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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield

Man Killed His Wife While on Honeymoon; Prominent Dentist Suspect of Killing his Own Mother. Aired 6-8p ET

Aired February 21, 2018 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00] JEAN CASAREZ, HOST, HLN: Good evening. I`m Jean Casarez, in for Ashleigh Banfield. Thank you so much for joining us. This is Crime and

Justice.

Tonight in Arkansas, police are desperate to track down Ashton Talley, an 18-year-old autistic girl who went missing for home early Saturday morning.

She disappeared shortly after replying to a text from a number in Washington State. But now her phone is silent and the Arkansas state police

are urging anyone who recognizes her to give her a call.

And meanwhile, 5-year-old Lucas Hernandez is still missing from his home in Wichita where he vanished Saturday afternoon. According to local reports,

his stepmother said she fell asleep and she woke up to find the backdoor wide open.

And we do know tonight minutes ago she has been arrested on two counts of child endangerment.

And tragedy tonight in Mobile, Alabama, where a police officer was shot during a standoff with the ex-husband of a woman who had been found dead

earlier in the night. Officer Justin Billa later died at the hospital, he leaves behind a wife and 1-year-old son.

And tonight, after months of suspicion, a man is charged with murder. His wife Isabella disappeared last summer when the couple was sailing the

Florida Straits. Lewis Bennett telling the coast guard she crashed into something while he was down below and the she vanished from the helm.

But experts later found that the damage to the boat was actually caused from the inside. And they said the couple`s catamaran was actually flooded

on purpose.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STUART KAPLAN, FORMER FBI AGENT: They have concluded that there should be a referral to the FBI because apparently there are some inconsistencies or

something that they believe just is not making sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Now Bennett is charged with second-degree murder. He is being held without bond. Prosecutors are saying he is a flight risk.

And with us tonight, Eliot Kleinberg, he is a reporter with the Palm Beach Post. He was in court today. You had been following this case from the

beginning, and I really want to try to figure out as we do this, the motive. Why he would want his new wife with a 9-month-old baby dead.

But I want to start with the facts. So bring us up to date. What were the facts really starting from the beginning here involving, I guess coins that

he stole from another boat.

ELIOT KLEINBERG, REPORTER, THE PALM BEACH POST: Well, officially the first public facts that were known was that on May 15th, in the early hours of

May 15th right after Mother`s Day, Mr. Bennett contacted the coast guard and said that he had been below on their catamaran with his wife, his

newlywed wife of three months. They were on a late honeymoon across the Caribbean.

He went down below, he left her on deck to steer the boat. He said he was awakened about 1 o`clock in the morning by the sound of the catamaran

striking something. He said he went topside and found the boat taking on water and Isabella gone.

He got in a life raft and contacted the coast guard. The coast guard came and got him and brought him to the Keys. What was discovered later was that

when he was landed in the Keys they looked through his backpack and they found thousands of dollars worth of coins that had been reported stolen a

year earlier in St. Martin from a ship on which he was the first mate.

What we were hearing in the first few days was that the coast guard was conducting a search. But a lot of things about the story just -- a lot of

people were contacting, you know, and they were talking that is it sounded fishy if I can use the pun.

And we kept pressing the coast guard did a four-day search and then they called off the search and then we started asking them if they were

continuing to investigate and they finally said yes, they were.

We also found out that within 24 hours of the search being called off, Mr. Bennett who is a dual citizen of Australia and the United Kingdom wrote the

coast guard and said you have the authority to declare someone dead which of course raised a lot of alarms, I guess.

CASAREZ: And how close in time was that to when he was rescued?

KLEINBERG: Twenty four to -- no, it was 24 to 48 hours after the four days of searching was called off.

CASAREZ: OK.

KLEINBERG: We don`t know the exact date because the coast guard will not tell us. We just know the date the letter was written. We also know from

police that Nr. Bennett went to the home of his wife`s family in Boca Raton to get the couple`s daughter who at the time was just a few months old.

[18:05:06] We know from the police that there was a big confrontation and that Mr. Bennett left. We know now from the complaint that he almost

immediately flew to England where his parents live and took the baby with him.

We know that he went on Facebook a few days later to say that he had returned to England and he took a lot of heat on Facebook from people who

without any kind of evidence accused him of murder. He then took down the post and took down his Facebook all together.

Then in August we discovered that he was arrested. A witness learned that we`ve been trying to find out for months how he came back from Florida. We

now understand he come back to handle the insurance for his catamaran. At that time he was arrested on the point.

He pleaded guilty to the coins in November -- I`m sorry, in February, in November, rather, and was to be sentenced yesterday. And when we got to

court yesterday in Miami, we discovered right before the hearing that he in fact had been charged with murder.

CASAREZ: So he was just charged with murder. You know, with us tonight is retired FBI special agent Bobby Chacon, joining us here in New York. Good

to see you.

BOBBY CHACON, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Good to see you.

CASAREZ: So the coins he stole that he has pleaded guilty to, it was long before this belated honeymoon that he and his wife were taking.

CHACON: Right.

CASAREZ: Why wouldn`t you keep the coins at home under the bed? He hadn`t been charged with stealing coins yet, but he had a vast majority of them in

a very heavy backpack on the catamaran.

CHACON: Right.

CASAREZ: What do you think was going on here with these coins?

CHACON: Well, I mean, I think it was a thing of value that he wanted to keep. In fact, it was one of the first things that looks like he loaded

into the life raft while the supposedly the catamaran was sinking. So, in other words, instead of looking for his wife, he claims it just washed

over.

He admits never called out for her, he never put a flair up, up in the air but he did get those coins into the life raft. Those coins were very, very

important to him. And by the sequence of events work out the coins were clearly more important to him than his wife. Because he claims I didn`t set

off a flare, I didn`t even call out for her. I didn`t look around for her, and yet he had time 45 minutes to get those coins into the life raft.

CASAREZ: And so important were those coins, he took them on the catamaran, heavy. You don`t want a lot of weight on your catamaran, right, on the

honeymoon. Makes no sense at all. Kisha, what could be the motive here? Because I know you are a defense attorney here, but he wanted her declared

dead ASAP.

KISHA HEBBON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right. Which is very suspicious.

CASAREZ: Very suspicious.

HEBBON: Normally if someone`s family member is dead, they are going to want that search to continue or the investigation to continue until they get to

the bottom of it. And the motive to me it`s unclear, but they say that there was a type of argument or confrontation that they had with each other

prior to this incident. So clearly something happened to make him proceed in this way and not to care about his wife dying.

CASAREZ: Now Eliot, I want to talk to you, but first, I want everybody to learn a little bit more about this victim. This lady that lost her life.

She was a realtor, she was beloved. And listen to her former employer talk about her as a person.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN SCHACTER, FORMER ISABELLA HELLMAN`S EMPLOYER: Fantastic person. A great mother and very, very bubbly and outgoing and cheerful person. She`s a kind

of person that her personality will brighten up a room. It was a romantic type to get away with her new husband. And I know she was a very, very avid

outdoor person. She loved to do anything involving the sand and the sun on the beach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Eliot, let me ask you, this honeymoon that they went on, this is what I find just so suspicious. All right. It was a two-week honeymoon

supposed to be it was over Mother`s Day. Their son was nine months old. So this would have been the first Mother`s Day for the couple, right?

Celebrating with their son and they went on this voyage. Why did he take the coins with him? What did you know as far as why he would have wanted

his wife dead?

KLEINBERG: First of all, it was a daughter, not a son. And they left the girl with Isabella`s parents in Boca Raton. Two possible motives have

emerged. One was spelled out directly in the complaint and the other is pretty much implied. In the complained they pointed out and we`ve been to

the court hearings. Nothing was in Lewis`s name. He was not a U.S. citizen. The condo was not in his name. It`s Isabella. The bank account was not in

his name.

So we can`t figure out where he made any kind of living. He claimed to have solar panel companies in Australia and Florida, but we couldn`t find any.

The other possible motive is that the family told the police that Isabella had confided to them that he often argued with her because he wanted to

move her and the baby back to Australia where he`d live for a while and she absolutely positively did not want to do that.

