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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield

Components Taunts Attempted Killer With K-Y Jelly; Mom Accused of Starving Teen Girl to Death; Did Uncle Kill Niece To Hide Their Sex Affair; Tampa Serial Killer Case; Freak Car Accident Or Was Wife Murdered? Wild Shootout; Caught On Camera. Aired 6-8pm ET

Aired December 07, 2017 - 18:00   ET

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

[00:00:00] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST (voice-over): This young felon tried to kill a cop. Rojas was sentenced to life in prison for shooting a

JSO detective. But that cop had a parting gift for his shooter as he was heading off to prison.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got a little gift for you.

BANFIELD: A bottle of lube.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don`t to need a lot of this where you`re going.

BANFIELD: And now, the officer who escaped death is under fire again. Quote, "How can an officer sworn to uphold the law, get up in court and

under oath advocate raping someone?"

A stunning teenager, dead in a car crash, her uncle at the wheel. The cops say she didn`t die from the crash. She was shot and while he admits to

doing it, was it because they were having an affair?

He says, a pipe came flying through their windshield.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It got her and she`s hit in the head and the throat, I think in the throat or something.

BANFIELD: And killed the love of his life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s got blood coming out of her nose and mouth.

BANFIELD: But his story doesn`t add up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you see any damage to the windshield?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I did not.

BANFIELD: Did this man murder his wife and stage the scene?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have never seen that pattern of injury.

BANFIELD: And if so, how did he pull it off?

Two men open fire on a busy street, bullets flying in broad daylight. They even sent the bystander to the hospital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He pulls his gun and she tried shooting at me.

BANFIELD: And the reason for their rage, a fender bender.

An officer wails on a woman outside a nightclub. But police say, there`s more to this story. How she is now being punished?

And an early delivery from a daredevil santa takes an unexpected turn. How Santa Claus came crashing in the town.

Good evening, everyone. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. This is CRIME & JUSTICE. When criminals were sentenced to life in prison, they don`t typically get a

parting gift especially when they`re smug and they`re cocky, and they`re downright unlikeable.

That Kevin Rojas sees a different story. This guy was just 19 when he opened fire on an off duty officer in his car and those bullets hit their

mark. But the officer survived and it`s a good thing too because the officer testified all about the man who shot him, and now that man has just

had the book thrown at him.

Life in prison and it came with a very provocative present too from that cop, who he tried to kill. What was that present? Brace yourself and

think of prison life. It was a bottle of lube slammed down on the table for a fact, right there, in the courtroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I got a little gift for you. You don`t need a lot of this where you`re going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: That officer is again now under fire. This time from victims of sexual assault, who say that with that act in that courtroom, he was

advocating rape.

Roger Henderson joins me now. He`s the News Director for WBOB Radio in Jacksonville.

So, Roger, break this down for me and tell me a little bit more about the kind of person that perpetrator is and the kind of crime that was exacted

on that officer.

ROGER HENDERSON, NEWS DIRECTOR, WBOB Radio: We`ve seen like a very emotionally unstable person, Ashleigh. And in addition to that, was

walking around with the gun while emotionally unstable. Reports are, he`d gotten into some type of argument with his girlfriend, stormed out of the

house, got in his car, started driving erratically, was pulled over by the police officer because he was a danger on the roads.

And then, 19 years old, pulls out a gun, think it would be a good idea, just opened fire on this police officer and tragically --

BANFIELD: And not just once, not just once, he fired a number of times and if that officer had not been, thank God, even though off-duty, wearing a

ballistic vest, he may not be with us today.

HENDERSON: Yes. And despite the fact that he did have a ballistic vest on, I remember when the Sheriff Department did a press conference. They

pleaded for the community to pray for the officer because the injuries were severe. And I don`t believe at that they were even expecting him to

survive but fortunately --

BANFIELD: So, he did survive?

HENDERSON: -- he didn`t taken -- yes, yes, he did.

BANFIELD: And he took, as I understand, it`s three bullets to the head, to the stomach, to the hand. I mean, it just amazing that he survived that.

A bullet to the head alone, how did he survive this? And how badly was he injured?

HENDERSON: Well, the injuries were severe. The press conference at the time, the Sheriff`s Office said that he has a very long and difficult

recovery ahead of him.

[00:05:02] I, actually, was surprised that the officer is back on duty, that he was able to recover that quickly, to at least do some type of desk

work I`m sure.

BANFIELD: OK. So now that we`ve laid out the facts of what happened out on that very frightening moment on the road, let`s get to that moment in the

courtroom. Because you could understand how a victim who had been shot at several times, nearly lost his life, would be so angry, looking at that

smug little face.

Can we roll the tape of Kevin Rojas walking into the courtroom? Nineteen at the time and all of 21 now, sure seems to think he`s got the world, you

know, by the tail, doesn`t he? All jump-suited up and hands in handcuffs and legs in the leg irons, and yet, that kind of a look, smiling as though,

I got this, this is an easy one.

So, you could imagine how the police officer, Roger, felt, looking at this kid walk in, a kid who had tried to kill him and nearly did.

HENDERSON: Yes. And obviously, very upset. But to be completely objective, to bring lube with you to court, this was not something that was

a spur of the moment type of idea he came up with. He obviously planned this and was probably walking around with a lot of bitterness and hatred

for the guy understandably so, to be able to have the lube in his hand and slam it down at the desk at sentencing.

BANFIELD: OK. Let me give some background here when we played that moment, just a few minutes ago, you couldn`t see the officer and you couldn`t see

that moment that the bottle gets hit down on the courtroom table and there`s a good reason for it.

This is an undercover officer. And so, the request has made and honored that he wasn`t shown during this sentencing. He wasn`t shown during this

moment in court. I do want to play that again for you because now that you know the full extent of what happened to the officer, I want you to re-

listen to how he reacted to this smirk in court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, I got a little gift for you. You will need a lot of this where you`re going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: To be clear, Roger, where is he going and for how long?

HENDERSON: Well, the gentleman, Rojas, was sentenced to life in prison, the maximum sentence. When it comes to gun crimes in Florida, very, very

harsh penalties are imposed when someone shoots a weapon even if they meet it`s a 20-year sentence.

So, hitting the officer several times, obviously, we knew this guy, Rojas, was going to be sentenced to jail for a very long time.

BANFIELD: Yes. Let me read a letter that the mayor actually ended up receiving after this moment went public and the mayor`s name is Lenny

Curry. The person who wrote the letter is anonymous but identifies as a man from Boston and this is what this person said to the mayor.

"I and several other national anti-sexual assault advocacy groups plan on beginning a national boycott of Jacksonville, the city that advocates rape

of prisoners, and lets officers to be held", these are his words, "at a different standard". I want to bring in Sheriff Richard Jones from the

Butler County Sheriff`s Office and I`ve also want to bring in at the same time, retired FBI Special Agent, Bobby Chacon --

BOBBY CHACON, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Yes.

BANFIELD: -- to get the law enforcement perspective on all of this. Gentlemen, thank you so much.

You know, first to you if I can, sheriff, give me your feeling about what you saw transpire in court, now with the full perspective of a broader

audience knows to have happened to that officer and that he nearly lost his life and saw that smirk in the courtroom?

SHERIFF RICHARD JONES, BUTLER COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE: I personally viewed the tape. I`ve seen it, I`ve seen the whole thing. Maybe the guy has dry

skin, maybe he needs lube for dry skin.

I`ve worked in the prison system; people are so fed up with these punks that come in and shoot police officers. The police officer was the victim

here, where`s the outcry? He gets to make a statement to this punk that`s in the courtroom that is going to be in prison the rest of his life and he

doesn`t have to have love for this guy.

I don`t have any love for him. He`s not advocating rape. He`s not advocating that this guy have a good time in prison. If this guy worked

for me, this police officer, I would just tell him, hey, probably not a good thing to do but, hey, I`ve got to find a job, you`ve got to work. You

got to live with this for the rest of your life, and don`t have to wish this guy to do well in prison. Hey, I understand and I`m fine with it.

He`s not advocating rape. He`s not advocating. He has just said, here`s some lube and he is not saying, go get raped.

BANFIELD: So, Bobby Chacon, you know, I think we`ve all been inside enough courtrooms to know that when a victim is given his or her moment, much

worse has been said. I mean, I have heard people ask for the perp to burn in hell, you know, eternal agony. I hope that you die at hands of another

inmate.

CHACON: Absolutely.

[00:09:59] BANFIELD: If you think about it, this officer is a victim. He`s a human being. He nearly lost his life. But you feel slightly

different.

CHACON: Sure. Well, I mean, I agree with the sheriff and I agree with you that this was a victim speaking and the victim impact statement. I mean,

this wasn`t -- he wasn`t speaking as an officer per se. And so, I think it`s ridiculous to say that the police officer or the City of Jacksonville

at large, you know, endorses prison rape or anything like that.

