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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield
Senator Caught on Tape with a Juvenile in Motel; Sex Predator Faces Death Penalty. Aired 6-8p ET
Aired February 19, 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] S.E. CUPP, HOST, HLN: Crime and Justice with Ashleigh Banfield. That`s up next.
JEAN CASAREZ, HOST, HLN: Good evening. I`m Jean Casarez in for Ashleigh Banfield. Thank you so much for joining us. This is Crime and Justice.
Police in Southern California are looking for the man who violently attacked a massage therapist in an attempted robbery. Choking and pistol
whipping her at her shop. Fortunately it was all caught on tape.
Horrible! Anyone who recognizes this man, look at that face, is asked to call the Santa Ana, California police department.
And the 19-year-old who admitted to killing 17 former classmates and educators at a Florida high school last week appeared in court for a
hearing today as the family who was hosting him told the South Florida Sun Sentinel they made him keep his rifles in a safe and they thought they had
the only key.
And the trial began today for the Wisconsin man accused of killing Nicole Vanderheyden in 2016 and leaving her body in a field. A case that has been
in the spotlight nationwide. George Birch pointed the finger at Nicole`s boyfriend, who prosecutors say his fit bit clears him of any wrong-doing.
And also tonight, a 35-year-old state senator told police after they caught him in a hotel room, a motel room with a 17-year-old boy, Ralph Shortey was
a rising star in the Oklahoma political scene, but his career came crashing down after the boy`s father called police, directing them to room number
120 at a local super 8.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let`s go, open up the door so we can talk to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: May I ask what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I don`t have a juvenile inside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Open the door and we`ll talk to you real quick and we`ll be done. We are not worried about a little bit of weed. What we are
worried about is you having a juvenile in there. Yes, this one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Senator Shortey at the time initially told police he had met the boy at his coffee shop and was helping him study for the GED. A boy he said
he says he believed to be 20 years old, but it didn`t take much time for officers to poke holes in his story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You show up with condoms and he shows up with lotion. I mean, there was condoms in your bag. The cops saw them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s absolutely not true. I did not show up there for any sexual thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The truth tells so you know that, there was also some an exchange of (muted) pics at one point. And when you, hopefully you didn`t
take a picture of your (muted) with your phone. Because that`s going to tag it, whenever you send it to somebody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t do that. I wouldn`t. I don`t understand why he would do this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: And with me now, Scott Mitchell, he is the host of Mitchell talks in Oklahoma City. Scott, thank you so much for joining us. So this was just
released. This interrogation of this then senator from Oklahoma, in Oklahoma. How long was he interrogated by authorities?
SCOTT MITCHELL, TV HOST: Well over an hour and it was -- he went strutting in there. He`s a big guy, 6`8, 300 pounds of strut without counsel and then
he proceeded to try buffalo to these detectives and it goes slowly grumping into the ground after that.
CASAREZ: Yes. And Scott, without his wife and four children, a very, very married man. I want you to take us back to the beginning so the viewers can
really see what happened and how this happened. He started communicating, right? First he had a Craigslist site and then he went to another site
where he actually went back and forth with this 17-year-old.
MITCHELL: Yes, something called a Kik app that they were using. And that was going on there and of course they were -- the police were able to find
every trail he had. But also the family, there was a girlfriend who was concerned about what was being said, and then ultimately the dad got
involved. So without having his family involved in this thing, you know how this was going to go down.
CASAREZ: You know, Scott, we got to talk about the girlfriend. Because this is how law enforcement went to the motel room. I will let you tell the
story. But her boyfriend, the 17-year-old said he was going to make some -- get money that night. He was going to make money, right. And she was a
little concerned, right?
[18:05:02] MITCHELL: That`s correct, Jean. He thought she was going to go sell drugs so she puts a tail on this thing she follows them to see what
happens. The juveniles picked up by an individual taken to this hotel and that`s when the girlfriend dropped a dime on this guy. The dad gets involve
and that`s how you see these two police officers outside of this motel there and were banging on the door...
(CROSSTALK)
CASAREZ: Right. So Scott, she sees her boyfriend going to the motel room with the state senator, she calls his father and his father calls police.
So they got there, th police got there immediately. Scott, I want you to listen to some of this interrogation. Remember, this is four days later
after he was busted by police. Then Senator Ralph Shortey. Listen to what he said to police.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RALPH SHORTEY, (R) FORMER UNITED STATES SENATOR: When we first met, I was trying to help him study for things like that the GED and then when I lost
contact with him for four or five months and I guess when he went to California or whatever, I just assumed that he had -- I didn`t know where
he went.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, how you all meet?
SHORTEY: At the coffee shop. I`m pretty sure of that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But what coffee shop are we talking?
SHORTEY: I own a coffee shop. It`s called Wholly Grounds Coffee.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is that?
SHORTEY: Eighty six thirteen 8613, South West street.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
SHORTEY: I`m pretty sure that`s how we met. I honestly don`t remember. (Inaudible) So anyway, he`s been over for a couple of times there. When he
came back, you know, he was -- he told me he wanted to go be an anesthesiologist or something.
And I said you got to get -- you can`t go with a high school diploma. You can`t do anything with a high school diploma. And so, the day after the
incident happened, he was going to test for the GED. Strongly encouraged him to do that. The night that he called me, he said he just needed to get
out of his house.
I`m assuming, I mean, I thought he had told me that he lived with some friends. He told me in the past that, you know, it was hard for him to get
clean because he was with friends that were living with him.
And so, you know, when he calls that he needed to get out of there, you know, he had the text the next day. Then the choice was to bring him over
to my house with which I don`t think my wife would appreciate that much. She probably would have been OK with that, but it just figured it would be
easier just to go to a place. And then we decided to talk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: It`s a pretty good story, but that`s what it was. It was a story. I want to bring in right now CNN law enforcement contributor and former FBI
agent Steve Moore. Steve, they waited four days to have this hour interrogation with him. Were they waiting to get all of the online
conversations with this 17-year-old? They knew this man was lying. They had to, right?
STEVE MOORE, LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR, CNN: Yes, I mean all the evidence in the hotel room pretty much contradicts what he had said. My guess is
here when you are dealing with a state senator, you are not going to jump on this case the next day and hope it all turns out well with the evidence.
Likely as you said, they were doing their preliminary investigation coming up with warrants for probably Craigslist and interviewing the boy and they
wanted to be able to go in and let him talk and be able to refute anything he said that wasn`t true which is exactly what they did.
CASAREZ: That`s right. They led him down to primrose lane. I want to go back to Scott Mitchell firsthand. What was some of the evidence that they
found in that hotel room, motel room, I should say?
MITCHELL: They didn`t find any GED material, that`s for darn sure unless you are studying for weed, condoms and lotion there was nothing attached
for the FED. So that`s what they found. They found these items that have been repeated ad nauseam in Oklahoma. And there were some weeds smoking
going on. So what they found in the motel room is exactly opposite of what he said he`s going to be doing.
CASAREZ: That`s right. And as Steve Moore just said, they probably had gotten those online communications back and forth. Let`s listen to
detectives as they read to this man some of those texts between the teen and Jamie Tilley. That`s the name he went by. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He says, "I need money for spring break." Jamie Tilley said I really don`t have any legitimate things that need help with right
now. Would you be interested in sexual stuff. He said, "yes."
[18:10:02] This goes on, how about I come get you? Blah, blah, blah, we go on. He says he starts calling this guy `daddy." He said, "hurry up, daddy,
I`m super horny. Hey, keep me updated I want you bad, daddy." A guy named Jamie Tilley said I`m going to (muted) you like a good little boy if you
call me daddy. This goes on and on and on.
