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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield
DUI Arrest; Trapped in Trunk; Shocking Video; Breaking News; HLN Original Series
Aired May 30, 2017 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIE GODBOLT, CHARGED WITH MURDER: I ain`t fit to live, not after what I done.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST (voice-over): Mass murder in Mississippi.
GODBOLT: I ran out of bullets. Suicide by cop was my intention.
BANFIELD: A man confesses to killing eight people, one of them a deputy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Been acting out, pulling guns, shooting things. But we never thought he would get to this point.
BANFIELD: What set him off? Were his wife and family the intended victims?
THERESE APEL, "CLARION LEDGER": So what`s next for you?
GODBOLT: Death.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was something really wrong.
BANFIELD: She was known as the angel of death.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the babies pretty much died on the 3:00 to 11:00 shift, which didn`t make any sense.
BANFIELD: A pediatric nurse doing the devil`s work.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sure enough, they all died under one nurse`s hand.
BANFIELD: Locked away for 99 years, how on earth is she getting out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On earth, justice is for that woman never to leave prison.
BANFIELD: Find out how police three decades later plan to lock her up again.
And it`s good to have friends in high places.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My dad is an attorney.
BANFIELD: Especially when you`re caught on tape charged with a DUI.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need you to follow (INAUDIBLE) with your eyes (INAUDIBLE) OK? You understand?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, keep your head still.
BANFIELD: That 21-year-old failing a roadside test, she`s the daughter of a big-time lawyer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it Ron Winter who her father is?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think so.
BANFIELD: But did that help her beat the rap?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I know him. I know him very, very well.
MARY KAY LETOURNEAU: This is my soulmate. This is really -- I would have to say that (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: She defied the logic of family values for decades, Mary Kay Letourneau, the teacher and mother of four who had an affair with her 6th
grade student. She served time and married him, and they had two additional children.
LETOURNEAU: I believed him when he said that he loved me and was in love with me.
BANFIELD: Now, 20 years later, he`s calling it quits.
And Tiger Woods in crisis again, nearly a decade after an epic meltdown that cost Tiger his family and his winning career.
TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior.
BANFIELD: Police find him asleep at the wheel in a banged-up car. Last time, it was women and Ambien.
WOODS: I was unfaithful.
BANFIELD: What is it this time?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: Outburst in court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is America. Get out if you don`t like free speech.
BANFIELD: An accused murderer...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Death to the enemies of America!
BANFIELD: ... sinking his chances...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Leave this country if you hate our freedoms!
BANFIELD: ... at beating the rap.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You call it terrorism, I call it patriotism!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Hello, everyone. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.
In rural Mississippi tonight, officers are working on overload. They are not used to something like Saturday night. 911 operators were in
overdrive, calls coming in, sheriffs, cops, all hands on deck because a big murder was unfolding.
Confusing at first, but reports of victim after victim just kept rolling in, and it wasn`t in just one place, either. The killer was on the move,
four dead at the first house, two dead at the next house, kids among them, two more dead at the last stop.
The killings even hit home for the cops. One of their own was taken. When the bullets stopped, eight people in total were killed, all of them family
or friends of a man named Willie Godbolt, 35 years old. And of course, a sheriff`s deputy who was trying to stop all this madness -- he died, too.
When Godbolt showed up where his wife was staying, a neighbor called 911 and a sheriff`s deputy was dispatched. Godbolt was apparently compliant at
first in this custody problem, but police say, suddenly, he pulled a gun and began shooting. His wife escaped, but her mother, her sister and her
aunt were all killed, so was that deputy. For some unknown reason, Willie Godbolt decided to spill his guts after his arrest while sitting there
cuffed right there on the grass, especially about why he took the officer`s life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GODBOLT: My pain wasn`t designed for him. He was just there.
THERESE APEL, "CLARION LEDGER": So you`re saying he was kind of collateral damage?
GODBOLT: We was talking. We was talking about me taking my children, and her sister and her auntie called the police. I was having a conversation
with my stepdaddy and her mama and her, my wife, about me taking my children home. And somebody called the officers, people that didn`t even
live at the house. But that`s what they do. They intervene. It cost him his life. I`m sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:05:06]BANFIELD: "I`m sorry." After the murder of this officer and three family members at that first house, there were two additional
locations. Police say he slaughtered four more people, including two boys. And now authorities are trying to piece together this senseless tragedy,
the motive behind it and where they go from here.
Therese Apel is a breaking news reporter for "The Clarion Ledger." She joins me from Jackson, Mississippi. She`s also the person behind the mike
who got that exclusive interview. Therese, absolutely remarkable that this man spoke at length right there, right as it all was unfolding. Take me
from that interview. What was that like speaking to him at that very moment?