[18:09:59] CASAREZ: Right. So we have several things here that are going on. Bobby, the baby is with his family in the U.K. Is that right, Eliot, in

the U.K.?

KLEINBERG: No, They are now, yes. The baby is there now.

CASAREZ: Right. So he took that baby over there as soon as he can.

CHACON: He did.

CASAREZ: And Isabella`s family lost the baby because they were taking care of the baby during the honeymoon.

CHACON: That`s right.

CASAREZ: Is there a way now that -- I mean, he already pleaded guilty with the coins but now he`s charged, and this is federal murder. This isn`t

state murder. This is a federal crime that he has been charged with. Can the baby come back to her family?

CHACON: Well, I think that`s going to have to wait until the federal murder and the federal murder changes get adjudicated. I think that his standing

on getting custody of the child is going to hinge I think in large part on whether he is convicted of this murder and then going to spent a lengthy

time in jail.

CASAREZ: You know, here, Kisha, is one of I think the strongest reasons why he was charged. And by the way, at his sentencing on the charges for the

coins, he was told by his attorney you are now being federally changed for murder of your wife. So that`s how he found out about it.

But an investigation was done by the Department of Navy Architecture with the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. And Eliot, why don`t I ask you. You are the

maven of the fact. Tell us what that study showed about that catamaran and the water that started just coming into it to allow it to sink like that.

KLEINBERG: Of course people who are familiar with the vessels know that a catamaran is a very difficult thing to sink. It`s basically a plaid form on

two long pontoons. What the complaint said was that each of the pontoons they call them halls because they are pretty big.

Each of the halls had a holes punch into it from the inside, you can tell the way that the splinters were so speak. In addition, two parts of the

holes, one in the front and one in the back had been open below the water line.

And so that was something that they ran past an expert at the coast guard academy and he said basically unless this was that event, they had no idea

what they were doing which of course Bennett had sailed for years and years and years that this was -- the term they used was intentionally scuttle the

vessel.

CASAREZ: Right. So the port holes inside that are only used if you have to make an emergency exit, they never open, they were opened and that allowed

the water to come in.

Now this is second degree murder under the federal system not eligible for the death penalty but eligible for life in prison.

HEBBON: Right.

CASAREZ: They never found a body. The search had to be called off. What`s his best defense?

HEBBON: I think he is probably going to say we don`t know what happened to the vessel prior to them going onto it. Something could have been done

before. But it`s going to be difficult. It`s going to be very difficult because of what they found out showing that that hole was done from the

inside and not from the outside. I mean, he claimed that they got into an accident or crashed something and that`s what caused the hole, but it`s

going to be very difficult to prove that he had nothing to do with it.

CASAREZ: Especially when he does asked that she be deemed deceased so shortly after she went missing.

HEBBON: Right.

CASAREZ: We`ve the judge making a ruling on that. His request to have his wife declared dead. I mean, didn`t even have the funeral yet. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People generally hope the other person is alive. And they wait as long as possible. So the immediacy of this is concerning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: So that didn`t fare too well for him right there. When you don`t have the body and you are doing the investigation, I mean, this report from

the coast guard and the special division right there is important evidence right there. But what`s the other evidence that you would collect as part

of that investigation because it took a while to charge him.

CHACON: Sure. And it takes a while before you can establish a murder because you don`t have the body, right. So what you do is take his story

and you start deconstructing it. And they did that. Everything he told them, they couldn`t matchup with anything physically on the boat or back at

home.

Every time that they went back to check something, he said they found out it was either a lie or couldn`t be supported by the facts and the physical

forensics at the crime scene, if you will, of the boat. So, really, his whole story fell apart.

And so you always look at the last person. You only have two people on this boat and one is gone. And so you kind of look at what they say happened.

And everything he told them that happened fell apart. It couldn`t be supported.

So that ultimately leads you down the path. Now it took this long because they went to the naval architecture people and they wanted to make sure

there cross all the T`s and dot all the I`s and say there is no way there`s anything else could have happened except this.

CASAREZ: You know, Eliot, the thing that I`m still perplexed about is that he had already stolen the coins and there was nothing to say that she was

involved in that at all.

[18:14:57] Some were still in his -- their home, he had them stashed. But why would he take them on the catamaran? Do you think the intent was to

sell them, was there an issue that she then said I`m not going to be involved in this and I`m going to tell authorities and so it`s elimination

of a witness, you could say?

KLEINBERG: Well, keep in mind that he was not charged with stealing the coins. He was charged with knowingly transporting stolen coins. The

prosecutor at yesterday`s sentencing said that logic would indicate that if he didn`t steal the coins, he certainly was in on the theft either before,

during, or after the fact.

What he pleaded guilty to was not actually stealing the coins. Of course, we have no mention of the coins from Isabella`s family. We have no way of

knowing whether she knew about the coins. Really, there could be a...

(CROSSTALK)

CASAREZ: And Eliot, my point is he already had them in his possession. Why put them in your backpack to take them on the boat, the catamaran, when you

are going for two weeks. Why not leave them at home under the bed, in the close, keep them where they are.

KLEINBERG: Well, some of the coins were in the catamaran. Some of the coins were at the home in suburban Del Rey Beach and some of the coins have not

been recovered. So it`s impossible to know what the mindset was.

CASAREZ: Well, Kisha, what tells me is he wanted to do something with those coins.

HEBBON: Well, that`s what I`m thinking. And as much as I like to take the defense, I think that he has a -- his motive was money, he wanted to get an

insurance policy cashed in and had no intent on going back to where they lived. He took those coins, he probably was going to use it to live off of

wherever he -- whenever he got off that boat and he had intent to kill his wife before they even set off for this trip.

CASAREZ: Or sell them.

HEBBON: Right.

CASAREZ: And she would have known that those coins were on the boat because there wasn`t too much room on the catamaran.

HEBBON: Right.

(CROSSTALK)

CHACON: He might sold some of them. Some of them, Eliot just said, some of them are still missing.

HEBBON: Right.

CHACON: He might have sold some of them on an island that they stopped at which he said as his source of income.

CASAREZ: And we`ll see the prosecution`s theory as the case goes on the discovery goes back and forth. I mean, the federal complaint was very

thick, but I think it will be interesting just to learn and prosecutors don`t have to prove it, but to know why he wanted the mother of his 9-

month-old child dead and he is innocent until proven guilty.

The man known as the dentist to the stars is behind bars, but not for anything that happened in his dentist`s chair or his office. Police say the

successful doctor did the unthinkable. He murdered his elderly mother. Now the question is why.

[18:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CASAREZ: When you think about Beverly Hills, you think about palm trees, shopping and mansions. Inside those mansions, you don`t think about murder.

But after four months of investigating, that is what police say happened to Violet Yacobi, a 67-year-old grandmother whose son and daughter went to

check in on her and found she was not breathing. But something just didn`t seem right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELISABETH ALBANESE, POLICE OFFICER, BEVERLY HILLS POLICE DEPARTMENT: The homicide investigation was initiated that same night. As they began to work

through their investigation and talk to witnesses and uncover some evidence, that`s what led them to believe that her son was in fact the

suspect in the homicide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Her son is Daniel Yacobi. He is a very, very prominent dentist in Los Angeles. He`s a dentist to even celebrities. But tonight he is behind

bars charged with murdering his own mother. And police think they know why he did it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBANESE: The crime was committed with the motivation of financial gain and certainly that`s very disturbing in this situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Financial gain and he`s dentist to the stars? I just don`t get it.

With us tonight is investigative reporter, Tom Perumean. Thank you very much. You know, I look at this home, we have to show everybody this home

that 67-year-old Violet Yacobi lived in. This home is a mansion in Beverly Hills.

TOM PERUMEAN, REPORTER, KTAR 92.3: Absolutely.

CASAREZ: Right in the heart of Beverly Hills. Well over 6,000 feet and in that home, in her home is where she was murdered. Tom, how was she murdered

in that home?

