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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield
Promising Young Hollywood Actress Mysteriously Missing; Wife Cheated By Husband Found Dead In A Tub; Naked Woman Found Bound, Hanging At Mansion. Woman`s Hands Were Tied Behind Her Back And Her Feet Were Bound; Grandma Tries To Sneak Drugs Into Prison In Doritos Bag; Brookes Skylar Richardson Is Accused Of Killer Her Baby Right After Birth; A Wife Was Found Dead In Their Bathroom. Aired 6-8p ET
Aired March 06, 2018 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
[18:00:00] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST, HLN: Good evening. I`m Ashleigh Banfield, and this is Crime and Justice.
It`s a bold move to steal a car and an even bolder move to steal a cop car, but a 16-year-old girl in New Mexico did not seem to think so. And that she
did it right in front of the office.
Her own mom called the police after finding her daughter on the side of the highway staggering around sobbing after four days the mom said of binge
drinking. And when the officer arrived, the girl told the officer why she was crying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I help you sit up?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I miss my boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You miss your boyfriend. I`m sorry about that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take me to jail if you want to help me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why do you want to go to jail?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My boyfriend is there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Together the mom and the officer walked that 16-year-old to the backseat of the officer`s cruiser and as they were discussing back at mom`s
car whether or not to take her to jail or to take her back home, this is what was going on in the cruiser.
A little teenage dare devil made the choice to bust out of the cage in the back seat jump into the driver seat and take off with the cruiser.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lots of paper work to do. Shit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My god.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: It might be funny if the teenager hasn`t gone up towards of 99 miles an hour. Ramming those two cars, possibly a third as well, crashing
herself and then ending up in the hospital with serious injuries.
Tonight, instead of getting off the hook, the officer has now requested that she go to juvenile probation and she`s been charged with car theft,
DWI and reckless driving.
On top of all of that she reportedly did not have a license either.
You don`t take a knife to a gunfight and you probably should not take your 4-year-old daughter to a bar fight either. That`s what one Colorado dad is
accused of doing and the video proves it. Captured on surveillance at the pizza and wings joint.
He`s gesturing wildly at another man. Got the little girl in his arms spigots, slapped and the punches start flying. Another man joins in. Dad
gets clocked in the face multiple times all the while that little girl is in his clutches witnessing everything and likely just missing getting
clocked herself.
Someone else gets in, grabs the kid just before he is sent to the ground. He manages to get up but the guys aren`t afraid of embarrassing him.
Peeling his shirt off in front of his daughter, kneeing him, kicking him, punching him before they finally decide the assault is over and they run
off.
Tonight, one of those men still has not yet been identified. But his friend has and is behind bars for assault and child abuse, too. And guess who else
is facing child abuse? Dad. Dad is facing that charge as he recovers from very serious injuries. So serious, in fact, he had to be airlifted to a
trauma center after this fight.
And it is reported right now that dad does not remember a thing. He`ll probably see the video though.
The Academy Award, Sunday night what a night for achievement, right? Especially for Frances McDormand who made her win on Sunday for best
actress all about the movement for equality in Hollywood.
But that little golden statue she got was stolen on the very night it came to represent something more than it ever has. Somebody snatched her Oscar
at an after party and took off it.
So then this happens. The video was posted. That guy holding it police arrested him and McDormand`s rep said that she celebrated the return with
an in and out burger. But there you go. There`s another case coming out of Oscars.
And of course, the days following the Oscars are as much about who won as about who lost who got snubbed. But Hollywood itself may have lost
something huge. A bright star even before the Oscars got started.
A stunning young actress who lived just about a half mile from the Dolby theater where that party came to life Sunday night.
Well, she was so close to Hollywood stardom she could touch it. And she may well have been at the Oscars party this year because she was at those
parties in other years. In fact, she went missing just before the big night. One week before the big night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[18:04:57] JAYDEN BRANT, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: She`s 25 years old. She`s from Macedonia. She`s been here in Los Angeles in the states for about 18
months. She is studying acting.
We know that she was last seen in the Hollywood area near Hollywood Boulevard and Wilcox around 2 p.m. on Friday. That was the last time that
she was seen and the last time she made contact with any of her friends. We`re following up on leads, you know, because, you know, that`s the --
that`s the critical stage and that`s the critical time frame we have to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Friends say Adea Shabani left her front door unlocked two Fridays ago and did not show up for a very important acting class. And with her
family thousands of miles away they`re now hitting the streets of L.A. doing everything they can to find her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We tried calling her, messaging her, e-mailing her, Facebooking her, Instagraming her. Every way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not her. This is not her. Something is going on with her. We don`t know where she is. It`s just so sad. We`re just
hoping she`s alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: With me now is The Signal senior staff writer Jim Holt. Jim, what is the story? Where do they think Adea might be?
JIM HOLT, SENIOR STAFF WRITER, THE SIGNAL: Well, that`s the whole point. They don`t know because she`s missing obviously. She was reported missing
on the 23rd of February from the block on Wilcox where she lived and has not been seen since.
Now there was a report apparently that she was seen in our community here in Santa Clarira, but again, that`s just one of the many items that they
received that they have to follow up on.
BANFIELD: So that`s an odd part of the story. Because the LAPD said she was last seen I believe in a coffee shop and that she`d been communicating with
someone. I think they clarified or qualified as communicating with a friend at the coffee shop.
But then as you said the Santa Clarita P.D. said she may have been seen there as well. What`s the discrepancy about, do you know?
HOLT: Well, I think the important word there is may. She may have been. Someone may have, you know, seen the picture of her and said that`s her.
But you know, they`re just guessing. But I happen to think that she probably in talking to friends and what have you is it`s not unlikely she`s
in a two-year course.
She makes a lot of friends and some of those friends could be from here. This is a big acting talent. A lot of people in the industry. So it`s quite
conceivable that she did make friends with somebody here.
BANFIELD: Without question she has friends. I mean, you know, in fact, one of her friends Emma Joe spoke to the press and obviously is holding out a
lot of hope that this is going to turn out well. In fact, she wanted to give this message if Adea can hear her. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMMA JOE, ADEA SHABANI`S FRIEND: I love her so much. I just want to give her a hug, you know. I`m sorry. We`re going through a lot. This is -- I
mean, all of us love her. There is no person -- everybody loves her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So, Jim, obviously her friends had contact with her on Friday. And ultimately it was her friends who called the police and asked for a
welfare check. But that wasn`t until Sunday. So they didn`t have a lot of lead time on this. She could have been missing for two days.
Was it the social media that went quiet that was the most important issue here or missing the acting class or all of the above?
HOLT: Well, I can`t speak to that but I could tell you that one I am convinced of is that, this acting class, the school, this academy. This was
her life by all indications from the people that I talked to.
And I talked to the school administrator. He said that, you know, she was an excellent student. Didn`t miss a class. She made friends with all the
people who were also enrolled at the school. And the friends that I`ve reached out too tried to said the same thing that you`re telling me is that
she was very well loved and respected and being so dedicated to acting and the school.
BANFIELD: Well, stand by for a second. I want to bring in Jayden Brant. He`s a private investigator on Adea Shabani`s case hired by Adea`s family.
Can you hear me OK, Jayden?
BRANT: Yes, I can. Good afternoon.
BANFIELD: I want to ask you a little bit about this class. It wasn`t just any class that she missed. It was a very significant class that she missed.
In case the audience is wondering, well, look, we all missed a class here or there. We might have a doctor`s appointment, we might just slip in.
What was the significance of the class that she missed causing sort of the hair that called to be, you know, obviously to jolt into action for these
friends?
[18:10:01] BRANT: Exactly. This was the first class of the third semester. This is the class where the roles were given out for that session. All
accounts say that she was looking to get a large significant role in that class. So this was -- this was not something she would miss.
Furthermore, friends tell us that, you know, again, you talked about her being dedicated. She didn`t miss classes. She was not that type of person.
So, for her to miss this class, highly significant.