APEL: Well, I had pulled up right as they were getting him on the ground. So I kind of hung out on the outskirts there because he was already talking
to police. He talked consistently through the time that they had him on the ground and everything. And so when everything kind of died down and
they were waiting on the ambulance, he looked over at me and said, Ma`am, are you police, too? And I said, No, I`m the media. And then we said and
looked at each other for a second. And I said, Do you want to tell me why you did all this? And he just starts spilling his guts.
The interesting thing is he did tell me that he wanted to commit suicide by cops, but today, I spoke to one of the survivors that overheard him on the
phone after the last two homicides, and he said, I`m done, I`m going to go to the hospital now. So I`m not sure that he told me the truth.
BANFIELD: And that bandage we`re seeing on his right arm, that was -- am I correct that that was a gunshot?
APEL: Yes, that was a gunshot. He was shot by Ferral Burage as he broke into the house on East Lincoln.
BANFIELD: And so you just mentioned the issue of him saying, I intended for this to be suicide by cop. I actually want to play a little bit more
of your exclusive interview with him as he actually talked about that very, very point. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
APEL: So what`s next for you?
GODBOLT: Death.
APEL: Death.
GODBOLT: Death. My intentions was to have y`all kill me. I ran out of bullets.
APEL: That`s a good thing they showed mercy.
GODBOLT: Suicide by cops was my intention. I ain`t fit to live, not after what I done, not in y`all eyes and not in nobody else eyes. But God, you
know, he forgives you for everything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Therese, it`s absolutely remarkable you got him speaking this candidly. He had a court appearance just today. I assume it`s his first
court appearance. Did he say anything? Maybe this has all sunk in. Maybe he now knows he could be facing the death penalty for this?
APEL: Not that I`ve heard. But I was with the family during the court appearance, so I wasn`t there to hear what he had to say, if anything.
BANFIELD: And do we know where he is at this point? I know he had that treatment in the field for the gunshot wound to his arm, and he`s been
denied any kind of bond. But do we know where he`s being housed right now?
APEL: Yes. He was taken to the hospital and her was released today and went for his appearance, and he`s now at the Capaya (ph) County jail, which
is a neighboring county. I think everybody felt like it was a better idea for him not to be housed in Lincoln County because not only did he
allegedly kill a deputy, at the jail where he would be housed, also, to kill seven more people in this community, that takes a lot out of a small
community, and I think they were pretty sure that people in the jail would have strong feelings, as well.
BANFIELD: I can only imagine. I want to play one more bit of your exclusive interview with him because it`s really remarkable just watching
it. Seems like there doesn`t seem to be a glimmer of remorse, of sadness, of tragedy, just the fact that eight people are dead, including two kids,
kids that he knew, an 18-year-old and an 11-year-old. And this is what he had to say about his sadness. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GODBOLT: I love my wife! I love my kids! They would not let me live and let live! I just wanted to live! I just want to love my family! I just
wanted to love my wife!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: I just want to love my family, I just want to love my wife. Shockingly, perhaps the target of all of this, the wife, she escaped. She
was able to run and hide. What`s the story behind her?
APEL: As I understand, they were able to get out of the house, and that was when he allegedly shot her family members. I haven`t been able to
speak to her. At this point, I understand the family, the ones that are left, are completely devastated. But I do know that there had been some
domestic problems in the family leading up to this. So it was not a surprise to law enforcement to have a call involving him.
[20:10:00]BANFIELD: Therese, I want you to stand by for a moment, if you will, because two of the victims, as I mentioned, were kids, one of them an
11-year-old and one of them an 18-year-old. His name was Jordan Blackwell. And Shon and Tiffany Blackwell are Jordan Blackwell`s parents. Shon is
also the cousin of the suspect in this case, Willie Godbolt. They both join me from Brookhaven, Mississippi.
To both of you, I want to thank you, Shon and Tiffany, for speaking with us tonight, especially at this horrifying time. Are you coming to terms with
what`s happened and the fact that your son was victimized in this massacre?
TIFFANY BLACKWELL, MOTHER OF VICTIM: Yes, we are coming to terms. It`s been really hard on us. And it`s like we wish that we would wake up. When
we go to sleep at night and we wake up, we wish that it was all a dream, but then all reality kicks back in to let us know it is not a dream that
our son was taken from us, that we won`t see him again.
BANFIELD: And I`m looking at a picture of your son, and from what I`ve been learning about him, he was an extraordinary kid, that colleges were
eyeballing him, that he had a football career ahead of him. What more can you tell me about Jordan?