PERUMEAN: They say she was strangled in that home. By the way, that home is in what`s known as Beverly Hills`s golden triangle. It`s a short walk to

the Beverly Hilton hotel, Los Angeles Country Club and rodeo drive. The home itself is worth more than $6 million.

CASAREZ: Right. Right. I mean, we see it here. What was her family`s background? Her husband. I mean, how did they get to Beverly Hills, were

they a long standing Beverly Hills family?

PERUMEAN: I`ve been digging around in this and they were -- from what I can understand other than the son, they were a very private family.

[18:25:01] I haven`t been able to find a lot of information about Daniel Yacobi`s father. The mother was very known in the community and was very

well liked but as for how they got their money and what they did I haven`t been able to uncover a lot of that.

Now as for Daniel Yacobi, I mean, the dentist to the stars is one thing. He runs a number of dental offices in the San Fernando Valley and in Los

Angeles. He studies implant dentistry at Boston University. A lot of money to pay for his education, a lot of money coming in. I mean, being a

dentist, you know, and running the kinds of business he has, he had his practically a license to print money.

CASAREZ: Sure. Definitely. What happened? Because it was October, this last fall. October 10th. Police responded to the home. Just go through with us.

But what`s amazing to me is who went to check on her to see if she was OK?

PERUMEAN: Daniel`s younger sister had been out of touch with his -- with their mother and they tried calling her on October 9th. Then on the 10th,

apparently Daniel and his sister went to the house to check on their mother to see if she was OK. They found she was not breathing, and in fact they

called the police and when Beverly Hills police arrive they initiated the investigation.

The interesting this is it isn`t just the Beverly Hills that got involved in this investigation, but the United States Secret Service also got

involved in it. It was their department of electronic crimes task force out of the Los Angeles office and coroner also participated in this murder

investigation.

CASAREZ: And that`s whey want to ask retired FBI special agent Bobby Chacon. This really struck me because it`s different. We don`t hear this

all the time. She is strangled in her own home.

CHACON: Right.

CASAREZ: In her huge home. And it`s the Beverly Hills police were the initial ones.

CHACON: Right.

CASAREZ: Of course you got Los Angeles and all of their resources, too, if needed. But the United States Secret Service electronic crimes task force.

CHACON: Right.

CASAREZ: Why would they get involved?

CHACON: Well, I don`t know specifically, but it indicates to me there was something in his background in this dentist to the stars with all these

dental clinics that he is running that maybe he is moving money around illegally, or he was doing something that got onto their radar and that`s

what -- that`s what Beverly Hills with the seemingly local homicide case and the federal government get tied together.

Because it seems like maybe they had something on him when Beverly Hills goes and runs his name, they realize that, hey, in some database that hit,

we are looking at this guy for something else which all may -- also may indicate a financial motive. Maybe he is moving money around because he

doesn`t have as much money as he supposedly has. And maybe that could lead to a financial motive.

CASAREZ: Right. What do you think about the fact that they say that through physical, digital, and other evidence, they developed what they believe was

probably the cause of why he committed this murder?

HEBBON: Well, in most criminal cases there is circumstantial evidence which here they don`t have direct evidence. And as Bobby said, there must be

something that may be related to his businesses or some type of electronic whether it`s the computers or cell phones or anything of that nature.

But I find it strange that the reporters said that they don`t know how this family came into some -- or where they get most of their money from. I

mean, that house is beautiful, it`s huge and he`s a dentist to the stars. Presumably he has money. So it`s very suspicious to me that we don`t know

how the mother became this wealthy and what the reason for this type of case would be for.

CASAREZ: Yes. And Kisha, you`re right. Because he is not only being charged with murder, but in California to be eligible for the death penalty, as in

many states, you have to have a special circumstance or an aggravating factor. And what they have in this complaint is special circumstance

allegation of murder for financial gain.

So they definitely do believe that he wanted money and could get it through apparently having his mother die in some form of fashion him not being

associated with it.

But, Tom, here`s what I want to ask you, right, a sister. You had mentioned that.

PERUMEAN: yes.

CASAREZ: So it`s just the two of them in the family.

PERUMEAN: At this time that`s what we know. It`s just the two of them. Exactly.

CASAREZ: Right. And isn`t it true that he and his sister, he went with his sister to the home because they couldn`t reach the mother.

PERUMEAN: Right.

CASAREZ: All right. And he`s got...

(CROSSTALK)

PERUMEAN: He tried contacting her on October 9th, the day before. They couldn`t reach her and they went on the 10th and that`s when supposedly

they found her. The police say she was in fact killed on the ninth.

CASAREZ: Well, that`s very interesting and he does have an excellent attorney out in Los Angeles, Trent Copeland. You know him. We`ve seen him

for years. He is talking about don`t rush to judgment in all of this. And I think we have a little bit of that sound. Let`s listen to Trent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[18:30:02] TRENT COPELAND, DANIEL YACOBI`S ATTORNEY: No one is perfect. No investigation is perfect and I hope to prove that my client is innocent and

I hope to also prove that this investigation was somehow flawed. Because clearly, our view is this is not the right person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, CNN AND HLN: All right, so Bobby, the police department is saying and prosecutors that through physical, digital, and

other evidence -- physical, digital, and other other evidence, they developed sufficient evidence to believe that Violet`s (ph) son caused the

death.

But Frank Copeland (ph) specifically told our show that there is absolutely no physical evidence connecting my client to any crime and in a world where

DNA and fibers are key elements to connecting the dots, there has been no connection here at all, and I look forward to vigorously defending him.

So we see sort of --

BOBBY CHACON, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Yes, the police are saying we have physical evidence and the defense is saying they don`t. Well, that`s not

unusual, right? So, it will be presented to a jury and they will decide. DNA is tough in a case like this because he is her son, so his DNA is

probably going to be all over that house anyway.

So it really have to be, you know, damning DNA on her body, which as a dentist, you know, he has had access to the rubber gloves and other things

that might be forensic countermeasures. So, you know, there is a lot going on here, but, you know, clearly the police say they have physical evidence.

We are careful not to say DNA evidence, so DNA evidence in a case like this would be tough. You know, if it was somebody unconnected to her and all of

a sudden you find their DNA in her bedroom or wherever she is found, that`s more damning. With the son, it is not -- it is not as important because he

has a legitimate reason for his DNA to be all over the house.

CASAREZ: He should first of all, when we look at the home and we look at the neighborhood, you cannot tell me that there are not surveillance

cameras --

KISHA HEBBON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right.

CASAREZ: -- everywhere. So, they can extrapolate back to when they believe the time of death was, the day of death, which would have been a day

before, and they can review the footage.

HEBBON: Right. They will be able to see if the son entered the home during that day. They will be able to see if a stranger entered the home during

that day.

And as far as the defense attorney`s comment, every defense attorney is going to come off as confident and to say, my client is innocent, there is

not enough evidence. We all know that an arrest cannot take place without probable cause, so there is something linking this murder to her son.

CASAREZ: That`s right. And it is death penalty eligible.

HEBBON: Right.

CASAREZ: And that is, you know, charged with first-degree murder now at this point. Defending him, what would you look at? What would you look for,

because he is a prominent dentist, so my guess is there is no rap sheet.

HEBBON: Right. Credibility is a big issue in any trial. The jurors look at the credibility of the defendant, and of the prosecution`s witnesses. So I

would look at if there is a lack of DNA, I would drive that point home.

If there is no surveillance of him being in the home, I will push that he is a prominent dentist. He has his own money. I will try to use those

things to persuade the jury that he had no motive and that he was not involved in this crime.

CASAREZ: You know, he had a Facebook account. Remember, this was a long investigation. I mean, last October is when she was found strangled. He was

just charged with the murder, so that is a four-month investigation right there.

He wrote on his Facebook page during that interim time right there, just today marks the day that my mother would have been 68 years old and he goes

on to talk about what a beautiful person she was, an amazing woman to her children and grandchildren, she was loved by all.

What side is going to use this? Because the prosecutor can say this is consciousness of guilt trying to cover it up, but the defense can use it,

too.