I think that this was -- and I also agree with the sheriff that, you know, that it appears that his own sheriff gave him a talking to about courtroom

demeanor and things like this. And, you know, you probably, in some ways, you know, wish he might not have said it but I think it`s an uncontrollable

(ph) overreaction to say this is an endorsement of prison rape.

I mean, this is a victim looking in the eye of the person that shot him in the head. I hope none of us ever have to look in the eye of the person who

shot us in the head. So I think this victim was given a little latitude and I think the reactions here are absolutely ridiculous.

I think that, you know, you hope that, you know, you don`t, you know, make that thing but in an emotional moment like that, I think this officer or

this victim is perfectly -- it`s perfectly OK to give him that emotional message to that person that shot him in the head and fired a deadly weapon

at his son, you know.

So, there is something that you said about, you know, the sheriff has to kind of counsel his people on this kind of thing. And I think that that`s

the end of it. They`re absolutely should be no repercussions beyond, you know, the letter that the sheriff issued, that said that he had to talk

with the officer and things like that. I think --

BANFIELD: Yes. You know, I have that statement --

CHACON: I think this is the huge overreaction.

BANFIELD: I have the statement from the sheriff, you know, the sheriff of the Jacksonville Sheriff`s Department actually put out his reaction to this

as well. This is one of his guys, and he said this, "We have discussed proper courtroom demeanor and professionalism with the officer. I`m

grateful for the outcome of the incident. And that I`m able to have a conversation with my officer", which means A.K.A he is alive.

He goes on to say, "The officer continues to deal with the incident that could have taken both his life and that of his young son, as he will for

the rest of his life".

So I`m upping the ante here, gentlemen. Little known fact, that officer who did what he did in that courtroom, slamming the bottle of lube and

taunting that perp. His kid was in the back of his car. He was off-duty and he was driving his boy to school. And when those bullets came flying

through the window, they flew right past that child. And thank Jesus that kid was not hit.

So, I want to bring that sort of full circle at this point. And Sheriff Jones, do you think that changes the metric on how they will deal with this

officer? How they will speak to that officer whether this guy`s letter to the mayor about a boycott is going to have much of an impact? We`re now

dealing with a father who was shot, multiple times, and by the grace of God, the kid in the back sit wasn`t, does that change everything?

JONES: No. This is an overreaction as the gentlemen on before me said. It`s an overreaction. The police officer, it`s still America, the police

officer has a right to address the jury and he`s doing it, not as a police officer but as a victim. And he is allowed not to wish this person well in

prison. He`s allowed to do that.

And as far as the lube goes, probably not a great idea, but I understand. He`s not advocating rape. He just said, hey, you`re going to need this

lube in prison and in jail and, hey, things happen.

I worked in the prison system. I supervise over 500 people here in Ohio. We have a jail. We don`t advocate rape. But I fully understand what the

officer done and the officer would not get in any trouble at my place or in any other place that I`m aware of, and people -- they should be outraged

that this person come in and shot this police officer and tried to kill him, and has no remorse whatsoever. And so, he stood up and he said,

"You`re going to need this lubricant", so what?

BANFIELD: I can certainly see both sides of the argument, but I`ll tell you what. If that was my kid in the back of the car and someone were

shooting at me with no regard for my little guy, I don`t know what I would have said or done, but someone would have had to hold me back.

CHACON: OK.

BANFIELD: I want to thank all my guests, Roger Henderson and --

JONES: And again?

BANFIELD: Yes, go ahead. Go ahead.

JONES: And maybe again, maybe I just say, dry skin, who knows?

BANFIELD: Well. I do appreciate all your perspectives, Sheriff Jones and Bobby Chacon, I appreciate, thank you so much.

A Connecticut man`s secret life has completely exploded on him and probably for good reason. Because this young lady, his teenage niece, who just so

happened to also be his girlfriend, just so happened to be found dead in his car. He said this girl attack him first but he is facing murder.

[00:15:03] And there`s a lot more to this. We`re going to unravel it all next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: We all know family is sacred but just one person can do a whole lot of damage. whether it`s breaking some boundaries, having a secret

relationship or shooting your niece dead before crashing into a telephone pole because that`s the damage that neighbors saw in Waterbury, Connecticut

on Monday night.

This fiery crash ended up knocking out power to an entire neighborhood. And a dead 16-year-old girl was in the passenger seat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re trying to do everything in our power to help.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anybody in there, like, we`re trying to get you out.

[00:20:00] We were saying our names and stuff, and there -- she was -- must have been dead right then in there because she couldn`t hear us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: But there was more damage inside that car than first responders could ever know because police would soon recover -- or would soon discover

that two people in that crash were more than just niece and uncle. Police say they were actually hooking up. They were lovers, even though he had

children with that 16-year-old girl`s aunt.

And police were now thinking that he shot that 16-year-old girl in that car after a struggle over a gun when she threatened to tell her auntie all

about what he`d been up to.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was venting to us literally. Before she died, she told us, he said, I trust him, that`s my uncle. I don`t think he would do

anything. That`s really who I grew up with. She said, we never did anything, there was an incident one time but she still trusted him after

the incident.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Bob Wilson is with CNN Affiliate WTNH. He joins me from Waterbury Connecticut tonight.

Bob, if you could break this very complicated story down for me, where does this stand? How much do we know to be true? How much do we know to be

allegations? And, do we know this to be accurate, that this uncle was dating his niece while having children with her aunt?

BOB WILSON, WTNH: It is very murky. I will tell you, it is. We`ve -- I have spoken with Francisco Riviera. I have interviewed him on camera, on

TV. He`s the grandfather that he raised, you know, the 16-year-old Evalyce Santiago. He raised her as a daughter, he says then. And it`s hard to

kind of get the relationship, she`s a daughter to him, however, she is adopted. And so, the kind of is a very murky family tree but they are

very, very -- they`re in turmoil right now.

They don`t understand exactly what happened, how this could happen and they say, there was a relationship between the 16-year-old, Evalyce Santiago and

27-year-old Dominique Pittman. They didn`t know about it at first, and when it became clear, they started looking into it, and by then they

realized, yes, you know, there was this relationship.

So, how it all started? It was back -- we first got the call as a car accident, simple car accident, like you heard a fiery crash. So, we go to

cover that and then 16-year-old Evalyce Santiago was found dead in the passenger seat and then, it`s realized she had some gunshot wounds.

Twenty seven-year-old Dominique Pittman, he`s the uncle. He`s sitting in the driver`s seat or at the scene of the crash, saying, you know what, it

was a car accident. And then, we learn more, he`s dating the 16-year-old, allegedly, also married to the other sister and has three children with

that sister.

So, that`s, according to the father -- grandfather, Francisco Riviera, who says, you know, it`s just devastating to them because not only did one of

their daughters lose her sister but also the father of the three children is now behind bars. It`s a very complicated situation and it`s incredibly

emotional.

We were out yesterday at the telephone pole where this happened. The power pole has been re-erected and there were balloons and candles and families

were there crying and remembering 16-year-old Evalyce while try to figure this whole thing out. They`re very open about it but it`s still very

complicated.

BANFIELD: So, you talk about complicated. I need a flow chart to figure out who was who, there`s a grandfather, who has a daughter, who has a

daughter Evalyce, now dead. And then another daughter, who would be Evalyce`s auntie, who has got now the young men who is facing murder

charges in all of these because he`s allegedly having this romantic affair with his 16-year-old niece. And she just turned 16 too, and that`s going

to be important in testimony (ph).

WILSON: Correct.

BANFIELD: She only turned 16 on October 21st.

WILSON: Correct.

BANFIELD: Let me play real quickly if I can, Bob. Christy Rivera who is - - don`t ask me which aunt, but she is an aunt of the victim here. Maybe there`s another aunt because I cannot imagine if this were the aunts in

question, who is learning that her husband has been cheating with her niece. I can`t imagine she`d be this deferential, but this aunt, Christy

Rivera. has this to say about Evalyce in the lost of her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTY RIVERA: I wish I could bring her back. I wish somehow she could come back because this is pain where I`m suffering, we don`t need this.

Odd as to happen, not even say goodbye or I love you to her. Again, it`s just -- it hurts. You know, and I hope she`s looking down at me right now

and knows that I really love her and I wish she was here with us today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Bob, do you know the answer to that? Is that the aunt in question, who`s finding out about --

WILSON: I do. I interviewed her last night, Christy, and she is not the aunt in question. She is the third aunt. She had a fight, she told me,

with Evalyce and they had not spoken for a while. We don`t know what that fight was about. She was very upset because she said, she`s never going to

get to say "I`m sorry" and make up. She said, they ended up on a really bad notes.

