Return to Transcripts main page
Jane Velez-Mitchell
Mom Accused of Killing Toddler, Cutting Teen Appears in Court; More Details Emerge in Shooting of Unarmed Teen; Manhunt for MMA Star
Aired August 13, 2014 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... on the DNA evidence. So really without that, all we would have had would have been a motive. And there would have been
nothing that we could have charged and ever got a conviction on in this case.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Tonight, disgust, outrage and mystery as a woman who cops say drugged and drowned her 2-year-old daughter and then
slit her 13-year-old daughter`s throat with a razor blade shows up in court smiling and winking like she`s won the mother of the year award.
Tonight, cracking the mystery of why this woman -- yes, that`s her in court there grinning -- would allegedly do the unthinkable to her own flesh and
blood.
Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell coming to you live.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ms. Smith, are you able to hear what`s happening here in court today?
JESSICA SMITH, ACCUSED OF KILLING TODDLER, SLASHING TEEN: Yes, your honor, I am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Polite, put together, even winking at one point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The charges against her: in the death of her 2-year-old daughter Isabella and the wounding of her 13-year-old daughter Alana, who
suffered life-threatening cuts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Left notes in the hotel room saying her baby, quote, "didn`t suffer," a new detail.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pointing to Jessica Smith drugging her 2-year-old daughter before the toddler drowned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unusually high level of a drug which I understand has a sedative affect.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Accused of harming her daughter the day he was supposed to turn the girls over to their dad.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So many hoping to know what this woman is thinking.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Cops say this 40-year-old mother of two, Jessica Smith, drove her children from their home in Washington state to a hotel in Oregon
with a plot to kill her beautiful daughters. Police found 2-year-old Isabella Smith dead, lying on a bed. Next to her, 13-year-old Alana Smith
naked and bleeding, still alive but with her throat slit on both sides. Mommy dearest nowhere to be found.
Two days and a massive manhunt later, Coast Guard arrested this mother about 15 miles away from the hotel crime scene. And now, shock and
bafflement as the alleged child killer smiles and -- watch carefully -- she even winks during her court hearing. See for yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ms. Smith, are you able to hear what`s happening here in court today?
SMITH: Yes, your honor, I am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You understand what`s happening in this discussion?
SMITH: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You saw that wink. She seems so satisfied with herself.
Cops suspect she was out for revenge against her ex-husband, who had just been awarded weekend visitation. That`s all, just weekend visitation,
every other weekend, with their two daughters.
Investigators say this woman e-mailed a 15-page letter to her ex-husband`s colleagues, detailing their, quote, "horrible marriage" on the very day
cops found her two daughters inside that blood-smeared hotel room. Was this horrific slaughter a scorned woman`s giant vendetta campaign to get
back at the man who left her after a long marriage?
What do you think? Call me, 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.
And please, you can join the conversation by going to my Facebook page or talk to me on Twitter. Yes, we will read the Twitter comments tonight.
Our Lion`s Den panel fired up and ready to debate. But straight first out to Maxine Bernstein, writer for "The Oregonian." What are you learning,
Maxine, from these court documents, dozens and dozens, maybe even hundreds of pages, just released about a half an hour ago. What have found in them?
MAXINE BERNSTEIN, WRITER, "THE OREGONIAN" (via phone): Actually, the court documents were released in the last two days. And yesterday Jessica Smith
was arraigned on a grand jury indictment that charged her with aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder in the death of her 2-year-old, and
attempted killing of her 13-year-old daughter.
Also yesterday, the state medical examiner released the findings regarding the cause of death in the 2-year-old, Elizabeth`s -- I`m sorry, Isabella`s
killing. And she found that the 2-year-old died from asphyxiation by drowning. She identified that as the main cause of the toddler`s death.
Yet, she found what she called an intoxicating level of an antihistamine drug called chlorpheniramine in the girl`s bloodstream, indicating to her
that the girl was sedated first before she was drowned.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And apparently, when they found this woman after a massive manhunt, they found near her some discarded bags, something that
she had purchased at a drugstore, namely over-the-counter medicines that could have been the antihistamines that she allegedly used to sedate her 2-
year-old daughter before drowning the child, according to authorities.