BANFIELD: So, Jayden, I just want to stay on that thread for a moment. If this was class where big roles were being given out, is there any thought
by the investigators there that maybe it was someone who didn`t want the competition? Maybe that person. I mean, are they looking at the other
people involved in that school, in that class in particular?
BRANT: Absolutely. I mean, there`s no indication of that at this time. School her peers there at the school had been very cooperative and there`s
no evidence of that at this time.
BANFIELD: So is there evidence of anything? I mean, I`m seeing her in pictures with Justin Bieber and Kanye. I mean, she seems to be either very
well-connected with a lot of big celebrities in Hollywood or she gets to go to a lot of big parties. Paris Hilton. Honestly, these are all sort of a-
listers that she seems cozied up to in a lot of her Instagram photos.
Any idea about just the notion of her status in Hollywood and if that has anything to do with her disappearance?
BRANT: I mean, she was well liked here. She had that type of personality to where, you know, she would make friends easily and connections easily.
Again, you know, no indication that, you know, that type of thing was involved. She was in school at this time and very dedicated to that.
BANFIELD: Do we know anything about her credit card. I mean, for starters her door to her apartment was left unlocked. By the way, we are seeing her
with an Oscar. This is not her Oscar. She`s at an Oscar`s party one year ago.
BRANT: Sure.
BANFIELD: Maybe she was supposed to even be at the Oscar`s party this year. Do you know if she was?
BRANT: I don`t know. Yes, we don`t have any information about that at this time. But I can tell you that, yes, her door was unlocked. She lives in a
very crowded fabulous area of Hollywood. I think it`s unusual and certainly significant that her door was left unlocked.
BANFIELD: By the way, it`s a nice apartment if the pictures we`re seeing of the Duet. Was that the name of apartment building where they are
investigating?
BRANT: That`s correct.
BANFIELD: So her apartment door is left unlock and that`s unusual. What was left inside the apartment? I mean, was there any signs of a struggle. Was
there a wallet or a phone or a keys or anything like that left behind in there?
BRANT: At this time, no. I mean, it was nothing significant that we found there in the apartment. You know, it didn`t really point us in any
direction, it seemed to be very typical.
BANFIELD: By the way, I just want to remind our viewers, you`re a private investigator hired by her family. Are you working with the police? Are they
thankful for your help? Are you working in concert together? What`s the relationship between you and the police?
BRANT: I mean, we always try to do everything that we can to assist with their investigation. But at the same time, you know, we follow, we follow
up our leads that we develop and try to get information to them to help as much as we can.
BANFIELD: Do you know anything about the last communication? The LAPD says that she was last seen at a coffee shop in the area of Hollywood, right?
And that she was in communication with a friend, I think via social media. Do you have any idea who she was talking to or if that is a focus of this
investigation right now?
BRANT: That`s not. She was talking to several friends as she normally would via different messaging apps. And that`s what so odd. You know, she did
maintained -- she did have a large friend network. She maintained constant communication with them. She had a great relationship with her family and
maintained constant communication with them. And then all of sudden Friday afternoon, communication stopped.
BANFIELD: Well she had a boyfriend, we hear. What`s the story there?
BRANT: All indications he`s been cooperative with LAPD`s investigation as far as I know. Nothing else significant to our investigation at this time.
[18:14:57] BANFIELD: Jayden I have a second left here, but how is her family? As I understand they are from Macedonia. Not far from Greece, you
know, right in there. Her mom...
(CROSSTALK)
BRANT: Correct. Her mom has flown in.
BANFIELD: Yes. Does she speak English? I mean, how are they doing and what`s their circumstances as they look for their daughter?
BRANT: I mean, she does speak English. I would just say devastated, distraught. I mean, you know, can`t imagine what she`s going through. Very
active in the search. She`s doing everything she can to find her daughter. I don`t think she slept since she`s been here.
BANFIELD: I think that`s entirely understandable. You can see the $25,000 reward has now been posted as well. Jayden, keep us posted on this and let
us know if there are any developments.
It just seems remarkably coincidental during Oscar season and such a big celebration. And this is just, you know, half a mile away. This young
actress has vanished. And while everyone is celebrating her family is desperate and they are not celebrating one bit.
So, Jayden, thank you. We`re going to keep in touch with you. Jim Holt, my thanks for you as well for your reporting, senior staff writer from The
Signal.
And then there`s this. All cheaters beware. If you stray, you pay. And that`s what Denver police say happened when a Tinder date turned on her two
timing married hook up and then pointed him out to his wife who ended up dead. Details, next.
And also, you can now listen to our show any time. Download our podcast on Apple podcast iHeart radio, stitcher tune in or wherever you get your
podcast for your Crime and Justice fits.
[18:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: In our line of work, forensics make the world go round. And it seems there`s no crime that can`t be solved, at least partially with the
tiny little micro trails that we all leave behind.
But in Denver, the forensics team that had Mrs. Stacey Feldman fell on their slab must have missed that memo. Because when they wrapped up their
work their stamped a proverbial, I don`t know on her death document.
It seems they just couldn`t figure out how the mother of two actually died when she was found lifeless and naked in the bathtub. It would take a
jilted date and some mighty fine sleuthing to finally uncover that pesky little fact that Mrs. Feldman had been strangled.
And if the police are right, this is the guy who did it. Mr. Feldman. Three years after her death they have now charged Robert Feldman with Stacy`s
murder. And the unsealed affidavit is releasing some pretty juicy details about the $750,000 in life insurance that he got that he may have in fact
after.
Not to mention the woman that he was talking to on Tinder. The one who told Stacy that her husband was cheating on her, the very same day that Stacy
mysteriously ended up dead in that bathtub.
With me now, Colorado field editor for Patch.com, Jean Lotus, and forensic scientist, Larry Kobilinsky. Larry, I want to begin with you. Because I
don`t understand how that can happen. I don`t understand how people who work in your science, quinsy like, I don`t get how she can be there for a
full autopsy and they can say, you know, we just don`t know how she died.
LARRY KOBILINSKY, FORENSIC SCIENTIST: It actually can happen. I mean, we learned a lot from the autopsy. We know that she had cardiovascular issues
atherosclerosis. She had a chronic kidney problem. She had fatty liver. We know a lot about her condition.
What`s also very interesting is there was -- there were subdural hematomas on her sides and back of her head. And a lot of trauma to the face, the
lip, the cheek. This woman may have either been hit and there is -- the autopsy revealed blunt trauma or she may have fallen and hit her head.
There are things that we know but they don`t give you all the answers.
BANFIELD: I want to read a couple of things because to the layperson, if I hear someone is injured and they`re dead, I think somebody did something to
them. What`s intriguing is from the original autopsy where they did the, you know, I don`t know how she died. They got a second autopsy.
I guess the police called in a domestic violence expert who is nationally renowned as a medical examiner. So from the original autopsy it says,
"Given the information available to us at the time, at this time, it is our opinion that the cause and manner of the death of this 44-year-old female,
Stacy Feldman, cannot be determined. As the position of decedent and presence or absence of facial submersion at the scene remains unclear, a
contributing component of asphyxia, drowning cannot be completely excluded."
[18:25:10] But the second autopsy, Larry said something far more specific. Stacy Feldman died as a direct result of asphyxia and or suffocation. And
that her injuries are a result of an assault which included blunt force trauma, strangulation, suffocation including extensive contusions of the
medial aspects of the upper extremities. Consistent with knee pressure being applied from a straddled assailant."
So, what I thought was bizarre is that the original examiner thought maybe some of those injuries that you referred to were caused by the CPR.
KOBILINSKY: Right.
BANFIELD: But the second person who has expertise in domestic violence saw a knee being used in a struggling position. How can it be so divergent?
KOBILINSKY: It`s difficult sometimes to discern that phenomenon which is referred to as burking. It looks like there is an anoxia, an asphyxiation.
But the signs, for example, of drowning and suffocation are very similar.
And you know, if you`re talking about strangulation, you look for tell tale signs. Signs of abrasion on the neck, ligature marks. Yu don`t always see
that and you have to rule out things.