HEBBON: I would say as a defense attorney, it shows that he has a conscience and that he really misses his mother, that he had not involved

with it, and that he was hurt behind it. Normally you have people who don`t show any type of emotion if they are involved in a crime, if they are

sociopathic or psychotic or something like that. So I would use that statement on Facebook in my client`s defense.

CASAREZ: On the other hand, with premeditated murder, you plan ahead, you figure it out, and if he knew it was closing in on him because he wrote

this close to the time --

CHACON: Sure.

CASAREZ: -- of when he was arrested.

CHACON: Sure. And I don`t think it`s any coincidence that he brought his sister there with him when he finds the mother. He wanted to have a witness

there with him. He didn`t want to find her by himself. If he in fact did it on the ninth, as the medical exam was saying, that is when she died, he

goes back on attempt with the sister.

He doesn`t go back alone. So they probably look into it. They probably asked the sister, did he ask you to go with him? How did that all manifest?

How did you get to go with him? Because if he in fact did it, he would want to take a witness with him to find the body.

CASAREZ: That`s right. The devil is in the details. If the sister was so concerned, he said I will go with you versus -- it could go either way,

right?

HEBBON: Right.

CASAREZ: Either way, but obviously if he did this, it was an intentional plan to cover this up.

HEBBON: Right. I mean, it happens all the time. And the fact that it took four months for them to finally charge him indicates to me it may not be as

strong of a case

[18:35:00] for the prosecution as they like.

CASAREZ: And he is innocent until proven guilty, but just the thought of strangling your own mother --

HEBBON: Right.

CASAREZ: -- is just something that is imaginable to even think about. All right, we will keep following this case.

Coming up, two small children found alone in their home in Illinois, but the bigger mystery is why. Mother, her estranged husband, and her

boyfriend, they are all missing. And police say they are endangered. Why police suspect foul play, next.

[18:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CASAREZ: Tonight in Illinois, police are looking for two faces, 22-year-old Danielle Son and her live-in boyfriend Sergio. And though her babies were

home alone when Danielle`s family went to check on her Monday, just two and 11-month old, Danielle and Sergio have not been seen since this last

weekend.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

AMBER WILSON, NEIGHBOR: They were an asset to the neighborhood. They seemed like a real good couple, real good neighbors. You know, just one of the

helpful -- helpful ones in the area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: But Danielle and Sergio are not the only people who have vanished. Danielle`s husband is missing too, 26-year-old Hand Son, who`s relationship

with Danielle seems to be a little rocky.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

WILSON: Initially, you know, when the whole break up happened, there was a little -- a little altercation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Now police say all three are endangered and they say they suspect foul play. With us tonight, Courtney Bunting. She is a reporter for CNN

affiliate WIFR. OK, I want to get this straight. There are three people missing. They went missing on Saturday. So this is -- this is very

recently. But explain to us exactly who is missing and what vehicle is gone.

COURTNEY BUNTING, REPORTER, CNN AFFILIATE WIFR (via telephone): Right, exactly. So it was on Friday the 17th that the family said they last had

contact with Danielle Son and she is 22. And she was living with her boyfriend who is Sergio. He is 25 years old and they were living here in

Rockford on 10th Avenue.

And then also they were reported missing along with Danielle`s estranged husband, Hand Son. Like you said, they were still married, but they were

estranged. He was estranged from her, rather. So, she -- we actually ended up looking up some court documents and saw that there was quite a history

between those two. And there was a report of domestic battery and that was back in January.

CASAREZ: You are talking about between Danielle and Hand Son, the estranged husband?

BUNTING (via telephone): Yes, that`s correct. And on the 16th, which is the day before she was last seen, she filed for divorce, but that is still

pending.

CASAREZ: Now, was she living with Sergio Quiroz, her boyfriend?

BUNTING (via telephone): Yes, she was living with her boyfriend. But according to her family and this was something we couldn`t get confirmed by

any court documents, but according to her family, she had a restraining order filed against her estranged husband, Hand. So she was living with her

two children with Sergio.

CASAREZ: All right. So, Courtney, what vehicle is missing?

BUNTING (via telephone): So, the vehicle that`s missing belongs to Hand Son. He of course is the estranged husband. It is a white Toyota Scion.

Police described it as having red wheels or rims. They say that his vehicle is missing, but when I spoke to family, I also heard that Danielle`s

vehicle had popped up at Holiday Inn that was near her home.

They said that her vehicle had been found and that she was also missing her glasses which she needed to drive, but of course that was something that I

only heard from family. Police did not confirm that, but they do confirm that Hand Son`s vehicle is missing.

CASAREZ: All right. Well, joining us tonight is the police chief, Dan O`Shea. He is with the Rockford Police Department right there in Illinois.

Chief, thank you for joining us. I mean, three people missing. You believe they are endangered. That`s the word that we have right here. Are you

getting tips that are coming in that alert you to where to look for these people?

DAN O`SHEA, CHIEF, ROCKFORD POLICE DEPARTMENT: The investigators are currently accepting tips from anybody who has information. I`m not sure

what tips have come in, if any. But they are talking to family, friends, and trying to investigate the disappearance of three adults who left behind

obviously --

CASAREZ: Do you believe that they are all in the vehicle of, I guess, the estranged husband? That vehicle?

O`SHEA: We don`t know. We haven`t been able to locate his vehicle for Hand Son, and we are currently looking for that vehicle as well as all three

individuals.

CASAREZ: So you don`t know. What about the fact that her vehicle, Danielle`s was found at a local hotel parking lot? Is that true?

[18:45:00] O`SHEA: I`m not sure if it was found in a local hotel parking lot or not. Again, the investigation details, I am not privy to at this

particular moment. We are just putting a plea via the media, all media, social media to help us locate this vehicle and these three individuals.

CASAREZ: All right. And we are going to do more on this in just a minute because these three people are missing. They believe they are endangered

and they need to be found. We will continue our conversation right after this break.

[18:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CASAREZ: We are still talking about the unlikely trio missing in northern Illinois tonight. A young mother, her boyfriend, and her husband. Police

say all three are considered endangered and tonight they do suspect foul play. And why? Because nobody has seen Danielle since Saturday. This is a

young mother. And when her family went to find her two days ago, no one was home, but her babies.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

WILSON: Everybody was knocking on the door and they hear the babies in there and so that`s when, you know, it really became apparent and a big

shock to us that something was really going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Courtney Bunting, reporter for CNN affiliate WIFR, Chief Dan O`Shea with the Rockford Police Department, and defense attorney Kisha

Hebbon, all join us tonight. Chief, I do want to ask you. You said in the last segment that you were not sure if they are all in the vehicle which is

the estranged husband`s vehicle.

We believe it`s a white 2007 Toyota with red rims. We have the license plate also. You see it right there. If you don`t think or know that they

are all in the vehicle, are you doing a ground search at this point?

O`SHEA: For individuals? No, we are not. We don`t. We are currently looking at the vehicle.

CASAREZ: You are not?

O`SHEA: No.

CASAREZ: OK. So, you are not doing a ground search. You are just simply looking for this vehicle. So then you do think because you want to find

three people that are missing, so you must think that they are in that vehicle, right?

O`SHEA: Well, we are not sure if they are in that vehicle or that vehicle took them somewhere. You know, we need to find the vehicle and the people,

but we don`t have a ground search you do when you have a particular area to look for people.

CASAREZ: Of course, exactly. Of course, exactly because the vehicle would have dropped them off or committed a horrible and heinous crime and left

the bodies. This is a missing person case right here. So, have you alerted -- what interstates do you have that are close to Rockford?

O`SHEA: I-90 and I-39 both run through the city.

CASAREZ: Right. And so they can leave town very, very quickly. We do want to talk to a family member because our reporter tonight, Courtney Bunting

with CNN affiliate WIFR, actually spoke to the father of Danielle, the father of this young mother. Let`s roll that sound.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): It`s devastating right now not knowing what`s going, what happened, where they could be. If they are safe or dead

or alive or anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: All right. I want to go to Kisha, because what just really stands out to me here is that these two babies were left alone in the home.

HEBBON: Right.

CASAREZ: Not only the fact that they were left alone, but the fact that they didn`t accompany the three adults.