Speaking of authorities, I want to know from our panel tonight, did authorities drop the ball? I`m talking about the courts, CPS, police?
Court documents revealed for weeks the husband had been extremely worried and was demanding a psychological evaluation of his wife, believing that
she was trying to manipulate the kids, particularly the oldest, the 13- year-old daughter, into hating him. He says he got a very troubling voice mail from his 13-year-old daughter.
Listen to that voice mail to dad, as read by one of our producers. Then we`ll debate it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "I`m so sick, I can hardly talk. I can`t sleep very well, because I`m tormented by the thought of you in our lives. It`s
terrifying and cruel of you not to respect us."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Lisa Bloom in the Lion`s Den, the husband claimed he hadn`t been able to see his daughters since mid-April, when he moved out of
the family home and informed his wife he was interested in another woman. He went to court, again trying to get his girls, but he still didn`t get
the custody. Yes, he was awarded custody. But by that time, those girls were in the hotel room in a blood-smeared hotel room. Could something have
been done to prevent this debacle?
LISA BLOOM, LEGAL ANALYST, AVVO.COM: Absolutely. I know from practicing family law every day here in Los Angeles that the system is broken. Judges
tend to think everybody who`s going through a divorce is crazy. But it`s not true.
There were warning signs here. Those messages from the 13-year-old, the mother clearly trying to alienate her two daughters from their father. The
courts should have stepped in and protected these children while they still could have.
Look at her. I mean, this is a woman who was clearly deranged. I`ve read the lengthy police affidavit. It`s very disturbing. She drowned her
little 2-year-old. She got the 13-year-old involved in that, and then she slit the 13-year-old`s throat. The courts could have prevented this.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And I want to clarify: he didn`t get custody. He got occasional visitation every other weekend. That`s what she was so upset
about. He didn`t get custody, just occasional visitation, Brian Claypool.
BRIAN CLAYPOOL, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hey, Jane, I was on your show right when this story broke, and you made a great point. You said, why
didn`t the judge bring her back into court immediately...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.
CLAYPOOL: ... after she missed that hearing? And I think Lisa is right. The courts have to step in. It`s not just CPS. It`s family law judges who
are missing the boat or they are co-conspirators sometimes with the CPS to not protect the children. There should have been a warrant issued for her
arrest right when she missed that hearing. And maybe this would have been averted.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Look at the timeline of the relationship between Jessica and her ex-husband. The couple married for 17 years. But way back in
2000, court documents show the husband, Greg, accused his wife, Jessica, of cheating on him. They reconciled -- they reconciled; they had two
daughters.
November of last year, the husband eventually just says, "You know what? I`m done with this marriage."
The couple, however -- and I think this is a very bad idea -- continued to live together under the same roof. Until five months later, this past
spring, April, Greg moves out. He says he`s met another woman. He`s having coffee with her. He wants to pursue the relationship.
OK. So let me go to Dr. Jeff Gardere, forensic psychologist. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. I hate that phrase, because I`m a woman. I`d
like to believe I wouldn`t behave that way. But there seems to be a very clear connection between the husband rejecting this woman and leaving a 17-
year marriage and a campaign that this woman allegedly began to get her kids to hate him. And then ultimately did she attack her own children,
allegedly, to get back at the father?
DR. JEFF GARDERE, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Look, obviously, anyone who`s scorned, not just a woman, may act out, may want to keep their children.
The children become pawns in the marriage.
But Lisa Bloom is absolutely correct. This is a woman who is mentally deranged. We don`t know if it goes to the level of legal insanity. But
certainly, someone who`s been off kilter for a very, very long time.
And now when you have such a volatile individual, perhaps with a severe personality disorder, she only decompensates. She gets worse when she`s
scorned in this way. And then to now not to have the kids just for a weekend and feels that it`s a win for her husband, that kind of personality
takes that as outright war, and the revenge is exacted on the children.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s unbelievable. But I don`t understand, Midwin Charles, it`s a horrible thing to even ask. But if you`re going to seek
revenge on the Midwest, why not go after the husband? Why go after your own flesh and blood?
MIDWIN CHARLES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Exactly. I mean, I always see in these kinds of cases where divorcing parents use the children as pawns.
