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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield
Scary Traffic Stop; Helmet Cam Video; Death by Texts?; Bizarre Mug Shot; Hate Filled Rant. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired June 07, 2017 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the first thing we find is flames.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST (voice-over): A mom and two teenagers murdered in a burning home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They came across the remains of three people inside the residence.
BANFIELD: The next day, Dad`s found dead on a lonely road in a burned-out truck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody was in distress.
BANFIELD: The key to the case, a call to 911.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 13417 Tenino Drive West. Come now.
BANFIELD: But now, there`s something new.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anyone who recalls speaking to this individual in the store, in the parking lot, contact us.
BANFIELD: Mystery on the high seas. What happened to Isabella Hellman?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Apparently, there were some inconsistencies.
BANFIELD: Her husband says she went overboard when something hit their boat. So how did he survive if she didn`t?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She wasn`t planning on going anywhere.
BANFIELD: Now the FBI is on the case.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything changed after the baby was here.
BANFIELD: But where`s the boat? A key piece in the deep blue puzzle.
"Do it now." Did a young woman`s reckless suggestions drive her suicidal boyfriend over the edge?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "You can`t think about it. You just have to do it."
BANFIELD: Tonight, Michelle Carter`s friends and what she sent them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Sam`s (ph) death is my fault."
BANFIELD: Accusations she craved sympathy and milked his death!
Before you throw your next tantrum...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re EXPLETIVE DELETED) suckers!
BANFIELD: Remember, cameras are always rolling. And who should know that best?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) piece of (EXPLETIVE DELETED)!
BANFIELD: A TV journalist like this one getting bounced from a club.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s why nobody likes (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
BANFIELD: And talk about career don`ts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I work for a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) station, mother (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
BANFIELD: Please tell me she`s not going to say which one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, oh, dear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) 17. (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
BANFIELD: Yes. Yes, we are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) pulling out. You had me hanging out halfway out of the street there.
BANFIELD: A run of the mill traffic stop.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were doing 60 miles an hour in a 40-mile-an-hour zone back there.
BANFIELD: Turns on a dime.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Step out of the vehicle, please.
BANFIELD: When a cop finds out that guy is as bad as he thought!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: We show you a lot of mugshots on PRIMETIME JUSTICE, a War Machine, a joker, and tonight, a tin man. For God`s sakes, guys, get a
handle on that mug!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: Hello, everyone. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.
Are you sitting comfortably? More than likely, you are. TV is on inside your safe and cozy home. And violent crimes -- they just don`t happen
where you`re from, right? That is exactly what the good folks of Seabeck (ph), Washington said, too. They live in a real picturesque seaside town,
but that town is dealing with their largest homicide since 1934. And it all began with this mysterious call to 911 and a terrified young voice
talking in a panic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: Kitsap 911. What are you reporting? What`s the address?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please come now.
911 OPERATOR: What`s the address?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 13417 Tenino Drive West.
911 OPERATOR: 13417...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 13417 Tenino Drive West. Come now.
DEPUTY SCOTT WILSON, KITSAP COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE: It was not real clear to the call receiving, but it obvious that somebody was in distress, so we
needed to check that out, basically, kind of an enhanced welfare check. And we responded and the first thing we find is flames, right, and smoke
coming out of the house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: A house that more than (ph) was just engulfed in flames, it was fully involved. And that fire was hot. It took a long, long time before
they could get the flames out and temperature down and get a look inside. Safe to say they were not prepared for what they found.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILSON: Firefighters battled the fire, got it secured, got it put out. And in their course of doing that, they came across the remains of three
people inside the residence, two males and a female.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Two males and a female. That is official speak for Cristale Careaga, the mom, Johnathon Higgins, her 16-year-old son, and Hunter
Schaap, his 16-year-old stepbrother, and the terrified voice that was on the 911 call -- that was Hunter.
Dad was nowhere to be found. And before you say, Well, that sounds suspicious, he was found, IT took a day, down a long, lonely stretch of
road miles away. He was dead inside what looked like a ghost truck. The F-150, just like the house, had been set on fire. And investigators say
John Careaga, just like the rest of the blended family, had been murdered.
[20:05:14]Fast forward four months later, and tonight a potential break in the case. The detectives working on it have released a video from a nearby
Target showing a four-door silver sedan in the parking lot and the image of a person walking into the store. There he is.