HORTEY: Is he legitimate underage?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. And he was the first time that you met him. And I say 16, and ask him, I said, did he know how old you were? And he said yes,
he knows because we had a discussion about it. At first he was uncomfortable with it, but then he finally got over it.
In this conversation, it says, "She needs to go to storey for her. My 3- year-old is sick. That`s one of the things I`ve been dealing with tonight. We`re not going to have enough time. Can we get together tomorrow? After 1?
I`ll get a hotel room or something if that would make it easier."
It goes on talking about the coffee shop. My coffee shop. I`ll be alone in about 10 minutes at my coffee shop. He says, "Can I help you with anything
for spring break?" Again he said just customers. I`ll be leaving here close to 8. OK." "I`ll be your slave. That sounds nice. I mean it goes on and
on."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: All right. Defense attorney Sara Azari joins us. Sara, this state senator`s life should be flashing before his eyes. His career, his family.
Because he knows he has been caught.
SARA AZARI, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s right. I think what`s interesting here is that initially this was investigated by the local
prosecutors and the feds took over. He ultimately pled and in a federal case to child sex trafficking.
The stakes are much higher for him on the federal side. He`s looking at 10 years mandatory minimum by statute to life. And I think had he been
prosecuted by the D.A.`s office, he probably would have had less of an exposure. But this was really bad for him and I think it was a political
reason like you said.
You know, he`s a state senator, he`s a lawmaker and he`s engaged in some very bad conduct. And therefore it`s in the feds` hands. Generally and I
think Mr. Moore will agree with me, the feds don`t get involved in child pornography cases that have, you know, just a handful of victims and a
handful of images. You usually see these cases with thousands of images. Very egregious conduct. Prepubescent victims and multiple victims.
And I think this was really a political reason because he is a high profile perpetrator. He is lawmaker. And one thing that he might have going for him
is ultimately at sentencing, he would be, he would get the 10 years mandatory minimum. Because it`s mandatory by statute, but the judge also
looks at 35-53 backers.
And these are his individual characteristics. Who was he other than the perpetrator of this crime? What did he do in his life? Does he have a
criminal history and did it come about because of substance or alcohol abuse or usually in this child porn cases you are dealing with individuals
who have also been victimized themselves as children.
So this, it will be interesting to see what he has going for him in terms of mitigation so that he doesn`t get sentenced to something way over the 10
years.
CASAREZ: And we don`t know when the sentencing will take place.
AZARI: That`s right.
CASAREZ: Sara, let me ask you, the state charges and they dropped them. All of them. And he entered into a plea, pleading guilty to child sex
trafficking. Do you think that was smart? Because I read the plea agreement he did not forego the ability to appeal this.
And if for some reason it`s the conviction is overturned, they don`t have the state prosecution that can take place. Like in Larry Nasser, I was just
there in Michigan and feds, he pleaded guilty, but then they went to the state level where he could have gone to trial, pleaded guilty again, but
they`ve that as back up.
AXZARI: Well, but the states relinquished to the fact. Look, the states could have simultaneously prosecuted him. But generally they don`t do that
because the feds have better resources, they can do better investigation.
And I think -- I don`t think it was an unwise move in this case. I think that, you know, for him to be able to overturn his sentence on the federal
side, it would have to be extremely egregious. There would have to be some abusive discretion by the judge that led to that sentence.
So I think the chance for him to be able to overturn a plea is very, very difficult to. Withdraw a plea on the federal side is almost never happens
unless you have ineffectiveness of counsel or something like that.
[18:15:01] CASAREZ: All right. Thank you so much. It took jurors just 12 minutes, 12 minutes to find him guilty of kidnapping and killing a
beautiful 8-year-old girl. The question now, who will take the stand in Donald Smith`s penalty phase and could any of the witnesses keep him from
getting a death sentence?
[18:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: Now is the time for justice. After every parent`s worst nightmare. It happened to one Florida mother. A seemingly friendly 56-year-old man
approaching her family, taking her 8-year-old daughter away for burgers and driving her away in a van. And abusing her beyond belief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAYNE PERRYWINKLE, CHERISH PERRYWINKLE`S MOTHER: She`s 8 years old!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the dollar store where Rayne Perrywinkle and her three daughters were shopping when she they met Donald Smith.
PERRYWINKLE: He looked into my face and told me I was safe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I`d run to run into her at Walmart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cherish have a butt on her. She had a lot for a white girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She spent the last petrifying hours of her life with him.
PERRYWINKLE: I hope to God he doesn`t kill her. I hope to God he doesn`t rape her!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No proper sense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the grave she`s crying after you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He gagged her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Smith raped me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Raped her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Smith sodomized me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald Smith strangled me until every last breath left my body.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She could not breathe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You thought she was going to get cheeseburgers?
PERRYWINKLE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Standing in front of McDonald`s and holds cheeseburger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was that the last time you ever saw your daughter alive?
PERRYWINKLE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, find him guilty as charged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: That jury listened to the prosecutor`s advice and in less than 15 minutes, they found Donald Smith guilty of kidnapping, rape, and murder.
And if they ban together tomorrow, they could be sentencing Donald Smith to death for what he did to Cherish, that beautiful little girl right there
Perrywinkle.
Jesse Weber, a host with law and Crime networks joins us tonight. Thank you. So nice to have you here.
JESSE WEBER, HOST, LAW AND CRIME NETWORK: Thank you for having me.
CASAREZ: For the people who haven`t been following the case, in theory this could happen to anybody because you want to believe and you want to trust.
And this mother with Cherish and her other daughters, where did they meet this man?
WEBER: Rayne Perrywinkle, mother of three she didn`t have a lot of mother. She only had $100 that day from her boyfriend. You can imagine people who
in similar situations they don`t have a lot of money to spent. She goes to the Dollar store to buy Cherish some dresses because she is leaving for a
trip.
And all of a sudden Donald Smith, this predator is watching in the entire time and he goes up to her, he goes up to Rayne and says you have your
hands full with those three. I noticed you don`t have enough money to those buy dresses. I tell you what, my wife has a $150 gift card to Walmart.
She`s on the way here, why don`t you come with me and we can buy some things for your daughters. You know, I feel bad for you.
And here`s a woman who is so down on her luck she`s thinking about the kindness of someone`s heart. Now she was apprehensive at first. You can`t
deny that. She didn`t know 100 percent trust him. He said you can trust me. You can trust me I have this taken care of. So she goes with him, takes her
daughters they go to Walmart, she starts buying things for her daughter, shoes, this.
All the while you see in the security video he is there. He`s following them the whole time. And right at the end, he said, you know what, I`m
going to get some food. My wife is on the way. My wife is on the way. Why don`t we go to McDonald`s that`s in the store. Does anybody want any
hamburgers? And Cherish cometo Rayne and the last thing she says to her mother is, "I`ll get a -- what do you want, mommy. She said get a
cheeseburger."
They go towards the front of the store and then that was the last time that she ever saw her daughter alive. Because as we know he took her, he
sexually abused her and he strangled her. And her body was found either 10 or 11 hours later and it was really, really horrific. The details of it we
covered it gavel to gavel.
CASAREZ: And it`s by in a creek bed.
WEBER: By a creek bed. And he tried to submerge her body so no one would find it. We actually interviewed Charlie Wilky (Ph), he had the canine
officer that found the body. So you can imagine what that went through. And when the medical examiner took the stand. You never see medical examiners
cry and she broke down on the stand of the detils of what happened to this 8-year-old.