HEBBON: That just to me indicates that something obviously happened to the mother. And I can`t see a person targeting a woman, her estranged husband,

and her boyfriend. I think that the estranged husband who is probably not happy about this new boyfriend, the wife just filed for divorce, I think he

has something to do with the disappearance.

And also it is his vehicle that is considered missing. They found the wife`s vehicle, the mother`s vehicle. So I think that he has something to

do with it. I can`t see this like being a person just came and kidnapped the wife, the husband, and the new boyfriend.

CASAREZ: And someone wanted those children to potentially live.

HEBBON: Right.

CASAREZ: All right. We are going to keep on these three people. Look for that vehicle, that white vehicle, because this needs to be solved. These

people need to be found.

His story was featured in "Making a Murderer." Now, attorneys for Brendan Dassey are calling on the highest court in the land to feature his case.

That is next.

[18:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CASAREZ: His case was spotlighted in the hit Netflix documentary "Making a Murderer." Now attorneys for Brendan Dassey want the Supreme Court to

review his case. Dassey is serving a life sentence for the murder of Teresa Halbach. His legal team has filed a petition asking the justices to throw

out the confession he made more than a decade ago, saying it was improperly coerced.

According to the brief they claim investigators got him to falsely confess that he helped his uncle Steven Avery commit the murder. Dassey was just 16

at the time. The Supreme Court is expected to decide whether to hear the case in late spring.

The next hour of "Crime and Justice" starts right now.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He could be sentenced to death.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sentence him to the ultimate penalty under law.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For what he did to an 8-year-old girl.

[19:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You thought he was out there going to get cheeseburgers?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But today, he is laughing in court. Tonight, we hear from another victim who survived.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He told me to

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His mother was found dead in her Beverly Hills mansion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The homicide investigation was initiated that same night.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But police say her own son strangled her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The crime was committed with the motivation of financial gain.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A prominent Los Angeles dentist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was not the right person.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who is probably not smiling now.

Two babies home alone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody was at that door. And you could hear the babies in there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the mother is nowhere to be found.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who were obviously afraid for being out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just to not even know how could she have gotten out of the house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Neither is her boyfriend or estranged husband.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All three are now considered missing and in danger.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why police think this is foul play.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They seemed like a good couple. Real good neighbors.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, HLN HOST: I`m Jean Casarez for Ashleigh Banfield. Thank you so much for joining us. This is the second hour of CRIME AND JUSTICE.

It is down to the wire for Donald Smith, the man convicted of kidnapping an 8-year-old girl after befriending her family at a Walmart. Before he

sexually assaulted, he strangled her and dumped her into a body into a creek.

The crimes are sickening and serious. But he is laughing in court, smiling at the proceedings today as a jury considers sentencing him to death.

Someone who has not been laughing is the mother who said goodbye to her little girl without realizing it when Donald Smith took Cherish to get

burgers, now forced to relive that final moment in court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you have ever let your child leave the store and leave the Wal-Mart with this defendant?

RAYNE PERRYWINKLE, CHERISH PERRYWINKLE`S MOTHER: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You thought they were going to get cheeseburgers?

PERRYWINKLE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma`am, when your daughter followed this defendant towards McDonald`s, was that the last time you ever saw your daughter

alive?

PERRYWINKLE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: One more person who is not laughing is the woman Donald Smith nearly kidnapped years before he took Cherish. She was 13 back then, but

the pain is still with her today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He looked at me like he was -- I knew he was going to hurt me. He told me to get the (bleep). (INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: And with us tonight is Rachel Stockman. She is the editor in chief with the Law and Crime Network. Thank you so much for joining us.

I know you are covering this gavel to gavel. We are now in the death penalty phase, I guess, both sides have rested at this point just for

argument tomorrow?

RACHEL STOCKMAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, LAW AND CRIME NETWORK: Yes. We just have closings tomorrow and then this is in the hands of the jurors. They are

going to decide whether to put this man to death or whether they put him behind bars for life.

It`s a huge decision, but I got to tell you. If there was ever a case where you want to put someone to death, it`s this one. The details that you went

through are just so horrendous. What he did to this little girl. This is not the first time he has done this. He has a history. He has a track

record. He doesn`t seem remorseful. So I think there is a very good chance he gets put to death.

CASAREZ: And of course, the defense wants to do anything they can to get him life. They want him to live out his life. And so, who did they put on

as a witness today in court, but this man`s own son, Donald Smith`s son. He was via skype, but he talks about the father that he will lose if he dies.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD SMITH JR., DONALD SMITH`S SON: When I was nine, he just got done with a 10-year prison sentence and so I was really looking forward to

seeing him and his mom picked him up from rehab. And he was not really interested in me at all. And that, you know really hurt. I lived a crazy

life. It was not all his fault, but you know, I didn`t have that father figure around to lead me in the right ways and definitely there was a pain

there. So there was abandonment issues. And when I found drugs, I wasn`t using them to ease pain, but I found out that it did ease pain and helped

me to forget and so I made it a habit. It lasted probably 10 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:05:01] CASAREZ: So that was a little echo and hard to hear. And you are saying that he did that from a McDonald`s?

STOCKMAN: That`s what we heard that he was actually skyping in to his father`s death penalty phase while he was a work I guess at a McDonald`s. I

think the point of this testimony was trying to humanize this monster to the jurors and try get at least to say, you know what, I have to save this

guy`s life because he has son and that son relies on his father.

I don`t know if it`s going to work because that son also talked about how the two of them would do drugs together and how his father would be abusive

towards him. So I think it`s going to be a tough call if that`s going to work for the juror.

CASAREZ: Yes. And then forwarded it to unanimous. It didn`t has to be. It used to be by a clear majority, but now it`s unanimous.

Well, there was another witness today and it was a prior victim of Donald Smith. And her named is Kerri-Anne Buck. She took the witness stand to

testify what happened to her It is a horrendous story and we do have Kerri- Anne with us tonight.

Kerri-Anne, thank you for joining us. I can imagine what you went through, what you had to relive on that that witness stand, but your story is

extremely valuable. Not only for the court and the jury to hear the potential of what this man allegedly did or could do, but what happened in

1992?

KERRI-ANNE BUCK, VICTIMIZED BY DONALD SMITH: I had gone to church Sunday like any other Sunday. It was after church. I stopped home to change my

clothes and was on my way to a friend`s house. Donald Smith approached me on a backroad and ultimately tried to kidnap me.

CASAREZ: It must have been horrifying. So you -- did he have a van? I mean, what was the vehicle that he had to try to kidnap you?

BUCK: Yes, he was driving a gray van.

CASAREZ: And that`s what we hear time after time, a van. So you ran away, is that what you did and you went to some play equipment in a children`s

park area?

BUCK: I did. I went to a friend`s house first and there was no one home. So I went to a nearby playground and hid in a tube slide.

CASAREZ: Wow. Now what I think you did in that tube slide is just chilling because the whole point of a tube slide is to go down it and then you are

exposed and he was right there waiting for you to abduct you. What did you do?

BUCK: It was a moment that I was slipping and I was just afraid.

CASAREZ: So you held on for dear life in that tube so you wouldn`t go down. How long did you have to do that while he was still outside of that tube

slide waiting for you?

BUCK: At that time I think the concept of time was difficult. It felt like forever. I think ultimately it was between 10 and 15 minutes.

CASAREZ: Did you finally realize that he was gone? How did you finally feel that you could go down and expose yourself and could not be kidnapped?

BUCK: The van was very loud. The muffler was loud. So I waited and I did - I started to hear it get further away and then after I didn`t hear it, I

stayed for a little while longer before I came out.

CASAREZ: Oh, my goodness. My goodness. And how has that impacted your life?

BUCK: It changed my life forever. I was a very outgoing child. I loved to walk. I loved to spend time with friends. They were things I didn`t do any

longer after that. It affects the way I raise my children. They don`t get out much. They are pretty sheltered. I don`t do thing that is normal

parents do with their children like take them to the fair or to amusement parks.

