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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield
Gruesome Discovery; Outrage Tonight; Happy Halloween; New York City Terror Attack. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired October 31, 2017 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- with Ashleigh Banfield.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEAN CASAREZ, HLN HOST: Breaking tonight, an act of terror in New York City. Investigators say a man driving a rental truck deliberately mows
down people on a jogging and bike path. At least eight people are dead, others hurt.
An elderly woman disappears from Chicago suburb.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just seem kind of strange that she disappeared on this street.
CASAREZ: Her son calls police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His mother went for walk and never returned home.
CASAREZ: After massive search, human remains are found in duffel bags, and police believe they are hers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the relatives identified the scar on the body.
CASAREZ: In a lagoon on the windy city`s North Side.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First that we heard pre (INAUDIBLE).
CASAREZ: Why investigators say the son who reported her missing is now charged with her murder.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was just hard to believe.
CASAREZ: A young man wanted for shooting and killing his 15-year-old girlfriend turns up at local television station and admits on camera, this
that her death was an accident. But what`s even more unbelievable, he waited for officers to show up to take him into custody.
A father and his two young daughters reportedly found living in a storage unit. An eyewitness noticed a cooler.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said he learning they couldn`t identify whether it was male or female, so bad.
CASAREZ: Leaking a brown liquid just as police came to the scene. But investigators say they didn`t expect to find human remains inside. Are
they the mother`s?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senselessly murdered in random heinous act.
CASAREZ: A young mother gunned down while eating lunch in her pick-up truck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This really could have been anyone.
CASAREZ: But when police track down her accuse killer, they find troubling evidence that something just isn`t right about Holly Colino.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s no previous connection at all between the victim and the suspect.
CASAREZ: And now YouTube videos believed to be posted by her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They robbed my image, every one of them.
CASAREZ: Could keep her from going to trials.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CASAREZ: Good evening. I`m Jean Casarez.
We are following breaking news tonight, an act of terror in New York City. Investigators say a man driving a rental truck plowed into cyclists and
walkers on a jogging and bike path in Manhattan. Police say after hitting several people, he crashed the truck into a school bus. After the crash,
the driver got out waving two supposedly handguns. The 29-year-old suspect was shot by officers, a paintball and pellet gun were recovered at the
scene.
Sources say the suspect is from Uzbekistan who came to United States in 2010 and currently lives in Tampa, Florida. A total of eight people died
in the attack. About a dozen others were rushed to local hospitals and they are being treated for their injuries.
CNN National Correspondent, Brynn Gingras joins us from Lower Manhattan. Brynn, what is the latest tonight?
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jean, we have been able to confirm the name of the suspect through sources. And it`s Sayfullo
Saipov of course now, we know that the suspect is in surger -- or rather he is out of surgery. So you can bet law enforcement will be speaking to him
to learn more about this investigation. But you really gave a lot of the details there I mean, this was horrific as it was described to me by
witnesses, by law enforcement authorities that were first on the scene, just a scene of horror with mangled bicycles, with people who were injured
screaming for help, and others who died.
At 3:00 this afternoon, we know that Saipov, the suspect I just named was in a rental car from Home Depot. We know through sources that he got that
rental car in New Jersey. He drove it in the wrong direction on the bike path going nearly more than a dozen blocks along the West Side Highway bike
path mowing over people, and then finally coming to stop when it collided with a school bus.
In the wake of all of that, we know that eight people were killed. Six people found dead here on the scene, two others died at a nearby hospital,
11 people injured and then there were four other people that were on that school bus who were also injured. We`re told by witnesses that Saipov got
out of the vehicle, started waving around what looked like two guns. Remember, it`s Halloween night here Jean, and people actually thought that
there some sort of prank going on.
Authorities were able to shoot him in abdomen and then arrest him and they did find the paintball and BB gun on him. Again, he is now out of surgery,
still so many questions about this.
[20:05:03] I do also want to mention I talked to witness, a girl a teenager, 17-year-old coming out of school at that time and running into
this. She reported to me that she heard the gunshots of police at the suspect and then went back into her school for cover, with locked down more
than three hours, Jean.