CASAREZ: That`s rare. That`s very rare. Jesse, we have got a bit of the assistant state attorney in the closing argument. I want you to watch that
right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want you to think in your mind to remember that video of him lurking over the top of them in the Walmart. That blue arrow so
close to Cherish throughout the course of those hours, waiting for his opportunity to strike. I want you to remember that little girl walking
happily with him towards the front of the store and standing in front of McDonald`s and holds for a cheeseburger.
And from the grave she was crying out. In the final moments of her life, this defendant took from that little girl everything that was innocent and
pure. And then he took her life. Now it`s time to hold him accountable for what he did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[18:25:11] CASAREZ: You know, this man didn`t have a clean record. He had a rap sheet that was lengthy. I would think we had this. I want to show you.
Nineteen ninety seven was the very first time lewd assault on a child. He was guilty. That far back a crime against a child. And then it goes on and
on. Battery in 1986. Contempt of court, 1987. Attempted kidnapping in 1992 . It goes on and on.
And then finally you`ve got 2009, unlawful impersonation of a public employee, guilty. Aggravated child abuse by willful torture, guilty.
I want to go right now to a victim, another victim of this man who is lucky to be alive today. Christina Hand, you were targeted by Donald Smith and
you are joined by your stepfather, Roland Thornton. Thank you both for being with us. First, Mr. Thornton, tell us what happened to your young
daughter. What was the phone call that you got by this man, Donald Smith, way back several years ago.
ROLAND THORNTON, CHRISTINA HAND`S STEPFATHER: I didn`t get the phone call, her grandmother did.
CASAREZ: What was it? What was the grandmother told?
THORNTON: That she needed to bring Christina to meet him at the McDonald`s in Callahan. That there were allegations that he would like to check her
out.
CASAREZ: So isn`t it true that he said that he was with Child Protective Services and he was a professional and that he was investigating a claim of
child abuse, right?
THORNTON: Yes, yes.
CASAREZ: So he needed to talk to your daughter.
THORNTON: Right.
CASAREZ: So what happened then?
THORNTON: Her grandmother had called her mother and told her about it. That threw red flags up anyway. We got a hold of the Nassau sheriff`s department
and went on up there and he was not but a couple of cars down from where they pulled in at.
CASAREZ: So this must have absolutely emotionally -- you probably -- where did this person come from and where did this allegation come from? I want
to ask you, Christina, you and your grandmother did go to the McDonald`s, right?
CHRISTINA HAND, TARGETED BY SMITH`S VICTIM: Yes, ma`am.
CASAREZ: So what did you see?
HAND: Well, all I can remember is I was going inside McDonald`s and coming out, waiting on him. I never seen his van and realized what he was even
driving.
CASAREZ: But he did have a white van at that time, too, right?
HAND: Yes, ma`am.
CASAREZ: Did you ever talk with him in that McDonald`s or didn`t it get that far?
HAND: It didn`t get that far.
CASAREZ: It didn`t get that far. But Mr. Thornton, he was convicted of attempting to do with your daughter what the plan was, right?
THORNTON: Yes, ma`am.
CASAREZ: I think the point is, he went to jail.
THORNTON: Yes, ma`am.
CASAREZ: It was low level misdemeanor, I believe. He went to jail, he got out and it wasn`t a month later that he put his sights on Cherish and she
lost her life.
THORNTON: That`s right.
CASAREZ: You know, Jesse, let me go back to you. You know, this story because this man had a wrap sheet. He was charged with low level crimes in
regard to what happened to Christina and then he`s out.
WEBER: I think it`s amazing that he`s out and he was able to do this to Cherish. I think the interesting conversation is in regards to tomorrow.
Will he use every one of the instances of his sexual abuse or being a predator as saying I have a disease. I shouldn`t be sentenced to death
because I have a mental illness and I have a problem and I shouldn`t be sentenced to death.
I`m curious if that will be a path for the defense. Because we can`t deny his rap sheet. We can`t deny that he has a serious, serious problem in
society. He should go away forever or he should be killed. But the question becomes can the defense used that to their advantage.
The thing that I can`t deny is he should never have been let out to society and Cherish might still be alive today if he had been locked up in the
proper way. I think when you see what he was up to and for so long since the 70s, why was he out?
[18:30:00] CASAREZ: Well, here`s another thing that`s so surprising and shocking. The defense in all of this, they didn`t put on any witness. They
didn`t have a closing argument but in their opening statement they sure did put down somebody, they attacked Cherish`s mother. I think we have that
sound. Let`s listen.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your honor, the defense waives it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are waiving your closing argument?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, your honor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Although she will describe the stranger, she ultimately entrusts to have watch over her children as creepy. She will
tell you that about 9:00 at night having shopped in these first two stores for almost two hours, she makes the decision to get into a white van with
shuttered windows, no proper seats, and placed her children in that van.
She goes with a complete stranger to Walmart over eight miles away. And she doesn`t flinch when Cherish wanders off with this stranger. Not once, not
twice, but three to four times. And she thinks nothing of the fact that this person claims, I`m going to go get cheeseburgers, and Cherish just
wanders off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: So that`s the opening statement from the defense. The opening statements are telling the jury this is the evidence you are going to see
from the defense and they don`t put on a case. And they put down her mother? That`s what they do before this jury?
Was that good or bad? We are going to have more on that in just a minute. But first, a teenager goes rafting at Whitewater Center and turns up dead.
She wasn`t murdered and there was no accident. Her parents say the park`s filthy water and the bacteria in that killed their daughter. Why the park`s
attorney said they did all they could to protect their customers.
[18:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: Eleven days after going whitewater rafting with her church group, Lauren Seitz was dead. A lovable 18-year-old on a summer mission trip just
enjoying her fun day at the Whitewater center in Charlotte, North Carolina. But there was something in the water that day. An amoeba that attack the
central nervous system. And according to Lauren`s family, it entered her body in just one dunk.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
MARCUS PLESCIA, HEALTH DIRECTOR, MECKLENBURG COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT: You know, the risk of driving to the Whitewater Center from your home and being
in an accident is probably higher than the risk of being infected by this organism even now at the Whitewater Center.
It is not at all common for people to develop illness after they have come into contact with this organism. There have only been 35 cases of this
particular infection in the United States in the last 10 years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: But it does happen. It happened to her. Lauren`s family is heartbroken and they are now suing the water park saying it should have
managed the water or at least warned patrons about its potential dangers.
But the water park is coming back. They have now piled an answer to this complaint saying that they followed every rule. They are reminding Lauren`s
father that he signed the same waiver that she did.
With us tonight, Mark Starling. He is the morning show host and news director for News Radio 570 WWNC. All right, first, I want you to tell
everybody who she was with, where she was. She was not alone. There were others. What happened to her and how this happened.
MARK STARLING, SHOW HOST AND NEWS DIRECTOR, NEWS RADIO 570 WWNC: Well, she was at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, North Carolina with a church
group, right? This is a water park that is on land that is leased by the Whitewater Center for $1 a year from the county of Mecklenburg, which is
the county where Charlotte is.
They were whitewater rafting. Apparently, either a flip over or she went under and this amoeba, it gains access through the nostrils. And, you know,
from what we are seeing and from what we have looked into, this park was not being held accountable to any sort of guidelines or testing when it
came to the actual water.
They were not being held to the same thing that a public pool would be held to. They were basically just kind of willy-nilly. They didn`t have to
subscribe to any sort of testing. So, subsequently, once the lawsuit got filed, once this young lady passed away, the water park all of the sudden,
out of nowhere changes their filtration system.
They add some extra measures to make sure this doesn`t happen. But one would assume that that kind of looks like it`s a -- they are basically
guilty, right? They are basically admitting that the water was not clean and that people were at risk when they were in this water.