CASAREZ: And the emotion is raw inside of you as it was so many years ago in 1992. I think what we all have to remember is that something like this,

you didn`t get kidnapped thank goodness, by the Grace of God you didn`t get kidnapped, but you are a victim in that you will be affected by this for

the rest of your life.

You know, you obviously were a prosecution witness. The defense though didn`t put on a case, but boy are they doing stuff in this penalty phase.

We have pictures that I`m sure were hard for to you watch and look at. But I want the viewers to see what the defense put up. Childhood pictures of

Donald Smith. I think we have them that they are trying to show to the jury this lovely precious little boy that he is a human being, that he has a

life that I`m sure the argument is that only God should take and many people believe that. There he is.

Now I think we have pictures of him as an adult that were shown to everyone in court. A little different from these home pictures of what the defense

said is a fine young man growing up. Those are the pictures. That`s the rap sheet. Those are the mug shots. Year after year starting with assault. Many

of them having to do with young children. But he was out. And he had just gotten out to allow him to murder, kidnap and murder Cherish Perrywinkle.

All of that.

You know, he did laugh in court today. I want everybody to hear the sound because this is a death penalty sentencing right here and he had a

neuroscientist, a neuropsychologist who took the stand. And you know, the defense usually needs that in a death penalty sentencing phase. But watch

what the defendant does.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[19:11:44] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just slow it down a little bit.

DR. JOSEPH WU, WITNESS FOR DONALD SMITH`S DEFENSE: Yes, I`m sorry. I have been told before they get excited. It`s hard for me to slow down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: I guess everybody reacts in different ways.

But Kisha, they are trying to save his life and they are doing everything they can -- the childhood photos, the son. But this is Florida. But it has

to be unanimous at this point.

KISHA HEBBON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right. I do not think that the jurors are going to feel sympathetic to this defendant. During any sentencing phase,

the mitigating and aggravating factors are weighed. And in this case, the aggravating factors clearly outweigh the mitigating factors. And jurors do

not like people who is take advantage of innocent children, who rape children, who murder children. And this man obviously is a predator. So

they can show all the childhood pictures and try to humanize him. And his son didn`t even feel was respectful enough to appear in court. He appeared

via skype. That shows that he really probably doesn`t feel that his father deserve his testimony at the sentencing hearing. So I doubt that he is

going to be spared to death penalty.

CASAREZ: Kerri-Anne, what was it like seeing him in court after so many years?

BUCK: I think that that was one of the hardest parts about testifying was having to see him again. I felt like a little girl again.

CASAREZ: Did you make eye contact with him? Did he make eye contact with you?

BUCK: Yes.

CASAREZ: While you were testifying during that moment or before or after while you were talking?

BUCK: When I first sat down on the stand after I stated my name. I glanced over and he was looking at me.

CASAREZ: We see you shaking on the stand. But how brave you were to do this because it shows a pattern. And it just -- in the sentencing phase, it can

help prosecutors be able to get that death penalty. Did you ever have second thoughts about doing this because you knew it was going to be hard?

BUCK: In the beginning I wasn`t sure if I wanted to. There was - it did come a point in time that I ultimately the day that I have decided. I had

come across an article with a picture of Cherish. And I knew I had to be her voice.

CASAREZ: So you were Cherish`s voice in that courtroom. That precious little girl. That`s really something.

BUCK: I think I`m the closest person to be able to explain the fear she had.

CASAREZ: And you know, Kerri-Anne, as an attorney and having covered so many trials, when the victim comes to life in that courtroom and that does

happen. Just it happens in very, very different ways for every case. It is where a courtroom stands still because the victim has come to life through

the testimony. And that is one thing you did in all of this.

You know, the defense also called a mitigation expert to mitigate it down to life in prison. Listen a little bit to what Brooke Butler said to the

jury.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[19:15:26] DR. BROOKE BUTLER, WITNESS FOR DONALD SMITH`S DEFENSE: His first stuff, Mr. Clifford Smith passed away, he did leave Mr. Donaldson an

inheritance. That was I would say approximately $100,000. Maybe more, maybe less, but approximately. And he blew all of that in a matter of weeks on

crack. That he stayed up for days on end without sleep, without eating and just did was on a crack binge for weeks and weeks and weeks and just blew

it all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Kerri-Anne, I want to ask you, as a living victim of Donald Smith, did you look at jury in that courtroom today and what did you see?

BUCK: I did. I did look at them while I was testifying. And I can`t imagine. This has to be so hard for them as well. You know, the things they

had to hear and see. They look tired.

CASAREZ: They look tired. They look tired. And their deliberation starts tomorrow. And you know, we did heard, Rachel, that the autopsy photos and

the photos of her being found in the creek were very, very horrendous to the point of being prejudicial for a fair trial. But they needed to see

some of them. I`m sure they didn`t see all of them.

STOCKMAN: And those were not released to the media for obvious reasons. And something that happened that I have never seen before is a medical

examiner. A person who is used to seeing these bodies actually broke down on the stand and had to take a break. I never had seen that before. It was

really an emotional part.

CASAREZ: All right. Well, tomorrow, it is argument and then it is on to deliberations. So tomorrow night we may have a penalty verdict in this

death penalty trial and we will have it for you.

The man known as the dentist to the stars is behind bars tonight, but not for anything that happened in the dentist chair or his office. Police say

the successful doctor did the unthinkable. He murdered his elderly mother. Now the question is, why?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:22:41] CASAREZ: When you think about Beverly Hills, you think of palm trees, shopping and mansions. Inside those mansions, you don`t think about

murder. But after four months of investigating, that is what police say happened to Violet Yacoby, a 67-year-old grandmother whose son and daughter

went to check on her and they found that she wasn`t breathing. But something just didn`t seem right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. ELISABETH ALBANESE, BEVERLY HILLS PD: The homicide investigation was initiated that same night. And as they worked through the investigation and

talked to witnesses and uncovered some evidence, that`s what led them to believe that her son was in fact the suspect in the homicide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Her son is Daniel Yacoby. He is a very, very prominent dentist in Los Angeles. He is a dentist to even celebrities. But tonight he is behind

bars, charged with murdering his own mother. And police think they know why he did it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBANESE: The crime was committed with the motivation of financial gain and certainly that`s very disturbing in this situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Financial gain and he is dentist to the stars? I just don`t get it.

With us tonight, investigative reporter Tom .

Thank you very much. You know, I look at this home, we have to show everybody this home that 67-year-old Violet Yacoby lived in. This was her

home. It`s a mansion in Beverly Hills.

TOM PERUMEAN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER (on the phone): Absolutely.

CASAREZ: Right in the heart of Beverly Hills. Well over 6,000 feet and in that home, in her home is where she was murdered.

Tom, how was she murdered in that home?

PERUMEAN: Well, they say she was strangled in that home. By the way, that home is in what`s known as Beverly Hills`s golden triangle. It`s a short

walk to the Beverly Hills hotel, Los Angeles country club and Rodeo Drive. The home itself is worth more than $6 million.

CASAREZ: Right. I mean, we see it here. What was her family`s background. Her husband? I mean, how did they get to Beverly Hills? Were they a long

standing Beverly Hills family?

PERUMEAN: I have been digging around in this and from what I can understand, other than the son, they were a very private family. I haven`t

been able to find a lot of information about Daniel, Yacoby`s father. The mother was very well-known in the community, very well liked. But as for

how they got their money and what they did, I haven`t been able to uncover a lot of that.

Now as for Daniel Yacoby, I mean, dentist to the stars is one thing. He runs a number of dental offices in the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles.

He studied implant dentistry at Boston University. So a lot of money to pay for his education. A lot of money coming in. I mean, being a dentist, you

know, running the kinds of business he is, he had a practically license to print money.

[19:25:44] CASAREZ: Sure. Definitely. What happened? Because at was October, this last fall, October 10th. Police responded to the home, just

go through with us. And what`s amazing to me is who went to check on her to see if she was OK.

PERUMEAN: Daniel`s younger sister had been out of touch with their mother. And they tried calling her on October 9th and then on the 10th, apparently

Daniel and his sister went to the house to check on their mother to see if she was OK. They found that she was not breathing and in fact they called

the police. And when the Beverly Hills police arrived, they initiated the investigation.