This was 12 days before that family was killed. Take a good look. Notice anything? Look, the investigators aren`t calling him a suspect just yet,
but there is something intriguing about him. And they are trying to figure out who he is because they really want to talk to him.
Lieutenant Jon VanGesen is with the Kitsay sheriff`s office. He joins me from Port Orchard, Washington. Lieutenant, thanks so much for being with
me. This video was taken 12 days before that family of four was murdered. What is so interesting about that man?
LT. JON VANGESEN, KITSAP COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE (via telephone): Well, we`re not ready at this time to discuss the person of interst in the video
or his connection to the homicide or what actually led us to the Target store video.
BANFIELD: Can you tell me at all what he may have purchased insuide that Target store?
VANGESEN: No, I cannot.
BANFIELD: Was it the purchase that made him interesting?
VANGESEN: I think the important thing here is that this person of interest didn`t act alone in the homicide, in the murders of Hunter, Johnathon,
Cristale and John. These were not random acts. It was a methodical, well- planned-out murder, and detectives do not believe that that person acted alone.
BANFIELD: I mean, I`m looking at the picture of this all-American family, albeit a blended family, but an all-American family that neighbors said
were really sweet and wonderful, wonderful people.
And then I look at that picture and I -- it feels so disjointed. I`ll get to that little nugget that you just mentioned that he didn`t act alone, but
I`m still on the picture of the guy walking into the Target. We`ve zoomed in best we can. We`ve enhanced this picture best we can. We`re trying to
see anything that might help people identify him.
Are there tattoos? Are there markings on his face or neck or something you can help us and help viewers to notice?
VANGESEN: Well, the clothing is very specific. The gait of his walk into the store is very specific. He appears to have tattoos on his face and
neck.
We believe we know who this person is, but we`re interested in identifying those around him and what his activities were on that date and leading up
to the deaths and through the time of the deaths of the Careaga family.
BANFIELD: So what`s fascinating is what you just mentioned, and it`s the first time hearing that you think you know who he is is. Do you know where
he is?
VANGESEN: Yes, we believe we know where he is. He is not our center focus right now. We want people to come forward to provide us information about
what his activities were and those associated with him around the January 15th timeframe up until the deaths of the family in late January.
BANFIELD: And so we`re real clear with our viewers who may want to help out here, you want to know what he was up to in those days leading up to
the deaths of the Careaga blended family. In that particular town, in that county, in the state? Can you be more specific about where?
VANGESEN: Well, the video from January 15th in Silverdale (ph), Washington, which is just about 10 miles east of Seabeck, the town of
Seabeck. And then the truck that you described earlier where one of the family members was found dead was another 10 to 15 miles to the west. So
we`re talking an area from the January 15th video to the discovery of the truck and Johnny deceased in that of about 40 miles.
BANFIELD: OK. So the intriguing image of the person that you now say that you believe you know who he is -- now tell me a little bit more about the
others, people you say he was associated with. Help me draw the connections as to why he is going to help you and what you`re really
looking for in the others.
VANGESEN: Well, the big thing is we don`t believe that the person in the video acted alone. We believe that his associates worked with him. Like I
stated before, it`s a well-planned-out act, and this video from January 15th, some 12 days before the murder, is key to that.
[20:10:06]BANFIELD: One other question about the others. You alluded to the fact that this was not a random thing and that this was targeted. Do
you think that entire family, those two kids, that wife and John Careaga, were all four targeted, or do you think it might have just been one member
of the family targeted?
VANGESEN: Yes, the motives for the murder still appear to be unclear to us, as well as whether or not John or the entire family were the intended
victims.
BANFIELD: So you`re not sure if it`s John, or if it`s Hunter, or if it`s Cristale or if it`s Johnathon.
VANGESEN: That`s correct.
BANFIELD: Can you give me any more information about reports that are out there regarding what was found at the house? There`s two crime scenes,
obviously, the burned-out truck that we showed, just a desolate, haunting image of that truck where John was found murdered, and the home where the
other three were found murdered. There are reports that there were shell casings, that there was $60,000 in cash at the home and that there were a
number of marijuana plants at the home. Is that accurate?
VANGESEN: The detectives contacted -- collected many pieces of evidence from the home, and also from the scene where the truck was located. All of
those things are being considered in the totality of the circumstances to determine the motive and who was involved.
BANFIELD: Can you tell me if what I just read out is in the ballpark of that big collection of evidence?