BANFIELD: I feel like if you are (Inaudible) and you can`t figure out what the answer is, well maybe they should have called in the domestic expert
there to say, take a look.
Before you go there, though, I get back to Jean Lotus, because Jean is going to bring in the other aspect of the case. And Jean, medical examiner
often do bring in none physical evidence to make their determinations.
Like, what was going on in this home and in this woman`s life that might lead us to some answers here? And it turns out there was a hell of a lot
going on unbeknownst to her and her life. So what`s the story about the Tinder date and then Stacy Feldman`s husband Robert?
JEAN LOTUS, COLORADO FIELD EDITOR, PATCH.COM: That`s right, Ashleigh. Well, police got a great tip in June. The death happened March 1st. They got a
great tip in June when a woman called Metro Denver Crime Stoppers and she said that she had met Robert Feldman twice. The first time for a coffee
when I believe he said that his name was Feldman.
Then they met again for dinner at her house. They did have sex she told the police. A couple days later at which point he said his name was Wolf. And
then he disappeared and didn`t call her again. She did some internet sleuthing and she found his wife online.
BANFIELD: OK. That brings me -- that brings me, Jean, to and I`m going to ask the control room, if you can, bring up the full screen number four for
me because this is interesting. What we found from the affidavit, in full screen number four, I want to make sure I get the right one. Yes, we got
it.
This is what she did after she did she did her sleuthing, the police say. The Tinder date told the police that "On March 1, 2015, the date of Stacy`s
death, she had actually sleuthing sent an e-mail to that wife Stacy Feldman and asked if she and Robert were in fact divorced because I guess Robert
told her they were. Stacy tells the Tinder date, "No, we are not.
So the Tinder date then forwards copies of the e-mails that she has between her and Robert to Stacy, the victim in this case, and then supplies Mrs.
Feldman, Stacy, with her phone too. I guess there`s a lot of information in there.
Stacy Feldman had told her that her husband Robert had cheated on her before and that she was quote, "done with him."
So, Jean, effectively, Stacy Feldman, Mrs. Feldman is having this terrible conversation on the telephone with a Tinder date of her husband and the
Tinder date is mad as hell that she`s also been cheated on and is outing him to the wife. Did I got that right?
LOTUS: That`s correct.
BANFIELD: And then the wife dies that day. Correct, OK?
LOTUS: Correct.
BANFIELD: So the wife dies that very day and it`s not sort of obvious to people like police and investigators and medical examiners that maybe, just
maybe that might have been a motive for Robert Feldman right then and there because he wasn`t arrested right away.
LOTUS: Right. The phone call -- the tip didn`t come in until June. So the Tinder date actually was about speaking to police. They didn`t really know
about her until June. The death have...
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: I would have met him though, that Jean, I would imagine Stacy Feldman had phone records. Who did she talked to right before she died. And
they would have gotten to that Tinder date right on their very own within minutes. I mean, I`m not a cop that`s kind of what I would have done.
[18:30:02] LOTUS: Definitely I believe that the cops were suspecting that this was a domestic murder from the beginning just based on the affidavit,
but they worked for three years, it`s been...
HERE
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
[18:30:00] JEAN LOTUS, COLORADO FIELD EDITOR, PATCH.COM: Definitely I believe that the cops were suspecting that this was a domestic murder from
the beginning just based on the affidavit. But they worked for three years. It`s been a lot of police work here.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, PRIMETIME JUSTICE SHOW HOST, HLN: So one more thing I want to read from the police affidavit, apparently Robert Feldman when they
-- when they went over his 911 call, apparently they actually searched a little bit more carefully, they could hear a toilet flush in the
background. They said he wasn`t really exhausted at all by that CPR he was supposed to be doing on the wife.
And then there was this. Robert Feldman when they got there appeared to be acting as if in shock or confused. And when asked, he said he could not
remember the details of how he found his wife. At one point, Robert Feldman walked away from your affiant, that would be the officer writing this
affidavit, as if he was confused giving your affiant the impression he was overacting in an effort to avoid speaking with him.
Real quickly, Areva Martin, victims rights attorney, CNN legal analyst, is that something that will play heavily in the trial in the case against him?
May I remind everybody that is a death penalty state.
AREVA MARTIN, VICTIMS RIGHTS ATTORNEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, I think that`s going to be important, Ashleigh, when this case actually gets to
trial. But I am really troubled by the mistake made by the medical examiner. Because when you have two different reports, reports that
conflict with each other, that`s an opening for the defense in this case.
So although we have this really compelling evidence that this guy was cheating on his wife and probably had a motive to kill her. We know this
huge insurance policy.
We also have this very disturbing conflict between the medical examiner that the defense can use to exploit the cause of death and that could cause
this husband who (INAUDIBLE) looked like he killed his wife to get off. I think that`s a really disturbing factor in this case for me.
BANFIELD: Yes. There`s a lot that disturbs me. My thanks to Jean Lotus and Larry Kablinsky (ph). Areva, I`m going to ask you to stick around too
because I`ve got that story about the day beautiful Rebecca Zahau was found hanging naked from the balcony of her boyfriend`s mansion.
There was this cryptic message found painted on the door of the room outside which she was dead. She saved him. Can you save her? Is this the
last statement from a suicidal woman or is this a chilling clue about who killed her?
[18:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Sometimes in a good whodunit the writing is on the wall. And the culprit becomes immediately clear. In a twisted San Diego suicide with the
suicide part actually up for debate, the writing is not on the wall, it is on the door. Literally on the door.
A bone-chilling message is sprawled in paint on the door near the dead body of Rebecca Zahau. Rebecca was was found hanging naked. She was bound and
gagged, dangling from the balcony of her boyfriend`s mansion. And investigators insist that she did this to herself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE NEMETH, SERGEANT, SAN DIEGO COUNTY SHERIFF`S DEPARTMENT: The black paint from the door, the brush, the paint tube, paint found on the victim`s
hand and torso and on the rope around her neck were all the same paint.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: If you ask investigators, Rebecca killed herself out of guilt, because two days after her boyfriend`s son suffered a fatal fall by the
stairs when she was supposed to be watching him, well, that`s supposed to be why she was so upset and so an expert with ABC 2020 did this.
They came to a different conclusion about her death, going to great lengths or technically great heights to prove that Rebecca had to be thrown over
that balcony, and Rebecca`s family agrees. They think this is murder, especially since a handwriting expert is now backing up the person that
they think killed Rebecca. And that person they say, they say, not the police, is the brother of her boyfriend.
That brother was staying in the guest house. That brother was the only other person on the grounds that day. And that brother was the man who
called 911 to report finding Rebecca`s body. And that dark, mysterious message on the door read, she saved him, can you save her?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL WAKSHULL, HANDWRITING EXPERT: Between Adam and Rebecca, it`s more likely Adam, because Adam`s writing is writing that comports with these
attributes on the door. Rebecca`s doesn`t.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Very odd story. And with me now, KFMB AM 760 reporter Miles Himmel. He is back with me for a second. They didn`t even scratched the
surface it seems, Miles, on this one last night. And by the way, today`s testimony didn`t seem to help me get further into
[18:40:00] understanding how this all could have happened. So today I want to really drill down on the handwriting because that message is just weird
from top to bottom, right, Miles? I am going to put the handwriting sample up, OK?
MILES HIMMEL, REPORTER, KFMB AM 760: OK.
BANFIELD: And I want everybody to really, really focus if they can on the As in the word "saved." It`s in the middle of the door, like it`s in the
middle of the writing. Effectively did the handwriting analyst expert in the civil case, does the family suing because they didn`t get the, you
know, the justice with the police.
Nobody got arrested. Adam didn`t get arrested. So family suing. And they say Adam did this and you can tell by the writing. And the handwriting
expert said so because why?
HIMMEL: Yes, well, so that`s been the focus the last two days. In fact, today and yesterday, it has been this handwriting expert. And they looked
at it and the handwriting expert said that this doesn`t look like Rebecca Zahau`s writing. They looked at writing that she has had. This looks a lot
more like Adam`s Shacknai`s handwriting, and specifically that "A" that you`re talking about.