BANFIELD: Speaking of fights --

WILSON: And so, it`s difficult to --

BANFIELD: I`m told there was a massive fight outside the courtroom that family members were all fighting amongst each other, physically and

verbally. What happened there?

[00:25:04] WILSON: Yes. So, it was very interesting in front of the courthouse. They were also Pittman, 27-year-old Dominique Pittman, has a

bunch of friends that came to the courthouse and tried to get in real quickly into the courthouse. They try to bypass security. They were just

rushing up into the front of the courthouse. And they came running back out again and there`s a lot of arguing and fighting. And it was difficult

to figure out who was who and on what side, but very emotional.

BANFIELD: Dear, Lord.

WILSON: Very upset, a lot of family member upset -- yes, yes, very upsetting. I think.

BANFIELD: OK.

WILSON: I mean -- and bond was raised to $3 million. They were upset about that as well.

BANFIELD: This is not going to be a good courtroom scene when they start litigating this case if they ever get to that point.

Let me bring in Deputy Chief Fernando Spagnolo who joins me now live from Waterbury, Connecticut. Deputy Chief, can you shed some light on another

story that we`re hearing? And we don`t know if it was an investigative tactic or if it`s actually known to be true. But as we understand that

when detectives presented Dominique Pittman, with certain facts, he spilled the beans on having a relationship with Evalyce Santiago, his niece?

And that story that they told him was that they had some evidence that there was DNA that proved. DNA inside of Evalyce that proved that there

was a relationship and someone floated the notion that she was pregnant. Can you tell me whether this 16-year-old girl was in fact pregnant and with

Dominique Pittman`s child, is that part of the story now?

FERNANDO SPAGNOLO, DEPUTY CHIEF, WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT: Absolutely. So, we`re still waiting for confirmation from the medical examiner`s office on

whether Ms. Santiago was pregnant or not. We don`t know that to be a fact in that right now.

I think what you`re talking about is during the course of the interview, the possibility of Ms. Santiago being pregnant or her DNA being found or

Pittman`s DNA being found on Ms. Santiago was what was presented to Dominique Pittman during the interview. And at that point, he did break

down and admit that he was involved in the relationship with Ms. Santiago.

BANFIELD: Did the investigators actually say anything about -- and I understand, don`t get me wrong. I understand, it is fully within

investigators` rights, under the law, to float any story you want. You can tell blatant lies when you`re interrogating somebody. It is not illegal

and it happens all the time. It`s part of the investigative process. Is that something they did? Did they tell him, she`s pregnant with your baby?

SPAGNOLO: Well, we don`t know her to be pregnant and that was not how the question was post. It was part of the investigations, you know, we had

some suspicions on what was going on. We had a lot of suspicion about Dominique Pittman`s story at that point. And there were clues that were

pointing to the fact that these two were a lot closer than he was leading us to believe.

BANFIELD: So, he answered --

SPAGNOLO: So, he was (stunned) with the possibility that there may be some sort of relationship --

BANFIELD: He coughed it up.

SPAGNOLO: -- and, you know, that he was pregnant or his DNA was found on Ms. Santiago then --

BANFIELD: So, here`s the key question in the charges that he`s facing murder, carrying a pistol without a permit, weapons in a vehicle but not

child rape, because she`s 16 and the age of consent is 16 in Connecticut. However, she just turned 16 on October 21st.

Deputy Chief, do you know how long this relationship has been going on for because as I understand it, if it`s prior to October 21st, well, it`s a

whole other ball of wax he`s facing.

SPAGNOLO: You`re absolutely correct. You know, that part of this investigation is still open. We`re still working on it. As of this

moment, right now, we know that this -- we can confirm that this relationship began in early November. However, this is a very active

investigation and we`re looking into that timeline.

BANFIELD: Boy oh boy. I want to bring in real quickly, Defense Attorney Rich Meehan who joins me live on the set. If, in fact, this relationship

ends up being longer, if they are able to go back before October 21st, when she was 15, what`s that mean in Connecticut for Mr. Dominique Pittman who`s

facing murder? Maybe that`s the least of his worries?

RICHARD MEEHAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It`s statutory rape. It`s sexual assault in the second degree. It`s a crime. It`s a ten-year felony with a

mandatory with nine months.

The problem is proving this without the victim. And the only way I could consider that could happen is if, in fact, the victim is carrying Pittman`s

child. She`s further along in the pregnancy so that the pregnancy pre- dates her 16th birthday. That to me would create the possible probable inference that he had sexual intercourse with her.

BANFIELD: Yes. With the medical forensics here are going to be so critical. We just heard the deputy chief say we`re waiting on that. And

when that comes back that`s going to be a big definitive answer for them, as to whether his -- and juries don`t like hearing that. They don`t like

hearing statutory rape along with that murder charge. And my thought is that would all be bundled together, they had to hear it all together,

wouldn`t bode well form.

RICHMAN: It wouldn`t bode well form at all.

BANFIELD: No.

RICHMAN: And there`s a question here as to whether this is a provable murder as well.

[00:30:01] BANFIELD: Yes, all right, hold that thought, Rich. I`m going to keep you here, if I can. Bob Wilson, my thanks and also Deputy Chief

Fernando Spagnolo, thank you.

Tonight in Tampa, the parents of a suspected headline-making serial killer are refusing to speak to the authorities about their son. Their son, Trey

Donaldson, who`s now known all over the country as the guy they caught because he`s facing four counts of murder in the shooting deaths of four

random people, separate occasions, all happening in October and November of this year. The prosecutors just want to know about Donaldson`s upbringing.

And his state of mind and whether, maybe, he was under psychiatric care prior to these attacks.

Howell and Rosita Donaldson, those parents, their attorney made it very clear they don`t want to say anything because it`s possible it could hurt

their son`s case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the two said; "Testify against our son? You mean to testify against our baby?" They elected not to discuss any matters that

they were asked about because they are not going to be witnesses against their son.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: According to the Hillsborough County State Attorney, the Donaldsons actually could end up facing charges of indirect criminal

contempt if they continue to refuse to cooperate in this investigation.

A Wisconsin mother dies when a pipe comes flying through the windshield of her car. Her husband was in the car too. He says it was a freak accident

but then police said, "No, it wasn`t. It was murder". And just wait until you hear about the forensics in this case because they do not exactly match

up with his story about the case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:36:01] BANFIELD: It is exactly what you worry about happening when you see something hanging off that truck, that`s driving in front of you on the

road, just picture it for a minute. It is very disconcerting, right? You think over and over, is that thing going to fly off and come right through

my windshield?

That`s the reason this Wisconsin widower says his wife is dead, his high school sweetheart, Barbara, pierced by a ten-pound pipe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CALLER: My wife needs help.

DISPATCH: OK. And so, your wife is injured?

CALLER: Yes. Yes.

DISPATCH: OK.

CALLER: Yes

DISPATCH: And you`re in a car accident?

CALLER: Yes, a pipe or something came through the windshield, a pipe, yes. It got her and she`s hit in the head and in the throat I think, in the

throat or something. She, she she`s got blood coming out of her nose and mouth (inaudible).

DISPATCH: How old is she?

CALLER: Forty-six.

DISPATCH: Is she awake?

CALLER: I don`t know. I can`t get in there (inaudible).

DISPATCH: OK. Is she breathing?

CALLER: No, I don`t think so. No.

DISPATCH: All right, sir, we do have help on the way. Stay on the line.

CALLER: How long? How long?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So, the thing is, the police say the damage to Todd Kendhammer`s windshield doesn`t really match the story of what he says happened and

neither do Barbara`s injuries. And now, he`s in court and he`s fighting first-degree murder.

He`s also looking at life in prison because witness after witness is taking the stand and tearing holes in what sounds to be a bit of a pipe dream

story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In places the where there were injuries, for instance, like the nose, the mouth, the neck, if a pipe had caused those

injuries, I would expect there would have been much more devastating injuries, because, again, this missile of sorts is coming at a high rate of

speed and would likely be causing more significant fractures and things like that.

I have never seen that pattern of injury in any of the motor vehicle accidents that I -- autopsies that I had performed. So, I would not say

that they`re probable, no.

BANFIELD: Brad Williams joins me now. He is a reporter and anchor at WIZM News Talk Radio in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Brad, we`re only in the prosecution`s case right now, so this whole of show is just beginning in the courtroom. And it always looks bad at the

beginning because it`s the prosecutor who gets to go first. But in this particular case, can you see any defense now that they`ve got all the

science all lined up and it seems to be really against him?

BRAD WILLIAMS: Ashleigh, it looks like there will be a defense that is presented by the Todd Kendhammer lawyers, depending on what they perceive

as the truth of Mr. Kendhammer`s story that there was a truck coming from the opposite direction toward his car, on this road in September of last

year, and a pipe fell off and flew through the window. And they are going to present glass experts, and people who are experts on vehicle crashes,

and try to boost his story, even though there have been autopsy results. And today there was a three-hour video of two Sheriff`s Officers

questioning Todd Kendhammer about what happened and they`re trying to poke holes in that story as well.