So you can imagine this chaotic scene that was unfolding here this afternoon and the investigation really in its infancy, Jean.
CASAREZ: Brynn, you really painted the picture for us. And authorities are calling this terrorism tonight?
GINGRAS: They are, that is point blank what the mayor of New York City said this was an act of terror. And New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was
also at the news conference a few hours ago, giving us details, you know, referenced about that terrorist groups call for this lone wolf attacks
which of course we have seen, trucks going down busy streets many times before in other cities. But they do at this point they don`t believe that
this was of a larger plot. But again this is something they`re going to be investigating, but there`s doubt, this was a terrorist attack.
CASAREZ: And I`m sure Brynn that we`ll be finding out as time goes on more about the victims involved in this. Do we know anything at this point
about the people that lost their lives so suddenly? And what about the alleged perpetrator in all of this, where is he from? Where does he live?
And how did he get that rental truck?
GINGRAS: Right now, we`re still trying to learn more about the victims. So we know that the people that were found dead on the scene along that
bike path Jean, they were all men. We know that the Argentinean ministry has confirmed that some of the victims from their country. Not much more
we know about those who were injured or killed in this attack. But certainly, we will be learning about them and certainly be saying their
name as it`s just horrific what happened to them and to their families.
What we know about the suspect, is again, giving you -- sorry, going through my e-mails here, confirming the name to as Sayfullo Saipov, we know
that he is 29 years old from Uzbekistan. We know that he came here to the United States in 2010 and he was living in Tampa most recently. He had a
Florida I.D. on him. And that`s what helped authorities first identify him and find out where he was from.
Not quite sure when he came here to New York, but we know that he rented that truck from Home Depot in New Jersey today. So there`s a lot of
questions here. Does he have any other connections to New Jersey? When did he get here? Certainly all of those are going to be answered in the
upcoming days, Jean.
CASAREZ: All right, CNN National Correspondent, Brynn Gingras. Thank you so much.
Now we go to Illinois, where police have been searching around the clock for a missing woman. 76-year-old Gail Peck who reportedly took her dog for
a walk last week she never came back. At least that`s the story her son told police.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just seemed kind of strange that she disappeared on this street because nothing ever happens around here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: But now her son is the one arrested for her murder. Because over the weekend, a fisherman made a dark discovery in a lagoon, a duffel bag
and suitcase with a hand saw inside and the body parts of a female. Two legs with end of torso with a surgery scar on the back just like Gail
Peck`s.
And today in court prosecutors dropped a number of bombshells, saying her son Brian admitted to killing his mother because she was angry that he was
playing Jimi Hendrix music too loud. That`s when according to prosecutors, the 260 pound man knocked her legs out from under her, stomped on her head,
put her body in the bathtub and "hacked her up." Police say they are still looking for the rest of Gail`s body parts.
Jonah Meadows is the Chicago North Shore Editor for Patch. He joins us tonight from Chicago. This is a horrible, horrible story and for many
reasons. But one, this was a mother a 76-year-old mother and it`s her only child that is charged in her murder right now. Just take it from the
beginning, Jonah.
JONAH MEADOWS, CHICAGO NORTH SHORE EDITOR FOR PATCH: Well, the first time that Brian, 55-year-old Brian threatened his mother, according to her, was
more than a year ago, when last March he was convicted of domestic battering in a very similar circumstance. She said, he was playing his
music too loud, she asked him to turn it down, and when she did, he beat her, he choked her and at that point she said, she`d had enough and got a
restraining order. But later had it lifted.
CASAREZ: Right, I mean, this is a mother and this is her son and --
[20:10:00] MEADOWS: Yes.
CASAREZ: -- and probably wanted to make things right between the two of them. I just want to know the time line. What was the last time that she
was seen alive, where and when?
MEADOWS: Well they believe that the murder took place early Wednesday morning, around 3:30 a.m. And then Brian was seen going to Walmart and
Home Depot later that morning and buying the very same items that were used to conceal and hide her body. She had been seen -- later on he asked for
the cleaning crew not to show up. He told family members that she wasn`t feeling well and withdrew money from her bank account, but it wasn`t until
Friday, two days later, that he reported her missing and they manhunt started for her that ended with discovery of her body on Saturday morning.