T. BLACKWELL: Jordan was an awesome kid. If you ever met him, you would never forget him. He didn`t meet any strangers. He loved everybody. He
loved kids. He was awesome in sports. He loved football. That was his sport. He had three offers already, one to Southwest Mississippi Community
College, University of Central Arkansas and the last one was Jackson State University. He was just loved by so many people, and he is truly going to
be missed.
BANFIELD: Tiffany, it is astounding to me that he was shot. And at this point, I use the word "allegedly" even though, you know, there was this
stark and remarkable admission from Willie Godbolt as he was sitting in cuffs after the shooting. But he`s close to your family. I mean, as I
understand it, Tiffany, you`re best friends with his mom, or at least very close to his mom, and Shon, you`re close to this defendant. He`s your
cousin. Why on earth would your son be shot?
SHON BLACKWELL, FATHER OF VICTIM, COUSIN OF ACCUSED: I don`t know. I know normally, it`s not in his character. He`s the -- to know him, you would
understand he actually was the type of person that was crazy about kids, first and foremost. He did a lot of things for kids. So for what he`s
done to our child and our nephew was unbelievable. You know, it wasn`t -- we`re going to wrestle with it, and day-by-day, we`re going to learn to
continuously love and forgive and understand that there had to be a problem, you know, because for someone to do what he done, it wasn`t
becoming of someone in their right mind, you know? He knew exactly what was taking place, but I would have never in a million years thought that he
would harm children, never.
BANFIELD: Your son -- you mentioned your son and your nephew, Shon, your son being Jordan Blackwell, your nephew, I presume you`re talking about the
11-year-old victim who was also shot dead at that second location. And wasn`t there a brother of your nephew, a brother of that 11-year-old, I
think a 15-year-old who perhaps your son saved?
S. BLACKWELL: Yes. Yes. Both of them was my nephew, but everybody know we raised them and we love them just like they was our own. You know, we
was very close with them, and my other nephew was -- well, he told us -- it was something we didn`t know. He kind of gave us the heroic side of my son
and what he did in his last moments, and that made us feel comfortable in knowing my son`s relationship with the Lord and my nephew`s relationship
with the Lord. So it was just comforting to know that God decided to use our son, you know, to set this platform to get people to understand
domestic violence and mental health issues and everything, so...
BANFIELD: And to that point, the domestic violence, the mental health issues -- is it true that this suspect, Willie Godbolt -- that his father
was a police officer and that his father was shot by his -- by his -- was it his mother or his ex-wife? Are they the same? But that there was
terrible murderous domestic violence in his past, as well.
S. BLACKWELL: Yes, his father was a wonderful man. He was a minister, a police officer, good friend, mentor. And he was killed by his ex-wife.
And I think that did a lot to -- not only to his son and his other children, as well, but not only them, to the community. It`s a wakening
(ph) moment for all of us.
[20:15:00]BANFIELD: Shon and Tiffany Blackwell, our thoughts are with you as you -- as you begin to process, you know, what is ahead for your family.
And I am so sorry to be meeting you on these terms, and I do thank you for helping us to sort of -- to sort through this tragedy. Thank you to the
both of you.
S. BLACKWELL: Yes. Thank you.
BANFIELD: We`ll continue to follow that story and what shakes out with the charges against Willie Godbolt as we move ahead in that story.
Also tonight, a defiant court appearance to report to you by Jeremy Christian, the man accused of stabbing two men to death and then injuring a
third last weekend on a Portland train.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY CHRISTIAN, CHARGED WITH MURDER: Free speech or die, Portland! You got no safe place! This is America! Get out if you don`t like free
speech! Death to the enemies of America. Leave this country if you hate our freedoms! (INAUDIBLE) You call it terrorism, I call it patriotism, you
hear me? Die!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Mr. Christian is charged with murder and attempted murder of the three men who came to the defense of a 16-year-old girl and her Muslim
friend, who was wearing a head scarf, hijab, at the time. If convicted, Jeremy Christian could be sentenced to death.
She was called the angel of death, a San Antonio nurse convicted of murdering a little baby she was supposed to be looking after. And now
there`s a chance that she could be released from jail, even though it was a 99-year sentence. So what does the district attorney have to say about
this today? A lot. And she is not getting out if he has anything to say. He joins me live next.
First, though, there is a new program on HLN premiering this Friday, "BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT," and it goes deeper inside the world of forensic
investigations than ever before.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For years, they got away with murder.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Serial killers don`t stop.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now the evidence they left behind...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Time was not on our side. It`s going to be a cold case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... is coming back to haunt them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Suddenly, we have physical evidence to place someone there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve got him.