[18:40:00] CASAREZ: So, Mark, here is what I want you to take -- take us to North Carolina. Is this a place that like -- I mean, we see the video right
there. The people go to, that it`s advertised on television, that there is billboard, come to the water park, have the time of your life in the
summer.
STARLING: Eight hundred thousand people a year come to this water park. You know, the hard part about this is now that they have answered with their --
to this lawsuit, they answered on two lines of defense. The first line of defense is basically they say, look, there is no complaint here. The
complaint fails to state a claim quote upon which relief can be granted.
Meaning, they don`t have a case. Now, that`s just kind of a standard thing apparently in these civil cases a lot of times. Lawyers filed that to file
that. Now, the second line of defense is the one that I find really interesting.
And that is that they are saying that their actions of replacing the filters and upgrading the filtration system to make sure that the water was
clean, that can`t be used against them as evidence because of North Carolina evidence code rule 407, which is subsequent remedial measures.
And basically what that says is the simple fact that they did that, they upgraded the system, cannot be held against them and it is not admitting
that there was anything wrong with the water while they were going up.
CASAREZ: Right. But Mark, the reality is and you know it as well as I do, this young healthy girl with her church group went to the water park on
their day off and she is dead. She`s gone.
STARLING: Right.
CASAREZ: With us tonight, medical examiner and forensic pathologist Dr. William Morrone. You know, doctor --
WILLIAM MORRONE, MEDICAL EXAMINER AND FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Good evening.
CASAREZ: I want to know -- good evening. I want to know how this happened. I mean, she fell out of the raft, OK, that`s true. But what happened?
What`s the process that got this bacteria into her and why did it do what it did?
MORRONE: So, let`s start where the infection is in the brain and work backwards to the outside of the body. The brain has three different skins
or membranes to try to protect it. And when somebody gets forceful water up the nostrils, it`s a very specific pathway.
When something goes up the nostrils, there is a very thin bone here called the cribriform plate. That cribriform plate allows all the vasculature and
nerves from the nose that gives you sense and taste into the brain.
It`s the most direct access and that`s exactly the same access that we have when somebody overdoses from heroin and we blow the drugs up their nose
because we don`t have access to veins and arteries.
So it`s very direct. And if it`s forceful, you can have access up there. Once it gets in the brain, it`s really hard to treat because we have
something called the blood-brain barrier. And that is a safety measure and it`s difficult to get antibiotics into the brain because very few
antibiotics penetrate to the brain.
So when you have an encephalitis or meningitis, it`s almost a foregone conclusion that you are going to get a full-blown infection. And if she
immune compromised, if she was spraying nasal steroids up her nose or she had an infection, it would have made it even easier and that made it even
deadlier.
CASAREZ: You know, Dr. Morrone, we are going to take a short break right now, but when we come back, this was freshwater. And it`s winter now, but
people are thinking about their boats and going to freshwater lakes all over this country. I want to talk about when we come back the potential for
this kind of bacteria to be in freshwater. We will be right back.
[18:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: We are still talking tonight about Lauren Seitz, the 18-year-old on a church trip who died after whitewater rafting. Not from hitting her
head, but according to her family from a carnivorous amoeba in the water that killed her in less than two weeks.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
PLESCIA: I do think people need to be aware when they go into open sources of water, lakes, ponds, even some swimming pools that are not well
regulated. There are things in those bodies of water that could be harmful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Now, Lauren`s family is suing the rafting center, saying that they should have regulated the water, that it`s gross negligence. But the
rafting center is denying every single allegation.
Mark Starling and Dr. William Morrone and Sara Azari are all back with me. Dr. Morrone, as we just heard, freshwater takes various forms. It`s in a
swimming pool, it`s in a river that people go swimming in, it`s in a body of water where people are fishing and maybe go out of the boat. I mean, is
a bacteria like this present in some of these waters, more or less water parks across the country?
MORRONE: Many of the water parks are kept with a much stricter
[18:50:00] ionized ozone or chlorine-based system to kill organisms. I would bet that this water park does not have quality assurance checks every
six hours to show what their bacterial load level is. That means the science of running this spark is between the laws and medicine. And it`s
not being regulated. Otherwise, people wouldn`t be exposed.
CASAREZ: What about freshwater lakes? What about fish that people catch in freshwater?
MORRONE: The answer is yes. And sometimes there is another organism called cryptosporidium that causes a disease called cryptosporidiosis, an outbreak
up in Milwaukee from sewage that went into a reservoir. It causes many of the other same things.
But this amoeba went up the nose, was forcefully injected, and got into the brain. And that`s what made it really dangerous. So it`s not just a
question of cleaning up the water. Maybe they need a 10-minute class to show people how to properly fallout of raft and prevent this kind of
forceful injection up the nose.
CASAREZ: Amazing. Amazing. I want to show everybody the timeline here to just show you how fast this went. It was June 8th, whitewater rafting. June
14th, sinus congestion. June 16th, Lauren was taken to the hospital. June 18th, Lauren was diagnosed due to infection from amoeba. The very next day,
she is gone.
Sara Azari, the water park findings from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, all water samples tested positive for this
bacteria, this amoeba. One sample had the highest concentration level ever found of the bacteria.
The turbidity level was 13 times higher. The chlorine level was 10 times lower than acceptable. And the filtration system pore size was 50 percent
larger than the pore size should be. I mean, they don`t have a leg to stand on here, do they?
SARA AZARI, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don`t think so, Jean. I think the issue here is that the water park at least had some notice that there was some
issues with the water there. Maybe they didn`t know about the level of amoeba or the fatal levels of amoeba in the water, but they knew that their
system was not adequate enough to clean the water.
There were dead animals near the water. There was trash on the surface of the water. The employees had given notice to the park that they are getting
staph infections or all kinds of skin diseases.
So the park had enough notice to close down, inspect its waters and its system, infiltration system and impose what it needs, to impose and put in
place, to make this facility safe before it makes, you know, $18 million a year off of people which is pure profit by the way. Apparently, the rent is
$1 a year.
So, it`s really outrageous. It`s a complete environmental disaster. And I think that the Seitz family isn`t going to recover well because she is a
young girl who had her life ahead of her. But for this horrific situation with the water, she wouldn`t have contracted this.
CASAREZ: Yes, great point, Sara. Excellent point. All right, a married pastor who preaches from the pulpit about sin and temptation is found in a
pretty sticky situation. The police say they found him in a car with a naked man. Look at the woman looking out at the window right there. That
could be his wife. He said he did nothing wrong.
[18:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: A pastor outside of Pittsburgh is in a little bit of hot water tonight. A man whose bio on the Waterfront Community Church website says he
lives what he preaches. But police say they found George Gregory in a car in a local neighborhood with a man.
A man who was completely naked and bound with nylon rope. When Pastor Gregory was arrested, he told police, he and the man, they were just
playing. That they meet up to play with each other. But he worded it to our affiliate KDKA just a little differently.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE GREGORY, PASTOR CHARGED WITH LEWDNESS AND INDECENT EXPOSURE: I was counseling a young man with a drug problem, OK? And it did turn strange,
but it wasn`t my doing, OK? And I was adamant that I`m not participating in that way. I have nothing to hide. I did nothing wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: You see the woman staring out the window behind him? Could that be his wife? Pastor Gregory
[19:00:00] has been charged with lewdness and indecent exposure. The next hour of "Crime and Justice" starts right now.
A state senator in a motel room with a 17-year-old boy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re not worried about a little bit of weed. What we are worried about is you have a juvenile in there.
CASAREZ: Tonight, what he told police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were condoms in your bag (inaudible).
RALPH SHORTEY, FORMER OKLAHOMA STATE SENATOR: That`s just not -- absolutely not true.