CASAREZ: Right, she wasn`t missing at all. You know, Jonah you gave a great example of this time line. Just a few more facts at 5:35 a.m. on
Wednesday the defendant allegedly purchased carpet cleaner and oxy clean at a Walmart, he was captured on video tape shortly before 8:00 a.m. just as
you said he called his mother`s cleaning lady, that had been coming for years and told her not to come.
At 3:33 p.m. last Wednesday he purchased paper bricks, three tarps, and nylon cord at Home Depot, once again caught on video. And then on
Thursday, he purchased Protege five-piece luggage set, duffle bag and Bissell steam vacuum cleaner at, once again, Walmart. And the suitcases
were comprised of larger suitcases and it was those suitcases they say that they found in that lagoon.
I want to go to right now to our forensic pathologist Dr. William Morrone, medical examiner. First of all they find --
DR. WILLIAM MORRONE, MEDICAL EXAMINER, & FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Good evening.
CASAREZ: Good evening. And this is so horrific because it was a fisherman that originally found the duffel bag in the lagoon and he found parts of
legs and then in another suitcase, part of the torso. They didn`t have fingerprints or dental records or anything to identify and absolutely
determine that this is the woman. How do you do that when you have nothing?
MORRONE: When you just have body parts? The team at the crime scene, the primary crime scene would be collecting hair or pieces of skin off of other
clothes or they actually do the DNA testing on the children. And the mitochondrial DNA of the son will be exactly the same mitochondrial DNA of
the mother.
CASAREZ: Very, very interesting. Now this 85 -- 76-year-old lady also had had lower back surgery. And there were pins in her.
If they would see that that torso had had lower spine surgery, if they found medical records locating her doctor or hospital records, can they
determine from that that it is the person that is missing, Gail Peck?
MORRONE: Well absolutely because they`ll have the spinal level. For example the most common surgery on a spine is an L-5/s-1 fusion or
laminectomy. And if its fusion, the pins or the screws and the rods that are used to secure the back end surgery come from a kit and they all have
lot numbers. And they`re scanned in at time of surgery from the surgeon, from the manufacturer. So they will know exactly what medical orthopedic
appliances were put in for surgery and they`ll be able to take them out in the autopsy.
CASAREZ: You know, you try to be so slick, allegedly and you try to get away with it, but just doesn`t happen. Defense attorney Troy Slaten now
joins us from Los Angeles tonight. You know, Troy as I say this son is innocent until proven guilty.
But he made a number of moves that just probably weren`t too smart. One, killing his mother as prosecutors say he did. But at 3:10 p.m. on Friday,
and that`s when she was first reported missing, he purchased Drano at Walgreens. They were able to find that out. He then called and reported
that his mother was missing. And when Elgin police arrive to the home, what do you think find Troy? They found a stain on the carpet, it ended up
being blood.
TROY SLATEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Jean, each one of those instances taken on their own could have absolute innocent explanation, but when you put them
altogether it does start to paint a damaging picture.
[20:15:03] But I`d really want to know more about the dynamic because, you know, this just doesn`t happen in a vacuum. Somebody just doesn`t go and
kill their mother because they complain that he`s playing Jimi Hendrix music too loud.
So, I mean -- and unusually a man of this age isn`t living with his mother who`s that age unless his -- her caretaker or something like that. So it
seems like there may have been serious dysfunction there and I`d want to know a lot more about his mental state and about what was going on inside
that family dynamic.
CASAREZ: You know, Jonah, let me ask you, I believe that the defendant here made -- gave a number of scenarios to law enforcement. What is the
final thing that he said that I think could be amounted to a confession?