BANFIELD: The devil is in the details. "BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT," an all- new true crime series, premiers Friday at 9:00 on HLN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:21:45]BANFIELD: Usually, when you describe an angel of death, it`s not someone you want walking the street among the living. But an old Texas law
designed to relieve prison overcrowding could actually let a baby killer walk free. You got to dig a few decades back into murderers` row to get a
full-color version of Genene Jones and her brand of evil.
She was a pediatric nurse looking after babies but suspected of killing upwards of 60 of them. They only ever got her, really proved that she
murdered little Chelsea McClellan, 15 months old, and they sentenced Genene to 99 years for injecting that baby with killer drugs. She got another 60
years for injuring another baby. All that was back in 1984.
And if you fast forward 33 years, Nurse Genene could get out after serving just a third of her sentence. But because the authorities never want her
to see the light of day again, they just went ahead and indicted her again, this time for a 1981 death of an 11-month-old baby.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICO LAHOOD, BEXAR COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: True justice will happen when she stands before the Lord. But on earth, justice is for that woman never
to leave prison.
If you had a child and she murdered your child and she spent 34 years in prison, would that be justice for you? Children are precious. That`s why
it`s worth it. Was it easy to put together? Of course it wasn`t easy. But if we only did things that were easy, nobody would accomplish anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: The man you just heard is Nicholas Niko LaHood. He`s the criminal district attorney for Bexar County, Texas, and he joins me live
now from San Antonio.
Sir, thanks so much for being with me. Why now...
LAHOOD: (INAUDIBLE) pleasure.
BANFIELD: Why 33-some-odd years later are you going after this case?
LAHOOD: Well, I think the clips that you heard me say are consistent and hold true. There`s a reason why in Texas, you don`t have a statute of
limitations for murder because we value -- we think life is precious here. And so theoretically, if there`s a 50-year-old case and we have probable
cause to bring evidence before a grand jury and then eventually before a petit jury, we can do that. So there`s no statute of limitations, and I
believe that all life is precious, and especially the lives of children.
BANFIELD: I`m with you on that, every word of what you said. But I also know that time is the enemy when you`re going after someone in a
prosecution. In fact, one of your predecessors, the DA named Scott Monroe, talked about how tough even the first convictions were. Have a look at
this and listen to what he said.
LAHOOD: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT MONROE, KERR COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: It was a circumstantial evidence case. Obviously, Genene Jones knew what happened. But there
wasn`t anyone else around that was an eyewitness to most of these events.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So Niko, what do you think in terms of actually trying to put together a strong case that 12 men and women, the good people of Bexar
County, Texas, are going to be able to look at and say, yes, beyond a reasonable doubt, I`m good with that.
LAHOOD: (INAUDIBLE) we do things differently here in San Antonio now. And we`re ready to try this case tomorrow if we have to. So there`s two things
in my analysis. Number one, if I didn`t absolutely believe without hesitation that Genene Jones was guilty of murdering Joshua (INAUDIBLE),
that precious baby, we would not go forward. And number two, if I didn`t think we could prove it to 12 men or women in Bexar County, we wouldn`t be
going forward. And I believe both of them without hesitation.
[20:25:04]BANFIELD: Well, you`ve got me hooked now because that certainty in your voice -- I don`t think you can fake that and I certainly don`t
think you`re going to be able to fake that in a courtroom.
I want to just play something else, if I can, Niko, and it`s Joyce Riley.
LAHOOD: Yes, ma`am.
BANFIELD: Joyce was a co-worker of Genene Jones back in the day. She worked the shift with her. She saw something weird going on, And she knew
that she needed to tell the higher-ups. Here is how she described what that whole process was like. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOYCE RILEY, CO-WORKER OF GENENE JONES: I reviewed many of the records that I heard had been of children that had died in the unit. And all of a
sudden, I saw something, and that was that all the babies pretty much died on the 3:00 to 11:00 shift, which didn`t make any sense. And then I
looked, and sure enough, they all died under one nurse`s hand. And that`s when I realized there was something really wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Mr. LaHood, memories fade. People get older. It gets tougher and tougher as cases get dusty. However, in the last 33 years, we`ve
become really good at crime fighting, too. We have a couple of tricks up our sleeve that we didn`t have back then.
Are you going to employ some of those? Are you going to exhume babies` bodies? Are you going to start looking at DNA? What are going to do
that`s different than they already did before.
LAHOOD: I will tell you -- do you mind if I call you Ashleigh?
BANFIELD: I`d love it.
LAHOOD: OK, I will tell you, Ashleigh, that I do not try cases in the court of public opinion. So I`m not going to tell you what we`re going to
do. I will tell you this, that I believe that she`s guilty as sin, and I am very confident that we can prove this to a Bexar County jury. And I`m
going to leave it at that because it`ll play out in court at the proper time.