The interesting thing is it`s not just Beverly Hills police that got involved in this investigation, but the United States secret service also

got involved in it. It was their department of electronic crimes task force out of the Los Angeles office and the coroner also participating in the

murder investigation.

CASAREZ: And that`s what I want to ask, retired special agent Bobby Chacon. This really struck me because it is different. We don`t hear this all the

time. She strangled in her own home, in her huge home. And it`s the Beverly Hills police were the initial ones. Of course, you have Los Angeles and all

of their resources, too, if needed. But the United States secret service electronic crimes task force.

BOBBY CHACON, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Right.

CASAREZ: Why would they get involved?

CHACON: Well, I don`t know specifically, but it indicates to me that there was something in his background in this dentist to the stars, with all

these dental clinic that he has running. Maybe he is moving money around illegal or he was doing something that got on to their radar. And that`s

what Beverly Hills with the seemingly local homicide case and the federal government get tied together. Because it seems to me like maybe they had

something on him when Beverly Hills goes and run this, his name. They realized that hey, in some database that -- we are looking at this guy for

something else. Which tell me, also may indicate a financial motive. Maybe he is moving money around because he doesn`t have as much money as he

supposedly has. And maybe that could lead to a financial motive.

CASAREZ: Right. What do you think about the fact that they say through a physical, digital and other evidence they developed what they believed was

probably cause and he committed this murder.

HEBBON: Well, in most criminal cases there is circumstantial evidence which here, they don`t have direct evidence. And as Bobby said, there must be

something that may be related to his businesses or some type of electronic whether it be computers or cell phones or anything of that nature. But I

find it strange that the reporter said that they don`t know how this family or where the family gets their money from. I mean, the house is beautiful.

It is huge. And if he is a dentist to the stars, presumably he has money. So it`s very suspicious to me that we don`t know how it`s wealthy and the

reason for this type of case would be for.

CASAREZ: And Kisha, you are right. Because he has not only been changed with murder, but in California, to be eligible for the death penalty as in

many states, you have to have a special circumstance or an aggravating factor. And what they have in this complaint is special circumstance

allegation of murder for financial gain. So they definitely do believe that he wanted money and could get it through apparently having his mother die

in some former fashion and him not being associated with it.

But tom, here is what I want at I want to ask you. He has got a sibling, Right, a , you would mentioned that. So it`s just the two of them in the

family.

PERUMEAN: At this time that`s what we know. It is just the two of them, exactly.

CASAREZ: Right. And isn`t it true that he and his sister, he went with his sister to the home because they couldn`t reach the mother.

PERUMEAN: Right.

CASAREZ: All right.

PERUMEAN: The tried contacting her on October 9th, the day before. They couldn`t reach here. They went on the 10th. And that is when supposedly

they found her. The police say that she was in fact killed on the ninth.

CASAREZ: Well, that is a very interesting. And he does have an excellent attorney out in Los Angeles (INAUDIBLE). You know him. We have seen him for

years.

He is talking about don`t rush the judgment in all of this and I think we have a little bit of that sound. Let`s listen to Trent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one`s perfect. No investigation is perfect. And I can -- and I hope to prove that my client is innocent and I hope to also prove

that this investigation is somehow flawed, because clearly our view is that this is not the right person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: All right. So, Bobby, the police department is saying and prosecutors that through physical, digital and other evidence, they

developed sufficient evidence to believe that Violet`s son caused the death but Trent Copeland specifically told our show that there is absolutely no

physical evidence connecting my client to any crime and in a world where DNA and fibers are key elements to connecting the dots. There has been no

connection here at all and I look forward to vigorously defending him. So we see sort of --

BOBBY CHACON, RETIRED FBI AGENT: Yes. The police are saying we have physical evidence and the Defense are saying they don`t. Well, that`s not

unusual, right? So, a jury will be presented to a jury and they will decide. DNA is tough in a case like because he`s her son. So his DNA is

probably going to be all over that house anyway. So, it really have to be, you know, damning DNA evidence on her body which as a dentist, you know, he

has access to rubber gloves and other things that might be confront counter measures. So, there`s a lot going on here, but, you know, clearly that the

police say they have physical evidence. You know, they didn`t -- they were careful not to say DNA evidence, so DNA evidence in a case like this would

be tough. You know, if it was somebody unconnected to her and all of a sudden you find their DNA in her bedroom, wherever she`s found dead, that`s

more damning. With the son, it`s not -- it`s not as important because he has a legitimate reason for his DNA to be all over that house.

CASAREZ: Kisha, first of all, when we look at this home and we look at the neighborhood, you cannot tell me that there are not surveillance cameras

everywhere. So, they can extrapolate back to when they believe the time of death was the day of death which would have been a day before and they can

review the footage.

KISHA HEBBON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right. They`ll be able to see if the son entered the home during that day. They will be able to see if a stranger

entered the home during that day. And as far as the defense attorney`s comment, every defense attorney is going to come off this confident and to

say my client is innocent. There`s not enough evidence. But we all know that, an arrest cannot take place without probable cause. So there is

something linking this murder to her son.

CASAREZ: That`s right. And it is death penalty eligible and that is, you know, charged with first-degree murder now at this point. Defending him.

What would you look at, what would you look for? Because he`s a prominent dentist, so my guess is there`s rap sheet.

HEBBON: Right, right. And credibility is a big issue in any trial. The jurors look at the credibility of the defendant and of the prosecution`s

witnesses. So I would look at if there`s a lack of DNA, I would drive that point home. If there`s no surveillance of him behind in the home, I will

push that he is just prominent dentist, he has his own money, I would try to use those things to persuade the jury that he had no motive and that he

was not involved in this crime.

CASAREZ: You know, he had a Facebook account. Remember, this was a long investigation. I mean, last October is when she was found strangled. He was

just charged with the murder, so that is a four-month investigation right there. He wrote on his Facebook page during that interim time right there,

just today marks the day that my mother would have been 68 years old and he goes on to talk about what a beautiful person she was, an amazing woman

that her children and her grandchildren. She was loved by all. What side is going to use this? Because the prosecutor can say, this is consciousness of

guilt trying to cover it up but the defense could use it, too.

HEBBON: I would say as a defense attorney, it shows that he has a conscious and that he really misses his mother that he had nothing involved with it

and that he`s hurt behind it. Normally you have people who don`t show any type of emotion if they`re involved in a crime, if they`re sociopathic or

psychotic or something like that. So I would use that statement on Facebook in my -- in my client`s defense.

CASAREZ: On the other hand, with premeditated murder, you plan ahead, you figure it out and if he knew it was closing in on him because he wrote this

close to the time of when he was arrested.

CHACON: Sure and I don`t think it`s any coincidence that is just -- he brought his sister there with him when he finds the mother. He wanted to

have a witness there with him, he didn`t want to find her by himself. If he in fact did it on the ninth as the medical examiner is saying that`s when

he died. He goes back on the tenth with his sister. He doesn`t go back alone. So they probably looked in to, they probably asked the sister, did

he ask to you go with him? How did that all manifest? How did you get to go with him? But (INAUDIBLE) he would want to take a witness with him to finds

the body.

CASAREZ: That`s right. And Kisha, it`s the devils in the details if the sister was so concerned, he said I`ll go with you versus he -- it could go

either way, right? Either way. But obviously if he did this, it was intentional plan to cover this up.

HEBBON: Right. Which -- I mean, it happens all the time. And the fact that it took four months for them to finally charge him, it indicates to me it

may not be as strong of a case for the prosecution as they would like.