CASAREZ: And why he could end up behind bars for life.
The jury took 15 minutes to decide he was guilty.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We find the defendant guilty of first degree murder.
CASAREZ: Now, we`re hearing he wanted the death penalty.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re waiving your closing argument?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I am.
CASAREZ: So, why even go to trial, just to pose for the cameras?
An 18-year-old on a mission trip dies after rafting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are things in those bodies of water that can be harmful.
CASAREZ: Her family says it was a brain-eating amoeba in the water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is not at all common for people to develop illness after they`ve come into contact with this organism.
CASAREZ: Now, they are suing but the park is denying all responsibility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
I`m Jean Casarez in for Ashleigh Banfield. This is the second hour of Crime & Justice. Thank you so much for joining us.
Police are used to finding teenagers with pot, but they`re not usually accompanied by a 35-year-old state senator. And they`re not usually in a
motel room yet, that`s how Oklahoma police say they found Ralph Shortey, a man whose political career came crashing down at a local Super 8 like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, listen, whatever you`re doing, it`s a bad idea, does that make sense to you? Getting high with a young kid, whatever is a bad
idea, no matter if they`re 17 or 20, like it`s a bad idea.
You understand what I`m saying, like if you want to have fun by yourself, if you got things you got to figure out, you need to figure that out and
you can live your life however you want to live it. But when you start doing it with kids and stuff, then it starts to become a serious, serious
problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: So, that`s right, they were in a motel room as police busted through the door.
Senator Shortey has since resigned and now he`s behind bars. He could get life in prison for child sex trafficking, but that`s not something he was
ready to own up to when he initially spoke with police.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHORTEY (ph): You showed the condoms. He showed up with the lotion, I mean, that`s (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. And there are condoms in your bag. The cop saw them. .
SHORTEY: That`s absolutely not true. I did not show up there for any sexual thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The truth helps and just so you know the exchange of (inaudible) at one point but you hopefully didn`t take a picture with your
phone because that`s going to tell me it`s going to be sent to somebody.
SHORTEY: I don`t do that. Well, I don`t understand why he would do this.
(END OF VIDEO)
CASAREZ: And with us now tonight, Crime & Justice producer Michael Christian.
Michael, you and I go way back to Court TV together. It`s really good to still be working with you. This case, a state senator from Oklahoma, a 17-
year-old minor, how did they even know each other?
MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, CRIME & JUSTICE PRODUCER: Apparently, Jean, they connected on craigslist. There was an ad in craigslist, the two got
together. They then corresponded on the Kik app and it`s very obvious from their communications that they were arranging to get together to have sex.
There`s really no question at all; it`s very explicit what they were planning to do.
CASAREZ: And this state senator now, former state senator, married man, four children, right?
CHRISTIAN: Correct.
CASAREZ: The epitome of family togetherness. Now, they just released his interrogation and he initially when this whole story with the detectives
that he was there to help him study?
CHRISTIAN: Yes. The interrogation lasted about 54 minutes. And it`s very interesting to watch the progression of Ralph Shortey because at the end
he`s very, I don`t know, I`m going to use the word cocky. He`s very confident. He`s a politician. He`s probably used to swaying people to his
position.
So, that`s what he tries with the police. The problem is they`re ready for him. They have a lot of information. They`ve talked to this teen boy.
They`ve seen these texts that were exchanged between them or these messages.
CASAREZ: And they had evidence they found in the motel room.
CHRISTIAN: Exactly. Condoms, lotion, marijuana, there`s really no question, they were there to have sex.
CASAREZ: Michael, I want everybody to watch this because this is the interrogation tape. It was just released and this was four days after
police busted through that door in the motel. I want you to listen to the detectives. They just don`t buy the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re trying to give an opportunity, all right, to help yourself out here, all right? We have an electronic -- we have the device,
we have -- these are just photos of it. We actually have downloaded the entire device now, so we have everything that you all said that night,
everything.
The thing about it is that tablet, once you sent the message saying I`m here, that tablet was never on the Internet again. So, the key conversation
couldn`t delete so we have the entire conversation (inaudible). Yes, you can look at it. We have this entire conversation because it never hit the
network again.
This is a bad deal, this is prostitution with a minor, prostitution within 1,000 foot of a church with (inaudible) and then transporting for the
purposes of prostitution which is a misdemeanor.
SHORTEY: And I tell you this is not me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It clearly is you. Ralph, that`s a lie. You`re lying to us right now. That`s clearly you. No one else, the (inaudible) coffee shop,
I`m here and you`re there. That`s clearly you.
SHORTEY: I don`t know who else he could have been talking to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I agree with you. Nobody, I agree.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: So, he says that`s not him. And he`s got his coat jacket on, he`s very formal.
But Michael, when the police busted through the door, he had a t-shirt on. I think we`ve got a picture of that t-shirt because it`s got some messages,
there it is right there, Michael. I`ll let you read it.
CHRISTIAN: It says Ephesians 5:22, Jean. And that verse is "Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord." The problem is it
then says," Now, go make me a sandwich." It probably wouldn`t have helped him much with the women`s vote.
CASAREZ: OK. So, that`s what he had on that night.
I want to bring in CNN Law Enforcement Contributor and former FBI agent and investigator, Steve Moore.
Steve, when he says that`s not me, I mean, they had the goods. They had the information. They waited four days. What did they do, detectives, in those
four days before getting him in that interrogation room?
STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Well, they ran all the electronics they could. You heard that they downloaded the iPad. They
downloaded probably the minor`s phone. They had all sort of information just flooding into them. I think their biggest problem would have been
cataloguing all the information.
The other thing they did is pray that he would one of those guys that came in believing that he was smarter than the police and didn`t need an
attorney. And those prayers were answered because he came in convinced that he was smarter than the police, and didn`t work out for him.
CASAREZ: And another interesting aspect to all of this, Steve, is that the 17-year-old had a girlfriend and he`s told his girlfriend that night, "I`m
going to go out and I`m going to make some money."
So, she was concerned there was going to be a drug deal of some kind, so she was in her car and she was watching. She gets the shock of her life
when she sees him go with this older man into a motel room. She calls his father and that`s how the police busted through that Super 8 door, room 120
within minutes but they had their evidence.
Now, Shortey, former senator at this point, he still kept denying in this interrogation and this is brand new stuff. We have never seen this
interrogation before, but listen to how he continues to try to say that`s not me. I didn`t do anything wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHORTEY: So, you asked me earlier if there had been any sexual contact in the past, (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (He said there was a kiss).
SHORTEY: When?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before May of last year.
SHORTEY: And that`s nothing, but still that`s not happened either.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just like (inaudible), just like it`s somebody else`s kids and daughters in the coffee shop. Somebody else is there and you made
a bad that decision. That doesn`t mean you`re a bad person, just you made a bad decision. It`s not the end of the world.
SHORTEY: Unless I can prove otherwise it is the end of the world and I can`t think of any other proof that I could show you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s nothing because there`s no...
SHORTEY: They`re absolutely (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we have is the truth.
SHORTEY: If I had phone calls or if had--
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you don`t because they don`t exist. What we have is the truth. You know it.
SHORTEY: (inaudible) didn`t have to record a phone call or anything with the guy, I mean, he`s...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean was recorded, that`s why we have pictures of it. The conversation was recorded, I mean, that`s so clearly you. You and I
both know that`s you. Anyone we show that to would know that`s you.
SHORTEY: Well, that`s the problem.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s the truth, but what I`m saying the problem is that for some reason you think that if you stick your head in the sand and
ignore it, it`s going to go away; it`s not. Your best bet is to tell us the truth, tell us what happened and then move on from this; make this a bump
in the road, not the road.