BANFIELD: Niko LaHood, you had me at hello.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: I want to bring in Dan Schorr and Misty Marris. Dan`s a former prosecutor and Misty`s a defense attorney. This is -- I mean, it`s the
makings of a Hollywood movie. In fact, I think there have been movies made that are very like this. But there are those two issues. One is that it
is old. Two, we do have new tricks up our sleeve. As a former prosecutor, is that helpful?
DAN SCHORR, FMR. PROSECUTOR: It certainly helps. The other thing that helps here is usually, you can`t bring in prior bad acts from a defendant,
but the big exception is if there`s a modus operandi, a pattern, a common scheme or plan. And here, if the president`s arguing there was a common
way that she killed multiple children, he could -- the prosecution can bring in evidence such as the other conviction, maybe not the fact that he
was -- she was convicted already, but the fact that there are other dead children who might have died in the same way. and helps strengthen the
prosecution`s case. That`s a big weapon here the prosecution has.
BANFIELD: That all makes perfect sense, and it would have made even more perfect sense 33 years ago. Why wouldn`t they have brought all that of
business up before and said, Look at the pattern. Look at the shifts. Look what happened. OK, maybe I don`t have the smoking gun, but I got
enough to convince jurors that this is a bad lady.
MISTY MARRIES, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, and look, they could only convict her on one case, the death of one child, and that`s going to be the issue.
So the DA sounds like he`s got tricks up his sleeve. He`s not showing his hand yet. Maybe there`s more evidence out there.
But there needs to be more than the baby died during her shift, especially 33 years later. You`re going to have to show that he was given this
injection, it was done by her, that it caused his death. That`s a tough road. But I do agree, you do have this pattern and practice, and
hopefully, that`ll all come into a courtroom.
BANFIELD: And I`m assuming that the cross-examination of witnesses would be something this prosecutor`s going to have to work very, very hard to
deal with because I think it`s easy to say to someone, say, who`s in their 80s, Are you absolutely certain of that? This was over three decades ago.
SCHORR: But this case doesn`t seem that reliant on eyewitness testimony. It seems more reliant on business records.
BANFIELD: Did you hear Joyce Riley?
SCHORR: Right. Right.
BANFIELD: Holy cow, that was convincing!
SCHORR: No, but that conclusion was based on business records. She went through the record and saw that this nurse was working at the same time
that all these children died. So that`s not necessarily based on her eyewitness recollection.
BANFIELD: But she brought it to the attention of higher-ups...
SCHORR: Right, but...
BANFIELD: ... which documents that she had those concerns. She`s not making it up since the media...
(CROSSTALK)
SCHORR: If they had those records, they can introduce those records and then not rely just on her memory of looking at the records from 30 years
ago. Hopefully, those records have been preserved and are organized.
BANFIELD: If you guys were working this case -- I`m going to make you be prosecutor, too, here.
MARRIS: Oh, love it!
BANFIELD: Would you want to exhume 60 babies or some or part of those victims or those alleged victims and think, Maybe there`s some, you know,
molecular smoking gun I can find here with all our new brave crime-fighting tools?
LAHOOD: You know, it`s really tough on the families to do that, so you definitely have to balance that. But if it means putting somebody who may
have killed upwards of 60 babies behind bars and you can get that key forensic evidence that changes a circumstantial case into a forensic case,
you got to do it.
BANFIELD: I mean, it`s remarkable to me. I cannot wait to follow this to see what...
MARRIS: It`s going to be an interesting...
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: I want to say thanks to Niko LaHood for being on with us.
Guys, stick around. I got a couple more stories, not the least of which this one. Yes, there are new details about Tiger Woods and that now
famous, infamous DUI arrest. I`m not talking about the one from almost a decade ago. Police say there`s actually fresh damage on the driver`s side
of his 2015 Mercedes when they found him asleep at the wheel on Monday morning. Very, very early, you might say Sunday night. Documents reveal
that the bumper was also scuffed and scratched and both of the driver`s side tires were flat. So far, no word from investigators on how all of this
damage happened, being slightly tight-lipped, but they did show us this.
They say that he was found on the side of the road with his car still running. His brake lights were on. He was arrested on suspicion of driving
under the influence but it appears that alcohol was not to blame. According to police, his breathalyzer registered zero, and Woods told the police that
he takes several prescriptions.
He released a statement saying that he had a, quote, unexpected reaction to his prescribed medications. Woods also said that he did not realize the mix
of his medications had affected him so strongly. He is set to make his first court appearance on July 5th. It sure did bring up all those old
stories, right, eight years ago.