VANGESEN: I believe that`s information that was disclosed during the execution of the first search warrant, yes.
BANFIELD: Lieutenant VanGesen, I want you to listen along with me, if you will, to a neighbor named David Zaleski. David Zaleski talked about these
neighbors next door, said they were great people, and also said something that shocked us, that there were a lot of kids in that family, not just the
two that were killed. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID ZALESKI, NEIGHBOR: They`ve been neighbors for 12 years.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who lives there?
ZALESKI: John, his wife, and they have seven kids.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have seven kids.
ZALESKI: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And they range in age from?
ZALESKI: Very young to grade school to grown adult children. They were so nice! And geez, nice people don`t get killed like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Lieutenant, nice kids don`t get killed like that. Nice neighbors don`t get killed like that. Seven kids in total, two were
murdered, Have the other five been cleared in this investigation?
VANGESEN: We haven`t cleared anyone in the investigation. Some of the kids didn`t reside there, some did, some were part-time residents. Like
you said earlier, Ashleigh, it`s a blended family. It`s a second marriage for Johnny. And these kids came from previous relationships between
Cristale and John, and then when they got together as husband and wife.
BANFIELD: Lieutenant VanGesen, you have your work cut out for you. Hopefully, we can talk at another time where you`re a little bit more at
liberty to share with us some of the things you know. I understand why you don`t. This is serious business. Four people are dead in a place they
don`t normally hear a headline like that. Sir, thank you so much for being with us tonight.
I`m take you now to a mystery at sea, a beautiful newlywed couple -- one of them is gone. And it was a honeymoon. Her husband says that she was
washed overboard, but now the FBI is asking questions.
And then there`s this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Use your God damn signal! Get off your mother- (EXPLETIVE DELETED) phone! Touch my bike, it`s on camera. It`s on camera! It`s on camera!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: To say this guy had a rough morning commute last week would be an understatement. It is an extreme case of road rage. And he was right,
every part of it caught on camera.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, man! (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:18:38]BANFIELD: Ask anybody if sailing port to port through tropical islands is a little slice of paradise, and I guarantee you the answer will
be, Oh, yes. And then just gauge the risk about ending up at the bottom of the deep blue sea on that cruise, and you might be met with, you know, a
shrug. But hear about Isabella Hellman`s mysterious disappearance at sea, and you may just book your next vacation as far away from water as
possible!
Nearly three weeks ago, Isabella and her husband, Lewis Bennett, left Cuba having sailed through Saint Martin (ph) and Puerto Rico, and they were on
their way home to meet up again with their 10-month-old baby daughter,
But that is where things went sideways. Actually, they went upside down, literally. Bennett told the investigators he went below deck on that 37-
foot catamaran to take a nap, and left Isabella up at the helm. Isabella called her sister while Bennett was sleeping.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAYANA RODRIGUEZ, SISTER OF MISSING WOMAN: She called me and said, Oh, hi. We disconnected the phone. It`s been really hard for us to connect it
because his friend told me it`s hard. And then she said, I`m in the middle of the ocean right now. We left Cuba. She didn`t tell me what time, but
she said we left Cuba, and that`s it. And she said, I`ll see you tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:20:10]BANFIELD: Well, a few hours after that phone call, a distress call was made, and it was Lewis Bennett saying that something struck the
boat just west of the Bahamas. Bennett claims the vessel was taking on water and that his wife was gone. Bennett was rescued, but a four-day
search turned up no sign of Isabella Hellmann.
Neither the FBI nor the Coast Guard will say if they suspect any foul play here, or even if Lewis Bennett is being investigated in all of this. And
then tonight, this information. Not only is Isabella missing, so is what you`re looking at on your screen, the 37-foot cat they were on, the one
that was left upside down like this, bobbing in the waves when the Coast Guard rescued Lewis, the cat that her husband says struck something beneath
the water line, don`t know what it was.
Coast Guard says they`re not even looking for it. They`re not really tracking it. The FBI won`t say boo. And at this point, it`s really just
unclear if that boat you`re looking at is actually on the bottom of the ocean floor.
Karen Curtis is the news director for WFTL, and she joins me from West Palm Beach, Florida. I am not overstating this, Karen, when I say that the most
important piece of evidence perhaps in this entire missing person presumed dead case would be the boat. So how on earth do we not know where it is?
