Return to Transcripts main page
Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield
Dancing, Singing Doctor Disfigures Patients. Aired 6-8p ET
Aired May 23, 2018 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:07]
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST, HLN CRIME AND JUSTICE: Good evening, everyone, I`m Ashleigh Banfield, welcome to "Crime and Justice." Tonight, the
singing dancing cosmetic surgeon, this sounds like an act, but this is not funny, especially to the patients who are under the knife. Because some
say the surgeon botched the job, to the point that one of them suffered brain damage. And meanwhile, the surgeon is still working. Our Kyle Peltz
is covering the -- well, this is Dr. Boutte, I am not quite sure how other words to describe it, but a lawyer for the patient says this is her in the
O.R., how do we answer to this?
KYLE PELTZ, CRIME AND JUSTICE PRODUCER: Yes. It`s unbelievable. We`ve actually just gotten even more videos of her dancing and singing in the
operating room. She is now being sued by a number of her patients, and some of those patients will join us live in just a few minutes.
BANFIELD: All right. We will dig deeper into that in just a moment.
Plus, a missing Pennsylvania woman found after 14 years. But only because she surfaced as the suspect in another missing woman`s case. Police think
the new missing woman is dead. Justin Freiman is covering the twists and turns on this one. How do you explain this?
JUSTIN FREIMAN, SR. PRODUCER, HLN CNN: It is truly amazing. They`re looking for this missing hair stylist. And they start to realize this
other woman`s connected. When they find her, they realize she is been missing for 15 years. And now, we`re just trying to put together all the
pieces and find out where this missing mom is now.
BANFIELD: Very complicated. And where has that other woman been for a decade and a half? Justin, thank you for that.
Later, as well, the crocodile tears at the drunk driving check point. A pretty young lawmaker caught on body cam trying to weasel out of an arrest
with some sweet talking on a real hot button social issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So many people tell me that you guys threat people like his shit and I didn`t believe it. I literally fight for you guys
every time I get the chance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, that doesn`t make it OK to drink and drive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m not drinking and driving.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seriously.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: First, though, I want to take you to a nice little medical office in a nice little suburb of Atlanta where some cosmetic surgery
patients who went in for simple procedures are now reporting nightmare results. And what may be even more remarkable about this story is that the
patients are seeing concrete evidence of what`s been going on in the O.R. of a woman who claims she is a surgeon to the stars, like dancing and
rapping and poking and prodding, and cutting to the music. And if you think this is some secret video smuggled out of the O.R. to sink this
doctor`s reputation and career, you`re going to want to think again. Because a lawyer for several of the patients says this was actually posted
by the doctor on YouTube.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Well, that is certainly nothing like the mild mannered surgeon that Dr. Windell Boutte`s patient`s googled and watched, giving a
professional assessment of her practice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WINDELL BOUTTE, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, PREMIER DERMATOLOGY AND SURGERY: Hi, I`m Dr. Windell Boutte, medical Director of Premier Dermatology and Surgery,
and creator of Premier Aesthetic Center. We are so happy that you`ve entrusted the care of your skin to us, and we want you to be aware that we
do offer many aesthetic procedures that cannot only enhance the way your skin feels on the outside and looks on the outside, but how you actually
feel about yourself on the inside.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Well, here`s how some patients feel on the inside, and, in fact, on the outside, a son of one patient says his mom went in just a few weeks
before her wedding for a simple procedure, but ended up with life-long brain damage. Dr. Boutte says she is a board certified dermatologist. But
she is been served with at least six different lawsuits and she has settled several more.
Joining me now freelance investigative reporter, Tina Douglas, also Susan Witt, an attorney for some of Dr. Boutte`s patients. Ojay Liburd, he
claims that Dr. Boutte caused his mom`s brain damage. Plastic surgeon, Dr. Barry Weintraub and defense attorney, Darren Kavinoky.
Thank you all for being with me. Tina, let me just begin with you. Has Dr. Boutte answered the most glaring question here, and that is why are
there apparently videos of her dancing and rap singing with the knife while cutting in the O.R.?
TINA DOUGLAS, FREELANCE INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well, of course, she is been advised not to really speak about her practice or these malpractice
suits by her attorneys. I think part of this video and rapping and singing and putting these on YouTube is to try to promote her business. That is
kind of the ongoing thing these days. Several other plastic surgeons have maybe not quite the content of her videos, but some flamboyant like videos
to try and sell their practice.
BANFIELD: I`m sorry. So this is supposed to make me feel like I want to be that person on the table? Is that what you`re suggesting by the
explanation?
DOUGLAS: Well, sort of. We`re in kind of the social media atmosphere most of the time. And people go online, and they`re looking for different
things that are going to catch their attention. And so this may be her way of trying to attract business, and to sell what she is doing.
BANFIELD: OK. I have more questions for you, Tina. I don`t want you to go away. But I need a doctor to react to this. And Dr. Weintraub, a
plastic surgeon, how do you react to seeing this, especially if what Tina just said is true, this is supposed to be helpful to marketing to patients?
BARRY WEINTRAUB M.D., PLASTIC SURGEON: I must tell you, it`s very upsetting. I did my training here at Cornell in New York City. And the
one thing I learned early on was that it`s a high honor and a privilege to take care of a patient and to touch a patient, to touch another human.
BANFIELD: And to get the trust?
WEINTRAUB: And to feel that trust, and particularly in the operating room, behavior should never be cavalier. This is a very serious place. This is
a place where everything has to go according to plan with organization and backup and proper anesthesia and nursing and sterility --
BANFIELD: Look at the pictures, it`s not just the physician. It`s the assistants as well, all seem to be choreographed as part of it.
WEINTRAUB: From where I have come from. New York Hospital Medical Center, I find it hard to watch, I don`t even like the phrase selling once
practice. You practice medicine to help people, and to act with the highest of conduct.
BANFIELD: OK. There are a few other things that are curious that struck me when I looked at what Dr. Boutte offers. She is, as she says, a board
certified dermatologist. But I want to just go over some of the services that she tells patients she can provide for them. Because some of them
stand out to me as being very incongruous, say, with dermatologist, look at the items in yellow, Brazilian butt lift, breast augmentation, breast lift,
buttock augmentation, eyelid surgery, facelift. Again, this is a -- she has on her bio, she is a board certified dermatologist. But the list goes
on to suggest hormone replacement therapy, liposuction, a mini-tummy tuck, weight loss and wellness, phentermine, which is -- it is a drug you can
take, a prescription, and it helps to, you know, curb your appetite. Natural weight loss management, nutrition counseling. All of these seem
like they shouldn`t be coming from a dermatologist, but Dr. Weintraub am I wrong, is that normal for your profession?
WEINTRAUB: It`s not normal at all. Especially the first set of yellow lettered items, those are specific surgical procedures. It seems that this
individual was trained in medical school and went on to do a dermatology residency. And we all know that dermatology refers to the skin and its
surface. Surgical procedures like butt lift or breast augmentation.
BANFIELD: Liposuction.
WEINTRAUB: Tummy tuck. They are much, much deeper, involving deep elements of the human body and have to be under the best of conditions of
sterility, staffing, backup, emergency care. We are inspected every six months, and formally every three years in our facility to make sure all of
that relates to safety for our patients who undergo these procedures.
[18:10:00] BANFIELD: So Susan Witt, you are representing several patients of Dr. Boutte, and you have indicated to us that these videos that we are
watching came from her own postings on YouTube. And I don`t know why anybody would post anything like that. As a journalist, I wouldn`t
necessarily post something like this, and my practice doesn`t -- it`s not life or death. But I do want to just stop and let people listen
unadulterated to some of the things that she is singing. Because even the lyrics stand out in this next clip. And honest to god, I can`t make this
stuff up. But this is a song that is by a -- it`s a popular rap song by an artist named O.T. Genesis called "cut it." Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
You need to cut it. Yo, you need to cut it.