I mean, it`s that simple, really. This is not a defining moment. This is just a moment. You`ve had other things in your life that were awful at that
time and then now as you look back they`re still awful but they didn`t change who you were, it`s a bump, that`s all it is. It doesn`t change the
fact that you`re a good person, that you care about your family, none of that changes.
Because the reason you`re having trouble thinking of something to say is because there is nothing you can say.
SHORTEY: I`m not having trouble thinking of something to say, I`m trying to...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re trying to decide whether or not you should tell us what happened.
SHORTEY: No. I told you everything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: So, this is at the very end of the interrogation. You see the demeanor change. You see the posture change.
Michael, what happened when this interrogation ended?
CHRISTIAN: This thing lasted for 54 minutes. Just apparently according to the police when it was finished, he complained, Ralph Shortey, complained
of shortness of breath and they actually called paramedics to come and check him out. He was OK. But, obviously, it took a toll on him. It`s as
you say his demeanor is very different at the end.
CASAREZ: Yes. So calm and cool.
Steve Moore, you are a former FBI agent. I want to ask you, when you listen to this interrogation, he says look, you are a good man, things happen. It
doesn`t mean the end of the world. What is the strategy for talking like that to him?
MOORE: Well, everybody has their own way of interrogation. This is more like my way of interrogation. Let`s put this behind you. Let`s stop playing
these games, put whatever is gone in your rear view mirror and start rebuilding your life.
I think that`s something the best way to go about it because it`s the truth. People want to start fixing things. But he wasn`t going to cough
anything up. At the same time, he was coughing stuff up when he said about whether he had kissed the kid or not. He said, "Well, that`s no big thing
but I still didn`t do it."
When you start minimizing crimes you didn`t even do, I mean, we got you. It`s over at that point. And they didn`t need him to confess. They have
enough to convict. But it sure would have been a better case had he done this.
And for once I think he would have been better off had he confessed to them. He could have made some kind of deal and talked to them in a way that
didn`t seem like he wasn`t taking responsibility for his actions.
CASAREZ: Right. Right.
Fe Resari (ph), you are a defense lawyer, the state charges were dropped. He pleaded guilty to a federal charge of sex trafficking of a minor. Now,
the sentencing, he faces up to life in prison, what would be the main mitigating factors that you as an attorney would give before the court?
FE RESARI (ph), DEFENSE LAWYER: I think what`s common in these cases and I`ve defended a lot of them, you find that the client is often, they have a
history of being victimized themselves. Often growing up, they`ve been abused by an elder person in the family or somebody close to the family.
So, there`s going to be some mitigating circumstances and we already know he was smoking pot with the kid, so maybe he has a substance abuse issue.
Maybe he`s addicted to drugs. Maybe he`s got an alcohol issue.
I think a good defense attorney would look into these personal characteristics and buy some sympathy from the judge, because although the
judge is bound by the mandatory minimum of 10 years, he does have discretion as to whether or not to add any more years, because as we know
he`s exposed to life.
So, it`s very important especially in a federal case, not so much in a state case but the federal case to bring these factors up to the judge`s
attention because under U.S., 18 U.S. code 3553, they all matter.
CASAREZ: And there are so many lives ruined here -- his wife, his four children, the 17-year-old young man, many, many lives that are just changed
forever because of all of this and mainly his life, he`s lost his life.
RESARI (ph): Yes.
CASAREZ: All right.
It took jurors just 12 minutes to find him guilty of kidnapping and killing a beautiful 8-year-old girl. The question -- now who will take the stand in
Donald Smith`s penalty phase and could any of the witnesses keep him from getting a death sentence.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: Now is the time for justice. After every parent`s worst nightmare. It happened to one Florida mother. A seemingly friendly 56-year-old man
approaching her family, taking her eight-year-old daughter away for burgers and then driving her away in a van and abusing her beyond belief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CILP)
RAYNE PERRYWINKLE, MOTHER OF CHERISH PERRYWINKLE: She is eight years old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the Dollar Store where Rayne Perrywinkle and her three daughters were shopping when she says they met Donald Smith.
PERRYWINKLE: He looked into my face and told me I was safe.
DONALD SMITH: Yes, I`d like to run into her in Walmart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cherish have a butt on her?
SMITH: Yes. She had a lot for a white girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She spent the last petrifying hours of her life with him.
PERRYWINKLE: I hope to God he doesn`t kill her and I hope to God he doesn`t rape her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Got into a white van with shuttered windows. No proper seats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the grave she was crying out to you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He gagged her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Smith raped me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Raped her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Smith sodomized me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sodomized her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Smith strangled me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He strangled her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Until every last breath left my body.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She could not breathe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She thought they were just going to get cheeseburgers. He was standing in front of McDonalds and holding some cheeseburgers. Was
that the last time you ever saw your daughter alive?
PERRYWINKLE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, find him guilty as charged.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: That jury listened to the prosecutor`s advice and in less than 15 minutes, they found Donald Smith guilty of kidnapping, rape, and murder.
And if they band together tomorrow, they could be sentencing Donald Smith to death for what he did to Cherish, that beautiful little girl, right
there, Perrywinkle.
Jesse Weber, a host with Law and Crime Network joins us tonight. Thank you. So nice to have you here.
JESSE WEBER, HOST WITH LAW AND CRIME NETWORK: Thanks for having me.
CASAREZ: For those people that haven`t been following this case, I mean in theory this could happen to anybody because you want to believe and you
want to trust. And this mother with Cherish and her other daughters. Where did they meet this man?
WEBER: Rayne Perrywinkle, mother of three. She didn`t have a lot of money. She only had $100 that day from her boyfriend. You can imagine people who
are in similar situations. They don`t have a lot of money to spend.
She goes to the Dollar Store to buy Cherish some dresses because she`s leaving for a trip. And all of a sudden Donald Smith, this predator is
watching them, the entire time. And he goes up to her.
He goes up to Rayne and says, "You got your hands full with those three, I noticed you don`t have enough money to buy those dresses. Tell you what, my
wife has a $150 gift card to Walmart. She`s on her way here. Why don`t you come with me and we could buy some things for your daughters, I feel so bad
for you."
And here`s a woman who is so down on her luck. She`s thinking about the kindness of someone`s heart. Now, she`s apprehensive at first. Can`t deny
that. She didn`t 100 percent trust him. And he says, "You can trust me. You can trust me. I have this taken care of."
So, she goes with him. Takes the daughters. They go to Walmart. Starts buying things for her daughter. Shoes, this. All the while, you`ve seen the
security footage. He is there. He`s following them the whole time.
And right at the end he says, "You know what? I`m going to get some food. My wife is still on the way. My wife is still on the way. Why don`t I go to
McDonald`s. It`s in the store, does anybody want any hamburgers?" And Cherish comes up to Rayne and the last thing she says to her mother is
"I`ll get a -- what do you want, Mommy?" She says, "I`ll get a cheeseburger."
They go towards the front of the store and that is the last time that she ever saw her daughter alive because as we know, he took her. He sexually
abused her. And he strangled her. And her body was found either 10 or 11 hours later. And it was really, really horrific. The details of it. We
covered it gavel-to-gavel.
CASAREZ: It is by a -- in a creek bed.
WEBER: By a creek bed. And he tried to submerge her body, so no one would find it. We actually interviewed Charlie Wilkie who was the K9 officer that
found the body. So you can imagine what that went through.
And when the medical examiner took the stand, you`ll never see medical examiners cry. She broke down on the stand because of the details of what
happened to this eight-year-old girl.