MEADOWS: When they first found blood in the house, he said that his mother had fallen while bringing up food and cut herself with a knife and fork on
a plate. And then when they confronted him with evidence of him buying the bag and cleaners and all of those things from Home Depot and Walmart, he
changed his story and said that she confronted him with a hunting knife, when she said she was done with it after complaining about the music,
calling down to the basement where he lived. He live in a basement and telling her -- him to turn down the music and then threatening him with the
knife, his story that led to the physical confrontation where he said he kicked her, and caused her to suffocate. And then when he realized she was
dead, he said that he decided to chop her up in the bathtub.
CASAREZ: Right. So Troy Slaten, I can see a self-defense here. She took out a knife, she had a knife, he felt he needed to defend himself, they had
had issues so he stomped on her to death, although the cause of death has not been rendered at this point of time. How successful would self-defense
be when your mother is 76 years old?
SLATEN: Look, it could certainly be a defense. Of course prosecutors will argue that means of disposal of the body show a consciousness of guilt.
The fact that he lied to officers who are investigating the crime if that is shown to be a lie or change of story. That`s also consciousness of
guilt.
So look he was -- he outweighed her by what seems like more than 100pounds. So -- But if somebody coming at you with a knife, you have a right to
defend yourself against deadly attack. But I think that -- it seems like defense for him that would be even most appropriate. Even though it
doesn`t work that often, may be a mental disease or defect.
CASAREZ: Or the durst defense, which won him an acquittal in Texas, saying that it was self-defense with -- for the killing and it, was desecration of
a corpse after. And that`s what he was actually convicted on and it just didn`t carry the time that the murder did. All right, thank you to all.
Horrible case.
Now it`s a type of thing investigators hope to hear every time they question a suspect of full confession about how a crime was committed.
Only in this case it was a local television station and not the police who got the goods and it was all caught on camera.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:23:00] CASAREZ: A teenager on the run for 24 hours. And now he`s been -- back behind bars. But not before he showed up at local news station to
tell the story, on camera of how he says his 15-year-old girlfriend was killed. CNN affiliate KTVT has the exclusive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEBASTIAN RAMIREZ-BARCENAS, SUSPECT: It just went off. When `I racked the back, it went off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 18-year-old Sebastian Ramirez-Barcenas didn`t say why he came to CBS 11 to confess. Twenty-four hours after shooting his 15-
year-old girlfriend Makayla Davis with a shotgun at her home in Everman.
BARCENAS: She was kind hearted, you know, she helped me in everything, she help me through stuff. But I didn`t mean to shoot her. I didn`t pull the
trigger or anything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said he was cleaning the gun that belong to Makayla`s brother when it went off in a room field with friends and family.
BARCENAS: They scattered. All I would doing was sitting there watching her, you know, but I had to run because of her dad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Saturday deputies searched for Barcenas with a drone. He said he was hiding nearby in the woods. Then met up with a friends who
brought him here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You understand have been doing about you`re being a real man. This is what a real man would do. Did you understand?
I will be there with you 100%. I love you man. You`re doing the right thing man. You`re doing the right thing brother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barcenas is from Mexico, says this man is the closest thing he has to family here. But when Fort Worth police arrived minutes
later Barcenas was alone on our front steps where he was cuffed and taken away.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CASAREZ: Our thanks again to CNN affiliate KTVT. According to police, Makayla`s family members have a slightly different story. One of them told
officers they were cleaning a rifle when Sebastian came in, picked up a shot gun, racked the side handle, and pulled trigger just as Makayla walked
into the room hitting her in the neck. They also say Sebastian asked them who loaded the gun before he ran out of the house.
[20:25:08] Now Sebastian is charged with criminally negligent homicide. Primetime Justice Producer Kyle Peltz has been working on the story all
day. He joins us tonight from New York. Kyle, so first of all I`ve never heard of this before. What we just watched, this young man actually turned
himself in, going to a T.V. station, and he gave that interview to them.
KYLE PELTZ, "PRIMETIME JUSTICE" PRODUCER: That`s right Jean. That is something almost straight out of a Hollywood movie, a confession on camera
just as this local T.V. station KTVT, CBS 11 out of Fort Worth, Texas just as they were going to air that evening, around 5:30 p.m., that`s when they
say Sebastian walked in and confessed. They immediately called police. And there`s -- we -- as of right now, we don`t know why he showed up to
their studios.