But I`ve never seen a parent go to the extent where they would kill the children just to prove the husband wrong or, in other words, just to hurt
the husband and keep the children away from the husband. It just doesn`t make any sense at all.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s look at the video from this woman -- OK -- at the hearing. She is in a yellow jail suit but looks like she`s wearing makeup
and she`s apparently gotten her hair done. And there`s something really sick about her smile. This is a video conference where she`s talking to
the judge. And look, she`s winking at the judge. Where is the grief for her dead toddler? Where is the concern for the teenage daughter she left
with a split throat in a hotel room who thankfully has survived and is with relatives tonight?
Tonight I want to go to our exclusive guest, Rachel Evans. Thank you for coming on, Rachel. I know this is difficult for you to talk about. But we
want to get inside this woman`s psyche because we don`t understand how someone could allegedly -- she`s pleaded not guilty, even though cops say
she confessed. But how someone could allegedly drown their own 2-year-old daughter and slit the throat of their 13-year-old. It just boggles the
mind.
Now, she babysat for you when you were much younger, about 13 years ago. And she was pregnant with her daughter who is now 13. Did you find
anything at all odd about this woman when she was babysitting for you?
RACHEL EVANS, WAS BABYSAT BY SUSPECT (via phone): Absolutely not. You know, we went there daily after school. And we would make cookies with
her, and she`d comb her hair. She was very nice. I mean, you know, she seemed a little odd, but it wasn`t like a terrible...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: In what way? What way was she odd?
EVANS: They isolated themselves quite a bit. But we went to church together. So we would see each other at church. So...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Who isolated? She -- you`re saying she -- she was married at the time?
EVANS: Correct.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Because it`s a 17-year marriage. So she -- this is 13 years ago. She was pregnant for the -- for the daughter she`s now accused
of slicing the neck of.
EVANS: Yes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And the reason we`re asking you is look at her, even her mug shot. She looks like she`s smiling. She looks like she`s up for an
award.
EVANS: Right.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: She doesn`t look like somebody who should be devastated.
EVANS: Right.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What do you make of seeing her laughing in court, smiling in court, winking in court?
EVANS: You know, it`s just unbelievable. It`s disgusting. And you know, I have sympathy for Greg and Alana. It`s just heartbreaking. How can you
get over something like that, you know?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, what did you think of their marriage? Did they have a good marriage?
EVANS: Well, Greg was in school, so we didn`t see much of him. But as far as I knew, yes. I mean, I was only 10.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Did she seem like a lady that gave you the creeps in any way, shape or form?
EVANS: No.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I mean, this woman is accused of really the unthinkable.
EVANS: Yes, I know.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sedating and drowning her 2-year-old daughter and then putting some kind of numbing lotion on her 13-year-old daughter`s neck and
then slicing her daughter`s neck, who thankfully survived. That`s not somebody who`s normal. Somebody doesn`t go from zero to 100. There`s got
to be something going on in this person`s past.
EVANS: I agree.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: She babysat you. Can you think -- think over the commercial break -- we`re going to take a short break. I want you to think
about any inkling, any clue that something was off with this woman. And on the other side of the break, we`re going to talk to you and try to get that
answer, because at this point, I don`t understand it.
Later, the Dog -- yes, Dog the Bounty Hunter -- is going to join us. He is on the hunt. He`s leading a nationwide manhunt for an MMA fighter accused
of savagely beating his former girlfriend. This is an incredible story; it`s unfolding by the minute. I`m going to talk to Dwayne "Dog" the Bounty
Hunter in a second.
But first, much more on this mother accused of murdering one daughter and trying to kill the other. Why is she smiling? Why does she have makeup
on? What`s wrong with this woman?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Canon Beach Police Department and major crime teams have arrested Jessica Smith for the aggravated murder of her 2-year-old
daughter, Isabella, and the attempted aggravated murder of her 13-year-old daughter, Alana.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ms. Smith, are you able to hear what`s happening here in court today?
SMITH: Yes, your honor, I am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You understand what`s happening in this discussion?
SMITH: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Why is this woman winking and smiling? She`s accused of drowning her 2-year-old daughter and slitting the throat of her 13-year-old
daughter who survived.