CASAREZ: Now that`s rare. That`s very rare, Jesse. We have got a bit of the assistant state attorney in the closing arguments. I want you to watch that
right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want you to picture in your mind and remember that video of him lurking over the top of them in the Walmart. That blue arrow
so close to Cherish throughout the course of those hours. Waiting for his opportunity to strike.
I want you to remember that little girl walking happily with him towards the front of the store, standing in front of McDonald`s and holding some
cheeseburgers. And from the grave she is crying out to you. In the final moments of her life, this defendant took from that little everything that
was innocent and pure, and then he took her life. Now, it`s time to hold him accountable for what he did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: This man didn`t have a clean record. He had a rap sheet that was lengthy. I think we have this. I want to show you. 1997 was the very first
time, lewd assault on a child. He was guilty. That far back a crime against a child.
And then it goes on and on. Battery in 1986, contempt of court 1987, attempted kidnapping in 1992. Goes on and on and on. And then finally,
you`ve got 2009, unlawful impersonation of a public employee, guilty, aggravated child abuse by willful torture, guilty.
I want to go right now to a victim. Another victim of this man who is lucky to be alive today. Chrystina Hand, you were targeted by Donald Smith and
you`re joined by your stepfather, Roland Thornton. Thank you both for being with us.
First, Mr. Thornton, tell us what happened to your young daughter. What was the phone call that you got by this man, Donald Smith, way back several
years ago?
ROLAND THORNTON, FATHER OF CHRYSTINA HAND: I didn`t get the phone call. Her grandmother did. And she.
CASAREZ: What was it? What was the grandmother told?
THORNTON: That she needed to bring Chrystina to meet him at the McDonald`s in Callahan. That there was allegations that she`s been fondled and he`d
like to check her out.
CASAREZ: So isn`t it true that he said that he was with child protective services. That he was a professional and that he was investigating a claim
of child abuse, right?
THORNTON: Yes, yes.
CASAREZ: So he needed to talk to your daughter.
THORNTON: Right.
CASAREZ: So what happened then?
THORNTON: Well, her grandmother had called her mother and told her about it and, which that threw red flags up anyway. And so we get a hold of the
Nashville County Sheriff Department.
We went on up there. And he wasn`t but couple of cars down from where they pulled in at. And.
CASAREZ: So this must have absolutely emotionally, you probably -- where did this person come from? Where did this allegation come from?
I want to ask you, Chrystina, you and your grandmother did go to the McDonalds, right?
CHRYSTINA HAND, TARGETED BY DONALD SMITH: Yes, Ma`am.
CASAREZ: So what did you see?
HAND: Well, all I can remember is as I was going inside McDonald`s and coming out waiting on him, I never seen his van, didn`t realize what he was
even driving.
CASAREZ: But he did have a white van at that time too, right?
HAND: Yes, ma`am.
CASAREZ: Did you ever talk with him at McDonald`s or didn`t it get that far?
HAND: It didn`t get that far.
CASAREZ: It didn`t get that far.
But Mr. Thornton, he was convicted of attempting to do with your daughter what the plan was, right?
THORNTON: Yes, Ma`am.
CASAREZ: And I think the point is, he went to jail.
THORNTON: Yes, Ma`am.
CASAREZ: It was low level misdemeanors I believe. He went to jail. He got out and it wasn`t a month later that he put his sights on Cherish and she
lost her life.
THORNTON: That`s right.
CASAREZ: You know, Jesse, let me go back to you. The story, because this man had a rap sheet, he was charged with low level crimes in regard to what
happened to Chrystina and then he`s out.
WEBER: I think it`s amazing that he was out and he was able to do this to Cherish. I think the interesting conversation is with regards to tomorrow.
Will he use every one of the instances of his sexual abuse or being a predator as saying, "I have a disease. I shouldn`t be sentenced to death
because I have an illness. I have a mental disease. I have a problem and I shouldn`t be sentenced to death."
I`m curious if that`s going to be a path for the defense, because we can`t deny his rap sheet. We can`t deny that he has a serious, serious problem in
society and he should go away forever or he should be killed.
But the question becomes, can the defense use that to their advantage. The thing that I can`t deny is he should never have been let out to society and
Cherish might still be alive today if he had been locked up in the proper way. I think when you see what he was up to and for so long, since the
`70s. Why was he out?
But here`s another thing that`s so surprising and shocking. The defense in all of this, they didn`t put on any witnesses. They didn`t have a closing
argument, but in their opening statement they sure did put down somebody. They attacked Cherish`s mother. I think we have that sound. Let`s listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your honor, the defense waives it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The way that you`re closing argument?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, your honor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And although she will describe the stranger she ultimately entrusts to have watch over her children as creepy, she will
tell you that about 9:00 at night having shopped in the first two stores for almost two hours, she makes the decision to get into a white van with
shuttered windows, no proper seats, and placed her children in that van. She goes with a complete stranger to Wal-Mart over eight miles away. And
she doesn`t flinch when cherish and you see this with your own eyes. Wanders off with this stranger not once, not twice, but three to four times
and she thinks nothing of it. Once you talk with a stranger, not once, not twice, three to four times and she thinks nothing, all right. The fact that
this person claims I`m going to go get cheeseburgers and Cherish just wanders off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: So that`s the opening statements from the defense. The opening statements are telling the jury this is the evidence you are going to see
from the defense and they don`t put on a case. They put down her mother? That`s what they do before this jury? Was that good or bad? Well, we`re
going to have more on that in just a minute. But first, a teenager goes rafting at a whitewater center and turns up dead. She wasn`t murdered and
there was no accident. Her parents say the park`s filthy water and the bacteria in that killed their daughter. Why the park`s attorney says they
did all they could to protect their customers?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Eleven days after going whitewater rafting with her church group, Lauren Seitz was dead. A lovable 18 year old on a summer mission trip just
enjoying her fun day at the whitewater center Charlotte, North Carolina. But there was something in the water that day, an amoeba that attacks the
central nervous system and according to Lauren`s family, it entered her body in just one dunk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MARCUS PLESCIA, HEALTH DIRECTOR, MECKLENBURGCOUNTY, HEALTH DEPARTMENT: You know, the risk of driving to the whitewater center from your home and
being in an accident is probably higher than the risk of being infected by this organism even now at the whitewater center. It is not at all common
for people to develop illness after they`ve come into contact with this organism. There have only been 35 cases of this particular infection in the
United States in the last 10 years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: But it does happen. It happened to her. Lauren`s family is heartbroken and they are now suing the water park saying it should have
managed the water or at least warned patrons about its potential dangers. But the water park is coming back. They have now filed an answer to this
complaint saying that they followed every rule and they are reminding Lauren`s father that he signed the same waiver that she did. With us
tonight, Mark Starling is the morning show host and news director for news radio 570 WWNC. All right. First, I want you to tell everybody who she was
with, where she was. She wasn`t alone, there were others. What happened to her and how this happened?
MARK STARLING, NEWS DIRECTOR, RADIO 570 WWNC: Well, she was at the whitewater center in Charlotte, North Carolina with a church group, right?
This is a water park that is on land that is leased by the whitewater center for $1.00 a year from the County of Mecklenburg which is the county
where Charlotte is. They were whitewater rafting, apparently, either a flip-over or she went under and this amoeba it gains access through the
nostrils and, you know, from what we are seeing and from what we`ve look in to, this park was not being held accountable to any sort of guidelines or
testing when it came to the actual water.
They weren`t being held to the same thing that a public pool would be held to. They were basically just kind of willy-nilly, they didn`t have to move
to subscribe to any sort of testing. So, subsequently, once the lawsuit got (INAUDIBLE) and this young lady passed away, the water park, all of a
sudden out of nowhere changes their filtration system. They add some extra measures to make sure that this doesn`t happen. But -- so one would assume
that kind looks like it`s a -- they`re basically guilty, right? They basically -- they`re admitting that the water was not clean and that people
were at risk when they were in this water.