CASAREZ: Right. And, you know, I watched whole thing and really studied his demeanor. He seemed to be authentic as what he was saying. What is
his story Kyle? What does he say happened and how it happened?
PELTZ: Right. Well Sebastian says it was an accident and that he`s not a killer. He says he didn`t pull the trigger and that when he racked to this
gun back, it went off. But that differs from what -- one of Makayla`s family members told police in court documents we obtained today, which is
that he did pulled the trigger at the same time that Makayla entered the room.
CASAREZ: Right. And they`ve charged him with criminally negligent homicide, so not an intentional crime. So it appears as though they do
believe that he was negligent in a criminal capacity. But doesn`t he also say that he was told before it happened that the guns were not loaded?
PELTZ: Right. Now he says he was at house cleaning guns. That he was cleaning this 12-gauge shot gun that was allegedly used in his crime. He
says he didn`t know it was loaded and that he was told it wasn`t loaded. However, again, this differs from what we heard from one of Makayla`s
family members what they told police they say Sebastian asked who loaded the weapon after it went off and that individual or family member said the
weapon were always loaded. It was then that Sebastian allegedly dropped the shotgun and ran out of the residence.
CASAREZ: And Kyle has he`d been given bond?
PELTZ: Actually right now he`s behind bars in the Tarrant County jail on $50,000 bond, which as of last check, he has not posted. However, the
sheriff`s office tells us that even if he did post bond, immigration officials have put a retainer on him because they`re not sure if he`s here
up legally.
CASAREZ: Right. There`s an ice-hold on him. Defense attorney Troy Slaten joins us again tonight. Troy this video is it the best friend for him?
Because you see his demeanor or it is his worst enemy?
SLATEN: Well it could be either. It really depends on how the case plays out. Usually I advise a client to not say anything.
But if he does later assert his right to remain silent, this video could be used really in his defense because like you said, he look so genuine, and I
think prosecutors here really believe him because they charged him with the lowest form of causing the death of another person. On the one end is
capital murder, intentionally killing somebody. And on the other end is this negligently criminal homicide.
So I think that they really believe him here and he seems really genuine and he did the right thing by coming and turning himself in. And it may
just be that other family member who`s saying that his story didn`t vibe with what they saw because they`re just so upset about their family member.
They`re biased.
CASAREZ: Right. And do the differences really amount to a distinction? He says he pulled the trigger -- the family says he pulled the trigger, he
says he didn`t pull the trigger. He`s being charged of criminally negligent homicide. So is that really --
SLATEN: It matters.
CASAREZ: -- important fact in this?
SLATEN: No. Jean it does matter and it`s because it`s what his intent was. You know, he said that he was cleaning it or he was racking it, and
he didn`t mean to shoot her. There was a room full of people, of her family, he clearly loved her so much. And it really looked like he didn`t
mean to kill anybody. And it`s really important because the maximum penalty for this criminally negligent homicide is two years as opposed to
murder, which would be life behind bars or even --
CASAREZ: Right.
SLATEN: -- the death penalty in Texas. So he could --
CASAREZ: Right.
SLATEN: -- get a little as six months if convicted of this.
CASAREZ: And he`s 18 years old. All right. Thank you so much.
A horrifying discovery in a storage unit in Kansas where a police say a father and his two infant children are living and human remains are
reportedly packed away in a container.
[20:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN AND HLN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: A father, his toddler, and a newborn baby allegedly living in crammed U-Haul storage unit. No food or
diapers for the children. It sounds awful. But it gets worse.
Because police say something else was in that storage unit, a red and white Igloo cooler full of human remains. And while they haven`t yet been able to
identify the body parts, the children`s father reportedly told them, his wife was inside.
[20:35:00] He says she died during childbirth. But according to local reports, police are inspecting surveillance video from a Kansas City hotel
where Jessica Rey was last seen alive. Justin Rey was allegedly spotted there too -- listen to this -- pulling that red cooler with his kids in tow
after calling the front desk to check out of a room.