BANFIELD: OK. So there`s two things that I want to show you on the "A." On the left is Adam`s signature. He wrote that. And on the right is the door.
Ignore the squiggly things because those squiggly things are really just police markings from fingerprint analysis. It was not part of the case, so
just ignore the squiggly.
But look at the shape of the top of the "A" and Adam`s signature, and then look at the "A" in the bottom word "saved." And I actually want to go back
to the other one. That yellow circles for another thing. Look at the "A" on the word "saved" on the b bottom. Look at the angle of the "A." It is
pretty remarkable.
It swoops to the left and up. And if you go back to the signature, it swoops to the left and up. And it almost looks identical when you compare
his signature on the left. There is the one I want to see. See the "As?" Swoops to the left and up and very, very pointed.
Now, focus if you will with me, Miles, and I am going to ask our audience to look at the signature again. You can see where the pen first starts on
the paper on Adam`s signature on the "A." It starts halfway down the "A." And then it looks like the pen draws down to the bottom. Goes back up
swooping to the left. Goes back down to the bottom. The pen lifts. Goes over to the left side and goes crossing through, right?
See those circles? Those yellow circles? Same thing happens in the "A" on the right hand side, on whomever painted the "A" on the right hand side,
that person seems to have also started midway down the "A," went down then back up and swoop to the left and all the way down to the bottom then
picked up that paint and crossed over. Was that how specific they got on the stand or did they even go farther than that?
HIMMEL: Yes. I mean, you know -- we talked about this yesterday. You know these handwriting experts. They don`t like to make a definitive, OK, that`s
who wrote it. They just like to say, hey, this is who I think or this is what it looks like, and that is what they did. I mean, they analyze every
letter and every single thing.
And the exact thing, you know, I mean, think about just normal people`s handwriting. Every person has a unique way they write letters and the way
they write things. And right here, you got that and it goes, hey, that looks a heck of a lot like Adam Shacknai`s writing. And that doesn`t look
anything like Rebecca Zahau`s.
BANFIELD: Yes. Don`t go anywhere, Miles, because there`s the whole issue of what was said, not just how it was written, but what was written. It`s
weird. And there`s really just no other way you can say it. What was written on that door is weird.
And up next, I`m going to talk about Rebecca Zahau, what her mental state was. Did she seem suicidal after her boyfriend`s son`s tragic accident,
because there is somebody who can testify to that. And then what about that writing? Would that be something that somebody might write? That`s coming
up next.
[18:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: For over six years, they had said it was a suicide, even though Rebecca Zahau was naked, bound, and gagged when she was found hanging from
the balcony. Investigators say she did it to herself, because just two days earlier, her boyfriend`s 6-year-old boy suffered a fatal fall when she was
supposed to be watching him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL GORE, SHERIFF, SAN DIEGO COUNTY SHERIFF`S DEPARTMENT: Was Max`s death a homicide? The answer is no. It was a tragic accident. Was Rebecca`s death
a homicide? Again, the answer is no. It was a suicide.
To reach these conclusions relied on substantial measure upon the physical evidence. The scene of each event, witness interviews, the medical evidence
and the forensic evidence including DNA, fingerprints and biomechanics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Rebecca`s family does not buy that. They say that she would never have killed herself. And now they are suing. They are suing for wrongful
death. And on the stand, the counselor who spoke with Rebecca right after that child fell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Did she gave any indication that she might be a danger to herself?
KAREN HANCOCK, SAN DIEGO PSYCHIATRIC EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM: She gave no indication of that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Did you ever had a feeling that she will be a danger to others?
HANCOCK: She gave no indication to that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[18:50:00] BANFIELD: Which brings me to clinical and forensic psychologist Judy Ho. Still with me, Miles Himmel. And also Areva Martin is with me as
well, CNN legal analyst.
So, Judy, I need you to help me get through the fact that right after the child dies, an expert speaks with her and says she was not even close to
being suicidal. She then -- I think a day or so, maybe two days later, gets a phone call saying, Max is not doing well. It is a grave situation.
She does not get a call saying Max is dead. She gets a call saying we`re still in the hospital and Max is not looking good. And then she kills
herself? Judy, does that seem logical?
JUDY HO, CLINICAL AND FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: No, it doesn`t make sense. And it certainly doesn`t make sense with her history. So Rebecca as far as we
know and as far as family members attest to, has had no history of mental illness, depression or psychosis, the types of conditions in which suicide
risk is more imminent.
And even if she had gotten the phone call saying that Max was more ill and they weren`t sure of what his future might look like, it also did not seem
like the time where somebody would go and commit suicide before there was an actual final decision about his medical care or what would happen to his
medical status.
So it really doesn`t add up. I think the suicide note as well. The supposed sprawling on the wall, whatever you like to call that, is also atypical
because most people who actually leave notes behind of some sort when it is a suicide tend be a lot more practical in terms of what they write. They
don`t write cryptic things to try to get other people to solve them later.
BANFIELD: And to that end, this is a weird one, right? It says -- it even goes farther than that, like cryptic, doesn`t even begin to explain it.
She, third person. She saved him. Can you save her? If she is killing herself, she didn`t save him. The child would be dead. I am not sure I even
-- can you make sense of it?
HO: No. And I think this is exactly why there is a suspicion of foul play here. Because not only does this not typify the types of suicide notes that
we`ve seen and given we`ve not a ton of analysis on this but preliminary studies do suggest that people who tend to leave behind notes are very
practical in terms of how they spell things out.
They don`t really talk about the reasons why they necessarily hurt themselves or try to kill themselves but they will talk about the love they
have for their family and the people they leave behind. And this note has nothing to do with that.
BANFIELD: Yes. It was odd.
HO: And so I think this is one of the concerns.
BANFIELD: And what about the, can you save her? I mean, her intention is to kill herself. Let me just leave that one for a second. Areva Martin, what
sometimes lost in all of this because this is just such a weird message. This is a civil case, right? The cops did not charge Adam Shacknai, the
brother who the family says they think did this.
He wasn`t charged. They still don`t think it`s a murder. So the family wants a civil judgement. But it`s still too mysterious. Do you think that a
jury could actually get past all of this mystery and not to say, oh, God, if the professionals didn`t think it was a wrongful death, then why should
we?
MARTIN: Well, the benefit that the family has as you know, Ashleigh, is that because it`s a civil case, the burden of proof is different. It`s a
lesser burden of proof. They don`t have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the brother of her boyfriend killed her.
So that gives them a better chance than if this were actually in a criminal court. Now, I think what`s going to be troubling for the jurors though is
the lack of DNA evidence. We don`t have any eyewitnesses. So to prove their case, they are going to have to do it with circumstantial evidence.
BANFIELD: Yes.
MARTIN: They are going to have to use some kind of forensic evidence. And what we are being told is that the brother`s DNA wasn`t at the scene of her
death of her suicide --
BANFIELD: Which is weird to me as well.
MARTIN: So jurors will have a hard time.
BANFIELD: He is the one who found her, right? He is the one who found her. It is hard for me to understand. I got to leave it there. But it is hard
for me to understand. If he found her, why isn`t his DNA on the railing as he looks over saying, God, Rebecca, please, no. There is a lot to this.
So I am not done with it. Miles, I hope you will come back. Judy, you as well. And Areva, you can`t go anywhere. I still need you to talk to me in
the next hour.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: Because I got to do a right turn here. Very hard turn. Involving this. These are delicious. Who doesn`t love these, right? What do you think
you can get in this bag if you were going to visit your grandson in the pokey? What do you think grandma took to her grandson in the pokey? You`ll
find out, next.
[18:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: One more thing for you tonight. I`d like you to meet Sarah Griffin or as she might also be called the "Dorito Bandito." Police say
that last weekend, Ms. Griffin went to the county jail to visit her grandson and she had a special delivery for him. A bag of Doritos.