Cut it, cut it, cut it.
You need to cut it, cut it.
I need to cut it.
Cut it, cut it, cut it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So, Susan, I`d like to ask you your reaction to those videos, especially since you`re representing patients who claim they have been
irreparably damaged in her O.R.
SUSAN WITT, ATTORNEY FOR PATIENTS OF DR. BOUTTE: Thank you, yes, we were shocked when we discovered those videos. It was very concerning to us that
she did not appear to be taking these procedures that seriously. We were concerned about the sterility of the environment, that infection protocols
were not being followed. Just the overall atmosphere in her operating room.
I`m going to use that term loosely. Because these procedures did not take place in an actual operating room, or hospital or an ambulatory surgical
center. These procedures are taking place in her office, in a room which she has built out as, I guess, somewhat of an operating room, but certainly
not what you would expect in a normal surgical setting.
BANFIELD: And I want to make sure that our audience understands, we`ve had to digitize part of the image because we feel it`s shameful to the patient
who`s on the table. The physician is actually shaking the person`s flesh. And literally cutting while singing. So it`s not sort of a pre-op, while
the patient is being sedated.
This is actually happening during the performance of the song. And this isn`t the only video that there is. There are several different song and
dance routines going on. Talk to me a little bit, though, Susan, about why -- because the layperson in me says certainly that doctor won`t be, you
know, practicing now. That is not the case, right?
WITT: No. That is not the case at all. Which is why my clients have voluntarily stepped forward to tell their stories, because we are
frustrated that the Georgia Composite Medical Board has failed to take any action against this doctor. Now, this doctor`s just one example of many
who in Georgia need to have some regulation on their license, because these physicians are practicing well outside the scope of what they`re trained
and what their education entails.
So it is concerning to us that the Composite Medical Board has been aware of Dr. Boutte since March of 2016. O.J.`s mother was catastrophically
injured in February of 2016.
BANFIELD: And I want to get to that, actually, Susan, I want to get to O.J.`s mother`s story, but not before I hear a little bit more about the
presentation of this particular doctor to her patients. Her own website, and her bio, that is posted, says that she is a -- that she is board
certified in surgery and dermatology. OK? But we actually looked up the medical records.
And while she claims that she is certified in surgery and dermatology, the State Medical records actually list her as board certified in dermatology.
Susan, is that something that is a legal issue, or is that just marketing?
WITT: Well, no, that is a legal issue in terms of the misrepresentation of your qualifications to the public who are relying about what you`re putting
out there in terms of your qualifications. And if they`re going to select you to do these important procedures. There`s no dispute that Dr. Boutte
is board certified in dermatology. She is not board certified in surgery. That is a separate board certification by the American Board of Medical
Specialties and she has not gained that level of certification.
BANFIELD: OK. She is also facing six lawsuits to our knowledge, right now. She has four malpractice settlements that we`ve been able to unearth,
at least, and I`m going to go over them very quickly. They`re not small. In February of this year, a million dollar settlement. Also in February,
nearly a million dollars. In January, the month before, $95,000. And just last October, another close to million dollar settlement.
Now, it is not unusual for doctors to be sued. They carry malpractice insurance for a reason and they settle as well. That is, on its surface,
not necessarily a talking point. But I do want you to hear this one fairly ironic piece of video that Dr. Boutte posts on her site about you as a
patient and what you should expect when you come into the O.R. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOUTTE: Smart lipo has totally revolutionized the concept of liposuction. It is a simple procedure that is done in office, under local anesthesia,
with the patient listening to their iPod, singing along with music. And it`s actually an enjoyable experience.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: An enjoyable experience, sing along with your iPod, you could be a patient that listens to music or you can just listen to mine and maybe
sing along with me, oh, you`re under anesthetic. These are the claims that are being made against this surgeon. I`m going to ask you all to stay put
if you will. And particularly, O.J., when we come back, I want you to tell me about your mother.
She was set to get married in just a couple weeks, she went in for some Botox. She was convinced that perhaps maybe another procedure might be to
her liking. And now you are left with a mother who needs permanent care for the rest of her life. We`re going to get that story. And find out a
little bit more about the law, where it stands, why this physician is still practicing, and whether the American Medical Association has something to
say about this. That is next.
[18:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: We`re still talking about that Atlanta area cosmetic surgeon who has now been served with at least six different lawsuits from patients who
say they got botched jobs, with side effects ranging from burns to brain damage. And all while videos have been surfacing of the dance parties that
allegedly went on in her operating room with semi naked patients on the table. Some of the pictures you`re seeing right now a lawyer for several
of the patients says these are Dr. Windell Boutte, who is still practicing.
My panel is still with me. Ojay Liburd, I want you just to react to me, knowing that your mother is an excruciating state. She is going to need
care for the rest of her life. The description has been that she has been severely brain damaged after going in for Botox a few weeks before her
wedding. Can you tell me, O.J., when you first saw your mother after the procedure, how did she appear to you?
OJAY LIBURD, CLAIMS DOCTOR CAUSED MOM`S BRAIN DAMAGE: Well, my mother was in the emergency room and her face was very bloated and her tongue was
sticking out. And I remember just seeing oxygen mask on her face and whatnot. And basically I saw her just trying to fight for her life and
whatnot. And she -- she just -- it was very sad, because her eyes were rolling back. And I couldn`t believe that was my mother, because she
looked so helpless.
BANFIELD: And you are now caring for your mother. Am I correct? And in that regard, what are you having to do, just so that your mother can get
through a day?
LIBURD: I have to prepare her meals. I have to give her medication. I have to help her in the bathroom. I have to bathe her, brush her teeth.
Everything that you would personally do independently on your own. So that is exactly what I have to do.
BANFIELD: Did you know about these videos of Dr. Boutte? As your lawyer says, on YouTube, dancing and singing and rapping in the O.R. during
surgeries, did you know about that, prior to your mom going in, or even at the time your mom was, you know, becoming so incredibly ill?
LIBURD: Yes, I was the one that actually found the videos and saved them. I was googling her a lot, because I was trying to figure out who was this
woman. And I -- I needed answers for myself. And when I came across the videos, I was completely shocked to know that she was dancing and having so
much fun while people were sleeping unconscious and just getting that done. And so I was shocked. I had to send that to my lawyer so that she can, you
know, have them.
BANFIELD: So Susan, you`re his lawyer, and you are now in possession of these videos. You are launching yet another lawsuit that this doctor`s
going to be facing. And this has been in the news. This has been a local news story in your region.
WITT: Yes.
BANFIELD: And that has had an effect on people coming out of the woodwork. What`s happened in the last 48 hours?
WITT: In the last 48 hours, I have been contacted either by phone or voice mail or messages over social media by no less than 30 patients who have
been allegedly injured by Dr. Boutte, or suffered extreme results, resulting in hospitalization, infection.
What`s very concerning to me is that many of these patients appear to have been injured in 2017, which is long after Ms. Cornelius suffered her
injuries in February of 2016 and the board was put on notice in March of 2016. So that we have a number of people who were injured in 2017 is
concerning as to why the board did not take any action in 2016 that would have prevented further patients from being injured.
BANFIELD: Well, I`m curious, still, about so many aspects of the story. One of them being how someone who has a, you know, state medical record
saying she is only board certified in dermatology, not in surgery as she says in her bio online. Is there some kind of a loophole in state law that
allows you to be, say, a podiatrist who performs brain surgery?
