMMATE: I woke up to the news and it was just horrible. I ran out of my house. I vomited. I felt lost, you know.

[20:40:00] She lives the best life out of all of us. She lives in paradise and travels all over. We`re going to miss her, man.

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CASAREZ: Karen Curtis the news director for WFTL Radio. She joins us tonight from West Palm Beach, Florida. Karen, start at the beginning. What

do we know at this point?

KAREN CURTIS, NEWS DIRECTOR FOR WFTL RADIO: Very mysterious. The 4th was the last time that anyone saw Michelle Aranda, according to her Facebook

post. She had a picture taken with her fellow employees and they were bowling. So then fast forward seven days to May 11th, that`s when police

found her decomposing body in the Serenity on the River apartments, oddly enough. And then the vehicle, her vehicle is missing, the black mini cooper

as you gave the tag.

Michelle is 28. She had gotten her pilot`s license last year. She was very adventurous. She had moved three years ago to Allapattah which is part of

Miami. And she was doing ver well. It is very, very suspicious. But the medical examiner so far has unclassified her death. We don`t know what she

died from.

CASAREZ: So they can`t figure out a cause of death. Could be because of the decomposition at this point.

CURTIS: Right.

CASAREZ: And they are not saying that foul play is.

(CROSSTALK)

CASAREZ: Car isn`t there?

CURTIS: Her car is not there and there is this seven-day gap between the last time she was seen and when they found the body. So the missing car and

unclassified cause of death is very mysterious.

CASAREZ: Do we know, Karen, the last time she was seen alive at all?

CURTIS: May 4th which was when she was bowling with her fellow employees and coworkers.

CASAREZ: And that was a Facebook post, right?

CURTIS: On her Facebook, correct.

CASAREZ: So at the bowling alley.

CURTIS: Right.

CASAREZ: So she doesn`t go to work for seven days, give or take a few days, but it`s her mother from Texas that actually called and reported her?

CURTIS: It`s the mother`s worst nightmare. She calls police, look, I haven`t heard from my daughter. It`s unlikely for her to not be in touch

with me for seven days. It`s odd that no one from the Waste Management Company said, hey, she is not showing up for work and the last time we saw

her was bowling. But the mother then got the call that yes, we found your daughter on the fourth floor in her apartment and she is deceased and badly

decomposed.

CASAREZ: Danny Cevallos, what do you make of this, because they are not classifying the death, they are saying foul play. They can`t find a cause

of death or they haven`t determined it yet. It`s unclassified. But her car is missing from the apartment complex. That could take different scenarios

right there.

CEVALLOS: There are a couple different scenarios. This is a classic case if we need more information before we jump to conclusions. You could have the

old separate case of a person deceased and then the car is sort of shoplifted out of the apartment where it was parked.

But it would seem that this is certainly a lead, a missing car definitely creates sort of a wake of information with the prevalence of security video

everywhere nowadays. It has to be a lead. But the fact that it still isn`t a homicide in this case, it really leaves a lot of open questions.

CASAREZ: Right. And Jeff Gold, if they had surveillance video of someone entering the apartment complex or if they have it on the floor inside her

apartment, I mean, foul play. They would say there is foul play. They aren`t even saying that. But it seems to me the key here is the car. They

got to find the car for the forensics that may be in there.

GOLD: Certainly. They may know more than they are saying because that is the only lead that they have. It`s unusual that they don`t have a cause of

death, but may be with holding that, as well. They may want -- as Danny said, look, that car is all we have at the moment and they may want to keep

a tight reign on the information that they let out so that this person stays in that car and that they can keep tracking this car. But who knows,

right now there is really not enough information to smell like there is something rotten here.

CASAREZ: Karen, I don`t understand how no one called authorities saying that she was missing and further more at an apartment complex. Apartments

are pretty close together and if the smell was as foul as authorities are saying it was, I mean, why didn`t the manager of the apartment say

something is wrong here, I got to go in. They have the right to go into an apartment.

CURTIS: Absolutely. It`s called the Serenity on the River apartments. She had taken plenty of Facebook photos of herself with the sunset behind her.

She was very active and lively. And so you would think someone would have missed her. You know, police are asking for you to call crime stoppers if

you have any information. Maybe they are fishing for more information.

The medical examiner is having a hard time trying to determine the exact cause of death. Seven days is a pretty long time for a body to be lying

there.

[20:45:00] Maybe the apartment was hot, I don`t know, but she was badly decomposed. So the foul smell should definitely been an indicator and they

could smell it on the way into the apartment.

CASAREZ: And Karen, very quickly, do we know it all if there was forced entry into the apartment or if someone was invited in, for instance?

CURTIS: No, that hasn`t been released. We don`t know if there was forced entry and that would be a good question to ask the police because that

would tell us something -- that foul play was there.