[19:00:00] But there was more than just the tasty chips inside. There were also baggies of pot and meth and heroin and ecstasy and Xanax. Sarah
Griffin says she thought there was only a --
HERE
[19:00:00] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HLN HOST: -- but there was more than just the tasty chips inside. There were also baggies of pot and meth and heroin and
ecstasy and Xanax. Sarah Griffin says she thought there was only a cell phone inside the Doritos bag and that she did not know about the drugs. But
she is now facing charges for trying to sneak contraband into prison. And I don`t know what it is about her mugshot, but I believe her. Call me crazy.
Next hour of CRIME AND JUSTICE starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is the former high school cheerleader accused of killing her band-new baby right after prom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Poor pitiful Brooke. She was just afraid of her mom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. She was an adult.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prosecutors said she burned that newborn`s body.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Burned and (INAUDIBLE) buried.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But could they have been wrong and are they switching up the story right before trial.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was the baby dismembered? Were the arms and legs removed?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I`m not going to comment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His wife was found dead in the shower the same day his tender date blew his cheating wide open. Three years later he is now
charged with that wife`s murder. Did he take her life and then her life insurance?
It sure looked like a violent murder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fingerprints were all from Rebecca. DNA profile were only from Rebecca.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But investigators insist it was suicide.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four blows to the right side.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My stomach flipped.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The beautiful woman found bound and gagged hanging naked from the balcony of a San Diego mansion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was initially strangled.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her family says this was no suicide.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s pretty obvious she was murdered.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now a handwriting expert says they may be right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They left me with an A, letter A.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And they point to this spine tingling message left at the scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She saved him. Can you save her?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: Good evening. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. And welcome to the second hour of CRIME & JUSTICE.
It`s often said babies have no business having babies, but accidents happen. And sometimes tragedies follow. For Brookes Skylar Richardson, that
is a textbook statement. Because at 18, she seemed to have it all. A nice house, a nice school and overall pretty nice life and she was pretty and
she was popular and she was a cheerleader bound for prestigious college. When she accidentally slipped up and unfortunately possibly found herself
pregnant. It happens.
But it`s how she is accused of dealing with that mistake that has now snowballed into the kind of case where protesters gather outside of her
court appearances because Skylar, as she is known, has been accused of killing her newborn baby, burning it and burying it just hours after having
that baby.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was hearing the baby had been dismembered and parts in the pit. Another part of the house to the left and back in the back of the
woods. So can you speak to that? Was the baby dismembered? Were the arms and legs removed?
DAVID FORNSHELL, WARREN COUNTY PROSECUTOR: No. I`m not going to comment in terms of where. I mean, you all were out there and you saw where the
primary areas of focus were in terms of recovering the infant`s remains. And that`s how all I will comment on that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: But now that version of events is coming into question thanks to some brand new court documents filed that say that baby was never burned
which would potentially put a major hole in the prosecution`s case against Skylar. Though, the locals in Ohio may not care whether or not she burned
the newborn baby because some of them have reason enough to hate her as she relaxes at home with her dogs all the while out on bond accused of
murdering a child, the police say she could not handle having.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have all these people because she`s a little blonde pretty cheerleader with mommy and daddy money saying poor pitiful Brook.
She was just afraid of her mom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, she was an adult.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: With me now, Stefano DiPietrantonio, investigative reporter of CNN affiliate WXIX.
Stefano, I`m sort of between on what to make of the new court filings because these are defense`s court filing saying that this baby was never
burned. And that`s a really big part of this case. The fact that the baby was burned is a big part because there`s an abuse of corpse charge. And so,
I`m not entirely sure I understand when the prosecutors has said over and over and over again that the baby was burned. But the defense is now saying
that`s not true at all.
And just so that we are reminded of what the prosecutors said, it was probably, I can`t even count. Maybe six, seven, eight, nine times in a
statement that they made in a news conference. And you were there. You were at the news conference. So help me understand where`s there could be any
discrepancy?
(CROSSTALK)
[19:05:46] BANFIELD: Yes. So where is the mix up? Where are the defense attorney`s coming in with this new filing?
STEFANO DIPIETRANTONIO, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER OF CNN AFFILIATE WXIX: Well, where that question actually came from in terms of asking -- we were trying
to figure out that point, if they could reveal what the sex of the child was. And I asked the coroner over a couple times, I said was the baby
intact? Meaning were the organs intact, you could tell exactly what the sex of the child was. And the coroner said that, well, Brooke would have known,
Skylar would have known right away when she gave birth what the sex of that child was. And then I said, no. What I mean when I said was it intact is,
were all of its parts connected to the corpse buried in the backyard? And the answer I got was, well, that is why we called in an anthropologist or
forensic anthropologist to figure out exactly why there are DNA parts inside the family fire pit. That`s what we were told by the coroner and
investigators on the scene right there.
Now we watched them with giant orange buckets, the time you get from home depot, just collecting samples out of samples from the same spot. So the
question is, so if the baby wasn`t burned then why are we collecting DNA out of allegedly out of that fire pit there in their backyard?
BANFIELD: OK. I have to make sure I`m getting your name right because I get it mixed up all the time. Stefano or Stefano?
DIPIETRANTONIO: Stefano. You got it right.
BANFIELD: OK, Stefano. I got it wrong the first time, though.
So it is a very (INAUDIBLE) topic. And it`s hard to make light in the midst of this topic. But there`s a lot of technicality that we need to sort out.
The defense is saying in the new filings that an expert who came up with the opinion of the fact that the child`s remains were burned.
This is what the defense says. Actually, retracted it about a month after that news conference that you were at. Retracted, this is the defense`s
assertion. Retracted that theory and that opinion and in fact, a new expert said there were no signs of burning. Is there any evidence anywhere that
you have seen, any interviews you have conducted, any tips, any leaks, any anything, other than what we are hearing from the defense filing that would
suggest that these two experts differed?
DIPIETRANTONIO: We have never heard anything from the defense or the prosecution to that effect that anything was ever retracted ever since that
last news conference with prosecutor David Fornshell. Then the gag ordered was issued. So we were never previewed to any kind of attraction if it is
in fact happened. But I did ask David Fornshell, the prosecutor, about that today and his answer to me was that he would respond to the court filing.
But didn`t answer whether or not a retraction had in fact happened.
But I can tell you, we follow this closely from the very start. And I did not ever see a retraction happen. Did it happened behind closed doors, we
don`t know yet. But maybe we will hear in the next hearing on the 14th.
BANFIELD: That`s what the defense says. If it happened, it happened not publicly.
And so, real quickly, the prosecutor`s did get back to our producers and they gave us a couple of replies to this suggestion that there was no
burning. There were these two experts. And this is what they said.
Brooke, and then they obviously mean in her filings. Brooke mischaracterizes the opinions of potential expert witnesses and omits other
facts and evidence. They go onto suggest the arguments in her memo are quote "misleading at best." They also say this and this is intriguing. If
there is hearing about this, prosecutors will introduce recorded interviews that Brooke gave to the police describing her actions in relation to the
death and disposal of her child.
And for memory sake, let`s just go back to that news conference that was so interesting and just -- we just cut down all the moments where the
prosecutor definitively said those remains were burned. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FORNSHELL: She did give birth to a newborn infant. She caused the death of that infant. (INAUDIBLE) burned the infant and buried the infant in the
backyard of her own residence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You said cause of death, burned. You said cause of death by burning?
FORNSHELL: No. I`m not sure that we will be able to provide to you the exact medical cause of death. The child was after death, burned and
(INAUDIBLE) buried. And there was significant decomposition to the body in terms of being able to stand up here today or maybe even at trial and give
you the exact medical cause of death, that will be highly difficult because of the burning of the child and the fact that remainder of the remains, so
to speak, had decomposed.
It`s not because I`m saying that the child was burned alive. However, I am saying that I`m not going to be able to stand up here before you and tell
you to a reasonable degree of medical certainty the child was not. There is evidence to reasonable degree, a medical that the bones that were recovered
from the residence were charred. They have burns on that. Charred remains as well as decomposed remains.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:10:52] BANFIELD: Well, that`s interesting. So I guess we have to really wait to see if there will be hearing to find out if or if not those remains
were charred.