CASAREZ: So, Mark, here`s what I want you to -- take us to North Carolina. Is this a place that like -- I mean, we see the video right there that
people go to, that it`s advertised on television, that there is billboards, come to the water park. Have the time of your life in the summer.
STARLING: Eight-hundred thousand people a year come to this water park, right? So, you know, the hard part about this is now that they have
answered with their -- to this lawsuit, they`ve answered on two lines of defense. The first line of defense is basically they say look, there is no
complaint here. The complaint fails to state a claim "upon which relief can be granted." Meaning that they don`t have a case. Now that`s just kind of a
standard thing apparently in these civil cases a lot of times. Lawyers just file that to file that.
Now, the second line of defense is the one that I find really interesting. And that is that their actions of replacing the filters and upgrading the
filtration system to make sure that the water was clean, that can`t be used against them as evidence because of North Carolina Evidence Code Rule
number 407 which is subsequent remedial measures. And basically what that says is the simple fact that they did that, they upgraded the system,
cannot be held against them and it`s not admitting that there was anything wrong with the water while they were going up.
CASAREZ: Right. You know, but Mark, the reality is and you know this well as I do, this young healthy girl with her church group went to the water
park on their day off and she`s dead. She`s gone. With us tonight, medical examiner and forensic pathologist William Marrone. You know, Doctor --
WILLIAM MARRONE, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Good evening.
CASAREZ: -- I want to know -- good evening. I want to know how this happened. I mean, she fell out of the raft. OK, that`s true. But what
happened? What`s the process that got this bacteria into her? And why did it do what it did?
MARRONE: So let`s start where the infection is in the brain and work backwards to the outside of the body. The brain has three different skins
or membranes to try to protect it. And when somebody gets forceful water up the nostrils, it`s a very specific pathway. When something goes up the
nostrils, there is a very thin bone here called the cribriform plate. That cribriform plate allows all the vasculature and the nerves from the nose
that gives you sense and taste into the brain. It`s the most direct access and that`s exactly the same access that we have when somebody overdoses
from heroin and we blow the drugs up their nose because we don`t have access to veins and arteries. So it`s very direct.
And if it`s forceful, you can have access up there. Once it gets in the brain, it`s really hard to treat because we have something called the
blood-brain barrier. And that is a safety measure and it`s difficult to get antibiotics into the brain because very few antibiotics penetrate to the
brain. So when you have encephalitis or meningitis it`s almost a foregone conclusion that you`re going to get a full-blown infection. And if she was
immune compromise, if she was -- bring nasal steroids up her nose or she had an infection, it would have made it even easier and that made it even
deadlier.
CASAREZ: You know, Dr. Marrone, we`re going to take a short break right now but when we come back, this was fresh water and it`s winter now but people
are thinking about their boats and going to freshwater lakes all over this country and I want to talk about when we come back, the potential for this
kind of bacteria to be in fresh water. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: We`re still talking tonight about Lauren Seitz, the 18-year-old on a church trip who died after whitewater rafting. Not from hitting her head,
but according to her family from a carnivorous amoeba in the water that killed her in less than two weeks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PLESCIA: I do think people need to be aware that when they go into open sources of water, lakes, ponds, even some swimming pools that aren`t well-
regulated, there are things in those bodies of the water that can be harmful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Now, Lauren`s family is suing the rafting center, say that they should have regulated the water that it`s gross negligence. But the rafting
center is denying every single allegation. Mark Starling and Dr. William Marrone and Sara Azari all back with me. Dr. Marrone, as we just heard,
fresh water takes various forms. It`s in a swimming pool, it`s in a river that people go swimming in. It`s in a body of water where people are
fishing and maybe go out of the boat. I mean, is a bacteria like this present in some of these waters more or less, water parks across the
country?
MARRONE: Many of the water parks are kept with a much stricter ionized ozone or chlorine-based system to kill organisms. I would bet that this
water park does not have quality assurance checks every six hours to show what their bacterial load level is. That means the science of running this
park is between the laws and medicine. And it`s not being regulated, otherwise people wouldn`t be exposed.
CASAREZ: What about fresh water lakes, what about fish that people catch in freshwater?
MARRONE: The answer is yes. And sometimes there is another organism called cryptosporidium that causes a disease called cryptosporidiosis that had an
outbreak up in Milwaukee from sewage that went into a reservoir. It causes many of the other same things but this amoeba went up the nose, was
forcefully injected and got into the brain, and that`s what made it really dangerous. So it`s not just a question of cleaning up the water. Maybe they
need a 10-minute class to show people how to properly fall out of rafts and prevent this kind of forceful ejection up the nose.
CASAREZ: Amazing. Amazing. I want to show everybody the timeline here. To just show you how fast this went. It was June 8th, whitewater rafting, June
14th, sinus congestion, June 16th, Lauren was taken to the hospital. June 18th, Lauren was diagnosed due to infection from amoeba. The very next day,
she`s gone. Sara Azari, the water park findings from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Service, all water samples tested positive
for this bacteria, this amoeba. One sample had the highest concentration level ever found of the bacteria, the turbidity level was 13 times letter,
the chlorine was 10 times lower than acceptable and the filtration system pore size was 50 percent larger than the pore size should be. I mean, they
don`t have a leg to stand on here, do they?
SARA AZARI, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don`t think so. Jean, I think the issue here is that the water park at least had some notice that there was some
issues with the water there. Maybe they didn`t know about the level of amoeba and -- or the fatal levels of amoeba in the water but they knew that
their system was not adequate enough to clean the water. There were dead animals near the water. There was trash on the surface of the water. The
employees had given notice to the park that, you know, they`re getting staph infections and they -- and they`re getting skin -- all kinds of skin
diseases.
So, the park had enough notice to close down, inspect its waters and its system and infiltration system and impose what needs to impose and put in
place to make this facility safe before it makes, you know, $18 million a year off of people, which is pure profit by the way. Apparently the rent to
the dollar a year. So, it`s really outrageous, it`s a complete environmental disaster and I think that the Seitz family is going to
recover well because she`s a young girl, she had her life ahead of her, and -- but for this horrific situation with the water, she wouldn`t have
contracted this.
CASAREZ: Yes. Great point, Sara. Excellent point. All right. A married pastor who preaches from the pulpit about sin and temptation is found in a
pretty sticky situation. The police say they found him in a car with a naked man. Look at the woman looking out of the window right there. That
could be his wife. He says he did nothing wrong.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: A pastor outside of Pittsburg, he`s in hot water tonight. A man who`s vile on the waterfront community church Web site says he lives what
he preaches. But police say they found George Gregory in a car in a local neighborhood with a man. A man who was completely naked and bound with
nylon rope. When Pastor Gregory was arrested, he told the police he and the man were just playing. That they meet up to play with each other, but he
worded it to our affiliate KDKA just a little bit differently.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE GREGORY, PASTOR: I was counseling a young man with a drug problem. OK? it did turn strange but it wasn`t my doing. OK? And I was adamant that
I`m not participating in that way. I have nothing to hide. I did nothing wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: And if that was his wife looking out that front door, she didn`t look too happy. Pastor Gregory has been charged with lewdness and indecent
exposure. Well, we`ll see you back here tomorrow night at 6:00 sharp Eastern and now you can listen to our show any time. Download our podcast
on Apple podcast , I Heart Radio, Stitcher. Tune in whenever and wherever you get your podcast for your CRIME AND JUSTICE. Thank you so much for
watching. "FORENSIC FILES" begins right now. Good night, everybody.
END