KAREN CURTIS, WFTL (via telephone): Very good question. It`s a huge mystery. The Coast Guard and the FBI tonight will not say and will not
give any information on who has possession of this boat, the Surf Into Summer, the 37-foot catamaran. You have pictures of it there. The Coast
Guard won`t even say if it was closely inspected, which is unusual.
But again, this is a missing person investigation, and we`re told that Lewis Bennett may not even be a target of an investigation. And there may
not be any foul play, but still, the FBI searched his car in Dell Ray Beach (ph) and they searched his residence in Dell Ray Beach. There was crime
scene tape up there.
And there is no sign of Lewis Bennett and no sign of the 10-month-old baby. Of course, he is a dual citizen of the U.K. and Australia. So we don`t
know where he is. We don`t know where the boat is.
BANFIELD: And the weird thing is, not only is he not home at the home where they shared, neither is the baby. There is FBI crime tape across his
door, and the mail is piping up, as well. So it`s very curious.
I actually do want to read a statement the Coast Guard sent us because, you know, obviously, our first question was, What do you mean you don`t have
the boat? You got the guy. It`s pretty weird. The girl is missing. But the boat is bobbing there and probably needs a really good inspection, like
with a fine-toothed comb.
And this is what the Coast Guard said to us. "The Coast Guard cutter Charles David, Jr., crew relocated the vessel on May 17th" -- and that`s a
couple days after they did the rescue -- "conducted further inspection and attached a self-locating data marker buoy to the vessel. The buoy stopped
transmitting a few hours after it was attached."
What is all that about, Karen?
CURTIS: Well, the Coast Guard told me that they are not in the business of actually salvaging the property and recovering the boat. You know, you see
the picture there of it. But they put the marker on it. It stopped transmitting, but they told Lewis Bennett that it was his responsibility to
get the boat out of the water...
BANFIELD: OK. You had me at hello. I get it. The Coast Guard does amazing work in rescuing people, and in this case, they found Lewis in that
liferaft. But I also know that the Coast Guard has a division called the Coast Guard Investigative Service and that is actually working in
conjunction with the FBI, which makes me think you do more than rescue people, you investigate weird things, too. So you can`t have it both ways.
Why do we not know that they didn`t take this more seriously? Why did that data marker just stop transmitting a few hours later? This is important
stuff!
CURTIS: It`s very important. We don`t know. And as they said, the FBI and the Coast Guard tonight -- have no information on who has possession of
the boat. I mean, it`s possible it sank. It`s possible that someone, maybe Lewis Bennett, had it salvaged, or that the FBI has it. Who knows.
We don`t know. (INAUDIBLE) huge mystery.
BANFIELD: Real quickly, Jonna Spilbor and Danny Cevallos are with me, two defense attorneys. Jonna, I`m going to get this one to you. I would have
thought the forensic analysis of that boat would be the number one thing they would need to do. It might actually give us a clue as to whether his
story was true.
JONNA SPILBOR, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Absolutely. How hard would it have been for some agency to tow the boat out of the water where it could be properly
inspected? It`s confounding that that did not occur.
[20:25:04]BANFIELD: And now it`s presumably missing. Stay tuned on this one because the FBI isn`t talking to us, so they may very well have it and
they`re not saying, but it is a weird, weird story.
Jurors in Michelle Carter`s manslaughter trial got a look at some pictures of her posing front and center at a suicide awareness softball tournament.
It was a tournament she organized in her boyfriend`s memory. Does she look like a grieving girlfriend to you -- the boyfriend that she`s allegedly
responsible for convincing to kill himself? More about that in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: There is no such thing as a simple traffic stop. Officers who pull us over have to be prepared for anything and everything because they
can go south in the blink of an eye.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What`s the hurry?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Huh?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What`s the hurry? You were doing 60 miles an hour in a 40 mile an hour zone back there. Do you have your driver`s license with
you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ll be back with you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rodney, come here a second. Step out of the vehicle, please. Step out of the vehicle, please. I`m asking you to step out of the
vehicle, please. No, I`m not -- I don`t have to explain to you, just step out of the vehicle. Step out of the vehicle now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What for?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa, whoa, whoa! Don`t do it! Don`t do it! Son of a bitch!
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST OF PRIMETIME JUSTICE: Wow. That is some video. Fortunately the Volusia County Sheriff`s deputy only suffered some scrapes
and abrasions, but he just kept on going even though his camera was dangling.