But in the meantime, I want to bring in forensic anthropologist and professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, Heather Walsh-Haney.
Heather, maybe you can help me understand your remarkable science, what you work in every day. Is it possible they could have made a mistake? Is it
possible they could have thought they had burned remains only to discover later they didn`t have burned remains when perhaps another expert took a
look?
HEATHER WALSH-HANEY PH.D., FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGIST, FLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY: It`s definitely possibly, Ashleigh. But one thing you have to
remember is that an anthropologist is just one cause in this big wheel of forensic science that has been called no to evaluate not only the remains
themselves but the scene.
And the forensic anthropologist that are evaluating decomposing burned or skeletal remains, they are also considering environmental variables such as
the type of soil that interred the burial. How long the infant was buried, was there clothing there, were plants growing in or over the remains
because all of those variables can also mark bone. They can -- if the soil is dark and brown, it can stain the bone. That can sometimes look like
charring.
And the other part of it is that we are unclear whether the remains are still in the care, custody and control of the coroner. And in that time,
from the time that they were recovered through the initial analysis and then with the subsequent forensic anthropological analysis, the bone can
change. And maybe what something that wasn`t clearly obvious when the bone was still freshly unearthed may become more or less obvious later on.
BANFIELD: So you make perfect sense. But I just keep coming back to the idea that when a friend of mine has been to a campfire, I can tell. I mean,
it`s just the charring and smoke and fire seems so obvious to the layperson.
I want to bring in Areva Martin, if I can, CNN legal analyst and really, really smart lady.
So here are couple of questions I have for you, Areva. Apparently the defense in this filing is now saying that Skylar actually had a name for
her baby Annabel. Because all the way along that prosecutors have been referring to as baby Jane Doe. So here is some reverse, I`m going to blow
your mind psychology.
If the defense is suggesting that this baby was stillborn, why on earth would they have a name for a stillborn baby? Unless they are trying to
suggest Skylar was really looking forward to this and had even picked out a name. Does that make sense?
AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. I think that`s their defense, Ashleigh, is that Skylar is this really scared emotional 18-year-old. She
has this baby. She is depressed. She is having eating disorders and she doesn`t know what to do with the baby is born dead. And it`s not like she
killed the baby. It`s that she now has this stillborn baby. She freaks out. She doesn`t know what to do and she buries the baby.
That`s their defense. They are trying to gain sympathy. They are trying to paint a narrative of this 18-year-old to humanize her and to humanize her
relationship with her deceased child.
Now, whether that work, I`m not sure. We know the town has already reacted very negatively. They have already made it very clear that they thinks she
is an adult. She shouldn`t be treated as a child. Apparently, they are challenging, you know, what she has done. They have been very critical of
her, her family and the way this baby has been, you know, killed.
What`s so, I guess disturbing to me about this case is now, again, we have potentially conflicting reports by the forensic experts in the case. And
whenever that happens in a critical criminal case it opens the door for the defense to challenge and creates doubt and makes it more difficult for the
prosecutors to prove beyond reasonable doubt.
BANFIELD: I don`t have much time left. But I do want to ask you this. This baby was buried for almost two months and manner and cause of death will be
really difficult. I mean at best, right.
[19:15:04] MARTIN: Yes, very difficult.
BANFIELD: So let me ask you this. If they determine the baby was not burned and if they cannot figure out how the baby died, wouldn`t a good defense
attorney say, look, Skylar gave birth and as she tried to catch her breath, that baby may have aspirated which is why they may believe the baby was
alive and then that baby died. And to Skylar that baby was never alive and then the case goes away?
MARTIN: Well, they maybe, Ashleigh, would make that case. But remember the statements that Skylar apparently made to her parents while in the police
department. There`s going to be a big fight over whether those statements are admissible. And they may be the key to this whole case.
BANFIELD: Thank you. I forgot. That I totally forgot. You are right. They are going to fight over what she said in the jail.
Thank you, Areva. Appreciate that. My thanks also to Stefano and to Heather.
They say cheaters never prosper and in this case, well, it just might prove it. Denver police now saying a two timing man is responsible for his wife`s
murder and the missing piece to the puzzle that even the forensic team didn`t see. It came from Tinder.
And also a reminder you can catch our show any time in podcast form on Apple, I heart radio, Stitcher, Tune In or where ever you get your podcast.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:21:23] BANFIELD: In our line of work forensics make the world go round. And it seems there`s really no crime that can`t be solved, at least
partially, with the tiny little micro trails that we all leave behind.
But in Denver, the forensics team that had Mrs. Stacy Feldman on their slab must have missed that memo. Because when they wrapped up their work, they
stamped a proverbial I don`t know on her death document.
It seems they just couldn`t figure out how the mother of two actually died when she was found lifeless and naked this the bathtub. It would take a
jilted beast and some mighty fine sleuthing to finally uncover that pesky little fact that Mrs. Feldman had been strangled. And if the police are
right, this is the guy who did it, Mr. Feldman.
Three years after her death they have charged Robert Feldman with Stacy`s murder. And the unsealed affidavit is releasing some pretty juicy detail
about the $750,000 in life insurance that he got. That he may have been after. Not to mention the woman that he was talking to on Tinder. The one
who told Stacy that her husband was cheating on her, the very same day that Stacy mysteriously ended up dead in that bathtub.
With me now Colorado field editor for patch.com Jean Lotus and forensic scientist Larry Kobilinsky.
Larry, I want to begin with you because I don`t understand how that can happen. I don`t understand how people who work in your science, Quincy
like, I don`t get how she can be there for a full autopsy and they can say, you know, we just don`t know how she died.
LARRY KOBILINSKY, PH.D., FORENSIC SCIENTIST: It actually can happen. I mean, we learned a lot from the autopsy. We know she had cardiovascular
issues, (INAUDIBLE). She had a chronic kidney problem. She had a fatty liver. We know a lot about her condition.
What`s also very interesting is there was subdural hematomas on her sides and back of her head. And a lot of trauma to the face, lip, cheek. This
woman may have either been hit and there`s the autopsy revealed blunt trauma or she may have fallen and hit her head. There are things that we
know but they don`t give you all the answers.
BANFIELD: So I want to read a couple of things because to the layperson if I hear someone is injured and they are dead, I think somebody did something
to them. What is intriguing is from the original autopsy where they did the, you know, I don`t know how she died. They got a second autopsy. I
guess police called in a domestic violence expert who is, you know, nationally renowned as a medical examiner.
So from the original autopsy, it says, given the information available to us at that time, at this time, it is out opinion that the cause and manner
of death of this 44-year-old females, Stacy Feldman, cannot be determined. As the positioning if the decedent and presence or absence of facial
submersion at the scene remains unclear, a contributing component of asphyxia, drowning cannot be completely excluded.
But the second autopsy, Larry, says something far more specific. Stacy Feldman died as a direct result of asphyxia and/or suffocation and that her
injuries are the result of an assault which included blunt force trauma, strangulation, suffocation, including extensive contusions of the medial
aspect of the upper extremities consistent with knee pressure being applied from a straddled assailant.
So what I thought what is bizarre is that the original examiners thought maybe some of those injuries that you referred to were caused by the CPR.
But the second person who has expertise in domestic violence saw a knee being used in a struggling position. How can it be so divergent?
[19:25:32] KOBILINSKY: It`s difficult sometimes to discern that phenomenon which is referred to as burking (ph). It looks like there is an anoxia, an
asphyxiation. But the science for example of drowning and suffocation are very similar. And you know, if you are talking about strangulation you look
for tell-tell signs. Signs of abrasion on the neck, ligature marks. You don`t always see that and you have to rule out things.
BANFIELD: I feel like if you are an M.E. and can`t figure out the answer is, well, maybe they should have called in the domestic violence expert to
say take a look before you go there.
I have to get back to Jean Lotus. Because Jean is going to bring in the other epic of the case.