[19:35:04] CASAREZ: And he innocent until proven guilty but just the thought of strangling your own mother is just something that is imaginable

to even think about. All right. We will keep following this case. Coming up. Two small children found alone in their home in Illinois but the bigger

mystery is why. The mother, her estranged husband and her boyfriend, they`re all missing. And police say they are endangered. Why police suspect

foul play, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:40:30] CASAREZ: Tonight in Illinois, police are looking for two faces. 22-year-old Danielle Sun and her live-in boyfriend, Sergio. And though her

babies were home alone when Daniel`s family went to check on her Monday, just two and 11-month-old, Daniel and Sergio have not been seen since last

weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMBER WILSON, NEIGHBOR: They were an asset to the neighborhood. They seem like a real good couple, real good neighbors. You know, just one of the

helpful couple ones in the area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: But Danielle and Sergio are not the only people who vanished. Danielle`s husband is missing, too. 26-year-old Hand Son whose relationship

with Danielle seems to be a little rocky.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILSON: Initially, when the whole break up happened, there was a little -- a little altercation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Now police say all three are in danger and they say they suspect foul play. With us tonight, Courtney Bunting, she is a reporter for CNN-

affiliate WIFR. OK. I want to -- I want to get this straight. There are three people missing. They went missing on Saturday so this is -- this is

very recently. But explain to us exactly who is missing and what vehicle is gone.

COURTNEY BUNTING, WIFR REPORTER (via telephone): Right, exactly. So, it was on Friday the 17th reports that the family says they last had contact with

Danielle`s son and she is 22. And she was living with her boyfriend who is Sergio. He is 25 years old and they were living here in Rockford on 10th

Avenue. And then also they were reported missing along with Danielle`s estranged husband, Hand Son like you said. They were still married, but

they were estranged. Or she -- he was estranged from her rather. So, she -- we actually ended up looking up some court documents and saw that there was

quite a history between those two and there was a report of domestic battery and that was back in January. And --

CASAREZ: You are talking about between Danielle and Hand Sun, the estranged husband?

BUNTING: Yes, that`s correct.

CASAREZ: OK. Got it.

BUNTING: And on the 16th, which is the day before she was last seen, she filed for divorce. But that is still pending.

CASAREZ: Uh-hmm. No, was she living with Sergio Quiroz, her boyfriend?

BUNTING: Yes. So she was living with her boyfriend, but according to her family and this is something we couldn`t get confirmed by any court

documents but according to her family she had a restraining order filed against her estranged husband, Hand. So she was living with her two

children and Sergio in that home.

CASAREZ: OK. So -- all right. So, Courtney, what vehicle is missing?

BUNTING: So the vehicle that`s missing is -- that belongs to Hand Son and he of course is the estranged husband and it is a white 2007 Toyota Scion

and they -- police describe it as having red wheels or rims. So they say that his vehicle is missing when I spoke to family, I also heard that

Danielle`s vehicle had popped up at a holiday inn that was near her home so they said that her vehicle had been found in that she was also missing her

glasses that she need to drive. But of course that was something that I only heard from family. Police didn`t confirm that but they do confirm Hand

Son`s vehicle is missing.

CASAREZ: All right. Well, joining us tonight is the police chief, Dan O`Shea. He`s with the Rockford Police Department right there in Illinois.

Chief, thank you for joining us. I mean, three people missing, you believe they are endangered. That`s the word that we have right here. Are you

getting tips that are coming in that alert you to where to look for these people?

DAN O`SHEA, ROCKFORD POLICE CHIEF: The investigators are currently accepting tips from anybody who has information. I`m not sure what tips

have come in, if any. But they`re talking to family, friends and trying to investigate the disappearance of three adults who left behind obviously

currently --

CASAREZ: Do you -- do you believe that they all in the vehicle of I guess the estranged husband? That vehicle?

O`SHEA: We don`t know. We haven`t been able to locate his vehicle for Hand Son and we`re currently looking for that vehicle as well as all three

individuals.

CASAREZ: So you don`t know. Now, what about the fact that her vehicle, Danielle`s was found in a local hotel parking lot. Is that true?

[19:45:05] O`SHEA: I`m not sure. If it was found in a local hotel parking lot or not. Again, the investigation details, I`m not privy to at this

particular moment, but we`re just putting up plea out via the media, on media, social media to help us locate this vehicle and these three

individuals.

CASAREZ: All right. And we`re going to do more on this in just a minute because these three people are missing, they believe they`re endangered and

they need to be found. We will continue our conversation right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:50:25] CASAREZ: We are still talking about the unlikely trio missing in Northern Illinois tonight. A young mother, her boyfriend, and her husband,

police say all three are considered in danger. And tonight they do suspect foul play. And why? Because nobody has seen Danielle since Saturday. This

is a young mother. And when her family went to find her two days ago, no one was home but her babies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILSON: Everybody was knocking on the door and could hear the babies in there and so that`s when, you know, it really became apparent and a big

shock to us that something big was really going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Courtney Bunting, reporter for CNN-affiliate WFIR, Chief Dan O`Shea with the Rockford Police Department and defense attorney Kisha

Hebbon all join us tonight. Chief, I do want to ask you, you said in the last -- in the last segment that you weren`t sure if they are all in the

vehicle which is the estranged husband`s vehicle. We believe it`s a white 2007 Toyota with red rims. We have the license plate also. You see it right

there. If you don`t think or know if they`re all in the vehicle, are you doing a ground search at this point?

O`SHEA: For the individuals, no, we`re not. We don`t --

CASAREZ: You`re not.

O`SHEA: We`re currently looking for the vehicle. No.

CASAREZ: OK. So you`re not doing a ground search, you`re just simply looking for this vehicle. So then you do think, because you want to find

three people that are missing, so you must think that they are in that vehicle, right?

O`SHEA: Well, we`re not sure if they`re in vehicle or that vehicle took them somewhere. You know, we need to find the vehicle and the people. But

we don`t have a ground search you do when you have a particular area to look for people.

CASAREZ: Of course. Exactly. Of course. Exactly. Because the vehicle would have dropped them off, or committed a horrible and heinous crime and left

the bodies. And this is a missing person`s case right here. So have you alerted -- what interstates do you have that are close to Rockford?

O`SHEA: I-90 and I-39 both run through the city.

CASAREZ: Right. And so they can leave town very, very quickly. We do want to talk to a family member because our reporter tonight, Courtney Bunting,

with CNN- affiliate WIFR actually spoke to the father of Danielle. The father of this young mother. Let`s roll that sound.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN FELDBERG, DANIELLE SON`S FATHER: It`s devastating right now, not knowing what`s going on, what`s happened. Where they could be, if they`re

safe, if they`re dead or alive or anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: All right. I want to go Kisha because what just really stands out to me here is that these two babies were left alone in the home.

HEBBON: Right.

CASAREZ: Not only the fact that they were left alone but the fact that they didn`t accompany the three adults.

HEBBON: That just to me indicates that something obviously happened to the mother. And I can`t see a person targeting a woman, her estranged husband,

and her boyfriend. I think that the estranged husband, who`s probably not happy about this new boyfriend, the wife just filed for divorce, I think he

has something to do with the disappearance. And also, it`s his vehicle that`s considered missing. They found the wife`s vehicle or the mother`s

vehicle. So I think that he has something to do with it. I can`t see this like, being a person just came and kidnapped the wife, the husband and the

new boyfriend.

CASAREZ: And someone wanted those children to potentially live.

HEBBON: Right.

CASAREZ: All right. We`re going to keep on this three people. Look for that vehicle. That white vehicle because this needs to be solved. These people

need to be found.

His story was featured in Making A Murderer. Now attorneys for Brendan Dassey are calling on the highest court in the land to feature his case.

That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:59:04] CASAREZ: His case was spotlighted in the hit Netflix documentary Making A Murderer. Now attorneys for Brendan Dassey want the Supreme Court

to review his case. Dassey is serving a life sentence for the murder of Teresa Halbach. His legal team has filed a petition asking the justices to

throw out the confession he made more than a decade ago. Saying it was improperly coerced. According to the brief, they claim investigators got

him to falsely confess that he helped his uncle, Steven Avery, commit the murder. Dassey was just 16 at the time. The Supreme Court is expected to

decide whether to hear the case in the late spring.

And we will see you back here tomorrow night at 6:00 Eastern. And now you can listen to our show any time, download our podcast on Apple podcasts,

iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, or wherever you get your podcast for your CRIME AND JUSTICE fix. Thank you so much for joining us.

[20:00:01] FORENSIC FILES" begins right now. Goodnight, everybody.

END