BANFIELD: And, of course, one thing that`s pretty important is going over all the surveillance video on that stretch of road, to find out what that

truck looked like and they have not been able to find any truck. They did find Todd`s cars but haven`t been able to find any truck.

Let me just go over sone of the inconsistencies because we put them all on a list. If, you know, you can watch the whole court procedure. You just

checkout those list and it`s pretty compendious. So, let`s start with the pipe itself.

There`s no blood found on the pipe that would be unusual. There were scratches found on the defendant. There was blood found on the rear tire,

which would be weird if the incident happened and she was in the passenger`s seat. The glass pattern indicated it seemed nobody was

actually sitting in the passenger seat because if you`re sitting, that glass can`t get under you, but the glass was there.

[00:40:05] There was no sign of the truck I mentioned in any of the surveillance video. And the passenger door seemed like it had likely been

opened when the windshield broke, because those side pockets that are in your door didn`t have any glass in them. And had that glass sort of flown

all around the inside of the car it would have likely been inside that pocket unless the door were, you know, swung wide open.

Then there was this. Grass found in the trunk. That`s very strange. So if you think those forensic inconsistencies are a slam dunk, I want to just

pile on if I can, because that`s what court cases do and get to the medical inconsistencies. They get a little stranger.

The pattern of injuries did not seem consistent with a pipe actually coming through the windshield. There were lacerations to the back of Barbara`s

head. Think about it. The pipe comes through the front. Why are the lacerations in the back?

She had neck injuries that were consistent with possible strangulation. That`s not good. She had torn fingernails, which as anybody who watches

shows like "Forensic Files" knows can suggest that there was some kind of a physical struggle. And then there`s the old blood spatter. That`s a

typical forensic that we look at. The patterns do not match the defendant`s description.

I want to bring in Joseph Scott Morgan. He`s a certified Death Investigator and a Professor of Forensics at Jacksonville State University.

Joe, so, when you see lists like that, do you think, uh-huh, they caught him? Or do you think each one of those things can be negated by experts,

you know, like you?

JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, FORENSIC PROFESSOR, JACKSONVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY: No, not in my opinion, Ashleigh. The story that the husband has given is

so far out in left field here that it`s almost laughable if it weren`t such a tragic case.

This woman has injuries that are consistent with somebody that has been brutally traumatized. And my guess would be possibly thrown in the car

afterwards. She`s even got laryngeal hemorrhages right here in the soft tissues of the neck, which are consistent with someone being choked. This

is not something where someone is struck by a pipe.

Working in the Medical Examiners Office in Atlanta and at Coroner`s Office in New Orleans in my career, I saw several cases of pipes coming through

windows of cars. And most of those events are single one-off type of impact event like the medical examiner was talking about in your clip.

This is not the case. This woman has been struck repeatedly over the -- on multiple surfaces on her body. And I think the most disturbing thing is

that a lot of it is posterior. That means on her back, how do you account for those injuries? And then you mentioned the glass on window.

Glass is safety glass. You would get what are called dikes and injuries (ph) and injuries on the face, which look like small little 90-degree

angles on the face. None of that stuff exists. So I`m not buying what this guy is selling.

BANFIELD: I think some -- one of the experts said there was a mug in the car that might have been flying around and causing some of the injuries.

But, let me just show you real quickly some of the evidence. The scratches on Todd Kendhammer`s hands which they say is problematic and little pop

that up there -- yes.

So this is what the police saw in Todd`s hands, and then again the injury to Barbara Kendhammer`s skull. They said that does not match the pattern

of facts that Todd has laid out. It`s kind of hard to see that. But effectively that`s what the courtroom is going to see and then, the

injuries to Barbara Kendhammer`s fingernails as well.

MORGAN: Right.

BANFIELD: There was also the notion that there was a witness. And I`m going to bring in Rich Meehan on this one if I can, a witness who said this

whole story that Todd had, that Barbara and he were in the car on their way to pick up a truck at my house. We never made any arrangements.

So he`s there to sort of pile onto all the forensics with the witness testimonies saying, "Whatever his story was about why they were in the car

together at strange stretch of road. It wouldn`t to come to my house. If that`s what he`s saying, I knew nothing about it." Those are bad facts to

try to overcome for a defense attorney.

MORGAN: They are bad facts. And if you`re talking about there being a potential battle of experts, well, there`s a couple of things. You look at

the credentials of the experts and you look at the objective facts that can be proven, the basis for that opinion. And experts are only as good as the

basis of the opinion that they give. If facts don`t support the opinion, it`s nothing more than opinion. And juries will not accept it.

BANFIELD: You can only razzle-dazzle them so much with your science. But if they can see it in plain sight in front of them, I hear you. All right,

my thanks so much to Brad Williams and Joseph Scott Morgan.

Rich, I`m going to ask you to stay if you will. A fender bender in Texas, well you guessed it. This is how it ended up. Only Texas you say, "Holly

smokes."

[00:44:50] Just wait till you see what happened on this Houston Street.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: So we have this crazy new contender tonight for the most aggressive result of road rage that we think we have ever actually seen

captured on video. This comes to you by Houston Texas, where two men got into a car crash but it was just a minor accident, a fender bender. Their

anger, however, turned into an all out gun battle wild, wild west style, yes. This is what folks saw on a busy road in the middle of the day, tons

of people all around. Yes.

[00:50:03] BANFIELD: As they both like it`s unbelievable. One of the bystanders in this actually ended up being grazed in the head by one with

of the bullets that were flying. She and one of the gunmen actually ended up having to be taken to the hospital. One of these gunmen ended up shot

in the chest. Both of these gunmen ended up taken into custody. There you see the good men in blue doing that job.

And obviously this comes with, you know, sort of the blatant reminder to the public from the police, if you get into an accident rather than

whipping out your Smith & Wesson, whip out your cell phone and call them. Don`t even video tape. Call them.

While I appreciate the videotape, you know, you could have been shot while shooting this video, because someone else was.

I want to bring in Defense Attorney Rich Meehan right now. As we look at this, I keep thinking about the bystander who, you know, was grazed by a

bullet to the head. Obviously could have been dead. That may have been accidental or not intended. And that doesn`t matter.

MEEHAN: Doesn`t matter. Let me put on my former law school professors hat here. This is a classic class of transfer and intent. In other words the

intent to shoot at each other and it caused harm to a third person makes those two guys guilty of the crimes of attempted murder, possibly certainly

attempted assault in the first degree or crime of reckless endangerment. And that their reckless conduct caused injury to somebody, even though they

didn`t intended it. It didn`t matter. She got in the path of the bullet. They intended to shoot each other.

BANFIELD: Let`s say that guy right there with the jeep, the guy in the black sweatshirt. Let`s say it was his bullet that grazed -- not saying it

is, but it was his bullet that grazed the woman`s head. Can the other guy have the transfer and intent as well? Can that guy right there with the

grey hoodie also face it even though it wasn`t his bullet that grazed the bystander?

MEEHAN: Well, now you got accessory liability. So he`s aiding and abetting the intent of the other guy to commit the crime.

BANFIELD: They`re both in big trouble.

MEEHAN: They`re both in big trouble, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: I`m glad you said that because I don`t want either of these guys out on the street.

MEEHAN: I promise I won`t defend them.

BANFIELD: Thank you, Rich, I appreciate it.

I want to take you to Pennsylvania, now where a woman who was caught on camera fighting with a police officer. And this is how it transpires.

Watch what he does. Watch what he does to keep her calm and keep her. All right, that looked painful, bang-bang-bang.

She`s under the peg to plead guilty to resisting arrest and defiant trespass. This is Melissa Dyann Penn the coming confrontational last July

when she was told to leave a local bar. At one point before you see this video her dad had actually tried over and over again to drag her out of the

bar.

And once the officers intervened everything just spin out of control with her fighting and kicking and cursing. She ended up, even though she is the

one decked. She ended up sentenced to three months of house arrest and two years of probation.

A sky-diving Santa looks awesome coming in for the grand entrance and did not end up sticking the landing quite like he wanted to. We`ll tell you

what happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:57:36] BANFIELD: Voting is underway for the CNN Hero of the Year. Here is one of this year`s top ten heroes. Meet Amy Wright.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

AMY WRIGHT, CNN TOP TEN HEROES: People with disabilities sometimes the world just passes them by. Having a workplace that makes you feel of your

self and gives you a sense of community is something we all want. Most of them are unemployed and we really felt like we wanted to do something about

it. And it was like coffee shop.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey guys, good morning welcome to Bitty & Beau`s. It`s open.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on in.