And Jean, medical examiners often do bring in nonphysical evidence to make their determination like what was going on in this home and in this woman`s
life that might lead us to some answers here. And it turns out there was a hell of a lot going on, on the notes to her and her life. So what is the
story about the Tinder date and then Stacy Feldman`s husband Robert?
JEAN LOTUS, COLORADO FIELD EDITOR, PATCH.COM: That`s right, Ashleigh. Well, police got a great tip in June. The death happened March 1st. They got a
great tip in June when a woman called Metro Denver crime stoppers and she said she had med Robert Feldman twice. The first time for a coffee when I
believe he said that his name was Feldman. Then they met again for dinner at her house. They did have sex, she told the police, a couple of days
later. At which point he said his name was Wolf. And then he disappeared and didn`t call her again and she did some internet sleuthing and she found
his wife.
BANFIELD: OK. That brings me to, Jean, and I`m just going to ask the control room if he can bring up the full screen number four for me because
this is interesting.
What we found from the affidavit in full screen number four. I want to make sure we get the right one. Yes, we got it.
This is what she did after she did her sleuthing, the police say. This Tinder date told the police that on March 1st, 2015, the date of Stacy`s
death, she had actually post sleuthing sent an email to that wife, Stacy Feldman, and asked if she and Robert were in fact divorced because I guess
Robert told her they were. Stacy tells the Tinder date, no. We are not. So the Tinder date then forwards copies of the emails that she has between her
and Robert to Stacy, the victim in this case and then supplies Mrs. Feldman, Stacy with her phone too. I guess there is a lot of information in
there. Stacy Feldman had told her that her husband Robert had cheated on her before and that she was quote "done with him."
So Jean, effectively, Stacy Feldman, Mrs. Feldman is having this terrible conversation on the telephone with a Tinder date of her husband`s. And
Tinder date is mad as hell that she is also been cheated on and is outing him to the wife. Have I got that right?
LOTUS: That`s correct.
BANFIELD: And then the wife dies that day, correct?
LOTUS: Yes.
BANFIELD: OK. So the wife dies that very day. And it`s not sort of obvious to people like police and investigators and medical examiners that maybe,
just maybe, that might have been a motive for Robert Feldman, right there. Because he wasn`t arrested right away.
LOTUS: Right. But the phone call -- the tip didn`t come in until June. So the Tinder date actually was not speaking to police. They didn`t really
know about her until June.
BANFIELD: But Jean, I would imagine Stacy Feldman had phone records, who did she talk to before he died. And they would have gotten to that Tinder
date right on their very own within in minutes. I mean, I`m not a cop, but that`s kind of what I would have done.
LOTUS: Definitely, I believe that the cops were suspecting that this was a domestic murder from the beginning, just based on the affidavit. But they
works of three years, it`s been a lot of police work here.
BANFIELD: So one more thing I want to read from the police affidavit. Apparently Robert Feldman, when they went over his 911 call, apparently
they actually searched a little bit more carefully. They could hear a toilet flush in the background. They said he wasn`t really exhausted at all
by that CPR he was supposed to be doing on the wife. And then, this was this, Robert Feldman, when they got there, appeared to be acting as if in
shock or confused. And when asked, he said he could not remember the details of how he found his wife. At one point, Robert Feldman walked away
from your affiant, that would be the officer writing this affidavit, as if he was confused giving your affiant the impression he was overacting in an
effort to avoid speaking with him. Real quickly, Areva Martin, victims` right attorney, CNN Legal Analyst, is that something that will play heavily
in the trial, in the case against him? And may I remind everybody, this is a death penalty state.
AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, I think that`s going to be important, Ashleigh when this case actually gets to trial. But I`m really troubled by
the mistake made by the medical examiner. Because when you have two different reports, reports that conflict with each other, that`s an opening
for the defense in this case. So, although we have this really compelling evidence that this guy was cheating on his wife and probably had a motive
to kill her, we know this huge insurance policy, we also have this very disturbing, conflict between the medical examiners that the defense can use
to exploit the cause of death and that could cause this husband, who from all accounts looked like he killed his wife to get off. And I think that`s
a really disturbing factor in this case for me.
BANFIELD: Yes, there`s a lot that disturbs me. My thanks to Jean (INAUDIBLE) and Larry Koblinski. Areva, I`m going to ask you to stick
around, too, because I`ve got that story about the day beautiful Rebecca Zahau was found hanging naked from the balcony of her boyfriend`s mansion.
There was this cryptic message found painted on the door of the room outside which she was dead. "She saved him. Can you save her?" Is this the
last statement from a suicidal woman or is this a chilling clue about who killed her?
[19:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Sometimes in a good who done it, the writing is on the wall and the culprit becomes immediately clear. In a twisted San Diego suicide, with
the suicide part actually up for debate, the writing is not on the wall, it is on the door, literally on the door. A bone-chilling message is sprawled
in paint on the door near the dead body of Rebecca Zahau. Rebecca was found hanging naked. She was bound and gagged dangling from the balcony of her
boyfriend`s mansion. And investigators insist that she did this to herself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. DAVE NEMETH, SAN DIEGO COUNTY SHERIFF`S DEPARTMENT: The black paint from the door, the brush, the paint tube, paint found on the victim`s hand
and torso, and on the rope around her neck were all the same paint.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: If you ask investigators, Rebecca killed herself out of guilt because two days after her boyfriend`s son suffered a fatal fall by the
stairs when she was supposed to be watching him -- well, that`s supposed to be why she was so upset and so an expert with ABC`s 20/20 did this. It came
to a different conclusion about her death going to great length or technically, great heights to prove that Rebecca had to be thrown over that
balcony and Rebecca`s family agrees. They think this is murder. Especially since a handwriting expert is now backing up the person that they think
killed Rebecca. And that person they say, they say, not the police, is the brother of her boyfriend. That brother was staying in the guest house, that
brother was the only other person on the grounds that day, and that brother was the man who called 911 to report finding Rebecca`s body. And that dark
mysterious message on the door read, "She saved him. Can you save her?"
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL WAKSHULL, HANDWRITING EXPERT: Between Adam and Rebecca, it`s more likely Adam. Because Adam`s writing is writing that comports with these
attributes on the door. Rebecca`s doesn`t.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Very odd story, and with me now, KFMB AM 760 Reporter, Miles Himmel. He`s back with me for a second night because we didn`t even scratch
the surface it seems, Miles, on this one last night. And by the way, today`s testimony didn`t seem to help me get further into understanding how
this all could have happened. So, today I want to really drill down on the handwriting. Because that message is just weird from top to bottom.
All right, Miles, I may have put the handwriting sample up, OK?
MILES HIMMEL, REPORTER, KFMB AM 760: OK.
BANFIELD: And I want everybody to really, really focus if they can on the As and the word "saved." It`s in the middle of the door, like it`s in the
middle of the writing. Effectively, did the handwriting analyst -- expert in this civil case -- because the family is suing because they didn`t get
the, you know, the justice with the police, nobody got arrested, Adam didn`t get arrested -- so the family is suing and they say Adam did this,
and you can tell by the writing. And the handwriting expert said so because why?
[19:40:17] HIMMEL: Yes, well, so that`s been the focus the last two days, in fact, all day today and yesterday has been that this handwriting expert
-- and they looked at it and the handwriting expert said that this doesn`t look like Rebecca Zahau`s writing. You know, they`ve looked at tons of
writing that she`s had. This looks a lot more like Adam Shacknai`s handwriting. And specifically, that A that you`re talk about.
BANFIELD: OK, so there`s two things that I want to show you on the A. On the left is Adam`s signature, he wrote that, and on the right is the door.
Ignore the squiggly things because those squiggly things are really just police markings from fingerprint analysis. They`ve had -- it was not part
of the case. So just ignore the squigglies. .But look at the shape of the top of the A and Adam`s signature and then look at the A in the bottom word
"save." And I actually want to go back to the other one because that yellow circle is for another thing. Look at the A on the word "save" on the
bottom. Look at the angle of the A. It`s pretty remarkable. It swoops to the left and up. And if you go back to the signature, it swoops to the left
and up. And it almost looks identical when you compare his signature on the left. There`s the one I want to see. See the A`s? Swoops to the left and up
and very, very pointed.