Or, say, a dermatologist who does tummy tucks? Is there something that allows you? Because I`ll tell you something, there are a lot of different
kinds of journalists. But I want to know that my doctor that is the specialist with feet is not the doctor working on my head. Is it not
illegal to do so?
WITT: Well, unfortunately the chairman of our Georgia Composite Medical Board has said anybody who`s got a license to practice medicine can
basically do any area of medicine that they would like to. There are not sufficient regulations in place in the State of Georgia that regulates what
physicians can do within the scope of their practice. And there is a loophole that allows physicians like Dr. Boutte and others to do these
procedures in their office that is not regulated and there`s no oversight. Because they`re allowed to do it under office-based anesthesia instead of
doing it in a hospital or in an ambulatory surgical center where there would have been the safety precautions in place to prevent a scenario such
as this.
BANFIELD: So, Dr. Weintraub, you`re a plastic surgeon in New York, is that, I mean, and you just heard Susan talking about, you know, Georgia.
Is that the story here? Is that the story all over the country -- who the hell is policing this?
WEINTRAUB: OK. So let me try to set this out for you. There`s a difference between medical malpractice, which goes right to reasonable and
customary practice in your community.
BANFIELD: OK.
WEINTRAUB: What one does as a plastic surgeon or a dermatologist has to be within those guidelines, or a person can get sued.
BANFIELD: OK.
WEINTRAUB: That is different from the office of professional medical conduct.
BANFIELD: Yes, aren`t those the people who should say professional medical conduct doesn`t include rapping, singing and cutting at the same time?
WEINTRAUB: Absolutely. Because that board, or that body holds our licensure. Conduct, means conduct around a patient, conduct in the
operatory.
BANFIELD: Is this slipping through the cracks? Look at this conduct in the operatory. Look at this. Is this slipping through the cracks? Is
there some reasonable explanation that the Office of Professional Medical Conduct in Georgia could ascribe to this video and say, you know, it
doesn`t rise to the level of taking her license?
WEINTRAUB: I just can`t imagine it from the clips you`ve shown me.
BANFIELD: Does it need to be on national TV before they wake up? What is the protocol here?
WEINTRAUB: There`s a problem there. I know in New York State, issues of this nature, again in the videos you`ve shown me, would be a very, very
egregious thing. And what you have here are both issues. You have Med Mal issues, and office of professional medical conduct issues.
BANFIELD: Yes.
WEINTRAUB: One results in a lawsuit, the other results in a retraction of your licensure. Now, Susan, said something very important. And here is
the loophole. You can go to medical school and do an internship and put out a shingle that you`re a neurosurgeon in the United States of America.
The problem is that you`ll never get hospital privileges in neurosurgeon, so can open someone`s head.
BANFIELD: You can do it in your office.
WEINTRAUB: However, someone opens up an office and says I`m a neurosurgeon, and they`re crazy enough to go into a private office even
with an anesthetist --
BANFIELD: And make a nice looking shingle, which brings me to Darren Kavinoky. And Darren, wow, so many legal issues here, but how about this
one. Cutting into someone while singing and dancing on video. How is that not negligence? How is that not the kind of negligence that could actually,
you know, land criminal charges on someone`s head?
DARREN KAVINOKY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We`ve heard from the doctors that when it comes to negligence, which is a civil lawsuit, really the touchstone
there is reasonableness. And so ultimately it will be up to a jury, if the case isn`t settled, to decide whether what was done was reasonable.
And it`s so fascinating to me because if this was something that was staged, if she had created these YouTube videos as an innovative way to
promote her practice, but it wasn`t involving actual patients, it was just a funny skit, a parody that was done in the operating room, I would
actually have no objection to that.
The problem is, when you put live people on the table and especially if they`re live people who argue -- I mean, I don`t know, did they give
consent to be featured in these videos? I would have a hard time imaging that they did. So there`s a host of issues from the medical board to civil
lawsuits to potential criminal liability. This is something that needs to get addressed post haste.
BANFIELD: OK. And I think that`s a huge point that you bring up. Was this staged or was this a real, you know, was this a real operation in progress?
And it`s a great point. It`s not the last point we`re going to make on this. This is so disturbing. We`re going to have a whole lot more of this,
the dancing surgeon story at the top of the hour.
And also tomorrow morning on "Morning Express." So, again, about 28 minutes or so, we`ve got another whole area and two other people who went into that
O.R. And wait until you see how they came out. They`re going to join us again at the top of the hour.
In the meantime, it has been 10 days since anyone has seen 34-year-old Joleen Cummings. She is a beautiful Florida mother. She disappeared without
a trace, literally on mother`s day. Police just found her abandoned SUV. And it was in a Home Depot parking lot, not where she parked it. And then
they arrested her ex-boyfriend on some unrelated charges.
But now the police say they have something new that gets them a lot closer to finding Joleen. And it is a break, get this, are you ready? In a 14-
year-old missing persons case. It is complicated, but it is bizarre, and it`s next.
[18:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: There are some missing persons cases that dog (ph) you for years. Even in you`re told to let it go. Because by the time that missing
person has been missing a year or say 10 years or 15, the missing person is often presumed dead and the chances of finding that person zero to nil.
But Kimberly Kessler is not your typical missing person. Because Kimberly vanished 14 years ago from a city in Western Pennsylvania. And Kimberly was
just found living in her car at a rest stop off a highway in Florida. But it was not quite the cause for celebration that you would expect.
Because Kimberly just went from being the subject of a long lost cold case to the scorching hot suspect in the disappearance of yet another woman.
That other woman is Joleen Cummings, a 34-year-old mother of three, who went missing a week and a half ago.
She was last seen leaving the hair salon, where she actually worked with that long lost missing Kimberly. But Joleen still hasn`t been found, even
missing mother`s day with her own family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANN JOHNSON, MOTHER OF JOLEEN CUMMINGS: Someone out there knows something. I beg you. I beg you as a mother to please keep coming forward with any
information that you have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: A jolt of hope came three days later when Joleen`s car was found. It was abandoned in a Home Depot parking lot. And then of course
came the surveillance video showing it was Kimberly behind the wheel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL LEEPER, SHERIFF, NASSAU COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE: We were hoping to see Joleen get out of that vehicle. But who do you think it was? The
Tangles hair stylist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: It was only a matter of time before police tracked down that Tangles hair stylist, that co-worker of the missing woman. Because that
stylist failed to show up for work at that salon.
[18:40:00] But the details of that stylist, Kimberly, her back story, missing so long, well, there`s something that no cold caseworker could ever
have imagined.
Like her alleged use of fake names, aliases, and a counterfeit passport, or her brand new arrest for grand theft auto. And now, she`s been named as a
suspect in the disappearance of Joleen Cummings, or as police put it, Joleen`s likely death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEEPER: We have obtained evidence which we are not releasing at this time which leads us to believe Joleen is not alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Joining me now is Roger Henderson. He is the news director for WBOB Radio. Also senior law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant
director Tom Fuentes is with me. And Darren Kavinoky is still with me as well.
First to you, Roger Henderson. It is such a bizarre fact pattern. We thought it was a missing persons case. We didn`t know it was two missing
persons cases with a whole tangled web of players. But to be clear, Kimberly Kessler has been missing for 14 years. She`s seen here in her
Nassau County jail detention center booking photo dressed in orange. Where has she been for 14 years?
ROGER HENDERSON, NEWS DIRECTOR, WBOB RADIO (via telephone): That is a question I`m sure her family is seeking answers to. Apparently she has been
in the North Florida area living under an assumed name, at times in her own car. And homeless, working as a hair stylist, and sometimes at an adjacent
barbecue restaurant.