WRIGHT (voice over): Other than our two managers everybody that works at Bitty & Beau`s Coffee has an intellectual or developmental disability. We

figures out what their skill set plus and we plug them in, now we have forty employees.

You made them feel welcome. That`s awesome.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

WRIGHT (voice over): For most of them who had never had a job before it`s really exciting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bon jour

WRIGHT (Voice over): That`s trying out his French.

We will say it`s more than a cup of coffee. It`s a human right movement. It`s given our employees the respect that they deserve when you just give

them a chance they can do anything you ask them to do.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

BANFIELD: And you can vote for your favorite hero at cnnheroes.com.

And we have one more thing for you tonight. You would think a skydiving Santa coming in for a landing on a Florida beach wouldn`t have to worry

about nailing the landing and you would think wrong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let`s welcome him guys. Santa is coming to town. Let`s hear those jingle bells.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Dang is pretty much what he is saying right about now and ouch because this Santa is recovering after breaking his leg. We do wish him

the best in terms of a speedy recovery. And you know what? He`s a great guy for doing this for everybody. We wish him a Merry Christmas.

Coming up next, a house of horrors in Iowa where a 16-year-old was allegedly starved to death weighing in just 81 pounds when she died and

living in her own filth. And she wasn`t the only one, three of her siblings in terrible shape and lucky to be alive. And her adoptive mother

is on trial for murder. The next hour of CRIME & JUSTICE start --

(Break)

[19:00:05] BANFIELD: House of starvation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) weight was 81 pounds.

BANFIELD: Police say a mom starved and abused her kids until one of them died.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She would say some kind of concerning things like in order to be fed I have to do chores.

BANFIELD: These siblings on the stand describe a filthy home of terror.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She stated to me I can`t supervise the kids 24 hours a day. I can`t make them leave.

BANFIELD: A stunning teenager dead in a car crash, her uncle at the wheel. But cops say she didn`t die from the crash, she was shot. And while he

admits to doing it, was it because they were having an affair?]

He says a pipe came flying through their windshield.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It got her and she`s hit in the head and the throat, I think in the throat or something.

BANFIELD: And killed the love of his life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s got blood coming out of her nose and mouth.

BANFIELD: But his story doesn`t add up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you see any damage to the windshield?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I did not.

BANFIELD: Did this man murder his wife and stage the scene?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have never seen that pattern of injury.

BANDFIELD: And if so, how did he pull it off?

Two men open fire on a busy street bullets flying in broad daylight. They even sent a bystander to the hospital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He pulled out his gun and he tried shooting at me.

BANFIELD: And the reason for their rage, a fender bender.

An officer wails on a woman outside a nightclub but police say there`s more to this story. How she is now being punished?

And an early delivery from a daredevil Santa takes an unexpected turn. How Santa Claus came crashing into town?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You all right?

BANFIELD: Good evening everybody. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. Welcome to the second hour of CRIME & JUSTICE.

There are just 18 days left until Christmas when we all get that great holiday food and enjoy time off with our families. But there are at least

three kids in West Des Moines, Iowa who may be much luckier to be without their mother this Christmas because they`ve spent the last week testifying

that their mother has been keeping them from getting food. And police go on to say that she starved their adopted teen sister to death.

Tonight, we know what at least one of those kids looked like when they were taken to the hospital, and I want to warn you ahead of time that these

pictures are very, very difficult to see especially when you hear investigators say that these kids had to share a bedroom with no beds and

just blankets that seemed to be soaked in urine.

You`re looking at the siblings who survived this. Well, their sister 16- year-old Natalie died in an adult diaper weighing in at just 81 pounds with zero fat on her body.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For Natalie and her siblings there was no place like home. Because for Natalie and her siblings, home is a place of fear,

confinement, torture.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: But in a courtroom where a mother sits across from her own kids as they describe a house of horror, her defense insists that there should

still be room for doubt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER LARSON, ATTORNEY FOR NICOLE FINN: You know the saying things aren`t always as they appear. Well, that saying will ring true as we work

through this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Des Moines Register Investigative Reporter Lee Rood joins me now live to work through this case. And Lee you just heard that defense

attorney saying things aren`t always as they appear. But I`ve got pretty good eyes and I saw those pictures of those kids, and can we just cycle

through them again so that we`re crystal clear on the condition of these children when their sister died of cardiac arrest because she was 81 pounds

and they all got hustled into the hospital that night.

What am I missing, Lee?

LEE ROOD, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, DES MOINES REGISTER (via-telephone): Well, not all of them got called into the hospital. Two other siblings

were taken in the night in October last year that Natalie died.

One sibling was treated very differently. He was adopted at infancy separate from this sibling group and he was sort of relied on by his mother

to be an enforcer in the home and actually took part in keeping them confined into -- in their bedroom.

BANFIELD: Is that child facing any kind of charges or is that just her story?

ROOD (via-telephone): That`s the story from the two siblings who were in the room with Natalie Finn.

[19:05:04] He has not been charged so -- but also, you know, he testified that he was following his mother`s instructions.

BANFIELD: So Lee, help me to sort of work through where the system failed these kids because it`s not as though no one had seen them before. There

had been a social worker who`d weighed in on this case, there have been Child Protective Services visits to this home. So work through this with

me and tell me when those things happened and how this horrible thing happened?

ROOD (via-telephone): Yes, I mean, it seems -- it`s a horrible case for these children falling through the cracks. Neighbors had reported that

Natalie was panhandling for money to get food for her siblings. The kids were seen, they have sneak -- they snuck out of their bedroom window until

their parents boarded up the windows to get food.

People at school reported child abuse, the neighbors reported child abuse. The police came to the door with a social worker and knocked while Nicole

Finn`s car was in the driveway but nobody would answer the door for some time.

In August, they finally managed to get into the house, they had to get a court order. And when they got in there because there was some

forewarning, the house was relatively cleaned up and it wasn`t the nightmare that they discovered later on October 24th.

BANFIELD: And let me be clear, we`re showing pictures right now, not only of Nicole Finn, Natalie`s mom but also -- I believe this is her ex-husband,

correct, whereby they weren`t living in the same home. Apparently life was better when the kids visited him but he is also going to face a similar

trial with similar charges down the road, correct Lee?

ROOD (via-telephone): Yes, he is going -- he is going to trial in January. He faces a number of charges including kidnapping, child endangerment and

neglect.

BANFIELD: Is it true that what we`re hearing from police that there were text messages between these two particularly with Nicole Finn, the mom,

saying to her ex-husband how much she loves all of her cats. There were plenty of cats and animals at this home, and how she loves animals but that

she doesn`t love her kids. Was there some text message that connoted that between these two?

ROOD (via-telephone): So late in just -- late in testimony today the detective who investigated the homicide said that it was apparent that

Nicole Finn cared a lot about animals. She ran an animal rescue and she would text often about the condition that some pets were left in their home

but she did not care about the children that she was parenting.

In fact, she was fed up with them. She sent her ex-husband a text that said, called them worthless, and said that she couldn`t stand them, and

said that she was so done with them.

BANFIELD: And the conditions we`re seeing on the screen right now, correct me Lee if I`m wrong, but these were the conditions that these children

lived in? Their carpeting and their beds were removed from the one room that three of these children had to share, two sisters and a brother. And

they were not allowed to leave the bedroom even to use the bathroom. They actually had to relieve themselves on the floor of that one room and the

blankets that they had were soaked in urine, is that correct?

ROOD (via-telephone): Yes, the surviving children testified that Natalie and her two siblings had to ask permission to go to the bathroom, to eat,

or to leave their room. And one of the daughters spent several months in that room. Seldom that -- she and her brothers seldom last through the

summer.

BANFIELD: And then we`re seeing those pictures of Natalie in better days. There is an autopsy picture of Natalie, I think we have it and I`m going to

just again put out a warning that it`s very difficult to see. But, when you hear that this child was starved to death, the condition that she was

found in and the autopsy photo you`re seeing right now is the condition she really was in the night that, you know, she died because she was so weak

she could not breathe or her heart could not even pump any more. Doctors testifying that she had no fat at all on her body, no fat at all.

I want to run through the list, Lee if I can of some of the conditions that the children report were found at the house. One of the children, a

daughter, said that she was so thirsty that she ended up having to drink from a toilet.

[19:10:02] Another report said that they at one point put a sign out the window of their home saying need food and water. When asked if they ever

would sneak around and try to get food from the kitchen, the children reported that their mother would have noticed if a cheese puff were

missing.

It was also reported that the children would sneak out of the window of this bedroom to go to beg for food and money and somehow they would return.

Also, it was reported that the ex-husband helped this mother nail shut those windows after hearing that they had sneaked out.