He went on the chase and went after that guy and actually the dangling camera caught blood of him dripping on the console of his car as he`s
giving chase. Amazing stuff. The suspect on the other hand did not fair quite as well because after this big chase, the K-9 unit got in on the
game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: And the K-9 tracked him down, and K-9 actually bit him so he had to get treated for that. So, (inaudible) Rodney Bennett. He is now facing a
host of charges including aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer because that is what happens if you drag somebody and you make them bleed
all over their cop car. Presumed innocent until proven guilty. See how that turns out.
We all know how frustrating it can be when you`re driving and somebody cuts you off. You might honk your horn, you might mumble a few choice words, but
it probably never turns out like this.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Use your goddamn signal! Get off your mother (beep) phone. Touch my bike, it`s on camera. It`s on camera. It`s on camera. I`m
calling the cops. I`m calling the cops. I`m calling the cops. I got your plate. (beep) dude, come on, man, why you on your -- ah!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Did you see that? He got punched. He actually got punched after the guy trashes his bike. He gets punched. It`s hard to see it, but look at
that. This happened on Friday morning in Beavercreek, Ohio after the driver of the car allegedly cut off this motorcyclist and it was all captured on
the biker`s helmet cam. As of now, nobody has been charged. Police do tell us however that this incident is under investigation.
A New York man was not off to see the wizard, but he was arrested for allegedly drunk driving and he was dressed as the "tin man" and yes, we do
have the mug shot to prove it. It`s really not often you get to see this kind of thing in a police file, but this is Nicholas Sherman.
He told the police that he just left a gig where he was hired to portray this iconic character "tin man." The officers say they responded to a
complaint about a male on private property. Mr. Sherman, the "tin man" is charged with aggravated DWI. He is scheduled to appear in court on June
20th.
The young woman on trial for encouraging her boyfriend to kill himself will not be facing a jury in the courtroom, just the judge. But she did have to
face her friends today. Prosecutors say Michelle Carter sent a barrage of texts and phone calls to Conrad Roy in the days and hours and actual
minutes leading up to his suicide. They even say that Michelle told him how to do it.
Young Conrad died of carbon monoxide poisoning inside the cab of his pickup truck. Today, several of his friends and her friends in fact took the stand
to read the text messages that she allegedly sent to them. Take a listen to Samantha Boardman talk about the text that she received from Michelle
Carter who said that she was on the phone with Conrad Roy when he was actually committing suicide.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
SAMANTHA BOARDMAN, WITNESS: Sam, he just called me and there was a loud noise like a motor and I heard moaning like someone was in pain and he
wouldn`t answer when I said his name. I stayed on the phone for like 20 minutes and that`s all I heard.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, do you recall if you got that text message right away, Sam?
BOARDMAN: No, I didn`t read that until after my shift.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then that 7/12/2014 after 8:02, at 8:25, does Michelle Carter send you now another text that you receive later on that
night.
BOARDMAN: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What did she tell you?
BOARDMAN: I think he just killed himself. Sam`s death is my fault, like honestly, I couldn`t have stopped him. I was on the phone -- I could have
stopped him. I was on the phone and he got out of the car
[20:35:00] because it was working and he got scared and I told him to get back in, Sam, because I knew he wouldn`t do it. He would do it. He would do
it all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Those texts painting part of the prosecution`s portrait of Michelle Carter. They said that those texts and the hundreds that she sent
after Conrad Roy killed himself were all part of a sick game to try to gain sympathy and attention in the wake of his death. While the victim may have
deleted the texts off of his phone, she did not delete them off of her phone.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At some point did you became aware that it was extracted?
SCOTT GORDON, FAIRHEAVEN POLICE DEPARTMENT DETECTIVE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And did you get a report from it?
GORDON: I did.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At least a preliminary report and did you take a look at it?
GORDON: I did.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fair to say there was a lot of information on it?
GORDON: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And did you take the time to read the extraction report and read some of the thousands of text messages?
GORDON: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And did that provide you, did Michelle, did the defendant`s phone provide you with additional information that had not been
on Conrad`s phone?
GORDON: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you looked at the extraction from the defendant`s phone, was there -- you indicated that on Conrad`s phone, there was a
single strand, one conversation between Conrad Roy`s phone and the defendant, correct?
GORDON: Correct.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you looked at the extraction report from the defendant`s phone, were there far more strands of conversation, meaning
communication between the defendant`s phone and multiple other people?
GORDON: Yes.