Now Facebook, comments lighting up. "She`s got to be crazy. Who in their right mind would do this?"
Jessica says, "I`m sure she`ll come up with posttraumatic stress from her divorce."
Debby on Facebook: "I say she`s setting up her insanity defense."
Chris on Facebook says, "She`s not crazy. She knew exactly what she was doing."
Lisa Bloom, legal analyst for Avvo.com, she left the scene. She apparently told her daughter that she was going to kill herself. That`s what the
doctor said. But a couple of days later, they find her in the woods. She`s got razor blades nearby. Oh -- oh, what a coincidence. She just
didn`t get around to killing herself.
BLOOM: Right. And we see that all the time in these alleged murder/suicides where only the murder part seems to take place.
You know, for everyone who thinks she`s setting up an insanity defense, I can tell you, I don`t see it. As the legal matter, we have to just
establish that she knew the difference between right and wrong and that she could control her acts. The fact that she fled indicates that she knew
that what she was doing was wrong. What she did was sick. It was twisted; it was deranged. It was horrific. But I don`t think she meets an kind of
insanity defense.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let`s go out to the phone lines. Wendy, Maryland, what do you have to say? Wendy, Maryland.
CALLER: I think that this woman needs to spend the rest of her life in prison. She needs to be in a maximum security prison. I don`t think, at
this point, when you kill your own child that you carried for nine months and then slit your other one`s throat, that you`re going to do anything
great in society. And I feel that they need to make sure she`s locked away forever.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dr. Jeff Gardere, what do you make of this smile? There`s something crazy. She`s got, in my opinion, crazy eyes. But could she be
faking crazy, because she`s already plotting her insanity defense?
GARDERE: All right, so I think what may be going on here, unless she has a psychiatric history, unless she has a history of some sort of psychosis,
where she hears things or sees things or a bipolar disorder, it`s very hard for her to get some sort of an insanity plea.
What could be going on here is yes, she is a very emotionally disturbed individual. Personality disorder, certainly very extreme. But she could
be malingering. In other words, making it up, now that she`s caught, as part of this craziness, trying to make herself look even crazier by wearing
that makeup and winking and being very extravagant in her gestures. Or she may really just be that crazy.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Or maybe she`s just saying, "I got even with you, man! You`re going to leave me? Boy, did I show you."
Deserves her day in court. We`re going to have to see what happens. We`ll stay on top of it.
On the other side, we`ve got breaking news in the case of that unarmed teenager shot to death by police in Missouri. Brand-new details just
coming in about the confrontation between victim, Michael Brown, and the officer, still unidentified, who killed him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dorian Johnson was with Michael Brown on that day. And he says his friend was unarmed and his hands were in the air when he was
shot.
DORIAN JOHNSON, FRIEND/WITNESS: At no point in time did they struggle over the weapon, because the weapon was already drawn on us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNSON: We wasn`t causing any harm to nobody. We had no weapons on us at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do we want?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Justice!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Justice!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Justice!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When do we want it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shot and killed Saturday.
JOHNSON: The weapon was already drawn on us.
MICHAEL BROWN SR., FATHER OF VICTIM: I need justice for my son.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Still protecting the identity of the cop who pulled the trigger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. You are looking at live pictures from Ferguson, Missouri, right now. Authorities, you see them there in riot
gear. And they have reportedly surrounded some folks.
That, of course, is tape. That`s tape from the nights of tension and violence we`ve had in the last few days. But there was a live picture a
second ago where apparently officers in uniform and riot gear have surrounded some protesters, who were sitting in the middle of the street.
We`re also getting a whole bunch of new information in on this situation still unfolding, all the result of an officer shooting dead an 18-year-old
unarmed teen by the name of Michael Brown. He was set to start college. He and his friend walking down the street.
The friend, who`s a witness, said he did nothing wrong, did not provoke a confrontation that ended up with him dead. Now we can tell you, we`re just
learning that the Ferguson school district has canceled classes tomorrow and Friday because of the tensions.
We`re also learning that a 911 call, the 911 call, perhaps the key one -- maybe there were many -- about to be released. What will that tell us
about this confrontation between the police officer and 18-year-old Michael Brown, with Brown ending up dead?