CASAREZ: Important information. All right. Thank you to all. A disturbing discovery in a St. Louis Hospital. Listen to this. A woman allegedly faked

her way into a job as a registered nurse in the intensive care unit.

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[20:50:00] CASAREZ: When a hospital in St. Louis hired a registered nurse, I`m sure they thought they made a great hire. According to court documents,

Sammantha Rivera had told potential employers that she had a great background, a masters degree in nursing from Georgetown, Bachelor of

Science in Nursing from University of New Mexico, lots of experience.

You see the thing is, prosecutors say that those degrees and the jobs, they were all fake. But Rivera`s phony credentials were enough to fool a

hospital where it is alleged she worked for three months in the ICU and with elderly psych patients. She even handed out medication, serious

sophisticated medications. The credentials were also enough to fool a college into letting her teach nursing.

Prosecutors say she was caught when she applied for a job in Illinois and the potential employer followed up on her claims. She`s been indicted on

federal charges of identity theft and health care fraud. Robert Patrick is a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He join us from St. Louis.

Okay, Robert.

ROBERT PATRICK, REPORTER FOR ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Yes.

CASAREZ: How was she able to have jobs in several states? She even taught nursing in New Mexico and nobody caught her along the way. I don`t get it.

PATRICK: Well, she is alleged to have used or sort of partially used the last name of a real nurse in New Mexico. I mean, she said at different

times she used a hyphenated version of her name and used the real license number of this New Mexico nurse. So unless you check her social security

number, check her date of birth, you may not catch it.

CASAREZ: But when you have a job and you get paid, you have to pay taxes on the federal level and they have your social security number.

PATRICK: Yes. I don`t -- I mean, I`ve been trying to reach out to the hospital and the staffing company that got her the job there and haven`t

hear back yet. So I don`t have a good explanation how it happened.

CASAREZ: It is very confusing. It is extremely confusing. And she was able to get through the system, no question about it. But in New Mexico, held

nursing jobs, teaching jobs, teaching people to become medical professionals as in R.N.s, so then Robert, she gets a job in St. Louis

where you are. What did she do there?

PATRICK: Well, she started out in the ICU of St. Louis Hospital. I believe.

CASAREZ: So people who are fighting for their life, that was her job in St. Louis, in the intensive care unit?

PATRICK: Yeah, we don`t have a lot of information about how many patients she treated. They only named by initials one patient in the indictment and

that`s a patient with dementia and hypertension who she administered some drugs to or took care for two days in February of this year.

CASAREZ: And she even was able to dispense controlled substances we understand. Here is my question, Robert, and you may not know the answer,

but I think that this story may continue because she`s been indicted on identity theft, fraud. What about the patients` welfare?

If she is dispensing medication, if she is giving shots, if she is in charge as an R.N. of their welfare in the intensive care unit, sometimes

right out of surgery, sometimes when life may be over soon, they are taken to intensive care for that one-on-one -- what do we know about the

patients?

PATRICK: Nothing so far. I mean, you know, I think that people are -- you know, people having just learned about this, co-workers, patients, I mean,

that`s really the big question here, what if anything happened to her patients?

CASAREZ: And families. Danny Cevallos, I want to ask you very quickly, she had a lot of jobs along the way. She taught nursing. She was at a hospital

in New Mexico. I mean, this could open up a can of worms, right, for charges?

CEVALLOS: I am bewildered first of all because I am an adjunct professor in the school of nursing. I just teach health care law. But the idea, the

training that nurses go through the clinicals, you can`t fudge your way through that the way I fudged my way through Shakespeare in college and

English class. This is pretty serious stuff.

So the level of fraud to convey that kind of knowledge, it`s really a scary thing. And defrauding people, there are a number of different charges that

can be brought when you defraud people especially considering even the students who paid for their tuition and got really

[20:55:00] arguably a sub par education, a fraudulent education.

CASAREZ: Right. That`s right. And who knows what they are saying that they learned from her, right? As far as welfare of the patients, Jeff Gold, very

quickly, we don`t know. I mean, maybe people died at her hand allegedly. We don`t know.

GOLD: Exactly right, Jean. You had hit the nail on the head as to what is next in this. All those patients that were under her care, why do you think

the administration, the staffing, the agency are not returning calls? They know what is coming next.

CASAREZ: That`s right. All right. We`ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CASAREZ: Thank you so much for joining us tonight. I`m Jean Casarez. A big thank you to Attorney Danny Cevallos and Jeff Gold. Thank you, guys. We`ll

be back here tomorrow night 8:00 sharp for PRIMETIME JUSTICE. CNN Special Report: "MISSING: MADELEINE MCCANN" begins right now.

[21:00:00] Good night, everybody.

END