I mean, it is remarkable that this could have gone on as long as it did. Like you said, the school thought something was odd, they were hungry at

school if they ever got to school, but they were rarely. I mean, it was just random if they went to school.

Once again, how did this not get shutdown beforehand? And is anyone in the Social Services System in a boat load of trouble for not spotting this and

intervening sooner?

ROOD (via-telephone): Well, two people were fired from Iowa`s Department of Human Services, and there`s some legal stuff that`s happening with the

appeals of those firing behind the scenes. But one of the problems was that Nicole Finn took Natalie and her sister out of school and her brother,

the brother went to school infrequently.

So it was -- it was hard in some ways to keep track of some of the worse things that were going on. Certainly, people noticed that they -- that the

children smelled, that they were (INAUDIBLE), but at every turn this mother sought to block those who were asking questions.

BANFIELD: All right, I want to play if I can, Officer Chelsea Dexter. Officer Dexter was the first responder who came to this home and had quite

a description of what it was like. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER CHELSEA DEXTER, FIRST RESPONDER: The house smelt very (INAUDIBLE) ammonia and feces. It`s a very overwhelming smell. She was very thin,

very frail. You could see her bones sticking out and she was only wearing what appeared to be adult depends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Adult depends, a diaper. A 16-year-old girl, 81 pounds wearing a diaper when they found her dead in these conditions.

I also want to play for you if I can the principal of Walnut Creek Campus, the school where clearly they saw something that wasn`t quite right with

these kids and particularly about Nicole. Have a listen to what Principal Kim Davis had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM DAVIS, PRINCIPAL OF WALNUT CREEK CAMPUS: We were concerned about what we were hearing as far as how she was able to access food in her home and

that she seemed to be always hungry at school.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: I want to bring in certified death investigator and professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University, Joseph Scott Morgan.

Joe, the report was that this child who died had zero fat. The doctor said she had zero fat. She was found wearing a diaper.

Can you tell me what this child had been going through prior to her finally -- her heart finally just giving out?

JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, CERTIFIED DEATH INVESTIGATOR: Yes, yes. It`s horrible case, Ashleigh. Let me delineate something very quickly.

In the age of population we have issues of malnourishment, this is not malnourishment being underfed. This is starvation. Starvation is a

horrible way to die.

Essentially, what happens is that the body begins to consume itself. There`s no nutrients coming in to the body so muscle will dissipate, fat

will dissipate. And what will happen over a period of time along with dehydration is that these people become delirious. Even if you tried to

feed them, many times they will not take on nutrients. And secondly, the heart begins to malfunction as a result of an imbalance in electrolytes.

So the fact that she died of a cardiac related event is not surprising at all.

We -- probably in autopsy, they saw things like her nails were very brittle. She was probably losing her teeth, gums were bleeding, this sort

of thing. Very, very difficult thing as a practitioner to lay your eyes on because you think, is it actually possible for one human being to do this

to another and in this case that was really well played out.

BANFIELD: All right. This is just a tragic case. We`re going to watch to see what the outcome is.

MORGAN: Yes.

BANFIELD: My thanks to all my guests.

A father living a double life, dating his own teenage niece, he`s now charged with murder because she was found dead in his car.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:19:34] BANFIELD: We all know family is sacred but just one person can do a whole lot of damage, whether it`s breaking some boundaries, having a

secret relationship or shooting your niece dead before crashing into a telephone pole, because that`s the damage that neighbors saw in Waterbury,

Connecticut on Monday night. This fiery crash ended up knocking out power to an entire neighborhood and a dead 16-year-old girl was in the

passenger`s seat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[19:20:01] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As we were trying to do everything in our power to help.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anybody in there, like we`re trying to get you out. We were saying our names and stuff and then she was -- must have been dead

right then and there because she couldn`t hear us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: But there was more damage inside that car than first responders could ever know because police would soon recover that -- or would soon

discover that two people in that crash were more than just niece and uncle. The police say they were actually hooking up. They were lovers. Even

though he had children with that 16-year-old girl`s aunt and police are now thinking that he shot that 16-year-old girl in that car after a struggle

over a gun when she threatened to tell her auntie all about what he`d been up to.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was texting to us literally before she died, she told, she said, I trust him, that`s my uncle. I don`t think he would do

anything. She says like that`s really who I grew up with. She said we never did anything. There was an incident one time but she still trusted

him after the incident.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Bob Wilson is with CNN affiliate WTNH. He joins me from Waterbury, Connecticut tonight. Bob, if you could break this very

complicated story down for me. Where does this stand? How much do we know to be true? How much do we know to be allegations? And do we know this to

be accurate that this uncle was dating his niece while having children with her aunt?

BOB WILSON, REPORTER, WTNH: It is very mirky. I tell you it is, we`ve -- I`ve spoken with Francisco Rivera, I got to meet him on camera, on TV.

He`s the grandfather that he raised, you know, the 16-year-old, Evalyce Santiago, he raised her as a daughter he said and it`s hard to kind of get

the relationships to the daughter to him, however, she is adopted.

And so, it kind of is a very mirky family tree but they are very, very -- they`re in turmoil right now. They don`t understand exactly what happened,

how this could happen and they say there was a relationship between the 16- year-old Evalyce Santiago and 27-year-old Dominique Pittman.

They didn`t know about it at first and then when it became clear, they started looking into it and finally they realized, yes, you know, there was

this relationship.

So how it all started was back -- we first got the call as a car accident, simple car accident, like you heard a fiery crash. So we go to cover that

and then 16-year-old Evalyce Santiago was found dead in the passenger seat and then it`s realized she had some gun shot wounds.

The 27-year-old Dominique Pittman, he is uncle, he is sitting in the driver`s seat door at the scene of the crash saying, you know what, it was

a car accident and then we learn more. He`s dating the 16-year-old allegedly also married to the other sister and has three children with that

sister.

So that`s according to the father, grandfather, Francisco Rivera who said, you know, it was just devastating to them because not only did one of their

daughters lose her sister but also a father of the three children is now behind bars. It`s a very complicated situation and it`s incredibly

emotional.

We were out yesterday at the telephone pole where this happened. The power pole re-erected and there are balloons and candles and family were there

crying and remembering 16-year-old Evalyce while trying to figure this whole thing out. They`re very open about it but it`s still very

complicated.

BANFIELD: So talk about complicated. I needed a flow chart to figure out who is who. There`s a grandfather who has a daughter who has a daughter,

Evalyce, now dead and then another daughter who would be the Evalyce`s auntie who`s got now the young man who is facing murder charges in all of

these because he`s allegedly having this romantic affair with his 16-year- old niece. And she just turned 16 too. And that`s going to be important in just a moment.

WILSON: Correct.

BANFIELD: She only just turned --

WILSON: Correct.

BANFIELD: -- 16 on October 21st. Let me play really quickly if I can, Bob, Christy Rivera, who is don`t ask me which aunt but she is an aunt of

the victim here, maybe there`s another aunt because I cannot imagine if this were the aunt in question who is learning that her husband has been

cheating with her niece. I can`t imagine she`d be this differential. But this aunt, Christy Rivera has this to say about Evalyce and the loss of

her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTY RIVERA, EVALYCE`S AUNT: I wish I could bring her back. I wish somehow she could come back because this is pain and we`re all suffering.

We don`t need this. (INAUDIBLE) and not even say goodbye or I love you to her again, it`s just -- it hurts, you know, and I hope she`s looking down

at me right now and knows that I really love her and I wish she was here with us today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Bob, do you know the answer to that? Is that the aunt in question who`s finding out about--

WILSON: I do, I interviewed her last night, Christy, and she is not the aunt in question. She`s a third aunt. She had a fight she told me with

Evalyce and they have not spoken for a while, we don`t know what that fight about. She`s very upset because she said she`s never going to get to say

I`m sorry and makeup. She said they ended on a really bad note.

BANFIELD: Speaking of fights, I`m told there was a massive fight outside the courtroom, that family members were all fighting amongst each other

physically and verbally. What happened there?

[19:25:11] WILSON: Yes. So it was very interesting in front of the courthouse. There were also -- Pittman, 27-year-old Dominique Pittman has

a bunch of friends that came to the courthouse and tried to get in real quickly into the courthouse to try to bypass security (INAUDIBLE) front of

the courthouse and they came running back out again and there was a lot of arguing and fighting, and it was difficult to figure out who was who and on

what side but very emotional.

BANFIELD: Dear Lord, Dear Lord.

WILSON: Very -- a lot of family member upset, yes, yes, very upsetting.

BANFIELD: OK.

WILSON: I mean -- and bond was raised $3 million. They were upset about that as well.

BANFIELD: This is not going to be a good courtroom scene when they start litigating this case if they ever get to that point. Let me bring in

Deputy Chief Fernando Spagnola who joins me now live from Waterbury, Connecticut. Deputy Chief, can you shed some light on another story that

we`re hearing and we don`t know if it was an investigative tactic or if it`s actually known to be true.