BANFIELD: Yeah, living as Jennifer Sybert. That was the alias she was telling everybody she was. She told the salon her name was Jennifer Sybert.
And you know what? Somebody had something to say about Jennifer Sybert, AKA Kimberly Kessler, and how she reacted with this now missing woman who`s
presumed dead. Have a listen to this friend of the missing woman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And a co-worker of mine was up there Thursday getting her hair done and she said they were arguing and there was weird vibes at
the salon between the two of them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So Roger, tell me what they saw on surveillance when they went and they figured out the surveillance tape of Joleen`s car when they found
it at the Home Depot. What did they see when they say Kimberly Kessler got out? She was the one who parked it. What happened next?
HENDERSON (via telephone): Well, she was seen apparently attempting to dump the Ford Explorer that belonged to her missing co-worker. And
obviously it ended up leading to her arrest.
BANFIELD: Like a taxi, right? She called a cab to the lot, to the parking lot where she dropped the car and took a cab back to the -- was it the
salon? Is that where she went back to?
HENDERSON (via telephone): Yeah, that`s two counties away, to the south of St. John`s County. Very, very bizarre twist of events that have occurred.
That is so bizarre. And, of course, this family is missing their loved one who was not even able to spend mother`s day with her children.
BANFIELD: So she, Kimberly Kessler, the one missing for 14 years is found with a fake passport. She is using a fake name, the name of Jennifer
Sybert. Do we know who Jennifer Sybert is?
HENDERSON (via telephone): Well, all we can tell is that apparently is an assumed name as well. But she was originally from Western Pennsylvania and
went missing over a decade and a half ago. And they have been looking for her ever since.
BANFIELD: But I`m seeing here that this Jennifer Sybert was a kid, 13 years old, had a car accident in Germany, and was buried in Kimberly`s
hometown, so likely that maybe Kimberly allegedly lifted that information and lifted an identity from a dead child who was killed in a car crash and
then went ahead and lived as that name.
It`s such a complex story. And get this. If you thought it was solved, well, I got another one for you. Because this poor victim, Joleen Cummings
who is missing and presumed dead right now, she had an ex-boyfriend and they had a big fight.
And that fight was just a couple days before she went missing. And that guy was found hiding under boxes. So is he connected to this case? That story
is next.
[18:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: We`re still talking about the brand-new suspect just named in a search for a missing mother of three. A suspect who herself was a missing
woman. She`s the one on the right. But the one on the left, Joleen Cummings, was her co-worker at a nail salon. And that`s where locals say
things have become tense between the two of them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What made her go after Joleen? You know, what happened for this turn of events, for these many people to be devastated
and be brokenhearted? What happened at that salon?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: What happened is that hair salon is still at question. But Kimberly Kessler on the right may be the only suspect who`s been named in
this disappearance of Joleen on the left.
[18:50:03] But there`s something else that happened. It`s not the only question on the locals` minds right now. Because Joleen also had a
boyfriend who was known for violence. And they have been fighting just before Joleen vanished.
Our Justin Freiman has been on the story as well. He joins me on the phone. Justin, that young man in the picture makes things a lot more complicated.
His name is Jason G (ph). He apparently has a couple orders of protection against him. But how does he factor into this and where did they find him
after the disappearance?
JUSTIN FREIMAN, CRIME AND JUSTICE PRODUCER (via telephone): Well, just three days before she disappeared, a call was made saying that there was
fighting going on at Joleen`s home. Police went over there, but her boyfriend had gotten out right before police showed up. He had an
outstanding warrant against him.
BANFIELD: So when they went to find him, they did track him down, we got the mug shot to prove it, where did they find him and how did they find
him?
FREIMAN (via telephone): That`s right. So after Joleen went missing, they did track him down. They found him in a home not too far away hiding under
cardboard boxes.
BANFIELD: Hiding under cardboard boxes. It is never the way you want to be found when your ex-girlfriend who you`ve been fighting with only a week
before is now missing and presumed dead. It certainly complicates things.
But Tom Fuentes, with your law enforcement background and your FBI background, I know it didn`t escape you, the scratch, the fresh scratch
right across Kimberly Kessler`s face in her mug shot. Tell me why that may be significant.
TOM FUENTES, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, she might have fought with Kimberly. So, you know, that how that scratch could have been
inflicted on her, we don`t know. The shame of this is that normally in a case like this, you would hope to have a minimum number of suspects. You
know, maybe just one.
And now you have her book ended between two low lives (ph), between her boyfriend and this Kimberly. So, you know, now we don`t know. I think
Kimberly becomes nominee number one as the suspect because she was in her car. But how did she end up with the car, which had been stolen, and she
ends up parking it and calling a taxi? So, that`s number one, that she ends up with the car. But her boyfriend doesn`t exactly look like citizen of the
year either.
BANFIELD: No. But I`ll tell you what, that scratch, if they find Joleen Cummings, and they find DNA under her fingernails, that could be fairly
significant in this story. Also, real quickly, Tom, something that`s uncomfortable is the way the police let us know they don`t think that
Joleen is alive anymore.
And actually, I want to get Darren to weigh in on this too. Darren, I know how these investigations work, and they need to keep things under their hat
that only the killer would know. But what kind of evidence would they find that would lead them to tell the public we don`t think that we`re looking
for a live person anymore?
KAVINOKY: Well, there`s a wide range of material. It could be something like blood. There could be other forensic evidence. There could be an
admission that was made. Obviously that would be a precursor to the arrest. But there can be any number of things that can lead law enforcement to the
conclusion that somebody`s not alive.
The absence of banking records, other transactions without explanation. And those are exactly the kinds of things, as you say, Ashleigh, that law
enforcement wants to keep close to the vest because if there is some item of information that only the killer would know, they want to be sure they
can link that to somebody.
BANFIELD: Yeah.
KAVINOKY: But this is a great case for a defense lawyer where you can always point to that other low life who`s our other guess.
BANFIELD: Just like Tom said. Just like Tom said. You don`t usually get two. I have to cut it there. I want to thank Roger Henderson for his input.
Tom Fuentes, as always, we love your insight. Darren Kavinoky, I`m going to ask you to stick around because --
FUENTES: One more thing.
BANFIELD: Oh, you know what? I`m going to have to get it another time because I`m up against the clock, Tom, I`m so sorry. But there is this
video that we had to show you, how far would you go to try to talk your way out of an arrest? Would you plea, would you cry, would you deny, or would
you do this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): I literally fight for you guys every --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): That doesn`t make it OK to drink and drive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): I`m not drinking and driving.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Wow, lawmaker caught on a tape she probably doesn`t want people to see. But did the water works work? One more thing straight ahead.
[18:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: One more thing for you tonight. A New Mexico state representative, caught on police body camera, allegedly failing a field
sobriety test and then complaining about her treatment to the arresting officer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): So many people tell me that you guys treat people like this shit and I didn`t believe it. I literally fight for
you guys every -- time I get the chance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): That doesn`t make it OK to drink and drive.
[19:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): I`m not drinking and driving.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Seriously.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Albuquerque police booked 41-year-old Monica Youngblood on one count of DWI. See how that affects her standing with New Mexico.
Next hour of CRIME & JUSTICE starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD (voice-over): Tonight, the professional cosmetic surgeon --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are so happy that you have entrusted the care of your skin to us.
BANFIELD: With procedures that seem more like parties.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s actually an enjoyable experience. With the patient listening to their iPod, singing along with music.
BANFIELD: But what goes down when the patients go under?