Just in case you`re wondering, that was a whole domestic issue, remember his wife, Elin, finding all the texts about all the girls and it turned out
there were like maybe more than 15 or somewhere around a couple hundred of them. And she went after him with a golf club. It was not a DUI at that
point, but it was a messy domestic that ended his marriage. And also, I think it`s fair to say, end of his very awesome professional career.
There is a mother in Utah who is facing child abuse charges after she allegedly locked two of her children in the trunk of her car so that she
could shop at Walmart. Eyewitnesses say after 39-year-old Tori Lee Castillo stuffed the 5-year-old and the 2-year-old into the trunk of the car, the
kids began to scream out and move frantically, causing the vehicle to shake.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The little girl that I could hear screaming, she was - - mom, let me out, let me out. Mom, help. She was screaming and crying. Both kids just came out, like spring loaded.
They jumped out at us. One lady took the 2-year-old, I took the 5-year-old. I`m like, this can`t be what we`re finding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Well, it was. The police say bystanders had to coach the older child, the 5-year-old, on how to unlock the trunk using that emergency
latch inside the trunk. That worked. And then police found her. And they arrested Tori Castillo when she returned to her car and thought she was
returning to her children. Not. We have all heard that saying, it`s not what you know, it`s who you know.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is Rachel been arrested?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, she has.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alright, Jesus. Do you recognize my name at all?
BANFIELD: In this case, the who is the attorney dad of a DUI suspect who happens to work in the D.A.`s office. Was his name dropping enough to get
his daughter off the hook? You`re going to hear the whole conversation next.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Admit it, name dropping, we`ve all done it at one point or another. But when it came to trying to wrangle out of a drunk driving
charge, this young woman and her dad may have taken it to a questionable new level. Authorities are scrutinizing this body cam footage of the
arresting officer who pulled over 21-year-old Rachel Winter.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, how are you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, officer, how are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not too bad. I need your license and registration, please.
WINTER: I have.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What looked to be a routine traffic stop for a suspected drunk driving has garnered the attention of the state`s court authority. In
the video, Niagara County sheriff said that he pulls over 21-year-old Rachel Winter. She admits that she has been drinking, but says she waited
long enough before driving.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had a couple beers at a friend`s house but I had waited a couple hours and was aware of the fact that I was drinking and
therefore left from there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The deputy asks her to perform several field sobriety tests of which according to the deputy she does poorly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She couldn`t pass any tests. She had most of the clues.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She refused to take a breathalyzer well within her rights and she was taken into custody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have the right to remain silence and refuse to answer any questions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My dad is an attorney.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rachel Winter`s father, Ron Winter, is a long-time member of the Niagara County District Attorneys` Office and current law
clerk for state Supreme Court Justice Richard Kloch, Sr.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is Rachel been arrested?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, she has.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alright, Jesus. Do you recognize my name at all?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sir, I don`t.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. I used to be the chief homicide prosecutor for Niagara County. I worked in the D.A.`s office for 18 years. Is there
any way to not have this happen? Is there anything we can do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ve already called out with her under arrest. I`ve already called for a tow truck, our normal procedure. I read her Miranda
and DWI.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So you probably think that`s kind of open and shut, right? But wait until you see what happened to Rachel Winter after the arrest. I want
to bring in Dave Greber. He is the author of that fine report you just saw. He is a reporter for News 4 WIVB. He joins me from Buffalo.
Dave, thanks for being with me. So take me from that moment. What happened after she`s put in the cruiser and that fine officer, his name is Sheriff
Deputy Timothy Caughel, drives her to the pokey. What happened?
DAVE GREBER, REPORTER FOR NEWS 4 WIVB: Well, it will actually be the second time that that deputy`s supervisor intervenes. The video that you just saw,
that the viewers saw,
[20:40:00] that you can hear the deputy tell his supervisor, she`s failed all of these tests. It is at that time, the first time that his lieutenant,
Lieutenant Steve Broderick, intervenes and says, hey, listen, I know Ron Winter really, really well.
Let`s see if we maybe can do something about this. And there is a second intervention back at the sheriff`s office during booking apparently. This
is after she has been arrested. Keep in mind, she is put in cuffs after she fails the breathalyzer, of course, well within her rights to do so. But at
that time, she is taken into custody.
Then this deputy supervisor, Lieutenant Steve Broderick, intervenes again and says listen, again, I know her father, long-time member of the Niagara
County D.A.`s office, Ron Winter, and says how would you feel about maybe knocking this down to a lesser charge? And of course, they go back and
forth. Then the deputy says, well, if this is something -- you`re my supervisor, I`ll do what.
BANFIELD: You`re my boss.
(LAUGHTER)
GREBER: Exactly.
BANFIELD: You`re my boss. What am I suppose to do?