We`re also getting evidence that the prosecuting attorney is now saying the evidence is going to be presented to a grand jury. A grand jury is going
to decide whether the officer who fired the deadly shots is going to be charged with anything. For example, a hypothetical might be manslaughter.
We don`t know.
And we`re also learning that the justice department is now looking into possible civil rights violations to see if this was an unjustified
shooting, if this young man`s civil rights were violated.
All of this as a news conference occurred just a little while ago where a Missouri state senator asked a very provocative question of the police
chief. Listen.
It`s coming up. All right. Well, we`ll get to it in a second.
Look, protesters, Michael Brown`s parents, all demanding answers. Tell us the identity of the cop who pulled the trigger, how many bullets hit
Michael Brown. How much longer can cops keep these crucial facts secret?
And here`s something else we`re learning. Police say the officer who fired those deadly shots, he`s very shaken up by the confrontation, and they just
revealed that he himself is injured.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The officer was taken to the hospital and treated for a swollen face.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you see the officer`s face?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did not. What we know from what the county police said is there was a physical altercation inside the car.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. I want to go to Midwin Charles, criminal defense attorney. So much new information just coming in. What do you
make of the fact that we still don`t know who the officer is, supposedly for his own safety? We still don`t know how many bullets hit this young
man, even though the autopsy`s done. The authorities still apparently have not interviewed the key witness, the young man who was with Michael Brown
when this whole incident started. What`s going on here?
CHARLES: The police chief has said that he wanted everybody to kind of wait and trust in the process and the investigation. But the problem is
when the police is not -- they`re not transparent with what happened, what it does is it questions whether or not they are going about this
investigation the proper way.
How can you get the people in Ferguson to trust: to trust the investigation, to respect the police when there is all this hiding the
ball? It`s been five days since this young man was shot and killed. Had the roles been reversed, had a police officer been shot and killed, you
better believe not only would there have been arrests, we would know how many bullets were shot, we would know all the facts, and we would have
known within hours.
So there`s an issue as to whether or not they are respecting the life of this man. And I also think that by -- by hiding or protecting him, it
shifts the focus away from Michael Brown and it just -- and places that focus on the police officer. So now everybody is concerned about this
police officer`s safety. But we`re not talking about Michael Brown and how he was shot and how he was approached by the police.
Did they even have probable cause to engage him and his friend? There are so many questions here. And the people need answers.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And by the way, these are not live pictures but are these pictures, our producer, please tell us. Beg your pardon? Just moments
ago. This is the scene just moments ago. So the situation remains very tense. And the reason why folks are raising their hands, they`re saying
basically that he had his hands raised, which is what one of the witnesses said, as some of the deadly shots hit him, that he was unarmed and in the
process of surrendering.
Now the officer who shot Michael says the teen was trying to take his gun. But the friend who was right there says the cop cursed at him and that the
officer was the aggressor.
Listen to the young man who was with Michael Brown when this whole thing started.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DORIAN JOHNSON, WITNESSED MICHAEL BROWN SHOOTING: As we were walking down the street, the squad car vehicle approaches us. We`re on the side of the
vehicle and the officer says, get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out of the street, verbatim.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Lisa Bloom, this young man, he says he still has not been interviewed by the authorities. He was the guy with Michael Brown.
BLOOM: Jane, there is no excuse for it. You know, a couple of days ago, I was questioning what the police were doing, questioning their lack of
transparency. Well, I think those questions are now starting to come to conclusions. The conclusion that perhaps they don`t want to get to the
truth.
I know as a practicing attorney when you`re going to interview a witness, you want to interview them yesterday. You certainly want to interview them
before the media gets to them.
CLAYPOOL: Jane?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes?
BLOOM: Don`t talk about it over and over again.
CLAYPOOL: Jane.
BLOOM: You want to lock down their story. The police`s failure to do that is shameful. But they won`t even tell us if Mike Brown was shot in the
front, in the back or both. It sure seems like they`ve got something to hide.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Brian Claypool?
CLAYPOOL: Hey, Jane. Yes, Jane, look, the -- I`m a civil rights attorney. I`ve been involved in at least 10 shooting death cases involving police
officers. Three of those involved young men who were unarmed. And I will tell you, I`m usually anti-police officer. But they are not hiding
anything. There`s a very important criminal investigation that`s going on. They can`t reveal this information during the investigation. So they`re
not hiding anything, number one.