And how would a singing, dancing doctor still be working if multiple malpractice suits are piling up against her?
And a missing woman is finally found, 14 years after she vanished. But if you think there`s a welcome home party on the way, you don`t know Kimberly
Kessler. Instead, the long lost victim has been thrown in jail because Kimberly is now a suspect in the disappearance of someone else, another
woman missing on mother`s day. Her name is Joleen. They worked at the same salon. But Kimberly was faking who she really was.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was weird vibes at the salon between the two of them.
BANFIELD: Now long lost Kimberly has a brand new booking photo showing scratches that aren`t so old. And a video parking Joleen`s car under cover
of night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were hoping to see Joleen get out of that vehicle. But what do you think it was? Tangles hair stylist.
BANFIELD: And in a bizarre twist, Joleen`s boyfriend has also been arrested.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I never knew anything about him.
BANFIELD: But does he have anything to do with this complicated tale? And with Joleen Cummings now gone ten days, will police find her alive?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: Good evening, everyone. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. And welcome to the second hour of CRIME & JUSTICE.
Tonight, we are going to begin at a cosmetics center outside of Atlanta where patients are going in for simple procedures like lipo and reportedly
walking out with might mare results. All while videos are starting to surface of the surgeon in charge. Videos we are told were posted to her
very own You Tube page of a doctor by the name of Windell Boutte.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She had an apple bottom G, she has the home club looking at her. She hit the floor, next thing you know, got lo, lo, lo,
lo.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: It is a night and day difference from the doctor you get to know online, the board certified professional, describing what she supposedly
does best.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WINDELL BOUTTE, DOCTOR: Smart lipo has totally revolutionized the concept of liposuction. It is a simple procedure that is done in office, under
local anesthesia with the patient listening to their iPod, singing along with music. And it`s actually an enjoyable experience.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Well, I think it`s fair to say there are two women who may not have found their experience to be quite so enjoyable. Two women who went
in for something called smart lipo, a laser procedure, and came out after a full-on procedure they say they were disfigured by. They are at least two
of six people now suing the dancing doctor, Dr. Boutte, who reportedly has other malpractice settlements as well.
Joining me now, freelance investigative reporter Tina Douglas, also Susan Witt, an attorney for some of Dr. Boutte`s patients and also two of Dr.
Boutte`s former patients who were in her OR. Mitzi McFarland says she woke up in a motel room after her lipo procedure. As well as her sister,
Christine Dolly says that Dr. Boutte botched her procedure. Also sitting with me tonight plastic surgeon Dr. Barry Weintraub and defense attorney
Darren Kavinoky.
It is a big panel. And thank you all for being with me.
Tina Douglas, I think the first question goes to you. What kind of a doctor does Dr. Boutte hold herself out to be? Because her bio says she is
a dermatologist. But these don`t seem to be procedures that a dermatologist would normally do.
TINA DOUGLAS, FREELANCE INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well, it appears as though she is practicing cosmetic surgery as well. And there seems to be sort of
a gray area there as to what a physician is allowed to do in the state of Georgia. From what we understand you can be a practicing physician, but
allowed also to perform surgery. So it does look like she is doing more than just advising and helping people with skin problems.
[19:05:32] BANFIELD: Yes. And, in fact, we looked at her offerings on her Web site after looking at videos of her assistants in the OR dancing and
Dr. Boutte dancing and singing. And I should mention, this isn`t all pre- op. This is during op. Notice the knife in her hand. There was actual cutting going on while the singing and dancing was going on. Less you
think this is all some kind of a show or a fake or maybe a staged event, there was actual cutting going on during the performance.
And if I could just show you quickly all of the different services that Dr. Boutte offers as a dermatologist. The stuff in white sounds pretty normal.
It`s the stuff in yellow that really stood out. Brazilian butt lift, breast augmentation, breast lift, buttock augmentation, eyelid surgery,
facelift, hormone replacement therapy, liposuction, mini tummy tact, weight loss and wellness, phentermine, which is a drug that curbs your appetite.
And natural weight loss management as well nutrition counseling.
What`s odd here, Tina, is that she posts she is a board certified in surgery and dermatology. That`s her own file on the Web site which is odd
because when you see that in print, and you actually go to her state medical records, she is actually only certified in dermatology. What do
you know about her past malpractice settlements?
DOUGLAS: Well, we do know that there have been several malpractice suits filed against her, and just in the last couple of years, settlements that
are exceeding $3 million from four different cases over the last two years, including two cases here -- or three there in this year alone.
BANFIELD: It seems pretty astounding to see something like that.
DOUGLAS: Yes.
BANFIELD: I want to, just if I can, we just received another of these videos that I was unaware of. So I`m going to watch alongside all of you
for the first time. I certainly know that this is a popular band, Migos. There were satire on or parodied on "Saturday Night Live," but apparently,
they have now been parodied as well by this doctor. This is the video that we are told was posted to her own You Tube account as she is singing
(INAUDIBLE) in the OR. Have a look.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)
BANFIELD: Susan Witt, as an attorney for several patients now, you know, who were in the OR of Dr. Boutte, this is making big news locally. It is
on national television right now. But since it hit the news just locally, have people come out of the woodwork to you?
SUSAN WITT, ATTORNEY FOR PATIENTS OF DR. BOUTTE: I have had more phone calls and emails that I can respond to of patients who are concerned about
their outcome, concerned about hospitalizations that they have had as a result of having surgery with Dr. Boutte. And I think overall, concerned
that her qualifications are not what they believe them to be.
BANFIELD: And you -- what`s odd to me, it seems as though videos like this would be sabotaged, right? Somebody in the office wanting to take down
their boss. But that`s not the case here, is it, Susan? This is not somebody leaking a video. This is intentional. This was an intentional
posting.
WITT: No, absolutely. I don`t know why she thought this was a good idea. But she commissioned these videos. These are real patients in real
surgeries. It`s not a parody. It`s not a setup. This is what she has elected to put out as her marketing material to attract patients. I don`t
really understand it, but that was her choice.
BANFIELD: So one of your patients is Mitzi McFarland. Mitzi and her sister Kristine Dolly, both wanted to go in for something called smart
lipo. It`s not invasive, to my knowledge. It`s a laser procedure. It is pretty simple. And both of you thought you were going in for smart lipo
and ended up both with full bore surgical lipo.
Mitzi, can I ask you to describe the experience after the procedure? What happened afterwards?
[19:10:05] MITZI MCFARLAND, CLAIMS DOCTOR BOTCHED LIPOSUCTION PROCEDURE: Well, there were two actual procedures. The first one and then the
revision. The revision was when I went in to have those two grooves to the left of my abdomen there, I guess, corrected because she was going to do a
fat graft. And that process was very bewildering, to say the least.
BANFIELD: And what happened immediately following your surgery procedure after the second time you went in for the correction?
MCFARLAND: She told me that I would not be sedated, so I would be able to drive myself home. And yet I went in and I did have the cocktail of
sedation. And to my horror, I woke up the next morning at the comfort inn alone in a bedroom with a hamburger in my hand that had one bite out of it.
I didn`t know where I was, how I got there, and it turns out they drove my car with me in it. She forged my name, and somehow got me to this room.
And then wrote me the next day asking for me to fill out a review for her.
BANFIELD: Mitzi, I should be careful because we are on national television and making a claim that a doctor is forging a document could be dangerous.
And I can`t confirm that and CNN and HLN can`t confirm that. But why did you think that she forged your name?
MCFARLAND: First of all, she misspelled my name. My name is spelled with an "I," and she spelled it with a "y" and the signature. And my address
was one that I was three times removed from. I live in Alabama. And she used my Georgia address, which came from my license. So I do have
empirical proof that that`s not my signature.