BANFIELD: The defense says that Michelle Carter did not cause Conrad Roy`s death, claiming that the young man`s extensive online searches about
suicide methods and a previous attempt to kill himself shows that he was on a path to take his own life for years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: HLN senior producer Natisha Lance is at the courthouse in Taunton, Massachusetts. She was in the courtroom all day. So, Natisha, it
really seems like the theme of today was to get all the other people that Michelle Carter was texting. We heard a lot about the texts, you know, with
the victim Conrad Roy in this case. But these were all the other people.
Is it safe to say, Natisha, that they are painting a picture of a young woman who seemed desperate for attention, who seemed to be desperate to be
friends with these people, and it wasn`t working out well and she needed something, anything to be popular or to get attention?
NATISHA LANCE, HLN SENIOR PRODUCER: Yeah, Ashleigh, you nailed it. That really seems to be the picture that prosecutors are trying to paint here.
You hear from these four different girls who she had I would say surface relationships with. She was friendly with them in school, friendly with to
do projects, but not hanging out with them outside of the classroom that much.
Didn`t make plans to hang out with them. Several of the girls said that Michelle would text them several different times a week to ask them to hang
out with her and they would say no. They didn`t give specific reasons as to why they weren`t hanging out with her. But there one particular instance
was on July 9th. She was able to get two of these girls, Samantha Boardman who we just heard from and another girl named Lexi (ph).
Had a sleep over with her and that went over until July 10th. And after that, Ashleigh, July 10th, July 11th, is when Michelle texted them saying
that Conrad Roy was missing. But as we know, he wasn`t missing at that time yet. And then after that on July 12th is when she texted them saying that
he had killed himself.
BANFIELD: Some of the pictures that were aired in court today, we can`t show them. Very distressing to see that young man dead alone in his
vehicle. I`m going to start instead with something else and that is this young woman only, what, a couple of months after that happened because she
had the gull to organize a suicide prevention baseball tournament in honor of Conrad.
And when you see some of these pictures, let`s flash them up here. She`s front and center in the middle of everybody, the object of the attention.
She`s the middle of it all smiling gleefully at this thing. Even posing in the sit in my arms position. And it just seems kind of disgusting looking
back on all of this. A suicide prevention effort that she spearheaded.
If you want to prevent suicide, maybe don`t tell the guy to do it. And you see these in court and it`s got to be -- there you go. Welcome homers for
Conrad. September 13th. Just two months after. Natisha, one of the things that her defense attorneys said and it is hard to even believe it when you
see that kind of garbage is that she -- you know, this whole notion that this was his plan.
But her texts said things like it`s peaceful, you`ll be happier. This will be better for you. And now I`m going to show you some other pictures from
the courtroom and I know you watched these today because I think this is really telling about how peaceful this death was for Conrad Roy.
[20:40:00] If you`re a little bit squeamish, turn away from your T.V. right now. This is a picture edited of Conrad Roy`s lower body, his hands in
particular. I want you to look at those fists. They are clinched. They are not peaceful. This is how the officers found this young man in the driver`s
seat of his vehicle.
His skin is red and modeled from the carbon monoxide poisoning. His fists are clinched. It`s anything but peaceful, Natisha, but did they point that
out? Was there even a reason to point that out since this is a bench trial and not a jury trial?
LANCE: It wasn`t pointed out, Ashleigh but it was emotional in the courtroom when those pictures were shown. Family members were in there. You
could hear whimpering. You could hear them getting upset. You could see them wiping away tears from their eyes. And even moments after that when
court went into a recess, when those members of Conrad Roy`s family was leaving, they were still wiping those tears from their eyes.
BANFIELD: So, just so everybody is really clear, Conrad Roy was very alone in his truck. I want to show you some pictures of the crime scene itself
where that truck was parked in the parking lot way off in the distance, nowhere near anybody. The method that he used was actually a generator, a
small generator, which you can see in the next picture that he bought.
And there is all sorts of texting information and evidence that suggests from Michelle Carter how to do this, like, how many parts per million of
the carbon monoxide you`ll need. And this is where he positioned it in the backseat of -- you know, inside of the extended cab truck.
You can see looking out backwards through the window at the bed of the truck, but that`s where that engine was operating and creating the CO2 so
that Conrad Roy could kill himself. But the recipe for how to do this and what it would take, I think, Natisha, correct me if I`m wrong, she said,
you do this and it shouldn`t take more than about 30 minutes, am I right?