Now, focus, if you will, with me, Miles, and I`m going to ask our audience to look at the signature again. And you can see where the pen first starts
on the paper on Adam`s signature on the A. It starts halfway down the A. And then it looks like the pen draws down to the bottom, goes back up
swooping to the left, goes back down to the bottom, the pen lifts, goes over to the left side, and then goes crossing through. Right? See those
circles, those yellow circles? Same thing happens in the A on the right hand side. On whomever painted the A on the right hand side, that person
seems to have also started midway down the A, gone down, then back up and swoop to the left, then all the way down to the bottom, then picked up that
paint and crossed over. Was that how specific they got on the stand or did they even go further than that?
HIMMEL: Yes, I mean you know -- we talked about this yesterday, that you know these handwriting experts, they don`t like to make a definitive, OK,
that`s who wrote it. They just like to say, hey, this is who I think or this is what it looks like, and that`s what they did. I mean, they`ll
analyze every letter to T and every single thing. And the exact thing you know, I mean, think about just normal people`s handwriting. Every person
has a unique way they write letters and the way they write things. And right here, you`ve got that and it goes, hey, that looks a heck of a lot
like Adam`s Shacknai`s writing. And that doesn`t look anything like Rebecca Zahau`s.
BANFIELD: Yes. Don`t go anywhere, Miles because there`s the whole issue of what was said. Not just how it was written but what was written. It`s weird
and there`s really just no other way you can say it. What was written on that door is weird.
And up next, I`m going to talk about Rebecca Zahau. What her mental state was, did she seem suicidal after her boyfriend son`s tragic accident
because there is somebody who can testify to that, and then, what about that writing? Would that be something that somebody might write? That`s
coming up next.
[19:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: For over six years, they have said it was a suicide even though Rebecca Zahau was naked, bound, and gagged when she was found hanging from
the balcony. Investigators say she did it to herself because just two days earlier, her boyfriend`s 6-year-old boy suffered a fatal fall when she was
supposed to be watching him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF BILL GORE, SAN DIEGO COUNTY SHERIFF`S DEPARTMENT: Was Max`s death a homicide? The answer is no. It was a tragic accident. Was Rebecca`s death a
homicide? Again, the answer is no, it was a suicide. To reach these conclusions relied in substantial measure upon the physical evidence, the
scene of each event, witness interviews, the medical evidence, and the forensic evidence, including DNA, fingerprints, and biomechanics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Rebecca`s family does not buy that. They say that she would never have killed herself. And now, they`re suing. They`re suing for wrongful
death. And on the stand, the counselor who spoke with Rebecca right after that child fell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) that she might be a danger to herself?
KAREN HANCOCK, SAN DIEGO PSYCHIATRIC EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM: She gave no indication of that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you ever have any feeling that she would be a danger to others?
HANCOCK: She gave no indication of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Which brings me to Clinical and Forensic Psychologist Judy Ho. Still with me, Miles Himmel, and also, Areva Martin is with me as well, CNN
Legal Analyst. So, Judy, I need you to help me get through the fact that right after the child dies, an expert speaks with her and says she was not
even close to being suicidal. She then, I think a day or so, maybe two days later gets a phone call saying Max is not doing well. It is a grave
situation. She does not get a call saying Max is dead. She gets a call saying we`re still in the hospital, and Max, it is not looking good. And
then, she kills herself? Judy, does that seem logical?
[19:50:18] JUDY HO, CLINICAL AND FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: No, it doesn`t make sense. And it certainly doesn`t make sense with her history. So Rebecca, as
far as we know and as far as family members attest to, has had no history of mental illness, depression or psychosis. The types of conditions in
which suicide risk is more eminent. And even if she had gotten the phone call saying that Max was (INAUDIBLE) more ill and they weren`t sure of what
his future might look like, it also did not seem like the time where somebody would go and commit suicide before there was an actual final
decision about his medical care or what would happen to his medical status. So, it really doesn`t add up. I think the suicide notice as well, that
supposed scrawling on the wall, whatever you`d like to call that, is also atypical because most people who actually leave notes behind of some sort
when it is a suicide, tend to be a lot more practical in terms of what they write. They don`t write cryptic things to try to get other people to solve
them later.
BANFIELD: And to that end, this is a weird one, right? It says -- it even goes further than that. Like cryptic doesn`t even begin to explain it. She,
third person, she saved him. Can you save her? But the truth is, if she`s killing herself, she didn`t save him. The child would be dead. I`m not sure
I even -- can you make sense of it?
HO: No, and I think this is exactly why there is a suspicion of foul play here because not only does this not typify the types of suicide notes that
we`ve seen, and given we`ve had not a ton of analyses on this but preliminary studies do suggest that people who tend to leave behind notes
are very practical in terms of how they spell things out. They don`t really talk about the reasons why they necessarily hurt themselves or try to kill
themselves but they will talk about the love they have for their families and the people they leave behind. And this note has nothing do with that.
BANFIELD: Yes. It was odd.
HO: And so, I think this is one of their concerns why this doesn`t look (AUDIO GAP)
BANFIELD: And what about that, can you save her? Well, no. I mean, her intention is to kill herself. Let me just leave that one for a second.
Areva Martin, what`s -- sometimes lost in all of this because this is just such a weird mystery is that this is a civil case, right? The cops did not
charge Adam Shacknai, the brother, who the family says they think did this. He wasn`t charged. They still don`t even think it`s a murder. So, the
family wants a civil judgment. But it`s too -- still too mysterious. Do you think that a jury could actually get past all of this mystery and not just
say, well, God, if the professionals didn`t think it was a, you know, wrongful death then why should we?
MARTIN: Well, the benefit that the family has is you know, Ashleigh is that because it`s a civil case, the burden of proof is different. It`s a less of
burden of proof. They don`t have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the brother of her boyfriend killed her. So, that gives them a better chance
than if this were actually in a criminal court. Now, I think what`s going to be troubling for the jurors though is the lack of DNA evidence. We don`t
have any eye witnesses, so to prove their case, they`re going to have to do it with circumstantial evidence.
BANFIELD: Yes.
MARTIN: They`re going to have to use some kind of forensic evidence. And what we`re being told is that the brother`s DNA wasn`t at the scene of her
death or her suicide.
BANFIELD: Which is weird to me --
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: So jurors are going to have a hard time.
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: He`s the one who found her. Right. He`s the one who found her. It`s hard for me to understand. I`ve got to leave it there but it is hard
for me to understand. If he found her, why isn`t his DNA on the railing as he looks over saying, God, Rebecca, please, no. There`s a lot to this. So,
I`m not done with it.
Miles, I hope you`ll come back. Judy, you as well. And Areva, you can`t go anywhere. I still need you to talk to me in the next hour. Because I`m
going to do a right turn here, very hard turn involving this. These are delicious. I mean, who doesn`t love these, right? But what do you think you
could get in this bag if you were, say, going to visit your grandson in the pokey? What do you think you could fit in there? What do you think grandma
took to her grandson in the pokey? You`re going to find out next.
[19:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: "ONE MORE THING" for you tonight, and it might be best described as a snack food caper gone very wrong. Last weekend, Sarah Griffin went to
go see her grandson at the county jail, and she brought him a little treat, because that`s what grandmas do, a bag of Doritos. But inside that bag of
Doritos there was something else that wasn`t treats. It was pot, and meth, and heroin and ecstasy and Xanax better known as drugs. Police say Sarah
Griffin claims she did not know about the drugs and that she just thought there was a cell phone in that their Doritos bag, which is also very wrong.
For now, she`s facing charges for trying to sneak contraband into prison. Grandma.
Thank you for watching, everybody. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. We`ll see you back here tomorrow night 6:00 Eastern for CRIME & JUSTICE. Stay tuned,
"FORENSIC FILES" coming up next. Good night.
END