BANFIELD: And to be really clear, had you planned -- I know that the surgical center was a long way from your home. Had you planned after
surgery to check into some hotel somewhere to relax or rest up, how did the hotel even enter into this picture?
MCFARLAND: Not at all. That was not the plan. In fact, she wrote a staff member via email saying sign her up for a revision. Set the date aside.
She will not be sedated. She told me I would be awake, and able to drive myself home.
BANFIELD: And you were going to drive how many hours home?
MCFARLAND: Probably over two hours, two and a half hours.
BANFIELD: After a procedure, my God. That`s alarming in its own right.
MCFARLAND: Yes.
BANFIELD: Christine, you also, as Mitzi`s sister, planned to go in for many smart laser style lipo, but got the full lipo, the full surgical lipo?
Yes, that`s correct.
BANFIELD: Were your results any different or much different than your sister`s?
KRISTINE DOLLY, CLAIMS DOCTOR BOTCHED LIPOSUCTION PROCEDURE: They were horrific. Not at all what I expected. My results to be. I was bruised
across my whole abdomen, and I developed a Shiroma, a water blister on my stomach. It was very painful. And I was actually quite horrified by my
appearance.
BANFIELD: Well, and it`s difficult for us to even imagine that the photographs that you all are showing us, my assumption is that these will
become evidence in the litigation that you are, you know, facing now, or at least launching against this doctor.
There is such an incredible question, though, when you saw the videos, how did you two feel about what was happening, you know, inside that OR?
DOLLY: Horrified, angry. I would have never gone to her had I seen those videos first. We learned about these videos within the last month. And
saw these videos for the first time on the local news. And it disgusted me. I`m just appalled and disgusted. And I would never go to a doctor if
I saw these videos, as advertisement, you know, before I even went and had this procedure done.
BANFIELD: Yes. I assume that you both concur with that same finding, that same thought?
MCFARLAND: I think that she`s trifling with human lives, not only representing those ladies in a terribly undignified way. That cuts to the
core of a woman`s self-image, her body, and they did not sign consent forms, I`m pretty sure, to have their bodies represented that way. It`s a
violation on so many levels. And I think it just very revealing about her character, the lack of sanitation, the lack of professionalism. Very
disturbing.
BANFIELD: I`m going to ask our control room if they can do something for me because we are going to go to break, but not before I tell you that we
have a professional here, Dr. Barry Weintraub is a board certified plastic surgeon in the New York area and has been watching along and seeing
alongside a lot of this coverage and is going to weigh in on the legal side of it from the medical standpoint and from the ethical standpoint.
So what I`m going to do before we go to break is I`m going to ask our control room, I don`t know if you can do it on a split screen. But I would
like to be able to play the sound bite number three, which is the life of misery. But at the same time, if it`s possible to put Dr. Weintraub on a
split screen to just get his reaction as he is seeing that with the rest of us. I don`t know if you can do it, but if you can, it may be very telling.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:20:47] BANFIELD: We are still talking about the surgery patients who say they went in for simple procedures and walked out with nightmare
results, like alleged brain damage from liposuction. And now, they are suing the surgeon whose career is seemingly still fine even though there
are these reported videos posted to her You Tube site that, well, I think it`s safe to say, would certainly not help her case. My panel is still
with me.
And Dr. Barry Weintraub as a plastic surgeon. I looked at your face while you watched that video. And I wasn`t quite sure to make of it other than
you were trying to be poker face. But I know that you are probably dying inside.
BARRY WEINTRAUB, M.D., PLASTIC SURGEON: It`s not something any board certified plastic surgeon wants to see. Remember, we talk about cavalier
behavior in the operating room never to happen. That`s a human being on the table and it goes to issues of professional conduct.
BANFIELD: Respect.
WEINTRAUB: Respect, ethics.
BANFIELD: You know, for the patient and for the practice of medicine, right?
WEINTRAUB: For sure, yes.
BANFIELD: So, look, I know a lot of doctors dance or they don`t dance, but they listen to music in the OR. I have seen plenty of doctors who have
music playing in the OR. It`s relaxing. It is can help them. It`s not unusual.
WEINTRAUB: That`s not unusual.
BANFIELD: But the dancing and the choreography, the graphics over a video that`s posted to your You Tube account, to generate business.
WEINTRAUB: Let`s say I have never seen that. But let me tell you something else that struck me in the number of videos that were shown to
me. The issue of sterility is paramount in any surgical procedure.
BANFIELD: But why is that not sterile?
WEINTRAUB: Because there are videos I looked at where there`s no mask on, gloves should never --
BANFIELD: There`s no mask there, yes.
WEINTRAUB: Gloves should never go below the waist, behind your back, or even to touch your head, let alone touch a mask. So you have sterility
issues that once violated, you are enormously opening up the problem of infection.
BANFIELD: No mask there either as you just mentioned. I didn`t realize that gloves couldn`t go below the waist.
WEINTRAUB: No.
BANFIELD: These ones are behind their backs, now it is on her face.
WEINTRAUB: On her face. That`s if they are scrubbed to do surgery, it`s completely out of the question. The gloves are purple. Some purple gloves
are for sterile procedures but some are for non-sterile ones. But I`m assuming this is a surgical procedure you are looking at and the gloves are
everywhere they shouldn`t be in addition on another one, the anesthesiologist or whoever that was at the head of the table reached over
onto the surgical field with a plain hand, which is never to be done either.
BANFIELD: You saw that on the video?
WEINTRAUB: Yes, I did.
BANFIELD: And speaking to that, you know, we just heard Mitzi and Kristine and their stories. And Mitzi said that she wasn`t even told she would need
someone to drive her out for the procedure? Is there any kind of procedure that you would go in for where you wouldn`t someone to drive you home if
you were sedated? Anything?
WEINTRAUB: No, a person who is sedated must have an escort, especially in the state of New York, I don`t know how other states are, but that patient
was getting what we call smart lipo.
BANFIELD: Tell me the difference between surgical lipo and smart lipo.
WEINTRAUB: OK. This is invasive stuff. This is not superficial. Smart lipo is laser lipo, which is not lipo, it`s a probe that melts fat.
BANFIELD: No cutting?
WEINTRAUB: No cutting. However, after the fat is melted, traditional liposuction must follow in order to remove the oil. So instead of doing
traditional liposuction where you are removing fat in one fell swoop, the fat is melted first, then extracted, these probes can be long and pointed,
organs can be punctured, all sorts of things can be happen.
BANFIELD: So a smart -- OK. A smart lipo procedure, even though there`s the laser melting going on is followed immediately in the same operations
by the invasive --.
WEINTRAUB: Traditional lipo, yes.
BANFIELD: You are getting traditional, whether you know it or not.
WEINTRAUB: That`s right.
BANFIELD: Well, that`s a whole different kettle of fish.
One of the things that you said it is obviously distressing, it is moral or immoral to be dancing and jiggling someone`s belly that`s unconscious on
the operating table. But then there`s the notion of the danger of cutting while dancing.
And I want to play one particular video, because I think it`s what I worried about the most when I saw this. And that was that there`s a song
called "Cut It" by O.J. Genesis. It is a popular rap song. And this is being parodied in the O.R., "Cut It," and there`s a whole choreographed
dance going on with the assistance and they are singing "Cut It" while actually cutting. We have to digitize some of it. We can`t show that kind
of thing, but you can see most of it. Have a look.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)
[19:26:30] BANFIELD: So there`s that. And my mistake, it is O.T. genesis, not O.J. Genesis. I might have O.J. on the mind because another young man
named O.J., his mother is permanently brain damaged, allegedly from being in that OR. She wanted some Botox. She was convinced to get lipo, and now
she needs care for the rest of her life by that young man on the right named O.J. He joined us at 6:00. And we have other guests at 7:00 with
other stories that are remarkable.