Number two --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wait, wait, wait. You`re telling me they can`t say how many times he was shot? We haven`t gotten the police report. OK? We
haven`t --
(CROSSTALK)
CLAYPOOL: You`re not going to -- Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The autopsy that has been completed.
CLAYPOOL: you`re not going to get the police report until the investigation is concluded. And I will tell you, I had a case two years
ago where I knew this was going to happen. In my case, I went to the morgue and I personally took pictures of where the shots entered and where
they exited and did a press conference. So I wouldn`t have to wait --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Midwin, I want you to respond to what Brian is saying is that this is all done totally by the book, nothing to see here.
By the way, these are photographs of the young man who was shot dead, graduated from high school just very recently. Yes.
CHARLES: I disagree -- I just disagree with that. I think anytime you see anyone who was shot and killed, there are basic facts that are -- that are
sent to the public. I`m not suggesting that their entire investigation needs to be an open book. Obviously there are certain things that need to
be done behind closed doors. But when it comes to a shooting like this that has been done under circumstances that are questionable at best, you
have to at the very least let the public know who the shooter was, how many shots were fired --
(CROSSTALK)
CLAYPOOL: You can`t let them know who the shooter is.
CHARLES: No. They do it all the time. Imagine if that cop was shot.
CLAYPOOL: No.
CHARLES: Imagine if that cop was shot.
CLAYPOOL: Midwin --
CHARLES: These -- the rules are not being followed and that is the problem.
CLAYPOOL: There is a --
CHARLES: Everyone deserves to be treated the exact same way.
CLAYPOOL: Midwin, there`s a privacy right.
CHARLES: That is not true.
CLAYPOOL: We tried in California --
(CROSSTALK)
CHARLES: Excuse me. He killed someone. He killed someone.
CLAYPOOL: No. In California --
CHARLES: This is not California. This is Missouri.
CLAYPOOL: You can`t --
CHARLES: He killed someone. He doesn`t get to hide.
CLAYPOOL: Let me finish. If there are credible threats of death on this police officer, he has a state and federal privacy right to not allow his
name to be identified. That`s the law. That`s why they`re not releasing the police officer`s name.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Listen, Twitter is lighting up. I want to say -- Elizabeth says, cop`s name should not be released. It would put his
innocent family members in danger. On Twitter, Russell says, "It`s sad and disgusting by all accounts." Matt says, "Cops are supposed to protect and
serve, not murder and terrorize."
I will say this, I really hope that because it`s being presented into a grand jury, which is a jury of peers, that hopefully that will take the
politics out of the situation and allow just average citizens to make a determination that is on the side of justice.
Next, a nationwide manhunt for a very dangerous MMA fighter. He`s known as war machine. He`s wanted for allegedly brutally beating his ex-girlfriend.
So brutally she can`t get out of her hospital bed.
And guess who`s on this guy`s tail? Dog the bounty hunter. He`s closing in and he`s joining us live on the other side to give us the latest on how
he`s going to find this guy and what he does when he finds him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: With the bones around her eyes shattered, her nose broken and several teeth missing, Christy Mack tweeted photos from her
hospital bed claiming her ex-boyfriend, MMA star fighter Jon "War Machine" Koppenhaver is responsible for the abuse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENDALL KARSON, FRIEND OF CHRISTY MACK: Her face is very swollen. Her whole eye is closed shut.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Christy Mack tweeted photos from her hospital bed claiming her ex-boyfriend, MMA star fighter Jon "War Machine" Koppenhaver
is responsible for the abuse.
KARSON: He could easily, like, snap her in two in seconds like his biceps are the same size as her legs.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police confirm they are searching for Koppenhaver to arrest him on multiple charges of assault and battery.
KARSON: He had smacked her before but it had never been something so aggressive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, a manhunt in full swing for a mixed martial arts star accused of extreme violence outside the cage tonight. Jonathan "War
Machine" Koppenhaver is on the run after cops say he beat and he brutalized his ex-girlfriend, Christy Mack.