Hotel staff told reporters he faked a woman`s voice and tried to get back into the room because he "forgot something." Now he`s charged with
aggravated child endangerment and contributing to child`s misconduct and he`s allowed no contact with his children while police trying to figure out
what actually happened to their mother. But Jessica`s sister say it is her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Way too soon. She is in her early 30s. I went to their wedding and after that I never seen her again. Her mindset is still
innocent, really taken advantage of that. I can`t even process it. We don`t even get to see her, to even warn her or see her and say goodbye. Took that
away from us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Sarah Plake is reporter at CNN affiliate KSHB. She joins us tonight from Kansas City, Missouri. So Justin Rey has been charged with
semi-serious charges, aggravated endangering a child, contributing to child misconduct. Why hasn`t he even charged with her murder?
SARAH PLAKE, REPORTER, KSHB: You know, police haven`t said anything to us. The only thing that they will confirm to us is that the human remains are a
woman. They haven`t even said her name yet.
We are all kind of scratching our heads about it. His bond is set at $1 million, which kind of seemed odd, so that kind made us thought, you know,
are there more charges coming? We just don`t know yet.
CASAREZ: Right. They definitely want to hold him. They don`t want him to get out. But is there any reason why he would do this? What do we know
about the marriage? What do we know about the family?
PLAKE: I talked to the two sisters and we saw those sound bites earlier. They told me that they hadn`t seen Jessica in years. One of the sisters
said that they hadn`t seen her in 10 years. They described their marriage as very volatile, that he was very controlling.
When they would try to call her, he would always be on the other line and he would even make threats to their family. That`s what they were telling
me. And so it was just a really bad situation that they wanted to get their sister out of.
CASAREZ: Why were they living in a hotel?
PLAKE: Well, from what the sisters told me, Jessica and Justin had been moving around state to state, and at that point she was pregnant and she
only had their toddler, they have other children too. But they were just moving around state to state and they just probably didn`t have anywhere to
stay. How they got here in Kansas City, Missouri, we don`t know that yet.
CASAREZ: And so what were the conditions like when he moves the two children -- what are the ages, two years old and what, five or so?
PLAKE: When -- yes. When they were found, the newborn was only five days old.
CASAREZ: So what are living conditions like in the storage unit? And how did law enforcement even go there to do a welfare check?
PLAKE: After they had checked out of the hotel room, at that point, the documents show that surveillance video shows Justin pulling that cooler
with the stroller and the toddler. Sometime after that, they had gone to the U-Haul storage unit.
U-Haul calls police and says, hey, we want you to come out and check on the welfare of these kids because we know that they are staying in the storage
unit. Police said that the storage unit didn`t have, you know, no food, no diapers, no access to place to sleep for these kids, so it was not a very
good situation.
CASAREZ: Aren`t there some witnesses that he had met and he said we want to go to union station, so he wanted to take the kids to union station, get
out of town? Tell us that story.
PLAKE: Yes, I talked to two witnesses, a man and wife. They said that they had seen a man with two very small children. They told me that the kids
didn`t look like they were very well cared for. In their conversation with Justin Rey, he said that he needed a ride to that storage unit in Lenexa.
They felt really bad for the kids. They decided to give them a ride there. Once they get to Lenexa storage unit, that is when police found Justin Rey
and started talking to him.
We read in the court documents that when Justin Rey talked to police, he said that his wife had committed suicide after giving birth to their
newborn, then he pointed to the cooler and said, my wife`s body is inside.
CASAREZ: Right. Dr. William Morrone joining us again,
[20:40:00] forensic pathologist. I know as you compile and do your autopsies and figure out the cause of death and manner of death, you also
interview a lot of people. This appears as though that her body was dismembered in that cooler, identified possibly family members tell us
through fingerprints. What kind of a person does something like that?
WILLIAM MORRONE, MEDICAL EXAMINER AND FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Well, you have to be pretty heartless and cruel. It takes a lot to dismember a body. We`re
not talking small knives, we`re talking large knives. And arms and legs.