Darren Kavinoky, you are a lawyer, and as a defense attorney, I`m sure you are trying tick through all the things you could do to help somebody. But
she is not charged with anything. I`m a little surprised. Because I looked at that cutting while dancing and singing as a negligence that might
be criminally actionable. But am I wrong?
DARREN KAVINOKY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, generally speaking, negligence is an issue for civil lawyers. That`s where people are fighting about money,
and that`s the traditional --
BANFIELD: OK. What about the recklessness, Darren Kavinoky, this looks reckless to me too.
KAVINOKY: That`s where we get into this notion of perhaps criminal misbehavior. And there is a few things. Part of this will depend on
Georgia law, where if this is an unconsented touching, because it is outside the scope of her medical expertise, although it sounds like there
may be wiggle room there curiously where any doctor who is certified to practice medicine can do any kind of medicine they like. So that may be an
out for her there.
But look, she`s got problems in three different areas. First is with the medical board concerning her license. Second is this outpouring of civil
lawsuits. And then third would be the -- any notions of criminal misbehavior. And it`s really stunning to me that the medical board hasn`t
stepped in with swift action because of the clear and present danger that`s being posed to people in her entire geographic area. I mean, this is
somebody who frankly, until there`s a full airing of the facts, I`m shocked and stunned to see that she can still be practicing medicine and putting
people at risk.
BANFIELD: So Dr. Weintraub, you have a policing authority in your line of work. I always think where is the AMA, for golly`s sake? Why isn`t AMA
yanking that license? It`s not the AMA that would yank a license, but it is the office of professional medical conduct. Have they seen these
videos? And if they have, could you imagine these processes aren`t in the works to remove her license?
WEINTRAUB: I think as the attorney said I can`t imagine it not being removed. The conduct holds your license. And there is a specific conduct
that one must employ when treating and touching patients. And what I saw in the video was dancing and singing, but at the same time holding a
scalpel and severing the skin. There was some blood shown too. And if this was an awake patient or an alive patient, the last thing you want to
do is be moving. I mean, that`s the time to concentrate and literally have silence and concentrate on what you are doing.
BANFIELD: So I mean all of this just sounds like a no brainer to me. What I still can`t get my head around is why she is still practicing? Because
she has not lost her license. She is still, you know, accepting patients. And, where is the office of professional medical conduct in this? Have
they perhaps just not seen the videos?
[19:30:00] WEINTRAUB: I can`t imagine they haven`t. But back to your question. The AMA is a -- not a governing body, but a society very much
like the United Nations wherein they can recommend but they can`t -- they don`t have teeth.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HLN HOST: Yes, they can`t yank.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They can`t yank. The Office of Professional Medical Conduct can pull a license, suspend a license, do anything it wants based
on the facts and data that`s put before them. Medical malpractice is what the attorney referred to as a civil issue.
BANFIELD: Well, we`ll see where this all goes. So much of it is so astounding to me. I want to thank Tina Douglas for joining us to tell the
story. Susan Witt (ph) with your two clients, we appreciate the knowledge you`ve brought to this. Mitzi (ph) and Christina (ph), I hope you -- I
wish you a speedy recovery, and I`m so sorry that you have gone through what you`ve gone through. Dr. Weintraub (ph), thank you for giving us the
contours that we needed to know about all of this. And as always, Darren Kavinoky, you`re a smart lawyer, my friend. I`d have you on my defense
team if I needed a defense team. I hope I never need a defense team. Thank you all. There`s going to be a lot more of this dancing and the
surgery tomorrow morning on "MORNING EXPRESS WITH ROBIN MEADE."
In the meantime, there`s this other story, it has been 10 full days since anyone has seen 34-year-old Joleen Cummings. Up next, a beautiful Florida
mom disappeared without a trace just before Mother`s Day. Police found her abandoned SUV in a Home Depot parking lot, and then they found something
else, another missing woman who`s not missing anymore, but she`s connected to this one. Find out why, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:36:34] BANFIELD: There are some missing person`s cases that dog you for years, even if you`re told to let it go. Because by the time that
missing person has been missing a year, or say 10 years, or 15, the missing person is often presumed dead, and the chances of finding that person zero
to nil. But Kimberly Kessler is not your typical missing person. Because Kimberly vanished 14 years ago from a city in Western Pennsylvania, and
Kimberly was just found living in her car at a rest stop off a highway in Florida. But it was not quite the cause for celebration that you would
expect. Because Kimberly just went from being the subject of a long lost cold case to the scorching hot suspect in the disappearance of yet another
woman. That other woman is Joleen Cummings, a 34-year-old mother of three who went missing a week and a half ago. She was last seen leaving the hair
salon, where she actually worked with that long lost missing Kimberly. But Joleen still hasn`t been found, even missing Mother`s Day with her own
family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANN JOHNSON, JOLEEN CUMMING`S MOTHER: Someone out there knows something. I beg you, I beg you, as a mother, to please keep coming forward with any
information that you have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: A jolt of hope came three days later when Joleen`s car was found. It was abandoned in a Home Depot parking lot. And then, of course,
came the surveillance video showing it was Kimberly behind the wheel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF BILL LEEPER, NASSAU COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE: We were hoping to see Joleen get out of that vehicle. But who do you think it was? The Tangles
hairstylist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: It was only a matter of time before police tracked down that Tangles hairstylist, that co-worker of the missing woman. Because that
stylist failed to show up for work at that salon. But the details of that stylist, Kimberly, her backstory, missing so long. Well, there`s something
that no cold caseworker could ever have imagined. Like her alleged use of fake names, aliases and a counterfeit passport, or her brand new arrest for
grand theft auto. And now, she`s been named as a suspect in the disappearance of Joleen Cummings, or as police put it, Joleen`s likely
death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEEPER: We have obtained evidence which we are not releasing at this time which leads us to believe Joleen is not alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Joining me now is Roger Henderson, he`s the news director for WBOB Radio, also senior law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant
director, Tom Fuentes, is with me, and Darren Kavinoky is still with me as well. First to you, Roger Henderson, it is such a bizarre fact pattern.
We thought it was just a missing person`s case, we didn`t know it was two missing person`s cases, with a whole tangled web of players. But to be
clear, Kimberly Kessler has been missing for 14 years. She`s seen here in her Nassau county jail detention center booking photo dressed in orange.
Where has she been for 14 years?
[19:40:09] ROGER HENDERSON, NEWS DIRECTOR, WBOB RADIO (via telephone): That is the question I`m sure her family is seeking answers to.
Apparently, she`s been in the North Florida area living under an assumed name at times in her own car. And the homeless working as a hairstylist,
and sometimes at an adjacent barbecue restaurant.
BANFIELD: Yes, living as a Jennifer Sybert, that was the alias she was telling everybody she was. She told the salon her name was Jennifer
Sybert. And you know what, somebody had something to say about Jennifer Sybert, AKA, Kimberly Kessler, and how she reacted with this now-missing
woman who`s presumed dead. Have a listen to this friend of the missing woman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And a co-worker of mine was up there Thursday getting her hair done and she said they were arguing and it just -- there was weird
vibes at the salon between the two of them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So, Roger, tell me what they saw on surveillance when they went and they figured out the surveillance tape of Joleen`s car, when they found
it at the Home Depot, what did they see when they say Kimberly Kessler got out, she was the one who parked it? What happened next?