GREBER: A difficult denial in this case. Of course, his supervisor says, well, listen, as long as you`re comfortable with this, we`ll move forward
and then of course the rest is history.
BANFIELD: So here`s the weird part, that pesky body cam video that we now all absolutely love especially in television, that gets reviewed by the
Niagara County District Attorneys` Office and they say, hang on, how did this thing get knocked down?
We are going to charge her again with DWI. Then that lieutenant, that boss gets disciplined, and they actually take the charge forward. What happens
next? Does she beat the rap or does she go down for it eventually?
GREBER: Interestingly enough, the way you would put it, yes, I guess she beats the rap because the special prosecutor in this case who is actually
from a different county, as well as the judge, agree that this charge should be dismissed.
When I spoke to the D.A. from Orleans County again, special prosecutor in this case, called in from outside, he says he had his own DREs or drug
recognition experts look at this video and he agreed himself, look, she`s not falling down drunk, I don`t necessarily believe that she is that
intoxicated if she`s even intoxicated at all.
This was actually done during a telephone conference because that prosecutor was out of town at the time. He phones into the courtroom and
Judge Robert Merino there in Niagara Falls City Court agrees with the prosecution, of course the defense agrees, not only is this charge
dismissed, but the judge in this case actually issues an apology to Rachel Winter.
Of course, that set off the Niagara County Sheriff, James Voutour, who as you saw in the story that just aired and then a previous story that I did
again last week, he let those folks have it, no doubt.
BANFIELD: Ten seconds here. As I understand it, the judge is not being investigated in any of this, but they are looking at Rachel`s dad, is that
true?
GREBER: It is something the state unified court system says they`re looking into, the totality of circumstances surrounding her dismissal. They say
they are not focusing their target or their investigation on this judge, rather they are saying at this point they`re focusing on another member of
the court system.
Of course, the other member of the court system in this particular story is Ron Winter, a long-time member of the court system here in western New
York. Whether he becomes the absolute focus still remains to be seen.
BANFIELD: Dave, thanks for that. Real quickly, Dan Schorr, as a former prosecutor, that stuff happens all the time. That body cam, can`t escape
it.
DAN SCHORR, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Charging decisions obviously have to be made on the facts and the law, not on personal connections. But you see a lot of
situations like this where it`s not somebody`s father but their attorney calling in their connections and asking for reduced charge. It`s one of the
problems with the justice system that who you allow to make the call often helps you.
BANFIELD: Wow, great camera work. I have to say on that one. Hold that thought for a minute. If I say the names Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili
Fualaau, I probably don`t have to say a whole lot after that. She was his sixth grade teacher. He was 12 years old. And she went to prison after
sleeping with him and getting pregnant by him. She was convicted of child rape. But now, more than 20 years after their relationship scandalized the
nation and they got married and had even another baby, they are splitting up. I`ll tell you who is behind the split next.
[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Mary Kay Letourneau. Over the years, her name has become synonymous with lady teachers who have sex with their little boy students.
Letourneau struck up a relationship with a sixth grader, 12-year-old student, Vili Fualaau. He was her student when she met him in second grade,
four years previous.
That student sitting right beside her now wouldn`t be long before he got Mary Kay pregnant with his baby, keeping in mind at the time she was
married with four children of her own. She served more than seven years behind bars for second degree child rape. When she was released from
prison, she married that young man, that student, Vili Fualaau. And the two of them talked to Larry King all about their relationship.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, TELEVISION AND RADIO HOST: No regret over anything concerning Vili?
MARY KAY LETOURNEAU, CHARGED WITH SECOND DEGREE CHILD RAPE: My gosh, we`re so happy.
KING: Do you two think, this is a cliche, you are soul mates?
LETOURNEAU: There`s so many terms like that, soul mates is kind of overused, but I really wouldn`t put a label on it at all. It`s -- I don`t
know, we just.
KING: Twin flames?
LETOURNEAU: Twin flames.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: You know, when a marriage gets off to a weird start, you might just say that the chances are it`s not going to last.
[20:50:00] We said that, you know, for like a decade, but apparently it has not lasted because Vili Fualaau just called it quits, filing for separation
after more than a decade of marriage, two kids together, and ultimately when you count all the not married time, more than 20 years.
Steve Helling is a senior writer from "People" magazine. He joins me from Orlando. Steve, okay, I don`t know where to start. But I`ll start with
this. Why are they splitting up, Steve Helling?
STEVE HELLING, SENIOR WRITER AT PEOPLE MAGAZINE: Well, I spoke with her lawyer today, and she basically said they have just drifted apart. They
were in love at one point and they just have fallen out of love, which seems like a very strange thing to say for people who have been through as
much as they`ve been through, getting together in a weird way, having the kids together just to say, I`m done, is kind of a strange thing to do.