LANCE: Yeah, that is what she said, Ashleigh, and she also gave alternatives. If he didn`t want to go through this way of killing himself,
she said well then maybe you can try the bag or maybe you could try hanging yourself. But I do want to say that the defense has said that Conrad Roy
was doing searches on his computer.
They took two laptops from his parents` home as well as a cell phone as evidence and they said some of the searches went back further than the
conversations that he was having with Michelle Carter.
BANFIELD: So one other thing I want to play for our audience was one of these friends, Olivia Mosolgo, I think she goes by "Livy." Livy was on the
stand and she read a text that came from Michelle. And this might actually play for her defense showing how vulnerable, sad, lonely and troubled she
was. Maybe not. But this is the text that Olivia got from Michelle Carter, once again all about Michelle Carter and how hard her life is. Have a look.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Could you read that to us, please?
OLIVIA MOSOLGO, WITNESS: No, stop, I`m not. Stop telling me how wonderful and beautiful I am and how I`m such a funny girl because beautiful girls
get invited to parties. Their friends call and want to hang out. They don`t spend Friday nights alone and funny girls don`t lock themselves in their
room to cry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So, Natisha, how did it cut in the courtroom? Did it make her look sympathetic or did it make her look yet again, asking for attention?
LANCE: You know, Ashleigh, it sounded really sad. It sounded like Michelle Carter was so desperate for friendship. And you could see her in these text
messages multiple times having similar conversations like this with some of these girls wanting to hang out with them, wanting to have friends, and
this is what the prosecution is saying, that because of that and nobody was trying to be friendly with her and actually, Livy, this girl who you just
played, she said that there was a girl who was on the softball team with them.
Her name is Alice and this was Michelle`s best friend. But because of some of the issues that Michelle was having such as her eating disorder and
allegedly cutting, that her parents no longer allowed Alice to hang out with Michelle. And it was after that that Michelle started to kind of fall
into this depression and really became desperate for these friendships that the prosecution said led.
BANFIELD: Interesting to see, fascinating to find out how much the defense is going to play all of that out. Natisha Lance, great job out there. Thank
you for that. Appreciate it. An unbelievable hate filled rant outside of a Philadelphia comedy club goes viral and ends a girl`s career in T.V. just
as it was getting going.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
COLLEEN CAMPBELL, T.V. REPORTER: You guys are (beep). I`m going to record that on tape. You`re (beep) suckers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay.
CAMPBELL: I`ll take my.
BANFIELD: That`s not even the half of it. Not even a tenth of it. And you know what is bad when you hear more bleeps
[20:45:00] than you actually hear words.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want you to take her.
CAMPBELL: Or what?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: We have all seen it, somebody getting kicked out of a club or ball game throwing an absolute fit. These days, you have to be really
careful because somebody is going to be recording it on their i-Phone. In Philadelphia, bingo! Police say 28-year-old Colleen Campbell was kicked out
of a comedy club and let`s just say she did not handle the situation very well.
And Colleen should know the rule about bad behavior being caught on video and keep that filthy mouth of hers and disrespectful behavior in check
because she worked at a local T.V. station.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPBELL: You guys are (beep). That`s what you are. You going to record that on tape?
[20:50:00] You`re (beep) suckers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay.
CAMPBELL: I`ll take my $70 and I`ll swallow that you guys (beep) suckers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, I just want you to take her. I just want you to take her.
CAMPBELL: Or what? Or what mother (beep). Like my (beep). How about that (beep). Piece of shit. That`s why nobody (beep).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s okay, ma`am. I don`t worry about that.
CAMPBELL: Idiots. Are you going to tase me? What are you tasing me for?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m not tasing you.
CAMPBELL: I`m not doing (beep). You`re arresting me for what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You spit on me.
CAMPBELL: No, I didn`t.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just tried to spit on me.
BANFIELD: After being arrested, Ms. Campbell continued her cursing tirade and even told the police officer that she works for the T.V.
CAMPBELL: That`s why everybody hates you guys.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s fine.
CAMPBELL: Because you can`t prove it. You (beep).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have I.D. on you?
CAMPBELL: Yes, I have I.D. on me. I`m not (beep) shit like you. Just gets a badge because I earned it. Idiot. Harass me, go ahead. Piece of (beep).
You`re all piece of shit. That`s why everybody hates you. That`s why society hates you because you guys do stuff like this for no (beep) reason.