HENDERSON: Well, she was seen apparently attempting to dump the Ford Explorer that belonged to her missing co-worker. And obviously, it ended
up leading to her arrest. And actually --
BANFIELD: Like a taxi, right? Wasn`t there -- wasn`t there some taxi, right? She called a cab to the -- to the lot -- to the parking lot where
she dropped the car, and took a cab back to the -- was it the salon, is that where she went back to?
HENDERSON: Yes, that`s two counties away, to the south of St. John`s County. Very, very bizarre twist of events that have occurred, that is so
bizarre. And, of course, this family is missing their loved one who was not even able to spend Mother`s Day with her children.
BANFIELD: So she, Kimberly Kessler, the one missing for 14 years is found with a fake passport, she`s using a fake name, the name of Jennifer Sybert.
Do we know who Jennifer Sybert is?
HENDERSON: Well, all we can tell is that apparently is an assumed name as well, but she`s originally from Western Pennsylvania and went missing over
a decade and a half ago, and they have been looking for her ever since.
BANFIELD: But I`m seeing here that this Jennifer Sybert was a kid, 13 years old, had a car accident in Germany, and was buried in Kimberly`s
hometown, so likely that maybe Kimberly allegedly lifted that information and lifted an identity from a dead child who was killed in a car crash and
then, you know, went ahead and lived as that name. It`s such a complex story. And get this, if you thought it was solved, well, I got another one
for you. Because this poor victim, Joleen Cummings, missing and presumed dead right now, she had an ex-boyfriend and they had a big fight, and that
fight was just a couple of days before she went missing. And that guy was found hiding under boxes. So, is he connected to this case? That story is
next.
[19:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: We`re still talking about the brand new suspect just named in the search for a missing mother of three, a suspect who herself was a
missing woman. She`s the one on the right. But the one on the left, Joleen Cummings, was her co-worker at a nail salon. And that`s where
locals say things had become tense between the two of them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What made her go after Joleen? You know, what happened for this turn of events, for this many people to be devastated and
be brokenhearted what happened at that salon?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: What happened in that hair salon is still in question. But Kimberly Kessler on the right may be the only suspect who`s been named in
this disappearance of Joleen on the left. But there`s something else that happened. It`s not the only question on the locals` minds right now,
because Joleen also had a boyfriend who was known for violence and they had been fighting just before Joleen vanished. Our Justin Freiman has been
working this story as well, he joins me on the phone. Justin, that young man in the picture makes things a lot more complicated. His name is Jason
G. He apparently has a couple orders of protection against him. But how does he factor into this and where did they find him after the
disappearance?
JUSTIN FREIMAN, HLN SENIOR PRODUCER (through telephone): Well, just three days before she disappeared, a call was made saying that there was fighting
going on at Joleen`s home, police went over there, but her boyfriend had gotten out right before police showed up. Because he had an outstanding
warrant against him.
BANFIELD: So, when they went to find him, they did track him down, we got the mugshot to prove it, where did they find him and how did they find him?
FREIMAN: That`s right, after Joleen went missing, they did track him down. They found him in a home not too far away, hiding under cardboard boxes.
BANFIELD: Hiding under cardboard boxes is never the way you want to be found when your ex-girlfriend who you`ve been fighting with only a week
before is now missing and presumed dead. It certainly complicates things.
[19:50:04] But Tom Fuentes, with your, you know, law enforcement background, with your FBI background, I know it didn`t escape you the
scratch, the fresh scratch right across Kimberly Kessler`s face in her mugshot. Tell me why that may be significant.
TOM FUENTES, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, she might have fought with Kimberly, so, you know, that -- how that scratch could have
been inflicted on her, we don`t know. But you know, the shame of this is that normally in a case like this, you would hope to have a minimum number
of suspects -- you know, maybe just one. And now, you have her bookended between two lowlifes, between her boyfriend and this Kimberly. So, you
know, now we don`t know. I think Kimberly becomes nominee number one as the suspect because she was in her car. How did she end up with the car,
which had been stolen and she ends up parking it and calling a taxi? So, that`s number one, that she ends up with the car. But her boyfriend
doesn`t exactly look like citizen of the year, either.
BANFIELD: No, but I`ll tell you what, that scratch, if they find Joleen Cummings and they find DNA under her fingernails, that could be fairly
significant in this story. Also, real quickly, Tom, something that`s uncomfortable is the way the police let us know they don`t think that
Joleen is alive anymore. And actually, I want to get Darren to weigh in on this, too. Darren, I know how these investigations work and they need to
keep things under their hat that only the killer would know, but what kind of evidence would they find that would lead them to tell the public, we
don`t think that we`re looking for a live person anymore?
DARREN KAVINOKY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, there`s a wide range of material. It could be something like blood, there could be other forensic evidence,
there could be an admission that was made, obviously, that would be a precursor to the arrest but there can be any number of things that can lead
law enforcement to the conclusion that somebody is not alive. The absence of banking records, other transactions without explanation, and those are
exactly the kinds of things, as you -- as you say, Ashleigh, that law enforcement wants to keep close to the vest because if there is some
information that only the killer would know, they want to be sure they can link that to somebody. But this is a great case for a defense lawyer where
you can always point to that other lowlife as our other guest --
BANFIELD: Oh, I`ll say, just like Tom said. Just like Tom said.
KAVINOKY: Yes, exactly.
BANFIELD: You don`t usually get two. But I`m going to -- I`m going to have to cut it there. I want to thank Roger Henderson for his input. Tom
Fuentes, as always, we love your insight. Darren Kavinoky, I`m going to ask you to stick around because there is --
KAVINOKY: "ONE MORE THING" --
BANFIELD: Oh, rats, you know what, I -- I`m going to have to get it another time because I`m up against the clock, Tom, I`m so sorry. But
there is this video that we had to show you, how far would you go to try to talk your way out of an arrest? Would you -- would you plea, would you
cry, would you deny, or would you do this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MONICA YOUNGBLOOD (R), NEW MEXICO: I literally fight for you guys every day.
POLICE OFFICER: Well, that doesn`t make it OK to drink and drive.
YOUNGBLOOD: I`m not drinking and driving.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Wow. Lawmaker caught on a tape she probably doesn`t want people to see but did the waterworks work? "ONE MORE THING" straight ahead.
[19:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: "ONE MORE THING" for you tonight. Drinking and driving is never a good idea. Just ask the New Mexico State Representative caught on police
bodycam, allegedly failing her field sobriety test.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POLICE OFFICER: I need to place you under arrest for DWI. So, go ahead and turn around for me, please.
YOUNGBLOOD: No, no, no, no.
POLICE OFFICER: Turn around. Turn around. Turn around.
(CROSSTALK)
POLICE OFFICER: Turn around, and put your hands behind your back. You have that on (INAUDIBLE) ma`am, my test show --
YOUNGBLOOD: (INAUDIBLE)
POLICE OFFICER: OK.
YOUNGBLOOD: I literally fight for you guys every --
POLICE OFFICER: Well, that doesn`t make it OK to drink and drive.
YOUNGBLOOD: I`m not drinking and driving. I fight for you guys every time I get the chance. So many people tell me that you guys treat people like
this shit, and I didn`t believe it.
POLICE OFFICER: I`m not treating you poorly at all.
YOUNGBLOOD: You guys treat people of color like shit, and I always stand up for you guys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Well, it didn`t work because Albuquerque Police booked 41-year- old Monica Youngblood on one count of aggravated DWI. We`ll see you back here tomorrow night, everybody. Thanks for being with us. See you at
6:00. Meantime, stay tuned. "FORENSIC FILES" begins right now.
END