This is what Christy looked like before she was beaten to a pulp and now this is what she looks like now. Oh my gosh. She shared these photos on
her Twitter account. The adult film star wrote in detail about what she says happened when War Machine showed up at her apartment 2:00 a.m. Friday
morning and found her with a male friend. She says War Machine beat up her male friend and forced him to leave.
Here`s what she said happened next, as read by one of our producers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In some areas such as my hand, ear and head, he also sawed much of my hair off with his dull knife. After some time, the knife
broke off of the handle and continued to threaten me with the blade.
I believed I was going to die. He had beaten me many times before but never this badly. He told me he was going to rape me but was disappointed
in himself. After another hit or two, he left me on the floor bleeding and shaking. Holding my side from the pain of my rib. Assuming he was finding
a sharper, more stable knife to end my life, I ran out my back door.
Naked and afraid he would catch me, I kept running through the neighborhood knocking on doors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: In a moment, we`re going to talk live to the world famous investigator who`s hot on his trail, our good friend, Duane "Dog the Bounty
Hunter" Chapman. Take a look at his show from CMT with "Dog and Beth on the Hunt."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the back door.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep around the house, guys.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hands in the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) air. On the ground now, (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Straight out to Dog the Bounty Hunter, Duane Chapman.
Dog, thanks for joining us. I understand you`re live from an undisclosed location. Are you closing in on this man known as War Machine? And if so,
how are you going to protect yourself because everybody is saying, including the cops, this guy is violent.
DUANE "DOG" CHAPMAN, STAR OF "DOG AND BETH ON THE HUNT": Well, yes, we`re closing in and we use nonlethal weapons. So we -- you know, we don`t want
to say we want him to resist. But -- let it be. You know, so if he does, then he`s still going to jail, no matter what.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, this isn`t his first run-in with the law. This guy is -- got a history. In 2009, he was arrested for felony domestic
violence. He ended up pleading guilty to a misdemeanor 2011, a 12-page alleged that this guy beat him up and there was a lawsuit and now he`s
facing seven charges.
We`ve got to take a look once again at the injuries of this young woman, Christy Mack. I mean, this is brutal. And we`re going to show you those
pictures in a second. Does it make you angry that this guy who is a trained fighter, an MMA fighter, hits a woman?
CHAPMAN: Well, absolutely. You know, he -- what has not been let out is that one of those statements was, you know, as he was on top of her beating
her, she could see her blood, you know, splattering all over his face and into his mouth and she said, Dog, there was no referee to stop it. He just
kept beating me and beating me. She thought for sure she was going to die.
So this is what sparked our team to go after this guy. Number one, you know, he`s in our world, the world of the tough guy. OK. So we have a lot
of friends in the MMA world and they are not like this. He`s like the (INAUDIBLE) MMA guy who uses that, you know, to make it through his life
and to bully people around. But, you know, his days of bullying is almost over. He`s got a friend waiting for him in prison by the name of Andrew
Luster.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Whoa, that`s the guy you caught, the cosmetic heir, that you caught down in Mexico. Yes, I remember. I covered you on that story,
Duane.
Let me -- let me watch another clip of your show "Catching Criminals" on CMT with you and Beth. We`re just going to roll through it and show it
while I talk because I want to get back to this investigation. You know, this beating that this MMA star is being sought for happened in Nevada --
Las Vegas, Nevada.
Now War Machine is apparently from San Diego. Cops thought maybe he might go to San Diego. But apparently not. So where the hell is he, Dog, and
how are you going to track him down? He`s been tweeting. So are you able to track his pings or are you going with the credit cards or are you
talking to his friends?
CHAPMAN: Well, you know, it`s a new world, new things are happening. And for instance, on social media, on Twitter, we`ve got -- you know, we were
just figuring it out a minute ago. We`ve got about 400,000 Facebook, Twitter people around waiting for him. We`ve got all the places he`s ever
been, gyms, restaurants, bars, anything he`s ever done. We`ve got people stationed at every single spot. It`s amazing what we can do now with these
social networks. Every single person has got a picture of him. Everybody`s on hold. They`re all already to dial in.
You know, all this guy has to do is make one mistake. The only way this guy can outrun us right now is to starve himself to death. And, you know,
that will take about 47 days. So there`s no way this guy is ever going to get away. He`s made plans, allegedly, to go to Mexico. We got the border
covered really strong.