The whole purpose why somebody would take the time, if this is a human body, to take the legs off, is because it won`t fit in the container you`re
trying to hide it. And there are three possible causes of death in somebody who may have died in childbirth.
The first one would be exsanguination, a large vessel has a laceration and bleed to death. The second one would be deep venous thrombosis going into
pulmonary embolism, blood clots can go to the lungs and then the person dies and they can`t breathe. Third and final cause of death in something
like that would be heart attack or stroke in birthing process.
Whatever happens, the body kind of heals and shuts down. It`s very rare that people die of those things. And if you`re going -- how can you cut
somebody up who just delivered a baby? That is barbaric.
CASAREZ: Right. It`s barbaric and there`s just no explanation for it as to why that would be done because now two very young children will never have
either parent basically. Troy Slaten, I`m going to ask you. I know you`re the defense attorney in all of this, but this man is going to be charged
with murder.
TROY SLATEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes. He`s likely to be charged with murder. I`m also a former prosecutor. And, you know, this is just a sad case all
around. Like you mentioned, these kids aren`t going to have likely any parent, but if this woman did die in childbirth, like he told those
witnesses, then this is not a case of murder.
And like you mentioned before, the Durst (ph) case, this could simply be the improper disposal of remains. And they`ll be able to tell based on the
forensic pathology, the autopsy, that happens, whether or not she did indeed die during childbirth, whether she committed suicide or whether this
was a murder. In which case, he`ll be going away forever.
CASAREZ: You`re right, it`s all about the forensics. Very important. All right. Thank you.
Holly Colino, you might remember her, we`ve talked about her on the show before. She`s a murder suspect in the pointblank shooting of a young mother
in a Lowe`s parking lot. She Insists that she is competent to stand trial but her judge has a different opinion and videos like these might be why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Rest of them, like Kylie Jenner (ph) can solicit my lips, eyebrows and my hair and make millions off of it. And the
rest of the women can make You Tube --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: Megan Dix. She was a young mother on her break, sitting in her pick-up truck eating lunch, when a woman she didn`t know gunned her down
and killed her. Police say Holly Colino pulled a gun on another woman a few days later. And after she was caught, she even managed to escape from
custody.
Now, it seems she`s escaping trial, at least until August of next year. Because a judge ruled today that she is not mentally competent to stand
trial. And though Holly herself told the judge that she`s a competent woman, video posted online reportedly by her shows some awful strange
behavior.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Not to bring attention to this one because I`m noticing as I have been doing this investigation and
everything, noticing these women mimicking my hair, eyebrows, lips and also even altering their chins and noses especially because of these
entertainers.
They are all just pretty much a mirage of me, except if you see them in person, OK? They`re making profit off of me, my image and my character.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Videos like that are now part of the investigation into Holly Colino and whether she intended to hurt other women. She will go to a
mental health facility now and next year at her hearing if a judge decides she is competent for trial, she will return to court to face murder and
weapons charges.
Gary Craig is an investigative reporter with Democrat and Chronicle and author of "Seven Million." He joins us tonight from Rochester, New York.
Gary, you were in the courtroom for this pivotal hearing. What was it like? Tell me her demeanor and what she said.
GARY CRAIG, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE (via telephone): She was actually very poised. Neither judge or her attorney of
course would prefer she speak but she was insistent to do so. She was in a very calm voice. She said I am competent. She basically said, I`m calm,
collected.
And she stayed that way. But judge and attorney did very well I think in making sure that this didn`t become a scene. They listened and she was
escorted out. She will be on her way to a local psychiatric facility I`m sure.
CASAREZ: What did she specifically say in court?
[20:50:00] Because the judge ruled her incompetent to stand trial. What did she say?
CRAIG (via telephone): She obviously -- and I think her attorney was prepared for this based on some of what he said leading into it. She took
obviously I think took issue with the determination that she was incompetent. And it wasn`t just the judge was basing his decision on
reports from two psychiatrists who interviewed her and both came to the same conclusion.
She basically just said, you know, look, I get along fine in institution, that shows I`m competent person, I`ve caused no trouble at the jail where
I`ve been held. She made a comment to the effect of being competent doesn`t necessarily matter in a courtroom, maybe paraphrasing a little. I`m not
sure exactly what she meant by that.