But as we understand that when detectives presented Dominique Pittman with certain facts, he spilled the beans on having a relationship with Evalyce

Santiago, his niece, and that story that they told him was that they had some evidence that there was DNA that proved, DNA inside of Evalyce that

proved that there was a relationship and someone floated the notion that she was pregnant.

Can you tell me whether this 16-year-old girl was, in fact, pregnant and with Dominique Pittman`s child? Is that part of the story now?

FERNANDO SPAGNOLA WATERBURY POLICE DEPARTMENT CHIEF: Absolutely. So we`re still waiting for confirmation from the medical examiner`s office on

whether Ms. Santiago was pregnant or not. We don`t know that to be a fact in that right now.

I think what you`re talking about is during the course of the interview, the possibility of Ms. Santiago being pregnant or her DNA being found or

Pittman`s DNA being found on Ms. Santiago was those presented to Dominique Pittman during the interview. And at that point, he did freak out and

admit that he was involved in a relationship with Ms. Santiago.

BANFIELD: Did the investigators actually say anything about -- and I understand, don`t get me wrong, I understand it is fully within

investigators rights under the law to float any story you want. You can tell blatant lies when you`re interrogating somebody, it is not illegal and

it happens all the time. It`s part of the investigative process. Is that something they did? Did they tell him she`s pregnant with your baby?

SPAGNOLA: Well, we don`t know her to be pregnant and that was not how the question was posed. It was part of the investigation, you know. We had

some suspicions on what was going on. We had a lot of suspicion about Dominique Pittman`s story at that point and there were -- there were clues

that were pointing to the fact that these two were a lot closer than he was leading us to believe.

BANFIELD: So he answered--

SPAGNOLA: So he started with a possibility that there may be some sort of relationship and that she was pregnant or his DNA was found on Ms. Santiago

then --

BANFIELD: Here`s the key question and in the charges that he`s facing, murder, carrying a pistol without a permit weapons in a vehicle, but not

child rape because she`s 16 and the age of consent is 16 in Connecticut, however, she just turned 16 on October 21st. Deputy Chief, do you know how

long this relationship`s been going on for because as I understand and if it`s prior to October 21st, well, it`s a whole other ball of wax he`s

facing?

SPAGNOLA: You`re absolutely correct. You know, that part of this investigation is still open and we`re still working on it. As of this

moment right now we know that this -- we can confirm that this relationship began in early November. However, this is a very active investigation and

we`re looking into that timeline.

BANFIELD: Boy oh boy. I want to bring in real quickly defense attorney Rich Meehan who joins me live on the set. If in fact this relationship

ends up being longer, if they are able to go back before October 21st when she was 15, what does that mean in Connecticut for Mr. Dominique Pittman

who is facing murder? Maybe that`s the least of his worries?

RICHARD MEEHAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It`s statutory rape, it`s sexual assault in the second degree, it`s a crime, 10-year felony with a mandatory of nine

months. The problem is proving this without the victim and the only way that I can concede that that could happen is if, in fact, the victim is

carrying Pittman`s child. She`s further along in the pregnancy so that the pregnancy predates her 16th birthday, that to me would create the possible

-- probable inference that he had sexual intercourse.

BANFIELD: So the medical forensics here are going to be so critical. We just heard that the Deputy Chief said we`re waiting on that, and when that

comes back that`s going to be a big definitive answer for them as to whether he`s -- and juries don`t like hearing that, they don`t like hearing

statutory rape along with that murder charge and my thought is that would all be bundled together. They`d have to hear it all together, wouldn`t

bode well for him.

[19:30:03] MEEHAN: It wouldn`t bode well for him at all and there`s a question here as to whether this is a provable murder ads well.

BANFIELD: Yes, all right. Well, hold that thought. Rich, I`m going to keep you here if I can. Bob I Wilson, my thanks and also Deputy Chief

Fernando Spagnola, thank you.

Tonight in Tampa, the parents of a suspected headline making serial killer are refusing to speak to the authorities about their son. Their son Trai

Donaldson, who`s now known all over the country as the guy they caught because he`s facing four counts of murder in the shooting deaths of four

random people, separate occasions all happening in October and November this year.

The prosecutors just want to know about Donaldson`s upbringing and his state of mind and whether maybe he was under psychiatric care prior to

these attacks. Howell and Rosita Donaldson, those parents, their attorney made it very clear that they don`t want to say anything because it`s

possible it could hurt their son`s case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the two said, testify against our son? You mean to testify against our baby? They elected not to discuss any matters that

they were asked about because they are not going to be witnesses against their son.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: According to Hillsborough County State attorney, the Donaldsons actually could end up facing charges of indirect criminal contempt if they

continue to refuse to cooperate in this investigation.

A Wisconsin mother dies when a pipe comes flying through the windshield of her car. Her husband was in the car too. He says it was a freak accident

but then police said, no, it wasn`t. It was murder. And just wait until you hear about the forensics in this case because they do not exactly match

up with his story about the case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:36:08] BANFIELD: It is exactly what you worry about happening when you see something hanging off that truck that`s driving in front of you in the

road. Just picture it for a minute. It`s very disconcerting, right? You think over and over is that thing going to fly off and come right through

my windshield. That`s the reason that this Wisconsin widower says his wife is dead. His high school sweetheart Barbara pierced by a ten pound pipe.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TODD KENDHAMMER, WISCONSIN WIDOWER: My wife needs help.

DISPATCH: OK. And so your wife is injured?

KENDHAMMER: Yes.

DISPATCH: OK.

KENDHAMMER: Yes.

DISPATCH: And there was a car accident?

KENDHAMMER: Yes, yes. A pipe or something came through the windshield. A pipe, yes. It got her and she`s hit in the head and in the throat I think.

In the throat or something. She, she, she`s got blood coming out of her hose and mouth (INAUDIBLE).

DISPATCH: How old is she?

KENDHAMMER: 46.

DISPATCH: Is she awake?

KENDHAMMER I don`t know. I can`t get in there (INAUDIBLE).

DISPATCH: OK. Is she breathing?

KENDHAMMER: No, I don`t think so. No.

DISPATCH: All right, sir, we do have help o the way. Stay on the line.

KENDHAMMER: How long? How long?

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So the thing is the police say the damage to Todd Kenhammer`s windshield doesn`t really match the story of what he says happened. And

neither do Barbara`s injuries. And now he`s in court and he`s fighting first degree murder. He`s also looking at life in prison because witness

after witness is taking the stand and tearing holes in what sounds to be a bit of a pipe dream story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In places where there were injuries. For instance like the nose, the mouth, the neck, if a pipe had caused those injuries I

would expect there would have been much more devastating injuries. Because again, this missile sorts is coming at a high rate of speed and would

likely be causing more significant fractures and things like that.

I have never seen that pattern of injury in any of the motor vehicle accidents that I -- autopsies that I have performed. So I would not say

that they`re probable, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Brad Williams joins me now. He`s a reporter and anchor at WIZM in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Brad, we`re only in the prosecutions case right

now. So this whole show is just beginning in the court. Remember it always looks bad at the beginning, because it`s the prosecutor who gets to

go first. But in this particular case can you see any defense now that they`ve got all the science all lined up and it seems to be really against

him?

BRAD WILLIAMS, WIZM RADIO LA CROSS WISCONSIN REPORTER: Ashleigh, it looks like there will be a defense that is presented by the Todd Kenhammer

lawyers depending on what they perceive as the truth of Mr. Kendhammer`s story. That there was a truck coming from the opposite direction toward

his car on this road in September of last year and a pipe fell off and flew through the window. And they are going to present glass experts and people

who are experts on vehicle crashes and try to boost his story even though there have been autopsy results.

And today there was a three-hour video of two sheriff`s officers questioning Todd Kenhammer about what happened and trying to poke holes in

that story as well.

BANFIELD: And of course one thing that`s pretty important is going overall the surveillance video on that stretch road to find out what that truck

looked like. And they have not been able to find any truck. They did find Todd`s car but they haven`t been able to find any truck.

Let me just go over some of the inconsistencies, because we put them all in a list. You know, you can watch the whole court proceeding or just check

out this list. And it`s pretty compendious. So let`s start with the pipe itself. There`s no blood found on the pipe. That would be unusual. There

were scratches found on the defendant. There was blood found on the rear tire which would be weird if the incident happened and she were in the

passenger seat.

[19:40:00] The glass pattern indicated it seemed nobody was actually sitting in the passenger seat, because if you`re sitting that glass can`t

get under you. But the glass was there. There was no sign of the truck I mentioned in any of the surveillance video. And the passenger door seemed

like it had likely been opened when the windshield broke, because those side pockets that are in your door didn`t have any glass in them. And had

that glass sort of flown all around the inside of the car it would have likely been inside that pocket unless the door were, you know, swung wide

open.