As you remember us down there in the Mexican border, we made a lot of friends. We`ve got Canada completely sown up. The (INAUDIBLE), he`s got
pictures every place, you know, the entrance from America to Canada. There`s nowhere this guy could go but to county jail.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. I want you to promise me, Dog, when you catch him, you`re going to call us, we`re going to put you right on the air.
And a Facebook comment from Doug says, "Dog, punish him, then lock him up, hunt him down and I hope you do. I hope you catch him."
On the other side, we`ve got a surprise guest, a woman you may recognize. She is famous. She is also a friend of this victim. And she is doing what
she can to help her. Stay right there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARSON: He could easily, like, snap her in two in seconds. Like his biceps are the same size as her legs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN "WAR MACHINE" KOPPENHAVER, MMA STAR: I`ll just kill her and then I`ll put rest in peace.
MACK: Fair enough really.
KOPPENHAVER: I`ll put rest in peace next. Then like this is a memorial to my dead girlfriend. Don`t know what happened to her. She`s dead.
MACK: And I honestly I probably deserve it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s the guy, War Machine, joking about how he would hit, kill this woman, his then girlfriend, now ex-girlfriend. And now he`s
being sought by police for allegedly beating her to a pulp.
I want to go out to Kendall Karson in a primetime exclusive. You`re a dear friend of the victim, Christy Mack. And she now has 18 broken bones around
her eyes, her nose is broken in two places. She says her teeth were knocked out. You are trying to raise money for the $100,000 approximately
that she`s going to need, she says, in reconstructive surgery.
How are you raising all this money to help your friend?
KARSON: That`s correct. When I first heard about Christy`s story and I saw it online and she had gone ahead and given such gruesome details of
what had happened to her, I was outraged. And I looked for a way to help her and donate and saw that there wasn`t anything out there already set up.
So since I`ve done fundraising for domestic violence in the past I decided to go ahead and start one for her.
And it took off beyond my wildest dreams. I never expected it to get this big so quickly. And it`s all been through grassroots efforts within the
industry and others that have heard about her story all on Twitter.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, you`re a good friend. And you know, when you have a big problem who your real friends are.
I want to go to Jenna Jamison, another friend of Christy Mack and of course a very famous name. Former adult film star.
I want to thank you for joining us tonight. There were -- I`ve been reading a lot of articles about this whole situation. She had been dating
-- Christy had been dating War Machine. And then reportedly they broke up. But people are saying online that they warned her, this guy`s bad news.
That you just saw a clip where he said, I`m going to kill you, that she admits he`s beaten me up many times before.
What explanation do you have for her staying with him as long as she did?
JENNA JAMISON, FRIEND OF CHRISTY MACK: I think this is obviously exactly what happens when women are abused. They feel as if they`re threatened.
They may be killed. Their family may be killed. He`s threatened suicide. She -- the poor girl had been -- brainwashed.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Brainwashed.
JAMISON: So --
(CROSSTALK)
JAMISON: This is what happens with domestic violence. That`s why I don`t understand when so many people out there say, why didn`t she just leave him
the first time? Well, it`s like grooming a child. When they`re going to molest them. This poor little girl was in love with this man. And he beat
her within inches of her life.
I`ve spent many, many hours with her since then. And I have never seen anything so incredibly shocking and so humiliating. What he did to her was
not just violence. It was something that I can`t even describe. Her teeth are gone. She has no hair left. She`s a shell of a human.
This man needs to be brought to justice and he needs to stand up and be man. And I`m calling him out. Turn yourself in. Be a man. You think
you`re a fighter? You can beat up a 95-pound little girl? It`s pretty embarrassing.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, if you`re listening, War Machine, do what Jenna Jamison says, turn yourself in. Because guess what, Dog the Bounty Hunter
is looking for you. You don`t want him to find you.
JAMISON: So are a lot of people.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: There`s a lot of people including Dog.
You know, one of our Facebook comments was that he wanted to eradicate her beauty. She`s a beautiful woman. I hope she gets her beauty back. And I
really hope this is a message to all women. Man ever threatens violence, get out. Get out fast and forever.
Nancy next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