You`re arresting a girl for no (beep) reason. You want to put these handcuffs on me? In your face. You want to (beep) do that, right? I work at
a (beep) news station PHL 17. Put that on the (beep) news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Oh, you don`t work there anymore. No, PHL 17 wasn`t too thrilled about hearing and seeing that. Victor Fiorillo is a reporter with the
Philadelphia magazine. He also interviewed Colleen Campbell. Victor, how did she find out that she wasn`t working for PHL 17 anymore?
VICTOR FIORILLO, REPORTER, PHILADELPHIA MAGAZINE: Well, she got home from jail and decided to call her producer because she didn`t show up for work
that day. And she called in and didn`t get an answer.
She shortly thereafter got a phone call from her HR Department and they mentioned a video to her and she said, what video? She had no idea that a
video existed. So that`s how she found out she didn`t have a job anymore.
BANFIELD: The video went viral. HR and everybody else saw it before she got out of the clink and that`s when she was told her budding T.V. career may
be over. Off of the video, we saw this went on and on and on.
Off of it, the police say that she assaulted the police officer. That she kicked an officer several times in the leg. And that she kicked the windows
of the police vehicle, as well. What did she have to say for herself when you talked to her?
FIORILLO: Well, her whole thing is that she believes she was drugged. She originally posted on Facebook before she wiped out her social media
account. She posted that she thought she might have been drugged, that she only had one drink. I got her on the phone and talked to her about it after
she deleted her social media account, this was on Monday night when I spoke with her.
And I told her, I said, you know, you only had one drink and she said well, you know, I was working. She implied that she was drinking at her bar
tending job at a place called Devil`s Den in Philadelphia. And then after that, she left and she went to a Mexican restaurant where she said she had
a margarita and two shots.
Don`t know how big those shots were, but she was a bartender, so they were probably pretty big. Then she went to the club and had two drinks there.
This is what she told us about. She had at least five strong.
BANFIELD: That`s a lot of cocktails. That`s a lot of booze for a little thing. Your friend, Danny Cevallos, is here. He knew you right away,
Victor. He is with Jonna Spilbor. They are defense attorneys.
I`m just going to read off the list of things that this young woman is facing. Criminal mischief, hinder apprehension, terroristic threats, simple
assault, resisting arrest, failure to disperse, disorderly conduct. That is not a good list.
DANNY CEVALLOS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yeah, and the award for most patient police officer of the year goes to that officer and
the award for lousiest friend attempting to help intoxicated friend goes to the tall gentleman in the middle. Listen, Victor`s reporting on this has
been fantastic.
That interview, everyone should go read that interview. It is the most hilarious piece of journalism ever.
BANFIELD: Well, hey.
CEVALLOS: Because just like he said, she admits to five drinks and Victor raises the possibility that could it have been the five drinks and her
response is almost immediately no, I must have been drugged. It`s a really fascinating piece of interview.
BANFIELD: Fascinating and could be evidence in a case against her, too.
[20:55:00] because she apparently told the police she had one.
JONNA SPILBOR, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, COLUMNIST, AND LEGAL ANALYST: Yeah.
BANFIELD: . and then accidentally later tells Victor, I had two shots, a margarita, and then two drinks at the comedy club. She is a bartender. So
what Victor said that those drinks that she had prior to the comedy club could have been glug, glug, glug, glug. The way I used to pour when I was a
bartender.
SPILBOR: Me too, and that statement (inaudible) for sure, but can I please defend drunk girl, not because (inaudible). But you got to feel sorry for
this. If the police had put her in a police car 10 minutes earlier, she could still have a career. I mean, come on.
BANFIELD: Can I tell you something? This went on for so long before they even got the cuffs on her.
CEVALLOS: Correct.
BANFIELD: It literally -- I mean, it was so appalling.
SPILBOR: It is appalling.
CEVALLOS: They should, yeah.
BANFIELD: I don`t want her in my business, not with a mouth like that, not with an attitude like that. And by the way, just so we`re clear, it`s not
true. Not everybody hates cops. So, Colleen, keep your thoughts to yourself.
CEVALLOS: Now, Ashleigh, it turns out we have some video of you outside of (inaudible), a comedy club. Go ahead, can you guys roll that?
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: I`m probably doing this, right? I`m trying to get a ride home quietly.
CEVALLOS: Sorry.
BANFIELD: Enough of you, Cevallos. We`ll be right back.
(LAUGHTER)
[21:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Thanks.
END