CASAREZ: Right because she said, Gary, I am a competent woman. I want to go to Troy Slaten, defense attorney here, because competency is not whether
whether you were insane at the time that you committed the crime, but explain for everybody exactly at this point before trial what competency, a
determination of lack of competency means.
SLATEN: Sure, Jean. A judge has to determine two things. Number one, does she understand the nature of the judicial proceedings? Does she understand
what is going on around her? And number two, is she able to assist in her defense? Is she able to help her defense attorney?
Here, two independent court-approved psychiatrists determined that she was unable to participate and unable to understand. So that means she`s not
competent. She said that she will not be medication compliant, she will not take any pills that would be ordered. And so therefore she will sit in a
state mental facility until August of next year.
CASAREZ: So she says she`s not going to take medication, Troy?
SLATEN: That`s what she said.
CASAREZ: Can she be required to take medication? Because that`s the only thing that can make her competent to stand trial, is to get the medication
to regulate her brain.
SLATEN: I don`t think a judge is going to force her to be strapped down and have intravenous medications put into her. You can`t force medications into
somebody`s mouth. And so at this point, she could feasibly stay in a mental institution forever until she`s deemed competent. She`s really in a legal
limbo until she can assist in her own defense.
CASAREZ: Troy, that`s very interesting. Let`s listen right now to a comment from her defense attorney and then the prosecutor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK FOTI, ATTORNEY FOR HOLLY COLINO: Miss Colino is expressing what her thoughts are on the process, but her thoughts are potentially affected by a
number of the things the doctors are evaluating.
So, I want to respect the position of my client in any situation, but of course we have to be mindful of the circumstances of this case and what it
is that medically is being said here.
PERRY DUCKLES, PROSECUTOR: It`s important to know that this examination and what happened today has nothing to do with what may or may not be presented
at trial. It`s completely different proceeding. Again, we`re just trying to get to the point where everybody feels confident that a fair trial can be
held.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Gary, I want to ask you. You heard her speak in court. Her voice on the You Tube video is very different, it is very distinct. Is that how
she sounded in court?
CRAIG (via telephone): No, you know, it`s interesting you say that, because I was thinking that when I heard the You Tube video. The voice in court was
much more deferential, didn`t have the same sort of edge to it. While she was making points about what she believed to be her status, she was polite
and well-mannered in the way she was saying it. It does seem to be a very different person than the one you heard on the You Tube video.
CASAREZ: That`s strange. So it is a higher pitched voice, Gary, would you say in court?
CRAIG (via telephone): I would say so, yet controlled when she spoke.
CASAREZ: If I was prosecutor, I would look into that. All right. Thank you to everybody.
Tampa neighbors on high alert because of a suspected serial killer. They take back their streets for Halloween.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kids will get out to be able to have fun. I don`t think we should let this monster ruin life for people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: And finally tonight, Halloween should be all about costumes and candy. But in Tampa, Florida, it is also about taking back the streets of
Seminole Heights. The neighborhood was rocked earlier this month by three murders in an 11-day period with no suspect yet in custody.
As investigators continue to search for this person, Tampa police are reminding people to go out with a group, carry flashlights or glow sticks
and to only visit well-lit houses.
In Delphi, Indiana, where Abby Williams and Libby German were killed, local veterans are stepping up and volunteering to escort trick-or-treaters as
they go out tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to see them all go out and have a good time like we did when we were kids.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will go wherever they want to go and we`ll tag along as long as they want.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of us are trained in the same thing to defend our country. So we want the veterans to defend our counties and our cities and
let these kids be kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: And tonight here in New York City, on Halloween night, our thoughts and our prayers go out to the victims. Eight people killed, 11
injured, of what authorities are now calling a terrorist attack this afternoon on the streets of Manhattan. Our thoughts and prayers are with
them all. Thank you so much for joining us tonight.
[21:00:00] I`m Jean Casarez. Ashleigh Banfield will be back tomorrow night. Good night, everybody.
END