BANFIELD: It`s weird to look at him. He`s 33 years old and they have a 20- year-old daughter and an 18-year-old daughter. You`re right. The fact they`ve gone through all of this and survived, it`s just odd looking at the
progression of their relationship. I was watching ABC 2020 with Barbara Walters back in 2015. I remember this clip from the interview about how
they were doing, have a look at this.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BARBARA WALTERS, TELEVISION PERSONALITY: What`s the marriage like? Fill me in.
LETOURNEAU: Well, it`s marriage. It`s more taking care of the children and, of course, marriage is -- marriage is great.
WALTERS: Have there been 10 good years?
VILI FUALAAU, STUDENT-TURNED HUSBAND OF MARY KAY LETOURNEAU: Ten good years? I don`t think there`s ever a full 10 good years in marriage. You
have your ups and downs in marriages. What matters is how you pull through all the bad times.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: That was two years ago. So I guess they`re not going to pull through. Was there someone else involved? Was there cheating or something,
Steve?
HELLING: We were told, no, just them falling out of love and moving on and cooling off for them. I will say that a lot of times we`re told, no,
there`s nobody else and come to find out somebody else shows up. At the moment, we don`t know of anybody else and they`re both claiming that, no,
this was just their marriage falling apart and a third party wasn`t involved.
BANFIELD: She is still a registered sex offender, isn`t she?
HELLING: Yes, she will be a registered sex offender for life unless she manages to pull a hat trick out. It doesn`t look like she`s going to. She`s
been saying for years she doesn`t want to be a registered sex offender anymore.
BANFIELD: I don`t know anybody does. Good luck with that on your match profile. Real quickly, what`s going on with their daughters, 18 and 20,
they`re adults now, do we know much about them?
HELLING: We don`t know a lot about them because they really kept them quiet. But I do think it is interesting that the younger one now is 18, the
age of majority, and this is the time that they decide to separate. It makes you wonder if they waited this long to separate.
BANFIELD: Real quick, Misty Marris, weigh in on this one. I don`t know when you have a woman like this who met her second grade student and four years
later started a relationship with him in sixth grade. Do authorities keep an eye on someone like that this long after the fact?
MISTY MARRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Look, that`s why she`s a registered sex offender. There is always going to keep an eye on her. She is going to have
to report where she`s living. There are certain jobs that will never be available to her again. That`s the whole purpose because there is something
wrong with somebody. It is a sex crime, no two ways about it.
BANFIELD: It is a sex crime and yet I know there was some very unusual people weighing in saying, no, that`s true love in whatever form it came. I
wonder if authorities look at that the same way and say look, it`s a very bizarre episode in her life that lasted 20 some years or do they?
SCHORR: When he was underage, it was a rape. It is the same rape if it was a male student and a girl student. Somehow, they will look at it
differently, but they shouldn`t. It is still a rape.
BANFIELD: But 20-year relationship and two children and family.
SCHORR: Once he`s an adult, he can decide to consent to a mature relationship and they had a marriage and broke up. We don`t know why, but
certainly it got off to a start that was based on sex crime.
BANFIELD: Misty, if you had to describe one word to that whole scenario, the whole last two plus decades?
MARRIS: I would say shocking.
(LAUGHTER)
MARRIS: I wouldn`t put my money on it lasting. Let`s just put it that way.
BANFIELD: Interesting. I didn`t either and then year after year thought, I guess I`m wrong, and guess I`m not. All right. Hold that thought.
HLN`s new original series "Beyond Reasonable Doubt" goes deeper inside the world of forensic investigation than ever before the detectives reveal the
most enduring cases of their careers and examine the forensic science that gave them the break they needed to ultimately solve those cases. And this
Friday, a look at how the detectives and forensic scientists brought down the most prolific serial killer in American history, the Green River
killer.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next, I had to figure out how did the suspect
[20:55:00] get the bodies to that point. Did he carry them? Were they still alive when he took them down to the riverbank? Were they already dead? And
then I discovered another body. She was a young African-American female who was partially nude.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: I just got chills. "Beyond Reasonable Doubt." The Green River killer is premiering this Friday, 9:00 p.m. eastern and pacific. Don`t miss
it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: My thanks tonight to Misty Marris and Dan Schorr for slugging through this one.
(LAUGHTER)
SCHORR: Thank you.
MARRIS: Thank you.
BANFIELD: Thank you, everyone, for watching. We`ll see you back here tomorrow night
[21:00:00] at 8:00 for "Primetime Justice." Stay tuned. "Forensic Files" is up next.
END