Then there was this. Grass found in the trunk. That`s very strange. So if you think those forensic inconsistencies are a slam dunk, I want to pile

on if I can because that`s what court cases do and get to the medical inconsistencies. They get a little stranger. The pattern of injuries did

not seem consistent with a pipe actually coming through the windshield. There were lacerations to the back of Barbara`s head. Think about it. The

pipe comes through the front. Why are the lacerations in the back?

She had neck injuries that were consistent with possible strangulation. That`s not good. She had torn fingernails, which as anybody who watches

shows like "Forensic Files" knows can suggest that there was some kind of a physical struggle. And then there`s the old blood spatter. That`s a

typical forensic that we look at. The patterns do not match the defendant`s description.

I want to bring in Joseph Scott Morgan. He`s a certified death investigator and a professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University.

Joe, so, when you see lists like that, do you think, uh-huh, they caught him? Or do you think each one of those things can be negated by experts,

you know, like you?

JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, CERTIFIED DEATH INVESTIGATOR: No, not in my opinion, Ashleigh. The story that the husband has given is so far out in left field

here that it`s almost laughable if it weren`t such a tragic case. This woman has injuries that are consistent with somebody that has been brutally

traumatized. And my guess would be possibly thrown in the car afterwards. She`s even got laryngeal hemorrhages right here in the soft tissues of the

neck, which are consistent with someone being choked. This is not consistent with someone being struck by a pipe.

Working in the Medical Examiners Office in Atlanta and at the Corner Office in New Orleans in my career I saw several cases of pipes coming through

windows of cars. And most of those events are single one-off type of impact event like the medical examiner was talking about in your clip.

This is not the case. This woman has been struck repeatedly over the -- on multiple surfaces on her body.

And I think the most disturbing thing is that a lot of it is posterior. That means on her back. How do you account for those injuries? And then

you mentioned the glass and the window. Glass is safety glass. You would get what are called dicing injuries on the face, which look like small

little 90-degree angles on the face. None of that stuff exists. So, I`m not buying what this guy is selling.

BANFIELD: I think some -- one of the experts said there was a mug in the car that might have been flying around and causing some of the injuries.

But, let me just show you real quickly some of the evidence. The scratches on Todd Kendhammer`s hands, which they say is problematic and little pop

that up. There as -- yes. So this is what the police saw in Todd`s hands.

And then again the injury took to Barbara Kendhammer`s skull. They said that does not match the pattern of facts that Todd has laid out. It`s kind

of hard to see that. But effectively that`s what the courtroom is going to see and the injuries to Barbara Kendhammer`s fingernails as well.

MORGAN: Right.

BANFIELD: There was also the notion that there was a witness. And I`m going to bring in Rich Meehan on this one if I can, a witness who said this

whole story that Todd had, that Barbara and he were in the car on their way to pick up a truck at my house. We never made any arrangements. So he`s

there to sort of pile on to all the forensics with the witness testimonies saying, "Whatever his story was about why they were in the car together at

strange stretch of road. It wouldn`t to come to my house." That`s what he`s saying. I knew nothing about it. Those are bad facts to try to

overcome for a defense attorney.

MORGAN: They are bad facts. And if you`re talking about there being a potential battle of experts, well there`s a couple of things. You look at

the credentials of the experts and the objective facts that can be proven, the basis for that opinion. And experts are only as good as the basis of

the opinion that they give. If facts don`t support the opinion, it`s nothing more than opinion. And juries will not accept it.

BANFIELD: You can only razzle-dazzle them so much with your science. But if they can see it in plain sight in front of them, I hear you. All right,

my thanks so much to Brad Williams and Joseph Scott Morgan. Rich, I`m going to ask you to stay if you will. A fender bender in Texas, well you

guessed it. This is how it ended up. Only Texas you say, "Holly smokes." Just wait till you see what happened on this Huston Street.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:49:38] BANFIELD: So we have this crazy new contender tonight for the most aggressive result of road rage that we think we have ever actually

seen captured on video. This comes to you by Houston Texas, where two men got into a car crash but it was just a minor accident, a fender bender.

Their anger turned into an all out gun battle Wild, Wild West style. Yes. This is what folks saw on a busy road in the middle of the day, tons of

people all around. Yes.

[19:50:12] Is they both like it`s unbelievable. One of the bystanders in this actually ended up being grazed in the head by one with of the bullets

that were flying. She and one of the gunmen actually ended up having to be taken to the hospital. One of these gunmen ended up shot in the chest.

Both of these gunmen ended up taken into custody. There you see the good men in blue doing that job.

And obviously this comes with, you know, sort of the blatant reminder to the public from the police, if you get into an accident rather than

whipping at your Smith and Wesson whip out your cell phone and call them. Don`t even video tape. Call them. While I appreciate the videotape, you

know, you could have been shot while shooting this video, because someone else was.

I want to bring in Defense Attorney Rich Meehan right now. As we look at this I keep thinking about the bystander who, you know, was grazed by a

bullet to the head. Obviously could have been dead. That may have been accidental or not intended. And that doesn`t matter.

MEEHAN: Doesn`t matter. Let me put on my former law school professor`s hat here. This is a classic class of transfer and intent. In other words

the intent to shoot at each other and it caused harm to a third person makes those two guys guilty of the crimes of attempted murder, possibly

certainly attempted assault in the first degree or crime of reckless endangerment. And that their reckless conduct caused injury to somebody,

even though they didn`t intend it. It didn`t matter. She got in the path of the bullet. They intended to shoot each other.

BANFIELD: Let`s say that guy right there with the jeep, the guy in the black sweatshirt. Let`s say it was his bullet that grazed -- not saying it

is, but it was his bullet that grazed the woman`s head. Can the other guy have the transfer intent as well? Can that guy right there with the grey

hoodie also face it even though it wasn`t his bullet that grazed the bystander?

MEEHAN: Well, now you got accessory liability. So he`s aiding and abetting the intent of the other guy to commit the crime.

BANFIELD: They`re both in big trouble.

MEEHAN: They`re both in big trouble Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: I`m glad you said that, because I don`t want either of these guys out of the street.

MEEHAN: I promise I won`t defend them.

BANFIELD: Thank you, Rich, I appreciate it.

I want to take you to Pennsylvania, now where a woman who was caught on camera fighting with a police officer. And this is how it transpires.

Watch what he does. Watch what he does to keep her calm and keep her. All right, that looked painful, bang, bang, bang.

She`s under the peg to plead guilty to resisting arrest and defiant trespass. This is Melissa Dyann Penn the coming confrontational last July

when she was told to leave a local bar. At one point before you see this video her dad had actually tried over and over again to drag her out of the

bar. And once the officers intervened everything spun out of control with her fighting and kicking and cursing. She ended up, even though she is the

one decked. She ended up sentenced to three months of house arrest and two years of probation.

A sky-diving Santa looks awesome coming in for the grand entrance and did not end up sticking the landing quite like he wanted to. We`ll tell you

what happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:57:45] BANFIELD: Voting is underway for the CNN Hero of the Year. Here is one of this years top ten heroes. Meet Amy Wright.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY WRIGHT, CNN TOP 10 HEROES: People with disabilities sometimes the world just passes them by. Having a workplace that makes you feel of your

self and gives you a sense of community is something we all want. Most of them are unemployed and we really felt like we wanted to do something about

it. And it was like coffee shop.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey guys, good morning welcome to Bitty & Beau`s. It`s open.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on in.

WRIGHT: Other than our two managers everybody that works at Bitty & Beau`s coffee has an intellectual or developmental disability. We figures out

what their skill set plus and we plug them in, now we have four employees.

You made them feel welcome. That`s awesome.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

WRIGHT: For most of them who had never had a job before it`s really exciting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bonjour monsieur.

WRIGHT: That`s trying out his French.

We will say it`s more than a cup of coffee. It`s a human right movement. It`s given our employees the respect that they deserve when you just give

them a chance they can do anything you ask them to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And you can vote for your favorite hero at cnnheroes.com.

And we have one more thing for you tonight. You would think a skydiving Santa coming in for a landing on a Florida beach wouldn`t have to worry

about nailing the landing and you would think wrong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let`s welcome him guys. Santa is coming to town. Let`s hear those jingle bells.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Dang. He is pretty much what he is saying right about now and ouch because this Santa is recovering after breaking his leg. We do wish

him the best in terms of a speedy recovery. And you know what? He`s a great guy for doing this for everybody. We wish him a Merry Christmas.

Thanks for watching everyone. We`ll see you back here Monday night at 6:00 Eastern fro crime and justice. Forensic Files starts right now.

END